Can Tom Barnard Save "The Ticket"?

Raise your hand if you listen to Sports Radio 105 The Ticket.  Not many of you do.  Among all the sports talk stations in the Twin Cities, it ranks a distant third behind KFAN (KFXN 100.3 FM) since debuting in the spring.

It doesn't help that The Ticket is stuck on three low power FM signals (105.1, 105.3 and 105.7) compared to Clear Channel-owned KFAN's 100,000 watts, or that their programming comes from CBS Sports Radio, which owner Cumulus Media distributes and is promoting heavily on its sports stations across the country.

Well, the signal can't be fixed, but the programming certainly can.  The Ticket just made changes to its afternoon drive by replacing whatever show CBS has with local hosts Mike Miller (former Viking who was once known as "Superstar" on KFAN) and Bob Sansevere, sports columnist for the St. Paul Pioneer Press and part of the circus that is KQRS' (92.5 FM) morning show.  (Both The Ticket and KQ are owned by Cumulus.)

Miller and Sansevere then give way to Tom Barnard, who's simulcasting the last hour of his podcast from 6-7 p.m.  With him are members of his family (the show is done from Barnard's palatial estate) and Don Shelby, the former WCCO-TV news anchor (and would-be politician) who is currently employed by the local news outfit Bring Me The News.

According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Barnard claims his new Ticket gig is less a money grab than a chance to promote his podcast and his KQ show--if that's possible.  He's dominated morning radio for years.  But with Barnard being more or less a conservative and Shelby more or less a liberal, one suspects that sports won't be all they'll talk about.

It's going to take more than Barnard and Shelby to get folks to switch from Dan Barreiro on KFAN.  One wonders if the frat boy humor that continues to be popular in the morning will translate to later in the day.  But we do know this:  Cumulus sure knows how to repurpose its talent.

In other Cumulus news:

• Already a major player in radio syndication, Cumulus made itself even more so with the purchase of Dial Global.  To do that, they had to sell a few of its massive inventory of stations, including some in southern Minnesota, to Townsquare Media.  As a result, Cumulus will now have distribution rights to the radio news divisions of ABC, CBS and NBC, as well as exclusive radio rights to the NFL, NCAA and the Olympics.  Only CC-owned Premiere Radio Networks is larger.
• Cumulus has also made a deal to keep Rush Limbaugh on most of its news/talk stations, with the exception of WABC-AM in New York, his original flagship.  Limbaugh is leaving for CC-owned WOR-AM.  Sean Hannity is not so lucky, with Cumulus reportedly about to drop him.  Limbaugh and Hannity are both syndicated by Premiere, and both run in the Twin Cities by CC-owned KTCN-AM 1130.