Noticable changes to Jagger as "The Fan".

[ISaidSo]

Word on the street is that the Cowboy deal is already done, and 105.3 will build around them....

 

[Jubb05]

If I remember correctly D&M signed a new 5 year contract within the last year or so. They aren't going anywhere.

Also heard Rhyner (he's dead ya know) today refer to Cumulus as "the cheapest radio company in the world." Will be interesting to see what he does when his deal is up.

 

[MikeShannon914]

And let's not forget that outside of the Cowboys, Dallas is notorious for being a city of fair weather fans. Even on the ticket they aren't 100% sports.

Bingo. Remember when the Ticket WAS 100% sports? Yeah. That's why it's a guy talk station now, with interludes of sports interspersed between commercials and other talk.

 

[5hithitthefan]

They will definitely lighten up on sports once they feel they have a little more sports cred. After all that is basically the only thing in question now isnt it?

 

[little1]

I just don't know if the model that works in NY can work here. Generally NY'ers are die hard fans of whatever teams they support and can listen and talk about them hours on end. Plus, think how many pro sports franchises so they have to talk about in their listening area (Jets, Giants, Nicks, Yankees, Mets, Rangers, Islanders and even some of the Jersey teams). That's a LOT of sports and you can see that taking up a quality broadcast day.

Additionally, WFAN carries every sport franchise they can. Which means they often went to pre-game shows in PM drive. So at the height of their success, they had Imus in the AM, midday show, Mike Fransecca (spelling?) and Chris Mad Dog Russo in PM drive, then straight into games. Easier to fill up 6-7 hours when you have multiple sport teams in every league to talk about. Harder to fill up 12 hours with less teams without resorting to non-sport topics.

On top of all that, there are two other sports stations in this market. One that has a foothold in the die hard sports fan audience and the other that shares the name of a TV network.

Yes. So they can either try to out guy talk the ticket, or out hard-core sports ESPN. Either way they're trying to do something that another station is already doing.

Even on the ticket they aren't 100% sports. How many times do you hear them talk about very very non sports topics on the hardline?

The early days of KTCK were much more hard-core sports, with Bayless, Cooperstein, etc. It's after they got rid of those guys, moved Dunam and Miller to mornings, Hardline to PM drive, that they started to have ratings success.

I don't see this lasting very long.

With PPM, I think we're going to see accelerated personnel actions industry wide. When a station is getting weekly numbers, instead of just monthly trends, it's going to be easier to see if a show is succeeding or failing. Where shows might have gotten a year to fly or die, now I think it's much more likely to get maybe 6 months...

 

[walterjoe]

Slambang said,

think BaDD radio will be the likely defector as well, as D&M are in rhyners back pocket when it comes to loyalty. Bob, Dan and Donovan have enough talent to pull off a morning show from 6-10am and enough material as well. It would also hit the little ticket hard, as Sturm is also the backbone of their cowboys/stars post-game shows

I don't think that will ever happen. Dan McDowell has aired his disdain for early morning radio
many times since he migrated here. He hates the Ticket "White Elephant" stunt because he's afraid
he will draw a morning shift. I don't think he would leave the Ticket for a "morning" shift at all,
unless the money was "out there", and I don't believe anyone would offer him that kind of money.
He's not really that good.

walterjoe

 

[WheredidMergeGo]

They will definitely lighten up on sports once they feel they have a little more sports cred. After all that is basically the only thing in question now isnt it?

Then who are they trying to attract? I can't see them lightening up on sports at all.

As a listener - if I want entertaining sports talk - I tune into the ticket (unless I am under a bridge or near a tall tree)

If I want hardcore sports talk from very non entertaining ****** bags - I have espn radio.

So if I kinda want sports and kinda want entertainment and lots of commercials then I guess I choose 105.3...

I think 105.3 will be training wheels for new listeners to decide on the ticket or espn. Even if they do land the cowboys, if I need the broadcast then I will listen. The cowboys as well as the other sports teams in the area all have a radio simulcast and I can't think of a single time I listened to a game then tuned back in later so see what else might be on... Most of the time I have to remind myself just what netwrok any given game might be on.

 

[outlaw2448]

I hope The Fan gets the cowboys because (and I'm not an Aikman hater) but Aikman is a better player than he is a color commentator.

 

[Slambang]

Aikman works for Fox Sports, not CBS But, I agree, the guy makes a great pundit on the game, he just stinks with color commentary...

Also, if the rumors are true and the cowboys have a "done deal" with CBS radio concerning moving back in the 2009 season, does that mean the little ticket will finally get their "balls" back and start being pundits again?? If that the case, this would be win-win all around for the sports listener....

 

[FrontRowGreg]

I don't know a lot of radio history, so maybe someone here knows. Didn't KVIL say after they lost the Cowboys that other than the game broadcast, it didn't do anything for their ratings? Granted, KVIL isn't sports talk. But, if people don't listen to the Fan shows, how do the Cowboys make a difference? They'll have good numbers on gameday, but then everyone will switch back to The Ticket or ESPN. Obviously, there must be value in broadcasting the Cowboys, but I don't think it contributes to the rest of the week.

 

[jeffdfw]

This may be a stupid question but who listens to football on the radio? I tend to watch it on TV.

 

[FrontRowGreg]

This may be a stupid question but who listens to football on the radio? I tend to watch it on TV.

If I'm driving on Sunday, I'll put the game on. Before all the delays got out of sync, I would put on the radio broadcast if I didn't like the TV crew working and watch the game that way.

 

[little1]

I don't know a lot of radio history, so maybe someone here knows. Didn't KVIL say after they lost the Cowboys that other than the game broadcast, it didn't do anything for their ratings? Granted, KVIL isn't sports talk. But, if people don't listen to the Fan shows, how do the Cowboys make a difference? They'll have good numbers on gameday, but then everyone will switch back to The Ticket or ESPN. Obviously, there must be value in broadcasting the Cowboys, but I don't think it contributes to the rest of the week.

The Ticket used to be #1 with Men 25-54 and now this year, broadcasting the Cowboys, they've dropped!!!

Oh sure, it could be due to PPM, but maybe it's the COWBOYS causing the drop in their ratings!!! ;D

Seriously though, I've heard the same thing, from K(e)VIL, people I know that were at KLUV, and now people I know at the Ticket. It might help your sunday afternoon ratings, But no station yet seems to be able to convert the people listening to M-Fri daytime listening, which is when the majority of advertising is sold.

I went around and around with somebody on this a few months back, and used the 12+ ratings of KVIL back in the day (from DFW radio archive dot com maybe?) to show that having the Cowboys didn't seem to move their overall ratings numbers.

Example, making up numbers, non footbal book, a 5.0, next non football book a 5.1, football book a stunning 5.0!!!
Sure it's 12+, and maybe in some key demos they're audienced increased. But nobody seems to be able to point, in any demographic, to a bump attributable to the Cowboys. You'd think you'd be able to look at the ratings and say 'see this jump from 5.0 to 5.5 ifrom Summer to the fall book, that's because of football". But in ~30 years in this market, I have yet to see anybody make that claim.

 

[NealH]

I don't know a lot of radio history, so maybe someone here knows. Didn't KVIL say after they lost the Cowboys that other than the game broadcast, it didn't do anything for their ratings? Granted, KVIL isn't sports talk. But, if people don't listen to the Fan shows, how do the Cowboys make a difference? They'll have good numbers on gameday, but then everyone will switch back to The Ticket or ESPN. Obviously, there must be value in broadcasting the Cowboys, but I don't think it contributes to the rest of the week.

You've got to consider KVIL's target audience. Females - 18-49. The Cowboy games attract the exact opposite demo. So it's no real surprise that Cowboy games didn't have a lasting affect on KVIL's ratings.

With The Fan's current lineup, yes, you're right listeners won't likely hang around the rest of the week, but if CBS is actually willing to spend the money to either hire disgruntled Ticket hosts or bring in a show that can compete, it could get interesting.

 

[salemjedi54]

This may be a stupid question but who listens to football on the radio? I tend to watch it on TV.

I do....religously. I turn the TV sound down and listen to Brad and Babe. Why? The cover the team 24/7. These TV hacks come in on Friday and try to digest everything in a 48 hour period. Plus I am a radio geek. I have been watching Cowboy games like this for about 25 years. Sometimes I listen to Sooners Radio Network, and the Longhorn Sports Network. I will always prefer the guys who cover the team on a daily basis to the network hack.....