HISTORY OF KRWG FM
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About KRWG FM - History of KRWG FM
KRWG-FM enjoys a rich history at New Mexico State University, and in the state of New Mexico.
Now with more than a million potential listeners in two states, KRWG-FM had its' beginnings back in 1922 as New Mexico's first radio station, KOB.
KOB was founded by Dean Ralph Willis Goddard, former NMSU engineering and physics professor after whom the station's call letters today are named. KOB broadcast from the NMSU (then New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts) campus, from what is now named Goddard Hall with live musical programming, time and weather data and agricultural information. The first play-by-play of an AGGIE football game was broadcast Oct. 5 1922, when Dean Goddard took a portable telephone set to the college stadium for a game between the AGGIES and present-day UTEP, then School of Mines.
Recognized as the most powerful college station in the world, by 1927, KOB was one of the largest of its type, and reached over a 700 mile radius. (KOB was an AM radio station, and atmospheric conditions during the early pioneering days of radio, made their signals heard for many miles...).
New Year's Eve of 1928 brought the death of Dean Goddard, when he was electrocuted by the powerful transmitting equipment he had built. It was shortly thereafter that KOB was sold, and moved to Albquerque where it has remained since 1933. Since the FCC has assigned the KOB call letters to the Las Cruces area, it gave a new AM station established here in 1947, almost the same call letters...KOBE. Folklore has existed throughout the years that these call letters mean "KOB Extension"...among others.
Not until the early 50's was there another station on the campus. It was known as KNMA, a closed circuit radio station, that broadcast to the dorms and other buildings on campus until 1964, at which time it became KRWG-AM. In that same year, NMSU applied for a stereo-FM license with the Federal Communications Commision and KRWG-FM went on the air as New Mexico's first Stereo FM station Oct 3rd, 1964. KRWG-FM broadcast from studios near the old Aggie memorial stadium until September 1970, when studios were moved to Milton Hall and power increased to 100,000 watts in 1972, to become the area's most powerful stereo FM station.
With translators, KRWG-FM reaches even more of our great state.
You can hear us in the following communities:
93.5 FM in Deming, NM
91.3 FM in Silver City, NM
91.9 FM in Truth or Consequences, NM
89.5 FM in Alamogordo, NM
91.9 FM in Lordsburg, NM
Today, KRWG-FM provides entertainment and information through programming, and also provides hands-on training for students in the broadcasting profession, with courses taught in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications at NMSU.
KRWG-FM became an NPR charter station in 1971 when National Public Radio went on the air. Incorporated in March of 1970, with headquarters in Washington D.C., NPR was established by public radio stations with financial assistance from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to produce and distribute programs of the highest quality to its member stations across the nation. NPR's premiere program "All Things Considered" aired May 3rd 1971 and can be heard on KRWG-FM Monday thru Friday at 4pm.
KRWG FM is a public service of New Mexico State University. © 2006, Regents of New Mexico State University. P.O. Box 3000, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88003. (575) 646-2222. Contact information. Legal information. Last updated on
April 25, 2008.