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KHOU-TV Welcoming Back Darby Douglas After 5-Year Absence


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Mike McGuff of mikemcguff.com reporting that Darby Douglas is coming back to KHOU-TV doing the traffic again, sending Katherine Whaley to being a reporter in the station. Douglas previously held the traffic gig from 1996-2009. What's the reaction from any of y'all on this recent move by KHOU management?

http://mikemcguff.blogspot.com/2014/06/darby-douglas-to-return-to-khou-11.html?m=1

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I've known Darby since I worked with him at Metro Traffic way back in the 90s, and I can tell you he is one of the nicest and most congenial people you will ever meet. Knowledgable, funny and hard working. He knows Houston's streets and freeways like the back of his hand.

 

What happened to him - getting kicked off TV - was an injustice to him and to KHOU viewers. Getting his job back is sweet. Somebody at KHOU finally grew a brain and realized they had to bring him back. Way to go Darby!!!

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Thank you, Gannett!

Ol' Darby hasn't been completely out of the traffic game. I believe he has been doing the traffic on News 92, at least in a recurring role if not fulltime. Glad to hear he's returning to KHOU.

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I was not a Ch. 11 morning watcher on any regular basis but when I did flip to 11, I did enjoy Darby.  He seemed sincere and genuine as he's been described here.  I understand that the stations want to draw a younger audience but please, just because folks get old (and everyone will, if they live long enough), does not mean they stop being consumers.

 

I'll admit, I no longer need the morning traffic and weather report because I no longer have to leave home early to get to work but I have more disposable income now and the free time to get out and spend it on products hawked by their advertisers.

 

I'm glad the new station owners are seeing the light.  Now, they need to get rid of that sing-a-long jingle they have. 

 

And, I'm happy Darby is returning.  I'll try to watch now but the weather chick is still annoying IMHO.

 

 

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Truth be told, reporting the traffic on TV is not what many young broadcast journalism graduates have in mind when they go looking for their first jobs. Many think it's beneath them. One of the dirty little secrets in local TV news is the way many young reporters look down their noses at the traffic slot.

 

Fortunately, there are still plenty of young newbies who're willing to be the traffic reporter to get their feet inside the door, but their long term goal is to work their way into a field reporting or anchor job. That's where the money and glory are in TV news. Think Dominique Sachse.

 

Katherine Whaley seems to have the right attitude about it. She's worked hard and has earned her slot as a field reporter. I wish her well, and I'm glad to see Darby will be back on the job. He's a solid pro who deserves our respect and best wishes.

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Now if Gannett can place "The Late Late Show" back at 11:37pm like most other CBS stations(well at least KBTX has it at that time). I know they are replacing the host at the end of the year but thats another way to reach a younger audience, back to the topic on hand, I thought darby douglas worked for Clear Channel as he did traffic reports for the Clear Channel Houston cluster and for KKHT-FM.

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I think that was before Clear Channel created its own traffic division, and KTRH was still using Metro Traffic.

 

Then again, there were several ownership and management changes at Metro back in the 90s. At one time Metro traffic reporters were actually working for Dan Patrick, the owner of KSEV 700.  I think this chaos was one of the reasons Clear Channel decided to create its own traffic division and take complete ownership of its traffic reporting.

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