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KDWB
City of license	Richfield, Minnesota
Broadcast area	Minneapolis-St. Paul
Branding	101.3 KDWB
Slogan	#1 For Today's Hit Music
First air date	1960s
Frequency	101.3 FM (MHz) 101.3-2 FM (KDWB2 Party Zone - Rhythmic/Dance Hits (HD Radio)
Format	Top 40/CHR
ERP	100,000 watts
Class	C
Callsign meaning	K D Warner Brothers (previous owner)
Owner	Clear Channel
Website	www.kdwb.com

KDWB (101.3 FM) is a radio station in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota, known for almost fifty years as a major Top 40 pop music outlet. Its transmitter is located in Shoreview, Minnesota. Today, the station is owned by Clear Channel Communications.

Contents 1 History 1.1 History of 101.3 FM 1.2 "Super U-100" 1.3 KDWB moves to FM 1.4 "Stereo 101" 1.5 Back to Top 40 1.6 "Muslim Jeopardy!" controversy 2 Current Personalities 3 KDWB HD2 4 See also 5 External links 6 References

See also WDGY

KDWB's origins started on the AM dial, at 630 kHz. The station began as a collaboration between three brothers who named it WCOW ("WPIG" or "KPIG" was apparently rejected), which was an odd station playing country and old-time music when it first went on the air in 1951 at 1590 kHz. Vic, Nick, and Al Tedesco, who had previously put together a station in Stillwater, Minnesota, attempted to get into television on channel 17 the next year, but financial backing fell through. The channel 17 allocation was taken by Twin Cities Public Television in 1965. In the early days, WCOW signed on with a cowbell.

WCOW was not very successful, so the station transitioned to being a female-oriented station with the call sign WISK in 1957, and the frequency was changed to 630 kHz the next year. Again, the format was not popular, and the station was soon bought out by Crowell-Collier Broadcasting Company, who owned KFWB and KEWB in California. The top 40 format of those stations was brought to Minnesota, and the KDWB call sign came into use in 1959. It quickly became a major competitor to WDGY, which had been playing a pop music format for a few years by that point. With the 630 kHz frequency, KDWB called itself "Channel 63" and the station began its long uninterrupted run as a pop music station.

KDWB may be the first station to have been fined by the Federal Communications Commission. They apparently had to pay $10,000 because of repeated willful violations of nighttime broadcast power restrictions when it was broadcasting on the AM band. A fire at the station knocked it off the air for a few days later that decade.

See also KKMS

Bill and Becky Ann Stewart were owners of a radio station that simulcast on both 980 AM and 101.3 FM. Both stations were licensed to Richfield, Minnesota, with studios located in Eagan. The two stations programmed a rather conservative MOR format as WPBC ("The People's Broadcasting Company"), which started broadcasting on the AM signal in 1949. The owners were very strict, to the point that they rejected advertising from beer and tobacco companies. And of course, no rock and roll music. They began simulcasting the AM station as WPBC-FM at 101.3 MHz in the 1960s. The folksy 30 second twice-hourly jingle promoting the station, sung by some men and accompanied by a small orchestra, went as follows (with the call letters spelled out):

"W..P..B..C, dial carefully,
W..P..B..C, dial carefully,
You'll be happier, healthier, when,
You leave your dial at 100 or 10,
Always, everyday, P...B....C .....W..P..B..C .... W..P..B..C.....!"

In 1972, the Stewarts sold the two stations to Fairchild Industries, which then dismissed the entire staff and overhauled both stations. The FM was rechristened WRAH and programmed automated album oriented rock. The AM station changed to WYOO, picking up an oldies format. When the AM station's oldies format started to slide in the ratings, more MOR music was added, but ratings slid even further. The owners contemplated selling the station, so the general manager and program director, both hired from established Top 40 station KDWB, decided a major change needed to be made.

A decision was made to pick up a Top 40/hard rock format, in contrast to what they saw as the rigid, bland presentation of other similar stations in town. A decision was made to keep the WYOO call letters (as changing call letters with the FCC at the time was a long, difficult task). But they wanted to call the station something else on the air. Originally, it was to be Y-100, but a station in Florida with the same moniker and format threatened to sue. After going through the alphabet, station management finally stopped at "U". The new station would be called "U-100". Later, they realized the coincidence of the "WYOO" call letters and the new branding of "U-100". And another oddity was the placement on the dial. The AM broadcast at 980, and the FM at 101.3. Management reasoned that back then, all radios were analog, and it seemed like the only number shown on that part of the dial was a big "100", so it was close enough to 980 and 101.3. It all just seemed to make sense.

On August 26, 1974, WYOO was broadcasting live from the Minnesota State Fair, garnering little attention from fairgoers with their adult pop music. The program director, Rob Sherwood, used this opportunity to abruptly change the format of both stations, debuting the AM and FM simulcast of "Super U-100" with a Joe Cocker song and a two minute montage of the new stations' new jingles. You can hear a recording of the U100 format switch at radiotapes.com. The new U-100 quickly became the topic of conversation throughout the area with its rowdy, outrageous mix of Top 40 and hard rock. With a constant bombardment of loud jingles the jocks would scream "YEEEEWWWW ONE HUNDRED!" and "BOOGIE!" when they weren't giving the time, temperature ("it's seventy-two degrees in Frriiidleeeeey!") or bad jokes. "Right on Super U" became a catch phrase on the station and amongst its fans. The presentation was tight, fast-paced and very foreground.

During the next two years, U-100 quickly became the most talked-about radio station in town. Competition was fierce in rock 40 radio at the time, and compared to U-100, WDGY, KDWB, and KSTP-AM seemed a bit tame. As an added advantage, U-100 was the first Twin Cities top 40 station to broadcast on the FM dial in stereo (in addition to 980 AM).

U100 was not to last forever. The AM dial in the Twin Cities was crowded with top 40 stations, with U-100, KDWB, WDGY and KSTP-AM all fighting for the same audience. AM music stations also desired to transition to the increasingly popular FM dial. Doubleday Broadcasting, then the owner of KDWB, desperately wanted their own FM signal. And Fairchild was looking to sell their two stations. In February 1976, Doubleday announced it would be buying WYOO-FM with the intention of simulcasting KDWB on the FM signal. Since one company could not own two AM or FM stations in the same market at the time, the AM station had to be sold separately. The owner of WAYL (93.7 FM), an easy listening station, agreed to purchase 980 AM. WYOO-FM signed off for the last time at midnight on September 15, 1976, and KDWB morning personality True Don Bleu launched the new "KDWB and KDWB-FM" the following morning at 6 AM. The next week, 980 AM came back on the air with a simulcast of WAYL.

Helped by the stereo simulcast on 101.3 FM, KDWB quickly regained its position as the dominant Top 40 station in the Twin Cities. Their fierce young rival, U-100, was now gone. WDGY switched to a country music format in 1977. And KSTP hung around until 1979, as they slowly transformed into a talk station. By the end of the decade, KDWB was the only Top 40 station in town. With the competition gone, KDWB-FM split apart from the AM station's Top 40 simulcast and became "Stereo 101", an album oriented rock station designed to go up against KQRS, which had recently dumped their free-form rock presentation and adopted a stricter playlist. "Stereo 101" would be mildly successful, but never became a serious longterm competitor to KQRS.

In 1981, a serious new Top 40 competitor arrived in the Twin Cities. WLOL dropped their soft rock format and turned itself into a high-profile hit music station, immediately shooting to the top of the ratings. WCCO-FM also briefly switched to Top 40. Meanwhile, 63 KDWB languished, as AM music stations were slowly becoming a thing of the past. To protect its heritage and to finally make the move of its legendary station to the FM dial, KDWB-FM dropped AOR and reverted back to the Top 40 simulcast of the AM station. In a role reversal, the FM signal was now deemed the primary station, as 630 AM attained secondary status. The AM station continued to simulcast until 1985, when it flipped to a separate oldies format.

The new "101 KDWB" 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 and boring, and they went through several unsuccessful morning shows. It was argued by many that their promotions, music selection and on-air presentation paled in comparison to WLOL.

Finally, in 1988, newly-hired program director Brian Phillips cleaned house, as he dismissed many of the air personalities, overhauled the music, and brought in Steve Cochran to host the station's new morning show. 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. The rechristened "101.3 KDWB" had finally arrived, and virtually overnight, their fortunes changed. KDWB quickly became the top CHR station in the market, starting a dominance that continues to this day. Now WLOL was playing catch-up, as they tried various minor overhauls and tweaks before moving in a dance music-oriented direction in 1990. The next year, WLOL came to a sudden and premature end, as owner Emmis Broadcasting experienced financial problems and began to divest of many of their 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 hasn't been a major ratings threat, partly due to its rimshot broadcast signal and smaller promotional presence, it has given KDWB the most formidable competition it's had in recent years. At the other end of the spectrum, KS95 also competes somewhat with its older-leaning Hot AC format.

In late September 2006, KDWB-FM's Dave Ryan, Corey Foley and Steve-O performed a comedy skit based on radical Islamic ideas and behaviors that dominate the news. The skit, modeled on the popular TV game show Jeopardy!, included an announcer using a fake South Asian accent introducing contest categories such as "infamous infidels" and "potent portables." The skit also included a threat to behead a female host when she got an answer wrong. Some people found the skit funny and a fair depiction of Muslim ideas and actions. Many others, however, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim advocacy group, thought otherwise. After receiving complaints about the skit, it demanded an apology from KDWB.

On October 2, 2006, the station's website contained a short apology: "KDWB does not condone making light of Islam and Muslims. We regret that listeners found the 'Muslim Jeopardy!' comedy skit of one of our on-air hosts to be insensitive."

• Dave Ryan-Weekdays 5-9am
• Corey Foley-Weekdays 5-9am
• Steve-O-Weekdays 5-9am
• Lucas-Weekdays 9am-2pm
• Scotty Davis- Weekdays 2-6pm
• Wazz-Weeknights 6-10pm
• Chris Shatek-Weeknights 10pm-2am
• Special Ed-Overnights 2am-5am
• Dan Riggs-Weekend Mornings

Dave Ryan is an assclown.

On April 25, 2006, Clear Channel announced that KDWB's HD2 subchannel will carry a format focusing on Dance Hits. The HD2 signed the following July as the "Party Zone." "Party Zone" is also the name of the Friday and Saturday night show on KDWB simulcasted from local clubs that in the past has been hosted by the likes of Tone E. Fly, Gerry Dixon, and Michael Knight. After six months of running jockless, the subchannel began to add announcers (from KDWB) to its programming.

• WDGY
• KKMS

• KDWB
• Radiotapes.com: featuring historic airchecks of KDWB and other Twin Cities radio stations
• KDWB-HD2's "Party Zone"
• Oldiesloon.com, featuring historical information of Twin Cities Top 40 stations
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KDWB

• (December 6, 2002). Radio station founder Al Tedesco dies. Associated Press.
• Station histories. Oldiesloon.
• Barry Mishkind (February 28, 2004). Broadcast History FAQ. The Broadcast Archive.
• radiotapes.com, featuring classic airchecks of KDWB, KDWB-FM, U100, and "Stereo 101".

Dance formatted radio stations in the United States  view • talk • edit
Terrestrial
KNGY (San Francisco) · KNHC (Seattle) · KNRJ (Payson/Phoenix) · WBZC (Suburban Philadelphia) · WDRE (Long Island) · WDVW (New Orleans) · WMPH (Wilmington, DE) · XHTO (El Paso) · KXRG (Honolulu) · KPMW (Maui) • KLBU (Santa Fe; Electronica/Chill)
HD Radio
Format Lab: Classic Dance · Club Phusion · Pride Radio · Trancid · WiLD en Espanol (KYLD-HD) · Workout Channel
Other: Star 93.7 (WMKK-HD) · HD-D2 (WPOW-HD & WRDW-HD2) · WBBM-HD2 · KRSK-HD2 · Orbital 93.1 · Club Ben
Satellite
Sirius: The Beat· Boombox · Strobe · Area 33 · Chill
XM: The Move · BPM · The System · Chrome · XM Chill
Audio/Cable
Music Choice: Dance · Electronica
DMX Music: DMX Dance · DMX Lounge
Internet
Energy 98 · Groovera (Chill) · Groove Radio · IPartyRadio · MusicOne · Party107 · The Pulse · United Djs Radio

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Corporate officers: Lowry Mays | Mark Mays | Randall Mays | Tom Hicks Board of directors: Alan Feld | Perry Lewis | Lowry Mays | B.J. McCombs | Phyllis Riggins | Theodore Strauss | J.C. Watts | John H. Williams
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