Sincere (No, Really) Congratulations to Jeff Catlin

We give the CTO a hard time here from time to time, but we also note the fact that, uh, the CTO has more or less given us The Ticket in unbridled and unaltered form since Cumulus took over.  (It was unbridled and unaltered before that, but that was some other collection of Overlords.)   While there have been some missteps, I think most Confessors would have to concede that programming has been a bright spot, with new talent showcased, weekend programming enhanced, and successful teams left the hell alone.

So it's a pleasure to call to your attention (if you missed it in passing when announced on The Ticket) that Ticket Program Director Jeff Catlin was named by Radio Ink magazine one of the Top 20 Program Directors in the Top 10 Markets.

Here is the quote from the article:


Catlin says he loves being a PD because every day is different. “It’s fun!” he says. “It’s collaborative. It allows me to get my competitive juices flowing. I like seeing the success and growth of our staff. I enjoy seeing where the industry is headed in terms of digital, future content delivery, brand extension, etc., and trying to keep pace or ahead of that curve. One of my favorite things to do each week is lead our image production meeting and create the station brand and image of the Ticket through writing promos and liners in the station’s voice.  “It still comes down to delivering your message as a PD to the individuals in the studio who have to make it happen on air each day, based on a common goal and vision. You have to communicate your station’s brand to the audience and to clients, and you have to be able to outline a plan and strategy and goals to every other department in the building. A great PD also has to have a complete understanding of PPM and how it works.”

OK, I don't know what PPM is, and I'd give a fair amount of money to hear Jeff "delivering [his] message as a PD to [Mike Rhyner] in the studio who has to make it happen on air each day, based on a common goal and vision," but there's a little capsule of what the Pan-American Catman is about.

Ah, but did you also know that he is not only the Ticket's Program Director, he is also the Operations Manager for Cumulus Dallas, which means that he is the Overlord for the Program Directors for the other five DFW Cumlus properties?

So if you wonder what Jeff Catlin does all day to be the Program Director of a station that more or less seems to run itself successfully, programming-wise, year after year after year, now you know -- he has plenty to do riding herd on all those other people who you don't know what they do, either.

Seriously, the man seems to have a fairly stout fan base among The Ticket hosts, which, among a group not known for respectful treatment of authority, is saying something.  And, as noted, when there's programming to be done, the man keeps the P1 in mind.

And now, he's doing ads.

Congratulations to you, Jeff C, and may you have many more years of telling Corby to step up the E-News and Quick Hits prep.

*     *     *

Email:  ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

Twitter:  @Plainsman1310

Danny Draws Back the Curtain

A post or two ago I tossed a bouquet to Jeff Catlin , Program Director at The Little One (he may have a different Cumulus title, not sure).  He drops a line now and then, always polite, usually pointing out areas of disagreement, but always in pretty neutral tones.  I appreciate his communications and said so in the post.

An "Anonymous" poster, however, observed:  "Cat is a douche and doesn't respect all of his employees and most of the P1's."

I can't speak to Mr. Catlin's attitude towards his employees.  Although one does get the impression of a certain uneasy distance between JC and his charges, especially when he's referenced by Mike R on The Hardline.   As to the P1's, Your Plainsman mostly hears good things about his responsiveness, although I recall one commenter who didn't get a response to an email.  I imagine Mr. Catlin gets hundreds a day and probably doesn't (can't) respond to all of the genius suggestions he receives from The P1 Nation.  But perhaps Anonymous has information I lack.

Which is why I found this morning's Orphanage of interest.  (I'd been able to catch a fair amount of Cirque du Sirois (damned clever name) substituting for the Teebox.  Based on early returns, CdS is a pretty good show that suffers only from the Ben-and-Skin disease of the hosts sounding too much alike -- in this case for pretty good DNA-based reasons.  I'll have more to say about it in the future.)

Anyway, a caller on the "Ask the Orphanage" segment asked why The Ticket didn't run The Orphanage as a substitute programming for the regular weekday shows when those hosts were on vacation, since (in that caller's and his pals' opinion) the Orphanage was the best show on The Ticket.

Danny's initial response was "Because Cat hates us."  Upon brief reconsideration, he said that there were two reasons. 

First -- if I understood him correctly -- Danny explained that The Orphanage, as a successor to The Rant, got "grandfathered in" as a show that was not required to conform strictly to the X-percentage-of-sports-talk format.  Other shows, he said -- and I tend to credit this account -- are constantly importuned to maintain a substantial amount of actual sports talk.  The number Danny threw out was 60%, but I'm not sure if that was intended to be an accurate report or just an illustration of Cat's instruction to emphasize sports talk.  But The Orphanage is apparently exempt from that requirement, and Danny thought that Cat would not "trust" them to do a conventional sports-talk showgram substituting for a regular weekday show.  (Ironically, today's show was heavily sports-oriented, and probably had the most intensive World Cup coverage I've heard to date on The Ticket -- and since I usually tune such talk completely out, it was a tribute to the show that I didn't.)  

Second, he said, "Cat hates us."

I can understand why Mr. Catlin might have a problem with Mr. Balis.  I don't have a firm grip on Dave Lane's persona -- I gather he may have had a more prominent role on The Ticket in the past, perhaps before I got to Dallas in the mid-Oughts.  (I could never figure out who "Gen-X Davey" was.)   And I assume Dave has an actual paying job elsewhere.  Danny, however, gives every indication of being an actual honest-to-Jah free spirit who enjoys his freedom more than his radio gig and probably would not be the favorite of any supervisor who wanted employees to, you know, comply with his employer's instructions and policies, as employees are universally required to do.   

Cat's problem (if Danny's suggestion that there is a problem is to be credited), of course, is that -- putting aside attitude for the time being -- Danny is a truly gifted human.  Let's see:  He's a composer; producer; musical performer; witty; funny (not the same thing); a talented broadcaster as a secondary sidekick; a talented broadcaster as a show host; and a notable content provider ("What's On Mike's Mind" intros and other similar contributions).  Also a man-about-Dallas through his performing and his friendships with the Wilonskyesque Observer-orbit hipster element.  And a thoughtful mentor to that nice young Michael Gruber.     

And, I suspect, a Galaxy-Class pain in the ass to the KTCK/Cumulus overlords.

And it's true that the Dark Cloud emerges from time to time to annoy the hoi polloi P1 Nation with his overcool musical tastes and his cynicism about matters that may call for it in the abstract (for example, most of pop culture), but which he tends to oversmack on The Hardline.  But man, if he weren't there M-F 3:30-7, you'd miss him terribly. 

 (By the way -- does anyone know why George refers to him as "Big Dumb Danny"?  When I hear that [although I haven't heard him say it in awhile], I get this image of George walking around in a big glass house, with me standing outside with a chunk of feldspar -- or perhaps gneiss -- in my hand, ready to chuck.)

But returning to the original point -- doesn't it say something positive about Mr. Catlin that despite what he may see as unacceptable disrespect for Cumulus programming goals by the obstreperous Danny B, he recognizes what he's got and not only declines to terminate the the SOB, but actually gives him his own showgram?   

Before I sign off:    Will one of my faithful Confessors please remind me to post sometime on the extremely intriguing Danny B/Gordon K dynamic? 

Ah, dammit.  It's Great to Listen to The Ticket. Hurrah for the freakin' Fourth of July, everyone.

Rich the Suit

I'm a little behind on my topics here, sorry.  This one's been tickling me lately.

On the Muser showgram on Tuesday, March 23, the gentlemen were reminiscing about talking about taking one's check into an actual bank to deposit.  Someone mentioned that perhaps they would do that someday, when Rich said:   “We don’t allow that anymore.”

Rich is an assistant program director.  I don't know what assistant program directors do.  Come to think of it, I don't know what a non-assistant program director does at a station like The Ticket.  Answers email from irate listeners, I guess.  I've lived here for seven years and other than post-7 PM and 10 AM on Saturdays, I don't recall any program showing the result of any direction other heading in the same one they were heading seven years ago.  

Maybe the PD rides herd on questionable on-air content and noodges the shows in one direction or another, or asks that a particular demo get a little more love on the air.  Which means the assistant program director probably carries some of his water on that subject as well.

I have come to admire Rich Phillips's on-air work, as I reported here.  But I sense that there are some verrrry spicy dynamics going on there.  Nothing I can put my finger on. 

But when I heard that "we" back on March 23, I thought I felt the organisms in that studio stiffen just a little.

Probably just my imagination.