KGTN-FM and KQFX 96.7 signed on the air from Georgetown as KGTN-FM on March 1, 1972. It was co-owned with
KGTN (1530 AM, now KZNX), the town's daytime-only AM station, and broadcast with 3,000 watts, providing nighttime service to extend KGTN's broadcast day. In 1986, KGTN-AM-FM was sold to Joyner Broadcasting, which owned three stations in Illinois, for $5 million. The next year, Capitol Broadcasting Company of
Birmingham, Alabama, bought the adult contemporary-formatted FM alone and announced plans to move it toward Austin. The
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved a power upgrade for the station to 28,500 watts, enough to cover Austin and its close-in suburbs; a new transmitter site was constructed near Sandy Creek at
Lake Travis and the frequency was changed to 96.5 MHz. The station became
classic hits-formatted "96.5 The Fox", KQFX. Later, the station changed to an
oldies format and moved its frequency back to 96.7 MHz in order to avoid interference issues with
a Houston station. A final signal upgrade to 100,000 watts was completed at the beginning of 1990.
KHFI-FM moves down In May 1990, Joyner reacquired KQFX, along with a station in his home market of
Raleigh, North Carolina, for a total of $13 million. The transaction's timing turned out to be instrumental in determining the future course of 96.7. At the same time, at 98.1 MHz,
KHFI-FM (now KVET-FM) was being purchased by Spur Austin. In September, Spur reached a deal—the second ever radio
local marketing agreement—to simulcast
KVET on the 98.1 frequency, displacing contemporary hits outlet KHFI-FM ("K-98"). On September 15, Joyner moved to fire the entire airstaff of the underperforming KQFX and brought the entire airstaff, format and call letters of KHFI-FM to 96.7 MHz, creating "K96.7". In 1992, KHFI dropped the "K96.7" moniker and began calling itself "The New 96.7 KHFI"; at the same time, new owners The Rusk Corporation leased out
KBTS (93.3 FM), KHFI's direct competitor, and turned it into KMXX, "Mix 93.3". At the end of that year, KHFI-FM was bought by
San Antonio-based
Clear Channel Communications for $3.5 million. On August 2, 2001, KHFI re-launched as "96.7 KISS-FM"; Clear Channel owns the rights to the
KISS-FM brand, which it utilizes for Top 40 stations in
Los Angeles,
Boston and other cities. Today, iHeart has the 18-34 year-old
demographic for contemporary music in Austin covered, with KHFI playing mainstream Top 40, while
sister station KPEZ ("102.3 The Beat") airs
rhythmic contemporary music.
The Bobby Bones Show In 2002, KHFI became the
flagship station for
The Bobby Bones Show,
syndicated by
Premiere Networks, an iHeart
subsidiary. Bones, based at KHFI's studios, was named "Austin Radio Personality of the Year" for 4 years running. The award is given yearly at the Austin Music Awards. In 2008,
The Bobby Bones Show received its first award for "Austin Radio Program of the Year." ==HD Radio==