KTXT goes off the air

Texas Tech's Department of Student Media pulled the plug Tuesday on the university's student-run radio station, KTXT-FM, which ceased broadcasting immediately.

Blake "Wombat" Porter, the station's manager, said the station's student executive staff received no warning prior to the department's announcement during his weekly management meeting with the department's directors at about 2:30 p.m.

"I went in to the (sound)board to say some final words," he said, "and it just went static."

In a statement, the Department of Student Media cited high maintenance costs and an evolving media industry as its primary reasons for closing the radio station. Its FCC broadcast license will be transferred to the university's other radio station, KOHM-FM.

The station's operations accounted for an average of 41 percent of the department's expenditures during the past four years, according to the statement, but it generated less than 1 percent of its income.

"The overwhelming financial demands of operating an FM radio station, coupled with the radical changes in the radio broadcast industry, made it clear that we need to rethink our definition of broadcast media and refocus our commitment to bolstering student learning," said Susan Peterson, director of student media.

Porter said he intends to file a formal complaint about the station's closure, but cannot do so until he pinpoints the best administrator with whom to file it.

"As soon as I can find out whose desk this is sitting on-as soon as I can get names-I'll do everything I can to the furthest and best of my ability," he said.

Porter said more than 100 students work at the station, including five paid executive board members.

The station's closure was the most significant of "several changes" in the works for the department, according to the statement.

The student radio station had been on the air since it received its FCC license in 1961.

"KTXT is far too important to this university and this town as a whole," Porter said. "It should not just be erased."

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