WTXR

WTXR (The Eagle 89.7) was formerly the student-run campus radio station of Toccoa Falls College in Toccoa Falls, Georgia. It is now owned by Radio Training Network, Inc. based in Greenville, SC. The radio station played predominantly Christian rock and Contemporary Christian music but also featured various specialty shows. It is a companion to sister WRAF, also formerly run by the college.

TFC students filled roles such as radio station manager and program director, with tenures generally beginning at the beginning of the student's junior or senior year and ending with graduation. Though upperclassmen typically held the role of radio station manager and program director, almost any student could be a disc jockey if approved by the station manager. This allowed for great diversity in the material that was broadcast.

History

The station was housed in the Recital Hall, also known as Bandy Hall. It was located in the original WRAF studios. When the time came to pick the call letters for the station it was known as "The Crossroads", which can be seen when looking at the call letters, WTXR.

WTXR was always a student-run radio station from every perspective, and this made for diverse and often very humorous shows. The students chose to change to "The Eagle" or "Eagle 89", moving away from the moniker of The Crossroads. This allowed the station to move away from WRAF and focus on a more youthful crowd and not compete with it. Under the guidance of Jeremy Duke, the station bridged the programming demographic to the 18-24 age bracket and targeted a pocket that was not being attended to in the Toccoa area.

Another notable student was Nate "Trendy Nate" Becker. Trendy Nate broadened the programming and allowed for a more fluid song rotation which allowed it to become more respected in Northeast Georgia. Nate and Steven Dendrinos departed, making way for Stephen and Josh Altmanshofer to market the station as "Toccoa's Youth Station".

Some of the longest running shows of the Eagle included Dr. Daniel Everitt's show, "Touch of Dylan" featuring Bob Dylan classics. A special dispensation was needed to allow "secular" music on the Christian airwaves. Under station managers Jeremy Duke and Tom Jolley, and in conjunction with music club "The Mainstream" in Royston, Georgia, local bands frequently made in-studio acoustic appearances.

There was also the ChappyHour, which ran for 3.5 years on Sunday nights, and the Indie-Spam-Pit. The ISP collectively started as three individual shows. Spam was led by Spanky Willard and contained music of all sorts. The Indie show was fronted by Christopher "The Dictator" Dentel, and was entirely Indie music, and the Pit was hosted by Josh Altmanshofer featuring hard core music. The three combined to create one of the most eclectic shows in the station's history, and took up the 10-12pm Sunday night slot starting in 2001 and lasted for a couple of years.

Another very successful show, titled IndieAccess, was fronted by Desh and his wife. Although not students at all, they were locals within the community who wanted to get involved and loved the vision of the station. Thursday nights brought forth the most successful Indie show, which featured Indie acts from all over the world. Adopting social networking in its early stages, IndieAccess helped bring in listeners from literally all over the world to the Eagle 89.

WTXR aired music 24/7 with student shows on a weekly schedule.

WTXR, along with sister stations WEPC, WPFJ, WRAF, and translators W221AZ and W265AZ, were purchased by Radio Training Network, Inc. effective July 25, 2016 for $2.1 million.^[1]

Past Station Student Managers^[2]

• 1994-1996 — Jon Heffer — Original Station Manager
• 1997 — Jason Gross
• 1997-1998 — Jamie Mahon
• 1997-1999 — Jeremy Duke
• 2000-2001 — Tom Jolley
• 2000-2002 — Trendy Nate
• 2002-2003 — Stephen Sandridge
• 2003-2004 — Michial Farmer

Past Faculty Advisors

• 1998-99 — James Duncan
• 2000-2004 — Steven Dendrinos

References

External links

• Query the FCC's FM station database for WTXR
• Radio-Locator information on WTXR
• Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for WTXR

Coordinates: 34°35′56″N 83°21′54″W / 34.599°N 83.365°W / 34.599; -83.365