Radio KUT-FM (Publicfrom ut-austin)

KUT FM 90.5 is a listener-supported public radio station owned and operated by faculty and staff of the University of Texas at Austin. It is the National Public Radio member station for central Texas. Occasionally there is confusion between KUT and KVRX 91.7 FM, the University's student-run radio station, because both are owned by the University of Texas and are based out of the UT campus.

KUT history 1925-1927Professor Simpson L. Brown — in addition to his teaching and research work in the Physics Department — served simultaneously as general manager, technical director, and producer. Programs were aired 3 nights a week from 8 to 10 with no sponsors or commercials.

There were concerts by the University Symphony and other Austin musical organizations as well as discussions, lectures, and speeches by faculty, state officials, and agriculture experts. Weekly services were broadcast from St. David's Episcopal Church and, during football season, fans could listen to play-by-play descriptions of the Longhorn games.

KUT's early years were ambitious but, by 1927, ambition had outrun the funding. The expense of operating and maintaining the station had simply become too great for the Physics Department to sustain. University President Harry Benedict appointed a committee to study the matter, and the committee recommended that the project be discontinued. The station was dismantled and the equipment returned to the Physics labs for experimentation.

KUT would not re-emerge for 30 years.