KCCN FM 100, whose first broadcast day was May 14, 1990 under General Manager Michael Kelly, Program Director Honolulu Skylark and Music Director William Van Osdol. It was the sister station to the original KCCN 1420 AM, whose focus would always be on a Traditional Hawaiian music format. They are also Honolulu's first FM station in this genre to target young adults of Hawaiian/Pacific Islander descent with a hit format that consists of upbeat Contemporary Hawaiian music from Hawaiian acts like Kapena, The Mana'o Company, Bruddah Waltah & Island Afternoon, and Butch Helemano; along with tracks from other unique national genres, like Reggae, Dancehall and contemporary artists whose music fit those descriptions, like UB40, Bob Marley, Maxi Priest, Big Mountain, Magic! and others. With those ingredients, KCCN has become one of Honolulu's top-rated radio stations.
Concerts and events
KCCN FM 100, in its first year, put together an annual concert that would celebrate the birthday of the station, and would eventually become a standard in concerts for every summer. It was always scheduled for the last Saturday in July at the Waikiki Shell, and would highlight the best bands in Contemporary Hawaiian music, with special guests from either Contemporary Top 40 radio or Traditional Hawaiian music, with emphasis on the latter. It came to be known as the KCCN FM 100 Birthday Bash. The KCCN FM 100 Birthday Bash in 2000 went to a two-night event, being the last Friday and Saturday in the month of July. It has sold out almost every year in its existence since 1990, and continues to be an annual staple for the station. 2012 was the Last Birthday Bash event at the Waikiki Shell.
Ownership
In the mid 1990s, KCCN-FM would be joined by Hawaiian 105 KINE, broadcasting out of the 4th floor of the Pioneer Plaza Building in downtown Honolulu. After the two were paired up KINE shifted to a Traditional Hawaiian format targeting 25-54s, which was KCCN-AM's former format. In 1999 Cox Radio bought the stations from Howard Anderson and combined the assets that they already had to become Cox Radio Hawai'i, pairing it with KRTR 96 FM, KPHW and later stations KORL 1460 AM and KKNE940 AM. They would all later move together to occupy the 7th floor of the Pioneer Plaza Building. On July 20, 2012, Cox Radio, Inc. announced the sale of KCCN-FM and 22 other stations to Summit Media LLC for $66.25 million. The sale was consummated on May 3, 2013.
