Along with music, Mean Green football game broadcasts were soon added, with Mercer providing play-by-play coverage and UNT students usually serving as his color commentators.

The station switched to a jazz format in 1981, while continuing to host public affairs shows and North Texas athletic events.

While KNTU had no direct competitors, it shared audiences with 106.1 from 1987 to 1992 and 107.5 from 1992 to 2006 (both with the KOAI callsigns) as smooth jazz-formatted stations branded "The Oasis."

[3][4] The latest format flip puts KNTU in competition with North Texas Public Broadcasting's Adult album alternative-formatted KKXT (91.7),Audacy-owned KVIL (Alt 103.7), iHeartMedia’s active rock-formatted KEGL (97.1 The Eagle), and iHeartMedia-owned KEGL-HD2 (97.1 HD2 The Edge).

Therefore, KNTU's signal is much stronger in the Northern parts of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex as well as the cities of Denton, Decatur, and McKinney.