KISC-FM
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KISC (98.1 FM) is a
commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...
radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
in
Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Canada ...
. It is owned by
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 ...
and airs 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 ...
radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...
, switching to
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 ...
for much of November and December. The station has local DJs during the day and carries the syndicated "
Delilah Delilah ( ; , meaning "delicate";Gesenius's ''Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon'' ar, دليلة, Dalīlah; grc, label=Greek, Δαλιδά, Dalidá) is a woman mentioned in the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. She is loved b ...
" show in the evening from
Premiere Networks Premiere Networks (formerly Premiere Radio Networks, shortened as PRN) is an American media company, a wholly owned subsidiary of iHeartMedia, for which it currently serves as its main original radio content distribution and production arm. It ...
, an iHeart
subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...
. The station calls itself "KISS 98.1", using a
logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordma ...
trademarked by iHeart, mostly associated with
Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...
stations that also call themselves "
KISS-FM KISS-FM (99.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station in San Antonio, Texas. It airs an mainstream rock format and is owned by Cox Media Group. The studios and offices are located on Datapoint Drive in Northwest San Antonio near the South Texas Me ...
.". KISC's
radio studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...
s and offices are on East Sprague Avenue in Spokane. Its
transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...
is in off South Krell Ridge Lane in Spokane, on
Krell Hill Krell Hill, also known as Tower Mountain, is a peak at the southern end of the Selkirk Mountains in Spokane County, Washington. It rises abruptly to the southeast of the relatively flat Neighborhoods in Spokane, Washington#South Hill, South Hill ...
, also known as "Tower Mountain." KISC broadcasts in the
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 ...
format. Its HD2
digital subchannel In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compress ...
plays
country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
as "KIX 99.3" feeding
FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...
K257FX at 99.3 MHz.


History


KHQ-FM

On February 16, 1961, the station first
signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on do ...
as KHQ-FM. It was the FM counterpart to KHQ (590 AM, now
KQNT KQNT (590 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Spokane, Washington. It is one of the oldest radio stations in Washington, going on the air in 1922 in Seattle. KQNT offers a talk radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studi ...
). The two radio stations, and
KHQ-TV KHQ-TV (channel 6) is a television station in Spokane, Washington, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is the flagship (broadcasting), flagship and namesake of the Cowles Company#KHQ, Incorporated, KHQ Television Group, a subsidiary of the l ...
, were owned by ''
The Spokesman-Review ''The Spokesman-Review'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Spokane, Washington, the city's sole remaining daily publication. It has the third-highest readership among daily newspapers in the state, with most of its readership base in ...
'', a daily newspaper in Spokane. At first, KHQ-FM
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 ...
the AM station, but it soon switched to an
automated Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...
beautiful music Beautiful music (sometimes abbreviated as BM, B/EZ or BM/EZ for "beautiful music/easy listening") is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in North American radio from the late 1950s through the 1980s. Easy listening, elevator musi ...
format. In the early 1970s, KHQ-FM flipped to a
Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...
format. At first, the contemporary version of KHQ-FM was also largely automated, but over time, DJs were added. In the 1970s, most radios were still not able to receive FM signals, and Spokane already had two popular Top 40 stations,
KJRB KJRB (790 AM) is a commercial radio station in Spokane, Washington. KJRB is owned by Stephens Media Group, through licensee SMG-Spokane, LLC, and airs a classic rock radio format. It calls itself "94.1 The Bear". KJRB has a daytime power of ...
(790 AM) and KREM (970 AM, now
KTTO KTTO (970 kHz) is an AM radio station in Spokane, Washington, serving the Spokane metropolitan area. The station is currently owned by Sacred Heart Radio, Inc. It airs a Catholic radio format with most programming provided by the EWTN Radio N ...
). At first, KHQ-FM was not much of a factor in the ratings, but as more listeners acquired FM radios, the station's ratings improved. Eventually, the AM stations switched to other formats.


KISC debuts

In 1985, KHQ Incorporated decided to keep its TV station but sold off the radio stations to Lilac City Broadcasting. In those days,
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 ...
s could not be shared if the different stations were not co-owned. KHQ-TV kept its call letters, while the radio stations switched. The AM station became KLSN and the FM station became KISC, known as "Kiss-FM 98." In 1984, former
album rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. Album-orient ...
station KREM-FM became Top 40-formatted
KZZU KZZU-FM (92.9 hertz, MHz 92.9 ZZU) is a commercial radio, commercial FM radio, FM radio station in Spokane, Washington. The station airs an Adult Top 40 radio format which the station describes as "Today's Modern Hit Music". KZZU-FM is owned b ...
, and the stations were locked in a battle as Spokane's two big Top 40 outlets on FM. As
hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...
and
rap music Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...
began to dominate the
Top 40 chart Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the Un ...
s, KISC shifted to
Adult Top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...
and eventually to an upbeat Adult Contemporary format. KISC aired a popular locally based "Love Notes" request show like the
Delilah Delilah ( ; , meaning "delicate";Gesenius's ''Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon'' ar, دليلة, Dalīlah; grc, label=Greek, Δαλιδά, Dalidá) is a woman mentioned in the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. She is loved b ...
love songs program they air today. In the 1990s, KISC would take potshots at
KXLY-FM KXLY-FM (99.9 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station in Spokane, Washington, that airs a country music radio format. The station is owned by Morgan Murphy Media, with the license held by QueenB Radio, Inc. KXLY-FM calls itself "The Big 99.9 Coy ...
, which had made the transition from
easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...
to
soft 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, quiet sto ...
, as KISC accused KXLY-FM of playing too much "soft sleepy music." When KXLY-FM flipped to
Adult Alternative An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a " minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of major ...
and then to
Country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
, KISC became Spokane's only mainstream adult contemporary station. In March 2020, KISC's HD2 sub-channel dropped "UP! 98.1 HD2" and adopted the country format of
KZFS KZFS (1280 AM broadcasting, AM, "Hooptown 101.5") is a commercial radio, commercial radio station in Spokane, Washington. It broadcasts a classic hip hop radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. Its branding originates from its 250 watt F ...
and the "Kix 99.3" branding (the frequency being in reference to FM translator 99.3 K257FX, with KISC-HD2 now being the primary relay station for it). Subsequently, KZFS began simulcasting on new translator 101.5 K268DL and flipped to
classic hip hop Classic hip hop is a music radio format focusing primarily on hip hop music from the 1980s, 1990s, and the early to mid-2000s. Although stations with such a format date back as far as 2004, the format was first popularized in October 2014, after ...
.


Ownership changes

In 1996, KISC and AM 590, then called KAQQ, were bought by Triathlon Broadcasting. In 1999, ownership was passed to AMFM Broadcasting.Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2000 page D-485
/ref> One year later, AMFM was acquired by
Clear Channel Communications 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 ...
, the forerunner to current owner iHeartMedia.


References


External links

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Mainstream adult contemporary radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1966 1966 establishments in Washington (state) IHeartMedia radio stations