WKSS

WKSS

City of license	Hartford-Meriden, Connecticut
Broadcast area	Hartford, Connecticut
Branding	Kiss 95.7
Slogan	All the Hits
Frequency	95.7 MHz (also on HD Radio) 95.7 HD2 for "Pride Radio"
First air date	1977
Format	Top 40/CHR
ERP	16,500 watts
HAAT	268 meters
Class	B
Facility ID	53384
Callsign meaning	W KiSS
Former callsigns	WMMW-FM (late 1960s-1977)
Owner	Clear Channel
Sister stations	WHCN, WPKX, WPOP, WWYZ
Webcast	Listen Live!
Website	www.kiss957.com

WKSS (Kiss 95.7) is a Top 40 Mainstream station based in Hartford, Connecticut. The city of license is Hartford-Meriden, Connecticut, a unique two-city legal identifier. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications Their motto is All the Hits. Their studios are at 10 Columbus Boulevard, in Hartford, Connecticut with the other Clear Channel Hartford cluster stations.

Technical

WKSS broadcasts at 95.7 MHz with an effective radiated power of 16,500 watts, using a directional antenna. (The signal is nulled in the direction of WFOX in Norwalk, CT.). The station has a 50 kW equivalent signal @ 268 meters above average terrain. The station broadcasts from West Peak in Meriden, Connecticut, on a tower with former sister station WMRQ.

History

This station started in 1960 when "WMMW-FM" began broadcasting from West Peak in Meriden, Connecticut, covering much of the central Connecticut area. In 1962 the call letters became WBMI. It's call letters referred to its parent company name, "Business Music, Inc." It was one of the first stations to broadcast in stereo in 1962 after the FCC standardized the multiplex system. In 1977, WBMI-FM adopted a Beautiful Music format, changed its callsign to WKSS and used the slogan "96 KISS". The station was lowly rated and was not making a lot of money, when in October, 1984, programmer Bob Mitchell, who would later go on to become an influential radio consultant, flipped the station to Top 40 as "95.7 Kiss FM" with the motto "Connecticut's Hot Rockin' Hit Radio." In the Fall of 1989, "95.7 Kiss FM" became known as "Kiss 95.7" and began shifting toward a Dance-leaning CHR format under the slogan "Connecticut's 10 In A Row Power Station".

In its early days, WKSS airstaffers Jeremy Savage, Marc Wainwright, Curt Monday, Jon Howe, Albie Dee, TJ "Rock and Roll Wright, Tom Casey, Sky Michaels, Robin King, and the legendary Cadillac Jack were some of the most prominent announcers of the era, while programmers such as Jefferson Ward, Chris Walsh, Larry Hryb (Currently the Director of Programming for Microsoft's Xbox LIVE service), John Dowd (Jay Beau Jones), Steve McVie, Tracy Austin, Rick Vaughn and many others have also called WKSS home at one point or another. WKSS is frequently a stepping stone to bigger markets for up and coming jocks.

After several years of a heated CHR war with rival station "96 TIC-FM", which included longtime WTIC morning-show host Gary Craig briefly moving to WKSS, "95.7 Kiss-FM" eventually won the ratings battle, forcing WTIC to flip formats to Adult Top 40. Throughout the 1990s, they had several leans towards other formats, including dance and rhythmic for a time. Friday and Saturday Night Mix Shows (The Kiss Club) with DJ Chris Walsh were a staple during this era. Chris Walsh also produced "Kiss Classics" on Sunday nights which ran from 1987-2003.

The station was consistently top 5 in the 12+ Hartford Arbitron ratings until Infinity changed jammin' oldies outlet WZMX Z-93.7 music format to rhythmic top 40 as "Hot 93.7".

Kiss immediately fell out of the top 10 in the 12+ Hartford Arbitron ratings, where it stayed until 2005, when the station began to rebound under the strong guidance of Program Director Rick Vaughn & Assistant Program Director Jojo "Joey" Brooks, both of which now program Q102 Philadelphia.

Currently the station is programmed by Stan "The Man" Priest.

External links

• Station website
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WKSS
• Radio-Locator information on WKSS
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WKSS