KHJZ

KHJZ

City of license	Honolulu, Hawaii
Broadcast area	Honolulu, Hawaii
Branding	93.9 Jamz
Slogan	Hip-Hop, Hits & Throwbacks
Frequency	93.9 MHz (also on HD Radio) 93.9 HD-2 for Dance "Evolution 99.1"
Translator(s)	99.1 K256AS (Honolulu, relays HD2)
First air date	January 14, 1979
Format	Rhythmic Adult Contemporary
ERP	100,000 watts
HAAT	-44 meters
Class	C1
Facility ID	34592
Callsign meaning	Hawaii's JamZ
Owner	iHeartMedia, Inc. (Capstar TX LLC)
Webcast	Listen Live (via iHeartRadio)
Website	939jamz.com

KHJZ, known as "93.9 Jamz", is a rhythmic adult contemporary outlet based in Honolulu, Hawaii. The station broadcasts at 93.9 FM and operates at 100 kW, is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications until September 2014). It is also transmitting on Oceanic Time Warner Cable digital channel 869 for the entire state of Hawaii. The station offers a "Gen-X" type mix of '80s and '90s rhythmic hits and currents. The format was brought about as a response to the widely popular Honolulu station KUMU.

History

KIKI-FM, which signed on in January 1979 as KPIG (a disco station) and later became album oriented rock-formatted KMAI, has been a Rhythmic Top 40 since 1986 and picked up the KIKI calls in 1990. The station was known as "I-94" until 2003.

The KIKI calls and Top 40 music format date back to the early 1970s, when KIKI 830 AM changed to Top 40 (as "Gold Key Radio") from a middle of the road format. The Top 40/CHR format moved to the FM dial as rhythmic-leaning I-94 in 1986 as the AM station went to an oldies format; the AM station is now KHVH.

KIKI was locally famous in the 1980s for its "Brown Bags to Stardom" contest which gave up-and-coming local Hawaii artists a chance at stardom. Some notable winners of the contest have included the female vocal trio Na Leo Pilimehana (1984) and Glenn Medeiros (1986), who would go on to national prominence with hits such as "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You" and "She Ain't Worth It."

On September 2, 2010 at Noon (Hawaii Time), KIKI-FM changed their format to rhythmic adult contemporary, branded as "93.9 Jamz" and picked up the new calls KHJZ (previously used on a radio station in Houston, TX). The station described its format as a "Generation-X" style Rhythmic AC, featuring a hybrid mix of currents from today along with Rhythmic hits from the 1990s and 2000s with Batu influences. It plans to distinguish itself from #1 rated Rhythmic AC rival KUMU by billing itself as "it's not your mom's old school," a reference to KUMU's Gold-based Rhythmic AC direction, which favors music from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Clear Channel has also decided to move the KIKI calls back the AM side, where it will replace the call letters of KHBZ. KHJZ has also become the Hawaii radio home of the Steve Harvey morning show.

KHJZ HD2

Not to be confused with the smooth jazz-formatted HD side channel of KHMX in Houston, Texas that brands itself as KHJZ-HD2.

In September 2006, KIKI added an HD2 subchannel that offers an Old School R&B format (Originally it was supposed to have offered Trancid, an Electronica/Dance format, but changed those plans at the last minute). It would be replaced in 2008 by the teen-targeted Top 40/Dance channel "KiWi Radio." After KIKI's flip to Rhythmic AC, its former Rhythmic Top 40 format moved over to its HD2 channel.

On June 27, 2014, the Rhythmic format was replaced with the EDM/Dance "Evolution" platform, which also replaced sister station KDNN's Traditional Hawaiian format at its translator at 99.1, billing itself as "Evolution 99.1." The format follows the national "Evolution" format but customized for Honolulu with local liners (which also includes targeting its Rhythmic Top 40 rivals) and local traffic updates.

Previous logos

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  KIKI's previous "Hot 93.9" logo

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  Previous 93.9 Jamz logo, 2010-2015

External links

• Query the FCC's FM station database for KHJZ
• Radio-Locator information on KHJZ
• Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for KHJZ