KKUS (104.1 FM) is an

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radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

, licensed to

Tyler, Texas Tyler is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the largest city and county seat of Smith County, Texas, Smith County. It is also the largest city in Northeast Texas. With a 2020 census population of 105,995, Tyler was the List of cities in Texa ...

, United States, serving the Tyler-Longview market with a

classic country Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country and western music hits from past decades. Repertoire The radio format specializes in hits from the 1950s through the early 1980s, and focus primarily on innov ...

format Format may refer to: Printing and visual media * Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements * Paper formats, or paper size standards * Newspaper format, the size of the paper page Computing * File format, particular way that informatio ...

. KKUS features top of the hour news updates from

Fox News Radio Fox News Radio is an American radio network owned by Fox News. It is syndicated to over 500 AM and FM radio stations across the United States. It also supplies programming for three channels on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. History In 2003, ...

. Studios are located on Broadway Avenue in downtown Tyler, and the transmitter site is located near

Hideaway, Texas Hideaway is a largely residential city and gated community in Smith County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,201. Hideaway is part of the Tyler Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The land that now encompass ...

On-air line up

The on air staff includes Gary P. Walker, Don Jones, Diane Day, Charlie O' Douglas, Dave Alexander, and Radio Broadcast legend Tom Perryman.

Tom Perryman

Tom Perryman was East Texas' only true radio legend. In the late 1940s, Tom started his career at 1400 KEBE "The KEBE Corral" in Jacksonville, Texas. In the mid-1950s, Tom was at KSIJ (now KEES) 1430 in Gladewater, Texas. It was at KSIJ that Tom brought Elvis Presley to East Texas, and gave Elvis some of his first work. It was also at KSIJ that Tom met Jim Reeves, Floyd Cramer, and Johnny Horton. Then Tom went on to host the Opry Star Spotlight on The Air Castle of the South 650 WSM in Nashville, as well as becoming one of the most famous Opry announcers of all time. Before leaving WSM he hired his replacement, Ralph Emery. Tom and Jim Reeves then bought KGRI AM/FM in Henderson, Texas. Later, Tom and Mary Reeves bought WMTS AM/FM in Murfreesboro, TN. The Perryman's and Mary Reeves sold WMTS AM/FM in the early 1980s, and Tom went into retirement. Tom was convinced to come back to East Texas by Dudley Waller (former owner of KKUS) and Rick Guest (former GM of Waller and Access.1/East Texas Radio Group), to boost the ratings of the fledgling classic country station (The Ranch). Tom agreed to join the Ranch, and kept "The Ranch" consistently at the top of the ratings. He died January 11, 2018.

History

December 7, 1989, 104.1 signed on the air as KGKB Tyler. The original licensee of 104.1 was radio executive Rick Reynolds. On April 16, 1990, the station changed its

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

to KTMJ and switched to a "Magic" format. October 1, 1992, 104.1 changed to the current KKUS, and became "US 104" playing top-40 country, in an effort to compete with KNUE and KYKX. In 1998, KKUS was sold to Sun Group of Dallas, which in turn became Sunburst. In 2000, KKUS along with KYKX, KFRO, and KFRO-FM was sold to Waller Media of Jacksonville. Dudley Waller and Rick Guest (former GM of Waller Broadcasting) changed the format to the now highly successful classic country format. Waller and Guest added Tom Perryman, and by adding Tom turned 104.1 into one of the most successful stations in East Texas. On January 7, 2005, Waller sold KKUS, KOOI, KOYE, KYKX, and KFRO to Access.1 of New York/East Texas Radio Group.

LLC purchased KKUS and eight other stations in Texas and Louisiana from Access.1 effective April 14, 2015, at a price of $13.75 million.

References

External links

{{Country Radio Stations in Texas

KUS A Kus (Persian کوس ''kūs'') is an ancient Persian musical instrument, a large kettledrum similar to timpani. Etymology Kus is a Middle-Persian military term meaning "march". According to Von Mohl the term was ''Kūša'', apparently borrowed f ...

Country radio stations in the United States Alpha Media radio stations