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KNDD
Broadcast areaSeattle metro area
Puget Sound
Frequency107.7 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding107.7 The End
Programming
Language(s)English
FormatAlternative rock
SubchannelsHD2: Channel Q
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
September 15, 1962; 62 years ago (1962-09-15)
Former call signs
  • KRAB (1962–85)
  • KMGI (1985–91)
Call sign meaning
"The End"
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID34530
ClassC
ERP68,000 watts
HAAT707 meters (2,320 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
47°30′13″N 121°58′33″W / 47.503722°N 121.975944°W / 47.503722; -121.975944
Translator(s)HD2: 103.3 K277AE (Seattle)
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live (via Audacy)
Websitewww.audacy.com/1077theend

KNDD (107.7 FM, "107.7 The End") is a commercial radio station in Seattle, Washington. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. and airs an alternative rock radio format. Its studios are located on Fifth Avenue in Downtown Seattle. The station broadcasts with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 68,000 watts. It transmits from a tower 707 meters (2,320 ft) in height above average terrain (HAAT) near Issaquah, Washington, on Tiger Mountain.

KNDD broadcasts in HD.[2] Its HD2 subchannel airs an LGBTQ Talk/EDM format known as Channel Q, which also feeds a 250-watt FM translator in Seattle, 103.3 K277AE.

History

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Non-Commercial KRAB

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The station first signed on the air on September 15, 1962, as non-commercial KRAB.[3] It was founded by Lorenzo Milam and eventually owned by the Jack Straw Memorial Foundation.[4] The station’s effective radiated power was 20,000 watts. KRAB broadcast an eclectic mix of Pacifica radio features, world music, jazz, and much more. But the station was also dangerously close to insolvency.

Its management realized the station could be sold to a commercial broadcaster and an endowment created, allowing the foundation to broadcast in the non-commercial part of the radio dial, which exists between 88.1 MHz and 91.9 MHz. The owners of KRAB originally applied to share time with KNHC, owned by the Seattle Public Schools. However, the school district did not want to give up air time. Ultimately, the foundation got a license for 90.7 MHz in Everett, Washington. KRAB's legacy remains on the air at KSER. In April 1984, after Sunbelt Communications bought KRAB, the 107.7 FM frequency went dark for the next 11 months.

KMGI

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The first commercial station on 107.7 signed on March 9, 1985. It played oldies-based soft adult contemporary music and was known as KMGI, "Magic 108."[5] The station had limited success for four years under the format; under the ownership of the Noble Broadcast Group, in August 1989, KMGI would refocus as a Hot AC station and rebranded as "I-107.7."[6][7]

KMGI brought together the morning team of Kelly Stevens and Alpha Trivette, who remained with the station throughout its days as "I-107.7". All forms of AC tried on the station resulted in low ratings.

"The End" debuts

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At 3 p.m., on August 16, 1991, KMGI began stunting with TV theme songs, and had different voices stating "The End is coming" between some songs and during its commercial breaks.[8] A week later, on August 23, at 3 p.m., the station flipped to modern rock, and changed its name and call letters to "107-7 The End," KNDD.[9][10] The End's first songs were "It's The End of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" by R.E.M., followed by "Sex (I'm a ...)" by Berlin. The station initially went by the slogan "The Cutting Edge of Rock." This positioning statement borrowed directly from its San Diego/Tijuana sister station XETRA-FM. It was the Seattle market's fourth attempt at a modern alternative format, dating back to KZAM AM 1540 in the late 1970s (now KXPA). Other stations in the format at one time or another included KJET AM 1590 and KYYX FM 96.5, which both trace their histories to the 1980s.[11]

Within six weeks of The End's first broadcast, three albums by local artists — Ten by Pearl Jam, Nevermind by Nirvana and Badmotorfinger by Soundgarden — were released. These albums helped come to define the sound known as grunge, and the station quickly became one of the leaders in alternative rock radio. KNDD was also the first commercial station to play the band Weezer, when in June 1994, the station added "Undone (The Sweater Song)" to its playlist.[12]

Noble traded KNDD to Viacom in exchange for KHOW-AM-FM in Denver in December 1992. Entercom acquired the station in 1996.[13] Entercom rebranded as Audacy in March 2021.[14]

In 1998, MTV's The Real World was taped in Seattle and required the season's cast to work at KNDD as "modulators".

Alternative rivals

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On December 18, 2003, the station moved to a classic alternative rock direction.[15] CBS Radio followed suit 29 hours later by flipping KYPT ("96.5 The Point") to KRQI ("96-5 K-Rock") to provide competition. Shortly after KRQI's sign-on, KNDD moved back to a current-based direction, although it dumped most hard rock bands. KRQI only remained as an alternative rock station for two years, flipping to adult hits in 2005 as KJAQ.

In 2011, Sandusky's KLCK-FM changed formats from adult album alternative/modern AC to alternative rock. The rivalry lasted only a year, as KLCK shifted to hot adult contemporary in March 2012.

Program Director and Morning show changes

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For many years, the station's morning show was titled "The Morning End", and was hosted by Andy Savage. Savage was let go in 2003 when his contract expired. After a period of music-based shows, The Adam Carolla Show, syndicated from Los Angeles, began airing in morning drive time in 2006.

In May 2006, long time program director Phil Manning announced that he was leaving the station. Scott Geiger, also known as Lazlo, of sister station KRBZ in Kansas City, was named the new program director on June 1, 2006.[16] In November 2006, he began hosting afternoons with a simulcast of his KRBZ show, which was co-hosted by his then-wife Afentra Bandokoudis, under "The Church of Lazlo" moniker.

In June 2008, KNDD announced that Mike Kaplan would be replacing Geiger as program director. Kaplan had previously served as operations manager for two of Entercom's stations in New Orleans. KNDD also announced that Geiger would stay on as a DJ, and continue to host his afternoon show "The Church of Lazlo."[17][18][19] On July 17, Lazlo and Afentra announced that they would depart KNDD. On August 25, both "Afentra's Big Fat Morning Buzz" and "The Church of Lazlo" returned to Kansas City on KRBZ.[20]

In February 2009, the syndicated Adam Carolla Show was cancelled, leaving KNDD without a morning show. After an on-air search for a new morning host that featured well known DJs and local musicians, Whitney "Red" Knoerlein was named host of a freshly resurrected version of The Morning End.[21] The current wake-up host is Gregr.

In April 2013, program director Mike Kaplan, who became Program Director at alternative rock station KYSR in Los Angeles, was replaced by Garett Michaels.

Awards

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In 2007, the station was nominated for the "Alternative Station of the Year" award by Radio & Records magazine. Other nominees included WBCN in Boston; KROQ-FM in Los Angeles; KTBZ-FM in Houston; KITS in San Francisco; and WWDC in Washington, D.C.[22]

KNDD-HD2 Channel Q

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In January 2019, KNDD's HD2 subchannel flipped from an all-Pacific Northwest bands and artists format to Entercom's "Channel Q," a talk and EDM network aimed at the LGBTQ community.[23]

Channel Q also airs on Entercom HD subchannels in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, Sacramento and Houston. Hosts include Jai Rodriguez, John Duran, Julie Goldman and Shira Lazar. Channel Q is also heard on an FM translator in Downtown Seattle, 103.3 K277AE, which formerly relayed co-owned KHTP.

HD2 translator

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Call sign Frequency City of license FID ERP (W) HAAT Class Transmitter coordinates FCC info
K277AE 103.3 FM Seattle, Washington 18522 250 191 m (627 ft) D 47°36′20.3″N 122°19′50.4″W / 47.605639°N 122.330667°W / 47.605639; -122.330667 (K277AE) LMS

Current[when?] DJs

[edit]
  • Gregr[24][25]
  • Christy Taylor (voice-tracked)
  • Ian Camfield (voice-tracked from Dallas, Texas)[26]
  • Kevan Kenney (voice-tracked from Los Angeles)

Former DJs

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Discontinued Programs

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See also

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  • KBOO Portland FM org'd 1964 w/ help from Milam

References

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  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KNDD". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ "HD Radio Guide for Seattle-Tacoma". Archived from the original on 2015-07-22. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
  3. ^ "Broadcasting Yearbook 1963 page B-197" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 Mar 2021.
  4. ^ Caldbick, John (6 Sep 2014). "KRAB-FM 107.7 (Seattle)". HistoryLink.org. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  5. ^ "Radio & Records, March 15, 1985" (PDF). worldradiohistory.com.
  6. ^ "Radio & Records, September 1, 1989" (PDF). worldradiohistory.com.
  7. ^ "I 107.7 FM Seattle 1990 Commercial". YouTube.
  8. ^ "Entertainment & the Arts - Another Format Change For Kmgi-Fm - Seattle Times Newspaper". community.seattletimes.nwsource.com. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  9. ^ "Radio & Records, August 23, 1991" (PDF). worldradiohistory.com.
  10. ^ "KMGI Becomes 107.7 The End - Format Change Archive". 23 August 1991.
  11. ^ "Seattle Radio History - 107.7FM (KNDD -The End)". 13 October 2010.
  12. ^ Rosenfeld, Jeff (March 2003). "Debates of Artistic Value in Rock Music: A Case Study of the Band Weezer, 1994-2001". Retrieved 2007-01-08. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. ^ "Radio 107.7 The End Seattle Commercial 1996". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
  14. ^ "Entercom Rebrands, Changes Name to Audacy". 30 March 2021. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  15. ^ "KNDD Brings Lame Rock Programming To An End In Seattle". thefader.com. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  16. ^ Radio and Records 2006 worldradiohistory.com
  17. ^ "Mike Kaplan Moving To KNDD PD Post". All Access. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  18. ^ Virgin, Bill (June 25, 2008). "On Radio: KNDD-FM/107.7 announces new program director". Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
  19. ^ "KNDD Enercom Kaplan - Radio and Wireless". www.eskimo.com. 22 August 2008. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  20. ^ a b "Lazlo Exiting KNDD To Return To KC". allaccess.com. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  21. ^ "KNDD Fills Mornings With 'Red'". allaccess.com. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  22. ^ "2007 Industry Achievement Awards". Radio and Records. 2007-09-28. Archived from the original on 2008-05-11. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
  23. ^ "Channel Q Comes To FM In Seattle". RadioInsight. 2019-01-14. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
  24. ^ "KNDD Hires Greg Rampage For PM Drive". allaccess.com. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  25. ^ "107.7 The End". 107.7 The End. 5 March 2021.
  26. ^ "107.7 The End - Seattle's New Music Discovery - LISTEN LIVE | Audacy". www.audacy.com. 2021-03-05. Retrieved 2023-03-08.
  27. ^ "Carolla To Rock Mornings At KNDD". allaccess.com. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  28. ^ "The Church Of Lazlo Is Coming To KNDD". allaccess.com. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  29. ^ "Daily Schedule". 107.7 The End – Alternative. Seattle. 5 March 2021.
  30. ^ "New KNDD Lineup Gets Rolling". thefader.com. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
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