UNT Athletics extends deal with KWRD-FM

[SUMG]

DENTON (6/24/05)– The University of North Texas and KWRD-FM 100.7 have announced a new three-year contract to broadcast all of the North Texas football and men’s basketball games. The deal also includes campus station KNTU-FM 88.1, which will carry all football games and broadcast all North Texas women’s basketball games.

“I'm pleased to see us continuing our partnership with UNT Athletics,” said KWRD Vice President and General Manager Pete Thomson. “UNT's commitment to excellence both on and off the field is admirable. We are proud to continue to be the anchor station for UNT football and basketball broadcasts.”

KWRD-FM will enter its fourth year this season as the flagship station of the Mean Green radio network, and the new deal will run through the 2007-08 season.

“We are excited to begin a new, three year extension with KWRD to serve as the flagship station of the Mean Green Radio Network," said Hank Dickenson, Sr. Associate AD and coordinator of the network. "Our first four years with "The Word" has produced an excellent relationship and afforded us both the power and clear FM signal to deliver North Texas football and basketball broadcasts to our core audience, the fans and alumni living in the D/FW Metroplex. It's also exciting to have sister station KPXI in Tyler/Longview on board the network again - we figure there are more than a few interested fans there due to Jamario Thomas (the nation's leading returning rusher, who hails from Longview). Finally, we couldn't do what we do from a network perspective without the outstanding technical support received from our campus station, KNTU, also a 100,000 watt signal."

Each football broadcast and men’s basketball game will be preceded by a 30-minute pre-game show. KNTU-FM will carry all 27 North Texas women’s basketball games throughout the season for the fifth consecutive year.

The voices of the 2005 Mean Green Radio Network will be familiar as George Dunham will return for his 17th season as the play-by-play voice of North Texas football and basketball.

Dunham will be joined by Hank Dickenson who is entering his 10th season as the color commentator for the Mean Green Radio Network. Producer/Engineer Steven Bartolotta and statistician Chris Wiley will enter their fifth season with the Mean Green Radio Network.

[SilverEagle]

I still wish that KNTU could have a post game show for this football season.

[NTEagle08]

It's good to hear that the contract with KWRD was extended, but hopefully not to far from now we will hear news about signing a radio affiliate outside the DFW.

[NT80]

I still wish that KNTU could have a post game show for this football season.

Yes. Additional stations would also help sell NT sports to other areas around the region.

[OldTimer]

It's good to hear that the contract with KWRD was extended, but hopefully not to far from now we will hear news about signing a radio affiliate outside the DFW.

I live in Mansfield and I can't get these radio stations. It would be nice to have a station with a wider range of signal.

[PlummMeanGreen]

I live in Mansfield and I can't get these radio stations. It would be nice to have a station with a wider range of signal.

Charles, my place here in Parker County is in a slight valley with many trees and I have some problems with Dallas' KWRD to some extent, but after raising the antenna full staff and pointing the radio in the correct direction, I can finllly pick up the night football games.

Still would love the M.G.R.N to add 2 or 3 smaller satellite AM radio stations (or FM) in the peripheal areas of the Metroplex to insure that most of the 6 million citizens in our 6 county area would have no problem picking up Mean Green football and basketball. Out here a radio station in Mineral Wells or Weatherford would really do wonders in picking up broadcasts from the MGRN for both football and basketball games.

Of course our ultimate goal in Mean Green Country (IMHO) would be for the M.G.R.N to find a radio station in the most important Houston, Texas, media market. NT must find a way to get its foot in the door of that large population center that has some of the best athletes in the USA in abundance.

I'm sure many of us have had the common thought of what influence did our Longview, Texas, radio affilliate, ie, KWRD' s sister station have in our recruiting some of our key players in that part of Texas. One could only imagine what a Houston radio affiliate could do for our Gulf Coast of Texas recruiting.

Edited June 25, 2005 by PlummMeanGreen

[ipEAGLE]

A station in Wichita Falls wouldn't hurt either... little by little.

[SUMG]

I agree that more stations would be great. But in this personal computer world that we live in.....I think we should do a better job of letting fans know that they can hear every game on their PCs.

The thing that's great about now-a-days.....someone in Borneo can hear our games if they want to. Maybe a story in The North Texan would enlighten more of our spread out alums, about how to access the games, via the computer.

One more reason to do this: You NEVER KNOW where that big donor might be. In 1994......he was in Thailand.

Edited June 25, 2005 by SUMG

[PlummMeanGreen]

I agree that more stations would be great. But in this personal computer world that we live in.....I think we should do a better job of letting fans know that they can hear every game on their PCs.

The thing that's great about now-a-days.....someone in Borneo can hear our games if they want to. Maybe a story in The North Texan would enlighten more of our spread out alums, about how to access the games, via the computer.

Good idea, SUMG....

Next full page ad NT football runs in the widely distributed NORTH TEXAN alumnus magazine should have such an advertisement telling our alums/fans/friends that they can access all football games on their PC's.

The main advantage I see about a radio station in Houston and other key areas of the Lone Star State are all those "non-North Texans" who will be surfing their home or auto radios that accidentally land on a station that carries our football games on the Mean Green Radio Network.

I remember as a teenage in the Houston area surfing the old transistor radio and many times landing on a SWC Game of the Week sponsored by Humble "Put a Tiger in Your Tank" Oil & Refinery (now Exxon) with the great, late SWC broadcast icon Kern Tips doing the play by play. First time I ever heard of some coach named Hayden Fry was on such a radio broadcast back in the mid 1960's. Most every Fall Saturday I washed the family car I would always have such an SWC college football game blaring so loud I'm sure the neighbors could hear. Many of you older nestors probably had the same experience here in Texas.

.................................................................................................................................................................

If NT Exes, Mean Green Club members and/or alumnus groups in Houston and Austin/San Antonio want a very high profile and most worthy project, what better one than the local alums of these cities finding a radio station and then sponsors to add to the M.G.R.N.; at such a time that this may all materialize, then we would really have a M.G.R. "Network." I don't think NT Athletics would object to this project at all, but I would certainly run it by them first as they may even have just the right contacts in these large populated areas of Texas.

..................................................................................................................................................................

It's just a stroke of luck that our Dallas affiliate (KWRD 100.7FM) just happens to have a sister station in Longview, Texas. In fact, I think we might have an All American running back on our football team because of it (plus Coach Dickey and his staff's fine recuiting efforts in east Texas, too, of course).

Edited June 25, 2005 by PlummMeanGreen

[the green rokemi]

that's great, I hate listening to games on KNTU...I am always hyped up listening to a game and then they go to a commercial that is really mellow talking about some elevator jazz show or such

it ruins the mood...

[GreenBat]

We need to use the internet to our advantage amd get on www.tsrnsports.com.