I've lived away from Houston for the past couple of years, and have just recently returned. One of the first things I did while driving in was try to tune to some of my favorite radio stations. First up was 106.9 The Zone -- gone, replaced with a stupid simulcast of another station. Next was 103.7 Adult Alternative -- gone, replaced with Christian pop music. I felt like screaming "Nooooooooooooo!" when I realized that both my favorite stations were gone.
So I scanned around the dial, occasionally stopping to listen to a track or two, but never located a station that held my interest for long. Even today, I still regularly hit the preset buttons in the hope that somebody will play something I want to hear, but it isn't very common.
I thought I'd post my analysis of a few of the major stations here in Houston, just to share my perspective with people. I know that this is entirely subjective and that it might be seen as controversial to some people, but that's fine. It's just my opinion.
KKRW:
This station sounds stale. The playlist for 93.7 The Arrow is just too limited, and the local talent is not very impressive. This station is being killed in the ratings by KHPT/KGLK, and the people in charge seem to be just letting it happen. Also, I'm tired of hearing about how they play more songs than The Eagle, a claim also made by the station they're trying to berate that's decimating their ratings too. I don't buy it.
KHMX:
What the hell happened here?! I remember listening to Mix 96.5 a lot over the years, but what was once seen as a blueprint for Hot AC stations across the country now sounds like nothing more than a typical extremely repetitive CHR station. It's no surprise at all that the ratings are falling, and I think they would do well to adjust their playlist to distance themselves further from the other CHR stations, i.e. KKHH and KRBE.
KODA:
I recognize that this station performs well in the market, but it sounds to me like it has a severe identity crisis. At times, Sunny 99.1 sounds like a "soft CHR", if that makes any sense, but then it also throws in some older tracks. The newer stuff is in heavy rotation on numerous other stations, so I'd probably be more inclined to listen if it stuck with the older stuff that nobody else plays.
KHPT/KGLK:
I wish I didn't have to lump these stations together because their coverage area has so much overlap that they should be run as separate stations. Why was 106.9 The Zone killed anyway? I don't think it was even around for very long. Anyway, The Eagle does sound pretty good overall. They finally seem to have removed Hotel California and some of the other overplayed-to-hell rotten eggs from their heavy rotation. Still, I wish they would stop saying that they play more songs than The Arrow. They've already beat them to near-oblivion in the ratings anyway. Some of their songs are still overplayed and this certainly isn't a station I can just leave on, but it's better than what much of the rest of the dial has to offer. I'm also not a fan of Dean and Rog, but I know that other people are so I can't hold that against them.
Other thoughts:
The three other places I've lived over the past couple of years all have Oldies stations. Why isn't there one in Houston? You'd think the population here would be high enough to support one. I never thought about this before I left, but it seems like a glaring format hole to me now.
Also, I've found that I've ended up listening to two of the noncommercial stations quite a lot. KACC is a mixed-bag, sometimes sounding very amateurish (as expected for a community college station), but the music played on The Gulf Coast Rocker is often fantastic. Their signal is a huge burden however, as it doesn't reach the Houston metro very well at all. I've also found myself listening to KTSU fairly often, which can be a nice change especially when they're playing funk music.
So I scanned around the dial, occasionally stopping to listen to a track or two, but never located a station that held my interest for long. Even today, I still regularly hit the preset buttons in the hope that somebody will play something I want to hear, but it isn't very common.
I thought I'd post my analysis of a few of the major stations here in Houston, just to share my perspective with people. I know that this is entirely subjective and that it might be seen as controversial to some people, but that's fine. It's just my opinion.
KKRW:
This station sounds stale. The playlist for 93.7 The Arrow is just too limited, and the local talent is not very impressive. This station is being killed in the ratings by KHPT/KGLK, and the people in charge seem to be just letting it happen. Also, I'm tired of hearing about how they play more songs than The Eagle, a claim also made by the station they're trying to berate that's decimating their ratings too. I don't buy it.
KHMX:
What the hell happened here?! I remember listening to Mix 96.5 a lot over the years, but what was once seen as a blueprint for Hot AC stations across the country now sounds like nothing more than a typical extremely repetitive CHR station. It's no surprise at all that the ratings are falling, and I think they would do well to adjust their playlist to distance themselves further from the other CHR stations, i.e. KKHH and KRBE.
KODA:
I recognize that this station performs well in the market, but it sounds to me like it has a severe identity crisis. At times, Sunny 99.1 sounds like a "soft CHR", if that makes any sense, but then it also throws in some older tracks. The newer stuff is in heavy rotation on numerous other stations, so I'd probably be more inclined to listen if it stuck with the older stuff that nobody else plays.
KHPT/KGLK:
I wish I didn't have to lump these stations together because their coverage area has so much overlap that they should be run as separate stations. Why was 106.9 The Zone killed anyway? I don't think it was even around for very long. Anyway, The Eagle does sound pretty good overall. They finally seem to have removed Hotel California and some of the other overplayed-to-hell rotten eggs from their heavy rotation. Still, I wish they would stop saying that they play more songs than The Arrow. They've already beat them to near-oblivion in the ratings anyway. Some of their songs are still overplayed and this certainly isn't a station I can just leave on, but it's better than what much of the rest of the dial has to offer. I'm also not a fan of Dean and Rog, but I know that other people are so I can't hold that against them.
Other thoughts:
The three other places I've lived over the past couple of years all have Oldies stations. Why isn't there one in Houston? You'd think the population here would be high enough to support one. I never thought about this before I left, but it seems like a glaring format hole to me now.
Also, I've found that I've ended up listening to two of the noncommercial stations quite a lot. KACC is a mixed-bag, sometimes sounding very amateurish (as expected for a community college station), but the music played on The Gulf Coast Rocker is often fantastic. Their signal is a huge burden however, as it doesn't reach the Houston metro very well at all. I've also found myself listening to KTSU fairly often, which can be a nice change especially when they're playing funk music.
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