By Staff
PALM SPRINGS, CA- As you noticed on your radio dial, three Coachella Valley radio stations had made major changes this past week.
KDES-FM, the valley’s premier oldies station since 1988, had moved from its original FM frequency of 104.7 (where it’s been since 1963) to 98.5 on the FM dial beginning Midnight on Tuesday, February 2nd. Announcers at the station have been talking about the changeover for several weeks, as the 104.7 frequency has been purchased and will be leaving the Coachella Valley for the Redlands/San Bernardino area. No word on what format the new station will be at this time.
As for KWXY-FM, one of the Palm Springs area’s heritage stations, they have relocated back to their old frequency on the AM dial positioned at 1340 AM, where they used to be simulcast up until 2006 when RR Broadcasting purchased it. Since 1976, the station had been using the 98.5 frequency, reaching listeners as far west as Beaumont, as far north as Yucca Valley and as far south as El Centro. Glen Barnett, the station’s owner explained that the station had been sold and now he’s retiring at the tender age of 86. KWXY features old standards, beautiful music instrumentals and news 24 hours a day. Plus, KWXY programming is now available for listening online at www.kwxy.com.
For listeners of KAJR-FM 95.9, as of 10:00 a.m. on Monday, the station flipped formats to “The Oasis”, featuring the light adult contemporary standards from the 1960s and 1970s. RM Broadcasting, which owns this station, also owns KPLM-FM (The Big 106, a country station), KJJZ-FM (Jazz) and KMRJ-FM (The Heat, Classic Rock). The previous Jack FM format featured Top 40, Classic Rock, Oldies and occasional country music. KCBS-FM 93.1 in the LA area, available beyond Cabazon, will still play the Jack FM format as they have been doing since 2005.
All other radio stations in the Coachella Valley will remain the same at this time.