KAHL, a Destination for Talk Radio Refugees

[daypart]

Since KTSA changed its lineup last month, parking Dave Ramsey and Ricci Ware in my usual dayparts to listen, I find that I hardly listen to the station anymore—even though I still like listening to Brad Messer. The only talker I find tolerable on WOAI is AM drive guy Joe Pagliarulo, and he's starting to get on my nerves with his inane teasing of traffic guy Chris Russell. (At least the departed Betsy Britton kept those two from regaling listeners with stories about the latest exploits of Chris's and Pags' children. Can you say "grinding halt?" Ugh!)

In the face of all of that, I've started listening to KAHL 1310 in the mid-morning and afternoon dayparts.

Eliza Sonneland's show (9-noon) is informative and entertaining, except when she has guests discussing vitamins (yawn). I particularly like the segments on grammar and word usage with Dr. John Igo. I watch the TV show "Survivor," so I enjoy her weekly interview with the most recent castoff from that show. Overall, her show on KAHL seems more general interest and much less geared toward women who shop at overpriced gift shops, as her old show on KTSA was.

Ron Thulin (Noon-3) has a good show, too. He discusses politics in a far less strident and opinionated fashion than most other such shows in town. Since he works (fall) weekends doing college football play-by-play, he has some different perspectives on sports. His show is a more recent discovery, but I like what I've heard so far.

I'm less sold on other parts of KAHL's lineup. Sonny Melendrez's show is a throwback to the 70s AM morning show. Sonny's got some great pipes and his is a rare secular morning show you can listen to with kids in the car. But the show has too much 70s music and too many lame comedy bits for my taste. It is a safe harbor, though. Sonny seems to be able to resist discussing the sexy and lurid news of the day, which I appreciate. When the kids aren't in the car, I prefer a talkier show for morning drive, but since I don't listen daily, I haven't really settled on a favorite AM driver.

Speaking of "talkier," IMO Carl Wiglesworth's PM drive show features too much of Carl's monotonous droning. The guy bores me to tears with his pomposity and his reliance on slanted news outlets for information. When I hear his show, I almost reflexively change the station. Since I rarely listen to Carl for more than a couple of minutes at a time, I can't provide more specific criticism.

 

[flyingdj]

There is very little talk-radio discussion here so thanks for your input daypart.

I agree with you that Brad Messer is the best thing going for KTSA. I really like listening to him because of the subjects he presents and his style.

I am generally out of range for KAHL so that is usually not a choice for me. I thought Eliza was very boring at KTSA and that maybe her target audience was stay-at-home moms and the elderly/retired. I never heard any topics that were interesting to me. I have heard some car talk and grammar talk that kept me listening for more than the few minutes I usually give her. I don’t watch TV so she loses me during those discussions.

I have only heard Ron and Sonny a few times so I don’t have much of an opinion about them except they didn’t hold my attention for too long the times I heard them.

I can’t listen to Carl for more than two minutes. He seems to be an exact copy of Rush and I think Rush is the worst program on talk radio.

The first time we discussed talk radio you said you liked Dr. Laura. I thought we would never agree on anything since I can not stand her but we seem to agree on several programs.

I have not found a program to listen to after Brad in the afternoon. I do listen to Chris Duel but I don’t agree with much of anything he says. (I think the only thing we agreed on this past year is that we are both against the ban on gay marriages.) It’s about like listening to Ricci Ware, I usually listen but I don’t agree with anything he says.

Again, thanks for posting your comments. I'm still searching for an afternoon program after Brad's show.

 

[daypart]

flyingdj, my wife has trouble understanding why I enjoy Dr. Laura, too. It's definitely not because I agree with everything she says. I probably don't even agree with most of what she says. It might be the radio theater provided by her well-chosen desparate callers or the window into her deterministic, sometimes bizarre point of view that form the entertainment value for me. FWIW, I'm not sure I've tuned in her show more than a couple of times since the demise of KENS AM.

Eliza's show seems to feature much coastal intelligentsia and none of the live remotes at Artisan's Alley or gift shops in Boerne that she did in abundance at KTSA. Right now, she's intelligently discussing the economy with an economist. In the last hour, she had on a US Senate candidate from Maryland. I can imagine that Ricci Ware would be batting these guests around like a kitten with a new toy, alternately bullying or changing the subject every time he didn't agree with the guest.

I do wish there were more discussion of talk radio here. I'd like to hear about the top talkers in Austin, for instance. On weekends, my car radio sometimes finds its way to KLBJ for Kim Komando, which airs on Saturday there, as opposed to Sunday on WOAI. Is there a talker worth a listen during the week in Austin?

 

[jras20]

Well for me if I listen to am talk in Austin its usually either ESPN or Fox sports, problem with Austin Am at night is those 2 are about useless to me, I cant get monday night football broadcasts or Sunday night football broadcasts after both ESPN 1530 & ESPN 760 changed there nighttime patterns, I wish there was one big powerhouse sports station around here for day & nighttime. I do listen some to the Kim commando show, she has some good interesting topics a lot of the time. I dont agree with a lot of what Air america does & talks about, I hardly listen to them.
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[flyingdj]

daypart wrote:
<< I'd like to hear about the top talkers in Austin, for instance.

If you even find one please let me know. I have heard Brad Messer mention that Austin does not have any local talk-show programs to discuss issues. There are a few programs that are Rush copies (Republican pep rallies) but none that are informative. They are like listening to Carl, I can only listen for two minutes, maximum.

daypart wrote:
<< On weekends, my car radio sometimes finds its way to KLBJ for Kim Komando.

I only listen to KLBJ-AM for Kim Komando and the garden shows. During the week it is known as K.K.K.-LBJ because of its conservative programming.

daypart wrote:
<< Is there a talker worth a listen during the week in Austin?

I listen to KLBJ-FM weekdays from 6 AM - 10 AM. That is my entertainment for the day. It is like listening to David Letterman. I learn about the unusual web sites on the Internet and local fun talk. It is for entertainment purposes only, not for facts or politics.

No, there is not one informative issue or politically oriented talk show in Austin that is not hosted by a white-right-wing-Republican-religious nut (in my opinion).<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by flyingdj on 11/09/05 04:13 AM.</FONT></P>

 

[DAndyRock]

My 2 cents about KAHL and Talk in general:

I used to be a full time KTSA junkie.

No argument, Brad Messer is the king of the weekday there. Trey Ware is unlistenable, although Brent Boller is fine.

Ricki Ware will always be a great treat. I'd like to see a tribute to his career, maybe one of those documentaries or soemthing, but seriously, if it were not for a cough button, you'd hear nothing but him coughing. Oh wait, I do hear him coughing.

Chris Duel. Please, someone put him out of his misery. He was at his finest hour with Charlie Parker. Booms was way beyond his level and seriously, instead of doing afternoons on KTSA, he should be spinning the disks at some Skating Rink.

Ramsey: Good message, great show. Don't listen to him.

I don't even know who any other KTSA personalities are because other than my occasional few minutes of Brad, I can't listen on the weekdays.

Weekends are a different story. I lock into KTSA when Bob Webster comes on and listen to Steve Gurline and Tom Tynan as well. I personally think Tom Tynan is an arrogant ass, but he has a good show. KTSA should win some sort of an award for having the best weekend hosts. And I love when Steve fills in for someone during the weekday - then I can listen.

KAHL: Sonny is a huge part of San Antonio. His show sucks. If you are trying to attract 86 year old, never married, doting great, great aunts who want to hear a cute little story or an affirmative message, listen to Sonny. Someone mentioned Ron, and I can only assume they meant Ron Aaron. If so, maybe I'll give another listen to see if perhaps Sonny says something religious and Ron chastizes him on the air for violating a church vs. state rule or something. Ron is a great host by the way, just whacked politically.

Eliza: I'm sorry, I don't live in Borne or Alamo Hieghts, so I am not authorized to listen to her show.

Carl: I used to listen to Carl everyday a few years back when he first swapped from WOAI to KTSA. But since I heard everything he had to say (over and over again) while he was at KTSA, no need to tune in on KAHL. By the way, that weird guy John still seems to call in all the time. The guy likes to talk about Jackbooted police. He should have his own show. Just kidding.

What most of you people are ignoring, and this goes out to those of you who listen to Talk, is KLUP. Bill Bennet and Michale Medved rock! Bennett in the mornings and Medved during the Sean Hannity show. If you do not like what WOAI has to offer, please, give KLUP a try.

To the real winner, WOAI: Pags is a lot better than Charlie Parker doing the morning news. Nothing against Parker - I check him out on 760 too. Giving us the full 3 hours of Hannity was a great move. But the most brilliant move made by Lundy was axing that guy - hell, I can't even remebr his name, and putting on Prime Time SA so I could drive home and not have to listen to Michale Savage on KLUP or Chris Duel and that Bones character on KTSA. Thank God for someone with some common sense.

Just as an FYI, my morning talk starts out with WOAI with a little 760 mixed in but is usally stuck on Lisle and Hahn (KISS) until they ruin their show by interuppting it with music. So I switch over to Bill Bennett on KLUP and listen to him for a while, back to OAI or 760 and then remember to go back to KISS.

Just my thoughts guys. I'm no professional - just a listener who seems to always get selected for the surveys.

 

[flyingdj]

DAndyRock wrote:
> or Chris Duel and that Bones character on KTSA


FYI, "The Bone" was released from KTSA:

http://www.mysanantonio.com/columnists/stories/MYSA092905.5P.jakle.14d412c5.html

On competitor KTSA, listeners have noticed another afternoon change. Chris Duel now hosts the 4-to-7 p.m. show solo, minus his sidekick Ruben "The Bone" Hernandez. The absence of Hernandez, who was invited to join Duel from the onset of his new show on KTSA in July of last year, also leaves a gap that is glaring in a city like San Antonio.

He was the first Hispanic — Hernandez prefers, however, to be called "an American of Mexican descent" — to essentially co-host an all-talk program on gab radio in this town, even though the S.A. population is dominated by Hispanics.

Reid Reker, KTSA's general manager, said Hernandez's regular role was cut to put the spotlight squarely on Duel. "We wanted more of Chris," he said. "He's so talented, we wanted to see his star shine."

Ironically, rival WOAI took the opposite route; the station now has gone tandem during late-afternoon drive.

 

[daypart]

Good summary, DAndyRock. I don't think I could stand to listen to KLUP for the same reasons I don't listen to Rush and Hannity, but I do appreciate your take. (Medved in particular goes in the same file folder in my brain as Carl Wiglesworth. I've disliked Medved since his days as a TV movie critic.)

I did agree with some of your post. Your assessments of Sonny and Ricci Ware made me LOL, because I knew exactly where you were coming from!

The "Ron" we were discussing is Ron Thulin, who works Noon-3 at KAHL. His show is fairly apolitical, which is cool with me.

FWIW, Chris Duel has quite a local following. His 550 Underground is the most active message board of any radio personality in town. IMO, his shtick, and presumably his audience, skews a bit toward female listeners. Not that there's anything wrong with that! I was no fan of "The Bone," either, but I think Reid Reker made a mistake by putting more of a focus on Chris.