The desert landscape surrounding Palm Springs, Calif., has gotten a big boost in recent years from The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, which due to COVID-19 is cancelled for 2021. The region is also a big LGBTQ haven.
Now, the Coachella Valley has emerged as an investment opportunity for one Louie Comella. He’s the head of a media company that’s buying radio properties in the market due east of L.A.
Comella’s Ivox Radio LLC is acquiring KKGX-AM 920 in Palm Springs and its FM Translator, K256CU at 99.1 MHz, branded as “Real Talk KGX“; and “Easy Listening” KWXY-AM 1340 in Cathedral City along with its FM translator, K222DA at 92.3 MHz.
It follows a Jan. 21, 2021 property sale tied to the transfer of real estate associated with the stations.
A $105,000 purchase price has been agreed to, with Desert Broadcasters the seller.
That’s the entity led by Garry Wing.
If the name Louie Comella rings a bell, it’s because he’s an Executive Producer and Media Financier who has put his dollars into independent films, directors, producers, artists and entertainment.
As a producer and director, his credits include thousands of multimedia projects across various distribution channels, including feature films, documentaries, TV commercials and branded content.
Collaborations and work include MTV, iHeartRadio, MGM Resorts & Casinos, Major League Baseball, the NFL, as well as broadcast networks such as PBS, Fox Sports and Showtime.
Founded in 1997, Ivox Media started out as a production company making TV commercials and radio spots for advertising agencies.
Now, it prepares to take on ownership of radio stations that presently serve conservatives and retirees, respectively. KGX is the home in Palm Springs for such syndicated talk hosts as Todd Schnitt, Glenn Beck, Lars Larson, Chad Benson and Joe Pags. KWXY, which continues the heritage of the former KWXY-FM, is perhaps America’s last B/EZ radio station. The Noon hour on Wednesday (3/3) included songs from Henry Mancini, Frank Sinatra, Bert Kaempfert, and Louis Prima. Also in the mix, for “Pirate Radio” KQLZ fans: “Quiet Village” by Martin Denny, the song used by Scott Shannon in what in radio lore has emerged as the greatest sign-on of a radio station in U.S. history.
