KHHO

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Radio station in Tacoma, Washington

title: "KHHO" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["radio-stations-in-washington-(state)", "radio-stations-established-in-1942", "1942-establishments-in-washington-(state)", "iheartmedia-radio-stations", "black-information-network-stations", "all-news-radio-stations-in-the-united-states"] description: "Radio station in Tacoma, Washington" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KHHO" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Radio station in Tacoma, Washington ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox radio station"]

Field	Value
name	KHHO
logo	KHHO BIN 850 logo.webp
city	Tacoma, Washington
country	US
area	Seattle metropolitan area
branding	Seattle's BIN 850
frequency	850 kHz
airdate	(as KTBI at 1490)
format	Black-oriented news
power
class	B
facility_id	18523
coordinates
callsign_meaning	former branding "K-", the scientific property of water
former_callsigns
former_frequencies
affiliations	Black Information Network
owner	iHeartMedia, Inc.
licensee	iHM Licenses, LLC
sister_stations	KBKS-FM, KJAQ, KJEB, KJR, KJR-FM, KPTR, KZOK-FM
webcast
website
licensing_authority	FCC
::

The studios are in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood northwest of downtown. KHHO operates at 10,000 watts by day; because 850 AM is a clear channel frequency reserved for Class A KOA in Denver, KHHO must reduce power at night to 1,000 watts. It uses a directional antenna at all times. The transmitter is located off 30th Avenue East in Tacoma.

History

KTBI

The station went on the air as KTBI in August 1942. The call sign stood for Tacoma Broadcasters Incorporated, the company that owned the station. It was originally on AM 1490, powered at only 250 watts.

KTBI later switched to AM 810. That was coupled with a power increase to 1,000 watts but the station became a daytimer, required to sign off at sunset to avoid interfering with 50,000 watt KGO in San Francisco.

KTAC

The station became KTAC on February 1, 1952. That same year, it made its move to AM 850, still powered at 1,000 watts but allowed to broadcast around the clock. In 1956, KTAC moved its studios and offices to the Winthrop Hotel.

"85 KTAC" was a Top 40 competitor to KJR, KING and KOL throughout the 1970s. Don Wade, Robert O'Smith, John Williams, Ron Erak, Bruce Cannon, Bob Case and Ric Hansen were among the air personalities during its Top 40 dominance of the south Puget Sound area.

KMTT and KHHO

The call letters changed to KMTT on June 19, 1992, simulcasting with then-sister station KMTT-FM. Entercom sold the station to Southwave Wireless, LLC (Steve West and Dan Walker) in 1996.

On March 11, 1996, the station changed its call sign to the current KHHO. It launched a news/talk format ("K-H-2-O, The Voice of the South Sound") featuring Manda Factor, Jeff Walker and Bruce Cannon.

Sports and talk

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/KHHO_logo.png" caption="KJR]]. On November 6, 2000, KHHO broke from the simulcast with KJR and flipped to Fox Sports Radio programming.Bob Condotta, "850-AM opting for Fox Sports Radio," ''The News Tribune'', November 2, 2000."] ::

In 2002, KHHO was acquired by Clear Channel Communications. KHHO changed from sports radio to a conservative talk format, branded as "South Sound Talk 850", on February 8, 2018. During the conservative talk format's run, KHHO primarily aired nationally syndicated talk shows from Glenn Beck, Armstrong & Getty, Todd Schnitt, Buck Sexton, Clyde Lewis, and Beyond Reality Radio.

The station carried play-by-play of the Tacoma Rainiers Triple-A minor league baseball team until 2019. It was also Tacoma's network affiliate for the Washington State Cougars IMG College network.

Black Information Network

On June 30, 2020, after stunting with a loop of speeches by noted African American personalities the previous day, KHHO flipped to all-news radio as a charter station of iHeartMedia's new Black Information Network (BIN), which carries local and national news programming catered towards the African American community. The new format competes with Lotus Communications' heritage all-news station KNWN/KNWN-FM.

References

"KHHO-AM 850 kHz - Tacoma, WA".
[https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1943/Radio%20-%20%20Broadcasting%20Yearbook%201943%20BW.pdf Broadcasting Yearbook 1943 page 152]
[https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1950/RADIO%20&%20TV%20NE-Ter%20YB%201950%20B&W-11.pdf Broadcasting Yearbook 1950 page 317]
"KTAC (KHHO) history cards". [[Federal Communications Commission]].
"KHHO Call Sign History". United States [[Federal Communications Commission]], audio division.
Bob Condotta, "850-AM opting for Fox Sports Radio," ''The News Tribune'', November 2, 2000.
[https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/2005/Radio-NE-Ter-2005-BC-YB.pdf Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2005 page D-552]
(February 8, 2018). "iHeart Launches 1090 KJR and South Sound Talk 850 Seattle". RadioInsight.
Coats, Cameron. (2024-03-28). "Minor League's Rainiers Back On Seattle Radio On The AM Dial".
(2006-12-21). "Capsule Preview {{!}} San Diego State at WSU".
(2020-06-30). "iHeartMedia Launches Black Information Network".
"[http://www.insideradio.com/free/iheart-s-black-information-network-launches-in-15-markets/article_890bc89a-bacf-11ea-8ffd-6bfc8d3273bf.html iHeart’s Black Information Network Launches In 15 Markets]", Inside Radio. June 30, 2020. Retrieved June 30, 2020.

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