Radio One Pulls Plug On News Format at News92/Houston

Over and Out

RADIO ONE has pulled the plug on the all-News format at KROI (NEWS92)/HOUSTON after three years, launching a stunt with an all-BEYONCÉ format as "B92" this morning.

A message on the station's website read, "NEWS92, HOUSTON’s first FM all-news radio station aired its last broadcast WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8th, 2014.  We’d like to thank the NEWS92 staff for their outstanding service, our advertisers and each of you our listeners and web visitors for your support. This difficult decision is a result of sustained poor ratings performance and significant financial losses over the past three years despite the substantial financial and human resources we invested. Unfortunately, the market hasn’t shown a sustainable appetite for news radio, but each of you motivated us daily to produce a high-quality news program. Together, we made history."

In a press release, RADIO ONE RVP DOUG ABERNATHY commented, "We’re proud of the work we did with News92. We hired established and trusted HOUSTONIAN journalists from the radio, print and television news industries. We also invested in community relations, infrastructure, marketing, promotions and sales. Unfortunately after three years of a valiant effort, the difficult decision had to be made."

RADIO ONE/Radio Division President CHRIS WEGMANN added, "We take the loss of employees seriously. We are working to ensure all of our impacted employees are transitioned with the dignity and respect they deserve.

WEGMANN continued saying, "Our airways remain open and available to the community, political and spiritual leaders that share in our commitment to be a voice to and for the African-American community."

Listen to the stunting here.

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