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WRTI makes it sound good

By Jeffrey M. Sternberg

If you've ever seen a movie dealing with old radio shows, you'd recognize all the gestures, all the motions at WRTI's $200,000 studio in Annenberg Hall, but you might not recognize the new RCA equipment which probably makes WRTI one of the most modern radio stations in the country.

There is a ticker room, sufficiently sound-proofed, to allow UPI to drone on unnoticed outside.

There are three studios connected to one another and each faces a large master control room, where the director and production crew can sit and monitor the broadcasts.

In Studio C, used for news delivery, is a brown conference table shaped like an 'L' and a Steinway and Sons grand piano that came with the furnishings.

Studio A with two boom microphones is used for large production broadcasts [such] as the production of "A Christmas Carol," last semester. More large broadcasts are planned for the future. [Transcriber's comment: If they only knew what was really in store!]

Studio A also contains an Allen electric organ, suitable, one supposes, for duets with the Steinway.

Between these two rooms stands Studio B, the hub of attention where the disc jockeys play the new sounds.

WRTI was founded Nov. 1947 by John B. Roberts, WFIL-TV newscaster and professor of communications. Roberts said, quite proudly, that "I put it on the air!" In those days the station was run out of Thatcher Hall [sic, should read Thomas Hall].

It went on the air, after months of planning, on January 22, 1948, with a tremendous send-off by WFIL, which broadcast the initial program on its TV, AM, and FM stations.

John Roberts, who received his bachelor's degree from New York University and his master's degree in speech and radio from the University of Iowa, was the first program director.

The programming has changed a lot since those days when it broadcast live interviews with "Jersey Joe" Wolcott [a well-known professional boxer], Phillip Morris' ubiquitous bellhop who would be on hand to give out free cigarettes and yell "Call for Phillip Morris!".

The FM segment went on the air in March 1952 [sic, should read 1953] and people have reported receiving it as far as thirty miles from Temple.

The present station was designed by Roberts. He devised special angles for the window glass, which deflects sound and prevents echos on the air. He designed the special sound-proofing material which coats the walls. He designed everything.

And Walter Annenberg paid for it! Annenberg donated an extra $200,000 to help run the station which is enough to finance WRTI for two years. Temple now pays over $100,000 annually to run the station.

WRTI-FM, a labor of love for its 100 staff members, will go on the air in its new, improved format designed to capture a greater share of Philadelphia's listening audience.

WRTI, listed as an educational channel, must broadcast a certain number of "educational" programs each week. With the broadcasting of programs with a musical content aimed at educating the audience [such] as "Evening Classics" and Big Band Show, presented by the Air Force Band, WRTI fulfills its broadcasting responsibility.

Whether you listen to WRTI-AM on its special direct hook-up or at home on 90.1 on your FM radios, you can tap your feet to such programs as "Music Called Jazz" or "Matinee," which features the best of Broadway.

WRTI plays four hours of folk music. Not Peter, Paul and Mary, but the traditional folk from the old days. And in the evening WRTI plays several hours of underground music.

Their "Midday Music" show plays pop music by request only.

This semester a new feature will be "Night Call," a national radio show from New York. WRTI listeners will be told the New York telephone number and if they have a question the listeners can dial New York, collect, and be a part of this program.

Enthusiasm runs high among the staff members when they discuss their new show which is, in their words, a potpourri of programming , plus commentary which will be far different from the normal TV style program. "Concept" will try to explore what makes Temple tick.

The staff members, all students, work under the direction of Robert Kassi, station manager, who is also a faculty member. Kassi is the boss; he runs the show. Jim Klien [sic, should read Jerry Klein], program director [sic, should read either "student station manager" or "operations director"] said, "You don't get on the air unless you're trusted."

Disc jockeys are not allowed to editorialize on the air, according to Klien [sic] and censorship is accomplished through individual discretion. However, like all radio stations, WRTI is responsible to the Federal Communications Commission.

WRTI doesn't try to compete with the Temple NEWS or other campus journals in gathering news. They get most of their news from UPI but occasionally send staff members out with tape recorders to follow up on [Temple] News stories. WRTI is the only Philadelphia station that features a 30 minute news [w]rap-up.

Their big field is sports. They are the only radio station that broadcasts all the Big Five games. They air Temple football games, [and] an occasional show called "people in sports."

The station began operating in Annenberg Hall in August 1968 and first went on the air in October. In the future, they hope to run a Muzak system into Mitten Hall cafeteria and to the Johnson-Hardwick cafeteria so students can sit and listen to the shows while eating Slater food. Hopefully, soon, they will convert to stereo, to become one of the first college-run stereo stations.

WRTI broadcasts from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. during the week [Transcriber's comment: This is clearly an error. Earlier in the story, the reporter mentions programs called "Evening Classics" and "Night Call," and says that "in the evening WRTI plays several hours of underground music." As the program listings on our Memorabilia page show, weekday signoffs were at 12:30 a.m.] and from 8:30 a.m. to 3 a.m. on weekends. While there is no commercial advertising they do present many public service ads.

If you turn [sic] in to 90.1 FM during the week at 11:30 a.m. you can thrill to the sounds of the National Anthem. A hard, low voice announces that you "are listening to WRTI-FM, in Philadelphia, [the] voice of Temple University."

In Studio A, a young fresh newscaster puts his left hand to his ear in the best Gary Owens manner [Transcriber's comment: Gary Owens was a Los Angeles radio personality who was the announcer on Rowan & Martin's "Laugh-In," a hit TV comedy show in the 60s. Owens was always shown with his hand cupping his ear while reading his script] and delivers the day's news fresh from the teletype.

While it is merely a college owned and operated radio station, WRTI is very, very professional.

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