Broadcast area Lafayette, Indiana ERP 6,000 watts Class A Frequency 93.5 MHz Format Album-oriented rock Area Lafayette Slogan Everything That Rocks | First air date 1970 (as WXUS at 92.7) HAAT 75 meters Facility ID 63185 City of license Lafayette Owner Schurz Communications Branding 93.5 KHY | |
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WKHY ("93.5 KHY") is an FM radio station licensed to the city of Lafayette, Indiana. The station operates on the FM radio frequency of 93.5 MHz, FM channel 228. [1]. The studios are located at 3575 McCarty Lane in Lafayette, Indiana.
History
WKHY was originally WXUS, a radio station located at 92.7 MHz on the FM dial. The station originally carried religious/inspirational programming until the station was sold to a secular broadcaster. The format then became Adult contemporary as "US 93". In addition to the AC format, the station also carried some religious programming during the late night/early morning hours to fulfill their license requirements. This continued until the station moved frequencies. In the mid-80s, the AC format was dropped in favor of album-oriented rock. The station continued to call themselves "US 93". In the late 80s, the station moved to 93.5MHz as a result of a frequency reassignment which affected many stations in the 92-94MHz band throughout North-central Indiana and East-central Illinois. Shortly after the switch, despite high ratings, the station flipped its format to Classic hits due to a lack of advertising. A contest was then launched to pick the call letters for the station. The winner chose WKHY, meaning Klassic Hits for You. The calls remain on 93.5 to this day.
Classic hits remained on the station through the early 1990s when the station segued to Classic rock. WKHY would also tweak their on-air branding to "93-5 KHY". In 1996, Artistic Media Partners' fledging country music outlet, WGBD, switched to a modern rock format giving WKHY a direct competitor. Both stations fared well with KHY winning mainly the upper end of their target demo and WGBD winning the younger end, according to Arbitron. In 2001, WGBD flipped to classic rock and now competes with WKHY for the older male demographic. KHY maintained their AOR format and, to this day, continue to be a ratings winner for males 18-49.
Due to the recent format change of WSHP, WKHY now airs Bob and Tom in the Lafayette area.
Schurz Communications announced on September 14, 2015 that it would exit broadcasting and sell its television and radio stations, including WKHY, to Gray Television for $442.5 million. Though Gray initially intended to keep Schurz' radio stations, on November 2, it announced that Neuhoff Communications would acquire WKHY and Schurz' other Lafayette radio stations for $8 million.