WKSC-FM
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| City | Chicago, Illinois |
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| Broadcast area | Chicago market |
| Branding | 103.5 KISS FM |
| Slogan | Chicago's #1 Hit Music Station |
| Frequency | 103.5 (MHz) (also on HD Radio) 103.5 HD2 for "Air Chicago" |
| First air date | December 19, 1957 |
| Format | Top 40 (CHR) |
| Audience share | 3.5 (Holiday 2016, Nielsen Audio[1]) |
| ERP | 4,300 watts |
| HAAT | 472 meters |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 74178 |
| Callsign meaning | We're KisS Chicago |
| Former callsigns | WKFM (12/19/1957–3/1973) WFYR-FM (3/1973–4/19/1991) WWBZ (4/19/1991–7/28/1994) WRCX (7/28/1994–12/21/1998) WUBT (12/21/1998–2/13/2001) |
| Owner |
iHeartMedia (AMFM Broadcasting Licenses, LLC) |
| Sister stations | WEBG, WGCI-FM, WGRB, WLIT, WVAZ, WVON |
| Webcast | Listen Live (via iHeartRadio) |
| Website | 1035kissfm.com |
WKSC-FM (103.5 FM) – branded as 103.5 KISS FM –is a Top 40 (CHR) radio station serving the Chicago area, owned by iHeartMedia (formerly Clear Channel Communications until September 2014). The station is known as "103-5 KISS FM" or simply "103-5". WKSC's main competition is WBBM-FM.
WKSC has studios located at the Illinois Center complex on Michigan Avenue in Downtown Chicago, and it broadcasts from a 4.3kw transmitter atop Willis Tower (the former Sears Tower).
As of November 2013, WKSC-FM is the most popular radio station in Chicago with an average of 2.4 million listeners.
WKSC-FM broadcasts in the HD Radio format.
WKSC-FM signed on as WKFM on December 19, 1957, and was owned by Frank Kovas, Jr. The original location of WKFM was at 188 West Randolph, with the transmitter located on the top of the tower. On February 2, 1970, the transmitter fell about 30 stories off the building, but, according to Gary Deeb in the Chicago Sun-Times, no one was injured.
The original station operated from 7am until midnight. It played a mix of "semi-classical" and beautiful music. It was a competitor to the "beautiful music" stations of its day, like WFMF, WCLM and WFMQ.
Announcers included Bob Burns, Bob Longbons, Wendell Poe, Dick Lawrence, Ned Jaus, and Bill Jurek.
Sponsors included The House of Menna (an expensive furniture store).
WKFM had a "high brow" kind of sound with announcers and pauses between the songs. There were several newscasts daily. The music had several "moods" through the day: it was more upbeat in the morning and more strings at night, and every program had a "theme song." "Rendezvous with Rhythm" was the title of the afternoon drive program. Though WEFM, the Zenith owned Classical station, was the first station to broadcast in stereo, WKFM was the first to broadcast in stereo 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The evening program was known as a good place to really hear stereo-recorded music, featuring lots of "Command" label stereo records.
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Wikipedia