HomeMy WebLinkAboutMedia_WTAWWTAW, one of the oldest continually run radio
stations in service in central Texas, stands for
Watch The Aggies Win. WTAW is credited with
being one of the first stations in the nation to
cover a live football game in real time. Prior to the
current News-Talk radio format, WTAW, then 1150
AM, was a Country and Western radio station,
which was housed in Bryan, Texas close to the
Triangle Bowling alley in the Old College area of
the city. The station was assigned the call letters
KAZW on January 9, 1998. On March 1, 2000, the
station changed its call sign to KZNE, on May 3,
2000 to the current WTAW. On December 4, 2003
the station was sold to Bryan Broadcasting.
Courtesy of Brazos County Historical Commission, Cushing Memorial Library and Archives, Bryan Broadcasting
Early Play-by-Play Radio Broadcast
of a College Football Game
In 1920, David J. Finn and other Texas A&M electrical
engineering students attempted to broadcast the
football game at Oklahoma A&M via ham radio.
When the plan failed they used a telephone backup,
relaying game updates to fans gathered in the Texas
A&M stock judging pavilion. The following year,
students at campus wireless station 5XB planned to
transmit live play-by-play accounts of the conference
championship against the University of Texas. William
A. Tolson and other students overcame technical
difficulties to make the broadcast possible. They ran
lines from the Kyle Field press box to a transmitter at
Bolton Hall and borrowed equipment from the Corps
of Cadets Signal Corps. They installed three
redundant systems: two connected to the power
plant and a battery backup.
Harry M. Saunders and the coaching staff devised
abbreviations to describe the action and improve
transmission speed. "TB A 45Y," for example, signified
"Texas ball on the Aggie 45 yard line." On game day,
November 24, 1921, the broadcast was flawless with
Saunders at the telegraph key. At station 5XU in
Austin, Franklin K. Matejka relayed messages to
Longhorn fans seconds after each play. Amateur radio
operators across Texas also followed the action. The
game ended in a scoreless tie, but A&M became
conference champion. The following year, 5XB
became WTAW, and several of the students went on
to distinguished careers in engineering, broadcast
technology and related fields. By days, the
experiment missed being the first such achievement
in the U.S., but it is believed to be the first in Texas.
Ingenuity and innovation resulted in a pioneering
broadcasting accomplishment.
DATE November 24, 1921 (Thanksgiving Day)
EVENT Football Game
LOCATION Kyle Field, College Station, Texas
TEAMS Texas A&M vs. Texas University
OUTCOME 0-0, a scoreless tie
BROADCAST Point-to-point
BY WHOM Licensed amateur radio operators
HOW International Morse radiotelegraph code
TRANSMITTING Station 5XB, Texas A&M
IN CHARGE W. A. Tolson *pictured, top-right
OPERATOR H. M. Saunders
RECEIVING Station 5XU, Texas University
IN CHARGE G. A. Endress
OPERATORS C. C. Clark, W. E. Gray, J. G. Gray,
G. E. Endress, F. K. Matejka
WTAW 1620