A Couple of Things to Keep In Mind

The P1 mind is reeling with possibilities, questions, speculations, all occasioned by the gaping hole left by Mike Rhyner's retirement.  In mulling this over for the past day, I'm thinking a couple of things:

(1)  Corby and Danny aren't going anywhere.

(2)  And they're going to stay in that time slot.

Recent ratings uncertainty aside, The Ticket is a gigantic success.  (I don't want to downplay the ratings angle, but I don't see it playing a major role at least until current procedural issues are sorted out with Nielsen, and a number of ratings books have passed thereafter -- year or so at least.)  And I think that anti-Corby sentiment is disproportionately expressed on social media, including this site.  A lot of people, and I think a lot of female listeners, as odd as that may seem, love Corby.  He is frequently mentioned as a "leader" on Why Today Doesn't Suck.  And despite his approaching middle age, he comes across as the kind of immature (and I mean that in only the nicest, most complimentary sense) frat-boy type that will not turn off the younger demographic.

But I wandered off-point there:  The point at which I was aiming is that The Ticket isn't going to mess with success.  There is not going to be a rejiggering of the show times.  There is not going to be a reshuffling of hosts.  They're going to fill that slot with someone and soldier on.  Or maybe put Danny in that chair full-time and slide producers and board-ops around, much like when HeeHoo was invited to spend his afternoons elsewhere -- keep the team as is, maybe give a new producer (Justin? Mino? Sirois?) the chatty-producer role that Danny has now.  Maybe change the name of the show, but I'm very doubtful that we will even see that change.  In any event, it's going to be Corby and Danny at a minimum, and it's going to be 3-7 PM, and in all likelihood it's going to be The Hardline.

(3)  The Ticket is, as drops so frequently remind us, A Cumulus Station. 

And Cumulus is a big company. 

And big companies have policies and procedures. 

And among those policies and procedures are those governing job openings. 

Because of (1) and (2) -- that is, because (my opinion, no inside dope) they're not going to make fundamental organic changes -- Mike's departure will be regarded as leaving a "job opening."  And if that's what ends up happening, it means  the CTO (Cumulo-Ticket Overlords) in the person of The New World Catman will have to "post" the position and consider internal applicants for the job.*  That is, Ticket colleagues will have the opportunity to request the slot and compete for that position in a formal kind of way.  I don't know what the Cumulus employee handbook says, but it wouldn't surprise me if the job will be externally posted as well. 

So while Mike's departure will mean Big Changes, my guess is that it will likely only mean one Big Change:  Who will sit in Mike's chair.  If it's Danny, then sure, there will be a producer/board op ripple effect, and that's not a small thing.  But after all is said and done, unless Cat ends up hiring Kathy Griffin for the slot, the changes will not be seismic.
 ____________
*  I will want to consider this at a later date, but when things like this happen, politics that simmer below the surface tend to take on much greater importance.  Rivalries, interpersonal conflicts, and personality mismatches that don't mean much when ain't nothin' goin' on will erupt when an extremely rare and valuable advancement opportunity arises.  Although it is a pretty cohesive bunch, some JV aren't crazy about other JV; very doubtful any will report to me, but if I get wind of anything  .  .  .  .

 

ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

@Plainsman1310

Is The Ticket a Good Buy?

This site's good friend DA writes in a comment at the end of the last thread:

Say The Musers make 40%+ of the station revenue.  If Cumulus sold The Ticket and the 1310 signal, what would the investors by buying long term? Mike and Norm are at the end. Each of the Musers could move on quickly if Cumulus voids contracts and trying to bill equal to The Musers after if even one leaves becomes an issue. Plus, the off air staff costs and sales turnover is a constant radio issue.

That is a very interesting and valid point.  I would issue not so much a mild and respectful disagreement, as a perspective that shifts the assumptions somewhat.

DA's point applies broadly to any asset that depends on individual talent.  Think about a sports team.  It's worth more if it's talent is good and the talent is assured of sticking around for awhile.  What distinguishes the teams that are valuable year after year from those that have their ups and downs?    It's management -- the ability to keep the inventory of talent strong and fresh.  It's other things, too, but I'm focusing here on DA's point.  (NB:  The analogy is not perfect -- there are a limited number of Big Four sports teams to buy and sell, and so scarcity drives up the price irrespective of athletic or management talent.)

My view is that The Ticket is like those teams with lots of talent that is backed by strong and savvy management.   Think about it:  The individual talent of the hosts is undeniable.  But management -- invented, in the beginning, by Mike Rhyner and other founders -- is responsible for both permitting and encouraging the highly-personalized, draw-back-the-curtain type of talk that results in an identification between them and the listeners.  It combines this with strongly show-identifiable features (O-Deck, Homer Call, E-News, etc.), station promotions (GNO, Fight Night, etc.), and other lesser touches that make the station stand out.  The talent is the foundation, but management provides the framework and direction -- and sometimes the discipline -- in which it can succeed.

Even though the current hosts have all been around a long time, I would also suggest that a critical element of The Ticket's success is management's identification and strategic promotion of new talent.  New voices are added, some stick and fit in with the Ticket ethos, some don't.  Gradually, some get more exposure.  How does this fit with DA's point?  Consider his scenario of host departure for some reason.  Wouldn't most of us listen to Country Force over the competition if it got a slot?  Shake Joint? Cirque (when not on a frequent vacation; also, Cirque probably the least likely replacement as its hosts have other things to do)?  Not a Podcast has its partisans.  And wouldn't that keep The Ticket on top?  And valuable?

[Side note:  Unless there were a bankruptcy, I am doubtful that Cumulus would be able to unilaterally "void contracts."  But to DA's major point -- contacts certainly do expire and Cumulus could chose not to renew them.]

"I'll start the bidding at $700 -- but I only want David Mino."

Despite rumbles of it being near the end for Mike and Norm and even some younger hosts who want to do other things, I think both of those worthies, and even the younger voices, are going to be around for quite some time.  Got no concrete inside poop on this and DA may well be right that their days are numbered.  But it's just the feeling I get.  The P1 has been anticipating their exit for quite some time, but my sense is that this is just way, way too sweet for each of them, and Norm has some big fans in upper management.


Another point is that the a buyer of a business will take steps to avoid the very problems DA has identified.  It would make sure it had its main hosts under contract for a meaningful future period. It would also likely insist on noncompetes, for which it would pay the affected hosts extra as part of the deal.   And it would tie up key managers and executives in exactly the same way.

So if The Ticket were on the block, I think buyers with dollars would be lined up around it.

ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

@Plainsman1310

BREAKING: New Ultimo CTO Mary Berner Sez: "No Bankruptcy Planned."

New Cumulus CEO Mary Berner addressed Cumulus employees yesterday in a webcast.

Here's a report:

Cumulus CEO Mary Berner Addresses Employees

Her message:  The need to change "corporate culture."  Chapter 11 bankruptcy is not currently on the table.

Right.

Mike Rhyner's boss Mary Berner

SPECULATION ALERT: I Think The Cowboys Have Leaned on The Ticket in an Act of Irrational Discriminaton Against Harmless Neighborhood Rodents

Folks, for absolutely trivial guesses about things that don't matter that concern Our Ticket, you simply have no choice but to come to My Ticket Confession.

I have been nursing this speculation since sometime during training camp, but I didn't have any evidence for my thinkings -- until I heard a piece of evidence for it this past week.

I had the feeling that something had been missing from The Musers' coverage of the Cowboys this season.

Oh hell, no point in being coy about it -- I knew exactly what it was:

The Musers have stopped referring to Cole Beasley as "The Squirrel."

I remember the day that Gordon came up with the simile last season:  "He's like the squirrel that the kids let into the house when they've left the door open," OWTTE.  I thought at the time -- that's clever and perfect.

The Musers must have thought the same thing, because they recalled this felicitous comparison in the days that followed, and began referring to him as "The Squirrel."

In fact -- and my memory may be tricking me here -- I have a recollection that they interviewed Beasley one day and asked him if he minded the nickname, and he seemed to be OK with it.

This year, I can't recall The Musers ever referring to Beasley -- who has been prominent on the field -- as "The Squirrel."

Which set me wondering if some Cowboy functionary -- or could it have been Beasley's agent? -- made a call to the New World Catman or someone equally influential Cumulo-Ticket Overlord and respectfully requested that The Ticket bury that nickname.

I didn't think much more about it until this past week, when someone -- Craig or Gordon -- referred to Greg Hardy as "Machine-Gun Couch" (probably Gordon, who had probably forgotten Hardy's name), and George said:  "I don't think that's an approved nickname for Greg Hardy."

Italics mine.

So there's my observation, and my evidence.

I fully expect someone to comment and say, "Plainsman, you are a bad P1.  I have heard Mr. Keith refer to Mr. Beasley as 'The Squirrel' several times this season." 

In which case you may regard this as a burnt post.

A Couple of Preliminary Low-Info Thoughts on the Cumulus Shakeup (H/T Confessor DA)

Whenever something stirs in the radio industry, we always look forward to Confessor DA's thoughts.  He posted a couple of interesting tidbits to the last post, suggesting among other things that the new CEO has a history of taking media properties (a print property, in her case) into bankruptcy.  This and other news has suggested to some Confessors that major changes in the sound of the station are in the offing.

Anything's possible, but we need to remember that The Ticket is a very profitable Cumulus property.  I'm betting on no major shakeups in any on-air lineups, talent, or JV assignments at least until contract renewal time rolls around.  DA suggests that belt-tightening starts with sales, but I would think that competition would militate against raising rates, and it's hard to believe that slashing commissions or sales staff wouldn't be self-defeating.  DA, what's your thinking here about how a media turnaround artist deals with the marketing function?

However, I do think that when contract-renewal time comes up, all bets are off.  Bob and Dan took a per-year annual pay cut, and there may be some hosts who are sufficiently well-off that a significant salary reduction would result in some stars being a little loose in the socket and ripe for plucking or moving on to pursue a different way of making a living (or just living).

For all of these reasons, I think the Western Hemispherical Catman faces some real challenges in keeping the station tops in the local sports-talk ratings to protect his team from significant changes.

I hope they don't mess with my Georgio.

Chapter 11 bankruptcy means that the company keeps operating, but the bankrupt must submit a plan for restructuring debt and paying creditors (which requires court approval and negotiation with lenders and creditors to avoid a Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy) -- and yes, reducing costs.  I think DA is onto something when he suggests that dumping AM stations might be in Cumulus's future.  He's also probably right that it would be a challenge given today's listener preferences, but there's always someone out there who thinks they can make a go of a media property.  Somewhere out there there are Mike Rhyners who would be happy to pick up a bargain low-wattage 1310-type property to live the dream.  (Black Ticket, anyone?)  (I should add I don't know if Cumulus has a lot of those sitting around.)  May not bring in a lot of cash, but it would eliminate the cash drain and yield some return of capital.

Interesting times ahead for our weekday heroes and the line forming behind them.

BREAKING: Dickeys BBQ'd (H/T Confessor Shaggy)

 
Dickey Brothers Out at Radio Giant Cumulus Amid Board Shakeup

The article notes the massive decline in earnings, and states:  "The news of the Dickeys' departure was first reported by music blog Hits Daily Double.  The blog suggests a huge reorganization of the company is on the way."  

I'm sure Confessor DA will have more on this breaking story, but I gotta get back to the plow.

But not before posting this: 

"Goodbye, Lew."

And apologies for the cheap headline.
 

BREAKING: Bruce Gilbert Makes a Return to the Ticket -- Brief and of Uncertain Significance

This story starts in mid-December 2014.

I certainly missed this, and I don't recall any of our far-flung correspondents mentioning it, but former (and noted) Ticket Program Director Bruce Gilbert joined Cumulus as "Senior Vice President/Sports" on or around December 15, 2014.

Cumulus News -- Bruce Gilbert

That position was newly-created for him.  He had previously held the same title at iHeart Radio.

So Bruce Gilbert is now officially -- once again -- a CTO (Cumulo-Ticket Overlord, for new Confessors).

So this isn't exactly fresh news.

But this might be:

A radio-industry source who has some ties to Cumulus has told me that, since then, Gilbert has been seen in the halls at The Ticket on at least one occasion and perhaps more than one.  I cannot evaluate my source's credibility, but it would make some sense that, at a minimum, Gilbert would be touring Cumulus's sportsradio properties.

Does this mean his hand may be seen in some of the recent changes we have all noted?

I don't know.  My source did not know.  Only that his person had been observed in the general vicinity of The Little One.

Whether Gilbert was at The Ticket or not, and whether he made some, um, suggestions or not, I do think it is of some significance that Cumulus created this position for him, and that he's a Ticket glory-day program director.

So:  Maybe less here than meets the eye.  I don't want to overstate the significance of his possible physical presence during a Ticket visit.

But maybe not less; maybe some arse-securing is in order, as Confessors continue to urge upon us.

But in any case -- I thought The Confessor would like to know.

Dez and Corby

I'll make this quick.

Dez and Corby are each in showbiz.  Their workplace is public.

Each melted down very conspicuously in their respective workplaces.

Each meltdown took the form of angry utterances to colleagues and supervisors.

Each meltdown probably had some justification to it, assuming that we're all guessing right about what Dez was trying to convey in one or more of his several episodes.  I also share what seems to be the initial reaction of the Confessor, which is to have some sympathy with Corby in this situation.  He's live on the air and his stuff gets yanked without notice, and he's not sure why at first, and every other station is going to be playing the clip and talking about what Manly said, and Corby was allowed to describe Manly's words in any event so what's the big deal?  Live broadcasting is a high-wire act, and his got jiggled when he wasn't looking.

And each meltdown was shocking and excessive.

We know what's going to happen to Dez.  Nothing.  The excuse-making and "passion" crap is just more evidence of the lack of intelligent leadership in the organization.  Consider what would have been the Cowboys' reaction to that kind of performance under Landry, Johnson, Parcells, and pre-Jones ownership.  (Yeah yeah, times have changed, modern athelete blah blah blah, bull.  Substitute Cowher, Belichick.)

I'm pretty sure nothing's going to happen to Corby.  When Dan McDowell started to read an internal confidential Ticket memorandum on the air a few years back, BaD got yanked from the air for a segment or two, but that was it, at least as far as on-air repercussions were concerned.

In any normal workplace, irrespective of justification for his unhappiness, Corby would be invited to relax at home for a day or so, maybe longer, maybe forever.  The Ticket, of course, is not a normal workplace.  I don't know the extent to which the inmates run the asylum there.  Sometimes it seems like they do.  Other times it seems like they get ordered to do stuff, and they do it.  

A commenter to the last thread states:  "Leave it to the people on this blog to blow up this thing between Corby and Cat.  It's not a big deal and Corby and Cat are old friends and that's the the type of relationship they have.  It's not the kind of relationship you people have with your bosses." */  There is probably something to that.  I'm sure they go back a long ways.  But I don't think anyone who heard that segment thought that this was good-natured palsy-walsy pretend agitation.  Or appropriate public treatment of not only Jeff, who I previously thought had some kind of authority over program content, but colleagues.

I'm a pretty stout Corby fan and have defended him most of the time.  On this one, I'm with those who think this should call forth some sanction from the CTO.

__________________________

*/  "You people."  Like that? Care to guess who left that comment?  (I don't know, but it sounds familiar.)

ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

@Plainsman1310

Less Worried Now

Some Dickey somewhere is calling Cumulus's telecommunications lawyer, if it has one, with a few questions.

Thanks to Confessor Gopher for calling our attention to the FCC's rejection of what it is basically calling  sham sale to Whitley Media, a broker.  I'm excerpting without permission from an update to the previous news item from RadioInsight.

Stating that the license transfer is not a true sale in that all economic risk would remain with Cumulus as Whitley would get the same brokerage fee regardless of the price he sells the station for, Cumulus would remain the defacto owner of the station.

The APA, by providing for Whitley to be reimbursed out of the sale proceeds for any losses and expenses he incurs in operating the Station, makes it clear that all of the economic risk of operating the Station would remain with Cumulus. Likewise, because Whitley is required to remit to Cumulus all of the proceeds from the sale of the Station, less his expenses and his brokerage fee, Cumulus would retain all of the risk of loss and potential for profit from the sale of the Station to a third party. Whitley will receive his brokerage fee and no more, whether the Station is sold for $1 million or $10 million. Given these “economic realities,” we conclude that the agreement between Cumulus and Whitley cannot be reasonably characterized as a proposed $100 sale of the Station to Whitley and that Cumulus would remain the owner of the Station.

Cumulus spun-off KTDK to Whitley in order to LMA 103.3 KESN from ESPN. That LMA was set to begin as soon as the KTDK spinoff to Whitley closed. Now both are on-hold indefinitely.

This also answers the question I had earlier, which is whether the "sale" of 104.1 was necessary to allow Cumulus to enter into the management agreement for 103.3 KESN, that answer being "yes."

So sounds like we'll have 104.1 for awhile longer, and ESPN will have to find some other way to figure out what to do with those time slots.

Why Cumulus Needs to Damn Sign Up Bob and Dan Within the Next Few Hours

(Will Norm get credit in tomorrow's grammar books for being the first public figure to use "damn" to modify verbs?)

 

*     *     *

 

The prairie is ablaze, and Your Plainsman's on fire.

 

 

*     *     *

 

Dear Lew,

 

May I call you Lew?  No?

 

So Lew, I know you need to save money, but, based on no evidence, I'm going to assume for purposes of this open letter that you do care about The Ticket and you want to see it thrive for as long as possible.  I know that you know it is a jewel in a very tarnished crown and that you are very fortunate to have acquired it in the Susquehanna deal.  It not only dominates DFW radio in the prize demo, it is one of the most famous radio stations in the United States.  In fact, based on podcast downloads and online listening, it is it one of the most famous and popular radio stations in the world.  You've done your best to starve it of resources -- those allowing it to be heard in its home city, for example -- but it continues to thrash all comers.

 

I'm not going to beat you down about the short run, except to say:

 

(1)   They are amazing talents -- yes, both of them -- and you should keep them in your stable.  An obvious point, but perhaps lost in the money talk.

 

(2)   Bob and Dan's departure would have effects at the station well beyond having to fill in the noon-to-three slot.  Letting Bob and Dan go would expose the essential fragility of The Ticket's success.  Bob and Dan going says -- hey, if they can go, anyone can go.  I'm not talking about the other hosts, who are very unlikely to go anywhere, I'm talking about the long-suffering group that we here at My Ticket Confession call the Junior Varsity.  The JV contains quite a number of extremely talented people who are frequently discussed in these pages as Ticket-worthy successors to the current hosts.   Dime a dozen?  Not the good ones, and the Ticket's are not only good, they are a critical element of the success of the shows bearing the names of others.  The good ones are there because it is The Ticket and that's where the good talent wants to be around here.  If they perceive that The Ticket has been dealt a blow, and that they can make even a little more money elsewhere -- why not CBS? -- because to them, a little more money is probably a large percentage of what you're paying them -- they'll start to trickle out, too, and while you can replace them, you'll replace them only to lose the next batch as The Ticket declines (see below).   Whoever would have thought Kevin Turner would blaze that trail?

 

(3)   Morale will suffer among on-air talent.  Hosts will not feel the same about The Ticket.  They will say that they do, but they will not.  You think the CTO -- that's "Cumulo-Ticket Overlords" in these parts -- are disrespected on the air now?  I can see Mike Rhyner starting to call the place "The Littler Ticket."   The Ticket against the World?  Don't look now, but the World just turned a quarter of your army against you.  Failure to make a creative deal with Bob and Dan will say to them, "Cumulus just put Brett Blankenship in charge of corporate strategic planning."  They will understand what until recently has only been guessed at, which is that nothing will ever get better at The Ticket -- things will only get worse because Cumulus will not do what it must do on any front to keep the thing solid and growing.

 

So, as I say, I assume you can see all the obvious things about the short run.

 

No, I'm going to beat you down about the medium run. 

 

Lew, you look like a pretty smart guy to me.

 

 

 

Don't think about two years from now.

 

Think about four, five years from now.

 

(1) Musers:  According to this site's readers, based on some fairly well-sourced information, Junior Miller is already loose in the socket.  I don't know how long you have him tied up, but surely not much past 2017-18.   (I'll call you Shirley if I want; it's my blog.)   He's gone, and George will have no one to Muse with, assuming he even wants to.  (That's George Dunham, another of your most valuable employees.)   That show is mortally wounded even if George and Gordon -- yes, Gordon Keith, the one who got into it with Nasty Nestor, but that's not important now -- would presume to carry on without the Fred Astaire of Dallas radio.   Fred Ast -- never mind.

 

(2) Norm:  Surely not past five years.

 

(3) The Hardline:  Nope, Mike will almost certainly be done by age 67 and maybe sooner, maybe by New Years 2015.  He'll have created and given public face to The Ticket and done The Hardline for over two decades, with plenty of dough, side projects, and the thanks of a grateful DFW, or that portion of it reached by the incredibly crappy signal you've continued to stick them with.  (That's another open letter.)

 

If you make a deal today, you'll still have Bob and Dan, perhaps already killing it in PM drive, you'll have indicated possession of the foresight that will encourage talent to stay or to come to The Ticket as the legacy shows serially reach the end of their runs, and with BaD Radio as the foundation to sustain the miracle that is The Ticket.

 

Lew, I know you can do this.  I've read the CBA (local inside joke; ask Bob) and you do not have to let this talent nip off to the Goliath rival who, so far, has spent its days picking your rocks out of its forehead.  Creative business leaders would find a way to make this happen.  You not  only need to give Bob and Dan a deal, you need to give them a real, real long deal.  Seven years, at least.   

 

Cumulus didn't get where it is by divesting stuff.

 

So, in the medium run:

 

 

If you don't make a deal with Bob and Dan in the next few hours, you won't have dick.

 

You'll only have Dickey.

 

Yr mst hmb'l & ob't sv't,

 

The Plainsman

 

*     *     *

 



ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

@Plainsman1310

Someone Out There Knows the Deal with Mitchell Karasik

For all of you who are tempted to slag me for writing a big fat post about a would-be Tickerman, spare me.  Spare us all.  It's Tickety.  It makes me wonder how things happen at The Little One.  I'm going to write about it.  You gripe about the selection of subject matter, I'm taking your ass down.

===============

First, Mitchell, if you're out there, permit me to apologize for spelling your name incorrectly for quite some time now.

Second, a Confessor reports hearing on a BaDD podcast that Mitchell is transported from New York to Dallas to do his Tickers a half-day on weekends.

Third, this site has had some fun with the challenges that Tickers have presented to Mitchell.  I didn't really feel good about that teasing, because I supposed that Mitchell was a radio tyro, some kid trying to make it, kid somehow got a tryout from The Ticket in the face of what I supposed were better audition clips with which, I also supposed, the Pan-American Catman had been deluged.  So while he was clearly struggling with  .  .  .  copy  .  .  .  which I supposed he had composed  .  .  . and seemed initially unaware that what he was delivering was a "Ticker," I was kinda rooting for improvement so the lad could get his start in a cool profession.  Alas, as the Indispensable Brad C has memorialized, things have not gotten much better as of a week ago:

Mitchell Karasik Classic Ticker on February 2, 2013

He has been savaged by The Hardline; but then, who hasn't?  Bono, possibly, aside.  Confessors have been similarly skeptical of his abilities.

Fourth, however, I was quite, quite wrong about where Mitchell came from.

This is Mitchell Karasik delivering his 2010 MLB preview:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfnkbm46hZA

Surprised?

Mitchell Karasik has not only been around for awhile, he has run what is apparently his own production of something called, variously, "LockerBlogger" and ":60".   Always dressed smartly in a coat and tie, he has scored some pretty big interviews.  Here's his Miles Austin interview at some kind of function from a couple of years ago when Miles was doing good:

Here is his interview with Orthodox Jewish Boxer Dmitri Salita, Part 1 (I have not been able to find Part 2):

Thus:   Fifth, the PAC was almost certainly not pulling a resume out of a stack when he invited Mitchell to do some DFW Tickers -- he was enlisting a somewhat experienced talker, a guy with some credible sportsy media experience, even if it was his own medium.  Unless, of course, the PAC had nothing to do with this and it was imposed upon him by some CTO.  Although I have not been able to find any Internet evidence of any affiliation between Mitchell and Cumulus or CBS (with the exception of the somewhat tenuous speculation which I shamelessly offer way, way down at the bottom here).  No, his affiliation appears to be solely with his own company LockerBlogger, described on his beta site (www.lockerblogger.com) as follows:  "LockerBlogger is a Sports Social Media Company that Connects Athletes, Charities, Fans and Brands through Education and Philanthropy."  (But where did he score that bank of screens and ritzy studio-looking background?)

At first I thought BaDD must have been pulling our leg about MK flying in to do these Tickers.  But when I heard Brad C's recording from only a week ago (above), I realized that it must be true.

Sixth, what Someone Out There knows, is:

Why?

Here's a little extra tidbit to interest you:  A Mitchell S. Karasik was married in Collin County in 2008.  His parents live in the NYC metro.  (Scroll down here to view record)   No idea if it's the same one, but the Internet nuggets are suggestive.   So maybe MK is looking for a way to spend more time in the metro for family reasons.

But let's return for a moment to his qualifications.  Hey, I  admire the guy for living the dream.   He's got this sports-philanthropy-social-media thing going, and whatever that is, it does get him face time with jocks.  (I didn't join the site, but I've seen other things leading me to believe that this "LockerBlogger" is affiliated with MK's videos   of the same name.)   How did he do that?  ALERT:  CRASS SPECULATION FOLLOWS:    I'm wondering if Mitchell might have some independent wealth in his background.   The father of the Mitchell Karasik married in Collin County in 2008 -- which, I stress, I cannot definitively link up with OUR Mitchell Karasik, but there don't seem to be a lot of them in the U.S. -- is Stephen Karasik.   Stephen is an independent investment banker the New York City area.  Perhaps he invested in our Mitchell.  WARNING:  SPECULATION GETS EVEN CRASSER BELOW.

In any event, he's got a long way to go to join the accomplished Tickerman fraternity -- all right, a long way measured in astronomical units, if not parsecs -- but he's not a complete schnook, you know?  Those interviews are at least enthusiastic, and the fact is  .  .  .  he gets them.  Maybe this kind of initiative appealed to the CTO somewhere along the line.  So let's be fair -- they're trying.  They're trying to get some guys with maybe some gee-whiz potential to affiliate with the station.

But I suspect Mitchell's path to Saturday mornings on KTCK is a lot more interesting than that.  Someone's either going to pretend to know in the Confessions to this post and we'll all have to wonder if we're getting pranked, or someone is going to lay a tip on me that I will be duty bound to keep confidential.  (It happens, rarely.)   How did he come to do Tickers for a station he doesn't know, reporting on teams he's not familiar with, where he is required to speak the names of athletes he doesn't know how to pronounce?  More intriguingly, why is he still doing it?

Well, my curious Confessors, here's another little tidbit for you:  There is a Steve Karasik who is a multi-Emmy-winning Senior Coordinating Producer for  -- dramatic pause -- CBS Sports.  Looks like he is about Mitchell's age.  His father is not Stephen Karasik, according to wedding announcements -- it's Robert Karasik from  .  .  .  Manhattan.  I'm way, way off the reservation here, but I wonder if perhaps Robert and Stephen are brothers, and Mitchell and CBS Steve are cousins.

While this is, I must Confess, not Responsible Ticket Journalism, the possible connection of Mitchell to CBS Steve, and Mitchell's possible family connection to the DFW area, may go some way to explain why the guy is getting airtime on the greatness of The Ticket.  Maybe that's also how he scores those snazzy production values for those studio interviews.

CBS -- again.

Inquiring Confessors want to know.

But you know something?  Whether I'm on track with any of the foregoing, or galaxies off -- I wish Mitchell Karasik well, I really do.  Even as a Tickerman -- maybe he'll study up and we'll get used to the somewhat exotic cadences he brings to his readings.  After all, one of the qualities The Ticket brings to sports-talk radio is its willingness to showcase unconventional broadcast voices.  So let's give the guy a chance.  (To help expiate my guilt over teasing him at the outset, and in admiration of the initiative he's shown in his non-Ticker ventures.)

Let the Mitchell Karasik Watch continue.

Twitter:  @Plainsman1310

Email:  ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

Sunday Morning Quick HIts

*  *  *

 

(1)  I was wrong in previous comment about freshman Tickerman Mitchell Kerasik (sp) no longer broadcasting.  He's doing Tickers this morning. 

 

(2)  I try always to listen to the Bob Sturm/Rich Phillips Cowboys pre-game.  Always strong, and I like the teaming of Bob and Rich.

 

This season they've been required to feature other Ticket hosts.  If anyone knows why the CTO believes this is necessary, please advise.  Are they concerned about Sturm monopolization of two hours of broadcasting?  Do they think there's not enough variety in the two-hour show?  They already have David Newbury, David Moore, Norm doing the numbers, and pre-recorded George doing some keys to the game (although I'm thinking that maybe they don't do that last one anymore; I may be thinking to past seasons). 

 

Why they make Mike R do stuff like this is a mystery.  He has almost nothing to say.  Junior had a good segment prepared.  But the best, so far, has been -- Dan McDowell, last week.  The best BaD broadcast I've heard in awhile, with some Dick Hicks spice in the bargain.

 

(3)  Those George/Gordon Raising Cain's ads are effective.  I've written in the past how utterly mediocre the Raising Cain's chicken product is, but the other day I was hungry and saw a Cain's up ahead so thought, hey, for George and Gordon, I'll give it a fifth try. 

 

As usual:  Friendly, fast, spotless, fresh/hot, and chicken utterly, 100% without flavor.  And, in this case, under-battered, although it scarcely matters.  What do they marinate it in for 24 hours?  Water?  And how they manage to develop a recipe for a batter that does not register on the tongue at all is a mystery of modern culinary science.  Tip:  salt.

 

(3)  I'm liking MaSS.   One way I judge showgrams is whether they get me interested in topics I know nothing about or otherwise have no interest in.  This morning, MaSS did just that with its "local beer" segment. 

 

We smack the CTO around a fair amount, but it must be said that it's made a good effort to come up with solid weekend programming.  I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I'd rather listen to MaSS than any other show on either of The Ticket's competitors, weekday, drive, or otherwise.   The Ticket conversational formula must be impossible to duplicate, since no one has been able to do it, yet the CTO seems to identify the right types to put on a show that fits in The Ticket sound and broadcast theory.  For that, they deserve some credit.

 

Those hits weren't as quick as I'd expected.

OPEN THREAD: CBS Rumblings

As I mentioned, I was going to take a break, but this tidbit deserves its own thread.

See the following article brought to our attention by Anonoymous:

Boomer and Carton: Get Ready For Your Close-Up

The money quote, speaking of the Dallas market and 105.3 The Fan:

 "This is a market where both CBS and Cumulus own sports radio stations. It would basically be a coin flip between “The New School” on “The Fan” and the long-running “Musers” on KTCK/”1310 The Ticket” – though a scenario where the “Musers” would move to “The Fan” in favor of a “B&C” clearance on “The Ticket” is not out of the question."

According to hawk-eyed Confessor Shaggy, Mike Rhyner had the following reaction to this on his Facebook page, which I've confirmed:

"so you thought this cbs/cumulus alliance is a non-story, huh?...fight through this until you get to the salient point ( and when you do, you'll know it) and then see if you still are thinking that...a merger, probably later than sooner, is coming"

In considering the possibilities, please bear in mind the evidence currently before us on the strategic acumen of the CTO.


Wrecking the channel seems like a long way to go just to get rid of MTC.

*     *     *

Hope to be back in a couple.  Carry on.

A Note on Speculation

+     +     +

Some Confessors like the guessing games on this site.

Others find it annoying and even improper.  That's OK.  I don't mind the criticism, if expressed in tones conventionally disgusted.

I don't want to whine, but put yourself in my shoes for a moment.

This site had its third anniversary last Saturday.  That's 469 posts, counting this one.

Basically covering (1) the station as a whole (CTO, signal, internal politics), (2) The Musers, and (3) The Hardline.  There are posts about Norm but not a lot of them.  A few more about BaD but again, not a conspicuous feature of this site.  An occasional visit to other stations.

You know I'm not a Ticket insider, and you'd need a scanning electron microscope to find the inside information I've received from genuine insiders.

Which means that if I'm going to generate new material on this site more than once every couple of weeks or so, I've basically got two sources to draw on:  I can comment on stuff that I've heard, which is far from the majority of the broadcast day and only, on average, about half of The Musers and The Hardline.  The stuff I've heard you've heard too.  It can be fun to comment on that and get your reactions, but after awhile, let's face it, there's not a lot new out there.  You want another column about Hardline potty mouth?  I didn't think so.

Or I can listen real carefully when I do listen, and speculate about stuff that the Nation speculates about, and sometimes I come up with stuff that maybe it hasn't thought of.  Sometimes it strikes a nerve, sometimes it's right, sometimes it's plausible but wrong, and sometimes it's just plain ridiculous.  I accept the ridicule and criticism -- anyone who runs a blog about something that people care strongly about had better be prepared for that.  If it isn't vulgar or too over the top, up it stays.

A third source would be y'all, but my occasional calls for topics meet with stony silence.  Still, you've noticed that a particularly interesting or well-aimed comment will sometimes serve as the topic for the following article.

Even when I'm wrong, I can sometimes flush out stuff that we wouldn't know otherwise.  Take the just previous Pants Finnegan column.  Anonymous advises that Pants is Gordon's reference to an obstreperous new sales guy.  Says it twice, in fact.  He also instructs me to "stop overthinking stuff like this."  Well, Anonymous, if I hadn't wondered why Gordon had created this character, who didin't seem to have reference to any "type" we knew from the station, we wouldn't have the benefit of your (apparent, and, I think, actual)  inside information that Gordon was noodging this new sales star from San Diego and, presumably, the sales department generally.  And we wouldn't know that Gordon sometimes does whole bits that are meaningful primarily to his colleagues, and not to us.  Those insights are not going to overturn Obamacare, but they are of interest to the good folks who click over to My Ticket Confession.

So I'm going to keep listening between the lines, and throwing out guesses, and maybe we'll all learn a little something about this wonderful station that positively invites us to care about it on a personal basis.

And someday, maybe some of those guesses will come home to roost, and I'll be able to say that you read it here first.

+     +     +

In other news:  Did you hear Corby and Mike discussing Dan Bennett this afternoon?  The subject was working on holidays, which the hosts don't have to do this year, the first time in a decade or so, since the early Susquehanna days.  I laughed out loud in the Conestoga when they ridiculed Bennett for his judgment that a lot of new listeners, freed from their workplaces, would spend their holiday listening to the radio.   And that it took him ten years to realize that this view was in error.  Pretty rough on the ol' CTO.  

+     +     +

Confessors, I'm buried for the rest of the week and then off with Mrs. Plainsman for a vacation in cooler climes.  Please feel free to do 90- and even 180-degree turns on subject matter in the comments.  I will monitor comments and toss in a pfennig or two if I have a thought.   I'll be back if I'm able, but it may be awhile before there's a new article.  Thanks to all for observing the unwritten rules of civility of this site, and in advance for continuing to do so.

*     *     *

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June 15, 2012

8:26 a.m. --  There is nothing the CTO can do to make working for i93's sales department sound appetizing.  Those frantic ads that run on The Ticket touting the fabulous Cumulus growth in DFW (growth which seems to have been almost entirely purchased, not earned) are unintentionally hilarious.  I'm learning that the radio world is shaking its head nationwide at Cumulus mismanagement and venality. 

Wonder if those ads run on i93. 


8:29 a.m. -- I was genuinely alarmed when Mike didn't come out of the bathroom for Community Quick Hits yesterday.  I have to believe that Corby and Danny had to know that Mike was not in extremis or they would not have made joking reference to his death.

He wouldn't be the first media star to die on the porcelain throne, and I personally know of two other males of Mike's approximate years who expired in exactly the same circumstances.   Must have been bad, the poor guy missed two entire segments and couldn't even come out to say goodbye.


9:35 a.m. --  Who will give us a report on Summa Bash this weekend?

*     *     *

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June 7, 2012

7:58 a.m. --  A Confessor sends along this link regarding anti-Cumulus anger in San Fran, and a possible rally against management in support of another popular station Cumulus is said to have screwed, KFOG.  Here is a link to a very short reference: 

http://richliebermanreport.blogspot.com/2012/06/breaking-listeners-revolt-against.html

I agree with the commenter to that blog who said that it won't help, and I can't imagine the P1 bestirring itself to do anything similar here.  I do agree with the commenter who said that until the advertisers start leaving, nothing will happen.

8:00 a.m. -- This morning Rich Phillips took over Gordon's Muse/News duties.  He was grumbling about this and stated that "The P1's hate me." 

Is that true?  This site is not the Voice of the P1, but I am actually a fairly stout Rich Phillips fan, after some initial misgivings.  His Tickers are crisp, I like him as a host with Donovan and a Sturm sidekick during Cowboy season.  He's got an acerbic sense of humor, but at least he's got one.  His skills make Race Week listenable for me, who cares nothing about NASCAR.  And he's an absolutely first-rate play-by-play guy for the 'Stangs. 

8:06 a.m. -- Can we get a detailed report on the technical problems yesterday on The Hardline, and Mike's reaction?

8:07 p.m. -- Some miscreant from Ankara, Turkey, just attempted to access this site's gmail account.

A Radical Proposal on Ticket Tech

Okay, I think we've established that Ticket tech is truly bad. Or, at the very best, not appropriate for The Ticket.

And many thanks to the Anon, obviously either a Ticket, Cumulus, or radio insider who's picked up the news somewhere, for his authoritative disquisition on the OpX system.

What I can't figure out is -- why?  I suppose it's a word that Mike uses -- "leverage."  The audience is the biggest and best, it won't stop listening, Cumulus makes enough money with it, so why improve (1) signal, (2) remotes, (3) in-studio tech, (4) Internet stream?   Small expenditure, big revenue.  Leverage.  What's not to like, as a CTO?

Now, let us confess (of course):  We can hear the station.  It broadcasts.  We like it.  The negligent IT and tech administration doesn't render it unlistenable most of the time.

But the persistent failure to fix problems that have existed for years is not only disrespectful to the listeners, it's degrading to the amazing talent that has assembled there and remained over the years (for which the CTO, let us further confess, deserves some unknowably small amount of credit).

Which leads me to a question that I was going to address back before I gleaned that Mike had signed his contract without the benefit of the conclusion of my highly speculative series awhile back on Mike's new deal:

What does the CTO care about?  Well, I would think they would care about keeping their talent, even if they don't care about giving them appropriate tools and a grown-up signal. 

[ALERT:  WILD-EYED ADVICE TO FOLLOW.]  

Which is why, if I were a host in demand in the market, as each one of them must surely be, and my noncompete weren't too long, and I really, really cared about the IT and tech  .  .  .

.  .  .  I'd start holding out. 

No -- no, first thing I would do is call a meeting of my fellow hosts, or at least those maddest about the situation.  Oh, this is much better: 

I'd see who was interested in taking the Ticket act, en masse, to another station.  Don't sign the damned contracts, or -- no, this is even better -- make any noncompete contingent on a new signal, appropriate in-studio tech, and a couple of new mobile remote suites, fixing the Internet stream.  That way, if things didn't improve, an entire showgram whose hosts (and essential Y-monks) had signed such a contract could quit and move instantly if promises along these lines were not kept by a date certain.  Producers -- doubt they even have a non-compete, George and Craig and Gordon could take Fernando and Jeremy right along with them, and adios Cumulus.  Cumulus wouldn't go for it?  Well, that's nut-cutting time, isn't it?  You either stay and live with the crap, or you go to a competitor.  Or retire.  Or go to another market that the noncompete doesn't reach.  The more showgrams signed on, the greater terror they could inflict on the CTO.

This assumes, of course, that there are other stations to go to.  It's dreaming (even more than I'm dreaming by even proposing this) to think that anyone would uproot their entire programming to take on The Ticket guys, but on a showgram-by-showgram basis?  ESPN or The Fan?  They'd love to have The Musers.

Don't leave comments telling me I'm crazy.  (Oh, all right, go ahead.)  It's not that crazy.  Some of these hosts are angry.  And they should be.

Horrifying thought:  Is it possible that some of the guys, a little bit, like being The "Little" Ticket (I'm not necessarily referring to Mike here).  They like being the scruffy, underpowered, tech-challenged underdog constantly whipping the be-jeebers out of coddled lame-o sister stations and better-financed and reliably audible competitors? 

I hope not.  I personally don't find the meltdowns amusing (except for the way that Danny handles them on The Hardline, which can be counted on to crack me up), and from the comments it seems to me that the Nation doesn't perceive any benefit there, either.   And, again, I find it insulting that Cumulus offers an audio product this lame especially since AM technology has been around for over a century and FM for over 60 years and stations have been doing remotes for decades?

Hosts, arise!  You have nothing to lose but your comfortable incomes through the noncompete period!!  (I wonder if Lenin got his start this way.)

Mike, you really should have waited for my advice.

* * *

Follow Your Plainsman on Twitter: @Plainsman1310

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In the Beginning . . .

.  .  .  there was Bob and Dan, and they named their show BaD Radio, standing for those selfsame Bob and Dan.  And God listened to the showgram, and he heard that it was good.  Mostly good.


And lo, the days were accomplished when Greggo came to depart from the Line of Hard and joined with Richie the Observer, and lifted BaD's naming bit wholesale to create RaGE, the Richie and Greggo Extravaganza.


And it came to pass that Scot Harrison and Jean-Jacques Taylor brought forth The Soul Patch on Sunday mornings, not because of any association of Soul with Sunday the Day of Our Lord, but because it described a facial feature possessed by both men, and also described a racially-prescribed cultural feature possessed by one of them, and was defined, according to Wikipedia, as follows:


"The soul patch (also known as a mouche) is a small patch of facial hair just below the lower lip and above the chin. It came to prominence in the 1950s and 1960s, when it was a style of facial hair common among African American men, most notably jazzmen. It became popular with beatniks, artists, and those who frequented the jazz scene and moved in literary and artistic circles. Jazz trumpeters in particular preferred the soul patch for the comfort it provided when using a trumpet mouthpiece."


But the prodigal JJT left the Patch of Eden, never to return, and was never heard from again, ever, in any medium, in any capacity whatsoever.


The Overlords who lived in the Clouds saw that it was not good for Scot Harrison to be alone.  So while he was sleeping, they removed a piece of him we are not allowed to name on this blog and crated Matt McClearin to join together with Scot and be his companion and helpmate.


And the Cloud-living Overlords named the resulting program "The Soul Patch," although Matt McClearin did not possess that certain facial feature or racial characteristic that would render the name in the slightest way sensible.


And the Confessor Nation commenced with a vast wailing and gnashing of teeth over the continued use of "The Soul Patch" to describe the Scot Harrison and Matt McClearin program.


And behold, after a process heretofore mysterious, someone had the idea to parody RaGE's ripoff of BaD, and renamed the Sunday show "Sunday MaSS" -- Matt and Scot Spectacular. 


All right, way too much Plainsmanian BS.  Here is Scot's account of the name change, offered as a comment to the last post, reposted here with his permission:

"We approached management about a name change right after the new year. The Soul Patch was so named for the obvious reason that both JJT and I have them. When he left it was generally agreed that in the interest of branding it would be better to leave the name the same. (despite the fact the Matt couldn't grow a soul patch if a gun was put to his head).

"We came up with the name after dozens of ideas were developed, reworked, and rejected. We asked for ideas from people we respected but eventually The Matt and Scot Spectacular or Sunday MaSS, separated itself from the rest - "testing" best among those who were consulted both inside and outside the Ticket studios as well as inside and outside of the radio business. 


"We accept the fact that many of you will hate it or at least dislike it strongly (as it was with The Soul Patch moniker), many will approve (so far the trend on twitter), and some who just want to have their weekend Ticket fix won't be bothered either way. We're just pleased that you guys care enough to discuss our goofy little Sunday morning show and that you would take the time to complain/compliment.


"So, triple fake Scot Harrison says pour one out for the Soul Peettcchh!! (off mic tribute:) Stay Hard Soul Patch!"




My thanks to Scot for permitting the reposting of his remarks, and for putting the process out there for comment.  Personally, I think it's a perfectly fine and clever name and should not be offensive to Roman Catholics, any more than broadcasting a sports show during normal churchgoing hours is in the first instance.  While the name gets mixed reviews, the Nation seems to be reacting pretty favorably to the show, as do I.  Some good stuff there.

*     *    *

They did not take my suggestion, which was this:  Have Matt drop the second "t" from his name, so we'd have hosts named Scot and Mat and call it the "Low-T Center," which would both describe the show and attract the growing number of sponsors appealing to the low-testerone crowd.

Thanks again to Scot H.

*     *     *

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GRUBES UNLEASHED

Well, that didn't take long.

Folks, if you want to talk Ticket, there is only one destination for you.  You're there now.

Michael Gruber was an early adopter of My Ticket Confession.  He was the first ever commentor on this site, and from time to time he would drop us a line with information or answers to questions. Nothing too inside or proprietary, just stuff that listeners might want to know.

Turns out, he had a few other things on his mind.

If you follow this site closely, you may already have seen what follows. Michael penned some comments to the last post expanding on his decision to move on -- but he also took the opportunity to unburden himself of some observations on station operation and treatment of the JV. 

Every once in awhile someone will say something on the air that will give us a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes.  We make educated guesses based on the very rare drawing back of the curtain.  Speaking only for myself, I delight in overinterpreting and jumping to conclusions based on the occasional odd inflection and unexpected pause.  Keeps the site interesting, even when I'm wrong.

I daresay we have never heard anything like some of Michael's observations from anyone who worked there, although hints of some of what follows will sometimes leak onto the airwaves. 

They don't require any further comment from me.  They speak eloquently for themselves.

I should add that I sought and received Michael's permission to rerun his thoughts as a featured post.   I have edited them very slightly for length.  His comments (and the comments to which they respond) appear in full in the previous post, if you want to check them out in context.

Michael first expands on his decision to leave The Ticket:

"In an ideal world, of course I'd rather stay at the Ticket and play drops until my hands fell off. But despite the awesomeness of the job, it's not a career no matter how hard I tried to make it one. And being a career board-op without a degree just doesn't lead to many opportunities to move up, or even expand current responsibilities. I was stuck, basically.

.  .  .  .

"June 3 would have been my tenth anniversary with the station. In that time I have gotten to do so many fun things and meet so many awesome people, I could probably write a book. I'm fully aware that the majority of that goes away in a few months once the aftershocks of my departure totally end. If no one knows who the hell the I am after that, I'll manage to survive. I've gotten more than I could ever dream out of the "local celebrity" lifestyle.

".  .  .  .  I plan on going for a business degree, but that may change. Regardless, I know that I want to LEARN and try to better myself. Especially the last few years, my focus on life has become way too narrow. All I worried about was the Ticket, baseball, Pepper Theft, and hanging out (drinking) with friends. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think I can be more than that. Seeing all the things my parents have done is intimidating at times, but it's a great blueprint for how I want to live the rest of my life. If I can achieve even a small percentage of what they've accomplished, I'd be damn proud. There's more to life than the Ticket, and I want to experience as much of that part as possible now that I'm moving on. I'm 26, so I hopefully have another 75ish years to live. The Ticket will have taken up a tenth of that time, but what a wonderful time it was.

"And I'll say it again...the decision to leave the Ticket and go back to college was mine, and mine alone. Maybe I'll regret it, but I doubt it. I'd hit the glass ceiling at the Ticket, and I have just enough inner drive to not be happy with the status quo.

"Hopefully that explains my decision a little better. I'm not bitter in any way, though I am disappointed with the way some things were, especially the disaster that was/is the move to Victory. But in the grand scheme of things, it's just a blip on the radar. My experience at the Ticket was the best time of my life, and hopefully I made some small dent in the history of it."

In response to a commenter making the intriguing suggestion that Michael purchase The Ticket, Grubes starts to warm up, echoing some thoughts expressed frequently on this site:

"I would love so much to buy the station and let everybody earn the money they deserve while working with the best equipment available. It's a shame such an amazing and unique station is run with a cookie cutter, anti-spending, "make the quarter/month's budget" mentality by those geniuses in Atlanta. I'm convinced the station could be even more successful if treated properly. But, alas..."


In response to the suggestion that perhaps the clumsy move to Victory played a role in his decision to leave, he writes:

"I will allow that the move probably helped "push" me a little bit...But only in terms of leaving in time for the summer semester rather than the fall semester. Like I said, my leaving was inevitable. The timetable just got pushed up by a few months. :)"

As far as his own potential at The Little One was concerned, he mused:

"I think a yuk monkey role would have been absolutely awesome if that opportunity arose, but realistically I don't feel I speak well enough to do that or am clever enough to do the kind of bits yuk moneys do. I feel like I become decent at throwing in a one liner from time to time, but I tended to stammer and stumble over words beyond that.

"I considered seeking producer roles when they came up, but I just couldn't reconcile leaving the board for a minimal pay raise and a supposedly better role. If I was going to be part of a show, the best role for me by far was board-op. Playing drops for BaD Radio and the Hardline was perfect for my skill set, mentality, sense of humor, etc.

"That's why the idea of management tended to float around in my head. As a P1, I know how I'd like things to be, and I feel like I got along with everybody in all departments well enough that I could be pretty good at that.

"But in the end, I'd pretty much maxed out what I could really do at the station without a degree. Hurts to leave, and I shed many a tear in the weeks leading up to my departure, but I'm excited to see what the future holds...Even if I'm not famous anymore! Haha."

Did you catch that "the idea of management tended to float around in my head"?

Well, look out, management.  A floating thing sunk the Titanic:

"Really, if I had my way, I would just let the shows police themselves. I know that's an awful way to go about being program director of a station, but seriously...The "newest" show on the station is Norm and he's been doing it since 2000. Every show has been #1 basically for as long as I can remember.

"It's silly to micromanage how many freaking times Norm does a Twitter segment in a week, or when a certain bit like porn birthdays is "played out". There's enough internet savvy P1's to let us...er, them, know when a bit is played out.

"The other way to know something is played out? When the guys on the show stop laughing at it. Working at the Ticket really sharpens your view on how funny things are because there's such an insane number of funny and creative people working during the week and on weekends. Most guys have a pretty good barometer on when to cut bait on a bit. No need to intervene.

"So while there technically wouldn't be a whole lot I'd do on the programming side other than leave the shows alone, I would spend more of my time on trying to make the work environment as positive as possible. Everyone should be treated like they matter...just because you're a board-op or intern doesn't mean you're less of a human or matter less to the station. Unfortunately, there tends to be such a classification of people by their jobs that it can wear on the self esteem for those that aren't in a more prominent position. It's tough as hell to move up at the station because jobs hardly ever come open. People do what they can to stick around as long as possible, so why treat them poorly in addition to that?

"The Ticket is a fast-paced station. Everything is live, and no matter how well something is (or isn't) planned, nothing is guaranteed to go perfectly. Whoever makes a mistake is going to feel bad already. What's wrong with just pulling someone aside and discussing what happened in an even tone? Knowing that a rip session is on the way makes you even more likely to make a mistake and that much slower on the trigger. Just human nature. I'd rather someone make a mistake in the name of entertainment than hold back and create "bleh" radio. That can be found elsewhere.

"I know that's a very Utopian way of viewing things, but as someone who was lucky enough to go from outsider to insider and now back to outsider, I think my ideas would essentially maximize productivity and by extension, ratings."

And, he adds modestly:

"I think."

I think so, too.  My thanks to Michael for writing and for allowing me to re-post his thoughts.

*  *  *

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RIPPED FROM TODAY'S TICKET HEADLINES: Musing, Not So Gently

Already had three comments on the last article, and I'm pleased to see one of them was AP, so we'll be hearing what I'm about to write about on The UnTicket:

1310AM  and The Stream went dark early early this morning, and Those Who Muse So Gently were not happy about it.  I haven't heard all of the on-air references to Cumulus technical incompetence over the past few weeks, but this one was a sizzler.

In fact, it sounded like it was Ripped from My Ticket Confession.  Junior spoke eloquently about signal swapping, and how a competing station was getting two powerful signals, and The Ticket was supposed to stay number one against that with their two cruddy signals, which are only intermittently on the air.  Longtime Confessors will reall that this site has been howling about signal swap almost since it began.

There was mention made of bolting The Ticket.  I'll come back to this.

And then George -- of all people, George -- singled out a particular individual, although no names were used.  He said to this person -- SHOCKING! -- "You stink." Later on, he graduated to "You suck!"  I don't know which of the three called him an "idiot."  I don't know who this knucklehead is, but it's someone who has had some hegemony over The Ticket, or perhaps Ticket technical matters, only in the past year -- and reference was made to this person screwing up last year's Super Bowl broadcasting.  (Perhaps it's this Brett Blankenship guy.)  They even suggested that this "idiot" was protected by some higher-ups for some reason. 

It was the most angry I have ever heard a Ticket host, including Mike R.

Oh, yeah, and right after this rant, some broadcast from an entirely different station cut into an advertisement, and we all had to be puzzled by this for a little while.  (It did not sound like sports-talk to me -- it sounded like it might have been WBAP.) 

As usual, The Musers had the courage to make a gag out of it -- saying that they felt safe in ripping management because they weren't on the air anyway. 

Hey, a SweetJack commercial!!

A commenter has expressed the view that a Muser will be leaving the showgram sometime in the coming year.  That would not shock me.  It also would not shock me if The Musers have a plan to leave the station entirely sometime in the future, as a group, as their contracts expire.   Unlike Mike and Corby, they started with their show at the same time, did they not?  Which would mean that their contracts all might expire at the same time.  They would have to wait out their noncompetes, if they even have noncompetes, and they would wait for all three of them to get clear of their employment contracts, and then they'd all re-assemble at a competitor. 

I'm sure that all the hosts feel a strong attachment to The Ticket and an emotional connection and commtiment to their colleagues.  But Cumulus has not shown either respect or support to them in recent years.  It was either Junior or Gordon who said it this morning, and once again I don't have the exact words, but it was to the effect that Cumulus's serial screwups, invisible promotional support, and inattention to the signal are going to come home to roost, the implication being that these deficiencies would result in an outflow of broadcast talent.

Frankly  .  .  .  wouldn't break my heart.

Would I have to change the name of this site? 

I dunno, the CTO seems to think that "The Soul Patch" still makes sense for a coupla really white guys.

Quick question:  Is there any media reportage in either of the major area newspapers?  Is anyone else writing about this?

I won't be able to listen much today.  Please let us know what you hear.