Broadcast Media

Only Want Local Channels, but Want a DVR Too? Aereo is Coming to Houston

As television begins the slow but inevitable conversion from traditional airtime to digital, on-demand services through devices like Apple TV and Roku, the one issue it faces is how to deliver things like local news or live on-air programming like sporting events. For now, if you don't have cable an ... More >>

Is It Time to Ditch Cable for Streaming Digital Video? Six Questions to Help You Decide

Lately, a number of my friends have asked the question: should I get rid of cable? Ten years ago, the answer would be yes only if you didn't watch any cable network television shows, at which point you could simply go back to an antennae. With the advent of digital television, that has become a more ... More >>

Still Treating Em Right

After 50 years as one of Texas's top powerhouse entertainers, Roy Head calls son Sundance the real star in the family.

App of the Week: Pandora vs. iHeartRadio

If you haven't been paying attention, a very tiny little war has been brewing over access to the ears of people who like to listen to radio online or on their smart phones. I say it's a tiny war because, at the moment, it is. While many of us who love music and like to listen to it a lot will do wha ... More >>

Memories Of "Crash" Collins Continue To Pour In

​Last Sunday's passing of longtime Houston radio personality "Crash" Collins and our subsequent blog about him brought in some interesting commentary from people who remembered Collins' long tenure at rock radio station KLOL-FM. Collins was one of the first disc jockeys to ditch the formalized ... More >>

Pop Rocks: The Simpsons Last Stand?

"Who knows what adventures they'll have between now and the time the show becomes unprofitable?" - Troy McClure A salary dispute is threatening to end one of television's most beloved comedies. The actors who provide the voices for the long-running cartoon hit "The Simpsons" are at odds over a new ... More >>

Is Commercial Radio Fading Into Oblivion?

​How many times has this happened to you: You're driving home from work. A song comes on. Drums. Guitar strums. A wimpy voice: "Say, oh, got this feeling that you can't fight..." You've heard this same song three times in 30 minutes, and it bores you to tears. Unlike the imaginary audience th ... More >>

Pop Rocks: We Take Our Television Seriously

The TV! The TV!​Hey America, what did you think of the season finale of The Killing? - S U C K S! Not wasting another minute watching or thinking about this show! - I want 13 hours of my life back! - Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me - A cheap, crappy cop-out. Whoa. That ... More >>

Face to Face

KGOW'S KAPOW KAPOW

1560AM weaves pop culture, locker-room humor and irreverence into sports-talk radio.

UC Radio's Mike Yusi: How To Succeed In Podcasting

"Traditional radio is as dead as Joey Ramone." ​Last year, Rocks Off's editor - who will be played by upcoming Celebrity Apprentice contestant Gary Busey for the duration of this article - hauled us into his office and said, "Dammit, With One F! This radio on the Internet thing is blowing up ... More >>

Trae Vs. The Box: No. 2 Local Music Story Of 2010

Rocks Off is counting down the Top 5 local music stories of 2010 this week. We have already covered Lightnin' Hopkins, Meridian and Fitzgerald's. ​In 2008, eight people were shot at Trae Day, a day sanctioned by the City of Houston to honor rapper Trae tha Truth's philanthropic work with the ... More >>

Confirmed: Trae And The Box Both Drop Lawsuits

Marco TorresBrandi Garcia and Trae at last week's Trae Day​Saturday, reports began popping up that Trae tha Truth, recent celebrator of Trae Day/Houston Press cover man/upcoming HPMA special guest, had dropped his suit against Radio One and The Box. Though no one from Trae's side has been avai ... More >>

Lone Star Lyric Theater Festival

Radio meets opera during the Radio Opera Hour

Ikea's "69" Ad: Too Racy For Houston?

Some Houston TV stations won't go down this road?​Music from bad `70s porn and graphics talking about 69 in the bedroom, in the kitchen, in the office, in the bathroom, and how 69 is "the best date ever" -- why would anyone think something like that is nasty?(Unless the bathroom is in some bachelo ... More >>

Judge Denies Trae's Injunction Request Against The Box

​Simply put, the task before Trae seems illogical. No hip-hop artist has ever walked into a courtroom and essentially forced a radio station to play their music. Then again, no other hip-hop artist has a day named after him in his own city. Interestingly, it was the unfortunate events that occurre ... More >>

Trae Filing Suit Against 97.9 The Box Parent Company, Staff

​Publicists for Trae the Truth sent out a press release this afternoon with the news that the Houston rapper will hold a press conference tomorrow morning to announce he is filing a civil suit against 97.9 The Box parent company Radio One, as well as several staff members of the station, alleging ... More >>

97.9 The Box Declines Comment On Trae Situation

​After a couple of days of phone and email tag, Rocks Off was finally able to get in touch with Terri Thomas, program director of 97.9 The Box, regarding the highly rated urban station's reputed ban on everything associated with local rapper Trae tha Truth - songs, mixtapes, in-studio appearances, ... More >>

This Week In Beyonce: Did Kelly Clarkson Bite "Halo"?

(Listen to "Halo" here) Texas' two biggest pop divas are currently embroiled in a feud only the media could love. It seems Kelly Clarkson's latest single from her album All I Ever Wanted, "Already Gone," sounds a lot like Beyonce's recent Top 5 smash, "Halo." Turns out there's a good reason for thi ... More >>

Fight for Your Right

Does the U.S. belong with the Axis of Evil?

KCOH Up For Sale, But Staying Put

One of the more interesting bits of music-related legislation to come up recently is the bill known as the Performance Rights Act. Drafted as House Resolution 848, sponsored by House Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) and co-sponsored by a host of legislators including Houston Dem ... More >>

DCI 2009: The Countdown

Web exclusive!

The Great American Soccer Boom: Not Gonna Happen

Photo by faeryboots Last week, I wrote a post about the Rockets lowering ticket prices, and I made a comment about the Dynamo playing in a minor league. And that is a comment that I stand by, though several of you got upset. And the responses that I got were the same as I always get: soccer is th ... More >>

The Great American Soccer Boom: Not Gonna Happen

Photo by faeryboots Last week, I wrote a post about the Rockets lowering ticket prices, and I made a comment about the Dynamo playing in a minor league. And that is a comment that I stand by, though several of you got upset. And the responses that I got were the same as I always get: soccer is th ... More >>

Pirate Radio USA

Web exclusive!

Can't Get It Out of My Head: David Allan Coe's "Whips and Things" (NSFW)

That lovable scamp Mojo Nixon just played this song on his Sirius XM Outlaw Country shift, and now only God knows when Rocks Off is going to be able to scrub his mind clean of "Pussy-Eatin' Pamela," "Suck-'em Silly Shirley" and a few others he can't bring himself to type. And, in case you are ... More >>

Layoffs At Clear Channel

Sneakily timing things to get overshadowed by the Inauguration, media giant Clear Channel is implementing what are expected to be big layoffs at its many radio stations across the country.A tipster tells us the ax has started falling in Houston, where 15 people have reportedly been let go, and there ... More >>

Houston Radio's Sports-Talk Battle Goes On

The latest ratings are out, and there's a bit of a surprise in Houston sports-talk radio -- the fledgling outsider, KGOW, has made a bit of a name for itself.As we wrote about a year and a half ago, Houston is -- very oddly -- the home of four sports-talk radio stations. It's odd because even when y ... More >>

Houston Radio's Sports-Talk Battle Goes On

The latest ratings are out, and there's a bit of a surprise in Houston sports-talk radio -- the fledgling outsider, KGOW, has made a bit of a name for itself.As we wrote about a year and a half ago, Houston is -- very oddly -- the home of four sports-talk radio stations. It's odd because even when y ... More >>

Houston Radio's Sports-Talk Battle Goes On

The latest ratings are out, and there's a bit of a surprise in Houston sports-talk radio -- the fledgling outsider, KGOW, has made a bit of a name for itself.As we wrote about a year and a half ago, Houston is -- very oddly -- the home of four sports-talk radio stations. It's odd because even when y ... More >>

Obama Ads On The Air In Houston?

These Things Don't Fit

This TV Will Eat Your Baby

TV Ratings, Courtesy of Houstoned Guest Commentator Conchita Maria Guadalupe Maria Hortencia Juanita Maria Garcia Gomez Gonzalez de Smith

Sports talk radio stations fight for listeners in Houston

Jock Talk

Rogue Waves

A new report cuts through the static on the radio industry

Blocked Signals

City, county officials silence a proposed radio station inside the Dome

How Long, Oh, Lord, How Long

Another outpost of crap plops onto the Houston dial, as this open letter reveals

The Shannon Brothers Family Christmas

Thursday, December 19 through Sunday, December 23

Gary Stewart

Friday, November 29

After M*A*S*H

Larry Gelbart is one of TV's last great writers. So why can't he stay tuned?

Flunk You

If Fox expels Undeclared, blame everyone but Judd Apatow

Net Loss

The government killed TV, and Hollywood's begging it to revive the corpse

Streamlining the Hit-Making Process

Clear Channel wants to cut the indies out of the deal

Racket

Clear Channel keeps the air free of insensitive songs

School's Out

When Fox-TV canceled American High, the network hit a new low

Platinum Dreams

Local Latium Records rides pop Latin wave to success

Mix Master

Who do we have to thank for Rod Stewart every hour on the hour? This guy, Guy Zapoleon.

Played Out

The secrets of radio success Repetition. Caution. Repetition. Caution. Repetition.

Station Break

Beset by budget problems, bereft of substantive local programming, Channel 8 finds itself at a crossroads. Perhaps it's time to put the "public" back into Houston Public Television.