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Houston is a city of cars and freeways, of increasingly long and time-consuming daily commutes by car with big traffic snarls and considerable pollution. In fact, not long ago Houston achieved the dubious distinction of reaching a higher level of ozone pollution than perennial leader Los Angeles. True, it was only for a single day, but it was not a positive development. On the other hand, Houston does have a real downtown, and it's jumping. "There's a downtown renaissance going on," says Chris McMurray, market manager for AMFM Broadcasting's eight Houston radio stations, citing refurbished old residential buildings and new apartments, restaurants, theaters and retail outlets. "It's made downtown more attractive to people in the suburbs."
Another major downtown attraction is sports. The National League's Astros have played their last game in the Astrodome and will open downtown's new Enron Stadium next April. The NFL this fall awarded its 32nd franchise to Houston, which has been without a team since the Oilers departed for Tennessee two years ago. A new football stadium will be built in time for the new NFL team to begin play in 2002. Last week, however, voters defeated a proposal to use tax money to help build a new $160 million downtown arena for the NBA's Rockets.
"We're all waiting to see who gets the broadcast rights for the NTL team," says AMFM's McMurray. AMFM's KTRHAM broadcasts the Astros and Clear Channel Communications KPRC-AM carries Rockets games.
Houston's fast-growing local economy has long been driven by the energy industry and by the nearby Gulf of Mexico, source of oil, gas, sulfur and fish. Other key businesses include petrochemicals, computers, electronics and heavy manufacturing. The market's population of 4 million is diverse, with 20.6 percent Hispanic and 17.4 percent African American, according to Scarborough Research (other sources estimate the Hispanic population as high as 24 percent). There's also a large Asian community, including many Vietnamese who settled in southeast Texas after the war.
Hispanics are the fastest-growing segment of the market, and Houston is currently the country's sixth largest Hispanic market. There are two Hispanic TV stations-Univision's owned-and-operated KXLN-TV and Telemundo O&O KTMD-TV-along with 10 Hispanic AM radio stations and seven FM sticks, including top-rated KLTN-FM, which plays Spanish Regional fare.
KXLN...