Many music-radio fans who were around DFW in the 1980s and the '90s remember when KERA/90.1 FM, which is now almost wholly a news and public-affairs station, played music. About half the format was music, generally music you couldn't hear on other radio stations around here, even in the days when commercial stations took more risks.<break></p><p>In early summer of this year, KERA announced that it would launch a music-oriented sister station, and that immediately set off memories of the old KERA -- an eclectic, adult album alternative format. KERA's owner bought the 91.7 frequency for $18 million from KVTT, a longtime Christian station that was struggling with a large debt load. But even after the announcement, the station still had to wait for final FCC approval. It took some five months after the initial announcement for the station to launch, which it did at 7 this morning.<break></p><p>So how was the station's debut? Considering the long wait, the launch of <a href="http://kxt.org/listen/">KXT/91.7 FM</a> was relatively subtle, with an announcment by KERA president and CEO Mary Anne Alhadeff, who introduced morning announcer Gini Mascorro, who ran down a couple of acts she'd play during the hour. She began the music with Santana's version of the Zombie's <em>She's Not There.</em><break></p><p>A good song choice to start -- it's familiar, but not a war horse. Over the course of the next three hours, we heard Pinback, UB40, Ingrid Michaelson, and Monsters of Folk. I'm all for a station that plays cuts like Elvis Costello's <em>Clowntime is Over,</em> one of those songs that's absolutely accessible and yet never gets played on commercial radio. And for one that plays local artists such as Fort Worth's <a href="http://telegraphcanyon.net/news/">Telegraph Canyon.</a> </p><p>From early impressions, it sounds -- as I expected it to -- much like KERA sounded when it still had a 50/50 music/news format. But that doesn't mean KXT won't face some challenges. Obviously, a station like this is going to rely on listener loyalty, specifically from listeners who are tired of hearing the same things over and over on other DFW music stations. </p><p>But the station also faces more competition than before -- KXT's predecessor didn't have to compete with iTunes, Web sites such as <a href="http://www.pandora.com/">Pandora.com</a> or satellite radio, all places where people have turned when they've burned out on traditional radio.<break></p><p>Another problem: The AAA format has always been a tough sell in DFW -- it tends to work better in more liberal-dominant markets like Seattle and Boulder. </p><p>But here's hoping that because KXT is a public station (and therefore, much less beholden to ratings-driven advertisers) its owners will keep it around. Based on this promising first morning, it deserves to become a fixture on the local radio scene.