The ol Belo’s KHOU-TV in Houston was their CBS affiliate till 2014, when they were sold off to Gannett (later rebranded as Tegna). Despite the issues at CBS and even within the O&Os, KHOU was one of the stronger affiliates in revenue and ratings.

The long time branding of The Spirit of Texas along with a CBS-look went way by 2006, with some plastic-y looking logos and branding, leading up their HD launch in the 2007 Super Bowl. By 2011, KHOU started take the Texan colors and revolved around a large Lone Star. In early 2011 it resulted in a graphics change. KHOU also acquired Lisa Herrendez from California’s KABC-TV and as a result of new hires, they amped up their on air look formally in August of that year; starting with Len Cannon’s 4:00 show; by October, all newscasts got the updated theme.

From very late 2006 to mid 2011, KHOU’s parent Belo had a deal with 615 Music for corporate wide deal to use any of their musical libraries or compose new packages after the infamous “SESAC Attack of 2006”. KHOU I believe was the first station to commission a theme called Propulsion. For late 2000s, it was standard 615 grunge meets rock. It wasn’t the strongest sound. Until KHOU commissioned a new cut for the package. In fact this became second version, other Belo stations took it within a couple of years. Other stations in other groups like Tribune and alike have used it, sadly with a short time. In the case of KHOU they were the last Gannett station to use the theme up until October of 2014 when the infamous This is Home was required to be used.