KHCM-FM
KHCM is a country music radio station serving Honolulu, Hawaii. The Salem Communications outlet broadcasts at 97.5 MHz with an ERP of 80 kW. Its studios are in Honolulu's Kalihi district, and its transmitter is in the Ala Moana neighborhood.
| City | Honolulu, Hawaii |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Honolulu, Hawaii |
| Frequency | 97.5 MHz |
| Branding | Country 97.5 |
| Slogan | Hawaii's New Hit Country |
| Programming | |
| Format | Country |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Salem Media Group (Salem Media of Hawaii, Inc.) |
| Sister stations | KAIM, KKOL, KGU, KHCM, KGU-FM, KHNR |
| History | |
| First air date | March 6, 1962 (as KPOI-FM) |
| Former call signs | KPOI-FM (1962-1974) KHSS (1974-1979) KDUK (1979-1983) KPOI (1983-2004) KHNR-FM (2004-2007) |
| Call sign meaning | Hawaii's Country Music |
| Technical information | |
| Facility ID | 34620 |
| Class | C1 |
| ERP | 80,000 watts |
| HAAT | 14 meters |
| Links | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | 975country.com |
History
KPOI-FM went on the air in 1962 as the third FM station in the state, a companion to KPOI 1380 AM (today KLHT at 1040).
In 1974, KPOI-FM became KHSS, but it would change its calls to KDUK in 1979. By 1983 the station would flip formats to active rock and return to the KPOI call letters, in honor of the former Top 40 AM sister station. But by 1993 KPOI would evolve to Modern rock as "97.5 The Edge," only to change its moniker back to 97-5 K-POI with the positioning slogan:"The Rock You Live On." In 2004 Salem bought the station and dropped the format, giving Hawaii its first FM News/Talk station. Sister station KAIM became its simulcast after the switch was made.
KHCM's country origins began in 2002 at 940 AM, which had once been home of the market's original country AM, KDEO. In 2005 KHCM switched signals to 1180. In 2006 Salem and KORL's owners swapped signals, and in the process moved the KHCM calls and country format over to the 690 frequency from the 1180 frequency, which in turn became the new home for KORL. On Sept. 3, 2007, KHCM switched from 690 AM to both 870 AM to 97.5 FM, keeping its country music format. The former news/talk format and KHNR calls moved to 690 AM.
On July 1, 2009 Salem split up the KHCM simulcast, with the AM flipping to a Chinese-language format. The FM side retains the current format. In June 2015, KHCM-FM changed positioning statements to "Hawaii's New Hit Country".
External links
- KHCM in the FCC's FM station database
- KHCM on Radio-Locator
- KHCM in Nielsen Audio's FM station database