KXBJ was granted its License to Cover on November 22, 1968, as KULP-FM, having originally been proposed by local El Campo businessman Louis "Culp" Krueger and his partners, under the name Wharton County Broadcasting, who also owned 1390 KULP.

KULP-FM was licensed with an ERP of 26.8 kilowatts, with a transmit site located one mile north of Downtown El Campo.

For many years, KULP, KULP-FM, & the Leader-News were cross-owned by Barbee and superserved El Campo and the surrounding Wharton County rural areas with local news, weather, farm reports, high school sports, and country music on the radio dial.

KIOX-FM was finally retired on December 13, 2007, becoming KNTE-FM in order to match the calls with the "El Norte" format that Liberman had implemented on 96.9.

The heritage KIOX call set was quickly resurrected by LaGrange Broadcasting Corporation on January 4, 2008, for their own Country station licensed to Edna, which also serves El Campo and Wharton County.