By JERRY RENAUD
Broadcasting department chairman
Trivia question: Since 1970 what radio station has originated more home play-by-play broadcasts of Nebraska football than any other?
If you guessed KRNU-FM, the broadcasting department’s radio station in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications, you are correct.
Since the fall of 1970, KRNU-FM has been one of the stations producing its own broadcast — with a student crew — for every home football game and for almost all men’s home basketball games. Since 1976, KRNU-FM has also broadcast most of the women’s home basketball games, most of the home baseball games and, occasionally, women’s volleyball — all with student staff on the air and behind the scenes.
The list of students who were a part of those broadcasts is a who’s who of today’s broadcasters in Nebraska and across the nation. It includes:
- radio broadcasters Kent Pavelka from KBAB, Jim Rose and John Bishop from KLIN, DickJanda, Karla Scheve and Ward Jacobson from KFOR Radio and Rob Barney from KNEB-AM/FM.
- television broadcasters Jon Kelley at Fox Sports in Los Angeles, John Knicely, Mike McKnight and Ross Jernstrom at WOWT in Omaha, Larry Punteney from KLKN in Lincoln, Rob McCartney and Brad Stevens from KETV in Omaha, Jennifer Windrum from KMTV in Omaha, Leslie Rupiper from KUTV in Salt Lake City, Jeff Schmahl and Bill Doleman from Huskervision.
The list goes on and on.
Even when KRNU was operating as a carrier current station — transmitting only via a closed circuit to the UNL downtown campus — students had the opportunity to do play-by-play of Husker football, basketball and baseball games. Professor Larry Walklin formalized the process in 1970, and the sports broadcasting class was born. Walklin taught the class for several years, as did other current broadcasting department professors Pete Mayeux and Tom Spann.
Now Professor Rick Alloway is the instructor. The class continues to evolve, but the basic premise is the same: give students hands-on training for sports broadcasting and sports play-by-play.
Alloway says, “The class is a great opportunity for students to talk with coaches and players, rub elbows with sports broadcasters in the press box and call the games in a professional atmosphere.
“It’s also a great help for us that the sports information department believes in what we’re doing. They provide us space to do the game and treat our students just like they treat other members of the media.”
Alloway says the plans for the stadium’s new press box, now under construction, include a booth for KRNU that will be exactly the same size as booths for the commercial broadcasting organization with the rights to originate the radio broadcast.
The sports broadcasting class: just another way the broadcasting department is trying to give students the necessary skills to find work in the industry.
Student
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