One of two dedicated rock stations in Sacramento has bid adieu to the alternative music format.

KWOD 106.5 FM, which had been broadcasting alternative music since 1991, relaunched Friday morning under a new format that plays hits from the 1990s — expanding its genre to include rock, pop, alternative, dance, conteporary urban R&B and more. Along with a format flip come new call signs and a new nickname: KBZC 106.5 FM "The Buzz." The format flip isn't so much because people aren't tuning in, but instead because the alternative rock format is failing as a business model.

"The last few years have been very challenging for KWOD," a statement prepared by program director Curtiss Johnson read. "We face the same circumstances as so many other organizations today: The challenge of running a business profitably."

This is not the first time KWOD has flipped formats while in Sacramento. In 1957, the 106.5 FM frequency belonged to KJML, which aired "elevator-like" music. In 1977, the station began experimenting with quadrophonic sound — an enhancement to stereo that broadcast audio through four channels instead of two — and as such, changed their call letters to KWOD and their format to that of adult contemporary mixed in with jazz. Shortly thereafter, the station dropped jazz in favor of pure Top 40 chart hits.

Nearly twenty-five years later, the station would adopt the all-too-familiar pure alternative format at a time when the alternative rock movement was beginning to take momentum.

"Those were the days before the term 'Alternative' was actually coined by some supposed marketing genius somewhere," Johnson wrote. "Then most people just called it Modern Rock and [KWOD] played bands, like the Pixies, The Cure, Depeche Mode, The Smiths and The Clash."

While the radio had a nice run with presenting new and interesting tracks for listeners to hear, people have begun downloading music online or listening to Internet and satellite radio stations, which has left the terrestrial radio market scratching their heads, trying to figure out how to compete. This has led to several station changes nationally and locally.

All three Sacramento radio companies — CBS Radio, Clear Channel Communications and Entercom Communications — have begun implementing new changes to the way radio is produced. The "Big Three" have fired talent in favor of computers, fired programmers and staff in favor of nationally-programmed content, and have begun picking up syndicated talk and music programs.

For example, KGBY 92.5 FM (Clear Channel Communications), which had aired adult contemporary music in competition with KYMX 96.1 "Mix96" (CBS Radio), abandoned the format and fired morning show host Lori Sacco and veteran broadcaster Paul Robins in favor of an adult alternative format. KGBY now competes with KZZO 100.5 "The Zone," another CBS Radio station.

In addition, CBS Radio has struggled to keep an audience for its adult alternative channel "The Zone," which mainly seeks a female audience. The station has shuffled through at least two breakfast shows before settling on the syndicated program "Mark & Mercedes," a program that originates from Nevada. CBS Radio also recently lost KQJK 93.7 FM "Jack FM" to Clear Channel Communications as part of a national station-swapping deal. Clear Channel Communications has announced intentions to launch a new radio station on the 93.1 FM frequency, though it's not clear what the upcoming format will be.

Sacramento's second-largest radio player, Entercom Communications, has also floundered in this downward economy. The company runs five radio stations in the city, including a sports-format station affiliated with ESPN and a Top 40 station that came under fire two years ago following the death of a listener from water intoxication during a station-run contest.

KWOD was marketable — the station could have embraced ideas like social networking to connect with their audience. The station could have offered free music downloads of local independent artists. The station could have solicited for user-generated content in the form of concert photos, videos and listener-run blogs. That idea, along with KWOD, is now gone.

Now, Entercom hopes to cut its losses and begin a new profitable radio station, but it's unclear if KBZC can compete against KGBY, KQJK, KZZO and the company's own Top 40 station KDND. Sacramento now has four contemporary stations to choose from, so it remains to be seen whether the river city will feel "The Buzz" for long.