About 98.8 Kiss FM

98.8 Kiss FM

98.8 Kiss FM is Berlin's black-music station — "Der Beat von Berlin" — broadcasting rap, hip-hop, R&B, dance and pop to the capital on FM 98.8 MHz. Launched on 1 January 1993 with the slogan "Only Black Music", it was named after New York's 98.7 Kiss FM, one of the first stations to play rap regularly. The Berlin vision was to play "underrepresented music": the licence still requires a programme of music and spoken word focused on all areas of young Berlin life — vocational training, work, leisure, youth problems — socially engaged, trend-reactive and integrating Berlin's minorities. The station reaches 57,000 listeners per hour in Berlin and Brandenburg. Its main competitors are JAM FM, the public youth station Fritz (rbb) and Energy Berlin (NRJ).

Overview

98.8 Kiss FM is a privately owned Berlin broadcaster (100% Frank Otto Medienbeteiligungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG) with its studios in the Medienzentrum Berlin in the "Das Schloss" shopping centre in Steglitz — alongside Berliner Rundfunk 91.4 and 94,3 rs2. The rhythmic-CHR programme plays rap, hip-hop, R&B, dance and pop 24/7, with web channels including Oldschool HipHop, Urban Beats, R'n'B, Classics, New Beats, Top40 and Dance Electro House. The managing directors are Christian Schalt and Christopher Franzen. The technical reach is around 4.2 million inhabitants.

History

Kiss FM began broadcasting from Voltastraße in the Wedding locality in January 1993, initially only via analogue cable on 98.45 MHz — making significant reach hard. On 1 August 1994 the cable frequency switched to today's 97.90 MHz; that month Kiss FM considered discontinuing broadcasts over financial problems and appealed to the MABB media authority for an FM frequency. After a December 1994 MABB decision, Kiss FM received the 98.8 frequency from BFBS on 28 February 1995.

In its first five years Kiss FM saw itself as a DJ radio and representative of Berlin's club scene, with the slogan "Power Music Radio". Daytime was formatted R&B, hip-hop and dance — typical artists included Freundeskreis, Apollo 440, Run DMC, Janet Jackson, Robert Miles and Nas — while nights brought DJ shows across urban and dance genres, with DJs including Paul van Dyk, Ray Cokes and DJ Tomekk. Kiss FM joined the Love Parade and Christopher Street Day with its own truck. In 1995 the station won the Viva Comet as "Best Radio Station". From 2013 to end of 2016 the Sunday-night talk show "Facetalk" ran 9 p.m.–midnight, also carried by Energy Sachsen and Delta Radio. In 2015 the station won the German Radio Prize for "Best Comedy" for the "Prenzlauer Berg News" series; in 2024 Kiss FM presenter Gianluca won as "Best Presenter", and in 2026 Melina Sander (Mille) won for "Best Interview". The station's world records include the "longest interview in the world" and — on 20 October 2017 — the world's largest döner kebab at 423.5 kg.

Programming

The 24/7 programme plays rap, hip-hop, R&B, dance and pop charts with a Berlin youth-culture focus. The licence requirements shape the spoken-word content: vocational training, work, leisure, youth problems, social engagement and minority integration. The annual "KISS Cup" — morning hosts competing in sports disciplines with celebrities and listeners for the "Junge Helden" charity — extends the brand into events.

Coverage & Audience

98.8 Kiss FM broadcasts on FM 98.8 MHz in Berlin, via analogue cable (97.90 MHz), on DAB+ in Berlin (channel 7B) and Hamburg (channel 10D, since December 2024), and as a worldwide livestream. The station reaches 57,000 listeners per hour in Berlin and Brandenburg.

Ownership

The owner is 100% the Frank Otto Medienbeteiligungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG. In 2006 Kiss FM founded the subsidiary Radio Service Berlin together with 94,3 rs2 and Berliner Rundfunk 91.4 — a broadcast-services company offering news, music programmes and training.

Digital Presence

The station operates kissfm.de with a livestream and a large web-channel family alongside apps and social media channels, making it one of Germany's most digitally developed youth stations. The digital offering extends the station's black-music programme and Berlin club-culture identity to listeners beyond the FM footprint.

Home of HipHop & R'n'B

98.8 Kiss FM went on air on 1 January 1993 — Berlin's station for hip-hop, R&B, dance and pop, calling itself the "Home of HipHop & R'n'B". The rhythmic-CHR format targets 14-to-29-year-olds; the broadcast area is branded the "Kiss Nation". The owner is the Frank Otto Medienbeteiligungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG — the Hamburg media entrepreneur's group — with the Kiss FM Radio GmbH & Co. KG as operator; managing directors Sebastian Cochois and Christopher Franzen. The technical reach is 4.2 million listeners in Berlin and Brandenburg; in total the station reaches 57,000 listeners per hour (35,000 in the advertiser-relevant 14–49 group, ranking sixth). Its main competitors are Jam FM (Berlin's other black-music station), the public youth station Fritz and Energy Berlin.

The Kiss Cup

For years Kiss FM staged the annual "Kiss Cup", in which the station's presenters competed against each other in sporting disciplines, supported by celebrities and listeners: football in 2008, basketball in 2009 in the Max-Schmeling-Halle, football again from 2010. Stars like Stromae, Felix Jaehn and Die Atzen performed alongside local acts at the charity event. The Kiss Cup became one of Berlin youth radio's signature events — sport, music and the Kiss community in one arena.

Radio Service Berlin

In 2006 Kiss FM founded the subsidiary Radio Service Berlin together with Berliner Rundfunk 91.4 and 94,3 rs2 — a broadcast service company offering news, music programmes and training. The three stations also share their home: the studios are part of the medienzentrum Berlin in the Das Schloss shopping centre in Steglitz. Older tracks in the programme are announced as "Kiss Classics"; the presenters occasionally cover well-known chart hits. Kiss FM is received on FM 98.8 MHz in Berlin and parts of Brandenburg, on DAB+ (7B), via cable and worldwide livestream — Berlin's hip-hop home since January 1993.

Home of HipHop & R'n'B

KISS FM went on air on 1 January 1993 and calls itself the "Home of HipHop & R'n'B": rhythmic CHR with hip-hop and R&B for the 14- to 29-year-old target group; the coverage area is dubbed the "Kiss Nation". The owner is 100% Frank Otto Medienbeteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG (operator: Kiss FM Radio GmbH & Co. KG); managing directors Sebastian Cochois and Christopher Franzen. The studios sit in the medienzentrum Berlin in the Das Schloss shopping centre in Steglitz. The station reaches 57,000 listeners per average hour in Berlin and Brandenburg (technical reach: 4.2 million); among 14- to 29-year-olds it ranks third with 23,000 per hour, behind 104.6 RTL and Star FM. Its main competitors are JAM FM (the other black-music station), the public youth station Fritz (rbb) and Energy Berlin. Older songs in the rotation are announced as "Kiss Classics"; presenters occasionally cover well-known chart hits — "Alors On Kiss" answering Duck Sauce's "Barbra Streisand". Gross advertising revenue amounted to €11.2 million in 2011.

The Kiss Cup and Frank Otto

For years KISS FM staged the annual "Kiss Cup", in which the station's presenters competed in sporting disciplines with celebrities and listeners: football in 2008, basketball in Berlin's Max-Schmeling-Halle in 2009, football again from 2010 — with stars like Stromae, Felix Jaehn and Die Atzen appearing for the charity event alongside local acts. In 2006 Kiss FM co-founded Radio Service Berlin with Berliner Rundfunk 91.4 and 94,3 RS2. Behind the station stands Frank Otto (born 7 July 1957 in Hamburg) — third of five children of mail-order billionaire Werner Otto, trained as a paper and graphics restorer, fine-art student, musician and producer. In 1987 he founded OK Radio (Hamburg's second private station, today Hamburg zwei) with Rolf Baierle and Klaus Schulz; in 1993 he co-founded the music channel VIVA; in 1995 he launched Hamburg 1, one of Germany's first private regional TV stations. His stakes span delta radio, the former Radio NORA, Kiss FM, Energy Sachsen and the web platforms RauteMusik and Laut.de/Laut.fm; from 1999 to 2003 he published the Hamburger Morgenpost, and in June 2004 his €600,000 surety secured FC St. Pauli's licence for the Regionalliga season. Few individuals have shaped German private radio as broadly as the Hamburg entrepreneur behind the "Home of HipHop & R'n'B".