WKSI-FM

WKSI-FM
City Stephens City, Virginia
Broadcast area Northern Shenandoah Valley
Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia
Branding Kiss 98-3
Slogan The Valley's #1 Hit Music Station
Frequency 98.3 MHz
(also on HD Radio)
Translator(s) 95.7 W239BV (Winchester, relays HD2)
First air date August 28, 1967[1]
Format Contemporary Hit Radio
HD2: Hot Adult Contemporary "Mix 95.7"[2]
Power 1,750 watts
HAAT 188 meters (617 ft)
Class A
Facility ID 26998
Transmitter coordinates 39°10′38.0″N 78°15′53.0″W / 39.177222°N 78.264722°W / 39.177222; -78.264722
Callsign meaning play on the word "Kiss"
Former callsigns WZFM (1967–1982)
WXVA-FM (1982–2003)
Affiliations Ace & TJ
On Air with Ryan Seacrest
Owner iHeartCommunications, Inc.
(AMFM Radio Licenses, LLC)
Sister stations W239BV, WFQX, WMRE, WUSQ-FM
Webcast WKSI-FM Webstream
Website WKSI-FM Online

WKSI-FM is a Contemporary Hit Radio formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Stephens City, Virginia, serving the Northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.[2] WKSI-FM is owned and operated by iHeartCommunications, Inc.[3]

History

98.3 FM signed on August 28, 1967 as WZFM, a local station serving Charles Town, West Virginia. The station was co-owned with WXVA (1550 AM) by Arthur W. Arundel, who at the time owned WAVA Arlington and the Leesburg-based Loudoun Times-Mirror newspaper. WZFM simulcast WXVA's broadcasting day, which was full service with blocks of country music.[4]

The two stations were sold in 1970 to electrical engineer John P. Luce. The simulcast split around this time as the AM side was switched to top-40 and the FM station went to full-time country.[5]

Luce sold to Heritage Broadcasting Corporation in September 1982.[6] Heritage changed the callsign to WXVA-FM after taking control. After an initial return to simulcasting 1550 AM (which had flipped to middle-of-the-road) immediately after the change, the station settled on light adult contemporary around 1986.[7]

In 1993, another format change took place, this time to oldies.[8] Unusually for an FM station, Broadcasting Yearbook reported that it operated 19 hours a day – signing off between midnight and 5 a.m. A flip back to country as "Xtra Country 98" took place in late 1995.[9] The station remained in Charles Town, but was a rimshot to Winchester, regularly showing up in the ratings there despite competition from local country stalwart WUSQ-FM.[10]

Clear Channel (now iHeartMedia) bought WXVA-FM from Heritage in 2000.[11] As it already owned WUSQ-FM, it sought to tap the larger Winchester market with a different format instead of competing with itself. On December 10, 2003, Clear Channel applied to move the transmitter to WUSQ-FM's site near Round Hill, Frederick County, Virginia, changing the city of license from Charles Town to Stephens City.[12] The station immediately began stunting as "Christmas 98.3" with Christmas music and spots advising listeners to tune to WUSQ-FM for country. The flip to CHR as "Kiss 98.3" WKSI-FM came on December 26, although the physical move was not completed until late 2004.[13][14]

HD2 subchannel

On August 22, 2013, WKSI began simulcasting its HD2 signal on newly acquired translator W239BV, broadcasting on 95.7, from WKSI's tower west of Winchester.[15] The HD2 signal aired the "Today's Mix" format, one of iHeartMedia Premium Choice formats.[15]

On November 1, 2013 W239BV switched its format from Hot Adult Contemporary to a seasonal All-Christmas music format, with the "Mix 95-7" branding remaining.[16]

References

  1. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 2010 (PDF). ProQuest, LLC/Reed Publishing (Nederland), B.V. 2010. p. D-571. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Arbitron Station Information Profiles". Nielsen Audio/Nielsen Holdings. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  3. ↑ "WKSI Facility Record". Federal Communications Commission, audio division. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  4. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1968 (PDF). p. B-180.
  5. ↑ Staff (July 6, 1970). "Changing hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. p. 29.
  6. ↑ Staff (September 27, 1982). "Actions" (PDF). Broadcasting. p. 101.
  7. ↑ Broadcasting-Cablecasting Yearbook 1986 (PDF). p. B-308.
  8. ↑ Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1995 (PDF). p. B-447.
  9. ↑ Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1997 (PDF). p. B-486.
  10. ↑ Corbin, Robert (October 24, 2003). "Winchester to get new radio station". VARTV.
  11. ↑ Staff (December 11, 2000). "Changing hands" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable. p. 48.
  12. ↑ "WKSI-FM Facility Record". FCCData.
  13. ↑ Hughes, Dave (December 26, 2003). "Shenandoah Valley Gets Kissed". DCRTV.
  14. ↑ Hughes, Dave (September 1, 2004). "New City for WKSI". DCRTV.
  15. 1 2 "CCM&E Premium Choice Hot AC..." Robert F. Corbin via Twitter. August 22, 2013. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
  16. ↑ Venta, Lance (November 2, 2013). "Christmas Comes Early Across America". RadioBB Networks. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
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