Student Issue, 1995—Sale of Student AM Radio Station

When UT announced in June 1995 that it planned to sell the student talk radio station 850 AM, transmitter, and land they occupied, students in the College of Communications prepared a plan that outlined ways in which money could be saved in its operations and the station could be turned into a profitable business. One large sponsor of the station, Sears, also sent a letter in support of keeping the station. Dr. Barbara Moore, acting head of the Department of Broadcasting indicated that there had been a steady decline in revenue and that the transmitter, installed in the 1930s, was able to be kept in operation only because the department had a small store of spare parts. The cost of a new transmitter was estimated to be $200,000. The station was sold in March 1996.