WHKF-FM

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WHKF
City of license Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Broadcast area Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Branding "99.3 KISS FM"
Frequency 99.3 MHZ
Format Rhythmic-leaning Top 40
Callsign meaning Harrisburg Kiss FM
Owner Clear Channel Communications
Website 99.3 KISS website

WHKF-FM (99.3 Kiss), is a rhythmic-leaning top 40 outlet based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Owned by Clear Channel Communications, the station broadcasts at 99.3 MHz. WHKF is one of hundreds of "Kiss" branded stations owned by Clear Channel.

Prior to its launch, Kiss-FM's frequency was used by Kool 99.3, an all-oldies station using the call letters WWKL. Ironically, WWKL is now used by Hot 92, WHKF's cross-town competitor.

WHKF was launched by Program Director Jason Barsky, in 2001 as a strategic maneuver to help Clear Channel break Wink 104's long-running across-the-board ratings domination. In one of its first ratings books (Winter 2001), WHKF became the #1 station (12+) in Harrisburg. While WHKF itself has never been able to duplicate this success, it was able to force a format change in longtime market leader Wink 104, who changed from Hot AC to AC. WHKF has settled into its original role as market spoiler, keeping the ratings of Wink 104 down, while helping sister stationsThe River, WHP 580, and Bob 94.9, rise above the former market leader.

Prior to launching, Clear Channel began stunting the frequency by playing a continuous sound effect of a small, noisy crowd. As the station's launch drew closer, the voiceover for the station began announcing "Tomorrow at noon ... the talking stops". For a little over a year, WHKF's main talking point was to attack Wink 104 on-air. The main focus of the attacks was Bruce Bond, the host of Wink 104's highly-successful afternoon drive-time talk show. Shortly after WHKF launched, Bond was dismissed for reasons that have been highly speculated; one theory is that WHKF's all-music format stole luster (and audience) from Bruce's time slot.

Ironically enough, WHKF has been led for the past few years by former Program Director Jason Barsky, Gavin, and Kelly. Collectively, the group is known as the Kiss Morning Mess. The trio has been highly successful in the morning show slot on WHKF since October of 2003[citation needed]. Doing, of all things, talk-driven comedy.

WHKF currently typically falls between 7th and 10th place in the local cumulative, 12+ ratings. WHKF targets 18-34 year olds and is very successful in this demographic[citation needed].

Contents

99.3 Kiss FM plays top 40 music throughout the day with the following air personalities:

  • Morning Mess (Hosted by Jason Barsky, Kelly Beckner, and Gavin Fergueson)
  • Ashlee Reid
  • J.T. Bosch
  • Silly Jilly
  • Big Mike

Jason Barsky (now host of the Kiss Morning Mess), Michael McCoy (now at WNCI, Columbus), and Jeff Hurley

Like virtually all Clear Channel stations, WHKF uses the Prophet live-assist / automation package, as well as syndicated Clear Channel production elements. For their launch, WHKF used the "WKTU 2000" jingle package from Reel World Productions.



FM radio stations in the Harrisburg-Carlisle-Lebanon market (Arbitron #79)
Harrisburg-Carlisle-Lebanon
(Arbitron #79)

By frequency: 88.1 | 89.5 | 91.7 | 92.1 | 92.7 | 93.5 | 94.9 | 97.3 | 98.9 | 99.3 | 100.1 | 101.3 | 102.3 | 104.1 | 105.7 | 106.7

By callsign: WCAT | WGTY | WHKF | WITF | WJAZ | WMHX | WNNK | WQIC | WQLV | WQXA | WRBT | WROZ | WRVV | WSJW | WTPA | WWKL | WXPH

Other
See also: Harrisburg (FM) (AM)
Arbitron-Ranked Pennsylvania Radio Markets:

Allentown (FM) (AM) | Altoona | Chambersburg | Erie (FM) (AM) | Harrisburg-Carlisle-Lebanon (FM) (AM) | Johnstown | Lancaster (FM) (AM) | Meadville-Franklin | Philadelphia (FM) (AM) | Pittsburgh (FM) (AM) | Reading | State College | Sunbury-Selinsgrove-Lewisburg | Wilkes Barre-Scranton (FM) (AM) | Waynesboro | Williamsport | York (FM) (AM)

Non-Arbitron-Ranked Pennsylvania Radio Markets:
Northern Pennsylvania (includes DuBois, Kane, Punxsutawney, and St. Marys)

Markets that transcend New York and Pennsylvania:
Olean NY/Bradford PA | Jamestown NY/Warren PA

See also: List of radio stations in Pennsylvania and List of United States radio markets
See also: List of FM stations in Harrisburg
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