I think the afternoon drive home news with Carola, Lauri Kendrick and Craig Roberts with Chuck Savage is pretty damn funny. This certainaly isn't the same tired, boring old standard news fare you hear from KTRH. I laugh my ass off on a regular basis listening to these people. Craig Roberts is hilarious and Kendrick still does those priceless impersonations during the newscast. She still has some of the best timing in the business. Even Carola lets his hair down. Realy funny stuff. I like the music played during the newscast. Give these people a chance. Give this new station a chance. I think they just may surprise us all once all their technical stuff gets taken care of. Tons of potential here....Really entertaining on my drive home.
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KFNC AFTERNOON NEWS
- Thread starter Zagnut
- Start date
Very nice post Zagnut. Do you work for KFNC or KIOL? Most of your posts are about KFNC, KIOL and KLOL and it seems to be inside info and always praising the new stations KFNC and KIOL. You even posted job openings for board ops. We are all entitled to our own opinions. But you do sound like an employee to me, so if you don't mind, I'll take your opinions about KFNC and KIOL with a grain of salt.
> I think the afternoon drive home news with Carola, Lauri
> Kendrick and Craig Roberts with Chuck Savage is pretty damn
> funny. This certainaly isn't the same tired, boring old
> standard news fare you hear from KTRH. I laugh my ass off
> on a regular basis listening to these people. Craig Roberts
> is hilarious and Kendrick still does those priceless
> impersonations during the newscast. She still has some of
> the best timing in the business. Even Carola lets his hair
> down. Realy funny stuff. I like the music played during
> the newscast. Give these people a chance. Give this new
> station a chance. I think they just may surprise us all
> once all their technical stuff gets taken care of. Tons of
> potential here....Really entertaining on my drive home.
>
> I think the afternoon drive home news with Carola, Lauri
> Kendrick and Craig Roberts with Chuck Savage is pretty damn
> funny. This certainaly isn't the same tired, boring old
> standard news fare you hear from KTRH. I laugh my ass off
> on a regular basis listening to these people. Craig Roberts
> is hilarious and Kendrick still does those priceless
> impersonations during the newscast. She still has some of
> the best timing in the business. Even Carola lets his hair
> down. Realy funny stuff. I like the music played during
> the newscast. Give these people a chance. Give this new
> station a chance. I think they just may surprise us all
> once all their technical stuff gets taken care of. Tons of
> potential here....Really entertaining on my drive home.
>
D
druemyers
Guest
KFNC's LAUNCH WORST EVER IN ARB TOP-10
The only thing that will surprise me about KFNC is if they are still in this format when Santa comes down the chimney. This has got to be the worst launch of a news-talker in an ARB TOP-10 ever.
There is hope for KFNC though. Cumulus can hire someone to run the show, give them everything they need to win, and then get out of the way. You are right, this station DOES have potential but not in it's current configuration. Not at all.
One last thing, while I am not a fan of "Jello-Mold" radio, I am fairly confident that should a Cat 5 hurricane come charging up the gulf, most people will turn to KTRH for news and information. As "tired and boring" as it may be, they are unchallenged right now in this market.
> I think the afternoon drive home news with Carola, Lauri
> Kendrick and Craig Roberts with Chuck Savage is pretty damn
> funny. This certainaly isn't the same tired, boring old
> standard news fare you hear from KTRH. I laugh my ass off
> on a regular basis listening to these people. Craig Roberts
> is hilarious and Kendrick still does those priceless
> impersonations during the newscast. She still has some of
> the best timing in the business. Even Carola lets his hair
> down. Realy funny stuff. I like the music played during
> the newscast. Give these people a chance. Give this new
> station a chance. I think they just may surprise us all
> once all their technical stuff gets taken care of. Tons of
> potential here....Really entertaining on my drive home.
>
The only thing that will surprise me about KFNC is if they are still in this format when Santa comes down the chimney. This has got to be the worst launch of a news-talker in an ARB TOP-10 ever.
There is hope for KFNC though. Cumulus can hire someone to run the show, give them everything they need to win, and then get out of the way. You are right, this station DOES have potential but not in it's current configuration. Not at all.
One last thing, while I am not a fan of "Jello-Mold" radio, I am fairly confident that should a Cat 5 hurricane come charging up the gulf, most people will turn to KTRH for news and information. As "tired and boring" as it may be, they are unchallenged right now in this market.
> I think the afternoon drive home news with Carola, Lauri
> Kendrick and Craig Roberts with Chuck Savage is pretty damn
> funny. This certainaly isn't the same tired, boring old
> standard news fare you hear from KTRH. I laugh my ass off
> on a regular basis listening to these people. Craig Roberts
> is hilarious and Kendrick still does those priceless
> impersonations during the newscast. She still has some of
> the best timing in the business. Even Carola lets his hair
> down. Realy funny stuff. I like the music played during
> the newscast. Give these people a chance. Give this new
> station a chance. I think they just may surprise us all
> once all their technical stuff gets taken care of. Tons of
> potential here....Really entertaining on my drive home.
>
Re: KFNC AFTERNOON NEWS with Priceless Impersonations?
"Kendrick still does those priceless impersonations during the newscast."
Oh God yeah Zaggy. How right you are. Those priceless impersonations pair
up perfectly with murders, child molestations, fires and car crashes, don't they.
> > I think the afternoon drive home news with Carola, Lauri
> > Kendrick and Craig Roberts with Chuck Savage is pretty damn
> > funny. This certainaly isn't the same tired, boring old
> > standard news fare you hear from KTRH. I laugh my ass off on a regular
> > basis listening to these people.
> > Craig Roberts is hilarious and Kendrick still does those priceless
> > impersonations during the newscast.
> > She still has some of the best timing in the business.
> > Even Carola lets his hair down. Realy funny stuff. I like the music
> > played during the newscast. Give these people a chance. Give this new
> > station a chance. I think they just may surprise us all
> > once all their technical stuff gets taken care of. Tons
> > of potential here....Really entertaining on my drive home.
> >
>
<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Chatterati on 06/25/05 09:12 PM.</FONT></P>
"Kendrick still does those priceless impersonations during the newscast."
Oh God yeah Zaggy. How right you are. Those priceless impersonations pair
up perfectly with murders, child molestations, fires and car crashes, don't they.
> > I think the afternoon drive home news with Carola, Lauri
> > Kendrick and Craig Roberts with Chuck Savage is pretty damn
> > funny. This certainaly isn't the same tired, boring old
> > standard news fare you hear from KTRH. I laugh my ass off on a regular
> > basis listening to these people.
> > Craig Roberts is hilarious and Kendrick still does those priceless
> > impersonations during the newscast.
> > She still has some of the best timing in the business.
> > Even Carola lets his hair down. Realy funny stuff. I like the music
> > played during the newscast. Give these people a chance. Give this new
> > station a chance. I think they just may surprise us all
> > once all their technical stuff gets taken care of. Tons
> > of potential here....Really entertaining on my drive home.
> >
>
<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Chatterati on 06/25/05 09:12 PM.</FONT></P>
F
fireboy
Guest
Re: KFNC AFTERNOON NEWS with Priceless Impersonations?
> "Kendrick still does those priceless impersonations during
> the newscast."
>
> Oh God yeah Zaggy. How right you are. Those priceless
> impersonations pair
> up perfectly with murders, child molestations, fires and car
> crashes, don't they.
>
>
> > > I think the afternoon drive home news with Carola, Lauri
>
> > > Kendrick and Craig Roberts with Chuck Savage is pretty
> damn
> > > funny. This certainaly isn't the same tired, boring old
>
> > > standard news fare you hear from KTRH. I laugh my ass
> off on a regular
> > > basis listening to these people.
>
> > >
> > >
> >
> Reply: I did not listen for one week to kfnc then Friday I turned it on and found they got worse. I can not understand how a News station can make light of the traffic report when that is a Newsradio signiture what are they thinking? Chuck Savage belongs on 103.7 not 97.5. He sounds talented but it's wasted talent if nobody will listen on that format. I am in the demo they are after and I will still choose KTRH KPRC or KNTH before that FM News Channel. Beyond all of that the Tech problems and sloppy sound that no improvements seem to be in the offing and I think its over. You 1069 all over again. Come on Wake up do it right or just become a shock jock talk station. What you are doing now really is awful! I am not saying the others are great either they have faults too. There were so many rooting for you to do well and still hope this was a bad dream and we will wake up in a cold sweat ready to go to work. Happy it was a nightmare that we even pinched ourselves to be sure we were not dreaming.
<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Lame Boy!!! on 06/25/05 09:41 PM.</FONT></P>
> "Kendrick still does those priceless impersonations during
> the newscast."
>
> Oh God yeah Zaggy. How right you are. Those priceless
> impersonations pair
> up perfectly with murders, child molestations, fires and car
> crashes, don't they.
>
>
> > > I think the afternoon drive home news with Carola, Lauri
>
> > > Kendrick and Craig Roberts with Chuck Savage is pretty
> damn
> > > funny. This certainaly isn't the same tired, boring old
>
> > > standard news fare you hear from KTRH. I laugh my ass
> off on a regular
> > > basis listening to these people.
>
> > >
> > >
> >
> Reply: I did not listen for one week to kfnc then Friday I turned it on and found they got worse. I can not understand how a News station can make light of the traffic report when that is a Newsradio signiture what are they thinking? Chuck Savage belongs on 103.7 not 97.5. He sounds talented but it's wasted talent if nobody will listen on that format. I am in the demo they are after and I will still choose KTRH KPRC or KNTH before that FM News Channel. Beyond all of that the Tech problems and sloppy sound that no improvements seem to be in the offing and I think its over. You 1069 all over again. Come on Wake up do it right or just become a shock jock talk station. What you are doing now really is awful! I am not saying the others are great either they have faults too. There were so many rooting for you to do well and still hope this was a bad dream and we will wake up in a cold sweat ready to go to work. Happy it was a nightmare that we even pinched ourselves to be sure we were not dreaming.
<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Lame Boy!!! on 06/25/05 09:41 PM.</FONT></P>
Re: KFNC AFTERNOON NEWS with Priceless Impersonations?
There seems to be a lot of comparisons to KTRH. However, they are not trying to be a "KTRH." It appears to be an evolving format. It will either make it or not.
Ahhhhhhhhhhh the impatience of our fast paced society who demands it right now, as they perceive it should be!
There seems to be a lot of comparisons to KTRH. However, they are not trying to be a "KTRH." It appears to be an evolving format. It will either make it or not.
Ahhhhhhhhhhh the impatience of our fast paced society who demands it right now, as they perceive it should be!
F
fireboy
Guest
Re: KFNC AFTERNOON NEWS with Priceless Impersonations?
> There seems to be a lot of comparisons to KTRH. However,
> they are not trying to be a "KTRH." It appears to be an
> evolving format. It will either make it or not.
>
> Ahhhhhhhhhhh the impatience of our fast paced society who
> demands it right now, as they perceive it should be!
>
Impatience! This is a Top 10 Market. There is no excuse for what is on the air its a rehearsal for the real thing. Chuck lets face it they are sloppy from the imaging, board work, and format clock or the lack of one. The station really needs help now. I would give them a break if they were improving but for Homer Simpsons sake they are worse. They need to call it a day sign off re group and start over with a real news format. They do want to be KTRH they have said it on the air! I like your post Chuck this is not a slam on you. Happy 4th Sir!<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Lame Boy!!! on 06/26/05 12:53 AM.</FONT></P>
> There seems to be a lot of comparisons to KTRH. However,
> they are not trying to be a "KTRH." It appears to be an
> evolving format. It will either make it or not.
>
> Ahhhhhhhhhhh the impatience of our fast paced society who
> demands it right now, as they perceive it should be!
>
Impatience! This is a Top 10 Market. There is no excuse for what is on the air its a rehearsal for the real thing. Chuck lets face it they are sloppy from the imaging, board work, and format clock or the lack of one. The station really needs help now. I would give them a break if they were improving but for Homer Simpsons sake they are worse. They need to call it a day sign off re group and start over with a real news format. They do want to be KTRH they have said it on the air! I like your post Chuck this is not a slam on you. Happy 4th Sir!<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Lame Boy!!! on 06/26/05 12:53 AM.</FONT></P>
F
FloridaBear1776
Guest
Cumulus Cumulus Cumulus Cumulus...
This company has a history of BLOWING UP radio newsrooms, not building them...
See WBBQ Augusta. A 50 year history of local news coverage... better reputation than TV news in that market... blown to pieces by Cumulus...
I would favor legislation prohibiting the use of the WORD 'news' by any station owned by Cumulus...
This company has a history of BLOWING UP radio newsrooms, not building them...
See WBBQ Augusta. A 50 year history of local news coverage... better reputation than TV news in that market... blown to pieces by Cumulus...
I would favor legislation prohibiting the use of the WORD 'news' by any station owned by Cumulus...
O
ob1levine
Guest
Impatience with WHAT? I personally find the afternoon show very entertaining and informative. Pruett & Co. have been interviewing a lot of relevant folks whom they have maintained relationships over the years. The interview with Kinky Friedman about his gubernatorial aspirations was surprisingly serious with regard to the issues...and Jim Carolla's great news delivery is something KTRH doesn't have...and for that matter, do they still have ANY news at KTRH?
I find FM News Channel 97.5 a refreshing alternative to anything else on the local (or satellite) dial. All you hear about is how commercial radio is dying and generation next is getting their music mostly from iPods...what is tomorrow's FM station supposed to program? The answer any consultant will give you (for $250/hour): TOPICAL news/talk they can't pull up on their iPod. I say...quit being naysayers without giving peace a chance! And should they not keep tweaking the format? The most successful stations are those that dynamically evolve with their demographics and sound a little better every time you tune in--people get bored easily especially in this town. For example, adding Chuck Savage for afternoon traffic and the Hollywood segment gives Laurie more time for creativity in her segments. IMHO, good show so far, FM News Channel 97.5!
I find FM News Channel 97.5 a refreshing alternative to anything else on the local (or satellite) dial. All you hear about is how commercial radio is dying and generation next is getting their music mostly from iPods...what is tomorrow's FM station supposed to program? The answer any consultant will give you (for $250/hour): TOPICAL news/talk they can't pull up on their iPod. I say...quit being naysayers without giving peace a chance! And should they not keep tweaking the format? The most successful stations are those that dynamically evolve with their demographics and sound a little better every time you tune in--people get bored easily especially in this town. For example, adding Chuck Savage for afternoon traffic and the Hollywood segment gives Laurie more time for creativity in her segments. IMHO, good show so far, FM News Channel 97.5!
M
Mike_O
Guest
Re: KFNC AFTERNOON NEWS with Priceless Impersonations?
> > There seems to be a lot of comparisons to KTRH. However,
> > they are not trying to be a "KTRH." It appears to be an
> > evolving format. It will either make it or not.
> >
> > Ahhhhhhhhhhh the impatience of our fast paced society who
> > demands it right now, as they perceive it should be!
> >
> Impatience! This is a Top 10 Market. There is no excuse
> for what is on the air its a rehearsal for the real thing.
> Chuck lets face it they are sloppy from the imaging, board
> work, and format clock or the lack of one. The station
> really needs help now. I would give them a break if they
> were improving but for Homer Simpsons sake they are worse.
> They need to call it a day sign off re group and start over
> with a real news format. They do want to be KTRH they have
> said it on the air! I like your post Chuck this is not a
> slam on you. Happy 4th Sir!
>
Chuck, you are an intelligent man, I know that from previous posts. Here it comes, but you missed it on KFNC. K F N C - FM News Channel. If a person is interested in the news of the day, when do they want that news? I do not want Tuesday's news on Thursday, I don't want a big news story that happened at 10am on Tuesday presented for the first time at 5pm on Tuesday. Society today wants and expects the news as it happens.
When Ted Turner brought CNN to cable with 24 hour news being reported as it happened with teams of reporters from around the world, the way news was reported all changed to instant, you are there watching the story unfold news.
The American people watched 9-11 unfold before their eyes. We watched the space shuttle breaking up in front of us. I was at IAH waiting on an 8:30am flight for Orlando when the space shuttle disaster happened and all flights at IAH were on hold until the authorities could get a grip on the events happening and the steps to take. I watched the shuttle breaking up as I stared, along with hundreds of others at one of many TV monitors in Terminal C. We have watched the bombing of Iraq live. The DC sniper story was on the news hours each day with live reports. With-in a minute of a shooting or shootings every channel was reporting live the events unfolding as we watched from work, home or out of town. Business meetings have been interrupted or postponed due to the news that was happening live. That Chuck is the society we live in today, right, wrong or indifferent. It is called the advancement of technology which is moving at such a fast pace if you blink, you've missed something. I will leave it up to the individual to decide if it is good or bad; right or wrong.
I remember working on the first Teleconferencing demostration ever to be presented live to an O & G Company here and it didn't seem all that long ago, guess what it wasn't that long ago. That very first one was set up from El Paso to Del Rio (huh), we needed to demonstrate the ability to teleconference in a small remote branch, and Houston. Today they are common place from every corner of the earth.
IF you bill yourself as a NEWS Channel, you had better be prepared to have someone reporting the bank robbery in progress at the HEB on Chimney Rock and a crew on the way. Lets talk about KFNC's name for a minute, The FM News Channel. Cumulus is playing off of TV's almost instant reporting of the news by using Channel in their name. It is rare to think of an FM station as a Channel, that is TV. Cumulus is not incorrect though, the FCC assigns each FM frequency a channel number, 97.5 is channel 248. FM is superior to AM in sound and in Houston FM has much better coverage, especially at night, the FM stations don't have to reduce power or go to severe directional patterns that only covers Fannin downtown. The HOUSTON FM stations can cover a 100 mile radius without too much problem. KFNC is a Beaumont station and until the next coming when the FCC relaxes the separation of stations KFNC and 97.5 will only be a Beaumont station. Over 50% of Houston can not even receive KFNC and a good portion of those that do receive KFNC have a terrible signal. It is the worst of the worst rimshot FM stations trying to pass themselves off as a Houston station. Mike Shiloh asked for specific answers in a post to me. Here is one, take 97.5 home to Beaumont where it belongs. KRWP was pulling a six rating in The Golden Triangle with Urban Adult Contemporary, that will be a damn sight better than ratings of 0.0 in Houston-Galveston or The Golden Triangle. Lastly News, if you are going to call yourself a News station, er channel then program news. I'll admit it is nice to have some news back in Houston from 5am to 9am; noon to 1am and 5pm to 7pm. The 5pm to 7pm News block is by far the best, but it needs improvement. Mike drop the Comedy Club routine approach to the news, it is not going to work. If you want to be a serious player for the few that can hear KFNC the news needs to be reported as a format within a format. That hardly means cut and dry. Stop trying to live out your comedy club days through KFNC.
I saw Chuck Savage who does the traffic mentioned more than a few times and rightfully so. Chuck is not Elaine Closure in the comedy department, in time maybe. This is also suppose to be a News program not Saturday Night Live News and there is nothing funny about a person or people being involved in a crash, PERIOD. How you saw humor in someone having to be cut out of a vehicle as humerous is beyond me, but you have no place in Houston radio, I don't think Beaumont is going to want you and your pissy attitude when you do actually report some traffic. Spend much time in a smaller market and learn how to report the traffic, Peru, Ind would be about right, Market 244. I couldn't find a market 666. Mike Shiloh specific item that needs to be dealt with and fast is fire Chuck Savage and replace him with someone that can report the traffic. The person must know the city and the correct pronouncation of the street names and not consider human tragedy funny. This Chuck character has to go now.
You have a great team reporting the news from 5 to 7pm, but don't make them try and be comics. These people are professionals and I can feel them cringe when they have to bring the news down to a level of banter and comedy. They already have great personalities and their individual personality will show just fine, much better than now, if you let them be news anchors. Specifically Mike drop the cheesy news reporting.
Jim Pruett and Company is a dilemma. Jim is great, much better than I expected, in fact excellent! The entire team, less C S has a great show. It is not a true news show, although the news is covered in depth on some stories. Jim and Co are the Walton and Johnson of the afternoon. Something needs to be done and I don't know what would be the best way to handle this problem. I would say from 2pm on should be straight ahead news reporting until preferably 8pm. I am tempted to say move Jim and Co to the 8pm to midnight time slot and continue the show as it is. The news will still be reported, hopefully as it happens and stories can be discussed in depth and personal opinion can be a part of the program. Take the phone calls and you have an excellent news-talk program that is live and local at night. I know Jim Pruett could make the nighttime slot a real contender in Houston radio, if people could hear the station. In the afternoon on a news station the listening audience is going to want a straight forward news format. Jim's show is an excellent nighttime approach to the news. I expected Jim Pruett's show to be good, but I have to admit the program is great, just in the wrong time slot.
TRAFFIC !! Mike you need to run the traffic every ten minutes from at least 5am to 8pm and then every 15 minutes the rest of the time. Houston needs good up-to-date traffic 24/7 and traffic is not reported after the news blocks. Add to list of things to do, add traffic as above, ASAP. You can get into nightmare traffic jams at 3am in Houston. It is especially bad with some very major freeway rebuilding going on and it is causing a 24/7 headache for motorists. Report the back-ups and give alternative routes.
I wish there was some way of getting a great signal for 97.5 over all of metro Houston, but that just isn't a possibility under todays FCC Rules and Regs, which sucks.
Phil Hendrie, weird and sick, move it to the all night shift with the Dream Doctor another sleeze talk station show. While you are at it add Loveline to the all night programming. Another great sleeze radio show.
Mike Shiloh there are so many things that need to be done to make KFNC a viable station for Houston, but until it is on a frequency that covers the city I'm not sure of the need to change anything. The Chief of the Engineering for all of Cumulus did a great job with 103.7. Can you get him back in town to see if he can work some magic on 97.5? Or has Gary done all that is possible for 97.5 already? With over 300 stations to oversee I realize his time is very valuable. Mike you never responded to my post to you on page four, probably will be page five sometime today. You may have never seen it.
Mike you can not say that I did not sample KFNC for some time before coming to the conclusions I did. I had KFNC on exclusively for a week and heard the station about 20 hours a day.
I have to say again, you do not get your game plan together on the air with a news talk station. That should have all been done long before KFNC came on the air. There should have been plenty of rehearsals so the anchors would flow together with each other. Yes, a station, at least any good station is constantly tweaking the format, but not redoing the format.
Mike O
> > There seems to be a lot of comparisons to KTRH. However,
> > they are not trying to be a "KTRH." It appears to be an
> > evolving format. It will either make it or not.
> >
> > Ahhhhhhhhhhh the impatience of our fast paced society who
> > demands it right now, as they perceive it should be!
> >
> Impatience! This is a Top 10 Market. There is no excuse
> for what is on the air its a rehearsal for the real thing.
> Chuck lets face it they are sloppy from the imaging, board
> work, and format clock or the lack of one. The station
> really needs help now. I would give them a break if they
> were improving but for Homer Simpsons sake they are worse.
> They need to call it a day sign off re group and start over
> with a real news format. They do want to be KTRH they have
> said it on the air! I like your post Chuck this is not a
> slam on you. Happy 4th Sir!
>
Chuck, you are an intelligent man, I know that from previous posts. Here it comes, but you missed it on KFNC. K F N C - FM News Channel. If a person is interested in the news of the day, when do they want that news? I do not want Tuesday's news on Thursday, I don't want a big news story that happened at 10am on Tuesday presented for the first time at 5pm on Tuesday. Society today wants and expects the news as it happens.
When Ted Turner brought CNN to cable with 24 hour news being reported as it happened with teams of reporters from around the world, the way news was reported all changed to instant, you are there watching the story unfold news.
The American people watched 9-11 unfold before their eyes. We watched the space shuttle breaking up in front of us. I was at IAH waiting on an 8:30am flight for Orlando when the space shuttle disaster happened and all flights at IAH were on hold until the authorities could get a grip on the events happening and the steps to take. I watched the shuttle breaking up as I stared, along with hundreds of others at one of many TV monitors in Terminal C. We have watched the bombing of Iraq live. The DC sniper story was on the news hours each day with live reports. With-in a minute of a shooting or shootings every channel was reporting live the events unfolding as we watched from work, home or out of town. Business meetings have been interrupted or postponed due to the news that was happening live. That Chuck is the society we live in today, right, wrong or indifferent. It is called the advancement of technology which is moving at such a fast pace if you blink, you've missed something. I will leave it up to the individual to decide if it is good or bad; right or wrong.
I remember working on the first Teleconferencing demostration ever to be presented live to an O & G Company here and it didn't seem all that long ago, guess what it wasn't that long ago. That very first one was set up from El Paso to Del Rio (huh), we needed to demonstrate the ability to teleconference in a small remote branch, and Houston. Today they are common place from every corner of the earth.
IF you bill yourself as a NEWS Channel, you had better be prepared to have someone reporting the bank robbery in progress at the HEB on Chimney Rock and a crew on the way. Lets talk about KFNC's name for a minute, The FM News Channel. Cumulus is playing off of TV's almost instant reporting of the news by using Channel in their name. It is rare to think of an FM station as a Channel, that is TV. Cumulus is not incorrect though, the FCC assigns each FM frequency a channel number, 97.5 is channel 248. FM is superior to AM in sound and in Houston FM has much better coverage, especially at night, the FM stations don't have to reduce power or go to severe directional patterns that only covers Fannin downtown. The HOUSTON FM stations can cover a 100 mile radius without too much problem. KFNC is a Beaumont station and until the next coming when the FCC relaxes the separation of stations KFNC and 97.5 will only be a Beaumont station. Over 50% of Houston can not even receive KFNC and a good portion of those that do receive KFNC have a terrible signal. It is the worst of the worst rimshot FM stations trying to pass themselves off as a Houston station. Mike Shiloh asked for specific answers in a post to me. Here is one, take 97.5 home to Beaumont where it belongs. KRWP was pulling a six rating in The Golden Triangle with Urban Adult Contemporary, that will be a damn sight better than ratings of 0.0 in Houston-Galveston or The Golden Triangle. Lastly News, if you are going to call yourself a News station, er channel then program news. I'll admit it is nice to have some news back in Houston from 5am to 9am; noon to 1am and 5pm to 7pm. The 5pm to 7pm News block is by far the best, but it needs improvement. Mike drop the Comedy Club routine approach to the news, it is not going to work. If you want to be a serious player for the few that can hear KFNC the news needs to be reported as a format within a format. That hardly means cut and dry. Stop trying to live out your comedy club days through KFNC.
I saw Chuck Savage who does the traffic mentioned more than a few times and rightfully so. Chuck is not Elaine Closure in the comedy department, in time maybe. This is also suppose to be a News program not Saturday Night Live News and there is nothing funny about a person or people being involved in a crash, PERIOD. How you saw humor in someone having to be cut out of a vehicle as humerous is beyond me, but you have no place in Houston radio, I don't think Beaumont is going to want you and your pissy attitude when you do actually report some traffic. Spend much time in a smaller market and learn how to report the traffic, Peru, Ind would be about right, Market 244. I couldn't find a market 666. Mike Shiloh specific item that needs to be dealt with and fast is fire Chuck Savage and replace him with someone that can report the traffic. The person must know the city and the correct pronouncation of the street names and not consider human tragedy funny. This Chuck character has to go now.
You have a great team reporting the news from 5 to 7pm, but don't make them try and be comics. These people are professionals and I can feel them cringe when they have to bring the news down to a level of banter and comedy. They already have great personalities and their individual personality will show just fine, much better than now, if you let them be news anchors. Specifically Mike drop the cheesy news reporting.
Jim Pruett and Company is a dilemma. Jim is great, much better than I expected, in fact excellent! The entire team, less C S has a great show. It is not a true news show, although the news is covered in depth on some stories. Jim and Co are the Walton and Johnson of the afternoon. Something needs to be done and I don't know what would be the best way to handle this problem. I would say from 2pm on should be straight ahead news reporting until preferably 8pm. I am tempted to say move Jim and Co to the 8pm to midnight time slot and continue the show as it is. The news will still be reported, hopefully as it happens and stories can be discussed in depth and personal opinion can be a part of the program. Take the phone calls and you have an excellent news-talk program that is live and local at night. I know Jim Pruett could make the nighttime slot a real contender in Houston radio, if people could hear the station. In the afternoon on a news station the listening audience is going to want a straight forward news format. Jim's show is an excellent nighttime approach to the news. I expected Jim Pruett's show to be good, but I have to admit the program is great, just in the wrong time slot.
TRAFFIC !! Mike you need to run the traffic every ten minutes from at least 5am to 8pm and then every 15 minutes the rest of the time. Houston needs good up-to-date traffic 24/7 and traffic is not reported after the news blocks. Add to list of things to do, add traffic as above, ASAP. You can get into nightmare traffic jams at 3am in Houston. It is especially bad with some very major freeway rebuilding going on and it is causing a 24/7 headache for motorists. Report the back-ups and give alternative routes.
I wish there was some way of getting a great signal for 97.5 over all of metro Houston, but that just isn't a possibility under todays FCC Rules and Regs, which sucks.
Phil Hendrie, weird and sick, move it to the all night shift with the Dream Doctor another sleeze talk station show. While you are at it add Loveline to the all night programming. Another great sleeze radio show.
Mike Shiloh there are so many things that need to be done to make KFNC a viable station for Houston, but until it is on a frequency that covers the city I'm not sure of the need to change anything. The Chief of the Engineering for all of Cumulus did a great job with 103.7. Can you get him back in town to see if he can work some magic on 97.5? Or has Gary done all that is possible for 97.5 already? With over 300 stations to oversee I realize his time is very valuable. Mike you never responded to my post to you on page four, probably will be page five sometime today. You may have never seen it.
Mike you can not say that I did not sample KFNC for some time before coming to the conclusions I did. I had KFNC on exclusively for a week and heard the station about 20 hours a day.
I have to say again, you do not get your game plan together on the air with a news talk station. That should have all been done long before KFNC came on the air. There should have been plenty of rehearsals so the anchors would flow together with each other. Yes, a station, at least any good station is constantly tweaking the format, but not redoing the format.
Mike O
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