KDWN

KDWN (720 AM) is a commercial radio station in Las Vegas, Nevada, owned and operated by Audacy, Inc.. The station pronounces its call letters as "K-Dawn." The station's studios are located in the unincorporated Clark County area of Spring Valley. Programming is simulcast on 250-watt FM translator station K268CS at 101.5 MHz.

KDWN airs a talk radio format. It runs several nationally syndicated conservative talk hosts, along with local shows, most of which are brokered programming. National hosts include Brian Kilmeade, Sean Hannity and Mark Levin. Other hours are devoted to money, health, real estate and sports. In most cases, the local hosts pay for their time on the air and are permitted to run their own advertising. Most hours on weekdays begin with world and national news from Fox News Radio. A local staff provides Nevada news, weather and traffic. Weather coverage is supplied by NBC Network affiliate KSNV.

KDWN's original 50,000-watt transmitter was on Galleria Drive in Henderson, and was nondirectional in the day and used three inline towers to produce a directional night signal nulled toward WGN (AM) on the same channel in Chicago. In 2020, it moved to a new site shared with KXST on North Sloan Lane in North Las Vegas. Currently, KDWN broadcasts with 25,000 wats during daytime hours and 7,500 watts at night, still protecting WGN with an asymmetrical three-tower pattern. While the old nighttime signal could be heard throughout most of the Western United States, north into Canada and south into Mexico., the new signal is more economical, continuing to cover the same metro with less spent power. KDWN also broadcasts using HD radio technology and is heard on the HD3 digital subchannel of co-owned KMXB in Henderson. KDWN is Southern Nevada's primary entry point station for the Emergency Alert System.

History

From music station to talk radio

KDWN first came on the air on April 7, 1975. It was founded by A.J. Williams and Jack Reeder. Williams owned KTYM-AM-FM in Inglewood, California and also owned television station KAIL in Fresno. Reeder was the chief engineer of KRLA in Los Angeles. Reeder died, leaving his half of the station to Williams, who owned the station until his death in 2005.

The station began by broadcasting a full service format of Middle of the road music, news, sports and talk. The music format lasted longer on KDWN than on most AM radio stations of the day. In the 1970s, many AM stations were leaving music formats to FM, and switching over to talk programming.

KDWN's transition from music to talk began slowly. In the late 1970s, KDWN aired a mix of music and some talk during the day. In January 1980, KDWN began broadcasting talk around the clock. KDWN was the top news/talk outlet in the Las Vegas radio market and won an award for its coverage of the 1980 MGM Grand Fire.

Unlike most Las Vegas-area stations, KDWN remained locally owned even as most of its competitors were bought out by large radio corporations such as Clear Channel Communications and Infinity Broadcasting. The continuity of ownership kept a consistent style of station sound. The station continued to rely on experienced, yet older, hosts who may have had been with the station since it began broadcasting in the talk radio format. The station did well in the ratings as one of the first generation of talk radio stations. Call screening was not used until recently.

Art Bell and Rush Limbaugh

Noted radio talk host Art Bell, after minor jobs at several California radio and TV stations, began hosting an all-night show on KDWN in 1983. KDWN had just been granted permission from the Federal Communications Commission to increase its nighttime power from 10,000 watts to 50,000 watts. KDWN was now audible with a good radio between nighttime and dawn in Los Angeles, San Francisco and around the West Coast. So Bell called the show "West Coast AM" because it aired between 1 and 6 a.m. Pacific Time.

Bell began by discussing mostly politics. But he increasingly added discussions of the paranormal and conspiracy theories to the program, resulting in increased ratings and national attention. The show got nationwide syndication in 1993, when it was renamed "Coast to Coast AM." Bell did the show from the Plaza Hotel, where KDWN had studios. Later it moved to a studio in his home in nearby Pahrump, Nevada, in Nye County. Eventually KDWN, no longer in control of the program, decided not to continue carrying it in syndication and it was picked up by rival Las Vegas talk station KXNT.

KDWN was one of the first radio stations to carry Rush Limbaugh's nationally syndicated show in 1988. Limbaugh helped boost KDWN's midday ratings. In 1996, with the rates to carry it increasing, KDWN decided not to renew the show. Like ''Coast to Coast AM'', ''The Rush Limbaugh Show'' moved to KXNT. KDWN produced and broadcast a local morning show, ''The Snoozebusters'', from the early 1980s until 2006. It was hosted by Ken Stahl and Hart Kirsch.

Beasley Broadcasting acquisition, trade to Audacy

In March 2006, Beasley Broadcast Group, a Naples, Florida–based company, announced plans to buy the station for $17 million. A Las Vegas newspaper reported a rumor that KDWN would change to an all-sports format, effective July 1, 2006, although the switch did not happen. Host Jim Dallas reported on ''Wake Up, America'' on July 21, 2006, that audience backlash against the change forced Beasley to retain the talk radio format.

In the fall of 2006, Beasley introduced a morning drive time news and information show hosted by Heidi Harris, with the remainder of its weekday talk format consisting of nationally syndicated shows and local brokered programming. Harris' show was discontinued in 2012, with the nationally syndicated Laura Ingraham show moved into the morning time slot which was later discontinued. Harris had also been heard on KDWN from 1988 to 1998.

In June 2017, the Oakland Raiders, in preparation for their relocation to Las Vegas, announced that a two–year deal had been reached with the Beasley Broadcast Group to carry Raiders games on KDWN and FM sister station KCYE, starting with the 2017 NFL season. In 2019, the team moved their broadcasts to KYMT.

On October 6, 2022, Beasley Broadcasting announced a station swap with Audacy wherein Beasley would swap ownership of KDWN to Audacy in exchange for ownership of KXTE. No other changes are currently planned with the move on ownership.Beasley and Audacy Swap Stations in Las Vegas
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References

External links

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FCC History Cards for KDWNFounder of KDWN 720 AM Talk radio DiesKDWN Program ScheduleDoctor Daliah show websiteKDWN official websiteTru Hawkins internet radio show

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1975 establishments in Nevada
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News and talk radio stations in the United States
Radio stations established in 1975
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