Timeline of Kiss

A timeline of notable events relating to Kiss, a British commercial radio station operated by Bauer Radio.

1980s

• 1985
  • October – The first broadcasts of Kiss as a pirate station take place, initially broadcasting at the weekend across south London but is soon broadcasting across the capital on 94 FM.

• 1986
  • Kiss expands its broadcasting hours when it adds a Friday schedule.
  • Founder Gordon Mac sells shares to ten of the station's DJs, including Tim Westwood, Jonathan More, Norman Jay, Trevor Nelson.

• 1987
  • No events.

• 1988
  • November – The Department for Trade and Industry announces that a series of new stations in areas which already have an Independent Local Radio station will be licensed. Pirate stations are allowed to apply as long as they cease broadcasting and Kiss mounts a campaign to win one of the licenses.
  • 31 December – Kiss holds its 'coming off air' night at Dingwalls, Camden.

• 1989
  • 12 July – Kiss is unsuccessful in its initial bid for a London-wide licence, losing out to Jazz FM.
  • December – A second batch of London-wide incremental licenses are awarded and this time Kiss is successful. ^[1]

1990s

• 1990
  • 1 September – Kiss 100 starts broadcasting as a legal, licensed station. Gordon Mac leads a countdown in the studio, and the first official record played is 'Pirates Anthem' by Shabba Ranks and Cocoa Tea. Norman Jay hosts the first full show.
  • 9 September – Kiss holds its launch party at Highbury Fields.

• 1991
  • No events.

• 1992
  • Emap takes full control of Kiss 100.

• 1993
  • October – Norman Jay moves on.

• 1994
  • 2 March – Kiss launches its jungle music show with DJs on rotation, starting with Fabio & Grooverider.
  • 16 October – Kiss 102 launches in Manchester. Kiss licenses the brand name to licensee Faze FM but the station is fully independent of the London station.
  • November – Danny Rampling takes his Lovegroove Dance Party to BBC Radio 1.

• 1995
  • Another original presenter Dave Pearce leaves for BBC Radio 1.

• 1996
  • Trevor Nelson, who had been involved with the station since its time as a pirate, is the latest presenter to join BBC Radio 1.

• 1997
  • 14 February – Faze FM launches Kiss 105 across Yorkshire. The station shares some of its programming with Kiss 102.
  • April – Judge Jules becomes the latest DJ to move to BBC Radio 1.
  • 29 September – Faze FM, the owner of Kiss 102 and Kiss 105, is bought by Chrysalis Radio and the stations are rebranded Galaxy 102 and Galaxy 105 respectively.
  • December – Gordon Mac stands down as Managing Director.

• 1998
  • 28 March – Kiss' founder Gordon Mac presents his final show for the station.
  • Gilles Peterson leaves to join BBC Radio 1.
  • 18 December – Original presenter Steve Jackson is sacked, resulting in a legal case the following August on grounds of racial discrimination.

• 1999
  • January – Controversial changes are made to the station following Emap's decision to align the station with the rest of its operations. The on-air changes lead to criticisms from presenters and listeners who feel that the station is losing its musical direction. ^[2] The changes see Bam Bam take over as presenter of the breakfast show.

2000s

• 2000
  • 26 June – Kiss TV launches.
  • September – John Digweed makes his debut on Kiss 100.

• 2001
  • Steve Smart joins.

• 2002
  • No events.

• 2003
  • Graham Gold leaves, having presented a Friday night show for the past decade.

• 2004
  • No events.

• 2005
  • Logan Sama joins to present a weekly grime show.
  • 21 June – Following Emap's purchase of Scottish Radio Holdings, it acquires dance stations Vibe 101 and Vibe 105-108. ^[3]

• 2006
  • April – Bam Bam is fired shortly before the station is handed a then record fine of £175,000 for a series of breaches which include prank calls being broadcast on his show without the consent of the 'victims.'
  • Robin Banks replaces Bam Bam as host of the breakfast show.
  • 6 September –
    • Due to falling listener figures, Kiss is relaunched with a renewed focus on dance music. ^[4]
    • Vibe 101 and Vibe 105–108 are rebranded Kiss 101 and Kiss 105-108. Emap had become owners of the Vibe stations the previous year due to its purchase of Scottish Radio Holdings.
  • 22 October – The Kiss network becomes one of the broadcasters who air a new chart show called the Fresh 40 chart show. It counts down the top 40 r'n'b and dance songs and is broadcast against commercial radio's Hit40uk chart and the BBC Radio 1 Sunday afternoon chart show.

• 2007
  • May – Rickie Haywood Williams and Melvin Odoom replace Robin Banks as host of the breakfast show.
• 2008
  • 29 January – Bauer completes the purchase of EMAP's radio, television and consumer media businesses, purchasing the assets for £1.14bn. ^[5]

• 2009
  • 1 March – The final edition of the Fresh 40 chart is broadcast.

2010s

• 2010
  • December – Ofcom approves a request from owners Bauer Radio to drop local programming from the three Kiss stations, creating a national service on the condition that Kiss becomes available on 35 DAB multiplexes on the day local information is dropped, rising to 38 within 3 months of the changes. ^[6]

• 2011
  • January – John Digweed's show, called Transitions since the mid 2000s, is broadcast on Kiss for the final time.

• 2012
  • November – David Rodigan leaves, having been with the station since it launched in 1990. He resigns following a decision to move his reggae show to a later slot. ^[7]
  • 27 December – Kiss 100 launches on the Digital One national DAB multiplex. ^[8]

• 2013
  • 7 May – KissFresh launches. It is available on Freeview and online but not on any DAB multiplexes.
  • 12 May – Kisstory launches as a full-time station, again just on Freeview and online.

• 2014
  • Logan Sama leaves for BBC 1Xtra.
  • September – DJ EZ leaves after presenting a UK garage show for the station for the past 14 years.
  • 12 December – Kisstory and KissFresh start broadcasting on DAB for the first time when the appear on the Greater London I DAB multiplex.

• 2015
  • January – Kisstory launches on many local multiplexes across the UK. ^[9]

• 2016
  • 26 February – Kiss is launched in Norway and Finland. ^[10] Content is managed by local teams. In Finland, Kiss is broadcast on FM and in Norway Kiss and Kisstory are broadcast on DAB. ^[11]
  • 29 February – Kisstory is one of the launch stations on the semi-national Sound Digital multiplex.
  • 1 May – KissFresh takes over some of the local slots vacated by Kisstory when it launched on Sound Digital. ^[12]

• 2017
  • 10 July – KissFresh launches nationally on the Digital One multiplex. Its schedule and playlist is refreshed to differentiate it from the main Kiss station. ^[13] However the station's carriage on this multiplex lasts for less than months when it is replaced on 6 November by Magic Christmas.

• 2018
  • January –
    • Kiss launches two new online on-demand stations – KISS Jams and KISS Grime.
    • Some changes to the late night schedules take place on the main station and new specialist shows launch on KissFresh. ^[14]
  • 26 November – Kiss breakfast presenters Rickie Haywood Williams, Melvin Odoom and Charlie Hedges will leave the station at the end of the year to succeed Charlie Sloth on the evening show on BBC Radio 1. ^[15]

• 2019
  • 2 January – Tom Green and Daisy Maskell take over as co-presenters of the breakfast show. ^[16]
  • 11 February – Kisstory moves from the semi-national SDL multiplex to the more widely available Digital One multiplex. ^[17]
  • March – KissFresh is removed from the majority of local multiplexes resulting in DAB carriage for the station all-but coming to an end. The station does retain its carriage on Freeview.
  • August – Bauer establishes a suite of online-only streaming audio services spun off from its radio brands, including three new Kiss stations – Kiss Dance, Kiss Garage and Kiss Ibiza. ^[18] Kiss Dnce would later amend its branding to 'Kiss Dance', whilst Kiss Ibiza would subsequently go off air to make way for an urban music stream, Kiss Jams, later returning on a separate fourth stream.

2020s

• 2020
  • 23 June – Tom Green and Daisy Maskell announce they will be leaving the breakfast show. With Daisy becoming the host of the new Kiss Fresh breakfast show and Tom leaving the station all together. They will be replaced on 3 August by Jordan Banjo and Perri Kiely.
  • 31 October – For the first time, KISS FM, KISSTORY and Kiss Fresh unite to broadcast the KISS Haunted House Party. ^[19]

• 2021
  • No events.

• 2022
  • 27 May – Bauer Media announce plans to launch a subscription service for Absolute Radio and Kiss, allowing listeners to access commercial free content for a monthly fee. ^[20]

• 2023
  • 11 July – Ofcom gives Bauer Media permission to change KISS Radio to Greatest Hits Radio on three of its four FM frequencies in the East of England. Kiss will continue on FM in Norwich. ^[21]
  • 13 December – Kiss was removed from Sky and Virgin Media, along with Absolute Radio, Absolute Radio 80s, Absolute Radio 90s, Absolute Radio Classic Rock, Hits Radio, Greatest Hits Radio, Magic, Jazz FM and Planet Rock. ^[22]

• 2024
  • 13 March – Sam Sax, a DJ who mixes saxophone with house music, is named Kiss's Chosen One as the station's search for a new DJ concludes. ^[23]
  • 2 April - Kiss was removed from Freeview along with Kisstory, Kiss Fresh, Hits Radio, Greatest Hits Radio, Magic and Kerrang! whilst Absolute Radio will remain on Freeview until 10 May. ^[24]
  • 1 July - Kiss TV closes after 26 years, along with The Box, 4Music, Magic and Kerrang! TV, as part of Channel Four Television Corporation's plans to become a digital-first public service streamer by 2030.
  • 7 August – Bauer announces that KISS will be replaced by Hits Radio on FM in London, Norfolk and the West of England later in the year. ^[25]
  • 16 September - Kisstory R&B launches as a mainline station after being-on air for two years as part of Kiss Premium. At the same time, Kiss Garage and Kiss Bliss move to Kiss Premium.
  • 22 September – Hits Radio replaces Kiss on FM in London, the west and in Norwich. This means that the station no longer broadcasts on FM. ^[26]
  • 30 September - Not long after many changes were made to the way we listen to the station, the famous and most recognised show on Kiss called Kisstory, which was scheduled from 11-12pm for two decades was replaced with a shorter more compact show called Kisstory Anthems with Marvin Humes. This newer show will only be from 11-11.30am daily, down to only thirty minutes per day, basically now only half of the original one hour slot.

Also, Superkisstory Friday's was replaced with the same uninspiring show. This controversial move much to the disappointment of loyal listeners had taken Friday's Kisstory scheduled down to only thirty minutes from the original two hour slot.

• 2025
  • 31 March – Kiss and Kisstory will begin broadcasting via DAB+, and in stereo. ^[27]

References

1. Hebditch, Stephen (1991). "AM/FM – Spring 1990". TQM Communications. Archived from the original on 30 April 2008.
2. "News | The Big Kiss-Off". Nme.Com. 24 January 1999. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
3. Brook, Stephen (21 June 2005). "Emap snaps up Scottish Radio Holdings". The Guardian . Retrieved 28 December 2014.
4. Day, Julia (4 September 2006). "Kiss and shake up". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
5. "Emap sells magazines and radio divisions to Bauer for £1.14bn". Campaign Live. 7 December 2007. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
6. Today, Radio (2010). "Kiss allowed to go national". Radio Today. Archived from the original on 2012-04-27. Retrieved 2018-05-29.
7. "Kiss FM DJ resigns over reggae 'marginalisation'". BBC News. 22 November 2012.
8. "Kiss FM appears on national Digital One". 27 December 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
9. "The great DAB digital radio station reshuffle: what's changing?". a516digital.com. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
10. "Bauer launches KISS in Norway and Finland". 15 February 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
11. "DAB Ensembles Worldwide – Norway". www.wohnort.org. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
12. "DAB Update: D2 station migration completes" . Retrieved 11 December 2018.
13. "KISS Fresh goes national on DAB digital radio". 10 July 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
14. "New presenters and channels for KISS brand". 11 January 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
15. McIntosh, Steven (26 November 2018). "Rickie, Melvin and Charlie leave Kiss to replace Charlie Sloth on BBC Radio 1". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
16. "Kiss announces Tom Green and Daisy Maskell as new breakfast show hosts". BBC News. BBC. 11 December 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
17. "Kisstory to replace Absolute 90s on Digital One". Jan 25, 2019. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
18. "Bauer launches seven new streaming radio services". Aug 15, 2019. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
19. "KISS stations unite for the Haunted House Party". Oct 5, 2020. Retrieved Oct 5, 2020.
20. "Absolute Radio and KISS to offer premium services for monthly fee". May 27, 2022. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
21. Martin, Roy (11 July 2023). "Ofcom allows Greatest Hits Radio to replace KISS in the east of England". Radio Today. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
22. "Bauer to remove all radio stations from satellite and cable TV platforms". 28 November 2023.
23. "DJ Sam Sax wins the KISS Chosen One competition". Radio Today. 13 March 2024. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
24. "Bauer radio stations to leave Freeview platform following satellite and cable exit". RadioToday. 2024-03-12. Retrieved 2024-04-05.
25. "Hits Radio to take over 100FM in London from KISS". Radio Today. 7 August 2024. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
26. "Hits Radio to take over 100FM in London from KISS". RadioToday. 2024-08-07. Retrieved 2024-08-08.
27. https://radiotoday.co.uk/2025/03/absolute-radio-kiss-kisstory-and-magic-radio-to-change-to-dab/