Friday, March 8, 2013

OPEN THREAD: Friday Give-Up


Confessors, I'm on the run.  Wouldn't be posting this except with the increase in readers the comment threads are getting long and unwieldy.  May just have to put up with that.  Anyway, here are some random quick hits.

(1)  Are my ears deceiving me?  The TC-and-Muser computer screwups of the past week will not be candidates on the E-Brake?  Cannot have anything to do with the length of TC's misery -- this is a station policy at work here that wants to lower the volume on the continuing problems arising from the inexpert move to Victory.

(2)  The Hardline did a live spot on Wednesday similar to its taped Texas Land and Cattle piece where the boys parody the copywriter's tendency to introduce each piece of dialogue with the speaker using the name of the listener.  In live spot, which may also have been for TL&C, they took this to an extreme and by the end of the spot they were screaming at each other.  Very funny.

(3) I've heard Mike and Ty read some copy about something or other that talks about "30 megabits per second."  Are megabits any longer a meaningful measure of digital performance?

All right, that's it.  Get us started, someone.

59 comments:

  1. 1. I found it odd that after all the hub bub throughout the week over the TC/board meltdown that it wasn't a candidate. Surely Jer or someone else could've condensed the TC E-Brake into a 2 minute highlight bite that would've been suitable for the segment? So perhaps something is afoot on the Cumulus is tired of the public bitching by their talent front?

    2. I absolutely love THL's new "delivery" of live spots. Heck, it's the first fresh thing they've done in a long while. And you can tell. They attack it with gusto.

    3. I've no idea.

    ap has left a fine comment on the last thread. I encourage all to read it.

    There is an aspect of The Shake Joint that I hope catches on with other weekend shows (I'm staring at you, CdS): namely, show intros that are reasonable in length and coherent in nature. I thank you, Sea Bass and Jake, for (hopefully) being trend-setters in this regard. I've never understood why a show which has only 2-3 hours, once per week (if that, depending on what's going on any particular weekend), to peddle its wares would want to waste precious airtime with what are for the most part unimaginative and painfully extended sound collages that have nothing to do with the show.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I was really hoping to hear the TC carnage on ebrake this morning. Can anyone point me to where I can listen to it? I'm assuming, based on some previous comments, that I would be able to hear it on the Tuesday(?) BaD radio archive on the unticket?

    Megabits/gigabits are still the standard to advertising/marketing speeds, whether it's for adapters, internet service, or anything pretty much. The only people who use bytes are consumers which creates a lot of confusion since the average consumer doesn't really understand the difference between the two.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I now know why Jake is obsessed with George DiGianni. He is very much like George.

    ReplyDelete
  4. @duckandcover
    Your last paragraph is the most educated assumption you've made about the sports radio landscape. PD's STRIVE to get shows away from the long, non-sequitor, tune out incentive intros, terrible for PPM. Again, this is one of the things 1310 can get away with because the audience they've built is SO big and loyal
    Signed,
    Anonymous troll that usually dogs your posts (and no, I don't speak in diff. voices, only one, and contrary to popular belief, I really like 1310).

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dude. Instead of throwing rotten fruit from the peanut gallery, why don't you tell us who you are and why it is that anyone should listen to you? Because honestly you come off as nothing but the troll that you say you are. I really wish Plainsman would delete any and all ad hominem comments. No matter how substantive they are. Since yours is totally without substance, it ought to be deleted, period.

    Kinda like my relationship with The Hardline, I'm gonna take a break from this site. Too much bulsh from just a few people to stomach. Shoopy is on to something. Clean up this place, Plainsman. Or else I think you're going to start to lose good MTCers.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yeah, I'll get right on that. Hope to see you again soon, forest.

    ReplyDelete
  7. 2:13, thanks for the backhanded compliment. Though I am going to echo forest's comment/question: Because you claim that that particular comment of mine is the most educated assumption about radio I've ever made on this site, raises the question of your radio bona fides.

    So, if you'd be so kind to oblige not only myself, but all of us MTCers. I'm sure we could learn a lot from your expertise. Until that time, I'm afraid it's hard to take you as anything other than the troll that you claim you are. In fact, just to head off the tu quo quo accusation, I'll give you my "bona fides." Mine are as I've always maintained: I love The Ticket and I enjoy prognosticating about it. There you go. Now, again, if you don't mind returning the favor . . .

    (My intention here is not to start to flamewar, but rather to initiate an honest and fruitful dialogue; to hopefully turn an admitted troll, who is possibly a knowledgeable radio insider or the likes, into a meaningful contributor the the site.)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Uh, let's not.

    Please don't turn this thread, or any thread, into a tediously introspective Ben & Skin commentary-on-commentary thing.

    Anyway, forest can't hear you, he's sworn off the site for awhile.

    ReplyDelete
  9. So you'd rather have Anons take swipes, imply some sort of expertise/insider radio knowledge in taking their swipes, and embrace troll-dom too boot? Okay. It's your site, Plainsman.

    By the by, my comment wasn't made for forest's benefit; I thought that was fairly obvious.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Eh, the more I think about it, the more I feel that those who are of the same opinion that the now departed forest holds are more right than not. Except in my case, this will be a permanent vacation. I know there are probably several out there who will see this as a great day in MTC commenting history (and I *know* at least one troll who is most likely waving a giant #1 foam finger as it reads this). When the day comes that Plainsman gets smarmy and a bit uppity with long time commenters--ones who always give respectful and thoughtful comments (no matter what you might think of the content); heck, ones whose comments he's posted up as topics on the main page--it's time to move on down the road. No big deal.

    So long and thanks for all the fish.

    Shaggy, D.A., ausgang, Brad Gilbert, cactusflinthead, BBQ, Anonymous Ron, East Tx P1, blergoyen, slinky, birq, T4, and any and all other regular commenters that I failed to mention (the memory isn't what it used to be!): It's been an absolute pleasure. Thanks for the last couple of years. And if some of those wacky predictions of mine ever do come true, if you wouldn't mind, please be so kind and give a guy a Mike R-esque knowing nod. Stay hard.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Bytes are commonly used in reference to file sizes or storage capacity, while bits are used for data transmission rates. I'll spare you the technical details, but if you remember this rule of thumb, you can avoid a lot of confusion.

    I actually heard Mike on one of these spots say "30 megabytes" and I thought to myself, "No, no, no" but hey, he's not a network engineer. Fact is, though, 30 megabytes is _roughly_ 240 megabits (disparate applications not withstanding), so Charter (it was Charter, right?) might have something to say about people correctly writing/reading their copy.

    You'll never see a Cisco Catalyst 6509 switch advertised as having 10 gigaBYTE uplinks, or a 1 gigaBYTE ethernet interface on your laptop computer; conversely, you'll never hear of Dropbox advertising 10 gigaBITS of free storage or Microsoft telling you that a critical system patch is 250 megaBITS in size. Hope this helps.

    Oh, one more thing: big "B" for byte (i.e. MB=megabyte), little "b" for bit (as in, your 10Mb DSL connection.) Not trying to be a know-it-all, just doing my part.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sorry to see duck go. Thanks for the shout out, duck, even though (I guess) you won't be reading this. That's too bad. While I wouldn't have reacted as such, I think I can see his point. It is getting a bit heated around here of late. On many fronts. I guess all of this new and unprecedented and sustained traffic means more of the nasties will rear their heads. But I've also seen an uptick in Plainsman's shortness. Even though at times it seems misplaced, I can totally understand why. Though I think he might've come out on the wrong end where duck was concerned. Who knows.

    I also found the absence of TC's staggering mishap (not his fault) to be a puzzler. My only thought is that maybe it was discussed so much throughout the week that they figured everyone had tired head over it. Maybe?

    THL's live spots are better than many of their segments these days. I doubt if that's a positive thing. Whatever the case, they crack me up like nothing I've heard since the early days of "I like chicken." My only hope is that they get even more over the top.

    deezy is correct.

    ReplyDelete
  13. It was Charter, and there's something wrong with Mike's copy. He just did it again.

    sigh

    If I were Charter's marketing department, I'd care. I don't expect Mike to know, or care about, the difference (he's much more successful at what he does than I am at what I do, after all) but they pay good money for these ads to be correct!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Agreed on all points regarding d&c, ausgang. It's a bummer to lose a civil and interesting voice. The only thing I'll add is that just what is someone supposed to do when you have a troll who attacks you personally after every comment you make? I've had to deal with a few trolls myself. I for one thought he was pretty gentlemanly and fair about it all.

    STAY HARD, d&c!

    @Steve
    I would've thought it'd be up at the Unticket site, but I just looked and am unable to find it. I'd like to hear it again, myself. Anyone out there with the goods, it would sure be nice of you to post up a link.

    Is it just me or have the digs at The FAN and RaGE been ramping up of late? Not just on THL, either, but every show.

    Oh boy, another Stones tour. I guess we'll never hear the end of Stones talk. It's almost as if it's one big conspiracy to kick us Stones talk haters in the nads as often and as hard as possible. Count me as doubled over, gasping for air, and trying to get out the word "uncle."

    ReplyDelete
  15. Guys, I was a D1 P1. I remember Skip coming on that morning, and falling for the first time heard...fake Norm. I thot, my God, is Norm really that stupid. But being an old timer, I'm also tired of the politically correct panzies! I have not read anything THAT bad on here. As Ron said, people are going to voice their opinion. If your that thin skinned, get out of the bidness. Maybe I've been tough on THL lately, I don't know! All the drive time shows have their weak links. I'm not too crazy about this Stretch guy on GAC. I listen to all the shows, so, I guess I'm not a P1 anymore but who cares?! Forest sez "why don't you tell us who you are", well, what good would it do if he did? Lighten guys, this is a good place to vent. If things get too vulger, Plains will delete. Didn't mean to get all soap boxy, and also, being an old timer....I kinda...like..the Neil Young, Stones talk. I can laugh at Corby's music stupidity!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I'm certain duck will land on his specially-adapted feet.

    You know . . . duck would actually be an excellent Ticket blog host. Lots to say, strong viewpoints, literate. duck, if you're peeking -- it's free and very easy, as this tech-innocent blog administrator can attest.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Innarestin that The Hardline ran a segment on what they view as their arbitrary exclusion from the E-Brake competition recently. According to Corby, the various producers send tape to Jer and Fernando, they pick out likely candidates, and George makes the final decision. They also claimed that George was declining to be interviewed, although it sounded like he was on his way to a vacation somewhere north.

    ReplyDelete
  18. deezy, good stuff, I'm dazzled. So Mike and Ty had been reading the copy correctly (the times I heard).

    ReplyDelete
  19. The techno breakdown seems to be a sensitive issue with them. How many times has Jer had to sound the Star Trek siren when one or more of the Musers mentions it? Not surprising at all that TC's encounter didn't make that high-profile segment. It sounds like from what Jer said about transferring files and all the subtle and not so subtle digs at engineering that was a rough move. From what I have been able to gather the other place was about to jack the rent up through the roof and the move made sense in that regard. I kinda like them being in Victory with the up close access to fans at the hovel, but I wish it had gone smoother and so many bits of history weren't lost.

    Yeah, you might want to lay down some Rules of Engagement when dealing with trolls or random confrontations. Seen too many contributors turn into lurkers on account of trollish behavior.

    Live spots are one of those peculiar things about the Ticket. I swear Norm could talk up painted cow patties and you would be convinced that it was a heckuva deal. Over-emphatic Danny selling steak has delivered some memorable lines. "NOBODY!"
    Then there are the meltdowns. And the prank spots. At least with a live spot we stand a chance of radio gold. "How are you getting your energy?" Thanks WestDale.

    @deezy. Ok, will take your word for it. I read it. Let's see if I have it right. Bytes are the size of the files or whatever and bits are how fast you can pump them up the intertubz or receive same? I bet Charter knows that most people won't have a clue which is which. Just like 95% of people don't know what Scott is selling us in his bag of lawn gold. I have to endure another spring of that shill selling Atrazine.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Speaking of Ticket blogs:

    Scattershooting while wondering whatever happened to the Ticket Tribute Guy? He issued some very solid posts, but his last communication was July 23, 2012. (www.tickettribute.com)

    ReplyDelete
  21. D&C

    I got beat down a while back at the Josh/ALS talk and left for a while. It happens to all of us. Until then, have good and get give.

    ReplyDelete
  22. @cactus

    You got it. And yeah, don't get me started on lawn fertilizer. Funny how I didn't care when our two oldest were little, but with our three year-old we try to keep her off the grass (everyone's).

    ReplyDelete
  23. No Karasik again today.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I just adore Sean, Jake, and Gordo talking about Chavez and Venezuelan politics. They have such a firm grasp on the situation. Now my Venezuelan wife, whose family's ancestral lands were confiscated by Chavez's government, heard Gordo so eloquently and expertly pontificating on Chavez.....she got red faced and demanded that I "turn that f'n moron off, now." Why do certain hosts continue to talk about things they have no knowledge of as if they are experts? Just to let you know, Gordo, Jake, and Sean......the vast majority of Venezuelans detest what Chavez has done. What you see on tv is propaganda. I know. I've been there with my wife dozens of times.

    Then again, why did Cirque just waste 7 minutes of my life with an idiotic opening? Bigger question is why I didn't turn it off?

    ReplyDelete
  25. All that and get the cat Danny. Not only do they know how to poop in a toilet, they're also excellent little hunters. The waterbug and roach population will go down in your house big time.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Wow, I leave for a few days and come back to over 100 comments to wade through. And now Dr. Duckandcover is gone. These are tumultuous times at the old MTC.

    Now to go slightly on-topic for a change:

    1) The TC ebrake that wasn't an ebrake was monumentus, but I can understand why they wouldn't include it. Unfortunately, equipment failures aren't new or exciting anymore. It was funny and it was a trainwreck, but it was long and we've heard something exactly like it a couple times before. I'm not saying that was the reason, just that I don't begrudge them leaving it out.

    3) deezy stole my answer

    ReplyDelete
  27. I love these guys.

    First Gordo says "Moo Goo Gai Pan flesh cave" as I'm driving to work...

    ...and Rhynes says "That ESPN jerk-off" on my way home.

    We can do what they do...

    ReplyDelete
  28. Fake Tiger was losing it today until. . . "My dad. . . "

    I was tearing up with laughter!

    The Danny, Jake, and Mike voice over segment had me laughing out loud as well.

    And Norm is back.

    Great day to be listening to The Ticket.

    Does anyone know if The Musers are staggering vacations right now? Jub is gone this week, will Junior or Gordon be next and the week after? Or is this just some owed time off or whatever to Jub?

    ReplyDelete
  29. BaD Radio is in for the Musers Wed-Fri. I think David Moore (and Wilonsky?) are filling in for BaD for at least one of those days.

    ReplyDelete
  30. atlanta rhythm sectionMarch 11, 2013 at 11:34 PM

    Woo hoo!!!! Well I hope the at least some of the smoke has cleared and the fires put out from all the battles that've been going down round here-a of late! Damn, people! I stopped posting a couple of weeks ago because things were getting too hot to handle for my loosey goosey easy peasy southern fried self. Seems like since duck got out of the bathtub I haven't seen one troll. Huh. Makes a guy wonder. Makes a guy wonder in a couple of directions, and none of 'em point toward Sanityville, USA. Shit fire and save matches is what my grammy used to say, but I still don't like losing voice that for the last year has really kept this thing afloat in many ways. Too bleepin' bad. You have the dude's email addy, Plainsman? Maybe you could get in touch and a lil sumpin' sumpin' bang, he's back on the team? Dunno. Hasn't even been half a week yet and this place is back to being a snooze cruise.

    Or hell, post up one of your classic and patented doozies, Plainsman. Lay a extra ghost hot pepper of an HSO on us.

    And yeah boy, if you are peeking around here, duck, take Plainsman's advice. Start you up an alternative site.

    Now on a more serious note. Been thinking about identification and comments. It's going to be tough to do here due to the Domo's anonymity. He's the Plainsman, he loves The Ticket, he's married, travels, and likes to win shit at road shows every so often. Quite honestly except for Brad Gilbert, East TX P1, and birq no one, me and Plainsman included, are putting ourselves out there. We're all anons. Even if you got the site set up for ip tracking, etc. it would mean very little and is easily avoided. But if everyone had to comment as they truly are, then things would get super interesting. Then an actual bonding and even real life friendships/get togethers could occur.

    It has seem to cool down since Saturday, so maybe that was the height of it and the end of it. Maybe only for now. All I knowz iz dat it wuz gettin' all ganzta lien up in dis here-a biatch. By almost everyone. From long time Confessors, to trolls, to Mr. Plainsman himself.

    Don't know what sort of work it take to get what I suggested done, but it might be well with it. Jes sayin' dawg, 4 realdough

    ReplyDelete
  31. I was one of the anons who frequently sniped with duck. Actually, I was the one he dubbed Snarky Troll before others started posting like me. (For everyone who assumes it's the same person, it's not. I may not have much of a life, but I do have better things to do than post as different voices in the comments of a fan site.)

    Just want to clarify something. Somewhere along the way, people here started saying those who were critical of the doom and gloom stuff on this site didn't like The Ticket. In actuality, I love The Ticket. That's why the doomsday predictions people here love to make are so ridiculous (and have never come true, might I add). I used to really enjoy the conversations here before everything turned into a giant conspiracy.

    For what's it worth.

    ReplyDelete
  32. I think everyone's a little to sensitive here to be honest. It's the internet for f's sake, the worst things that have happened here are nothing compared to most message boards (and for the record I haven't participated in any of them despite frequenting the blog for years now).

    I had a thought while listening yesterday to The Hard Line talking about Nolan Ryan. Corby, Danny, and Mike kept proclaiming what Nolan wanted and when/how he was going to leave (due, of course to the JD promotion). Sound familiar? Yes, the guys at The Ticket participate in the same EXACT type of largely baseless speculation that the people on this site do.

    Why do they do this? Because they're working with the information they have and they like the Rangers (and yeah, it's kind of their job too, but that's really the least of it). Many parallels there, just something to think about (especially for the last anon) ;-)

    I come hear because it's the best place I've found to discuss The Ticket. That hasn't changed and I don't foresee it changing anytime soon. I'm 1000% positive that Duck is still checking in frequently. I just wish if someone decides they can no longer handle the horrible atrocities which happen here that they could follow ARS's example and do so without calling attention to themselves, cause we all know they'll be back.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Yes, I enjoyed and very much appreciated duck's contributions, although duck, we hardly knew ye. It may have seemed like a year, but he'd only been posting since sometime in December, I'm pretty sure. I hope he returns.

    But he was just a skosh . . . sensitive, and had a tendency to expressly provoke the trolls. One rather mild rebuke, and off he went. Sensitive, as I say. Ah, lost another reader. Again, I hope he will return and I expect he will in some form.

    @Steve: I had exactly the same thought at almost exactly the same time. You don't get your fill of erroneous speculation at My Ticket Confession? Just listen to The Ticket for a few hours.

    ReplyDelete
  34. But I will say this for duck, as I did above: He's probably the best candidate to date to establish another Ticket blog. He's a content provider, and he'd probably be successful in doing it for his own account. Unlike the obscure beginnings of this site (daily visits were in the mid-one digit range), duck has built-in fans and I'd happily link to him.

    Unlike The Ticket, ANYONE can do what I do. I think duck could do it as well or better.

    But I'd prefer that he continue to give us his best.

    ReplyDelete
  35. All this duck reminiscing and the fact that I'm on spring break (one of the perks of working in the education field), got me to do a little MTC archival research. It took about 10 minutes, but our departed duck has been posting here, from what I can tell, 4/16/11. But he posted anonymously until 4/24/12. By the style and sheer volume of the anon postings, it's very easy to tell that they are the work of one duckandcover. And what's more, if anyone recalls the very cool Little Weak Jeremy/Anon conversation that Plainsman posted up, that too was duck (the anon). It was posted on 4/16/11. He might've been posting on here even sooner, but I sort of grew disinterested in the project. Anyway, like I said, if you go back and check out that first date you'll see what I mean. There is no way that that anon is not the old ducky boy. And as I said, the comments from that point on are voluminous.

    Well, enough of that. I'm now going to choose energy. Some espresso, that is.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Shoot. Sorry. I screwed my dates up. I didn't write down the LWJ debate date. So I'm not sure when that took place. I only saw it while skimming through the archives.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Wow. You guys know this site a lot better than I do.

    I always appreciate the corrections. I could have sworn that duck arrived in a recent migration.

    ReplyDelete
  38. @12:30
    I don't recall any regular, named contributor saying those with opinions like yourself are Ticket haters. I do recall one of the more trollish anons making a comment to that effect here and again. But in truth, when you call those who you disagree with ridiculous and then never give reasons why other than 'cuz I say so, you're probably gonna invite the same sort of response in kind. You know what I mean? I agree with Plainsman that duck could be a bit sensitive, but looking at some of your attacks, I get why he would be. So maybe you ought to change your approach? But that's your call.

    @Steve
    Great comment and insight, man. I couldn't agree with you more.

    @all
    Did anyone catch Machine's little Twitter spat with Mike Fisher yesterday? Pretty funny. I was scratching my head as to why Machine was listening to RaGE. If you go find the exchange you'll know what I'm talking about.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Heard this morning that Richie and Sybil got engaged. Y'all think this will affect RaGE at all?

    ReplyDelete
  40. I doubt it will. If it hasn't by this time, I can't imagine getting married will cause a disturbance. If anything it might make the show better. Can't help but wonder why then all the direct shots at their relationship a week or so ago by BaD and during WTDS. The shots were not so gently implying that the Whitt-Sybil union was ending or had ended. Maybe it's one of those "the only way I'm going to get you back is by stepping it up to the next level" things?

    I'm beginning to think that as bad as their ratings and show are, they are for some reason only known to God and CBS, bulletproof.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Ausgang:

    I did not hear the shots last week during WTDS but read references to it on this blog. Can you expound a little on what was said?

    As for ratings, I think maybe the goal was to become a solid #2. As earlier posts on this blog and the DFW radio board goes, I think the FAN has supplanted ESPN in the ratings.

    And I also read on (I think) the radio board that the FAN is not having cash flow issues. I forget the industry term and don't have time right now to look it up, but they are selling a fair amount of advertising.

    So from the business side of it, if I had a solid #2 station in a major metro area (and knowing that becoming #1 is nigh impossible)and it is making money, I believe I would be cautious about shaking it up. Simplistic maybe, but if the FAN has taken over the #2 spot, management doesn't really need to mess with at least some measure of success. Making changes has more of a potential to lose listeners than to gain on the Little One.

    JMO

    ReplyDelete
  42. I have no radio knowledge, East Texas, so I'm every bit as in the dark as you. The jabs I heard were about dating coworkers and co hosts, and how that never ends well. It was real obvious who they were referring to.

    I'm not sure who is #2 or consistently #2, but I can't imagine the goal of a company (specially a company like CBS) is to be a solid #2. When that #2 is so far behind #1 and so close to #3, it really makes me think that surely second place isn't their goal. But then again, that makes sense to me; and from everything I've ever seen, radio is one nonsensical business. Perhaps #2 is just fine by CBS. But, RaGE is not #2, it's #3. And it has been since its maiden voyage. And like myself and many others have pointed out over the last who knows how long, it's had a TON of money thrown at it with almost no success to show for.

    ReplyDelete
  43. (1) Truly, if the reports are correct, this site wishes Sybil and Richie every happiness, and hearty congratulations. MTC strongly favors the institution of marriage and that extends to sworn enemies of The Ticket. Hope it all goes well. Again, these good wishes are contingent on this report being correct. I am finding no reference to it on The Internets.

    (2) Strong upside: They can't be compelled to testify against one another.

    (3) Various Confessors have sworn that RaGE will be gone by __________ [insert date several months out from the pronouncement]. Yet it's still here. I thought that awful ad they did with the listener on the football field signaled the end (of the universe as we know it, if not RaGE). But here it still is.

    If a show makes significant money, its ratings failure doesn't mean much, because the only reason the owner is interested in ratings at all is to convert them into ad sales and high rates. For example, we have been told that Ben + Skin were profitable on ESPN, and, indeed, ESPN wanted to re-sign them, yet they were also in the ratings basement. So if RaGE is supporting itself and then some to a meaningful degree, it is nowhere near beyond imagining that RaGE would be safe for the foreseeable future, if Greg can hang on.

    ============

    Again, I'm serious: If these reports of impending nuptials are true, congratulations to Sybil and Richie. I'll keep an eye out for my invitation.

    ReplyDelete
  44. #2 is a nice place to be in a market and format such as these. Can be very lucrative for everyone.

    Contrary to popular belief, radio people have realistic expectations. Dethrowning the #1 station in the country is not and hasn't ever been realistic.

    Add these two points up however you'd like, or not at all.

    ReplyDelete
  45. It's true, they are getting married. RaGE did 2 segments on it today.

    Never thought that you could generate killer money without ratings. But like I said, I don't know anything about the radio business. Interesting angle, though; and I'm glad it was brought to my (all of our) attention.

    I have to say that it must be a pretty sweet ride over at The FAN. If what's being said is true and cruddy ratings don't necessarily translate into cruddy dollar generation, the difference between your nearest competitor is almost negligible, the difference between you and the big dog is another time zone, and you get a nice chunk of change to be mediocre with no higher expectations (and along with it trips to the Superbowl, Daytona, Spring Training, Cowboys Training Camp, having your own daily tv segment, and get to be a DFW celeb and all the free stuff that comes along with that)... sign me up! Then top that, in Whitt's case, with getting to unprofessionally and publicly date a co worker-co host who is out of your league and then marry her... again, sign me up!

    Who wouldn't want to work for The FAN?

    Agreed, Plainsman. Congratulations, Whitt. Hopefully the marriage will turn him into a more palatable person.

    ReplyDelete
  46. I also wish them luck and happiness. I was anticipating a crash and burn much more than an engagement. I guess crash and burn is still a possibility, but for the time being the relationship would appear to have legs.

    Having said that, I hope they keep the engagement talk to a minimum.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Where's that Whitt hatin' Scruffy????

    Awesome, more Bruce return music. Not.

    I give up on The Hardline music front. They win. But whenever they start music talk I switch over to either Granpa Urine or RAGE. I hope Espn has another shakeup and gets rid of the Senior Citizen and brings in someone great. Or that RAGE becomes a good show. I need an alternative to The Hardline. Cause they aren't going to change a thing. When the best and most original thing you've done in 5 yrs are your live spots of late, you know the milk's gone sour.

    ReplyDelete
  48. A few follow-up quick hits. Did a little (very little) research while the wife was getting supper ready.

    Looks like January ratings are:
    KTCK 2.4
    KRLD 2.0 (FM)
    KESN 1.6

    So the FAN is in second place as stated earlier. Now, I hope someone with more industry knowledge can help me. These ratings (supposedly?) do not reflect the all important demographic, males 25 - 54. I will not repeat the data in the links but it does look like RaGE is #3 behind KESN except in the 6 o'clock hour. (Isn't this when grandpa signs off?)

    Morning Ratings
    http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/more-sports/headlines/20130226-morning-sports-radio-ratings-how-the-ticket-s-lead-in-dallas-breaks-down.ece

    Afternoon Ratings
    http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/more-sports/headlines/20130227-afternoon-sports-radio-ratings-hour-by-hour-the-ticket-s-hardline-makes-it-look-easy.ece

    Lastly, from a buyer's point of view I would assume that cost of ads are based on ratings. So if company "X" wanted to spend "$$" they could probably get more ads on the FAN than on the Little One. So say I had a ad campaign would 16 advertisements on the FAN equal 4 or 8 advertisements on KTCK?

    Maybe some industry insiders can let us know.

    What say you, Plainsman. Your experience should have some opinion on this.

    ReplyDelete
  49. Anyone pick up on any Sean Bass-Norm tension the last couple of days?

    ReplyDelete
  50. I think those ratings are for an entire 168 hour week. They're basically meaningless. You have to look at the breakdowns. The breakdown shows a DRAMATIC gap between KTCK and the other 2.

    I think the tension you're picking up on is more of a preplanned you take side a I'll take side b Ranger segments. Though I've come to notice that Sean is becoming the Mickey Spagnola of the Rangers. Nothing they do is wrong and if you disagree with him then you really don't understand the situation enough. Same can be said with Evan Grant. Evan has already proven to be wrong about the Nolan Ryan stuff. At first it was all nothing, everyone's making a big deal. Now it means something. He sees the writing on the wall and knows JD is the future so he's becoming a JD mouthpiece guy. LIke Galloway is for Ryan. Sean's reading that same wall and following Evan's lead. Sean knows that he has a better chance at a bigger and brighter future with the Rangers, eventually, than he does at The Ticket.

    Congrats to Richie Whitt and Sybil. They seem well suited.

    ReplyDelete
  51. I'm getting sick and tired of Corby's teacher student sex crap! Hey Corby, just because a 27 yr old teacher has a consensual [albeit inappropriate] relationship with a 17 yr old, that does not make them a pedophile! Look up the definition you DUMB-ASS!! Man, by todays standards, half of my hometown would be registered sex offenders. Fortunately, everyone was pretty much able to go on and eventually get married and raise their families. DUMB-ASS Corby is so stupid, he doesn't realize that all these people forced to register as sex offenders, waters down the real purpose! There is soooo many f-ing, ridiculous sex offenders in our neighborhood.....I don't know who the hell to worry about!! DUMB-ASS Corby...get another bit!

    ReplyDelete
  52. So...you're defending a teacher sleeping with a student? Details don't really matter when that's the headline. It's illegal and it's sure as hell newsworthy.

    ReplyDelete
  53. A) What happened to my Norm/Sean comment from last night?

    B). There's no way anon 8:58 is listening to Sean and Norm, because his observation is the exact opposite of reality. Norm is the one who defends Wash and the Rangers at every turn. Sean has been critical of never sitting Josh or Michael Young last season. Norm unfortunately is stick in 1970's-1980's ways of thinking. It's why I don't listen to him anymore.

    ReplyDelete
  54. The idea that I have a future with the Rangers is laughable and to campare what I do to that of Mickey Spagnola is equally ridiculous, if not more.

    I argue with Norm about the Rangers when it's needed and to add a different perspective on the topic at hand. More often than not we agree on things involving the club. There are also things that Evan and I disagree on.

    Baseball is a talking sport and spawns conversation, dialouge, and often disagreement. Norm knows this. I know this. Hopefully the majority of our listeners understand that. Tension is the last thing happening between me and Norman. But if there were tension...I'd play the role of JD and Norm - Nolan (jokes).

    Please stop the mis-guided speculation, especially when the things you throw out are utterly ridiculous. If you ever want an answer or take issue with what is said on air, please feel free to tweet me or shoot an email instead of trolling on some comments section or message board.

    Thanks-Sean Bass

    ReplyDelete
  55. I'm NOT defending the teacher-student. Yeah, she should be fired, but Corby called her a pedophile. That is not a pedophile. There was a young female teacher having a consenual fling with a senior when I was in school. She resigned before shit hit fan. But there was no need for handcuffs. A lot of guys in twenties dated highschool girls. We're such a knee-jerk society that we over react. Making this type register as "sex-offenders" is crazy! I'm worried about the guy that follows my wife home and attacks her, or the guy that will grab my neighbors 7 yr old! I dont know who's what with all these BOGUS registered sex offenders. I hope we get some "common sense" back in this country someday.

    ReplyDelete
  56. If your in your twenties dating high school girls there's something wrong with you.

    ReplyDelete
  57. Since nobody else is saying it, I suppose I will:

    Seabass, if you're going to let an anonymous poster's speculation on your career plans draw you offsides, then you can expect to be drawn offsides here _alot_. I fear you've opened the floodgates, my friend.

    It's like my mom used to tell me in first grade, "Those fourth-graders will stop teasing you if you can learn to ignore them, son."

    ReplyDelete
  58. Must strongly and respectfully disagree, Deezy. I am glad that Sean came on to defend himself, and he gave good reasons why the criticism of him was off base. If we tease Ticket guys for defending themselves, they won't cruise by MTC. Only if The Ticket is assured of equitable treatment in these pages will anyone pay any attention to it at all.

    Not that it's a lightning rod of Ticket influence, anyway.

    So yeah, Sean, I was really pleased to see your comment. Keep us honest, even if the disagreement on this side is sincere and not too jerk-faced.

    ReplyDelete