KWOD (defunct)

KWOD

City of license	Sacramento, California
Branding	KWOD 106.5
Slogan	"Everything Alternative"
Frequency	106.5 MHz (also on HD Radio) 106.5-2 FM - Deep Rock Tracks
First air date	1977
Format	Modern rock
ERP	50,000 watts
HAAT	125 meters (410 ft)
Class	B
Facility ID	57889
Callsign meaning	KWOD=Quadrophonic sound
Former callsigns	KJML
Owner	Entercom
Sister stations	KCTC, KSSJ, KSEG, KRXQ, KDND
Website	kwod.net

KWOD (106.5 FM) was a commercial radio station in Sacramento, California, primarily known for playing alternative music before it was mainstream. The Entercom-owned outlet changed formats (and call letters) on May 22, 2009, to a "90s hits" format as KBZC.

History

Origin

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, commonly identified as "instrumental elevator music."

1970s, Royce Broadcasting, AC/jazz format

Royce International Broadcasting headed by Edward R. Stolz II 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 their final incarnation, KWOD, which was named after quadrophonic sound, as the station was one of the first to experiment with the technology that never caught on.

1980s, Top 40 format

In the late 1970s, Royce Broadcasting decided to drop the adult contemporary/jazz hybrid music format in favor of a Top 40 music format.

By 1985, KWOD was the second rated station in the 12+ age demographic 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.

1990s, Modern rock format

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 mid-days, Brad Adams in afternoons and Nick Monroe in evenings. Later in 1993, Monroe moved to afternoons and Joe Gomez moved to nights. Shortly after the move to their new headquarters in downtown Sacramento, part-time DJ Giles Hendriksen from the U.K. became the full time afternoon host with Joe Gomez staying in the evening slot. Joe Gomez was in the 7-midnight slot until his departure in 1994. Jamie Gates took over the evening slot as well as programming both the "punk" and "industrial" music shows. Jamie stayed on until 1997 when new management took over. By this time, Ally Storm had already departed to work at Live 105 in San Francisco. 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.

2000s, Entercom purchase, modern AC format

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. Comedian Kelly Pryce eventually replaced Dave after KWOD's eventual sale to Entercom and the show later featured DJ Mervin and Ian Gary. Andy Sims also came on board in 2001 for middays, replacing Derek Moore, who later went on to 96.9 The Eagle.

In 2003, after a protracted seven-year court battle wherein violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) were alleged, Entercom acquired KWOD from Royce International Broadcasting. Entercom left KWOD's Modern Rock/Alernative format intact until two years later.

In Spring 2005, the Royce-era KWOD played its final song ("Nice to Know You" by Incubus) then started a two week long transition to a Modern AC/Light Alternative format with an auditory progress indicator between songs. Artists such as John Mayer and Tracy Chapman were added as harder rock bands like Korn and Deftones were dropped. The station re-branded itself "KWOD 2.0", and released the entire on-air staff. The station later shifted back toward its original approach, but the heritage KWOD on-air staff (Boomer & The Dave, Andy Sims, Nick Monroe, and Capone) did not return. Under Entercom's management, KWOD's overall 12+ ratings dropped under a 3 share throughout 2005 and 2006. In the Winter of 2007, KWOD's 12+ ratings fell below a 2 share.

In early 2006, KWOD picked up the syndicated Adam Carolla Show for the morning drive, and began to feature projects and shows devised by the disc jockeys, including the returning David X and Andy Sims. KWOD also started to feature a strong program of music including a focus on modern punk and indie music complemented by a "Never More Than 2 Minutes of Commercials" campaign.

In June 2008, Andy Sims' "Ask the Intern" segment marked the introduction of Laith the Intern to the station.

In February 2009, following the cancellation of the syndicated Adam Carolla Show, the morning drive time slot transitioned into playing music DJed by Andy Hawk.

Closure

In May 2009, Program Director Curtiss Johnson posted a notice on KWOD's homepage announcing that the station would be shutting down. Citing economic difficulties as the primary reason for the shutdown, Johnson assured that the decision was local and not made by the owner corporation Entercom. At the time of the closure, the on-air staff consisted of Andy Hawk, Andy Sims, Rubin, Mike D "Dezego", and Laith the Intern.

At approximately 9 a.m. on May 22, 2009, the station became "106.5 The Buzz - Totally 90s", playing music exclusively from the 1990s, and using the call letters KBZC. The format change left Sacramento without a modern rock/alternative format station until March 3, 2010 when KSSJ 94.7 Smooth Jazz was shut down and became KKDO Radio 94/7, a gold-based Alternative rock station.

The final song played by KWOD was "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" by Sacramento's very own Cake. The first song of the new "The Buzz" format was "Summertime" by Will Smith.

Awards and honors

• In 1993 and 2006 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.

References

• "The Rise of Alternative Radio", by Alex Cosper
• Arbitron, Radio & Records, Billboard, Sacramento Bee, All Access