KWXY

KWXY ia a Class C commercial AM radio station licensed to Cathedral City, California, USA. The station was founded in 1964 on 1340 AM and had broadcast on 98.5 MHz FM between 1976 and 2010. It is one of the area's "heritage" stations and is one of the very few remaining beautiful music stations in the country. On February 2, 2010, the station returned to its original frequency of 1340 AM.

KWXY-FM was one of four Class B 50 kW FM stations serving the market; the others were contemporary country music-formatted KPLM-FM Palm Springs at 106.1 MHz, 1960s and 1970s oldies-formatted KDES-FM Palm Springs at 104.7 MHz, and contemporary album-oriented rock-formatted KCLB-FM Coachella at 93.7 MHz. KDES-FM vacated the 104.7 MHz frequency on February 2, 2010 and now operates on 98.5 MHz.

History

The station previously simulcast on 1340 AM, but sold the AM frequency to R&R Radio Corp. of Palm Springs,^[1] who flipped the format to progressive talk on August 7, 2006 and changed the call letters to KPTR. KPTR was the area's first Air America Radio affiliate; that network went bankrupt October 13, 2006 but had resumed operation under new ownership until it ultimately shut down in January 2010 and filed for liquidation.^{[citation needed]}

KWXY not only had the same format since its inception in October, 1964 but the same owner as well. KWXY was owned by veteran broadcaster Glen Barnett,^[1] a broadcast engineer who actually built and wired the studios and transmitter and most recently was the station's general manager.

KWXY (AM) began in 1964 as a 24-hour, 250-watt AM station. Power was increased to 500 watts in 1968 and again to 1 kW in 1973, where it remains today. FM operations began in 1969 at 103.1 MHz with a 3 kW signal. The move to 98.5 MHz and a boost to 50 kW occurred in 1976. Today, the 103.1 allocation is used by CBS Radio-owned KEZN.

Both full-time residents of the Coachella Valley as well as seasonal visitors made KWXY one of the most successful stations in the area both in demographics as well as revenue. In addition, the on-air lineup boasted Dave Hull, named one of the top ten greatest broadcasters in Los Angeles radio history, and his KFI colleague Scott Ellsworth.^{[citation needed]}

In January 2010, it was announced that KWXY-FM would cease broadcasting on 98.5 FM and broadcast only on the 1340 AM frequency. Dave Hull signed off the FM station at 11:59 pm February 1. KDES, another R&R Broadcasting station originally broadcasting at 104.7, has taken over the 98.5 frequency allocation and will continue with its oldies programming.^[1] Licensing of the 104.7 frequency has moved from Palm Springs to Riverside.

KWXY's programming originates at its Palm Springs studio under the supervision of Program Director Ford Michaels, a radio broadcaster since 1970, and an air personality and program director in the Coachella Valley since 1986.

References

External links and reference

• KWXY website with streaming audio
• KWXY Facebook page
• KWXY FM fan site with Don Wardell show transcriptions
• Aircheck of KWXY FM final sign off Feb. 2, 2010
• Query the FCC's AM station database for KWXY
• Radio-Locator Information on KWXY
• Query Nielsen Audio's AM station database for KWXY

Coordinates: 33°48′07″N 116°27′44″W / 33.80194°N 116.46222°W / 33.80194; -116.46222