Two items we're keeping an eye on:
(1) "The major station announcement" on Monday afternoon. There was a flurry of comments to the last post, some of them promising seismic changes at The Ticket, although the Confessors claiming gigantic swings in the personnel lineup are short -- zero -- on details. Please continue to comment.
At this writing, I have no special inside information. If anything comes my way, I'll let you know.
(2) Ratings: Bad news continues at The Ticket. From Richie Whitt in SI (thanks to James for forwarding): Ticket v FAN Ratings -- Richie Whitt report
I have no information on this, either. I will say that I find the delta between the stations very difficult to believe. There will come a point where it won't make any difference if The Ticket doesn't like the way Nielsen does its job -- if these numbers are right, and they don't change over several books, it won't matter what technique is used to measure listenership -- the numbers as reported will do more than the passage of time to end The Ticket's run in Dallas.
Today's Red reflects Your Plainsman's apprehension:
ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com
@Plainsman1310
Christmas bump for KDGE? How do you explain doubling your ratings in a month.
ReplyDeletehttps://radioinsight.com/ratings/dallas-fort-worth/
Very astute, Gopher. I'm hearing from sources that this particular ratings report is considered of not much value because of Christmas programming, kids being off for the holidays, staff vacations, and the like.
ReplyDeleteApparently a more meaningful ratings report will be out in 1-2 weeks.
So Anonymous gave all the details we needed
ReplyDeletewell done
ReplyDeleteExactly. Meaning what we've been hearing all week and have been when no plus one was present since Mike retired is THL. Same M.O. when Gregg was canned. Pretty much the same time period before it was made official.
ReplyDeleteAs to the 3:30 am scream comments: total b.s.
@12:21
ReplyDeleteI don't think that's correct.
Surly:
WOAH! Thanks for the tip-off. And to you, too, So Anonymous.
Here's So Anonymous's enigmatic comment. And if true, it ain't Jake. Not even close.
ReplyDeletebarely one baseball immortal shall make oral vapor imagery, never going toward orlando through heated earth. his aspect ratio doesn't largely identify ninety emus. although the landlord eagerly accepts shallots theoretically. another theater textbook has identified such magic. optimistic mice exhibit narrow teeth.
At least at the moment? Either he is or he isn't. And I doubt they would decide to announce something they weren't even certain about. Unless that's a contract reference, and I admit complete ignorance concerning Bob's contract situation.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.reddit.com/r/theticket/comments/f0go58/bob_to_hardlineafternoon_drive/
ReplyDeletebarely one baseball immortal shall make oral vapor imagery, never going toward orlando through heated earth. his aspect ratio doesn't largely identify ninety emus. although the landlord eagerly accepts shallots theoretically. another theater textbook has identified such magic. optimistic mice exhibit narrow teeth.
ReplyDeleteFor those of you susceptible to confirmation bias, reddit says the same thing
Anyone catch Bob saying "Well, I guess that's it." Coming back from break leading into WTDS? He sure did, he damn sure did, Bob--say that.
ReplyDeleteSure sounded like MIke's final words before his last DryDock.
Thanks for the link, Surly. I've posted a couple of times here over the past few weeks that I thought something major was going down. That a mere plugging Jake in and play was not going to be the move. I have a feeling we're going to have a time slot switch and a name change. If so, man O man is Danny going to have a lifestyle change on at least some level. I also wouldn't be surprised if Jake does get that host position--but it'll be midday with whatever The Hardline will be called.
ReplyDelete(As I write this Danny said "it all ends today" referring to the work stress that Corby just brought up--btw, D and C have been excellent today....pressure off, it's all over, your best comes out?)
Bob and Corby have a pretty solid chemistry from White Elephants past. I would welcome that change. Actually talk some sports with someone who knows what he's talking about.
ReplyDeleteOne other thought. I wonder if Mike ever imagined the dominos that would fall when he suddenly left? Wonder how he feels about what seems to be taking place (a major shake up to what has been one if not the most stable and successful stations in the country, regardless of the genre).
ReplyDeleteValid question. Not sure anyone suspected it'd be such a big change but I think it's definitely time. I've been listening since 2007 and the HL has gotten beyond stale. Same with BaD. My favorite show changes every few years, but to me The Musers are really the only show still holding it up.
DeleteThat said, I guess we don't know that the major change is actually a major change until it happens.
Man, I could not disagree with you more. BaD Radio has always been good but has been absolutely brilliant since adding Julie. Their chemistry is amazing, and they seem prepared and engaged in every segment.
DeleteDid Jake successfully eat the three large pizzas?
ReplyDeleteUh, OK. The return station just promoted BaD as BaD on at noon, Monday.
ReplyDeleteAnd now Corby is saying this is the last show with him and Danny and Mike together. Obviously Mike is gone, so his words seem to imply a new member. But what 348 said did happen. I heard it myself. Was the return promo a rando that happened to come up in the rotation or was it a troll or was it a hint that no, BaD will remain in tact. Which would go against the link Surly posted.
Can't wait to hear the end of today's HL (last HL?).
Corby just slipped up and said "I hope they let us keep this music" referring to the Trifecta death music. He then quickly said "uh, or for whoever will be here."
ReplyDeleteI have to believe that Jake will slide in as cohost and the big reveal is a new name with all newly named (but the same content) segments with new music. Basically THL and everything that was a part of its formattics is, like Mike, (being) retired. Having said that, I counter my own thought with "well, why then would Corby want to keep the music if all the old segments and traditions are being jettisoned?" I've stumped myself!
Having said all that and after having argued with myself, I claim to know nothing! One last item that won't leave me is that Mike's retirement was no mere "it's time, buddy, it's time." Cant shake the feeling that he knew Cumulus was about to make big changes and he wanted no part of watching his baby go through plastic surgery. She's perfect as is. If that's so, then popping Jake into a host seat to replace Mike and changing the name and stuff wouldn't constitute the change that would prompt Mike to retire. Such a change is a result of Mike's leaving.
Again, I know nothing!
Can't wait until 3:30 Monday.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThese guys aren't letting anything "slip." They are messing with you.
ReplyDeleteDon't take the cheese.
A Rant, been thinking this for 3-5 years now.
ReplyDeleteI've been listening ever since Skip said he was not the Norm. The Ticket is stale as F. Has been for years, (literally they are "a has been"). All of it, not just that weak ass hard line show. This pig badly needs a big makeover, ala the Cowboys coaching staff and GM. Can't tell you how often I have switched over to the Fan or just to music. Yes, tired, same old shit. Blow it the F up. All of it. Start with Norm. Retire already! He does not reach an audience like he used to. Donny is the hardest working man at the Ticket, keep him around and plug him in somewhere. BaD radio moves to Drive time slot and makes a few changes. Musers, Love them, but it the same stale old show for years now. No wonder they have slipped in ratings. Fix this sh## Rich! Reinvent it somehow. Danny, hated him when he started talking more on the hard line, he has improved. Needs someone besides Corby though. Cobra, Ugh, tired of his unrelatable crap. His oddball music tastes, his sports favorites not lining up with area interests, he generally never talks sports with authority. Thank god he is saying it is over as of today!!!! Hope he is reassigned to some other market, or demoted to a different role besides main chair on a program. Please take Gordo with you. I hate to say that as I KNOW Gordo is a huge talent, just that it is wasted on his imbecilic antics. Can he be re-purposed somehow? Hope he gets a reinvention and can showcase his better talents on air. Jub and Junior. Is that the one thing that works (rating decline aside)? Keep them together, add a new element to fill a Gordo role. Next level...the second tier talent, we got an earful of that over the dry dock. Sorry, NONE of it works in a way that it would garner ratings. Please don't push that on us again. I listened to the Fan more over dry dock time than ever before. Ben & Skin...Nope, don't bring them back either. It seems the sports fan wants more sports content, some input (fan texts, call ins, but without the idiot callers that you expose when you take calls?) Keep eBrake, but screen the voters somewhat, why does the lower heaven gorilla get in so often????? New ticket music, new intros, new segments...yep, they need it all. Look to White Elephant for combos of the hosts worked well. Please stop saying they can't do what we do...It's BS! They (the Fan) did it their way and are kicking your ass in ratings.
Best of luck. Times have changed....evolve.
Until then, You Guys Stay Hard, Keep Jammin',and we'll see Ya.
ReplyDeleteJack cashed a check he couldn't cash. $$$$$$$$$$$
ReplyDeleteWho is Jack and what does that mean?
ReplyDeleteI agree with anon 5:13 pm and David in N Texas! There may be soome changes but I think the guys are just jerking your chain. I've been listening some lately and, believe or not, have found Corby and Danny somewhat listenable. Unfortunately, we still get the Corby personal story, be it "travel stories, hanging with the bros, his kids, or music" blood-letting beatdowns, but I simply change station at that point. I can see Corby and Danny with the occasional 3rd part.
ReplyDeleteI didn't hear all of the Hardline today, but I heard enough to convince me that they are yanking everyone's chain. Acting like they are accidentally spilling the beans, but it's all a tease.
ReplyDeleteSomeone on Twitter said how sad she is that the Hardline is going away. Corby's reply:
Amber, it’s not my last show. We are joking around.
Of course they're not going anywhere. But that doesn't mean there's not going to be big changes. Both can be true.
ReplyDeleteNothing much can happen that I'm not going to be OK with; none of these possibilities will destroy The Ticket or decrease the pleasure I take in it:
ReplyDelete-- Danny and Corby continuing with no new host.
-- Jake joining The Hardline.
-- Bob joining The Hardline.
-- Craig joining The Hardline.
-- BaD swapping places with The Hardline.
I would ask us all to remember that few of us were happy with Mike's performance over the past several years. Wonderful broadcaster, a great radio institution, but his absence from The Hardline has been all but unnoticeable. I agree with those who say that Corby and Danny have stepped up their game since Mike's departure.
The surging rumor is that Bob will move into that seat. I'd like that fine. Sorry, BaD fans, that team should be busted up. To my ear, Dan has gotten more bitter and sarcastic over the past year; he's smart and can be very entertaining but he needs his own show, or one where he's the boss.
I'll be tuned in with the rest of us on Monday.
My betting is still on Jake.
The "end of an era" over sell job by Danny and Corby yesterday was too over the top. I think, as someone else has pointed out, this is one big chain yank. Jake surely is the new host and my guess is that some segments and theme songs will be renamed, reworked and rewritten. But even that will be a slow process because it's those guys and it's The Ticket. It's been status quo as regards the Musketeers for so long now, they don't know how to change. And rightfully probably scared as hell to change, of change.
ReplyDeleteI guess now you have to decide how much you trust Sirois. Today on CdS he said Monday's announcement will be bigger than the usual over-hyped major station announcement.
ReplyDeleteI've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm at the point where I don't care. I listen to a bit of The Musers in the very early morning and check out around 8am. Might catch some BaD radio driving around and then I listen to music on the way home. So, whatever happens happens. I've enjoyed the station for many years but nothing exists in a vacuum.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, saw Rhyner again at E Bar last night. I was leaving and he was just coming in. Someday we'll have our 'classic rock band line up' battle, but I'm not thinking it's going to be anytime real soon. I mean, I often imagine what if he hits me with Stealer's Wheel on the first go round? I'd look like a fool. I need to brush up for my imagined battle with the great Grey Wolf.
OGW loves him some E Bar and Lakewood Landing.
ReplyDeleteSo if Bob's moving to The Hardline, is he going to be on BaD Monday, pretending that all is as it's always been, and then at 3:30 step up to the mic and be introduced as the newest member of The Hardline?
ReplyDeleteThat seems awfully convoluted and silly and mostly unnecessary. In fact, unless Bob isn't on BaD (and at that point we'll all know what's going down so why go to all the tease effort?), it makes no sense whatsoever that they'd go to all that trouble and "reward" Bob with a 7 hour welcome to your first day on pm drive kiss.
Not buying the Bob thing.
What if it's a completely new show from 330 to 700 with talent from outside The Ticket sphere and Corby joins BaD with Jake as the Ticket version of G-Bag nation with 4 co-hosts. A perpetual round table type show.
ReplyDeleteThey tried making BaD Radio when Donovan was around kind of a "G-Bag" Nation thing with four people "trying" to talk (Bob, Dan, Donovan, Gribble, and Sean Bass) and it didn't work. People were getting their toes stepped on and some were literally getting shut out due to Bob being kind of dominant voice of that show. Yet, who the hell knows? I guess we'll find out tomorrow at 3:30!
ReplyDeleteI think the easy problem to solve here is Mike Rhyner's retirement. Jake is tanned, rested, and ready. You have to see how the new Hardline plays out over the next few months, of course, but it's the obvious choice. The harder problem to solve is how you replace Jake's contribution on BaD.
ReplyDeleteI have it on very good authority that tomorrow is going to stun a mastodon. Buckle up, buttercups.
ReplyDeleteHow would we all feel if MIKE IS RETURNING, a la Frank Sinatra and others who claimed they were done?
ReplyDeleteI think the only way Corby survives, is with Danny. They play off each other fairly well. If it is Jake full-time (and a lot of people think it will be) my listening will be very, very limited.
ReplyDeleteMike would be much more effective as occasional drop-in guest or substitute host. He always seemed energized by a different mix. He could stay involved without the full-time commitment.
ReplyDeleteI thought of that too, Pman. Mike doesn't seem like that kinda bird. I haven't a clue as to what's going down Monday, but I can say this much for sure: A buddy of mine that runs in Danny's crowd of musicians said he doesn't know what's happening Monday, but whatever it is according to Danny it's going to be a major and unexpected change. Now that's vague as can be, I know. Like I said, I'm not claiming to have inside dope. Just passing on what my buddy who is in Danny's circle has heard. FWIW.
ReplyDeleteI meant to say also that Danny's the one who said that to my friend. It wasn't like my buddy heard from someone else. Came straight from Danny. My two cents is that whatever happens tomorrow is going to be more than Jake taking Mike's place.
ReplyDeleteGotta say -- that's what it's beginning to sound like.
ReplyDeleteI really hop it isn't a Jake and Snake Hard Line. Baseball talk will be a thing of the past. There will be no centrist buffer a la Mike for the woke takes that will become ever more frequent. Corby will try to act even more like a 20 something, even though Jake's in his mid 30s. It'll just suck. Sorry, it will. Jake needs a voice of sports authority with him that'll keep him in check on all aspects of his presentation. When he's with Bob that's what occurs and as a result good radio ensues. When he's not, and Corby would count as in the "not" category, he oscillates between good and unlistenable. Shake Joint anyone? Awful show. Sean didn't have the authority needed to make Jake tap the brakes and think things through. What we got were some good sports takes and unfettered, highly biased, blinkered, condescending worldview. Sorry, I don't want that for 28 hours per week. That's exactly what we'll get if it's the Snake and Jake Extravaganza. Unpopular opinion, I know. If it happens, wait. Soon most of you'll be right there with me.
ReplyDeleteIs nobody paying attention to what’s been said in the last week or so?
ReplyDeleteMike told Corby he’d do a weekly baseball segment during the season.
Danny told Bob “you better get your baseball game together, Bob”
Bob told Dan, “Well Dan...that’s about it.”
Yes, Surly, we all took the first letter from each word in the enigmatic So Anon posted. We also heard what Bob and Corby said. Corby and Danny also said A LOT of things Friday that were over the top regarding it being their last show. Corby also answered a Tweet from a V1 concerned they were going away. He assured her they weren't. None of that means Bob is making the move. I believe you also claimed that last Monday the announcement would be made. If memory serves, when it didn't, you claimed that you were only repeating Corby's words. Which we all know he never uttered. So forgive me if eyebrows are tilted when you make a comment on this particular subject. And I mean no offense, to put it in Norm parlance.
ReplyDeleteSean and Jake 3-7 u herd it hear first.
ReplyDeleteI must admit that I'm nervous about tomorrow. Yeah, it's just a radio station, what's the big deal? It is to me. Been a central part of my life for over two decades now. As Prince sang "and that's a mighty long time." Mike leaving rocked my world. A month and a week after his leaving and I'm still haven't got my head around ball. Now with what all I'm reading here, on reddit, and Twitter I think things are going to be irreparably changed come 3:30 tomorrow. I knew, we all knew it couldn't go on forever. But man, I didn't see it coming. Not in this manner. Not this way. It's almost spooky. Mike always said "when it's gone there'll never be anything like it ever again." Not only will he be right, he might've been the catalyst. He who creates has the power to destroy.
ReplyDeleteEven if the move only ends up being Jake to The Hardline, that in itself is a major change. The tone of the show as we've always known it will not be carried on, it will be very different. If all the theme songs and segments are changed, that too will alter the very essence. Same with the name, of course. I keep thinking "was Friday the last time I ever heard The Hardline theme?"
Things change, I know. It's just a station, it's just a show (or maybe shows), I know. Hey, The Ticket will still be The Ticket, The Musers are still The Musers. Yet why do I have this persistent, sinking feeling? Anyone else out there feeling it too?
Believe in the scientific method. Manipulate one variable, and observe the change. Jake joins Hardline.*
ReplyDelete*Because this is the Internet, someone will say, "But who takes over for Jake? That's a second variable. And if that person moves from another show, who takes over their slot? That's a third variable. And who..."
Fine. But I'm talking about the on-air, non-producer, non-board-op, non-ticker, non-traffic spots. One variable in that universe has changed: Jake in for Mike.
That is what I believe will be announced tomorrow.
@ anon 5:31pm...let's hope that's the last time we hear it!
ReplyDeleteAs I listen to the Musers this morning they keep on billing 3:30 this afternoon as "the MOTHER of all announcement". The word mother has been thrown out now a bunch in the last several days. Could this involve a woman getting the role on the Hardline? Maybe Bob, Dan and Julie? Jake moving with Corby and Danny on a 3 host midday show?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAnyone think this is a big fake out and they're going to announce the Top moment of the Ticket's 25 most memorable moments? I mean, it's a possibility. The Ticket is certainly not beyond pulling the listener's leg or promoting a "HUGE Ticket announcement" and then turn it into a dog benefit or a Sean Bass promo event at the Tom Thumb on Lovers Lane?
ReplyDeleteWhatever already, let's just get this over with, but please don't mess with The Musers. It's the only show I really listen to anymore (and, no, I'm not saying it's perfect, but it works for the time I have to listen).
@Euronymous: 100% agree with your post. Especially the last paragraph.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, Bob on THL would get me to tune in more.
Bob to HL would be great. He and Corby definitely have a good rapport from the White Elephants I’ve heard of them. I think Bob being focused on the business of actual informed sports talk would help Corby tremendously. He found himself being the “knowledge” guy with Mike and it didn’t work because he didn’t know what he was talking about many times. Bring it on.
ReplyDeleteOne of my sources is telling me: Norm to overnight board op.
ReplyDeleteThere are some truly terrible attempts at trolling in this thread.
ReplyDeleteThat was a terrible attempt at humor, not a terrible attempt at trolling, thank you very much.
ReplyDelete