KDND’s End: ‘Huge’ Public Interest Win

0

By Adam R Jacobson
RBR + TVBR


Media Action Center (MAC) is one of two groups that in September 2013 challenged the license renewal of Entercom CHR/Pop KDND-FM “107.9 The End” in Sacramento.

KDND was held responsible for the 2009 death of “Hold Your Wee For A Wii” contestant Jennifer Strange, a 28-year-old mother of three. The contest saw Strange drinking as much water as possible in a three-hour period without going to the bathroom. She consumed about two gallons of water and died as a result of apparent “water intoxication” – a dilution of body fluids leading to fatal changes in electrolyte levels.

The death of Strange led MAC and founder Sue Wilson to not only spotlight her passing in a 2009 documentary, but also fight Entercom by asserting the company was unfit to continue owning KDND — and every other station in its Sacramento station group.

While the FCC declined to include the other stations in a license review hearing in front of an FCC Administrative Law Judge, KDND’s fate was put into question in October 2016 — nearly a decade after the “Wee for a Wii” contest.

On Friday (2/3), it became clear that the ALJ would not need to rule on the matter: Entercom had submitted a public filing with the FCC indicating that it is voluntarily surrendering the license of KDND.

Wilson was elated. But, she wants the world to know that, in her view, Entercom is far from “the good guy.”

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)