Despite its new "no frills" approach, KRBE continued to offer the hottest dance music the world had to offer through its live club mixshows with the launch of "the Beat" started by DJ Rich, which aired from 1994-2002 and was mixed by some of the top local DJs in the Houston area, such as DJ Rich (now DJ RIDDLER), and DJ Mark D (Delange). The mixshows were broadcast from premier nightclub venues in Houston such as Shelter from 1994 to 1995, Kaboom from 1995 to 1996, and The Roxy from 1996 until its last broadcast in 2002. "the Beat" enabled KRBE to gain a worldwide audience when the station began streaming the on-air audio through its website in the late 1990s, thus billing itself "The World Famous 104 KRBE". The name "the Beat" was chosen to derail 106.5 KQQK's widely-speculated plans to change format from Regional Mexican to Top 40 as "106.5 the Beat", which would have put them in direct competition with KRBE. (It is also speculated KRBE used the "Wild" and "Channel" monikers on its Friday night mixshows for the same reason). From 1992-1994, the station aired "The New Music Zone", an alternative music show that typically aired weeknights from 7 p.m. to midnight. In the mid-1990s, around 1995-1996, the station's playlist as a whole had a pronounced alternative lean, but it eventually drifted back towards mainstream CHR. In 1996, program director Tom Poleman and air talents Paul "Cubby" Bryant and Ryan Chase left KRBE for similar positions with CHR/pop Z100 WHTZ New York, which had also leaned in an alternative direction for a time. Ryan Chase would eventually come back to KRBE ten years later. On October 31, 2005, Susquehanna announced it had reached an agreement to sell its radio assets, including KRBE, to a partnership including Cumulus Media (which also owns Houston radio stations KIOL-FM (103.7) and KFNC-FM (97.5)) as well as Bain Capital, Blackstone Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners. The deal was expected to be completed sometime during the first half of 2006. Sometime after the purchase, KRBE quietly changed their logo from "104 KRBE" to "104.1 KRBE", a technically more accurate description of the station. KRBE has evolved to an adult-oriented Top 40 (similar to co-owned station WWWQ in Atlanta) under Cumulus ownership. In late January 2006, KRBE launched its digital HD signal. Its HD2 signal began simulcasting sister KHJK in late 2007. The HD3 signal is still undetermined. On July 7th, 2006, morning radio show personalities Atom Smasher and Maria Todd were let go immediately following the Friday show. Cumulus Media cited they were taking the morning show (as well as the station) in a new direction and needed a show that widely appealed to the entire Houston market and a team that knew the city and its people. That same day, longtime DJ Scott Sparks exited KRBE after nearly 20 years to begin mornings at classic hits station KLDE (now KGLK) (107.5 FM), reuniting Sparks with former KRBE program director and morning show DJ Paul Christy. Atom Smasher eventually wound up at KHKS in Dallas, which, like KRBE, is a CHR/pop station. Maria Todd moved to do the morning show, 5-9:30am, at KMVQ a rhythmic station in San Francisco. On July 13, 2006, it was announced that "The Roula and Ryan Show", which previously aired on hot adult contemporary rival KHMX, would return to Houston airwaves on KRBE. The team, which relaunched their show on July 24, 2006, is Roula Christie and Ryan Chase, the latter of whom returned to KRBE after a ten-year absence, along with Eric Rowe, who goes by the name "Producer Eric". Ironically, Roula also returned to KRBE after a six-year absence. She was paired with the aforementioned Atom Smasher from 1998-2000 on the 6-10pm shift. read more

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I have listened to KRBE for years, but the segment involving the bakery and the comments made about arthritis were disappointing and came across as insensitive. Humor is one thing, but making light of medical conditions that many people genuinely struggle with is not entertaining to everyone. The remarks joking about arthritis and the bakery employee crossed the line from humor into unnecessary ridicule. To their credit, Cumulus Media management did respond to complaints, removed the segment from social media and podcast platforms, and acknowledged that the content was not consistent with company policy. I do appreciate that action being taken. However, what still stands out to me is that the on-air personalities directly involved in the segment have not publicly apologized to the bakery employee, the bakery itself, or the listeners affected by the comments. A sincere acknowledgment on air and on the same social media platforms where the segment was published and discussed would have gone a long way toward showing accountability and respect. Broadcasters have a platform that reaches a large audience, and with that comes professionalism and awareness. Unfortunately, this situation changed my view of the station. read more

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Thank you for the tickets KRBE!!! I can't believe I won!! It was super exciting to see where you guys work. I listen to you guys everyday that I work!! Special K, your prank calls actually makes me laugh out loud. Royal and Ryan's Roses.... my fav one so far was the girl calling about her ex husband. Only to find out That he was sending to her mom. Then we all found out that her mom is pregnant with her ex-husband's child. And that they were getting married. That was a shocker for all of us! read more

Krbe Fm 104.1 - Radio Stations Near Me - Houston, Texas

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Best radio station in Houston! The Roula and Ryan morning show, is the best! Listen to it wherever I go.

Does anyone listen to the station at night? If so, has anybody else heard strange things? Last night, while a song was playing, i heard a voice coming from the radio saying, "emotional b***h," 4 or 5 times while the song was still playing in the background. read more

This station sucks. They play a basic pop playlist which is meh, but their real problem is their DJs and the talk between songs. Their morning show is like a meeting of the negativity and narcissism club. I would rather listen to fingernails on a chalk board than their immature blather. Wish my gym would change the station. read more

If you want to hear the same 10-15 songs every other hour tune in here.

Like most American reality shows, this radio station has gone to the "dark-side". I used to enjoy listening to this station every morning while driving to work. They used to play some great hit songs with less commercials. But since last year, they decided to be more greedy with lots of yapping and drama! I just cannot stand the "endorsements" that Roula & Ryan did every morning for the sake of their sponsors... and Ryan's regular babbling of his self-righteousness! Their morning coverages make you feel like listening to Jerry Springer that focus more on dramas... So, if you like drama (unfortunately, too many), lots of commercials, few repeated songs and rubbish conversations, then tune in to FM104.1, otherwise, FM99.1 or FM96.5 are better and more "mature" stations. read more

Very racist!!! This station was at Pleasure Island sitting up an activity me & my husband were waiting for them to get done siting up the game they never ask any black people to participate we were sitting right in front of them, we asked them about it they laugh at us. read more

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Came there to pick up tickets that I won. You could only come between 1:00 - 5:30. I work until 5:30 which meant I had to leave early at 5:00. I was coming from Galleria on westheimer to gessner and ended up being 4 minutes late because of some heavy traffic. The girl was too lazy to turn her computer back on and told me to come back tomorrow. The event was tomorrow at 6:30 which meant it was impossible for me to come back considering I get off at 5:30 and had to be at the event at 6:30. I explained that to her and that I left work early just to get them she was still refusing to turn on her computer!!.. I was so frustrated with her laziness and said forget it and left.. They should extend the hours to 6. read more

Once a Houston favorite, KRBE is now solidly in the middle of Houston's decidedly mediocre media market. It was their giant boombox on wheels that made them who they were. Power 104 lost it's power when every radio station decided to copy it's nightly hits countdown. Their morning broadcast was the one thing worth listening to. When Sam Malone left and ClearChannel arrived, KRBE essentially lost it's signal and is not worth listening to at all. read more

Houston's commercial top-40 radio station, supposedly the most listened-to station in Texas. Pop char toppers and one-hit wonders, talky morning shows and rush hour traffic reports, the weekend top 40 countdown, ClearChannel remote DJing, silly contests, and cash giveaways abound. You know the big commercial station that plays the same 10 songs over and over again? That's this. They also host a weekend night party every week at some club around town, in-station meet-the-artist sessions, etc. read more

Once used to be the best, now horrible. Ads last for 5 minutes minimum at a time and repeat the same songs all the time. There's more than 20 songs in the world read more