KHPT

KHPT (106.9 FM, "The Eagle") is a classic rock radio station licensed to Conroe, Texas. It is owned by Cox Media Group and is part of the Houston cluster that includes KGLK, KKBQ, and KTHT. It is headquartered in Suite 2300 at 3 Post Oak Central in the Uptown district in Houston, Texas, United States.^[2][3] Its transmitter is located in Splendora, Texas, and is shared with KSBJ.

The station simulcasts 107.5 KGLK to reach the parts of the Houston metro where 107.5 is weak. Between the two frequencies, the Eagle covers more square miles than any station in southeast Texas.^[4]

History

The station signed on to service Conroe on February 14, 1965 with the call letters KNRO. Over time, the call letters have been changed 6 times. It was a religious station for many years, having been owned by Jimmy Swaggart Ministries with its 600-foot tower in Grangerland and licensed as KJOJ-FM. It was sold in the early 1990s after the fall of Jimmy Swaggart in a sex scandal. US Radio, a company owned by Philadelphia lawyer Ragan Henry, owned 106.9 through the early 1990s, until the financing balloon bank note for US Radio's 49 stations across the country became due and Henry was forced to sell his empire with 106.9 being sold to Salem Communications in 1995. During this time, 106.9 (under the KJZS and KKHU callsigns) moved to a 1200-foot tower west of Cleveland and just north of state highway 105, with plans to build a 2000-foot tower near Splendora to cover more of the Houston market.

The slogan for KJOJ-FM was "Houston's Joy of Jesus." During the 1980s, the on-air personalities included Bert Salas, Keith Cramer, Keith Eckhardt, Minnie Francis, and Lyle Countryman. In early 1980s, the station's morning show "Lamb and Lion" was a Christian comedy radio morning show hosted by Salas.

The callsign KJOJ-FM moved from 106.9 to present day 103.3 (located in Sargent) in 1990, and the station acquired new calls KJZS and a smooth jazz format; however, that format briefly lasted until 1991, when the station changed its calls to KKHU and became "The New YOU 106.9" as a hot talk/oldies hybrid, and later to Classic Rock (dropping "The New YOU" moniker) right after KFMK's demise.^[5]

A year later, KKHU changed both call letters and format this time to KKZR as "Z-Rock 106.9", airing the ABC Radio Networks satellite-fed Z-Rock network from Dallas.

It then became KKHT "106.9 The Word" in March 1995. Salem Communications, a company that specializes in Christian radio stations, bought the station the same year. Under Salem, the new 2000 foot tower site at Splendora was completed. In 2000, Salem sold the station to Cox Radio, who, in return, received Atlanta, GA properties from Cox (the tower sites, however, remained in the original owners hands). "The Word" signed off at Midnight on September 28, 2000, and moved to 1070 AM (The Word now resides on 100.7 FM). 106.9 then began stunting with a countdown and with monikers saying "MP3 Radio" and "Radio Free Houston". In addition, the station also filed for the KZJZ call letters, which led to rumors stating that the station may return to its former smooth jazz format. At 5 PM on October 4, 2000, KKHT's callsign was officially changed to KZJZ and "Jazzy 106.9" signed on with Kenny G's "Songbird". However, just seconds into "Songbird", the male and female voice overs revealed this was only a ruse ("You really didn't think we were going jazz, did you?"). Followed by a montage of station promos, the 1980s music station, "106-9 The Point," signed on with Simple Minds' "Don't You (Forget About Me)".^[6] The call letters changed to KHPT on October 17, 2000.

The station withstood the erosion of 1980s-music stations during 2003, and maintained its format. Over the years, the Point's music library gradually expanded to include some late 1970s songs, as well as early 1990s material, but even added songs as late as 1998 and 1999, but never played any current material, making it a 1980s-oriented adult hits station. For a long time, ratings were high for the station. However, ratings for the station started to drop gradually over time, most likely due to the burnout factor of the music, reaching a 1.8 share in its last book as a 1980s-hits station.

At 6 AM on November 8, 2010, KHPT changed its format to classic alternative rock (with 1980s and more 1990s material) as "106-9 The Zone". The Point's final song was Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive", while The Zone's first song was Foo Fighters' "Learn to Fly".^[7] On January 26, 2011, most likely due to low ratings, the station relaunched with a purely 1990s rock format, dropping 1980s material. On April 1, 2011, The Zone began adding alternative songs from the 2000-2007 period to its playlist, and with that change, the station formally changed to a Modern Rock format, similar to KTBZ. This still did not help the station's ratings.

On June 20, 2011, KHPT started simulcasting its sister station KGLK at 5:25 am, after playing "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence and Third Eye Blind's "Jumper" as The Zone's last songs before the simulcast launched.^[8]

Not long afterwards, the previous 1980s-shifted adult hits format, along with "The Point" branding, was revived on the HD2 sub-channel, replacing "Pat FM", a jockless 1980s and 1990s-shifted alternative format not unlike the franchised Bob FM format.

Previous logos

References

External links

• Listen to the launch of 106-9 The Point -courtesy of formatchange.com
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KHPT
• Radio-Locator information on KHPT
• Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for KHPT