KHFM

Last updated
KHFM
95.5 KHFM.png
Broadcast area Albuquerque metropolitan area and Northern New Mexico
Frequency 95.5 MHz
BrandingClassical 95.5 KHFM
Programming
Format Classical music
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
November 1954 (on 96.3 MHz)
August 15, 1965 (as 95.5 KSNM)
Former call signs
KSNM (1965–1982)
KNYN (1982–1997)
KBFG (1997–1998)
KMMG (1998–2001) [1]
Call sign meaning
K Highland Frequency Modulation
Technical information
Facility ID 52813
Class C1
ERP 19,000 watts
HAAT 546 meters (1791 ft)
Translator(s) 95.9 K240CN (Ruidoso)
103.1 K276ED (Roswell)
106.3 K292FW (Taos)
Repeater(s) 98.5 KABG-HD3 (Los Alamos)
Links
Webcast Listen live
Website khfm.org

KHFM (95.5 FM) is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and serving the Albuquerque metropolitan area. It airs a classical music radio format with some selections drawn from musical theatre. The studios and offices are located on Marble Avenue NE in Northeast Albuquerque. It is owned by KHFM Community Partners, a foundation set up by American General Media when the station switched from commercial to non-commercial. KHFM holds periodic fundraisers on the air during the year to support the station from listener donations.

Contents

KHFM has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 19,000 watts. [2] The transmitter tower is in Jemez Springs, New Mexico, west of Los Alamos. [3] KHFM can also be heard via live streaming on its website and on three FM translator stations set up to extend its range.

History of KHFM

Early years

KHFM was started in November 1954 as a hobby of two teachers at Highland High School, originally broadcasting at 96.3 MHz (now the dial position for KKOB-FM). [4] KHFM was the first commercial FM station in Albuquerque. [5] The call sign is a combination of the initials for Highland High School and Frequency Modulation, the technical term for FM radio. The teachers set up a corporation known as the CHE Broadcasting Company, with studios on Buena Vista Avenue SE. John D. Hopperton served as General Manager and Paul Leo Britt was the President.

In the 1960s, the station moved its studios to Domingo Road NE. It increased its power from 1,700 watts to 3,300 watts. [6] In the 1970s, KHFM joined most of the other Albuquerque FM stations on a high peak outside the city, powered at 20,000 watts, to cover the city, its suburbs and Northern New Mexico. In 1987, ownership passed to New Mexico Classical Radio, Inc. [7]

Change in ownership

In 1996, KHFM was sold to Citadel Broadcasting. Some listeners were concerned that a large broadcasting company might drop the format, which was happening in other cities around the U.S. Classical is seen as a format attracting a loyal but small and older audience, while most advertisers seek a large and youthful audience.

The classical format continued on 96.3 for five years until March 2001. At that point, Citadel decided classical music was not bringing in enough revenue, and the company made plans to drop the format in favor of classic rock.

Switching frequencies

American General Media, the owner of dozens of radio stations in the Southwestern United States including New Mexico, agreed to pick up the format for its Albuquerque station on 95.5 MHz. The call letters and classical music moved down the dial a short distance, from 96.3 to 95.5, and the station's city of license was changed from Albuquerque to Santa Fe. Citadel agreed to continue handling sales via a joint sales agreement. [8] KHFM was relayed on FM translator K275AO at 102.9 to improve coverage in the eastern part of the city. [9] This lasted until 2013, when AGM decided to use the translator to broadcast KARS. It later added translators in Ruidoso (K240CN 95.9), Roswell (K276ED 103.1) and Taos (K292FW 106.3).

In 2008, KHFM won the New Mexico Governors Award for excellence in the arts. [10] At the same time American General Media had laid off several of the station's long-time staff with family members of company ownership taking over programming. [11]

Non-commercial status

On June 14, 2017, AGM announced that it would donate KHFM to "KHFM Community Partners," a non-profit organization that planned to convert the station to a non-commercial status and retain the Classical format. It was part of a deal where AGM acquired Univision's entire Albuquerque cluster, but was required by the Federal Communications Commission to spin off four stations to meet ownership limits. [12] Converting KHFM counted as spinning off one of the four stations.

The license was modified on September 1, 2017. Previously, KHFM had been one of the few commercial classical stations in the United States; in recent years, commercial classical stations such as WQXR-FM New York City, KDFC San Francisco, KING-FM Seattle, WCLV Cleveland and KDB-FM Santa Barbara have made similar conversions from commercial to non-commercial status.

History of 95.5 FM

1965-1982: Easy listening

The station went by the name "Soft Loft 95.5".

1982-1998: Country

From 1982 to 1997, the station was known as "Canyon Country." It then changed its name to "Froggy 95.5," retaining the country format.

1998-2001: Rhythmic oldies

The station went by the name "Mega 95-5."

2001-present: Classical

The station goes by the name "Classical 95-5 KHFM."

Related Research Articles

KVCN is a radio station licensed to Los Alamos, New Mexico, and serving Northern New Mexico, including Santa Fe and Albuquerque. It broadcasts a Conservative Christian radio format featuring programming from its owner's network, VCY America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KKOB-FM</span> News/talk radio station in Albuquerque, New Mexico

KKOB-FM is a commercial radio station in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is owned by Cumulus Media and it simulcasts a news/talk radio format with co-owned KKOB 770 AM. The studios and offices are on 4th Street NW in downtown Albuquerque. KKOB-AM-FM use the FM station's dial position for the moniker "96.3 News Radio KKOB".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KXOT (FM)</span> Radio station in Los Lunas–Albuquerque, New Mexico

KXOT is a commercial FM radio station located in Los Lunas, New Mexico, broadcasting to the Albuquerque, New Mexico area.

KTUH is a non-commercial, student-run, listener-supported station in Honolulu, Hawaii. It is owned by the University of Hawaii and it broadcasts a freeform radio format. Programming originates from studios on the campus at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. It runs 24 hours a day, all year round. The station holds periodic fundraisers on the air and also accepts donations on its website.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KABQ (AM)</span> Radio station in Albuquerque, New Mexico

KABQ is a commercial AM radio station in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., and is airing a sports radio format as "Fox Sports 1350". It had been carrying all iHeart podcasts since 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KTBL</span> Radio station in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, New Mexico

KTBL is a commercial radio station licensed to the village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, New Mexico, and serves the Albuquerque metropolitan area. It is owned by Cumulus Media and its studios are located in Downtown Albuquerque and the transmitter tower is located in South Valley, New Mexico. KTBL operates with 1,000 watts. The station airs an active rock format branded as "94.5 The Pit" with the use of FM translator K233CG broadcasting at 250 watts off Sandia Crest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KRST</span> Radio station in Albuquerque, New Mexico

KRST is a commercial radio station in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is owned by Cumulus Media and airs a country music radio format. The radio studios and offices are located in Downtown Albuquerque.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KANW</span> Public radio station in Albuquerque, New Mexico

KANW is a non-commercial public radio station in Albuquerque, New Mexico. KANW is owned and operated by the Albuquerque Public Schools. On weekdays it airs New Mexico music and local public radio programming afternoons and nights, with NPR news programming in the morning, including Morning Edition, Fresh Air, On Point and 1A. Weekends feature New Mexico music, classical music and classic country music, as well as some NPR weekend shows such as The New Yorker Radio Hour, Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me and The Moth Radio Hour.

WXLA is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Dimondale, a suburb of Lansing, Michigan. It is owned by MacDonald Broadcasting and airs a soft adult contemporary radio format. It uses the branding "Easy 93.3". The dial position refers to WXLA's FM translator, W227DO at 93.3 MHz in Lansing.

WJIM is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Lansing, Michigan. It is owned by Townsquare Media and broadcasts a news/talk format. It is also the flagship station of the Michigan Talk Network. Studios and offices are on Pinetree Road in Lansing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KOAZ</span> Radio station in Isleta Pueblo, New Mexico

KOAZ is a radio station licensed to Vanguard Media LLC. at Isleta Pueblo, New Mexico. It is operating at "Isleta" with 5,000 watts daytime and 25 watts nighttime, from 34°58′46.2″N106°44′15.1″W. The station serves the Albuquerque Metropolitan area. Its studios are located in Northeast Albuquerque.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WQNT</span> Radio station in Charleston, South Carolina

WQNT is a commercial radio station in Charleston, South Carolina. It is owned by Kirkman Broadcasting and it airs a classic hits radio format, playing songs from the 1970s and 80s. The playlist leans toward classic rock, only playing a few pop, ballad and dance titles per hour. The studios are on Markfield Drive in the West Ashley neighborhood of Charleston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KPDQ (AM)</span> Radio station in Portland, Oregon

KPDQ is a commercial AM radio station in Portland, Oregon. It is owned by Salem Media Group and serves the Portland metropolitan area, with a Christian talk and teaching radio format known as "True Talk 800." The studios and offices are on SE Lake Road in Portland. KPDQ is co-owned with KPDQ-FM, also a Christian talk and teaching station. Each station runs its own schedule.

WHUC is a radio station broadcasting the country music format of WRWD-FM (107.3). Licensed to Hudson, New York, the station serves the Upper Hudson Valley. The station is owned by iHeartMedia. WHUC's radio studios are in Arlington, New York, and its transmitter is in Lorenz Park, New York.

KETU is a commercial radio station licensed to Catoosa, Oklahoma, and serving the Tulsa metropolitan area. The station broadcasts a Spanish adult contemporary radio format and is owned by Antonio Perez, through licensee Radio Las Americas Arkansas, LLC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WSDV</span> Radio station in Sarasota, Florida

WSDV is a commercial radio station licensed to Sarasota, Florida, and broadcasting to the Sarasota - Bradenton radio market. The station airs a hot adult contemporary format, switching to Christmas music for much of November and December. It is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc.

KDAZ is a commercial radio station in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It airs a combination of syndicated talk radio shows and Christian radio programming. It is owned by Pan American Broadcasting Co., Inc.

KKMR is a non-commercial FM radio station licensed to Arizona City, Arizona, and serving the Phoenix metropolitan area. It is owned by the Educational Media Foundation and it airs a Christian Contemporary radio format, as part of the K-Love network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">K251AU</span> FM translator radio station in Albuquerque, New Mexico

K251AU is an FM translator radio station that serves the Albuquerque, New Mexico area. It broadcasts at 98.1 MHz with a 165 watt signal from atop Sandia Crest, sending a somewhat strong signal into much of the city. Its studios are located in Northeast Albuquerque.

K275AO is an FM translator station in Albuquerque, New Mexico airing a Hispanic Rhythmic format branded a "Fuego 102.9". The translator is fed from an HD Radio subchannel of KABG-HD2. It is owned by American General Media. The format is also simulcast on KJFA-FM 102.9 in Pecos, New Mexico.

References

  1. ↑ "Call Sign History".
  2. ↑ FCC.gov/KHFM
  3. ↑ Radio-Locator.com/KHFM
  4. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1956 page 206
  5. ↑ E211
  6. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1970 B-131
  7. ↑ Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1990 page B-203
  8. ↑ "Media owners swap sales ops at KHFM - New Mexico Business Weekly". Archived from the original on March 11, 2008.
  9. ↑ Rick Nathanson (December 8, 2017). "Classical Music Can Be Heard Again". Archived from the original on September 13, 2017.
  10. ↑ "New Mexico Governor's Awards for Excellence in the Arts :: Award Winners". artsawards.newmexicoculture.org.
  11. ↑ Ronish, Marty (August 10, 2008). "KHFM: Disenchantment in the Land of Enchantment". Scanning The Dial.
  12. ↑ "American General Media Acquires Univision Albuquerque; Spins Four" from Radio Insight (June 14, 2017)

35°46′48″N106°31′41″W / 35.780°N 106.528°W / 35.780; -106.528

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.