Kiss Unveils HD Country Station

By Christina Hoag, The Miami Herald

Sep. 28–Looking to immerse yourself in Southern rebel country music?

This week South Florida’s country music station, WKIS-FM Kiss 99.9, is launching a high-definition radio station that will carry a mighty cry of what Kiss Marketing Director Sandy Sloane calls a “hell, yeah!” attitude.

“With this format, you’re just rocking out the whole time,” Sloane said. “We’ll be playing a lot of that Southern rock that doesn’t have a real niche, songs you want to hear but can’t find in South Florida.”

That’s tracks from the likes of the Allman Brothers Band, the Charlie Daniels Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Travis Tritt, Toby Keith and Hank Williams Jr.

WKIS plays more mainstream country tunes, Sloane said.

Called “Gretchen 99.9,” the HD station is inspired by the self-titled “redneck woman” Gretchen Wilson, who’s releasing her latest album All Jacked Up this week.

The station, owned by Naples-based Beasley Broadcast Group, is one of some 200 HD outlets across the country, including Beasley’s WPOW-FM Power 96′s dance and electronic station and National Public Radio WLRN-FM 91.3′s new 24-hour classical music station, which is broadcast on a different channel.

HD is cutting-edge technology that offers crystal-clear, CD-quality sound but the signal can only be captured through a special HD receiver.

Receivers, costing $250 to $600, are slated to be widely available this holiday season at electronic stores.

Gretchen 99.9 will be streamed live on wwww.wkis.com, as well over the air on HD-2, 99.9.

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