Frequency AM: 590 kHz, FM: 92.3 MHz Format Adult contemporary music Area Honolulu Slogan Hawaii's Favorite | City of license Honolulu, Waipahu Owner iHeartMedia Inc Branding KSSK FM92.3 & AM590 | |
First air date AM: May 11, 1922FM: December 30, 1976 Power AM: 7,500 watts full-time HAAT FM: 594 meters (1949 feet) | ||
KSSK-FM (92.3 MHz) is an FM radio station licensed to Waipahu, Hawaii, and serving the Honolulu media market. It is simulcast on AM 590 kHz KSSK, which is licensed to Honolulu. KSSK-AM-FM are owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. and the stations air an adult contemporary radio format.
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The stations are home to the popular "Perry & the Posse" morning show. They are also heard on Oceanic Time Warner Cable digital channel 867 for the entire state of Hawaii, via the DishHD satellite TV service in Taiwan, and also USEN's Sound Planet satellite radio service in Japan.
The stations use the slogan, "Hawaii's Favorite." Arbitron consistently ranks KSSK-AM-FM as Honolulu's most listened-to radio station. Like other iHeartMedia adult contemporary stations in many markets, KSSK-AM-FM play all holiday music in the month leading up to Christmas, returning to its normal format on December 26. 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."
590 Beginnings
The AM side of the stations first signed on the air on Friday, May 11, 1922 as KDYX. The governor of Hawaii was the first to greet the audiences. Along with KDYX, rival AM station KGU signed on the same day. KSSK's rise to the top in the Honolulu market 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 Radio, which in turn were cited on-air by John Charles Daly, who anchored the network's coverage of that day's news.
The AM station was 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, a former National Football League player and head coach of the University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football team. The pairing was known as "Perry & Price".
92.3 Beginnings
On December 30, 1976, FM station 92.3 KULA first signed on. It was the sister station to AM 940 KAHU (now KKNE). KULA was an automated radio station playing music provided by TM Programming. Its 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 soft rock and the station positioned itself in the market as "Light Rock, Less Talk." Later in the late 1980s, KULA became KXPW (Power 92) under long time Top 40 programmer, Jay Stone (now deceased). Power 92 later became 92X with Brad Barrett as program director, then KXPW eventually became KSSK-FM simulcasting part of the day with KSSK, including the #1 "Perry & Price" morning show. Eventually the simulcast became a 24-hour operation.
Current on-air staff
As of April 16, 2009, current staff who also have their own blogs on KSSK include:
Notable former on-air staff
Some notables who have passed through KGMB/KSSK include: