KSSX

KSSX

Carlsbad, California United States
Broadcast area	San Diego, California
Frequency	95.7MHz(HD Radio)
Branding	Jam'n 95-7
Programming
Language(s)	English
Format	Rhythmic contemporary
Subchannels	HD2:Black Information Network
Affiliations	Black Information Network
Ownership
Owner	iHeartMedia (iHM Licenses, LLC)
Sister stations	KGB,KGB-FM,KHTS-FM,KIOZ,KLSD,KMYI,KOGO
History
First air date	1965(1965)
Former call signs	KARL (1965–1979) KKOS (1979–1995) KUPR (1995–1997) KMCG (1997–1998) KMSX (1998–2001) KJQY (2001–2002) KOCL (2002–2004) KUSS (2004–2011) KOGO-FM (2011–2013)
Former frequencies	95.9 MHz (1965–1995)
Call signmeaning	Sounds like "KISS" (former branding)
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	67664
Class	B
ERP	30,000watts
HAAT	202 meters (663 ft)
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	jamn957.iheart.com

KSSX(95.7FM) is acommercialradio stationlocated inSan Diego, California,although the station is legally licensed to serveCarlsbad,in nearby North County. The station airs arhythmic contemporaryformat,and is one of seven stations in the market owned and operated byiHeartMedia.The station's studios are located in San Diego'sKearny Mesaneighborhood on the northeast side, and the transmitter is atop Mt. Soledad, located inLa Jolla.

History

95.9 FM (1969–1996)

Although the station began broadcasting on 95.7 in 1995, it has its origins as aClass A (local)station on 95.9MHzknown as KARL, (aMORstation from 1965 to 1979), then KKOS. During this period the station had various formats, includingadult contemporary,CHR,andAAA.

However, an interference problem in Mexico ended up resulting in changes to KKOS. At the time, Califórmula owned a Tijuana station broadcasting on 95.7,XHKY-FM,and was causing interference to KKOS and co-channelKFSH-FMinAnaheim.Ultimately, KKOS and XHKY reached a deal, which was agreed to by theFCCandSCT;on September 15, 1995, XHKY moved to 99.3 at 25,000 watts, KKOS moved to 95.7 at 25,000 watts, and the previous occupant of 99.3,XHATE-FMin Tecate, moved to 95.3 MHz.On the day of the frequency change, KKOS became KUPR, still keeping the AAA format.

Country (1996–1997)

On November 22, 1996, the station beganstuntingwithcountryas "Your New Country, 95.7 KUPR".

Urban adult contemporary (1997–1998)

On March 5, 1997, the station flipped toUrban ACasMagic 95.7under new callsign KMCG.

Hot adult contemporary (1998–2000)

The station was sold byNationwide CommunicationstoJacor/Citicasters.On September 7, 1998, the "Magic" format would move toXHRM (92.5 FM).After a 15-day period of simulcasting on both frequencies, on September 22, 95.7 flipped toHot ACas "Mix 95.7" with the callsign changed to KMSX.

'80s hits (2000–2001)

The format was shifted toall-1980s' hitson November 11, 2000, a day afterKBZTadopted the format.

Oldies (2001–2004)

On November 21, 2001, KMSX swapped frequencies withKJQYand flipped to oldies as "K-Joy 95.7".On January 3, 2002, the station rebranded as "Kool 95.7" (with new callsign KOCL).

Country (2004–2011)

Logo as New Country 95.7

On January 5, 2004, “Kool” moved to XHHCR-FM 99.3 (rechristenedXHOCL-FM), and 95.7 adopted XHHCR's country format asUS 95.7(the callsign was then changed to KUSS).The station would rebrand as "New Country 95.7" in September 2008.

News/talk (2011–2012)

On November 7, 2011, at 7 a.m., after playing "The Dance"byGarth Brooks,95.7 began simulcastingKOGOas "News/Talk FM 95.7 and AM 600 KOGO". On the 14th, the callsign KUSS was changed to KOGO-FM. Unlike many news/talk stations, the FM addition did nothing to help KOGO's ratings; in fact, theydeclinedafter the addition of the simulcast, dropping from a 3.9 in the September 2011 Nielsen ratings (the last prior to the simulcast) to a 3.0 in the October 2012 ratings (the last during the simulcast).

The simulcast with KOGO ended on November 16, 2012, at 7 p.m., when KOGO-FM beganstuntingwithChristmas musicasHoliday 95.7(though it was promoted on-air as simply "95-7 FM" ).The KOGO simulcast moved toKMYI's HD2 channel.

Rhythmic oldies (2012–2013)

Logo as KISS-FM

On December 26, 2012, at 9:57 a.m., after playing "Silent Night"byJosh Groban,the station flipped torhythmic oldiesas "95.7 KISS-FM", with "Kiss"byPrinceand "You Should Be Dancing"bythe Bee Geesbeing the first two songs played.In mid-February 2013, the station began including more 1990s, 2000s and recurrent songs, and shifted towardsrhythmic adult contemporary.On February 22, KOGO-FM changed their call letters to KSSX. After being jockless for the first three months, the station added Chio (formerly ofXHITZ-FM) as their morning show host on April 8, as well as Sean Sarille in evenings (he has since departed from the station), Shelley Wade in middays, Louie Cruz in afternoons and Beto Perez in nights.

Rhythmic adult contemporary (2013–2016)

On November 16, 2013, KSSX flipped once again to Christmas music, but kept the "KISS-FM" name and "The Rhythm of San Diego" slogan. At Midnight on December 26, the station completely shifted to arhythmic adult contemporarydirection, dropping the pre-1989 songs from their playlist to focus on the 1990s, 2000s and current material, and changed their slogan to "Today's Rhythm and All the Best Throwbacks".Since then, KSSX has shifted towardsrhythmic top 40by incorporating more currenthip hop,asXHITZ-FMde-emphasized hip hop in 2013 and began moving towards a more Mainstream Top 40 direction.

On September 16, 2014, Clear Channel spun off its radio and communications division; the spun off entity was renamediHeartMedia.

Rhythmic Contemporary (2016–present)

On May 27, 2016, KSSX airstaff announced the station was going to start "Jam'n" for theMemorial Dayweekend at 3 p.m. that day. At that time, after playing "Ignition"byR. Kelly,KSSX rebranded as "Jam'n 95.7" under the direction of program director Rob Scorpio."The Next Episode"byDr. Dreand "Work"byRihannawere the first two songs played.Under the new format, KSSX is the second station in San Diego to adopt theJamminbrand (though asJam'n), which was previously utilized by XHITZ off and on from the 1990s through the 2010s.

HD Programming

KSSX utilizes two HD subchannels. The HD1 subchannel is the same Rhythmic radio format as its standard FM signal, as required by law. For the longest time, operation of the HD2 subchannel was contracted to theEMF,and like most HD capable urban stations, carried theAir 1network. On February 1, 2019, operation of the HD2 subchannel passed to the Association For Community Education, which now repeats the programming ofKMROand carries that station's Spanish-language religious programming; in effect, now carrying the Nueva Vida (Spanish for New Life) network, the affiliation moved from AM stationKSDO.FM translator 98.5 K253AD relayed the HD2 subchannel,as KSSX already reaches North County, having Carlsbad as its city of license.

In the light of theGeorge Floyd protests,iHeart terminated the agreement with the Association for Community Education in June 2020, and replaced it withnews radio.It began airing programming from theBlack Information Networklater that summer.The relay was dropped on the translator in early 2021, when it began simulcastingKARJ's HD3 subchannel; KSSX-HD2 now simulcastsKFOO,the Inland Empire BIN affiliate.

Competition

As of 2020, KSSX primarily competes withXHITZ-FM.

External links

• Facility details for Facility ID 67664 (KSSX)in theFCCLicensing and Management System
• KSSXinNielsen Audio's FM station database
• SDRadio.net
• IHeartMedia
• FCC Callsign History