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Dan McDowell Is More Than a ‘Tiny Slice’ of The Ticket’s Success

Dan McDowell has been a big reason why The Ticket in Dallas has done so well in his twenty-plus years on the air and it all started with a P.O. Box in Cleveland.

Tyler McComas

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Dan McDowell

Finding yourself in a career rut isn’t a question of if but rather when, in the sports radio business. How you get out of those ruts, can ultimately determine the path your career takes. Dan McDowell found himself in a rut in the mid-90’s while hopping around small stations in Ohio. He wanted something bigger and more exciting but he was struggling to find a way to make it happen. McDowell’s plan was simple: send radio reel tapes and resumes to any attractive openings he found across the country. And he sent a lot. The problem was that he rarely received any interest back, or even a response.

There came a point where McDowell started to wonder if he was going about things the right way. He then came to the realization he didn’t really know what a great resume looked like or what a great demo tape sounded like. How was he supposed to improve his situation if he wasn’t exactly sure what to send to a Program Director? McDowell thought of a way to see how other broadcasters were doing it. And he came up with a brilliant idea. 

“I would go to Radio.com back then and look at the ads for the things I wanted,” said McDowell. “Some of the addresses just had P.O. Boxes. My mom had a P.O. Box in Cleveland, so I wrote an ad, describing exactly what I wanted, sports talk, mid-market, blah,blah,blah, send tape and resume to this P.O. Box.”

McDowell got around 100 tapes sent to his mom’s P.O. Box from people across the country, including some from hosts he was familiar with. He got to look at every resume and listen to all the tapes to see exactly what people were doing. Granted, McDowell humbly says he doesn’t know if this idea helped him out in the end, but it gave him the access to really see what the competition looked like and what it was doing. 

“I would just try to set myself apart with little things,” McDowell said. “Like, perhaps, since you would send a cassette tape, maybe I had hand written something on it. I saw some people had really nice pre-printed things on them instead. I would try to do that, just to make it look more professional. Even some things people were putting on their resume that I didn’t think was worthy to put on a resume. Oh, this guy is putting that on there? Yeah, I’ll put my high school play-by-play experience on there.”

Mixed with some luck and great timing, McDowell’s intuition helped him get out of his career rut and into a major market. The only potential issue was that he spent the majority of his career working in small Ohio towns such as Athens, Marietta and Zanesville. The big break was in Dallas and he had no ties to the city. That’s when Bruce Gilbert came in. 

To tell the story of Gilbert’s incredible impact on McDowell, you first have to know how the two initially met one another. McDowell was working in Dayton and was actively trying to leave the market. He had a friend working in Cleveland that knew this, so he contacted him about a recent job opportunity he was turned down from, but had an amazing experience with the PD. 

“He said, I didn’t get this job opening in Dallas, but the PD called me,” McDowell said. “Bruce listened to my friend’s tape and gave him some tips on how he could improve. My buddy said, hey, you might not get the job, but at least you’ll get feedback.”

McDowell sent a resume and reel to Gilbert, in hopes of nothing more than to get feedback from a major market PD. The thing was, Gilbert liked what he heard and requested McDowell to send more. He wanted to hear an entire hour of his show in Dayton. Not long after, the two were in negotiations to bring McDowell to Dallas to host at 1310-AM The Ticket. 

The year was 1999 and The Ticket was celebrating five years on the air. If the job opportunity in a market like Dallas wasn’t intimidating enough, working at a station that had built up some longevity certainly was. The station was really starting to hit its stride and create an identity when McDowell walked through the doors for the first time. He was paired up with Bob Sturm and BaD Radio began. But like any new show, especially with a host without any ties to the city, it took a while before the audience accepted him. 

“I think that took probably a decade,” McDowell said. “Well, I don’t know if that’s true, but I was not accepted right away. Bob could tell you that. We used to call it a List of 100. I’m talking about people at the station and other media members in Dallas. There were at least 100 people that thought they should be sitting next to Bob and not me, because I was just some guy out in Dayton that nobody knew or heard of. I had been to two hockey games my whole life and the Stars were in the middle of a Stanley Cup run. Email was the main source of communication and I got my fair share of negativity. It took a while, for sure.”

Regardless of how McDowell felt the audience wasn’t embracing him during those early years, he never doubted for a second the support he got from Gilbert. Routinely, McDowell and Sturm were told by Gilbert they belonged at The Ticket and should be proud of what they’ve accomplished. Even during airchecks, which had always been awkward for McDowell in his previous jobs. Gilbert came with advice but also incredible optimism for how the show was doing. There was a genuine belief from Gilbert in the success of the show. 

“He’s meant everything,” McDowell said. “He was amazing and he’s still amazing. He’s still the greatest. We wouldn’t have survived with anyone else. Bob and I were outsiders. The Ticket was already a thing. The station had been on air for five years and it was so intimidating. Bruce kept telling us we belonged here. That meant so much to me. The guy that matters believed in us.”

Behind Gilbert’s steadfast belief, the show started to pick up steam. In McDowell’s mind, two things in particular helped fuel the rise. First, was the famous on-air spat with ESPN College Football Analyst Lee Corso. In the early 2000’s Corso was on the air with BaD Radio and he didn’t particularly care for McDowell’s sarcasm. So much, that Corso called him a jerk on the air and left the interview after just a couple of minutes. The Ticket listeners made Corso the butt of the joke and even went as far to create signs with references to the interview, which were brought to College Gameday locations in the following years. The incident had an enormous effect on McDowell gaining the approval of listeners. 

Second, was the approval he gained with the popular afternoon show on the station, The Hardline

“Those guys really started to embrace us as a show that could do bits and be funny,” McDowell said. That and the Lee Corso incident, in my head, that was a big turning point for a lot of the listeners and I got a lot of good, positive feedback. I’ve always thought that was a key moment.”

BaD Radio never turned back after that. For several years, they helped grow the identity of The Ticket, which was sports takes but with incredible comedy and bits. But at some point, one way or another, every great radio show comes to an end. BaD Radio was no exception. A massive shakeup at The Ticket happened in 2020 after Mike Rhyner surprisingly announced his retirement. Sturm was sent to afternoons to co-host The Hardline with Corby Davidson and replace Rhyner. This left McDowell with a new partner. A situation he hadn’t been in for over 20 years. 

“I was very scared in the beginning,” McDowell said. “Bob and I had great chemistry and we were friends, both on and off the air. Then it was, well maybe the only reason we ever had any following was Bob? I didn’t really believe that, but maybe people will just revolt against this. The great thing is Jake (Kemp) and I had already been working together for 10 years. He was the producer and the main fill-in host. That made it a lot easier.”

McDowell, Kemp and the other voices of The Hang Zone let the show organically morph into its own identity. What was a scary new venture at first for McDowell is now something he’s incredibly happy with. In a way, it’s even given him the passion and stamina to continue to do sports radio for several more years. 

“It was a revitalized type thing,” McDowell said. “I wonder if that’s the case for Bob, too. When you do something for 20 years in a row, not that it was stale, but there’s a newness I like. It’s kind of a re-energized type thing.”

It’s a new time slot with a new co-host and a new show name, but the past two years have been enjoyable for McDowell. He doesn’t show any signs of wanting to leave The Ticket anytime soon. That would be a fitting story for someone that has played such a key role in The Ticket’s success over the years. McDowell would be quick to tell you the credit needs to mostly go to guys like Rhyner, Davidson, Sturm and others, but you can’t downplay what he’s meant to Dallas sports radio. One could make an argument The Ticket has the most well-known identity in sports radio. McDowell helped build that. 

“I’m happy to just be a tiny slice of it,” McDowell said. “The credit goes to the guys that started it. I credit Bruce and his support, but being in the middle of those guys when it was already a legendary station when it was just five years old, helped us succeed. That The Ticket is thought of in that way, and that I’m here as a piece of it, is great.”

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How to Help Your Clients with Low Website Conversions

Don’t assume there isn’t enough traffic; focus on optimizing user engagement once visitors arrive on the site.

Jeff Caves

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Graphic for how to increase website conversions
Credit: WPDesigner.Biz

Are your clients dealing with low website conversions? Whenever a marketing campaign is run, and the goal is to convert website visitors into leads, the temptation is to blame low traffic, amongst other issues, for low form fills or appointments being generated.  Just spend more money, you may think! Sometimes, you must look at at least four other potential issues to tackle poor conversion rates. Here are some actionable steps using the IT services industry to increase website conversions.

IT Solutions specializes in providing products, services, or solutions related to technology, particularly in areas such as software development, hardware sales, IT consulting, cybersecurity, cloud computing, networking, and digital transformations. They faced challenges with their website conversions. Despite driving substantial traffic through Google Ads and other SEO tactics, they struggled to convert website visitors into form fills for appointment requests. A 2% to 5% conversion rate could be considered reasonable. Of course, conversion rates can vary based on various factors, such as the competitiveness of the local market, the quality of the website (and radio stations help most to fix that) and its user experience, the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, and the reputation and offerings of the IT solutions business. Focusing on improving the quality of leads and providing exceptional customer service can be just as crucial as achieving high conversion rates. Don’t blame EVERYTHING on the marketing tactics! 

The Diagnosis

Upon thorough analysis, several critical issues were identified with IT Solutions’ website:

1. High Bounce Rate: Nobody was checking out the business. If 70% or more of website visitors only visit the landing page, that is an issue.  It could be slow loading times, irrelevant content, poor user experience, or unclear calls-to-action that prevent them from wanting to know more about IT Solutions. You can check the bounce rate on the Google Analytics page for the website in the left-hand sidebar, click on “Behavior” to expand the menu, then click on “Site Content,” and finally, click on “Landing Pages.” You’ll see a list of landing pages and their respective bounce rates.

2. Complex Navigation: It was hard to move around the website to find relevant information about IT services, and it was unclear who they were initiating contact with and for what purpose.

3. Unclear Calls-to-Action (CTAs): The website lacked clear and compelling CTAs guiding visitors toward requesting an appointment. Simply stating “click here for an appointment” is like asking for a meeting whenever or without establishing value. Here are 28 CTAs for free.

4. Lengthy Forms: The appointment forms were long, without qualifying information, and requested excessive information upfront, deterring potential leads from completing them.

Action Plan

1. Optimize Landing Pages:

   – Redo high-traffic landing pages with clear messaging and compelling CTAs.

   – Showcase IT Solutions’ services as benefits, making it easier for users to request appointments, thereby increasing user engagement and conversions.

2. Simplify Navigation:

   – Reorganize the menu and add more action-oriented links.

   – Provide additional options for users to access relevant information, such as “Get a free IT Solutions 15-point checkup NOW” and “Take this 5-question survey to diagnose your IT issues,” motivating them to book appointments.

3. Enhance CTAs:

   – Utilize concise and persuasive messaging throughout the website.

   – Encourage visitors to take action, whether requesting a free download about “5 things you can do to solve your IT issues on your own” or “get a free pizza for booking an appointment.”

4. Improve the Form Fill:

   – Add a further line about the number of employees who qualify for incoming leads.

   – Highlight the value of leads based on company size, prioritizing forms with higher potential impact.

Review landing pages, navigation, CTAs, and form experience to address website conversion issues. Don’t assume there isn’t enough traffic; focus on optimizing user engagement once visitors arrive on the site.

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‘NHL on TNT’ Gives Hockey Fans the ‘NBA on TNT’ Treatment

Watching Albert and Olczyk call a hockey game is like watching Picasso paint and da Vinci sculpt. They are masters of their respective crafts.

John Molori

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NHL on TNT studio

Let’s play a little word association, sports media style. If I say TNT, what is your response? Chances are it will be a three-letter abbreviation of your own, namely, NBA. Over the years, TNT has built a reputation as arguably the premiere network to telecast the National Basketball Association.

The NBA on TNT pregame and halftime shows have become the gold standard with stars like Ernie Johnson, Jr., Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal. Still, it’s not just this quartet of roundball royalty that has fortified TNT’s hoops coverage.

The rep was also built on tremendous play-by-play announcers like Bob Neal and Kevin Harlan, color analysts like Doug Collins and Reggie Miller, and courtside reporters like the late Craig Sager and current sideline star Allie LaForce.

Indeed, TNT and the NBA have become synonymous, but I have some news for you. This network is not just about professional basketball. This past week I went off the grid with TNT looking at their in-game and studio coverage of the NHL.

On March 24, the NHL on TNT provided coverage of the Pittsburgh Penguins at Colorado Avalanche matchup. Kenny Albert did play-by-play with Eddie Olczyk on color. Albert is not as noted as his legendary broadcasting father Marv Albert, but he has certainly staked his claim as one of the best in the business – able to cross over to multiple sports with equal aplomb.

Hockey is a strong suit for Albert. His rat-tat-tat, drama-building style draws viewers in and keeps us on the edge of our seats. Similarly, Olczyk is one of the top four or five NHL game analysts in the business. His style is understated, providing calm and clear analysis of key plays. They work really well together.

Albert eschews any kind of hackneyed and trite catch phrases for his goal calls. An emphatic, “He shoots and scores!” is plenty enough.

Hockey is a different beast when it comes to play-by-play. Unlike basketball, baseball, football, or even soccer and tennis, there is a minimum of breaks in the action. With hockey, a play-by-play announcer has to know the names of the players like he or she knows her kids’ names.

To me, it is the hardest sport for play-by-play and equally difficult for a color analyst. In basketball, after a team scores, the play-by-play announcer will keep silent and give the color analyst time to talk until the play crosses center court. In baseball and football, there is ample room for commentary.

Hockey does not offer such space, but Olczyk gets the most out of the minimal amount of time. Watching Albert and Olczyk call a hockey game is like watching Picasso paint and da Vinci sculpt. They are masters of their respective crafts.

Coming back from a break in the game, Albert and Olczyk provided on air commentary and then tossed to ice level reporter Brian Boucher who has grown into a tremendous asset to the TNT broadcasts. Boucher provided real talk about Colorado’s objectives of staying on top of their division and vying for the top seed in the Western Conference.

The Penguins, squarely in a rebuilding year having dumped talent at the NHL trade deadline, surprisingly jumped out to a 2–0 lead in this game, and the TNT between periods studio crew was all over it. The excellent Liam McHugh hosted alongside Colby Armstrong, Anson Carter, and Keith Yandle.

Armstrong was especially entertaining. With Pittsburgh outshooting the Avs 16-4, Armstrong noted that it’s the best he’s seen Pittsburgh play in a long time. His reasoning was that teams get geared up for playing Colorado even if it’s out of fear. Great stuff.

Both teams tallied two goals in the second period giving Pittsburgh a 4-2 lead heading into the final frame. When Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon set up Jonathan Drouin for a goal to make it 4-3, Albert and Olczyk showed their strengths.

Albert called the pass from MacKinnon and one-timer goal from Drouin, and immediately noted that MacKinnon now had a point in all 34 of Colorado’s home games this season. On the goal replay, Olczyk showed how the play developed pointing out how McKinnon allowed Pittsburgh’s Evgenii Malkin to come in close before making the past to Drouin.

The TNT production team then showed a graphic displaying that McKinnon is now second all-time in longest home points streaks trailing only Wayne Gretzky. This was a sublime sequence of symmetry between talent and technicians like a songwriter, musician, and singer creating beautiful music.

What was supposed to be a blowout win for Colorado had now become a hockey barn burner, and the TNT crew was up to the task. Every goal and key play was followed up with replays from multiple angles showing the genesis of the action.

TNT has certainly taken to the velocity of the hockey broadcast with movement that challenges directors, graphics professionals, and videographers.

When there were breaks in this non-stop action, Olczyk was at his best. No hockey analyst draws on his experience as a player and explains that experience better to viewers. The TNT broadcast also lets Boucher freewheel and join in the flow of discussion without having to be introduced.

TNT does not merely rely on the traditional wide shot of the entire rink. We see close-up shots of each goaltender after a great save and the sweat of players on the bench or in the penalty box.

When McKinnon tied the game at 4-4 with 4:38 left in the third period, we got a series of tremendous crowd shots showing the Colorado fans going absolutely berserk. The sage Albert and Olczyk wisely remained quiet for several seconds, letting the cheers do the talking.

When Drouin scored the game winner at 4:06 of overtime, Albert exercised controlled enthusiasm, raising his voice on the call of the goal, but not becoming the show and overshadowing the play itself. He is definitely in the mold of Dan Kelly, Gary Thorne, and Sean McDonough, announcers who enhance but do not supersede the game.

Putting a cherry on top of this hockey Sunday, TNT showed a graphic that the Avalanche now led the NHL in comeback wins this season with 25 and that they were riding a 9-game winning streak. In analyzing the goal, Olczyk opined that the altitude of playing in Colorado was prevalent as the Penguins seemed to tire as the game progressed – really interesting insight.

In the postgame show, Anson Carter made a great point that the chemistry between Drouin and MacKinnon stems from the fact that they have been playing together going back to junior hockey. McKinnon joined in from the arena for a postgame interview. The analysts asked solid questions and even did a funny MVP chant together as the interview ended.

The NHL on TNT takes no back seat to its elder NBA sister. The broadcast provides viewers with flash, dash, and serious hockey talk from every angle – in studio, from the broadcast booth, and on the ice.

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Kim Mulkey Now Has Everyone Anticipating Washington Post Story

I can’t imagine what headline, under normal circumstances, the Washington Post would have to put on a Kim Mulkey story to make me want to read it.

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photo of LSU women's college basketball coach Kim Mulkey
Credit: Dailymail.co.uk

The Washington Post, you might’ve heard, has a story coming out about controversial LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey. The reason you might’ve heard is because Kim Mulkey told you. The Tigers coach read a fiery prepared statement just before her team started the Women’s NCAA Tournament. In the statement, Mulkey threatened to sue The Post for defamation before the first word was even published.

Now, I’ve never run a public relations firm but that did not seem like a good idea. The Washington Post story on Mulkey is one of the bigger stories in sports right now and nobody even knows what’s in it. The reason the story, apparently unflattering to Mulkey, is even on anyone’s radar screen is Mulkey herself.

It all started with an innocuous social media post by Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde right in the middle of the most anticipated two days in sports, the NCAA Tournament Round of 64. On his X account, Forde posted: “Hearing some buzz about a big Washington Post story in the works on LSU women’s hoops coach Kim Mulkey, potentially next week. Wagons being circled, etc.”

You know what generally will go unnoticed at 4:00 on the first Friday of the NCAA Tournament? A post on X about a women’s basketball coach. But don’t tell Mulkey, she saw Forde’s post and decided to fight fire with nuclear weaponry. The result: the average person like me now is really interested in what has Mulkey so incensed. By “average person like me” I mean that I can’t imagine what headline, under normal circumstances, the Washington Post would have to put on a Kim Mulkey story to make me want to read it. Maybe:

“LSU Women’s Coach Discovers Ark of the Covenant”

Or:

“Mulkey Reveals True JFK Assassin(s)”

Perhaps:

“Famed Women’s Basketball Coach Reveals the Mystery Behind Slow Drivers in the Left Lane”

Literally any of those catch my attention more than whatever will likely be the Washington Post headline about Mulkey. But now Mulkey is “Mad as Hell and is not going to take this anymore” so I now have an interest I would never before have had in this story. It has been fascinating to watch the online speculation about the subject of the article and all we really know, as of now, is that it will be written by Kent Babb. This is a dream come true for Babb; he writes an article that is, presumably, not flattering about Kim Mulkey and, before it is even published, she gives the article the greatest commercial anyone could give it. Babb couldn’t have entered into a business agreement with Mulkey and had this turn out better for him.

For those who don’t follow Babb, he is a former NFL reporter who now is an award-winning writer for the Washington Post. In his 14 years with The Post, he has written sports features and authored a couple of books. One of those sports features stories was a deep dive into what he viewed as a large inequity in the level of pay for LSU head football coach Brian Kelly and his LSU players. It is this piece Mulkey described as a “hit piece” and, based on that piece, referred to Babb as a “sleazy reporter.” Babb, and many others, resented the fact his story was labeled as a hit piece. In fact, Babb essentially confirmed he was the author Mulkey was referencing when he shared the original article on X with the comment: “Hit piece?”

Whether a printed piece or a recorded interview, I can’t imagine a better promotion for it than the subject of the interview threatening a libel/slander lawsuit, especially before it is even released. That simply screams “This piece is salacious!!” Also, libel and slander suits get settled all the time, right? Of course they don’t, they seem to never even get filed. That little thing called discovery is a scary thing for most public figures.

The NCAA Tournament has been very entertaining, and I think the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight will be terrific. For only the fifth time ever, the top two seeds have advanced to the third round which sets up for a remarkable weekend. For me, I guess it will now include a Washington Post article, not a sentence I’d normally say.

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