| City of license | Fort Worth, Texas |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex |
| Branding | New Country 96-3 KSCS |
| Slogan | "Texas' Most Country Guaranteed!!" |
| Frequency | 96.3 MHz (also on HD Radio) |
| First air date | 1949 as WBAP-FM |
| Format | On HD-1: Modern Country On HD-2: Texas Country "The Twister" |
| ERP | 99,000 watts |
| HAAT | 491 meters |
| Class | C |
| Facility ID | 71201 |
| Callsign meaning | Silver Country Stereo |
| Former callsigns | WBAP-FM (1949-1973) |
| Owner | Cumulus Media (Radio License Holding IV, LLC) |
| Sister stations | KKLF, KLIF, KLIF-FM, KPLX, KTCK, KTDK, WBAP, WBAP-FM |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | kscs.com |
KSCS (96.3 MHz) is an FM and a Digital "HD Radio" station which serves the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex in Texas. The station transmits a modern country music format on its FM signal and on its main digital channel "HD-1". 96.3 KSCS is also the home of the Dorsey Gang, one of the longest running morning radio shows in the Dallas - Fort Worth area. The Dorsey Gang includes Terry Dorsey, a member of the Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame, and Mark "Hawkeye" Louis. The duo has won numerous awards including Billboard Magazine's Major Market Air Personalities of 1998. The pair teamed up in July 1988. KSCS was named "2009 Major Market Radio Station of the Year" by the Academy of Country Music. KSCS transmits "The Texas Twister" on its second digital channel "HD-2".
KSCS is currently owned by Cumulus Media. Also, KSCS, and sister stations WBAP AM and FM are responsible for activation of the North Texas Emergency Alert System when hazardous weather alerts, Disaster area declarations, and child abductions are issued.[1]
The station first signed on the air in March 1949 as WBAP-FM on 100.5 FM under the control of Amon G. Carter (later taken over by Carter Publications after Amon's death in 1955). The station moved to 96.3 in 1955. WBAP-FM aired mostly classical music. After the success of sister station WBAP's "Country Gold" format which began in 1970, it was decided to extend the country music brand to FM, and on January 15, 1973, 96.3 was re-named KSCS "Silver Country Stereo". The initial design behind KSCS was to for it be a country station with beautiful music-style formatics, including playing several songs in a row, low-key announcers, and light commercial loads. A year later, Carter Publications sold KSCS to Capital Cities (taken over by ABC in 1985).
As FM radio listening started to increase in Dallas/Fort Worth in the mid-1970s, KSCS benefited from being the only country station on the FM dial. The rise in popularity of country music in the late 70s led to KSCS becoming a dominant station in the ratings. It also brought competition in the form of KPLX which entered the country music market in 1980.
KSCS was the number one radio station overall in Dallas/Fort Worth from 1980 to 1982. The station's ratings started to sag after the Urban Cowboy era faded, and with tough competition from KPLX. In 1988, KSCS hired away KPLX's star morning man Terry Dorsey, and with Dorsey's arrival, the ratings started to rise again, just as country music's popularity started to rise again. KSCS again became the number one station overall in Dallas/Fort Worth in 1990, and stayed there for 14 consecutive ratings periods. To this day, that is still the longest winning streak in Dallas/Fort Worth ratings history.[2] KSCS, along with ABC's other non-Radio Disney and ESPN Radio stations, was sold to Citadel Broadcasting in 2007.
In January 2008, KSCS was re-branded as "The Big 96.3", however in November 2009 it reverted to its legacy branding in use since the 1980s. On January 4, 2011 at 5pm the station once again re-branded as "New Country 96-3 KSCS, Texas Most Country Guaranteed". Citadel merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011;[3] this made KSCS a sister station to longtime rival KPLX.
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