David Newbury has taken his lumps from Confessors over the past couple of weeks, but I have always thought that he does bring something to the station. Whether he's cut out to be the star of a showgram remains unclear, but as a hard-core sports guy -- which species some believe is underrepresented at The Ticket -- his credentials would seem to be fairly well-established. I'm hoping he gets a shot somewhere else on the Little One, perhaps with a strong co-host.
I haven't heard who will be taking Cirque's place on Sunday. It makes sense to move the strong Cirque to Saturday, which I'm guessing is a more heavily-trafficked listen.
Well, Confessor and crypto-insider Gypo Nolan had it right -- BIIIG changes on the way for the weekend.
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Follow Your Plainsman on Twitter: @Plainsman1310
I cannot speak for everyone, but I never get to listen to the Little Ticket on weekends, so this news is not relevant to my life.
ReplyDeleteThen why even comment on it, James?
ReplyDeleteGood for the Bros. Sirois. I'm not really a fan. I think they sound like Gordo wannabes/Grubes Is My Leader board participants with some decent sports knowledge. Still, good for them. They seem like very nice guys.
Honestly, this is an inconsequential move. Saturday or Sunday, does it really make a difference? Does it somehow mean that they've now secured a "tenure track" position? I don't think so. I wouldn't be surprised if the Soul Patch is moved from Sunday to Saturday as well. The station seems to have less and less Sunday local content these days. Perhaps they're transitioning to drop all local Sunday programming (excepting Cowboy pre and post, obviously). If anything, I think this move places CDS on the fast track to Ben and Skindom. That is, a jump to another station for a "tenure track" position.
As far as Newbury goes...I too think he has his merits. I wonder if he'll stay on for Diamond Talk?
WELCOME TO RACE WEEK!
ReplyDeleteAh, Dale Jr., an interesting observation.
ReplyDeleteAs you know, Your Plainsman is of the opinion that it does not become The Nation to sneer at Race Week, even if automobile speed contests are not among our favorite sports. Rich Phillips puts on a darned slick show with what to my inexpert ears sound like definite syndication possibilities.
One thing I've wondered about is whether there will be any change in the duration of the Saturday shows. George DeJohn is an hour, TeeBox two, Orphanage two, Scrubs two, Race Week one. Will they keep Cirque at two hours, or toss in another and move Race Week to 3 PM?
There may be other shoes to drop (perhaps they already have and I haven't heard about it) before the music stops on the weekend programming changes and the ducks are in a row. (Please excuse the muultiple mixed metaphors.)
Would it surprise anyone if Raceweek is dropped? Does NASCAR even have half the cache/interest it did a few years back? I wonder what the RW numbers are now compared to what they were a year or 2 ago?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Plainsman about RW and syndication. He's that good. But you do know that satellite radio is full of such shows. Not too mention that the markets where NASCAR is king have their own versions of RW.
If they're replacing the Scrubs with CDS (which if I'm reading you right, it is what you're saying), then why would they tinker with the hours of each show? Unless they are going to drop and-or add something else.
Scattershooting:
ReplyDelete- Raceweek is only in season for a few months per year, no?
- CDS was constantly getting bumped for Cowboy pregame shows in their Sunday slot. That's far less likely to happen on Saturday. Plus something about people being in church on Sundays.
- Cash has a full-time job with the Mavs, and Mike produces for Norm during the week. I can't speak to their career aspirations, but I don't get the impression that they're looking to climb the radio tenure track as eagerly as, say, McClearin. For instance, I think Elf (previous owner of the 8-11 Sunday slot) was a real-estate agent and perhaps the economic downturn helped influence his decision to go to a full-time radio gig.
- "Gordo wannabes/Grubes is My Leader board participants"...them's fighting words, sir! :)
Not meant to be fighting words, kind sir ap. Ben and Skin had nice fulltime gigs too, if you recall. And they took a leap of faith. Luckily it worked out for them both...but not in its original form. I'll leave it at this...I've never known a musician who plays live and only aspires to be a weekend warrior, no matter what or how lucrative their straight job might be. And being a talk radio host of any stripe is no different than being a musician and having that mentality. It's show biz and it's addictive. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteI can assure you Race Week's ratings are awful. CDS to Saturday was the right move for sure. Mike and Cash have something. The Scrubs in any of it's forms is an awful listen. Newbury is still on Diamond Talk with C-Bass, not sure if there will be a change there or not.
ReplyDeleteI do wonder what will come of CDS's old time slot on Sundays. Cowboys stuff gets in the way some weekends, but the P1 needs more local weekend content. Could be a great place to develope new talent.
SMU is on Saturdays.
ReplyDeleteRe: "Race Week" syndication:
ReplyDelete(1) Satellite has lots of ALL kinds of formats, including speedy-driving shows. It does not keep forward-looking network managers from seeking opportunities to syndicate broad-appeal programming.
(2) I don't doubt that there are NASCAR-intensive areas in the country that have their own shows. But (a) Rich's show is really good, very polished, very expert; and (b) there is an audience for NASCAR and the like that is not clustered around racetracks. You don't have to clear the show in Charlotte in order to justify syndicating the show.
Having said that, I don't know nothin' 'bout syndication. There may be good reasons that "Race Week" just sits there.
Yes, AP, I do think that "Race Week" is seasonal, although I can't confirm that of my own knowledge.
I for one marvel at the fact that you would even listen to Race Week enough to know that it is really good, polished, and expert.
ReplyDeleteI mean really, what would possess someone to listen to Race Week unless they were some hard core NASCAR diehard?
Good for Cirque.
To Anonymous:
ReplyDeleteBecause, that's why.
Shaggy, I don't have Race Week on my must-listen schedule. But on weekends I'm out running car-based errands and when the radio comes on, it is -- of course -- The Ticket, which has commanded me never to switch the channel.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first caught Race Week when I was out and about, I'm sure I reached for the presets. But something held me back. I realized that I had inadvertently started listening, and even following what Rich was saying. I don't care anything about racing, but as I started listening more carefully I realized how skilled Rich is as a broadcaster. Even though I don't follow NASCAR, his performance had independent entertainment value, and it was owing to his preparation and style of presentation.
And this made me pay more attention to Rich's overall contribution to the station. On balance, while he's somewhat touchy sometimes, I have come to think that he's very good -- frequently better than very good -- in almost all his on-air roles. (I don't know anything about his zeggative skills.)
So, yeah -- when I hear Race Week coming out of the speakers, I don't switch away.
FWIW - for this weekend, the Scrubs will be in CDS's old slot (Sunday 11-1) per their producer, Mike Marshall (@machine1310).
ReplyDeleteThink that mix might be a tad bit awkward?
Ooo, good point.
ReplyDeleteExpect odd weekend fluctuation to continue for a while. NFL and SMU make weekend programming very volatile. Pre-noon shows (generally speaking) will remain consistent. Everyone else (CDS, Scrubs?, Raceweek, TSS) will jump around or be week to week. Raceweek will almost always find a home. CDS was moved to decrease the amount of shows that will be preempted by early NFL games. Also, a new show has been proposed consisting of a blend of current on-air personnel. It is being considered.
ReplyDeleteConfessor Gypo-Nolan has some pretty detailed inside information - thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteTwitter tells me that CDS will be preempted by the Stars icebreaker this weekend. I'll have to amuse myself by creating a fake dialog between SportsBot 2K3 and the Big Black Cowboy computer. Something from Oz, methinks....