[3][4] However, the equipment was quickly made outmoded by advances in radio technology, and in late 1925, it was reported that nearly $30,000 ($521,214 in 2023 dollars[5]) would be needed to rebuild KFDH.[9] Its expanding activities as well as an increasing offering of courses to students led to the renovation of the 1903 Herring Hall, once the UA gymnasium, into a facility with radio and television studios.[12] Initially broadcasting to the immediate Tucson area, regional coverage became a reality on October 1, 1968, with the activation of a transmitter atop Mount Bigelow.[13][14] Concomitant with this expansion, the status of the radio-television bureau at the university was elevated to a department in 1971,[15] and it began offering its own degree programs the next year.For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021, 14 percent of AZPM's operating and non-operating revenues came in the form of appropriations or donated support from the UA.[26][27] Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval came at year's end, delayed by issues with a treaty between the United States and Mexico,[28] and when KUAT-FM began on May 19, 1975, the classical and news/jazz services split.