KKND
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| City | Belle Chasse, Louisiana |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | New Orleans metropolitan area |
| Branding | "Power 102.9" |
| Slogan | Nonstop Hip Hop and R&B |
| Frequency | 102.9 MHz (also on HD Radio) 102.9 HD-2 for Regional Mexican |
| First air date | 1992 (as KMEZ) |
| Format | Rhythmic contemporary |
| ERP | 4,700 watts |
| HAAT | 184 meters |
| Class | C3 |
| Facility ID | 12157 |
| Callsign meaning | The END, which was a slogan for its dial position on the station the callsign used to be on which is now KMEZ |
| Former callsigns | KNOK (10/18/89-09/27/91, CP) KMEZ (09/27/91-05/29/08) |
| Owner |
Cumulus Media (Radio License Holding CBC, LLC) |
| Sister stations | KMEZ, WRKN, WZRH |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | power1029.com |
KKND better known as the "Power 102.9" is a Rhythmic Contemporary outlet serving the New Orleans area. The Cumulus Media station is licensed to Belle Chasse, Louisiana and broadcasts its format at 102.9 MHz with an ERP of 4.7 kW. The station competes with Clear Channel's WQUE for ratings. Its studios are located at the Place St. Charles building in Downtown New Orleans and the transmitter site is in Chalmette, Louisiana.
The station, whose original calls were KMEZ, started off in 1992 with a gold-based Urban AC format and was known on-air as "Big Eazy 102.9", only to later re-image as "Old School 102.9" in an effort to capitialize on the growing interest in the Rhythmic/Urban Oldies format. By 2004, it modified its format by adding current Adult R&B product to its playlist and reimaged itself again as "102.9, Old School & Today's R&B" to reflect the changes—and compete with WYLD-FM and hip hop station WQUE. Despite being an Urban AC, KMEZ, who, during the fall of 2007, became the flagship station of the New Orleans Hornets of the National Basketball Association.
On May 20, 2008, KMEZ began simulcasting on sister station KKND, who in turn, dropped their struggling country format. The simulcast also marked KMEZ's move to the 106.7 frequency. This station received the callsign of KKND from KXOS on May 29, 2008, who changed their callsign to KMEZ.
On July 3, 2008, at exactly 10:29 a.m., Rock with You by Michael Jackson signaled the end of the "Old School" format (as that station completed its move to 106.7 FM), with the song fading into the introduction of the new Rhythmic Contemporary-formatted "Power 102.9", signing on with 10,000 songs in a row, starting with New Orleans native Lil' Wayne's "Lollipop". The station's logo and Hip-Hop direction is loosely based on KPWR/Los Angeles and is expected to challenge WQUE, who has dominated the R&B/Hip-Hop scene in New Orleans for nearly two decades and has yet to be defeated.
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Wikipedia