Chris Collins, Kil R Bee and I got together on March 31, 2012 to talk about Sacramento radio in the 1980s. We covered
several topics from programming strategies to jock performance to stirring up controversy. This montage delivers an
historic overview of not just Sacramento radio in the 1980s, but what what also going on across the nation as dance
stations like FM 102 began attracting more listeners than the traditional pop sounding stations like KWOD or KROY.
Identities of all three stations shifted in the late 80s. In 1989 KWOD's slogan was "no rap crap" as it leaned toward
pop songs, yet within a year KWOD, like KROY, began to play lots of rap. But neither KWOD nor KROY could beat FM 102 by
mirroring them so both stations changed formats. KROY became classic rocker 96.9 The Eagle and KWOD started playing
modern rock in 1991, which you can read all about in The Rise of Alternative Radio.
Three top 40 stations in a market the size of Sacramento was rare at that time, as two stations playing the latest
hottest hits were the norm per major market. Sacramento became one of the top 30 radio markets in the nation back in the
early 1990s. The market ranked #31 in 1989 and was #30 by the Spring of 1990. It has continued to climb as high as #26.
There was a sense in the 80s that the entire scene was growing as far as radio, music and entertainment. Then in 1996,
as the montage highlights, new laws allowed big biz to take over the radio industry as most of Sacramento's stations
quickly got snatched up by three big companies. The result was higher advertising rates reaching lower market shares.
