KSKS

Last updated

KSKS
Broadcast area Fresno metropolitan area - Central Valley
Frequency 93.7 MHz
Branding93.7 Kiss Country
Programming
Format Country
Affiliations Westwood One
Ownership
Owner
KMGV, KMJ, KMJ-FM, KWYE
History
First air date
1946;79 years ago (1946) (as KRFM)
Former call signs
KRFM (1946–1964)
KFRE-FM (1964–1971)
KFYE (1971–1991)
Call sign meaning
"Kiss" (2 times)
Technical information [1]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 26924
Class B
ERP 68,000 watts
HAAT 580 meters (1,903 ft)
Links
Public license information
Webcast Listen live
Website ksks.com

KSKS (93.7 FM) is a commercial radio station in Fresno, California. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and it airs a country music radio format branded as "93.7 Kiss Country". Its studios are at the Radio City building on Shaw Avenue in North Fresno and its transmitter is off Auberry Road in Meadow Lakes, California. [2] KSKS has local DJs during the day. In the evening, airs the syndicated Country Nights with Bev Rainey from Westwood One, a subsidiary of Cumulus Media.

Contents

KSKS is licensed to broadcast in the HD (digital hybrid) format. [3] As one of the oldest FM stations in the Fresno media market, the station is considered a grandfathered superpower station, as its effective radiated power is 68,000 watts at a height above average terrain of 580 meters (1,903 feet). (Stations at that height in Central California should run less than 3,000 watts, according to current Federal Communications Commission rules for Class B regions; however, KSKS went on the air in 1946, founded before the rules were put in place.) [4]

History

KRFM and KFRE-FM

The station signed on the air in 1946;79 years ago. KRFM were the original call letters. The first owner was Paul Bartlett, a Fresno radio station pioneer. The station's studios were originally at the transmitter site in Meadow Lakes. In the 1940s and 50s, few people owned FM receivers, so finding an audience was difficult.

The station was acquired by the owner of KFRE (940 AM, now KYNO) and KFRE-TV (now KFSN-TV), which originally operated on VHF channel 12, later UHF channel 30. As a sister station to KFRE and KFRE-TV, the FM station took the call sign KFRE-FM. [5] All three stations were owned by Triangle Publications. Triangle was the publisher of the popular weekly magazine TV Guide . The company decided to sell off its Fresno properties in 1971.

KFYE and KSKS

Because the stations were sold to separate companies, and the owner of the AM station kept the KFRE call sign, the FM station took new call letters, KFYE. The station was a mostly-instrumental beautiful music outlet. It played quarter-hour sweeps of instrumental cover tunes of popular adult music, Broadway and Hollywood show tunes.

Through the 1980s, the station added more vocals as an easy listening station. In 1992, KFYE completed the transition to an adult contemporary format known as "Y-94." In the 1980s, disc jockey Ray Appleton hosted "Lunchtime at the Oldies" on Y-94. Appleton would go on to become a popular talk show host at 580 KMJ. In 1992, KFYE flipped to country music as KSKS. KSKS and KMJ were acquired by CBS Radio in 1998. [6]

Changes in ownership

In 2006, CBS Radio decided to leave most medium-sized media markets and concentrate on its stations in larger cities. On November 16 of that year, the company announced the sale of KSKS and its other Fresno-area stations to Peak Broadcasting.

On August 30, 2013, a deal was announced in which Townsquare Media would purchase Peak Broadcasting, and then immediately swap Peak's Fresno stations, including KSKS, to Cumulus Media in exchange for Cumulus' stations in Dubuque, Iowa and Poughkeepsie, New York. The deal was part of Cumulus' acquisition of Dial Global. Peak, Townsquare, and Dial Global were all controlled by Oaktree Capital Management. [7] [8] The sale to Cumulus was completed on November 14, 2013. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KROC-FM</span> Radio station in Rochester, Minnesota

KROC-FM is a commercial radio station serving Rochester, Minnesota. The station's transmitter is located near the Minnesota-Iowa border. The station is owned by Townsquare Media. It airs a top 40 (CHR) music format.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WSAK</span> Classic hits radio station in Hampton, New Hampshire

WSAK and WSHK are a pair of American radio stations broadcasting a classic hits music format to the Seacoast Region of New Hampshire, York County, Maine, and northeast Massachusetts. WSAK is licensed to serve Hampton, New Hampshire, and WSHK is licensed to serve Kittery, Maine; their broadcast studios are located in Dover. WSHK’s transmitter is located in South Eliot, Maine, while WSAK’s transmitter is in Seabrook, New Hampshire, adjacent to the Massachusetts border. A few specialty programs are carried: The House of Blues Radio Hour with Dan "Elwood Blues" Aykroyd, and "The Reporter's File", a public affairs program, both on Sundays. The Shark was previously the only New Hampshire stations to carry the syndicated Bob & Tom Show morning show. It no longer carries that program, instead using its own local DJs on The Shark Morning Show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WDBQ-FM</span> Radio station in Galena, Illinois

WDBQ-FM is a radio station broadcasting a classic hits format. Located near Galena, Illinois, United States, the station serves the Dubuque, Iowa area. The station is owned by Townsquare Media and licensed to Townsquare License, LLC.

KMJ-FM is a commercial radio station in Fresno, California. The station, owned by Cumulus Media, airs a news/talk radio format, simulcast with sister station KMJ. The studios and offices are located at the Radio City building on Shaw Avenue in North Fresno. KMJ-FM's transmitter is off Auberry Road in Meadow Lakes, California.

KMGV is a commercial radio station in Fresno, California. It is owned by Cumulus Media and it airs a rhythmic oldies radio format. The studios are in the Radio City building on West Shaw Avenue in North Fresno.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KWYE</span> Radio station in Fresno, California

KWYE is a commercial radio station in Fresno, California, airing a hot adult contemporary music format. It is owned by Cumulus Media. Its studios are at the Radio City building on Shaw Avenue in North Fresno.

WOKQ is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. The station serves the Merrimack Valley, the New Hampshire Seacoast, and York County, Maine, including the cities of Manchester and Portsmouth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KXLT-FM</span> Radio station in Idaho, United States

KXLT-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to Eagle, Idaho, and serving the Boise metropolitan area. The station is owned by Townsquare Media with the license assigned to Townsquare License, LLC. It airs an adult contemporary radio format, switching to all Christmas music for much of November and December.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WRKI</span> Radio station in Brookfield–Danbury, Connecticut

WRKI is a commercial radio station licensed to Brookfield, Connecticut, serving Greater Danbury and Bridgeport-New Haven, Connecticut. The station is owned by Townsquare Media, and carries a classic rock radio format. Its studios and offices are located on Federal Road in Brookfield; the station's transmitter is on Carmen Hill Road, also in Brookfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WHOM</span> Radio station in the United States

WHOM is an American radio station which airs an adult contemporary radio format. WHOM is owned by Townsquare Media and transmits from atop Mount Washington, New Hampshire, its community of license. The station primarily targets the Portland, Maine area, but due to the high elevation of Mount Washington, can be heard across a much wider area of Maine and New Hampshire, northern and central Vermont, and parts of southern Quebec, northeastern Massachusetts and the Adirondacks of upstate New York.

KMJ is a commercial AM radio station in Fresno, California. It airs a news/talk radio format, and simulcasts with sister station KMJ-FM. Owned by Cumulus Media, the studios and offices are located at the Radio City building on Shaw Avenue in North Fresno.

WJIM is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Lansing, Michigan. It is owned by Townsquare Media and broadcasts a news/talk format. It is also the flagship station of the Michigan Talk Network. Studios and offices are on Pinetree Road in Lansing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KFIL (AM)</span> American radio station

KFIL is an American commercial AM radio station licensed to serve Preston, Minnesota. The station is licensed to broadcast only during daylight hours. Established in 1966 by O.B. Borgen, KFIL is currently owned by Townsquare Media and the broadcast license is held by Townsquare License, LLC.

WXXQ is an American radio station serving the Rockford, Illinois, area with a country music format. WXXQ broadcasts on FM frequency 98.5 MHz and is owned by Townsquare Media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WJOD</span> Country radio station in Iowa

WJOD is a radio station broadcasting a country music format serving the community of Dubuque, Iowa, United States. The station is owned by Townsquare Media and licensed to Townsquare License, LLC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KDCZ</span> Radio station in St. Charles, Minnesota

KDCZ is a radio station broadcasting a classic rock format. KDCZ is licensed to St. Charles, Minnesota, and serves the Rochester, Minnesota metropolitan area. The station is owned by Townsquare Media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KLYV</span> Radio station in Iowa, United States

KLYV is a radio station broadcasting a top 40 (CHR) format branded as Y105, serving the Dubuque, Iowa, United States, area. The station is owned by Townsquare Media and licensed to Townsquare License, LLC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KXGE</span> Radio station in Iowa, United States

KXGE is a radio station broadcasting a classic rock format serving the Dubuque, Iowa, United States, community. The station is owned by Townsquare Media and licensed to Townsquare License, LLC. The station at one time broadcast a country music format as KXKX. The station also broadcasts every home and away game for the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the United States Hockey League (USHL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KRFO-FM</span> Radio station in Minnesota, United States

KRFO-FM is a radio station airing a country music format, licensed to Owatonna, Minnesota. KRFO-FM is owned by Townsquare Media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KDOC-FM</span> Radio station in Eyota, Minnesota

KDOC-FM is a radio station broadcasting a classic hits format, simulcasting KFNL-FM in Spring Valley, Minnesota. KDOC-FM is licensed to Eyota, Minnesota, and serves the Rochester metropolitan area. The station is owned by Townsquare Media.

References

  1. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for KSKS". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ↑ "KSKS-FM Radio Station Coverage Map". radio-locator.com.
  3. ↑ Staff, FCC Internet Services. "Station Search Details". licensing.fcc.gov.
  4. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1977 page C-19
  5. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1967 page B-15. Retrieved Feb. 3, 2025
  6. ↑ Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2001 page D-44. Retrieved Feb. 3, 2025
  7. ↑ "Official: Cumulus Buys Dial Global, Spins Some Stations To Townsquare; Peak Stations Sold To Townsquare, Fresno Spun To Cumulus". All Access. August 30, 2013. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Cumulus Makes Dial Global And Townsquare Deals Official". RadioInsight. August 30, 2013. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Cumulus-Townsquare-Peak Deal Closes". All Access. November 15, 2013. Retrieved November 16, 2013.

37°04′37″N119°26′06″W / 37.077°N 119.435°W / 37.077; -119.435

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.