KNWZ
Encyclopedia
KNWZ-970 and KNWQ-1140 is a simulcast
Simulcast
Simulcast, shorthand for "simultaneous broadcast", refers to programs or events broadcast across more than one medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at the same time. For example, Absolute Radio is simulcast on both AM and on satellite radio, and the BBC's Prom concerts are often...
news
News
News is the communication of selected information on current events which is presented by print, broadcast, Internet, or word of mouth to a third party or mass audience.- Etymology :...
/talk station owned by Morris Multimedia
Morris Multimedia
Morris Multimedia, Inc. is a media company based in Savannah, Georgia, founded in 1970 by Charles H. Morris. Morris Multimedia, among the largest privately held media companies in the United States, is the parent company of Morris Newspaper Corporation and Morris Network.- Newspapers :The Morris...
under the name Morris Desert Media. It has an affiliation with Fox News Radio
Fox News Radio
Fox News Radio is an American radio network programmed by Fox News Channel.- History :In 2003, Fox News began syndicating one minute radio updates to radio stations via syndication service Westwood One. On June 1, 2005, Fox News Radio employed 60 people and provided five minute newscasts at the top...
. The stations combine to serve the Coachella Valley
Coachella Valley
Coachella Valley is a large valley landform in Southern California. The valley extends for approximately 45 miles in Riverside County southeast from the San Bernardino Mountains to the saltwater Salton Sea, the largest lake in California...
area of Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...
, and surrounding desert cities.
KNWQ's transmitter is in Palm Springs (for the Western Coachella Valley and Banning
Banning, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Banning had a population of 29,603. The population density was 1,281.6 people per square mile . The racial makeup of Banning was 19,164 White, 2,165 African American, 641 Native American, 1,549 Asian, 39 Pacific Islander, 4,604 from other...
area), while KNWZ is in Coachella
Coachella, California
Coachella is a city in Riverside County, California; it is the easternmost city in the region collectively known as the Coachella Valley...
25 miles to the east (for the Eastern Coachella and Imperial Valleys). Both transmitters are low-powered and can reach a 30-mile radius. It was received in Barstow
Barstow, California
Barstow is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 22,639 at the 2010 census, up from 21,119 at the 2000 census. Barstow is located north of San Bernardino....
, Blythe
Blythe, California
Blythe is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the "Palo Verde Valley" of the Lower Colorado River Valley region, an agricultural area and part of the Colorado Desert along the Colorado River. Blythe was named after Thomas Blythe, a gold prospector who established primary...
, Yucaipa
Yucaipa, California
Yucaipa is a city located east of San Bernardino, in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 51,367 at the 2010 census, up from 41,207 at the 2000 census...
to Yucca Valley
Yucca Valley, California
Yucca Valley is an incorporated town located in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 20,700 at the 2010 census, up from 16,865 at the 2000 census...
.
"K-News" and Morris Desert Media operates a second news/talk format station, KFUT
KFUT
KFUT is a radio station broadcasting a Spanish oldies/talk format. Licensed to Thousand Palms, California, USA, it serves the Palm Springs area. The station is owned by Mcc Radio, LLC....
1270 "K-News 2" and its transmitter in Palm Desert
Palm Desert, California
Palm Desert is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley, approximately east of Palm Springs. The population was 48,445 at the 2010 census, up from 41,155 at the 2000 census...
broadcast over a 30-mile radius from Coachella to Desert Hot Springs
Desert Hot Springs, California
Desert Hot Springs, also known as DHS, is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The city is located within the Coachella Valley geographic region, sometimes referred to as the Desert Empire. The population was 25,938 at the 2010 census, up from 16,582 at the 2000 United States...
. However, "K-News 2" went off-air in February 2007.
"K-News" also owns and operates KNWH 1250 in the town of Twentynine Palms
Twentynine Palms, California
Twentynine Palms is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. It was previously called Twenty-Nine Palms...
serving the sparsely populated Morongo Basin
Morongo Basin
The Morongo Basin is located centrally in the southern portion of the state of California in the United States. The Morongo basin is part of the Inland Empire metropolitan statistical area, the 13th largest in the United States. Joshua Tree National Park lies within the basin. The basin stretches...
area in a 30-mile radius. As of October 2009, they have a FM radio repeater on 94.3 MHz from Desert Hot Springs for the entire Coachella Valley and Morongo Basin.
Programs
KNWZ/KNWQ is the home radio station for local talk and call-in opinion programs, like the MarshallMarshall Gilbert
Marshall Gilbert is best known for his conservative talk shows, which aired on a number of different radio stations in Palm Springs, California for more than a dozen years....
and Stone Show on weekdays, and the Bill "the Bulldog" Feingold Show on Saturdays.
In late 2008, Marshall and Stone were fired by the station after a segment about Palm Springs City Councilwoman Ginny Foat
Ginny Foat
Virginia "Ginny" Foat is an American politician and feminist. Foat was acquitted in 1983 of having participated in a 1965 murder committed by her then-husband, but the publicity derailed her activist career at the time...
, a lesbian, urging a boycott of local businesses that supported Proposition 8, in which they mentioned that Foat had twice been tried for murder.
KNWZ/KNWQ carries such programs as Sean Hannity
Sean Hannity
Sean Hannity is an American radio and television host, author, and conservative political commentator. He is the host of The Sean Hannity Show, a nationally syndicated talk radio show that airs throughout the United States on Premiere Radio Networks. Hannity also hosts a cable news show, Hannity,...
, Glenn Beck
Glenn Beck
Glenn Edward Lee Beck is an American conservative radio host, vlogger, author, entrepreneur, political commentator and former television host. He hosts the Glenn Beck Program, a nationally syndicated talk-radio show that airs throughout the United States on Premiere Radio Networks...
, and Coast to Coast AM
Coast to Coast AM
Coast to Coast AM is a North American late-night syndicated radio talk show that deals with a variety of topics, but most frequently ones that relate to either the paranormal or conspiracy theories. It was created by Art Bell and is distributed by Premiere Radio Networks. The program currently...
with Art Bell
Art Bell
Arthur W. "Art" Bell, III is an American broadcaster and author, known primarily as one of the founders and the original host of the paranormal-themed radio program Coast to Coast AM. He also created and formerly hosted its companion show, Dreamland...
and George Noory
George Noory
George Ralph Noory is a Lebanese-American radio talk show host.As of 2010, he is the weekday host of the late-night radio talk show Coast to Coast AM. He is heard across the United States and Canada on many AM and FM stations as well as on XM Satellite Radio. His show is one of the most listened...
. It also carried the Phil Hendrie
Phil Hendrie
Philip Stephen Hendrie is an American radio personality. He is best known as the host of The Phil Hendrie Show, a comedy talk radio program that is syndicated throughout North America on Talk Radio Network...
show until Hendrie retired in June 2006.
History
KNWZ debuted at 1270AM in 1988 under the ownership of William Hart, a former ReaganRonald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
cabinet member as the area's first attempt at an all-news format in the style of KNX
KNX (AM)
KNX is an all-news radio station in Los Angeles, California, USA. The station operates on a clear channel and is owned by CBS Radio. KNX broadcasts from facilities shared with sister stations KFWB, KCBS-FM, KTWV, and KAMP on Los Angeles' Miracle Mile...
and others, but soon converted to a talk radio
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
format. 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
Mary Bono Mack is the U.S. Representative for , and previously the 44th, serving since 1998. She is a member of the Republican Party. The district is based in Palm Springs and includes most of central and eastern Riverside County. Bono Mack sits on the Energy and Commerce Committee, and is...
. The Lou Penrose Morning Talk Show was followed from 9am - 11am by former television newsman Ron Fortner
Ron Fortner
Ronnie Fortner was an American radio and television anchor.-Career:Fortner spent more than thirty years as a broadcaster, working alongside veteran California newscaster Michael Tuck both in San Diego and San Francisco...
. Poor ratings led to Fortner's dismissal by 1998 immediately after the purchase of the station by Morris Communications
Morris Communications
Morris Communications of Augusta, Georgia is a privately held media company with diversified holdings that include newspaper and magazine publishing, outdoor advertising, radio broadcasting, book publishing and distribution, visitor publications and online services. Newspapers are the foundation...
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
KDGL
KDGL 106.9 "The Eagle" is a Classic Hits / Classic Rock station serving the Coachella Valley and Morongo Basin markets of inland Southern California...
) 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. It then bought KCMJ, which had moved to 1270AM, in August 2004 and made it KNWT, "K-News 2." AM 1010 is now all-sports station KXPS
KXPS
KXPS, "Team 1010," is an all-sports radio station based in Palm Springs, California, United States. It broadcasts on the 1010AM frequency.Its lineup comes from a variety of sources: the Dan Patrick Show and Jim Rome from Premiere Radio Networks, with the remainder of their non-local programming...
, with different ownership. In 2007, "K-News 2" is now Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
Sports talk under call letters KFUT
KFUT
KFUT is a radio station broadcasting a Spanish oldies/talk format. Licensed to Thousand Palms, California, USA, it serves the Palm Springs area. The station is owned by Mcc Radio, LLC....
1270AM, "Futbol y Deportes".