City Melbourne Branding Kiss FM Frequency 87.6 MHz FM | Broadcast area Melbourne, Australia Slogan Dance Music Australia | |
Repeater(s) 87.8 MHz FM
88.0 MHz FM | ||
Kiss FM is a narrowcast dance music station, based in Melbourne's CBD, and broadcasting on various frequencies between 87.6 and 88.0 FM in Melbourne. The station's programmes are also networked to Orbit FM, a local narrowcaster in Cairns, Queensland.
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History
The station grew out of aspirant community licensee Kiss 90 FM, which lost out for a full-time license in 2001, and Sydney and Brisbane narrowcaster Rhythm FM. Rhythm FM was bought by some of the previous management of Kiss 90 and relaunched as Kiss FM in 2005 as a narrowcast radio service.
Kiss FM currently has active transmitters at Flemington, Geelong, Kangaroo Ground, Melbourne City, and a relay service to Cairns. Previously, Kiss FM had also broadcast in regional Victoria in Wangaratta and Daylesford however these services were under an agreement with another operator, who has since closed the services and sold the licences to other broadcast service operators.
Today, the station is managed by Timmy Byrne. It is the home of duo TRANCEGRESSION, which features live DJ mixes including vocal hard trance though to hardstyle; and the StrictlyOZ HipHop show with Hosts Cook & Big Dip. Annually, the station hosts a dance party on Australia Day - 26 January - at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, known as Kiss My Grass. All radio hosts are invited to play a 45-minute set to an audience exceeding 10,000.
Kiss and KIIS
In late 2013, Kiss FM had unsuccessfully attempted to prevent commercial radio network Australian Radio Network rebranding its Mix Network stations - initially only in Sydney - to the similar KIIS. At the time of the attempt, Kiss FM's trademark had expired, and a new application from ARN for KIIS had been submitted and accepted. With industry rumors that Melbourne's Mix 101.1 would also rebrand to KIIS, Kiss FM Australia launched the "Kiss Off ARN" campaign, stating that ARN's new branding was a breach of their trademark, and that the station would be pursuing legal action. However, in February 2014, the two parties reached a "confidential agreement", and the issue never made it to court.
In November 2014, it was confirmed that Mix 101.1 would rebrand as KIIS, and did so in January 2015.