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"Panic" or "The Last Stand" for 950 KPRC

THE NEW LINEUP-KPRC
5:30-10 a.m. — Walton & Johnson
10 a.m.-Noon — Mancow
Noon-2 p.m. — Dave Ramsey
2-4 p.m. — Baker & The Hunt
(Chris Baker & Cynthia Hunt)
4-5 p.m. — Mancow Happy Hour
5-8 p.m. — Michael Savage
8-10 p.m. — Phil Hendrie
10 p.m.-Midnight — Mark Levin
Midnight-2 a.m. — Bill O’Reilly
2-4 a.m. — Jerry Doyle
4-5:30 a.m. — Glenn Beck

KTRH
4am- Wall Street Journal This Morning
5am- KTRH Morning News
9am- Joe Pags (moves from 6pm)
11am- Rush Limbaugh
2pm- Sean Hannity (moves from KPRC and loses one hour)
4pm- Chris Baker (pushed back two hours)
7pm- Michael Berry (moves from 6am, KPRC)
9pm- Dennis Miller (pushed back one hour)
11pm- Coast to Coast AM (pushed back one hour)

If I could offer a couple of comments as an alumnus of both stations. I confess I’m beginning to feel like a dinosaur of sorts. It does seem as though you need to be either an arch right-winger preaching to a diminishing choir or a frat boy making insightful observations about Pam Anderson. I confess I don’t know Chris Baker but have heard good things about his show. I can gather the basic W&J schtick from the things I’ve heard on the boards. It is the old S&P thang with less fun, more uninformed politics and one less toupee. Savage/Wiener is a moron who trades in outrage and Levin is only a little less so. Hannity is on the downside of his parabola and Limbaugh will be on top as long as he wants to be, whether the energy is gone or not. Berry? The fact that your only local shows are a couple of overaged adolescents, one quality product, and one amateur doing vanity-press radio tells me a lot.

I was one who had an interview with Martiny for the programming job and told him his KPRC lineup was too disjointed and bland to produce any loyalty. He seemed like a decent guy and has to do what he has to do. No sour grapes, it's a competitive business. They made their choice and I love the stations and hope for the best. But now, we have potty jokes, shock, followed by money-talk, then I gather some decent local observations, more shock and then Savage’s contrived mouth-foaming act and then a nighttime hodge-podge which really doesn’t matter since people are in front of the tube, the pattern changes, etc.

On KTRH, you follow a legendary morning news program with more uninformed, imported opinion, a franchise syndicated show, Hannity’s oh-so-earnest cue-card rants and then your best local show followed by a couple of ego-hours and for that you push back Dennis Miller?

I had the good fortune to be around when talk went from recipes and local gripes about the neighbor’s dog and what’s happened to kids today to folks sounding off on the issues of the day, interviews with real newsmakers and hosts who were usually former news-pros having a little fun and doing their homework. There are still a few, and for those who want their liberal fix, Stephanie Miller is probably the most creative and consistently entertaining host out there on either side of the political divide. But it’s no longer an industry that interests me or a lot of people all that much any more. Chuck was with us when we tried to break the mold yet again just a bit, but we now have dumbed it down to the back end of the bell-curve and what once would have been a rock and roll morning show now leads off a legendary talker.

Any number of us who have been around awhile (37 years for me) would have done it differently and, who knows, they might pull it off. But I think it is a mistake to write off a certain respect for tradition in search of the latest trendette. I use the diminutive because it will be supplanted by something else fairly soon. Personally, I’m looking at a small station to buy and program until I keel over. I’m glad I’m not starting today. That sounds more codgerly than I intend because I’m only in my late fifties. But I’ve worked with enough pros to know it just isn’t that hard to do it right. Wouldn't it be nice, just once, if we respected the intelligence of the listeners?
 
Baker and Cynthia Hunt...the former KTRK Reporter with the Southern accent who's had more work done then Joan Rivers?????

Sorry, I just can't "fathom" this teaming. I've never been an ardent fan of Bakers..I don't necessarily dislike him but from what I know of the guy, this new duo status can't be either his decision or very much to his liking. I'd pay three months salary to learn from whom this decision came and why.

And why Cynthia Hunt for Gods' sake? Is she funny? Smart? Able to formulate a cogent point without lights, a camera and a teleprompter? I don't know so, please someone, make me understand!

And what then lies in store for the now Walton and Johnson-less KIOL. I'll bet Cumulus foists a couple of no talent hacks in their place...probably via satellite from one of it's hipper, more enlightened markets--like Kalamazoo, Michigan. If it's a real live morning show coming in from somewhere else, l I can say is that I hope they rent. Mainly because I can't see there being much life left in KIOL. Not that W&J resuscitated it any--they didn't. Cumulus is just sucking the life out of it. Then again, it never had much to begin with.

NOTE TO ROGER GRAY: Just about every genre, every format known to man has been tried here in Houston, Roger. Some of it was successful, much of it wasn't. And please, Liberal radio doesn't work--anywhere. Sorry, it doesn't. Not even Liberals will listen. Conservative radio in it's current local incarnation galls me as well. Pithy, political talk and commentary is fine. Personally, I'd like to hear issues discussed with some comedy and entertainment--sans the Liberal whining and finger pointing and without the blustery blow hard nature that IS Conservative talk. I sincerely hope you can save your Rubles and find an investor or two and buy a little station of your own. You have a right to do radio as you see fit. I wish you luck, friend. You'll need it.
 
A note to Wilmington, whoever you are. Your kneejerk is showing. You're letting your politics rule your judgement. I never said program "liberal" talk. I simply said the only truly creative, funny, entertaining talk I've heard lately is coming from Stephanie Miller. Your immediate assumption that she was my suggestion indicates you didn't read the whole long novel I wrote. As to the Houston market, I spent 30 years there, thank you, and know all the formats that have been tried. This is the latest in a long line. As to my personal plans, I didn't say anything about what I'd program. Frankly, I'm looking at a country station just to avoid this kind of drivel. It would be nice, just once, somewhere to get away from the endless, tiresome left/right crap that has come do dominate the airwaves. It is an echo chamber for both sides and boring in the extreme. And it now colors any analysis of programming decisions in the discussions on this board. You want to know why it isn't the 900-pound gorilla anymore? Because it's tired. We've heard it all. As someone who sat there for years on the air, engaging in the endless, repetitive political back and forth with not a single new idea in the lot, I can tell you the guys who do it are tired of it. I guess it's not surprising we've devolved to "guy talk." Anything but the braindead political arguments that define our business. It's a shame we couldn't find anyting semi-intelligent in between.
 
Bad management decisions for 950 KPRC

rogergray said:
It does seem as though you need to be either an arch right-winger preaching to a diminishing choir or a frat boy making insightful observations about Pam Anderson.
You are correct with your observations.
rogergray said:
I was one who had an interview with Martiny for the programming job

WHAT???!!! You mean sales guy Eddie Martiny is interviewing and hiring the programming staff!
Well, that's the problem right there, Houston!
Typical of CC thinking, putting sales types like Martiny in charge of the stations.

I don't care that Martiny's brother is a conservative Republican member of the Louisiana legislature, but he has been a big fan of w&j.
Martiny and w&j have been "in business" together for a long time from the time Martiny was sales manager of w&j's longtime Baton Rouge affiliate, then later he helped usher them into KLOL.

I'm sure Martiny, some others at CC and w&j are more interested in w&j syndication fees than ratings or any obligation to the public. They'll probably arrange to put the show on many CC stations just to collect the syndication fees.

Whatever became of all that business concerning the KLOL sales dept, a haunted house, and a lawsuit from about 3 years ago?

So sayeth Rex.
 
I'm with you Roger

I'm looking at a country station just to avoid this kind of drivel. It would be nice, just once, somewhere to get away from the endless, tiresome left/right crap that has come do dominate the airwaves.

I'm another who has spent the better part of 40 years on the airwaves in and around Houston. I have also seen and done just about every kind of format you can name, and done just about everything. DJ, news reporting, call-in talk shows, you name it, and I couldn't agree more with your assessment of how it is now.

Left wing-Right wing talk radio is being done to death, and speaking just for myself, I wish it would hurry up and die. It grew out of the widening political polizarization we've seen over the past 20 years, and it's now making sure the country stays polarized.

If you buy your small country station, I'd love to come DJ for you. I DJ'd at a country station in east Texas a few years back and it was the most fun I ever had.
 
These changes won't matter. Bottom line is.............It's AM radio and in Houston, AM radio doesn't matter.
Not one AM stations does well and hasn't for a long time.
 
Sorry, but these two stations are a real part of my DNA so I just have to comment on the last statement. No, AM's haven't done well in the last few years, but history isn't destiny. And that brings us to why I mentioned Stephanie Miller. It doesn't matter which side of the "divide" you're on, she's just damned funny. She's smart and the show moves at a breakneck pace. She doesn't take her own party particularly seriously and that's a welcome change as well. As I took over from Alvin Van Black at KPRC in the late 80's, talk had gotten tired. It gained new life when we stopped avoiding the taboo topics of politics, religion, race, etc. That change carried us to the Limbaugh years, and now we're looking for the next thing. Some think it is lame T&A talk to a bunch of frat guys around the keg. But most "programmers" still haven't figured out that we have all finally discovered that neither party has a corner on truth and they're all in it together. Lou Dobbs figured that one out, although he's as funny as a crutch. As I said, guy talk is transitory. Sooner or later grownups who know the business and care about a station's future not just the next fiscal quarter will have to belly up to the bar and take charge. The bean counters and amateurs are screwing it up, not the medium itself.
 
Roger Gray a blast from the past!

I have been a avid radio listener since I heard Rush on the air followed by Roger Gray. I have been hooked ever since! I may not have agreed much with Roger, but his show was very entertaining. He was so funny and one of the best interviewers ever.

I have been reading the posts to this site for a while and since I'm only a listener, not a pro like so many of you, I didn't feel like I could chime in. I am in mourning over the loss of my beloved KPRC. I listened all day, into the evening and on the weekends. Sure, life goes on and I've actually found buttons to change the channel. (who knew). When I questioned KPRC about turning their back on the loyal female audience, they informed me I'd like it.....just listen.....It's not just for men. Ha! What crap! Even the website is sophomoric! Lots of pictures of scantily clad women. I don't think this is the kind of stuff that AM listeners are looking for.

Well, my buttons are now programed for 700,740 and 1050. 950.........gone. I never thought I'd miss Ken Charles!!

Glad to see your still alive Roger Gray! Hope things are well for you andyour family!!
 
Photog, that was very kind of you. Actually, you can always find folks who will tell you they love the show and agree with everything. I always preferred the ones who didn't agree, but had a good time anyway. That was always the ultimate compliment for me. I saw the website today for the first time as well, and seeing the link to babe pictures told me everything I needed to know. Don't get me wrong. Nothing wrong with beautiful women, but what does it have to do with radio? But that's why they make chocolate and vanilla. We don't all like the same things. When I partnered with Mike Vance, one of the quickest and funniest humans on the planet, we had, I thought, a bit of substance with some quick, and usually smart, satire and didn't have to insult anyone's intelligence. I remember when golf legend Ben Hogan died in the late 90's, and I mentioned his funeral, Mike corrected me to point out that Ben was now 6-under. That's the kind of quickness I miss on radio and only occasionally find these days. If some programmer is smart, they'll pick him up to work with Hoffman or someone, hint, hint. And Photog, my family is great. I just left a small group of stations I am a still partner in in east Texas and am looking for the next big thang. So to paraphrase, write if you find me work.
 
bayou_city_bob said:
I have been in Chicago over the past few weeks and I don't understand for the life of me why KTRH can't do news all-day like 780 WBBM. WBBM has reporters EVERYWHERE, plus suburban bureaus. A growing market with traffic screw-ups everyday like Houston can't support an all-news, traffic and weather station from 5a-7p? Come on. Get some cajones.

I like WBBM--that's the exact format KTRH should follow. I like that stinger "NEWS-Radio SEVEN-Eighty W-BB-M." Their other music is good. I also like KNX's traffic sounder "HONK-HONK-honk-honk (repeat)." We desperately need an All-News station here. It seems that the big city all-news stations are CBS radio stations. For a preview of KTRH's website under CBS radio ownership go to http://www.kikk.com and just put KTRH's logo on the top instead of CNN 650. I didn't know pictures of Houston on the banner could be that good. I found KIKK under CBS Radio News stations on KNX's website under Partners: CBS Radio Stations. (KRLD is classified under CBS Radio News Talk stations.)
 
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