New All-Sports Radio Station to Debut in August

In the span of four short years Houston will have quadrupled the number of all-sports radio stations gracing its airwaves. Come August 20, KILE 1560 AM will be renamed KGOW after local businessman and owner David Gow when it signs on with a sports and entertainment talk format. Branded as "The Game," KGOW will enter a saturated market that includes KILT (610 AM), KBME (790 AM), and ESPN Radio affiliate KFNC (97.5 FM)

The new radio station will feature a voice familiar to longtime Houstonians - former KILT morning drive-time personality John Granato (6am-10am). Joining Granato, who will also serve as the station's program director, are Houston Chronicle columnists Richard Justice (10am-12pm) and Ken Hoffman (12pm-2pm).

KGOW appears to be attempting to carbon copy the success of "sports/guy talk" formats such as "The Ticket" in Dallas, TX which generated $24.7 million in ad revenue in 2006. By comparison the most tenured all-sports radio station in Houston, KILT, earned $7.8 million in the same time period. The emphasis on "guy talk" has become predominant in the sports arena over the past several years - with long periods of airtime being dedicated to pop culture, movies, music, and attractive blondes (brunettes, and redheads. Hey - guys don't discriminate!) Why the shift? You can only talk about the Texans lack of an offensive line for so long before the conversation turns stale. Hence the reasoning behind the hiring of Hoffman, the Chronicle's funny man for several years.

Will Houston be able to carry four all-sports radio stations? Will "guy talk" succeed in Houston? By selecting some of the more well-read columnists from the local rag and signing up a voice that Houstonians have synonymized with local sports for 10 years - Gow and general manager Richard Topper are off to a great start.