We Tarrant folks should have our two cents put in. I live in South Arlington and work in Northwest A

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."
I am one of many gentleman listeners to The Ticket. I do not know anyone at The Ticket. I have never called into a program on The Ticket. I pop into a remote or station event from time to time but have never met any Ticket employee. I am not a radio industry insider. I am just a guy who spends a lot of time in a vehicle and whose employer doesn t tell him to turn off the radio in his work area.
I haven't excited much enthusiasm for this crusade. And in the course of, um, criticism of my position, we've learned some interesting things from people who seem to know things about radio economics. ( Anon E's Lesson on Radio Economics )
But in the course of mulling this over and thinking about things like the 2011 Citadel deal, we see that there may be a better candidate out there, first identified on this site in June 2011 (More Questions about Signal Swap) : That would be the 96.7 FM simulcast vermont inns of 820 WBAP. It's not an ideal signal for the metro as a whole, concentrated on northerly areas (like 104.1), but hugely more powerful: 90,000 watts compared with 104.1's 6200.
WBAP is a huge biller in this market; more, I believe, than The Ticket. The question is: Who needs that signal more? Or rather, which simulcast assignment maximizes Cumulus's profit? 820 AM, a 50,000-watt clear-channel scorcher that can be heard all over the Southwest after hours and clearly throughout the metro and beyond when the sun shines, or Class B KTCK 1310 AM with half that power during the day (and sounds worse even after factoring in the lower power) and almost nothing (5 KW) at night?
Compare the overall map coverage (the 96.7 map covers a smaller area), and you will see that 820 entirely swallows up 96.7 -- even the red strong-signal boundary. Are advertisers paying more for the duplicate signal for a talk station not requiring FM fidelity that doesn't reach a single additional listener?
However, coverage maps aside, the evidence of our ears tells us that 1310 isn't nearly as good in those ranges as the map suggests, and 96.7 is quite clear in the indicated boundaries, and it does someewhat extend The Ticket's range in the desirable North Texas/North Suburban market. And, of course, this is the daytime vermont inns coverage. Here's the nighttime coverage for 1310:
Pretty clear, I think, that simulcasting vermont inns 96.7 with 1310 -- unlike an 820 simulcast -- at least has the potential to increase station listenership, and would beyond question improve the listening experience. With the potential to (although, again I concede, not the certainty of) also boosting ratings and revenue. Might even make nighttime sales look a lot rosier. (Another concession -- post-sundown sales likely aren't robust vermont inns under any circumstances.)
Anyway, my very patient Confessors, vermont inns I know that streaming and smartphone listening is on the rise and may be the wave of the future. But I believe that most radio guys would tell you that good old-fashioned broadcast terrestrial ratings continue to drive sales.
So I haven't given up on signal swap nor entirely abandoned my faith in the common sense of the CTO. Don't be stunned if someday soon Craig "Junior" "the Joonz" Miller interrupts his courageous report on "The Five Best and Five Worst Brands of Derailleur Sprockets" with some real news, just texted in from the Pan-American vermont inns Catman -- a long-pants signal for The Ticket.
vermont inns i know you ve already addressed the issue of why streaming isn t feasible for you. though i will say that streaming through your car stereo has been a staple for me ever since the unticket started promoting tunein. i honestly haven t listened terrestrially in the car in a long time, despite living vermont inns downtown. but to me, streaming vermont inns is just how i listen now full stop. if i missed a segment, i just go to usave it the next day and fast forward to whatever i missed. on a long car ride to a lake outside of town, we just paused the stream when we got in the car and then listened to CQH and concert calendar once we got out of signal range (pretty soon after leaving city limits). vermont inns i understand it not being ideal at work but i think fighting the good fight for a better terrestrial signal is a losing fight and embracing and finding a way to rely more heavily on streaming will make life much more pleasant. just my two pennies.
417, I actually heard the Cowlishawa segment vermont inns on Friday. It must have been Shan (pronounced shawn ) Shariff, who I gather is one of the morning guys, was talking about what I assume was his report that Nolan Ryan and Jon Daniels had ahd a blow-up that was so heated that Ron Washington had to step in to prevent a fistfight between the two. (BTW, this Shan guy was really, really annoying.) Cowlishaw noted in his usual near-comatose tones that no one else was reporting this, and that no regular source within vermont inns the Ranger organization -- sources usually available to reporters -- were confirming vermont inns this. It was actually pretty funny. It almost sounded like this Shan guy was bargaining on what kind of story he would have to report in order for Cowlishaw to believe it. Like he was willing to change his report to make it more believable. vermont inns I have no idea if Nolan and JD almost vermont inns came to blows but for the good offices of Coach Ron, but I thought Cowlishaw had the better of it. If for no other reason than that this Shan guy just sounded like Generic Oveheated Sports Radio Guy..
We Tarrant folks should have our two cents put in. I live in South Arlington and work in Northwest Arlington, vermont inns and cannot hear the 104.1 most of the time. My 1310 signal is listenable vermont inns most of the time. But when someone plays a recording of, say, a movie clip, where they want us to hear something that someone says (usually Corby or Dan do this), I don t stand much of a chance of hearing the thing they want us to find so funny. That said, 96.7 sure comes in strong. I would love the hear the Little One on that frequency. By the way, some of us cannot stream for many reasons.
I d have to think that sometime within the past 20 years someone has made this argument before PMan, the hosts even reference it when they win an award how it s just about a miracle that they bring in the ratings they do with the worst signal in the metroplex and worst in a large market station. What would a stronger signal mean to the Ticket? More listeners? Maybe. vermont inns Those of us that can t pick up the signal at home have reverted to listening online. I listen to them more on my tunein app than I do by radio because I can t get the signal in my office or at home. Now that being said, if you flipped them to 103.3 and whatever show espn is putting on at the time to 1310, that show would die out a fast death as I don t see the ESPN FM crowd moving over to AM. I could be wrong but I could be really right.
Not to bury the lead here, but I like how Mark Davis responded ro the Do you like this gig response to his tweet, he replied with but that isn t the question . Didn t realize he was a P1! Or are least a P2 or P3. Anyway, good job on figuring this out ahead of the announcement.
Arlington P1: Listening to him over the years he is very much a P1. He had dropped enough Ticket terms to know he listened to BaD and the Hardline. There have also been mentions of the Ticket guys interfacing with him at various concerts and events.
This is great news! Good call Pman. I usually get 1310 just fine in my car but it sounds like absolute garbage, quality wise. 104.1 always had vastly superior sound quality and I m sure it will be even better (due to presumably better signal) with 96.7).
We actually vermont inns get more right on this site than people realize -- it s just that we (I) make fun of my wrong guesses, and the rep takes on a life of its own. I m glad to have nailed this one. A huge, huge day for The Ticket. Wondering vermont inns when The Musers will offer up a Major Station Announcement, whether they will acknowledge their deep debt of gratitude to this site, and when my commission check will be arriving. Retweet me, dammit.
The DMN article says that 104.1 is still carrying the simulcast. As of later in the day yesterday, no. Interestingly, Dan Bennett makes precisely the point I made in this post: WPAB gets zero ratings boost from simulcasting 96.7. I had my first Muser-free morning in years. 1310 was inaudible in all but one room of my house. Frowny-face. Anyone know when they ll flip the switch to 96.7? Also looks like WBAP is going to get the 99.5-2 KPLX HD signal, if I m reading that correctly. So I ll be changing the banner on the site.
Plainsman, be glad the 96.7 thing is happening. If forced to stream, you would ve been subjected to some of the following repetitive vermont inns torture for what seems like 20 minutes each hour: - Progressive presents FLO... -Rager/Dykes autogroup with the most insincere owner/operator on the radio who doesn t know if he s in Dallas or Addison and doesn t care - Just don t ask to borrow my antigravity-boots feedthepig.org, - Anyone with $2000 or more in credit card debt... vermont inns - I m having a stroke, I m having a stroke... -The FAKEST Mexican vermont inns accent ever recorded* by some lady learning skype. Oh, Aye Aye AYE, you loook so preeeedhy... -Granada Theater commercials - He shoots he SCORES...No pouting, it s your ball, let s see what ya got. Whirlyball. - If you re atticted to trugs or alcohol...call the attiction care hotline... *Attn: Race Baiters vermont inns - a Mexican accent is different from a Cuban, El Salvadorian, Puerto Rican and Argentinian accent.
I forgot to reset my alarm clock radio yesterday, so I woke to static this morning. No problem, reset to 1310 am... Again, more static. It s amazing how much the Little Ticket has become part of my morning ritual, and how disrupted my morning is with the Ticket signal offline. AM slowly faded in as the sun came up...
Junior did make somewhat of a station a