NOLA Radio: CCM+E Launches Rock Format On 96.3 FM

The absence of contemporary rock from New Orleans’ airwaves proved short-lived. On Monday, Feb. 17, Top 40 pop station KISS-FM changed its name to Rock 96.3 (Translator K242CE and WRNO 99.5 FM HD2) and rolled a new format of current and classic guitar rock, according to Keith Spera at nola.com.

The station’s new format announced itself with AC/DC’s “For Those About to Rock.” On Monday afternoon, Rock 96.3 spun a mix of alt-metal from the past decade alongside slightly older, more familiar rock cuts. The playlist included All That Remains’ 2012 anthem “What If I Was Nothing,” Breaking Benjamin’s “So Cold,” from 2004, and Danish rock band Volbeat’s “Heaven Nor Hell.”

Rock 96.3 borrowed a tag line deployed by fellow Clear Channel station WRNO-FM in the 1980s, “the Rock of New Orleans.”

K242CE 96.3 FM (250w) 60dBu Coverage

For now, Rock 96.3 is airing a "premium choice" music program assembled on a corporate level by Clear Channel and made available to its stations around the country. Such "premium choice" programs can be customized for local markets. Eventually, Don Gosselin, the station's operations manager and program director, Rock 96.3 will use some locally based deejays and more personalized programming.

In January, Cumulus Media's WRKN 92.3 FM, at the time the only commercial New Orleans radio station that regularly spun modern rock,  became NASH-FM and switched to a country format to compete with CCM+E's WNOE.

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