DENTON, Texas — Listeners who tuned into the University of North Texas' student-run radio station KNTU were in for a surprise Friday: At noon, the station shifted its format from jazz music to indie rock.
The station, a Denton mainstay for more than 50 years, has played jazz for the majority of its tenure -- including songs from the school's own One O'Clock Lab Band, the Grammy-winning jazz ensemble that's widely recognized as one of the greatest jazz bands in the world.
Now, the station previously known as "88.1. The One" is rebranding itself as "88.1 Indie."
KNTU tweeted out an official statement Friday afternoon that the new format would be featured on their new website, 881indie.com. Jazz music, meanwhile, will continue to be streamed on kntu.com.
"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," KNTU General Manager Dan Balla wrote in the statement. "We are excited about the future of the radio station and the prospect of renewed involvement with UNT students."
Two of the songs played this afternoon include "Boys Don't Cry" by The Cure and "Ho Hey" by the Lumineers, along with songs from Coldplay and Machine Gun Kelly -- which are, uh, kind of stretching the definition of indie. But at least there's some variety and not just Mountain Goats and Father John Misty tracks being played on loop.
KNTU was founded in 1969, and began first broadcasting on Halloween of that year. The station also features local sports coverage and some Spanish-language programming.
