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 Chicago, and its transmitter is located at Willis Tower. WKSC is the flagship station of the syndicated morning show The Fred Show.

History WKFM The station began broadcasting in November 1957 under the call sign WKFM. WKFM was owned by Frank Kovas, Jr. The station's transmitter was located atop the Randolph Tower at 188 West Randolph, and had an ERP of 50,000 watts. On February 2, 1970, its antenna fell off the building during high winds, but no one was injured."Pylon plummets during Chicago rush hour", Broadcasting, February 9, 1970. p. 65. Retrieved January 28, 2019.

WKFM aired beautiful music/light classical format.O'Connor, Richard. (2009). A Brief History of Beautiful Music Radio, Percy Faith Pages. Retrieved January 29, 2019."FM Units Double in Two Year Period", Broadcasting. February 20, 1961. p. 82. Retrieved February 16, 2019. The music had appropriate moods through the day, with morning and afternoon drive times more upbeat, and it was considered to have a "highbrow" sound. Programs included Morning Serenade, Musical Bon-Bons, Pleasant Listening, Rendezvous With Rhythm, Dinner Musicale, and Stereo Showcase. The station had five-minute newscasts at the top of each hour and headlines at the half-hour."Stations By Format", Billboard. November 19, 1966. p. 38. Retrieved January 29, 2019.

Though WEFM, the Zenith owned classical music station, was the first station to broadcast in stereo, WKFM was the first to broadcast in stereo 24/7.

WFYR In 1973, the station was sold to RKO General for $2.4 million."RKO gets to add an FM", Broadcasting, January 29, 1973. p. 29. Retrieved January 29, 2019. The new owner changed the call letters to WFYR in March 1973. The letters FYR, standing for "Fire", were timed to just a year after the centennial of the Great Chicago Fire.Deitz, Corey (2004). The Cash Cage. Lessons from Camp. p. 104. Retrieved January 29, 2019.Chicagoland Radio Waves, MediaTies. Summer 1988/Spring-Summer 1989. Retrieved January 29, 2019. The station adopted an automated oldies format, using Drake-Chenault's Classic Gold package."Gold in California", Broadcasting, May 14, 1973. p. 57. Retrieved January 29, 2019.Duston, Anne. "Defect Coffin, Co-Ops Help Indie Dealer", Billboard. August 4, 1973. p. 31. Retrieved January 29, 2019."Chicago WFYR-FM", Billboard. November 29, 1975. pp. RKO-10, RKO-14. Retrieved January 29, 2019."RKO Shifts Chicago Old FM Automation", Billboard. March 26, 1977. p. 20. Retrieved January 29, 2019.

In autumn 1973, RKO opened an oldies dance club, the "FYR Station", located at the McCormick Inn, where the station held live broadcasts on Friday and Saturday evenings."Chi Oldie FM Nitery", Billboard. November 10, 1973. p. 28. Retrieved January 29, 2019.

In 1974, the station's transmitter was moved to the Sears Tower.

In 1976, WFYR began carrying Dick Biondi's syndicated program Super Gold Rock n' Roll."Dick Biondi Super Gold Rock n' Roll", Billboard. November 13, 1976. p. 31. Retrieved January 30, 2019.

In April 1977, the station adopted a live adult contemporary format.Herbeck, Ray, Jr. "'New' WFYR-FM Challenges WLS", Billboard. March 11, 1978. pp. 1, 32 & 39. Retrieved January 29, 2019."Stations, everywhere: a listeners' guide to the AM and FM bands", Chicago Tribune Magazine, March 4, 1979. p. 37. Retrieved January 30, 2019. Personalities included Fred Winson,"Radio; A Candid Overview of the Way it Was, Is, and Most Likely Will Be", Chicago Tribune Magazine, March 4, 1979. p. 22-27. Retrieved January 30, 2019. Dick Bartley,Dick Bartley Radio Biography, DickBartley.com. Retrieved January 30, 2019.Hall, Doug. "Vox Jox", Billboard. October 7, 1978. pp. 32, 34. Retrieved January 30, 2019. Stu Collins, and Dean Richards.Hall, Doug. "Vox Jox", Billboard. June 3, 1978. p. 46. Retrieved January 30, 2019."Dean Richards ", WGN-TV. Retrieved January 30, 2019.

In the 1980s, the station carried Dick Bartley's oldies program Solid Gold Saturday Night, and Bartley's Sunday night oldies program Solid Gold Scrapbook.Chicago Radio Guide. Vol. 1, No. 1. May 1985. p. 54. Retrieved January 30, 2019.

By January 1989, WFYR had transitioned back to an oldies format, with the slogan "Chicago's Hottest Oldies".Ross, Sean. "Vox Jox", Billboard. January 14, 1989. p. 10. Retrieved January 30, 2019.

In 1989, WFYR was sold to Summit Broadcasting for $21 million, as RKO General was slowly wound down due to past Federal Communications Commission (FCC) violations and investigations ending up with the FCC ruling the company as an unfit licensee.Multiple sources: "Transactions", Radio & Records. December 23, 1988. p. 9. Retrieved January 30, 2019. Morris, Ed. "FCC Judge Strips RKO Of Licenses", Billboard. August 22, 1987. p. 10. Retrieved January 30, 2019. Public Notice Comment - BALH-19890105GJ, fcc.gov. Retrieved January 30, 2019. On October 30, 1989, WFYR's oldies format was dropped and replaced with an adult contemporary format."WFYR Goes For Soft Hits", Radio & Records. November 3, 1989. pp. 3, 36. Retrieved January 30, 2019.Seigenthaler, Katherine. "New Soft Hits Format Makes a Play For the Contemporary Adult", Chicago Tribune. November 7, 1989. Retrieved January 30, 2019.

The Blaze In 1991, the station was sold to Major Broadcasting for $19 million.Multiple sources:

Public Notice Comment - BALH-19910211HM, fcc.gov. Retrieved January 30, 2019. On March 29, 1991, at 6p.m., the station signed off the air.Feder, Robert. "Hard-rocking 'Blaze' snuffs soft-pop 'FYR", Chicago Sun-Times. April 2, 1991. p. 33. Retrieved January 30, 2019. At 4 p.m. the following day, it returned to the air with a 44-hour stunt of Rock Rock ('Til You Drop) by Def Leppard. At noon on April 1, the station debuted a hard rock format as "The Blaze".Ross, Sean; Rosen, Craig; Stark, Phyllis. "Vox Jox", Billboard. April 13, 1991. p. 12. Retrieved January 30, 2019. Shortly thereafter, the station's call sign was changed to WWBZ. "The Blaze" featured acts such as AC/DC, Cinderella, Def Leppard, Great White, Guns N' Roses, Kiss, Led Zeppelin, Mötley Crüe, Slaughter, and Warrant.

The station's initial on-air personalities included Steven Craig in mornings, Steve Seaver in middays, Brian Kelly in afternoons, and Kevin Lewis evenings. Other personalities on The Blaze included Leslie Harris, Scott Childers, and helicopter reporter "Major Tom"."The Best of Rock - 103-5 The Blaze", Chicago Radio Time Capsule. ScottChilders.com. Retrieved January 30, 2019.Kening, Dan. "Major Tom", Chicago Tribune. December 31, 1991. Retrieved January 31, 2019.

WWBZ presented "Blazefest", a rock music memorabilia show and concert at the Odeum Expo Center in Villa Park, which featured performances by bands such as Kiss, I Mother Earth, Saigon Kick, Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies, and Warrant.Kening, Dan. "Even After 20 Years Kiss Still Just Making it Up as They Go", Chicago Tribune. April 1, 1994. Retrieved January 30, 2019.

In 1993, the station was sold to Evergreen Media for $28 million.Multiple sources:

"Street Talk", Radio & Records. December 17, 1993. p. 16. Retrieved January 31, 2019.

Rock 103.5 Over the July 4, 1994, weekend, the station stunted, playing music from a variety of music genres, promoting a feedback phone number for listeners to call, and taking potshots at B96, WCKG, Q101, and US99."'The Blaze' Flips To 'Rock 103.5' - 07/05/94", Chicagoland Radio and Media. July 5, 2016. Retrieved April 20, 2019. At 6 a.m. on July 5, the station was relaunched as "Rock 103-5", airing an active rock format."Chicago's Blaze Going Up In Smoke!", Radio & Records. July 1, 1994. p. 14. Retrieved January 31, 2019."Blaze Extinguished", Radio & Records. July 8, 1994. p. 1. Retrieved January 31, 2019.Kirk, Jim. "WRCX Turns to Oldies, Disco to Lift Ratings", Chicago Tribune. October 30, 1998. Retrieved January 31, 2019. On July 28, the station's call sign was changed to WRCX.

Mancow Muller was added to mornings and soon achieved the highest ratings for the station.Multiple sources: Nidetz, Steve. "Mancow Muller Pilots New WRCX Morning Drive", Chicago Tribune. July 31, 1994. Retrieved January 31, 2019. Pick, Grant. "Morning Mouth", Chicago Reader. March 30, 1995. Retrieved January 31, 2019. Other airstaff on Rock 103-5 included Terry Gibson,Stark, Phyllis. "Vox Jox", Billboard. February 25, 1995. p. 142. Retrieved January 31, 2019. Eddie Webb,Kirk, Jim. "Labuz to Boost Local Buzz as WBEZ Morning Host", Chicago Tribune. November 18, 1998. Retrieved January 31, 2019. Ned Spindle,Kirk, Jim. "Rise in Ratings Gives Rise to Change", Chicago Tribune. January 26, 1999. Retrieved January 31, 2019. Sludge, Cara Carriveau,"10 Questions with ... Cara Carriveau", All Access Music Group. December 5, 2006. Retrieved January 31, 2019. and Chris Payne. WRCX hosted "Rockstock", which featured performances from Megadeth, Local H, Veruca Salt, Silverchair, Faith No More, Helmet, and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts.Reger, Rick. "Second-Stage Acts Save Rockstock 97", Chicago Tribune. September 9, 1997. Retrieved January 31, 2019.

In February 1996, sister station WYNY in New York City simulcasted WRCX for a day as part of a week-long stunt of simulcasting sister stations nationwide before flipping formats to rhythmic adult contemporary as WKTU.Taylor, Chuck. "Vox Jox", Billboard. February 17, 1996. p. 96. Retrieved January 31, 2019.

In 1997, Evergreen merged with Chancellor Broadcasting.Peers, Martin. "Viacom Radio Signs Off", Variety. February 18, 1997. Retrieved January 31, 2019.

In late June 1998, Mancow left WRCX and joined 101.1 WKQX in late July.Multiple sources:

Kirk, Jim. "So Far, Muller's Mates Aren't Jumping Ship", Chicago Tribune. June 30, 1998. Retrieved January 31, 2019. Bob & Tom replaced Muller in the morning drive slot.

WRCX's ratings plummeted after Muller's departure; in the Spring 1998 ratings period, the station was ranked 12th in the market with a 3.2 share (though the station did well in its primary target demographics of Men 18-34 and 25-54), but in the Summer of that year, the station fell to 19th place with a 2.0 share."#3 Chicago", Radio & Records Ratings Directory. Vol 1. 1998. p. 32. Retrieved April 20, 2019.#3 Chicago", Radio & Records Ratings Directory. Vol 1. 1999. p. 40. Retrieved April 20, 2019. On October 29, 1998, Chancellor announced that WRCX would change formats. A farewell show aired October 30, with the current and former DJs re-airing station memories (which included phone-calls from Lars Ulrich and Mancow), and a final goodbye from the station's departing staff.Rock 103.5 Chicago Final Broadcast 3/3

The Beat The station continued its rock format (albeit jockless) until 5:30 p.m. on November 2, when, after playing "Sad but True" by Metallica, the station flipped to a rhythmic oldies format as "Chicago's Jammin' Oldies", branded first as "The New 103-5", then (after a "name the station" contest) as "The Beat".Jacobson, Adam. "Rock 103.5 Goes Jammin Oldies", Format Change Archive. Retrieved January 31, 2019. The first song on "The New 103-5" was "Get Ready" by The Temptations. Doug James was morning host on The Beat. On December 21, the station's call sign was changed to WUBT. In 2000, Larry Lujack was hired to host a program on Saturdays, which was repeated on Sundays.Multiple sources:

Kirk, Jim. "Lujack Appears Ready to Jam on WUBT-FM", Chicago Tribune. July 27, 2000. Retrieved February 1, 2019.

Chancellor merged with Capstar and restructured as AMFM, Inc. in 1999, and in 2000, merged with Clear Channel Communications.Multiple sources: "Chancellor to Become AMFM Inc.", Advertising Age. May 20, 1999. Retrieved January 31, 2019. "Clear Channel-AMFM Merger Gets Approval", Associated Press. Los Angeles Times. August 30, 2000. Retrieved January 31, 2019.