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KDWB-FM

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KDWB-FM
KDWB logo
Broadcast areaMinneapolis-St. Paul
Frequency101.3 FM (MHz)
(HD Radio)
101.3 HD-2 Party Zone (Rhythmic/Dance) (also rebroadcasts on K273BH-FM at 102.5)
Branding101.3 KDWB
Programming
FormatCommercial; Top 40 (CHR)
Ownership
OwnerClear Channel
KEEY, KFXN-FM, KQQL, KTCN, KTCZ
History
First air date
August 1959 (as WPBC-FM)
Former call signs
WPBC (1959-1972)
WRAH (1972-1973)
WYOO (1973-1976)
Call sign meaning
Derived from former sister station KFWB
Technical information
Facility ID41967
ClassC
ERP100,000 watts
HAAT315 meters
Links
WebcastListen Live!
Websitekdwb.com

KDWB-FM (101.3 FM) is an American commercial radio station broadcasting in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota, the radio format was known for over fifty years as a major contemporary hit radio Top 40 pop music outlet. Its transmitter is located in Shoreview, Minnesota. It broadcasts in 5.1 cinema-quality Dolby Surround audio sound. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications.

History

Between its AM and FM frequencies, KDWB has been an uninterrupted Top 40 outlet since 1959. Originally starting out at 630 kHz, the station's owners purchased the 101.3 MHz frequency in 1976, later transferring the entire format there.

63 KDWB

See also: WREY

KDWB's origins on the AM dial date back to 1951, at 1590 kHz. The big station began as a collaboration between three brothers who named it WCOW, and it played country and old-time music. In the early days, WCOW signed on with a cowbell. The studios, transmitter, broadcast towers and offices were located one-quarter mile south of U.S. highway 12 ( later 1986-1988, re-built and designated Interstate 94, engineers at the minnesota department of transportation routed the interstate domain through the tower field thinking KDWB would just have to move the towers and ended up having condemmed some properties unnecessarily and then condemming additional properties and building an S-shaped curve around the six tower array ) at 255 Radio Drive South in Woodbury Minnesota in the midst of various rotated farm crops ( corn,wheat,soy,etc. ) and livestock pastures. The three brothers, Al, Vic, and Nick Tedesco applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for the purchase of WSHB-AM (licensed 1948) Stillwater, Minnesota (and call letter change to reflect thier first names). The application was approved and on the 15th of March 1949, WAVN, Stillwater signed on the air as a 5000 watt non-directional day-timer in Stillwater, Minnesota. The Tedesco brothers attempted to get into television on channel 17 the next year, but financial backing fell through. The channel 17 allocation was taken by Twin Cities Public Television in 1965. Since the initial purchase of WAVN in 1949, the Tedesco brothers acquired several other radio stations, sometimes with partners i.e; WIXK New Richmond Wisconsin, 27th of September 1960, with Bill Smith of River Falls and Pinky and Zel Rice of Sparta, Wisconsin.

WCOW was not very successful, so the station transitioned to being a female-oriented station including commercials aimed at it's target audience, with a heavy saturation long term ad contract, enticed with the station applying ( to FCC ) for the same name as the product, the the FCC approved call letters of WISK in 1957, and switched its frequency to 630 kHz the next year. Again, the format was not popular, and the station was soon sold to Crowell-Collier ( publisher of the very popular "Collier's" weekly magazine ) Broadcasting Company, who owned "channel 98" KFWB Los Angeles and "channel 91" KEWB Oakland/San Francisco California. The top 40 format of those stations was brought to Minnesota, and the call letters changed to KDWB in 1959. With the 630 kHz frequency, "Channel 63, KDWB, St. Paul - Minneapolis", began its long uninterrupted run as a pop music station. It quickly became a major competitor to the established WDGY, which had been playing a pop music format for three years by that point. KDWB and WDGY were fierce rivals throughout the 1960s and 1970s. During the 1970s, both stations gained even more competition, as "15 KSTP The Music Station"(1972) and "WYOO Super(U100) The Boogie Station" (1974) picked up the format.

7 Swingin' Gentlemen

An array of outstanding DJs, "the 7 Swinging Gentlemen" graced the airwaves of KDWB during the early to mid 1960s and 1970s including Buzz Bennet, "True" Don Bleu, Benny Blore, Chuck "The Chucker" Britton, Charlie Brown, Mike Butts, Michael Christian, Randy Cook, Dave Cooper, Bobby Davis, Don Duchene, Marc Elliot, Chuck Evans, Charlie Fox, Bill Gardner, "Smokin" Joe Hager, Tac Hammer, Tim Kelly, "Bullit" Bob Lange, Don Martin, Peter Huntington May, Barry McKinna (Siewert), Hal Murray, Adam North, James Francis Patrick O'Neil, Brian "The Cosmic" Phoenix, Jimmy Reed, Ron Richards, "Ugly" Del Roberts, Bob Shannon, Rob Sherwood, Dave Thomson, Earl L. Trout III, Lou Reigert and Bobby Wayne. Program Directors included, Chuck Blore, Don French, Ted Randall, Sam Sherwood, Earl L. Trout III, Deane Johnson, Chuck Buell, Bob { Shannon, John Sebastian and Dave Thomson. News Directors included; Stan Turner, Michael J. Douglas, Michael J. Elston and Scott Harris.

The FCC

KDWB allegedly was the first station to have been fined by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). It apparently had to pay $10,000 because of repeated willful violations of nighttime broadcast power restrictions on the AM band, a large amount of money in the 1960's. A fire at the station knocked it off the air for a few days later that decade.

History of 101.3 FM

See also: WYOO (defunct)

After two years of wrangling and obtaining start-up funds, WPBC officially signed on the air on October 18, 1949. The station was owned by the People's Broadcasting Company, founded by former WCCO announcer Bill Stewart and his wife Becky Ann. In contrast to WCCO and KSTP, WPBC carried no network programming, and wwas broadcast live and local all day. The station in the early years played a variety of MOR pop music and standards, and was even considered an innovator in the concept of singing jingles.

As it was limited by its then-daytime only license at 980 AM, it started up WPBC-FM at 101.3 MHz in August 1959, simulcasting the AM station.

The Stewarts sold the stations in 1972 to Fairchild Industries for $1.5 million. Fairchild subsequently dismissed the entire staff and overhauled both stations. On November 3, 1972, the AM station was relaunched as WYOO, picking up an oldies format (with rock 'n roll included). A few days later, WPBC-FM became WRAH and programmed an automated Album oriented rock (AOR) format. When the oldies format of WYOO started to slide in the ratings, more middle of the road (MOR) music was added, but ratings slid even further. Fairchild contemplated selling the station. The general manager( Mike Sigelman ) and program director ( Rob Sherwood ), both hired from established Top 40 station KDWB, felt a major change needed to be made.

Station management decided to flip to a Top 40 format. The new station was christened "U100" and debuted on August 26, 1974 during a remote broadcast from the Minnesota State Fair. The new U100 quickly became the topic of conversation throughout the area with its rowdy, outrageous mix of Top 40 and hard rock. Though neither station's frequency had anything to do with the number 100, the placement on the dial at 980 AM and 101.3 FM, close enough to the big "100" on the dial, gave management enough of a reason to call the simulcast U100, since all radios at the time were analog and showed the number "100" on the dial near where both stations were located.

During the next two years, U100 quickly became one of the most talked-about radio stations in town. Competition was fierce in Top 40 radio at the time, and compared to U100, WDGY, KDWB and KSTP seemed a bit tame in their on-air presentation. As an added advantage, U100 was the first Twin Cities Top 40 station to broadcast on the FM dial in stereo (in addition to 980 AM).

KDWB-FM

U100 was not to last forever. The AM dial in the Twin Cities was crowded with top 40 stations, with U-100, KDWB, WDGY and KSTP all fighting for the same audience. AM music stations also desired to transition to the increasingly popular FM dial. In early 1976, Fairchild Industries decided to put both stations on the market. The owner of easy listening FM station WAYL was interested in the AM operation, to simulcast WAYL's signal for greater exposure to listeners. Since one company could not own more than one AM or more than one FM station in the same market at the time, it needed to find a buyer for the FM station, and sought out the owners of various AM stations in the area. Doubleday Broadcasting, owner of KDWB, wasn't actively seeking an FM station at the time but offered to buy 101.3 FM in February 1976 after it was offered a rather generous deal for $750,000 that included WYOO-FM and the building in Eagan that housed both stations. KDWB's general manager at the time, Gary Stevens, claimed that it did not buy WYOO-FM to shut down a competitor, but rather to take advantage of what it saw as a good deal.[1]

U100 signed off for the last time at midnight on Wednesday, September 15, 1976, and KDWB morning personality True Don Bleu launched the new KDWB-FM simulcast the following morning at 6 am. The simulcast was permitted under the FCC rules of the time because the FM station was licensed to Richfield, a community with a population of less than 100,000. An FM licensed to Minneapolis or Saint Paul would have had to air at least 50% non-simulcast programming.

Helped by the stereo simulcast on 101.3 FM, KDWB quickly regained its position as the dominant Top 40 station in the Twin Cities. Their fierce young rival, U100, was now gone. After a brief stint with a CHR/AOR hybrid as “Y-11," WDGY switched to a country format on September 2, 1977. KSTP began to lean Adult Top 40 during the late 1970s and evolved into a talk station by the early 1980s (as its music focus shifted to FM sister, KS95). By the end of the decade, KDWB was the only ongoing Top 40 station in town.

Stereo 101

With the active competition gone, KDWB-FM split apart from the AM station's Top 40 simulcast in September 1979 and became a pop/rock hybrid as "K101." The station soon morphed into "Stereo 101", an AOR station designed to go up against KQRS-FM, which had recently dumped its freeform rock presentation and adopted a stricter playlist. "Stereo 101" would be mildly successful in its four year run, even topping KQRS in the ratings several times, but never became a serious long term competitor to KQRS. By summer 1983, "Stereo 101" began to move from active rock to mainstream rock. KDWB's AM signal continued with the Top 40 format during this time.

Back to Top 40

Late in 1981, a serious new Top 40 competitor arrived in the Twin Cities. WLOL dropped its soft rock format and turned itself into a high-profile hit music station (heavy with power pop and new wave), immediately shooting to the top of the ratings. And at the other end of the spectrum, KS95 was competing somewhat with its older-leaning soft rock format. WCCO-FM also briefly switched to Top 40. Meanwhile, 63 KDWB faded quickly in the ratings, as AM music stations were slowly becoming a thing of the past. To protect its heritage, take a chunk of WLOL's stellar ratings and finally make the move of its legendary station to the FM dial, KDWB-FM dropped AOR in early 1984 and reverted back to the Top 40 simulcast, though the AM station was running its own programming at times. In a role reversal, the FM signal was now deemed the priority, as 630 AM attained secondary status. The AM station continued with Top 40 through 1985, before it flipped to a separate oldies format in early 1986. In the 1990s, 630 AM would take on the WDGY call sign of their former Top 40 rival on 1130 AM.

The new 101 KDWB struggled for years against upstart market leader WLOL, which featured a fresher music selection, more popular DJs, and a highly-rated morning show. KDWB was viewed by many as stuffy, stale, boring and misguided, and it went through several unsuccessful morning shows. It was argued by many that its promotions, music selection and on-air presentation paled in comparison to WLOL.

Finally, in 1988, newly-hired program director Brian Phillips cleaned house, as he dismissed many of the air personalities, overhauled the music, and brought in Steve Cochran to host the station's new morning show. He also hired a new air staff, introduced 12-song commercial-free music sweeps, changed the overall on-air presentation, and created a new logo, which is still in use today. As the rechristened 101.3 KDWB, its fortunes changed. KDWB quickly became the top CHR station in the market, starting a dominance that continues to this day. Now WLOL was playing catch-up, as ity tried various minor overhauls and tweaks before moving in a rhythmic-oriented direction in 1990.

KDWB also gained national attention in 1989 for helping to break "The Look" by Roxette, the first of four US number-one songs for the Swedish duo. In February 1991, WLOL came to a sudden and premature end, as owner Emmis Broadcasting experienced financial problems and began to divest of many of its properties. Minnesota Public Radio purchased WLOL and turned it into the flagship for their classical music service. Throughout the rest of the 1990s, KDWB had virtually no CHR competition.

In 2000, KDWB got a new rival of sorts when upstart KTTB (B96) went on the air with a rhythmic Top 40 format, heavy with hip-hop and urban contemporary music. While B96 hasn't been a major ratings threat, partly due to its rimshot broadcast signal and smaller promotional presence, it has given KDWB the most formidable competition it has had in recent years. At the other end of the spectrum, KS95 also competes somewhat with its older-leaning Hot AC format. Since 2010, KTTB was rebranded as KHTC, leaning more toward KDWB's format and relocating their transmitter to the heart of the metro area. The battle between KDWB and KHTC lasted until New Year's Day 2012, when KHTC flipped to Adult Contemporary to fill the void left open by WLTE's flip to Country, thus leaving KDWB as the market's only Top 40 outlet again.

"Muslim Jeopardy!" controversy

In late September 2006, KDWB-FM's Dave Ryan, Corey Foley and Steve-O performed a comedy skit based on radical Islamic ideas and behaviors that dominate the news. The skit, modeled on the popular TV game show Jeopardy!, included an announcer using a fake South Asian accent introducing contest categories such as "infamous infidels" and "potent portables." The skit also included a threat to behead a female host (Corey Foley) when she got an answer wrong. Many, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim advocacy group, thought otherwise. After receiving complaints about the skit, it demanded an apology from KDWB.

On October 2, 2006, the station's website contained a short apology: "KDWB does not condone making light of Islam and Muslims. We regret that listeners found the 'Muslim Jeopardy!' comedy skit of one of our on-air hosts to be insensitive."

K273BH-FM (KDWB HD2)

On April 25, 2006, Clear Channel announced that KDWB's HD2 subchannel will carry a format focusing on dance hits. The HD2 signed the following July as the Party Zone. "Party Zone" is also the name of the Friday and Saturday night show on KDWB simulcasted from local clubs that in the past has been hosted by the likes of Tone E. Fly, Gerry Dixon, Jeremiah Kubiak and Michael Knight. After six months of running jockless, the subchannel began to add announcers (from KDWB) to its programming.

In 2010, the Party Zone format began broadcasting on K273BH-FM, its FM translator at 102.5, which covers the area. They are one of two outlets in the Clear Channel roster that does not use the Club Phusion Dance format, as this one features a live presentation over the air. The other one is KXJM/Portland, Oregon, who launched "Too Wild HD2" in January 2012, customized for that market.

Dave Ryan in the Morning Show

The Dave Ryan in the Morning Show is KDWB's morning broadcast, it has been broadcasted on KDWB for 15 years. It broadcasts Monday through Friday from 6 to 10 am. Current hosts of the show are Dave Ryan (Host), Steve-O (Producer), and Crisco (Stuntman)

Skits, bits and quizzes

Here is a list of things performed on The Dave Ryan in the Morning Show.

  • War of the Roses: This is a scripted skit that uses actors alleging to be standard callers, since the FCC prohibits radio stations from broadcasting a person without the person's consent. The skit includes a person in a committed relationship - the initiator - who believes that he or she is being cheated on. With the initiator silent on the phone, the host of the show calls the suspected party using a ruse to get them to talk - usually claiming that the suspect has just won a free dozen roses as part of a promotion to be delivered to anyone of his or her choice,
  • Gary Spivey: a psychic that you can call into to ask questions to.
  • Blind Luck: an on-air activity that has all four hosts given the decision to choose between something that will taste good and something that will taste bad. Only thing is, they're all blindfolded.
  • Parodies of hit songs: such as the song "Glamorous" by Fergie, replaced with the words "Hollister", and sung by Dave Ryan's daughter, Allison.
  • KDWB Pays Your Bills: an event when the radio station pays for something expensive that you have purchased. Often at 7:20.
  • What Are You Nervous About?: an activity when people call in, telling the hosts what they're nervous about over the weekend. Later, on Monday, the people are required to call the show back, otherwise they will give out your cell phone number on the air.
  • KDWB's Gas Pump Payoff: an event where a caller will be given the chance to have the radio station pay for their gas bills. But, ask for too much, and you won't get anything at all.
  • The One That Got Away: callers will ask the radio station to track down a past boyfriend or girlfriend of theirs to see what they're up to.
  • Cheaters club: An activity where a person who has been cheated on describes his or her past relationship (the one that was unfaithful) and others call in who have been part of it. This bit is a put on, or faked, as well.
  • Man Panel: an activity where three men are asked questions about men that have been asked by women across the Twin Cities.
  • Hiram: Dave Ryan pranks people on the phone as "Hiram" and "Hiram Jr."
  • "30 Hmongs in a House": a parody of Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven" that aired on March 22, 2011. Local community groups reacted to the with song with protest.[2]

Former morning show staff

Former morning show staff include:

  • Lee Valsvik: (1993–1998) — now at Cities 97
  • Angi Taylor: (1998–2003)
  • Corey Foley: (2003–2007)
  • Lena Svenson (2007-2011) — Is now the director of cat-ology at University Of Texas.
  • Intern John (2007-2011) - Adopted the Amish lifestyle and moved to Rochester, Minnesota.
  • Pat Ebertz (Producer)
  • Jackson
  • Jamie Guse ("Extreme" Jamie) [3]
  • Kelly Doherty (Imaging)

Former on-air staff

  • Chris Edmonds
  • Pam McManus
  • Hal Hoover
  • Jack Hicks
  • Chip Hobart
  • Mark Seger
  • Steve Oliver
  • Frank Miller ( a.k.a. Tony Hart on 63 KDWB )
  • Dave Dworkin
  • Jon London
  • Rich Davis- Now OM/PD CC Nashville/107.5 The River
  • Derek Moran
  • Kevin Kollins-President, Off the Chart Music, Inc.
  • Tone E Fly- Now at 96.3 NOW Twin Cities
  • Gerry Dixon- Most recently on HOT 107.1 Denver, CO
  • Scotty Davis
  • Spyder Harrison
  • Greg Thunder
  • Humble Billy Hayes
  • Cadillac Jack
  • Mr. Ed
  • Hollywood Henderson
  • Bobby Wilde
  • JJ Kincaid- Now at Z100 New York
  • JJ Pado aka KADEN- Now at HOT 95.7 Houston
  • Jeremiah Kubiak - Retired 8-2009
  • Tyler-Now engineering Clear Channel/Milwaukee
  • Jesse Mitchell- Now at 97.3 Radio Now Milwaukee
  • Rob Sherwood
  • Barry McKinna (Siewert)
  • Special Ed- Now at 99.9 Virgin Radio Toronto, Ontario

See also

External links

References

  1. ^ http://www.radiotapes.com/user/U100%20-%20Sun.pdf
  2. ^ "KDWB listeners say Hmong song was in spirit of the program, others say its racist". Retrieved 2011-05-06.
  3. ^ http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/B0006BJZPO?totalImages=2&pageSize=7&sort=rating&currentImagePage=0&currentImagePageOffset=1&currentImageID=moNRPZTFSH6OE7&action=setImg&page=0
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