98.1 KissFM Goes Off The Air

If you tuned in for the "Ace & TJ" show this morning on your drive to work, you probably noticed something different. The syndicated morning show is no longer there...as is the Top-40 music and the "Kiss FM" moniker on Clear Channel's 98.1 WKXJ-FM.

Chattanooga's 98.1 KissFM signed off at 10am Wednesday. The station is now simulcasting 97.3/99.3 "The Legend", and is expected to move exclusively over to the 98.1 frequency in by next week, according to radio and music trade publication Radio and Records. The station is already identifying itself as "98.1 The Legend."

The moves comes as Clear Channel is selling off two of its stations to 3 Daughters Media. One of those is the station "The Legend" has been on for more than a year--97.3 WNGA-FM, licensed to South Pittsburg (and its translator signal on 99.3 in Chattanooga), and the other is 980 WUUS-AM out of Rossville, which listeners might be familiar with as "GT98."

No official word on the status of the station's other personalities. However, AllAccess.com, a radio industry news site, reports that program director/midday personality Andy "Riggs" Riggle, assistant program director/afternoon personality Mike Michonski, and music director/night personality "Shrek" are all out at Clear Channel Chattanooga and are "on the hunt for a new home."

The news apparently came as a shock to listeners, and to those affiliated with the station itself. The official website for "Ace and TJ" show, which is based out of Charlotte, North Carolina--and up until the format change, had Chattanooga as one of its biggest markets--says, "we found out [from Chattanooga] after the show on Wednesday that the station format would be changing."

A message about the format change has also been posted on KissFM's MySpace blog, and says that Kiss was originally set to go on a new frequency that will be coming into Chattanooga in the near future, but that there was a "change of heart" regarding KissFM's future, adding, "we had no idea this was coming."

Clear Channel also recently sold the original frequency for "The Legend," which was located at 101.9...the station is now Spanish, as "Que Buena".

This marks the third frequency switch for "The Legend", which started on 101.9, then shifting to 97.3/99.3, and eventually ending up on 98.1 Wednesday.

Interestingly, the KissFM format was was also on 97.3/99.3 for several years before it moved to 98.1.

No word on what format 97.3/99.3 might be taking once the sale to 3 Daughters Media is complete.

There's no official word on whether or not KissFM or a similar Top-40 station will show back up on another Chattanooga radio station in the near future.

This is just the latest format switch for a Chattanooga-radio station.

Recent switches also include:

-1310 WDOD-AM, Chattanooga's oldest radio station, which was briefly affiliated with the liberal talk network Air America, before switching to to it's current "Ruby" music format. The station is owned by Bahakel Communications.

-107.9 WOGT-FM, formerly known as oldies station "GT108", and these days known as country station "107.9 The Duke". The station is owned by Citadel Broadcasting.

-97.3/99.3 WNGA-FM has experienced a format change or two of it's own. It was previously known as "MAX-FM", playing a variety format, and previous to that was an 80s station. The station is pending a sale from Clear Channel to 3 Daughters Media.

-101.9, prior to the "Que Buena" and "The Legend" formats, was also Classic Rock for a short time as "Thunder 101.9". The station was owned by Clear Channel while it was "The Legend" and "Thunder", but was sold to Whitfield Communications last year.