We all know about Matt and Adam but now... 790 makes more personnel changes as station revamps Former Houston talk show host Matt Thomas will return to his hometown next month to host a midday talk show on KBME (790 AM), and longtime radio fixtures Tom Franklin and David Dalati and talk show host Ted DeLuca are no longer with the station, it was announced today. The changes announced Thursday represent an almost total revamp of the Clear Channel-owned sports talk station, which earlier this week hired Matt Jackson and Adam Wexler, formerly of KILT (610 AM), as its new morning drive team in an effort to gain traction in Houston’s four-station sports talk derby. Beginning Monday, Jackson and Wexler will work from 6 to 10 a.m. weekdays on 790. Dylan Guinn, who worked as a traffic reporter for Clear Channel and auditioned on KBME after John Lopez departed earlier this fall for KILT, will host from 10 a.m. to noon, and Thomas will join the station in January to host from noon to 3 p.m. and also will host Astros pregame and postgame shows. Pallilo, the only holdover in the station’s current lineup, retains his afternoon drive slot from 3 to 7 p.m. Franklin also will remain on KBME in his role as the voice of University of Houston football and basketball, which is unchanged by Thursday’s developments. Thomas, who also was the Compaq Center public address announcer during the Rockets’ two NBA championship seasons, reportedly also was considering an offer from CBS Radio’s KILT, which carries Rockets games, but opted for the Clear Channel offer. “We wanted Matt, and we went toe to toe with 610 for their top choice and our top choice, and we got him,” Berry said. “We’re now 3-for-3, and we think we have momentum. “This company has made a commitment (to the sports format), and we’re using the same strategy as the Yankees, to get all-stars and put them on the field.” Gavin Spittle, KILT’s program director, would not discuss the station’s interest in Thomas but said of KBME, “We look forward to the competition.” Regarding Guinn, Berry said, “We were committed to reserving part of the day for a listener or someone from outside talk radio, and Dylan was the best we came up with. He was getting positive responses from the minute he went on the air.” Dalati helped launch KBME’s all-sports format in December 2004 after he and Pallilo left CBS’ KILT. He moved to KILT in November 1999 from KTRH, where he had worked since 1992 after a decade with KIKK. Franklin, who called Oilers games on radio from 1990 through 1993 and Rice games from 1994 through 2001, has been a fixture in Houston radio since his days as a UH student in the early 1970s. He hosted SportsBeat on KTRH from 2001 and rejoined Clear Channel in 2003, working on Astros pregame and postgame shows in addition to his duties on UH football and basketball. DeLuca joined Clear Channel in 2002 and worked on KTRH in addition to his morning talk show duties on KBME. “Those guys were very talented with great experience and great knowledge, but we felt it was time to take the station in a new direction,” Berry said. “We went out and got the best talent we could get.” Thomas got his start at KSEV (700 AM) and worked for KPRC (950 AM) and KTRH before leaving Houston in the fall of 2004 for Salt Lake City, where he called University of Utah football and basketball games and hosted a talk show. He had been with KSTP in Minneapolis-St. Paul since January 2007.
610 was about to be off my presets because of the douche that is john lopez, i guess 790 and 1560 will have to do.
Wow, i didn't know about matt and adam, i figured they were on vacation or something. So what reason is there now to listen to 610 besides the Rockets? I guess I will start listening to 790 now, but who is good on that station?
I'm just happy for Matt. He did a good job of playing nice with Rich most of the time, but we could all see the cracks in that relationship. Matt + Wex = 100% win.
Middle of a finals review for school so my posting is horrible...please edit if possible as I have banned myself from posting due to bad spelling today.
I feel bad for David Dalati. I always liked him. Him and Charlie worked well together, and I could always sense that there was good chemistry between the 2 of them.
I am thrilled Matt Thomas is back. He's a pretty smart guy. He was also the best Rockets Public Address Announcer IMO.
Good moves by 790 all around. I remember David Dalati break a few stories of the years so he was their biggest lost. Never was a fan of Ted DeLuca. Frankin does UH games but I never heard him as a radio host.
I'm actually a fan of Deluca, but he is being replaced by guys I'm a bigger fan of, so no worries there.
$5 says Vandameer gets sick of Lopez and bails to only do Texans PBP. The Monsters will have a reunion on 610. :grin:
the hate for Lopez here is F-ing ridiculous. what the hell do you guys have against him? other than your hero Sumlin being a d!ck to him and Lopez making him look like an amateurish fool on radio, what has he done to everyone to piss yall off so much? I actually thoroughly enjoy listening to John Lopez. Wexler is my favorite in sports radio though, and Pallilo has a very solid show. Funny how people have such strong feelings about a houston sports radio commentator. The only guy that I could think of that slightly annoys me is Matt Jackson, but I don't go out of my way to bash him every chance I get like you guys do J-Lo.
Yeah thats terrible. Dalati always provided top notch Astros coverage and I can remember listening to Tom Franklin doing Astros post game shows over 20 years ago. Really gonna miss hearing those guys. I hope someone picks them up locally. Never had a problem with Ted Deluca either but its so crowded on the sports dial.
no, no, it has nothing to do with what university he attended. It has everything to do with people simply calling him a "tool" and constantly bashing him any time possible. No one is yet to give concrete examples to justify the characterization of Lopez as a "tool". Ever since the Sumlin incident took place where Sumlin decided to stoop down to the media's level and pull his sarcastic $#!t about freaking speculations, Coogfan went ape**** and declared war on John. It's his job to speculate, that's what writers/commentators are paid to do, and he wasn't out of line saying that bigger football programs will be taking a look at Sumlin in the offseason. by the way, the last time ratings came out Lopez's show was ranked #1 among the 4 stations in Houston. I guess not everyone thinks he's that big of a "tool" like many of y'all do.
