Timeline of Kiss facts for kids

Kiss is a popular British commercial radio station. It plays a mix of dance, hip-hop, and R&B music. The station started as a "pirate" radio station, meaning it broadcast without a license. Over the years, it grew into a major national station. This timeline shows some of the most important moments in Kiss's history.

The Early Years: 1980s

• 1985
  • October – Kiss began broadcasting as a pirate radio station. It started by playing music on weekends in south London. Soon, it was heard across all of London on 94 FM.
• 1986
  • Kiss started broadcasting more often, adding a Friday schedule.
  • Gordon Mac, who started Kiss, sold parts of the station to ten of its DJs. These included famous names like Tim Westwood and Trevor Nelson.
• 1987
  • No major events happened this year.
• 1988
  • November – The UK government department for trade and industry announced new radio licenses. Pirate stations could apply if they stopped broadcasting. Kiss started a big effort to win one of these licenses.
  • 31 December – Kiss held a special "coming off air" party in Camden. This was before they applied for a legal license.
• 1989
  • 12 July – Kiss did not win its first try for a London-wide license. Another station, Jazz FM, got it instead.
  • December – The government offered more London-wide licenses. This time, Kiss was successful!

Becoming Legal: 1990s

• 1990
  • 1 September – Kiss 100 officially started broadcasting as a legal radio station. Gordon Mac counted down in the studio. The first song played was 'Pirates Anthem'. Norman Jay hosted the very first full show.
  • 9 September – Kiss held a big launch party at Highbury Fields.
• 1991
  • No major events happened this year.
• 1992
  • A company called Emap took full control of Kiss 100.
• 1993
  • October – Norman Jay, one of the original DJs, left the station.
• 1994
  • 2 March – Kiss started a new show for jungle music. Different DJs like Fabio and Grooverider took turns hosting.
  • 16 October – Kiss 102 launched in Manchester. Kiss allowed another company to use its name, but this station was separate from the London one.
  • November – Danny Rampling moved his Lovegroove Dance Party show to BBC Radio 1.
• 1995
  • Another original DJ, Dave Pearce, left Kiss to join BBC Radio 1.
• 1996
  • Trevor Nelson, who had been with Kiss since it was a pirate station, also left to join BBC Radio 1.
• 1997
  • 14 February – Faze FM launched Kiss 105 across Yorkshire. This station shared some shows with Kiss 102.
  • April – Judge Jules was the latest DJ to move to BBC Radio 1.
  • 29 September – The company that owned Kiss 102 and Kiss 105 was bought by Chrysalis Radio. These stations then changed their names to Galaxy 102 and Galaxy 105.
  • December – Gordon Mac stepped down as the station's boss.
• 1998
  • 28 March – Gordon Mac, the founder of Kiss, hosted his last show for the station.
  • 30 June – Kiss TV launched, bringing the Kiss brand to television.
  • Gilles Peterson left Kiss to join BBC Radio 1.
  • 18 December – Original presenter Steve Jackson's time at the station ended.
• 1999
  • January – Kiss made some big changes. These changes caused some presenters and listeners to feel that the station was losing its musical direction. Bam Bam became the host of the breakfast show.

New Millennium, New Sounds: 2000s

• 2000
  • September – John Digweed started his first show on Kiss 100.
• 2001
  • Steve Smart joined the station.
• 2002
  • No major events happened this year.
• 2003
  • Graham Gold left Kiss after hosting a Friday night show for ten years.
• 2004
  • No major events happened this year.
• 2005
  • Logan Sama joined Kiss to host a weekly show dedicated to grime music.
  • 21 June – The company Emap bought other radio stations, including dance stations Vibe 101 and Vibe 105-108.
• 2006
  • April – Bam Bam left the station. Kiss later faced a large fine for broadcasting issues that happened on his show.
  • Robin Banks took over from Bam Bam as the host of the breakfast show.
  • 6 September –
    • Kiss was relaunched with a new focus on dance music because fewer people were listening.
    • Vibe 101 and Vibe 105–108 were renamed Kiss 101 and Kiss 105-108. This happened after Emap bought the Vibe stations.
  • 22 October – The Kiss radio network started broadcasting a new chart show called the Fresh 40. It counted down the top 40 R&B and dance songs.
• 2007
  • May – Rickie Haywood Williams and Melvin Odoom became the new hosts of the breakfast show, replacing Robin Banks.
• 2008
  • 29 January – A company called Bauer bought Emap's radio, TV, and media businesses.
• 2009
  • 1 March – The last Fresh 40 chart show was broadcast.

Expanding and Changing: 2010s

• 2010
  • December – The radio regulator, Ofcom, allowed Bauer Radio to stop local programming on the three Kiss stations. This meant Kiss could become a national station. This was allowed if Kiss became available on many more digital radio (DAB) platforms.
• 2011
  • January – John Digweed's show, Transitions, was broadcast on Kiss for the last time.
• 2012
  • November – David Rodigan left Kiss after being with the station since it started in 1990. He left because his reggae show was moved to a later time.
  • 27 December – Kiss 100 started broadcasting across the UK on the Digital One national DAB radio platform.
• 2013
  • 7 May – KissFresh launched. It was available on Freeview (digital TV) and online.
  • 12 May – Kisstory launched as a full-time station, also on Freeview and online.
• 2014
  • Logan Sama left Kiss to join BBC 1Xtra.
  • September – DJ EZ left Kiss after hosting a UK garage show for 14 years.
  • 12 December – Kisstory and KissFresh started broadcasting on DAB radio for the first time in London.
• 2015
  • January – Kisstory launched on many local DAB radio platforms across the UK.
• 2016
  • 26 February – Kiss launched in Norway and Finland. Local teams managed the content.
  • 29 February – Kisstory was one of the first stations to launch on the new semi-national Sound Digital DAB platform.
  • 1 May – KissFresh took over some of the local DAB slots that Kisstory had left.
• 2017
  • 10 July – KissFresh launched nationally on the Digital One DAB platform. Its schedule and music were updated to make it different from the main Kiss station. However, it only stayed on this platform for a few months.
• 2018
  • January –
    • Kiss launched two new online stations: KISS Jams and KISS Grime.
    • Some changes were made to the late-night shows on the main station. New special shows also started on KissFresh.
  • 26 November – Kiss breakfast presenters Rickie Haywood Williams, Melvin Odoom, and Charlie Hedges announced they would leave Kiss at the end of the year to join BBC Radio 1.
• 2019
  • 2 January – Tom Green and Daisy Maskell became the new co-presenters of the breakfast show.
  • 11 February – Kisstory moved to the more widely available Digital One DAB platform.
  • March – KissFresh was removed from most local DAB platforms. It still remained available on Freeview.
  • August – Bauer launched new online-only music streams based on its radio brands. These included three new Kiss stations: Kiss Dnce, Kiss Garage, and Kiss Ibiza. Kiss Dnce later changed its name to 'Kiss Dance'. Kiss Ibiza later stopped broadcasting to make way for Kiss Jams but then returned as a separate stream.

The 2020s

• 2020
  • 23 June – Tom Green and Daisy Maskell announced they would be leaving the breakfast show. Daisy became the host of the new Kiss Fresh breakfast show, and Tom left the station. Jordan Banjo and Perri Kiely took over the main breakfast show on August 3.
  • 31 October – For the first time, KISS FM, KISSTORY, and Kiss Fresh all broadcast the KISS Haunted House Party together.
• 2021
  • No major events happened this year.
• 2022
  • 27 May – Bauer Media announced plans for a new subscription service for Absolute Radio and KISS. This would allow listeners to hear content without commercials for a monthly fee.
• 2023
  • 11 July – Ofcom allowed Bauer Media to change Kiss Radio to Greatest Hits Radio on three of its four FM frequencies in the East of England. Kiss will continue to broadcast on FM in Norwich.