Houston Press acquires Public News assets as alternative folds

The Public News, for years Houston's alternative alternative newspaper, has shut down after 837 consecutive weeks of publication.

Long-time publisher Bert Woodall says he just couldn't make ends meet anymore. In his farewell editorial, Woodall, who published the Public News for 16 years, blamed the paper's downfall on his own lack of business acumen.

"I am not and will likely never be a very good businessman," Woodall wrote. "My casual attention to financial affairs, socialist tendencies in advertising rates, and insanely liberal credit policies have combined to keep Public News from ever becoming the competitive and comprehensive publication its readers deserve."

The alternative weekly Houston Press will purchase the assets of the paper, including some computers, production equipment, circulation racks and advertiser information and will give jobs to the small sales staff of the Public News.

Shop talk

The inventor of direct marketing, Lester Wunderman, is scheduled to speak at the September 10 meeting of the Houston Direct Marketing Association.

Wunderman, who is credited with coming up with the term "direct marketing," came up with those annoying subscription cards that are stuck in magazines. He also invented a forerunner of the scratch--sniff ad and was the first to sell magazines on late-night TV with 1-800 numbers. He turned the Columbia Record Club into the biggest marketing club of its kind.

• Industry reports say Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits is looking for a new agency to handle local marketing and promotions for its 78 restaurants in Houston and east Texas. Houston-based Love Advertising, which won the $2-million account last year, is not participating in the review. Love had handled local promotions for the 35 franchise-owned Popeyes in the region and media placement for creative from Popeyes' national agency. Love also placed Hispanic advertising for Popeyes.

• KKHT 106.9FM has erected a new 1,928-foot transmitting tower that is the tallest religious broadcasting tower in the world.

It's taller than the Chase Tower in downtown Houston. It's taller than the Eiffel Tower in downtown Paris. It's taller than the tallest buildings in the world, like the World Trade Center in New York City, Chicago's Sears Tower and the Petronas Tower in Malaysia. And it's no doubt the biggest thing in Splendora.

Along with the tower, KKHT owner Salem Communications put in a 100,000-watt transmitter. Station general manager Gordon Marcy says KKHT's format of religious information, teaching, talk and music now will easily reach listeners form Port Arthur to College Station.

• Here's a rarity: a for-profit broadcaster running a commercial-free radio station. Heftel Broadcasting Corp. has launched another Tejano station in Houston: KRTX 100.7 FM, "Puro Tejano". In an effort to establish a solid audience, Heftel won't sell ads on the station. The company's other stations will make up the cost of going commercial-free on Puro Tejano.