The station began broadcasting in November 1957 under the call sign WKFM.[1] WKFM was owned by Frank Kovas, Jr.[2] The station's transmitter was located atop theRandolph Tower at 188 West Randolph, and had anERP of 50,000 watts.[2] On February 2, 1970, its antenna fell off the building during high winds, but no one was injured.[5]
WKFM airedbeautiful music/light classical format.[6][7] 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.[6] Programs includedMorning Serenade,Musical Bon-Bons,Pleasant Listening,Rendezvous With Rhythm,Dinner Musicale, andStereo Showcase.[6] The station had five-minute newscasts at the top of each hour and headlines at the half-hour.[8]
ThoughWEFM, theZenith owned classical music station, was the first station to broadcast in stereo, WKFM was the first to broadcast in stereo24/7.[6]
In 1973, the station was sold toRKO General for $2.4 million.[9][2] The new owner changed the call letters to WFYR in March 1973.[2] The lettersFYR, standing for "Fire", were timed to just a year after the centennial of theGreat Chicago Fire.[10][11] The station adopted an automatedoldies format, usingDrake-Chenault'sClassic Gold package.[12][13][14][15]
In autumn 1973, RKO opened an oldies dance club, the "FYR Station", located at theMcCormick Inn, where the station held live broadcasts on Friday and Saturday evenings.[16][14]
In 1974, the station's transmitter was moved to theSears Tower.[2]
In 1976, WFYR began carryingDick Biondi's syndicated programSuper Gold Rock n' Roll.[17]
In the 1980s, the station carried Dick Bartley's oldies programSolid Gold Saturday Night, and Bartley's Sunday night oldies programSolid Gold Scrapbook.[25][21]
By January 1989, WFYR had transitioned back to an oldies format, with the slogan "Chicago's Hottest Oldies".[26][11][27]
In 1989, WFYR was sold to Summit Broadcasting for $21 million, as RKO General was slowly wound down due to past FCC violations and investigations ending up with the FCC ruling the company as an unfit licensee.[28] On October 30, 1989, WFYR's oldies format was dropped and replaced with an adult contemporary format.[29][27]
The station's initial on-air personalities included Steven Craig in mornings, Steve Seaver in middays, Brian Kelly in afternoons, and Kevin Lewis evenings.[31] Other personalities on The Blaze included Leslie Harris, Scott Childers, and helicopter reporter "Major Tom".[35][36][37]
Over the July 4, 1994, weekend, the stationstunted, playing music from a variety of music genres, promoting a feedback phone number for listeners to call, and taking potshots atB96,WCKG,Q101, andUS99.[40][41] At 6 a.m. on July 5, the station was relaunched as "Rock 103-5", airing anactive rock format.[42][41][43][44] On July 28, the station's call sign was changed to WRCX.[3]
In February 1996, sister stationWYNY in New York City simulcasted WRCX for a day as part of a week-longstunt of simulcasting sister stations nationwide before flipping formats torhythmic adult contemporary as WKTU.[51]
In 1997, Evergreen merged with Chancellor Broadcasting.[52]
In late June 1998, Mancow left WRCX and joined 101.1WKQX in late July.[53]Bob & Tom replaced Muller in the morning drive slot.[44]
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.[44][54][55] On October 29, 1998, Chancellor announced that WRCX would change formats.[56] A farewell show aired October 30, with the current and former DJs re-airing station memories (which included phone-calls fromLars Ulrich and Mancow), and a final goodbye from the station's departing staff.[56][57][58]
The station continued its rock format (albeit jockless) until 5:30 p.m. on November 2, when, after playing "Sad but True" byMetallica, the station flipped to arhythmic oldies format as "Chicago's Jammin' Oldies", branded first as "The New 103-5", then (after a "name the station" contest) as "The Beat".[44][59][60][61][62] The first song on "The New 103-5" was "Get Ready" byThe Temptations.[62] Doug James was morning host on The Beat.[63] On December 21, the station's call sign was changed toWUBT.[3] In 2000,Larry Lujack was hired to host a program on Saturdays, which was repeated on Sundays.[64]
Chancellor merged with Capstar and restructured as AMFM, Inc. in 1999, and in 2000, merged withClear Channel Communications.[65]
On January 12, 2001, the station adopted acontemporary hit radio format as "Kiss 103.5".[66] The final song on "The Beat" was "Last Dance" byDonna Summer and the first song on "Kiss" was "Get Ready for This" by2 Unlimited.[67] The station's call sign became the current WKSC-FM on February 13.[3] At the time of the flip, Big City Radio'sWKIE,WKIF, andWDEK had collectively been known as "92Kiss FM" (also with a CHR format) since 1998.[68][69] Clear Channel filed suit against Big City for the use of the "Kiss" name because Clear Channel owned the rights to it in most markets (and continues to do so as iHeartMedia).[68][69]
The station carried the syndicated programRick Dees Weekly Top 40, as well asAmerican Top 40 (first withCasey Kasem and later withRyan Seacrest).[70] As of 2019,American Top 40 continues to air on the station.[71]Java Joel was the evening host ofThe Rubber Room on the station from 2001 until January 2005 when he was fired for comments that were deemed racist.[72] In 2002, the station adjusted its moniker from "KISS 103.5" to "103.5 KISS FM".[73] It continues to airOn Air with Ryan Seacrest as well.
DreX was morning host on WKSC-FM from 2003 until 2010.[74]
Nina Chantele joined WKSC-FM as midday host in 2006, remaining with the station until 2014.[75]
From August 2007 until September 2009, Silly Jilly hosted nights on WKSC.[76] Silly Jilly was replaced by Special K, who remained with the station until 2013.[77]
In December 2010, it was announced thatCharlotte's "Brotha Fred" would take over the morning show on KISS FM.[78] Angi Taylor and David L. joined Brotha Fred as co-hosts of the new morning show known asBrotha Fred's Neighborhood.[78][79] David L. left the show in February 2012.[79] The show was later renamedFred and Angi in the Morning.[80] In mid-September 2020, Taylor announced that she would be leaving the station to host mornings on sister stationWCHI-FM. Fred still hosts WKSC's morning show, now known as "The Fred Show".
In November 2013, Brady joined the station as the night host and music director.[81] In June 2015, Brady assumed afternoon and APD duties.[82]
In October 2016, Erik Zachary was named as the new full-time evening personality[83] and served in that position until August 2019 when he exited to pursue other opportunities.[84]
From June 2006 to early 2013, WKSC-FM HD2 aired programming from "Pride Radio", a Top 40/Dance format targeting theLGBTQ community.[85] This would change to iHeart's Dance/EDM network "Evolution". In November 2013, WKSC-FM HD2 changed to asmooth jazz format along with airport information as "Air Chicago Radio".[86][87] In late 2018, WKSC's HD2 subchannel began broadcastingsoft adult contemporary music as "The Breeze".[87] This overlapped with its Soft AC sister stationWLIT (93.9 Lite FM). On June 26, 2019, WKSC-FM HD2 returned to "Pride Radio".[88]
