WKHX-FM

Last updated
WKHX-FM
Broadcast area Atlanta metropolitan area
Frequency 101.5 MHz (HD Radio)
BrandingNew Country 101.5
(stylized as 101.Five")
Programming
Format Country music
Affiliations Westwood One
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
November 11, 1959
(64 years ago) (1959-11-11)
Former call signs
  • WBIE-FM (1959–81)
  • WKHX (1981–87)
Call sign meaning
"Kicks"
Technical information [1]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 73161
Class C0
ERP 100,000 watts
HAAT 329 meters (1,079 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
 33°48′26″N84°20′22″W / 33.80722°N 84.33944°W / 33.80722; -84.33944
Links
Public license information
Webcast Listen live
Listen live via iHeart
Website www.newcountry1015.com

WKHX-FM (101.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Marietta, Georgia, featuring a country music format known as "New Country 101.5". Owned by Cumulus Media, the station serves the Atlanta metropolitan area. WKHX-FM's studios are located in Sandy Springs, while the transmitter is located west of Emory University, in unincorporated DeKalb County. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WKHX-FM broadcasts in HD Radio, and is available online.

Contents

History

The station signed on as WBIE-FM on November 11, 1959 [2] under the ownership of Marietta Broadcasting. Initially, WBIE simulcast the variety programming of its sister station AM 1080 WBIE, but in February 1968 it adopted a full-time country music format. [3] The station manager at the time, James M. Wilder, has a technology laboratory building named after him at Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta.[ citation needed ]

Initially, WBIE-FM was powered at 3,500 watts, only heard in and around Marietta. In the 1970s, WBIE-FM boosted its power to the legal maximum of 100,000 watts, and became audible in Metro Atlanta. [4] Its AM companion at 1080 switched its format to Adult Standards and its call sign to WCOB. The power boost made WBIE-FM a candidate to be bought by a large broadcasting company anxious for a strong FM signal in the growing Atlanta radio market.

"Kicks 101.5" debuted in November 1981 after Capital Cities Communications purchased WBIE-FM. Capital Cities switched WBIE-FM's call letters to WKHX and made the station a contender in the Atlanta ratings. In 1987, WKHX programming began to be simulcast on Capital Cities-owned AM 590, formerly known as WAGA and WPLO. [5] The AM station became WKHX, while 101.5 added an FM suffix, becoming WKHX-FM. Today, AM 590 is Christian radio WDWD, owned by Salem Media.

Capital Cities took over ABC, including its television and radio stations, in 1985. In 1995, ABC bought WKHX-FM's rival country station, WYAY. Eventually, WYAY switched to news programming, and today is Christian Contemporary-formatted WAKL after being sold to the Educational Media Foundation in 2019. In December 2006, WKHX-FM got a new country music competitor in WUBL, owned by Clear Channel Communications (now iHeartMedia).

WKHX-FM and other ABC Radio stations were acquired by Citadel Broadcasting in 2007, which was absorbed into Cumulus Media in September 2011. [6] In October 2011, WKHX-FM modified its playlist from playing only "new country" music to mixing in some older hits from the 1990s to the present. [7]

On November 13, 2019, WKHX began running liners promoting a "big announcement" to come at 3 p.m. the following day. Several liners had a wolf-howling sound effect, a nod to rumors on radio news websites (based on web domains registered by Cumulus as far back as September) that the station was to rebrand as "The Wolf". At the promised time, the station rebranded, but instead as "New Country 101.Five", and also introducing a new morning show host, JJ Kincaid, to team with existing co-host Dallas McCade, with the show being branded as "Kincaid and Dallas". [8] [9]

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References

  1. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WKHX-FM". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ↑ "not found" (PDF).
  3. ↑ "Atlanta Radio Time Warp 1968".
  4. ↑ "getimportletter_exh".
  5. ↑ Greg Hardison
  6. ↑ "Cumulus now owns Citadel Broadcasting". Atlanta Business Journal (subscription required). September 16, 2011. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Kicks 101.5 skews older with more 1991-2005 cuts (Welcome back, Garth Brooks and Travis Tritt!) | Radio & TV Talk". Archived from the original on 2011-12-27. Retrieved 2012-06-22.
  8. ↑ "WKHX RELAUNCHES AS NEW COUNTRY 101.5; JJ KINCAID JOINS DALLAS IN MORNINGS". November 14, 2019.
  9. ↑ Lance (2019-11-14). "WKHX Becomes New Country 101.5". Format Change Archive. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
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