Texas Tech University’s own student radio station, KTXT-FM: The Raider 88.1, is celebrating National College Radio Day, and for the first time, they will broadcast for 24 hours straight.
College Radio Day
It is not the first time KTXT has celebrated on this day, but this year General Manager, Derrick Ginter, said they wanted to do things a little differently.
“This is the first year that we’ve taken College Radio Day and made it a big deal, and the big deal for us is that the students decided they wanted to do 24 hours of local programming, ” Ginter said.
Jenabeth Gunter and Andres Flores during “Good Morning Texas Tech”
KTXT is a student-run, student-produced radio station. Normally, it has an automated broadcast schedule for about half of the day, Ginter said, with music off the computer and national news programming.
“When they decided to do a full day, I was like, ‘OK, cool! We will see how it goes,'” Ginter said.
It started at 8 a.m. this morning and will last until 8 a.m. on Saturday, Ginter said, and members of the KTXT team will be out and about on campus giving away prizes and informing students about the college radio experience.
The Beginning
The broadcast began with “Good Morning Texas Tech,” a morning broadcast that runs on Wednesdays and Fridays, Jenabeth Gunter said.
Gunter is a senior electronic media and communication major and said she began her time at KTXT as a DJ for a couple of different shows but now is a part of “Good Morning Texas Tech.” She said National College Radio Day is a way for students to inform the community about student-based radio stations.
“I have always just wanted to be involved in radio in some format,” Gunter said, “I wanted to just get my feet into that industry.”
Gunter said KTXT’s celebration broadcast will give all the student volunteers the opportunity to get experience in radio.
One of the places KTXT broadcasted from was outside of the Student Union Building, and from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday, students could stop by, learn about the radio station and get a free t-shirt.
Zack Curtis and Jackson Wisdorf during the live broadcast at the SUB
Food Drive and “Pirate Radio”
Jackson Wisdorf is the music director for KTXT. He was at the SUB helping with the live broadcast.
“All we were doing was letting people know that we have a station here,” Wisdorf said. “There are a lot of students that do not know that we have a student radio station.”
Wisdorf said National College Radio Day is the perfect day to spread the word.
KTXT will also do a live broadcast of the TTU vs. OU soccer game at 7 p.m. to keep their 24 hours on air going, Wisdorf said.
“One of our big pushes is remote broadcasting,” Wisdorf said. “We are at all of the volleyball games and women’s soccer games. Every Thursday night we have one at Mesquite’s Bar and Grill.”
In addition to the non-stop broadcast, KTXT is partnering with The Alamo Drafthouse to screen the movie, “Pirate Radio,” Ginter said, as well as collecting canned food for the South Plains Food Bank.
“We are basically giving away the tickets, and all that we are asking for is a canned food donation in exchange for the ticket,” Derrick Ginter said.
All it takes for a student to get their hands on a ticket is four cans of food, Ginter said, and those will be donated to help out people around the South Plains.
“Pirate Radio” is a film from 2009 starring the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Ginter said.
“It’s basically a light-hearted, humorous, fictional account of actual history. Back in the 60’s, the United Kingdom, and even to this day, their media is very controlled by the government,” Ginter said. “Back in the 60’s, it was even more so, and your only option when listening to the radio was whatever the government offered.”
Ginter said rock ‘n’ roll music was not something the British government played, so a few “enterprising” people would put transmitters on ships, anchor them in international waters and then beam rock ‘n’ roll music back into the U.K.
#savetheObar
After the movie, students can head over to The Lonestar Oyster Bar in the Depot District, Ginter said. KTXT staff will be there with their live remote set up around 9 p.m.
Wisdorf said a music festival consisting of local musicians and artists will be there to raise money for the owner of The Oyster Bar, who recently had a stroke.
“It’s a two-day event that showcases local music,” Wisdorf said. “The reason they are hosting it is to try to raise enough money to keep the bar open for at least another year, so his family can kind of sort things out.”
If you are interested in KTXT-FM: 88.1 The Raider, you can visit their webpage, listen to their shows and music live, and contact them about being part of the college radio experience.
They are also on Facebook and Twitter.
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