CANYON – KWTS The One 91.1, student-run West Texas A&M University
non-commercial radio station, will switch to the 90s format on October 1.
“When we say ‘all 90s’, we mean all 90s – 90s rock, 90s Top 40, 90s country, 90s hip hop and R&B. And not just the hits either” said Randy Ray, KWTS Advisor, Director of Broadcast Engineering and Associate Lecturer in Media Communications.
The impending format change – timed to celebrate the station’s 50th anniversary – was
announced April 8 during “Psychotic Reaction,” a weekly radio show hosted by Dr. Marty Kuhlman, WT’s Jenny Lind Porter History Professor.
After:Student radio station WTAMU KWTS drops special announcement ahead of 50th anniversary
Ray and Kuhlman also detailed plans for the station’s birthday party, scheduled for 2-6 p.m. Oct. 1 on the day of the reunion at KWTS Studios inside the Sybil B. Harrington Fine Arts Complex. .
“For every hour we’ll be playing music from the 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s and 10s, so we’d like old DJs to come back and play on air during those decades,” Ray said.
The party will also offer alumni the chance to see the still relatively new facilities of KWTS, Ray said.
“KWTS has been training students for 50 years, and having a campus radio station is a privilege that many universities don’t have,” Ray said. “Over five decades, WT media students have gained hands-on experience in station management, learning along the way what a great responsibility it is to work in broadcast media.”
The station, a non-commercial rock station, officially launched at 3 p.m. on April 12, 1972. It grew to 100 watts in 1982, then to 6,000 watts in 1998.
Ten students currently work as DJs or engineers at the station.
In addition to six weekly shows featuring country music, Tejano, K-pop and more, the station hosts Live Lounge and One Sessions live concerts, releases podcasts and features music at the tailgate and other events. on and off campus.
Media communications students also learn about digital distribution in many forms, preparing them for work in podcasts, streaming services, live and recorded audio engineering, management, programming, and more.