| City of license | Washington, D.C. |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Washington, D.C. |
| Branding | HOT 99.5 |
| Slogan | "DC'S Hottest Music" |
| Frequency | 99.5 MHz (also on HD Radio) |
| Format | Top 40 (CHR) |
| ERP | 22,000 watts |
| HAAT | 229 meters |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 25080 |
| Callsign meaning | W ashIngton's HoT |
| Owner | Clear Channel Communications |
| Sister stations | WASH-FM, WBIG, WMZQ, WWDC |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | hot995.com |
WIHT (99.5 FM, "HOT 99.5") is a Top 40 (CHR) formatted radio station that serves the greater Washington, DC metropolitan area. The station broadcasts 24 hours a day. WIHT is licensed to and owned by Clear Channel Communications. It is located in Rockville, Maryland.
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Long known as WGAY and located in Silver Spring, Maryland, the station ran a beautiful music format in the 1960s and 1970s which evolved to an easy listening format by the 1980s. WGAY would often finish at number one in the Persons 12+ Arbitron radio ratings for the Washington D.C. area during the 70s and 80s.
Television ads for the station in the 70s and 80s featured station programmer Bob Chandler relaxing in a recliner while listening to his station's light mix of music playing in the background. During the 80s WGAY was reported to be then President Ronald Reagan's favorite radio station.
For a while in the early 1990s, WGAY switched its calls and became "Bright 99.5" WEBR, but listeners didn't accept the more up-tempo music. WGAY switched from the still ratings successful format permanently by the late-90s although not because its listeners were too few but because demographically they were getting too old and therefore less desirable for radio advertisers.
After a switch back to the "easy" WGAY format, in April 1999 the station changed to an urban oldies format, known as WJMO-FM "Jammin' Oldies 99.5." At the time, they were co-owned with AM station WJMO in Cleveland, Ohio. The format lasted for almost two years. The last song played on WJMO was Last Dance by Donna Summer.
That was followed by a final "Survivor Radio" stunt before contemporary hit radio debuted as "Hot 99.5" in April 2001.[1] With the change of format came a change in call sign to the current WIHT ("Hot 99.5") on April 18, 2001.[2] The switch to contemporary hit radio forced listeners in nearby Baltimore to get a contemporary hit radio due to the signal of former contemporary hit radio station WWZZ (now WPRS) blocked in Baltimore. The station's main competitors are CBS Radio urban-leaning Rhythmic Contemporary WPGC-FM 95.5, CBS Radio's adult top 40 WIAD (94-7 Fresh FM) and Citadel Broadcasting adult top 40 WRQX (Mix 107.3).
Mornings 5 - 10am: 'The Kane Show'
Middays 10 -11am: 'The Sarah Show' w/ Sarah Fraser
Middays 11am - 3pm: 'On Air With Ryan Seacrest'
Afternoons 3pm - 7pm: Toby Knapp
Nights 7pm - Midnight: 'The Freek Show' w/ Kruz
[3] Kane resigned his programming position at WFLZ, Tampa on (10/31/06) to head to Top 40 WIHT (Hot 99.5)/Washington D.C. to host morning drive. He replaced The Hot Morning Mess with Mark Kaye, Kris Gamble and producer Ron Ross, who exited the station (11/1/06). The Kane Show hit the DC airwaves on November 13, 2006. The show includes cast members Sarah Fraser and Samy K. The show was named "Best Local Morning show" in 2009 by industry magazine FMQB. The Kane Show is broadcasted on seven additional radio stations, including CHR's WNRW,"Radio Now 98.9", Louisville, KWNW,Memphis and in afternoons on WFLZ, Tampa.
The Kane Show debuted on iheartradio as a 24 hour On-Demand channel in January 2010. Listeners are able to stream the Kane Show through both the iheartradio website and its respective smartphone applications.
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