Shara Fryer's absence was addressed on 740 KTRH's "Houston Morning News" show on the morning of December 2, 2024. As promised, I have updated this post from mid-November, when she disappeared, with the new information.
Co-host Jimmy Barrett delivered the news concerning Fryer's situation, as many questions have been sent to this blog and, I am sure, to the 740 KTRH newsroom.
As many feared, Fryer has departed KTRH. Based on what Barrett said on-air, her exit is related to the recent IHeartMedia layoffs nationwide (Barret's full on-air statement in text below):
"Let's see, um, how well I can tackle this. This is, um, this is not the kind of duty I like having. Certainly, but I agree, you know, everybody's been asking, where's Shara Fryer, where's Shara? What's going on? And you deserve to know that Shara is no longer with our KTRH morning show, with Houston's Morning News.
And if you're wondering why that is, the best I can tell you is, is that we are in a business...a media business that is constantly changing. And with that comes constant staffing changes. Consolidation leads to changes. And when the changes happen, then positions come and positions go. You may have heard that Rachel Maddow, for example, just took a big, huge salary hit over MSNBC. Um, the media business constantly goes through this, and it's going through one of those periods right now. And it's not just here in Houston, it's all across the country. So with this reorganization, Shara is no longer with our morning show.
And like you, I will miss not having her, not only to just be a co-host, but also to talk to every morning. I can tell you that I have talked with her. I think she's fine.
I absolutely believe that she will probably come up with her next best life of what it is that she wants to do. Um, and I will never forget how she welcomed me to Houston, you know, gave me all the background information. Here's what you need to know about Houston. Here's what's important. All this other...I couldn't have made the transition I made to this new city of mine, my new hometown, without Shara Fryer. And I owe her a debt of gratitude for that. I...We look forward to seeing and hearing whatever she does next.
And I hope you're going to continue to listen to us here on KTRH. I promise you we will do the best morning show we know how to do, and Sky Mike, and Cliff, and I will put all of our energy into making this show as good as we can make it. So obviously, you know, change happens sometimes change happens that we don't like. I know this is probably not the news you wanted to hear, but we felt it important for you to know. And as soon as it was possible to pass that along, that's what we've done."
I have previously blogged that two other people have also been laid off from the Houston cluster.
In the original post, I found that Fryer's image and social media links have been removed from the KTRH website's morning newscast page. However, she is still listed in the text field along with co-anchor Jimmy Barrett, whose photo remains online. I emailed my official KTRH contact and Fryer, but never heard back.
Fryer joined KTRH in September 2012 with then-host Matt Patrick.
Before transitioning into her new radio career, Fryer spent over 25 years in TV with ABC13 KTRK Houston, co-anchoring with Dave Ward.
In addition to anchoring, Fryer earned many honors for her reporting and long-form coverage in her EMMY award-winning "IN FOCUS" documentaries and "Up Close and Personal" interview segments with everyone from US presidents to foreign heads of State.
Fryer was recently honored with the Dave Ward Excellence in Media Award at the 2022 Crime Stoppers of Houston, Houston Heroes Award Luncheon.
Before joining Channel 13 in Houston, Fryer built her career across Texas at television stations like KSAT 12 San Antonio, KVUE 24 Austin, and KLRN Austin.
Fryer is a Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International, has been honored as a Woman of Distinction by the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation, received the Ben and Julie Rogers Ecumenism Award from the Anti-Defamation League of Houston, the Community Builder Award from the Grand Masonic Lodge of Houston, and has been recognized by the governments of Japan and Israel for her efforts toward international goodwill. She has also served as the Director of the World Affairs Council of Houston.
A cancer survivor, she has dedicated much time to cancer outreach initiatives and established the Shara Fryer Cancer Research Fund within the Department of Surgical Oncology at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
