Shake-Up at KUHF

According to Houston Culture Map there are big changes at Houston Public Media. KUHF CEO John Proffitt and Channel 8 General Manager John Hesse were dismissed from their current duties on Monday. They were assigned to other duties at Houston Public Media until the end of the year. Proffitt has been with the station for 26 years.

Proffitt guided the acquisition of KUHA from Rice University. The acquisition allowed the station to dedicate KUHF-FM to news and information. KUHA became the all classical service. Their most recent membership drive resulted in gains in membership.


The reorganization comes after the hiring of Lisa Trapani Schumate by the University of Houston to oversee the entire operation. Tripani Schumate takes charge today.

KUHF Looks to Double Audience

Chron.com is reporting that the University of Houston is seriously considering purchasing KTRU from Rice University. The Trustees at Rice have already approved the deal. The U of H governing board votes on the proposal, Tuesday, August 17.

KUHF is currently running a dual format station with both classical music and NPR news. The purchase of the KTRU will allow KUHF to program NPR news on  KUHF and classical music on KTRU which will become KUHC. KUHF is estimating that their total audience will grow from about 380,000 to 800,000 within three years. The increase in public service programming will benefit the station and the community it serves.

 KTRU currently airs an eclectic mix of music, but as a community service is grossly underachieving. The audience is too small to show up in the Abritron ratings service.

The price of the sale is reported to be $9.5 million.