‘No End In Sight’
• Houston’s KHOU-TV became part of the story it was covering, as the station was forced to evacuate as Harvey’s floodwaters entered the building. If you want to read some remarkable first-person coverage of the Houston situation, please follow Bill Bishop, Managing Editor of KHOU-TV, who has been tweeting some amazing stories of local heroism, both at work (a video of the KHOU lobby filling with water), and in his personal life, as Bishop later tweeted this photo: “This is my neighborhood. My home has flooded. That’s my wonderful son. This was his birthday weekend. I love you.”
• iHeartMedia’s Houston staff has been broadcasting in long form nonstop since early Friday, as well as reporting on Facebook Live to provide up-to-date info and emergency resources. The cluster has lost a station vehicle, multiple employees’ homes are affected, and the transmitter of KPRC (La Preciosa 100.7) is down due to water damage, but the five remaining iHeart stations — KODA (Sunny 99.1), KTBZ (94.5 The Buzz), KQBT (93.7 The Beat), KTRH (News Radio 740), and KBME (Sports Talk 790 AM — are being manned by on-air talent, operational staff, salespeople and managers who are on-site to answer phones and direct listeners to the appropriate community resources.
• Bryan Erickson, Director of AM Programming for iHeartMedia Houston took a brief precious moment out of his station’s wall-to-wall reporting to update us on their ongoing efforts, telling RAMP, simply, “KTRH has been in long-form coverage since 5am Friday — with no end in sight.” At press time, KTRH was also simulcasting on iHeartMedia’s Corpus Christi stations.
