 | |
| |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | San Francisco Bay Area |
| Frequency | 98.1MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | 98.1 The Breeze |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Format | Soft adult contemporary |
| Affiliations | Premiere Networks |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| History | |
First air date | July 17, 1958 (66 years ago) (1958-07-17) |
Former call signs |
|
Call sign meaning | Sounds like "Kiss" (former branding) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 59964 |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 75,000 watts |
| HAAT | 309.6 meters (1,016 ft) |
| Repeater(s) | See § Boosters |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | 981thebreeze.iheart.com |
KISQ (98.1 FM) is acommercial radio stationlicensed toSan Francisco. It broadcasts asoft adult contemporaryradio format, known as "The Breeze", and is owned byiHeartMedia. The radio studios and offices are in theSoMa district of San Francisco.
KISQ has aneffective radiated power (ERP) of 75,000 watts. Thetransmitter is on Wolfback Ridge Road inSausalito, California, within theGolden Gate National Recreation Area.[2] KISQ broadcasts usingHD Radio technology. The station also has booster stations on 98.1 MHz inConcord andPleasanton.
The station firstsigned on the air on July 17, 1958, as KAFE, with a classical music format. KAFE was owned and built by engineer Dan Solo, who had previously worked at KRE (1400 AM, nowKVTO). Saying that automation made operating a station cheaper, he applied for a license in 1957.
Solo's first proposed transmitter site, a 50 ft (15 m) tower at his home, wound up violating a zoning ordinance, and KAFE signed on from a site atop Grizzly Peak.[3] Solo sold his station to Hal Cox in 1959; Cox relocated the tower toSausalito.
In 1965, theMcLendon-Pacific Corporation acquired KAFE and paired it with its existing station, KABL (960 AM, nowKNEW). KABL-FM featured abeautiful music/easy listening format. It played quarter hour sweeps of mostly instrumentalcover versions of popular songs, as well asBroadway andHollywood show tunes. Thecall sign KABL stood for "cable cars", a San Francisco attraction. The station often played the sound effect of the bell from a cable card when identifying itself.
By the early 1990s, the format had given way tosoft adult contemporary, and competed directly withKOIT, which had successfully made the same transition a few years earlier. The format was a modest success, although it was unable to overcome KOIT's dominance in the ratings. On March 15, 1993, KABL-FM re-branded as "B98", and transitioned to a mainstream AC format focused on hit songs from the 1980s and 1990s, placing the station between soft AC KOIT and hot ACKIOI.[4] The move did little to improve the station's ratings.
On February 14, 1994, KABL-FM switched to a1970s-based classic hits format, branded as "K-Big 98.1". Jay Peterson was music director during this time.[5] Thecall letters were changed to KBGG on January 2, 1995. Later that year,Shamrock Broadcasting ofBurbank, California, reached a deal to sell KBGG, as well asKNEW (910 AM), KABL, andKSAN-FM (94.9), to Chancellor Media.
The format was a moderate success. The station later expanded its playlist to include songs from the late 1960s and early 1980s.
On July 22, 1997, after playing "No Matter What" byBadfinger, KBGG beganstunting with sounds of radio tuning and ground control transmissions, while promoting a new format to come. At 1 p.m. the next day, Chancellor Media (later to become AMFM, Inc. thenClear Channel Communications, and lateriHeartMedia) flipped KBGG tourban AC as KISQ, "98.1 Kiss FM". The first song on "Kiss FM" was "Let's Groove" byEarth, Wind & Fire.[6][7]
KISQ leaned heavily on a format similar toclassic soul/urban oldies, with aplaylist of more old school R&B music with occasionally few new R&B songs (mostly mainstream with no neo-soul). This may have helped garner a diverse audience of blacks, Latinos, whites and Asians. The station's owners may have also formatted the playlist this way not only to protect longtimeurban contemporary-sister stationKMEL, which plays some old school in addition to current Hip Hop/R&B, but to differentiate itself from competitorKBLX, which plays new and old R&B. By 2008,rhythmic AC competitorKMVQ took on the Top 40 format at the time the "MOViN' " format declined in popularity, allowing KISQ to evolve its format to a more rhythmic AC direction.
By 2011, the station was described as having a gold-based rhythmic oldies format, with no currents. It also began playing a fewnew wave hits from the 1980s from artists such asThe Police andHuman League. At the same time as the format adjustment, the station changed its logo to one bearing resemblance to a logo most urban oldies/rhythmic oldies used during the peak time of the format in the late 1990s to early 2000s.
In June 2015, the station added "Throwback" to its slogan while adding someclassic hip-hop in its playlist, removing the new wave anddisco tracks from the station (most of which moved over to sisterKOSF), in order to better compete with new competitorKRBQ. The next month, the station reduced most of the classic hip hop tracks in favor of more familiar upbeat R&B and dance tracks, as well as ballads.
On April 13, 2016, at 2 p.m., after playing "Kiss and Say Goodbye" byThe Manhattans and "End of the Road" byBoyz II Men, KISQ flipped back to soft adult contemporary as "98.1 The Breeze". The first song on "The Breeze" was "Easy" byThe Commodores.[8][9] Core artists of the format includeAdele,Whitney Houston,Mariah Carey,Billy Joel,Madonna,Lionel Richie,Elton John andGeorge Michael.
Due to KISQ's success, iHeart launched "The Breeze" in several other cities. There are now stations branded as "The Breeze" (or a variant thereof) in a number ofradio markets in the U.S. and Canada, some owned by iHeartMedia and a few with other owners. iHeartRadio also has a soft AC channel called "The Breeze" on its app. About 30 iHeartMedia FM stations around the U.S. air the service on one of theirHD Radio digital subchannels.
KISQ is rebroadcast on the following FM boosters:
| Call sign | Frequency | City of license | FID | ERP (W) | HAAT | Class | FCC info |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KISQ-FM2 | 98.1 FM | Pleasanton, California | 59993 | 10,000 (Vert.) | −55 m (−180 ft) | D | LMS |
| KISQ-FM3 | 98.1 FM | Concord, California | 59973 | 1,000 (Vert.) | 884 m (2,900 ft) | D | LMS |
37°51′04″N122°29′53″W / 37.851°N 122.498°W /37.851; -122.498