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| Broadcast area | |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 96.1MHz |
| Branding | Classic Rock 96.1 |
| Programming | |
| Languages | English |
| Format | Classic rock |
| Affiliations | Compass Media Networks |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | August 10, 1977 (47 years ago) (1977-08-10)[1] |
Former names | 96X |
Former frequencies | 95.9MHz |
Call sign meaning | Kilgore, Texas |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 48952 |
| Class | C2 |
| ERP | 50,000 watts |
| HAAT | 150 meters (490 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 32°22′14″N94°56′21″W / 32.370694°N 94.939111°W /32.370694; -94.939111 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | classicrock961 |
KKTX-FM (96.1MHz) is aTownsquare Mediacommercialradio stationlicensed toKilgore, Texas, serving theLongview/Marshall/Tyler area with aclassic rockformat.[1]Studios are located in southTyler, Texas, and the transmitter site is located inKilgore, Texas.
The station is not affiliated withiHeartMedia ownedKKTX 1360 AM, located 361 miles away inCorpus Christi, Texas. KRYS was loaned the use of the KKTX call set by then owner Clear Channel Communications, who also owned this facility at the time.
KKTX came to air in 1977 on95.9MHz under the ownership of the Noalmark Broadcasting Corporation, a year after Noalmark had bought the permit for unbuilt KCNW from Radio Kilgore, Inc. The studios were co-located in the same Kilgore insurance company building as its sister station,KOCA. It used a state-of-the-artSchafer broadcast automation system - only the second station in the East Texas market to do so - fromsign-on to 6:00 p.m. CST Monday—Saturday. Between 6:00 p.m. and midnight, a live DJ played album-oriented rock - Phil Key and "Wolf" were the first two DJs at the console. The original transmitter site was located at the corner of Highway 31 and US 259, at the top of an unusual 500-foot two-leg tower with a platform at the top. DubbedThe Love Rock, its daytime format wasTop 40. The General Manager for both stations was Richard Martin, Program Director Jim Hodo, News / Sports Director Paul Bendel, with Chief Engineer Karem Soule. In 1977, FM broadcast radio was still in its infancy in East Texas, because few cars had factory AM/FM receivers. At the time, the lone FM station in East Texas had been selling electronic converters so listeners could receive their programming - albeit in mono rather than stereo - on their AM car receivers. KKTX-FM was only the second station to be operational in the Longview - Tyler - Kilgore market, although at least one other station had a pending application with the FCC. By 1991, the transmitter had been relocated to another Kilgore-area tower, while the studios had relocated to Longview, at a location on Gilmer Road, and operated with live DJs along with an upgraded PC-based automation system. Today, the studios are located in Tyler, at their Brookwood Drive location.
Through most of the 1990s and until 2007, KKTX-FM carried a classic rock format known as96X. In September 2007, KKTX-FM started mixing active rock tracks with the classic rock that the station featured. At this time, KKTX-FM also changed its slogan fromThe Classic Rock Station toThe Rock of East Texas while still carrying the96X handle. Soon after, KKTX-FM evolved to an active rock format. KKTX-FM flipped back to classic rock in October 2013.
Today, the radio station featuresJohn Boy and Billy, Jen Austin mid-days, Program Director Brian Rickman afternoons, and the Ultimate Classic Rock Show with Zach Martin nights.
At 2:00 p.m. CST on October 10, 2013 KKTX-FM dropped itsactive rock format as96X, and began stunting withsnippets of different songs from various genres.[3] Three hours later at 5:00 p.m., KKTX-FM switched to aclassic rock format asClassic Rock 96.1.[3] The last song as96X wasUnity byShinedown and the first song asClassic Rock 96.1 wasLa Grange byZZ Top.
Update 6:30pm: After three hours of stunting with the song snippets, KKTX-FM relaunched at 5pm CDT as "Classic Rock 96.1". Most of the station's daily lineup stays the same with John Boy & Billy in morning drive, Don Jones middays, and Chris Ryan afternoons. Weekender Bill Lee moves to nights replacing the syndicated Sixx Sense with Nikki Sixx.
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