Alpha Media has relaunched Standards “Legend 107.3” K297BO Palm Springs/KDES-HD2 as “107.3 Mod-FM” as the station completes its breakaway from 1340 KWXY Cathedral City.
Alpha had acquired programming rights to the translator as part of its purchase of KDES and 100.5 KPSI from RR Broadcasting in August. RR retained KWXY and its two other AM stations in the market and is now carrying Talk programming on 1340.
The new “Mod-FM” is positioning as “Great Standards From Yesterday To Today” while removing any remaining instrumentals from the playlist. With the recent format changes made by Alpha to the former 98.5 KDES to Country and 103.9 K280CV to Sports, Alpha has consolidated the Gold based stations they operate in the market from four to two: K297BO and sister Classic Hits “The Eagle 106.9” KDGL.
David @ USC 
glen kippel
Dating to its origin, KWXY-AM was an instrumentals station, one of the last remaining terrestrial stations still committed, albeit marginally in recent years, to programming instrumentals. This once dominant format on American FM radio has now lost one of its last vestiges and is essentially wiped out.
I began working at KWXY on October 5, 1964, their second night of operation, doing the 7 to 10 p.m. shift. We signed off at 10 p.m. because it was said that all the old people went to bed by then. We were running 250 watts out of a Raytheon transmitter, using a GE board that owner/engineer Glen Barnett totally rebuilt, and three 16-inch turntables.
As to the format, it was kind of a copy of the old KPOL in Los Angeles, complete with harp bridges. It was all instrumental except for three vocals per hour, in the first, second and third quarter hours. Stop sets were at :15, :30 and :45. A full newscast — rip and read off the Model 15 Teletype — was at :45.
I left there in 1969 and returned from 2006 to 2009, when I fell and broke my hip, leaving me out of the loop when the station was assumed by R&R in early 2010. Sometime in the interim, they went to playing 50% vocals and 50% instrumentals. That still worked.
Remember when Coca Cola came out with their “new improved” formula and everyone hated it? What if they not only had changed the formula but the name — “Cola Up” or something like that? Well, KWXY had a successful brand that was near the top of the ratings for 50 years. Now it’s the same as if Coca Cola changed everything and torpedoed their brand. Except it was KWXY. I don’t care for this Odd FM. Glen Barnett died last December, and, as probably the last surviving member of the original KWXY staff, I am heartbroken over this.