KNDD

KNDD

City of license	Seattle, Washington
Broadcast area	Seattle metropolitan area
Branding	107.7 The End
Slogan	The World Famous End
Frequency	107.7 (MHz) (also on HD Radio)
First air date	1985 (as KMGI) 1991 (as KNDD)
Format	Alternative Rock
ERP	67,000 watts
HAAT	707 meters
Class	C
Facility ID	34530
Callsign meaning	The END
Former callsigns	KRAB (1962-1985) KMGI (1985-1991)
Owner	Entercom Communications
Webcast	Listen live or .PLS File
Website	1077theend.com

KNDD (107.7 FM), also known as "107.7 The End", is an alternative rock radio station in Seattle, Washington. It is operated by Entercom Communications Its studios are located in the Metropolitan Park West tower between Downtown and South Lake Union in Seattle. The station broadcasts on 107.7 MHz with an ERP of 67,000 watts and transmits from a tower near Issaquah, Washington on Tiger Mountain.

History

The station began its life in 1962 as non-commercial KRAB, founded by Lorenzo Milam and eventually owned by the Jack Straw Memorial Foundation. KRAB broadcast an eclectic mix of Pacifica radio features, world music, jazz, and much more. But the station was also dangerously close to insolvency. Its management realized the station could be sold to a commercial broadcaster and an endowment created, allowing the Foundation to broadcast in the non-commercial part of the radio dial, which exists between 88.1 MHz and 91.9 MHz. The owners of KRAB originally applied to share time with KNHC, owned by the Seattle Public Schools. However, this action was seen by the school district as a hostile take-over bid. Ultimately, the owners got a license for 90.7 MHz in Everett, Washington. KRAB's legacy remains on the air at KSER.

The first commercial station signed on in 1985. It was known as KMGI, also known as "Magic 108 FM". The station was a gold-based Adult Contemporary station and had limited success for four years. But, under the ownership of Noble Broadcast Group, the station refocused as a Hot AC station beginning in 1990 and called itself "I-107.7." KMGI brought together the morning team of Kelly and Alpha, who remained with the station throughout its days as I-107-7. All forms of AC tried on the station resulted in low ratings.

For a few weeks in August 1991, 107.7 stunted with non-stop (1950s-1980s) TV theme songs with different voices stating "The End is coming" during its commercial breaks and randomly between themes. On August 23, 1991, at 3 PM, the station changed its name and call letters to "107.7 The End" (KNDD). The End's first song was "It's The End of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" by R.E.M.. The station referred to its music as "The Cutting Edge of Rock." This positioning statement borrowed directly from its San Diego/Tijuana sister station XETRA-FM. It was the Seattle market's 4th attempt at a modern alternative format, dating back to KZAM AM 1540 in the late 1970s. Other stations in the format at one time or another included KJET-AM 1590 and KYYX-FM 96.5, which both trace their histories to the 1980s. Within six weeks of The End's first broadcast, three albums by local artists — Ten by Pearl Jam, Nevermind by Nirvana and Badmotorfinger by Soundgarden — were released. These albums helped come to define the sound known as grunge, and the station quickly became one of the major stations in alternative rock radio. KNDD was also the first commercial station to play the band Weezer, when in June 1994, the station played "Undone (The Sweater Song)". For many years, the station's morning show was titled "The Morning End", and was hosted by Andy Savage. Savage was let go in 2003 due to the expiration of his contract with the station. After a period of music-based shows, Adam Carolla would become the station's morning show host in 2006.

On December 18, 2003, the station moved to a classic alternative rock direction. CBS Radio followed suit 29 hours later by flipping KYPT ("96.5 The Point") to KRQI ("96-5 K-Rock") to provide competition. This proved to be a stunt, and shortly after KRQI's sign-on, the station moved back to alternative rock, although it dumped most hard rock bands (KRQI later dumped the format and flipped to adult hits in 2005 as KJAQ). This marked one of the first times when KNDD wasn't Seattle's only alternative rock station. But, KNDD returned to not being Seattle's only alternative rock station in 2011, when Sandusky's KLCK-FM (Click 98.9) changed formats from adult album alternative/modern AC to alternative.

In May 2006, long time program director Phil Manning announced that he was leaving the station. Lazlo, of KRBZ in Kansas City, was named the new program director on June 1, 2006. In November 2006, he began hosting afternoons with a simulcast of his KRBZ show, which was co-hosted by his wife, Afentra, and Slimfast under the "Church of Lazlo" moniker. On July 17, 2008, Lazlo, Afentra, and Slimfast announced that they would depart KNDD. On August 25, 2008, both "Afentra's Big Fat Morning Buzz" and "The Church of Lazlo" returned live to Kansas City on KRBZ. This came shortly after former KRBZ program director Mike Kaplan took over programming duties at KNDD.

In February 2009, the syndicated Adam Carolla Show was cancelled, leaving KNDD without a morning show. After an on-air search for a new morning host that featured well known DJs and local musicians, Whitney "Red" Knoerlin was named host of a freshly resurrected version of The Morning End.

Concerts and communities

• Endfest

An annual summer festival since 1992.

• Deck The Hall Ball

An annual holiday concert since 1992.

• Endsessions

Intimate, mostly acoustic performances from current End Artists since 1997.

• Concerts for a Cause

A concert series benefiting local charities.

• 1077 The End's Summer Camp

First occurring in 2007 Summer Camp is summer festival held at Redmond's Marymoor Park.

• Are You On The List

A free concert series held throughout the year. End listeners won their spot on the list to check out some of the stations hottest new up and coming artist.

• 1077 The End's Beach House

Located in the heart of Alki Beach, The End's Beach House was KNDD's summer headquarters for two summers (2007 and 2008). Listeners were encouraged to stop by check out and sometimes join in the daily broadcast, enjoy exclusive performances from national and local artists, and have a free beer and some food at the weekly Friday Night Beach BBQ.

Current DJs

• Red
• harms
• GregR
• Intern Bryce
• Megan Seling

Former DJs

• Andy Savage
• Marco Collins
• Jordin Silver
• Bill Reid

Programming

• Loveline
• The Morning End

Currently hosted by Red runs week days 5am to 10am. Formerly hosted by Andy Savage.

• What's Next

As the title would suggest, the newest music in alternative, ranging from the newest singles by top artists, to album tracks (occasionally whole albums will be played), to local music. Hosted by harms.

• Locals Only

Alternative music from the Pacific Northwest. Hosted by Megan Seling

• People's Choice Countdown

The top five most requested songs of the day. Played at 10:00pm Monday through Friday.

• End Unplugged

Exclusive acoustic performances from End artists. Sunday mornings

• End to End Music

Three hours of non-stop music, 9am to 12pm Monday through Friday

• Resurrection Flashback

An hour of music from the beginning of alternative rock, going from the 1970s, 80s, and early 90s. Formerly hosted by Jim Keller.

• Ultrasound

Electro and dance rock, Saturdays 9pm to Midnight

Discontinued programming

• The Adam Carolla Show
• The Church of Lazlo

Afternoon drive show hosted by Lazlo, wife Afentra, and sidekick Slimfast

• The Daily Special

The End's all-request lunch hour, the music played is generally wrapped around a central theme. While Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays have fixed themes (1990s music, Resurrection Flashback, and general all-request, respectively), Tuesday and Thursday's themes are essentially wild cards and can range from an hour's worth of music by one artist, to songs whose titles or content all have something in common.

• Gabba Gabba Hey

Punk rock from the 1970s through today. Hosted by Rob Femur.

• The Young & the Restless

Alternative music from the Pacific Northwest.

• Loudspeaker
• Ultrasound

Controversy

According to the radio playlist database "Yes.com" KNDD played the "Weird Al" Yankovic song "Amish Paradise" at 2:55pm on Monday, October 2, 2006, just hours after Charles Roberts killed 5 young girls in a Pennsylvania Amish schoolhouse.

On October 6, 2006, Entercom Seattle Vice President Jerry McKenna issued the following statement. DJ No Name was "less respectful of the event than he should have been. We are dealing with it internally.

Awards

In 2007, the station was nominated for the top 25 markets Alternative station of the year award by Radio & Records magazine. Other nominees included WBCN in Boston, Massachusetts, KROQ-FM in Los Angeles, KTBZ-FM in Houston, Texas, KITS, in San Francisco, and WWDC in Washington, DC.

External links

• 107.7 The End
• A brief history of Seattle radio
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KNDD
• Radio-Locator information on KNDD
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for KNDD