Less local, more national

As you know, I don't listen to talk radio, but this story about some changes in the lineups here interested me.

Talk-show hosts Chris Baker and Cynthia Hunt have been taken off the air at Clear Channel-owned radio stations KTRH (740 AM) and KPRC (950 AM) .

Hunt said Tuesday she was told Monday night by Michael Berry, director of AM programming for Clear Channel Houston, that the KPRC show she hosted with Baker was being canceled. Baker also hosted a solo afternoon drive-time show on KTRH.

"They're going more into the Radio Mojo format (on KPRC), which is kind of like Radio Maxim for men," Hunt said. "I will absolutely miss the show and getting to talk to people every day and hear what they think about important issues."

[...]

According to Clear Channel's Web sites, Baker's departure from KTRH will be filled by extended hours for the syndicated Sean Hannity show, which will air from 2 to 5 p.m., and Berry's local show from 5 to 8 p.m.

KPRC's schedule shifts the Walton and Johnson show and the Erich "Mancow" Muller shows to fill the two-hour afternoon gap left by the departure of the Baker and Hunt show.

Here's the thing: How exactly is this lineup going to compete (some day, if not right now) with satellite radio, where you can hear every juvenile thing that W&J and Mancow do as well as all of the naughty words they can't use and whatever else the FCC would fine KPRC for if they aired it? It seems to me that the one advantage traditional radio stations will have as satellite becomes more pervasive is with local content, aimed at local audiences. You can listen to clowns from Louisiana or Chicago anywhere nowadays. But if KPRC and KTRH are the only places to hear Houstonians talking about Houston, that's gotta be a competitive edge for them. Right?

I know, I know, nobody thinks that far ahead in the business world, and besides, Clear Channel is just trying to beat the other old-school talkers. Well, good luck to you with that. To borrow from Lawrence Garfield, sooner or later y'all will have the best damn buggy whip any of us have ever seen. LST, blogHouston, Laurence, and John Coby pile on.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on November 08, 2007 to Music