KXOA
Encyclopedia
KXOA was a Sacramento, CA
radio station that existed on both AM and FM (in various incarnations) between 1945 and 2004. It was mainly a Top 40 station for most of its AM existence and programmed a very successful "light rock" format that lasted nearly two decades, but also experimented with other formats on both AM and FM.
s (later kilohertz) frequency on the AM dial, but moved to 1470 kHz a few years after its debut. The original programming can be described as traditional MOR/block programming.
In the late 1950s, KXOA-AM flipped to a Top 40 format. The station battled KGMS
(1380) and Stockton-based KGDM (1140) for success in reaching the teen audience. Ultimately, KXOA would beat both of these stations out for ratings success. The aforementioned stations would flip to MOR and Country (as KRAK), respectively, in the early 1960s. However, KXOA’s major battle took place when KROY (1240) flipped to Top 40 in February 1960.
In the early 1960s, KROY beat KXOA in the ratings hands down. By 1965, KXOA began to beat KROY at the ratings game, by hiring some of its key air talent. The station also featured a one-hour Progressive rock show nightly known as the Gear Hour, where the latest British music was featured. The show also included album cuts from established American artists. Notable members of KXOA's Top 40 air staff included Charlie Holliday, Sean O'Callaghan
, Les Thompson – the station's program director during most of the period, Dick "Buffalo" Burch, Johnny Hyde
- who programmed the "Gear Hour," Buck Herring, Bob Early (real name Bob Elliott), Jerry Gordon
, B. Winchell Clay, Tony King
- real name Pete Gross
, who later became the first "voice" of the Seattle Seahawks
, Bill Whitman - who later became a "voice" at CBS, Brian Bierne, the station's news director in the late 1960s who later became "Mr. Rock n' Roll" at K-EARTH in Los Angeles
, newscaster Mike Pulsipher, who later joined CBS Radio, and Don Imus
– whose first claim to fame came there.
In 1968, KROY altered its Top-40 format to be even more fast-paced and slick than it had previously been, as it installed a “Bill Drake
”-styled approach with the nickname “Music Power”. KROY also hired some of KXOA’s key air talent. KROY’s format adjustment had a drastic ratings effect on KXOA. By late May 1970, KXOA shifted its format from Top 40 to Adult Contemporary mixed with oldies.
It was about that time that KXOA was forced to move both its studios and transmitters from 1470 Leisure Lane to make way for an expanded Interstate 80
freeway and interchange that were eventually never built. Both the AM and FM station moved a mile to the west to Commerce Circle while the transmitters were moved a mile to the south into the American River
floodplain. The AM station continued to broadcast 5,000 daytime watts with 1,000 nighttime directional watts. The FM transmitter was broadcasting at 100,000 watts. Listeners found the relocated AM signal weaker, especially at night.
. On January 8, 1971 at 12:01 AM, the new owners flipped the format to Progressive Rock. They changed the call letters to KNDE
. As a progressive station, air personalities included Patrick Moore
, Don Wright, and "The Kandie Man", a takeoff on Wolfman Jack
, handled by Jon Peters
. When the progressive format on AM failed to catch on, the station switched to Top 40, hiring former KROY personalities Dave Williams, Steve Moore
, Kevin Manna, and Rick Rossi. During the mid-70's, KNDE moved ahead of KROY but eventually lost the ratings war until September 28, 1978, when new owner Brown Broadcasting flipped KNDE to Album Oriented Rock.
(On the screen: A transistor radio playing a tinny Top 40 tune)
“AM radio…….Isn’t it the pits? All that screaming and shouting…With all that Disco….. And the same songs being played over and over again…. Don’t you wish somebody did something about it? Well, somebody has…….
(On the screen: A rock painted with an “AM 14 – The Rockin’ Home” logo drops on the transistor radio and smashes it to bits.)
The new station featured a former KZAP
staffer (“Marla in the Morning”) during the AM drive time. Additionally, the station featured commercial-free Friday evenings as part of its programming. It also featured a syndicated AOR top-track countdown each Sunday evening called the Great American Radio Show. Mike Harrison hosted the show, and he eventually went on to publish Talkers magazine, which was aimed at the talk radio industry.
KXOA’s mainstream AOR format was not successful, especially with the emergence of KZAP-FM's Kent Burkhart/Lee Abrams
consulted AOR format and only lasted until mid-summer 1979. At that time, the station began to move to a softer Adult Contemporary format similar to KXOA-FM.
returning to Sacramento from KFRC
in San Francisco. Nelson had great success at KROY as both an air talent and Program Director and brought in many deejays from that station including, Kris Mitchell, Bryan Davis
, former KROY-FM Program Director Steve Michaels and Russ “The Moose” Martin. The lineup was Terry Nelson in morning drive, Bryan Davis in midday's, C.J. Stone of KREM in Spokane for afternoon's and former KNDE morning man Jeff Hunter at night. In September 1980, under pressure from those in control of sister station KGB AM known as "13K" in San Diego, KXOA began promoting itself as “The New 14K, Sacramento's Greatest Hits]].” It was a Gold-based format playing a small rotation of current music. With the increasing popularity of FM as a vehicle for Contemporary Hits, the audience share for that station dropped (as it did for KROY). In February 1982, the station dropped the “14K” tagline and the management flipped the format once again. Music Director Kris Mitchell moved on to New Mexico and became a successful station owner. Bryan Davis became Bryan Simmons, the long-running afternoon deejay at one of the nation's top Adult Contemporary stations, KOST-FM in Los Angeles.
On Saturday, March 15, 1982, KXOA-AM became a MOR/Big Band station that carried the syndicated “Music of Your Life
” format. The format was a relative success. The format appealed to people in the 35-64 demographic, and featured MOR artists and Big Band music. KGMS (1380) attempted a similar format a few months later, but was unsuccessful.
At that time, the KXOA call letters were transferred to 93.7 FM. 1470 AM switched its call letters to KRAK and took on a Classic Country/Western format along with the nationally syndicated Don Imus show during the morning drive.
In the spring of 2001, KXOA-AM was sold to ABC/Disney. The new owners switched the format to the satellite youth-driven “Radio Disney
” format, and changed the call letters to KIID
. The station has never made a dent in the ratings.
, a national radio syndicator, who moved the station to Loma Vista Drive off Fulton Avenue. The tower on the American River Floodplain was still used by the new owners.
Drake-Chenault provided a syndicated Oldies format to stations on a nationwide basis. The format was known as “Solid Gold”. In early 1971, they flipped KXOA-FM to their “Solid Gold” format. The automated format featured Top 40 hits from 1955 through the current period (basically “recurrents”). The format ran from early 1971 through the summer of 1972.
At that time, the owners of KXOA-FM changed the format to Progressive Rock. The station was now known as “Earth Rock 108, KXOA.” The owners hired Steve Rosetta as General Manager and Rick Carroll
from KNDE as a consultant to program the station. The station featured live announcers. To differentiate itself from the eclectic, Free Form KZAP, the station featured a formatted Progressive Rock sound. However, the format was loose enough that the air talent could play listener requests as well as a few personal choices. Air talent included Tom Buck, Greg Mundae, Tom Cale, and Kent Randles. The station’s owners did not promote the station very heavily. Accordingly, the format was rather short lived, lasting only until February 1973. At that time, the owners flipped the format to the automated “Classic Gold Rock and Roll.” Also known on air as Nostalgia Radio.
AM and FM. The new owners flipped the format to a Top 40 format and called the station “Super Stereo K-108 FM.” At night, the station featured some album rock programming. The format was rather short lived. In the spring of 1975, the format was adjusted to become an album-oriented “Mellow” Rock station. The owners tagged the station as “The Mellow Home, K-108 FM.” The format was quite successful throughout the remaining half of the 1970s. By the early 1980s, the format was tweaked to become a “Soft Adult Contemporary” station. The ratings for the station were rather high, and success continued throughout the remainder of the decade. Despite changes in ownership and format, staff turnover was rare. On-air personalities included Dusty Morgan, Dave Allen, and Tom Nakashima.
and KGBY
/Y-92.5) in the Sacramento area. So, the station attempted a short-lived up-tempo Adult Contemporary format with the nickname “XTRA 107.9.” The station advertised itself as having no rap, no heavy metal, and no Madonna.
The format did not increase the station’s ratings, so the station changed over to a “Classic Hits” format in the spring of 1994. The station became “Arrow 108.” “Arrow “was a sort of acronym for “all rock and roll oldies.” The format had been developed on KCBS-FM
(93.1) in Los Angeles in the early 1990s and had brought some ratings success to the station. Basically, the music was rock singles that received airplay on Top 40 radio during the 1960s through the 1980s. The format was fairly successful, both nationally and locally.
("The End"). Meanwhile, KXOA-FM moved to the 93.7 frequency. In March 2004, with another format change, KXOA-FM changed its call letters to KHWD (named after Howard Stern
's radio show that aired on that station), and thus after nearly 60 years the KXOA call letters were forever retired. This station has since flipped to an "Adult Hits
" format under the call-letters KQJK
(JACK-FM).
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
radio station that existed on both AM and FM (in various incarnations) between 1945 and 2004. It was mainly a Top 40 station for most of its AM existence and programmed a very successful "light rock" format that lasted nearly two decades, but also experimented with other formats on both AM and FM.
Beginnings
KXOA began broadcasting in 1945. Originally, the station was located on the 1490 kilocycleKilocycle
A thousand cycles, of any periodic phenomenon.kilocycle or kilocycles may refer to:* A measurement of usage of reciprocating machines, especially presses...
s (later kilohertz) frequency on the AM dial, but moved to 1470 kHz a few years after its debut. The original programming can be described as traditional MOR/block programming.
In the late 1950s, KXOA-AM flipped to a Top 40 format. The station battled KGMS
KGMS
KGMS is a radio station broadcasting a Christian talk format. Licensed to Tucson, Arizona, USA, it serves the Tucson area. The station is currently owned by Good News Communications.KGMS Simulcasts to 1470 KNXN in Sierra Vista, AZ....
(1380) and Stockton-based KGDM (1140) for success in reaching the teen audience. Ultimately, KXOA would beat both of these stations out for ratings success. The aforementioned stations would flip to MOR and Country (as KRAK), respectively, in the early 1960s. However, KXOA’s major battle took place when KROY (1240) flipped to Top 40 in February 1960.
In the early 1960s, KROY beat KXOA in the ratings hands down. By 1965, KXOA began to beat KROY at the ratings game, by hiring some of its key air talent. The station also featured a one-hour Progressive rock show nightly known as the Gear Hour, where the latest British music was featured. The show also included album cuts from established American artists. Notable members of KXOA's Top 40 air staff included Charlie Holliday, Sean O'Callaghan
Sean O'Callaghan
Sean O'Callaghan is a former member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army who became an informer for the Garda Síochána and who was later debriefed by the UK's MI5 in the Netherlands...
, Les Thompson – the station's program director during most of the period, Dick "Buffalo" Burch, Johnny Hyde
Johnny Hyde
Johnny Hyde was a Russian-born American talent agent.Vice-president of the William Morris Agency's West Coast office during the 1930s and 1940s, Hyde represented some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry. In 1948, he met then-unknown actress and model Marilyn Monroe...
- who programmed the "Gear Hour," Buck Herring, Bob Early (real name Bob Elliott), Jerry Gordon
Jerry Gordon
Jerry Gordon is an American radio broadcaster. He is the afternoon news anchor on KNUU-AM in Las Vegas, Nevada. His voice-over work included 10 years as "the voice of Disney." He previously worked at KSFO in San Francisco.- Notes :...
, B. Winchell Clay, Tony King
Tony King
Tony King is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Chris Coghill. He was the partner of established character Bianca Jackson , and a father-figure to her four children...
- real name Pete Gross
Pete Gross
Peter R. Gross, a Northwest sports announcer, was a household name in Seattle, Washington for 17 years as the "Voice of the Seahawks." He spent most of his career as a radio play-by-play announcer with KIRO...
, who later became the first "voice" of the Seattle Seahawks
Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team joined the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team...
, Bill Whitman - who later became a "voice" at CBS, Brian Bierne, the station's news director in the late 1960s who later became "Mr. Rock n' Roll" at K-EARTH in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, newscaster Mike Pulsipher, who later joined CBS Radio, and Don Imus
Don Imus
John Donald "Don" Imus, Jr. is an American radio host, humorist, philanthropist and writer. His nationally-syndicated talk show, Imus in the Morning, is broadcast throughout the United States by Citadel Media and relayed on television by the Fox Business Network.-Personal life:Imus was born in...
– whose first claim to fame came there.
In 1968, KROY altered its Top-40 format to be even more fast-paced and slick than it had previously been, as it installed a “Bill Drake
Bill Drake
Bill Drake , born Philip Yarbrough, was an American radio programmer who co-developed the Boss Radio format with Gene Chenault via their company Drake-Chenault.-Early career:...
”-styled approach with the nickname “Music Power”. KROY also hired some of KXOA’s key air talent. KROY’s format adjustment had a drastic ratings effect on KXOA. By late May 1970, KXOA shifted its format from Top 40 to Adult Contemporary mixed with oldies.
It was about that time that KXOA was forced to move both its studios and transmitters from 1470 Leisure Lane to make way for an expanded Interstate 80
Interstate 80
Interstate 80 is the second-longest Interstate Highway in the United States, following Interstate 90. It is a transcontinental artery running from downtown San Francisco, California to Teaneck, New Jersey in the New York City Metropolitan Area...
freeway and interchange that were eventually never built. Both the AM and FM station moved a mile to the west to Commerce Circle while the transmitters were moved a mile to the south into the American River
American River
The American River is a California watercourse noted as the site of Sutter's Mill, northwest of Placerville, California, where gold was found in 1848, leading to the California Gold Rush...
floodplain. The AM station continued to broadcast 5,000 daytime watts with 1,000 nighttime directional watts. The FM transmitter was broadcasting at 100,000 watts. Listeners found the relocated AM signal weaker, especially at night.
Sweet as KaNDiE
In December 1970, KXOA was sold to a group of investors associated with Progressive Rock-formatted KSJO-FM in San JoseSan Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
. On January 8, 1971 at 12:01 AM, the new owners flipped the format to Progressive Rock. They changed the call letters to KNDE
KNDE
KNDE is a radio station with a Top 40 format licensed to College Station, Texas. Before 2003, it broadcast on 92.1 FM as rock station KTSR...
. As a progressive station, air personalities included Patrick Moore
Patrick Moore
Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore, CBE, FRS, FRAS is a British amateur astronomer who has attained prominent status in astronomy as a writer, researcher, radio commentator and television presenter of the subject, and who is credited as having done more than any other person to raise the profile of...
, Don Wright, and "The Kandie Man", a takeoff on Wolfman Jack
Wolfman Jack
Robert Weston Smith, known commonly as Wolfman Jack was a gravelly voiced US disc jockey who became famous in the 1960s and 1970s.-Early career:...
, handled by Jon Peters
Jon Peters
Jon Peters is an American movie producer.-Early life:Peters was born John H. Peters in Van Nuys, California, the son of Helen , a receptionist, and Jack Peters, a cook...
. When the progressive format on AM failed to catch on, the station switched to Top 40, hiring former KROY personalities Dave Williams, Steve Moore
Steve Moore
Steven Dean Moore is a former Canadian professional ice hockey center, best known for receiving what turned out to be a career-ending injury as a result of an illegal hit by then Vancouver Canucks forward Todd Bertuzzi....
, Kevin Manna, and Rick Rossi. During the mid-70's, KNDE moved ahead of KROY but eventually lost the ratings war until September 28, 1978, when new owner Brown Broadcasting flipped KNDE to Album Oriented Rock.
Back to KXOA
They also changed the call letters back to KXOA, and named the station “AM 14, The Rockin’ Home”. The new station featured laid-back announcers and mainstream AOR. The owners began a television commercial blitz to promote the new station. The commercials were generally run during prime time news updates on network television stations. The ad went something like this:(On the screen: A transistor radio playing a tinny Top 40 tune)
“AM radio…….Isn’t it the pits? All that screaming and shouting…With all that Disco….. And the same songs being played over and over again…. Don’t you wish somebody did something about it? Well, somebody has…….
(On the screen: A rock painted with an “AM 14 – The Rockin’ Home” logo drops on the transistor radio and smashes it to bits.)
The new station featured a former KZAP
KZAP (defunct)
KZAP was an album rock formatted radio station based in Sacramento, California, that broadcast between 1968 and 1992 at 98.5 on the FM dial.-The beginning:...
staffer (“Marla in the Morning”) during the AM drive time. Additionally, the station featured commercial-free Friday evenings as part of its programming. It also featured a syndicated AOR top-track countdown each Sunday evening called the Great American Radio Show. Mike Harrison hosted the show, and he eventually went on to publish Talkers magazine, which was aimed at the talk radio industry.
KXOA’s mainstream AOR format was not successful, especially with the emergence of KZAP-FM's Kent Burkhart/Lee Abrams
Lee Abrams
Lee Abrams is an American media executive who has held a number of posts for large and influential companies, and is generally credited with developing the "Album Oriented Rock" format employed by hundreds of radio stations across the country.-Career:...
consulted AOR format and only lasted until mid-summer 1979. At that time, the station began to move to a softer Adult Contemporary format similar to KXOA-FM.
Top 40 1470 KXOA goes Oldies as 14K
By February 1980, the station was back to full-blown Top 40 with new Program Director Terry NelsonTerry Nelson
Terry A. Nelson is a consultant and Republican strategist in the United States. He was the political director of the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign...
returning to Sacramento from KFRC
KFRC (defunct)
KFRC was a radio station in San Francisco, California in the United States, which made its first broadcast on Wednesday, September 24, 1924, from studios in the Hotel Whitcomb 1231 Market Street. KFRC originally broadcast with 50 watts on the 270 meter wavelength , then moved to 660 kHz. in...
in San Francisco. Nelson had great success at KROY as both an air talent and Program Director and brought in many deejays from that station including, Kris Mitchell, Bryan Davis
Bryan Davis
Bryan Allan Davis is a former West Indian cricketer who played in four Tests in 1965. He later qualified for Glamorgan playing in the championship winning side in 1969....
, former KROY-FM Program Director Steve Michaels and Russ “The Moose” Martin. The lineup was Terry Nelson in morning drive, Bryan Davis in midday's, C.J. Stone of KREM in Spokane for afternoon's and former KNDE morning man Jeff Hunter at night. In September 1980, under pressure from those in control of sister station KGB AM known as "13K" in San Diego, KXOA began promoting itself as “The New 14K, Sacramento's Greatest Hits]].” It was a Gold-based format playing a small rotation of current music. With the increasing popularity of FM as a vehicle for Contemporary Hits, the audience share for that station dropped (as it did for KROY). In February 1982, the station dropped the “14K” tagline and the management flipped the format once again. Music Director Kris Mitchell moved on to New Mexico and became a successful station owner. Bryan Davis became Bryan Simmons, the long-running afternoon deejay at one of the nation's top Adult Contemporary stations, KOST-FM in Los Angeles.
On Saturday, March 15, 1982, KXOA-AM became a MOR/Big Band station that carried the syndicated “Music of Your Life
Music of Your Life
Music of Your Life is a satellite-delivered radio network featuring the Adult Standards music format. Created by record executive and jingle writer Al Ham, and now under the direction of Marc Angell, Music of Your Life has more than 50 AM, FM and HD-2 radio station affiliates, and has been in...
” format. The format was a relative success. The format appealed to people in the 35-64 demographic, and featured MOR artists and Big Band music. KGMS (1380) attempted a similar format a few months later, but was unsuccessful.
KXOA-AM's demise
Nonetheless, KXOA-AM continued with the format until summer 1988. At that time, the station adopted a syndicated “Business News” format. It was not successful. In 1990, KXOA again adopted a 1950s and 1960s oldies format, with the nickname of “Cruisin’1470”. The format continued until roughly early 1999.At that time, the KXOA call letters were transferred to 93.7 FM. 1470 AM switched its call letters to KRAK and took on a Classic Country/Western format along with the nationally syndicated Don Imus show during the morning drive.
In the spring of 2001, KXOA-AM was sold to ABC/Disney. The new owners switched the format to the satellite youth-driven “Radio Disney
Radio Disney
Radio Disney is a radio network based in Burbank, California and headquartered out of the Disney Channel headquarters on West Alameda Ave., from where it has been based since November 2008. Prior to that, the network was based in Dallas, Texas...
” format, and changed the call letters to KIID
KIID
KIID-AM is a radio station broadcasting a Children's Radio format. Licensed to Sacramento, California, USA. The station is currently owned by the Walt Disney Company and features programing from Radio Disney....
. The station has never made a dent in the ratings.
The simulcast years
KXOA-FM (107.9) began as a simulcast of KXOA-AM in the late 1940s. During this period, KXOA broadcast a traditional MOR/block programming format. It is similar to what most broadcast stations provided during the postwar period. In the mid-1950s, KXOA flipped to a Top 40 format. KXOA-FM continued to simulcast the AM station through the 1960s. In the 1960s, the FCC dictated that all FM stations in areas having a population greater than 250,000 people must dedicate at least 50% of their broadcast schedule to separate programming from AM sister stations. In the late 1960s, KXOA-FM separated from its AM counterpart and programmed “Adult Contemporary” music from 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM. After that, it began simulcasting KXOA-AM’s Top 40 programming until it signed off at midnight.The formats that didn't work
In 1970, KXOA-FM flipped its format from its Adult Contemporary/AM simulcast to automated Country. During this time, KXOA AM and FM were sold to separate parties. The AM station was sold to investors involved in the ownership of KSJO in San Jose. The FM station was sold to Drake-ChenaultDrake-Chenault
Drake-Chenault Enterprises was a radio syndication company that specialized in automation on FM radio stations. The company was founded in the late-1960s by radio programmer and deejay Bill Drake , and his business partner, Lester Eugene Chenault...
, a national radio syndicator, who moved the station to Loma Vista Drive off Fulton Avenue. The tower on the American River Floodplain was still used by the new owners.
Drake-Chenault provided a syndicated Oldies format to stations on a nationwide basis. The format was known as “Solid Gold”. In early 1971, they flipped KXOA-FM to their “Solid Gold” format. The automated format featured Top 40 hits from 1955 through the current period (basically “recurrents”). The format ran from early 1971 through the summer of 1972.
At that time, the owners of KXOA-FM changed the format to Progressive Rock. The station was now known as “Earth Rock 108, KXOA.” The owners hired Steve Rosetta as General Manager and Rick Carroll
Rick Carroll
Rickey Floyd "Rick" Carroll was a program director for influential radio station KROQ-FM in Los Angeles, California, United States, where he introduced the "Rock of the Eighties" format. The format was synonymous with KROQ-FM and eventually developed into the Modern Rock format...
from KNDE as a consultant to program the station. The station featured live announcers. To differentiate itself from the eclectic, Free Form KZAP, the station featured a formatted Progressive Rock sound. However, the format was loose enough that the air talent could play listener requests as well as a few personal choices. Air talent included Tom Buck, Greg Mundae, Tom Cale, and Kent Randles. The station’s owners did not promote the station very heavily. Accordingly, the format was rather short lived, lasting only until February 1973. At that time, the owners flipped the format to the automated “Classic Gold Rock and Roll.” Also known on air as Nostalgia Radio.
The mellow K-108 era
In June 1974, Drake-Chenault sold the station to San Diego-based Brown Broadcasting, owners of KGBKGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
AM and FM. The new owners flipped the format to a Top 40 format and called the station “Super Stereo K-108 FM.” At night, the station featured some album rock programming. The format was rather short lived. In the spring of 1975, the format was adjusted to become an album-oriented “Mellow” Rock station. The owners tagged the station as “The Mellow Home, K-108 FM.” The format was quite successful throughout the remaining half of the 1970s. By the early 1980s, the format was tweaked to become a “Soft Adult Contemporary” station. The ratings for the station were rather high, and success continued throughout the remainder of the decade. Despite changes in ownership and format, staff turnover was rare. On-air personalities included Dusty Morgan, Dave Allen, and Tom Nakashima.
XTRA and Arrow flops
In the early 1990s, KXOA-FM’s popularity began to wane. The late 1980s and early 1990s saw the rise of two additional FM Adult Contemporary stations (KYMXKYMX
KYMX is commercial radio station located in Sacramento, California. The station airs an adult contemporary music format.-History:...
and KGBY
KGBY
KFBK-FM is a news/talk formatted radio station serving the Sacramento, California area and broadcasts at 92.5 FM. It is owned by Clear Channel Communications and simulcasts KFBK .-History, 2000-2011:...
/Y-92.5) in the Sacramento area. So, the station attempted a short-lived up-tempo Adult Contemporary format with the nickname “XTRA 107.9.” The station advertised itself as having no rap, no heavy metal, and no Madonna.
The format did not increase the station’s ratings, so the station changed over to a “Classic Hits” format in the spring of 1994. The station became “Arrow 108.” “Arrow “was a sort of acronym for “all rock and roll oldies.” The format had been developed on KCBS-FM
KCBS-FM
KCBS-FM is a radio station in Los Angeles, California broadcasting to the Greater Los Angeles area on 93.1 FM. KCBS-FM airs an adult hits music format branded as "Jack-FM"....
(93.1) in Los Angeles in the early 1990s and had brought some ratings success to the station. Basically, the music was rock singles that received airplay on Top 40 radio during the 1960s through the 1980s. The format was fairly successful, both nationally and locally.
The End of KXOA
In 1996, Brown Broadcasting sold KXOA-FM to Entercom (which already owned KSEG and KRXQ). The station continued to program the “Arrow” format until the summer of 1998. The owners flipped the station to a CHR-Pop format, and changed the call letters to KDNDKDND
KDND is an FM radio station licensed to Sacramento, California at 107.9 MHz. It is owned by Entercom. KDND broadcasts a Pop Contemporary Hits format under the name 107.9 The End...
("The End"). Meanwhile, KXOA-FM moved to the 93.7 frequency. In March 2004, with another format change, KXOA-FM changed its call letters to KHWD (named after Howard Stern
Howard Stern
Howard Allan Stern is an American radio personality, television host, author, and actor best known for his radio show, which was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2005. He gained wide recognition in the 1990s where he was labeled a "shock jock" for his outspoken and sometimes controversial style...
's radio show that aired on that station), and thus after nearly 60 years the KXOA call letters were forever retired. This station has since flipped to an "Adult Hits
Adult hits
Adult hits is a radio format, popular in the early 2000s, that does not adhere to a specific music genre, but instead draws from a wider playlist...
" format under the call-letters KQJK
KQJK
KQJK is a commercial adult hits music radio station in Roseville, California, broadcasting to the Sacramento, California, area on 93.7 FM. It is currently owned by Clear Channel Communications, which acquired it along with four stations in Seattle, Washington, Baltimore, Maryland, and Portland,...
(JACK-FM).