do you happen to have a wifi router nearby? this can cause interference in some situations. I believe this is an issue when the wifi router and ant+ router transmit at close to the same frequency. for reference ant+ transmit at 2457 mhz and my router is 2400 mhz. I have my kickr about 10 feet from my router and have no issues.

As far as using other programs like zwift, trainerroad and perfpro, when I had my ant+ dongle on my computer, next to the router, I would get dropped ant+ signals. To resolve this I bought a usb extender which now places my ant+ dongle next to my trainer. You can't really do this for your kickr so you may just to move the router away from the kickr if this is your issue.

and for a point of clarification, do you not get ANY data, or are you just getting dropped signal data on and off again? If you do not get ANY data then this may be another issue.

Not an expert, just my n=1. Best of luck!

Like he said, interference in the 2.4 Ghz band. Think about all the wireless signals flowing back and forth--WiFi, Bluetooth, ANT+--and envision them as pathways. Try to minimize cross paths. I have a 10 foot USB extension cable for my ANT+ stick to allow it to sit right under my crank/next to the Kickr. I use a dual band router which allows me to connect modern WiFi devices to the 5.0 Ghz band, which is faster anyways. I turn off unnecessary Bluetooth connections (e.g. on my phone). Total headache...

This is precisely why I've lined my workout room in aluminum foil.

ANT+ can be tricky sometimes. Check out this article on the top reasons we see for ANT dropout and hopefully something will jump out at you: ANT+ Dropouts

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Professional Mountain Biker and Community Manager at TrainerRoad - Cycling's Most Effective Training Tool

Interference.

Think of the city lights at night. That's what the radio spectrum would look like if you could see it. Especially the 2.4 GHz band. It is overcrowded.

Edit: radio range depends on four things: transmit power, receiver sensitivity, antenna gain, topography and distance between receiver and transmitter. With 1.5 foot range it is not likely that something is wrong with your device (reduced transmit power, reduced receiver sensitivity, or something wrong with the antenna), therefore interference. To confirm take the bike and the watch out to the sticks, away from a big city and see what you get there.