KDON-FM

{{Infobox radio station

| name = KDON-FM

| city = Salinas, California

| area = Central Coast (California)

| branding = 102.5 K-Don

| frequency = {{Frequency|102.5|MHz}} {{HD Radio}}

| airdate = {{start date and age|1960}}

| language = English

| format = Rhythmic contemporary

| erp = 15,000 watts

| haat = {{convert|723|m|ft|sp=us}}

| class = B

| licensing_authority = FCC

| facility_id = 26930

| callsign_meaning = Heritage calls of KION (AM), indicating its affiliation with the Don Lee Network

| former_callsigns = {{ubl|KSBW-FM (1960–1975)|KBEZ (1975–1977)|KDON-FM (1977–1990)|KDON (1990)}}

| owner = iHeartMedia, Inc.

| licensee = iHM Licenses, LLC

| affiliations = Compass Media Networks

| sister_stations = KION, KOCN, KPRC-FM, KTOM-FM

| webcast = {{iHeartRadio|1025-kdon-2930/}}

| website = {{URL|https://kdon.iheart.com/}}

}}

KDON-FM (102.5 MHz "K-Don") is a commercial radio station licensed to Salinas, California, and serving the Monterey–Salinas–Santa Cruz radio market and the Central California Coast. It broadcasts a rhythmic contemporary radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The station's studios are on Moffett Street in Salinas.

KDON-FM has an effective radiated power of 15,000 watts, its transmitter is on San Juan Grade Road, atop Fremont Peak in Prunedale, California.

History

Image:KDON2006.png

=KSBW-FM=

The station signed on in 1960.[https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1961-62/section%20B%20All%20Radio%20%20Broadcasting%20Yearbook%201961-1962-9.pdf Broadcasting Yearbook 1961-1962] page B-23, Broadcasting & Cable Its original call sign was KSBW-FM, the counterpart to KSBW 1380 AM (now off the air) and KSBW-TV Channel 8 (now owned by Hearst Television).

KSBW-FM at first simulcast the programming on KSBW 1380 AM, by the late 1960s it was broadcasting an automated beautiful music format. It featured quarter-hour sweeps of soft instrumental cover versions of adult pop music, with limited talk and commercials.

=Top 40 and Rhythmic Contemporary=

KSBW-FM became a Top 40/CHR station as KDON-FM in the early 1980s. The KDON call sign has a Top 40 heritage in the Monterey-Salinas market going back to the mid-1960s, when it was used on 1460 AM. The AM station on 1460 kHz gave up those call letters and its Top 40 format to become a talk radio station. KDON-FM began as an automated Top 40 station with no disc jockeys. This was not uncommon for FM Top 40 stations in those days, when most radios only received AM stations. As the years progressed and more listeners switched to the FM band, on-air personalities were added.

The format evolved into Rhythmic Contemporary by 1988 and since then has remained one of the highest rated stations in the Monterey-Salinas-Santa Cruz radio market.

In the early nineties, Mancow Muller hosted a local morning show on KDON (he would later go onto success as a morning host in Chicago and syndicated around the country).

References

External links

{{officialwebsite|https://kdon.iheart.com/}}

{{Cite web|url= https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=71348 |title= History Cards for KDON|publisher=Federal Communications Commission}} (Guide to reading History Cards)