KROI morning show host says he was dismissed

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KROI (92.1 FM) morning host Scott Braddock said Wednesday he was dismissed by the Radio One-owned all-news station after he made a guest hosting appearance on a local non-commercial radio station and played a portion of an interview that previously aired on KROI.

Braddock, whose weekday show aired from 9 a.m. to noon on KROI, known as News 92, said he was dismissed Tuesday by Radio One market manager Doug Abernethy. The manager said he would not comment on personnel matters.

Braddock said he was asked to be a guest host Friday on Geoff Berg's Partisan Gridlock show on KPFT (90.1 FM), a non-commercial station owned by the Pacifica Foundation.

He said he did not ask permission to host the Pacifica show and does not believe he was obligated to do so.

During the KPFT show, Braddock said he played an interview, which previously appeared on KROI, with Carolyn Jones, an Austin freelance writer who wrote about her experience with the Texas sonogram law for the Texas Observer's website.

This week, Braddock said he was told by KROI management that his appearance on KPFT was a violation of his contract and that the interview he played was the station's intellectual property.

Braddock said he has not signed his contract with the station and said he believed he had the right to use the interview, which he equated to a reporter's notes, in any manner that he wanted.

Nonetheless, he said, Abernethy told him, "We believe we have no choice but to terminate (his employment)."

Braddock, a former Austin bureau chief for CBS Radio and Texas State Networks and a former reporter for KTRH (740 AM), said he believes his dismissal was an overreaction by station management.

"They made a hard-sell case for me to come back to Houston and help start this venture, and to fire one of your marquee guys doesn't seem like a great PR move," he said.

Braddock said he is weighing his employment options but hopes to remain in the Houston area.

david.barron@chron.com