KONE (FM)

KONE (101.1 FM), known as "101 The Beard", is a Mainstream Rock formatted radio station serving the Lubbock, Texas, and South Plains Area. Owned by Alpha Media Group, through licensee Alpha Media Licensee LLC, its studios are located in south Lubbock on Avenue Q west of I-27, and its transmitter is located south of the city.

This article is about the radio station in Texas. For the Nevada FM radio station formerly known as KONE, see KHIT.
KONE
CityLubbock, Texas
Broadcast areaLubbock, Texas
Branding101 The Beard
Slogan"101 The Beard Rocks!"
Frequency101.1 MHz
First air date1972 (as KTEZ)
FormatMainstream Rock
ERP100,000 watts
HAAT269 meters (883 ft)
ClassC1
Facility ID26519
Former call signsKTEZ (1972-1993)
OwnerAlpha Media
(Alpha Media Licensee LLC)
WebcastListen Live
Website101thebeard.com

History

This station previously held the call letters KTEZ when it aired an easy listening format. It was founded in December 1974 by Troy Raymond "Ray" Moran (who'd later found Ramar Communications.) It began with studios and transmitter in the former transmitter shack of KKBC-TV/KMXN-TV (predecessor of KJTV, FOX34.) Moran had worked in Lubbock in the 1950 and 1960s. He was part owner of radio stations in Roswell, NM and Albuquerque, NM. Moran had engineer Guy D. Smith generate the technical filings for a new station on 101.1 (at the same time 102.5 was available; Moran sent a copy of his engineering to fellow broadcaster Jim Slone in Tucson, AZ...years later that led to establishment of KRUX (FM) no known as KZII). Studios moved to Suite 276 of the Plains National Bank building (Tower of the Plains) at 50th and University in 1977.

KTEZ was sold in 1983 to Lotus Communications for $1,050,000. The proceeds helped Moran continue development of KJAA, now KJTV-TV FOX34 in Lubbock. Lotus sold the station to Nextmedia, Nextmedia sold it to Wilkes Group.

Previous formats included "The Music of Your Life" (ABC Stardust), soft AC, and country. The call letters were changed to KONE in 1996 when KTEZ (K-LITE 101.1) changed formats to country. The format changed to classic rock on November 21, 1999 under the Name "Rock 101.1". The "Rock 101.1" moniker changed to the current one on the morning of March 12, 2020; the last song played under the old format was "Hey You" by Pink Floyd while the first song played under the "101 The Beard" name was "Even Flow" by Pearl Jam.[1]

Programming

Bob & Tom is 101 The Beard's syndicated morning show.

Local air talent includes Sean Dillon (Middays 9-2P), The Man Made Radio Show (Afternoons 2-7p), and Dave Fernandez (Weekends).

The syndicated evening show is Nights with Alice Cooper.

Community involvement

Rock 101.1 teams up with KBTE-FM every year to put together the Freedom Blood Drive which has happened since 2004. Rock 101.1 also partners up with charities around the South Plains to give donations. They have also worked with Parents of Soldiers around the world to give care packages.

References
  1. "Goodbye Rock 101 Hello 101 The Beard". Twitter. March 12, 2020. Retrieved April 22, 2020.

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