Houston’s Last Remaining All-News Radio Station Just Laid Off 47 Employees, And Relaunched As B-92: “All Beyonce, All The Time”
This is how everything ends.
News 92 FM is Houston’s last remaining all-news radio station — and on Wednesday, the station aired its final broadcast, laying off 47 employees, and thanking listeners for support.
“This difficult decision is a result of sustained poor ratings performance and significant financial losses over the past three years, despite the substantial financial and human resources we invested,” read the official statement. “Unfortunately, the market hasn’t shown a sustainable appetite for news radio, but each of you motivated us daily to produce a high-quality news program. Together, we made history.”
So what does the market have an appetite for? Well according to Radio One who own News 92, it’s the brand new station they replaced it with: B-92 — “All Beyonce, all the time.”
Not. Even. Kidding. In the twenty minutes I’ve been listening (you can stream it online), the playlist has featured old and new Beyonce, dappled with Destiny’s Child tracks, recorded interview snippets and live cuts. It’s kind of incredible.
Is this a cynical but inevitable move by a greedy company that values money over its hardworking staff?
Or is it an excellent stunt from a desperate industry, drawing attention to the flailing attention spans of the digital age?
Or: are all these questions irrelevant when there is a 24/7 all-Beyonce radio station happening right over here and hurry hurry hurry because nothing gold can stay.
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Feature image via Beyonce on Instagram.