Beginning this fall, fans of the Texas Longhorns will no longer tune into Genuine Austin Radio’s 104.9 The Horn (KTXX) to catch games. Texas and Learfield have found a new partner for their broadcasts as KTXX will abandon its sports format on August 1. The station made the announcement on its Twitter on Wednesday.
The Horn name and other sports content, including Texas Rangers baseball, will continue on KTAE-AM and its FM translator at 101.9. Genuine Austin Radio has been through its share of struggles this year after a rent dispute briefly took all of the brand’s signals off the air when its landlord barred access. This forced the University to stream that weekend’s baseball and softball games on an app and the official athletics website.
The switch marks the end of a seven-year stint with The Horn as the home for UT’s football, men’s basketball, and baseball broadcasts. The Horn, along with sister station The Bat within the Austin Radio Network, also hosted Texas women’s basketball and softball games.
As such, the University of Texas is now partnering with iHeartMedia Austin, naming KVET-AM 1300 The Zone as the new primary radio station for the Longhorns. Both KVET-AM and KVET-FM 98.1 will air UT’s football and men’s basketball games. Additional details regarding broadcast plans for other UT sports and the Spanish-language station for the football team are expected to be announced at a later date.
UT Athletic Director Chris Del Conte said, “The move of our network’s flagship radio station to KVET is a huge win for our fans in Austin and central Texas. No matter where you are in that footprint, you’ll get your Horns loud and clear from kickoff, tipoff or first pitch. Then you add the cherry on top to this deal with our network’s partnership with the mighty brand of iHeartMedia, and we’ve hit a home run in every way.”
