Saluting Texas State Network’s Charlie Hodges as He Signs-off from Radio
Today, marks the final day for a KFYO alumnus in broadcast news. Charlie Hodges wraps up his broadcast career by anchoring the morning shift of newscasts on the Texas State Network, which you can hear on KFYO and Talk 1340 (KKAM) in Lubbock, and on News/Talk 940 KIXZ in Amarillo.
Hodges' 40 years in broadcast journalism has almost been completely spent in Texas, with the majority of his career covering news and sports in the Metroplex.
Hodges first full-time job in journalism was working as a reporter for KCBD-TV in Lubbock, from 1981-84 while going to school at Texas Tech University. Hodges then spent a few years of the mid-1980s at KFYO, working mainly in the sports department with Jack Dale.
A side note, KFYO back then was still broadcasting a full-service format, with information-heavy morning and afternoon shows, a full-hour of agriculture news hosted by Jim Stewart at 12 Noon, sports talk shows in the evening, sports play-by-play during nights and weekends with Texas Tech, the Texas Rangers, Dallas Cowboys and Dallas Mavericks, plus some national programming from CBS, and locally DJ'ed country music shifts to round out the schedule.
Back on topic, after graduating from Texas Tech in 1987, Hodges then went from radio to newspapers, working at the Springtown Epigraph for seven years, while also working as a freelance reporter at the Dallas Morning News in the 1990s.
Then, in 2002, Hodges began a 19-year run with NewsRadio 1080 KRLD in Dallas and the Texas State Network (TSN), working in a variety of roles. Hodges anchored newscasts for both KRLD & TSN, filled in for Charley Jones on Texas Overnight on TSN, and served as a field reporter for KRLD.
During the past decade Hodges also started his own public relations company and recently became an actor as well.
I've had the chance to converse with Charlie a few times over the years, and he's a "pros, pro". My buddy Ross always liked listening to Charlie's anchor shifts on TSN, particularly for the straight-forward writing style he employed.
One memory that comes to mind is the deadpan "Oops...." Charlie uttered when playing back audio of the botched Buffalo Springs Lake fireworks show from two years ago during a TSN newscast. A wiring malfunction fired off the whole ordinance of fireworks at the same time, and even just playing back 10 seconds of the audio immersed you in this cacophony of sound you normally wouldn't have heard anywhere else.
Charlie is also on the oldest piece of KFYO archive audio that I posses. Charlie hosted the April 27, 1987 edition of KFYO Sports Talk, and Jack Dale was his guest during the 8pm-9pm hour. While the players, and even some of the teams, were different back then, one topic was still the same: "how are the Dallas Cowboys going to get back into the playoffs?" (In the 1986 season, the Cowboys were (7-9) and in third place in the NFC East. However, in the strike-affected '87 season, they essentially stayed the same going (7-8) and missing the playoffs again.)
So, before he rides off into sunset, I'd like to take this moment to salute Charlie Hodges, and his contributions to radio in Texas, and for his time spent at KFYO those many years ago.
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