[radio] Can Houston support THREE all-sports radio stations? It's coming.

I like Davies and Dukes in the AM. Dukes solo was bad, but Brad Davies is pretty sharp - esp. for a guy from Rochester, NY. Makes a nice alternative when you dont want to hear about:

Goin' Dish
Gulf Coast Windows
Davis Chevrolet
Brite Smile
Saturn

 

Chronic: Third all-sports radio station coming in January

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/sports/4250448.html

ESPN to switch affiliation from 790 AM to 97.5 FM

By DAVID BARRON
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

KFNC (97.5 FM) will become ESPN Radio's Houston affiliate in January, giving the city three all-sports radio stations, the general manager of the Cumulus Media-owned station said Tuesday.

Pat Fant, the longtime Houston radio executive who is Cumulus' Houston market manager, said the station will mix ESPN Radio programming with one or more local shows and, if the opportunity presents itself, local sports play-by-play.

"This opportunity presented itself to us, and it was a clear fit for the goals of our company and for ESPN to leverage that big brand name on an FM station in this market," Fant said. "We're excited about the talent we're going to put front and center on the FM version of ESPN Radio."

ESPN Radio will switch from KBME (790 AM), which signed on as Houston's second all-sports station in late 2004, in early January.

KFNC will continue with its current program mix, which includes syndicated shows with the Jim Pruett and Brian Shannon morning show, until making the format switch, its third in a year, at that time.

ESPN reportedly made the move in part to obtain full clearance for its Mike Greenberg/Mike Golic morning show, but Fant said KFNC will look at options for local shows at other times of the day.

"There's no way we would do this without local content," he said. "We're also leaving the door open for play-by-play. Our phones work, our doors are open, and we're ready to have conversations about play-by-play sports that make sense for us on this station."

Fant said the station "has a number of options and is talking to some great talent right now" about local talk shows. KFNC currently carries a weekend auto racing show and Joe Pogge's weekend golf show.

KFNC operates at the maximum 100,000-watt signal strength from a transmitter east of Houston near Winnie.

Its signal is stronger on the east side of the city but can be heard throughout Houston, Fant said.

Ken Charles, regional vice president for Clear Channel Communications, which owns KBME, said he questions whether there is room for a third all-sports station that emphasizes national programming.

"We learned when we launched (KBME) that you have to have good local personalities," he said.

Bill Van Rysdam, program director for all-sports market leader KILT (610 AM), had no comment on Tuesday's announcement.

 

new signal. same station.

 

I'm not surprised KBME is concerned about a 3rd sports station because their ratings now are so pathetic. I wouldn't be shocked if they ended up in 3rd place. LOL.

 

I've listened to the local guys on 790 two mornings in a row now and I like them better than John and Lance so far.

 

that doesn't surprise me, because you don't like john and lance to begin with!

i think the show on 790 is awful. davies doesn't have the first clue of what he's talking about regarding houston sports. here's a guy paid to talk houston sports...who's lived here about 6 months. think a guy from houston could get a job in boston with that pedigree? he brings NOTHING to the discussion, from what i've heard. having said that, i do like carl dukes. always have.

 

Very true. Coughing, talking over callers, and making voices that are terribly unfunny aren't my idea of good sports talk.

Honestly, I've probably listened to the other guys for a grand total of one hour, but I like that they actually talk sports and, gasp, actually let the callers talk whenever they call-in. I hate Lance and John (and to a lesser extent, Rich and Mark) because they're always making little stupid jokes that they think are funny, bring a caller on, then keep talking while the caller's on the air. I have no problem if 610 decides they don't want callers anymore since most of them have no idea what they're talking about, but if you're going to take calls, let them speak.

And the coughing. My God, if you have to clear your throat every 15 seconds, you have a medical condition. Get it checked out.

 

so you don't like the coughing?? (i think you're overstating it!!!)

i've listened more than i thought i would to 790...particularly during golf shows and the like on 610. i really don't like it. i think most of that has to do with davies, who doesn't have an ounce of credibility talking about houston sports to me.

 

Maybe it's not every 15 seconds, but he does it enough that it should warrant medical attention. I cannot overstate how annoying it is to me to hear that. It's disgusting.

I kinda like the outsider's view to Houston sports. I'm guessing Granato, Lord, Palilo, or Vandameer didn't have a lot of credibility when it came to Houston sports when they first started. I think the cougher and the two night guys are the only ones who actually lived here before doing sports radio here.

 

I like that it is moving to FM. Finally a talk station other than NPR on FM.

 

Once you listen to "The Herd", you will quickly realize that all of the local guys are sub-par.

 

vandermeer certainly didn't. but he was coming in as the texans guy. he only had a one hour show at first, and it was 90% texans talk...which was new to everyone.

lord and palilo started with the oilers the same way....doing the post-game show.

granato had been in houston about 4-5 years by the time he had a regular morning show. he did sports night live and other local sports things.

this guy literally was moving his family to houston while he was on the air. his accent is incredibly thick. it just doesn't work for me. i find myself saying in my head, "what do you know about it?" over and over.

i don't think 790 is here to stay. ratings suck. they still don't have an affiliation with the team. the parent company won't move the 'stros there from 740. without espn, they're gonna be scrambling. just my guess.

 

yeah..nothing like an hour long show about the success rate of coaches in the NFL with mustaches.

i can't listen. it's awful.

will 790 be losing that show too?

 

I'm sure that was based in humor. You have to listen to more than one show. Like Rome says about his show to new listeners, "give it two weeks".

 

i've listened to more than one show.

certainly the base was humor. but that joke for an hour ain't that funny. itemizing the coaches in the nfl and their success rates with mustaches. yikes.

 

That's nothing compared to listening to Ed "furball stuck in my throat" Fowler.

 

I think, in order for a bit to be "based in humor", the bit has to actually be funny.

 

So I guess I'm the only one who actually listens to the current format on KFNC.

To me, this is a mixed bag. I love sports talk, and have missed it since my car lost AM reception, but I've learned to enjoy the programming at 97.5. They have a lot of good investment programming, along with Pruitt and Shannon,(aka the Boner), who I grew up listening to. And I may be the only guy under 50 who likes Neal Bortz, but he's just interesting.

Que sera sera, but I hope Pruitt and Shannon find other work, preferably on the station.

That said, Houston's been long overdue for an FM sports station.

 

To each his own.