Nocturnal Classical Fans: No More Requests Or Local Hosts For You

By John Nova Lomax Fri., Apr. 29 2011 at 12:00 PM

Roll over Beethoven, tell the playlist bot the news.

Looking for a refreshing jolt of Rimsky-Korsakov to get you through that wee-hours cram session?

If you've been getting your fix through KUHF's overnight classical DJs, you are going to have to look elsewhere after the dust settles on the purchase of KTRU and KUHF's upcoming flip to NPR news and talk.

Richard Bonnin, executive director of media relations at UH's Office of University Communication, tells Rocks Off that locally-hosted overnight shows on KUHF will be a thing of the past.

Don't go looking for them KUHA, the phoenix rising from KTRU's ashes, either.

Bonnin says that KUHA - not KUHC, as it had originally been named - the new classical station that is set to replace Rice radio, will be automated from midnight to 6 a.m. (In case you're wondering, KUHA stands for University of Houston Arts.)

KUHF News 88.7 will be automated from midnight until 4 a.m.

The format flips for the two frequencies will go into effect on final closing of KTRU's contract of sale.

So not only will our airwaves be deprived of dozy, possibly drunk, Rice undergrads mumbling out who played what 45 minutes ago, we are also about to lose those velvet-voiced classical DJs fielding our requests.

In the wee hours, they will be just another couple of robot stations on the dial. As if we didn't have enough of those already...

Tags:

KTRU, KUHA, KUHF

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Listener

I listened to KUHF online after a search to find stations that NOT streaming that bottom-of-the-barrel Classical 24 network.

Surprise, KUHF, now KUHA, is now pouring those affected-speech, lowest-common-denominator, personality-vacant Minnesota Classical 24 announcers and wallpaper music too, like about 85% of streaming classical stations. There's no reason to listen to KUHA, you can get that Classical 24 crap anywhere on the internet.

Whatever the reason they tell you that they put Classical 24 on their station doesn't matter, because the reason is obvious: it's cheap.

FYI: KCLV, WQXR, KQAC, and WETA still have decent overnight classical music.

-db

Neither UH station is going to have much in the way of "local" anything.This is strictly a money and image deal.They could have both without killing KTRU.In the aftermath, the only thing I know is that both universities suck.

RamonLP4

Awesome!! Man this deal gets better and better.

Funny how the station won't take advantage of volunteer student DJs from the University. They could fill up those slots easily with students and it would be a great thing for them and for fans but then again University of Houston's Radio station (contrary to what they may say) is not a college station nor is it about or for the students. And classical fans, don't think this is about you either - it's about being able to expand canned NPR programming which is the station's real cash cow. You don't matter either.

Ashamed to be a coog,