- Radio Books
Current Mailbag - Mailbag Archive Index - DCRTV Front Page - Support DCRTV
DCRTV Mailbag - July 31 to August 4, 2007
Latest messages listed first.....
\/ August 4 Messages \/
Re: ("And afterwards, call the Junkies @ WJFK-off and tell them all about it - but "CK", the world's most incompetent trainee/intern Producer/Program Director would dump all of the good parts! dapjdjwantstogetjiggywifwendae") ... Everyone wants to hear the "good parts," but how many among you would be willing to fork over hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines, or even lose your job over it? I'll venture that NOBODY WOULD. Whoever you are, Mr. likestopostlongsillynames, your posts on this site are always trifling and negative, AND, you obviously don't understand what it takes to run the business side of radio. I guess that makes you "incompetent." (8/4/07)
The coolest radio station in the world. No contest. www.deputy-dog.com... -al peterson (8/4/07)
I have some Flashback information . I'm a 5th generation Washingtonian and been in the industry since 1959. I see little about black radio in DC, also. WOOK, WUST and later WOL and WHUR made big contributions to DC Listeners. Plus there was WFAN-TV-Channel 14, where Teenarama was produced. Thanks... Jerry (8/4/07)
Dave's response: I'm always looking for more Flashback pics. If you've got something, scan it and send it along.....
I talked with Lark McCarthy the other day after I resigned my position with WTTG/WDCA. I was there for 13 years and worked with Lark for all 13 years. She is taking it easy and relaxing this summer. She plans on moving to Las Vegas in September and will be looking for a position, not necessarily doing something in front of the camera. She has enjoyed her summer off and spending some time with her daughter. (8/4/07)
Did anyone else catch the quip from DC's legendary concert promoter Jack Boyle in today's Washington Post? From the paper; "Though retired, he said he sometimes gets involved in an event here when someone has 'troubles with a major act.'" Can anyone say Bruuuuuuuce? (8/4/07)
www.wifi92.com (8/4/07)
Dave's response: Wow! For about one year, in 1982, Philly's WIFI took on a very cool "Rock Of The '80s" alternative rock format. I have a live aircheck of that "I-92" period on a Sunday night made from down here in the DC area when Winchester's co-frequencied 92.5 was off the air for transmitter maintenance.....
I tend to agree that Andy Pollin is one of the weak sisters at 980. I fail to understand why a sports host would go out of his way to alienate fans of sports like baseball, soccer, hockey, women's basketball, etc. Czaban does the same thing, but he has some talent and does a lot of that tongue in cheek. Pollin, on the other hand, has a disdain and nastiness that is particularly grating. He should be shown the door. They could lose Walker and Thompson too for that matter. (8/4/07)
Blaine Young was indeed suspended from WFMD for two weeks for his slip of the tongue back on July 21. Here's his apology: www.wfmd.com. Only difference was that PD Frank Mitchell was today's Frederick's Forum host. Young should return next week. (8/4/07)
So, has our former FOX5'er Amy Robach been officially crowned the co-anhcor of the weekend Today show?..If so, guess she's ready to do now do a 7 day a week gig since she'll now be doing MSNBC as well as the weekend show..And when exactly did Campbell Brown leave because I didn't see any sort of "send off" party for her..But, then again, I missed a couple of weekends..Also, any word on Lark McCarthy and whether she's working out in Vegas?.. (8/4/07)
To the Pollin defender (a WTEM employee?), Pollin may not be the number one problem at WTEM, there are plenty of them. But getting rid of him would be a good start. He's a lightweight and his arrogant refusal to deal with anything other than the Redskins and Maryland basketball hurts the station. (8/4/07)
The last time an ALL-NEWS radio format was done in Baltimore, things were quite different. Examples: little or no traffic, less DC/Baltimore commuting, little local breaking news to fill the time and people were less used to late breaking local news, even the TV stations had much less local news on the air, and no one in Baltimore cared about ANYTHING that was going on in or around DC. Now a substantial part of the Baltimore market is DC-transplants and that's growing by leaps and bounds and Baltimore's traffic situation has significantly worsened just in the last couple years. Even the Baltimore Sun just had a front page picture of what is to be Baltimore's NIGHTMARE MIXING BOWL interchange (the new I-95@I-695)! I say it's time for somebody to take a chance on ALL NEWS in Baltimore once again. Dave, you are right once again. :-) (8/4/07)
Does DCRTV have a reporter at the Virgin Music Fest? And what band would Dave Hughes like to have a DCRTV logo'd photo of ? I'd give you my iPhone cell#, but you already said you don't do AIM, text, .... or practically anything. It must be challenging running the most popular Mid-Atlantic website from a cave. :-) As always, Your friend in Bmore, PS: Seriously, let me know. (8/4/07)
Dave's response: Modest Mouse. Hey, I'm not a "caveman." But I don't see the importance of being "connected" 24/7. Lately, when I go hiking through the wilds of Northern Virginia, I don't even take along anything to listen to. The silence (OK, the never-ending din of distant traffic) is "refreshing." Hey, I do use iTunes. My lateest downloads have included "Stop Me" by Mark Ronson and "When Did Your Heart Go Missing" by Rooney (proof that they still do occasionally still write good pop songs - remember the band ABC?). Oh, I used to have a dog named Rooney.....
It wasn't a veteran correspondent who said the S-word, it was a veteran engineer who didn't realize he was in front of an open mic. The engineer accidently misfired a soundbite and cursed at his mistake. (8/4/07)
Dave's response: Frankly, what is so terrible about the word "shit"? It's just another word for poop or excrement - a very natural biological functionality of Earthly creatures. OK, it's not a polite word. But we all produce it, it's not illegal to say it, and we and the FCC shouldn't get our panties in such a wad when it makes its way onto the airwaves. In fact, you could make the same argument about the word "fuck." Let's all grow up now.....
Was listening to WBIG last evening and the dj announced it was a Summer of Love weekend on the station. It weren't all the time but in selected chunks, and chunks is chunks.. One chunk of the Summer of Love started with "Going Up the Country" by Canned Heat which I believe came out in '69(?) and not the Summer of Love '67, next song was "Oye Como Va" which does pre date the Summer of Love but I don't believe the Santana version came out till '70 and finally in this chunk of Love segment they played Yardbirds, Over, Under and Sideways, finally something that might have been heard in that Summer of Love so long ago. Btw old farts the Yardbirds will be at State Theater August 12th featuring two original members a long time bassist lead vocalist and ladies a very dreamy looking young lad on lead guitar who's very good.....Anyways right after the Summer of Love segment on WBIG they played a commercial for some sort of ultimate fighting stuff on tv...one quote heard in ad "And I got blood splattered all over my face" Summer of Love and then us alleged human beinz taking pleasure in people beating the sh8t out of each other. RRRRROOOOOAAARRRR!.....Was watching the movie "The Limey" the other night and the Peter Fonda character says "the 60's were really only 1966 and about half of '67" ............here's a tribute article to the late Tom Snyder from Chicago Tribune tinyurl.com (8/4/07)
OK, I've got an iPhone, It streams live video via WIFI, YouTube Videos, plays my iTunes music, I can watch a movie, I can read DCRTV.com, every TV & radio stations' websites, The New York Times, The Post, & The Sun, but why exactly can I NOT stream ANY local music or sound, i.e.: DC 101, 94.7 TheGlobe, WPGC, WIYY 98ROCK, WTOP, WMAL, WBAL, WCBM (even I don't know why I tried them, except that little indie stations often don't follow all the copyright/DRM nuttyness that all the big guys are forced to). Anyway, none work. They're only gonna sell like a million of these things in a few short months, so, WHY oh WHY? Any suggestions anyone? Who's gonna be the FIRST LOCAL RADIO STATION TO BE IPHONE-compatible? Wouldn't all their advertisers like to know that people in my demographic cannot even listen to their advertisements? OUCH! Yep, that's gonna leave a mark in the morning corporate IT guys. (8/4/07)Dave's response: You can get WIFI (right) on it? Man, that was a cool Philadelphia FM hit station back in the 1970s, wasn't it!
While Ms. Gentzler is taking more days to mend, let's roll the video of a 25-year-younger Doreen from her days on Charlotte's TV-9: www.youtube.com (Footage provided by Robert Beacham.) Take a good look, and you'll agree she's just as youthful and vibrant today as a quarter-century ago, (although you might argue her biking prowess is a tad rusty.) (8/4/07)Dave's response: My ma fell on an uneven sidewalk joint and broke her shoulder while in her mid-60s and it was incredibly painful for her. She had a removable sling for her arm to hold her shoulder, and, if it wasn't set just right the pain was horrendous. Especially at night. She had to sleep sitting up for weeks. It took her months (!) to recover, followed by more months of physical therapy. Not fun.....
/\ August 4 Messages /\
\/ August 3 Messages \/
C’mon! Jim Vance has had an ear stud for years… as I have also. Tom Gauger (8/3/07)
I simply don't believe Pollin is the chief deficiency at WTEM. I find the station is amusing and enjoyable to listen to, but then I am not a hard core sports fanatic, and definitely not a hockey jihadi. Why don't you take your campaign to get Pollin fired somewhere else? (8/3/07)
Pollin hasmany deficiencies. He is disdainful of sports like hockey, soccer and baseball, and their fans. He is contemptuous of audience callers and minimizes audience interaction as much as he can. He has been at WTEM way too long and has completely run out of ideas. His knowledge of sports is poor, other than the history of the Redskins. His presence is the primary obstacle to improving WTEM as a sports station. (8/3/07)
As to the Wise Investor show, the entire group recently switched from Ferris, Baker Watts to Baird Securities. Apparently, the show is off the air due to legalities involving the switch. (8/3/07)
During their 9am Eastern radio news feed a veteran ABC News correspondent dropped the S bomb. Will the FCC issue fines to subscribing affiliates or will it be a "gimme" like they did when FOX showed the F word during an Eagles game last season? (8/3/07)
Someone wrote, "...when I first glanced at the "new" WJFKlogo, it looked like someone jerking off. " Dude... if that's true, please, RUN, don't walk, to the nearest urologist! NOW, man!!! Another topic: I started to make fun of Everett W. for sweating over misspelled words on station websites. Then, I realized, that's like a misspelled business letter to your advertisers and listeners! In fact, inb this town, it's also as close to a billboard as you can get. Good call, Everett. - Sincerely, Winston Cargill, Jr. (8/3/07)
vCan you say, "SPIN?" I recently sent an e-mail to MASN explaining my disgust that the Baltimore Orioles and the Washington Nationals are two of the three teams in Major League Baseball that do not broadcast games in High-Definition. Here is a copy of the massive spin e-mail they sent me telling me about all of the "wonderful" sports programming I get to see through a muddy, grainy picture: "Thank you for contacting MASN, the home for sports in the mid-Atlantic region. In 2007, our first year of full operation, MASN has dramatically improved the quality and variety of sports television in our area by delivering content to the viewing audience that was never available prior to the creation of MASN. MASN produces and delivers, for the first time in the mid-Atlantic region, 323 live Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals baseball games on one network, including more than 100 games delivered simultaneously. No other network in the country carries so much live baseball. To provide maximum access for sports fans, MASN also produces and televises 646 live pre-game and post-game shows (O's Xtra and Nats Xtra) before and after every game in addition to our weekly magazine shows (O's Access and Nats Access). Viewers in this region have never before had the opportunity to receive any pre game, post game, or weekly magazine shows, and MASN has created and delivered all of this programming for the first time to a viewing audience who can now follow their teams in new and exciting ways. In addition, MASN has added exclusive live access like pre-game, post-game, and even IN GAME interviews and "wired" segments with Orioles and Nats players and coaches. And, in case you missed it, MASN replays every Nationals and Orioles game either late at night or the next morning. All of these benefits are only available because of MASN. MASN also brings you an A-list broadcasting team that includes veteran national network broadcasters such as Bob Carpenter and Don Sutton for the Nationals, as well as Gary Thorne, Jim Hunter, Jim Palmer, Rick Dempsey and Buck Martinez for the Orioles. MASN's production of Major League Baseball brings you a talented group never before seen on any sports network in this region. MASN's broadcasters are the most experienced of any regional network in the country, and rival national network sports teams for experience and quality. We are excited about our production and delivery of such a robust slate of programming and live sporting events. MASN has no announcement on HD at this time, but is considering providing HD coverage in the future. We will announce additions to our programming and production, including HD, when new information is available and invite you to continue checking the site for updates. Again, thank you for your interest in MASN. Sincerely, The MASN team" -------------------- That's great, but I didn't ask for a promotion of the pathetic network, I wanted to know why they DIDN'T provide a service, not what they claim they DO supply. I guess if I had a question regarding asbestos or some Union thugs, I'd get an immediate reply to my question. Keep spinning Mr. Angelos, you're a hell of an owner! Greg in Timonium (8/3/07)
"Oh my God, Wendy's 51! Man, she's old.....", but I'm sure many of her male viewers would still like to b*ang "old" Wendala silly! And afterwards, call the Junkies @ WJFK-off and tell them all about it - but "CK", the world's most incompetent trainee/intern Producer/Program Director would dump all of the good parts! dapjdjwantstogetjiggywifwendae (PS-"Wendala" is an ancient Kornheiser nickname for Wendy when she called his old TEM show ages ago...) (8/3/07)
For the person who is not impressed by the new traffic graphics on Channel 9, I hope that you don't think that the ones on Channel 5 are all that much better. They're graphics look worse than Google Earth and on top of that, you can barley make out the roads without the oversize name of the road on said map. At least the new graphics on Channel 9 are clear and you can see where the road is. And then let's talk about the shots from the traffic cameras. The same camera shots that you can see on the other channels, are for some reason darker on Channel 5. My only problem is that they gave the job at Channel 9 to someone with a last name who is going to be a constant target in this market. Paul Schlegums/Edgewater (8/3/07)
When are you gonna mention the new channel 9 morning traffic babe? They unceremoniously dumped the last one & now have this hottie, last name Metro (?) Also worth a mention is the new three dimensional traffic format as well, although first impressions are that it is kind of clunky. (8/3/07)
WVIE also has an incorrect spelling of Dr. Joy Browne's last name near the top of its homepage. The respective errors seem to have been carried over from the original WVIE page on the WCBM site. Such snafus on a professional radio station site absolutely amaze me. Everett W. (8/3/07)
Thought you might be interested in taking a look at and linking to the announcement of the “Copyright and Fair Use in Participatory Media” project from American University SOC's Center for Social Media (CSM) and Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property (PIJIP), which was just posted on American University SOC's CSM Web site. Here's a link to the announcement: www.centerforsocialmedia.org... This project is being undertaken to promote standards for the use of copyrighted materials in user-generated media that is broadcast over the internet, and builds on the two organizations’ success in helping to establish “best practices” for fair use by documentary filmmakers. Also, here are links to two articles (from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal) that show just how prevalent this issue is: www.nytimes.com..... online.wsj.com..... (8/3/07)
In response the gambler who wants to know the rules for broadcasters when it comes to wagering on sports…broadcasters can talk as much as they like about gambling and point spreads with the exception of the NFL rights holders. The NFL prohibits talk about point spreads a couple of hours before the TV or Radio broadcasts. The Washington Post hasn’t published college point spreads for years but continues to publish the pro lines. I guess it is socially acceptable to ruin your life on the pro games but not the college games. (8/3/07)
OK, maybe it's just me, but when I first glanced at the "new" WJFK
logo, it looked like someone jerking off. Maybe that should be their
new slogan, "Jerk Off Radio"! It works on so many levels. (8/3/07)Dave's response: I hear that CBS has applied for the WWJO calls for 106.7. Ha ha ha.....
"It isn't illegal to talk about gambling when it is legal in many states" - Sports gambling is legal only in Nevada though not prohibited by federal law in Nevada, Delaware, Oregon, and I believe Montana. (8/3/07)
mikes impression of chris berman from espn is great (8/3/07)
Dave, With the release of XMs Q2 results last week it can now be confirmed that the mass subscription cancellation by the outraged "fans" of anthony and opie equaled a total of 5000, resulting in 0.06% churn, not quite 0.0 but pretty darn close. All I can say is wow, careful how you use all of that power. Frank in Great Falls (8/3/07)
If you want to know the lines on games and about gambling on ANY kind of sport you should be listening to the Junkies on WJFK 106.7. Talking about sports gambling is one of the key elements of their show. It isn't illegal to talk about gambling when it is legal in many states. Timothy Caroline County, VA (8/3/07)
WCBM’s Tom Marr has been away this week, but xenophobe and Baltimore County Delegate Pat McDonough has been ably filling in, right down to Marr’s anti-anyone- who-is-different virulence. Latest example: yesterday morning when a caller complained about all the “Russians” in rural Baldwin, Maryland who had “American” teens kicked out from their McDonald’s jobs in order to replace them. Disregarding the not-so-remote but not-so-inflammatory possibility that those “Russians” could be American citizens or otherwise legally here and that the story sounded improbable in any event, McDonough asked the caller no follow-up questions and promised an immediate investigation into the awful happenings. Bob in Pikesville (8/3/07)
Jim Vance has had that small piece of jewelry on his ear for years, possibly not every day, but definitely for a long time. -- Carl in Olney (8/3/07)
The Utica Observer-Dispatch (NY) has reported that "a Baltimore radio station was passing out signs praising Cal Ripken on one side and voicing displeasure with current Orioles owner Peter Angelos on the other on Sunday" in Cooperstown, the day Cal Ripken was inducted into the baseball hall of Fame. More below from the article: www.uticaod.com... ------------------ Barry Aparicio, son of the owner of WNST sports radio, distributed the signs that said "Free the Birds" as part of the protest against Angelos' ownership. Aparicio was wearing a hat and shirt bearing the same message. "We want Angelos to sell the team and bring baseball back to Baltimore the way it used to be," Aparicio said. Last September, dissatisfied fans organized a walkout from an Orioles games in which thousands of fans participated. The group is planning another walkout this August and passed out 25,000 signs over the weekend. Many fans picked up the signs, which had "Baltimore (heart)'s Cal" printed on them as well. www.uticaod.com... (8/3/07)
Re: "...WVIE AM 1370 now has ITS OWN WEBSITE... V1370.COM! Not that anyone cares..." Apparently, WVIE doesn't care now they spell "Sally Jessy Raphael" either! They have it spelled two different ways -- BOTH WRONG -- on their home page! DOH! --RB (8/3/07)
Why the heck is CPB giving a $25,000 emergency grant to Minnesota Public Radio when MPR is putting up $25,000,000 in CASH to buy WGTS? www.cpb.org (8/3/07)
(Okay... I'm a little late on this one, but can't a guy take a vacation?) From The Washington Post's "The Reliable Source" of April 25, 2006: "Special celebrity-by-celebrity sighting: WRC-TV anchor Wendy Rieger tried to escape the D.C. scene to celebrate her 50th (yes, really!) birthday. So she decamped to the Eastern Shore with a pack of female friends from her WTOP radio days (including the station's Kate Ryan and Pam Coulter, now of ABC Radio). Saturday night they walked into Bistro St. Michaels and got seated barely 10 feet from the town's most famed weekend residents: Dick and Lynne Cheney, and Don and Joyce Rumsfeld. A journalist's dream come true? Hardly. 'You can't party when they're there!' Rieger said. 'It's like having your parents in the room with you.'" (8/3/07)
Dave's response: Oh my God, Wendy's 51! Man, she's old.....
Dave: A couple of things from the Eastern Shore. Max 92.5 (sister station of WICO) will be carrying the Baltimore Ravens. New calls for WRXS, WYPR is applying for either WYPS (Salisbury), WYPO (Ocean City), or WYPE (Eastern Shore). At least one station in the Salisbury-Ocean City market should have HD on by the end of the year. (8/3/07)
RE: Traffic Reporters. I agree with the previous poster, Julie Wright is one of the few good reporters who can tell you about an incident AND actually point it out on a map. Most cannot. They are talking heads and in traffic, unlike an on air music shift/show, you can't fake it. You can tell the difference between reporters reading a screen and reporters conveying information. I've noticed that some of the Clear Channel stations in DC & Baltimore have their jocks doing traffic and it's obvious they don't know what they're talking about. Leave the traffic to those who know what they're doing. (8/3/07)
Jim Vance has had that stud in his ear for years, it's not an "all of a sudden" thing. The late great Ed Bradley had the same. Why would you care? Some of us have piercings, some of us have "ink", some of us may even have a Prince Albert or a nipple ring. That doesn't make us any less of a qualified newscaster, air personality or technician. As for your idiotic question "Why does channel 4 let him do that?" Because he's JIM VANCE! He's delivered big ratings and big bucks for 30+ years and has more credibility in his earlobe than some of the cable newsers who couldn't pull a national cume any bigger than a local radio station. It sounds like the poster would prefer vacuous barbie dolls and chisel chins with perfect hair and no wrinkles to anchor the news, a la the William Hurt character in "Broadcast News". No thanks. I'll take Vance with an ear stud over that stud with nothing between the ears on W*USA any day of the week. (8/3/07)
Question for the smarties: are radio and tv broadcasts prohibited from discussing sports gambling? I have heard fantasy league segments on sports radio and track odds on tv, but I wonder if there are specific FCC prohibitions on discussing daily 'lines' on games. I have been wagering on sports for a few months and find it a fascinating challenge to my sports knowledge and mathematical abilities (I found college hoops to be relatively easy pickings but MLB almost impossible beat). Just wondering why boring AM radio sports talk stations don't put some 'juice' into their broadcasts. (8/3/07)
WAVA is using the skirt feed on the AT&T tower next door to where the WAVA tower was. This same skirt previously detuned the AT&T tower to prevent interference to WAVA AM. All the equipment is in a weatherproof box under the tower, no new building. T1 line brings the audio. (8/3/07)
Laura Vozzella's column today in the Baltimore Sun about Scientologist and portrayer of Vinny Barbarino, John Travolta is too good not to share, as it shows him ccrying like a girl at a chick flick during Cal Ripken's HOF induction speech. The best part is that Vozella gives you the link to watch the speech for yourself at the exact moment (1hr 28 seconds into the video). Here's the link to her column: www.baltimoresun.com (8/3/07)
Is that a gold earring in Jim Vance's ear? One has to ask why? Why does Channel 4 let him do that as well as why would a man his age want or *need* an earring all of the sudden? Bizzare. (8/3/07)
Dave's response: If women newscasters can wear earrings on the air, why not men?
The recent post regarding Andy Pollin of Sportstalk 980 doesn’t touch on his main deficiency. Local talk radio must include great callers from the listeners in order to be successful. It is obvious to me that Andy doesn’t want listener calls, and perhaps more important, he doesn’t know how to integrate the calls in to the program. The great talk hosts have always used the outside callers. This creates very good radio. Larry King, Howard Stern, Rush, Warner Wolf were fabulous with callers. How about Don and Mike and Elliot? Even Andy’s partner Steve Czaban is very good. All the great hosts know how to weave the callers into the fabric of the show. They know when to drop a call and when to let the caller go on. When you listen to Pollin it is all too obvious that he doesn’t want calls, and when he does decide to accept calls he is focused on getting off the call instead of the content of the call. (8/3/07)
I don't know what started the thread on Julie Wrignt and I'm pretty sure it's not worth looking for, but I also don't understand why a traffic reporter has to be funny or sexy. Bob Marbourg and Jim Russ are neither and they're the best in the business. Julie has been at the job for ages. She's a professional, she knows what she's talking about, and she gives a shit. That's more than one can say about a lot of people in the business. I can remember a whole slew of females over the years in one particular tv helicopter around here that were cute, sexy, and funny but completely worthless as journalists and traffic people. I'll take Julie any day. Pay attention to the content and you might be surprised. You might even learn something. (8/3/07)
Did Ms.Gentzler really injure herself in Itlee or was she riding a horse out on George Michaels ranch?......is Paul Gigot one Wall Street Journalist who is pleased as punch Rupert has taken over?...sh8t Matt Damon jumps the shark, he used phrase"At The End of the Day" on The Daily Show (8/3/07)
If you have a criticism about Tom Marr, that's fine (I personally don't listen to his show anymore and I think he goes down as 1 of the worst Orioles play by play people ever), but STOP making stuff up! WCBM.com is NOT SLOW LOADING unless you're already a LOAD YOURSELF! So consider yourself a winner. Maybe stop downloading all that porn beforehand!? Also noticed one other thing... WVIE AM 1370 now has ITS OWN WEBSITE... V1370.COM! Not that anyone cares. :-) PS: The recent poll #s are in, everyone hates O'Malley & BGE, & Muslims fared significantly better. :-) (8/3/07)
Question: What is WAVA (AM) using as a tower, now that the former WAVA/WAVA-FM/WBIG tower is no more? I live about a half mile from the old site, and the signal is still strong here. (8/3/07)
Wise Investor show off all outlets, including WMAL- It would be interesting to find out why. Is sponsored radio no longer a good way for financial and other professionals to promote their businesses? (8/3/07)
/\ August 3 Messages /\
\/ August 2 Messages \/
re: "I mean two guys who now what in the heck their talking about when it comes to sports" ...any way you spell it! (8/2/07)
Hello all: To the people who asked about Doreen's arm. Here is the scoop. She was on vacation in Italy. She was riding a bike and crashed. She hurt her shoulder. She has been in cast for at least three weeks. She mentioned last night that she had been in a cast in Italy for two weeks. She also stated that she has been in this cast for about a week. She got it when she got back to the states. The reason that she wasn't on last night at 11:00 or tonight might be that she found out that she was tired. I know that from experience. I am glad that she is okay. (8/2/07)
Exactly what does "Sports Director" of WTEM do? Sounds like a meaningless title to me. But Mike in Fairfax is right that Pollin is a big obstacle to WTEM becoming a better sports station. The guy has been at that station since the beginning, he's the text book definition of "dead wood", and he should be sent packing ASAP. (8/2/07)
Any update on what happened to Doreen Gentzler's arm?..I turned on the 6pm newscast around 6:15 & saw her arm in a sling, but obviously had missed what had happened to her. Then, she wasn't on at 11pm and I just turned the 6pm news on and Eun Yang is on there with Jim Vance. (8/2/07)
Re: "...with Joe Theismann not slated to be doing much work for ESPN this football season, perhaps Red Zebra could secure his services for regular appearances on the afternoon drive show hosted by his old buddy John Riggins." Please, God, NO! I think we've all heard Joe Theismann (rhymes with "egotistical blowhard") talk about Joe Theismann way, way, way too much already. During one Sunday night game on ESPN a couple of years ago Theismann veered fairly close to talking about something other than Joe Theismann, but then he checked himself and got back on message. Three solid hours every week of Joe talking about Joe is WAY more than enough. Better to match Theismann up with a full size mirror and let him have at. Anyway, from everything I've ever heard, Theismann and Riggins aren't too tight. I like Riggins show as it is, though just one of the two "cool" guys sitting with him would be just fine--doesn't matter which one, they are pretty much the same dude in two different chairs. (8/2/07)
The website is slow loading, and fails to list even all the programs. WCBM may be close to WBAL in ratings but only by accident. How it stays afloat is beyond me. The blustery Marr is offensive at best, people must tune in because there is nothing else on their AM radio. TIME OUT TIME OUT ! Like being scolded by your elderly grandmother. Same s**t different days. I hate muslims I hate O'Malley I hate callers. (8/2/07)
There's little chance that WTEM will pay more than token attention to the Capitals as long as Andy Pollin's sports director there. I don't even think matters would improve much if the team became a playoff contender and started selling out Verizon Center on a consistent basis - that's how much disdain Pollin has for hockey and its fan base. The only hope for better coverage is if he jumps to either Post Radio (to reunite with Tony Kornheiser) or Triple X (to wave burgundy and gold pom-poms with Larry Michael and Bram Weinstein) and Scott Linn gets promoted to that position. Linn's a known hockey fan who may just be willing to change the station's policy regarding the Caps. Having said that, Pollin seems to have a much better attitude toward baseball. Leading up to the recent trade deadline, the only two caller segments I heard on the station dealing with that topic took place on Sports Reporters. The one last week with USA Today's Paul White as guest was especially interesting - sounded a bit like WFAN when the Yankee fan called, WIP when the Philly guy checked in and Boston's WEEI when the Red Sox supporter came on. For whatever reason, the Feldman & Maloney and Thompson shows continue to have this reluctance to go to the phones on any Nationals topic. As a case in point, earlier this week both programs asked callers to weigh in on how the acquistion of Kevin Garnet by the Boston Celtics may affect the Wizards (whose season doesn't start for another three months) but not on what trades the Nats might make. Perhaps the hosts of those shows are buying into the infamous Peter Angelos line that "there are no true baseball fans in Washington, DC". If so, they need to rethink their attitude in a hurry because local interest in the Nats is on a definite growth curve right now. On another topic - with Joe Theismann not slated to be doing much work for ESPN this football season, perhaps Red Zebra could secure his services for regular appearances on the afternoon drive show hosted by his old buddy John Riggins. Mike, Fairfax (8/2/07)
Sigh....Rosenberg again. Please....get the IP address and ban him from posting his self-promoting crap..it's just so TIRESOME, ya know? Also, Petey....a sunday night gig is NOT a "powermove", ok? Good lord. (8/2/07)
I heard Rosenberg was moving to New York because Burger King's in Gotham pay minimum wage + 75 cents. (8/2/07)
Just a quick correction to numbers posted below for Nats games in June. I meant to say Men 18+ and the number is 5.2 not 5.7. I sit corrected. (8/2/07)
I wanted to congratulate my former station within the Great Scott cluster-Hot A/C The B (WZEB/WKDB) on the Eastern Shore for the recent ratings that have come out. I know when I got there in the summer of 2005 we had a ways to go to bring the station up but a lot of hard work has been put into the station and its finally receiving the credit and acknowledgement that we knew was out there but was not showing up in the Arbitron Books. This I believe is the third straight book now that things have gone up. I am glad to have played a part in some of that. Those long days and long nights paid off. Congrats to my former PD Jeff Farrow and MD Karen Stevenson, keep up the good work, I really miss you guys a lot! (I still have a yearning to spin some tunes on those All 80s Weekends) I wish you continued success. -Michael Popovec (Sports Talk 1570 WNST-Baltimore) (8/2/07)
The new 9 News AM traffic lady's name is Tracy METRO? Not overly impressed with the graphics package and pseudo 3-D buildings? The chit-chat session at 5:57am looks empty with Nicole gone now. Put Mike or Andrea in the middle and the other two flanking or bag the bit. (8/2/07)
Interesting that DC-based righty talker Laura Ingraham either wasn't invited or chose not to attend the confab at 1600. Maybe the lovely Ms. Ingraham was just too hot for the room...? (8/2/07)
HA! Only one hater so far for Skeeter Rosenberg. Excellent, Peter is moving in the right direction. But I guess that one dumbass can't respect hard work and dedication.I bet that same dumbass sits and watches life pass him/her by as they stay hating and hating and hating on someone making powermoves. Good luck with ya life! (8/2/07)
You wanna get higher than the 5.7 Persons 18+ for Nats games as shown in the last available trends for last month? Put Phil Wood and Craig Heist on for 30 minutes before the Nats pregame show, make them a regular 7p-10p program in the off-season and go back to the negotiating table with Ted Leonsis. The Capitals need to be on 1500 AM not that pitiful automated WTEM. And if I remember correctly from the mailbag lasy year, the only sticking point was where they were going to put the conflict/overlap games with the Nats. Ted...my advice...bite the bullet and take a WFED deal for those overlap games. The resulting cross promotion from WTWP and especially WTOP will make up for any loss of audience for that temporary signal. And demand an uncancelable "Caps At Night" deal for replays of the games. Still no "Nats At Night" return? Why? For some song and dance "Nightside" from KSL that sounds like a ripoff of the fine job Dean Lane does overnight on WTOP? PUUUUUH - LESE!!! Excuse me, I have something stuck in my craw. (8/2/07)
The initial reports of the bridge collapse said "one dead, several injured". It wasn't until nearly 9pm that we began to hear of more fatalities and more serious injuries. Plus, hello, Last Comic Standing was on! (8/2/07)
So Petey Rosenturd is moving to NYC? I guess Mick was right..."Go ahead, bite the Big Apple, don't mind the maggots" WB Centreville, VA (8/2/07)
Why in the world did it take NBC News almost 2 hours to get a special report on the network? The bridge collapse took place at 6:08 pm Central, yet the first special report did not air until 9:00 pm Eastern. (8/2/07)
Below is a link to a very interesting article about how local sportsradio is so poor at covering the Capitals that both the team itself and some of its fans have started their own podcasts. What an indictment of WTEM, the station that broadcasts the Caps games! www.onfrozenblog.com (8/2/07)
Mark Levin`s also on WCBM in Baltimore from 7 to 9 PM. Hezi in B'more.:-) (8/2/07)
Dave's response: I checked WCBM's slow-loading website and didn't see him listed.....
Ref: Phil Woods and Craig Heist - Now what in the hell would radio do with those two? I mean two guys who now what in the heck their talking about when it comes to sports......radio doesn't work that way anymore or does it? J.J. Hitman McKay (8/2/07)
With all the recent publicity about the new Hairspray! movie, we thought we'd produce a series of daily podcasts on the man who inspired movie producer John Waters to make the movie. Baltimore's Buddy Deane was a fascinating man both on and off mic. We'll share some anecdotes from our relationship with him and in our series, offer interview clips from Mr. Deane that we hope folks will find interesting and entertaining. It's all available at www.ultimateoldiesradio.com. Thanks, Bob Mathers - Seattle, Washington (8/2/07)
Nats Insider with Phil Wood and Craig Heist? Now THAT's a show I'd tune in for! Two guys with an incredible amount of local baseball knowledge talking about the sport. Love Phil Wood's show on 980. (8/2/07)
For the right wingers out there, especially in the DC listening area, I heard that Tom Marr from WCBM in Baltimore will be filing in for Mark Levin tonight, which is heard locally on WMAL in DC. 'CBM comes in fairly clear in DC and I've been able to pick him up down here before, but any DC'ers who haven't heard him before ought to tune into WMAL tonight fron 6-8pm, and you'll understand why WCBM';s daytime ratings are neck and neck with WBAL. Lefties will hate him. (8/2/07)
WOW!!!! Talking about a blast from the past!!!! Yesterday on my drive home, I heard Priestly filling in for Fast Jimi and Jenn on MIX1065. He and Jason Kidd had a reunion and talked a little bit about their XYV days. XYV could have still been on the air today, if they had better promotion and didn't replace Albi Dee with the Craig and Company (Remember them?) show in the morning drive. Ed Jones, Bel Air MD (8/2/07)
Laura Ingraham is still with 1370 in Baltimore, isn't she? Howie (8/2/07)
"I don't know why, but old conservatives are funny while old liberals just appear nutty/out-there, loopy, the cause-celeb types average people can't relate to. When you listen to Rush, you think lovingly of your crazy grandfather you can relate to and get a good laugh from." Thanks for agreeing with my point on Prell's audience being broad, but I don't find Rush endearing or funny. I just find him to be a tiresome bully. Howie (8/2/07)
Maybe Dan Snyder buying up small, rimshot signals is part of a larger plan. He should sell all the stations, and buy Washington Post Radio(1500/107.7), no matter what the price. This would solve his signal problems and put all his resources into the 2 stations. Burt in Denton (8/2/07)
Dave's response: It could just be my crazy impression, but it doesn't seem like the print Post is running many of those (however lame) promo ads for the station of late. Maybe signalling a "loss of interest" in the operation, and possible a sale this fall to "you know who"? Hmmm.....
Someone wrote, "WTOP is on 103.5 and 103.9. No FM stick." In fact, BOTH 103.5 and 103.9 are FM sticks. WTOP is not on an AM stick. (8/2/07)
"We just got the on air goodbyes for WUSA/9 morning traffic reporter Nicole O'Brian." That's too bad. Despite the undeserved trashing she got from another poster here, Nicole is a hottie. She'll be missed. (8/2/07)
Here is my Eastern Shore scenario: Take WICO-AM and simulcast it on WXMD. It looks like Max's days are numbered. I'd flush out the tracked mid-days, morning show and nights on OC104 and re-tool the place with a younger PD with fresh ideas. As for ZBH, it needs a whole new staff, from AM drive to nights. It sounds like a high school radio station. The processing is bland, the imaging doesn't say anything and the music is off the mark where it should be for Active. Do they still have thier reporting status? Big is OK, leave it alone. If I were WKHI, I would grab more of the Oldies-since WAVE has a beach signal, and KHI has a market wide signal. Ocean 98 is moving more towards a rock sound, while X1069 is going away.... (8/2/07)
My guess as to how WBAL will solve its woes -- 1. Shari Elliker will fill Chip Franklin's spot from 9 to Noon. They say "next generation" in their ads -- translation: young, non-political and opposite of Rush. 2. If not the above, perhaps Elliker from 12-3 and either Glenn Beck or Laura Ingraham from 9-12, with apologies for not staying local but talk about how they're counter-programming the Rush they lost. That's the easiest and least expensive way for them to go, and only the PD has to eat crow. Then watch Lincoln Financial or someone else come in and buy them. (8/2/07)
Dummy me I forgot to mention some other Newman films I liked and here it is summer time too. "Cat On A Tin Roof" with the yummy looking Liz Taylor and Big Daddy Burl Ives. Hell, the smell of MENDACITY is so thick in the air these days it's like to choke ya. And "Long Hot Summer" with Orson Welles' over the top portrayal of a Big Daddy. I even find the Young Philadelphians entertaining, check out Robert Vaughn in that one.........speaking of Big Daddy's, Big Daddy Don Geronimo was an upset bear today....something about the Jim Norton look a like producer yanni calling Big Daddy Don uncontrollable, sheesh what else is new......why does Don G. find it upsetting that the CBS radio execs are handling his leaving so ponderously slow , look how slow they reacted to Stern leaving and that was far more significant to CBS Radio than Donnie G. leaving. And I believe Big Daddy said today he needed a break from radio not a lifetime retirement. Wonder if Robbay will one last time ascend to the chair of exec producer? (Man I thought I knew trivial sh8t real good but there's no way I remember what Sam Harris's first hit song was like Robbay did! Is Sam Harris or Michael Bolton to blame for all this sh8tty singing these days? I'd throw Wynona and The Preying Mantis Ms. Dion in there too). Hell yanni was probably just doing some CYA action cause he was planning to stick with CBS radio while the bitter memories of Donnie G. will just fade away in a few arbyitron books with the CBS suits. What's the book on O'Meara leaving?...... Why are station manager's so anal about stop sets being played on time, if it destroys the rhythmn of the show and do advertisers really care that there commercials get played at a specific time or being a radio exec means having to be anal.....heard traffic reporter Jackie Wright on the Doodad Daddy show this morn....wonder why she wasn't on for a bit yet could be seen on channel 5, has she lost a little weight...... a couple months back for some reason the discussion on the Doodad Daddy's show involved the song "Blister in the Sun" Ms. Wright demonstrated quite intimate knowledge of the song by singing virtually the entire first verse and chorus, she wasn't half bad, meanwhile the Hiawatha of Hydraulics had no clue about the song. Zactly were was Johnny Avacado when that song was on the charts? I still think Ms. Wright demonstrates great wit and verbal interplay that would make her good as co-host of a radio show. Hey CBS execs, nevermind .....I was just kidding about Alan Prell I heard he purchased the Tanning Salon place in Oakton from that heavy metaler Punky Meadows, that's just conjecture on my part, although drving through Upper Crust Oakton today I thought I saw an older gentleman sitting in a rocking chair out front of the Tanning Salon. What was that Zappa song that he wrote about Punky Meadows group? (8/2/07)
/\ August 2 Messages /\
\/ August 1 Messages \/
All this talk about Alan Prell? Sorry, but he always came off like a weird neighbor that I might be afraid to allow my kids near. He gave me the creeps and I never understood why adults would ever want to be spoken to in his "weird kiddie talk". I never once found that to be the least bit "entertaining", actually it was quite painful. I will never forget filming at Camden Yards for Major League II as an extra and I tuned in. He did a two way with a St Louis morning show about how both cities got screwed by the NFL in expansion and they reacted to him like they thought someone was playing a weird joke on them. They were dumbfounded as he went on and on with his "act". I recall being embarrased for the city, the station and him. Never met him, just my observation. (8/1/07)
Two things: First of all, Doreen Genzler is back on air tonight...but with a sling on her right arm and shoulder. Didn't get a chance to hear what happened to her. 2/ Channel 9 was right to get rid of Nicole O'Brien. That poor woman looked like a deer in headlights from day one. Most people would grow in the job and get some help to improve. Since she is a Metro Traffic employee that was never going to happen and she continued to struggle. It was almost painful to watch how uncomfortable she was on air and she looked so bland next to the seasoned talent that 9 has. This is DC, after all, and rookies look really weak next to folks who have had a chance to get some experience in smaller markets before they get eaten alive here. (8/1/07)
Here's to a speedy recovery for Julie DeHarty. I'm glad she was not seriously injured. Having worked with her in the afternoon at MIX106.5 back in the nineties, I have to say she was one of the hardest working ladies I've ever run across. During Tamara Nelson's maternity leave Julie worked morning and afternoon traffic and Tamara's midday show on MIX. After landing on 795 she had great reservations about going back in the air but she overcame her fears and continued in Baltimore until she moved back to Texas, her husbands home.I learned a lot about traffic reporting from her. She's a true pro and obviously has nine lives! Mark Williams, WPOC (8/1/07)
Congrats to Magic 98.9 (WSBY) on beating out OC104 officially. Most of us on the shore already knew that OC104 has been played out for years. You can't keep playing the same 3 songs, followed by commerical, after commerical, after commerical, after commerical, and actually expect people to stick with you. It's definately time to boot Wookie as program director, and get someone in there with fresh ideas. Clear Channel - Salisbury has alot of great people, time will only tell if new ownership will be able to hold on to 3 of the top 5 spots. (8/1/07)
Rock formats taking a beating on the shore. WZBH drops half their audience, when was the last time they were below top 5. 96 Rock stuck where they've been for a while. WRXS history, WOCM ,more Rock then AAA in the basement. Delmarva's Max less than WOCM. Only Big showed good numbers. Some interesting notes, 900 AM's Spanish format, little WBEY up, better then some bigger stations. Cat Country beats Froggy. The WAVE up, maybe it deserves a better signal (95.9). WKHI numbers don't look right. WJKI does not carry Joe, but Big, so was the increase acutually supposed to be for BIG. Talk radio, WGMD down just a little, WQMR barely made the book and WICO-AM, only 1,000 watts days and 32 watts at night triple the numbers of WQMR. Maybe Delmarva should put WICO-AM on WXMD, Max did bettery running 97.1's Jazz format. (8/1/07)
Looks like Doreen Gentzler broke her right arm. It is in a sling for the 630p newscast. (8/1/07)
Dave...Regarding WBAL... No question they blew it by dumping Rush and the Orioles. But you really have to stop being spun by WashPost Radio. They get more mentions on your site than they have listeners. WMAL had a terrible book, for them, in DC still managed a .5 in Baltimore with a weak signal to the north. WTWP did not show up at all. Few listen to WTWP in the DC area on now THREE signals ..nobody listens in Baltimore. Prediction... sampling patterns change...WMAL has a strong Summer book (which should not happen in "real" life) WTWP reverts to its .7. The whole WTWP number input is based on the Nats. The rest of their programs cannot draw flies. No matter how many times they write you, and how many promotions they run about "fastest growing" , the only place the station is discussed is on your website, thanks to WTWP and Post employees. Want to see REAL ratings impact from a new station? Check out "El Sol". Respectfully, The Fan... (8/1/07)
So-the numbers are in. It looks like in the 12+, Great Scott's monsters are sliding down a dirty hill, ZBH lost almost three shares. OC 104 was finally beat by Magic. It looks like CHR is dead on the shore, but hey, the B is seeing it's highest ratings in a long time. JOE FM is up too-almost a full share. Big is doing ok. Congrats to Joe Edwards and the gang at Cat-well done, dethroning Froggy! As for Max 92.5, shame--great format, just horrible signal! I think Joe FM has cut into Max's share or the market. I can't wait to see the next book after Clear Channel exits the market. Do you think the new folks will flip any of the stations? What else can they do in an oversaturated market? Polka? Hey, a spanish on FM would be great--ZBH, you could go the way of HFS!!! (I don;t think so though) (8/1/07)
(The real shame is that Bonneville didn't grab Phil Wood for its Nats Insiders show. He knows baseball inside and out.) That decision is made by the Nats, not by Bonneville. Bonneville folks did talk to Phil Wood, liked him, and might well have paired him up with Craig Heist. (8/1/07)
(I would like to see the actual ARBITRON numbers for WTOP AM.) Ed WTOP is on 103.5 and 103.9. No FM stick. And with Arbitron's Top Line Reporting (TLR) you no longer get to see the break-out for both stations. Wash Post Radio does not see a break-out for 1500, 820 and 107.7, just one single number. The trade-off is competitors can no longer trick advertisers by showing just one set of numbers (like they did when WTOP was on 1500 and 107.7). It's all one number, but PD's don't get to see how each station performed seperately. (8/1/07)
In regards to WBAL. I always thought Dave Durian would make a terrific midday host. Sure he does a stellar job as an AM Drive traffic cop. Another suggestion would be Mac Watson down at WRVA in Richmond. He is a local boy made good..A Calvert Hall and Mount St. Mary's grad who had a stint on Mix back in the day. Just my 2 cents. (8/1/07)
I finally agree with Howie on something... I used to listen to Allan Prell even though I almost always totally disagreed with him on political issues at least and I'll admit I loved his show. Unfortunately, he's too old to save WBAL now. I don't know why, but old conservatives are funny while old liberals just appear nutty/out-there, loopy, the cause-celeb types average people can't relate to. When you listen to Rush, you think lovingly of your crazy grandfather you can relate to and get a good laugh from. :-) (8/1/07)
It's finally here. What the whole world of the Patapsco Drainage Basin has been waiting for all year long. No not the Ravens training camp, hon. It's WNST's publicity stunt that isn't a publicity stunt (just ask them). "Free The Birds 2", will take place on....oh wait, no one knows yet because WNST is conducting an online poll at www.wnst.net to gague if there's even enough fan interest this time around. Gotta give them credit though. They pulled in a couple hundres fans the last time around, so I'm sure they can do it again. (8/1/07)
Dave, CSN has now picked up FSN Bay Area giving them all of northern California, southern Oregon and most of Nevada. This on the heels of another big snag as they picked up FSN Boston giving them all of New England. as they look at adding a number of new sports nets to their family. www.examiner.com... Cheers, Jim (8/1/07)
Dave's response: Lucky them.....
"DC Madam" calls Wonkette "Trash" bigheaddc.com (8/1/07)
Hey guys. Tomorrow is 1-year anniversary of Vibegirl`s taking over Middays on Hot 99.5 in the place of KT Harris. Send her flowers to: Hot 99.5, 1801 Rockville Pike, 6th Floor, Rockville, MD 20852. If my calculations are correct, she should only get 2-3 bouqests. Don`t hold me to it, though. That is probably because she (fader down) SUCKS REALLY REALLY BAD (fader up). On het neinte nein feiv. (8/1/07)
RE: "With all the WTOP sports talent in house why not add a live sports show from 7P - 10P year round and cover the Nationals and everyone else in the non-confrontational, intelligent way the fans do on the post-game Nationals call-in show?" The real shame is that Bonneville didn't grab Phil Wood for its Nats Insiders show. He knows baseball inside and out, unlike the guy that's doing the show. (8/1/07)
Dave's response: Hey, how about "Washington Post Live: The Radio Edition"? Oh, nevermind.....
("Wouldn't it be nice if 'The Tony Kornheiser Show' on Washington Post Radio actually featured Mr. Tony a few times a week?") Not sure who is a bigger idiot...Leanord Shapiro or Paul Fahri. Who gives a shit about this guy? he columns are boring and he is equally boring on Post radio. btw...every day, Mr. Tony is featured on Post Radio...actually once a day for about 10-15 minutes and then replayed for about 20-30 minutes. The laughing/cackling/giggling was just as bad as when Mr. Tony was here. it was as annoying then as it is now. (8/1/07)
Cool, finally after all these years, 103 WRNR "Where Music Matters" has a Listen Live link--- www.wrnr.com (8/1/07)
Re: Ed Graham and WTOP-AM. WTOP is not on AM at all and was only on AM in Frederick until the end of June 07 since all of the call letter/format changes in 2006. (8/1/07)
Kudos to Shapiro for mentioning in his comment about Feldman and Maloney's show that he is a guest on that show. I often thought he had a conflict of interest when commenting on WTEM shows due to his regular appearances on several of them. At least mentioning that fact gives his comments more credibility. (8/1/07)
I have great respect for Ed Graham so I'll accept what he says about AM radio generally. However, I would argue that WBAL was lucky enough to have someone who, at least in Baltimore, was able to still churn out numbers despite not being a conservative in Allan Prell. A lot of conservatives listened to him the way liberals tune in Rush. And they still ran Allan off in the name of ideological purity. Howie (8/1/07)
The reason Rush doesn't mind commuting is that he doesn't: He's worked out of an in-home studio since about the Bush The Smarter One was president. Maybe El Limbo meant he doesn't mind commuting to the pharmacy to stock up on...well, you know. (8/1/07)
What is up with WUSA and their traffic reporter's? It seems like they just started her on air and now they take her off?! Granted I work and live in Southern MD, so I do not have a need to listen to metro traffic, but it is still a shame. They really need to make up their minds. (8/1/07)
Remember when Chris Berry made that ridiculous comment to the Washington Post comparing his station to NPR? Well, last night I did just that. I turned to all things considered at 6:05 PM. For the next 15 minutes I received wall to wall coverage of the Ted Stevens raid story and Congress’ bill on lobbying and earmark reform. Well done news reporting. I punched back and forth from WAMU to WMAL. While NPR was giving news on Ted Stevens, Mark Levin led the six o’clock hour with a rant on socialized medicine, and then played a recording of Ronald Reagan that must have been 60 years old, warning the people how socialized medicine will lead to socialism. I almost drove my car off the road laughing at Mark Levin. It was propaganda 60 years ago, and it is just silly now. There are many healthy countries in this world that have socialized medicine and are not socialist states. Does Mark Levin really think his audience is that stupid not to recognize the style of post World War II caste propaganda? Does Chris Berry think this lunacy is "news and information?" Speaking of healthcare, I get a headache when I listen to WMAL. (8/1/07)
I'll go one hour better than Leonard Shapiro's "wouldn't it be nice..." suggestion that WaPoRad add a comprehensive 2 hour sports talk show to the line-up on a regular basis. "Nats Insider" on off days is a 30 minute embarassment that sounds like a filler. With all the WTOP sports talent in house why not add a live sports show from 7P - 10P year round and cover the Nationals and everyone else in the non-confrontational, intelligent way the fans do on the post-game Nationals call-in show? Charlie Slowes or Dave Jageler as hosts? Craig Heist? George Wallace? Jonathan Warner? Frank Herzog? Johnny Holliday? Rotating hosts from that pool? You've got two months left in the MLB season and I assume that Navy football and GW basketball will be back on 1500, so why not launch it now to cross promote those teams & get people in the habit of listening? Of course, all this pondering may be for naught if WaPoRad as we know it ceases to exist after the Nationals season. Sorry. I had an uncontrollable bout of wishful thinking. (8/1/07)
Dave, Salisbury/OC numbers 12+: Q-105 8.1... CAT COUNTRY 7.1... MAGIC 6.6... FROGGY 6.3... OC-104 5.3... BIG 4.6... BEACH 3.0... WAVE 3.0.... 25-54: CAT COUNTRY 8.7... Q-105 8.7... MAGIC 8.7... BIG 6.8... OC-104 4.3... BEE 4.3... BEACH 4.3... FROGGY 4.3... 96 ROCK 3.4... (8/1/07)
American University's WRAU 88.3 Ocean City might not be a repeater for WAMU after all. This is supposedly the format... tvulive.com/radiou... Geez, that'll mean TWO alternative formats for little ol' OC and still NONE for DC! (8/1/07)
To the poster who is eager for the upcoming release of "The Fugitive" on DVD, catch a nice sized scene from the show in the 1963 ABC-TV Fall Previews reel at www.youtube.com... However, my favorite clip is near the very end with scenes from the pilot episode of The Patty Duke Show. Unless I'm mistaken, those actors playing Patty's dad and brother in the pilot were replaced when the show was picked-up for production. (8/1/07)
WBAL wisely changed to conservative old white male (I mean that in a nice way) talk because it would allow them to reach a segment of the audience that still might listen to AM. Some time ago I said that WBAL and WMAL would have to have FM signals to survive. Remember WTOP and WTWP are also on FM. I would like to see the actual ARBITRON numbers for WTOP AM. WBAL has a great tradition and good people. That’s hard for an old radical liberal like me to admit, but they will be well managed, and programmed. However, their audience is dying off, or finally discovering the joys of FM. There are some good uses for high powered AM stations, but they have to be low budget and able to survive with a 1 to 2 share. WMAL and WBAL can’t go on forever on AM. Doing an all news segment won’t help either. Again, what do you think WTOP AM pulls in? PS: the twenty-minute news wheel really doesn’t give you much in the way of instant news, but it does let you know how the traffic is, what the weather is doing, and if you really don’t have a clock in your car - - the time. WBAL will actually break in if there is an important news story. All News radio is an illusion. People listen for the companionship. Move to FM, sell the AM to Snyder. No, really simulcast AM and FM. Then change the AM format in a year. Let Ken Merson program the music and hire some good (but, cheaper) personalities. I think an AM format that was all over road (AOR?) and played a wide variety of hits from several decades with very local content on 50,000 watts could get a 3 share in Baltimore. The demographic would skew old (it’s AM), but the music could be adjusted to keep it fresh. I know Ken could bring it home. Shame WBAL didn’t do this about 10 years ago. Just think, a great full service radio station once again. Ed Graham (8/1/07)
Nice to see Johnny Holliday and Tony Roberts mentioned in Leonard Shapiro's column this morning in the Washington Post. I might add that Johnny and Ray Knight have made their pre and post game shows for the Nationals on MASN very enjoyable to watch. Great Chemistry between the Two!! Add my name to the list of fans who are keeping there fingers crossed that the Irish do the right thing and bring Tony back next season as the Voice of Notre Dame. Johnny and Tony, Two great voices. Shawn, Bethesda (8/1/07)
Here's another Los Angeles call letter story: When one-time Top 40 giant KHJ was sold, it revised its call sign to KKHJ (a la WWRC here in Washington), though it still presented itself as "KHJ." Eventually, the station went to a Spanish-language format, and there's where the trouble started: spelling out the call letters in Spanish meant saying "ka-ka," an excretory reference in that language. So management petitioned the FCC to let the station return to its old three-letter call sign, which required the commission's approval. It said yes, so now KHJ is back on the air in L.A. -- minus Bill Drake's format, "The Real Don Steele," etc. -- Vincent in Triangle (8/1/07)
Here's hoping that the official word on Doreen being on a long vacation is just that and nothing serious. She's a pretty good person and a prayer "just to make sure" will be going out her way. Bob from College Park (8/1/07)
Rush Limbo said today that he doesn't mind commuting. Yeah, sitting in the back of your air conditioned limo oogling to pictures of John "The Breck Girl" Edwards has got to be tough. (8/1/07)
Thanks to the unidentified poster who corrected me on the K-LIT/LA call history. What was KUTE-FM/Glendale did go through a series of call changes and I forgot that for a while they did have the K-LIT calls (well after they were given up by the AM station in Pomona, where I worked.) The station had a few different calls over the years, KMPC-FM, KEDG, then K-LIT. Various format changes overlapped these call changes, so for example, while they were still KEDG they were calling themselves "K-Lite" until the call change went through. This was very confusing and why I must have forgotten that they actually got those calls. These days they are Spanish-formatted KSCA. I may not have the correct order of call letter changes but still this is part of the history of those questionable call letters. One thing for sure, if you were lucky enough to work for the Gene Autry station, you were indeed very lucky. Now I have one more question, would the person who posted the correction care to write me offline at radiovoicer@hotmail.com ? Thanks, Bill Powers/LA (8/1/07)
Baltimore tried all-news radio back when NBC had their "News & Information Service" and it was carried on a Charm City FMer. Also, when WCBM was newstalk (1982-85) they did all-news in AM & PM drivetime. It's a very expensive format, so I wouldn't count on any Baltimore operator jumping in. Perhaps if Bonneville bought a Baltimore station they could simulcast WTOP with local inserts from a Baltimore studio. (8/1/07)
Ref: OC/Salisbury numbers should be out later today - Stand by and see how things fall with CC out of the mix....prediction: 12 plus - WQHQ, WWFG, WOCQ, WZBH, then the rest of the pack. (8/1/07)
Who is the genius who decided to put WYPR on 106.9 in Ocean City? What a bonehead move, with a horrible pattern and the presence of Public Radio Delmarva's outlets in Salisbury (the classical music one) and Ocean City (the NPR talker). And with American University putting another signal in OC, WYPR's move makes no sense. If they wanted to expand into the Eastern Shore, why not look to the upper shore- maybe Easton or Chestertown or Kent Island or even around Elkton? That's an area that is underserved by public radio, in my opinion. Certainly there must be a station that they can cannibalize in that area? Heck, even central and northern Delaware could use an NPR station since I hate listening to WHYY out of Philly. John, Smyrna DE (8/1/07)
Doreen must be getting plastic surgery --- recovery can take weeks to not be noticeable on TV. (8/1/07)
Where is Doreen Gentzler from Channel 4??? She has been gone for weeks….. (8/1/07)
Dave's response: The official word is a very long vacation.....
We just got the on air goodbyes for WUSA/9 morning traffic reporter Nicole O'Brian. WUSA will feature the traffic.com service effective Thursday. Everett W. (8/1/07)
I think ESPN is making a mistake in not utilizing #7 on MNF. I'll miss him. I think Tony is a fish out of water that ads very little except the occasional, "...don't you think so Joe?" MNF will get it's ratings anyway but Joe did add valued input to the broadcast. This, from an old Cowboy fan. (8/1/07)
RE: [ " I find those bits were Jay Leno interviews dumb people on the street quite depressing. " ]...... Oh my god, I thought I was the only one! I used to be able to laugh at that kind of stuff, but it's gotten so bad these days its really too painful to watch & I cringe so much I have to turn it off every time. I think I first noticed America not only enjoying its stupidity but practically bathing in it when I first saw the bumper sticker... "My kid Beat up Your Honor Student" That line pretty much confirms the disease has spread and the gene pool is officially contaminated. (8/1/07)
Hey there, I just noticed the post on WBBM's call letters. A small correction: WBBM was originally owned by the Mallory Battery Company - the World's Best Battery Maker. The call letters were a corporate identifier. The We Broadcast ... stuff was added much later. Bruce Elliott, WBAL Radio (8/1/07)
Since we’re all remembering Tom Snyder’s career highlights, how can anyone forget the time Tom interviewed Charles Manson (sometime around 1978-’79). I believe Tom was one of the first to get a hold of Ol’ Charlie before he became a little more “media savy” as he is now. It was a classic to say the least – two goofballs asking each other goofy questions. Possibly on You Tube? It’s worth a look if it is. PC (8/1/07)
Sorry to correct Bill Powers, but K-Lite in Los Angeles did indeed use KLIT as it's call letters when they were at 101.9 FM. "The Singing Cowboy" Gene Autry, who also owned KMPC-AM, flipped the old KUTE-FM thru a number of formats including KMPC-FM/The Edge with former MTV VJ J.J. Jackson. Read about them here - www.socalradiohistory.com - but indeed we had plenty of inside jokes about KLIT (K-Lite) having a very sensitive tuning button, a retractable cover on the tower and other lowbrow punchlines well before Seinfeld and his famous "Delores/Mulva" episode. It was fate that placed our KLIT studio's common wall on the other side of the soundstage for Chuck Woolery's "Love Connection". I remember a number of shows when I had to time opening the mic for the quiet delivery of the soft AC format between the screams and laughter on their tape days, since the not-so-soundproof wall between us on the old original Warner Bros. Hollywood lot was 70+ years old and built for the filming of the first talkie "The Jazz Singer". It was also appropriate that the music library was upstairs in what used to be Jack Warner's office, which had both a private back stairway and private bathroom to allow for the discreet young starlet ...um...how shall I put this...to handle her "comings and goings". LOL (Attached is a picture of the 5858 Sunset Blvd home of KMPC & KLIT) Now back to your usual call letter discussion already in progress. (8/1/07)"Much like his skills at running an NFL franchise, he doesn't know shi*t about running a broadcast operation" Well who really does these days? At least he isn't contemplating getting out of the business, but seems to have a longer term approach as opposed to selling off stations like Post radio. Ah, if only he could get his hands on those signals. (8/1/07)
Dave, I'd be happy with your WBAL solution. I was an avid WCBM news radio listener in the day, but I was the only one for the most part. I also somewhat object to your characterization of the format as "mainstream talk". Beauchamp dumped that format in about the year 2000. Outside of Durian's show and sports, everyone on that station is expected to toe a particular political line either based on ideology or the need for revenge (see Clarence Mitchell IV). They aren't as emotional in the presentation as WCBM, but that doesn't qualify it as mainstream. Howie (8/1/07)
Ref: X1069....Yep Mancow takes another station into the dumper, That's why Seacrets Owner and Friend of Cow wouldn't put him on his station at 98.1 a nice political move. Remember smile at you friends and and cover thy ass at all times. (8/1/07)
Oh good golly gosh DCRTV Dave I don't think of Mr. Redford as being a master thespian. He had a series of movies in late 60's and early 70's that I do like but don't think he's acted worth a dern in last 20+ years. (Ah heck, "Brubaker" is one of those guilty pleasure movies for me. Prison warden dressed in designer clothing, wtf?) He's certainly nowhere near the acting great that I think Paul Newman is. The Hustler, HUD, Cool Hand Luke and The Verdict are imo classic films. And he has a number of other films that I'd put slightly under that like Slapshot, Nobody's Fool, heck even Butch Cassidy. Although I was just reading wiki entry for The Verdict and Redford was lined up to direct only he wasn't happy with script. One of Redford's weaknesses, he over thinks everything. Wonder if Mr. Newman was attached to The Verdict with Redford as director, anyways Sidney Lumet took over and I consider it a great movie! And Charolette Rampling, yummy!...............and speaking of Tom Snyder and Ingmar Bergman I remember a Late Late Show on CBS in which Liv Ullman was the guest. I'd never really heard her interviewed before and she came across as a very intelligent person with a Norweigian accent. Anyways it was also obvious she was flirting with Mr. Snyder big time and ole Tom was getting a bit flummoxed over it. That's one reason I liked Snyder he was real who allowed his foibles to show. Yes I enjoyed listening to larry king on the radio because it was entertainingly dumb. No deep discussions from king. The problem now is very little intelligent discussion going on tv or radio, what is this George Noory sh8t, just a lot of folks trying to emulate carnival barkers. I find those bits were Jay Leno interviews dumb people on the street quite depressing. Leno use to do bitingly sarcastic material, I think that's what appealed to Letterman way back when but Leno turned weasal and saccharine when he got Tonight Show but lately some evidence of the old Leno seems to be popping up........Say DCRTV Dave let's us mailbagger's pick a perfect playlist to submit to WTGB and maybe Cerphe will play it?.......anyone else at Hippiefest at Wolftrap, when Country Joe urged the crowd to buy them ugly tie dyed t-shirts the dialogue in my head went something like this, "Hey Country Joe, what's that spell? SH*T! What's that spell? SH*T!" The Zombies were highlight of the show, imo. Argent is a monster on the keyboards and Blunstone's wistful voice ain't too far gone. It was tight band not some pick up back up band that some of the other acts had on the bill. I could have gone for a whole show of The Zombies! (8/1/07)
Dave's response: Paul Newman is a far better actor than is Redford. Redford was great as Bob Woodward in "All The President's Men," but he never locked into Woodward's strange way of speaking. You know, the way he seems to add a few syllables to even simple words with that upper Midwestern twang.....
Heh DCRTV, please check out the blog but more importantly the Petey Green report I did for channel 9 back in the day. A link would be appreciated, regards Bruce Johnson www.wusa9.com (8/1/07)
Dave's response: Thanks Bruce. Hey, tell Derek that I'm disappointed that he doesn't list DCRTV among his favorite websites on his WUSA blog. He's not mad that we report the lowish ratings for his newscasts, is he?
I agree with others who mentioned Wendy O. on Tom Snyder's show. I also remember his most difficult interview when he attempted to talk to Alfred Hitchcock. The master filmmaker stared at Tom for the full hour and Snyder would later say that was the toughest show he ever had to do. Snyder also made fun of musician Peter Allen about being bi-coastal. An obvious double entendre reference to Allen's lifestyle. Allen was once married to Liza Minelli and eventually died of AIDS. Also, the late Jessica Savitch occasionally filled in for Tom. Too bad the Golden Girl didn't last. (8/1/07)
Wow, is Danny Snyder's middle name Birach? He sure seems to have a thing for crappy little signals in major markets. Much like his skills at running an NFL franchise, he doesn't know shi*t about running a broadcast operation. -jason (8/1/07)
Wow, so X106.9 in OC is going bye bye. I've gotta say, I know that thier budget was tighter than (insert dirty joke here), but they did a decent job with what they had. I remember unedited songs getting on the air at 2am...oops. Speaking of OC radio. When do the ratings come out for Salisbury-OC? I would love to see how ZBH lands, especially with thier revolving door of talent and thier weak morning show. I'd like to also see how Great Scott's Jack knock off, Joe does, as well as Big with the simulcast. I'm sure Q or Froggy will be on top again. (8/1/07)
I have to laugh in reading about the K*NT callsign comedy, because it reminds me that nearly 30 years ago, I worked for a station whose callsign should never have been issued no matter the excuse. Hal Gore was the owner of KKAR, an AM station in Pomona, California, which was a country station at the time. Mr. Gore petitioned the FCC for the calls K-L-I-T. Rumor has it that he got the idea from a book he read called "So You Want to Start A Radio Station?" of which a copy was still at the station when I arrived. There was a passage in there talking about fundraising in order to get enough money to put the station on the air and jokingly, someone suggested the new calls but someone else chimed in saying "how can we go out therey thought that was funny enough to see if he could pull one over on the FCC and did. His argument was "we're K-Lite, we're a religious station, not that other word." Do you know how hard it was to say those calls every hour? And the numerous "indecency" accidents we almost had from new hires that wren't thinking about what they said. The station eventually sold and received new calls KTSJ (The Sound of Joy) and later was sold to a Spanish outfit who again changed the calls. This was all several years before another radio station in Los Angeles, called itself 'K-Lite" though their calls weren't anything close, it was just a branding. Hopefully those old calls aren't in use anymore. Bill Powers, Los Angeles (8/1/07)
/\ August 1 Messages /\
\/ July 31 Messages \/
So, are you bummed because Murdoch bought the WSJ? Don't cry; instead, take a look at this retrospective of the only newspaper that really ever mattered: The Weekly World News weeklyworldnews.ytmnd.com (7/31/07)
KFED: Call letters just purchased by Britney's ex. ;) (7/31/07)
("If I was running JFK-FM, here's what I'd do. I'd put Opie and Anthony in morning drive. They're the most "Stern-like" show out there and would do well in DC if run live and properly promoted. I'd put Don and Mike in middays to ride out their contract.") Couldn't agree more. Dave, in the three plus years i've been reading your site...this is the first time i've agreed with you 100%. (7/31/07)
Dear Dave: Like the WCUF station! Click on below, scroll down and you'll see a real wild one in North Carolina! I'm a former network radio and TV news anchor with a TV and radio, among other things, web site. Recently I've been on The Jim Bohannon Show, Washington Post Radio, WFED, WOR 710 New York City (yesterday), among others. My best, Marty... Chickaboomer: KUNT TV chickaboomer.blogspot.com (7/31/07)
OMG, Danny Boy bought ANOTHER diddly-squat radio station??? What is this man thinking? RZ needs to get rid of ALL of their pathetic signals and buy a real radio station that someone can actually hear! Why is this so hard to understand? Snyder must be smoking funny cigs or getting really bad advice. He will be the laughing stock until he buys a station that can compete in the DC market. Instead, he keeps pissing away $$ in small markets with AM stations that no one wants. The good news is that at least no one will know when the Deadskins have another pathetic season. Seriously, the whole thing is sad. The once proud Redskins (and their owner) have been reduced to the joke of the football world. (7/31/07)
"Congratulations go out to the little guy at Redskin Park. Wow! Buying a station in Norfolk to help cover the footprint of the Redskins in Virginia is pure genius" This guy is either Jerry Jones or the short, fat, bald guy that's going to be caught on next week"s "To Catch a Predator" (7/31/07)
Congratulations go out to the little guy at Redskin Park. Wow! Buying a station in Norfolk to help cover the footprint of the Redskins in Virginia is pure genius. The five or six pea shooters they own do not add up to half a major market station. Bad plan, bad investors and a really bad team. Might there be a leak in the Snyder cruise ship? First the Red “ink” Zebra disaster, then the purchase of Six “thug” Flags, then the investment with Tom “has been” Cruise, then the Johnny Rockets investment, where we all know they will be charging for napkins and straws by the end of the year. Is everyone aware of the difficulty that Snyder and his merry band of greedy henchmen are having with the club seat and precious sky box renewals? Be careful Danny, ICEBERG DEAD AHEAD! (7/31/07)
Re Christina in Bethesda's comments about the Junkies ("From the numbers Paul Fahri mentions it looks like the Junkies have gone down less than a point in a year. I'm sure other hosts have ups and downs in the ratings too. Does anybody go up every ratings period?") Obviously nobody has ratings go up every ratings period, but the problem with the Junkies numbers (at least in DC, not sure what's up in Baltimore) (are they still on in Baltimore?) is that they started with a drop, had a very, very mild rebound, and have hardly improved at all. They are dead in the water. Replacing them with almost anything would be cheaper and be guaranteed to achieve similar numbers. But WJFK isn't really known for making smart decisions, so you might get to hear the junkies for another ten years, whether they ever get decent ratings or not. Personally, I've always found them boring as hell. (7/31/07)
Dave's response: If I was running JFK-FM, here's what I'd do. I'd put Opie and Anthony in morning drive. They're the most "Stern-like" show out there and would do well in DC if run live and properly promoted. I'd put Don and Mike in middays to ride out their contract. Plus, Don could get home by mid-afternoon. What could be better? I'd move the Junkies to afternoon drive and increase their focus on the day's sports news. And keep Big O and Dukes in evenings, grooming them for another time slot on 106.7 if/when needed. I'd also work on getting Ron and Fez and/or El Jefe and J-Dubs for nights/weekends. I also take a shot at getting Tony Kornheiser and Elliot Segal when their respective contracts are up.....
Lori Penson: Some Mailbaggers might recall a couple years ago a poster to this site reported Lori Penson had done weather one weekend on WUSA-TV. The post, complete with a screen grab photo, raised a vicious verbal hubbub after Diane Kepley bitterly objected to the poster's use of the word "girl" to describe Lori. Lori was never seen on TV in DC again. Did Kepley start something that inadvertently killed Lori's chances for a job in this TV market or is that unfair to Kepley and giving too much weight to the Mailbag's influence? Perhaps DCRTV Plus paid subscribers would like to get their money's worth by digging up those posted exchanges about Lori in Mailbag archives. (7/31/07)
Radio-Locator is correct, but it doesn't take into account 1st adjacents like 107.1 WTDK interfering with the signal. Believe me, 196.9 is a tough catch in Salisbury no matter what the press release states. Just like WJFK 106.7 probably sells advertising in Maryland when you can barely get their signal in College Park! (7/31/07)
Dave's response: Oh, like we can "technically" get Baltimore's 105.7 and 106.5 here in Northern Virginia - except for the overpowerment from the DC area's 105.9 and 106.7.....
I guess with the new Hampton purchase (see VARTV), we can kill off that Dan Snyder looking to get out of the radio business theory. Everett W. (7/31/07)
Dave's response: Maybe we should put a little more stock into those "wild rumors" we've been running about Snyder buying 107.7 and 1500 - the signals of WaPo Radio?
WBBM call letters. For the record, if anyone really cares, WBBM originally stood for "We Broadcast Better Music". It was a different time. (7/31/07)
The Battle of the DC/Baltimore Non-Comms in Ocean City Maryland, WYPR @ 106.9 vs. WAMU @ 88.3... (7/31/07)I was under the impression that X106.9 was CHR? Also, why is WYPR spending money to buy that facility and land a signal in the back yard of Salisbury State NPR stations WSCL and WSDL? That seems extremely predatory. (7/31/07)
Why does Mediabistro have a non compete on Brian Stelter's contract? Blogs are now becoming very sophisticated and big business of course. Poor kid! Can't wait till that 's over so that the new gig at NYT can really kick in. Kemi Joshua (7/31/07)
X106.9 doesn't reach Salisbury, just OC & southern Delaware, its a Class A (7/31/07)
Dave's response: According to radio-locator.com, 106.9 kinda reaches Salisbury.....
By the way Dave, you might want to mention that Washington's WAMU is ALSO getting a NEW full power station in Ocean City Maryland, WRAU FM 88.3, don't know when, construction permit ends in 2010. What's interesting is that American University is calling the station "Radio U - Where Music is Going" Hmmmm. (7/31/07)
Wow, WYPR on X106.9 in OC means NO RAVENS IN OCEAN CITY! DOH! (7/31/07)
Regarding the Junkies being past their peak. Their show is better than ever. I've listened since they were on WHFS. They complain about women not listening and I listen all the time. From the numbers Paul Fahri mentions it looks like the Junkies have gone down less than a point in a year. I'm sure other hosts have ups and downs in the ratings too. Does anybody go up every ratings period? Christina, Bethesda (7/31/07)
"GJ. Quite a bit of defending your company over the past couple days. I hear Danny Boy rewards loyalty, especially when one of his loyal servants defend his bad business decisions. Sounds like you might be in line for a raise...or maybe just spared during the next round of firings at Red Zebra" Nice try...I am not a Zebra but know some folks over at Redskins Park, no rewards here at all. As a matter of fact, his investors just greenlighted another acquistion in Hampton, VA which I am sure has been made public by now. Snyder's aligned with some pretty powerful investors who obviously don't turn to this site for any type of financial analysis regarding Red Zebra, even though I am sure they want to buy the Post stations that get similar treatment here, hopefully they will take advantage of that before the season starts. (7/31/07)
Dave, As former ESRTV Editor, the selling of X106.9 is not surprising. Although The X filled a niche in the market with the Alt Rock, the station was hard to sell during the offseason. I met one of the owners, Ron J once and he seemed like a real nice guy and treated me well. I believe he was one of the owners of HVS Partners which once owned WQHQ (Q105), WLVW (formerly Love 106, The Wave and now Kiss 105-5) and WTGM (AM 960 The Team (formerly with the proper name The Game). The limited signal with short spacing with 107.1 in Federalsburg on the dial and 106.5 in Pocomoke City also made it difficult. I wish those who may be losing their jobs the best...Finally the bigger question, who picks up the broadcasting rights to the Baltimore Ravens which The X will no longer have I take it. The Ravens are a cash cow!!! -Michael Popovec ( now w/ Sports Talk 1570 WNST) (7/31/07)
("You won't believe this. Go to www.nationals.com. When the video shows a highlight of a Nats game, it ain't the Nats announcers. Probably the Mets announcers. What the heck is this? It's the Nationals web site for gosh sakes. Who the heck is responsible for this garbage?") The websites are all built through MLB.com, so I'm guessing the highlights are uniformly produced through them. Howie (7/31/07)
Paul Fahri is an idiot. What qualifies him to write about Washington DC radio? (7/31/07)
I remember when the old WKTK was affiliated with CBS radio for news at the top of the hour. By then, I believe they were playing Top 40 and Waylen Richards was there, followed by John Leeder and Tom Nawicki (Sean Casey) when he changed his name prior to landing at 92 Star WYST. Speaking of WYST, Dan O'Neil was one of my favorite deejays, who I met later on. (7/31/07)
Dave: Big weekend saw big viewing in Baltimore for all the news stations. Looks like the early winners were CSN who did a strong 1.6 for their 10pm SportsNite show and also WJZ who had a post game special on all things Cal that aired immediately after the Yankees-Orioles game Sunday afternoon. www.examiner.com... While all of Baltimore was in Cooperstown on Brett Haber of WUSA was there from the Washington sports family. Cheers, Jim (7/31/07)
A few things: First..am glad to hear that Rusty Gibson will be resuming his show; got the site saved in "favorites"..and plan to check it out (if not this Sunday..at some Sunday in the future)..also to to Rusty: I, too, agree with your assessment of Gary Thorn's M.C. work during the Hall Of Fame ceremonies! I think he does a good job for the O's TV games. Before I wrap up my post, thanks to Michael's informative post concerning CBS in Baltimore! I thought that I remembered that radio that I heard back in 63 having the "CBS:" sound..but wasn't sure; I was reasonably sure it was tuned to WAYE. But somehow it didn't seem right that WCBM was not affiliated with that network that early..but I suppose that's really how it was! Thanks to everybody else for reading (if you did)..this is a great place to come if one wants to know anything "radio!" Tom in Denton, MD (7/31/07)
To you folks out there lamenting that you do not have ESPN Classic, you ain't missing very much. JohnnyuinHanover,Pa. (7/31/07)
I know I tease you on my show and make fun of your masculinity, but it's just because I love you, man - you redneck girlie lib, you. You turn me on! John Edwards, will you run away with me for some big love? - Rushie (7/31/07)
(You won't believe this. Go to www.nationals.com. When the video shows a highlight of a Nats game, it ain't the Nats announcers. Probably the Mets announcers. What the heck is this? It's the Nationals web site for gosh sakes. Who the heck is responsible for this garbage?) Must have been the better pic quality available from New York vs. MASN (7/31/07)
Hi there, Do you have any news as to why George is back on channel 4? Sure is nice to see him back. Marie (7/31/07)
Dave's response: Even though George gave up the nightly sports anchoring duties, he still does weekly sports shows for WRC-TV.....
My favorite Tom Snyder Tomorrow show was the night Wendy O. Williams and The Plasmatics performed and (as part of a pyrotechnics stunt) exploded a vehicle on stage within the NBC studio, apparently without any previous warning to Mr. Snyder or NBC staff that the vehicle would actually explode and catch fire! The entire studio filled with smoke and Snyder just went on with the interview practically as if nothing had happened, even though the studio was so filled with smoke (significanly more than even the usual cigarette smoke), you could barely see Tom or Wendy, but just this huge bank of smoke filling your TV screen. They don't make TV shows like that anymore. Today, they would pre-stage such an event and pretend it was a accident or, hell, what am I thinking, you wouldn't even be able to get explosives within 5 MILES of Rockefeller Center today! My other memory of Snyder (I was quite young at the time) was his pet peeve about the over-usage of profanity by comedians to get a cheap laugh. Boy, I sure hope he didn't watch a lot of TV in the later years of his retirement! Does the term "cheap laugh" even have any meaning today? (7/31/07)
Dave- One of the great services your website provides is a community forum for those of us with similar passions to share experiences and memories, and some of the recent posts about Tom Snyder have brought back some great memories. (Oh crap- I'm sliding into geezerdom) I was actually in the audience at 30 Rock for the aforementioned Wendy O. Williams and her "band" The Plasmatics appearance on Tom Snyder's show, and it was in fact the first time I had seen a woman appear with electrical tape over her nipples (with the exception of my Mom on Parent/ Teacher conference night- still a sore subject). I went with my younger brother, and I distinctly remember the panic as they had to clear the studio because of the smoke from exploding amps and speakers. As the small studio quickly filled with thick smoke, Tom was as lost in the excitement as everyone else, and I remember the look on his face when a producer told him they had to clear the studio audience immediately- it was a look of panic and joy. After a while, we were all let back in to the studio, and they continued with the show. For years, Wendy O. remained a constant in the "spank bank" and to this day I can't look at a roll of electrical tape without thinking of her. Also- much like Dave- I was a late night TV junkie, and I loved watching Carson, Tom Snyder and the very entertaining NBC OVERNIGHT. One of the great things about your site is that until this day, I have never heard from another person who used to watch that show. Oh- and I remain a huge Elvis Costello and Paul Weller/Jam fan. Thanks again for providing this great community forum. Bill Scot Glasser, Fox Television, America's Most Wanted (7/31/07)
Regarding Comcast's Maryland area lineup and ESPN Classic: In Prince Georges County, ESPN Classic was never dropped, because it has never been part of the lineup analog or digital. I kept asking about "Classic" and "TCM" for years. I was glad to to at least get TCM a couple of years ago. I don't have the Cable guide at hand, but I seem to recall that Montgomery County was the only area receiving ESPN Classic, as of July. I tried the Comcast website on Friday, but found that I now need a password to access it. With the move of the NFL network to the sports tier, and the upcoming dropping of the West coast feeds of the various movie channels from the digital lineup, I'm finally ready (after 22 yrs) to move to the Dish or Direct TV.- any recommedations for either? David in Hyattsville (7/31/07)
Dave's response: Ditto with Comcast Reston. We get all the other sports channels from Fox Soccer to CSTV, but not ESPN Classic. I also miss the west coast feeds of the Encore multiplexes, Sundance, Flix, and the major premium channels. Glad I'm not the only one.....
What was Synder supposed to call Meatloaf? Mr. Loaf? HA! WBBM ? Big Bowl Movement? You must listen to that station. The big breaking news when I lived in Chicago was that Daley and his wife were rushed to a local hospital because they were vomiting. BBM indeed! "Weekend' was terrific TV as I recall. Dobyns was refreshing that's for sure. I remember those great 'Tomorrow' interviews. Nothing beats King though on the Mutual interviewing Frank Zappa. It is was clear that Larry never heard any of Zappa's music. Great radio. (7/31/07)
If my memory serves me correctly, way back when WAYE was all news in the 1060's. Allan Prell worked their briefly. Seems I can remember him mentioning it on WBAL years ago. He lost that job when the format changed. JohnnyuinHanover.Pa.(7/31/07)
Is it clear that the Hawaii LP actually requested K*NT? The rules, I believe, say that if a permitee does not request a sign for a new station within a specified period, the FCC will assign one at random. Needless to say, what's in the inventory of unused signs are ones that no one wants. I'm aware of this happening to a well-respected station owner which, due to its inattention, ended up with a rather alarming one. It got a change before the station actually went on the air, though. (7/31/07)
Bill Press cheated www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlDC.com (7/31/07)
Dave's response: What a joke! Bill Press the "hottest" male on-air personality in DC? Hell, Elliot Segal is sexier than he is. Just barely.....
Julie DeHarty, one of the injured traffic reporters in the Dallas chopper crash used to do traffic and part time work for Mix 106.5 in the mid 90's. Ironically, she was also in a Cessna that had to make an emergency landing on I-795 around that time. Since no one has mentioned this, congratulations to Traffic.com for landing channel 9. They start Thursday morning. I've seen their 3D maps in Baltimore and they look great. Hopefully Metro will keep Nicole O'Brien and not let her go. (7/31/07)
I almost didn't sign up (for DCRTV Plus) because of the profanity in the banner of your "Mailbag" page. Not only do I find it inappropriate personally, but it makes it impossible for me to look at the site at work, where it would be very useful -- I can't have something unprofessional like that showing on my screen. An occasional dirty word burried in text, while not preferred, does not jump off the screen in the same way. The site was better when you had Post-like standards, rather than sinking to Citypaper level. Because of the valuable information you provide, however, I did send you a payment -- my second time doing so. Yours is definately the best site of its type for regular updates on media happenings. I wish a similar service were available for other cities. LA-Radio is decent, but not updated nearly as often nor as easy to read. Chicago's DJHeadlines is rarely updated, and I have yet to find a similar site for Houston, Miami, or San Francisco. NERW is also a great site. Please keep up the good information... (7/31/07)
Dave's response: Thanks for subscribing to DCRTV Plus and for your kind remarks about the site. I have replaced the banner with a cleaner "darn" version. Oh, one "Post-like" standard I'll never have is taking news and story ideas from others and not giving them credit.....
Glad someone besides me noticed how Linda Ellerbee shamelessly ripped-off Lloyd Dobyns closing line "And so it goes." Never could stand her. "Weekend" was a great show, back in the day. To be fair, however, Dobyns ripped it off himself, from Kurt Vonneguet's novel "Slaughterhouse Five." So it goes. Too bad Tom Snyder could never find a place on TV in later years. He could interview rings around most people, serious when he needed to be and silly at other times, depending on the guest and the subject matter. Didn't see Leno's tribute. When I tuned in he was going on and on about Lindsay Lohan...again. I used to like Jay but Hollywood seems to have turned him cynical and mean. Lettermen (who's always been cynical and mean, but for him it works) did a nice tribute to Tom Snyder that was both heartfelt and funny. He was clearly a fan. (7/31/07)
All the Comcast complaints boil down to this: Analog cable baaaad--digital cable goooood. And they'll keep taking channels off analog cable until you see it their way. (or go to Dish Network, like I did, since FIOS ain't never coming to my area.) (7/31/07)
Ref: Anita Marks on AM - So the book is out and next it most likely will be the one and only Miami sports chick Anita Marks.....numbers are in the urinal girl, so hit the road and let a local do the local stuff....Call your girlfriend and tell her...hey honey we're moving back down south. U gotta face for radio & no talent. (7/31/07)
A clink of the old colortini glasses in honor of the passing of Tom Snyder. I always thought he was far better than larry king! Btw, I think it's 2 year's ago they(whoever they is) came out with a DVD collection of rock stars that appeared on Snyder show. I seem to recall one show was Plasmatics,( I didn't think the band was so bad) another with Elvis Costello and another with the Jam and then Paul Weller sits down with Kim Fowley and someone else, I think the late Bill Graham, and discuss punk music with old Tom. Far out! Mr. Snyder mentioned on his website he had little control over the release of video from the old NBC "Tomorrow" show. Jay Leno had nice tribute to Mr. Snyder on his show. Didn't catch if Mr. Letterman said anything. I got a mess of vhs tapes of Tom's show on CBS following Mr. Letterman. Damn I miss good tv! Thank god for dvd releases of old tv shows. Did you hear The Fugitive starring David Janssen is finally coming out on dvd in the middle of August........ Well It's nice to hear Mr. Gibson is staying a bit longer. Despite what he thinks I do enjoy his musical selections. He should have caught Denny Laine at Jammin' Java the other night. He would have made 41 people in the crowd. He played several Wings songs and had several interesting comments on Mr. McCartney. I see Mr. Laine is in the midst's of writing a tell all book.......... As for Elvis Costello, geez I find the stuff he does these days bloody bleeding boring. And "eclectic" is one of them overused words these days that I wish wankers would stop using. I'm not Angry anymore......and DCRTV Dave speaking of Igmar Bergman's passing you like Max " Prince of Darkness" Von Snydow in one of my favorite Redford movies "3 Days of the Condor"?.....Adios Mr. Snyder I can still hear that great laugh of yours! (7/31/07)
Dave's response: Robert Redford is not on my list of favorite actors. I always thought he was kind of "wooden," never quite believable. Even worse in his later years.....
Dave, that NBC News Overnight was classic. Lloyd Dobyns was terrific on that, and on another late-night news magazine show in the 70s on NBC called, simply, "Weekend." It used the intro of "Jumping Jack Flash" as its open. "Weekend" came on Saturday nights at 1130 once a month in 1974-75, replacing the weekly reruns of Johnny Carson. Dobyns deadpan delivery and dry wit were outstanding. It was also on that show that he introduced us to his tagline, "And so it goes," as he closed each show. A lot of people seem to think that Linda Ellerbee coined that phrase, but she co-opted (read: stole) it from Dobyns on the Overnight show. Of course, "Weekend" was shelved when NBC decided to go with a live comedy show on Saturday nights. I can't remember which I was more upset about, no more classic Carson or no more Lloyd Dobyns! I only watched that comedy show because George Carlin was hosting. Wonder what happened to that show? --Robert (7/31/07)
I thought it was hysterical on last night's Channel 4 sports report when the first thing George Michael did was correct Jim Vance's pronuciation of a word several weeks ago. Vance pronounces espionage as "espionije" instead of "espionaje." I think George Michael is the only person who could have gotten away with that. -- Bobbie (7/31/07)
Comcast is getting bitchy - wbal.com - Officials in Montgomery and Howard counties are warning Comcast cable subscribers about a pending change to the terms of their agreement with the cable provider. They say the change would limit customers' right to sue by requiring that serious disputes go to arbitration. Comcast informed Montgomery subscribers of the new policy in a notice in their July bills. Customers in Prince George's County are receiving the same notices... (7/31/07)
Dave's response: I got one of those "legalese" notices, too. Isn't that pretty much how all credit card companies handle disputes?
Hey Dave, I know you're a big fan of Guster and wanted to let you know that they will be performing live in The Globe studio today around Noon. They are performing tonight at Wolftrap. (7/31/07)
How does Jessica Reyes,
middays on El Zol, not make the hottest media types list. Or for that matter, 99.1's night host, Reyna (right)!
www.elzol991.com (7/31/07)The BIG PROBLEM with ALL Washington DC area AM stations is simply this... You have a BIG #8 MARKET filled with SMALL MARKET SIGNALED AM stations, including even the ONLY Class A, 1500 AM (which has poor nighttime coverage to a significant part of the market). Add to that LOTS OF PEOPLE FORMERLY FROM EVEN BIGGER MARKETS or people used to better AM signals, especially at night, and what do you have? AM RATINGS lower than even in Baltimore! And speaking of Baltimore and WBAL vs. WCBM, no one has mentioned the fact that WCBM now has a stronger 50kw daytime signal over central Maryland/Arbitron measured areas compared to WBAL (not to mention Maryland's eastern shore). This is the kind of competition that can occur when 2 stations are on a level playing field, something that couldn't be said just 5 years ago when WBAL had a substantially stronger signal. (7/31/07)
At the end of the sportscast tonight (Monday), George Michael asked where Doreen was. Vance replied that they were about to say. The rest of the newscast came and went with nothing said. Does anyone know what's going on with Doreen? If it's a vacation, it is a very lengthy one. Hopefully all is well. Does anyone know the story? Bob from College Park (7/31/07)
From the Dept of Morbidity and Mortality ... Unless I missed someone, I guess the latest death-by-threes would be Ingmar Bergman, Tom Snyder and Bill Walsh? (7/31/07)
Dave's response: I mean, it's a big world. And, if you look, you'll find that there are at least three famous people who die every day. I am a huge film buff, but I never could "get into" Bergman's films. I am a gigantic Woody Allen fan, and some of his films are quite "Bergmanesque," like the fantastic "Interiors," which I like more now than when it was released. Likewise, I love Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart, but never much cared for "Casablanca." And don't get me started on the hideous "Gone With The Wind." Clark Gable was better as a newspaper man in the third-rate "Teacher's Pet." And I far prefer "Star Trek" (any variety) over "Star Wars." And I hate "American Idol." But I think the little-watched (over here in the USA, anyway) "Kath And Kim" is one of the best TV comedies of all time. And so it goes.....
That's right, folks, don't touch that dial. starbulletin.com... K-WHAT? Unbuilt Maui TV station lands questionable call letters.... THE call letters KUNT have landed at a yet-unbuilt low-power digital television station in Wailuku, Maui. Alarmingly similar to a word the dictionary says is obscene, the call letters were among a 15-page list of new call letters issued by the Federal Communications Commission and released this week. The same station owner also received KWTF for a station in Arizona. .... KCUF-FM near Aspen, Colo. got its F-word-in-reverse call letters in August of 2005 and has been on the air since December, "Keeping Colorado Uniquely Free," its Web site says. Uh, yeah. (7/31/07)
Dave's response: Chicago's WBBM - Big Bowel Movement.....
My favorite Tom Snyder memories have to be the shows (yes, he had her on more than once!) where he interviewed punk rocker Wendy O. Williams. He almost seemed to have a crush on her, and was especially fascinated when she was wearing a big leather horn on her head. I saw her perform at Madam’s Organ---no, no, it was the Ontario Theater. Whipped cream on her ample bosom and electrical tape on her nips, and at the end of the show she blew up her speakers on stage. She’s already in heaven waiting for Tom. Sayyyy, maybe they’ll hook up! RIP both of you crazy kids. (7/31/07)
Dave's response: Didn't Ms. Williams front a band called The Plasmatics? Absolutely awful. I seem to recall not being able to stop laughing when Tom Snyder had Meatloaf on and kept calling him "Mr. Meatball".....
/\ July 31 Messages /\
Jump to the Mailbag Archive Index.....
