KWOD
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| KWOD | |
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| City of license | Sacramento, California |
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| Broadcast area | Sacramento, California |
| Slogan | Everything Alternative |
| Frequency | 106.5 MHz (Also on HD Radio) |
| First air date | 1957 |
| Format | KWOD: Modern Rock KWOD-HD2: Deep Rock Tracks |
| ERP | 50,000 watts |
| HAAT | 125 meters |
| Class | B |
| Callsign meaning | KWOD=Quadraphonic stereo |
| Former callsigns | KJML |
| Owner | Entercom |
| Sister stations | KSSJ, KSEG, KRXQ, KDND |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | www.kwod.net |
KWOD is a commercial radio station in Sacramento, California, broadcasting on 106.5 FM. The Entercom-owned outlet airs a modern rock music format.
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[edit] History
The 106.5 frequency in Sacramento signed on in 1957 with the call letters, KJML, which adopted a number of format changes before settling with the beautiful music format - or what some have called "instrumental elevator music." Royce International Broadcasting acquired the station in 1977 dropping the beautiful music format in favor of an adult contemporary/jazz music hybrid with a change of call letters to the current, KWOD, which was named after quadrophonic sound, as the station was one of the first to experiment with the technology that never caught on.
From 1977 to 2003, KWOD was independently-owned by Royce International Broadcasting headed by Edward R. Stolz II.
In the late 1970's, the adult contemporary/jazz hybrid music format was dropped in favor of a Top 40 music format.
In 1985, KWOD was rated as the second most listened to station ages (12+) - under the programming of PD Tom Chase and MD Mr. Ed Lambert behind cross-town KSFM. The popular morning show of this period was "The Masters & Johnson Morning Radio Clinic" featuring Doug Masters and Marty Johnson. Other jocks throughout the Chase era included Dave Diamond, Dean Stevens, Dave Skyler, Greg Lane, Melanie Evans, John Edwards, Panama Jack, Rick Foster, Russ Martin and Alex Cosper. Chase left in late 1987 to program competitor KROY and Mr. Ed followed to become KROY's MD in early 1988.
In 1988, the morning show became "Sterling and Steele in The Morning" featuring PD Jeff Hunter (Terry Steele) and Charlie Simons (Tom Sterling) following the resignation of Marty Johnson, as Doug Masters moved to middays. The rest of the full-time line-up of this period included "Jammin'" John Edwards and Panama Jack in afternoons, Pat Garrett "The Night Hawk" in evenings and Alex Cosper in late nights. Other jocks included "Wild" Bill Shakespeare, Vince Simon, Rick Neal and Rick Foster. Rex McNeill did weekend overnights and was responsible for cleaning the KWOD Power van after late night station parties. Sterling and Steele left in 1989 to do mornings in San Jose and were replaced by a temporary irreverent show that failed called the Renegades.
Gerry Cagle arrived in late 1989 to oversee programming as Operations Manager. Ratings fell sharply beginning in 1988 (as documented in the Sacramento Bee) as KWOD fell into third place in a three way battle with cross-town competitors KSFM and KROY. Even after KROY changed to The Eagle as a classic rock station, the ratings remained dismal leading to a change of format in 1991 to a Top 40/modern rock music hybrid which evolved into a modern rock music format.
After Cagle's departure in 1993, programming decisions went to Alex Cosper, who shifted the format to full-time Alternative without the top 40 music. This change of format proved to be a success as noted by a ratings surge. The line-up included the morning team of Shawn Cash and Jeff Jensen followed by Cosper in middays, Brad Adams in afternoons and Nick Monroe in evenings. Later in 1993, Monroe moved to afternoons and Joe Gomez moved to nights. By the summer, Giles Hendriksen from the U.K. became the afternoon host and Ally Storm began doing evenings in 1994. The station reached its ratings peak as an alternative station in the summer of 1995 with a 5.2 (12+) share, making it one of the highest rated alternative stations in America at the time (as documented in the 12/9/95 issue of Billboard). It also beat all four other rock stations in the market. Cosper left the station in 1996 and later did radio in Milwaukee and San Francisco. Cosper later wrote a book about his experience called, "The Rise of Alternative Radio."
Ron Bunce assumed control of KWOD's programming in 1997, and took the station to an edgier harder rock direction, which peaked at 4.5 (12+) in the Arbitron ratings. Throughout the 2000s KWOD stayed below a 4 share 12+, but was competitive with rock station KRXQ. Over time, there was a lot of staff turnover. Morning personalities Shawn & Jeff left for KZZO in 2001 and were succeeded by Boomer and the Dave. Andy Sims also came on board in 2001 for middays, replacing Derek Moore, who later went on to 96.9 The Eagle. In 2003, Entercom acquired KWOD after a seven-year court battle, stemming from an apparent deal to sell the station, back in 1996. Comedian Kelly Pryce eventually replaced Dave and the show later featured DJ Mervin and Ian Gary.
In Spring, 2005, KWOD was fully overhauled, and became "KWOD v2.0", with a more Modern AC approach. Artists such as John Mayer and Tracy Chapman were added as harder rock bands like KoЯn and Deftones were dropped. The entire air staff was also replaced. The station has since shifted back toward its original approach, but the heritage KWOD airstaff (Boomer & The Dave, Andy Sims, Nick Monroe and Capone) did not shift back with it, setting KWOD back to square one. Since the sale, KWOD's overall 12+ ratings have been under a 3 share. In the Winter of 2007 12+ ratings fell below a 2 share.
In early 2006, KWOD picked up the syndicated Adam Carolla show for morning drive, and since has grown into a more focused project led by its disc jockeys, two of which are returning airstaff fired in 2005 (David X and Andy Sims), and a strong program of music complemented by a "Never More Than 2 Minutes of Commercials" campaign. Danny Bonaduce joined the nationally-syndicated morning show in January 2007 and was fired by year's end.
[edit] KWOD-HD2
KWOD's HD2 subcarrier, which has yet to sign on, will offer a format featuring Deep Rock tracks and album cuts.
[edit] Trivia
- In 1993 KWOD was named Station of the Year by Sac News & Review. It was also named Station of the Year in 1992 by the Sacramento Bee.
- The last song ever played on the original KWOD 106.5 was the Incubus song "Nice To Know You".
- After all the DJ's were let go after the change to KWOD 2.0, jock Nick Monroe opened up a Beach Hut Deli on J Street in Downtown Sacramento, California. He later sold it because he hated the commute from the suburbs.
- Derek Moore, DJ David X, Capone, and Andy Sims are the only jocks to have worked at both the original and newer versions of KWOD.
[edit] References
- "The Rise of Alternative Radio", by Alex Cosper
- Arbitron, Radio & Records, Billboard, Sacramento Bee, All Access
[edit] External links
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