New Dance Station in Palm Springs, CA

[AZDude]

Channel Q launched on 11/01/2018 at 103.1FM in Palm Springs, CA.

Looks to be a talk radio/dance hybrid station.

Good to see another Dance station appear on the FM airwaves. Lets see how long this lasts.

https://entercom.com/press/entercom-launches-channel-q-on-103-1-in-palm-springs/

BTW, last week was the ten year anniversary of the Energy Arizona sign off.

 

[Gregg.]

Actually it's primarily an LGBTQ talk station, when the network has hosts, during weekday mornings, afternoons and a few other times. When it doesn't have hosts, then it plays dance music, a mix of EDM, chill and dance classics. Palm Springs is a unique market for Entercom and formerly for CBS Radio. KEZN was CBS's only station in the Palm Springs market. Usually a big owner will have multiple stations in the same market to save money. Only one set of offices and studios, only one General Manager, etc. But CBS never purchased any additional stations in Palm Springs, just KEZN, which is now KQPS.

Interesting that Entercom blew up an AC station to put this format on a regular FM station. Is Palm Springs that much an LGBTQ oasis that Entercom thinks a full time LGBTQ station is viable? The format is also on the HD2 or HD3 channels of five Entercom-owned FM stations in LA, SF, Sacramento, Phoenix and Las Vegas.

 

[DavidEduardo]

Interesting that Entercom blew up an AC station to put this format on a regular FM station. Is Palm Springs that much an LGBTQ oasis that Entercom thinks a full time LGBTQ station is viable? The format is also on the HD2 or HD3 channels of five Entercom-owned FM stations in LA, SF, Sacramento, Phoenix and Las Vegas.

Palm Springs has a mayor and city council that is 100% LGBTQ. The size of the permanent (year round) community is very significant in the West Valley. One estimate I saw was that there might be about 40,000 to 60,000 persons in the metro that identify that way... perhaps 15% of the total in the metro.

The Pride Parade this year was reported to have had 200,000 in attendance, making it the second largest such parade and only surpassed by San Francisco.

 

[AZDude]

I’ve listened to the station a few times so far. Heard a few currents than they played David Morales - Here I Am. That was a oh wow moment for me. Took me back to the good old times of Energy Arizona and XM BPM.

 

[only1moore]

Now the real question is can Palm Springs support a station like KQSP. Only time will tell.

 

[DavidEduardo]

Now the real question is can Palm Springs support a station like KQSP. Only time will tell.

In its favor is the fact that so many Palm Springs businesses are either LGBTQ owned or friendly, and there is no stigma in either supporting the gay community or inviting them to your place of business.

The real question is whether it will get an audience; there is a considerable stereotype in believing that the target audience only likes one kind of musical style.