That's not how it works at the better sports talk radio stations across the nation. The Ticket in Dallas is a perfect example. They do not do "Caller Driven Sports Talk". They used that format in the infancy of their existence 20 years ago but once they learned that Sports Talk Radio was really a show that they were in charge of they dumped the "Caller Driven Format". For the last several years they may only take a few calls a week and some shows never take a call. The on air talent decides how to run his segments and what topics are going to be discussed and keep the talk on topic. Typically they change subjects every segment but sometimes they will extend a subject across multiple segments (15 minutes). They take the occasional call but the caller is always screened to ensure he is on topic prior to going on the air and they never have extended conversations with the caller. The results have been outstanding for them. The Tickets is not just the top rated Sports Talk Shows in the nation, they are always at the very top of all radio station ratings in Dallas regardless of Talk Radio or Music Radio. The Ticket are annual Marconi Award nominees and even won the Marconi this past year. The 3 Sports Talk Radio Stations in Dallas basically follow the same format as The Ticket and all enjoy some comfortable level of success. Another sign of success for the Ticket is the they have the same core of Radio Hosts they have had since the Radio Station started 2 decades ago. They have made a few changes in their on air talent but the biggest part of the core remains the same. Why doesn't the Ticket Change they time slots and on air talent like some Radio Stations? Because their rating are so damn good. On 790 at around 3:30 PM they do a spot called "Believe It or Not". It's a stupid question and answer game the Radio Host plays with the callers. It's specifically designed to get people to call in but while some are calling in many more are tuning out. This is called a segment killer at the more successful Sports Talk Radio Stations and will get your host moved to the midnight shift or more likely, get his ass fire. You want to know why 790 and other Sports Talk Radio Stations in Houston have such poor ratings and fire Radio Hosts like Matt & Adam? It's really simple and it's called "Caller Driven Format". Houston has some great things to talk about, tons of sports subjects to cover so there is absolutely zero excuse to be doing "Caller Driven Radio". If Rocket fans know that they will have segments dedicated to the team and informed sports talk they will tune in to listen. Same goes for Astro's fans. If the Radio Stations in Houston mix in a 15 minute segment on the Rockets every hour and control the topic, ignore the phone lines and then move on to the next topic on the next segment they will be much improved. Tease your segments to keep the callers and for god sakes don't start a segment about a topic and then jump to another topic just because some random caller want's to hijack your segment.
Still wouldn't change the fact that they'd likely still talk about the Texans... even without callers doing it for them. Hosts of call in show can certainly "dictate" what calls they're taking, and what the pertinent subject matter of the show "Should" be, even if they have to depend on the callers to provide the bulk of the volume. The Rockets, and NBA in general, just aren't going to be relevant during football season... and Houston is not the only city in America where this is true.
I hate when they play believe it or not. I totally fine out, usually like matt Thomas otherwise but even the way they say BEEleive it is annoying.
The Texans have a worse winning percentage than the Astros, their season is over and its all Texans all the time on all the stations. Anyone know what their TV ratings are?
Xm channel 217 = Nba radio bliss. Today they had jerry stackhouse breaking down possible asik trades.
Thanks, sir... never knew, but will now listen often. XM used to have an entertaining show with Rick Barry.. he's cool and knows his stuff. They ended up cancelling the entire station, but perhaps it returned.
XM cancelling Fox Sports was a kick to the gut for me. There are still other ways to listen, but they're much more inconvenient.
Agree 1000% with this. Even though I pretty much hate all things Dallas The Ticket is the best local sports station I've ever heard and it's not close. When I get sick of caller driven radio here, which happens often, I listen to The Ticket on iHeartRadio. I would love it if Houston had something equivalent (or at least a poor mans version of it) but alas it's mostly garbage.
Go out on the freeway during rush hour. People love viewing wrecks. They are mindless, yes, of poor moral fiber, yes, but the fact remains. Blood sells. Voyeurism sells. And right now that's what the Texans are. Blood in the water. A shipwreck, trainwreck, planecrash, carcrash, Tbone on I-45, 610, I-10, what have you. So no, poor performance actually PROPELS increased Texans talk. Not the other way around.
I sure didn't hear too many Astros calls last season ... and that organization wasn't just a trainwreck, the damn train station itself blew up.
Nothing to Texans do will decrease their popularity and discussion in the city. They win and you have people screaming super bowl and breaking down the next game. They lose out like this year and people discuss the draft and who they can get next year. It won't stop. If they are mediocre than it's more complaining about how they can't get to the next Level. The popularity of this team is ridiculous, on my 30 minute drive home I see an average of 3 - 5 cars with Texan logos on the back.
Good performance propels Texans talk, mediocre performance propels talk, poor performance propels talk, all the same **** really, these radio stations are just tied to the Texans. Look another poster said Astros have been a disaster and they were never talked about as much as the Texans. These are just excuses.
Actually I heard some rockets talk this morning on 610. It is kind of sad when nick wright talks more rockets than 790, the home of the rockets.
This just isn't true. It takes me 30 minutes to get from home to work and Adam and Lance talked Rockets nearly the whole time this morning. And they have similar segments every morning on their show, granted it was longer than usual today. I rarely agree with their takes, but it's apparent that all the people claiming to never hear Rockets talk on 790 just aren't listening. Sure the Texans hog most of the discussion (personally I don't mind), but the Rockets do get burn. And they'll only get more as the season goes on.
I can't let this bogus claim go unnoticed That host is Matt Thomas, EASILY the best sports radio host in this city. To call his show caller driven is ludicrous. Matt puts on the best show in this town or any sports radio for my money because he doesn't take sports so seriously and is there to entertain Also, outside of Charlie palilo (who is totally unlistenable IMO) no show on 790 is caller driven
Also, as sad as it was, Matt and Adam got canned because they were the worst program on their channel. They were out of touch and vanilla. Adam clanton does bring up the rockets pretty often btw
So you're saying if the Texans were great/mediocre (not a train wreck) they'd get less coverage? This is football country. Texans get coverage regardless of record.
I was on the drive home today from about 500 to 600, listened to Charlie on 790 and the whole time it was discussion about the Texans. Rockets didn't come up once unless it was during the time I stopped to pick up dinner on the way home. Anyway, I have grown to hate the Texans. I like the players for the most part but, I just hate their management, their way, their logos, and the fact that this city talks about them non stop. Their logo and name represent everything stereotypical about Houston, that we all ride bulls and wear cowboy hats. It was so much better when we had the Oilers. The Texans to me are still like a rebound from your ex. They just seem like a bunch of clowns to me. Now that they are a disaster again It's the same endless ramble about how they need to hire Gruden or Cower, how they need to draft better and who they need to go after with the #1 pick. I'm tired of hearing it. I've stopped listening to the radio lately but I'll tune in for a few minutes each day to see what they are talking about and sure enough it's always Texans. I guess Football is an easy sport to pick up and you don't need to invest but a week in watching it.
