KDON-FM

KDON-FM (102.5 FM) is a Rhythmic Contemporary station licensed to Salinas, California. They are owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Media and Entertainment) . Its studios are in Salinas, and the transmitter is on Fremont Peak.

History

The KDON calls have a Top 40 heritage in the Monterey-Salinas market going back to at least the mid-1960s, when they were on 1460 AM.

In its early years, 102.5 was KSBW, playing middle of the road and beautiful music. It became a mainstream Top 40 station as KDON-FM in the early 1980s with no disk jockeys, in stark contrast to other Top 40 stations at the time. This may have been a gimmick at the time as the fledgling station fought to gain a foothold in the market. As the years progressed, on-air personalities were added.

The format evolved into Rhythmic Top 40 by 1988 and since then has remained one of the highest rated stations in the Monterey/Santa Cruz radio market.

In the early nineties, Mancow Muller hosted a local morning show on KDON. Other talent that has come out of KDON include MTV's "Lucious Liz" and many others who have gone on to bigger radio markets working the early part of their careers at KDON.