The station that played Toronto’s hit music for the latter half of the 90s and up until yesterday afternoon is no longer. Kiss 92 has officially become Jack FM, a station that will play music of all demographics.

“The Jack format transcends normal definitions of a radio format,” said Chuck McCoy, General Manager for Jack FM. “Our listeners have been telling us over and over that they want more musical variety. They like more than one type of music and that’s what they’ll hear on Jack.”

The latest ratings had Kiss ranked twelfth, with a 3.6 ratings share. Chum FM had the highest ratings share with 9.0.

92.5 officially became Jack FM at 4 PM ET on Wednesday. Listeners will hear their tag line, “playing what we want,” as well as an announcer saying Jack FM will not have any commercials. It is not known how long their commercial-free programming will last.

Since last summer, Kiss was geared towards an urban audience. David M ajor, a public speaker from Toronto, says Kiss offered an alternative to Flow 93.5, Canada’s first urban station.

“We never think about the role a radio station plays in our lives until it’s gone,” he says. “Certainly FLOW 93.5 was the trend setter in urban radio, but having Kiss 92.5 was… like having another brother.”

Major, who has travelled to such countries as China and the United States on speaking engagements, believes Toronto was the only place that offered two “excellent urban-music programming [choices]. Wherever I went, I always told people that Torontonians were the lucky ones, because our radio was the best. Now, I just don’t know anymore.”

It is expected that the Wham Bam concert scheduled for July 1, which was being put on by Kiss, will still continue as planned. The concert includes headliners 50 Cent and Jay-Z, and was part of their North American summer tour, meaning Kiss didn’t actually have much to do with its organization, other than the promotion.






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