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KHTS-FM
KHTS-FM (93.3 MHz) is a contemporary hit radio station that is licensed to El Cajon, California, and serves the San Diego market. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, through licensee iHM Licenses, LLC, and is branded as "Channel 9-3-3". The station's studios are located in San Diego's Serra Mesa area, while the transmitter is located in Chollas View, which is east of Balboa Park and west of Emerald Hills, sharing facilities with KLSD. The station is available on HD Radio; the HD2 subchannel airs an LGBT-leaning dance hits format, carrying iHeart's Pride Radio network.
The station signed on in 1961 as KUFM, later becoming KECR, then KECR-FM. For most of its existence prior to 1995, the station was owned by the religious Family Radio organization and aired its talk radio programming. Originally, the station maintained a localized board operator to air local news and weather, but when satellite technology became available, it became a repeater for KEAR in San Francisco. This religious format continued until 1995, when Jacor Communications purchased KECR-FM for $13.8 million. Family Radio now broadcasts in San Diego on KECR (910 AM). This acquisition marked Jacor's entry into San Diego. Shortly after the acquisition closed, the station acquired the KHTS callsign.
In March 1996, KHTS began stunting with a simulcast of Tampa, Florida-based WFLZ (coincidentally, also on 93.3 FM in that market) in an early form of voicetracking, allowing Jacor to plan for and hire for a new station without having to depend on a commercial-free "many-songs-in-a-row" gimmick during the transition period. This brought personalities such as Bubba The Love Sponge to the market, along with WFLZ referencing San Diego weather and events in their programming. This also allowed sufficient time to finish construction on the studios, which at the time, were located on Pacific Highway, about a mile from Pechanga Arena. The simulcast was broken on August 30, with the stunting shifting to a 43-hour loop of remixes of the then-popular song "Macarena" by Los Del Rio.
On September 1, at 10 a.m., the stunting shifted to a broadcast of that day's San Diego Chargers game in place of XETRA, which is required by law to carry Mexican presidential addresses under its Mexican radio license. At 4 p.m. that day, KHTS officially flipped to a dance-heavy rhythmic contemporary format, branded as "Channel 9-3-3". The station would also air attack liners against rivals XHITZ, KFMB-FM, and KKLQ; the latter two have since changed formats.
By summer 1998, KHTS would move away from its dance-heavy approach to a more mainstream direction due to the Nationwide/Jacor merger. The merger would have brought KKLQ into the same ownership, but that station was spun off to Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation (now Univision Radio) in order to comply with the FCC ownership limits. During the first week of August in 1998, KHTS flipped to its present CHR format, inheriting the playlist from KKLQ (now KLNV). The station also launched Club 9-3-3, a dance mix show featuring dance remixes of contemporary hits. By 2000, outdoor advertising firm Clear Channel (through its radio and communications division) took ownership of the station. During this time, the station's transmitter was on Mount San Miguel, given El Cajon being its city of license. In 2001, the transmitter moved to its present site, sharing an antenna with sister station KLSD, in order to provide better coverage of the San Diego metropolitan area. The station's studios were also moved to their present location in Serra Mesa. Despite all these changes, the station remains licensed to El Cajon.
On May 28, 2003, the station's callsign received the -FM suffix, becoming KHTS-FM. This was a legal change in order to avoid confusion of an AM talk radio station with the same call letters. The callsign meaning also became "Hits" to reference the Top 40 format. From 2001 until 2009, the station was the San Diego home for AJ Machado, at which time the morning show was called “AJ's Playhouse”. In 2004, the station began RDS broadcasting in preparation for a commencement of HD Radio broadcasting in 2005, showing song titles and other text information on certified devices. The technology was also fitted to sister station KGB-FM, and has since been fitted to the other three FM sisters in the cluster.
In 2006, the station added notable personality Geena The Latina, who came in from KIIS-FM, to co-host the morning drive with AJ Machado.
During the Harris Fire in October 2007, KHTS-FM suspended all music programming to air news updates from AM sister station KOGO, which applied to all of its sister stations. In addition, the news updates included the Witch Fire. This began on October 21, while normal programming resumed on the 24th at 11 pm.
KHTS-FM
KHTS-FM (93.3 MHz) is a contemporary hit radio station that is licensed to El Cajon, California, and serves the San Diego market. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, through licensee iHM Licenses, LLC, and is branded as "Channel 9-3-3". The station's studios are located in San Diego's Serra Mesa area, while the transmitter is located in Chollas View, which is east of Balboa Park and west of Emerald Hills, sharing facilities with KLSD. The station is available on HD Radio; the HD2 subchannel airs an LGBT-leaning dance hits format, carrying iHeart's Pride Radio network.
The station signed on in 1961 as KUFM, later becoming KECR, then KECR-FM. For most of its existence prior to 1995, the station was owned by the religious Family Radio organization and aired its talk radio programming. Originally, the station maintained a localized board operator to air local news and weather, but when satellite technology became available, it became a repeater for KEAR in San Francisco. This religious format continued until 1995, when Jacor Communications purchased KECR-FM for $13.8 million. Family Radio now broadcasts in San Diego on KECR (910 AM). This acquisition marked Jacor's entry into San Diego. Shortly after the acquisition closed, the station acquired the KHTS callsign.
In March 1996, KHTS began stunting with a simulcast of Tampa, Florida-based WFLZ (coincidentally, also on 93.3 FM in that market) in an early form of voicetracking, allowing Jacor to plan for and hire for a new station without having to depend on a commercial-free "many-songs-in-a-row" gimmick during the transition period. This brought personalities such as Bubba The Love Sponge to the market, along with WFLZ referencing San Diego weather and events in their programming. This also allowed sufficient time to finish construction on the studios, which at the time, were located on Pacific Highway, about a mile from Pechanga Arena. The simulcast was broken on August 30, with the stunting shifting to a 43-hour loop of remixes of the then-popular song "Macarena" by Los Del Rio.
On September 1, at 10 a.m., the stunting shifted to a broadcast of that day's San Diego Chargers game in place of XETRA, which is required by law to carry Mexican presidential addresses under its Mexican radio license. At 4 p.m. that day, KHTS officially flipped to a dance-heavy rhythmic contemporary format, branded as "Channel 9-3-3". The station would also air attack liners against rivals XHITZ, KFMB-FM, and KKLQ; the latter two have since changed formats.
By summer 1998, KHTS would move away from its dance-heavy approach to a more mainstream direction due to the Nationwide/Jacor merger. The merger would have brought KKLQ into the same ownership, but that station was spun off to Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation (now Univision Radio) in order to comply with the FCC ownership limits. During the first week of August in 1998, KHTS flipped to its present CHR format, inheriting the playlist from KKLQ (now KLNV). The station also launched Club 9-3-3, a dance mix show featuring dance remixes of contemporary hits. By 2000, outdoor advertising firm Clear Channel (through its radio and communications division) took ownership of the station. During this time, the station's transmitter was on Mount San Miguel, given El Cajon being its city of license. In 2001, the transmitter moved to its present site, sharing an antenna with sister station KLSD, in order to provide better coverage of the San Diego metropolitan area. The station's studios were also moved to their present location in Serra Mesa. Despite all these changes, the station remains licensed to El Cajon.
On May 28, 2003, the station's callsign received the -FM suffix, becoming KHTS-FM. This was a legal change in order to avoid confusion of an AM talk radio station with the same call letters. The callsign meaning also became "Hits" to reference the Top 40 format. From 2001 until 2009, the station was the San Diego home for AJ Machado, at which time the morning show was called “AJ's Playhouse”. In 2004, the station began RDS broadcasting in preparation for a commencement of HD Radio broadcasting in 2005, showing song titles and other text information on certified devices. The technology was also fitted to sister station KGB-FM, and has since been fitted to the other three FM sisters in the cluster.
In 2006, the station added notable personality Geena The Latina, who came in from KIIS-FM, to co-host the morning drive with AJ Machado.
During the Harris Fire in October 2007, KHTS-FM suspended all music programming to air news updates from AM sister station KOGO, which applied to all of its sister stations. In addition, the news updates included the Witch Fire. This began on October 21, while normal programming resumed on the 24th at 11 pm.