KTXR "Timeless Love Songs"

[ChrisInMI]

I was wondering if anyone else had noticed the recent format adjustment at KTXR (101.3 FM) in Springfield, MO. This was "The Gentle Giant," a longtime B/EZ station (I remember listening to it in 1996 while in Branson for a family reunion) that had most recently gone to a "traditional" soft AC sound (playing current hits but still playing Carpenters, Manilow, Streisand and so on).

Now they've made another formatic tweak to something called "Timeless Love Songs," resembling a cross between AC, Dial Global Adult Standards, and Smooth Jazz. The station now plays virtually no currents but has replaced the AC currents with "new standards," meaning Krall, Buble, Stewart, Tyrell, Queen Latifah and so on. Here's a sample hour from this morning (Friday) per yes.com:

Seals & Crofts - Diamond Girl
Diana Krall - I Get Along Without You Very Well
Lionel Richie - Love Will Conquer All
Steve Tyrell - All Of Me
Renee Olstead - A Love That Will Last
Stevie Wonder - Overjoyed
Elton John - Your Song
Michael Buble - Dream
Queen Latifah - If I Had You
Flack/Hathaway - Where Is The Love
Harry Connick Jr - It Had To Be You
Seal - Walk On By (Dionne Warwick cover)

The curious thing about this is that KTXR has a sister station, KBFL (99.9 FM/1060 AM), which features Jones Standards (it was Music Of Your Life until the changeover last month).

KTXR also features Smooth Jazz on its HD2 channel, although I remember not long ago when they were asking listeners to vote on their website as to what they wanted as the HD2 format, one of the choices was B/EZ ("Classic Gentle Giant," they called it, or something like that).

Anyone else noticed this, and what do you think?

 

[IBadget1]

KTXR is streaming via StreamAudio.com. Their "Timeless Love Songs" is much more interesting to listen to than ABC's "Timeless Favorites."

 

[Kent]

I'm actually quite familiar with KTXR and the format change as I'm in Springfield quite often, and my good friend Jamie Turner was the PD when it launched. Jamie is no longer PD, but he's still doing mornings at the station. He's an occasional co-worker on the weekends as he does some weekends at KLOZ 92.7, which is where I do weekend work. Next time I see him, I'll let him know you like the station.

From what I've heard, the format is actually a hard drive format from Jones, and KTXR is the first station to sign on for it. I don't know if there are any additional stations lined up for it at this time. KTXR's last book had about a month of the new format, and it was awful. However, Meyer doesn't sell with the numbers. Jocks, by the way, also work as sales staff at the Meyer compound.

If you ever get a chance to see the KTXR studios, you should definitely do it. I know Wayne Glenn (who you might like, by the way, Ivan) does an open house once-in-awhile. The studios are a real mixture of cutting edge and retro. While they have Prophet/Nex Gen installed, they also still have turntables, used mostly for Glenn's show, and they're quite nice.

I had heard KBFL was still running Music of Your Life after Jones dropped it, but I haven't heard the station myself. I might be able to find out for certain this weekend when I go to Springbilly to visit my dad. I know Meyer's favorite station was KBFL, and he was very reluctant to drop the format for that reason.