• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

KNTH Supreme Screwup

T

ThatVoice22

While driving home tonight at 845 pm, I heard Jay Sekulow on KNTH AM 1070 interviewing folks who were speculating which judge would be nominated to the Supreme Court. Hmmm, that decision should have already been made, so I checked in with KTRH AM 740 which was in full announcement mode that DC Circuit Court Judge Brett Kananaugh had been officially nominated by President Trump.

Back to KNTH which was still ruminating about how the nomination might unfold. Programming was obviously one hour behind.

At 9pm, KNTH had a brief national news clip announcing the Supreme Court nomination – then went into full-scale Girly-Girl "One Life Radio" where the hosts were discussing (I'm not kidding) the best names for pet dogs, such as Jeff, George, and Kevin; sounds like someone had a problem with a former boyfriend.

Meanwhile, KTRH continued with coverage of the long-awaited story-of-the-day about the Supreme Court nomination.

KNTH blew it – in Supreme Fashion.
 
ThatVoice22 said:
While driving home tonight at 845 pm, I heard Jay Sekulow on KNTH AM 1070 interviewing folks who were speculating which judge would be nominated to the Supreme Court. Hmmm, that decision should have already been made, so I checked in with KTRH AM 740 which was in full announcement mode that DC Circuit Court Judge Brett Kananaugh had been officially nominated by President Trump.

Back to KNTH which was still ruminating about how the nomination might unfold. Programming was obviously one hour behind.

At 9pm, KNTH had a brief national news clip announcing the Supreme Court nomination – then went into full-scale Girly-Girl "One Life Radio" where the hosts were discussing (I'm not kidding) the best names for pet dogs, such as Jeff, George, and Kevin; sounds like someone had a problem with a former boyfriend.

Meanwhile, KTRH continued with coverage of the long-awaited story-of-the-day about the Supreme Court nomination.

KNTH blew it – in Supreme Fashion.
Click to expand...

Its an AM station with spotty coverage that didn't even show up in the latest ratings. https://ratings.radio-online.com/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb033

Be happy they aren't bankrupt and still have a signal on the air.
 
Jay Sekulow is live 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM M-F Central time. Most Christian Teaching and Talk stations (think 100.7), carry the first 30 minutes live or tape delayed in the early afternoon.

Some of Salem's NewsTalk stations also carry the whole hour, but almost always tape delayed (because of Salem's own network programming) Sekulow is almost certainly paid programming on KNTH.

On most days, the content has a longer shelf life than a few hours. It's unfortunate, but other than KNTH swapping yesterday's program for a more "evergreen" version, I'm not sure what they could have done. That was the most recent version of a paid program.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
Calling KTRH a "news station" is laughable. WCBS, WINS, WBBM, KYW, and KNX are news stations.
Click to expand...

As you know, a station tried that kind of all-news approach in Houston, and it failed miserably. The fact is that when real news happens, such as a major hurricane, or a presidential press conference, you're more likely to hear coverage on KTRH than KNTH. Yes, during the day, they run a lot of conservative talk shows. But they know enough to pre-empt those things for real news.

Having said all that, an even MORE dependable source for news in Houston is KUHF. Surprised that no one has mentioned that, because the ratings for KUHF are about the same as KTRH.
 
Ryan Williams is correct. The two programs that start at 8PM are paid programs. Those were preempted during the presidential elections. As with most stations, paid programs and infomercials on the weekend are part of the revenue. David Eduardo is right, too; KNTH does not subscribe to the ratings. The price is around 80K a year, we would rather save the money. David is also right about ad agencies who do subscribe. Thus the reason, why some ad agencies have purchased time with us. We are doing better than you you may think.

A lot of the Salem shows actually will air press conferences. Just this morning on the Hugh Hewitt Show, he aired the presidential press conference from Europe. Again, due to budgetary concerns, we air local news only in the mornings with JP Pritchard formerly of KTRH and News 92.

KTRH is not a "News" station. It is a news talk station. I was born and raised in Houston. My parents listened to KTRH every morning before we went to school. KTRH then and now has a lot of talk programming. The aforementioned stations from Mediafrog are news stations. KNTH does not claim to be a news station. We have news on our station, which comes from the Salem Radio Network. Hence: SRN News. It's easy for some to sit back and armchair quarterback stations without knowing the inside information. The beauty of all of this is, if you don't like what you hear, grab your knob and give it a twist. Now, back to most important discussions of day: Translators.
 
Last edited:
I would bet hundreds of stations made this "error" at some point on Monday night. It is common for talk stations to air programs taped earlier that day in the evening and overnight hours. e.g. stations that run a local PM drive show, and then air Sean Hannity on a 2-3 hour delay, or who run the prior afternoon's Michael Savage from 2-5am.
 
If one were to assess any blame, it would be the program itself. They realize the program is tape delayed, airing at different times. Either content should not be so time sensitive or the distributor should note the content with the station and allow stations to take an 'evergreen' instead. Then again, this is paid programming. If they are paying for it, it really doesn't matter, you run the client's program.
 
B-Turner. you are correct. It's their dime. If they don't provide a generic show, then whatever they deliver is aired. PTBoardOp94, its not an error. It is now common practice. I hear it all the time and I think it sounds dated. However, its far more cost effective to air the previous days program, than pay somebody to do it. We have one show that is only delayed by three hours. ARK MIDNIGHT with Jon B. Wells airs Sunday morning after the midnight news. It's different, but it is closer up to date than the rest. It's unfortunate, but that is the way it is done in today's radio.
 
ChuckTiller said:
It's unfortunate, but that is the way it is done in today's radio.
Click to expand...

Not everyone in radio operates that way. My suggestion (and it's just a suggestion) is that Salem should have provided its stations live coverage of a breaking news event. That way ALL Salem stations could have aired current information, and not sounded dated. That would not have solved the fact that you'd be pre-empting paid programming. That of course is an internal matter. But as a corporate matter, most companies that offer a national programming service, such as CBS News or Fox News, offer their stations that kind of live programming, especially when it's something as important as Supreme Court nomination that has been talked about and promoted for a full week on those radio stations and by the President of the United States. If there's a commitment to the news, and given the amount of discussion it received prior to the announcement, it should be covered on the station even if there's a loss of revenue. That's the price of doing business. Just my opinion. I understand & respect Mr. Tiller's position.
 
This is News: KNTH Ops Mgr Chuck Tiller said earlier about his local competitor, "KTRH is not a 'News' station. It is a 'News talk' station." -- (so?) -- his comment has to mean that KNTH, is NOT a news-based station or even 'News-talk'. In reality then, based on repeated examples of KNTH missing out on up-to-the-minute actual events --- and worse, willing to broadcast programs that are hours behind reality --- KNTH is the leader in "Yesterday's News" and he's willing to justify it. Frankly, that is a pitiful admission that, in the 4th largest market in America, KNTH and Salem Media, cannot-or-refuse-to, figure out how to stay up-to-date with actual real-life-ongoing "News" events. That's News! (Chuck, at least you know I'm listening and I do enjoy the KNTH lineup of "conservatainment" talk hosts, especially Sam Malone, Michael Medved, and Larry Elder.)
 
I knew I used to many words to explain it. You must have missed the part where I wrote "KNTH does not claim to be a news station. We have news on our station, which comes from the Salem Radio Network. Hence: SRN News. It's easy for some to sit back and armchair quarterback stations without knowing the inside information." You can extract whatever meaning out of it you want. I will overlook your insults, because I figure that's your way.
 
Here's a situation: you are the guy running the station. Your station has a mix of local talent doing shows and advertisers that purchase time for their programs to air. When it comes time to air the paid for broadcast, the very time slot the advertiser purchased, do you listen to it first (as in hire a couple of people to listen to the content of every program beforehand?) Do you play the show the advertiser provided because they paid for it to play on that day at that time? And even if you were to manage to screen every paid program each day, do you cancel it because it speaks about something that already happened? If you choose the second option, you lose money and might tick off the advertiser.

Reality: You can't afford the payroll to listen to each and every show prior. There is no need. These national broadcasters that purchase time make sure their programs don't violate FCC rules or other laws including offending massive numbers of listeners. Their shows air daily around the country, problem-free. There is no need to listen and you, as the station have no right to alter the paid program. They paid for it to air as is in the time slot purchased. .

If you did pull the program, the ad agency or client might get mad and cancel, moving to another station, leaving your station with less billing. It's already tough enough to find the dollars to keep a station afloat. If you pull the program, it's akin to owning a strip center and leasing to a beauty salon that pays you rent, then refusing to let them open their doors on a certain day of your choosing. In other words if they choose to air dated material in their time slot, it's on them, especially since you don't know the content of the show beforehand.

Many, many stations delay programs. Not that many are actually aired at the very time they are done live. Some flag shows concerning content to give the station an option. Some don't. In essence, you're blaming the cook for the egg the chicken laid. If there is any 'beef' it is with Jay Sekulow, not KNTH. KNTH just played a paid program provided by the client at the time slot the client purchased without knowing the content of the program beforehand. And, in reality, it's all about getting listeners to hear those programs, so regardless, it appears even the complainer listened even if for a different reason than you'd like.
 
stan said:
Good one. 11 antennas. Any stations have more than that?
Click to expand...

Yes. Many are being "downsized" to simpler patterns, often with lower power.

Technically, the whole "set" of towers is an "antenna" and each individual part is a tower. Think of it like roof-top TV antennas (yeah, some folks still have one) that have multiple elements made up and shorter metal bars... but the bars, all together, are an antenna.

FM has a comparable set of terms. An FM transmission antenna is made up of "bays" and the set of bays is the antenna.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.
Back
Top Bottom