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KBKS-FM (106.1 MHz) – branded as Hits 106.1 – is a commercial radio station licensed to Tacoma, Washington, and serving the Seattle metropolitan area. Owned by iHeartMedia, it broadcasts a top 40 (CHR) radio format. The studios and offices are located on Elliott Avenue West in the Belltown neighborhood of Seattle. The transmitter is on Tiger Mountain, in Issaquah.
KBKS is the flagship station of the syndicated morning show The Jubal Show.
In 1961, the station moved to 106.1 MHz, its current frequency, and increased power to 25,000 watts. With a tower 700 feet tall, the station was still limited to the area around Tacoma and not the larger Seattle radio market. (The transmitter would be moved to Tiger Mountain in 1980.)
In the Spring of 1996, shortly after the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Heritage swapped KCIN and KRPM to EZ Communications in exchange for EZ's New Orleans cluster. The transaction made KMPS and KCIN . EZ immediately took over the stations via a local marketing agreement (LMA) until the purchase was completed later that year. EZ also bought rival KJAQ from Infinity Broadcasting two weeks prior, which then lead to the end of the country format on KCIN and KRPM.
On March 18, 1996, KCIN/KRPM dropped regular programming and began simulcasting KMPS for four days, then began simulcasting KYCW for two days. At Midnight on March 24, KCIN/KRPM began a 39-hour stunt with random audio soundbites, while announcing a change to come the following afternoon.
KBKS's playlist consisted of a wide range of rhythmic hits targeting adults 25–54 years old, including Motown, gold hits from the 1960s through the 1980s, re-currents, and current-day hits from artists like Celine Dion, Toni Braxton, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, and Boyz II Men. The station primarily competed against KUBE, KQMV, and KPLZ-FM.
EZ and American Radio Systems merged in July 1997. Westinghouse/CBS bought American Radio Systems' stations (including KBKS) on September 19, 1997. In June 1998, CBS split off the radio division under the revived Infinity Broadcasting name, which would be renamed CBS Radio in December 2005.
At first, KBKS' direction leaned more towards Modern AC as a way to counter KUBE's Rhythmic Top 40 direction. KBKS became more mainstream in early 2000. In 2007, at the same time the station rebranded to "106.1 KISS FM," the station began leaning more rhythmic, in the hopes of denting KUBE's dominant ratings in the Seattle Top 40 battle.
The acquisition by Clear Channel joined KBKS with former long-time rival rhythmic top 40 station KUBE, as KBKS began competing against Sandusky Broadcasting's Top 40 KQMV (Movin' 92.5) and Modern AC KLCK-FM (Click 98.9), as well as Fisher Broadcasting's Hot AC KPLZ-FM (Star 101.5). (KLCK-FM has since switched to country music as KNUC and later to adult album alternative as KPNW-FM.)
On October 24, 2018, KBKS dropped all of its on-air personalities, and began to run promos hinting at the end of the Kiss format. The next day, the station began a stunt in which songs were periodically interrupted by a demonic voice saying " Kiss is dead", along with airing songs with various sound effects added. On October 29, the station also began promoting an impending announcement on Halloween at 4:00 p.m. At that time, the station ran an announcement by iHeartMedia's regional president Robert Dove, saying the company was in the process of revamping KBKS to create a station "that is real, connected to the community, positive, and proud to live in Seattle". KBKS retained its existing format and Kiss FM branding. The station also announced that it would hold a contest to find new co-hosts for its morning show, explaining the prior stunt by stating that Kiss was "dead serious" about finding "Seattle's Funniest Person". The station solicited nominations for this title from listeners, with a chance to win $10,000 if someone is hired based on their suggestion. This came as longtime host Bender Cunningham was let go after nearly 18 years.
On November 12, 2018, The Carla Marie & Anthony Show (which originated with KPWK's CHR format) premiered as KBKS's new morning show. The attempts at retooling did little to improve KBKS's ratings, only increasing by a single tenth of a share by February 2019. In March 2019, Amber Cole (from WCHI-FM Chicago) and Evan Omelia were announced as the winners of the aforementioned "Seattle's Funniest Person" contest, and joined the morning show as co-hosts on April 1.
To promote the launch of the new morning show, KBKS temporarily rebranded as Jubal 106.1 on August 3, 2020. On August 20, to coincide with the debut of The Jubal Show, KBKS relaunched its CHR format as Hits 106.1. iHeartMedia began to syndicate The Jubal Show via Premiere Networks in October.
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