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CKKS-FM (107.5 FM broadcasting, "Kiss Throwbacks") is a radio station licensed to Chilliwack, and serving Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Owned by Rogers Radio, a division of Rogers Sports & Media, it broadcasts a classic hits format focusing on music from the 1990s through the 2010s.
The station's main radio studio and offices are at 2440 Ash Street in the Fairview neighbourhood of Vancouver, where its rebroadcasting transmitter CKKS-FM-2 operates at 104.9 FM with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 31,000 and a height above average terrain (HAAT) of 672.2 metres (2,205 ft) from atop Mount Seymour. Another rebroadcasting transmitter, 92.5 CKKS-FM-1, is in Abbotsford, British Columbia.
The station went on the air in 1986 as CKSR-FM, with transmitters at Abbotsford and Chilliwack. Technical changes in the late 1990s added a third transmitter in Vancouver, greatly expanding its broadcast coverage.
Beginning in 1995, CKSR began gradually phasing out its easy listening songs in favor of a pure adult contemporary format. Fraser Valley Broadcasters also analyzed ways to improve its reception in several areas of the western Fraser Valley where its signal remained "unreliable". In 1997, the Abbotsford main transmitter was moved to 104.9 MHz on Mount Seymour, with a new Abbotsford transmitter on 92.5 MHz. While the CRTC did not permit the station to reduce its service to the Fraser Valley, approving the move over objections from several Vancouver radio stations, the move had the consequence of putting the Lower Mainland in its coverage area, and CKSR-FM opened a Vancouver office (without studios, as the CRTC did not allow permanent studios outside the Fraser Valley to be used). The move gave Vancouver three adult contemporary stations: CKSR-FM, CHQM-FM, and CJAX-FM.
Throughout the run, ratings were low, usually behind competing FM rocker CFOX-FM, but there were some notable moments, including the early playing of the new Radiohead song "Kid A" in September 2000, which earned a cease-and-desist order from record label EMI after CKVX obtained a recording. Rogers placed the CKSR call sign on the former CHWK and converted it to FM in 2001 as CKSR-FM, adopting the former Star FM's branding, and a similar light rock format.
In December 2007, management announced that Charlee Morgan, formerly of Calgary's CHFM and the old LG73 in Vancouver, would begin hosting the morning show in early 2008. Morgan made her morning show debut at CKCL on February 18, 2008.
On September 26, 2008, CKCL dropped Morgan's morning show, and the station's adult contemporary format, switching to classic hits and re-branding itself as FM 104.9, thus once again leaving CTVglobemedia's market-leading CHQM-FM as the sole adult contemporary outlet in Vancouver. The last song on "Clear FM" was "I Will Remember You" by Sarah McLachlan (which was also the last song on LG73), while the first song under the new format was "Twist and Shout" by The Beatles. This move prompted Astral Media's CISL to flip from oldies to adult standards on November 10, 2008. On November 12, 2009, CKCL rebranded itself as 104.9 fun FM; the call sign changed in late November to CFUN-FM to reflect the updated branding. The heritage CFUN call letters were vacated by CTVglobemedia after AM 1410 (now owned by Bell Media) flipped to sports radio and became CFTE.
In 2019, Rogers filed an application with the CRTC to replace CKKS-FM-2 with a new station on the same frequency, which would operate independently of CKKS. CRTC rules require a consultation on the appropriateness of a new station in the market, which can include a requirement for competing applicants. The application was denied in July 2020, with the CRTC ruling that Rogers "significantly understated the potential market impact of converting its rebroadcasting transmitter to an originating station". In 2021, Rogers received a renewal for CKKS-FM and its rebroadcasters, with the CRTC rebuffing a proposal to drop traffic reports for the Fraser Valley.
In 2021, CKKS shifted to hot adult contemporary and changed its moniker to "Today's Best Music, The New KiSS Radio".
While stunting is common practice during a radio format change, this particular stunt gained attention in international media outlets including The Guardian and Rolling Stone, driven in part by theories put forward on social media that the remaining staff had commandeered the station to protest the layoffs, despite the other changes being reported. Industry observer Sean Ross suggested that despite being the "most traditional of format launch stunts", the outsized attention the relaunch received made it "the greatest radio stunt ever—or at least for this year."
On June 30, 2022, at 6:00 a.m., the station officially flipped to modern rock as Sonic, with new morning host Angela Valiant introducing the format, then playing "Killing in the Name" one more time. The station competed with Jim Pattison Group's CKPK-FM The Peak; while that station flipped to hot AC the following month, it ultimately reversed the flip and returned to modern rock in June 2024.
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