The history behind Russ Martin

[gordontalk]

So how did Russ Martin supposedly get to be so big? Was it because he took over when Stern was pulled from the Eagle? Did he do amazing things simply because he kept the numbers that Stern left the Eagle with? And would that really be difficult given what was on the air in this market at that time? KLLI made him out to be this god when they launched that station and had him in morning drive. I think that Russ Martin is his biggest fan and is number 1 in his market that exists within his imagination. His show consists of the same material every single day. He must have the most boring job in the universe if you ask me. Fortunately for him, he only works 4-hours per day.

 

[satradio]

I know what you mean. When I first moved to Dallas and started listening to Howard on 105.3, the station constantly hyped Russ and when I finally got around to listening I thought "Really, THIS is the guy you guys have been hyping so much!! You've got to be kidding!!" His show was boring then and that was over five years ago. When I'm stuck in my office where I don't have my Sirrius, I'll tune in to 105.3 and Russ's show gives me a headache. It's worse than ever. The same bits, conversations, and sound effects over and over again. And you know it's repetitive because I so rarely listen and everytime I do it seems as if the show has picked up right where I left it. It's no surprise his ratings have slipped.

 

[jeffdfw]

What really annoys me is when they run the sweeper that says "This afternoon at 3:00 - the king of all DFW radio takes his throne." Puke. And "Russ Martin - ratings domination in every category." barf. :

 

[gagorder]

Gives new meaning to "The emperor has no clothes"

or why seals and croft wrote "The king of nothing"

 

[bleonard47]

I just have to chime in here. The few times I've been able to stomach a few moments of the show it's always the same tripe. There's nothing more boring than eavesdropping on a bunch of idiots in a high school locker room. They sound as if they have no idea (or care) that anyone else is listening.....as they are chattering on about stuff noone cares about or that is relevant to anything.

 

[jd]

They sound as if they have no idea (or care) that anyone else is listening.....as they are chattering on about stuff noone cares about or that is relevant to anything.

Russ's requiem for "Happy the Clown" was funny. So funny you'd almost have to pull off the road for fear of crashing your car.

But the operative word here is...was.

 

[little1]

My problem with Russ is that the focus of the show has always been about Russ and Russ's universe.

No you may be saying "well, duh", but hear me out.

Think about your own life. There's some exciting times and some boring times.

The problem being when the show is about you, boring times in your life make for boring radio.

I'm a fan of childish humor. I listen to the hardline on a semi-regular basis. But I also know that their show is going to be mostly about sports. (And all that that implies).

With Russ, it's going to be about Russ. And if you find what he's talking about that day entertaining, great. But if you don't, you're screwed.

The Hardline will jump around from football to entertainment, to baseball to "schtick' and games. Rarely beating a horse into the ground.

Russ will beat that horse not just into the ground, he'll beat it into the barnett shale 8000 feet down...

 

[monster99]

I have been listening to the Russ Martin Show forever. However, I am with everybody else. I can't stand it anymore. It is all about him. The whole band thing is anoying as hell. I think the show is no longer what it was because of the people he has lost over the years. Dan Lewis, Eddie Boyd, Valerie. Russ is way too important to concern himself with the simpletons of his listening audience! Mark the date. This guy is on a downward spiral from here on out. It will be over for him when 105.3 finally filps format. But what the hell do I know...

 

[FOZZIE BEAR]

I have been listening to the Russ Martin Show forever. However, I am with everybody else. I can't stand it anymore. It is all about him. The whole band thing is anoying as hell. I think the show is no longer what it was because of the people he has lost over the years. Dan Lewis, Eddie Boyd, Valerie. Russ is way too important to concern himself with the simpletons of his listening audience! Mark the date. This guy is on a downward spiral from here on out. It will be over for him when 105.3 finally filps format. But what the hell do I know...

I don't want to be a hater...but I have to agree. When he had Dan, Valerie with him.... he had an entertaining show. However, when I roll back into town...I will flip him on and it's just boring ass radio. And for some reason...I don't know why this annoys me...but there will be these chunks of silence during his conversations......

I mean, if his company wants to pay him the cash...it's not my money.

 

[satradio]

I don't want to be a hater...but I have to agree. When he had Dan, Valerie with him.... he had an entertaining show. However, when I roll back into town...I will flip him on and it's just boring ass radio. And for some reason...I don't know why this annoys me...but there will be these chunks of silence during his conversations......
I mean, if his company wants to pay him the cash...it's not my money.

Those chunks of silence are part of his schtick. You know, He's RUSS MARTIN so HE can have dead air because his rating are just that high..yawn. Actually, dead air is the best part of his show.

 

[radiowise]

Re:Russ Martin's time has come to go quietly into the night

One day, Martin will wake up without a job. Where can he go after that day? There's no other station where his schtick will fit. Can you imagine him on afternoon drive at KLUV or KRLD? Neither can KLUV or KRLD.

When he's fired, he's through in this market. In another market, it'd take him years to get known. Then, all those who didn't and don't like him can rejoice :-\.

I hate to see the demise of any radio personality. But, Russ Martin's "time" has come and gone. The long periods of silence aren't his problem. It's the lack of content, lack of talent and pure junk that's on the air when there's not silence.

A year from now, the world will little note nor long remember that he was on the air in DFW-land.

 

[Slambang]

Russ was a decent jock during the Eagle/early 105.3 days(pre P&K) and then he began to believe his own schtick. He tossed out all his "old friends" save long-time syophant J.D. Ryan, whos only riding Mr. Martins coat tails until retirement. IMHO, RMS will be the first casuality if CBS decides to flip the "Live" format here in town to another JACK or or sells it and makes it into another IBOC mexi-clone.

 

[MikeShannon914]

There's something to the idea of either aging with your audience, or doing something to pull in the younger ones who may not have tried your program before. Howard Stern seems to be the benchmark for this kind of talk show, but one very important thing Howard did was to weave in a little intellect and mentally-challenging fodder between the 5th grade humor (hence the news, and Robin's 'bring it back to reality' comments, etc.) Another aspect was always having a "foil" to poke fun at. Stern's show was never quite the same without Jackie Martling. All I'm saying is that you have to have a few basic elements there to draw people in to your world and keep them tuning in daily to hear what you'll say next. Dan Lewis may have been Martin's nemesis, but I'm sure it made for good radio when Dan was taken to task. (Dan, BTW, is alive and well doing radio in Victoria, TX now.)

Really, the surprise is that a coalition of Martin's fans haven't come to his rescue here. In years past, I considered that a barometer of what was going on with the RMS...the passion of his listeners to take the rest of us to task when negative comments got posted.

 

[jeffdfw]

And as if band talk, chaw talk, "hand me the bottle Clo" and the forced laughter in the room isn't bad enough... yesterday, I flipped it over to see if possibly they were discussing something new and now he's talking about opening up a bar again. I guess next they'll do something earth shattering like turning on a car alarm in Gavin's office. 105.3 is only on the presets still because of the Jagger Show.

 

[theshadow]

Those chunks of silence are part of his schtick. You know, He's RUSS MARTIN so HE can have dead air because his rating are just that high..yawn. Actually, dead air is the best part of his show.

The "dead air" bits really annoy me. I really do try to give Russ a chance, but he
has been, and still is, unfortunately, getting very old and moldy. It's very easy
to see he is a control freak with everything, and it's ALL about him, and nothing else.
It's quite sad. The whole show surrounds him, and how everyone involved in the
show can make him feel better, puff him up, or show how he supposedly has
Gavin by the 'nads contract wise. Who gives a s^%t!...

Maybe I'm an old f^&t, but I was always taught, you NEVER turn off the
microphones, and proceed to have dead air for a couple minutes while you
discuss some stupid inside or private joke for your pleasure. The listeners
don't care, and how they stay around for his stale punch lines afterwards
are beyond me. :-\

The job of a talk show host is to retain loyal listeners, and hopefully attain
NEW ones in the process. I think a new listener who just found Russ's
show doesn't have a clue what he's all about. Thing is, if you don't capture
them quick with something compelling, they're gone like dust in the wind.
I think his downfall is his belief that everyone GETS him, and what he's
all about. Many DO NOT.

 

[gagorder]

Could it be that Rust Martin has come down with the incurable Pugs and kelly disease?

 

[mrwonton]

What's really sad is all you people taking Russ too seriously. His self-centered, a-hole, rebel, devil-may-care, persona is just that -a PERSONA. It's all radio schtick.

 

[gordontalk]

I once emailed Russ and told him that I thought that he was an idiot. The results of this was my email address given out on the air and a couple of idiots e-bombing me for more than a month. I'm not sure if it's still there, however it was documented on that fan site that someone runs at russmartin.info.

 

[VERITAS DE VOCE]

My turn.

1. Wonton, you met him? It's actually not so much a persona and little more of a ne'erdowell mindset. He is an archetypal spoiled brat. There isn't suit in radio that he hasn't liked. All that brash dead air is rebel without a clue, but they pay him for it, and so he keeps buying batmobiles and dropping dollar bills down strippers g-strings.

2. I have a theory. All that dead air is more than schtick. It's him trying to figure out what he is going to say next. ???

3. Satradio, you are right (and quite possibly still an old fart ;D). You shouldn't turn off your mic on major market radio, but honestly, with the advent of "guy radio", it's accepted in areas where there needs to be more personality on-air.

4. KLLI is hanging on for dear life, so perhaps discussing royalty and Russ is only amp for ratings. Too bad it's making most of us get even more disgusted with it. Then again, why DON'T they do that doesn't (i.e. David Lee Roth, etc.)

5. Disease? Quite possibly. I hear the escalation from Pugs and Kelly Syndrome is Lex & Terry Hepatitis. ;D

 

[little1]

What's really sad is all you people taking Russ too seriously. His self-centered, a-hole, rebel, devil-may-care, persona is just that -a PERSONA. It's all radio schtick.

And I would want to listen to a self centered a-hole....WHY?

If you're going to put on a persona, you might want to pick one that, oh I don't know, people might like and listen to...

From what I've heard, there's less and less people over the last 2 years that are listening to Russ. In other words, this isn't an isolated trend or 2 that can be blamed on bad dairy placement, etc..it's a systemic drop in appeal...