History Kiss (UK radio station)

1 history

1.1 1999 rebranding , criticism
1.2 ofcom record fine
1.3 september 2006 relaunch
1.4 recent times

history

kiss fm began in october 1985 pirate radio station, broadcasting first south london across whole city, on 94fm. station broadcast @ weekends , after year of operation added friday line-up schedule taking number of djs on-air under 50.

the station had cult following across greater london, committed audience. suggested in press @ time station had commanded 500,000 listeners while operating unlicensed pirate station. kiss fm established gordon mac mcnamee (later managing director until december 1997) , friends; tosca, pyers easton , george power. gordon mac approached successful london club promoter, guy wingate, discuss ways of improving kiss fm profile. result, wingate launched successful kiss nights @ wag club (which included first ever uk acid house party - idea put forward late colin faver , danny rampling), both djs on station. these nights increased station s credibility target audience , wingate joined kiss team, followed shortly thereafter lindsay wesker.

kiss 100 s iconic logo 1990 1998

kiss owned gordon mac , in 1986 sold shares 10 of djs, including tim westwood, jonathan more, norman jay, trevor nelson , others. gordon mac, wesker , wingate, team of dj s , large number of volunteers took station forward through combination of grim determination , clever marketing. in 1988, department of trade , industry advertised first new radio licence in london many years , kiss fm mounted strong campaign awarded licence. despite public support, licence awarded jazz fm (now smooth radio). in weekend followed announcement of award, kiss team roamed london soliciting signatures public petition delivered on monday morning home secretary, douglas hurd.

new licences subsequently advertised , time kiss, significant public , listener support, awarded 1 of these.

on 1 september 1990 kiss relaunched legal station, studio , offices located on holloway road, , financial support emap. many of station s past djs have become influential in popular music, including paul trouble anderson, tuff jam, trevor nelson, judge jules, chris philips, dave pearce, sarah hb, steve jackson, colin dale, norman jay, david rodigan nick power, richie rich, coldcut, tony de vit, jazzie b, gilles peterson, pete wardman, hixxy & sharkey, slipmatt, graham gold, squirrel , dj vibes.

1999 rebranding , criticism

emap took full control of kiss 100 1992, there no significant rebranding of kiss 100 , kiss brand until 1998. rebranding resulted in new logo being adopted in 1999. emap wanted align kiss 100 rest of radio operations , so, mark story (previously of magic 105.4) engaged in january 1999 new director of music programming. @ same time, kiss studios , offices moved original roots emap s main premises in central london. these changes led criticism both former presenters , listeners alike, concerned kiss 100 losing musical direction.

kiss 100 s logo 1999 2006.

one of kiss 100 s popular djs, steve jackson, sacked in december 1998, followed high-profile court case. @ same time, number of other founding djs decided quit station in protest @ changes being implemented, whilst others lured away increasingly dance-oriented bbc radio 1. many listeners equate gordon mac s final show on 28 march 1998 , subsequent departure station spiritual end of original kiss.

ofcom record fine

in june 2006, kiss 100 fined record fee uk commercial radio station of £175,000 media regulator ofcom. ofcom punished kiss 100 numerous , serious breaches of broadcasting codes after receiving 10 complaints april november 2005. involved prank calls on bam bam breakfast show consent not sought victims , controversial material aired when children listening. kiss 100 said accepted findings , apologised offence

september 2006 relaunch

one of latest logos

emap introduced second major revamp of kiss brand on 6 september 2006. included new logo designed oddlondon, renewed focus on dance music, more specialist shows , new website 3 kiss stations replacing previous website.

the relaunch implemented simultaneously rebranding of kiss 100 s sister dance stations, vibe 101 , vibe 105-108 kiss 101 , kiss 105-108 respectively. programme content same of kiss 100, advertising , traffic information relevant broadcast areas.

the changes @ kiss 100 introduced address falling listener figures , keep station competitive in highly contested london market.

recent times

in december 2010, ofcom approved request bauer radio drop local programming content 3 kiss stations, creating national service on condition kiss available on 35 dab multiplexes around uk on day local information dropped, rising 38 within 3 months of changes.

on 27 december 2012, kiss 100 appeared nationally on digital 1 s national dab multiplex.

in february 2013, kiss owner bauer media confirmed review transmission of station on local stereo dab slots in favour of national mono channel, running @ 80 kbit/s.