KSSK-FM

KSSK & KSSK-FM
City of license Honolulu, Hawaii (AM)
Waipahu, Hawaii (FM)
Broadcast area Honolulu, Hawaii
Branding "KSSK FM92.3 & AM590"
Slogan "Hawaii's Favorite"
Frequency 590 kHz
92.3 MHz (also on HD Radio)
92.3 HD-2 for Big Classic Hits
First air date May 11, 1922 (AM)
December 30, 1976 (FM)
Format Adult Contemporary
Power 590: 7,500 watts fulltime
ERP 92.3: 100,000 watts
HAAT 594 meters
Class C (FM)
Transmitter coordinates 21°19′26″N 157°52′32″W / 21.32389°N 157.87556°W / 21.32389; -157.87556 (AM)
21°23′49″N 158°5′58″W / 21.39694°N 158.09944°W / 21.39694; -158.09944 (FM)
Owner iHeartMedia, Inc.
(Capstar TX LLC)
Webcast Listen Live
HD2: Listen Live
Website KSSK FM92.3 and AM590

KSSK-FM (92.3 FM) is an adult contemporary radio station licensed to Waipahu, Hawaii, serving the Honolulu, Hawaii market, and owned by iHeartMedia, Inc.. It is simulcast on AM 590 (licensed to Honolulu). The station is home to the "Perry & Price" morning show. It is also transmitting on Oceanic Time Warner Cable digital channel 867 for the entire state of Hawaii,[1] via the DishHD satellite TV service in Taiwan,[2] and also USEN's Sound Planet satellite radio service in Japan.[3]

The station uses as its slogan, "Hawaii's Favorite," and Arbitron consistently ranks KSSK as Honolulu's most listened-to radio station annually. Like other iHeartMedia, Inc. stations in many markets, KSSK continuously plays holiday music during the month leading up to Christmas, returning to its normal format on December 26.

History

The AM side of the stations first signed on the air on Friday, May 11, 1922 as KDYX. The then governor of Hawaii was the first to greet the audiences. Along with KDYX, KGU 760, signed on the same day.[4] KSSK's rise to the top in the Honolulu market (based on Arbitron) started when the station's call letters were KGMB.

Prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, KGMB had been asked to broadcast music in order to provide long-range guidance to a flight of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses on their way to Hawaii from the mainland. Ironically, the Japanese aircraft picked up the same broadcasts and used them for guidance while they approached the islands. During the attack, KGMB dispatched reports to CBS, which in turn were cited on-air by John Charles Daly, who anchored the network's coverage of that day's news.

It was an AM station and home to Hal J. Akuhead Pupule Lewis, better known as Aku. Upon Aku's passing in 1983, the station (now known as KSSK) moved afternoon personality Michael W. Perry to the morning slot and paired him with morning show substitute (while Aku was ill), Larry Price, former National Football League player and head coach of the University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football team. The pairing was known as "Perry & Price".

KSSK had a sister FM station, KULA. It was an automated radio station playing music provided by TM Programming. It's daily operations were run by one of its only two employees: Kawika Maszak, who programmed the automation computer to play commercial breaks. The format was light rock and positioned themselves in the market as "Light rock, less talk." Later in the late 1980s, KULA became KXPW (Power 92) under long time CHR programmer, Jay Stone (deceased). Power 92 became 92X with Brad Barrett as program director, then KXPW eventually became KSSK-FM and the radio station simulcast part of the day with KSSK, including the now #1 "Perry & Price" morning show.

KSSK's jingle melody was adapted from that of WPLJ in New York City (KSSK-AM-FM used WPLJ's jingle packages until TM Century created a jingle package for KSSK, entitled "Big Time Honolulu."

Current on-air staff

As of April 16, 2009, current staff who also have their own blogs on KSSK include:[5]

Notable former on-air staff

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Some notables who have passed through KGMB/KSSK include:

References

  1. ↑ Digital Cable Program Guide / Lineups - Oceanic Time Warner Cable (accessed March 20, 2011)
  2. ↑ lyngsat.com's dish hd listing (accessed May 31, 2011)
  3. ↑ lyngsat.com's sound planet listing (accessed May 31, 2011)
  4. ↑ The Early History of Radio In Hawaii
  5. ↑ KSSK website
  6. ↑ "Hawaii Radio & Television Guide Archive". Retrieved 2011-10-18.
  7. ↑ "Honolulu FM radio pioneer dies". starbulletin.com archives. Retrieved 2011-10-18.

External links

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