Radio station switches format, now plays Beyoncé 24/7
If you live in Houston and haven't yet pledged your allegiance to Beyoncé, now is the time: The only 24-hour news station in the city switched its format, and will just play Beyoncé all day long.
As News92, radio station 92.1 FM used to air weather reports, traffic updates, and informational segments, KTRK reports, but on Tuesday morning, that all came to an end. 92.1 is now B92-FM, and listeners in Houston no longer have an all-day news radio station. In a statement posted online, News92 said it was a "difficult decision" to pull the plug, but it had to happen due to "sustained poor ratings performance and significant financial losses over the past three years despite the substantial financial and human resources we invested."
Almost 50 employees were laid off and given severance packages. The station is owned by Radio One, which thinks this is the right move to improve ratings and revenue. "She's Queen Bee," Radio One's Yashima Azilove told KTRK. "In looking to make a transition, we go back to what we know. We know urban radio. We're in Houston, the combination seemed like a winning one."
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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