KTSW 89.9 FM is the official radio station of Texas State University broadcasting to San Marcos and the I-35 corridor stretching from San Antonio to Austin. KTSW is a student run, college indie formatted station featuring music from all genres including, rock, hip-hop, electronic and more. KTSW has several specialty shows, news programs, syndicated shows, talk shows, and is the official station for Bobcat Athletics and Rattler Football broadcasts. KTSW is host to the annual My Radio Festival, aka, MR. Fest, a free music and arts fest held every spring, as well as other live music events both on and off campus throughout the year. Check out our website for sports broadcasts schedules, specialty show details, upcoming events and the complete program guide.
KTSW - The Other Side of Radio
The KTSW Program Department's main job is to ensure that everything that goes on air is completely and totally awesome, from keeping up with the music department's choices, to managing all the on-air personalities and ensuring that everything is running smoothly.
The KTSW Production Department is responsible for everything that goes on in between the music! We produce everything that isn't music or a DJ speaking. Our entire department is based off of audio creativity using voices, music, and sound effects to enhance our promotional spots, public service announcments, and so much more.
The promotions department is the face of KTSW. It is our job to serve as a liaison between the station and the university. We make sure that KTSW is represented at campus events such as activity fairs, Texas Trade-Up Day and tailgates. The promo staff prides themselves on making every event fun and inviting for all students. We host the Lunchbox concert series on the first Thursday of every month as well as the Third Thursday at Triple Crown concert series. We also put on the Bookstore Blowout at the beginning of every semester. Our biggest and best event of the year is MR. Fest (My Radio Festival) held every spring in downtown San Marcos. MR. Fest 2010 was awarded top honors in the Best Station Promotion category at the College Broadcasters Inc. National Student Production Awards. The promotions team has a large and diverse staff with a passion for music and reaching out to our community.
Oh… the music department. It is, after all, the heart and soul of a radio station, isn’t it? That’s what we are here in the KTSW Music Department. On a day-to-day basis, we receive new music in the mail from various record labels and promoters. It’s like Christmas… or Hanukah… or Kwanzaa… or whichever holiday you celebrate in which bounty is received. How about this: it’s like having a birthday every single day. Upon receiving a collection of new music daily, it is then time to prepare the CDs to go out for review amongst a carefully constructed and well thought-out team of capable and knowledgeable music reviewers. From here, it is our duty to select the cream of the crop from music’s independent and lesser known artists. You won’t hear “Top 40” music from these radio waves because we are, after all, The Other Side of Radio. Get it now?
In addition to selecting and adding new music daily into our ever-expanding library, it is the job of the Music Department to maintain the daily music logs. The music logs ensure that there is music scheduled to play at every hour of every day and are of the utmost importance to keeping the station going. Additionally, the department is responsible for keeping up with and submitting weekly radio charts to CMJ, maintaining our status as a core radio station. The department also coordinates and schedules potential interviews with artists when they are performing in nearby areas as well as inputting all of the music into the KTSW automation system and maintaining the music library closet.
The KTSW Sports Department offers fun and unique opportunities for Texas State students who aspire to get into the sports media field. Members of the sports staff gain valuable experience covering all Texas State sports. Another opportunity members of our staff enjoy is the chance to work side by side with the longtime voices of Bobcat Football, Brant Freeman and Bill Culhane, by serving as the sideline reporters, spotters and statisticians for all games.
Members of the sports department build their broadcasting skills by providing play-by-play and color commentary for a variety of different sports, as well as learning technical skills with remote broadcasts and how to run the studio board. From San Marcos High School Football, to Texas State volleyball, men's and women's basketball, baseball, and softball, the sports staff is there every step of the way. The skills that members of the sports staff learn provide them with the skills they will need to help prepare them to be competitive in the sports media industry.
The KTSW News Department is your source for campus and community news. Local, state and national news coverage kicks off Other Side Drive, our afternoon drive time variety show every Monday through Friday at 4:00 p.m. Other Side Drive also features The Other Side of News, a daily themed news segment covering everything from music and art news to politics to human-interest stories to the news of strange and unusual. The Other Side of News airs every Monday through Friday at 5:00 p.m. KTSW News produces a 30-minute specialty news program called In the Public Interest (IPI) that features several stories within a given theme.
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