KNWZ (970 AM) is a

news/talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

station owned and operated by

Alpha Media LLC Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἄλφα, ''álpha'', or ell, άλφα, álfa) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph , whic ...

Coachella, California es, Ciudad de Coachella , nicknames = Coachello, La Coachelita and Cochela , image_skyline = Coachella City Hall.jpg , imagesize = 240px , image_caption = Coachella City Hall , image_flag ...

. It is part of a

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...

with

KNWQ KNWQ (1140 AM) is radio station licensed to Palm Springs, California. It airs a news-talk format and is part of a simulcast with 970 KNWZ and 1250 KNWH. It is owned by Alpha Media. 1140 AM is a United States and Mexican clear-channel frequency ...

AM 1140 in

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land ...

and KNWH AM 1250 in

Yucca Valley, California Yucca Valley is an incorporated town in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 20,700 as of the 2010 census. Yucca Valley lies west of Twentynine Palms, north of Palm Springs, south of Barstow via State Rout ...

. The stations combine to serve the

Coachella Valley , map_image = Wpdms shdrlfi020l coachella valley.jpg , map_caption = Coachella Valley , location = California, United States , coordinates = , width = , boundaries = Salton Sea (southeast), Santa Rosa Mountains (southwest), San Jacint ...

and

Yucca Valley Yucca Valley is an List of municipalities in California, incorporated town in San Bernardino County, California, San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 20,700 as of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Yucca ...

area, and surrounding desert cities. In October 2009, K-News began to operate an FM radio translator on 94.3 MHz from Desert Hot Springs covering the entire Coachella Valley. In 2016, KNWZ began to be heard on 103.7 in the Twentynine Palms area. In 2018, it added a translator on 104.7 FM for the Palm Springs area, in addition to 94.3 FM from Coachella.

Programs

KNWZ/KNWQ/KNWH carries such programs as

Sean Hannity Sean Patrick Hannity (born December 30, 1961) is an American talk show host, conservative political commentator, and author. He is the host of ''The Sean Hannity Show'', a nationally syndicated talk radio show, and has also hosted a commentar ...

Rush Limbaugh Rush Hudson Limbaugh III ( ; January 12, 1951 – February 17, 2021) was an American conservative political commentator who was the host of '' The Rush Limbaugh Show'', which first aired in 1984 and was nationally syndicated on AM and FM r ...

Mark Levin Mark Reed Levin (; born September 21, 1957) is an American lawyer, author, and radio personality. He is the host of syndicated radio show Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and rad ...

Show, Savage Nation with

Michael Savage Michael Alan Weiner (born March 31, 1942), known by his professional name Michael Savage, is a far-right author, conspiracy theorist, political commentator, activist, and former radio host. Savage is best known as the host of '' The Savage Na ...

and

Coast to Coast AM ''Coast to Coast AM'' is an American late-night radio talk show that deals with a variety of topics. Most frequently the topics relate to either the paranormal or conspiracy theories. It was hosted by creator Art Bell from its inception in 19 ...

with

George Noory George Ralph Noory (born June 4, 1950) is an American radio talk show host. Since January 2003, Noory has been the weekday host of the late-night radio talk show ''Coast to Coast AM''. The program is syndicated to hundreds of radio stations in ...

as well as the locally-produced “Bulldog” Bill Feingold show in the morning and Hot Talk with Rich and Paul in afternoon drive.

History

The station began broadcasting in 1954, holding the call sign KCHV.History Cards for KNWZ
fcc.gov. Retrieved September 9, 2019. It ran 1,000 watts, during daytime hours only, and was owned by the Coachella Valley Broadcasting Company. In 1963, its daytime power was increased to 5,000 watts and it began nighttime operations, running 1,000 watts. On August 26, 1983, the station's call sign was changed to KVIM.Call Sign History
fcc.gov. Retrieved September 9, 2019. On September 1, 1989, its call sign was changed to KCLB.

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...

formats were aired as KVIM
Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1985
', Broadcasting/Cablecasting, 1985. p. B-24. Retrieved September 9, 2019. and KCLB.Unmacht, Robert; McCrummen (1998).
The M Street Radio Directory
'. p. 97. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2000
',

Broadcasting & Cable ''Broadcasting & Cable'' (or ''Broadcasting+Cable'') is a weekly telecommunications industry trade magazine published by Future US. Previous names included ''Broadcasting-Telecasting'', ''Broadcasting and Broadcast Advertising'', and ''Broadcast ...

, 2000. p. D-41. Retrieved September 9, 2019.

KNWZ

KNWZ debuted at 1270AM in 1988 under the ownership of William Hart as the area's second attempt at an all-news format in the style of KNX and others, but soon converted to a

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

format. Jerry Jolstead had sold the station and Hart purchased it from Mary and Kate Neiswender. The morning drive slot was occupied from 1994-2000 by Luigi Rossetti under the air name of "Lou Penrose." Rossetti left the station at the height of his popularity to accept a position as District Director for Congresswoman

Mary Bono Mary Bono (née Whitaker and formerly Mary Bono Mack, born October 24, 1961) is an American politician, businesswoman, and lobbyist who served Palm Springs and most of central and eastern Riverside County, California, in the U.S. House of Repres ...

. The Lou Penrose Morning Talk Show was followed from 9-11a.m. by former television newsman Ron Fortner. Poor ratings led to Fortner's dismissal by 1998 immediately after the purchase of the station by

Morris Communications Morris Communications, headquartered in Augusta, Georgia, is a privately held media company with diversified holdings that include magazine publishing, outdoor advertising, book publishing and distribution, visitor publications, and online serv ...

as part of the new Desert Radio Group. The station had been simulcast on two FM repeaters and one other station ( 94.3, 103.9 and 106.9) from April 1995 to October 1998, when Morris purchased the stations; it then converted all three of the FM stations to music formats. Morris then moved KNWZ to 970/1140AM on January 1, 2001. Morris sold the three stations, along with thirty others, to

for $38.25 million, effective September 1, 2015.

References

External links

* * * {{News/Talk Radio Stations in California News and talk radio stations in the United States NWZ Mass media in Riverside County, California Coachella, California Radio stations established in 1954 1954 establishments in California Alpha Media radio stations