City | Orange, Texas |
---|---|
Broadcast area |
Beaumont/Port Arthur/Orange Golden Triangle |
Branding | Big Dog 106 |
Slogan | The Only Station That Rocks Beaumont |
Frequency | 106.1 (MHz) |
First air date | June 23, 1978 |
Format | Mainstream rock |
ERP | 100,000 watts |
HAAT | 326 meters (1,070 ft) |
Class | C0 |
Facility ID | 33060 |
Callsign meaning | IOC resembles 106 |
Affiliations |
Premium Choice iHeartRadio |
Owner |
iHeartMedia, Inc. (Capstar TX LLC) |
Sister stations | KCOL-FM, KKMY, KYKR, KLVI |
Website | http://www.bigdog106.com/ |
KIOC is a mainstream rock formatted radio station in Beaumont, Texas. It serves the entire Golden Triangle region and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc..
106.1 KIOC Founded by Ken Stevens. KIOC was built in 1977 and signed on over the air June 23, 1978 as K-106. Programming was the Drake Chenault CHR / Top40 format. Its one and only antenna site has been on the side of the Channel 4 (KJAC, now KBTV) tower in Vidor, Texas, making 106.1 the highest FM (~1000 ft) in the immediate Golden Triangle (not counting the rimshots to the west trying to program for the Houston market). During the 1980s, KIOC as "K106", was locked in a fierce battle with crosstown Top 40 KZZB ("B95"). In 1991, B95 went silent after its new owner bankrupted it. Gulf Star (owned by Steven Hicks of the Hicks Broadcast family from Beaumont) bought the silent 95.1 and eventually took on KYKR-FM's country music format after GulfStar sold the former 93.3, KYKR's home for decades to Tichenor Broadcasting who wanted to use it as a Houston station, leaving K106 as Southeast Texas' CHR standard bearer. In 1993, K106 moved in a rock-based top 40 direction, using the slogan "all rock, no rap." After briefly taking on an alternative format and returning to Top 40 as "Hot 106" in the mid-90s, KIOC became "Big Dog 106" in 1997.
Former DJ's on the station included Steven Wild "The Love Child", Mark Landis & The Nut Hut, Pam Pace, Skid Marxx (Shon Hodgkinson), Michelle (Blake) Hinch, Derek Hayes, Angel Sonnier, Jack "Dangerous" Daniels, Slade Ham, Chris Chambers (Ken Rojas), Cort Crusher (Cort Kennedy), Lisa Daniels, Kurt (Johnson) Kruzer, Tad Vincent (Tad Licatino), Patrick Sanders and Jay Kelly.
In 2009, KIOC adopted Clear Channel's Premium Choice mainstream rock format, becoming musically identical outside of morning drive to several of its rock and alternative sister stations.