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KWXY-AM Palm Springs returns to beautiful music

passtheword

passtheword

Star Participant
Format changed yesterday to beautiful music under new owners. Playing mostly instrumentals, with some standards thrown in for good measure, alongside the former station jingles and liners.

http://1340kwxy.com
 
I would think Mr. Barnett is very happy today.

What is in the old KWXY studio on Dinah Shore Boulevard in Cathedral City now.
 
VERY GOOD NEWS! Now I can listen to KAHM FM 102.1 Prescott and then KWXY
1340 AM on my trips to Los Angeles..... It will definitely make the drive even
better!!!!
 
Prescott Joe said:
VERY GOOD NEWS! Now I can listen to KAHM FM 102.1 Prescott and then KWXY
1340 AM on my trips to Los Angeles..... It will definitely make the drive even
better!!!!
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The Coachella Valley has some of the worst conductivity in the country, so don't look for the AM to cover more than the west end of the valley, maybe 15 to 20 miles on the I-10. A translator won't add much more.
 
DavidEduardo said:


The Coachella Valley has some of the worst conductivity in the country, so don't look for the AM to cover more than the west end of the valley, maybe 15 to 20 miles on the I-10. A translator won't add much more.
Click to expand...

I was out in Palm Springs area last week on vacation and was happy to hear them back on the air. I was actually surprised that their signal got out as well as it did. I picked it up along I-10 eastbound past Indio right up to the top of the pass at the Joshua Tree Exit. Coming back from 29 Palms and Joshua Tree they didn't come in worth beans on the 62 on my way back to Palm Springs until I got right down into the valley, and onto North Indian Canyon Drive. West bound in the I-10 they were gone at Cabazon.
 
KWXY had a 30-minute swing show a few minutes ago which sounded pretty good, except only one song by Tony Bennett was familiar. The first song was by Sinatra and while it wasn't one I knew, it was typical of his style. Count Basie was next, and someone I didn't know, and then the DJ mentioned Dinah Washington and then someone I never heard of, followed by Sammy Davis Jr. with Buddy Rich.

However, anyone hoping for "good music" would have been driven away by the mess playing for the next 30 minutes. It would make a Bob or Jack station sound predictable and uptight.

Sinatra is playing now so maybe they ran off whoever was responsible for that mess.

Edit: And we're back. They let the chimp back in the room.
 
Another big band show. I guess if people know when to listen, they'll find their music. But I can't imagine who would want what I heard between 1:30 and 2.
 
vchimpanzee said:
Another big band show. I guess if people know when to listen, they'll find their music. But I can't imagine who would want what I heard between 1:30 and 2.
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The new format is a mixture of music genres from the 40's thru 70's. It's a mess. If your expecting a return of the previous Easy Listening format, you are out of luck. The new owner is probably a hipster, and thinks this is cool. Well, if he has the money to burn, who knows how long it will last.
 
It's not as bad as I thought as long as there is a special program. Right now there is "History of Rock and Roll" hosted by Wink Martindale. Anyone expecting Chuck Berry or The Beatles or even "classic rock" will be sorely disappointed in that show, which sounds like America's Best Music. Good music to me, but I was actually hoping to hear more real standards, but those are limited to special shows about standards.
 
vchimpanzee said:
It's not as bad as I thought as long as there is a special program. Right now there is "History of Rock and Roll" hosted by Wink Martindale. Anyone expecting Chuck Berry or The Beatles or even "classic rock" will be sorely disappointed in that show, which sounds like America's Best Music. Good music to me, but I was actually hoping to hear more real standards, but those are limited to special shows about standards.
Click to expand...
Probably won't know till after hearing a full day. In a newspaper article about the new KWXY, he plans to evolve the type of music played throughout the day to prevent listener shock. The big band/swing in the AM to rock later in the day or evening. By this time tomorrow we'll have a better idea. Also apparently local music artists, yacht rock, classic rock, and on the weekend punk rock....which should be reconsidered!
 
Aside from the music ...there is no TOH ID (FCC requirement), no mention on air of the calls, or branding, no liners, sweepers, zero on air promoting, or hey, we have a new website.
 
KilowattKat said:
Aside from the music ...there is no TOH ID (FCC requirement), no mention on air of the calls, or branding, no liners, sweepers, zero on air promoting, or hey, we have a new website.
Click to expand...
What? I heard a station ID. Most stations don't do it precisely at the top of the hour.
 
KilowattKat said:
Probably won't know till after hearing a full day. In a newspaper article about the new KWXY, he plans to evolve the type of music played throughout the day to prevent listener shock. The big band/swing in the AM to rock later in the day or evening. By this time tomorrow we'll have a better idea. Also apparently local music artists, yacht rock, classic rock, and on the weekend punk rock....which should be reconsidered!
Click to expand...
How old can the format be if this thread is nearly five years old?
 
vchimpanzee said:
But it was beautiful music before.
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It was a hybrid of MOR, standards and Beautiful Music for decades. When the long time founder and owner died, it went through various versions of the old format but it was still very old leaning... even for this market.
 
powers said:
I heard two IDs in 2 hours of listening. They were at off times, like :20 after the hour.
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That is assumed to be legal, as the "top of the hour" narrow ID window is long gone. Stations now interpret the term "natural break" in programming to mean they don't have to interrupt a music sweep to do the ID, so they drop (or "hide") it in a stopset.
 
semoochie said:
How old can the format be if this thread is nearly five years old?
Click to expand...
The format's heritage goes back to the founding of the station by Glen Barnett. The format is decades old.

The station was sold by Barnett to R&R in 2006 for $2.3 million. Yep, a 1 kw AM on 1340. That was $500 k for the real estate, $1 million for the tower and transmitter, $750 k for the license and $50 k for the studio gear.

In 2016, it sold for $375,000 along with KKGX. And then this year it went for just over $100 k, but without the land and building.
 
This thread begins by stating that the format has changed to Beautiful Music with some Standards. When it was picked up yesterday, there was no mention of a different format, only a continuation of saying the format is new. To further confuse the issue are references to a big band show and comparing the "History of Rock n Roll" to "America's Best Music". At no point did anyone say that the format had just changed again!
 
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