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| Broadcast area | |
| Frequency | 102.7MHz (HD Radio) |
| RDS | KIIS-FM LA |
| Branding | 102.7 KIIS FM |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Format | Contemporary hit radio |
| Affiliations | Premiere Networks |
| Ownership | |
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| History | |
First air date | March 7, 1961 (64 years ago) (1961-03-07) |
Former call signs |
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Call sign meaning | Carried over from KIIS (1150 AM), nowKEIB; "IIS" is visibly similar to the abbreviated "115(0)" frequency position and phonetically similar to "KISS" |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 19218 |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 8,000 watts |
| HAAT | 902 meters (2,959 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 34°13′36″N118°4′0.2″W / 34.22667°N 118.066722°W /34.22667; -118.066722 |
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Public license information | |
| Webcast |
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| Website | |
KIIS-FM (102.7FM, "102.7 KIIS FM") is a commercial radio station licensed toLos Angeles, California, United States, and broadcasts to theGreater Los Angeles area. The station airs acontemporary hit radio format. Owned byiHeartMedia, KIIS-FM is the origin of the conglomerate'sKISS-FM brand (with the call sign pronounced as "kiss"), and serves as theflagship station for the radio programOn Air with Ryan Seacrest (although the KIIS version includes features not heard in the syndicated version, such as local traffic and weather as well as other locally relevant topics). KIIS-FM's studios are located inBurbank, while the station transmitter resides onMount Wilson, north of Los Angeles.
KIIS-FM extends its on-air signal by using a single full-powerrepeater,KVVS (105.5 FM) inRosamond, California. KIIS-FM has consistently been rated the number-one radio station in the Los Angeles/Orange County andVentura County markets, averaging nearly one million listeners.[2]
As of December 2021, KIIS-FM is the only Top 40 station in the Los Angeles area, after Audacy's KNOU flipped to a simulcast ofKNX and changed its callsign toKNX-FM.[3]
The station on 102.7 MHz first signed on the air in 1961, as KLAC-FM, a sister station toKLAC (570AM). It swapped frequencies withKRHM (which had gone on the air on 94.7 FM in 1948, as KFMV) in 1965.[4]
KRHM changed its call sign to KKDJ and flipped tocontemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as Top 40) on April 15, 1971. The format lasted until 1975, when Combined Communications purchased KKDJ. The station's format was changed toadult contemporary on October 22, 1975, at 6:00 am, duringCharlie Tuna's morning show when KKDJ began simulcasting withKIIS (1150 AM) with an on-air mock wedding, with KKDJ "marrying" KIIS. Meanwhile, KKDJ's callsign was changed to KIIS-FM. The spelling of "K-I-I-S" instead of KISS was because it resembled the AM frequency: "1150" = "IIS".[5] The new merged station was referred to as, "AM and FM, K-double-I-S".
Making the transition from KKDJ to KIIS-FM were popular disc jockeys including Humble Harve, Jay Stevens, John Peters, Danny Martinez, and Charlie Tuna. Tuna, an iconic voice of Los Angeles radio, served as both program director and morning show host for KKDJ and KIIS-FM at the transition; he died in February 2016. In 1977, KIIS-FM hired Gary McKenzie as its news director; later, he went on to anchor at RKO Radio Networks andCBS. The AM and FM stations did simulcasts during the day while returning to two separate stations in the evening hours.
Unable to draw high ratings with adult contemporary, KIIS-FM began to evolve, first to Top 40 in 1976, then dance anddisco music in 1978, and back to Top 40 in 1980. KIIS (AM) would keep its soft rock/AC format until late 1979. Just prior to this,Gannett Company purchased both the KIIS-AM-FM station pair and Combined Communications. In 1981, the format of KIIS (AM) was changed toChristian talk and teaching and the new call sign KPRZ was adopted.
Rick Dees joined the station for mornings in July 1981, afterKHJ switched formats tocountry music. Fill-in personality Dave Sebastian (Williams), working both the AM and FM stations at the time, hosted the vacated FM morning show until the arrival of Dees due to anon-compete clause in his contract. With Dees in mornings, KIIS became a CHR powerhouse in Los Angeles.
In 1985, KIIS (AM) returned to a Top 40 format and simulcast KIIS-FM's morning and afternoon shows, while all other dayparts had different disc jockeys. This would last until around 1988, when it transitioned to a full-time simulcast when theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) relaxed the rules on major-market stations simulcasting each other. The simulcast continued until 1997, when the AM station flipped tosports radio as KXTA, simulcasting withXETRA-AM in Tijuana/San Diego until 2005.
In a 1996 deal, Gannett traded KIIS-AM-FM toJacor/Citicasters in exchange for that company’s television station inTampa,WTSP. Jacor/Citicasters merged into Clear Channel Communications, which would change its name to the present-day iHeartMedia. After Clear Channel's acquisition ofKAVS andKYHT, the twoHigh Desert stations abandoned their previousmodern rock format and together began serving as repeaters for KIIS-FM. Another simulcast,KIIS (1220 AM) inSanta Clarita,[6] was added in 1999, as well asKFMS (101.9 FM) inLas Vegas.
The grouping of KIIS-FM in Los Angeles, KIIS in Santa Clarita, KAVS (97.7 FM) in theAntelope Valley, KYHT (105.3 FM) inBarstow—Victor Valley, and KFMS in Las Vegas created nearly continuous coverage of KIIS-FM between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. (KFMS was branded as "KISS" instead of "KIIS"). However, this regional network was short-lived as KYHT broke its simulcast off in 2001, to become arepeater forKZXY-FM. Resulting from KYHT's flip from the KIIS-FM moniker, KFMS switched to all-local programming. KAVS was relocated from 97.7 to 105.5 FM in December 2007, and adopted the call sign KVVS. KIIS (AM) becameKHTS in 2003. KIIS-FM was also simulcast on850 AM inThousand Oaks, California in the last year before that station's towers were demolished.
In February 2004, the decade-long general manager of KIIS-FM, Roy Laughlin, elected not to renew Rick Dees' contract, replacing him withRyan Seacrest from sister stationKYSR and retaining co-hostEllen K to team with Seacrest. Together, they created the nationally syndicatedOn Air with Ryan Seacrest, which airs on many ofiHeartMedia's Top 40/CHR stations. The KIIS-FM version is more localized when compared to other stations carrying the show.
Trade publicationRadio & Records named KIIS-FM its 2007 "Station of the Year" in the contemporary hit radio/Top 40 category for market size 1–25 at its national convention.[7]
In December 2007, KIIS-FM's Antelope Valley simulcast onKOSS (97.7 FM) was moved to105.5 FM, replacing the previous format as "105.5 The Oasis". Thecountry music format at 103.1 FM inTehachapi, California was moved to 97.7 FM (now operating under 103.1's former call letters KTPI-FM) and is now branded as 97.7 KTPI.KSRY (103.1 FM) in Tehachapi became a simulcast of KYSR (98.7 FM, "Alt 98-7").
The station was, according toRadio & Records in 2008, the second-highest revenue billing radio station in the United States (behindWTOP-FM inWashington, D.C.), with $66.3 million.[8] In 2010, the station was honored by theNational Association of Broadcasters with theMarconi Award for CHR Station of the Year.[9]
On June 8, 2011, KIIS-FM began rebroadcasting onSiriusXM channel 11. At the end of 2003, Clear Channel replaced the KIIS simulcast with an exclusive KISS XM channel. In 2004, all XM music channels went commercial-free, and KIIS-FM was replaced with a unique-to-XM "KISS-XM" channel, retaining the same format. Since then, Clear Channel/iHeartMedia has regained the right to air commercials on their XM music channels. On June 1, 2022, the KIIS-FM simulcast left SiriusXM, with the launch and establishment of the freeiHeartRadio platform making the arrangement less important.[10]
In May 2017, Seacrest became co-host of the New York City-based syndicated talk showLive with Kelly. To accommodate the new role, it was announced that Seacrest would begin to hostOn Air from a studio constructed at the facilities ofWABC-TV (where the TV show is produced). The KIIS-FM show continues to air live, although the first hour will either be pre-recorded or handled mostly by co-host Sisanie.[11][12][13]
In October 2023, the station launched a new weeklyK-pop show,K-Pop With Jojo, hosted by KIIS-FM afternoon hostJoJo Wright. In January 2024, iHeartMedia began to syndicate the show to most iHeartMedia CHR stations.[14]
KIIS-FM's HD2 subchannel originally broadcastIHeartRadio's all-dance "Evolution" network. In June 2019, KIIS-FM's HD2 subchannel stopped broadcasting the "Evolution" network and flipped to a simulcast of the analog audio with a 10-second delay.