little1 said:
But who sets the salary? And who decides what teh correct level of expenses are?
From what I've been told, that's where Cumulus balked. Jerry wanted to set the levels, and let Cumulus write the check. So if Jerry decided to double Brad and Babe's salary, someone else would pay it. If Jerry decided to book people into the 4 Seasons Hotel while on the road, someone else would pay for it...
Like I said, great deal if you can swing it, but financially irresponsible for a company to allow someone else to negotiate contracts that they will be paying...
So here's a look back and a little history. You are quite correct about why Cumulus walked away from their deal with Jerry, exercising a 3rd year out-clause. Jerry wanted to re-do their deal that would have The Ticket paying a "mini-rights" fee of about 1/2 million dollars annually. That would presumably offset all the production costs (plus I'd guess a little extra to line Jerry's pocket!). Already being #1 in the ratings, seeing no particular results from the previous two years of being the "Official Voice of the Dallas Cowboys"...and certainly receiving no MONEY other than from a couple of special clients like Belvedere Vodka resulting from Corby's endorsement deals (plus having to air that dreadful "shoulder prrgramming" during the week...those horrible Hooter's and Glass Cactus shows the Cowboys crammed down The Ticket's throat!), Dan Bennett walked in to Jerry's office one morning after the season was over, saying bye-bye. Valley Ranch was SHOCKED! No one ever dismisses the great and powerful OZ! Those of us still employed at Cumulus back then (prior to the many "Black Friday" layoffs at Maple) actually received an email from Dan's assistant prior to his arrival at Valley Ranch, advising us of what was about to happen. Life still goes on quite well for The Little Ticket, they continue to produce a FAR superior pre & post game than anyone else, and last I looked...HA...they're STILL #1 !
Enter the current itteration of what some would have the nerve to refer to as "CBS." After flipping 105.3 to a so-called sports station in 12/08...Purdy, Henry, with Spittle in tow and that idiot Bigby pulling the reigns, all beat a path to Jerry's office. There had already been massive behind-the-scenes lobbying between the CBS brain-trust and certain ex-CBS people, now employed as staff at the Cowboys, so the paths were apparently well greased. It was almost halftime of the first pre-season game broadcast before a true "deal" was finalized (OK, I exaggerate there, but not by much!), mainly due to Jerry again insisting on getting that half-mill $ fee. OR...he would consider a Plan B: Rather than reimburse the Cowboys for production expenses, CBS had the option of simply taking over all those expenses directly. They could (and in fact DID) contract (or perhaps better said, NON-contract!) with Brad, Babe, Kristi, and the booth producer. At LEAST two of those individuals were forced to take CONSIDERABLE cuts in pay, and receive NO CBS employee benefits...IF they wanted to keep their gigs. And it was made quite clear that neither CBS nor Jerry really cared if the same "broadcast team" remained in place or not. Hey, Jerry was happy...he gets to keep all the inventory money, while spending essentially nothing to produce the game broadcasts. CBS was happy, be able to call themselves the "Official Station of THE Dallas Cowbuys...AND getting to keep the difference between what little money they are paying out vs. that half-million mini-rights fee. I'll bet certain local management even received bonuses for their creative and insightful deal-making! CBS also agreed to air all those wonderful mid-week shows, having little else to fill the airwaves with. But the icing on the cake...CBS would give the Cowboys something they have always dreamed of: their long-sought-after VERY OWN RADIO STATION!!! Nevermind the fact that it would be 105.3 HD-3!!! Cowboys executives and their plebes hardly knew the difference between AM & FM...and besides "HD-3" sounds cool...kinda like HD Television, so it must be GREAT! Wow, they must have said to one another, "an FM big-stick for the games and the incredible power of this ground breaking HD-3 technology" to spread the Cowboys party line any way they saw fit. What a genius move! "Why didn't someone else ever offer us that before?" Well, THAT was clearly the final straw...Jerry joyfully signs a record long-term deal radio deal with CBS-Dallas, reminising at the press conference about his wonderful memories of when he signed his original radio deal "with CBS and KRLD's Ron Chapman!" Rich, you really should prepare Jerry better. Yes, that "original deal" was indeed with Ron Chapman, but it took the Cowboys broadcasts AWAY from KRLD, which at the time wasn't even OWNED by CBS. I'll bet Ron laughed loudly when he heard that! I'm surprised Jerry even remembered Ron's name. Jerry has problems with names...
So here we are a year later. How's all that working out? Listen closely to the 2010 pre-season games and see for yourselves. I predict many differences.
