HOU

For all intents and purposes it's not just a state. It's a different planet supported by tax subsidies on the other 49 states. (Texas gets 30% of it's budget from the Federal government.) Fiscal trivia aside, It's an interesting piece of geography in terms of radio.Houston has had a ratings anomaly I'd noticed for years but never examined. I'd wondered for years how KSBJ, a non-commercial Christian Con. outlet could get a 4-share in a top 10 Metro. The reason, at least in part, is that they are a trimulcast. 89.3 KSBJ is also 89.5 KZBJ, 91.1 KYBJ, and six repeaters totally blanketing Houston, Beaumont, Galveston, Bryan, Freeport, and south to Victoria. Through sheer coverage they improve their odds of appearing in a sample in a geographically large metro. Additionally by occupying 9 different frequencies they reduce the incidence of competitors in the market.

On the FM band they have only two vague competitors: religious talker KAFR which is all satellite fed from AFR and KHCB 105.7 which is also all religious talk. KJIC is there as well but it's to the south of the metro and inspo. It is a very special situation to be the only Christian Con. outlet in a major metro.

My favorites in the market are KPFT, which I've written about before. This morning they've got The South Austin Jug Band in the studio live. KTSU which plays jazz 99% of the time was running an NPR program "Tell me More" when I checked. KACC is too weak to hear up by the airport. KTRU normally reliable is running some local football game. snore. 91.3 KPVU, however was rocking some Howling Wolf last night. But I could tell it was automated. It feels strange to stop there but there are no Public radio Stations on the AM band in all of Texas. It leaves over 2 million Texas without the option of Public Radio. Strange place this Texas...