Chris Baker out at KTRH and KPRC?????????????????

[adguy]

You may not get the humor because you are probably not in their demo, but rest assured that all the gay redneck black dudes are splitting their sides over the humor.

Oh, I see and stand corrected.

[Southgate]

They fire the only creative mind in the place?!?  Very smart.  There must be more to this than budget cuts?  Berry boy will nowhere near approach Baker's ratings.  The time is ripe for a non-CC station to make a good move.  Anyone up to it?

[adguy]

What I'd like to know is..........how can a guy go from two shows to none in a few of months.  I would have thought they had some belief in the guy to expand his time on the radio.  I don't they don't give a rat's ass, but he just had a baby.   Does Michael Berry have a clue?

The great Berry experiment will most certainly end as the revenue dribbles down to nothing in the months to come.

[fmtooner]

Am I missing something?  What does Berry see in W&J other than kickback bucks for sydication?  Those guys are the most untalented radio personalities I have ever heard.  I don't listen, but I tried them out for about 30 minutes when they moved to KPRC over the summer.  I know 10 year olds with more talent (no kidding!), yet KPRC is putting them on the air all day.  So......What am I missing?

a few points:

1. Berry may indeed see only $$$ as his reason for doing anything (or everything, for that matter). After all, we're talking about CC here. With the sell-offs going on, short-term bottom line is their focus, not building great radio stations. That requires an investent.

2. Get off the "W&J are the most untalented blah, blah, blah" thing. One man's entertainment is another man's boredom. Example - I'd guess only a small percentage of people like Barry Manilow (1 in 10, maybe?) yet he's made a fortune selling records and PACKING stadiums. If W&J are smart enough to work the syndication stuff, good for them. Seems to be working, despite moving around the dial locally. I've also heard that they sell very well, and money trumps everything in this business, including talent.

3. Sucks that Baker's gone. Another victim of the soon-to-be washed up terrestial radio industry. Can't wait for URL presets in the truck.

Tooner

[lazer77002]

This is indeed distressing news. Baker is the only good local talk host in Houston. I listened to the Baker & Hunt show once in a while but could not take it on a regular basis due to his sidekick, Hunt. I only listened to hear Baker. And I did listen to him on KTRH.

The only good thing about this situation is that Hunt is off the air. She's obnoxious and unlistenable. I could not take her thick, hick, redneck accent and her inane babble. I'll bet she saw this show as a stepping stone to getting her own show. She's probably kissing up to Michael Berry right now about it. And we all know how clouded and delusional he is about his programming skills. His show is truly awful (and he's so rude to his staff on the air-it's embarrassing to hear-why do they let him get away with that?). And now he's given himself even more air time! How CC allows this guy to make programming decisions is beyond me.

Why did they give Baker a sidekick anyway? He didn't need it. Hunt's emasculating attitude towards Baker, the consummate radio host, was insulting to listen to.

I hope 950 will get rid of Hunt's stupid giggle on their station promos. We get it, she can laugh. And that's about it.

Baker gone from Houston's airwaves...a sad, sad day indeed.
Hunt gone from Houston's airwaves...hallelujah.

[Bobby Chaffin]

What you have to understand is why Michael Berry is at KPRC/KTRH in the first place.  And it is not a great reason.  This radio station passed over several job applicants - who had  many, many years of "real radio experience" when the openings occured.  Michael (with his Houston city connections) somehow convinced Clear Channel that by hiring him, he would be able to attract some "heavy duty" advertising dollars into the station from his buddies.

Now, I can't answer if that has happened.... but here you have the reason why he is the Ops Mgr in the 4th largest city of the US with no previous radio experience.  Clear Channel will pay dearly for these mistakes on KPRC and KTRH being the worst run news -talk stations in America.  There is very little localism left with these properties. I don't consider W & J local - just stupid!
 Thank God for J.R. in the morning at least.

[rocknrollisdead]

What you have to understand is why Michael Berry is at KPRC/KTRH in the first place.  And it is not a great reason.  This radio station passed over several job applicants - who had  many, many years of "real radio experience" when the openings occured.  Michael (with his Houston city connections) somehow convinced Clear Channel that by hiring him, he would be able to attract some "heavy duty" advertising dollars into the station from his buddies.

Now, I can't answer if that has happened.... but here you have the reason why he is the Ops Mgr in the 4th largest city of the US with no previous radio experience.  Clear Channel will pay dearly for these mistakes on KPRC and KTRH being the worst run news -talk stations in America.  There is very little localism left with these properties. I don't consider W & J local - just stupid!
 Thank God for J.R. in the morning at least.

I have to admit, when i heard that MB was going to be running 740/950, i thought that maybe it could work.  That maybe getting a outsiders prespective would be a good thing.  How's he's proved me wrong. 

I gave up on FM radio a couple of years ago because they didn't "speak" to me; a 33-year old hispanic male with expendable income. Now the only thing I have to listen to is JP/Lana, W&J and Savage.  Congrats, 950 & 740 - You've completely lost me with the exception of my 25-minute drive to and from work. 

...god i love my ipod.

[Bobby Chaffin]

I meant JP in the morning.  My typo - I am  really mad now because there is not much left on Houston radio.

[Texas Radio Gal]

Well, I guess Michael Berry wants me to completely dumb down now that he has gotten rid of Chris Baker.  Do I really have to lower myself to listen to Walton & Johnson, much less Michael Berry himself?  The answer is NO.  This is one listener that has turned off the dial.  I guess this is what you get, Clear Channel, when there is no radio experience in management.  I am sure you will pay in the ratings.

[poops]

I didn't always agree with Chris Baker's opinion or views, but you could always count on him to apply a local slant to the issues he took on in his show. KTRH doesn't have that now. I've listened to Mr. Berry and have not really been impressed. Actually, it seems that Joe Pags is the only local voice left in the bldg (and he's not even in the bldg). JP and Lana do a good job with the news each morning, but how long is that going to last? Who knows, some morning we'll wake and hear someone doing our local news from Taiwan.

Mr. Berry, I don't know you personally, and you might be a really nice person, but (I can't believe I'm even thinking this) maybe Ken Charles wasn't so bad after all.