KISV (94.1 FM, "Hot 94.1") is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of th ...

. It airs a Rhythmic Top 40

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...

and is owned by American General Media. Its studios are in the Easton Business Complex in southwest Bakersfield. KISV is a Class B FM station. It has an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would ha ...

(ERP) of 4,500

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

is off Breckenridge Road, amid the

towers A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

for several other Bakersfield FM and TV stations, east of the city.Radio-Locator.com/KISV
/REF>

History

KERN-FM

The station signed on the air in .''Broadcasting Yearbook 1950'' page 78. Retrieved Feb. 7, 2025.
/ref> Its

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 ...

was KERN-FM, the

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

to KERN 1410 AM (now KERI). KERN-AM-FM were CBS Radio

Network affiliate In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or a ...

s and were owned by the

McClatchy Company McClatchy Media Company, or simply McClatchy and MCC, is an American publishing company incorporated under Delaware's Delaware General Corporation Law, General Corporation Law. Originally based in Sacramento, California, United States, and kno ...

, which published several California newspapers and owned other radio stations. The station was well known in the 1980s as KQXR or Q94 FM. At that time it had a Top 40 format that leaned towards adult contemporary. After rhythmic KKXX 105.3FM beat it in the ratings, KQXR changed direction. In 1989, the call letters returned to KERN-FM and it aired an

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

format as "94 Oldies." For the next eight years, the station played hits from the years 1955-1974. It featured nationally syndicated shows such as '' Cruisin' America with Cousin Brucie'' and '' Dick Clark's Rock, Roll & Remember''. The oldies format performed fairly well in the

Arbitron ratings Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by mergin ...

. But in 1997, management decided on a younger format.

Rhythmic Contemporary KISV

The station was relaunched with a

rhythmic contemporary Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 20, Rhythmic Top 30, Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip-hop and upbeat R&B hit ...

sound in 1997. It switched its call sign to KISV, representing the word "Kiss" and adding a V for "Valley," as in the Central Valley of California, where Bakersfield is located. The station's slogan became "The All New KISS 94.1, The Rhythm Of The Valley." That put it back in a battle with 96.5 KKXX. (That station would respond by switching signals and relaunching as an R&B/

Hip-Hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

outlet.) In 2001,

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 ...

(today's iHeartMedia) bought KKXX. The company sent a "

cease and desist A cease and desist letter is a document sent by one party, often a business, to warn another party that they believe the other party is committing an unlawful act, such as copyright infringement, and that they will take legal action if the oth ...

" order to KISV. Clear Channel demanded KISV stop using the trademarked "KISS" moniker because the company want to use that slogan for KKXX, which by then was called simply "X96.5". During the court proceedings, KISV 94.1 dropped "Kiss" from its name in compliance. It began calling itself simply "94.1" for the duration of the fight against Clear Channel. A federal judge agreed and in February 2002 Clear Channel won the case. With the loss, KISV was forced to change its moniker. Shortly thereafter, KISV held a contest to let the listeners decide what the new name of the station would be. The result of this contest was the station's new listener-chosen moniker: "HOT 94.1." Despite having to give up its long-time name, KISV continued to beat KKXX "96.5 KISS-FM" in the ratings. KKXX ended its run as a rhythmic contemporary station in 2004. A month later, KISV picked up competition from 103.9 KBDS, which decided to join KISV as a rhythmic contemporary station. On November 14, 2008 KISV became the only rhythmic outlet in the market after KBDS went

dark Darkness is the condition resulting from a lack of illumination, or an absence of visible light. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low luminance because the hue-sensitive photoreceptor cells on the retina are ...

due to financial problems caused by the economic recession. It is now a

hip hop music Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music Music genre, genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African Americans, African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide r ...

station. KISV continues to be Bakersfield's only rhythmic contemporary station. But it does compete with two mainstream Top 40 outlets, 95.3 KLLY, owned by

Alpha Media Alpha Media LLC is a radio broadcasting company based in Portland, Oregon, and led by Bob Proffitt. The group does business under the Alpha Media name. It was formed from the merger of Alpha Broadcasting, L&L Broadcasting, and Main Line Broadc ...

, and 93.1 KKXX-FM, owned by American General Media. While KISV is a full-power Class B FM station, KLLY and KKXX-FM have limited coverage areas.

Programming

Weekdays on KISV begin with Romeo on mornings. His show features ''Hollywood Trash.'' Program director J. Reed is on middays. His show features the ''12 O' Clock Movie Match.'' In afternoon

drive time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this c ...

, Randy is heard. His show features the ''5 O'Clock Traffic Jam'' with D.J. Wreck in the Mix. Bootleg Kev in heard evenings, with show producer Nico Blitz.

References

External links

KISV Station website
{{coord, 35.438, N, 118.740, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title Rhythmic contemporary radio stations in the United States ISV Radio stations established in 1983 1983 establishments in California