WPKF
Encyclopedia
WPKF is a Rhythmic Top 40 radio station licensed to Poughkeepsie, New York
and serving the Mid-Hudson Valley
of New York state. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications
and broadcasts at 6 kilowatts ERP
from a tower mounted on the roof of the Ross Pavilion at the Hudson River Psychiatric Center in Poughkeepsie. WPKF is one of two Clear Channel-branded "Kiss-FM" stations broadcasting a Rhythmic format, the other being WKSL/Raleigh
.
/WKIP owner Richard Novick. At the start of 1996, the frequency gained the WALQ calls, however that August those calls were replaced by WNSX as the station prepared to sign on the air. Two months later, the 96.1 frequency came to life as Modern AC-formatted 96.1 The X, running The Greaseman
in mornings and ABC's "MR-35" format otherwise (though jocks from WRNQ did local shifts around music fed from the ABC format middays and afternoons).
Two weeks after WNSX signed on, Richard Novick sold his stations to Straus Media and the future of the format began to unravel thanks to various factors. The X did not fit in with the female-leaning Straus strategy to begin with and the format's chances of survival were diminished with The Greaseman ended syndication at the end of 1996 which was followed by ABC discontinuing the MR-35 format because of a lack of stations running the format. The announcement of rival Crystal Radio Group's purchase of WDSP
to bring their WRRV
to the Poughkeepsie market marked the last straw for Straus and the station flipped to country ("Thunder Country") WTND upon closing on the stations in March 1997. Amazingly, WNSX did relatively well for a new signal in its only book on the air.
Being mostly satellite-fed (Westwood One
"Hot Country") and in a quasi-network with WTHK
Hudson and WTHN Ellenville, WTND made economic sense for Straus at the outset. In reality, the format struggled against the heritage, better signaled and promoted WRWD and hovered towards the bottom of the ratings. After nearly falling out of the Poughkeepsie ratings, WTND was flipped to Hot Adult Contemporary "The Cat" WCTJ on August 9, 1999 after a weekend of stunting with clips from the Bob & Sheri morning show.
Initially, WCTJ was to be a simulcast of sister station WCTW
in Catskill, however by September it was ironed out into an interestingly run mutual simulcast. Instead of merely simulcasting WCTW to points south (as had been done a year prior via translator in Poughkeepsie to some success), the two stations existed on their own albeit with the same music and DJs on a slight delay with different promotions and a nighttime split where WCTW aired Delilah (heard in Poughkeepsie on WRNQ). Though ingenious on the surface, balancing the two different markets and keeping everything running fine was problematic and WCTJ's ratings and revenue were underachieving compared to the effort needed for the simulcast.
Straus Media sold its stations to Clear Channel Communications
in 2000 and, after buying rival Roberts Radio, WCTJ was put under the same roof as rival WBWZ
. After WCTW split off on its own after Clear Channel took control of the stations at the start of November, WCTJ was left stranded on its own amid format flip rumors. On December 22, these rumors became truth when WCTJ and WTHN entered joint stunting as Variety 96 & 99 and launched as Rhythmic Top 40 that afternoon using Clear Channel's KissFM brand.
In March 2005, WFKP left the format amid struggling numbers in Orange County to take a localized version of WRNQ's LiteFM format. This detachment has had no effect on WPKF's numbers and the station is still successful in Dutchess County.
In September 2005, Kiss added Matt Bosso as afternoon host, who later moved on to join the then-syndicated Wake Up with Whoopi in August 2006.
The Fall of 2005 saw Kiss beating Top 40 rival WSPK (K-104) in every key demographic with the exception of teens and 12+. It also has its biggest audience ever, based on cume. Spring of 2006 saw Kiss climb to #2 overall, tied with WSPK & WRWD, and once again beating WSPK in the 18-34 demo.
2007 brought change to Kiss as Jimi Jamm left radio to embark on a career in music promotion.
Aaron McCord became Kiss-FM's 3rd PD, but left music programming responsibilities to CJ McIntyre.
Mid 2008 brought the station's latest change, upping morning/APD CJ McIntyre to Program Director while continuing hostings the stations morning show "CJ's Playhouse. Music responbilities are taken up by WPKF's afternoon jock DC.
More changes in late 2009 saw CJ's Playhouse come to end and "Elvis Duran & The KISS-FM Morning Show" join the line-up along with Ryan Seacrest middays, Chris Marino afternoons (as well as being named Program Director and Music Director), Fuzzy & Choco at night. CJ moved over to WRWD to host mornings.
In January 2011, Chris Marino became the morning personality on WKPF's sister station, WBWZ, and Fuzzy assumed the role of Afternoons and Choco became the night DJ, with a 5 P.M. to 7 P.M. overlap with both Fuzzy & Choco.
Poughkeepsie (city), New York
Poughkeepsie is a city in the state of New York, United States, which serves as the county seat of Dutchess County. Poughkeepsie is located in the Hudson River Valley midway between New York City and Albany...
and serving the Mid-Hudson Valley
Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in New York State, United States, from northern Westchester County northward to the cities of Albany and Troy.-History:...
of New York state. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
and broadcasts at 6 kilowatts ERP
Effective radiated power
In radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power is a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency energy using the SI unit watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains...
from a tower mounted on the roof of the Ross Pavilion at the Hudson River Psychiatric Center in Poughkeepsie. WPKF is one of two Clear Channel-branded "Kiss-FM" stations broadcasting a Rhythmic format, the other being WKSL/Raleigh
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
.
History
The 96.1 frequency was granted as a construction permit in 1995 to WRNQWRNQ
WRNQ is an adult contemporary radio station licensed to Poughkeepsie, New York and serving the Mid-Hudson Valley of New York state. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications and broadcasts at 6 kilowatts ERP from the Illinois Mountain master tower in Highland, New York to which it moved...
/WKIP owner Richard Novick. At the start of 1996, the frequency gained the WALQ calls, however that August those calls were replaced by WNSX as the station prepared to sign on the air. Two months later, the 96.1 frequency came to life as Modern AC-formatted 96.1 The X, running The Greaseman
The Greaseman
Doug "The Greaseman" Tracht is an American radio, television, and movie personality. Tracht is best known for his morning show on WWDC-FM in Washington, D.C., during the 1980s where he took over the morning drive time slot from Howard Stern and his controversial comments made on that show.Tracht...
in mornings and ABC's "MR-35" format otherwise (though jocks from WRNQ did local shifts around music fed from the ABC format middays and afternoons).
Two weeks after WNSX signed on, Richard Novick sold his stations to Straus Media and the future of the format began to unravel thanks to various factors. The X did not fit in with the female-leaning Straus strategy to begin with and the format's chances of survival were diminished with The Greaseman ended syndication at the end of 1996 which was followed by ABC discontinuing the MR-35 format because of a lack of stations running the format. The announcement of rival Crystal Radio Group's purchase of WDSP
WRRB
WRRB is an alternative rock radio station licensed to Arlington, New York and serving the Mid-Hudson Valley of New York state. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and broadcasts on 96.9 MHz at 6 kilowatts ERP from the Illinois Mountain master tower in Marlborough, New YorkWRRB's programming is...
to bring their WRRV
WRRV
WRRV is a modern rock radio station licensed to Middletown, New York and serving the mid Hudson Valley and Catskills of New York state plus nearby areas in New Jersey and Pennsylvania...
to the Poughkeepsie market marked the last straw for Straus and the station flipped to country ("Thunder Country") WTND upon closing on the stations in March 1997. Amazingly, WNSX did relatively well for a new signal in its only book on the air.
Being mostly satellite-fed (Westwood One
Westwood One
Westwood One was an American radio network and was based in New York City. At one time, it was managed by CBS Radio, the radio arm of CBS Corporation, and Viacom and was later purchased by the private equity firm The Gores Group...
"Hot Country") and in a quasi-network with WTHK
WZCR
WZCR is an oldies radio station licensed to Hudson, New York, and serving Columbia and Greene counties as well as the upper Hudson Valley, the southern Capital District, and Berkshire County, Massachusetts...
Hudson and WTHN Ellenville, WTND made economic sense for Straus at the outset. In reality, the format struggled against the heritage, better signaled and promoted WRWD and hovered towards the bottom of the ratings. After nearly falling out of the Poughkeepsie ratings, WTND was flipped to Hot Adult Contemporary "The Cat" WCTJ on August 9, 1999 after a weekend of stunting with clips from the Bob & Sheri morning show.
Initially, WCTJ was to be a simulcast of sister station WCTW
WCTW
WCTW is a hot adult contemporary music formatted radio station licensed to Catskill, New York, and serving Columbia and Greene counties as well as the upper Hudson Valley, the southern Capital District, and Berkshire County, Massachusetts...
in Catskill, however by September it was ironed out into an interestingly run mutual simulcast. Instead of merely simulcasting WCTW to points south (as had been done a year prior via translator in Poughkeepsie to some success), the two stations existed on their own albeit with the same music and DJs on a slight delay with different promotions and a nighttime split where WCTW aired Delilah (heard in Poughkeepsie on WRNQ). Though ingenious on the surface, balancing the two different markets and keeping everything running fine was problematic and WCTJ's ratings and revenue were underachieving compared to the effort needed for the simulcast.
Straus Media sold its stations to Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
in 2000 and, after buying rival Roberts Radio, WCTJ was put under the same roof as rival WBWZ
WBWZ
WBWZ is an Hot Adult Contemporary radio station licensed to New Paltz, New York and serving the Mid-Hudson Valley of New York state...
. After WCTW split off on its own after Clear Channel took control of the stations at the start of November, WCTJ was left stranded on its own amid format flip rumors. On December 22, these rumors became truth when WCTJ and WTHN entered joint stunting as Variety 96 & 99 and launched as Rhythmic Top 40 that afternoon using Clear Channel's KissFM brand.
In March 2005, WFKP left the format amid struggling numbers in Orange County to take a localized version of WRNQ's LiteFM format. This detachment has had no effect on WPKF's numbers and the station is still successful in Dutchess County.
In September 2005, Kiss added Matt Bosso as afternoon host, who later moved on to join the then-syndicated Wake Up with Whoopi in August 2006.
The Fall of 2005 saw Kiss beating Top 40 rival WSPK (K-104) in every key demographic with the exception of teens and 12+. It also has its biggest audience ever, based on cume. Spring of 2006 saw Kiss climb to #2 overall, tied with WSPK & WRWD, and once again beating WSPK in the 18-34 demo.
2007 brought change to Kiss as Jimi Jamm left radio to embark on a career in music promotion.
Aaron McCord became Kiss-FM's 3rd PD, but left music programming responsibilities to CJ McIntyre.
Mid 2008 brought the station's latest change, upping morning/APD CJ McIntyre to Program Director while continuing hostings the stations morning show "CJ's Playhouse. Music responbilities are taken up by WPKF's afternoon jock DC.
More changes in late 2009 saw CJ's Playhouse come to end and "Elvis Duran & The KISS-FM Morning Show" join the line-up along with Ryan Seacrest middays, Chris Marino afternoons (as well as being named Program Director and Music Director), Fuzzy & Choco at night. CJ moved over to WRWD to host mornings.
In January 2011, Chris Marino became the morning personality on WKPF's sister station, WBWZ, and Fuzzy assumed the role of Afternoons and Choco became the night DJ, with a 5 P.M. to 7 P.M. overlap with both Fuzzy & Choco.