WTAW
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| City | College Station, Texas |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Brazos Valley |
| Branding | Newstalk 1620 |
| Slogan | News and Information for the Brazos Valley |
| Frequency | 1620 kHz |
| First air date | 2000 (as KAZW) |
| Format | News Talk Information |
| Power | 10,000 watts day 1,000 watts night |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 87145 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 30°37′15.00″N 96°15′16.00″W / 30.6208333°N 96.2544444°WCoordinates: 30°37′15.00″N 96°15′16.00″W / 30.6208333°N 96.2544444°W |
| Callsign meaning | Watch The Aggies Win |
| Former callsigns | KAZW (1998-2000) KZNE (2000-2000) |
| Affiliations | CBS Radio, Premiere Radio Networks, Westwood One |
| Owner | Bryan Broadcasting Company (Bryan Broadcasting License Corporation) |
| Sister stations | KNDE, KZNE, KWBC, KAGC, WTAW-FM, KPWJ, KKEE |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | Official website |
WTAW (1620 AM, Newstalk 1620) is an AM radio station licensed in the city of College Station, Texas. The station is currently owned by Bryan Broadcasting Company through its licensee Bryan Broadcasting License Corporation, and features programing from Premiere Radio Networks and Fox News.
It operates as a talk radio station, airing a mixture of syndicated and locally originated news and talk programming.
WTAW is credited with being one of the first stations in the nation to cover a live football game in real time. Prior to the current News-Talk radio format, WTAW, then 1150 AM, was a Country and Western radio station, which was housed in Bryan, Texas close to the Triangle Bowling alley in the Old College area of the city. The station was assigned the call letters KAZW on January 9, 1998. On March 1, 2000, the station changed its call sign to KZNE, on May 3, 2000 to the current WTAW, On December 4, 2003 the station was sold to Bryan Broadcasting.
The corporate offices are now located in the Crystal Park Plaza just off of the General James Earl Rudder Highway (Texas State Highway 6) in College Station, Texas. WTAW is the home of the longest running radio show in the Brazos Valley; the Infomaniacs morning show was known as the Muck and Mire show, dating to at least the 1960s. Current host, K. Scott DeLucia, a well-known local personality, started his association with WTAW and the Muck and Mire show in the late 1960s after doing "color" for local A&M Consolidated sports. He is the longest serving media personality in the city and surrounding area, having not only been involved with WTAW, but also serving as the Sports Director for KBTX, the CBS affiliate in Bryan/College Station, as well as being an on-the-air sports anchor, in addition to also contributing to the Bryan/College Station Eagle, the daily newspaper which serves the twin cities and Brazos County.
The broadcast was unusual—it was accomplished by licensed radio amateurs using telegraphic code operating on amateur radio frequencies. The names of participants with licensed station call signs and hometowns were as follows:
Shortly after the hostilities of World War I ended, amateur radio activities began anew; and the students who had radio operating licenses were permitted to operate school stations. It was only natural that these operators would get together on more or less regular schedules; and it was during one of these exchanges between W. A. Tolson (now deceased), Chief Operator at Texas A&M Experimental Station 5XB, and operators at University of Texas Experimental Station 5XU, that a decision was reached to undertake the transmission of the play-by-play activities of the forthcoming Thanksgiving football game from College Station.
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