KKND | |
City: | Port Sulphur, Louisiana |
Area: | New Orleans metropolitan area |
Branding: | Heaven 106.7 |
Airdate: | July 4, 1989 (as KQLD) |
Frequency: | 106.7 MHz |
Format: | Urban Gospel |
Erp: | 98,000 watts 100,000 with beam tilt |
Haat: | 299m (981feet) |
Class: | C1 |
Facility Id: | 58395 |
Callsign Meaning: | KK The END (former branding) |
Former Callsigns: | KQLD (1989–1993) KGTR (1993–1994) KLJZ (1994–1996) KKND (1996–2008) KXOS (2008) KMEZ (2008–2018) |
Owner: | Cumulus Media |
Licensee: | Radio License Holding CBC, LLC |
Sister Stations: | KMEZ, WRKN, WZRH |
Website: | heaven1067.com |
Licensing Authority: | FCC |
KKND (106.7 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Port Sulphur, Louisiana, and serving the New Orleans metropolitan area. The Cumulus Media station airs an urban gospel radio format. The studios and offices are located at the Place St. Charles building in Downtown New Orleans. The station is also the only 100,000 watts gospel radio station in Louisiana.
The transmitter site is on Delacroix Highway (Route 300) in St. Bernard, Louisiana.[1] The effective radiated power (ERP) is 98,000 watts (100,000 with beam tilt).[2]
The station began broadcasting on July 4, 1989 as oldies KQLD.[3] In 1993, it flipped to country music as KGTR, 106.7 The Gator. In 1994, the station flipped to smooth jazz as KLJZ. In September 1996, the station flipped to modern rock as 106.7 The End, introducing its current KKND calls.[4] The station added the Howard Stern show in January 1997, and eventually dropped it in December 1999.
In August 2005, KKND was knocked off the air by Hurricane Katrina.[5] On January 8, 2006, KKND returned to air with a new hybrid country/rock format, Rockin' Country 106.7.[6] In early-2007, the station dropped this hybrid format and shifted to a more conventional country format, later rebranding on December 26 as 106.7 The Wolf.
On May 20, 2008, KKND flipped to urban adult contemporary as Old School 106.7, assuming the format of sister station KMEZ.[7] The two stations simulcasted until July 3, when KMEZ flipped to rhythmic contemporary as Power 102.9. KKND's calls were also moved to 102.9, being briefly replaced by KXOS[8] before switching to KMEZ itself.
On December 6, 2018, the two stations began to simulcast once more, this time to migrate the urban AC format back to 102.9 (with the KKND calls also returning to 106.7). Cumulus stated that the simulcast would last for 30 days, after which KKND would launch a new format.[9] On January 3, 2019, KKND flipped to classic hits as 106.7 The Krewe, adding John McConnell's The Spud Show for mornings.[10]
On September 8, 2020, KKND flipped to hot adult contemporary, maintaining the Krewe branding, and replacing McConnell with the syndicated The Bert Show.[11]
On September 10, 2021, KKND changed their format to gospel, branded as "Heaven 106.7". The branding is similar to WXOK's branding (Heaven 95.7 and 1460) in Baton Rouge, which is also owned by Cumulus. The change came after the station had briefly gone off air, along with the rest of their sister stations, after the transmitter had been destroyed in the midst of Hurricane Ida three weeks prior. The change also came after the station, despite the Hot AC move, barely registered in the local Nielsen Audio Ratings, carrying just a 0.3 in the July ratings.[12]