The ‘Metroplex’ of Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, has been a hotbed for passionate sports fans for over 65 years. What once was a one-team market after the Dallas Cowboys were established in 1960 has grown to include professional organizations representing the area in the NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS, and, of course, the NFL. The massive droves of people coming to the ‘Lone Star State’ led to a demand for sports conversation on the airwaves as ‘America’s Team’ was experiencing Super Bowl glory in the early 1990s. On January 24, 1994, The Ticket was born.
“Let’s be honest, this is a fantastic sports market,” said Jeff Catlin, program director of The Ticket. “The fact that The Ticket went on the air a few months before Jerry Jones fired Jimmy Johnson, that was just a stroke of ‘Ticket Luck.’ We’ve had that luck throughout the years.”
Catlin is a Ticket lifer, beginning his career with the radio station in the year it launched as a flamethrower across the dry heat of the ‘Metroplex.’ Since 2003, he has served as the program director of the brand he calls home, leading The Ticket to heights as one of the most respected and successful sports radio brands in the entire country.
What once was a lineup consisting of Skip Bayless, Curt Menefee, Greg Williams, and Mike Rhyner, among others, its talent roster spoke the love language of the ‘P1,’ leading to instant connection with the audience that has never wavered through the years.
“Listeners will sniff through the BS in two seconds flat,” said Catlin of the dedicated listening audience over the years at The Ticket. “Our guys are no different than the listeners. We were just the ones lucky enough to get the transmitter.”
Rising From the Ground up at The Ticket
Beginning as the executive producer of The Hardline in 1994, Catlin’s was the voice in the room calling direction, booking guests, and understanding how to meet the high demands of The Ticket listener. It was the best experience at the right time for Catlin to grow into a leadership role as Dallas was winning Super Bowls and had just gained an NHL hockey club.
“I think it helped me big time to understand the dynamics of the personalities involved and how to make the show the best,” noted Catlin. “Then moving into the PD role, I already understood that I had that kind of mentality. It was so important. It meant everything.”
Understanding the role of what a good producer means for a program, Catlin strives for excellence from his behind-the-scenes crew as much as he does from his on-air staff. He aims to teach every producer that their responsibility is the content director of the program, reinforcing the importance of the role while sharing the knowledge with the next generation of what will push The Ticket to greater heights.
“Myself and some of the other guys that have been here for a long time—we have institutional knowledge to pass along to the next generation of Ticket employees,” explained Catlin. “Transferring that institutional knowledge to people that are in new positions, even if they’ve been here a while or are coming into this building for the first time. It’s a big responsibility that I have and the other guys on the team have as it relates specifically to The Ticket and why we do the things that we do.”
Doing Things The Ticket Way
For 31 years, The Ticket has maintained its standing as the leader in sports talk for the DFW Metroplex, with a roster of talent that continues to make moments creating a fear of missing out. Catlin notes that in an ever more digital era, The Ticket stands on the branding of “if you miss a segment, you miss a lot”—a traditional method of educating the listener that the need to listen live is the most important lesson to learn.
“If you examine other radio stations, we’re all not cookie-cutter, and we’re all not the same, and you can’t do it the same way,” said Catlin. “It may work for one radio station in another town where they do broadcast on YouTube from their studio all day. That’s great for them, but that’s not ever been our approach because The Ticket is what it is.”
Catlin compares the relationship The Ticket has with its listening audience to legions of fans following their favorite band. With any band that has the blessing of successful longevity, there is some evolution in how the fans may consume the music, but there will always be the same level of dedication and connection.
For example, many sports radio stations are moving to a video simulcast of their programming. The Ticket has not. While many sports radio stations have branched out to more social platforms surrounding short-form video—including TikTok—The Ticket has not. Instead of diving into a more digital model where The Ticket brand plays in every corner of the on-demand economy, Catlin believes the strategy to not be like everyone else has led to greater success because it is unique to The Ticket listener.
“One of the things I’m most proud of is The Ticket has continued to evolve,” said Catlin. “You could look at it and say, ‘You’re not streaming,’ or, ‘You’re not doing this or that.’ That’s only one way to evolve the product. There are other ways to evolve it too. There are other ways to grow and reach your audience, and there are other ways to vary your approach. I think we’ve done that a lot, and I just think it’s hard to say that this way works, that way doesn’t. I’m not about that.”
The Branding of The Hardline
As an example of Catlin’s thinking, one of the more unique elements that stands out about The Ticket is the namesake of the afternoon show, The Hardline. While the hosts of the daypart have changed over the last three decades, one thing has remained no matter the evolution of the talent roster: when it’s a weekday afternoon in the Metroplex, it’s time for The Hardline.
“That show, name, and its own brand of what it stands for is so entrenched in afternoon drive for Dallas–Fort Worth. That’s just a fact,” explained Catlin. “I can say this because that was the show that I worked on. I tend to think about that as a sense of pride. I am a Hardliner. Corby (Davidson) is, Bob (Sturm) is, Gregg (Williams) is, Mark (Followill) is—all these other people that have been on that daypart on the station at a particular time. I think it’s a cool thing. I think it’s great.”
Catlin is a believer in not wasting the listener’s time but continuing to find ways to make their time worth the investment. He does not program for hot-take culture, instead stressing honesty, confidence, and depth in the approach of how the talent of The Ticket speak to their consumer. Guiding that unique attitude and strategy led The Ticket to win a Marconi Radio Award for “Major Market Station of the Year” from the National Association of Broadcasters last fall, marking the first time a sports talk-formatted station had won the award in this category over three decades.
“The relationship the guys have with the audience—it’s not a relationship that you start on day one,” said Catlin. “You don’t flip the switch; it must happen over time. The guys have all grown up on the air together with each other and shared life experiences with each other, but also those same life experiences with the audience.”
Being Honored With the Mark Chernoff Award
This week, during the Barrett Media annual BSM Summit, Catlin’s efforts will be recognized as the recipient of the Mark Chernoff Award. As Jason Barrett wrote in the announcement, his passion and influence is felt across The Ticket’s airwaves, supported by countless ratings wins, Marconi Awards, and industry-wide respect and recognition. The radio station has done a remarkable job excelling in multiple demos, producing high revenues, besting local competition, and winning with Hall of Fame personalities and new voices.
“I’m honored and proud. I was completely surprised when I heard about it, and it’s nice to be recognized as an individual as part of a team,” said Catlin. “It’s not a ‘me’ award, it’s a ‘we’ award. It’s nice to be recognized individually. It hasn’t really happened to me before in my career—certainly not to this level. I’m extremely proud, but I still look at this or any recognition the radio station gets as me just being part of a larger team. Those guys make me look great.”
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John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.
TM Studios is a proud homer when it comes to our relationship with The Ticket. For the past 17 years, Dallas-based TM has provided the unique branding beds that help the station flow and maintain the organic rock grooviness that supports the station image. Cat is a genius. As a P1, we’ve listened to the continuous magic he creates on air. FOMO IS the name of the game…no one wants to miss a segment…