In 1978, she joined the former Great Trails Broadcasting, working as an on-air personality.
This Gem City radio voice would remain a key figure in the market for some 43 years, and today remains a household name thanks to her presence on an iHeartMedia Adult Contemporary leader.
Come July 16, Kim Faris will say goodbye to Radio. Chances are, she won’t be saying goodbye to Dayton anytime soon.
With a move from the Oregon District in the works for its radio stations, iHeartMedia/Dayton Market President David Litteral confirmed that Faris will be retiring from her role as the midday host of WMMX-FM “Mix 107.7.”
WMMX has long been a ratings leader in Dayton, and the anchor of what is today the iHeartMedia cluster in the Miami Valley of Ohio. In the May 2021 Nielsen Audio ratings released Friday, WMMX was No. 2 among overall radio listeners.
At Mix 107.7, Faris has held the 10am-3pm slot for five years. Among listeners 25-54, her show ranks No. 1, iHeartMedia notes.
Her lengthy tenure in Dayton across the years is one contributor to her ability to exit local radio on top. Before taking a role at WMMX, she hosted afternoons at Country WYDB “B94.5,” a station placed by iHeartMedia in the Aloha Station Trust and recently donated to Delmarva Educational Association.
Faris’ presence on B94.5 was the result of her surviving a format change from Adult Contemporary, as the facility was WLQT-FM “Lite 94.5.” Furthermore, Faris remained a part of the WLQT air staff after it traded dial positions with what is today iHeartMedia’s Top 40 WCHD “Channel 99.9.” Faris joined WLQT in June 2007.
However, from the late 1970s through the end of 2006, Faris was associated with the station at 92.9 MHz that would gain fame in the 1980s for “Eaton, Dayton and Springfield Alive!”
That was WGTZ as Top 40 “Z93,” where she first rose to prominence as a news presenter and became morning co-host in March 1992. In August 2002, Faris would shift to middays. As 2006 came to a close, so did her run at WGTZ. The Ohio Broadcasters Hall of Fame inducted her upon her exit from WGTZ.
One reason for her entry: Faris was one of the first female air personalities on Dayton radio and was at 92.9 FM before Z93’s March 1984 sign-on by Great Trails. At that time, the station was Country WJAI. Faris was in middays. And, she was also on WING-AM 1410 during its run as an Adult Contemporary station prior to Z93’s sign-on.
“My hope, as I hang up these headphones, is that I have made a positive impact in our community,” Faris said. “That is what this job is all about — to connect with our listeners and make them feel happy, sometimes sad, but always appreciated. I will continue to advocate for women’s health and well-being, making sure women in Dayton and the Miami Valley are aware of the many services in our community that are here to help them live their best life.”
Jeff Stevens, Senior Vice President of Programming for iHeartMedia Dayton, added, “Kim is the kind of person you hope and pray will be on your staff. She will learn anything you throw at her, and she makes everyone on the staff better. The hole she will leave behind is not a small one. Not many people are irreplaceable, but Kim falls into that rare category. We’ve hidden all the calendars hoping she might lose track of the date and accidentally stick around a little longer.”
To celebrate Faris’s time on-air, the station will honor Faris with a special send-off at a July 23 concert presented by WMMX at Fraze Pavilion, in between performances by rock acts Night Ranger and Styx.
What’s next for Faris? On June 27 she served as emcee of the Miami Valley Symphony Orchestra Symphony on the Hill. A day earlier, Faris was in attendance at an event supporting The Contemporary Dayton at the Dayton Arcade. On June 16, she was one of many locals who enjoy dinner and drinks at Salar, in the Oregon District.
While Faris may be leaving the radio business, chances are locals will continue to see in person an individual whose voice has touched millions across generations of Miami Valley residents.
