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KHMX
KHMX
Broadcast areaGreater Houston
Frequency96.5 (MHz) (HD Radio)
96.5 HD-2 Top 40/CHR
Branding"Mix 96.5"
Programming
FormatHot AC
Ownership
Owner
KBME, KKRW, KLOL, KLVI, KODA, KPRC (AM), KTBZ, KTRH
History
Call sign meaning
K Houston's MiX 96.5
Technical information
Facility ID47749
ClassC
ERP97,000 watts
HAAT585 meters
Transmitter coordinates
29°34′34.00″N 95°30′36.00″W / 29.5761111°N 95.5100000°W / 29.5761111; -95.5100000
Links
WebcastListen Live
Websitewww.khmx.com

KHMX-FM (MIX 96.5), is a Hot AC (Adult Top 40) station in Houston, Texas, United States. Its transmitter is located in nearby Missouri City.

Call Frequency History

From 1980 through late 1986, the 96.5 FM slot for the Houston-Galveston market operated as KSRR 97 Rock FM, featuring morning radio host Moby. The station competed against the album rock format of 101.1 KLOL (and from 1986, KZFX Z-107.5 FM).

From October 15, 1986, the station changed call letters to KKHT, and the hard rock-oriented format was replaced by a contemporary hit radio format known as Hit 96.5. By mid-1987, heavy competition from top 40 powerhouses KKBQ and KRBE prompted the station to morph to Adult Contemporary. The station rebranded as 96.5 KKHT

From 1989, the station changed call letters to KNRJ, modifying its format to feature a heavier variety of "high-energy" dance music. This format, branded Energy 96.5, was a competitive response to two other local stations, 93Q KKBQ and Power 104 KRBE, whose Top 40 formats reflected the increasing presence of dance club-oriented tracks (catering to a then-lucrative target audience drawn to the flourishing night club scenes along Richmond Ave., and inner Westheimer Road.). These competitors featured late-night, weekend live-to-air from local dance clubs (e.g., Club 6400, The Ocean Club), where in-house DJs drew heavily from libraries of imported and small-label, extended-length modern tracks (which otherwise were seldom, if ever, heard on most commercial stations); by early 1990, KNRJ had partnered with the Tower Theater's Decadance to host its own weekend, late-night live broadcast.

In early June 1990, during a morning talk show segment, the host personalities announced that Energy 96.5 would switch to an Alternative Rock format. The Alternative 96.5 re-brand was a transitional format, lasting roughly six weeks, and was promoted while a forthcoming format -- under a strategic decision by the station's owner, Nationwide Communications, Inc. -- was under preparation. A weekly play list, under an Alternative 96.5 makeshift letterhead, was distributed to local retail and media outlets, culminating on July 17, 1990.

Transition to KHMX-FM

At 07:00 CDT on July 18, 1990, KNRJ stopped playing music and began a 48-hour ticking clock countdown sequence; a heavily processed, pre-recorded masculine studio voice announced the time remaining at 15-minute intervals. For the final 12 hours of this transitional sequence, a series of disjointed song samples (largely unrelated to KNRJ's format) were interspersed -- notably the repeated playback (forward and backward) for the opening eight seconds of the Dazz Band's "Let It Whip".

At 07:00 CDT, July 20, the countdown concluded, and a "roll call" by a fictitious "teacher" called out the names of program directors from other Houston radio stations. This "teacher" asked the class to start their tape recorders and take notes as this "lecture" was to begin. The show hosts premiered KHMX-FM's call letters with the "Mix 96.5" air check. Mix 96.5's first song, Steve Winwood's "Roll with It", was followed by Taylor Dayne's "I'll Be Your Shelter". Both tracks confirmed the sharp departure from preceding station formats.

The "Mix" Format

For Nationwide Communications, this new, Adult Top 40 format (branded as the "Mix" format) was tested concurrently in both the Houston and Boston, Massachusetts, markets -- the latter as "Mix 98.5" WBMX-FM (then owned by MCA TV). The Mix brand tagline, "More Music, More Variety, A Better Mix" was commercially successful, and the formula for the Mix format was replicated through the 1990s and early 2000s in several other radio markets across North America.

KHMX was broadcast nationwide on XM Satellite Radio from 2001 to the end of 2003, as a radio superstation similar to television satellite superstations such as Superstation WGN. In 2004, all XM music channels went commercial free, and KHMX was replaced with a unique-to-XM Mix channel, retaining the same format. Since then, Clear Channel has regained the right to air commercials on their XM music channels. Mix now carries commercials, but is still exclusive to XM. It has also since changed formats to adult hits.

Current DJs and schedule (time in CT)

  • Sam Malone and the Morning Show (06:00-09:00)
  • Middays (09:00-14:00)
    • Natalie
  • Afternoons (14:00-19:00)
    • Keith Scott
  • Nights (19:00-24:00)
    • (vacant)

Notable Past Disc Jockeys include

Current Competitors

Frequency Call Letters & Branding

  • KXYZ - 2/1/1948 - ?
  • KAUM - (Love 96 1/2)
  • KSRR - 1980 (Star 97, 97 Rock "Kick S Rock n Roll!)
  • KKHT - 10/15/1986 (Hit 96.5, 96.5 KKHT)
  • KNRJ - 8/4/1989 (Energy 96, Energy 96.5, Alternative 96.5)
  • KHMX - 7/20/1990 (Mix 96.5)
  • KHMX - 1/1/2003 (The New Mix 96.5)
  • KHMX - 1/1/2005 (Mix 96.5)

Slogan History

  • 1990 - "More Music, More Variety, A Better Mix"
  • 1993 - "The Best Mix of the 70s, 80s, and 90s"
  • 1998 - "Greatest Hits of the 80s, 90s, and 70s", "Houston's New At-Work Choice"
  • 2000 - "The Best Mix of the 80s, 90s, and Today"
  • 2000 - "Today's Best Music"
  • 2001 - "Houston's Hit Music Variety", "Houston's Upbeat Listen While You Work Station"
  • 2001 - "The Best Mix of the 80s, 90s, and Today"
  • 2002 - "More Music, More Variety, A Better Mix"
  • 2005 - "Sam Malone in the Morning and Houston's Best Mix All Day"
  • 2006 - "Houston's Best Mix"

References

  1. ^ "Houston Market Ratings". Radio and Records. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
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