iHeartMedia
iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...
, KIIS-FM is the origin of the conglomerate's KISS-FM brand (with the call sign pronounced as "kiss"), and serves as the
flagship station
In broadcasting, a flagship (also known as a flagship station or key station) is the broadcast station which originates a television network, or a particular radio or television program that plays a key role in the branding of and consumer loyalt ...
Burbank
Burbank may refer to:
Places Australia
* Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane
United States
* Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County
* Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place
* Burbank, Illinois, ...
, while the station transmitter resides on Mount Wilson, north of Los Angeles.
In addition to a standard analog transmission, KIIS-FM broadcasts over two
HD Radio
HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...
channels including " Evolution" on its HD2 subchannel, featuring an all- dance music format; streaming online via
iHeartRadio
iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast and radio streaming Computing platform, platform owned by iHeartMedia. It was founded in August 2008. , iHeartRadio was functioning as the national umbr ...
; and extends its on-air signal by using a single full-power repeater,
KVVS
KVVS (105.5 FM) is a simulcast radio station in Rosamond, California owned by iHeartMedia, Inc.. The station carries the Top 40 (CHR) format of KIIS-FM (102.7) from Los Angeles for listeners in northern Los Angeles County and southeastern Kern ...
(105.5 FM) in
Rosamond, California
Rosamond is a unincorporated community in Kern County, California, US, near the Los Angeles county line. Rosamond is part of Greater Los Angeles and is located in the Mojave Desert just north of Lancaster and Palmdale, two of the largest cities ...
. The station also
simulcasted
Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simul ...
over channel 11, and later channel 14 on
Sirius XM
Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...
satellite radio until June 2022. KIIS-FM has consistently been rated the number-one radio station in the Los Angeles/
Orange County
Orange County most commonly refers to:
*Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Orange County may also refer to:
U.S. counties
*Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando
*Orange County, Indiana
*Orange County, New ...
and Ventura County markets, averaging nearly one million listeners. Currently its secondary
HD Radio
HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...
subchannel merely serves to delay KIIS-FM's primary audio by ten seconds.
As of December 2021, KIIS-FM is the only top 40 station in the Los Angeles area, after Audacy's KNOU flipped to a simulcast of
KNX
KNX is an open standard (see EN 50090, ISO/IEC 14543) for commercial and domestic building automation. KNX devices can manage lighting, blinds and shutters, HVAC, security systems, energy management, audio video, white goods, displays, remote ...
The station at the 102.7 FM frequency first signed on in 1961 as KLAC-FM, a sister station to KLAC (570 AM). It swapped frequencies with KRHM (which had gone on the air at 94.7 FM in 1948 as KFMV) in 1965.
KKDJ/K-Double-I-S
KRHM changed its call sign to KKDJ and flipped to
contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...
(CHR, also known as top 40) on April 15, 1971. The format lasted until 1975, when Combined Communications purchased KKDJ. The station's format was changed to adult contemporary on October 22, 1975 at 6:00 a.m., during
Charlie Tuna
Arthur W. Ferguson (April 18, 1944 – February 19, 2016), known professionally as Charlie Tuna, was a radio personality and television host based in Los Angeles, California.
Career
Radio
At age 16, Tuna began working at his hometown's radio s ...
's morning show when KKDJ began simulcasting with KIIS (1150 AM) with an on-air mock wedding, with KKDJ "marrying" KIIS. Meanwhile, KKDJ's call letters were changed to KIIS-FM. The spelling of "K-I-I-S" instead of KISS was because it resembled the AM frequency: "1150" = "IIS". The new merged station was referred to as, "AM and FM, K-double-I-S."
Making the transition from KKDJ to KIIS-FM were popular disc jockeys including Humble Harve, Jay Stevens, John Peters, Danny Martinez, and Charlie Tuna. Tuna, an iconic voice of Los Angeles radio, served as both program director and morning show host for KKDJ and KIIS-FM at the transition; he died in February 2016. In 1977, KIIS-FM hired Gary McKenzie as its news director; later, he went on to anchor at RKO Radio Networks and CBS. The AM and FM stations did simulcasts during the day while returning to two separate stations in the evening hours.
102.7 KIIS-FM
Unable to draw high ratings with adult contemporary, KIIS-FM began to evolve, first to top 40 in 1976, then dance and disco music in 1978, and back to top 40 in 1980. KIIS (AM) would keep its soft rock/AC format until late 1979. Just prior to this,
Gannett Company
Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.religious talk and new call letters KPRZ were adopted.
Rick Dees joined the station for mornings in July 1981 after KHJ switched formats to country music. Fill-in personality Dave Sebastian (Williams), working both the AM and FM stations at the time, hosted the vacated FM morning show until the arrival of Dees due to a
non-compete clause
In contract law, a non-compete clause (often NCC), restrictive covenant, or covenant not to compete (CNC), is a clause under which one party (usually an employee) agrees not to enter into or start a similar profession or trade in competition agains ...
in his contract. With Dees in mornings, KIIS became a CHR powerhouse in Los Angeles.
In 1985, KIIS (AM) returned to a top 40 format and simulcast KIIS-FM's morning and afternoon shows, while all other dayparts had different disc jockeys. This would last until around 1988, when it transitioned to a full-time simulcast when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) relaxed the rules on major-market stations simulcasting each other. The simulcast continued until 1997, when the AM station flipped to sports talk as KXTA, simulcasting with XETRA-AM in Tijuana/San Diego until 2005.
In a 1996 deal in which Gannett acquired WTSP television in the Tampa, Florida market from Jacor, KIIS-AM-FM were acquired by Jacor/Citicasters, which in 1998, merged into Clear Channel Communications (now
iHeartMedia
iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...
). After Clear Channel's acquisition of KAVS and KYHT, the two High Desert stations abandoned their previous modern rock format and together began serving as repeaters for KIIS-FM. Another simulcast, KIIS (1220 AM) in Santa Clarita, was added in 1999, as well as KFMS (101.9 FM) in Las Vegas.
The grouping of KIIS-FM in Los Angeles, KIIS in Santa Clarita, KAVS (97.7 FM) in the Antelope Valley, KYHT (105.3 FM) in Barstow— Victor Valley, and KFMS in Las Vegas created nearly continuous coverage of KIIS-FM between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. (KFMS was branded as "KISS" instead of "KIIS".) However, this regional network was short-lived as KYHT broke its simulcast off in 2001 to become a repeater for
KZXY-FM
KZXY-FM (102.3 MHz) is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Apple Valley, California and serves the Victor Valley region of the Mojave Desert, in San Bernardino County. The station is owned by El Dorado Broadcasters and airs a top 40 ( ...
. Resulting from KYHT's flip from the KIIS-FM moniker, KFMS switched to all-local programming. KAVS was relocated from 97.7 to 105.5 FM in December 2007 and adopted the call sign KVVS. KIIS (AM) became KHTS in 2003. KIIS-FM was also simulcast on 850 AM in Thousand Oaks, California in the last year before that station's towers were demolished.
In February 2004, the decade-long general manager of KIIS-FM, Roy Laughlin, elected not to renew Rick Dees' contract, replacing him with
Ryan Seacrest
Ryan John Seacrest (born December 24, 1974) is an American media personality and producer. He is the co-host of ''Live with Kelly and Ryan'', as well as the host of multiple media shows including ''American Idol'', ''American Top 40'', and '' ...
from sister station
KYSR
KYSR (98.7 FM) is a commercial alternative radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, serving the Greater Los Angeles area. Owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., KYSR is the flagship station of syndicated morning drive program ''The Woody Show''. T ...
and retaining co-host
Ellen K Ellen K. (born September 19, 1962) is an American radio personality in the Los Angeles, California market and a television host. She is the host of the Ellen K Radio Show on KOST 103.5 FM, and the nationally-syndicated weekend program ''Ellen K Wee ...
to team with Seacrest. Together, they created the nationally syndicated ''
On-Air With Ryan Seacrest
''On Air with Ryan Seacrest'' is a weekday syndicated radio program hosted by Ryan Seacrest. It was launched in 2004 as a drive time show at the same time on Los Angeles Top 40 station 102.7 KIIS-FM as the television show with the same name, ...
'', which airs on many of
iHeartMedia
iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...
's top 40/CHR stations.
Trade publication ''
Radio & Records
''Radio & Records'' (''R&R'') was a trade publication providing news and airplay information for the radio and music industries. It started as an independent trade from 1973 to 2006 until VNU Media took over in 2006 and became a relaunched sister ...
'' named KIIS-FM its 2007 "Station of the Year" in the contemporary hit radio/top 40 category for market size 1–25 at its national convention.
In December 2007, KIIS-FM's Antelope Valley simulcast on
KOSS
KOSS (1380 AM, "NewsTalk 1380") is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Lancaster, California and serves the Antelope Valley area. The station is owned by High Desert Broadcasting and broadcasts a news/talk format, featuring programm ...
(97.7 FM) was moved to
105.5 FM
The following radio stations broadcast on FM frequency 105.5 Hz:
Argentina
* Antena 7 in Las Lajitas, Salta
* Atractiva in Presidencia de la Plaza, Chaco
* Balcarce Salta in Salta
* Cielo in Córdoba
* Concierto in Concepción, Tucumán
...
, replacing the previous format as "105.5 The Oasis". The country music format at 103.1 FM in Tehachapi, California was moved to 97.7 FM (now operating under 103.1's former call letters KTPI-FM) and is now branded as 97.7 KTPI. KSRY (103.1 FM) in Tehachapi became a simulcast of
KYSR
KYSR (98.7 FM) is a commercial alternative radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, serving the Greater Los Angeles area. Owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., KYSR is the flagship station of syndicated morning drive program ''The Woody Show''. T ...
(98.7 FM, "Alt 98-7").
The station was, according to ''Radio & Records'' in 2008, the second-highest revenue billing radio station in the United States (behind WTOP-FM in Washington, D.C.), with $66.3 million. In 2010, the station was honored by the
National Association of Broadcasters
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is a trade association and lobby group representing the interests of commercial and non-commercial over-the-air radio and television broadcasters in the United States. The NAB represents more than ...
with the Marconi Award for CHR Station of the Year.
On June 8, 2011, KIIS-FM began rebroadcasting on
Sirius XM
Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...
channel 11. At the end of 2003, Clear Channel replaced the KIIS simulcast with an exclusive KISS XM channel. In 2004, all XM music channels went commercial-free, and KIIS-FM was replaced with a unique-to-XM "KISS-XM" channel, retaining the same format. Since then, Clear Channel/iHeartMedia has regained the right to air commercials on their XM music channels. On June 1, 2022, the KIIS-FM simulcast left SiriusXM, with the launch and establishment of the
iHeartRadio
iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast and radio streaming Computing platform, platform owned by iHeartMedia. It was founded in August 2008. , iHeartRadio was functioning as the national umbr ...
platform making the arrangement less important.
In May 2017, Seacrest became co-host of the New York City-based syndicated talk show ''
Live with Kelly
''Live with Kelly and Ryan'' (or simply ''Live'') is an American syndicated morning talk show hosted by Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest. Executive produced by Michael Gelman, the ''Live with...'' show formula has aired under various hosts since ...
''. To accommodate the new role, it was announced that Seacrest would begin to host ''On Air'' from a studio constructed at the facilities of WABC-TV (where the TV show is produced). The show continues to air live, although the first hour will either be pre-recorded or handled mostly by co-host Sisanie.
On January 3, 2020, it was announced that midday host Alex Gervasi had exited the station after 6 years. Her successor was not formally nominated. This was later followed by DJ Drew on January 16, 2020, as a result of a series of nationwide layoffs by iHeartMedia.