{"id":59202,"date":"2025-07-12T09:12:18","date_gmt":"2025-07-12T09:12:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/59202\/"},"modified":"2025-07-12T09:12:18","modified_gmt":"2025-07-12T09:12:18","slug":"ex-ticket-hosts-danny-balis-sirois-brothers-step-into-the-future-of-entertainment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/59202\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Ticket hosts Danny Balis, Sirois brothers step into the future of entertainment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Danny Balis and Mike Sirois were on-air personalities at the juggernaut sports talk radio station The Ticket<\/a> in 2022. They both left the station within weeks of each other in spring of that year. <\/p>\n

Realizing there were limited opportunities to move forward at the station, they decided it was time to try something new. It led them to the new world of broadcasting. <\/p>\n

When asked if he had any regrets about leaving The Ticket, Balis said, \u201cZero. I truly feel that I would still be in the exact same position now had I stayed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sirois, 49, had been at The Ticket for 15 years<\/a>, most recently as the producer for The Norm and D Invasion show. Balis, 57, was the longtime producer of The Ticket\u2019s afternoon drive show The Hardline.<\/a> He had worked at the station for 22 years. <\/p>\n

Sports Roundup<\/p>\n

Get the latest D-FW sports news, analysis and opinion delivered straight to your inbox. Plus, Kevin Sherrington’s A La Carte.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a new talk radio station \u2014 97.1 FM The Freak \u2014 was being formed. The brainchild of Ben Rogers and Jeff \u201cSkin\u201d Wade and Ticket co-founder Mike Rhyner, <\/a>The Freak went head-to-head with Sportsradio The Ticket 96.7 FM\/1310 AM for the ears of listeners in Dallas-Fort Worth, the fifth-largest radio market in the country.<\/p>\n

Sirois joined the 97.1 roster on Day 1. He didn\u2019t have a noncompete clause in his Ticket contract. Balis, also the co-owner of the Twilite Lounge in Deep Ellum, did have a noncompete in place. <\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t approached [by The Freak] until 6 1\/2 months after I resigned from KTCK,\u201d Balis said. \u201cBy then, I was unable to make a living off the Twilite Lounge due to low post-lockdown sales and desperately needed an income.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the time they were both on board at 97.1 they\u2019d had multiple conversations about how talk radio should be combining video and streaming. They asked management at The Freak\u2019s parent company \u2014 San Antonio-based iHeartMedia<\/a> \u2014 for equipment to make live video content. Their requests were denied.<\/p>\n

(Michael Hogue)<\/p>\n

Ultimately, The Freak\u2019s ratings didn\u2019t meet expectations. Ownership decided to go in a different direction,<\/a> switching back to a mainstream rock format in May 2024. Sirois and Balis were let go from the station. <\/p>\n

While they expressed disappointment with the way The Freak was managed, Balis and Sirois said no one was to blame but the people on the air.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t succeed because we didn\u2019t get traditional ratings,\u201d Sirois said. \u201cWe had a dream opportunity, and we failed.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next?<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter Danny and I got violently fired, you start saying, \u2018What are we going to do next?\u2019\u201d Sirois said. <\/p>\n

Sirois had a severance package of one year, while Balis had a three-month severance package.<\/p>\n

Balis began working with former Ticket hosts Jake Kemp and Dan McDowell on their successful podcast, The Dumb Zone. For a month he sat in for Kemp, who was in rehab.<\/a> He also spent some time producing The Mom Game, hosted by former Ticket and Freak personality Julie Dobbs <\/a>and former Rangers clubhouse reporter Emily Jones. <\/a><\/p>\n

After Sirois was let go from the Freak, he went to South Dakota by himself for a week. He took some time to clear his head and think about his next move.<\/p>\n

Discussions about what they were going to do next happened pretty quickly after that. They jumped into what they see as the future of the spoken entertainment industry: Livecast and streaming.<\/p>\n

The livecast<\/p>\n

They call their show a livecast, not a podcast. \u201cWe are a LIVE party for the people of D-FW Tuesday and Thursday nights. Then, it\u2019s available as a podcast the next morning,\u201d Sirois said.<\/p>\n

In a brick building catty-corner to Lee Harvey\u2019s bar in the Cedars in a gleaming studio, a new episode of the Cirque Du Sirois livecast <\/a>is about to be recorded. The show, starring Cash and Mike Sirios with Balis, drops live on YouTube and Twitch, Tuesdays and Thursdays beginning at 8 p.m. <\/p>\n

The evening time slot was Mike\u2019s idea:<\/p>\n

(Michael Hogue)<\/p>\n

The first episode dropped around a month ago. It\u2019s free to listeners and viewers on multiple platforms in audio and video formats. The plan is to keep it free by partnering with sponsors. <\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing we learned at The Ticket is the relationship with clients,\u201d Balis said. \u201cWhen you have a relationship where they get your brand of comedy, you can make the spots entertaining. You can make the live reads funny, you\u2019re just not reading a piece of paper, there are jokes. That\u2019s what we\u2019re doing at Cirque, we want the spots that we do to be part of the fabric of the show.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cirque\u2019s numbers show that their audience is roughly split down the middle, with about half viewing the video show and half listening to the audio version. <\/p>\n

And the numbers are growing: After just 14 shows, users have interacted with their content over 500,000 times and have listened to their video and audio podcast streams over 200,000 times, according to Balis.<\/p>\n

The show is mostly guys goofing around, but it\u2019s not always fun and games. On Tuesday\u2019s show they talked in-depth about the tragic Texas floods and asked listeners to donate to the victims.<\/a> Their generous listeners donated over $7,500 to the cause.<\/p>\n

Genesis of the show<\/p>\n

The original Cirque Du Sirois show was a weekend staple at The Ticket, starting in 2010. It ran for 12 years and was hosted by the Sirois brothers. They also regularly filled in for other Ticket hosts who were on vacation. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that Cash and Mikey did a show on The Ticket for so long, and it was Cirque Du Sirois, that name made sense,\u201d Balis said. \u201cAnd we knew that we wanted to work together.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Michael Hogue)<\/p>\n

The final piece in putting the show together was getting Cash Sirois involved. Cash, 51, is the elder brother. He\u2019s the President\/CEO at The Well Creative Productions and his work has earned nine nominations and three Emmy Awards. He was also a sports reporter for NBC5 and was the creative director with the Dallas Mavericks until he formed his new business in 2013. <\/p>\n

The new Cirque Du Sirois studio is located in his company\u2019s offices in the Cedars. <\/p>\n

Secret weapon<\/p>\n

\u201cLike with most things, Cash is sort of the key to victory,\u201d Mike said. \u201cThe secret weapon of D-FW is Cash Sirois.\u201d <\/p>\n

(Michael Hogue)<\/p>\n

The show\u2019s fourth member is producer Madigan Minihan. She wears many hats behind the scenes, producing eye-catching graphics and animations, handling audio\/video, and she helps keep the show flowing. <\/p>\n

(Michael Hogue)<\/p>\n

Minihan comes to the scene naturally. Her dad plays keys with Bird Dogs, The Ticket morning show host George Dunham\u2019s band. When she was a kid, she sang a couple of iconic songs that many P1s know, Robot Santa<\/a> and I Woke You Up<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Chemistry<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cI don\u2019t know how many brothers get to do a show together,\u201d Cash said. \u201cI missed it, I missed it, bad. And I\u2019ve had a unique relationship with Danny for a long time, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I allowed myself to think about it, working with brothers that not only have done a show together \u2014 but have been kind of conjoined for 50 years \u2014 it should intimidate me,\u201d Balis said. \u201cBut I try not to think about it and just try to figure out how I fit into their chemistry.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes time to learn everybody\u2019s nuances and pacing and all of that stuff.<\/p>\n

But after the first few shows, I couldn\u2019t be more pleased with the start that we have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mike changes his outfit for the show. He puts on a purple velour shirt, a gold chain and a pair of gaudy gold-rimmed glasses. He hasn\u2019t cut his hair since he left The Freak. Now, he looks like an \u201880s Bronx street hustler. <\/p>\n

\u201cOnce the show started taking shape, we kind of decided on a 1980s living room theme, so the hair, the zany shirts, all just kind of fit,\u201d Mike said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour shirt looks like a Crown Royal bag,\u201d Madigan said to Mike, as they sat in their chairs to record the next episode.<\/p>\n

(Michael Hogue)\"Puerto<\/a>Katie Taylor beats Amanda Serrano for a third time to remain undisputed 140-pound champion<\/a><\/p>\n

Plus, Alycia \u201cThe Bomb\u201d Baumgardner\u00a0won and Shurretta Metcalf was defeated.<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/a>Texas Rangers offensive surge continues against Astros despite sleepless night of travel<\/a><\/p>\n

The Rangers began an incredibly important series against the Astros with another encouraging night at the plate.<\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/a>Who is Ryan Nembhard? Five things to know about Mavericks\u2019 two-way guard out of Gonzaga<\/a><\/p>\n

Nembhard was Dallas\u2019 leading scorer in the team\u2019s first Summer League game of 2025.<\/p>\n

For more sports coverage from <\/b>The Dallas Morning News<\/b>, click here<\/b><\/a>.<\/b><\/p>\n

To view subscription options for <\/b>The News<\/b> and SportsDay, click here<\/b><\/a>.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Danny Balis and Mike Sirois were on-air personalities at the juggernaut sports talk radio station The Ticket in…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":59203,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,1596,5982,62,222,358,43013,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-59202","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-other-sports","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-sports-business","13":"tag-texas","14":"tag-tv-radio-sports-listings","15":"tag-tx","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114839495912909961","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59202\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}