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Here is something you don’t get a chance to see everyday! WATCH THE VIDEO

Houston band Galactic Cowboys are reuniting for a few shows around Texas. I had the band’s Space in Your Face album back in the day. Here are the upcoming dates and locations:

Thursday August 13th (confirmed) The Prophet Bar - BIG ROOM in Dallas
Friday August 14th (pending) Stubb’s in Austin
Saturday August 15th (confirmed) Warehouse Live in Houston
http://www.galacticcowboys.com/
(Thanks Matt!)

MORE MUSIC NEWS
- SLASH Recalls Hearts Scare At MICHAEL JACKSON Show
- Understanding Michael Jackson
- 1970s Farrah Fawcett & Michael Jackson on The Dating Game
- METALLICA: Pro-Shot Footage From Rome Available
- Fashion Tips From NIKKI SIXX
- STREET SWEEPER SOCIAL CLUB: ‘100 Little Curses’ Video
- Are artist-hosted channels the future of radio?

Randy Tatano says TV producers can actually leave their desk and eat lunch. It is a crazy thought right? READ MORE

I’ve talked about the sad fate of Houston shopping malls on this blog before:

- My life at Sharpstown Mall
- Remembering Westwood Mall

Clearly I am not the only one talking about this. US News and World Report has a list of America’s Most Endangered Malls. Uh oh, there is a Texas mall on this list.  Brian who sent this in to me wondered why Sharpstown Mall wasn’t on this list. Good question. We hear how that mall is in trouble all of the time.

The good news is that there are some malls that are doing well. See the list of America’s Most Profitable Malls.

RELATED
- Gulfgate Mall in pictures - J.R. Gonzales of the Bayou City History blog shows us the past.

If you work in TV news, then you know that sometimes crews go out on stories that might not make the the best television. The thing is…television deadlines are unforgiving. Something has to fill the slot in the newscast. This is why you might watch TV news and sometimes wonder why did they cover that?

Fil-Turd points us to a hilarious story where a reporter from WJW Fox8 in Cleveland made something out of a bear story with no bear video. He simply used a cutout of a bear. Oh…this is a classic.

WATCH IT

Triumph the Insult Comic Dog is back and taking Bonaroo by storm for the Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien.

WATCH BOTH VIDEOS

(Thanks Michael Penix)

The syndicated version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire hosted by Today’s Meredith Vieira is holding tryouts in Houston. READ MORE HERE

Houston is one of six cities where the show is searching for contestants.

Who knew that celebrity deaths actually come in fours now? Ubiquitous pitchman Billy Mays has died and the TV ad landscape will be worse for it.

Billy must have known how to have fun. Ed Brandon sent me this video Mays made while ordering at a McDonalds for a local radio show. WATCH THAT HERE

- Where did Billy come from?
- Billy Mays’ autopsy shows he died of heart disease, coroner says
- RAW DATA: Chilling Billy Mays 911 Tape
- Top Ten Billy Mays Commercials
- http://billymaysrules.com/
- http://www.billymays.net/

(Image courtesy of Flickr user {[Ronin]})

KENS Channel 5 weather guys get props from Jeanne Jakle of the San Antonio Express-News:

Kiss! To KENS weathermen Bill Taylor and Jared Silverman for being so easy on the eyes. Guys are always commenting on what a looker Jennifer Broome is, a female viewer reminded me, when “handsome” Taylor and “cute” Silverman are just as deserving of praise for making the searing S.A. forecasts more tolerable. READ THE REST

Here is Bill’s bio and here is Jared’s.

In the past, it was always good to have your TV station on the VHF band (channels 2-13 or so) because you knew that viewers could receive a good signal. Higher channels sometimes had problems getting to TV sets.

But according to this article in TVNewsDay, the digital era we just entered has turned all of that upside down:

When the FCC handed out digital channels, it had to limit the power of VHF stations to prevent interference among stations in the more tightly packed digital broadcast band. VHF signals do propagate well and so are more likely to interfere if power is not reined in.

VHF stations have other problems that attenuate what power they do have. Because of the long wavelengths of VHF signals, they have trouble penetrating homes and apartment buildings. What’s more, many committed over-the-air viewers were sold UHF-only TV antennas or all-band antennas with small, lousy VHF elements.

It all explains why viewers are calling hotlines wondering what happened to their favorite stations and why broadcasters are looking for solutions.

Stations that have experienced significant loss of viewership since the switch to digital-only broadcasting on a VHF channel have been running to the FCC for help. Some want more power; others want to move back to their old temporary UHF assignment or find a permanent home in the UHF band. READ THE REST