KXXM

KXXM

City	San Antonio, Texas
Broadcast area	Greater San Antonio
Frequency	96.1 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding	96-1 NOW Mix (HD2)
Programming
Language(s)	English
Format	FM/HD1: Top 40 (CHR) HD2: Hot AC
Affiliations	iHeartRadio Premiere Networks
Ownership
Owner	iHeartMedia, Inc. (iHM Licenses, LLC)
Sister stations	KAJA, KQXT-FM, KRPT, KTKR, KZEP-FM, WOAI
History
First air date	May 5, 1964 (as KMFM)
Former call signs	KMFM (1964–1983) KSLR (1983–1986) KSAQ (1986–1993) KSJL-FM (1993–1998)
Call sign meaning	XXM ("Mixx" in reverse, previous branding, now on HD2)
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	28668
Class	C1
ERP	99,000 watts
HAAT	182 m (597 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	29°38′02″N 98°37′55″W / 29.634°N 98.632°W / 29.634; -98.632
Links
Public license information	Profile LMS
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	961now.iheart.com

KXXM (96.1 FM, "96-1 NOW") is a Top 40 (CHR) station based in San Antonio, Texas, owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. Its studios are located in the Stone Oak neighborhood in Far North San Antonio, and the transmitter site is in Frederich Wilderness Park on the city's northwest side.

KXXM-HD2 broadcasts the former "Mix" name that originally aired on 96.1 from 1998 until 2017.

History[]

On May 5, 1964, KMFM signed on 96.1 MHz. It was a classical music station owned by the Pennington family, broadcasting from studios at 134 E. Agarita Ave.

In 1976, Harry Pennington, Jr. died, and his wife Rosa Lee took over the station before selling it to Classic Media in 1977. Classic built a new, 100 kW facility for the station. Six years later, the station was sold to C&W Wireless, which programmed a Contemporary Christian format known as "Son Light Radio FM 96" and changed the callsign to KSLR to match the new moniker.

Inner City Broadcasting, which already owned KSJL 760 AM, bought KSLR in 1986. The two stations began simulcasting as Super Q 96 FM and Super Q 76 AM, with the callsign changed to KSAQ on the FM side. In 1988, the simulcast was split, with 96.1 FM becoming known by the short name Q96 FM. During this time, a long segment of news known as "Cruz News" aired weekday mornings at 7 on Q96. On March 17, 1991, the format was changed to rock under the 96 Rock name. It was the only FM rock station in San Antonio for a year, until Oldies 99.5 KISS reverted to its rock format in 1992.

In 1993, Inner City sold 760 AM to Clear Channel Communications and moved its format of Urban Adult Contemporary music to 96.1 FM, with the station changing its calls to KSJL-FM. Unlike KSJL at 760 AM, the new KSJL-FM did not use "The Touch" format from Satellite Music Networks, and it added more mainstream Urban Contemporary tracks as well as "The Mix Show" with Ricco and D-Street, which would air Monday-Saturdays from 7-10p.m.

In 1998, another series of shuffles occurred when Inner City sold KSJL-FM to Clear Channel for $10 million. The Mix show was dropped on July 4 of that year, and the station reverted to a more adult-based Urban Contemporary format. The format was simulcast on a leased station, 810 AM KCHG, which would soon change its calls to KSJL itself. In addition, KTXX-FM, a rimshot located in Devine, Texas, increased its power to reach San Antonio proper, becoming the new FM home of KSJL.

All this movement made way for a new format on 96.1. At 5p.m. on September 3, 1998, Mix 96.1 debuted, and shortly after the callsign changed to KXXM. The first song aired was "The Way" by Fastball. KXXM would play artists like Will Smith, Jewel, Nsync, Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears and other Adult Top 40 artists.^[1]

On June 30, 2017 at 5p.m., after playing "Be the One" by Dua Lipa, the station rebranded as "96.1 NOW", launching commercial free through the July 4th weekend. The first song on "NOW" was "I'm the One" by DJ Khaled and Justin Bieber.^[2]

References[]

External links[]

• KXXM in the FCC FM station database
• KXXM on Radio-Locator
• KXXM in Nielsen Audio's FM station database