WPKF
| City | Poughkeepsie, New York |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Hudson Valley |
| Branding | 96.1 Kiss FM |
| Slogan | Hudson Valley's #1 Hit Music Station |
| Frequency | 96.1 MHz |
| First air date | October 1996 |
| Format | Top 40 (CHR) |
| ERP | 4,400 watts |
| HAAT | 56 meters |
| Class | A |
| Facility ID | 72380 |
| Callsign meaning | W Poughkeepsie Kiss FM |
| Former callsigns | WALQ (1996, not on-air) WNSX (1996-97) WTND (1997-99) WCTJ (1999-2001) |
| Affiliations |
Premium Choice iHeartRadio |
| Owner |
iHeartMedia, Inc. (CC Licenses, LLC) |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | kissfmhv.com |
WPKF (96.1 FM, "Kiss FM") is a Top 40 (CHR) radio station licensed to Poughkeepsie, New York and serving the Mid-Hudson Valley of New York state. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. and broadcasts at 4.4 kilowatts ERP from a tower mounted on the roof of the Ross Pavilion at the Hudson River Psychiatric Center in Poughkeepsie.
The 96.1 frequency was granted as a construction permit in 1995 to WRNQ/WKIP owner Richard Novik. In early 1996, the frequency planned to use the WALQ calls, however that August those calls were replaced by WNSX (Ninety SiX) as the station prepared to sign on the air. Two months later, the 96.1 frequency came to life as "Modern Rock, The X 96.1, with The Greaseman in mornings and ABC's "MR-35" format the rest of the day.
Two months after WNSX signed on, Richard Novik sold his station cluster to Straus Media and the future of the format began to unravel. The X did not fit in with the country-oriented Straus strategy and the station flipped to country as ("Thunder Country") WTND'. WNSX did quite well for a new signal in its only book on the air, but it was too late to turn back.
Being mostly satellite-fed (Westwood One "Hot Country") and in a quasi-network with WTHK Hudson and WTHN Ellenville, WTND seemed to make economic sense for Straus at the outset. In reality, the format failed badly against the heritage, better programmed and better-promoted WRWD and sunk to the bottom of the ratings. After nearly being de-listed from the Poughkeepsie Arbitron ratings, WTND was flipped to Hot Adult Contemporary "The Cat" WCTJ on August 9, 1999 after a weekend of stunting with clips from the WCTW/Hudson Bob & Sheri morning show.
Initially, WCTJ was to be a simulcast of sister station WCTW in Catskill, however by September it was ironed out into an interestingly run mutual simulcast. Instead of merely simulcasting WCTW to points south (as had been done a year prior via translator in Poughkeepsie), the two stations existed on their own albeit with the same music and DJs on a slight delay with different promotions and a nighttime split where WCTW aired Delilah (heard in Poughkeepsie on WRNQ). Balancing the two different markets and keeping everything running was problematic and WCTJ's ratings and revenue remained weak in relation to the work needed for the simulcast.
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