WYHX (96.3 FM) is a

non-commercial A non-commercial (also spelled noncommercial) activity is an activity that is not carried out in the interest of Profit (economics), profit. The opposite is Commerce, commercial, something that primarily serves profit interests and is focused on bu ...

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 ...

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

. It airs a

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, ...

format and is owned by

Bible Broadcasting Network The Bible Broadcasting Network (BBN) is a listener-supported global Christian Conservative Christian radio radio network, network staffed and headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was founded in 1971 by Lowell Davey, who was the network ...

. WYHX has an

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 ha ...

(ERP) of 3,300

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s, making it a Class A FM station. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

tower is atop the residential high-rise Riley Towers II on North Alabama Street. WYHX broadcasts in the

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. HD radio generally simulcast, simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD R ...

hybrid format.

History

On October 28, 1991, WHHH

signed on A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio broadcasting, radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonw ...

the air. It was owned by a company known as Shirk Inc., with Bill Shirk as the station manager and on air jock, and William Poorman serving as president and general manager. WHHH was known as "Hoosier Hot 96.3 WHHH" or "Hoosier 96" for short. It was the market's first "CHUrban" station (the forerunner to the modern

rhythmic contemporary Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 20, Rhythmic Top 30, Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip-hop and upbeat R&B hit ...

format) that played

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

, R&B,

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott Laboritories Media * '' FreeStyle'', ...

new jack swing New jack swing, new jack, or swingbeat is a fusion genre of the rhythms and production techniques of hip hop and dance-pop, and the urban contemporary sound of R&B. Spearheaded by producers Teddy Riley, Bernard Belle, Jimmy Jam and Te ...

, and

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

, as well as some dance hits from the

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

charts. By the late 1990s, WHHH became a full-fledged rhythmic station as "Hot 96.3." In 2001, WHHH was acquired by Radio One, a broadcasting company dealing in stations targeting the

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

community. Radio One had also acquired Indianapolis' two stations serving the local African-American community for decades,

Urban AC Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, (also known as adult R&B,) is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music on ...

WTLC-FM WTLC-FM (106.7 MHz) is an urban adult contemporary radio station licensed to Greenwood, Indiana, serving the Indianapolis metropolitan area. Alongside sister stations WTLC, WHHH, WFNI, WIBC, WLHK, WYXB, and TV station WDNI-CD, WTLC-FM is ow ...

and

Urban Gospel Urban/contemporary gospel, also known as urban gospel music, urban gospel pop, or just simply urban gospel, is a modern subgenre of gospel music. Although the style developed gradually, early forms are generally dated to the 1970s, and the genr ...

WTLC (AM) WTLC (1310 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is owned by Urban One and broadcasts an urban gospel radio format, with some Christian talk and teaching shows heard middays and afternoons. The studios and offices ...

. WHHH was formerly the Indianapolis

affiliate Affiliation or affiliate may refer to: * Affiliate (commerce), a legal form of entity relationship used in Business Law * Affiliation (family law), a legal form of family relationship * Affiliate marketing * Affiliate network or affiliation platfo ...

for ''

Russ Parr Russ Parr (born 1959 in California) is an American radio DJ, film director, writer, actor and television personality known for such television shows as '' Rock 'N' America''. Career Parr began as a Production Services Director at ABC TV. Russ ...

in the Morning''. In 2016, WHHH replaced Russ Parr with ''The

Rickey Smiley Broderick Dornell "Rickey" Smiley (born August 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian, television host, actor, and radio personality known for his prank phone calls. The calls feature Smiley disguising his voice carrying a conversation wit ...

Morning Show'', which is syndicated by Urban One. In 2018, parent company Radio One was renamed

Urban One Urban One, Inc. (formerly Radio One) is an American media conglomerate based in Silver Spring, Maryland. Founded in 1980 by Cathy Hughes, the company primarily operates media properties targeting African Americans. It is the largest African-Ame ...

. On June 13, 2022, it was announced that Urban One would purchase

Emmis Communications Emmis Corporation is an American media conglomerate based in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Emmis, based on the Hebrew word for "Truth" (''Emet'') was founded by Jeff Smulyan in 1980. Emmis has owned many radio stations, including KPWR ...

' Indianapolis cluster for $22.5 million, and would divest WHHH to comply with FCC ownership limits. Ten days later, it was announced that the station would be sold to the

, and that WHHH's format and intellectual property would move to

WNOW-FM WHHH (100.9 FM, "Hot 100.9") is a radio station licensed to Speedway, Indiana. Owned by Urban One, it broadcasts an mainstream urban format serving the Indianapolis metropolitan area. Its studios are co-located with its sister stations at Mer ...

to replace its existing CHR format. While it was initially believed 96.3 would receive the WNOW-FM calls, on June 26, 2022, it was reported that BBN had instead applied for new callsign WYHX upon the move. In preparation for the sale, WHHH began simulcasting on WNOW-FM on August 13 at midnight to redirect listeners to the new signal. On August 30, at midnight, BNN officially completed their purchase of WHHH, switching the station's call letters to WYHX, and flipped the station's format to Christian programming.

References

External links

* {{coord, 39.776, N, 86.153, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title YHX YHX Radio stations established in 1993 1993 establishments in Indiana Religion in Indianapolis Bible Broadcasting Network