KIIS (850 AM) was a commercial radio station licensed to

Thousand Oaks, California Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, located in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles. Approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown Los Angeles, it is named after the many oak trees pr ...

, United States. It operated from 1971 to 2004. At the time of its sign-off, KIIS was owned by

Salem Media Group Salem Media Group, Inc. (formerly Salem Communications Corporation) is an American radio broadcaster, internet content provider, and magazine and book publisher based in Irving, Texas, targeting audiences interested in Christian values and wh ...

and broadcast a

top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

music format as a

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...

KIIS-FM KIIS-FM (102.7 FM broadcasting, FM, "102.7 KIIS FM") is a commercial radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, United States, and broadcasts to the Greater Los Angeles area. The station airs a contemporary hit radio format. Owned by i ...

in Los Angeles. This was the third AM station to hold the KIIS

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

, following the stations at 1150 AM in Los Angeles (1975–1980 and 1984–1997, now

KEIB KEIB (1150 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. Owned by iHeartMedia, the station brands itself as ''The Patriot'', and broadcasts a Conservative talk radio, conservative t ...

) and 1220 AM in Santa Clarita (1999–2003, now KHTS). Each outlet simulcast KIIS-FM during its stint as KIIS.

History

The station first signed on September 20, 1971, as KGOE. Originally owned by Conejo Broadcasters Inc., the 500-watt

daytimer A clear-channel station is a North American AM radio station that has the highest level of protection from interference from other stations, particularly from nighttime skywave signals. This classification exists to ensure the viability of cross ...

broadcast a middle of the road music format. In addition, it carried University of Oklahoma football games as a distant affiliate of the Sooner Radio Network. In December 1973, Conejo Broadcasters sold KGOE to General Broadcasting Co. for $85,466; nighttime operation began the following May. In June 1978, the station was sold to Affiliated Broadcasters for $155,000. In 1984, Affiliated sold KGOE to Comedy Broadcasting Company, owned by Ira Barmak, for $750,000. The new owner changed the station's

to KMDY and adopted a format consisting of comedy and comedic albums. In 1992, KMDY adopted the KCTQ call letters, later becoming KAHS as an affiliate of the

Radio AAHS Radio AAHS was an American radio network owned and operated by the Children's Broadcasting Corporation. The flagship station of the format was WWTC (1280 AM) in Minneapolis, from where network programming originated at the former First Federal ...

children's radio Children's radio is a term used to refer to both Radio program, radio series and Radio format, formats designed specifically for Child, children. It has existed as far back as the beginning of Radio broadcasting, broadcasting in the 1920s, and surv ...

network,

ing KPLS in

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

. In April 1997, Buena Ventura Communications sold KAHS to

Jacor Communications Jacor Communications was a media corporation, existing between 1987 and 1999, which owned many radio stations in the United States. In 1998, Jacor was purchased by Clear Channel Communications, now iHeartMedia, for $2.8 billion. Jacor Communicat ...

for $400,000. (Jacor in turn would be acquired by

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...

two years later.) When Radio AAHS went off the air in 1998, the station briefly switched to

adult standards Adult standards (also sometimes known as the nostalgia or Big Band format) is a North American radio format heard primarily on AM or class A FM stations. Adult standards started in the 1950s and is aimed at "mature" adults, meaning mainly tho ...

. Several months later, KAHS changed its call sign to KLYF and began simulcasting the all-sports format of KXTA (Xtra Sports 1150) in Los Angeles. Under Clear Channel ownership, the station underwent several format changes. KLYF became general talk station KBET in 1999. The following year, the station changed call letters to KACD and picked up the

adult album alternative Adult album alternative (also triple-A, AAA, or adult alternative) is a radio format. See pages 9 and 10Mills, Joshua. "A New Radio Music Format: Rock for Prosperous Adults" New York Times, Feb 28 1994, p. 2. ProQuest. Web. Accessed September 4, ...

format abandoned by KACD-FM (103.1 FM). In 2003, KACD adopted the KIIS calls and started simulcasting

station

. For a brief period, KIIS simulcast classic country station KTDD in

San Bernardino San Bernardino ( ) is a city in and the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 census, making it the List of ...

. The Thousand Oaks station returned to simulcasting KIIS-FM in 2004. KIIS signed off February 17, 2004 after the lease on the land of the transmission towers' location expired and could not be renewed. The towers were then demolished and a housing tract was built on the former tower location. New Inspiration Broadcasting Company, a subsidiary of

Salem Communications Salem Media Group, Inc. (formerly Salem Communications Corporation) is an American radio broadcaster, internet content provider, and magazine and book publisher based in Irving, Texas, targeting audiences interested in Christian values and wha ...

, bought the station on November 2, 2004 with the intent to surrender the license to allow

KRLA KRLA (870 AM) "AM 870 The Answer" is a commercial radio station broadcasting a conservative talk radio format. Licensed to Glendale, California, it serves Greater Los Angeles and Southern California. The station is owned by Salem Media Group, ...

(870 AM) to increase its power; the KIIS license was canceled on March 4, 2005. The frequency is now silent; as there is no present FCC process available to apply for a new AM station, the frequency cannot be reactivated.

References

External links

*
Facility details for Facility ID 7749 (KIIS)
in the FCC Licensing and Management System * (covering 1961-1981 as KKID / KGOE) {{Ventura County Radio Defunct radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1971 1971 establishments in California Radio stations disestablished in 2005 2005 disestablishments in California Salem Media Group radio stations IIS (defunct) IIS (defunct)