KWTO-FM "101.3 Real Country" (previous call letters KTXR) is a

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

broadcasting a

classic country Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country and western music hits from past decades. Repertoire The radio format specializes in hits from the 1950s through the early 1980s, and focus primarily on inn ...

music format, licensed to

Buffalo, Missouri Buffalo is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, Missouri, United States. The population was 3,290 at the 2020 census. Buffalo is part of the Springfield, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Buffalo was platted in 1841, an ...

, United States. The station was previously owned by Stereo Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Meyer Communications.

History

KTXR was a longtime

beautiful music Beautiful music (sometimes abbreviated as BM, B/EZ or BM/EZ for "beautiful music/easy listening") is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in North American radio from the late 1950s through the 1980s. Easy listening, elevator m ...

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, ...

station which had modified its format to a more contemporary Soft AC sound in recent years. The station recently unveiled a new approach dubbed "Timeless Love Songs", a mixture of classic AC/soft rock hits, classic and contemporary versions of

pop standard Traditional pop (also known as classic pop and pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards ...

s, and smooth jazz cuts. The new format replaces the AC chart currents the station used to play with "new standards" artists such as

Norah Jones Norah Jones (born Geethali Norah Jones Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. She has won several awards for her music and as of 2012, has sold more than 50 million records worldwide. '' Billboard'' named her the ...

Michael Bublé Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer. A four-time Grammy Award winner, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American Songb ...

Diana Krall Diana Jean Krall (born November 16, 1964) is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer known for her contralto vocals. She has sold more than 15 million albums worldwide, including over six million in the US. On December 11, 2009, '' Billboard'' maga ...

Queen Latifah Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known professionally as Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, actress, and singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, she signed with Tommy Boy Records in 1989 and released her debut album '' All Hail the Qu ...

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

, and

Renee Olstead Renee Olstead (born June 18, 1989) is an American actress and singer. Active since childhood as an actress, she is best known for her roles on the CBS sitcom '' Still Standing'' and on the ABC Family drama ''The Secret Life of the American Teena ...

. On April 30, 2012, KTXR tweaked its format from soft AC/adult standards to mainstream adult contemporary. But after three years in the format and trailing rival

KGBX-FM KGBX-FM (105.9 MHz) is a radio station broadcasting an adult contemporary format. Licensed to Nixa, Missouri, United States, the station serves the Springfield, Missouri, market. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. and licensed as iHM Li ...

, Meyer announced that it was moving KBFL's Southern Rock/Country hybrid format to KTXR on November 2, 2015. On November 2, 2015 at Midnight, KTXR changed their format to country, branded as "101.3 The Outlaw, Genuine Red Dirt Country", the format and branding moving over from 99.9 after both simulcasted for a short time. On August 11, 2020, after final completion of the purchase of the group of Springfield radio stations owned by Meyer Communications (

KWTO (AM) KWTO (560 Hertz, kHz) is a commercial radio, commercial AM broadcasting, AM radio station in Springfield, Missouri. It is owned by Zimmer Midwest Communications and airs a Talk radio, Talk Radio radio format, format. The radio studio, studios ...

, KWTO-FM, KTXR, KBFL (AM), and KBFL-FM) by Zimmer Midwest Communications, KWTO-FM completed a format change to

soft rock Soft rock is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in Southern California and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, melodic songs with big, lush productions. S ...

with the new moniker "98.7 the Dove". In an additional surprise move, it was announced that Zimmer filed to swap the call letters of 98.7 KWTO-FM with that of 101.3 FM KTXR. 98.7 the Dove immediately began identifying as KTXR-FM. The call sign change was registered by the FCC on August 20. Since KTXR was a prominent part of "The Outlaw" branding, 101.3 FM also continued to identify as KTXR for a short time (with the exception of their top of the hour station identification messages saying "101.3, KWTO-FM Springfield"). On September 17, 2020, 101.3 FM changed their format from red dirt country to classic country, branded as "101.3 Real Country" and began officially identifying as KWTO-FM. Effective June 30, 2022, KWTO-FM moved its community of license from Springfield to Buffalo.

HD Radio

KWTO-FM is licensed for

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...

operations and features

Smooth Jazz Smooth jazz is a genre of commercially-oriented crossover jazz and easy listening music that became dominant in the mid 1970s to the early 1990s. History Smooth jazz is a commercially oriented, crossover jazz which came to prominence in the 1 ...

24 hours a day on its HD2 channel.

References

External links

* WTO-FM Classic country radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1962 {{Missouri-radio-station-stub