Austin Radio Actually Improves

For the most part, Austin radio sucks. Massively. And it usually just gets worse. But in the last couple of weeks, it has taken a couple of small steps forward - and one giant step backwards.

First, the good news. KLBJ-AM (NewsTalk 590) and KZNX-AM (1530 AM; ESPN Austin) now have FM repeaters at 99.7 FM and 104.9 FM, respectively. So now both of those stations come in with better FM fidelity than before, and if that rumored FM iPod upgrade comes through, I'll be able to listen to those stations on my iPod as well.

Next, the bad news. I mentioned in an earlier post about the worst radio show I think I have ever heard not named The Alex Jones Show. It's the Charlie Hodge Rock'N'Roll Halftime Show. KLBJ-FM took the sidekick from its morning show and gave him an hour at lunch to do very lame skits, chat constantly about "Cougars", do stunts like Homeless Karaoke, and basically annoy the hell out of me. Well, the management has apparently decided that the experiment worked, because they've now given him four hours instead, from 10am until 2pm. During this show, they do fewer songs than usual, so as to give more time for that special Charlie Hodge brand of "humor".

So now, KLBJ basically has few to no songs playing from 6am until 2pm every weekday. It's almost like they are the MTV of Austin radio - just basically giving up on music. Just another reason for me to stay far away from that frequency.