Contents - Boston News - NYC Mailbag - DC Mailbag - Buy An Ad - Support Us Edited by Dave Hughes. Send posts to dcrtv@dcrtv.com. Put "MAILBAG" on the subject line. DCRTV can't take responsibility for message content, although we attempt to edit for taste and fairness. Each posting is solely the opinion of the person who wrote it. DCRTV cannot verify the factual accuracy or authorship of posts. If you see a message that's in poor taste or unfair to someone, contact us and it will be removed. Messages that don't deal with local media issues may not get posted. We can't forward messages to posters..... Latest messages listed first..... \/ November Messages \/ Also, there is Christmas music already on WODS and WROR in Boston, WWLI and B101 in Providence and WKPE on the Cape. (11/13/08) With NBC set to impose a new $500M budget cut in 2009. I'm predicting that the following could take place at some of the NBC O&O stations, other than the few from behind the scenes and on-camera personalities likely to be cut... New York: I'm predicting that WNBC could and might be forced to dump 1 of the following 3 newscasts... 5PM, 7PM, or weekend morning. Philly: I'm predicting that WCAU could and might be forced to dump the 4PM newscast, as well as the "10!" show. I'm also predicting that NBC may attempt to convert newscasts to HD in early January 2009... the WPHL "My 17" newscast being included in the HD overhaul, if NBC and Tribune wish to keep the news outsourcing agreement in place. DC: I'm predicting that WRC could and might be forced to dump the 5PM newscast... NBC moving the "Dr. Phil" show to 5PM, to give the existing 6PM newscast stronger lead-ins... the "Ellen" show also being moved to 3PM. NBC dumping the 11AM newscast as well. I'm predicting that NBC may attempt to convert newscasts to HD in late January 2009... perhaps becoming the 2nd DC station to convert, if FOX (WTTG) and Allbritton (WJLA) don't get it together. Hartford-New Haven: I'm predicting that NBC will put the Connecticut NBC station (WVIT) back on the market... have some success in finding an interested buyer for the station. Hearst-Argyle Television was rumored to be interested... I could picture private groups, like Newport Television and Four Points Media Group possibly expressing interest in the station too. (11/6/08) /\ November Messages /\ \/ September Messages \/ When "CBS Scene" was first announced in the Boston Herald, in December 2007, Bob Lobel was still gainfully employed at channel 4. "Bob Lobel told me he wants to do Sports Final here, he and Steve Burton every Sunday night," (Patriots owner Bob) Kraft said. "So post game, the place to be will be the CBS Scene." Al McGilvray (9/8/08) Currently in high-def are... KYW-TV/Ch. 3 & WPSG-TV/Ch. 57 (CBS/CW Philly)... WABC-TV/Ch. 7 (ABC New York)... WBFF-TV/Ch. 45 (FOX Baltimore)... WCBS-TV/Ch. 2 (CBS New York)... WCVB-TV/Ch. 5 (ABC Boston)... WHDH-TV/Ch. 7 & WLVI-TV/Ch. 56 (NBC/CW Boston)... WNBC-TV/Ch. 4 (NBC New York)... WPIX-TV/Ch. 11 (CW New York)... WPVI-TV/Ch. 6 (ABC Philly)... WTXF-TV/Ch. 29 (FOX Philly)... WUSA-TV/Ch. 9 (CBS DC). Other HD rumors and predictions... CBS is reportedly slated to convert Baltimore (WJZ-TV/Ch. 13) to HD by Spring, 2009. CBS has yet to formally announce plans to convert Boston (WBZ-TV/Ch. 4 & WWSB-TV/Ch. 38) to HD. FOX was rumored to be converting DC (WTTG-TV/Ch. 5) to HD sometime this year... rumors suggesting as early as May, 2008. DC's conversion to HD has yet to take place, and maybe leading to speculation on whether or not FOX has any interests in converting local newscasts to HD. FOX also has yet to formally announce plans to convert New York (WNYW-TV/Ch. 5 & WWOR-TV/Ch. 9) and Boston (WFXT-TV/Ch. 25) to HD. NBC is rumored to be converting Philly (WCAU-TV/Ch. 10) to HD by late Summer/early Fall. Viewers seeing a new HD set, and the new NBC O&O graphics. No word on if the WPHL-TV/Ch. 17 newscast will be included in the HD overhaul or not. NBC still has yet to convert DC (WRC-TV/Ch. 4) to HD. WBAL-TV/Ch. 11 (NBC Baltimore)... Their HD debut is reportedly slated for February, 2009. I would assume Hearst may be waiting until right after Super Bowl XLIII to debut HD, in hopes of getting strong lead-ins. WJAR-TV/Ch. 10 (NBC Providence)... I'm still predicting the possibility of the Rhode Island television station converting to HD, before WLNE-TV/Ch. 6 and WPRI-TV/Ch. 12 do. WJLA-TV/Ch. 7 (ABC DC)... Their HD debut is reportedly slated for late Summer/early Fall of this year. No word on if viewers will be seeing new HD set and graphics. WVIT-TV/Ch. 30 (NBC Hartford-New Haven)... Despite NBC's effort to sell the station to an interested buyer, a new broadcast facility is currently being constructed, and is slated to open by Spring, 2009. I'm now predicting the possibilty of the Connecticut television station converting to HD when their new broadcast facility opens, and whom the stations new owner may be. (9/1/08) /\ September Messages /\ \/ July Messages \/ NBC is in the process of selling ownership of WTVJ Miami and WVIT Hartford-New Haven. We've been hearing rumors that NBC may be thinking about dumping ownership of WRC D.C. NBC has yet to formally announce whether or not to sell WRC. New owners for WTVJ and WVIT could be decided any day now. The rumors I'm hearing about WVIT... Hearst-Argyle Television, owner of WBAL Baltimore and WCVB Boston may be expressing interest in buying the station. WBAL and WCVB win the news ratings in their respective markets... KCRA Sacramento and KMBC Kansas City are 2 other Heart owned stations I know of that have top-rated local newscasts. B&C article from May 28th... www.broadcastingcable.com... The rumors I'm hearing about WTVJ... Viewers have been echoing the sentiment of Belo Corporation or Cox Enterprises buying the station. Belo or Cox could give the South Florida "bottom dweller" the turn-around it's been needing. KHOU Houston, KING Seattle-Tacoma, WFAA Dallas-Ft. Worth, and WWL New Orleans are 4 Belo owned stations that I know of to have top-rated newscasts... WFTV Orlando, WSB Atlanta, and WSOC Charlotte are 3 Cox owned stations that I know of to have top-rated newscasts. SFLTV.com blogs... www.sfltv.com and www.sfltv.com... These are just rumors I've been hearing and reading about. (7/14/08) /\ July Messages /\ \/ May Messages \/ HD (local news) updates and predictions... Already in high-def... KYW-TV/Ch. 3 and WPSG-TV/Ch. 57 (CBS/CW Philly)... WABC-TV/Ch. 7 (ABC New York)... WCBS-TV/Ch. 2 (CBS New York)... WCVB-TV/Ch. 5 (ABC Boston)... WNBC-TV/Ch. 4 (NBC New York)... WPIX-TV/Ch. 11 (CW New York)... WPVI-TV/Ch. 6 (ABC Philly)... WTXF-TV/Ch. 29 (FOX Philly)... WUSA-TV/Ch. 9 (CBS DC)... Soon-to-be in HD... WBFF-TV/Ch. 45 (FOX Baltimore)... WHDH-TV/Ch. 7 and WLVI-TV/Ch. 56 (NBC/CW Boston)... WJLA-TV/Ch. 7 (ABC DC)... WTTG-TV/Ch. 5 (FOX DC)... Both FOX affiliates are slated to debut HD News sometime in May, 2008. I don't know if both stations decided to wait until right after the Idol season finale or not... in hopes of getting strong lead-ins. If they're not in HD quite yet, they'll likely be debuting it any day now. It was recently reported that WJLA is slated to debut HD news by late Summer or early Fall. Rumors have circulated that WHDH and WLVI may be going HD by late Summer or early Fall... Ed Ansin has yet to formally announce it. My predictions... I don't believe viewers will be seeing HD news quite yet on the remaining NBC owned and CBS owned stations... giving their current financial situations. NBC's mediocre performance, and CBS' recent layoffs. Those NBC owned stations being... WCAU-TV/Ch. 10 (Philly), WRC-TV/Ch. 4 (DC), and WVIT-TV/Ch. 30 (Hartford-New Haven). NBC is also in the process of selling ownership of WVIT. Those CBS owned stations being... WBZ-TV/Ch. 4 and WSBK-TV/Ch. 38 (Boston), and WJZ-TV/Ch. 13 (Baltimore). The FOX owned stations... WFXT-TV/Ch. 25 (Boston), and WNYW-TV/Ch. 5 and WWOR-TV/Ch. 9 (New York) have yet to formally announce plans to debut HD news. Baltimore market - With WBFF going HD first, I'm looking at either WMAR-TV/Ch. 2 (ABC) or WBAL-TV/Ch. 11 (NBC) going HD second. Hartford-New Haven market - Too close to call at this time. Providence market - I'm looking at WJAR-TV/Ch. 10 (NBC) going HD first. Boston market - I'm looking at WHDH and WLVI going HD second. (5/22/08) The circulating rumors about NBC wanting ownership of WHDH-TV/Ch. 7... that really doesn't surprise me. I don't believe Ed Ansin would seem interested in selling ownership of the NBC affiliate. I don't know if NBC would be interested in WLVI-TV (CW 56) either. If NBC were to acquire HDH and LVI... 7 would be yet another NBC O&O affiliate, that would look like the other NBC O&O's. As for CW 56... NBC would likely strip the station of its CW affiliation, and convert it to Telemundo. CBS owned WSBK-TV/Ch. 38 pick up CW affiliation. In the San Francisco market... Rumors have circulated that NBC is wanting KRON-TV/Ch. 4. KRON-TV, currently a MyNetwork TV affiliate which used to be 1 of NBC's strongest performing affiliates until late 2001. Young Broadcasting is currently in the process of selling ownership of the station. If NBC were to acquire KRON... NBC would strip the station of its MyNetwork TV affiliation, either convert it to Telemundo or back to NBC... NBC keep its current KNTV (Ch. 11) property as NBC or Telemundo... and dump network ownership and Telemundo affiliation from KSTS (Ch. 48). In the Miami market... NBC is currently in the process of selling WTVJ-TV/Ch. 6, along with Hartford-New Haven's WVIT-TV/Ch. 30. Rumors have circulated that FOX may be wanting ownership of WTVJ. Rupert Murdoch has been wanting a Miami FOX O&O station for quite sometime... Ed Ansin doesn't seem too interested in selling WSVN-TV/Ch. 7 to FOX. Chances of FOX acquiring ownership of WTVJ are very slim. NBC is wanting to sell TVJ to a company that'll keep the station NBC. If FOX were to acquire the NBC affiliate... FOX would likely strip TVJ of its NBC affiliation, and convert it to FOX. Ed Ansin would likely consumate his marriage to NBC, by converting WSVN back to its peacock roots. These are rumors I've read about on the internet. (5/18/08) /\ May Messages /\ \/ April Messages \/ The purchase of 1170 Soldiers Field Road by Harvard could be the reason channel 4 hasn't gone to High Def yet. Why spend money on a HD news set when you're going to move out anyway. BTW - there was a Howard Johnson's restaurant was right next door to WBZ. It later became a "Ground Round" or something, and is now WBPX-TV , the ION station for Boston. Wonder if that will move, too. Al McGilvray (4/14/08) The Boston newspapers are speculating about "Fair Hah-vad" buying up nine acres of neighboring Allston property currently occupied by the CBS Radio and Television cluster. (4/14/08) /\ April Messages /\ \/ March Messages \/ Jessica Heslan of the Boston Herald needs a map of Boston. WBZ-TV is in Allston (02134), not Brighton (02135). (4/1/08) Great bit of news here that NBC covets an O and O in Boston. If it were to happen it would be highly ironic in that Ed Ansin who owns Sunbeam which owns WHDH would be in the position to tell NBC to go F--- themselves. By way of a little history…NBC dropped its affiliation with Sunbeam’s WSVN in the late 80’s forcing WSVN initially to go independent ( which it did…allowing Ansin to make a ton of money off news ). So Ansin could get the satisfaction of having the Peacock network perform an unbelievable anatomical act or he could sell and make a ton of money. What a country. (3/31/08) Hey Dave... The stations that would have been swapped to NBC circa 1960 were actually WNAC(AM) 680, WRKO-FM 98.5 and WNAC-TV 7. The WRKO calls were parked on the FM in Boston for many years before the 1967 shuffle that finally put them on AM 680, where they remain today. (That's when the FM became WROR.) (3/28/08) DCRTV Dave: back in the long-ago days in Boston, channel 7 was known as WNAC-TV. They are now WHDH-TV, the original call-letters of channel 5, which is now WCVB. The WNAC call letters are now at a TV station in southern New England. WGBH (channel 2) and WBZ (channel 4) have always had their original call letters. Al McGilvray (3/28/08) When I was home on Monday (3/10) for my mother's 90th birthday. I was watching the WBZ-TV noon news. The reporter said a "construction site" fire in downtown Boston was out, and the "construction workers" were safe and the bulding was "under construction" and there were no residents in the "building under construction" because the building was "under construction." The male anchorman then asked the reporter, "Did any of the residents lose their personal property?'' The reporter took a deep breath and said, "No. The building is still under construction." Sigh. (3/13/08) rope.wpro-am.fimc.net (3/11/08) Hi Dave, Saw a typo on (the Boston news) page: 'WEEL' should be WEEI (unless Art Kellar has come back from the grave to resuscitate 1310 in Boston!) (3/8/08) Group radio station owner Citadel is swapping formats on two stations it owns in the Eastern Long Island - New London, Connecticut area. The talk format of WXLM, currently on 102.3 in Stonington, Connecticut, will be shifted to 104.7 in Montauk, Long Island, across the sound. Meanwhile, the classic rock music format of WMOS on 104.7 Montauk, Long Island will move to 102.3 Stonington. This report is from New London Day (3/7/08) /\ March Messages /\ \/ February Messages \/ Dave, You don’t happen to have the names of some of the CBS Boston employees that were let go last week do you? I am trying to track down some old industry friends and make sure they survived. Thanks, Eric (2/11/08) Dave's response: I reported all the name I heard..... Re: NESN's Tina Cervasio - do you know how many men would would work for minimum wage at NESN, MASN or ESPN just to be near their sports heroes? Women are increasingly taking sports broadcasting jobs, only to leave a few years later to "spend more time with their families." Something's not right. (2/1/08) /\ February Messages /\ \/ January Messages \/ Running spanish now on 1150 WTTT, website says Radio Luz is coming, seems to be coming out of Flordia for now, WTTT ran conservative talk (1/28/08) Um, Dave? Portsmouth is in New Hampshire – not Maine. (1/28/08) Dave's response: Well, maybe there was a Portsmouth, Maine, too? Oh, nevermind..... CORRECT call letters are WURH for 104.1 Waterbury/Hartford (not WSHU which is an NPR station at 91.1 in Fairfield County) www.fcc.gov (1/27/08) CC is being forced to sell WURH 104.1 in Hartford as part of the buyout plan of CC. Here's the story from WTNH. Note WTNH got the calls wrong. The list the calls as WSHU which belongs to a station owned by Sacred Heart. www.wtnh.com (1/26/08) Here's another question, this time about the programming being streamed on the Internet by WBZ AM 1030. Why is the programming (particularly the content and spacing of the ads) so different from the over-the-air content? The cuts between news and blocks of ads (and the fact that the same streamed ads are repeated over and over, often just minutes apart) are jagged and make it obvious that something is either being cut out, or maybe even time- shortened in some way to squeeze in more ads. While it's nice to be able to hear WBZ any time I want to from 500 miles away, it must be said that the programming of the streamed product is inferior to the aired product. I'm not sure why that has to be the case. Maybe someone in the know can fill me in on why this is done. With the return of the Patriots to the Super Bowl stage, it reminds me what a shame it is that I can't hear Gil Santos and Gino Cappelletti doing the games over the mighty (pre-IBOC AM hash, thank you, FCC) WBZ blowtorch. And while we're at it, it's time to lament once more the miserable state of weekend "brokered" programming on this great AM signal....just atrocious. I can't bear to hear it - silence would be preferable, if unprofitable. For fun, this summer, just try and find a Major League Baseball game airing for free on any of the former clear-channel AMers like KMOX in St. Louis....it has all been taken away from us. 73s from the Radio Bear. (1/25/08) The official Patriots TV station www.boston.com (1/19/08) (From the main DCRTV Mailbag:) Re: WTOP abandoning their 50,000 watt outlet. Comparison: "New England's News Leader" is how WBZ 1030kHz promotes itself. Damned impressive signal. I listen to it all the way to work in DC by 7AM. Sure doesn't sound like a little "community newspaper." Image is important to local advertisers who know commuting patterns go way beyond the coverage map. WBZ rarely even says the word Boston, because they have greater aspirations and the signal to back them up. For office audiences, it's streaming audio on workstations, not a tabletop radio. At home, it's local TV for news. Defending the move to a city-grade FM doesn't cut it with advertisers or listeners. (1/11/08) (From the main DCRTV Mailbag:) I have to laugh at the discussion about listening to 1500 AM out of state at night. I was on my way to work at 3:30 a.m. today and flipped off the satellite radio for the first time in months to catch whatever the overnight guy on Boston powerhouse WBZ (1030) might be saying about the aftermath of the New Hampshire primary. I was stunned how poor the signal was. WBZ beamed in at night like a local station (on this same car radio) before this screwy HD idea came along, now it's barely listenable. Then I discovered most of the other big signals between 1000 and 1200 were either awful or completely gone. What hath these idiots wrought? (1/9/08) In Boston, the Globe www.boston.com has an entire article devoted to a pirate station on 96.5 in Brockton, Massachusetts, Brockton Heat which has its own Web site at brocktonheat.com (1/8/08) Re: WBZ Radio ads - I do quite a bit of driving in the Mid-Atlantic/New England area. Passing through small towns like Bedford, PA, I hear lots of ads for "Debby's Dress Barn" or "Cornwell Chevrolet" - all locally-owned businesses. When you turn to a major market radio station like WTOP (Washington), KDKA (PIttsburgh) or WBZ (Boston), it seems all you get are the nutjob ads mentioned in Radio Bear's letter. Perhaps the problem is that advertising on a major-market radio station is too costly for "mom-and-pop" stores, leaving the local airwaves to department stores, auto dealerships, "Height-Max" and "rich, chocolate Ovaltine - Hot!" Al McGilvray (1/5/08) Hello, Boston! Am I the only person who is embarrassed by the poor quality of the advertisers on legendary AMer WBZ 1030 these days? "Are you a high net worth investor? Fishy Investments can help!" "I will be debt free in 30 days thanks to John Commuter".... What have they done to this once-great station? Is this bottom-of-the-barrel stuff the best that a top Sales Department can bring in? It's painful to hear this great signal debased with such poor-quality spots...this kind of stuff used to air on little daytimers, now one of America's greatest station is reduced to these huckster ads....Gary LaPierre left not a minute too soon! That weekend paid programming is too painful to listen to...it's sad, very sad....Radio Bear, who remembers Bob Kennedy Contact, and Larry Glick talking about the Norwood Airport... (1/4/08) Boston Globe article - Nassau deal - www.boston.com... Jeff from Maine (1/4/08) Repeat after me, my friend... W-O-R-C-E-S-T-E-R. No "h" anywhere in there. :-) Good luck with the new mailbag! s (1/2/08) Hey Dave, usually look at ur D&M stuff from afar, but I saw you have a Boston Page and a little birdie has told me that WEEI/Entercom on Nassau Broadcasting stations in Maine seems to be in trouble. $$$$ seems at the root. FYI (1/2/08) Hello, Boston! Brighton native (St. Col's) and Grahm Junior College graduate Al McGilvray here. I am working in Martinsburg, West Virginia doing the morning news on WRNR-AM 740, streaming local programming on www.talkradiowrnr.com. Go, Pats! Al McGilvray (1/2/08) /\ January Messages /\ Other DCRTV Mailbags can be reached HERE.....

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