Did you know that Houston was in the middle of two dueling smooth jazz stations? No?
Oh, that means you are like most people and don't have HD radio. If you did, you would hear the saxophones that sound like cannons shooting deadly cargo at the enemy.
Around the time CBS killed 95.7 The Wave KHJZ for Hot 95.7 KKHH, Clear Channel had a smooth jazz station on Sunny 99.1 KODA HD 2. I am pretty sure Clear Channel threw it in there to fill the smooth jazz void.
Originally CBS said it would put smooth jazz on 95.7 HD2, instead it put dance music there. Since CBS acquired Mix 96.5 KHMX, it now had an extra digital channel to play with. Instead of continuing CHR like Clear Channel previously had done on the Mix HD2 signal, CBS is now airing The Wave on 96.5 HD2.
So if you can't get enough of Kenny G, you have two spots on the digital sub-channel dial to get your fix.
Interestingly enough, the Clear Channel smooth jazz station has DJs. Clearly they are national voice trackers who stay very generic about time and location. This could serve as a future model if Clear Channel wants to put local stations on a national network serving particular formats. All the local station has to do is insert IDs and ads.
In other Houston HD radio news (since you've been frothing out the mouth for the latest HD2 news), CBS has rebranded 95.7 The Beat as Energy. I guess since the company acquired KHMX, it can now use the former format name for the dial position which was Energy 96.5. Clear Channel killed Liquid Buzz on 94.5 HD2 and renamed it The Rock which is an active rock format.
