KHCM (880 kHz) is a

Chinese-Language Chinese (, especially when referring to written Chinese) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in Greater China. About 1.3 billion people (or approximately 16% of the wor ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

serving

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...

. The

Salem Media Group Salem Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: SALM; formerly Salem Communications Corporation) is an American radio broadcaster, Internet content provider, and magazine and book publisher formerly based in Camarillo, California (moved most operations to Irv ...

outlet broadcasts with a power level of 2 kW. Its studios are in Honolulu's

Kalihi Kalihi is a neighborhood of Honolulu on the island of Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi, United States. Split by the Likelike Highway (Route 63), it is flanked by downtown Honolulu to the east and Mapunapuna, Moanalua and Salt Lake to the west. Kalihi is the ...

district, and its transmitter is in the Kakaako neighborhood.

History

KHCM's history can be traced back to its days on 870 kHz as KAIM, whose previous format was Religious programming. When Salem bought the station in 2000, it wanted to sign the station off the air so it can allow its sister station in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, to increase its signal coverage. At the last minute they decided to reduce the station's power, shift its frequency to 880 kHz and let the station stay on the air. In 2004 Salem bought Modern Rock outlet KPOI and flipped the format to an FM News/Talk outlet, its first in Hawaii. KAIM became its simulcast after the switch was made. On September 3, 2007 Country outlet KHCM switched from 690 AM to both 880 AM to 97.5 FM, keeping its format intact. Salem in turn moved the News/Talk format and KHNR calls to 690AM. On July 1, 2009, after nearly 3 years of simulcasting, KHCM split from KHCM-FM and adopted a Chinese-language format, broadcasting it under the "Radio China International" banner. The format targets Honolulu's growing Chinese-American population in both Chinese and English and is a simulcast of the Chinese government-sponsored

China Radio International China Radio International (CRI) is the state-owned international radio broadcaster of China. It is currently headquartered in the Babaoshan area of Beijing's Shijingshan District. It was founded on December 3, 1941, as Radio Peking. It later ...

. In addition to the Chinese programming, KHCM also broadcasts Japanese and Korean programming.

External links

FCC History Cards for KHCM

Station Website
Chinese-American culture in Honolulu HCM (AM) Korean-language radio stations in the United States Chinese-language radio stations in the United States HCM China Radio International 1956 establishments in Hawaii Radio stations established in 1956 Salem Media Group properties Korean-American culture in Hawaii {{Honolulu-stub