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KNTU is switching formats!

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By C Vo
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eulessismore Collaborator

eulessismore

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, ColoradoEagle said:

This likely has more to do with engaging the RTVF students with something they're more interested in than jazz than it does trying to become the most listened to station in DFW.

Well, hopefully it will work, but it sounds like there is some desire to at least be more listened to. I will have to say that every music school alum I have mentioned this to has been extremely disappointed. And I do love some of the music that's called "indie" or "alt", and would usually alternate between 88.1 and 91.7,but I haven't heard any song of the new 88.1 format yet that makes me want to listen all the way through it.

Maybe it's like someone said, that they're just putting up placeholders until the students come back. And I'm not sure of what everything is like reception wise in Denton. Do they not already get 91.7? Radio is a tough go these days, but maybe this format change can thread some kind of needle between what's hip enough to attract these RVTF students, popular enough for others in the area to tune in, but differs enough from what is already available from some tough DFW competition that makes a point of playing musicians "out of Denton".

 

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Hunter Green Grand Master

Hunter Green

Posted
Posted

Back in the day, there was a station in Dallas called The Oasis. I don't remember the frequency, but I really enjoyed the format. I believe they called it easy listening jazz, or some such.  Maybe some of you with a better memory can add more to this. 

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NM Green Experienced

NM Green

Posted
Posted

Ah yes that sound is so smooth. Same format 30 years later! I used to love the show musical star streams on Sunday nights - it was celestial. 

beat utep

GMG

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Coffee and TV Grand Master

Coffee and TV

Posted
Posted
12 hours ago, Hunter Green said:

Back in the day, there was a station in Dallas called The Oasis. I don't remember the frequency, but I really enjoyed the format. I believe they called it easy listening jazz, or some such.  Maybe some of you with a better memory can add more to this. 

The Oasis is more like easy listening smooth jazz, like what you used to hear on the weather channel's local forecast. KNTU was focused more on classical jazz when it was at its peak like mid-50's through mid 70's.

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97and03 Grand Master

97and03

Posted
Posted
On 7/30/2022 at 6:37 AM, flyonthewall said:

What is "indie"?  Asking for a friend......

Well, in the 80s it would have been early R.E.M. and other “college radio” type up and comers. 
KTCU had fantastic evening programming in the early-mid 90s and I listened to it all the time, lots of Smashing Pumpkins, Bush, and the like. For those bemoaning the switch, please note that it says the jazz format is still available online at kntu.com and they are creating a second site for the new format. 
I think the format change is long overdue. College radio should be current and edgy, not jazz. 

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gruu Apprentice

gruu

Posted
Posted
On 7/30/2022 at 8:49 AM, UNTcrazy727 said:

How exactly is a jazz radio station no one listens to showcasing our Jazz program? And a true indie station is something DFW is missing right now. Especially, one that showcases local bands. 

KNTU would play lab band recordings but probably not enough of them. Recently, it did not sound like there were many new DJ’s or newer content. I always felt that KNTU should have carried more regularly scheduled live lab band shows on air. If you listed to the big UNT Centennial Live broadcasts, you would know just how great that would be for the school, station and all students involved.  

On 7/30/2022 at 3:09 PM, Matt said:

I'm a bit too far South (Arlington) to really get to enjoy the station. Coverage is always spotty and trying to catch games on the radio is a painful experience. Hopefully the new format will help grow the station and they can cover more of DFW. 

Get an old school antenna and turn it away from Cedar Hill (where most stations broadcast towers are located) and turn it North as the KNTU tower is North of Denton. Connect it to you FM stereo receiver. I can work great.

On 7/30/2022 at 7:50 PM, TripleGrad said:

I don't know if it's still the case, but when KNTU went to 100K watts (I was a student DJ then), there was some special directional tuning in place to keep it from blanketing other stations.  It was explained to me that meant the signal was actually weaker in the metromess than the power indicated.

Yes, to protect KEOM in Mesquite. Most stations broadcast in every direction, but KNTU broadcast direction map looks more like Pacman about to eat Garland/Mesquite.

On 7/31/2022 at 4:20 PM, eulessismore said:

So they really are going down this long and winding road of the "radio business", searching for that elusive "right" genre. It sounds like the powers that be have determined that college students don't love jazz enough, as though everyone should know what they want and have it served to them upon arrival in college. But, I guess Willie Nelson (an old Denton DJ) struggled for years against the sentiment of too many chords aren't what country music is about, until people finally decided, "hey Patsy Cline singing that jazzy "Crazy" song is pretty good"!

I love 91.7, but we already have 91.7. And it doesn't have commercials either. Any time I've turned on 88.1 over the last few days (with heavy heart), the playlist is neither indie or special in any way I've noticed. I'll pass along a suggestion that I saw on "Reddit" that any unhappiness about this be expressed directly to the President of the University, who is said to take particular interest in such matters. In the meantime, I went down the internet rabbit hole to find this quote, attributed to Hunter S. Thompson by the "Krud Radio" website:

"The radio business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs.
There's also a negative side."

Hunter S. Thompson

I listen to 91.7 sometimes as well. But, do we need another one? No. The students and Jazz issue has always been there. I appreciate even more now that when I became a KNTU DJ as a student 30 years ago, I got to know much more great music in another genre. There is much I do not like, but there is a bunch of good stuff still in my music library. Most people don’t realize how many media professionals started at KNTU.

17 hours ago, ColoradoEagle said:

This likely has more to do with engaging the RTVF students with something they're more interested in than jazz than it does trying to become the most listened to station in DFW.

I am quite sure this was a big factor. I hope the playlist improves because I have been listening to It for days now and I am not a big fan so far. It sounds way too much like all of the other bad commercial radio stations all over DFW with no real people spinning records (or hitting the play button).

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untcampbell Mentor

untcampbell

Posted
Posted

Are there "DJ's" at KNTU? I just thought it was all computer programmed, because I rarely hear humans other than promos.

I recall the days when there were different genres of music during the week. There may be a reggae block for a few hours on Sunday, new wave (George Gimarc, for instance), etc. Lots of jazz but other things, and humans with personalities and musical tastes they knew something about when they programmed the shows.

Why not do that?

 

GMG

NM Green Experienced

NM Green

Posted
Posted

Personalities like Cam. I think that is his name. I really enjoy his personalization and the way he weaves his story into some of the commentary. It’s not too much or cheesy most of the time. 

Beat UTEP

GMG

ADLER Grand Master

ADLER

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 7/29/2022 at 7:29 PM, rcade said:

I probably shouldn't be shocked since I never listened to KNTU aside from Mean Green games.

That was the problem. Almost everyone jumped to turn off KNTU as soon as the Mean Green post-game shows ended. 

QUESTION - Do high school and college students still listen to radio stations? Isn't everything now exclusively on downloaded digital media?

A recent survey proved that 99.9% of all listeners would rather sit through this than KNTU Jazz...

 

Edited by ADLER
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eulessismore Collaborator

eulessismore

Posted
Posted
22 minutes ago, ADLER said:

That was the problem. EVERYBODY jumped to turn off KNTU as soon as the Mean Green post-game shows ended. That jazz-crap was unbearable to all except the most extreme masochists, and the horrific ratings proved it.

So, do you listen to KNTU now? I don't, as I not an extreme masochist, or whatever demographic is being targeted.

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Coffee and TV Grand Master

Coffee and TV

Posted
Posted
8 hours ago, ADLER said:

That was the problem. Almost everyone jumped to turn off KNTU as soon as the Mean Green post-game shows ended. 

QUESTION - Do high school and college students still listen to radio stations? Isn't everything now exclusively on downloaded digital media?

A recent survey proved that 99.9% of all listeners would rather sit through this than KNTU Jazz...

 

You guys ever heard of the so called Cilantro gene where some people love it but to others it tastes like soap? I'm convinced the same is true for jazz. I'm so happy I got the ear for it, even if not the lips or lungs. 

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