Denise Middleton joins FOX 26

Denise Middleton joins FOX 26 KRIV as weekend morning anchor from KTHV Little Rock, Arkansas

HOUSTON – Denise Middleton has joined FOX 26 Houston, announced station Vice President and News Director, Susan Schiller. Effective April 8th, she will serve as weekend morning anchor, in addition to reporting for various station newscasts.

In making the announcement, Schiller stated, “Denise is a multi-talented journalist and a wonderful storyteller who truly connects to the people she is reporting on. We are thrilled to give Denise the opportunity to come home and serve the community she loves.”

Most recently, Middleton served as an evening anchor and reporter at KTHV in Little Rock, Arkansas. Previously, she was a morning anchor and reporter at KSLA in Shreveport, Louisiana. Prior to that Middleton began her career in broadcasting as a general assignment reporter at KHAS in Hastings, Nebraska.

A graduate of the University of Houston, Middleton holds a Bachelors of Arts degree in Broadcast Journalism.

Middleton added, “It’s always been my dream to work in my hometown of Houston, alongside some of the anchors and reporters who inspired me to go into this field. After working in Nebraska, Louisiana and Arkansas, I look forward to working at KRIV and sharing the stories of my own community.”

FOX Television Stations owns and operates 28 full power broadcast television stations in the U.S. These include stations located in nine of the top ten largest designated market areas (DMAs), and duopolies in 11 DMAs, including the three largest DMAs (New York, Los Angeles and Chicago). Of these stations, 17 are affiliated with the FOX Network. In addition to distributing sports, entertainment and syndicated content, our television stations collectively produce nearly 1,000 hours of local news every week. These stations leverage viewer, distributor and advertiser demand for the FOX Network’s national content.

(This post was taken from a release sent to me by FOX Television Stations)

Sean Salisbury moves to mornings at SportsTalk 790; Clanton back

“The Sean Salisbury Show” Moves to Mornings and “The A-Team with Adam Clanton” to Debut Afternoons on SportsTalk 790 KBME

In case you missed the big news while I was in London during the last week, SportsTalk 790 KBME dropped the morning show of Josh Innes, his fiancée Jill Osterman and longtime producer Jim Mudd. The crew is now podcasting under the name "The Josh Innes Show."

Friday morning, the station issued a press release about the new lineup with "The Sean Salisbury Show” moving to the AM slot and “The A-Team with Adam Clanton” to debut in the afternoon slot.

Here is the full release:

HOUSTON – March 21, 2019– iHeartMedia Houston announced today its new weekday lineup for SportsTalk 790, Houston’s Home for Your Home Teams, effective Monday, March 25.

As part of the new program lineup, “The Sean Salisbury Show” starring former NFL Houston Oiler quarterback Sean Salisbury will broadcast from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. The morning show features Michael Connor, Rachel Van Oranje and Adam Sager and will include expert analysis and commentary on all things Houston sports related.

“Being the leadoff hitter is a great challenge,” said Salisbury. “Listeners rely on you to kick-start their day with great energy and passion. I’m very excited to be part of a show that gives our listeners top of the morning sports news and intriguing commentary.”

“The combination of Sean’s energy and his perspective as a former football player is going to be a great way for local sports fans to start their day,” said Bryan Erickson, Director of AM Programming for iHeartMedia Houston.

The new program lineup will also feature Houston Rockets’ play-by-play broadcaster Matt Thomas and former NFL players Greg Koch and N.D. Kalu. In addition, on-air personality Adam Clanton returns to Sportstalk 790 and will host “The A-Team” from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

“Clanton is die-hard Houston sports fan and his experience and passion are going to be an excellent addition to our lineup,” “And watch for an exciting announcement in the days to come about Clanton’s co-host,” added Erickson.

SportsTalk 790 will also continue its broadcast agreements with the Houston Astros, Houston Rockets and the University of Texas football and basketball teams.

Programming Lineup:

The Sean Salisbury Show 6 a.m. – 10 a.m.
In the Trenches with Koch & Kalu 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
The Matt Thomas Show 12 p.m. – 3 p.m.
The A-Team 3 p.m. – 6 p.m.

iHeartMedia is a leading media outlet in the Houston market and its content is available across multiple platforms, including its broadcast station; online via its branded digital site; mobile; and social, with nationwide listening through iHeartRadio, the all-in-one streaming music and live radio service – with its more than 2 billion downloads and 125 million registered users.

Lauren Freeman is pregnant with 5th baby

Now the number 1 question I have been asked about latley has been answered! Yes, Lauren Freeman is expecting

I'm back from jolly old London after spring break with news that many, many, many channel 2 viewers have been asking me about in the last months.

KPRC 2 anchor Lauren Freeman announced on Facecbook she is pregnant with her fifth child:

"We have exciting news to announce...our family is expanding again! 🍼👶 Baby boy number 5 will be here this summer. (No we weren’t trying for a girl!). My kids are excited and can’t wait to meet him!!!"

Click here to see more about Lauren Freeman's other kids!

Now Freeman is not the only other pregnant Houston TV talent. We have some channel 13 anchors and a FOX 26 anchor expecting too!

Christine Dobbyn ‏to leave abc13 KTRK

Yeah, yesterday I said I was on spring break, but it's not everyday that Christine Dobbyn says she's leaving abc13 KTRK

abc13 KTRK reporter Christine Dobbyn broke the Houston internet this morning when she announced she is leaving channel 13:

HANGIN’ UP THE CLEATS: It’s time to hang up my “reporting cleats” to pursue a new chapter in life. Thank you #HTown It’s been one #AMAZING ride @abc13houston #ABC13 #StayTuned #NewBeginnings #ChangeIsHard #ChangeisGood

HANGIN’ UP THE CLEATS: It’s time to hang up my “reporting cleats” to pursue a new chapter in life. Thank you #HTown It’s been one #AMAZING ride @abc13houston #ABC13 #StayTuned #NewBeginnings #ChangeIsHard #ChangeisGood pic.twitter.com/5ysioUZAu3

— ABC13ChristineDobbyn (@ABC13Christine) March 11, 2019

I hear the "new chapter in life" will not include television. According to Dobbyn's LinkedIn profile, she is in the middle of getting a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Rice University's Jones Graduate School of Business.

Dobbyn has been with 13 since 2005.

Before Houston, she served as reporter and back-up anchor at WBNS Columbus, Ohio.

Dobbyn got her start in television news at WEHT Evansville, Indiana where worked as reporter and back-up anchor.

I worked with Dobbyn and didn't know, according to her bio, she made it to to the finals of Miss Indiana. She also held titles like Indianapolis 500 Princess, Miss Indianapolis and Miss Heart of Indiana.

A graduate of Ball State University, Dobbyn was named "Graduate of the Last Decade" in 1999. She is also a graduate of the Poynter Institute and spent two weeks in Europe after being selected for the RTDNA-RIAS German Journalist Exchange Program.

Lots of reporters say they like to run in their bios, but Dobbyn took it to the next level. She finished five half-marathons (including two Indy 500 Festival Mini-Marathons and two Houston Aramco Half-Marathons).

Then in 2015, Dobbyn rode in her first BP MS 150 charity ride from Houston to Austin while reporting live and raising money for the cause. She also reported on the disease by interviewing those living with it like Eyewitness News anchor Melanie Lawson and country music singer Clay Walker.

Running through my blog search on Dobbyn, I see that lots of has been written here about her many awards. She has taken honors from the Houston Press Club, the Emmy awards, the Society of Professional Journalists, the RIAS Berlin International Commission, the Texas, Ohio and Indiana Associated Press, the Gracie Awards, Clarion Awards and RTDNA.

Hopefully Dobbyn will update us on exactly what is next.  There are no details yet on when she is leaving abc13.

OK...kids enough screen time. Dad is officially on spring break again.

Going on spring break

See you on the other side of spring break.

By the way, I just wrapped up a KLOL documentary re-shoot with the one and only Dayna Steele! Things are moving forward quickly with the doc!

FOX 26 anchors perform 'Bootloose' for rodeo

FOX 26 KRIV's Stephen Morgan and Chrisdyann Uribe get in Rodeo Houston spirit

Bootloose w/ @ChrisdyannUribe cuz #Rodeo 🤠 pic.twitter.com/67yr20Q0Pe

— Stephen Morgan (@StephenOnFOX) March 7, 2019

FOX 26 KRIV reporter/meteorologist Stephen Morgan and traffic anchor Chrisdyann Uribe did a performance of "Bootloose" in honor of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

Butch Alsandor working Houston Astros and Rockets coverage

Butch Alsandor and Rockets legend Calvin Murphy

Butch Alsandor is one busy sportscaster!

In the last few years, Alsandor has been busy calling play-by-play duties for Texas Southern University football and basketball on AT&T SportsNet.

And he's adding some more duties for the sports cable network.

He'll be doing some fill-in hosting duties for pre and post game shows for both the Houston Rockets and Astros. You might have already spotted his work recently on the Astros vs Braves coverage and Rockets vs the Hawks and Hornets.

According to his bio, Alsandor also calls Southland Conference games on ESPN3.

Alsandor spent 20 years behind the KHOU sports desk. He started his broadcasting career at KPLC Lake Charles and and later WBAL Baltimore.

Christine Noel tells her story on Houston Life

New KPRC 2 anchor Christine Noel visited Houston Life to tell Derrick Shore and Courtney Zavala all about her TV news journey.

Best TV News bloopers February 2019

RELATED
Texas TV news and radio job moves February 2019

Hottest Houston social media stars February 2019

In February, we have enough data to start seeing the new team on CW39 KIAH's Morning Dose.

Share Rocket gives us data on how each Houston TV station and the corresponding air staff members performed on Facebook and Twitter.

Share Rocket is, "a social media ratings and audience solution providing media companies an easy way to quantify their social media equity, benchmark against peers and turn social market intelligence into insights that drive social success."

The numbers are pulled from station usage on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram using Share Rocket's "Share" measurement.

First we are looking at every Houston media company in the Share Rocket database and top personalities. Then I am looking at the top 5 on air staff members at each station in order of channel number.

RELATED
- Texas TV news and radio job moves February 2019

Houston Media

1. abc13 KTRK
2. KHOU 11
3. FOX 26 KRIV
4. KPRC 2
5. Telemundo 47
6. Houston Chronicle
7. Univision 45
8. Houston Press
9. Houston's 39
10. CultureMap Houston

Top 5 individuals

1. Eduardo Rodríguez (Yusnaby Pérez) - 47 Telemundo
2. Dominique Sachse - KPRC 2
3. Samica Knight - abc13 KTRK
4. Mark Berman - FOX 26 KRIV
5. Jonathan Feigen - Houston Chronicle

KPRC 2

1. Dominique Sachse
2. Jennifer Reyna
3. Adam Wexler
4. Britta Merwin
5. Cathy Hernandez

KHOU 11

1. Brandi Smith
2. Lauren Talarico
3. Chita Craft
4. Melissa Correa
5. Tiffany Craig

abc 13 KTRK

1. Samica Knight
2. Erica Simon
3. Steve Campion
4. Marla Carter
5. Katherine Whaley

FOX 26 KRIV

1. Mark Berman
2. Kaitlin Monte
3. Isiah Carey
4. Melissa Wilson
5. Ivory Hecker

CW39

1. Sharron Melton
2. Maggie Flecknoe
3. Shannon LaNier
4. Maria Sotolongo
5. Hannah Trippett

Univision 45 KXLN

1. Karina Yapor
2. Laura Sierra
3. Deysy Rios
4. Marcela Perez Barros
5. Marlene Guzman

Telemundo 47 KTMD

1. Eduardo Rodríguez (Yusnaby Pérez)
2. Ubaldo Martínez
3. Carlos A. Robles
4. Antonio Hernández
5. Ruby Guzmán

Houston Chronicle

1. Jonathan Feigen
2. Joseph Duarte
3. Dylan Baddour
4. John McClain
5. Matt Schwartz

DISCLAIMER: No Houston radio stations are listed in the Share Rocket database.