KDWN

Infobox Radio station
name = KDWN


city = Las Vegas, Nevada
area = Las Vegas metropolitan area
branding = "KDWN-AM 720"
slogan = "News, Traffic, and Weather for Vegas"
airdate = 1975
frequency = 720 kHz
format = News/Talk
power = 50,000 watts
class = B
callsign_meaning = DaWN
former_callsigns =
owner = Beasley Broadcast Group
webcast =
website = http://www.kdwn.com/
affiliations = Fox News

KDWN (720 AM, "KDWN-AM 720") is a radio station owned by Beasley Broadcast Group based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. It broadcasts full-time at 50,000 watts, and is directional at night. It can be heard throughout most of the Western United States, north into Canada and south into Mexico. KDWN is primarily a news-talk radio station featuring a libertarian-to-conservative outlook with local morning talk show host Heidi Harris and syndicated talk show hosts such as Neal Boortz, Michael Savage, Jerry Doyle, Phil Hendrie, and Laura Schlessinger. KDWN also broadcasts paid radio shows for Las Vegas casinos, local businesses, and other groups.

KDWN also is the station where famous late-night talk show host Art Bell first broadcast his show, Coast to Coast AM. As a word, it is pronounced "Kay Dawn".

History

KDWN-AM 720 first came on the air in April 1975. They began as a music oriented radio station playing mostly soft adult contemporary. KDWN was one of a string of AM stations that played music around that time in the mid 1970s. The music format lasted until around Christmas 1979.

The transition from music to talk began slowly between 1975 and 1980. In the late 1970s, KDWN was usually music and some talk during the day. The talk format was continuing to increase on many AM stations that played music in the late 1970s.

In January 1980, KDWN-AM finally switched to talk radio. KDWN was the only talk station in town and one of the first responders of the 1980 MGM grand fire for which they won an award. [http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2003/Aug-21-Thu-2003/news/21986997.html] KDWN closed its newsroom in the early 1990s, according to a poster on the message board site Radio-Info. [http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:pAFsUX5TsVsJ:www.radio-info.com/mods/board%3FBoard%3Dnevada%26Post%3D202666%26page%3D+KDWN+newscasts&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2] KDWN was one of the very first talk stations to air Rush Limbaugh in 1988 but lost his show to rival KXNT in 1996.

KDWN AM 720 had its own local morning show "The Snoozebusters" from the early 1980s until 2006. The show consisted of Jim Austin, Ken Stahl, etc. It was a call-in format and a general discussion mainly about local issues and national news headlines.

KDWN was founded by A.J. Williams (owner of KTYM AM FM Inglewood, CA and KAIL-TV Fresno, CA)and Frank Reeder (then Chief Engineer of 1110AM KRLA), Reeder died, leaving the station to Williams, who owned the station until his death in 2005. [http://www.nevadabroadcasters.org/news/index.php?news=38] . KDWN was unique in that, unlike most Las Vegas stations, it remained independent of large radio chains such as Clear Channel and Infinity Broadcasting. The continuity of ownership ensured a continuity of station sound. The station continued to rely on aging hosts who in some cases had been with the station since it started in the talk format. The station did well in the ratings as one of the first generation of talk stations, but began a slow decline in the early 1990s.In some ways the station is a stylistic throwback to 1970s talk radio. Call screening was not used until recently [http://www.radio-info.com/mods/board.php?Post=442130&Board=nevada] , and the station had a disproportionate amount of locally originated talk for a market the size of Las Vegas. [http://www.kdwn.com/programming.html] .

In March 2006, Beasley Broadcast Group announced plans to buy the station for $17 million. [http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20060324005393&newsLang=en] A Las Vegas newspaper reported a rumor that KDWN would change to an all-sports format effective July 1, 2006, however, this has not happened. As reported on "Wake Up, America" on July 21, 2006 by Jim Dallas, audience backlash against the change has resulted in no change to the current talk-radio format.

In the fall of 2006, Beasley introduced a news/talk format featuring a drive-time morning newscast and a locally-produced daytime talk program hosted by Heidi Harris, with the remainder of its weekday talk format consisting of nationally syndicated shows. For many years, KDWN broadcast from the second floor of the Plaza Hotel & Casino in downtown Las Vegas. It now broadcasts from Beasley's Las Vegas studios.

Notable current and former hosts of KDWN

*Ted Bair (?-2004) (retired in December 2004, Moved To Idaho)
*Tru Hawkins (1982 - 2006) (moved to San Marcos, Texas. Currently does voice overs & internet talk radio in Texas & Nevada.) Lost his leg in Korea.
*Jim Dallas
*Art Bell Retired in 2006 Moved to Philippines. Hosts Coast To Coast On Weekends
*Double O Seven: Traffic/Announcer (Early 1980s) (Deceased)
*Linda Fallover: KDWN News Anchor & Reporter/1980s til early 1990s
*Lee Peterson
*Jacque Off (1977-1996)
*Jim Allen (Currently Works For KKOB AM 770 in Albuquerque, NM as Jim Villanueva)
*Doug Basham (Syndicated) [http://www.dougbasham.com/)
*Harvey Allen (1988-1994) (Does commercial voice overs)
*Gayle Allen (Host Of "Lifelines With Gayle Allen") 1988 - 1999 ?
*Jim Austin (? - 1992) Moved to Galveston and doing morning show with brother Steve - Morning Zoo with Steve and Jim
*Lou Epton (moved to KKVV 1060 AM, then to KLAV 1230 AM. Announced his sudden retirement on-air on 2 November 2007.)
*Stephanie Roberts began as Ken Stahl's liberal co-host mid-days in the '80s, then moved to AM Drive as Host with Stahl as anchor when KDWN replaced music with a news block (She's been an anchor/reporter at KNX, Los Angeles since 1995)
*Ken Stahl (Fired so essentially retired).
*Mark Edwards (Fired, moved to the fox river valley region near Oshknosh, Wisconsin In 2006 - Wake Up Wisconsin Show with Mark Edwards simulcast on the Fox Valley's NewsTalk WHBY 1150 AM, Appleton, WI beginning August 7, 2008 Thursday 3 to 5PM Central Time )
*Jack Daniels (? - 1989)
*Mike England (1975-1976)
*Ken Koester (2000 - 2001) (retired in 2001, moved to northern California)
*Cheryl Godfrey (1993-2000) (Deceased)
*Heidi Harris (1998, 2007-present)
*Nathan "Nate" Tannenbaum (2006-Present)/ Runs Catering Truck with Wife on Weekends near construction sites.
*"Part Time" Pete Moss (2002-Fired in 2006) (Works overnights at KCAA 1050 AM - San Bernardino, CA)
*Hart Kirsch {Hosts own weekday morning talk show on KLAV AM 1230 - Las Vegas}
*Mona Van Joseph, aka "Mystic Mona" (2003-present)

References

* [http://www.nevadabroadcasters.org/news/index.php?news=38 Founder of KDWN 720 AM Talk radio Dies]
* [http://www.kdwn.com/index.php?page=4 KDWN Program Schedule]

External links

* [http://www.kdwn.com/ KDWN official website]
* [http://www.fybush.com/sites/2006/site-061124.html] Old KDWN Studio Photos
* [http://www.blogtalkradio.com/liveatthestudio] Tru Hawkins internet radio show
*AMQ|KDWN
*AML|KDWN
*AMARB|KDWN