Saturday, June 2, 2012

June 2, 2012

8:57 p.m. -- Random thoughts while waiting for Yu v. C.J. (My Fox Sports SW in HD is currently unavailable on Time-Wanker.  Anyone else having that problem?)

I did not hear Mike's musings about starting another radio station.  But I think that remarks like that are quite significant.

Now, for those who think -- not without some jusification -- that some on this site, and perhaps even Your reasonable Plainsman himself -- are being alarmist, let me say the following:

I DO NOT THINK MIKE IS ABOUT TO QUIT.  I DO NOT THINK HE IS ASSEMBLING AN INVESTOR GROUP TO BUY ANOTHER STATION.  I THINK HE WILL BE WITH THE TICKET FOR QUITE SOME TIME, MOST LIKELY UNTIL HE RETIRES FOR GOOD.  IT'S NOT A SURE THING, BUT THE ODDS STRONGLY FAVOR IT.

It's not what he said, but that he said it, that is significant.  This site and Confessors have speculated, I think with quite reasonably, that the CTO has come down hard on public trashing of Cumulus.  Since then, we've heard two floutings of that rule:  (1) The Hardline talking about fixing the remote trucks, and (2) Mike's musings on starting a new station -- a competitor to his employer.

I know he's the Old Grey Wolf, and thank God for it.  But if we needed any further evidence that there are titanic struggles going on behind the scenes, this is it.  Mike could not care less about Cumulus edicts.

Things may be calming down after Jake's suspension, but we haven't heard the last of host dissatisfaction with Cumulus's treatment of The Ticket.

Here's the deal:  Radio is a tough, tough business.  I studied up on it some years ago and decided not to get into it.  It's tougher now.  To make money in it, you have to watch your costs.  I appreciate that.  But when you have amazing talent who have single-handedly created a ratings juggernaut, you can't treat that channel like it was some generic pop-rock flop.  

I am guessing that part of what is happening here is that the move to Victory has accelerated Cumulus's attempted assimilation of The Ticket into a corporate policy into which it does not fit.  I am guessing that there is resentment of The Ticket's success and uniqueness among the traditional radio management types, and they're flexing their management muscles to bring our sports/guy-talk heroes into line.  We'll show them how to succeed in radio!! 

It's crap, of course, and Mike and the others know it, and they know that they're being big-timed by ignorant suits.  They're still working out what they can do about it.  Again, I hope our guys have strong agents and lawyers.

9:09 p.m. --   Tried to listen as much of the channel as possible today.

George DeJohn - TeeBox handoff:  The topic was NYC Mayor Bloomberg's  ban on large sweetened drinks, and George made reference to some policy that would make him "bang my head against the wall."  Craig said something like "I'd like to see that" and chuckled,  and I thought George might check out at that point, but he soldiered on.  TeeBox sound -- there has got to be something that they do on that remote that they don't do on other remotes, because Rick's and Craig's voices simply sound dreadful.  It's like someone loosened something in the mics.  Sorry to rag on TeeBox audio on remotes, but there's something going on there that needs to be fixed.  (Not related to Victory move -- it's been this way for quite some time.) 

A couple of very snarky references to the Joe Morgan show.  I didn't note where I heard them, but at least one of them was on Cirque.   The JM shoe is indeed a massive punchout.


9:20 p.m. -- Laughed out loud several times during The Orphanage today.   The bit on cruising Knox City in Danny's buddy's '57 Chevy Bel Air hardtop had me laughing out loud in the new Conestoga.  (Yes, I traded the Jeep SRT8.) 
9:54 p.m. --  I was in 104.1 territory this afternoon.  It faded in and out from time to time.

10:25 p.m. --  Just checked my hits.  Whoa, through the roof the past several days.  Many thanks to everyone who has checked in.  Thank You for Shopping at My Ticket Confession.

12 comments:

  1. The Orphanage/Cirque mix is solid every week IMO

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  2. "Things may be calming down after Jake's suspension"

    WTF?

    I hadn't heard that and just spent the last 15 minutes all over this blog trying to find a reference to it.

    Inform the masses, please.

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  3. who said things would be calming down after Jake's suspension?

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  4. Come on, Anon #2, get with the program. Scroll back through the last few posts and comments (if you have an extra hour or so). It's the hot topic and was mentioned in ALL CAPS BOLD in the May 30 post, and discussed in the ocmments since then. I reckon he'll be back this week.

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  5. I would imagine that after his suspension, most if not all of the JVers, underlings, and hosts received the message loud and clear: "Cut the crap, WE are YOUR employers, WE own and run this company, not YOU." Thus a "calming" effect.

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  6. I know the logical position to take on recent events is "don't get excited, there's no reason to believe the demise of The Ticket is eminent" but I can't help but think about what happened in the case of KLIF. They may not have been a ratings juggernaut, but they had a loyal fan base and I think the ratings were fairly consistent. Until they brought in Tommy Kramer, became "Big 570" and the thing went straight into the toilet. David Gold was let go. Kevin McCarthy was moved to afternoons for awhile, and then he left. Norm moved over to the Ticket. Now KLIF is pretty much a punchline in the local radio scene.

    I blame it mostly on Tommy Kramer, but don't forget who was above him in that management food chain. Dan Bennett.

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  7. Perhaps my unabashed Cirque homer-ism coming out, but the Anon at 10:30PMEST is correct - that show knows how to smelt some absolute mix gold.

    If anyone could provide me with a few links to the IJB's relevant to Jake's forced vacation, I'd appreciate it.

    -ap

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  8. Yeah, ap, I think the Canadian in you has put too much blush and eye-liner on CDS, as far as your objectiveness is concerned. I honestly don't see what you see in them. They really have no shot of going anywhere other than where they are now. And to be honest, if the Ticket cared one iota about there weekend programming, the Sirois brothers wouldn't have a show. It's that bad. It's as bad, in a different way, than the Joe Morgan Show. Seriously, it is. I know one of them has a sweet gig with with the Mavs. Good for him. And the other is Norm's producer. Good for him. I wish them both luck. But their show as constructed, as two brothers with basically one voice, is an abject failure. I think they're both talented. But neither together nor on-air. Yeah. You boys have a future in this biz, but not as on-air talent.

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  9. I find CDS funny almost every time they are on.

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  10. Hey Anon 2:54 AM,

    You mad bro? Yeah, you mad.

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  11. The two biggest critiques I've heard of CDS is that they 1) speak too fast (sometimes cutting each other off), and 2) that they have 'same-voice'.

    The first point is something they themselves acknowledge and it's something they do to each other intentionally at times. I'm used to people speaking a mile-a-minute - think "Always Sunny". Granted, the interruptions can distract me from time to time, but I've been largely desensitized to that thanks to BaD radio. CDS is a stark contrast to the Orphanage - Danny and Davey come into Saturday with enough content for half a show at times, whereas Cash and Mike seem to have a segment or two left on the cutting room floor.

    As for same-voice, it's much easier to distinguish their voices over the stream -- I've never heard the AM broadcast, so perhaps it's different there.

    But yeah, as I've consistently said, I'm biased. But hey, it's only two hours of the weekend, right?

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  12. Meh, I'm not canadian and I Love CDS. I don't think your biased, AP, I think you can just recognize good ticket radio after being a dedicated listener for so long.

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