KPLM

KPLM (106.1 <a href="/facts/FM_broadcasting/TpKl3FJv">FM</a>) is a <a href="/facts/Radio_station/FLJVq8Ec">radio station</a> in <a href="/facts/Palm_Springs%2c_California/5oBSWMtm">Palm Springs, California</a>. The station broadcasts a <a href="/facts/Country_music/UJM3Un98">country music</a> format. The station is owned by Marker Broadcasting.
The station, then called KPAL, was founded in 1974 by Los Angeles radio personality <a href="/facts/Magnificent_Montague/Lphq7oFK">Magnificent Montague</a>, whose trademark shout, "Burn!" was expanded to "Burn, baby, burn" during the 1965 <a href="/facts/Watts_riots/trovXX1c">Watts riots</a>. The construction permit for the station was the first issued to an <a href="/facts/African-American/pTgcAdo8">African-American</a> in four decades. <a href="/facts/Call_sign/k3Y1upDl">Call sign</a> "KPLM" became available in 1979 when a local television station was purchased by <a href="/facts/Esquire_magazine/cbtwRf8q">Esquire</a> magazine. Today, that same TV station retains the call letters of <a href="/facts/KESQ-TV/5eR7ffc6">KESQ-TV</a>, although Esquire no longer owns it.
KPLM was an <a href="/facts/Easy_listening/ezgY94rq">easy listening</a> station through the first years of its existence. By the early 1980s, Montague sold his interest in the station which soon featured legendary Los Angeles radio personality <a href="/facts/Al_Lohman/b5ULFJNW">Al Lohman</a> in the weekday morning drive slot. A change was made to a contemporary <a href="/facts/Country_music/UJM3Un98">country music</a> format on January 5, 1994, giving KPLM an exclusive audience; no other FM country music station was on the air in the area at that time. After signing off the old format with "<a href="/facts/What_a_Wonderful_World/3yBLuuxH">What a Wonderful World</a>" by <a href="/facts/Louis_Armstrong/EcRpJ0gw">Louis Armstrong</a>, the new format's first three songs were "<a href="/facts/Don%2527t_Rock_the_Jukebox_(song)/IG64oIBM">Don't Rock the Jukebox</a>" by <a href="/facts/Alan_Jackson/HrxvJ6Se">Alan Jackson</a>, "<a href="/facts/Friends_in_Low_Places/jwusNk8A">Friends in Low Places</a>" by <a href="/facts/Garth_Brooks/v1fayUu5">Garth Brooks</a> and "<a href="/facts/Achy_Breaky_Heart/L5yKcPyR">Achy Breaky Heart</a>" by <a href="/facts/Billy_Ray_Cyrus/oKsKuL2L">Billy Ray Cyrus</a>.
1996 saw new parent company RM Broadcasting expand its market share with the acquisition of financially troubled, Palm Desert-based KLCX, only on the air for a brief time at 102.3 MHz under a <a href="/facts/Classic_rock/XelnbBW3">classic rock</a> format. KLCX was immediately reformatted into <a href="/facts/KRHQ/QeEDPSjA">KJJZ</a>, a pioneering <a href="/facts/Smooth_jazz/2Xzq4l4M">smooth jazz</a> radio station. Studios for both stations are in the same Palm Springs location.
A third station, <a href="/facts/KJJZ/n0xl551h">KAJR</a> at 95.9 MHz, took to the air as a fully automated <a href="/facts/Jack_FM/4Q999HMy">Jack FM</a> affiliate beginning in August 2007.
KPLM has the distinction of covering a greater terrestrial area than any other Palm Springs station coupled with a worldwide audience via the internet as of November 30, 2006. KPLM's transmitter is on a mountain along the edge of <a href="/facts/Joshua_Tree_National_Park/sf8HTb1p">Joshua Tree National Park</a>. As a result, the station not only blankets the <a href="/facts/Coachella_Valley/ktaH1YzQ">Coachella Valley</a> but reaches northward to the <a href="/facts/Mojave_Desert/qWmTVQLg">Mojave Desert</a>, southward to <a href="/facts/Imperial_County%2c_California/ee1S9HTq">Imperial County</a> and northern <a href="/facts/Baja_California/vJY3AFwn">Baja California</a> and westward via two repeaters to the <a href="/facts/San_Gorgonio_Pass/E82gIga2">San Gorgonio Pass</a> cities of <a href="/facts/Banning%2c_California/WKFRvJNb">Banning</a>, <a href="/facts/Temecula%2c_California/9Vv0FLXM">Temecula</a> and <a href="/facts/Hemet%2c_California/JvqqxyXw">Hemet</a>. The first is located on Snow Peak above Banning; the second is within the city of Hemet.
The station also plays an active role in bringing major country acts to the area; indeed, the station is the most active of all Palm Springs stations in sponsoring major concerts. Concerts in 2007 included <a href="/facts/Vince_Gill/I0WHTM9o">Vince Gill</a> with wife <a href="/facts/Amy_Grant/kH1KjepQ">Amy Grant</a>, <a href="/facts/Trisha_Yearwood/KfRlr60m">Trisha Yearwood</a> and <a href="/facts/Reba_McEntire/qzjHzzfk">Reba McEntire</a>. Superstar duo <a href="/facts/Montgomery_Gentry/uS5h2oeY">Montgomery Gentry</a> concluded the 2007 calendar in October at the Spa Resort Casino in downtown Palm Springs. 2008 concluded with <a href="/facts/Wynonna_Judd/0hm9TQvv">Wynonna Judd</a> who appeared for a holiday concert at the <a href="/facts/McCallum_Theatre/7MzLlMMd">McCallum Theatre</a> in December; 2009 began with <a href="/facts/Josh_Turner/QTHqYPmp">Josh Turner</a> at the McCallum and <a href="/facts/Brooks_%2526_Dunn/RShjGg8W">Brooks & Dunn</a> at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, both in February.
Other key on-air personnel include news director Jeff Michaels, production manager and nighttime talent Nick Summers, promotions manager Kory James and <a href="/facts/Program_director/R9UBNIsQ">program director</a> Al Gordon. (Nick Summers is now at the Alpha Media cluster in Palm Springs)

KPLM open-in-new

KPLM