Radio One is set to silence black gospel "Praise 92.1" KROI, Seabrook, Texas, and go all-news - its first station in that format. The newly-hired staff includes radio and TV professionals such as J.P. Pritchard and Lana Hughes, both members of the Texas Radio Hall of Fame. Denise Bishop will serve as news director, and Houston-based consultant Ed Shane is the project manager for the coming switch to all-news. Radio One market manager Doug Abernethy says "our review of Houston's broadcast landscape told us that those listeners interested in local news as well as national news were being poorly served, so we decided to make a commitment to delivering the news in a dependable fashion." Clear Channel's news/talk KTRH (740) runs a morning news block from 5am to 9am, then goes into talk. Radio One will stream the current "Praise" format at PraiseHouston.com and also offer it on an HD multicast signal of its urban AC KMJQ (102.1).

"News 92 FM" will use the national resources of ABC News Radio and Associated Press Platinum. Besides Pritchard and Hughes, other local hires include Mike Barajas, Scott Braddock, Carolyn Campbell, Kevin Charles, Brent Clanton, Lanny Griffith, Laurie Kendrick, Martha Martinez, Bonnie Petrie, Matt Sampsell, Pattie Shieh, Craig Roberts, Jorge Vargas, and meteorologist Dr. Joe Sobel. Ed Shane calls it "an A-list of broadcast journalists." The Houston Board of Radio-Info.com is talking about the Houston Chronicle story, and the possibilities for "New 92 FM", here.