University of North Texas jazz radio station switches genre to indie music
A long-running radio station broadcasting jazz across the North Texas airwaves is no more.
On Friday, the University of North Texas’ student-run radio station — KNTU — switched from jazz to indie and alternative music. With the switch in genre comes a name change — from “88.1 The One” to “88.1 Indie”.
“Based on local research and feedback from underwriters, we have decided the new format would have greater growth potential as well as energize students at the university,” General Manager Dan Balla said in a statement. “We are excited about the future of the radio station and the prospect of renewed involvement with UNT students.”
The station first went on the air on Oct. 31, 1969 with only 440 watts at 88.5 FM. Over the years, the station was allowed to boost its signal and moved to 88.1 FM, according to the radio station.
In the 1980s, the station switched to a primarily jazz music focus with added special and local interest programming from news to sports. KNTU was one of the only jazz-specific radio stations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
“It’s been tough the last couple years to get enough students to work in the jazz format on KNTU,” Program director Mark Lambert said in a statement. “One of the goals of our new format is to attract a younger audience and get the attention of the students again.”
However, the radio station isn’t completely done with jazz, with plans to add the music to the station’s HD2 channel later this year or early 2023. Jazz music is still available to stream on KNTU’s website.
KNTU’s new indie venture puts it among other alternative music options in North Texas, including KVIL’s “Alt 103.7” and KXT’s 91.7 FM.
