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Flashback: The day Norm Hitzges left KLIF for 1310 The Ticket

Hitzges announced Thursday that he will be retiring from full-time radio next week.

Editor’s note: This story was originally published on Jan. 8, 2000 by staff writer Al Brumley. Hitzges, longtime host at Sportsradio 96.7 FM/1310 AM The Ticket [KTCK-AM], announced Thursday he is retiring on June 23 after more than two decades at the station.

Norm Hitzges, the dean of Dallas sports talk, has been traded for a host to be named later.

Mr. Hitzges, who marked 15 years at KLIF-AM [570] this month, said Friday that he is moving Tuesday to sister station “The Ticket” KTCK-AM [1310], where he will broadcast from 10 a.m. to noon.

The move makes Mr. Hitzges - a paradigm of traditional sports talk - a colleague of the less-traditional KTCK hosts, who have often had fun at his expense.

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Mr. Hitzges said KTCK officials have been very encouraging. “They just said, “Do the show the way you want to do it,’ " he said. But that won’t necessarily stop the carping between him and some of the KTCK hosts, he added.

“You will probably be able to tell my show from the others,” he said.

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Mr. Hitzges’ move is part of a larger shake-up at KLIF, where officials announced the firing of four talk-show hosts Friday.

Fired were Leon Simon, Mr. Hitzges’ on-air partner from 6 to 9 a.m.; Yolanda Gaskins, who was hired in March for the noon-3 p.m. talk-show slot; and Mike Fisher and Wally Lynn, whose sports talk show aired from 6 to 9 p.m. None could be reached for comment.

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KLIF program director Steve Konrad declined to discuss Mr. Hitzges’ comments or to name the hosts’ replacements. He said more changes at KLIF will be announced Monday.

“There were some highly talented, excellent people we had to part with today,” Mr. Konrad said. “It’s always really difficult to come to those decisions and have to tell them, when they’re good people and they work hard and work hard, and you like them. It was a horrible process to have to go through.”

Surviving the ordeal were midmorning talk host “Humble” Billy Hayes and afternoon-drive host Kevin McCarthy.

Rumors about changes at KLIF have been swirling for months, prompted primarily by the station’s low ratings. KLIF has ranked no higher than 21st since spring 1997. In the summer Arbitron ratings - the most recent available - KLIF ranked 22nd with a 1.5 share.

By comparison, news/talk station WBAP-AM [820] ranked fifth with a 4.6 share, and news/talk station KRLD-AM [1080] ranked 12th with a 3.4 share. KTCK ranked 20th in the summer with a 2.1 share.

KLIF and KTCK are owned by Susquehanna Radio Corp., based in York, Pa.

Mr. Konrad wouldn’t comment on the reason for the firings except to say that “any time something this drastic takes place, it is for a specific purpose.”

Mr. Hitzges said KLIF officials “broached the idea in December before I left on vacation. They said, “Just consider it while you’re trucking around South Africa.’ "

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The 10 a.m.-noon slot at KTCK became open in November, when host Chris Arnold announced he was stepping down.

Mr. Arnold said at the time that he needed to “recharge his batteries.” He also does sports for the Skip Murphy morning show at KKDA-FM [104.5], along with his sideline reporting work on Fox Sports Net’s Dallas Mavericks basketball broadcasts.

When Mr. Hitzges was hired, KLIF was located at 1190 AM.

The hardest part about Friday, he said, was losing his partner, Mr. Simon. “Leon and I have grown to be really good friends, good friends,” Mr. Hitzges said. “He puts in time, he cares, he’s got more street smarts than I ever had. The bottom line is, this is a wonderful company . . . but it’s still their company. Would I have made these changes? No. But that isn’t my job. And it wasn’t easy for them.”

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Reactions to Mr. Hitzges’ move were mostly negative Friday night at Reunion Arena, where fans streamed in to watch a Dallas Stars hockey game against the Vancouver Canucks.

“How the hell do you fire Norm Hitzges?” said Mike Stern, 44, when he learned of the news. “I love Norm. When I listen to Norm, I feel like he’s in the car with me. He speaks in a language we understand.”

Mr. Stern said he will tune in to The Ticket more often - if his favorite sports announcer gets to keep his style, that is.

Nathan Dull said he believes that The Ticket’s format could hurt Mr. Hitzges.

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“It just does not seem like a good mix,” said Mr. Dull, 21. “Seems like it’s not the format Norm’s used to.”

Denise Holcomb is more optimistic.

“He probably will adapt pretty well wherever he is,” said Ms. Holcomb, 41, an avid KLIF and Ticket listener from Wichita Falls.

Many sports listeners wanted to know who would replace Mr. Hitzges and others on KLIF.

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“I think they will need someone a lot more hard-hitting than Norm,” Ms. Holcomb suggested.

One young man who listens to The Ticket said he’s happy to have the broadcast legend, but Brandon Holubar chuckled at The Ticket announcers working with a veteran announcer they’ve lampooned in the past.

“Don’t they make fun of him a lot?” said Mr. Holubar, 26, of McKinney. “He’s been around a long time. That’s a good deal.”

Staff writer Kendall Anderson contributed to this report.

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