Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Will Someone Capable Confessor Please Fix The Ticket's Wikipedia Page?


I was looking for a factoid I thought I remembered, being that The Ticket was the ratings leader in its demo almost from the first months of its operation.

I went to the KTCK Wikipedia page, and read this:

"The sometime controversial station has posted strong ratings in the Dallas radio market, especially its Arbitron top-rated shows[1] The Hardline (who entertain the denizens of the metroplex) and Dunham and Miller, which have been the anchors of the station's success throughout its existence. And thanks to T.C. Fleming, created RAGONK!"

Let's put aside the baffling construction  of the sentences starting with The Hardline (so Dunham and Miller don't entertain "the denizens of the metroplex?), the wrong syntax ("the sometime controversial station"), and the inappropriate tone for Wikipedia.  The last sentence washes the entire entry in sophomoric jokiness, in addition to making no sense.  Who created RAGONK?  If not T.C. (who may have uttered it, but didn't create the phenomenon), then why are we thanking him? 

The whole passage is stupid.  More than stupid -- it's cheap.  RAGONK is a passing bit like hundreds of others -- although it may have legs -- and has no claim to this degree of prominence. I don't know much about the editing rules for Wikipedia.  Can anyone get in and strike this crap?  Please advise.

PS:  I don't blame T.C. for this -- doesn't look like his work, nor has he embraced the phenomenon.

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

This Is More of a Radio Question Than a Ticket Question


Yesterday at around 4:30 The Hardline mistakenly ran two ads simultaneously, one right on top of the other.

I thought -- someone will catch that, push a button, and fix it promptly.  But it didn't happen.  The ads ran for their full length, completely incomprehensible gibberish, until the next ad came on, which had no similar problem.

It got me wondering:  Who at the station listens to the station?  At any given time, who knows what audio is going over the air?  I guess I thought that would be the board operator, but perhaps he has other duties as the ads play.  I picture Jeff Catlin with the station on in his office, but he has duties for stations other than The Ticket, and at any given moment he may not be near a radio or iHeart or SportsDay or whatever.  Of course, the P1 listens intently and I'm sure Tweets or emails directly when he hears the occasional error.

Anyone know who actually "supervises" the minute-to-minute sound of the station?

*     *     *

What in the world is with Gordon today?  Starting with the Observation Deck and continuing through Muse in the News, he's operating at Paul Harvey speed (and even sounds a little like Paul Harvey from time to time).  I'm thinking some meds.  Something's off -- actually, it's not really unpleasant to listen to, just sounds like someone's finger's on the reel. Uncharacteristically mellow -- it sounds like he aged ten years overnight.

*     *     *

I used to follow baseball more than I do now, but I do follow a couple of teams a bit.  Not much anymore.  And, of course, I listen to SportsRadio 1310 The Ticket, a local sports-talk station.

I'm completely embarrassed that I never heard of Giancarlo Stanton until this morning. 

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

There's a Right Way to Confess, and Some of Y'alls Is Not It


A note of explanation:

If I delete a comment for any reason, I might also delete comments responding to that comment even though they themselves might not be offensive. That is, I'll take down the entire thread started by the deleted one. Otherwise, I get comments saying "hey, what got taken down that this guy is responding to?" Makes my head hurt and craps up the thread.

Now, I'll say this again, and if I have to issue these reminders too much more frequently I'll take this joint down and I ain't-a-bluffing.

If you are the kind Internet participant who believes it is helpful, funny, or persuasive to call someone a name or insult his intelligence, or generally act like a putz, ask yourself two questions before confessing:

(1) Is the point about which I have composed a comment (in the particular case from the last thread, whether T.C. went "postal" or reacted in some non-"postal" way) significant in the context of interesting Ticket issues? If and only if the answer to question one is "yes," go on to question (2):

(2)  Have I included gratuitous insults and demands that waste my time (because I'm going to be deleted) and that of anyone who reads it?

If (a) you reach question (2) and (b) the answer to question (2) is "no," then, and only then, hit the "Publish Your Comment" button.

Then, and only then, will I hear your Confession.

And before anyone accuses me of oversensitivity and a hair-trigger delete-button finger -- a fairly recent development, I should add, since this site has gotten a lot more popular in the last year -- please recall that there are lots of sites with standards a lot looser than this one that would welcome your patronage. If you're going to visit here, get used to mine. 

"Confess to The Plainsman in an appropriate tone, else I shall be forced to apply the soft pillows."

Monday, November 10, 2014

A Handful of Reactions to the Surprise Dual Ratings Dips


ITEM:  An hour each of The Musers and The Hardline suffered a loss to competitors on other sports stations.  (Barry Horn report here.)

(1) Agree with those who urge not reading too much into that.  Recall that BaD showed a similar dip not long ago, and it turned out to be a one-book phenomenon, although truth to tell I haven't done the Internet research.  I just haven't heard that it repeated.  The severe dip for that one hour of The Musers looks especially anomalous.  So yeah, just sort of massage your butts lightly for now.

(2) Agree with those who think that this might well have animated Checkout Mike to show greater interest in his show and guest appearances on other Ticket offerings, the latter of which had become a severe embarrassment to him and the station in recent years.  You can be a curmudgeon on your own show, but his is-he-really-there? appearances on other shows, pre-games, and round tables had started to suggest something approaching a lack of respect for the rest of the station.

(3) My guess is that Jeff Catlin did not lecture anyone about stepping up his game as a result of this ratings book.  No inside info here; just tidbits I pick make me think that with the exception of correcting seriously bad behavior, The Pan-American Catman is fairly hands-off with individual performances.  Also, these guys probably see the ratings the minute Cat does -- they don't need any additional motivation.

(4) The Musers' dip was in a heavy Gordon-inflected hour.  Confessors know that I am a Gordon admirer, but in recent months I have wished for less juvenilia/sex talk/perversion talk/political talk and more of anything else.

(5) Confessors also know that I am not a Corby basher, but after a comeback from severe OverCorby/Checkout Mike a couple of years back, The Hardline has noticeably backslid into lassitude, severe misogyny (I thought that had left the building with Greg Williams), and, well, OverCorby/Checkout Mike.  (I don't have a big issue with Danny's participation most of the time, with a big carveout for current-events talk, where he's dog-paddling with Corby in the low-information punditry fever swamps.) 

(6) Confession:  I'm one of the ones who is tuning into Mosley and Cowlishaw more and more.   Switch back and forth.  (Sorry, KT, just can't warm up to Ben & Skin.)  They're off the air at 6, so I usually get me some solid slabs of late-show Hardline, but from 3:30-6, while I always start with The Hardline and most of the time find something to engage me, it's taking less and less for me to dial in the next preset down the dial.

"Sorry, Mike and Corby.  More than three vagina references per show sends me to Tim and Matt every time."

Thursday, November 6, 2014

I'll Be Away for a Bit


Keep an eye on the place.

As you may have perceived, this site is battling a particularly hateful, foul troll.  I've tried to cut him out whenever he pops up and I expect we'll see him again soon with his witless, bilious offerings, to date attacking Jake, T.C., and Your Plainsman.  His schtick is to take the name of Ticket employees or Gordon characters.

I received a communication from The Ticket that the same tiny-brained individual has been invading their inboxes.  

I'll check in when I can.  In the meantime, please don't post saying "I don't know why Pman leaves stuff like this up."  I'll squash him when I can.  This guy probably doesn't even hate the site all that much -- he's just trying to blow the thing up to compensate for deficiencies elsewhere.  

Please pay him no mind, don't respond to him, and I'll get to it when I can.  Thanks.

"I'll call Pman a 'little bitch.'  That's a good one."

Saturday, November 1, 2014

My Ticket Confession Would Like to Be the First to Congratulate Mike Rhyner on His Induction into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame


Unfortunately, I'm way behind in getting to this.  But wherever this site falls in the queue of fans lined up to offer best wishes, it does so sincerely and with the hope that his voice stays strong on The Ticket for many years to come.

What's on your mind, Mike?