Kiss FM is a national radio station in the UK that broadcasts hip-hop, R&B, urban, and electronic music. It began as a pirate radio station in 1985 broadcasting in South London and was awarded an official license in 1990. The station has faced some controversies, receiving fines from Ofcom for offensive content. It was rebranded in 1998 and 2012 to expand its reach nationally through digital broadcasting. The document provides an overview of Kiss FM's history and programming focused on a target audience of 20-30 year olds.

1. MY RADIO RESEARCH Jenna Paine

2. CURRENT DJ’S
Patrick Forge
John Digweed
DJ Hype
DJ EZ
Logan Sama
Rickie Haywood Williams
Marvin Odoom
Charlie Hedges

3. KISS FM
Broadcasted on FM and DAB
National
Specialised in hip-hop, R&B, Urban and electronic music
Can be listened to on Freeview, sky and virgin.
Owned by Bauer media group
Spin off brands are kisstory and Kiss fresh
Broadcasting locations in London and East Anglia
Currently has 5,454 listeners per week with an average of 5.7 hours
Aimed at 20-30 year olds

4. HISTORY
Began as a pirate radio station in 1985, it first broadcasted in South
London but spread across the city. It had a large audience, 500,000,
so was awarded a licence in 1990. Lyn Champion worked for a
London magazine and promoted stations like KISS to give them
increased popularity. Other pirate stations she listed were mighty
JFM, Invicta and K-Jazz. The British Broadcasting Act of 1990
abolished the IBA which had enshrined community and spoken word
programming within the license, so they missed the opportunity to
initiate the 20 year wave of documentary series. This concept became
the standard fare of every major broadcaster through the 90s.
Gordon Macnaeece established the station and eventually became its
director in 1997. He had help from people like Pyers Easton and
George Power and used a club promoter to improve the station called
Guy Wingate. As a result, he launched Kiss nights at the Wag Club.

5. HISTORY
The station was owned by Gordon until 1986 when he sold shares to
10 of his DJ’s including Jonathan Moore and Norman Jay. In 1998,
department of trade and industry advertised the station and a
campaign began to get their license. Despite this, it was awarded to
‘Jazz FM.’ In response, KISS toured round London with a petition to
gain their license. In 1990 it launched as a legal station on Holloway
road.
KISS was rebranded in 1998, bringing a new logo to the station. EMAP
took full control of the station and wanted to align it with the rest of
their radio operations. To do this, Mark Story was given job of
Director of Music Programming and the station was moved to the
main premises in London. The listeners said this made the station
lose its musical direction. The stations main DJ Steve Jackson was
revoked in 1998 following serious court allegations and many others
quit because of this.

6. HISTORY
Following the stations downfall, a lot of listeners turned to BBC radio
1 for its new direction in content. In June, 2006, Ofcom gave the
station a fine of £175,000. It received 10 complaints in 2005 and was
said to be in serious breach of numerous policies Ofcom had set. This
included prank calling and offensive behaviour when children might
be listening. As a result, the station altered in September, 2006. It
meant a new logo and a focus on dance music and a new website.
This was an attempt to address the decrease in listeners in the recent
years.
In December 2010, Ofcom approved Bauer radio to drop 3 of the KISS
stations and create a national service available on DAB. In December,
2012, the station appeared nationally on Digital one’s national DAB
complex.

7. OPINIONS
I liked the amount of music the station played and how current the
music was which kept me entertained but I found the electronic music
focus elements to be too upbeat if I wasn’t on a night out. The genres
of the music fit the target audience and therefore me. The Urban side
of the station is nice and relaxing and much to my taste. There is
minimal talking, which I like, and when there is the presenters can be
humorous, especially in the breakfast show. I find the show can be
easily accessed and its national range to be a good idea. However
their criticism and Ofcom intervention put me off the show a little. I
don’t think an older audience would enjoy the station.