KLUV

KLUV, branded as "K-LUV" (K-Love), is a radio station transmitting on 98.7 FM, serving the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex in Texas with an Oldies format, however KLUV has slowly leaned into more of a Classic Hits format with some music from the early 1980s mixed in their playlist since late 2006. KLUV is currently owned by CBS Radio and affiliated with the CNN Radio Network. The K-Luv name on this station was a holdover from the original Adult Contemporary format from the early 1980s and the more traditional oldies format from the late 1980s and 1990s.

History

KLUV was first established on January 26, 1984 and bills itself as a "Classic Top 40" station. Former owner John Tenaglia purchased the more-coveted "KLUV"-spelled call letters for $10,000 from a Haynesville, Louisiana station and trading them 98.7's former KLVU calls (which were established at 98.7 on October 19, 1981 under the station's San Juan Racing ownership.) Continuing its light adult contemporary format from KLVU, the station began incorporating pop oldies into its mix throughout 1984; then, by November, 1985, the station became all-pop oldies after purchasing the record collection of newly-defunct KXOL-1360 AM in Fort Worth at auction.

In the late 1950s, the station was first established as KOST. The callsign was initially requested when the application was sent in 1959, but was never used. It was then rebranded KROW and signed on in 1961 as a Top 40 station in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, owned by Gordon McLendon. Two years later, the callsign changed to KLIF as a simulcast of sister station KLIF (AM).

In July, 1966, the station changed call letters to KNUS, and began an automated progressive/underground rock format, with live jocks added in mid-1967. When McLendon sold his AM Top 40 flagship KLIF to Fairchild Industries in 1972, he offered them KNUS as well, but Fairchild declined. As part of the sale, McLendon agreed not to operate any AM station within a 150-mile radius, but since the agreement did not forbid him to operate an FM station, McLendon continued to operate KNUS and, by 1971, had already morphed it into a rock-based Top 40 station which played hit music without the "bubblegum" and "teeny-bopper" material. (The station's initial promotion to plug the new Top 40 format had a disc jockey positioned at the top of a flagpole at McLendon's Gemini Drive-In Theatre. The pole was more of an aerial structure with large "KNUS" lettering mounted vertically to each side of the square truss. The pole was still intact in the 1990s, long after the KNUS calls were dropped and the Gemini shuttered.) McLendon sold KNUS to San Juan Racing in May, 1979, who in turn sold the station to John Tenaglia dba TK Communications (as KLVU) on October 27, 1982.

KNUS eventually transitioned into a more mainstream Top 40, and it paid off when the station passed KLIF in the ratings in the fall of 1975, becoming one of the first FM Top 40 stations to defeat its chief AM competitor. By the end of the 1970s, however, KNUS had fallen out of the top ten, and the station switched to an adult contemporary format as KLVU on October 19, 1981. Initially, the station played hits from 1964 to the 1970s to the 1980s up through and including current product. A handful of pre 64 Oldies were also mixed in. In 1984, after an AM Oldies format changed formats, KLVU began adding more pre 1964 oldies in the mix. The music began to lean slightly more uptempo as well. The station morphed into an all oldies format in 1985, playing pop oldies from the late 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s. The music from the mid to late 1970s and 1980s gradually was eliminated in 1986 and by then KLUV was playing the hits from 1955 to 1973.

On December 31, 1985, singer Rick Nelson and his band were en route to KLUV's New Year's Eve Sock Hop, hosted by Ken "Hubcap" Carter. The plane crashed near DeKalb, Texas, killing Nelson and his entourage. Over the years, KLUV evolved into a 1964 to 1969 based oldies format playing a couple pre-1964 songs an hour and one to two early 1970s songs per hour. Tenaglia sold the rebadged KLUV to CBS on April 21, 1995, for a then-staggering $55 million.

The Chuck Brinkman years (1988–2006) included many personalities: Hubcap Carter, Glen Martin (who had also previously been there during the KNUS and KLVU days), Jason Walker, Jonathan Hayes, Johnny Michaels, Steve Eberhart, Al Forgeson, Paula Street (who went to WODS Boston-now KLUV's sister station-in 1987), Dave Van Dyke, Debi Diaz, John Summers, Jim Prewitt, Jay Cresswell, Bob Gomez, Sandi Sharp, Ben Laurie, Bob deCarlo, Johnny Stone, John McCarty, Mike Wade, Brian Pierce & Kate Garvin.

In 1997, 98.7 KLUV, like many oldies stations around the United States, began mixing in (in this case bringing back) hits of the late 1970s and even a few from the early 1980s. In 1998, the station largely removed the most of the 1955 to 1963 songs from its playlist. Another CBS station, KLUV (AM) 1190 (later 1190 AM) and, coincidentally, the same dial position as former sister station KLIF), existed from 1998–2000 and primarily played 1950s music. Meanwhile, the main station continued modifying its format to more of a Classic Hits format with songs from the mid 1960s to early 1980s. By 2003, KLUV was playing no pre 1964 music with a couple exceptions. In 2002, the station was temporarily the "radio home" of the Dallas Cowboys, featuring live broadcasts of their games. In 2006 Dallas Cowboys broadcasts moved to KTCK.

In 2005, with the retirement of long-time radio veteran Ron Chapman, KLUV picked up noted Dallas news personality Jody Dean as replacement.

Most years, on Memorial Day weekend, KLUV features a "Top 500 Countdown" in which the top 500 oldies, as picked by the station's listeners, are played in descending order for the entire weekend.

KLUV recently launched an HD Radio sub-station. Originally, it was called "The Fab Format", where fans of The Beatles could hear their music 24/7, but in January 2008 they've changed the format to include oldies from the 1950s and 1960s, much similar to Citadel Media's True Oldies Channel. It can be heard on 98.7 HD-2 (HD Radio needed). [1]

From November 23, 1998 to June 27, 2003, it has competed head-on with Disney/ABC Radio's KMEO ("Memories 96.7"), and again from June 30, 2008 until March 12, 2010 with Citadel Broadcasting's KPMZ ("Platinum 96.7"). On that particular frequency, both stations aired a Classic Adult Contemporary format playing soft hits of the 1960s to the 1980s with a couple pre '64 songs per hour.

KLUV was the first radio station in the United States to mention Michael Jackson's death in July 2009.

On October 25, 2010, Jody Dean and the Morning Team started simulcasting on TV on KTXA.

External links

• KLUV official website
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KLUV
• Radio-Locator information on KLUV
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for KLUV
• 2006 Top 500 Countdown
• Mike Shannon's Dallas-Fort Worth Radio and TV History
• DFW Radio Archives
• Wilonksy, Robert (October 23, 2009). "A Friday (Acid) Flashback, or: Local Radio Newscasts Could Still Use a Little More Sitar". Dallas Observer. http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2009/10/a_friday_acid_flashback_or_loc.php.