KISO 96.1 FM

A Top 40 contemporary hit radio station broadcasting on 96.1 MHz in the Omaha, Nebraska market, owned by iHeartMedia. The station operates with an effective radiated power of 82,000 watts, with its transmitter located at the Omaha master antenna farm on North 72nd Street. During morning drive time, it carries syndicated programming from co-owned WHTZ in New York. The station is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission for HD Radio broadcasting, with its HD2 subchannel carrying a mainstream rock format feeding FM translator K235CD on 94.9 MHz. The 96.1 frequency in Omaha has a history dating to September 1976, originally signing on from Council Bluffs, Iowa. An early predecessor, KCOM, emerged around 1959 when hobbyists used the frequency to broadcast classical music from the Rorick Apartments. Through the Burden Broadcasting years, the station operated as KICN, serving as an FM simulcast of AM sister station KOIL 1290, one of the market's prominent Top 40 outlets. In 1967 the call sign changed to KOIL-FM, shifting to a beautiful music automated format in response to FCC encouragement for AM-FM differentiation. The call letters changed again to KEFM in 1974. Subsequent decades brought further ownership and format changes before the station adopted the KISO identity and Top 40 format under iHeartMedia, aligning with the nationally recognized Kiss FM brand. Studios are situated near North 50th Street and Underwood Avenue in Midtown Omaha.