WPKF

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

WPKF
City of license	Poughkeepsie, New York
Broadcast area	Hudson Valley
Branding	96.1 Kiss FM
Slogan	Today's Hit Music
First air date	October 1996
Frequency	96.1 MHz
Format	Rhythmic Top 40
Power	4.4 kw
ERP	6 kw
Class	A
Callsign meaning	W Poughkeepsie Kiss FM
Former callsigns	WALQ (1996, not on-air) WNSX (1996-97) WTND (1997-99) WCTJ (1999-2001)
Owner	Clear Channel Communications
Website	www.kissfmjams.com/

WPKF (96.1 Kiss FM) is a Rhythmic Top 40 radio station licensed to Poughkeepsie, New York and serving the Mid-Hudson Valley of New York state. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications and broadcasts at 6 kilowatts ERP from a tower just north of Poughkeepsie on a site formerly occupied by WHVW.

[edit] History

The 96.1 frequency was granted as a construction permit in 1995 to WRNQ/WKIP owner Richard Novick. At the start of 1996, the frequency gained the WALQ calls, however that August those calls were replaced by WNSX as the station prepared to sign on the air. Two months later, the 96.1 frequency came to life as Modern AC-formatted 96.1 The X, running The Greaseman in mornings and ABC's "MR-35" format otherwise (though jocks from WRNQ did local shifts around music fed from the ABC format middays and afternoons).

Two weeks after WNSX signed on, Richard Novick sold his stations to Straus Media and the future of the format began to unravel thanks to various factors. The X did not fit in with the female-leaning Straus strategy to begin with and the format's chances of survival were diminished with The Greaseman ended syndication at the end of 1996 which was followed by ABC discontinuing the MR-35 format because of a lack of stations running the format. The announcement of rival Crystal Radio Group's purchase of WDSP to bring their WRRV to the Poughkeepsie market marked the last straw for Straus and the station flipped to country ("Thunder Country") WTND upon closing on the stations in March 1997. Amazingly, WNSX did relatively well for a new signal in its only book on the air.

Being mostly satellite-fed (Westwood One "Hot Country") and in a quasi-network with WTHK Hudson and WTHN Ellenville, WTND made economic sense for Straus at the outset. In reality, the format struggled against the heritage, better signaled and promoted WRWD and hovered towards the bottom of the ratings. After nearly falling out of the Poughkeepsie ratings, WTND was flipped to Hot Adult Contemporary "The Cat" WCTJ on August 9, 1999 after a weekend of stunting with clips from the 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 to some success), the two stations existed on their own albeit with the same music and DJ's on a slight delay with different promotions and a nighttime split where WCTW aired Delilah (heard in Poughkeepsie on WRNQ). Though ingenious on the surface, balancing the two different markets and keeping everything running fine was problematic and WCTJ's ratings and revenue were underachieving compared to the effort needed for the simulcast.

Straus Media sold its stations to Clear Channel Communications in 2000 and, after buying rival Roberts Radio, WCTJ was put under the same roof as rival WBWZ. After WCTW split off on its own after Clear Channel took control of the stations at the start of November, WCTJ was left stranded on its own amid format flip rumors. On December 22, these rumors became truth when WCTJ and WTHN entered joint stunting as Variety 96 & 99 and launched as Rhythmic Top 40 that afternoon using Clear Channel's KissFM brand.

Unlike other launches of the period, the station was totally locally programmed (and programmed for the market, then with a huge rhythmic hole) and had no cyberjocking (outside the syndicated Rick Dees in mornings). With former WSPK music director Donnie Michaels at the helm, the station immediately rocketed into the Top 5 stations in its first book. Michaels left the station for WFLY in Albany later in 2001 and incoming PD Jimi Jamm has taken the station to greater heights, aided by CJ McIntyre's (a/k/a)"CJ's Playhouse" move to mornings. The Playhouse has beaten Woodman on rival WSPK in the last two ratings periods (2005).

In March 2005, WFKP left the format amid struggling numbers in Orange County to take a localized version of WRNQ's LiteFM format. This detachment has had no effect on WPKF's numbers and the station is still successful in Dutchess County. The Fall of 2005 saw Kiss beating Top 40 rival WSPK (K-104) in every key demographic with the exception of teens and 12+. It also has it's biggest audience ever, based on cume. Spring of 2006 saw Kiss climb to #2 overall, tied with WSPK & WRWD, and once again beating WSPK in the 18-34 demo.

[edit] External links

• Query the FCC's FM station database for WPKF
• 96.1 Kiss FM Homepage