KRWG-FM celebrates 40 years of soaring over southern New Mexico

Student reporter Katie Goetz works with General Manager Colin Gromatsky in the KRWG-FM studio.

Gromatzky, who graduated in 1968, says he considers it a privilege to have been able to serve as the general manager of southern New Mexico’s public radio station since 1988.

KRWG 90.7 FM is an award-winning, non-commercial public radio station licensed to and operated by NMSU, but the history of radio on the NMSU campus does not start with KRWG.

Historic photos courtesy of NMSU Library Archives and Special Collections

Radio at NMSU had its beginnings in 1922 with KOB, New Mexico’s first radio station. KOB was founded by Ralph Willis Goddard, a former engineering dean whose initials form the call letters for today’s station. KOB broadcast from what is now Goddard Hall with live musical programming, agricultural information and weather.

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. By 1927, KOB was recognized as the most powerful college station in the world. But it was sold to a commercial owner in Albuquerque shortly after Dean Goddard died on Dec. 31, 1928, while working on the transmitting equipment he had built.

Historic photos courtesy of NMSU Library Archives and Special Collections

Another radio station did not appear on campus until the 1950s. KNMA, a closed-circuit radio station, broadcast to the dorms and other buildings on campus until 1964. Gromatzky started his broadcast career at this station.

“I think the training I received in our fledgling journalism department was invaluable,” Gromatzky says.

KNMA became KRWG-AM in 1964. That same year NMSU applied for a stereo-FM license and KRWG-FM went on the air as New Mexico’s first stereo FM station. The station broadcast from barracks at the base of what is now Aggie Memorial Tower until 1970, when it moved to its current location in Milton Hall. KRWG-AM, where Gromatzky worked as one of the first student managers, is now KRUX-FM and still serves as the student-run radio station on campus.

Historic photos courtesy of NMSU Library Archives and Special Collections

After graduating from NMSU, Gromatzky earned a master’s degree from Brigham Young University and then spent several years working as a disc jockey at radio stations across the Southwest, playing everything from 1950s rock ’n’ roll to country. He was known as Tumbleweed Doomadotty in those days.

“People always ask me how I got that name,” Gromatzky says. “An announcer at the commercial station where I worked saw this skinny kid being blown around on a dusty afternoon as I arrived for work so he said I looked like a tumbleweed. I went by that name for awhile. I was Tumbleweed Gromatzky. But then a recording artist came through town and I recorded a promo for our station with this artist. He used the word ‘doomadotty’ when he couldn’t pronounce a word or name. He could not pronounce my last name so he dubbed me Tumbleweed Doomadotty, which I adopted on the air.”

Historic photos courtesy of NMSU Library Archives and Special Collections

Gromatzky returned to KRWG-FM in 1983 as director of development and an instructor of journalism. He became the general manager in 1988, and continues to teach broadcasting to NMSU students.

There are usually more than 15 students who work at KRWG-FM each semester. Gromatzky says one thing has remained the same over the years – students have the invaluable opportunity to gain experience.

“I think NMSU students can receive the training they need to be employable. We have several students who have left NMSU
and now work for large media companies such as NPR,” Gromatzky says.

Katie Goetz says being a student reporter at KRWG-FM is a tremendous value to her.

“It’s preparing me for a rigorous career in reporting,” Goetz says. “When I applied for the job as a news reporter, I wasn’t really interested specifically in public radio, just journalism in general. I realize now that’s only because I wasn’t aware of public radio. I’m very interested in it now.”

Goetz, who comes from a traditional ranching family in southern New Mexico, started her education at NMSU in the College of Agriculture and Home Economics planning to only minor in journalism, but says the career field was a major draw for her. When she graduates in May, she will have earned a Bachelor of Science in agricultural economics and business and a Bachelor of Arts in journalism.

“I plan to work in public radio,” she says. “What I love about public radio is that your story is heard, not read. It gives you the freedom to stretch your legs in how you write the story and what vocabulary you use.”

Changes over the years

Historic photos courtesy of NMSU Library Archives and Special Collections

Student training has remained constant at KRWG-FM, but there have been some changes through the years.

“NPR programming was an important addition to our lineup and still remains so,” Gromatzky says.

In 1971 KRWG-FM became a charter member station when National Public Radio (NPR) went on the air. 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. NPR’s premiere program, “All Things Considered,” first aired May 3, 1971, and can be heard on KRWG-FM Monday through Friday at 4 p.m. Other NPR programming on KRWG-FM includes “Morning Edition,” “Car Talk” and “Performance Today.”

Another change at the station has been its underwriting and development activities. Since 1990 underwriting support has grown from fewer than 30 to more than 55 underwriters providing more than $100,000 in annual support. Listener support has grown to more than $150,000 annually.

KRWG-FM kicked off the year-long celebration of its 40^th anniversary in October 2004 and has hosted dinners and concerts to celebrate “Soaring over southern New Mexico for 40 years!”

The station is commissioning a special piece of music from Bill McGlaughlin, host of “Saint Paul Sunday,” that will be performed by the Las Cruces Symphony Orchestra in an October 2005 concert culminating the 40^th anniversary celebration.