102.7 KIIS FM streams pop and Top 40 hits live from Los Angeles, the flagship station behind the nationally syndicated On Air with Ryan Seacrest and the annual Wango Tango festival. You can stream it live and free right now on Radio Shuffle, wherever you are in the world.
A Frequency With Four Different Names
The station now known as KIIS-FM first went on air on March 7, 1961, as KLAC-FM, and spent the next decade and a half cycling through call signs and formats, becoming KRHM in 1965, then KKDJ in 1971, before settling on KIIS-FM in 1975, according to Wikipedia's history of the station. The name itself was a deliberate bit of branding: KIIS was chosen because it visually echoed the station's old AM frequency, 1150, since "1150" reads a bit like "IIS." Even after landing on that name, the station kept experimenting through adult contemporary, disco, and dance formats before finally committing to Top 40 in 1980.
Rick Dees Built a CHR Powerhouse
KIIS-FM's modern identity really started in July 1981, when Rick Dees took over mornings and turned the station into one of the dominant contemporary hit radio outlets in the country. Dees held that morning slot for more than two decades, a run that lasted until February 2004, when general manager Roy Laughlin chose not to renew his contract and moved Ryan Seacrest over from sister station KYSR instead.
Ryan Seacrest and a Nationally Syndicated Show
Seacrest paired with co-host Ellen K to launch On Air with Ryan Seacrest in 2004, a drive-time show built at KIIS-FM that grew well beyond its Los Angeles home to become one of iHeartMedia's most widely syndicated programs on Top 40 stations across the country. KIIS-FM remains the show's flagship station, the place where the format that now airs nationwide actually started.
An Annual Festival Born From One Marketing Idea
KIIS-FM has run Wango Tango, its own day-long concert festival, since 1998, when the first event took place at what was then Edison International Field in Anaheim on June 13. The concept came from then-marketing director Von Freeman working alongside general manager Roy Laughlin, turning a single promotional idea into an annual event that has hosted major pop and pop-adjacent acts for more than two decades since.
Tune In
From a 1961 launch under a completely different name to hosting one of pop radio's most durable syndicated shows and its own annual festival, KIIS-FM has spent more than six decades staying near the center of Los Angeles pop music. Stream 102.7 KIIS FM free on Radio Shuffle to hear it live.