I listen to it on the way home. They temporarily setup their HDQs this week at the Super Bowl in Detroit. On the way home, they had 2 of the guys from the show - The Shield - which was pretty cool. They have a pretty good mix of sports and other guy stuff that keeps the Dallas guys interested.
Chance, I'm not surprised by the ratings success of AM610. I like Lance, Matt & Adam; I tolerate Rich & (barely) Mark; I strongly dislike Granato. One of the reasons your are so successful is the sorry competition. AM790 is a wreck. They finally got ride of that horrid Fox Sports Extravaganza and extended Mike & Mike, who aren't bad at all. Colin Cowherd is usually awful, but I like his Spanning the Globe segment. But the guy is just a blowhard who interviews himself constantly. In the evening, you have the best (Matt & Adam) against the worst (Carl Dukes). AM790 has got to realize having one host on a show is tough. Carl Dukes is unlistenable by himself. It's a crying shame his show has the longtime classic name Sportsbeat. Even Charlie has difficulty carrying his show alone, which is why Mark & Rich destroy him in the ratings. I'm guessing AM790 is trying to keep costs down but it also keeps their ratings down. Your comments on AM610 a.m. beating 740 & 950 strike a chord with me. Those two stations have been completely ruined by Clear Channel, who is the worst thing to ever happen to radio. I get mad thinking about it. Your station has benefitted from their incompetence. On the print side, John McClain is very good. Read columnists from around the country and not many are better than him. But McClain isn't that good on the radio, IMO. He adds a little spice to the morning show I guess. The Ticket in Dallas is incredible sometimes, but they are disgusting when they step over the edge (many of you know what I'm talking about). The Ticket's criticism of the local teams is very refreshing. They have absolutely no fear of saying what many fans think and don't care if a team is offended. I wish 610 or 790 would do that more, but it seems they are more concerned with jockeying for broadcast rights and currying favor with the teams.
Well, the Ticket knows the recipe on getting ratings. They push the envelope with sports and entertainment.
The ticket in Dallas can be flat out racist at times. I spent time working in Dallas recently, and on the drive home they had a consistent running joke that made fun of "hispaños". One of the things they'd ponder is how many "hispaños" they could fit in the back of a pickup truck. This would be followed by uncontrollable laughter. This joke seriously went on for over a month. They also took gratuitous shots at blacks and ebonics, as well. I really couldn't believe what I was hearing.
The coverage in the chronicle isn't terrible.....the writers are just so-so (whether u agree with their opinions or not). If you listen to sports radio in Houston, you get the feeling that the talk show hosts don't realize that there are sports outside of SE Texas. Say what you want about journalists in the NE part of the country (Vescey blows...as do many of the NY beat writers)...but as for the sports radio guys, its like night and day compared to here. The TV, when its on Fox, is fine IMO...but the fact that a pro franchise is allowed to telecast a professional game on ch 51 (or ch 2) is an absolute atrocity.
and quite frankly this is my biggest critique of 610. that's why I think charlie palilo is absolutely the best sports announcer in houston. not only is he very smart, he's very objective. in contrast, you have vandemeer.
Perhaps not. When I've travelled, I've typically only picked up USA Today and then ran through it casually at best. The thing that gets me is the poorly written drivel that passes onto the Sports section. Even op/ed columns should at least attempt to be factually accurate and should involve at least *some* research. It seems utterly irresponsible to get an entire city worked up emotionally over some bs that isn't even completely accurate. The other thing that gets me is when I have delved into other papers, they cover so much more. The paper in Denver, when the Astros came to town, had several, not just one, articles about the Astros. So fans who read the paper had an interest in the opponent for that series. I've never seen the Chronicle do that. That, and when I read Justice and Ortiz, and sometimes McTaggart, I feel like I'm reading here or listening to the whiners on AM610, and that should not be. Those guys should be a cut above, and they should have something more to offer than the average joe.
We definitely took advantage of some, in my estimation, poor programming decisions by Ken. He labels bad books as 'posturing' and good books as 'the result of hard work' but it will be tough to spin this last one. For the record I will readily admit that this book could be an anomoly but our trend was good no matter what.
I think sports coverage in Houston could be worse, but there's a lot of room for improvement. Chinese media shouldn't beat local sports media to scoop news stories. Also, I'd like to see a LOT more interviews with coaches and players. Good example: for a long time we here at the bbs (some of the most avid Rockets fans) had no idea what was going on with Derek Anderson's injury. Inexcusable. Houston sports media should have that info constantly updated. Also, current media should ask better questions. I keep hearing 610 guys interview Rockets coaches and staff and ask them dumb questions that nobody cares about. They should ask a lot more questions about a lot more topics related to their sport. Don't ask the basketball coach who he's rooting for in the Superbowl. Ask him what he's doing to address the full-court press, etc. Houston media needs to be about 10 times more thorough than it currently is. More quotes. More pitcures. More updates. More interviews. MORE! Hell, we have a pro NBA team, a pro NFL team, a pro MLB team, a new pro Soccer team, and we might get a pro NHL team. It's about friggin' time that we get some thorough media coverage.
EXACTAMUNDO...the reporters, talk show hosts, etc do not do their job. They ask meaningless questions so in turn, we get meaningless information. These guys are afraid to ask the tough question...whether its to Purp, Drayton, Capers or whoever. They need to put these guys on the spot and dig for answers.
today I was looking at the sports page, they have two kids from madison in the top ten in 5A Basketball ranked one and two in steals. the first is listed at 11.1 steals a game and the second 9.8. and under the nba section they under "today's t.v." they have the games scheduled for tomorrow including the Rocket's game vs. L.A.
Matt and Adam aren't afraid. The thing that separates them from the Lance/Granato and Mark/Rich teams is they obviously PREPARE for all interviews. Isn't that a novel concept? Palilo does also and he's very good at interviews when he decides to ask tough questions. I know most here don't like David Dalati, but he's decent at interviewing the few times I hear him.
BTW Chance, How did you get a gig at 610? I thought all you did was do jingles and goofy songs. How did you land a Producer job? Just Wondering!
I think they're afraid that if they put 'em on the spot, the coach/player won't do an interview with them again in the future. That sucks.
You are trip man. But that's cool and all. I'm still waiting for the "Casserly, don't be a puss and draft Vince" song to hit 610...
