KKSY-FM

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For the former KKSY in Anamosa, Iowa, see KOSY-FM.
KKSY-FM
WMTFM965.png
CityCedar Rapids, Iowa
Broadcast areaCedar Rapids, Iowa
Frequency96.5 MHz
Branding96.5 Kiss Country
Programming
FormatCountry
Ownership
OwneriHeartMedia, Inc.
(iHM Licenses, LLC)
KKRQ, KMJM, KOSY-FM, KXIC, WMT
History
First air date
February 27, 1963 (1963-02-27)
Former call signs
WMT-FM (1963-2012)
Call sign meaning
KisS CountrY.
Technical information
Facility ID73594
ClassC1
ERP100,000 watts
HAAT158 meters
Transmitter coordinates
42°1′40″N 91°38′25″W / 42.02778°N 91.64028°W / 42.02778; -91.64028 (WMT-FM)
Links
WebcastListen live
Website965kisscountry.iheart.com

KKSY-FM (96.5 FM, "96.5 Kiss Country") is a 100,000 watt radio station in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It is a country music formatted station owned by iHeartMedia, Inc..

History[]

KKSY-FM signed on February 27, 1963, as WMT-FM at 96.5 FM with an easy listening, jazz and classical music format. There were 90-minute classical music segments in the morning and evening with regular programs of jazz and music from Broadway musicals. Some of those early announcers were Keith Webster, Bill Dutcher, Don John Ross, Bill Grubbe, and Jim Wicks as well as other WMT announcers who took the helm of hosting on FM. In the early days, programming was totally separate from WMT radio but in the late 1960s, WMT-FM started simulcasting the 15-minute newscasts of WMT AM 600 several times a day. In the 1970s, it became a full-time "beautiful music" station before adopting an adult contemporary format in 1982, which occurred around the time when many beautiful music stations went to a soft rock or more contemporary format. WMT-FM tried competing against KCRG until 1984, when it became Cedar Rapids' dominant AC station. WMT-FM's studios have been located at Broadcast Park on Collins Road in Cedar Rapids, along with its AM sister station WMT and TV station KGAN (the former WMT-TV), since it signed on. Until the 1970s, the studios of WMT radio was located on the fifth floor of the historic Paramount Theater building in downtown Cedar Rapids.[1] It was one of the few stations with a callsign beginning with W located west of the Mississippi River.

The station was known for their "time warp weekends" and long-standing tradition of being heavily involved in the Cedar Rapids community. The station hosts "Uptown Friday Nights" every Friday night in downtown Cedar Rapids. The station often joins up with WMT for special promotional events, and simulcasts during severe weather conditions.

WMT-FM ended its longtime hot adult contemporary format on December 27, 2011, when Clear Channel transferred the country format from KKSY (95.7 FM); after a temporary simulcast period,[2][3] 95.7 FM began to simulcast WMT on January 2, 2012 and eventually took the KWMG call letters on January 17, 2012.[4]

References[]

  1. ^ Danek, Ernie (1980). Cedar Rapids: Tall Corn and High Technology. Woodland Hills, CA: Windsor Publications. pp. 140–141. ISBN 0-89781-021-X.
  2. ^ DeWitte, Dave (December 27, 2011). "Mix 96.5 Becomes History as Clear Channel Opts for Country Format". KCRG-TV9. Archived from the original on May 16, 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
  3. ^ "WMT Shares KKSY's Country Format". All Access. December 27, 2011. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
  4. ^ Venta, Lance (January 2, 2012). "WMT-FM Becomes Kiss Country, 95.7 Becomes WMT-FM". RadioInsight. Retrieved January 2, 2012.

External links[]

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