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KTRH Scolded By Former Listener

The KTRH we all knew went away a long time ago. JP and Lana were the last link to the past.

Now that they're gone, the reality of what KTRH has become is starting to set in for the average listener.
 
I wouldn't mind the new format if they would just report the news!! That seems to be a foreign concept. I don't want to hear a bunch of stupid opinionated nonsense and phone calls from idiots. There are plenty of other stations that offer that! Houston deserves much better than this!!
 
But you already get the news on KTRH with Rush Limbaugh - "America's Anchorman." ::)

The mediocrity on KTRH will accelerate now that JP and Lana are gone.
 
stan said:
We don't need no stinkin' news! We want entertainment by a wingnut.
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That's one way of putting it... It just seems like such a phony, forced effort for them to jump on the Texas bandwagon. Everybody hates illegals and Obama so lets jump on it. It just comes off as awkward. Sad sad sad.

I was still hearing Medifast promos featuring JP during the afternoon yesterday... I wonder if he still gets paid for those?
 
There is NO news on KRTH only hours on end of right wing commentary disguised as news. YUCK!
 
I agree that KTRH has gone into the toilet in recent years for all the reasons spelled out in these postings, but I'm a bit puzzled about something.

If you don't like what KTRH is doing, why do you still listen to it and complain about it constantly?

I suggest that you find another station to listen to -- one that does the kind of programming you enjoy. As it says in the Bible, "If thy hand offend thee, cut it off. If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out." I say if KTRH offends thee, tune it out or turn off the radio.

If you can't find one you like in the Houston market, the Internet makes it possible to listen to any of hundreds of stations around the country. If you don't like conservative talk shows, find a station with liberal and middle of the road talkers. Many of them can be streamed online.

But if you MUST have local news, don't forget that KUHF Houston Public Radio has the largest radio news department in town, and it covers local news like a blanket.
 
FilioScotia said:
I agree that KTRH has gone into the toilet in recent years for all the reasons spelled out in these postings, but I'm a bit puzzled about something.

If you don't like what KTRH is doing, why do you still listen to it and complain about it constantly?

I suggest that you find another station to listen to -- one that does the kind of programming you enjoy. As it says in the Bible, "If thy hand offend thee, cut it off. If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out." I say if KTRH offends thee, tune it out or turn off the radio.

If you can't find one you like in the Houston market, the Internet makes it possible to listen to any of hundreds of stations around the country. If you don't like conservative talk shows, find a station with liberal and middle of the road talkers. Many of them can be streamed online.

But if you MUST have local news, don't forget that KUHF Houston Public Radio has the largest radio news department in town, and it covers local news like a blanket.
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The same could be said for you. Why do you go into multiple threads complaining about Houston and radio in Houston. I suppose you could move to Dallas or find and internet radio station to listen to. No one here is saying they are 'locked in' to KTRH what they are doing is expressing an opinion (LIKE YOU) about Houston radio. I, personally, don't want the diatribe of NPR, I WANT local news on the radio. Does that narrow it down?
 
Don't be so hard on Filo. Radio is his profession and he's proud of it. And he is imminently qualified to be a critic. I'm sure we all get a little bit of entertainment, enlightenment or just information from each station we listen to. I pretty much go up and down both dials when I'm in Houston just to see what's new or see if there is something I might enjoy listening to more. I might listen to KPFT middays to hear music I know I won't hear anywhere else. I listen to KUHF mornings for news but I have listened to the new line up on KTRH and they're doing okay. I love hearing Michael Berry bash Sheila Jackson-Lee in the afternoons but once he gives her what she deserves I switch to KUHA for classical. It brings my blood pressure down so I can sleep.

I'm sure Filo listens to many different stations or he wouldn't have much of an opinion to offer. Criticism of a format or station doesn't mean we hate the town. It's just an honest opinion of the current state of affairs based on what we hear on Houston radio. 8)
 
mrbeasley said:
Don't be so hard on Filo. Radio is his profession and he's proud of it. And he is imminently qualified to be a critic. I'm sure we all get a little bit of entertainment, enlightenment or just information from each station we listen to. I pretty much go up and down both dials when I'm in Houston just to see what's new or see if there is something I might enjoy listening to more. I might listen to KPFT middays to hear music I know I won't hear anywhere else. I listen to KUHF mornings for news but I have listened to the new line up on KTRH and they're doing okay. I love hearing Michael Berry bash Sheila Jackson-Lee in the afternoons but once he gives her what she deserves I switch to KUHA for classical. It brings my blood pressure down so I can sleep.

I'm sure Filo listens to many different stations or he wouldn't have much of an opinion to offer. Criticism of a format or station doesn't mean we hate the town. It's just an honest opinion of the current state of affairs based on what we hear on Houston radio. 8)
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Well said Beasley - and yes, Filio is more than qualified to comment - he has been in the trenches and paid his dues multiple times. For myself, although I've never met nor spoken with Filio, I do respect his opinion immensely.
 
mrbeasley said:
Don't be so hard on Filo. Radio is his profession and he's proud of it. And he is imminently qualified to be a critic. I'm sure we all get a little bit of entertainment, enlightenment or just information from each station we listen to. I pretty much go up and down both dials when I'm in Houston just to see what's new or see if there is something I might enjoy listening to more. I might listen to KPFT middays to hear music I know I won't hear anywhere else. I listen to KUHF mornings for news but I have listened to the new line up on KTRH and they're doing okay. I love hearing Michael Berry bash Sheila Jackson-Lee in the afternoons but once he gives her what she deserves I switch to KUHA for classical. It brings my blood pressure down so I can sleep.

I'm sure Filo listens to many different stations or he wouldn't have much of an opinion to offer. Criticism of a format or station doesn't mean we hate the town. It's just an honest opinion of the current state of affairs based on what we hear on Houston radio. 8)
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I have tried to back off or dial back as it may be. I am not new to the rodeo either although I am not native to Houston. I don't disagree with the observations made on this thread only the pointed comments about Houston (a place I have grown to love) and the assumption that those commenting are torturing themselves by listening to KTRH and then coming here to complain about it. Spending time in the trenches is worthy of discussion of the semantics of the Houston market, sure, but opinions being what they are, that, in and of itself, does not lend weight to the commentary. ;)
 
**Why do you go into multiple threads complaining about Houston and radio in Houston. **

Well excuse me. Isn't that what this thread is about? And this is hardly the only thread that's stuffed full of complaints about Houston radio.

I'm glad you love Houston. I don't. I lived there for nearly sixty years man and boy. Grew up there, went to school there, raised my kids there, worked more than four decades there. I watched Houston go from being one of the greatest places to live and work to one of the worst. By the time I retired I truly hated Houston and I still do. We moved away and I wake up every day thanking God that I don't live there anymore.

You say you want LOCAL news, but all you do is complain that KTRH doesn't have it anymore. Why won't you listen to a station that DOES HAVE local news? Truth be told, I don't care for NPR any more than you do, but the local news at 88.7 FM is NOT NPR, and it's definitely worth your while.
 
FilioScotia said:
**Why do you go into multiple threads complaining about Houston and radio in Houston. **

Well excuse me. Isn't that what this thread is about? And this is hardly the only thread that's stuffed full of complaints about Houston radio.

I'm glad you love Houston. I don't. I lived there for nearly sixty years man and boy. Grew up there, went to school there, raised my kids there, worked more than four decades there. I watched Houston go from being one of the greatest places to live and work to one of the worst. By the time I retired I truly hated Houston and I still do. We moved away and I wake up every day thanking God that I don't live there anymore.

You say you want LOCAL news, but all you do is complain that KTRH doesn't have it anymore. Why won't you listen to a station that DOES HAVE local news? Truth be told, I don't care for NPR any more than you do, but the local news at 88.7 FM is NOT NPR, and it's definitely worth your while.
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Thank you for your clarification. So much hate for someone in their 70's. I'm glad you don't live here anymore!
 
FilioScotia said:
**Why do you go into multiple threads complaining about Houston and radio in Houston. **

Well excuse me. Isn't that what this thread is about? And this is hardly the only thread that's stuffed full of complaints about Houston radio.

I'm glad you love Houston. I don't. I lived there for nearly sixty years man and boy. Grew up there, went to school there, raised my kids there, worked more than four decades there. I watched Houston go from being one of the greatest places to live and work to one of the worst. By the time I retired I truly hated Houston and I still do. We moved away and I wake up every day thanking God that I don't live there anymore.

You say you want LOCAL news, but all you do is complain that KTRH doesn't have it anymore. Why won't you listen to a station that DOES HAVE local news? Truth be told, I don't care for NPR any more than you do, but the local news at 88.7 FM is NOT NPR, and it's definitely worth your while.
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And you kids get off my lawn!
 
I happen to know Filio and also know that he may be overstating his dislike for Houston just a bit (maybe for the sake of a good argument). Despite what he says, Houston still holds claim to a corner of his heart, whether he wants to admit it or not. From what I could gather, he actually enjoyed his time in radio in Houston over the last 15 years or so. Yes, Houston has some challenges when it comes to our radio stations and how we do things, but it's not that bad.
 
As much as people would love to see KTRH become an all-news station in the same genre as WCBS, WINS, WBBM, and KNX, it's just not going to happen. Those other stations have decades of brand-building in their favor, and all-news is extremely expensive to produce. And there are multiple other sources of news as the internet becomes more portable.

35 years later, I still miss NBC's News and Information Service, but that's not coming back either.

AM radio is all about nichecasting these days, and KTRH, like it or not, is super serving the Fox News/Rush Limbaugh audience.
 
Streetbeat is right. I did love the last 18 years I spent in Houston radio. It was at KUHF, the greatest job I ever had, with the greatest boss and coworkers I ever had the privilege of working with.

It was the daily commute from UH to the northwest suburbs that just wore me down. I spent about between 2 hours of every day on the freeways, and after 18 years I had enough and was ready to get the hell out of dodge when I finally retired.

Before KUHF, I did three years at KTRH under Laura Morris and let me tell you that was no walk in the park. More like the Nightmare on Lovett Street. I had to get treatment for clinical depression when I left that place in 1991.

Truthfully, all my negative feeling about the Houston market is the result of watching a great station like KTRH be dismantled by bean counters, and watch from my safe vantage point while a lot of fine reporters and anchors were pushed out the door.

Some of those people came to KUHF and they're now running a news department that can stand alongside any commercial news department in this country.

I'm now living in east Texas, and it's true. I miss the work, and the people I worked with, but I really don't miss the city.
 
KTRH under the Laura Morris regime was no picnic. Several people who worked there during her reign of terror had to get professional help after they left. Some even sought another line of work, entirely unrelated to the broadcasting business after working there. That's what has soured so many good broadcast professionals on this market. What was once a thriving, entertaining and fun market to work in has been driven into the toilet by poor management. Add to that the other challenging aspects of working in Houston such as having to live in the burbs and make a grueling commute to work every day, and it's no wonder you look forward to as early a retirement as possible.
 
Spot on -- mrbeasley. KTRH under Laura Morris was nothing short of a living nightmare. She thought she knew everything about radio, but she didn't know ANYTHING. And that wasn't the worst thing about her. Her "people" skills were non-existent.

People who know this business manage and lead by example.Know-nothings like Morris lead and manage by intimidation. They keep people under their thumb by keeping them in constant fear of losing their jobs. Anyone who ever had the misfortune of working under her can testify to the truth of that.

As station manager, she put her craven acolytes in as News Director, PD and Ops Manager. That cemented her position as the Queen of "Laura's World." She didn't call it that, but it was the attitude she brought to the building. For us in the newsroom though, it was Radio Hell.

It now seems apparent to me that Morris's regime was the beginning of the end for KTRH and all of Houston radio for that matter. KTRH went into a decline that's still in progress, and ownership by Jacor and later Clear Channel inspired other big congloms to start buying up other stations and assigning their bean counters to manage them.

I think we all agree that Houston radio isn't the great market it used to be. There was a time when most if not all the stations were locally owned and managed by professionals who knew what they were doing, and knew how to lead by example. PD's, News Directors, and most GM's were all former air people who worked their way up, and they didn't ask anybody to do anything they couldn't do themselves.

The result was a lively and FUN radio market. A market people actually wanted to be part of, instead of a market we want to escape from. I can remember when I actually looked forward to going to the station every day. I couldn't wait to get to work. How many people can say that today?

But, if there are people there now who love their jobs and respect their managers and owners, God bless'em.
 
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