KWOD
KWOD 106.5 is a
Sacramento, USA,
radio station that was one of the highest-rated major-market
alternative rock stations in the
United States in the mid-
'90s, according to
Arbitron ratings. From 1977 to 2003, KWOD was independently-owned by Royce International Broadcasting headed by Edward R. Stolz II, and the result was a fresh and original radio experience. It started out as a
jazz station, but evolved into a by the end of the
'70s. Its
call letters referred to
quadrophonic sound, as the station was one of the first to experiment with the
technology, which never caught on.
At times, KWOD was among the top five rated stations in Sacramento during the
'80s under the
programming of Tom Chase and "Mr. Ed" Lambert. In 1991, the station remained a top 40 reporter to
radio industry trade
magazines, but began to mix in
alternative music under the programming of Operations Manager Gerry Cagle and Program Director Alex Cosper. Cagle had also programmed notable stations around the country, such as
KHJ in
Los Angeles, and
KFRC in
San Francisco. Cosper had worked as Mr. Ed's assistant in the '80s, and at rival
Top 40 station,
KROY.
After Cagle's departure in 1993, programming decisions went to Cosper, who convinced Stolz to shift the format entirely to alternative music. He also hired the morning team of Shawn Cash and Jeff Jensen. The result was that the station rebounded from the bottom of the ratings to the top five again. Cosper remained with the station until 1996, and later wrote an in depth book about his experience called, "The Rise of Alternative Radio." Cosper returned to work for parent company RoyceInternational at KRCK/Palm Springs in 2006.
Ron Bunce assumed control of KWOD's programming in 1997, and took the station to an edgier harder rock direction. In 2003,
Entercom acquired KWOD after a seven-year court battle, stemming from an apparent deal to sell the station, back in 1996. Although KWOD's ratings fell off in the late 1990s, its highest ratings as an alternative station were in 1995. Its highest rating ever, though, was as a top 40 station in 1985, when it hit the No. 2 spot in the market, behind
KSFM.
During the last couple years of the original KWOD 106.5, there where lots of changes made. After Shawn & Jeff left for 100.5 The Zone, the new morning show Boomer and the Dave where more popular with the younger listeners. After the Dave left in Fall of 2003 he was replaced by comedian Kelly Pryce and the show had it share of co-hosts like DJ Mervin and for the final days, Ian Gary. Mid-day personality Marco Collins left for a radio gig in San Francisco at Live 105. Also in December of 2003, Violet moved to Sacramento, California from New York state to take over the evening shift from 6-10 and host the local show from 9-10 on Sunday nights. The final line up of the original KWOD 106.5 was:
Monday - Friday
*Morning's with Boomer, Kelly, and Ian (with studio intern Bundy)5am - 10am
*Capone 10am - 2pm
*Nick Monroe 2pm-6pm
*Violet 6pm - 10pm
*Andy Sims - 10pm-2am
Weekends
*Mike D 4pm-9pm (Sunday nights and fill-in)
*Kevin 10pm-midnight (Sundays ONLY!)
On Good Friday of 2005, the original KWOD 106.5 was silenced forever by introducing the re-vamped, and not as listener friendly, KWOD v2.0. It was supposed to be a more "adult" station playing more "adult alternative" meaning more acts like John Mayor and old Tracy Chapman tunes as opposed to bands like KoRn, Deftones, etc. All the respected on-air talent was replaced with second rate jocks that fail to come close to the personality of the original KWOD talent. The new KWOD (orginally pronounced QUAD) is now just know was K-W-O-D and is slowly starting to go back to its roots by playing more younger groups and not just old Nirvana tunes followed by Coldplay's newest. The last song ever played on the original KWOD 106.5 was "Nice to know you" by Incubus @ 11:54am
In early 2006, KWOD picked up the
Adam Carolla show for mornings. KWOD's current weekday DJ line up is as follows:5-10am -
The Adam Carolla Show, 10am - 3pm -
Hill Jordan, 3pm - 7pm - Rubin, 7pm - Midnight - Erin.
Weekend air staff includes Capone, Derek, and Kim Iverson. KWOD's voice guy is Mason and the station is imaged by Chadd Pierce.
http://www.kwod.net/
* "The Rise of Alternative Radio", by Alex Cosper
* Arbitron, Radio & Records, Billboard, Sacramento Bee, All Access
* I used to work there!
