Today’s media landscape continues to devolve or evolve — depending on your point of view. The devolution occurred last year with the demise of public broadcasting as the administration eliminated the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). PBS and NPR have held on with support from foundations, listeners and affiliate radio stations. The purge continued with the demise of CBS — 60 Minutes and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert — and threats against ABC, for example.
We continue to ride the wave of evolution at KGAY and GayDesertGuide.com adapting to these changes and finding new ways to reach our worldwide audience with news, music and entertainment that can’t be found elsewhere and is uniquely Palm Springs.
When the concept of KGAY first came along, I helped create the station with the help of a community-driven board of directors, bringing in John Taylor, Chris Shebel and Shann Carr for talent. That non-profit faltered and my team walked away in year one. It was painful for us, but months later COVID struck. Advertising dried up and the station held on by a thread with a skeleton staff.
I was then able to buy the stations after COVID and on August 1, 2021 we came back with John, Chris and myself at the helm. We invested in upgrading our signal by purchasing Channel Q from Audacy and eventually moving KGAY from 106.5 to 103.1. (We launched Sunny 106.5 January 1st to complete the swap).
While KGAY is not a ‘public’ radio station, we are chartered as a public benefit corporation (sometimes known as a “B Corp”) in order to best serve the LGBTQ+ community. As with many news and media companies, we are faced with costs that exceed what we bring in from advertisers. So we take a week each year now to ask for your help and #SupportYourStation.
There are some simple ways to do so and here’s what we’re asking this year:
- Become a individual contributor for as little as $20 HERE
- Join us Friday evening at the Palm Springs Surf Club for the Big Splash Pool Party. Happy Hour starts at 5 pm; get wet starting at 7 pm.
- Businesses can join at the “Dollar-A-Day” level and get many benefits including discounts on KGAY advertising.
This year, we’re putting a focus on our business community to help us continue to stream worldwide, helping to bring visitors to Greater Palm Springs. Our websites and on-air information — including ads that people hear before they come to the Coachella Valley have an impact on where they stay, eat, shop and play. That’s why we offer discounts to our business supporters. That $365 level conveys many benefits and we will be acknowledging businesses throughout the week.
We’re excited to move #SupportYourStation week to Pride month. And I’m looking forward to Friday night’s Big Splash Pool Party so we have an opportunity to meet and talk with you, our listeners. Please pardon the interruptions to our regular programming this week. We’re keen on keeping KGAY giving you an earful for many years to come!
