KSSB

KSSB (97.1 FM) is a commercial radio station in Benton, Arkansas. It carries a hot adult contemporary format, with its HD2 channel carrying an alternative rock format. Owned by iHeartMedia, the station's offices are located at Cherokee St in Bryant, AR while its transmitter is located at Alexander Mountain, nearby Bryant.

KEFL-FM
On September 13, 1944, KEFL-FM would sign on as a sister station to KEFL. Both stations were owned by the Benton School District, which makes it one of the few stations of the time to be owned by a school district. It initially served as a simulcast of its sister station, carrying the CBS Radio Network. Both stations would receive a TV sister station in the form of CBS affiliate (now member supported PBS affiliate) KEFL-TV.

In 1955, Harry Bitner would acquire KEFL-AM-FM-TV from the Benton School District, making them his 2nd major radio acquisition after he bought WOOD-AM-FM from ABC as a result of FCC rules at the time. In 1957, Bitner's assets were acquired by Time-Life for $16 million.

In 1968, KEFL-FM would split from its simulcast of KEFL and would flip to a progressive rock format branded "Benton 97.1". Time-Life would then sell its broadcasting assets to McGraw-Hill in 1971.

Rock era
On February 14, 1974, KEFL-FM would adopt the "97EFL" branding. Initially, the station continued to have a progressive rock format but over time the station would flip to a classic rock format. When the brand launch, 97EFL became a locally well-known rock station in both Benton, Saline County, as well as the entire state of Arkansas. In 1978, McGraw-Hill would sell KEFL-AM-FM to LIN Broadcasting.

As a result of this sale, KEFL-FM would change its call-letters to KRKA, due to FCC rules at the time which prohibited differently owned stations in the same market from having the same call-letters. On July 8, 1983, the station would flip to a mainstream rock format which it retained up to 1987.

Top 40 era
On July 18, 1987, KRKA would drop its mainstream rock format in favor a Top 40 format branded as "97.1 Hit FM". This came in response to KCER-FM dropping its AOR format. The first song to play "97.1 Hit FM" was "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" by Starship.

Just a year after the switch, LIN Broadcasting would sell KDNX and KRKA to Greater Media. Greater Media already had experience with the Arkansas market, as it owned KWW-AM-FM in Hot Springs as well as Fox affiliate KWW-TV. On June 7, 1991, The station would change its call-letters to KSSB. In 1995, KSSB was sold to Evergreen Media (owner of KOLO-FM), taking advantage for a new rule that year which abolished the "1 AM and FM station" ownership rule decades earlier.

97.1 KISS-FM
In 1997, Chancellor Media would acquire Evergreen Media. During September 4 of that year, the station would the Kiss branding that was commonly used by Chancellor (and successor iHeartMedia) for their Top 40 stations. The last song to play on "97.1 Hit FM" was "All By Myself" by Celine Dion, while the first song to play on "97.1 KISS-FM" was "The Freshmen" by The Verve Pipe.

In 1999, Chancellor would merge with Capstar forming AMFM. A year later, AMFM would merge into Clear Channel Communications. On October 5, 2001, it would change its call-letters to the current KSSB, and would adopt a logo based on the one commonly used by KISS-FM branded stations owned by CC.

Star 97
Due to low ratings compared to rival KCER-FM, the station would drop its Top 40 format on August 21, 2007, with the last song to play on "97.1 KISS-FM" being "Bye Bye Bye" by NSYNC. The station would temporary sign off on August 22, 2007 and would come back on the next day with a Hot AC format branded as Star 97, and launch with 97,000 songs without commercials. The first song to play on "Star 97" was "Wild Night" by John Mellencamp.