WPKF

WPKF (96.1 FM, "Kiss FM") is a top 40 radio station licensed to Poughkeepsie, New York and serving the Mid-Hudson Valley of New York state. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. and broadcasts at 4.4 kilowatts ERP from a tower mounted on the roof of the Ross Pavilion at the Hudson River Psychiatric Center in Poughkeepsie.

History

The 96.1 frequency was granted as a construction permit in 1995 to WRNQ/WKIP owner Richard Novik. In early 1996, the frequency planned to use the WALQ calls, however that August those calls were replaced by WNSX (Ninety SiX) as the station prepared to sign on the air. Two months later, the 96.1 frequency came to life as "Modern Rock, The X 96.1, with The Greaseman in mornings and ABC's "MR-35" format the rest of the day.

Two months after WNSX signed on, Richard Novik sold his station cluster to Straus Media and the future of the format began to unravel. The X did not fit in with the country-oriented Straus strategy and the station flipped to country as ("Thunder Country") WTND'. WNSX did quite well for a new signal in its only book on the air, but it was too late to turn back.