KTBB News|Sports|Talk - GenFAQ

What happened to David Smoak?

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:40:00 --700

What happened to David Smoak? (Posted by Administrator)

ANSWER

David Smoak left KTBB for reasons that we cannot disclose at this time.

Bill Coates is now hosting SportsTalk every weekday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. on KTBB FM 92.1. Bill is an experienced, talented, network-quality sports broadcasting professional with over 30 years in the business and over 19 years at KTBB. Bill brings and encyclopedic knowledge of professional, collegiate and high school sports together with an easy, inviting conversational style. We are excited to have Bill on the air in a long-form format and we expect him to take SportsTalk to a new level in the coming months.

I am still amazed that your station keeps Rush Limbaugh on the air!

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:40:00 --700

I am still amazed that your station keeps Rush Limbaugh on the air! (Posted by Administrator)

ANSWER

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with us. We
appreciate all listener input.

With respect to Rush Limbaugh, I wish you could see my email inbox. It's
uncanny how many complaints we get about Rush versus how many listeners
write in to thank us for airing Rush. No doubt about it, Rush is a
lightning rod and he engenders strong opinion. Here we are talking about
him.

Which is exactly what talk radio is about.

Rush is smart enough to know that a sizable number of the listeners to his
show think he's a buffoon and they listen in order to reaffirm that
opinion. Rush is laughing all the way to the bank.

If you met Rush in person, he would tell you that he is not out to drive
American policy or shape the political landscape. He's out to sell Select
Comfort mattresses. Which he does in a huge way.

Rush is the most listened-to radio show in the U.S. and the most
listened-to show on KTBB. If we took him off the air, a competing station
in the market would grab him in a nanosecond and in an instant become a
formidable competitor for us. I'm not about to let that happen.

We have an entirely different talk lineup on KTBB-FM at 92.1. During the
time that Rush is on the air, you can listen to Clark Howard and Dave
Ramsey. Both shows are excellent.

I again thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with us.

Paul L. Gleiser

Why am I being asked to enter a security code when using your contact forms?

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 14:24:00 --700

Why am I being asked to enter a security code when using your contact forms? (Posted by Administrator)

The security code prompt allows KTBB.com to safeguard against automated comment spam submissions. These bogus submissions have reached a
critical level and are jeopardizing our ability to receive your comments or questions. We hope that this measure will help us in this regard.

I would like to contact your offices, or one of your staff, how would I do so?

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 12:15:00 --700

I would like to contact your offices, or one of your staff, how would I do so? (Posted by Administrator)

There are a number of ways to contact us:

You call our offices at this number (903)-593-2519
You may send us a fax: Office Fax: 903-597-4141 | Sales Fax: 903-597-8378 | News Fax: 903-593-4918 | Sports Fax: 903-509-3986
You may use the form on our CONTACT PAGE to send us your comments or questions.

Any chance of making both AM & FM the same programing? Or maybe boosting the signal on 600 AM?

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 03:21:00 --700

Any chance of making both AM & FM the same programing? Or maybe boosting the signal on 600 AM? (Posted by Administrator)

ANSWER

Mr. Armstrong:

Thanks for your email.

Van is a little bit of a stretch for us and I'm sorry for your frustration.
I wish there was more that I could do about it.

Neither of your suggetions are workable, however. Let me explain why.

Your first suggestion is to simulcast KTBB-FM on KTBB-AM's signal. That may
seem like a good idea at first blush but when you think about it for a
moment, it doesn't work. We made the decision to change the call letters of
what was then KDOK to KTBB-FM and to change KDOK's programming format from
oldies to news and talk in order to maximize our position as the news and
talk leader in the market and, secondarily, to stifle potential competition.

Before it was all the buzz in the radio industry trade publications, we
recognized the fact that more and more music FM stations were going to quit
the music business and go to news or talk formats. That is now happening all
across the country. KTBB-AM, with its news and talk franchise, is the
backbone of this company. When we saw the "talk on FM" trend very early in
its development, we decided that if talk competitiion on the FM band is
inevitable, we'd rather be our own competition.

If we simulcast KTBB-AM, it will leave quality network talk programming
available in the market for a potential competitor to use against us while
depriving us of the audience that we could otherwise develop and sell to
advertisers. Dave Ramsey is just one example. He is about the hottest thing
in talk radio at the moment. If we don't air his show, somebody in this
market will and unless he is on one of our staions, his presence in the
market will have a negative impact on us. Using this example around the
clock, we program KTBB-FM separately for the most part from KTBB-AM and thus
we strengthen our position as the news and talk radio leader in the market
while we concurrently preclude an otherwise inevitable competitor from
gaining a toehold against us.

As for "boosting the signal on 600 AM," that cannot happen either. Think
about what would happen if broadcasters could simply "boost" their signals
at will. We'd all go out and buy the biggest transmitter we could find and
put it on the air hoping to get the most coverage possible. That is exactly
what was happening in the early 1920s when radio was new.

The result was chaos. Unless you regulate use of the spectrum, every
broadcaster will put as much signal in the air as possible and the resulting
interference will be horrendous.

Thus, early in radio's history, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
was formed and they began licensing stations according to population density
and setting the operating parameters (power and directionality) of stations.
KTBB-AM has a very specific set of operating parameters that are a part of
its license and we must observe those parameters or risk interfering with
other licensed stations.

A little bit more on this subject is available in an answer to a similar
question from a listener. The link to that post is here:
http://www.ktbb.com/news/View.php?ArticleID=10656

This is a long answer to your email, but I hope it helps explain why we do
what we do.

I appreciate your interest and I thank you for taking the time to write.

Paul L. Gleiser

Surely KDOK isn't going to a "talk radio" format!?!

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 05:44:00 --700

Surely KDOK isn't going to a "talk radio" format!?! (Posted by Administrator)

ANSWER

KDOK will, in fact, change call letters to KTBB-FM and begin broadcasting
all news and talk. The change will take place April 27.

I am the decision maker. It was not made lightly.

People will lose their jobs. That does not please me. The affected people
are more than employees, they have become friends of mine in the decade and
a half that they have been a part of my company. I am doing all that I can
within the bounds of fiscal responsibility and my responsibility for the
health of the company to provide those employees with a severance package
that will soften the blow.

Is it possible to listen to your station online?

Thu, 10 May 2007 08:52:00 --700

Is it possible to listen to your station online? (Posted by Administrator)

Yes it is. We are pleased to offer KTBB's complete program schedule 24 hours a day, seven days a week via internet audio streaming.

You will find details on our INTERNET STREAMING SUBSCRIPTION page.

What happened to the Dale Groom talk show on Saturday mornings?

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 05:07:00 --700

What happened to the Dale Groom talk show on Saturday mornings? (Posted by Administrator)

ANSWER

Dr. Oxford:

About 18 months ago, Dale Groom became the Extension Agent for Dallas County. It has become clear that the demands of that job and his frequent travel make it increasingly difficult for Dale to devote the time to a one-hour program on Saturday. Dale was a valued member of our lineup for many years and we wish him the best.

I missed one of your shows, is it possible to obtain a copy of that show? Do you offer podcasts of your daily programming?

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 01:04:00 --700

I missed one of your shows, is it possible to obtain a copy of that show? Do you offer podcasts of your daily programming? (Posted by Administrator)

Yes, if the show in question is part of our MP3/Podcasting program. The following shows are available, for 1 week, for download and podcasting:

The Morning News - Details
SportsTalk - Details

Every morning around 6:15 your signal seems to be pumped up?

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 05:09:00 --700

Every morning around 6:15 your signal seems to be pumped up? (Posted by Administrator)

That second or so when static comes thru causes the listener to miss half a sentence or so. Can this process occur before 6:00 am, instead of in the middle of the sports update?

ANSWER

The momentary interruption that you hear is the result of the physical movement of some rather large relays that serve to:

Would you consider changing your on the hour and half hour news from ABC?

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 05:08:00 --700

Would you consider changing your on the hour and half hour news
from ABC? (Posted by Administrator)

ANSWER

Changing networks to move away from ABC is not an option for us. There are a
number of reasons.

First let me respond to the belief held by you and a number of others that
ABC News Radio displays a liberal bias. As you may know from my weekly
feature called "You Tell Me" (www.ktbb.com/youtellme) I am a committed
conservative. KTBB's hospitality to conservative thought is well-evidenced
by the fact that we are the home in East Texas for Glenn Beck, Rush
Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Michael Savage.

If you believe that ABC displays a liberal bias, you join a fairly large
chorus of others. But when you examine that belief closely, you will almost
always find that the liberal bias charge pertains principally to the news
product on the ABC Television Network, mainly their flagship broadcast ABC
World News with Charles Gibson.

I am not going to debate whether or not ABC News as seen on television is
biased. Some very reasonable and well-informed people believe that it is.
Others believe otherwise.

What I am going to dwell on is the product we get from ABC News Radio. The
ABC News Radio newsroom is in a separate building in a separate part of town
in New York from the ABC newsroom that serves the television network. ABC
News Radio uses separate staff and separate facilities. On big stories, the
radio network and the television network will occasionally share some
technical facilities and may exchange audio with each other. But for the
vast majority of the time, radio news and television news each create their
own products separate and apart from each other.

And in general, the ABC News Radio people are much less impressed with
themselves than the people at the television network.

"But," you say, "I hear Charles Gibson on your radio station every day." Yes
you do. Charles Gibson does the first two mintues (which is all we clear) of
the top-of-the-hour newscast at 4 p.m. central time. This is largely a
promotional effort on behalf of ABC News promoting the evening television
network newscast "ABC World News." The Charles Gibson radio newscast is
written by the radio news desk and the copy is sent to Charles Gibson to
read. I have seen the process first-hand at big news events that I have
covered such as the New Hampshire Primary and the two political conventions
this summer. With respect to editorial content, the radio newscast featuring
Charles Gibson's voice remains a radio product.

My eyes are wide open on this. If you were to ask me to make a bet, I would
bet that the majority of the staff in the New York and Washington newsrooms
of ABC News Radio vote Democrat. I would bet everything that I own that Ann
Compton, ABC News Radio White House correspondent since the administration
of Gerald Ford, is a liberal Democrat as well.

Before George W. Bush was governor or president, he lived near my home in
Dallas and we belonged to Highland Park United Methodist Church. I saw him
every Sunday morning and over a period of several years, I struck up a
casual friendship with him and consider him a friend to this day.

Thus, for the past eight years, I have listened to Ann Compton's coverage of
the Bush White House with a very critical ear. To my ear, Ann has been
consummately professional. In nearly eight years of the administration of a
man I voted for and count as a friend, I have not heard Ann step over the
line once. If I had, I would not have hesitated to let the network hear from
me.

I have worked literally elbow-to-elbow at major news events with the people
you hear on the ABC Radio Network every day. I'm talking about Doug
Limerick, Aaron Katersky, Vic Ratner, Steven Portnoy and others. I can tell
you from personal experience that these people are professionals who are
trying to do a professional job. They likely are liberal Democrats and they
bring, as we all do, their personal biases with them to work. But I have
never heard or observed any of them actively pursuing an agenda-driven
reporting bias.

On to a couple of other points...

Many who write or call us to complain about ABC suggest that we affiliate
with the Fox News Radio Network.

That is not a practical option. With respect to radio, Fox News is little
more than a brand name and a minimal top-of-the-hour news product. It offers
none of the resources of ABC News Radio. A single example is ABC Newscall.
This is a service to radio affiliates that makes audio cuts from the news
available on a searchable database. It is updated 24 hours a day, seven days
a week, 365 days a year. We make use of Newscall every morning in preparing
the KTBB Morning News. It is something that we would never want to live
without.

Fox News does not offer a comparable product.

When a major story breaks, ABC News Radio has people and equipment and
resources developed over the past 50 years to cover it. Fox News Radio does
not. On a major story, they can offer affiliates little other than
re-purposed TV audio that is, by the very process of re-purposing it,
delayed from real time.

A number of radio stations that left the CBS Radio Network and ABC News
Radio to join Fox have quietly re-affliated with one or the other. They may
still run the Fox newscast on the top of the hour, but if a big story
breaks, these stations revert to ABC or CBS.

We at KTBB have been able to cover major stories such as the past four
political conventions, the key anniveraries of 9/11, the election of Pope
Benedict XVI and other stories because of the resources that ABC offers its
affiliates. As an example, both ABC and CBS had "Radio Row" installations
for affiliates at the political conventions. This is a service, however,
that Fox News does not offer its affiliates.

As I said at the outset, I am a committed conservative. I believe that media
bias is a serious and growing problem. I can make the argument that
journalism in America as we have defined it for generations is in very
serious jeopardy. I believe that the major TV networks and a number of large
daily newspapers have wittingly or unwittingly tilted their coverage so
severely as to have forfeited the public trust.

But, with that belief as background, I have not been unhappy with the
product we have been getting from ABC News Radio.

Thank your for listening and offering your comments.

Why can I listen to other Texas stations without subscription?

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 05:08:00 --700

Why can I listen to other Texas stations without subscription? (Posted by Administrator)

ANSWER

The quick answer is because the other radio stations do not broadcast 100% of their over-the-air programming on the internet. In almost all cases, they separate at the commercial breaks and run either fill music or commercials that are locally produced and do not employ announcers or actors that are members of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA).

Do you have any plans to boost your stations signal strength?

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 05:08:00 --700

Do you have any plans to boost your stations signal strength? (Posted by Administrator)

I love the programming especially sports talk and Sean Hannity. I am also a big high school football fan and this leads me to my problem. I live in Jacksonville and when the sun goes down so does KTBB SIGNAL! Other radio stations start bleeding in. I am left with no other choice but to turn the radio off. This happens not only with my home radio but in both vehicles. Of course this has been going on for a long time I just finally had to say something about it. Your ratings must be effected by this and do you have any plans in the near future to boost your stations signal strength? I WANT TO HEAR MORE!

ANSWER

Yours is a question we get nearly every fall.

If it were up to us, we'd be on the air at 100 kilowatts. The equipment to broadcast at a higher power output is relatively cheap and, despite the high energy costs that so dominate the headlines as I write this, so is the electricity.

Why can't I get your station 600 am before 7:30 in the morning?

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 05:08:00 --700

Why can't I get your station 600 am before 7:30 in the morning? (Posted by Administrator)

ANSWER

Yours is a question we get frequently at this time of year as the sun begins rising later and setting earlier. You didn't specify where you live in the area so my answer will be general in nature.

LIVE AUDIO: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 01:05:00 --700

LIVE AUDIO: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (Posted by Administrator)

Frequently Asked Questions about our Live Audio Streaming Subscription Service.

Do I have to be a subscriber to download audio files?

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 04:56:00 --700

Do I have to be a subscriber to download audio files? (Posted by Administrator)

No, you do not need to purchase a subscription to download MP3s or to use the podcasting features from our
Podcasts and MP3 Downloads page. The subscription is only for the
live audio streaming.

I'm looking for information on ....

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 01:07:00 --700

I'm looking for information on .... (Posted by Administrator)

There are several ways to search our site:

If you are looking for information that may be a part of our site you might want to start with our SITE MAP. There you will find categorized sections with links to pages on ktbb.com

How do I add my event to your Calendar of Events?

Sun, 03 Jun 2007 14:57:00 --700

How do I add my event to your Calendar of Events? (Posted by Administrator)

To get your events listed here you can mail your info to:

KTBB/KDOK Radio Attn: Calendar of Events c/o: Mike Edwards 1001 ESE Loop 323, Tyler Texas 75701 or ...

I would like to ask Dr. Bob a weather question ... is this possible?

Sat, 26 May 2007 09:49:00 --700

I would like to ask Dr. Bob a weather question ... is this possible? (Posted by Administrator)

Absolutely! Please visit Dr. Bob's Weather Questions page for both a contact form and a list of previously asked/answered weather questions.

How do I suggest names for the Volunteer of the Day?

Thu, 10 May 2007 04:25:00 --700

How do I suggest names for the Volunteer of the Day? (Posted by Administrator)

You may either fax (903-596-8202) or e-mail (k.b.beavers@juno.com) your volunteer of the day nominations to Karen Beavers.

How do I bookmark your site?

Thu, 10 May 2007 04:20:00 --700

How do I bookmark your site? (Posted by Administrator)

Internet Explorer 6.x
Bookmark ktbb.com
Go to the www.ktbb.com home page.
Go to the "Favorites" menu (not the "Favorites Folder" on the button bar) and choose "Add to Favorites."
To go to our home page at any time, click on the "Bookmarks" menu and choose "KTBB AM600- NEWS, TALK, SPORTS ON THE WEB"

How do I make your site my homepage?

Wed, 09 May 2007 17:49:00 --700

How do I make your site my homepage? (Posted by Administrator)

Internet Explorer 6.x

Make ktbb.com Your Home Page
Go to the www.ktbb.com front page.
Go to the "Tools" menu and choose "Internet Options."