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Broadcast area | Lafayette, Louisiana, and Acadiana |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 101.1 MHz |
| Branding | KBON 101.1 FM |
| Programming | |
| Format | Louisiana Flavor |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Rose Ann Marx |
| History | |
First air date | 1997/05/29 |
Former call signs | KAHK (CP, 1994-1997) |
Call sign meaning | "Bon temps" |
| Technical information | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| 60867 | |
| Class | C3 |
| ERP | 25,000 watts |
| HAAT | 100 meters (330 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 30°29′50.00″N 92°15′59.00″W / 30.4972222°N 92.2663889°W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | kbon |
KBON (101.1 FM) is a radio station that promotes the local music, heritage, and culture of South Louisiana. Featuring Cajun French, swamp pop, and zydeco alongside country, classic country, blues, Southern rock, soul, R&B, and oldies. KBON 101.1 is a “Variety Music station with a Louisiana Flavor.” Louisiana music makes up 80% of its music programming, giving homegrown artists a place on the air and helping carry the region’s musical traditions from one generation to the next.
KBON went on the air May 29th, 1997, the brainchild of Paul Marx, a DJ and nightclub owner from Crowley, Louisiana. Marx wanted a mix of music that resembled what he played at DJ gigs — a core of Louisiana music like Cajun, zydeco, and swamp pop, with sides of country, blues, soul, and R&B. Station DJs also broadcast in a mix of English and Cajun French.
Online streaming introduced KBON to a worldwide audience. In 2003, a reporter for The Washington Post wrote about a pilgrimage he made to its Eunice studios:
Wow. This was no test-marketed format. This was no committee-scripted patter beamed by satellite from corporate HQ and squeezed between certified safe hits. This was...radio. From a real place. With real people doing the talking, who clearly knew the people doing the listening.
KBON was originally assigned the calls KAHK-FM as a construction permit in 1994, but changed to KBON shortly before signing on. Paul Marx died in 2019 at age 71.
The call letters KBON previously were assigned to an AM station in Omaha, Nebraska. It began broadcasting March 1, 1941, on 1400 kHz with 250 W power (full-time).
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