Indulge Me: One More Article on Signals and Swapping

Y’all may be tired of Signal Talk, but Your Plainsman has a soft spot for the business,  technology, and economics of radio from way back, so I want to stay on this topic for at least one more post.

Commenter Anon E was kind enough to provide some thoughts on why a signal swap of 1310 with 93.3 was not a viable solution to the bad Ticket signal.    His/Her point on the necessity – and difficulty – of replacing revenue is sensible.  I’d like to explore it further and perhaps s/he will weigh in with further details:

(1)  How much revenue really needs to be replaced?   Let’s say The Ticket gets 93.3.  Big signal.  But the revenue from the station that used to come from 93.3’s previous tenant doesn’t disappear, does it? If we’re willing to say goodbye to 1310, we have freed up two more frequencies, not just one:   The Ticket’s current frequencies 1310 and 104.1.  (No point in broadcasting on both 93.3 and 104.1).  Now maybe those two frequencies combined don’t make up the whole $5 million that 93.3 used to bring in, but they will sell more than zero dollars.  So our $5 million target (from the now-deceased 93.3 format) is reduced to some degree.  How much?  Hard to know  (see below re thoughts on those freed-up signals), but not nothing.  Meaning that The Ticket on 93.3 doesn’t have to make up the whole loss of the $5 million it used to get from 93.3, unless the two new stations combined (or a single simulcast station, as The Ticket is now) just bill a piddling amount. 

It has to make up some lesser number.  Let’s say it has to make up $2 million.  Maybe that’s optimistic, maybe not, but let’s just say.  That’s asking the much-improved Ticket with a big-boy signal to do an additional 10% (of the assumed $20 million billings).  Anon E has said that better signal doesn’t necessarily equal bigger billings, especially when you’re already number 1 and pushing the envelope on rates, but wouldn’t some improvement be expected with much better coverage?  Which suggests the next question:

(2)  Would a better signal mean better ratings?  The foregoing (admittedly uninformed) speculation in some bump in revenue prompts a question on how ratings are measured.    Ratings presumably affect billing rates, at least up to a point (there will come a point at which advertisers will balk even with titanic ratings), so I’m wondering how ratings get measured.    Do ratings depend on how many people total listen to the station?   Suggesting that ratings should improve if more people can hear it, or hear it regularly.    Or are ratings only measured in core metro areas where some combination of The Ticket’s lousy signals get to most of DFW most of the time, so that pulling in additional listeners from most distant areas would not be expected to affect ratings?  If it’s the latter, then I can see why a better signal might not translate to better rates and Anon E’s point is bolstered.

(3)  What would be the effect of an improvement in ratings on The Ticket’s rates?   With The Ticket at the top of the heap in the most important demo, Anon E points out that The Ticket’s rates are already reflect that winner’s premium.  Have they bumped up against an invisible cap that would prevent them from asking even more even if it could demonstrate materially improved signal coverage (and more people listening to the station)?  Again, a “yes” answer would tend to support Anon E’s point.

(4)  What about the freed-up old Ticket signals?    Anon E sensibly asks what a proponent of signal switch would do to replace the revenue lost from 93.3.   How about imaginative, innovative programming on the two newly-free channels?  Something that people might actually want to listen to?   Of course, the signals are weak, so maybe one wouldn’t want to invest too much.  But those two frequencies now equal The Ticket, the Bigfoot of DFW radio.  It can be done.  And you have two stations to play with, you wouldn’t have to simulcast.

(5)   Attention, Gordon:  a hypothetical:   So I think:  If I started with two formats -- a proven Ticket formula and a vanilla rock station -- and I were offered 93.3, 104.1, and 1310, how would I allocate my properties among those frequencies?   Wouldn’t I give the gold-plated property the frequency that would exploit the talent?  Or would I take my award-winning station and give it two cobbled-together frequencies, neither of which is much good, so I could coddle my weak performer with a much better signal?

(6)  Does the Citadel deal open up more possibilities?    Anon E’s comment to the last post states:  “Who do you think needs that 96.7 signal more: #1 A 50 thousand watt flamethrower of a station that uses it as an auxiliary signal to the top biller in the market, a station BTW which faces no real ratings competition in the market, or #2 an underpowered, signal-map challenged station that has 2 other stations in it's format already on the fm band?”   If I am reading A.E. correctly, s/he is saying:  “Who needs 96.7 more:  WBAP-AM 820, or The Ticket?” 

Well, let’s think about that:  Citadel’s 96.7 FM, after service as “The Texas Twister” and “Platinum Oldies” format over the past few years, switched to simulcasting WBAP-AM 820 in March 2010.  So not a lot of goodwill built up with the FM signal for WBAP.  It's licensed to Flower Mound and the transmitter is located near where Montague, Cook, and Wise Counties intersect – a bit of a hike from DFW.  The “service contour” from the FCC website just barely reaches Plano and does not reach downtown.    

Even so:  The numbers do suggest that a 104.1 / 96.7 swap, keeping The Ticket at 1310 AM, would be a significant improvement over 104.1 as a simulcast partner.    96.7 is 90,000 watts – more than respectable compared with 104.1’s 6200 watts (source:  RadioLocator).

Or:

(7)  Does The Ticket like being a coverage underdog?   Does it want to be “The Little Ticket.” 

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So:  Innarestin’ things for the Cumulo-Ticket Overlords to mull over as they continue their tireless efforts to serve the loyal P1 and leverage the unique talents of The Ticket. 

Right?

Look, I know my yammering on about signal swaps is naïve and I will welcome further instruction.  Stations swap signals frequently in the U.S., but I understand Anon E’s point that when you’re on top of the market, fiddling with signals may not be in the collective best interest of the company.   I guess I’m just sick of signal roulette as I travel around DFW, and losing the Ticket way before lesser stations start to fade, on a station that’s supposed to be the tops.

Again, my thanks to Anon E for solid information and some radio chops.

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Attention: 

Check in in a few days for an incisive guest post

taking a fresh look at BaD radio. 

Somebody alert Christy!

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Follow Your Plainsman on Twitter:  @Plainsman1310

Wherein the Nation Is Instructed (by Someone Who Seems to Know) -- Yes, It's Another Post About the Ticket's Signal!

I'm not the only one who gripes about The Ticket's signal.  Those gripes long predated this site, and hosts express their dismay at the fluttering coverage.  Some time ago I proposed that Cumulus swap the 104.1 and the 93.3 signals.  I wont' go into my reasoning or the statistics I had at the time, but you can see the original article here:

The Ticket's Lousy Signal -- and What to Do About It

And I mention the topic from time to time.  One of those times commenter Anon E wrote an email as to why that wasn't a viable plan.  In a recent post I mentioned his response and said that I needed to go look it up to refresh my recollection.  Turned out to be unnecessary, because he was kind enough to repeat his point from earlier.  It makes sense and best of all, it has some very good information about the radio marketplace.  I am reproducing it in its entirety below, with my thanks to Anon E for repeating his commentary.  (Corrected a typo or two, otherwise unedited.) 

I had some questions after I read it, but I'm going to save them for the next post, which I'll put up in a few days.    For now, I just want to showcase Anon E's information and analysis.  And thanks again, Anon E, I do appreciate you taking the time and trouble to bring us some of the inside baseball.

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I can explain why it's not viable, and I'll try not to be grumpy while I do it.
The Ticket's average billing for the past few years has been in the 15-20million dollar range. i93 is probably billing this year around 5 million dollars. For the swap to make sense, they need a combination of billing on 93.3 and 1310 that combine to that 25mil total. The Ticket is one of the 2 or 3 highest billers in the market (beat by WBAP and/or KISS), they are already the #1 station with Men 25-54, etc, so JUST switching to FM doesn't necessarily equate to higher ratings, which SOMETIMES equals more revenue.

As is, the reason we have 2 other sports stations in town is because the other stations undercut their spot prices- both ESPN and the Fan offer to advertisers what can be perceived too be a better value in advertising. yes, the Ticket has higher ratings, but those spots come with a higher price tag. So to repeat, a switch to FM may mean slightly better ratings, but that doesn't necessarily translate to higher revenue.

And see above, you need to replace a format on 1310 with something that will replace the majority of i93's billing. If you guys think you know of a format that will bill 4 million dollars a year, let's hear what it is.

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Follow Your Plainsman on Twitter:  @plainsman1310

OPEN THREAD: The Little One's Mavs Parade and Celebration Coverage

I didn't get to hear much of it --

a little Musers/Gordo;

about two minutes of Norm who seemed to be in some distress, actually conceding that he needed a break;

about two minutes of BaD featuring some very astute commentary from Dan;

and a little bit of The Hardline which for some reason I don't remember.  Must have been working or something.

So I'd be grateful for reviews of all the shows, what you liked/disliked; how you reacted to the hosts' reactions to this amazing, historical, dramatic championship; technical aspects of the coverage; the hosts' substantive sportsy commentary.

Heck, I'll even take Mavs talk.

Did I Just Hear a Very Brief and Sneaky . . .

.  .  .  fart drop right after the end of the Peter Gammons interview this morning?  The hosts were kinda talking over it, but I could have sworn I heard one.  Anyone?

I know it's Mavs Parade Day, but first things first.

If I did hear correctly, it would seem to be evidence in support of my theory that The Musers (or maybe Fernando or Jeremy) do not like the Gammons interview.

Although they've been better lately.

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Follow Your Plainsman on Twitter:  @Plainsman1310



Maybe It's the Heat

No, not the Miami Heat -- I mean the North Texas summer heat.

I don't know what it is, but the 104.1 FM signal upon which I rely for my commute and downtown listening, if possible, is getting worse.  I used to be able to pull the station in from my workplace during the day, but at least in the morning I end up with that East Texas C&W station.  And it's noticeably worse on the AM and PM commute as well.

AP, were you the confessor who looked up the status of the 1310 AM signal upgrade on the FCC site?  I myself checked into it and must not have guessed the right links.   Any chance you (or anyone else) could update us on that?

I still see zero downside to a signal swap with 93.3 and considerable upside.  Maybe I'll nag you all about that again sometime soon.  The last time I raised this one of our grumpy commenters actually wrote a strong substantive comment  as to why a signal swap wasn't viable.  I didn't buy it, but it was thoughtful and had some good information.  I need to go back and check that. 

Enjoy the parade, everyone.

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Follow Your Plainsman on Twitter:  @Plainsman1310

Post-Game 6 Quick Hits

(1)  The fact that the final final was in Miami probably has a lot to do with this, but I was disappointed in the post-game coverage.  Maybe I didn't listen long enough.  Please advise, Nation.

I like Norm H and Sean Bass a lot.  Norm's Cowboy post-game a must-hear no matter who his co-host is that particular season.  But when the game was over I told Mrs. Plainsman that I had to leave to get by the channel to see what The Little One was slinging.  I thought I would hear something like I heard when Mike R joined Diamond Talk after the defeat of the Yankees in the ALCS.

But Norm -- man, he brought me down, he just didn't seem into it at all.  The callers also brought things to a halt.  Sean was more animated, but the whole thing just wasn't jelling and I turned it off after about 45 minutes.  I thought we might hear some -- possibly alcohol-fueled?  nah -- celebratory Mike or Donovan or Gordon or George.  Something, anything to mark the uniqueness of the moment and bring the scene to the P1.  Followill?

Sure, they were there at the game, they wanted to go to the pressers and the locker room.  OK, I'd be doing the same.  Didn't do much for the the P1 who had to get up and go to a Monday job, though. 

As I say, the Miami locale meant that these guys probably didn't have a convenient radio home to go to.  But surely that could have been planned around.  I thought sure I'd at least hear NBA Bob's sonorous tones commenting expertly on what happened and sharing his excitement.  NBA Craig had to broadcast in a few hours, so his absence was understandable.

This morning I've been hearing what sounds like a "take that wich you" and "woooo" promo which may actually been what I was looking for.  Did the gang get up broadcasting later at night? 

PS:  As I'm listening to the Museres, I'm hearing sound of our heroes on the scene fromt he night before.  I assume that made it on the air in the wee hours?  OK -- guess I just wasn't able to hang in long enough.  Still think they should have had something for us for that first hour after the game. 

(2) Who designed those gawdawful caps?  Frankenstein?  Head-Injury Mike? 

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Follow your Plainsman on Twitter:  @plainsman1310

Triplets Separated at Birth -- NBA Finals Edition

Former NBA coach and finals broadcaster Jeff Van Gundy:



Genius late comic actor Phil Silvers

Genius late character actor Vince Schiavelli:



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Follow your Plainsman on Twitter:  @plainsman1310



OPEN THREAD: Ticket Mavs Coverage

I'd especially like people to comment on BaD and Norm, since I don't get to hear either much at all lately.

The Musers are good as usual, Craig being one of the more knowledgeable NBA guys on the station.

But the real revelation, to me, has been The Hardline.  The show as a whole has been excellent for the past few months, but I think they're outdoing themselves during the playoffs.  Mike has been interested, engaged, vocal.  I heard Corby do an analysis the other day that bordered on erudition.  (I've gotta go get his Hacksaw Hamilton interview podcast.  Anyone got a quick link?)

I've also enjoyed "Just the Tip" (naughty handle, but clever).  Donovan seems to excite very different feelings among the Confessor Nation, but I like him a lot, and I especially like him when he's talking sports.  The mix of hosts has been good.   Haven't been up to hear any of the post-game, so thoughts on that also encouraged.

I get a kick out of the Ticket ads that portray the Little One as having negotiated for exclusive rights just to talk about the Mavericks.  A sly dig at themselves for having no worthwhile broadcast rights (the Nation seems almost unanimously to wish the Stars broadcasts would go elsewhere).

So:  Your Plainsman gives The Ticket high marks, both during the showgrams and pre/post game.  You?

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Follow Your Plainsman on Twitter:  @Plainsman1310.  Thank you.

I Got a Coupla Problems . . . and A Major MTC Announcement

I feel terrible.

I try to post 2-3 times a week.  The Nation may have noticed that I'm not keeping up. 

I have two related problems.  The first is that my actual job job, as opposed to the job of promoting Responsible Ticket Journalism, has been very demanding the past three months.  I believe I've had one day off the last 75 days or so.   This means I don't get to listen to The Little One as much as I had been, or as much as I would like to.

The second one is that I don't have time to write much -- spare time is spent taking care of the sod house, visiting Mrs. Plainsman's family, eating.  And when I do, I go to my list of topics -- and, truth to tell, they're starting to look a little stale.  Not all of them, and I'll try to start cranking stuff out here again shortly, but you'll be able to tell -- I'll be doing some scraping, and I'll probably apologize when I do.

But I got to thinking --

This thing will be 2 on June 30.  Over 300 articles.  Basically from listening to two shows and some of the weekend stuff, hardly any BaD or Norm.  I'm grateful that traffic continues to grow, but I'm thinking you know, this site could use a good kick in the shorts.  I mean, how many articles on The Ticket's lousy signal can you tolerate?  How many ways are there to say that I wish The Hardline weren't so vulgar?   So I'm thinking I gotta keep the Faithful Confessor stimulated, entertained, informed. 

How can I improve my exposure to what the Nation is hearing and thinking? 

Well  .  .  .  one thing I gotta do, I gotta go where The Nation is going.

So, with extreme humility (for the very best of reasons, as you will see)  it is my honor to invite you to:

Follow me on Twitter:  @Plainsman1310

All cleaned up for my Twitter debut

This is actually a little embarrassing, because while I get the basic idea of Twitter, I know none of the lingo, I  know none of the # or acronyms or yfrogs.  And I don't understand half of what appear to be the very hippest of the tweets.   I'm trying to get up to speed and hope soon to be able to participate in the Tworld without soiling myself.  I'll probably do more receiving than tweeting, but if I get a follower or two I'll try to repay your patronage with the occasional piquant observation.

Maybe I'll even be allowed to join The 2300!!   (I told you I'm embarrassed.)

And, as honored as I am invite you to follow me on Twitter (jeez, that sounds so nakedly self-promotional), I am even more honored to report that my first follower -- he must have found me because the first thing I did was to follow as many Ticket guys as I could find -- is none other than @tweetgrubes himself, That Nice Young Michael Gruber.

Now I'll have even less time to write.

MEMO TO CTO: Stop Making Our Musers Uncomfortable!!

I have to admit, I don't entirely get it.  In fact, I don't get it at all.  But I'll bet there's a Confessor out there who does.

Junior Miller, George Dunham, a couple of the smoothest, smartest hosts of any kind on any kind of program I've ever heard.  Entirely deserving of their tippy-top ratings on the tippy-top station.

Michael Lombardi, Peter Gammons, also smart, also smooth, not scary, knowledgeable about things that The Musers are also very knowledgeable about.

And yet, the segments The Musers do with these guys are extremely awkward.   They're so awkward that they (Those Musers) acknowledge it on the air.  I've only heard them acknowledge it with Gammons, but the whole feel of the Lombardi interviews during football season is very similar.  (I'm throwing out the last Gammons interview, which had the additional awkwardness of an artificial delay caused by The Ticket's remote technology.  Forget that one -- they're all awkward.)

It can't be that The Musers are intimidated.  They interview Troy Aikman on a regular basis, and their star-turn interviews with other notable figures -- show-biz figures, other sports figures, celebs of all stripes -- don't sound nearly as awkward.  And what's to be intimidated about with Gammons and Lombardi?  They're sportswriters.  Gammons has been around for awhile, but he's less notable than other sports guys that they chat with without nearly the same stressful tone. 

Adding to my don't-getted-ness is what The Musers have said on a couple of occasions about the Gammons interviews.  They have said that Gammons merely "tolerates" them (in a joshing way, but they clearly wish to convey the thought that Gammons would rather be somewhere else at the time, broadcast-wise).   I forget the words the used the last time they were self-critiquing their Gammons chat, but it was similar in intendment.  What I don't get is that Gammons (and Lombardi), to my driving-to-work ears, sounds entirely happy to be talking to them.  He's responsive; he throws in additional interesting observations; he's in good spirits when he comes on the line.   Lombardi -- entirely lively during his interview segments.  I don't get the slightest tone of condescension or irritation from either one of those guys.

No.   It's The Musers themselves that render these interviews an agonizing listening experience. 

I refuse to believe that it's lack of preparedness.  Even though there do seem to be awkward pauses between answers and the next Muser question (even when they're in-studio), not being prepared is not a hallmark of The Musers.

So what is it?  Not intimidation; not lack of preparation.   Here's the only thing I can think of:

They hate being made to do these interviews.  It's almost like they're insulted by having to devote a segment to these big-deal national sportswriter guys. 

As with most of my speculations -- all of them, actually -- I have no idea if I'm within whiffing distance of the truth.  But I try to put myself in their place.  I'm thinking:  We talk about the Rangers.  We know more about them than Gammons does.  Nobody who listens to us cares much about anything baseball except the Rangers.   We are the highest-rated show on the highest-rated station.  What more does this guy bring?    Is the P1 clamoring for outsider commentary?   Is he going to bring in one additional listener, even though his puss is splashed all over our showgram's page on the website, in an image larger than any of ours?  

So it's not that they're intimidated or unprepared, or even that they dislike Gammons, who, as noted, is entirely pleasant.  It's that they resent the fact that the Cumulo-Ticket Overlords seem to think that the Muser showgram needs some national star-power and celebrity-talking-head pizazz.  Like it needs some class, ya know?  Hell, The frackin' Hardline doesn't get treated this way.

So -- I don't think it's so much that Gammons just tolerates The Musers, as they say.  I think it's that The Musers are hostile to the whole concept of having these hotshot national guys forced down their throats when their showgram is damned near perfect without them.   Now when I hear George call him "the great Peter Gammons," I'm starting to hear that as a moment of shared sarcasm.  Not because Gammons isn't "great," but because George doesn't in fact feel that his interview adds any noticeable quantum of greatness to the show.

So some CTO thinks getting a once-a-week Gammons or Lombardi interview would really snazz up The Musers.  The result, however, is eight minutes of misery for Our Guys.  Our Guys should not be miserable, so I call upon the CTO to call off these thrashings -- better still, schedule them with Norm, who would positively jubilate over being able to run his theories by these national guys. 

Hey, Gammons can't be cheap.  Save that dough and put up a billboard, why doncha?

Or put an extra hamster-wheel on the transmitter.

Did The Ticket Disrespect the Nelson?

.
Actually, the headline is really just a grabber.  I doubt that The Ticket intended any disrespect for the Byron Nelson Classic or its founder.

But for awhile there I wondered.

The 3:30 Ticker on Thursday, May 26, featured a live report from the Nelson.  I missed the Tickerman -- Krenek, maybe?  I didn't think it was Casey Millen, but it could have been.  It was delivered in an extremely slow, sing-song voice.  I was waiting for Ty's reaction, and he seemed rather puzzled.  I wondered if it was a Tickerman self-immolating on the air.

As the weekend progressed and I heard other live reports, however, other live reporters had some fun with it, as did the Tickermen in the studio, who would throw in a gag or two.  The live reporters would sometimes deliver the report in in exaggeratedly whispery voice, as though they were reporting standing next to someone lining up a putt. 

I never did figure out the sing-song guy, but then The Hardline reminded us that some years ago the station ran into trouble at the Nelson.  I didn't catch the whole story, but I gather there was a remote from the tourney, and Mike R made some kind of joke that apparently did not go over well with the sponsors and managers of the event.

So I wondered whether there were some Ticket history with the Nelson that inspired these parodic live reports.  Can anyone enlighten?

Living La Vida Ticket -- PART 2

[You can read Part 1 here.]

In Part 1, I began some rather diffuse musings on the relationship of the P1 to The Ticket.  My question was whether those who are not as devoted to the station have a point when they deride the fanatic devotion that many of us feel towards The Little One.  I asked how Confessors listened to the station and got a variety of responses, most of which sounded a fair amount like my own listening habits. 

Makes sense.  The ratings have been stratospheric for a long time, so obviously lots of people are listening, and since the ratings for the shows are tops up and down the broadcast day, they're obviously listening a lot. 

So -- are we excessively geeked over The Ticket?  Are we the radio equivalent of Star Wars enthusiasts (sorry, Ty, I love Star Wars, too) or people who confuse their video game experience with actual living?

I've lived in major metro areas on both coasts and the Midwest.   I have listened to sports radio for as long as it's been around.  Some pretty good stations, some interesting hosts.  When I married Mrs. Plainsman, we were living elsewhere, but her family is all here and I had no family where we were living.  It was inevitable that we would move to the Dallas area, and we did so in 2004.

I was looking forward to living in Dallas.  No, not because of the TV show.  I believed I would find a progressive modern city that had done what many metro areas had done with their downtowns.  I apologize to all DFW natives and other enthusiasts, but I was and remain disappointed.  (I wrote an article on my feelings about Dallas here.)  Since that article, we've had the debacle of the Super Bowl week.  Yeah, unusual ice and snow -- but the fact is that Dallas gets lots of ice storms compared with other cities because its temperature hovers around freezing more than elsewhere.   The city's response to this would have been appalling even if it hadn't occurred during the most anticipated sporting event in the country; its torpid reaction to the weather emergency during SB Week was symptomatic of a city that's governed by amateurs. 

Enough.  So I find myself in this overhyped city thinking I'll probably live out my days here, and not too happy about it.  (Other than my relationship with Mrs. Plainsman's family, which is delightful.)

But then one day, weaving down the expressway on my way to work poking at the scan function on my car radio, I cruise into one of The Ticket's in-and-out pockets of signal coverage and fortuitously punch in 1310 Amplitude Modulation and hear Those Oh-So-Gentle Musers trading quips about something or other.  I'm not sure if I picked up on whether it was supposed to be a sports-talk situation, but it was clearly some guys who were having a good time and not hollering into the mics or talking over one another.

I eventually figured out that they were on 104.1 Frequency Modulation too, and by adroitly switching back and forth I could usually cobble together a reasonably coherent listening experience.

And from that point on, my Dallas experience got a lot better.

So I think that if I'm honest with myself I have to concede that I do have an emotional attachment to The Ticket.  It's more than just passing entertainment for me.  As I mentioned in Part 1, running this site gives me a somewhat different relationship with the station -- it's more of a hobby than it would otherwise be -- but even in the pre-MTC days I always looked forward to my daily dose of humor, outrage, bad taste, the occasional nugget of information, fart drops, and almost no unpleasant news of the world.  During those hours, I probably am living La Vida Ticket.

But I don't feel geeky.  My admiration, while vast, is not unqualified.  That's what this site is about:  celebrating what's great about the station (most of it) and (I hope fairly) raising concerns where they appear.  The Little One cultivates a personal relationship with its audience, and, like any friendship, it has its rocky patches.  The P1 may stumble through them from time to time, but the friendship endures.

My conclusion:  Factoring out the hours I spend on this site, I think my relationship with Sportsradio 1310 The Ticket is just about perfect, and has not warped my personality to the point of obsession.

Factoring back in those hours  .  .  .  maybe, some.  (Can one be a little obsessive?)

So I'll leave you with this question:   Irrespective of when or for how long you listen, how do you actually feel about your relationship with The Ticket?  Not The Ticket itself -- I assume we all like it a lot -- but the extent to which it affects your life?  That's a pretty touch-feely question, but it has been on my mind for awhile.  Do you sometimes, like I do, feel like you're living The Ticket Life?

OPEN THREAD: Green Tail Shiner

I'm hopeful AP will favor us with a link to the clip.  Two clips, now, actually.

If you didn't hear them  .  .  .  I'm sorry, I'm not even sure I have the vocabulary to describe what I heard.

All I can say is -- you have absolutely got to love The Ticket.  It will admit of no other emotion.  Even when one of its stalwarts is apparently on the edge of sheer naked lunacy.

Open Thread Question to Ignore:  What do Mike's speculations about green tail shiner tell us about the future of American media?

LISTENING TOO HARD: Another Article About Ads

Apologies for the non-Tickety post.

But one thing that the faithful P1 hears on The Ticket is lots of ads.   I've heard a couple recently that reminded me of something I've wondered about for awhile.  I think we have some Confessors in the ad biz, so perhaps they can weigh in.

My question is:  Why would I ever want to buy a product that is promoted by a repulsive character?

It's been a long time since The Ticket ran this series of Mitsubishi ads, but I'll bet a lot of you remember them.   They featured a guy whose voice sounded like he had been gargling asbestos who would call up citizens and berate them for not taking advantage of Mitsubishi's latest deal, or for not owning a Mitsubishi.  He treated the people he called like idiots.  He was mad at them for their choice of other cars.  Offensive by any standard.  And this wasn't just a single series of ads -- a new batch would show up every once in awhile.   Not blaming The Ticket -- you heard the ads all over. 

Mitsubishi may make a fine vehicle.   My not buying one is unlikely to influence its choice of advertising themes and pitchmen.  But I wonder how many other people reach the same conclusion.  I Googled "gravel voice mitsubishi guy" and the first hit I got was a site called "commercialsIhate.com" where one observer wrote, amusingly, "I boycott even thinking of purchasing one of their vehicles.  I don't know why they continue to do the same thing every couple of years, but this is one voice over I'd like to punch out if I saw his face.  Most annoying radio commercial."   (This site does not condone violence even against fictional assholes.)

I thought of this recently in listening to the Kingsford Charcoal commercials.  A Kingsford Charcoal fan calls up his buddy in Minnesota and mocks him for his unfortunate choice of places to live.  He describes the pleasures of grilling with Kingsford while chortling over his friend's miserable circumstances up north, interspersed with the poor Minnesota schnook moaning about his unpleasant surroundings.  

I suppose there is a school of commercial thought that says -- if you remember the name, the ad has done its job.  I remember them, you betcha. 

The final exhibit doesn't fall into quite this category -- it's the Bud Light "Here we go!" ads.  The TV ads feature what looks like a black coach who ends the ads by saying "here we go!"  I thought they were really weak -- I haven't seen one in awhile -- but didn't think much more about them.  Now we have the radio version with people about to engage in some fun, fun activity, and, on the verge of its commencement, they holler "here we go!"  These people don't sound dreadful -- they sound stupid, and very unconvinced that the impending event merits the hearty "here we go's" they bleat out.  Didn't beer commercials used to be clever?

End of rant.  Back to Ticket-friendly topics next time.

A Disturbance in the Blogosphere

Those Confessors who are weary of Greggo/Richie/RaGE stories are hereby given plenary dispensation to skip this article.

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

Whenever this site's hits go stratospheric as they did today, it's a sure bet that some much more popular site has linked to us.  This was the case today, where Richie Whitt in his "Whitt's End" column in the Observer linked to my essay "Is Richie Whitt Good for Greggo?" of a couple of weeks back, which was generally favorable towards RW.  The reference in the "Whitt's End" column was to a anonymous Confessor who suggested (stated) that Richie had been been fired from both DFW newspapers, which RW denied both in a comment to the MTC article, and in today's column. 

I have no idea who did what to whom in the Richie/Greggo/DFW Radio Community intrigue.  A different anonymous commenter to that article offered what he claimed to be a genuine insider's account of what went down with the former Hardliner Mr. Williams.  It isn't malicious and to me it has the ring of truth -- you have to know something about the players involved even to make this stuff up -- so I thought it might be of interest to that portion of the Nation that does not pay much attention to the comments.    Please bear in mind that this is anonymous, not sourced, and not verified by me.  [NOTE: I've edited it for clarity.  You can read the original in the comments to the second link above.] 

"I am a 1st hand observer on this ordeal from WAY WAY back. Richie was keeping his literary relevance writing 'where's Greggo' stories'. His last set of highly read/commented Greggo stories were brought about from the John Clay Wolfe experiment.

"[Wolfe] had gotten sideways with Fan's [Program Director] Tom Bigby, and left for KEGL with his [Saturday] car show. [Wolfe] had made it crystal clear that he wanted to replace Russ Martin's void on 105.3.

"When [Wolfe] left, he wrestled up Greggo, got Whitt to give them some Observer ink, and got the Greggo thing rolling again streaming online. This caught [Clear Channel's] attention, and [Wolfe, Clear Channel, and Greggo] made a deal to do a sports show on 1190 afternoon drive to compete with Hardline.

"[Clear Channel] put the barrier up of 90 days of 1 hour noon shows, to test [Greggo's] sobriety.

"Note: When [Wolfe] was on The Fan, Bigby refused to let [Greggo] co-host [Wolfe's Saturday] show, and the first KEGL show [Wolfe] did, [Greggo] was co-host and slammed The Fan and Bigby on 97.1 open mic. Said 'Tom Bigby is an idiot, The Fan is a bunch of losers, and I would NEVER EVER work for a bunch of talentless losers like the crew at 105.3.'

"30 days later, [Greggo] had the job on 105.3 The Fan. Bigby caught wind that [Wolfe] was going to use 1190 air to prove Bigby a fool, and the vet CBS programmer stole [Wolfe's] trick pony [Greggo.]  Without [Greggo's] splash, the terrible rated 1190 experiment was a bust.

"It was [Wolfe], that brought Greggo back from dead, not Whitt. I was there, I watched the whole thing unfold [play by play]. Whitt was a patsy for Bigby, and Bigby hired Greggo as a defensive maneuver against the 1190AM show that was being designed in the backroom. Bigby's plan worked, but didn't chink the armor of the Hardline. Would [Wolfe]/Greggo been different? From what I witnessed, yes."

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

So there you have it, a purported inside account.  Is it accurate?  Dunno.  Who might our anonymous insider be?  Dunno that either.  I will say that my recollection is that Greg negotiated for quite some time with John Clay Wolfe over money and their failure to make a deal for the (possibly to-be syndicated) Greg/Wolfe show was what sunk that deal.  That's not inconsistent with what our anonymous commenter says, but it does but a slightly different spin on things.  It is also hard to imagine that Whitt had no role in promoting the RaGE idea to CBS, given his relationship with Greg.

Anyway, if the Sportatorium link brought you here for the first time, hope you will have a look around and stop back from time to time.

BLOGSPOT ALERT

Google Blogger is having some technical problems which have led to the disappearance of valuable comments from the Confessor Nation on some recent articles.

We Blogger users have been assured that this problem is being resolved and that the comments will be restored soon.

Apologies for any inconvenience.

A Nice Moment, I Thought

Of all the things that have surprised me about The Confessor Nation's attitudes towards The Little One -- all of those surprising things are among the delights of running this site -- it's that there is a significant faction out there that doesn't care much for Junior Miller.  I guess it shouldn't surprise me -- every host has his fans and detractors.  But I freely confess (of course) that Craig is one of my favorites on the station.

One of the things I like about Craig is that he isn't afraid to take definitive positions.  He has an analytical turn of mind, he favors us with his analyses, and he is pretty fearless about his opinions.  He doesn't hedge, he doesn't engage in endless qualifications on his point of view, he just blasts out his HSO's and there's no doubt about where he stands.

But even more admirable is that he frequently recalls those positions when they turn out not to be supported by subsequent events and reports on it to the Muser audience.  (I've noted instances of this in at least one or two previous posts.)

So when he opined that (1) that it didn't make much difference who the Mavs beat, if anyone, in Round 1 because they'd quickly be ushered out by the Lakers in Round 2, and (2) that Jason Terry should spend most of the playoffs reposing on the bench -- in rather harsh terms, I might add -- I wondered whether he would say anything about those views after the sweep and Terry's terrific performances.

And then I heard that the Musers were going to interview Terry.  And I wondered even more intensely.

Well.

Sports talk radio guys are entitled to their opinions.

It was hard to argue with Craig's opinion about Terry.  He was a big-talking, cheap-shotting, non-defending  .  . .  well, one could go on -- and Craig did.  It wasn't personal -- it was well within the bounds of sports-talk radio and, as with most of Craig's opinions, supported by the record.

So when Terry  goes off in the playoffs, it was unexpected.  A pleasant surprise, but most assuredly a surprise.

Junior didn't owe anyone an apology.

But on Monday's show, well in advance of the interview, Craig acknoweldged his prior opinion and said that he owed Jason Terry an apology.

I caught the interview on the Top Ten, and wondered how Junior would approach it.  Directly, as it turned out.  He began the interview with a personal apology to Terry, acknowledging his earlier critical opinion of The Jet.  To his credit, Terry brushed it off (I couldn't tell if he was aware of Junior's earlier opinions), although in the course of doing so managed to allude to his own greatness.

And that was the end of it.

I doubt that you hear a lot of sports-talk hosts forthrightly admit to an interviewee that -- on the air, but essentially behind his back -- the host had been slamming him and now regretted it in light of the interviewee's subsequent performance.  But Craig was as fearless in his admission of error as he was in his initial views, and I thought it was a pretty nice moment.

Hey, Nice Young . . .

.  .  .  Michael, did you by any chance have a stopwatch on that infomercial for Virgin America during today's Hardline?



They don't look disgruntled  .  .  .  .



OPEN THREAD: Draft Coverage

Wow, that is one dull topic.  But maybe we can have a spot of fun with it.

My employer has thoughtlessly demanded that I work from rising in the morning until turning in at night, so I've been unavoidably detained.  I know I owe you a PART 2 to that PART 1 of a few days ago.  I'll get to it.

So I'm giving you a cut-rate post and asking you to give the Nation your thoughts on The Ticket's draft coverage.

My cut-rate view:  It was excellent, as always.  I follow exactly one college football team, and if the players involved aren't from that team my interest is somewhat attenuated.  But during my normal listening hours, I listen to The Ticket's draft coverage as though it were a regular showgram.

I have two highlights, and one new element that I'd like to hear your views on.

The highlights, which I think most Confessors will agree with, are

(1) Bob Sturm's analysis.  I have no idea if he's right or wrong most of the time, but it sells me.  I especially enjoy it when he cocks his radio eye at a proposed pick, asking how that pick would fit into the selecting team's scheme.  Ooo, good point!

(2) Junior Miller's droll mini-summaries of the players selected.  Very funny.  More important, he's trying.  Rewarding the P1 for tuning in -- he cares enough about a quality presentation to give them something to anticipate.  I think it almost always works.

The DCC signal the drafting of kicker David Buehler
in the 5th round of the 2009 draft

OK, here's the wild card I'd like your views on:  Jean-Jacques Taylor's contribution.  I'll hold off on any major JJT STD.  I'll just say that (a) he's still damned hard to hear and understand if you have your radio -- expecially your car radio, which is fighting with tire and engine noise -- tuned to hear the normal radio voices at normal volume (which I've griped about on an earlier occasion), and (b) I make a special effort to make sure I do hear what he has to say.   For now I'll just say -- well, nothing.  I'd rather hear what you have to say.

Thanks for checking in during this quiet time.

Living La Vida Ticket -- PART 1

I’ve been kicking this one around for awhile.  It’s still not well formed so  it will meander somewhat more than is my custom, and that's some meandering.     I’ll leave you with a question which I hope will provoke some comments, and I’ll bounce off those comments for Part 2.

Most of the people who visit this site like The Ticket.   There is the occasional naysayer with a grudge of one kind or another, either against this site or a Ticket personality, or, on occasion, with The Little One itself.   Once in awhile, a commenter will take me or the Confessor Nation to task for taking it all too seriously, for, in effect, caring too much about what is, after all, just a sports/guy-talk radio station.

I blather on a lot about fairness in these articles, so let’s be fair to these critics:  Are they right?  What does it mean to be a P1?  Does it materially affect our lives?  Would we really miss it if it disappeared tomorrow?   Certainly the station encourages its listeners to listen every moment of every day.  Mike daily requires listeners to mill about the premises making sure that every radio is turned to The Ticket.

So I invite you to join me in an informal exploration of the impact of The Ticket on our daily lives; whether it is a positive or negative influence; and if your relationship with the station has changed over the years.

I believe that almost without exception – and perhaps without any exception – Ticket personalities deeply and sincerely appreciate the loyalty and enthusiasm of the P1.  They express it on the air.  Most pay some attention to email and Twitter exchanges.   The station spends an enormous amount of energy and cash staging free events that the P1 enjoys.  This site occasionally hears from station personnel, and on very rare occasions I’ll get a private email of comment, correction, or appreciation.

And yet, do you sometimes get the feeling that even they are overwhelmed with the obsession that some listeners exhibit?  Don’t you sometimes hear jeez, give it a rest in their voices?  I’m going to explore the relationship between the P1 and the hosts as human beings in an upcoming post, but the point I want to make here is that it’s not just grumpy commenters that exhibit occasional impatience with the intensity of some listeners’ enthusiasm for 1310 AM/104.1 FM.

The Ticket does play a big role in my life, and I would have said that even if I’ve never started this site.   It is the case that keeping this this site going has changed that role.   My need to come up with topics of interest to The Nation means I listen with greater care, scribble down things that strike me, and get by the channel during times when in my pre-MTC life I might have been spending my time in that most idyllic of states -- quiet burger reflection.

But for guys like me and AP and maybe a couple of others we hear from, following The Ticket has turned into a fairly time-consuming hobby.  This site started in 2009, and after a slow start where I was talking mainly to myself, I’ve averaged around 15-20 posts a month.   (I’ll never forget the Confessor who, after I’d been blog-silent for awhile and maybe would get a handful of hits a day, wrote to say how much he liked the site and how I should write more.  Got me going.)  I keep a list of potential topics.  Looked at it the other day.   Got about forty items on it right now.  A lot of them are stale; others look less interesting to me now than they did when I wrote them down.  Others are gigantic topics that would take me chunks of time I haven’t had the last few months.  (By the way – I do a general-interest blog that I neglect and that I have more than once thought of emphasizing at the expense of this one – to date, it’s decidedly the other way around.)    Others I realize I’ve done already.  For example, among my recent favorite moments on The Hardline are the Mike/Corby live spots for GumOut – but I did a piece on that last July [LINK]..     (But wait!   I just noticed something interesting in rereading that article.  Ooo, I’m going to save this one.  The only thing I can promise is that it will be another one of my Listening Too Hard entries.)  

A typical gathering of P1's

But let’s put aside my extra Ticket obligations, since they are atypical.  Here’s the extent of my devotion to The Ticket:   I begin listening right around 5:30 am, as Rich is finishing up his pre-Musers Ticker.  Mrs. Plainsman indulges my listening while we share the bathroom, as long as I turn on cable news before I leave.  I have a fairly long commute, and I get to my workplace almost two hours before the place starts hopping.   So I listen to The Musers from the beginning of the show until the 8:40 bit, which I’m going to hear the next morning anyway.  I’ll miss the last hour and change.   If I’m on the road during the day I listen to Norm and BaD, but unfortunately those opportunities are limited.  If I’m paying attention to the clock, I’ll flip on The Hardline sometime between 3:30 and 4, and listen as much as I can for the balance of the work day, on the drive home, and at home until I hear Mrs. Plainsman putting the oxen back in the shed.  I am fortunate to have an employer who lets me have a radio on in my work area. 

I should listen to the Top Ten to get some notion of what Norm and BaD are up to, but family duties, the other blog, and even writing these pieces invariably intrude.   I’ll strap on a radio and headset if I’m off for a jog or bike ride (although in general, I think it’s dangerous to listen to the radio whilst biking and I’ve pretty much quit that).   I listen as much as I can on weekends.  I don’t listen to podcasts; alas, I rarely even listen to clips on The (Incomparable) UnTicket unless it’s a big deal that a site like this should know about or something that AP has commended.  I don’t follow anyone on Twitter.   I only very rarely ever stream the station if I’m not in range of the sputtering terrestrial signal.

I’ve only been to a couple of remotes, and then only briefly to check in.  (Remotes are on my article-to-do list.)  Never been to a Ticket event.  Never called a show.  Never spoken to a Ticket employee other than once at a remote just to say a brief “thanks” before I left, which the host politely acknowledged.  Wait, I think I asked a Ticket Chick for a T-shirt once.  Don’t have any buddies or relatives who listen much at all. 

So there you have the extent of my average-guy devotion to The Ticket.  Four to six hours a day during the week, and probably two to four hours over the entire weekend.

That doesn’t strike me as a crazy Ticket-listening schedule.  I listen when I can and when the time is otherwise unchallenged by much of any other activity.    I’d like to know how you guys (and Jonaessa, and Christie, and all distaff Confessors) listen to The Ticket.  I’d also be interested in your thoughts not on The Ticket’s content, but on how you feel about the time you spend with it. 

I’ll conclude next time with some thoughts on how the P1 relates to The Ticket, and whether the Ticket-geek accusation has some truth to it.

A Worthy Selection for the Trifecta

First:

(1) Apologies.  This is a pretty un-Tickety post, but it relates to the Trifecta, so I'm claiming it.

(2) This is my 300th post.  Thanks to the Confessor Nation for continuing to check in, even when I'm not able to get off as many blasts as usual.  We pick up a few, we lose a few.  But I'll tell you, just having you guys around to fill in some info and call attention to stuff has increased my listening pleasure, I tell you what.

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

I was very surprised after a couple of years of listening to discover that Mike R's favorites and mine were precisely congruent:  Steely Dan and Jeff Beck.

I was therefore delighted that Mike recognized Roger Nichols, Steely Dan's engineer nonpareil, for inclusion in that Three Bedroom Apartment in the Sky.  Well deserved -- those albums are crystaline.  So in my estimation, well-deserved.  When I went to test some audio equipment once, the album I took with me was "Aja."

His tribute had a lot of information I wasn't aware of.  But there were two notable omissions I'll take a moment to bring to your attention.

First -- and of interest to the Trifecta analysis -- his nickname was "the Immortal."  In fact, he was credited that way on albums.  Partly because he survived Fagen and Becker's man-killing sessions for album after album, and partly because he seemed to have an immunity to electrical shock.

Second, while Mike was correct that he was pictured on the back of "Katy Lied," that was not his first appearance on a Steely Dan album cover.  Here is the back of "Countdown to Ecstasy":

If you click on the image, you can make it bigger.  If you will examine it carefully, you will see a random hand reaching up from beneath the board to manipulate the faders.  That's Roger (the Immortal) Nichols.

RIP.

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

Not much Ticket interest there, but I had exactly ten minutes to throw something up.  I'll post an open thread in a couple of days with a suggested (and non-binding) topic.  Hoping that things slow down for me in the realm of actual employment in the next week or so.  Thanks for your patience.

Hope you will stick with me for the next 300.

This is a Sincere Question

Should I be paying attention to TC (or is it T.C.) Fleming?   Is he going to be a long-term Ticket guy?  Or is he already a long-term Ticket guy?   

Fill me in, someone.

Is Richie Whitt Good for Greggo?

My last RaGE meanderings for awhile, I promise.

Every time I do an article that touches on Greggo the Hammer or RaGE, I receive comments or emails that express the view that Richie Whitt is "enabling" Greg's, shall we say, questionable lifestyle choices.

My current view is to the contrary. There are probably Confessors who know more about the history here than I do, but I find that judgment harsh and, based solely on what I know about the history of Whitt and RaGE – concededly, I am not a profound scholar of those relationships -- not supported.

Preliminary question, not too interesting:  Have we concluded that Greg's absences, laryngitis, current voice troubles, bicycle mishap are in fact the result of the same kind of irresponsible substance use and other bad behavior that landed him in trouble with (a) The Ticket, (b) John Clay Wolfe, (c) RJ Choppy, (d) Richard Hunter?  I've phrased the question prejudicially, begging the answer "yes," but in fact I really don't know.

The reason I'm hesitant to conclude that Greg hasn't learned anything is that for all his current physical issues, I've never heard him incoherent or out of it on the air since he's been with 105.3.  I've heard him sling out some pretty good HSO's from time to time.  He doesn't sound impaired to me, just tired and rough.   Maybe his absences suggest a different answer, but again, I’m reluctant to conclude that Greg is continuing his historical behavior in the absence of evidence.   Anyone have a different listening experience? 

Actual question, much more interesting:  Is it fair to accuse Richie Whitt of "enabling" Greg?

I've read Whitt in The Observer for a long time and have always thought his journalism was pretty good.  I’m not one of those who found “The Hard Lie,” his cover story in The Observer, slanted.  In fact, I thought it was fair and when I finished it I didn’t think The Hardline or The Ticket had been maligned.  It more-or-less supported my previous view that things happened just about the way they should have.  

I am not aware that Whitt has a reputation as someone who is exploitive of others.  (I have heard that about other local media figures, but not Whitt.)   It is undoubtedly true that he has wanted a radio gig for a long time, but I would hope that we are not holding mere ambition against him.  I'd take an opportunity to get into show biz myself if I had (i) the chance and (ii) a molecule of show-biz talent.  Commenters have also expressed the view that he was angry that he didn't get a full-time Hardline gig after his plus-one tryouts, but I don't know what evidence there is for that, either.  (Again, anyone with knowledge, drop me a line.)

But let's put those aside and simply ask about his relationship with Greg Williams.  Let's assume that (1) in reporting on The Ticket and Greg’s travails, Whitt put aside reportorial objectivity and developed a friendship with perhaps even sympathy for the man; (2) that that friendship and sympathy might possibly have had as an element the possibility that he could vault himself into an on-air position; and (3) that he actively promoted the idea of a Richie-Greggo partnership to Fan management.  Now let me stress:  I have no idea if any of these things is true – I am solely interested in the issue of enabling, not whether Richie or Greggo was “using” the other to get to the spotlight (or, in Greg’s case, to get back to it).

But even if we make these somewhat accusatory assumptions:  Isn’t the result here that instead of Greg sitting at home feeling sorry for himself with lots of time to get into mischief and play with his guns and listen to questionable advice, he’s working?  Working hard, in fact, the famous face of a major-network prime-time five-hour program?  Isn’t the conclusion here that, whatever Whitt’s motivations and his true relationship with Greg, what he’s done has been beneficial for Greg?  Again – while the voice issues, the motorcycle accident, the absences are all somewhat puzzling, there has been (to my knowledge) no recurrence of any broadcast disasters.  Almost a year into the RaGE onslaught, he’s still broadcasting, struggling through the voice issues, not causing any internal issues at 105.3 (again, that I’ve heard).  He seems prepared to discuss the topics at hand, more or less.  If you didn’t know his history, would you think he was something other than a (somewhat fragile) Texas-bred sports-talk guy who’s  an interesting listen from time to time?

We may find Richie Whitt a not-terribly-compelling broadcaster; we may find Greggo a shadow of the old Greggo; we may find the role he has been asked to play unsuited to his talents.  But I think it’s going too far to accuse Richie of enabling the kind of behavior that has gotten Greg into trouble in the past.  I'd actually go a step further and say that those who remember Good Greggo and continue to wish for his recovery -- quite a lot of us, I would reckon -- owe Mr. Whitt some thanks.

I am certain that Confessors will take me to task for naiveté, and maybe I deserve it.  But I have a hard time concluding that Whitt is guilty of much more than helping himself by helping a man he regards, truly, as a friend.

=====

Commenters:  This is a sensitive topic.  If you have information to share, please make sure it is credible, sourced (if possible – for example, reporting on something you heard on the air), and respectfully expressed.  I’m interested in all points of view, but I’m extremely reluctant to air anonymous reports that sound only malicious.

If you think you have something valuable but a little hot to handle, please feel free to email me and I'll review it and post if it passes.

Of course, you’re entirely welcome to disagree with me.

Some Interim RaGE Thoughts

This is not the Richie-Greggo post I promised last time out.  It'll be up soon, I promise.

FIRST INTERIM RaGE THOUGHT:

Commenter Anon D posted a comparison of the Hardline and RaGE ratings for the last little while.  I'm cutting and pasting his stuff:

They haven't made ANY dent in the Hardline's ratings. None. Zero. Zip. Nada.
Here's the monthlies, Men 25-54, 3-7p.
July Ticket 7.7 #1, Fan 1.8, 27th
Aug Ticket 7.9 #1, Fan 2.3 18th
Sep Ticket 8.9,#1, Fan 2.6,17th
Oct Ticket 9.7 #1, Fan 3.3, 12th
Nov Ticket 9.2 #1, Fan 4.3 6th
Dec Ticket 7.7 #1, fan 2.9 13th
Jan Ticket 8.4 #1, Fan 1.8, 27th
Feb Ticket 7.7 #1, Fan 1.7 22nd

As you can see, even the Fan's increase due to the playoffs and WS didn't hurt KTCK, due to the overall increase in sports listening (in other words, to paraphrase Rhyner, even the marginal p-3 found themselves listening to more sportsradio at that time)
And if you want a fun game- name 21 other stations that appeal more to men 25-54 than the Fan. Ticket and ESPN, 4 rock stations, a couple of country stations, a couple urban, 4 hispanic stations, you're still only at 14. Couple of news or talk, couple odds and ends (KERA? KEOM?), you're still only at 18. That's because stations like KISS and i93 (that appeal to teens) and KVIL (that appears to soccer moms) are more popular with men aged 25-54 than KRLD-FM.

The Fan thought they'd come in and take some of that big Ticket audience. And all they've managned to do is erode ESPN's numbers. (Down from a 4.1 Tie for 8th in July to a 2.6 and 17th in Feb for 3-7p. Down from a 3.7 to a 3.0 in M-F 6a-Mid.

Thanks once again to Anon D, this was absolutely terrific information, nicely digested.  Amazing stuff, astounding that RaGE, for all its publicity and presence of Greg Williams, has done absolutely nothing in almost a year.  (I have no idea whether it's doing better than what it replaced, which would at least be something -- I'm sure Anon D or some other hip commenter can enlighten us.)

Several readers have suggested that RaGE can't last long in its current configuration.

Here's my view -- it will last at least until February 2012, when,, we have surmised and Mike Rhyner has hinted, his Ticket future will be set.  If he departs (I think this unlikely, but the possibility has been floated), RaGE will soldier on, because the calculus of drive competition would have pretty drastically changed.  105.3 knows that Corby has a love/hate relationship with the P1 and might well have the RaGE hang on to see if Mike R's absence might shake loose some listeners.

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

SECOND INTERIM RaGE THOUGHT

Since we're on a RaGE roll here, I've tried to tune in.  Today wasn't a bad day to do so, as I'd already heard the Cubs fan thing on Gordon's segment on The Musers and there was too much hockey talk.  When I spent some time on RaGE, I listened closely to see if I could identifiy what it was that was so frackin' weird about it.

I found it.

Whenever anyone other than Greggo is talking -- usually Richie -- that person uses the word "Greggo" constantly in his or her own remarks.  This gives the impression that the speaker is (1) calling for Greggo to pay attention and (2)to  respond to the speaker.

I never noticed it before.  I invite you to tune into RaGE and listen to it for 10 minutes and count the number of times you heard the word "Greggo."  Compare that to normal human conversation, including conversations you hear on The Ticket; listen to how often (seldom) a speaker uses the names of the other people in the conversation.

It's disconcerting.  It's uncomfortable to listen to. It has to be some program regulation that is designed to remind us all that good old Greggo is present -- which would be helpful for flyby listeners, of which there are probably a lot -- and will be heard from soon. 

It absolutely has to be intentional.  Otherwise, it's just goofy.  Or pathological  Actually, it's goofy and pathological anyway.

RaGE -- One Year In (Almost)

I’m jumping the gun a little here, but after the last article, had RaGE on my mind.  The article you’re reading now started out in an entirely different direction, so I’ve hacked that out and will run it as the next article in a few days, also RaGE-related.

It seems impossible that RaGE has been on the air for almost a year, but it began its assault on The Hardline (and the last hour of BaD, not to mention WTDS) in May 2010.  The consensus among correspondents to this site seems to be that it has not been a success, at least by comparison to our heroes on The Hardline.  I have not checked the ratings, but I gather it has not made a significant dent in The Hard One's popularity. 

(Can anyone give us a report on whether RaGE and The Hardline are up or down?  I gather that The Hardline is still number one by a mile in the target demo in PM drive, but is there any evidence of even slight RaGE impact?)

I have heard some good things on RaGE and noted them from time to time, but on the whole I would have to agree with most Confessors that it's just not a very good presentation.   Confessors have suggested numerous issues, and I've got a few more:

          (1) Richie Whitt just isn't a compelling radio voice or personality.  He’s knowledgeable, but his voice is flat and dry and he is not particularly droll.   I don’t find him an offensive radio presence, just a colorless one.

          (2) The show spends too much time jabbing Greg, and not enough talking sports, which means that the only reason for Whitt to be on the show -- his sports knowledge -- goes to waste.  I don’t listen enough to know if there’s much in the way of interesting guy talk or pop-culture talk.  Whenever I turn in, there seems to be a sports theme, but it develops the Ben-and-Skin Disease of self-referring asides and conversational loops.  By at least attempting to talk sports, perhaps they’re trying to address a criticism one hears (but not from me) about The Ticket from time to time -- not enough sports.  Fine -- but get on with it.

          (3) Greg too often sounds pretty unhealthy.

          (4) RaGE tries to make Greg bear the weight of the presentation, and he just doesn't have the chops for it.   PS:  Could it be that his voice troubles are a result of doing a five hour show where he's expected to do quite a bit of the talking?

          (5) The other hosts patronize Greg, and it shows.

          (6) Attempts to copy The Hardline are doomed to failure, and the hosts know it, so the attempts are without conviction and fall flat.

          (7) Three persons with not-terribly-distinctive radio characters (Richie, Armen, Sybil) plus one distinctive radio character (Greg) does not add up to two distinctive characters.  Instead, they try to generate interest by frenetic talking and patently artificial jollity.  A Confessor or two mentioned this in comments to the last article, and I think this is the show’s biggest problem.




Sybil Summers.  Hey, why not?

Having said all this, I personally don't find RaGE all that horrible to listen to, and I've noted segments that I thought were very good.  But since there's a choice to listen to something much more interesting from start to finish, RaGE barely gets any of my listening minutes.  I don't doubt that should The Hardline disappear tomorrow (and not replaced by something good), I'd probably tune in to RaGE, or maybe 88.1 The One KNTU-FM, Little Steven's Underground Garage on Sirius-XM 25, or maybe road noise.

If I had to offer one piece of advice to RaGE -- and you know how much my advice is treasured in the DFW radio community -- it would be:  calm down and speak to one another like normal human beings having an ordinary conversation.  You don’t challenge The Hardline by doing the same things that The Hardline does.  That would be easy, and, as we have seen, it hasn’t worked in the past.  The Hardline succeeds (in addition to the innate talent and personalities of its hosts) because the shows present themselves as conversations between guys – not as shows that are scared to death of dead air and unplanned content.  That takes a special kind of talent and experience.  Greg might have had the knack at one time and I suspect he still does, but until they stop treating the poor guy like a Chatty Kathy doll who must be constantly goosed to keep the whole thing afloat, they’ll continue to sound ordinary, and The Hardline will steamroll them in every book.

========

As always, no limits on the subject matter of comments.  However, the next article will focus solely on the Richie-Greggo relationship, so if you want to remark on that, why don’t you hold those thoughts for a couple of days.   Focus on the show overall – if you can’t wait, no problem.  Blast away.

And, as always, contrary views appropriately expressed are welcome.  I’d love to hear from some RaGE fans.

Can I Get a Witness?

I haven't listened to RaGE in quite a long time.  Since the beginning of the year, I've had only one punch-out moment on The Hardline and haven't been inspired to switch over during commercials.  Don't know what possessed me to do so today as I sat in traffic.  But I briefly switched over.

Greggo's voice sounded terrible.  He didn't sound addled, the content of his remarks made sense (but were not of particular interest).  His voice was terribly hoarse and -- I can hardly describe how it sounded -- just beat-up somehow.  A couple of times he simply could not finish sentences because his voice trailed off into crackly air.  Richie and Sybil, the latter apparently having some gig at the Texas Motor Speedway where RaGE was doing a remote (although I only listened for a few minutes -- if I've got this wrong, apologies), made occasional reference to it. 

Then, just before they went to break, Richie invited people at the remote to stop by and say hello to him and "punch Greggo in his other eye," or WTTE.  Suggesting that Greggo had some unfortunate encounter that caused some injury to one of his eyes.

Does anyone know what, if anything, is going on with Greggo, these days?  Is this another laryngitis flareup?  What's the poop? 

(PS:  I must have heard three ads where they talk about The Fan not sucking as much as it used to, and at least one of them talked about how Hammer screwed up at The Ticket and is now not sucking at The Fan.  On the one hand, it's clever to be modest in a hip kind of way.  On the other hand, too many reminders of past suckitude makes overall station decisionmaking seem deeply flawed.  So I dunno whether it's a risky attention-getting strategy that works (because it makes me think about The Fan), or whether it's a pathetic and failed effort at charming self-effacement (because it makes you think that sucking is their customary mode of broadcasting).  On balance, I think it's very slightly cool that they admit that they formerly sucked and invite you to determine whether they still do.)

Anyway, if we have any regular RaGE listeners out there, Your Plainsman would be grateful for a report.

Corby Has a Real Sweet Stroke

Have the Rangers energized the Hardline?  I have no idea.  But I think the show has been especially good recently.

I was reading with the showgram on today, and was only half-listening.  Even without my full attention, I caught enough to feel that it had the spirit of The Hardline at its hardest.

One segment made me put down my book and listen.

It was Corby's analysis of The Masters.  I don't know much of anything about golf (surprise), so one who does might cavil at one or another of his analyses or predictions.  But just listening to him play it straight and produce a thoughtful and, to my untrained ear, authoritative report on what was coming up was interesting and entertaining.  Corby at his non-yuk best.

I believe I heard a promo teasing that Corby's going to be on the Tee Box this Saturday morning, 8-10.  He and Rick Arnett should put out some interesting radio.  Might should give it a spin.

You're Unlikely to Hear It on" Why Today Doesn't Suck" . . .

.   .   .   but today is Your Plainsman's birfday. 

Keep posting on the prior Norm post, probably won't be up with anything new for a couple more days.

Thanks to all Confessors for their continued support and observing the spirit of the site.

What Does the Heavy-Duty Sports Fan Think About Norm?

I'm trying to accommodate Confessors who get to hear more ot The Ticket than I do, or perhaps listen at different times.  We did a BaD segment a couple of weeks ago, so now I'd like to give Norm's show some attention.

I am not a heavy-duty sports fan, so I don't have an answer to the question posed in today's headline.  I got to Dallas in 2004 and began listening to The Ticket shortly thereafter.  I was under the impression that Norm was a fairly revered sports broadcaster in DFW.

In recent weeks, I've been surprised by some comments and other Internet postings I've happened onto that treat Norm with something less than sportsy respect.    One blogger has offered three articles in 2007 and 2008 positing that Norm is, in fact, an asshole, mainly based on the way he treats callers and colleagues.  (Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3)

Personally, I have always liked his show, and from time to time he'll have some original reporting or sports theory that at a minimum shows that he thinks about the subjects on which he broadcasts.   He seems like a pretty good sport about pranks and, despite his age and infirmities, hangs in there pretty well with the Compound and Campout stuff.  But I've also heard that he's a difficult colleague, death on interns, and the like.  (The Norm/Dan dynamic is of particular interest.)   His short fuse with certain callers is the stuff of legend, of course. 

But the product that emerges during his two hours has always struck me as pretty darned good personality-driven radio.  The Ticket has even managed to make show-biz hay out of his grandiosity -- they've turned him into a drop Vesuvius and, to his credit, he doesn't seem to mind.

The one thing I've always wondered about Norm is whether he is actually much of a sports analyst.  It seems to me that despite his repuration for grand pronouncements, he has a hard time taking a position on some fairly clear-cut issues -- the one that comes to mind is Wade Phillips's competence, where he was all over the lot. 

And for all his analytical efforts, his skill as a prognosticator would seem to be in considerable question.  When I pondered this before, I heard from a commenter who said that he'd been with Norm at a horse race where Norm gave out his tips, and the commenter came out ahead, so maybe racing's his thing.  But didn't I hear this week that Norm's brackets were almost dead last in the pool, and that that is usually the case?

As I say -- I like Norm's show a lot and I think he brings a lot to The Ticket.  He's a first-rate radio broadcaster. 

But what do people in the know about sports think about Norm as a sportsy guy?