WKXS-FM is a radio station

Radio station

Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...

 broadcasting a classic hits

Classic hits

Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes rock and pop music from 1964 to 1989. The term is sometimes erroneously used as a synonym for the adult hits format, but is more accurately characterized as a contemporary style of the oldies format...

 format and airing John Boy and Billy

John Boy and Billy

John Isley and Billy James, known as John Boy & Billy, named after "John-Boy Harris and brother Bross Harris", are American radio hosts based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Their comedic morning program The John Boy & Billy Big Show broadcasts from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m...

 in the morning. Licensed to Leland, North Carolina

Leland, North Carolina

Leland is a town in Brunswick County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,938 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area...

, USA, the station serves the Wilmington

Wilmington, North Carolina

Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...

 area. The station is currently owned by Cumulus Media

Cumulus Media

Cumulus Media, Inc. is the second largest Owner and Operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States, behind Clear Channel Communications, operating 570 stations in 150 markets as of September 16, 2011. The company also owns Cumulus Media Networks...

.

History

Cumulus Broadcasting purchased four Wilmington radio stations in Spring 1997. After a survey, general manager Clay McCauley said, "Basically, we found a hole in the market big enough to drive a Mack truck through." 25 percent of the market's population was African-American, but only one radio station was reaching that audience.

On Friday, October 3, 1997, WAAV-FM began repeatedly playing "Kiss"

Kiss (song)

In 1988 Art of Noise released a cover of the song, featuring Tom Jones on vocals. The song became the band's biggest hit to that point, reaching number eighteen on the U.S. dance charts and number five on the UK Singles Chart, higher than the original in that country...

 by The Artist Formerly Known As Prince

Prince (musician)

Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...

. The new Kiss 94.1 was "All Prince, All the Time" until program director Ken Johnson (from WILD in Boston) played "If Only for One Night" by Luther Vandross

Luther Vandross

Luther Ronzoni Vandross was an American singer-songwriter and record producer. During his career, Vandross sold over twenty-five million albums and won eight Grammy Awards including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four times...

 on Monday, October 6. The new urban adult contemporary

Urban Adult Contemporary

Urban adult contemporary is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have rap music on their playlists. The format was designed by Barry Mayo when he, Lee S. Simonson and Bill Pearson organized Broadcast...

 format would include Toni Braxton

Toni Braxton

Toni Michelle Braxton is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Braxton has won six Grammy Awards, seven American Music Awards, and five Billboard Music Awards and has sold over 60 million records worldwide...

, Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston

Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...

, Anita Baker

Anita Baker

Anita Baker is an American R&B/soul jazz singer-songwriter. To date, Baker has won eight Grammy Awards, and has four platinum albums and two gold albums to her credit....

 and Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson

Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...

. The target audience would be similar to that of 97.3 Coast FM

WMNX

WMNX is a Mainstream Urban formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Wilmington, North Carolina and serving the Wilmington Metro area.-History:97.3 was WWIL at one time...

, which had been the area's only urban contemporary

Urban contemporary

Urban contemporary is a music radio format. The term was coined by the late New York DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid 1970s. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of hip hop/rap, contemporary R&B, pop, electronica such as dubstep and drum and bass and Caribbean music...

 station since 1992. However, Kiss would lean more toward older songs, and the station would not play rap. Local DJs and community involvement were a priority, and Tom Joyner

Tom Joyner

Thomas "Tom" Joyner is an American radio host, host of the nationally syndicated The Tom Joyner Morning Show, and also founder of REACH Media Inc., the Tom Joyner Foundation, and BlackAmericaWeb.com.-Early life:...

 did the morning show.

On March 8, 2000, the call letters changed to WKXS-FM.

Kiss received a signal improvement that included a move to 94.5. Still, because of low ratings, the format that included Teddy Pendergrass

Teddy Pendergrass

Theodore DeReese "Teddy" Pendergrass was an American R&B/soul singer and songwriter. Pendergrass first rose to fame as lead singer of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes in the 1970s before a successful solo career at the end of the decade...

 and Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin

Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...

 was changed to classic rock

Classic rock

Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...

 on September 21, 2006. The first song was "Take the Money and Run

Take the Money and Run

Take the Money and Run is a 1969 comedy film written by Woody Allen and Mickey Rose, and directed by and starring Woody Allen. It is an early mockumentary, chronicling the life of Virgil Starkwell, a bungling petty thief...

" by the Steve Miller Band

Steve Miller Band

The Steve Miller Band is an American rock band formed in 1967 in San Francisco, California. The band is managed by Steve Miller on guitar and lead vocals, and is known for a string of mid-1970s hit singles that are staples of the classic rock radio format.-History:In 1965, Steve Miller and...

. In December 2006, the station added John Boy and Billy, who had been under contract with WRQR

WILT

WILT is a radio station broadcasting an adult contemporary format. Licensed to Wilmington, North Carolina, USA, the station serves the Wilmington area. WILT is currently owned by Sunrise Broadcasting, A subsidiary of Capitol Broadcasting Company of...

.

94.5 The Hawk now plays classic hits from the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

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