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."
Latest book is reported to show a material decline in the fortunes of 97.1 The Freak. Anonymous 1119 writes at the end of the prior thread:
“Said it ad nauseam here in forever. TF will be a cold cold shower for some heroes and their fanboys. That has panned out. Bullseye. If you still think Sirois is genius I'm not sure what to say to you other than you might need therapy. If you still think Julie's departure from TT was devestating I'm not sure what to say to you other than you might wanna stop equating attractiveness with substantive content creation. If you still think Rhyner is the Rhyner from '04 -'06 I'm not sure what to say to you other than you might need to consult a current calendar and perhaps seriously question your judgment, not just in this case but in all areas of your life. Danny? Still trying to figure out just what he was/is thinking. QED. Cat knows talent. Who has it and who does not. From TT's historic ratings run to TF's Edsel-like flop, everything bears this out.”
* * *
So harsh, 1119! And, in my judgment, not exactly QED; I’m not quite sure what quod you intended your comment to have demonstrandumed, but I assume you were attributing The Freak’s decline to the deficiencies in the on-air actors you mentioned. If I’m wrong about that, please accept my apologies.
I respectfully offer a different point of view beginning in the next comment.
A successful show is more than just the personalities that inhabit it. You correctly credit Jeff Catlin at The Ticket, but he doesn't broadcast -- he puts broadcasters together whose talents complement one another. The musical chairs occasioned by Mike R's departure is a great example: both middays and PM drive got a lot better with the teams that eventually emerged. And, of course, Cat has spotlighted Mike S, Julie D, and Danny B on The Ticket, although did not ever give one a weekday host slot.
But The Freak doesn't have a Jeff Catlin.
Here are some other things The Freak doesn't have:
a coherent entertainment philosophy -- "We Say What We Want" is hubristic and off-putting, and, if that is indeed what they're saying, terribly embarrassing to the personalities involved, as no one would want to be thought of as "wanting" to "say" one's opinion on the relative merits of one's fingers, for example;
along the same lines: An identifiable subject matter, theme, format;
a deeply-felt need in the market for what it is offering. I.e., a reason for being;
a well-known founder who continuously provides guidance and uses his own talent to make the station better; and
a ballyhooed launch that did anything other than die on the pad in an orgy of self-congratulation, snide references to a past employer, and amusingly insincere expressions of love by all hosts for one another.
We can bundle these things under a more generalized lack: The Freak doesn't have (apparently) ANY management. Left to their own devices, there are a lot of talented people out there who would fail if they weren't managed properly. It won't do to say that Mike S and Julie are poor broadcasters until they're given proper structure, guidance, team members, and other essential support. Mike S sounds below-average with Mike R because Mike R isn't holding up his end, and he and Danny are too much alike and Danny himself can't seem to engage Mike R either. (I have so little recollection of Julie on The Ticket that I can't tell if she might have more than a bag.) Mike R is a true star, but one who apparently resists supervision. Danny -- a niche star, but needs the right niche, which he has not been provided on The Freak.
So I'd listen to a station featuring the people you mentioned -- even Mike R -- but it would have to be one where someone was cracking the whip on concept, prep, day-to-day content, the works. Athletes can fail on one team but thrive on another; stars who are huge successes in one TV show can get cancelled after a few episodes in another.
The Freak blossomed into existence in reliance on the celebrity of Mike R -- celebrity that was real, but very narrow. It wasn't enough, and it's wilted with the sunrise. It needed someone to prepare the seed bed and care for it when it began to sprout. But it turned out to be seed scattered on rocky ground, then left untended.
I’ll have more to say later, but up against a deadline. Either they have management who is telling them to rank the beans, or they’re deciding to do it on their own. If they’re being told to do it, and then doing it, I fault them for not having better sense of what GOOD radio is. Stand up for yourselves and your reputations. But if they’re doing it because they want to, again it’s an indictment of their radio sensibilities. They must know how bad the ratings are. But nothing changes. C
C at 4:11PM: Their reaction to this book on their Reddit page is kind of like Kevin Bacon in Animal House, "Remain calm, All is well" as the rest of the market runs over them. Now that the Mavs season is over, what will the next one look like?
I think this is a combo platter of a couple of things. Ben and Skin are extremely average. There’s a reason they’ve been on 5 stations in 13 years. They’re ok, but never good enough to last a long time anywhere. Ben and Skin sell iheart on this concept. Iheart looks at the Tickets revenue (top of the market) and thinks they can get some of that pie. So they get Rhyner, Sirois, etc and launch a new station, but in typical iheart fashion do it in the cheap. Cheap specifically on the morning show. To avoid paying a 4th show they don’t start till 7am. Immediately surrendering 25% of AM drive to live competitors. Cheap in that of your 3 “talent” none of them, NONE OF THEM have any experience in carrying a show. These people got jobs because they were available not because they were talented. As for Rhyner, he WAS a star, at one point him and Greggo were the toast of the town. But he’s been coasting for years, if not a decade since the Cumulus takeover. Iheart looks at a guy who sandbagged his last employer by quitting suddenly and decides “yeah the unmotivated, disinterested retiree is who we want to build our station around”. Iheart could have looked around and hired shows with a history of success. Instead they cobble together the morning show of misfit toys, the perennial meh of Ben and skin, and the odd duck pairing of guy who tries too hard and guy who doesn’t try at all in pm drive. I think it’s the Peter principle that says people rise to their level of incompetence. Every one there but Rhyner is in over their head. Julie? Fine as a ticker person/ fill in. Incompetent as a host. Sirois? Fine as a producer/side kick/ fill in, exposed as incompetent as a co host. And if you don’t think they’re incompetent look at the ratings. Adults 25-54 they’re 32, just ahead of KNON at 35 and KEOM at 36. They’re barely beating volunteers and high school students! Their imaging is horrible, and they have no positioning listeners can understand. They individually may have some talents, but this station does nothing, NOTHING to highlight those talents. I’m told the meetings at iheart have already started. The morning show is 30th. Can you even name 30 other stations in this market without looking? Let’s put it this way, stations that specifically cater to women are doing better with make listeners than the Freak. That’s just not sustainable. I predict by Q3 a major change happens. C
Doea that men and women then? Is that for 6a-7p M-F? Does that mean they’re doing worse with women than they’re doing for men? Because people are trying to spin that they’re trying to appeal to a broader audience than just men
Yes m-f 6a-7p. Adults 25-54 32nd (.9) Men 25-54 28th. (1.3) Women 25-54 29th(.5) Parentheses are average shares. And look, I sell advertising for a living. Almost all major advertisers buy based off 25-54 numbers. Yes, some don’t but the big spenders look at A25-54, M25-54,or W25-54. Maybe there’s some niche that’s doing well for them. I’m just not seeing it. Anywhere. And sorry, not buying the appealing to a wider audience spin. If they are, why is your whole air staff except K Ray former sports talk employees? And yesterday heard Balis tell a story about failed gig when he was in Sahara Rain. Story ended with Danny walking in on a band mate getting his salad tossed. Think that story appeals to your average female listener? C
Which might make sense if they were even a marginally decent radio station. But they’re 30th. The morning show has never worked together before this. None of them have a single ratings book to point at and say “that success is mine”. None of them are experts in this format (to be fair, no one can explain this format well enough to be an expert). My last on air job I got airchecked a couple of times a week for the first few months to make sure I understood formatics, style, etc. and that was a station doing well. The problem with every few weeks, do you remember your show from match 31st? What you did, why you picked those topics, etc? If you can’t remember what you did 15 shows ago, feedback is useless. C
I don’t understand why they didn’t put Ben and skin as morning drive. While everyone admits they’re average or worse, they at least have experience. They were the second biggest show name wise of the station and they put them at midday. Why not at an drive time? Also starting am drive time at 7 am was a give up to begin with. I dont have to be at work til 830 and I’m regularly listening to the musers pre-7 am.
I believe Patrick Davis is something like “Senior VP/Regional Program Director” overseeing a number of iHeart properties. I’m not sure where he’s located but I don’t think it’s Dallas. Explaining why he only meets with his foundering 97.1 talent only once every three weeks.
Patrick is local and the person who has long overseen the market and was the PD of KHKS through its heyday. He is the programming lead, but has no talk radio experience (that I know of) and would assume is the PD being referring to.
There was an EVP (of news/talk/sports) from PHX brought in several weeks (just after holiday break) ago for that all-hands meeting that was discussed on-air but clearly his involvement isn't, at least so far, impactful. Really, that is the oddest part of this story is how there doesn't sound like any attempts to improve things has occurred. It would be improbable that iHeart continues with this much longer, it's just not in their nature. It wouldn't shock to get a late Friday news dump about some significant adjustments are coming, or that they're blowing it up and shifting formats.
This isn't a story of a station with a single show that is underperforming, the entire station is. People keep pointing to the AM shift but all three shows simply aren't even close to where they need to be. This isn't a tricycle with one flat tire - it's all three.
I think people focus on the morning show for a couple of reasons. #1- they’re clearly trying to poach the Tickets audience.,besides hiring 5 of the 9 people who’s last radio job was at the ticket, look at their vaunted marketing. “I’m back” only appeals to people who already knew who Rhyner is. Otherwise that’s a major strategic error of monumental proportions. So in an attempt to steal ticket p1’s, you roll out, against the Musers, 3 absolute spares with zero solo success, zero chemistry, etc. you may not like the Musers, but they just won a Marconi. They regularly get monster ratings in their target. They’re a long time morning show on a now heritage station. And your competition for that is a spare part from the Fan (so spare he left and their ratings didn’t suffer), a spare part from the Ticket (same- so spare her leaving spurred them to number one 6+) and a spare part from the Eagle, a former producer bumped up to cohost. Not on the strength of talent, but because he’d Worked for Ben and skin for years and had “paid his dues”. Putting those 3 up against the musers is like putting a pop Warner team up against the Cowboys. Funny for a few minutes, then you just feel bad for the way they’re being annihilated. C
not debating that, at all (that was never a serious attempt at a morning show from the start). simply trying to drive the point that the whole thing is equally dead in the water. you can see the numbers, C.
Having worked in management, different industry, iHeart moves make a little sense to me. If you are going to make a big move, let a department go or release an critical employee for some reason, you keep it quiet, while you build a replacement plan in the background. And, the fact that it appears no one from iHeart is steering the ship... If you know you are going to sink the ship, why bother with the investment to repair and steer it. In fact, in my experience, when the higher-ups just don't talk to you, that is the time to be worried.
I think once they have a plan in place, it won't take long.
On the topic of TT. Is it me, or is anyone else sensing some tension from Bob concerning GXD? I have been getting a sense during non-sportsy segments, Bob is frustrated. Just curious.
I feel a little bad for KT, Julie and Cavanaugh they are the proverbial sacrificial lamb B&S aren't going to get their heads handed to them by the JR, George and Gordo. Rhyner clearly wants to go up against the HL so they let the three new people with no experince as host go up against the juggernaut and all the other established morning shows in the area.
I still don't know that the people on the Freak aren't able to host a show on a station with some structure, I just don't think they can do it one the weird disjointed station that is the Freak. I don't know if the Sirois have talent or not. I know I enjoyed Mike on the Invasion and on the Weekends more than I enjoy the current Invasion or anything other than WiP that they are throwing down on the weekends now. I'd much rather have most all the Freak people still on the Ticket or as part of the Ticket family than on the Freak, Minus B & S who I never "got" even when they were on the Ticket.
Appreciate your thoughts on my comment. The quod erat demonstrandum (QED) was in reference to the many comments I've made regarding the genuine, big boy and girl, day/week/month/year in-out hosting abilities of certain ex-pat Ticketeers. Ex-pat Ticketeers who, per the very vocal sosh minority, were unjustly denied their "seat at the table," "living wages," etc....and whose departures (some might say rather sleazily executed departures) would signal the end of TT. QED was the conclusion of the long form "proof" I began to write out around the time of Sirois/Balis' adios amigos and Julie's very public (both on TT airwaves and on her Mom Game pod) displeasure with her pay and airtime on TT. With the advent of TF, the continued dominance of TT, and the, OK let's admit it, the Day One shit show that never stopped that is TF, I began to add the "Cat knows talent. Who has it and who does not" punctuator. Having said all this, of course I wouldn't expect you or anyone else to put all this together. QED was more of a "joke to self." I do think that everything I've written has proven out to be correct. Now, as to my last comment being excessively harsh....we'll have to agree to disagree. It's not harsh. It reflects reality. Have you ever seen Sirois' Twitch streams? Have you imbibed in Julie's Mom Game pod? Real talent shines through, regardless of (in spite of) what surrounds it. It's self evident. The ballplayer on a poor team that shines when traded to a good org was still a self-evident, world class athlete...else he woudn't be in the show in the first place. Even you have penned and posted up dozens of Rhyner mails it in musings. I've also said over and again in a myriad of comments that Rhyner once WAS greatness. But we're coming up on damn near 20 years since he was last genuinely engaging. Since he actually gave one shit, much less two. And during the last near 20 years didn't Rhyner have some of the best management and direction around him? So too I've said Julie was excellent on Tickers and a nice and needed fresh breath of air when judiciously used in spots. Ditto with Sirois' Goodtime Charlie Up For Anything pick his spots limited role as producer and SOMETIME cohost for a TWO HOUR SHOW. Everyone has their role in life. Gnothi seauton, as the saying goes. In conjunction, know your station. Contra Drs. Seuss, Benjamin Spock, Oprah, and all the feel good/therapeutic moralists out there, no, Virginia, you actually CAN'T be anything you want to be. Sorry. This applies to everyone. Lastly, I think C and others are spot on in their analyses, and I also believe those analyses have far sharper points than mine.
I think KDF has a good point. These people may have some talent, the problem is that they’re being exposed on a station where the only thing to carry the show is your talent. Music shows are carried by the music and there’s limited windows for a DJ to slot their personality/talent into the show. Traditional talk shows are driven by the topic of the day - politics, sports etc. but the Freak has no underlying theme, no reason d’etre ( oops, went French after anons QED Latin tangent) . That puts the “anus” on the talent to fill 4 hours a day on their own. So funny story of what you saw at the grocery store is a good filler between 2 sports segs on TT. But in the freak you have to follow that segment with funny story of what happened to you at the gas station. Funny story of what happened to you at the restaurant last night, etc. No body has that many funny/interesting encounters in a day so they fall back to the generics. What’s in the news, celebrity gossip, lists, etc. the same thing you’ll find in 40 other stations in town, of which 30 have higher ratings than you ( the freak). To circle back to KDFs point, they may have talent, it’s just being exposed for what it is. To use another sports analogy, they’re decent college qbs, capable in the right conference of doing well. But now all your faults (undersized, bad arm strength, poor footwork) is being exposed because you’re competing not just with the musers, but with The Kraddick show, Hawkeye,Hudson and starlene, etc etc etc. all shows with proper formats, more experience, etc. c
The fact that Rhyner, Sirois, and Balis are getting destroyed by THL 69.0 must have Rhyner's butt in perpetual pain. I guarantee you this is not how he envisioned things going. Quite the opposite in fact.
So I'm gonna disagree with the tightly focused station identity and the right sort of management to guide the hosts theory most of you seem to think is the issue with TF and its roster. Not that they're not issues because they are. They're just not the major issue. If you think about it, the We Say What We Want format ought to be a winner. They literally can discuss anything under the sun. By that you should never run out of topics and beating a dead horse shouldn't be a problem. The rub is you have to have A+ talent to pull it off. The only host that can once be said of is Rhyner. As 3:17 pointed out it's been well over a decade since that can be truthfully said about Rhyner. And to say that it was the partnership with Greggo that made Rhyner an A+ host back then and not his own innate ability can't be dismissed out of hand. I'll admit that while Rhyner's game began to slip before Greggo's firing it went off the deep end the day after Greggo was gone and never came back up for air.
What this means is that for something like We Say What We Want to succeed it must have a talent pool that is ever keeping up on current events of all sorts and in a substantive manner. This of course takes a lot of hard work and want to. Something no one on TF roster seems to have in them. I have been a regular listener. A Glen? No. (My God is Glen insultingly stupid to both the hosts and listeners alike. It makes TOLO seem brilliant.) From my regular listening I can say with confidence that lazy is the most apt descriptor of all hosts across the board. That might come off as mean spirited. I don't mean it as such. After 6 months of listening, I can't come to any other conclusion.
The upshot is that as far as being a full time host goes, this roster does not pass muster. Perhaps they could get by in that typical mediocre radio way if they were properly guided by management and bounded by the strictures of a tightly focused format. But is that what was on promise? Is that what Rhyner and the rest had in mind? This wasn't merely a plum gig in the industry. Was it not for all but Rhyner their shot at the big time? For Rhyner was it not at least in part some odd attempt at revenge on The Ticket/Cumulus (for what only he knows)? You'd think they would've and would be working their tails off. Instead they've done nothing but (as others have said before me) take a series of victory laps. A+ talent is more than being naturally compelling. It also takes hard work and an insatiable desire for greatness. I'm sorry to report that so far I've seen none of that from any of The Freak's talent pool. As such no management team, PD, or focused format can save them. The elephant in the room pertains to the level of talent across all hosts and the time and energy they put into it. This line of work is very difficult. Even more so when you're trying to establish your voice as unique and worthy to be heard. It's possible to overcome a lack of natural talent with hard work and persistence. But no amount of talent in the world can overcome the lack of the latter.
Definitely think the station could use some re-tooling. I find some of the content pretty decent. However, the way I have listened to this station is totally different than the ticket. Pretty much just occasionally punch in during commercial breaks or segments with random guests if I am in the car. But I have found the podcast element to be far superior to any other station. It is really nice being able to just listen in like any other podcast for the limited content that actually interests me. I don't really have strong feelings about the hosts who chose to leave the ticket. In the end, they deserve to make money and if they make more here than good for them.
Everyone is welcome to their opinion about TF. But no one and I mean no one in these comment sections has ever said the ex-pats shouldn't have bet on themselves and bolted to TF for a position that in all likelihood would've never materialized at TT (including the pay/benefits that come along with it). No one here has ever said they don't deserve to make money, and as much as they can. (Though it must be said that Sirois actually made very good money for what was in essence a part time job -- 40-45k plus $ for doing spots, insurance, etc. for p/t hours is rather bad ass.)
I hate that argument/statement because no one claims otherwise. What is looked at sideways is the way in which they left. This is especially the case with Rhyner and Sirois. But as far as liking, disliking, meh-ing, or anything inbetween regarding TF, to each his/her own. Personally, I find it embarrassingly bad. That's me. Your mileage may vary, as they say.
He did not work 25 hrs per week. try 15, max. And yes, 40-45k IS damn good for 25 hrs per week. I know. I drove bus. Seriously, I've mostly worked multiple p/t jobs at once. 40-45k plus insurance is very good.
Do they suck? Suck at what? Suck at being varsity hosts or suck in this particular business in general? I wouldn't say they suck at being hosts. But I wouldn't say they're very good. At least not so far. Mike R hasn't been very good in a long time. I think that has nore to do with mailing it in than talent. I agree with the thought that Julie, Mike S, and Danny were very good in their roles at The Ticket but are in over their heads at The Freak. I also agree that the reason why is because they have no direction or leadership and had perhaps underestimated what it takes to play on the varsity team. It's one thing to sub in for a game every now and again when a varsity regular is injured. It's quite another to be a full member of the squad.
The Griffin and I come out at about the same place. We need to remember that we are comparing these guys to superstars of the industry. Multiple Marconis and rockcrusher ratings for years and only getting better. That doesn't mean they suck qua suck.
300 makes an eloquent case, but I think it's wrong to base it on the assumption that, in 300's words, "We Say What We Want format ought to be a winner" because they can discuss "any topic under the sun." But that's fundamentally -- not entirely -- what's wrong with it, and that's structural -- that's something management can and should address (and should have done so before putting it on the air). You put The Ticket stars in that format, tell them not to talk sports except rarely, and they're not going to do well.
Now, heed what I'm saying here. I'm NOT saying The Freak talent is equivalent to The Ticket talent, so don't make a straw man argument along the lines of "everyone seems to think that Mike S is the second coming of" name your favorite talker. I don't think that and I don't think anyone who has enjoyed their work in the past feels that way, either. I AM saying that (with perhaps an exception or two) they are not bad broadcasters but that the absence of structure, lack of direction, and a DOA launch of a DOA format will fail with almost anyone.
Summing up: They haven't evidenced Ticket host talent in their current format, but hardly any sports station host does (have you listened to other cities' sports radio?), and they will unquestionably suffer by comparing host-to-host across the two stations. But -- again, with a possible exception or two -- they don't suck.
I think the format of no format is definitely problematic. I think the station would be better off if that had just been a straight up sports station, or at least a ticket like sports station.
Specially when they're doing sports only updates coming back from breaks and all the national programming is sports. Then you add on that the only time any of them can carry on a conversation that has any content is when they discuss sports. Oh, wait. Everyone sans one host is from a sports talk radio/tv background. We say what we want. Silly. Sophomoric. Stupid.
Plainsman, We Say What We Want IS the Stern format. At least it was during The Howard Stern Show heydey. Moreover, they were their own arbiter of their own content. The PD/management meant nothing, unless the crew did/said something that was going to cost the station money (FCC related violations). If you know anything about Rhyner, then you know he worships (or at least at one time did) Stern and the Stern Way. It's what OG HL was not just based on, but at times blatantly ripped off (e.g., Disgruntled Bikini Girl). So, to reiterate, the format per se isn't the issue IF you have A+ talent that's also willing to put in the hard and consistent work required to pull it off. I contend The Freak hosts, all of them, possess neither innate A+ talent nor the genuine desire to put in the work to take C to B+ level talent to the next level, which would at least give the format a fighting chance. As it stands, this goose is cooked. And if anyone here, like me, actually listens to The Freak on the regular, then you would know that it's become rather obvious that they know the end is in sight. The Speakeasy has pretty much given up. Ben & Skin do little more than plug their craft beers and sundry business endeavors. As for The Downbeat, Rhyner is every bit if not even more disengaged than he was during his final years on The Ticket. Danny already seems put out, exasperated; he's seen this movie before. And Sirois, from day one, has yet to come off as a genuine cohost. Ever the producer, the prodder of Rhyner (in attempt to get him to contribute something meaningful), he's never really had the chance to develop.
Let me amend that last statement: "[Sirois'] has never really attempted to develop, as he chooses to do what is easiest, what he knows, what probably comes most naturally. Growth, in any area of life, means to take risks, to step outside of our comfort zones. That's not what's taken place here. But not just with Sirois. It's all of them."
It’s one thing to note that “We say what we want” is essentially the format of Peak Howard Stern show & another thing to build an entire station around the premise.
It also ignores the fact that Howard Stern is a generational talent.
The 825p anon nails the basic issue. They don’t know what they want to be. They refuse to commit to being a sports station yet much if their fringe programming is sports related. Thursday night is a good example. It’s the NFL draft. The marketing leading sports station is covering the draft. And what is the non sports station the Freak doing? That’s tight, they’re covering the draft. Cavanaugh may have draft credibility but no one else there does. So who exactly do you think you’re going to attract with your draft coverage. People who hate the ticket but still listen to it? How big is that audience? Oh wait we know, it’s big enough to rank 30th in the market. C
Agreed, 1223. But if you've paid even a modicum attention to Mike Rhyner over the years, you will know that he views himself as such. To be fair, he's been told that by many many many fans, over and over again.
I know many of us wonder what Danny was thinking in joining up but for me I question what Grubbs thought process was. He had worked his way to a position with the Rangers that put him at the right hand of one of the true masters of his craft, Chuck Morgan. It seemed at the time, to me at least, that Grubbs was perhaps being groomed to take Chuck's place at some point down the road. The allure or loyalty to Rhynes must have been very strong.
Grubbs, aka, Grubes is from a genuine 1%er family. Therefore he is able to take risks, go with this heart, and all that jazz in a way the rest of us are not. And good for him. I wish that I had that sort of safety net and opportunities. Who knows, maybe the Rangers door is still open. Grubbs seems to live a charmed life in that way. I will say that as beloved as Grubbs/Grubes/Shoopy has been all these years, no matter where he's plied his craft, I have noticed that he's received a fair amount of sosh criticism since joining TF. Something I'd never encountered before. Whether the criticism is merited or not, I dunno. TF isn't good so I don't listen.
I need some old-timers on this site to fill me in:
I was a fairly dedicated listener to The Hardline from 2014 up to Mike R's departure and beyond. Not 100% of every show, but a lot.
I can't recall a single reference by him or anyone else to Howard Stern or the Stern show, nor do I recall any evidence that he was a great admirer of Stern's. I'm not saying he wasn't -- maybe this is something that radio insiders take as an article of faith. I'm just saying that I don't remember any Stern-love on The Hardline.
What are the sort of things people recall Rhyner saying about Stern?
Whether he was a Stern-worshipper or not, I'm not quite understanding what relevance that has to the construction of The Freak or The Beatdown. Are we (y'all) saying that the "We Say What We Want" is intended to make the station seem anarchically Stern-like (i.e. that "beastly creative of renegades, outlaws & risk-takers" promised on the website [man, doesn't that sound preposterous now?]) and attract Stern fans? Okay, makes sense. I just don't recall any reference by Mike R or any Ticket person to the Stern shows, other than perhaps in passing to remark on a newsmaking interview or something like that.
"ADVOCATE: You credited your crew. They have been increasingly brought to the forefront of your show. How has this affected things?
RHYNER: That’s just a chemistry thing, I think. We’ve gotten real good at doing that and working those boys in and finding these unusual aspects of their personalities and making them interesting people. This gonna sound like a heck of a thing to say, but you take someone like Expo who, in and of himself, is not a terribly interesting guy. But he does have these personality quirks, these idiosyncrasies that are interesting. What we’ve been able to do is isolate them, bring them out and present them in such a way to make them interesting.
I think all of these other stations and other shows are trying to do that as well. I think some of them have had more success than others. Really, though, the template for that was Howard (Stern). I don’t see how anyone who’s gone into talk radio and has been successful at it, can say that they haven’t been influenced by Howard. You may like Howard. You may not like him. But the fact is, he’s blazed the trail for just about everybody. He does the same thing. He works his crew in. That’s really one of the many things we’ve borrowed from him. I don’t like to say we’ve copied from him. I don’t think we have. We don’t hear anymore that we’re nothing but “Howard Stern wannabes.” We used to hear that quite a bit. We don’t anymore. What we’ve done is taken his precepts and applied them to our own scene."
"Anybody that tells you we weren’t strongly influenced by Howard Stern, well, fold up your notebook and go home, because they’re lying,” Rhyner told the Observer. “We knew we wouldn’t sound like the other guys in the market."
Pretty sure he talked extensively about the Howard thing in his multiple interviews post Ticket departure and then pre Freak launch, too
The most I recall him talking about Stern was when the transition was made from terrestrial to satellite radio. Mike R spoke extensively about Stern’s craft, though I don’t recall him explicitly claiming him as some sort of direct inspiration. But Mike R is a man who modeled his craft off what others had done and modified them to his purposes. A dj-esque show intro and sign off…a conversational style addressing a specific subject du jour. Unlike Mike R, Stern has the appearance of a man actually paying attention to the changing world around him. Additionally, Stern had (may still) an interesting supporting. This change was the first time I recall hearing Corby suggest they could make the same jump and do well. Perhaps more wasn’t openly talked about bc as far as Ticket people are concerned, NO ONE ELSE has ever done what they do. So to admit they ripped off and borrowed from some other show would be hypocrisy. Truth is, Captain Kangaroo made a way for Mr. Peppermint. Howard Stern made a way for THL.
I have no proof other than my memory, but I clearly recall Mike R talking on THL glowingly about Stern. Along the lines of, when Stern’s show first hit Dallas radio, it was shocking, amazing, nothing like it and he was a big consumer of it
Very few can turn their heads from a car crash. The nastier it is, the bigger the jam leading up to it forms. We might even say watching car crashes is a sport. And we love sports. Gotcha down, woooooooooooo weeeeeeeeeee. The Freak is one nasty ass car crash. By comparison, for the most part, The Ticket has been one big snooze for quite some time. It just continues to dominate. Indeed, its domination keeps getting more dominant. Booooooooriiiiiing. So kindly take your poorly executed troll elsewhere. Try plying your trade at The Freak reddit page. It could use some action. A comment. A reply. Anything.
I recall Corby/Danny busting Rhyner's balls once saying something to the effect of: When Rhyner was digging into Howard Stern's style in the early 90s he even watched Butt Bongo Fiesta.
What else is he going to say? “Yeah they suck together and they have as much of a chance against the musers as the goat did against the T. rex in Jurassic Park”. C
Yesterday's (April 27) statement from Cumulus Media's CEO:
"Mary G. Berner, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cumulus Media, said, 'Extending our track record of strong operational and financial execution during challenging times, in the first quarter, we grew our digital marketing services revenue by more than 23%, completed the sale of WFAS-FM, continued to repurchase shares and retire debt at a discount, and have now executed $10 million of additional annualized cost reductions. That said, the impact of the considerable macro-driven weakness in the national advertising market, as well as the unfavorable prior year political and WynnBET comparisons, ultimately resulted in total revenue and Adjusted EBITDA declines.'"
"Berner continued, 'Though the difficult national market trends persist, we have confidence in our ability to successfully navigate adverse environments such as this one. Specifically, since 2019 through the COVID-impacted years, we have had best-in-class performance in terms of fixed cost reduction, Adjusted EBITDA margin recovery, Adjusted EBITDA to free cash flow conversion and net debt reduction. With our current liquidity profile and solid balance sheet, we believe that we are not only well-positioned to weather the current storm but will rebound strongly when the market eventually recovers.'"
(1) Maybe, 155 and 157. But Cumulus Media is up about 10% today.
(2) If Cumulus fails it does not follow that The Ticket will fold. It's a hugely valuable property and it will survive either in a restructured Cumulus (Chapter 11), as it did after the 2017 bankruptcy, or sold in a corporate liquidation (Chapter 7).
(3) I'm not seeing anyone predicting a Cumulus bankruptcy at this time in any form.
So, while the financial news is not good for Cumulus, neither is it company-threatening, and the market seems to like the good news Ms. Berner reported.
Just found the site during an internet search related to how beaten I’ve become with TT. If you didn’t hear it this morning, I was lamenting the Musers ongoing wokeness…this morning it had to do with their thoughts about how the Governor, via his wheelchair, let the killer borrow the wheelchair to get away after shooting five people. Actually, they faulted the Governor’s words after the fact rather than going after the shooter. Weird, but so goes TT nowadays.
Two quick things: 1) Stop mentioning how many Marconi’s have been won by TT. It’s a “paid-for” award where the winner only comes from those in the (paid) club. Simply said, TT won the “Restaurant of the Year” award voted on by Subway sandwich store owners.
2) Just an informed guess…Rhyner received a healthy buyout to leave TT, one that he couldn’t pass up. On top of the buyout, he was stuck with the dreaded noncompete. Clearly, he was paid well for the new gig too.
Bottom line, I’m searching for anything in DFW radioland that isn’t continuously political one way or another. I can’t deal with TT’s increasing wokeness but also can’t handle Rhyner Ranks It, etc. Ben & Skin seem like decent guys, but they’re unlistenable (again, never-ending wokeness).
Perhaps the website owner will start a Redhead Podcast?!?
Latest book is reported to show a material decline in the fortunes of 97.1 The Freak.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 1119 writes at the end of the prior thread:
“Said it ad nauseam here in forever. TF will be a cold cold shower for some heroes and their fanboys. That has panned out. Bullseye. If you still think Sirois is genius I'm not sure what to say to you other than you might need therapy. If you still think Julie's departure from TT was devestating I'm not sure what to say to you other than you might wanna stop equating attractiveness with substantive content creation. If you still think Rhyner is the Rhyner from '04 -'06 I'm not sure what to say to you other than you might need to consult a current calendar and perhaps seriously question your judgment, not just in this case but in all areas of your life. Danny? Still trying to figure out just what he was/is thinking. QED. Cat knows talent. Who has it and who does not. From TT's historic ratings run to TF's Edsel-like flop, everything bears this out.”
* * *
So harsh, 1119! And, in my judgment, not exactly QED; I’m not quite sure what quod you intended your comment to have demonstrandumed, but I assume you were attributing The Freak’s decline to the deficiencies in the on-air actors you mentioned. If I’m wrong about that, please accept my apologies.
I respectfully offer a different point of view beginning in the next comment.
A successful show is more than just the personalities that inhabit it. You correctly credit Jeff Catlin at The Ticket, but he doesn't broadcast -- he puts broadcasters together whose talents complement one another. The musical chairs occasioned by Mike R's departure is a great example: both middays and PM drive got a lot better with the teams that eventually emerged. And, of course, Cat has spotlighted Mike S, Julie D, and Danny B on The Ticket, although did not ever give one a weekday host slot.
ReplyDeleteBut The Freak doesn't have a Jeff Catlin.
Here are some other things The Freak doesn't have:
a coherent entertainment philosophy -- "We Say What We Want" is hubristic and off-putting, and, if that is indeed what they're saying, terribly embarrassing to the personalities involved, as no one would want to be thought of as "wanting" to "say" one's opinion on the relative merits of one's fingers, for example;
along the same lines: An identifiable subject matter, theme, format;
a deeply-felt need in the market for what it is offering. I.e., a reason for being;
a well-known founder who continuously provides guidance and uses his own talent to make the station better; and
a ballyhooed launch that did anything other than die on the pad in an orgy of self-congratulation, snide references to a past employer, and amusingly insincere expressions of love by all hosts for one another.
We can bundle these things under a more generalized lack: The Freak doesn't have (apparently) ANY management. Left to their own devices, there are a lot of talented people out there who would fail if they weren't managed properly. It won't do to say that Mike S and Julie are poor broadcasters until they're given proper structure, guidance, team members, and other essential support. Mike S sounds below-average with Mike R because Mike R isn't holding up his end, and he and Danny are too much alike and Danny himself can't seem to engage Mike R either. (I have so little recollection of Julie on The Ticket that I can't tell if she might have more than a bag.) Mike R is a true star, but one who apparently resists supervision. Danny -- a niche star, but needs the right niche, which he has not been provided on The Freak.
So I'd listen to a station featuring the people you mentioned -- even Mike R -- but it would have to be one where someone was cracking the whip on concept, prep, day-to-day content, the works. Athletes can fail on one team but thrive on another; stars who are huge successes in one TV show can get cancelled after a few episodes in another.
The Freak blossomed into existence in reliance on the celebrity of Mike R -- celebrity that was real, but very narrow. It wasn't enough, and it's wilted with the sunrise. It needed someone to prepare the seed bed and care for it when it began to sprout. But it turned out to be seed scattered on rocky ground, then left untended.
I’ll have more to say later, but up against a deadline. Either they have management who is telling them to rank the beans, or they’re deciding to do it on their own. If they’re being told to do it, and then doing it, I fault them for not having better sense of what GOOD radio is. Stand up for yourselves and your reputations.
ReplyDeleteBut if they’re doing it because they want to, again it’s an indictment of their radio sensibilities. They must know how bad the ratings are. But nothing changes.
C
Hmm. I'm wondering if I might have employed that red previously.
ReplyDeleteC at 4:11PM:
ReplyDeleteTheir reaction to this book on their Reddit page is kind of like Kevin Bacon in Animal House, "Remain calm, All is well" as the rest of the market runs over them.
Now that the Mavs season is over, what will the next one look like?
I think this is a combo platter of a couple of things. Ben and Skin are extremely average. There’s a reason they’ve been on 5 stations in 13 years. They’re ok, but never good enough to last a long time anywhere.
ReplyDeleteBen and Skin sell iheart on this concept. Iheart looks at the Tickets revenue (top of the market) and thinks they can get some of that pie. So they get Rhyner, Sirois, etc and launch a new station, but in typical iheart fashion do it in the cheap.
Cheap specifically on the morning show. To avoid paying a 4th show they don’t start till 7am. Immediately surrendering 25% of AM drive to live competitors. Cheap in that of your 3 “talent” none of them, NONE OF THEM have any experience in carrying a show. These people got jobs because they were available not because they were talented.
As for Rhyner, he WAS a star, at one point him and Greggo were the toast of the town. But he’s been coasting for years, if not a decade since the Cumulus takeover. Iheart looks at a guy who sandbagged his last employer by quitting suddenly and decides “yeah the unmotivated, disinterested retiree is who we want to build our station around”.
Iheart could have looked around and hired shows with a history of success. Instead they cobble together the morning show of misfit toys, the perennial meh of Ben and skin, and the odd duck pairing of guy who tries too hard and guy who doesn’t try at all in pm drive. I think it’s the Peter principle that says people rise to their level of incompetence. Every one there but Rhyner is in over their head. Julie? Fine as a ticker person/ fill in. Incompetent as a host. Sirois? Fine as a producer/side kick/ fill in, exposed as incompetent as a co host.
And if you don’t think they’re incompetent look at the ratings. Adults 25-54 they’re 32, just ahead of KNON at 35 and KEOM at 36. They’re barely beating volunteers and high school students!
Their imaging is horrible, and they have no positioning listeners can understand. They individually may have some talents, but this station does nothing, NOTHING to highlight those talents. I’m told the meetings at iheart have already started. The morning show is 30th. Can you even name 30 other stations in this market without looking? Let’s put it this way, stations that specifically cater to women are doing better with make listeners than the Freak. That’s just not sustainable. I predict by Q3 a major change happens.
C
“Adults 25-54 they’re 32”
ReplyDeleteDoea that men and women then? Is that for 6a-7p M-F? Does that mean they’re doing worse with women than they’re doing for men? Because people are trying to spin that they’re trying to appeal to a broader audience than just men
Yes m-f 6a-7p.
ReplyDeleteAdults 25-54 32nd (.9)
Men 25-54 28th. (1.3)
Women 25-54 29th(.5)
Parentheses are average shares. And look, I sell advertising for a living. Almost all major advertisers buy based off 25-54 numbers. Yes, some don’t but the big spenders look at A25-54, M25-54,or W25-54. Maybe there’s some niche that’s doing well for them. I’m just not seeing it. Anywhere.
And sorry, not buying the appealing to a wider audience spin. If they are, why is your whole air staff except K Ray former sports talk employees? And yesterday heard Balis tell a story about failed gig when he was in Sahara Rain. Story ended with Danny walking in on a band mate getting his salad tossed. Think that story appeals to your average female listener?
C
You’d be surprised
DeleteCavanaugh says they have a PD, and that they meet with them once every 2-3 weeks
ReplyDeleteWhich might make sense if they were even a marginally decent radio station. But they’re 30th. The morning show has never worked together before this. None of them have a single ratings book to point at and say “that success is mine”. None of them are experts in this format (to be fair, no one can explain this format well enough to be an expert). My last on air job I got airchecked a couple of times a week for the first few months to make sure I understood formatics, style, etc. and that was a station doing well. The problem with every few weeks, do you remember your show from match 31st? What you did, why you picked those topics, etc? If you can’t remember what you did 15 shows ago, feedback is useless.
ReplyDeleteC
I don’t understand why they didn’t put Ben and skin as morning drive. While everyone admits they’re average or worse, they at least have experience. They were the second biggest show name wise of the station and they put them at midday. Why not at an drive time? Also starting am drive time at 7 am was a give up to begin with. I dont have to be at work til 830 and I’m regularly listening to the musers pre-7 am.
ReplyDeleteIf I had to guess, they were put 11-3 because someone thought that time period was the weakest part of the KTCK line up
DeleteI believe Patrick Davis is something like “Senior VP/Regional Program Director” overseeing a number of iHeart properties. I’m not sure where he’s located but I don’t think it’s Dallas. Explaining why he only meets with his foundering 97.1 talent only once every three weeks.
ReplyDeletePatrick is local and the person who has long overseen the market and was the PD of KHKS through its heyday. He is the programming lead, but has no talk radio experience (that I know of) and would assume is the PD being referring to.
DeleteThere was an EVP (of news/talk/sports) from PHX brought in several weeks (just after holiday break) ago for that all-hands meeting that was discussed on-air but clearly his involvement isn't, at least so far, impactful. Really, that is the oddest part of this story is how there doesn't sound like any attempts to improve things has occurred. It would be improbable that iHeart continues with this much longer, it's just not in their nature. It wouldn't shock to get a late Friday news dump about some significant adjustments are coming, or that they're blowing it up and shifting formats.
This isn't a story of a station with a single show that is underperforming, the entire station is. People keep pointing to the AM shift but all three shows simply aren't even close to where they need to be. This isn't a tricycle with one flat tire - it's all three.
I think people focus on the morning show for a couple of reasons. #1- they’re clearly trying to poach the Tickets audience.,besides hiring 5 of the 9 people who’s last radio job was at the ticket, look at their vaunted marketing. “I’m back” only appeals to people who already knew who Rhyner is. Otherwise that’s a major strategic error of monumental proportions.
ReplyDeleteSo in an attempt to steal ticket p1’s, you roll out, against the Musers, 3 absolute spares with zero solo success, zero chemistry, etc. you may not like the Musers, but they just won a Marconi. They regularly get monster ratings in their target. They’re a long time morning show on a now heritage station. And your competition for that is a spare part from the Fan (so spare he left and their ratings didn’t suffer), a spare part from the Ticket (same- so spare her leaving spurred them to number one 6+) and a spare part from the Eagle, a former producer bumped up to cohost. Not on the strength of talent, but because he’d Worked for Ben and skin for years and had “paid his dues”.
Putting those 3 up against the musers is like putting a pop Warner team up against the Cowboys. Funny for a few minutes, then you just feel bad for the way they’re being annihilated.
C
not debating that, at all (that was never a serious attempt at a morning show from the start).
Deletesimply trying to drive the point that the whole thing is equally dead in the water. you can see the numbers, C.
Having worked in management, different industry, iHeart moves make a little sense to me. If you are going to make a big move, let a department go or release an critical employee for some reason, you keep it quiet, while you build a replacement plan in the background. And, the fact that it appears no one from iHeart is steering the ship... If you know you are going to sink the ship, why bother with the investment to repair and steer it. In fact, in my experience, when the higher-ups just don't talk to you, that is the time to be worried.
ReplyDeleteI think once they have a plan in place, it won't take long.
On the topic of TT. Is it me, or is anyone else sensing some tension from Bob concerning GXD? I have been getting a sense during non-sportsy segments, Bob is frustrated. Just curious.
ReplyDeleteI feel a little bad for KT, Julie and Cavanaugh they are the proverbial sacrificial lamb B&S aren't going to get their heads handed to them by the JR, George and Gordo. Rhyner clearly wants to go up against the HL so they let the three new people with no experince as host go up against the juggernaut and all the other established morning shows in the area.
ReplyDeleteI still don't know that the people on the Freak aren't able to host a show on a station with some structure, I just don't think they can do it one the weird disjointed station that is the Freak. I don't know if the Sirois have talent or not. I know I enjoyed Mike on the Invasion and on the Weekends more than I enjoy the current Invasion or anything other than WiP that they are throwing down on the weekends now. I'd much rather have most all the Freak people still on the Ticket or as part of the Ticket family than on the Freak, Minus B & S who I never "got" even when they were on the Ticket.
Hey, Plainsman. Anon 1119 here.
ReplyDeleteAppreciate your thoughts on my comment. The quod erat demonstrandum (QED) was in reference to the many comments I've made regarding the genuine, big boy and girl, day/week/month/year in-out hosting abilities of certain ex-pat Ticketeers. Ex-pat Ticketeers who, per the very vocal sosh minority, were unjustly denied their "seat at the table," "living wages," etc....and whose departures (some might say rather sleazily executed departures) would signal the end of TT. QED was the conclusion of the long form "proof" I began to write out around the time of Sirois/Balis' adios amigos and Julie's very public (both on TT airwaves and on her Mom Game pod) displeasure with her pay and airtime on TT. With the advent of TF, the continued dominance of TT, and the, OK let's admit it, the Day One shit show that never stopped that is TF, I began to add the "Cat knows talent. Who has it and who does not" punctuator. Having said all this, of course I wouldn't expect you or anyone else to put all this together. QED was more of a "joke to self." I do think that everything I've written has proven out to be correct. Now, as to my last comment being excessively harsh....we'll have to agree to disagree. It's not harsh. It reflects reality. Have you ever seen Sirois' Twitch streams? Have you imbibed in Julie's Mom Game pod? Real talent shines through, regardless of (in spite of) what surrounds it. It's self evident. The ballplayer on a poor team that shines when traded to a good org was still a self-evident, world class athlete...else he woudn't be in the show in the first place. Even you have penned and posted up dozens of Rhyner mails it in musings. I've also said over and again in a myriad of comments that Rhyner once WAS greatness. But we're coming up on damn near 20 years since he was last genuinely engaging. Since he actually gave one shit, much less two. And during the last near 20 years didn't Rhyner have some of the best management and direction around him? So too I've said Julie was excellent on Tickers and a nice and needed fresh breath of air when judiciously used in spots. Ditto with Sirois' Goodtime Charlie Up For Anything pick his spots limited role as producer and SOMETIME cohost for a TWO HOUR SHOW. Everyone has their role in life. Gnothi seauton, as the saying goes. In conjunction, know your station. Contra Drs. Seuss, Benjamin Spock, Oprah, and all the feel good/therapeutic moralists out there, no, Virginia, you actually CAN'T be anything you want to be. Sorry. This applies to everyone. Lastly, I think C and others are spot on in their analyses, and I also believe those analyses have far sharper points than mine.
by the size of deez nuts
ReplyDeleteAnon 1119/317, many thanks for your respectful riposte. Confessors, that's how to have a civilized disagreement.
ReplyDeleteNicely executed, 4:29.
ReplyDeleteI think KDF has a good point. These people may have some talent, the problem is that they’re being exposed on a station where the only thing to carry the show is your talent. Music shows are carried by the music and there’s limited windows for a DJ to slot their personality/talent into the show. Traditional talk shows are driven by the topic of the day - politics, sports etc. but the Freak has no underlying theme, no reason d’etre ( oops, went French after anons QED Latin tangent) . That puts the “anus” on the talent to fill 4 hours a day on their own. So funny story of what you saw at the grocery store is a good filler between 2 sports segs on TT. But in the freak you have to follow that segment with funny story of what happened to you at the gas station. Funny story of what happened to you at the restaurant last night, etc. No body has that many funny/interesting encounters in a day so they fall back to the generics. What’s in the news, celebrity gossip, lists, etc. the same thing you’ll find in 40 other stations in town, of which 30 have higher ratings than you ( the freak). To circle back to KDFs point, they may have talent, it’s just being exposed for what it is. To use another sports analogy, they’re decent college qbs, capable in the right conference of doing well. But now all your faults (undersized, bad arm strength, poor footwork) is being exposed because you’re competing not just with the musers, but with The Kraddick show, Hawkeye,Hudson and starlene, etc etc etc. all shows with proper formats, more experience, etc.
ReplyDeletec
The fact that Rhyner, Sirois, and Balis are getting destroyed by THL 69.0 must have Rhyner's butt in perpetual pain. I guarantee you this is not how he envisioned things going. Quite the opposite in fact.
ReplyDeleteSo I'm gonna disagree with the tightly focused station identity and the right sort of management to guide the hosts theory most of you seem to think is the issue with TF and its roster. Not that they're not issues because they are. They're just not the major issue. If you think about it, the We Say What We Want format ought to be a winner. They literally can discuss anything under the sun. By that you should never run out of topics and beating a dead horse shouldn't be a problem. The rub is you have to have A+ talent to pull it off. The only host that can once be said of is Rhyner. As 3:17 pointed out it's been well over a decade since that can be truthfully said about Rhyner. And to say that it was the partnership with Greggo that made Rhyner an A+ host back then and not his own innate ability can't be dismissed out of hand. I'll admit that while Rhyner's game began to slip before Greggo's firing it went off the deep end the day after Greggo was gone and never came back up for air.
What this means is that for something like We Say What We Want to succeed it must have a talent pool that is ever keeping up on current events of all sorts and in a substantive manner. This of course takes a lot of hard work and want to. Something no one on TF roster seems to have in them. I have been a regular listener. A Glen? No. (My God is Glen insultingly stupid to both the hosts and listeners alike. It makes TOLO seem brilliant.) From my regular listening I can say with confidence that lazy is the most apt descriptor of all hosts across the board. That might come off as mean spirited. I don't mean it as such. After 6 months of listening, I can't come to any other conclusion.
The upshot is that as far as being a full time host goes, this roster does not pass muster. Perhaps they could get by in that typical mediocre radio way if they were properly guided by management and bounded by the strictures of a tightly focused format. But is that what was on promise? Is that what Rhyner and the rest had in mind? This wasn't merely a plum gig in the industry. Was it not for all but Rhyner their shot at the big time? For Rhyner was it not at least in part some odd attempt at revenge on The Ticket/Cumulus (for what only he knows)? You'd think they would've and would be working their tails off. Instead they've done nothing but (as others have said before me) take a series of victory laps. A+ talent is more than being naturally compelling. It also takes hard work and an insatiable desire for greatness. I'm sorry to report that so far I've seen none of that from any of The Freak's talent pool. As such no management team, PD, or focused format can save them. The elephant in the room pertains to the level of talent across all hosts and the time and energy they put into it. This line of work is very difficult. Even more so when you're trying to establish your voice as unique and worthy to be heard. It's possible to overcome a lack of natural talent with hard work and persistence. But no amount of talent in the world can overcome the lack of the latter.
^^^^^^ This is the 100% correct diagnosis of the situation. Good on you, madame or sir.
ReplyDeletevery well analyzed and stated post by 300p - we around here call that, "The Ben and Skin Effect".
ReplyDeleteDefinitely think the station could use some re-tooling. I find some of the content pretty decent. However, the way I have listened to this station is totally different than the ticket. Pretty much just occasionally punch in during commercial breaks or segments with random guests if I am in the car. But I have found the podcast element to be far superior to any other station. It is really nice being able to just listen in like any other podcast for the limited content that actually interests me. I don't really have strong feelings about the hosts who chose to leave the ticket. In the end, they deserve to make money and if they make more here than good for them.
ReplyDeleteEveryone is welcome to their opinion about TF. But no one and I mean no one in these comment sections has ever said the ex-pats shouldn't have bet on themselves and bolted to TF for a position that in all likelihood would've never materialized at TT (including the pay/benefits that come along with it). No one here has ever said they don't deserve to make money, and as much as they can. (Though it must be said that Sirois actually made very good money for what was in essence a part time job -- 40-45k plus $ for doing spots, insurance, etc. for p/t hours is rather bad ass.)
ReplyDeleteI hate that argument/statement because no one claims otherwise. What is looked at sideways is the way in which they left. This is especially the case with Rhyner and Sirois. But as far as liking, disliking, meh-ing, or anything inbetween regarding TF, to each his/her own. Personally, I find it embarrassingly bad. That's me. Your mileage may vary, as they say.
lol 40K is not badass for 25 hours a week
ReplyDeleteHe did not work 25 hrs per week. try 15, max. And yes, 40-45k IS damn good for 25 hrs per week. I know. I drove bus. Seriously, I've mostly worked multiple p/t jobs at once. 40-45k plus insurance is very good.
ReplyDeleteDo they suck? Suck at what? Suck at being varsity hosts or suck in this particular business in general? I wouldn't say they suck at being hosts. But I wouldn't say they're very good. At least not so far. Mike R hasn't been very good in a long time. I think that has nore to do with mailing it in than talent. I agree with the thought that Julie, Mike S, and Danny were very good in their roles at The Ticket but are in over their heads at The Freak. I also agree that the reason why is because they have no direction or leadership and had perhaps underestimated what it takes to play on the varsity team. It's one thing to sub in for a game every now and again when a varsity regular is injured. It's quite another to be a full member of the squad.
ReplyDeleteThe Griffin and I come out at about the same place. We need to remember that we are comparing these guys to superstars of the industry. Multiple Marconis and rockcrusher ratings for years and only getting better. That doesn't mean they suck qua suck.
ReplyDelete300 makes an eloquent case, but I think it's wrong to base it on the assumption that, in 300's words, "We Say What We Want format ought to be a winner" because they can discuss "any topic under the sun." But that's fundamentally -- not entirely -- what's wrong with it, and that's structural -- that's something management can and should address (and should have done so before putting it on the air). You put The Ticket stars in that format, tell them not to talk sports except rarely, and they're not going to do well.
Now, heed what I'm saying here. I'm NOT saying The Freak talent is equivalent to The Ticket talent, so don't make a straw man argument along the lines of "everyone seems to think that Mike S is the second coming of" name your favorite talker. I don't think that and I don't think anyone who has enjoyed their work in the past feels that way, either. I AM saying that (with perhaps an exception or two) they are not bad broadcasters but that the absence of structure, lack of direction, and a DOA launch of a DOA format will fail with almost anyone.
Summing up: They haven't evidenced Ticket host talent in their current format, but hardly any sports station host does (have you listened to other cities' sports radio?), and they will unquestionably suffer by comparing host-to-host across the two stations. But -- again, with a possible exception or two -- they don't suck.
Damn, I did use that ginger before. Will substitute.
ReplyDeleteI think the format of no format is definitely problematic. I think the station would be better off if that had just been a straight up sports station, or at least a ticket like sports station.
ReplyDeleteSpecially when they're doing sports only updates coming back from breaks and all the national programming is sports. Then you add on that the only time any of them can carry on a conversation that has any content is when they discuss sports. Oh, wait. Everyone sans one host is from a sports talk radio/tv background. We say what we want. Silly. Sophomoric. Stupid.
ReplyDeleteHottest redhead ever posted. Wow
ReplyDeletePlains, not to nitpick, I don't care if you recycle pictures. But the substitute was used already too: http://myticketconfession.blogspot.com/2021/11/a-mortifyingly-tardy-congratulations-to.html
ReplyDeleteI guess I've used up all the world's non-porn reds.
ReplyDeleteThank god for the beautiful red heads! All the grumpiness about who sucks and who doesn't makes me tired.
ReplyDeletePlainsman, We Say What We Want IS the Stern format. At least it was during The Howard Stern Show heydey. Moreover, they were their own arbiter of their own content. The PD/management meant nothing, unless the crew did/said something that was going to cost the station money (FCC related violations). If you know anything about Rhyner, then you know he worships (or at least at one time did) Stern and the Stern Way. It's what OG HL was not just based on, but at times blatantly ripped off (e.g., Disgruntled Bikini Girl). So, to reiterate, the format per se isn't the issue IF you have A+ talent that's also willing to put in the hard and consistent work required to pull it off. I contend The Freak hosts, all of them, possess neither innate A+ talent nor the genuine desire to put in the work to take C to B+ level talent to the next level, which would at least give the format a fighting chance. As it stands, this goose is cooked. And if anyone here, like me, actually listens to The Freak on the regular, then you would know that it's become rather obvious that they know the end is in sight. The Speakeasy has pretty much given up. Ben & Skin do little more than plug their craft beers and sundry business endeavors. As for The Downbeat, Rhyner is every bit if not even more disengaged than he was during his final years on The Ticket. Danny already seems put out, exasperated; he's seen this movie before. And Sirois, from day one, has yet to come off as a genuine cohost. Ever the producer, the prodder of Rhyner (in attempt to get him to contribute something meaningful), he's never really had the chance to develop.
ReplyDeleteLet me amend that last statement: "[Sirois'] has never really attempted to develop, as he chooses to do what is easiest, what he knows, what probably comes most naturally. Growth, in any area of life, means to take risks, to step outside of our comfort zones. That's not what's taken place here. But not just with Sirois. It's all of them."
ReplyDeleteIt’s one thing to note that “We say what we want” is essentially the format of Peak Howard Stern show & another thing to build an entire station around the premise.
ReplyDeleteIt also ignores the fact that Howard Stern is a generational talent.
The 825p anon nails the basic issue. They don’t know what they want to be. They refuse to commit to being a sports station yet much if their fringe programming is sports related. Thursday night is a good example. It’s the NFL draft. The marketing leading sports station is covering the draft. And what is the non sports station the Freak doing? That’s tight, they’re covering the draft. Cavanaugh may have draft credibility but no one else there does. So who exactly do you think you’re going to attract with your draft coverage. People who hate the ticket but still listen to it? How big is that audience? Oh wait we know, it’s big enough to rank 30th in the market.
ReplyDeleteC
Trying again on the red.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, 1223. But if you've paid even a modicum attention to Mike Rhyner over the years, you will know that he views himself as such. To be fair, he's been told that by many many many fans, over and over again.
ReplyDeleteWhether he is or isn’t isn’t the point so much as there aren’t enough of him to program 12 hours a day
DeleteTrue enough, 753. But if he were, at least there would be a genuine juggernaut to build around. He's not, so there's not.
ReplyDeleteI know many of us wonder what Danny was thinking in joining up but for me I question what Grubbs thought process was. He had worked his way to a position with the Rangers that put him at the right hand of one of the true masters of his craft, Chuck Morgan. It seemed at the time, to me at least, that Grubbs was perhaps being groomed to take Chuck's place at some point down the road. The allure or loyalty to Rhynes must have been very strong.
ReplyDeleteGrubbs, aka, Grubes is from a genuine 1%er family. Therefore he is able to take risks, go with this heart, and all that jazz in a way the rest of us are not. And good for him. I wish that I had that sort of safety net and opportunities. Who knows, maybe the Rangers door is still open. Grubbs seems to live a charmed life in that way. I will say that as beloved as Grubbs/Grubes/Shoopy has been all these years, no matter where he's plied his craft, I have noticed that he's received a fair amount of sosh criticism since joining TF. Something I'd never encountered before. Whether the criticism is merited or not, I dunno. TF isn't good so I don't listen.
ReplyDeleteI need some old-timers on this site to fill me in:
ReplyDeleteI was a fairly dedicated listener to The Hardline from 2014 up to Mike R's departure and beyond. Not 100% of every show, but a lot.
I can't recall a single reference by him or anyone else to Howard Stern or the Stern show, nor do I recall any evidence that he was a great admirer of Stern's. I'm not saying he wasn't -- maybe this is something that radio insiders take as an article of faith. I'm just saying that I don't remember any Stern-love on The Hardline.
What are the sort of things people recall Rhyner saying about Stern?
Whether he was a Stern-worshipper or not, I'm not quite understanding what relevance that has to the construction of The Freak or The Beatdown. Are we (y'all) saying that the "We Say What We Want" is intended to make the station seem anarchically Stern-like (i.e. that "beastly creative of renegades, outlaws & risk-takers" promised on the website [man, doesn't that sound preposterous now?]) and attract Stern fans? Okay, makes sense. I just don't recall any reference by Mike R or any Ticket person to the Stern shows, other than perhaps in passing to remark on a newsmaking interview or something like that.
Lemme know.
myTheFreakConfession.blogspot
ReplyDelete"The Beatdown"
ReplyDeleteWere you being clever or just a typo?
:D
ReplyDeleteokay, gonna try HTML tags since somebody shamed me for it
https://lakewood.advocatemag.com/thats-the-ticket/
"ADVOCATE: You credited your crew. They have been increasingly brought to the forefront of your show. How has this affected things?
RHYNER: That’s just a chemistry thing, I think. We’ve gotten real good at doing that and working those boys in and finding these unusual aspects of their personalities and making them interesting people. This gonna sound like a heck of a thing to say, but you take someone like Expo who, in and of himself, is not a terribly interesting guy. But he does have these personality quirks, these idiosyncrasies that are interesting. What we’ve been able to do is isolate them, bring them out and present them in such a way to make them interesting.
I think all of these other stations and other shows are trying to do that as well. I think some of them have had more success than others. Really, though, the template for that was Howard (Stern). I don’t see how anyone who’s gone into talk radio and has been successful at it, can say that they haven’t been influenced by Howard. You may like Howard. You may not like him. But the fact is, he’s blazed the trail for just about everybody. He does the same thing. He works his crew in. That’s really one of the many things we’ve borrowed from him. I don’t like to say we’ve copied from him. I don’t think we have. We don’t hear anymore that we’re nothing but “Howard Stern wannabes.” We used to hear that quite a bit. We don’t anymore. What we’ve done is taken his precepts and applied them to our own scene."
https://www.dallasobserver.com/arts/radio-legend-mike-rhyner-announces-his-retirement-from-the-ticket-11840045
"Anybody that tells you we weren’t strongly influenced by Howard Stern, well, fold up your notebook and go home, because they’re lying,” Rhyner told the Observer. “We knew we wouldn’t sound like the other guys in the market."
Pretty sure he talked extensively about the Howard thing in his multiple interviews post Ticket departure and then pre Freak launch, too
I have failed, and I will leave you alone now.
ReplyDeleteThe most I recall him talking about Stern was when the transition was made from terrestrial to satellite radio. Mike R spoke extensively about Stern’s craft, though I don’t recall him explicitly claiming him as some sort of direct inspiration. But Mike R is a man who modeled his craft off what others had done and modified them to his purposes. A dj-esque show intro and sign off…a conversational style addressing a specific subject du jour. Unlike Mike R, Stern has the appearance of a man actually paying attention to the changing world around him. Additionally, Stern had (may still) an interesting supporting. This change was the first time I recall hearing Corby suggest they could make the same jump and do well. Perhaps more wasn’t openly talked about bc as far as Ticket people are concerned, NO ONE ELSE has ever done what they do. So to admit they ripped off and borrowed from some other show would be hypocrisy. Truth is, Captain Kangaroo made a way for Mr. Peppermint. Howard Stern made a way for THL.
ReplyDeleteI have no proof other than my memory, but I clearly recall Mike R talking on THL glowingly
ReplyDeleteabout Stern. Along the lines of, when Stern’s show first hit Dallas radio, it was shocking, amazing, nothing like it and he was a big consumer of it
OK, thanks, Surly and others, I've been educated.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, Surly, I was being devilishly clever by calling the afternoon Freak show "The Beatdown."
@1143
ReplyDeleteVery few can turn their heads from a car crash. The nastier it is, the bigger the jam leading up to it forms. We might even say watching car crashes is a sport. And we love sports. Gotcha down, woooooooooooo weeeeeeeeeee. The Freak is one nasty ass car crash. By comparison, for the most part, The Ticket has been one big snooze for quite some time. It just continues to dominate. Indeed, its domination keeps getting more dominant. Booooooooriiiiiing. So kindly take your poorly executed troll elsewhere. Try plying your trade at The Freak reddit page. It could use some action. A comment. A reply. Anything.
I recall Corby/Danny busting Rhyner's balls once saying something to the effect of: When Rhyner was digging into Howard Stern's style in the early 90s he even watched Butt Bongo Fiesta.
ReplyDelete(that's how you make a link Surles)
oh i left out the href part
ReplyDeleteDanny said yesterday that The Speakeasy has evolved into a morning powerhouse. Those words actually left his lips.
ReplyDeleteWhat else is he going to say? “Yeah they suck together and they have as much of a chance against the musers as the goat did against the T. rex in Jurassic Park”.
DeleteC
did he read that on Zap2it?
ReplyDeleteHow bout that CMLS earnings reports huh
ReplyDeletePoor Dan Balls. He's bought into the B&S Way. That is, the bs. Rock me.
ReplyDeleteCan someone explain what the Dunham zone is? I assume it’s not good based on his reaction to it.
ReplyDeleteIf you know Danny, and he said that, you also know that's peak Danny shitting on it.
ReplyDeleteYeah, eh, buddy, it's not looking good for Cumulus. I mean not looking good as bad, real bad, as in TF bad.
ReplyDelete@458....I believe the Dunham Zone is when you're about to $hit your pants and you're not close to a restroom.
ReplyDeleteDunham Zone? We've all been there.
ReplyDeleteRe 728's remark:
ReplyDeleteYesterday's (April 27) statement from Cumulus Media's CEO:
"Mary G. Berner, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cumulus Media, said, 'Extending our track record of strong operational and financial execution during challenging times, in the first quarter, we grew our digital marketing services revenue by more than 23%, completed the sale of WFAS-FM, continued to repurchase shares and retire debt at a discount, and have now executed $10 million of additional annualized cost reductions. That said, the impact of the considerable macro-driven weakness in the national advertising market, as well as the unfavorable prior year political and WynnBET comparisons, ultimately resulted in total revenue and Adjusted EBITDA declines.'"
"Berner continued, 'Though the difficult national market trends persist, we have confidence in our ability to successfully navigate adverse environments such as this one. Specifically, since 2019 through the COVID-impacted years, we have had best-in-class performance in terms of fixed cost reduction, Adjusted EBITDA margin recovery, Adjusted EBITDA to free cash flow conversion and net debt reduction. With our current liquidity profile and solid balance sheet, we believe that we are not only well-positioned to weather the current storm but will rebound strongly when the market eventually recovers.'"
That person said many words and I have no idea what she said. Corporate speak gives me an ice cream headache.
ReplyDeleteThat's corporate/MBA speak for "We're on our last legs." It's akin to a an owner or GM giving a head coach a public vote of confidence.
ReplyDeleteHow funny sad would it be if TF outlasted TT. Not by ratings or anything performance related. But because one parent company went under.
ReplyDelete(1) Maybe, 155 and 157. But Cumulus Media is up about 10% today.
ReplyDelete(2) If Cumulus fails it does not follow that The Ticket will fold. It's a hugely valuable property and it will survive either in a restructured Cumulus (Chapter 11), as it did after the 2017 bankruptcy, or sold in a corporate liquidation (Chapter 7).
(3) I'm not seeing anyone predicting a Cumulus bankruptcy at this time in any form.
So, while the financial news is not good for Cumulus, neither is it company-threatening, and the market seems to like the good news Ms. Berner reported.
tbf, they are all essentially in the same sinking financial boats - just of different size boats and different sized holes
ReplyDelete"Dunham Zone" is another Gordon creation to annoy George.
ReplyDeleteSo iHeartMedia lost 80% of its stock value in the last 12 months. Terrestrial radio isn’t exactly a growth opportunity.
ReplyDeleteIf Cumulus goes under, the Ticket is fine as it is one of the best performing assets
Surprisingly prompt new comment and, I hope, new ginger.
ReplyDeleteJust found the site during an internet search related to how beaten I’ve become with TT. If you didn’t hear it this morning, I was lamenting the Musers ongoing wokeness…this morning it had to do with their thoughts about how the Governor, via his wheelchair, let the killer borrow the wheelchair to get away after shooting five people. Actually, they faulted the Governor’s words after the fact rather than going after the shooter. Weird, but so goes TT nowadays.
ReplyDeleteTwo quick things:
1) Stop mentioning how many Marconi’s have been won by TT. It’s a “paid-for” award where the winner only comes from those in the (paid) club. Simply said, TT won the “Restaurant of the Year” award voted on by Subway sandwich store owners.
2) Just an informed guess…Rhyner received a healthy buyout to leave TT, one that he couldn’t pass up. On top of the buyout, he was stuck with the dreaded noncompete. Clearly, he was paid well for the new gig too.
Bottom line, I’m searching for anything in DFW radioland that isn’t continuously political one way or another. I can’t deal with TT’s increasing wokeness but also can’t handle Rhyner Ranks It, etc. Ben & Skin seem like decent guys, but they’re unlistenable (again, never-ending wokeness).
Perhaps the website owner will start a Redhead Podcast?!?