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."
Sunday, January 5, 2025
MINOR BREAKING
REMINDER: I WILL DELETE "ANONYMOUS" COMMENTS AND THOSE I FIND GRATUITOUSLY VULGAR, INSULTING, INCOMPREHENSIBLE, OR JUST GENERALLY ANNOYING IN MY SOLE AND UNREVIEWABLE DISCRETION.
If you’re correct, Kyle (second time you’ve claimed this), then I agree with your previous thought: This will mark the countdown to either the end of The Musers or the end of The Musers as we’ve always known them.
Because as much as some people may not care for Matt McClearin, he and Donny are professional broadcasters that are capable of carrying a 4 hour radio show. Plus Cat obviously favors Matt for some reason. The hosts of the sweet spot have a big bag of nothing and haven’t improved in the 18 months they’ve been on the air. What would they fill the extra hour with content wise? More Rangers talk? No thanks. Unless they were to promote Monty to a full 3rd host, 3 hours of the sweet spot would be exponentially worse than the 2 hours that they do now. I’m not saying 4 hours of the Invasion is going to be as good as 4 hours of the Musers, but it’s better than the alternative. Unless they want to put the Bob Sturm show on from 9 to 10. I’d listen to that.
I’m hearing a Muser is announcing his farewell tour, and along with it will come the reshuffling of hours. That the two remaining Musers will have a lightened workload, giving The Invasion additional hours. The reshuffling of times will take effect immediately. The retiring Musers will stay on for awhile but longer. Not sure if The Sweet Spot will get an additional hour. Don’t take this as gospel. It’s what I heard from one who I know for certain has regular contact with a few employees, at least one current and several former hosts. Surprise, she’s a bartender. I know, you’re shocked.
I would think a time shift change of a show that’s filled the same time slot for nearly 30 years qualifies as “major”. But from what I’m told, the internal memo talked about allowing the musers to continue “for years to come”. My source implied the extended summer vacation, the month long Xmas break and the new hours are all part of a new long term deal. If you recall, Corby signed a 5 year deal last year. I’m led to believe that the Musers deal is for a similar length. Musers are more dominant in their daypart than the HL, so totally believable for me.
I think Sports Panties is correct, this leaves them on the air for the 3 most important hours of AM drive, but cuts them a break/gives them better work/life balance, etc. the 530a start time is a ratings play so you had people tuning in before the “important” ratings start at 6am. Considering the Musers ratings are in the 12-20 range, I don’t think trying to jump start the 6am hour ratings by starting at 530a is really a concern anymore. C
I'm in the camp that thinks this keeps them on the air longer. I wonder, if baring any sudden health issues if 40 is not the magic number for the Musers?
You obviously don't understand economic leverage. Either Cumulus agrees to cut this back a little at their current salary or they walk. No way they took a pay cut.
Musers have all the leverage in the world. They can collectively take 6 months off at the end of their deal & show up in the FAN in 6 months have the number 1 morning drive sports show in the market day 1.
Geez Sone, You act as if the Musers are imbeciles that don't understand the power they have. Don't mistake carrying the mantle for Cumulus as blind loyalty. They would leave in a heart beat if Cumulus tried to screw them at this stage of their mighty power. But stick to your pay cut bit if it makes you feel better.
2 segments today. I'm not convinced there won't be a bit of reshuffling throughout the week, and even year as the non-cowboys sports interests ebb and flow
Not a surprise...even if this helps them stick around for now, I'd be surprised to see them still going longer than 3-5 more years. We are in the end game. And it will help start the transition with the Invasion to eventually take over as a sports-heavy morning drive talk show.
This is the beginnings of the winding down. The thing that sets them apart, Gordon, now has a diminished role (it was already small and for the most part had stopped evolving years ago). That’s rather telling. My guess is that a shortish term deal was struck in order not to rip the band aid off, and thus provide a buffer between now and a seismic shakeup. The engine behind this? It was the only to keep Craig (and so, The Musers proper) around long enough to figure out the next move and how to transition into it. YMMV
It didn’t take long for the apologists to appear and tell us Mommy Ticket is just fine and could never do anything wrong. That this is just a minor little thing and there’s nothing to worry about.
Regardless of how we all feel about this... can you just imagine how great your day would be if suddenly your working hours got cut by 22%? I feel like i would have so much of my day back.
I'm with those who feel this is the beginning of the wind down. I'll go further and say that at the very least Junior will announce his departure the last week before Christmas Dry Dock '25. But it wouldn't shock me in the least if they all did. If you heard the announcement this morning, then you would've heard Junior say to the effect: Getting up at these hours for 30 years takes a tremendous toll on you. If shaving off an hour and a half allows us to go another year or so, then it's what's best for us and the show. You don't say things like that if you're planning on being around for even a handful of additional years.
Just went back and listened to the segment via the Top Ten. I want to amend my prediction. Junior twice said that the new hours will allow them to be around "a bit longer." Neither George nor Gordo batted an eye. I'm thinking they were going to retire but were talked into staying on an additional year with the shortened slot, their loyalties to the brand and the P1 also being a factor. I now think this is their last year. Scratch that. I know it is. Very obvious and easy to read between the lines of Junior's words and George and Gordo's silent, tacit agreement.
As an early riser, 3:30 am for the last 20 years I can attest that it gets old. I do hope that they change the "pre-game" from 5:30 to 6:00. The segments have generally just been played on the top 10. Maybe replay old 8:40 bits in those segments?
This is not the last year of the Musers. They had a lot of leverage in their latest contract negotiations. They told cumulus that if they want to keep them they want a shorter shift probably for either the same pay or more pay. It was a no brainer for Cumulus. They will be around for probably another decade.
No, Mike on Forest Lane, they will not. As to SHUT UP FOR A MINUTE MIKE's claim, that makes no sense. In what world or business model does that occur? Let me tell you: None. If a large corporation tells an employee that they or now offering X, that is exactly what they're doing. There's no negotiation. As successful as The Musers have been and for as long as they have, their success in a fiscal sense has meant very little to Cumulus in the larger picture. So your assertion is a load of BS. But. The business model that afforded The Musers their lifestyles and all that comes along with it vis-a-vis media as a whole---and radio in particular---is fast coming to an end. And I do mean fast. We will see some shocking termination of contracts over the next year across the radioscape, nationally and locally. By the way, this also applies to non-traditional formats such as pods and sundry forms of content creation. The Wild West days of those mediums are over. They are rapidly transforming into a codified, regulated model. Which entails the notion of "We have all the control and we get all the money" is out the window, sans the smallest of players -- whose earnings are tantamount to a neat part-time job/side hustle. Apply this as you will to our Ticket ex-pat now podcasting heroes. In case you didn't know, they don't own the thing. There are others' money substantially involved who have quite the say (much more involved in asserrting their opinions/offering "advice" over the past 4 months). So what about the "But" and how does it pertain to The Musers? They weren't offered a pay cut. But neither were they offered a substantive raise. More Marconis, ratings that will go down in radio history, the very instantiation of what it means to be an AM Drive show that anchors an entire (bulldozer) of a station.........but no fresh round of love. The choice was between either the status quo for another 5 years or retire. The compromise was to remain for at least one more year, same pay, but gain a half hour of sleep and an extra hour of free time.
You obviously have not been paying attention to what's been going on in the radio industry over the last 5+ years. People in these very comments for years have been detailing how radio vets with great ratings have been let go over and over and over. Why do you think Cumulus Radio is now Cumulus Media? That pie isn't ever coming back.
That very fact is more than implied. A TLDR comment, for sure. But it’s in there. So if you’re going for snark and play the role of Smartest Guy in the Room, you might want to take the time to read and understand what you’re snarking on.
After 2 days of reduced Musers I definitely think they need to drop the 6:40 replay and turn that into a real segment. I sure am already missing Gordo’s corner and at 8:55 I’m ready for 3 more good segments and the show is over. I’ll adjust but I’ve been a listener since 1994 and my life is better with more Musers, not less.
Some tidbits Gordo gave on his Twitcher last night-- -the 6am hour is more important ratings wise than the 9am hour. -the 630am replay is due to, what they perceive as, where a big portion of the listening audience actually consumes the prior days 840bit (more commuters 6-8am instead of 8-10am) -they are open to segment time changes, though. -from Gordos viewpoint, Donnie and Matt have built up a strong Noon hour (another big ratings-wise window) so the option of Invasion 9-12, SS 12-3 did not seem to make sense. -Gordo had dinner with Jake over break. Hey! They are still fwends!! -the Catman broke up Gunnar & Winston Waffles. -poor Donnie-Doo. Went from 2hr cush to 4hrs quick!
I have it from a source that I regard as very reliable that there will be a station announcement on Monday of a "non-roster changing" nature.
ReplyDeleteThe source characterized the news as "minor," so I do, too.
That's all I got.
I guess C was mistaken? He alluded to a major announcement
DeleteNo idea. Is anything short of an on-air change "major"?
ReplyDeleteMusers 6-9. Invasion 9-1.
ReplyDeleteIf you’re correct, Kyle (second time you’ve claimed this), then I agree with your previous thought: This will mark the countdown to either the end of The Musers or the end of The Musers as we’ve always known them.
ReplyDeleteOr, this gives them more work-life balance and lets them continue on for longer than if they had to stick to their usual schedule.
DeleteKinda like how Stern only does a show 3 days a week now. If not for that move, he would have retired years ago too.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteWhy on earth wouldn’t they go
ReplyDelete6a-9a
9a-noon
noon-3p
3p-7p
????!!!!!
Because as much as some people may not care for Matt McClearin, he and Donny are professional broadcasters that are capable of carrying a 4 hour radio show. Plus Cat obviously favors Matt for some reason. The hosts of the sweet spot have a big bag of nothing and haven’t improved in the 18 months they’ve been on the air. What would they fill the extra hour with content wise? More Rangers talk? No thanks. Unless they were to promote Monty to a full 3rd host, 3 hours of the sweet spot would be exponentially worse than the 2 hours that they do now. I’m not saying 4 hours of the Invasion is going to be as good as 4 hours of the Musers, but it’s better than the alternative. Unless they want to put the Bob Sturm show on from 9 to 10. I’d listen to that.
DeleteTune in to Musers. 6 am.
ReplyDeleteAnnouncement likely to be Muser-centric, but possibly of advantage to others.
The scheduling speculation is not crazy, although I have no info on the content of the announcement.
I don't follow the Ticket contract calendar so don't know if it makes sense to speculate about extensions.
Now you know what I know.
I’m hearing a Muser is announcing his farewell tour, and along with it will come the reshuffling of hours. That the two remaining Musers will have a lightened workload, giving The Invasion additional hours. The reshuffling of times will take effect immediately. The retiring Musers will stay on for awhile but longer. Not sure if The Sweet Spot will get an additional hour. Don’t take this as gospel. It’s what I heard from one who I know for certain has regular contact with a few employees, at least one current and several former hosts. Surprise, she’s a bartender. I know, you’re shocked.
ReplyDeleteI would think a time shift change of a show that’s filled the same time slot for nearly 30 years qualifies as “major”. But from what I’m told, the internal memo talked about allowing the musers to continue “for years to come”. My source implied the extended summer vacation, the month long Xmas break and the new hours are all part of a new long term deal. If you recall, Corby signed a 5 year deal last year. I’m led to believe that the Musers deal is for a similar length. Musers are more dominant in their daypart than the HL, so totally believable for me.
ReplyDeleteI think Sports Panties is correct, this leaves them on the air for the 3 most important hours of AM drive, but cuts them a break/gives them better work/life balance, etc. the 530a start time is a ratings play so you had people tuning in before the “important” ratings start at 6am. Considering the Musers ratings are in the 12-20 range, I don’t think trying to jump start the 6am hour ratings by starting at 530a is really a concern anymore.
C
30 minutes that early in the morning is worth an hour to your body at that age
ReplyDelete6 to 9 it is. Good for them. I guess we'll find out how the format changes as well this week
ReplyDeleteIf they keep the 2-segment Pigskin Panel that would represent 25% of the content for one day
ReplyDeleteI'm in the camp that thinks this keeps them on the air longer. I wonder, if baring any sudden health issues if 40 is not the magic number for the Musers?
ReplyDeleteAgree with KDF. This almost has to have been accompanied by a handshake deal (at least) for an extension.
ReplyDeleteAs of 7 a.m., the Ticket website has not been updated to show a revised daily schedule.
Expect that to be updated in April
DeleteThis would not be happening without a substantial pay cut
ReplyDeleteYou obviously don't understand economic leverage. Either Cumulus agrees to cut this back a little at their current salary or they walk. No way they took a pay cut.
DeleteOh honey...
DeleteI highly doubt a pay cut involved. Probably not a raise, but I would guess similar money & time off to work less.
DeleteMusers have all the leverage in the world. They can collectively take 6 months off at the end of their deal & show up in the FAN in 6 months have the number 1 morning drive sports show in the market day 1.
DeleteExcept that the Musers mistakenly believe that they owe loyalty and goodwill to Cumulus and would never leave and Cumulus knows that
DeleteGeez Sone, You act as if the Musers are imbeciles that don't understand the power they have. Don't mistake carrying the mantle for Cumulus as blind loyalty. They would leave in a heart beat if Cumulus tried to screw them at this stage of their mighty power. But stick to your pay cut bit if it makes you feel better.
DeleteInvasion 9-1.
ReplyDeleteThat, to me, speaks volumes on how the higher-ups would rather make a 3hr show into a 4hr......and not a 2hr into a 3.
I wonder what this means for Gordon’s three segments. I missed the announcement, did they address this at all?
ReplyDelete2 segments
DeleteWell, balls.
Delete2 segments today. I'm not convinced there won't be a bit of reshuffling throughout the week, and even year as the non-cowboys sports interests ebb and flow
ReplyDeleteOnly 2 Gordo segments is a major bummer.
ReplyDeleteNo more gordos corner is such a huge bummer. Has always been my favorite segment of the entire ticket day
ReplyDeleteNot a surprise...even if this helps them stick around for now, I'd be surprised to see them still going longer than 3-5 more years. We are in the end game. And it will help start the transition with the Invasion to eventually take over as a sports-heavy morning drive talk show.
ReplyDeleteThis is the beginnings of the winding down. The thing that sets them apart, Gordon, now has a diminished role (it was already small and for the most part had stopped evolving years ago). That’s rather telling. My guess is that a shortish term deal was struck in order not to rip the band aid off, and thus provide a buffer between now and a seismic shakeup. The engine behind this? It was the only to keep Craig (and so, The Musers proper) around long enough to figure out the next move and how to transition into it. YMMV
ReplyDeletejust wait until Gordon starts charging for a Gordo's Corner podcast
ReplyDeleteSalient point. Congratulations! You are today’s winner of the internet!
DeleteGordon does one segment per hour.
ReplyDeleteY'all be skipping the 8:40 as if that was some throwaway segment.
Don’t ruin the doom loop party with your facts, Peter. Nice draw yesterday, btw. LP looks like it may be heading the wrong way. Lots of inner turmoil.
DeleteIt didn’t take long for the apologists to appear and tell us Mommy Ticket is just fine and could never do anything wrong. That this is just a minor little thing and there’s nothing to worry about.
ReplyDeleteOK, lil guy. Show us with your fingers how old you are.
Delete#TheyDon'tCare #TheyDon'tSeeThis #They'llBeGoneByYear'sEnd #YouMadBro? #WhySoInvested? #OhSoPredictable #EasilyDrawnOffsidesDueToMicroPenisRelatedInsecurityIssues
Are those hashtags directed at yourself? Because they fit incredibly well, not that I'd expect you to have self awareness.
DeleteSkippy, surely you can do better than that. That all you got? Drawingboard time for you, little one.
Delete#GotYourNumber #AlwaysDo #EzPickin's #SuckerGonnaFall4ItEverytime #TheyStillDon'tCare
Regardless of how we all feel about this... can you just imagine how great your day would be if suddenly your working hours got cut by 22%? I feel like i would have so much of my day back.
ReplyDeleteI'm with those who feel this is the beginning of the wind down. I'll go further and say that at the very least Junior will announce his departure the last week before Christmas Dry Dock '25. But it wouldn't shock me in the least if they all did. If you heard the announcement this morning, then you would've heard Junior say to the effect: Getting up at these hours for 30 years takes a tremendous toll on you. If shaving off an hour and a half allows us to go another year or so, then it's what's best for us and the show. You don't say things like that if you're planning on being around for even a handful of additional years.
ReplyDeleteGoing to be an interesting year in Ticket Land.
Just went back and listened to the segment via the Top Ten. I want to amend my prediction. Junior twice said that the new hours will allow them to be around "a bit longer." Neither George nor Gordo batted an eye. I'm thinking they were going to retire but were talked into staying on an additional year with the shortened slot, their loyalties to the brand and the P1 also being a factor. I now think this is their last year. Scratch that. I know it is. Very obvious and easy to read between the lines of Junior's words and George and Gordo's silent, tacit agreement.
ReplyDeleteAs an early riser, 3:30 am for the last 20 years I can attest that it gets old. I do hope that they change the "pre-game" from 5:30 to 6:00. The segments have generally just been played on the top 10. Maybe replay old 8:40 bits in those segments?
ReplyDeleteGordo has seemed to be more involved in the more sportsy segments so far this week, even if just being silly.
ReplyDeletePraying Hands for the people who are diehard fans of Cowboys (dumpster fire) & Mavs (barely a play-in) - bottoms up!
ReplyDeleteIt’s a huge bummer when in a shortened Musers show they do the 840 replay and a ranch report.
ReplyDeleteRanch Report was on earlier today - like 6:30 I think. Of course, the Ranch Report is about to be on hiatus.
DeleteThis is not the last year of the Musers. They had a lot of leverage in their latest contract negotiations. They told cumulus that if they want to keep them they want a shorter shift probably for either the same pay or more pay. It was a no brainer for Cumulus. They will be around for probably another decade.
ReplyDeleteThey were offered a pay cut and countered with reduced hours.
DeleteNo, Mike on Forest Lane, they will not. As to SHUT UP FOR A MINUTE MIKE's claim, that makes no sense. In what world or business model does that occur? Let me tell you: None. If a large corporation tells an employee that they or now offering X, that is exactly what they're doing. There's no negotiation. As successful as The Musers have been and for as long as they have, their success in a fiscal sense has meant very little to Cumulus in the larger picture. So your assertion is a load of BS. But. The business model that afforded The Musers their lifestyles and all that comes along with it vis-a-vis media as a whole---and radio in particular---is fast coming to an end. And I do mean fast. We will see some shocking termination of contracts over the next year across the radioscape, nationally and locally. By the way, this also applies to non-traditional formats such as pods and sundry forms of content creation. The Wild West days of those mediums are over. They are rapidly transforming into a codified, regulated model. Which entails the notion of "We have all the control and we get all the money" is out the window, sans the smallest of players -- whose earnings are tantamount to a neat part-time job/side hustle. Apply this as you will to our Ticket ex-pat now podcasting heroes. In case you didn't know, they don't own the thing. There are others' money substantially involved who have quite the say (much more involved in asserrting their opinions/offering "advice" over the past 4 months). So what about the "But" and how does it pertain to The Musers? They weren't offered a pay cut. But neither were they offered a substantive raise. More Marconis, ratings that will go down in radio history, the very instantiation of what it means to be an AM Drive show that anchors an entire (bulldozer) of a station.........but no fresh round of love. The choice was between either the status quo for another 5 years or retire. The compromise was to remain for at least one more year, same pay, but gain a half hour of sleep and an extra hour of free time.
DeleteYou obviously have not been paying attention to what's been going on in the radio industry over the last 5+ years. People in these very comments for years have been detailing how radio vets with great ratings have been let go over and over and over. Why do you think Cumulus Radio is now Cumulus Media? That pie isn't ever coming back.
DeleteThat very fact is more than implied. A TLDR comment, for sure. But it’s in there. So if you’re going for snark and play the role of Smartest Guy in the Room, you might want to take the time to read and understand what you’re snarking on.
DeleteAfter 2 days of reduced Musers I definitely think they need to drop the 6:40 replay and turn that into a real segment. I sure am already missing Gordo’s corner and at 8:55 I’m ready for 3 more good segments and the show is over. I’ll adjust but I’ve been a listener since 1994 and my life is better with more Musers, not less.
ReplyDeleteThe proper quote is "don't you DAMN call again here!"
DeleteSome tidbits Gordo gave on his Twitcher last night--
ReplyDelete-the 6am hour is more important ratings wise than the 9am hour.
-the 630am replay is due to, what they perceive as, where a big portion of the listening audience actually consumes the prior days 840bit (more commuters 6-8am instead of 8-10am)
-they are open to segment time changes, though.
-from Gordos viewpoint, Donnie and Matt have built up a strong Noon hour (another big ratings-wise window) so the option of Invasion 9-12, SS 12-3 did not seem to make sense.
-Gordo had dinner with Jake over break. Hey! They are still fwends!!
-the Catman broke up Gunnar & Winston Waffles.
-poor Donnie-Doo. Went from 2hr cush to 4hrs quick!
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain
DeleteWut?
Delete