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 Belo Center for New Media - KUTX /KUT offices | |
| Broadcast area | Austin-Round Rock metropolitan area |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 98.9MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | KUTX 98.9 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Adult album alternative (Public) |
| Affiliations | NPR |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | TheUniversity of Texas at Austin |
| KUT,KVRX | |
| History | |
First air date | 1988; 37 years ago (1988) |
Former call signs |
|
Call sign meaning | University of Texas |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 59982 |
| Class | C3 |
| ERP | 1,600 watts |
| HAAT | 390 meters (1,280 ft) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | |
KUTX (98.9FM) is a non-commercial radio station licensed toLeander, Texas and serving the greaterAustin, Texas area with anadult album alternative format.[3] The station is owned byUniversity of Texas at Austin with headquarters at the Belo Center for New Media (A0704) on theUniversity of Texas at Austin campus.[4]
98.9 signed on in 1988 on 99.1 MHz as KLTD, "Kool 99 FM" with theSatellite Music Network's "Kool Gold" format by Adams Broadcasting, which eventually spun off the Kool Gold format toDial Global. On July 3, 1993, KLTD changed calls to KUTZ and format to hard rock as part of theSatellite Music Network-Z Rock Network.
In 1996, 98.9 FM changed tonews/talk as KJFK, which lasted until September 2000 whenBorder Media Partners acquired the station and changed formats toRock AC as "The Hill", KHHL. Later, 98.9 FM became Spanish CHR, "Exitos 98.9", and then "La Ley 98.9" with aRegional Mexican format.
The Regional Mexican format lasted until November 29, 2009, whenBain Capital took over most of the assets of the Austin, Texas cluster ofBorder Media Partners, and KHHL changed formats totalk radio as "98.9 The Big Talker" and new calls KXBT.
As "98.9 The Big Talker", the station's weekday line-up includedThe Sean Rima Show during morningrush hour/drive time hours,The Glenn Beck Program during late-morning and early-afternoon hours (often referred to in radio station lingo as theRush Limbaugh time slot),The Dave Ramsey Show during mid-afternoon hours, "Tabu" (a male-oriented sex and relationships show) Saturdays and Sundays 9pm-Midnight with Rachael Wax,The Schnitt Show during late-afternoon hours, andThe Mark Levin Show during late-rush hour and early-evening hours. The weekends includedThe Jesus Christ Show,The Otherside with Steve Godfrey,Leo Laporte The Tech Guy,John Clay Wolfe, andThe Weekend. The station was also theHouston Texans affiliate for the Austin, Texas market.
On August 15, 2011, after a listener survey and facing stagnant ratings, BMP Radio dropped the news/talk format in favor ofClassic Hits. From August 15, 2011, to September 3, 2011, KXBT simulcastedKXXS ("True Oldies 92.5"). TheTrue Oldies Channel programming moved permanently to 98.9 FM on September 3 as "98.9 Austin's Greatest Hits", and KXXS dropped the oldies format in favor ofESPN Deportes, formerly located onKWNX.
As of January 23, 2012, KXBT began airing local programming Monday-Friday 6am-7pm and added a local morning show from 6am-10am with Bo Chase in the Morning as well as syndicated host Tom Kent weekdays from 7pm-12am.Scott Shannon's satellite-fedTrue Oldies Channel continued to air overnights and Sundays at 7 pm. On Saturdays, KXBT airedSaturday Night Dance Fever live at theIron Cactus North on Stonelake Boulevard in Austin. The program featured dance classics of the 1970s, 1980s, and early-1990s.
On July 7, 2012, as part of Border Media's Austin selloff, the Board of Regents at the University of Texas announced their intention to vote on their acquisition of KXBT for $6 million; while questions about the proposal tabled the vote for some time, it was approved on August 23, and UT shortly after announced their intention to move KUT's music programming to 98.9 under new calls KUTX by the start of 2013. On November 26, KXBT announced that their classic hits format would end the following Friday, the 30th.[5] At 2 p.m. that day, Austin's Greatest Hits signed off withDon McLean's "American Pie", and 98.9 began playing Christmas music while promoting the upcoming launch of KUTX, starting with "Here Comes Santa Claus" byElvis Presley from the 1957 albumElvis' Christmas Album.[6] On December 26, at Midnight, after playing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" byBurl Ives & the Videocraft Chorus, 98.9, finishing outthe entire soundtrack to the television special of the same name, began its "Music Preview", with the first song as KUTX being "We Can Work It Out" byThe Beatles. The jockless preview gave way to the fully staffed version of the format on January 2.[7] KUTX is marketed as "The Austin Music Experience." Music shows moved from KUT includeEklektikos, hosted by John Aielli (with KUT since 1966);Left of the Dial with Jeff McCord; and shows hosted by Jay Trachtenberg, and Jody Denberg. Specialty shows based at KUTX include Global Grooves (world music), Horizontes (Latin American music), Soundfounder (electronic music), and Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child (family music).[8]
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30°23′28″N97°50′13″W / 30.391°N 97.837°W /30.391; -97.837
