KHOU Building Flooded

[Mrtraveler01 737]

Have the other Houston stations not reported on KHOU being evacuated?

 

Do you think the building is lost? If I were Tegna, I'd seriously consider permanently moving the station.

 

Considering how dated the facility is compared to their competitors (KPRC just opened a brand new building earlier this year), it's probably something TEGNA should take into serious consideration

[KevCor 344]

So the normal backup station for KHOU is WFAA. I know that does not make a lot of sense, but that dates back to the BELO days. Also KIII, and KBMT are also having there own stuff with rain. KYLE is a semi-satellite of KCEN and might not have the infrastructure to fully take on a backup role.

 

In reference to the location, in 2001, yes they did get flooded. Now I am assuming the flood gates were added after that, but probably not much. Now in reference to the Houston PBS studios, they are located close to the University of Houston on the Southeast side of downtown (Gulf Freeway and Elgin street). If the bayou is flooded, I don't know how in the heck they are going to get over there) if Allen Parkway is flooded.

 

KAGS is the semi for KCEN.

[rkolsen 1678]

Wow this is kinda sad. this is coming from the Company that owns KXTV and they didnt talk about them i guess. on another note i wonder if KRIV or KPRC is getting hit too.

What happened to kxtv?

[bhratbrat 423]

Have the other Houston stations not reported on KHOU being evacuated?

 

Do you think the building is lost? If I were Tegna, I'd seriously consider permanently moving the station.

 

It will be found out in the next few days and weeks if the building is lost. I think part of it is that KHOU owns the building and the land it sits on. Houston unlike most other cities do not have zoning to worry about, so they can probably find a site, but then the question is where do you build? Do you try and stay in the Southwest quadrant of the city or go elsewhere.

 

Wow this is kinda sad. this is coming from the Company that owns KXTV and they didnt talk about them i guess. on another note i wonder if KRIV or KPRC is getting hit too.

 

KRIV and KPRC are not flooded. KRIV is the next nearest station, than KTRK and KPRC. They are also not next to a bayou either. KTRK is down off of Bissonnet (Near Bellaire) and then KPRC is further down on US 59.

[Darius22 120]

What happened to kxtv?

 

i just thought maybe some of the Tegna stations did a thing where they talk to the reporters from one of their sister stations.

[bhratbrat 423]

KAGS is the semi for KCEN.

Thanks Kev

[rkolsen 1678]

Have the other Houston stations not reported on KHOU being evacuated?

 

Do you think the building is lost? If I were Tegna, I'd seriously consider permanently moving the station.

I saw a tweet from Fox commending them on their effort.

[Samantha 2878]

I personally think that even if the building is not a total loss, the station may want to move over rebuilding in such a floodprone area. When was the current KHOU studio constructed?

[Rusty Muck 4167]

I personally think that even if the building is not a total loss, the station may want to move over rebuilding in such a floodprone area. When was the current KHOU studio constructed?

KHOU's been there since April 1960.

[KevCor 344]

Have the other Houston stations not reported on KHOU being evacuated?

 

Do you think the building is lost? If I were Tegna, I'd seriously consider permanently moving the station.

 

So, still watching the live stream -- apparently the entire transmitter is offline at KHOU, so I am assuming there is a pretty decent chance they have a moderate amount of water damage inside

[bhratbrat 423]

So, still watching the live stream -- apparently the entire transmitter is offline at KHOU, so I am assuming there is a pretty decent chance they have a moderate amount of water damage inside

 

That would probably do it. And the farm is down south of the city in Missouri City.

[Greggo 340]

As someone who grew up in Houston, this has been a decades-long problem for KHOU. The station has flooded to varying degrees countless times, not just during Allison. While it's easy to blame Tegna, it'd be more accurate to point the finger at Belo and its predecessors for not relocating. Knowing that, the lack of a backup plan is especially egregious. KUHT (the PBS affiliate) is on the University of Houston campus, a part of town with its own flooding issues, so I'm not sure how viable that really is.

 

As for the other Texas Tegna stations, KIII/Corpus, KBMT/Beaumont, KVUE/Austin and KENS/San Antonio are all in their own flood coverage. Pulling resources from them would be impractical. And KAGS/College Station only airs local news on weeknights so they're not exactly equipped to offer much of a helping hand. Worth noting: The WFAA news director is a former Houston TV reporter, so presumably she should realize how big of a deal this is.

[24994J 5276]

I watched all the Houston tv stations late last night and overnight for many hours. I was not impressed with anyone except for KTRK.

Agreed, but I don't know why they needed all 3 of their 10pm anchor team on at once, when they'd be better off saving one of them for another shift over the long term.

[Eat News 4738]

At what point (KHOU) do you say...

 

"Screw it".

 

If the KHOU plant is so damaged...and the conditions are unsafe...

You owe it to your employees and viewers to cut your losses...shut the whole thing down until you can safely operate again.

 

You are not running paid spots, and if you really want to be useful you will send some of your KHOU staff out to assist their own families...or the public in what ever way they wish.

 

There are plenty of other stations in the market that can cover for KHOU. The public and the FCC will understand if KHOU shuts down for a few days...until it's safe.

[Weeters 1811]

So, still watching the live stream -- apparently the entire transmitter is offline at KHOU, so I am assuming there is a pretty decent chance they have a moderate amount of water damage inside

 

The transmitter is far from the studio facility. Last I heard, the transmitter was on transmitting black, unless someone got in remotely or made it to the transmitter site to shut it down (it's technically against FCC regulations to be transmitting black like that). The transmitter itself should be fine. It just doesn't have anything feeding it.

[nickp 296]

incredible to see wfaa doing weather coverage from DFW to help those in Houston while KHOU is down

[KevCor 344]

The transmitter is far from the studio facility. Last I heard, the transmitter was on transmitting black, unless someone got in remotely or made it to the transmitter site to shut it down (it's technically against FCC regulations to be transmitting black like that). The transmitter itself should be fine. It just doesn't have anything feeding it.

 

My bad... I didn't mean the transmitter itself, but probably the master control equipment

[bhratbrat 423]

The transmitter is far from the studio facility. Last I heard, the transmitter was on transmitting black, unless someone got in remotely or made it to the transmitter site to shut it down (it's technically against FCC regulations to be transmitting black like that). The transmitter itself should be fine. It just doesn't have anything feeding it.

 

The transmitter farm is down in Fort Bend County.

[bhratbrat 423]

My bad... I didn't mean the transmitter itself, but probably the master control equipment

Probably the case. Most of KHOU's functions are on the first floor outside of the conference room. I would maybe suggest a re-do to move stuff up to the second floor. Or Tegna could rent a couple of floors in a skyscraper in Downtown.

[GoldenShine9 1509]

As someone who grew up in Houston, this has been a decades-long problem for KHOU. The station has flooded to varying degrees countless times, not just during Allison. While it's easy to blame Tegna, it'd be more accurate to point the finger at Belo and its predecessors for not relocating. Knowing that, the lack of a backup plan is especially egregious. KUHT (the PBS affiliate) is on the University of Houston campus, a part of town with its own flooding issues, so I'm not sure how viable that really is.

 

As for the other Texas Tegna stations, KIII/Corpus, KBMT/Beaumont, KVUE/Austin and KENS/San Antonio are all in their own flood coverage. Pulling resources from them would be impractical. And KAGS/College Station only airs local news on weeknights so they're not exactly equipped to offer much of a helping hand. Worth noting: The WFAA news director is a former Houston TV reporter, so presumably she should realize how big of a deal this is.

 

KCEN and KYTX have only been sisters with KHOU for a short time (so there may not be any connections at the controls) and their operations are likely too small to back up DMA 8. So yeah WFAA by default has to fill in.

 

It makes me wonder, if the other Houston stations went down, how could they cover? KRIV could easily use KDFW, while KPRC might be able to pool KSAT (even though that station would be overloaded right now). KTRK is really a big island, AND all the adjacent large market ABC affiliates are sisters of the competition, so I would think KOCO would be the closest station that could fill in (since Hearst has no stations in Texas).

[GoldenShine9 1509]

I would suspect that KHOU sent at least some of their staff to WFAA? We'll know once they safely get there (with tough challenges getting around!) who shows up there - perhaps one of their meteorologists, a couple reporters/anchors and a technician.

[bhratbrat 423]

KCEN and KYTX have only been sisters with KHOU for a short time (so there may not be any connections at the controls) and their operations are likely too small to back up DMA 8. So yeah WFAA by default has to fill in.

 

It makes me wonder, if the other Houston stations went down, how could they cover? KRIV could easily use KDFW, while KPRC might be able to pool KSAT (even though that station would be overloaded right now). KTRK is really a big island, AND all the adjacent large market ABC affiliates are sisters of the competition, so I would think KOCO would be the closest station that could fill in (since Hearst has no stations in Texas).

I wonder if they would use Sinclair in SA or work out something with an O&O in Dallas . I also bet the network would be able to work out something with an affiliate pretty quickly

[mre29 1340]

KHOU's live streaming is currently being run by WFAA. The guy anchoring (David Schecter (sp?)) explained why viewers were seeing WFAA's logo and people they didn't know. He basically said they're serving as the local station for the Houston area, using KHOU's reporters. Pete Delkus is giving a thorough weather report/forecast right now, though he had to apologize for not being familiar with the Houston area.

[GoldenShine9 1509]

I wonder if they would use Sinclair in SA or work out something with an O&O in Dallas . I also bet the network would be able to work out something with an affiliate pretty quickly

 

You'd probably get alliances formed - though for comparison, only WWL (from same-network WAFB, which is no longer an option) and WDSU (from sister station WAPT) stayed on through Katrina. WVUE basically went down (which shouldn't happen if Katrina happened now; WAFB could fill in) and WBRZ largely covered WGNO with their own operations.

 

I'd think the first thing would be sister stations, then same-affiliation stations which are not rivals (i.e. KPRC could work with KXAN, as there are no Nexstar stations in Dallas).

[mre29 1340]

"Look at us today, we hope, as KHOU."