THE PERFECT HOUSTON MARKET... COMMENTS PLEASE!

[truthsayer]

HAVE SUNNY 99.1 GO UP WITH A NEW LITE ROCK 106.9.....1069 HAS A REAL CHANCE TO WIN...MIX COULD NEVER STOP THAT SWITCH AS IT HAS UP TO NOW.

tHE ARROW AND 103.7 COMPETE WITH REAL TALENT AND PLAY HARD BALL.....THE ARROW WIN ANYWAY DUE TO SIGNAL BUT IT WOULD BE FUN ANYWAY WITH THE KHITS FACTOR IT WOULD BE FUN!

tHE BUZZ AND KRBE AND FIGHT IT OUT MORE AS A MATCH....KRBE STILL WINS BECAUSE CLEARCHANNEL WILL NOT SPEND MORE MONEY ON PROMOTIONS.

mAJIC HITS MORE MOTOWN AND SOULS ROOTS BECOMES ITS OWN AGAIN/ AND WOULD GIVE kHITS A CHALLENGE BECAUSE THE AUDIENCE FOR MAJIC WOULD BE MORE MASS IN #S

tHE BOX AND pARTY FIND THEMSELVES WITH HIP HOPPERS

kTRH BACK INTO COVERING NEWS NOT TALKING ABOUT IT! dRIVE TIME NEWS BLOCKS!

kPRC LOCAL TALK AND TALKING ABOUT THE NEWS THAT KTRH IS COVERING.

sPORTS 610 AND 790 HEAD TO HEAD FOR NEARLY THE BOTTOM AND THE BOTTOME SHALL ALWAYS BELONG TO 97.5

kILT AND 93q GO AT IT WITH COUNTRY LEGENDS USING TALENT TO WIN COX THE COUNTRY MEDAL IN THIS COWTOWN.

mIX NEEDS TO DROP TALENT AND GO WITH A FORM OF JACK FORMAT!

yOUR VOTE PLEASE!!!

 

[snoman]

Not sure if I understand it all.

"Sunny" has good ratings. I don't see them moving their format in any other direction, despite it not being as good as it was back a few years ago. 106.9 could compete with them, but Cox for some reason has not budged from that format yet, I don't know why they are in love with it. But, I'm not sure what direction they will go in, if they do decide to change.

There is no competition between KIOL and KKRW. The signal difference and KIOL's horrible playlist are two nails in its coffin. K-Hits could be competition for KKRW, but both their ratings are not good, so I don't know why Cox is going that direction with the "Oldies".

KRBE & KTBZ both have the same age demos, but the other demos are totally different. I think KHMX and KRBE would be more in competition with each other. I think if Clear Channel were smart, they would "Kiss" "Mix" good bye and go CHR-Pop and really go after KRBE.

KMJQ is number one in the market. They are not about to change their format to a more Motown sound. The only way they are going to change is if some competition comes in and knocks them down.

KBXX and KPTY are doing ok, as well as KLOL.

KTRH does need to go back to being a "News" station, but the CC budget won't allow it. Maybe if they get sold. KPRC is in the same boat.

You will see one of the sports stations disappear before too long. Probably 97.5.

The country stations will not change, and will continue to go back and forth depending on music trends.

And, we don't know "JACK" in Houston, and that's a good thing!

WE NEED MORE LOCAL PERSONALITY RADIO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[edie golightly]

WE NEED MORE LOCAL PERSONALITY RADIO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

agreed. with whom? plenty of out of work; or part-time jocks in houston looking for paychecks. btw; what is the love affair with short playlist 80's stations?

 

[Mike O]

WE NEED MORE LOCAL PERSONALITY RADIO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

agreed. with whom? plenty of out of work; or part-time jocks in houston looking for paychecks. btw; what is the love affair with short playlist 80's stations?

I second that agreement, Houston radio would take a huge leap forward if all the stations were staffed with a local air personality 24/7 that was actually on the at that time of the show and not VT'd or the increasingly popular thing for stations to do is run with no one or even VT'd.

It wouldn't hurt if at least half the stations did some overhaul work on their format. There are some stations like KHPT that need a new format and have for some time [like the last four years or so]. I give Cox an A for the reimaging of 107.5 to K-Hits, yet they get an F for never doing anything with Country Legends and leaving the mind numbimg Point on the air for so long.

Cumulus is probably a lost cause, the best thing they have done is put ESPN Sports on 97.5 since they don't program that. Making KIOL a second Classic Rock station was asine at best, there are many formats missing from the Houston dial and they should have gone with one of them and actually staffed the station, something they never did with KIOL outside of about 40% of the time. KFNC and KIOL are two stations that could be used in a Broadcasting class on how not to do radio. KIOL has a decent Houston signal and could be player in the market if they were to switch formats and FULLY staffed the station.

Houston has a good amount of HD Digital stations, it would be great to see the Corporations that own these stations do original local broadcasts on the HD2 channel with live air personalities. God knows there are way too many very talented men and women in Houston on The Beach that would be a welcome to the ears to hear again on local radio.

It also time to switch to Digital Radio Mondaile for AM as it is suppose to have much better sound quality than iBiquty's AM HD Digital radio and it does not take up two channels each side of the actual frequency the station broadcasts on. It just might put some life and new programming on AM beside the mostly brokered fare that seems to rule AM in Houston. It would also enhance stations like Radio Disney, Sports 610, The Animal and KPRC. The speciality show that Chuch Tiller has mentioned on KNTH 1070 on Saturday's would sound great on a good Digital system. Radio Disney dropped the iBiquity Digital after about a month because it sounds like crap on standard radios. I believe that many of the AM's that did go to iBiqity's Digital have discontinued using it after several months and only about 200 stations on AM ever switched to Digital. DRM may change that give renewed life to AM radio. The artifically high price needs to come down to a reasonable price so the public will buy the Digital capable radios. I certainly would not spend $300 for a iBiquity system radio after listening to the difference, it is not that great for $300 or $200 at RS.

The FCC will as with AM Stereo, which did sound fantastic on some of the stations, do nothing and let AM flounder once again. DRM on AM and iBiquity on FM, although there are supposedly much better digital systems for FM available.

Mike O

 

[PyThomasTX]

How is "Smooth Jazz" 95.7 (ick) doing in Houston? In Dallas, CBS just flipped Smooth Jazz 107.5 to R&B. I'm speculating a future Jack move here.

 

[ChuckTiller]

The Wave is doing really well. KHJZ has one of the highest billings in Houston. It's last book was very good for its targeted demo. CBS flipped the Oasis last fall. The Oasis on the hand was not doing well, and was poised for the flip. Is the (ick) part of your post, an editorial comment?

 

[snoman]

How is "Smooth Jazz" 95.7 (ick) doing in Houston? In Dallas, CBS just flipped Smooth Jazz 107.5 to R&B. I'm speculating a future Jack move here.

It's doing well with its target demos. The 12+ numbers aren't fantastic, but its still doing well. CBS Radio in Dallas is so badly mis-managed. They don't know which way is up with most of their stations. They ruined 100.3 by changing it from Urban AC to CHR, and now to "JACK". They ruined KVIL by trying to fix it when it wasn't even broke. They ruined "The Oasis", which also didn't have bad numbers overall. It's the fact they listened to consultants who tell them the you won't hit the key 18-49 demos with this format, so they flipped it from Smooth Jazz to CHR/Rhythmic... yeah and it worked out so well at 100.3, when you did it several years ago. CBS Radio only has three good properties left in DFW... KRLD, KLUV (thanks to Ron Chapman who doubled their share when he moved over from KVIL and Jody Dean carries on His legacy), and KLLI. Otherwise, they are a disaster.

Here in Houston, they have done a fairly good job. I'm not saying they are not without any faults, but who isn't. KILT continues to play good country music with good personalities and doesn't take cheap shots at its competitors (i.e. 93Q's more music than KILT). KHJZ has added more syndication, but overall presentation is ok. I wished they'd play more Smooth Jazz like Watercolors on XM 71, and less AC/R&B, but I know what they're doing, and I'm ok with it. And despite unimpressive numbers, KILT-AM has hung in there with the sports format, and I've always thought they sounded ok. I wished they would have held on to the ESPN Radio contract, but they went for localism and I applaud that.

So, CBS here in Houston seems to be more invested in the local market and the continuity of its stations than our friends on I-45 North do.

 

[davideduardo]

It also time to switch to Digital Radio Mondaile for AM as it is suppose to have much better sound quality than iBiquty's AM HD Digital radio and it does not take up two channels each side of the actual frequency the station broadcasts on. Mike O

I don't follow DRM closely, but I thought it was not backward, analog receiver compatible. It is either / or, and would result in AMs having to start audience building over again. With the current state of AM, ageing and shrinking, I doubt many listeners would buy an AM only receiver... HD has the advantage that it sounds great, and comes "for free" with FM HD receivers.

 

[truthsayer]

You all have great comments.

1069 would slaughter sunny with in 1 year if they did a real lite rock fomat.

Hd channels talent wont happen soon. Broadcasters agreed to keep them commercial free for 2 years. Not sure if its from date of start up or a given date.

104 jocks are bad but over all I think the format is good.

One thing every station needs larger playlist!

 

[stan]

WE NEED MORE LOCAL PERSONALITY RADIO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

agreed. with whom? plenty of out of work; or part-time jocks in houston looking for paychecks. btw; what is the love affair with short playlist 80's stations?

I agree, but personality radio is dead. That is why all the people have Ipods and satellite radio. Do you think that personality driven radio would lure them back? I don't think so.

 

[ChuckTiller]

I don't believe personality is dead. It's a cycle we are going through and hopefully it will come back. I feel that it will. Radio was pronounced dead when TV came along. AM was proclaimed to die soon in the 70s because of FM. AM has survived.

 

[stan]

Chuck,

I hope that you are right, but this is a much different time in our society where people are much more insulated from their neighbors and others in the community. Communication is done by instant message, text message, cell phone. People enter and leave their homes through their garages, and rarely see or visit (or even know) their neighbors. Certainly a different world than the 1960s and 1970s, when personality driven radio thrived.

Stan

 

[Mike O]

It also time to switch to Digital Radio Mondaile for AM as it is suppose to have much better sound quality than iBiquty's AM HD Digital radio and it does not take up two channels each side of the actual frequency the station broadcasts on. Mike O

I don't follow DRM closely, but I thought it was not backward, analog receiver compatible. It is either / or, and would result in AMs having to start audience building over again. With the current state of AM, ageing and shrinking, I doubt many listeners would buy an AM only receiver... HD has the advantage that it sounds great, and comes "for free" with FM HD receivers.

David I don't have the answer to your statement that DRM is not backward compatible, but I am nearly 100% sure that you can receive a DRM broadcast on an analog radio just as you can iBiquity's IBOC . DRM has been used on shortwave for some time now, as well on AM in European countries and I have never read that you had to purchase a DRM radio to hear the broadcast. You hear it, just not in DRM. I will do some net searching for the specs and see if I can find out the answer for sure. The FCC and Industry Canada/CRTC are both looking at DRM for AM, as is the SCT (I believe that is correct) for use in Mexico. Mexico tried IBOC and took a pass on the system for AM. I highly doubt all three countries would be testing DRM if it where not backward compatible.

Do you still use IBOC on KTNQ? Or did you give it up as have many AM broadcasters?

Mike