city akron ohio broadcast area greater cleveland northeast ohio branding 96.5 kiss fm slogan cleveland s 1 hit music station frequency 96.5 mhz also on hd radio first air date march 12 1958 format contemporary hit radio hd2 mainstream urban erp 31 000 watts haat 189 meters class b facility id 49952 transmitter coordinates 41 16 50.00 n 81 37 22.00 w 41.2805556 n 81.6227778 w 41.2805556 ; 81.6227778 callsign meaning kiss fm former callsigns wcue fm 1958 77 wkdd 1977 2001 affiliations city club of cleveland iheartradio premiere networks premium choice total traffic and weather network owner iheartmedia inc. capstar tx llc sister stations wgar fm whlk wmji wmms wtam webcast listen live website 96.5 kiss fm waks 96.5 fm branded 96.5 kiss fm is a commercial contemporary hit radio chr radio station licensed to akron ohio serving greater cleveland and much of surrounding northeast ohio . owned by iheartmedia inc. waks serves as the cleveland affiliate for elvis duran and the morning show on air with ryan seacrest and american top 40 ; and the home of radio personality java joel murphy . the waks studios are located in the cleveland suburb of independence while the station transmitter resides in neighboring brecksville . besides a standard analog transmission waks broadcasts over two hd radio channels 1 and is available online via iheartradio . contents 1 history 1.1 wcue fm 1.2 wkdd 96.5 fm 1.3 2001 frequency swap 1.4 96.5 kiss fm 2 current programming 3 references 4 external links history edit wcue fm edit on march 12 1958 wcue 1150 am of akron ohio launched an fm sister station at 96.5 megahertz wcue fm . 2 wkdd 96.5 fm edit not to be confused with akron market radio station wkdd . 1990s logo as wkdd by 1977 wcue fm which at that time was broadcasting an album oriented rock aor format switched its format to mellow rock and callsign to wkdd . john gorman then program director at cleveland rock station wmms recalls competing with wkdd in the akron and canton radio markets in its earlier days ... the station attempted to create a mellow rock mascot ... 3 by the late 1980s wkdd unseated wmms as the highest rated station in the akron market including both summit and portage counties . the two stations continued to struggle for ratings dominance well into the 1990s . often one of the two claimed the number one position in the birch ratings service while the other won arbitron s top spot . 4 5 danny wright and matt patrick michael ryan were among the station s personalities . in 1987 wkdd raised patrick s salary ; his was already the highest in the akron market nearly five times the average for all other personalities in the market . 6 in 1995 patrick attempted to leave for cleveland station wltf now whlk . this drew a legal fight from wkdd which claimed patrick s contract prevented him from leaving for any station within 40 miles of wkdd . 7 2001 frequency swap edit for more information on the july 3 2001 exchange involving seven northeast ohio radio stations see 2001 in radio . on july 3 2001 wkdd was one of seven northeast ohio radio stations involved in a complex exchange between three radio companies . although generally reported as a frequency swap in reality these seven radio stations mostly traded callsigns along with their respective formats and staffs all to facilitate the transfers of ownership of four of the seven stations . as part of this complex exchange clear channel communications which would become iheartmedia on september 16 2014 changed the wkdd format from hot adult contemporary hot ac to contemporary hit radio chr ; rebranded the station using the kiss fm brand ; reassigned on and off air personnel ; and on july 23 2001 changed the station callsign to waks . in effect this new waks licensed to akron 96.5 fm became the successor to the previous waks licensed to lorain 104.9 fm . 8 96.5 kiss fm edit while licensed to akron and identified at the top of every hour as waks akron cleveland the station s studios are located with the rest of iheartmedia s cleveland cluster off rockside road in the cleveland suburb of independence in addition to the aforementioned transmitter placement in brecksville on a tower used for other cleveland radio stations . waks promotes itself as and is generally considered to be a cleveland radio station . since november 2001 waks has been an affiliate of the internationally known syndicated program american top 40 which has aired on saturday mornings from 6 a.m. 10 a.m. from the time waks picked up the show until january 3 2004 it was hosted by the legendary casey kasem . on january 10 2004 american idol s ryan seacrest whose weekday on air show also airs on waks began hosting the show . current programming edit weekday programming includes elvis duran and the morning show mornings and on air with ryan seacrest middays both via premiere networks . waks personality java joel murphy hosts the weekday afternoon music shift ; all other music shifts are either voice tracked out of market specifically for waks or programmed via premium choice . weekend programming includes american top 40 saturday night online and club kane . the hd2 digital subchannel broadcasts a mainstream urban format via premium choice under the brand the beat . 9 10 11 12 references edit http hdradio.com station guides widget.php id 73 hd radio guide for akron directory of am and fm radio stations in the u.s. . 1961 1962 broadcasting yearbook pdf . washington dc broadcasting publications inc. 1961 . p. b 126 . retrieved january 7 2011 . gorman john ; feran tom 2007 . the buzzard inside the glory days of wmms and cleveland rock radio a memoir . cleveland ohio gray & co. pp. 155 156 . isbn 978 1 886228 47 4 . dyer bob october 4 1987 . wmms buzzard fights for wkdd s area roost . akron beacon journal . beacon journal publishing co. p. f2 entertainment . dyer bob july 16 1991 . wkdd again no. 1 in ratings book after a disastrous four song in a row promotion ; station decides to go back to its rock n roll roots . akron beacon journal . beacon journal publishing co. p. b1 entertainment . dyer bob april 5 1987 . wkdd s big matt looking just like a fat cat . akron beacon journal . beacon journal publishing co. p. d2 entertainment . dennis debra may 19 1995 . dj settles dispute ; will stay with wkdd . the plain dealer . plain dealer publishing co. p. 1b metro . quinn jim june 29 2001 . it s time to reset your radio dial seven stations will get new frequencies tuesday you ll need a score card to keep track of formats . akron beacon journal . beacon journal publishing co. p. b1 entertainment . washington julie e. may 16 2009 . broadcast blues clear channel does some clear cutting of on air radio talent . the plain dealer . plain dealer publishing co. p. e1 arts & life . clear channel ... is rolling out premium choice a menu of national formats chosen by headquarters . there is no local programming on premium choice stations except for commercials ... corrections and clarifications . the plain dealer . plain dealer publishing co. august 1 2009 . the cleveland clear channel stations using the premium choice programming package are waks wgar wmji and wmms . each station uses it overnight on weekdays and for selected hours on weekends . at40 with ryan seacrest all the hits cleveland oh . kisscleveland.com . retrieved 2013 04 10 . thehopeline community radio stations . thehopeline.com . retrieved 2013 04 10 . station guide cleveland oh . hdradio.com . hd radio . 2011 . retrieved january 15 2011 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to waks . 96.5 kiss fm query the fcc s fm station database for waks radio locator information on waks query nielsen audio s fm station database for waks v t e radio stations in the cleveland ohio market by fm frequency 87.7 88.3 88.3 88.7 89.3 90.3 91.1 91.5 92.3 93.1 95.5 96.5 98.5 99.1 99.5 100.7 102.1 103.3 104.1 104.9 105.7 106.5 107.3 107.9 by am frequency 850 930 1000 1040 1100 1220 1260 1300 1320 1330 1380 1420 1460 1490 1540 1560 defunct by wx frequency 162.55 by callsign khb59 w256bt wabq waks watj defunct wbwc wccd wccr wclv wcpn wcrf fm wcsb wdlw wdok wenz weol were wfhm fm wgar fm whk whkw whlk whwn wint wjcu wjmo wjtb wkhr wknr wkrk fm wlfm lp wmji wmms wncx wnwv wobl wqal wruw fm wtam wwgk wzak online owow radio ohio radio markets akron canton cincinnati cleveland columbus dayton lima marietta toledo youngstown warren other ohio radio regions ashtabula ironton mid ohio sandusky southern ohio wheeling steubenville see also list of radio stations in ohio radio stations in southwestern ontario clear channel stations with extended nighttime coverage . v t e chr top 40 radio stations in the state of ohio by frequency 88.1 92.5 92.5 92.7 93.9 95.7 95.9 96.5 97.9 98.1 99.9 100.1 100.5 101.1 101.9 102.1 105.3 107.1 by callsign waks wakz wbks wchd wdjq whiz fm whot fm wkdd wkee fm wkfs wkrq wnci wrvb wvkf wvks wwsr wxzq wyht wzip by city akron wkdd akron wzip ashland canton cleveland cincinnati wkfs cincinnati wkrq columbus dayton lima mansfield marietta parkersburg west virginia piketon shadyside wheeling west virginia south zanesville toledo youngstown wakz youngstown whot see also adult contemporary classic hits college country news talk npr oldies religious rock sports top 40 urban other radio stations in ohio see also contemporary hit radio rhythmic kiss fm movin radio disney v t e kiss fm branded radio stations in the united states iheartmedia owned top 40 khfi fm austin texas khks dallas fort worth kiis fm los angeles kiso omaha nebraska kkdm des moines iowa ksft fm sioux city iowa ksme fort collins colorado kuul davenport iowa quad cities kvjm bryan college station texas kvvs lancaster antelope valley california kwnw memphis tennessee kzzp phoenix arizona waev savannah georgia waks akron cleveland ohio wakz youngstown ohio wbks lima ohio wfks melbourne florida wgmy thomasville georgia tallahassee florida whkf harrisburg pennsylvania wkfs fm cincinnati wkkf albany new york wksc fm chicago wksi fm winchester virginia wksl jacksonville florida wkss hartford connecticut wkst fm pittsburgh wkxj chattanooga tennessee wkzp salisbury ocean city maryland wmks high point greensboro winston salem north carolina wpkf poughkeepsie new york w293ah wqrv hd2 huntsville alabama wrgv pensacola florida mobile al wvkf wheeling west virginia steubenville ohio wvks toledo ohio wxks fm boston rhythmic contemporary kiis fm united states sdars kkmy beaumont texas wkgs rochester new york adult contemporary kbks fm seattle kisc spokane washington wksb williamsport pennsylvania urban wksp augusta georgia wmrz albany georgia country wksf asheville north carolina greenville spartanburg anderson nc non iheartmedia affiliated ksks fresno california kifs medford oregon ksas caldwell idaho wsks wsku whitesboro little falls new york wksz green bay wisconsin keks olpe kansas kksw lawrence kansas kxnc ness city kansas ksii el paso texas kkss santa fe new mexico kxss fm amarillo texas kcrs fm odessa midland texas kssm copperas cove texas kyis oklahoma city walr fm atlanta wbhk warrior birmingham alabama wdmk detroit wgks lexington kentucky wkis miami wkjs wkjm richmond petersburg virginia wkse buffalo new york wkys washington d.c. wlxc columbia south carolina wnks charlotte north carolina wpia peoria illinois wqks montgomery alabama wdks newburgh evansville indiana wxss milwaukee wett bridgeport west virginia wkso natchez mississippi wkqb pocahontas virginia wuva charlottesville virginia kxxz victorville california wcks carrollton georgia wkza jamestown new york wksq ellsworth maine wyks gainesville florida ktrs fm casper wyoming kisn bozeman montana kkst oakdale alexandria louisiana kxks