Radio KNDD-FM (107.7 the End)

KNDD (107.7 FM), also known as "107.7 The End", is an alternative rock radio station in Seattle, Washington. It is operated by Entercom Communications Corp. Its studios are located in the Metropolitan Park West tower between downtown and South Lake Union in Seattle. The station switched to an Alternative music format on August 23, 1991, around the time the Seattle grunge scene gained national attention. On December 18, 2003, the station gained notoriety for shifting the focus of the station toward a more classic alternative sound and local groups. KNDD ended up being a major player in developing the Seattle music scene and is still active in the promotion of local bands by providing airplay and sponsoring shows.

The station began its life in 1962 as non-commercial KRAB, founded by Lorenzo Milam and eventually owned by the Jack Straw Memorial Foundation. KRAB broadcast an eclectic mix of Pacifica radio features, world music, jazz, and much more. But the station was also dangerously close to insolvency. Its management realized the station could be sold to a commercial broadcaster and an endowment created, allowing the Foundation to broadcast in the non-commercial part of the radio dial, which exists between 88.1 mHz and 91.9 mHz. The owners of KRAB originally applied to share time with KNHC, owned by the Seattle Public Schools. However, this action was seen by the school district as a hostile take-over bid. Ultimately, the owners got a license for 90.7 mHz in Everett, Washington. KRAB's legacy remains on the air at KSER.

The first commercial station signed on in 1985. It was KMGI, also known as "Magic 108 FM." The station was a Gold-based Adult Contemporary station and had limited success for four years. But under the ownership of Noble Broadcast Group, the station refocused as a Hot AC station beginning in 1990 and called itself "I-107.7." KMGI brought together the morning team of Kelly and Alpha, who remained with the station throughout its days as I-107-7. Today, they remain together at WSB-FM in Atlanta, Georgia.

On August 23, 1991, the station changed its name and call letters. The station known as "The End" was born, and it referred to its music as "The Cutting Edge of Rock." This positioning statement borrowed directly from its San Diego/Tijuana sister station XETRA-FM. During its transition, 107.7 played non-stop (1950s-1980s) TV theme songs with different voices stating "The End is coming" during its commercial breaks and in randomly between themes. It was the Seattle market's 4th attempt at a modern alternative format, dating back to KZAM AM 1540 in the late 1970s. Other stations in the format at one time or another included KJET-AM 1590 and KYYX-FM 96.5, which both trace their histories to the 1980s. Those stations may have been ahead of their times, however, while KNDD's sign-on came at a particularly fortuitous time in both the Seattle and national music scenes. Within six weeks of The End's first broadcast, three albums by local artists — Ten by Pearl Jam, Nevermind by Nirvana and Badmotorfinger by Soundgarden — were released. These albums helped come to define the sound known as grunge, and as Seattle's role in music history was cemented, the station quickly became one of the major stations in alternative rock radio. KNDD was also the first commercial station to play the band Weezer, when in June 1994, the station played "Undone (The Sweater Song)".

By 2003, the station moved to classic alternative days before KRQI (now KJAQ) signed on the air as a replacement for KYPT, a '80s-formatted station. This proved to be a stunt, and shortly after KRQI's sign-on, the station moved back to alternative rock, although it dumped most of the hard rock bands.

In May 2006, long time program director Phil Manning announced that he was leaving the station. Lazlo, of KRBZ in Kansas City, was named the new program director on June 1, 2006. In November 2006, he began hosting afternoons with a simulcast of his KRBZ show, which is co-hosted by his wife, Afentra, and Slimfast under the "Church of Lazlo" moniker. On July 17, 2008, Lazlo, Afentra, and Slimfast announced that they would depart KNDD. On August 25, 2008, both "Afentra's Big Fat Morning Buzz" and "The Church of Lazlo" returned live to Kansas City on KRBZ. This came shortly after former KRBZ program director Mike Kaplan took over programing duties at KNDD.

In February 2009, the syndicated Adam Carolla Show was cancelled, leaving KNDD without a morning show. After an on air search for a new morning host that featured well known DJs and local musicians, Whitney "Red" Knoerlin was named host of a music intensive morning show.