So I enjoy sports radio, both the local version, the Houston version, and (sometimes) the national stuff from espn radio and Fox Sports radio.

When I'm driving home, depending on the time of day, I like to listen to Louie Bellina or Chip Howard on KZNE. Seems like a decent way to wind down the day.

But I do my best to never, ever listen to the "Chip and Christa" segments later on in Chip's show. I'd listen to just about anything instead of the two of them -- KAMU, KEOS, even Candy 95 (no lie!). Their banter is so atrocious.

But today I happened to be riding in someone else's car, and they wanted to listen to them. I treaded a bit lightly, pursing my lips and trying to talk over the radio about something else. The driver of the car noticed and said, "Oh, c'mon! This is hysterical!" I humored him and asked, "Hysterical in what sense?" and his reply indicated that his distaste for the two of them was even more extreme than mine. My friend, I discovered later, is also the type who enjoys watching the very worst performers on American Idol just so he can laugh at them. (I can't watch the show.) And I think that's why he listens to Chip and Christa.

So there I was, stuck in someone else's car, being forced to listen to this crud. Such is life, right? It's not like this is a genuine hardship. Just a pet peeve, and really nothing more.

But as we were driving, I was thinking, even praying, "Dear God in heaven, please send a memo to Louie Bellina, the KZNE program director, and make this craziness go away. Please."

i second

I can handle Chip and Christa because Chip does a good job on everything else. Bellina on the other hand...

Christa has the cutie voice and players the part pretty well. Chip on the other hand needs to work on his "spontaneous" banter. It's on air radiotime kill but goes on too long, much like the chat that happens on WTAW between 8:45 and 9:00. Dead air filler

We have terrible local sports radio shows on 1150 for sure. I quit listening a few year's ago, they are too busy trying to be friends with the a&m team coaches to ever criticize them.

It's funny even when we had Fran as the coach you would have thought he was vince Lombardi.

[This message has been edited by Steve Billings (edited 11/1/2011 9:52p).]

TexAgs radio is the best show on KZNE right now. 9:00AM-11:00AM.

The market is too small for there to be any solid criticism of anything TAMU news or sports. I listen to larger market reports on TAMU for better balance.

I don't even mind the "homer" nature of all of our coverage in The Eagle and KZNE (and I do agree that the TexAgs time from 9-11 is far and away the best part). I can see the "homer" angle and correct for it. It's a perspective, and they're not stupid.

What I do mind is utterly mindless blather -- enter Chip and Christa. I'm just glad that I can avoid it like the plague most days.

Whoever thought that this was some kind of good idea to give a try needs to have their head examined. Or at least admit the epic boo boo and get their segment off the radio.

Never go anywhere without a screwdriver. You can disable anything, including a car radio, with a coupla quick blows.

Just sayin'....

My friends admit they can't take me anywhere.

It should just be the chip show.chip comes across as rude and always interupting to me. He always talks over Krista and squeezes her out. She cant get a word in.

Not a fan either.

To each their own.
The texags radio show is last on the list for me

I feel kind of dirty when I hear them. He is old enough to be her father and still flirting with her.

I also only watch American Idol when the horrible people are on. I love watching people embarrass themselves. When they get down to the people who can actually sing, I stop watching. I don't want to watch a singing competition, I want to watch a trainwreck.

It's an act. I think they play their respective parts pretty well.

A little bit of Chip and Christa goes a long way.

Bellina is unlistenable. IMO, he only has a radio show because he is the program director...

I miss ESPN radio, all the time. Do not listen to Fox.

ben@bryanbroadcasting.com

I heard that the Chip & Christa segment is the most popular of his show. Not a lie.

^^ Would not be surprised. Minority opinion gripers have a loud megaphone on here.

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Minority opinion gripers have a loud megaphone on here.

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Or there are a large number of people who appreciate low taste entertainment (see reality tv).

I prefer listening to Christa over interviews about fishing, hunting, chupacabras, etc.

I think the stars of KZNE are Louie and Billy. For obvious reasons, I may not agree with a lot of what they say but they are entertaining.

They CAN be entertaining if Chip will let Krista speak when they disagree instead of talking louder and louder until she gives up.

This is the great conundrum that is Chip Howard. On one hand, his rep in town is that he is one of the genuinely nicest people in the radio biz, and by nice I mean to everyone at the station, regardless of where you might be on the food chain. He also does right by the show's sponsors. I'm convinced that folks go to Sevcik's for car maintenance just based on how well Chip does their spot-- he just drips sincerity. If I needed someone to hawk my business, Chip would be the guy.

Then there's the other Chip, the one who used to be an excellent sports talk guy until he got bored, and thought that mixing in schtick on movies, music, Hollywood gossip would relieve that boredom. Then, he brought in Christa, to play the dumb blonde role (and let's assume she's playing). Once a faithful listener, I had to quit, and have never been back. I doubt that Chip misses me.

Chip has an excellent radio voice. Louie Bellina, on the other hand, does not. Gabe Bock does. I'm not a hunter or fisherman, but I really used to enjoy Chip's Thursday show, with the outdoor segment. The old Chip had me tuned in every day on the way home. The Chip & Christa deal drove me to satellite radio.

Any SEC town has a no-holds-barred show dedicated to the local team, and don't pull any punches when describing the team's poor play. We're not so lucky. Louie and Billy soft-soap the Ags regularly, because they don't want their access yanked. I don't need a "homer"-- I need an honest analysis of the team. That honesty is not forthcoming in Aggieland on KZNE.

You can be 100% assured that he is not flirting with her.

Excellent post, strong armed, and I completely agree.

This is not a knock on Gabe Bock because I think he does a good job, but I really don't like his voice. It comes off as fake on the radio, almost forced. It grates on me. But maybe that's just how he talks. I've been around Dave South when he is having a casual conversation and he sounded the exact same as he does on the radio.

As for the TexAgs Radio Show itself, I would rather just listen to Colin Cowherd, and I don't even like him all that much. Gabe's cohosts just don't seem to offer all that much.

C&C: not a fan.

For what it's worth.... I know him personally and Chip is an admirable man off the radio. I have learned a lot from being around him. Does his show have highs and lows? Yep. So does every other radio show I listen to. I just change the channel when I hit that point where I don't want to listen. Chip is very well connected and well-respected in the industry. Christa does get old fast and Chip does talk over his co-hosts, but he has some pretty darn interesting guests at times and the Writer's Round Table is usually pretty good.

Are the other shows better? Let's see (IMO): Jim Rome? Yuck...can't stand it. Louie Belina? Small doses only. TexAgs Radio? Love it. Robert Cessna's show? It's a pure local sports show and doesn't pretend to be anything else, and I listen every Saturday.

My biggest gripe is the Fox Sports programming when it kicks in at nights and weekends. Listen for your self...on Saturday mornings and Saturday nights...when it's the height of COLLEGE football what do they feature? NFL.

As much as I cuss ESPN TV's treatment of the LHN, I detest Fox Sports Radio's programming as an inferior product, and prefer ESPN Radio's.

His "when animals attack" shtick is also horrible. Again, his delivery is not genuine and sounds like a kid reading a script at a school play. Both bits have nothing to do with sports. Just stick with sports.

On the bright side, he does bring on Kurt Bohls and Zwerney. Both are worth tuning in for.

I'd say one of Chip's strengths is his interviews with book authors.

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As for the TexAgs Radio Show itself, I would rather just listen to Colin Cowherd

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Feel the same way about Chip Brown and Chad Hastings. And I'd rather listen to fingernails on a chalkboard than Colin Cowherd. So fair enough.

I guess.

Awesome, Ben Downs just admitted he has been reading about Chip and Christa "online". I wonder where he was reading? LOL!!

Critique is paradox. It demands that we change ourselves and yet settles for the ballot. Let us consider the statement, “I lie.” Strange things happen in self-referential situations: if the statement is true, then it is false. Conversely, if the statement is false (here one must remember that this is precisely what the statement is saying), then it is true. Thus, one may conclude that the Liar Statement is true if and only if it is false. Given some noncontroversial assumption of excluded middles (i.e., the assumption that the statement has to be either true or false), then we can further conclude that the statement is both true and false. Despite over two thousand years of attention, philosophy is yet to agree on on a way out of the paradox. Therefore, Chip and Krista transcend the known, augmenting a greater consciousness.

Satellite Radio FTW.


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To summarize....

Things Chip does well:

1. Writers' Panel
2. Outdoor segment on Thursdays
3. Interviews with authors
4. General sports commentary (when he can squeeze it in)
5. Because he isn't an Aggie and doesn't make a living hanging around the program, an honest take on Aggie games.
6. Commercials with a personal take
7. Off the air (when it counts the most), a heckuva nice guy

Things Chip needs to work on:

1. Fire Christa
2. Forget about doing reviews on movies, music, etc.

Stick a fork in it... this thread's done.