Another Milestone For U.T. Dallas: Internet Radio

RICHARDSON, Texas (Feb. 11, 2003) – For the first time in its 34-year history, The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) is making waves – airwaves, that is – via its new radio station.

Well, sort of. After all, Radio UTD is an Internet station.

The student-run, web-based station launched on the World Wide Web Feb. 1. Located at http://radio.utdallas.edu, the station at first will broadcast every day from 5 to 10 p.m., with the goal of adding additional hours in the future.

UTD does not have a school of communication (where university radio and television outlets traditionally are housed), but students long have pushed for a radio offering. The Internet radio idea was developed and proposed last spring by Student Government Association (SGA) Senator and head of SGA’s technology committee Justin Appleby, a senior who also is a McDermott Scholar at UTD. After reviewing a student proposal, administrators approved the idea and gave the go-ahead.

According to Jay Miller, UTD student media advisor, a web-based station, as opposed to the studio variety, eliminates many of the upfront costs of a traditional one, including obtaining a Federal Communication Commission license or an FM frequency.

“After researching the idea, we discovered an Internet station was fairly easy to implement and that it was affordable, particularly after several issues concerning royalties paid to artists for playing their music over the Internet were resolved recently,” Miller said. “The students are dedicated to producing a high-quality offering, and I’m confident Radio UTD will be a great success.”

Appleby said the station does not have a typical format such as rock, classical or country and western, but instead offers a wide variety of music not typically given airtime. “We wanted the music to be as diverse and unique as UTD’s student population,” he added.

According to Miller, programming will be music-driven for the time being, but the long-term goal is to expand into a source for campus news, sports and entertainment programs like talk or interview shows. The station currently has about 25 student disc jockeys and hopes to have as many as 35.

About UTD
The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor, enrolls more than 13,000 students. The school’s freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores. The university offers a broad assortment of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs. For additional information about UTD, please visit the university’s web site at http://www.utdallas.edu.