iHeartMedia flipped CHR “95.9 Kiss-FM” WAKZ Sharpsville PA/Youngstown OH to Hip Hop “Real 95.9” at 2pm today.
Launching with 5000 songs commercial-free, the station will feature the syndicated Breakfast Club in mornings starting Monday, July 13. The remainder of the station’s lineup will feature the company’s national air talent of Big Sue in middays, Papa Keith in afternoons, and T-Roy at night.
The move gives Youngstown two Hip Hop stations as WAKZ joins Over/Under LLC’s Rhythmic CHR “Loud 102.3” 1470 WLOA/102.3 W272CI, which launched in April 2019. That launch ended a six year drought in the the market for the format following Bernard Radio’s sale of “101.9 Jamz” WRBP to Educational Media Foundation in early 2013. The change at WAKZ now leaves Cumulus Media’s “Hot 101” WHOT-FM as the only CHR in the market.
iHeartMedia Youngstown announced today the debut of the new Real 95.9, Youngstown’s REAL Hip Hop and R&B, effective immediately.
To celebrate the launch, Real 95.9 will play 5,000 songs in a row, broadcasting the most popular Hip Hop and R&B songs uninterrupted. Listeners can tune in to hear songs from top artists including Drake, Travis Scott, J. Cole, Cardi B, DaBaby, Kendrick Lamar, Rihanna and more. The station will also feature popular on-air personalities including Big Sue, Papa Keith and T-Roy. In addition, on July 13, 2020, the station will welcome the most-listened-to Hip Hop morning show in America, “The Breakfast Club.”
“Top 40 has evolved and Real 95.9 is the only station you’ll hear everywhere in The Mahoning Valley, playing today’s biggest Hip Hop and R&B hit songs,” said Keith Kennedy, Market President and Vice President of Programming for iHeartMedia Youngstown.
Full Programming Lineup:
The Breakfast Club – 5: 30 a.m. — 10 a.m.
Big Sue – 10 a.m. — 3 p.m.
Papa Keith – 3 p.m. — 7 p.m.
T-Roy – 7 p.m. — 12 a.m.
Original Report 7/1: A format change is being teased for iHeartMedia CHR “95.9 Kiss-FM” WAKZ Sharpsville PA/Youngstown OH for Thursday, July 2. Social media posts promote “saying goodbye to Kiss” and “the final Kiss” taking place at that time.
WAKZ registered a 2.5 share in the Fall 2019 Nielsen Audio ratings, placing it well behind Cumulus Media’s “Hot 101” WHOT-FM’s 5.8. Both stations dropped from the spring to fall following the April 2019 launch of Over/Under LLC’s Rhythmic CHR “Loud 102.3” 1470 WLOA/102.3 W272CI who didn’t subscribe to the ratings.
