KEZN
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| City | Palm Desert, California |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Palm Springs, California |
| Branding | 103.1 Sunny FM |
| Slogan | Today's Hits and Yesterday's Favorites! |
| Frequency | 103.1 MHz |
| First air date | 1977 (as KCMS) |
| Format | Christmas Music (Nov-Dec) |
| ERP | 1,900 watts |
| HAAT | 180 meters |
| Class | A |
| Facility ID | 11747 |
| Former callsigns | KCMS (1977-1983) |
| Owner |
CBS Radio (sale to Entercom pending) (CBS Radio Stations Inc.) |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | ez103.radio.com/ |
KEZN is a 1.9 kW Class A soft rock radio station serving the Palm Springs, California, United States, market at 103.1 MHz. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of CBS Radio and is that company's smallest station in terms of market size.
The station was founded in 1977 by broadcast engineer Paul Posen under his company, Classic Broadcasting. The original call sign was KCMS, then KCPS, KCBI when it was under CBS Radio and KECI in 1983, and finally changing to the current KEZN call sign in 1990. Studios were originally based in Indio and broadcast a classical music format, hence the company name.
By 1987, the studios were moved to a new facility in Palm Desert where they remain to this day. In the early 1990s, the station began to shift toward a very mellow format with the broadcast of "Format 41," the soft rock music service of Westwood One. In 1994, KEZN became the only Soft Rock AC station in the Palm Springs market with the changeover of KPLM to a contemporary country music format. Legendary Los Angeles broadcaster Russ O'Hara teamed with local personality Kayla Stone for the "Russ and Kayla" morning drive slot; another local favorite, Debra Kaye Ahlers occupied the mid day shift; Orange County favorite Dale Berg, the PD handled Afternoon Drive. Morning drive has been occupied for several years by former Nashville Network announcer Dan McGrath while former KCLB personality John O (John Ostrum) occupies the afternoon drive. Gary Bell came to the station in 1996 from KCBS-FM, Los Angeles and has been there since. Ryan Yamanaka also served as an on-air personality from 2000 - 2001 working the 12am-6am shift. He was also the last of few who drove KEZN's "Mr. Frosty". The early personalities helped propel KEZN to the highest rated adult station in the market. By the fall of 1997, KEZN showed a 23 share with women 25 to 54 in middays according to Arbitron.
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