Current Mailbag - Mailbag Archive Index - DCRTV Front Page - Support DCRTV DCRTV Mailbag - November 22 to November 30, 2008 Latest messages listed first..... \/ November 30 Messages \/ (Snippety doo-dah) If I'm not mistaken, WUST transmitted from the rooftop tower down on U St. (Snippety-ay). Is that the truss structure atop the 930 Club? (11/30/08) Yes, AM 1120 WUST transmitted for many years from the old movie theater rooftop. The antenna tower was still up there as of a few months ago. I have the original transmitter, a 1947 Collins 300-G, still on the air and now restored and re-tuned to hobbyist shortwave frequencies where we enjoy conversations about vintage radio. In 1991 when I first saw the transmitter, it was located in the projection room above the balcony in the movie theater. As I poked around trying to figure out how to move 1300 lbs of transmitter, I saw some very old stationery kicking around among the technical documents that listed the 1120 U St. address (W U St., get it ?), which had been a location for at least the business office and studio. I never saw anything to detail any prior transmitter sites. New owners were taking the station in 1991, and planned to move out of the movie theater location to northern Virginia, and were boosting daytime power from 250 watts to 20,000 watts. (11/30/08) (snip) ...two of RKO General's TV stations (WROR-TV/Boston...(End snip) It was WNAC-TV channel 7. It was never WROR. (11/30/08) "As for ThePenIsMightier, does that mean your a dick?" No, PB & Bicknell in the Morning, it means you need an editor. Also, you need to read the site once in a while; the joke has been done. Three of your last four posts have mentioned "he/she", "pantys", and "dick". I suspect people who care about you are concerned, because it sounds like you might have medication issues. I myself am not concerned. -- ThePenIsMightier (11/30/08) (RE Gary Glitter's "Rock n Roll Part II") That tune at Redskins games is trashed by the bent-over UMD fans who have to yell "Hey you suck". This was discussed on WTEM a couple months ago. Leave it at College Park already. Doesn't a Terrapin fan ever grow up? Do you still burn couches? Its as bad as hearing Orioles fans yell "O" during the national anthem at non-baseball events throughout the area. You know who you are. (11/30/08) For those few history buffs who care, the whole sorrowful WGMS format change donnybrook from early 1972 can be viewed through the blurbs of the day at: DCMemories.com... (You'll need to keep scrolling down, down, down to see all seventeen items.) The first bomb was dropped in an "Entertainment/The Arts" article on January 26th, but the ship hit the proverbial sand with a Post editorial on February 7th, which spurred Letters To The Editor and the seeds of a Congressional protest on February 8th. The original plan called for an "interim period of middle of the road sounds" to begin in March for five weeks before the "contemporary format" (i.e. devil's music) would henceforth flow from the 570 KHz AM xmtr. By February 22nd, the station owners had blinked and agreed to extend the classical format for two more months. But, by March 3rd, a hastily granted FCC exception to the non-duplication rule had put an end to RKO-General's proposed corruption of the DC airwaves. (I'm sure the approaching WGMS-FM license renewal of July '72 also played into the equation.) WGMS waved a white flag at their listening public with a three-quarters page Washington Post ad on April 5th. "You'll continue to hear Mahler in your Mercury, Piatigorsky in your Plymouth, and Chavez in your Chevy as you drive." What they didn't go out of their way to explain was why the overnight programming was dropped! (11/30/08) If there's any justice, Bill Drake's eulogy will be short enough to be read over a record intro. (11/30/08) Dave's response: And don't "step on" the vocals..... Silvie, I didn’t mean anything by the comment “know all be all” in fact I appreciate a lot of what you write. Why is everyone so paranoid? You’re opinions are as important as anyones. Sorry about the misunderstanding. Was not meant to be personal. I just notice that you send as much as I do. Agree or disagree, not important. As for ThePenIsMightier, does that mean your a dick? Just asking. And, Silvie, I appreciate you posting your name. I went through a lot of names, granny…Tex…BOBB and it was just for the hell of it…LOL As always it pissed off the thin skinned. PLB (11/30/08) ''How come the Redskins keep playing Gary Glitter's "Rock n Roll Part II" at their games?'' Are you inhaling gas fumes? EVERY stadium and EVERY pro sports team have been playing that for years? It's a classic [and great] Rock and Roll song. Ask any Catholic priest or Cub Scout leader. That song ROCKS! Paul (11/30/08) Yes, where is the Redskins fan who whines about the Ravens getting shoved down their throats in DC. How about the years after the Colts left Baltimore and all the Redskins games getting put on Baltimore TV. Really it doesn't bother me a bit for a couple reasons. First of all I live on the eastern shore where both teams are on TV here every weekend. I also happen to like both teams. Oh and about "Silvie". At least he/she seems to know what he/she is talking about unlike the people who complain all the time. Oh and how bout them Ravens! lol Burt in Denton (11/30/08) The subject of WGMS-AM going Top 40 has been discussed previously on this site, but here is a short reprise: RKO General licensee of WGMS-AM/FM (along with KHJ, KFRC, WRKO, WOR-FM, CKLW and WHBQ) twice planned to flip the classical format of WGMS-AM to a Drake-based Top 40. The first time was in 1968. Harry Averill, VP/GM of WEAM thwarted this attempt by flying to Boston, sequestering himself in a hotel room, and taping WRKO. Harry chose WRKO because it put a ratings beatdown on WMEX, who also owned WPGC. Averill came back to DC, cut his PAMS jingles down to just the call letters, and put his version of the Drake format on WEAM. It was close enough to halt RKO in its tracks. Move ahead to 1972, when WPGC-FM became the dominant Top 40 in the market, and DC's AM Top 40 stations became dead in the water. RKO again decided to flip WGMS-AM. This time, however, the FCC's simulcast rule, which limited the amount of programming that could be duplicated on an AM/FM combo, came into play. RKO General claimed it could not profitably operate separate classical formats on both AM and FM, so it was shifting the AM to Top 40. Paul Drew was transferred from KFRC/SF to be PD. The jock lineup included Charlie Tuna in mornings, Terry Steele in mid-days; Tommy Edwards in PM drive; and Bobby Bennett for nights. The call sign was going to be WROQ. (Stan and Sis Kaplan grabbed the WROQ calls for their FM in Charlotte shortly after the plans for the WGMS-AM format change were dropped.) Jingles had been recorded by Johnny Mann. New studios were being constructed in the basement floor of 5100 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W. Then the shit hit the fan. Local classical music fans bombarded the FCC and Congress with complaints over potentially losing classical music on AM in Washington. To make matters worse, two of RKO General's TV stations (WROR-TV/Boston and KHJ-TV/LA) had their license renewals designated for hearing by the FCC over misconduct by RKO General's parent corporation, General Tire & Rubber. (Old-timers will also remember that format changes could also be grounds for designating a license for hearing in those days.) The FCC made an unprecedented offer to RKO General to approve a waiver of the simulcast rules for WGMS-AM/FM just for the asking. It was a no-brainer as RKO General had no desire to possibly have a third broadcast license designated for renewal hearing. RKO General took the FCC's offer and aborted the format change. A few months later, NBC made the call to switch WRC from MOR to Top 40. In the 1980s, RKO General sold all of its broadcast properties under the FCC's distress sale policy. Maybe one of these days, I'll dig out the newspaper articles on this story, and send them to DCRTV Dave to post on DCRTV Plus. (11/30/08) How come the Redskins keep playing Gary Glitter's "Rock n Roll Part II" at their games? A) Glitter, a convicted pedophile, gets royalties whenever it's played. and B) Didn't the NFL ask teams to stop using the song a couple years ago? It's been pretty obvious that Lil Danny doesn't care who he offends, but I didn't think he'd actually help a child molestor make money. (11/30/08) “In fact most Fish stations are considered the "red-headed stepchild" of the cluster they are in. It is rumored that Salem is returning to what they do best and that is sell time to preachers and just keep the few well performing Fishes going.” It’s an interesting idea and fits with what is going on at the company. So maybe it won’t be Salem that challenges WGTS. But I betcha someone sitting on a full-market FM signal will look at WGTS’s PPMs and at least try to figure out what it would take to make a run at those numbers. Regarding commercials, the “sponsorships” WGTS plays sure sound like spots to me. (11/30/08) Two entirely separate topics...#1 - If I'm not mistaken, WUST transmitted from the rooftop tower down on U St., not the old insulated WBCC tower on the Kenwood golf course. The series fed Kenwood AM tower came down seven or eight years ago (more?) and was replaced by a sturdier galvanized grounded tower to accomodate government owned radio tenants who required a better tower. It will have to use folded unipole outrigger wires to transmit AM. #2 - I saw the full page Sirius-XM newspaper ad and was disappointed but not surprised to see that of all the channels they were touting, NONE targeted a listener of refined taste. No classical, nothing appealing to a person with an education. Present day radio: of, by and for the unsophisticated rabble. And anybody who criticizes me automatically puts himself in that category. Hahahaha. I'm not even signing this one with a pseudonym! (11/30/08) PLB: I've never claimed to be an expert on media matters, have I? In fact, I just wrote to Dave on 11/27 that I appreciate his site because I "live vicariously" through radio & other media personalities (thru this site). I'm just a mom from the 'burbs posting an opinion and apparently rattling some nerves in the process, which is fine by me. And I don't have the need to write 'anonymous posts to myself', either because frankly I don't give a rat's behind what you or anyone else thinks about my posts. Like the sayin' goes: "Eat 'em for breakfast; spit 'em out by lunch and move on..." Go Redskins! -Silvie- (11/30/08) So if PPMs say that nobody's listening to WJFK, then how did two of its shows get represented as turkeys? Something doesn't add up. (11/30/08) PB & Bicknell in The Morning: Sylvie, Sylvie, Sylvie. No one but you has said "know all tell all" or "know-all, be-all" about her and certainly no one thinks it. Why are you trying to turn a poster on a message board into a media celebrity? - "pull your pantys down and wipe yourself and stop looking for baseless arguments" - What exactly does that mean? You misspelled "panties" twice in that post. If I'm looking for a baseless argument, these days I search for "PLB". ---ThePenIsMightier (11/30/08) Arnie noted the early evolution of the 1120Kc AM station. The District's African-American population burgeoned following the end of World War II, and one of the first stations to aim squarely at that growing audience was WUST which changed format, city of license (formerly Bethesda), and call letters (formerly WBCC) at the end of 1951. Read about it in the Washington Post of March 1, 1952: DCMemories.com... Check-out the left margin of that article for a list of operating area stations of that time. (11/30/08) The planned WGMS-AM format shift to Drake-Chenault Top 40 would have taken place sometime in the spring or summer of 1972, before WRC made its change. That didn't take place until the fall, IIRC. Had WGMS gone Top 40, it would have been interesting, because it had a better 24-hour signal than WEAM, and WPGC was daytime-only AM (though FM was growing in impact at this time). At 570, WGMS could have been the big-signal AM Top 40 station the Washington market had long lacked; WRC sort of assumed this status when it went Top 40, but I sense Drake-Chenault would have made WGMS a much tighter sound. And imagine if WGMS had done this in 1968, before RKO got cold feet. -- Vincent in Triangle (11/30/08) PLB...you still don't understand. Silive posts her opinions on local media issues on a local media issues board. On not a single post of hers does she claim she is an authority on local media issues. Since you missed this the first time you are likely going to miss it the second time so let me repeat. PLB, Silvie posts her opinions on local media issues on a local media board. I hope after 3 times you get it this time! Good Luck!! (11/30/08) One of Bill Drake's most successful efforts was 93/KHJ-Boss Radio in Los Angeles. Here's a link about Drake and that legendary station. woodygoulart.com... If I recall correctly, after WRC-AM (The Great 98) hit the DC airwaves in 1972, with Top 40, there were plans for WGMS-AM to be outfitted with a Drake-Chenault format, which would have given Washington four rock & roll stations: WEAM, WPGC, WRC and WGMS. At the time, WGMS-AM&FM played classical and it was popular with quite a few movers & shakers in DC. Their opposition to such a format change on 570-AM (along with other factors) kept that from happening, as noted here woodygoulart.com... Maybe someone will post the local newspaper articles about that episode, because I remember it being quite a brouhaha. (11/30/08) I just reviewed the application to the FCC by WAVA-AM on 780 Khz to increase its power from 5,000 watts to 12,000 watts. A footnote on Page 2 of the application's "Engineering Packet" states the following concerning its proposed transmitter site l(with 12,000 watts) located in Bethesda, MD: "The proposed site was once used by WUST, 1120 Khz, Washington, DC". When WUST was using this Bethesda site, it had a power of only 250 watts. The station began as a Bethesda-Chevy Chase station with, I think, the call of WBCC. At some point in time, it began serving Washington's inner city residents from its transmitter located in Bethesda, and was doing so with only 250 watts. It had studios in the inner city. Once I monitored WUST with its 250 watts as I drove to Charlottesville, VA. There was an intelligible signal until about 15 miles north of Charlottesville. This seems like fantastic coverage for only 250 watts in Bethesda, MD. Check with Dave Loudon, but I think that the lower frequency of 780 Khz instead of 1120 Khz will also cause the ground coverage to be greater even without the increased power. Arnie (11/30/08) Dave, do you have the ratings figures for WAVA 105.1 in the evening? If what you report is true, then it might make it feasible to shed the FM signal for Salem. However, I don't think Salem would do so unless there were compelling reasons to do so. Simply because Dan Snyder wants the signal is never a compelling reason. -- GAB in the Airless Cubicle (11/30/08) Dave's response: In the latest weekly PPMs, age 12+, WAVA-FM placed 23rd with a 0.5 share in evenings..... Silvie has just got to stop posting those anonymous messages defending herself. It's so, well .... "un-Plante"-like. :-) [Heavens no, this isn't Joe in Essex] (11/30/08) It’s funny, you ask an honest question and “BAM” someone’s panty’s get in an uproar. The question I posted about Silvie was honest. I didn’t, and still don’t know exactly what makes HER the know all tell all of the media? I have read posts by her and to me she’s just as opinionated as me, you, anyone. But, that doesn’t make her an expert any more than it does you or me. With that said, pull your pantys down and wipe yourself and stop looking for baseless arguments. PS: The Chris Plante mention was a joke. Oh, by the way I DO sign my posts, noticed you didn’t.PLB:0) (11/30/08) Question for the techies: What kind of range should an AM station expect when it goes to light bulb power - 25 to 100 watts - at night? Are there enough listeners to justify keeping the station on the air at night? (11/30/08) Dave's response: Check out the night pattern of Dan Snyder's Spanish sports talk WXTR on 730 AM at radio-locator.com which is 25-watts after dark. I doubt you'd get much of a listenable signal past the red contour due to skywave interference from other stations..... RE: Salem and Fish - Salem is not going to spend the money to put a Fish on in this market or any other. Houston's non-comm KSBJ also does well in PPM and Salem hasn't come flying in. Let's face it Fish is on the way out. They only have 10 Fish stations left. Only 3 or 4 are semi successful in ratings (yes even the 25-54 aren't as good as most think) and almost no success selling ad time. KLTY, Dallas was doing this for a long time before Salem which is why they are still top in billing and ok in the ratings it is a "Heritage Station" that Salem inherited, has nothing to do with the Fish format. Even then most of the Fish billing (KLTY does the best of them) is quite poor compared to Salem's News Talk or Christian Talk they have in the same markets. Remember they have to restrict many of who they sell ad time to, which is what hurts.. In fact most Fish stations are considered the "red-headed stepchild" of the cluster they are in. It is rumored that Salem is is returning to what they do best and that is sell time to preachers and just keep the few well performing Fishes going. (11/30/08) (RE WGTS:) “Atlanta 13th place, Dallas 12th place, Los Angeles 34th place. Portland 16th place, Nashville 15th place (12+)” Tell me the 25-54F numbers, then you’ll have a case. In Dallas particularly (KLTY), they’re regularly a top five, and one of the top billers in the market. (11/30/08) re: your post this morning about Salem and WAVA-FM. they would be crazy to sell their FM and keep a higher powered AM signal since they can't operate their AM signal at night with 12KW, they would have to drop to something like 100 watts, so I don't think even 'they' are quite that stupid, but ... maybe not, in this business now, anything can happen! (11/30/08) Is a henway like a Greek urn? ($7.50 an hour) (11/30/08) Condoleneces to the Webster family on the passing of Doc, a truly talented and unique man. Doc, sorry I missed you at Dad's funeral - may the Lord keep you, JR, and my father all at his side. And to Pat (Dave, that's CORRADO!) and Ted Troxell - please pop by during the holidays. You were two of Dad's dearest friends, and Mom would love to see you again. God Bless You All, Eric 'In Alabamastan' Enderle (11/30/08) (With all due respect to the work WGTS has done, they'd be no match for a commercial CCM station staffed by experienced major-market pros...) People listen to, and support WGTS so they don't have to be exposed to commercials. WAVA would have to support themselves by selling spots. The best Salem can do in Atlanta with this format is 13th place, Dallas 12th place, Los Angeles 34th place. Portland 16th place, Nashville 15th place (12+) OBVIOUSLY the "pros" at Salem have a much better handle on things for this format, right? (11/30/08) RE: "...did anyone catch it when Al Roker gave Matt Lauer a henway on live tv(!)?" Desired response: "What's a henway?" Typical answer: "Oh, about six pounds." Jockularity ensues. (11/30/08) Pam Ward is a wonderful sportscaster..and the first ( if I'm not mistaken) woman to do play-by-play on a network. She has earned her dues and does a quality job. I'm just sorry she couldn't have called a terp victory today. (11/30/08) /\ November 30 Messages /\ \/ November 29 Messages \/ PLB really knows how to stir the pot doesn't he. Sylvie is somebody who has an opinion on local media issues and she posts her opinions on a message board about local media issues. While everybody may not agree with her she is not shy and doesn't back down from her opinions. I guess you weren't able to figure that out from reading her various posts. Now please entertain us with some blah blah blah about how awesome you are because you sign your name to all of your posts. (11/29/08) Pam Ward doing the Maryland fb game, huh? Well, I guess that's what Title IX, the EEO and political correctness has given us. I almost turned the sound completely off. It was one god-awful, painful broadcast to listen to. (11/29/08) I doubt Salem sells WAVA at any price. They have cut expenses to the bone, they pay people squat, and have an amazing renewal rate, with nice premiums, from the preachers and others who put their programs on the station. They would not be able to charge those premiums on an AM stick, or even on some combination of AM and FM. The only way they can get the big bucks from the program providers is on the booming, full-market FM stick. If they sell or trade the signal, it means there’s some structural problem in the company that is bigger than anyone is imagining right now. I think it’s more likely they are buyers, and put their Fish format on a signal like 106.7 or 105.9. They must be looking at WGTS’s PPM numbers and salivating about the money to be made if that format was done professionally. With all due respect to the work WGTS has done, they’d be no match for a commercial CCM station staffed by experienced major-market pros. (11/29/08) Thanks for the information concerning Silivie?????? Another question: Who’s Chris Plante? LOL PLB (11/29/08) Dave's response: He does WMAL's 9 AM to 11:45 AM slot..... Assuming that the mailbag writer is referring to the ABC broadcast, the Maryland football game play-by-play is being done by Pam Ward. Everett W. (11/29/08) At 5:51 pm on Sat. Nov. 29, some lady named Helen called in to take Bill Flanagan to task for his profanity, and he apologized to her, saying he misspoke because he was so passionate about the issues involved (my paraphrase). I wanted to give him credit for that. It's still fun to catch people using naughty words, and anyone who complains to the FCC is a dumbass. -- ThePenIsMightier (11/29/08) Who on earth is the squeaky-voiced, I-sound-like-I'm-13, play-by-play announcer for the Maryland game? I'd rather listen to nails screeching on a blackboard. (11/29/08) Just want to say kudos to Johnny Holliday. i was wondering if he would jet up to Chestnut Hill or not for Terps football. Sure enough he did. very professional. hes headed back down to Orlando for terps/Gtown tomorrow. i just think its great he's doing both. (11/29/08) At 5:13 pm on Saturday Nov. 29 Bill Flanagan, substituting for Bob Brinker on the Money Program, referred to GM's products as "shitty cars" on AM 630 WMAL. I'm as right wing as they get and I like WMAL, but it's fun to catch people using profanities. C-SPAN likes to say "shit" too. For that matter, so do I. You know what cocktails at Brian Lamb's house would be? It'd be a hoot, that's what it'd be! To Peanut Butter and Bicknell, Sylive has never claimed to be a "be-all" or whatever it is you stumbled off the couch to type. A reasonable reader would take her to be an avid radio listener with strong opinions. I have heard her on the air, and I can say she has a delightful voice and manner. I have to say, though, since you are the professional that you are in your profession, that I was sadly disappointed by the grammatical and punctuation errors in your post: you failed to close quotes, and you apparently chose to disregard proper use of the objective case, perhaps out of enthusiasm for the term "he/she"? There are he/she boards out there, you know.--- The PenIsMightier (11/29/08) PLB: didn't you know that Silvie is the see-all/know-all of not only all local media but of all things, everywhere at any time. Well, at least she (yep, it's a she) thinks she is. Just ask Chris Plante. (11/29/08) Salem applied to the FCC to more than double WAVA AM 780's power from 5000 watts to 12,000 watts daytime. If approved, this would rectify some of the lost signal in NoVA when the transmitter was moved from NoVA to the WTGB site while even adding some coverage to Baltimore for the first time. As usual, this will probably make one wonder if Salem might consider selling WAVA 105.1 if they had a comparably powerful AM signal and/or even some of Danny Snyder's FMs. (11/29/08) Wow! On the NBC coverage of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, did anyone catch it when Al Roker gave Matt Lauer a henway on live tv(!)? (11/29/08) According to www.the506.com, it appears the Washington market will not have an early NFL game on CBS tomorrow, meaning no CBS doubleheader, and no Ravens game on WUSA 9. However, the Baltimore market will have a CBS doubleheader. I'm assuming this is because the Redskins are at home while the Ravens are away, but I don't think I'll ever completely figure out these wacky NLF TV rules. But, where is that mailbagger/Skins whiner who always claims the Ravens are getting shoved down the DC area's throats again? LOL (11/29/08) I have to agree that the local media coverage of the Redskins is poor, with the general exception of Comcast Sportnet's news shows. But there are alternatives. There is a whole world of blogs and message boards out there were you can get all kinds of unfiltered coverage. One owner in this town gets it. His team was generally shunted aside by the local media when they were bad and even ridiculed by some of the clowns on the local sportstalk station. But this owner was smart. He didn't waste much time on old media, embraced the new technology, welcomed bloggers and developed a fabulous website. Now, his team is in first place, his is the local team with the best shot at a championship and the arena is constantly packed. And when one goes to the games, one is struck by the large number of 20 and 30 something fans that are there, which certainly bodes well for the long term. The owner is Ted Leonsis and the team is the Washington Capitals. (11/29/08) When that Fosters Imaginary Friends Float came on!!!! www.youtube.com (11/29/08) Anyone know why there's no 4PM or 4:15PM NFL game being televised in Baltimore on Sunday? (11/29/08) Another good station to listen to for Xmas music is WOGL 98.1(Philadelphia). And if you want to listen to holiday music without commercials..try going to aol.com, click on their aol radion icon and you will find lots of different types of holiday music to choose from. Burt in Denton (11/29/08) I have a question: What makes this “Silvie” think he/she is the “know-all, be-all of the media? Sylvie seems to think that all of his/her statements are gospel? I have never heard anything profound about he/she. Is Silvie some kind of broadcast guru that none of us have ever heard, seen or cared about? Just asking. PLB (11/29/08) Have a question...I realize the quality of local sports coverage has sunk to an all-time low...Brett Haber and Jill Sorenson prove that on a daily basis. However, do you realize how uncomfortable it is to watch "Redskins Nation" on Comcast Sportsnet? Larry Michael does his best Michael Jordan imitation..looking at the camera and letting you know he's the almighty king of Redskins.com TV. Many of his former co-workers at Westwood One have commented through the years how Larry mis-treated them and he's unprofessional. Dave, I don't like to judge people based on "hear-say" but now I see their point. I've been a Redskins' fan all my life and don't enjoy the local coverage. The only shows worth watching are "Redskins Gameday" on Channel 5 and the long-running "Redskins Report" on Channel 4. Why? Because the talent on those programs make the viewers feel part of the team. I guess Dan Snyder will only hire people with same level of ego as himself. I hope he realizes that's sending many fans away from the radio and TV. (11/29/08) rickroll: a prank played on an unsuspecting web surfer. snip: ...the most Awesomest Rickroll ever!!!! On the Macy's Parade on TV!!! (End snip) Now that we know what a "rickroll" is, ould the poster please inform us as which "rickroll" he/she was referring to? (11/29/08) Dave--I keep hearing a daytime WTOP News signal on 1070 AM, but I can't find anything online to ID it. I have also heard a daytime signal on 1630 AM that runs a continuous loop of an ad from Northern Virginia Community College, so I suspect it is a low power signal coming from the Annandale campus (the Woodbridge campus is close to me but as far as I know they don't have facilities for an AM signal). Do you, or anybody else, know who these mystery stations could be? Thanks, DLP in Woodbridge (11/29/08) Dave's response: WTOP is on 1050 from Silver Spring (the old Federal News Radio frequency). Don't know why you'd be hearing it on 1070, unless your receiver's slightly out of whack..... RE: WCEI/96.7 usually plays all Christmas music on the weekends starting on Black Friday, at least that has been their practice. If I understood them correctly, (and maybe I didn't)..but seems as though I heard them say they'd be playing Christmas music right on through until Christmas Day! I may have misheard! Tom in Denton, MD. P.S. Yes..I know about 107.1 and 104.7. But if WCEI is doing this too, I think it's a "first" for them! (11/29/08) Man, that was the most Awesomest Rickroll ever!!!! On the Macy's Parade on TV!!! Did anyone see it??? (11/29/08) I doubt that the paparazzi was knocking down Gurvir's or Tom's doors back during their courtship days, or rummaging through their trash or the National Enquirer following them to bathroom stalls to extract any info from them. They didn't come out in the open about their relationship simply because they weren't asked. No one has to volunteer any info, especially to this site or others (Sorry, Dave!), if they don't want to. -Silvie- (11/29/08) (RE turkeys:) Come on folks - Let's put Larry Michael over the top! Booting the voice of three super bowl wins - Frank Herzog - off the air? I haven't listened to a skins game on the radio since.... (11/29/08) /\ November 29 Messages /\ \/ November 28 Messages \/ Tom in Denton: Yeah Christmas abounds here on the Eastern Shore. On the Mid-Shore 96-7 WCEI is doing their All-Christmas Weekend, 107-1 The Duck will be All-Christmas I believe until Dec 26th as they have the last few years. On the Lower Shore Q105 is All-Christmas and my sister station 107-7 Joe-FM is doing an all-Christmas weekend. -Michael P (11/28/08) I wanted to thank those who posted responses to my original post of November 26, 2008 about 1970s WLMD Radio 900. Yes, I did do a “brain fart” when I mis-identified Lee Parr as Lee Paris. I do remember Lee telling me stories about broadcast owner Richard Eaton although I don’t remember any of the specifics. The story about the toilet flushing causing technical difficulties at Channel 14 was way too funny. Who would have thought? Sorry to learn of Lee’s passing. To John Pinckney who posted about WLMD’s “Confidentially Feminine”, I was the board engineer for the program hosted by Art Gliner. The program was WLMD’s early venture into talk radio before the station switched to the all telephone talk format. Your recollections of the program are also mine…pretty tame although it did get a lot of buzz at the time. I still have my copy of the Washington Post Potomac Magazine edition where Art Gliner and Confidentially Feminine made the cover story. To Vincent in Triangle, Feminine Forum was the show that Confidentially Feminine was patterned after as I do recall the references at the station made to Bill Balance. To the poster who filled me in on Dennis Richards, I forgot but I do now remember he owned the shop in Crofton following his release from WLMD. Sorry to learn of John Christopher’s passing. John also did news at the station. As an update to my original post, further internet search found Steve Blaufeld (air name Steve Michaels) in Rockville, and Linda Kelly’s post in the dcrtv archives regarding Jennifer Wagner and the WYRE photo. I believe Davey Jones worked briefly at WLMD if Linda Kelly and I are talking about the same Dave Jones. And the link to Ken Merson Person’s bio was interesting. The “too cute” photo of Ken is exactly as I remember him in the 1970s at WLMD. I see Ken has a banner ad on this website. I am glad time has been good to him. Richard Dahms (11/28/08) Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving! It was nice being able to catch some of the Mike O'Meara Show on Rt. 50 and I-97 on my way home on Wednesday night, sounds like those guys are still having a blast. Its funny I just saw Don (or at least it sure looked like him) on his moped in OC the other day. Kudos to Ken Weiman on 105-7 The Fan, he does a good job. To Joe Kasell: I played the 2 minute WKRP clip followed by As God as My Witness I Thought Turkey's could fly clip twice on my Thanksgiving show on Wednesday, that will never get old! To Rich in Baltimore: Sorry to have missed Mike Seidel at the game, if I had known, I would have said hi! Yeah he is remembered well down here and I have had him on my show a few times when serious weather has been near or on the ground. Wonder if Craig Heist knew he was there, that would have been a cool 100 KHI reunion. -Michael Popovec (Mike Bradley) (11/28/08) Re: the comment about Gurvir and Tom being local and A-Rod and Madonna being internationally known, does that mean that local anchors cannot discuss their personal lives, but can shamlessly go on and on about others? (11/28/08) With all your mentions of Borders recently, you might be interested in the latest news: www.nytimes.com (11/28/08) I'm guessing that Vincent in Triangle was not an actual listener to "Radio 9" in 1972. He is correct that a "Feminine Forum" syndicated radio show made the rounds in the early 1970s, hosted by the late Bill Ballance. However, the Laurel version, broadcast weekday mornings on WLMD was titled "Confidentially Feminine" and hosted by Art Gliner... an ex-DJ imported from San Antonio, Texas. A four-page profile of Art's show by writer Marion Clark was published in the Washington Post's Potomac Magazine on July 30, 1972 under the title: "Sex Confessions, Giggles, Balzac and 10,000 One-Liners"... "Women, in and out of love have secrets to tell. Now, thanks to a new breed of radio show such as 'Confidentially Feminine' in Washington, some of can tell them to the whole city." (By the way, Gliner debuted his controversial Laurel show in May of '72. A month later, Hurricane Agnes submerged the 900KHz AM studios along the banks of the Patuxent. Was God punishing station owner Alex Sheftell?) (11/28/09) WCEI/96.7 usually plays all Christmas music on the weekends starting on Black Friday, at least that has been their practice. Also add 107.1/ the duck as playing Christmas music all the time as well as 104.7(WQHQ) in Salisbury. Happy Holidays to all. Oh and when did Don O Brien return to 94.3? Burt in Denton (11/28/08) (RE turkey:) x-guv ehrlich,man as "political consultant" on baltimore's wmar-tv2. (11/28/08) In case anybody is interested (I know how most feel about 24-7 Christmas music)..well here's another one to add: WCEI in Easton (96.7) apparently started their's today; at least they waited until after Thanksgiving Day! I don't have a problem with stations running all Christmas music..but a lot of them start way too early! I don't remember WCEI having "all Christmas" programming; just discovered it a little while ago..it's Friday, 3:40 at time of writing. Tom in Denton, MD (11/28/08) Re: "Ballance is probably best known for his work in Los Angeles radio" He's probably better known in recent years for showing America WAY too much of a former girlfriend, syndicated advice harpy "Dr." Laura Schlessinger... (11/28/08) Re: "Uh, Gurvir, your divorce was final, Tom's divorce was final, so why were YOU so reluctant to "put it out there" that you two were seeing each other because obviously you were since you're now married." Umm, Gurvir and Tom are local news anchors, and Madonna and Alex Rodriguez are internationally known? Just a guess. (11/28/08) Did anyone happen to make the mistake of TRYING to watch the Rosie O'Donnell horror show? It was the most boring un-funny hour of television I've ever experienced. In fact, it was as bad as the Thanksgiving Football, also B-O-R-I-N-G. I endured about 21 minutes of Rosie, about 12 minutes of football then went to the History Channel and fell asleep watching something! (11/28/08) Interesting comment by Gurvir Dhindsa today..They were talking about the alleged relationship between Alex Rodriguez & Madonna..So, Gurvir says "Madonna's divorce is final, Alex's divorce is final, so why not just put it out there you two are together"..Uh, Gurvir, your divorce was final, Tom's divorce was final, so why were YOU so reluctant to "put it out there" that you two were seeing each other because obviously you were since you're now married..Just sayin'.. (11/28/08) That "Confidentially Feminine" program mentioned in the mailbag yesterday was actually called "Feminine Forum," and was a syndicated sensation in the early 1970s (though by today's standards it was indeed tame). The host was Bill Ballance, a radio veteran dating back to the 1950s (in fact, he wrote the liner notes for Julie London's first album, "Julie Is Her Name," when he was at a station in Denver). Ballance is probably best known for his work in Los Angeles radio; he was a disc jockey at KFWB for much of its 1958-68 Top 40 heyday. I've heard some airchecks of him from this time, and he sounded very smooth, easy to listen to. He passed away a few years ago. -- Vincent in Triangle (11/28/08) "Sip a D"? That one's not even in Urban Dictionary yet. Is that a variant of "suck a d***"? (11/28/08) Today Ron Riley of (News channel 8) who is retiring announced that starting on Monday his replacement will be Joe Witte (former weekend weather anchor for News channel 8, WJLA Channel 7) I am glad he is coming back on air he is very knowledgeable about the weather. Ron, Congrats on your retirement I know you will enjoy it you have proven that you can work in any market there is nothing else more you need then to sleep in you will be missed. (11/28/08) Dave, step aside for a moment if you will, with your complaints about where Borders keeps their newspapers. Knave of the Week, first of the Obama era, is the Washington Post. Why? For charging $1.50 for the Thursday issue, which was the same as any other Thursday issue with the exception of the inserts. So now we're expected to pay for advertisements? Advertisements which the advertisers have already paid for? Ms. Weymouth can sip a D. It would be a shame if Washington Post vending machines were gently closed so they didn't latch after depositing the CUSTOMARY 50 CENTS FOR A WEEKDAY PAPER. Deborah Howell. Deborah Howell. Deborah Howell. Can be reached at: ombudsman@washpost.com -- ThePenIsMightier (11/28/08) Regarding a news item on the front page: Anyone that buys a book by Michael Olesker needs to have their heads examined (or Baltimore Examinered). Why doesn't Olesker write about something he knows more about, like plagiarism and how it has rocked the print media in recent years? Olesker betrayed the public trust while at the Sun and has always been more hot air than substance. What comedy it was to find that the little substance he had was either stolen or just plain made up. His employment and that of Keith Mills speaks volumes about how truly absent of talent the Baltimore market must be. -Charm City Radio (11/28/08) I was told that a former co-worker of mine, Jim "Doc" Webster died today in Cumberland. He was a local on-air personality from WTBO, WUOK and WCBC, as well as a salesperson. He was a Cumberland "institution" going back to the 50's. (11/28/08) While watching channel 7 today, they popped up a "Mazda" slide with what sounded like a very simple voice-over commercial. At the bottom was what appeared to be a station ID: "WJLA TV/DT Washington, D.C. WWTD LP Washington, D.C." I know DT is 7's digital channel... but could not remember what WWTD was. Can someone enlighten? Thanks! - Max in Mild West Arlington (11/28/08) Dave's response: DCRTV reported a while back that Channel 7 had signed a lease agreement with low-power Channel 49/WWTD to continue to air an analog signal after the digital switch-over. WWTD had aired that UFO TV network. I guess 7's now available on 49..... Depressing comments from Sam Zell, who, through the Tribune Co., owns the Baltimore Sun: www.mediabistro.com (11/28/08) /\ November 28 Messages /\ \/ November 27 Messages \/ ATTN: Richard Dahms: Ken Merson's broadcasting resume since leaving Radio-9 (along with a "too cute" photo from 1975) can be observed at Bob Mathers' site: www.ultimateoldiesradio.com (11/27/08) Local Media Turkeys… Ahhh… there are so many worthy nominees. How about Mel Karmazin (And alleged “leaders” like him…) for starters? There’s no doubt a special place in hell for cretins who would layoff people responsible for your success as close to the holidays as he has. Or, who would have the audacity to refer to layoffs as a part of “growth” and “success”. For those who would do this, may the misery you inflict on the employees that you cast aside (and their families) during a time which should be joyous be inflicted upon you, your families, and your companies and be multiplied seventy times seven fold for all time and eternity. Then again, how about those at $hitadel who’ve done unto “ABC Radio”, that which has turned it into only an intellectually and financially charred shell of its former greatness? How about Gannett, which has all but installed an actual revolving door to replace the figurative one in the News Director’s office at WUSA? Face it, the glory da ys of “Eyewitness News” are gone. Perhaps there’s a “new generation” Hank Yaggi out there who can turn things around at WUSA. But, I doubt it. Gannett discourages that kind of creativity. There’s also NBC/U, so richly deserving for their sale of the tower and transmitter facilities of what little is left of the once great WRC. Finally, there’s Dan Snyder. Dan Snyder aspires to the class that was Jack Kent Cooke, but proves daily with his motley group of radio stations and the performance of his football team that class is like respect. It cannot ever be bought. It cannot be learned. It can only be earned. But, in closing perhaps the greatest “turkey” of all has yet to be nominated! Why? Because, as I type this. there are still 34 days left in this calendar year. And I fear that something even worse than perhaps all of these combined may well come to pass before the books are closed on 2008… Unsigned Corporate Suit (And, I’d love to see the nomination(s) of my sister- in-sen timent, “Legs”!) (11/27/08) Hi Guys! Not for nothing… but your Biggest Turkey in Radio can’t be first annual. It can be inaugural and first ever….and I am quite sure next year…you can tout the 2nd annual! (11/27/08) For the person reminiscing about WLMD… Not too long ago I heard Bob Gotkin as a media spokesperson for PEPCO. I’ve also heard him doing traffic at Sirius/XM. Before that, he was over at Metro Networks doing the same schtick. Only difference is, when he does the traffic for L.A.. he occasionally mispronounces some of the street names! (Then again, so do many of the others on Sirius/XM…) And, let’s not forget that WLMD was perhaps the first to debut a “hot talk” format in either the D.C. or Baltimore markets! Back around 19721 or 1972, They had a program called “Confidentially Feminine” or something like that, IIRC. I listened to it a couple of times (When home “sick” from school! (Usually on Mondays after being up from midnight until 4 or 5 in the morning chasing DX on the AM broadcast band…) and found it rather tame for the most part! It aired from about 10-Noon and was a pretty tame sex-talk show which primarily talked about callers talking about their relationships … and only occasionally about sex! . Certainly nothing like Dr. Ruth or anything like that. But, it did blaze the trail for the similar show that Scott Burton later did on WWDC when Avco had it. And, a Happy Thanksgiving to all in DCRTV-land! -John Pinckney (11/27/08) Dear Dave: A classic clip from "WKRP in Cincinnati." www.broadcaster.com... Arthur "Big Guy" Carlson will live forever! Great Site Dave! Happy Thanksgiving everybody! Sincerely, Joe Kasell (11/27/08) Dave, Best wishes for a healthy and happy Thanksgiving. With all the complaining about the corporate mess that is terrestrial and sat radio these days, I give you the future of radio: www.theradio.com (minus the tracking) Enjoy! (11/27/08) To supplement Richard Dahms' post about WLMD-AM, his memory is slightly fuzzy about "Lee Paris (Chief Engineer)". He is actually remembering Lee Sutherland Parr who arrived at swampy Radio 9 via Richard Eaton's United Broadcasting Company. Lee would tell how he had begged old Mr. Eaton to turn over the programming of his money-losing UHF stations (WFAN-TV 14 in DC and WMET-TV 24 in Baltimore) to local community groups who would be able to fill the airwaves on the cheap while also providing a ready-made audience in a pre-cable "local access" format. Instead, Eaton (who was often known to shoot himself in the foot), defiantly let both youies go "dark" and the FCC reclaimed the licenses without compensation to UBC. Lee also would recount how the announced debut of Eaton's Channel-14 (originally WOOK-TV) was repeatedly delayed in 1963 while engineering bugs were worked-out. One huge problem was that the transmitter would suddenly shut down, and after a long period of trial and error, it was finally determined that the cooling system would fail whenever the toilet was flushed. As published in the Baltimore Sun of 3/2/2007, Lee Parr died quietly among friends in Amherst, VA.on February 26, 2007 at the age of 77. (11/27/08) Let's see. Albert Einstein was retarded, Muhammad Ali was a pussy, Frank Sinatra was gay, Chuck Yeager had no balls, and Salma Hayek is butt-ugly. There have to be a few more astute observations we can pass along to the cretin who described Ella Fitzgerald as "mediocre." It's unbelievable what you can read in this mailbag some days! Happy Thanksgiving Dave. (11/27/08) Dave I thought that you would want to know that for the fourteenth consecutive Thanksgiving I will NOT join in any family gathering on this day. Long history and I won't bore you with it. Instead at noon I will descend into my basement with the two turkey sandwiches that I purchased yesterday. Awaiting me is a large cooler filled with the thirty pack of Milwaukee's Best that has been on ice since yesterday and my 13" tv. I will then spend the next twelve hours watching "Dirty Jobs" on the Discovery Channel. Don't call me because I won't answer. (11/27/08) Dave's response: Gee, I didn't know you had a cable line into the basement. I thought you'd be stuck watching "Maury" on 50..... The news of CBS Radio asking some of their high-priced talent to take cuts in salary is interesting. Yes, if I were making as much as some of these guys, I may be willing to take a little less to help others (producers, jocks, office staff, etc) from losing their jobs, but there's no word of the company asking the management execs to give up some of their salaries or the top-billling sales people to give up some of their commission. I wonder how much of a cut in pay Dan Mason is taking! If it's only talent being asked to sacrifice then it is certainly not right! Why is it always Programming that suffers????? (11/27/08) (RE turkey:) More of a generic turkey for this time of year – any news organization that has a Day after Thanksgiving Black Friday shopping story, but uses as bumper/intro music Steely Dan’s “Black Friday”. (11/27/08) CBS is cutting big salaries everywhere if they are not seeing or projecting a good return on investment. Eddie And Jobo in Chicago just got it. Opie And Anthony just lost more than half their salary to continue in NYC and Boston. A longtime, big name talent in Minneapolis was just asked to take a 10% paycut. And countless more lesser known disc jockeys have been let go. That is why there is nothing but panic and mayhem in Fairfax. The Sports Junkies, Big O And Dukes, and Mike O'Meara are all freaking out. And rightfully so. CBS honchos have lost faith and no one can defend them. See you guys later. (11/27/08) (RE turkey:) Big O and Dukes for consistently talking about nothing. The worst show in the area right now (11/27/08) On a personal note, I want to thank DCRTV Dave on this Thanksgiving Day (on behalf of myself and the DCRTV Mailbag) for always being there, day in and day out, with the important and interesting news relating to our area's radio & TV that we all care about. I've learned a lot from this site and Dave is a great and unique provider of this info. I often wish that I was 20 years younger and had started a career in radio. Now that I'm in my mid-40's, I live vicariously through radio personalities and other news items posted on this site. Have a great day, Dave! -Silvie in Waldorf- (11/27/08) Dave's response: Awwww shucks! Thanks Silvie!!! The 1630 rebroadcast of the Hagerstown NOAA station is most likely from the Traveler Information Radio transmitter on top of South Mountain on I-70 at the Frederick/Washington county line, which is on that frequency and broadcasts weather when there's no emergency info. That's pretty good coverage for a low-power station if it was being received in Rockville (11/27/08) Dave's response: I think I've heard that station in Fairfax, too..... I enjoy listening to NJ1015 esp the 10 - 2 show Dennis & Judi when I get the chance. Tonight logging on to the web page so I can listen on the web (Live in DC area) I noticed that Judi is no longer on web page, They now have teamed up the evening DJ (Michelle Pilenza) with Dennis Any idea if this is permanent? Thought you might be able to find something out with your contact Thanks in advance... Rick Drew (11/27/08) (regarding a previous post) Richard Dahms' post about WLMD mentioned quite a few names and stirred some nice memories of some nice people! A while back, I sent DCRTV Dave a copy of a newspaper item from AM-900's "Talk of the Capital" days and an interview with midday host, Dennis Richards. After leaving WLMD, Dennis and a partner ran a flower & gift shop in Crofton. He also wrote at least two novels, which I don't think were ever published. I read one of the manuscripts and I thought it quite good. Sadly, Dennis fell ill with ALS in the late 70s. I lost touch with him in the late-80s. I think someone posted here, at least five years ago, that Ed Hartley worked behind-the-scenes as a technician of some sort, for one of the nationally syndicated TV talk shows. I remember Ed from overnights at WWDC-AM and weekday afternoons at WPIK, in the early 70s. Before that, he was Johnny Holliday's engineer at WWDC. Last I heard, Scott Standiford worked in the engineering department at WRC TV/Radio. Someone Richard didn't mention is John Christopher, who ran the board for Dennis Richards' Saturday show. He was also news director at WMOD (later WMZQ) and was fired after Viacom purchased the station. In 1981, while in Cleveland Ohio for a job interview at a station there, John suffered a fatal heart attack. (11/27/08) I like WTMD well enough, and being commercial free is a big added bonus, but WRNR is a much better station in my opinion. WTMD is too folksy and sleepy for me. WRNR plays a bit more rock-alternative tunes and less acoustic types, and the airstaff seems more with it. It is nice having the two of them on my dial though and both are pretty good stations. (11/27/08) The more I listen to Sirius XM, the more I feel ripped off by Uncle Mel, and by the FCC and DoJ which approved this lousy merger. He has butchered the great stations and creative staff at XM, and plugged in the least interesting, most pedestrian, repetitive programming imaginable. XM73, High Standards, was the most interesting, eclectic mix of artists and styles, with the incomparable Jonathan Schwartz. This evening, I heard lousy songs by Johnny Mathis, Vic Damone, and Ella Fitzgerald, in that same order in the 7p and 10p hours. No announcers. Just a juke box playing mediocre music, by mediocre stars, apparently in random order. And, the Sinatra tracks that they play are far from his best. And, Discovery won't pay for Ted Koppel's work because it isn't evergreen. It's as if there's a law that says that excellence and creativity in broadcasting are not allowed, anywhere, at any cost. (11/27/08) Kenny Campbell (formerly of Mix106.5 Baltimore) was at WCEI 96.7. However, his picture is missing from the website. Matt Rush seems to have replaced him. Do you have any news on where/why he is no longer there? (11/27/08) Ref : “Dave: Just wanted to pass a note along to you. Last Sunday at the Ravens/Eagles game, I ran into Mike Seidel from the Weather Channel. He used to do weather on the Eastern Shore at 16 WBOC and also for JJ McKay at 100 KHI back in the day. JJ, he said he was gonna call you and come down and visit you at the Purple Moose.” I think Mike is great on and off air, I try to mess with him when he is “live” by ringing his cell phone and I do the same with my former sports guy on 100KHI Craig Heist when I see him live on Comcast. They always return my calls and give me a ration of shit about messin’ with ‘em. I’ll never forget how much fun we had at the station back in the day. I feel sorry for the guys and girls on air now – Back in the day radio was “live” and in your face and they paid us to come in and shoot the shit and play the hits for four hours.What a great Country, huh? Thanks for the mention Rich in B’more. From the land of pleasant listening Ocean City, Md. JJ “Hitman” McKay (11/27/08) (RE turkey:) There is no contest on this. The biggest turkey of all is Mel Karmazin! He has butchered the great stations and creative staff at XM, and plugged in the least interesting, most pedestrian, repetitive programming imaginable. XM73, High Standards, was the most interesting, eclectic mix of artists and styles, with the incomparable Jonathan Schwartz. This evening, I heard lousy songs by Johnny Mathis, Vic Damone, and Ella Fitzgerald, in that same order in the 7p and 10p hours. (11/27/08) /\ November 27 Messages /\ \/ November 26 Messages \/ Hi! I was employed by The Interurban Broadcasting Corporation WLMD Radio 900 in Laurel, Maryland as a broadcast engineer from 1972 to 1976. In addition, I engineered a weekly remote sports talk show broadcast live from the Washington Northeast Sheraton Inn in 1975 heard on WAVA and Tim Brant was one of the co-hosts. I left commercial radio broadcasting to complete my MBA and went on to have a successful career in telecommunications finance starting with then emerging giant MCI Communications Corporation beginning in 1980. My full profile and biography can be found on www.linkedin.com. I am wondering whatever happened to some of my old radio friends from WLMD: Alexander Sheftell (Owner)... William Lemer (Owner)... Joy Kemock (Later part owner)... Eric Heckman (Later part owner; on air name Eric Stephens)... Lou Scalley... Jim Herron (also worked at WASH)... Easy Ed Hartley... Fred Tucker... Doug Carrick... Bob Gotkin (later went on to work at WRC)... Jarrett Day... Steve Blaufeld (also worked at WINX)... Dick Krause (Sales Manager; lived in Bowie many years; hosted “Krause House”)... Sherry Katz (Sherry McMillen)... Dennis Gagnon (on air name Dennis Richards)... Jennifer Wagner (Newswoman; we both lived in same neighborhood in Crofton in mid 1970s. She started at WYRE, Annapolis)... Scott Standiford (Chief Engineer in 1972 who hired me to clean mud off the records following Tropical Storm Agnes flooding the station)... Gene Roberts (Chief Engineer)... Lee Paris (Chief Engineer)... Leonard Klompus (on air name Lenny the K who hosted with Eric Stephens and Tim Brant on the sports talk show I produced heard on WAVA)... I know WLMD alumni Mark Weaver is at WMAL and I believe Art Gliner and Ken Merson (Merson Person) can still be heard on the airwaves. I have re-connected with WLMD alumni talk radio host Alan Prell; News Director Tom Clendening, Traffic manager Roberta Rosenberg and Jeff Penn recently on Linkedin.com. And sadly, I read about 98 Rock Bob Lopez’s death while surfing on the internet. We were friends at WLMD and Lopez and I survived the personnel cut at the station when WLMD dropped the all telephone talk format for the pre-recorded modern Country Loving Gold music format. The City of Bowie’s Radio and Television Museum recently honored WRC Joy Boy’s personality Ed Walker who I had the privilege of working with for a week while Ed filled in for the vacationing Alan Prell. Anyone who may know these radio people, I would be interested in knowing whatever happened to them. Thanks! Richard Dahms, WLMD - The Talk of the Capital, Bowie, Maryland (11/26/08) For Joe in Essex per DC101: But in Leonardtown, WNNT's 6k on 107.5 knocks out 107.7 (and next season's Nats' games)... From the VARTV Archives: FCC grants WDYL's move to 100.9... Monday, October 16, 2006... The FCC last week granted Cox Radio to move Alternative "Y101" WDYL/101.1 Chester to a new COL (community of license) -- Lakeside, move to a new frequency -- 100.9 and to increase its power/antenna height to 25kW and 328 feet (or any combination of). The new 100.9 Lakeside signal will be able to compete better with the other Richmond area stations, coverage-wise. There were several parties involved with this Proposal from Cox, some for it (WNNT/100.9, WKHI/107.5) and some against it (WLOU-LP/100.9 Williamsburg, WRBG-LP/107.9 Millsboro DE, and some others). For WDYL to move to 100.9/Lakeside, Real Media Inc's (was owned by Northern Neck and Tidewater Communications at the onset) "RiverCountry 100.9" WNNT Warsaw has agreed to move to 107.5, still as a Class A (up 6kW / 328ft). Great Scott Broadcasting's Variety Hits "107-5 Joe FM" WKHI Fruitland MD has agreed to downgrade from a Class B1 to a Class A and move to 107.7. Both stations will be compensated for the moves. All three stations, WDYL, WNNT and WKHI, will submit applications to the FCC within the next 90 days to reflect these new changes. The "Notice of Proposed Rule Making" can be found at FCC.gov. (11/26/08) (RE turkey:) Dave Labrozzi, Bob Philips, Dave Labrozzi, Bob Philips, Dave Labrozzi, Bob Philips, oh yeh, and Dave Labrozzi and Bob Philips... WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO KIRK AND MARK? (11/26/08) Ahh, the irony of it all....... Michael Olesker writes a book about the downfall of local TV news and specifically, WJZ 13, a station he's not worked at in, what, like a DECADE or MORE??? HAha! Not to mention, geez, was he even there when Oprah was there? And he certainly was not there during the years where WBAL TV took the ratings lead nor was he anything but an annoying hired editorialist that WJZ got rid of. How does this sound familiar? Hmmmmm, sorta like how Olesker got canned by The Baltimore Sun for pretending to cover a media event in Annapolis and writing a piece about the event as if he were actually THERE when in fact he was NOT! Note to self: Great Book Idea: How to Get Even with Employers that Fire Me! HAha! -- Joe in Essex :-) (11/26/08) Dave, I saw your endorsement at WTMD and I agree, they play some great music, but I for one do not listen to them any more. I learned that even though they are Towson University's licensed FM, NO students are allowed on the air there. How in the world can TU justify this? If I were the parent of a student enrolled in their Mass Comm department, I'd be asking management some very tough questions. (11/26/08) Not sure if they are also doing this in the DC region, but some of the PennDot radio stations along I-81 will transmit material from NOAA radio when there is nothing else to report. Charles in Winchester (11/26/08) NOAA on 1600 to 1700 Mhz is from a local govt road station. Same ones that broadcast traffic info. LesinAdelphi (11/26/08) Yesterday, while driving in the Rockville area, I noticed that WTEM was coming in very weakly on my car radio at around 1:30pm. Tuning the dial to see if other stations were also affected I came across the NOAA weather radio being broadcast on 1630AM. It appeared to be the broadcast that is usually heard on 162.475 mhz out of Hagerstown, Md. I have never heard NOAA on the AM dial before and the signal was quite strong. Today there is nothing on 1630 except for static. Does anyone have an information about this? (11/26/08) Dave's response: While scanning the car radio during the 10-minute red lights in Northern Virginia, I have heard NOAA weather in the 1600-1700 AM band chunk. Not sure where it's coming from..... Come one. We all know the real turkeys are the corporate folks who own a mass of radio stations running on the cheap. I thought radio was stingy back in the day. This isn't even radio any longer. It's robots on a very thin string. Roll up and down the dial and here's Rush and Savage and Levin and Laura and the other Laura and martians with Norry at night, etc. All over the dial. It used to be "local" and you were educated about many different cities and areas of the country on AM radio. What? AM? Robots are the order of the day and they are all turkeys. Happy Thanksgiving everyone. (11/26/08) (From DCRTV's Classified Ads:) Location: Washington, DC - Company: Dow Jones/MarketWatch Radio Network - Summary: A radio correspondent is needed to produce audio content for the MarketWatch Radio Network and Web site, as well as MarketWatch Podcasts. S/he will deliver network and custom newscasts when covering for other employees. Candidate must be proficient with PC's and broadcast equipment including a microphone, ISDN unit, minidisk recorder, audio editing software, mixers and a telephone recording system. Responsibilities: Will work independently without an editor and is responsible for presenting interesting reports which are accurate, up-to-the-minute, precise and unbiased. Will initiate and conduct telephone interviews with stock market commentators, industry and company brokerage analysts, newsmakers and correspondents, depending on the news flow for the day. Segments may be incorporated into newscasts, podcasts or weekend reports and produced for the Web. Position Requirements: Bachelor's college degree required 3 plus years at a national broadcast network or major market radio station required Must have on-air delivery acceptable to affiliates Must be able to work a flexible schedule Must be able to write clearly, accurately and under the pressure of several deadlines each hour Must be facile with the use of the Internet as a news gathering resource and be able to scan many Web sites and news sources each hour. Please apply directly to the position via: careers.peopleclick.com. (11/26/08) (RE turkey:) It’s a tie for everyone who reads this website! We are all turkeys for getting into this business when our parents told us to grow up and become Doctors or Lawyers! (11/16/08) Dave's response: Hey, lots of doctors and lawyers read this website! Ever hear of Dr. Laura and Dr. Phil? Dave: Just wanted to pass a note along to you. Last Sunday at the Ravens/Eagles game, I ran into Mike Seidel from the Weather Channel. He was doing the weather/tailgate pre-game stuff live from a lot near the stadium and he said to say hello to everybody. He used to do weather on the Eastern Shore at 16 WBOC and also for JJ McKay at 100 KHI back in the day. JJ, he said he was gonna call you and come down and visit you at the Purple Moose. Mike is a class act and was amazed at all the people here that still remember him from his Salisbury days and roots there. Rich in Bmore (11/26/08) As always, just before a vacation period (one of MANY) O'Meara becomes quite the dick on air. Yelling at BA and Buzz and Robb and spreading a tense atmosphere. WHY he had to go onto O&D and talk down to everyone there too is beyond me. I turned it him off earlier this week because I don't need mroe stress in my life on a holiday week. (11/26/08) Dear Mr. Jackass: So, how is it you feel qualified to comment on Mark Levin's show content if you have never listened to it? Kind of makes you sound like a jackass to me. Guess your name fits. Porter Jervis (11/26/08) Chad Dukes, biggest turkey on the radio. Seriously, go ahead and talk more about politics while simultaneously not even remotely grasping the subject, that's great radio. - Jason (11/26/08) (RE turkeys:) Can I nominate the whole bunch of cretins that have made WMAL the disaster it is today? (11/26/08) I am looking for a copy of the Maryland vs. Florida State football game aired on ESPN on Saturday, November 22, 2008. Did anyone record it? I am also looking for a copy of the Maryland vs UNC football game, aired on ESPN/ABC, Saturday, November 15, 2008. Thanks, Steve Jackson, sgjackson@jhu.edu (11/26/08) Well, I finally gave up on listening to the same 6 callers discussing the same 2 topics on all 6 sports shows on 105.7. I liked Ed Norris but don’t care to listen to serious stuff in the AM. So…….after deciding to try out 104.3 instead (98 Rock is definitely out) after hearing about it on DCRTV (I never knew they had changed formats – great advertising guys) I’ve listened to Elliott in the morning for the couple of days. Where on earth did this dude come from. He has to be related to one of the suits because he has to be the absolute worst dj I’ve ever heard, a taller (I assume) version of Mickey at 98 Rock. What a total lack of talent. The only thing worthwhile is the 1 or 2 songs he may play during my 1 hour commute. Dave – Are there ANY stations worth listening to in the North Baltimore area between 5 and 6 am??? (11/26/08) Dave's response: WTMD or 98 Rock's alt rock/indie HD channel..... (From DCRTV's Classified Ads:) Date: November 26, 2008... Job Title: News Anchor/Reporter... Contact: 1430 WNAV Sajak Broadcasting Corp... Deadline: December 15, 2008... Job Description: Full service AM station in Maryland’s capital city has an opening for News Director. Along with anchoring drive time newscasts and managing your department, you must have knowledge of topics of interest pertinent to our audience including: politics, the environment, business, and local sports. And the applicant must be competent on digital equipment, computer use, and have flexible hours. Tapes/CD’s and résumé’s (NO CALLS) to: Bill Lusby, Program Director, 1430 WNAV, PO Box 6726, Annapolis, MD 21401. Or a résumé and a short (2 minutes, max!!!) mp3 to jobs@wnav.com. Sajak Broadcasting Corporation is an Equal Opportunity Employer. (11/26/08) Biggest Turkeys in Local Radio: A three-way tie, between CBS, Clear Channel and Citadel/ABC---for completely ruining, trashing, destroying and burying any resemblance to quality management of D.C. and Baltimore area radio broadcasting. All three of these mismanaged corporations have ruined local radio in numerous ways. CBS, for ruining WHFS and firing Kirk and Mark and a thousand other decisions; Clear Channel for complete and total mismanagement; and Citadel/ABC for widespread mismanagement and for stupidly firing 25-year veteran John Matthews and even-longer veteran Chris Core. (11/26/08) When Governor Palin said something absolutely ridiculous live on the Chris Plante Show, Chris Plante didn’t dump the comment. The comment she made on the Chris Plante show days before the election was so dumb even ABC News covered it on their on their WMAL broadcast, and the Governor later went on national television to try and nullify it. At least Mark Levin was smart enough to tape his interview with Governor Palin and supply her the answers beforehand. It is my honor to nominate Chris Plante for the “Biggest Turkey in Local TV and Radio,” and I am sure the good folks down at the RNC would second this nomination. (11/26/08) (Turkey nomination:) Bob Ryan - the weather conjurer who speaks some remote permutation of the English language which requires that complete sentences and thoughts are to be avoided at all costs. (11/26/08) I have never heard of Media Matters until now, nor have I ever visited their web site. I have never listened to Mark Levin, only aware of the back and forth sniping in this forum. You admit your posting was unclear, so why not take the five seconds to put your original babble into context ? And sure, if you want to be addressed more formally as Mr. Jackass, I will be happy to oblige. I am glad we have come to agreement on your title, I appreciate your accommodation and self-awareness. (11/26/08) (put newspapers behind the counter and readers will go to Barnes And Noble or Books-A-Million to browse the news, instead.) Maybe they figured out that "news browsers" aren't money-spending customers. They're running a store, not a library. Just because YOU spend money after browsing the news doesn't mean most people do. (11/26/08) Dave's response: I guess Borders' huge quarterly losses must prove that they're right..... Ann Coulter's jaw is wired shut? WOW. Thank you, Santa Claus. What a beautiful early Xmas gift! And ya know what else would be a REAL treat for the holidays? For every local and national station NOT to run ''live'' to Obama every f------ time he opens his mouth. Look, I'm happy he's going to be President but every single day of his press conferences and he's not in office yet is getting a lil much on the ol' nerves. Paul (11/26/08) I have several good friends who work for the Gray TV Charlottesville cluster. Just last month they told me that TV3 Winchester will be re-launching their news in early 2009 as "TV3 Winchester Eyewitness News", If this is the case, considering that the news brand "Eyewitness News" is copyrighted that could very well be the reason why Gray will no longer offer live internet streams of their news via TV 3 Winchester. It is a shame though that TV3 Winchester doesn't make some deal with WJLA ABC 7 about putting their signal on Dish Network or Direct TV. If they did they ( TV3 Winchester ) could get some PR by saying that "Eyewitness News" is back in the DC market since WUSA has long since dropped that name. If Hagerstown, MD's WJAL and WHAG are already on those dish services, why not TV3 Winchester? Not like they ( WHAG NBC 25 and WJAL TV 68 ) have that many viewers in DC anyway.. (11/26/08) "Another guy with all his money in a sock under the bed." Wrong - over 95% in stocks even in the current market. "I don't know about you, jackass, but I want one of our biggest remaining industries to be successful." Me too. But it ain't gonna happen for the long haul with a bailout. The don't give a shit part I was referring to was the continual hacks at Levin here. Save us all the bandwidth and just post the MediaMatters URL for your dronings. By the way, that's Mr. Jackass. (11/26/08) Hands down the biggest turkey of 2008 is The Mike O'Meara Show. I was really sorry to see Donnie G retire, but did he have to take the show's balls with him? Mike- I love ya', guy, but you're just not a star. There's no shame in being a great second banana, but it's embarrassing to see you take the ashes of the Don & Mike Show and repackage it as such a turd. The Mike O'Meara Feel-Good Super-Happy Fun Show should- and thanks to the PPM soon will be- put out of its misery. Rob- you're the best talent on the show and won't have any problem finding the next gig; why not try to build a show of your own? Buzz- you don't really want to be doing this schlock for the rest of your career, do you? Find a comfy serious news gig in a big city and have a great life with the missus. Mike- take a few years off, recharge the batteries, and build your own gig on satellite from whatever remains of SiriusXM. Let the next slamming door sound fx we hear be the real thing for once. -Jamsonian (11/26/08) Dave's response: Go to the Front Page to vote for your favorite local radio or TV "turkey''..... Do TV3's commercials go out on the stream too? If so, I imagine that TV3 wouldn't want its server clogged up by people who are useless to its local advertisers. Everett W. (11/26/08) If you're on the road and can't see the Turkey Bowl on Channel 2, it will be broadcast for the 10th straight year on ESPN Radio 1300. Legendary Sportscaster Tom Davis and Paul Mittermeir provide Play-by-Play with Steve Stofberg and Damon Yaffe on color. (11/26/08) Every Wednesday is WGTB Day on www.wgay.fm. Airchecks from 1969 - 1979 are webcast. When you get to the site, go to "Listen WGAY Now". Feedback is always appreciated. Enjoy! -Barlow T. Shagnasty (11/26/08) Interesting article from the NYT: "Radio’s Revenue Falls Even as Audience Grows." (www.nytimes.com) (11/26/08) If WASH FM is going to include novelty "holiday" tunes such as Adam Sandler's Hanukkah song, the least they can do is play Jeff Dunham's "Jingle Bombs", featuring Achmed the Dead Terrorist: www.youtube.com (11/26/08) My girlfriend was in Front Royal yesterday watching Winchester's TV3, from what she was telling me the channel mentioned on the air that beginning on New Years Day the station will no longer be offering an online streaming of the news and the ability to watch their news reports, checking out the weather forcasts from their news, etc....unless one lives within 45 miles of Frederick County, Virginia. In other words, OK if you live in Hagerstown but one would be out of luck trying to watch TV3 Winchester online say in Indianapolis. Hey I am sure there are people who live there who have family in Winchester. Come to think of it for the last year or two I have heard rumors that many many local TV stations will be doing this. Kinda like going back to the early days of online streaming. Buffalo's WKBW-TV back then ( late 90's ) only allowed those within Buffalo and the so-called "snowbirds down in Florida" to watch their Eyewitness News online and I can remember when Philly's WPVI, though not blocking out Action News to those outside Philly but WPVI did provide a link to those who did live outside that area..the link took you to Yahoo.Kinda like WPVI at the time didn't want their news to be seen outside Philadelphia. Wonder what would be the purpose to suspend online streaming of the news? Question of rights? The economy? Confusion? Say for example Houston's KTRK-TV or Indianapolis' WTHR blocking out their news in Baltimore because both of those stations use "Channel 13 Eyewitness News" and that "could" confuse viewers in Baltimore who watch WJZ. I dont see that angle though. (11/26/08) “It is also no big secret that the death of 104.1 was indeed a calculated plan on the part of Bonneville execs.” This person has posted this same conspiracy theory bullshit here before, and he is STILL smoking crack. Why purposely drive the value of a stick down and THEN sell it? Makes no sense. If you know you’re going to sell it anyway, you’d do that when the signal is at its maximum value. Business 101. Obviously the Bonneville guys had some grand plans, and when they didn’t work out, THEN the decision was made to sell since, as it turns out, there were willing buyers. (11/26/08) Re: "Thursday night, Mark Levin, heard locally on WMAL, read a piece from I believe NRO or Human Events that stated with benefits the average UAW member makes over $70.00" Dude get a life. No one gives a shit about this. You sound like someone spouting trash from MediaMatters //// Another guy with all his money in a sock under the bed. Maybe the Big 3 US auto makers begging for a handout from you and I rings a bell ? Labor costs, legacy costs, poor planning and foresight, and subpar vehicles are all a part of the equation. I don't know about you, jackass, but I want one of our biggest remaining industries to be successful. This massive issue is worthy of debate no matter what your views, to make sure our politicians don't pour money down a rathole. Maybe you should give a shit, instead of responding to a important topic with a banal platitude. (11/26/08) A question? Is the guy who is hatin' on Levin the same guy who can't stand all the AM operators with STA's? Or could there be two of these people living amongst us? (11/26/08) Dave: After reading this week's postings about Kornheiser's radio future, Tony would be the perfect person for satelltie radio. Over-paid, miserable, and mad-at-the entire world-type person who needs an unlimited platform to complain about life. Gee, doesn't that fit the description of Howard Stern? To TV for a moment, was I the only viewer who suffered through Comcast's Wizards Postgame Live last night? This is why we have the worst regional sports network in the country...the talent is awful!! Chris Miller doesn't have a clue and it's quite evident he doesn't do his homework. It was quite entertaining to see who was cooler on Sportsnite, Sorenson or Chic. After three minutes of that show I quickly switched to a FSN regional channel. I hope MASN starts a news show soon...if not, bring back Bram Weinstein anchoring on Montgomery County Cable 21. Anything's better that Comcast. (11/26/08) I'm confused. This is the month before Xmas. Shouldn't Clear Channel be firing lots of people. Oh wait! There is no one left to fire! Except the guy that feeds the hamsters that run the Overnight Jock 2000 automation system. (11/26/08) Hmmmm ... Maybe there IS a God, after all! ... Ann Coulter Silenced By Broken Jaw -- Wired Shut! President-Elect Barack Obama may have gotten an early holiday gift. News is that Ann Coulter has had her jaw wired shut. Coulter, writer of several books deriding liberals and spouting her conservative views will have to take a little time off the Sunday morning talk show circuit thanks a spill she took last month. The author of 'How to talk to a Liberal', 'Treason' and 'Godless' will have to delay the audio version of her newest scribe, 'The New Ann Coulter 'while the injury heals. So at least for the first few months of his presidency, the 44th President of the United States knows that he will be hearing from one less critic. www.postchronicle.com... [As for how she sustained the injury, it has been reported that it happened after 'a nasty fall'. No word on whether she fell after someone slugged her, or if the size of her huge Adam's Apple finally got the best of her and she just toppled over! Someone on the radio just now, has suggested that some types of facial plastic surgery, require that the jaw be deliberately broken, and that may be the cause.] (11/26/08) Hi Dave, I don’t think I’ve seen this on the site yet, Michael Olesker has a new book about WJZ and Baltimore news in general that just came out. Here’s a link to the publisher for a description and blurbs, I just finished it and it’s a good read, lots of behind the scenes about the decline of WJZ and local news in general, nobody in the business comes out looking good, also a good chapter on the pairing of Richard Sher and Oprah, and the story of how Sher was taken off the 5PM show. I wasn’t able to find it in any DC area bookstores, but maybe you could get lots of clickthroughs for Amazon, everyone in the business should read this book. www.apprenticehouse.com (11/26/08) /\ November 26 Messages /\ \/ November 25 Messages \/ Will Korny do radio? Well he sure as shit can't do MNF. Only place left for him. (11/25/08) "Thursday night, Mark Levin, heard locally on WMAL, read a piece from I believe NRO or Human Events that stated with benefits the average UAW member makes over $70.00" Dude get a life. No one gives a shit about this. You sound like someone spouting trash from MediaMatters. (11/25/08) Kinky-neo-con, It's time for you guys to leave. Hate is not in vogue. So go on know and take Rush,Mark,Micheal and Sean with you.You have no solutions, President -Elect Obama does. CORY (11/25/08) WDCA my20 is not currently on Comcast of Prince George's County. For some odd reason they have WDCW dc50 on twice at channels 3 and 20. (11/25/08) (Dave's response: The author of that blog sent me the link to his Core rant and I included it and his posting on the Mailbag) Goodness, now we know what a f*cking loser he is. Thanks for clearing that up, Dave. I don't think Chris Core is going to lose any sleep over this. -Silvie- (11/25/08) Dave, I'm still trying to figure out why the Core slam was posted to begin with. Someone with no life gets on the Internet and writes an opinion. Woo Hoo and B.F.D. If someone had sent that pointless diatribe in to you then I could see publishing it, but cutting and pasting some whiny blog? If it were someone of some substance fine, but some anonymous middle aged guy ranting on his computer? Sounds like too much of the Mailbag as it is. Hmmmm maybe I should finally start a blog.... (11/25/08) Dave's response: The author of that blog sent me the link to his Core rant and I included it and his posting on the Mailbag..... The heartless bastards at XM-Sirius have preempted XM15 The Village (folk music) until Dec 26 to play f'n Xmas music. What, there's not any empty channels left after the bloodbath, or am I the last person in the world to like folk music... End Rant (11/25/08) A Thanksgiving Day tradition continues as ABC2 broadcasts the annual Turkey Bowl high school football game on Thanksgiving Day. From 10 a.m. to Noon on November 27th ABC 2 Sports Reporter Rob Carlin, Good Morning Maryland’s Jamie Costello, and Scott Garceau bring you play-by-play highlights of the holiday game. Calvert Hall College and Loyola Blakefield will clash on the field at M&T Bank Stadium, home of the Baltimore Ravens. The Turkey Bowl started in 1918 with Catholic High Schools playing a game every year on Thanksgiving Day. Now sponsored by Under Armour, The Calvert Hall /Loyola matchup is one of the oldest continuous Catholic prep-school rivalries in the United States. Loyola has won the last three Turkey Bowls and leads the series 47-33-8. This is the 8th year ABC2 will broadcast the game and the station invites you to upload your favorite memories of past Turkey Bowls. To help commemorate the past years of the Turkey Bowl visit abc2news.com/turkeybowl to upload your pictures. (11/25/08) DCRTV Dave: William Jefferson Clinton was 32 years, four months and 20 days old when he was sworn in as governor of Arkansas in 1979. Cecil Underwood was just a month past his 34th birthday when he was sworn in as governor of West Virginia in 1957. (Previous post was incorrect. Underwood was 34, not 36.) (11/25/08) ''What if it was JC Hayward?'' YES!! JC Hayward as Supreme Being of Earth. Wig shops on every corner instead of Starbucks. Paul (11/25/08) Dave's response: Tonight on WMAL, George Noory will have a guy on talking about his sighting of a UFO shaped like a giant JC Hayward wig. Hovering over northwest Washington..... Yes, Billy Mays is definitely a TV-pitchman whore. Today I saw a commercial of him pitching a low-cost health insurance plan. That's right - in case anyone confuses OxyClean with white lines of coke, the viewer gets to also see Billy Mays pitching health insurance. Happy Thanksgiving, Dave! -Silvie- (11/25/08) Dave's response: Hey, Billy Mays, Robb Spewack, and Buzz Burbank on JFK afternoons. Hmmm..... Re: "...Don't worry, when everything goes to hell in USA lets see how you dopes who voted for 'the messiah' & the ass-kissing 'media' respond... Pathetic " When everything goes to hell ? What fucking planet are you on ? I'll take a messiah right about now, I don't give a rip who it is. (11/25/08) Dave's response: What if it was JC Hayward? RE Chris Core and the endless pitching..... just think of him as DC radio's answer to cable-TV's BILLY MAYS. Both are annoying as hell. (11/25/08) Dave's response: I don't have a problem with Core's pitches because there's no question that they're paid endorsements. How about Limbaugh these days! He'll go straight from a commentary about GM's financial ills into a promo for its cars. He is a paid pitchman for the struggling automaker. Where does the commentary stop and the paid endorsement start? And what about all his political commentary? Is some of that paid-for, too? I suggest that the first thing Obama's new FCC head do is take a look at the blurring of editorial and advertising content in radio programming..... As an add-on to Al McGilvray's post from yesterday, Cecil Underwood not only is the youngest governor in the history of the state of West Va, he is also the oldest, having been elected to the position again in 1996 at the age of 74. Tom (11/25/08) Dave's response: Bill Clinton was younger when he was governor of Arkansas, right? Wasn't he the youngest governor ever? Thursday night, Mark Levin, heard locally on WMAL, read a piece from I believe NRO or Human Events that stated with benefits the average UAW member makes over $70.00 and hour. Then Mark went into a diatribe about the unions destroying the US Automotive business. Mark was playing foot loose and fancy free with the facts, again. What that $70 figure (or $73) actually represents is what it costs GM in total labor expenses, on an hourly basis, to manufacture autos; not wages and benefits to union auto workers. What Mark skimmed over was there are other costs factored in, including what Pat Buchanan calls “legacy costs.” Mark, I hope after reading this you make a correction on tonight’s broadcast. And speaking of Mark Levin and not getting the facts right, , on November 13, Mark Levin, after reading a scientific report on a possible global ice age, came to the conclusion that we don’t need to try and control carbon dioxide emissions, because of what the report said. Levin did not mention that the study's co-author warned against using the study to argue that "we should stop fighting warming" and stated: "There's no excuse for saying 'we've got to keep pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.'" Does Mark Levin have a reading comprehension problem? (11/25/08) Tim in Gaithersburg I think you presented a very logical step-by-step history as to why guy-talk radio, WJFK in particular, isn't doing very well. I am hoping that a more rational FCC is coming soon. Perhaps one that does not believe they can decide what is decent for the rest of America, or push their morality on us. We are such puritans here in the states! Let's see if WJFK can hang on for a bit longer to see what the fresh new blood of Obama's appointed will do. I hope they can. (11/25/08) What is going on with the 5 PM WJLA newscast. I thought Alison Starling was off the 5 PM slow with Lyders and Parker taking turns. Any idea what they are doing there? (11/25/08) Sorry, but I have to disagree with the statement "Chris Core is a cerebral individual." His clumsy attempts at political punditry border on the childish. Every "Core Value" I've heard has consisted of Core mentioning some current event, listing off a few goofy, pointless questions ("What's so bad about an endless war anyway?") and offering zero substance. I don't know the man and he might be "a cerebral individual" off air, but when he gets on mic he sounds like he doesn't have a clue what he's talking about -- and is just mailing it in at that. At least Mike Buchanan put a few minutes of thought into "The Buck Stops Here"....although that was pretty awful too. As for the flood of spots he recorded in his first few days at WTOP...they're not bad. The guy can sound sincere, and that works. Ever since he was teamed with Bill Trumball -- and that was a hell of a program, by the way -- he's been good at this kind of stuff. But he should really leave the commentary to people who actually have something to say. (11/25/08) Sure, WTOP bills great, and will get even better with the PPM's. And also, the move to FM was years ahead of its time. But in radio, doing something ahead of its time usually means lost money. Bonneville's lost money has already been described in the Mailbag. I understand why Z104 was eliminated, but the billing for WGMS on 103.5 would have, over time, brought in more than the sale price of 104.1. If I were running Bonneville, I would have flipped 104.1 to WTOP, put that DC booster in, and left everything else alone. Maybe I would have put Federal News Radio on 1500 and 820 after WTOP established itself on the three FM frequencies (if only because 1050 has such a bad night signal), but even if that didn't happen, Bonneville would be raking in even more cash these days than they are. Sincerely, Mike in Kensington (11/25/08) For the guy into Core, one word just for you: FREE! He does the commercials and he gets free stuff and money. That's the way it was, that's the way it is, and that's the way it shall be. (11/25/08) Dave – you gotta get on twitter with all your updates! Tracy Gosson (11/25/08) Dave's response: You're the first to make that request. If I get more, maybe I'll start early next year..... OK?!? IS IT ME OR IS ANYONE ELSE (with some 'common media sense') IN 'DCRTV LAND' SICK-DISGUSTED-ANNOYED-ETC/ETC. WITH ALL THIS 'MESSIAH OBAMA' ASS-KISSING BY THE BRAIN DEAD MEDIA, i.e. FAKE daily press conferences that MSNBC etc. 'swallow every drop...' When will SOMEONE-ANYONE? point this out AND MAYBE? ask a few REAL questions about this 'clean & articulate', stuck up, elitist liberal, wanna-be President... Seriously, the "media" should really be ashamed. Don't worry, when everything goes to hell in USA lets see how you dopes who voted for 'the messiah' & the ass-kissing 'media' respond... Pathetic. ~"kinky-neo-con" (11/25/08) WASH could be playing the greatest selection of intelligent, creative, off-beat Christmas music ever, and I'm not going to know, because I'm not even CONSIDERING tuning in until after Thanksgiving. I'm sure it's just the same old crap, however, because (as noted below) they've been spinning the same 100 Christmas records (hello, "Hippopotamus"! "Jingle Bell Rock!") since the full-time Christmas thing started. Fair warning, however -- the Christmas Shoes People's Liberation Front remains ever vigilant, and when/if we hear that song -- the worst holiday song EVER -- we will rise up in revolt. Sincerely, TMU (11/25/08) I've never seen such a contradictory testimonial about someone than the one written about Chris Core below. The author claims to be a huge fan of Core's while trashing him in about 90% of the post. With "friends" like that, who the hell needs enemies? Silvie (11/25/08) Hey, Chris Core has had GUTTER HELMET for 10 years! This is not something new. The best trade-out I ever got was a bad perm. (11/25/08) pretty funny! www.bostonherald.com - The Herald reports that Chuck Turner plead his case on a Boston radio station's morning show but it wasn't a legal outlet. Touch FM 106.1 had the embattled Boston city councillor on--not the first time he's appeared on the station which owes $17,000 to the federal government. Owner Charles Clemons says he won't pay his fine because "it's an admission of guilt" and said that the incoming President supports a "Local Community Radio Act" that would allow more low powered stations to be on. (11/25/08) From methanross.blogspot.com: I first want to state, that I am a huge fan of Chris Core, who used to have a talk show on WMAL AM 630. For some reason they relieved him of his duties, and he's now on for "Core Values" on WTOP, which is a one minute segment based upon what he's thinking about. Chris Core is a cerebral individual, who has a lot of fine points, and I couldn't be in more agreement with him over General Motors. He is correct to wonder about how a money losing company, could give its executives loads of bonuses, and then cut the hard working assembly line folk's benefit packages. Chris Core smartly pointed out that he's never been in an enterprise that goes into the red, and hands out armfuls of cash to management. I have never seen that occur anywhere in my employment history, and if there's a company that would like to lose money, I'll make sure my performance is horrible enough to be rewarded. This is much like the old Soviet style of government, where the folks in the Politburo were living it up, while their nation was in shambles. Chris Core is an interesting character, but I do want to point out something about him. He does an awful lot of advertising on WTOP, and his testimonials on certain businesses are on all of the time during these revenue spots. He recommends them fully, and states he's been happy with results of these companies, because he's also a customer. One of his most recent commercials is for a colonoscopy practice. Has he received fifty colonoscopies in a month, so that he can strongly recommend them? It's as almost as if Ned Beatty from the movie Deliverance, wanted to suggest Bill McKinney as a proctologist, since he did get a backwoods version of a colonoscopy. As a sidenote, what's the difference between a proctologist and a bartender? A proctologist only has to look at one asshole at a time. The ads from Chris Core are endless. He extolls the virtues of Thompson Creek Windows, while also having other spots that promote a roofing company. He uses gutter helmet, which sounds like a condom that you'd use, while getting it on with a hooker in a back alley. In many ways, Chris Core sounds like a whore with all of his advertising spots. He also uses the Virtual Physical, and brings his cars from Maryland, to be serviced at Ted Britt Ford in Fairfax. While I am skeptical by nature, I really want to give Chris Core the benefit of the doubt, but the amount of ads for numerous services he's tried is staggering. Does he sit in a room, and wait for offers of big money to make these spots, or does he have so much time, as to allow a colonoscopy, get the oil changed in his car, and have his body examined by a virtual physical, while sitting in the living room of his house with roofers on top, Thompson Creek windows being installed, and not worrying about cleaning his Gutter Helmet System? (11/25/08) (Hey Bonneville apologist! ) I love all the people who come here to bash the only real success story in DC. Comparing Bonneville to CC or Citadel? Gimme a freaking break! (11/25/08) Dave's response: I still think Bonneville made a huge blunder by dispatching heritage commercial classical WGMS. A few years ago, Bonneville had two radio ratings powerhouses in the DC market - WTOP and WGMS. Now, they have one. And, yes, even though "modern hits" Z104 was never a huge ratings-getter, it did attract lots of pairs of younger ears, which advertisers crave. Also, wonky DC needs two public radio news/talkers, WAMU and what WETA-FM was evolving into. Now, the latter is playing the classical stuff that WGMS should be playing. That Bonneville blunder has had a significant impact on the DC radio dial. And the big winner - not WTOP (which was doing great and is still doing great) but rival WAMU, which has the public radio news/talk format all to itself. And is now being richly rewarded in the PPMs..... RE: You can bet...No I won't take that bet if for no other reason than those you listed. The only way the dem's get the thing in front of any body is by calling it the "fairness" doctrine. Everybody wants to be "fair" don't they? It only falls apart when you read it. Besides, haven't you heard? The fat cats get to keep their tax brackets where they are? New President, everything old is new again... (11/25/08) You can bet that if either of those two candidates mentioned for FCC Chairperson gets in,,,there will be a Fairness Doctrine and Equal Time rule, just not under those names. It is also no big secret that the death of 104.1 was indeed a calculated plan on the part of Bonneville execs. (11/25/08) It is my understanding that the report of Senate bill extending the analog TV shutdown date for 30 days is a bit misleading. There is no call for continued broadcasting of the same info. Just a 30 day period for broadcasting info about the transition. broadcastengineering.com (11/25/08) Hey Bonneville apologist! According to your logic it sounds like this was all part of a grand plan by the Bonneville executives. Did they make a profit on the sale of 104? Yes, but how was that ROI after the countless format changes, capital investments, wasted advertising, and endless severance packages? Not real good! How much did the profits go down year after year on WGMS after they purchased that station. What about all of those severance packages. That was a nice strategy to bleed the station dry, and watch the profits dwindle, and then pay out severance packages so that WTOP could get the 103.5 signal. How did the ROI look on WAPO radio and 3WT? Millions upon millions lost. Countless people let go because they couldn't make it work. Brilliant plan. Lets return to the original post. Don't allow Bonneville to purchase or swap for any other stations. (11/25/08) Dave, Nestor Aparicio actually had an interesting blog entry yesterday about the station's web plans and how highly ranked their website is. While I think that bragging over a 0.7 and a victory in one book over a dead competitor is rather silly and that comparing their web hits with those of TV and radio stations that primarily offer content through their primary medium is unfair, the web information shows that his following is loyal and that the web may well be WNST's ace-in-the-hole as far as surviving in the oversaturated Baltimore sports market. I'm still betting that 1370 will need to find yet another format to survive. See wnst.net... Howie (11/25/08) Dave: John in Stafford makes a point that you sidestepped. Radio might be dead, but WJFK isn't the answer, not in this area, not based on those early PPM ratings. That station couldn't be much less listened to, frankly. I'm not a big JFK listener, but I harbor no grudge toward the station. What I DO wonder about is this site, and the constant Mailbag messages -- and, yes, front page news -- about WJFK. What does it say that a lowly station commands so much chatter here? Sure, it's "guy talk," and you're a guy, and I'm a guy, and it seems that most of the Mailbaggers are guys. But no one is listening to WJFK. Look at the other stations surrounding it in the PPM ratings you posted this week. Do any of those stations garner anywhere near the attention that WJFK garners here in the Mailbag, or even in the front page news? It's your site, and I support it. In fact, I'm due to pony up some dough to you again, and will try to do so before the end of the year. But I think there might be lessons in those PPM numbers for the direction of this site's coverage. This isn't intended as a slam, but as constructive criticism, so let me put the question to you: Have you been rethinking DCRTV's coverage since seeing those PPM trends? Christian (11/25/08) I am so very lucky that I don't have to listen to Tony K. any longer. You see, he is not, thankfully, on the radio right now and hopefully not in the future. AND I stopped watching Monday Night Football because he, yes Tony K., is so awful. ESPN should go with two in the booth and NO GUESTS! (11/25/08) I'll be hosting "The Time Machine", a 50's and 60's oldies show, tonight from 8 PM to 11 PM ET on www.topshelfoldies.com. I invite you to tune in, and to join your fellow oldies afficianados in the chat room. Top Shelf Oldies features different deejays every evening, with rare recordings, live interviews, and requests. Archived shows are rebroadcast every Tuesday on www.wgay.fm. -Ken "Carpenter" Sleeman (11/25/08) (I took a look at the front page regarding the request by a poster to not allow Bonneville, CBS, and Clear Channel to buy anymore stations in DC. You are right. Bonneville is number 1 with WTOP. I stand corrected. One thing puzzled me though...I couldn't find WGMS, Z 104, 3WT, Washington Post Radio, or WFED on the list. Hello!). Yet another poster who has probably never seen the money end of radio. Bonneville sold 104.1 for a VERY nice profit. WTOP is now on a network of 3 FM stations and that move paid off extremely well as you can see in radio's new world, PPM. And WFED on 1500 and 820 is a recession-proof niche business targeting just a few thousand federal decision-makers and companies seeking federal contracts. The poster probably does not know the term ROI, but Bonneville gets an A+ for it in DC. Hardly clueless. Just ask any radio AE who has to sell against WTOP (without dropping their pants on rates.) (11/25/08) Arbitron is replacing the highly fallible and easily faked diaries with something that can't be so easily fooled, and that makes them "Satanic"? No, that label belongs to the radio stations owners. They don't love radio, they don't know radio, they don't listen to radio, and the PPMs are showing them that other people also aren't listening to the tired crap they've been dealing out for so long. All they know is that they paid too much for the stations they own and they are in panic mode trying to get that money back. Nobody makes good decisions in panic mode. So, yes, we will be seeing a lot of bad decisions for a while. If they had any faith in themselves or what they broadcast, they'd allow a good show or format to grow. ~~CA in BC (11/25/08) Did anyone else hear Jaws absolutely rip Kornheiser after another one of his stupid Brett Favre comments? It was along the lines of an emphatic "that is the most ridiculous thing I've heard." Orange Tony has to go at the end of this season. He's awful and it kills the broadcast. (11/25/08) Re: "Bonneville without a clue? Hello! Take a look at the ratings on the front page." Let's do the DCRTV Mailbag translation. "Bonneville doesn't have a clue because I don't listen to WTOP, and it's their most popular station. They'd have a clue if they programmed a music station that played the kind of music *I* like!" (11/25/08) "What the F is going on with WMAL's web stream? Commercials start playing right in the middle of program content. It's happening every couple of minutes and this isn't the first time. It seems most stations don't pay a lot of attention to their web streaming and that kind of surprises me. Maybe it isn't a big revenue generator, yet. Prolonged outages or screw ups like this on the web stream are tolerated but you can bet stations would not allow this to happen to their over the air product. What's the difference?" While many people listen to streaming, it is not a large revenue generator. In fact at this time it comprises about 1/10 of 1 % of the revenue a station pulls in. This will probably change in the near future (Feb 17'th wink wink). The stream or what's on the air? A single station used to have a staff of engineers. Now they are lucky to have one engineer for 3 or 4 stations. So with stations running skeletal engineering staff that are on call 24/7/365 with HD2 and HD3 and their normal terrestrial signal ( 10 x times the normal work load), which would you rather have? Welcome to radio. (11/25/08) Re: "92.7 fm is loud and clear in Columbia" I'm not actually in the DC/Baltimore region, so I could be wrong...but this "for entertainment only" Radio-Locator signal map would indicate that Columbia is on the far fringe of WWXT/92.7 Prince Frederick MD's signal: www.radio-locator.com... Of course, it could be better in reality, and I'm sure they turn off the stereo pilot, which would squeeze out a more listenable signal on the fringes. Anyway, once again, the reader's problem is that he/she is firmly located in the Baltimore media market. A few miles south, and we're not having this discussion. Don't the Redskins still stream audio of their games for free on their website, the only NFL team to do so? (11/25/08) After reading the posts below about PPM's being the demise of WJFK, Hot Radio and radio being, as Dave says, "cookie cutter shit," I am left with one question. Is radio dead? JOHN IN STAFFORD (11/25/08) Dave's response: As far as it being a creative medium, I'm afraid so. If you're looking for an army of glib assholes reading from this morning's "talking points" and plenty of "well-tested safe" oldies, I guess you could argue that radio's on life support. More or less..... Ever watch a newspaper ? "ABC 7 contradicted by its own readers..." says the St. Mary's Bugle, regarding the police chase and how the video was promoted by a television news station. (11/25/08) Best of luck to Richard Sher, yet another long standing member of the WJZ staff that has become an iconic part of Baltimore journalism...or at least what's left of it. Like Don Scott, Marty Bass, Bob Turk, Denise Koch, and the Late Jerry Turner and Al Sanders, Mr. Sher is a Baltimore icon on Channel 13 and he will be missed. Hard to believe he was co-hosting "People Are Talking" and doing the Noon News with Oprah Winfrey back in the early '80s. I wonder if "The Oprah" ever even takes his calls now? Good luck Richard, and please don't disappear completely. Greg in Reisterstown (11/25/08) It's both good news AND bad news for Elliot and DC/101... 1st the good news... Cox's WDYL, ALSO 101.1, is moving to FM 100.9 soon if not already, meaning WWDC/101 will have possibly the strongest DC area FM signal in the market from well northeast of Baltimore to Fredericksburg, VA along the I-95 corridor with no co-channel interference at all! Co-channel interference is why HOT 99.5 & WPGC 95.5 cannot be heard around lots of Baltimore without interference and I'm sure there are similar examples around DC with the Baltimore FMs. Now the bad news... The new competition is moving from a Class A signal to a stronger Class B1 signal FM, meaning a more even playing field with both Richmond rock stations. If I'm not mistaken, one of the Delmarva's FM's was moved/downgraded to Class A along with another FM to accomplish this task? Somebody correct me if I'm wrong. -- Joe in Essex (11/25/08) Attention Bonneville Lover! I took a look at the front page regarding the request by a poster to not allow Bonneville, CBS, and Clear Channel to buy, or swap anymore stations in DC. You are right. Bonneville is number 1 with WTOP. I stand corrected. One thing puzzled me though...I couldn't find WGMS, Z 104, 3WT, Washington Post Radio, or WFED on the list. Hello! (11/25/08) According to MSNBC.com, the Redskins-Ravens game on December 7 has been moved from 1:00 to 8:15 to be shown on NBC's Sunday Night Football. -- Bobbie (11/25/08) While it is not my intention to go "one-up" on Johnny Dark, let the record show that Richie Sher's very first professional announcer's job was the P.A. system at "S. Klein on the Square" in Beltway Plaza, Greenbelt! (11/25/08) /\ November 25 Messages /\ \/ November 24 Messages \/ Hi, I am looking for the guys I used to work with at WZBH 93.5 Ocean city Maryland, early 1990’s. BBW, Cepth Michaels, Gary, John. I wanted to inquire about writing a Wiki entry on those days in Delmarva to include Doug Taylors bio and anyone else that passed thru those doors. Thanks, Tara Power Hunter (11/24/08) (From DCRTV's Classified Ads:) Account Executive - ABC 7-TV/WJLA in Washington DC has an opening for an Account Executive. New direct business development must be one of your strengths. You must also bring strong communication and presentation skills, experience in revenue development for the internet and the personal drive and passion to succeed. We’ll give you all the tools you to become a sales star. A minimum of 2 years successful media sales experience required. Send cover letter and resume to HR-AE@wjla.com or Send to ABC7/NewsChannel8, Attn: HR Dept. /AE, 1100 Wilson Blvd. 6th Flr., Arlington, VA 22209. EEO. (11/24/08) Last week Channel 7 had its helicopter hovering over the arrest of a man who had fled from the police. It turned out that he had warrants out for him. They couldn't wait to tell the public that they had exclusive video of the man being beaten by the police and to be sure to watch at 5, 6, and 11. Now it turns out that the public, after viewing the video, let their feelings me known and have told Channel 7 that they thought that the police were acting properly in their actions. What is it about TV news that makes them want to prove that the police are always wrong? Here is report taken from St. Mary's Today. - "ABC 7 contradicted by its own readers on view of police capture of suspect A video of the capture of a suspect running from police in Howard County was promised to show the man being beaten by police as he laid prone on the pavement. The television station's breathless report that the video clearly showed this abuse was accompanied by the video itself. A review of this video, which can be reached here, shows the cops who forced the man to stop may have taken two whacks at the guy as they attempted to handcuff him. Police officers are trained to quickly get a suspect handcuffed and to use all force necessary to accomplish this task. The video shows that this is exactly what took place. The Howard County police chief shows he is a twit by giving a news reporter a comment prior to the review by investigators and a reader poll conducted by ABC 7 of its website readers show that 71 % of those responding believe the officers acted properly. ABC 7 is a good operation but in this case, they get the NUMB NUTS AWARD. Read their story and watch the video "CAUGHT ON TAPE" (11/24/08) Former West Virginia governor Cecil Underwood died today (Mon. 11/24) at the age of 86. He has a unique spot in pop history. On December 18, 1956, he was the first "winner" on the premier episode of the CBS television game show, "To Tell the Truth." None of the four panelists (including Dick Van Dyke) guessed that Underwood was the youngest governor in the United States (at age 36). Regards, Al McGilvray, News Director, TalkRadio WRNR AM 740 (11/24/08) Every now and then here in the 'Bag you get something amazing. Kudos to Tim in Gaithersburg...a very lengthy but profound analysis of the trials of the current WJFK line-up. PPMs may be the death knell for talky shows (witness Eddie and Jobo getting 86'd in Chicago after nearly 20 years)..for years now. PDs have been able to manipulate diaries..but PPMs are turning out to be more problematic. But what Tim's thoughtful precis does reveal is that it is that a series of events (janet jackson incident, corporate radio's last of vision and foresight, and NOW the current economic climate which guarantees no more investment in programming) are responsible for the demise of radio as we knew it and loved it. Now the only question that remains is can this once proud business be salvaged? (11/24/08) Dave's response: With PPM numbers now coming out every friggin' Monday, there's going to be no chance for cool shows/formats to "build" an audience. Corporate radio programmers are, increasingly, going to look for "instant fixes" for their stations to please the all-important advertisers. Look for a lot more "cookie cutter shit" both on talk and music stations, a la syndicated fossils like Ryan Seacrest on Hot 99.5. PPMs will take a bad radio environment for creativity and only make it worse. The "bean counter" is king. Even more so now. Such a shame. Arbitron is Satanic..... Noticed on 11/22 that Style Network disappeared from Comcast Howard County analog channel 47, though it's still on digital channel 47. No notice given to subscribers about the change, who get to pay the same rate for fewer channels. (11/24/08) Dave's response: Frankly, that's one network that could go away forever and I'd never notice..... So Kim replies, yes I tend to agree that WASH does play the same version of the songs when they could have variety however, hearing Randy Travis' version of Jingle Bell Rock and some others that have never been played was refreshing. As one who actually has almost 600 songs on her holiday playlist on her ipod, I know there are many versions that they can choose from. I do agree as well about WLIF (after all where else do you hear "Crabs for Christmas") however, reception for me isn't the greatest so WASH is it for me most of the time. Let's look glass half full here… thanks for branching out WASH. Keep doing branching…it's being noticed and appreciated. And if you do want some recommendations, tune into WLIF or you can borrow my ipod. --Kim (11/24/08) My very best to old friend Richard Sher as he retires from WJZ-TV. We got back quite a few years. I first met Richard in 1965 when we worked together at WEAM. Those of you who were around then might remember him as Richie Sher. Yes, he was a jock back then and a pretty good one too!....Johnny Dark (11/24/08) Mike O'Meara doing Christian Contemporary? ''Hi...I'm Mike and Brother Rob. On today's show we'll be playing some Amy Grant and later we'll rock out with some Stryper.'' I can see it now. Even better, one of the sponsors can be the good folks who make those snazzy looking Obama plates. Who WOULDN'T want to eat creamed corn off Obama's face?? Yum, Yum. Paul (11/24/08) What the F is going on with WMAL's web stream? Commercials start playing right in the middle of program content. It's happening every couple of minutes and this isn't the first time. It seems most stations don't pay a lot of attention to their web streaming and that kind of surprises me. Maybe it isn't a big revenue generator, yet. Prolonged outages or screw ups like this on the web stream are tolerated but you can bet stations would not allow this to happen to their over the air product. What's the difference? (11/24/08) (Please let there be no more station sales, or swaps to Bonneville, CBS or Clear Channel in this market…give someone else a chance….those companies are without a clue!). Bonneville without a clue? Hello! Take a look at the ratings on the front page. (11/24/08) Okay, I'm taking a break from work to say that Big O and Dukes are officially gay. Mason Storm was Steven Segal's character in Hard to Kill, not Under Siege, and his character in Above the Law was named Nico. Chad didn't know this basic stuff! What is up with that? Let's all try to keep up, shall we? --- The Penismightier (11/24/08) Kim says: "I have been enjoying the Christmas music since Friday on WASH FM. They've done a great job with the variety this year!" Surely you jest! WASH has been playing the same 40-50 recordings over and over again since Friday. Is Mannheim Steamroller's the only recording of "Deck the Halls" that they could find? Do we really need to hear "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" every two hours? Yes, Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" is classic -- but can we occasionally hear other renditions? WLIF has a much wider playlist, but they too are playing a few songs to death. I love hearing holiday music on the radio, but these narrow, consultant-based playlists have got me changing the station. (11/24/08) (Regarding today's PPMs:) 25-54, Imus cannot crack a 1 share on the best signal he's ever been on in DC. 0.6 in week 3 (11/24/08) Another week of bad news for WJFK with another week of PPM ratings. In the 18-34 demo: The Junkies fall to 12th, Big O & Dukes fall to 18th, and Mike O’Meara is also in 18th. In the 25-54 demo: The Junkies fall to 16th, Big O & Dukes fall to 18th, and Mike O’Meara is in 17th. Looks really good. (11/24/08) Dave's response: Hmmm. I can see it now in my cracked crystal ball. WJFK - "Where Jesus is Forever King," the best Christian contemporary..... Dave, I grew up on a farm back in the 1940's. We butchered all our beef, pork and chicken. It's not the end of the world. JohnnyuinHanover,Pa. (11/24/08) Dave's response: It's one thing to eat a cow. It's quite another to eat a cow that you "know"..... Please let there be no more station sales, or swaps to Bonneville, CBS or Clear Channel in this market…give someone else a chance….those companies are without a clue! (11/24/08) To the person who couldn't watch/hear the beginning of the Redskins game. Here are your choices. 1. Get the digital tier on Comcast and get your Washington stations... 2. Get FiOS... 3. Rabbit Ears... 4. Sirius... 5. Watch the play by play on a plethora of internet sites, NFL.com, Espn.com etc... 6. Get NFL Sunday Ticket... 7. Oh and 92.7 fm is loud and clear in Columbia... Now many of those choices cost money and a lot of people in radio can't afford it. Maybe it's time to rethink you career! (11/24/08) Dave's response: A lot of people don't know that ESPN 980 is available via 92.7 and 94.3 in the fringe areas. And I don't hear the station making any on-air mentions of that fact. In fact, on the ESPN 980 website you really have to hunt for a mention that the FMers are also available..... I have been enjoying the Christmas music since Friday on WASH FM. They've done a great job with the variety this year! I've heard songs that they've never played before! I swear it almost sounds like my ipod. Keep up the good work and the variety. I'm hoping this will be the year that I get to hear Mele Kalikimka on WASH! --Kim (11/24/08) Regarding the inventor of electronic television Philo T. Farnsworth’s name, according to a couple of books I have read about him, as a youth he was teased about the name Philo (kids in school would call him Fido) so for part of his life he did use the name Phil, but hot Phillip. (11/24/08) Like many in the area, I try to give WMAL's Chris Plante five minutes in the morning to see what the subject du jour is before the inevitable stutters, saliva swallows, and repetition drives me away. But I nearly drove off the road today when Plante told a listener that Barack Obama was going to be the "Bush 3rd term" and "how does that make you feel?" Let's see, when Plante took over in early March, Obama was Barack Hussein Obama, the Muslim candidate. By spring he became Jeremiah Wright's "black nationalist church" candidate. A month later when it was learned he sat on a school board with William Ayers he became, the terrorist candidate and Ayers was to be in the cabinet. Then Plante parroted McCain and Pailin and he became a socialist, then a Marxist, and alternately, a communist. And now, he's George Bush. So who said talk radio can't be funny? LOLROF! (11/24/08) All of the talk about the recent PPM's and the low ratings for WJFK motivated me to write this. The low ratings for the shows on WJFK are no surprise. It can easily be traced back to 2000 when the FCC restrictions starting preventing the freedom of hot talk format and watering it down. On the January 4, 2001 Don and Mike show, a new rule was initiated by management that said neither Don nor Mike could say asshole but a caller could. Beyond being completely ridiculous, this would last about a month or so until the new rule banned the word from the show altogether. Very much a knee jerk reaction and "making it up as we go along." This goes without mentioning that the FCC never made a rule book of what goes and what can't go. Fast forward four years to the Janet Jackson incident and everything goes to hell. Corporate is willing to let the FCC, an government agency created for the responsibility to make sure stations don't overpower each each other's signals, dictate what is obscene. To this day, terrestrial radio hasn't been able to recover because no one is willing to take a chance on new talent or even let the talent they have do their shows the way they were meant to be. Which brings me to my next point. The WJFK line up is so formatted that there is no hint on spontaneity anymore. The Junkies have all of their segments laid out, done everyday, with very little freshness. Big O and Dukes have 10 segments a day, but at least they appear to be trying a little harder to stay away from the terrible interviews that surround the station right now. As much as it saddens me to say it (being a lifetime loyal fan of Don and Mike), Mike's show is nothing more than interviews, some buzz news, and a few screened calls. Not that I blame him for running it that way as it is a sure fire way to stay on management's good side and if they ratings come in, he delivers. If not, he is still on their good side. The live and local 5 am - 7 pm is great in theory, but if you don't have the content, it doesn't matter. Continuing to the next point. I enjoyed Don and Mike through the final seconds of the final show this past April. If you were a diehard of the show, once they made the move to mid-days in August 2001, the first pieces of the puzzle that Don and Mike had managed to solve started to come apart (in the Fall book for 2000, they were rated #1 in 48 categories, including 12+ - which has to be a record). The move to mid-days meant less freedom in terms of segment length. The move also catered to New York, which I have an opinion on, but it isn't relevant here. In the end, New York failed for many reasons (back handedness from Opie and Anthony, poor management at WNEW) but they still managed to get from 13th place to 1st place by the time O&A were fired in Washington, DC. Also during the mid-day show, the commercial sets were moved from 6 minutes and 30 seconds to 9 minutes and 30 seconds. Gone were the days of the regular 1 hour show opening and then catching up on commercials during Buzz's news, made more tolerable by 6:30 minutes sets instead of 9:30 sets. And even with syndication in 2000/2001, the run until 7:30-7:45 gave the Junkies a great lead in. You knew when D&M were in best of mode because the show would end at 7 instead of naturally ending when they were ready to finish between 7:15 and 7:45. The move back to afternoons in September 2002 saw a post-911 WTOP taking away listeners due to the Iraq situation and the general anxiety of the country. The show certainly took a hit from February 2004 to December 2005, first with the Janet Jackson incident watering down the content and then Freda's death taking a toll on Don (which should be expected and it is amazing he was able to continue like he did). They tried to rebound in 2006 but with Stern gone, it was a hole that couldn't be dug out of. And that is not to say that Stern leaving was the main cause. But by not having a stable show anchoring mornings even with average ratings hurt (even at #8 12+, which is what he averaged at WJFK in the 2000's). It has taken a while to get to the main point, but I felt I needed to give the background to make this point. Until someone in management decides to grow some balls, let the current talent have the leeway to try new things (new, controversial, and new and controversial), Hot Talk won't succeed. Hearing a promo for Mike's show this morning was disheartening. "Coming up on the Mike O'Meara show, after 4 we'll talk with (blank) and after 5, we'll talk with (blank)." You used to be able to tune into a hot talk station because you wouldn't know what was coming next. And I have little doubt that the people running the station believe this is the way to go but did you ever hear Don announce anything on a timed schedule? Of course not. So what's the solution for WJFK? I don't know. It certainly isn't an easy one. With no one grooming DJ's anymore via top 40 radio (the way Stern, Don and Mike, O&A, came up), where do you get the talent? The Junkies were a great night time show from 1998-2002. I would even say that they would be a terrific afternoon drive show today, with some adjustments. But in mornings, they are floundering and it can't last, especially if the PPM's catch on. Big O and Dukes are not my thing but they do work hard. But again, they were fans of the Junkies and that's how they got their gig. Their experience prior to the 105.7 mid day show was zilch. But putting them on in a major market with no experience and asking them to succeed is asking for failure. Mike's show, while we all knew would not be the same as the Don and Mike show, is what it is. It lacks a leader with a clear vision. And it pains me very much to write that. And there is nothing at nights. With no crop of minor league talent (and BDK is not minor league talent -- Joe Ardinger has more potential as minor league talent) and nothing new and exciting on the horizon, I don't expect good things for WJFK. Hopefully I will be wrong but the signs are not positive. In the meantime, at least I have those old MP3's. Tim, Gaithersburg (11/24/08) "Lorenzo the Tramp" with his alter egos "Clarence the Country Boy", "Nevada Ned" and "Gerry Wheeler" dance their way through the open/close of his popular Baltimore weekday morning show at www.youtube.com... Watch for a filmed 60-second promo in the middle... and learn what Lorenzo is doing in 2008 at the conclusion. There's full details about Lorenzo's WJZ-TV 13 run (as well as all of Crab City's memorable children's TV shows, courtesy of Gary Helton) at CrabCityKidsTV.com... (11/24/08) Looks like this guy is both imitating you and giving your site some props!! LOL. pressboxonline.com (11/24/08) Dave, Thanks for putting the word out about Bill Eustace. I used to open with Bill at Tower FFX (who knows how many times we have met or talked?) and he was such a nice guy. I am praying for his safe return! Jon (11/24/08) (RE: Missing person William Eustace who once worked at Tower Records) Dave, I remember that guy!!!! He was one of the few Tower records employees that actually made an effort to talk with the Tower customers and get to know them. He really knew a lot about music and offered a lot of helpful hints. Nice guy. I hope he`s ok. DCRTV Fan (11/24/08) Re: "So, I'm sitting in Columbia, less than 25 miles from Jack Kent Cooke Stadium. It's 4 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. How can I follow the Redskins game? On AM radio? No, critical hours interference makes it impossible to pick up the dim bulb affiliate stations." Though the Washington market's expansion has rendered even 50,000 watt WTEM/980 less of a factor, it's still a full-power AM that covers a large chunk of the market. It's sure better than last year's "AM flagship", 730. But I do agree that the games should be on a full-power FM station. Your biggest issue in Columbia isn't Danny Snyder's problem - your biggest issue is that you're in the Baltimore radio and TV market, no matter how close you are to the Redskins' stadium. (11/24/08) Winchester's skyline looks a little bleak this week after Friday's razing of the four aerials that put 610Kc's signal aloft these past decades. But, an important artifact has been saved -- the Collins transmitter ! Look for it to show up just above the AM band, 1885Kc, where licensed radio hobbyists gather with fine old beasts like this. (11/24/08) To the sqeamish pantywaist out there: Where do you think your turkeys come from, Safeway? (11/24/08) Dave's response: Look, there ain't nothing better than a good burger. But, if you had to go to the slaughter house to see how your hamburger and hot dog "started out," you might lose your appetite..... /\ November 24 Messages /\ \/ November 23 Messages \/ It always seemed that Levan Reid was auditioning for Sports Center. If he had simply reported the sports news he would still be at Channel 9. (11/23/08) (snip) Unless Philip is your brother-in-law, the name you are groping for is Philo T. Farnsworth (end) Knew that, thanks. Here's a name you may want to check out on wikipedia: Norm Crosby. Read thru and you'll get why. (11/23/08) (So, I'm sitting in Columbia, less than 25 miles from Jack Kent Cooke Stadium. It's 4 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. How can I follow the Redskins game?...) SWITCH FROM COMCAST AND GET DIRECTTV SUNDAY TIKCET AND THEN YOU DON'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE BULLSHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (11/23/08) I was reading the November 19th edition of Radio World, and see that we have lost quite a pioneer in broadcast engineering. Ed Buterbaugh recently died of cancer, he had local roots at the great WEAM back in the 60's, and came back in the 70's. The article goes on to mention his years with Cousin Brucie as CE of WABC, plus his days at the powerhouse CKLW, and WJR. As one who always enjoyed the engineering field, but never had the formal education, I am sure many learned from this man, only wish I had worked with him. Tom Conroy (11/23/08) Dave's response: We did a newsblurb on Ed's passing on September 2. It's in our News Archive..... Mike in Bartonsville wrote "...if you ever write another song about our area, please remember that the large body of water in the middle of the state is usually referred to as "The Chesapeake", sometimes as "The Chesapeake Bay", but NEVER "Chesapeake Bay". Let's be sure to tell that to Bruce Blackman, the lead singer of Starbuck, the next time he sings "Moonlight Feels Right". And, while we're on the subject, for all of you announcers who are not natives of the DC area, "The Metro" is a train we ride, not the region we live in. (11/23/08) So, I'm sitting in Columbia, less than 25 miles from Jack Kent Cooke Stadium. It's 4 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. How can I follow the Redskins game? On AM radio? No, critical hours interference makes it impossible to pick up the dim bulb affiliate stations. On FM radio? No, thanks to interference from a closed-space Baltimore station. On TV? No, because Comcast analog cable only has the Baltimore Fox affiliate and it's carrying the Ravens game that is running long. F***, er, thank you very much, area broad- and cablecasters! (11/23/08) Dave, sorry, this cannot go unchallenged when the poster said "a working mother, an attractive, married, charismatic woman, with lots of kids, who holds the family together.." Okay, her husband is a working father, no big deal, she's not really attractive with that creepy religious glow, and her charisma is more a proselytizing exercise than any legitimate leadership charm. Holding the family together? She becomes a grandma real soon after her failed sermon on abstinence. Can somebody tell me why some think she's newsworthy? (11/23/08) Palin's visit to the slaughterhouse was stunning. This woman's stupidity belongs in a Simpson episode, not in our real world. This week, my thanks are for this woman and her nutty flock for their continued entertaining hilarity. What great symbolism, freaking flightless cornfed overstuffed birds being slaughtered and stuffed into bleeding cones behind this brainless woman continues ranting and rattling brainless inanities. (11/23/08) Normally TV really do not care about the outcome of football games. However, should the Ravens beat the Eagles and the Redskins dispose of the Seahawks then the big winners could be the two local NBC outlets. Due to the NFL allowing NBC to pick the best game for their Sunday Night Football package - if both local teams win today the December 7th game when the Redskins visit the Ravens now set for FOX WOULD BE NABED BY NBC - THUS BEING BOTH A RATING A A BIG CASH GRAB FOR NBC4 and WBAL-TV 11. So today exec's at both NBC stations will be rooting for the home teams. www.dcexaminer.com... Cheers, Jim (11/23/08) RE: "It is obvious the camerman set up the shot with A LOT of lead to show the grinder in the background..." The idiot governor was asked if she wanted to set up in a different location and she said that she was happy where they were. She's easy to look at but if you really think THAT is presidential material this country is in very sad shape indeed. (11/23/08) Regarding the photog commenting on the video of Palin and the turkeys. As you well know, and so does every journalist, perception is reality in reporting a story. That is why it is called 'framing' the shot. As you correctly noted, YOU, the photog or the journalist, decide what is included, or is not, in the snapshot delivered to the consumer. Thus as well, as you noted, what gets included in the frame when reporting on Palin is a setup, not a random shot. (11/23/08) WOW, how about that for a short honeymoon. First Hollyweird mobilizes to put Obama in office. And now, before he can even take the oath, they are preparing to test his promises by authorizing a SAG strike. Nice impact that will have on California, and probably a nice distraction from Washington DC. Even more of an insult is that a focus of the strike will be getting residuals from the use of alternate media, the use of which is a cause championed by Obama and his proponents of green initiatives. I hope he notices. (11/23/08) The real liberal hypocrisy around Palin was that the media, for the second time, sabotaged the career of a woman who could have been the first female to hold either of the highest offices in the White House. I guess she was too mainstream for the alternate-centric elitist fringe and had to be put in her place. I mean how horrid would it be to have a working mother, an attractive, married, charismatic woman, with lots of kids, who holds the family together rather than needing a village of academic idiots to tell her how to manage her household? Obviously, she was evil and must be destroyed for her ascension debunks liberal ideology. In the end, Obama may have been supported more as a man, rather than for being black. After how they pilloried Hillary and Sarah, its safe to say the liberals put the glass ceiling back. At least now we know that the media fears affirmative action on sex more than race. After 50 years of telling us how enlightened they are and how frightened we are, the Democrats have bypassed the shining path toward the highest peak of equality and settled for an allowable compromise that gives equality to some men regardless of color, but no women may achieve the man's place regardless of party or color. (11/23/08) You correspondent who deprecates $60 for an HD TV antennas misses two things: Channels 7, 9, 11 and 13 will broadcast HD on their present (VHF) analog channels, NOT UHF, after the switchover, and the cheapo wood and tinfoil UHF-only antenna won't stand up to the weather if mounted on a pole OUTDOORS. (11/23/08) In an effort to boost ratings next season on NBC's "Its Academic", this segment will be added to the competition in the event of a tie between two schools: www.youtube.com (11/23/08) Jeff Skeversky (spelling) also did some freelance work at ABC 2 In Baltimore. Maybe Reid could end up In Baltimore ABC 2 and FOX 45 have weekend openings for sports. It’s a market drop but I am sure that he could get a good contract In the Baltimore tv market. (11/23/08) (snip) S'cuse me Philip Farnsworth...(end snip) Unless Philip is your brother-in-law, the name you are groping for is Philo T. Farnsworth, the inventor of electronic television. (11/23/08) Do we need any more proof that the liberal media was/is out to get Palin then the recent video of the Governor pardoning a turkey? It is obvious the camerman set up the shot with A LOT of lead to show the grinder in the background... I was a camerman for several years, I don't know anyone who would have set up that shot unless they planned on seeing that in the background... (11/23/08) Re: "you know, its so funny how when someone breaks into the president elect's cell phone its serious. but when the son of a senator crank calls sarah palin, its funny?" Yes, because these are exactly the same kinds of incidents, right? Exactly the same. BTW, even more so than the intrusion into the President-elect's cell phone records, I'm ticked off at the repeated intrusion into "Joe the Plumber"'s personal records by more than one apparently politically connected source. And I don't even like "Joe" or the whole Campaign Symbol thing. He's Loser Central, and still hopes to squeeze out his 18th minute of fame, long after his candidate got trounced in the polls. But probing into his personal records? Not fair, not nice, and people should be punished...it goes far beyond "Joe", or whether you voted for McCain or Obama. Does every viewpoint in this world have to hew to whichever candidate you liked? (11/23/08) The National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS-NCCB) presents its prestigious 2008 Silver Circle Ceremony, Saturday, November 22, 2008, 6:00pm at The Fairmont Hotel in Washington, DC. The Silver Circle was established in 1987 to honor individuals devoting 25 years or more to our industry. This year’s honorees join a distinguished group of professionals who have devoted a quarter-century or more to the broadcast industry and have made outstanding contributions to television in the Washington, DC area spanning from Baltimore through Richmond. These leaders, in their unique ways, have inspired excellence and innovation in every communications discipline. With the induction of this year’s 2008 honorees, the Silver Circle has recognized 205 individuals. The 2008 Silver Circle honorees are: Gail Fendley, Line Producer, Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly, Washington, DC... Judith Dwan Hallet, Judith Dwan Hallet Productions, Inc., Washington, DC... Barbara Harrison, News4 Anchor, WRC/NBC4, Washington, DC... Michael Horan, Staff Photographer & Editor, WTTG-TV, Washington, DC... Tom Kierein, News4 Meteorologist, WRC/NBC4, Washington, DC... Jeff Rathner, ENG/EFP Photographer, WETA-TV 26, Arlington, VA... The Silver Circle reception, dinner and ceremony will be held on Saturday, November 22, 2008, 6:00pm, at The Fairmont Washington, 2401 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037. The event will feature Dr. JC Hayward, WUSA 9 as emcee. (11/23/08) Well, as DCRTV has reported, it looks like Levan Reid has exited Broadcast House, presumably for good this time. His bio has been removed from WUSA’s website and there was a new sports anchor on Saturday’s newcasts named Jeff Skversky. I imagine he’s just a temporary fill-in (a quick search shows he was released from a station in St. Louis earlier this year and has most recently worked (still works?) at the FOX affiliate in Philadelphia), but he seemed to do a decent job. (11/23/08) Sixty dollars for an HD TV antenna? S'cuse me Philip Farnsworth, but I don't think so: uhfhdtvantenna.blogspot.com (11/23/08) /\ November 23 Messages /\ \/ November 22 Messages \/ you know, its so funny how when someone breaks into the president elect's cell phone its serious. but when the son of a senator crank calls sarah palin, its funny? damn, such hypocrisy from the liberals. just saying... (11/22/08) You know what is wrong with terrestrial radio? It is the consultants and corporations that own these stations. While talent is getting fired by the dozens, these consultants seem to keep thier jobs, collecting a nice fat check each month for telling the programmers to play the same 200 songs. Consultants are nothing more than failed programmers that have a good list on contacts. (11/22/08) The anonymous poster who says that terrestrial radio should "step up to the plate" is so right. What's holding them back? They can see that variety is offered on satellite radio. Yet terrestrial radio still has a very tight playlist, when it comes to music, and pretty predictable talk radio programs. There is a whole other world of programming available to them to make a killing, if they have the balls to "step up to the plate." Listeners would flock to some truly original radio stations, given the chance to hear them, especially when they wouldn't have to pay a monthly fee to hear them. It's too bad that satellite radio has gotten itself into such a deep financial fix that it might not be able to dig itself out, no matter what it does to mitigate the problems. JOHN IN STAFFORD (11/22/08) After reading the mailbag for the past few months, I've come to one conclusion: Silvie is getting as annoying as Joe in Essex. Geez. (11/22/08) So let me see. Private enterprise disciplines employees for looking into Obama records. Public enterprise disciplines employees for looking into Joe the Plumber records. Let's see which enterprise eventually fires employees. More important, let's see who protests the final decision and who backs the protests. Let's see how the media spins this one. (11/22/08) Dave's response: This morning's DC Post also had an article about how "Joe The Plumber's" privacy was violated. I didn't include it on DCRTV since the story didn't have any local connections. Verizon is a big local phone/TV/internet provider..... Hi Dave- I saw your posting this morning on DCRTV and just to clarify - any customer who does not already have digital service with Cox can get a free digital box for one year to view these Public Access Channels. Customers with a QAM Tuner can get the channels without a box. We did this in partnership with Fairfax Public Access.... 1. Customers may request a digital receiver to view the channels on 10, 30, 37, and/or 810, 830 & 837. Cox is pleased to offer a limited time promotion of a free digital receiver for one full year which will give access only to these channels along with leased access and broadcast multicast channels. When contacting Cox to participate in the promotion, be sure to request a digital receiver for the purpose of viewing Public Access channels to qualify. 2. Customers preferring to view the Fairfax Cable Access Corporation channels without a digital receiver will need a television equipped with a Clear QAM tuner. The Fairfax Cable Access Corporation channels should become viewable after performing a new channel search or channel scan. Kathryn Falk, Vice President Public and Government Affairs, Cox Communications (11/22/08) Dave's response: Kathryn, I did provide a link to the cox.com website - which provides the details you mention above - in this morning's newsblurb..... Re: "Acquired a new, $60 multi-directional antenna, and noticed a mark improvement on a couple of fronts" Care to share the name and model of this antenna? (11/22/08) XM employees used to get up to three comp service accounts. When you left the company--they were supposed to turn those comps off. We also got coupons for the radios, so there was little if any expense. I liked XM, but when you get right down to it--there are only so many songs in the world. I left in mid-06 when the drive got to be too much. XM kept my radios on from then until yesterday, when they got turned off. I'll miss the standards and jazz channels, which I listened to a lot. But I don't think there's anything on XM/Sirius worth paying $12.95 a month for. So the radios will come out of the cars and my ipod will go in my pocket back and forth to the car. I think the merger turned two viable competitors into one white elephant. And I think, down the road--consumers will get that. I'm not sure, though, how many terrestrial stations will sit up and take real notice that this is their time to step up to the plate. (11/22/08) Re: "Verizon Employees Disciplined For Breaching Obama's Privacy." Dave, this piece of news is huge & serious! Why, Verizon employees' hacking of Obama's cell phone voice-mail account should constitute a threat to his life, therefore the Secret Service should investigate a correlation between these employees and an "uptick" in threats to his life! (Before I get the USSS knocking at my door, let me remind those on this site who are humorless that I'm being sarcastic). -Silvie- (11/22/08) Maura, now that I know you're listening...please, please, please.... if you ever write another song about our area, please remember that the large body of water in the middle of the state is usually referred to as "The Chesapeake", sometimes as "The Chesapeake Bay", but NEVER "Chesapeake Bay". If you're going to cash in on local references, at least get it right. Mike in Bartonsville (11/22/08) Dave's response: Just a tad too much caffeine this morning, Mike, doncha think..... Gee, if you're planning your day based on the COMCAST TV Planner or their TV Guide Channel, you REALLY NEED to GET a LIFE DUDE! HAHA! COMCAST has channels on their TV Guide channel listed that have been deleted like 3-4 MONTHS AGO! LOL (11/22/08) Dave's response: Speaking of Comcast, what's the deal with their Video On Demand service? About 50 percent of the time when I order something, and after a long wait, I get a cryptic error message. If I reboot my digibox - a procedure that takes about 20 minutes - the VOD stuff will work for a week and then the error messages come back..... Please. Deserved or not, no president has been vilified in the media elite as much a W. So for the left wing kooks to now come to this board and start whining that conservative talk radio is going to lead to assasination attempts on Obama is hypocrisy of the highest order. Just more of the coddling of Obama that has gone for the past two years. But that will end soon because he can't continue to vote "present" once he becomes prez and the honeymoon will be over. By the way, the only actual attempts in recent times came against Republicans. Did the media elite's negative portrayal of Reagan and Ford cause Hinkley, Fromm and Moore to make their attempts? What nonsense. (11/22/08) The main reason I enjoy and contribute regularly to DCTRV is the nostalgia. I have enjoyed the memories of Ron Riley who was and remains an outstanding broadcaster. As a student at Maryland in the mid 60's, I loved listening to WCAO. It was a great top 40 outlet. And at Maryland I met fellow students who were learning the trade like Ron Matz, John Dowling, John Hartge and Randy Daniels who went on to great things. Matz still excels in Baltimore while Randy, sadly, passed away several years ago...a brilliant talent..I miss him. Dave, thank you for keeping the memories alive. Today ain't what it used to be. RD (11/22/08) To the happy fella with the new $60 TV antenna: where is your house? Are u between Washington & Baltimore picking up both cities, or are you in a straight line above or below both cities? Your reception report is very informative, but it helps to know where your receiver is. Thx. (11/22/08) Dave's response: Here in Reston, with a rabbit-ears/loop antenna in an east-facing second-floor window at a relatively high elevation, I can get the digital signals of 4, 5, 7, 9, 14, 20, 26, 32, and 50. However, I often have to fiddle with the antenna a bit when I change channels. No reception of the Baltimore signals, 22, 66, or WNVT on 30..... Acquired a new, $60 multi-directional antenna, and noticed a mark improvement on a couple of fronts: Review: without new antenna... Digital: Baltimore... Channel/Quality of signal... 2 Unintelligible /complete pixilation / no audio / Signal loss... 11 Good Picture / poor consistency of Signal / Intermittent but consistent Pixilation... 13 Fair to good / generally consistent signal... 26 No signal... 45 Good Picture / poor consistency of Signal / Intermittent but consistent Pixilation / Audio loss... 54Good Picture / generally consistent signal... Washington... Channel/Quality of signal... 4 Poor to Fair / consistent intermittent Signal degradation / some intermittent minor pixilation... 7 Fair to Good / generally consistent signal... 9 No signal... 20 Poor to fair / intermittent signal degradation... 22 Poor to Fair / intermittent signal degradation / Pixilation / audio loss... 50 No Signal... With new antenna: Digital: Baltimore... Channel/Quality of signal 2 Now Good, maybe the best reception (virtually no analog reception)... 11 Good Picture / improved consistency of Signal / intermittent pixilation... 13 Fair to good / generally consistent signal... 24 No signal... 26 Receiving signal, and multiple channels / generally consistent signal... 45 Good Picture / better consistency of Signal / Intermittent pixilation / Audio loss... 54 Good Picture / generally consistent signal... Washington... Channel/Quality of signal... 4 Fair / intermittent signal degradation / intermittent pixilation and audio lost... 7 Fair to Good / some intermittent pixilation... 9 Still no signal... 20 Fair to better / consistently intermittent signal degradation, some audio loss... 22 Fair to good / intermittent pixilation, no audio loss... 32 No signal... 50 Fair picture... (11/22/08) According to the Comcast TV Planner, the Ravens game won't be on WUSA on 11/30 at 1pm. (11/22/08) I am sure Evan Thomas' head is bent over in shame now that there has been an unfavorable comparison of his journalistic prowess to that of the news source legitimacy of a Waldorf trash collector. Evan, you have been outed. (11/22/08) Gab, Newsweek reported the "disturbing"uptick in threats happened immediately after Governor Palin started voicing the "terrorist" angle; an angle, as we all know, encouraged publicly and proudly by Hannity, Rush, Levin, and Kristol, but not by the McCain campaign. The uptick Newsweek reported, and referenced here on DCRTV weeks ago, happened over a month before the election, not after the election. (11/22/08) www.christmaseveinwashington.net... Hi everyone, the website is finally up and running and I appreciate your letting the folks in your e-mail address book know about it as well. It's available for download in an MP3 format as well through ITunes, Rhapsody and most of the other major download sites. The lyrics, the history of the song, how to order etc. are there on the tabs on the left. Hopefully, with your help, we'll have a wonderful year filling many orders for the CD. Have a Blessed Holiday Season! Maura (11/22/08) /\ November 22 Messages /\ Jump to the Mailbag Archive Index.....