KXOA

"KXOA" was a Sacramento, CA radio station that existed on both AM and FM (in various incarnations) between 1945 and 2004.

As an AM station

Its beginnings

KXOA began broadcasting in 1945. Originally, the station was located on the 1490 kilohertz frequency on the AM dial, but moved to 1470 a few years after its debut. The original programming can be described as traditional MOR/Block programming.

In the 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 would take 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. Under Program Director Les Thompson, KXOA's Top 40 air staff included B. Winchell Clay, Don Costa, Bill Davidson, Jerry Gordon, Tony King and Jeff Kingston. 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 during this time that two KXOA personalities went on to fame in larger markets; Don Imus in New York City, and Brian Beirne as "Mr. Rock & Roll" in Los Angeles (where he has his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame).

weet as KaNDiE

In December 1970, KXOA was sold to a group of investors associated with Progressive Rock-formatted KSJO-FM in San Jose. On January 8th 1971 at 12:01 AM, the new owners flipped the format to Progressive Rock. They changed the call letters to KNDE, and continued as that station until September 28, 1978, when Brown Broadcasting flipped KNDE from its final Top 40 format 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 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.

Unfortunately, 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.

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 Nelson 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. 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 this station dropped (as it did for KROY). In February of 1982, the station dropped the “14K” tagline and the management flipped the format once again. Music Director Kris Mitchell would move on to New Mexico and become a successful station owner. Bryan Davis would become 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. Surprisingly, 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” format, and changed the call letters to KIID. The station has never made a dent in the ratings.

As an FM station

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-Chenault, a national radio syndicator.

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.

The mellow K-108 era

In June 1974, Drake-Chenault sold the station to San Diego-based Brown Broadcasting, owners of KGB 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.

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 (KYMX and KAER) in the Sacramento area. So, the station attempted a short-lived up-tempo Adult Contemporary format with the nickname “XTRA 107.9.”

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 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 KDND ("The End"). Meanwhile, KXOA-FM moved to the 93.7 frequency. In March of 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.