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| Broadcast area | Toledo metropolitan area |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 92.5MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | 92.5 KISS FM |
| Programming | |
| Format | Top 40 (CHR) |
| Subchannels | HD2: 94.9 The Beat (Mainstream urban) |
| Affiliations | Premiere Networks |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WCKY-FM,WCWA,WIOT,WRVF,WSPD | |
| History | |
First air date | October 14, 1957; 68 years ago (1957-10-14) (as WMHE) |
Former call signs | WMHE (1957–1990) |
Call sign meaning | WV KiSs-FM |
| Technical information | |
| Facility ID | 48964 |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 50,000watts |
| HAAT | 146 meters (479 ft) |
| Translator | HD2: 94.9 W235BH (Perrysburg) |
| Links | |
| Webcast | Listen Live Listen Live (HD2) |
| Website | 925kissfm.iheart.com 949thebeat.iheart.com (HD2) |
WVKS (92.5FM) also known as92.5KISS-FM is acommercialstation inToledo, Ohio, with atop 40 (CHR)format. It is owned byiHeartMedia with studios at Superior and Lafayette in downtown Toledo.[1] 92.5 KISS-FM carries severalnationally syndicated programs includingMojo in the Morning fromWKQIDetroit andOn Air with Ryan Seacrest fromKIIS-FMLos Angeles.
WVKS has aneffective radiated power (ERP) of 50,000watts, the maximum for most Ohio FM stations. Thetransmitter is off Neiderhouse Road inPerrysburg Township, Ohio.[2] WVKS broadcasts usingHD Radio technology. Its HD2subchannel carries anurban contemporary format known as "94.9 The Beat." That feedsFM translator W235BH, also in Perrysburg.
The stationsigned on the air on October 14, 1957.[3] The originalcall sign was WMHE. It was founded by William A. Hillebrand (1917–2005). Though FM broadcasting was still in its infancy at the time, Hillebrand saw FM radio, with its superior sound quality for musical recordings, as an investment that would prove viable in the long run. "He foresaw something that he thought was going to be successful and he was right," his widow, Marvel Hillebrand, toldThe Toledo Blade after his death in 2005. The call letters stood for "Wired Music Hillebrand Electronics".
WMHE's initial format consisted of "fine arts" music programming, includingclassical,jazz, andbig band music. Hillebrand also used WMHE to transmit the newMuzak subscription service to businesses and restaurants in the Toledo area by using asubsidiary communications authority or SCA. The subcarrier channel can only be heard through special receivers used to distribute Muzak. The station'stransmitter was located behind the studio building on Bancroft Street next to Hillebrand Electronics, a store also owned and operated by Hillebrand. Over time, the main channel switched to anautomatedbeautiful music format, playing quarter hour sweeps of mostly soft, instrumentalcover versions of popular adult songs.
In the early 1970s, Hillebrand wanted to expand his Muzak coverage area and constructed a tallertower at a new site nearPerrysburg, Ohio. The antenna was 550 feet (170 m) high and the transmitter gave WMHE 50,000 watts of power, the maximum for most FM stations in Ohio. With his new transmitter, Hillebrand could now offer Muzak to places as far away asLima, Ohio, andFort Wayne, Indiana. The programming on the regular FM channel remainedbeautiful music.
In 1975, Hillebrand decided to capitalize on the popularity ofrock and roll so a new staff was hired to relaunch the station.Disc jockeys included Dave Deppish (mornings), Mark Howell (middays), Mike O'Mara (evenings), and Larry Weseman (nights). In the spring of1975, Toledo's newestalbum oriented rock (AOR) station debuted withThe Doobie Brothers "Listen to the Music". Within a year, more DJs were hired including Timm Morrison (later ofWWWM-FM andWMJC inDetroit) and Bob Crowley.
WMHE, with its unique blend of rock and roll, became a popular Toledo station, scoring its highest ratings during middays. Because of the large coverage area, it became popular in sections ofOhio,Michigan, andIndiana. The station gained in popularity when many of the stores that carried Muzak, would switch over to the main audio channel in order to pull in WMHE. Its primary competition wasWIOT, and some of the WIOT jocks joined the WMHE airstaff over the next few years. They included Dorien Pastor (founder of WIOT), John Fisher as the new morning man and program director (now atKHTP-Seattle), and Bob Thomas. Toledo jock Buddy Carr was also part of the airstaff in 1976. Rick Bird was news director for a time with other news personalities Tom Waniewski and Chris O'Connor both from the University of Toledo.
Because of Mr. Hillebrand's fascination with new radio technology, WMHE was partially automated. The automation consisted of a bank of six cartridge "carousels" each holding 24 tape cartridges. All of the music was on these cartridges or "carts" (similar to 8-track tapes), but only one item (a song, a voicetrack, or a commercial) was on each cart. The jocks would record their announcements on individual carts, usually introducing a song or back-announcing a few songs that had just played in the carousel. Portions of the morning and evening shows were performed 'live'.
WMHE operated in this fashion (promoting itself "turn MHE [me] on") through 1978 at which time the format was briefly changed todisco. Following much anger from its listeners (and major damage to the station's sign out front) disco was dumped and the format was changed back torock. By 1981, the station changed to an equally successfulAdult contemporary format. In the early 1980s, WMHE was named one of the 500 most-listened-to stations in the country.
Hillebrand finally sold WMHE to Osborn Communications in 1986. Two years later, Osborn sold it to Noble Broadcasting in 1988. In the face of the changes, WMHE switched toTop 40/CHR in 1985. To compete better with then rivalWRQN, 93Q, the station dropped the call letters WMHE in favor of WVKS and moved to an AdultTop 40 presentation. Their slogan was "The Right Music, Right Now." The new "92.5 KISS FM" became a ratings powerhouse in Toledo (especially after WRQN left the CHR format to flip toOldies in October 1991), consistently racking up 12+ shares in the double digits and challenging the market's longtime ratings leaders,country-formattedWKKO (K100) and rocker (and futuresister station)WIOT. The ratings boom came largely as a result of station manager Andy Stewart's decision to hire DJ's Denny Schaffer (mornings), Johny D (Afternoon Drive) and Billy Michaels (nights).
In the mid-'90s the station was sold toJacor Communications, and its dominance continued. WVKS left its original studio on Bancroft Street and moved downtown to the Superior Street studios of sister stationsWRVF andWSPD in 1998 wheniHeartMedia (then Clear Channel Communications) took over operations. Shortly thereafter 92.5 KISS FM lost its individual identity and became part of Clear Channel's standard issue KISS format. In the late 1990s and early 2000s the station got more competition in the form of urban stationsWJUC andWJZE in (March 2005) as well as another CHR station,Cumulus Media'sWTWR-FM (Tower 98-3), which moved fromMonroe, Michigan to achieve better coverage of the market; WTWR has since switched to adult contemporary music and re-focused on Monroe as "My 98-3" WMIM, leading WVKS to once again have the CHR format all to itself in Toledo. While no longer the ratings giant it was in the 1990s, 92.5 KISS FM remains among Toledo's top five most listened-to stations among all (12+) listeners.
On September 15, 2014, WVKS-HD2 began simulcasting on 94.9 W235BH, a former simulcast ofWSPD. After a one-day stunt ofChristmas music, it began to broadcasturban contemporary music as "94.9, The Beat".[4][5] Previous to this, WVKS-HD2 aired a cannedEDM format provided byiHeartRadio.[6]
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41°31′55″N83°35′38″W / 41.532°N 83.594°W /41.532; -83.594
