KUHF
 |
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| City | Houston |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land |
| Branding | News 88.7 |
| Slogan | Listener-funded radio from the University of Houston |
| Frequency | 88.7 MHz (also on HD Radio) 88.7 HD-2 for Classical 24 88.7 HD-3 for AAA Music (branded as Mix Tape) |
| First air date | November 6, 1950 |
| Format | News/Talk (Public) |
| Language(s) | English |
| ERP | 100,000 watts |
| HAAT | 524 m (1,719 ft) |
| Class | C |
| Facility ID | 69150 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 29°34′27″N 95°29′37″W / 29.57417°N 95.49361°W |
| Callsign meaning |
University of Houston FM Radio |
| Former frequencies | 91.3 MHz (1950-1970) |
| Affiliations | NPR, APM, PRI |
| Owner | University of Houston System |
| Sister stations | KUHT |
| Webcast | listen live & on-demand |
| Website | houstonpublicmedia.org |
KUHF (branded as News 88.7) is a public radio station serving Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area. It broadcasts on a frequency of 88.7 megahertz on the FM dial. The station is owned by and licensed to the University of Houston System, and is operated by Houston Public Media. KUHF is housed in the Melcher Center for Public Broadcasting—along with KUHT—on the campus of the University of Houston. Local productions include The Engines of Our Ingenuity.
KUHF first began airing programs on November 6, 1950, at the 91.3 Megahertz frequency. The studios were located in the Ezekiel W. Cullen Building on the University of Houston campus. KUHT co-located with KUHF when the television station debuted in 1953. Broadcasting at 9,600 watts, the station was operated by student volunteers. In 1964, KUHF and KUHT moved to the former KNUZ-TV studios that were vacated by KTRK-TV a few years earlier. This studio would host both stations for the next 35 years, until the move across campus to the current Melcher Center for Public Broadcasting in 2000. The station increased its signal strength to 12,000 watts in 1969.
In 1970, the station began the new decade by switching frequencies to 88.7 Megahertz, in order to reduce interference with KLYX (now KMJQ). The station finally began broadcasting at 100,000 watts in 1979, after receiving a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. This grant also allowed the station to hire a professional staff, as well as become a National Public Radio member station. KPFT granted a request to relinquish its right to KUHF, to broadcast NPR content.
Between 1979 and March, 1986, KUHF's format was NPR news and jazz. In March 1986 local commercial classical music station KLEF changed its format and donated its 12,000+ disc library of music to KUHF, with the proviso that the University of Houston commit KUHF to a format that served Houston's classical music audience, recently disfranchised by the loss of KLEF. The broadcasting of classical music was explained by citing that the charter of KUHF was to provide music unavailable, otherwise, to Houston. KUHF began airing classical music during the day and late night jazz from 10PM to 5AM, with NPR news in the morning and afternoon drive time hours. During the summer, former KLEF Operations Manager John Proffitt was hired as the new General Manager for KUHF, and he arrived at his new position on August 3. After the next on-air fundraiser in October, which was aimed at NPR, classical and jazz listeners, KUHF eliminated its remaining jazz broadcasting. KUHF GM Proffitt defended eliminating several genres of jazz from Houston radio on the basis that the number of daytime classical listeners far exceeded the overnight number of jazz listeners.
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