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."
A couple of thoughts I regret having, but have nonetheless:
(1) Has Mike Rhyner permanently damaged his reputation with first, the manner of his leaving The Ticket and his wandering accounts of how The Freak got started, and second, with his actual on-air performance since then?
And, a somewhat related question, but not entirely:
(2) Have recent events – heck, not even all that recent, let’s go back to the advent of Checkout Mike some years ago – changed the way we view him as a guy, i.e., not necessarily as a broadcasting legend?
I certainly admired him in my early years of Ticket listening, as he projected a certain intellectual integrity and independence on top of (or perhaps underlying) his unquestionable broadcast skills. Now, I wonder whether his apparent contempt for the station and show he founded and that were the source of his fame, as well as the circumstances listed in question (1), have folks reconsidering . . . the kind of guy he is.
In fairness, we don’t know all the behind-the-scenes. It’s risky to draw conclusions about character based only on what the public is allowed to see. That is to say – maybe I’m the asshole here.
You don’t have to be a prince (princess) to be a great entertainer. It seems sometimes to help if one isn’t. I have resisted asking the foregoing questions for a long time. But lately, I find myself envisioning Ticket personnel snickering up their sleeves, muttering “Now, you know.”
I always thought his grumpiness was kind of on air bit towards the end. The Freak has proven to me he doesn’t give a shit anymore. It’s hard to feel bad for the Seacow, but I kinda do. He’s got something.
I don’t know if he’s damaged his reputation on the large scale, but with the die hard p1s, that frequent sites like this, I imagine he’s been lowered for many. Including myself. He hasn’t really made one decision throughout this that has improved his image, but only hurt it to me. He was always The Godfather of the ticket, and for that, he is/was awesome. I think he got caught up in thinking he’s bigger than the ticket. We love the ticket because of the concept as a whole. It’s not the nba where our allegiance is specifically to one host. There are some out there that way I’m sure, but most have proven to be loyal to the ticket, not rhyner.
I agree with Confessors who have observed, as did 953, that Rhyner thought he was "bigger than the Ticket," or at least a continuing significant contributor to the station's success for which he was not being recognized by being asked to adhere to some management directives he didn't like.
The question I have is: Why did he think that? When he left the station, The Hardline eventually not only got a lot better with Bob and eventually Davey, but continued to kill in the ratings. The latter is something he was able to observe, didn't depend on his particular opinion about his replacement. Oughtn't that to have suggested something to him, that people weren't tuning in to hear him, and might even have been tuning out since The Hardline had turned into the Corby and Danny Showgram?
Plainsman, my opinion of Rhyner had slowly diminished while he was at The Ticket. Then when he started tweeting about the freak it fell of a cliff.
And yes, it sure seems now that he thought he was bigger than The Ticket for some time. Probably because of all the usual reasons, the number one being hubris.
Agreed 8:50, I don't think there's much you can point to as to why Rhyner thought this, other than ego. And I guess his ego is so large that he thought him merely showing up to work would be enough.
(Full disclosure: As a Dallas native I feel a connection to Mike. If it weren't for him I would have abandoned the Hardline well before his departure. I listen to the DB some but mostly done by 5 pm) If my ego was stroked the way Mike's was, including induction into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame, as well as continued fawning by The Ticket after his Irish exit, I would think my S didn't stink either. Depending on the fate of TF in general and Mike in particular, I think his legacy will be generally positive.
there hasn't been as much muttering of "now you know" as there has been saying it out loud. this is the Mike Rhyner many of us have known (and in many cases, befriended, loved despite understanding his shortcomings) for decades. his choice in how he left TT can now be viewed in a completely different and accurate light.
make no mistake - if TF fails - the OGW storytelling that follows will be some of the cringiest throwing under the bus type BS to date. B&S, beware. lol
Plainsman- per your 1206, my working theory is that is why Mike did this. He saw that the station not only kept going without him, but continued performing at high levels. Both in ratings and with their Mikeless Marconi win. I think Mike was pissed that he was shown to be just a piece of the pie. I think his ego thought of himself as the pie-tin and crust, the foundation of it all and the thing holding it all together. I also think he thought of himself as another Stern, who could do a radio show about nothing but himself and draw huge ratings. We know Mike lived Stern, if he felt he was being held back from doing the show he wanted, is that the cause of the Cumulus/Corby/cat resentment? Damn PD expecting him to talk sports on a sports station! C
And to the Anon at 953p- agreed, and that’s the power and magic of radio imaging. 96.7 tells you exactly what you’re listening to, “sports radio 967&1310 the ticket”. If you’re a sports fan, and you hear a station say all sports all the time, breaking sports news first, the home of hot sports opinions, etc you know kind of what to expect. Contrast that to the freak, we say what we want. It’s about them, not the listeners needs or wants. It’s egocentric. Even with staff changes, you know that the Ticket will be talking Gilmore trade, or Zeke getting cut. While the Freak is doing “Rhyner ranks it”. If you love Mike and want his opinion on adult diapers, that’s a can’t miss segment. But if you view yourself as a sports fan, your interest in that segment DEPENDS (rock me) entirely on how much you like Mike. (Not a real Rhyner ranking, used strictly for illustrative purposes). C
I believe it was in reference to P1s hammering (get it!) them with behind the scenes questions about Greggo. “Where’s Greggo?” Beat them all down pretty bad. Mike had stopped talking to him off air for a year prior to him getting axed. He was absolutely sick of the questions.
In short, he loved the P1s and the relationship they had with the station until it became annoying to him. He was glad Greggo was gone and could understand why people cared so much (or was mad people cared so much). Again the Ego coming out.
When Greggo blew up, The Ticket went radio silent on the circumstances of his departure because (1) despite the celebrities involved, it was essentially an internal employment matter, and (2) it was unclear whether Greggo would file suit for wrongful termination. Understandably, management put a lid on any of the hosts commenting on the reason(s) for his termination. They may also have feared a defamation suit if hosts started talking about Greggo's many transgressions.
This was frustrating for the P1, because The Ticket's popularity is based in part in making them feel like they're part of the family, part of this cool club that listens to The Ticket, knows the history, understands all the drops, and gets all of the inside references. Under the circumstances, the P1 DID feel like he was "owed" some kind of explanation of what happened to their good buddy Greggo, and I'm sure that feeling was conveyed to The Ticket, and in particular Mike R, through email and other forms of communication. But with the management-imposed blackout, and, quite possibly, the individual hosts' own concern over legal ramifications, they couldn't say a thing about what listeners really cared about.
Mike R's statement that they didn't owe the P1s anything was an expression of frustration that they were not able to satisfy listeners' demands for details of Greggo's implosion. It was tone-deaf and hyperbolic on Mike R's part; he could have found a much better way to deflect the avalanche of curiosity from listeners that explained the predicament he and others were in when it came to disclosing information.
Especially when you consider that at that time he was in his late 50s (i.e., if the douche-high t full of shit/yourself crap aspect of your persona hasn't been flushed out by means of life in general at that point and hasn't engendered some sense of perspective and appreciation for the good and the good people in your life, then you're a pathologically immature, lost cause), a radio-media lifer and should know how to handle things like a fucking pro, and ought to have had at least some semblance of reading the overall room.
Everyone points to that moment. It's an indictment, for sure. But for me, naw. I go back further. Greggo was still in full swing. The Pete Stein Countdown. I heard it live, in real time. Man. A middle of middle-aged man pulling that fucking high school bulsh on some dude who was himself a lifer sports guy trying his best to be a sports guy and make his way through that world. Pete did nothing. Said nothing rude or cringe. He merely tried to talk Rangers.... ya know, the thing Mike and Gregg were known for. Silly him. And there was "Oh, hey man" KZEW, never played an original tune in his life, Rhyner....shitting on this guy's one shot at conversing with THE beacon of the station. Yeah. THAT'S when Rhyner showed what he's about, as far as I'm concerned. Pete in essence WAS Rhyner pre Ticket in so many ways. An older guy, at least by industry starting out standards trying to slough his way through the ranks. And here comes Rhynes.... crapped all over him for no reason whatsover other than it made him feel powerful. And we've seen this recur in different forms over and again since then (before then, actually).
While the P1 during the Hee Hoo situation couldn't be apprised of many things, that fact in no way necessitated Rhyner's now infamous utterance. That was merely Rhyner being his true self.
Here's the thing that's never really said. I have a feeling the commenter you (Plainsman) gave your e-addy out to knows this: The part of The Ticket lore that says no one in the local biz gave it a chance. That indeed, it was predicted by all the smart set to fail and fail big...... weeeeeeeellll. True enough. But it wasn't because they didn't think a station dedicated entirely to sporsts would fail -- as such a format had already been succeeding for years in the Atlantic seaboard and Nor th East -- it was because of who was spearheading it. The rep was already, always there. "Now you know what we've known for all these years, despite...."
Great, well constructed comment above, but there was still “That’s up north/on the east coast… this is ‘Texxas’…” mentality on why it would never work down here. Primarily the reason it was scoffed at & looked down upon.
let's be fair to Rhyner. The Ticket is a special thing and his level of responsibility for that is not minor. He is (was?) beloved amongst the P1's, and anyone who followed him to TF, for a very good reason. To 1:16's point, the doubt at the time may have had some MR suspicions to it (along w/ Skip) but IIRC it was really mostly about the idea of the format and the number of personalities involved that weren't known entities beyond Skip. The market awareness of Mike Rhyner back at that time was low. When the station was announced I remember having to ask someone why I knew his name. "he used to do sports for LaBella/Rody" was what reminded me who he was (but didn't know him personally then).
I tuned in to The Downbeat yesterday. Each personality (Rhyner, Sirois, Balis, Gruber) were naming their favorite desert-island group starting with each letter of the alphabet.
If I heard this correctly, I believe they copped this bit from something Kevin Turner put together on The Speakeasy. I didn't hear it on TS, but if so . . . then they need to think a little harder about some original bits.
Now, there was nothing wrong with this bit. It was kind of a "list" bit, but with a little more beef behind it.
But what struck me was how un-hip all this sounded. All the groups named got their start well before the turn of the century, hell, well before the 1990s. As, of course, did each of these hosts themselves. Of course, The Ticket guys like some of the same groups and, with the exception of Jake, Mino, Justin, and the newer crew of JV (actually, that's a fair number of younger on-air voices, come to think of it), are of the same generation as the Freak Hosts. And music bits on The Ticket aren't very frequent, and don't drag on. The Freak bit was, let's see, 4 x 26 > 100 mostly-old bands (there were several duplicates, and some hip-hop) and went on for two segments per show until they got through the whole alphabet, and double that if this thing also went down on The Freak.
The two segments weren't bad. Of course, this was something Mike R could actually participate in, in contrast to current events, pop culture, and everything else. They were just kind of . . . sad.
I don't think anyone here discounts or is unaware of Rhyner's instrumentality where the founding, the putting together the roster, etc., of The Ticket is concerned. There are dozens and dozens of comments that show this. We all know this and appreciate what he did. We all owe him a debt of gratitude of sorts for it. But that's now what's in question here.
I'm curious if Plainsman received a private message from 3/16 1012am. That person seems to have intimate knowledge of what's being thought and bandied about.
Well, in all fairness, I tuned into The Ticket yesterday and was greeted with yet another JV weekend show playing a game (NCAA mascots). Of course, these are JV shows and not weekday Varsity programming. True enough. But if I'm Cat, I'm issuing a cease and desist on all quiz/trivia games and list segments. Are you telling me these guys have a couple, maybe three hours once per week (if even, depending on SMU games, etc.) and they have to kill segments with that uninteresting, life sucking crap? If that's the case, then perhaps they ought to think about pursuing a different career path. They should be busting with substantive talking points and issues. Indeed, they should be torn over which topics to spend on those precious segments--because they have so many items they'd love to discuss. The whole game/list segment thing is so cheap and in some ways insulting to the listener to begin with, but I know there are down times in sports and if you're doing it 5 days per week, sometimes you have to go down that path. "Sometimes" being the key here; unlike what TF does. But, man oh man, you're a JV supposedly champing at the bit for exposure and you've been awarded one of those coveted weekend spots......and you're going to waste time on that shit? Not one hundo, but fairly certain yesterday's gameshow was a two segment affair. Even more egregious.
Traditionally the… (other than Cowboys pregame & postgame) past noon Sat & Sun generic ticket programming has been pure crap. The specialized shows on a local team or event seems the way to go. Racing at the TMS, Stars, soccer, etc. isn’t gonna get huge #s, but it’s better than rehashing generic talking pts that have already been talked about ad nauseam. I’m sure many of them are great guys, but it’s not M-F 0530-1900.
I tend to be a supporter of deserving JV, of which there is a growing number, but I am in some sympathy with 4/19 @430. Contests have me switching to Little Steven (SXM 21).
I disagree with you, 724. Ticket Sports Saturday and Sunday were solid. And they were sports-centric, giving real time updates and analysis of that day's games and touching on all the local and national sports issues. And while I've never been a Sirois fanboy, I did think CdS was usually decent and at times very good weekend programming. WiP is on its way to being greatness. And I do enjoy some old school-ish radio via Elf. I do somewhat concur that a show or two is far too reliant on segment killing filler, which is at once both annoying and befuddling. And I do enjoy the Mavs and Stars specialty shows that have recently been brought into the fold. So other than a couple of head scratchers, I think the weekend lineups are fine.
Valid counter argument. To me, the best has traditionally always been before noon. Also I figured out who Detamore is. https://mobile.twitter.com/Kips_Big_Boy
Radio, as many industries, is struggling to fill those entry-level gigs. For talk radio it's even more problematic simply because of budgets and the fact there is no longer a large pool of young, interested talent (that last word being key).
Older, more experienced talent aren't all that interested in getting paid very little, with little chance of progress - along with they likely have other gigs or family life that precludes sucking the life out of one of two weekend days.
I believe the Radio-TV department at UNT is still churning out plenty of grads with varying degrees of talent. In the old days they would work for nothing or next to nothing just to get their foot in the door. I wonder if that's still true in the world of the Gen Z.
Anom 10:15 A&M-Commerce has supplied some talent to the market also. Most are in the news area with Donnie being an exception (East Texas State) in sports. I'm hearing the R/TV department there is in a state of flux right now and I don't know if KETR is still using student talent if at all. With stations so automated these days there aren't many overnight board op positions open anymore.
as hosts? sure, as interns or in support roles, but pretty sure listeners prefer hosts with some on-air experience. posts above are complaining about current hosts that are regularly on-air already. Can you image the noise you'd hear if it was a couple of college kids who don't even understand the fundamentals?
The Freak is up slightly. But to use a sports analogy, if you’re at the back of the NASCAR pack in a race, it’s nice that you’re picking up a place or 2. But you’re nowhere close to overtaking the race leader. And the Ticket didn’t just score another number one men 25-54. They also won the overall 6+ ratings for a 2nd month in a row. The Freak may be making progress, but it’s not at the expense of their target, and they’re still trailing the Eagles ratings and revenue with a much higher expense base. Unsustainable. C
should also be noted that while down from Jan, the Fan had another solid month and the growth in the ratings for both Ticket and Fan since Freak launched is very funny.
Creating and delivering entertaining content for four hours every day is very hard. Every host, every producer and every board op has to be present and contribute for it to work correctly. Near the end of Mike Rhyner's run on the Hard Line, he had clearly mentally checked out. Corby and Danny had to seemingly pry opinions out of him at times. The only time he seemed lucid was when he talked about music from his era. This setup was obviously very taxing for Corby and Danny as they had to carry the show every day. If Rhynes seemed marginalized by his team or was getting tired of being the butt of their jokes, why not communicate it? Why internalize it and let it fester in the form of being quietly quitting on the show? Rhynes has zero self-awareness and takes no accountability for anything. He is never wrong and is stubborn which are two of the worst toxic qualities one can have and prevents any kind of self-growth.
And now we are seeing the exact same cycle repeat on the Downbeat. If we gave Sirois and Danny truth serum, they would surely communicate their complete exasperation with having to carry his dead weight around every day. It can't be fun.
A year 1, P1 buddy of mine moved to Tempe about a year ago. He listens to The Ticket and now The Downbeat via apps. I should say he listens to The Downbeat when The Hardline goes on break. I pass along his takeaways with his permission.
*It's become only slightly more listenable since Danny joined. Only because, and this comports with Tricky Kid's comment, Sirois now has someone to talk to and isn't constantly trying to pry anything out of Rhyner.
*The dynamic we came to know and be befuddled by during the last 7-8 years of The Hardline (Corby and Danny basically being the two main hosts, with Rhyner only contributing during his half-assed preordained segments and C&D expressing their frustration by making him the butt of jokes) is now rearing its head on The Downbeat. So much so, that you'd think The Hardline replaced Corby with Sirois and now only talk sports every now and again. He also says you're beginning to hear a whiff of that old Rhyner "yeah, I don't really need this shit in my life" attitude creep in.
*In the past month there has been a noticeable drop off to non-existence of The Downbeat mentioning anything Ticket. Rehashed stories from the old days no longer reference The Ticket, even if the story is a part of Ticket lore. Appears to be something discussed internally and being executed on-air.
*Despite Corby's far too often bouts of Superlative Corby, Name Dropping Corby, Way Past Its Due Date Music Corby, The Hardline is better than it's been in well over a decade.
*While The Hangzone keeps getting stronger, he feels The Musers are fading. The ratings might say otherwise, but he finds the show becoming staler each year. This is especially so with Gordo. In his opinion, Gordo has become a one-note wonder with more emphasis on the one-note than the wonder.
*He thought the Donnie and Strahan pairing was absolute fire. Way better than any Sirois-Donnie show would or could ever be.
You would think, a station with the ratings KTCK has, could figure out their transmitter and weird noises and gaps in the stream. I know it is part of "The Little One" persona from days gone by, but wow, they have some big equipment issues down there.
Since the new ratings are out it makes me wonder, is the freak improving enough? On this site, myself included, have figured that the freak isn’t long for this world. While the ratings have been pretty bad, they’ve improved each month. I’m not in the business to know how it works completely, but do they have more hope than we once thought?
So someone in the thread asked about his role at TF and that was his response? Because it makes no sense regarding Luka. Even if he was "speaking" (a la Norm for others) for Luka.
No, it's not. Quite the opposite. Rhyner will say he was trolling. He wasn't. If you look back over the years, these (numerous) "trolls" most always proved to be based on what he actually thinks and/or is planning. From the self-created video memes ("Irish" retirement, "I'm back, bitches," etc.) to the Twitter countdowns, ad nauseam, Rhyner is one of the most intentional beings out there. Partly out of immaturity, partly ego driven, he telegraphs everything. I've said this here several times: He would begin making these kinds of claims the moment he knew things weren't looking good; and that when he did, we'll know the end is nigh. Well, ladies and germs, we're here.
Now. The end being nigh doesn't necessarily entail the end of TF. It might very well mean iHeart has/is quickly coming to think, like Cumulus, that Rhyner is merely taking a paycheck. So the end could mean he knows that he's been told to, ya know, actually put in some effort and we know how he takes to that directive. Or it could mean that he's gotten whiff of his impending offer of a graceful "second retirement."
One last thing: TF now has "Ticker" updates coming out of some breaks. They're all sporting news, nothing else, done in-house, and during weekday programming. So there's that. Might that also be the impetus for a senior citizen Stern wannabe's exit?
Mildly interested in the recent ratings showing KTCK up in all demographics. Is it a result of more people listening to the Ticket or is it the Ticket hanging on to its listeners as more & more people abandon terrestrial radio?
My assumption is it is the latter.
I am sure someone has data showing how the ratings break down into actual listeners.
I would agree, more people ditching radio. It's great when the ticket does well in ratings, but the real competition are Pat Macafee, and other podcasts out there.
Why do you think that? Google Pew research-radio-podcasts and you’ll see 83% listen to radio in a given week. While just 41% listened to “A” podcast in the last month. Radio listening in general is flat, but a lot of that is demographic variation, younger people don’t listen as much, older people listen more, so formats that appeal to older audiences (cough Ticket cough) have grown their audience. I hate to break it to you but the idea that podcasting is killing radio is an urban myth. C
I agree with C. Streaming is what is affecting radio more than podcasting. Broadcasters having to maneuver to have solid, user-friendly streaming options is key (and frankly why KTCK has been so strong in this dep't for so long - due to that app they put out with the paper so many years ago).
What is the deal with The Freak not being allowed to broadcast from the Rangers opening day? The first segment of TDB was Danny telling a metaphorical story of a breakup and the ex being mad and sending the person home??
Why would TF want to do that? They're not a sports station, remember.
Beginning to want it to fail. I wasn't in that camp, but their constant whinefest, sniping, snipping, snarking, and c-jerking all the while still not equalling the ratings of the format that was so bad it was dumped has made me come to have a distaste for TF and all involved.
4:24 here. My point still stands. Doesn't matter if it's The Ticket or The FAN. They claim over and again they're not a sports station. So what the fuck does it matter and why do they even want to be at opening day? Then again, why do they now have Tickers? Nothing about TF makes sense except that it makes no sense. They say what they want. Yay.
It’s the marketing law of dualities. There’s coke and Pepsi, windows and Mac, etc. they get buried if they’re seen as the 3rd sports station. But they know their audience all knows them from sports stations. So they try (poorly imho) to tread a fine line. Problem is they still don’t know what they want to be when they grow up. But some iheart suit is going to strangle them in the crib if they don’t to well sooner rather than later. C
I read on the freak subreddit that they are having a scavenger hunt. Is this still a thing in radio? I remember hearing of these things in the '70s. KT posted this in the thread:
"it was actually my idea and Rollertown stepped up to be the title sponsor, which means they paid money, which will in turn cover gas costs, and to pay for a day of having a social media guy"
It’s not a thing for most radio stations because it doesn’t do the 2 things you need to succeed. It doesn’t drive tune in (cume increase). Nobody not involved is tuning in to find out that Harry Cox, (an unemployed loser from Irving) had enough time to kill to drive all over the multiplex and figure out the clues. No listeners feel an emotional bond to Harry (or big Harry cox as he’s known to Coop and his friends) or any other listeners competing. And scavenger hunts don’t drive TSL. Every intelligent programmer knows it’s almost always (white elephant type days being an exception) about incremental increases. You want people for one more segment, a few more minutes. You’re not getting a bunch of non involved listeners to tune in for an extended (like hours) period of time in one day. So a contest that doesn’t build cume and doesn’t build TSL. That’s freakishly incompetent. C
so B&S are paying from their own pockets (they own Rollertown) to be the title sponsor of an event on their own station. now that's a way to 'improve sales!' if I could insert an "eye roll emoji" in this spot, I would.
Well that's a first. A dig at someone's financial situation by tax form. Wow. Not sure if I should feel sorry for such a pathetic and sad case or feel disgust. Probably both are in order.
As I said, the bees are indeed a buzzing and the birds are absolutely chirping. And B&S are basically paying for/sponsoring their own show now. Desperate times, measures and all.....
Their last book, their best so far, was still worse than the worst book of their predecessor. That is, the format that was so bad it was flipped.
I don't know about any birds or bees, but I have heard some barstool talk from some lower rung in the biz folks that changes are coming to TF. Though not a format flip. From what I gathered, they were talking more about hosts and direction.
Funny. I had THZ on today and it was gold. Flipped over to B&S and it was total shit. trivia, games, lists, promo for their businesses, Kyrstina playing exactly what role who knows. Listening to THL and it was gold. OK, Corbles is douchie. Fine. So what. He also makes some good points. Bob and Davey are great. Flipped over to TDB. Sirois nervous laughter. So nervous. So laughy. So telling. Not much if anything there if we're gonna be honest. Rhyner pretty much silent. Apply the Sirois tag line to hime, too. Danny trying his best to navigate between the Scylla of hipness and the Charybdis of thoughtfulness. Thing is, he keeps butting up against both. Never a clean or even somewhat clean passing. Hazed and grayed, you bet. Underway? Absolutely not. Never will.
I hope at least they're all saving that bank, getting their teeth fixed while the kick ass insurance is still in play, and pulling in some better than average wool via their local yokel celeb status. Hope they're doing a lot of all that. Because the time is short and they need to take advantage of it while they can.
Been out of town for awhile. Looks like there was a little misbehavior I had to clean up. Hope to have something new up soon. Anyone got a hot topic, let me know.
A couple of thoughts I regret having, but have nonetheless:
ReplyDelete(1) Has Mike Rhyner permanently damaged his reputation with first, the manner of his leaving The Ticket and his wandering accounts of how The Freak got started, and second, with his actual on-air performance since then?
And, a somewhat related question, but not entirely:
(2) Have recent events – heck, not even all that recent, let’s go back to the advent of Checkout Mike some years ago – changed the way we view him as a guy, i.e., not necessarily as a broadcasting legend?
I certainly admired him in my early years of Ticket listening, as he projected a certain intellectual integrity and independence on top of (or perhaps underlying) his unquestionable broadcast skills. Now, I wonder whether his apparent contempt for the station and show he founded and that were the source of his fame, as well as the circumstances listed in question (1), have folks reconsidering . . . the kind of guy he is.
In fairness, we don’t know all the behind-the-scenes. It’s risky to draw conclusions about character based only on what the public is allowed to see. That is to say – maybe I’m the asshole here.
You don’t have to be a prince (princess) to be a great entertainer. It seems sometimes to help if one isn’t. I have resisted asking the foregoing questions for a long time. But lately, I find myself envisioning Ticket personnel snickering up their sleeves, muttering “Now, you know.”
It’s been over a decade since I had a positive opinion of M. Rhyner
ReplyDeleteI always thought his grumpiness was kind of on air bit towards the end. The Freak has proven to me he doesn’t give a shit anymore. It’s hard to feel bad for the Seacow, but I kinda do. He’s got something.
ReplyDeleteI don’t know if he’s damaged his reputation on the large scale, but with the die hard p1s, that frequent sites like this, I imagine he’s been lowered for many. Including myself. He hasn’t really made one decision throughout this that has improved his image, but only hurt it to me. He was always The Godfather of the ticket, and for that, he is/was awesome. I think he got caught up in thinking he’s bigger than the ticket. We love the ticket because of the concept as a whole. It’s not the nba where our allegiance is specifically to one host. There are some out there that way I’m sure, but most have proven to be loyal to the ticket, not rhyner.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Confessors who have observed, as did 953, that Rhyner thought he was "bigger than the Ticket," or at least a continuing significant contributor to the station's success for which he was not being recognized by being asked to adhere to some management directives he didn't like.
ReplyDeleteThe question I have is: Why did he think that? When he left the station, The Hardline eventually not only got a lot better with Bob and eventually Davey, but continued to kill in the ratings. The latter is something he was able to observe, didn't depend on his particular opinion about his replacement. Oughtn't that to have suggested something to him, that people weren't tuning in to hear him, and might even have been tuning out since The Hardline had turned into the Corby and Danny Showgram?
Plainsman, my opinion of Rhyner had slowly diminished while he was at The Ticket. Then when he started tweeting about the freak it fell of a cliff.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, it sure seems now that he thought he was bigger than The Ticket for some time. Probably because of all the usual reasons, the number one being hubris.
Agreed 8:50, I don't think there's much you can point to as to why Rhyner thought this, other than ego. And I guess his ego is so large that he thought him merely showing up to work would be enough.
ReplyDelete(Full disclosure: As a Dallas native I feel a connection to Mike. If it weren't for him I would have abandoned the Hardline well before his departure. I listen to the DB some but mostly done by 5 pm)
ReplyDeleteIf my ego was stroked the way Mike's was, including induction into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame, as well as continued fawning by The Ticket after his Irish exit, I would think my S didn't stink either. Depending on the fate of TF in general and Mike in particular, I think his legacy will be generally positive.
there hasn't been as much muttering of "now you know" as there has been saying it out loud. this is the Mike Rhyner many of us have known (and in many cases, befriended, loved despite understanding his shortcomings) for decades. his choice in how he left TT can now be viewed in a completely different and accurate light.
ReplyDeletemake no mistake - if TF fails - the OGW storytelling that follows will be some of the cringiest throwing under the bus type BS to date. B&S, beware. lol
Plainsman- per your 1206, my working theory is that is why Mike did this. He saw that the station not only kept going without him, but continued performing at high levels. Both in ratings and with their Mikeless Marconi win. I think Mike was pissed that he was shown to be just a piece of the pie. I think his ego thought of himself as the pie-tin and crust, the foundation of it all and the thing holding it all together. I also think he thought of himself as another Stern, who could do a radio show about nothing but himself and draw huge ratings. We know Mike lived Stern, if he felt he was being held back from doing the show he wanted, is that the cause of the Cumulus/Corby/cat resentment?
ReplyDeleteDamn PD expecting him to talk sports on a sports station!
C
And to the Anon at 953p- agreed, and that’s the power and magic of radio imaging. 96.7 tells you exactly what you’re listening to, “sports radio 967&1310 the ticket”. If you’re a sports fan, and you hear a station say all sports all the time, breaking sports news first, the home of hot sports opinions, etc you know kind of what to expect. Contrast that to the freak, we say what we want. It’s about them, not the listeners needs or wants. It’s egocentric. Even with staff changes, you know that the Ticket will be talking Gilmore trade, or Zeke getting cut. While the Freak is doing “Rhyner ranks it”. If you love Mike and want his opinion on adult diapers, that’s a can’t miss segment. But if you view yourself as a sports fan, your interest in that segment DEPENDS (rock me) entirely on how much you like Mike.
ReplyDelete(Not a real Rhyner ranking, used strictly for illustrative purposes).
C
For me, the “we don’t owe you a thing” statement from the Where’s Greggo days was eye opening for me.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree with 10:12….somebody (or multiple somebodys) are going to fall on their sword to keep blame off of their king.
Hey, 1012. Drop me an email. ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteAnon 10:42
ReplyDeleteI agree. I've followed him since his yuck monkey days at KZEW. That statement soured me on Mike from then on. Now we see the Emperor has no clothes.
Can someone give some context to the “we don’t owe you anything”
ReplyDeleteI’ve heard that mentioned but was too young to be paying attention back then
I believe it was in reference to P1s hammering (get it!) them with behind the scenes questions about Greggo. “Where’s Greggo?” Beat them all down pretty bad. Mike had stopped talking to him off air for a year prior to him getting axed. He was absolutely sick of the questions.
ReplyDeleteIn short, he loved the P1s and the relationship they had with the station until it became annoying to him. He was glad Greggo was gone and could understand why people cared so much (or was mad people cared so much). Again the Ego coming out.
ReplyDeleteMy recollection of the context is this:
ReplyDeleteWhen Greggo blew up, The Ticket went radio silent on the circumstances of his departure because (1) despite the celebrities involved, it was essentially an internal employment matter, and (2) it was unclear whether Greggo would file suit for wrongful termination. Understandably, management put a lid on any of the hosts commenting on the reason(s) for his termination. They may also have feared a defamation suit if hosts started talking about Greggo's many transgressions.
This was frustrating for the P1, because The Ticket's popularity is based in part in making them feel like they're part of the family, part of this cool club that listens to The Ticket, knows the history, understands all the drops, and gets all of the inside references. Under the circumstances, the P1 DID feel like he was "owed" some kind of explanation of what happened to their good buddy Greggo, and I'm sure that feeling was conveyed to The Ticket, and in particular Mike R, through email and other forms of communication. But with the management-imposed blackout, and, quite possibly, the individual hosts' own concern over legal ramifications, they couldn't say a thing about what listeners really cared about.
Mike R's statement that they didn't owe the P1s anything was an expression of frustration that they were not able to satisfy listeners' demands for details of Greggo's implosion. It was tone-deaf and hyperbolic on Mike R's part; he could have found a much better way to deflect the avalanche of curiosity from listeners that explained the predicament he and others were in when it came to disclosing information.
Instead, he told listeners to get off his lawn.
Especially when you consider that at that time he was in his late 50s (i.e., if the douche-high t full of shit/yourself crap aspect of your persona hasn't been flushed out by means of life in general at that point and hasn't engendered some sense of perspective and appreciation for the good and the good people in your life, then you're a pathologically immature, lost cause), a radio-media lifer and should know how to handle things like a fucking pro, and ought to have had at least some semblance of reading the overall room.
ReplyDeleteEveryone points to that moment. It's an indictment, for sure. But for me, naw. I go back further. Greggo was still in full swing. The Pete Stein Countdown. I heard it live, in real time. Man. A middle of middle-aged man pulling that fucking high school bulsh on some dude who was himself a lifer sports guy trying his best to be a sports guy and make his way through that world. Pete did nothing. Said nothing rude or cringe. He merely tried to talk Rangers.... ya know, the thing Mike and Gregg were known for. Silly him. And there was "Oh, hey man" KZEW, never played an original tune in his life, Rhyner....shitting on this guy's one shot at conversing with THE beacon of the station. Yeah. THAT'S when Rhyner showed what he's about, as far as I'm concerned. Pete in essence WAS Rhyner pre Ticket in so many ways. An older guy, at least by industry starting out standards trying to slough his way through the ranks. And here comes Rhynes.... crapped all over him for no reason whatsover other than it made him feel powerful. And we've seen this recur in different forms over and again since then (before then, actually).
While the P1 during the Hee Hoo situation couldn't be apprised of many things, that fact in no way necessitated Rhyner's now infamous utterance. That was merely Rhyner being his true self.
Here's the thing that's never really said. I have a feeling the commenter you (Plainsman) gave your e-addy out to knows this: The part of The Ticket lore that says no one in the local biz gave it a chance. That indeed, it was predicted by all the smart set to fail and fail big...... weeeeeeeellll. True enough. But it wasn't because they didn't think a station dedicated entirely to sporsts would fail -- as such a format had already been succeeding for years in the Atlantic seaboard and Nor th East -- it was because of who was spearheading it. The rep was already, always there. "Now you know what we've known for all these years, despite...."
Great, well constructed comment above, but there was still “That’s up north/on the east coast… this is ‘Texxas’…” mentality on why it would never work down here. Primarily the reason it was scoffed at & looked down upon.
Delete+ a lot of no-names other than Skip… & that’s someone who was already a lightning rod for many local media members & the general public.
Deletelet's be fair to Rhyner. The Ticket is a special thing and his level of responsibility for that is not minor. He is (was?) beloved amongst the P1's, and anyone who followed him to TF, for a very good reason. To 1:16's point, the doubt at the time may have had some MR suspicions to it (along w/ Skip) but IIRC it was really mostly about the idea of the format and the number of personalities involved that weren't known entities beyond Skip. The market awareness of Mike Rhyner back at that time was low. When the station was announced I remember having to ask someone why I knew his name. "he used to do sports for LaBella/Rody" was what reminded me who he was (but didn't know him personally then).
ReplyDeleteThe Ticket was also scoffed at because it was thought that to be successful they needed to be the home of one of the big three franchises
ReplyDelete^ I forgot about that. Also many established local members of the media thought that they would be part of it.
ReplyDeleteI tuned in to The Downbeat yesterday. Each personality (Rhyner, Sirois, Balis, Gruber) were naming their favorite desert-island group starting with each letter of the alphabet.
ReplyDeleteIf I heard this correctly, I believe they copped this bit from something Kevin Turner put together on The Speakeasy. I didn't hear it on TS, but if so . . . then they need to think a little harder about some original bits.
Now, there was nothing wrong with this bit. It was kind of a "list" bit, but with a little more beef behind it.
But what struck me was how un-hip all this sounded. All the groups named got their start well before the turn of the century, hell, well before the 1990s. As, of course, did each of these hosts themselves. Of course, The Ticket guys like some of the same groups and, with the exception of Jake, Mino, Justin, and the newer crew of JV (actually, that's a fair number of younger on-air voices, come to think of it), are of the same generation as the Freak Hosts. And music bits on The Ticket aren't very frequent, and don't drag on. The Freak bit was, let's see, 4 x 26 > 100 mostly-old bands (there were several duplicates, and some hip-hop) and went on for two segments per show until they got through the whole alphabet, and double that if this thing also went down on The Freak.
The two segments weren't bad. Of course, this was something Mike R could actually participate in, in contrast to current events, pop culture, and everything else. They were just kind of . . . sad.
@1046am
ReplyDeleteI don't think anyone here discounts or is unaware of Rhyner's instrumentality where the founding, the putting together the roster, etc., of The Ticket is concerned. There are dozens and dozens of comments that show this. We all know this and appreciate what he did. We all owe him a debt of gratitude of sorts for it. But that's now what's in question here.
I'm curious if Plainsman received a private message from 3/16 1012am. That person seems to have intimate knowledge of what's being thought and bandied about.
@653AM: Alas, 3/16 @1012AM is apparently not a Ticket employee.
ReplyDeleteWell, in all fairness, I tuned into The Ticket yesterday and was greeted with yet another JV weekend show playing a game (NCAA mascots). Of course, these are JV shows and not weekday Varsity programming. True enough. But if I'm Cat, I'm issuing a cease and desist on all quiz/trivia games and list segments. Are you telling me these guys have a couple, maybe three hours once per week (if even, depending on SMU games, etc.) and they have to kill segments with that uninteresting, life sucking crap? If that's the case, then perhaps they ought to think about pursuing a different career path. They should be busting with substantive talking points and issues. Indeed, they should be torn over which topics to spend on those precious segments--because they have so many items they'd love to discuss. The whole game/list segment thing is so cheap and in some ways insulting to the listener to begin with, but I know there are down times in sports and if you're doing it 5 days per week, sometimes you have to go down that path. "Sometimes" being the key here; unlike what TF does. But, man oh man, you're a JV supposedly champing at the bit for exposure and you've been awarded one of those coveted weekend spots......and you're going to waste time on that shit? Not one hundo, but fairly certain yesterday's gameshow was a two segment affair. Even more egregious.
ReplyDeleteFix this shit, Cat.
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DeleteTraditionally the… (other than Cowboys pregame & postgame) past noon Sat & Sun generic ticket programming has been pure crap. The specialized shows on a local team or event seems the way to go. Racing at the TMS, Stars, soccer, etc. isn’t gonna get huge #s, but it’s better than rehashing generic talking pts that have already been talked about ad nauseam. I’m sure many of them are great guys, but it’s not M-F 0530-1900.
ReplyDeleteAlso, as much as they love the little Ticket, and the opportunity to work there, this is not a field to get into anymore.
ReplyDeleteI tend to be a supporter of deserving JV, of which there is a growing number, but I am in some sympathy with 4/19 @430. Contests have me switching to Little Steven (SXM 21).
ReplyDeleteCurrent non-main-hosts that Have Something™:
ReplyDeleteJustin
DJ
Ham
Mino
Blake
If any of them would go to The Freak, would they have success?
DeleteMy exact list as well. Others could develop something if they started performing for the listeners and not themselves
DeleteWhich one is dead amor?
ReplyDeleteMy bad… I meant Detamore.
DeleteI disagree with you, 724. Ticket Sports Saturday and Sunday were solid. And they were sports-centric, giving real time updates and analysis of that day's games and touching on all the local and national sports issues. And while I've never been a Sirois fanboy, I did think CdS was usually decent and at times very good weekend programming. WiP is on its way to being greatness. And I do enjoy some old school-ish radio via Elf. I do somewhat concur that a show or two is far too reliant on segment killing filler, which is at once both annoying and befuddling. And I do enjoy the Mavs and Stars specialty shows that have recently been brought into the fold. So other than a couple of head scratchers, I think the weekend lineups are fine.
ReplyDeleteI think that's correct, Surly. Not too shabby to have that many solid up and comers in the hopper.
ReplyDeleteValid counter argument. To me, the best has traditionally always been before noon. Also I figured out who Detamore is.
ReplyDeletehttps://mobile.twitter.com/Kips_Big_Boy
Other than a weekend show, exactly when would they get M-F airtime?
ReplyDeleteDry dock.
ReplyDeleteSo they'd junp ship to a station that might not be around for dry sock to maybe get 2-2 1/2 weeks of airtime for the year? OK.
ReplyDeleteRadio, as many industries, is struggling to fill those entry-level gigs. For talk radio it's even more problematic simply because of budgets and the fact there is no longer a large pool of young, interested talent (that last word being key).
ReplyDeleteOlder, more experienced talent aren't all that interested in getting paid very little, with little chance of progress - along with they likely have other gigs or family life that precludes sucking the life out of one of two weekend days.
I believe the Radio-TV department at UNT is still churning out plenty of grads with varying degrees of talent. In the old days they would work for nothing or next to nothing just to get their foot in the door. I wonder if that's still true in the world of the Gen Z.
ReplyDeleteAnom 10:15
ReplyDeleteA&M-Commerce has supplied some talent to the market also. Most are in the news area with Donnie being an exception (East Texas State) in sports. I'm hearing the R/TV department there is in a state of flux right now and I don't know if KETR is still using student talent if at all.
With stations so automated these days there aren't many overnight board op positions open anymore.
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ReplyDeleteI'd like to suggest that on-air weekend shifts on The Ticket really isn't appropriate for college students.
ReplyDeleteWhy not, 3/20 @152?
ReplyDeleteas hosts? sure, as interns or in support roles, but pretty sure listeners prefer hosts with some on-air experience. posts above are complaining about current hosts that are regularly on-air already. Can you image the noise you'd hear if it was a couple of college kids who don't even understand the fundamentals?
DeleteKTCK just had an even better month than last month (which was already its best ever month) - #1 total market for two straight months.
ReplyDeleteAnd TF?
ReplyDeleteThe Freak is up slightly. But to use a sports analogy, if you’re at the back of the NASCAR pack in a race, it’s nice that you’re picking up a place or 2. But you’re nowhere close to overtaking the race leader. And the Ticket didn’t just score another number one men 25-54. They also won the overall 6+ ratings for a 2nd month in a row.
ReplyDeleteThe Freak may be making progress, but it’s not at the expense of their target, and they’re still trailing the Eagles ratings and revenue with a much higher expense base. Unsustainable.
C
should also be noted that while down from Jan, the Fan had another solid month and the growth in the ratings for both Ticket and Fan since Freak launched is very funny.
DeleteCreating and delivering entertaining content for four hours every day is very hard. Every host, every producer and every board op has to be present and contribute for it to work correctly. Near the end of Mike Rhyner's run on the Hard Line, he had clearly mentally checked out. Corby and Danny had to seemingly pry opinions out of him at times. The only time he seemed lucid was when he talked about music from his era. This setup was obviously very taxing for Corby and Danny as they had to carry the show every day. If Rhynes seemed marginalized by his team or was getting tired of being the butt of their jokes, why not communicate it? Why internalize it and let it fester in the form of being quietly quitting on the show? Rhynes has zero self-awareness and takes no accountability for anything. He is never wrong and is stubborn which are two of the worst toxic qualities one can have and prevents any kind of self-growth.
ReplyDeleteAnd now we are seeing the exact same cycle repeat on the Downbeat. If we gave Sirois and Danny truth serum, they would surely communicate their complete exasperation with having to carry his dead weight around every day. It can't be fun.
A year 1, P1 buddy of mine moved to Tempe about a year ago. He listens to The Ticket and now The Downbeat via apps. I should say he listens to The Downbeat when The Hardline goes on break. I pass along his takeaways with his permission.
ReplyDelete*It's become only slightly more listenable since Danny joined. Only because, and this comports with Tricky Kid's comment, Sirois now has someone to talk to and isn't constantly trying to pry anything out of Rhyner.
*The dynamic we came to know and be befuddled by during the last 7-8 years of The Hardline (Corby and Danny basically being the two main hosts, with Rhyner only contributing during his half-assed preordained segments and C&D expressing their frustration by making him the butt of jokes) is now rearing its head on The Downbeat. So much so, that you'd think The Hardline replaced Corby with Sirois and now only talk sports every now and again. He also says you're beginning to hear a whiff of that old Rhyner "yeah, I don't really need this shit in my life" attitude creep in.
*In the past month there has been a noticeable drop off to non-existence of The Downbeat mentioning anything Ticket. Rehashed stories from the old days no longer reference The Ticket, even if the story is a part of Ticket lore. Appears to be something discussed internally and being executed on-air.
*Despite Corby's far too often bouts of Superlative Corby, Name Dropping Corby, Way Past Its Due Date Music Corby, The Hardline is better than it's been in well over a decade.
*While The Hangzone keeps getting stronger, he feels The Musers are fading. The ratings might say otherwise, but he finds the show becoming staler each year. This is especially so with Gordo. In his opinion, Gordo has become a one-note wonder with more emphasis on the one-note than the wonder.
*He thought the Donnie and Strahan pairing was absolute fire. Way better than any Sirois-Donnie show would or could ever be.
You would think, a station with the ratings KTCK has, could figure out their transmitter and weird noises and gaps in the stream. I know it is part of "The Little One" persona from days gone by, but wow, they have some big equipment issues down there.
ReplyDeleteSince the new ratings are out it makes me wonder, is the freak improving enough? On this site, myself included, have figured that the freak isn’t long for this world. While the ratings have been pretty bad, they’ve improved each month. I’m not in the business to know how it works completely, but do they have more hope than we once thought?
ReplyDelete"improved each month" - according to what was posted on Reddit - they only kinda got back to their 1st month numbers - which were terrible then.
Delete“ I made it known from the start I’m not a long-timer there…maybe you can take my place when I’m gone”
ReplyDeleteM Rhyner
Where did you see/hear that, Surly? And to whom was it addressed?
ReplyDeleteIt was in a Twitter thread rhyner was talking about Luka
DeleteSo someone in the thread asked about his role at TF and that was his response? Because it makes no sense regarding Luka. Even if he was "speaking" (a la Norm for others) for Luka.
ReplyDeleteA Potamus
ReplyDeleteSorry for above. Rhyner said Luka won’t be here long. Someone said he’ll be in Dallas longer than Rhyner will be at TF. That was his response.
ReplyDeleteMaybe that has been what he has said from the start, but I don't recall hearing about that before.
ReplyDeleteNo, it's not. Quite the opposite. Rhyner will say he was trolling. He wasn't. If you look back over the years, these (numerous) "trolls" most always proved to be based on what he actually thinks and/or is planning. From the self-created video memes ("Irish" retirement, "I'm back, bitches," etc.) to the Twitter countdowns, ad nauseam, Rhyner is one of the most intentional beings out there. Partly out of immaturity, partly ego driven, he telegraphs everything. I've said this here several times: He would begin making these kinds of claims the moment he knew things weren't looking good; and that when he did, we'll know the end is nigh. Well, ladies and germs, we're here.
ReplyDeleteNow. The end being nigh doesn't necessarily entail the end of TF. It might very well mean iHeart has/is quickly coming to think, like Cumulus, that Rhyner is merely taking a paycheck. So the end could mean he knows that he's been told to, ya know, actually put in some effort and we know how he takes to that directive. Or it could mean that he's gotten whiff of his impending offer of a graceful "second retirement."
One last thing: TF now has "Ticker" updates coming out of some breaks. They're all sporting news, nothing else, done in-house, and during weekday programming. So there's that. Might that also be the impetus for a senior citizen Stern wannabe's exit?
Is the stream down for everyone or is it me? Seems stuck on buffering.
ReplyDeleteThe stream is fine. The SportsDay app is down though
ReplyDeleteMildly interested in the recent ratings showing KTCK up in all demographics. Is it a result of more people listening to the Ticket or is it the Ticket hanging on to its listeners as more & more people abandon terrestrial radio?
ReplyDeleteMy assumption is it is the latter.
I am sure someone has data showing how the ratings break down into actual listeners.
I would agree, more people ditching radio. It's great when the ticket does well in ratings, but the real competition are Pat Macafee, and other podcasts out there.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you think that? Google Pew research-radio-podcasts and you’ll see 83% listen to radio in a given week. While just 41% listened to “A” podcast in the last month. Radio listening in general is flat, but a lot of that is demographic variation, younger people don’t listen as much, older people listen more, so formats that appeal to older audiences (cough Ticket cough) have grown their audience. I hate to break it to you but the idea that podcasting is killing radio is an urban myth.
DeleteC
I agree with C. Streaming is what is affecting radio more than podcasting. Broadcasters having to maneuver to have solid, user-friendly streaming options is key (and frankly why KTCK has been so strong in this dep't for so long - due to that app they put out with the paper so many years ago).
Deletefunny how much luka sounds like the ol himmler
ReplyDeleteWhat is the deal with The Freak not being allowed to broadcast from the Rangers opening day? The first segment of TDB was Danny telling a metaphorical story of a breakup and the ex being mad and sending the person home??
ReplyDeleteWhy would TF want to do that? They're not a sports station, remember.
ReplyDeleteBeginning to want it to fail. I wasn't in that camp, but their constant whinefest, sniping, snipping, snarking, and c-jerking all the while still not equalling the ratings of the format that was so bad it was dumped has made me come to have a distaste for TF and all involved.
They were blaming Gavin Spittle and The Fan, not The Ticket
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's the new target. Lather, rinse, repeat.
ReplyDelete4:24 here. My point still stands. Doesn't matter if it's The Ticket or The FAN. They claim over and again they're not a sports station. So what the fuck does it matter and why do they even want to be at opening day? Then again, why do they now have Tickers? Nothing about TF makes sense except that it makes no sense. They say what they want. Yay.
ReplyDeleteThe Freak is Quibi.
ReplyDeleteIt’s the marketing law of dualities. There’s coke and Pepsi, windows and Mac, etc. they get buried if they’re seen as the 3rd sports station. But they know their audience all knows them from sports stations. So they try (poorly imho) to tread a fine line. Problem is they still don’t know what they want to be when they grow up. But some iheart suit is going to strangle them in the crib if they don’t to well sooner rather than later.
ReplyDeleteC
I read on the freak subreddit that they are having a scavenger hunt. Is this still a thing in radio? I remember hearing of these things in the '70s. KT posted this in the thread:
ReplyDelete"it was actually my idea and Rollertown stepped up to be the title sponsor, which means they paid money, which will in turn cover gas costs, and to pay for a day of having a social media guy"
It’s not a thing for most radio stations because it doesn’t do the 2 things you need to succeed. It doesn’t drive tune in (cume increase). Nobody not involved is tuning in to find out that Harry Cox, (an unemployed loser from Irving) had enough time to kill to drive all over the multiplex and figure out the clues. No listeners feel an emotional bond to Harry (or big Harry cox as he’s known to Coop and his friends) or any other listeners competing.
DeleteAnd scavenger hunts don’t drive TSL. Every intelligent programmer knows it’s almost always (white elephant type days being an exception) about incremental increases. You want people for one more segment, a few more minutes. You’re not getting a bunch of non involved listeners to tune in for an extended (like hours) period of time in one day. So a contest that doesn’t build cume and doesn’t build TSL. That’s freakishly incompetent.
C
so B&S are paying from their own pockets (they own Rollertown) to be the title sponsor of an event on their own station. now that's a way to 'improve sales!' if I could insert an "eye roll emoji" in this spot, I would.
ReplyDeleteIt's almost over. The bees are starting to buzz, the birds chirp. Matter of 2-3 months now.
ReplyDeleteSo Memorial day or the 4th of July?
ReplyDeleteJuneteenth
ReplyDelete“But no offense” - in Norm voice.
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ReplyDeleteWell…
ReplyDeleteWell that's a first. A dig at someone's financial situation by tax form. Wow. Not sure if I should feel sorry for such a pathetic and sad case or feel disgust. Probably both are in order.
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ReplyDeleteshould have know, about time for another of those weird outbreaks on mtc
ReplyDeleteLooks like the freak paid for an ad on Dallas Texas tv…the comments are..um..less than positive
ReplyDeleteAs I said, the bees are indeed a buzzing and the birds are absolutely chirping. And B&S are basically paying for/sponsoring their own show now. Desperate times, measures and all.....
ReplyDeleteoh yeah well i wish i was on their facebook group right now and i could tell you how awesome they are how much fud you are
ReplyDeleteWho are the birds that are chirping? I thought their ratings were better in the last book.
ReplyDeleteTheir last book, their best so far, was still worse than the worst book of their predecessor. That is, the format that was so bad it was flipped.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about any birds or bees, but I have heard some barstool talk from some lower rung in the biz folks that changes are coming to TF. Though not a format flip. From what I gathered, they were talking more about hosts and direction.
Funny. I had THZ on today and it was gold. Flipped over to B&S and it was total shit. trivia, games, lists, promo for their businesses, Kyrstina playing exactly what role who knows. Listening to THL and it was gold. OK, Corbles is douchie. Fine. So what. He also makes some good points. Bob and Davey are great. Flipped over to TDB. Sirois nervous laughter. So nervous. So laughy. So telling. Not much if anything there if we're gonna be honest. Rhyner pretty much silent. Apply the Sirois tag line to hime, too. Danny trying his best to navigate between the Scylla of hipness and the Charybdis of thoughtfulness. Thing is, he keeps butting up against both. Never a clean or even somewhat clean passing. Hazed and grayed, you bet. Underway? Absolutely not. Never will.
ReplyDeleteI hope at least they're all saving that bank, getting their teeth fixed while the kick ass insurance is still in play, and pulling in some better than average wool via their local yokel celeb status. Hope they're doing a lot of all that. Because the time is short and they need to take advantage of it while they can.
Been out of town for awhile. Looks like there was a little misbehavior I had to clean up. Hope to have something new up soon. Anyone got a hot topic, let me know.
ReplyDeleteNew red and random observation.
ReplyDelete