Seattle Radio: KBKS Plans Moving Molly Mesnick To Mid-Day

Planned C-C-Changes at iHeart Media's KBKS 106.1 KISS FM, one of Seattle’s two major Top 40 stations,has gotten attnetion from The Seattle Times.  Seattle listeners tuning in for their dose of Ariana Grande, 5 Seconds of Summer and other hitmakers have been greeted with announcements saying that the station is “under construction.”

Last week, KISS-FM seemed to have started the process of switching formats, according to an on-air message from iHeartMedia’s Pacific Northwest regional president Robert Dove. “Over the last year or so our radio station’s ratings have shown declines and it’s become increasingly clear that you just did not care anymore,” Dove says in the message. “Over the past several months we’ve reached out to the community in various ways and it became very clear to us that we just needed to do something different.”

Molly Mesnick

But apparently listeners cared enough for station brass to table plans to shift away from its Top 40 format, which KISS just recalibrated to this spring, after fan feedback.

Nevertheless, KISS isn’t staying static, as its DJs have been noticeably absent of late. The departure of longtime morning-show host Bender Cunningham, who joined the station in 2001, has triggered the most outcry from listeners. On Monday, Cunningham thanked fans on social media for “making me a part of your morning routine” for nearly 18 years.

Cunningham’s co-host Molly Mesnick will stay with KISS but move to midday. according to The Times.

KISS has launched a promotional search campaign to find “Seattle’s funniest person” for its revamped morning show, offering $10,000 to anyone who refers a successful candidate. Citing feedback on social media and the station’s request lines, Dove said in his message that listeners wanted a station that’s more positive and locally connected, and not morning-show segments with “fake actors and fake callers” — an apparent jab at rival station MOViN 92.5.

“We are dedicated to being a station about Seattle and for Seattle; a station that sounds like Seattle,” Dove says in his taped message. “There will be no format change today, but starting right now, 106.1 is under construction.”

On-air audutions for a morning show host are planned for January 2019.