WKHK

Infobox Radio station
name = WKHK


city = Colonial Heights
area = Richmond
branding = "K-95"
slogan = "Today's New Country and Your All Time Favorites!"
airdate =
frequency = 95.3 MHz HD Radio
format = Country music
power = 47,000 Watts
erp =
haat =
class = B
facility_id =
coordinates = coord|37|26|22|N|77|26|01|W
callsign_meaning =
former_callsigns = WPVA-FM
owner = Cox Radio
licensee =
sister_stations = WMXB, WKLR, WDYL
webcast = [http://uni3.cox.streamaudio.com/WKHK_FM Listen Live]
website = [http://k95country.com/ k95country.com]
affiliations =

WKHK (95.3 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Colonial Heights, Virginia, USA, it serves the Richmond area. The station is currently owned by Cox Radio.

History (1970's - 2000)

This station originally signed on in 1972 as Colonial Heights based WPVA-FM, with a 3000 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 70s it was sold to Joyner Broadcasting, owned by Cary . NC based radio excecutive 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 Lyle Bradley , Tom Sawyer , Lynn Burns, Ruth Richards , Art Goodwin , Royal Bruce and Rick Sands.

In 1982 the station combination (WPVA AM & FM) was purchased by Brill Media, who at first went with sattlite delivered programming under Program Director Dick Grant and General Manager Jim Magnuson , but later, 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. From the onset of it's purchase of the stations , Brill had wanted to start targeting the FM toward the larger nearby Richmond market. The first order of business was a call letter change. When former New York country station WKHK dumped their format and calls in 1984, Brill Media picked them up for their Virginia station, and in August 1984 WPVA-FM became WKHK. 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 "Katfish" Metzger for Mornings , and Kay Thomas for afternoons. Katfish remains in mornings to this day witn current partner Lori. After 20 plus years at the station in afternoon dtive , Thomas was let go in 2007.

In 1988 the stations were purchased by ABS Broadcasting, who included local Richmond music producer Ken Brown, and the FM studios were moved to The Arboretum office complex in Richmond (At this time, sister station WPVA-AM was sold. That station is now Disney owned WDZY).

In the 90s, 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 (which by this time included not only WKHK, but also Alternative WBZU, Classic Rock WLEE-FM, who later became later WKLR, 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.

By 2000, as a result of the merger of AMFM with Clear Channel Communications, several of the Richmond owned stations had to be disvested by other owners to comply with ownership regulations. Cox Radio purchased and currently owns not only WKHK, but also WMXB, WKLR, and WDYL.

Personalities

During the station's long history there have been several popular personalities. In the 70s 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, Bill Drake, and Kay Thomas.

In September 2007, long-time afternoon jock Kay Thomas, was replaced with Tara Hunter, formerly of WVGO, WRXL and WLFV.

Power Increase

On December, 10, 2007, WKHK increased its power from 17kW at 394 feet to 47kW 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.

External links

* [http://k95country.com/ k95country.com]
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