 | |
 TheWBAP/KSCS shared facility inArlington, Texas | |
| |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex |
| Frequency | 96.3MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | New Country 96.3 |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Format | Country music |
| Subchannels | HD2:News/talk (KLIF simulcast) |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| History | |
First air date | 1949 (76 years ago) (1949) |
Former call signs | WBAP-FM (1949–1973) |
Former frequencies | 100.5 MHz (1949–1955) |
Call sign meaning | "Silver Country Stereo" |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 71201 |
| Class | C |
| ERP | 100,000 watts |
| HAAT | 478 meters (1,568 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 32°35′15″N97°57′59″W / 32.58750°N 97.96639°W /32.58750; -97.96639 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | |
| Website | newcountry963.com |
KSCS (96.3FM) is a commercial radio station licensed toFort Worth, Texas, and serving theDallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The station is owned byCumulus Media and broadcasts acountry music radio format. The studios are in theVictory Park district inDallas just north ofdowntown. KSCS andsister stationWBAP are responsible for activation of theNorth TexasEmergency Alert System whenhazardous weather alerts,disaster area declarations, andAMBER Alerts for child abductions are issued.[2]
KSCS has aneffective radiated power (ERP) of 100,000 watts. Thetransmitter is off Mansfield Road inCedar Hill, Texas, amid the radio towers for other FM and TV stations.[3] KSCS usesHD Radio technology; its HD2digital subchannel carries thenews/talk programming ofKLIF (570 AM).
KSCS is the home ofHawkeye In The Morning, currently the longest-running morning radio show in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. The show features Mark "Hawkeye" Louis and Michelle Rodriguez, who previously hosted Middays since 2011. Formerly known as "The Dorsey Gang", the morning show featured Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame member Terry Dorsey. Dorsey and Louis won numerous awards includingBillboard's Major Market Air Personalities of 1998 and the Academy of Country Music's 2008 Personalities of the Year. Dorsey and Louis teamed up in July 1988, a partnership that would last until Dorsey's retirement in December 2014.
KSCS was named "2009 Major Market Radio Station of the Year" by theAcademy of Country Music, "2020 Major Market Radio Station of the Year" by theCountry Music Association and the 2022 National Association of Broadcasters Marconi Award for Country Station of the Year. Afternoons have been hosted by Al Farb since 2018. "Nights with Elaina" is heard weekday evenings. Sundays feature the "American Country Countdown withKix Brooks".
The station firstsigned on the air on March 8, 1949, as WBAP-FM.[4] It originally broadcast on 100.5 FM and was under the control ofAmon G. Carter, as part of his Carter Publications Company. The station moved to 96.3 FM in 1955.
At first, it largelysimulcast co-ownedWBAP (820 AM), with some separate classical music shows at night. In the 1960s, WBAP-FM switched to all-classical music, which had been a popular format in the early days of FM radio. The classical format benefited fromFM stereo, which improved the quality of music broadcasts.
WBAP had much success broadcasting aclassic country format known as "Country Gold", beginning in 1970. Management decided to extend the country music brand to FM. On January 15, 1973, WBAP-FM switched to a country format known as "Silver Country Stereo". The call letters changed to KSCS to match the slogan. The initial design behind KSCS was to play country music but withbeautiful music-style FM formatics, featuring three or four songs in a row without talking, as well as using low-key announcers and carrying a lighter commercial load compared to AM stations. A year later, Carter Publications sold KSCS toCapital Cities. Capital Cities acquired theAmerican Broadcasting Company (ABC) in 1985, using that company's name.
As more people began acquiring FM radios and listening to FM for music, KSCS benefited from being the only country station on the FM dial. The rise in popularity of country music in the late 1970s led to KSCS becoming a dominant station in the ratings. It also brought competition in the form ofKPLX, which entered the country music market in 1980.
KSCS was the number-one radio station overall in Dallas/Fort Worth from 1980 to 1982. The station's ratings started to sag after theUrban Cowboy era faded, and with tough competition from KPLX. In 1988, KSCS hired away KPLX's star morning host Terry Dorsey. With Dorsey's arrival, the ratings started to improve again, just as country music's popularity started to rise again. KSCS returned to the number one spot in the Dallas/Fort WorthArbitron ratings in 1990, and stayed there for 14 consecutive ratings periods. To this day, that is still the longest winning streak in Dallas/Fort Worth ratings history.[5]
KSCS, along with ABC's other non-Radio Disney andESPN Radio stations, was sold toCitadel Broadcasting in 2007. In January 2008, KSCS was re-branded as "The Big 96.3". However, in November 2009, it reverted to its legacy branding in use since the 1980s.
On January 4, 2011, at 5 pm, the station re-branded as "New Country 96.3 KSCS, Texas' Most Country Guaranteed". Citadel merged with Cumulus Media on September 16.[6] This made KSCS asister station to its longtime rival, KPLX.
In March 2015, KSCS, along with a few other Hot Country stations across Cumulus' portfolio tried an experiment, adding pop crossover songs byRihanna,Kanye West,Paul McCartney,Avicii,Ed Sheeran,Ellie Goulding and a few otherTop 40 artists with no ties to the "New Country" format.[7] By Fall 2015, KSCS eliminated the pop crossover songs and returned to its core "New Country" artists.
In mid-July 2019, KSCS rebranded as "New Country 96.3" without the KSCS call letters in the branding.[8]
KSCS launched its HD2digital subchannel in 2008 to broadcast "The Texas Twister", carrying allTexas country music. The format was previously on KTYS (96.7 FM, nowKTCK-FM). After the Cumulus takeover in 2011, the HD broadcasts were temporarily discontinued.
The HD2 subchannel was dormant until February 2013, when it began simulcasting thenews/talk format of co-ownedKLIF.