Monday, January 30, 2012

Enough, and My Solution

I thought the SweetJack plague was over. 

I was wrong.

It's back, worse than ever.  It's saturating the Ticket airwaves this morning.

Isn't The Ticket selling any real advertising?

Talk about disrespect (as I did at the end of the prior article and a subsequent comment) -- Cumulus knows how much the P1 hates this bilge, and they stuff it through our earholes anyway.

I'd like your ideas on what we can do about this.  Or maybe you don't care, which is OK.

Here's what I'm going to do.

I'm going to join SweetJack.  And I'm going to boycott any sponsor who has given Jack some bargains to put in my inbox.  And I am going to send this column to that sponsor.  Your ideas welcome.

Enough of this crap.

28 comments:

  1. While I like your thinking, Plainsman, it's a Sisyphean exercise. Cumulus doesn't care if they're driving the listener crazy. In fact your very post only proves their campaign's effectiveness. They think they've hit upon the next Free Credit Report ad campaign (the one with the original band with the white boy rap/pirate suits/etc.), and they're not going to let up until they see diminishing returns. Sorry people, we're stuck with this crap for the foreseeable future.

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  2. Why is this such an issue? During commercial break, just change the station for a few minutes like most listeners do and you will never have to hear it. Problem solved.

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  3. Yup. When I'm driving, I rarely listen to a commercial if I can help it. I'll punch out to The Fan or surf around. It doesn't matter to me which commercial is on, I'm out.

    On the other hand, at least Sweet Jack has a somewhat catchy tune, as opposed to other commercials that makes us want to shoot ourselves when it's on. There is a thread dedicated on GMIL to the Worst Commercials on The Ticket. There are worse out there by a lone shot.

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  4. Volume knob. Use it. Plus, if you are a true P1 you have Ticket Timing Powers and have the ability to turn it back up right when Ty Walker starts the Ticker. Boom.

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  5. I agree with the Ticket timing powers. I have become a pro at knowing when I need to turn it back to the Ticket in time for the ticker.

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  6. Dude, all you have to do is change the station. It's not that serious. There are things in life to get upset and stress about. This is not one of them.

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  7. You guys must've missed those few days where it would cut Gordon off mid-sentence. Or the day where everything the station played was barely audible, causing most people to turn up their radios, then, suddenly, Sweetjack is shredding my eardrums.

    First-world problems, I know. I listen using Gordo's build-up method, and that commercial still finds a way to annoy me somehow.

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  8. Ah, my gentle Confessors, gotta chuckle at your well-intentioned and entirely justified chiding:

    I get upset and stress so you don't have to.

    By the way -- one of first entries at this site had to do with that "Ticket Timing Powers" that people are talking about. My very first commenter on this site, believe it or not, was Grubes, who, as usual, passed along valuable information on break lengths on The Hardline.

    Check it out in the deep, deep archives:
    http://myticketconfession.blogspot.com/2009/09/internal-clock-of-p1.html

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  9. Does anyone out there know anything about the contract and/or relationship with the Dan Patrick Show? Ditto with its ratings. I for one don't understand why it's a part of the lineup. Not only is it not very good, by the time it airs, it's also dated. It's old news. Surely Rotten Radio or even another local show would be a better fit. And surely the station could save money by paying B-Team money to a local show rather than what they're shelling out for DPS. Right?

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  10. "There are things in life to get upset and stress about. This is not one of them."

    Um, okay. That pretty much applies to the very existence of this blog. And to all the comments it generates, including yours. Heck, so is the vast majority of our everyday worries and whatnot. So, what's your point? The blog's about The Ticket, all things Ticket. So the ads are fair game and they interest some of us.

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  11. The ratings for Dan patrick suck. But by the time it airs, it doesn't really matter. The majority of radio listening, and therefore the majority of advertisments sold, are in the 6a-7p time frame. The Ticket needs something on at night that doesn't cost a lot (if anything) and can easily be prempted for Stars games, Stars, Mavs and Rangers postgame shows, etc. That's Dan Patrick.
    The deal with many syndicated shows is about clearence- they want to be able to go to national advertisers (who have lots of money) and say 'we're on in 9 of the top 10 markets, 17 of the top 20, etc, so please Geico, give us money". And besides, where else is Patrick going to go, ESPN? I think that Mothership doesn't want him back on their properties...

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  12. Off-topic, but does anyone know what the hosts mean by their "encoding a message" jabs they've been getting in on the engineering staff today? I heard several references to it during the Musers, and then again during BaD, but I never heard enough to suss its origin.

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  13. You picked up on that too, huh Birq? As Jake-Z said, shots are being fired. I'm pretty sure Gordo was about to elaborate, and he was either dumped or abruptly stopped mid-sentence while starting another one. Also, heading into a break, I could hear Catttt saying "hey we should really stop..". This was in response to George also commenting on "encoded messages".

    For a second, I wondered if it had to do with comments posted here. Whatever it may be in reference to, fun is certainly going on!

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  14. just heard sweet jack three times in a single commercial break (after WTDS). enough is enough.

    sweetjack is going to backfire - as others have said, p1s across the d are going to switch channels during commercials, taking those impressionable ears away from the rest of the ticket sponsors.

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  15. They are definitely hammering on the "encoding" bit. Seems related also to the fact that Grubes can't "mark" anything they've said since they've been in the new studio...and the fact that they still don't have all the old drops moved over.

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  16. Also, my ears perked up when Mike R. just issued this:

    "due to circumstances which possibly will become a little bit better known to you all in the days ahead"...

    it was harder for him to relax/shut down/disengage than normal last night.


    February, anyone?

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  17. I just wish someone would tell "Pitbull" that a "Pahty" with 50% friends, 50% girls, 50% Bud Light, and 50% fake gangster-british accent does not make mathematical sense.

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  18. Shaggy: Do you recall the time-stamp (or the approximate time) Mike issued this? And ap, any chance it can be posted? Very interesting.

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  19. It was between 4 and 4:15 for sure. I believe more like 4-4:05. It was at the beginning of Mike discussing their accommodations and roomin with "Snorge".

    I still have it on my phone (TuneIn recording) if we're desperate for the audio, but I'm not sure that it's in an easily-convertible file format.

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  20. I didn't catch mike's comments but I assumed the encoding messages thing has to do with there not being an enco. And not being able to mark, and not able to record, which is why there hasn't been a top ten the past few days I thought I drew from jake-z last night. I think it's just pinned up frustration with the new studios not being up to date and fully functional which I think we all thought would be taken care of by now.

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  21. Thanks for the info, Shaggy. If anyone posts up the audio, please leave the URL in this here combox. I don't think this is contract related. However, I can see a scenario where Mike would become so frustrated with everything that he'd say "F it, if this is the way things are going to be handled, I'm done."

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  22. Looks like I forgot to pass on the memo...I'm just going to leave this link right here and let you guys explore.

    http://www.theunticket.com/ohhya/

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  23. You guys are the best. Please continue Transition Fail comments on the following Open Thread.

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  24. given corby is the most political animal of the bunch, I thought it interesting (with Mike's contract timing) that he is rooming with cat/kat.

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  25. They said today on air that Mike won't room with his on air partner. He requested George.

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  26. I caught that Mike R comment also Shaggy. Was just logging on to comment. My take, since I enjoy WILD speculation:

    First, thanks Plainsman for the past postings on this topic.

    I have been of the opinion that Mike is somewhat ready to quit, but I really believe he wants to be on the air when and if the Rangers win a World Series.

    Yesterdays comments had me immediately thinking he may be signing something short term with an exit strategy.

    I have been a contract employee before, and usually, if I was just extending for something similar to what I had, absolutely NO real thought went into it.

    The fact the Mike is troubled enough to loose sleep right before February tells me change is on the horizon. Again, I think he stays through baseball season, but I would not be shocked if that were it.

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  27. I don't want that danged dog spamming in my in-box, my flower beds, or my Gott-danged dashboard. I'd hop the curb and take out the hydrant to run that mutt over. I'll never patronize any business that uses Sweetjack. Bank it.

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  28. Thirty seconds of Googling reveals that "Sweetjack" is a Cumulus-owned property. This is why we must suffer.

    I can't believe none of you have figured this out by now. I haven't bothered mentioning it because I thought it was a well-known fact.

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