Current Mailbag - Mailbag Archive Index - DCRTV Front Page - Support DCRTV DCRTV Mailbag - July 21 to July 28, 2008 Latest messages listed first..... \/ July 28 Messages \/ First of all, a minor correction on the "merging" of the Potomac News and Manassas Journal Messenger (which is already a joint operation on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays): unless there's been a last-second change I don't know about, the revamped format will begin on Oct. 13, a Monday, not Oct. 1. Second, while driving earlier this evening and listening to WAMU, the person delivering the traffic reports (O'Brien was his last name) cited delays on I-95 south "from Dumfries to the Triangle" -- and did it twice. The area is known as "Triangle," between Dumfries and Quantico; there's no "the" there, never has been. Doesn't do much for the guy's credibility. -- Vincent in (not the) Triangle (7/28/08) "So the tumor on his (Robert Novak's) CAT scan isn't real and was penciled in by the doctor??" Like YOU have seen his CAT scan? I don't think so. Take a chill pill pal, I'm just shooting my mouth off. No diff than any of the other yahoos on this board. "we're not supposed to attack people here ..." Oh really? What do you call all of the messages that go on and on forever about Don & Mike ... Praise? Sheesh! (7/28/08) WTEM should have left Doc by himself. His show might have been to inside but he is much better by himself without challenge. Sheehan was an effective antagonist on the Riggins show, Doc is better as the main host with a peanut gallery possee. Still not nearly as bad a listen as the Thompson Show and even worse, Colin Cowherrd. What a waste of time unless you live in a college football city. Should have put Feldman on with Maloney or even Sheehan instead of the TurdHerrd. (7/28/08) Best quote of the year..... "And thanks for watching the CBS Evening News in color and high definition, It's so clear, you can almost see what i'm thinking!" HAha! Of course, if we could see what Katie was thinking the paint would be peeling off our walls and steam would be coming out of our HDTV sets! HAha! NONE of CBS O & O WJZ's broadcast of the CBS Evening News was in HD even though Katie did a story about how great this first HD newscast is why it looks so great! Geez, what complete and utter screwups. You would have thought they could have fixed it for the later feed, but in fact, it was far more embarassing for Katie Couric! HAha! (7/28/08) The only sight as impressive than the aerial photos taken from the top of Radio 1500's antennae (now on view at the DCRTV Plus page) is a roughly corresponding 1939 photo showing the barren Wheaton countryside: DCMemories.com... That photo is one of many images that Dick Rucker has posted at homepage.mac.com... Every time I see the housing units that were built smack in the shadow of the towers, I recall those residents who had WTOP-AM blasting from their walls and smoke detectors in 1987: DCMemories.com... And if you crave even more 1939 views, visit DCMemories.com... (7/28/08) On WJZ, a CBS O & O station, which runs the CBS News on delay at 7pm, it was STILL screwed up, no INTRO at all, there was just a black screen after WJZ's news ended and then a standard def CBS News story started right in the middle of the story with NO BEGINNING of the show!!! HAha! What a complete mess, what idiots. Lowly FOX 45 in Baltimore had a better HD News launch! Now THAT'S what I call EMBARASSING! Poor Katie :-) (7/28/08) "I think the timing is very suspect on this one. Hit a pedestrian Wednesday, get caught on video talking about it without legal council, then BAM!, four days later announce a brain tumor." So the tumor on his CAT scan isn't real and was penciled in by the doctor?? I know we're not supposed to attack people here but you are a real moron. Scary to think people like you can vote. (7/28/08) The Sun's Roch Kubatko - According to what was said on MASN yesterday it sounds like he's going to work for MASN. In what capacity, I dunno. (7/28/08) I bought my first color tv set in 1966. WJZ was in color at that time along with WBAL and WMAR. The four Washington stations were also. JohnnyuinHanover,Pa. (7/28/08) Watching Nats Xtra yesterday with Phil Wood filling in for Ray Knight was just this side of painfull!! Holiday did his best to keep the show moving, but clearly he missed his partner. Johnny and Ray make those shows very entertaining, despite the Nationals struggle to win some games. On another subject, throwing this guy Kevin Sheehan in with Doc Walker on WTEM is somewhat like a root canal. Talk about a mismatch. That show does not work either. Shawn (7/28/08) You've got to love the question "Jay" asked about when "Jack Edwards" worked at WOHN! Were they to read the whole "tribute" they would (A) Likely be able to tell when he worked there. And (B), from the description of that particular radio station, it's questionable whether anone ever really "worked" there in the first place! (7/28/08) Well now..while I have no idea when WJZ converted to "color", I do remember watching :Lorenzo"..but never saw him in color! So thanks for supplying us with the "You Tube" video! We didn't get a color set until 1966. Tom in Denton, MD (7/28/08) Which Charm City broadcasting historian can recall (with some accuracy) when WJZ-TV converted their studios to color? I've got a color clip of Gerry Wheeler's popular "Lorenzo" character which I'm guessing is newer than his 1962 to 1966 tour in Baltimore. According to the show's closing credits, his director at the time was Dick Pyle. Is there any way 'JZ was originating color from its studios as early as '66? www.youtube.com... All guesses gladly accepted. (7/28/08) Dave's response: As I kid in the NJ suburbs of Philadelphia, I remember watching Lorenzo on Channel 3/KYW, which, like Baltimore's 13, was a Group W/Westinghouse station. And, according to crabcitykidstv.com, Lorenzo left Baltimore for Philly..... I can't wait for all the tastefull remarks abot Robert Novak's brain tumor. I guess its the same reason Ted Kennedy left a poor girl to drown! (7/28/08) WJLA - your DC leader in Infomercials and network pre-emptions. (7/28/08) Dave, Be carefu...I know where you live, I know how to find you..LOL BOBB/Granny/etc... (7/28/08) Dave's response: Gee, what's worse? Your threat or the Citadel legal letter? Ha ha ha..... I'm wondering what affect, if any, Bob Novak's brain tumor had on him hitting that pedestrian with his car. (7/28/08) Re: "Novak Battles Brain Tumor" I think the timing is very suspect on this one. Hit a pedestrian Wednesday, get caught on video talking about it without legal council, then BAM!, four days later announce a brain tumor. That's power, politics, connections, influence, money, and lawyers all coming together to protect another conservative blow hard. I can just see a team a lawyers kicking this one around the conference table in a high priced DC law office. "How do we get old man Novak out of this jam? I got it, we go with the sympathetic "Brain Tumor" defense. Yeah, that should get him off the hook. The judge goes sympathetic and so will the public. Case closed. Brilliant! Then in a few weeks or months, he has a miracle "healing" and is right back on the streets of DC in his speeding Corvette." (7/28/08) Dave's response: I guess the brain tumor could have caused a momentary lapse of consciousness and he actually wasn't aware that he'd run into that homeless man with his car last week. Certainly possible..... OK, "Liam," I'll sign my name and chime in that Kristi King's report on her sky-diving trip was, as has previously been stated, bullshit. Now maybe you can explain how the two of us signing our first names on our posts makes us any more or less a "journalist" than anybody else. Dave in Sterling (7/28/08) Why is XM's website still saying that the merger process is still under review? I thought they'd at least have a press release out by now. Any word yet on what's going on over there at XM today? - Kevin in HdG (7/28/08) Advertisers are obsessed with the young male demographic because they are THE LEAST discerning consumers imaginable. If you convince their testosterone-addled little brains that it's cool, they'll sink big bucks on laminated dog crap. (7/28/08) So, what's up with Chris Emery? There was one little blurb about him, that's it? He's gone, but there's been no mention or replacement. They are "building" a new morning team. They NEVER had a morning team. Emery was gawd awful. Fillapelli at least he's working at it. Emery always sounded pissed, bored, dis-interested and untalented. BOBB (7/28/08) Dave's response: "Bobb" is the Batman of DC-Baltimore broadcasting. The "Dark Knight" of local radio. Jeff Kapugi is the joker..... Today Limbaugh ranted that Obama's stuttering indicates that he is based on deceit. Oh, so stuttering indicates deceit? I wonder what the stuttering advocacy groups would say about that? And I wonder what Limbaugh would have to say about his own occasional verbal stuttering? The pot calling the kettle black? Ahem. (7/28/08) Dave, how come the male demographic is so important to radio stations? (7/28/08) Dave's response: Because a lot of advertisers want to reach men, particular young men. You know - booze, cars, gambling, porn, erectile dysfunction pills..... Do any Mailbag readers who attended Virginia Tech in the 1980s/1990s know what became of Rock 105? It was the best station in that market. I graduated in 1992 and didn't return for years, but the next time I was down there, I got only static on the old Rock 105 frequency. I know that radio stations change formats, but how often do stations simply "go dark," or whatever the lingo is? Who owned the station, and why did they dump it? Any help from readers is greatly appreciated. Christian (7/28/08) WaPost's Jason Laconfora Blogged about the "new" Danny/ESPN 980 outlet over the weekend -- and offered this bit of insight: "Found it very interesting, too, that on the first day of camp a week ago, when the Redskins make the big Jason Taylor trade, there wasn't a single person from Snyder's new radio station there to catch any sound after the second practice. How amazing was that? Vinny Cerrato announces the trade and no one from 980 is there at the second practice of training camp, even though everyone knew Phillip Daniels was seriously hurt and the Taylor rumors were swirling? (Where was Mouthpiece Larry Michael? It was only the first major move of the Cerrato/Zorn era.) The day after the trade, all through morning drive, Snyder's new crown jewel had no interview clips or filed reports on the trade. (This isn't on Frank - he had to leave to broadcast the Mystics game, but I guess no one in management figured they needed to have another reporter there despite all that was going on ... and it was the beginning of camp, for goodness sakes.) All I know is Coleman would have been there no matter what, and the listener would have heard a truly unfiltered voice, and a pointed question or two. But I guess the people who own that station/the Redskins - who stuck you with Mouthpiece Michael in the first place -- might not be so thrilled with that."......sound like a nice start for the flagship! Although they lost me last Monday. (7/28/08) Regarding The Sports Reporters this week, Czabe has been doing a daily sports spot on a Milwaukee radio station for a long time. Said radio station has a big time charity golf outing that is always around the 1st of August and Czabe has been attending and playing in this tournament for a number of years. IIRC in years past he’s missed the Thursday and Friday of this tournament in flying to/from Milwaukee and playing golf. Again, in years past his regular vacation has been in late June, meaning he’d be back for around a month before the Milwaukee thing. This year, with the Red Zebra takeover, his vacation as delayed, meaning only the one week between the beach week and the golf outing. He was on The First Team this morning so he’s not “on vacation” from that. Andy was out in Chicago on Friday and Czabe did The Sports Reporters solo with two guests. Maybe none of this is relevant, but this is what’s happened in the past. DCThunder in Rockville (7/28/08) Not enough coffee this morning? 1500 AM has been WWWT since Washington Post Radio left the air! Of course, it SHOULD go back to being WTOP-AM, but that's another story entirely.... Every time I visit the site I just can't get used to not seeing the WTOP call letters on the building. But then, they still have the "WTOP Radio Network" sign outside with the old AM/FM combo, so I guess Bonneville isn't paying too much attention to it's 50,000 Watt blowtorch anyway... James (7/28/08) Dave's response: Golly gee, you're right. There is some dink-watt little station that replaced WTWP on 1500 and 107.7..... Wasn't that great WOL April Fool's day jock-swap with WWDC-1260-AM? That's my memory, which also says that WMOD was too automated to have had enough jocks to make the switch. WMOD was mainly Marv Brooks and Bob Benson voice tracks. (7/28/08) Ah, New Jersey memories… did someone say Kent Manahan? Hubba, Hubba, Jersey Girl!! And the newsblurb about Millenium applying for a non-com FM license in Roosevelt, New Jersey; man, memories upon memories since I grew up on a farm right outside that town (now a Federal Historic District). Originally called Jersey Homesteads (and before that, Paradise Corners), this location outside of Hightstown (1/2 way between Princeton and Freehold of Bruce Springsteen "My Hometown" fame) was an experimental New Deal community established to resettle unemployed (primarily Jewish) garment workers in a planned community that would be formed around light industry (in this case a coat factory) and agriculture. The specific rural area in Central Jersey was chosen because there had been a lengthy history of previous Jewish agricultural colonization in the area funded by the Baron de Hirsch Foundation (which also established one of the first Agricultural Schools a little farther south of Vineland, in Cape May County). The town was named for FDR after his death, and has become a major upscale artists colony and professionals bedroom community. Today it's horse country and still pretty rural, as the town is surrounded by protected parkland on 3 sides. Genghis Cohen, pining for the fjords of Old New Sweden….. (7/28/08) The oddity of Andy Polley and the Czabe coming BACK from vacation for a week, working five big days, and then going BACK on vacation for a week has already been noted . . . but could the Danny (Lord Imperial Ruler of the SLTTDSRN (the Slightly Less Teeny-Tiny Danny Snyder Radio Network)) be looking to dump the boys already? There was some local media buzz (the Post noted it) about an interview that Polley/Czabe did with Jason Taylor in which Taylor was less firm about playing more than one more year than the Skins would probably have liked. Perhaps Larry Michael, from his underground burrow deep inside the Danny's colon, has determined that the maroon-and-black (as the Zornado said) can live without the Sports Reporters if they're going to, y'know, REPORT. The bet here is that they make it through this season, but won't be around next year. But the early signs don't look promising for making it even that long. Sincerely, TMU (7/28/08) Wow! I'm having blast with this WOL thread AND seeing great names pop-up. First, Vincent, the April Fool's bit was a continuation of a switch that started on April 1, 1971 with WWDC and, IIRC, continued until 1974, switching to sister-station WMOD in '73. Murray the K, then doing afternoons on WWDC, organized the first two switches with WOL. It was especially funny to hear Bobby "The Mighty Burner" Bennett and Bob "Nighthawk" Terry, calling themselves Murray the K and Bob Raleigh, respectively, and playing the MOR hits of the day. The WWDC guys adapted better because most of them had been Top 40 jocks. John Pinckney, you ARE lucky to be in SoCal, but you deserve the Good Life. Phil Beckman!?! Where the heck have YOU been, Mr. Sunshine? I hope you're doing well and happy. - Ed. Rodriguez (7/28/08) WJLA-TV7 was supposed to start airing the Retro TV Network on its 3rd digital channel today. As of 8 am, however, no sign of RTN yet. - Eli (7/28/08) Dave's response: According to the Comcast electronic program guide, 205 is slated to go RTN with "Ironside" at 10 AM..... Dave, you keep touting WOHN "station veteran Jack Edwards," but those of us who were there for the longest stretch of time don't have recollection or idea of who this guy is/was! When did he work there? Jay (7/28/08) Dave's response: The "Where's Jay" Jay? Will Ferrell was good in Stranger Than Fiction. Fairly serious, slightly funny. (7/28/08) Dave's response: Another Ferrell flick that started out great, had some very funny scenes, then sagged mid-way though..... Dave - I'm usually in tune with (though sometimes not agreeing with) your rants, but I don't get today's about a DMV ad on WMAL. So what? Any company or agency that wants to target the 10 - 15% of the population in DC that is (legal) Spanish-speaking will advertise on Spanish-language forums. But it doesn't mean that they shouldn't also taget the 90 - 95% of us who speak English (including what I'd guess to be a slight majorty of Hispanic folks who have made the effort to learn English and assimilate). I'm not looking to start a "language war" (though I am one of the ones who believes that one should always adopt the local language, especially when trying to make a living, hence when I go to Spain, I do my level best to navigate in Spanish, even when I'm just on vacation), I'm just curious as to why this even popped on your radar, aside from your unnatural focus on all things WMAL. Bob in Forest Hill (7/28/08) Dave's response: The DMV ad was trying to get more people to use the online services. And they probably figured that a lot of older people, regardless of their primary language, don't do that. And that WMAL would probably be a good place to reach them..... Chris Emery - Hey, What happened to this DJ from 100.7? Without him, Fillapelli is so bland! (7/28/08) Dave's response: We reported that Chris Emry left WZBA, and that Michael Fillipelli is hosting solo while the classic rocker puts together a new morning show..... Dave, do you not like Will Ferrall movies, or did you just not like this one? I thought the basketball one sucked, but that got scathing reviews though. Are you almost to a point where you're just sick of the guy or something, cause I'm getting that from people, but i dunno, I still find Anchorman and Old School funny damn movies. Classics even. Are you not in THAT boat? -KeninGlenBurnie (7/28/08) Dave's response: Actually, I find Ferrell's comedies never quite as funny as they're promised to be. Both "Anchorman" and "Semi-Pro" had their very funny moments, but both started sagging about halfway though. Ditto, even more, with "Step Brothers." I really loved "Talladega Nights," which was saved by the comic genius of Sasha Baron Cohen, who stopped the mid-way "sag." You know what's funny (not). Last night I caught a movie on Starz, 2005's low-budget "Winter Passing," and up popped a very serious Will Ferrell. I really liked him better in that film than in "Step Brothers." Ferrell's a pretty good actor who is "expected" by his fans to appear in comedy after comedy, some quite dumb. Kind of like Rock Hudson in the 1960s..... I am seeking any data you may have regarding a radio show (during the 1940's) on WCBM, Baltimore, Maryland. The show: "The Guy Sardella Italian Hour." I am searching for any available recordings from that show. I would greatly appreciate any data you may have. Thank you for your response. Stephen A. Favazza, sfavazza@comcast.net (7/28/08) Wow… Sunday evening and on the DCRTV board, we’re reminiscing about one of those “legendary” Class IV AM’s whose historical importance certainly outweighed their saleable night coverage! Ahhh… WOL “Soul Radio” for D.C. I recall occasionally passing their either then-current or former studio facilities in D.C in the early to mid-1960’s when my mother was working for the military at 801 19th Street N.W. (At the corner of 19th Street and Pennsylvania… back when you could actually drive in front of the White House!), and my father used to drive around… killing time when my mother had to work late. IIRC, there was either an apartment building or a hotel in the vicinity of the old Logan Ford (when they were in D.C.) near to the WOL studios of that era. There was a very prominent sign on the building about WOL being “Mutual Radio” on 1450. Best guesstimate I can give now would be 1963-1966. Oh yes… Dave, I’ll gladly take Pasadena’s 25% humidity this evening for your 82% humidity any time. We’re getting ready to have supper (beef fondue with bernaise and hollandaise sauces and patates frites) out on the deck right now… John Pinckney (7/28/08) Ed., I remember that on April Fool's Day 1974, the WOL and WMOD jocks switched places for the day...but didn't switch identities. -- Vincent in Triangle (7/28/08) As I recall, WOL switched to Soul Radio in July of 1965. This would have been early on in the life of the CBS "Max Brothers". The hot setup for the Audimax was to change the recovery time from 10 megohms to less than a meg. Made that meter move! If they used the A/V combo, they must've bought it new for the changeover to Soul Radio. WOL was an amazing radio station in those days!! Phil Beckman (7/28/08) QAM and QUAM are both coding and modulation schemes used in communications systems. QAM is used in modern digital systems. QUAM is part of the legacy method C-QUAM once used for AM Stereo broadcasting. (7/28/08) Dear Marc, Howard and Neke, First may I say please forward this to Konan and the rest of the staff and even Frank Ski in Atlanta. Melissa Harris, pls foward this e-mail to Monica Lopossay the photographer. Also Howard, please forward this to her sister and any other family members online. They will cherish it. We cherish this young lady even as far away as I am. The female DJ's in Canada paid their respects to her on DD Radio last Monday. Droppin Dimez is the only all female hip-hop show on Canada's ONLY hip-hop station Flow 93.5FM Toronto hosted by three female MC's. Canada has a DJ awards every year. Check it on the Mel Boogie link who won Best Female DJ in Canada. Award winning DJ Mel Boogie, (Melissa Langley) always sends me the agenda for each show on Monday mornings for my HIPHOSSIP site and in the bottom of the e-mail I saw R.I.P K-Swift last Monday and it didn't say what country or city. Then I called her.....she said.."Didn't you live in Baltimore for 15 years you said? " THEN MY HEART STOPPED! This is my final dedication to K-Swift - ca.youtube.com. I will always remember her as I remembered her last words to me. (Watch the video) Her death has so much bothered me. July 20th is a day that will forever be in my memory when I lost my neighbor and wonderful pal Kim Dorsey in 1995 in what was called "the Woodlawn bus accident" where a speeding driver mowed down Kim and 4 children. Her daughters Keisha and Chastity, nephew Darian and Jasmine on their way to their daily summer camp. There are no records of it on the net except in a tiny Balto County police archive of a book a retired officer wrote. He was the first to respond to the scene and it affected him for life. Neke the longest in there I believe should remember this back in 1995. Now every July 21st, it's Khia's anniversary! The very next day. We will always remember her. I got a lot of calls in my home office this past weekend about this video tribute of Swift of course from Baltimoreans. Area code 410 lined my caller ID when I came back from Church. (The number was on the video.) Pls foward this to DJ Booby if you know where he is as he was there when Khia and I had this last conversation at that year's summer jam. I don't take these converstions for granted anymore. It could be your LAST. R.I.P K-Swift, Ms Tony and JB Stay in touch! All my archives are below: K-Swift gone home forever but not forgotten (and the post immediately after-click older posts)... SPIN magazine remembers Swift... Breaking News: A renowned Baltimore DJ dead... Baltimore Mayor, Q Personalities, family remember K-Swift... YouTube--Hear what the Mayor had to say... YouTube--Canada remembers the Club Queen... YouTube--The final video tribute... Peace be with you! Kemi OmololuOlunloyo www.hiphossip.com, Canada's leading Music Blog (7/28/08) /\ July 28 Messages /\ \/ July 27 Messages \/ I'm not that much into processing but I sure remember WOL's pop soul format in the mid 60's. It was truly an amazing station with great music, staging, and incredible talent. RD (7/27/08) Please spell it correctly. It is QAM (Quadrature amplitude modulation), not QUAM. en.wikipedia.org. Dave in Fredericksburg (7/27/08) Following the WOL Thread, the Soul Radio days began in the late spring or early summer of 1965. The stations (then WOL AM/FM) were located in a Washington building in midtown. For years, I thought it had been the Hotel Harrington, but I've been told differently over the years. The AM tower was on the roof and the copper plumbing tubing in the building provided the ground system. The studios were moved to 1680 Wisconsin Avenue around 1967. In 1968, WOL-FM's Jazz programming was abandoned for Oldies as WMOD. I remember that BC-1T and it WAS a loud, strong box that made the most of 1450's 1,000 daytime and 250 nighttime watts. The format's best years were, pretty much from 1965 until 1975, in my opinion. - Ed. Rodriguez (7/27/08) Trying to answer the question about audio processing on WOL. Can't find the "soul radio" time frame as a format on WOL. Vaguely 1970s-1990s based on Sammy Tee's bio. When the WOL transmitters were in the underground C&P Telephone vault at 1st and K Sts NE, they were running the trio from Circuit Research Labs. Mid-1980s vintage. www.wa3vjb.com... Absolutely loud, and still regarded as some of the best analog processing gear, with no delay, no artifacts like today's digital audio boxes. The CRL also included a compensation circuit that made the most out of tube-type transmitters. WOL at the time was using a 1961 Gates BC1-T, which also was known as a very loud transmitter. Before the CRL setup, WOL was using a pair from Pacific Recorders and Engineering, 1970s vintage, the AM-Max and AM-Limiter. Also today considered a classic analog sound. When they moved out of the vault, they had gone to a solid state transmitter and an Orban of some kind, very boring. (7/27/08) I'm sorry Dave, but I could understand the 911 Glitches in Prince William County being not off topic for the mailbag, BUT NEWS?!?!?!? C'mon, Must be a REALLY SLOW DCRTV news day! LOL A real news story would be why is no one complaining that COMCAST is dumping analog channels daily like ION, American Movie Classics (AMC), Country Music TV, etc and NOT replacing them on the QUAM band, meaning all bedroom TVs will SOON REQUIRE a DIGITAL CONVERTER. This is a more worthy DCRTV news item, 911 problems are The Posts territory IMHO. There should be a critical investigation of Comcast's deceptive advertising practices regarding the 2009 digital switch. Comcast has already proven it's lying and that you will NOT be able to use a current cable ready TV set without a converter box (just like with any antenna setup) and even if you have a new HD TV that can receive QUAM signals, you're going to be screwed too because COMCASt is NOT replacing the analogs they are removing with QUAM signals! So, you'll end up with like FIVE REMOTES in every room that has a TV! When will these people "GET IT" ????? When will the FCC step in and STOP THIS MADNESS ?!?!?!?! (7/27/08) Dave's response: DCRTV covers local media. And Verizon is a major local media company. Got it? While at supper at Lawry’s a few nights ago with some of my “Best Coast” counterparts; the subject of “most profitable electronic development of all time” came up. Of course, there were “the usual subjects”: Broadcast TV; Cable TV; Broadcast Radio; Records; CD’s; iPods and the like; etc. So, which do the readers of this board think is the leader? As for me, a recent business trip via Dulles made me think of one more: Radar! While not an “entertainment” media as such, there are “informational radio receivers” for that service readily available to consumers in most parts of the country. And, I’d be willing to bet that the combined revenue of all the Radar (and related) units in the hands of D.C. area law enforcement agencies would be in the Top-5 billing in D.C. broadcast radio! (And, yes, I probably frustrated (at least some of) the cops to no end. How? I (usually) drive the posted speed limit. Otherwise, I flow with traffic. Why am I asking? Late last month going to and from Dulles, I couldn’t believe the number of times my velocity was electronically measured on my drive, ranging from MWAA and ending up with Montgomery County on Seven Locks Road! I wonder if anybody has filed a FOIA on how much revenue Montgomery County, Maryland State, Virginia State, Fairfax County, Prince William, D.C., etc. governments earn from Radar, Lidar, VASCAR, or other electronic speed measuring systems? Unsigned Corporate Suit (7/27/08) There is no reason that Mel cant eliminate a ton of XM music channels immediately. Especially the ones that are similar to Sirius. I would imagine all of the decades channels at XM will be toast and in its place will be the Sirius decades channels via ISDN from NY to DC (XM's Uplink). Also, XM and Sirius have similar niche channels that could be consolidated. All that will need to be done is new branding for all of the channels. When Mel said he would save 400 million in the first year, he wasn't kidding. I imagine, most of the XM programming staff will be gone with the exception of the MLB, PGA, Oprah (all done by harpo anyway), NASCAR, etc. I wonder what will happen to O&A and Ron and Fez. I guess Mel will keep em? Also, there is no reason traffic and weather survive either unless Mel likes the automated set up XM has for weather and if XM's T&W department runs cheaper. And one more thing, XM has a lot of VPs running around; More so than Sirius. Look for a blood bath at that level. The question is, will Mel create enough of a blood bath at XM's DC location to allow him to lease space out of that building to someone else? (7/27/08) Dave's response: O&A's Virus channel is one of XM's top-rated talk channels, so I'd assume that Mel will keep it..... Regarding the compression/processing used on WOL; you're probably not going to believe this, and I can't swear to it, but I honestly believe it was simply a CBS Audimax paired with a Volumax, with the attack time cranked completely up. There may also have been a little interior tweaking performed by Chief Engineer Frank Kramer. - Ed. Rodriguez (7/27/08) "I cancelled my (satrad) subscription yesterday" - They actually let you cancel? They wouldn't let me cancel the other day. They insisted on giving me a few free months before I canceled - no matter how hard I tried. (7/27/08) Czaban is the only true star that WTEM has. And I use the term "star" to mean someone who has a schtick that some people take to. Hence, his syndicated FOX show. Czaban isn't everyone's cup of tea, to be sure. But he is clearly the only one on the station with some creativity and spunk. The rest are retired athletes or coaches like Walker, Mitchell and Thompson or washedout journeyman sportstalk types like Pollin and Koken. I hope that Snyder plans to phase out some of these guys when their contracts are up. (7/27/08) I kinda liked some of those mini profiles on some of the area DJ's in the Post this morning. EXCEPT one. Kane. Christ!!!! Could anyone be more empty headed and vapid? ''Kane'', it's ok to actually be yourself every once in awhile. I read the lil blurb about him and wanted to toss my wheaties and be very, very sad for the future of humanity. I also noticed Leslie Cook's not on the WJLA page. I hope they didn't get rid of her to make room for the junior varsity squad of Pamela Brown and that other overly perky blonde. Come BACK, Kathleen Matthews!! Paul (7/27/08) Anyone out there old enough to know what sort of processing was used by the old WOL when it was 'Soul Radio'? It was really compressed, and forever colors my memory of what certain songs sound like. I know DC stations had their share of Limpanders, and most of the top AM's of the day were pretty compressed, partially to try to overcome spotty coverage. It would be interesting to me to find out what was used by any of the old-time Top-40's and R&B stations. (7/27/08) I loved listening to Lindsay Czarniak say on WRC/4's Sunday morning sportscast that the first Redskins preseason game is only "eight days away." Of course, the game is actually only seven days away now but no doubt was eight days away back when Czarniak actually uttered that prerecorded statement. Sheesh! Everett W. (7/27/08) **Dave I have to respond to the last posting** Hold-on there Shemp...you'd rather hear Doc Walker ramble alone for several hours? Once he starts talking his own language {which is 1 minute into the show} I switch the station. Producers and board-ops need to stay in their positions and away from the mics. Doc's insecurity and lack of knowledge is exposed because he needs his engineer and producer to help in with hockey and other sports...and even football. Regarding Czaban: if you're Red Zebra, he cannot be allowed back on the air...and that goes for Pollin. Andy's too politically correct and can't be a Dan Patrick type character...who can play both sides of the street and still ask the hard hitting questions. At this point, Snyder needs to get some fresh talent who's willing to work hard and who's actually good for the ears. Thus far, there are less than three people who fit that description. (7/27/08) Re: Sirius buyout of XM... Isn't this just another government bailout of a failed business? If the companies hadn't spent gazillions on "names" that most people don't want to listen to, and if their music channels didn't mostly mirror the failures of terrestrial broadcasting, would they need a bailout today? If one or both had gone out of business, they had plenty of assets in the sky--wouldn't someone else, maybe with a better idea of how to program, have come along and purchased those assets? If it's true that programming from one will be added to the other by way of increased compression, won't people look back on the days of (already poor) sound as the "good old days"? Yes, I'm disappointed--in the merger, in the government, and mostly in the perpetuation of the never-could-turn-a-profit satellite radio companies. I cancelled my subscription yesterday. (7/27/08) (You'll be able to listen to online radio, including the guy running a station in his basement, from around the world for free...) Do you *really* think that broadband internet access in cars is going to be free, Dave? I'm guessing it is going to cost you 29.99 a month if not more - but certainly not free. (7/27/08) Dave's response: OK, the stations you listen to may be free, but, yeah, there'll be a charge for the internet-to-car service, most certainly. And, what the hell, you'll have to buy a "radio" and a car to put it in..... Re: XM and Sirius audio quality. According to this old article, the total data throughput of XM is 3.28 megabits per second. Sirius is most likely similar. You can do the math and draw your own conclusion about the sound quality. I think if each service provided 24 channels they could blow away analog and HD FM and be subjectively competitive with other consumer music sources. It's obvious though, why the total data rate is not widely known and why they load the services up with 100+ channels. radiomagonline.com (7/27/08) (I've listened for nearly a week and it's the same old 980. I hate to say this, but I hope this sudden vacation by Pollin and Czaban mean they've been bought-out and Bruce Gilbert plans to bring-in new talent. Do you think the Red Zebra people know Doc and Kevin don't mix or actually sound like nails against a chalkboard?) If they get rid of Czaban, I'm not listening anymore. He's the only real sports radio talent in DC. The problem with Doc and Sheehan could get better, both are really knowledgable on the Redskins and football in general although Doc works better by himself, without a partner that can challenge. Does anyone know if Pollin or Sheehan will handle the postgame show and who they will work with? The obvious choices would be Jacoby, Doc, Mitchell or Riggins? Czaban should be used during the postgame show too. (7/27/08) Re: XM/Sirius and the potential for internet streaming as a viable technology, a couple of thoughts. I, too, subscribe to both XM and Sirius (I had two Sirius units and then bought an Accord Hybrid with XM and kept it after the 6 month trial for what I feel are several more interesting music channels and Opie and Anthony). I'm mixed on the merger, but also fear that without it, neither is really viable. I'm concerned about what Papa Mel will do (especially with XM staffers and O&A). I am glad that they weren't strong-armed into that silly 25% for "minority" content, which is impossible and distasteful to define, and also represents an unprecedented government mandate on private industry...they paid for the spectrum, didn't they? On the internet radio/streaming front, there are a number of barriers to prevent Dave's dream. Among them is the fact that it requires some form of local access (whether via wifi hotspots, cellular towers or, perhaps in the future, using old TV bandwidth or whitespace for Internet Wifi/WiMax). But all of these are currently very local broadcast technologies which mean they are generally available only where population density warrants some private entity putting a tower or hotspot up or placing a signal on air. Great in NoVA, not so great in the MD panhandle or, say, Montana. This is a major problem relative to replacing satellite which (for XM, at least) is nearly ubiquitous from Canada to Mexico and from the Caribbean almost to Hawaii. Additionally, on the subject of compression, anything across the internet is lossy-compressed as well, just like on Sirius and XM. While our broadband experiences at home may lead us to believe that internet streaming audio quality is pretty good (at 128kbps or sometimes higher), streaming via cell phone/PDA today is typically more like 64kbps, even less on some services, which is worse than satellite today (varies per channel and service, of course). Keep in mind this is not MP3 rip compression (which can be luxuriously set very high)...this is streaming. Take, for example, Pandora's streaming app for iPhone (July 25, 2008 review: blog.pandora.com). It's streaming many things at 64kbps (often mono!) on 3G, which is piss poor quality. It can do 128kbps on WiFi, but that is very location limited (you have to be near someone's access point). Moodio (radio streaming to various cell phones/PDAs) is also mostly 64kbps. Or how about the technologies which compress full 5.1 audio into 160kbps? Man, that's a lot of compression, too. And then there are format wars and DRM issues. I agree that internet ubiquity holds great promise for the future, but not anytime soon. And compression won't be much of a differentiator versus satellite early on. I'm also not interested in getting multiple internet stream service accounts in order to aggregate the content I want...XM and Sirius do that for me. Eventually, ubiquitous internet access, DRM and thin compression will be worked out and sound fine, but not in the short term. One final comment re: iPhone...it is a device with a great GUI, but it does very little new, and does too many things poorly. Handing off between cellular and wifi is not new with the iPhone, but I'll admit they have put great window dressing on it, as they usually do. Just wish it wasn't locked to so many of Apple's proprietary tehcnologies (iTunes, QuickTime, etc). Sorry for rambling, just thinking out loud. Bob in Forest Hill (7/27/08) I've wondered why the multitude of rock channels on the satcasters. That's the one genre that is usually well-covered on FM. Perhaps the hope was that many people can't tolerate the 20 minutes of ads per hour that they get on FM. I listen to XM 99% of the time because of their niche music channels that will never appear on AM/FM. (7/27/08) Dave: I've spoken to a few friends of mine at XM on New York Ave. and they fully expect to have some departments totally fold-up and give the control of those "programming" channels over to the Sirius people...not a shock. Here's what I don't understand from this merger. XM has this huge MLB contract and needs to keep some ridiculous figure like 30-million dollars in escrow to keep the deal. In addition, a huge financial note is due in September on XM's satellite costs to the tune of 300-million plus. Karmazin must have plenty of money in the bank with Sirius because how are the two companies going to produce this cash when they are barely staying afloat? Finally, I agree with the others about the new ESPN980 and the various changes. I've listened for nearly a week and it's the same old 980. I hate to say this, but I hope this sudden vacation by Pollin and Czaban mean they've been bought-out and Bruce Gilbert plans to bring-in new talent. Do you think the Red Zebra people know Doc and Kevin don't mix or actually sound like nails against a chalkboard? From, Brett/Washington,DC (7/27/08) I have Sirius in my new Dodge truck and XM in my other car, I have to give the edge to XM. I hear other people complain too that places XM picks up in (like my road that has about 45% trees (granted heavily treed roads, even XM has trouble)), Sirius has trouble pick up reception. I hope with the merger (which I am not too fond of, for monopoly reasons) that Sirius fixes the issue with its reception. Also, I feel that XM comedy is better (no beeping of words, Blue Collar beeps out words, and their other comedy stations just suck, even if they leave the bad words in). (7/27/08) Anybody know what is going on over at wjla today (Saturday)? the beginning of the six oclock news was chopped off then there was a 4-3-2-1 countdown on screen after the news. have they outsourced their operations to india? (7/27/08) Hearing the news that the Redskins had a mind boggling 28,000 people at a practice scrimmage today at Redskins Park just serves to remind what a goliath the team remains. Despite the whining about media overkill, the fact is that the coverage is warranted because people WANT it. And it also serves to remind that the Nationals, Wiz, Orioles, Ravens and Caps are a mere fly on the ass of an elephant when it comes to the Redskins and even winning multiple championships won't change that. And I say that even though I'm a huge Caps fans. The level of support for the Redskins in this region is amazing. (7/27/08) Anybody know anything about the condition of Bill Ashley since his surgery a few months ago? Bill’s a wonderful guy; I hope he’s doing well. (7/27/08) I've got to chime in on the XM/Sirius merger. I have had both services and find that I grew tired of the repeat voice tracks, short playlists and less than desirable audio. The only perks to XM included the rock channels, since Baltimore had a lack of good rock stations. For Sirius, the only plus is BBC Radio 1. If Siruis drops that, I'm going to cancel my subscription-and just stream BBC Radio 1 via my cell phone and bluetooth in the car! Lets face it, with Mel at the head, the ship will be even larger--but it will still sink! (7/27/08) Dave's response: I agree. If technology can provide reliable internet streaming in cars, and we're almost there with the new iPhone, there'll be little or no need for SiriusXM. You'll be able to listen to online radio, including the guy running a station in his basement, from around the world for free. Subscription satrad and, heck, even broadcast "regular" local radio, could be seriously obsolete in a few years..... What may be fueling rumors about the possibility of WDCW starting a news broadcast by late 2008 or early 2009... WSFL Miami and the Miami Sun-Sentinel are teaming up to produce a new local television morning show in early 2009. WSFL's new morning show will be branded as "The Morning Showoff". No word yet on the fate of the WTVJ produced 10PM newscast. Story... www.sun-sentinel2.com. KSWB San Diego is dumping CW affiliation on Thursday (July 31) to affiliate with FOX on Friday (August 1)... XETV will be picking up The CW. KSWB is also dumping the KNSD produced 10PM newscast, and KTLA Morning Show simulcast, in favor of a new in-house produced morning (5-9AM) and 10PM newscast. KSWB's CW web-site... sandiegocw.trb.com. KSWB's new FOX web-site... www.fox5sandiego.com. NBC has converted local newscasts in L.A. and San Francisco to high definition. WCAU Philly is slated to debut HD by late August/early September. No word yet if the WPHL 10PM newscast will be included in the high-def overhaul or not. YouTube video of KNTV's HD opening... www.youtube.com. Speaking of this YouTube video, this may be an idea of what WCAU, WRC, and WNBC could soon look like... I don't find this branding moniker all that appealing, especially for a VHF station. With NBC dumping ownership of WTVJ Miami and WVIT Hartford-New Haven, I highly doubt they'll be getting the new graphics. (7/27/08) /\ July 27 Messages /\ \/ July 26 Messages \/ I saw that SeriousXM intends to add channels from the "other" service by increasingly compressing the audio. Not welcome to me since XM already compresses its audio pretty heavily, though their compression scheme is a good one. The compression scheme used by Sirius doesn't allow as much compression with acceptable quality. There must a limit to what degraded audio the customers will accept, even if they like the content. (7/26/08) This just in... The producers of the upcoming Kristi King bio-pic, "Jump, Kristi, Jump!", have signed Sarah Chalke for the title role. Casting continues for the supporting role of John The Spooner, but insiders say that both Robert Downey, Jr. and John Cusack are being given serious consideration. No word yet as to who will play all the poor schmoes on the ground. (7/26/08) What happened to ABC-7 Leslie Cook? She is gone from the bio page. Also, where has Kathy Fowler been? (7/26/08) re: "Can you imagine being a dj at WASH? Is there really such a thing?" A modest point...Monday-Sunday, the station has one of the most experienced airstaffs in the city. Looks like it helps pay-off in the ratings too. (7/26/08) """ I still think a Spanish language sports talker would do well in the DC area using those three weak-ish AMers. """ -- Ah, its full circle now, since those three weakish AM talkers were Spanish-language (La Mega) before Snyder bought them! Hilarious. (7/26/08) Dave's response: 570 and 1260 have never been Spanish, but 730 was when it was paired with 92.7 and 94.3 under Mega's ownership a few years back..... WMDT channel 47 has been running announcements that they are dropping their analog signal early. They will be using channel 47 for digital after the switch, so I don't know if that has anything to do with it. Their current digital channel 53, will no longer be in the broadcast band after February. The are so far the only station in the Salisbury area to switch early. WBOC's current digital channel will be the same, 21. WCPB, the MD. Public TV station also has to move, since they are using 56 for diigital, their digital moves to 28. The other station in the area, WDPB, the repeater of WHYY Wilmington/Philadelphia will stay on their digital channel 44, since they're analog is on channel 64. (7/26/08) Well ol’ dictator Mel Karmelkorn finally got what he wanted, an open door to a monopoly. The question that begs to be asked about the Sirius/XM merger is, how on earth is a monopoly supposed to be good for consumers? And what of the original conditions in 1997 that the two companies never merge, that they both agreed to? You know, it’s nice that the two companies have agreed to a la carte programming choices for customers, but let’s say somebody like me, who has all XM receivers, wants to add a few Sirius channels. That means I’ve got to shell out big bucks for yet another receiver to get those channels. Or how about the Yamaha receiver I bought last year that had a built-in XM chip, that’s never going to pick up Sirius. In order for consumers to be able to get programming for both, then, spending more money in an already tight economy will be necessary. I doubt too many will make that move. I don’t see any real good coming from the merger, and I worry that a lot of Xmers (and maybe some Sirius employees, too) will lose their jobs because of this merger. All profit at the top, air talent and technical staff probably will be screwed, and consumers will be damned. The FCC should have stood by their original rules and let these two companies sink or swim on their own. Bill Powers, Southern California (7/26/08) Dave's response: What next? Shit, I wouldn't be surprised if Rupert Murdoch tried to buy the combined SiriusXM a year or two down the road? He who dies the richest "wins"..... Love your suggestion about how Sirius and XM should make some of their most popular (and exclusive) channels available immediately on each other's service. With all of the debate about the merger, the big thing it has come down to for me is that some of the exclusive deals were bad for me as a consumer. I'm an XM subscriber, but would love to have the NFL too. But I wouldn't switch to Sirius, because then I'd lose MLB. And I don't have any interest in having both Sirius and XM; so a merged company offering everything seemed great to me. So yeah, I'd love to see them do something like this in the meantime; share the NFL, maybe some of their cool classic rock stations, etc. And hell, I'd even give Howard a try again (haven't heard him since leaving regular radio). - Justin in McLean (7/26/08) Dave's response: I feel that if SiriusXM jerks around too many of its existing subscribers in upcoming merger hassles, it's going to see a good number drop satrad all-together. When the economy slumps and budgets tighten, people will hold onto their high-speed internet, downgrade their cable TV package, and ditch the satrad. What's that going to do for the value of the combined satrad entity? Hmmm..... Because both, careers in radio and in politics, require a certain amount of BS... see my next possible career path by going here: www.news3online.com... Awright! Who's behind me!?!? In the words of Ken Nordine, "...by the way, how are things in your town?" Al Santos (7/26/08) LIAM! GET THAT PICTURE OF KRISTI KING DOWN OFF THE CEILING ABOVE YOUR BED THIS INSTANT! LOVE, MOM (7/26/08) The person Howard Stern a Big Bore. You no a lot about the show, so you must be listening to the big bore. (7/26/08) (WTOP likes to pretend it has some kind of journalistic standards...and then they roll out garbage like Kristi King's report today on her oh-so-fabulous skydiving trip. This is what the PR guy at the skydiving place calls "a free commercial" and real journalists call "absolute shit.") If you were a "real journalist" you would have signed your name, you anonymous moron. We "real journalists" call that a byline or lockout. That wasn't some "skydiving place" that was the fabulous U.S. Army Golden Knights Parachute Team. I doubt you have the cojones to jump out of an airplane like the very gutsy Kristi King did. You are a cheap-shot-artist. Liam (7/26/08) sirs, what is the reason I never saw a word on your site about radio a.m. 1250 classic country in Warrenton Va - the best station on the dial... Thanks, Larry Evans, Warrenton Va (7/26/08) Dave's response: Probably because you failed to see our May 21 newsblurb, which is now in DCRTV's News Archive..... DCRTV Dave, yeah, you're right about WCHH's ratings basically plummeting to half of what it was getting before it switched, but alot of people are just tuning in to the channel. I think it's going to do good, and it will give 98 Rock a good run for it's money. Now, I like 98 Rock, especially the morning show (actually, that's all I like on 98 Rock really. Well, I like Sarah and Stash too.) but I really prefer WCHH's preference of playing classic alternative over hair metal. I just don't like Ozzy or Lita Ford too much (plus Jack plays that stuff too). I'm sure alot of teens and 20 somethings agree with me there, and that's who WCHH will win over the most. So, give them time, they're a growing station that just got on air talent (and the two aren't that bad), and a new young hot PD, and until we all get HD Radios, this is "the better alternative rock" station in baltimore, for now.-KeninGlenBurnie (7/26/08) Dave's response: Yeah, 104.3 flipped format at the tail-end of the spring ratings book. We'll get a better idea of the new WCHH's successes with the summer and fall "books"..... Hello, Dave In 1972, when I joined the police department as a young rookie, for the first time in my life, I was surrounded by cops. As I look back, I categorize them in three groups. First, was the BRASS; they talked at me but not to me. I’ll call the second category ASS; hired earlier and upon graduation from the police academy miraculously transformed into King of The Valley And Purveyor of All Cool Shit. They talked among themselves, not to nerd-rookies. Finally, there was the CLASS; these officers were self confident enough to be themselves, who cared enough to talk to me, not at me; who realized no one was king of the valley and that just being a genuine, sincere friend was plenty good enough. One of the very first cops of this noble caliber who befriended me was Pvt. Paul Curtis Leibe, a 2 year police veteran at that time. I worked with him on a day to day basis for only two years before he left the department to work at Annapolis PD in ’74. When he became a DJ, I admired and respected his radio work. He told me many times that he really loved working in that capacity. One cool thing about radio is that it does not lie. A nice guy sounds like a nice guy and a prick sounds like a prick. On the air, Paul always sounded like the nice guy he really was. In these last several years since my retirement from the PD, Paul was one of the very few people who I knew as a cop and kept in contact with, by email. He would occasionally call on weekends, when he and I would chat as he drove home to St. Mary’s County from his WNAV gig. I last saw Paul in Sept. 2001 when he and his wife visited our home for an evening of crabs, laughs and memories. The very next day the world changed. It was 9-11. Now, for all who knew Paul Curtis Leibe, who jokingly proclaimed that the only thing “PC” about him was his name, the world has changed. RIP, dear friend. You were a First Class guy. Richard from Cambridge (7/26/08) Hopefully today's decision to allow the merger between Sirius and XM will shut Howard Stern up....between his hour long rants on this topic, an hour or more a day spent talking to Eric the midget, blow bagging about his wedding and the Hamptons...not to mention the two and three week vacations, one begins to feel that little to nothing is being put into his show anymore. I look forward to listening to some alternative programming with the XM stations since Howie has become a great big bore. (7/26/08) anonymous wrote: "Fox's own Robb Spewak, Carl Cameron, felt the need to tell us that Obama spent time in "the gym at the Ritz Carlton" instead of visiting injured troops at a US military hospital in Germany. Wow, Carl, bet you thought no one would notice that little politically inspired zinger, you pompous asshole." As a bigtime Mike O'Meara fan and Obama supporter, I have to ask, do you really think people say things on TV, esp. an advocacy network like FOX hoping they will NOT be noticed? And "pompous asshole?" Where is the civility? It was a rare example of fair criticism by Fox. Let's face it, B.O. shot himself in the foot at the end of an otherwise successful campaign trip. Oh well. Caller X. (7/26/08) Dave wrote: "All Snyder needs for ESPN 980 is 980, 92.7, and 94.3. He could either do something else with 570, 730, or 1260, or sell them. I still think a Spanish language sports talker would do well in the DC area using those three weak-ish AMers....." And with Snyder's tight relationship with ESPN, it's probably a safe bet that the affiliation folks selling ESPN Deportes have already talked with Mr. Gilbert. Good Karma Broadcasting's original Milwaukee sports outlet, AM 1510, changed to "Deportes" after their English-language "ESPN Milwaukee" moved to full-timer 540 AM. My guess, though, is that 570 and 1260 (and 730) will be in a holding pattern until after the Redskins season... (7/26/08) It does my heart good to hear the wonderful things mentioned about Paul Leibe on this board. The last time we spoke was Friday a week ago. He had been scheduled to have a stent inserted in a carotid artery but it was too clogged. Instead they replaced the blocked portion with, in Paul's words, "a piece of garden hose". He said that he wouldn't be back for his shift that Sunday but was on the mend, would return this Sunday and not to worry. But, his main concern was for the mother of a co-worker. While Paul's shift started at 10, he would come in at 9 to board-op Jewish Music News and Views with Larry Goldstein. Larry's 95 year old Mother was not doing well, near death and he was concerned. I told him that I didn't know the latest but to take it easy and get well. The next day I heard from Larry…His Mother passed away. On Thursday I heard from Paul's wife Susan that he had also passed…A terrible loss…A wonderful humble man from which we all could learn a lesson...Paul, May the Lord Bless and keep you…The Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace now and for evermore. Thank you Paul for sharing your life with us. Bill Lusby, 1430 WNAV. (7/26/08) /\ July 26 Messages /\ \/ July 25 Messages \/ Tonight on Fox News, we were treated to an electoral college map drawn by Fox News' paid consultant Karl Rove. Karl Rove?!?! It showed McCain gaining. Duh! Just after Fox's own Robb Spewak, Carl Cameron, felt the need to tell us that Obama spent time in "the gym at the Ritz Carlton" instead of visiting injured troops at a US military hospital in Germany. Wow, Carl, bet you thought no one would notice that little politically inspired zinger, you pompous asshole. (7/25/08) "Can you imagine being a dj at WASH?" Is there really such a thing? (7/25/08) (snip) Next Friday is August 1st, time for WASH and...(snip). Note previous post. WASH-FM began playing Christmas music (for one day, at least) at 5:04am Friday, 7/25. (7/25/08) Dave, can you imagine being a dj at WASH and having to play hours of Christmas music in July? what a stupid idea. surely not a single person actually listened to that. the board ops should get battle pay. (7/25/08) WTOP likes to pretend it has some kind of journalistic standards...and then they roll out garbage like Kristi King's report today on her oh-so-fabulous skydiving trip. This is what the PR guy at the skydiving place calls "a free commercial" and real journalists call "absolute shit." (7/25/08) Listening to Sirius this week for the first time in a long time... Forget Howard Stern's shenanigans or the parade of innuendos on WJFK-FM.... Playboy's "Night Calls" at 9 pm on Ch. 168 is so much more explicit and yes, porn on the radio sort of misses the point, but it's a lot more palatable when it's just women talking about it. I am not a Sirius subscriber or employee nor is anyone in my family and I approved this message. (7/25/08) I too am saddened by the death of Paul Curtis Leibe. I worked with him over 20 years ago at WYRE in Annapolis. I seem to recall that he was also working as a Deputy Sheriff in Charles County at the time. He was a professional and a gentleman who truly loved radio. Before my first airshift at WYRE, I sat in on his show to learn the board, etc. He was a great help. We both ended up spending many years at WNAV, just not at the same time. Although I did not stay in touch with him, I enjoyed listening to his Sunday morning show. He will be missed. Tom Yeager (7/25/08) Does anyone have any insight into how Czaban was able to stay on ESPN980 when his national show (previously heard on Sportstalk 980) is apart of FOX's programming? (7/25/08) Next Friday is August 1st, time for WASH and WLIF to start their 24-hour Christmas format isn't it? GK in Timonium (7/25/08) Dave's response: Believe me, if it got them ratings and ad revenue they'd go all-Christmas tunes on Labor Day..... the "Scooter Libby" reference on the Junkies this morning was referring to Donnie G whom Lurch almost ran over in OC a few weeks back while Donnie was crusin around on his new scooter. (7/25/08) Dave's response: Wasn't that scooter given to him by Mike O'Meara? SNOOZE ALERT!!!!! Buzz came onto the O&D show to briefly mention that the MO'M show is doing their drunks with whores show AGAIN today...the only good thiing is that the Junkies will be one so maybe the 4 of them will be able to get a funny word in around Mike. How long until CK makes this stop? (7/25/08) My wife and I just mailed in... (Drum roll, please)... our Arbitron Diaries for a Thursday to Wednesday time period. I will give no details on what I entered, but they do ask info for AM, FM, Satellite, and Internet radio stations that we each listened to. Anyway, I mostly listen to AM and FM, though my favorite streamed station is called martiniinthemorning.com, and we stream it from our computer some evenings through a Bluetooth device from Logitech to our stereo in the family room, so that "station" now has a diary entry from at least 2 people in the DC market. The person who runs it is Brad "Martini" Chambers and he was previously the program director of XETRA-690 in Tijuana a couple of years ago when it was an Adult Standards station for LA and SD; he may have also been the PD in the station's previous incarnation on KLAC-570 in LA. His morning show was called "Martini in the Morning", and the station had and his Internet success or still has modern versions of adult standards; it is nothing like "Music of Your Life". When it was on 690, Mel Torme's daughter, Daisy, was the afternoon DJ, among many others who were excellent. Currently, though, it is only over the Internet; he and his wife do live programming from 5-9 AM PT, and 6-7 PM PT weekdays, and there are weekend daytime disk jockeys as well. The rest of the time it is an Internet jukebox, but with jingles and promos for their web page in between and no commercials. And the sound quality can be as high as 128KB. Unfortunately, we cannot have streaming audio at work. Maybe this is similar to how Scott Shannon started his "True Oldies" franchise with Citadel. -- Carl in Olney (7/25/08) Here at WNAV, we were stunned and deeply saddened by the passing of our friend and co-worker,Paul "Curtis" Leibe. During the 12+ years I was PD at XTRA 104, Paul was one of my regular part timers. He loved radio and being on the air, could handle any shift, and was always there when needed. He made my life a lot easier. I will miss him both personally and professionally. Bob Duckman (7/25/08) I had the pleasure of working with Paul, (Leibe) at X-TRA-104. He followed my show on Saturday nights. He was a gem of a person. I still remember when the "BIG" change came and X-TRA was dropping the oldies format. We all knew the AXE was gonna fall. We'd show up on Saturday nights during the "change". Paul would walk in while I was segueing boring contemporary music, he say.. "GOING UP" re: Elevator music. Then came the day we were one at a time ushered into the GM'S office..Paul and I both knew it was execution day. Right in the lobby Paul turned to me and said.."see you in another place". We both got a laugh out of that. He went in, was dismissed, walked by me and smiled, loudly saying "BYE BYE BABY, GOODBYE". I was next.I too got the AXE, but I was a contract performer, which the GM had forgotten about..When I mentioned the "pay-off" of my contract I thought he was going to throw up. I called Paul later and told him, we had another good laugh. He was a top notch guy, I just spoke with him via email about a month ago. He mentioned he'd had surgery and was concerned about my recent heart attack. God Bless Paul-PLB (7/25/08) Good afternoon, My name is Kristen Sudol. I am a broadcast journalism major from George Mason Univeristy. Since graduation, I have been working in the field of Human Resources at SPARKS. I wanted to inquire to see if there was a position available (volunter, unpaid) in which I would be exposed to the newsroom/reporter setting. I have always wanted to pursue a career in media, but I want to make sure it is the route I want to go. I have been most interested in the newsroom, but I am really open to any help I could provide in anyway. I would really enjoy the opportunity to be able to help out and see if this is something I would like to pursue. Please let me know if this might be feasible. I would truly appreciate any feedback you could offer me. Sincerely, Kristen Sudol, kristen.sudol@gmail.com (7/25/08) We got the following from the Post's Dan "Sports Bog" Steinberg: This is probably too esoteric and petty, but just in case.... I took fan video at the Redskins practice facility this week, but was told the team's rules do not permit any video whatsoever to appear on newspaper web sites. Something about the nature of our core business being print, not video. So I took it down. blog.washingtonpost.com... Instead, I then found embeddable video players on several local TV stations' web sites (WUSA, Comcast), and used their Redskins videos instead. The Redskins complained to at least one of the stations, getting them to complain to our lawyers, who complained to me. So I took it down. blog.washingtonpost.com... Strictly to prove a point, I then got myself invited to the team's most popular player's mom's house between practices, so I could get all the video I wanted and they wouldn't be able to say boo. blog.washingtonpost.com (7/25/08) The Joe Gibbs feud with Andy and Steve on the Sports Reporters dates back three or four years ago. Gibbs was a paid spokesman for the show, and to their credit Andy and mostly Steve would ask the old coach tough questions. Gibbs was furious and asked that he be interviewed every week by another reporter with scripted questions. He won that battle. Gibbs was totally motivated by money, and became very greedy as the years went by. He had a unique way of kissing ass to Jack Kent Cooke and Dan Snyder and the Redskins fans in general. He loves money, and the late JKC and Snyder represented dollar signs to him and nothing else. Gibbs would privately complain about the personal lives of Cooke and Snyder because they were the opposite of his but they all had one thing in common and that was money. Joe Gibbs really missed his calling because he would have been a great politician. In 20 years he never answered one question, but most people thought he was honest, and they really knew him. They would be shocked to know him! (7/25/08) Hey Dave - "At the Turf Valley Golf Resort And Spa in Elliot City." - should be Ellicott City. (7/25/08) Dave's response: No, with Elliot Segal now on Channel 104.3 in Baltimore, the town of Ellicott City recently changed to "Elliot City" in his honor. It was in the Baltimore Sun last week..... Didn't know whether you would have more information about Paul Leibe in the forum. I worked with "Guido" at WYRE and remember him as a really nice guy... (7/25/08) Paul Leibe was an Annapolis cop who hung out at WYRE with us in the 70s/early 80s. That's how he got in the business. He worked at WYRE, WNAV (twice), XTRA104 and reported/photographed for the SOMD Gazette, as Dave said. That makes three of the old WYRE crew I worked with and was friends with that are no longer with us: Paul, Sonny Ueberroth and Freda Wright. Paul was a good guy and he'll be very much missed. sean hall (7/25/08) "Since WTEM went on the air sixteen years ago it has been a sort of a tradition for many people to listen to the station on the morning after a Redskin game to listen to the various hosts analyze the game. People who didn't listen to the station the entire week did listen on Monday mornings. Now what is going to happen?". For the past two years, Triple X preempted ESPN's Mike & Mike on Mondays after Redskin games for a three hour recap show hosted by Kevin Sheehan and Joe Jacoby (competing directly with Andy Pollin and Doc Walker on WTEM). I'd assume ESPN980 will provide a similar program featuring some combination of those four hosts this season. Shortly after 6 PM yesterday, Pollin mentioned on Sports Reporters that the Nationals and Giants were scoreless in the third inning. Slight problem there - the game was actually over by then with San Francisco having won 1-0 (great job keeping track of what's going on in local sports). There's a definite 'Jim Zorn - what a refreshing change from Joe Gibbs' tone to the Redskins discussions on that show this week, a case in point being yesterday when Pollin and Steve Czaban jumped all over the Post's Mike Wise for suggesting that the former coach had brought stability to the franchise over the past four seasons. I'm not sure exactly what it was about Gibbs that bugged Pollin and Czaban so much (they seemed to blame him for every loss and give him no credit for the wins), but they may risk running afoul of the station's new management if they keep that up. While Gibbs is out of the picture, it's possible that Dan Snyder still holds him in high reverence and won't have much tolerance for Czaban coming on the air and treating him with disrespectful, mean spirited mockery. Speaking of Wise, I thought the Post had a policy forbidding its sportswriters to accept shekels from owners of local teams - that's why Tony Kornheiser was unable to sign on with Red Zebra when it started out two years ago. Perhaps Wise is willing to appear on Reporters pro bono in order to get the radio exposure. Phil Wood now has something in common with Kevin Kiley, both having been let go twice by WTEM. Fortunately, DC baseball fans can still catch him on MASN's Saturday talk show with Tom Davis - definitely an Orioles oriented program but perhaps he can work in some Nats stuff from time to time. Mike, Fairfax (7/25/08) If anyone missed the blurb and video on Friday's DCRTV Front Page about WTOP Radio's Kristi King going skydiving, I encourage you to check it out. www.youtube.com... As a longtime listener to what will always be the *real* Radio 1500 to me, I appreciate seeing a face to go along with a familiar voice... and I was absolutely delighted to learn Kristi's klearly a kutie! What's more, 'though she always delivers solid reporting on the air, I had no hint of her fun side. Memo to Jim Farley (from a colleague who worked with you at the Red Network): Take extra good kare of Ms. King and find her a place at Bonneville that showcases her warm and bubbly self. (7/25/08) On the 11 am news WMAL's clueless news reader was reciting what had been written for her about the PG jail guard problems that was on the front page of the Post. At the end of the story she added that the police were continuing to investigate the case of Ronnie White who "the Maryland medical examiner ruled had been murdered". The Maryland medical examiner did not rule that he had been murdered. A finding of "homicide" was announced. Not every homicide is a murder but every murder is a homicide. Big difference. Every time I hear errors like this I email the news director of the offending station and surprisingly I do get replies with a promise to do better but I think am fighting a losing battle as they continue to hire writers who have no training in legal matters. Nor do they want any training. (7/25/08) This has nothing to do with Chandra Levy, Mel Karmazin, or the MO'M Show. While in classic Rockville yesterday, I was surfing the x-band on AM and found a new station on 1670, which identified itself as the voice of the Intercounty Connecter (ICC) project. After a few minutes spent Googling, I found that the project office is located in Beltsville, and that their website is part of Maryland DOT's. It makes no mention of the station, but I assume that it's located somewhere near Gaithersburg, as it mentions traffic delays in that area due to ICC construction. Mike in Frederick and the Dashboard DX Society, bringing you important updates from around the world, across the nation, down our street, and up yours! (7/25/08) Dave's response: 1670 here in Northern Virginia is the Fairfax County government's emergency radio station..... Ah, the power of the DCRTV mailbag...it's not even noon yet, and "ESPN 980" has fixed the Redskins schedule on its website to say "All games heard exclusively on ESPN 980". It's funny, though, how they aren't mentioning 94.3/92.7/730 anywhere online or on-air, not to mention the games also being on 570 and 1260 this year. And they're not promoting 94.3/92.7 anywhere, even as fill-in signals for 'TEM's fringe areas on the FM band, which is clearly DC's most popular band. I understand the need to keep "ESPN 980" as the primary name of the outlet, but...makes you wonder how long they'll hang onto all six signals... (7/25/08) Dave's response: All Snyder needs for ESPN 980 is 980, 92.7, and 94.3. He could either do something else with 570, 730, or 1260, or sell them. I still think a Spanish language sports talker would do well in the DC area using those three weak-ish AMers..... Enough of the “God” postings. This is a media site. (7/25/08) Re: A fifth grade teacher in a Christian school...What do you take us for? Only an idiot would believe that 5th graders came up with all those old product references. My e-mail is always filled with people making up stuff to reinforce their delusions. On a happier note, Rush isn't irrelevant, he just lies to make his show interesting. Howard is irrelevant. Ed Graham (7/25/08) Question about a quote at the end of today's Junkies. Chad Dukes walks out of the studio and Cakes says "I love that he walks around the station like a certain former DJ". Lurch pipes up with "Scooter Libby". Let's see...Scooter Libby was convicted of perjury and making false statements. Was he referring to Don Geronimo (which, if you have ever seen Chad, would make the most sense) or was he referring to G. Gordon who may the only only "former DJ" federally convicted? (7/25/08) Not that it has anything to do with local media -- the Victory Column in Berlin WAS originally built to honor Prussian victories in the late 19th century - BUT it was moved to its current location by Hitler. He asked his architect, Albert Speer, to use it as the centerpiece of a design for a new capital for the Third Reich that was to be called Germania. (7/25/08) A fifth grade teacher in a Christian school asked her class to look at TV commercials and see if they could use them in some way to communicate ideas about God. Here are some of the results: scroll down. God is like. BAYER ASPIRIN He works miracles. God is like. a FORD He's got a better idea. God is like. COKE He's the real thing. (This is great) God is like. HALLMARK CARDS He cares enough to send His very best. God is like. TIDE He gets the stains out that others leave behind. God is like. GENERAL ELECTRIC He brings good things to life. God is like. SEARS He has everything. God is like. ALKA-SELTZER Try Him, you'll like Him God is like. SCOTCH TAPE You can't see Him, but you know He's there. God is like. DELTA He's ready when you are. God is like. ALLSTATE You're in good hands with Him. God is like. VO-5 Hair Spray He holds through all kinds of weather. God is like. DIAL SOAP Aren't you glad you have Him? Don't you wish everybody did? (that one is my favorite) God is like. the U.S.POST OFFICE Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet nor ice will keep Him from His appointed destination. God is like. Chevrolet. . . .the heart beat of America God is like Maxwell House. . . Good to the very last drop God is like. Bounty. . . . He is the quicker picker upper. . can handle the tough jobs. .and He won't fall apart on you Forward this to! 10 people so that they can know what God is like......( only! if you want to)! BLESSINGS FROM MY HOUSE TO YOUR HOUSE (7/25/08) You are right, and I was wrong. I totally overlooked that the nomination was for medicine. I apologize, which makes me, of course, the bigger man. It's easy to be right, it's harder to admit that you're wrong. Unless, of course, the Congressman, Bill Rockus was on the "invitation only list" as a result of being "Chairman of the Committee of Health" as the doctor alleged him to be. And according to the Nobel Committee rules, you won't know for 50 years. Burn! It's fun to argue, isn't it? As to the root issue, Terry Schiavo being brain dead, it's hard to imagine that starvation wouldn't have negative health consequences. That was the object of the exercise, to induce negative health consequences. I blame the Cane Pole Gang and Al Gore's a douche (I didn't get that from Limbaugh, I arrived at that conclusion on my own). I suspect you're a fan of the Spotted Owl, or perhaps the Swallow. --- Biff from Burke (7/25/08) Dave's response: This thread is dead. Getting too off-topic..... Biff. Let us put this all to rest. I said Dr. Hammisfar claimed to have been nominated for a Nobel Prize in Medicine. Sean Hammity repeated that lie dozens of times. It turned out Dr. Hammisfar nominated himself in a letter and had some Congressman sign it. I said and defended that a Congressman is not qualified to nominate for a prize in medicine. You then confused the selection of a peace prize process with a prize in medicine nomination and selection process. You then mimicked the Limbaugh rant against Gore. To put this whole issue to bed, from the Nobel Prize website; "Nomination to the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is by invitation only. The Nobel Committee sends confidential forms to persons who are competent and qualified to nominate candidates for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. The names of the nominees and other information about the nominations cannot be revealed until 50 years later." So, if the Congressman submitted a nomination for a Nobel Prize in Medicine, and the Congressman was not qualified by the Nobel Committee to submit a nomination, the person was not nominated for a Nobel Prize in Medicine. (7/25/08) Howard railing on the Dems – that’s rich. Wasn’t it just a couple of years ago that he was railing against the Republicans…and claimed he’d never again vote for a Republican? Makes sense, if you think about it – Libertarianism has always suited Stern better. His position on the merger just proves he doesn’t give 2 shits about the poor saps who get sucked into listening to him, anyway. (7/25/08) Friday, July 25th, 2008 - 5:04AM - WASH-FM - "Jingle Bell Rock" was played. (7/25/08) PSA for ASPCA heard on WTOP at 3:17 this morning: "This is Jason Taylor of the Miami Dolphins..." (Hey, 'TOP, he's a 'Skin now!) :-) --RB (7/25/08) Biff, yes, they can submit "proposals," but that in no way means the person in the proposal has been "nominated." Being a qualified nominator does not guarantee your submission is automatically "nominated." (7/25/08) Hi Dave, Perhaps you have heard something about this station I've been hearing the past few nights. I can't find any mention of it anywhere. It's an all-oldies format, definitely not WKIK which seems to pop in from time to time as I'm listening. It hasn't indentified itself beyond "Wonderful 102.9 FM," giving no call letters, city, etc. It's there all the time so it must be local or at most regional, though it is very weak. A pirate station playing Sinatra would be a bit humorous. Thanks. Claudio, confused in NE DC (7/25/08) Dave's response: Someone in the Reston area heard a like-formatted station on a different frequency and found it to be coming from an assisted living place for older folks. Apparently, the in-house audio system was "leaking" to the nearby neighborhood. Wonder if that's what's happening there? Lovefest from Chris Plante fans in this WMAL video: www.630wmal.com (7/25/08) /\ July 25 Messages /\ \/ July 24 Messages \/ It seems the summer school schedule is hectic and someone needs help with their research. "Qualified Nominators– The Nobel Peace Prize The right to submit proposals for the Nobel Peace Prize shall, by statute, be enjoyed by: 1: Members of national assemblies and governors of states..." The url is nobelprize.org... Note that "members of national assemblies" is the first item on the list of "Qualified Nominators". I can't make it any simpler without using babytalk. And another, or maybe the same, yahoo wrote: "the Nobel Prize is not synonymous with the "Peace Prize"; there are other Nobel Prize categories." Yes, absolutely true. And in fact, the Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway, as opposed to Stockholm, Sweden. You think you can drop knowledge on me? I am aware. Media types tend to be nominated for the Peace Prize... I assumed we all knew that... silly me. Apparently there's a lot of latitude on what constitutes "peace". Yasser Arafat, Algore... I didn't start the fire. By the way, what the hell is going on with Al Gore's eyes? He is becoming deformed. The same person wrote "Get it?" Yes, from yo moms on a regular, and it's tight and aight. ----- A right-thinking American wrote: "Dave, Armed gangs are roving in NE DC killing people at random; total breakdown of law & order." Sadly, this is not news. To borrow a phrase from Henry Miller, the greatest American writer of the twentieth century, "Murder the murderer." Send those "young'uns" (to quote Courtland Milloy's piece) to jail in PG County. Leykis to WJFK in September. You heard it here first. -- Biff from Burke (7/24/08) Channel 9’s severe weather coverage was totally super-duper! I mean, so super-duper that I nearly took a pooper! Topper: simply flawless. Howard: absolutely, positively perfect. If “super-duper” were to be replaced in the dictionary, they would have to call it “topper-howard.” It could also be exchanged with short and annoying. BTW, my spouse works at Channel 9, too. Oh, pooh! (7/24/08) Dave's response: If Topper Shutt decides to grow a beard and move down to the Charlottesville area and build an ark, who would take his top-dog meteorologist place at Channel 9? Howie Bernstein or Tony Pann or Kim Martucci? Hmmm..... Rush Limbaugh again shows his ignorance about history or anything for that matter. The so-called "Hitler's phallic victory tower" was actually built about 40 years before the Nazis came to power. It's not like Rush and his idiotic and sycophantic listeners to ignore facts to push their agenda. (7/24/08) ".......Chief Operating Officer Judy Ellis received 125,000 performance-based shares of stock on 6/27 ........" I wonder how many shares of stock part time program directors get. (7/24/08) Thanks for explaining the Andy/Grandy marriage reference. Like many others I do not listen to them and had no idea what the original mailbag entry was about. (7/24/08) "The right to submit proposals for the Nobel Peace Prize shall, by statute, be enjoyed by: 1: Members of national assemblies..." Where here does it say the "right to nominate"? Are you saying "The right to submit proposals" and the "right to nominate" are synonymous? I don't think they are, but let me forward this note to the JMU English Dept. for help. (7/24/08) I am going to do something I thought I would never do...defend the Washington Post. I believe the Chandra Levy case is on the front page everyday not just because it is going to sell papers. Yes, it does tell the story of a White female murdered in the Nation's Capitol when hundreds of Black men and women die every year. But the story does raise the issue of the ineffectiveness of the DC Police Department and the FBI and the lack of cooperation among law enforcement agencies in DC. Many of the murders in DC are drug related, gang related or domestic. Chandra's case tells the story of a young intern mixed up with a playboy congressman. She mysteriously disappears and the congressman acts guilty. If you read the series you would know the Park Police had a suspect early in the case but failed to report it to or even notify the DC police. The man was apprehended after attacking two women on the same trails in Rock Creek Park where Chandra's body would ultimately be found. The DC police were feet from Chandra's body days after her disappearance but failed to locate her because of a poorly planned search of the scene. After the discovery of her body, over 1 year later, the DC police admitted their forensics division lacks in experience which led to a poorly executed crime scene investigation. Think of the series as an expose on the DC police. If they cannot solve Chandra's case with all of the coverage it received, even with assistance from the FBI, how will they ever solve the everyday homicides of young black males gunned down in the streets? By the way, I have no affiliation with the Washington Post. (7/24/08) Biff, their website makes no such stipulation? My oh my. Do they have to? I can tell you right now the Nobel Committee accepts nominations and doesn't accept nominations based on who is nominating. For example, if a US Congressman requests the nomination of a heart surgeon for the prize in medicine, the Nobel committee will not consider the nomination. It didn't come from a recognized expert in the field. On the other hand, if a US Congressman asks that an author receive a nomination for literature for a series of books on the philosophy of the US founding fathers, they "may" accept it. The Congressman may be qualified to point out this person has outdone his peers in the given subject. Get it? If a letter is sent to the committee asking them to consider the nomination of Rush Limbaugh, and the letter is authored by a friend and frequent guest of Rush's show, the committee would most likely not accept the nomination. If a dean of literature in a major American University nominates a convicted felon, and then two Peabody Award winners second the nomination in literature, the Nobel Committee may accept that nomination. If Bill Handel's state senator nominates Bill for literature, the committee most likely wont consider the nomination. FYI, the Nobel Prize is not synonymous with the "Peace Prize"; there are other Nobel Prize categories. (7/24/08) The Washington Post erred in its Orioles broadcast listing, just not the error suspected. Neither 980 nor any of its new simulcast frequencies are airing the Orioles today. Being weekday afternoon affairs, today's game and completion of yesterday's suspended game were bumped to WTNT 570. Everett W. (7/24/08) Re: WETA/John Chester/overnight: It appears that WETA wants to play its own music overnight. They now list each selection played between midnight and 6:00 a.m. (weta.org), just as they have for the rest of the day. However, they still list "Classical Music Overnight" (without a host) from 12AM - 6AM on their schedule (weta.org). It's nice to have "local" programming, even if it isn't "live!" But then, most of the composers are decomposing or decomposed anyway! Many of the artists are D&B as well. Kinda like Classic Rock! :-) --RB (7/24/08) Dave, Armed gangs are roving in NE DC killing people at random; total breakdown of law & order. No one comes forward and the victims remain anonymous. How about a multipart series on that? Chandra's death was a tragedy, sure, but 11 parts devoted to it? Chip (7/24/08) Dave's response: Hey, you're questioning Katie Weymouth's plan to save the sinking USS Washington Post via Lifeboat Chandra? That's treason..... The character Jim Hacker on the UK comedy series Yes Prime Minister famously quipped the following about the UK papers: "The Daily Mirror is read by people who think they run the country; The Guardian is read by people who think they ought to run the country; The Times is read by people who actually do run the country; the Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country; the Financial Times is read by people who own the country; the Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by another country; and the The Daily Telegraph is read by people who think it is" followed by Bernard Woolley saying "Sun readers don't care who runs the country, as long as she's got big t%ts" (7/24/08) Dave's response: You can say "tits" on DCRTV. The FCC can't fine us..... "Biff, The Nobel Committee only considers nominations from government leaders when that leader has "expertise" in the appropriate field." The Nobel Committee's website makes no such stipulation: "The right to submit proposals for the Nobel Peace Prize shall, by statute, be enjoyed by: 1: Members of national assemblies..." I'll cut it off right there, and await explanation of the "qualifications" to nominate for the "Peace Prize". As a great American once said, facts are stupid things. --- Biff from Burke (7/24/08) I know I might be a couple days off on this... Vibegrrl: Yes, great that she is gone!! I wish you the best, but honey, you were not made for big market radio. Do some Voiceover work or something... But now RAVEN?? She hurts the mic when she talks! ... However, I do have to give this to her: she might do her office work behind the scenes well but PLEASE take her off the airwaves! And just a little tip Raven... Sit down and put your attidude in check every once in a while. thanks! (7/24/08) Note to "ESPN 980": You might want to fix this Redskins Radio schedule to add 980 to the list of stations airing the game: www.espn980.com (7/24/08) Dave's response: Today's print Post lists all three frequencies of 3WT when listing tonight's Nationals name in the Sports section. But only the 980 frequency - of four - for ESPN 980 when listing tonight's Orioles game..... Grandy and Andy argued this morning for a good 10 minutes under the assumption by both that "marriage is a contract." Like Fred's use of the word "effete," Andy's comments about the "racist" Michelle Obama, Mark Levin's screaming about the Chinese drilling off the coast of Cuba, Austin Hill touting Shell as "an American Company," and Hammity saying Obama "just now" set out a plan for Afghanistan that included more troops, the premise was factually wrong, and they were disseminating misinformation as learned knowledge. (7/24/08) Dave, Not only did Channel 9 broadcast the weather emergency on 9.2, they also put it live on the web. On the primary channel, crawls were run to direct people to either the web or 9.2. It was a great public service, but I’m biased since my husband works there! (7/24/08) The SatRad merger would NOT be a monopoly. A monopoly is the exclusive control of a commodity or service in a particular market. The last time I checked satellite radio was a NATIONAL entity are there is terrestrial radio, HD radio, internet streaming, CD's, iPods/MP3 players, and even cassettes for you fossils out there to choose from. It's no different than Comcast being the only "cable TV" provider, or BGE being the only utility that services electricity. Yes, you can go with Verizon for FIOS, or Dish Network or DirecTV for satellite TV, or go with another electrical "supplier", both all of those entities such as Comcast, BGE, Verizon phone line service, etc. are the only available options for their respective services. I'm not saying that competition should be dissallowed (not at all) I'm just stating that the Sirius/XM merger would only be a TRUE monopoly if it were the only way you could receive radio broadcasts anywhere. G.K. (7/24/08) I've noticed that WETA's John Chester has been pulling a double shift lately. He's holding down his regular 2-7 pm slot, and then returning to the air at midnight for the all-night show. What gives? That's cruel and unusual punishment. And why did the station suddenly drop its syndicated overnight feed from Minnesota Public Radio in the first place? (WBJC in Charm City still carries it it.) (7/24/08) Dave's response: Anybody know what's going on at 90.9? Chester could be voice-tracking the overnight shift. They would allow him to get a good night's sleep. That would be my guess..... From Peter Bart in Variety: The following has been floating around the web lately. The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country.... The Washington Post is read by people who think they run the country.... The New York Times is read by people who think they should run the country, and who are very good at crossword puzzles.... The Los Angeles Times is read by people who wouldn’t mind running the country, if they could find the time, and if they didn’t have to leave Southern California to do it.... The Boston Globe is read by people whose parents used to run the country and did a poor job of it, thank you very much.... The Seattle Times is read by people who have recently caught a fish and need something in which to wrap it. (7/24/08) (Notable Quotable - 7/24 - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama gives a speech today in Germany at "Hitler's phallic victory tower" in Berlin. So said Rush Limbaugh today via Citadel news talker WMAL.) you make it sound like he's incorrect. that's exactly what the site is. obama couldn't hold his political rally at the place where reagan and kennedy gave legitimate speeches, so his genius handlers moved it to hitler's memorial. and later today, instead of visiting american troops at our german bases (you know, actual voters), he'll be shopping in berlin. when europe is in love with an american politician, that should throw up red flags about him. (7/24/08) About the Sats combining, one feels for XM employees and another doesn't care. That latter opinion is the problem and why radio is in the state it is in. It's the corporate mentality that has taken radio out of radio. The business is a shell of its former self. Too bad. As a kid I learned a lot about our great country listening to radio stations near and far. Radio today, thanks to the corporate crap, allows for hearing the same syndicated trash over and over on stations everywhere. This bottom-line thinking and not caring about workers is THE problem. For you lovers of mergers and downsizing and putting people out of work, I feel sorry for you. There are those of us who care about people, some of whom are friends and colleagues. (7/24/08) I saw the long dissertation about marriage being a covenant not a contract and the reference to Andy and Grandy but can't figure out why is here. i see no other messages discussing marriages except the XM/Sirius marriage. Did i miss something? (7/24/08) You wrote: FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein has withdrawn his offer of a "yes" vote, with conditions, for the marriage of satradders XM and Sirius and has voted "no." At least Adelson's finally being honest about the fact that he never intended to support it, instead of playing this game of feeding his ego by continually moving the goalposts to see how far the satellite companies will go just to accommodate Himself. I'm surprised he decided just to be honest about it. Tim Phares (7/24/08) Sat Radio Merger - WOW, didn't take long for the whiners to cry about a NEW MONOPOLY, don't like it don't use it. When XM first came out they were the only one's for a time. The market shows that TWO are not needed. Better for than to merge than BOTH go away. Sure some people will lose there jobs, but this is radio, happens ALL of the time. JD FFX (7/24/08) Thought you'd enjoy this in-depth profile of Katharine Weymouth: www.washingtonian.com... Excerpt: The morning before I interviewed Katharine Weymouth for the first time, I put in a call to Bob Woodward, the brand-name reporter who's been with the Post since 1971. He and Carl Bernstein had written their legendary Watergate stories while Kay Graham was publisher; he had remained close to the Grahams and the newspaper while Kay's son Don ran the paper from 1979 to 2000. "I remember her as one in a group of Kay's grandchildren at Martha's Vineyard," Woodward says. What about now? His voice gets gravelly. "She has the weight of the world on her shoulders," he says. "With all the convulsions we are going through, it is on her head, her shoulders, her lap—to put it together. It makes her grandmother's job look easy." (7/24/08) Biff, The Nobel Committee only considers nominations from government leaders when that leader has "expertise" in the appropriate field. It has been a radio sham for a long time to have a local "unnamed" legislator, or head of some political "think tank" nominate a talk show host for a Nobel Prize, and send out press releases about it. Mark Levin nominated Limbaugh for a Nobel Prize, Savage claims as well to be nominated, and KFI's Bill Handel touted being "nominated." Trust me, Like Hammisfar, they were not legitimately nominated, and therefore were never even considered by the Nobel committee. As for Guckert, the Senate Radio-TV Gallery denied Guckert credentials because they concluded he was not a legitimate journalist and his credentials were shaky at best. Next item; The Richmond Times Dispatch was trucked up daily to DC with Investor's Business Daily which was also printed at the RTD plant. Anyone know if IBD is printed locally now? Grandy and Andy; Marriage is a covenant, not a contract. There is a big difference. If a proposal of marriage comes with stipulations, as contracts do, most churches and synagogues wont allow the marriage to take place under their roof, and will not recognize it. The law treats marriage as a covenant- "a promise, incidental to a deed or contract, either express or implied; A pact or binding agreement between two or more parties." No stipulations present. Stipulation, a restriction that is insisted upon as a condition for an agreement. As far as I know, there are very few exceptions and the only one I know of that is universally recognized is seniors getting married and each having stipulations in regards to their respective adult children contractually drawn up. Other than that, as far as I know, contract law does not apply to marriage agreements. Other laws may and do, including fraud, but not "contract" law. (7/24/08) So what's to happen to all of the XM employees, or certainly most of them with this idiotic merger? And all that equipment over there? This merge is not good for XM and not good for XM customers. They all should just dump the Sirius service as soon as possible and wait until we get Internet radio in our cars. I wish only good luck to the men and women at XM. (7/24/08) Dave - You're usually on target, but you've clearly got your facts wrong here. Channel 4 did perhaps 15-20 minutes of live coverage with Bob Ryan and he gave very detailed projects of when the storms were going to be over each municipality. They did have some obvious and repeated problems (loss of audio and glitches in the video) trying to get reconfigured to do the unexpected live shot, but they finally got it right and did the coverage. I can't remember whether I was watching the HD or Analog feed.... perhaps they did the coverage on one but not the other. I've seen this happen before. As I was flipping back and forth between channels to see who was doing the best, I seem to recall seeing some live coverage on both 5 and 7 too, although it may not have had the duration of what 9 and 4 did. You might want to retract and check your facts on this story. (7/24/08) Dave's response: I don't "retract" Rants, since they're just my opinions. I did flip over to 4's digital weather channel yesterday at about 8 PM when the storms were rolling through and didn't see Bob's coverage. If he did that on 4.2, kudos to him, too..... Andy Polin just announced on Sports Talk 980 “We’ll be off on vacation all of next week. Who knows what will happen”. What’s interesting is both Andy Polin and Steve Czabin just came off vacations. (7/24/08) Now that the Satrad merger appears imminent, and another monopoly is being shoved down our throats, I would like to ask a practical question….If XM was losing a billion, and Sirius was losing a billion, does that mean the new company will lose two billion? Didn’t they learn anything form the consolidation mistake? (7/24/08) Dave's response: Well, if you ditch XM's "overhead" (facilities and employees) and flip all XM subscribers to Sirius, I guess you could cut the losses. I'd suspect that's what Mel Karmazin is counting on. Since the two satrad systems are technically incompatible, what will happen to all those XM receivers out there? Will Sirius channels be relayed on the XM system or will XMers have to cough up dough for new receivers? If it's the latter, I'd suspect that many XM subscribers will tell Mel to go fuck himself..... Channel 9 has done the weather reports on 9.2 before, during bad weather. I've seen it twice before and now your report. The first time was a few months ago when a tornado went through Spotsylvania Va. They had reporters on the scene and went past 1am doing so. (7/24/08) Putting the severe weather information on Channel 9's digital sub-channel is indeed a good use of the channel. Perhaps after February of next year when we all (theoretically) have digital tuners, a TV station could run a crawl on their main channel saying something like "Severe Thunderstorm Warning in effect - Tune to our digital sub-channel (or however they'd refer to it) for more details." This would give those who want to know more a place to go without interrupting the programming on the main channel for those who aren't in affected areas or who don't care. Mike/Fairfax (7/24/08) "Washington Post Metro reporter Robert Pierre lashed out ... Chandra Levy. Pierre wrote that he found it "unconscionable" that the paper would devote a year and 12 chapters to the murder of a white woman, when around 200 people per year are murdered in the District - most of them male African-Americans." While I look forward to discussing this on WaPo's site Thu and Fri, Courtland Milloy wrote an excellent piece on the continuing rampage BY (a relatively small number of) male African-Americans in DC. Perhaps Mr. Pierre might consider that the problem is the murderers, not the victims. No murderers, no victims. Apparently Mr. Pierre doesn't remember the Post's extensive reporting on the murder of the lady at 8th and H NE, which was unusually cruel in a way I will not describe, and was committed by "male African-Americans". And the DC police need to go INTO Trinidad, not stand around outside it checking hall passes. I no longer consider Chief Lanier a MILF ... she's presentable, but there's no more ILF factor. I have to L someone to F them. -- Biff from Burke (7/24/08) Who the hell is this Rush Limbaugh?... Wasn't he a moron who used to kiss each Republican president's bare ass? (7/24/08) O'Meara gets rear ended huh. Didn't he once admit to a fondness for back dooring , ah never mind, fish in a barrel. Whatever happened to the woman who started up Viewers for Quality Television? Didn't she live in Burke? The sad thing is TV is far worse than back in 2000 when VQT dissolved. Oh well back to my "Fugitive" 2nd season DVD's. Hey Mel Proctor what you think of them replacing the transition music in the 2nd season edition of The Fugitive? And Sophia, thank you for being a friend, you pussycat you. Love, Bea Arthur's shoe. (7/24/08) /\ July 24 Messages /\ \/ July 23 Messages \/ (Re: your Severe Weather coverage rant) I agree with you whole-heartedly, Dave. But you'd be shocked by the number of people who will call Channel 9's news desk and bitch about how the weather coverage is pre-empting Big Brother or whatever tripe CBS is running tonight. (7/23/08) Dave's response: Thunderstorms and tornadic conditions can be very localized. I guess the people who don't get any of the lightning, rain, and wind wonder what all the fuss is about. Good use of digital 9.2 for live severe weather coverage, though..... HOW BOUT AN MMA SHOW ON 980? (7/23/08) Dave's response: There's always Big O and Dukes on 106.7..... It's been a few years since I've been down in DCRTV-land, but next week I'm taking my daughter on a little tourist trip to DC and Baltimore. But I wouldn't be traveling if I couldn't sneak a day in there to do some radio and TV, too. And since everyone who's anyone in DC radio and TV reads DCRTV (right, Dave?), I figured I might as well put the request out here on the Mailbag, if Dave will let me: Who'd have a few minutes to open their doors to me (and, depending on the day, young Ariel Fybush) for quick tours while I'm in town? Especially interested in seeing the new Glass Enclosed News Center, the 1500 transmitter site (I've never been inside, believe it or not!), XM while it's still there, the TV/FM site in Tenleytown, TV Hill in Baltimore and...well...you tell me! Did I mention there's a free 2009 Tower Site Calendar for anyone who gives me a tour of their digs? (Shameless, huh?) I wouldn't want to clutter up the Mailbag, so kindly direct replies to me by e-mail at scott at fybush dot com...and thanks! - Scott Fybush, NorthEast Radio Watch/Tower Site of the Week/Radio Journal, www.fybush.com (7/23/08) Dave's response: Well, if you want to get access to Clear Channel, CBS (Baltimore, anyway, maybe DC now, too), or Citadel facilities, don't let them know you know me. Ha ha ha..... You want real Sports Talk. Scott Ferrall Sirius Satellite Radio (7/23/08) How dare you call me irrelevant! By the way, have you checked out the new Rennai tankless water heater? - R. Limbaugh (7/23/08) Congratulations, Kevin Martin. Despite the fact that virtually every single person in America who is NOT an XM or Sirius stockholder disapproved of this deal, you have still managed to shove it up our collective ass far enough that it will not shake loose. Thanks a lot. (7/23/08) ("And it IS uncomfortable listening to Walker and Sheehan. What an incredible mismatch.") More time needed but this could be right. An interesting match made by Snyder and Zebra. Walker, Sheehan and Czaban are the best in town on the Redskins, nobody close, but Walker seems a better fit for a call-in based show, Sheehan is more versatile. Zebra should have left Walker alone with his callers in the morning, dumped Pollin, and teamed Sheehan with Czaban. (7/23/08) (snip) I see that Vibegrrl is no longer listed on hot995.com....(snip) DCRTV Dave: Do people even realize you HAVE a front page, or do they just jump to the Mailbag? I always get a kick out of reading a letter from someone who thinks they have "breaking news" when you had a blurb up several days ago. (7/23/08) Dave's response: I think some people think the Mailbag is all DCRTV is..... Since WTEM went on the air sixteen years ago it has been a sort of a tradition for many people to listen to the station on the morning after a Redskin game to listen to the various hosts analyze the game. People who didn't listen to the station the entire week did listen on Monday mornings. Now what is going to happen? Are people going to wait until noon to listen? I doubt it and I also doubt if they are going to listen to the syndicated crap that is on now in the morning. (7/23/08) "Anyone hear Limbaugh stuttering today just after he played a doctored tape featuring all of Obama's "hmmms" from yesterday's press conference." The clips were not doctored, they were just pieced together. You really think people were not smart enough to understand that? Seessh. Maybe you should stick to worrying about your own wardrobe. (7/23/08) RE ESPN 980: The reason the “new” station sounds like the “old” station is because of existing contracts. Mike and Mike and Colin Cowherd exist because they are under contract to run these shows with ESPN. Walker, Thompson, Koken and Mitchell had contracts. Pollin and Czaben had contracts. Most sensible broadcasters would have had Clear Channel pay off those contracts and fire everyone as a condition of the deal. Even if you had to pay a little more for the transaction they would be in a position to build the station from scratch. The irony with ESPN is the fact that Snyder not only gives the network inventory but they pay enormous cash compensation each year. They had to pay this to wrestle the network away from Sports talk 980 which they now own. Snyder wants to make one plus one equal three and I am afraid it will end up equaling 1 and a half. (7/23/08) DC50 - Its Tribune, right? Is this Randy Michaels "thumb print" coming down on the Nation's capital? (7/23/08) There was a report from TV Week last month about Tribune making preparations for its stations if/when The CW network collapses. In that context, the prospect of WDCW being rebranded away from its CW identifier would seem an ominous sign. Everett W. (7/23/08) If lack of off-the-cuff oratory skill is a disqualification for President, I would love to hear the previous posters assessment of our current Commander in Chief and his “skills.” W’s expressions alone scream “duh.” (I’m sure there’s some exception to be made for him, since he’s such a ‘common man of the people…’ LOL) (7/23/08) You know what Dave, You are right. Using verbal crutches like Hmmm and Ahhhh do not disqualify a person from becoming president on a moral or intellectual basis. But really now. After the last 8 years do we really want another president who cant speak well unless it is written out for him by somebody else. Maybe the verbal crutches should be given consideration on the intellectual level. Elkridge Steve (7/23/08) I have to disagree that it's "premature to make that judgment after just two days" about Kevin Sheehan, Doc Walker and ESPN980 and it's intrusion onto 94.3FM. Walker has never developed any kind of on-air chemistry with anybody; the "John Thompson Show" is a bad joke -- I swear they have to elbow Thompson and remind him to speak about four times an hour -- and the drop off in quality this week from last is mind-boggling. To slash into ESPN network programming and replace it with the worn-out dreck that 980 slaps together is a terrible, terrible mistake. 94.3FM was in a ratings bind all by itself; Daniel Snyder and his gang of egoists have thrown an anchor to a drowning man. Dave in Sterling (7/23/08) Does anyone know the reasoning of Channel 9's running a crawl on top of their screen early this morning, warning Pennsylvania counties of the thunderstorms in their area? Just curious... (7/23/08) Dave's response: There are two Pennsylvania counties in the Gettysburg area that are technically part of the DC TV market..... If "Rush, [is] on the road to irrelevance"...you still listen! Nevertheless, Mr. Obama is packaged in the media as this great orator. Limbaugh was clearly emphasizing the fact that when Mr. Obama does not have a teleprompter at hand, he displays an incredible lack of knowledge and forethought, accompanied with a lot of "hmmms" and "ahhhs" (7/23/08) Dave's response: As annoying as verbal "hmmms" and "ahhhs" may be, do they make a person disqualified from being president on moral or intellectual grounds? Anyone hear Limbaugh stuttering today just after he played a doctored tape featuring all of Obama's "hmmms" from yesterday's press conference. Seems like the talk radio emperor has no clothes! Rush, on the road to irrelevance. (7/23/08) Nice new sign...but the place could still use a painting! I don't know if other Wheaton/Silver Spring residents notice the changes as they speed by on Unversity Boulevard West, but I did. The yellow background got my attention. (7/23/08) Agree with the disappointment expressed by those posters who commented on the lack of change in WTEM's on air personnel. I'd rather hear Riggins on a reasonably powered station and give that a chance rather than the SOS from people like Pollin and Thompson. And it IS uncomfortable listening to Walker and Sheehan. What an incredible mismatch. How about some creativity here. Why not give Thom Loverero his own show? He's good on Sports Reporters. Why not bring back Feldman and Maloney? They never really got a fair shot. How about being really adventurous and reuniting Kiley and the Coach, which was WTEM's best ever show. Sure, Danny Boy got his more powerful station. But does anyone really think that the old WTEM lineup with the addition of syndicated ESPN crap is going to improve ratings materially? (7/23/08) "Olympic Broadcasting Center Evacuated" says the Associated Press. ...hmmm... In my line of work it sounds like great cover for Chinese Communist intelligence services to get into the broadcast center, sneak a peak at all the high-tech broadcast gear & hide electronic devices that might just cause the Olympic broadcasts to go "off air/technical difficulties :-)" during some 'embarrassing moments' for the Chinese government (i.e. sudden illegal protest) I'm just saying... "Triad_Spook" (7/23/08) True story. About six months ago I had a terrible problem with the breaking up and pixelation of my digital television signal. I had a parade of Comcast employees come to my house when the problem was obviously not inside my house. They all agreed that the problem was somewhere outside. Finally after a month, someone with intelligence, found the problem on an overhead fiber optic wire leading into my town. The break in the line was repaired and the reception has been fine since. I decided to do a little investigating and found out that at least six people on my street alone had the same problem and had switched to Directv after weeks of frustration. I also found out that Comcast does not have the capability to identify customers in the same neighborhood who are having the same problem. If six people on my small street changed to satellite just think of how many customers Comcast lost in my neighborhood. (7/23/08) Dave, In your Front Page blurb "92Q Listeners Mourn K-Swift" you said, "...downtrodden callers and DJs shared heartfelt memories of their late colleague....." Were you trying to use the word "downtrodden" as a synonym for sad or mournful? It's not. My dictionary defines it as "1. trampled on or down 2. oppressed; subjugated; tyrannized over". Given the definitions, did you mean to insinuate that the callers and DJs are people who meet said definitions, that "The Man" still has his boots of oppression on their necks? (7/23/08) Dave's response: That wording was straight from the Sun. I'll forward your wording query to them..... "If Bruce Gilbert thinks there's any chemistry between Kevin Sheehan and Doc Walker, he's still living in fantasy-land. What a terrible show on 980 and it's just an uncomfortable listen." Premature to make that judgment after just two days - takes time to develop on-air chemistry. If you accept the fact that it's going to be a Redskins heavy show, at least you've got a player from the team's glory days co-hosting with a guy who (by his own account) grew up living and breathing burgundy and gold football. Yesterday's interview with Wizards coach Eddie Jordan and today's with the Nats' Ryan Zimmerman suggest that non-Redskin topics will at least get some run on the program. I'm a bit surprised that WTEM's previous local lineup has remained intact (albeit with Thompson's show trimmed by an hour) on the new ESPN980. Each of the three daily programs has a host who's been an outspoken critic of the Skins' management and coaching staff over recent years - Walker, Brian Mitchell and Steve Czaban. It'll be interesting to see if one or more of them decide to put Gilbert's "any criticism of the team is fine with us" statement to the test should things go badly on the field this season. I'm definitely not shedding any tears over Czaban's morning show being replaced by ESPN's Mike & Mike - never understood how a national sports radio host could treat baseball like a niche sport and get away with it. Mike, Fairfax (7/23/08) I see that Vibegrrl is no longer listed on hot995.com and her hotspot page is removed. Raven is currently doing the 10AM-3PM show. (7/23/08) Hi there.... First, may I say I'm a loyal reader of your site. Second, may I say I'm far too sensitive about the spelling of my last name. But it's Hiaasen - with the weird two a's and ONE s. Thanks... Rob (hiaasen) (7/23/08) Dave's response: Whoops. It's fixed..... "It appears that PTI is gone from the new 980ESPN. Is there any other outlet for them so I'm not forced to listen to tape-delayed Jim Rome on my way home?" There is no PTI or Around the Horn this week, they are both on break. They will be back next Monday like usual, I'd imagine 980 will run it once its back (7/23/08) Dave's response: Yeah, Tony's on vacation in Rehoboth, yelling at waitors..... All this chat about Chris Core. Let’s face it, he’s a professional. He’s been in the market for a long, long time. He’s had no issues, he been extremely stable. He has created a dedicated following and he’s a nice guy that gets along with staff. Now, I ask you, what else is required? I’ve been watching the “nit-pickers” take their shots here in the Mailbag, and all I can figure out is that those with the negative posts are jealous of his successes. I personally think he’s honest and has great “Core Values”. PLB-:0) (7/23/08) What kind of idiot cancels Riggo on the first day of Redskins Training camp? The same idiot that puts on a basketball show on the first day of football training camp. Hey Bruce Gilbert, I guess John can now speak his mind since you took him off the air. Of all the bonehead moves, this reminds me of the trades Dan Snyder has been making. He finally got one right, I hope it doesn't take so long for his radio stations to do the same. Oh well, I guess I go back to listening to WJFK in the afternoon, half a good radio show is better then none. John G. (7/23/08) "Subway ads promoting Islam. Is that free speech or is that promoting terrorism?" ...actually it's both, that's the beauty of the First Amendment. If we prevent Islam from promoting, we have to prevent Christianity (although we do that to some extent already), Judaism, Atheism, Liberalism, Conservatism, and any other "ism" that some group wants to promote. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." While I personally think Islam is indeed promoting terrorism and is a violent religion despite what many in that faith will deny, if we ignore the First Amendment, we ignore freedom. G.K. in Timonium (7/23/08) It appears that PTI is gone from the new 980ESPN. Is there any other outlet for them so I'm not forced to listen to tape-delayed Jim Rome on my way home? (7/23/08) "“Chris Core as the next Martin Agronsky?” ... he’s famous for being famous and nothing else.... (I can’t sign this as I’m too close to him)" -- Dude, Chris Core isn't famous, but he does have 30 years of on the job experience; something that you could aspire to, once you get your first job in radio. He's not a firebreather like Limbaugh or Al Franken, but he's got integrity. I met him once and he seemed like a good guy. You, on the other hand (and isn't it all about you?) are an unknown quantity. "too close to him"? DMV? Men's room? Neighbor? Stalker? -- Biff from Burke (7/23/08) Can't believe how quickly the listening experience has been ruined. I'm sure that most people resist change and that complaints after something like this are common. I knew I was going to hate the line-up changes, I could not stand "The Herd" in its original incarnation. What I did not anticipate is how chintzy the station sounds with the non-stop ESPN this and Redskins Radio that. As a long time listener to 980, one of the more consistent knocks on the station was the heavy Redskins focus. How long before Red Zebra runs this one into the dirt ? (7/23/08) "Core does news on 50"…geesh Dave, slow news day? A weekly show that no one will watch and you make this into a "scoop?" Sorry, much more is expected of you. Bob from College Park (7/23/08) I think what people have been saying about Vibegrrl is unfair. She's very talented & has a really good radio voice. People are entitled to their opinion, but can express themselves in a better way. It is still a human being who lost their job. I think NY will be lucky to have her back. (7/23/08) You are correct Sir or Madam about the Richmond Times Dispatch, my faulty memory. The paper did not change ownership but brought in new management ,which I presume was brought in to cut costs, and savaged the paper to the bone and is definitely a shell of it's former self. But still rely on it for news of happenings in Virginia state government because coverage is so pathetic here in Northern Virginia. If Chris Core is the new Martin Agronsky who's the new Peter Lisagor? And who's the new Jack Nelson? I forget did he appear on Mr. Agronsky's program? I believe he was a guest many times on Panorama. Is Al Roker the new Carl Rowan? Hey I kid. Speaking of Roker, he had a phone in on Good Morning America last week during a cooking segment in which his lovely wife was preparing some potatoe salad.( And why can't you find good potato salad anymore?) Mr Cuomo, a co-host of GMA, was attempting to do battle wisecrack wise with Mr. Roker but you don't mess with a professional Cuomo. Roker just skewered Cuomo with ad libs. Does Michael Scott Shannon sound a bit like Don Imus and the Greasemun? So how we doing on them podcasts of Geronimo? Come on cbs will a week delayed really hurt anything. or maybe Mr. Sorce don't want it? Now that's a "Fight Club" violation! (7/23/08) Ok, I gave-it two days and I've had enough. Don't people know oil doesn't mix with water. If Bruce Gilber