OK,
here we go.
If by any chance this is your first visit to My Ticket Confession, and if so shame on you, this post is dedicated to questions for Ticket Program Manager and Cumulus Media Dallas Operations Manager Jeff ("Cat" "Catman of the Americas") Catlin. He has consented to sit still for a tsunami of questions from our readers.
I
was pretty impressed with the Confessor on this one. Good coverage, good commentary contextualizing
the questions, no death threats.
Most of the people writing in with
questions also included their thanks to Cat for participating in this Q&A
on My Ticket Confession. I add my
own not only for taking the time to consider our questions, but also for
approaching this site to get it going and working with me to figure out how we
could make it work.
As
Cat said in his final comment to the last post, he has asked me to keep editing
to a minimum and I have done that.
However, our loquacious interlocutors sometimes went on at some length,
and there was a great deal of repetition.
So have sliced some of the contextual material out, although I believe I
have left every question intact.
I
have numbered the questions in case Cat wants a shorthand way of referring to
one or another. As noted, many of them
ask the same thing so there are a whole lot fewer unique questions here than
meet the eye. I have grouped them in subject matter areas which I hope will make it easier for Cat to address similar questions in a smaller number of responses.
I
have also included almost every question submitted. I have left the repeated questions in to show
the degree of Confessor interest, but please do not expect Cat to answer several
identical questions separately.
Remember, he has complete discretion as to how he chooses to respond,
and may pass up certain questions entirely.
Please do not submit comments to this
post. The only comments that will be approved are Cat's answers and any
followups that I might toss in.
We will go as long as Cat can stand it. He has a job to do, so expect some breaks. I'll try to alert when he's going to bring matters to a close.
We will go as long as Cat can stand it. He has a job to do, so expect some breaks. I'll try to alert when he's going to bring matters to a close.
Cat,
you asked for it, so have at it – and thanks again:
THE
HARDLINE
(1)
The Breeze
asks: I've watched the evolution or
devolution--depending how you view it -- of Mike Rhyner. Towards the end of
Greggo's tenure, he began to take a backseat to Corby (at first), then, at
times, even Danny (but in the context of a Corby/Danny tandem). Upon Greggo's
departure and for a short while after, he firmly retook control of the helm of
the USS Hardline. Soon thereafter, he appeared to hand it over to Corby (and by
extension, Danny). The show has never been the same since. It has been for the
worse. Indeed, what we mostly get now is the Corby and Danny Show. And of that,
it's mostly The Corby Show. He's a very strong personality. He pretty much
commandeered both Late Night Ticket evenings at the Campound--with varying
degrees of success. Corby truly is, as Mike says, "polarizing." On
those rare occasions when Corby is out and Mike is forced to retake the helm, the
show is absolutely golden – halcyon day good. But those days are few and far
between. Most of the time Mike seems barely engaged. When he attempts to engage
(hell, even during his own segment M's Mind) he's often talked over, the segment
hijacked by either or both Corby and Danny. Is this a concern for you? If so,
has it ever or will it ever be addressed?
[The Plainsman adds: I agree with the position expressed here, but I attribute The Hardline's marked decline in quality (forget about the ratings) to Mike's lack of interest, lack of preparation and just plain abandonment of on-air leadership much more than Corby's segment-bogarting. On numerous occasions Mike will start a segment as though it's "his," get out a sentence or two, then fall completely silent. If Corby didn't jump in with content there'd be no segment at all. Having said that -- way too much Corby, and too much "bad" Corby. Do you perceive what recent Hardline critics perceive?]
[The Plainsman adds: I agree with the position expressed here, but I attribute The Hardline's marked decline in quality (forget about the ratings) to Mike's lack of interest, lack of preparation and just plain abandonment of on-air leadership much more than Corby's segment-bogarting. On numerous occasions Mike will start a segment as though it's "his," get out a sentence or two, then fall completely silent. If Corby didn't jump in with content there'd be no segment at all. Having said that -- way too much Corby, and too much "bad" Corby. Do you perceive what recent Hardline critics perceive?]
(2)
Wldcat4 asks: They say time heals all wounds so I was wondering
if there was any chance Greggo would ever be back? Maybe in a fill in position
when someone has to be out, or maybe just as a quick ratings boost. I’m sure it
wouldn’t work out if he was back full time. I think getting the old Hardline
back together occasionally would be huge. And ed
gar in gar land asks: Has there ever
been discussions-past, present-of either giving Greggo another shot or at least
as a guest/a couple of segments reunion? Or is anything Greggo a non-starter,
both with the station and with Rhyner?
(3)
Feth O'Ril asks: Who auditioned/tried out for the empty spot
left behind by Greg Williams, and why was Corby Davidson chosen over the others
who auditioned/tried out?
(4)
mark in richardson asks: Do you think THL focuses too much on
music and TMZ sort of stuff? It seems like they do. Their sports knowledge has
not kept up with the listener over the years and now when they do talk sports,
they sound a bit behind the curve.
(5) Jason Becker asks: I am writing this
message to inquire about Corby's role in interviewing special guests. I think
the guy does a fantastic job handling interviews (I also enjoy Norm's work). My
favorite would have to be the great job he did on the Robert Plant interview. He
really knows how to connect with a guest and seems to put them at ease. I hope
you'll consider upping his role at handling big-time interview jobs. Side
note: keep the celeb interviews coming. Regarding athletes and coaches, how
about we stop having them on? Those people make for awful, boring interviews
(there's plenty of station sports talk, already, so no need to interview
athletes / coaches).
[The Plainsman adds: And this is "good Corby," who, when he's not slumming through The Hardline, can be sensationally good. Good on other shows, good without Mike, good as a primary host, and the best interviewer on the station. If Mike does take his leave, will you consider keeping him as the primary host on the PM drive?]
[The Plainsman adds: And this is "good Corby," who, when he's not slumming through The Hardline, can be sensationally good. Good on other shows, good without Mike, good as a primary host, and the best interviewer on the station. If Mike does take his leave, will you consider keeping him as the primary host on the PM drive?]
T.C.
FLEMING, JAKE KEMP, AND OTHER JV
(6)
HopefulP1
asks: Cat, have been a listener for 10+ years and am
squarely in the demographic. I have seen hosts and personalities come and go,
but never has one individual gotten me or many others that I know to tune out.
Ever. It seems clear from the ratings, that many have stopped listening middays.
Is the drop 100% attributable to TC? Of course not. Is it potentially a much
bigger impact than you or anyone else involved with the station believes, absolutely.
From his constant screwups on prepared tickers, to his self-admitted problems
with authority, to his unwillingness to take a joke over his own constant
mistakes, he is as bad as I've ever heard on the Ticket. To be on radio, one
would assume you must be able to articulate your thoughts without continually
messing up. You said on this site before that he's gotten better. Well sir, he
could not have gotten any worse so technically you may be right. How could you
have let him come back to the Ticket after some of the things said in his AMA
on the Reddit site? How come it took Pensacola two months to cut bait on their
mistake but a Marconi winner could make the same mistake twice? I love the
little Ticket, and wish it nothing but continued success. How can you justify
keeping him on? But for the sake of the P1, for the betterment of the station,
for the hopeful bounce back in ratings, please Cat, make the right call here.
(7)
Anonymous
asks: I know TC takes a beating on here,
but he really isn't a very good ticker dude. Isn't there some way to keep him,
promote another person to that position, and save the P1 the ebrake once a
week? Just seems foolish to keep letting him do something he's not very good
at. I think Eli, Chris, and Montemayor all do superior work. Eli particularly
is great. Rarely stumbles, great pipes (sounds a good deal like Rich IMO) and
is funny/interactive with the P1 on Twitter. Seems like a much better fit. I
understand there's a "skins on the wall" issue, but why hold someone
better suited back simply because someone else has been there longer?
(8) debased
asks: How is it that TC has been able
to keep the ticker spot? To put it bluntly, the guy rarely gets through a
ticker without some sort of verbal flub. He's nails on a chalkboard. Seems like
there's other talent waiting in the wings that could only do better. Also,
having 5 people talking over each other during BaDD radio has gotten old. I'm
finding myself checked out more and more on what once was my favorite show.
(9)
N asks: Did you ever consider giving IJB a timeslot
whether weekend or fill in? If not, why not?
(10) Anonymous asks: At what point do you or have you tell/told Jake that he might want to think through some of the things he says before he opens his mouth? For example today he went on about his perception of the asinine and obsolete NATURE (rock me) of weather reports. His argument was that his iPhone tells him all he needs to know. If that's not a case of latent affluenza bubbling below the surface I don't know what is. Does he honestly think the majority of people own, can afford a smart phone? It's so sad to think that a 30 yr old sees the world in such a narrow way that it's almost funny. Funny too is him just now referring to a woman in her 60s with whom he disagrees as "old assed." When you couple a childish (or maybe teenager-ish) view of the world with a smug know it all attitude and a weird faux this-is-what-an-East-Coast-person-sounds-like-to-me accent, you get one annoying on-air personality.
(11) Anonymous asks: It seems like Jake is being groomed for a bigger role. Is this true? I for one think he has talent but needs to mature, a lot, before he's ready for anything other than producing, pre/post and weekend specialty shows. He's gotta lose the Dylan the Argumentative Teen that resides inside.
(12)
Anonymous
asks: You once wrote to Pman, which he published with your permission if memory
serves, that there's been almost zero interest by the JV vis-a-vis pitching
their own show ideas or wanting to fill in. Right after Pman published it,
several not so veiled JVers commented that that was totally untrue. So what
gives?
OPERATIONS
AND DECISIONMAKING
(13)
Azzhle in Azle
asks: Can you tell us how you balance
(1) ratings, (2) advertising revenue, and (3) listener and social media
reactions to Ticket programming (email, Reddit, blogs) in making programming
decisions? If you get more and more
email about The Hardline going downhill fast but ad revenue is still strong, do
you do anything to address listener concerns?
(14)
The Plainsman
asks: Do you feel that the people you
hear from – whether from email or commenters to sites like this and Reddit and
others through the years – overrepresent the negative viewpoints among
listeners generally? Do you tend to
discount social media as giving too much bandwidth to the naysayers, who tend
to speak up more than the people who are happy with the programming in question? When you're inundated with negative emails (or other social media communications) about a particular topic, do
you tend to think it's just a noisy, persistent minority, or at some point does
the sheer weight of the communications you receive move the needle on your program
evaluation?
(15) annoyedP1 asks: Do you have authority to make firings [disrespectful reference to T.C. at this point] or regulate what annoying ads and commercials 1310 airs?
(16) birq asks: The main players on the station have been in place for an unusually long time by local broadcast standards. Do you see any complacency, lack of engagement or mailing it in? What do you do to try to keep shows (or individual hosts) engaged and fresh? What do your bosses do to encourage, limit or thwart you in these efforts? Do you think your efforts are working?
(17) Anonymous asks: Was anything said to Norm about his unwarranted outburst towards Sirois [relating to the Cowboys Gregory pick]?
(18)
The Plainsman asks: What is your personal authority – maybe I
should say leverage -- for forcing improvements in show presentation? Let's say – strictly hypothetically -- that
you agreed that the Hardline needed better show prep, Mike showing an interest
in segments, less showbiz stuff, less Corby, whatever. Does it do any good to call them into your
office and say "I want to see X, Y, and Z changes"? Other than suspension or the threat of
nonrenewal of contracts, is there anything you can do to improve host
performance? There must be something you
hold over their heads, because on-time performance has markedly improved. But really, how difficult are these guys, and are some more insubordinate than others (names if you dare)?
PROGRAM
CONTENT
(19)
Jason D
asks: Do you feel there is a lack of
diversity of viewpoints with the on air folks? It seems everyone is in
lock step politically, musically, socially and it leads to everyone agreeing
with each other in many segments. It seems like diversity of opinion was
greatly reduced when Greggo departed, and a bit of spice was lost.
(20)
Anonymous
asks: Do you at all monitor the hosts' political
views both on air and on social media? As a whole it seems like it's pretty
even with left and right views among the hosts, however the left thinking ones
are appear to be much more outspoken (See Sean Bass and Jake Kemp). Everyone is
entitled to their opinion and free speech, but do you try and limit this at all
if it potentially will drive away listeners? And I'm in the anti TC Fleming camp in case
you're keeping tally.
(21)
egg or walrus koo koo ka choo asks: Do you ever take issue or have a sit-down
regarding show content? More to the point, show content that has to do with
current events and hot button socio-political issues? I ask because as much as I love The Ticket
and all the shows, I find myself turning it off more and more due to the hosts
tackling issues and topics that they seem to have zero knowledge about other
than their own opinion based on nothing but "gut" feeling. Many times
it's as if the host(s) has/have never read a thing on a subject. That's how
ignorant they can come off. Sometimes it's about common historical facts, too.
It's maddening.
(22)
ed gar in gar land asks: Does
it ever make you and-or Dan B[ennett]. cringe when Jake, Corby, Danny, and at
times, Dan make utterly wrong assertions about political or social or current
event topics with supreme confidence? I know it bothers many a P1 when they do.
If it does, is it ever brought up?
(23)
BuffaloPrinter asks: Have you ever mandated changes if a show has
"too many voices"? Example: BaD Radio has more on-air
comments from their producer and Ticker guy than the Musers or the Hardline. Do
the hosts themselves ask for less involvement? Rich Phillips was more
inclined to pop on than Sean is.
THE
BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY
(24)
Anonymous
asks: Over the past few years rumors have been rampant about a Cumulus/CBS
merger that would in effect make The Ticket and The FAN sister stations. Is
there any truth to this?
(25)
Anonymous
asks: Even
Mike has said that your industry is a dying one. Indeed, in his opinion,
management is its demise. Do you agree with this? If so, why? If not, why? And
in conjunction with this, are you worried about terrestrial radio's future in
general? I am around late teens and early 20 somethings on a daily basis. None
of them listen to the radio. They pod, listen to some satellite, but no am/fm
radio. In fact, the overwhelming majority have little idea of fm radio and no
idea whatsoever about am. Thus it might be said you have a limited, dying
audience. Would you agree with this to any degree?
(26) iphongmoney
asks: If someone wanted to buy the Ticket as Mike
so often suggests, could you place a value on the station alone?
(27)
The Plainsman
asks: What was The Ticket's sales
revenue last fiscal year?
(27.1) The Plainsman asks: Has the local operating agreement by which Cumulus has programming responsibility for KESN (ESPN) caused any difficulty for you with your Ticket colleagues (assuming you have some programming responsibility for KESN, which may not be a correct assumption)? At a minimum, it would appear to require Cumulus, if not you personally, to counterprogram The Ticket.
(27.1) The Plainsman asks: Has the local operating agreement by which Cumulus has programming responsibility for KESN (ESPN) caused any difficulty for you with your Ticket colleagues (assuming you have some programming responsibility for KESN, which may not be a correct assumption)? At a minimum, it would appear to require Cumulus, if not you personally, to counterprogram The Ticket.
COMPETITION
AND RATINGS
(28)
Brad Calhoun asks: Just want to say I've been Ticket listener
for a long time and I will continue to be a big P1. I had a question
concerning what is working with The Fan. We can be dismissive with what they do
but they are doing some things right. They are branching out with social media
and getting in with younger listeners and now even getting in with the big
25-52. I understand branding yourself as the "originator" and
not wanting to "copy" The Fan but you have to give credit to the work
they have done to build their brand regardless with what you think of their
content. I feel like the downfall of The Ticket could be relying on
longtime listeners and few young listeners like me. I see in a few years
The Fan taking overall number [one] for years to come. Do you agree?
(29)
Wldcat4
asks:
Do the streaming listeners
contribute any to the ratings? I am out of state and moved away from
where I could pick up the signal a few years back so I am a P1 streamer all day
everyday actually as I have a tablet dedicated to iheart and the Ticket on at
all times in my house. And Susan
Ellis (who describes herself as "a Ticket Chick for about four
years") asks: Cat, I listen to the
ticket at work every day on one of two apps on my iPhone. DFW Tuner or
SportsDay. I am curious if the Ratings Book includes apps?
(30)
The Breeze
asks: I'm not sure how the ratings work, but it
seems like they are not anywhere near what they used to be. The Hardline is no
longer the juggernaut it once was. As Mike used to say, and rightly so IMO, "Your,
his, her, this station's way is through The Hardline." If that's so, and I
think it is, and the ratings are dipping, is that problematic not only for The
Hardline, but also for the station as a whole (sans The Musers)? When Cheers's
ratings began to falter, so did the lead in shows and the one's that followed
it. Is the same thing happening here? Because, again, aside from DnM, the
ratings are down across the board. They have been for an extended period. If
so, what if any measures might we see to remedy this in the future – besides
clock mgmt and a "Tickerless Society"?
(31)
Anonymous
asks: What do you account for the now sustained drop or evening out in the
ratings? It seems that it wasn't merely a Cowboys thing. Nor does it seem to be
Rangers or Mavs related.
(32)
Anonymous
asks: Does it piss you off the way Gavin Spittle and many of The FAN personnel
have totally appropriated patented Ticket lingo and bits....so much so that
listeners new to the area think they came up with them and that The Ticket is
ripping them off? This happens, often, by the way.
(33) P1 Dan asks:
It seems that the other stations, especially the FAN, regularly take shots at
The Little Ticket and with the current ratings as they are and their ever-changing
numbers, here's my question: How closely, and be specific, do you monitor
what the "other guys" are doing? Are you in contact with former
Ticket ex-pats like B&S, KT who jumped ship? I guess my overall
general question if you can't answer any of those with clarity is, are you guys
aware of what other stations do and how does it affect your day-to-day and
year-to-year programming? Stay Hard!(34) birq asks: How do you view the current apparent ratings shift from all shows on The Ticket as the undisputed winner in every timeslot to The Fan and ESPN nipping at your heels, and in some cases, sneaking by? Is this something cyclical on the large scale or indicative of The Ticket losing steam? Is Cumulus brass freaking out or do they even notice or care?
PROGRAMMING
(35)
Anonymous
asks: Has there been any listener
feedback, or push back, since reducing the number of Tickers? Would you ever
consider going down to one ticker per hour or eliminating them altogether? I
know I personally would rather have the hosts have more time per segment. In my opinion, they are mostly an outdated
tradition at this point. There are so many other ways to get sports scores and
news and rarely do you get anything breaking from them. I feel that valuable
airtime could be better spent elsewhere.
(36)
Anonymous
asks: Are you aware of the complaints
about the length of time between segments? I understand that ultimately the
station is a business and ads are a necessary evil, but there are plenty of
times where I'll get in my car to run errands and never actually hear the
hosts. I can say there are plenty of times where I've tuned out completely due
to the length of commercial breaks.
(37)
mark in richardson asks: Is
there anything in the works about getting regular local weeknight programming
up and running? Intentional Grounding is nice and all, but it's only during
Cowboys season and for one hour per week. I mean regular, daily shows. I think
the station sorely needs it. Farrell is OK for a laugh (at) or two, but only
for about 10 minutes, maybe once a week or so. I know you have Cumulus/CBS
obligations, but can't local programming go on until 10 or 11, then switch to
the national feed?
(38)
Anonymous
asks: Given the success of The
Kickaround, Four Pointer, and Stars Sunday, have you given any thought to
another niche Saturday or Sunday show? I'm a big MMA fan and wouldn't mind
hearing an hour show about that once a week.
(39)
Anonymous
asks: Would you be open to more
specialized shows? I'm not a wrestling
fan but what I heard of Jer/Ty's Wrestlemania show was pretty solid. I know I
would much rather listen to something like that than national generic sports
talk. Same goes with the Local Ticket. ESPN2
broadcast a video game tournament on TV recently. For example, could you
envision the station allowing an hour show based on video games? I feel like
more unique content is something that the station desperately needs. Not
Ferrall talking about how good he is at betting the odds or how awesome his
life is.
(40)
kmclain3 asks: Would be interested to hear your thoughts on
the dynamics of being a pro teams flagship station from both a product/ratings
perspective and profitability. As it pertains to the Tickets relationship with
the Stars and the division realignments in 2013 causing more lost air time for
the Hardline – how much does something like that go into the decision to renew?
This is also something your main competitor recently had to make a decision on
with the Rangers cutting into their late night live programming. They obviously
felt it was worth it, but they won't be losing a tremendous amount of 7a-7p
programming and I would have to assume the Rangers typically outdraw the Stars.
(41)
Anonymous
asks: Cat,
what were you thinking with Laydeez B Trippin'? I hope you at least got a li'l
somethin' somethin' out of it.
(43) BuffaloPrinter asks: Line 4 Guy. Sometimes he has gold, sometimes he's a superfluous voice calling for drops. Is his presence grandfathered in, or have you tried to change the WTDS format and remove him?
(44) Boo! asks: I would pay many pieces of money to have some sort of unfiltered stream a la the webcam during Superbowl week. P1 premium!
(45) Jim Cusey asks: Has the station’s decision to acquire Stars flagship rights worked out well, or has it not? From a listener’s perspective I would claim that it has not, but I get that there are surely business considerations of which a listener would be unaware that might change that answer when it’s considered from the station’s perspective. Here’s my motivation for the question: The hours between 6PM and 8PM are prime listening time for me (and, I suspect, many others). My work schedule is such that I often don’t get to listen much during the day, especially to Norm and BaD, so between 6 and 8 I enjoy listening to the Hardline live and to the Top Ten to catch up on the highlights of the day. Being the Stars’ flagship means that about 40-50 times per year the last half-hour or hour of the Hardline and all of the Top Ten are interrupted by the Stars pre-game show and game. I place very little value as a radio listener on live-action NHL hockey, especially when the audio is generated for TV and merely simulcast on the radio, especially when the team is as poor as the Stars have been since the Ticket has been their flagship, and especially when there is locally-produced sports talk on the air at the same time on a competing station. I would guess there are many more people like me – who listen regularly to the last hour of the Hardline and the first hour of the Top Ten but who punch out when that’s pre-empted by the Stars – than there are people who are the opposite of me – who don’t tune into the HL and T10 but do tune in to listen to the Stars. If I’m right, carrying the Stars has got to be a net ratings loss for the station. So, it must be the case that either: (a) I’m wrong, and carrying the Stars really is a net ratings gain for the station, or (b) I’m right, but it doesn’t matter, because carrying the Stars brings in other revenue streams that more than offset the ratings loss, or (c) I’m right, but at the time the station acquired the Stars flagship rights you thought it would work out differently – i.e. that Stars broadcasts would turn out to be a net ratings gain. I’m curious which it is, because I would sure like to see the station walk away from Stars flagship rights whenever the contract expires.
(46) Lindsay asks: What ever happened to Ticket Sports Saturday & Sunday? This was a stop down for me since Day 1 it came on air. It was informative and kept me up to date with scores and commentary from the hosts. I remember the day when the Sunday version had the big clock: 11:00 am-6:00 pm. It was a show where the JV could polish their on air skills (except TC who needs to move into an off air role). I feel sure that JV members would welcome the chance to be on air and polish their formatics and leading in and out of breaks. It certainly is better than anything on whatever the network flavor of the day is. Perhaps a programming idea would be to move Race Week to the 10:00 am slot on Saturday, move Cirque and Kickaround up 1 hour and then have 3 hours set aside for Ticket Sports Saturday. After the Hockey Show, have the Sunday version there for special Sundays-Nelson, Colonial and the other golf majors.
TECHNICAL
(47)
Brad Calhoun
asks: Can the Ticket make full
rebroadcasts of shows available? And Cody Patterson asks: Some radio broadcasts release their entire
radio show on a 24 hour delay, commercial free, as a podcast. Will The Ticket
look at doing that as well instead of partial segments for those can't listen
to an entire show? If not, could The Ticket look at including the whole
segment, instead of part of a segment in the current podcast format? And Colorado P1 asks: Why doesn't the station put
up full-show podcasts, like some of your competitors do? If Lincoln Financial
Media (104.3 The Fan in Denver) can post commercial-free podcasts of each hour
of each of their shows, it seems like Cumulus should be able to do the same
thing. Even posting them with the ads would be better than the few snippets we
get now.
(48)
Cody Patterson
asks: Is someone going to fix the
SportsDay DFW app so that it will actually show the ticket show rather than
"Scott Ferrall On the Bench" all day? This has to be really confusing
to new comers to the station.
(50) Colorado P1 asks: Is the station aware of the constant problems with the stream, and does it have any plans to make improvements? By far the worst problem is that ads just randomly cut in to the middle of show content; it is incredibly frustrating to the listener whenever that happens.
THE
FUTURE.
(51) Charles Golden asks: I was kind of struck by Mike and Norm's campout conversation when Mike mentioned how this type of media is dying and how he'd wouldn't recommend a youngster to pursue this line of work. How does the Ticket plan to stay ahead of the technology curve to avoid what so many radio lifers seem to think is the inevitable?
(51) Charles Golden asks: I was kind of struck by Mike and Norm's campout conversation when Mike mentioned how this type of media is dying and how he'd wouldn't recommend a youngster to pursue this line of work. How does the Ticket plan to stay ahead of the technology curve to avoid what so many radio lifers seem to think is the inevitable?
(53)
Bayern Munich
asks: You have at least two hosts who
are getting close to the edge of retirement: Mike R. and Norm. Norm is 70 and
is audibly losing steps. Mike is more disengaged than not. At least that's how
he comes off to every listener I know, to a person. (He also disclosed that he
tried to get a tryout for a position on the Mets broadcast, which means his
feet aren't as firmly planted as we might think.) There is also the morning show
that, has three hosts who all seem to have very strong pulls in other
directions. Gordon is going through a lot right now, obviously; regardless, he
seems ripe for a more "seriously minded" career change--his
"torn" attitude between being a funny man and a straight writer
appears to be coming to a head. For the last few years, and especially now
since his youngest is about to fly the coop, I've gotten the feeling George is
man ready for a life change. And Joonz, well, he's admitted that this isn't what
he wants to do forever. I wouldn't be surprised if he wants to move on while
he's still able to do all the physical/athletic stuff he so much loves. All that for this: Are there contingency
plans for replacements where the "Varsity" is concerned (Especially
the "Musketeers")? Moreover, if so, are there any "JV"
players that have the inside track?
ONE-OFFS
AND MISCELLANEOUS
(54)
Anonymous
asks: Do
sites like MTC have any influence at the station? From the word "go"
Grubes to the Siroises to Sea Bass to Jake to yourself to Jer to Justin M to
ex-KT to nearly every JV player to several hosts have chimed in. As well the
site has been mentioned directly or obliquely on several occasions throughout
the years. I also heard Dan and George mention the Reddit fan site. So it seems
like many if not most employees of all levels stop by. Your doing this AMA I think attests to the
"power" of MTC. What makes such a blog important to you guys?
(55)
The Plainsman
asks: How many emails do you get from
listeners each day?
(56)
The Plainsman asks: If you swim by the site from time to time you
will notice that people claiming to be Ticket or industry insiders will offer
rumors and opinions about what's up The Ticket or Cumulus. Are they ever credible?
(57) blergoyen asks: How many times has a Cumulus Media executive "higher-up" contacted you in regard to on-air comments? Which hosts were involved and what were the specific comments in questions?
(58)
Anonymous
asks: What
is or was the general feeling toward Richie Whitt? He was once a friend of THL,
even did a plus one gig. Then he wrote "The Hard Lie" which basically
said yeah, Greggo's a flawed guy, but his coworkers and employer are in many
ways equally at fault if not to blame. Then a year later he's cohosting a show
with him on a competing station. The whole thing seemed fishy.
(59) Anonymous
asks: What do you think your greatest
accomplishment at the station is? How about your biggest failure? Is there a
decision that you regret?
(60) gopher asks: I would like to hear Cat give us the lowdown on his radio career. I remember him as Ron Engleman's producer at KGBS 1190 AM in the 90's. A little history, his first job, stations he has worked at, and how he became management at KTCK.
(60) gopher asks: I would like to hear Cat give us the lowdown on his radio career. I remember him as Ron Engleman's producer at KGBS 1190 AM in the 90's. A little history, his first job, stations he has worked at, and how he became management at KTCK.
WRAP-UP
(60)
The Plainsman
asks: Is there anything else you want to
get off your chest that the foregoing questions haven't given you an
opportunity to communicate?
(61)
The Plainsman
asks: Is there anything going on – or
coming up -- that you can give us a scoop about? Teases accepted.
========================
Thanks, Confessors.
Thanks, Cat.
ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com
@Plainsman1310
