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Dialing through the decades: KTCU celebrates 60 years

By Alexandra Smith, Staff Writer

Published Feb 23, 2024

The KTCU crew in 1958 in the original studio located in Ed Landreth Hall. (TCU Yearbook)

KTCU is dialing through the decades as it celebrates 60 years on the FM dial.

The campus station reflects on how radio has changed in the last six decades. Originally, KTCU was only on the air from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., Monday through Friday; now, the station streams 24/7.

The ability for KTCU to stay on air 24/7 is significant as many college radio stations have gone online in recent years. The station also has evolved its signal radius, going from a 15-mile range in 1964, to now reaching the entire DFW area.

Janice McCall, the station’s manager, has witnessed these changes over her 21-year tenure at KTCU.

Timeline of KTCU’s memorable moments over the past six decades. (Alexandra Smith/Staff Writer)

“My first few years with KTCU we were using CDs, cassettes, vinyl and other outdated conduits of sound to put programming on the air, while students hand-wrote music logs for the deejays to follow; digital was still a new concept,” McCall said.

With time, the dynamics and technology of audio grew, and so did KTCU. Today’s programming is automated with state-of-the-art software including KTCU’s most recent addition of an all-digital audio board added to the on-air studio last summer.

“The new audio board makes it easier for students to learn to use and has a lot more effects and abilities than the old board did,” said Ian Napetian, a senior sports broadcasting major who hosts Riff Ram Review.

The student-run radio station caters to a wide range of people.

Student radio host, Ian Napetian in the KTCU sound booth on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. (Alexandra Smith/Staff Writer)

“We have something for everyone, we have around 35 different deejays, so you get a little bit of everything,” Napetian said.

KTCU is more than a radio station to its fans. McCall said many refer to it as the “KTCU Fam.” Whether students are volunteering, interning or in the control rooms for a class, students have a place to hang out, study and fellowship within KTCU.

“The day-to-day stuff is my favorite part,” Napetian said. “As much as it is a radio station, it also brings a really good community aspect to us students.”

KTCU has plans to celebrate on the outside lawn of Moudy South for prize-giveaways, activities, and a remote broadcast in April. The big event that is still in the planning stages will happen in the fall, closer to the official KTCU anniversary.