What is "ktux"

KTUX (98.9 FM) is a radio station licensed to Carthage, Texas, and serving the Shreveport area. It plays the active rock format. The station is currently owned by Townsquare Media. Its studios are shared with its other five sister stations in West Shreveport (one mile west of Shreveport Regional Airport), and the transmitter is in Greenwood, Louisiana.

KTUX began life on April 1, 1985, debuting as a contemporary hit radio station, "Fun Radio Tux 99." The month before Tux 99 officially debuted, the 98.9 frequency continuously played the 1966 novelty song by Napoleon XIV " They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!" The first official song played on Tux 99 was " Let's Go Crazy" by Prince. The KTUX studios were originally located at the transmitter site near Greenwood, LA. Within the bounds of Top 40 hits, the station occasionally altered the ratios of its playlist through the early 1990s; each of these "format changes" was preceded by a stunting event, with the station playing the Napoleon XIV novelty song on constant repeat for several days. The song was occasionally played on normal rotation as well, acting as a sort of theme song for the station.

In 1986 KTUX moved its studios and most of its operations to Shreveport even though the city of license remained Carthage. Around 1993 the station underwent a drastic format and branding change. This format switch was to a wide-ranging rock format, with an alternative rock or " grunge" influence. This format soon yielded to a more traditional album-oriented rock format, accompanied by a stunting event which featured Billy Idol's " Rebel Yell" on repeat, in anticipation of the station's new "The Rebel Rocker, 99X" slogan. During the 1990s, KTUX mixed several different rock formats, ranging from AOR to active rock, alternative rock, and even classic rock.

Around 2000 the station featured yet another change. While the format stayed the same, the name of the station was changed to "Rock 99." This name lasted only for a few years, in which it was switched back to "99X," what it currently is today.