Well, today was the big day that KTYS-FM (96.7) -- the so-called "Texas Twister" in Citadel Broadcasting Corp.'s inventory -- switched formats, ditching its new-country format for ... music my mom will love, love, love. (At least, she loved this stuff back when it was known as KVIL's playlist during the Carter presidency.) Because thus far this afternoon, the so-called Platinum's playlist has leaned heavily toward drowsy pop tunes from the '60s and '70s -- in other words, Petula Clark, the Carpenters, the Four Seasons, the Mindbenders' "Groovy Kind of Love" and Oak Cliff-born Michael Martin Murphy's "Wildfire," which is about all I can stomach after lunch. Noted the jock just now: "People who listen to this music are friendly. It's a lot better than gangster rap or heavy metal." Ron Chapman, how could you? --Robert Wilonsky
Update: A Friend of Unfair Park who used to work at 99.5 The Wolf sends us this note:
"I can tell you that Susquehanna/Cumulus brass were never worried about The Twister as a threat to The Wolf's well-being. I suspect 'Platinum 96.7' isn't scaring the folks at CBS, either. The station's tower serves more longhorns in Parker, Wise, Jack, Palo Pinto, Cooke and Wichita counties than it does people in the metroplex. Once you get east of 35-E and south of LBJ the signal fades like Terry Jacks' career. Unless we suddenly have expansive population growth up the 287 corridor from Fort Worth to Nocona, the station will be a blip on the radar."
