Back in the day, the University of Tampa had the most powerful educational radio station in the State of Florida, but it was also the first. As time has passed, that is no longer the case. WUTT, UT’s one and only radio station, is no longer as powerful as it once was. The frequency of WUTT barely stretches to Downtown Tampa and while people can listen online the audience isn’t as robust.
Over the past few years, the station staff and students have tried to revive WUTT. To assist in this effort, UT made WUTT into a class. The Communication Department offers Practicum in Broadcasting Management, which is how Sydney Taylor and I got here. When you hear “Broadcasting Management” you’d assume you’d be working on the back end. Learning more about finances and how to manage any particular station…or that’s at least what I thought, but I was very wrong.
Walking into this class, I quickly learned that I would have to create a 2-hour show each week on the station. This seemed severely overwhelming. I couldn’t think of what I could talk about for 2 hours that any sane person would want to listen to.
Syd and I decided a mix of our three favorite things would work best: UT culture, pop culture, and music. It was now time to put our thoughts into action after having a crash course on how to use the board.
A board is the console that controls everything on air. It controls what mic is on, where you’re playing music from, if you decide to take an on air call.
For someone trying to use the board for the first time, I made several mistakes. From having dead air to using the wrong fader…I was a mess. Although, our show’s viewership grew as we had an assortment of guests and a variety of hot topics.
While I question myself every show on why I’m publically embarrassing myself on the radio, eventually I’ll get into the swing of it and not make a fool of myself.
Want to Listen In?
Tune into the K + S Show on WUTT 1080AM at wutt.ut.edu:8000 or on the Tune In app!
