This thread is only for people that listen to what used to be "The Bench" I would like some honest feedback from everyone on what they think of the morning show on 610. Personally, I think it's starting to suck. It was the greatest thing for years and years and now it sounds like a carbon copy of every sports show in every other city. It's nothing personal against Russ Small, in fact, he is a talented guy in his own right, I just think they messed with something that was working perfectly. Please comment because I want to know if I'm the only one out there wondering, "what the Hell?" Ps-I'm in sales and spend the better part of my mornings in the car so I probably pay a little more attention to the show than others.
I agree. Sorta. I don't know where the hell they are going with the show but I wish they'd go without Small. Put him on in the afternoon. Put him on in the middle of the morning. Put him on weekends until The Texans start up. But get him out of John and LZ's way.
Yep, show just aint what it once was. Russ just doesnt fit in, a three person RADIO show is just to hard to follow. Id rather listen to Tralier Wheel and Frame or Nicks' Place commercials, than Russ. Dont go away Russ, go away Mad.
It is awful and you aren't the only one that hates it. People at the station don't like it and sponsors aren't thrilled either. Here's a cool bit of info for you... Academy is one of the sponosors of the Texans and 610 is the official Texans station. Academy was so pissed about the guy talk format, they yanked their ads from 610 and gave them all to KTRH. In addition, Academy is sponsoring the unveiling of the new uniforms and informed KILT they could not co-sponsor and KTRH is doing it now, instead. Ouch! A friend from a non-media outlet gave me that little scoop. I don't know if it will fly and, if so, for how long. The problem is that most of the talk show guys were hired because of their knowledge of sports, not their ability to talk "guy talk." Even if they wanted to, they probably aren't ideally suited for that. Besides, has anyone heard or seen ANYWHERE besides the Chronicle media column that they made a change. They still promote themselves as "sports talk" and they haven't advertised any changes anywhere else. They aren't even promoting it to try and attract that crowd. If you want that, you don't convert sports guys into lunatics. You hire the lunatics from the word, "go." My guess is that the poor planning of this and the ugly response it has gotten in general will ultimately sink the format and probably the station manager who suggested it.
I think the whole "Guy Talk" thing is a load of garbage. The chronicle labeled it as Guy Talk, not the station. The whole premise of the show hasn't changed. It was never (since Fowler fortunately left) All sports and only sports. John always did his funny stuff and Lance always did his impersonations and the like. The Chron made an ordeal out of this new format. The only new thing about it was the addition of Russ for the full show and the time slot change. Not the freakin' content. Maybe 740 infiltrated the Chronicle to sabotage the show...Nah. That's given my traffic station too much credit. Hopefully it will go back to how it was and I can go back in my cage. CLM
Why do 'guy talk' if your not good at it and its not entertaining? .......................................
That isn't entirely true. The station doesn't want things as simple as team's season schedules read on the air calling it "boring" and "a waste of time." Believe me, no one over there is that thrilled with the changes.
No matter how bad it gets ... those raving lunatics called the "junkies" deserve to be throttled by barbed wire dipped in jock itch and dragged through Imelda Marcos's shoe closet on most broadcast nights.
It's always sad for me to see radio hosts lambasted. It is a tough, high-stress job with not a lot of job security. It'll be the raven lunatics that pay, not the manager.
I think management over there doesn't like the "guy talk" label. However, every one of the on-air folks mentioned the "format tweak" in the weeks leading up to (and since) the "Sports Junkies" debut. I'm sure there were some "interesting" behind doors discussions. I may be mistaken, but I think they've actually pulled back on the "shtick" a bit in the last week or so. As to this thread: I actually like Russ as a sports guy. His professionalism at 740 was unrivaled, and I enjoyed his show by himself. However, IMHO, he was hired for two reasons - (1) everyone knows he will be one of the voices of the Texans, and (2) he was supposed to help the morning show "keep the course." Given the changes, it really makes little sense to keep the crowded booth going. Of course, there could be something else going on that the public doesn't know about... If I ran the station, I would've added a 10pm show to compete with the postgame shows on the other stations...
My wife almost passed out (or went and bought a gun) when she heard the KILT ad about how they were sensitve to "girl talk" as well and had this woman on there talking about scented candles and yoga. I thought my wife was going to have an aneurism! Anyway, Russ WANTS to be the voice of the Texans but that isn't set in stone. Personally, I liked Tom Franklin doing the Oilers much better than Russ. And, God help them if they bring back Giff Neilsen although he wasn't bad as a color guy. Russ was not close to the best sports guy at KTRH but he WAS the best self-promoter which got him a long way. That business requires both talent and bull**** to survive.
i actually liked neilsen -- he was horrible when he first started, but got progressively better. having bum in the booth helped tremendously. sadly, i don't think phillips is healthy enough to put in a full-season's worth of games, but i'd love it if he could contribute. more than just being an icon, bum lent to the 'casts exactly what ABC envisioned dennis miller brining to the table: the fan's perspective, humor, the guy the listening audience could identify with. as for the format change, i haven't heard it yet, but there's no question it sounds forced. the ticket up here in dallas (likely the influence on 610's decision) didn't start out as guy talk, nor was it a mandated format change -- it was allowed to evolve and grow, primarily out of, in the beginning, low listenership. things have changed so much across the sports landscape, that talk radio needed to morph into something else. by the time i'm in my car and heading home for the day, i've read, and re-read countless times the big sports stories of the day. so i don't need a talk show to regurgitate the same crap, over and over. i appreciate some levity being brought to the proceedings. hopefully, at the very least, 610 will allow its format a chance to grow and find itself -- it's not something that can be forced.
