KSSK (590

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that on ...

) is an

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

formatted AM radio station, licensed to

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...

and owned by Studios are located in the

Kalihi Kalihi is a neighborhood of Honolulu on the island of Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi, United States. Split by the Likelike Highway (Route 63), it is flanked by downtown Honolulu to the east and Mapunapuna, Moanalua and Salt Lake to the west. Kalihi is the ...

neighborhood of Honolulu, and the transmitter site is located a mile from the studios. KSSK serves as Hawaii's primary AM station entry point for the

Emergency Alert System The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is a national warning system in the United States designed to allow authorized officials to broadcast emergency alerts and warning messages to the public via cable, satellite, or broadcast television, and both ...

, with KRTR-FM providing PEP capabilities on FM. KSSK's programming is

simulcast 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, simultane ...

with

KSSK-FM KSSK-FM (92.3 MHz) is an adult contemporary formatted commercial radio station serving the Honolulu media market. It is owned by and licensed to Waipahu, Hawaii. Studios are located in the Kalihi neighborhood of Honolulu, and the transmitter si ...

Waipahu, Hawaii Waipahu () is a former sugarcane plantation town and now census-designated place (CDP) located in the Ewa District on the island of Oahu in the City & County of Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. As of the 2020 census, the CDP population was 43,4 ...

. As is the case with many other iHeartMedia adult contemporary stations, KSSK-AM-FM play all

Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ma ...

beginning each year in mid-November, and return to their regular format on December 26.

Programming

KSSK AM and FM are home to the popular " Perry & the Posse" morning show. They are also heard on

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digital channel 867 for the entire state of

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, via the

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satellite TV service in

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, and also USEN's Sound Planet satellite radio service in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. The stations use the slogan, "Hawaii's Favorite." Nielsen consistently ranks KSSK-AM-FM as Honolulu's most listened-to radio station. KSSK's

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually t ...

melody was adapted from that of

WPLJ WPLJ (95.5 FM) is a non-commercial Christian adult contemporary music radio station licensed to New York City. It is owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF) and broadcasts EMF's flagship programming service, K-Love. WPLJ's transmitte ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. KSSK-AM-FM used WPLJ's jingle packages until

TM Century Jones Radio Networks & Jones Media Group were branches of Jones International before being sold to Triton Media Group. JRN and JMN provide local radio stations with satellite-delivered formats. They also offer other services to local radio such ...

created a jingle package for KSSK, known as "Big Time Honolulu."

History

KSSK was first authorized in December 1929, with the sequentially issued

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

of KGMB, to the Honolulu Broadcasting Company. It was initially licensed for operation with 500 watts on 1320 kHz, and after a short period of testing made its debut broadcast on March 15, 1930. In 1940, KGMB moved to 590 kHz, where it has been ever since. Prior to the December 7, 1941, attack on

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

, KGMB was asked to broadcast music in order to provide long-range guidance to a flight of

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

es on their way to Hawaii from the mainland. Ironically, the Japanese aircraft picked up the same transmissions and used them for guidance while they approached the islands. During the attack, KGMB dispatched reports to

CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...

, which in turn were cited on-air by

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, who anchored the network's coverage of that day's news. On

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...

February 14, 1980, the call letters were changed to KSSK, for "Kiss Radio". For many years, the station was home to Hal "J. Akuhead Pupule" Lewis, better known as Aku. After his death in 1983, the station moved afternoon personality

Michael W. Perry Michael William Perry is the host, of the '' Perry & The Posse'' show on KSSK-FM in Honolulu, Hawaii. He also hosts the Hawaiian Moving Company television show on KGMB in Honolulu. Biography Perry was born in Michigan, but grew up in Arlington, ...

to the morning slot and paired him with morning show substitute (while Aku was ill) Larry Price, a former

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player and head coach of the

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

Rainbow Warriors football team. The duo were known as "Perry & Price". In 1993, New-Tex Communications bought both KSSK and FM station KXPW for $7.5 million, and changed the FM station's call letters to KSSK-FM. At the time, KSSK was the market's #1 station and the new owners wanted to capitalize on that success, especially as music listening was shifting to FM. KSSK-FM began simulcasting part of the day with KSSK, including the top-rated "Perry & Price" morning show. Eventually, the simulcast was expanded to a 24-hour operation. In 2000, Clear Channel Communications acquired KSSK-AM-FM. In 2014, the company was renamed iHeartMedia, Inc.

Notable former on-air staff

Some notables who have passed through KGMB/KSSK include: *Earl McDaniel (General Manager credited with putting the station on top) * Hal ''Aku'' Lewis (deceased) *George "Granny Goose" Groves *Don Lamons *Dave Lancaster *Susan Cruz (who was actually Noland Cruz though while on air as Susan Cruz, he was never a female impersonator. The only link to being female was his name that was given to him by the General Manager) *Ruth Ann "Hana Ogi" Ogata *Shawn Sweeny *Cliff Richards (deceased) *Myk Prosatiowell *Mike Murray *Harvey Weinstein (deceased)"Honolulu FM radio pioneer dies"
March 2, 2009 (starbulletin.com) *Kimo Kahoano *Jim Peters *Jim Collins *Shawnee (Smith) *Noel Grey *Terry Rosati (News) *Terry Rosati *Alan Zukercorn *Wild Bill Logan *Steve Carpenter *Michael Shishido *Maxwell the night guy (kris sereno) *Erika Engle (news) *Dave Curtis (news) *Maureen Borromeo (Pescaia)-(news) *Brad Barrett, Director of Programming *Dick Wainwright *Denny McPhee *Jim Erickson *Lisa D *Steve Kelly *Jim Parker *Skip Baszler

References

External links

KSSK FM92.3 and AM590 website

FCC History Cards for KSKK
(covering KGMB / KSSK from 1929-1981)
Perry and Price
{{IHeartMedia SSK Mainstream adult contemporary radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1930 IHeartMedia radio stations 1930 establishments in Hawaii