KTCK

KTCK

City of license	Dallas, Texas
Broadcast area	Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex
Branding	Sports Radio 1310: The Ticket
Slogan	All Sports, All the Time
Frequency	1310 kHz
Repeaters	KTDK 104.1 KPLX 99.5
First air date	1921 as WRR
Format	Sports Talk
Power	9,000 watts (day) 5,000 watts (night)
Class	B
Facility ID	8773
Transmitter coordinates	32°56′41″N 96°56′24″W / 32.94472°N 96.94°W / 32.94472; -96.94
Callsign meaning	K The Ticket
Former callsigns	WRR (1920-1978) KAAM (1978-1994)
Affiliations	Dallas Stars (NHL) Yahoo! Sports Radio
Owner	Cumulus Media (Susquehanna Radio Corp.)
Sister stations	KKLF, KLIF, KLIF-FM, KPLX, KSCS, WBAP-AM/FM
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	theticket.com

KTCK (1310 AM; "SportsRadio 1310 The Ticket"), is a sports talk radio station based in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The station, currently owned by Cumulus Media, has been made popular by the incorporation of humor alongside the sports talk.

The sometime controversial station has posted strong ratings in the Dallas radio market, especially its Arbitron top-rated shows ^[1] The Hardline and Dunham and Miller, which have been the anchors of the station's success throughout its existence.

History

The 1310 kHz frequency has its origins as WRR^[2], which was licensed in August 1921 and became the first broadcast radio station in the state of Texas, and the second in the United States. In 1948, WRR launched an FM station; the AM station played popular music while the FM station carried classical music. 1310 was split from WRR-FM in 1978 and became the first of several incarnations of KAAM when it was owned by the same company that owned KAFM (92.5 MHz) until gaining its current call sign in 1994.

The Ticket's original lineup consisted of Skip Bayless, Curt Menefee, Mike Rhyner and Greg Williams, Chuck Cooperstein, and George Dunham and Craig Miller. Skip Bayless said the first words ever spoken on The Ticket.

On March 6, 2006, the station announced that it would be the flagship affiliate of the Dallas Cowboys radio network.^[3] This success was followed up by Arbitron ratings which showed a 60% increase in listeners.^[4] However, on January 23, 2009, KTCK and the Dallas Cowboys ended their three-year partnership.^[5]

Formerly owned by Susquehanna Pfaltzgraff, The Ticket was purchased by Cumulus Media on May 5, 2006.^[6]

On January 16, 2009, The Ticket along with the Dallas Stars issued a press release naming KTCK as the new flagship station for Dallas Stars Hockey for five years starting with the 2009-10 season.^[7]

Programming

Weekday programming on the station includes "The Musers" hosted by George "Jub Jub" Dunham, Craig "Junior" Miller and Gordon "The Great Gordo" Keith, "The Norm Hitzges Show" hosted by Radio Hall of Fame member Norm Hitzges, "BaD Radio" hosted by Bob "Sports" Sturm, Dan "Big Mac" McDowell and Donovan "The Great Donovan" Lewis, "The Hardline" hosted by Mike "Old Grey Wolf" Rhyner and Corby "The Snake" Davidson, plus "The Ticket Top 10" with Jake Kemp, also known as Jake Z, and the syndicated The Dan Patrick Show. Notable weekend shows include The Train Station Fitness Show with George DeJohn, The TeeBox with Rick Arnett and Craig Rosengarden, The Orphanage with Danny Balis and Dave Lane, The Scrubs with David Newbury and Matt McClearin, "Cirque Du Sirois" with Mike and Cash Sirois, Ticket Sports Saturday with Ty Walker, Sean Bass, and Stewart Cedar, plus Race Week with Rich Philips. When normal Ticket shows are not on the air, the airwaves are filled with Sporting News Radio. The Dallas Stars broadcast team is Ralph Strangis on play-by-play with color analyst Daryl "Razor" Reaugh.

Notable former hosts

• Skip Bayless – The Skip Bayless Show. When the ownership decided to accept a lucrative offer to sell the station, the new owners bought out Bayless' contract. He is currently hosting on ESPN’s First Take and 1st and 10
• Chuck Cooperstein - host of Chuck Cooperstein Show. Now on KESN. Is also the play-by-play announcer for the Dallas Mavericks on ESPN 103.3 in Dallas.
• Chris Arnold - host of the Chris Arnold Show. Is still sports director at K104FM. He's continues doing the morning show there. At one point Arnold, worked at the Ticket, K104, WFAA TV and the Dallas Mavericks TV broadcasts simultaneously. Arnold is also the emcee for the Mavericks.
• Mark Followill - former Ticket Ticker man for The Hardline, and current play-by-play announcer for the Dallas Mavericks on Fox Sports Southwest and on KTXA 21. Also serves as an occasional "plus one" on The Hardline as well as KTCK's Mavericks post-game show.
• Dale Hansen - Dale Hansen Show, often controversial DFW sports journalist and WFAA-TV sports anchor.^[8]
• Richard "Big Dick" Hunter - The P-1 Wild Ass Circus, was evenings on Live 105.3 as The Wild Ass Circus. Also hosted The Richard Hunter Show on 1360AM, KXYZ.
• Curt Menefee - Curt Menefee Show, current host of Fox NFL Sunday
• John Rhadigan - former co-host of the original Ticket weekend show, The Press Box. Previously seen on Fox Sports Southwest, now the television play-by-play announcer for the 2010 AL champion Texas Rangers (2011-present).
• Ben Rogers and Jeff “Skin” Wade – hosted the Ben & Skin Show noon-2 pm Saturdays, and hosted the Dallas Mavericks post-game show. Former hosts on KRLD-FM 105.3, afternoon drive 3 pm-7 pm. Currently on KESN.
• Kevin Scott - former Ticker guy for The Hardline; former co-host of The Throwdown; former co-host of The Beatdown on KZNX in Austin, Texas; former co-host on KRLD-FM, at 9am-12pm with Greg Hill.
• Greg Williams - former co-host of The Hardline. Currently on KRLD-FM
• Rocco Pendola - unceremoniously dismissed after a confrontation with Gordon Keith.
• Mike Bacsik - former major-league pitcher for several teams, served as producer of The Norm Hitzges Show. Unceremoniously dismissed after tweeting a comment about "dirty Mexicans".

Awards

SportsRadio 1310 The Ticket has won many awards over the years, including the 2007 Marconi Award for "Best Sports Station in America" at the National Association of Broadcasters' annual conference on September 27, 2007. The station and various shows have been Marconi nominees in the past, but this was The Ticket's first win.^[9]

References

1. ^ "Dallas Morning News article in which comparative ratings are summarized.". http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/columnists/bhorn/stories/061006dnspohorn.312e767.html. 
2. ^ Dallas Radio Origins
3. ^ "Dallas Cowboys on Radio". DallasCowboys.com. http://dallascowboys.com/dcradio.cfm. 
4. ^ Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Arts & Entertainment
5. ^ [1]
6. ^ Cumulus Media Inc. Completes Formation of Cumulus Media Partners and Acquisition of Susquehanna Radio
7. ^ http://stars.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=404535
8. ^ Horn, Barry (2006-04-17). "Hansen headed to ESPN Radio". Dallas Morning News. 
9. ^ "2007 NAB MARCONI RADIO AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED". http://www.nab.org/AM/Template.cfm?ection=News_Room&CONTENTID=10609&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm. Retrieved Nov. 13, 2008. 

External links

• Query the FCC's AM station database for KTCK
• Radio-Locator Information on KTCK
• Query Arbitron's AM station database for KTCK
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KTDK
• Radio-Locator information on KTDK
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for KTDK
• DFW Radio Archives