KZIS (107.9

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

) is a radio station in

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

, United States. It is owned and operated by

iHeartMedia 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 ...

, broadcasting from the iHeartMedia studio center in

North Sacramento North Sacramento is a community that is part of the city of Sacramento, California, United States. It was a city from its incorporation in 1924 until it was merged (in a bitter election decided by 6 votes) in 1964 into the City of Sacramento. In ...

and a tower north of the city near Elverta, also used by

KXPR KXPR (88.9 FM) is a non-commercial, listener-supported public radio station in Sacramento, California, airing a classical music format. Along with sister station KXJZ 90.9 FM, they are known as Capital Public Radio or "CapRadio." Both sta ...

and KQEI-FM. The station is broadcasting a

hot adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

format focusing on hits of the

1990s File:1990s decade montage.png, From top left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope orbits the Earth after it was launched in 1990; American jets fly over burning oil fields in the 1991 Gulf War; the Oslo Accords on 13 September 1993; the World ...

and

2000s File:2000s decade montage3.png, From top left, clockwise: The Twin Towers of the original World Trade Center (1973–2001), World Trade Center on fire and the Statue of Liberty on the left during the September 11 attacks, terrorist attacks on Sep ...

as "Kiss 107.9". KZIS began broadcasting on May 4, 2022, under the call sign KSTE-FM. The frequency had been vacant in Sacramento after

KDND KDND (107.9 MHz) was an FM radio station licensed to Sacramento, California, United States. The station first signed on in 1947 as KXOA-FM, an FM simulcast of AM station KXOA, before separating itself with distinct programming, includin ...

, its original user, was taken off the air by owner

Entercom Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corp., it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning over 220 radio stations across 47 media ...

in February 2017, with its intellectual property moved to sister station

KUDL KUDL (106.5 FM) is a radio station in Sacramento, California. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts a Top 40 (CHR) format branded as ''106-5 The End''. Its studios are located in Foothill Farms (with a Sacramento address) and its transmitter ...

. The license renewal of KDND had been subject to an FCC hearing over the 2007 death of a contestant in a contest held by the station.

Prior use of 107.9 MHz in Sacramento

The original radio station on 107.9 MHz in Sacramento was built as KXOA-FM in 1947. After originally simulcasting KXOA (1470 AM), the station tried several formats, including country music and oldies, before finding success in the 1970s with a soft

album-oriented rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the late 1960s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. US rad ...

format and later with

soft adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

as "K108". In 1998, KXOA-FM became KDND "The End" and adopted a

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

format, which would remain for 19 years. On January 12, 2007, KDND's morning show held a "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest, in which contestants were asked to drink as much

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

as they could without

urinating Urination is the release of urine from the bladder through the urethra in placental mammals, or through the cloaca in other vertebrates. It is the urinary system's form of excretion. It is also known medically as micturition, voiding, uresi ...

to try and win a

Nintendo Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, ...

game console. One contestant, Jennifer Strange, died of

water intoxication Water intoxication, also known as water poisoning, hyperhydration, overhydration, or water toxemia, is a potentially fatal disturbance in brain functions that can result when the normal balance of electrolytes in the body is pushed outside safe ...

. As a result, the morning show hosts were fired alongside several other employees. A jury in 2009 found the Sacramento subsidiary of the station's owner,

, to be at fault for her death in a

wrongful death Wrongful death is a type of legal claim or cause of action against a person who can be held liable for a death. The claim is brought in a civil action, usually by close relatives, as authorized by statute. In wrongful death cases, survivors are ...

case brought by Strange's family. In 2013, the Media Action Center filed a petition to deny the license renewal of KDND for a new eight-year term. The

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

(FCC) had designated the renewal for hearing in October 2016 as a result of the petition. However, in February 2017, Entercom announced it would merge with CBS Radio. Because any delay associated with the KDND license renewal hearing could derail the timely approval by the FCC of the larger transaction, Entercom moved its format and programming to

(106.5 FM) on February 6, shuttered KDND on February 8, and surrendered the station license to the FCC for cancellation, settling with Media Action Center.

History

FCC auction

The FCC returned the 107.9 frequency on which KDND was licensed to operate to the agency's inventory of unused channels, to be put up for auction to the highest bidder. The FCC stipulated that use of the frequency must retain its short-spaced protections to KSAN (107.7 FM) in San Mateo; any new station would be limited to 50 kW ERP and an average

height above average terrain Height above average terrain (HAAT), or (less popularly) effective height above average terrain (EHAAT), is the vertical position of an antenna site above the surrounding landscape. HAAT is used extensively in FM radio and television, as it is ...

of 123 meters in the direction of KSAN. The FCC included the 107.9 frequency in its Auction 106, which was scheduled to begin April 28, 2020, but the auction was indefinitely postponed on March 25, 2020, due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The allocation was again put up for auction as part of FCC Auction 109 beginning July 27, 2021, and was auctioned off to

for $6,146,000. iHeart opted to locate the station, now with the KSTE-FM call letters, from the same tower where KDND had operated near Elverta.

Startup

On May 4, 2022, KSTE-FM signed on, beginning a

soft launch A soft launch, also known as a soft opening, is a preview release of a product or service to a limited audience prior to the general public. Soft-launching a product is sometimes used to gather data or customer feedback, prior to making it wi ...

by stunting with loops of songs relevant to the specific date through May 9, followed by

dead air Dead air, also known as unmodulated carrier, is an unintended period of silence that interrupts a broadcast during which no audio or video program material is transmitted. Radio and television Dead air occurs in radio broadcasting when no audio ...

punctuated with cryptic liners themed around listening, interspersed with audio bits pretending to be the results of "listening in" to the queries and discussions of area people using

voice assistants A virtual assistant (VA) is a software agent that can perform a range of tasks or services for a user based on user input such as commands or questions, including verbal ones. Such technologies often incorporate chatbot capabilities to stream ...

. On May 16, the station began promoting

iHeartRadio iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast, radio streaming and Music Streaming platform owned by iHeartMedia. Founded in August 2008, iHeartRadio serves as the national umbrella brand for iHeart ...

's "Talkback" feature, airing messages from listeners made using the feature (including, but not limited to, song requests, general suggestions for the station's permanent format, and comments on news stories). On May 19, KSTE-FM returned to teasing different formats and asking listeners to vote on what permanent format the station should play, starting with

Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of Music genre, genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas and holiday season, Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of Christmas ...

; over the next two weeks, this would be followed up with

Pride Radio Pride Radio (United States) is an LGBTQ+ electronic dance music and top 40 radio network launched by Clear Channel Communications Format Lab under the direction of Michael Albl, who conceived the format, on terrestrial HD2 & HD3 stations and on ...

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 ...

contemporary Christian Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from about 1945 to the present. In the social sciences, contemporary history is also continuous with, and related t ...

, classic

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (Kamen Rider), Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * Alternative comics, or independent comics are an altern ...

, Spanish Top 40, classic country, 1990s dance music,

classic hip hop Classic hip hop is a music radio format focusing primarily on hip hop music from the 1980s, 1990s, and the early to mid-2000s. Although stations with such a format date back as far as 2004, the format was first popularized in October 2014, after ...

yacht rock Yacht rock (originally known as the West Coast soundThat ' ...

, 1980s hits, 1990s hits, 2000s hits,

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

, and

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...

. On June 3, it was announced that KSTE-FM would launch its permanent format at noon on June 8; for the remaining days of the stunting, the station played "party songs" from the previous 25 years. At the promised time, after airing a one-hour countdown, KSTE-FM debuted a

format emphasizing 1990s and 2000s hits (as well as some re-currents) as "Kiss 107.9", with "

Let's Get It Started "Let's Get It Started" is a song by American group the Black Eyed Peas. It is a clean version of "Let's Get Retarded" from their third studio album, ''Elephunk'' (2003). The album version was originally only reworked for its use in promotion fo ...

" by

The Black Eyed Peas The Black Eyed Peas are an American musical group formed in Los Angeles in 1995, composed of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo (rapper), Taboo. Fergie (singer), Fergie was a member during the height of their popularity in the 2000s, and ...

being the first song played. iHeart filed for the call sign KZIS on June 22, which took effect on June 28. Following the call sign change, the station began broadcasting in

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. HD radio generally simulcast, simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD R ...

References

External links

* * {{IHeartMedia

ZIS Zis (Messapic: 𐌆𐌉𐌔) is a sky and lightning god in Messapian religion, occupying the most prominent role. The theonym is the equivalent and cognate of Albanian '' Zojz'' and Greek ''Zeus'', all from Proto-Indo-European '' *Di̯ḗu̯s'' ...

Radio stations established in 2022 2022 establishments in California iHeartMedia radio stations Hot adult contemporary radio stations in the United States