In April 2011, KHHT fired morning host Victor Zaragoza (now at KBLX San Francisco). On April 20, the station announced that it would hire Rick Dees, who had hosted morning shows at sister station KIIS-FM and KMVN. At that time, the station dropped the "and R&B" from its slogan (to distance itself from playing current R&B or adult R&B product), effectively making the radio station a full-blown Gold-based rhythmic AC, with emphasis on rhythmic, disco, freestyle, and R&B hits from the 1970s, 80s, 90s, and 2000s. This same approach is also being used at sister stations KHJZ Honolulu, KFBT Fresno and WMOV-FM Norfolk, Virginia. The latter three are targeting Gen-Xers and concentrate on the latter two decades and play some currents in their presentation. Shortly after Dees arrived, KHHT shifted its format to a hybrid of rhythmic oldies and urban oldies, focusing mostly on urban rhythmic hits from 1970 to the mid-1990s, with some soul hits from the 1960s sprinkled into the mix. However, on July 3, 2012, a year after making a return to morning drive, Dees parted ways with KHHT due to a desire by station management to make some adjustments in its direction.