(home)

A Radio Essay by Larry Shannon

"KRLD ... Standing Tall in The Big Leagues"

I bet that you'd see Babe Ruth walking among the fans at the Ballpark in Arlington if he were alive today.  The red bricks, stadium green and longhorns would surely lure him to the field.  He could trade in his New York Yankees pinstripes for the navy and gray three-button business suits and boots of Texas.  The Babe would fit right in with the major leaguers in this shiny, belt buckle burg between Dallas and Fort Worth.  From time to time, the Babe could swing a bat or two and hit a few into the stadium seats where the Bush family and friends once sat watching the games in the house that Tom Schieffer and Nolan Ryan built.  Though there's no national historical marker yet, nor World Series pennant flying under the Texas blue-eyed skies, you have to give the Texas Rangers credit where credit is due.  After all, the Ballpark's been the home of hall of famers and one President of the United States.   It is out there beyond the baseball diamond, where past and present presidents have pitched the season's first balls, past center field -- where pop flies bounce -- and just beneath the filled-up stands that you'll see the studios and offices of KRLD.  Infinity's News Radio 1080 is fittingly framed through the floor to ceiling windows known to all as the home plate view.  In radio's vernacular, KRLD is to Dallas-Fort Worth what 1010 WINS is to New York City and KNX is to LA -- NEWS!  Bold, up front and praised by peers.  KRLD has won almost all the awards one could name.  Its trophy cases guard the Edward R. Murrow, AP and Katie Awards that punctuate and bookmark KRLD's rich news history.  Dallas and Fort Worth grew up eating breakfast with KRLD.  We found out if one-inch snowfalls would close the schools and dodged the big raindrops of thunderstorms with the snap, crackle and pop of 1080 in our transistor radio earpieces.  KRLD’s steady hand and CBS News eased us through our identity crisis after the Kennedy assassination. During the 1960’s, the Dallas Cowboy’s Radio Network, fathered by the Texas State Network’s Stan Wilson, was the broadcast beacon that led us through the troubled clouds that gathered after the gunfire in Dealey Plaza.  Like a radio Pied Piper, the network helped fill up the empty seats in the Cotton Bowl and finally gave us something to cheer about.  The Cowboys put Merediths and Starrs in our eyes.  In 1965, I put on my best blue jeans and rode my motorbike from hometown Irving to Dallas to seek my fortune in radio.  KRLD was the first stop. Its studios were headquartered underneath the red and white tower that dominated the skies of the near northeast downtown.  I strode into the offices and asked to speak with Eddie Barker, the news director of the Dallas Times Herald-owned radio and television stations.  I worked as a paperboy for the Times-Herald, so I was a company man already, I thought.  Eddie broke my heart when he told me, a lad of 15, that I'd need at least a journalism degree to work with him, Chem Terry, Frank Glieber, Walter Evans and Judy Jordan.  But, he inspired and encouraged me to believe that one day, I’d be able to work among the giants of those broadcast days.  Eddie left KRLD for a while and we missed him, but he's back again.  It's good to hear his weekend reporting -- still sharp, crisp and clear -- seasoned by forty years of no nonsense and knowledge.  I’d be like a nervous school kid around him still, I’m sure.  Wes Wise, another ex, went on to become a mayor of Dallas.  Other alums became legends and leaders, too.   Gone is the clickety-clack of the now antique AP, UPI and NOAA weather wire machines.  Standing in the 2001 newsroom, you can close your eyes and listen to the click-clack-thunk of computer keys.  Up-to-the-moment news and information -- being dished up to read from the brightly lit, colorful computer monitors.  An engineer says, "Welcome to the Starship Enterprise," when he opens the door into the main studio.  Kirk and Spock would envy the equipment.  KRLD has changed since the 1960's.  But, the station's standards of reporting excellence haven't.  Jerry Bobo’s the General Manager here. Like major league managers and coaches, News Director Jack Hines and Operations Manager Michael Spears direct the swirling on-air symphony of news, sports and information.  A polished all-star, on-air line-up steps up to bat at home plate every day.   Suited up early are Jack Hines and Jody Dean, co-anchoring the 5-9 morning drive along with Jackie McKenzie.  Charley Jones chats with listeners and guests from 9 to noon.  The Noon Business News Hour with Mike Rogers and omni-biz king, David Johnson, is an on-the-way-to-lunch listening habit.  Dr. Laura gives snappy, snippy moral advice from 1 to 4.  Mike Rogers and Alice Rios share afternoon rides home with workfolks who spill out of offices onto the crowded freeways of the twin Texas cities.  The Nightly Business News report follows, just before Katie Pruett's 7 pm "Eye on the Internet" and former KXAS-TV consumer reporter, Marty Griffin, at 8.  Dennis Prager’s on at 10, then midnight brings Jim Bohannon and Bruce Williams.  You can catch the Bloomberg Business News red eye between 4 and 5 am, if you're up at that time.  Roger Emrich’s always big on sports along with Chris Schneider throughout the days and nights.  Guess who has the DFW area’s only full time radio meteorologist?  KRLD!  Brad Barton’s the man.  Need traffic reports as well?  KRLD’s “Traffic and Weather on the 8’s” keeps DFW moving and weatherproofed.  The KRLD team of talented news, sports, traffic, weather reporters and anchors brings to North Texas a dedicated assurance that no important, pertinent news story will go unreported.  This radio station has been around the bases a few times.  It’s earned its stripes and big league pennants.  The Babe would like that.  Although he might be a little jealous when he finds out that he’s not the only one who can hit home runs out of the Ballpark in Arlington.  Larry Shannon