Houston.BloggersPub

Houston Texans players score on radio and TV

mikemcguff — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:51:07 +0000

David Barron has an article ont how Houston Texans players are appearing on radio/television and could be prepping for a second career like CBS analyst Spencer Tillman and others have:

Some players take a more carefree approach. Wide receiver David Anderson, who appears on KGOW (1560 AM) and KPRC (Channel 2), is as apt to discuss reality TV as football. Last week, he and KGOW staffer Raheel Ramzanali crooned a Backstreet Boys song in tribute to injured Texans tight end Owen Daniels, who has his own weekly air time on KFNC (97.5 FM).
"David is more about levity than about sports," said KGOW host Sean Pendergast. "We’ll do a segment about football, and then he’ll take the headset off and say, ‘We’re going to talk about the Lakers in the next segment, aren’t we?’ " READ MORE

Radio jingle pioneer Tom Merriman, 85, dies

mikemcguff — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:04:49 +0000

Sad news to report from the radio world. Tom Merriman, who was a radio jingle pioneer in Dallas, has passed away:

Merriman wrote and recorded the first radio jingle for KLIF-AM/Dallas, the first ever recorded in Dallas. He along with Jim Long partnered in 1967 to create TM, one of the successful commercial jingle and radio ID production companies. READ MORE

http://www.tommerrimantribute.com

RELATED
- Radio Pioneer Tom Merriman Dies
- Click here to listen to Tom's introduction by his friend, Ron Chapman, and remarks of longtime associate Ken Justiss who accepted for Tom at this past weekend's Texas Radio Hall of Fame ceremony
- Texas Radio Hall of Fame 2009 ceremony highlights

(Thanks Charlie)

Lou Dobbs quits CNN

mikemcguff — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 02:23:40 +0000

Steven Tyler says he has not quit Aerosmith, but we do know that longtime anchor Lou Dobbs has quit CNN. It all happened today:

Sitting before an image of an American flag on his television set, he said “some leaders in media, politics and business have been urging me to go beyond the role here at CNN and to engage in constructive problem solving as well as to contribute positively to the great understanding of the issues of our day.” READ THE REST

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Lou Dobbs Leaving CNN

(Image courtesy Flickr user congresscheck)

Steven Tyler says he is still in Aerosmith

mikemcguff — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 02:07:50 +0000

Aerosmith Steven Tyler jumped on stage at a Joe Perry solo show and said he is still in the legendary Boston band. Then they performed Walk This Way.

However Perry still seems a little reluctant about the whole thing:

"He wants to take two years off from the band," Perry told the magazine. "The rest of the band wants to keep on working. We have so many different options to fill up that time. Anything is possible at this point. Basically, any communication that we've had over the last couple of months has been through managers, so that's been pretty strange." READ MORE

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Steven Tyler quits Aerosmith

Sam Malone and Maria Todd still have an audience in Houston

mikemcguff — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:53:00 +0000

You mention that former 104.1 KRBE morning team Sam Malone and Maria Todd might be reuniting on Houston radio and based on the Web traffic to the post, you'd think I mentioned H1N1 shot locations or something.

Well, actually Google has a new map for both H1N1 and seasonal flu shots. Just enter your zip code or hometown. READ MORE

Veteran Houston TV Reporter Joins Houston Housing Authority

mikemcguff — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:27:00 +0000

I was the one to break the fact that TV reporter Dennis Spellman was leaving 39 KIAH for the Houston Houston Authority. Here is the release from the authority:

Dennis Spellman has been named Vice President, Office of External Affairs, for the Houston Housing Authority. He will serve as the press Sscretary for HHA, and also will lead the communications and community relations departments and the non-profit entity, Houston Housing Resource, Inc.

Spellman is an award-winning broadcast journalist with more than 20 years of experience. For the past nine years he has served as general assignment reporter for Channel 39 News in Houston. Previously he anchored for KTRH news radio in Houston. He also spent several years managing radio news operations in several New England markets. Spellman has won numerous awards and was nominated for a 2008 Emmy.

The Houston Housing Authority provides affordable homes to more than 60,000 people throughout Houston. The agency and its affiliates own and operate 25 housing communities with more than 6,500 units for families, elderly and other residents. More information about HHA can be found at www.housingforhouston.com.

Most Dangerous Large Metro Areas for Pedestrians

mikemcguff — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:29:00 +0000

Lobby group Transportation for America says the South has some dangerous cities for walking:

The list of the most dangerous metro areas for walking is striking in its uniformity. Nine of the ten metro areas are in the South, and the top four are in Florida. These areas are dominated by lower density and automobile-oriented development patterns, which include high-speed urban arterials that are particularly hazardous for walking. A national FHWA survey affirms these results, finding that respondents in the South rate pedestrian safety far lower than their counterparts in the rest of the country. SEE THE LIST

Here are the Texas cities on the list with ranking in front:

8 Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX (READ STORY)
13 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
19 Austin-Round Rock, TX
30 San Antonio, TX

KPRC 2’s Jennifer Reyna behind the scenes glance

mikemcguff — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:28:00 +0000

Popular traffic reporter Jennifer Reyna of KPRC 2 gives us a behind the scenes look into her on air gig including what she eats for breakfast.

My alarm goes off around 3AM. Once I get to work, I touch up for camera, put on my mic and IFB set and start on a bowl of fruit. There’s usually some combo of banana, kiwi, blueberries, strawberries, apple or oranges. Obviously, any fruit will do. READ MORE

A guy + his cantankerous dad + Twitter = CBS TV show

mikemcguff — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:03:50 +0000

I try to keep this site family friendly (that's what working at Disney for eight years does to you), but I have to talk about this. In fact I've been hesitant to post about it because of the language but the more I see it in the mainstream press...well, here we go.

A Twitter account called sh*tmydadsays has racked up more than 730,000 users. Here is the account's description:

I'm 29. I live with my 73-year-old dad. He is awesome. I just write down shit that he says

And the tweets stick to that. Well guess what? It's the new media darling of Hollywood this week reports THR.com:

CBS has picked up a comedy project based on the Twitter account, which has enlisted more than 700,000 followers since launching in August and has made its creator, Justin Halpern, an Internet star.

"Will & Grace" creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick are on board to executive produce and supervise the writing for the multicamera family comedy, which Halpern will co-pen with Patrick Schumacker. Halpern and Schumacker will also co-exec produce the Warner Bros. TV-produced project, which has received a script commitment. READ THE REST

It's funny, but kind of a one trick pony. Who knows though, it could be about the son and when he goes home at the opening and ending of each show, his dad lets it rip.

Fox 26 KRIV contributor’s movie ties

mikemcguff — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:11:00 +0000

Bob Martin aka The Accountant to the Stars has been instrumental in helping me research Houston TV news anchors that have appeared in movies.

But even he has some Hollywood ties:

Mike - My mother (Louise Martin) is the actress playing the part of the
ticket clerk in the final scene of Scarecrow (1972) with Gene Hackman in the
attached video clip. We lived in Detroit in 1972 and the scene was filmed at
the Greyhound Bus Depot in Detroit. She was a stage actress all of her life
and she did a lot of industrial films and TV and radio commercials. Her
agent called her for the cattle call they liked her and she got the part.
She used to travel to New York quite a bit for auditions and she also landed
a very small part in the Woody Allen film Annie Hall (1977).

CLICK HERE TO WATCH HER

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- KTRK 13 sports director Bob Allen's Hollywood fame
- Fox 26 KRIV anchors also in movies/TV shows
- VIDEO: KTRK 13 anchor Dave Ward's movie performance
- KTRK's Dave Ward really has been in movies
- VIDEO: KTRK's Dave Ward vs the aliens?