WKHK
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| City of license | Colonial Heights, Virginia |
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| Broadcast area | Richmond, Virginia Petersburg, Virginia |
| Branding | K-95 |
| Slogan | "Today's New Country and Your All Time Favorites!" |
| Frequency | 95.3 MHz |
| First air date | November 17, 1972 |
| Format | Country |
| ERP | 47,000 watts |
| HAAT | 156 meters (512 ft) |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 319 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 37°26′22.0″N 77°26′1.0″W / 37.43944°N 77.43361°W |
| Former callsigns | WPVA-FM (1972-1984)[1] |
| Owner | Cox Radio, Inc. |
| Sister stations | WHTI, WKLR, WURV |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | k95country.com |
WKHK (95.3 FM, "K95") is an American radio station licensed to serve the community of Colonial Heights, Virginia. The station's broadcast license is held by Cox Radio, Inc. WKHK broadcasts a country music format branded as "K95" to the Richmond/Petersburg, Virginia, area.[2]
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[edit] History
[edit] 1970s
This station originally signed on in 1972 as Colonial Heights based WPVA-FM, with a 3,000 watt signal out of Colonial Heights and serving the Tri-City area with a traditional country music format in studios on Oaklawn Boulevard in Petersburg. When the station signed on it was owned by Smiles Broadcasting, in the mid 1970s it was sold to Joyner Broadcasting, owned by Cary, North Carolina, based radio executive Tom Joyner. Joyner kept the station's format, but moved to a new building atop a hill near Oaklawn Blvd and Washington St. Personalities at this time included Paul Bulluck, Lyle Bradley, Tom Sawyer, Lynn Burns, Ruth Richards, Art Goodwin, Royal Bruce, Rick Sands, Chip Cook, Terry Sisisky, and Dave Adkins.
[edit] 1980s
In 1982 the station combination (WPVA AM & FM) was purchased by Brill Media, who at first went with satellite delivered programming under Program Director Dick Grant and General Manager Jim Magnuson, but in mid-1983, returned to locally based programming under new Program Director Nick Allen and new General Manager Gary Granger. Personalities in on WPVA-FM during this time included Buddy Cochran, Shannon Neuson, and Rick Sands.
In 1984, when former New York country station WKHK dumped their format and calls, to become "106.7 Lite-FM" WLTW, Brill Media picked them up for their Virginia station, and in March, WPVA-FM became WKHK.[1] Personalities on the station during this time included Buddy Cochran, Angie Engle, Ryan Clark, Matt Nicholls, Mike Hammer, Steve Bear, Bev Davis, Alan Warden, Mike McPherson, Rob Ryan, Rick Sands, Stonewall, Matt Stevens, and Lisa Lewis.
In 1985, after years of legal hassles, the station was able to move to a tower in Chester, closer to Richmond, with a better signal. At first they referred to themselves as "95 KHK", but in 1987 they took on the easier to remember "K95".
In 1986, the station hired Jim "Catfish" Metzger for mornings, and Kay Thomas for afternoons. Catfish remains in mornings to this day with current partner Lori Kelly. After 20 plus years at the station in afternoon drive, Thomas was let go in 2007.
In 1988, the stations were purchased by ABS Broadcasting, who included local Richmond music producer Ken Brown. The FM studios were moved to The Arboretum office complex in Richmond, and WPVA was sold and is currently Disney owned WDZY).
[edit] 1990s
In the 1990s, the station's tower was moved to a taller structure at the intersection of Jefferson Davis Highway & Chippenham Parkway in Chesterfield County. The former tower in Chester is now being used by sister station WKLR.
In 1996, ABS merged with SFX Broadcasting and the ABS owned stations (WKHK, Alternative WBZU, Classic Rock WLEE-FM, Oldies WVGO, and an LMA for AM station WLEE) were merged with the other station in the SFX complex, Adult Contemporary WMXB. During this time, SFX went through several corporate mergers, first Capstar, then AMFM.
In 1999, all the AMFM owned stations co-located in the Moorefield office complex in Midlothian, VA, where WMXB had been located since 1985.
[edit] 2000s
By 2000, as a result of the merger of AMFM with Clear Channel Communications, several of the Richmond-owned stations had to be divested by other owners to comply with Federal ownership regulations. Cox Radio purchased and currently owns not only WKHK, but also WURV (formerly WMXB), WKLR (formerly WLEE-FM), and WHTI (formerly WDYL).
On December 10, 2007, WKHK increased its power from 17 kW at 394 feet to 47 kW at 512 feet, making it a full class B station. WKHK transmits from an antenna near the Chippenham Pkwy and I-95 interchange in Richmond.
[edit] Personalities
During the station's long history there have been several popular personalities. In the 1970s the late Lyle Bradley, along with a talk show hosted by former owner Tom Joyner were both fixtures at WPVA-FM. Later in the WKHK era, popular personalities included long time morning man Catfish, Mike Levay, Rick Sands, Dennis Nelson, and Kay Thomas.
Current on-air staff as of December 2011[update] includes Catfish, Lori Kelly, Bill Drake, Tara Hunter, and Buddy Van Arsdale.
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Call Sign History". CDBS Public Access Database. FCC Media Bureau. http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=319&Callsign=WKHK. Retrieved December 16, 2011.
- ^ "Station Information Profile". Arbitron. http://www.arbitron.com/radio_stations/station_information.htm. Retrieved December 16, 2011.
[edit] External links
- K-95 Online
- Query the FCC's FM station database for WKHK
- Radio-Locator information on WKHK
- Query Arbitron's FM station database for WKHK
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