News Radio 740

[Chuck Tiller]

KILT was airing Accuweather with Dr Joe Soebel, between the time that KTRH was carrying it and KFNC's contract.

[FilioScotia]

KUHF has some defects?
Care to elaborate? 

[radiobop]

The truth of the matter is, news radio is a dead concept...with the internet and continuous cable news, the only people who don't hear breaking news are drivers without satellite and folks attached to ipods.  To hear the same news over and over again is just not part of today's lifestyle...afternoon dailies have no reason for being and newspapers/magazines are being forced to reinvent themselves online.

I listen to talk shows on XM in the car and they consistently discuss breaking news on both the left and right wing channels.

Public radio works because most of the programming relates to human interest beyond the five minutes of headlines.  I consider the NPR drivetime programs the best thing out there because I genuinely learn something interesting I didn't know before virtually every time I listen.

Remember when you would hear an ambulance or police siren and could tune into the radio to find out what's going on?  Those days are long gone!!!  In the evening, it's weird that during inclement weather or in the event of a newsworthy happening, there's no one on duty at KTRH or any other local station to cover it...in times gone by, the public service commitment of most local stations was measured by the success of their news departments in scooping other stations.

[michaelshiloh]

I agree with much of what you said Radiobop, but the truth is news radio is very much still alive as was proven in this area during Hurricane Rita.  We had people stuck in their vehicles who could get no information except from those of us covering news on radio, which is why I was surprised that more stations didn't try to serve the public better during that crisis.  The problem is: TV has taken over news so you seldom hear exclusive stories on radio in places like Houston where there's no radio competition.  You get the same stories on radio that you get on TV.  Clear Channel bought both Houston stations that traditionally covered news, then removed most of the news from one and decimated the other.  But Satellite radio isn't covering local news, even during a disaster like Rita.  You can't cover breaking news on a talk show.  And there were jokes during the hurricane about people who only listened to IPods until they saw the freeways jammed during the evac.

Houston is a very unique market.  What works in other cities doesn't work here.  You could get the idea if you live in Houston that news radio is dead.  But that's not the way it is in San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, New York, Pittsburgh and Atlanta.

[Kevinc]

KTRH did a fairly good job of covering Friday's NASA gunman.  It was almost like the old days... except the part where they worked the afternoon talk hosts into the "news" about the shootings.....

[KTN Corp]

I hope we can have news radio like WBBM, WCBS/WINS, or KYW. Hopefully CBS might buy it and turn it to all-news.

[michaelshiloh]

The rumor's been around for years that CBS wanted to buy KTRH but would Clear Channel sell?  KTRH is a big biller. Former CBS Radio chief Dan Mason said in the late '90s that he wanted a news station in every major market for CBS, including Houston.  Now that he's back in that position, though, things may be different.  Rumor is CBS wants to sell its radio stations, as the Wall Street Journal mentioned a couple of weeks ago.

[FilioScotia]

Actually, CBS wanted to buy KTRH long before CC came along, even in the 60s and 70s. The network wanted a 50kw AM powerhouse station on the Gulf Coast so bad they could taste it, and KTRH could have been a real jewel in the CBS Radio crown. 

When I worked there in the 70s, I heard stories of CBS execs coming down to personally offer owner John Jones of Rusk Corp a blank check for the stations. Name your price and write it on the check.  Jones just couldn't bring himself to sell it, at any price, but his son Jay Jones had no problem selling it as soon as his father died in the 90s.  By that time CBS Radio wasn't a big player anymore.

[Bill Cherry]

That's very interesting.  I never heard that before.  Thanks for sharing.

Bill

[Buddy Hayes]

They did a horrible job covering the storms this morning.