Thursday, July 5, 2012

OPEN THREAD: CBS Rumblings

As I mentioned, I was going to take a break, but this tidbit deserves its own thread.

See the following article brought to our attention by Anonoymous:


The money quote, speaking of the Dallas market and 105.3 The Fan:

 "This is a market where both CBS and Cumulus own sports radio stations. It would basically be a coin flip between “The New School” on “The Fan” and the long-running “Musers” on KTCK/”1310 The Ticket” – though a scenario where the “Musers” would move to “The Fan” in favor of a “B&C” clearance on “The Ticket” is not out of the question."

According to hawk-eyed Confessor Shaggy, Mike Rhyner had the following reaction to this on his Facebook page, which I've confirmed:

"so you thought this cbs/cumulus alliance is a non-story, huh?...fight through this until you get to the salient point ( and when you do, you'll know it) and then see if you still are thinking that...a merger, probably later than sooner, is coming"

In considering the possibilities, please bear in mind the evidence currently before us on the strategic acumen of the CTO.


Wrecking the channel seems like a long way to go just to get rid of MTC.


*     *     *

Hope to be back in a couple.  Carry on.

49 comments:

  1. The Musers to The Fan to be replaced by syndicated Boomer sounds like a horrible idea. Just like something the CTO would dream up.

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  2. Man, the Hardline is going off on Cat and Rich Phillips big time about everyone having to take the 4th off. Man...calling them both pricks. Gloves off!

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  3. Please, Cumulus, just shut down the Ticket in favor of The Fan, and let all the Ticket talent go to a new start-up.

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  4. Time for a Mad Men season 4 coup?

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  5. Great reference, Anon@3:50.

    If only that were possible. I wish/hope.

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  6. although it was actually in season 3.

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  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  8. " As, opines this CAS, are most of the commenters here purporting to be insiders"

    English translation please

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  9. Anonymous, you are so right, that didn't make the slightest lick of sense. Thanks for politely calling this to my attention. I have deleted my original comment. Let's try that again:

    ========

    PANTS FINNEGAN UPDATE:

    A source which I believe -- circumstantially -- to be very reliable advises with some heat that Pants Finnegan is not, repeat not, based on one Van Kyrias. I do not know exactly what this means, but since this communication was in apparent response to a commenter who insisted that Pants was based on some guy in sales, I can only assume (i) that Mr. Kyrias is in sales, (ii) that certain elements at The Ticket took the commenter to be referring to him, and (iii) that the commenter's surmise was wrong.

    I should add that our Circumstantially Reliable Source opines that most commenters purporting to be insiders provide incorrect information to this site.

    Sorry to be coy, but now you know what I know.

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  10. Thanks, now I understand.

    Pretty impressive stuff, for sure!

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  11. Wait, so you're saying a bunch of people on the comments section of a blog are pretending to be insiders when they really have no semblance of inside information?

    Next you're going to say there is porn on the Internet.

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  12. Indeed.

    Actually, I think some of these guys are actual insiders, but with bad information, or with an axe to grind -- or are not AS inside as they think they are.

    Porn? On the INTERNET?

    The next thing you'll be telling me is that DFW can support three full-time sports-talk radio stations.

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  13. Mike commented last night again

    " let's all maintain a little perspective...for the here and now, nothing's going to happen--it's business as usual until someone tells us it's not...and this is the speculation of one guy who may or may not be in the know--he may be wired into the boomer and carton angle but i don't sense a great feel for the reality of this radio market so maybe he's just riffin'...the cbs-cumulus thing may turn out to be just whatever it winds up being and nothing more...for now everybody be by the channel just as much as you possibly can, all day, every day"

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  14. There is some good news...Cumulus Dallas has a job posting for a new chief engineer so maybe the days of technical ineptitude are coming to a close.

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  15. Rhyner's lastest comment sounds like a guy who has rethought the wisdom of his first post. CYA, all the way, I say.

    Did anyone catch the veiled reference to/hint at a Mike and Greggo reconciliation by Corbles yesterday? Maybe I misheard or misinterpreted, but that what it seemed like.

    As an aside: Why do so many of you other anons or even anions out there feel the need to keep taking jabs at this site and its operator? Are your lives (and in case it's one person, life) that empty? Surely not. If so, I feel bad for you all.

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  16. I didn't hear the segment in which the previous anon mentioned a hint at reconciliation but everything I have heard leading up to now has painted a different picture. Mike still seems to harbor a good amount of dislike for Greggo and since we obviously will never know the full story it always will make me wonder just how bad it was since I invested so many hours of my life into these two that seemed like pretty good friends.

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  17. "As an aside: Why do so many of you other anons or even anions out there feel the need to keep taking jabs at this site and its operator? Are your lives (and in case it's one person, life) that empty? Surely not. If so, I feel bad for you all."

    Yes, it is. But don't feel bad for me, just accept it as a cautionary tale.

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  18. I think you either misheard or read something into it that wasn't there. I can't imagine The Old Grey Wolf reconciling with The Hammer. I have a feeling he's one of those I'll stand by you through thick and thin, but if you ever break my trust, you're out and you're out for good kind of guys.

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  19. Anonymous said...
    Up your ticket!

    July 6, 2012 12:02 PM

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  20. The anons are one thing, but the anions are tge real problem. Plainsman can we ban the anions please? They are making the anons look bad.

    also, up your ticket.

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  21. Please, anonymi, don't make me revise my comment-deletion policy to include the useless and inane.

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  22. "Cumulus Dallas has a job posting for a new chief engineer"

    Sweet. I even have my own Geordi LaForge visor. Application sent!

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  23. Last I heard Mr. LaForge is currently working at 97.1 the beat.

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  24. URGENT: I have had an inquiry re a one-day suspension for Bob Sturm as a result of some ill-advised Tweeting. Can anyone confirm the suspension, and does anyone have details? I know nothing about it nor can I confirim whether this report is accurate. Thanks.

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  25. PS: I see a reference to it on The UnTicket posted a few days ago, but no further details. So apparently this is not extremely hot news, except to those of us who seldom catch BaD. Would still like details, hard to imagine that the characteristically discreet Bob would have dissed his CTO.

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  26. I heard some sort of mention about it on either BaQ or WTDS. But I figured it was just another pile on Bob joke. I really can't imagine Bob tweeting something that would get him suspended for a day, can you? Have you ever seen his tweets? They're about as far from being controversial, much less Cumulus related, as you can get.

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  27. Just went back about week into Bob's tweets. Unless he deleted something, there's absolutely nothing that has anything to do with The Ticket, Cumulus, the signal, technical difficulties, or anything else that might warrant a suspension.

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  28. OK, now I see where you're getting this from Theunticket site. For a guy that has the ability to extract existential station angst from any and all utterances, you sure seem thick headed when it comes to blatant jokes. And this is where your inability to listen as an actual P1 hinders your ability to run a more reality based blog. If you listened to BaD on a regular basis, you'd have known that Bob left for vacation before Dan and Donnie. Their vacations were purposely staggered that way. It was discussed on the show. The bottom line here is that because you seem to be in reality more a P2 if not a marginal P3, you're unaware of the obvious and the day to day, and therefore are susceptible to read far too much into the things that you do come across. Now that isn't to say that sometimes you do hit upon something. But I do think it might explain why so often you don't.

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  29. I try to be gracious to critics, but you're a dunce. Reading is a skill. I did not get this from the unTicket, I got an email from a BaD listener who heard a reference to the Twitter suspension on the BaD show itself. Did you see where I wrote "I had an inquiry . . ."?

    If you don't get this site by now, you never will. Take your P-meter and post somewhere that values your nuanced judgments respecting the precise magnitude of others' devotion to the subject at hand.

    I will be deleting future posts on this thread on the topic of my Ticket expertise or lack of it, so don't waste your time or ours.

    Unless you're going to say something nice about me or the site -- I'll leave those up.

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  30. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  31. "I'm done with your site. Too bad, I'm going to miss ap, bird, T4, ausgang, EASTTXbdog, duckandcover, and others insightful and provocative comments."

    bird? :(

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  32. Sorry birq, I did mean you, birq. It's the damn autocorrect working its deviltry again. Ha! I knew Señor Defensive would delete my, as I know at least you read it, tempered comment. Just like the others before it were. Anyway, I'm now here.

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  33. Honestly, ANY anon who goes on like that is worthless. At least identify yourself. It is pathetic to rail on a blog site, and act as though you are high and mighty, but you can't identify yourself.

    I am happy to throw my identity out there. Most regulars are. Please, find something else to do.

    Again, it is a blog, don't like it, don't read it.

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  34. Marie Curie, read in Corby old timey voiceJuly 7, 2012 at 5:17 PM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  35. Scott, on the whole I agree with you. But I must say that just because someone types in a name, it doesn't mean that they're no longer anonymous. The only way to somewhat combat such a thing is to require commenters to sign in with a valid e-mail address. One that requires verification from the blog's administrator, that is, The Plainsman. Even that doesn't guarantee anything. Having said this, there are a lot of individuals out there who set up fake accounts for such purposes. That is, to remain totally anonymous or to, unfortunately, troll. Worse yet there are some who despicably and falsely assume other commenters' identities and make fake postings. My point is that just because a name and like The Plainsman, a picture, is used, it guarantees very little. Though anyone who frequents this or any other site pretty quickly learns the writing style and the general mien of thought made by regular contributors.

    I did see the anon's now deleted reply. I think it probably got deleted because while no expletives were used, it was pretty passive aggressive. The one thing I will say in the anon's defense is that h/she put up a fairly good argument in his/her behalf; and that while I disagree with the non-deleted comment about The Plainsman's listener status, it seems to me that h/she was participating in what many of us have come to enjoy about this site, that is, speculation. Only this time it was speculation about The Plainsman's P-status and its effect on his understanding of the day to day goings on at the station. I've read similar comments before. I guess The Plainsman has had enough of them and this time he put his foot down. My only qualm with his decision is the name calling. I address you directly, The Plainsman, when I say that in my opinion there's no need to call a commenter a dunce. The thing I've come to enjoy and respect about this blog and most of its commenters is its civil tone and tongue. I think you dropped the ball a bit with this person. He/she wasn't worth the time and energy.

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  36. Barry, good points.. I agree. Frustration from wannabees can bring a guy down.

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  37. Definitely it can, Scott.

    I have a suggestion for The Plainsman. Why not post up a rules and regulations notice; one where no comments are allowed; it is what it is, the rules are what they are, and if you violate them, your comment is deleted. The only other thing I'd add is to make sure that the rules are very clear and leave no room for ambiguous or loophole interpretations. I'd even set forth examples of what's not acceptable. That way, you'd weed out the attention seekers, the trolls, and the people who seem to be unable to get over the fact that this isn't their blog and that it isn't filled with content they they think is relevant. Just an idea.

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  38. Nice post, Barry, and follow up by Barry V. No issues there.

    But I'm thinking: This site is supposed to be about The Ticket, not about this site. Do Confessors really want to turn the comments into a meta-site about this site? The readership of MTC has exploded in the past couple of months, and we're getting some of the baby-arm folks in here. They are more than welcome to comment if they've got something useful, thoughtful, interesting, relevant, or funny to say, and perhaps I'm being snobbish in expecting the tone of the comments to be what it was six months ago, but is it of even the slightest significance as to whether I am a P1, a P2, or a marginal P3? I've been pretty candid about not being a Ticket expert, but to take me to task about not recognizing that the "Bob was suspended" remark, which apparently came up during BaD itself and was repeated, non-ironically, on The (Incomparable) UnTicket, was a joke -- was it? -- is simply not to get the MTC joint at all.

    I'm a jamoke. I've got a 40+ job. I run another non-anonymous blog which I have sorely neglected to keep this one fresh. I listen when I can, which magnitude of listening I have frequently described.

    I do not like deleting comments, and I hope everyone noticed that I advised the Nation that deleting comments about my Ticket ignorance will be, for the time being, limited to this thread.

    You will note that Anonymous, having announced that he was departing this site, checked back pretty quickly to see what kind of reaction his deleted post garnered. I am doubtful that any of the "you've lost a reader" types don't return promptly to see what's going on here.

    Defensive? Yup. But I'll tell you, I'm not going to let this site turn into the flame-swap that too many media-comment sites turn into. We have too many terrific Confessors who stick to the point to clutter up their visits with pointless exercises on whether I listen enough to toss off some thoughts about what's going on. The fact is, I'm embarrassed for these guys.

    If you can't accept the fact that this site, as speculative and long-winded as it sometimes is, is basically an extended love letter to The Little One by a listener who knows almost nothing about The Ticket that he doesn't actually hear during the two to five hours he's able to grab during the listening day, plus what I learn from listeners -- I don't even have time to catch up via The UnTicket -- then you will probably be happier elsewhere.

    And I assume everyone knows that you can start and maintain a site on Google Blogger for free? I was delighted to see The Ticket Tribute starting up, and I would be equally enthusiastic about any other new site dedicated to The Ticket. Would y'all prefer that I post twice a month, as Ticket Tribute Guy does? Let me know. Done.

    Blogger will permit me to monitor comments, and while I am resisting that option, I am rethinking it.

    Now, let's get back to The Ticket. Here's a starter related to this post: Let's focus on The Musers. Do you think that they would be a candidate for inclusion on the schedule of other Cumulus or CBS stations? They'd have to broaden their segments to include sports topics of more national interest, but given the Internet popularity of The Ticket across the country, would that be a stretch?

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  39. Both Barry posts were by me. Thanks for the compliment, though.

    Your point about this being a blog about The Ticket and not about this blog is well taken. The reason I made my suggestion was because of your very point. Because of your increased readership, you now have readers who sometimes seem to not "get it." I think a guideline to and list of rules for posting comments might help to get the comboxes back to where they once were. Unfortunately for you and many of us, over the last several months they have become more about the blog than The Ticket. To put it bluntly, many times they've been for all intents and purposes hijacked; the regular and thoughtful comments being drowned out. I think it's great to have new voices and perspectives, but it seems to me that there ought to be clearly defined boundaries; boundaries that you decide upon and enforce; but nevertheless, boundaries that anyone who wishes to post up a comment are aware of and must pay heed to if they want their voice heard. Even if it means putting up an all caps, bold, large type disclaimer on the homepage that basically echoes your last comment.

    Stay Hard, keep jammin', and I'll keep reading and posting.

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  40. Where is the reference on the Unticket? I'm not seeing anything there.

    But yeah, pretty much any time one of the folks from BaD is out (this includes Bob, Dan, Donovan, Tom, and Jake), they make vague references to a suspension or an illness/AIDS/etc. as a joke.

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  41. Shaggy: Check DP's post of June 28: "With the Sturminator out for tweet suspension, the rest of BaD interviewed Bill Zabka for the JBL contest. He was in a lot of 80′s great movies like Karate Kid."

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  42. Barry, I appreciate the thoughts and they're not bad. I'll say that I am looking into changes for the site that may trend in the direction you suggest.

    One thing I should mention: It's one of the First Laws of Blogging that if you want to attract readers to your site, you've got to have fresh content. Given the somewhat narrow focus of this site (and Your Plainsman's somewhat narrow listening habits), I do sometimes reach for stuff to write about. Thank Jah, you guys provide comments that can sometimes serve as the springboard for the next post, which I've been doing with more frequency the past year.

    So sure, there will be some clinkers. I don't mind that being pointed out, since I also do it myself. I just don't want my batting average, as close to the Mendoza Line as it may be, and the reasons for it, to be the focus of the comment threads.

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  43. This site is melting down faster than the ticket, can you blame people for noticing and pointing it out?

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  44. And the Anonymous before me is the exact reason why Barry V's suggestion about comments should happen. You really need to hold all comments until they can be moderated. I know it's a pain in the rear, but if you don't I'm afraid people like this last person will forever leave meaningless, jerkwad, adding zilch to the convo comments. BV is right in saying that these people are beginning to sap the life out of this blog. I hate that.

    Regarding The Musers and CBS... I absolutely think they would. Besides Norm, they're the only show that would have a general appeal. I think BaD could, but it would take some tweaking. Too much Tivo, game shows, and GBL for a geographically wider audience. Norm is right at home doing a state or nation wide type of show. The Musers are prime for a Texas or TX, OK, LA, NM ranged show. Unlike the Hardline, they are local but not so narrowly focused on what solely interests them (which for The HL can be rather narrow). I do think however that BaD's Homer Call and Gay, Not Gay very much lend themselves to a wider audience. But they'd have to cut out some of the other stuff I mentioned, at least until they could establish themselves. Whereas The Musers and Norm are out of the box, batteries included, ready to roll, as is.

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  45. My given name is AnonJuly 8, 2012 at 8:13 AM

    Why wouldn't segments about Tivo, game shows, and GBL appeal to a wider geographic audience?

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  46. The CBS/Cumulus thing means nothing. This is about network/overnight product. It doesn't kick in until the end of the year and it means Yahoo will go away and CBS will take over.

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  47. I hope you're right. That's what I thought when I first heard about this CBS/Cumulus stuff, but as time has gone by I'm less certain of that. It seems inconceivable that Cumulus would tinker with success. On the other hand . . . .

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  48. I didn't say they wouldn't be appealing, I said that they'd need tweaking. There's too much insider history involved with those segments. They'd need to reset and revamp a bit for them to work on a scale. But GnG and HCotW pretty much speak for themselves.

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