Can Houston radio get any worse?

[radiobop]

With the exception of KUHF filling the news void, KTRH eliminating the only 3 hours worth listening to, Cox eliminating a whole station, CBS eliminating Brent andSteven's local morning show as well as the local KHMX morning show, the lack of an oldies/classic hits station, radio in this town absolutely sucks (with the exception of Colonel St. James, of course).

The media world has changed but the direction station groups have gone is absolutely asinine. The PPM chase is like "teaching to the test"--it might make for higher ratings but with no ultimate substance.

I am really disappointed.

 

[stan]

Our only hope is that the incompetent, highly leveraged media will go bankrupt and responsible broadcast entities will buy them. I'm afraid that there won't be anyone responsible step forward and we'll wind up with 30 varieties of Spanish stations. Yuck.

Ironically, in other major markets, all news stations do well. In fact, so well that other all news outlets are being considered to compete with them. Of course, nine of them are run by Cheap Channel.

Other major markets have successful classic hits stations. KRTH and WCBS come to mind - is management here in Houston that clueless?

 

[stan]

I meant NONE of them are owned by Cheap Channel. Darn iPhone spelling checker!

 

[radiogooroo]

Other major markets have successful classic hits stations. KRTH and WCBS come to mind - is management here in Houston that clueless?

Do you really think local management makes format decisions for any of the major radio groups? The same guys that decided to put classic hits on in other markets decided not to do it here.

 

[TheBigA]

Our only hope is that the incompetent, highly leveraged media will go bankrupt and responsible broadcast entities will buy them.

Really? You mean like what happened with Cumulus buying Citadel? Hahahahaha! There is no such thing as "responsible broadcast entities." That's an oxymoron. People buy radio stations to make money. That's the name of the game.

Other major markets have successful classic hits stations. KRTH and WCBS come to mind - is management here in Houston that clueless?

The problem with classic hits is that while they get good ratings, they don't make a lot of money. It's up to a GM to decide the best financial uses of the frequencies in a city. A few years ago, a GM said he could make more money with Spanish than rock. That's how KLOL became Spanish. That was not a decision made in NY. Houston is rapidly becoming another Miami. To invest a lot of money in a lot of Anglo-only radio stations, especially when most of the Anglos have the money to get their music from pay sources, is not a smart move.

 

[johnnyu]

Is it really that bad?

 

[radiogooroo]

The problem with classic hits is that while they get good ratings, they don't make a lot of money. It's up to a GM to decide the best financial uses of the frequencies in a city. A few years ago, a GM said he could make more money with Spanish than rock. That's how KLOL became Spanish. That was not a decision made in NY.

Actually, it was a decision made in San Antonio. Clear Channel owned the station at the time, and flipped several major and medium market stations to Spanish formats around the same time they flipped KLOL. KEGL Dallas being one of them.

They called it their "Spanish language programming initiative." http://www.clearchannel.com/Radio/PressRelease.aspx?PressReleaseID=1243

 

[Drucifer]

Cheap Channel's methodology is "cookie cutter" formats where the only thing truly local is the PSA's, the traffic and the weather. They put Joe Pags on KTRH in Houston in a morning slot some years ago and tried to pass him off as local. (Pags was on by satellite from CC's dungeon of trash WAOI) Pags mis-pronunciations of local names, streets and complete misunderstanding of local events made his run incredibly short. Solution, put him on 950 where no one really cares about the issues and his mis-pronunciations will go as unnoticed as the mis-cued traffic and weather reports from yesterday (**oops).

The business model is to hire a handful of talent(s) who will work CHEAP to give it at least a flash of local flair and bombard their markets with trash radio.

 

[Drucifer]

Is it really that bad?

Unless you like CHR, Houston radio BLOWS!

 

[TheBigA]

The business model is to hire a handful of talent(s) who will work CHEAP to give it at least a flash of local flair and bombard their markets with trash radio.

And guess who owns the #1 station in Houston. What does that say about the population?

 

[TheBigA]

Actually, it was a decision made in San Antonio.

Regardless, it was a smart decision. The formats on Houston radio are there for a reason. You get what you pay for. You want something specific that's missing from free OTA radio? Spend a few bucks and get it from somewhere else.

 

[Drucifer]

Actually, it was a decision made in San Antonio.

Regardless, it was a smart decision. The formats on Houston radio are there for a reason. You get what you pay for. You want something specific that's missing from free OTA radio? Spend a few bucks and get it from somewhere else.

A smart decision? Let's revisit the AQH and cume's in a year. This station has been in a steady ratings decline for the past several years and all the right wing talkers have not helped. Stick to something you know BigA($$) which is NOT Houston radio.

 

[radiogooroo]

And guess who owns the #1 station in Houston. What does that say about the population?

It doesn't say anything about the population. All it says is adult contemporary has a big audience in Houston and the provider of it has no competition.

I've worked in radio for almost two decades, and it doesn't matter what town you're in - people are going to complain that radio in that particular town is "the worst." Most of the whining I read here involves Houston not having a full time wheel of news or classic hits format on the air. All that tells me is Houston radio must suck for old people.

I personally love talk radio and think Michael Berry and Joe Pags both do a great job. Whether you agree with what they say or not, they do a good job of engaging the audience and their styles are entertaining. For me anyway, that type of radio sucks a lot less than hearing the same headlines repeated hour after hour by a pukey news reader. I hear a quick smattering of headlines at the top and bottom of the hour on KTRH and if I want more depth, I can get it online.

As for classic hits, every generation thinks their music is the best. I'd like to see an all 80s station here, but that isn't happening either.

The way you guys post these same themes over and over and over, you must think decision makers actually read this crap and are going to have an epiphany reading your 736th post about how CBS should blow up their country and sports stations and flip them to a wheel of news simulcast.

Yeah, good luck with that.

 

[Drucifer]

Actually radiogooroo no one here likely believes this thread, or any other, is read by the suits. If it was, they would not be destroying KTRH they way they are...

 

[radiogooroo]

A smart decision? Let's revisit the AQH and cume's in a year. This station has been in a steady ratings decline for the past several years and all the right wing talkers have not helped. Stick to something you know BigA($$) which is NOT Houston radio.

How exactly do right wing talkers impact the ratings on KLOL?

 

[TheBigA]

And guess who owns the #1 station in Houston. What does that say about the population?

It doesn't say anything about the population. All it says is adult contemporary has a big audience in Houston and the provider of it has no competition.

But I was responding to a post that said CC's business model was bad. Obviously it's not that bad, if they can create a station that attracts enough people to make it #1. This ain't brain surgery, and it's not art. It's a business. If the people of Houston will listen to cookie cutter radio, then there are companies who'll provide it. And for all the whining and complaints, CC owns the #1 station in most of the major markets in this country.

 

[radiogooroo]

Actually radiogooroo no one here likely believes this thread, or any other, is read by the suits. If it was, they would not be destroying KTRH they way they are...

Depends on your perspective. I'm sure Lana and JP are really nice people, but outside of Astros games, their show was just about the only thing on KTRH that I couldn't stand to listen to. All news all the time just bores me, and considering the move they're making, whoever makes the programming decisions at KTRH must have some data that says I'm more representative of the station's potential audience than you are.

 

[Drucifer]

Actually radiogooroo no one here likely believes this thread, or any other, is read by the suits. If it was, they would not be destroying KTRH they way they are...

Depends on your perspective. I'm sure Lana and JP are really nice people, but outside of Astros games, their show was just about the only thing on KTRH that I couldn't stand to listen to. All news all the time just bores me, and considering the move they're making, whoever makes the programming decisions at KTRH must have some data that says I'm more representative of the station's potential audience than you are.

You are mistaking my criticism of KTRH's programming as disgust for right wing blather. Personally, you are right, but on a business level, I can understand the penchant for run wing nuts, they are everywhere. As for you being representative of KTRH's cume, that also is possible, yet you and your fellow right wing talk lovers have had this station in steady demise for several years. The programming decisions which have included blowing up an afternoon news block for Michael Berry have hardly been hugely successful. Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and the rest have not proven to be HUGE ratings successes for KTRH. CC already has a talker at 950, now they, essentially, have two talkers in the market which brings the while cookie cutter theory full circle...doesn't it?

 

[TheBigA]

CC already has a talker at 950, now they, essentially, have two talkers in the market which brings the while cookie cutter theory full circle...doesn't it?

I would expect they sell them as a pair. Similar audience, probably similar advertisers. You're not going to see huge ratings increases at 5K AMs. Unless they have a heritage unchallenged format, they will be in decline. That's just a fact of life. So you put your A team on the 50K station, and use the smaller station to fill in some gaps. But the main focus of the company is on FM. That's where the money is. If people want literate news & talk, they can go to KUHF.

 

[Drucifer]

CC already has a talker at 950, now they, essentially, have two talkers in the market which brings the while cookie cutter theory full circle...doesn't it?

I would expect they sell them as a pair. Similar audience, probably similar advertisers. You're not going to see huge ratings increases at 5K AMs. Unless they have a heritage unchallenged format, they will be in decline. That's just a fact of life. So you put your A team on the 50K station, and use the smaller station to fill in some gaps. But the main focus of the company is on FM. That's where the money is. If people want literate news & talk, they can go to KUHF.

Or they can go on line or to their IPhone. My point is that the audience has diminished, not because they don't want the news but because the news is no longer there.