WKSL (97.9 FM) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission 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 radi ...

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

Neptune Beach, Florida Neptune Beach is a beachfront city east of Jacksonville in Duval County, Florida, United States. When the majority of Duval County communities consolidated with Jacksonville in 1968, Neptune Beach, along with Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach ...

, broadcasting to the

Jacksonville metropolitan area The Jacksonville Metropolitan Area, also called the First Coast, Metro Jacksonville, or Northeast Florida, is the metropolitan area centered on the principal city of Jacksonville, Florida and including the First Coast of North Florida. Accordin ...

. The station is owned and operated by

iHeartMedia, Inc. iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly 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 fou ...

WKSL airs a Top 40/CHR

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 was compelle ...

. WKSL carries two weekday

syndicated Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

programs, with ''

Elvis Duran and the Morning Show Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

'' from

WHTZ WHTZ (100.3 FM) is a commercial top 40/CHR station licensed to Newark, New Jersey and broadcasting to the New York metropolitan area. Owned by iHeartMedia, WHTZ is the flagship station for ''Elvis Duran and the Morning Show''. The WHTZ studios ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, and in middays, WKSL carries ''

On Air with Ryan Seacrest ''On Air with Ryan Seacrest'' is a weekday syndicated radio program hosted by Ryan Seacrest. It was launched in 2004 as a drive time show at the same time on Los Angeles Top 40 station 102.7 KIIS-FM as the television show with the same name, a ...

'' based at

KIIS-FM KIIS-FM (102.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, United States, and broadcasts to the Greater Los Angeles area. The station airs a top 40 format. Owned by iHeartMedia, KIIS-FM is the origin of the conglome ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

. WKSL's

studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design, ...

s and offices are located on Belfort Parkway in Jacksonville's Southside neighborhood. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to ...

is in the Arlington neighborhood, on Hogan Road near Pottsburg Creek. WKSL broadcasts in the

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

hybrid format. The HD2 subchannel, which is simulcast on sister station WFXJ and

FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tra ...

W247CF (97.3 MHz), carries a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

news/talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

format known as "Acción 97.3." The HD3 subchannel, which is simulcast on FM translator W300CU (107.9 MHz), carries an

urban gospel Urban/contemporary gospel is a modern subgenre of gospel music. Although the style developed gradually, early forms are generally dated to the 1970s, and the genre was well established by the end of the 1980s. The radio format is pitched prim ...

format known as "Praise 107.9."

History

Early history

The station was originally licensed to

St. Augustine, Florida St. Augustine ( ; es, San Agustín ) is a city in the Southeastern United States and the county seat of St. Johns County on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers, it is the oldest continuously inhabit ...

as WFOY-FM on 97.7 MHz, simulcasting WFOY. In 1984, Shull Broadcasting bought WFOY-AM-FM and changed the FM to Hot AC WUVU "The View 97.7." In 1992, WUVU moved to 97.9 MHz, upgrading its power to 50,000 watts. It was sold to Paxson Broadcasting, which switched WUVU to WSTF (the former

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 assig ...

what is now

WJRR WJRR (101.1 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Cocoa Beach, Florida, serving Greater Orlando. Owned by iHeartMedia, WJRR airs an active rock radio format. It is the Orlando affiliate for the syndicated rock series '' Skratch 'N Sniff' ...

in Orlando) with an

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as wel ...

format. On February 2, 1995, it flipped to

Smooth Jazz Smooth jazz is a genre of commercially-oriented crossover jazz and easy listening music that became dominant in the mid 1970s to the early 1990s. History Smooth jazz is a commercially oriented, crossover jazz which came to prominence in the 1 ...

as WFSJ-FM.

WFKS "97.9 KISS FM"

WFSJ switched formats to Rhythmic-leaning CHR at 3 p.m. on March 17, 2000, calling itself "97-9 KISS FM." For a short time it used the call sign WGNE-FM. On July 3, 2000, the call letters changed to WFKS. From 1994 to 2000, the WFKS call sign was used on 99.9 FM in Palatka, as CHR/Hot AC "99.9 Kiss FM." That station became

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whil ...

WGNE-FM in 2000 and was moved into the Jacksonville market by Renda Broadcasting in May 2005. It is now "99.9 Gator Country," competing with the current WKSL-FM's sister station,

WQIK-FM WQIK-FM (99.1 FM) is a commercial radio station in Jacksonville, Florida. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., and airs a country music radio format. Overnight, WQIK carries the syndicated '' CMA After Midnite Show with Cody Alan'' and th ...

Radio Now 97.9

On July 1, 2011, at Noon, after playing " Just Dance" by

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

featuring

Colby O'Donis Colby O'Donis Colón (; born March 14, 1989) is an American singer. He is best known as the featured artist in Lady Gaga's 2008 single " Just Dance", which spent more than eleven months on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. He is also known for his le ...

, WFKS launched into a "Flashback Weekend", playing hits that were popular from the station's 10-year existence, including 1990s songs. The station began promoting "The End of Kiss" at 9 a.m. on the 5th. At that time, after playing "

Bye Bye Bye "Bye Bye Bye" is a song by the American boy band NSYNC. It was released on January 17, 2000, as the lead single from their third studio album '' No Strings Attached''. The song was written and produced by Kristian Lundin and Jake Schulze, with ...

" by *Nsync, WFKS relaunched as "Radio NOW 97-9", while tweaking its format to a more mainstream CHR. The first song on "Radio NOW" was "

Kryptonite Kryptonite is a fictional material that appears primarily in Superman stories published by DC Comics. In its best-known form, it is a green, crystalline material originating from Superman's home world of Krypton that emits a unique, poisonous r ...

" by 3 Doors Down. On July 14, WFKS changed the call letters to WNWW to go with the "Radio NOW" branding.

Return to "KISS FM"

On November 1, 2013, after playing "

We Are Young "We Are Young" is a song recorded by American band Fun, featuring American singer Janelle Monáe. It is the third track on the group's second studio album, '' Some Nights'' (2012). The song was released on September 20, 2011 as the lead si ...

" by

Fun Fun is defined by the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' as "Light-hearted pleasure, enjoyment, or amusement; boisterous joviality or merrymaking; entertainment". Etymology and usage The word ''fun'' is associated with sports, entertaining medi ...

featuring

Janelle Monáe Janelle Monáe Robinson (; born December 1, 1985) is an American singer, rapper and actress. She is signed to Atlantic Records, as well as to her own imprint, the Wondaland Arts Society. Monáe has received eight Grammy Award nominations. Mon� ...

, WNWW returned to the "Kiss" branding as "97-9 KISS FM", relaunching with a similar "Flashback Weekend" to the one that signed off "Kiss" two years prior. For a short time it kept the WNWW call letters. On August 1, 2014, WNWW changed call letters to WKSL which were originally used on sister station WNCB-FM in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Notable Past & Present Personalities

Skip Kelly Skip Kelly is a professional voice actor, audio producer, and former American radio personality known for his voiceover work and radio shows around the US. He was notably the voice of The Riddler in a series of Batman motion comics for DC Comics. ...

* MJ in the Morning * Elvis Duran and the KISS FM Morning Show * Mack at Nite, now at

WMIA-FM WMIA-FM (93.9 MHz) is a hot adult contemporary radio station that is licensed to Miami Beach, Florida. The station is owned and operated by iHeartMedia. Its studios are located in Miramar, and the transmitter site is in Miami Gardens. History ...

* Nick Wize, now at

WFLZ-FM WFLZ-FM (93.3 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Tampa, Florida. It airs a contemporary hit radio (CHR/Top 40) radio format and is owned and operated by iHeartMedia. The station's studios and offices are located on Gandy Boulevard in South ...

* Colt, now at

KDWB KDWB-FM (101.3 MHz) is an American commercial radio station broadcasting in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota, licensed to suburban Richfield. KDWB's radio format is Top 40/CHR. Its transmitter is located in Shoreview, while its studios ...

* Catalina * Spoon * JR

References

External links

Official Website2000 Debut of "97.9 KISS FM"
* * * {{coord, 30.281, N, 81.570, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title KSL Contemporary hit radio stations in the United States IHeartMedia radio stations 1965 establishments in Florida Radio stations established in 1965