Sunday, April 10, 2016

The Boys Drop Some Thoughts on Signing Up with The Little One


This article is going to suck.  No, really, it's not very good.  I've got better topics in the hopper.  But I didn't want to forget these couple of items, and it's Saturday night, and I'm watching a couple of Nirvana performances on one of those Saturday Night Live legacy reruns with Charles Barkley, and they're not very good but I was intrigued by the presence of a second guitarist, who I find through a little Internets stroll is one Pat Smear (Foo Fighters, Germs) -- the Internets also say the rehearsals were better -- and I'm trying to get more stuff up more often, and I just started typing.  And I feel scruddy.  I'm sorry.  I wish it were better and more innarestin.  Couldn't even find a redhead.

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Try to put together items I hear that are at least vaguely related.  Here are a couple that have something, kinda, to do with Ticket host contracts.  Just a couple of remarks in passing, but worth a post, I thought.

(1)  I believe The Hardline was discussing Mike's and Danny's first exposure to August National.  Which, you will have perceived if you listened to the station at the end of this week, was a rousing success, something they enjoyed a lot.  (I thought the Musers' and Hardline's Masters coverage, if it can be called that, was a success.)

Mike said something like -- and I'm not going to get the quote right, but:  "It was one of those magic events that only the Ticket can produce," he said, "and we'll continue to do so for years to come."  I can't remember if he said "Right, Corby?" but in any event Corby chimed in with hearty agreement.

I'm sorry I can't reproduce exactly what was said, much less the tone of the remarks, but I had the distinct impression that Mike and Corby intended to convey the thought that The Hardline -- not just The Ticket but their very team -- was not going to be shuffling off that mortal coil anytime soon.

(2)  Of greater pull-back-the-curtain interest to me was a very brief exchange on the Muser showgram one morning a few weeks ago.

I don't remember how it came up, but one of them -- I think it was George, but any Muser may have made any of these remarks. -- made a passing and fuzzy reference relating to their representation in negotiations with The Ticket.  (I apologize on my vagueness on who was speaking, but I didn't realize what they were referring to  until the moment had passed.)  Or at least that was the context I picked up from the exchange. 

After George made the reference, Craig (I think) made a semi-joking reference to possible disagreement among the Muser team as to the effectiveness of that representation, which was followed by brief snorts of acknowledgment from one or both of the other Musers.   Garsh, I wish I could remember the words that were used.  It was subtle, one of those deep inside references that sometimes pass between hosts when they're on the air that only they understand.  One thing I did take from this brief exchange was that these guys may negotiate as a team, or, if not, at least all have the same representation.  If they have any representation at all.

I wouldn't be sharing this (rather defective) recollection with you if it didn't have something to do with the subject we're always interested in -- how these guys do their deals with The Ticket, how much swag they take home.

I have no idea how much Ticket hosts make.  Big-time hosts in big-time markets on shows that are less successful in those markets than The Ticket is in this very large market make mid-six and more.   The syndicated guys do gobs better, 'course.   The thing that struck me about this brief back-and-forth was that it touched on the topic of whether these guys were represented at all and, if so, if they had the kind of bomber agents that would get these guys salaries commensurate with the profits they accounted for.

I gather the answer is no.

We have some fairly recent evidence that our hosts could make more money elsewhere -- the near-defection of Bob and Dan.  I heard from one fairly well-placed Cumulus-connected source at one point that after all was said and done, the Ticket deal beat The Fan's.  But a more authoritative source -- Bob -- contacted me to suggest (in a very nice email) that this was not the case.  No dollars and cents attached to any of these communications, unforch.  (Wild guess:  Yearly dollars less at The Ticket, but possibly longer-term or other benefits could boost overall value.) 

By the way, if you care deeply about income inequality (I don't), radio provides an interesting example in all markets.  I think we all know from joshing remarks made on the various showgrams that if you're not a big-time host, you make borscht -- even if you have some on-air opportunities and perhaps even a weekend show.  And you have to become fairly well-known and a ratings monster before the really big money comes in.  I'd love to know the role that agents and lawyers play in that process, and whether these guys ever get counseled to jump ship, or withhold their services come contract-renewal time if they don't get a wage that reflects the value they represent to Cumulus shareholders.  (I wonder if they get stock options.)  

Although, as we know, Cumulus shares remain in the tank, so perhaps management doesn't feel that losing a host or two, or even a show or two, at The Ticket would mean much of anything to shareholders.  ($0.39/share at this writing.) 

Too bad for our heroes.



*     *     *

Off-topic.  On Monty + The Machine today, Justin and Machine had an argument.  Machine took the position that the fact that he was willing to travel across country to see a particular musical act meant that Justin should at least check out that act (not by traveling, just by listening to some of it).   In other words, his argument was that his personal discretionary investment in seeing this act required Justin to take a listen.  He got rather exercised about it.

Advantage:  Justin.   But pretty fun slacker radio as the insults flew.

*     *     *

Well, this has not been premium content tonight, but I thank you for sticking with me.  

Pleasant dreams and chocolate creams.


30 comments:

  1. If you ever miss the exact details like the Musers conversation you should always just note what time the convo happened so you can go back and listen via The UnTicket or Huffduffer podcasts!

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  2. Good idea, Shagmeister, and I've thought about doing that from time to time. Although I don't know what Huffduffer is.

    But it somewhat overestimates the time I spend, and am able to spend, on this old site. That may change in the months to come, but for right now, I'm booked personally and professionally as the Texas plains come awake after the long winter.

    I am trying to increase the number of posts, which is why you're likely going to see some hastily-prepared items.

    In all events, Thank You for Shopping at My Ticket Confession.

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  3. Springsteen is very much top of mind this week, having just played at the AAC and now having cancelled a concert in North Carolina over LGBT restroom equity.

    Bruce and I could not be further apart politically, but I have most of his albums and IMO his live concerts are not to be missed. I wish I could have been at the show last week, but it was not to be.

    Anyway, I understand that he's not everybody's cup of tea politically or musically. It would never occur to me to chastise someone for not sharing my enthusiasm for his music. On the flipside, I'm not a big fan of U2, but I appreciate their appeal to others.

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  4. - fantastic that P-man says "unforch" instead of unfortunately". M+M would be proud.
    - had to miss this Saturday's show of M+M, so I didn't hear the argument. It's unfortunate that the Sportsday app doesn't carry clips of the weekend shows.

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  5. Search for the SportsGreek on HuffDuffer podcast. They upload EVERYTHING. Even DiGianni.

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  6. Even if you don't like Bruce Springsteen, I cannot fathom how you wouldn't (double negative?) dig the live version of Proveitallnight with the extended piano intro. THL didn't mention it, so I guess it didn't happen last week.

    Crazy this was almost 40 years ago:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWos8TS9yaE

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  7. BREAKING NEWS: Machine thinks he's awesome and that all his opinions are facts and superior. Oh, and Michael Jackson is dead.

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  8. Jake did a great job filling in for Gordo this morning. Really love it when he is on with the Musers.

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  9. blergoyen,

    You are correct. Prove It All Night didn't make the setlist last week, and I don't believe he's been doing the extended intro on this tour when he does perform that song. But there has been a nice extended piano intro to Point Blank every night.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKYu6e29PNY

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  10. Agreed on Jake @11:59. I almost feel TC and BAD bring out the worst in him.

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  11. Listening to Danny analyze the Masters yesterday was comical. 2 weeks ago he not only knew nothing about golf but he would complain when Corby would stop the show down with golf talk. He plays in a ridiculous 3 hole golf tourney and he attends the Maters and now he wants to pretend he is an expert. Ridiculous.

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  12. I didn't get the sense that Dan Have A Drink On Me Balls thought himself as a freshly minted golf expert. Not in the least. The guy just went through a whirlwind, and in the case of attending The Masters a once in a lifetime, introduction to the game. He's excited. Rightfully so. Give him a break. He's discovered that something he thought was one thing turned out to be something else; something that he finds worthy. If anything it's a mea culpa of sorts, and eating of crow and comeuppance. He was wrong about golf all these years and is man enough to admit it.

    I have no qualms whatsoever with HL or Ticket criticisms in general. I've expressed more than I can count; and many rather acerbic. But for fuck's sake, some of you just look for things to shit on.

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  13. Greggo was supposedly pulling down a half mil back in 2007:

    "He soaked in his celebrity, attracting TV cameos, a short feature in Sports Illustrated and a salary that topped out at $500,000 last year."

    http://www.dallasobserver.com/news/the-hard-lie-6420113

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  14. CP1 - one of the confessors did a pretty good job of dispelling those salary numbers. I believe he cited some legally available documents from a lawsuit that went to trial not long after Witt's Obverver article. I believe the case involved a popular radio personality at an SFO station billing similar, if not more advertising dollars than the ticket. I think he further supported that with some Ticket insider info. I can't remember who mentioned it, but he made a pretty good case for Greggo making more in the range of $300K-$350K.

    6:52 - thanks for the link. That is an awesome version of Point Blank.

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  15. wonderful waking up to The Great Donovan this morning instead of the other guy. Donnie has great chemistry with the courage boys.

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  16. blergoyen and CP1:

    Recall that at the time of The Hard Lie article, RW was buying everything GW was selling. And it wasn't too terribly long after the rather one-sided (GW's side) piece that, lo and behold, RW and GW had their own show on The FAN. So it should come as no surprise that GW was exaggerating his salary and sundry incomes.

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  17. CONFIDENTIAL TO THAT DELETED GUY: Jake and T.C. are fair game for adverse commentary. I'm just tired of yours. As are we all.

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  18. I have received an inquiry.

    The last sentence of the Dunham & Miller Wikipedia entry reads: "Craig Miller also has an elongated CL."

    This assertion is not footnoted.

    Anyone know what this means?

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  19. I believe this is a reference to the oft referenced female hyena. You can direct your browser to this link and get the answers you seek:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clitoris#Spotted_hyenas

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  20. Like anyone could ever know these things.

    "Oft-referenced"? I hit the Musers pretty hard and at length and I don't remember it.

    Gotta love the Confessor. You should always visit this site for authoritative and respectful translations of inside references.

    Thank you, DP.

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  21. BHorn just tweeted ratings. Article to follow, presumably.

    Latest radio rates: Musers 12.6; Hardline 9.2; BaD 8.8; N&D 8.4; B&S 4.6; M&M 4.0; S&RJ 3.5; GBag 3.3; C&M 1.7; D&F 1.4. Explainer to come

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  22. Thanks Shaggy, those are some good looking numbers for our boys. The reports of the little one's demise have been greatly exaggerated, as usual.

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  23. Love the hardline love them. But now that playoff hockey is here again listening Corby talk about it is almost unbareable...

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  24. Ratings numbers.

    http://sportsday.dallasnews.com/other-sports/moresports/2016/04/14/march-sports-radio-ratings-see-station-won-month-mile

    http://sportsradiopd.com/2016/04/the-ticket-leads-the-present-the-fan-looks-to-the-future/

    Is this being changed by listening habits or the way the numbers are collected and reported?

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  25. It's clear that The Fan is somehow in that sportsradiopd's hip pocket.

    Interesting that they don't include the streaming numbers in their breakdown.
    So, here's the Ticket's numbers with streaming and no streaming:

    Musers: 12.6/10.6
    N&D: 8.4/6.9*
    BaD: 8.8/6.9*
    HL: 9.2/8.1

    *The srpd blog didn't separate out the 10a-3p period

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  26. Shake Joint = immediate punch out

    Go Stars.

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  27. I think its amazing how deep The Little Ticket's talent well is these days. The Shake Joint fills in for the Musers no problem. One of the funniest guys at the ticket is a producer 10-Noon. Need someone to fill in for Gordo for the week? No problem, Donnie and Jake can do that. The weekend is full of talent too M&M, Shake Joint (Again), The Sirois.

    Honestly, you may not like certain people on The little ticket but its hard to deny how talented the whole station is. And that doesn't even go into how they can broadcast a 3 hole golf tourney of first time players and make it one of the most entertaining events on the station in a long time.

    I think the ratings reflect all this.

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  28. Shaggy - "Interesting that they don't include the streaming numbers in their breakdown."

    Corby and Danny actually called SRPD out on Twitter over this. See https://twitter.com/corbydavidson/status/720698436513730561

    SRPD says he didn't include it because Fan/ESPN don't include it. Corby & Danny argued that they do include it but it amounts to 0.

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  29. This is a weak source and back around 2013, but my co-workers friend, supposedly worked at a bank in the Turtle Creek area. According to the source, 2 of the 3 that banked there (which of the 3 were not specified), made between 500k-600k per year in Ticket-related income.

    ReplyDelete