A home for those who love almost everything about The Ticket (1310 AM, 96.7 FM, Dallas-Fort Worth), and who would like to discuss -- respectfully and fondly -- their thoughts on how (and whether) to eliminate the "almost."
Wednesday, November 16, 2022
A Couple of Downbeat Listens: Low-Sample-Size Observations
I tuned into The Downbeat a couple of times over the past couple of weeks. Listened for an hour, maybe less, both times. This isn’t much listening, so I can see that Downbeat fans might have some fairness concerns. I accept that criticism.
But I say what I want.
The first time it was just the three Mikes, although Grubes did not pipe on very much. So it was the much-anticipated Rhyner and Sirois combo. It was not a sports topic, it was not an internet list or a contest. It was something Sirois had found online, something of interest, and they were discussing it. Great, think I, just what The Freak had advertised.
The content wasn’t awful.
But men and women, that show was SSLLLOOOOOOWW. What seemed to be happening was: Rhyner speaks slowly and carefully at all times, part of his true broadcast charm. Sirois, who is more lively, had completely banked his fires, matching Rhyner’s torpor, and seemed to be trying to coax a little more content out of him, and also speaking slowly and, for Sirois, softly. Rhyner was not checked out, but this particular topic didn’t seem to engage him very much, and the thing dragged painfully.
Before we get to the second listen:
Am I just unlucky, or when you punch into iHeart to listen to The Freak, do you get a very considerable chunk of advertising before any Freakish content? I would think that a lot of people wanting to check out The Freak would do so during a legendarily lengthy Ticket advertising break, hoping to hear actual Freak programming. (SportsDay pops you right into programming when you sign on to The Ticket.) Sometimes, the iHeart pre-programming advertisements are lengthy, not just little spots. A poor choice for a station hoping to poach listeners wandering over from The Ticket, I would think.
Yesterday, I tuned in again. Participants were: Rhyner; Sirois; Grubes; I think Kevin Turner was on board; and I think I heard Krystina giggling a bit, although I’m not sure she was present. No matter.
The subject was: The world population reaching 8 billion. Again, an entirely worthy topic for a non-sports talker. But Jah Almighty Jeebus, what a mess.
First, the levels on the various speakers ranged from loud enough to almost inaudible. Individual voices raising to acceptable loudness to incomprehensible mumbling. I was in a quiet car (cue Vivaldi) and I cranked the thing, but speakers would frequently simply trail off before speaking up again.
Second, no one seemed to know quite what to say about this. They talked about whether the identity of the eight billionth baby was known, and it wasn’t clear whether that name was actually known or whether it was a bit. Then they tried compare the frequency of births to the frequency of deaths by having Sirois and Grubes, I think it was, saying “birth birth birth” and “death death death” simultaneously at the approximate speed at which those events were occurring in the world, according to a website. (It was at this point that Rhyner said, “I thought this was going to be a good bit.”)
Next, they remarked on the anniversary of Christopher Columbus having made the first reference to tobacco in his dispatches to England, and the subsequent rise in tobacco use in England. Again, sort of an interesting topic. What they want to talk about, right? The bit wasn’t going much of anywhere when Rhyner made some kind of joke about the name of some candy that related in an inexplicable way to Jolly Ranchers, except the candy was hot, or something. No one got it (I sure didn’t). Several of the broadcasters, including Rhyner, stumbled about trying to explain his joke, without success.
I did think it was interesting that Krystina’s chicken-laugh is going to be used in some TV show by a Freak-friendly producer, not as a laugh sound, but as a chicken sound.
That wasn’t enough to keep my ears listening.
Folks, I am not biased against The Downbeat. I like all the Mikes as broadcasters. I would listen to that show in competition with The Hardline. But man, it has got to figure out what it’s about and sharpen up its presentation, including technical matters (audibility and clarity). That starts with Rhyner, who is capable of cleaning it up if he only will.
I did a swim thru The ticket and get the reference. The production people- John Michaels, aka Zone Guy, aka The OD, and Steve Pryor, aka Cactus, used to keep a big jar of cinnamon jolly ranchers in the main production studio. Rhyner used to go in every day to do production and would grab a “fire” rancher with them. But good gosh that’s an obscure throw back to pre Susquehanna days. I only know about from my brief swim thru the mothership and was pretty friendly with Cactus back then and he explained who the candy was for.
Look, it just isn't any good. OK. It isn't. More to the quick, it's never going to be. How do I know? Let me answer my own question. Because they're not good at their roles. Not a one of them.
Skin is really good on Mavs broadcasts. Why? Because he's 3rd party to the thing, he pipes in with pre-show prepared nuggets, bits, and adds his 2 cents in every now and again. He does a great job. 20+ years of being a cohost for a daily talker that, even with peak Russ Martin buffering the show, could never muster anything above mediocre numbers, if that. This has been the case at each station (5?) they've been on. Ben is a mirror image of Skin except he has no tv gig. Krystina is hard to slot because she's mostly known for baby sitting the automation, coming in from and out of commercial breaks with fm DJ banter, some traffic, and poppin on Jer with a nugget on pre-Freak B&S. I can say that from what I've heard so far she hasn't a lot to actually say except when discussing harder edged music. That's when she comes alive. But that's not sustainable. She ought to be on Nikki Sixx's syndicated show (still around?). There she would shine.
Cavanaugh and KT were part of a 3rd rate outfit with the media firepower, financial backing, and a budget that rivals the DOD, only to wallow in the mire. Cavanaugh's Cowboys analysis is solid, but he's now on a "not a sports" station. So the one thing in this biz he has expertise in and is passionate about (='s compelling content), well, it's relegated to a sidebar and he's forced (forced while saying whatever he wants) to play guessing games. KT should be a host in the 5th largest market in the country and on the crucial am drive slot. I both pre and post say no offense meant here, but he's a producer/board op who can pick his spots and pop on Jer with aplomb. But that's where it begins and ends. Julie has bitten off more than she can chew. Flat out. Anyone who for even 4 seconds took off their "we must exalt the female because she's female" goggles while listening to her on The Ticket knew this was going to happen. She offered up a solid Ticker. Not better than any other Ticker person, not worse. The Ticker was delivered and delivered well. She did her job. And Julie too had her pop on Jer pick her spots let the game come to her moments that really did add to a show. But that was it. Nothing wrong with it, not in the least.
It's been said many a times that Rhyner used to be one helluva broadcaster. Agreed. Used to be. Used to be as in nearly 2 decades ago. He wasn't while on KZEW. In fact, he was downright douchey, copping a radio voice ("oooh, heeeeey, maaaaaaan"). But something happened between post-KZEW and the day he went live on The Ticket. He figured out his way was through being a man of few but well placed words, of little patience for foolishness, of crusty proclamations, and of a semi-covert fondness for locker room humor and misogynistic tendencies. This amalgamation of Randy Galloway and Howard Stern paid off for him in spades. However, in the mid-oughts he lost interest and Peak Rhyner left the building. It's painfully obvious when listening to The Down Beat that he's trying his best to find his way back. Thing is, he won't, can't. That Rhyner is gone, never to return. One either IS that way or they're not. No faking it. Sirois, like Julie, was in his perfect role while at The Ticket. No doubt Mike Sirois is a good time. Who wouldn't want to hit the town and tie yer mother down with Chael?! The reason why Plainsman isn't hearing Sirois' true personality come through isn't because he's trying to match Rhyner's cadence, but rather it's because you're getting "oh shit, I gotta do this 5 days a week for 4 hours each day and do it forever" Sirois. In short, you're getting someone who is now forced to live in reality. Or at least a different reality than the one he's inhabited for many a year now. It ain't no party, it ain't no disco, it ain't no foolin' around. It's called a real job with real responsibilities and real (high) expectations that can and do engender intense levels of stress and even anxiety, and not a f-around party of a part time job that pays 45k + benefits + additional sources of income (remotes, spots, etc.). It's difficult to be up for anything when you're sweating how YOU PERSONALLY are going to fill 4 hours each day with compelling content. That's when the line between those who genuinely "have it" and don't is drawn. Or at least those who have a support team that "has it" and will feed them the material and those whoe don't.
At least that's the way I see it.
I've got not one thing against anyone involved with The Freak. But I hear what I hear and know what I know from experience and from listening to most of the players involved for years and years and years now.
Really can't disagree with anything you say, 614. Though I do think Mike S is host material and that Julie could be host material. Agree that they played their parts well at The Ticket, but I think with some time and maybe different partners or maybe a firm direction for their shows, they could also shine as hosts. Even saying that I don't think they're terrible. Not that you said they were. As to the rest of the crew I can't say much because I don't really know them. It's really hard for me to tell who's saying what most of the time. Probably because everyone's on everyone else's show everyday. Well, I do know Mike R. Sure. I guess he's doing fine. I'm not seeing much of a difference from what he was doing on The Ticket. I liked him well enough there.
I generally liked Mike whenever he was with Norm and D, or whenever he filled in on another show. I kinda wanted him to be paired with Bob whenever Rhyner left. Sirois can fill in with anybody pretty well, but I think someone like Corby, Jake, or Dave, would be who he actually does well with. Not someone like Rhyner. Also, one of the things that I liked a lot about Sirois, was his lifestyle of constant extravagant vacations. They were always fun stories, and I liked hearing him talk about them. I don't know how many of those will be possible as much now with him being an actual host.
With Julie, I never really got the idea she would be a solid, permanent host. I listened to most of the Mom Games that had ticket hosts featured. The episodes where Emily and Julie would shoot the shit for 15 minutes prior to the ticket guy coming on were almost painful. Emily was better at it than Julie in my opinion.
Sirois is likely best suited for the yuck monkey role as a third host rather then a co-host. I especially don't know that he works well in we talk about what we want. I think he needs a hand on the rudder to steer him to the right place. Rhyner isn't providing that.
I don't know that a failure here means Sirois, Julie, KT and Cavanaugh can't be hosts. It won't help of course. Nothing seems to keep B&S from getting another chance.
Listening to The Freak, I have technical questions I'm sure a Confessor can answer. As usual, all answers are welcome, but I am looking for info from someone who really knows the operating side of a radio showgram.
The questions are (and they may all be the same question, or have overlapping answers):
(1) What does a producer do on a talk show such as are heard on The Freak and The Ticket? Let's assume the show is not taking listener calls.
(2) What does a board op do on a talk show such as are heard on The Freak and The Ticket? Same assumption.
(3) How do either of these answers change when the producer is a fairly prominent on-air voice from time to time as well, a la Danny and Grubes?
1. Where's Danny? Was told that he was coming onboard.
2. The reason B&S keep finding employment, despite their lack of real success, is because they are supreme salesmen of B&S. That's especially the case with Ben. That man can convince anyone of anything. He should've went into either sales or politics. Sirois has that gene too, but he's not disciplined enough to truly harness his powers of persuasion. Though I have heard bits and bubbles that he's to The Freak's founding what Rhyner was to The Ticket. In fact, if you listen carefully to day 1 of TDB, he kinda says as much in an aside, only to quickly gloss over it and move on. Does it twice, actually.
3. In no way do I find The Freak refreshing. That denotes something different, a change of pace. It's no different from The Ticket other than they don't do it as well due to a lesser talent pool. Ditto The FAN v. The Ticket. For me, it's a quick check in between Ticket segments. I've yet to finish listening to an entire segment. I want to like it, but so far I'm not. But I'll keep punching in, hoping one day at least one of show will get their s together enough to become a viable option.
4. I do think The Freak will be given enough rope by iHeart to either find its footing or hang itself. So I expect it to be around for at least 2 years before any format change occurs. That doesn't mean there won't be some turnover and tweaks. I'm thinking those might be coming pretty soon. Specially if its first full ratings book is poor. If the second and third are also poor, I bet we see a major overhaul.
5. The idea that THZ or any other Ticket Varsity will jump ship in the foreseeable future is a joke. The Freak would've had to start out like gang busters with no end in sight to its meteoric rise for THZ or anyone else to migrate over there.
When we talk about whether The Freak succeeds or lasts or not, I think it's important to remember that what we're talking about on MTC -- at least, what I intend for us to be talking about, although it's not an edict -- is The Freak with the reason-for-being ("we say what we want") and approximately the same lineup as hit the airwaves with such bombast.
There may well be a talky "Freak" for a long time, but if it's not a Rhyner/Sirois-led and ex-Ticket-staffed lineup, and if it isn't pretty much entirely non-sports, then it isn't the Freak we were promised and predictions of its decline and demise will have been borne out no matter what it or its programs are called.
Personally, I'm not ready to predict decline and demise. I'm extremely doubtful its success will depend on a big migration of female and Latino listeners as Captain Craptastic assured us in the last thread, but sure -- it's possible all the Ticket grumblers will move Freakward and the ratings books will bear that out. Not my cup of tea so far, but it's out there; it's broadcasting; it says what it wants.
If that's your bar for success, Pman, then I think we can safely assume it will not be met. There's no fuccin' way the new PD (btw, they don't have a local one right now, though it's coming soon) is going to keep that morning show as is. Now fuccin' way no how. B&S are local radio cockroaches. They will be the last man standing and if there is a format change they'll convince the higher ups to allow them to stay on. So for me, it all hinges on if The Down Beat holds its own and remains the flagship show. If it does for a goodly number of years, then OK, it succeeded in at least that regard. But here's the thing, Mike R is 72. Any of you out there have parents who have turned 70 in the past few years? If you do then you know that for most folks things begin to change pretty rapidly and those changes are really obvious. The big slow down comes on like puberty in reverse. Mike R's on the precipice of that and in fact I'd say it's already begun. It'll become more obvious the longer he stays on. Hell I remember how it was in reality less than a handful of years ago that Norm was still yakkin' 90 mph, sports manic and sharp as ever. Then suddenly he became old, slop mouthed and started spouting out confusing sports points and went from being an alpha to grandpa butt end of the punchline. It happens to us all if we get to live that long. So I'm not sure how The Freak's gonna ever stand up to your scrutiny, Pskeez.
Maybe not, 621. I think you're probably right. But we were starting to get some comments along the lines of "hey, The Freak can succeed if it does this and this and this," which may be true, but then it's not the product we were promised and that we're hearing now and that was supposed to materially corrode The Ticket's dominance. Calling a station that looks and sounds different from the current Freak "The Freak" doesn't make the original Freak a success.
It may yet succeed in its current form -- but for the reasons you and others have pointed out, it's a long slog.
Does anyone know why the Freak has not been broadcasting from their studio? The audio quality of the speakeasy is terrible. It sounds like they are broadcasting out of a broom closet.
They had COVID, but that was 2-3 weeks ago, so I dunno. Plus, I stopped tuning in once it became obvious that all three showa are lame with zero signs of ever being even capable of improving.
I can't pick up the Ticket signal this time of year and did not want to mess with the app. Heard Sirois speaking of the holiday schedule. They would be off Thursday and Friday this week and off two weeks at Christmas.
I know that drydock during the Christmas holidays has little effect on ratings but I would think a new station would want to be broadcasting in the off-chance the station catches someone's ear.
The Freak has been doing an extended victory lap before it ever went live. I hope they're enjoying themselves, I hope they do very much. It won't be around this time next year.
The leaks put out by hosts/progenitors, the "cherry on top," the ad nauseam Rhyner not so cryptic Tweets for starters. If you know of this site, then you know well that the above happened. So are you a Freak employee (So Anonymous/MS perhaps)?
Plainsman- to answer you’re earlier question. Generally speaking, the board op is responsible for the board, for playing commercials, potting up the appropriate sources (newsroom, traffic, network news feed, etc) playing intros (ticker bed, traffic sounder, etc). Back in my day sonny, also responsible for transmitter meter readings, signing off on program log that spots had run, etc. the producer roll varies widely. I’m many cases, they’re a phone screener. Good ones are helping the hosts create the flow of the show. Topic selection- what is the show going to talk about and when. A good producer knows when they have the most listeners, and books good segments or good guests in those slots. For news and talk stations, they’re also booking topical guests- tracking down the police chief or a lawyer after a shooting, etc. how much airtime really depends on their role, the format, etc. when you’re the 4th or 5th voice, like Fernandez with Musers or Danny in Mike-Greg-Corby hardline days, probably not going to be as prominent of a voice.
I think the topic selection part of the producer job is what is killing the Freak. They have no basis for being. No sports, politics, or music to anchor their show. So they can talk about whatever they want. And they do. And that causes them to talk about anything and everything. Instead of a good producer weeding out weak topics, they’re desperately talking about anything they can to fill time. Mikes mind used to be one segment a day on 1310. Now it’s basically half of the downbeat. Didn’t plainsman hear something (paraphrasing) “I thought this segment would be better”. That tells me they’re not focused, they don’t know know what they’re trying to accomplish with a segment. Because they’re just talking to fill 4 hours per show.
ETP1- every decent advertiser or ad agency ignores the Xmas ratings book because they know it doesn’t reflect regular listening. So there’s a trend in radio to burn most of your vacation in the weeks that “don’t count”. 2 things- generally new employees earn vacation at X days per month. None of the “new” freak staff would seem to have much time accrued, so if they’re taking 2 weeks, it’s probably because that was negotiated in a contract. Which tells me they’re not approaching this like a start up station, ie- Rhyner has earned 2 weeks off at Xmas and he’s damn sure going to take them. Part 2- yes, you would think that a new station would want to minimize vacations and maximize exposure when your perceived main competitor has staff off for the better part of 3 straight weeks. Again tells me that either they don’t see the ticket as their real competition or they just don’t want to try very hard. And if they don’t see the ticket as their main competitor, riddle me this: they could have assembled an air staff of anybody they wanted with a hot talk background. They could have hired pugs and Kelly, or other retreads like Ron and don, Walton and Johnson, Bo and Jim types that have done guy talk for years. Instead they roll out a staff where 7/9ths of the staff have spent time at the Ticket. Everybody but Cather and Cavanaugh spent some time at the mothership. What does their lack of a wide search for talent tell you? They didn’t want to do this with expensive proven talent from other markets, they’re doing it on the cheap…
Aaaaaaaaand there's the rub: It's a lazy endeavor, conceived, constructed, and carried out in just that very way. No hunger whatsoever. They follow their leader. Their way is through someone who long ago paid their dues and has reached the heights of the industry (sans syndication, which said person did not want), and now wants to coast, earn easy money, keep their profile and thus the attention paid to themself high, and has the uber attitude (and with good reason) of I can say what I want and it'll be gold and the masses will heave to, trice up. Thing is, that applies only to that particular person. As to the rest: career mediocrities, barely known to no-names, and a couple who are delusional about their bona fides, sphere of influence, and even abilities. But all of them follow the leader and their flag from under which The Freak flies. Not good, buddy. Not good.
For some reason, tweeters felt compelled to dig up evidence of Jerry Jones blocking the doors to his Arkansas HS in '57 with other White bullies to keep the bruthas out.
"Did you enjoy those 3 district championships, son? I hope you did, I hope you did real good."
I suppose he bought the Cowboys as a form of reparations https://twitter.com/JoshClarkDavis/status/1595457635611992079
Major Station Announcement on the Downbeat Monday at 5:00. Sirois said it was an actual major announcement and not the announcement of a golf tournament like some other stations announce. It’s obviously a 3rd host. Me thinks Danny Balis or Emily Jones.
Is Emily Jones a difference maker though? Are there people that aren’t listening to the downbeat that will because they add Emily? Assuming they add her to the downbeat, although that would entail leaving the Rangers broadcast would it not? If you’re Emily do you leave a successful tv gig for a radio gig with questionable probability of success? Same questions with Danny. Who are these elusive listeners who aren’t listening to just Mike and Mike but are suddenly going to tune in because they’ve added Danny? The first full ratings book- a full month of the Freak- comes out next week. So they don’t even know how they’re doing and they’re changing something? Arguably, a new station needs a PD more than an established successful station. The fact that they have no PD is an indicator of how rudderless they are. And making changes- if that’s what they’re doing- before ratings come out shows they’re steering the ship blindly. But let’s assume they’re adding Danny. He left mothership mid May, so a 6 month non compete could be expiring. But go back and read why he left- spend more time with family, pursue other opportunities, etc. his kid still in diapers didn’t magically become a teenager. Like Rhyner retiring, once you’ve made that decision to quit, making it a 2nd time is a lot easier. Maybe the announcement is something else, but if Danny Balis, a guy who’s never been more than a 3rd wheel on a show is your saving grace, that says a lot.
Let me tell you how wonderful "we say what we want" is going. So much so, that roughly 2 months in the station run reddit account has been dead since week 2 and the fan run reddit account has seen no action in nearly 3 weeks. Compare that to The Ticket, who, 1. doesn't need a station run page and 2. whose fan run page is active daily -- and the station has been around coming up on 29 years; compare that to 2 months. No, it's not looking good for The Freak. Hasn't since even before it went live.
As to the possibility of Emily Jones coming onboard The Down Beat goes, who cares. It will do nothing. Have you heard The Mom Game pod she does with Julie? Neither are good at this. I'm sure they're wonderful humans, but they aren't good long form, much less everyday, hosts. At least they aren't when allowed to work without a net (see: script and/or definitive talking points and a strict minus 2 minutes timeframe). Both were/are excellent as sideline reporters. Julie is "so not good" at this particular job that she makes Emily look like Doris Burke, who is genuine greatness. Besides, when you have radio HoF'r, Godfather of The Ticket, "I'm Back, Bitches," everyone's way is through me, face of the franchise, Mike Rhyner on a show along with the genius of a superstar if only given a seat at the table, hey I'm broke but I'm currently skiing in the Italian Alps, waiting to attend the Monza F1 race "Chael," why in the fuck would you need a 3rd host? Yeah. Right.
It makes no sense, but then again nothing makes sense about The Freak. So, yeah, it's probably what Monday's announcement will cover. I also wouldn't rule out 12:31's assertion. Hell, it could be both. Seriously. I can see Rhyner knowing full well and good that this thing is a f'n disaster and wants to get out before his rep falls any further than it already has. He's hinted at it a bit via rando Tweets, really, since about week 2. Wouldn't surprise me if he couches it as the the plan all along was for him to get it off the ground, give these poor media waifs their ever deserving seats at the table, and then make a 3rd self-meme vid of the hallway and the chair and the clippity clop down said hallway. Of course, that's not what he said in either the D-Mag pod or DMN interviews. But Rhyner's kinda full of shit in some ways, anyways. So I can see the scenario where he simultaneously makes the I'm gone, bitches come DryDock and here's my replacement, Emily. Which, of course, makes Sirois the grand poobah by default. And if you've listened for even 10 minutes in toto over the past month, you'd know that he's already there. It's his show. He runs the whole thing, leads every segment, and has to prod Rhyner along to even breathe. Moreover I'm with the commenter who keeps saying Sirois is to the founding of The Freak as Rhyner was to The Ticket.
Speaking of The Freak Reddit page, did you see the poll they put up earlier in the week about which show you were listening to? One of the choices was basically "I tried it and couldn't hang" or something worded that way. It had the most votes by far and the poll is no longer up. I have also noticed they can't handle being sh*tposted by the Ticket fans like they have done the Ticket page since the startup.
Freak = Inmates running the asylum. Ever hung out at a bar for any length of time, like a couple of weeks or more, and noticed early on that there didn't seem to be anyone actually running the place and that both employees and management (assuming they were ever around) acted more like patrons? Also ever notice that most of those places shutter after a year or so, if that long? Or best case scenario entails never turning a profit and attracting a non-tipping, well-bottle/Natty Lite drinking clientele? Not a cool dive bar, mind you, but a real this is where you go to die waste bin. Well, that's The Freak.
Question for the Plainsman or any other smart person on this blog - why do most continuously refer to DFW as the 5th largest TV/Radio market in the country when we are clearly the 4th largest statistical metro area approaching 8 million people and will become the 3rd largest metro area in the US passing up Chicagoland by 2033? Projections of DFW metro area having 9.5 million people by 2035.
If Danny's the latest cherry on top, I mean, meh. Only thing it'll show is that they were all in on it/knew of it long before the timeline narrative given, which always sounded fishy. After the next flip occurs, sometime in mid 23, the real Freak origin story will emerge and many involved will not look good. Neither will the behind the scenes blame games and infighting.
Danny seemed sincere in his departure- that he thought he was underpaid and wanted to spend more time with new child. If the Freak is fixing the first part, good for Danny’s wallet. But is Danny Balis a draw? People like him, but I’m already hearing rumblings that the Wednesday ratings will not be good for the Freak. Is Danny really going to be the thing that turns it all around? Who is not listening now that will suddenly start tuning in because they’ve added Danny Balis. Danny left and the Hardlines ratings didn’t suffer. People don’t tune in for a producer. C
I don't understand why they will look bad when the "true" timeline comes out. Because they knew there was something else in the works when they left? That's exactly what the majority of the Day 1 host did when the Ticket started. Chuck hid the for sale sign at his house in Philly because Brad Sham visited him while he was up there for a Cowboys game. It seems to me that if they knew about the Freak when they left, they were doing exactly what is expected in their industry. I am not sure why there needs to be good guys and bad guys in this.
I think it becomes about credibility. If you say you’re leaving for other opportunity’s, and don’t specify the opportunities, fine. If you say you’re leaving because you want to work with your brother, or spend more time with your family, and end up at new radio job, you’ve shown that you’ll lie to your listeners.
Sirois and Danny didn’t say they were leaving for those reasons. KDF makes a great point, the industry prevents hosts from being transparent. Remember the silence when Greggo was first out? The real story finally came from Richie Whitt years later.
Why? Because an on the record (interviews, podcasts, and the first week of Freak broadcasting) and gave an official narrative. If it comes out that that narrative was a lie, and in truth The Freak was in the works months or even a year prior, then certain actions and words will not reflect well on those actors. There's a marked difference between keeping mum and spreading a false narrative. And there's also actions, such as, for example, if Rhyner was in on this prior to mid-August, and yet was still coming on The Ticket fairly regularly, acting like a brother in arms, keeping his profile public, etc., and yet all along (per his own words) felt relegated to the sidelines, marginalized, and all the rest, well, you draw your own conclusions what that says about an individual. That example is one among several, and that one pertains only to Rhyner, and not the other two (and now maybe three).
So, while KDF's correct about transparency, there's a not so fine line between being legally obligated to keep your trap shut and spinning a yarn (even if there is some truth in the yarn *e.g., being underpaid*, as most but not all lies have some sense of truth attached to them... there are lies and then there are damned lies).
Meant to read: "Because of an on the record (interviews, podcasts, and the first week of Freak broadcasting) that issued an official narrative."
Also meant to add that in addition to Rhyner's coming on The Ticket and feeling that way, he was also actively planning and negotiating a rival station, of which he was to be the face, the lynchpin of its existence.
How about a double announcement? Danny's in, Mike R's out.
If you follow Mike's twitter you'll see he kisses a lot of Ticket JV and Ticket tertiary ass. David Moore, Killer, Nadel, Mino and too many others to name. Nothing ever about The Freak though. The Freak's not even in his handle or anywhere on the page. Kinda weird. Maybe. Maybe not.
Just a weird all around scene between The Ticket and The Freak. Probably didn't need to be that a way but that's Mike's Way. Awkward is his business and business is good.
We will be closer to Chicago for 3rd place in a few years than we are to San Fran for 4th. DFW is clearly the 4th most populous metro area in the country and tracking down the 3rd position rapidly from stagnant/slightly decreasing Chicagoland area.
So anyone still wanna shit on Richie Shitt? Everything he's said/all his info has not been just solid but dead spot on. Which means THZ is next. Don't bet against it. Don't you dare. Indeed, bank on it. Oh yes, Rhyner just admitted Danny's been in from its inception.
I’ll at least wait till Wednesday when we get a full months ratings. The freak lost a ton of listeners with the switch from the Eagle, and they have massively increased their payroll. If the ratings come out and the Freak is still stuck in the 20s, I think 2nd thoughts will be in great supply. The Hang zone will certainly be having 2nd thoughts about leaving a successful station to go work at, in the words of Norman Elizabeth Hitzges, “ an abortion”. And iheart management and programming muckety mucks will be having 2nd thoughts as well. What kind of thoughts? 1- maybe putting 3 people who have never carried a show or worked together into AM drive is a failed bit. 2- maybe keeping our failing midday show, a show that’s never had great success and has floated thru half a dozen stations in the last dozen plus years wasnt a good idea. 3- maybe paying big money for a big name isn’t paying off like we thought. Especially when he needs 2 sidekicks to help him carry a show. 4- let’s have 2nd thoughts on this format. All of our talent came from sports stations. So we’re going to have them ignore sports and discuss such riveting topics as best sitcoms of the 90s and mikes favorite whatever. Maybe we should have a focus and not be whatever pops into someone’s mind.
I’ve worked in radio for almost 40 years I’m this market. If ratings are bad, suits will show up soon after. They may get a few months, but if ratings are bad, and indicators say they are, well to quote Cheryl crow, a change is gonna come
According to the radio boards, The Freak's first full ratings period numbers are rather poor. As in really not good, poor. If Texas Radio Hall of Famer Mike Rhyner needs not one but two former producers as cohosts to make it work, then things aren't looking good. I know both Sirois and Balis are social media fan favorites. But that vocal crowd is a small one. No one stopped listening to The Hardline because Danny left. Nor did The Norm and D Invasion's numbers fall off a cliff upon Sirois's departure. Why Rhyner or anyone at 97.1 (assuming that by now they certainly have an in-house PD -- if not, things really do not bode well for them, as it means iHeart has little skin in it) thinks a 3rd host is needed, and that said 3rd host will be a game changer is beyond comprehension. Danny's a fine and talented gent, for sure. But his addition will neither siphon off droves of Ticket P1s, and nor will it turn an objectively unintersting show into must-hear radio.
Frankly, I'm a bit shocked that Danny, who seems to have a sense of what works and what doesn't, has sat on the sidelines all this time thinking to himself, "Yes, this is great radio; this is where I need to be." Either iHeart is offering money that's difficult to refuse or Danny is a very thirsty man (it's hard to let that local yokel fame go, ask Rhyner). . . . or . . . . there's something rotten to the core at Cumulus/The Ticket; so rotten, in fact, that it permeates all levels of management adn the entire staff; so rotten that it's driven 4 Ticket employees (including the founder of The Ticket) to go against it, to make it their chief competition, to openly take shots at it, and to have (as it seems more obvious with every turn) been plotting the move while still working at The Ticket and while making guest appearances, acting as a friend.
Wonder what Corby and Davey are thinking? The real story behind all of this will some day make for an interesting long form article. Betcha dollars to donuts Whitt is waiting until The Freak either firmly establishes itself or is flipped until he publishes. He knows where the bodies are buried on this one, and there's a killing field out there. Can't wait.
By the end of May 2023 THZ will be gettin' its Freak on.
6-10a: The Hang Zone 10-1p: The Speakeasy (or replacement) 1-4p: B&S 4-7p: The Downbeat
Have you all not notice how many times of late both Jake and Dan have made mention of the newfound love of their early riser lifestyles? Did you not hear Jake say how he really wanted to be on the am drive portion of White Elephant Day? Ladies and Gents, they're telling you a la silly Mike R Tweets exactly what's coming down the pike.
Danny, a tier 3 producer, quit in may and had to wait until November for his non compete to expire. If the hang zone is starting in May, they need to quit this week. That’s not happening.
@Anon 7:41 and 9:30 and others predicting a flame-out. I know nothing about radio but maybe, just a little, of how a new business operates. And make no mistake, this is a new business. Nobody creates a business plan, finds funding, hires key, critical employees, has the investment funds from internal / external capital just to say, "If the revenue (listeners vis-a-vis advertisers) and profits (after paying said key employees) don't hit X and Y in three to six months we are just going to pull the plug.
There may be tweaks, of course. In any startup business maybe one or two key employees were not suited to the workload, did not fit in as originally thought or maybe a few other factors. The myriad of other reasons expressed here also come in play but there is no way that management is going to make major changes after just one rating book, or two.
As the P-man has stated before, this may not end up as a Ticket expatriates station that makes good. Maybe other people are brought in to right the ship. But from where my experience lies you don't give up the ghost after only 3-6 months. To offer a corollary, some restaurants opened right before COVID and had to close. That was a once in a lifetime (millennial, maybe) event. The Freak is not as such. They will be given room to fail, not just 2 or 3 ratings periods.
Since the ratings periods are now months and not quarters, agreed. But much like “Bar Rescue” if a place is failing there are experts that come in and make changes. The ratings are bad, and show no sign of improvement. I predict some kind of changes in pretty short order. The ratings were in the 20s pre switch, if they’ve gotten worse, they’ll lose more advertisers. I’m told they’re basically giving spots away to draw ticket advertisers. Problem there is once bad ratings are out, they’ll have a hard time convincing major advertisers to continue. That point ETP1 is where they enter the death spiral. Once you’ve crossed that threshold, it gets harder to sell, harder to sell at a high spot rate, etc. you start giving spots away, which leads to longer spot breaks, which drive listeners away. Commenter above predicted hang zone by May, I’ll predict corporate driven change by March or April at the latest. C (Not Brad C, not Chael, just trying to attribute my anon posts in some way)
Once the Hang Zone joins, the Freak will be unstoppable. It's a Dream Team lineup and scary how much talent they're acquiring with iHeart willing to break open the piggy bank. If the poaching of The Ticket isn't enough, I wonder when Mike Bacsik's contract is up...I could see them bringing him in as he is one of 105.3's most popular personalities.
Lol dream team? Who’s dream said “ if we were to compete with the ticket are dream morning show is 3 people who have never carried a show on their own and never worked together”. Who’s dream said “for middays let’s recycle a show that has now been unsuccessful on 5 different stations (ticket, live 105, espn, the fan, the Eagle). Who’s dream said “in pm drive let’s build for the future with a 75 year old who has already retired once, and who has been mailing it in for a decade. And we’ll team him up with 2 more guys, neither of which have ever carried a show on their own talent or been successful anywhere outside “the mothership”. Dream team? When the corporate suits show up, and they will, they’re going to see this line up as a nightmare. C
With all due respect, ETP1, and your finely crafted comment aside, stations absolutely can and will flip again within a few months of a flip. The business of radio is different from most other business endeavors, and in many fundamental ways. This is the case because of the way in which it earns revenue.
10:12, which employees, exactly, comprise all of this supposed talent The Freak has on its hands? I think you are the only one in her right mind with this view. Yes, Mike Bacsik, who has a listening audience size that can be counted on two hands and one foot, is going to nicely round things off, solidifying The Freak's near-future dominance. IF. And that's a big "if," hence the caps, THZ migrated to The Freak, then you would have one show that The Ticket would genuinely have to go up against. If you believe Danny makes all the difference and that TDB is ready to rock, well, good on ya, pal. He doesn't and it's not. Danny's probably a move in a better direction, as he gives Sirois an actual dialogue partner. But the content is the content, and the content isn't good. No amount of neo-soul talk (already passe genre in the hipster world it found its home in, btw) is going to entice a larger audience and therefore bring in more ad rev.
I don’t listen to the fan much. Is bascik a never ending fountain of internet lists, hokey contrived game shows and the like? Wait, he’s a sports personality, one with an actual claim to fame in the sports world? Why would sports personality leave sports station to go work at….whatever this format is. I agree content is content, and so far this content isn’t showing signs of drawing an audience. We find out more on Wednesday with November ratings. C
All I can say in all of this, The Speakeasy is probably fucked long term if they poach more Ticket talent. Ben and Skin shouldn’t get to comfy either if Iheartradio indulges OGWs wishes to create the new ticket
TSE was donzo by the end of week one. I don't see iHeart adding a fourth show to the lineup. That's at least three more salaries plus insurance. If THZ does take its talents elsewhere, then I'm in agreement with Anon 9:48pm that they will take over the morning slot, though IMO the time slots will remain the same. As well, if THZ makes this move, and betting they will be a fairly high dollar acquisition --commanding the highest salaries at the station-- then if I'm B&S and if my numbers aren't at the very least besting NaD but ideally NaD and whatever replaces THZ, I'm very worried my time is short. I'd have to believe iHeart would bring in a more cost-effective show that would compete as well if not potentially better than the oft tried/never quite caught on B&S Show.
Very curious about the behind the scenes relationships are faring with Danny, Corby, and Davey. Really, Danny and all of The Ticket team. Someone else truthfully pointed out that Mike R regularly shouts out and atta boys various Ticket tertiaries and non-Tier One employees. Wonder how all that plays out IRL. Interesting times in this here DFW radioscape. Can't wait to see how that first head to head full ratings book bears out. A mere day away.
I love how everyone on all of these Ticket related sosh pages claims knowledge of how nc's work and specifically how they work for each contract. You do know that not all nc's are the same, yes? There are usually loopholes and exceptions put in place. Just b/c X's nc is 6 months doesn't mean y's (at the same co. in the same position) is also 6 months. That's not how it works. I don't think The Hang Zone will be leaving. But if they do, there's a good chance they make the move knowing their nc won't mean a long hiatus from work. If they do go over to The Freak, I'd have to think that it's been in the offing for quite some time now. The only thing that gives me cause to pause is that so far R Whitt hasn't missed a beat on this and only this particular. So far, he's actually batting 1000%.
Yeah the only thing he missed was the freaking format. Go back and read his drivel. He clearly said they’re starting a new sports station. Yet listen to the station, their imaging, read their press, and it’s all “ we’re not a sports station, we talk about what we want”. Seems to be a pretty big miss. And I’ll concede that every non compete could be different. But you’re to have me believe that tier 3 producer has a 6 month non compete, and they said that on air today, but tier 1 talent has a shorter non compete. Possible, but not probable. I’d write a contract just the opposite. I’d make my high level talent sit out even longer. C
Not if said high level talent is imminently bolting and you know you need to keep them to ensure the ship keeps humming along. Then you might be willing to discuss such things. And if you're said talent's agent, you're definitely making that move. Whereas Producer Pete, well, that poor bastards lucky to have a job with insurance, so you bet he has a 6 mo. nc. Besides the producers in question were de facto 3rd hosts. 3rd hosts sans host pay, mind you, but 3rd hosts nonetheless. Hence the nc. Julie on the other hand was off fill in duties for what, 3 weeks?, before re-emerging with her Freak on. No nc there. She's a whole 'nother subject, but one nobody's willing to call out. And honestly it doesn't matter and who cares. You're right about Whitt missing on the sports theme. But if you take away the ubiquitous lists and guessing games, Freak sports seggies are the only seggies with any real meat to them. After all they ALL come from sports stations and have almost exclusively sports media backgrounds (all but Rhynes). Go figure.
No producers had Non Competes on the ticket. A non compete means they have to pay you during that period. If Cumulus wasn't willing to pay a living wage there was no way they would pay a guy they obviously didn't value, to sit on the sidelines receiving full pay.
Geez, I need a radio non-compete. I have signed several and no one ever paid me when I left. There may have been a "payout", but it certainly did not cover the entire term of the agreement.
Well since Richie Whitt was right again about some Freak news, what about his biggest claim of them all. The Hangzone going to the Freak. Is that where Richie Witt will finally get one wrong?
I still find the way the station is being put out, odd. Adding Grubes to the show after it started, then adding Danny a little bit later? And then even later, gonna add the Hangzone? And tell Julie and the morning drive people they are out of a job. I don't know what is 'normal' in this situation, but I feel like assembling a whole show just to tell them in 6th months, the show is done, is questionable. I guess they just may be the way it is, but I still would think the station would have a higher chance of succeeding if they rolled all this out at once.
I could see The Hangzone claim being a "The station will do so well enough that by next spring, it will be great move for the hangzone" thing. It would definitely be a big get for the Freak.
Other than the Mavericks on 97.1, is Mark Cuban twisting and tweaking things behind the scene? Or does he have more important things to worry about than his flagship radio station?
hearing everyone's mad rush to cover all their asses because Rhyner openly exposed Danny and iHeart by stating he'd been talking with Danny virtually every day since the start, and that Danny was the one that turned him around on the idea of this thing a long, long, time ago - was the only funny thing I've ever heard on that station.
I’m told that long-time Ticket producer Danny Balis will join The Freak once his non-compete clause expires. Pretty common sensical to connect those dots. "But, bigger and more surprising, Ticket midday Hang Zone hosts Jake Kemp and Dan McDowell are seriously considering bolting for The Freak in early 2023. Again, I won’t believe it until I hear it, but "
Similar to the caveat he placed on his initial Freak rumor post, changing it to "this is happening" once firmly confirmed. That sane initial post you so smugly crapped on out of hand, Surly. The same post that indeed was correct.
I've been way out of the loop for the past several days and obviously missed a lot. Holiday stuff, family drama, getting a novel out, the usual. Hope to get back to vigorous Ticket listening soon. Maybe Freak listening, too.
One hour in and he's fitting in like a glove, as if he's been there since day one. Which isn't a good thing. So far *surprise* it's been all music talk.
The Downbeat is the equivalent of being "press box hot" when it comes to engaging radio. These guys were interesting on The Little Ticket within an overall sports talk radio structure. They are not interesting in an all-talk format. I say this as someone who was a fan of all three of them and still miss them on the Ticket today. But I'm not going to follow them over to The Freak.
I'll switch over during commercial breaks but then I'm ready to go back within a few minutes. Not familiar with the radio business so I dunno how long one has to be tuned in to count for ratings but I get the feeling that's how many Ticket listeners are treating The Freak too.
I'm telling you true story of the origins of The Freak will out and when it does there's gonna be issues for many involved. Mark it down. Whether on the air saying what they want or at the bar, these ding dongs can't keep their mouths shut. Ratings come out tomorrow. There's already a Freak out going on up in that bitch.
The fact Dan-Paul almost certainly violated the terms of his non-compete is just a side note. What is shocking is that he’s been bald face lying to all of his “life long friends” for months.
How do you know that's the case, 10:05? That's a pretty harsh assumption and judgment on your part. While I agree that the real story behind The Freak probably differs from what's been put forth, and that some legal issues or at the very least uncomfortable perception/personal issues might arise, it's not for us to state as fact something we truly know nothing of. Neither you nor I nor anyone here knows if in fact Danny's life long friends knew nothing of his plans. Speculation and analysis based on facts, clues, and even some reading between the lines is one thing, assertions of character is another.
1217 i think it's clear that, unlike reddit, MTC isn't just a place for P1's. Obviously there are people in here that are connected in various ways, work in the industry, likely even co-workers.
while we know sirios knew exactly what was going on when he quit and lied to cover what was really going on, no one wants to believe DP has been duplicitous. But his story about the timing and manner in which he decided to join, along with his personal and professional ties to Skin Wade (record label) isn't just smoke. And to the point of whoever else mentioned it, the on-air scramble to cover up for Rhyner's problematic statements, was very telling.
Maybe Plainsman can break this out as a new post. If not, we can play here. Anybody want to make predictions on what the Freaks ratings look like when they come out at Noon today? They were in the mid 20s with men 25-54 with the Eagle. Do you think this move has helped? Hurt? If so which way? And if it’s bad which way does the syphilitic media, sorry that should be sympathetic media like Richie Whittless spin this? My predictions are huge loss in AM drive, dropping into the 30s men 25-54. Middays flat to down, so 25-30ish, and PM drive flat to up slightly, no better than 20th at most. I hear a lot of people are sampling the downbeat, but none love it. So we’ll see at Noon.
Was thinking about this yesterday, while listening to the DB. Danny going to the Freak has a little different meaning for me than any of the others.
Sirois, single, needs a job, but could probably find one, maybe with Cash. Rhyner, well off, doesn't need the work. B&S, if they had to, they could move to Boise and host a show. Julie, Doesn't "need" the job, I am sure her hubs does fine. KT and Cavanaugh, I don't know well. Grubes, same as Sirois. KR, she could get another job in radio, probably a better one in a different market.
Danny is different. He has a lot of irons in the fire, but is also a new dad. While he is not my favorite radio personality, he always has appeared very thoughtful about things. I don't see him just doing this, if it is short lived. I've been in my industry for a while, and going to a complete startup, even for more money, but an unsure future.... that is a little scary.
I think Danny will give the Downbeat a little bit of an edge, which it has been lacking so far.
Also, did you hear Danny explain where the name Dingu came from? I don't think he tells that story imitating the foreign accent of the server on the Hardline.
So just how long have you listened to The Ticket? More importantly, does mimicking a foreign accent entail "saying what we want"? Most importantly, do such things heighten your listening experience? That is, for examper, caricaturing minorities and non-US natives?
Danny's NC doesn't necessarily mean he couldn't talk about other opportunities. It likely stated he couldn't go on the air before a certain date. I love how everyone thinks that talking to someone about something constitutes a violation of the NC. Good luck enforcing that, not to mention he has the weight of I-Heart v Cumulus. I-Heart has a Market cap of a Billion dollars and Cumulus 125 million. Cumulus is worth shit..
Talking ABOUT other opportunities isn't the issue at hand. The main issue for most is the personal relationship aspect of it. But I'm happy to know that you are "lov[ing] how everyone thinks [...]." As well, let's grant your odd claim that "everyone...," you admit that it doesn't necessarily mean he couldn't talk about another position. This means you don't know. Just as no one here knows. When you've arrived at apodictic certainty, come back and let us know. But make sure you provide evidence.
As to the health of iHeart goes, you're making things up and/or are ignorant of reality: iHeart has been in the midst financial upheaval for some time now. Not as bad as Cumulus, true, but they are nevertheless going through a seriously painful event -- filing for bankruptcy in '18 and now emerging under a, for them, austere plan of restructure. For one, they, like Cumulus, have and continues to, lay off en masse both on and off air talent. I can go on, but I'll let you do the research like The Egg, Salmon, and Fitness Man did all those years ago.
Signed, The Ghost of George's Front Bottom's Future
I've seen them, but subscribe to do so, therefore I'm not going to list them. Peter Welpton will and break them down too. Probably up on the reddit page tomorrow.
Will say that it wasn't a good book for The Freak. Not in the least and there's no way to spin it otherwise. That bad. All demos, much less coveted. Ticket pretty much stayed put.
I think the interesting thing is they’re really bad, but how do you fix it? They may claim that they’re not aiming at the tickets M25-54 demo, but every single one of your air talent except Cavanaugh are ticket alums, with a large portion of them having no other radio experience. Grubes, Danny, Sirois, Julie, Krystina, did any of them have significant outside radio experience before this? Even Ben and Skin have only ever worked in this market. Sure they’ve worked everywhere, but is continual failure really a positive talking point? So you’ve got a station that’s basically a pirated movie sold at a flea market. Yeah it’s kinda like the original, but it’s such poor picture, bad sound, fake artwork on the box that you ultimately regret whatever money you spent on it. So if the ratings are as bad as I’ve heard (in the 20s) how do you recover. You’ve spent 2 months telling people you’re not a sports station, that you talk about what you want. Do you suddenly pivot to more sports? Do you bring in actual major market talent and stop letting a bunch of amateurs on in AMD and a bunch of serial failures on in middays? How many people sampled them the last 2 months and went away unimpressed? And how much are you going to have to spend trying to draw them back in? Will billboards do it? TV? What’s the pitch of a tv spot” tune in to hear mike Rhyner rate the best strip clubs in Dallas”? Not to mention the massively increased payroll. I think iheart execs will be in town soon after the holidays to start trying to fix this. Times are about to get interesting on the Dallas Parkeay. C
I just think The Speakeasy was a placeholder mistake. That is beyond sub standard morning drive time. They HAVE to be planning to replace it eventually.
KEGL earned a fat 1.0 this book. Doen from last book's 1.5, which included The Freak's first week. Yeah buddy, it might flip by Feb 1. No hyperbole here.
Have to think Rhynes and Co. are under the impression/were told they have X amount of months/books to get solid numbers before any changes are made. Why else would Danny jump aboard at this stage? Unless he signed a contract long ago or there's a verbal or hell, maybe Rhynes had it written into his contract agreement that they'd get X time to get numbers before an overhaul or flip. Because they absolutely had a good idea what this book was going to look like prior to Danny's Monday maiden voyage. As well, they all sure act like they have money to burn and that time is on their side. I hear zero panic, zero let's get our s together, zero stepping up their game, nada.
And it gets much harder to sell advertising or get good rates for commercials when your ratings are in the toilet. The guesstimate whatever salaries you think the staff is making, for giggles let’s say the average is 100k, some more, some clearly less. Julie, Jeff, KT, Matt, Ben, skin, Krystina, 3 mikes and Danny. Call it a million dollar payroll. Round it to 100k a month just in talent. How many “good” advertisers will stick around when they see the ratings? Plus if they’re like most companies, the Freak still have to pay their share of shared expenses, rent, power, mgmt salaries, etc generally are spread across all properties in a cluster. How long will iheart, a company known for being ruthless, will tolerate losing money when they can flip back to music and save plenty? Like I said, things are going to get interesting on the Dallas Parkway. C
B&S must have dirt on every radio exec in North America. You could put a fern on the radio from 10-3 and it would pull better numbers than they did in November. Good god
In thinking about the origins of the Ticket: Musers made their name on a LOT of bits. They prank called a lot of other radio shows. The show went outside of the studio to make things happen. Hosts did roadshows but also hung out with the listeners at local bars. There are a ton of stories from some rent house they lived in (and did shows from). It has been mentioned before that many P1s have aged with the hosts. And it is true, there is no longer the same edginess from hosts. Is Gordon going to wear a devil suit to a major media event? No chance for the "Hey man, what's up rodeo" to be resurrected. Fair enough. Now thinking about the Freak. I listened to the 24 minute clip posted on the Freak reddit page to hear an original Danny song. The clip began with a conversation revolving around a Fart "no-no" being broken up by Sirios. Meh. Listened for a bit longer..nothing all that interesting. Finally got to Danny's song. He is a talented guy, but the song fell flat in the second half. It was too long. Reminded me of "Razor's Bi"....funny for a short go of it...too long. My point is this: after listening to a station doing whatever they want, they have merely copied and pasted the Ticket onto the Eagle, without ever creating their own culture. Fart jokes might work in terms of a drop, but the board ops are/were the geniuses dropping in sound effects at great moments. I, too find the Ticket pretty stale (outside of Hang Zone), but the Freak has taken the most pedestrian parts of the Ticket and thinks that will pose competition. No. Even Norm has better things to say. Even Great Grandpa Hitzges is more compelling to listen to. Maybe Danny was only making 40k a year...but no matter what, you are going to miss that money when it's not coming in, any longer. Which makes me think Mike R. might have panicked in retirement, decided that he still needed a paycheck, and came back with this dumpster fire. Whatever the case, Freak continues to be bad. Perhaps if they did get Hang Zone, but I think they would do better to go find a young Gordon Keith type ready to set Dallas radio on fire with creativity. He might be the most important person in the history of the Ticket. Plainsman-you might consider a long piece revisiting Keith's value to this aging wooden ship.
I don't think there was ever much cross-pollination between Ticket listeners and Eagle/Russ Martin-Treehouse listeners. So once that ended, those listeners were not going to stick around and give The Freak a try. That leaves The Freak with trying to appeal to an overall very small number of Ticket listeners who will switch over (the vocal minority online who constantly gripe about certain Ticket personalities do not reflect the overall audience). Also, The Fan's core audience who already didn't like The Ticket's style won't like The Freak either so I don't see them stealing those listeners.
On the back of the The Freaks's, OK, let's call it what it is, cataclysmic ratings, Freak employees (hosts included, to the point it's so obvious it's embarrassing) under pseudonyms are posting comment after comment on the Ticket reddit site regarding how lucky we in the DFW are to have two top notch content creating stations complementing (and not competing with) one another. So just give The Freak\ some more time and it'll be "Your New Ticket." Man, that shit's spottable from 1k miles away. They all begin their epistolary length comments with cherry picked early days history of The Ticket exegeses. These hermeneutical endeavors all miss the point: The Ticket started nearly 29 years ago; moreover, this world and that world barely resemble one another; this can be said equally from both contemproray technological and social standpoints. I've stated it so many times now, and this will be the last time I'll say it until I return for a victory lap/told ya so when it does come down:
The Freak will flip before Summer 2023. The truth will out as regards its genesis, including the actual timeline and players involved. This will result in the ending of media-related careers, at least in this market, the end of any remnants of personal relationships with former colleagues, and inkindle a general sense of feeling from listeners that ranges from indiffernce to dislike.
Interesting that said employees aren't posting here (it'd be obvious as they're not good about hiding it). And yes, they know of this place, intimately (So Anonymous *Sirois - which should tell you something about him and something that isn't so positive*, Grubes, Sirois AS himself, KT, etc.).
Ladies B Trippin' and The Freak B Failin'. Early days, for sure. It's possible things could turn around. Likely to? No, no way, no how. Innarestin' times in the D radio scene, fo sho. But not because there's a genuine KZPS v. Q102 or v. KZEW a la WKRP and The FISH bona fide, go the the mat let's kick some ass no holds barred radio war with two genuinely equally equipped opponents... no ... Innarestin' because when The Freak fails, and it will and in rather short order, it's the fallout and the resultant career paths for the bit players (they're all bit players but one... Rhynes) and the damage done to the King Maker's legacy. Or, rather, what remains of that legacy. Mr. Mike Rhyner has gone a bit more scorched earth than many are aware of. Just. Saying.
Anyways, and however this all shakes it loose tegether (buh buh buh Benny and the jets), it's gonna be super innarestin'. Pop dat 'corn.
Saw a comment from Julie in Twitter yesterday.,said they know it’s going to take a while to build an audience. And people were pointing out that ticket took time to build an audience.,but that’s not really true. One of the great ticket stories is how Ira Lipson, the tickets first consultant HATED the hardline. They wouldn’t follow his format, greggo was a country bumpkin, Mike kept talking about rock music, etc. then the first ratings book came out and wham! Retelling over the years has gotten to be they were first in the demo. Not exactly how I remember it but they were definitely successful and escaped doom. But at the time, we had norm on klif mornings, Wally and Leon, Galloway etc on evenings. You had sports options, just not all day. That’s why the ticket was successful, they filled an obvious market hole. What’s the freaks market hole? People who like personalities from sports stations but don’t like sports? Fans of free form radio like live 105-3 who have yet to find a radio home in the decade or more they’ve been off the air? Add in the dearth of real talent. Except for Rhyner everyone there was either a bit player someplace else or is a perennial failure. Yeah that’s you Ben and skin. So we have weal talent, on a format that absolutely no one in town wanted, with horrible positioning and imaging and even worse outside marketing. (Why do billboards featuring talents faces when its EFFING radio. Most people have no idea what you look like. You’re a voice to most people, not a face. Julie says it’ll take time, but how long till some iheart “suit” does the math. What it will cost us to pay out these fired people versus how much our ratings will increase/how much our revenue will increase if we go back to music. Someone is going to think that, and if these ratings continue on a downward trend, they’re going to be thinking it sooner rather than later. So yeah, pop that corn. C
Because I love conspiracy talk, have a thought that just came through Covid fog. What other iHeart brands in DFW have a BIG morning talk program, discussing all types of things but sports? Is there another iHeart show that has an early 50's something host who thinks Rhyner hung the moon? Is that same show syndicated? Could, or would (not knowing the radio business), iHeart combine some show from diff frequencies into an every topic talk station. Or, is KISS FM untouchable?
Anon 2:39 AM started that thesaurus influenced missive around 10 pm and 4 and 1/2 hours later he had a masterpiece of hand crafted takes all of which are likely very accurate with regard to how this will play out. The Freak going down bitches...
Julie's Twitter comment along with the comments on reddit that are obviously from Freak employees (as 239am points out) are one of several major issues with The Freak. From its onset two scant months ago, the hosts have been preoccupied with narratives. Not creating in-show/intra-station narratives that invite the listener to join in and be a part of the gang (a la the nascent Ticket days), but rather, they generate self-referential, insular, and often conflicting and even fallacious narratives about the format's founding, their former places of employment, the aim of the format, and when and how person A came onboard. (Aside: I'm sure I'm not the only one who recalls Mike's emphatic "no" when asked if Danny was or would ever be involved in his interviews given the week leading up to launch. Only to now say Danny was in on it from its inception. And no, none of it violates an NC. Any NC would pertain to actively working for a competitor.) All along displaying an almost group pathos of thin-skinned, hyper-awareness of any criticism from any corner and a lack of creativity. They're actually appropriating the BaD/HZ movie of the month gathering and acting as if they came up with the idea. It's one of the damnedest things I've ever seen. I guess it's a troll of sorts. I guess. Whatever it is, it's what they're doing. But this is a trend: TDB has begun to spend segments basically act out old Ticket segments. Mike retelling an exact version, replete with funny cadencing, of some story he told on The Ticket. Now doing it with Danny having the same, note for note, reaction. Ditto Sirois playing the role of Corby. Sirois will usually set it up with a scripted lead in. So so very weird. All of that and I'm just stunned that Danny Balis thinks "Glen" is funny.
Tweet from listener "Hey Wolf, ya need to get the Cobra when his contract runs out."
Mike "Mark-Allen his loyalty is not and never has been to me--he's tied to others...hard pass there"
Thinking about all this and thinking about who Mike got on his pod from The Ticket. Danny, Mike, Julie........and Dan Mcdowell. Maybe THZ will jump ship after all.
Immaturity, you bet. But it along with the Julie and others' erroneous "early Ticket floundered too" Tweets (it decidedly did not flounder - took a few years to hit #1, yes, struggle, absolutely not) all add up to one thing: All Freakers, including Mike Rhyner, know they're in trouble. They know that another book like this and drastic changes will occur (firing certain on-air talent, ditching the We Say What We Want motto for an actual focal point, including another format change.). As to Mike Rhyner in particular, while his ego won't yet allow him to admit it to himself, such a childish reaction to an flippant inquiry on a social media platform serves only to show that he grossly misread the room and is terrified that he's altered the way he's perceived by the public and his peers (the same ones he pretends neither to owe anything to nor care what they think of him -- goes hand in glove with immature adults of any age, they're unable to leave behind typical teenage angst and its attendant behavior patterns). This entire melodrama is so interesting, as it's being played out publicly, and being done so chiefly by an individual who's crafted, based, and put forth a persona of one who marches to their own beat, does it their way, never compromises, is supremely secure in knowing exactly who they are, and who possesses a certain innate knowledge or at least instinct of which way the wind has, is, and will blow. And yet this same individual continually displays actions indicative of someone constituting none of these characteristics. Fascinating.
That was such a harmless FB comment from that guy, maybe even a joke/sarcasm but Rhyner took the bait. I guess Rhyner just wants Yes Men who are loyal to him. That explains the billboards and the "I'm back" promos, and the ass-kissing from everyone on their station since his return. If their ratings don't improve, it's only a matter of time before The Freak starts trying to poke the bear by openly dissing The Ticket on air and in their promos. They know The Ticket won't respond (as they have no reason to) but The Freak will try to use it to bring attention to their own station.
Are there examples of the company have a quick trigger finger with format changes? I can't imagine them bailing on a big chance like this without giving it at least a year.
Well, first off it's not a big chance/gamble or deal. In fact, other than Mike R's salary, there hasn't been much put into it, at all. The billboards are owned by iHeart and the on air staff other than Mike R are industry and local no-names (sorry Sirois and Julie fanboys, it's true) that do not command premium compensation packages. Also, the speed at which this all took place is highly indicative of something thrown together last minute, which almost always means not a lot of money was invested. Even if Mike R and his Loyal Ones began pitching the idea to KEGL a year ago, the way it was brought to air was obviously last minute. The upshot is that yes, not only have formats switched within a year of coming online, but also it is very conceivable to the point of probable that The Freak will flip within a year of Day One. As far as Rhynes goes: What's there to say? It's not surprising in the least. If you are taken aback by the past few months (or as far back as his silly retirement video) of his words and deeds, you shouldn't be. More so, it means you haven't been paying attention.
the public exposure of the real Mike Rhyner, already long known to many in the local scene, isn't as much a heel-turn as it is, "yeah, that's to be expected from him". Danny and Sirois is understandable (while also disappointing), but for the OGW, it's all about him and always has been.
Asking this question to all the other Armchair Program Directors like myself...
Could they play a few songs per hour of their choice as a music/talk combo like others shows have done before? Speaking of The Downbeat specifically...rehashing old Ticket stories and the whole "can you believe we're doing this" thing has already lost its luster. This would let the music snobs play something interesting other than butt-rock or the same 30 classic rock songs on every other rock station. It would help them have a few succinct talk segments to generate the appointment listening that is important to ratings systems. Rhyner's ego may be too large to make some preemptive changes but if I was the PD, I'd start making changes sooner rather than later.
If we go off their mission statement, "We Say What We Want," then it would seem they could do just that, Jeff, and without the OK of a PD. This is especially so because there currently is no PD. At least no locally based one. But if you've been listening even a little bit to The Freak, you'd see that they're already doing exactly as you suggest. When B&S&K aren't reading lists from the internet and playing guessing games, they're basically bringing in the whole station (sans Rhyner) to spin records and rate the tunes. These segments, just like the ones on The Ticket, usually fall flat and are not compelling enough to make for a sustained point of interest, much less appointment setting radio. Nothing short of The Hang Zone jumping ship is going to save The Freak (wish I'd come up with The Fraud, genius on ya 3:36pm). And I'd say even if that were to happen, it would merely stave off the inevitable. This thing needed to fly out of the gate if it was going to have a real chance of success. It will not be a slow burn, slow and steady wins the race thing. They blew the all crucial first few weeks on patting themselves on the back for what, existing (?).
@5:19 - The times I've listened (which I admit are few and far between lately) I have not heard the Spin or Spare type of segments. I was thinking more of a straight "come back from break right into music" thing. Russ used to do it, the only other one I remember off the top of my head was Lex & Terry back in the day.
And I was meaning that the non-music would (theoretically, with the right talent) be more interesting and appointment listening.
Anyone here recall the days of RaGE with any clarity? Especially its first year? The Freak but really The Downbeat so far reminds me of RaGE. The attitude, the re-staging of well known Ticket moments and genesis of drops, and the sense of a bunch who feels they have unlimited funding for and time in which to take on and best their chief rival. Except RaGE, like The Freak in general and The Downbeat in particular, forgot/forgets that merely showing up and being your self-proclaimed bad ass uber interesting self isn't enough. It takes hard work. Work done outside of the office. Preparation and lots of it. All of the shows during The Ticket's early years did that. All of them. These folks merely want to pat each other and themselves on the back, take home some good bank, and live the good life. Which is exactly what RaGE did. Sure, Greggo's issues didn't help matters. But that wasn't the main reason for its failure. It was Whitt's "got this" full of himself attitude, office romances (sound familiar?), and everyone taking advantage of every dime and perk on offer while not putting in the time and energy that justify those things being offered, much less taken.
That spot on the dial is going to get ugly. The fallout and the what/why/when behind the scenes/backstory that emerges will be quite a tale. Reps and career paths will be altered.
I'll definitely tune into to hear Greggo and Mike. Have a feeling it's going to be really awkward. Sirois being the most awkward, as he won't be a focal point, will feel insecure, and will thirstily insert himself into the conversation as much as possible. After all, Sirois is to the founding of The Freak as Mike was to the founding of The Ticket. While bringing Greggo in for a day was his idea (to compete against WED), he also knows it could potentially backfire in a most personally detrimental way.
There's so much to say here but it's all low hanging fruit. To play this card reeks of desperation. And after that book, perhaps it's what's required. I guess the thing that gets me most is that Danny is dumb enough to be in on this amateur hour endeavor. Always thought of him as smart, tasteful. I was wrong.
* The truth will out. * Reps, perceptions, career paths, and a legacy will be irrevocably altered. * Ed Wallace is correct about Mike Rhyner. * Cat knows talent: who has it and who does not.
We know Mike has a hard on to get one over on Cat and Corby, but I didn’t think he’d go as far to invite the no longer husky husqvarna on his show. What a sad, bitter old man he is
I tuned into The Downbeat a couple of times over the past couple of weeks. Listened for an hour, maybe less, both times. This isn’t much listening, so I can see that Downbeat fans might have some fairness concerns. I accept that criticism.
ReplyDeleteBut I say what I want.
The first time it was just the three Mikes, although Grubes did not pipe on very much. So it was the much-anticipated Rhyner and Sirois combo. It was not a sports topic, it was not an internet list or a contest. It was something Sirois had found online, something of interest, and they were discussing it. Great, think I, just what The Freak had advertised.
The content wasn’t awful.
But men and women, that show was SSLLLOOOOOOWW. What seemed to be happening was: Rhyner speaks slowly and carefully at all times, part of his true broadcast charm. Sirois, who is more lively, had completely banked his fires, matching Rhyner’s torpor, and seemed to be trying to coax a little more content out of him, and also speaking slowly and, for Sirois, softly. Rhyner was not checked out, but this particular topic didn’t seem to engage him very much, and the thing dragged painfully.
Before we get to the second listen:
Am I just unlucky, or when you punch into iHeart to listen to The Freak, do you get a very considerable chunk of advertising before any Freakish content? I would think that a lot of people wanting to check out The Freak would do so during a legendarily lengthy Ticket advertising break, hoping to hear actual Freak programming. (SportsDay pops you right into programming when you sign on to The Ticket.) Sometimes, the iHeart pre-programming advertisements are lengthy, not just little spots. A poor choice for a station hoping to poach listeners wandering over from The Ticket, I would think.
[Continued in next comment.]
Second listen: Compare and contrast:
ReplyDeleteYesterday, I tuned in again. Participants were: Rhyner; Sirois; Grubes; I think Kevin Turner was on board; and I think I heard Krystina giggling a bit, although I’m not sure she was present. No matter.
The subject was: The world population reaching 8 billion. Again, an entirely worthy topic for a non-sports talker.
But Jah Almighty Jeebus, what a mess.
First, the levels on the various speakers ranged from loud enough to almost inaudible. Individual voices raising to acceptable loudness to incomprehensible mumbling. I was in a quiet car (cue Vivaldi) and I cranked the thing, but speakers would frequently simply trail off before speaking up again.
Second, no one seemed to know quite what to say about this. They talked about whether the identity of the eight billionth baby was known, and it wasn’t clear whether that name was actually known or whether it was a bit. Then they tried compare the frequency of births to the frequency of deaths by having Sirois and Grubes, I think it was, saying “birth birth birth” and “death death death” simultaneously at the approximate speed at which those events were occurring in the world, according to a website. (It was at this point that Rhyner said, “I thought this was going to be a good bit.”)
Next, they remarked on the anniversary of Christopher Columbus having made the first reference to tobacco in his dispatches to England, and the subsequent rise in tobacco use in England. Again, sort of an interesting topic. What they want to talk about, right? The bit wasn’t going much of anywhere when Rhyner made some kind of joke about the name of some candy that related in an inexplicable way to Jolly Ranchers, except the candy was hot, or something. No one got it (I sure didn’t). Several of the broadcasters, including Rhyner, stumbled about trying to explain his joke, without success.
I did think it was interesting that Krystina’s chicken-laugh is going to be used in some TV show by a Freak-friendly producer, not as a laugh sound, but as a chicken sound.
That wasn’t enough to keep my ears listening.
Folks, I am not biased against The Downbeat. I like all the Mikes as broadcasters. I would listen to that show in competition with The Hardline. But man, it has got to figure out what it’s about and sharpen up its presentation, including technical matters (audibility and clarity). That starts with Rhyner, who is capable of cleaning it up if he only will.
I will keep listening and check in.
I did a swim thru The ticket and get the reference. The production people- John Michaels, aka Zone Guy, aka The OD, and Steve Pryor, aka Cactus, used to keep a big jar of cinnamon jolly ranchers in the main production studio. Rhyner used to go in every day to do production and would grab a “fire” rancher with them. But good gosh that’s an obscure throw back to pre Susquehanna days. I only know about from my brief swim thru the mothership and was pretty friendly with Cactus back then and he explained who the candy was for.
ReplyDeleteThanks, 127.
ReplyDeleteNot only a truly bizarre deep-inside reference, but of no comedy relevance to Elizabethan tobacco consumption.
No wonder the insiders present didn't work too hard to explain the joke, if joke it was.
It occurs to me that maybe they've consciously decided on a broadcast style that has them talking as though no one is listening.
ONE
ReplyDeleteLook, it just isn't any good. OK. It isn't. More to the quick, it's never going to be. How do I know? Let me answer my own question. Because they're not good at their roles. Not a one of them.
Skin is really good on Mavs broadcasts. Why? Because he's 3rd party to the thing, he pipes in with pre-show prepared nuggets, bits, and adds his 2 cents in every now and again. He does a great job. 20+ years of being a cohost for a daily talker that, even with peak Russ Martin buffering the show, could never muster anything above mediocre numbers, if that. This has been the case at each station (5?) they've been on. Ben is a mirror image of Skin except he has no tv gig. Krystina is hard to slot because she's mostly known for baby sitting the automation, coming in from and out of commercial breaks with fm DJ banter, some traffic, and poppin on Jer with a nugget on pre-Freak B&S. I can say that from what I've heard so far she hasn't a lot to actually say except when discussing harder edged music. That's when she comes alive. But that's not sustainable. She ought to be on Nikki Sixx's syndicated show (still around?). There she would shine.
Cavanaugh and KT were part of a 3rd rate outfit with the media firepower, financial backing, and a budget that rivals the DOD, only to wallow in the mire. Cavanaugh's Cowboys analysis is solid, but he's now on a "not a sports" station. So the one thing in this biz he has expertise in and is passionate about (='s compelling content), well, it's relegated to a sidebar and he's forced (forced while saying whatever he wants) to play guessing games. KT should be a host in the 5th largest market in the country and on the crucial am drive slot. I both pre and post say no offense meant here, but he's a producer/board op who can pick his spots and pop on Jer with aplomb. But that's where it begins and ends. Julie has bitten off more than she can chew. Flat out. Anyone who for even 4 seconds took off their "we must exalt the female because she's female" goggles while listening to her on The Ticket knew this was going to happen. She offered up a solid Ticker. Not better than any other Ticker person, not worse. The Ticker was delivered and delivered well. She did her job. And Julie too had her pop on Jer pick her spots let the game come to her moments that really did add to a show. But that was it. Nothing wrong with it, not in the least.
TWO
ReplyDeleteIt's been said many a times that Rhyner used to be one helluva broadcaster. Agreed. Used to be. Used to be as in nearly 2 decades ago. He wasn't while on KZEW. In fact, he was downright douchey, copping a radio voice ("oooh, heeeeey, maaaaaaan"). But something happened between post-KZEW and the day he went live on The Ticket. He figured out his way was through being a man of few but well placed words, of little patience for foolishness, of crusty proclamations, and of a semi-covert fondness for locker room humor and misogynistic tendencies. This amalgamation of Randy Galloway and Howard Stern paid off for him in spades. However, in the mid-oughts he lost interest and Peak Rhyner left the building. It's painfully obvious when listening to The Down Beat that he's trying his best to find his way back. Thing is, he won't, can't. That Rhyner is gone, never to return. One either IS that way or they're not. No faking it. Sirois, like Julie, was in his perfect role while at The Ticket. No doubt Mike Sirois is a good time. Who wouldn't want to hit the town and tie yer mother down with Chael?! The reason why Plainsman isn't hearing Sirois' true personality come through isn't because he's trying to match Rhyner's cadence, but rather it's because you're getting "oh shit, I gotta do this 5 days a week for 4 hours each day and do it forever" Sirois. In short, you're getting someone who is now forced to live in reality. Or at least a different reality than the one he's inhabited for many a year now. It ain't no party, it ain't no disco, it ain't no foolin' around. It's called a real job with real responsibilities and real (high) expectations that can and do engender intense levels of stress and even anxiety, and not a f-around party of a part time job that pays 45k + benefits + additional sources of income (remotes, spots, etc.). It's difficult to be up for anything when you're sweating how YOU PERSONALLY are going to fill 4 hours each day with compelling content. That's when the line between those who genuinely "have it" and don't is drawn. Or at least those who have a support team that "has it" and will feed them the material and those whoe don't.
At least that's the way I see it.
I've got not one thing against anyone involved with The Freak. But I hear what I hear and know what I know from experience and from listening to most of the players involved for years and years and years now.
Really can't disagree with anything you say, 614. Though I do think Mike S is host material and that Julie could be host material. Agree that they played their parts well at The Ticket, but I think with some time and maybe different partners or maybe a firm direction for their shows, they could also shine as hosts. Even saying that I don't think they're terrible. Not that you said they were. As to the rest of the crew I can't say much because I don't really know them. It's really hard for me to tell who's saying what most of the time. Probably because everyone's on everyone else's show everyday. Well, I do know Mike R. Sure. I guess he's doing fine. I'm not seeing much of a difference from what he was doing on The Ticket. I liked him well enough there.
ReplyDeletegood, entertaining and compelling radio, every day, is hard.
ReplyDeleteI generally liked Mike whenever he was with Norm and D, or whenever he filled in on another show. I kinda wanted him to be paired with Bob whenever Rhyner left. Sirois can fill in with anybody pretty well, but I think someone like Corby, Jake, or Dave, would be who he actually does well with. Not someone like Rhyner. Also, one of the things that I liked a lot about Sirois, was his lifestyle of constant extravagant vacations. They were always fun stories, and I liked hearing him talk about them. I don't know how many of those will be possible as much now with him being an actual host.
ReplyDeleteWith Julie, I never really got the idea she would be a solid, permanent host. I listened to most of the Mom Games that had ticket hosts featured. The episodes where Emily and Julie would shoot the shit for 15 minutes prior to the ticket guy coming on were almost painful. Emily was better at it than Julie in my opinion.
Meant to say that I kinda wanted Sirois to be paired with Corby when Rhyner left.
ReplyDeleteSirois is likely best suited for the yuck monkey role as a third host rather then a co-host. I especially don't know that he works well in we talk about what we want. I think he needs a hand on the rudder to steer him to the right place. Rhyner isn't providing that.
ReplyDeleteI don't know that a failure here means Sirois, Julie, KT and Cavanaugh can't be hosts. It won't help of course. Nothing seems to keep B&S from getting another chance.
I find it to be a lovely alternative. My biggest complaint is the breaks are long and often align with the Ticket so then I switch over to KXT
ReplyDeleteListening to The Freak, I have technical questions I'm sure a Confessor can answer. As usual, all answers are welcome, but I am looking for info from someone who really knows the operating side of a radio showgram.
ReplyDeleteThe questions are (and they may all be the same question, or have overlapping answers):
(1) What does a producer do on a talk show such as are heard on The Freak and The Ticket? Let's assume the show is not taking listener calls.
(2) What does a board op do on a talk show such as are heard on The Freak and The Ticket? Same assumption.
(3) How do either of these answers change when the producer is a fairly prominent on-air voice from time to time as well, a la Danny and Grubes?
Thanking you in advance.
1. Where's Danny? Was told that he was coming onboard.
ReplyDelete2. The reason B&S keep finding employment, despite their lack of real success, is because they are supreme salesmen of B&S. That's especially the case with Ben. That man can convince anyone of anything. He should've went into either sales or politics. Sirois has that gene too, but he's not disciplined enough to truly harness his powers of persuasion. Though I have heard bits and bubbles that he's to The Freak's founding what Rhyner was to The Ticket. In fact, if you listen carefully to day 1 of TDB, he kinda says as much in an aside, only to quickly gloss over it and move on. Does it twice, actually.
3. In no way do I find The Freak refreshing. That denotes something different, a change of pace. It's no different from The Ticket other than they don't do it as well due to a lesser talent pool. Ditto The FAN v. The Ticket. For me, it's a quick check in between Ticket segments. I've yet to finish listening to an entire segment. I want to like it, but so far I'm not. But I'll keep punching in, hoping one day at least one of show will get their s together enough to become a viable option.
4. I do think The Freak will be given enough rope by iHeart to either find its footing or hang itself. So I expect it to be around for at least 2 years before any format change occurs. That doesn't mean there won't be some turnover and tweaks. I'm thinking those might be coming pretty soon. Specially if its first full ratings book is poor. If the second and third are also poor, I bet we see a major overhaul.
5. The idea that THZ or any other Ticket Varsity will jump ship in the foreseeable future is a joke. The Freak would've had to start out like gang busters with no end in sight to its meteoric rise for THZ or anyone else to migrate over there.
When we talk about whether The Freak succeeds or lasts or not, I think it's important to remember that what we're talking about on MTC -- at least, what I intend for us to be talking about, although it's not an edict -- is The Freak with the reason-for-being ("we say what we want") and approximately the same lineup as hit the airwaves with such bombast.
ReplyDeleteThere may well be a talky "Freak" for a long time, but if it's not a Rhyner/Sirois-led and ex-Ticket-staffed lineup, and if it isn't pretty much entirely non-sports, then it isn't the Freak we were promised and predictions of its decline and demise will have been borne out no matter what it or its programs are called.
Personally, I'm not ready to predict decline and demise. I'm extremely doubtful its success will depend on a big migration of female and Latino listeners as Captain Craptastic assured us in the last thread, but sure -- it's possible all the Ticket grumblers will move Freakward and the ratings books will bear that out. Not my cup of tea so far, but it's out there; it's broadcasting; it says what it wants.
Hey: On any given Sunday . . . .
If that's your bar for success, Pman, then I think we can safely assume it will not be met. There's no fuccin' way the new PD (btw, they don't have a local one right now, though it's coming soon) is going to keep that morning show as is. Now fuccin' way no how. B&S are local radio cockroaches. They will be the last man standing and if there is a format change they'll convince the higher ups to allow them to stay on. So for me, it all hinges on if The Down Beat holds its own and remains the flagship show. If it does for a goodly number of years, then OK, it succeeded in at least that regard. But here's the thing, Mike R is 72. Any of you out there have parents who have turned 70 in the past few years? If you do then you know that for most folks things begin to change pretty rapidly and those changes are really obvious. The big slow down comes on like puberty in reverse. Mike R's on the precipice of that and in fact I'd say it's already begun. It'll become more obvious the longer he stays on. Hell I remember how it was in reality less than a handful of years ago that Norm was still yakkin' 90 mph, sports manic and sharp as ever. Then suddenly he became old, slop mouthed and started spouting out confusing sports points and went from being an alpha to grandpa butt end of the punchline. It happens to us all if we get to live that long. So I'm not sure how The Freak's gonna ever stand up to your scrutiny, Pskeez.
ReplyDeleteMaybe not, 621. I think you're probably right. But we were starting to get some comments along the lines of "hey, The Freak can succeed if it does this and this and this," which may be true, but then it's not the product we were promised and that we're hearing now and that was supposed to materially corrode The Ticket's dominance. Calling a station that looks and sounds different from the current Freak "The Freak" doesn't make the original Freak a success.
ReplyDeleteIt may yet succeed in its current form -- but for the reasons you and others have pointed out, it's a long slog.
Does anyone know why the Freak has not been broadcasting from their studio? The audio quality of the speakeasy is terrible. It sounds like they are broadcasting out of a broom closet.
ReplyDeleteThey had COVID, but that was 2-3 weeks ago, so I dunno. Plus, I stopped tuning in once it became obvious that all three showa are lame with zero signs of ever being even capable of improving.
ReplyDeleteI want to shout out my leader Dan and Blake for giving Jake shit for all of a sudden caring about the World Cup.
ReplyDeleteCalm down Jake, it’s soccer
Emily Jones on The Downbeat made a comment about this being her big try out.
ReplyDeleteAnd so it begins...........
ReplyDeleteRhyner ranks things you can smoke
ReplyDeleteI can't pick up the Ticket signal this time of year and did not want to mess with the app. Heard Sirois speaking of the holiday schedule. They would be off Thursday and Friday this week and off two weeks at Christmas.
ReplyDeleteI know that drydock during the Christmas holidays has little effect on ratings but I would think a new station would want to be broadcasting in the off-chance the station catches someone's ear.
Am I wrong guys?
ET P1
The Freak has been doing an extended victory lap before it ever went live. I hope they're enjoying themselves, I hope they do very much. It won't be around this time next year.
ReplyDeleteEverybody loves lists. Reading lists is a spoht.
Does victory lap mean stunting? I don’t recall anybody at The Freak talking about it before it went live.
ReplyDeleteThe leaks put out by hosts/progenitors, the "cherry on top," the ad nauseam Rhyner not so cryptic Tweets for starters. If you know of this site, then you know well that the above happened. So are you a Freak employee (So Anonymous/MS perhaps)?
ReplyDeleteWhite Elephant Day lineup for Dec.7th I believe.
ReplyDeleteMornings:
Davey, Jake, Junior, SeaBass, Ty
Midday:
George, Corby, Blake, DJ, Fernando, Norm
Afternoon:
Dan, Bob, Gordo, Mino, Donnie
Plainsman- to answer you’re earlier question. Generally speaking, the board op is responsible for the board, for playing commercials, potting up the appropriate sources (newsroom, traffic, network news feed, etc) playing intros (ticker bed, traffic sounder, etc). Back in my day sonny, also responsible for transmitter meter readings, signing off on program log that spots had run, etc.
ReplyDeletethe producer roll varies widely. I’m many cases, they’re a phone screener. Good ones are helping the hosts create the flow of the show. Topic selection- what is the show going to talk about and when. A good producer knows when they have the most listeners, and books good segments or good guests in those slots. For news and talk stations, they’re also booking topical guests- tracking down the police chief or a lawyer after a shooting, etc.
how much airtime really depends on their role, the format, etc. when you’re the 4th or 5th voice, like Fernandez with Musers or Danny in Mike-Greg-Corby hardline days, probably not going to be as prominent of a voice.
I think the topic selection part of the producer job is what is killing the Freak. They have no basis for being. No sports, politics, or music to anchor their show. So they can talk about whatever they want. And they do. And that causes them to talk about anything and everything. Instead of a good producer weeding out weak topics, they’re desperately talking about anything they can to fill time. Mikes mind used to be one segment a day on 1310. Now it’s basically half of the downbeat. Didn’t plainsman hear something (paraphrasing) “I thought this segment would be better”. That tells me they’re not focused, they don’t know know what they’re trying to accomplish with a segment. Because they’re just talking to fill 4 hours per show.
ReplyDeleteETP1- every decent advertiser or ad agency ignores the Xmas ratings book because they know it doesn’t reflect regular listening. So there’s a trend in radio to burn most of your vacation in the weeks that “don’t count”. 2 things- generally new employees earn vacation at X days per month. None of the “new” freak staff would seem to have much time accrued, so if they’re taking 2 weeks, it’s probably because that was negotiated in a contract. Which tells me they’re not approaching this like a start up station, ie- Rhyner has earned 2 weeks off at Xmas and he’s damn sure going to take them.
ReplyDeletePart 2- yes, you would think that a new station would want to minimize vacations and maximize exposure when your perceived main competitor has staff off for the better part of 3 straight weeks. Again tells me that either they don’t see the ticket as their real competition or they just don’t want to try very hard.
And if they don’t see the ticket as their main competitor, riddle me this: they could have assembled an air staff of anybody they wanted with a hot talk background. They could have hired pugs and Kelly, or other retreads like Ron and don, Walton and Johnson, Bo and Jim types that have done guy talk for years. Instead they roll out a staff where 7/9ths of the staff have spent time at the Ticket. Everybody but Cather and Cavanaugh spent some time at the mothership. What does their lack of a wide search for talent tell you? They didn’t want to do this with expensive proven talent from other markets, they’re doing it on the cheap…
Aaaaaaaaand there's the rub: It's a lazy endeavor, conceived, constructed, and carried out in just that very way. No hunger whatsoever. They follow their leader. Their way is through someone who long ago paid their dues and has reached the heights of the industry (sans syndication, which said person did not want), and now wants to coast, earn easy money, keep their profile and thus the attention paid to themself high, and has the uber attitude (and with good reason) of I can say what I want and it'll be gold and the masses will heave to, trice up. Thing is, that applies only to that particular person. As to the rest: career mediocrities, barely known to no-names, and a couple who are delusional about their bona fides, sphere of influence, and even abilities. But all of them follow the leader and their flag from under which The Freak flies. Not good, buddy. Not good.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, tweeters felt compelled to dig up evidence of Jerry Jones blocking the doors to his Arkansas HS in '57 with other White bullies to keep the bruthas out.
ReplyDelete"Did you enjoy those 3 district championships, son? I hope you did, I hope you did real good."
I suppose he bought the Cowboys as a form of reparations https://twitter.com/JoshClarkDavis/status/1595457635611992079
Anon 4:30:
ReplyDeleteFrom a tweet I saw it was brought up in an interview Jerruh agreed to. I just wonder if he knew it was an ambush?
Major Station Announcement on the Downbeat Monday at 5:00. Sirois said it was an actual major announcement and not the announcement of a golf tournament like some other stations announce. It’s obviously a 3rd host. Me thinks Danny Balis or Emily Jones.
ReplyDeleteIf it is a third host, and if it is Emily Jones, then the "we hardly talk any sports" angle is in jeopardy.
ReplyDeleteAt a minimum, she would give Mikey S someone to talk to.
Is Emily Jones a difference maker though? Are there people that aren’t listening to the downbeat that will because they add Emily? Assuming they add her to the downbeat, although that would entail leaving the Rangers broadcast would it not? If you’re Emily do you leave a successful tv gig for a radio gig with questionable probability of success?
ReplyDeleteSame questions with Danny. Who are these elusive listeners who aren’t listening to just Mike and Mike but are suddenly going to tune in because they’ve added Danny? The first full ratings book- a full month of the Freak- comes out next week. So they don’t even know how they’re doing and they’re changing something?
Arguably, a new station needs a PD more than an established successful station. The fact that they have no PD is an indicator of how rudderless they are. And making changes- if that’s what they’re doing- before ratings come out shows they’re steering the ship blindly.
But let’s assume they’re adding Danny. He left mothership mid May, so a 6 month non compete could be expiring. But go back and read why he left- spend more time with family, pursue other opportunities, etc. his kid still in diapers didn’t magically become a teenager. Like Rhyner retiring, once you’ve made that decision to quit, making it a 2nd time is a lot easier.
Maybe the announcement is something else, but if Danny Balis, a guy who’s never been more than a 3rd wheel on a show is your saving grace, that says a lot.
Emily has talked on The Mom Game about being very close to leaving the Rangers for the last 3-4 years.
ReplyDeleteIMO Emily is not in the pipeline. At least not yet.
ReplyDeleteRhyner is leaving.
ReplyDeleteLet me tell you how wonderful "we say what we want" is going. So much so, that roughly 2 months in the station run reddit account has been dead since week 2 and the fan run reddit account has seen no action in nearly 3 weeks. Compare that to The Ticket, who, 1. doesn't need a station run page and 2. whose fan run page is active daily -- and the station has been around coming up on 29 years; compare that to 2 months. No, it's not looking good for The Freak. Hasn't since even before it went live.
ReplyDeleteAs to the possibility of Emily Jones coming onboard The Down Beat goes, who cares. It will do nothing. Have you heard The Mom Game pod she does with Julie? Neither are good at this. I'm sure they're wonderful humans, but they aren't good long form, much less everyday, hosts. At least they aren't when allowed to work without a net (see: script and/or definitive talking points and a strict minus 2 minutes timeframe). Both were/are excellent as sideline reporters. Julie is "so not good" at this particular job that she makes Emily look like Doris Burke, who is genuine greatness. Besides, when you have radio HoF'r, Godfather of The Ticket, "I'm Back, Bitches," everyone's way is through me, face of the franchise, Mike Rhyner on a show along with the genius of a superstar if only given a seat at the table, hey I'm broke but I'm currently skiing in the Italian Alps, waiting to attend the Monza F1 race "Chael," why in the fuck would you need a 3rd host? Yeah. Right.
It makes no sense, but then again nothing makes sense about The Freak. So, yeah, it's probably what Monday's announcement will cover. I also wouldn't rule out 12:31's assertion. Hell, it could be both. Seriously. I can see Rhyner knowing full well and good that this thing is a f'n disaster and wants to get out before his rep falls any further than it already has. He's hinted at it a bit via rando Tweets, really, since about week 2. Wouldn't surprise me if he couches it as the the plan all along was for him to get it off the ground, give these poor media waifs their ever deserving seats at the table, and then make a 3rd self-meme vid of the hallway and the chair and the clippity clop down said hallway. Of course, that's not what he said in either the D-Mag pod or DMN interviews. But Rhyner's kinda full of shit in some ways, anyways. So I can see the scenario where he simultaneously makes the I'm gone, bitches come DryDock and here's my replacement, Emily. Which, of course, makes Sirois the grand poobah by default. And if you've listened for even 10 minutes in toto over the past month, you'd know that he's already there. It's his show. He runs the whole thing, leads every segment, and has to prod Rhyner along to even breathe. Moreover I'm with the commenter who keeps saying Sirois is to the founding of The Freak as Rhyner was to The Ticket.
Anon 4:17
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of The Freak Reddit page, did you see the poll they put up earlier in the week about which show you were listening to? One of the choices was basically "I tried it and couldn't hang" or something worded that way. It had the most votes by far and the poll is no longer up.
I have also noticed they can't handle being sh*tposted by the Ticket fans like they have done the Ticket page since the startup.
I misspoke. I did find the poll.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.reddit.com/poll/z1q1u4?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=usertext&utm_name=thefreak971&utm_content=t3_z1q1u4
Freak = Inmates running the asylum. Ever hung out at a bar for any length of time, like a couple of weeks or more, and noticed early on that there didn't seem to be anyone actually running the place and that both employees and management (assuming they were ever around) acted more like patrons? Also ever notice that most of those places shutter after a year or so, if that long? Or best case scenario entails never turning a profit and attracting a non-tipping, well-bottle/Natty Lite drinking clientele? Not a cool dive bar, mind you, but a real this is where you go to die waste bin. Well, that's The Freak.
ReplyDeleteGlenn! Glen! Glenn! Glen! I mean, don't you get it???? HI-LAR-IOUS!!!
ReplyDeleteI thought Fate of Man was the worst bit ever. Nope, not even close. This kicks its ass and everyone else in the nads.
Content, folks. Content. Some actually create it. Others, not so much.
Question for the Plainsman or any other smart person on this blog - why do most continuously refer to DFW as the 5th largest TV/Radio market in the country when we are clearly the 4th largest statistical metro area approaching 8 million people and will become the 3rd largest metro area in the US passing up Chicagoland by 2033? Projections of DFW metro area having 9.5 million people by 2035.
ReplyDeleteI saw a post on radiodiscussions.com saying Dallas will soon be the #4 market. I don't think population is the only criterion for market size.
ReplyDeleteLooks like 5th to me
ReplyDeletehttps://www.rab.com/public/trueMarket.cfm
It’s official, the 5p announcement is Danny Balis to the Freak.
ReplyDeleteC
If Danny's the latest cherry on top, I mean, meh. Only thing it'll show is that they were all in on it/knew of it long before the timeline narrative given, which always sounded fishy. After the next flip occurs, sometime in mid 23, the real Freak origin story will emerge and many involved will not look good. Neither will the behind the scenes blame games and infighting.
ReplyDeleteIs there an official link?
ReplyDeleteSo is C supposed to stand for Cael? Is yes then why would he undercut his own exclusive announcement?
ReplyDeleteDanny seemed sincere in his departure- that he thought he was underpaid and wanted to spend more time with new child. If the Freak is fixing the first part, good for Danny’s wallet. But is Danny Balis a draw? People like him, but I’m already hearing rumblings that the Wednesday ratings will not be good for the Freak. Is Danny really going to be the thing that turns it all around? Who is not listening now that will suddenly start tuning in because they’ve added Danny Balis. Danny left and the Hardlines ratings didn’t suffer. People don’t tune in for a producer.
ReplyDeleteC
I don't understand why they will look bad when the "true" timeline comes out. Because they knew there was something else in the works when they left? That's exactly what the majority of the Day 1 host did when the Ticket started. Chuck hid the for sale sign at his house in Philly because Brad Sham visited him while he was up there for a Cowboys game. It seems to me that if they knew about the Freak when they left, they were doing exactly what is expected in their industry. I am not sure why there needs to be good guys and bad guys in this.
ReplyDeleteI think it becomes about credibility. If you say you’re leaving for other opportunity’s, and don’t specify the opportunities, fine. If you say you’re leaving because you want to work with your brother, or spend more time with your family, and end up at new radio job, you’ve shown that you’ll lie to your listeners.
ReplyDeleteSirois and Danny didn’t say they were leaving for those reasons. KDF makes a great point, the industry prevents hosts from being transparent. Remember the silence when Greggo was first out? The real story finally came from Richie Whitt years later.
ReplyDeleteWhy? Because an on the record (interviews, podcasts, and the first week of Freak broadcasting) and gave an official narrative. If it comes out that that narrative was a lie, and in truth The Freak was in the works months or even a year prior, then certain actions and words will not reflect well on those actors. There's a marked difference between keeping mum and spreading a false narrative. And there's also actions, such as, for example, if Rhyner was in on this prior to mid-August, and yet was still coming on The Ticket fairly regularly, acting like a brother in arms, keeping his profile public, etc., and yet all along (per his own words) felt relegated to the sidelines, marginalized, and all the rest, well, you draw your own conclusions what that says about an individual. That example is one among several, and that one pertains only to Rhyner, and not the other two (and now maybe three).
ReplyDeleteSo, while KDF's correct about transparency, there's a not so fine line between being legally obligated to keep your trap shut and spinning a yarn (even if there is some truth in the yarn *e.g., being underpaid*, as most but not all lies have some sense of truth attached to them... there are lies and then there are damned lies).
Meant to read: "Because of an on the record (interviews, podcasts, and the first week of Freak broadcasting) that issued an official narrative."
ReplyDeleteAlso meant to add that in addition to Rhyner's coming on The Ticket and feeling that way, he was also actively planning and negotiating a rival station, of which he was to be the face, the lynchpin of its existence.
How about a double announcement? Danny's in, Mike R's out.
ReplyDeleteIf you follow Mike's twitter you'll see he kisses a lot of Ticket JV and Ticket tertiary ass. David Moore, Killer, Nadel, Mino and too many others to name. Nothing ever about The Freak though. The Freak's not even in his handle or anywhere on the page. Kinda weird. Maybe. Maybe not.
Just a weird all around scene between The Ticket and The Freak. Probably didn't need to be that a way but that's Mike's Way. Awkward is his business and business is good.
Old data. DFW clearly #4 now. The radio market info is using old data from 2010 census. I guess radio is a slow medium.
ReplyDeleteFrom Statista: In 2021, the population of the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area in the United States was about 7.76 million people.
Anon 3:47
ReplyDeleteMaybe.
https://www.nielsen.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/10/Radio-Market-Populations-Fall-2022.pdf
I hear you Anon 3:47 but they are using old data.
ReplyDeleteHere is the US list for 2021:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/183600/population-of-metropolitan-areas-in-the-us/
We will be closer to Chicago for 3rd place in a few years than we are to San Fran for 4th. DFW is clearly the 4th most populous metro area in the country and tracking down the 3rd position rapidly from stagnant/slightly decreasing Chicagoland area.
Man, I’m trying to listen to the big announcement and I keep getting fed Dude Looks Like a Lady. The app is pure shit.
ReplyDeleteLol Mike calls it The Little Freak
ReplyDeleteSo anyone still wanna shit on Richie Shitt? Everything he's said/all his info has not been just solid but dead spot on. Which means THZ is next. Don't bet against it. Don't you dare. Indeed, bank on it. Oh yes, Rhyner just admitted Danny's been in from its inception.
ReplyDeleteI’ll at least wait till Wednesday when we get a full months ratings. The freak lost a ton of listeners with the switch from the Eagle, and they have massively increased their payroll. If the ratings come out and the Freak is still stuck in the 20s, I think 2nd thoughts will be in great supply. The Hang zone will certainly be having 2nd thoughts about leaving a successful station to go work at, in the words of Norman Elizabeth Hitzges, “ an abortion”. And iheart management and programming muckety mucks will be having 2nd thoughts as well. What kind of thoughts? 1- maybe putting 3 people who have never carried a show or worked together into AM drive is a failed bit.
Delete2- maybe keeping our failing midday show, a show that’s never had great success and has floated thru half a dozen stations in the last dozen plus years wasnt a good idea.
3- maybe paying big money for a big name isn’t paying off like we thought. Especially when he needs 2 sidekicks to help him carry a show.
4- let’s have 2nd thoughts on this format. All of our talent came from sports stations. So we’re going to have them ignore sports and discuss such riveting topics as best sitcoms of the 90s and mikes favorite whatever. Maybe we should have a focus and not be whatever pops into someone’s mind.
I’ve worked in radio for almost 40 years I’m this market. If ratings are bad, suits will show up soon after. They may get a few months, but if ratings are bad, and indicators say they are, well to quote Cheryl crow, a change is gonna come
Danny?
ReplyDeleteWow
ReplyDeleteYeah Whitt's source is definitely in the know. The Hang Zone is on the way...that iHeart money must be too good to pass up
ReplyDeleteHow long until they poach Davey?
ReplyDelete@ Anon 511, yes I will happily clown on lil Richie any chance I get
ReplyDeleteOf course Whitt's correct. Sirois' his source.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the radio boards, The Freak's first full ratings period numbers are rather poor. As in really not good, poor. If Texas Radio Hall of Famer Mike Rhyner needs not one but two former producers as cohosts to make it work, then things aren't looking good. I know both Sirois and Balis are social media fan favorites. But that vocal crowd is a small one. No one stopped listening to The Hardline because Danny left. Nor did The Norm and D Invasion's numbers fall off a cliff upon Sirois's departure. Why Rhyner or anyone at 97.1 (assuming that by now they certainly have an in-house PD -- if not, things really do not bode well for them, as it means iHeart has little skin in it) thinks a 3rd host is needed, and that said 3rd host will be a game changer is beyond comprehension. Danny's a fine and talented gent, for sure. But his addition will neither siphon off droves of Ticket P1s, and nor will it turn an objectively unintersting show into must-hear radio.
ReplyDeleteFrankly, I'm a bit shocked that Danny, who seems to have a sense of what works and what doesn't, has sat on the sidelines all this time thinking to himself, "Yes, this is great radio; this is where I need to be." Either iHeart is offering money that's difficult to refuse or Danny is a very thirsty man (it's hard to let that local yokel fame go, ask Rhyner). . . . or . . . . there's something rotten to the core at Cumulus/The Ticket; so rotten, in fact, that it permeates all levels of management adn the entire staff; so rotten that it's driven 4 Ticket employees (including the founder of The Ticket) to go against it, to make it their chief competition, to openly take shots at it, and to have (as it seems more obvious with every turn) been plotting the move while still working at The Ticket and while making guest appearances, acting as a friend.
Wonder what Corby and Davey are thinking? The real story behind all of this will some day make for an interesting long form article. Betcha dollars to donuts Whitt is waiting until The Freak either firmly establishes itself or is flipped until he publishes. He knows where the bodies are buried on this one, and there's a killing field out there. Can't wait.
By the end of May 2023 THZ will be gettin' its Freak on.
ReplyDelete6-10a: The Hang Zone
10-1p: The Speakeasy (or replacement)
1-4p: B&S
4-7p: The Downbeat
Have you all not notice how many times of late both Jake and Dan have made mention of the newfound love of their early riser lifestyles? Did you not hear Jake say how he really wanted to be on the am drive portion of White Elephant Day? Ladies and Gents, they're telling you a la silly Mike R Tweets exactly what's coming down the pike.
Danny, a tier 3 producer, quit in may and had to wait until November for his non compete to expire. If the hang zone is starting in May, they need to quit this week. That’s not happening.
Delete7-10a not 6-10a
ReplyDelete@Anon 7:41 and 9:30 and others predicting a flame-out. I know nothing about radio but maybe, just a little, of how a new business operates. And make no mistake, this is a new business. Nobody creates a business plan, finds funding, hires key, critical employees, has the investment funds from internal / external capital just to say, "If the revenue (listeners vis-a-vis advertisers) and profits (after paying said key employees) don't hit X and Y in three to six months we are just going to pull the plug.
ReplyDeleteThere may be tweaks, of course. In any startup business maybe one or two key employees were not suited to the workload, did not fit in as originally thought or maybe a few other factors. The myriad of other reasons expressed here also come in play but there is no way that management is going to make major changes after just one rating book, or two.
As the P-man has stated before, this may not end up as a Ticket expatriates station that makes good. Maybe other people are brought in to right the ship. But from where my experience lies you don't give up the ghost after only 3-6 months. To offer a corollary, some restaurants opened right before COVID and had to close. That was a once in a lifetime (millennial, maybe) event. The Freak is not as such. They will be given room to fail, not just 2 or 3 ratings periods.
IMHO
ETP1
Since the ratings periods are now months and not quarters, agreed. But much like “Bar Rescue” if a place is failing there are experts that come in and make changes. The ratings are bad, and show no sign of improvement. I predict some kind of changes in pretty short order. The ratings were in the 20s pre switch, if they’ve gotten worse, they’ll lose more advertisers. I’m told they’re basically giving spots away to draw ticket advertisers. Problem there is once bad ratings are out, they’ll have a hard time convincing major advertisers to continue. That point ETP1 is where they enter the death spiral. Once you’ve crossed that threshold, it gets harder to sell, harder to sell at a high spot rate, etc. you start giving spots away, which leads to longer spot breaks, which drive listeners away. Commenter above predicted hang zone by May, I’ll predict corporate driven change by March or April at the latest.
DeleteC
(Not Brad C, not Chael, just trying to attribute my anon posts in some way)
Once the Hang Zone joins, the Freak will be unstoppable. It's a Dream Team lineup and scary how much talent they're acquiring with iHeart willing to break open the piggy bank. If the poaching of The Ticket isn't enough, I wonder when Mike Bacsik's contract is up...I could see them bringing him in as he is one of 105.3's most popular personalities.
ReplyDeleteLol dream team? Who’s dream said “ if we were to compete with the ticket are dream morning show is 3 people who have never carried a show on their own and never worked together”. Who’s dream said “for middays let’s recycle a show that has now been unsuccessful on 5 different stations (ticket, live 105, espn, the fan, the Eagle). Who’s dream said “in pm drive let’s build for the future with a 75 year old who has already retired once, and who has been mailing it in for a decade. And we’ll team him up with 2 more guys, neither of which have ever carried a show on their own talent or been successful anywhere outside “the mothership”. Dream team? When the corporate suits show up, and they will, they’re going to see this line up as a nightmare.
DeleteC
@948
ReplyDeleteDude, I never thought about it but you are absolutely right about them both saying those things a lot lately. Makes me wonder.
With all due respect, ETP1, and your finely crafted comment aside, stations absolutely can and will flip again within a few months of a flip. The business of radio is different from most other business endeavors, and in many fundamental ways. This is the case because of the way in which it earns revenue.
ReplyDelete10:12, which employees, exactly, comprise all of this supposed talent The Freak has on its hands? I think you are the only one in her right mind with this view. Yes, Mike Bacsik, who has a listening audience size that can be counted on two hands and one foot, is going to nicely round things off, solidifying The Freak's near-future dominance. IF. And that's a big "if," hence the caps, THZ migrated to The Freak, then you would have one show that The Ticket would genuinely have to go up against. If you believe Danny makes all the difference and that TDB is ready to rock, well, good on ya, pal. He doesn't and it's not. Danny's probably a move in a better direction, as he gives Sirois an actual dialogue partner. But the content is the content, and the content isn't good. No amount of neo-soul talk (already passe genre in the hipster world it found its home in, btw) is going to entice a larger audience and therefore bring in more ad rev.
I don’t listen to the fan much. Is bascik a never ending fountain of internet lists, hokey contrived game shows and the like? Wait, he’s a sports personality, one with an actual claim to fame in the sports world? Why would sports personality leave sports station to go work at….whatever this format is. I agree content is content, and so far this content isn’t showing signs of drawing an audience. We find out more on Wednesday with November ratings.
DeleteC
741 nails it.
ReplyDeleteC as in Brad C as in former Ticket caller current podcaster?
ReplyDeleteAll I can say in all of this, The Speakeasy is probably fucked long term if they poach more Ticket talent. Ben and Skin shouldn’t get to comfy either if Iheartradio indulges OGWs wishes to create the new ticket
ReplyDeleteTSE was donzo by the end of week one. I don't see iHeart adding a fourth show to the lineup. That's at least three more salaries plus insurance. If THZ does take its talents elsewhere, then I'm in agreement with Anon 9:48pm that they will take over the morning slot, though IMO the time slots will remain the same. As well, if THZ makes this move, and betting they will be a fairly high dollar acquisition --commanding the highest salaries at the station-- then if I'm B&S and if my numbers aren't at the very least besting NaD but ideally NaD and whatever replaces THZ, I'm very worried my time is short. I'd have to believe iHeart would bring in a more cost-effective show that would compete as well if not potentially better than the oft tried/never quite caught on B&S Show.
ReplyDeleteVery curious about the behind the scenes relationships are faring with Danny, Corby, and Davey. Really, Danny and all of The Ticket team. Someone else truthfully pointed out that Mike R regularly shouts out and atta boys various Ticket tertiaries and non-Tier One employees. Wonder how all that plays out IRL. Interesting times in this here DFW radioscape. Can't wait to see how that first head to head full ratings book bears out. A mere day away.
I love how everyone on all of these Ticket related sosh pages claims knowledge of how nc's work and specifically how they work for each contract. You do know that not all nc's are the same, yes? There are usually loopholes and exceptions put in place. Just b/c X's nc is 6 months doesn't mean y's (at the same co. in the same position) is also 6 months. That's not how it works. I don't think The Hang Zone will be leaving. But if they do, there's a good chance they make the move knowing their nc won't mean a long hiatus from work. If they do go over to The Freak, I'd have to think that it's been in the offing for quite some time now. The only thing that gives me cause to pause is that so far R Whitt hasn't missed a beat on this and only this particular. So far, he's actually batting 1000%.
ReplyDeleteDigging your scene, C. Keep that good shit flowin', yo.
ReplyDeleteYeah the only thing he missed was the freaking format. Go back and read his drivel. He clearly said they’re starting a new sports station. Yet listen to the station, their imaging, read their press, and it’s all “ we’re not a sports station, we talk about what we want”. Seems to be a pretty big miss.
ReplyDeleteAnd I’ll concede that every non compete could be different. But you’re to have me believe that tier 3 producer has a 6 month non compete, and they said that on air today, but tier 1 talent has a shorter non compete. Possible, but not probable. I’d write a contract just the opposite. I’d make my high level talent sit out even longer.
C
Not if said high level talent is imminently bolting and you know you need to keep them to ensure the ship keeps humming along. Then you might be willing to discuss such things. And if you're said talent's agent, you're definitely making that move. Whereas Producer Pete, well, that poor bastards lucky to have a job with insurance, so you bet he has a 6 mo. nc. Besides the producers in question were de facto 3rd hosts. 3rd hosts sans host pay, mind you, but 3rd hosts nonetheless. Hence the nc. Julie on the other hand was off fill in duties for what, 3 weeks?, before re-emerging with her Freak on. No nc there. She's a whole 'nother subject, but one nobody's willing to call out. And honestly it doesn't matter and who cares. You're right about Whitt missing on the sports theme. But if you take away the ubiquitous lists and guessing games, Freak sports seggies are the only seggies with any real meat to them. After all they ALL come from sports stations and have almost exclusively sports media backgrounds (all but Rhynes). Go figure.
ReplyDeleteNo producers had Non Competes on the ticket. A non compete means they have to pay you during that period. If Cumulus wasn't willing to pay a living wage there was no way they would pay a guy they obviously didn't value, to sit on the sidelines receiving full pay.
ReplyDeleteDanny said yesterday that he had a 6 month non-compete.
DeleteGeez, I need a radio non-compete. I have signed several and no one ever paid me when I left. There may have been a "payout", but it certainly did not cover the entire term of the agreement.
ReplyDeleteSo Danny lied yesterday when he said he had to wait out his non compete? He was a producer at The Ticket.
ReplyDeleteWell since Richie Whitt was right again about some Freak news, what about his biggest claim of them all. The Hangzone going to the Freak. Is that where Richie Witt will finally get one wrong?
ReplyDeleteI still find the way the station is being put out, odd. Adding Grubes to the show after it started, then adding Danny a little bit later? And then even later, gonna add the Hangzone? And tell Julie and the morning drive people they are out of a job. I don't know what is 'normal' in this situation, but I feel like assembling a whole show just to tell them in 6th months, the show is done, is questionable. I guess they just may be the way it is, but I still would think the station would have a higher chance of succeeding if they rolled all this out at once.
I could see The Hangzone claim being a "The station will do so well enough that by next spring, it will be great move for the hangzone" thing. It would definitely be a big get for the Freak.
Grubes wasn’t added later. He was there day 1.
DeleteOther than the Mavericks on 97.1, is Mark Cuban twisting and tweaking things behind the scene? Or does he have more important things to worry about than his flagship radio station?
ReplyDeletehearing everyone's mad rush to cover all their asses because Rhyner openly exposed Danny and iHeart by stating he'd been talking with Danny virtually every day since the start, and that Danny was the one that turned him around on the idea of this thing a long, long, time ago - was the only funny thing I've ever heard on that station.
ReplyDeleteRichie did not say The Hang Zone was going to The Freak. He said they were considering a move. Big difference
ReplyDeleteI thought the addition of Grubes was a week or two into the station's existence? Also, I didn't know that's what Richie Whitt said, thanks.
ReplyDeleteI’m told that long-time Ticket producer Danny Balis will join The Freak once his non-compete clause expires. Pretty common sensical to connect those dots. "But, bigger and more surprising, Ticket midday Hang Zone hosts Jake Kemp and Dan McDowell are seriously considering bolting for The Freak in early 2023. Again, I won’t believe it until I hear it, but "
ReplyDeleteSimilar to the caveat he placed on his initial Freak rumor post, changing it to "this is happening" once firmly confirmed. That sane initial post you so smugly crapped on out of hand, Surly. The same post that indeed was correct.
I've been way out of the loop for the past several days and obviously missed a lot. Holiday stuff, family drama, getting a novel out, the usual. Hope to get back to vigorous Ticket listening soon. Maybe Freak listening, too.
ReplyDeleteHas Danny started? How's The Downbeat sound?
One hour in and he's fitting in like a glove, as if he's been there since day one. Which isn't a good thing. So far *surprise* it's been all music talk.
ReplyDeleteThe Downbeat is the equivalent of being "press box hot" when it comes to engaging radio. These guys were interesting on The Little Ticket within an overall sports talk radio structure. They are not interesting in an all-talk format. I say this as someone who was a fan of all three of them and still miss them on the Ticket today. But I'm not going to follow them over to The Freak.
ReplyDeleteI'll switch over during commercial breaks but then I'm ready to go back within a few minutes. Not familiar with the radio business so I dunno how long one has to be tuned in to count for ratings but I get the feeling that's how many Ticket listeners are treating The Freak too.
@1110am
ReplyDeleteI'm telling you true story of the origins of The Freak will out and when it does there's gonna be issues for many involved. Mark it down. Whether on the air saying what they want or at the bar, these ding dongs can't keep their mouths shut. Ratings come out tomorrow. There's already a Freak out going on up in that bitch.
The fact Dan-Paul almost certainly violated the terms of his non-compete is just a side note. What is shocking is that he’s been bald face lying to all of his “life long friends” for months.
ReplyDeleteHow would he have violated his non-compete?
DeleteHow do you know that's the case, 10:05? That's a pretty harsh assumption and judgment on your part. While I agree that the real story behind The Freak probably differs from what's been put forth, and that some legal issues or at the very least uncomfortable perception/personal issues might arise, it's not for us to state as fact something we truly know nothing of. Neither you nor I nor anyone here knows if in fact Danny's life long friends knew nothing of his plans. Speculation and analysis based on facts, clues, and even some reading between the lines is one thing, assertions of character is another.
ReplyDelete1217 i think it's clear that, unlike reddit, MTC isn't just a place for P1's. Obviously there are people in here that are connected in various ways, work in the industry, likely even co-workers.
ReplyDeletewhile we know sirios knew exactly what was going on when he quit and lied to cover what was really going on, no one wants to believe DP has been duplicitous. But his story about the timing and manner in which he decided to join, along with his personal and professional ties to Skin Wade (record label) isn't just smoke. And to the point of whoever else mentioned it, the on-air scramble to cover up for Rhyner's problematic statements, was very telling.
Maybe Plainsman can break this out as a new post. If not, we can play here. Anybody want to make predictions on what the Freaks ratings look like when they come out at Noon today? They were in the mid 20s with men 25-54 with the Eagle. Do you think this move has helped? Hurt? If so which way? And if it’s bad which way does the syphilitic media, sorry that should be sympathetic media like Richie Whittless spin this? My predictions are huge loss in AM drive, dropping into the 30s men 25-54. Middays flat to down, so 25-30ish, and PM drive flat to up slightly, no better than 20th at most. I hear a lot of people are sampling the downbeat, but none love it. So we’ll see at Noon.
ReplyDeleteWas thinking about this yesterday, while listening to the DB. Danny going to the Freak has a little different meaning for me than any of the others.
ReplyDeleteSirois, single, needs a job, but could probably find one, maybe with Cash.
Rhyner, well off, doesn't need the work.
B&S, if they had to, they could move to Boise and host a show.
Julie, Doesn't "need" the job, I am sure her hubs does fine.
KT and Cavanaugh, I don't know well.
Grubes, same as Sirois.
KR, she could get another job in radio, probably a better one in a different market.
Danny is different. He has a lot of irons in the fire, but is also a new dad. While he is not my favorite radio personality, he always has appeared very thoughtful about things. I don't see him just doing this, if it is short lived. I've been in my industry for a while, and going to a complete startup, even for more money, but an unsure future.... that is a little scary.
I did think he was a good addition to the DB.
I think Danny will give the Downbeat a little bit of an edge, which it has been lacking so far.
ReplyDeleteAlso, did you hear Danny explain where the name Dingu came from? I don't think he tells that story imitating the foreign accent of the server on the Hardline.
So just how long have you listened to The Ticket? More importantly, does mimicking a foreign accent entail "saying what we want"? Most importantly, do such things heighten your listening experience? That is, for examper, caricaturing minorities and non-US natives?
ReplyDelete@ 1:25
ReplyDeleteWhen was the last time you heard the Ticket play any of Corby's various accented drops?
When was the last time you heard a drop of Knoxie interviewing an Asian Rangers fan? ("Oh, Jim Knox crazy!")
When was the last time you heard Fake Michelle Wie?
What Danny did yesterday would have never been done if he was still on The Hardline. Whether that's bad or good - to each his own.
Thank you for answering my last query. We now know whete you stand. I also take it you aren't listening to today's WTDS. Happy to not know you IRL.
ReplyDeleteDanny's NC doesn't necessarily mean he couldn't talk about other opportunities. It likely stated he couldn't go on the air before a certain date. I love how everyone thinks that talking to someone about something constitutes a violation of the NC. Good luck enforcing that, not to mention he has the weight of I-Heart v Cumulus. I-Heart has a Market cap of a Billion dollars and Cumulus 125 million. Cumulus is worth shit..
ReplyDeleteDear Industry Insider,
ReplyDeleteTalking ABOUT other opportunities isn't the issue at hand. The main issue for most is the personal relationship aspect of it. But I'm happy to know that you are "lov[ing] how everyone thinks [...]." As well, let's grant your odd claim that "everyone...," you admit that it doesn't necessarily mean he couldn't talk about another position. This means you don't know. Just as no one here knows. When you've arrived at apodictic certainty, come back and let us know. But make sure you provide evidence.
As to the health of iHeart goes, you're making things up and/or are ignorant of reality: iHeart has been in the midst financial upheaval for some time now. Not as bad as Cumulus, true, but they are nevertheless going through a seriously painful event -- filing for bankruptcy in '18 and now emerging under a, for them, austere plan of restructure. For one, they, like Cumulus, have and continues to, lay off en masse both on and off air talent. I can go on, but I'll let you do the research like The Egg, Salmon, and Fitness Man did all those years ago.
Signed,
The Ghost of George's Front Bottom's Future
The freaks ratings look weak I guess? Maybe pulled some ticket listeners?
ReplyDelete415 is So freakily Anonymous.
ReplyDeleteAnyone have those ratings that came out today? What they say?
I've seen them, but subscribe to do so, therefore I'm not going to list them. Peter Welpton will and break them down too. Probably up on the reddit page tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteWill say that it wasn't a good book for The Freak. Not in the least and there's no way to spin it otherwise. That bad. All demos, much less coveted. Ticket pretty much stayed put.
I think the interesting thing is they’re really bad, but how do you fix it? They may claim that they’re not aiming at the tickets M25-54 demo, but every single one of your air talent except Cavanaugh are ticket alums, with a large portion of them having no other radio experience. Grubes, Danny, Sirois, Julie, Krystina, did any of them have significant outside radio experience before this? Even Ben and Skin have only ever worked in this market. Sure they’ve worked everywhere, but is continual failure really a positive talking point? So you’ve got a station that’s basically a pirated movie sold at a flea market. Yeah it’s kinda like the original, but it’s such poor picture, bad sound, fake artwork on the box that you ultimately regret whatever money you spent on it. So if the ratings are as bad as I’ve heard (in the 20s) how do you recover. You’ve spent 2 months telling people you’re not a sports station, that you talk about what you want. Do you suddenly pivot to more sports? Do you bring in actual major market talent and stop letting a bunch of amateurs on in AMD and a bunch of serial failures on in middays? How many people sampled them the last 2 months and went away unimpressed? And how much are you going to have to spend trying to draw them back in? Will billboards do it? TV? What’s the pitch of a tv spot” tune in to hear mike Rhyner rate the best strip clubs in Dallas”? Not to mention the massively increased payroll. I think iheart execs will be in town soon after the holidays to start trying to fix this.
ReplyDeleteTimes are about to get interesting on the Dallas Parkeay.
C
I just think The Speakeasy was a placeholder mistake. That is beyond sub standard morning drive time. They HAVE to be planning to replace it eventually.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I think Danny has been great on The Downbeat and is already overshadowing the OGW.
ReplyDeleteA cardboard cutout will eclipse the ogw these days. For the last 12 tyrs, actually.
ReplyDeleteKEGL earned a fat 1.0 this book. Doen from last book's 1.5, which included The Freak's first week. Yeah buddy, it might flip by Feb 1. No hyperbole here.
ReplyDeleteAnd who benefited the most from the format change? KZPS
ReplyDeleteBUT WHAT ABOUT THE STREAMING NUMBERS?!
ReplyDeleteWHAT ABOUT THEM, SURLY?!?!?!?! I mean, right. Guys, am I right? I'm the cherry on top, but, AM I RIGHT?????
ReplyDeleteHave to think Rhynes and Co. are under the impression/were told they have X amount of months/books to get solid numbers before any changes are made. Why else would Danny jump aboard at this stage? Unless he signed a contract long ago or there's a verbal or hell, maybe Rhynes had it written into his contract agreement that they'd get X time to get numbers before an overhaul or flip. Because they absolutely had a good idea what this book was going to look like prior to Danny's Monday maiden voyage. As well, they all sure act like they have money to burn and that time is on their side. I hear zero panic, zero let's get our s together, zero stepping up their game, nada.
ReplyDeletePeter posted them on reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/theticket/comments/z9peqt/november_ratings_update/
ReplyDeleteThe summary is that The Freak ratings tumbled between Oct and Nov. I'm sure Sirois, Ben and Skin have The Ticket right where they want them.
The big take away is KZPS" leap upwards. Do not think for 1second iHeart isn"t talking about that. Flip no kater than March.
ReplyDeleteAnd it gets much harder to sell advertising or get good rates for commercials when your ratings are in the toilet. The guesstimate whatever salaries you think the staff is making, for giggles let’s say the average is 100k, some more, some clearly less. Julie, Jeff, KT, Matt, Ben, skin, Krystina, 3 mikes and Danny. Call it a million dollar payroll. Round it to 100k a month just in talent. How many “good” advertisers will stick around when they see the ratings? Plus if they’re like most companies, the Freak still have to pay their share of shared expenses, rent, power, mgmt salaries, etc generally are spread across all properties in a cluster. How long will iheart, a company known for being ruthless, will tolerate losing money when they can flip back to music and save plenty? Like I said, things are going to get interesting on the Dallas Parkway.
ReplyDeleteC
B&S must have dirt on every radio exec in North America. You could put a fern on the radio from 10-3 and it would pull better numbers than they did in November. Good god
ReplyDeleteIn thinking about the origins of the Ticket: Musers made their name on a LOT of bits. They prank called a lot of other radio shows. The show went outside of the studio to make things happen. Hosts did roadshows but also hung out with the listeners at local bars. There are a ton of stories from some rent house they lived in (and did shows from). It has been mentioned before that many P1s have aged with the hosts. And it is true, there is no longer the same edginess from hosts. Is Gordon going to wear a devil suit to a major media event? No chance for the "Hey man, what's up rodeo" to be resurrected. Fair enough. Now thinking about the Freak. I listened to the 24 minute clip posted on the Freak reddit page to hear an original Danny song. The clip began with a conversation revolving around a Fart "no-no" being broken up by Sirios. Meh. Listened for a bit longer..nothing all that interesting. Finally got to Danny's song. He is a talented guy, but the song fell flat in the second half. It was too long. Reminded me of "Razor's Bi"....funny for a short go of it...too long. My point is this: after listening to a station doing whatever they want, they have merely copied and pasted the Ticket onto the Eagle, without ever creating their own culture. Fart jokes might work in terms of a drop, but the board ops are/were the geniuses dropping in sound effects at great moments. I, too find the Ticket pretty stale (outside of Hang Zone), but the Freak has taken the most pedestrian parts of the Ticket and thinks that will pose competition. No. Even Norm has better things to say. Even Great Grandpa Hitzges is more compelling to listen to. Maybe Danny was only making 40k a year...but no matter what, you are going to miss that money when it's not coming in, any longer. Which makes me think Mike R. might have panicked in retirement, decided that he still needed a paycheck, and came back with this dumpster fire. Whatever the case, Freak continues to be bad. Perhaps if they did get Hang Zone, but I think they would do better to go find a young Gordon Keith type ready to set Dallas radio on fire with creativity. He might be the most important person in the history of the Ticket. Plainsman-you might consider a long piece revisiting Keith's value to this aging wooden ship.
ReplyDeleteI don't think there was ever much cross-pollination between Ticket listeners and Eagle/Russ Martin-Treehouse listeners. So once that ended, those listeners were not going to stick around and give The Freak a try. That leaves The Freak with trying to appeal to an overall very small number of Ticket listeners who will switch over (the vocal minority online who constantly gripe about certain Ticket personalities do not reflect the overall audience). Also, The Fan's core audience who already didn't like The Ticket's style won't like The Freak either so I don't see them stealing those listeners.
ReplyDeleteOn the back of the The Freaks's, OK, let's call it what it is, cataclysmic ratings, Freak employees (hosts included, to the point it's so obvious it's embarrassing) under pseudonyms are posting comment after comment on the Ticket reddit site regarding how lucky we in the DFW are to have two top notch content creating stations complementing (and not competing with) one another. So just give The Freak\ some more time and it'll be "Your New Ticket." Man, that shit's spottable from 1k miles away. They all begin their epistolary length comments with cherry picked early days history of The Ticket exegeses. These hermeneutical endeavors all miss the point: The Ticket started nearly 29 years ago; moreover, this world and that world barely resemble one another; this can be said equally from both contemproray technological and social standpoints. I've stated it so many times now, and this will be the last time I'll say it until I return for a victory lap/told ya so when it does come down:
ReplyDeleteThe Freak will flip before Summer 2023. The truth will out as regards its genesis, including the actual timeline and players involved. This will result in the ending of media-related careers, at least in this market, the end of any remnants of personal relationships with former colleagues, and inkindle a general sense of feeling from listeners that ranges from indiffernce to dislike.
Interesting that said employees aren't posting here (it'd be obvious as they're not good about hiding it). And yes, they know of this place, intimately (So Anonymous *Sirois - which should tell you something about him and something that isn't so positive*, Grubes, Sirois AS himself, KT, etc.).
Ladies B Trippin' and The Freak B Failin'. Early days, for sure. It's possible things could turn around. Likely to? No, no way, no how. Innarestin' times in the D radio scene, fo sho. But not because there's a genuine KZPS v. Q102 or v. KZEW a la WKRP and The FISH bona fide, go the the mat let's kick some ass no holds barred radio war with two genuinely equally equipped opponents... no ... Innarestin' because when The Freak fails, and it will and in rather short order, it's the fallout and the resultant career paths for the bit players (they're all bit players but one... Rhynes) and the damage done to the King Maker's legacy. Or, rather, what remains of that legacy. Mr. Mike Rhyner has gone a bit more scorched earth than many are aware of. Just. Saying.
Anyways, and however this all shakes it loose tegether (buh buh buh Benny and the jets), it's gonna be super innarestin'. Pop dat 'corn.
Saw a comment from Julie in Twitter yesterday.,said they know it’s going to take a while to build an audience. And people were pointing out that ticket took time to build an audience.,but that’s not really true. One of the great ticket stories is how Ira Lipson, the tickets first consultant HATED the hardline. They wouldn’t follow his format, greggo was a country bumpkin, Mike kept talking about rock music, etc. then the first ratings book came out and wham! Retelling over the years has gotten to be they were first in the demo. Not exactly how I remember it but they were definitely successful and escaped doom. But at the time, we had norm on klif mornings, Wally and Leon, Galloway etc on evenings. You had sports options, just not all day. That’s why the ticket was successful, they filled an obvious market hole. What’s the freaks market hole? People who like personalities from sports stations but don’t like sports? Fans of free form radio like live 105-3 who have yet to find a radio home in the decade or more they’ve been off the air? Add in the dearth of real talent. Except for Rhyner everyone there was either a bit player someplace else or is a perennial failure. Yeah that’s you Ben and skin.
ReplyDeleteSo we have weal talent, on a format that absolutely no one in town wanted, with horrible positioning and imaging and even worse outside marketing. (Why do billboards featuring talents faces when its EFFING radio. Most people have no idea what you look like. You’re a voice to most people, not a face.
Julie says it’ll take time, but how long till some iheart “suit” does the math. What it will cost us to pay out these fired people versus how much our ratings will increase/how much our revenue will increase if we go back to music. Someone is going to think that, and if these ratings continue on a downward trend, they’re going to be thinking it sooner rather than later.
So yeah, pop that corn.
C
Because I love conspiracy talk, have a thought that just came through Covid fog. What other iHeart brands in DFW have a BIG morning talk program, discussing all types of things but sports? Is there another iHeart show that has an early 50's something host who thinks Rhyner hung the moon? Is that same show syndicated? Could, or would (not knowing the radio business), iHeart combine some show from diff frequencies into an every topic talk station. Or, is KISS FM untouchable?
ReplyDeleteAnon 2:39 AM started that thesaurus influenced missive around 10 pm and 4 and 1/2 hours later he had a masterpiece of hand crafted takes all of which are likely very accurate with regard to how this will play out. The Freak going down bitches...
ReplyDeleteJulie's Twitter comment along with the comments on reddit that are obviously from Freak employees (as 239am points out) are one of several major issues with The Freak. From its onset two scant months ago, the hosts have been preoccupied with narratives. Not creating in-show/intra-station narratives that invite the listener to join in and be a part of the gang (a la the nascent Ticket days), but rather, they generate self-referential, insular, and often conflicting and even fallacious narratives about the format's founding, their former places of employment, the aim of the format, and when and how person A came onboard. (Aside: I'm sure I'm not the only one who recalls Mike's emphatic "no" when asked if Danny was or would ever be involved in his interviews given the week leading up to launch. Only to now say Danny was in on it from its inception. And no, none of it violates an NC. Any NC would pertain to actively working for a competitor.) All along displaying an almost group pathos of thin-skinned, hyper-awareness of any criticism from any corner and a lack of creativity. They're actually appropriating the BaD/HZ movie of the month gathering and acting as if they came up with the idea. It's one of the damnedest things I've ever seen. I guess it's a troll of sorts. I guess. Whatever it is, it's what they're doing. But this is a trend: TDB has begun to spend segments basically act out old Ticket segments. Mike retelling an exact version, replete with funny cadencing, of some story he told on The Ticket. Now doing it with Danny having the same, note for note, reaction. Ditto Sirois playing the role of Corby. Sirois will usually set it up with a scripted lead in. So so very weird. All of that and I'm just stunned that Danny Balis thinks "Glen" is funny.
ReplyDeleteYa'll seen Mike R's Tweet about Corbles?
ReplyDeleteTweet from listener "Hey Wolf, ya need to get the Cobra when his contract runs out."
Mike "Mark-Allen his loyalty is not and never has been to me--he's tied to others...hard pass there"
Thinking about all this and thinking about who Mike got on his pod from The Ticket. Danny, Mike, Julie........and Dan Mcdowell. Maybe THZ will jump ship after all.
For a bit better context, it was a Facebook response. Here is the Reddit link
ReplyDeletehttps://www.reddit.com/r/theticket/comments/zb86nj/rhyner_with_hard_feelings/
Mike must “demand loyalty”. Sounds like a massive asshole.
Immaturity, you bet. But it along with the Julie and others' erroneous "early Ticket floundered too" Tweets (it decidedly did not flounder - took a few years to hit #1, yes, struggle, absolutely not) all add up to one thing: All Freakers, including Mike Rhyner, know they're in trouble. They know that another book like this and drastic changes will occur (firing certain on-air talent, ditching the We Say What We Want motto for an actual focal point, including another format change.). As to Mike Rhyner in particular, while his ego won't yet allow him to admit it to himself, such a childish reaction to an flippant inquiry on a social media platform serves only to show that he grossly misread the room and is terrified that he's altered the way he's perceived by the public and his peers (the same ones he pretends neither to owe anything to nor care what they think of him -- goes hand in glove with immature adults of any age, they're unable to leave behind typical teenage angst and its attendant behavior patterns). This entire melodrama is so interesting, as it's being played out publicly, and being done so chiefly by an individual who's crafted, based, and put forth a persona of one who marches to their own beat, does it their way, never compromises, is supremely secure in knowing exactly who they are, and who possesses a certain innate knowledge or at least instinct of which way the wind has, is, and will blow. And yet this same individual continually displays actions indicative of someone constituting none of these characteristics. Fascinating.
ReplyDeleteC. Maxwell PhD, UTD
That was such a harmless FB comment from that guy, maybe even a joke/sarcasm but Rhyner took the bait. I guess Rhyner just wants Yes Men who are loyal to him. That explains the billboards and the "I'm back" promos, and the ass-kissing from everyone on their station since his return. If their ratings don't improve, it's only a matter of time before The Freak starts trying to poke the bear by openly dissing The Ticket on air and in their promos. They know The Ticket won't respond (as they have no reason to) but The Freak will try to use it to bring attention to their own station.
ReplyDeleteAre there examples of the company have a quick trigger finger with format changes? I can't imagine them bailing on a big chance like this without giving it at least a year.
ReplyDeleteWell, first off it's not a big chance/gamble or deal. In fact, other than Mike R's salary, there hasn't been much put into it, at all. The billboards are owned by iHeart and the on air staff other than Mike R are industry and local no-names (sorry Sirois and Julie fanboys, it's true) that do not command premium compensation packages. Also, the speed at which this all took place is highly indicative of something thrown together last minute, which almost always means not a lot of money was invested. Even if Mike R and his Loyal Ones began pitching the idea to KEGL a year ago, the way it was brought to air was obviously last minute. The upshot is that yes, not only have formats switched within a year of coming online, but also it is very conceivable to the point of probable that The Freak will flip within a year of Day One. As far as Rhynes goes: What's there to say? It's not surprising in the least. If you are taken aback by the past few months (or as far back as his silly retirement video) of his words and deeds, you shouldn't be. More so, it means you haven't been paying attention.
ReplyDeleteThat wasn’t the question. Are there examples of the company having a quick trigger finger?
ReplyDeleteNo, I said, do I love, maybe I didn’t understand the question.
ReplyDeleteOk. I, I mean do you like being chief of police.
ReplyDeleteDo aquick search yourself.
ReplyDeleteDo you like this gig?
ReplyDeletethe public exposure of the real Mike Rhyner, already long known to many in the local scene, isn't as much a heel-turn as it is, "yeah, that's to be expected from him". Danny and Sirois is understandable (while also disappointing), but for the OGW, it's all about him and always has been.
ReplyDeleteI have been listening to the podcasts of TDB and I like it. Maybe it is comfort food, but it is soothing to my ears to hear Danny.
ReplyDeleteIt's good that Danny's back on the airwaves. Just wish it was at The Ticket and not The Fraud.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAsking this question to all the other Armchair Program Directors like myself...
ReplyDeleteCould they play a few songs per hour of their choice as a music/talk combo like others shows have done before? Speaking of The Downbeat specifically...rehashing old Ticket stories and the whole "can you believe we're doing this" thing has already lost its luster. This would let the music snobs play something interesting other than butt-rock or the same 30 classic rock songs on every other rock station. It would help them have a few succinct talk segments to generate the appointment listening that is important to ratings systems. Rhyner's ego may be too large to make some preemptive changes but if I was the PD, I'd start making changes sooner rather than later.
If we go off their mission statement, "We Say What We Want," then it would seem they could do just that, Jeff, and without the OK of a PD. This is especially so because there currently is no PD. At least no locally based one. But if you've been listening even a little bit to The Freak, you'd see that they're already doing exactly as you suggest. When B&S&K aren't reading lists from the internet and playing guessing games, they're basically bringing in the whole station (sans Rhyner) to spin records and rate the tunes. These segments, just like the ones on The Ticket, usually fall flat and are not compelling enough to make for a sustained point of interest, much less appointment setting radio. Nothing short of The Hang Zone jumping ship is going to save The Freak (wish I'd come up with The Fraud, genius on ya 3:36pm). And I'd say even if that were to happen, it would merely stave off the inevitable. This thing needed to fly out of the gate if it was going to have a real chance of success. It will not be a slow burn, slow and steady wins the race thing. They blew the all crucial first few weeks on patting themselves on the back for what, existing (?).
ReplyDeleteI like it.
ReplyDelete@5:19 - The times I've listened (which I admit are few and far between lately) I have not heard the Spin or Spare type of segments. I was thinking more of a straight "come back from break right into music" thing. Russ used to do it, the only other one I remember off the top of my head was Lex & Terry back in the day.
ReplyDeleteAnd I was meaning that the non-music would (theoretically, with the right talent) be more interesting and appointment listening.
Anyone here recall the days of RaGE with any clarity? Especially its first year? The Freak but really The Downbeat so far reminds me of RaGE. The attitude, the re-staging of well known Ticket moments and genesis of drops, and the sense of a bunch who feels they have unlimited funding for and time in which to take on and best their chief rival. Except RaGE, like The Freak in general and The Downbeat in particular, forgot/forgets that merely showing up and being your self-proclaimed bad ass uber interesting self isn't enough. It takes hard work. Work done outside of the office. Preparation and lots of it. All of the shows during The Ticket's early years did that. All of them. These folks merely want to pat each other and themselves on the back, take home some good bank, and live the good life. Which is exactly what RaGE did. Sure, Greggo's issues didn't help matters. But that wasn't the main reason for its failure. It was Whitt's "got this" full of himself attitude, office romances (sound familiar?), and everyone taking advantage of every dime and perk on offer while not putting in the time and energy that justify those things being offered, much less taken.
ReplyDeleteThat spot on the dial is going to get ugly. The fallout and the what/why/when behind the scenes/backstory that emerges will be quite a tale. Reps and career paths will be altered.
I see the headlines right now where Kirstie Alley has passed away. RIP, loved her. Will Jake have to take tomorrow off for one of his favorite MILF's?
ReplyDelete"Just do it, babe!" Loved that Cheers episode.
ReplyDeleteLooks like the poor ratings have led to the "break glass in case of emergency" move of booking Greggo. Several not so cryptic tweets teasing it.
ReplyDeleteShow your receipts please!
DeleteGo look at the Freak twitter page. A cell phone pic of Hell freezing over on 12/7 and a little hammer up in the top corner.
ReplyDelete@9:41
ReplyDeleteIs Jake aware she was a Trump supporter?
The Hammer being on is the one thing that will make me turn away from white elephant day!
ReplyDeleteI'll definitely tune into to hear Greggo and Mike. Have a feeling it's going to be really awkward. Sirois being the most awkward, as he won't be a focal point, will feel insecure, and will thirstily insert himself into the conversation as much as possible. After all, Sirois is to the founding of The Freak as Mike was to the founding of The Ticket. While bringing Greggo in for a day was his idea (to compete against WED), he also knows it could potentially backfire in a most personally detrimental way.
ReplyDeleteThere's so much to say here but it's all low hanging fruit. To play this card reeks of desperation. And after that book, perhaps it's what's required. I guess the thing that gets me most is that Danny is dumb enough to be in on this amateur hour endeavor. Always thought of him as smart, tasteful. I was wrong.
* The truth will out.
* Reps, perceptions, career paths, and a legacy will be irrevocably altered.
* Ed Wallace is correct about Mike Rhyner.
* Cat knows talent: who has it and who does not.
We know Mike has a hard on to get one over on Cat and Corby, but I didn’t think he’d go as far to invite the no longer husky husqvarna on his show. What a sad, bitter old man he is
ReplyDelete210 is a little bitter it seems. What's not to like of an old Hardline 1.0 episode? I'm 48 and have been wanting something like this for a long time
ReplyDelete“Just here to have some fun by making Liberal communists cry”
ReplyDeleteHe and Vida need a weekend show on the freQ
"Sirois is to the founding of The Freak as Mike was to the founding of The Ticket" - Not Sirios.
ReplyDeleteActually that would be Ben, Skin and Danny.
No, the Sirois analogy is correct. B&S narrative is just that, a story. Where you're getting Danny from is anyone's guess.
ReplyDeleteMy source is impeccable. My source is near, so near, to the nerve center.
this is just.....Sad. so Cringe. screams of Desperation.
ReplyDeletegreggo?? Really, Mike??? REALLY, Danny??? yall ParrotHeads enjoy your trip to Margaritaville.
Scorching new comment up. Better act fast, it's going to age quickly.
ReplyDeleteRed is not happy.