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."
New thoughts? On The Ticket? I don't anyone who has a thing new or novel on that subject. The Dumb Zone, maybe. Something seems to be in the works. They make mention of business meetings nearly every episode. Since the very tail end of The Freak, Danny has become such a frequent guest that it almost seems like he's a part of the crew. He was even on their Mystery Science Theater 3000 watch along with Jerry''s and now also Stephan's "State of the Team" address. Julie too is a more than regular on it. She talks about being with them in these business meetings. So something seems to be up.
All that and how so far nothing seems really stable or makes a lot of sense with The Dumb Zone. Early days, for sure, but what exactly are they getting out of being part of the Washed Media pod conglomerate, other than associating with some pretty douchie and not so great content creators? My point here is that something surely is in the works that will set the thing on a structured course that will hopefully set them up for success for years to come. It's early days with Washed, but not so much with the podcast. We're over a year into it now. I agree with those who pose the question: If they're making half of their old salaries, without the benefits, how does everyone make decent money if they bring a Danny and/or Julie and/or Sirois aboard? I think it's a fair and valid one. I've no idea what either Danny's or Julie's buyout/severance package (did they get anything?) from iHeart nets, but I do know that Freak hosts were making a very tidy sum. It was the chief factor in iHeart's pulling the plug so soon. If salaries were lower, they would've most likely been given at least another year to turn it around. I was told this by someone local who is in the business. So let's assume both received a nice package (I don't think that's too far off the farm), they're probably going on, and with such frequency, because presently they don't need the money (i.e., aren't desperate to find a new gig), have the time on their hands to do it, and are doing Dan and Jake a solid by boosting interest. After all, if you watch the YT VODs and pay attention to social media, it is when former Ticket employees come on that the most views occur and the most buzz is created. All of which is to say just because Danny and Julie are on, a lot, it doesn't necessarily mean that they will be joining team No Puppet.
So what ought they do? I really have no suggestions. Truthfully, I thought with those steady sub numbers hovering in the 6000-6300 range that they were doing far better financially. As it was pointed out many times in the last thread, they aren't. How does that number double? My guess would be they need to go a more national route and ditch trying to continue The Hang Zone, a DFW market show. But I don't see either of them popping of hot takes on NYC, LA, Chicago, Boston, etc., sports all day, every day. Politics? Social issues? Well, they are both quickly gaining a rep even amongst their most ardent fans as embodying their namesake when it comes to a plethora of topics, historical facts, news stories, pop culture, you name it. They find it amusing, relatable. That's cool. We all used to laugh and think nothing of Rhyner's gaffs back in The Hardline days. Different kettle of fish when you begin to venture outside your home turf.
So, yeah, I dunno. I love listening to those two talk sports. Sometimes I don't mind the other stuff, either. I'm a sub and I'm pulling hard for them. But I'm not sure where it goes from here. Maybe some of you with much bigger brains than mine (all of you!) have some ideas or even knowledge of where things are heading.
Musers - Just fine. Probably 3yrs left. Let's cut Detty back a little bit.
Invasion - I get the MM hate, he needs to let the game come to him. But also, Donnie needs to be a teammate. Its as if he's always looking to pounce and make a segment into an e-brake - this could also be a Producer issue. Still needs improvement.
Sweet Spot - The hosts are dorks. One has made his whole persona that of baseball - - that's a dork. The other....just seems to match. So Much Work in Progress is Needed.
Hardline 5.0 - strong to quite strong. (in fact, if one of the Hosts is out the show might actually shine more than if the same were to happen with the Morning Show).
---------- TDZ - 1 year in - they are a local dfw podcast, mimicking their previous radio show structure. Was it worth it? Did they think by this time they would be a PM drive time show on a new, 'alternative' radio dial with some former coworkers? Can they clear 18mths?
You seem like a sad person, Zulu. This seems to be the only thing you know how to do. That is, make pathetic snipes at other's comments. Why? What's wrong with you? What sort of person does this? Why don't you ever add to the discussion? If it's all so beneath you, why do you visit this site? Little snarks are the product of a third rate mind. But whatever floats your boat, man. Some people just can't help themselves.
That bit is way past its best by date, Zulu. Maybe MTC isn't for you. Might I suggest either Ticket or DumbZone reddit. There I believe you will find a place more amenable to your modus.
@Zulu Stop being a bully. No need for it, and it does nothing but poorly reflect on you. For over a year now the insanity and toxicity on this site has been off the charts. Someone lays out their thoughts and you try to shame them for it. I'm not getting it.
@Dawson Couldn't agree with you more regarding The Sweet Spot. I think Sean is a good guy, but the pairing with Mino isn't very good. WiP would be the perfect buffer between The Invasion and THL.
You're onto something, Poor. Poor old Leg, well, let's just say he's taken in more than the tip of The Boys' collective micro. "Myopic" is the secret word. By the by, Poor, is that the best wordplay in your arsenal? Rather, ahem, poor stuff. Better do better, you better, you bet. Else Zulu gonna diagram yo ass.
Open arms and open legs, Adjunct. I have a feeling your P seeps like a dying willow. Emblematic. Brilliant. Like an ex frat boy pounding on the bathroom door, demanding his righful entrance (after all, he used to always receive the invitations) at some pathetic excuse for an Iriish Pub in a South Eastern state college town, irate the bastard in front of him actually deigned t relieve himself and desperate to get that last piss in before his cream dream, the only one in his last 2 years of frantic, pathetic, drunken quest to find someone, anyone, who in some way meets his unrealistic standards of what constitutes an attractive woman, who (she) in 4 years will weigh in at 14 stones go off into that good night with her rock climbing "instructor" in order to live her best life. That, in a nutshell, I claim --with apodictic certainty-- will be the triggering event that will launch your Saharan like vaginal modus cogitandi into that substanceless, Heideggerian void of anarchic wooliness.
Hi, Zulu. Let's skate.Try outs begin next Thursday. Hope you've been working out hard, real hard, in the offseason. Ready, bubba? I don't really mind how much you love me. A little is alright. You dig, Zoolz? Why don't you show the goods, Hemmingscro? Cum on, brutha. Post a comment. Let's see the SHIT, bruh. Lay. It. On. Us. Dare. Ya.
Sadly, I say goodbye to a once fantastic little isle of respite in a vast ocean of thoughtless internet shrieking. Even the overall conversation and tone on Ticket reddit has begun to take on an air of reasonableness when compared to MTC. That's saying something. A lot, actually.
Too damn bad. Too bad that it's chiefly due to a thimbleful of "contributors." From lunatic trolls to those whose passion (for or against) Dan and Jake is so over the top that it's rendered them incapable of rational discussion to those whose odd flex is to demean others' style with insulting snark to outright creeps... the whole lot of it.... awful, pathetic, at times bizarre pleas for attention. Or so it seems.
I kept thinking: "It'll die down then die off, and MTC will return to form." But no. This now is MTC. So have at it, I'm out of here. But I'm not alone. Many regular contributors rarely if ever comment. More will follow suit, I've no doubt.
I don't know when the change happened, but most posts here are either qanon-style riddles about something that never happens, incomprehensible ramblings about Dan and Jake, or meta commentary on other posters that include so many non-sequitur phrases or quotes that it's impossible to read.
I agree. It seems like some of the regular posters here are trying to emulate a Mike Rhyner-esque style of prose. Constantly trying to shoehorn in obscure terms and an off-beat style. It comes off as babbling. Just speak like a normal person.
I'm still out of the country and will be until mid-month.
I just deleted a bunch of posts, including some that weren't so bad but that were responding/replying to posts I deleted.
Write about The Ticket.
Avoid ad hominem attacks.
Keep the acronyms, metaphors, obscure pop culture references, obscure Ticket references, and general obscurity to a minimum. James Joyce wouldn't have made it through some of this stuff lately.
Don't write stuff calculated to irritate me or other shoppers at My Ticket Confession.
Hereby announcing far more severe review of comments. Let's try to get this site back to the friendly, sometimes fun, and generally Ticket-based forum it is intended to be.
The July book is out. Welpton will probably post about it tomorrow on Reddit. In the mean time, any predictions? Conjecture? It’s the July book, which is roughly the last week of June and all of July right up to training camp. Musers gone for 3 weeks, lots of deck chairs rearranged. Can the power of the Ticket hold an audience. Did people flock to the Fan? Only the shadow knows! And Neilsen subscribers.
I'll get around to posting it there, but Ticket still #1, but both stations (it and Fan) took significant hits as is not uncommon for a July book. While TT hits came in 10-3, TF took big hits across all day parts. This is the book that reflects the Musers being out for 3 of the 4 weeks and three other shows being in various states for 2 of the 4. I'll post the link here once I get the full thing posted.
Looking forward to it. Thanks, as always, in advance for your work. I did see the cume without dayparts, and you are correct, there has been quite a market correction if you will. The Spot, which came in first overall, netted a 6.4; TT (#8), 4.2; and TF (#22), a flat 2.0. That FAN # is in Freak territory. I can't recall the last time TF garnered such a low cume.
July is up over on the Reddit and while looking at the results, I'm reminded of the many times the station (all stations for that matter) see a one-month drop like this and quickly returns to normal in the following month or two.
History lesson: The Hardline in May '21 was #1/7.5. The next month it fell #6/4.5 and by July was #10/3.4 before recovering to #1/9.3 a few months later. The Musers went from #1 to #7 and back to #1 in a 2019 4-month run.
TF's drops were across all dayparts, and I'm even more suspect of their return vs what happend with TT. I also don't know what their vacation schedule was during this same window and it's not like the Rangers or Cowboys have been good vibes of late.
Like I said in the reddit post, what this really means in the longer run is very much, TBD. https://shorturl.at/0rEXv
correction: It should HAVE read, "and I'm even more suspect of their RETURNS vs what happend with TT." - ie: Their July is really weird in how big a drop it was.
Thanks, Peter. Love your information, grateful for the clarity. Agreed where TF is concerned. To echo Giggles, it seems like it's been ages since TF has turned in that low of a book. PERHAPS food for thought: It's to my admittedly limited understanding that general interest in sports talk radio has been on a downward slope for some time now. If true, MIGHT this indicate the local market -which, because of TT has been a bit of an outlier- catching up to the national trend?
The Gandhi bit is offensively unfunny and overtly racist. It’s oddly incongruent to me to how the Hardline, and the Ticket in general, purport themselves. I don’t get how it continues. It’s a rough (ruff) listen to me every time.
What about Jesse the Usher? I'm so sick of ageism. Why is that prejudice acceptable? Bugs the heck outta Dena and me! Moron, you're really onto something here. I say we all boycott The Ticket and become DFs. Whaddya say, y'all? Are you with me?!?!? I just can't believe Cat condones such vileness.
Oh, yeah. I thought about not deleting it and I know why you posted it, but decided I just didn't like seeing it here so long after the fact. Nothing personal. I've dialed my delete-meter way, way up after all the florid ad hominem literary posturing, which yours, concededly, was not. Also, comments to deleted posts also get deleted.
Why do we think this is unusual? I don’t know his personal timeline, but it says he previously worked at ESPN Dallas: Catlin was PD for both stations through the whole LMA time. I’m assuming since “the invasion” didn’t seem to be off much during the massive Muser/hardline vacation times, that they have time to burn before Cowboys season kicks off. I guess I see where it’s not usual, but it doesn’t seem that unusual either. C
Tap the brakes a bit. From the article he says he has no plans to do full time radio anytime soon. He is also a Texans guy so I doubt this is an audition. It may speak more to the lack of depth on the JV than anything else.
Then with the musers off for 3 weeks and the Hardline off for 2 weeks and the lack of depth in the JV then I’m sure the Fan kicked their a$$ in the July ratings, right? And I’m sorry (I said that in norms voice) but when they tell me it’s not an audition, it’s still an audition. Might not be for now, but there’s bound to be a reason they’re giving him a full week. Ratings are decent for Invasion and Sweet Spot, but what happens when the musers do actually retire. (Weren’t we assured they would retire during drydock. Or at the 30th birthday. Or at ticketstock? So many predictions, all so wrong) C
And if anyone knows the story of his departure please share. From the story, sounds like he left ESPN for another market before ending up in Houston. Does Catlin see a difference between people who left under good circumstances, who left to take other gigs (Locker, Rich Phillips, Mcclarin, Followell, etc ) and people who left “the bunker” only to pick up guns from the enemy to help attack the very same bunker (almost all of the Freak staff). It’s long been a mantra of mine “don’t burn bridges”, I can certainly see how Catlin, Bennett, etc see the departures of Mike Mike and Danny as burning bridges. How it’s come out that they lied (I’m going to work with my brother or spend more time with family) was just cover to quit to go attack the bunker with your freak mates. C
There are 2 dozen people in the KTCK orbit that could fill in 10-1 for a week. And no, I am not talking about anyone that was on the Freq or TDZ. If they are bringing in someone new, there is a reason. Of course, maybe it is just to expand the pool.
Actually, C, TF decidedly did not kick TT's ass during the July drydock. Make no mistake about it, having Landry, a very little to unknown commodity in the market (sorry, a stint at 103.3 means nothing), fill in for an entire week when you have an your JV squad who for the last month carried a lot of the water is odd. Very odd.
There is a reason he's been given this coveted air time. Now, is he auditioning for a space that's will be open at TT or is this a CTO directive? If the former, any opening means a departure(s); if the latter, why and to what end?
The only time I can recall this happening was when a noted talent from (I believe) the midwest was brought in to be paired with Bob. Not Dan, but like I said, some name from another market. I think they did one show together and soon thereafter Dan was brought onboard. Now that I think about it, there might've been one other time where a known commodity from another market was rumored to be coming to TT but the move was aborted. Maybe someone with a clearer memory of these things can fill in the picture/correct me.
I distinctly recall the weird weekend where Bob was strangely on in the middle of the day with his friend Dan from Cleveland. Weird that Bob & his friend Dan seemed to not really know each other. I distinctly remember Bob commenting he had on VHS every nationalized television game Jordan ever played & Dan saying “What?”
Zulu. Are you confused? Have you mistaken this blog for an academic journal, and believe that you are a referee? Do you think this is your class, we're your students, and here is where we upload our essays for you to grade? Do you believe this to be some sort of forum for serious subject matters, where the level of discourse is expected to be a cut or two above everyday, idle chatter? I'm not sure. I don't care. Whatever the case, you seem to be in some sort of a state. At this point, and after Plainsman explicitly saying no more intentionally trying to draw others offside with attacks on intelligence, etc., here you are at it again. It's just weird, man.
And if you think Twiggy's gonna let Donnie "bet on himself," I've got an idea to sell you on: it's called QCat. So any thought of Doo leaving the nurturing biosphere is a nonstarter.
Yo, Joyce pumper. Anyone with half a brain could see the bruh was heading spec off at the pass. Woulda thot a hep cat like you woulda cot onit. Overestimated you. My b. Won't happen again.
Um, yeah, Zulu. Implicit in my comment was a pre say negation of the idea (troll, really) that Donnie might be heading to either TDZ or some other start up- alt media endeavor.
@Edward I did and it was OK. He seems to have had a relationship with everyone prior to this odd fill in stint -- I assume from his days at 103.3. He is keenly aware of the ways of TT, and so, at times tried a little too hard to be Tickety. Other than that a mostly mundane.
Each moth, Peter Welpton kindly posts a link here to the cume and daypart PPM. If you still need convincing, take a look at 10/6 5:18pm in this very thread.
Ooooowie! That one hurt, my baby. You done got owned, scruh. And by someone calling theyselfie a giggle. Giggle, gaggle, wiggle, waggle it's still rock n roll to me. But they right. Skippy, hows bout you constructs yaselfs a new storyboard. Gotta be better. Gotta be smarter. Gotta dig harder. Dig? Now beat me, daddy, eights to the bar and go get yo shinebox.
Say, Zuul, kinda lookin' like 8pm be yo 3am. I do like me some The The, though. Uptown ain't my jam, baby. Love ain't no stranger. I ain't no stranger to love, no, no.
Zulu, for someone who claims to spend 5 or less minutes per day on this site, you sure seem to be a constant fixture. Perhaps you have an issue with the concept of time?
I would happily use a verified email/identity if it meant this page went members only. That way all the nut jobs, the Dali on steroids AND mescaline word-salad-smith, the wannabe Strunk and/or White, the assorted trolls, and all the rest would be done for. I'll go one further, Plainsman. If that's something you might be interested in, I will send you an email with my contact and IRL name, offering my services in assisting set up and even helping to maintain/admin such a site if interested. The easiest way would be Discord, but it can be done here on blogspot, as well. Just a thought.
How has the "panic room" AT&T Comercial stuck around this long? Its not just on the ticket either, it seems to be in regular rotation on every station and Podcast, Who the heck thinks that is is a good commercial?
Is it possible that Landry Locker might be looked at as a third voice for the Invasion since they expaned for 3 hours?
I like the Invasion better when there are sports events for them to talk about. I think they are solid listen during Football season but less so during the dog days of summer. The Sweet Spot still doesn't grab me I keep giving it a try but its not clicking for me. The numbers say I'm in the minority though so clearly it is me and not them, same as with the Hardline.
Except when it went up in the previous book. But don't let that get in your way. Except that the overall cume and dayparts map right along with the historical data going bavk a decade, sans the bloated super numbers of '21-22. Again, don't let that stop you.
Sadly I know many people who retired from their chosen profession and are still having to work. The financial crisis of the last couple of decades really hit a lot people hard on that end. Also so many of the funds seem to have been mishandled or outright stolen from. It's sad if Norm is in that position.
Did you read the interview? He and Mare Bear have travelled more this year than most humans do their entire lives:
“Let’s see. This year we went to Switzerland. And then on down to the very northern part of Italy, called the Dolomites, a big mountain range at the very northern part of Italy, and then back to a wonderful lake town called Lake Garda. And then we went to Nicaragua for a week. And then last weekend, it was a long weekend at Monterey Peninsula in California. And we’ve got New York coming up in three weeks, and then we’re going a little later in the fall, to New Orleans, and then up to Baton Rouge for the LSU-Alabama game. And then probably back up to New York for Christmas.”
No I didn't read the interview. I was responding to the post above me. That is why I wrote "if" to imply that I did not know if Norm was in that position or not. I am happy to hear that he isn't.
So, I have to admit that Landry Locker (a) isn't that bad; (b) fits in rather seamlessly, having an instant rapport with the Varsity squad across the board; and (c), due to (a) and (b), four days into it I'm even further convinced that his being here is for reasons pertaining to F/T employment.
I'm wondering if there isn't about to be a bit of a breakup. I know this has been bandied about numerous times here, but I'm thinking maybe DnM cut that back a little to 9am, a three host booth from 9-12 (Donnie/Matt/Landry), extend TSS an hour and add Monty as a third, then follow with WTDS, finishing with THL. Or perhaps keeping things as they are, adding Landry to TSS.
Dunno. It'd be one thing if he was a Doucey or a Ted Emrich; someone who already has a F/T gig but has close ties to TT and fills in from time to time. But no. Landry's a freshly unemployed sports radio jock who used to be in the market filling in for a regular host. "Hey __rando JV__ can you do this week with Matt? You bet your ass I can, Cat."
I’d love to be a fly on the wall for that conversation. Bennett or Catlin to Mary Burner or some middle management dweeb in Atlanta: “Yes, we lost two linchpins of the station in Hitzges and the Hang zone, and while we’ve replaced them with other people, who have had unbelievably high ratings for new shows, we think we need to spend more money on salaries AND tweak the lineup of our shows Why? Sure it seems counterintuitive to mess with success but Mary you need to understand that there are redditors who aren’t happy with our product. So we’re going to ignore the Neilsen listener panel that has us consistently as one of the top ranked stations in the metroplex to try to please a handful of angry internet trolls who almost all admit they’re no longer P1’s of the station” C
And just to head off the incoming “dude the invasion was EIGHTH in the last book” comments. You’re right they were. In a month when their lead in show was on vacation for 3 weeks. When the invasion was off and filling in for AMD or PMD for some of that time. So yes they dropped from 2nd to eighth and therefore that symbolizes the redditors point that Matts a pedo and nobody listens to the invasion because they suck. Clearly, CLEARLY the sports radio listeners are voting with their ears and abandoning the Invasion in favor of other sports radio options. Like KRLD-FM, the Fan, who while the Invasion was sinking from 2nd to Eighth, they went UP from 3rd in June to (squints at numbers) 16th. SIXTEENTH? Isn’t 3 to 16 a much bigger decline than 2nd to 8th? Damn, it’s almost like what the redditors say is untethered to reality. C
Second, please give a convincing or at least plausible reason why Landry Locker filled in this week. All JV are on hand; most of said JV filled in the entirety of summer drydock (some invaluable, prime time experience); and yet Cat opts for some sports talk dude who's last gig was in Houston and who's also unemployed. Landry has tenuous ties with TT from his stint at 103.3, that's it. Unlike Doucey or Sam Gannon or Ted Emrich, he's totally unknown to P1/2/3s. At the very least, it's an eyebrow raising move.
Third and finally, maybe, just maybe, Cat and Bennett are hearing things (with their own ears/consultants' ears, not the sosh) they find concerning. Maybe they realize middays need a tweak -- add a voice here, move a voice there -- if these shows are going to be breadwinners in the long term. Hell, maybe, just maybe they are being proactive. Meaning, they know DnM aren't going to work forever; they know that when that day comes, they'd better have their ducks in a row, else TT will be ripe for the pickings, and at that point we could see the (inevitable) downslide. And a quick one at that. So why not buttress the defenses? Why not get that midday as strong as they can (at least in their eyes)? Shit, with the right tweak, they might stumble upon their next AM drive crew. You never know. Good orgs are always looking to be better.
Like I said, this doesn't pass the smell test. Something's up. Might be a stopover, a mini proving ground for another market Cumulus wants to put Landry in. We'll see.
Locker lived here at one point correct, when he worked on KESN? But has been living in Houston I assume. McClarin said he and Catlin kept in touch when he was in Birmingham. Is it not plausible that Catlin is keeping in touch with other possible future talent? Perhaps Locker was back in town for personal reasons and it coincided with Donovan's absence. Or maybe he came back to town just to fill in.
And as to why Locker instead of JV, as you just said yourself, you just had drydock where much of the JV got their time filling in for Tier-1 shows. Why not audition another possibility? And as for Doocy, Gannon, Emrich, et al they all also have regular gigs. They may be great as a fill in, but not destined to ever be full time.
And why I agree with some of the things in your third paragraph, like I think this a proactive test-drive of a possible future piece. And they know D&M aren't going to work forever (though I've heard rumblings of a contract extension that got them the 3 week summer vacation in addition to the winter drydock break). I think I disagree with the idea that they're looking to tweak things midday. June's ratings book is a bad month for sports stations, yet the hated midday shows managed to be 2nd in their demo, only losing to KLNO, who is NOT a competitor of theirs. if you're 2nd in your daypart a PD might tweak the clock, change some formatics, work on some cume building or TSL lengthening strategies (midday power hour anyone?), but I just don't see them adding people. C
Ran thru Welptons Reddit posts a while back and assembled this: Hang zone's ratings thru the run of their show: March- Dec 2020- 2-4-5-4-7-2-6-2. Average of 4, Median of 4. 2021 T3-1-4-3-3-3-3-3-3-1-1-3. Avg 2.5, Median 3 2022 6-4-3-3-2-3-2-2-3-5-2 Avg 3.16, Median 3 2023 Jan-July 2-1-1-1-1-1-1 Avg 1.1, Median 1 Avg of their averages- 2.69, Avg of medians 2.75
Sweet Spot 2023 3-T2-3-1-1 Avg 2, Median T2 2024 1-T2-3-4-T2-2-8. Avg 3.14, Median T2 Avg of avg- 2.57, avg median T2. Will be interesting to see if they bounce back from that 8th with football season starting.
I'm not a huge fan of the Sweet Spot, but I see them getting ripped for an 8th, but Dan and Jake get a pass for 7th in the July book of 2020. Dan, who'd been in that daypart for TWENTY years. They get trashed, while they're ratings compete with (i.e. are at least as good as) the Hang Zone's. I'd love a little bit more fun or personality from 1-3p, but clearly the listeners aren't having big issues with what they're throwing down. C
Nasty little piece of work, aren't you. Pretty sure I recognize your handiwork. You're a long time contributor across many avenues in DFW related online communities and back when comments were allowed, publications.
Was boooooring. TT already exists. Stop trying to be TT. Prob let my sub expire come Sept 1. Been a yr now of "what is this?" and it's become tiresome. Happy you dig it, moosing, but I'm not feeling those vibes. Was hoping for sonething new and outside of the terrestrial radio box. Instead I get TT but with one mostly not live show and a lot of inconsistency with tespect to direction. Wake me up when they actually come into their own, whatever the hell that really means.
I agree. If you were a Hang Zone P1 who just absolutely loved Dan and Jake you may have reason to be a sub, stream, etc. But if you're just a regular ol' sports fan, and want to tune in tomorrow morning during your commute and see what sports talkers have to say about the Cowboys pre-season game, TDZ can't help you. And (assuming their MO hasn't changed since my sub lapsed), once you're done with their 2 hour show 4 days a week, you've got to find something else to listen to. Forget punching in and out throughout the day as you get a chance to listen. Forget hearing different folks sharing different takes on the game. And while Moosing may be correct that 'they're killing it', what they're not doing is killing the Ticket. With the demise of the Freak, and the non-effect of TDZ on the Ticket's ratings, I think we're seeing the difference between a show and a brand. Look at the July ratings, the Musers were gone for 3 weeks, the Hardline for 2 and I thought I was in a Dunkin Donuts with all the donut spare tires they rode that month. People tune in to TDZ because they're fans of Dan and Jake, people tune into the ticket because it's all sports all the time. C
No one ever said their goal is to “kill the Ticket.” In fact, they still speak fondly of the station and their former colleagues. Both can coexist, and believe it or not, I listen to both. The beauty of the DZ is that I primarily tune in during the evenings while doing dishes, chores, walking the dog, or watching Rangers games. Sure, they’re not too sports-heavy, but there are plenty of other outlets for that.
Over the last year, they’ve developed more organic “bits” and callbacks than the Ticket has in the last decade. In some ways, it feels like the early, wild-west days of the Ticket, which is when I first fell in love with it. They’re building their own “wack-pack” style of guest contributors, including many ex-Ticket employees and DFW media personalities who weren’t allowed on the Ticket.
The beauty of the DZ lies in how they’ve tailored the show to their strengths without being burdened by topics they don’t want to discuss. When they do touch on those topics, it’s often with a wink to the audience. They’re not just killing time or filling segments.
For less than $7 a month, they’re producing 8-10 hours of high-quality content each week.
If you think the DZ can only succeed if the Ticket fails, you’re highly mistaken.
I dig your enthusiasm and outlook on TDZ, Moosing. But like I previously said, as a D1DF sub, I'm left very much wanting. You perfectly describe what I think is wrong with it. Ticket this, Ticket that, Ticket everywhere and in all things. Move on from TT already. I agree with you that both can exist. I also believe neither D nor J think for one second they can somehow best TT. To quote a certain man, "That's a non-starter." And yet they just can't let TT go. Always with the ex Ticket guests. Always with the Ticket references. Oh hey, we're going to Cowboys training camp like TT and other sports stations! C'mon. I'd get it 100% if they were fired, but that's 100% not the case. Move on and focus on something else. That's not to say they shouldn't cover sports. By all means, do. After all, it's what they (especially Dan) knows best. But do your own thing and in your own way.
I'm not seeing that, Moosing. I'm seeing an attempt at recreating the exact environment and ways of operation that mirror the very place they chose to leave. Thing is, by their own admission they're making a little less than half of what they did while at TT. It'll continue to be that way until they can no longer afford to go on. How long will that take, I don't know. But it will happen. I say this because by turning themselves into a seamless continuation of their roles at TT, they will only attract the subs they currently have. The numbers will fluctuate up and down, for sure, but they will (and have) in the bigger picture remain static. Which means their income will remain at less than half their former salaries (not even factoring in insurance, and whatnot). While this all works out wonderfully for you, Moosing, it is exactly what will kill the endeavor.
Now. If they become TDZ proper and ditch TDZ a Ticket Subsidiary and take full advantage of the freedom vis-a-vis content that this platform offers, they have a real chance at real growth and becoming a real force (really!). And that's what I mean when I say that I'm letting my sub go on 9/1 because what they've put out thus far is disappointing.
Interesting take. You hit upon something I haven't thought of. That is by giving Ticket/Hang Zone supporters exactly what they want (for TT to have remained as it was pre DnJ's departure), they are not only hamstringing their growth (forever a niche, local thing), but also are potentially hastening the end. In a sense, this was a major issue with The Freak, despite their protestations otherwise. How do they remedy this? How to grow and not lose your core audience? What does such a remedy look like?
Let’s assume to take them at their word (which I do not): they wanted to try something different. Great. But they aren’t different. They entered a dynasty and played a role. When they decided they could strike out, away from the dynasty (which was never the case: they were waiting to join the Freak, but tripped over their own nonsense), and succeed, they took a gamble. Bad decision, coach. You’re laundry.
Nor sure how he's gonna afford that with the dos out if state toots, half a salary, abd unlike The Rich Kid, I mean Jake, his wifey ain't clocking mad dollars.
I didn't say they were trying to kill TT. My point was while Moose thinks they're killing it, so is TT, proving, yes, both can exist at the same time. As for the wack pack, isn't having to run a bunch of ex-TT peeps or ex-freak peeps in as guests kind of an admission they can't fill the time themselves? Both Drew and Mr Giggles above touch on this- if you weren't a HZ listener, or a "Glenn", do you know who Julie Dobbs, or Jeff Cavanaugh are? Same with Matt Brunig or Sarah Heptola, if you're not already aware of them, are any of those names going to draw in new subscribers? And while I get that it's a different medium, different rules, different economic models, etc, TT has Aikman, the other Moose (Johnston, not Maven) Joel Klatt, etc. Who's a more interesting guest to have, the #1 color guy from a major network who's a 3x SB winner, or a failed radio host who's major claim to fame is she's married to an ex stars assistant coach? C
so Moose are you a sports fan? I assume there's a reason TT is always promoting 'big name guests'. Probably because listeners tell them they want to hear from BNGs. If you're a TDZ fan you may want to hear from Julie, but I bet the average sports fan (see my comment about target market) is more interested in anything Troy has to say over Julie's wacky story about a mix-up in the school pick up lane. C
Again, Moose, this all works our great for you. And I truly mean it when I say that's awesome for and other HZ tefugees and/or 10-3 Ticket haters But for how much longer? If they were earning somewhere near their former salaries + insurance + benefits + 401K, I'd say " These guys are doing this the right way. Godspeed to them." They're not. Not even close. Eventually something gives. Either they go onto other things or they go down a different path.
Short of it: Enjoy your extended cut of THZ/TDZ while you can. Because if it's going to continue on for even the mid-haul, it's going to have to stand on its own and do so as something other than Our Version of The Ticket.
And a second comment with a different thought. Again both Drew and Mr Giggles touch on this. Who is their target market? I remember reading a comment that said the Freak was a station for people who thought TT talked too much sports. So they hired a bunch of ex-TT staff, and had them NOT do what most of them had experience with. Baffling. So for all the 'hey we love our old teammates' and 'hey we can both exist at the same time", they're basically doing a slightly modified version of their old show. Which by definition is going to compete with TT while TT just plugs in the next man up and keep chugging along. I'm just not sure what they can do differently to draw an audience. Dan's been doing sports radio for almost 35 years I'd guess. And correct me if I'm wrong, has Jake ever held a radio job outside the nurturing biospehere of the little ticket? Do either of them have the talent to totally re-invent themselves as some different kind of show that would appeal to a much wider audience? Here's an issue I see: They're a podcast, but basically rehashing their old radio show. And there's still radio shows out there that people can listen to. They can continue to do a sports focused show, but unless they go to all live shows, they're always going to be behind the times of those radio shows they're competing with. If I spent all day Monday listening to TT or The Fan hosts talk about how Trey Lance did, or why they need to get CeeDee into camp, do I need to hear the same thing a day or 2 later from TDZ? So to circle back around. Describe to me who TDZ target. Is it Men, 25-54 who like Dallas sports? OK, again, that exactly describes the target market of the Fan and TT. AND TDZ are generalists. If you're a fan of any of the 4 major teams, there's probably at least a half dozen sports-specific podcasts that will give you JUST what you want without dealing with the Matt Bruning or Sarah Heptolas of the world.
So have they painted themselves into a corner? As Drew and Mr Giggles said above, how do they re-invent themselves to widen their appeal, without losing their appeal to their current audience.
One last tangent in paris: If they don't widen their appeal, what have they done? They didn't rid the radio world of non-competes. They spent a crapload of money to on lawyers so they could start podcasting right away. Would that money have been better spent paying expenses as you sat out your non-compete. Anybody remember what TDZ implied was their legal expense? I have to wonder what they really gained by not sitting out their non-compete. As is, they've admitted they cut their salaries in half, correct? Was it worth it? I guess they don't have to answer to 'the man', but at least at one point at least Dan was working from home. Now they're paying for a studio, have to go there to 'work', it really seems like so much of what they said they wanted to get away from they're now embracing or accepting. C
Yeah, you can but nobody cares. Ya know, cuz you got a bag. At least your bag is consistent. Consistently empty. I'll give you that. Take it ez, my baby.
Actually, you can. But you mist attach a valid email address to your handle. When you see a handle in orange, like KFD's, you see a commenter who can edit and-or delete their comment.
Congrats, Zudoolu, you figured it out. How perceptive! A fanboy blog dedicated to a radio station is inhabited by dorks. Uou seem like the hippest, smartest bae in the room. What's a chad like you slumming around a geekgasm of a place like this? No one as into Joyce as you are ought to debase themselves in such a manner.
The 2 segments the Hardline did on the Zach Bryan concert are a perfect example of why I often want to strangle Corby and the truth of "Familiarity breeds contempt" . Corby proceeded in his over excited tone to spew some incorrect facts mixed with his usual superlatives of "No ones ever done what this guy is doing.". Which is the same thing he's said about Christ Stapleton, Leon Bridges and at least two or three other acts. Were I new to the Ticket it would bother me as much but after all these years I've heard him say that so often I just punch out on him at that point. I started off as a Corby fan and defender back in the day. He had some funny stuff and he was really good at the celebrity interviews. He probably still is good at those things I just can't see it anymore. It's a strange thing that happened and I can't really pinpoint when it happened. Corby has been around long enough to go from my hero to the villain of my story.
Nah, scruh. Easter egg for ya. Glad ya dug it. Aleays in control of the sitch. Always know what I do and how to do it. Spesh draw pee drinkers like offsides. L8r.
Oh, man. Big time owieeeee. Use an obv typo as, what, some sorta flaw? An ass wrinkle? Cochise, puhleeze. Gotta be stronger on the dribble, my baby. Pick n roll ain't no Krafty, Look at what's happened to me, I can hardly believe it myself!. Feel it, scruh? Feel me? Ya Yu Do.
Ol' Poor sure has your number, eh, skippy. Anyone not glued to The Boys tip to the point of gagging--ahem, hard to do on a micro, but I digress--yahootie, you put on yer cape. So predictable.
If Dan Bennet had retired, and Jeff Catlin had left the station and the new GM and OP approached Dan and Jake with the exact same offer they passed on in 2023 - knowning what they now know - would they take it to return (all hatchets buried) to 12-3 on The Ticket?
ok - so if everything else was the same, Bennett and Catlin are still in their postions, and they (for whatever reason) offered Dan and Jake the same deal (and no, they can't continue their own podcast as is) would they accept a return based on that tail-between-their-legs scenario?
My guess is that they would want Blake to come with them and the raises for their support staff that they had negotiated, but I think they would. They seemingly have painted themselves into a corner here. No other local station to go to, podcast is doing fine, but numbers have been stagnant for awhile. They make half what they used to and I would imagine work more now than they did before. I think they would go back in a heartbeat. After a year, it would all be water under the bridge. But I don't think the problem is or ever was Bennett or Catlin. I think the issue would come from the corp overlords who filed a lawsuit against them.
It doesn't seem like TT folks hold any ill will towards them, so I don't think it would be awkward in that way. Obviously the problem would be what to do with the midday folks. Ratings wise they are doing pretty good, so you can't just kick them out.
Perhaps there could be a door open in the future when the musers decide to hang it up? That would be many years down the road from all of it and maybe enough higher ups are gone by then.
1. Non-starter: Don't pretend to be others. Neither Jake nor Dan would deign to visit this URL, much less leave a comment. The same can be said for Blake or anyone else directly associated with TDZ. So just stop it.
2. Of course TDZ isn't going back. There is neither now nor will there ever be that opportunity to accept or reject.
Just adding to what has already been said: neither Dan nor Jake will ever be on KTCK again. They won’t be offered that opportunity. It isn’t happening.
In radio, "never say never" most certainly applies. Unlikely, sure. Never? Not absolute.
And since I started the question, the intent was never to infer something was up, it was simply - in Ticket style - a hypothetical. Like "Gorilla vs Grizzly". Don't take this stuff too seriously, you guys.
Yes. I didn’t mean to act as though it was anything other than a hypothetical — and thank you for bringing it up. Lot of dumb zone trolls on here . I only meant, for them, to clarify how much they screwed the pooch. So to speak.
The Boys Our Boys 'sodes Blake Blake Blake Blake More Julie More Danny More Cavanaugh Where's Sirois? Legal Dream Team 69 69 69 69 69 $690 Remote The Ticket The Ticket Evil Cat Selfish Norm Living Wage Evil Cumulus Boot Lickers Great To Work For A Company That Cares Like iHeart Narratives Lies False Narratives Lying Liars Lying Convinced Of Their Own Lies $690,000 Per Annum Salaries Subs Poor Arithmatic Poor Understanding Of How Business And The World Works Desperate Rhyner Ben & Skin Win Again 69 69 69 The Boys 2025 Dan Morning In Des Moines McClaren Still In #4 Market The Ticket A Cumulus Station
It’s pretty weird that the weirdest troll here…the one that claims that the DZ stans cant stand for them to be criticized…is actually the one that has to chime in and denigrate what they’re doing any time anyone makes even the slightest positive remark about them. Just go look at the past year of comments
Love your work here. Heads you win, tails I lose. Thing is, skippy, the jr high debate train left the station a few moons ago. A for effort, though. By the by, you familiar with refutation by analogy? If so, then ya know what would come next.
I thought you told us good-bye after people responded to your "alleged" understanding of Cumulus' Master Plan? I am a hipster when it comes to disliking Dan, I disliked him before it was cool to dislike him, but even I'm tired of reading your post. You could at least put a consistent name on them so you could own your opinions. Especially if you're the same one who descends into vulgarity in the majority of your post and casting aspersions on your "opponents" intellect and life style. I'm pretty certain those make your arguments a fallacy in any school of Logic.
Honestly I don't know why we are even discussing TDZ at this point a year after they left. If something new happened I'd get it but all of these are just remixes of the same post we've had for a year. "They will fail." "They hate their decision." "They love their new life", "They are going to make it bigger than ever". None of us have any idea what D&J are thinking. None of us have any inside information, because the majority of people who claim inside information have been wrong at every turn. They were wrong when they said D&J being gone was nothing, They were wrong when they said that a deal to get them back on the air was imminent. They were wrong that Cumulus was going to crush them, If anyone knew about the master "throw the case" strategy at the time I don't recall. That anyone mentioning it. Writing vague word salad so that later on you could claim to have known all along is a trick that grifters have been using since at least the Roman Empire. People on the other side of of the argument were equally wrong about what revolutionary thing was going to happen with D&J being unleashed.
Surly we'd all be happier complaining about how stale D&M are, How Gordo has lost his fastball, How weird Matt is, How boring the SS is and my personal favorite how big a beating Corbie is, despite his talent and success. Those and talking about corrupt psychopathic used car dealers are what made this blog great! Come on lets Make MTC Great Again!
Very interesting development. Specially so if you've been paying attention to TDZ, The Mom Game Pod, and the sosh of once ubiquitous now on the periphery local media types (e.g., John Rhadigan). While the piece makes no mention of ex-Ticket/Freak pats, said ex-pats are making many mentions (obliquely and explicitly) of All City and something big coming online. From the looks of it, we might be about to witness what's basically tantamount a new Ticket but in all podcast form.
The known players involved for now are Marc Stein and Jeff Cavanaugh. But if you have been paying attention, it's rather obvious that No Puppet Productions will be involved. It also appears that when the ex-Ticket/Freak pats' NCs expire, which I believe is soon, they too will be joining All City. These include Danny and Julie, and it's looking like Sirois will emerge from hiding, as well. Others like Rhadigan and Emily Jones (who wanted to disclose the whole thing but was stopped by Julie on TMG) also appear to be onboard. If this happens, and it sure looks like it is, Things could get seriously interesting around here. One thing I have noticed is that Rhyner seems not to be involved. Maybe he is, but there's no evidence thus far.
not saying none of this is going to happen, but little of it makes sense from the standpoint of AllCity's business model (as already established in other markets) or the individuals themselves (unless they're just desparate for a regularly paying gig and happy to do whatever someone tells them to talk about). it is a new frontier and there are groups with money looking to be the next new media company - so we'll see. But it will have little to no effect on radio's near term future.
Ok, so where the Freak (as both a radio station AND freely available podcasts) and TDZ as a podcast has been unable to make a serious dent in the Ticket's radio ratings, what makes you think this motley collection of beat reporters and C-list media celebrities is going to have an effect. I was out a few weeks ago with a some friends who all work in the radio, advertising or PR fields. One of the topics of conversation is the damage done to Iheart by the Freak. Iheart just fired their General Sales Manager in Dallas, the Freak wasted a couple of million in salaries, and cut their revenue by at least 40% (for sure) , possibly as much as 50, to a high according to one source of 60%. All that effort (and all that lost money) had zero long lasting effect on the Ticket's ratings, and that option is easily accessible to anyone with a car, a radio in their home, a smart speaker or a phone. From what I've seen, all these podcasts have been available already. Why do you think having all these in one place is going 'be tantamount to a new Ticket". When the Ticket started in '94, you had sports in AMD and PMD, and everything else was a sports wasteland. Now the competitive field is completely different. Not only do you have 2 all sports stations, but with the internet you have access to the sports station of your favorite out of market team and podcasts that cater to your very specific tastes. So they have Marc Stein. Are his NBA fan listeners suddenly going to become die-hard sportsfans because Owen Newkirk is doing a podcast on the same website? Again lets check into reality. Cavanaugh has now been unsuccesful on 2 radio stations and and in 3 dayparts. Dobbs was a bit player on TT, and was exposed (badly) on the Freak. TDZ has proven that podcasts and TT can survive in the same media market. I'm just having a really hard time seeing how a bunch of folks podcasting who are now podcasting for the same owner are going to make things 'seriously interesting around here". Maybe I'm wrong. But I'm pretty sure I said (more than once) that Iheart management was going to take high salaries and a 40% drop in revenue laying down. And they didn't. My only question, how long is it going to take them to burn through 12 million dollars. C
Hey, C. In your comment resides an assumption that I'm saying if what seems to be coming down indeed does, it could give TT a run for its money. I'm not. Pods, and as you point out, terrestrial radio are different animals. While the content is roughly the same (talking), the ways in which the content produced, put forth, consumed, and judged to be successful (or not) are on the whole different. So there's that. Here comes the "but."
But.
Why did TF fail? I contend it failed because (1) its lack of focus/direction, (2) some of the hosts were not yet ready for primetime, and (3) none of the hosts were doing the thing they actually knew how to do in radio: That is, talk sports, or at least be sports-centric in their content. Can we agree on those being the main reasons for TF's early departure?
Why has TDZ, which has a goodly number of subs, stagnated (and it has)? I believe in large part this is due to its reliance on pretty much an exclusively local fanbase that (as you point out) has another alternative to fill in the many gaps. These gaps are the result of being a one show entity that consists of episodes, which do not provide the immediacy and almost reflexive, routine aspect of daily content.
What happens when you fix these issues by combining the familiarity of old radio friends who are now creating content based on what they actually know, in combination with said content being put out on a daily basis? That is, no more gaps, recognized (even beloved by many) voices, who are discussing what many want to hear. I believe if such a scenario comes to fruition, while it won't be of any serious consequence to TT (for now: more on that below), it will garner a fairly sizeable number of customers, which in turn could provide for rather nice salaries for all involved.
As to the above promissory note, I mean this:
I know nothing about you, C, except that by your own admission you work in radio sales and in this market. If I'm incorrect, please say so. Do you have kids? If so, approximately how old? I do. Mine are 12 and 20. One Gen Z, one Alpha. We are now on our 2nd generation that absolutely do not watch t.v. or listen to the radio. Indeed, much the same can be said for the later Millennials. They watch 30 second clips, if they watch sports they stream on a phone, and as to music and anything talk, it's streamed or a podcast. They consume and understand media/entertainment differently than us old farts. Period. While it's not coming tomorrow or next week, rest assured, the day when pods will be where the money's at is coming. Soon. They are the future and the future is now. As one noted sports-comedian likes to say, "It's called the way it is."
So, yes, I do think things could get really interesting around here. And if what's being hinted at takes place, I also think it would be tantamount to Podcast Ticket. Making Ticket Bank? No. Not yet at any rate.
I found these two comments fascinating today, as earlier I got the "Pretty please" letter from SiriusXM regarding my free trial expiration today and I was like "I have the SportsDay app, Amazon Music, and podcasts, so what need to I have for satellite radio...?"
Is the only measure of success for any venture involving Ticket or Freak expats that they dethrone TT? I admit that I understand neither radio or podcasting and how to judge success but I don't know if that is a fair metric. I think calling anything the "next Ticket" dooms it to failure by saddling it with those expectations. I think the Ticket is a Black Swan and we won't ever see anything like it again in our life times.
I think C Minus nailed it. I’m supposed to be interested in Sirois , Danny, Julie ? Sorry. None of those names move the needle much. It’s one thing to be a really good bit player in a larger scheme. It’s another to take that and decide I can do this on my own ! What’s Gordon or Craig or whomever got that I don’t ?! That’s a road paved .
Well, man, you're commenting on. a singke sentence comment. Thank you for making my point by being a prime example. To your shtick: I will express myself how I see fit. Not everyone finds the terseness of 20th c American prose attractive.
I and many others here are still waiting on you to contribute something, anything, of substance. Twitter\X/text one liner snark, like the pervasive style found in 29th c American literature, anglo-analytic philosophy, et alia, is long past its best by date.
Too many cooks in the kitchen for TDZ. Bringing over their Freak friends for some Ticket-'Memberberries is just shoving that Local Niche Podcast flag right into the ground.
Actually, KDF, C minus, and Poor the Legend, if you watch their promo clip on YT you'll see their intention is exactly to be what The Ticket is. Only done so in a newish, multiplatform way where listeners can consume daily live and prerecorded shows. Replete with pre and postgame shows for all teams. The promo is very similar to early and today's Ticket promos. "Your guys talking local sports." If you do the research like we did, you'll see how All City has already made significant inroads in the Denver market.
New thoughts? On The Ticket? I don't anyone who has a thing new or novel on that subject. The Dumb Zone, maybe. Something seems to be in the works. They make mention of business meetings nearly every episode. Since the very tail end of The Freak, Danny has become such a frequent guest that it almost seems like he's a part of the crew. He was even on their Mystery Science Theater 3000 watch along with Jerry''s and now also Stephan's "State of the Team" address. Julie too is a more than regular on it. She talks about being with them in these business meetings. So something seems to be up.
ReplyDeleteAll that and how so far nothing seems really stable or makes a lot of sense with The Dumb Zone. Early days, for sure, but what exactly are they getting out of being part of the Washed Media pod conglomerate, other than associating with some pretty douchie and not so great content creators? My point here is that something surely is in the works that will set the thing on a structured course that will hopefully set them up for success for years to come. It's early days with Washed, but not so much with the podcast. We're over a year into it now. I agree with those who pose the question: If they're making half of their old salaries, without the benefits, how does everyone make decent money if they bring a Danny and/or Julie and/or Sirois aboard? I think it's a fair and valid one. I've no idea what either Danny's or Julie's buyout/severance package (did they get anything?) from iHeart nets, but I do know that Freak hosts were making a very tidy sum. It was the chief factor in iHeart's pulling the plug so soon. If salaries were lower, they would've most likely been given at least another year to turn it around. I was told this by someone local who is in the business. So let's assume both received a nice package (I don't think that's too far off the farm), they're probably going on, and with such frequency, because presently they don't need the money (i.e., aren't desperate to find a new gig), have the time on their hands to do it, and are doing Dan and Jake a solid by boosting interest. After all, if you watch the YT VODs and pay attention to social media, it is when former Ticket employees come on that the most views occur and the most buzz is created. All of which is to say just because Danny and Julie are on, a lot, it doesn't necessarily mean that they will be joining team No Puppet.
So what ought they do? I really have no suggestions. Truthfully, I thought with those steady sub numbers hovering in the 6000-6300 range that they were doing far better financially. As it was pointed out many times in the last thread, they aren't. How does that number double? My guess would be they need to go a more national route and ditch trying to continue The Hang Zone, a DFW market show. But I don't see either of them popping of hot takes on NYC, LA, Chicago, Boston, etc., sports all day, every day. Politics? Social issues? Well, they are both quickly gaining a rep even amongst their most ardent fans as embodying their namesake when it comes to a plethora of topics, historical facts, news stories, pop culture, you name it. They find it amusing, relatable. That's cool. We all used to laugh and think nothing of Rhyner's gaffs back in The Hardline days. Different kettle of fish when you begin to venture outside your home turf.
So, yeah, I dunno. I love listening to those two talk sports. Sometimes I don't mind the other stuff, either. I'm a sub and I'm pulling hard for them. But I'm not sure where it goes from here. Maybe some of you with much bigger brains than mine (all of you!) have some ideas or even knowledge of where things are heading.
Musers - Just fine. Probably 3yrs left. Let's cut Detty back a little bit.
ReplyDeleteInvasion - I get the MM hate, he needs to let the game come to him. But also, Donnie needs to be a teammate. Its as if he's always looking to pounce and make a segment into an e-brake - this could also be a Producer issue. Still needs improvement.
Sweet Spot - The hosts are dorks. One has made his whole persona that of baseball - - that's a dork. The other....just seems to match. So Much Work in Progress is Needed.
Hardline 5.0 - strong to quite strong. (in fact, if one of the Hosts is out the show might actually shine more than if the same were to happen with the Morning Show).
----------
TDZ - 1 year in - they are a local dfw podcast, mimicking their previous radio show structure. Was it worth it? Did they think by this time they would be a PM drive time show on a new, 'alternative' radio dial with some former coworkers? Can they clear 18mths?
“New thoughts? On The Ticket? I don't anyone who has a thing new or novel on that subject”.
ReplyDeleteGood grief Edward. Here is where you stop.
You seem like a sad person, Zulu. This seems to be the only thing you know how to do. That is, make pathetic snipes at other's comments. Why? What's wrong with you? What sort of person does this? Why don't you ever add to the discussion? If it's all so beneath you, why do you visit this site? Little snarks are the product of a third rate mind. But whatever floats your boat, man. Some people just can't help themselves.
DeleteThat bit is way past its best by date, Zulu. Maybe MTC isn't for you. Might I suggest either Ticket or DumbZone reddit. There I believe you will find a place more amenable to your modus.
Delete@Zulu
ReplyDeleteStop being a bully. No need for it, and it does nothing but poorly reflect on you. For over a year now the insanity and toxicity on this site has been off the charts. Someone lays out their thoughts and you try to shame them for it. I'm not getting it.
@Dawson
Couldn't agree with you more regarding The Sweet Spot. I think Sean is a good guy, but the pairing with Mino isn't very good. WiP would be the perfect buffer between The Invasion and THL.
Anyone else feeling dot-com bubble vibes about the podcast realm these days? The novelty is wearing thin.
ReplyDeleteYou're onto something, Poor. Poor old Leg, well, let's just say he's taken in more than the tip of The Boys' collective micro. "Myopic" is the secret word. By the by, Poor, is that the best wordplay in your arsenal? Rather, ahem, poor stuff. Better do better, you better, you bet. Else Zulu gonna diagram yo ass.
DeleteDamn right.
DeleteOr love will cut you like a knife
DeleteOpen arms and open legs, Adjunct. I have a feeling your P seeps like a dying willow. Emblematic. Brilliant. Like an ex frat boy pounding on the bathroom door, demanding his righful entrance (after all, he used to always receive the invitations) at some pathetic excuse for an Iriish Pub in a South Eastern state college town, irate the bastard in front of him actually deigned t relieve himself and desperate to get that last piss in before his cream dream, the only one in his last 2 years of frantic, pathetic, drunken quest to find someone, anyone, who in some way meets his unrealistic standards of what constitutes an attractive woman, who (she) in 4 years will weigh in at 14 stones go off into that good night with her rock climbing "instructor" in order to live her best life. That, in a nutshell, I claim --with apodictic certainty-- will be the triggering event that will launch your Saharan like vaginal modus cogitandi into that substanceless, Heideggerian void of anarchic wooliness.
DeleteHi, Zulu. Let's skate.Try outs begin next Thursday. Hope you've been working out hard, real hard, in the offseason. Ready, bubba? I don't really mind how much you love me. A little is alright. You dig, Zoolz? Why don't you show the goods, Hemmingscro? Cum on, brutha. Post a comment. Let's see the SHIT, bruh. Lay. It. On. Us. Dare. Ya.
P.S. If your curve Left. I got your stick.
#FeebleMinds #AxesOverthrown #PassportPictures
Edward. I am sorry for implying that your novel was not good.
DeleteCoach Bombay, lace ‘em up.
I don’t get any of this. But I know I don’t like it. Peace.
DeleteHow is everyone doing with their 25% bonuses on their annuities?
ReplyDeleteSadly, I say goodbye to a once fantastic little isle of respite in a vast ocean of thoughtless internet shrieking. Even the overall conversation and tone on Ticket reddit has begun to take on an air of reasonableness when compared to MTC. That's saying something. A lot, actually.
ReplyDeleteToo damn bad. Too bad that it's chiefly due to a thimbleful of "contributors." From lunatic trolls to those whose passion (for or against) Dan and Jake is so over the top that it's rendered them incapable of rational discussion to those whose odd flex is to demean others' style with insulting snark to outright creeps... the whole lot of it.... awful, pathetic, at times bizarre pleas for attention. Or so it seems.
I kept thinking: "It'll die down then die off, and MTC will return to form." But no. This now is MTC. So have at it, I'm out of here. But I'm not alone. Many regular contributors rarely if ever comment. More will follow suit, I've no doubt.
Critical comments of on air talent and opinions is ok.
ReplyDeleteCritical comments of commentary on this site are a reason to lament or leave. Ok.
Careful Darrell. That's a mirror you're lookin' in
DeleteWell it looks like PMan has had enough of the pee troll. My response above was to them, not to Zulu
DeleteKiller reading copy that Gordon wrote is not funny. It’s actually never been funny and likely never will. Complete waste of a segment.
ReplyDeleteI don't know when the change happened, but most posts here are either qanon-style riddles about something that never happens, incomprehensible ramblings about Dan and Jake, or meta commentary on other posters that include so many non-sequitur phrases or quotes that it's impossible to read.
ReplyDeleteI agree. It seems like some of the regular posters here are trying to emulate a Mike Rhyner-esque style of prose. Constantly trying to shoehorn in obscure terms and an off-beat style. It comes off as babbling. Just speak like a normal person.
DeleteLotta lonely people
DeletePretty cool that TT has been nominated for two Marconis: Best Major Market Station of the Year and Best Major Market Sports Station of the Year.
ReplyDeleteMusers back from vacation and sounding strong to quite-strong. Especially for a group of guys who retired at Ticketstock.
ReplyDeleteI'm still out of the country and will be until mid-month.
ReplyDeleteI just deleted a bunch of posts, including some that weren't so bad but that were responding/replying to posts I deleted.
Write about The Ticket.
Avoid ad hominem attacks.
Keep the acronyms, metaphors, obscure pop culture references, obscure Ticket references, and general obscurity to a minimum. James Joyce wouldn't have made it through some of this stuff lately.
Don't write stuff calculated to irritate me or other shoppers at My Ticket Confession.
Hereby announcing far more severe review of comments. Let's try to get this site back to the friendly, sometimes fun, and generally Ticket-based forum it is intended to be.
Very nice James Joyce reference. Safe travels Pman.
DeleteThat tush smell good, Zuul?
DeleteThe July book is out. Welpton will probably post about it tomorrow on Reddit. In the mean time, any predictions? Conjecture?
ReplyDeleteIt’s the July book, which is roughly the last week of June and all of July right up to training camp. Musers gone for 3 weeks, lots of deck chairs rearranged.
Can the power of the Ticket hold an audience. Did people flock to the Fan? Only the shadow knows! And Neilsen subscribers.
I'll get around to posting it there, but Ticket still #1, but both stations (it and Fan) took significant hits as is not uncommon for a July book. While TT hits came in 10-3, TF took big hits across all day parts. This is the book that reflects the Musers being out for 3 of the 4 weeks and three other shows being in various states for 2 of the 4. I'll post the link here once I get the full thing posted.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to it. Thanks, as always, in advance for your work. I did see the cume without dayparts, and you are correct, there has been quite a market correction if you will. The Spot, which came in first overall, netted a 6.4; TT (#8), 4.2; and TF (#22), a flat 2.0. That FAN # is in Freak territory. I can't recall the last time TF garnered such a low cume.
DeleteJuly is up over on the Reddit and while looking at the results, I'm reminded of the many times the station (all stations for that matter) see a one-month drop like this and quickly returns to normal in the following month or two.
ReplyDeleteHistory lesson: The Hardline in May '21 was #1/7.5. The next month it fell #6/4.5 and by July was #10/3.4 before recovering to #1/9.3 a few months later. The Musers went from #1 to #7 and back to #1 in a 2019 4-month run.
TF's drops were across all dayparts, and I'm even more suspect of their return vs what happend with TT. I also don't know what their vacation schedule was during this same window and it's not like the Rangers or Cowboys have been good vibes of late.
Like I said in the reddit post, what this really means in the longer run is very much, TBD.
https://shorturl.at/0rEXv
correction: It should HAVE read, "and I'm even more suspect of their RETURNS vs what happend with TT." - ie: Their July is really weird in how big a drop it was.
DeleteThanks, Peter. Love your information, grateful for the clarity. Agreed where TF is concerned. To echo Giggles, it seems like it's been ages since TF has turned in that low of a book. PERHAPS food for thought: It's to my admittedly limited understanding that general interest in sports talk radio has been on a downward slope for some time now. If true, MIGHT this indicate the local market -which, because of TT has been a bit of an outlier- catching up to the national trend?
DeleteI add my gratitude both for the numbers summary and the analysis.
ReplyDeleteThe Gandhi bit is offensively unfunny and overtly racist. It’s oddly incongruent to me to how the Hardline, and the Ticket in general, purport themselves. I don’t get how it continues. It’s a rough (ruff) listen to me every time.
ReplyDeleteis it any worse than the "si, si, si" drop that cuby is responsible for?
DeleteYou should let Davey know that you find it offensive. He's very available on Twitter.
DeleteWhat about Jesse the Usher? I'm so sick of ageism. Why is that prejudice acceptable? Bugs the heck outta Dena and me! Moron, you're really onto something here. I say we all boycott The Ticket and become DFs. Whaddya say, y'all? Are you with me?!?!? I just can't believe Cat condones such vileness.
DeletePlainsman, you know that "Donovan eating chitlins" was a Norm drop, right?
DeleteOh, yeah. I thought about not deleting it and I know why you posted it, but decided I just didn't like seeing it here so long after the fact. Nothing personal. I've dialed my delete-meter way, way up after all the florid ad hominem literary posturing, which yours, concededly, was not. Also, comments to deleted posts also get deleted.
DeleteIs this news?
ReplyDeletehttps://barrettmedia.com/2024/08/07/landry-locker-filling-in-next-week-on-the-ticket-in-dallas/
This is The News and this is news!
DeleteThat is VERY interesting and highly unusual.
ReplyDeleteWhy do we think this is unusual? I don’t know his personal timeline, but it says he previously worked at ESPN Dallas: Catlin was PD for both stations through the whole LMA time. I’m assuming since “the invasion” didn’t seem to be off much during the massive Muser/hardline vacation times, that they have time to burn before Cowboys season kicks off. I guess I see where it’s not usual, but it doesn’t seem that unusual either.
ReplyDeleteC
Tap the brakes a bit. From the article he says he has no plans to do full time radio anytime soon. He is also a Texans guy so I doubt this is an audition. It may speak more to the lack of depth on the JV than anything else.
ReplyDeleteThen with the musers off for 3 weeks and the Hardline off for 2 weeks and the lack of depth in the JV then I’m sure the Fan kicked their a$$ in the July ratings, right? And I’m sorry (I said that in norms voice) but when they tell me it’s not an audition, it’s still an audition. Might not be for now, but there’s bound to be a reason they’re giving him a full week. Ratings are decent for Invasion and Sweet Spot, but what happens when the musers do actually retire. (Weren’t we assured they would retire during drydock. Or at the 30th birthday. Or at ticketstock? So many predictions, all so wrong)
DeleteC
And if anyone knows the story of his departure please share. From the story, sounds like he left ESPN for another market before ending up in Houston.
ReplyDeleteDoes Catlin see a difference between people who left under good circumstances, who left to take other gigs (Locker, Rich Phillips, Mcclarin, Followell, etc ) and people who left “the bunker” only to pick up guns from the enemy to help attack the very same bunker (almost all of the Freak staff).
It’s long been a mantra of mine “don’t burn bridges”, I can certainly see how Catlin, Bennett, etc see the departures of Mike Mike and Danny as burning bridges. How it’s come out that they lied (I’m going to work with my brother or spend more time with family) was just cover to quit to go attack the bunker with your freak mates.
C
Yes
DeleteThere are 2 dozen people in the KTCK orbit that could fill in 10-1 for a week. And no, I am not talking about anyone that was on the Freq or TDZ. If they are bringing in someone new, there is a reason. Of course, maybe it is just to expand the pool.
ReplyDeleteActually, C, TF decidedly did not kick TT's ass during the July drydock. Make no mistake about it, having Landry, a very little to unknown commodity in the market (sorry, a stint at 103.3 means nothing), fill in for an entire week when you have an your JV squad who for the last month carried a lot of the water is odd. Very odd.
DeleteThere is a reason he's been given this coveted air time. Now, is he auditioning for a space that's will be open at TT or is this a CTO directive? If the former, any opening means a departure(s); if the latter, why and to what end?
The only time I can recall this happening was when a noted talent from (I believe) the midwest was brought in to be paired with Bob. Not Dan, but like I said, some name from another market. I think they did one show together and soon thereafter Dan was brought onboard. Now that I think about it, there might've been one other time where a known commodity from another market was rumored to be coming to TT but the move was aborted. Maybe someone with a clearer memory of these things can fill in the picture/correct me.
I distinctly recall the weird weekend where Bob was strangely on in the middle of the day with his friend Dan from Cleveland. Weird that Bob & his friend Dan seemed to not really know each other. I distinctly remember Bob commenting he had on VHS every nationalized television game Jordan ever played & Dan saying “What?”
DeleteAre Donny and Matt both on vacation while Locker fills in? I didn’t see this question or answer.
ReplyDeleteDespite the paragraphs spent in piling on to no avail.
DeleteTypical of the site now. For those keeping score.
I think only you keep score. Score of what, only you know.
DeleteEveryone is welcome to say what they want and in the way they want to say it. So kindly piss off, Zulu.
Zulu. Are you confused? Have you mistaken this blog for an academic journal, and believe that you are a referee? Do you think this is your class, we're your students, and here is where we upload our essays for you to grade? Do you believe this to be some sort of forum for serious subject matters, where the level of discourse is expected to be a cut or two above everyday, idle chatter? I'm not sure. I don't care. Whatever the case, you seem to be in some sort of a state. At this point, and after Plainsman explicitly saying no more intentionally trying to draw others offside with attacks on intelligence, etc., here you are at it again. It's just weird, man.
DeleteThey’d also do this with MM some, I remember him filling in for Jake I think some.
ReplyDeleteAnd no, Matt will be on the show, Donny will be on a trip in Nashville. They were pretty up front about it.
So Landry is filling in for Donny. Thank you for clarifying.
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting since Landry and Matt have SEC knowledge and ou and tu are now in the sec.
ReplyDeleteIf any midday host is safe, it is Donnie Doo
ReplyDeleteAnd if you think Twiggy's gonna let Donnie "bet on himself," I've got an idea to sell you on: it's called QCat. So any thought of Doo leaving the nurturing biosphere is a nonstarter.
ReplyDeleteNo one said Donnie is leaving.
ReplyDeleteYo, Joyce pumper. Anyone with half a brain could see the bruh was heading spec off at the pass. Woulda thot a hep cat like you woulda cot onit. Overestimated you. My b. Won't happen again.
DeleteUm, yeah, Zulu. Implicit in my comment was a pre say negation of the idea (troll, really) that Donnie might be heading to either TDZ or some other start up- alt media endeavor.
DeleteHa. “for f’s wake” is funny. Nice one.
Delete3am seems to be the standard window for your comments. Are they part of your pre-show warmup?
Always awake, my baby.
DeleteAnyone catch Landry Locker's debut? If so, thought?
ReplyDeleteNobody listens 10-3
DeleteNumbers say differently.
DeleteNumbers don’t post here
Delete@Edward
DeleteI did and it was OK. He seems to have had a relationship with everyone prior to this odd fill in stint -- I assume from his days at 103.3. He is keenly aware of the ways of TT, and so, at times tried a little too hard to be Tickety. Other than that a mostly mundane.
Each moth, Peter Welpton kindly posts a link here to the cume and daypart PPM. If you still need convincing, take a look at 10/6 5:18pm in this very thread.
DeleteOoooowie! That one hurt, my baby. You done got owned, scruh. And by someone calling theyselfie a giggle. Giggle, gaggle, wiggle, waggle it's still rock n roll to me. But they right. Skippy, hows bout you constructs yaselfs a new storyboard. Gotta be better. Gotta be smarter. Gotta dig harder. Dig? Now beat me, daddy, eights to the bar and go get yo shinebox.
DeleteMy friend told me the uptown stranger never knew about the the girls that drew
DeleteSay, Zuul, kinda lookin' like 8pm be yo 3am. I do like me some The The, though. Uptown ain't my jam, baby. Love ain't no stranger. I ain't no stranger to love, no, no.
DeleteZulu, for someone who claims to spend 5 or less minutes per day on this site, you sure seem to be a constant fixture. Perhaps you have an issue with the concept of time?
DeleteI knew there was a snake in this forum.
DeleteLookin' in a mirror, I take it.
DeleteLimbering up my delete finger. Come on, Confessors.
ReplyDeleteI would happily use a verified email/identity if it meant this page went members only. That way all the nut jobs, the Dali on steroids AND mescaline word-salad-smith, the wannabe Strunk and/or White, the assorted trolls, and all the rest would be done for. I'll go one further, Plainsman. If that's something you might be interested in, I will send you an email with my contact and IRL name, offering my services in assisting set up and even helping to maintain/admin such a site if interested. The easiest way would be Discord, but it can be done here on blogspot, as well. Just a thought.
DeleteHow has the "panic room" AT&T Comercial stuck around this long? Its not just on the ticket either, it seems to be in regular rotation on every station and Podcast, Who the heck thinks that is is a good commercial?
ReplyDeleteIs it possible that Landry Locker might be looked at as a third voice for the Invasion since they expaned for 3 hours?
I like the Invasion better when there are sports events for them to talk about. I think they are solid listen during Football season but less so during the dog days of summer. The Sweet Spot still doesn't grab me I keep giving it a try but its not clicking for me. The numbers say I'm in the minority though so clearly it is me and not them, same as with the Hardline.
Except when it went up in the previous book. But don't let that get in your way. Except that the overall cume and dayparts map right along with the historical data going bavk a decade, sans the bloated super numbers of '21-22. Again, don't let that stop you.
DeleteNice little Quick Hit on Norm by the DMN
ReplyDeletehttps://www.dallasnews.com/sports/2024/08/14/catching-up-with-norm-hitzges-dallas-radio-legend-talks-retirement-rangers-and-more/
The last question was "what are your favorite drops"?
ET P1
"I wish I were working less in retirement"
DeleteOuch, I guess the betting losses were worse than we thought
Sadly I know many people who retired from their chosen profession and are still having to work. The financial crisis of the last couple of decades really hit a lot people hard on that end. Also so many of the funds seem to have been mishandled or outright stolen from. It's sad if Norm is in that position.
DeleteDid you read the interview? He and Mare Bear have travelled more this year than most humans do their entire lives:
Delete“Let’s see. This year we went to Switzerland. And then on down to the very northern part of Italy, called the Dolomites, a big mountain range at the very northern part of Italy, and then back to a wonderful lake town called Lake Garda. And then we went to Nicaragua for a week. And then last weekend, it was a long weekend at Monterey Peninsula in California. And we’ve got New York coming up in three weeks, and then we’re going a little later in the fall, to New Orleans, and then up to Baton Rouge for the LSU-Alabama game. And then probably back up to New York for Christmas.”
No I didn't read the interview. I was responding to the post above me. That is why I wrote "if" to imply that I did not know if Norm was in that position or not. I am happy to hear that he isn't.
DeleteSo, I have to admit that Landry Locker (a) isn't that bad; (b) fits in rather seamlessly, having an instant rapport with the Varsity squad across the board; and (c), due to (a) and (b), four days into it I'm even further convinced that his being here is for reasons pertaining to F/T employment.
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering if there isn't about to be a bit of a breakup. I know this has been bandied about numerous times here, but I'm thinking maybe DnM cut that back a little to 9am, a three host booth from 9-12 (Donnie/Matt/Landry), extend TSS an hour and add Monty as a third, then follow with WTDS, finishing with THL. Or perhaps keeping things as they are, adding Landry to TSS.
Dunno. It'd be one thing if he was a Doucey or a Ted Emrich; someone who already has a F/T gig but has close ties to TT and fills in from time to time. But no. Landry's a freshly unemployed sports radio jock who used to be in the market filling in for a regular host. "Hey __rando JV__ can you do this week with Matt? You bet your ass I can, Cat."
Something's up.
Agreed. I think he and Matt might be paired on their own to be a more sport/football focused show. Donnie joins TSS.
DeleteAll conjecture.
I’d love to be a fly on the wall for that conversation. Bennett or Catlin to Mary Burner or some middle management dweeb in Atlanta:
ReplyDelete“Yes, we lost two linchpins of the station in Hitzges and the Hang zone, and while we’ve replaced them with other people, who have had unbelievably high ratings for new shows, we think we need to spend more money on salaries AND tweak the lineup of our shows Why? Sure it seems counterintuitive to mess with success but Mary you need to understand that there are redditors who aren’t happy with our product. So we’re going to ignore the Neilsen listener panel that has us consistently as one of the top ranked stations in the metroplex to try to please a handful of angry internet trolls who almost all admit they’re no longer P1’s of the station”
C
And just to head off the incoming “dude the invasion was EIGHTH in the last book” comments. You’re right they were. In a month when their lead in show was on vacation for 3 weeks. When the invasion was off and filling in for AMD or PMD for some of that time. So yes they dropped from 2nd to eighth and therefore that symbolizes the redditors point that Matts a pedo and nobody listens to the invasion because they suck.
ReplyDeleteClearly, CLEARLY the sports radio listeners are voting with their ears and abandoning the Invasion in favor of other sports radio options. Like KRLD-FM, the Fan, who while the Invasion was sinking from 2nd to Eighth, they went UP from 3rd in June to (squints at numbers) 16th. SIXTEENTH?
Isn’t 3 to 16 a much bigger decline than 2nd to 8th? Damn, it’s almost like what the redditors say is untethered to reality.
C
First off, you've no idea what TT budget is.
DeleteSecond, please give a convincing or at least plausible reason why Landry Locker filled in this week. All JV are on hand; most of said JV filled in the entirety of summer drydock (some invaluable, prime time experience); and yet Cat opts for some sports talk dude who's last gig was in Houston and who's also unemployed. Landry has tenuous ties with TT from his stint at 103.3, that's it. Unlike Doucey or Sam Gannon or Ted Emrich, he's totally unknown to P1/2/3s. At the very least, it's an eyebrow raising move.
Third and finally, maybe, just maybe, Cat and Bennett are hearing things (with their own ears/consultants' ears, not the sosh) they find concerning. Maybe they realize middays need a tweak -- add a voice here, move a voice there -- if these shows are going to be breadwinners in the long term. Hell, maybe, just maybe they are being proactive. Meaning, they know DnM aren't going to work forever; they know that when that day comes, they'd better have their ducks in a row, else TT will be ripe for the pickings, and at that point we could see the (inevitable) downslide. And a quick one at that. So why not buttress the defenses? Why not get that midday as strong as they can (at least in their eyes)? Shit, with the right tweak, they might stumble upon their next AM drive crew. You never know. Good orgs are always looking to be better.
Like I said, this doesn't pass the smell test. Something's up. Might be a stopover, a mini proving ground for another market Cumulus wants to put Landry in. We'll see.
Maybe Cat knows that the Musers aren’t gonna clear Christmas
DeleteNeither said nor implied such silliness.
DeleteLocker lived here at one point correct, when he worked on KESN? But has been living in Houston I assume. McClarin said he and Catlin kept in touch when he was in Birmingham. Is it not plausible that Catlin is keeping in touch with other possible future talent? Perhaps Locker was back in town for personal reasons and it coincided with Donovan's absence. Or maybe he came back to town just to fill in.
ReplyDeleteAnd as to why Locker instead of JV, as you just said yourself, you just had drydock where much of the JV got their time filling in for Tier-1 shows. Why not audition another possibility? And as for Doocy, Gannon, Emrich, et al they all also have regular gigs. They may be great as a fill in, but not destined to ever be full time.
And why I agree with some of the things in your third paragraph, like I think this a proactive test-drive of a possible future piece. And they know D&M aren't going to work forever (though I've heard rumblings of a contract extension that got them the 3 week summer vacation in addition to the winter drydock break). I think I disagree with the idea that they're looking to tweak things midday. June's ratings book is a bad month for sports stations, yet the hated midday shows managed to be 2nd in their demo, only losing to KLNO, who is NOT a competitor of theirs. if you're 2nd in your daypart a PD might tweak the clock, change some formatics, work on some cume building or TSL lengthening strategies (midday power hour anyone?), but I just don't see them adding people.
C
Ran thru Welptons Reddit posts a while back and assembled this:
ReplyDeleteHang zone's ratings thru the run of their show:
March- Dec 2020-
2-4-5-4-7-2-6-2.
Average of 4, Median of 4.
2021
T3-1-4-3-3-3-3-3-3-1-1-3.
Avg 2.5, Median 3
2022
6-4-3-3-2-3-2-2-3-5-2
Avg 3.16, Median 3
2023 Jan-July
2-1-1-1-1-1-1
Avg 1.1, Median 1
Avg of their averages- 2.69, Avg of medians 2.75
Sweet Spot 2023
3-T2-3-1-1
Avg 2, Median T2
2024
1-T2-3-4-T2-2-8.
Avg 3.14, Median T2
Avg of avg- 2.57, avg median T2.
Will be interesting to see if they bounce back from that 8th with football season starting.
I'm not a huge fan of the Sweet Spot, but I see them getting ripped for an 8th, but Dan and Jake get a pass for 7th in the July book of 2020. Dan, who'd been in that daypart for TWENTY years.
They get trashed, while they're ratings compete with (i.e. are at least as good as) the Hang Zone's. I'd love a little bit more fun or personality from 1-3p, but clearly the listeners aren't having big issues with what they're throwing down.
C
Jesus wept.
ReplyDeleteNasty little piece of work, aren't you. Pretty sure I recognize your handiwork. You're a long time contributor across many avenues in DFW related online communities and back when comments were allowed, publications.
DeleteFigured that out a bit ago, bruh. Let's just say old dawgs never truly learn new tricks. Ask Scoobs, he'll tell ya. Hint hint.
Delete^^^so weird
Delete^^^
DeleteIf ya know, ya know. Methinks you know. After all, it's you. The poli-sci tell is so you, skippy.
Quick Reminder, Boys:
DeleteThe '24-'25 season is nigh upon us. Tryouts begin September 2. The signup sheet can be found just outside the Pro Shop.
Looking forward to personal, one on one training with each and every one of you.
#LaceEmUpTight
#SkateHard
#DeepCurves
#FrontDoorBackDoor
#TheDirtyAreas
George playing with Pat Green
ReplyDeletehttps://www.instagram.com/p/C-wtQuYOcjC/?igsh=MXFzMGdxM29mN2hnYQ==
Anyone listen to OUR HEROES at training camp?? How was it for Jake and Dan as podcasters? Did they have guests? Good? Bad?
ReplyDeleteThey’ve been killing it. Road trip stories. Camp stories. Player man interviews. They’ve really come into their own.
DeleteWas boooooring. TT already exists. Stop trying to be TT. Prob let my sub expire come Sept 1. Been a yr now of "what is this?" and it's become tiresome. Happy you dig it, moosing, but I'm not feeling those vibes. Was hoping for sonething new and outside of the terrestrial radio box. Instead I get TT but with one mostly not live show and a lot of inconsistency with tespect to direction. Wake me up when they actually come into their own, whatever the hell that really means.
DeleteI agree. If you were a Hang Zone P1 who just absolutely loved Dan and Jake you may have reason to be a sub, stream, etc.
DeleteBut if you're just a regular ol' sports fan, and want to tune in tomorrow morning during your commute and see what sports talkers have to say about the Cowboys pre-season game, TDZ can't help you. And (assuming their MO hasn't changed since my sub lapsed), once you're done with their 2 hour show 4 days a week, you've got to find something else to listen to. Forget punching in and out throughout the day as you get a chance to listen. Forget hearing different folks sharing different takes on the game.
And while Moosing may be correct that 'they're killing it', what they're not doing is killing the Ticket. With the demise of the Freak, and the non-effect of TDZ on the Ticket's ratings, I think we're seeing the difference between a show and a brand. Look at the July ratings, the Musers were gone for 3 weeks, the Hardline for 2 and I thought I was in a Dunkin Donuts with all the donut spare tires they rode that month. People tune in to TDZ because they're fans of Dan and Jake, people tune into the ticket because it's all sports all the time.
C
@C Minus -
DeleteNo one ever said their goal is to “kill the Ticket.” In fact, they still speak fondly of the station and their former colleagues. Both can coexist, and believe it or not, I listen to both. The beauty of the DZ is that I primarily tune in during the evenings while doing dishes, chores, walking the dog, or watching Rangers games. Sure, they’re not too sports-heavy, but there are plenty of other outlets for that.
Over the last year, they’ve developed more organic “bits” and callbacks than the Ticket has in the last decade. In some ways, it feels like the early, wild-west days of the Ticket, which is when I first fell in love with it. They’re building their own “wack-pack” style of guest contributors, including many ex-Ticket employees and DFW media personalities who weren’t allowed on the Ticket.
The beauty of the DZ lies in how they’ve tailored the show to their strengths without being burdened by topics they don’t want to discuss. When they do touch on those topics, it’s often with a wink to the audience. They’re not just killing time or filling segments.
For less than $7 a month, they’re producing 8-10 hours of high-quality content each week.
If you think the DZ can only succeed if the Ticket fails, you’re highly mistaken.
I dig your enthusiasm and outlook on TDZ, Moosing. But like I previously said, as a D1DF sub, I'm left very much wanting. You perfectly describe what I think is wrong with it. Ticket this, Ticket that, Ticket everywhere and in all things. Move on from TT already. I agree with you that both can exist. I also believe neither D nor J think for one second they can somehow best TT. To quote a certain man, "That's a non-starter." And yet they just can't let TT go. Always with the ex Ticket guests. Always with the Ticket references. Oh hey, we're going to Cowboys training camp like TT and other sports stations! C'mon. I'd get it 100% if they were fired, but that's 100% not the case. Move on and focus on something else. That's not to say they shouldn't cover sports. By all means, do. After all, it's what they (especially Dan) knows best. But do your own thing and in your own way.
DeleteI'm not seeing that, Moosing. I'm seeing an attempt at recreating the exact environment and ways of operation that mirror the very place they chose to leave. Thing is, by their own admission they're making a little less than half of what they did while at TT. It'll continue to be that way until they can no longer afford to go on. How long will that take, I don't know. But it will happen. I say this because by turning themselves into a seamless continuation of their roles at TT, they will only attract the subs they currently have. The numbers will fluctuate up and down, for sure, but they will (and have) in the bigger picture remain static. Which means their income will remain at less than half their former salaries (not even factoring in insurance, and whatnot). While this all works out wonderfully for you, Moosing, it is exactly what will kill the endeavor.
Now. If they become TDZ proper and ditch TDZ a Ticket Subsidiary and take full advantage of the freedom vis-a-vis content that this platform offers, they have a real chance at real growth and becoming a real force (really!). And that's what I mean when I say that I'm letting my sub go on 9/1 because what they've put out thus far is disappointing.
Interesting take. You hit upon something I haven't thought of. That is by giving Ticket/Hang Zone supporters exactly what they want (for TT to have remained as it was pre DnJ's departure), they are not only hamstringing their growth (forever a niche, local thing), but also are potentially hastening the end. In a sense, this was a major issue with The Freak, despite their protestations otherwise. How do they remedy this? How to grow and not lose your core audience? What does such a remedy look like?
DeleteLet’s assume to take them at their word (which I do not): they wanted to try something different. Great. But they aren’t different. They entered a dynasty and played a role. When they decided they could strike out, away from the dynasty (which was never the case: they were waiting to join the Freak, but tripped over their own nonsense), and succeed, they took a gamble. Bad decision, coach. You’re laundry.
ReplyDeleteThey have to at least make it to 19mths. Orr, somehow squeeze it to 690days (rock me).
DeleteThen maybe Dan can get to the damn dan mountains of CO
Nor sure how he's gonna afford that with the dos out if state toots, half a salary, abd unlike The Rich Kid, I mean Jake, his wifey ain't clocking mad dollars.
DeleteI didn't say they were trying to kill TT. My point was while Moose thinks they're killing it, so is TT, proving, yes, both can exist at the same time.
ReplyDeleteAs for the wack pack, isn't having to run a bunch of ex-TT peeps or ex-freak peeps in as guests kind of an admission they can't fill the time themselves? Both Drew and Mr Giggles above touch on this- if you weren't a HZ listener, or a "Glenn", do you know who Julie Dobbs, or Jeff Cavanaugh are? Same with Matt Brunig or Sarah Heptola, if you're not already aware of them, are any of those names going to draw in new subscribers?
And while I get that it's a different medium, different rules, different economic models, etc, TT has Aikman, the other Moose (Johnston, not Maven) Joel Klatt, etc. Who's a more interesting guest to have, the #1 color guy from a major network who's a 3x SB winner, or a failed radio host who's major claim to fame is she's married to an ex stars assistant coach?
C
Give me Julie, Danny and even Sarah over Moose or Aikman any day.
Deleteso Moose are you a sports fan? I assume there's a reason TT is always promoting 'big name guests'. Probably because listeners tell them they want to hear from BNGs. If you're a TDZ fan you may want to hear from Julie, but I bet the average sports fan (see my comment about target market) is more interested in anything Troy has to say over Julie's wacky story about a mix-up in the school pick up lane.
DeleteC
Again, Moose, this all works our great for you. And I truly mean it when I say that's awesome for and other HZ tefugees and/or 10-3 Ticket haters But for how much longer? If they were earning somewhere near their former salaries + insurance + benefits + 401K, I'd say " These guys are doing this the right way. Godspeed to them." They're not. Not even close. Eventually something gives. Either they go onto other things or they go down a different path.
DeleteShort of it: Enjoy your extended cut of THZ/TDZ while you can. Because if it's going to continue on for even the mid-haul, it's going to have to stand on its own and do so as something other than Our Version of The Ticket.
And a second comment with a different thought. Again both Drew and Mr Giggles touch on this. Who is their target market? I remember reading a comment that said the Freak was a station for people who thought TT talked too much sports. So they hired a bunch of ex-TT staff, and had them NOT do what most of them had experience with. Baffling.
ReplyDeleteSo for all the 'hey we love our old teammates' and 'hey we can both exist at the same time", they're basically doing a slightly modified version of their old show. Which by definition is going to compete with TT while TT just plugs in the next man up and keep chugging along.
I'm just not sure what they can do differently to draw an audience. Dan's been doing sports radio for almost 35 years I'd guess. And correct me if I'm wrong, has Jake ever held a radio job outside the nurturing biospehere of the little ticket? Do either of them have the talent to totally re-invent themselves as some different kind of show that would appeal to a much wider audience?
Here's an issue I see:
They're a podcast, but basically rehashing their old radio show. And there's still radio shows out there that people can listen to.
They can continue to do a sports focused show, but unless they go to all live shows, they're always going to be behind the times of those radio shows they're competing with. If I spent all day Monday listening to TT or The Fan hosts talk about how Trey Lance did, or why they need to get CeeDee into camp, do I need to hear the same thing a day or 2 later from TDZ?
So to circle back around. Describe to me who TDZ target. Is it Men, 25-54 who like Dallas sports? OK, again, that exactly describes the target market of the Fan and TT. AND TDZ are generalists. If you're a fan of any of the 4 major teams, there's probably at least a half dozen sports-specific podcasts that will give you JUST what you want without dealing with the Matt Bruning or Sarah Heptolas of the world.
So have they painted themselves into a corner? As Drew and Mr Giggles said above, how do they re-invent themselves to widen their appeal, without losing their appeal to their current audience.
One last tangent in paris: If they don't widen their appeal, what have they done? They didn't rid the radio world of non-competes. They spent a crapload of money to on lawyers so they could start podcasting right away. Would that money have been better spent paying expenses as you sat out your non-compete. Anybody remember what TDZ implied was their legal expense? I have to wonder what they really gained by not sitting out their non-compete. As is, they've admitted they cut their salaries in half, correct? Was it worth it? I guess they don't have to answer to 'the man', but at least at one point at least Dan was working from home. Now they're paying for a studio, have to go there to 'work', it really seems like so much of what they said they wanted to get away from they're now embracing or accepting.
C
I can say two things. Holy shit.
ReplyDeleteYeah, you can but nobody cares. Ya know, cuz you got a bag. At least your bag is consistent. Consistently empty. I'll give you that. Take it ez, my baby.
DeleteSay, Scoobs. Did Fred gas up the Mystery Machine? Thing is, contrary to public perception, SHAGGY isn't as chill as he makes out to be. Dig?
DeleteThe schtick is way past its best buy date, Zulu. Either actually contribute or go away. At this point, it's sad. Grow up.
DeleteLike seeks like. You, I like. One in the same. See how that works? We know, scruh. All the handles. We gotcha down. See sussed ya, my dude.
ReplyDeleteThat ain't me, daddy
ReplyDeleteDamn, Shaggy, you wasted a once in a lifetime opportunity to use the "That ain't me, daddy" drop.
DeleteOK, hold on. I swear you originally said "buddy" and not "daddy." Tell me you edited it!!! That or I'm losing my mind!!!
DeleteDorks.
DeleteEdward I don’t think you can edit comments here.
Douche
DeleteActually, you can. But you mist attach a valid email address to your handle. When you see a handle in orange, like KFD's, you see a commenter who can edit and-or delete their comment.
DeleteCongrats, Zudoolu, you figured it out. How perceptive! A fanboy blog dedicated to a radio station is inhabited by dorks. Uou seem like the hippest, smartest bae in the room. What's a chad like you slumming around a geekgasm of a place like this? No one as into Joyce as you are ought to debase themselves in such a manner.
DeleteThe 2 segments the Hardline did on the Zach Bryan concert are a perfect example of why I often want to strangle Corby and the truth of "Familiarity breeds contempt" . Corby proceeded in his over excited tone to spew some incorrect facts mixed with his usual superlatives of "No ones ever done what this guy is doing.". Which is the same thing he's said about Christ Stapleton, Leon Bridges and at least two or three other acts. Were I new to the Ticket it would bother me as much but after all these years I've heard him say that so often I just punch out on him at that point. I started off as a Corby fan and defender back in the day. He had some funny stuff and he was really good at the celebrity interviews. He probably still is good at those things I just can't see it anymore. It's a strange thing that happened and I can't really pinpoint when it happened. Corby has been around long enough to go from my hero to the villain of my story.
ReplyDeleteZACH BRYAN IS AMAZING! HE'S NEVER PLAYED IN DFW BEFORE AND NOW HE'S PLAYING AT&T STADIUM!!!
DeleteUm, actually he played at TMS less than a year ago.
I MEAN BUT STILL! FIRST TIME IN DFW AND HE'S PLAYING IN FRONT OF 300,000 PEOPLE!!!
Um actually he played at Billy Bob's in 2022 too.
I MEAN PEOPLE SPEND THEIR WHOLE CAREERS TRYING TO PLAY AT BILLY BOB'S AND HE'S PLAYING THERE THE FIRST TIME HE PLAYS IN DFW!!!!!!!!
Rory is gonna win 10 majors!
DeleteSpieth's gonna win 10 majors!
Brooks Koepka is gonna win 12 majors!
Morikawa is gonna win 10 majors!
Here's my list of the 23 Top 5 hottest women in the world:
DeleteSchitt's Creek is a top 5 most popular show of this millenium!!
Corby is more successful than you. Get over it. Your life will go so much smoother if you conquer the green-eyed monster.
DeleteYou're right. Corby is a much more successful broadcaster than I am or ever will be.
DeleteJudging from you're obsession, I'd say he's doing better/is better than you in every way. Just sayin'.
Delete*your
DeleteNah, scruh. Easter egg for ya. Glad ya dug it. Aleays in control of the sitch. Always know what I do and how to do it. Spesh draw pee drinkers like offsides. L8r.
DeleteHi, BK.
DeleteOh, man. Big time owieeeee. Use an obv typo as, what, some sorta flaw? An ass wrinkle? Cochise, puhleeze. Gotta be stronger on the dribble, my baby. Pick n roll ain't no Krafty, Look at what's happened to me, I can hardly believe it myself!. Feel it, scruh? Feel me? Ya Yu Do.
DeleteWelcome to Remove Rowdy dot com. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteI’m listening to hang zone stuff on unticket. People thought this was central to the Ticket ? Uh. Sorry. It’s average, pal.
ReplyDeletelol
DeleteOl' Poor sure has your number, eh, skippy. Anyone not glued to The Boys tip to the point of gagging--ahem, hard to do on a micro, but I digress--yahootie, you put on yer cape. So predictable.
DeleteBack in Adult Land, this just in. . . . . .
https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/judge-tosses-ftc-ban-on-noncompete-agreements-ae517b48?mod=breakingnews
Is the vulgarity in your post really necessary? I'm not sure how that fits into being an adult.
DeleteYou do you, cuz; I'll do me. Dig? Dig.
DeleteIf Dan Bennet had retired, and Jeff Catlin had left the station and the new GM and OP approached Dan and Jake with the exact same offer they passed on in 2023 - knowning what they now know - would they take it to return (all hatchets buried) to 12-3 on The Ticket?
ReplyDeleteIn a heartbeat.
ReplyDeleteWith. Out. Question.
Deleteok - so if everything else was the same, Bennett and Catlin are still in their postions, and they (for whatever reason) offered Dan and Jake the same deal (and no, they can't continue their own podcast as is) would they accept a return based on that tail-between-their-legs scenario?
ReplyDeleteMy guess is that they would want Blake to come with them and the raises for their support staff that they had negotiated, but I think they would. They seemingly have painted themselves into a corner here. No other local station to go to, podcast is doing fine, but numbers have been stagnant for awhile. They make half what they used to and I would imagine work more now than they did before. I think they would go back in a heartbeat. After a year, it would all be water under the bridge. But I don't think the problem is or ever was Bennett or Catlin. I think the issue would come from the corp overlords who filed a lawsuit against them.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't seem like TT folks hold any ill will towards them, so I don't think it would be awkward in that way. Obviously the problem would be what to do with the midday folks. Ratings wise they are doing pretty good, so you can't just kick them out.
Perhaps there could be a door open in the future when the musers decide to hang it up? That would be many years down the road from all of it and maybe enough higher ups are gone by then.
1. Non-starter: Don't pretend to be others. Neither Jake nor Dan would deign to visit this URL, much less leave a comment. The same can be said for Blake or anyone else directly associated with TDZ. So just stop it.
ReplyDelete2. Of course TDZ isn't going back. There is neither now nor will there ever be that opportunity to accept or reject.
3. Go get your shinebox.
Just adding to what has already been said: neither Dan nor Jake will ever be on KTCK again. They won’t be offered that opportunity. It isn’t happening.
ReplyDeleteIn radio, "never say never" most certainly applies. Unlikely, sure. Never? Not absolute.
ReplyDeleteAnd since I started the question, the intent was never to infer something was up, it was simply - in Ticket style - a hypothetical. Like "Gorilla vs Grizzly". Don't take this stuff too seriously, you guys.
Yes. I didn’t mean to act as though it was anything other than a hypothetical — and thank you for bringing it up. Lot of dumb zone trolls on here . I only meant, for them, to clarify how much they screwed the pooch. So to speak.
DeleteThe Boys Our Boys 'sodes Blake Blake Blake Blake More Julie More Danny More Cavanaugh Where's Sirois? Legal Dream Team 69 69 69 69 69 $690 Remote The Ticket The Ticket Evil Cat Selfish Norm Living Wage Evil Cumulus Boot Lickers Great To Work For A Company That Cares Like iHeart Narratives Lies False Narratives Lying Liars Lying Convinced Of Their Own Lies $690,000 Per Annum Salaries Subs Poor Arithmatic Poor Understanding Of How Business And The World Works Desperate Rhyner Ben & Skin Win Again 69 69 69 The Boys 2025 Dan Morning In Des Moines McClaren Still In #4 Market The Ticket A Cumulus Station
DeleteI loled at this. OUR HEROS!!!
DeleteIt’s pretty weird that the weirdest troll here…the one that claims that the DZ stans cant stand for them to be criticized…is actually the one that has to chime in and denigrate what they’re doing any time anyone makes even the slightest positive remark about them. Just go look at the past year of comments
ReplyDeleteLove your work here. Heads you win, tails I lose. Thing is, skippy, the jr high debate train left the station a few moons ago. A for effort, though. By the by, you familiar with refutation by analogy? If so, then ya know what would come next.
DeleteI thought you told us good-bye after people responded to your "alleged" understanding of Cumulus' Master Plan? I am a hipster when it comes to disliking Dan, I disliked him before it was cool to dislike him, but even I'm tired of reading your post. You could at least put a consistent name on them so you could own your opinions. Especially if you're the same one who descends into vulgarity in the majority of your post and casting aspersions on your "opponents" intellect and life style. I'm pretty certain those make your arguments a fallacy in any school of Logic.
DeleteHonestly I don't know why we are even discussing TDZ at this point a year after they left. If something new happened I'd get it but all of these are just remixes of the same post we've had for a year. "They will fail." "They hate their decision." "They love their new life", "They are going to make it bigger than ever". None of us have any idea what D&J are thinking. None of us have any inside information, because the majority of people who claim inside information have been wrong at every turn. They were wrong when they said D&J being gone was nothing, They were wrong when they said that a deal to get them back on the air was imminent. They were wrong that Cumulus was going to crush them, If anyone knew about the master "throw the case" strategy at the time I don't recall. That anyone mentioning it. Writing vague word salad so that later on you could claim to have known all along is a trick that grifters have been using since at least the Roman Empire. People on the other side of of the argument were equally wrong about what revolutionary thing was going to happen with D&J being unleashed.
Surly we'd all be happier complaining about how stale D&M are, How Gordo has lost his fastball, How weird Matt is, How boring the SS is and my personal favorite how big a beating Corbie is, despite his talent and success. Those and talking about corrupt psychopathic used car dealers are what made this blog great! Come on lets Make MTC Great Again!
Uno mas: You do you, cuz; I'll do me. Dig? Dig. Oh, this Master Plan you speak of, it ain't me, daddy.
Deletealldlls.com
ReplyDeleteI can't be the only one who reads this as 'All Dills'......no disrespect.
Meanwhile, back in the land of rationality, there's this:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.wfaa.com/article/sports/allcity-network-tegna-wfaa-sports-partnership/287-5c31b4c2-1a6e-417f-8f70-2a5496c3ef6e
Very interesting development. Specially so if you've been paying attention to TDZ, The Mom Game Pod, and the sosh of once ubiquitous now on the periphery local media types (e.g., John Rhadigan). While the piece makes no mention of ex-Ticket/Freak pats, said ex-pats are making many mentions (obliquely and explicitly) of All City and something big coming online. From the looks of it, we might be about to witness what's basically tantamount a new Ticket but in all podcast form.
The known players involved for now are Marc Stein and Jeff Cavanaugh. But if you have been paying attention, it's rather obvious that No Puppet Productions will be involved. It also appears that when the ex-Ticket/Freak pats' NCs expire, which I believe is soon, they too will be joining All City. These include Danny and Julie, and it's looking like Sirois will emerge from hiding, as well. Others like Rhadigan and Emily Jones (who wanted to disclose the whole thing but was stopped by Julie on TMG) also appear to be onboard. If this happens, and it sure looks like it is, Things could get seriously interesting around here. One thing I have noticed is that Rhyner seems not to be involved. Maybe he is, but there's no evidence thus far.
not saying none of this is going to happen, but little of it makes sense from the standpoint of AllCity's business model (as already established in other markets) or the individuals themselves (unless they're just desparate for a regularly paying gig and happy to do whatever someone tells them to talk about). it is a new frontier and there are groups with money looking to be the next new media company - so we'll see. But it will have little to no effect on radio's near term future.
DeleteOk, so where the Freak (as both a radio station AND freely available podcasts) and TDZ as a podcast has been unable to make a serious dent in the Ticket's radio ratings, what makes you think this motley collection of beat reporters and C-list media celebrities is going to have an effect. I was out a few weeks ago with a some friends who all work in the radio, advertising or PR fields. One of the topics of conversation is the damage done to Iheart by the Freak. Iheart just fired their General Sales Manager in Dallas, the Freak wasted a couple of million in salaries, and cut their revenue by at least 40% (for sure) , possibly as much as 50, to a high according to one source of 60%.
ReplyDeleteAll that effort (and all that lost money) had zero long lasting effect on the Ticket's ratings, and that option is easily accessible to anyone with a car, a radio in their home, a smart speaker or a phone. From what I've seen, all these podcasts have been available already. Why do you think having all these in one place is going 'be tantamount to a new Ticket".
When the Ticket started in '94, you had sports in AMD and PMD, and everything else was a sports wasteland. Now the competitive field is completely different. Not only do you have 2 all sports stations, but with the internet you have access to the sports station of your favorite out of market team and podcasts that cater to your very specific tastes.
So they have Marc Stein. Are his NBA fan listeners suddenly going to become die-hard sportsfans because Owen Newkirk is doing a podcast on the same website?
Again lets check into reality. Cavanaugh has now been unsuccesful on 2 radio stations and and in 3 dayparts. Dobbs was a bit player on TT, and was exposed (badly) on the Freak. TDZ has proven that podcasts and TT can survive in the same media market. I'm just having a really hard time seeing how a bunch of folks podcasting who are now podcasting for the same owner are going to make things 'seriously interesting around here".
Maybe I'm wrong. But I'm pretty sure I said (more than once) that Iheart management was going to take high salaries and a 40% drop in revenue laying down. And they didn't. My only question, how long is it going to take them to burn through 12 million dollars.
C
Diehard Stars fans, not diehard sports fans.
ReplyDeleteAnd Iheart management wasn't going to take, not was going to take.
Hey, C. In your comment resides an assumption that I'm saying if what seems to be coming down indeed does, it could give TT a run for its money. I'm not. Pods, and as you point out, terrestrial radio are different animals. While the content is roughly the same (talking), the ways in which the content produced, put forth, consumed, and judged to be successful (or not) are on the whole different. So there's that. Here comes the "but."
ReplyDeleteBut.
Why did TF fail? I contend it failed because (1) its lack of focus/direction, (2) some of the hosts were not yet ready for primetime, and (3) none of the hosts were doing the thing they actually knew how to do in radio: That is, talk sports, or at least be sports-centric in their content. Can we agree on those being the main reasons for TF's early departure?
Why has TDZ, which has a goodly number of subs, stagnated (and it has)? I believe in large part this is due to its reliance on pretty much an exclusively local fanbase that (as you point out) has another alternative to fill in the many gaps. These gaps are the result of being a one show entity that consists of episodes, which do not provide the immediacy and almost reflexive, routine aspect of daily content.
What happens when you fix these issues by combining the familiarity of old radio friends who are now creating content based on what they actually know, in combination with said content being put out on a daily basis? That is, no more gaps, recognized (even beloved by many) voices, who are discussing what many want to hear. I believe if such a scenario comes to fruition, while it won't be of any serious consequence to TT (for now: more on that below), it will garner a fairly sizeable number of customers, which in turn could provide for rather nice salaries for all involved.
As to the above promissory note, I mean this:
I know nothing about you, C, except that by your own admission you work in radio sales and in this market. If I'm incorrect, please say so. Do you have kids? If so, approximately how old? I do. Mine are 12 and 20. One Gen Z, one Alpha. We are now on our 2nd generation that absolutely do not watch t.v. or listen to the radio. Indeed, much the same can be said for the later Millennials. They watch 30 second clips, if they watch sports they stream on a phone, and as to music and anything talk, it's streamed or a podcast. They consume and understand media/entertainment differently than us old farts. Period. While it's not coming tomorrow or next week, rest assured, the day when pods will be where the money's at is coming. Soon. They are the future and the future is now. As one noted sports-comedian likes to say, "It's called the way it is."
So, yes, I do think things could get really interesting around here. And if what's being hinted at takes place, I also think it would be tantamount to Podcast Ticket. Making Ticket Bank? No. Not yet at any rate.
I found these two comments fascinating today, as earlier I got the "Pretty please" letter from SiriusXM regarding my free trial expiration today and I was like "I have the SportsDay app, Amazon Music, and podcasts, so what need to I have for satellite radio...?"
DeleteIs the only measure of success for any venture involving Ticket or Freak expats that they dethrone TT? I admit that I understand neither radio or podcasting and how to judge success but I don't know if that is a fair metric. I think calling anything the "next Ticket" dooms it to failure by saddling it with those expectations. I think the Ticket is a Black Swan and we won't ever see anything like it again in our life times.
ReplyDeleteI think C Minus nailed it. I’m supposed to be interested in Sirois , Danny, Julie ? Sorry. None of those names move the needle much. It’s one thing to be a really good bit player in a larger scheme. It’s another to take that and decide I can do this on my own ! What’s Gordon or Craig or whomever got that I don’t ?! That’s a road paved .
ReplyDeleteThe Freak failed because it was comprised of folks who were great as bit players who, via Sirois, were convinced they were larger than bit players.
ReplyDeleteLord, I wish folks would either tldr and walk on by (which I would totally understand), or actually read what's written and comment accordingly. Ugh.
DeleteThe pains of writing.
DeleteIf you let out the hot air you could get down to a paragraph.
Well, man, you're commenting on. a singke sentence comment. Thank you for making my point by being a prime example. To your shtick: I will express myself how I see fit. Not everyone finds the terseness of 20th c American prose attractive.
DeleteI and many others here are still waiting on you to contribute something, anything, of substance. Twitter\X/text one liner snark, like the pervasive style found in 29th c American literature, anglo-analytic philosophy, et alia, is long past its best by date.
Too many cooks in the kitchen for TDZ.
ReplyDeleteBringing over their Freak friends for some Ticket-'Memberberries is just shoving that Local Niche Podcast flag right into the ground.
TDZ will be one show under All Sports.
DeleteActually, KDF, C minus, and Poor the Legend, if you watch their promo clip on YT you'll see their intention is exactly to be what The Ticket is. Only done so in a newish, multiplatform way where listeners can consume daily live and prerecorded shows. Replete with pre and postgame shows for all teams. The promo is very similar to early and today's Ticket promos. "Your guys talking local sports." If you do the research like we did, you'll see how All City has already made significant inroads in the Denver market.
ReplyDeleteWho's this we? You and the snake? Your comments are dripping with douchebaggery.
DeleteYou're a world class idiot.
DeleteNew red, new thread. That's all.
ReplyDelete