Current Mailbag - Mailbag Archive Index - DCRTV Front Page - Support DCRTV DCRTV Mailbag - June 12 to June 17, 2009 Latest messages listed first..... \/ June 17 Messages \/ Oh Howie...it's so fun to see you completely dodge the point and blather to make yourself appear "deep." My point is that you coughed up two and a half year old quotes taken out of their obvious context in order to defend Paul's claim that media personality Bill O'Reilly "incited murder." A sad effort to defend an extremely serious and very specific claim. I am not a big O'Reilly fan, but accusing him of "inciting murder" and then seeing it lamely defended is beyond the pale. I don't want to see unfounded accusations like that hurled at commentators on either side of the aisle. Bob in Forest Hill (6/17/09) I know for you just as much as it has been for me the past few nights have been sleepless and my days have been tense and anxious. This really couldn't have come at a better time for me. This goes without saying but just in case you didn't know what I was talking about because you have lost so much sleep over it yourself, I'm talking about David Letterman's apology to Sarah Palin. David Letterman made a joke. A cruel, heartless, and tasteless joke. Jokes aren't supposed to be a stretch of the imagination for a laugh. They are supposed to be factual statements not meant to offend or entertain. So when he made a joke about the possibility of Ms. Palin's 14 year old daughter getting knocked up inside a baseball stadium during a baseball game, I cringed. After that, I cried. And since then I've been a mess. I wasn't eating. Had a hard time getting out of bed in the morning. Withdrew from planned social activities. Wrote incomplete sentences. In fact, I still haven't fully recovered. First of all, Mrs. Palin is an outstanding mother. There is no way that one of her daughters would POSSIBLY have premarital sex, let alone get pregnant. Even more so not one of her TEENAGE daughters and NOT AT A BASEBALL STADIUM! First off, somebody would see it and immediately call the police or at the very least try to stop it. Mr. Letterman attacked this wonderful mother and made a horrible baseless joke. He clearly has no shame. Not only did he not consider the feelings of Mrs. Palin (a very private person, not used to the media limelight) but how it would offend everyday people like myself. I am finding the strength to move on from this tragedy slowly but surely. I hope you are as well. I get up at 5am and sometimes before that so of course I'm not up at 1130pm the night before to watch Letterman. Thank goodness for a 24 hour news media that ignores actual news and brings real tragedy like this to my attention so I can keep up with being outraged at things I wouldn't have known about otherwise. Also, an extended thanks to that same media who created this fake controversy and brought it all to a close by using the great tactic of a media generated apology to put Mr. Letterman and his advertisers on the hot seat for what is really much ado about SOMETHING EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that 85% of the country would have never heard about in the first place had it not been for the persistence of the television news. Me and my outrage thank you. (6/17/09) WTF Dave. So much for editing for fairness and taste! Exactly what is there, besides appealing to your liberal bias, in the following post "What's the difference between Sarah Palin and the Panama Canal? One's a busy ditch ... " - I see nothing of a media or local purpose in that post. You should pull it, or maybe substitute Hillary or Michele and see the reaction you get. (6/17/09) Hiring Donny G forces WGMD to do nothing. The delay line is a lame substitute for a properly written contract with penalties, a PD who monitors the station and a GM who rides herd on PD, jock and contract. Management deserves what they get when they hire out of control jocks,,,the expenses have only begun. (6/17/09) Geronimo. If the station does local talk and presumably takes calls, and has no delay - whoa...that's an accident waiting to happen. Everything from prankster kids to people just saying something by accident. I have had it happen on something as mundane as buy and sell shows in a tiny market. The listener started to laugh at something I said and said well, shittttt I don't know. In a slow southern draw as if we were sitting around the dinner table together. Then there's the prankster dropping the F bomb on the phone or yelling at a table mic at a ballgame...had em all and luckily had a eventide to hit DUMP on. Glad they are getting some "net" as it were...As for Geronimo's content...it'll be interesting to hear the "what not" he talks about. One would assume the station is current event/news/politics driven (not being in the market)...will his fresh new show lean into any of that? - or will it be the typical topics minus the dirty stuff from before (personally my fav). If its the latter, how will it work in a smallish market? How does it tie what comes before and after him together? After doing what he's done so well for years...I would think it would be hard to go back to being a "midday maven" where occasionally the geriatric caller gets through who simply says, "can you give me the time?" Or better yet, can you announce a birthday or a lost dog? That is if its not Left vs Right... (6/17/09) (Angry N.W. Guy, don't tell Topper Shutt he sucks. He'll round up his raging troop of leprechauns and come over and punch your kneecaps out. Paul) Paul--- don’t lower the Leprechauns to such a puddle! They are above Channel 9 (6/17/09) What's the difference between Sarah Palin and the Panama Canal? One's a busy ditch ... (6/17/09) (regarding a previous post) "Imus lost his job because he stopped making money for CBS long ago". For years, WFAN had been the top billing radio station in the country and 'Imus in the Morning' was largely responsible for that. I mean, look at WFAN's morning drive ratings and the lowered performance, in terms of billing, since Imus was let go. Also, it's an "apples/oranges" thing when you compare CBS Radio ratings/revenues with CBS TV ratings/revenues. On the TV Side, CBS has been the most watched of the three main brodcast networks. No, Imus was forced off CBS by his stupid - by his own admission - racial remark, and deep down, CBS Radio was sad to see him go - and probably even more now, during the severe economic downturn. (6/17/09) Fox Newser busted by NYPD gawker.com (6/17/09) I, too, am stunned by Letterman's "joke." Granted, Sarah Palin is a complete and total idiot, her family has displayed blatant stupidity, a disregard for law and common morals, and a propensity for sex out of wedlock and premarital pregnancy; and I'll grant you that Palin being one heartbeat away from the Presidency would have been a mistake of historic proportions; and I'll grant you that she has been vicous in her attacks on all of her perceived political enemies...but please, for God's sake, let's not crack jokes about her! That is going too far! (6/17/09) Teething pains at WZAA: Wednesday, just after 2 p.m., they were running NBC Radio news then into an Air America show. Just after 3 p.m., they were running CBS radio news then into WTOP programming. At 3:10 they abruptly switched to Air America programming. Oops! (6/17/09) Less than 12 hours removed from his controversial appearance on the debut episode of HBO’s Joe Buck Live, Artie Lange responded to his critics on the Howard Stern Show Tuesday morning. The entire postmortem rant can be seen exclusively on the Howard TV On Demand service starting on Wednesday, June 17, 2009. It will remain on the service for about three weeks... www.howard.tv... (6/17/09) Bob in Forest Hill:"I certainly can see how the language is hyperbolic and inflammatory, depending on the readers side in the debate." I, OTOH, would argue that O'Reilly's language and style is usually inflammatory and hyberbolic no matter which side of the debate one is on. On my side, we ask, "What is wrong with people that they actually listen to this stuff? That man has no shame!" On the other side, people say, "What in the world is wrong those people Bill is talking about? Someone should do something about them!" Howie (6/17/09) ..."but the fact that he's getting WMAR 2 from far away Baltimore pretty much discredits this story" How? WMAR 2 is on UHF 38. I think that proves his point that UHF is stronger than VHF. I have a similar problem because 7 and 9 were in the mid 90's signal wise for me and now since the switch to VHF they are 45-50. WMAR however is up to 85% and WBAL and WJZ are completely gone at only 9% (Lee in Forestville). (6/17/09) Anyone who wants to make a contribution in honor of Johnny Holliday's grandson Jack can send a check to; Tracy Church, Center for Neuroscience and Behavioral Medicine, Children's National Medical Center, 801 Roeder Rd. #300, Silver Spring, Md 20910. Make checks payable to; Children's National Medical Center. On the memo line write; "brain cancer research". (6/17/09) After running local talk for more than two decades, the addition of Don Gerinimo forces WGMD to add a delay. (6/17/09) Dave's response: Ha ha ha. And be like WJFK with a snot-nosed intern manning the "dump button." I hear that several FCC bigwigs like to vacation in Rebohoth Beach. You never know who's listening..... Re: "Letterman should not lose his job, as Imus should have before him." Wrong, Bob. Imus lost his job because he stopped making money for CBS long ago, while Dave continues to be a strong cornerstone of the CBS machine - even extending his contract to 2012. (6/17/09) Angry N.W. Guy, don't tell Topper Shutt he sucks. He'll round up his raging troop of leprachauns and come over and punch your kneecaps out. Paul (6/17/09) Hey, are we almost done with the endless "you KNOW what would have happened if a conservative had said what Letterman said" and the "you KNOW what will happen with Geronimo's new gig" things? Since when is the Mailbag dominated by third-rate palm readers and off-the-wall psychic friends? None of you have a clue. Geronimo was incredibly successful in the DC market for the better part of two decades but, because things didn't work out at some rinky-dink station last year, you think that's the infallible predictor from here on out? Puh-lease. As for the Palin/Letterman hullabaloo, I'm pretty sure the after-joke shit storm has just been a tool the GOP has used to keep people from paying attention to the steady stream of blatantly racist crap being issued by the Tennessee Republican party. (6/17/09) Dave: Here's how you know if management cares/listens to ESPN980. If I was Thompson-Creek, I would yank all of my orders with the station. How do you allow Czaban to voice a spot using the word "sucks." Totally unprofessional!!! That's ESPN980 representing the small sportstalk audience and that's why WJFK needs to turn- over it's format ASAP. For the first time in many months, I tried listening to the Fox Sports morning show with Czaban...It was worse than nails on a chalkboard. Scott Linn is as bad as Koken was with John Thompson...just being there to kiss Czaban's butt and be cute. Fox should use John Frike in the morning with Deb Carson to replace Czaban. (6/17/09) Paul... REAL classy comments about a female's posterior. What a fine gentleman you are. (sigh) Why do you subject us to your boorishness? (6/17/09) Re: "Does anyone remember “Old Howard’s Rock and Roll Jukebox”?" Yes I remember that program. It was great music! And Old Howard's partner was Lee Michael Demsey. I wish I had some audio too. Robert in Arlington (6/17/09) There was an unexpected consequence of the switch to DTV. For decades, PBS stations had broadcast a date and time signal that allowed VCRs and other devices to set their clocks accurately. It was always available on MPT and WETA. Not any more. Here in Howard County, Comcast removed WETA from the analog tier months ago. After last Friday's DTV switch, MPT's digital 22.4 was put on analog cable channel 22 and it has no time signal. WHUT's 32.1 appears on analog cable channel 19; it has a time signal if you want your VCR to set to a random time in August of the year 2034. On the digital side, digital cable channels 19, 22, and 26 have no time signal but, for some reason, Animal Planet on channel 41 does though it is 55 minutes slow. As we know, "everyone" uses TiVo these days and only dinosaurs use VCRs so it doesn't matter. (6/17/09) No! No! No! The reference to Dave Hughes as a PD and or consultant was a 100% COMPLIMENT! Granted, most PD's are recycled 'throw darts at a board' monkeys which is, part in part, the problem with radio today. Although out of the box, Dave Hughes would make a great radio consultant during a time when fresh ideas, knowledge and common sense are needed most. Unless Hughes has matted backhair, strike all monkey references. (6/17/09) Dave's response: I have a shaved head..... I agree with the opinion of the hire…Don G/Mike Sorce and the mistake being made by WGMD…big mistake, BUT you just never know he might, just might pull it of….NAH too much ego and arrogance. Just take a look at his base listeners: As for the sarcastic remark about Dave Hughes as a PD..totally unfair. I know Dave, he is NOT interested in that type of a life…. (6/17/09) Will Channel 9 please shit can that fool Derick McGinty? He is an out of place, out of his league anchor. That duo with Anita is not a top 10 market anchor desk by any stretch, although big market doesn't always mean better. Hey Topper, you called for passing showers to the west today. It's pouring most of the day here in N.W. You suck too and you never say ooops I was wrong again! I gotta stop watching that trash. (6/17/09) Letterman's "joke" was way out of line and merited an apology but as perhaps someone else has pointed out I seem to recall a McCain "joke" about Chelsea, Hillary, and Janet Reno that was foul and hurtful to the kid that just had the conservatives/Republicans in attendance at the event howling with laughter. Don't recall much, if any umbrage from them about that one. So please spare us the fake outrage. Shawn in DC (6/17/09) In response to Bob in Forest Hill: O’Reilly repeatedly referred to him as “Tiller the baby killer”. He repeatedly said he’s murdering babies. Clearly that provokes outrage amongst people. First, Tiller never murdered any baby. He performed abortions on fetuses, legal under the law. Second, he was one of a very few clinics that perform abortions after 20 weeks, which provokes O’Reilly’s rath. Not to start an abortion debate, but only 1.3% of abortions in the US are performed after the 1st trimester. Women don’t wait 20 weeks to get one because they don’t want to be pregnant, they do it for medical reasons, severely deformed fetus, or if their health is in jeopardy, also if the fetus has died. In many states it is illegal to remove a dead fetus rather the mother must continue to carry it to term thanks to the anti-abortion movement. Tiller performed this service for women in such a situation. (6/17/09) Don Geronimo & WGMD Programming:: If you ask these residents, the "Talk of Delmarva" is what big dummy PD hired Mike Sorce? Not since Beth Ann McBride was hired as the producer of the Mike O'Meara Show has there been a worst fit. The demographics for WGMD don't lie. 81% Male. 98% White. 42% 50 and older. 94% with no kids under 17. 99.9% Republican. What is Geronimo going to talk about to these people other than realizing that 95% of the men that make up his listening audience haven't had an erection since Ronald Reagan was a handsome young actor. Seriously, if a monkey can program a radio station, why hasn't Dave Hughes, with all his knowledge and common sense, ever been hired as a PD consultant - especially at WGMD? Even Sorce's Batman tattoo won't help starting Monday. [We] give this Geratol trainwreck six weeks. CBS Management gettin a great chuckle out if this! (6/17/09) For those that missed it: Here is WTTG 5's final analog sign-off (with DuMont test pattern) from the June 12, 2009 broadcast of Fox 5 "Midday". Includes last half of the Star-Spangled Banner video (possibly used during 1980's Metromedia/early Fox ownership). NOTE: video immediately follows an advertisement- click on the link to see the sign-off: www.myfoxdc.com (6/17/09) Michael Medved is a Russ Limbaugh wannabe, which is why he tends to say some crazy and bizarre stuff on the air in hoping the other media would take notice. I have seen Michael's ratings, well lets just say that he doesn't get much. I can't say as to exactly why Medved has "changed" over the years other than perhaps he saw the numbers and money Rush was making and decided to give it a try. (6/17/09) Howie, thanks. I certainly can see how the language is hyperbolic and inflammatory, depending on the readers side in the debate. But the only statement that appears to be irresponsible on its face is that Tiller was "acquitted today of murdering babies." Of course, he was never tried for murder, but rather for not allowing for proper independent second opinions. However, most of what you quote is from a 2006 Talking Points Memo (see www.foxnews.com ) Again, I say, 2006. Out of context, O'Reilly's comment that "If we allow Dr. George Tiller and his acolytes to continue, we can no longer pass judgment on any behavior by anybody" seems dark (though, again, these comments were made 2.5 YEARS prior to his murder). The CONTEXT in which he said this, though was clearly a legal one. The lead up to this comment was about the new Kansas Attorney General, Paul Morrison. One paragraph prior to the acolyte comment he says, "We hope Morrison does that [investigates], as this kind of stuff simply cannot be tolerated by a civilized society." Any fair reading in context shows that O'Reilly was talking about a LEGAL solution, not a violent one. Amazing what 2.5 years and a little context does to change meaning. Bob in Forest Hill (6/17/09) WDCW is running color bars on 50.2. Guess This TV will be launching at any moment. (6/17/09) Sorry for the multiples, Dave. Just a few things that caught my interest. To the anon poster who wrote that David Letterman " didn't mince words, make any excuses, or claim his remarks were taken out of context." Actually, his first statement on the issue said basically, sorry you didn't get the joke. it was only the second time that he apologized earnestly and clearly, taking responsibility. Look, I think it's overblown and I don't think any entertainer, especially a comedian, should lose their gig over a bad joke. Letterman should not lose his job, as Imus should have before him. All that said, the analogy with the Imus situation is almost perfect, and that can't be denied. A comic entertainer makes a minor joke in poor taste, hitting a nerve with a small group of people. An interesting difference is that Imus had a much smaller audience and was working off-the-cuff. Nobody should have cared, because almost nobody heard it. Letterman has a much larger audience (especially with his renewal following Leno's ouster) and was working off of a script, one that even he admitted was reviewed and checked. With all that in mind, the Letterman faux pas was actually MUCH more egregious. Yet, he won't lose his job. Despite the fact that I agree he shouldn't, why IS there such a difference? Is it the race aspect, the liberal-conservative aspect? I don't know, but it is striking. Also interesting to note that Letterman's other joke basically referencing Palin as a slut has been almost completely ignored due to the worseness of the remark about her kid. Imagine if ANYONE called Michelle Obama or Biden's wife a "slut" or said they dressed like a "slutty" whatever. The outcry would be enourmous and, yes, careers would be ended over it. An AMAZING double standard. Bob in Forest Hill (6/17/09) Does anyone remember “Old Howard’s Rock and Roll Jukebox”? I believe it was on WAMU in the mid-to-late 70’s. Sure would like to have a link to any archive audio. Biff in Winchester (6/17/09) Bob in Forest Hill: Here are some of the O'Reilly quotes. No, he didn't MAKE anybody do anything, but they are really irresponsible. "In the state of Kansas, there is a doctor, George Tiller, who will execute babies for $5,000." "For $5,000, 'Tiller the Baby Killer' -- as some call him -- will perform a late-term abortion for just about any reason." "Tiller has killed thousands, thousands of late-term fetuses without explanation." "No question, Dr. Tiller has blood on his hands." " 'Tiller the Baby Killer' out in Kansas, acquitted, acquitted today of murdering babies." "This guy will kill your baby for $5,000, any reason. Any reason." "If we allow Dr. George Tiller and his acolytes to continue, we can no longer pass judgment on any behavior by anybody." "If we allow this, America will no longer be a noble nation." -Howie (6/17/09) I have to disagree with you about Howard Stern coming back to regular radio. I think he will. His show is nothing like it used to be. Sirius killed it's ''edge''. Sirius/XM was and is a ''novelty'' at best and it's a sinking ship. No matter if he is or isn't but Howard will be blamed for it's demise within 2 years. His ego won't let him do that. I say within a year of his last day at Sirius/XM he signs a giant contract and he's back on regular radio and Sirius/XM crumbles. And I don't think the ''switch'' to DTV had anything to do with 9 losing viewers. To bring viewers BACK to 9 they should have a ''Bouce Quarters Off Angie Goff's Ass'' contest. That traffic gal has THE greatest looking ass! Paul (6/17/09) Paul...what exactly was the "inflammatory language to incite a murder" that O'Reilly used? You're accusing a man of a crime, so I surely hope you have details, in context, to back it up. I'm no big Bill fan, but this is quite a statement. Bob in Forest Hill (6/17/09) FYI to the poster ragging on WOCM ocean 98.1. In case you hadn't figured it out LEIGHTON owns the station. He doesn't give a shit @ ratings. He doesn't have to. That’s the beauty of being an independent owner. If you've ever been to SEACRETS then you would realize that he makes money the minute you park in his lot. So It ain't about the ratings and it ain't about how well he's received by the radio listening public. It's about making money, something he does extremely well. Plus he makes money with his station regardless of who's on first.... Good luck to the Kirkster. I'm looking forward to hearing a live, real person rocking out some good shit for a change. Unlike all of the other "canned stations" here on delmarva.... A.M.F (6/17/09) RE: [Where was the outrage then? There was none] Dittos. Was the joke Letterman told stupid and insensitive? Of course it was. The moment his calousness was bought to his attention, did Letterman recognize his error, take full responsibility for his words and humbly apologize to those he harmed? Unlike others before him like Imus, Limbaugh, Savage, Dwayne "Dog" Chapman and O'Reilly, Letterman apologized. It was the right thing to do, and to his credit, he did it promptly and rather artfully. He didn't mince words, make any excuses, or claim his remarks were taken out of context. He simply owned up, and then apologized, and made a vow to do better in the future. Yet, even now that Sarah Palin has graciously accepted David Letterman's apology, the ultra-conservative rage-a-holic machine refuse to follow her lead and let it go. Why? The answer is simple: they never wanted an apology&nbs p;in the first place - they wanted payback, and they were willing to ham up the "controversy" to a metioric level for vindictive reasons that had absolutely nothing to do with the stupid joke Letterman told. Want an example of this? Okay...riddle me this: How on earth would telling this stupid and insensitive joke warrant branding Letterman as a "pedophile", a "Pervert" or some sort of "Child Rapist"? Those accusations were not only overreaching, they are silly and childish, and a clear sign that his accusers threw all sense of reason out the window and "jumped the proverbial shark" in their rush to claim that Letterman, as a "Librul", was being held to a different standard than conservatives who made similar mistakes. He wasn't. The simple irony is this particular joke was breathtakingly similar to the kinds of jokes these exact same conservatives had laughed at in the past, and e-mailed to their frie nds. The only difference being that the target previously had been the child of a liberal, the jokester was a conservative, and the jokester expressed no desire to apologize for his words. Yet now, this "peasants with pitchforks" mob suddenly finds a voice for their rage. The entire bru-ha-ha stinks. It is nothing but hypocrisy at its finest. For goodness sakes, you fools need to just let it go! (6/17/09) Enough with whining about a so-called double standard with David Letterman. First, he never made a joke about raping a 14 year old. Second, unless you’re a whiny Sarah Palin fan, you’d realize the jokes were really about Elliot Spitzer and A-Rod and what slime they are. I guess it’s okay for Bill O’Reilly and Fox to use inflammatory language to incite a murder, but telling a joke draws out the so-called moral decency of the neo-cons. Paul (6/17/09) One more AM preset to consider: 700 WDMV Walkersville MD. No Talk, no music, no brokered or financial programming, no news, no electricity, no scruples, no signal. Tune in now and enjoy the sound of normal atmospheric noise. Tune in tonight and enjoy WLW out of Ohio. (6/17/09) Dave's response: Or, for your listening pleasure, there's always the cool ghostly silent tunes of 1440 AM, WOHN, in Herndon. Where's Jay? Let me be sure I understand the double standard before I comment on it. Imus makes a comment about adults, engaged in the public play of a sport, using words that are used by that generation, and he is called a racist. He gets fired. Letterman makes a comment encouraging about statutory rape of a 14 yr old girl sitting in the stands, not on the court, and you have a problem with him being called a pervert and think he should remain employed? Tell me Dave, what if a priest had made the comment about the girl? The Catholic Church has been endlessly persecuted for even the most benign of complaints about the behavior of adults toward children. The presumption has been that an adult expressing an interest in a child is a pervert and should be prosecuted regardless of the quality or quantity of evidence. So why does Letterman get a pass? Or what if Al Sharpton had made a comment about the jumping abilities of white guys playing basketball? Would he be called a racist and removed from the airwaves. I thought you were more enlightened than that. Sharpton has repeatedly made baseless accusations against white people, and nothing happens to him. As others pointed out, it apparently is okay to victimize Republicans, and their children, but leave liberals and democrats alone or face the consequences. Your rant is so far off-base and so full of disingenous politically correct reverse bias that it makes me wonder about you. Yank the rant and Letterman too. (6/17/09) Interesting that PBS chose to take a stand on "nonsectarian" and, further, to interpret sectarian as purely a religious thing. There is a great argument to be made (and many have made it) that the Cult of Mother Earth and the Global Warming stuff has all the characteristics of a religion (belief system on fear and interpretation, an internal system of ethics differentiating sinners (non-green) for non-sinners, fire-breathing sermons about armaggedon resulting from bad actions, etc). And PBS is rife with these. Wonder why the focus was on traditional religions? And why no focus on PBS' substantial failure to live up to its non-partisan obligation? Seems more important to start with the non-partisan. This decision doesn't really move me one way or another, as religious and sectarian programming is't my thing. But it does continue the erroneous interpretation of of Freedom of Religion as meaning that publicly funded institutions must EXCLUDE religion. That interpretation has come about only in the last 40 years and was never intended by the founding fathers. Bob in Forest Hill (6/17/09) Did anyone notice the article in the Post this morning about IMP suing Live Nation over their anti-competition business model in the amphitheatre business (Nisan vs. Meriwether)? Geez, it seemed like just yesterday Seth was trying so hard to keep House of Blues from competing in the DC nightclub business. www.washingtonpost.com. Also, now that Air America has a DC studio, will they be using Arlington based Ana Marie Cox more? They should. (6/17/09) Check out this behind-the-scenes look at Capitol News Connection’s “Power Breakfast” segment and host Elizabeth Wynne Johnson on youtube. (6/17/09) Dave, you described the mighty 1090 as a "lefty and righty" talker. Who is the lefty on that station? Or did you think Allan still worked there? :) Sheri isn't a lefty, C4 was a Democrat, but since his ethics problems is part of the Ehrlich fan club, Ron is...well Ron, Bruce is no lib. Even Schmuck on sports is pretty right wing when he sits in for the week in review. Ingraham's on at night, Bob and Kendall on the weekend. I guess those Sporting News radio guys are all socialists! Howie (6/17/09) What the heck happened to R&R Magazine? According to RadioAndRecords.com, the site has been forwarded to Billboard Magazine’s site. Neilson Business Media, the apparent owner of R&R and Billboard is consolidating the two pubs and is using the Billboard brand. I was unable to look at any charts on Billboard without a subscription. Radio is hardly even mentioned on Billboard. Is this so long to R&R? L. Froom (6/17/09) Dave's response: Yeah, R&R is finito..... AM presets for people that can't stand talk radio, right or left: 640 WWJZ Mount Holly NJ (Radio Disney); 740 CFZM Toronto Canada (oldies); 810 WYRE/WKHZ Annapolis (oldies); 1160 WMET Gaithersburg (Music of Your Life); 1530 WCTR Chestertown MD (oldies); 1590 WFBR Glen Burnie (oldies). That's what's on my radio. Stations that cover other parts of the area include 950 WCTN Potomac (nostalgia) and 1520 WTRI Brunswick MD (country). These are all pretty puny signals, and a lot of them sell chunks of time to non-music formats, but at least they're not talk radio. ~~CA in BC (6/17/09) Last September Saturday Night Live did a skit where they made incest jokes about Todd Palin (you remember...that extreme First Dude) having sex with his daughters. Where was the outrage then? There was none - in fact, Palin and McCane appeared on SNL shortly after. Where was the outrage at Conan O'Brien or Jay Leno last fall when they made their jokes about John Edwards being the father of Bristol's child? How about when Conan said, "Saturday night, Sarah Palin is going to drop the first puck at the Philadelphia Flyers' hockey game. Then Palin will spend the rest of the game trying to keep the hockey players out of her daughter's penalty box." (and, yes, the daughter Sarah was with was Piper). OH! And did John McCane incite the GOP women's ire when he joked, "Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno." Did El Rusho ever apologize for his Chelsea jokes? And recently, did O'Reilly do a mea culpa for the rhetoric that lead to the murder of Dr. George Tiller? Well, Letterman did - twice - and I wish he didn't even do it once. Republicans are a bunch of crybabies who look more and more foolish the more they push this. The best part of all of this has been (a) Dave's ratings and (b) seeing David MacDonald from Sirius/XM's "The Ron and Fez Show" getting more coverage on the news by mocking yesterday's protesters. (6/17/09) I knew it. I wrote 6 months ago: "Just in the last few weeks have I discovered for sure that some DTV stations were reverting to their old analog channel assignments. I've been looking on and off into that for the last couple of years but could never seem to find solid info. I'm glad I put off getting that UHF-only Yagi since 7, 9, 11, and 13 are reverting to their original freqs for digital. I've seen a lot of "DTV" antennae go up on houses in my neighborhood that only pick up UHF (Yagi only and those bow-tie arrays with flat reflectors). The changeover expense might be more than just those without ATSC tuners having to get converter boxes... (1/5/09)" So now some people can't get digital 7 or 9 when they could before the transition? Did any of them have "DTV" or "HDTV" roof antennae installed which were UHF-only? If so, you might want to call your antenna installer back. (6/17/09) “In Baltimore, the format is doing just fine” - Dave, what are the comparables for WJZ-FM since they switched over to all-sports (almost)? Bob in B-more (6/17/09) "Something happened to the once-brilliant Dennis Miller.." What about Michael Medved? He has changed a LOT over the years. I have several movie books in my collection from the 70s and 80s written by Medved and they were quite funny. Even the "bad" movies he would talk about when he hosted Sneak Previews after Siskel & Ebert had left, he made jokes about them but in a lighthearted sort of way like The Village People's "Can't Stop the Music" or Olivia Newton-John's "Xanadu". Then sometime in the mid-late 80s after Sneak Previews....he changed. Slamming Hollywood, Slamming TV, Slamming radio . His radio show is heard in my hometown, recently when I caught his show there I just can't help but wonder if this guy is on some kind of medication or if he is saying such stuff on the air as some kind of joke? Medved was going on about how the prupose of TV is to spread "the gay agenda" and how radio disc jockeys are "trash and worthless" and suggested that the health privacy act should NOT extend to those who are in the entertainment biz, how only "married hetrosexuals" should be on the radio and TV. Going from being a very well known and popular movie critic to someone who says on his show "...people with HIV should not be allowed to visit amusement parks since they can spread the virus..through roller coasters"...ah that IS a change. Wonder what happened? (6/17/09) This part of The Washington Post story on DTV made me laugh out loud.............. "That has left thousands of viewers like Steve LaRochelle, of Silver Spring, without access to "CSI" and "Oprah." LaRochelle received the stations perfectly before the digital transition on Friday, when all full-power stations permanently turned off their analog signals. But now, "they don't even register after a rescan," he said, although he is able to receive Baltimore's ABC channel."............ Guess what, if you're in Silver Spring and you're getting WMAR ABC2 from Baltimore and NOT WJLA 7 or WUSA 9, #1... You are an idiot, here's your sign. #2... Obviously your antenna is pointed in the wrong direction no matter what kind it is! #3... Obviously The Washington Post writer is an idiot too! AHAHAHAHAHAHA Too funny. Ok, seriously, the problem of VHF DTV reception is a real one for people with the wrong antenna, but the fact that he's getting WMAR 2 from far away Baltimore pretty much discredits this story. That is my point. I mean, seriously, how many people bought UHF ONLY antennas? THOUSANDS in DC? I think not. And if only 350 people called WJLA 7, how did The Post writer extrapolate that into "thousands?" If this story is true, scientists need to restudy how much smarter humans are than apes. :-) (6/17/09) Great to have Air America back in DC. And on 1050, it’s even audible. Has 1050 kicked in the 10KW upgrade, or are they still at 3.5KW? Ten thousand watts non-directional @ 1050 beats the hell out of the tin-can-and-string @ 1260. Without the likes of Stephanie Miller, Ed Schultz, Randi Rhodes, Thom Hartmann, Mike Molloy & Jon Elliott, the current AA talent is sort of like plugging the Harrisburg Senators into the Gnats’ starting lineup (oh, wait—that’s not such a bad idea!)—they’re missing the major leaguers. But we’ll wish Martin & Bennett and all involved with WZAA the best of luck. And we’ll encourage them to be first in line when Citadel implodes and 630 goes up for grabs. Progressive talk deserves a big-time radio platform in DC. But until that happens, 1050 is better than nothing at all… or 1260. (6/17/09) Dave's response: 1050's daytime signal is pretty good throughout the DC metro. Its night signal is still pretty pip-squeak..... When I was a young kid, the entrance to WFBR’s studios was on the North Avenue side of the same (13 E. 20th St) building. The main part of the building’s front was the Film Centre, a movie theater where films with “Todd-A-O” were shown. When I went to Poly, a block or so to the east, the theater was closed and converted to an Equitable Trust. WFBR moved to the 20th Street side during that process. I’m guessing the station no longer needed the auditorium facilities that it once did. As far as Waterview Avenue, I don’t know when WFBR started transmitting from there, but I can tell you that the signal was excellent and crystal clear. In the early 70’s, the station (Harry Shriver was GM then) wanted a better signal over the northern parts of the market; the station was somewhat weak in Randallstown and decided to relocate to Hebbville off Rolling Road. But complete due diligence probably was not done because while 1300 throws a stronger signal over Randallstown, the signal as a whole seems greatly diminished from what it was from Westport. Roddy Freeman (6/17/09) From what I remember the FM radio band really starts at 88.1 mHz and while analog TV was still up and running you could pick up VHF channel 6 audio on 87.7FM. With that in mind, can someone please explain why I was able to pick up close to a city grade signal with stereo pilot on that frequency in Woodbridge? The format sounded like a religious Spanish format - very little talk lots of music back to back. Are they licensing new FM's on that freq since analog tv has gone away? Is this a pirate station (doubtful)? Or am I hearing a skip from somewhere else? Thanks in advance for any help you can give me on this. Rick (6/17/09) Dave's response: The 87.7 signal you're hearing is a legal low-power Channel 6 TV station in Arlington. LPTVers don't have to go digital and are still operating in old-fashioned analog. Therefore, you can still hear their audio on FM or on old TV band radios. If you turn on your old analog TV, it'll still pick up some signals of LPTVers like religious Daystar on Channel 23, Telemundo on Channel 25, and even WJLA's signal on Channel 49..... Hey Dave, I’m not sure if you’ve covered this yet but will Don’s new show be able to stream on the Internet, given his non-compete? (6/17/09) Dave's response: From what I understand, Don's CBS contract forbids his show from being heard in markets where there are CBS stations. That includes on-air and via internet streaming. So, I doubt you'll hear an official WGMD webstream/podcast of Don's show. Now, does that mean someone somewhere couldn't independently post a podcast of Don's show without incurring CBS's wrath? Stay tuned..... Jeez Dave, You actually feel sorry for Letterman? More repulsed that someone implied that he was a "sex pervert", yet "laughed" but only "cringed" at his joke about Palin's daughter? It's obvious that you are in the tank for this guy. And even more obvious that your political persuasion leans left. So, was there really a chance that you would have voted for a ticket with Palin on it? Much less a conservative or republican ticket. You don't have to BS us, just be honest. By the way, he only apologized once. The first attempt was pretty dam feeble. More of a lame excuse as I see it. Ron G., Owings, Md. (6/17/09) Dave's response: You know, I don't think I've ever voted for a Republican. Yet, there are some Republicans that I've liked, like former Senator John Warner. While I never voted for Warner, I sometimes didn't vote for the Democrat running against him..... For all the talk about talk on local radio, it remains shameful that so little of that talk qualifies as local talk. Even the few local talkers who are left would generally rather talk about national issues. The addition of a new talk station associated with yet another national outlet isn't going to change that equation. Everett W. (6/17/09) What if you threw a protest rally and nobody bothered to show up? Here's a video link documenting the dozen Sarah Palin supporters who rallied in front of the Ed Sullivan Theater yesterday to demand that CBS oust David Letterman. The beauty is, what these people clearly lack numbers, they certainly make up for in nine shades of "bat-Shiite crazy". Priceless! video.nymag.com (6/17/09) Dave, Regarding your Letterman/Palin rant from today. I would suggest that Palin did not endorse the stupid demonstration outside the Ed Sullivan theater. I don't blame someone for what others might do in their behalf. There are crazy kooks from both sides of the political spectrum. Your thinking is akin to not voting for liberal candidates due to the antics of Code Pink, for example. The statements made by Letterman and Imus are just further proof that things ought to get nicer in our society. Both "jokes" are just uncalled for. One thing, Imus told his off the cuff, Letterman's was actually written down. Still bad though and there is no place for this in our society. George, Stephens City, VA (6/17/09) Dave's response: In a free society, there is ALWAYS a place for tasteless jokes. Doesn't mean you have to listen to or like 'em..... All day today on THE GLOBE: It's "Metaphor Free Monday"! www.collegehumor.com (6/17/09) Today's "Rant" is just laughable. The list of so called "right wingers" who have lost their jobs or have been sanctioned for making a statement that might be offensive to someone is too long to list. Now, loyal leftist David Letterman, who hasn't been funny in 10 years, makes a stupid, sexist remark..and the offended do exactly what the left has been doing for years and you're "repulsed"...This whole episode is great because it once again displays the double standard and hypocrisy of organizations like N.O.W. and the rest of the stupid left who are finally getting exactly what they've been dishing out for too long. (6/17/09) DTV VHF Reception: Don't mean to be repetitive, but the reception problems are not unique to the DC area. www.broadcastingcable.com. Whatever article I read yesterday and cannot find this morning also mentioned other 6/7 stations having similar problems. (6/17/09) Dave's response: The FCC could have prevented much of the problems by putting all of a market's DTVers on the same band, a la UHF. Moving 7 and 9 back to VHF requires viewers to have both VHF and UHF antennae. And since a station's on-air identifier isn't necessarily their real broadcast channel (4 is really UHF 48), people don't know whether a station's signal is VHF or UHF, and which antenna would work best..... Dave, Have you seen any really 'definitive' ratings for the 'new' Tonight Show vs Letterman? I've checked and seems like nothing has appeared lately. Some news reports as to the 'acceptance' of O'Brian but not really ratings numbers. 1580 for HFS...ya think CBS broadcasting in DC is in a downward spiral? With that new format failing on the FM outlet they WILL be looking for new ideas,,,lest someone be outta a job. Have a nice week! Dave (6/17/09) Dave's response: Conan beats Dave most night, as Jay used to do..... Message to FOX5. PLEASE stop having Tony Perkins fill in as an anchor when the other "real" anchors are out..He seems like a nice guy. But, he is HORRIBLE as an anchor..And only FOX5 would have their weather person fill in..Not one other local station has their weather person doing this..Whenever he anchors, I end up watching another network. (6/17/09) "Double Scan" - Ahhh....at last a logical explanation to my DTV woes...I need to scan twice as much for the "lost" stations I used to receive on my converter box...before the switch. (Today's Post article says hundreds of viewers lost Channel 7 and 9 when they went back to "VHF".) Carl, Pasadena, MD (Where we are lucky to get 5 DTV stations now) (6/17/09) Dave's response: I did a recent second scan of my antenna-connected DTV. And, yes, it "found" a station or two that it hadn't before, but it also "lost" several signals that I had to manually re-add..... Looking at the post, Kirk McEwan, is going to be doing Nights at the lowly rated WOCM, in Ocean City, with a rating of 1.5, being a high average. He might be the only person on Live in the Salisbury Market for that time slot...LOL. Layton, the Captain, should give Kirk the morning show, or mid-days, to try to turn, his sinking ship station, around, obviously the lowly rated morning show, with the host, Bullfrog, can' t get any ratings against all the canned show's in that market. GOOD LUCK KIRK , WATCH YOUR BACK, JUST ASK DON. (6/17/09) Dave's response: Still under contract to CBS Radio? Come to CBS-less Ocean City and work here! Hey, if CBS bought a station in Ocean City, it could keep both Don and Kirk - who are both still under contract to CBS - off the air there..... Dave, Did you or anyone get video of the analog TV shutdowns in the DC area last Friday? I'd like to see Ch. 5's fade-out; I read the station had an old sign-off from Dumont days. If anyone has it, I'd like to get a copy of it and the other stations. NOTHING occurred here in the Tri-Cities area of Washington state. All but one stations are/were UHF and as far as I've been able to find out, the transitions took place in February. It is a rather dead area for radio-TV news. Thanks, Bob Paine (6/17/09) Dave's response: No, I didn't make any recordings. I was watching the shutoffs on a tiny B&W battery-powered portable. In most cases, stations just uncerimoniously pulled the plug on analog. A handful, like WTTG, did a classy tribute to their analog TV heritage..... How do I get in touch with Dwight Eisenhower? Signed, Mike O'Meara (6/17/09) I am kinda surprised you have made no mention of the problems many people are having with WJLA and WUSA broadcasts since Friday. Message boards for both stations are loaded with viewers who can no longer receive the digital broadcast signals. I am in Prince George's County, at the District line. I have been using my digital converter for several months. I was prepared and received excellent reception from both 7 and 9 when they were broadcasting their digital signal via UHF (7 was on channel 39, I don't know what UHF band 9 was using.) So I can only presume that my antenna location and direction were correct. The only thing that changed was their broadcast frequencies from UHF to VHF. Now I get nothing from Channel 7 and a very poor signal from 9 that won't show on the screen. So what is the reason these stations had to change from UHF to VHF? Channels 4 and 5 didn't elect to make that switch and I get them fine. (6/17/09) Dave's response: Personally, I get better DTV reception of both 7 and 9 now that they're back on VHF. That's another problem with DTV signals - they're fickle and very variable, even in the same neighborhood or even in different parts of the same room. In my case, I used to get 50 great when its DTV was on 51. Now, I can't even get the slightest signal since its DTV signal is back on 50. And that's a UHF to UHF switch! Remember, UHF signals and VHF signals have different wavelengths and need different antennas. If you're using rabbit ears, those big long extendable poles are for VHF. Make sure they're extended. That little loop, or bow tie, is for UHF. The FCC decided to continue using "hi-band" VHF (7-13) for TV signals. That's why many stations with analog signals in that range have moved their digital signals back to their original channels. However, the FCC plans to use much of the "lo-band" VHF spectrum (2-6) for other stuff. So most of the stations with analog signals there will be on UHF in the new digital world..... /\ June 17 Messages /\ \/ June 16 Messages \/ "Julius Genachowski, President Obama's nominee for chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, said Tuesday that he did not support reimposing the Fairness Doctrine. He was asked at his nomination hearing by ranking Senate Commerce Committee Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison to publicly state the opinion he had expressed to her in a meeting - that he did not support the doctrine, even if it were arrived at by ancillary routes like localism mandates. Genachowski said he strongly believes in the First Amendment and doesn't think the FCC should be involved in censorship based on political speech and opinion. " Keep in mnd that what one says during their confirmation hearing has no impact whatsoever once confirmed. Just ask Dwight Eisenhower (Earl Warren) and George H.W. Bush (David Souter)... Unsigned Corporate Suit (6/16/09) Thanks to the person who posted the segment about Richard Sher getting the Ted Yates award. I was hoping to see it. Thanks! (6/16/09) Local broadcaster Davy Jones of KHZ/WYRE will be at the Hard Rock, Baltimore Inner Harbor on the 28th of June to MC Dean Crawford & the Dunns River Band in concert. This fundraiser concert is being presented by The Artists 4 Amy Foundation to benefit the Child Life Department at the Johns Hopkins Childrens Center. The event starts at 3pm and donations will be accepted at the event. Visit www.artists4amy.org for more information. Anthony Poore is the director of the Artists 4 Amy Foundation, a 501(c) 3, named in honor of his daughter, Amy, who passed away from a Glioblastoma Brain tumor 10 years ago. The foundations assist families who are caring for a seriously ill child with their day-to-day financial shortcomings. (6/16/09) (quote) Air America...There is no "strategic alliance" with Bonneville (end) OK, thx for the clarification. Still pretty damned amazing and ambitious for a company that folks have written off as "they're done". (6/16/09) The newly revised Baltimore Sun website stinks. The old site as far more user-friendly, condensed and easy to navigate. It kept stories in a fairly logical format in a straight vertical column. The new site has things spread out all over the place in no logical order. It's just as bad as the latest Comcast.net home page. I've been using that for a few months now and I still miss the old one which again was easily navigated and grouped stories in condensed, easy-to-find formats. Why is it that companies feel they have to change their well-designed websites every so often? I mean change can be good, but change for the sake of change makes no sense. And that's what the Sun and Comcast both have done. (6/16/09) Any update on Chris Paul's abrupt departure from WPGC?..Any comment from Donnie Simpson? (6/16/09) Dave's response: No. While I did get confirmation from a CBS Radio exec, I haven't see anything in any radio trade pubs about it. Kinda strange..... RE: [A conservative is a liberal who's just been mugged, and a liberal is a conservative who's just been arrested] I always liked this adage: Q.) What is the one thing guaranteed to turn the most hardcore conservative republican into a card-carrying supporter of the A.C.L.U.? - A.) Their first felony indictment. - Jeff in Bowie (6/16/09) If Zier is doing the hiring at 1050, that makes a lot of sense that he'd hire Marty Sheehan. Sheehan and Bennett were quite the buddies when they worked at Clear Channel. They'd be out drinking... together all the time, with that... Castleberry. (6/16/09) Anyone know why that Richard Sher video clip link in the mailbag will not play on a Mac? :-( And did anyone notice that Richard Sher mentioned that he's moving to WMAR ABC 2 to re-start the old talk show SQUARE OFF ? (6/16/09) Most noticeable to me on the NEW BaltimoreSun.com is the classic Light For All SUN logo is gone and even the new more modern logo they'd been using is gone as well. You would think a once great U.S. newspaper would want to at least acknowledge its past somewhat by having one of their logos at the top of the page. Without any logo, the site looks very generic, just like the Tribune company in general. Kinda sad really. -- Joe in Essex (6/16/09) It's a sad day in radio when a s****** like Martin Sheehan gets another job. I had the displeasure of being on his sales staff at Clear Channel a few years back. What a ... scary man. I worry for the staff at Bonneville with this guy in charge. What must Oxley and Farley be thinking??? They must have done ZERO character checking. (6/16/09) Dave's response: Bonneville is leasing the signal and studios to Air America. Oxley and Farley have no control or say over the new WZAA's programming and staff. Sheehan works for Air America's Bill Hess and Bennett Zier, who are both veterans of Clear Channel DC..... (Air America has...a strategic alliance with the Bonneville stations here in DC. Not too bad for an outfit still being called "bankrupt") There is no "strategic alliance" with Bonneville. Air America is a tenant, leasing the 1050 signal and two small studios. (6/16/09) Heard a new a.m reporter started at WBFF Monday. Joel something or other from Allentown's 69 news. Haven't watched, Is he on air yet.? (6/16/09) AirAm's 1050 To Be WZAA (6/16/09) ("the old adage "a conservative is a liberal who's been slapped hard by reality") I remember that old adage as "A conservative is a liberal who's just been mugged, and a liberal is a conservative who's just been arrested" (6/16/09) I saw on your web site last week that Stern might be going back to regular radio. Have you heard anymore about that? (6/16/09) Dave's response: No I haven't. But I find it hard to believe. Why would Stern want to jump back into the work of corporate broadcast radio which he so obviously hates? I mean, that's why he went to satrad in the first place. I could maybe see Stern doing a nightly TV show for someone like Comedy Central. Maybe he'll be David Letterman's replacement on CBS. That would make more sense..... "Something happened to the once-brilliant Dennis Miller. It started about a decade ago and has since turned the man from one of the funniest and smartest and most intellectually wry observers of culture and political attitude in the country into some sort of warped war-supporting Republican-loving right-wing shill." he is what's known as a "9/11 republican". it's another way of saying the old adage "a conservative is a liberal who's been slapped hard by reality". (6/16/09) Open letter to WGMD Management:: Any excitement generated for Monday's launch of The Don Geronimo Show has come from this site, DCRTV. As loyal and appreciative readers to DCRTV, you owe proprietor Dave Hughes a big thank you. Where is your large display ad on this site? DCRTV readers should email WGMD in mass and ask them sales@wgmd.com (6/16/09) Dave's response: Oooookay..... What's up with Sean Hannity's hair? Looks like he stole a toupee from a corpse at a funeral home. (6/16/09) 50.2 is on the air but there is no program just a signal. P.S. your rants today are right on target. Les packing up in Adelphi (6/16/09) Air America has a whole new broadcast facility buildout in New York City, top progressive talk talent and a strategic alliance with the Bonneville stations here in DC. Not too bad for an outfit still being called "bankrupt", "gone" and "out of the picture" et al. (6/16/09) Does Don Geronimo have Dennis Miller Syndrome? Something happened to the once-brilliant Dennis Miller. It started about a decade ago and has since turned the man from one of the funniest and smartest and most intellectually wry observers of culture and political attitude in the country into some sort of warped war-supporting Republican-loving right-wing shill. Coming full circle, has Sorce's new Republican operative wife Jan been lacing his Shake n' Bake with nasty medication that makes him impotent and kills his past and true radio soul and then pounds any sort of "sex & boobs" satirical divine spark he may have into gray and choking Rush Limbaugh ash? Before the right wing darkness of WGMD swallows him whole, Sorce should realize that this kind of mid-life "career move" didn't work for Miller and its not going to work for him. [We] and Vegas odds-makers still give Geronimo six-weeks at WGMD. Support DCRTV Advertisers. (6/10/09) Everything Rush said about Letterman today - he's old, he's grumpy, he's politically biased, he's not funny any more - is all the same stuff one could say about Limbaugh himself. (6/16/09) My Name is Rocky Parrish and I am one of the on Air Hosts for Wyldestyle Radio w/ Kevin & Rock. We have done ALOT of events in the area and currently do a very successful internet radio show in the area, where we have listeners from Oregon to Missippi and of course back here in the DC area... You can go to our website and see some clips as we do a LIVE show which we are on Video. We have done the Junkies Spring Break Show and we host most of the Operation Octagon events. We will also be hosting the Tims II Hank Williams event on July 25th. www.facebook.com. We can be found on www.wyldestyleradio.com and we are not guys doing this out of our basement but we are grass roots... (6/16/09) (What is the latest news on the supposed bloodletting at Citadel's DC radio cluster today????) Friday was the second anniversary of the sale of ABC Radio to Citadel. Up until Friday, anybody laid off had to get the severance they would have gotten under Disney/ABC (generous). As of this week, anybody gets laid off and they get only what Fagreed wants to pay them....probably nothing. (6/16/09) to the libs who complain about fox news' "bias" and write things like "faux news" and fox "news": are you going to be applying the same standard to ABC "news" now that they've officially thrown down their mask of "objectivity"? i don't remember any time during bush 43's term where an entire network ran all of their national news shows from the white house and gave prime time coverage to a one-sided debate on an important issue. (6/16/09) Dave, sent your reply concerning TV/Radio combinations to various at FCC, will await a reply with baited breath, NOT! (6/16/09) Dave's response: I think it's a very important issue. Maybe the government should subsidize the manufacture of "radio/DTV audio" battery-powered radios. Hell, they'd probably work about as "well" as digital TVs connected to antennas. Ha ha ha..... ("""Which brings me to a second, related topic: the constant whining about not enough attention being paid to the Caps, the 'Zards, etc. Hey: catch a clue. Nobody's talking about the Caps because their season ended a long time ago. What's to talk about?""") I don't think the person who posted the above gets it. The problem isn't that WTEM isn't talking about the Caps now (although there are Caps events going on now, like the NHL awards dinner tomorrow and the NHL entry draft in a couple of weeks). The problem is that WTEM rarely talks about the Caps during their season except for the playoffs when the station is just bandwagon jumping. WTEM seems to specialize in two things: Redskins and Maryland basketball. Nats, Wiz, Caps, Gtown, GW, Geo Mason basketball get a much lower priority and DC United gets ridiculed. Would the ratings improve if the hosts opened their minds and learned a bit more so that they could intelligently discuss other sports and teams? I don't know. But I'm not sure they could get any worse. (6/16/09) The other day, someone posted here, complaining about the "potty mouths" running riot on the DCRTV Mailbag. Well, according to this nifty 'What's My Blog Rated?' site www.oneplusyou.com, the mailbag is rated "NC-17: No one under 17 admitted"" and the DCRTV site, overall, is rated "G: General Audiences". (6/16/09) Dave's response: Well, I guess DCRTV will get an NC-17 ratings when we debut a new feature - "Naked Radio Personalities In Bondage" on July 1. First up - MO'M..... Re: The scathing evaluation of Geronimo’s return to the arena..WOW….you’ve certainly hit the nail on the head. I truly pity the staff. He’s gonna run amuck, we that are in the biz already know that. But, in all due respect, he may have realized the error of his ways…NAH, way too much ego. On another note I pray for Johnny Holliday’s grandson and that’s the truth. WOW (6/16/09) Dave's response: Geronimo is definitely no righty. It'll be interesting to see how he "goes over" with those Eastern Shore "solid citizens" tuning into Reboboth Beach's 92.7 a little early to hear Rush at noon..... Still looking for an answer... so what happens to all the analog tv/radio combinations? Mine went dead Friday at noon. Is there a digital tv/radio combo around? A lot of people are now stuck with dead tv/radios now. (6/16/09) Dave's response: I've said it before. There are a lot of places across the USA that don't have a good all-news radio station nearby, like we do here in DC. They rely on local TVers for local news. And, in the past, when the power went out in an emergency, they could get out the old battery-powered TV band radio and still listen to news. Now, with local TVers all-digital, and no "battery-powered digital TV radios" out there, a good number of folks are going to be flat out of luck when an emergency hits. Something the suits at the FCC really don't seem to think is much of a priority issue. Even here in DC, if an emergency hit and the power went out, you could still get news from WTOP, but not from any of the four local TV stations (4, 5, 7, 9) that have news departments. That's not good..... To the BREAKING NEWS rant – watch espn for an hour and see how many times they run it. If something is breaking news at 1230, they’ll still run BREAKING NEWS for it at 630, and how many brett favre updates do we need? How bout when he signs, report that, until then, it’s the same BS over and over. How can it be a “comeback” if he never actually left? (6/16/09) I've got an idea. The crew in the basement of the Heritage Foundation that makes about 90 percent of the calls to WMAL's Grandy and Andy show could also review Letterman's monologues for political correctness. (6/16/09) What is wrong with this country? From the article referenced on DCRTV's front page (www.delawareonline.com): "The filing by MusicFirst accuses the stations that staged boycotts of unlawfully putting those financial interests above their obligation to serve the public." That we have even one person in government that would take such a statement seriously shows that we have major problems. ~~CA in BC (6/16/09) yeah, i agree about everything being "BREAKING NEWS" every 5 seconds. It's almost like the boy who cried wolf. Im so immune now, that when I see that, i dont even expect it to be big. the same goes w/ "developing story." CNN had it as a developing story when the Pres went out to get burgers for lunch! I couldnt figure out which was worse, the fact that is was news or that it was 'developing!' How much more to the story could there have been? they do that on their sunday show w/ John King too. W/ every interview, every time the guest says something, it goes up as a developing story lower third. OY! (6/16/09) (WCTN sounds better than other AM stations in the area) Thank you...I tried very hard to adjust the Optimod the "right" way. I hope it continues to sound good... (6/16/09) www.oct.dc.gov - Here's a link to an Emmy night clip with Richard Sher receiving the Ted Yates Award from his former co-host Oprah Winfrey! Both of them are very funny together and Sher mentions working as jock at WEAM. The video tribute has lots of footage of the two of them together at WJZ 13. (6/16/09) WTOP News Director Mike McMearty celebrating 17 years at WTOP today. (6/16/09) In response to the towers at Waterview Avenue in south Baltimore, they were indeed WFBR's as you had mentioned. A former PD, Norm Brooks is with the Broadcasting Institute of Maryland. He's a great guy with lots of knowledge of the history of the old WFBR. 410-254-2770. Tell him Tom said hi! Tom Conroy (6/16/09) BREAKING NEWS. Until broadcast executives discovered that those words capture eyes and ears, BREAKING NEWS applied to the riveting unfolding of events somewhere in the world that should be of major importance to listeners and viewers. I put a limit of one hour between the time news is first broadcast and the time BREAKING NEWS properly no longer applies. After that, CONTINUING STORY properly applies. They've been rioting in Iran for several days. On CNN, it is still BREAKING NEWS. How can it be BREAKING NEWS? It already BROKE! (6/16/09) Does anyone know the time line and history of the two old broadcast transmission towers at the Waterview Avenue docks in South Baltimore and a transmitter building that use to be located across from this location? I remember a red brick transmitter building with glass block windows sporting the WBFR 1300 AM call letters there at this location up until perhaps the late 1970's. What years would this location have been used as an active transmitter site for this station? I remember the WFBR studios were located at 13 E. 20th Street in Baltimore and had heard that it had been the station's only studio location from it's original sign on in the 20's. Was this Waterview Avenue site the original transmitter site? Also, are there any stories you might remember about this former Waterview Avenue facility? (6/16/09) Hi Dave, I'm an avid reader but haven't had a reason to e-mail you until now. I've been listening to the WHFS-HD2 stream on and off for the last day or two but haven't heard any talent on-air. Do you know if CBS is going to staff the station, or if it's going jockless for now? Also, do you know of any recordings of Cerphe's introduction to the station? Thanks! Mike (6/16/09) Dave's response: The occasional talent, but the station will remain largely automated. Hey, I'm an avid HFS listener back to the 1970s. Maybe I could do a show?..... Here is some information or those of you who can not make it to the Buzz a Thon Wednesday night at Kentlands barber shop 100 Booth Street in Gaithersburg with all proceeds to The Brain Tumor Institute At Children's National Medical Center. Buzz cuts will be given starting at 7;15 pm in support of Johnny Holliday's grandson 10 year old Jack Rolle who is undergoing treatment for a malignant tumor on his pituitary gland. If you'd like to make a donation, simply make our a check to "Children's National Medical Center" in honor of Jack..The hospital address is 111 Michigan Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20010. (6/16/09) What is the latest news on the supposed bloodletting at Citadel's DC radio cluster today???? (6/16/09) Dave's response: Anybody know anything? They were jesting about cuts yesterday on WMAL's Grandy and Andy show..... /\ June 16 Messages /\ \/ June 15 Messages \/ I've noticed since the transition on Friday last that the NHK World channel on the former MHZ network has changed from narration in english to most programs to dropping that feature. Seems like only the news given every half hour, a change on NHK WORLD from few months ago which I find ponderous and the J-Melo music program( a favorite of mine) are still spoken in English or have English translation, bummer. I too find pulling in 50.1 quite difficult except for an hour gap in the late evenings when "South Park" is on. Rest of day get lots of pixilation, which I thought was not going to happen with digital broadcasting, or no picture at all. Are channel 7 and channel 9 signals coming from the same tower? I notice when one signal goes down the other either goes down or ain't very good. Channel5/20 have no plans for a sub channel, like the MGM channel, for instance? (6/15/09) Dave's response: I used to be able to get 50's DTV before it moved from 51 back to 50 on 6/12. Now, forget it. Most of MHz's foreign network relays are in English. I guess Japan's NHK World is dropping its all-English stance. One of MHz's few non-English networks, the Dutch language BVN network, is being dropped on 7/1 in favor of the English language version of Al Jazeera. And, yes, 7 and 9 share the same tower. Channel 50 is planning to add MGM's This TV subchannel later this month. No word of 5 or 20 adding subchannels..... Re: Slowed-Down JFK: Was it just the stream? Have you ever sucked the jelly... Rob and Mike sounded like 4 tons o' fun. (6/15/09) Re: slowed-down JFK: The dart, man! You got a fuckin' dart in your neck! (6/15/09) Dave, Concerning your article on the front page about WDYL, you indicate the station is changing its frequency on 7/17, the Cox station's 10th anniversary. It may be the 10th anniversary as a Cox station, but I remember WDYL being around in the late 60's. Does anyone know of a good (on-line) history of Richmond area radio and television? (6/15/09) Dave's response: Yeah, the anniversary is for the current incarnation of the alt rocker but not for the station itself, which operated on a batch of different frequencies with different formats, including religious, over the years..... What's with JFK and the slowed down audio? (6/15/09) Don Geronimo::Like a boiling pot with the radio lid held on, the Don Geronimo Show debuting on WGMD one week from today is, both professionally and personally, a train-wreck waiting to happen. Can you hear me now Mike Sorce & Brett Favre? Since putting himself and his family back on public display, the gloves are off as are the commentaries. If his recent 'Jan & Work' blog posting was any indication, the Don Geronimo Express has left the station and the brakes are already beginning to screech. "Janet found out that her routine was slightly staggered due to the fact that I was around all the time.' Translation, Mike, she's already sick of your tired act as [we] are and the staff of WGMD will soon learn. Or is it sweetheart, you need more alone time to double and triple check the pre-nup and brush up on your Susan Boyle impersonation? As Craig Ferguson would say "that's right, I said it because we all been thinking it." "I know that I used to be the guy who put his wife on the radio a lot. I don't think Janet's voice will be heard on the air much." Hey Boo-boo, in Freda's memory, lets hope not. Sorce, you had a nice Hall of Fame radio career. You even found true love once. Like Favre's return to Minnesota, it's too bad your about to tarnish both. Choo-choo! (6/15/09) Ref: “Palin/Letterman” Dumb, Dumber and Stupid: Dave’s writers DUMB, Dave’s producer DUMBER and Dave STUPID for reading their trash. Pardon the pun, but NO “KID” DING! J.J. Hitman McKay in OC, MD. (6/15/09) Word out of ESPN 980 is that Kevin Sheehan's producer Brian Corson is out, and former Kornheiser producer Mark Stern is in. Looks like a desperate attempt to entice Mr. Tony to come to WTEM, by hiring his old producer. Although I've heard, there is 0 percent chance he comes back to 980 anyway. (6/15/09) The poster who criticized sports talk stations would do well to research WJZ-FM's growth since they switched over to sports talk in November. He (or she, I suppose) would find some pretty strong growth there. The station has moved into the top ten in the market. If his comments were DC-centered, then he should have mentioned that. In Baltimore, the format is doing just fine. (6/15/09) Hi Dave, I was just scanning across the AM band with my GE Super Radio and stopped on WCTN, AM 950, and was surprised at the audio quality of their signal. At my location in Rockville, WCTN sounds better than other AM stations in the area. It kind of reminds me of how AM used to sound before FM took over. Dick (6/15/09) Dave's response: I'll have to dust off the old Super Radio and give old 950 a listen..... If we can tear ourselves away from the idiotic Palin-Letterman feud for a moment, let us pause to mark a milestone in classic Republican stupidity. It was on this day in 1992 that Vice President Dan Quayle erroneously instructed a Trenton, N.J., elementary school student to spell potato as "potatoe" during a spelling bee. Sarah Palin - "Quayle for the 21st Century"! (6/15/09) (RE:To all the Sarah-Palin-David Letterman enthusiasts here. Please take your silly ass controversy elsewhere.) Maybe when people stop making tasteless jokes and start to grow up, or maybe we can just play some "Silly Songs". (6/15/09) I think the sports-related posts in the Mailbag demonstrate precisely why sports-talk is doomed to fail in anything but a low-budget station: it is boring. The same 2-3 topics beaten to death by the same handful of people, all day, every day, 365-days a year. Ratings will never go up, but suicide rates will. All but a few hardcore listeners disappear, and they are followed rather quickly by advertisers. Which brings me to a second, related topic: the constant whining about not enough attention being paid to the Caps, the 'Zards, etc. Hey: catch a clue. Nobody's talking about the Caps because their season ended a long time ago. What's to talk about? I don't know if WJFK has switched over to sports talk (I was happy to take them off all my presets a long time ago), but if they do they'll find their revenue stream going even further south. If that's possible. Just look at Dumbass Danny Snyder's gawdawful ESPN980: the only local advertising on the station comes from other Snyder-owned projects. (6/15/09) Silvie asked "If [Sarah Palin]'s so insignificant and unimportant in today's political discourse, then why are 'comedians' even making cracks about her?" The answer, to state the obvious, is that Sarah Palin is a public figure who has made it a regular habit to (A) say and do stupid things that make it easy to write jokes about her and (B) loves to make verbal attacks on others but cries like a five-year-old when the tables are turned. If she doesn't want her name bandied about on radio/TV, she picked the wrong career. But, based on what's going on in her state, it doesn't look like its going to be her career much longer, so this debate may all be for naught. (6/15/09) DTV from Waldorf... I’m getting 11.1 and 13.1 from Baltimore but only at night. 2.1 most of the time, but a very strong signal at night. Not even a hint of 45.1, which is listed as having a strong signal for my zip code at fcc.gov. Is anyone getting 45.1? Paul in Waldorf (6/15/09) Len Shapiro is a moron. When have we even HAD a local pro team to cheer for? We already know the Redskins will suck this year and Zorn will be fired and Campbell will leave. Local sports guys and gals pretend to care about the Nats but no one else gives a shit. That whole Wizard craze is already gone. Why NOT get excited about the Caps and letting it show on the air? What's so wrong with local anchors being fired up over a sports team? Beats watching Bret Haber ''interviewing'' that scumbag Nats GM who SHOULD'VE been fired long ago? Paul (6/15/09) I am about as far left as you can be without being arrested, and I think David Letterman used extremely bad taste with his Palin joke, but please read the following, if you want to see how hypocritical the Letterman bashing is: www.huffingtonpost.com... It would be impossible for the right to dispute this top ten, since it all true. Ed Graham (6/15/09) Have you heard anything about ABC's audio problems last night (Sunday) during the NBA playoffs? It was equally poor on both my DirectTV television set and my over-the-air bedroom TV. I'm wondering if it was ABC or WJLA. It was so bad that I wound up watching baseball instead. Thanks. (6/15/09) DTV report from near Preston on the Eastern Shore – Baltimore/Annapolis channels 2, 22, 45 and 54 still strong, 13 weaker but steady, 11 borderline but still there and 24 still not receivable. Washington channels 4, 5, 20, 26, 32 and 50 still steady, 14 still borderline as before, 7 weaker but still there and 9, formerly with the strongest DC signal, now borderline with a similar signal strength to 11. I did not receive 30 and 66 before but now have a borderline signal on 30 and the new strongest DC signal belongs to 66. Eastern Shore channels 16, 28, 47 are strong and 64 is steady as before. (6/15/09) Dave: Mike in Fairfax needs to be corrected about a few things regarding the way ESPN980 has been treating it's slim sportstalk audience. However, Mike's observations are over-simplified. When you have highly arrogant people like Bruce Gilbert, Andy Pollin, and Steve Czaban involved, your station will lose!!! These people don't listen to the demands of the audience and think they know-it-all. ESPN980 has never broken into the ranks of top 15 stations in the PPM's and each one of these people knows better than the next. Having Al Koken talk about the Caps in his usual "politically correct way" only made things worse and insulting. I wonder how long it's going to take Snyder or even Mark Shapiro before they recognize the need to totally clean house at ESPN980 and get qualified people to make that station a potential top 10 product..yes, it's possible! You're not going to capture the female hockey fans with Czaban's negative attitude toward women....yes, I said the "unspoken" and someone needed to make mention of this. Furthermore, there's not one time slot that a female can list to...I'm still trying to understand Doc Walker's street talk. Therefore, one can conclude that management is to blame for the poor talent, lack of audience demands, and disgraceful ratings, right or wrong? (6/15/09) The antenna we have up there is a good ole Channelmaster (don't think they even make 'em anymore)..I think it's one of the best ones they made (don't recall the exact model number)..but one of the "top-of-the-line" ones; we've had it up on that pole for over 12 years! Hopefully it'll last us a long while yet! Tom in Denton, MD. (6/15/09) Certainly, Mike in Fairfax is right. When WTEM had the Caps games, the team was treated terribly, both by many of the hosts of the shows and by the station in general in terms of getting shifted to lower powered stations when conflicts with Wizards games arose. One would think that WTEM may be regretting its treatment of the Caps now, given the remarkable resurgence in local interest in the team. But WFED is a much better radio home from so many perspectives. Why would WTEM choose to treat one of its primary business partners so poorly? I'm not sure it had as much to do with racial demographics as it did with general ignorance about the sport at the station, both among the suits and hosts, and a belief that it had limited potential in terms of casual fan interest. But they couldn't imagine an Ovechkin, who is not only the best player in the world but has a charisma and outgoing personality that seems tailor made for this market. If the Caps ever bring a Cup to DC, sky's the limit............ (6/15/09) Hi Dave: Is it me..or is there a possible problem with the Mailbag section of your site? On my end, at times..it will either lock me up..or the computer will run very slow (I use a screenreader..and it sometimes takes an incredibly long time for it to respond! Is anyone else on here having problems? I upgraded a couple of weeks ago to IE 8; don't know if this could be causing a problem or not! Tom in Denton, MD. (6/15/08) Dave's response: I use IE8 and check the Mailbag page several times a day and haven't had any problems. Try using another browser like Safari or Firefox..... Chuck Koblentz (Charlie Cole), who used to work at WINX-FM before the ownership change and has been doing Sunday mornings at WAVA, is also doing 10-noon on RadioEarl, WTRI. (6/15/09) To Howie...... I noticed today that WJZ 13 filed for an STA (Special Temporary Authority) permit from the FCC today. That's a good indication that 2, 11, & 13 may all not be operating at full power, since any work atop the candelabra tower requires the other transmitters to power down to safe limits for workers. Anyone know for sure what's going on atop TV Hill? -- Joe in Essex (6/15/09) I lost Channel 23 after the Digital Switch. Is there something I can do to get it back with my converter box? (6/15/09) Dave's response: You'll have to check with your TV set/converter box's manual. Most sets/boxes have a way to manually add signals missed by a scan. But first, try tuning in 23 directly and make sure the antenna is aligned so that you have a decent signal of the LPTVer..... DTV from 60 miles to the south of DC... WJLA and WUSA are now just above noise threshold and are not watchable during the day (lower noise at night yields acceptable results.) WDCW on 50 comes in just as well as it did on 51. WPXW on 34 is as solid as WUSA used to be (no surprise!). WNVC on 24 stays just at or below noise threshold. WRC, WTTG, WDCA, and WHUT continue to pound in - WETA and WFDC continue to be weaker, but strong enough to get 99% of the time. Terrain shielding limits reception of WNVT - I'd need to point the antenna in the attic further to the west to get better results. Reception of UHF DTV has always exceeded the point-to-point predictions found at tvfool.com and dtv.com, but VHF has turned out not to. Predictions at this distance are pretty location-sensitive (move the receiver a quarter mile up the road and get much stronger signal predictions), so I was hoping for better results from 7 and 9. Regards, Dave Loudin (6/15/09) It's always sad when people who are either proven wrong or look stupid from their mailbag entry resort to deliberate personal attacks instead of admitting they're wrong and then conveniently fail to sign their name. Letterman said at least one terrible thing about a 14 yr old child, but at least he owns those words, and explained that he didn't mean it the way it was interpreted and pretty much that he was wrong and probably wouldn't do it again. Did he apologize? No, not really, but then again he is a comedian. But still far less cowardly than some of the unsigned personal insults here that are of no value whatsoever and probably shouldn't even be posted by the webmaster. What purpose do they serve and why are they even posted here? Jerri (6/15/09) Dave's response: If you have a problem with a particular post, and believe that it's unfair to someone or tasteless, please let me know. I'll review it and may yank it..... "WTEM has shown relatively little interest in Washington pro teams aside from the Redskins (and the Wizards when they are good, since they hold the radio rights)." I don't think it's just about radio rights - WTEM carried the Capitals games for more than a decade but its generally apathetic attitude toward the team was a persistent sore point over that period. A notable exception was Al Koken when he was co-hosting the John Thompson show, but even there you could tell that the amount of time allocated for discussions or interviews regarding the Caps was limited. On Sports Reporters last Friday, the brief 'preview' segment regarding game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals was a complete joke. Here we had the ultimate game for the sport - matching two of the league's most high profile teams with their big name stars - yet instead of devoting even a second to handicapping or breaking down the game itself, Pollin and Czaban chose to turn it into a discussion of notable game 7s across the sports landscape (based on some list Pollin had found in a publication). By contrast, they'd spent a good half hour on the NBA Finals earlier in the show discussing matchups and strategies in some detail. My theory is that the station is rigidly following a policy of narrowcasting to its perceived core audience, namely the 25-54 male demographic (and I'd almost put the term "African American" after "25-54" based on a comment Czaban made a few months ago in an inteview on Dan Steinberg's blog). The fact that a particular team sells out its arena on most nights doesn't automatically mean local sports radio will feel obligated to lavish all kinds of attention on it. The Mystics used to win attendance banners in the WNBA, but since their fan base was believed to have very little overlap with WTEM's listenership you heard next to nothing about them on the air. When the camera pans the crowd at a Caps game, you typically see a lot of female fans as well as little kids and and teenagers but few if any black people - maybe the station sees that as evidence that the typical DC area hockey fan falls outside its core audience as well. Mike, Fairfax (6/15/09) I love this lame-brained concept that Palin taking her kid to a ball game is "parading her around in public" so that she is fair game for a slimy pervert like Letterman. Fact is, I agree with the other poster who said that Palin hasn't paraded her kids around any more that Obama has. Just more of the elite media's double standard. (6/15/09) ATTN: HFS2 promo guy: It is not HF-festival its HFStival ,say it with me HFSSSStival. It matters ....just like the difference between an out-of-towner saying Bow-ie rather than pronouncing it Boo-ey it sticks out like a sore thumb. And what happened to the "'fstival 'fstivaaalllll" clip? Little differences make big differences. Otherwise not bad at all for an automated HFS. That will be all. Rock On. (6/15/09) With all the back and forth banter about Letterman’s sexual assault on Sarah Palin and her daughter, as well as Conan’s neo-racist rants disguised as “jokes”, The New York Post’s ace columnist Andrea Peyser nails it in this worthy read: www.nypost.com (6/15/09) I live about twenty miles west of TV Hill and my signal strength on Ch. 11 and 13 has also significantly dropped. I'm so close that I still get acceptable signal and an easy lock, but I pity those further west and south who want to pick up the stations. Howie (6/15/09) Re:" Neo-conservitive playbook rule #1: Whenever you find that you cannot logically refute the message, attack the messenger"...anyone can see that logically refuting that "message"? would be the easy part silly...and sound advice is not an attack! (6/15/09) re: "RE: [ " Dave's response: Both Imus and the Greaseman had ratings that sucked. " ]....... If I'm not mistaken, Howard Stern has the distinction of being fired not once but TWICE for saying offensive things but with fantastic ratings, at both WWDC DC-101 in Washington and WNBC AM 660 in New York. And in both cases ended up with bigger radio deals. That's pretty hard to do. That's what I call going out at the top of your game! LOL " Yes, you are wrong, at least in the case of DC101. Howard wasn't fired because of anything he said---he was let go after giving notice to his bosses that he had accepted another job and wasn't interested in renewing his contract....in effect, giving them three months notice, plenty of time to hire a replacement. They accepted his notice, and while Howard intended to work all of the days of his contract, he was told not to bother. That's right---he was being a nice guy and doing the proper thing, only to be slapped in the face for it. (6/15/09) RE: [his intellectual dishonesty and lack of credibility aside, this Jeff/Bowie poster desperately needs to grow up!] Neo-conservitive playbook rule #1: Whenever you find that you cannot logically refute the message, attack the messenger. (6/15/09) I have also lost 11.1 and 13.1 OTA since the switch. I'm particularly disappointed since I am a Ravens fan and could watch all of their games on 13. Adam in Gaithersburg. Is anybody actually picking up 11 or 13 DTV OTA. Even with my hi gain roof top amplified antenna system and my Sony XBR-8 TV in manual tuning mode on 11.1 or 13.1 looking at the signal meter there is not so much as a blip of signal even in the morning when there is some tropo between here and Baltimore. Yet WMPB DTV 29 does come in. Bob in Fairfax (6/14/09) Re the Palin/Letterman debate and poor ol' windbag Joe in Essex: Poor Joe is just as bewildered and verbose on this issue as he is on the other stuff he posts. I wonder if he and Silvie attend the same therapy class. (6/15/09) Re: "O'Liely is a political commentator who hosts a clearly partisan political attack talk show on a clearly politically partisan network. The two are not even comparable. If you want to contrast Letterman against someone at FauxSnooze"..blah, blah, blah...his intellectual dishonesty and lack of credibility aside, this Jeff/Bowie poster desperately needs to grow up! (6/15/09) Dave - This ongoing "Palin-Letterman" squabble has nothing at all to do with DC/Baltimore Radio/TV. Kindly drag it out into the back yard and shoot it, as you would a mad dog. (6/15/09) Gross-Man, despite your generous services to fellow D&M fans in days of yore, you broke the law and were convicted in a court of law. "I will leave it to your own paranoid fantasies as to what I MIGHT do"? Dude, durr, that IS a threat. No wonder you had to serve time. If you don't want it to happen again you might consider radio silence from here out. (6/15/09) Dave's response: Sometimes editing this Mailbag is difficult. I am not unaware of what Geronimo and his family have suffered. But I thought it was important for Carl to have his say. So, I allowed his postings yesterday. I also allowed a few reaction postings from others, including the above. There. It's done. This thread is closed. Finito..... Enjoy Chic Hernandez on your 4th of July weekend! The mighty JFK is dead, The terrorists have won. (6/15/09) Quote: "So, come Monday morning, it'll still be Mancow on WTNT" Oh thank you, Jesus! Dave, do you think that perhaps Mancow's show is doing so well locally that the station wants to see how the Washington Times show does around the country first ratings-wise before committing to it? I wouldn't mind TNT keeping Mancow on that time slot for good... -Silvie- (6/15/09) /\ June 15 Messages /\ \/ June 14 Messages \/ I read and heard recently about the possibility that Greta might be replaced on Fox News. Since she's kicking ass at 10 PM (poor Anderson Cooper) I can't see how that is. So then why would she go and post this "short note": gretawire.blogs.foxnews.com - "I just wanted to post a short note about how much I appreciate you, the viewers." That's the full body of the note. Maybe I read a little too much into things, but in recent memory, the only time I've seen an impromptu "thank you" note posted on a website, is from a smooth jazz station just as it's about to change formats. Discuss. (6/14/09) Funny that the person who calls others "morons" is in fact the moron himself who does not understand the difference between public and private. No one is discussing the legal/slander issues here, duh. We're discussing it in a media sense and about who should or should not be fired and what draws the line. Any moron knows David Letterman is not going to be sued. Do I find some of the comments here in poor taste? Yes, both on the left AND right! Just like you've never seen me defend Ann Coulter, you won't see me defend David Letterman just to get in a cheap shot at someone's (Palin's) 14 yr old. Oh, and for the record, Letterman has shown photos of his child on air. Should that make it right to now attack Letterman's child? I think not. The lengths that some people will go to express their partisan views in this mailbag are sometimes downright scary. And, btw, I'm a "private citizen", just wanted to remind you, hehe. -- Joe in Essex :-) PS: To Tom in Denton........ If you're getting WBAL DT, congrats. You should consider yourself extremely lucky as you're just barely within the coverage area. I'd tie that antenna down in place REAL GOOD. Oh, and start praying for NO RAIN! hehe (6/14/09) Wait..so will Don Geronimo's show on WGMD be streamed from their website? Congrats Don! Hope we can all hear the show. Carl, you should do what Don has done, get on with your life. (6/14/09) Re; Shapiro: Too Much Cheering From Local Sportscasters -Notice that after seventeen comments, most of them critical of Shapiro, that the Post locked the comment section. You think Shapiro had anything to do with that? (6/14/09) Quote: "Grandma Palin really needs to get a life." She does have a life and is seemingly minding her own business - attending autism/disabilities functions, attending political dinners, etc. - and out of the blue comes an array of really asinines 'jokes' by Mr. Letterman. If she's so insignificant and unimportant in today's political discourse, then why are 'comedians' even making cracks about her? -Silvie- (6/14/09) People like to distort things and then comment on that distortion. Just look at most any Sunday morning talk show. This is another - albeit comparatively innocuous - example. Still, the mechanism of commenting on a distortion is no less interesting, n’est-ce pas?. (Although I confess, when I said I was the main source of the feeds, that may have been false. But I was certainly ONE of them, as attested to by the many complaints from users on various feeds that used my source when I went down). Still - I never claimed to have "invented" file sharing or streaming, or to have been the only one involved in that effort. But I played a useful role in it. Besides being the source if a number of simultaneous streams, all rerouted through a bank of servers in Ohio that could handle the bandwidth, I gave out the password to my aol account allowing users to download the files I posted every day. This system, btw, proved more reliable than Napster. It pre-dated it, and survived years after its demise. While I may not have invented it, I challenge anyone to mention a similarly innovative use for AOL. (Or at least one that predates mine.) When it finally was legal, and I could come out from the underground, and maybe get just the tiniest thank you for years of efforts to spread the word, don changed his first-day-of-streaming rap from “thanks-to-all-you-internet-types-out-there” to “carl, you’re a crazy freakin' stalker who should be locked up.” Ok. Ok. MAYBE I didn’t deserve ANY gratitude for my years of unsung service (even turning down payments from grateful users) but – hell – does anyone think I deserved to be condemned for them? Two years later, after winning back the freedom of speech don took from me (in an effort to keep my story away from his fans), and posting here, Don threw a tantrum and coerced Dave to remove one of my posts. He has been able to move beyond the tragedy of Freda better than he has been able to get over me. That, in itself, I find remarkable. Such venom, years later, pretty much proves my original thesis (and what I think he wants to hide): While I never threatened him, I did tell him "I will leave it to your own paranoid fantasies as to what I MIGHT do." I believe his subseuquent overaction proves my point: Don created a caricature of me (as he did all callers)... Over 10 years, he morphed that caricature from “we love you” all the way to “scary stalker”... He came to behave as if his own scary caricature creation, was in fact real. Can any of you radiophiles name another example where a DJ began to treat one of his own creations as if it was real? I believe it is unprecedented in the annals of radio. I can document this change with years of clips. Any authors out there wanna write a book about what I believe is Radio History? (6/14/09) To all the Sarah-Palin-David Letterman enthusiasts here. Please take your silly ass controversy elsewhere. (6/14/09) RE: [Yet your liberal buddies can spew all kinds of stuff, such as Olbermann saying Reagan was dead and a lousy president] A.) Excuse me if it hurts your feelings to be reminded of this, but Ronald Reagan passed away - perhaps you missed the news reports - the Gipper ceased to be counted among the living and was bedded down for "the big dirt nap" a little over five years ago now. And; B.) In the opinion of many, Ronald Reagan WAS a lousy president. Although these statements appear to cause those like you great discomfort, both are pretty much universally accepted as being truthful assessments. Do you have an actual point here? Let's talk current events. How about Friday Morning when a former South Carolina Republican Senate candidate and current State GOP big-wig named Rusty DePass responded to news reports of a gorilla escape at Columbia's Riverbanks Zoo with the following comment: "I'm sure it's just one of Michelle [Obama]'s ancestors - probably harmless". Damn....Kinda blows a big hole in your "only LIBERALS spew hate" pronouncements, don't it? (6/14/09) DCRTV Dave, This is an engineering phenomenon known to many as FM.... F*cking Magic. Retired Big Time TV engineer, analog division. (6/14/09) Dave's response: I absolutely love "intermittant" electronic problems. Ha ha ha..... The Sarah-Palin-David Letterman thing...there are some things I just don't get. The people who go on about how mad Palin should be over a tasteless joke that targeted her kid. OK she does have the right to get mad but what about radio talk show Michael Medved who some years back called Madonna's daughter Lourdes "a future slut" and "predicted "that she will be turning tricks at truck stops when she gets older? Ah we are talking the same age between Madonna's and Palin's daughters here. What about Mike Huckabee's rather bizarre tasteless comments that he has made in the past regarding teen AIDS vicitm Ryan White and those with HIV/AIDS in general? To my knowledge I don't believe either Huckabee or Medved ever did back down much less issued an apology over their comments. Yet Letterman was joking ( though I do agree it was tasteless ) in this case but I don't believe Michael Medved's comments about Madonna's daughter was no joke. Of course those who support Michael Medved and Mike Huckabee, when one brings up such issues them its usually "..free speech baby..free speech !!". I wonder what Ryan White's family think of Mike Huckabee anyway? On a simliar note..I do get a kick when people who do find themselves in the public eye only to get highly upset when the media ( including guys like David Letterman or heck even local radio morning hosts ) pokes fun at them. For example disgraced Colorado pastor Ted Haggard. When the rumor was going around last year that Lorne Michaels was working on a skit about Haggard for Saturday Night Live, ( a pastor speaking out against gays at his church only to be hanging around with a gay hooker himself ), Haggard from what I remember reading was so upset at this that he threatened NBC with a lawsuit if SNL would DARE make fun of him on that show. Go figure !! I can think of a number of big lottery winners over the years who went down that road too. Wasn't our own local WWRC radio the subject of a lawsuit back in the 90s when one of their hosts ( I would like to say it was Victoria Jones but I am not sure ) well whoever it was had made some comment on the air about a then-recent powerball lottery winner who had went before the cameras showing everyone her rotten teeth and saying she will spend all of her money and has no plans on investing or saving her winnings only to have WWRC call the woman a "very stupid and ugly girl" ? Then the same woman goes on TV and begs "..please don't make fun of me..I can't take it". Hey if you don't want the media to talk and/or make fun of you..the solution is quite simple..don't face the cameras. (6/14/09) Carl Grossman is worse than Howard Stern when it comes to taking credit for things. I suppose he'll take credit for the sun rising every morning, and subsequently blame Don for it going down at night...right? (6/14/09) Jeff in (I'm really getting tired of all this "boo-hoo - how come it gets treated different whenever a conservative says it" bullshit myth) Bowie... Because "it is what it is" Jeff, Liberals attack conservatives( such as Glenn Beck and O'Reilly), blaming them now for the shooting at the Holocaust museum last week. (6/14/09) OK. I know some TV engineering-types read the Mailbag. So, I bought this Best Buy Insignia 26-inch LCD DTV HDTV in November 2007. Works great. Until Friday when I tried turning it on to find the remote's dead. Turn it on manually and find that it produces a grey screen with random verticle colored lines. Perfect audio. None of the set's function buttons work, except off/on. Disconnect the Comcast DVR and unplug the set. Plug the set back in several times and just get the same grey screen. OK. Take set and put it in a closet for dead. Then, on Sunday afternoon, plug it in and it works fine! Remote still dead. Replace batteries and hit "TV" button and remote works. Reconnect to Comcast DVR and set is now working fine again. Any clue as to what's goin' on? Thanks! - DCRTV Dave (6/14/09) To Johnny Holliday's grandson Jack (and to the whole family): In December 1989, I underwent surgery to remove a tumor from my pituitary gland. Thankfully, it was benign. That was almost 20 years ago, but it has been a life-changing event. I hope that my thoughts and prayers (and those of many, many others) will sustain you all, during this challenge. Scott Marinoff (grew up in Alexandria VA, now in San Diego CA) (6/14/09) Yet your liberal buddies can spew all kinds of stuff, such as Olbermann saying Reagan was dead and a lousy president, yet most of the media turns the other cheek. And where were the women.s groups when the now former Miss California was catching all the grief for her remarks on marriage. If Fox is the snooze network, why is it constantly having twice as many people watching as the Obama/MSNBC network and boring CNN. Regarding the DTV discussion, I suppose I should consider myself lucky..what with all the talk about WBAL DTV losing some of their coverage area, I'm still getting them here on the Eastern Shore (am getting both the main channel as well as WBAL DTV 2! But I do have a question for all of you DCRTVrs: yesterday (Saturday, June 13)..we had a hard rain and..discovered that on almost all of the channels, there was just all kinds of "breaking up"..is this what we must contend with in the digital world every time we get rain? If so, it stinks! Tom in Denton, MD. (6/14/09) ... I must at least comment on Don's "When CBS radio forbid any kind of streaming, there were many "secret sites" to find downloads." I want to point out that the main source of those steams and downloads was ME. And when they were finally legalized, and I called to take just a bit of credit, instead of thanking me, Don launched another anti-grossman tirade that eventually led to my losing my job/career/life savings/freedom and much more... (6/14/09) At the sister's house near BWI airport in Severn, MD I helped install a DTV box on the TV in the guest bedroom. 2 good... 4 good... 5 good... 7 gone... 9 gone... 11 good... 13 good... 14 muy bueno... 20 good... 22 good... 24 good... 26 pixelated... 32 pixelated/good... 45 good... 50 good... 54 good... 66 excellent they have about 4 digital channels... 67 mpt good... The house is about 200 feet above sea level on a hill. I live on Kent Island and people around here aren't happy. Kevin on Kent Island. (6/14/09) RE: [ I haven't see any discussion about that slimeball Letterman in the mailbag. What if Bill Oreilly had said that Michelle Obama was a "slutty flight attendant"?] Hold on there, Cowpoke...If we're gonna crack open this can of whoopass, then let's at least compare apples to apples, not apples and oranges. Letterman is a humorist who hosts a variety show that opens with a stand-up monologue that is wholly intended to be current-events oriented comedy. O'Liely is a political commentator who hosts a clearly partisan political attack talk show on a clearly politically partisan network. The two are not even comparable. If you want to contrast Letterman against someone at FauxSnooze, then your best apple-to-apple matchup would be to compare Letterman to Greg Gutfeld of "Red Eye". When it comes to a head to head comparison of Letterman vs. Gutfeld over which makes more tasteless remarks about politicians and their families, trust me - you don't want to go there - you will lose, pal - hands down. - Jeff in (I'm really getting tired of all this "boo-hoo - how come it gets treated different whenever a conservative says it" bullshit myth) Bowie (6/14/09) To the morons (likely poor ol' Joe in Essex) who don't understand or cannot appreciate the difference between a "private" citizen and a "public" citizen as it relates to legal issues or case law surrounding public ridicule or parody, kindly educate yourself. The mere fact that you are otherwise a private person and happen to be on a basketball team that plays a game that's shown on the public airwaves, does not make you a "public" person. "Public" people are fair game. "Private" folks ain't. I'm not defending Letterman's very distasteful joke, but Palin had no business continually dragging her minor children into the public arena and parading them around ad nauseum. :-) (6/14/09) Is anybody actually picking up 11 or 13 DTV OTA. Even with my hi gain roof top amplified antenna system and my Sony XBR-8 TV in manual tuning mode on 11.1 or 13.1 looking at the signal meter there is not so much as a blip of signal even in the morning when there is some tropo between here and Baltimore. Yet WMPB DTV 29 does come in. Bob in Fairfax (6/14/09) RE: [ " Dave's response: Both Imus and the Greaseman had ratings that sucked. " ]....... If I'm not mistaken, Howard Stern has the distinction of being fired not once but TWICE for saying offensive things but with fantastic ratings, at both WWDC DC-101 in Washington and WNBC AM 660 in New York. And in both cases ended up with bigger radio deals. That's pretty hard to do. That's what I call going out at the top of your game! LOL (6/14/09) (RE: Excuse me? To the poster who thinks that a 14 yr old child is a public figure, and not a private citizen...) Why is it that when people don't agree with someone..they stoop to such low levels?. Calling someone a pedophile because you don't agree with them is just stupid and low class. People who do this are to be pitied. (6/14/09) In re: "I'm guessing that they're some kind of 'cueing system' to alert the local stations that a local availability slot for a commercial is coming up." The flashing white rectangles *ALWAYS* preceded a commercial. So, I'm guessing, they served exactly the purpose stated. Master control technicians would have to have their film chain loaded with the local spot and be ready to switch the transmitter signal source from the network to the film chain and back again. An advanced signaling technique was introduced during the late 1960s wherein commercials displayed, at the top of the picture, an animated bar code . It was discussed in newspapers as being a resource for auditors who wanted to ensure that advertisers were billed only for commercials that actually aired. (6/14/09) Had to laugh about the Shapiro article featured on the front page. Who appointed him to dictate rules for local sportscasters? I mean, he's a guy who not only routinely appeared on shows he reviewed on WTEM but has co-authored a book with Andy Pollin. I mean, I know journalistic ethics is an oxymoron, but give me a friggin' break...... (6/14/09) Re: WBAL-TV Perhaps WBAL made a business decision that the cost of more DTV power is not worth it in the long run. If their view is that over the air (OTA) DTV will eventually be a regulatory "nightlight", then a multi-million dollar expenditure may not be cost effective just for fringe coverage. To put it bluntly, if 98 percent of the viewers receive the WBAL BRAND via cable, satellite, Internet, or local OTA DTV, then who cares about fringe OTA viewers? As someone who loves broadcasting, big signals and heritage, it is sad, but the reality is it might not matter. (6/14/09) Personally, I don't think anybody should be fired, not DON IMUS or DAVID LETTERMAN, but I'm totally confused by the last post's logic, it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Ummm, which one was public and which was private again?!? Somebody amuse me here. If you're in the NCAA tourney, you're public and fair to make fun of. I think everyone agrees small children are private, although I distinctly remember some Chelsea Clinton jokes, not many, but a few. However none were as crass and rude as Letterman's joke suggesting Palin's 14 yr old had sex with a Yankee player! Palin is basically defending a 14 yr old who can't defend herself as I think any mother would or should. Anyone who defends Letterman's comments is a complete buffoon and completely devoid of any logic skills in their head and probably shouldn't have the right to vote or even have access to a computer or automobile lest you hurt yourself or others! (just kidding, well sorta, hehe) And I'm a Letterman fan by the way, but he goofed up worse than Don Imus by far w/ the 14 yr old child sex joke. Should Palin be dragging her kids all over the place for political reasons? No, but neither should President Obama or practically ever other politician both left and right, but no one in the media would DARE overstep that line and make that crude joke about the president's kids. Double standard in the media? Sure looks like it to me. Finally, as always, PLEASE, NO WAGERING! :-) (6/14/09) Dave's response: Both Imus and the Greaseman had ratings that sucked. Both said something stupid on-air, and their corporate masters at CBS exercized a clause in their contracts to fire them. However, Stern and Geronimo have said many stupid things over the years. But they had great ratings and were not fired by the suits at CBS. While Letterman's CBS show may not be top-rated, it generates loads of late night ad revenue for CBS. There's no way he'll be fired for something he said, however tasteless..... Excuse me? To the poster who thinks that a 14 yr old child is a public figure, and not a private citizen. To that same poster who thinks girls playing basketball in a public arena, on behalf of a public college, who are being attended by a public audience and probably attending on publicly funded scholarships..how does this make them private citizens? Commentators comment all the time on athletic events. If you dont like the comments, they stay off the court!! You Sir are a liberal elitist moron. The child is private, the athlete is not. Your hatred for Republicans is quite public however. Please keep your thoughts private and see a mental health professional you perverted pedophile. (6/14/09) Re: "I think Letterman should be fired for his remarks as well, just like Imus was fired for his remarks about the Rutgers women's basketball team." There's a big difference between the two comments. One was directed at private citizens, and the other at a public figure. The standards - moral, ethical and legal - for public ridicule are different between the two. If Sarah Palin can't stand the heat she should get out of the kitchen. If she runs for anything in the years to come, are we going to have to listen to more of her whining every time someone makes a crack about one of her kids. The only one who should be off limits is Trig. (6/14/09) I'd like to see if I could get some info from the dcrtv readers about some vintage TV technology. In this 1962 "Tonight Show" clip (at about 5:50 in) www.youtube.com there are some small white rectangles that flash. You'll see another example of this in a 1967 episode of the classic game show "Concentration". Watch it here: tv4u.com. I seemed to recall also seeing these on other shows, as a very young TV viewer in the early 60s. I'm guessing that they're some kind of 'cueing system' to alert the local stations, that a local availability slot for a commercial is coming up. In watching the "Concentration" clip, the flashing rectangles are missing, ahead of a couple breaks for national ads. I wonder if they were something done only by NBC? (both "Tonight" and "Concentration" are/were NBC shows) Does anybody else remember these? If anyone can shed any more light on them, I'd appreciate hearing about it. (6/14/09) One of the best things about MASN is Johnny Holiday and Ray Knight on Nats Xtra. Smooth, informative, and entertaining. Not to mention it is obvious how much they both care about the team. Hey Ray, wish you could still play. They need the fiery approach you brought to the ball park every day during your career. Mark Zuckerman in the Washington Times had a note about one of Johnny's grandson's battle with Cancer and a "Buzz a Thon" that is taking place June 17th at Kentlands Family Barber shop in Gaithersburg. Proceeds from the event for 10 year old Jack Rolle will go to Childrens Hospital. Our thoughts and prayers are with The Rolle and Holliday families. Shawn, Bethesda (6/14/09) Hi Dave, As you may have heard one of my Grandson's 10 year old Jack Rolle has been diagnosed with a malignant tumor on his pituitary gland. It can not be removed by surgery only by chemo and radiation. This Wednesday there will be a buzz a thon taking place at Kentlands Barber shop in Gaithersburg, beginning at 7'15 pm....15 bucks for a buzz cut with all proceeds going to the brain cancer center at Childrens Hospital where Jack is undergoing his treatment under Doctor Packer. This is one terrific kid, and like all kids with any kind of illness, deserves a better fate. I am sure with the treatment and good care from the Doctors, he will beat this type of Cancer. If you have some space on your website, I'd really appreciate anything you might post. I'm getting my buzz cut sometime this week, due to my pre game show on MASN wednesday night, I can not make it to the shop that night... Johnny Holliday (6/14/09) (RE: CDs joining 8-tracks) Thought you'd be interested in this report I saw on CBS News tonight. cbsnews.com (6/14/09) Was this such a slow news week that Fox5 had to repeat the same story about the cult running Planet Aid clothing donations 3 times? They ran the same piece twice, and then had another reporter do another piece about the same story as well...all this week. (6/14/09) Correction: Maryland Public TV's WMPT 22 (DTV 42) did receive approval for an upgraded power this week, but it's unclear if the station is operating at that power as of yet since FCC approval just came recently. 20, 32, & 50 still have pending FCC apps to maximize their DTV facilities to 1000kw or close to that, so if you're not getting those stations right now, all hope is not lost. You may need to rescan again when these stations finish these upgrades. WETA 26 (DTV 27) probably would like to upgrade their signal as well, but are hampered by MPT's adjacent channel Frederick station WFPT DTV 28, which is operating at a pretty low power and cannot be interfered with. WETA increasing its power would require a rather expensive chain reaction... WFPT DTV 28 would have to upgrade, then WMPB DTV 29 in Baltimore (really Owings Mills, MD) would also have to upgrade since they are all adjacent to each other & running on low power. I don't want to start a conspiracy theory here, but I almost half-wonder if Maryland Public TV is deliberately attempting to marginalize WETA's signal coverage by delberately boxing them in. As a result, WMPT 22 will be running at SIX TIMES the DTV power of WETA 26! (6/14/09) Grandma Palin really needs to get a life. She was an unelected running mate to a losing presidential candidate. And you know what ? The longer she tries to stay on stage the longer it will be before the Republicans can recover. Get the hook. And take Levi with you. (6/14/09) Regarding the new HFS2 and Uncle Frank's question about song lists and such -- the site says it's a beta version. Looks like more is to come. Good luck Cerphe! If anyone can make this work, it's you. (6/14/09) /\ June 14 Messages /\ \/ June 13 Messages \/ No amount of fiddling with your antenna will change this stark reality or make WBAL-TV much easier to receive (see pic). When the dust settles on DTV (i.e.: the FCC approves the last remaining pending applications), you'd be able to compare virtually any full-power DC or Baltimore DTV station against the WBAL signal and see a similar disparity. How ironic that the Baltimore market's news leader ended up with the weakest TV signal of any DC or Baltimore station. (6/13/09) With regards to Letterman being fired. According to the latest issue of "Intelligence Report" by The Southern Poverty Law Center. Here are some quotes from Ann Coulter: Al Gore is a "total fag." Muslems are "ragheads" and America should kill their leaders and convert them to christianity. Jews are people who need to be "perfected." The New York Times building and its editorial staff should be bombed. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens should have rat poison mixed into his food. Michael Savage has said similar things about people he does not like. Both of these people are still on the Air. (6/13/09) Two issues. Palin no more uses her children as props than Obama did/does. Letterman is a slimeball and a liar as there is no way he wasn't talking about the 14 year old who was at the baseball game. On WTEM, I disagree that no one listens to hockey on radio. There are many folks who are lifetime Caps fans who learned about the game from Ron Weber back in the day. But putting that aside, there is a difference between listening to hockey and baseball games on radio and wanting to talk about the sport on sportstalk show. I think that was what people were saying that WTEM lacks, along with baseball talk, college b-ball talk about any team other than Maryland, etc. (6/13/09) (regarding the post about the Indian Test Pattern) "Dave, I rescanned my Digital converter on my 1956 Philco Predicta and this all I could receive!" Yes, but you must admit that the picture clarity was breath-taking and the test tone in 5.1 surround sound, was clean and life-like. (6/13/09) (I haven't see any discussion about that slimeball Letterman in the mailbag. What if Bill Oreilly had said that Michelle Obama was a "slutty flight attendant"?) I fully agree with this. I think Letterman should be fired for his remarks as well, just like Imus was fired for his remarks about the Rutgers women's basketball team. If CBS won't do anything about this, then they are just as wrong as Letterman. (6/13/09) Dave's response: Fire Letterman for one tasteless joke? Come on! I love hearing righties advocating "political correctness," something the left is so good at. What goes around comes around..... Attn: Cursing Jerks: How about keeping DCRTV clean. You, and you, and you, too, can get your points across without the profanity. S _ _ t, you are all a bunch of motha' _ _ _ kers. Let us all be clear and to the point, as most of you are, without the dirty, slimy, expletive verbage. (6/13/09) I haven't see any discussion about that slimeball Letterman in the mailbag. What if Bill Oreilly had said that Michelle Obama was a "slutty flight attendant"? Every black leader would be calling for his firing, execution, and a boycott on advertisers. What if Pat Buchanan had remarked that the oldest Obama child had been "knocked up" during a Yankees game? There would be riots. Please spare me the excuse that he was talking about the oldest Palin girl. She was in Alaska. The fourteen year old was at the Yankee game and slimeball knew it. While I am at it where are the woman's groups? If there is any more proof needed that the media is controlled by the libs this is it. (6/13/09) Dave's response: I agree that Letterman was way "out of bounds" with that joke about Palin's daughter. But Palin does use her family as "campaign props." I thought it was a bit much seeing her carrying that infant to a late evening TV event at the GOP convention last fall. An older kid? OK. But that baby should have been at home in bed. If Palin wants the late night comics not to mention her kids, then keep them off the campaign media trail..... Here’s one of the reasons some people are having trouble getting the new digital signals from WUSA-9 and WJLA-7. Up until yesterday the stations digital signals were in the UHF band. Yesterday those two stations and WJZ-13 and WBAL-11 switched back to VHF frequencies. So what was working before may not be now. The power levels for the VHF signals are less than UHF which may account for some problems. People with indoor antennas seem to be having the majority of reception problems. Even in NW DC close to the towers, I had to move the antenna six times and rescan six times to finally get all the channels on my computer tuner. Moving around the rabbit ears a foot either way will make a difference as will height. So if you are close to DC and can’t get the signals, try moving the antenna around the room and rescan. Tom in DC (6/13/09) Dave, I rescanned my Digital converter on my 1956 Philco Predicta and this all I could receive! Carl (6/13/09) I have heard the Digital Sports let a number of people go and may be closing its doors in the next week... (6/13/09) Here in central PG, I've done about a dozen scans (in a 2nd-floor apartment with an indoor Terk antenna) and here are my no-gets: Ch 7 about half the time, I've never picked up 9 or 13, and 11 is about a 10% proposition. Everything in the UHF band is good to go, including the five mHz channels on 30 (but except 24). Steve in Lanham (6/13/09) Dave's response: Just can't get 50's DTV signal any longer here in Reston. Used to be able to, but no longer..... HDTV Report. Using amplified rabbit ears, which are sitting on a box on the floor, 2nd story apt in Glen Burnie area, I can 29 digital signals. I did have to orient the antenna for best reception. This includes all of the Baltimore stations, except WBAL and most of the DC stations. WNUV and ION come in exceptionally well but WETA has lots of pixelation. WRC has lots of pixelation. Fox DC seems to have the best reception, based upon how quickly the signal locks. This digital stuff seems to work just fine. (6/13/09) Dave, Now that the switch to digital is supposedly complete, how come 26.1 still isn’t the same as 26 on satellite? Just curious. Paul in Waldorf (6/13/09) Dave's response: All local TVers run their "main" signals as their "x.1" digital signal. However, WETA does not do that. Its 26.1 is a mix of HD programming and main PBS fare, while its "main" broadcast signal is classified as 26.4, which is digital SD. This is the WETA signal you see via basic cable on "26" and via satellite services..... "But I'll have a special hour or two or three to discuss Layton and Bulldog and the others at 98.1fm. Paybacks are hell, buds." Oh yeah, he's all better now. Dr. Phil (6/13/09) I forgot to mention some other things.... Both WNUV 54 & WBFF 45 will have great signals because they have their digital signals coming from that massive 1275 foot tower on TV hill and their facilities have been maximized for quite some time. (of course their DTV transmission sucks and skips often, but we won't go there) That is 1475 feet above average terrain! Even the TV Hill Candelabra tower is over 1250 feet above average terrain. Washington DC has no such transmitting facilities, nothing even close. I think the tallest DC structure is around 700 or so feet and less than 950 feet above average terrain. Do the math, big difference. So it does not surprise me that someone close to DC cannot receive a local DTV station at all from an indoor antenna. However, several DC stations have pending FCC apps to maximize their facilities to 1000kw including WDCW 50, WHUT 32, & WDCA 20 (950kw) so they're all operating at lower powers at the moment it seems. So is WMPT 22. So that's your culprit Dave. Eventually, all 4 will have stronger signals if the FCC approves these apps. I'm not exactly sure what the hold-up is in approving these apps. By the way, WPXW 66 lucked out just like WMAR 2 in Baltimore did by purchasing the previously maxed out 1000kw signal of another station, so their signal should be a killer signal even to parts of Baltimore! (6/13/09) Corporate radio will screw up HFS2. Doing real alternative radio that cares about the artists and getting cutting edge new music out there isn't profitable enough for do with any real seriousness. Station's like WTMD 89.7 are the ones that really take music and listeners seriously. They're doing the 897 Greatest Artists of All Time Countdown based on listener votes and the results are pretty dang interesting. They're also in fund drive right now and they're totally more interesting to listen to during fund drives than any other public radio station. wtmd.org has the countdown list. (6/13/09) People in the DC area trying to receive Baltimore stations might want to recan their HDTV sets and converter boxes again over the weekend or Monday for a 2nd attempt at 2, 11, & 13. I'm not certain when the work on Baltimore's candelabra tower was totally completed but I'm pretty certain if any work continues on one station, the others must reduce power to protect workers since all the transmitters are so close to each other. So it's probable, all of those stations were operating on lower power most of Friday, if not longer. Ultimately, WMAR ABC2 @1000kw on channel 38 should be the easiest of the Baltimore stations to receive and WJZ on 13 might be possible too. Also, WUTB 24 has filed to increase power, but it has still not been approved by the FCC last I checked. Finally, I wouldn't hold out any hope for WBAL TV though. It looks like they are totally screwed and will lose a significant number of OTA viewers and coverage. (6/13/09) Dave's response: I rescaned my antenna DTV set this morning and it easily found 4, 5, 7, 9, 14, 20, 26, and 30 (WNVC only). I had to fiddle with the antenna to manually add 32 and 66. But I can't get 50 no matter how many times I f*ck with the antenna. I have given up hope, at my location in NOVA, of getting 22, WNVT (30.5+), or any of the Baltimore area DTVers..... Cerphe, hopefully your mandate isn’t to program the music at HFS HD 2 just like you were back at ‘AVA, DC101 or the Globe, or it’s PM drive at KROQ. There’s a ton of airworthy good new indie rock out there right now (try, for starters, current Yeah Yeahs Yeahs, the Horrors, Pain of Being Pure at Heart, Crocodile, Metric, the Maccabees and the new Sonic Youth album’s dynamite...). It’s time to take a few risks because the tried-and-true approach has already failed. Listeners will be prompted to invest in HD if it will open the door to something genuinely new and different. Mark O. (6/13/09) In Ashburn at 1am I was able to get all the DC and 24, 45 and 54 from Baltimore. (6/13/09) This sports radio back and forth is fun. As for the play-by-play stuff. Yes, the sports market is changing and the Caps are becoming more relevant. That doesn't mean a thing on the radio. Steve Kolbe is an awesome pbp man but who the F listens to hockey on the radio? Same for the Wiz. Baseball was made for radio but until the Nats become remotely competent they won't draw flies. My point was that the Redskins are the only local pbp programming that has EVER drawn numbers. Diary or PPM - it doesn't matter. So, JFK will enter the fight without anything from a pbp perspective that matters. That said, they would make some numbers. But keep in mind that though they say they want to do sports - it will end up being 'guy talk', too. That's how it works with these guys. They fancy themselves 'entertainers'. Very few of them can pull it off but they all try. (Give Colin Cowherd his due - he's a plugger who knows he is all about sports - all the time, to coin a phrase). Do not hold out hope that CBS will create a GREAT sports station. All WJFK will end up being is an alternative to WTEM. So, when you're bored with Da Coach you can flip to Lavar on 106.7 and hope it is more interesting. Remember - CBS does not do a good job in finding and developing real talent (remember David Le Roth). BTW - for all those Pollin/Czabe haters - love 'em or hate 'em they are the biggest ratings getters WTEM has. (6/13/09) So, I've just sampled about 30 minutes worth of HFS2, and (with the exception of being "jockless") in all honesty I can't tell the difference between what they bring to the table than what DC 101 is already doing. Not sure how tuned in I need to be just to hear The Killers, Depeche Mode or Kings of Leon. (6/13/09) "Pollin and Czaben are the last bit of hometown radio that we have and they would be stupid to break them up." They may indeed be "hometown radio" -- but they are on a sports station and frequently show their ignorance or disdain for a majority of the "hometown" teams. They are in no way Mike and the Mad Dog in their prime. -- Vincent in Triangle (6/13/09) Re: KTBS on channel 3. It has nothing to do with channel 3 being vacant, since it was already vacant before. It's called sporadic E propagation. Dave's right; it's common in the summer time on low band VHF. I picked up KTBS last summer from my house in DC. Since 4 and 5 are still on analog (nightlight) there is no difference in that case. It just so happened that there was a sporadic E event, a strong and long-lived one at that, at the time stations shut down and folks were scanning. It was just a coincidence, but an interesting one since many DXers report watching distant stations signing off. I wish I'd been home. en.wikipedia.org (6/13/09) /\ June 13 Messages /\ \/ June 12 Messages \/ I'm a ten-plus-year listener to Don & Mike and now MO'M out here in syndication-land. I've just about given up on O'Meara, and for what it's worth, here's why. It's finally dawned on me that Mike doesn't like radio. This is just a job for him, and when he didn't have to be the creative one, or the heavy-lifter, he did a great job. I have a new-found respect for the job DG did on that show. HE cared about the medium, and despite his caveats that "if you steal from me, you're stealing twice," Geronimo made that show interesting. The games, the bits, the mastery of the phones, man, the dude did it all, and Mike was funny as the "#2". But now, the Mike O'Meara Show is basically 3 hours of listless interviews and hanging up on callers, interspersed with Mike berating BA, Buzz and Robb. Jesus fucking Christ. Where to start? Robbay's quirky sense of taste and humor are about ALL this jalopy has going for it, and Mike does NOTHING but give him shit for it. A young guy who likes old movies is infinitely cooler than an old guy with a Harley and yet another young ex-girlfriend. And FYI, bitching about Robb's ancient taste would make more sense if you didn't drag out the fucking Buddy Rich every other day, Micheal. And poor old Buzz. I know he's about as accurate with the news as a drunk at a tavern dartboard, but come ON. Mike rides his ass like Buzz is the last camel out of the desert. Lighten up. Power of 5? Again? That's all you got? No voices, which is what you're actually good at? No decent games? No theater of the mind? RIP...bring on the Sports Talk. (6/12/09) And so analog--- with thanks for the many years of steadfast service, we bid you a pleasant goodnight........ ("High Flight", narrated by William Conrad, used by WBFF-45 for its '70s/'80s-era signoffs) www.youtube.com.. And now, our national anthem.... (As seen on WDVM-9 in DC ) www.youtube.com (6/12/09) RE: "Since there was nothing broadcasting on Ch. 3's frequency in the eastern US, KTBS's 100,000-Watt signal on a low frequency could reach northern VA without interference." Ummm... WTKR/Norfolk is broadcasting on analog VHF3, also at 100kW. We were getting FM stations today from Kansas (Salinas, Great Bend, Plainville) in Virginia Beach, close to 1300 miles away... Bob/VARTV (6/12/09) Dave's response: I remember as a kid, in the NJ suburbs of Philly in the 1960s, we couldn't watch Channel 3/KYW (then NBC) some nights in early summer because distant stations were coming in beneath it, causing terrible interference. Low-band TV (2-6) is particularly susceptable this time of the year..... Biff was hard on WTEM's Kevin Sheehan, his show is pretty smart and good compared to WTEM standards. He has some pretty strong opinions like Czaban but seems far more knowledgeable than him or Pollin. I really liked him with Doc Walker and think WTEM had something going there. I agree on the criticism that he seems to limit his show to one or two topics but to say that he "stammers" or gets "tounge-tied" is not accurate at all. If they didn't like him with Walker, they should put him back with Riggins or as someone mentioned Loverro. He and Riggins had very good chemistry on the MASN show they did. (6/12/09) 'fstival 'fstival !!!!! Since 5pm its been an HFStival Flashback on WTGBFM2. They don't say Flashback Weekend or Flashback Friday so I'm not sure how long it will go on but I'm enjoying the HELL out of alot of HFStival music I managed to miss about 17 times. ROCK ON HFS!!!! Donnie in N.E.MD (6/12/09) OK, now I've got it (HFS2) streaming via this link: player.play.it (6/12/09) Currently 1580AM the big Talker is airing 5 minutes or so .newscasts from Washington Times May that be the reason Mancow is still on WTNT in the mornings. John T. Henneman (6/12/09) DTV Reception Report from Fairfax, VA near the Fairfax Government Center: After I rescanned for channels, 7 and 9 were gone. After some antenna location fiddling, I have 7 and 9 back as well as the other DC area stations plus 22, 45 and 54 from Baltimore. Channels 22 and 50 are a bit tough to catch, but are viewable with my antenna in the right location. What is interesting is that my Sony TV maps channel 7 to 7.3, 7.4 and 7.5. Before the DTV conversion, channel 7 mapped to 7.1, 7.2 and 7.3. Mike/Fairfax (6/12/09) Dave's response: I'm getting most DC area DTVers pretty good via antenna here in Reston, except for WETA, which used to be pretty good here. Go figure..... Geronimo:: Mike Sorce, for those of [us] in the know, you have used this site to plant info about you and your career for years and to his stand-up credit, Dave Hughes has obliged you - granted, to his benefit as well. However, since you have now taken the well-paying WGMD gig, its time that you re-pay the favor and pay for a large ongoing display ad. At least one time in your life, do the right thing pal! (6/12/09) Dave's response: Don Geronimo has been a generous donor to DCRTV. Surprise! "Pollin and Czaben are the last bit of hometown radio that we have and they would be stupid to break them up." Most likely you are one of the very few who gives a flying fig about Pollin's children. Andy Pollin is a radio abortion and WTEM would be stupid to retain this corpse of a radio personality. (6/12/09) In Western Fairfax County with a deep fringe Winegard VHF/UHF rooftop antenna with a 28DB gain 1DB noise Mast mounted preamp. I lost 11 & 13 which I could pick up when they were on UHF. I am not surprised since 11 elected to run such low power and 13 is temporarily running lower power. Everything else from DC is fine including WMDO on Physical DTV channel 8, they branded themselves CH 1.1. There some dropouts on the other Baltimore Channels because of the heavy tree cover here but that stops in the winter. CH 22 has some dropout as well but according to the FCC they have a CP to go from 150KW to 516KW. I think this will solve that problem. Since I live near both MHZ transmitters they come in like a ton of bricks. I am using a 46" Sony XBR-8 TV purchased in Dec. 08 which has a very good ATSC tuner. Bob Fairfax (6/12/09) Ingenious co-ordination of the major stations in DC to switch off just before to just after Noon; all the phones at the FCC probably lit up at once, just before the lunch break.... (6/12/09) Dave, I repeatedly get a message saying 'website declined to open this page' when I go to www.whfs2.com , using either your link or when I type in the URL directly (with appearing 'HTTP 403 - Forbidden' at the top of the screen). Are you having better luck? Rgds, Mark (6/12/09) Dave's response: It works for me. Mark's in England. Maybe it's blocked for listeners coming in from abroad..... You have nothing to worry about during the digital TV transition if you're connected to Comcast. Nothing, except that you lose WUTB, channel 24, Baltimore's MyNetwork affiliate, from analog basic cable in Howard and Anne Arundel counties. This may be a mistake on the part of Comcast as all of the other Baltimore off-airs are still on analog basic. (6/12/09) Does channel 5/20 plan to add any sub channels to its digital over the air broadcasts? Sure wish Donny G. would do podcasts instead of signing up with another station that he's likely to get pissed off at management again and walk. Shirley, he doesn't need the money? I thought Howard Stern said when he went to satellite radio that he would retire at the end of the contract. Well I guess you know how those things go. Actually would love the return of Stern to regular radio. Was it last g(r)asp for all skateboarders out there with the appearance of Op and Ant on the Jimmy Fallon show last night? And over on Kimmel it was the far lighter Artie Lange, so is he still to fat to fish now. Any truth to rumor that Mike O'Meara is headed to a station in Cincinnati? (6/12/09) re; "Raise your hand if you give a shit about his kids? He had his son on to pick his college during the Caps playoff run" Raising my hand here. I thought that segment was very well done. The college choice took about five minutes and if that interrputed coverage of the Caps then I missed it. If you were a regular listener you would know that Pollin's son had gone out for basketball for three years and finally had made the team this year. Andy had no delusions that his son was a star and yet went to every game most of those where the boy didn't get in. The college choice segment was a spoof and everyone that I know liked how it was done. His occassional ranting about the daughter's antics at college are also entertaining. The option is to listen to the morons who are syndicated and go on and on about the Kansas football team or the LSU basketb all team. Pollin and Czaben are the last bit of hometown radio that we have and they would be stupid to break them up. (6/12/09) Re: front page news blurb: WMAR's analog signal has been off for over an hour now. And WFDC is still broadcasting regular programming on analog 14, although it seems weaker than it was. (6/12/09) to the guy that thinks Baltimore TV is harder to pick uo in noVA I have to disagree. In my own case i gained signal strength on all the Baltiore channels. I used to get 13 and 54 well. Now I get 2,13, 45 and 54 just fine and 22 in annapolis gives me better strength. i all depends on where you are but I am happy. (6/12/09) I also got an analog signal from KTBS 3 this afternoon -- they were airing their news, showing "11:31, 85°" when it was actually 12:31, and then I discovered they were from Shreveport, LA! Since there was nothing broadcasting on Ch. 3's frequency in the eastern US, KTBS's 100,000-Watt signal on a low frequency could reach northern VA without interference. I also got Ch. 2's digital channels for the first time, in Warrenton (oddly, without rescanning the TV). They moved from digital ch. 52 to 38, so with the lower frequency it can travel a longer distance. (6/12/09) Thanks to the previous posts (w/pix) which explains some of the DTV switchover and now why I can get ION digital clearly in noisy central Arlington. Funny thing is I can get digital ch. 7 (with sub-channels) fi8ne but not digital ch. 9. Aren’t they coming off the same tower? Also, I’m getting WMDO remapped as ch. 1.1, though it doesn’t come in too well. (6/12/09) Dave's response: That's another big improvement for me here in Reston, Ion from NW DC rather than Fairfax Station. Qubo! Whoopie..... Digital TV. The picture is fabulous. The programming sucks. Give me the old days when TV was worth watching. (6/12/09) Dave's response: Ahhh, digital has nothing to do with the quality of programming..... Rockin’ Rollen Stewart, wow! The most famous guy in history that virtually no one knew his name. He actually parlayed his rainbow wig stunt into a beer commercial, once. How he did it. It was mostly golfing events. He would show up in Khaki’s and a blue blazer, looking like a spoiled country club frat boy (so he fit in well). He would get himself situated by the rope, with an imaginary direct line from the camera that would capture the wide angle shot of a putt or drive, to the golfer, to Rollen. He knew when the golfer moved the club back, the TV crew would switch to a camera for the wide angle shot with the crowd in the picture. So as soon as the club would push back, Roland would quickly bow down, pull out his famous rainbow colored wig from this pants (elastic waist), put it on, and bounce up right in time for the wide shot for television. Wearing his rainbow colored wig, he would then dance around like an idiot live on national television. He actually used the same MO for getting on world television at Charles and Di’s wedding, putting himself on a street corner where he knew there would be a camera switch off after a left turn by the wedding carriage. Same MO for the John 3;16 verse. The sign wouldn’t go up until the kicker moved his leg back, and the TV cameras went for the shot with the full upright in the frame. As soon a the kicker moved, There would be Rollen in his end zone seating, usually seen between the uprights (scalpers knew Rollen wanted the seats right in the middle of the end zone, and helped him out, often), shooting in the air his John 3;16 sign to get in the television shot. Local connection; he sued RFK Stadium and the Redskins for not letting him into a game after they recognized him at the gate for Monday Night Football. (6/12/09) Plotkin v Obama usatoday.com (6/12/09) Was watching WBAL earlier today as the switchover approached, and the last ad they broadcast before the switch was thrown was one of those God-awful "Bill's Carpet Warehouse" commercials, with one of their guys in drag, squealing in a high-pitched mock woman's voice.... Seriously, why couldn't any of the Baltimore or Washington affiliates have gone out of the analog business with some class, like WRTV in Indianapolis did this morning? Jeez, would it have killed them?? www.youtube.com (6/12/09) Dave:: Time to start the How long will Don Geronimo last at WGMD? Contest. As previously indicated, [we] are saying 6 weeks. (6/12/09) Here's the problem (one of them) with Andy Pollin. He thinks he is a poor man's Tony Kornheiser. He isn't even a homeless man's Tony Kornheiser! His delving into entertainment gossip is just one example. Raise your hand if you give a shit about his kids? He had his son on to pick his college during the Caps playoff run. An entire segment of where his kid is going to college! Like we all love his kid and have watched him grow up before our eyes. Sound like Tony K at all? At least in that case, his columns gave us some insight to his family that was funny or interesting. Please. Someone please get him off the air. I don't like Czaben either, but give him his own show or can them both! PJ (6/12/09) Report from SW Baltimore County, part 2: Managed to get an unstable signal from WNVC on my Zenith converter box (which has a better tuner than my HDTV). Not watchable, but that may improve after dark. Nothing from the north, so I guess Pennsylvania is gone from my set for good (I used to get 8 and 43 snowy but watchable). I forgot to mention that I saw MPT's analog signoff, which was pretty cool, featuring a look at their logos from the past, a glimpse of their voiceover announcer, and an Indian head test pattern with their old "spirograph" logo in the center, changing colors. Then they showed the engineer's finger hit the "Xmitter Off" button, and at that exact moment they went off the air. ~~CA in BC (6/12/09) GERONIMO 3:16. For more than 10 years starting in the late 1970s, Rollen Stewart was the nation's most celebrated sports fan, a wig-wearing, wigged-out self-promoter who showed up at virtually every major athletic event worldwide and always managed to plant himself smack-dab in front of a television camera. He was known as the Rainbow Man, for the multicolored Afro wigs he sported, or Rock 'n' Rollen, for the party vibe he exuded. Later, after finding religion, he morphed into the John 3:16 guy, for the Biblical messages he espoused. Is Don Geronimo the next radio Rainbow Man? Based upon his latest blog posting, this Farve-obsessed, bitter, mean-spirited, emotionally weak 'I found Jesus' hypocrite is well on his way as he now begins his short-lived stint at WGMD. His assertion that " I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with my disposition. I am happy, and believe it shows" comment coupled by his vindictive " Paybacks are hell, buds" referring to his firing from WOCM-FM is evidence that his new found religious conversion is as phony as he is. "No more strippers or sex games. Not because WGMD asked, because it's what I feel comfortable with." What Mike Sorce, Jesus never been to a strip club? Mine has! Somehow Sorce, your watered-down "Shake your Boobs" bit you will jack from O'Meara won't be the same when, with one hand, their your flabby pecs your pinching and in the other hand, your holding the bible up all high and mighty like. At least the rainbow wig will cover your bald spot. Paint your tanned bald spot? (6/12/09) I sit in awe. Geekdom rules! You Trekkies are AWESOME! Those pics are priceless. The simple man is a thing of beauty. Thank God it’s not Friday the 13th. Temples would be melting. Can’t wait for George Noory(sp) tonite. Porn must wait…I’m going digital! Rock on dudes! Signed: The Cheap Seats. (6/12/09) DirecTV really managed to screw it up. 2,11,13 have been dead on DirecTV in Baltimore for about an hour (pic attached). 2 and 22 repeating nightlight service, that's all that's left on analog here. (6/12/09) In honor of gone-nuts Dave's headline, I bring you: img.moonbuggy.org (6/12/09) Looking at the WGMD schedule, Don will be the lead-in for ... Rush Limbaugh!! -Tony (6/12/09) Correction: WBAL TV 11 is losing coverage area in EVERY direction, not just towards Martinsburg's WWPX 12. WBAL's own list of counties to lose coverage included south central PA, mid-shore of MD, and eastern shore counties as well. So the previous explanations are obviously not entirely correct. Also, I'd like to back off on some of my anti-Comcast rant. I did notice one good thing... The new digital duplicate SD channels of cable channels have a significantly better picture even in SD on an HDTV set than the original analogs. But that doesn't excuse Comcast for not putting back AMC and CARTOON and some of the other analogs they've removed over the last year nor does it explain the willy nilly placement of the cluttered up added channels on odd channel numbers. And Comcast has no excuse... Obviously they have the QAM channel space or my HDTV set would not have magically soared to over 150 channels of basic cable overnight! There is just no excuse for removing these channels other than to gouge people for more money renting converter boxes and to sell IN DEMAND stuff to kids that I don't want to have access. This is something the FCC clearly needs to step in on. It's a very sleazy move by Comcast, but what would you expect? Look at their TV commercials. They make fun of Polish people as turtles & use fear tactics to make people think that FIOS will result in the destruction of their house. And guess what? They even succeeded and put Silvie into a panic! Oh, that's right, she's in a panic every day of the week, nevermind, my bad, hehe. :-) (6/12/09) You clowns crying about Donny G. with your pants around your ankles crack me up all the time. Some of you choose to go all out and say ''F.U.'' which really is the greatest. Do you scream his name while you're punching your significant other in the face? Do you wish harm to befall Donald P. Geronimo while you're shooting small animals? I've never seen such pure rage and venom and hatred towards someone who's not even on the air. Get a FUCKING LIFE and leave the man alone! Paul (6/12/09) so what happens to all the analog tv/radio combinations? Mine went dead at noon. Is there a digital tv/radio combo around? A lot of people are now stuck with dead tv/radios now. (6/12/09) Here are some pics of the DTV switch at the WUSA and WJLA transmitters on Chesapeake St NW this afternoon. Sam Jackson and Will Seymour handled the switch for WJLA, and were covered by Fuji TV from Japan and a crew from APTV. Victor Murphy, Director of Technology and Operations; Richard Gorbutt, Manager of Technology; Aubrey Bryant and Karen Peterson, Transmitter Technicians, and longtime WUSA employees Paul Monte-Bovi and Tom Buckley took part in the switch for WUSA. WUSA's switch was a little more complicated since it involved shutting down the analog VHF on 9, digital UHF on 34, and starting the new digital VHF 9. David Weaver Chief Engineer of WPXW was also there to take over the UHF 34 Harris Sigma CD transmitter from WUSA for the new ION signal. At 11:55AM, with military like precision, the analog signal was turned off, antenna patches made, then the digital 34 signal was turned off, followed by the start of the new digital VHF signal from WUSA9. The switch went as planned and there seemed to be no real problems. I did notice that Dish Network did not get the correct signals up until about 12:40pm, but there were no problems with the over the air signal. Tom in DC (6/12/09) Victor, Richard, Aubrey and Karen FUJI TV at WJLA Sam explains switch to Fuji TV APTV at WJLA HARRIS TV50H in use since 1978 at WUSA Karen, Paul, and Aubrey going over plan WUSA Harris Platinum Transmitter Digital VHF Paul Monte-Bovi stands by to turn off analog Tom Buckley powers up WUSA digital David Weaver takes 34 for WPXW Victor Murphy Checks Signal Quality with Station Karen and Richard checking parameters In Baltimore, I watched WBAL-TV11 go dark on my 3" Casio TV during the Access Hollywood introduction about 12:31pm. As of 1pm, only ABC2 and MPT22 are broadcasting continuous DTV information on their analog signals, similar to what FOX45 and the CW Baltimore did immediately after their switch back in February. All other stations are dark. -Greg in Perry Hall (6/12/09) "We're Twittering DTV Shit Today." Dave: when did Silvie start writing copy for you? (6/12/09) Dave's response: Maybe "Silvie" is one of my multiple personalities? Hmmm..... Dave - Chill the hell out with all the goddamn tweets! We GET IT - You are obsessed with this damn digital transition. hahahahahahaha (6/12/09) Dave's response: Hey, it's HISTORY. Some of these analog signals have been on the air since the 1940s! People watched Jackie Gleason and Lucy and Uncle Miltie and Edward R. Murrow and the moon landing on them. And now they're gone!!! It's a monumental day in the history of American TV. I'll go nuts if I want. So there. Plus, most of my DTV Twittering is done since most of the changes have been made by 1 PM..... 12:40 pm transition report from SW Baltimore County: 2 is still on analog with DTV info. Probably will end at the end of the day. Got a decent signal from KTBS, analog 3 from Shreveport Louisiana! WGAL and WFDC are still on in analog. Receiving faint signals on other analog channels, no IDs. As expected, we now get digital channel 66 and its 3 subchannels, Qubo, ION Life, and Worship. Nothing from the hoped-for WNVC; don't know if they're on the air yet. This is with my antenna pointed toward DC; have not yet rotated my antenna to scan for signals from the north. (6/12/09) Dave's response: It looks like all three area "low-band" VHFers - 2, 4, and 5 - will be running "analog nightlights" for possibly a few more weeks. The "high-band" VHFers - 7, 9, 11, and 13 - couldn't do that because they're moving the DTV signals from UHF back to their old VHF channels. While 2, 4, and 5 are remaining in UHF, although 2 is changing its allocation..... That post referring to Gerkonimo is the most succinct description of him I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. A marvelous scathing totally true piece of art. Donnie is one of the most egotistical, self indulging individuals I’ve ever encountered in the business. And, I agree, he won’t last at this station either..his head is way too big-WOW (6/12/09) Richmond DTV transition news: WRIC went to "nightlight" service at 10 AM with a repeating video of instructions on how to get the digital signal. WTVR had a formal "Star-Spangled Banner" signoff at 12 noon and turned off the analog transmitter. History being made today. Will we miss analog? I certainly will. Dave in Fredericksburg (6/12/09) Dave, A few quick hits. First, I'm listening to the WHFS-2 stream. Some okay stuff, some pedestrian stuff, but WTF is with the CBS streaming player? They're not showing you the songs or the artists. Afraid of paying royalties? Don't want to help sell recordings? Spite? It's a helpful technology, and a no-brainer on a jockless stream. Wake up, CBS! As for WJFK and the sportstalk audience, I think it's another no-brainer. Silly as it may sound, one of the reasons I keep a few XM radios active is for Fox Sports Radio. Czabe in the morning, and Tarnauer in the evening. Unfortunately, since Cheap Channel fired Andrew and Krystal, that's it for weekday programming, but the weekends are pretty darned good, and at least there's GAC on XM-141 in the 7-10 slot. And, oh yes, the DTV stuff is indeed excrement. Where's Newton Minnow when we need him? - Uncle Frank in Arlington (6/12/09) (WUSA will be shutting off analog at 11:55 AM, digital should be up and running by 12 Noon.) Tom, who cares? No one will be watching anyhow cause that is just before the news with JC "just go already" Hayward. (6/12/09) WBOC-TV made the switch live on their noon news. Tom Draper, president and chairman of the parent company, just pushed the button. WBOC has been on the air since 1954. They even introduced their head engineer - nice touch. And yes, it was kind of weird seeing 16 go to snow on my last analog TV after the countodwn. On the plus side, Saturday brings a 15% increase in power for WBOC's digital signal, thanks to FCC approval of their request. -BIll, Salisbury, MD (6/12/09) WBAL-DT 11 must protect Martinsburg's WWPX-DT 12 by running at only 5kw with a directional pattern that reduces coverage to the south and west. This was a requirement imposed on WBAL by the FCC - not a blunder by WBAL. (6/12/09) More filthy language. Can't get enough filthy language. (Silly people can't take it. Obscene needless war is A-OK with them. But a foul word here and there is an abomination.) In other news, Channel 4, NBCWASHINGTON, formerly known as WRC-TV, has Joe Krebs with a countdown clock running in advance of what he calls the switch over to digital at noon. It isn't really a switch over since both analog and digital have been up and running for years. The technical term would be "switch off" as in removing power input to the analog transmitter. But even that is not accurate because WRC-TV intends to run and re-run an informational movie of eight minutes duration. The purpose of the movie is to inform viewers that they need to buy something or do without TV. For 14 days (or more, we don't know) that movie will loop endlessly. Then, without notice, the power input to the analog transmitter will FINALLY be pulled. (6/12/09) FUCK DON GERONIMO!!! If that's really his message which I doubt he's got nerve calling out the Staff of WOCM Ocean 98.1. They gave him a shot when no one else wanted to hear anything from that fat worthless blowhard. Furthermore what does calling them out now have to do with him going to a talk station anyway. They aren't competing for listeners by any means. He got canned for being the asshole that he is. I worked there years ago before he arrived and before Bulldog so I'm not sure what his problem is. I do know from still being in touch with some of the people there that he was a class A prick to work with. It's a small market station in a summer Beach town. If he wants the big city lights then go the fuck to the big city you jerk. Enough of his tragic recent years. Everyone has tragedy in their lives and they move on. WGMD is also a small local station,my money says he won't last there either given his prima dona attitude like he's radio royalty. He's a fat loud mouth jerk and plenty of people here on DELMARVA are aware of that. BTW It's LEIGHTON not laytons like the food place where he probably stuffs his fat neck in O.C.. F.U DON GERKRONIMO. (6/12/09) I agree with Vincent in Triangle. The DC sports market IS changing, and local sports media outlets that ignore that, like WTEM, do so at their peril. Partly that is because Dan Snyder is hated by so many and the Redskins have been mediocre or worse for close to two decades now. They are still the big gorilla, but not nearly as big as they once were. Ovechkin is the most dynamic and dominant athlete in DC since Sammy Baugh and the Caps are going to be good for quite a while. And they are attracting a young demographic. The Caps are for real. The Nats are the pits but they ARE getting a lot of good young pitching and they are where the Caps were a few years ago, being very bad before you can become very good. And once they do become good, the casual fan will be back. But even now, baseball has more than a few hard core fans that should be better served than what WTEM does. The Wizards won't do much while Pollin owns the team, but remember that Leonsis has an option to buy them when Pollin retires or dies, and Leonsis is far and away the best owner in town. The days of all Redskins, all the time are OVER. And the Andy Pollins and Kevin Sheehans who won't recognize that are destined for the scrap heap. I also agree with TMU. Loverrero is great on the Czaban/Pollin show. But I don't know if he could pull off his own show. Worth a try though. He's entertaining and knowledgeable, particularly about sports that most WTEMers don't have a clue about. (6/12/09) www.fcc.gov shows that WRC (4), WTTG (5), and WMPT (22) will not shut off their analog signals today. They will remain on the air as "analog TV nightlights", providing DTV transistion info for the mythical 2 people that haven't heard about it yet. 4 and 22 will remain on until June 26; 5 until July 12. (6/12/09) ((ESPN holds the rights to all the good out-of-market stuff (Final 4, NBA Finals, Super Bowl, etc...))). Not so. ESPN has MLB and the NBA, but Westwood One owns the NCAA basketball and football packages and the NFL package, including the Final Four and the Super Bowl. The NFL package has two games every Sunday afternoon, the Sunday night game, the Monday night game, and the Thursday night games late in the season. 980 aired some of that stuff last year, but it's not from ESPN Radio, it's from Westwood One. If WJFK flips to sports, I bet they get all that stuff next time it rolls around, given the relationship between CBS and Westwood One. -Ari (6/12/09) In a surprising move today, WBAL-TV 11 is advertising all day today a scrolling list of about a dozen counties that previously received WBAL TV (mostly mid-shore, eastern shore, DC area, & south/central PA) that will no longer receive the station after the big switch and WBAL is advertising it in such a way that it appears they want you to complain to the FCC about it. They are suggesting those affected to contact the FCC & they are mentioning alternatives. Hmmmm, didn't someone post on DCRTV that WBAL deliberately CHOSE to NOT maximize their DTV signal on purpose to save money? Now, I'm starting to wonder. WBAL-TV will have one of the weakest DTV signals of any station in the DC/Baltimore area and oddly enough is the Baltimore market's news leader. I'm still scratching my head as to why this has happened. Anybody know the deal? Also, just to show how dumb some of even the TV news people are on the DTV switch, WJZ's Bob Turk the other day announced that all his weather graphics are now in HD. Of course, WJZ 13 doesn't even do news in HD yet so what's the point? HAha! Too funny. :-) (6/12/09) WUSA will be shutting off analog at 11:55 AM, digital should be up and running by 12 Noon. Tom (6/12/09) Dave: Just got back into town and haven't done much "DCRTV" reading in over 10 days. What have you been passing out to the readers? Not you're fault their view of sportstalk radio in the DC market went off of the road. Anyone who tries to debate the topic about how WJFK-FM wouldn't pull-in a sportstalk audience is CRAZY and doesn't know anything about the TV/Radio industry. The CBS PD's are much smarter than Bruce Gilbert/Red Zebra and will shutdown ESPN980. How can anyone defend 980 when they are consistently number 20 in the market and have terrible talent. WJFK knows how to hire solid talent..most of their former on-air sports staff has moved-onto Westwood One, Sirius/XM or other major markets. Kevin Sheehan can't talk, let along can't drop his ego...much like Czaban. WJFK could be an instant success just by featuring new and refreshing on-air talent...whereas, it wouldn't take much to beat ESPN980. The only major turf war we're all going to witness is if/when this occurs, watch Mr. Snyder deny WJFK access to the Redskins and that's where things will start to get ugly! (6/12/09) Hey Dave, I know the DTV Shift is going to annoy a lot of people, but is it really Shit? - Jason (6/12/09) "ESPN holds the [radio] rights to all the good out-of-market stuff (Final 4, NBA Finals, Super Bowl, etc...)." That's only partially accurate - Westwood One carries the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl as well as the NCAA mens basketball tournament (although for some reason they're not providing a national feed of the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in years). Regarding open phones on sports talk radio, it requires a host with broad knowledge of the local and national sports scenes who puts in the time to stay up to speed on a daily basis. Nobody currently on WTEM seems either willing or able to do that - Kevin Sheehan may be the likeliest candidate but it's clear that he prefers pontificating to taking calls and his level of enthusiasm for anything beyond football and hoops is tepid at best. I noticed that Frank Hanrahan including the impending nuptials of an NFL head coach in one of his sports updates yesterday, while Pollin and Czaban often engage in shameless gossip about the social and private lives of not only sports figures but entertainment celebrities. Exactly when did that kind of stuff become fair game on sports talk radio? - seems to me that until fairly recently it was all about the games, matches and player transactions. Mike, Fairfax (6/12/09) WBOC-TV in Salisbury is still in analog as of 10:30 this morning. Bill, Salisbury, MD (6/12/09) Yes, WBAL's (very large) coverage area will be about 10 miles smaller in diameter after analog is shut off, leaving parts of the eastern shore and southern Delaware without reception. But the same FCC plot predicts that southern PA and northern DE will gain reception. Win some, lose some... So today is the day we finally say goodbye to ghosts, airplane flutter, wavy lines, and sparklies on the low VHF channels. No more buzz in the sound, no more green or purple people. Small lettering will be easier to read. For geeks like me, it also means no more tantalizing signs that skip is happening and it's time to look for distant stations. Oh, well, they're all the same these days anyway. A station here is the same as a station there, so there's no real point to DXing... I wonder if the bees will come back after all those billions of watts of analog TV RF aren't filling the air anymore. ~~CA in BC (6/12/09) Channel 50 is on 50 NOT 51. Les almost out of Adelphi (6/12/09) Dave's response: That's expected. 50's DTV sig moves from 51 to 50..... FYI, most of the Washington DC stations plan to switch at Noon today, so this should provide an early indication of how smoothly (or not) the transition goes. (6/12/09) To the Sheehan supporter below et al.. Sorry but I severely disagree. Sheehan has become much more annoying since flying solo. He's constantly trying to create controversy when there is none. Recent subjects such as " Is Santana Moss a #1 receiver" and"Are the Redskins one of the top 10 teams of the decade?" and "Who's the best Redskin now and 3 years from now"are downright trivial. He did a segment on the 5 most beloved Redskins. He stated his choices and then did an online poll which listed his 5 choices and "other". I mean, really! I'm glad the ridiculous "Mt Rushmore" segment is history. Not only does Mt Rushmore not necessarily show the "best" 4 presidents, but as the show proved it is damn near impossible and a waste of time to try to name the top 4 of anything. I also don't like the organization of the show. He'll start on a subject, switch subjects, then will come back to the first subject later in the show. And of course when he starts up again he will repeat what he had said previously, many times verbatim. He repeats himself constantly during the show. And why does he have to "reset" so frequently? eg.."We're talking to Joe Blow in the Locker Room" He'll introduce his phone guest, ask a question and 30 seconds later he's resetting. I hear this on no other show on 980. I hope I'm not being too mean-spirited here but his speech defect(stammer) is very tough to listen to. Virtually every other sentence he stammers, disturbing the flow of the show. Sometimes he is completely tongue-tied. The other day it almost sounded like he was apoplectic when a loud gutteral noise emerged from my radio. I'm not making fun of this affliction, because we all have afflictions. I'm merely stating how it affects my listening experience. BTW Sheehan announced earlier in the week that he would be taking vacation time. It was in the middle of one his most aggravating segments ever- his interminable, repetetive discussion on LaRon Landry staying away from OTA's and not returning calls from Zorn. I've said enough. Regards Biff (6/12/09) Good for Don! How about getting off his back?!! Though I've never met Don, I certainly can appreciate all he's gone through in this crazy biz called radio. In my 35+ years in broadcasting I've witnessed a lot of tragedy after success and Don certainly has had more than his share. I think it's great he's coped with everything as well as he has, no more greater than the loss of his wife. All I see and hear is a constant bashing from the "brothers and sisters" of the profession. Perhaps if you all spent more time creating and lobbying for the return of GOOD RADIO, rather than putting each other down, pointing fingers, and acting like a bunch of jealous brats, the business wouldn't nearly be in the shape it's now in. WGMD is a fine station and I'm glad to see they've stepped outside their norm to expand their horizon with the addition of Don to their airwaves. It has come along way since my stint there some 28 years ago, shortly after it went on the air with beautiful music programming and news and I commend them on bringing Don into their family and I wish Don all the best in his new start on life. - Bubba from Burrsville (6/12/09) For those of you having problems with Comcast. FIOS is all I can say. After having it now for 6 months I have never had it go down and every conceivable station is there on the basic set up. Woke up this morning and no problems. Its only downfall is the remote e mail is clunky other than that no complaints. (6/12/09) "The big dog for ratings is the Redskins. CBS [WJFK] has no shot. Right now its all Terps all the time. Great for b-ball. Not so much for football (even though Johnny Holiday is great!) Even if they do manage to snatch the Nats or the Caps or the Wiz - that is all primarily filler with an opportunity to sell ads." What you fail to mention is that the market is changing. Alexander Ovechkin is currently Washington's number-one athlete, and as the Capitals continue to mature and build a team around him, interest will keep climbing. The Nationals are currently at a competitive nadir right now, but if they sign Stephen Strasburg and he's as good as advertised (and at least of these other young pitchers pan out), they will at least be a peripheral contender. WTEM has shown relatively little interest in Washington pro teams aside from the Redskins (and the Wizards when they are good, since they hold the radio rights). And whether some in this town's old guard like it or not, this is not a one-dimensional sports market anymore. Done right (in other words, not as a WTEM clone), a sports WJFK could reflect that changing landscape. -- Vincent in Triangle (6/12/09) If WJFK (your new sports leader) is lookin' around for local talent, many of these guys have auditioned as the third chair on the Sports Reporters, and the star in that group, to me, is Thom Loverro of the Washington Times -- smart, funny, and can talk sports OR go a little further afield. Just saying. Sincerely, TMU (6/12/09) watch your filthy langauge. you do not need to use filthy language when you report a story... this is one of your stories today. "We're Twittering DTV Shit Today" (6/12/09) Where there's smoke....WJFK is probably going all sports. CBS - like most broadcasters - has a lemming like quality to it. If something works once - somewhere, anywhere - let's replicate it to other markets. One size fits all, right? (And look at CBS' track record - anyone remember All Rock & Roll Oldies? Or Free FM?) So, if WJFK is going all sports - how does that work out? First, The Junkies. Keeping them in mornings makes sense. Splitting them up is a gamble. Their brand is as a team - not as individuals. What would they call the second half - Junkies 2, the Sequel? Would anyone care? Second - the middle of the day. While it would not take much to beat what WTEM has on from noon to 4 you would have to assume CBS would bring in some level of syndication. Dan Patrick? Jim Rome? These rumors of Lavar and Mike Wise are fine but no one knows if they will be worth listening to. And remember, CBS' track record of developing talent is pretty thin (remember the failure to replace Howard?) Third, they would supplement a lot of their time with Fox sports. Anyone listened to that crap on the weekend? If you are a sports fan you will naturally gravitate towards ESPN. Fourth - play-by-play. The big dog for ratings is the Redskins. CBS has no shot. Right now its all Terps all the time. Great for b-ball. Not so much for football (even though Johnny Holiday is great!) Even if they do manage to snatch the Nats or the Caps or the Wiz - that is all primarily filler with an opportunity to sell ads. ESPN holds the rights to all the good out-of-market stuff (Final 4, NBA Finals, Super Bowl, etc...) Some tongues will wag that they could pick up Brian Mitchell or Al Koken. Fine. What kind of ratings did those guys generate in the past? Some will say this is needed to counter balance WTEM's fawning over the Redskins. Really? As I recall, last season every show took the Skins to task for their abysmal slide. The big wild card here is Mr. Tony. If he opts for CBS green he can change the game. It is a big gamble for CBS. I'm sure they believe Tom Bigby can make it happen but with so many problems on their plate it makes you wonder. Will they spend the money they need to pull this off? Or, will they hope that the recent ratings increases for WJFK are real? Stay tuned.... (6/12/09) Glad to hear Kevin Sheehan is on vacation and didn't join Mitchell as an ex-Danny employee. Like Mitchell, Sheehan doesn't mind criticizing the Redskins but he does it with much more sophistication. His show with Doc Walker had gotten pretty good. Without Walker, its better. Sheehan and Czaban are the only real talents at WTEM and along with Walker are the only people in the market capable of doing a sports radio show. (6/12/09) Regional but not quite local - WRIC in Richmond (ch 8) turns off analog at 10 AM today (Friday). Since that is one station I can get with rabbit ears, I'll watch to see what happens - just turning it off and getting snow, a "sign off" message, or that repeating message to get your butts in gear and get a converter box. We'll see. Dave in Fredericksburg (6/12/09) Typo.SHIFT misspelled...better look (We're Twittering DTV Shit Today - 6/12 - DCRTV will be Twittering minute-to-minute digital TV stuff today - the big digital TV deadline. Let us know when area stations cut their analog signals via twitter.com/dcrtv or at dcrtv@dcrtv.com (put DTV on the subject line).....) (6/12/09) Dave's response: The "shit" was intentional..... (From Grady Moates of LOUD & Clean Broadcast Science) In the 2000 SciFi TV series "Dark Angel", directed by James Cameron, we are told in the intro to every show that an electro-magnetic pulse killed everything electrical and electronic on June 12, 2009. The show called it simply, "The Pulse". Well, June 12, 2009 is today - the day when analog TV dies forever. COINCIDENCE??? (6/12/09) HFS2 now streaming live at www.whfs2.com (6/12/09) Anyone know what the hell is going on with COMCAST today? I'm now getting duplicates and in some cases triplicates of both local TV stations and cable stations (over 150) scattered all over my HDTV set on random odd channel numbers like 116-283 (?) and all manner of duplicate channels in the hundreds on odd channel numbers. And there's no way to know what's on what channel anymore as the TV Guide channel doesn't even list all of these channels and lists plenty of channels erroneously. What adds insult to injury is that Comcast removed plenty of analog channels over the last few months like AMC and CARTOON Network, and never even put them on a digital QAM channel. I mean seriously, is there really any method to this madness? Is everyones' HDTV set going to be screwed up like this forever after The Big Switch with over 150 channels of mostly duplicates/triplicates and/or junk or is there some purpose that I'm missing? I know one thing, if this mess continues after today, I certainly am canceling Comcast. What a frikkin mess of a company. It's as if they're deliberately trying to annoy people to drive them away to Verizon or satellite on purpose! (6/12/09) (If WJFK goes sports I am about DONE with radio altogether. There is no decent music station on terrestrial radio anymore. Sports talks sucks after about 5 minutes. Political talk just sucks WJFK is the last good entertainment on radio. If it goes I go.) Is it any wonder why people use Ipods/mp3 players or satellite radios in their cars? There is no good music on radio these days. (6/12/09) ("If WJFK goes sports I am about DONE with radio altogether. There is no decent music station on terrestrial radio anymore. Sports talks sucks after about 5 minutes. Political talk just sucks WJFK is the last good entertainment on radio. If it goes I go.") Dear WJFK Fanatic, Goodbye Always Yours, Radio (6/12/09) Dave's response: No! It should be signed "Love, Dan Mason. PS - We at CBS program for advertisers. We don't need no stinkin' listeners"..... The following message from Don Geronimo was forwarded to us by a third party: Why WGMD? I've gotten lots of email responses in the few hours since word got out that I would be joining WGMD-FM on June 22nd. First, thanks for all your support! It gives me confidence that someone out there remembers what I do on the air enough to start all over again. Let me answer a few questions I keep getting over and over: 1) No podcasts are scheduled... 2) Live streaming is totally contractually controlled by CBSradio until Oct, 2010. I think they'll be cool, but you never know until you try. Bottom line: Think it's 2003 again. When CBS radio forbid any kind of streaming, yet there were many "secret sites" to find downloads. While I don't endorse anyone doing anything, I think if you live outside the WGMD listening area you'll find something, somewhere. I have faith in folks like that. Why WGMD, the Rush/Savage/local talk station? Because it is a special radio station that I have been a fan of for over 15 years. I made a bad mistake by trying to return to radio a year ago at WOCM-FM. Because those people were beyond un-professional and had no clue as to what radio is all about. But I'll have a special hour or two or three to discuss Layton and Bulldog and the others at 98.1fm. Paybacks are hell, buds. Truth telling (including how you can't even get 5 callers for a contest!) will be revealed on the radio. If I had a clue as to what they were about at WOCM, I'd never have walked through the door. That's my fault, and I learned from my mistake. WGMD is the polar opposite. I have been talking to them for over two months about this, and they know what they're getting. And so do I. They're a tight little station with a great morning show and local programming that has become rarer and rarer. So what if they run Rush? He gets huge numbers and is a pro. ( Rush was akaJeff Christie at KQV/Pittsburgh) So what if WGMD has other guys who drink the same kool aid? More power to 'em. I will offer something different, and WGMD realizes it's a good thing. Powerful radio is not cookie cutter radio. I had to look right outside my back door to find it. WGMD made me a strong offer, and they have some guts to add me to their lineup. I'm happy living with Janet at the beach, and the time slot is the one I'd ask for, all things being equal. That makes me feel pretty good about my future. But what will I do on the show? I'll talk about my life, and the people that amuse and annoy me. And I'll talk pop culture, and teevee. Plus I have to start over again as I have no tapes at all from the old show...so we'll grow the library of drop in tapes together. And I'll take your unscreened calls (always) and we'll play some games. Some new ones, some old ones. One change, though. No more strippers or sex games. Not because WGMD asked, because it's what I feel comfortable with. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with my disposition. I am happy, and believe it shows. Not that things and people don't still set me off. I will rail about John & Kate and stupid reality shows. I will rail about Best Buy and box store mentality. I will read you news stories about grannys getting tasered. And I will have a great time doing it. WGMD is not an impulse move for me. It's a thought out decision about where I want to work, and the life I want to lead. And I think you'll find the rules are not nearly as stringent as "some" radio companies. So hilarity may ensue. I look forward to Monday, June 22nd at 9am. That's why I'm doing it, and I hope you'll join me. (6/12/09) Did anyone catch Joe Krebs girggling LIVE on NBC4 this morning? Flipping amazing! This is not the best video but it gives you an idea of what was going on. Amazing that they are still the #1 morning news show in D.C. www.youtube.com (6/12/09) Did anyone notice on Wednesday that none of the broadcast stations broke into programming to announce or cover the shooting at the Holocaust Museum. I was quite surprised that Channel 4 had no coverage, Has news coverage been left to primarily the news channels? (6/12/09) Wow, Dave in Frederickburg made mention of something I knew, but had not thought about, the end of WTVR on FM radio. When my Mom worked at Philip Morris in the late 1970s, I remember her saying that people in her office listened to "The Young and The Restless." When it was tough to find a local Redskins affiliate in town, you could always tune in the CBS games on the radio and hear Vin Scully (!) or Jack Buck or Frank Gleber, and then when the team got better, maybe Summerall and Brookshire in the car. When I was driving to Richmond from Luray on Friday nights after covering a football or basketball game, I hoped to be in the footprint in time to catch some of Letterman. And when we had a big ice storm on Christmas Eve 1998, which would knock out the power for about a week, at least we could hear newscasts on the battery-operated radio. Wow, what memories. Charles in Winchester (6/12/09) Thought you might be interested in the full list of Dateline winners. www.spjdc.org (6/12/09) Who are all of you trying to kid. When CBS/WJFK goes mostly sports, they'll put Korn on and pay him a lot. So much, that the rest of the programs will be syndicated. Yes, folks, programs from other places. Radio on the cheap. Yes, as there is Cheap Channel, we have CBS, the Cheap Broadcasting System. Where's William Paley when we need him? (6/12/09) To the person who had trouble receiving WBAL-DT over the air the other day....... If I'm not mistaken, WBAL filed for STA lower power status to allow work to continue on the candelabra tower in preparation for the big switch as probably have many other stations across the country, so it's really going to be a deceiving comparison in some ways when the big switch happens as some DTV and analog stations are already operating at lower power to allow for DTV site work to occur without injury to technicians. However, it is true that WBAL-DT will have one of the weakest DTV signals of any Baltimore station and will lose a substantial portion of its over the air coverage, especially places like the mid-shore of Maryland and Delaware. A lot of those areas are going to be saying goodbye to Baltimore television after decades of reception unless they have cable or satellite. I expect that a similar thing will happen in the outlying suburbs of Washington, DC, like the person who posted from Fredericksburg. (6/12/09) No, No, No! Howard Stern is not coming back to terrestrial radio. It's not happening. It can't happen. He has made it abundantly clear that he is not coming back. Every time this comes up, he discusses the rumors and explains why he will never go back. This past week he talked about a meeting with Mel. The gist of the meeting was that there is no more important employee at Sirius/XM. They may be in tight financial straights but they will come up with the cash two and a half years from now. He will either resign or leave radio and pursue any of the dozens of other business opportunities that will be presented to him. Please, Mr. Webmaster, never lend credence to any numb nuts who makes this prediction. John (6/12/09) /\ June 12 Messages /\ Jump to the Mailbag Archive Index.....