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Although there had been sports talk stations nominated for the prestigious Marconi Radio Award for ‘Major Market Station of the Year’ in the past, none had secured the victory in nearly three decades. The National Association of Broadcasters, which has presented the awards annually since 1989, grants numerous other accolades throughout the night, including a category dedicated to the sports radio station of the year.
Yet among the major-market honor spanning multiple formats, sports talk had long been fruitless until this past week. The Ticket, which broadcasts its programming over clear channel signals 1310 AM and 96.7 FM in Dallas-Fort Worth, won the award for the first time as it is celebrating its 30-year anniversary in the format. Longtime program director Jeff Catlin was on hand in New York City to accept the award and address the attendees, during which he expressed gratitude for his colleagues, stakeholders and listeners of the station.
Catlin regards the award as a recognition of the team he has been critical in assembling at The Ticket throughout its existence. Several members of the air staff have been with the station for many years, and they are backed by stellar sales and promotions departments all focused on a common goal. In fact, the station has raised more than $860,000 through charity events over which the promotions team has purview, and it has also enjoyed a record-setting year in ratings and revenue.
“I think what we try to do is we talk about what people care about, and it seems like a real big radio cliché to say that, but it’s absolutely true, and we’re lucky because of the relationship that we’ve built and have with our listeners over the last 30 years,” Catlin said. “They allow us to do that.”
For the last three decades, The Ticket has maintained a focus of speaking about topics that penetrate beyond the superficial headlines on the proverbial newspaper sports page. The credibility and trust the outlet has built with its public has been palpable across its programming lineup, and it remains a steadfast presence in the community during triumphs and tribulations alike. The Ticket has won the Marconi Award for ‘Sports Station of the Year’ four times, most recently in 2021 following an unprecedented stretch with a dearth of professional sports amid a devastating global pandemic.
“There was so much uncertainty during the pandemic and it was uncharted territory for everybody, and the job of a radio station in a community is to be part of the community and be part of the fabric of the community, and that’s, I think, part of what The Ticket has been able to do over 30 years, again, not because we just decided we’re going to do that,” Catlin said. “It’s a responsibility that we have and that’s been given to us from our audience and the relationship that the guys have with the listeners.”
This honor comes just over a year after the station lineup underwent a significant shift following several transactions affecting personnel. Norm Hitzges, who had been with the station for 24 years, announced his retirement last summer, prompting the introduction of a new late-morning show featuring Donovan Lewis and Matt McClearin. One month later, midday show hosts Jake Kemp and Dan McDowell resigned from the station and entered a legal dispute with parent company Cumulus Media. The legal strife was dropped after both sides came to a mutual agreement, but it nonetheless resulted in a new duo of Sean Bass and David Mino hosting in the daypart.
Catlin feels this particular Marconi Award is a tangible example of the hard work exhibited by the talent that has been with the station for many years. Even though there are new programs per se, the voices are familiar to the listening audience and are able to provide an informative, entertaining and engaging multiplatform consumption experience.
“Even though those guys may be in new roles on the air hosting shows, they’ve been here working as part of this team for decades, and I think that speaks to the station as well,” Catlin said. “This is a great place to work, it’s a lot of fun and people stick here, and they stay here because of the atmosphere that we have and the chemistry that the team has together.”
While it can be viewed as an advantage to have had minimal changeover in the on-air lineup, Catlin is aware that the station will eventually need to bring in new talent. As narratives predicting the death of radio continue to circulate, he is energized by the next generation and views the audio medium as thriving no matter the means of delivery. The NAB gives a Marconi Award to a college radio station annually, and after William Paterson University took home the honors, Catlin made it a point to congratulate the group and encourage them to keep going.
“Radio needs young people that are interested in being on the radio, and that magic, and if you’re a radio lifer you understand what it is to get bitten by the bug of radio,” Catlin elucidated, “and it used to be called the RTVF program and now it’s digital media and all this – they want to be influencers or they want to be on YouTube, and there’s a place for that – but we need young talent just in general entering our business.”
Over the last 20 years as program director of The Ticket, Catlin has executed his responsibilities to prepare his staff and provide them with the information he evinces through ratings, research and analysis. At the same time, he has cultivated a secure atmosphere that promotes creativity sans micromanagement or directives. These aspects of the job have remained relatively consistent throughout his tenure, but the overall scope has broadened to a point where program directors are often overseeing multiple stations and a wide array of business interests.
“It’s so much more than just listening to your radio station, and I think sometimes that’s a mistake that PDs make is you still have to critically listen to your radio station as much as you possibly can throughout the meetings and where you’re being pulled in other directions,” Catlin said. “You have to listen, but it’s so much more than just listening, and then you have to understand how that branches out and touches all these other departments.”
Catlin has worked alongside Dan Bennett, the vice president and market manager overseeing the cluster of stations owned by Cumulus Media in Dallas. Bennett started his career as a program director in the sports and spoken word formats, granting him a comprehensive understanding of the media ecosystem. Catlin acknowledges that there are high expectations and an avidity for achievement that permeates throughout the building.
“We all want to win – we’re all competitive – but Dan sets the tone of what the expectations are for each station and what the expectations are in the building and then how that translates to the rest of the market,” Catlin said, “and I think the relationship I’ve had with him has been great in that regard.”
The Ticket is available beyond the constraints of terrestrial radio and enthralls audiences listening throughout the country via the internet and other digital platforms. There have been questions about the viability and effectiveness of traditional Nielsen ratings in recent years; however, the quantitative metrics still represent the report card, a currency measuring the reach and consumption of the programs.
Competition for The Ticket spans beyond other audio outlets such as 105.3 The Fan and the short lived 97.1 The Freak. There are other outlets that are providing sports media content and competing for the attention of consumers, including national networks and local offerings in the digital space. For example, ALLCITY Network recently launched its fifth market in Dallas after the company raised $12 million as part of a Series B funding round. As the No. 4 marketplace in the United States that continues to grow, it is incumbent on The Ticket to continue innovating and serving as a trusted source for the audience.
“There’s more people moving into Dallas-Fort Worth right now than at any time in its history, and so that allows the radio station to be exposed to a whole new set of listeners that move into town, and I think that stability over the years has been a real key,” Catlin said, “and we do look at it as, ‘We’re competing with everybody and everything in town.’”
As The Ticket moves forward past its 30-year anniversary, Catlin continues to honor the tradition and precedent set while remaining at the forefront of innovation. The station does not operate in the same manner as it did at its launch in 1994, let alone five years ago before the onset of the global pandemic. The burgeoning popularity of social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, has also altered the strategy for the radio station. For Catlin, he judges his performance as a reflection of the station and its achievements. If his staff comes in every day in a good mood, working together and creating strong programming, he knows he has done his job.
“That’s what it’s about, and I want to always be their biggest cheerleader,” Catlin said. “And yeah, sure, we’re a business. There are certain things we have to do, there are things that we are accountable to at all times, and they’re accountable to me for certain things, but beyond that, my success is judged on their success.”
Catlin is energized by how radio has become more than a tabletop medium amplified through a speaker in a kitchen or automobile, thriving through the windfall of audio. Parceling the content through a variety of verticals creates new modes to meet the audience, but that cannot be achieved without skilled professionals and a subsequent pipeline. Catlin’s experiences and expertise gleaned through three decades in the business not only helps his colleagues, but it also facilitates the transition for posterity.
“I think the biggest concern is making sure that we continue to nurture young people coming into the business and help them gain experience and not just expect them to know everything overnight because it’s about all the knowledge, the institutional knowledge that we have,” Catlin said, “and people that have been involved in this business for 25 or 30 years, part of our responsibility is [being] good stewards for the industry and for our radio station.”
Remaining mindful of alterations in media and discovering new systems by which to communicate with the audience are conducive to The Ticket remaining a cultural institution. Catlin and his team at the station have no intent to slow down and aim to keep getting better. The outlet acknowledges the illustrious national honor as a “complete team win for everybody” in the building while preserving a commitment to serve the local patrons with compelling sports talk on a daily basis.
“We have got to continue to get better and to continue to evolve to be the best reflection of our community that we can possibly be,” Catlin said, “and to be still entertaining and informative and have a place in our audience’s minds and hearts.”
