WKHX-FM (101.5
FM) is a 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 radio ...
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 genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
format known as "New Country 101.Five". Owned by
Cumulus Media
Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 8 ...
, the station serves the
Atlanta metropolitan area
Metro Atlanta, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Alpharetta, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Georgia and the ...
. WKHX-FM's studios are located in
Sandy Springs
Sandy Springs is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia and an inner ring suburb of Atlanta. The city's population was 108,080 at the 2020 census, making it Georgia's seventh-largest city. It is the site of several corporate headquarters, i ...
, while the transmitter is located west of
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...
, in unincorporated
DeKalb County DeKalb County may refer to one of several counties in the United States, all of which were named for Baron Johan DeKalb:
* DeKalb County, Alabama
* DeKalb County, Georgia
* DeKalb County, Illinois
* DeKalb County, Indiana
* DeKalb County, Missour ...
. 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 over two HD Radio subchannels, and is available online.
History
101.5 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, co-educational, state university in Marietta, Georgia, United States approximately northwest of downtown Atlanta. Until 2015, it was an independe ...
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 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 assigne ...
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
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...
.
"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 Company. It eventually proposed a merger of equals with The Walt Disney Company and ...
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
The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 590 kHz: 590 AM is a Regional broadcast frequency.
Argentina
* LRA30 in Bariloche, Río Negro.
* LS4 in Buenos Aires.
* LV12 in San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán.
Brazil
* ZYH-44 ...
, 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 WDWD
WDWD (590 AM; "Faith Talk 590") is a Christian talk station serving the metro Atlanta market. It airs "The Eric Metaxas Show", "Family Talk with Dr. James Dobson", "Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah" and "The Narrow Path" hosted by Steve Gr ...
, owned by
Salem Media
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 I ...
.
Capital Cities took over
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
, 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
Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and s ...
-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, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville.
EMF is the parent company of K-LOVE and Air1—the world's largest ...
in 2019. In December 2006, WKHX-FM got a new country music competitor in
WUBL, owned by
Clear Channel Communications (now
iHeartMedia
iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly 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 fou ...
).
WKHX-FM and other
ABC Radio stations were acquired by
Citadel Broadcasting
Citadel Broadcasting Corporation was a Las Vegas, Nevada-based broadcast holding company. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the country. Only iHeartMedia and Cumulus Media ...
in 2007, which was absorbed into
Cumulus Media
Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 8 ...
in September 2011.
In October 2011, WKHX-FM modified its
playlist 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".
WKHX Becomes New Country 101.5
/ref>
Former logo
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
Former subsidiaries of The Walt Disney Company