WHKF


WHKF is a commercial FM radio station licensed to serve Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Owned by iHeartMedia, the station broadcasts an alternative rock format.

History

The station first signed on the air in July 1965 by Hudson Broadcasting Corp. as WSFM. The studios and transmitter were co-located with WCMB on Poplar Church Road in Wormleysburg, Pennsylvania. Through the 1960s and early 1970s the station's format was MOR like its sister station, but it did not duplicate WCMB. In 1978 the station rebranded as Rock 99 with a format change to CHR and began competing with WKBO AM 1230 and WQXA-FM Q-106.
In 1981, the format was changed to adult contemporary and the branding to WSFM-99, then Sunny 99-FM. In 1987, it switched back its format to CHR, branded as 99 HIT-FM with the WHIT call sign. In 1988 Barnstable Broadcasting purchased the station. The call sign was changed to WIMX, the branding to Mix 99.3 and the format changed several times over the years before settling on a mix of "Hot Talk" and "Hot Music".
In 1995, the station's owner, Gemini Broadcasting, was on the verge of bankruptcy and sold the station to Barnstable Broadcasting. Following the sale, Barnstable changed the station's call letters to WYMJ in March 1995 in anticipation of a format change. On June 30, 1995, the station's format and call sign swapped with sister station KOOL 94.9, moving KOOL 94.9's oldies format to 99.3, branded as KOOL 99.3. Dame Media bought the station in 1997. The Dame Media stations were bought by Clear Channel Communications in 1999.
In 2001, Clear Channel rebranded the station as KISS-FM, changed the call sign to WHKF and changed the format to CHR. Prior to launching, Clear Channel began stunting by playing a continuous sound effect of a small, noisy crowd. As the station's launch drew closer, the voiceover began announcing "Tomorrow at noon... the talking stops." This was thought to be a direct shot at popular afternoon drive talk show host Bruce Bond, of Wink-104, who has since left that station.
In April 2018, in response to Cumulus Media moving WWKL to 106.7, WHKF began redirecting listeners to sister station WLAN-FM and flipped to alternative rock as Alt 99.3 on April 4, 2018. This move removes redundancy with WLAN-FM, and also provides a competitor to Cumulus's WQXA-FM.

Translators

WHKF-HD2 programming is broadcast on the following translator: