WKHX-FM (101.5
MHz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...
) is a commercial
radio station
Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting 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 rad ...
licensed to
Marietta, Georgia
Marietta is a city in and the county seat of Cobb County, Georgia, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 60,972. The 2019 estimate was 60,867, making it one of Atlanta's largest suburbs. Marietta is the fourth largest ...
, featuring a
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
format known as "New Country 101.5". Owned by
Cumulus Media
Cumulus Media, Inc. is a broadcasting company of the United States and is the second largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States ahead of Audacy and behind iHeartMedia
iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdi ...
, the station serves the
Atlanta metropolitan area
Metro Atlanta, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell metropolitan statistical area, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Georgia and the sixt ...
. WKHX-FM's studios are located in
Sandy Springs, while the transmitter is located west of
Emory University
Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...
, in unincorporated
DeKalb County DeKalb County may refer to one of several counties in the United States, all of which were named for Baron Johann de Kalb:
* DeKalb County, Alabama
DeKalb County is a County (United States), county in the Northeast Alabama, northeastern part ...
. In addition to a standard
analog transmission
Analog transmission is a transmission method of conveying information using a continuous signal which varies in amplitude, phase, or some other property in proportion to that information. It could be the transfer of an analog signal, using an an ...
, WKHX-FM broadcasts in HD Radio, and is available online.
History
The station signed on as WBIE-FM on November 11, 1959 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. The station manager at the time, James M. Wilder, has a technology laboratory building named after him at
Southern Polytechnic State University
Southern Polytechnic State University (also called Southern Poly; abbreviated SPSU) was a public university, public, co-educational, state university in Marietta, Georgia, United States approximately northwest of downtown Atlanta. Until 2015, ...
in Marietta.
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. Its AM companion at 1080 switched its format to
Adult Standards
Adult standards (also sometimes known as the nostalgia or Big Band format) is a North American radio format heard primarily on AM or class A FM stations.
Adult standards started in the 1950s and is aimed at "mature" adults, meaning mainly tho ...
and its
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 as ...
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
Capital Cities/ABC Inc. was an American media company. It was founded in 1985 when Capital Cities Communications purchased the much larger American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. It was eventually acquired by The Walt Disney Company and re-branded i ...
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. The AM station became WKHX, while 101.5 added an FM suffix, becoming WKHX-FM. Today, AM 590 is
Christian radio
Christian radio refers to Christian media radio formats that focus on Christian religious broadcasting or various forms of Christian music. Many such formats and programs include contemporary Christian music, gospel music, sermons, radio dramas, ...
WDWD
WDWD (590 AM; "Faith Talk 590") is a Christian radio station in Atlanta, Georgia. It is owned by the Salem Media Group and it airs a brokered Christian talk and teaching radio format. The studios are in Buckhead Center on Peachtree Road N ...
, 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
Educational Media Foundation (formerly EMF Broadcasting, abbreviated EMF) is an American nonprofit Christian media ministry based in Franklin, a suburb of Nashville.
EMF is the parent company of K-LOVE and Air1—the world's largest contempor ...
in 2019. In December 2006, WKHX-FM got a new country music competitor in
WUBL, owned by
Clear Channel Communications
iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...
(now
iHeartMedia
iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...
).
WKHX-FM and other
ABC Radio stations were acquired by
Citadel Broadcasting
Citadel Broadcasting Corporation was a Las Vegas, Nevada-based broadcast holding company founded and developed by Larry Wilson. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the count ...
in 2007, which was absorbed into
Cumulus Media
Cumulus Media, Inc. is a broadcasting company of the United States and is the second largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States ahead of Audacy and behind iHeartMedia
iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdi ...
in September 2011.
In October 2011, WKHX-FM modified its
playlist
A playlist is a list of video or audio files that can be played back on a media player, either sequentially or in a shuffled order. In its most general form, an audio playlist is simply a list of songs that can be played once or in a loop. ...
from playing only "new country" music to mixing in some older hits from the 1990s to the present.
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".
References
External links
*
{{Cumulus Media
HD Radio stations
KHX-FM
Cumulus Media radio stations
Radio stations established in 1968
Country radio stations in the United States