Welcome To Case's Column
Let me say a big welcome to all of you for joining me here. I'm going to call these blog meetings Case's Column. I wanted to use "Corner", but that was already taken.
Since 2008, it's been a real privilege to come on here and share some of my life with you, and it's a big world where we live.
In these blogs, I'll just speak whatever is on my mind, but we will be playing within the rules here. I may pick a particular topic, point out an event, or shoot the breeze. I'm a little bit of an essayist at times, so I'll just speak what's on my mind, and I might tell a story or two. Or, I might spew out an opinion or three. There will be some serious moments, some tender, some poignant, but there will also be those moments that you'll just bust out laughing. But, hopefully, everything will be in good fun here. And, of course, there's a place below for your comments and thoughts as we go along here. So feel free to join me for the ride -- I sure as heck hope I'm doing this right and not making any mistakes.
Thanks for taking your time in reading Case's Column. Hopefully, you'll enjoy being entertained by it as much as I've enjoyed putting these writings together. And thanks for the time you spend in City-Data.com, where it's great to be alive!
Regards,
case44
Let me say a big welcome to all of you for joining me here. I'm going to call these blog meetings Case's Column. I wanted to use "Corner", but that was already taken.
Since 2008, it's been a real privilege to come on here and share some of my life with you, and it's a big world where we live.In these blogs, I'll just speak whatever is on my mind, but we will be playing within the rules here. I may pick a particular topic, point out an event, or shoot the breeze. I'm a little bit of an essayist at times, so I'll just speak what's on my mind, and I might tell a story or two. Or, I might spew out an opinion or three. There will be some serious moments, some tender, some poignant, but there will also be those moments that you'll just bust out laughing. But, hopefully, everything will be in good fun here. And, of course, there's a place below for your comments and thoughts as we go along here. So feel free to join me for the ride -- I sure as heck hope I'm doing this right and not making any mistakes.
Thanks for taking your time in reading Case's Column. Hopefully, you'll enjoy being entertained by it as much as I've enjoyed putting these writings together. And thanks for the time you spend in City-Data.com, where it's great to be alive!
Regards,
case44
Houston's Radio Market Needs Some Voids Filled
This next was a big issue even before my recent trip to Houston. Sadly, there are plenty of reasons why more people are adding Sirius XM to their repertoires, but even some of that product is downgrading a little. I've been harping in recent times about how radio should be local again and not consolidated and run (sometimes into the ground) by corporate entities.
Such is the case in almost any market you go into. In this post, I want to focus on Houston for a little bit. For the people who still make radio a part of their everyday living, I have a strong suggestion to please their listening palates. It's a set of several suggestions, actually. There was a time when Houston had a great radio market and once had so much to offer. Today, you scan the dials in H-Town, and there just ain't much of anything. Amid the endless Spanish-format stations and too many rap formats that are currently on, what else is there?
I believe that there should be a new regional company that specializes in autonomy among stations and not create cookie-cutter formats that all sound the same. While you lactate on that for a bit, I have some ideas about where to put formats that currently don't exist in Houston, and which ought to exist.
In this country's fourth-largest city and a Top Ten market, there's no reason why the following cannot exist:
I'll begin with AM:
740 KTRH - This station used to be very good. Historically, it had been Texas' number one news station, with the only real competition coming from Dallas' KRLD-AM (1080). That was until about fifteen years ago. Despite some recently-attempted local competition from an FM outlet (which fizzled after nearly two pretty good years), KTRH hasn't had much to give Houston from a news standpoint. I've got nothing against Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, as they are important radio hosts, but KTRH shouldn't even be in the talk business. This market has long had a void after having been rich with information stations two decades ago. I don't care what the demographics suggest; there are needs here. An all-news outlet is badly needed, with local traffic reporters (not people from Dallas who attempt to sound like Houstonians but don't always succeed). KTRH must be that all-news outlet. It needs to be large again, with news, at least, on weekdays from 5 a.m. to about midnight. On weekends, they could do 2 to 3 hours in the morning, a noon, and a 5 to 7 p.m. effort, with top-of-the-hour and half-hour updates elsewhere. This station is too critical. It needs to be aggressive once again.
950 KPRC - Why did this station stop doing local news? Man talk just didn't cut it ten years ago on this local legend. Stupid idea. This station should be the WBAP of Houston, only without the big 50,000 watts the other possesses (WBAP is the other info outlet in Dallas-Fort Worth, in case you didn't know...). I'd like to see a ten-person news staff once again right here, as they ought to provide a formidable alternative to KTRH and maybe bring Limbaugh and Hannity to their daytime repertoire.
1320 KXYZ - Why the heck do they have such great call letters and not broadcast in English? This would be a great place for local talk all day. I don't see why not. LocalTalk 1320 KXYZ. Why not?
1520 KYND - Sure, they're in a stunting mode, but they haven't settled on a good format, either. Houston is missing Southern Gospel. Here's a good place for it. It covers the entire Houston area and fills a serious emptiness with that genre. I bet a few people could eat it up. Churches would be very much in favor of this.
610 KILT - They can stick with sports, but the station just needs a better name to identify better. The call letters should have been changed to, say, KHSR, and it should have been called Sportsradio 610, The Star. That's all that's been missing; plus, it's an original idea that no other sports station in Texas has. KILT's heritage call letters can work better on another AM frequency and possibly provide better companionship with its FM product. Speaking of which, can we just dump The Bull from 100.3 FM? It should just simply be FM 100 KILT, and nothing else. It's just too good.
880 KQUE - Right now, that frequency has KJOZ as its letters, but this would be a great place to bring back the big-band, great singer format that's been missing from the Bayou City for more than a decade. It would have to be done without, sadly, the late, great Paul Berlin, who was a fixture on Houston radio since, seemingly, Moses was alive. Bring back Sinatra and Tony Bennett and put them on here. Good signal by day, and should be decent enough at night.
1670-AM - Heck, nothing's on it now. That'd be a perfect place to start something.
1270-AM - It ought to be back on the air. Maybe it can have 1320's current format.
1110 KTEK - It's not on now. It had a business format. That channel needs to be back.
And now, on to FM....
98.5 - That frequency is currently in Port Arthur right now, but it once had a relationship with the Houston market. I suggest that this channel gets moved to the Houston area, with a license possibly in Baytown, and with a potential coverage area stretching from Galveston to Conroe and on west to Katy. And the format? Well, Houston has a renowned fine arts district and one of the greatest fine arts communities in America. And, yet, this Houston market cannot keep a classical music station on the air???
Shame, shame. Enter 98.5. Classical would make sense here. It's a commercial frequency and would have plenty of sponsors. The old KRTS (formerly 92.1) should never have left the market. Bring 98.5 here. Beaumont - Port Arthur can easily overcome their loss.
107.5 and 106.9 - Now, why the devil are these two stations playing the same format? This makes no sense. I get that each station has their antenna in opposite ends of Houston, but there's no reason that one couldn't have a different format from the other. Let's just keep the classic rock on 106.9, and then bring the KGLK call letters here. For 107.5, I'd like to see the 60s-70s pop format returning here. I don't see why not. Forget that the sixties occurred fifty years ago; it's still the best musical decade of all time, and one whose songs still belong on radio.
97.1 KTHT - Yes, they play a classic country format supposedly, but now, they've dropped the 60s and 70s favorites from it. Why? Classic country is not classic country without the 60s and 70s. And even a touch of the 50s! Bring them back in to Country Legends 97.1. While we're at it, you'd think that an outlying AM station could provide even older classic country not far from the big city.
101.5 KSTB - It's silent for now, but it could have an 80s pop format. I could see that happening there. The powers that be that could put it on also need to crank up the power there. Something like around 20,000 watts would be a sufficient reach for the Houston area. That format needs to be bigger than it's been, and it's time for the big markets to get it going. At present, two other outlets, both low-power, operate on that same frequency. They'll need to find another place.
101.1 KLOL - Face it, sports fans, I've got nothing against Spanish radio. But Houston's 101.1 FM should never be anything but album rock, and I know that many of you down there feel the same way. It's time to bring back an old friend, likely, though, with new talent since much of the old guard is either retired, dead, or now doing talk radio. Revive Rock 101.
So, there you have it for Houston radio. That's my two cents on what to do with a market that needs resuscitation. We must make Houston radio great again!
Such is the case in almost any market you go into. In this post, I want to focus on Houston for a little bit. For the people who still make radio a part of their everyday living, I have a strong suggestion to please their listening palates. It's a set of several suggestions, actually. There was a time when Houston had a great radio market and once had so much to offer. Today, you scan the dials in H-Town, and there just ain't much of anything. Amid the endless Spanish-format stations and too many rap formats that are currently on, what else is there?
I believe that there should be a new regional company that specializes in autonomy among stations and not create cookie-cutter formats that all sound the same. While you lactate on that for a bit, I have some ideas about where to put formats that currently don't exist in Houston, and which ought to exist.
In this country's fourth-largest city and a Top Ten market, there's no reason why the following cannot exist:
I'll begin with AM:
740 KTRH - This station used to be very good. Historically, it had been Texas' number one news station, with the only real competition coming from Dallas' KRLD-AM (1080). That was until about fifteen years ago. Despite some recently-attempted local competition from an FM outlet (which fizzled after nearly two pretty good years), KTRH hasn't had much to give Houston from a news standpoint. I've got nothing against Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, as they are important radio hosts, but KTRH shouldn't even be in the talk business. This market has long had a void after having been rich with information stations two decades ago. I don't care what the demographics suggest; there are needs here. An all-news outlet is badly needed, with local traffic reporters (not people from Dallas who attempt to sound like Houstonians but don't always succeed). KTRH must be that all-news outlet. It needs to be large again, with news, at least, on weekdays from 5 a.m. to about midnight. On weekends, they could do 2 to 3 hours in the morning, a noon, and a 5 to 7 p.m. effort, with top-of-the-hour and half-hour updates elsewhere. This station is too critical. It needs to be aggressive once again.
950 KPRC - Why did this station stop doing local news? Man talk just didn't cut it ten years ago on this local legend. Stupid idea. This station should be the WBAP of Houston, only without the big 50,000 watts the other possesses (WBAP is the other info outlet in Dallas-Fort Worth, in case you didn't know...
). I'd like to see a ten-person news staff once again right here, as they ought to provide a formidable alternative to KTRH and maybe bring Limbaugh and Hannity to their daytime repertoire. 1320 KXYZ - Why the heck do they have such great call letters and not broadcast in English? This would be a great place for local talk all day. I don't see why not. LocalTalk 1320 KXYZ. Why not?
1520 KYND - Sure, they're in a stunting mode, but they haven't settled on a good format, either. Houston is missing Southern Gospel. Here's a good place for it. It covers the entire Houston area and fills a serious emptiness with that genre. I bet a few people could eat it up. Churches would be very much in favor of this.
610 KILT - They can stick with sports, but the station just needs a better name to identify better. The call letters should have been changed to, say, KHSR, and it should have been called Sportsradio 610, The Star. That's all that's been missing; plus, it's an original idea that no other sports station in Texas has. KILT's heritage call letters can work better on another AM frequency and possibly provide better companionship with its FM product. Speaking of which, can we just dump The Bull from 100.3 FM? It should just simply be FM 100 KILT, and nothing else. It's just too good.
880 KQUE - Right now, that frequency has KJOZ as its letters, but this would be a great place to bring back the big-band, great singer format that's been missing from the Bayou City for more than a decade. It would have to be done without, sadly, the late, great Paul Berlin, who was a fixture on Houston radio since, seemingly, Moses was alive. Bring back Sinatra and Tony Bennett and put them on here. Good signal by day, and should be decent enough at night.
1670-AM - Heck, nothing's on it now. That'd be a perfect place to start something.
1270-AM - It ought to be back on the air. Maybe it can have 1320's current format.
1110 KTEK - It's not on now. It had a business format. That channel needs to be back.
And now, on to FM....
98.5 - That frequency is currently in Port Arthur right now, but it once had a relationship with the Houston market. I suggest that this channel gets moved to the Houston area, with a license possibly in Baytown, and with a potential coverage area stretching from Galveston to Conroe and on west to Katy. And the format? Well, Houston has a renowned fine arts district and one of the greatest fine arts communities in America. And, yet, this Houston market cannot keep a classical music station on the air???
Shame, shame. Enter 98.5. Classical would make sense here. It's a commercial frequency and would have plenty of sponsors. The old KRTS (formerly 92.1) should never have left the market. Bring 98.5 here. Beaumont - Port Arthur can easily overcome their loss. 107.5 and 106.9 - Now, why the devil are these two stations playing the same format? This makes no sense. I get that each station has their antenna in opposite ends of Houston, but there's no reason that one couldn't have a different format from the other. Let's just keep the classic rock on 106.9, and then bring the KGLK call letters here. For 107.5, I'd like to see the 60s-70s pop format returning here. I don't see why not. Forget that the sixties occurred fifty years ago; it's still the best musical decade of all time, and one whose songs still belong on radio.
97.1 KTHT - Yes, they play a classic country format supposedly, but now, they've dropped the 60s and 70s favorites from it. Why? Classic country is not classic country without the 60s and 70s. And even a touch of the 50s! Bring them back in to Country Legends 97.1. While we're at it, you'd think that an outlying AM station could provide even older classic country not far from the big city.
101.5 KSTB - It's silent for now, but it could have an 80s pop format. I could see that happening there. The powers that be that could put it on also need to crank up the power there. Something like around 20,000 watts would be a sufficient reach for the Houston area. That format needs to be bigger than it's been, and it's time for the big markets to get it going. At present, two other outlets, both low-power, operate on that same frequency. They'll need to find another place.
101.1 KLOL - Face it, sports fans, I've got nothing against Spanish radio. But Houston's 101.1 FM should never be anything but album rock, and I know that many of you down there feel the same way. It's time to bring back an old friend, likely, though, with new talent since much of the old guard is either retired, dead, or now doing talk radio. Revive Rock 101.
So, there you have it for Houston radio. That's my two cents on what to do with a market that needs resuscitation. We must make Houston radio great again!
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