City | De Pere, Wisconsin |
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Broadcast area | Green Bay-Appleton-Oshkosh |
Branding | 92 & 95.9 Kiss FM |
Slogan | Green Bay and The Valley's New Hot Hits Station |
Frequency | 95.9 MHz |
Translator(s) | 92.5 W223CD (Wrightstown) |
Repeater(s) | 92.9 WKZY (Chilton) |
First air date | 1984 (as WJLW) |
Format | Top 40/CHR |
Language(s) | English |
ERP | 4,500 watts |
HAAT | 236 meters (774 ft) |
Class | C3 |
Facility ID | 1518 |
Transmitter coordinates | 44° 21' 32" N, 87° 59' 07" W |
Callsign meaning | W KSZ (sounds like "Kiss") |
Former callsigns | WJLW (1983-1995) |
Affiliations | Premiere Networks |
Owner | Woodward Communications, Inc. |
Sister stations | WAPL, WHBY, WKZG, WKZY, WSCO, WZOR |
Webcast | Listen Live! |
Website | 959kissfm.com |
WKSZ (95.9 FM, "Kiss FM") is a Top 40/CHR formatted radio station licensed to De Pere, Wisconsin, that serves the Green Bay and Appleton-Oshkosh areas. The station is owned by Woodward Communications. WKSZ's studios are located on College Avenue in Appleton, while its transmitter is located near Shirley in the Town of Glenmore.
The history of the 95.9 MHz frequency in the Green Bay area dates back to the mid-1980s, with WJLW. Locally owned by Jack LeDuc (from whom the "JL" of the call letters originated), WJLW broadcast a country music format [1] until October 1995, when LeDuc sold the station to Woodward Communications. (LeDuc would resurrect the WJLW call letters, and its country format, one year later at the 106.7 frequency in Green Bay.)
The 95.9 frequency went dormant for a month until November 13, 1995, when Woodward launched WKSZ as "95.9 Kiss FM." The station was positioned as a CHR station, putting it in direct competition with Midwest Communications' heritage CHR station, WIXX.
Kiss FM's ratings managed to hold steady in the middle of the Arbitron ratings for the Green Bay market, thanks to the long-time dominance of WIXX as the premier hit radio station in Northeast Wisconsin. However, a ratings surge by WKSZ in 2001-2002 had the station beating WIXX in several key younger demographics. In response, Midwest Communications changed the format of their low-rated adult contemporary station, WLTM, to a rhythmic format as WLYD, "Wild 99.7."