New FM News Station Coming to Houston! News 92 FM!

[TheBigA]

The more I read this, the more I feel there's a partner involved. Radio One doesn't have the assets internally to do this alone.

 

[johndavis]

The more I read this, the more I feel there's a partner involved. Radio One doesn't have the assets internally to do this alone.

That's probably why they brought in Ed Shane to be the "Project Manager."

 

[AirUpThere]

You guys? They haven't even flipped it yet. At least give them a chance. Nothing in life is certain.

("Honey. In an hour we will have our first argument over the toilet paper roll being up or down. You'll be served with divorce papers later today.")

 

[TooMuchCoffee]

Houston, as most cities nowadays, is dying for a reliable, dependable news station. Not news-talk, but News 24/7/365. Having worked in the past with some of the folks going to the new venture, I wish it great success. Yes, it is an expensive format. But remember when radio was deregulated? What happened to those economies of scale that were to allow the broadcasters to bring lots of niche formats to serve diverse audiences. For those of us who are sick of extremist talk and Lady Gaga, I have high hopes that this will beat the odds and be successful. The owners must have the patience to let it find its legs. Since I now live in NC, I hope they stream the station. I'd love to give it a listen.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

I'll reserve judgement until I hear if it is really news, or merely another flavor of talk radio. News means news, talk means talk.

 

[salemjedi54]

I'll reserve judgement until I hear if it is really news, or merely another flavor of talk radio. News means news, talk means talk.

We will see if they put some of the Syndication One talk hosts on there

 

[gabigley1]

Do any of you remember the old KEYH AM radio? They were daytime only, all LOCAL news from from November 1974 until the end of 1978. They changed to all Spanglish programing at the end of 1978... My point, the first attempt in Houston for a all live local news, when they first signed
on the air in 1974. They switched to Spanish programming because they thought they would have higher ratings with that format back then.

I'll reserve judgement until I hear if it is really news, or merely another flavor of talk radio. News means news, talk means talk.

We will see if they put some of the Syndication One talk hosts on there

I'm under the impression they will have live local news 24/7... But, I'll believe it when I see it...
I SURE wish they had one of the Full Power sticks in Missouri City... That would increase there chances for success.
Speaking of Missouri City, why didn't CBS Houston give All FM news a try? That have all the expertise and success in All News formats.

 

[TooMuchCoffee]

Do any of you remember the old KEYH AM radio? They were daytime only, all LOCAL news from from November 1974 until the end of 1978. They changed to all Spanglish programing at the end of 1978... My point, the first attempt in Houston for a all live local news, when they first signed
on the air in 1974. They switched to Spanish programming because they thought they would have higher ratings with that format back then.

Man, do I ever. I worked there under the late David Fowler back in the day. We had a decent news operation at the time. In fact, I still have an old KEYH aircheck.

In the wee hours before sign on, while gathering stories for sign on, we listened to 850 KOA Denver on our studio monitors, since we shared the frequency. When David got there, he always went into the control room and dropped a needle on a Willie Nelson album which played the rest of the time until sign on.

"Key radio, keeping you up."

 

[secondchoice]

If RI can buddy up with one of the big local TV news operations, it will help some with the typical shooting, bank robbery, local live reports. If they totally go it alone, I would have a microphone with News 92.1 FM or what ever on the air slogan they are using at every press conference / political rally and every sporting interview that there is are TV cameras. Some TV news viewers will sooner or later see your mike flag and maybe give you a try. It will take a couple of years to earn the title of Houston's radio news station. Once this happens, RI will have a high billing station.

 

[radiobop]

It will take a couple of years to earn the title of Houston's radio news station.

Based on the legacy cast they are kicking off, News92FM will sign on with instant credibility...IMHO, they will sign on with the title...KTRH may say it and they may think it but they certainly haven't lived up to it...and we the listening public know it...

 

[notmenoti]

Based on the legacy cast they are kicking off, News92FM will sign on with instant credibility...IMHO, they will sign on with the title...KTRH may say it and they may think it but they certainly haven't lived up to it...and we the listening public know it...
[/quote]

I agree with this. These are people I've enjoyed listening to in the past, and I'm very willing to give this station a chance. KTRH has devolved into rant radio, and I only listen to them during severe weather events or other emergencies. Hopefully, 92.1 is a success, and I can depend on them even in those circumstances.

 

[Drucifer]

The line up for this station is A+! Assuming Radio One sticks it out and does it right, this could be the best thing to happen to Houston radio in a long time!

 

[wprt949]

i allways thought radio-one would have done urban oldies on 92.1 but fm news is pretty much a shocker

 

[salemjedi54]

i allways thought radio-one would have done urban oldies on 92.1 but fm news is pretty much a shocker

That would hurt Majic 102...

 

[secondchoice]

i allways thought radio-one would have done urban oldies on 92.1 but fm news is pretty much a shocker

I believe R 1 has realized to stay in business they going to had to branch out even more of the "urban" types of formats. CBS / CC and Cumulus have Urban, Country, News or News talk, AC, etc. stations. I realize R 1 has some minority ownership, but once you are a public company, the only thing most shareholders and lenders are interested are the P & L statements, and is your public accounting correct. I feel sometimes the public company route "limits" you because it is not your money. The shareholders hope there are some limits.

 

[Nu_Roo_2]

I believe R 1 has realized to stay in business they going to had to branch out even more of the "urban" types of formats.

Could be. It was a shocker here in Columbus when R1 recently flipped longtime Urban AC WXMG to Jack-FM (!). They moved the Urban AC -- which had recently risen to 5th in 6+ share at the time -- to a terrible rimshot signal, displacing gospel. At the time the thought was that R1 was prepared to sell the signal, but it's looking like that might not be the case after all (or the deal fell through).

 

[jd]

For anyone who missed it, here's an interesting item about the coming switch to all news from Brent Clanton's blog:

"For the past few weeks, I have been working at an undisclosed location on a very exciting Radio project, which you now know will be Houston’s newest 24-hour all-news station, News92fm."
http://brentclanton.blogspot.com/2011/10/skunk-works-of-news92fm.html

More background information on the change can be found here: http://mikemcguff.blogspot.com/2011/11/new-news92-fm-houstons-biggest-radio.html

 

[mr.ric]

I can see both sides of this move, good and bad. I hate to see Praise go away especially since their ratings did go back up, but on the other hand, Houston does get a 24hr real news station again.

 

[DToTheJ]

i always thought radio-one would have done urban oldies on 92.1 but fm news is pretty much a shocker

Just because it's not a format that you'd expect from R1 doesn't necessarily mean it's a shocker. Case in point: the old Y-100 in your neck of the woods. In fact, based on the success (if any) of News 92 FM, I wonder if this would prompt R1 to launch an FM news station in other markets like... Philadelphia.

 

[Tim-In-Houston]

They would have no competitive reason to, with CBS/KYW1060 already in the market.

The fact that Houston doesn't have an all-news outlet is why they are taking the chance.