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| Broadcast area | Brazos Valley |
| Frequency | 1620kHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | News Talk 1620 94.5 WTAW |
| Programming | |
| Format | Talk radio |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| KNDE,KZNE,KWBC,KAGC,WTAW-FM,KPWJ, KKEE,KJCS | |
| History | |
First air date | May 3, 2000 (2000-05-03) |
Former call signs |
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Call sign meaning | "Watch The Aggies Win" (slogan adopted for the original randomly assigned call letters of 1150 AM facility, nowKZNE; swapped to this facility in 2000) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 87145 |
| Class | B |
| Power |
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Transmitter coordinates | 30°37′15.00″N96°15′16.00″W / 30.6208333°N 96.2544444°W /30.6208333; -96.2544444 |
| Translator | 94.5 K233DU (College Station) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | wtaw |
WTAW (1620kHz), branded as "News Talk 1620 94.5 WTAW", is acommercial radio station inCollege Station, Texas, airing atalk radio format. Owned by the Bryan Broadcasting Company, WTAW covers College Station,Bryan and much of theBrazos Valley.[2] Its studios and offices are located in College Station.
By day, WTAW is powered at 10,000 watts, dropping down to 1,000 watts at night. Itstransmitter site is on Golden Trail, offTexas State Highway 30.[3] In addition to a standardanalog transmission, WTAW broadcasts inHD Radio, using thein-band on-channel digital standard. The programming is also heard on 250-wattFM translator K233DU at 94.5MHz in College Station.
Weekdays on WTAW begin with Scott DeLucia hosting the morningdrive time program,The Infomaniacs along with Chelsea Reber on news and Zach Taylor on sports. The show is known for quick wit and Zach being made fun of by the other hosts. The rest of the weekday schedule isnationally syndicated talk shows:The Glenn Beck Radio Program,The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show,The Sean Hannity Show,The Joe Pags Show,America at Night with McGraw Milhaven,Coast to Coast AM withGeorge Noory andThis Morning, America's First News with Gordon Deal.
WTAW originated as the expanded band "twin" of an existing station on the standardAM band. On March 17, 1997, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that eighty-eight stations had been given permission to move to newly available "Expanded Band" transmitting frequencies, ranging from 1610 to 1700 kHz. What wasthen-WTAW on 1150 kHz was authorized to move to 1620 kHz.[4] An application for the expanded band station was filed on June 16, 1997, which was assigned the call letters KAZW on January 9, 1998. That was changed to KZNE on March 1, 2000.[5]
The FCC's initial policy was that both the original station and its expanded band counterpart could operate simultaneously for up to five years, after which owners would have to turn in one of the two licenses, depending on whether they preferred the new assignment or elected to remain on the original frequency.[4] However, this deadline has been extended multiple times, and the stations on both 1150 and 1620 kHz have remained authorized. One restriction is that the FCC has generally required paired original and expanded band stations to remain under common ownership.[6][7]
On May 3, 2000, the stations on 1150 and 1620 kHz swapped identities, with 1150 becomingsports radio KZNE (while maintaining its longtime role as theflagship ofTexas A&MAggies athletics)[8], and 1620 inheriting the historic WTAW call letters and itstalk radio format. Although for the average listener this meant that WTAW had moved from 1150 to 1620 kHz, and KNZE had done the reverse, according to FCC regulatory practices the same station on 1620 kHz continued to be licensed (Facility ID 87145 in FCC nomenclature), with just call letter changes taking place.[5] While most radio stations in Texas have call letters beginning with a "K", the WTAW call sign dates back to 1922, when Texas was still in "W" territory. The WTAW call sign is one of the oldest in the United States, originally standing for "Watch The Aggies Win".
On December 4, 2003, WTAW and KZNE were sold to Bryan Broadcasting. In 2021, WTAW was awarded anNAB Marconi Radio Award for "Small Market Station of the Year."[9]
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