Kiss FM Lebanon was established in 1992.  Imad Geara (Current station manager) and Edy Jazra (Former co-partner) had the dream to have a radio station. Imad and Edy decided to make their dream a reality and to open their own station. Problem #1 "they didn't have enough money!"

Imad asked his father to help, but daddy wasn't so interested(awe). Instead he allowed Imad to sell one of the family's old cars a 1984 Buick skylark. The next problem was that no one would buy the car. Finally after much searching Imad found a guy who used to own a radio station and who had a transmitter for sale, he accepted to take the car in exchange for the transmitter.Imad and Edy thought that it was a good one, but in fact the transmitter was in a comma and on its death bed.

The damn transmitter was supposed to give 700 Watts of power, but it was actually only giving 100 Watts at the maximum. When they opened the station they were expecting it to cover a large area(Greater Beirut and the Mt. Lebanon at least) but unfortunately the station was only covering the street in front of the studio and the near by houses(Lol!),we only had one listener (her name was Carole) some station are number one and some others have one listener(sniff! sniff!).

One day when Imad and Edy were working on the "old" transmitter in an attempt at giving it more power,something went wrong and there was an explosion, the transmitter was literally on fire. Edy ran down stairs very quickly(like a road runner)! Imad risked his life to save the transmitter by reaching inside it to turn it off(Wow what a kamikazi!). After many despairing experiences they decided that they have to broadcast from a better location and with a better transmitter.

In those days the name of the station would change every few days, it originally had names including, Radio Middle east, Fun radio and finally Kiss FM. To tell you about all of the frequencies the station has broadcast on, it would be too difficult, because it would take all day. Since Imad and Edy had no money and a barbecued transmitter they decided to organize a party and try to raise enough money to exchange the old transmitter for a better one, and pay the difference.

This was the beginning of the real and professional Kiss FM. We were broadcasting on 91.1Mhz FM. We were not expecting such immediate success! We had great music, great programming including: the Only " Heavy Metal Show" in Lebanon with DJ Venom. The” Sans tabou" a French talk show hosted by Amédé(Imad) which included controversial topics and live callers. We also had the "Saturday mix show" with DJ's Boogie(Now most popular DJ in Umm-el-kiwein in the UAE) and Raygates as well. The top 40 show was presented by Edy(Now he is the main voice over talent at LBC TV the number one TV Station in Lebanon).

The original Kiss FM lasted for a few years, and then in 1998 when the Lebanese government implemented very hard laws concerning radio stations the owners and management of Kiss FM decided to temporarily close the station in order to comply with the new laws. The management began organizing the papers necessary to begin broadcasting again legally. In the beginning of 1999 Kiss FM went through some big changes. We began broadcasting on two frequencies 91.1 & 93.8Mhz to triple our coverage to all of Greater Beirut, the Mount Lebanon, parts of the Bekaa valley, and the South.

In December 1999,Radio announcer Thomas Reimer (from the USA) Joined the Kiss Fm staff, and began presenting the Kiss FM morning show . Kiss Fm hosted many parties and events including a New years eve celebration on the eve of the new millenium December 31st 1999.

Kiss FM was and will always be the only station in Lebanon to play the best hits of all time from all languages and styles, 25 hours a day 8 days a week 367 days per year.......(Lol! Sorry bad attempt at a joke).

*Did you work at Kiss Fm? Want to Add your part to the Kiss Fm history E-mail Us!