Federal Communications Commission

Zaprduer Analysis Of A.J. Clemente's (F-Bomb Dropping News Anchor) 15 Minutes Of Fame

As I wrote about yesterday, Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz kind of re-calibrated the acceptability scale for the f-word on Saturday when he dropped it in the middle of his brief speech welcoming Bostonians back to baseball in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings. Hell, even the FCC wasn't go ... More >>

Boston Red Sox' David Ortiz: "This Is Our Fucking City"

When real tragedy like the bombings at the Boston Marathon last Monday occurs, one of the phrases that gets uttered seemingly every time is that "sports helps the healing process." Now, most of the time we hear this, it's uttered by someone who makes their living in sports, so the statement may b ... More >>

Rice President David Leebron Plays a Painful DJ Set On KTRU

Disclosure: The author of this piece volunteers for KTRU. On Wednesday afternoon, Rice University president David Leebron pulled up a chair inside of the KTRU Rice Radio studio and played some of those rooty-tooty, groovin' oldies. In other words, music that KTRU has made a point not to play since ... More >>

Comedy is NOT Pretty: Dismissed from 1560, Comic John Wessling's Heart Still Belongs to Radio

Chris Rock once said of the music business, "Here today, gone today." The same might be said of radio, particularly sports radio where hosts and shows change about as often as the baseball seasons. A few weeks ago, the latest change came at 1560 when Adam Clanton (now back on air at 790) and John We ... More >>

Houston's Not The Only City Having Problems With Comcast SportsNet

The Portland Trail Blazers are in the middle of a 10-year contract with Comcast SportsNet Northwest. And so far, the only people in the CSN Northwest viewing area who can see the Trail Blazers are those people who have Comcast. Not people with Direct TV. Not people with Dish Network. Not those who m ... More >>

How Far Is Too Far: Verizon Argues Its Network Is Protected Under the Fifth Amendment

There is a tenuous balance in the digital world between people who share things online, those with whom they share them and the person/entity in between that facilitates that sharing process. In the simplest terms, that entity is like a bank that holds your money between the time you receive it and ... More >>

Ted

Seth McFarlane's new film is stuffed with more of the same.

Know Your Local Media: Laura Reynolds and Her Sexy Traffic

Each week, we will profile an esteemed member of the local media and ask them five questions, for better or worse. Name: Laura Reynolds Employer: CBS Radio Title: Assistant Program Director/Traffic Reporter Laura Reynolds wears a lot of hats for the various CBS-owned radio stations including 610 A ... More >>

Super Bowl XLVI: M.I.A.'s Bird Is The Word

On its best day, you can say the musical portion of the Super Bowl ranks somewhere below the fifth time you see the latest Go Daddy commercial and somewhere above that pre-game segment featuring an offensive lineman and his mother. I mean, who really looks forward to a halftime show, post Nipplegate ... More >>

Union Protest at Comcast Friday Over Low-Income Kids Internet Program

Comcast says: Yes, we do care! ​Back in September, Comcast made a deal with the Federal Communications Commission as part of its takeover of NBC and Universal Studios, that it would provide low-cost Internet services and a cheaply priced computer to low-income families -- but that hasn't happe ... More >>

All That Jazz

Critics say KTSU has lost its listeners, not to mention its soul, by ditching its cutting-edge music and many of its veteran DJs.

Pop Rocks: Finally, The Super Bowl Is Safe For PG-13 Rated Entertainment Again

The boob that launched a thousand obscenity complaints...​Over seven years after the FCC went into a tizzy over Janet Jackson exposing her breast during the 2004 Super Bowl (making a D-cup out of an A-cup, perhaps), a federal appeals court upheld its finding yesterday that the commission acted ... More >>

Janet Jackson's Nipple Just Fine to View, Federal Judges Rule

DON'T LOOK!!!!!​You may not remember who played in the 2004 Super Bowl here in Houston, but you no doubt recall the earthshaking fallout from a brief glimpse of Janet Jackson's covered-up nipple at halftime. Justin Timberlake, the cad, ripped open Jackson's shirt to reveal the nip, thus doomi ... More >>

Vintage Pics Of Destiny's Child, ZZ Top, Blue October & More

Photo by Steve Harris/Compadre RecordsHayes Carll before he was old enough to shave... not that he ever has.​The other day, one of the Rocks Off Crew was rummaging around in the Houston Press office and came across a bunch of publicity stills for various musicians. Allow us to explain what th ... More >>

Cradle of Filth: Buckets Of Blood & Breasts (W/NSFW Video)

​Cradle of Filth is a band that we absolutely hated when we first heard them, but have become a dedicated fan of in recent years. Part of it is because when interviewed Dani Filth a while back we discovered that he is one of the nicest, most personable people we've ever met in the music indust ... 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 >>

KTSU's Take Ova Crew Brings Student Voices To "The Choice"

Take Ova Crew on FacebookThe Take Ova Crew welcomes Houston's own Devin the Dude.​In 1972, the FCC approved a license for Texas Southern University's FM radio station, 90.9 KTSU ("The Choice"). The station was originally intended to give students in the communications department an opportunity ... More >>

Pop Rocks: A (Not Really) Canonical List Of Wardrobe Malfunctions (NSFW)

Bad idea.​The "wardrobe malfunction" is a phenomenon I confess I wasn't really aware of until Super Bowl XXXVIII. Half of us at the party were watching the actual Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake halftime show, the other half were watching the South Park (or was it Family Guy?) episode running ... More >>

Pop Rocks: What's Your [Wardrobe] Malfunction? (NSFW)

Bad idea.​The "wardrobe malfunction" is a phenomenon I confess I wasn't really aware of until Super Bowl XXXVIII. Half of us at the party were watching the actual Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake halftime show, the other half were watching the South Park (or was it Family Guy?) episode running ... More >>

Boobylicious: Music's 20 Most Memorable Breasts (Semi-NSFW)

ztams.comWendy O. Williams, seen here with Motorhead front man Lemmy Kilmister​It may sound silly, but boobs are powerful things. Men are fascinated and entranced by them, while women constantly obsess over their size and shape. In a way, they're not unlike the ring in Lord of the Rings: Capab ... More >>

HISD Gets Millions, Avoids Tax Hike & Harvin Moore Gives the Lege a Bronx Cheer

Cutting too much doesn't mean there's money in the bank​It doesn't look like there's going to be an increase in taxes after all and Houston ISD just got word that it's been approved for more than $70.6 million in so-called E-Rate Funding which means a lot of kids who've been going without wi-f ... More >>

KTRU Departs FM Airwaves Defiant, Unique As Ever

Marc BrubakerPatricia Bacalao at the statue of Rice founder "Willy" Marsh Rice​"I'm so nervous," declared former KTRU station manager Joey Yang as he took over the helm for the final hour of programming that would be broadcast on the FM band. "Since 1971 we've been on FM, and it's all coming d ... More >>

KTRU Has One More Week On The FM Dial (UPDATED)

UPDATE (3:06 p.m.): A reader just emailed Rocks Off and says KTRU staff was just informed the station is going off the FM airwaves at 6 a.m. next Thursday, April 28. burndownblog.wordpress.com​A little earlier, Rocks Off started hearing rumors that this evening would be Rice University studen ... More >>

FCC Approves KTRU Sale To University Of Houston

Brittanie Shey​The Federal Communications Commission announced today it has approved the sale of Rice University student station KTRU's (91.7 FM) broadcast license and signal tower to the University of Houston System, which plans to change the free-form format to classical music and fine-arts ... More >>

FCC Approves Sale of KTRU to UH

Brittanie SheyNo go for no-sale people.​You couldn't call it unexpected: The FCC has approved the sale of Rice's legendary KTRU-FM to the University of Houston, which plans to change it from über-eclecticism to classical music. Despite rallies, protests and formal filings urging the Federal ... More >>

KGOW'S KAPOW KAPOW

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

Janet Jackson

KTRU Lives On At KPFT In Seven-Year Lease

Marc Brubaker​KTRU (91.7 FM), the student-run station at Rice University sold to the University of Houston just before the start of school last fall, will begin broadcasting on Pacifica station KPFT's (90.1 FM) high-definition channel, it was announced today. This means the station won't be r ... More >>

KTRU Will Air On KPFT's HD Station Under New Deal

KTRU: The bumper stickers will still need updating​Rice's legendary KTRU will live again on the FM dial -- sort of. Rice has signed a seven-year deal with KPFT to have KTRU broadcast on the Pacifica station's HD station, the achool announced today. This means the station won't be reduced to ... More >>

Ex-Clear Channel Exec Goes Online, Local With Radio Katy

​John Swift was Director of Productions for Clear Channel Houston until 2009, but his latest project is taking him off the airwaves and into the world of streaming audio with the launch of his Internet station, Radio Katy. Rocks Off has a love/hate relationship with Houston's biggest weste ... More >>

Texas Watchdog Unearths More KTRU Sale Documents

Brittanie Shey​We're all still waiting to see if the Federal Communications Commission will approve the proposed sale of Rice University's student-staffed station KTRU to the University of Houston, which (among other things) would more or less be the death knell for local music on Houston's ai ... More >>

Music's Biggest Surprises Of 2010

Faith Silva​Editor's Pick: The renewed, and continuing, interest of local indie-rockers and hipsters (and people who are a long way from neither) in traditional honky-tonk as played by Robert Ellis & the Boys and as documented by a certain Lonesome Onry and Mean and myself this summer. Encoura ... More >>

KTRU: No. 1 Local Music Story Of The Year

Rocks Off has been counting down the top local music stories of the year. Before this came the Lightnin' Hopkins historical marker, Meridian imbroglio, Fitzgerald's sale and Trae vs. The Box. Brittanie Shey​Rocks Off wrote a lot of words about Rice University's pending sale of KTRU (91.7 FM) ... More >>

KTRU Sale Now Totally In FCC's Hands

​Earlier today, activist group Friends of KTRU filed its opposition to the responses to its Petition to Deny the sale of the station's FM frequency (91.7), broadcast tower and FCC rights from Rice University to the University of Houston System. UHS plans to convert 91.7 from the largely studen ... More >>

Friday Juvenile Time Waster -- Live TV Cussing Videos!

Bleep happens.​Since getting into radio a few years ago, my biggest fear hasn't been a "dear in the headlights" moment (I prepare pretty meticulously), it hasn't been a guest or caller sending the show sideways. The one thing I'm still most fearful of is accidentally cursing on the air. You' ... More >>

KTRU Deal A "Black Mark" On Rice University, Says Yang

Photos by Marc BrubakerThese pictures are from a slideshow from KTRU's The Local Show shortly after the Rice-UH negotiations became public. See here for the rest.​If you've got a spare hour or two this holiday season, Rocks Off recommends you take a gander at the petition to deny Rice Universi ... More >>

KTRU Color Chart Shows Local Radio's Dull Future

Brittanie Shey​Every time it seems like the story of the controversial Rice-University of Houston deal to sell Rice student station KTRU's over-the-air facilities to U of H is slowing down a little, it always gets a little more interesting. Most recently, the activist group Friends of KTRU fi ... More >>

KTRU's Plight Draws National Media Attention (UPDATED)

Updated at 1 p.m. with comments from KTRU station manager Joey Yang. Photos by Brittanie SheySupporters of KTRU rallied on the Rice University campus in August to protest the station's proposed sale to the University of Houston system.​As time grows short for supporters of KTRU (91.7 FM) to h ... More >>

Texas Watchdog: U Of H Covered Up KTRU Purchase Plans

Bad Cougars? Bad advice?​The investigative Web site Texas Watchdog says it has obtained emails that show the nonprofit agency hired by the University of Houston to negotiate the purchase of KTRU (91.7 FM) from Rice University encouraged U of H officials to keep their plans to buy the mostly st ... More >>

Teflon Don

Rick Ross writes rhymes for gangsta lifestyle

Saturday: The Marching Owl Band At Rice Stadium

Photos by Marco Torres​ For more photos from Saturday's game, see our slideshow here. Saturday was a difficult day for Aftermath on a number of levels. Not only did we have to watch our soon-to-be alma mater get its tail kicked by our crosstown rival, we were also forced to sit through what ... More >>

Stevens & Pruett Vs. The FCC: Beer Cans And Hershey Kisses

Rocks Off is in the process of collecting stories about legendary Rock 101 KLOL morning team Stevens & Pruett as a tribute to Mark Stevens, who passed away Tuesday morning from complications of Alzheimer's disease at age 76. We're especially interested in hearing from the duo's colleagues at KLOL, ... More >>

KTRU Deal Signed, Station Likely Off FM Air By End Of 2010

​After the University of Houston Board of Regents voted to buy 91.7 FM from Rice University and convert the frequency to all classical and fine-arts programming earlier this summer, various KTRU staff, alumni and supporters formed Friends of KTRU, an activist group dedicated to keeping the lar ... More >>

KTRU Deal Signed By Rice & UH; Station Goes Off The FM Dial By The End Of The Year

​The news isn't good for fans of KTRU.After the University of Houston Board of Regents voted to buy 91.7 FM from Rice University and convert the frequency to all classical and fine-arts programming earlier this summer, various KTRU staff, alumni and supporters formed Friends of KTRU, an activist ... More >>

Ranch Style Beans

Local folk hero is well-rounded, to say the least.