SANDPOINT - When KPND-FM went on the air in 1980, it was a low-wattage station that played a highly eclectic mix of music. Back then, the tower was located directly behind the Marion Avenue studios and the broadcasting range was limited to a tight radius.

In fact, when listeners in those early days headed south, the radio station's signal would begin to fade as soon as they crossed the Long Bridge.

Almost 28 years, two towers and a considerable increase in wattage later, KPND has reached the top, “Class C” broadcast designation. And with that extra power, the station now plans to beam itself into the heart of Spokane. Parts of Kootenai County will receive the signal, as well.

A 150-foot tower was completed on the top of 5,200-foot Hoodoo Mountain this past winter, just before the big snowfall. The new 56,000-watt transmitter was brought in by snow cat and the broadcast signal switched from the peak right above Schweitzer's Chair 4 to the new site near the end of February.

Although the parent company - Blue Sky Broadcasting - now has a total of six stations that play everything from country to news-talk to straight ahead rock n- roll, only the original format was selected for targeting the Spokane area. According to Dylan Benefield, general manager for the stations, the larger market already has several radio frequencies devoted to news, country and rock, but nothing that matches KPND's playlist.

“We think there's a niche for a format that's not like everything else out there,” he said.

Compared with other stations in the region, the music remains eclectic in nature. But nationally, KPND is part of a network of relatively few stations playing what the industry calls “adult album alternative,” or AAA.

“It's a small fraternity,” Benefield said, adding that local station is one of only 70 such stations in the U.S. that report weekly to Radio & Records magazine. Song selections compiled by music director and mid-day host Diane Michaels are combined with input from radio cohorts in other reporting cities to determine how well an artist fares on the charts.

Many of those radio stations came to the AAA format in recent years, while KPND has been at it, with some refinements over time, pretty much since the beginning.

“We've always been progressive adult music,” the general manager said.

“We've had the luxury of Spokane people touristing in Sandpoint for the past 28 years and listening to us on the way home - until they couldn't get the signal anymore. Now they can take us home.”