HomeMy WebLinkAboutWTAW Headlines 99 Counties Transcript, WTAW First 100 YearsProject HOLD
WTAW Interview
Tom Turbiville | WTAW Radio Host
Daniel Hayes | Transcriber
Transcript
00:00:01 Dick Bolin (DB)
College Station, Texas, April 24th, 1947.
00:00:04 Speaker 2
Now let's go to the bonfire signed where WTAW's Tom Turb i-?
00:00:07 Speaker 3
-WTAW election night coverage. All 8 voting centers in Brazos County have been counted-
[Unintelligible sports broadcaster and crowd of screaming fans]
00:00:14 Speaker 4
Today on WTAW, we're joining with businesses from across the Brazos Valley to support our-
00:00:20 Speaker 5
16.20 WTAW.
00:00:23 Tom Turbiville (TT)
This is WTAW, the first 100 years. I'm Tom Turbiville. Written records of some of WTAW's
earliest influence dates back to the 1920s and even prior. For example, Dateline May 23, 1927,
the Bryan Eagle, as it was known then, blasted the headline, “Radio Station WTAW of A&M
College Reaches 99 Counties in Texas. Educational Talks Best.” That was the somewhat
awkward headline. The article goes on to say that many listeners from beyond 150 miles of the
campus had sent letters stating that they could pick up the programming, albeit sometimes
sporadically and with some difficulty. The letter writers inside 150 miles reported, with few
exceptions, that there were no problems, that everything came across clearly. But those far away
listener reports came from 28 states, as far away as Maine and California, even Canada,
Honduras, Central America. Remember, folks, this was 1927. The Eagle article quoted A&M
Extension Services boss, W.H. Darrow, as saying that such educational programming was what
justified the existence of a college radio station, that music had its place, and contributed greatly
to the attractiveness and the variety of the programs. Well, that's good to hear. This is WTAW, the
first 100 years.