KNWZ
 |
| Frequency | 970/1140 (kHz) |
|---|---|
| Programming | |
| Format | News/Talk |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Morris Communications |
KNWZ-970 and KNWQ-1140 is a simulcast news/talk station owned by Morris Multimedia under the name Morris Desert Media. It has an affiliation with Fox News Radio. The stations combine to serve the Coachella Valley area of Palm Springs, California. KNWQ's transmitter is in Palm Springs (for the Western Coachella Valley and Banning area), while KNWZ is in Coachella 25 miles to the east (for the Eastern Coachella, and Imperial Valleys. Both transmitters are low-powered and can reach a 30-mile radius.
"K-News" and Morris Desert Media operates a second news/talk format station, KFUT 1270 "K-News 2" and its' transmitter in Palm Desert broadcast over a 30-mile radius from Coachella to Desert Hot Springs. However, "K-News 2" went off-air in February 2007.
"K-News" also owns and operates KNWH 1250 in the town of Twentynine Palms serving the sparsely populated Morongo Basin area in a 30-mile radius.
Programs
KNWZ/KNWQ is the home radio station for local talk and call-in opinion programs, like the Marshall and Stone Show on weekdays, and the Bill "the Bulldog" Feingold Show on Saturdays.
Marshall and Stone were fired by the station after a segment about Palm Springs City Councilwoman Ginny Foat, 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, Glen Beck, and Coast to Coast AM with Art Bell and George Noory. It also carried the Phil Hendrie show until Hendrie retired in June 2006.
History
KNWZ debuted at 1270AM in 1988 under the ownership of William Hart, a former Reagan cabinet member as the area's first attempt at an all-news format in the style of KNX and others, but soon converted to a talk radio format. The morning drive slot was occupied for a number of years by Lou Rosetti under the air name of "Lou Penrose." Rosetti left the station at the height of his popularity to accept a position as press secretary for Congresswoman Mary Bono. That slot was soon filled by former television newsman Ron Fortner. Poor ratings led to Fortner's dismissal by 1998 immediately after the purchase of the station by Morris Communications 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) 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, with different ownership. In 2007, "K-News 2" is now Spanish Sports talk under new call letters KFUT 1270AM, "Futbol y Deportes".