A home for those who love almost everything about The Ticket (1310 AM, 96.7 FM, Dallas-Fort Worth), and who would like to discuss -- respectfully and fondly -- their thoughts on how (and whether) to eliminate the "almost."
Sunday, June 30, 2024
Please Wish My Ticket Confession a Happy 15th Anniversary
Welcome back, Shaggy, ska Surly, if it is in fact y'all.
I appreciate the invitation and it's not a bad idea. You may have missed my post that I'm going to be tied up pretty constantly for the next six weeks, but perhaps I'll have some time later at night to look back and ahead.
What are your thoughts on the state of TT, Shaggy? Ditto TDZ (if memory serves, you are a big supporter of Dan and Jake)? Same with the demise of TF? As a long time Ticket observer, I think your analyses would be interesting. In good faith, mine are as follows....
TT Yes the ratings are great, albeit trending more towards their historical norm rather than the mindblowing numbers of the past few years, and yes it seems that no matter who leaves or who's brought in/promoted, the machine keeps chugging along. But it's not the same. Maybe it's just me getting older, maybe it's my taste changing due to getting older. Dunno. What I do know is that the station no longer captures my attention like it had for nearly 3 decades. DnM still have their magical moments, but they're far less in between. Well, I make that claim because I listen to them far less than before. While they all seem like good dudes, 10-3 is as generic and boring as it gets. Love Donovan, but not enough to put myself through that on the regular. I'm not a MMc hater, at all. It's just it's not very good radio. Ditto Sean and Mino. Nice guys, for sure. Milquetoast guys, for sure. The only voice whose opinion I actually value anymore is Bob's. So I'll tune in to THL when there's something going down in the sports world. The moment Bob's done pontificating on the particular, I'm out. Bottom line is that for me, TT is no longer an all day affair. Losing Dan and Jake, and to some extent Danny and Sirois, was huge. Not because they were so great, but rather because they provided a seamless garment of consistent content that comprised TT brand of radio. Now, it's disjointed.
TDZ So far it's been a mixed bag for me. I've subbed, unsubbed, and resubbed a few times now. Always thinking surely it's now more consistently good. Each time I'm proven wrong. Currently I'm unsubbed, though I'll probably reup in August. They fill almost every episode up with guests, which, unless you're doing a Larry King thing, is pretty lazy imho. Specially when the guests for the most part are boring. Plus, how many times can you have former fellow employees on to make sideways digs at your former employer before it becomes stale? Not too many, if you ask me. It's already old hat. When it's just Dan and Jake basically doing THZ, it's solid, $6.90 per month worthy content. But it's mostly not that. At some point I'm thinking they have to base the thing around themselves. Else this is going to be shortened ride.
TF As if anyone who isn't a Rhyner sycophant saw from about week 3 onwards after its launce, TF was doomed. It was so bad, so poorly executed, that it will be a case study on how not to do radio. So many asses were exposed and in such an extreme way, I'm surprised the entire on-air talent didn't have to get skin grafts. The only somewhat-ish not-blemishes were Cavanaugh talking Cowboys, Krystina doing her best to come up with content, and the far too late in the game pairing of Danny and Sirois sans Rhyner. But even the latter were not ready for that role. At least they actually gave off a semblance of trying, which cannot be said for Rhyner, Julie, and B&S, who's only interest was putting on a 3 hour infomercial promoting their personal business endeavors.
Happy Anniversary, MTC! Here's to many more! Thanks for providing this outlet for us P1s, Plainsman. As nutty as it can get in here at times, it's still a genuine respite from the rest of the internet wasteland.
15 years, wow. Seems like only yesterday the discussion at hand pertained to the future of The Ticket and the possible legal maneuverings concerning Hee Hoo's ignominious canning.
Here's to many more years of both MTC and The Ticket.
Kinda don't think Grubes will be making anymore appearance around these parts. He popped in and popped off on a comment claiming TF was donzo in a matter of days. Basically said the commenter was full of shit and lol'ed. Ditto KT. Thing is. A week and change later TF took a dirt nap. I remember this because I was that commenter. Having said that you might want to heed the following. Get ready for fairly big doings on multiple fronts by TDZ. Comiing down real soon. Gonna make DFs and Glenns happy. And at least in the short run is gonna up their profile.
TDZ had fully planned on hosting an afternoon-drive show on the Freak by this point. They are currently in Scrambling Position, with Panic Mode soon approaching.
I’ve really enjoyed WIP filling in the last two mornings. Props to Ham for being able to take it as well as he dishes it out. He got quite the nut kicking from DJ and Monto on his UNT play by play
The Musers are getting beyond stale, with absolutely no drive to change things up or keep them fresh. Fernando leaving and whoever replaced him (can't remember) certainly has brought no breath of fresh air there. Someone really needs to knock the cobwebs off of Gordon's thang. Marge, Jesse the Usher, Fake Tiger, Dirty Doug Out, Ribby Paultz, Fake Jerry, the Ticket Mouse...I could go on (and on) but every one of them is just the same thing over and over every time they appear. There is simply no need for me to listen to them ever again. All 3 Musers are painfully out of touch with pop culture, the average American (how often has Junior thought that the average rent in Dallas is around $800?), and painfully most of all...sports. I have no interest in ever hearing them discuss hockey, baseball, or basketball. Every one of those segments is an immediate punch out from me. I still listen for Cowboys content, but George's Upon Further Review? Maybe their worst new segment in the last 5 years. Also possibly their only new sportsy segment of the last 5 years. So at best I will listen to about an hour of Musers content per day, after Tickers, ads, and immediate punch outs.
I almost never listened to Norm, going back at least 10 years. So I've continued not listening from 10-12 (er, 1 now). I have not listened to a single segment of The Sweet Spot since it begain. Milquetoast x Milquetoast = no thanks, buddy.
The Hardline is another one that ends up getting about 1 hour total per day from me. I've always liked Bob but he's too focused on twitter and thinks that 2 random idiots tweeting at him means that all of local sports fandom thinks the same thing. It's really annoying. I also like Corby ok. He is a good storyteller at times and he and Davey do work well together, but Davey just randomly saying Queef and the resultant Bob sigh and scolding is not good radio. Bob comes off as even more straight laced and stuck up as he ever did with Dan.
Dumb Zone? Yes, I am a fan. BaD Radio was always my favorite, and I think peak Ticket was Bob, Dan, Jake and TC. I also really enjoyed The Hang Zone with Blake and Julie. Julie fit perfectly there, but definitely not host material. I listen to all 160ish minutes of their show 4 days a week, as it is the most enjoyable audio product I have at my disposal. I do continue to wonder about what they hell they're doing on a business/marketing/strategy level, but ultimately I just care about the product, and I think it's the best of all of my choices. Certainly the best between The Ticket/Fan/Freak options.
Which brings us to The Freak. Not sure I listened to more than 5 days of their broadcast. (The Greggo reunion was not one of those days.) I have a strong negative opinion of Mike Rhyner, and I also really don't like Danny at all. I did like Sirois quite a bit as a Ticket personality, but never enough to seek out his own show in its various forms on the Freak. I absolutely would have listened to Donovan and Sirois do a 10-12 every day. They worked great together. I find Cavanaugh difficult to listen to, and as stated up there, Julie can not carry (or co-carry) a show. I'm neutral on KT as a content provider, but they way he interacts on reddit makes me strongly negative on him as a person. Just really a bad look. Sorta ditto on Ben and Skin. Try hards that just aren't compelling and their constant shilling of their various brands is a huge turn off.
Did I write out 69 sentences up there? Who could ever know.
I made a version of this comment 2 days ago but Wordpress or the web ate it, so take 2. Both Shaggy and indigo point to the demise of the ticket and point how they’re listening is down significantly from what it used to be. For Indigo it’s no longer an all day listen. For Shaggy, it’s multiple hours (2-3?) per day. Do y’all realize how far above the average listener that puts you? And therein lies the programmers dilemma. Do you program for the heavy user, the average or the P3 fly by? I once worked in another market that the same cluster had a top 40 and an adult alternative station.,the top 40 played the big hit every hour. The AA station promoted no repeat workdays. 2 totally different approaches based on the size make up, and time spent listening of each audience. Yes the musers could freshen things up, but they’re also getting a 15 share in AMD. Are you sick of Marge, mouse, Ribby, etc because they’re old tired bits (they are) or because you listen way more than the average listener (you do) so you’ve burnt out on them? Reminds me of one of Greggos country witticisms. No matter how hot she is, somebody somewhere tired of (blanking) her. His hick way of saying whether it was Margot Robbie, dua lipa, doja cat, whoever floats your boat, at some point you get tired of the same old same old. I think that’s why the freak lasted as long as it did, people saying I’m sick of Marconi winning steak and lobster, let me mix it up with this wet cat food of Cavanaugh and Dobbs as AMD “talent”. They don’t care that it was crap, they just needed a change. But let’s have a reality check, The ticket never did better than when the freak was on the air. People tried the new restaurant, and then realized how good their steak and lobster claws (and baby arms) are. C
I didn't make any mention or reference to the demise of the ticket. I only gave my opinion on the current shows and how my listening habits have changed
Neither did I. Indeed, I clearly stated that TT continues to roll on, regardless of change. Like Shaggy, my comment reflects my current view of TT and tsl.
Fair enough, didn’t mean to put words in y’all’s mouth holes. Perhaps I projected yalls HSOs (listening less) to the general listening audience, and that equaled downshift and demise. But also not seeing that in the ratings. And I wish they’d do something to freshen up the sound of the station ( replace Conrad maybe?) as it has gotten stale. C
Gee, didn't see this coming. Trust me, it's only the beginning. And it's why all of The Legal Dream Team's posturing was laughable. This boot is made for stomping, this boot's toe is steel. See, children, you have to play the long gane and play it with a seasoned realism. Did you honestly think such a thing was going stand? Of course you did. Then you moved on to the next crisis.
Well shit. You mean Dan and Jake have to give Cumulus all of their earnings from the last year now? AND pay all of Cumulus’ lawyer fees? AND have to stop podcasting all together? Fuck. Steel Toe indeed.
Nah, Skippy. It was never about that. Go read the case, Skippy. That wasn't on the mesa. Neither was it the thing P for K & Co. were after. Nada to do with your Boys. Now get back to The Hive before one of 'em thinks you've gone off and have had thoughts of your own, doxes you, and you find your poor self banished from the one thing that's ever given you an identity. Realism + Understanding The Way It Is = Adult. You're a long way from Kansas, Skippy.
MTC still has it's golden moments, just like TT. Anything that can stay (mostly) relevant for 15 years is an accomplishment. Congrats Pman. I originally came here for the reds but stayed for the banter.
June ratings are here. tl;dr - 3rd straight #1 month, two new midday shows jump over the Fan, Hardline w/ a 14.9 share. Ticket is also #1 A25-54 and total market 6+ https://www.reddit.com/r/theticket/comments/1dzgdlg/june_24_ratings_update/
Many thanks, as always, Peter. Very happy for middays. And THL. They' seem to have over taken DnM as the station juggernaut. But it must be said DnM are still kicking booty and taking names.
Yup. He's like a middle tier two hit wonder classic rock band that peaked in '88 and just can't give up the ghost. Bubble livin' is easy livin', I guess. Gruberries is a nice dude who's resembling Greggo more and more with each passing 6 months. But WTF is he actually going to do once the 3 to 6 week mark passes. Mike is desperate to show the local media types that TF's failure was in no way his, that he still has it, never lost it, and all you doubters and Schadenfreudians out there are about to eat his ass. I mean, ya know, Mike, perhaps that 'tude would've served you and all the folks you pied pipered through your way is their way siren song far better if you'd had it back in Oct. '21. Just sayin'.
Predictably, laughably, some of the weenie pinchers and pee drinkers on reddit are actually trying to spin the book as being deceptive. That the numbers aren't actually indicative of performance. Specially where 10-13 is concerned. I swear, I don't get it. If you loathe something that much AND have found your ideal alternative (make no mistake about it, they're all gagging on The Boys' micropeens), why the fucc are you wasting your time and energy on the that baleful thing? Fuccin pathological. Speaking of which, in a scant two months 97.1 has more than doubled its cume at 2.7. Still nothing to crow about, but way better than what The HoFer, The Voice of a Generation, Pressbox Hot, and The King of All Reddit Comments could muster in 16 months. All that and TDZ still ain't that great.
So easy livin' tent free in your tiny brain. Too easy, skippy. Will say I'm a bit impressed you can hawk tuah on The Boys collective micro and find the time to play a round. Then again, it is micro.
Bruh. You're right, the dude has made a gagillion comments on Dan and Jake Z. But tbf, you comment on his comments a shit ton. So, ya know what I'm getting at? Icymi. The moron has a point about finding your new ideal home but being unable to let the old one go. If I'm a DF and for me TT is yesterday's news, I'm not checking in on T blogsites, only commenting on comments that crap on my guys. In a way it's as weird as the nutty douche in question.
I have lost the ability to listen to Rhyner. It takes him 5 minutes to utter a complete thought. He’s parodying himself at this point. I don’t recall him being this bad in the last days of the ticket.
Sweet Spot AM --- oof. That Bass,Mino,Detty show (from the brief segments I pushed thru) were the blandest of bland. At least Baldy has provided somewhat of a persona.
That Funhouse show -- has the makings of a little something. They seemed to at least understand a very basic point/counterpoint conversation that can keep a listener engaged.
More Intentional Grounding as a fill-in. It may be an unpopular opinion, but I enjoy the bumper-cars of David and Big Bob.
Of course, when WiP is full strength, its the current gold standard for fill-in. I think lines had to get shuffled when Monty got the sick. Hoping we get some bonus WiP next week.
I listened to the Sweet Spot more this week than ever before and nothing really changed my mind about them. Their fine but nothing that is appointment listening for me. Its a good show to have on the background or during the commute but there was never a segment that made me wait to get out of the car or hurry to get inside so I could hear the rest of it. In fairness there hasn't been a midday show on TT since the early days of BaD that had any segments like that. After Bob left BaD, despite liking Jake, my intolerance for more than a few minutes of Dan had me turning elsewhere for my listening pleasure. I wish it was the full WiP in that slot but I can't say the Sweet Spot is bad, it's just not exceptional.
While I understand the “sweet spot is bland” comments, I also know got to read ratings. And the sweet spot is 2nd in their target demo and beating their format competitor by 2 full shares. The more comments I read either here or on Reddit, the more convinced I am that EVERY ONE OF YOU listens ALL day. Like 14 hours a day or more. You’re not average listeners. The average listener (the ones putting the sweet spot near the top of the ratings) don’t listen to 2 hours of them. They catch bits and pieces, like normal people do. And the PD has to decide does he program for the heaviest of users, the lightest, or somewhere in between? To illustrate that point, remember when they had tickers at the bottom of the hour (mount 12 big ones, IYKYK)? Pretty sure they got rid of it because with the tickets huge TSL a third ticker each hour wasn’t needed. Most listeners would still tune in and hear one, 2 if their TSL was real high. Why does KRLD do traffic on the 8s? Because they have low TSL and churn more audience than Land o Lakes churns butter. I’m fully convinced that most of the complaints I see here or Reddit are from the heaviest of listeners. From shows are boring, to the same commercials get played too often, to the musers repeat topics in the 9am hour from the 6am hour. Yeah you’re sick of the same food, you’re eating it for every meal…
Yeah but…still just not very good. They’re both still trying to deepen their voice and are conscious of every word they say instead of just shooting the breeze. It takes a lot of effort to listen.
Get ready for tomorrow's BIG. ANNOUNCEMENT. Earthquakes, aeroplanes, birds, and snakes. The Boys are kickin' it up a shit ton of notches. Gonna make you Glenns and DFs pod weenies go deez nutz.
So if the Musers are gone next week will this start to take on the same tone as when people thought THZ was just on a long summer break last June/July? It wasn't over until it was over. I am worried about the Musers as I swear they said a couple of weeks not 3.
I love Grubes. Of course, here comes the "but." But, other than two friends (Rhynes and Grubes) doing a pod together, I'm not sure why it's a big announcement. This isn't a put down, it's kinda stating the obvious: what exactly does Grubes have to say on a weekly basis, much less potentially several times per weekly basis? I'm going to go with "not a lot." By the way, ditto Rhynes. That much is already evident and has been since around 2006. Yes, you read the year correctly. That's also around the time Petty Theft kicked it into a higher gear. It became Rhynes' main focus. Anyone involved with TT at that time will concur. No, I wasn't, but more than a few friends and acquaintances were (some still are). Grubes is a producer and drop master, not a host. At this stage in the game, neither is Rhynes. Whatever the case and however it shakes out, I wish Grubes the best. Who knows, maybe he'll turn out to be amazing in such a role.
As to The Musers summer dry dock, they absolutely said they'd be gone for a few weeks. "Few" usually means 3-ish. So with all due respect to Mr. Stipe, your attempt to stir the pot is a weak one. Having said that, if Monday comes and they're still out, I'll raise an eyebrow. Tuesday, well, we'll know something is most definitely up.
Here's my question: What happened to Sirois? He's gone silent. Why? We're talking about one of the thirstiest dude's I've ever come across. Did he learn his lesson from his unprofessional exit from TT? Is something coming online his way and he's decided this time not to post cryptic, at times boasting comments on socials and on sites such as MTC (which he did), and instead see how the game unfolds? Or is he done with the media biz (at least locally) and has now turned his focus to his brother's projects? No Twitch, no X, no going on TDZ (pretty much the only one who hasn't, which is interesting), no Rhyner pod, nothing. Did he take yet another bucket list trip, maybe a world tour, with all the scratch earned from TF? This is all very un-Sirois like.
To use a Greggo quote, “What’s he (Sirois) ever done?”. Cash has TV experience, Mike has been a producer and now a failed talk show host. If you want former producers, why not Pepi Harris, MI Blackwell, Connie Herrera, or…well crap, Mark Friedman has passed, and Justin Frazell (an actual pedo, not just accused of it like Mcclarin) is-or should be- in prison. But really, like a dozen years as a producer and 18 months of bad ratings. I can’t understand why people aren’t lining up to hire him. C
My guess he's laying low until ALL the debris from TF failure is forgotten. By that I mean TDZ letting of of the past (in every way) and Mike's pod inevitably turning into an irregular, once and again endeavor that finally fades off into that good night. At that point he'll begin to pop up. "Why" you might ask? Oh, I have an idea or three. This isn't the forum for such things, so I'll keep mum. Specially because they're ideas, conjectures based on some hard but mostly anecdotal evidence, and not slam dunks.
I’m friendly with someone on the Ticket sales staff. To address the concerns of Hector and Not Michael Stipe upthread, he states unequivocally that this was a planned 3 week vacation. He believes, but doesn’t know for sure, that there was a recent contract negotiation that traded extra vacation time for more years on the contract. He thinks that because it is a negotiation, if musers wanted more vacation, what do they have to offer in return. Either lower pay (unlikely) or longer service. C
I can't imagine what a negotiation with the Musers would look like. I would think if anyone is negotiating from a position of strength at the TT its the Musers and HL. I would think they could ask for a raise and an extra week off and get both.
Funny Rhyner's pod is brought up. Anyone check out his X acct from a few hours ago? A pic of he and Greggo at the All Star Home Run Derby today. Refers to Greggo as his "wife." That's the term he used back in the halcyon days of 94-02. You can bet your ass the plan is to bring back OG HL full time. Checked out TDZ cult handbook, er, I mean reddit page. Never fails to crack me the fuck up. No announcement, but there was a thread with a whopping 4 comments pertaining to The Boys talking more Mavs than Cowboys and how Dan let it be known that Evil Cat and Bennett mandated x amount of seggies per show about the Boys during football season. The Boys just won't let shit go, will they. You got what you wanted, scruhs, now fucking move on already and do your thing, 21, do your thing. And incoming in 3-2-1. . . . .
I don't know, I think Rhynes was probably referring to The Temple behind them since he specifically said "with the wife who got a little too old and put on a little weight but is still a nice piece in the background", but go on playa.
The Irish Laddy was pushing Cowboys segments long before Bennet or Catman. No one should be suprised by the Cowboys driving the station, they've driven the sports scene around here for half a century at least. I have never understood the need for their to be villains on either side of the TT, TDZ and TF narrative.
Sorry, Jimbo. I was there during them days and you most decidedly were not. Else you wouldn't have gotten too cute by half. Nice conjecture, but wrongo. Ah. Lemme guess, a dyed in the wool DF got his butt dinged up a bit? Bingo.
Jimmy is correct. It was a reference to the Temple. He literally pointed at the old ballpark as we were walking out and essentially re-quoted his tweet to me.
Zulu, I'm thinking said sanctimonious multi named geek is making it all up along the way. It's merely throwing its own dung at the zoo patrons and loving every look of horror, anger, and dismay. In other words, there's no correcting such a troll. Indeed, I'd bet that any riposte, no matter how big of a takedown, is an acknowledgment of a job well done.
Gimme a Break, Gimme a Break. Break Me Off a Piece of that Apple Sauce. You're more onto it than most, kitten. More but not in toto. Say, scruhs, I'm cool with Michael Gruberiffic telling me how it is. Thing is, he wasn't around in the early days. Maybe he listened while in his pop's Asto on the way to skool, but that's the extent of it. Know what? We might both be right. Rhyner is, after all, the King of All Recycling. Back to the matter at hand. You got one side of the equation partly solved. Partly, and one side, at that. Keep working at it, kitten. Unlike Zulu --who's sole self appointed role 'round these parts is to LARP as a frustrated temp Composition 101 adjunct at TCCC who finds solace only in chiding kiddos' grammar-- you've got something. Digging your scene.
Mr. 21 Grams of Sugar, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this thread is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
McGribble! Twice in one day! And you, Hey Knibble Knibble Put Yer kitty in the Middle, you I like! Seriously, scruh. If yer gonna bring it, a lil creativity would be 'preciated, pal.
Honestly, some of it's pretty funny. Some of it has more than a ring of truth to it. Also have to admit it's amusing to see how he points out a certain group of uber fanboys's blind spots and how easily they're drawn offisides. But yeah, I wish he'd make less frequent appearances. Pick his spots rather than volume shoot. 1217 is spot on. That guy goes away and so too do most of the comments. Besides, there's really no way to ban anyone when you have a set up like this. Have to have actual email addresses and whatnot.
As in cohosting the pod. Whenever YDC drops an episode, Hammer is on it. I'll go as far to say that YDC will be renamed something that takes a direct swipe at TT/THL 5.0 and lets everyone know THIS is the OG HL.
Honestly, Corby Bob & Danny keeping the Hardline name never really felt right to me. I thought the name should have retired with the OGW. I always assumed it was Corby and Danny making a statement about Rhyner being checkout of for so much of his later tenure, which seems a little petty to me. If Rhyner and Greg want to call themselves some version of the Hardline I don't think that's beyond the pale for them to do so. It's the truth. While it didn't end the way any of us probably hoped for I don't think it can be disputed what they did accomplish during their time together. Also from a personal level if its not just a business thing, which the cynic in me is inclined to think, and those two have really mended fences and repaired their relationship to the point that can just hang out that's got to be a positive thing for both of them.
I never had an issue at all with the hardline keeping the name. Just never felt like it mattered. I think whoever takes the musers over, that will be a little different. With that being said, I also don't think it matters if OGW wants to do a riff on the hardline name for him and Greggo.
"I always assumed it was Corby and Danny making a statement about Rhyner being checkout of for so much of his later tenure, which seems a little petty to me." Damn, dude. It's one thing to surmise; but to surmise then pass judgment on others purely off your own subjective opinion as if it's a point of fact. Sheesh.
@kitt, You are correct I should have added an "if that were the case" in there. If my assumption were correct I would judge it to be petty. As I said in another post I don't think there are good guys and bad guys in any of these things.
They were gone! Gone I tells ya! The deal was already done with The Boys. DnM morning drive on TDZ. But The Diabolical and Stupid One aka Cat made a last ditch, Hail Mary counteroffer and kept DnM at TT for at least another 2 years. Whew! Vacation! Puhleeeeeze! Can't believe some of you boot licking, corporate shills fell for such an opaque ruse. By the by, over at Cult Central, while the DoubleSpeak and Sovietization of discourse still permeates, the honeymoon lovebomb phase is beginning to wane. In another month or so the dynamic will start to get interesting. All of it pretty much right on schedule.
Has the Rubicon has been crossed and the initial excitement of being in on something from the jump beginning to ebb? This from DZ reddit (I omit usernames, each comment is from a differnt person):
"Longtime Dan, Jake and Blake fan. Listen to every eppy and watch every stream. Still enjoying the content tremendously.
But...what do you think their plan is now? Weekly business meetings for the last year. Lawsuit dismissed 9 months ago. They've been free to accept advertising for 6 months. Joined Washed Media a little over 2 months ago. Paid subbies have been fairly flat since then. So what are these weekly business meetings getting them? They seem to have only 2 advertisers--Frenkel & Frenkel and Grapevine Ford. Washed Media was supposed to help get them national advertisers. No signs of that. They mention at least weekly that they are making far, far less money than they used to (except for Blake)."
Another
"They both said they are making less than half what they made at the Ticket. They still have some debt to pay down and Dan has about 60-70k a year tuition just for his one daughter at that private school in NY, plus another out of state."
And
"I’m curious how they thought they’d get more than ticket runoff as listeners? I guess that was washed Media? Who I had never heard of before anyway.
They still do the same show they did on the ticket, I don’t see how their shows appeals to anyone else, especially if you don’t live in DFW.
Love the dumb zone, but I also think their show was stronger when joined by the other top talent on the ticket. Even now, DFs are happiest when an old Ticket personality joins the DZ, or are constantly calling for Mike S to sit in.
I’m seriously curious what they thought the ceiling was for this and who convinced them they would be making the same amount or more money. That seems idiotic considering how rare and legendary we always hear the ticket is… was."
Finally
"that will be the true struggle, if they are going to grow their base they are going to have a more national POV and not be so hyper focus. i think they can still focus on the cowboys exclusively but NBA, MLB needs to be more than just Mavs and Rangers."
************************************************************** While there is some pushback, there isn't as much as you'd think, and only a scant few take the form of the often over the top "they shit gold bricks" variety. On the whole there has been more gentle (and I mean gentle) criticism of late from DFs. Yet this is of a different stripe. Though light in tone, it's a deeper questioning. In essence, "are you sure this was the correct move, guys, and if so is this the right way to go about it?" It's this sort of questioning that can lead to people moving on if they come to view Dan and Jake as not being as invested in it as they are. That's something at this juncture TDZ cannot afford.
And this is why I commented above that while the whackadoodle, volume shooting, surrealist troll can suck the life out of me, there's also a ring of truth to some of his lunacy. All of this might have legs or it might be an anomalous blip on the radar screen never to be seen again. Either way, it's something to keep an eye on.
Definitely right about the DFs wanting ticket talent around them a lot. Seems like there’s always people wanting Danny in all the time, or Julie, or I saw someone mention George. Sirois brought up regularly. It does show how the power of the ticket is sum of its parts.
I know people have been critical of the Ticket JV in the past, but I actually never had a problem with many of them through the years. But I can tell you now, Drydock is the worst it’s ever been. The morning show this week was unlistenable. Monty and DJ are the only JVers I can see full time at some point. The Ticket has major work to do on the front if they want to survive in the future.
@CJK5H Again, funny how that works. To both yours and Knob's points, it's also intersting how TDZ has thus far basically tried to be its own Ticket. From its own "remotes" to its formattics to ads to sponsors, there's nothing new or innovative about the content on offer. The only thing changed is that now Dan and Jake are both Cumulus and Cat/Bennett and all that that entails. That's an observation, not a critique, mind you. By the way, the same can be said of Rhyner's latest pod endeavor. He's now doing "remotes" and holding his own "Guys and Girls Night Out." Ditto with the heavy ex-pat Ticket personnel.
@Trevor Well, if you think about it, the fact that there are two strong contenders to make the Varsity squad, I'd say TT is in good hands. The only show whose hosts (or at least 1 or 2 hosts) might have a near future exit plan is Dunham & Miller. THL is at least 7-10 years away from hanging it up and currently they are the real station juggernaut -- despite all the social hate. 10-3, while, again, receiving nearly universal hatred on the socials, has in a scant few months established a more than healthy number base. The data proves this out, it's not merely my subjective opinion. If you compare the historical data between both BaD and THZ with TI and TSS you will see that much to the chagrin of many, TI and TSS are actually ahead of schedule so to speak. This is especially the case when one looks at the data soberly, disinterestedly, and not cherry picking either unsustainable peaks or rare bird valleys.
Yes, if The Musers leave, say, at the end of the year, it is a cause for concern. You're only as good as your am/pm drive anchors. But they are not leaving at the end of the year. Justin's and DJ's talent alone ought to provide hope. Besides, your opinion reflects solely your tastes. The dichotomy between the salt on the socials and the hard reality of the Nielsens vis-a-vis 10-3 evinces a strong case that when it comes to matters such as this, the whole is greater than its parts. Meaning, there are expotentially more listeners who do not constantly engage in highly opinionated, cliquish discourse. One more point. I've no idea your age, but I'm an older D1P1. The JV is, obviously, constructed of much younger voices than mine and perhaps yours. Most of what they discuss Guy Talk wise pertain to subjects and situations I long ago went through. Frankly, I tune out during these segements. I don't relate to their experience of my old experience. When I was younger, and George and Craig were talking about X, man did I relate and man was I riveted. Ditto today's younger demo with the JV. Food for thought.
Is this for real or a silly troll? If real, in where and in what capacity? I found 7/15 - 7:13's question concering Sirois intriguing. Because the commenter is correct in saying he's been completely silent, hasn't been on either TDZ or Your Dark Companion or The Mom Game or any YouTube one off by KT, Cavanaugh or anyone else. Same goes with Twitch and social media. He's totally disappeared from the public eye. And as 7/15 - 7:13 pointed out, that is decidedly not Sirois's m.o. It's been a complete 180 from his exit from The Ticket. All that to say it wouldn't surprise me if he's been laying low, mending fences, and is about to resurface. It also wouldn't surprise me if he lands back at The Ticket.
How does that work? How does having anyone else on TDZ work at this point? How does everyone get paid? I notice it's been awhile since some brilliant financial analyst has come on here spouting off how The Boys are making $AGaggillion per month which translates into $ManyGaggillion per year. Same with the sub count. By their own admission they are making far less than they did at TT. Again. By their own admission. Again. How does this work? How do they all get paid? All I read on DZ reddit is how The Boys need to get Julie and Danny and Sirois and this dude and that chick and yada yada yada. What are they gonna do, charge a sub fee for each individual pod? If $6.90 a month (such an edge lord number) isn't really cutting it for DnJ, why would it for the others? Maybe the idiot sticks who've paid $690 (oh the edginess) for a "remote" wouldn't mind shelling out $50+ a month, but that's what, 5-8 subs? Does not compute.
This ain't a dig at DnJ or TDZ. They're doing their thing and I'm cool with it. Don't think they really thought it through or have gone about it smartly, but fuck it, it's their lives and they can do as they see fit. No. This is a bucket of cold water to the face of the ding a lings who are tantamount to callers asking why didn't The Rangers just give LAA a couple of A ball prospects for Otahni. It's fantasy league thinking at best, but honestly, it's pure childishness. Same goes with the arm chair financial experts and data analytics pros who grace these comment sections (or once did).
Does it matter if they do go to TDZ? The Ticket has had some of its highest ratings since the switchover. Clearly, at least in my mind, there’s room for both in the market. There weren’t enough DB listeners to get them much above 20th in the ratings, right? Why would being available on what is arguably a harder medium to access make them more successful then their efforts on a full FM signal. I’ve let my sub lapse. But assuming the statement above about them making less is true, how does adding another show help TDZ or TDB? Seperate sub fee, and TDB becomes part of the “no puppet” family of podcasts? So Danny and Mike can also make less than they did at TT? I wonder how much of the “pure profit”that everyone sees when they do the simple math (6.90x6000x12) is going for expenses. And here’s one that just popped into my head. There’s X amount coming in. How does it get converted and get to TDZ. Transfer (cost?, maybe maybe not) to a corporate bank account (cost) where someone (bookkeeper, cost?) feeds it into software or computer (cost?) to create a check (cost) or direct deposit (cost) and to make sure that social security (cost) and Medicare (cost) are deducted. And if they’re self employed, they need to pay both parts of social security tax 12% if I remember) and 3% Medicare, pls federal taxes etc. its got to be a lot more headache then just showing up and doing your show from noon till 3. For less money.
Bingo, Cruchy. The adults in the room have been saying these very things all along. And what, in a blink of an eye, already many of the real world business issues are making an impact. As I said in my previous comment, this isn't my speculation, this info comes straight from Jake's and Dan's mouths. On more than one occasion I might add.
I'll go one further. It's a claim I made months ago. One that was roundly dumped on by the usual, zealous, blinkered suspects. Namely, that Cumulus did not get their ass handed to them by The Legal Dream Team. While their handling of the case was curious and sloppy, the money spent, etc., was merely a write off. Once they realized DnJ had no idea what they were doing and were being used as an entry way into a bigger labor issue by their lawyers, they just wanted to end it ASAP and move on. DnJ were absolutely no threat to them as far as competition goes. Cumulus, like everyone else, knew TF wasn't long for it and that iHeart was not going to invest even more salary $ to an already grossly underperforming money pit. Therefore, they also knew DnJ, no matter what they thought they had cooking backdoor with TF, was a nothing burger -- only butressing their thought on DnJ being actual competition. At that point, again, they wanted to end the thing immediately and not allow for The Legal Dream Team to grandstand any further, and thereby potentially causing actual issues for not only Cumulus, but for corporations as a whole. That will (and to some extent has) come down the road. The upshot is DnJ "got what they wanted" and so too did Cumulus. Who didn't, in reality, was The Legal Dream Team. They might get what they seek, but not via this avenue.
Never thought about Cumulus's side of things in that way. Interesting take. Piggybacking on your thoughts, how about this: Cumulus won the case in a pretty big way. How? Think about it. They avoided being the literal face of a potential pathbreaking labor battle, one of which they were going to look like the bad guy (because they are!). That's never a good optic, much less when your company has been going through bad times. They offloaded a nice chunk of salary at an already profitable station, replacing it with cheaper salaries, and,, with employees who are just happy to be there, and as a result shed themselves of two influential employees who were stirring things up amongst fellow employees and custormers (listeners). To boot, they have had absolutely zero drop off in ad rev, the ratings in the least consequential dayparts took a slight, temporary hit but bounced right back, and the reality of it all is nothing less than the status quo. To top it off, the ex employees and their higher salaries are in no way genuine competition. I'm not sure how you take Ktel's analysis and what I've added on and come away thinking anything less than Cumulus came out the better for it all. One last thing I'll add, and this is pure speculation: Might Cumulus's headscratching, at times seemingly incompetent legal stratagem been a case of 3D chess? Meaning, they saw through what Dan and Jake's lawyers' were actually after, knew what that would or could entail, and thought the smart play was to in essence "throw" the case. Let Dan and Jake have what they want in order to block theiir lawyers from getting what they were seeking. Rip the bandaid off the wound and move on. Sure, you look the fool to the amateur, public eye; but considering what might've happened, you'll happily take the apparant "L" and go about your business.
I see what both of you are saying. Cumulus realizes the stakes go way beyond Jake and Dan and contracts and instead has everything to do with lawyers trying to open the door for landmark legislation. Legislation that will forever have Cumulus' name be attached to it, and in all likelihood be the end of Cumulus. So they purposely screw the pooch and have their legal team act like total noobs. They go about things so poorly that the opposing legal team, the court/judge and all bystanders focus on Cumulus' ineptitude instead of the huge door Jake and Dan's team is trying to open. Cumulus then says Uncle. Just go away, fine, we're outta here. Which is exactly what they wanted to happen instead of getting into deep waters that might not go their way. Then to top it off, so far it all seems to have worked out in their favor. They lost nothing except a couple of high salaries and headache employees.
Don't know if this any of this is true, but I have to admit that it sounds more than plausible. Specially considering how things have shaken out since the court case was put to bed. Everyone seems to have gotten what they want except maybe Jake and Dan's legal team. I say that because if you've listened to the many DZ episodes with them on it, it appears their real goal was to open the door to a federal case that would eventually go to the Supreme Court. That getting Jake and Dan out of their non compete was barely on the radar if at all.
Well well well. Y'all finally done did it my babies. Cracked the code like tech bros say. The steel toed boot was the Rosebud of The Case. Was never a person. Was never an aha or gotcha moment coming down like an OG epi of Law and Order. No, my babies. It was a strat. Play possum, look weak, win by losing, go on about ya biz wax, and let them Boys LLC, head out into that great wide open and see what's up with what's going down.
Good luck with it, my babies. It was fun living in so many of y'all's kitchen's rent free. All good things cum to an end, and so, my work is done here.
As if on cue, Matt Bruenig (Legal Dream Team Member) files a charge with the National Labor Relations Board against the NBA and the Knicks. Beginning to think the Cumulus purposely played dumb theory might have legs. Wonder if The Boys too are beginning to think they got talked into pissing away a lucrative career for the sake of being pawns for a group of lawyers' attempt to make US legal history?
Wouldn't the smarter choice have been not to sue D&J at all? If you have not intention of winning, why expend any resources on it at all. Just let them do their podcast without giving them any extra publicity and move on. I make no allusion that i understand legal or corporate logic, both give me tired head, but not fighting a fight at all makes more sense to me than going into a fight planning to lose it.
They basically had to go to court, initially, in order to maintain order within the ranks, to show they take NCs and contracts seriously. DnJ (see: their lawyers) forced Cumulus' hand. They did it on purpose to open the door for the larger labor issue. Once Cumulus saw through the ploy, they dummied up and settled.
Define winning. Define losing. Did Cumulus ever retain local counsel? So Cumulus had attorneys they probably have a retainer/price cut deal with to file suit against a rogue DJ team daring to break their non compete. Is winning to Cumulus totally keeping THZ off the air, or was it to pile up the court costs for the other side to put the fear of God in DJs without the lawyer friends and financial backing of TDZ. Couple of side notes- by the time of the settlement it seems like TT had at least 1 maybe 2 books with Invasion/sweet spot ratings. And there wasn’t a massive collapse, therefore telling them that losing THZ wasn’t going to be that painful. 2- remember the stupid “open for biz” video from TDZ? Cumulus managed to keep them from pitching their sponsors for 6 months or so. I really think both sides got what they wanted. TT got no significant loss in ratings or revenue, and legal action that signaled to others that you’d end up in court if you break your non compete: TDZ got the chance to monetize their podcast right away without waiting 6 months. But they didn’t end non competes nationwide, which, according to the Washington post article, was part of their plan. So did TDZ lose because they didn’t get that? Did TT lose because podcast was done that had zero real effect on their ratings? Like I said define winning and losing. I think both sides won and lost at the same time. It was a settlement after all.
Forgot to add. Let's not forget the impact "betting on themselves" in the way that they did might have on either of them trying to land a job in the industry down the road if needs or wants be (that road might already be on the horizon, btw).
Wow. We've really gone from "amateurs Bruenig and Kingston have no shot against Cumulus' high paid high powered legal team" to "Cumulus totally WANTED to lose the case! They were playing CHESS while B&K were playing CHECKERS!"
Exposed Like an Unwanted Baby in the Roman Empire (He's Romulus, I'm Remus)July 25, 2024 at 4:29 PM
You might actually be a lawyer, what, with the mischaracterization of others' words. No one, ever, said B and K were amateurs. No. One. Thirsty, self-serving? Yes. As well, no one claimed Cumulus WANTED to lose the case. No. One. What was said, is that Cumulus realized what B, K, and Co. were actually after; at that point they wanted it to go away. How do you do that? You stop pursuing and begin to seek a settlement. How do you stop pursuing when the other side is "all in"? You don't go down avenues that would normally help your case. As such, you look incompetent. All of this has been clearly spelled out above. But either you know this, don't care, and are so weirdly, emotionally involved that you just can't help yourself and lie, or, you're a dolt who is unable to understand what's on offer, much less able to put up a reasoned counter if you disagree. Which is it?
Christ, are we still bickering about this? Okay, but come on, men and women. Dan and Jake are doing what they're doing and it looks like it's kinda going okay, and maybe it's what they envisioned and maybe it isn't, but they're not stupid and they're not starving and some people like what they're slinging and others either don't. Some have moved on. Let's do the same unless there's some news.
Please: I'm okay with the extravagant, acronym-filled, metaphor/simile-filled, paragraph-break-challenged, too-cool-for-school prose some of you are offering, but I urgently request that you make it minimally comprehensible.
I'm still out of town and booked solid so I haven't even been able to hit the stream for the past several weeks. It'll be like this until around mid-August. If I get a chance in the next little while I'll at least try to get up a new thread. Thanks for your patience and, for the most part, your restraint.
I think there might be a TINY something and I do mean TINY to the notion that Cumulus saw through DnJ's lawyers' true aim and thought it best to settle before they potentially became the bogeyman of a possible landmark labor case. But as far as them purposely acting incompetent (including Cat and Bennett on the witness stand) in order to bring about a quick settlement goes, I don't buy it. Not for one second.
@Plainsman I don't think anyone thinks or has commented on DnJ starving, going bankrupt, or anything like that. This is my first time commenting on any of this, but as a DZ sub I can affirm that both of them explicitly saying they are making half of what they earned at TT. I think that's what most of the comments are addressing. As a sub I can also attest to both DnJ admitting that it was nice just to be able to come into work and that's all they had to do. That is, the job of talking. They could do what they do best and what drives them, and not have to deal with and worry about everything that comes along with running a business. Specially this particular business. Like I said, they've both made mention of these things. But yes, I too am tired of the nuttiness and wish it would stop.
Fact is, there's nothing really going on in TT or DZ worlds. We're well over a year out from DnJ's departure, TF is already a distant memory, the revamped midday lineup is doing better than fine in the numbers department, THL is stronger than ever, DnM keeps chugging along, ever the AM drive ratings monster, and TDZ, despite earning less, seems to be at peace with their decision and is more than surviving while figuring things out. Someone hinted at the return of the notably absent from social media Mike Sirois. That could mean a lot of things, or it could be a load of crap meant to stir the pot. And that's my point. I think some folks are very bored and are merely stirring the pot, and doing so in a most bizarre, volume shooting, obnoxious way. I contend the only way to stop such trolling is to not feed it. It's difficult not to, I get that. You want to bring sanity to the discussion. Sadly, such attempts only breed further pleas for attention.
If I recall correctly, the first person to leave a comment was That Nice Young Michael Gruber.
ReplyDeletePerhaps he will check in again if he sees this.
PS: Ginger supply chain issues. AI images wreaking havoc with online inventory.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for your support and continued interest.
Any thoughts on the current state of The Ticket, Mr Plainsman? How about a rundown of each show?
ReplyDeleteDhaggy?!?! RUP, surly?
DeleteWelcome back, Shaggy, ska Surly, if it is in fact y'all.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the invitation and it's not a bad idea. You may have missed my post that I'm going to be tied up pretty constantly for the next six weeks, but perhaps I'll have some time later at night to look back and ahead.
What are your thoughts on the state of TT, Shaggy? Ditto TDZ (if memory serves, you are a big supporter of Dan and Jake)? Same with the demise of TF? As a long time Ticket observer, I think your analyses would be interesting. In good faith, mine are as follows....
ReplyDeleteTT
Yes the ratings are great, albeit trending more towards their historical norm rather than the mindblowing numbers of the past few years, and yes it seems that no matter who leaves or who's brought in/promoted, the machine keeps chugging along. But it's not the same. Maybe it's just me getting older, maybe it's my taste changing due to getting older. Dunno. What I do know is that the station no longer captures my attention like it had for nearly 3 decades. DnM still have their magical moments, but they're far less in between. Well, I make that claim because I listen to them far less than before. While they all seem like good dudes, 10-3 is as generic and boring as it gets. Love Donovan, but not enough to put myself through that on the regular. I'm not a MMc hater, at all. It's just it's not very good radio. Ditto Sean and Mino. Nice guys, for sure. Milquetoast guys, for sure. The only voice whose opinion I actually value anymore is Bob's. So I'll tune in to THL when there's something going down in the sports world. The moment Bob's done pontificating on the particular, I'm out. Bottom line is that for me, TT is no longer an all day affair. Losing Dan and Jake, and to some extent Danny and Sirois, was huge. Not because they were so great, but rather because they provided a seamless garment of consistent content that comprised TT brand of radio. Now, it's disjointed.
TDZ
So far it's been a mixed bag for me. I've subbed, unsubbed, and resubbed a few times now. Always thinking surely it's now more consistently good. Each time I'm proven wrong. Currently I'm unsubbed, though I'll probably reup in August. They fill almost every episode up with guests, which, unless you're doing a Larry King thing, is pretty lazy imho. Specially when the guests for the most part are boring. Plus, how many times can you have former fellow employees on to make sideways digs at your former employer before it becomes stale? Not too many, if you ask me. It's already old hat. When it's just Dan and Jake basically doing THZ, it's solid, $6.90 per month worthy content. But it's mostly not that. At some point I'm thinking they have to base the thing around themselves. Else this is going to be shortened ride.
TF
As if anyone who isn't a Rhyner sycophant saw from about week 3 onwards after its launce, TF was doomed. It was so bad, so poorly executed, that it will be a case study on how not to do radio. So many asses were exposed and in such an extreme way, I'm surprised the entire on-air talent didn't have to get skin grafts. The only somewhat-ish not-blemishes were Cavanaugh talking Cowboys, Krystina doing her best to come up with content, and the far too late in the game pairing of Danny and Sirois sans Rhyner. But even the latter were not ready for that role. At least they actually gave off a semblance of trying, which cannot be said for Rhyner, Julie, and B&S, who's only interest was putting on a 3 hour infomercial promoting their personal business endeavors.
Happy Anniversary, MTC! Here's to many more! Thanks for providing this outlet for us P1s, Plainsman. As nutty as it can get in here at times, it's still a genuine respite from the rest of the internet wasteland.
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary, Plainsman. Thanks for keeping the place going all these years.
ReplyDelete15 years, wow. Seems like only yesterday the discussion at hand pertained to the future of The Ticket and the possible legal maneuverings concerning Hee Hoo's ignominious canning.
ReplyDeleteHere's to many more years of both MTC and The Ticket.
Kinda don't think Grubes will be making anymore appearance around these parts. He popped in and popped off on a comment claiming TF was donzo in a matter of days. Basically said the commenter was full of shit and lol'ed. Ditto KT. Thing is. A week and change later TF took a dirt nap. I remember this because I was that commenter. Having said that you might want to heed the following. Get ready for fairly big doings on multiple fronts by TDZ. Comiing down real soon. Gonna make DFs and Glenns happy. And at least in the short run is gonna up their profile.
ReplyDeleteTDZ had fully planned on hosting an afternoon-drive show on the Freak by this point. They are currently in Scrambling Position, with Panic Mode soon approaching.
DeleteHey, I was wrong. Mea culpa. It’s happened before and it’ll surely happen again.
ReplyDeleteBut it was a fun year and a half doing radio stuff with my friends again and I don’t regret trying something that could have been really great.
Onward and upward!
Love you all,
Grubes
And happy birthday/anniversary, Mr. Plainsman!
ReplyDeleteYou're a good man, Michael Gruber.
ReplyDeleteI’ve really enjoyed WIP filling in the last two mornings. Props to Ham for being able to take it as well as he dishes it out. He got quite the nut kicking from DJ and Monto on his UNT play by play
ReplyDeleteI have somewhat similar thoughts as Indigo.
ReplyDeleteThe Musers are getting beyond stale, with absolutely no drive to change things up or keep them fresh. Fernando leaving and whoever replaced him (can't remember) certainly has brought no breath of fresh air there. Someone really needs to knock the cobwebs off of Gordon's thang. Marge, Jesse the Usher, Fake Tiger, Dirty Doug Out, Ribby Paultz, Fake Jerry, the Ticket Mouse...I could go on (and on) but every one of them is just the same thing over and over every time they appear. There is simply no need for me to listen to them ever again. All 3 Musers are painfully out of touch with pop culture, the average American (how often has Junior thought that the average rent in Dallas is around $800?), and painfully most of all...sports. I have no interest in ever hearing them discuss hockey, baseball, or basketball. Every one of those segments is an immediate punch out from me. I still listen for Cowboys content, but George's Upon Further Review? Maybe their worst new segment in the last 5 years. Also possibly their only new sportsy segment of the last 5 years. So at best I will listen to about an hour of Musers content per day, after Tickers, ads, and immediate punch outs.
I almost never listened to Norm, going back at least 10 years. So I've continued not listening from 10-12 (er, 1 now). I have not listened to a single segment of The Sweet Spot since it begain. Milquetoast x Milquetoast = no thanks, buddy.
The Hardline is another one that ends up getting about 1 hour total per day from me. I've always liked Bob but he's too focused on twitter and thinks that 2 random idiots tweeting at him means that all of local sports fandom thinks the same thing. It's really annoying. I also like Corby ok. He is a good storyteller at times and he and Davey do work well together, but Davey just randomly saying Queef and the resultant Bob sigh and scolding is not good radio. Bob comes off as even more straight laced and stuck up as he ever did with Dan.
Dumb Zone? Yes, I am a fan. BaD Radio was always my favorite, and I think peak Ticket was Bob, Dan, Jake and TC. I also really enjoyed The Hang Zone with Blake and Julie. Julie fit perfectly there, but definitely not host material. I listen to all 160ish minutes of their show 4 days a week, as it is the most enjoyable audio product I have at my disposal. I do continue to wonder about what they hell they're doing on a business/marketing/strategy level, but ultimately I just care about the product, and I think it's the best of all of my choices. Certainly the best between The Ticket/Fan/Freak options.
Which brings us to The Freak. Not sure I listened to more than 5 days of their broadcast. (The Greggo reunion was not one of those days.) I have a strong negative opinion of Mike Rhyner, and I also really don't like Danny at all. I did like Sirois quite a bit as a Ticket personality, but never enough to seek out his own show in its various forms on the Freak. I absolutely would have listened to Donovan and Sirois do a 10-12 every day. They worked great together. I find Cavanaugh difficult to listen to, and as stated up there, Julie can not carry (or co-carry) a show. I'm neutral on KT as a content provider, but they way he interacts on reddit makes me strongly negative on him as a person. Just really a bad look. Sorta ditto on Ben and Skin. Try hards that just aren't compelling and their constant shilling of their various brands is a huge turn off.
Did I write out 69 sentences up there? Who could ever know.
Good stuff, Shaggy. Glad to see you commenting again.
DeleteI made a version of this comment 2 days ago but Wordpress or the web ate it, so take 2.
ReplyDeleteBoth Shaggy and indigo point to the demise of the ticket and point how they’re listening is down significantly from what it used to be. For Indigo it’s no longer an all day listen. For Shaggy, it’s multiple hours (2-3?) per day. Do y’all realize how far above the average listener that puts you?
And therein lies the programmers dilemma. Do you program for the heavy user, the average or the P3 fly by? I once worked in another market that the same cluster had a top 40 and an adult alternative station.,the top 40 played the big hit every hour. The AA station promoted no repeat workdays. 2 totally different approaches based on the size make up, and time spent listening of each audience.
Yes the musers could freshen things up, but they’re also getting a 15 share in AMD. Are you sick of Marge, mouse, Ribby, etc because they’re old tired bits (they are) or because you listen way more than the average listener (you do) so you’ve burnt out on them?
Reminds me of one of Greggos country witticisms. No matter how hot she is, somebody somewhere tired of (blanking) her. His hick way of saying whether it was Margot Robbie, dua lipa, doja cat, whoever floats your boat, at some point you get tired of the same old same old.
I think that’s why the freak lasted as long as it did, people saying I’m sick of Marconi winning steak and lobster, let me mix it up with this wet cat food of Cavanaugh and Dobbs as AMD “talent”. They don’t care that it was crap, they just needed a change. But let’s have a reality check, The ticket never did better than when the freak was on the air. People tried the new restaurant, and then realized how good their steak and lobster claws (and baby arms) are.
C
I didn't make any mention or reference to the demise of the ticket. I only gave my opinion on the current shows and how my listening habits have changed
DeleteNeither did I. Indeed, I clearly stated that TT continues to roll on, regardless of change. Like Shaggy, my comment reflects my current view of TT and tsl.
DeleteFair enough, didn’t mean to put words in y’all’s mouth holes. Perhaps I projected yalls HSOs (listening less) to the general listening audience, and that equaled downshift and demise. But also not seeing that in the ratings. And I wish they’d do something to freshen up the sound of the station ( replace Conrad maybe?) as it has gotten stale.
ReplyDeleteC
Gee, didn't see this coming. Trust me, it's only the beginning. And it's why all of The Legal Dream Team's posturing was laughable. This boot is made for stomping, this boot's toe is steel. See, children, you have to play the long gane and play it with a seasoned realism. Did you honestly think such a thing was going stand? Of course you did. Then you moved on to the next crisis.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.npr.org/2024/07/03/nx-s1-5020525/noncompete-ban-block-ftc-competition-ryan-texas
Well shit. You mean Dan and Jake have to give Cumulus all of their earnings from the last year now? AND pay all of Cumulus’ lawyer fees? AND have to stop podcasting all together? Fuck. Steel Toe indeed.
ReplyDeleteNah, Skippy. It was never about that. Go read the case, Skippy. That wasn't on the mesa. Neither was it the thing P for K & Co. were after. Nada to do with your Boys. Now get back to The Hive before one of 'em thinks you've gone off and have had thoughts of your own, doxes you, and you find your poor self banished from the one thing that's ever given you an identity. Realism + Understanding The Way It Is = Adult. You're a long way from Kansas, Skippy.
DeleteYou said Skippy too much. That negates any point you were trying to make. Sorry, I don’t make the rules.
DeletePoints stand, Jif. Capice, Jif?
DeleteKinda funny that ol PMan is asking people to congratulate him on his own anniversary
ReplyDeleteKinda funny that you care, and care enough to comment on it. See how that works? Sadly, you probs don't.
DeleteDid you have it marked on your calendar? Hmm? Well, then.
DeleteMTC still has it's golden moments, just like TT. Anything that can stay (mostly) relevant for 15 years is an accomplishment. Congrats Pman. I originally came here for the reds but stayed for the banter.
ReplyDeleteAtta way, Lurker. Tits, Inc. to MTC. Long live ya, Psnatch,
DeleteHappy Birthday / Happy Anniversary P-man. I don't comment much anymore but always drive by to see what others are saying.
ReplyDeleteET P1
June ratings are here. tl;dr - 3rd straight #1 month, two new midday shows jump over the Fan, Hardline w/ a 14.9 share. Ticket is also #1 A25-54 and total market 6+
ReplyDeletehttps://www.reddit.com/r/theticket/comments/1dzgdlg/june_24_ratings_update/
Thanks Peter!
DeleteMany thanks, as always, Peter. Very happy for middays. And THL. They' seem to have over taken DnM as the station juggernaut. But it must be said DnM are still kicking booty and taking names.
DeleteYou all see Mike Rhyner's podcast announcment?
ReplyDeleteYup. He's like a middle tier two hit wonder classic rock band that peaked in '88 and just can't give up the ghost. Bubble livin' is easy livin', I guess. Gruberries is a nice dude who's resembling Greggo more and more with each passing 6 months. But WTF is he actually going to do once the 3 to 6 week mark passes. Mike is desperate to show the local media types that TF's failure was in no way his, that he still has it, never lost it, and all you doubters and Schadenfreudians out there are about to eat his ass. I mean, ya know, Mike, perhaps that 'tude would've served you and all the folks you pied pipered through your way is their way siren song far better if you'd had it back in Oct. '21. Just sayin'.
DeletePredictably, laughably, some of the weenie pinchers and pee drinkers on reddit are actually trying to spin the book as being deceptive. That the numbers aren't actually indicative of performance. Specially where 10-13 is concerned. I swear, I don't get it. If you loathe something that much AND have found your ideal alternative (make no mistake about it, they're all gagging on The Boys' micropeens), why the fucc are you wasting your time and energy on the that baleful thing? Fuccin pathological. Speaking of which, in a scant two months 97.1 has more than doubled its cume at 2.7. Still nothing to crow about, but way better than what The HoFer, The Voice of a Generation, Pressbox Hot, and The King of All Reddit Comments could muster in 16 months. All that and TDZ still ain't that great.
ReplyDeleteHe says as he makes his 8000th post about them
DeleteSo easy livin' tent free in your tiny brain. Too easy, skippy. Will say I'm a bit impressed you can hawk tuah on The Boys collective micro and find the time to play a round. Then again, it is micro.
DeleteBruh. You're right, the dude has made a gagillion comments on Dan and Jake Z. But tbf, you comment on his comments a shit ton. So, ya know what I'm getting at? Icymi. The moron has a point about finding your new ideal home but being unable to let the old one go. If I'm a DF and for me TT is yesterday's news, I'm not checking in on T blogsites, only commenting on comments that crap on my guys. In a way it's as weird as the nutty douche in question.
DeleteIn yo kitchen. In yo face. Do better, skippy. Be better, skippy. Feel me, skippy? Ya you do.
DeleteI have lost the ability to listen to Rhyner. It takes him 5 minutes to utter a complete thought. He’s parodying himself at this point. I don’t recall him being this bad in the last days of the ticket.
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to drop a little drydock quickhit -
ReplyDeleteSweet Spot AM --- oof. That Bass,Mino,Detty show (from the brief segments I pushed thru) were the blandest of bland. At least Baldy has provided somewhat of a persona.
That Funhouse show -- has the makings of a little something. They seemed to at least understand a very basic point/counterpoint conversation that can keep a listener engaged.
More Intentional Grounding as a fill-in. It may be an unpopular opinion, but I enjoy the bumper-cars of David and Big Bob.
Of course, when WiP is full strength, its the current gold standard for fill-in. I think lines had to get shuffled when Monty got the sick. Hoping we get some bonus WiP next week.
I also enjoy the occasional Intentional Grounding fill-in. IG is appointment radio for me during football season.
DeleteI don't see how you fight through David's Skinlanan voice.
DeletePhilosophically speaking, it's a teeeeerrrrrrrriiiiiibbbbbblllleeeee show.
DeleteI listened to the Sweet Spot more this week than ever before and nothing really changed my mind about them. Their fine but nothing that is appointment listening for me. Its a good show to have on the background or during the commute but there was never a segment that made me wait to get out of the car or hurry to get inside so I could hear the rest of it. In fairness there hasn't been a midday show on TT since the early days of BaD that had any segments like that. After Bob left BaD, despite liking Jake, my intolerance for more than a few minutes of Dan had me turning elsewhere for my listening pleasure. I wish it was the full WiP in that slot but I can't say the Sweet Spot is bad, it's just not exceptional.
DeleteWhile I understand the “sweet spot is bland” comments, I also know got to read ratings. And the sweet spot is 2nd in their target demo and beating their format competitor by 2 full shares. The more comments I read either here or on Reddit, the more convinced I am that EVERY ONE OF YOU listens ALL day. Like 14 hours a day or more. You’re not average listeners. The average listener (the ones putting the sweet spot near the top of the ratings) don’t listen to 2 hours of them. They catch bits and pieces, like normal people do. And the PD has to decide does he program for the heaviest of users, the lightest, or somewhere in between?
ReplyDeleteTo illustrate that point, remember when they had tickers at the bottom of the hour (mount 12 big ones, IYKYK)? Pretty sure they got rid of it because with the tickets huge TSL a third ticker each hour wasn’t needed. Most listeners would still tune in and hear one, 2 if their TSL was real high. Why does KRLD do traffic on the 8s? Because they have low TSL and churn more audience than Land o Lakes churns butter.
I’m fully convinced that most of the complaints I see here or Reddit are from the heaviest of listeners. From shows are boring, to the same commercials get played too often, to the musers repeat topics in the 9am hour from the 6am hour. Yeah you’re sick of the same food, you’re eating it for every meal…
Yeah but…still just not very good. They’re both still trying to deepen their voice and are conscious of every word they say instead of just shooting the breeze. It takes a lot of effort to listen.
DeleteNorm’s show was bland, generic sports talk & opinions.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone ever listened to his podcast? I have not. I note it never comes up in discussions while everyone else gets a shoutout
Get ready for tomorrow's BIG. ANNOUNCEMENT. Earthquakes, aeroplanes, birds, and snakes. The Boys are kickin' it up a shit ton of notches. Gonna make you Glenns and DFs pod weenies go deez nutz.
ReplyDeleteNope, nothing coming out. Quit pushing forward your false narrative.
DeleteDanny sucks. Rhyner sucks. Pls no
DeleteBut is Lenny Bruce afraid?
DeleteHe not here.
DeleteGood God another week off for the Musers. Kill me please.
ReplyDeleteElf and saad were just talking about going to Oxnard..
ReplyDeleteElf goes every year.
DeleteDoes he…? If so, it would have to be on his own dime. Waste of resources to spend travel budget on a guy with a 3 (2?) hour show on Sunday mornings
ReplyDeleteYes, and yes he pays his own way
DeleteSo if the Musers are gone next week will this start to take on the same tone as when people thought THZ was just on a long summer break last June/July? It wasn't over until it was over. I am worried about the Musers as I swear they said a couple of weeks not 3.
ReplyDeleteYou already tried this gag on reddit. Fell flat. Same deal here.
DeleteWas the Big Announcement that Grubes is working for the Old Gray Wolf again on his pod cast now?
ReplyDeleteI love Grubes. Of course, here comes the "but." But, other than two friends (Rhynes and Grubes) doing a pod together, I'm not sure why it's a big announcement. This isn't a put down, it's kinda stating the obvious: what exactly does Grubes have to say on a weekly basis, much less potentially several times per weekly basis? I'm going to go with "not a lot." By the way, ditto Rhynes. That much is already evident and has been since around 2006. Yes, you read the year correctly. That's also around the time Petty Theft kicked it into a higher gear. It became Rhynes' main focus. Anyone involved with TT at that time will concur. No, I wasn't, but more than a few friends and acquaintances were (some still are). Grubes is a producer and drop master, not a host. At this stage in the game, neither is Rhynes. Whatever the case and however it shakes out, I wish Grubes the best. Who knows, maybe he'll turn out to be amazing in such a role.
ReplyDeleteAs to The Musers summer dry dock, they absolutely said they'd be gone for a few weeks. "Few" usually means 3-ish. So with all due respect to Mr. Stipe, your attempt to stir the pot is a weak one. Having said that, if Monday comes and they're still out, I'll raise an eyebrow. Tuesday, well, we'll know something is most definitely up.
Here's my question: What happened to Sirois? He's gone silent. Why? We're talking about one of the thirstiest dude's I've ever come across. Did he learn his lesson from his unprofessional exit from TT? Is something coming online his way and he's decided this time not to post cryptic, at times boasting comments on socials and on sites such as MTC (which he did), and instead see how the game unfolds? Or is he done with the media biz (at least locally) and has now turned his focus to his brother's projects? No Twitch, no X, no going on TDZ (pretty much the only one who hasn't, which is interesting), no Rhyner pod, nothing. Did he take yet another bucket list trip, maybe a world tour, with all the scratch earned from TF? This is all very un-Sirois like.
To use a Greggo quote, “What’s he (Sirois) ever done?”. Cash has TV experience, Mike has been a producer and now a failed talk show host. If you want former producers, why not Pepi Harris, MI Blackwell, Connie Herrera, or…well crap, Mark Friedman has passed, and Justin Frazell (an actual pedo, not just accused of it like Mcclarin) is-or should be- in prison. But really, like a dozen years as a producer and 18 months of bad ratings. I can’t understand why people aren’t lining up to hire him.
DeleteC
My guess he's laying low until ALL the debris from TF failure is forgotten. By that I mean TDZ letting of of the past (in every way) and Mike's pod inevitably turning into an irregular, once and again endeavor that finally fades off into that good night. At that point he'll begin to pop up. "Why" you might ask? Oh, I have an idea or three. This isn't the forum for such things, so I'll keep mum. Specially because they're ideas, conjectures based on some hard but mostly anecdotal evidence, and not slam dunks.
DeleteThe Grubes announcement happened a week ago
ReplyDeleteI’m friendly with someone on the Ticket sales staff. To address the concerns of Hector and Not Michael Stipe upthread, he states unequivocally that this was a planned 3 week vacation. He believes, but doesn’t know for sure, that there was a recent contract negotiation that traded extra vacation time for more years on the contract. He thinks that because it is a negotiation, if musers wanted more vacation, what do they have to offer in return. Either lower pay (unlikely) or longer service.
ReplyDeleteC
I can't imagine what a negotiation with the Musers would look like. I would think if anyone is negotiating from a position of strength at the TT its the Musers and HL. I would think they could ask for a raise and an extra week off and get both.
DeleteFunny Rhyner's pod is brought up. Anyone check out his X acct from a few hours ago? A pic of he and Greggo at the All Star Home Run Derby today. Refers to Greggo as his "wife." That's the term he used back in the halcyon days of 94-02. You can bet your ass the plan is to bring back OG HL full time. Checked out TDZ cult handbook, er, I mean reddit page. Never fails to crack me the fuck up. No announcement, but there was a thread with a whopping 4 comments pertaining to The Boys talking more Mavs than Cowboys and how Dan let it be known that Evil Cat and Bennett mandated x amount of seggies per show about the Boys during football season. The Boys just won't let shit go, will they. You got what you wanted, scruhs, now fucking move on already and do your thing, 21, do your thing. And incoming in 3-2-1. . . . .
ReplyDeleteI don't know, I think Rhynes was probably referring to The Temple behind them since he specifically said "with the wife who got a little too old and put on a little weight but is still a nice piece in the background", but go on playa.
DeleteThe Irish Laddy was pushing Cowboys segments long before Bennet or Catman. No one should be suprised by the Cowboys driving the station, they've driven the sports scene around here for half a century at least. I have never understood the need for their to be villains on either side of the TT, TDZ and TF narrative.
DeleteSorry, Jimbo. I was there during them days and you most decidedly were not. Else you wouldn't have gotten too cute by half. Nice conjecture, but wrongo. Ah. Lemme guess, a dyed in the wool DF got his butt dinged up a bit? Bingo.
DeleteJimmy is correct. It was a reference to the Temple. He literally pointed at the old ballpark as we were walking out and essentially re-quoted his tweet to me.
DeleteGrubes with the receipts!
DeleteThis is funny. The sanctimonious multi named geek got corrected. Bingo.
DeleteZulu, I'm thinking said sanctimonious multi named geek is making it all up along the way. It's merely throwing its own dung at the zoo patrons and loving every look of horror, anger, and dismay. In other words, there's no correcting such a troll. Indeed, I'd bet that any riposte, no matter how big of a takedown, is an acknowledgment of a job well done.
DeleteGimme a Break, Gimme a Break. Break Me Off a Piece of that Apple Sauce. You're more onto it than most, kitten. More but not in toto. Say, scruhs, I'm cool with Michael Gruberiffic telling me how it is. Thing is, he wasn't around in the early days. Maybe he listened while in his pop's Asto on the way to skool, but that's the extent of it. Know what? We might both be right. Rhyner is, after all, the King of All Recycling. Back to the matter at hand. You got one side of the equation partly solved. Partly, and one side, at that. Keep working at it, kitten. Unlike Zulu --who's sole self appointed role 'round these parts is to LARP as a frustrated temp Composition 101 adjunct at TCCC who finds solace only in chiding kiddos' grammar-- you've got something. Digging your scene.
DeleteWhat an odd response.
DeleteMr. 21 Grams of Sugar, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this thread is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
DeleteI told you all.
DeleteMcGribble! Twice in one day! And you, Hey Knibble Knibble Put Yer kitty in the Middle, you I like! Seriously, scruh. If yer gonna bring it, a lil creativity would be 'preciated, pal.
DeleteLord, I wish P-Man would ban this annoying troll.
DeleteIf he did, more than 2/3 of all comments in here would be gone
DeleteYou write that like it would be a bad thing.
DeleteHonestly, some of it's pretty funny. Some of it has more than a ring of truth to it. Also have to admit it's amusing to see how he points out a certain group of uber fanboys's blind spots and how easily they're drawn offisides. But yeah, I wish he'd make less frequent appearances. Pick his spots rather than volume shoot. 1217 is spot on. That guy goes away and so too do most of the comments. Besides, there's really no way to ban anyone when you have a set up like this. Have to have actual email addresses and whatnot.
DeleteOut of curiosity, when you say “bring back” and “full time”, what are you referring to? A return (somewhere) to radio or a full-time podcast?
ReplyDeleteAs in cohosting the pod. Whenever YDC drops an episode, Hammer is on it. I'll go as far to say that YDC will be renamed something that takes a direct swipe at TT/THL 5.0 and lets everyone know THIS is the OG HL.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, Corby Bob & Danny keeping the Hardline name never really felt right to me. I thought the name should have retired with the OGW. I always assumed it was Corby and Danny making a statement about Rhyner being checkout of for so much of his later tenure, which seems a little petty to me. If Rhyner and Greg want to call themselves some version of the Hardline I don't think that's beyond the pale for them to do so. It's the truth. While it didn't end the way any of us probably hoped for I don't think it can be disputed what they did accomplish during their time together. Also from a personal level if its not just a business thing, which the cynic in me is inclined to think, and those two have really mended fences and repaired their relationship to the point that can just hang out that's got to be a positive thing for both of them.
DeleteI never had an issue at all with the hardline keeping the name. Just never felt like it mattered. I think whoever takes the musers over, that will be a little different. With that being said, I also don't think it matters if OGW wants to do a riff on the hardline name for him and Greggo.
Delete"I always assumed it was Corby and Danny making a statement about Rhyner being checkout of for so much of his later tenure, which seems a little petty to me." Damn, dude. It's one thing to surmise; but to surmise then pass judgment on others purely off your own subjective opinion as if it's a point of fact. Sheesh.
Delete@kitt, You are correct I should have added an "if that were the case" in there. If my assumption were correct I would judge it to be petty. As I said in another post I don't think there are good guys and bad guys in any of these things.
DeleteAll good, brutha.
DeleteJub on with Sean and Mino just now, said they're back Monday and they've never taken this long of a vacation. Dispense with the conspiracies.
ReplyDeleteThey were gone! Gone I tells ya! The deal was already done with The Boys. DnM morning drive on TDZ. But The Diabolical and Stupid One aka Cat made a last ditch, Hail Mary counteroffer and kept DnM at TT for at least another 2 years. Whew! Vacation! Puhleeeeeze! Can't believe some of you boot licking, corporate shills fell for such an opaque ruse. By the by, over at Cult Central, while the DoubleSpeak and Sovietization of discourse still permeates, the honeymoon lovebomb phase is beginning to wane. In another month or so the dynamic will start to get interesting. All of it pretty much right on schedule.
ReplyDeleteHas the Rubicon has been crossed and the initial excitement of being in on something from the jump beginning to ebb? This from DZ reddit (I omit usernames, each comment is from a differnt person):
ReplyDelete"Longtime Dan, Jake and Blake fan. Listen to every eppy and watch every stream. Still enjoying the content tremendously.
But...what do you think their plan is now? Weekly business meetings for the last year. Lawsuit dismissed 9 months ago. They've been free to accept advertising for 6 months. Joined Washed Media a little over 2 months ago. Paid subbies have been fairly flat since then. So what are these weekly business meetings getting them? They seem to have only 2 advertisers--Frenkel & Frenkel and Grapevine Ford. Washed Media was supposed to help get them national advertisers. No signs of that. They mention at least weekly that they are making far, far less money than they used to (except for Blake)."
Another
"They both said they are making less than half what they made at the Ticket. They still have some debt to pay down and Dan has about 60-70k a year tuition just for his one daughter at that private school in NY, plus another out of state."
And
"I’m curious how they thought they’d get more than ticket runoff as listeners? I guess that was washed Media? Who I had never heard of before anyway.
They still do the same show they did on the ticket, I don’t see how their shows appeals to anyone else, especially if you don’t live in DFW.
Love the dumb zone, but I also think their show was stronger when joined by the other top talent on the ticket. Even now, DFs are happiest when an old Ticket personality joins the DZ, or are constantly calling for Mike S to sit in.
I’m seriously curious what they thought the ceiling was for this and who convinced them they would be making the same amount or more money. That seems idiotic considering how rare and legendary we always hear the ticket is… was."
Finally
"that will be the true struggle, if they are going to grow their base they are going to have a more national POV and not be so hyper focus. i think they can still focus on the cowboys exclusively but NBA, MLB needs to be more than just Mavs and Rangers."
**************************************************************
While there is some pushback, there isn't as much as you'd think, and only a scant few take the form of the often over the top "they shit gold bricks" variety. On the whole there has been more gentle (and I mean gentle) criticism of late from DFs. Yet this is of a different stripe. Though light in tone, it's a deeper questioning. In essence, "are you sure this was the correct move, guys, and if so is this the right way to go about it?" It's this sort of questioning that can lead to people moving on if they come to view Dan and Jake as not being as invested in it as they are. That's something at this juncture TDZ cannot afford.
And this is why I commented above that while the whackadoodle, volume shooting, surrealist troll can suck the life out of me, there's also a ring of truth to some of his lunacy. All of this might have legs or it might be an anomalous blip on the radar screen never to be seen again. Either way, it's something to keep an eye on.
the general theme of all those comments were predicted (damn, almost exactly) a year ago, even here in this forum.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely right about the DFs wanting ticket talent around them a lot. Seems like there’s always people wanting Danny in all the time, or Julie, or I saw someone mention George. Sirois brought up regularly. It does show how the power of the ticket is sum of its parts.
ReplyDeleteI know people have been critical of the Ticket JV in the past, but I actually never had a problem with many of them through the years. But I can tell you now, Drydock is the worst it’s ever been. The morning show this week was unlistenable. Monty and DJ are the only JVers I can see full time at some point. The Ticket has major work to do on the front if they want to survive in the future.
ReplyDelete@Radio Knob
ReplyDeleteFunny how that works.
@CJK5H
Again, funny how that works. To both yours and Knob's points, it's also intersting how TDZ has thus far basically tried to be its own Ticket. From its own "remotes" to its formattics to ads to sponsors, there's nothing new or innovative about the content on offer. The only thing changed is that now Dan and Jake are both Cumulus and Cat/Bennett and all that that entails. That's an observation, not a critique, mind you. By the way, the same can be said of Rhyner's latest pod endeavor. He's now doing "remotes" and holding his own "Guys and Girls Night Out." Ditto with the heavy ex-pat Ticket personnel.
@Trevor
Well, if you think about it, the fact that there are two strong contenders to make the Varsity squad, I'd say TT is in good hands. The only show whose hosts (or at least 1 or 2 hosts) might have a near future exit plan is Dunham & Miller. THL is at least 7-10 years away from hanging it up and currently they are the real station juggernaut -- despite all the social hate. 10-3, while, again, receiving nearly universal hatred on the socials, has in a scant few months established a more than healthy number base. The data proves this out, it's not merely my subjective opinion. If you compare the historical data between both BaD and THZ with TI and TSS you will see that much to the chagrin of many, TI and TSS are actually ahead of schedule so to speak. This is especially the case when one looks at the data soberly, disinterestedly, and not cherry picking either unsustainable peaks or rare bird valleys.
Yes, if The Musers leave, say, at the end of the year, it is a cause for concern. You're only as good as your am/pm drive anchors. But they are not leaving at the end of the year. Justin's and DJ's talent alone ought to provide hope. Besides, your opinion reflects solely your tastes. The dichotomy between the salt on the socials and the hard reality of the Nielsens vis-a-vis 10-3 evinces a strong case that when it comes to matters such as this, the whole is greater than its parts. Meaning, there are expotentially more listeners who do not constantly engage in highly opinionated, cliquish discourse. One more point. I've no idea your age, but I'm an older D1P1. The JV is, obviously, constructed of much younger voices than mine and perhaps yours. Most of what they discuss Guy Talk wise pertain to subjects and situations I long ago went through. Frankly, I tune out during these segements. I don't relate to their experience of my old experience. When I was younger, and George and Craig were talking about X, man did I relate and man was I riveted. Ditto today's younger demo with the JV. Food for thought.
Hope everyone is ready for the return of the cow of the sea
ReplyDeleteIs this for real or a silly troll? If real, in where and in what capacity? I found 7/15 - 7:13's question concering Sirois intriguing. Because the commenter is correct in saying he's been completely silent, hasn't been on either TDZ or Your Dark Companion or The Mom Game or any YouTube one off by KT, Cavanaugh or anyone else. Same goes with Twitch and social media. He's totally disappeared from the public eye. And as 7/15 - 7:13 pointed out, that is decidedly not Sirois's m.o. It's been a complete 180 from his exit from The Ticket. All that to say it wouldn't surprise me if he's been laying low, mending fences, and is about to resurface. It also wouldn't surprise me if he lands back at The Ticket.
DeleteLet me add that his return would be most welcomed.
DeleteI'm hearing rumblings of he and Danny doing TDB on TDZ.
DeleteHow does that work? How does having anyone else on TDZ work at this point? How does everyone get paid? I notice it's been awhile since some brilliant financial analyst has come on here spouting off how The Boys are making $AGaggillion per month which translates into $ManyGaggillion per year. Same with the sub count. By their own admission they are making far less than they did at TT. Again. By their own admission. Again. How does this work? How do they all get paid? All I read on DZ reddit is how The Boys need to get Julie and Danny and Sirois and this dude and that chick and yada yada yada. What are they gonna do, charge a sub fee for each individual pod? If $6.90 a month (such an edge lord number) isn't really cutting it for DnJ, why would it for the others? Maybe the idiot sticks who've paid $690 (oh the edginess) for a "remote" wouldn't mind shelling out $50+ a month, but that's what, 5-8 subs? Does not compute.
DeleteThis ain't a dig at DnJ or TDZ. They're doing their thing and I'm cool with it. Don't think they really thought it through or have gone about it smartly, but fuck it, it's their lives and they can do as they see fit. No. This is a bucket of cold water to the face of the ding a lings who are tantamount to callers asking why didn't The Rangers just give LAA a couple of A ball prospects for Otahni. It's fantasy league thinking at best, but honestly, it's pure childishness. Same goes with the arm chair financial experts and data analytics pros who grace these comment sections (or once did).
Does it matter if they do go to TDZ? The Ticket has had some of its highest ratings since the switchover. Clearly, at least in my mind, there’s room for both in the market. There weren’t enough DB listeners to get them much above 20th in the ratings, right? Why would being available on what is arguably a harder medium to access make them more successful then their efforts on a full FM signal.
ReplyDeleteI’ve let my sub lapse. But assuming the statement above about them making less is true, how does adding another show help TDZ or TDB? Seperate sub fee, and TDB becomes part of the “no puppet” family of podcasts? So Danny and Mike can also make less than they did at TT?
I wonder how much of the “pure profit”that everyone sees when they do the simple math (6.90x6000x12) is going for expenses. And here’s one that just popped into my head. There’s X amount coming in. How does it get converted and get to TDZ. Transfer (cost?, maybe maybe not) to a corporate bank account (cost) where someone (bookkeeper, cost?) feeds it into software or computer (cost?) to create a check (cost) or direct deposit (cost) and to make sure that social security (cost) and Medicare (cost) are deducted. And if they’re self employed, they need to pay both parts of social security tax 12% if I remember) and 3% Medicare, pls federal taxes etc.
its got to be a lot more headache then just showing up and doing your show from noon till 3. For less money.
Bingo, Cruchy. The adults in the room have been saying these very things all along. And what, in a blink of an eye, already many of the real world business issues are making an impact. As I said in my previous comment, this isn't my speculation, this info comes straight from Jake's and Dan's mouths. On more than one occasion I might add.
ReplyDeleteI'll go one further. It's a claim I made months ago. One that was roundly dumped on by the usual, zealous, blinkered suspects. Namely, that Cumulus did not get their ass handed to them by The Legal Dream Team. While their handling of the case was curious and sloppy, the money spent, etc., was merely a write off. Once they realized DnJ had no idea what they were doing and were being used as an entry way into a bigger labor issue by their lawyers, they just wanted to end it ASAP and move on. DnJ were absolutely no threat to them as far as competition goes. Cumulus, like everyone else, knew TF wasn't long for it and that iHeart was not going to invest even more salary $ to an already grossly underperforming money pit. Therefore, they also knew DnJ, no matter what they thought they had cooking backdoor with TF, was a nothing burger -- only butressing their thought on DnJ being actual competition. At that point, again, they wanted to end the thing immediately and not allow for The Legal Dream Team to grandstand any further, and thereby potentially causing actual issues for not only Cumulus, but for corporations as a whole. That will (and to some extent has) come down the road. The upshot is DnJ "got what they wanted" and so too did Cumulus. Who didn't, in reality, was The Legal Dream Team. They might get what they seek, but not via this avenue.
Never thought about Cumulus's side of things in that way. Interesting take. Piggybacking on your thoughts, how about this: Cumulus won the case in a pretty big way. How? Think about it. They avoided being the literal face of a potential pathbreaking labor battle, one of which they were going to look like the bad guy (because they are!). That's never a good optic, much less when your company has been going through bad times. They offloaded a nice chunk of salary at an already profitable station, replacing it with cheaper salaries, and,, with employees who are just happy to be there, and as a result shed themselves of two influential employees who were stirring things up amongst fellow employees and custormers (listeners). To boot, they have had absolutely zero drop off in ad rev, the ratings in the least consequential dayparts took a slight, temporary hit but bounced right back, and the reality of it all is nothing less than the status quo. To top it off, the ex employees and their higher salaries are in no way genuine competition. I'm not sure how you take Ktel's analysis and what I've added on and come away thinking anything less than Cumulus came out the better for it all. One last thing I'll add, and this is pure speculation: Might Cumulus's headscratching, at times seemingly incompetent legal stratagem been a case of 3D chess? Meaning, they saw through what Dan and Jake's lawyers' were actually after, knew what that would or could entail, and thought the smart play was to in essence "throw" the case. Let Dan and Jake have what they want in order to block theiir lawyers from getting what they were seeking. Rip the bandaid off the wound and move on. Sure, you look the fool to the amateur, public eye; but considering what might've happened, you'll happily take the apparant "L" and go about your business.
DeleteI see what both of you are saying. Cumulus realizes the stakes go way beyond Jake and Dan and contracts and instead has everything to do with lawyers trying to open the door for landmark legislation. Legislation that will forever have Cumulus' name be attached to it, and in all likelihood be the end of Cumulus. So they purposely screw the pooch and have their legal team act like total noobs. They go about things so poorly that the opposing legal team, the court/judge and all bystanders focus on Cumulus' ineptitude instead of the huge door Jake and Dan's team is trying to open. Cumulus then says Uncle. Just go away, fine, we're outta here. Which is exactly what they wanted to happen instead of getting into deep waters that might not go their way. Then to top it off, so far it all seems to have worked out in their favor. They lost nothing except a couple of high salaries and headache employees.
DeleteDon't know if this any of this is true, but I have to admit that it sounds more than plausible. Specially considering how things have shaken out since the court case was put to bed. Everyone seems to have gotten what they want except maybe Jake and Dan's legal team. I say that because if you've listened to the many DZ episodes with them on it, it appears their real goal was to open the door to a federal case that would eventually go to the Supreme Court. That getting Jake and Dan out of their non compete was barely on the radar if at all.
Well well well. Y'all finally done did it my babies. Cracked the code like tech bros say. The steel toed boot was the Rosebud of The Case. Was never a person. Was never an aha or gotcha moment coming down like an OG epi of Law and Order. No, my babies. It was a strat. Play possum, look weak, win by losing, go on about ya biz wax, and let them Boys LLC, head out into that great wide open and see what's up with what's going down.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with it, my babies. It was fun living in so many of y'all's kitchen's rent free. All good things cum to an end, and so, my work is done here.
If you ever wondered. . . . . . .
Promise?
DeleteAs if on cue, Matt Bruenig (Legal Dream Team Member) files a charge with the National Labor Relations Board against the NBA and the Knicks. Beginning to think the Cumulus purposely played dumb theory might have legs. Wonder if The Boys too are beginning to think they got talked into pissing away a lucrative career for the sake of being pawns for a group of lawyers' attempt to make US legal history?
ReplyDeleteWouldn't the smarter choice have been not to sue D&J at all? If you have not intention of winning, why expend any resources on it at all. Just let them do their podcast without giving them any extra publicity and move on. I make no allusion that i understand legal or corporate logic, both give me tired head, but not fighting a fight at all makes more sense to me than going into a fight planning to lose it.
ReplyDeleteThey basically had to go to court, initially, in order to maintain order within the ranks, to show they take NCs and contracts seriously. DnJ (see: their lawyers) forced Cumulus' hand. They did it on purpose to open the door for the larger labor issue. Once Cumulus saw through the ploy, they dummied up and settled.
ReplyDeleteDefine winning. Define losing. Did Cumulus ever retain local counsel? So Cumulus had attorneys they probably have a retainer/price cut deal with to file suit against a rogue DJ team daring to break their non compete. Is winning to Cumulus totally keeping THZ off the air, or was it to pile up the court costs for the other side to put the fear of God in DJs without the lawyer friends and financial backing of TDZ.
ReplyDeleteCouple of side notes- by the time of the settlement it seems like TT had at least 1 maybe 2 books with Invasion/sweet spot ratings. And there wasn’t a massive collapse, therefore telling them that losing THZ wasn’t going to be that painful.
2- remember the stupid “open for biz” video from TDZ? Cumulus managed to keep them from pitching their sponsors for 6 months or so.
I really think both sides got what they wanted. TT got no significant loss in ratings or revenue, and legal action that signaled to others that you’d end up in court if you break your non compete:
TDZ got the chance to monetize their podcast right away without waiting 6 months. But they didn’t end non competes nationwide, which, according to the Washington post article, was part of their plan. So did TDZ lose because they didn’t get that? Did TT lose because podcast was done that had zero real effect on their ratings?
Like I said define winning and losing. I think both sides won and lost at the same time. It was a settlement after all.
Forgot to add. Let's not forget the impact "betting on themselves" in the way that they did might have on either of them trying to land a job in the industry down the road if needs or wants be (that road might already be on the horizon, btw).
DeleteWow. We've really gone from "amateurs Bruenig and Kingston have no shot against Cumulus' high paid high powered legal team" to "Cumulus totally WANTED to lose the case! They were playing CHESS while B&K were playing CHECKERS!"
ReplyDeleteLollloloooollll!
Look at what's transpired. Might want to change your handle. More Grackle than eagle.Rofl.Lmao.Lull. Kekw.
DeleteYou might actually be a lawyer, what, with the mischaracterization of others' words. No one, ever, said B and K were amateurs. No. One. Thirsty, self-serving? Yes. As well, no one claimed Cumulus WANTED to lose the case. No. One. What was said, is that Cumulus realized what B, K, and Co. were actually after; at that point they wanted it to go away. How do you do that? You stop pursuing and begin to seek a settlement. How do you stop pursuing when the other side is "all in"? You don't go down avenues that would normally help your case. As such, you look incompetent. All of this has been clearly spelled out above. But either you know this, don't care, and are so weirdly, emotionally involved that you just can't help yourself and lie, or, you're a dolt who is unable to understand what's on offer, much less able to put up a reasoned counter if you disagree. Which is it?
DeleteChrist, are we still bickering about this? Okay, but come on, men and women. Dan and Jake are doing what they're doing and it looks like it's kinda going okay, and maybe it's what they envisioned and maybe it isn't, but they're not stupid and they're not starving and some people like what they're slinging and others either don't. Some have moved on. Let's do the same unless there's some news.
ReplyDeletePlease: I'm okay with the extravagant, acronym-filled, metaphor/simile-filled, paragraph-break-challenged, too-cool-for-school prose some of you are offering, but I urgently request that you make it minimally comprehensible.
I'm still out of town and booked solid so I haven't even been able to hit the stream for the past several weeks. It'll be like this until around mid-August. If I get a chance in the next little while I'll at least try to get up a new thread. Thanks for your patience and, for the most part, your restraint.
I think there might be a TINY something and I do mean TINY to the notion that Cumulus saw through DnJ's lawyers' true aim and thought it best to settle before they potentially became the bogeyman of a possible landmark labor case. But as far as them purposely acting incompetent (including Cat and Bennett on the witness stand) in order to bring about a quick settlement goes, I don't buy it. Not for one second.
ReplyDelete@Plainsman
I don't think anyone thinks or has commented on DnJ starving, going bankrupt, or anything like that. This is my first time commenting on any of this, but as a DZ sub I can affirm that both of them explicitly saying they are making half of what they earned at TT. I think that's what most of the comments are addressing. As a sub I can also attest to both DnJ admitting that it was nice just to be able to come into work and that's all they had to do. That is, the job of talking. They could do what they do best and what drives them, and not have to deal with and worry about everything that comes along with running a business. Specially this particular business. Like I said, they've both made mention of these things. But yes, I too am tired of the nuttiness and wish it would stop.
Fact is, there's nothing really going on in TT or DZ worlds. We're well over a year out from DnJ's departure, TF is already a distant memory, the revamped midday lineup is doing better than fine in the numbers department, THL is stronger than ever, DnM keeps chugging along, ever the AM drive ratings monster, and TDZ, despite earning less, seems to be at peace with their decision and is more than surviving while figuring things out. Someone hinted at the return of the notably absent from social media Mike Sirois. That could mean a lot of things, or it could be a load of crap meant to stir the pot. And that's my point. I think some folks are very bored and are merely stirring the pot, and doing so in a most bizarre, volume shooting, obnoxious way. I contend the only way to stop such trolling is to not feed it. It's difficult not to, I get that. You want to bring sanity to the discussion. Sadly, such attempts only breed further pleas for attention.
OK, I've rambled on for far too long.
Go Ticket. Go Dumb Zone. Go MTC.