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| Broadcast area | Greater Houston |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 96.5MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | Mix 96.5 |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Format | Hot adult contemporary |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| History | |
First air date | February 1, 1948 (77 years ago) (1948-02-01) |
Former call signs |
|
Call sign meaning | "Houston's Mix" |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 47749 |
| Class | C |
| ERP | 100,000 watts |
| HAAT | 585 meters (1,919 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 29°34′34″N95°30′36″W / 29.57611°N 95.51000°W /29.57611; -95.51000 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (via Audacy) |
| Website | www |
KHMX (96.5MHz, "Mix 96.5") is an American commercialhot adult contemporaryradio station inHouston,Texas. It is owned byAudacy, Inc. and serves theGreater Houston metropolitan area. The KHMX studios are located in Houston'sGreenway Plaza district, while the stationtransmitter is located in the Houston suburb ofMissouri City. In addition to a standardanalog transmission, KHMX broadcasts usingHD Radio technology, and is available online viaAudacy. It is the flagship station for the syndicated morning show "The Dana Cortez Show".
KXYZ-FM first signed on February 1, 1948, under the ownership of Shamrock Broadcasting.[2] As typical of FM radio stations in the mid-20th century, KXYZ-FM was a simulcast of its AM parent,KXYZ. The station would stay on the air for five years and six months before being silent for about eight years,[3] resuming operations in 1961, again as a simulcast of KXYZ'sbeautiful music format.[4]
In 1968, KXYZ and KXYZ-FM were acquired by ABC;[5] the new ownership subsequently changed KXYZ-FM's format toautomatedprogressive rock, branded as "Love96+1⁄2 FM". "Love" was formulated by ABC Radio for its FM stations around the U.S., includingWABC-FM inNew York City,KABC-FM inLos Angeles,WLS-FM inChicago,KGO-FM inSan Francisco,WXYZ-FM inDetroit andKQV-FM inPittsburgh. All seven FM stations switch call signs to distinguish from their AM counterparts on switched to KAUM in January 1971. When the national "Love" format was discontinued later in 1971, the progressive rock music continued, but with localdisc jockeys, changing its moniker to "KAUM96+1⁄2 FM". In the late 1970s, KAUM shifted fromalbum-oriented rock (AOR) toTop 40 hits to compete againstKRBE andKILT.
From July 24, 1980, through late 1986, the station operated as KSRR, first as "97 Star FM", and then again as "97 Rock." It had analbum-oriented rock format, using the infamous slogan "Kick Ass Rock 'N' Roll!", and a logo similar toWABB inMobile.[6] The new station featured morning radio host andKEGLDallas alum James Smith "Moby" Carney and Matthew, withHannah Storm as sports announcer. The station competed against the album rock format ofKLOL and for a short period,KILT-FM.
In mid-1985, due to the merger of ABC Radio andCapital Cities Communications, KSRR was spun off to Malrite Communications in order to meet the FCC's ownership limits at the time.[7] On October 15, 1986, the station changed call letters to KKHT, and the AOR format was replaced by a Top 40 format known as "Hit 96.5 KKHT".[8][9] By mid-1987, heavy competition from Top 40 powerhousesKKBQ-FM and KRBE prompted the station to morph toadult contemporary. The station rebranded as "96.5 KKHT". In late 1988,Emmis Broadcasting bought the station.
On February 10, 1989, at 6 p.m., the station flipped to a newrhythmic contemporary format, with a focus on dance-oriented music, branded as "Energy 96.5".[10][11] The station adopted the new KNRJ call letters on September 4. This format was a competitive response to two other local stations, KKBQ and 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 Avenue and innerWestheimer Road). These competitors featured late-night, weekend live broadcasts 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 heard on most commercial stations). By early 1990, KNRJ had partnered with the Tower Theater'sDecadance to host its own weekend, late-night live broadcast.
In May 1990,Nationwide Communications bought the station.[12] The station's ratings during this time were low and the new owners wanted to improve the numbers. In the station's latter months, KNRJ began adding morenew wave music tracks to improve ratings.
On June 25, 1990, at 7:15 a.m., in the middle of "Tonight" byNew Kids on the Block, DJ Jeff Scott, in a bit, abruptly cut off the song and announced his discontent for the format, with he and some fellow DJs playing brief music clips to complain about before being heard throwing the tapes away. After that, KNRJ flipped to analternative rock format. The station kicked off with "I Eat Cannibals" byToto Coelo, starting off a "Top 100 Best Alternative Songs of All Time" countdown.[13] TheAlternative 96.5 re-brand was a transitional format, lasting roughly five weeks, and was promoted while a forthcoming format was under preparation. A weeklyplaylist, under a makeshiftAlternative 96.5 letterhead, was distributed to local retail and media outlets.[14]
Then, at 7 a.m. on July 18, KNRJ beganstunting with a 48-hour ticking clock countdown sequence. A series of disjointed song samples were eventually interspersed into the sequence within the last 12 hours, most famously the opening to the song "Let It Whip" byThe Dazz Band played first normally, then again in reverse.[15] After the countdown concluded at 7 a.m. on July 20, a fictitious "teacher" conducted a "roll call" calling out the names of program directors from competing radio stations, asking the "class" to start their tape recorders and take notes as this "lecture" was to begin. At that moment, KNRJ's call letters switched to KHMX as the station changed formats tohot adult contemporary, branded as "Mix 96.5." The first two songs on "Mix" wereSteve Winwood's "Roll With It" andTaylor Dayne's "I'll Be Your Shelter".[16][17][18][19]
General Manager Clancy Woods and Nationwide National Program Director Guy Zapoleon used the roll out at KHMX to launch other new Hot AC stations, branded as the "Mix" format. The Mix brand tagline, "More Music, More Variety, A Better Mix", was commercially successful. The formula for the "Mix" format was replicated through the 1990s and early 2000s in several other radio markets across North America and in cities as far away asSydney, Australia by KHMX consultant Alan Burns. Around the same time, research expert John Parikhal, who also worked with KHMX, was helping PD Greg Strassell ofSteve Dodge'sAmerican Radio Systems inBoston launch another Mix station known as "Mix 98.5",WBMX. WBMX was more of aRhythmic AC and an early example of today'sMOViN' format. Another Mix station was launched a few months earlier in the Summer of 1989 atWOMX inOrlando by Nationwide Communications GM Rick Weinkoff and PD Brian Thomas, with help from Guy Zapoleon.
Nationwide sold all of its radio stations, including KHMX, toJacor in October 1997.[20] After a series of mergers,Clear Channel Communications acquired KHMX in early 1999.[21][22] KHMX was broadcast nationwide onXM Satellite Radio from 2001 to the end of 2003, when a unique-to-XMMix channel debuted.
On December 15, 2008, Clear Channel andCBS Radio announced a multi-station swap: KHMX and sister stationKLOL would go to CBS Radio, while CBS Radio-owned stationsWQSR inBaltimore,KBKS inSeattle,KLTH andKXJM inPortland, Oregon andKQJK inSacramento would go to Clear Channel. The sale was approved on March 31, 2009, and was consummated on April 1.[23] After the sale of the station to CBS in 2009, KHMX tweaked its sound to include more Top 40/CHR currents.
On February 2, 2017, CBS Radio announced it would merge withEntercom.[24] The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and was consummated on November 17.[25][26]
During its tenure as "Mix", the station has rotated through several morning shows, including Roula & Ryan (now onKRBE) from 2003-2005, Sam Malone (formerly of KRBE) 2005-2007, Maria Todd (also formerly of KRBE) 2009-2011,The Kidd Kraddick Morning Show 2011-2012, Atom Smasher (also aKRBE alum) 2013-2015, and Dave, Mahoney & DK (formerly of sisterKXTE/Las Vegas) 2015-2016.
Dave, Mahoney & DK were let go from the station in December 2016. On April 5, 2017, it was announced that "The Morning Mix" would become the new morning show on KHMX consisting of former KKHH host Sarah Pepper, along with afternoon host Lauren Kelly and Geoff Sheen, formerly ofKTKR inSan Antonio, which began on April 10, 2017.[27] Lauren Kelly, however, left the station in 2019. Pepper left the station in 2024 to care for her ailing mother. Since November 4, 2024 the station now hosts The Dana Cortez Show and it originates from KHMX. Dana Cortez and her radio cast also relocated from their previous home base inPhoenix, Arizona to Houston in January 2025.
KHMX signed on HD Radio operations in 2006. 96.5 HD2 first carried arhythmic contemporary –dance music format, known as "Energy 96.5." Energy 96.5 was the moniker KHMX used prior to becoming "Mix" in 1990. After the sale of the station to CBS in April 2009, KHMX 96.5 HD2 andKKHH 95.7 HD2 swapped formats, with KHMX-HD2 becomingsmooth jazz "The Wave", whileKKHH-HD2 taking on the dance format and "Energy 95.7" moniker. "The Wave" would eventually evolve into aSmooth AC (a hybrid of Smooth Jazz and R&B music) format with an emphasis on Smooth Jazz.
In December 2016, "The Wave" moved to KHMX-HD3. After a brief run with analbum adult alternative (AAA) format as "Third Rock Radio", and nearly a year of airing a message redirecting Smooth Jazz listeners to KHMX HD-3, the HD-2 re-launched asHard Rock-formatted "HarD Rock Radio 96-5 HD-2" on November 20, 2017.
The HD subchannels have since been turned off.