I get enough exposure to non-caller driven radio from the national guys, and it sometimes gets tiring... its a good format for people who like to hear their own voices, but its also largely interview-based, and a ton of gimmick/schticks (like an hour of "believe it or not"). When Houston sports has the interviews, gimmicks, and non-caller stuff... I find myself tuning out then as well. I agree that in this city, where not a lot of people care about the Rockets till they're about to throw parades, the caller-driven format will subdue interest... but I also see that happening in a lot of NBA markets that compete with the NFL/MLB/college sports for attention. The NBA just doesn't get enough buzz till the playoffs.
I hate the Caller Driven Radio. 70% of the callers (and that's being generous) have no idea what they are talking about.
I hate believe it or not. But... There are stations out there that understand how to do structured radio segments. The Ticket in Dallas is a station that started out doing caller driven radio and changed to a much more structured format. They put on an actually show and their segments are very structured. Just my preference.
Agreed. I hate Dallas but that station is outstanding, I wish we had something remotely close to that here.
I listened regularly to the ticket prior to Iheart radio and some other radio apps. I love the format and their shows are really good but what Rockets fan wants to hear about the Mavs. . When I get sick of trying to get Rockets talk on 790 I switch over to the Ticket.
Wow. Could not disagree more. Local, caller-focused sports radio is where it's at. In my opinion, it's much more entertaining and listenable. The trend away from listener calls is why I have by and large stopped listening to national sports radio. It is just so freaking boring. Back in the day, I did listen to a lot of Sports Entertainment Network (later Sporting News, now Yahoo) when they were based out of Vegas and entirely driven by listener calls. How anyone can prefer the boring hot-air monologues that make up most national sports radio today is beyond me.
I agree that they should stick with local sports. A structured format does not mean you focus on the national sports scene. Getting rid of a caller driven format does not even mean you can't take some calls...but it's not caller driven. One of the biggest problems with caller driven radio is that topics tend to meander. Just when you get into a good discussion some caller completely gets off topic ruining what was an otherwise good discussion. Don't confuse Mike and Mike as the only style of non-caller driven sports talk. There are very successful sports radio stations that use a structured format as opposed to caller driven that have had the type of success that has allowed them to keep the same on air radio talent for 2 decades with a large and extremely loyal listening audience. Chose your topics and stick with those topics through out the segment. If you chose to take calls keep them short and on topic. If they try to change the topic of that segment boot them off. Also, if you believe in keeping to the local sports then you must have been disappointed in all the Jadaveon Clowney talk while the Rockets were mostly ignored.
Charlie just said now, we have 70 more days of NFL draft talk, Rockets should be getting way more talk than the draft/Texans. One team is playing, the other is not. Amen to that! Can we talk about why we can't freaking beat the stupid clippers and how we may very well face them in the playoffs instead of talking about Clowney and Manziel?
I flipped on 610 at around 1pm, and was shocked to hear that they were talking about Dwight Howard today about his back problems and how he's starting to turn the corner to return to his former form. I was shocked! Then I realized it was only an example used in a larger discussion about Arian Foster's injury. WTF.
Yes, that was an Arian segment where Dwight was brought up as an example. We spent about 5 segments (out of 16) on the Rockets today, so we're trying.
Jeff Van Gundy on 610 ... ... {Talking about Asik & Harden} He was one of my favorite players for a long period of time. I had such respect for how hard he competed, his defense, his rebounding. That guy is a starting level center. So when Dwight signed, I felt for him but there are no guarantees. The Rockets did the right thing. They had a chance to get a better player for nothing other than his salary and they went out and did it. Do you feel bad for Asik? Yes. Do you condone holding this team hostage? No. I do believe that check was still coming every 2 weeks for $8 million. It didn't say in that contract you're guaranteed X amount minutes. This high character player got off track. He's thinking too much about his own plight than the team's. The time to resolve this is in the offseason. Push hard if you want to be traded but you owe your team, your coach and your teammates complete unselfishness. The goal is to win it. Play as hard as you can and by playing hard and well, something good is gonna happen to you. It comes back to you. I don't know who's advice, if anybody, he is following but it was the wrong advice. He's still not to me, whether conditioning or his spirit, he's still not back to the player he can be. Howard will be in foul trouble and they'll need Asik to come in and be what he really is: a top 15 center. Harden unfairly criticized at times because when he's bad defensively, it looks awful. How much better does he need to get on that end of the court to be a superstar in the league? He's a great, great player. But to win it all, your best players have to set the right tone. The other players have to know what's important to them. That's why your best players have to be committed on the defensive end of the floor. You're not gonna beat the Miami Heat and LeBron James in a series if your best players don't have the same will to play both ends. This is the Clippers too. If you're not committed at that end of the floor and it starts with your best players, you don't have a chance to win it all. It's not really criticism of James Harden. It's what's the next step if you're gonna win it all? I think Harden knows this. He knows the importance of defense. He was in the Finals before. He knows what it takes. When he has his slip-ups and glaring slip-ups, you would think no one is having to tell him that. I'm not just letting my team down in that game, I'm not setting the right tone for us overall to win it. Everything in this league starts with your best players: their attitude, their unselfishness, their commitment to doing all the things it takes to win. Do Harden and Howard have a burden? Absolutely. If they want to win it, that's their burden. That's why it's hard to find guys who are talented enough and committed enough from a best players standpoint to win it. The Rockets have it. Yeah, they gotta play defense. It's not a burden. This is what you need to do to win it and I think Harden will be up to the challenge. I think when he is committed, he can not only be a good defender, he can be an outstanding defender. ... ...
JVG has been incredibly high on the Rockets all season even during pre-season calling us contenders. I will be surprised if Houston does not beat Miami - JVG
I actually enjoy the Rockets talk on Mad Radio more that I do anyone else's. Glad that 790 put Jay Moher on during the lunch hour, because if not I would have never found your show.
Goddang it. I really like that JVG is consistently positive about the Rockets, but every time he comes up with something like this it jinxes us.
I was thinking to myself this morning, since we just beat the Miami Heat, if they aren't talking Rockets when I tune in, I'm going to flip. Guess what they were talking about? 790 talking about Nick Saban, 610 talking about the draft, 1560 talking about nothing as usual. Now to be fair 790 spent the rest of my morning commute splitting time between Nick Saban and the Rockets but seriously, when you live in Houston and your hometown basketball team is 41 - 19, just beat the defending world champions, I'd say they earned to get more share than some random comment from a college football coach. Both stations 610 and 790 defending themselves this morning about the complaining from texters and emailers about lack of rocket talk. Lance saying no one is calling in talking about the rockets and that Billy Bob has no interest in them. If no one was interested than where are all these complaints coming from about lack of discussion? Obviously there is enough complaints to warrant both stations always defending themselves. John Lopez was on 610 saying Nobody talks Rockets more than them and nobody loves basketball more than they do. I don't know, everytime I tune in to 610 it's texans draft.
Rockets got air time at 0700 and no more on 790. 610 will talk rockets when that garbage jay moar show comes on.
They (the hosts) have a mandate pushed on them by their program directors. That mandate is ALL FOOTBALL, ALL TEXANS. It's done for ratings and just shows you they don't care about producing the best sports radio show but just produce ratings. Stay away is my only advice. Besides, when they talk Rockets it's painful to listen because they are so uninformed. It's all generalities, no real insight.
