Thursday, December 1, 2011

OPEN THREAD: What Happens When You Tell a Friend About the Ticket?

November was supposedly Tell a Friend About the Ticket Month. 

Whenever I ask a conversational friend whether they listen to The Ticket, assuming that he's male, I never get a response that they've never heard of The Ticket.  So telling them about The Ticket is usually unnecessary.  I usually get one of several reactions:

--  they're Ticket listeners and enjoy it.  Given it's healthy ratings, I'm surprised that this is the reaction I get least.

-- they don't listen to The Ticket because it doesn't have enough sports.  They split equally between FAN and ESPN.

-- They don't listen to The Ticket because it's too dirty.

What reaction do you get?  If, in fact, you proselytize for The Ticket.  As we all should.

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URGENT MESSAGE TO ALL CONFESSORS:  The circumstances of my employment have kept me away from the channel for the last few days, and that may continue for a little while.  I would appreciate if anyone hears anything of interest that they'd like to comment on, please do leave a comment here.  Sorry for being a little distant, and hope to be back with more blasts soon.

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Follow Your Plainsman on Twitter:  @Plainsman1310

27 comments:

  1. I usually get one of two reactions: (1) "I'm a P1," or (2) "I don't listen to a.m. radio." Well, the more I think about it, there is a third: "I've tried to listen, but I just don't get it."

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  2. "They don't listen to The Ticket because it's too dirty."

    Really?

    Serious question here - are you a big church-goer, Confessor? I'm curious what factors shape your world as to be consistently offended by the silly "dirtiness" of the Ticket, as well as why your acquaintances are similarly offended. The little one simply isn't that filthy, yet you constantly harp on this point. I feel you have an agenda.

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  3. Anon #2, my take on the "dirtiness"

    I am a big P1, listen in car, stream at work, use the vernacular daily to identify others of like mind.

    And, while I am a "church-goer", on its own, the station does not bother me. The only time I have had issue, purely my own, is if I am hauling the kids around in the daddy caddy.

    Usually, I am safe with this endeavor in the mornings, though afternoons are dicey at best. There have been several times where I have had to punch out, though I was enjoying a segment, some random drop is played and things head South.

    Again, with kids under 7 in the vehicle, I should probably investigate that Disney thing, it is totally my issue if they catch onto something.

    That is really my only issue. The Ticket is no where near as irreverent or offensive as South Park, Family Guy or Beavis and Butthead, but they all make me laugh...

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  4. Nope, not a churchgoer. In fact, read Christopher Hitchens' "God is Not Great" within the last year and agreed with most of it.

    That The Ticket works blue is not a particularly unusual viewpoint. The Hardline is the bluest. A number of commenters have agreed with me in the past. Cat tried to clean it up a month or so ago, and it worked for a little while.

    Scott has approximately my take on it. He's right about it not being as racy as the cartoons he's mentioned, but the difference is that The Ticket is on free broadcast radio, not cable.

    Look, The Ticket isn't consistently filthy, but it's the bluest radio I've heard since Howard Stern and Opie & Anthony moved to satellite.

    I'm not squeamish about The Little One -- I listen whenever I an and I don't punch out the porn. I'm sure that the orifice humor attracts more listeners than it drives away.

    But it does drive some away. And that's a reaction I get sometime when I raise the subject of The Ticket with people. By the way, the people I talk to The Ticket about are usually strangers.

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  5. If the vulgarity drives some listeners away, it brings or keeps 20 times that much in. Just another beautiful thing about The Ticket is the willingness and ability to keep it edgy.

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  6. To the point of MTC post, I think "telling a friend about the Ticket" is akin to "telling a friend about Jesus." The market (culture) is so saturated with awareness and experience that there's not any new information to bring to the table. What would really have to happen to get a non-listener interested, is some kind-of major change in hosts or another new angle that might draw them in for a segment.

    "Hey, you may have your opinions about the ticket but you've really got to tune in for this" [whatever interesting thing 'this' might be].

    As far as a biz strategy goes, I figure that the ratings book still has them No. 1 in the demo so, until the others a breathing down your necks, I wouldn't worry about it.

    As for the vulgarity, I'll just say that there are times when I get embarrassed about the paths that Danny and Corby go down. Yes, I am usually considering the biz traveler who just flew in from Sheboygan and stumbled upon that great sports radio show that they heard so much about. From their friend, of course.

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  7. First off, second Anonymous, if our Plainsman had some sort of agenda, he sure is going about getting his message out in a very poor manner--i.e., a small blog about a certain radio station; a blog that goes out of its way to promote the station as a good thing. Perhaps it is you that has the agenda? What shapes your world-view? Are you anti-church-goer?

    Look, if anyone out there doesn't think that The Ticket pushes the envelope where the FCC (and good taste) is concerned, well, you good madam or sir are either hard of hearing, dense, or have become inured to the crude. Having said that, it's this very aspect of The Ticket that many of us love. And for the most part, I do as well. But I agree with Plainsman that certain hosts go too far from time to time (Corby and Gordon, mostly).

    Plainsman, I don't think admitting to agreeing with Hitch vis-a-vis his understanding of religion as a bona fide with respect to your views on religion is necessarily a good thing. I'm a huge fan of Hitch's (and his battle with cancer breaks my heart). I own every book he's published and have read nearly everything he's written for magazines, papers, etc.. But me oh my, "God is Not Great" is about as sophisticated as the pamphlets handed out by fire and brimstone preachers telling you that you're going to Hell unless you repent NOW. If you want to read something substantial in that area of thought--something with real teeth--read Hume's "Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion." I'm sorry but Hitch, Dawkins, et alia have a sophomoric understanding of religion. And what's worse, they posit deceptive and mostly fallacious arguments/examples and refuse to follow through their arguments to their logical conclusions. They embarrass honest atheists and agnostics. Anywho, I know this isn't the forum for such conversation. However, I'll gladly provide evidence/argument for the above if you (or anyone else) ask.

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  8. I don't know anyone that hasn't heard of The Ticket in some capacity. A few are P1's, some listen occasionally, and some don't have any interest in giving it a chance. Either they don't care about sports, don't care about guy talk or don't want to think while driving. I don't have a problem with any of those reasons.

    I don't get "tell a friend about The Ticket" month in the first place. I understand they're trying to do the "grow the show" kind of thing that Ben & Skin are doing, but it bugs me. It sounds contrived and forced, like a mega-corporation trying to shove something at you that was developed by a room full of consultants and tell you it's grass-roots and organic. I didn't appreciate it.

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  9. Also, Plainsman, in this morning's Scattershooting, Junior mentioned that the new book is out and the station is #1 in all time slots in the M25-54 category. They didn't break it down farther than that, and I didn't hear any of the other shows, so I don't know if anyone else mentioned it. Still, it sounds like they're not in any kind of ratings danger.

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  10. Ghost Hitler and Trying to Have a Period Man... Nope, nothing pushing the envelope here.

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  11. I don't think it has anything to do with ratings danger. I think it's more about the explosion of population in recent years into the DFW area. The Ticket doesn't advertise (or at least I never see anything for them) but I see stuff for the Fan all over the place. Dallas led the country in population growth a couple years ago and is always near the top, usually adding around 150,000 new residents a year or so. So say in the past couple of years 300,000 new people have moved into DFW and all they see everywhere is Fan ads promoting that station. It's a better signal and it's FM. I would guess the CTO's worry more about finding a way to attract those new area residents than they do losing the P1's. (We're not going anywhere but we know better) The "pie" is continuing to grow, which means the Ticket can still have it's very large slice but the slices available for other stations to enjoy (The Fan) are getting bigger as well.
    Find people that have just moved here within the past 12 months or so and many of them have no idea the Ticket exists unless a friend tells them. So it makes sense.
    The place where I work recently closed an office in the northwest and several of those people relocated here. A couple of the guys that are into sports (I had to tell them about the Ticket) have said the Ticket feels too "exclusive" and they don't get the drops or the inside humor we've understood for years. It's fun to tell them where it all comes from but I can see how a new resident/listener would have no idea what's going.
    I love the Ticket and think it's greatness, which it is, but someone moving in from Seattle or Pittsburgh has no idea. They're just as likely to enjoy the Fan as the Ticket and they can find it easier. There are other, more readily available options now and the Ticket has to find a way to compete from that angle.

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  12. Man, you guys are pushing the envelope on excellent comments.

    Last Anon, that one's a keeper. I'm going to come back to that shortly and may liberally quote you.

    Again: I'm struggling to get by the channel so please do comment on anything you hear on the station that provokes you.

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  13. I believe junior did note that the Ticket's ratings were up and their competitors' were down.

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  14. @Phil K

    I never get embarrassed for Danny, but I do for Mike and Corby. Sometimes I almost feel sorry or sad for Mike when he tries to act like the 27 yr old wing and breastuses lovin' ideal demo caricature that they so love to make fun of. He's WAAAAY too old for that. I pretty much feel the same about Corby when he strays too far off the farm. Then again, I've bumped up against the Snake over the years (as recently as two weeks ago) in several local watering holes. What you get on the radio is what you witness in person. In other words it ain't no act folks. He really is that way. Loud, constantly making fun of someone in a fake hick accent, and visibly buzzed. Love him or hate him. He is what he is, the frat boy who never left the frat house. Personally I don't mind him.

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  15. One of the reactions I get from others regarding The Ticket is that they won't have anything to do with it because they find the station to have racist overtones. I especially hear this from those who have moved here from more liberal parts of the country. I have to admit that sometimes they might have a point. When I've been out of town for a good while, return home, and tune in, I too am taken aback at times--that is until I become used to it, which is much quicker than I'd like to admit. I could give example after example from damn near every show, every single day, all year, every year. I think what really shocks those who aren't familiar with the station and its hosts is the, at times, almost seeking out an excuse to say something racist under the guise of comedic value with the "we're doing it because we know how ugly it is; obviously we don't mean the words" implied clause added on to it.

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  16. Of course there is no ratings danger. There hasn't been any danger for over 10 years.

    The "tell a friend" promo seems like a lazy way to promote the station though.

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  17. I never thought it was intended to be a serious promotion, almost a borderline bit. It's like one of you has said -- who hasn't heard of The Ticket?

    No one who matters, that's certain.

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  18. Anyone hear either live or via the Unticket site Krenek's shot at Matt Mclearin? It sure was personal, venomous, and in now way appeared to be in jest. I'm not sure how management handles something like that. The stuff he said was libelous. I would think that the CTOs would not stand for such things being said on-air. I for one found it to be decidedly un-funny. Believe me, I'm no Mclearin guy, but I'm also not for personal, slanderous, statements about someone who's not their to defend themselves. Krenek's a small person.

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  19. To a few Anonymi back who engaged me about Hitchens:

    I actually agree with you that Hitchens misses the point about religion, ignoring what is sublime and necessary about it. I was raised a churchgoer and I've been a deacon in a major metro church.

    I am not hostile to religion and I'm not an atheist, but I've seen religion employed in the service of ignorance and violence far too much in the past couple of decades. Many of Hitch's observations about the corruption and anti-intellectualism of too many churches and philosophies are accurate.

    I was going to go on, but you're right -- this ain't the right blog. I appreciate your insights, and thanks for your thoughts.

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  20. I also heard the Krenek attack on McClearin (sp?) on the Unticket site. It was pretty low and classless. And as the last Anon said, it seemed personal. In my opinion, I think many of the peripherals are on the air far too much, have little to contribute, and become full of themselves in rapid fashion. I believe the Krenek incident occurred last weekend, so I don't think anything came of it disciplinary-wise. If not, it should've, regardless of whether it was schtick or not. Saying someone was cheating on their wife at a Christmas party, and for all intents and purposes committing statutory rape is something I would think to be a severe breach of company and even FCC policy--not too mention the potential legal ramifications. Whatever the case is, it was ugly; and Krenek ought to be ashamed of himself, schtick or not.

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  21. Plainsman, I appreciate the response (Hitch). Briefly: To claim rightly or wrongly that because P and Q exists within R, R is therefore on the whole bad is fallacious. To further claim that because this is the case R must also be false, too, is fallacious. Hitch, et alia, rest much of their case on such faulty argumentation. However, they do it rather cleverly; it is difficult to spot if you aren't accustomed to fleshing out such things. And to make matters worse, they make these arguments without applying the same standards to the secular view that they hold and thus endorse. I've only scratched the surface on these specific, related fallacies...

    We both agree that this isn't the forum for such a discussion; I respect that, and so, I will stop here. I enjoy your blog and *most* of the comments section. Keep up the good work.

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  22. Oops!!! I totally screwed up and named Krenek, when it was Millen who threw, to say the very least, McClearin under the bus. My most sincere apologies to Krenek.

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  23. Well, this is pretty significant. Can we get confirmation on whether it was Michael K or Casey M? I was startled to read that it was MK (I didn't hear this), as he seems pretty mild-mannered and generally doesn't insert himself too much into the shows he works. Can someone who feels comfortable speaking definitively leave a comment or drop me a line. (I'm on the run, don't have time to check the UnTicket, although this doesn't sound like something they'd post.)

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  24. (1) It is on the UnTicket, contrary to my supposition.

    (2) It was C Millen.

    This is the second weekend eruption bordering (if not crossing over into) defamation that did not have a bit-ish sound to it. There was the extraordinary gossiping about Corby's preferences back a few weeks ago when Gordon and Danny were chatting during what was supposed to be a commercial break but mistakenly made it out to the millions of weekend listeners.

    And now this, which sounds considerably more deliberate.

    Has Casey M been working this weekend, anyone know?

    Just one big happy family, if the family members had been selected by Tolstoy.

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  25. I don't know if MIllen has been working this weekend. If he still has a job, he's awfully lucky. I think the larger issue here is that we have a faction of Ticker guys/board-ops/producers that overreach. In trying to make a name for themselves they end up going scorched earth on either their coworkers and-or even themselves. I get the feeling that because they think it's all a joke, that there are no real world ramifications for their words. To some extent, at least in the world that The Ticket inhabits, they might be right. Again, to some extent. My guess is that they see what Grubes, Ty, and a few others do and think to themeselves, "there's my path to better things." The problem is, the aforementioned names have been there a long time now; they earned their "attitudes"; and they know from experience when to tap the brakes. I really will be surprised if Millen still has a job. After all, Bacsik, who was fast becoming a key on-air personality, was fired for a lesser offense; one committted away from the station and while not representing the station. Yes, his Tweets were offensive and could be construed as racist. However, they were neither defamatory nor a potential cause for legal action (which McClearin could very well take if he sees fit).

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  26. Millen's twitter profile says "pretty sure I'm getting fired next week".

    I have no idea how long it has said that, though.

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  27. "I never thought it was intended to be a serious promotion, almost a borderline bit."

    I took it as something management cooked up in earnest, then commanded the on-air guys to promote. So their way of pushing back is (as usual) mockery.

    Also, to the anon talking about the growing demo - good thoughts!

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