KWTS
Canyon, Texas
KWTS 91.1 FM is a non-commercial college station that promotes the freshest music and newest talent on the campus of West Texas A&M University. KWTS is fully operated by students. We operate at 6,000 watts, which reaches approximately nine counties in the Texas Panhandle.KWTS began broadcasting in 1972 with only 10 watts of power–just enough to blanket the campus. For eight hours each day, students wrote and announced special programs in conjunction with speech and journalism classes. Programming included news, music and sports coverage. In 1982, the Federal Communications Commission ordered all educational stations to increase power. KWTS increased its power to 100 watts and began broadcasting in stereo on March 21, 1982. The upgrade allowed KWTS to be heard throughout Canyon.On April 18, 1998, KWTS ‘The One’ 91.1 received permission to construct a transmission tower for an upgrade to 6,000 watts. Former University President Russell C. Long was the first voice heard on 91.1 in Amarillo and surrounding areas. The first 91 minutes were programmed with specific music to commermorate the history of the station and the evolution of college radio.On September 11, 2006 at 9:11 a.m. KWTS signed on the air from the Schaeffer Studio inside the brand new Sybil B. Harrington Fine Arts Complex. This new state of the art studio would be the new home for all future KWTS on-air personalities, raising the bar for students to come. Dr. Leigh Browning and Mr. Randy Ray commemorated the first sign on from the Schaeffer Studio. Houston Howell, former general manager of KWTS, and Drew Hicks, former program director, were the first live student voices heard from the Schaeffer Studio, along with a special address from Sue Park, former dean of the Sybil B. Harrington College of Fine Arts and Humanities.