WMKS (100.3 FM, "Hits 100.3"), is a top 40 (CHR)

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 ...

licensed to

High Point, North Carolina High Point is a city in the Piedmont Triad region of the United States, U.S. state of North Carolina. Most of the city is in Guilford County, North Carolina, Guilford County, with parts extending into Randolph County, North Carolina, Randolph, ...

, that serves the

Piedmont Triad The Piedmont Triad (or simply the Triad) is a metropolitan region in the north-central part of the U.S. state of North Carolina anchored by three cities: Greensboro, North Carolina, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Winston-Salem, and ...

region, including

Greensboro Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina, af ...

and

Winston-Salem Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the fifth-most populous city in North Carolina and the 91st-most populous city in the Uni ...

. The iHeartMedia, Inc. outlet broadcasts with an ERP of 100 kW. It has studio facilities and offices located on Pai Park in Greensboro, and a transmitter site is located south of Greensboro in unincorporated Guilford County.

History

Early years

This station signed on the air in June 1953 as WNOS-FM. In October 1975, Bernie Mann bought WNOS and WNOS-FM. He changed the FM station's letters to WGLD and the format to beautiful music, also increasing the power to 100,000 watts and building a new 400-foot tower. In 1985, the WGLD letters and format moved to

1320 AM The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 1320 kHz: The U.S. Federal Communications Commission and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Comm ...

and the station became WOJY "Joy 100", a satellite MOR station. In 1989, WOJY changed to

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 ...

with the new name WWWB "B-100". For a year starting on September 19, 1994, the station was WFXF "100.3 the Fox", a hit-oriented

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

station focusing on the 70s and listeners 35 to 45, with some songs no one else was playing. Then the station became WHSL "Whistle 100", playing

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

. In 1999, WHSL became one of the first

stations to air

John Boy and Billy John Isley (born August 15, 1956) and Billy James (born August 31, 1957), known as John Boy & Billy, are American radio personality, radio hosts based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Their comedic morning program ''The John Boy & Billy Big Show'' b ...

, which had previously been designed for

stations. Around

New Year's Day In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day is the first day of the calendar year, January 1, 1 January. Most solar calendars, such as the Gregorian and Julian calendars, begin the year regularly at or near the December solstice, northern winter ...

2001, the station took over the rock format previously heard on WXRA, calling itself WVBZ "100.3 the Buzzard", keeping

. This arrangement lasted until early 2009, when it changed its moniker to "The Buzz" and shifted its music towards

active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...

100.3 KISS-FM

The Buzz moved to 105.7 FM on January 1, 2014, at 5p.m., taking the spot of sister station WMKS. WVBZ adopted the Top 40 format of its predecessor, and later rebranded as "100.3

KISS-FM KISS-FM (99.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station in San Antonio, Texas. It airs a mainstream rock format and is owned by Cox Media Group. The studios and offices are located on Datapoint Drive in Northwest San Antonio near the South Texas M ...

." On January 3, 2014, the call letters switched to WMKS. Prior to 2018, WMKS aired Fred & Angi from

WKSC-FM WKSC-FM (103.5 MHz) – branded "103.5 Kiss FM" – is a commercial contemporary hit radio station licensed to Chicago, Illinois. Owned by iHeartMedia, its studios are located at the Illinois Center complex on Michigan Avenue in Downtown Ch ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

in the morning. The station had no morning DJs until adding Ace and TJ May 28, 2019.

Hits 100.3

On October 29, 2020, WMKS dropped the "Kiss-FM" branding and began promoting "The New Sound of 100.3" coming on November 2, at Noon. At said time, after playing " This Is What You Came For" by

Calvin Harris Adam Richard Wiles (born 17 January 1984), known professionally as Calvin Harris (and sometimes under the stage name Love Regenerator), is a Scottish DJ, record producer, singer, and songwriter. His debut studio album, ''I Created Disco'' (2007 ...

, WMKS rebranded as "Hits 100.3", promising to be commercial free on weekends. The first song on "Hits" was " What's Poppin" by

Jack Harlow Jackman Thomas Harlow (born March 13, 1998) is an American rapper and singer. He began his recording career in 2015, and released several EPs and mixtapes until signing with Don Cannon and DJ Drama's record label Generation Now, an imprint of A ...

. The new format leans rhythmic, and the new station claimed that listeners of

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. Hip- ...

-formatted 102 Jamz like only one in four songs played on that station, and that Mainstream CHR-formatted

WKZL WKZL ("1075 KZL") is a Contemporary hit radio, Top 40 (CHR) station licensed to Winston-Salem, North Carolina and serves the Piedmont Triad area, which also includes Greensboro, North Carolina, Greensboro and High Point, North Carolina, High Poi ...

has too many commercials.

References

External links

WMKS official website
* {{IHeartMedia MKS Contemporary hit radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1953 1953 establishments in North Carolina IHeartMedia radio stations High Point, North Carolina