WHKO

WHKO (99.1 FM, "K99.1") is a country music radio station licensed to Dayton, Ohio. The station is owned by Cox Media Group. With its 50,000-watt signal, and broadcast tower at 1,000 feet, WHKO is one of the strongest FM stations in the Southwestern Ohio area, and used to make mention of this during on-air promos. Its studios are co-located with the Dayton Daily News, WHIO-AM-FM-TV and two more radio stations in the Cox Media Center building near downtown Dayton. WHKO has a transmitter in Dayton's westside.

WHKO
CityDayton, Ohio
Broadcast areaDayton, Ohio
Springfield, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
BrandingK99.1FM
SloganNew Country
Frequency99.1 MHz (HD Radio)
Translator(s)98.7 W254BA (Riverside, relays HD3)
First air date1946 (as WHIO-FM)
FormatCountry
HD2: Classic hits (WZLR simulcast)
HD3: Urban oldies "The Soul of Dayton"
ERP50,000 watts
HAAT325 m (1,066 ft)
ClassB
Facility ID14245
Transmitter coordinates39.733944°N 84.248°W / 39.733944; -84.248
Call sign meaningA portmanteau of former WHIO callsign and K99.1 branding
Former call signsWHIO-FM (1946–1989)
OwnerCox Media Group
(Camelot Radio Buyer, LLC)
Sister stationsWHIO, WHIO-FM, WHIO-TV, WZLR
WebcastListen Live
Websitewww.k99online.com

K99.1FM employs a New Country format and has historically played more music and fewer commercials than most radio stations in the Dayton/Cincinnati radio market. With a strong signal and a commitment to playing more music than the competition, WHKO has a long history of being near the top of the Dayton Arbitron ratings since it began its country format in March 1989. K99.1FM also shows up regularly in the Cincinnati Nielsen ratings, as its signal comes in clear throughout the greater Cincinnati market as well.

Early history

WHKO was founded in 1946 as WHIO-FM, with a beautiful music format which since the 1960s was a kindred complement to the middle of the road format of WHIO (AM). While many FM stations initially failed during its inception in the 1950s in favor of AM, WHIO-FM flourished and remained solid. It eventually became and remained the top-rated station in the Dayton market for many years as FM was considered to be an easy alternative to commercial pop music and the rise of Top 40 and country music on the AM dial during that time. The format remained consistent in the 1970s and 1980s playing reel to reel of beautiful music provided by national syndicators.

Final Years

During its later years WHIO-FM ran the Bonneville live assist beautiful music format. with continued success. During WHIO-FM's final year of operation the 25-54 demographic ratings were slipping, so management decided to add more modern hits from the adult contemporary charts in an attempt to help increase ratings. Songs from The Eagles and Jim Croce were added and played three or four times per hour. When this tactic failed, Cox Broadcasting decided to research the market for a format hole. Many easy listening and beautiful music stations evolved into soft adult contemporary stations but with WVUD in Dayton already in the format as Delightful 100FM, Cox opted to instead change the format completely.

WHKO Today

On March 17, 1989, the station switched its call sign to WHKO, and the format abruptly changed from beautiful music to country. This was unexpected in the market since the 12+ overall numbers still had WHIO-FM as the #1 station in the market. The last song played on WHIO-FM was Rick Astley's "Together Forever", at which point the format flipped to country music, although the announcer pre-sold another 30 minutes of easy listening favorites. The first song played under the new format was Barbara Mandrell's "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool". The first announcer on the station was Jim Manley who at that time moved from WHIO (AM) to mornings on the new K99.1FM. Nancy Wilson joined Manley shortly thereafter and to this day remains the morning host.

The previous format's audience, mainly the older listeners, were very unhappy about the format change. The station received hundreds of complaint letters, and other radio stations in and around the Dayton area fielded numerous phone calls demanding to know why "FM 99" was playing country music. The change was otherwise well-received in the market; after 2 ratings periods WHKO maintained its number one ranking among its target demographic of 25-54. Prior to the switch, the top-rated country station in Dayton through the 1970s and 1980s was WONE (AM), which now employs a sports/talk format.

At first the station was "easy listening country" playing more soft crossover hits from Kenny Rogers, Lionel Richie, Rita Coolidge, Gordon Lightfoot then most modern country stations at that time. The disk jockey style was very laid back, at times it sounded almost like the previous format. Over the next several years the station slowly modernized the format and today is reminiscent of a CHR country format with tight rotations, upbeat jocks and community involvement.

WHKO is the Dayton Children's Radiothon station the market and has raised over $4 million dollars since 1998.[1] WHKO won the National Association of Broadcasters Crystal Award in 2018 for outstanding community service.[2] WHKO was only one of eight stations receiving the award. WHKO has also been nominated for several Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association awards.[3]

In November 2006 the WHIO-FM calls were reborn at 95.7 FM in Piqua (the former WDPT) as a simulcast of WHIO-AM's news talk format. Ironically when WHIO-FM abandoned the beautiful music format, WPTW-FM which was the station at 95.7 tried to capture the former audience by flipping to Clear 95 with the call letters WCLR.

WHKO-HD2/HD3

WHKO's HD-2 digital subcarrier airs a simulcast of classic hits formatted WZLR 95.3 in Xenia and Dayton translator 101.1 The Eagle.

WHKO's 99.1 HD-3 digital subcarrier is leased to BC Dayton Broadcasting as "The Soul of Dayton," a possible reference and tribute to the former WDAO-FM (now WMMX) which airs an urban oldies format. The service made its debut on Monday September 9, 2013 and is re-transmitted on analog 98.7 FM (translator W254BA)[4][5]

References
  1. "K99.1FM Raises over $300,000 for Dayton Children's Hospital during annual Radiothon > Cox Media Group Ohio". Cox Media Group Ohio. 2019-01-14. Retrieved 2019-03-06.
  2. "Overview | NAB Crystal Radio Awards". www.nab.org. Retrieved 2019-03-06.
  3. reports, Staff. "K99.1FM earns one of the highest honors in country music again". dayton. Retrieved 2019-03-06.
  4. http://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/84968/98-7-the-soul-of-dayton-debuts
  5. http://hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=58
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