Broadcast area Honolulu, Hawaii Frequency 97.5 (MHz) Format Country | Branding Country 97.5 First air date March 6, 1962 | |
Slogan Hawaii's New Hit Country | ||
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.
History
KHCM-FM's heritage traces back to the 1970s when it signed on as KHSS, but would change its calls to KDUK in 1979. By 1983 they would flip formats to Active Rock and call letters to KPOI, in honor of its 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 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 690AM.
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."