Over the weekend, I took a road trip to southern California, particularly the Riverside and Long Beach areas. I took a portable radio that had some issues with me and I used it at the two destinations and during the return trip. Here is some of what I found and didn't find.
The best surprise for me was Quartzsite's KCNl (105.9 mHz). Driving on I-10 east, I was able to receive the station from just east of Desert Center, CA, to just east of the COL of Quartzsite (AZ) with hardly any issues. The station no longer has a website and it doesn't stream, but its programming was quite good, at least to my taste. KCNL plays classic rock/hits from the 1960s ("The Wind Cries Mary," by the Jimi Hendrix Experience) to the 1990s. While the programming is automated, it didn't appear to be satellite-based. While the station is a commercial operation, I heard only one actual commercial during my time of listening (and I was switching around the dial to see what else I could hear so I could have missed some) and that was an advertisement for a local hardware store located in Blythe, CA.
The owner of KCNl also owns KBUX at 96.5 mHz. The station used to be at 94.3 mHz but moved to allow Salome, AZ to get a commercial radio station at 94.1 mHz (whose construction permit was cancelled a while back if memory serves). Anyway, the Quartzsite-licensed noncommercial outlet is currently programming automated oldies (not from satellite) and is playing some real forgotten tunes (I heard The Olympics' minor 1960 hit, "Big Boy Pete," while listening to this station). Unfortunately, KBUX doesn't currently have a website, has never streamed, and I was only able to hear the station for about 10 minutes from the east side of Quartzsite going southeast on I-10.
Quartzsite has two other stations licensed to it: public radio outlet KAWQ (simulcasting Yuma's NPR outlet, KAWC) at 90.1 mHz and KYLN at 91.3 mHz which simulcasts the religious programming of Lake Havasu City-based KNLB. Both radio stations could be heard in both Quartzsite and Blythe well (as well as in Ripley, west of Blythe), but both had some terrain blocking (by low mountains) between Blythe and Quartzsite.
In Blythe itself, all three of its licensed radio stations are still broadcasting with the same formats as they had when I last traveled through there (though I should point out that KBJF at 97.3 mHz was not yet on the air when I traveled through last). The strongest of the three is still noncommercial KERU (88.5 mHz) which carries the Fresno-based Radio Bilingua feed. KJMB at 100.7 mHz is running a soft AC format whose signal can be heard up to about 20 miles west of Blythe and 15 miles east of Blythe. While the station does make it to Quartzsite, AZ, it does so with a lot of hiss.
KBJF at 97.3 mHz is both the newest and weakest of the Blythe-licensed stations as its signal covers from about 3 miles west of Blythe to about 3 miles east of Blythe. As I was keeping an eye on these stations during my Sunday return trip, I heard neither commercials nor PSAs on either one.
Though I didn't travel through either Parker or Lake Havasu City, AZ, or Big River, CA, I did hear a couple of outlets from those locations. KFLG-FM came in off and on from just east of Desert Center (right around the rest area) to just east of Quartzsite, and I could hear Parker's KPKR with its adult hits format at 95.7 mHz in Quartzsite.
One station I was unable to hear (though I wanted to for verification) was KLPZ-FM (90.7 mHz) licensed as a non-commercial outlet to Salome, AZ. It's owned by New Path Communications, and I'm guessing that the format is protestant religious, but the station currently has no website or stream to verify my suspicion.
In Palm Springs, CA, both KKGX (920 kHz) and KWXY (1340 kHz) are back on the air. KKGX was carrying BBC programming, including a notice that occurs every 30 minutes that that programming comes courtesy of PRI. I haven't seen KKGX listed as a non-commercial station but perhaps it has become that.
KWXY (1340 kHz) dropped its easy listening format a while back and is now programming automated rock/classic rock on that frequency. It's anybody's guess how long that one will last. The licenses at 1010, 1200, 1400, and 1450 kHz are silent and are currently listed as either cancelled or with STAs, and I'm guessing that none of these stations will come back.
The Los Angeles and San Bernardino/Riverside stations were what I expected to hear. It's too bad that even 1960s oldies are unable to be commercially viable in either of these markets but time marches on. I did hear an unidentified outlet on 88.7 mHz while we stayed in San Pedro on Saturday broadcasting Spanish talk. (I thought/think it was Spanish religious but I never heard the Spanish words Dios (God) or Cristo (Christ) uttered during the brief times I listened to it.)
Anyway, those are some of my radio observations of my weekend road trip to southern California.
The best surprise for me was Quartzsite's KCNl (105.9 mHz). Driving on I-10 east, I was able to receive the station from just east of Desert Center, CA, to just east of the COL of Quartzsite (AZ) with hardly any issues. The station no longer has a website and it doesn't stream, but its programming was quite good, at least to my taste. KCNL plays classic rock/hits from the 1960s ("The Wind Cries Mary," by the Jimi Hendrix Experience) to the 1990s. While the programming is automated, it didn't appear to be satellite-based. While the station is a commercial operation, I heard only one actual commercial during my time of listening (and I was switching around the dial to see what else I could hear so I could have missed some) and that was an advertisement for a local hardware store located in Blythe, CA.
The owner of KCNl also owns KBUX at 96.5 mHz. The station used to be at 94.3 mHz but moved to allow Salome, AZ to get a commercial radio station at 94.1 mHz (whose construction permit was cancelled a while back if memory serves). Anyway, the Quartzsite-licensed noncommercial outlet is currently programming automated oldies (not from satellite) and is playing some real forgotten tunes (I heard The Olympics' minor 1960 hit, "Big Boy Pete," while listening to this station). Unfortunately, KBUX doesn't currently have a website, has never streamed, and I was only able to hear the station for about 10 minutes from the east side of Quartzsite going southeast on I-10.
Quartzsite has two other stations licensed to it: public radio outlet KAWQ (simulcasting Yuma's NPR outlet, KAWC) at 90.1 mHz and KYLN at 91.3 mHz which simulcasts the religious programming of Lake Havasu City-based KNLB. Both radio stations could be heard in both Quartzsite and Blythe well (as well as in Ripley, west of Blythe), but both had some terrain blocking (by low mountains) between Blythe and Quartzsite.
In Blythe itself, all three of its licensed radio stations are still broadcasting with the same formats as they had when I last traveled through there (though I should point out that KBJF at 97.3 mHz was not yet on the air when I traveled through last). The strongest of the three is still noncommercial KERU (88.5 mHz) which carries the Fresno-based Radio Bilingua feed. KJMB at 100.7 mHz is running a soft AC format whose signal can be heard up to about 20 miles west of Blythe and 15 miles east of Blythe. While the station does make it to Quartzsite, AZ, it does so with a lot of hiss.
KBJF at 97.3 mHz is both the newest and weakest of the Blythe-licensed stations as its signal covers from about 3 miles west of Blythe to about 3 miles east of Blythe. As I was keeping an eye on these stations during my Sunday return trip, I heard neither commercials nor PSAs on either one.
Though I didn't travel through either Parker or Lake Havasu City, AZ, or Big River, CA, I did hear a couple of outlets from those locations. KFLG-FM came in off and on from just east of Desert Center (right around the rest area) to just east of Quartzsite, and I could hear Parker's KPKR with its adult hits format at 95.7 mHz in Quartzsite.
One station I was unable to hear (though I wanted to for verification) was KLPZ-FM (90.7 mHz) licensed as a non-commercial outlet to Salome, AZ. It's owned by New Path Communications, and I'm guessing that the format is protestant religious, but the station currently has no website or stream to verify my suspicion.
In Palm Springs, CA, both KKGX (920 kHz) and KWXY (1340 kHz) are back on the air. KKGX was carrying BBC programming, including a notice that occurs every 30 minutes that that programming comes courtesy of PRI. I haven't seen KKGX listed as a non-commercial station but perhaps it has become that.
KWXY (1340 kHz) dropped its easy listening format a while back and is now programming automated rock/classic rock on that frequency. It's anybody's guess how long that one will last. The licenses at 1010, 1200, 1400, and 1450 kHz are silent and are currently listed as either cancelled or with STAs, and I'm guessing that none of these stations will come back.
The Los Angeles and San Bernardino/Riverside stations were what I expected to hear. It's too bad that even 1960s oldies are unable to be commercially viable in either of these markets but time marches on. I did hear an unidentified outlet on 88.7 mHz while we stayed in San Pedro on Saturday broadcasting Spanish talk. (I thought/think it was Spanish religious but I never heard the Spanish words Dios (God) or Cristo (Christ) uttered during the brief times I listened to it.)
Anyway, those are some of my radio observations of my weekend road trip to southern California.
