Between its AM and FM frequencies, KDWB has been an uninterrupted Top 40 outlet since 1959, originally at 630 kHz. KDWB gained an FM sister in 1976, when then-owner
Doubleday Broadcasting purchased the 101.3 MHz frequency, later transferring the format there as FM stations attracted listeners from AM.
63 KDWB KDWB's origins date back to
1951 on the AM dial at 1590 kHz. The station was launched in August 1951, licensed to
South St. Paul by the Tedesco brothers, Al, Vic and Nick, as WCOW. On the air between dawn and dusk, the station played
country western and old-time music and signed on each day with a
cowbell. The offices and studios were located at 208 Third Avenue N., and the transmitter was located at 158 White Bear Avenue in North St. Paul. and switched its frequency to 630 kHz the next year. Once more, the format proved unpopular, and the station was sold the following year to the Crowell-Collier Broadcasting Company, owners of
KFWB in Los Angeles and
KEWB in San Francisco. The
top 40 format of those stations, with strong California/West Coast style influence, was brought to Minnesota, and the call letters changed to KDWB in September 1959. "Channel 63, KDWB" then began its long uninterrupted run as a pop music station, and quickly became a major competitor to the established
WDGY, which had been playing a pop music format for three years by that point. KDWB and WDGY were fierce rivals throughout the 1960s and 1970s; during that time, both stations gained more competition, as "Request Radio" AM 950 and FM 104.1
KRSI (1968),
KSTP (1972), and
WYOO (1974) picked up the format. As KDWB, the station became the first radio station to be fined by the
Federal Communications Commission. In March 1961, six months after a review of the
Communications Act of 1934 granted it such power, the agency assessed a $10,000 penalty to the station for repeated willful violations of nighttime broadcast power restrictions on the
AM band.
On-air staff and other programming During the 1960s and 1970s, Program Director Chuck Blore referred to the seven air shifts in 24 hours as "The 7 Swinging Gentlemen". They included: •
"True" Don Bleu •
Bob Shannon •
Lou Reigert (Lou Waters) Other notable On Air Staff included: • Ron Block • Charles Brown • Barry McKenna • Jonny Matthews • Adam North • Chris Roberts • Jackson Ross • Rob Sherwood • Earl Trout Syndicated and/or non-local originating broadcasts included
American Top 40 with
Casey Kasem, which aired Sunday evenings, and for over ten years, it was the highest-rated program in the Twin Cities market. Additional syndicated programming included "Jim Ladd's Innerview." Program directors included Chuck Blore and Bob Shannon. On April 18, 1994, after 36 years, the 630 kHz frequency went dark. Then-owner Midcontinent Media sold the studio and tower site, which by then had been at Radio Drive and Interstate 94 for many years, for development. The regional headquarters of
State Farm Insurance was built in its place.
History of 101.3 FM 101.3 FM began broadcasting on July 18, 1960, as WPBC-FM, simulcasting daytime-only
WPBC (980 AM) and broadcasting at night. Four years later, owners Bill and Becky Ann Stewart received approval to move both stations from Minneapolis to Richfield, including an increase of the AM's power to 5 kW. In 1969, the stations separated their programming, with the FM retaining the "good music" format, and the AM adopting a middle-of-the-road ("MOR") format. The studios, transmitters (both AM and FM), towers and offices were located at the intersection of Cliff Road and Cedar Avenue (presently "Nichols Road"), in
Eagan. The Stewarts sold WPBC-AM-FM in 1972, citing increased competition from larger companies, to
Fairchild Industries for $1.5 million. Fairchild subsequently dismissed the staff and overhauled both stations. On November 3, 1972, WPBC became WYOO, airing an oldies format, while WPBC-FM went off the air for technical adjustments, to emerge as
album-oriented rock station WRAH on January 23, 1973. After making its debut to middling ratings that continually declined, WYOO pivoted in April 1974, spearheaded by new general manager Mike Sigelman, the former sales manager of KDWB. A shift to adult contemporary was met with even lower ratings; with management seeing a gap for an FM Top 40 station, both stations flipped on August 26, 1974, while broadcasting from the
Minnesota State Fair. The market's fourth Top 40 at the time, originally intended to be named "Y100" until
WHYI Miami sent a cease and desist letter, quickly became a competitive station in the market under the name "U100". "U100" enjoyed a colorful but short life. The AM dial in the Twin Cities was packed with Top 40 stations, with U100, KDWB,
WDGY and
KSTP all fighting for the same audience. AM music stations also desired to transition to the increasingly popular FM dial. In early
1976, Fairchild Industries placed both stations on the market.
Entertainment Communications, Inc., the owner of
easy listening station
WAYL (93.7 FM), was interested in the AM station to simulcast WAYL's signal, but it could not buy a second FM station in the market under the rules of the time. This meant that Fairchild needed to find a buyer for the FM station; the company contacted owners of standalone AM stations in the area. Doubleday Broadcasting was not actively seeking an FM station at the time, but offered to buy WYOO-FM in February 1976 after it was presented with a generous deal that included the FM station and the building in
Eagan that housed both stations for $850,000. KDWB's general manager at the time, Gary Stevens, said that it did not buy WYOO-FM to shut down a competitor, but rather to take advantage of what it saw as a good deal. The AM station was then sold to WAYL for $625,000. "U100" ended at midnight on September 16,
1976, and under KDWB PD John Sebastian, KDWB morning personality Dave Thomson launched the KDWB AM/FM simulcast the following morning at 6:00 with "
Bad Blood" by
Neil Sedaka as the first song played following a pre-recorded announcement introducing the change from "U100". Full-time AM/FM simulcasts on stations licensed to large cities (cities with populations over 100,000) had not been allowed by the FCC since 1965. However, KDWB's simulcast was permitted via a conditional waiver and a technicality: while the AM was licensed to St. Paul (a community of over 100,000), the FM's city of license, Richfield, had a substantially smaller population. The FCC deemed the request to be in the public interest; however, KDWB was required by the FCC to broadcast eight hours of separate FM non-simulcast public affairs programming per week, with a portion focused on Richfield. The public affairs programs were broadcast from the former WYOO studio B news room and master control board in Eagan. Boosted by the FM stereo simulcast and the removal of one of its competitors, KDWB quickly regained its position as the dominant Top 40 station in the Twin Cities. After a brief stint with a
CHR/
album rock hybrid as "Y-11", WDGY switched to a
country format on September 2,
1977.
KSTP began to lean toward
Adult Top 40 during the late 1970s and evolved into a
talk station by the early 1980s (as its music focus shifted to FM sister,
KS95). By the end of the decade, KDWB was the only Top 40 station in the Twin Cities.
Stereo 101 With the active competition gone, KDWB-FM split apart from the AM station's Top 40 simulcast in September 1979, and became a pop/rock hybrid as "K101 FM", with a new separate air-staff. K101 FM was met with mixed reviews and less than hoped for ratings in the Fall 1979 Arbitron ratings. KDWB management opted for a change between the last week of December 1979 and New Year's 1980, by replacing the Program Director. The station immediately morphed into "Stereo 101, The Twin Cities Rockin' Best", then "KDWB Twin Cities' 101, The Home Of Rock 'N' Roll", and then "Real Rock 101 KDWB", an
album rock station designed to go up against
KQ92, which had recently dumped its
freeform rock presentation and adopted a stricter playlist in reaction to a drop in ratings. Stereo 101 would be successful in its four-year run, topping KQRS in the Arbitron ratings many times, but KQRS would endure and prevail. By the summer 1983, KDWB-FM began to move from
album rock to a pop/rock hybrid again, and eventually evolved into
CHR the following year. KDWB's AM signal continued with the Top 40 format during this time, although it softened to
adult contemporary in 1984.
Back to Top 40 In December
1981, a serious new Top 40 competitor arrived in the Twin Cities, when
WLOL dropped its
soft rock format and turned itself into a high-profile hit music station (heavy with
power pop and
new wave), immediately shooting to the top of the ratings. At the other end of the spectrum,
KS95 gravitated toward
Adult Top 40. Around this time,
WCCO-FM also briefly switched to Top 40. Meanwhile, 63 KDWB faded quickly in the ratings, as AM music stations were slowly becoming a thing of the past. To protect its heritage, take a chunk of WLOL's stellar ratings, and finally make the move of its legendary station to the FM dial, in early
1984, KDWB-FM reverted to the Top 40 simulcast as "The New KDWB FM 101", and then as "All Hit 101". Even though the AM station was running its own programming at times, in a role reversal, the FM signal was now deemed the priority, as 630 AM attained secondary status. The AM station aired a
CHR format identical to its FM counterpart from fall
1984 to spring
1986, before it flipped to a separate satellite delivered
Oldies format as "K63" in May
1986. In August 1991,
630 AM took on the WDGY call letters of their former Top 40 rival on 1130 AM. KDWB-FM struggled for years against upstart market leader WLOL, which featured a fresher music selection, more popular DJs, and a highly rated morning show. KDWB was viewed by many as stuffy, stale, boring and misguided, and it went through several unsuccessful morning shows. It was argued by many that its promotions, music selection and on-air presentation paled in comparison to WLOL. In
1988, newly hired program director Brian Phillips cleaned house, as he dismissed many of the on-air personalities, overhauled the music and brought in
Steve Cochran to host
The KDWB Morning Zoo. He also hired a new air staff, introduced 12-song commercial-free music sweeps, changed the overall on-air presentation, and created a new logo, which is still in use today. As the rechristened "101.3 KDWB", its fortunes changed, with KDWB quickly becoming the dominant
Top 40/
CHR station in the market. Now, WLOL was playing catch-up, as it tried various minor overhauls and tweaks before moving in a
Rhythmic-oriented direction in
1990. KDWB also gained national attention in 1989 for helping to break "
The Look" by
Roxette, the first of four U.S. number-one songs for the Swedish duo. In February 1991, WLOL came to a sudden and premature end, as owner
Emmis Broadcasting experienced financial problems and began to divest of many of its properties.
Minnesota Public Radio purchased WLOL and turned it into the flagship for their classical music service. Throughout the rest of the 1990s, KDWB had virtually no CHR competition. In
2000, KDWB got a new rival of sorts when upstart
KTTB ("B96") went on the air with a
rhythmic Top 40 format, heavy with
hip-hop and
urban contemporary music. While B96 was not the threat of a major rating, partly due to its rimshot broadcast signal and smaller promotional presence, it did give KDWB the most formidable competition it had in recent years. Later, the competition for the rhythmic/urban audience came from
KZGO, sister station to the former B96. At the other end of the spectrum,
KS95 also competes somewhat with its older-leaning
Hot AC format (which has since transitioned to a younger-leaning direction), as does KDWB's own sister station
KTCZ, with its own pop/rock-leaning Hot AC presentation. In
2010, KTTB rebranded as KHTC (now
KMWA), leaning more towards KDWB's format, and relocated their transmitter to the heart of the metro area. The battle between KDWB and KHTC lasted until New Year's Day 2012, when KHTC flipped to Modern AC to fill the void left open by
WLTE's flip to Country, thus leaving KDWB as the market's only mainstream Top 40 outlet again. ==HD Radio==