KHEX (100.3 FM) is an American commercial

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 ...

broadcasting a classic country format, licensed to serve the community of Concow, California. The signal serves over a quarter of a million listeners in the Sacramento Valley.

History

In March 1989, John K. La Rue applied to the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisd ...

(FCC) for a

construction permit Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building per ...

for a new broadcast radio station. The FCC granted this permit on October 15, 1990, with a scheduled expiration date of April 15, 1992. The new station was assigned

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assig ...

KZDD on June 14, 1991. A few months later, on October 21, 1991, the station was assigned new call sign KSPY. In April 1997, permit holder John K. La Rue filed an application to transfer the KSPY construction permit to the Ukiah Broadcasting Corporation. The transfer was approved by the FCC on June 17, 1997, and the transaction formally consummated on July 15, 1997. After a series of extensions and permit modifications, construction and testing were completed in January 1997 and the station was granted its

broadcast license A broadcast license is a type of spectrum license granting the licensee permission to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses generally include restrictions, which vary ...

on April 21, 1998. In October 2000, Ukiah Broadcasting Corporation reached a deal to sell KSPY to Keily Miller of

Pahrump, Nevada Pahrump ( ) is an unincorporated town located at the southernmost tip of Nye County, Nevada, United States, about west of Las Vegas, Nevada. Pahrump lies adjacent to the Nevada–California border and the area had a population of 44,738 as of ...

. The FCC approved the sale on February 16, 2001, and the transaction was formally consummated on April 20, 2001. The new owners had the FCC change the station's call sign to KHWG on April 30, 2001. The call sign would be changed again, this time to KHGQ, on September 22, 2003. In May 2005, Keily Miller applied to the FCC to transfer KHGQ to Hilltop Church as a gift. Hilltop Church was a non-profit organization for which Keily Miller served as both trustee and vice-chairman. The FCC granted the transfer on July 18, 2005, and the transaction was formally consummated the same day. Also on that date, the FCC granted the station a modification of its license from

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

non-commercial educational A non-commercial educational station (NCE station) is a radio station or television station that does not accept on-air advertisements ( TV ads or radio ads), as defined in the United States by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and was ...

. On May 4, 2008, the station went

dark Darkness, the direct opposite of lightness, is defined as a lack of illumination, an absence of visible light, or a surface that absorbs light, such as black or brown. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low l ...

due to staffing issues and the loss of its main studio facility. The station returned briefly to the air on April 30, 2009. On May 3, 2009, KHGQ went dark once again. It the station's application for

special temporary authority Special Temporary Authority (STA) in U.S. broadcast law is a type of broadcast license which temporarily allows a broadcast station to operate outside of its normal technical or legal parameters. In the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) sta ...

to remain silent, the station stated it was battling technical issues and seeking to replace its staff. On April 18, 2010, the station reported to the FCC that it had "resumed full operation" with the broadcast studio at the transmitter site. The station went off the air yet again just two days later on April 20, 2010, due to reported inter-modulation problems with KQNC (88.1 FM). On May 12, 2010, Hilltop Church signed a contract with Sierra Radio, Inc., to transfer the

for KHGQ in exchange for $50,000. Ownership in Sierra Radio is held 50% by Tom F. Huth and 50% jointly by Gary Katz and Jerrie Rindhal-Katz. The FCC approved the sale of the still-silent station on July 15, 2010, and the deal was formally consummated on September 1, 2010. Also on July 15, 2010, the FCC granted a modification to the station's broadcast license to return KGHQ to commercial operation. The new owners had the FCC change the station's call sign to KVXX on September 17, 2010. In June 2010, the station had applied for a

to allow it to co-locate its transmitter at the site of

broadcast translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tra ...

K245AU. The station returned to the air, although in a remote location with just 200 watts of

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would ...

, from this essentially temporary facility on April 5, 2011. (The station had remained off the air while an application to relocate to Magalia, California, was pending before the FCC. With no new permit issued and the one-year deadline to resume operations or forfeit its license looming, the new owners took this authorized temporary measure instead.) The station applied for a new license to cover these changes in April 2011. The FCC accepted the application for filing on April 13, 2011, but , have yet to take further action on the application. On December 14, 2012, the station's call sign was changed to KBJK. On September 6, 2013, KBJK 100.3 is now broadcasting from Chico, California with an adult hits format, branded as "Jack FM". On December 6, 2013, the station's community of license moved from Quincy, California to Concow. On June 9, 2014, the station's license was transferred from Sierra Radio to the Thomas Huth Revocable Living Trust. On February 21, 2017, KBJK changed their call letters to KHEX. On March 2, 2017, KHEX changed their format to classic country, branded as "100.3 The Outlaw".Huth Flips Chico Duo
Radioinsight - March 7, 2017 In 2020, the station was purchased by Independence Rock Media Group following the passing of station co-owner Tom Huth. The deal, which included eight sister stations and three translators, was consummated on July 24, 2021, at a price of $400,000.

References

External links

{{Country Radio Stations in California

HEX Hex or HEX may refer to: Magic * Hex, a curse or supposed real and potentially supernaturally realized malicious wish * Hex sign, a barn decoration originating in Pennsylvania Dutch regions of the United States * Hex work, a Pennsylvania Dutch ...

Radio stations established in 1998 1998 establishments in California