KINGSBURG, Calif. — KFYE-FM hasn’t budged from the Fresno-area dial, but it’s about as far as you can get from the Christian music, sermons and Bible stories it was broadcasting until about a week ago.
Now it calls itself “Porn Radio” — “all sex radio, all the time,” with a suggestion that people under 21 not listen.
Songs with little in common except suggestive titles and lyrics fill the playlist, including “Why Don’t We Do It in the Road” by The Beatles, “Sexual Healing” by Marvin Gaye and “Nasty” by Janet Jackson. Tamer songs are heated up by adding recorded moans and groans.
The change, made after the station was sold this month, was met with several non-sexual groans from some residents.
“It would appear this is another of those promotions that are simply designed to create controversy,” longtime Fresno radio personality Ed Beckman told The Fresno Bee. “This format belongs on Sirius or XM, not on over-the-air.”
The station tries not to cross the line, said owner Jerry Clifton.
KFYE has been playing songs in a continuous one-hour loop without commercials. Clifton wouldn’t tell the Bee whether he plans to eventually switch to a more traditional format.