When Corby Davidson was approached by SportsRadio 96.7 & 1310 The Ticket program director Bruce Gilbert to move to afternoon drive at the turn of the century, he initially declined the offer. After all, Davidson had recently moved into the midday slot working alongside Bob Sturm and Dan McDowell on BaD Radio, a three-hour midday program where he served as the third voice. As time went on, Davidson found that he was becoming comfortable contributing to the show and felt that they were building something unique in the daypart. Even though the drivetime slot would allow him to continue appearing on air, he was somewhat malcontented towards a potential maneuver.
Davidson obliged and joined the program, originally spanning five hours in the daypart due to the departure of Chris Arnold from the neighboring show. At the time, the station was in its fifth year on the air and aimed to established itself in the Dallas-Fort Worth marketplace. The afternoon show, titled The Hardline, was attaining high ratings and was beloved by listeners, but its team wanted to add a third voice. Because of their desire, Davidson was reassigned to the time slot, his own wishes notwithstanding.
“It was pretty nerve-wracking at first to be on with those guys, but you learn pretty quickly that, just like before, [to] just kind of be yourself and don’t put too much pressure on yourself and you’ll eventually fit in, and I did,” Davidson said. “It took about a year with those guys before I felt really comfortable.”
Davidson has occupied the afternoon daypart ever since, taking on an elevated role when co-host Greg Williams walked off the show and subsequently resigned. The perception around his exit was ostensibly ambiguous, and the entities came to terms on a settlement several months later. There was considerable interest surrounding the circumstances of the program, but Davidson, co-host Mike Rhyner and producer Danny Bayless ultimately stayed focused on crafting the most effective show possible. Approximately a decade-and-a-half later, The Hardline is continuing to thrive in the locale and appealing to listeners on a daily basis.
“I just always in my mind picture somebody in the car driving and I don’t want them tensed up over anything,” Davidson said. “I want them to be as loose as we are and having a good time with a smile on their face like we are.”
Through consistent ratings success, there have been sweeping changes resulting in a considerable alteration of the programming lineup. From the retirement of Norm Hitzges to tumult in middays, Davidson has persisted and been a constant through it all. In fact, he recently reaffirmed his commitment towards the Cumulus Media-owned station by inking a five-year contract extension. Remaining at The Ticket was an easy decision for Davidson, who started working there as an intern eight months after it took the air as the city’s first all-sports radio station.
“This is the only place when I’m done that I will have ever worked at,” Davidson said. “It was pretty important; for me it was really important that it was going to be the case that this kind of is my legacy that I started here and I’m probably, after five years, going to end it there.”
Davidson intends to step away from The Ticket and sports radio following the conclusion of this deal and is content with the way everything has unfolded. With the evolution of media and integration of digital platforms, he feels that The Ticket may end up being the last great terrestrial radio station. Even so, Davidson has a reverence for the history at the outlet with a cognizance towards innovation and a clear ability to adapt, along with other on-air talent, that has engendered collective longevity.
“We’re in a really good spot right now,” Davidson said. “We’ve got a really good lineup, and I just have confidence that’s just going to continue. We’re in a great town for the format that we have, [and] the guys are all super-talented and driven.”
One thing Davidson asserts he will not do is go elsewhere since he views The Ticket as his proverbial radio home. Even though there are sometimes bad days where Davidson feels he has not had his best performance, his morale remains strong. At the same time, competition in the ratings against other outlets, including Audacy-owned 105.3 The Fan, keeps him driven to demonstrate an effort replete with shrewd preparation, compelling banter and effusive gratitude. When Davidson shows up to work, the commitment to the listening audience and colleagues acts as self-credence for his innate, ambitious spirit.
“I’m not going to say that I’ll be completely done with doing something of this form, but I will never work for another radio station – ever,” Davidson avouched. “That will be done.”
Fortuitous timing and calculated audacity helped Davidson become distinct and stand out in the market, beginning from his time as a college student at the University of North Texas. Outside of taking classes to satisfy his history and English major, Davidson was an avid listener of The Howard Stern Show and noticed the affability therein. Taking inspiration from Stern’s program, he joined the school’s radio station where he was allowed to deliver sports and news updates. Shortly thereafter, he walked into the front door of The Ticket and asked for an internship, officially beginning his professional endeavors in the industry.
“I literally lived up there for about three years straight just trying to learn anything and everything that I could from whoever would talk to me [and] whoever would listen to me, and it was a great place to be at the time – at the radio station early on,” Davidson said. “There’s a lot of turnover, obviously, at a brand-new place that nobody thought would make it, and so it was just [the] right place, right time for me.”
The station provided Davidson with chances to cultivate the versatility and knowledge needed to thrive, performing a wide variety of tasks around the broadcasts. Chris Arnold ultimately took a chance on him when he agreed to allow him to produce his midday show, an invaluable venture that augmented his capabilities.
“He helped me out and let me be on the air, which I hadn’t done any of,” Davidson said. “He was basically saying, ‘Just be yourself and you’ll be cool,’ and so it was a big step for me being able to just kind of shoot the bull with him on the air whenever – really whenever I wanted – and kind of gave me carte blanche to talk to him whenever. That was huge; that was a big step.”
Following a short run on BaD Radio he was tasked to start anew on The Hardline. Benefitting from his producing expertise, Davidson had an idea of how to put a show together that would remain topical and relevant to the audience while also providing a reprieve.
Rhyner remained on The Hardline until 2020 when he left the station and later joined 97.1 The Freak, but the impact he made on the station is evident. Davidson credits him for coming up with his pseudonym, “Cobra,” which he claims is a derivative of his forename. From there, it evolved into “Snake,” which can be perceived as representing an acerbic, over-the-top hosting approach that Rhyner noticed.
Davidson feels that he has evolved as a host and has established and retained a rapport with the listeners. He ensures that nothing is synthetic.
“It’s very hard to carry on a fake persona or a fake personality in this business, I think, and make it work,” Davidson said. “You either are who you are or you’re not, and if you can stay true to yourself, then you’ll have a hell of a lot better shot at making it.”
A distinctive feature of The Ticket is its legion of dedicated P1 listeners, frequently consuming programming and participating in the show. There are numerous ways in which The Hardline interacts with its audience. For example, the program begins with a Helpline in which listeners can evince their feelings about topics, regardless if they are about sports. While these listeners are appreciated, programming across The Ticket has moved away from taking live calls, although it has not repudiated the practice entirely.
“It’s not like we stopped – we’ll take a phone call every now and then – but we would have full segments set aside for it and we just don’t anymore,” Davidson said. “Maybe we like to hear our own heads rattle around a little bit. I don’t know what it was, but the entire station just kind of went away from it.”
The ratings show The Hardline garnered a 10.9 share among Men 25-54 in the most recent Dallas-Fort Worth fall book, finishing first in the marketplace during its daypart. Davidson attributes much of that measurement of success to the P1 listeners and their unwavering loyalty towards the station and its programming.
“Our P1s are hard core,” Davidson said. “They’re hard-core listeners [who] feel like they’re a part of our lives, and we try to make sure that they feel that way.”
On the current iteration of The Hardline, Davidson is working with Dave Lane and reunited with Bob Sturm, two co-hosts he articulates are talented and easy to work with. There is a mutual understanding of their roles and what they bring to the show, alongside producer DJ Ringgenberg. In essence, the professionalism and aptitude of his colleagues assist Davidson with his work as he focuses on providing contributions to enhance the overall program.
“It just goes that they’re just good dudes that are good at what they do, and so it makes my life a hell of a lot easier knowing that,” Davidson said. “They work really hard at what they do, and there was a time there for a while where I was working with someone who wasn’t working too hard, and so it’s a good change when dudes are pot committed and all-in.”
Working with two co-hosts on the air in a show predicated on a lack of structure makes it imperative for Davidson to help extrapolate the strengths of his colleagues. When the show is over, Davidson hopes that everyone is jovial and upbeat with an excitement to return the next day without internal controversy.
“You want to give everybody their voice and their take,” Davidson said. “Be respectful of that, be respectful of the crew 100% [and] have a relationship with those guys. Coming from where I did really at the very bottom of the radio station to the start, it gives you quite a bit of perspective.”
From the beginning of his time with The Ticket, program director Jeff Catlin has been a constant presence at the station. Davidson has a professional working relationship with Catlin, but their history spans back to when they were children. Both Davidson and Catlin attended high school together and knew each other even earlier in their youth. In having him as a leader, Davidson emphasizes that Catlin has a strong understanding of the business. As it stands, he has made several key hires at the station that have presumably impacted the end product and bottom line.
“He’s got a good handle on things and a good feel for what we need,” Davidson said of Catlin. “Most importantly, he’s one of those guys that’s totally in the bunker with us.”
Catlin helps decipher the ratings and communicates with talent about the significance of various metrics, emphasizing their place as hallmarks of success. Even though Davidson divulged that the station was No. 1 in prime hours for the entirety of last year, he also acknowledged that there are other tools from which to adjudicate and assess the product.
“We always had this underdog mentality from the moment the radio station started. Even though it’s been a crazy run of success, we’ve kind of kept our mentality that way that we’re still kind of the little underdog with a weak signal and all that, and he’s all about that and so am I,” Davidson said, referencing Catlin. “I think that keeps the competitive edge going, and he stresses that quite a bit.”
The success of the program and loyalty of Davidson made it seem like his return was a natural resolution to the pending expiration of his contract. Without an agent or a lawyer with him in negotiations, Davidson represented himself and formally committed to the station for the next five years. He felt comfortable taking this approach because of the rapport he has built with management and desire to continue in his role.
“I just went in there and said, ‘Look – you want me here; I want to be here. Let’s make it fair,’ and that was really it,” Davidson said. “I have a good relationship with him and I shoot him pretty straight and he does me and so we both know that. The whole process was really, really painless.”
As he was assimilating in the industry, Davidson remembers being broke for a prolonged period of time, but he was indifferent towards the matter since he was enjoying his occupation. Throughout his career, he feels he has been in the right place at the right time, but also exhibited patience during the journey. Davidson has immense confidence in the re-crafted lineup at the station, believing it puts the outlet in a good spot that will lead to additional triumphs in the future.
The Ticket will be the only radio station Davidson works for, he stated, revealing that he will likely step aside at the end of his new five-year deal. Outside of the outlet though, he is not closing the door for other opportunities as the modern media ecosystem continues to change based on consumer preferences, financial projections and variations in delivery platforms. Regardless of the means by which consumers engage with content though, Davidson is certain that sports talk as a format will persist.
“People are insatiable when it comes to this stuff, and we’re all lucky to be a part of it in one form or another,” Davidson said. “We’re lucky that there is an industry – whether it’s doing it; covering it; whatever – we’re all really, really fortunate to be a part of it because in the end, it is fun.”
Derek Futterman is an associate editor and sports media reporter for Barrett Media. Additionally, he has worked in a broad array of roles in multimedia production – including on live game broadcasts and audiovisual platforms – and in digital content development and management. He previously interned for Paramount within Showtime Networks, wrote for the Long Island Herald and served as lead sports producer at NY2C. To get in touch, find him on X @derekfutterman.
