Former Houston Life co-host Tessa Barrera has joined iHeartMedia’s KODA Sunny 99.1 as an afternoon host, airing daily from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Barrera announced the role in a YouTube video posted this week. The move returns her to Houston radio and reunites her with iHeartMedia, where she previously worked on The Rod Ryan Show at 94.5 The Buzz starting in 2019 before shifting to television.
She most recently hosted a daily afternoon talk show at KPRC for three years, departing in March.
“Sunny is one of the biggest pop radio stations in the country,” Barrera said in the video. “And it was just kind of serendipitous, like right place, right time type of thing.”
Sunny 99.1’s website lists her among the afternoon hosts. She said she was offered the position after the company laid off several employees, including midday host Amanda Flores. “I just don’t want anyone to think like, I replaced (Flores),” Barrera said. “That’s the kind of nature of this business, and I wish that wasn’t the case.”
Before joining Houston television, Barrera worked as a sports reporter at KRIS 6 and KZTV Action 10 News in Corpus Christi, then as a news anchor and executive producer at KFI AM 640 in Los Angeles.