KDND

Early years

On September 25, 1945, Lincoln Dellar, who had signed on KXOA (1470 AM) on May 20 of that year,^[1] applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to build a new FM radio station in Sacramento, originally specifying 95.9 MHz as the frequency.^[2] The construction permit was granted on December 19, 1945, but changes in program planning and technical adjustments in the early days of the present 88–108 MHz band meant that the station debuted at 102.9 MHz in June 1947 before being moved to 107.9 MHz within months.^[2] For most of this time, KXOA simulcast the AM station, which since its launch had been an affiliate of the Mutual Broadcasting System.^[1] In July 1957, KXOA dropped Mutual to become a music and news station; later that year, the KXOA stations were sold to Cal-Val Radio.^[3]

In 1961, Cal-Val experimented with splitting the AM and FM stations, changing the FM to a country format as KCNW.^[4] The experiment was undone by the next year, and KCNW returned to being KXOA-FM. Both stations were then sold to Producers, Inc., of Milwaukee for $500,000 in 1963.^[5] Upon the 1965 enactment of the FM Non-Duplication Rule, which curtailed simulcasts of AM and FM stations in large markets, KXOA-FM separated its programming from its AM counterpart.^[6] In 1969, the station raised its effective radiated power from 12,500 watts to more than 49,000.^{[2]: 18–19}

In 1970, the KXOA stations were split by then-owner Fuqua Industries, with the AM station leased to investors involved in the ownership of KSJO in San Jose and the FM to a group led by L. Ray Rhodes.^[7][8] However, the Rhodes group did not materialize, and three months later, Fuqua filed to sell the station to a consortium consisting of Drake-Chenault, a national program syndicator, and Brown Broadcasting, which owned KGB-AM-FM in San Diego.^[9] The sale became effective at the start of 1971; the FM retained the call sign,^[2] while the AM became known as KNDE.^[10] Drake-Chenault moved the station to Loma Vista Drive off Fulton Avenue.^[2] In 1971, the station flipped to oldies, and after a brief period as "Earth Rock", the oldies format returned in February 1973.^[11][12]

Rock and adult contemporary

In June 1974, the station dropped the automated Drake-Chenault oldies format, which had been low-rated, to become a rock station known as K-108 with live disc jockeys.^[13] Later that year, the Browns bought Drake—Chenault's half of KXOA-FM.^[14] The station's format was referred to by Radio & Records as "soft album-oriented rock" (AOR). In 1978, the Browns bought back KNDE and returned it to the fold as KXOA, to air a harder AOR mix.^[15] Art Schroeder, the KXOA-FM program director during this period, credited the "safe" approach with attracting many listeners not wishing to hear punk rock.^[16]

KXOA-FM was among several stations affected by the rapid rise of KZAP (98.5 FM) at the start of the 1980s,^[17] but KZAP's ratings fell several years later, and KXOA-FM remained successful throughout the decade and leading the market in ratings and revenue in the mid-1980s.^[18] The KXOA stations also had a regionally recognized news team led by Ken Hunt.^[19]

In the early 1990s, KXOA-FM's popularity began to wane following the launch of competitors in KYMX and KGBY, falling from third place to tenth within the Sacramento market.^[20] Brown responded by hiring a new operations manager, Don Daniels, from WOMC in Detroit.^[20] Daniels moved to drop 1960s songs from the station's repertoire, and in May 1993, the station flipped to a more uptempo adult contemporary format branded as Xtra 107.9.^[21] It also dropped its local news coverage.^[22] The format did not improve KXOA's ratings; on March 25, 1994, the station flipped to a classic hits format branded as Arrow 108, adapted from Los Angeles' KCBS-FM.^[23] The Arrow format challenged KSEG (96.9 FM) and KHYL (101.1 FM).^[24]

In July 1996, Brown Broadcasting sold KXOA-AM-FM and KQPT (100.5 FM) to American Radio Systems for $50 million, bringing it to the market limit of five FM and three AM stations.^[25] Not even two weeks later, ARS acquired EZ Communications, which owned two FM and one AM stations in the market. As a result, ARS needed to sell three Sacramento stations.^[26] KXOA was sold to Entercom, which simultaneously acquired KSEG and KRXQ (93.7 FM) from Jacor Communications;^[27] the two purchases, totaling $65 million, gave Entercom a trio of rock-oriented radio stations.^[28] The combination of rock stations proved a problem for differentiating them and even resulted in changes in airstaff at stablemate KSEG.^[29] Management ultimately decided that the format was simply too similar to that station.^[30]

"Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest

On January 12, 2007, KDND's morning show, the Morning Rave, held an on-air contest entitled Hold Your Wee for a Wii, in which contestants were asked to drink as much water as they could without urinating. The contestant able to hold the most water would win a Wii video game console; having recently come out in November 2006, the Nintendo console was a very popular and sought-after item but was nearly impossible to find in stores in North America.^[33][34][35]

According to contest participants, 18 contestants took part in the competition in a room at KDND's studios. The contest began in the morning as contestants were each handed 8-US-fluid-ounce (240 ml) water bottles to drink at 15-minute intervals. Contestants also said that as the contest progressed, they were given increasingly larger quantities of water to drink. According to witness reports, 28-year-old Jennifer Strange, who placed second in the contest, may have drunk nearly 2 U.S. gallons (7.6 L).^[36][37]

The Sacramento Bee released audio clips from the morning show indicating that the disc jockeys were aware of the death of Matthew Carrington by water intoxication.^[38] At one point, a nurse contacted the station and informed the DJs that the contest could be dangerous and potentially fatal.^[39] The DJs responded by saying that the contestants had signed releases; according to a contestant, the waivers addressed only publicity issues and made no mention of health or safety concerns.^[39] The DJs also joked about Strange's distended belly, joking that she looked three months pregnant.^[33]

After the contest, Strange spoke to a co-worker by telephone, indicating she was on her way home and in extreme pain, suffering from what appeared to be an intense headache. The co-worker contacted Strange's mother, who then went to her home to find her dead.^[40][41][42]

Shutdown

On February 2, 2017, Entercom announced its intent to acquire CBS Radio.^[62][63] The next day, Entercom announced that KDND would cease operations effective February 8 and that its license would be terminated and returned to the FCC. Entercom stated that "it is in the company's best interests to voluntarily turn in the KDND license to facilitate the timely FCC approvals for the planned combination with CBS Radio".^[61] The then-chief of enforcement for the FCC stated to the Sacramento Bee that the motive was financial and that Entercom would likely have fought had a merger not been planned.^[64]

KDND's format and The End branding were re-located to sister station KUDL at 9:00 a.m. on February 6 (the last song before the move was "Scars to Your Beautiful" by Alessia Cara).^[65][61] 107.9 then began stunting with a jockless playlist of pop music occasionally interrupted by static-backed liners redirecting listeners to KUDL and advising remaining listeners of the impending shutoff of the signal; this would later transition to a loop of "Bye Bye Bye" by N'Sync and "End" staffers redirecting listeners to KUDL.^[66] As the station's final program, a farewell special aired at 11:30 p.m. on the 7th, hosted by former afternoon DJ Chris K, playing music from the End's 18-year history.^[67] This special also culminated with "Bye Bye Bye" by N'Sync. Before the song was finished, KDND's transmitter was shut down on February 8 at 12:01 a.m., bringing a close to the nearly 70-year history of the station.^[68]

Entercom also paid the Media Action Center $35,000 for attorney fees involved in their petition to deny renewal; in return, the Media Action Center would not challenge other Entercom licenses or the CBS Radio acquisition.^[69]

On September 7, 2017, the FCC deleted the license for KDND after denying a Petition for Reconsideration and Application for Review filed by Ed Stolz, the former owner of the station at 106.5 MHz when it was KWOD; Stolz had sought to have his 1996 sale of the station rescinded so he could resume control. The FCC ruled that Stolz's arguments had no merit and that he was not a party of interest in the dispute between Media Action Center and Entercom that led to the license revocation hearing.^[56]