KHMX

Last updated

KHMX
Khmx.jpg
Broadcast area Greater Houston
Frequency 96.5 MHz (HD Radio)
BrandingMix 96.5
Programming
Language(s) English
Format Hot adult contemporary
Ownership
Owner
  • Audacy, Inc.
  • (Audacy License, LLC, as Debtor-in-Possession)
History
First air date
February 1, 1948(76 years ago) (1948-02-01)
Former call signs
  • KXYZ-FM (1948–71)
  • KAUM (1971–80)
  • KSRR (1980–86)
  • KKHT (1986–89)
  • KNRJ (1989–90)
Call sign meaning
"Houston's Mix"
Technical information [1]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 47749
Class C
ERP 100,000  watts
HAAT 585 meters (1,919 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
 29°34′34″N95°30′36″W / 29.57611°N 95.51000°W / 29.57611; -95.51000
Links
Public license information
Webcast Listen live (via  Audacy)
Website www.audacy.com/mix965houston

KHMX (96.5 MHz, "Mix 96.5") is an American commercial hot adult contemporary radio station in Houston, Texas. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. and serves the Greater Houston metropolitan area. The KHMX studios are located in Houston's Greenway Plaza district, while the station transmitter is located in the Houston suburb of Missouri City. In addition to a standard analog transmission, KHMX broadcasts using HD Radio technology, and is available online via Audacy.

Contents

History

Early years

KXYZ-FM first signed on February 1, 1948, under the ownership of Shamrock Broadcasting. [2] As typical of FM radio stations in the mid-20th century, KXYZ-FM was a simulcast of its AM parent, KXYZ. The station would stay on the air for five years and six months before being silent for about eight years, [3] resuming operations in 1961, again as a simulcast of KXYZ's beautiful music format. [4]

In 1968, KXYZ and KXYZ-FM were acquired by ABC; [5] the new ownership subsequently changed KXYZ-FM's format to automated progressive rock, branded as "Love 96+1⁄2 FM". "Love" was formulated by ABC Radio for its FM stations around the U.S., including WABC-FM in New York City, KABC-FM in Los Angeles, WLS-FM in Chicago, KGO-FM in San Francisco, WXYZ-FM in Detroit and KQV-FM in Pittsburgh. All seven FM stations switch call signs to distinguish from their AM counterparts on switched to KAUM in January 1971. When the national "Love" format was discontinued later in 1971, the progressive rock music continued, but with local disc jockeys, changing its moniker to "KAUM 96+1⁄2 FM". In the late 1970s, KAUM shifted from album-oriented rock (AOR) to Top 40 hits to compete against KRBE and KILT.

From July 24, 1980, through late 1986, the station operated as KSRR, first as "97 Star FM", and then again as "97 Rock." It had an album-oriented rock format, using the infamous slogan "Kick Ass Rock 'N' Roll!", and a logo similar to WABB in Mobile. [6] The new station featured morning radio host and KEGL Dallas alum James Smith "Moby" Carney and Matthew, with Hannah Storm as sports announcer. The station competed against the album rock format of KLOL and for a short period, KILT-FM.

In mid-1985, due to the merger of ABC Radio and Capital Cities Communications, KSRR was spun off to Malrite Communications in order to meet the FCC's ownership limits at the time. [7] On October 15, 1986, the station changed call letters to KKHT, and the AOR format was replaced by a Top 40 format known as "Hit 96.5 KKHT". [8] [9] By mid-1987, heavy competition from Top 40 powerhouses KKBQ-FM and KRBE prompted the station to morph to adult contemporary. The station rebranded as "96.5 KKHT". In late 1988, Emmis Broadcasting bought the station.

On February 10, 1989, at 6 p.m., the station flipped to a new rhythmic contemporary format, with a focus on dance-oriented music, branded as "Energy 96.5". [10] [11] The station adopted the new KNRJ call letters on September 4. This format was a competitive response to two other local stations, KKBQ and KRBE, whose Top 40 formats reflected the increasing presence of dance club-oriented tracks (catering to a then-lucrative target audience drawn to the flourishing night club scenes along Richmond Avenue and inner Westheimer Road). These competitors featured late-night, weekend live broadcasts from local dance clubs (e.g., Club 6400, The Ocean Club), where in-house DJs drew heavily from libraries of imported and small-label, extended-length modern tracks (which otherwise were seldom heard on most commercial stations). By early 1990, KNRJ had partnered with the Tower Theater's Decadance to host its own weekend, late-night live broadcast.

In May 1990, Nationwide Communications bought the station. The station's ratings during this time were low and the new owners wanted to improve the numbers. In the station's latter months, KNRJ began adding more new wave music tracks to improve ratings.

Mix 96.5

On June 25, 1990, at 7:15 a.m., in the middle of "Tonight" by New Kids on the Block, DJ Jeff Scott, in a bit, abruptly cut off the song and announced his discontent for the format, with he and some fellow DJs playing brief music clips to complain about before being heard throwing the tapes away. After that, KNRJ flipped to an alternative rock format. The station kicked off with "I Eat Cannibals" by Toto Coelo, starting off a "Top 100 Best Alternative Songs of All Time" countdown. [12] The Alternative 96.5 re-brand was a transitional format, lasting roughly five weeks, and was promoted while a forthcoming format was under preparation. A weekly playlist, under a makeshift Alternative 96.5 letterhead, was distributed to local retail and media outlets. [13]

Then, on July 18, KNRJ began stunting with a 48-hour ticking clock countdown sequence. A series of disjointed song samples were eventually interspersed into the sequence within the last 12 hours, most famously the opening to the song "Let It Whip" by The Dazz Band played first normally, then again in reverse. [14] After the countdown concluded at 7 a.m. on July 20, a fictitious "teacher" conducted a "roll call" calling out the names of program directors from competing radio stations, asking the "class" to start their tape recorders and take notes as this "lecture" was to begin. At that moment, KNRJ's call letters switched to KHMX as the station changed formats to hot adult contemporary, branded as "Mix 96.5." The first two songs on "Mix" were Steve Winwood's "Roll With It" and Taylor Dayne's "I'll Be Your Shelter". [15] [16] [17] [18]

Previous logo under Clear Channel ownership KHMX.PNG
Previous logo under Clear Channel ownership

General Manager Clancy Woods and Nationwide National Program Director Guy Zapoleon used the roll out at KHMX to launch other new Hot AC stations, branded as the "Mix" format. The Mix brand tagline, "More Music, More Variety, A Better Mix", was commercially successful. The formula for the "Mix" format was replicated through the 1990s and early 2000s in several other radio markets across North America and in cities as far away as Sydney, Australia by KHMX consultant Alan Burns. Around the same time, research expert John Parikhal, who also worked with KHMX, was helping PD Greg Strassell of Steve Dodge's American Radio Systems in Boston launch another Mix station known as "Mix 98.5", WBMX. WBMX was more of a Rhythmic AC and an early example of today's MOViN' format. Another Mix station was launched a few months earlier in the Summer of 1989 at WOMX in Orlando by Nationwide Communications GM Rick Weinkoff and PD Brian Thomas, with help from Guy Zapoleon.

Nationwide sold all of its radio stations, including KHMX, to Jacor in October 1997. [19] After a series of mergers, Clear Channel Communications acquired KHMX in early 1999. [20] [21] KHMX was broadcast nationwide on XM Satellite Radio from 2001 to the end of 2003, when a unique-to-XM Mix channel debuted.

On December 15, 2008, Clear Channel and CBS Radio announced a multi-station swap: KHMX and sister station KLOL would go to CBS Radio, while CBS Radio-owned stations WQSR in Baltimore, KBKS in Seattle, KLTH and KXJM in Portland, Oregon and KQJK in Sacramento would go to Clear Channel. The sale was approved on March 31, 2009, and was consummated on April 1. [22] After the sale of the station to CBS in 2009, KHMX tweaked its sound to include more Top 40/CHR currents.

On February 2, 2017, CBS Radio announced it would merge with Entercom. [23] The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and was consummated on November 17. [24] [25]

Morning shows

During its tenure as "Mix", the station has rotated through several morning shows, including Roula & Ryan (now on KRBE) from 2003-2005, Sam Malone (formerly of KRBE) 2005-2007, Maria Todd (also formerly of KRBE) 2009-2011, The Kidd Kraddick Morning Show 2011-2012, Atom Smasher (also a KRBE alum) 2013-2015, and Dave, Mahoney & DK (formerly of sister KXTE/Las Vegas) 2015-2016.

Dave, Mahoney & DK were let go from the station in December 2016. On April 5, 2017, it was announced that "The Morning Mix" would become the new morning show on KHMX consisting of former KKHH host Sarah Pepper, along with afternoon host Lauren Kelly and Geoff Sheen, formerly of KTKR in San Antonio, which began on April 10, 2017. [26] Lauren Kelly, however, left the station in 2019. Mornings are currently hosted by Pepper and Jessie Watt.

HD radio

KHMX signed on HD Radio operations in 2006. 96.5 HD2 first carried a rhythmic contemporary – dance music format, known as "Energy 96.5." Energy 96.5 was the moniker KHMX used prior to becoming "Mix" in 1990. After the sale of the station to CBS in April 2009, KHMX 96.5 HD2 and KKHH 95.7 HD2 swapped formats, with KHMX-HD2 becoming smooth jazz "The Wave", while KKHH-HD2 taking on the dance format and "Energy 95.7" moniker. "The Wave" would eventually evolve into a Smooth AC (a hybrid of Smooth Jazz and R&B music) format with an emphasis on Smooth Jazz.

In December 2016, "The Wave" moved to KHMX-HD3. After a brief run with an album adult alternative (AAA) format as "Third Rock Radio", and nearly a year of airing a message redirecting Smooth Jazz listeners to KHMX HD-3, the HD-2 re-launched as Hard Rock-formatted "HarD Rock Radio 96-5 HD-2" on November 20, 2017.

The HD subchannels have since been turned off.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KXXR</span> Radio station in Minneapolis, Minnesota

KXXR is an active rock/mainstream rock radio station broadcasting to the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. It is owned by Cumulus Media, which also owns KQRS-FM. Its transmitter is located in Shoreview, Minnesota. Its studios are in Northeast Minneapolis in the Como district.

KZJK is a commercial radio station licensed to St. Louis Park, Minnesota, and serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul radio market. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc., and airs an adult hits radio format known as "104.1 Jack FM." Audacy also owns Jack FM stations in Los Angeles and Dallas. KZJK's studios and offices are on Second Avenue South in Minneapolis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KMYI</span> Hot adult contemporary radio station in San Diego

KMYI is a commercial radio station in San Diego, California, airing a hot adult contemporary music format. It is owned by iHeartMedia. Its studios are located in San Diego's Kearny Mesa neighborhood on the northeast side, and the transmitter is located in La Jolla. It broadcasts from the KGTV Tower, shared with several other San Diego FM stations and KGTV. KMYI is the oldest continuously operating FM station in the San Diego metropolitan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KLOL</span> Radio station in Houston, Texas

KLOL is a commercial radio station in Houston, Texas. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. and airs a Spanish-language Latin pop radio format. KLOL serves as the Spanish-language flagship station for the Houston Texans football team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KBZT</span> Alternative rock radio station in San Diego

KBZT is a commercial radio station licensed to San Diego, California. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station broadcasts an alternative rock format. Its studios are located in San Diego's Stonecrest area, and the transmitter is located in La Jolla.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KRBE</span> Radio station in Houston, Texas

KRBE is a radio station in Houston, Texas. It is owned by Cumulus Media and broadcasts a Top 40 CHR radio format. The studios are located in Suite 700 at 9801 Westheimer Road in western Houston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KALV-FM</span> Contemporary hit radio station in Phoenix

KALV-FM is a commercial radio station in Phoenix, Arizona. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. and it airs a top 40 (CHR) format. KALV-FM's studios are located in downtown Phoenix, and its transmitter is in South Mountain Park. For its first 20 years, the stations went by the call letters KHEP. From 1992 - 2016, the station used the callsign KZON.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KMXP</span> Hot adult contemporary radio station in Phoenix

KMXP is a commercial radio station in Phoenix, Arizona. It is owned and operated by iHeartMedia, Inc., with studios on East Van Buren Street near Sky Harbor International Airport. KMXP carries the syndicated On Air with Ryan Seacrest show in early afternoons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KFTK-FM</span> Radio station in Florissant, Missouri, serving St. Louis

KFTK-FM is a commercial talk radio station licensed to Florissant, Missouri. Owned by Audacy, Inc., KFTK-FM services the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area, and is the local affiliate for several nationally syndicted programs: The Brian Kilmeade Show; The Dana Loesch Show; Coast to Coast AM with George Noory and This Morning, America's First News with Gordon Deal. Most hours begin with an update from Fox News Radio.

KILT-FM is a commercial radio station in Houston, Texas. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. and airs a country music radio format. The studios and offices are in Greenway Plaza in Southwest Houston. KILT-FM serves as a co-flagship radio station of the Houston Texans Football team, along with co-owned KILT.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KQBT</span> Urban contemporary radio station in Houston

KQBT is an urban contemporary radio station in Houston, Texas. It is owned by iHeartMedia. The station's studios are located along the West Loop Freeway in the city's Uptown district, and the transmitter site is near Missouri City, Texas.

KRLD-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to Dallas, Texas, and serving the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. KRLD-FM is owned by Audacy, Inc., and airs a sports radio format. The station's studios and offices are located along North Central Expressway in Uptown Dallas, and the transmitter site is in Cedar Hill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KEZK-FM</span> Adult contemporary radio station in St. Louis

KEZK-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to St. Louis, Missouri. It broadcasts an adult contemporary radio format and is owned by Audacy, Inc. From mid-November through the Christmas holiday, KEZK switches to an all-Christmas music format. The studios and offices are on Olive Street in Downtown St. Louis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KJAQ</span> Adult hits radio station in Seattle

KJAQ is a commercial radio station in Seattle, Washington. KJAQ airs an adult hits music format branded as "Jack FM". It is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios and offices are in the Belltown neighborhood northwest of Downtown Seattle. The station's transmitter is on Tiger Mountain in Issaquah. KJAQ broadcasts in the HD Radio format. The HD-2 subchannel carries an alternative rock format and HD-3 simulcasts conservative talk KPTR, also owned by iHeart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KKHH</span> Radio station in Houston, Texas

KKHH is a radio station in Houston, Texas broadcasting a adult hits format to Greater Houston called 95.7 the Spot, and KKHH is owned and operated by Audacy, Inc. The studios and offices are located in the Audacy office at Greenway Plaza district of Houston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KNCI</span> Country music radio station in Sacramento, California

KNCI is a commercial radio station in Sacramento, California, United States. The station is owned by Salt Lake City–based Bonneville International. KNCI carries a country music format, alongside a classic country format known as The Ranch and a "Young Country" format known as "The Wolf" on HD Radio subchannels.

KRSK is a commercial radio station licensed to Molalla, Oregon, and broadcasting to the Portland metropolitan area. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. and airs a hot adult contemporary radio format. The station broadcasts in HD Radio. The HD-2 subchannel carries Audacy's "Channel Q" LGBTQ service

KUFX is a classic rock radio station licensed to San Jose, California. Its studios are located along Junipero Serra Boulevard in Daly City, and the transmitter is located on Blackberry Hill above Los Gatos.

KFNC is a commercial radio station licensed to Mont Belvieu, Texas. KFNC is paired with a translator, K223CW, licensed to Houston. The facilities serve the Greater Houston and Golden Triangle areas of southeast Texas. The station is owned by David Gow, through licensee Gow Media, LLC, with studios and offices in Uptown Houston one block from The Galleria. KFNC is a network affiliate of ESPN Radio, carried late nights and weekends. Local sports shows are heard weekdays from 7 a.m. to midnight and on weekend mornings.

The year 1990 in radio involved some significant events.

References

  1. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for KHMX". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ↑ Information from the Broadcasting Yearbook 1950 page 294
  3. ↑ "FM Chronology - Part 5 - 1947 - 1950" . Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  4. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1961-1962 page B-168
  5. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1970 page B-199
  6. ↑ https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1980s/1980/RR-1980-07-25.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  7. ↑ http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1980s/1985/RR-1985-08-09.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  8. ↑ Bob Grace, "'97 Rock' Becomes 'Hit 96.5'", the Houston Chronicle , October 25, 1986.
  9. ↑ http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1980s/1986/RR-1986-10-24.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  10. ↑ Louis B. Parks, "KNRJ feels like dancing, makes another format change", the Houston Chronicle, February 14, 1989.
  11. ↑ http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1980s/1989/RR-1989-02-17.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  12. ↑ "Energy 96.5 KNRJ Becomes The Alternative". Format Change Archive. June 25, 1990. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  13. ↑ https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1990/RR-1990-06-29.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  14. ↑ "Clock is running on KNRJ changes", the Houston Chronicle, July 19, 1990.
  15. ↑ Louis B. Parks, "Radio station KNRJ changes its format and call letters", the Houston Chronicle, July 20, 1990.
  16. ↑ http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1990/RR-1990-07-27.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  17. ↑ "96.5 KNRJ becomes "Mix" KHMX". Format Change Archive. July 20, 1990. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  18. ↑ RARE! Debut Ad for Houston's Mix 96.5 KHMX, archived from the original on December 21, 2021, retrieved January 5, 2020
  19. ↑ Associated Press, "Jacor buys 17 Nationwide radio stations", the Houston Chronicle, October 29, 1997.
  20. ↑ Bruce Westbrook, "'The Buzz'; 'Mix' being sold; changes coming", the Houston Chronicle, June 17, 1998.
  21. ↑ John Nolan, "Texas-based Clear Channel gets Jacor; $3.4 billion stock deal creates third major player in radio industry", the Houston Chronicle, October 9, 1998.
  22. ↑ CBS Radio to Swap Five Mid-Size Market Stations for Two Large Market Stations with Clear Channel Communications Archived December 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine (retrieved December 15, 2008)
  23. ↑ CBS Radio to Merge with Entercom
  24. ↑ "Entercom Receives FCC Approval for Merger with CBS Radio". Entercom. November 9, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  25. ↑ "Entercom Completes CBS Radio Merger". radioinsight.com. November 17, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  26. ↑ "Welcome The Morning Mix - Houston's New Favorite Morning Show" . Retrieved April 5, 2017.
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.