The station signed on the air on May 28, 1965, as the FM simulcast of
WFTW (1260 AM). WFTW-FM was originally on 99.3 MHz, broadcasting at 3,000 watts, a fraction of its current output. Both stations were owned by Vacationland Broadcasting. Because WFTW 1260 was a
daytimer, WFTW-FM continued the AM station's programming after sunset. FM 99.3 was a Class A frequency, limited at the time to only local coverage. So management decided to move WFTW-FM's dial position. The
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) permitted it to move slightly up the dial to 99.5 MHz and get a boost in power. The signal now covers a significant part of the larger and more lucrative
Pensacola radio market. In the late 1960s, WFTW-FM stopped simulcasting 1260 WFTW. It began broadcasting a
beautiful music format. The station featured quarter-hour sweeps of mostly instrumental
cover versions of popular songs, as well as
Broadway and
Hollywood show tunes. The station would later flip to an
adult contemporary format, and then later
Top 40/CHR in May 1985. It was one out of two CHR stations in the Fort Walton Beach and Destin areas, with the other being
WNUE. The station's call letters were changed to
WKSM in April 1988, retaining its CHR format under the branding "99 KISS-FM". The format lasted until mid-November 1991, and the station switched to its current
album rock format. This left WNUE the only Top-40 station in Fort Walton Beach until it became a sports radio format in 1992. In 1993, WKSM and WFTW were sold for $1 million to Holiday Broadcasting. In 2003,
Cumulus Media acquired the two stations. ==References==