Curtis Media has realigned its frequencies at multiple stations in the Raliegh/Durham market.
The biggest move was upgrading the Classic Hits format of “Kix 102.9” WKIX-FM Raleigh to a trimulcast branded as just “Kix 102“. Recently acquired 102.3 WKJO Smithfield will expand WKIX-FM’s coverage to the southeast of Raleigh. 102.5 WPLW-FM Hillsborough drops its CHR “Pulse-FM” format to expand the Kix format’s coverage in areas around Durham and Chapel Hill.
“Pulse-FM” will continue to be heard on 96.9 WWPL Goldsboro while adding 104.7 W284CP Raleigh and 104.7 W284CD Youngsville to provide better coverage within Raleigh itself, while the loss of WPLW-FM takes the station’s coverage away from Durham and the western half of the market.
The two 104.7 translators had been rebroadcasting Oldies 850 WKIX Raleigh. That brand now becomes “Oldies 93.5” adding 93.5 W228CZ Cary and 93.5 W228CV Chapel Hill.
Despite the Class A signal that only covered part of the market, WKIX-FM ranked fifth in the November 2022 Nielsen Audio ratings with a 5.1 share. WWPL/WPLW-FM were seventeenth with a 2.0 share, while 850 WKIX was right above it with a 2.1.