CKKS-FM

CKKS-FM (107.5 MHz, "KiSS Radio") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Chilliwack, British Columbia. Owned by Rogers Sports & Media, it broadcasts a CHR/Top 40 format and serves Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.
The station's main studios and offices are in Vancouver, where its rebroadcasting transmitter CKKS-FM-2 operates at 104.9 FM with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 31,000 watts and a height above average terrain (HAAT) of 672.2 metres (2,205 ft) from atop Mount Seymour. CKKS's operations are located at 2440 Ash Street in the Fairview neighbourhood of Vancouver. Another rebroadcasting transmitter, 92.5 CKKS-FM-1, is in Abbotsford, British Columbia.
History.
The station signed on for the first time on October 1, 1986 as CKSR-FM with the original on-air brand "Star FM 105". It was owned by Fraser Valley Broadcasters Ltd. At the time, the 104.9 frequency was originally located in Abbotsford, west of Chilliwack. The station's original format was a mix of adult contemporary and easy listening music.
Beginning in 1995, CKSR began gradually phasing out its easy listening songs in favor of a pure AC format. The transition was completed by 1997, the same year the station's signal was expanded to include the Vancouver area, giving Vancouver three adult contemporary stations: CKSR-FM, CHQM-FM and a different station using the CKKS-FM call sign (now CJAX-FM). As part of the expansion, the 104.9 FM transmitter was relocated to Vancouver and a new transmitter (operating on 92.5 FM with 2600 watts) was installed in Abbotsford. Rogers Communications purchased the station in August 1999.
The CKSR call sign and "Star FM" brand are now used by its Chilliwack FM sister station (located at 98.3 FM), formerly known as CHWK on the AM band.
Under the new ownership, CKSR underwent a name and format change at 5 p.m. on December 31, 1999, as it became CKVX and abandoned adult contemporary music for an alternative rock format. It called itself "104.9 XFM - Vancouver's New Rock Alternative", competing with veteran Vancouver rocker CFOX and aiming at a younger listening audience. (KNDD in Seattle was also gaining market share in the Vancouver market among younger listeners.) CKVX became the second alternative rock station in Canada outside Ontario (with CKST being the first). In 2000, CKVX relocated its main studios from Abbotsford to share space with sister stations CKWX and CKKS-FM at 2440 Ash Street in Vancouver, although Chilliwack would remain as the city of licence for the record. The alt-rock format lasted for just under four years. On November 19, 2003, the brand "104.9 Christmas FM" was introduced on-air as CKVX went to all-Christmas music for the next month.
CKVX switched formats and brands again at Noon on December 26, when the "104.9 Clear FM" brand was adopted and the station began playing a mix of adult contemporary and smooth jazz during most of the day. A program of chillout, downtempo and trip hop electronic music called "Vancouver Chills", hosted by Trevor Shand, aired from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. nightly. The first song on "Clear FM" was "Don't Know Why" by Norah Jones. On April 8, 2004, CKVX changed its call sign to CKCL (formerly used on a Truro, Nova Scotia radio station), to reflect its current on-air brand. In 2005, Shand left CKCL to move to Los Angeles to become the production manager at KROQ-FM (while continuing voiceover work for Rogers Broadcasting stations in Vancouver and Toronto). Station Music Director Doreen Copeland took over as host of "Vancouver Chills", which then began mixing more AC and smooth jazz in with the electronica tunes and expanded its airtime to 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. nightly.
On August 31, 2006, CKCL dropped the smooth jazz and electronic music and returned to a full-time AC format. That gave Vancouver two ACs (CHQM-FM was the other) for the first time since 2002, when co-owned CKKS flipped to Jack FM. At the same time, it began a commercial-free long weekend of non-stop music to herald the return of longtime Vancouver broadcaster Fred Latremouille and his wife Cathy after six years of retirement in Hawaii. They previously had a morning show, "Latremornings", on sister station CKKS-FM. The new "Latremornings" show debuted at 5 a.m. on September 5. The show's producer was Terry Chan, Business news from Russ Bythe, Weather from TV vet Wayne Cox and Morning News Anchor was Don Lehn. But the show was short-lived, ending after only one year in late 2007 when the couple returned to Maui.
In December 2007, management announced that Charlee Morgan, formerly of Calgary's CHFM and the old LG73 at 730 AM in Vancouver, would begin hosting the morning show in early 2008. Morgan made her morning show debut at CKCL on February 18, 2008. On September 26, 2008, CKCL dropped Morgan's morning show, and the station's adult contemporary format, switching to classic hits and re-branding itself as "FM 104.9", thus once again leaving CTVglobemedia's market-leading CHQM-FM as the sole adult contemporary outlet in Vancouver. The last song on "Clear FM" was "I Will Remember You" by Sarah McLachlan (which was also the last song on LG73). The first song under the new format was "Twist and Shout" by The Beatles. This move prompted Astral Media's CISL to flip from oldies to adult standards on November 10, 2008.
On November 12, 2009, CKCL rebranded itself as "104.9 fun FM". The call sign changed in late November to CFUN-FM to reflect the updated branding. The CFUN call letters were vacated by CTVglobemedia after AM 1410 (now owned by Bell Media) flipped to sports radio and became CFTE.
On August 17, 2011, at 8:42 a.m. (12 minutes past the intended time of launch), after playing "Cuts Like a Knife" by Bryan Adams, the station, after making an announcement of an impending change to the station and redirecting "Fun" listeners to sister station CKLG-FM, changed its format to Top 40/CHR, branded as "Sonic". The launch was also simulcast on the Vancouver edition of "Breakfast Television" on CKVU-TV. The first song played was "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO. To kick off the new format, the station aired 10,000 songs in a row, without commercials, a common promotion to entice new listeners. On October 11, 2011, "Sonic" introduced its on-air team featuring Ryder as the morning host. By January 9, 2012, the station was added to Mediabase's Canadian CHR add board.
Former CFBT morning show host Kid Carson joined Sonic as the new morning host host on September 1, 2012, after his non-compete contract with Bell Media (CFBT's owners) expired.
On February 23, 2015, CFUN re-branded as "KiSS Radio", unifying itself with the Kiss branding used by other Rogers-owned CHR stations.
In March 2015, CFUN and sister CKKS-FM in Sechelt made the following changes with their call signs: CFUN-FM, FM-1 and FM-2 all became CKKS-FM (FM-1 and FM-2, respectively), with CKKS warehousing the CFUN-FM call letters.
In 2019, Rogers filed an application with the CRTC to replace CKKS-FM-2 with a new station on the same frequency, which would operate independently of CKKS. Under CRTC rules, this triggers consultation on the appropriateness of a new station in the market, and the possibility of a call for new license proposals.