dcrtv.com - Mailbag - September 1 to September 9, 2009

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DCRTV Mailbag - September 1 to September 9, 2009

Latest messages listed first.....
\/ September 9 Messages \/

Of course you're right, Dave, that the Junkies should have completely ignored the Shapiro criticism. Resorting to criticizing Len's appearance simply exposes them for who they really are: overaged frat boys who have no great base of knowledge or vocabulary on which to draw. The guys who postulate loudly at sporting events whether anyone asks them or not. It's hard to imagine that they're attracting any new listeners with the tired schtick they're doing. Unless you started listening years ago, their inside references are absolutely meaningless Have you seen their appearances on Nats Xtra on MASN? Total jokes, a complete waste of airtime. They've got zero baseball credibility beyond your below average fantasy player, and they're not exactly male models either. I agree that Len Shapiro is no prize, but he's had a career, and it's safe to say that a lot more people know his name than the individual Junkies. At least Len has the skill to write cohesively, a lot more than yu can say about the SJ's. (9/9/09)

Regarding the comments about Doreen Gentzler looking gaunt and tired, I find her to be somewhat plain since her coming back..Prior to her leave of absence, I always found her to be quite fashionable, nice outfits and hair in order..But this week, she doesn't look put together at all..Maybe she's been used to not fixing herself up while off..Hope she gets back into the swing of things because I'm not liking her "look". (9/9/09)

I don't think WJFK is going to beat 980 by talking about national stories like a Kentucky coach or Brady Quinn. That is what the syndicated sports network like FOX, Sporting News and ESPN do. People want local sports talk. WJFK is in a peculiar position because DC is still a Redskins town (although much less so than 20 years ago). And WJFK is never going to out-Redskins 980. 980 has better access and they have the ex-Redskins pretty much locked up other than Arrington who was an overrated player who never won with the team. WJFK's only hope is to provide an outlet for the local teams that are undercovered by local sports talk, which is pretty much everything but the Redskins and Maryland basketball. Sure, they have to do Redskins. But they should be advertising that they plan to do plenty of Nats, Wiz, Caps, other local college teams, etc. They should be doing a couple of Nats only shows a week until the season ends. Then they should be doing Caps and Wiz shows too. People who are underserved will listen if they think they will get what they want. But taking on 980 with Redskins talk is going right at their strength and is really stupid. (9/9/09)

Re: RNR streaming - so it wasn't just me. Starting with Rubber Soul, I heard a lot tunes with major parts of the music missing. I too heard "When You're 64" with no vocals at all (well _very_ faint in the background) - very weird. A lot of what I heard was really messed up. That's a shame. Re: Mr Tony - WTF happened between yesterday and today??! Man, yesterday was off to a good start, and yes I noticed that the show starts at 7 minutes after the hour after all the commercials and ESPN stuff. But today (Wed) Mr T seemed to be an afterthought to the broadcast, squeezed in in little 4 - 8 minute segments between 15 minute commercial breaks and constant ESPN "sports" (Mr Snyder's football team) reports. Nigel is missing and the news reading guy, well he's kinda loud and there's no chemistry. Every time we were treated to a tiny brief Mr T segment, and the announcement would come on saying "You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser show," I would yell at the radio and shout "No we're not!!! We're listening to ESPN spots and commercials." Mr K's sidekicks were superfluous with no air time. The two longest segments (about 8 minutes) were good sports related phone interviews. Otherwise, Mr K had no time to spin one of his entertaining stories, and it wouldn't have mattered anyway, with the momentum lost during the 15 minute ESPN and commercial "breaks." I downloaded yesterday's (the first day) podcasts. Note on the ESPN podcast page www.espn980.com the first show is broken up into eight segments (hour 1and 2 - segs 1,2,3,4 each). Today there's just "Hour 1" and "Hour 2." Yesterday's segments added up to 79.37 minutes. I wonder if today he reached 30 minutes? Something significant has happened. Robert, Arlington (9/9/09)

... Another source tells DCRTV that 4's new 3 PM newscast "will not be a normal news show," but will something called "LXTV - Lifestyle Televison," which will be "mostly fluff and features."... And this differs from the regular newscasts how? I like my news concentrated, without filler, with lots of Metro stories. No need for live trucks. Just go out and film the pieces. On film. Then have a Neil Boggs-type read it off a sheaf of papers. No prompter. (9/9/09)

Happy to see Doreen back, however, she's looking a little tired.. (9/9/09)

Let's hope this is the last bridge comment, hehe........ Howie, I didn't say the Rt. 301 Harry Nice bridge wasn't necessary or that it wouldn't ultimately have to be replaced, but I've yet to read its crumbling. I just commented on The Sun's Michael Dresser stating it was an urgent priority and the hypocrisy of him trashing the I-270 project while ignoring Baltimore's I-95 & Red Line fiascos. I don't know how many cars cross it, but I know the cost estimate is one billion dollars and its not nearly as heavily trafficked as some other bridges that have more traffic, like Rt. 90 and Rt. 50 in OC. The drawbridge in OC gets stuck every year and I've read that its getting to the point of being unfixable. Rt. 90 is a high traffic 2-way deathtrap. Ask Don Geronimo. I'm sure they could make some improvements to the less traveled 301 bridge to make it safer without spending 1 billion dollars for a rural scenic route much less traveled. I've used the Harry Nice bridge many times to avoid the DC beltway rush hour while driving south and I've never seen huge backups or tons of traffic on it. It's always been a leisurely drive once past DC for me. -- Joe in Essex (9/9/09)

This just in: Lisa Baden loves Lisa Baden. That is all. (9/9/09)

Did someone saying catching up to the Zune? I remember somebody in the mailbag also saying how great the Microsoft Zune was and that lots of people buy them and that the Zune HD Radio version one might do well. Well, the stats were released today as Apple released iPods with FM radio finally. iPod market share is 78%, Zune, only 1%. And Zune will probably drop now that Apple has released FM radio iPods since no one seems particularly interested in HD Radio. Apple will never invest in failed technology like that. At least FM works, I've yet to hear much good about HD Radio reception so why would you want a music player to jog with that skips and loses reception repeatedly over and over? (9/9/09)

Re: bad “stereo” mixes on internet streams – I’ve always been under the impression that the “missing vocals” were due to the OOPS (out of phase stereo) effect, caused by running both sides of a stereo mix into a mono channel. Things that were “center” in the stereo mix will be cancelled out. Mono mixes would not exhibit this problem. Aaron in Leesburg (9/9/09)

"Brittney Spears calls people and things “retarded,” or “retard.” I am glad the junks proudly set themselves at her intellectual level."...ah Ms. Spears isn't the only one to use that word/words either..it is VERY popular right now. Not gonna mention any names but two weeks ago I watched a TV weathercaster right here in DCRTV land who had said "...the weather over the weekend was sooooooo RETARDED !!'. Kinda of reminds me of the term "bipolar"..A lot of young people think that is cool too..even if they may not actually have "bipolar disorder" but to them its cool to say "....fuck it..I have bipolar..go to hell" as in bipolar disorder is just an excuse to cuss in public and get away with it and nothing more. One can give thanks to popular movie actor Seth Rogen for that one. NO I don't agree with it but what exactly can one do? (9/9/09)

You know, 106.7, The Fan is going to mess around and beat ESPN 980. I was listening today, and while the Junks were juvenile w/ their attack on Len Shapiro, Mike and Bill had a very intense discussion about the coach in Kentucky who took some of his players out to an evangelical church, etc. Meanwhile on 980, Redskins Redskins blah blah blah. Then on LaVar and Chad's show, the instant it got tweeted that Brady Quinn was starting (thanks to T.O.), it was reported, which led to interesting discussion about how childish T.O. is. Also, when it was tweeted that Malcolm Kelly was starting on Sunday, 980 is doing another one of their lists/polls. Keep in mind however, that ESPN980 has an update every 20 minutes...w/o any of this information! The Fan is a work in progress (hate their jingles, love the music), but the Flintstones over at ESPN980 need to get off that Hanna/Barberra shit, hope the Redskins have a great year, or they're going to see that revenue stream dwindle to a drip! (9/9/09)

To Joe or whoever replied to my post: What part of "I know nothing about the costs" didn't you understand? I never said "let's spend a billion dollars!" Joe's original post acted as though the bridge was unnecessary. With no bridge, you have to shut down Rt. 301 at the Potomac and trap a lot of Southern Marylanders. I only pointed out that the bridge, which handles around 6M vehicles annually, is necessary, dangerous, and 70 years old. Something will have to be done about it sooner or later. They used to say Gov. Schaefer cared about Baltimore, OC, and the road in between. Those days are gone. Back to media...Howie (9/9/09)

Do we need any more evidence that HD Radio is an utter failure and a joke? - FM added to Apple's iPod nano... Apple will include a built-in FM tuner in one of its models for the first time since the iPods' launch eight years ago. The iPod nano will feature an FM radio with live pause and iTunes Tagging. The announcement came from CEO Steve Jobs today, who made a surprise appearance at Apples' annual showcase of new devices six months after taking medical leave for a liver transplant. Cameron Gray (9/9/09)

(Re: For the fourth straight year, the nostalgic website Hey Bob....) If I remember, Bailey Goss was part of that team, but only for baseball. I recall there was Joe Croghan, that might have been later, then there was maybe a couple years that Chuck Thompson wasn't doing the games because they had a different beer sponsor other than National. If you go to Youtube, there is also the playback of the playoff game between the Colts and Raiders on Xmas eve in 1977. Even though the Colts lost the game, it was an exciting contest. I read somewhere that John Madden, the Raiders coach at that time, looked up into the stands during the overtime and said..."one thing for sure, these people are getting their moneys worth". Burt in Denton (9/9/09)

(The very least that WRNR could do, in streaming their Beatles Stunt, is to provide the actual full-spectrum of stereo sound.) I've heard several stations do this; it's really hard to listen to if a station is playing stuff that came out in the 60s or 70s..when the stereo separation was so intense (you actually heard different parts coming out of the left and right channel)..it's my hunch that most stations don't put a lot of thought or time into making their audio stream sound good; maybe it's a question of money (might it be that they just don't want to spend the money on creating the stream so it'll sound as it should sound? Tom in Denton, MD. (9/9/09)

From Inside Radio: "For the first time since its launch of the iPod eight years ago, Apple will include a built-in FM tuner in one of its models. The iPod nano will feature an FM radio with live pause and iTunes." Apple trying to play catch-up with the Microsoft ZUNE (which is going HD)? No matter, an FM tuner in the iPod is good news for Radio! (9/9/09)

“Sure – good songs for an iPod playlist. But why play it on the radio when everyone who wants to hear it already can?” Well—there are those of us who don’t own Ipods and still tune in to the radio while we’re in the car. Just call me “old school”. I like to share positive comments when I hear good programming…both music and imaging…DC radio gets enough bashing (deservedly so in most cases). (9/9/09)

(re WRNR streaming) You haven't lived until you've heard "Hello Goodbye" and "Strawberry Fields" with virtually no percussion in the mix! They can't possibly be knowingly sending the audio out this way, can they?!? (9/9/09)

RE: "I was listening to 105.9 on the way in the morning and I heard Rush, U2, AC/DC & Pearl Jam…heaven to my ears... sweet set to hear on my commute to work”. Sure – good songs for an iPod playlist. But why play it on the radio when everyone who wants to hear it already can" Well, what the hell is the point of radio then. Every song played can be heard on an I-Pod..even the talk shows!!!! (9/9/09)

Poor, poor Len Shapiro. Boo hoo! The WaPo is dead as dirt as far as print journalism goes and, IMHO, Len should have taken the final bailout. There's no radio, or tv, positions in the future for him. Funny how he'll critique others but when have you last read him hammer Kornheiser or any of his pals? Bob from College Park (9/9/09)

The very least that WRNR could do, in streaming their Beatles Stunt, is to provide the actual full-spectrum of stereo sound. Their live streaming is apparently sending out the sound of only one channel. It's coming out L & R, but it's only one channel! Here's how bad it is -- A little while ago, "When I'm Sixty Four" lacked nearly all the vocal part of the mix. So sad ... (9/9/09)

While not totally local, interesting just the same and may have ramifications down the road. According to Radio Ink the FCC said on approving the license transfer of WQXR-FM New York, over the objections of some, "While the commission appreciates that WQXR-FM's classical music format has attracted a devoted listenership, it is well settled policy that the commission does not scrutinize or regulate programming, nor does it take potential changes in programming formats into consideration in reviewing assignment applications." I wonder what the "Diversity Czar" at the FCC thinks about this? (9/9/09)

To Howie: Do you honestly believe we should spend a BILLION dollars to replace a low speed scenic route that few people have ever taken? If you divided the cost of replacing it, it might come out to a million dollars per regular user! LOL Seriously, both Ocean City bridges are bigger hazards & more people are killed on them every year with tons more people using them, yet I see no one talking about replacing them anytime soon. The Bay bridge and Key bridge also have more accidents. Few people drive over the Harry Nice bridge and I can't remember hearing any stories of vehicles going over the side or any deaths. I've driven over it, it does have a scary feel to it with the low guard rail and height and tight 2-way traffic. Awesome view though. If they want to add higher guard rails, fine. Should it ultimately be replaced? Possibly. But for The Sun's Dresser to make a case that it should a top priority to spend 1 BILLION DOLLARS is just plain ludicrous! I've been over similar bridges in New Jersey and other states with even more traffic than the Harry Nice. And then Dresser attacks the I-270 plan, yet totally ignores the mess that is Baltimore's 2 boondoggles, I-95 and the Red Line rail project that'll probably never even get federal funding because it's so poorly designed. (9/9/09)

09/09/09 ... What a great day to go back and listen to Howard Hoffman, Pete Salant and company doing "The Ultimate Radio Format: Nine!" www.imeem.com (9/9/09)

I was reading the mailbag yesterday, and there were two people who posted how WUSA-TV was cutting thirty minutes of it's 9 AM newscast. Is this true? Have you heard of any other changes? (9/9/09)

Regarding COMCAST SportsNet and MASN, CSN has been positioning itself as more of a DC sports station for years now, really since the creation of MASN. Makes perfect sense, since the general perception among DC sports fans is that MASN is a Baltimore station and MASN really does nothing to change that perception by simulcasting Baltimore sports talk shows, covering Ravens pre-season, etc. Not to mention that MASN bears the addional burden among DC fans of being primarily owned by Angelos, a turnoff if there ever was one. Of course, MASN broadcasts the Nats games, but that hardly provides a reason for DC sports fans to watch MASN at other times and just serves to remind DC sports fans of the Angelos screw job on the Nats broadcast rights. All of which means that CSN is being smart to play to the DC sports market, which is much bigger, and leave MASN with the smaller market. (9/9/09)

To Robert in Arlington: You're welcome, sir and I'm glad you enjoyed the aircheck of the Colts-Dolphins game. To Tom in Denton: Thanks for your astute observation regarding Vince Bagli's play-by-play stint. If you listen closely to the broadcast on www.ultimateoldiesradio.com, you'll hear Chuck Thompson reference his and Bagli's involvement with the Colts' greatness from '58 thru '70 and how it compared to the excitement then present in late '75 for Colts' football in Baltimore. I spent some time with Mr. Bagli in the spring of 2005 and he was a sharp as ever. A very likeable guy. Someone asked me yesterday where Vince's daughter Tracy is these days. Many of us remember her tenure as a weather girl on Baltimore TV in the 80's. To Steve Mann, Ed Graham, John T. Henneman and Joyce M. Conroy: Congratulations on your accomplishments in, love of and enthusiasm for the radio industry. Thanks - Bob Mathers (9/9/09)

Now THIS is truly what I call Big Brother watching us... www.baltimoresun.com... Granted, the bar is in one of Baltimore's worst neighborhoods, pretty much the area that HBO's The Wire was based on, but STILL, GEEZ, cameras INSIDE a bar watching you LIVE ordering a beer?!?!? What's next, a live feed from my fridge to the precinct? If this bar is that notorious that it's going to require live cameras 24/7 to the police station, than why the hell don't they just yank the liquor license and close it down instead of making this ridiculous costly plea deal? Never have I seen such a ridiculous public policy or bad precedent set in city government, not to mention it's a complete waste of money. I mean what's the purpose? They publicize it in the newspaper and in front of the bar. Do they honestly think the drug dealers won't know about it? I sure hope they put a big blue light on it too. That'll stop drug sales there for sure, uh huh. And they'll just sell them in another bar or corner a few blocks away or better yet, they'll just go into the bar's bathroom where cameras aren't allowed. Geez, the people we have running the police department, judicial system, and government are like a perfect storm of idiots. (9/9/09)

Since this is now apparently the DC Road, Transportation, and Viaduct forum: Joe in Essex, Anyone who uses RT 301 with any regularity knows that the Gov. Harry Nice Bridge is a total hazard with narrow lanes and low sides. I know nothing about the costs of an expansion project, but it certainly is warranted... Howie (9/9/09)

To paraphrase Beavis & Butthead, “Hey, hey: she said “Bureaucratization”. Take that Kutie Katie Kuric!!! online.wsj.com (9/9/09)

“I was listening to 105.9 on the way in the morning and I heard Rush, U2, AC/DC & Pearl Jam…heaven to my ears... sweet set to hear on my commute to work”. Sure – good songs for an iPod playlist. But why play it on the radio when everyone who wants to hear it already can? (9/9/09)

It seems to me that a media reviewer SHOULD be objective, or at least disclose his or her conflicts of interest. Certainly, the fact that Shapiro co-wrote a book with Pollin is pertinent to evaluating any of his reviews of Pollin or WTEM. On the one hand he may favor them. On the other, he may bend over backwards to be harsh so people don't think he's favoring them. And it also affects the perception of any of his reviews of WJFK, WTEM's competition. So to that extent, I disagree with the moderator's expressed view of what a media reviewer should be. (9/9/09)

Brittney Spears calls people and things “retarded,” or “retard.” I am glad the junks proudly set themselves at her intellectual level. Speaking of lack of intellect, Andy Parks yesterday said Obama should take ICE with him to Wakefield High School and arrest all the illegals. Today, Andy spent time questioning whether President Obama was "an American." Have we reached bottom, yet? (9/9/09)

Please explain why the shift in strategy for the Comcast Sportsnet show. The show is distancing itself away from being a sports news source for all teams in the Mid-Atlantic area to ONLY concentrating on teams from Washington. More so on teams that broadcast on the Comcast network. As a fan of the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, I find Sportsnet has relegated the coverage of those teams to the back-burner (if at all). Was this new direction based on budget cuts, a focus to cross-market their cable partners only, direction from Dan Snyder, or simply a tactical focus on the larger market??? I believe MASN agreed not to create a news-sports type show in order to be broadcast on the Comcast cable network, will this change by Comcast allow MASN the opportunity to create something for fans of teams not Washington? Thanks, B. Palmer, Ellicott City, MD (9/9/09)

[dcrtv Dave snippy] It only makes you sound thin-skinned, vain, and petty. [end snippy] But the Junkies ARE all of those things. And it makes for damn fine entertainment, too. To steal a phrase from the great Bob Ehrlich, “Love the Junks!” (9/9/09)

Dave's response: No question that it's great radio! But their little rant this morning only helped Shapiro.....

Army Archerd - www.latimes.com (9/9/09)

I don't know Len Shapiro. He may be a fine gentleman. But the guy has no shame. He's a guy that routinely appeared on WTEM and has co-written a book with one of that station's hosts (Pollin). Yet he purports to be an objective observer of local sports radio? And he has the stones to suggest that OTHER reporters have conflicts of interest by wearing Redskins gear? Man, this guy is Clintonian in his abilitly to compartmentalize. (9/9/09)

Dave's response: Memo to radio personalities like the Junks who get slammed by the press - the best way to "hit back" is to totally ignore it. Any, and I mean any, response hands a undisputed victory to your critic. It only makes you sound thin-skinned, vain, and petty. All press is good. So just shut up! And, Len Shapiro is not "an objective observer of local sports radio." He's paid to present his opinions. That what a columnist does. Duh.....

WRC's lack of local HD news is a huge disappointment and should be an embarrassment to NBC. Will they ever catch up to the other locals? Or is the station still for sale. I assumed that the ongoing studio upgrades for the MSNBC side might yield some progress on the local side, but you know what they say about what happens when you assume. Sharon (9/9/09)

Dave's response: It is a downright disgrace for NBC, which owns Channel 4. How can NBC keep WRC, which doubles as its DC news bureau, as non-HD in local news when it has found the dough to covert its stations in much smaller markets, like Hartford, to all-HD local news. Everytime I watch "Meet The Press" in old fashioned standard-def, I mutter what a bunch of cheapskates populate NBC.....

The Junkies need to grow up. . .they are all pushing 40 y/o. Calling a critic a fat pig. . .real classy guy's. The show was funny once, but the act is wearing thin. They have real talent and chemistry together, but they need to act more their age and give each other more room to speak. Its too many voices at one time right now. I know I'm just being rick. . . (9/9/09)

Dave: Welcome to Fall!!! For starters, I just got-off the phone with two friends of mine...one from a cable company and the other who's in the TV industry. Can we all calm down and not fire torpedo's at Len Shapiro. Yes, there's a reason why Len doesn't write for the actual paper and all of his articles are on the internet, as they should be...but this entire "logo" issue is very simple. The Redskins technically own their own preseason rights to the telecasts and can do whatever they want. The preseason announcers weren't Comcast employees, they were technically being paid by the Redskins...that's the way it's been dating back to the days of George, Sonny and Jeff Bostic doing the games. If you remember, George and Sonny wore solid black golf shirts with no logos while Bostic wore a logo'd shirt displaying the team's broadcast network logo. Nothing is wrong with any of this and Len needs to stop stirring an empty pot and move-on to other meaningless things!!! Last check, WRC and Comcast are preseason rights holders as well. If others are jealous of this relationship, tough luck. (9/9/09)

I applaud the Junkies for lambasting the late Ted Kennedy. After 40-years, it's about time. As for Mr. Shapiro, I'd wish he'd take a long drive over a short bridge... if it didn't collapse before he reached halfway. Signed, Mary Jo Kopechne (9/9/09)

I’m going to have to politely disagree with your latest rant, Dave. I was listening to 105.9 on the way in the morning and I heard Rush, U2, AC/DC & Pearl Jam…heaven to my ears!!! I will listen to WJZW over DC101 and BIG any day! “Working Man”, “New Year’s Day”, “TNT” & “Better Man” is a sweet set to hear on my commute to work!! And the imaging actually made me laugh out loud. When was the last time any station in DC made an effort to actually use imaging as a creative tool?? (9/9/09)

Junkies respond to Shapiro: WJFK's Sports Junkies responded to Leonard Shapiro's Washington Post article calling him out on being a member of the word police for their use of the word retard. "We can't stop calling people retard, you can't stop eating," said EB. The Junks excalimed their show was well-rounded featuring sports and entertainments guests. EB Continued to lambast him saying, "I wish people could see this gigantic pig that is Leonard Shapiro." The Junkies went on to say that Shapiro is bitter and jealous over other Posties, such as Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wise, who have made it big outside of the paper. (9/9/09)

Doreen looks a little gaunt, doncha think? Regards Biff (9/9/09)

You wrote, "Today's Flashback memory at DCRTV Plus: The Channel 9 news team in the 1980s, including Doug Hill and Ken Broo (right)." You must mean the 9 news team in the 1990s. (9/9/09)

Dave's response: Gee, I seem to have made about a dozen typos this moorning. Ha ha ha. Thanks.....

Leonard Shapiro questions local "journalists" Lyndsay Czarniack (NBC 4) and Kelli Johnson (Comcast SportsNet) wearing Redskins polo shirts during pre-season games. Shapiro quotes an unnamed source from Comcast who said that it was the Redskin's decision for the announcers and sideline reporters to wear the polo shirts with the Redskin's emblem. Shapiro also discusses possibly Skin's biased coverage at SportsTalk 980. Plus he rips, actually kills,the Sports Junkies. I've tried to keep an open mind on the Sports Junkies, I really have. But every time I hear on them on WJFK (106.7 FM) describing someone as a "retard," I wonder why they're allowed on the air, or more germane, why I've even bothered to listen. And their totally inappropriate, mocking denigration of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy the day after he died may have been the final straw for me. More here... www.washingtonpost.com (9/9/09)

OK Dave. It's time to change the Comcast ad on the front page. Redskins pre-season is over. And before you say - but its paid for...do your client a favor and ask them for new copy. (9/9/09)

"The Future of News"? What, did they re-make the movie "Network"? All we need now is for Beck to start passing out every night on the air. (9/9/09)

In sort of a controversial manner, The Baltimore Sun's Michael Dresser attacks the Washington, DC area I-270 roads project... www.baltimoresun.com... What's most funny about the story is that even Glenn Beck is mentioned! Too funny! But, seriously, what's pathetic is that as usual, Michael Dresser has it all wrong and clearly has no clue about traffic planning. I-270 expansion is absolutely necessary for DC regardless of the sprawl implications. What amazes me is that Dresser does not attack Baltimore's crappy Red Line Light Rail proposal, which is a complete joke that will only increase traffic and might not even be approved for Fed funding because of the plan's flaws. Something similar could be said for Baltimore's I-95 Spaghetti Bowl HOT LANE Boondoggle that will soon rival DC's Mixing Bowl. The I-95 project already has cost over-runs, but it's the basic concept that is a traffic planning failure at the very beginning. Baltimoreans will most likely NOT pay these HOT LANE TOLLS, they just won't pay it, that's my prediction. So I predict this roads project will end up being a complete financial failure because it won't self-fund itself in the manner that politicians in pie in the sky fashion believe it will and this ridiculously confusing I-95/I-695 interchange that replaces a very simple one will only confuse drivers and increase traffic. Every time I drive by I just shake my head and think back to my almost 2 hour DC Mixing Bowl experience that made me just give up, take an exit, and just go to dinner for an hour instead of continuing on. I don't blame the traffic planners, they're only doing what they're told to do by stupid politicians, but when will Mr. Dresser address the fact that BOTH Baltimore projects are flawed projects that most likely will be wasted money that increase traffic. At LEAST with the I-270 project, I can see traffic being reduced and the project properly funded. I just don't see that happening with either of these 2 Baltimore projects and The Sun's Michael Dresser seems to have a blind eye to this sadly. Oh, and to add insult to injury, Mr. Dresser is also blogging that the Harry Nice Rt. 301 bridge in southern Maryland be replaced at a cost of $1 BILLION DOLLARS, a bridge few people have ever even driven over! HAha! Meanwhile, Ocean City Maryland is Maryland's 2nd largest city last weekend and has a Rt 50 bridge cracking & falling down with a drawbridge that barely works and a Rt. 90 bridge where people like WJFK's Don Geronimo's late wife routinely die in head on collisions. Seriously, does The Baltimore Sun's Michael Dresser have a clue about what he's writing about at all? I really wonder sometimes. -- Joe in Essex (9/9/09)

Great aircheck from WPGC. God, that was a great radio station. Great format, great music, and even Glenn Beck sounds reasonable as a jock there. Except of course, when he outro'd 96 Tears and mispronounced the "Mysterians." But overall, it makes me long for good music and good programming the way it is on this tape. XM came close to this on the 60s channel, but the Sirius merger blew away the best programming features, including butchering those great XM jingles, the top of the hour ID, the Beatles bong, the Friday afternoon air chex, the great voice of Pat Clark, great weekend work from Marty with the Party, and other programing elements. Sad. The great radio formats are gone now, as are the formats that remembered the old formats . . . (9/9/09)

Tony K. doing a show again. David Burd NOT doing a show again. Priceless. (9/9/09)

/\ September 9 Messages /\

\/ September 8 Messages \/

I read an AP article: "Celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz must pay back a $24 million debt by Tuesday." Wow. She must have Redskins tickets. John (9/8/09)

(re: "which smell a lot better than the stench from Camden Yards and PSI Net or whatever it is called now.) No stench at all except for your inferiority complex. Paid for by "specific state lottery" smells far better than "paid for privately". More bang for your buck. Outclassed yet again! (9/8/09)

Dave, You are on a deserted island and can only listen to one radio station fro the rest of your existence-- Big 100.3 or 105.9 the Edge---which will it be.....which will it be!?!? (9/8/09)

Dave's response: I'll take the blessed silence of the wind through the palm trees.....

Many thanks to Bob Mathers and ultimateoldiesradio.com for the 12/15/75 Colts and Dolphins football game. Just Wonderful! Robert, Arlington (9/8/09)

Sorry to hear of Sally Thorner's impending retirement. She's a class act of which there are fewer of in this business as time goes on. Unsigned Corporate Suit (9/8/09)

Now that Doreen is back doing news after a 10 week absence please tell us the story. Where has she been and why. Thanks. Bob McKee (9/8/09)

According to WUSA-9's website, it looks like they are slicing its 9am newscast in half, ending at 9:30am starting Monday (9/14). A CBS Fall Preview special will air Monday at 9:30am, but it looks like "Inside Edition" is moving to 9:30am starting next Tuesday (9/15), leading into "Guiding Light" at 10am. On Monday 9/21, CBS is temporarily replacing "GL" with an additional episode of "The Price Is Right", untiil "Let's Make A Deal" debuts on Monday 10/5. -Greg in Perry Hall (9/8/09)

PressBox is excited to announce that our monthly paper is taking another growth step. As of the next issue (9/16 release date), PressBox will be a 'stitch and trim' product - meaning that we will be removing our white border and stitching the binding of the paper. The 'live' space of the paper will remain the same. The result will mean greater retention time by readers, better graphics and a sleeker look. The change in printing will also allow future improvements, including the ability to attach 'sticky notes' to the front cover with targeted marketing messages and more. (9/8/09)

Re: For the fourth straight year, the nostalgic website Hey Bob: Thanks for posting this! I still say that..as good of a baseball play-by-play man as Chuck Thompson was, in my opinion, he was even better at football! Now I've got a memory-jobber for ya: how many of you remember when Vince actually did "play-by-play" on the Colts games? During the time period of that game that Bob posted, Vince only did color commentary. But as I remember, he was also very good at "play-by-play"..I was told once that Chuck and Vince did the Colts games between 1959 and 1961; I think Bailey Goss was a part of that broadcast team as well! Tom in Denton, MD. (9/8/09)

Will the 3pm show on WRC be a real news show, or one of those pseudo-news shows, where most of the show is spent interviewing people, plugging people, celebrities and business, and cooking -- sorta like WUSA's 9am show. Speaking of which, according to guides, WUSA is cutting the 9am show to 30 minutes next week. Is this temporary in order to make room for Guiding Light (and Inside Edition), or is this a permanent cutback from a station that -- well is in last place, and can't really afford to produce news anymore? (9/8/09)

Dave re: "All 105.9 is gonna get is 50-plus-year-old "geezers." Hurumph. I'm 6 months away from the 50 year old mark, and I assure you we're not all geezers. Besides, advertisers should love us middle aged boomer types. There are alot of us out there, and we actually listen to radio. Isn't 50 the new 35 or something like that? Or is it 60 is the new 40? (9/8/09)

WRNR 103.1 FM Radio Annapolis will celebrate the highly anticipated debut of the digitally re-mastered and remixed Beatles’ studio albums, by playing all of the original U.K. studio album releases, with limited commercial interruption, starting at 9 am on 9.9.09. Beginning with “Please Please Me” (1963), and concluding with “Let It Be” (1970), all of The Beatles studio albums will be presented in their entirety, one side at a time, as they were originally heard when the albums were released as vinyl LP’s. In addition, WRNR listeners will have the chance to win the entire re-mastered Beatles box set throughout the day, as well as copies of The Beatles: Rock Band video game, that lets players simulate recording and performing with the band. Apple Corps Ltd. and EMI Music are releasing the CD box sets on September 9 after four years of working on the original recording tapes by audio engineers from Abbey Road Studios in London. Pre-orders for the release at area music stores and on Amazon.com are sold out. The box sets are among the top 15 pre-order music best-sellers in Amazon.com’s history - meaning WRNR listeners will get the rare chance to win a copy before they are available in most retail locations. WRNR Program Director Bob Waugh says, “It’s an exciting day for WRNR listeners and Beatles fans worldwide. The Beatles have been notable in not selling any of their songs online as downloads, so this much anticipated release is a great way to celebrate the legacy of the greatest rock band of all time. So much so, that the music of the Beatles will take over our airwaves for over 8 hours, non-stop.” Listen exclusively on 103.1 FM or by streaming audio at WRNR.COM. (9/8/09)

Joe - Hope your week on Corolla was as good as mine was back in August. Sand, surf, sun, no rain, killer AM listening and transatlantic DXing on 40 meters. Whatta great time. (9/8/09)

Gee, I hate to be a geek about this, but here goes. Sally Thorner was at WMAR no later then August 26, 1982. That's the first time the name "Sally" shows in a video archive log in the WMAR News collection at the University of Baltimore library. She was doing a story on the Cambridge diet. Her full name shows up on Sept 7, 1982 on a story previewing that year's City Fair. And I realize that's more information than anybody needed to know. Howie (9/8/09)

Dave's response: This afternoon, when I went to hunt via Google for a pic for Sally Thorner, I got one from wjz.com, which said that she left WMAR for WJZ in 1983. That's what I reported. It was wrong. That happened in 1993, as many are telling me. Now, when I do the same search, I can't find it because WJZ has yanked the Thorner profile.....

RE: [The only difference between Bush/Obama is that Bush was thinking about the country and Obama was NOT!] All I can say in response to this comment is next time you have the opportunity to chip in your .02, you really should consider that there are moments in life when it is better to remain silent and be thought an idiot, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. However, I wholeheartedly support your right to freely exercise your lunacy....it is worth the entertainment value alone, Mr. Beck. (9/8/09)

real world star/caps intern skates with local media members at caps fantasy camp washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog (9/8/09)

Question Dave, anyone, Are Nielsen Ratings even needed anymore? Can't the cable & satellite companies provide a more accurate account of what folks are watching? or is this how Nielsen gets their info? jeff n e'burg (9/8/09)

I think Sally Thorner came to WMAR in 83 and jumped to WJZ in 93... (9/8/09)

Dave's response: It's been corrected in the Front Page blurb.....

(RE:So if FedEx is a "piece of crap" it is a privately paid for piece of crap which smell a lot better than the stench from Nats Park, Camden Yards and PSI Net or whatever it is called now.) PSI Net? Where has this person been for the last several years, under a rock? It is M & T Bank Stadium and far better than FedEX/Danny Snyder playpen. (9/8/09)

I love when Joe in Essex starts claiming that he shot down all opposing arguments. That really means he is out of ammo and is waving the white flag. (9/8/09)

Dave....Sally Thorner joined WJZ in 1993, not 1983... (9/8/09)

Dave's response: I got that date straight from JZ's website.....

More on the 105.9 Rant- I don’t know Dave, I’m checking the music logs at yes.com, and what ‘RFF is doing in Philly and ‘CHH is doing in Baltimore seems pretty closely aligned with what DC101 is spinning in DC. Personally, I’d prefer something more Indie, and slightly more dance/electronica-oriented. And, hey, I wouldn’t worry about whether or not you’d be narrowcasting to young males. I’ll be closing in on the magic age of 60 soon, and what I’ve just described would be my dream format. And often I spend a lot of money shopping with advertisers, to boot! Mark O. (9/8/09)

From a previous post... "But let's face it, female anchors who get old are just not treated the same as male anchors who get old still to this day..."...that is somewhat true. Maybe not in this region but in a number of other markets there are quite a few "old male anchors" who are getting the shaft as much as their female counterparts. For example in the Denver market, there was longtime anchor KWGN channel 2 anchor Erine Bjorkman ( Denver's version of Gordon Peterson ). When KWGN re-launched their newscast "News on the Denver Deuce" earlier this year..a newscast clearly targeting the 20 somethings complete with a rock band jamming during the news and a woman in background doing the Twitter thing in the "Deuce Internet Cafe" ( what are the odds of us seeing any of this on DC or Baltimore TV? )..well at 57 years old..Ernie Bjorkman was just too old to be a part of the new "Denver Duece" so KWGN had taken him off the air. So yeah...and sadly there are a number of older male anchors who are seeing their TV days coming to an end too. (9/8/09)

"Did you hear about the Georgetown Cuddler Everybody got to go Did you hear about the Georgetown Cuddler The one that shut the kitchen door ..." Funny we haven't heard from Oscar Santana lately. Didn't he have an issue with his neighbors freaking because there was a Latino in the building in Glover Park? I'm just sayin'. To date, the police haven't said anything about Vicks Vapo-Rub. This just in: Ted Kenney [sic] still dead. (Like the Nantucket Orca joking about Chappaquidick, I embrace my past mistakes). Also in the news, Michael Moore-bidly obese. --- ThePenIsMightier (9/8/09)

To clarify an earlier blast at the Lerners regarding Nationals Park: They had nothing to do with it. Financing was agreed to while MLB owned the franchise; the Lerners didn't buy it until the summer of 2006. It's like blaming George Steinbrenner for cost overruns when the orginal Yankee Stadium was renovated in the mid-seventies -- that agreement with NYC came when CBS and Mike Burke owned the Yankees. -- Vincent in Triangle (9/8/09)

I like Sally Thorner and I think she's had a long and distinguished career in Baltimore so congrats to her on retiring. But let's face it, female anchors who get old are just not treated the same as male anchors who get old still to this day. It's always been that way. Didn't WBAL's Rudy Miller sue for age discrimination or something way back? I don't think market size has anything to do with it, its more that, and the economy/downsizing and one other thing..... the fact that WJZ 13 News is getting REALLY OLD overall. Can you imagine their news in HD? Between all the 50+ yr old women and Marty Bass and facial pock marks Don Scott, let's face it... NONE of these people will look too good in HD! I know that sounds mean, but I bet there will be more changes at WJZ soon before they upgrade to HD News. I wouldn't be surprised if Denise Koch is next to retire. And finally, about those Nielsen market rankings, I'll say again, the DC and Baltimore markets are seriously getting cheated by Nielsen. I'd love to see the WBOC/WMDT vs WJZ/WBAL ratings in certain counties on the eastern shore. I bet the Baltimore stations have higher ratings, but since Delmarva is a separately defined market, no credit is given. And there's no doubt DC gets cheated in Howard County and parts of AA county at the same time. It's just a broken measuring stick in my opinion that arbitrarily under-sizes both markets unfairly to the benefit of much smaller markets like Orlando. -- Joe in Essex... PS: Has my name been mentioned recently? :-) (9/8/09)

The Tony Kornheiser Show..... It's what my high school history teacher used to call my papers...drivel. Regards Biff (9/8/09)

Michael Calderone at the Politico: "In honor of Labor Day, the Washington Post published a feature yesterday on how much 100 Washingtonians make, a list that included Post chairman and chief executive Donald E. Graham ($811,960) and reporting intern James Hohmann ($44,167). But while those two were willing to offer up their salaries, the paper had less luck with executive editor Marcus Brauchli. Enterprise editor Marc Fisher, when reached by phone, confirmed to POLITICO that Brauchli declined to participate in the salary piece. Brauchli did so through a Post spokesperson. Despite top editor's absence from the list, Fisher pointed out that by having both Graham and Hohmann included, the Post had representation at both the executive and entry levels. A Post spokesperson did not provide additional comment." (9/8/09)

Hey Jeff (in Bowie) The only difference between Bush/Obama is that Bush was thinking about the country and Obama was NOT! WOW (9/8/09)

A previous post is correct, Jack Kent Cooke did indeed sign a deal with the state of Maryland that the Redskins training camp would be in Maryland in exchange for like originally $70 million dollars, but that ended up being like $120 million dollars. I think it was Daniel Snyder though who immediately reneged on the deal though because JKC died before the stadium even opened. And of course after the team was sold, Snyder wasn't obligated by the contract most likely. As for scalping, the PSL agreements and season ticket contracts often specify that scalping should not be allowed. Those rules are put in place to discourage ticket brokers from doing exactly what they do for a living, scalp tickets. If someone has a copy of one of the Redskins season ticket contracts, I'd love to see one. I bet it does prohibit scalping. I'm certain the original Ravens PSL agreement prohibited it. Therein lies the Daniel Snyder hypocrisy. Also, I know someone who was arrested by an undercover police officer across the street from Camden Yards and spent a night in Central Booking, so there definitely have been lots of local anti-scalping laws on the books over the years. Scalping outside Memorial Stadium was also illegal and I believe it was prohibited at the Capital Center too. Methinks the Mr. Drivel Dannyboy fan needs to take some of his own Prozac instead of offering it to others. He's already been shot down on like every single argument, and from multiple people too, who he seems to think are all Joe in Essex! I almost half-wonder if he's an ESPN 980 employee or a Snyder mailbag plant, hehe. Even all of the Skins die-hard fan websites are slamming Snyder. I just can't see why anyone sane could come up with an argument to defend him on either of those 2 recent controversies. Snyder didn't even build FEDEX Field. Why the hell should he get any credit for its mostly private financing? And The Washington Post has already reported that Snyder was rumored to be putting out feelers for a publicly financed or public/private mixed deal to build a new stadium already in DC or northern VA! (9/8/09)

Dave, the Baltimore Sun Is reporting that longtime WMAR/WJZ anchorwoman Sally Thorner Is retiring from tv news. Could It be the drop In market rank and drop In station revenues would have reduced her salary big time? In 1993 she signed a contract with WJZ for $250,000 a year the market is a lot different now Baltimore was market #22 then now its market #27. In any case I wish her well she was good at what she did she could have gone to a much bigger market an done very well GOOD LUCK Sally. (9/8/09)

For the fourth straight year, the nostalgic website www.ultimateoldiesradio.com features a special show for the opening of the NFL season. Now available is the entire 4 part broadcast of a great game from the past. Hear the Baltimore Colts and the Miami Dolphins from December 14, 1975. Like the Colts on that day, Chuck Thompson and Vince Bagli were really on their game. We hope you enjoy it. - Bob Mathers (9/8/09)

Dear Dave: Two things: just returned from a restful week in Corolla, NC with the family, where I was able to listen to Washington Nationals play-by-play on AM 1500, which comes in loud and clear down there, as opposed to points in Northern Virginia west of Wolf Trap. It would be nice if this talk about games being heard on 105.9 next year come to fruition. Also, I don't know if it was mentioned here, but long-time Detroit Tiger play-by-play man Ernie Harwell has inoperable cancer. nytimes.com... A recipient of the Baseball Hall of Fame's Ford Frick award for his excellent work in the broadcast booth, Harwell had stints with the Brooklyn Dodgers (working with Red Barber), the New York Giants (with Russ Hodges), and put in a few years with the Baltimore Orioles before moving to Detroit in 1960. Certainly one of the all-time best who has to be mentioned in the same breath with Barber, Mel Allen, and Vin Scully. Great site Dave! Sincerely, Joe Kasell (9/8/09)

Here's the real shame about the ''rock'' stations in our fair city. Tomorrow will be maybe the last gasp of any relevant ''Beatlemania'' until Paul McCartney passes away [Ringo doesn't count- peace and love, peace and love]. WRNR is the ONLY station in our area that's going full throttle into it. Not ONE of these geniuses at any DC station could noodle it through to play a bunch of Beatles songs wednesday??? Think of the fantastic marketing ploy a rock station gets by doing that. I've never HEARD of WRNR but I know of it now. I can't pick up the station here in Alexandria but that's besides the point. THAT'S why 100.3 and 105.9 will never survive the long term. 0 thought put into either station. Paul (9/8/09)

Once again poor ol' windbag Joe in Essex can't get the truth or his facts straight. Currently the only law on the books in the state of Maryland which prohibits the re-sale of tickets or the re-sale of tickets for above their face-value (scalping) is a Baltimore city law which prohibts the re-sale of tickets on property that is owned or operated by the Maryland Stadium Authority. There was a law which prohibited the re-sale of tickets within one mile of MT&Bank Stadium or Camden Yards, but this law was repealed. Outside of the Baltimore city law, there is no Maryland state law prohibiting scalping. So, if you walk across the street from Camden Yards and M&T Bank, you can scalp tickets all you want to. Joe ... get back on your Prozac and chill, dude. Before I forget :) /s/ C. Darrow (9/8/09)

Happy, happy, joy, joy! Mr Tony's debut was superb this morning. Very cool they began with the theme music from the old show and the "previously on the show" bit. Sure has a lot better advertising clients. No more Catholic cemeteries and depression studies. ESPN 980 coming in clear and strong in the canyons of Ballston. Now I have something to put on the former 105.9 nee 100.3 nee 94.7 preset button. Robert, Arlington (9/8/09)

Dave's response: It's the signal, stupid. Don't want to listen to Tony in lo-fi AM, so I flip over to 94.3. Even here in Wild West Fairfax, the Warrenton area signal is "picket fencing," dropping in and out, while driving in the auto. Dan Snyder desperately needs to get on an inside-the-Beltway FM stick right away if he wants to get ratings with WTEM.....

tony's show on 980 stream just ended abruptly.. now its playing Colin cowherd. Ugh... technology is awesome. (9/8/09)

Dave, I tried and gave up on 105.9 The Edge for the same reasons that you did. What killed Motown on oldies radio is that playlists featured only about two dozen songs from the label. The classic rock format is making the same mistake - the artists on The Edge seems to get only about eight or 10 songs each if they're lucky. Several posters here have mentioned "Sweet Home Alabama" as symptomatic of running a song into the ground, and the oldies equivalent was the Temptations' "My Girl." My tastes are somewhat eclectic as I like old-school hard rock/metal and hardish alt rock as well as old-school soul. (I liked the Jammin' format that 99.5 had for a few months.) You or I could probably develop a broader playlist for The Edge with more artists and more lesser-known songs for those artists. But what would be the point? The conglomerates who run radio these days don't care about music for its own sake, as a form of expression. To them, songs are merely aural wallpaper. Remember ! when WASH 97.1 was promoting itself as the choice for office music? While I'm not a fan of Skynard I have friends who are, and I remember being pleasantly surprised when they played "The Ballad of Curtis Loew," which I had never heard on radio. Is there anyone left at the conglomerates who can identify with that experience? Or do they assume that people who can have fled to iTunes or satellite radio? (9/8/09)

For your amusement: An aircheck of Glenn Beck calming Washington during a 1983 snowstorm. Now at www.alltheexcess.com. All The Excess! (9/8/09)

My New York Social Diary column today: Guerilla Fitness www.nysocialdiary.com... Carol Joynt (9/8/09)

[RE today's Rant and alt rock on 105.9:] The challenge with young men, and any young audience really, is the diversity of competition, not just on radio. The content communication and distribution options are varied and young people seek them all as the earliest adapters. Remember, we are in the mass appeal business and young alt is a narrow lane, that you still must deliver critical mass and most are seeing that limited now. Especially on the male side. (9/8/09)

The rise of low-powered radio www.nytimes.com (9/8/09)

In fact, Jack Kent Cooke paid for the STADIUM. Some roads were paid for by the state, that's what governments do. As a matter of fact, I doubt you will find any stadium or arena anywhere where infrastructure was paid for by the team owner. And the claim that the state and county aren't benefiting is downright assinine. Tax revenue alone is a big advantage. How many taxes would that park have paid? (9/8/09)

QUOTE OF THE DAY: Listening to WMAL, I am OUTRAGED that any President would have the audacity to think he has the right to speak to our children directly in a blatent attempt to brainwash their vulnerable minds into supporting his radical political goals. Here’s an actual excerpt of text from the President’s speech to America's school children: “Let me know how you're doing. Write me a letter -- and I'm serious about this one -- write me a letter about ways YOU CAN HELP US ACHIEVE OUR GOALS (emphasis added)" What audacity!…Now I understand why right wingers are so up in arms! Here we have what many would consider to be a very unpopular president attempting to indoctrinate impressionable school children into supporting the radical and ideological social and economic agendas of his political party. We ALL should be furious that this can ever happen! Oh, one thing though…This was an excerpt from the President’s address to schoolchildren in 1991 - the president in question was George H.W. Bush. Zing! – Jeff in (Don’t these hypocritical stooges realize that their words are recorded for posterity and will one day come back to bite them in the ass?) Bowie (9/8/09)

Can you explain to me why WJZW doesn't go back to its smooth jazz format? It would be the only station in that niche. Smooth jazz may not vault WJZW to #1 in the ratings, but even in the 10-15 spots (where it was w/ smooth jazz) WJZW would get better ratings than it has by competing with several other stations in the "oldies" format or, now, in the "classic rock" format. Other markets still have viable smooth jazz stations. Why not DC? After all, jazz has always been popular in DC. Ray Frantz (9/8/09)

Dave, I agree entirely with your Rant about the current output at 105.9 being a complete bore. What a waste of a frequency devoted to rock. I haven’t checked the Mailbag much recently, but possibly there’s speculation about this being another low-budget ‘placeholder’ format Citadel is airing while it attempts to unload WJZW to Bonneville or another taker - similar to the Jack-like ‘George’ format which briefly surfaced on DC airwaves a couple of years ago. HFS2 is at least mildly entertaining, and certainly is superior to what listeners are being subjected to at ‘The Edge’ (a misnomer if there ever was one!). Mark O. (9/8/09)

Very happy to have TK back. But, any idea why Andy Pollin is not involved? Will he be on ever? Sad... (9/8/09)

On the 980 stream I got about two minutes of the Tony K show, then a barrage of ads starting with free credit report. Then we got a minute of Colin Cowherd before TK Stack Money was back. Good to hear Tony back on the radio. (9/8/09)

All this silly whining about Fed Ex is ridiculous. I give credit to any owner who is willing to pay for his own stadium these days instead of relying on bilking the taxpayers. Cooke rushed the stadium because he had gotten jerked around by DC and Alexandria when he tried to build it there and by the time he got to Lanover, he was a dying sick old man. If I spent that kind of money, I'd want to see it before I went too. Of course, he didn't live to see it open and it isn't the greatest stadium in the world. But the point is that he PAID FOR THE STADIUM unlike the Lerners and unlike the Baltimore owners who have relied on corporate welfare. So if FedEx is a "piece of crap" it is a privately paid for piece of crap which smell a lot better than the stench from Nats Park, Camden Yards and PSI Net or whatever it is called now. (9/8/09)

Correct me if I'm wrong........As I recall, JKC agreed to move the slurs training camp from Carlisle, Pa into Maryland in exhange for the state of Maryland providing the infrastructure to JKC's new stadium in RalJon.......only to have him renig(sp?) on the deal after only one year and move the camp from Maryland into virginia. (9/8/09)

David - I wanted to let you know about a project I’ve been working on all summer. I’ve created the CBS 6 Video Vault on wtvr.com. It’s still a work in progress, but to date I’ve uploaded around 200 local (Richmond, VA) news clips from the 70s, 80s and 90s. I’ll try to add a few clips every other day or so. I realize you don’t do a lot with Richmond media, but some of the reporters left here to go on and work in DC\Baltimore stations. Sarah Lee, Suzanne Kennedy and Stan Heist to name a few. There is also a story or two from Bob Woodruff when he worked here in the mid-90s. You and your readers can check it out at www.wtvr.com/videovault. Enjoy and feel free to spread the news. -Scott Wise (9/8/09)

Any idea why TK isn't being streamed by 980? I got about 2 minutes of streaming then it switched to ads for 4 minutes and now "The Herd" is on the stream... (9/8/09)

With NBC4 preparing to launch a new early afternoon newscast, I wonder if they're going to take that opportunity to take their newscasts HD and finally move out of the stone age. Yeah, I doubt it, too. (9/8/09)

An example of where real, low power FM works: www.nytimes.com... In the end, it's not about the frequency, which only reaches a 3.5 mile radius. It's about the bandwidth on the internet . . . which reaches forever . . . (9/8/09)

This year marks the thirty-third Anniversary of WQCB, the Washington Quarter Century Broadcasters’ Club. In 1976, the late Lou Brott, Dave von Sothen, and others founded WQCB as a social gathering of broadcasters with twenty-five years of service in the Washington-Baltimore market. The WQCB annual dinner has evolved into a tribute to Washington-Baltimore’s broadcasting history as well as an opportunity for younger broadcasters in the market to network with some of Washington-Baltimore’s greatest broadcasters. The dinner will be held on Saturday, October 3, 2009 at the Hilton Hotel located at 1750 Rockville Pike Rockville, MD 20852. Cocktails (cash bar), hors d’oeuvres and socializing will begin at 6:00pm and the dinner and presentation will start at 7:00pm. The cost of the dinner this year is $40 per person. The evening will be one of fun, fellowship, and reminiscing – we hope to see you there. Please RSVP to Anee Raulerson at araulers@aftra.com no later than September 28th. Please note that you do not have to be in the Washington-Baltimore broadcasting market for twenty-five years to attend. Visit the Washington Quarter Century Broadcasters’ Club on Facebook. (9/8/09)

What happened to the young dark haired weather man, who usually did the morning weather on Channel 4? Sandie Lakner (9/8/09)

Dave's response: Went back up to NYC to be with his wife, who works there.....

In perhaps the only good thing that can be said about Danny Boy, it would be fairness to note that he has sunk well over $20M in structural improvements alone to the stadium. JKC did build a peice of crap. It flooded every time there was even a little rain,,,and that's just the start of the issues. (9/8/09)

I finally figured out what is causing Andy Parks to make those idiotic remarks and, contrary to what everyone else thinks, it is not early onset senility and it is not mj he is smoking. Here is the cause... (9/8/09)

Nothing against Lisa but the Examiner must be short on Washingtonians they find worthy of a spotlight. The Ex profiled her less than two years ago, in January 2008. (9/8/09)

Just finished watching the 11pm ch4 news. I see some1 has already emailed you that Doreen is back. I thought she had retired. No job I know of gives a 3mo vacation, must be nice. I see some1 also posted that Doreen is pregnant again. It does kinds look like it. I checked her nbc bio & it says he has a daughter. I checked WP's Reliable Source & dont see announcements about Darcy being pregnant or having recently had a baby. I guess we'll know soon if she isnt seen bc that means she is on maternity leave. Also, I checked their bios on nbc to see if there 'd be mention of doreen's disappearence/reapparance: www.nbcwashington.com. There is none, but all the bios say "updated 10:33a EDT s Mon 7 Sept 9". The bios were updated but the pics are still old pics of Doreen & others! & Darcy's pic isnt flattering at all. Her teeth are very yellow in her pic. Thanks. ~Lady,Silver Spring (9/8/09)

On the Redskins stadium…the county bought the property ostensibly for a park, and then resold it to the Redskins. The stadium itself was completely financed by the Redskins. The state paid for roughly $121 million in road improvements, primarily the new ramps off the beltway at Arena Drive and improvements to the Central Avenue and Landover Road interchanges. I was one of the lead plaintiffs that had the deal in court. Still got all the paperwork and the videotapes of the zoning hearings. And for the record, it was a piece of crap the day it opened, it's still a piece of crap (as is The Danny) and anyone who thinks that the neighborhood and/or the county is better off for it is an idiot. sbf (9/8/09)

The numbers previously posted here on DCRTV are in fact correct. It's even on www.NFL.com that the Redskins' stadium was a public/private combo deal, although more private than public. I guess to be a Skins fan these days, you have to dispense with reality and just believe everything you hear on ESPN 980. Signed, Granny (9/8/09)

The AP did a story on Mark McKewen, brother of former WIYY 98 Rock & DC/101's Kirk McKewen and former CBS Morning Show weather guy & Orlando TV anchor for Washington Post-owned WKMG, who had a stroke while visiting family in Baltimore and has lost his TV career apparently as a result and a lawsuit over medical malpractice with Baltimore Washington Medical Center. In today's Sun... www.baltimoresun.com. (9/8/09)

/\ September 8 Messages /\

\/ September 7 Messages \/

Matt Labash wrote a wonderful story about Marion Barry in last week's Weekly Standard. It mentions Barry's contemptfor the local media, including the Washington City Paper and Washington Post, and a quote from Jim Vance, who spoke with Labash about Barry: "At a reception buffet line, I run into Jim Vance, a tall, well-dressed, barrel-chested African-American news anchor from D.C.--half of the longest running anchor-team in Washington--who has known and covered Barry since the late '60s. Vance, too, was addicted to cocaine for seven years back in the '80s. Around Barry, Vance is all hugs and smiles. But I ask him to give me his straight-up assessment of Barry. He raises his eyes to the ceiling, thinks a bit, then says, 'There were so many of us who had so much hope for Marion. I don't know too many people that were more blessed or that had more skills than Marion had, nor too many people who were a bigger disappointment, quite frankly.' Vance's own addiction 'snuck up on me': 'It was a pattern of behavior that was nobody's fault but my own. I think the same applied to Marion. A pattern of behavior began that Marion couldn't blame anybody, or anything, except Marion for. There comes a point for most of us who are addicts, that today, I'm either gonna live, or gonna die. And you begin the process of living, or continue the process of dying. I don't know that Marion's got to that point yet.'" weeklystandard.com... Christian (9/7/09)

Is this guy Joe in Essex for real? I agree with him on some of his points about Snyder but the guy's over the top manner makes me re-think my agreement. Life is too short, dude. You'll end up busting a vein or something. (9/7/09)

Just turned on the news and see that NBC4's evening news "A" team is back; Doreen and Vance..Nice to see them together again.. (9/7/09)

Joe in Essex is being disingenuous again. Fact is, Fed Field was, in fact, paid for by private dollars. And Joe's claims to the contrary are just false. And Balamer's stadiums were corporate welfare deals. Sorry Joe, you can't change those facts just because you don't like them. I don't like the way Nats stadium was paid for either. Difference is, I don't lie about it. BTW, your inferiority complex comes through in every rabid post you make about this topic. (9/7/09)

Suing the Granny................. $66,000...... Buying a shitty network of bad-signaled radio stations................. MULTI-MILLIONS! Dumping tickets to ticket scalpers when it's illegal for anyone ELSE to scalp tickets instead of offering them to 10 year+ Waiting List people.............. PRICELESS! ................. Btw, there were a few people who called into WJFK 106.7 The Fan who defended Daniel Snyder and even more on ESPN 980. Now that's what I call drivel. Anyone who tries to argue that the Dannyboy season ticket contracts are a better deal or less sleazy than PSLs is also full of drivel or an idiot or both. And suing Grannies and dumping season tickets to ticket scalpers when it's technically illegal and/or against season ticket contracts for season ticket holders to do the same thing? Sorry, THAT'S SCUM BEHAVIOR. Wanna go another round Mr. Drivel? hehe :-) (9/7/09)

Read your website often, I rely on you to tell me which radio station is changing format next. (9/7/09)

Dave's response: Surprisingly, even though Citadel's 105.9 WJZW just flipped from oldies to classic rock, I still see it as a most-likely format flip candidate. Also, probably CBS's Spanish 99.1 WLZL, which isn't being listened to in about 2/3rds of its signal coverage area, via a tower near Crofton.....

Looks like Ray Frager formally of the Baltimore Sun and prior to that Sports Media Journal got a new gig. Any idea where that is? (9/7/09)

You mentioned on your front page newsblurb that other than NPR's Scott Simon, no other media types were included in the Post's comparison of salaries. Actually, the CEO of the Post was listed: Donald E. Graham (64), Chairman and CEO, Washington Post Co., $811,960. There's also a WP reporting intern who makes almost $45K. (9/7/09)

Dave's response: An intern makes almost $50K? Ooookay.....

Ok, let's put this puppy to bed: FedEX Field was not completely privately financed. This is a complete myth. The State of Maryland initially offered $70 million dollars in infrastructure improvements as part of the stadium construction, but I think that ballooned to close to $100 million when all was done because it was a bad location that lacked the proper infrastructure for 90,000 people's cars. The stadium itself cost $180 million. Infrastructure improvements were barely needed for M&T Bank Stadium because the location that was chosen already had the infrastructure for it for the most part. And by the way, M&T Bank was also not completely publicly financed either. Modell was forced to throw in millions of dollars too and the rest of the $220 million was raised from Sports Lotteries so the people who bought the lottery tickets knew they were directly paying to build a stadium and chose to do so. You can throw the money in different categories like stadium vs. infrastructure, etc. and play games with the numbers if you want, but the truth remains. FedEx Field was not anywhere near completely privately financed. And it was a complete shit hole when it opened too just like The Skins and Dannyboy who stink it up weekly. If the man could charge PSLs, he'd have done it, but he can't, it was a shitty stadium when it opened. And Dannyboy is already reported to want a publicly financed stadium in DC. End of story. Get your facts straight next time! (9/7/09)

"Michael Calderone at Politico.com: With Glenn Beck getting credit for Van Jones resigning, Keith Olbermann is now asking Daily Kos readers to find out anything they can about the Fox host and others associated with him...." Basically Glenn Beck is just Ann Coulter with a smaller penis (9/7/09)

Looking back at Channel 5's Cap'n Tugg: www.examiner.com (9/7/09)

Saw Darcy Spencer doing a remote news story and see that she's pregnant..Looks like she's quite far along..Did not know she was expecting. But then again, guess the camera has been shooting head shots..In any way, congrats to her. (9/7/09)

RE: [ " Since going up yesterday, Olbermann's diary entry had over 1,400 responses by this morning. " ]....... Oh please, those weren't diary entries, those were just the voices in Olbermann's fat head rattling around and talking to him. I'm convinced him and Beck probably hang out at the same shrink factory and probably have the greatest need for meds than anyone else on MSNBC or FOX! Beck's a former alcoholic who could seriously use a drink or tranquilizer if ever a person needed one, and didn't Olbermann once quit MSNBC once already dude to mental health/stress issues & wasn't there the same rumor of him being unstable when he quit ESPN way back? Seriously, those 2 have more loose screws than an Ace Hardware store! :-) (9/7/09)

Joe in Essex's drivel continues. I don't see a single post defending Snyder's ticket broker sales. Not a single one. Yet Joe claims Redskins fans are defending that. The only thing I see are posts saying that there is nothing morally or ethically wrong with suing people who breach contracts, putting bad PR aside. Hardly a startling proposition. But don't let the facts get in the way of one of Joe's hate DC tirades. Love that Balamer inferiority complex. By the way Joe, Fed Ex was paid for with private dollars. The poster is correct when he classifies Baltimore's stadiums as corporate welfare. (9/7/09)

Today's "Poor & Tasteless Timing Award" goes to WNUV-54 for inexplicably dumping out of the national Telethon feed last night barely 30 seconds into Jerry Lewis' triblute piece for the late Ed McMahon. Don't get me wrong -- going local to Jennifer Gilbert in her shoulderless dress wan't the worst thing in the world, but come on really... you mean it couldn't have waited another 5 minutes??? So anyone have any clue what brain trust made that decision, or why? (9/7/09)

Michael Calderone at Politico.com: With Glenn Beck getting credit for Van Jones resigning, Keith Olbermann is now asking Daily Kos readers to find out anything they can about the Fox host and others associated with him.... "Tuesday we will expand this to the television audience and have a dedicated email address to accept leads, tips, contacts, on Beck, his radio producer [Stu] Burguiere, and the chief of his tv enablers, [Roger] Ailes (even though Ailes' power was desperately undercut when he failed to pull off his phony 'truce' push)".... Olbermann said this action will help "save this nation from the Oligarhy of The Stupid." Since going up yesterday, Olbermann's diary entry had over 1,400 responses by this morning. (9/7/09)

RE: [ but not a single word about the messiah's college thoughts or thesis' during the 2008 campaign] Gee fella, I wonder if that could be because, regardless of what Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck and all the good folks at "Dubbya-Emmay-Yell" keep spoon feeding you, there just isn't any "there" there. The media looked (lord knows FauxNoise gave it their best shot). They dug and dug, and they didn't find a single thing approaching what you claimed was there. We had an election - remember? WAY back in November? America made a choice. The majority of us picked Obama. He won. That's the way our system works, Sparky. Look, we understand that those like you do not like the choice the majority of your fellow Americans made. Honest...we feel your pain. We appreciate that you needed time to mourn your loss, but for kryssakes...it's been ten months pal! Isn't it about time for you to dry your eyes, put on the big girl panties and accept that this "colored fella" is YOUR president too? For eight long years, I listened to Hannity and his ilk claim that it is unpatriotic to criticize the president at a time of war. Now Hannity criticizes our president at a time of war. That single act speaks volumes about where your side of the radio dial really stands when it comes to the difference between patriotism and politics. (9/7/09)

Neil Augenstein at wtop.com: "I thought those days were behind me. It's been almost 25 years since the band I sang with, Modest Proposal, performed our last show at the 100 Club in London. In 1986, after countless manila envelopes containing demo cassette tapes were returned, unopened, from unimpressed record companies, my bandmates and I agreed the rock and roll dream was unattainable -- at least by us. There had been good times. We'd recorded several records (yes, the vinyl kind) and had amassed a loyal local and regional following. Equally pleasing was the number of letters (yes, the kind with with stamps) we'd received from people overseas who'd somehow heard and liked our music. How would people in Spain, France, Italy and other countries have even heard of Modest Proposal? Our 'mod music', along the lines of The Who or The Kinks was much more popular in Europe than the U.S., which is probably why small British record labels were willing to release our music while American labels wouldn't take our phone calls. To be honest, when it was over, I rarely missed performing and songwriting. I guess I was relieved the constant struggle was over, and I could concentrate on "the real world." Which is why I was even more surprised last week when I came to the conclusion it was time for a Modest Proposal reunion. The passage of almost a quarter-century has brought marriage, families and day jobs (including mine at WTOP where I still get to wield a microphone, although I twirl it above my head less often). And with the same clarity I felt in 1986 that it was time to "retire," for some reason 2009 is the time for Modest Proposal to climb back onstage. Is the chance to revive the rock and roll dream worth the risk of humiliation? I guess we'll see. In the coming months, I'll bring you along on my new rock and roll journey." (9/7/09)

(Mailbag Mambo: Dems Use Reporters In Anti-McDonnell Spot) of course, the real irony of this is that the washington post has done multiple pieces on mcdonnell's senior thesis (to no avail, as their polls show), but not a single word about the messiah's college thoughts or thesis' during the 2008 campaign. it's almost like they have an agenda or something. (9/7/09)

Dave's response: Just heard a McDonnell spot on WMAL which claims that the Post loves him. Go figure.....

It's nice that WJZW is in the classic rock game now, but i swear to god if I hear carry on my wayward son, whats your name, or another freaking guns n roses song, i am going to EXPLODE!!! Welcome back, Classic Rock 94.7 The Glob!! (9/7/09)

Sunday's Examiner has a profile on Lisa Baden: www.washingtonexaminer.com... (9/7/08)

/\ September 7 Messages /\

\/ September 6 Messages \/

Congratulations to Sharon & Frank Herzog on their 40th wedding anniversary. Wish we could get Frank back into the Redskin's broadcast booth. jeff n e'burg (9/6/09)

Where "fair use" fails is where a trademark or similar is used without permission in a context as to possibly imply endorsement of a product, service, or endorsement of a political candidate.. In the video, the WUSA-9 logo is obvious. So, this begs another question: Isn't it always possible that those responsible for the item asked for and received permission for use of the trademarks? -Unsigned Corporate Suit (9/6/09)

According to DCRTV & The Washington Post, Daniel Snyder sued a Granny and dumped season tickets to ticket brokers instead of offering them to his loyal fan base that have been on a waiting list for as much as 10 or more years (and I assume they have deposits down too)! How can anyone really defend this man anymore? He's starting to make Peter Angelos look like a decent owner and that's really hard to imagine! And to even compare those 2 stories with the Personal Seat License thing done in many cities to build new stadiums is beyond laughable. Stop drinkin the burgundy Dannyboy date-rape juice please. I think some of you just took it up the you know what but are too drunk to feel the pain! LOL WJFK 106.7 The Fan is cleaning up on this mess. Awesome PR! And if there really was a Dannyboy Doll, thousands & thousands of Skins fans would be sticking pins in them right now as we speak. (9/6/09)

"Black Time" ... ohh my. Reminds me of the old 780 WABS (now WAVA-AM). Now and again they would refer to their own station phonetically on-air as "wabs", until it was pointed out to them that "wab" was a derogatory term for Hispanics. The practice ended the same day the message arrived. (Wanna see more? www.rsdb.org) (9/6/09)

"BR is back and he's bad" or "Why does GE stand for 'Good Eating'?" (9/6/09)

A question concern this previous post and linked video, "A number of local/national reporters, including Channel 9's Angie Goff, make it into a Democratic Party YouTube hit piece against VA governor GOP candidate Bob McDonnell's anti-women's' rights college thesis." Aren't newscasts, or any contact on TV for that matter, copyrighted? If so, how could the DNC use them in this video without the consent of the copyright holder, or is it that because each of the snippets are so short that they fall under "fair use"? (9/6/09)

A number of local/national reporters, including Channel 9's Angie Goff, make it into a Democratic Party YouTube hit piece against GOP candidate for Virginia governor Bob McDonnell's anti-womens' rights college thesis. (9/6/09)

On page E11 of today's PaPo there is a paid announcement of Frank Hersog's 40th wedding anniversary. It's says that Frank has been a broadcaster for 39 years. (9/6/09)

Re: "There is a station on 90.7 in Ocean City, the other half of 89.5/WXCl, the Salisbury University station, to reach listeners on the lower shore." Well, first of all, the Ocean City and Salisbury stations are WSCL/WSDL, and unless Gounod's Prelude to Act 1 of Faust (listed their site as Now Playing on those two stations) includes the lyrics "Wild Out Radio, Washington DC and Baltimore Maryland", it's definitely not the Ocean City station wafting west. ~~CA in BC (9/6/09)

RE: [ " This is not the way to report on a game that many area fans want at least some coverage when waking up on Sunday. The Sports Minute need not bother with this type of game if young Danny Hellie wants to go beddie-bye before the game is over. After the the Sports Minute, the news anchor should be reporting on the game, showing highlites, and giving the fucking final score. But after so many years of this crap I get the feeling NBC4 could care less about it. Regards Biff " ]........ This is exactly why WBAL TV 11 hired Keith Mills and it was a good move... JUST for Monday morning LIVE sports reports. So that the pre-taped morning sports report on weekend NFL games wasn't a joke, especially the Sunday Night Football game which obviously Gerry Sandusky should not have to come in for, nor should Pete Gilbert have to stay at the station that long. WJZ 13, on the other hand, has Marty Ass, who can babble completely through the weather w/ Ravens highlights even though he has no clue what he's babbling about with either! LOL (9/6/09)

RE: Nebraska Ave. The original WRC (circa Joy Boys) and The Great 98 was in the basement. Upon going all news, WRC remained in CTL 3 while Studio 1 was divided in to 3 areas. Two of the areas being the WKYS studio and control room, When the backside addition was complete, WKYS move to the first floor and Newstalk 98 was on the third floor. For a 'vitual tour' of the WRC studios from the early days of The Great 98 visit: www.98wrc.com (9/6/09)

At the end of NBC's ownership of WRC-980 the studios and offices were located on the top floor of 4001 Nebraska Ave. Beautiful, expensive move from the basement, and in-use for about a year before it was all demolished. It was a brand-new buildout, all new studios, all new gear, all new tape rooms, all new newsroom, and one of the first computerized newsrooms in the country, using the "Newstar" monochrome, split-screen computer. (9/6/09)

The strangest typo on a website I can recall was for AFRA SAG DC’s website announcing a “Black Time” event (instead of “Black Tie”). I called them a few times and left messages that there was a typo on their website and no one responded or fixed it. I then called them and asked the receptionist calmly, “there is a racial slur on your website, who do I talk to about that?” She said “excuse me?” I then said “there is an old racial stereotype that is extremely offensive to African Americans on your website…who do I talk to about that? I could tell she got very uncomfortable; she put me on hold and got the web guy on the phone immediately. He fixed the typo on the spot after I explained to him where the term “Black Time” came from. Yes, I pulled the race card, and for this white guy, it was fun! (9/6/09)

It's been 20 years, and they don't acknowledge the old name on their website, but CNBC started out life with the market-branding of "Consumer News and Business Channel," and yes, its Washington studio and office was co-located with AP Radio at 1825 K St. NW. They were positioned, in part, to take on FNN, but Financial News Network didn't make it and was broken up during a struggle with Dow Jones/Westinghouse in the early 1990s. (9/6/09)

Ah..Another major DC area team playing a late West Coast game.. Another Sunday morning of bullshit reporting of this game on NBC4. The miserable Dan Hellie Sports Minute is recorded twice..One way has the Terrapins winning against Cal.. The other version has them losing. Of course the giveaway is that no score is given. Also Keith Garvin invites us to see Terps highlites. I didn't see any highlites. This is not the way to report on a game that many area fans want at least some coverage when waking up on Sunday. The Sports Minute need not bother with this type of game if young Danny Hellie wants to go beddie-bye before the game is over. After the the Sports Minute, the news anchor should be reporting on the game, showing highlites, and giving the fucking final score. But after so many years of this crap I get the feeling NBC4 could care less about it. Regards Biff (9/6/09)

Does anybody WEELy know what time it is? ebay.com (9/6/09)

[RE:Do we have a pirate radio station in Baltimore? It's on 90.7 and it's playing Wild Out Radio (www.wildoutradioonline.com). There's no listing for a 90.7 anywhere nearby on Radio Locator; the FCC has an app for a new station way to the north of town that's not supposed to reach where I live but I don't think a company called Redeemer Broadcasting would be playing what's on this station. Anyway, it sounds like an amateur job.] There is a station on 90.7 in Ocean City, the other half of 89.5/WXCl, the Salisbury University station, to reach listeners on the lower shore. It is also NPR and offers separate programming at times from 89.5. Burt in Denton (9/6/09)

[No disrespect to Joe (I listen daily & enjoy the radio show), but Mika Brzezinski so far more conservative than him in certain issues. -Silvie-] Now Silvie, you know it’s all an act between Bad Boy Joe and Good Girl Mika although their Scarborough Affair is hardly presidential material. Joe, a “104ther” used to play rock in those days at the local VFW club near The Hill and fancy’s himself a rocker. Sorta like Gary Condit fancied himself a stud, but Joe too will have to get past stuff like this in order to even consider running for anything, let alone president. Lori Klausutis: Which Republican U.S. Congressman had a dead aide found in his office while the media was hounding Democrat U.S. Congressman Gary Condit about his missing ex-intern, Chandra Levy? (9/6/09)

FedEX Field was a DUMP on DAY 1 when it opened and a complete waste of $100 MILLION dollars of tax payers' dollars for that dump. Put a fork in it. Even DannyBoy is looking for a new publicly financed stadium already! Camden Yards, on the other hand, is a model of success that every other city in the U.S. has strived to match. Soon there will be a Hard Rock Casino, there's already a Convention Center hotel, you name it, there. Who the hell wants to build anything near FedEX Field, that dump? Please, now back to sticking pins in my DannyBoy doll! LOL (9/6/09)

Cheating hubby radio ruse: Object lesson or publicity ploy? www.dailyfinance.com (9/6/09)

(regarding a previous post) "WRC-AM old studios on the third floor is all MSNBC studios and offices". Weren't the AM studios downstairs, in the NBC basement? And, at one time, didn't CNBC have a studio on K Street NW? (9/6/09)

/\ September 6 Messages /\

\/ September 5 Messages \/

Someone requested Aerosmith-Other Side on HFS2. And they PLAYED IT!!!!! WTF?!????? This is an alternative to what? Led Zeppelin??? OHHHMYGOD would you JUST put it BACK CBS???? Stop with the gimmicks and tricks nobody that isn't under your desk will fall for. (9/5/09)

To the person about the changes at 4001 Nebraska ave N. W. 1) the WKYS SPACE now is offices for NBC news producers, NBC political unit,Ed Walker and williard's offices, Engineering Managers offices and one small studio. 2)WRC-AM old studios on the third floor is all MSNBC studios and offices and also MEET THE PRESS offices also Labor Relations is also in that area. CORY (9/5/09)

Do we have a pirate radio station in Baltimore? It's on 90.7 and it's playing Wild Out Radio (www.wildoutradioonline.com). There's no listing for a 90.7 anywhere nearby on Radio Locator; the FCC has an app for a new station way to the north of town that's not supposed to reach where I live but I don't think a company called Redeemer Broadcasting would be playing what's on this station. Anyway, it sounds like an amateur job. (9/5/09)

Joe in Essex again posts his drivel without admitting that Fed Ex Field was paid for by private money, i.e., the Redskins owner at the time, while the Ravens Stadium was a corporate welfare boondoggle. Thanks, but I'll take a few less amenities and a lower tax bill anyday. As for PSLs, they are a scam through and through. And the fact is that all of the contracts that Snyder inherited have come up for renewal since he took over, so he could have instituted PSLs if he wanted (and he could do it for general admission tickets any year since they don't have contracts). Snyder has plenty of faults, but frankly he does deserve credit for not stooping to PSLs. As for suing the old lady deadbeat on the club seat contract., nothing morally or ethically wrong with that, but a bad PR move for sure. That picture of Joe in Essex sticking pins in a Danny Snyder doll is pretty hilarious. They deserve each other. (9/5/09)

Joe Scarborough for President in 2012? Which party affiliation? He's a total RINO, in my opinion. No disrespect to Joe (I listen daily & enjoy the radio show), but Mika Brzezinski so far more conservative than him in certain issues. -Silvie- (9/5/09)

The "Mount Alta" poster got it right. (9/5/09)

Looks like the college football season isn't getting off to such a good start here on the DC area regional sports nets. Western Kentucky at Tennessee is supposed to be on Comcast Sportsnet right now. Instead, there's some sort of show about the Terps on. And on MASN, it's supposed to be Appalachian State at East Carolina, but we get a simulcast of ESPNews in its place. That certainly doesn't bode well for their bid for cable carriage in NC. Pure incompetence and unpreparedness in both cases, I'm sure. (9/5/09)

Hi Dave. "Journalistm means putting a story on paper". Ah..not quite. These days it's putting a story on a computer. But anyway...there is no clear path to becoming a journalist. Many of us who got journalism degrees..like myself (MA-American Univ 1977) took that route. But over my years as a reporter I can tell you of many fine journalists who had degrees in law, political science, economics and or just a good liberal arts degree..and learned the craft of reporting quite well. The key to being a good journalist is to keep your eyes and ears open, your head OUT of the clouds,your feet on the ground and remember its about "them" meaning the public..and NOT you. And of course wear comfortable shoes. Oh..and to the guy who misses Bruce Alan? He hasn't gone anywhere. He's still on WTOP every morning. Check out 103.5 fm , 103.9 fm or 107.7 fm..depending on where you live. Hank Silverberg (9/5/09)

Yes, DC-based PSInet, Inc had the original naming rights for M&T Bank Stadium, but defaulted on the naming rights contract after the dotcom bust. While people have come to accept M&T Bank as an ok name, the PSInet name was almost universally disliked by Ravens fans & Baltimoreans alike and often referred to as PISSnet. Most people in Baltimore didn't even know who the hell PSInet was! There was a grass roots effort to name the stadium Unitas Field or Unitas Field@some corporate stadium name, but it failed because naming rights were part of the contract originally signed by then Gov. Paris Glendenning, also a DC area resident, to get the team. Btw, the news of the Browns move is generally credited to WJZ 13's Mark Viviano (who was at WBAL TV though then), however I'm certain it was leaked on the Stan the Fan radio show (who now runs the PRESSBOX sports paper/website) a day or two earlier, but he thought it was a crank call. Oddly enough, in the end, The Ravens ended up costing poor John Burren his job at Channel 13 because he'd made so many "When Pigs Fly" type jokes against WBAL TV at the time, ridiculing them for reporting such laughable improbable rumors that turned out to be true, that he just looked silly afterwards and lost all his credibility. I think Scott Garceau, then at WMAR 2, also downplayed the rumors, but he didn't gloat about them and end up with egg on his face like John Burren did. (9/5/09)

I worked at the NBC 4001 Nebraska Avenue facility in the 1980's and remember of course Channel 4, NBC Network News, WRC-AM and WKYS all being located there at the time. NBC sold its radio division in the late 80's. What ever became of the first floor WKYS space, which was located just off the main hall past the vending machines? And what became of the WRC-AM Radio space in the building? I understand MSNBC's Chris Matthews show Hard Ball is now originating from Nebraska Avenue. What space in the building is this operation occupying and what was there in that part of the building before MSNBC began using it? Could someone who worked in the building in the 80's to the present explain some of the changes since that period? (9/5/09)

True WARX was a fantastic radio station. Wish it was still here. But WICL on FM is better than nothing, which is more to say abour the Baltimore and DC AREA FM's garbage. (9/5/09)

In light of the fires threatening the Mt. Alta transmitter sites atop Mt. Wilson, there’s been some talk here about why more stations don’t have auxiliary transmitter sites located away from their primary sites. Especially, in this post-9/11 era of terrorism. The first reason is ROI. All transmitter sites are expensive. That’s why you see more diplexed sites these days on AM. But bucks for a site you may rarely need is tough to justify in the best of times. In an economic depression like now, forget it. You’re more likely to get test equipment approved. On AM, the more corporately ‘mature” major market O&O’s do have auxiliary sites licensed at what would otherwise be the primary site of a competitor. In an emergency, there is no competition. Among other old-timers, my name has appeared in the logs of what was usually a competitor, but needed our assistance for repairs and getting back on the air. In this era of duopolies and multi-station ownership in a market, putting an aux AM or FM at the primary site of another station is easier unless you’re trying to replicate the site of what was a Class I Clear back in my younger days. Classic case-in-point is KFI. KFI lost its 750’ guyed radiator a few years ago when a plane crashed into it. When the stick was built in the late 1940’s. La Mirada was a bunch of orange groves. Today, warehouses and offices –not to mention the 5 Golden State Freeway surround the site. So, when CC wanted to rebuild, the NIMBY’s wanted the site moved. Because of matching problems on the backup tower (It was like trying to load a capacitor…) which restricted power to 22KW instead of 50KW, other parties got involved and a shorter permanent tower was eventually built, albeit with a wicked capacitance hat which improves groundwave at the expense of your skywave. As for TV & FM, the second best site in L.A. is restricted territory –unless you’re there on business with the L.A. Fire or Police Departments. That’s Mt. Lee, which was used from the 1930’s to the late 1940’s/early 1950’s for experimental TV broadcasts and for KTSL, which became KNXT and ultimately KCBS-TV. Some L.A. FM’s and interim DTV’s have facilities on Verdugo Peak, but because of L.A.’s topography, coverage is nowhere as good as it is from Mt. Alta. Now, as for the D.C. area, since all the TV’s and FM’s are on short sticks and mostly in a very concentrated part of town (because of topography, development, and air traffic among other factors) you again have few options for an auxiliary site. The great thing about DTV is that it’s an equalizer: There is no such thing as a great site for DTV. Indeed, the 1,776’ “Freedom Tower” in NYC will not have DTV facilities as the multipath which was a factor with WTC in the analog days makes Empire viable for DTV. In D.C., you have no such options. While Tenleytown is supposedly the highest spot in D.C., I’ve heard the same said of Mt. St. Albans, site of the Washington National Cathedral. Then again, what about Pinnacle Drive in Tysons Corner, site of an Army Signal Corps/STRATCOM tower since the 1940’s? Now, I’m sure the reader noticed I mentioned “licensed” auxiliary transmitter sites. Does that mean that there might be “unlicensed” aux sites? Perhaps sites that the FCC even knows about? No comment! But, pray that you never hear a broadcast from the “ultimate” aux transmitter site based in the D.C. area. Its callsign is simply “Electric”. And, if it’s heard at all it’ll likely be by someone owning a tube-type Zenith Trans-Oceanic or such running it off batteries. (9/5/09)

Please forgive me if my aging memory is failing me. But, IIRC, wasn't the Ravens' stadium originally called something like "PSINet Stadium", or something like that? At least until the dotcom bust. Unsigned Corporate Suit (9/5/09)

/\ September 5 Messages /\

\/ September 4 Messages \/

"..Roanoke actually has a local statute that says "thou shalt not name non-public buildings after supermarkets?.."Yes I have seen it !! Its in that shopping center that holds the towers for Roanoke's WFIR-AM. Seriously if the city of Roanoke had paid for that civic center of theirs using only their own money then they have every right to say "no naming rights" if they wish. Its not stupid "Virginia -Roanoke- Winchester-SVRTV- Drama"..its just fact. Of course then again in this economy it really would be stupid for any city to still have such a law on their books. (9/4/09)

Full-length Beatles albums on 'RNR! I gotta stock up on some blank cassettes. Where can I get some SA-90s these days? Hey, Amazon's got 'em for $6.95 *each*. Or a 5-pack for 22.25. They've also got a used one for 32 cents. (9/4/09)

Bonneville already has a Northern Virginia FM- 107.7 WWWT-FM Manassas. Why they would want to put sports on 105.9 is beyond me, just flip 107.7 and 1500 to Federal News Radio days and sports at night, that would take care of the problem. Stephen (9/4/09)

Bob Schieffer blames radio talk show hosts for outrage over Obamas education speech. What a douche! www.cbsnews.com (9/4/09)

RE: [ " According to Forbes, if you bought a personal seat license for the Ravens when the team moved into its new stadium in 1998, you have, on average, seen a 300 percent increase in your investment. What a rip off. I am not sure how this can be considered worse than a 10 year contract to buy Redskin tickets for thousands of dollars. " ]...... Thank You! I doubled my money on 2 Ravens PSLs TEN YEARS AGO! And The Ravens didn't even sue my grandmother either! HAha! To the Daniel Snyder suckups in this mailbag, all I have to say is IF Danny Snyder had built Fedex Field himself, YES there would have been PSLs and the man is already rumored to be looking to build a NEW stadium already. Snyder cannot easily enact PSLs by the way because of his existing contracts that he inherited. Do you really think in your crazy Skins minds that Snyder won't do PSLs if he builds a new stadium? PLEASE! I don't like PSLs, but it is what gets nice new stadiums built these days and the PSLs do hold their value much better than Danny Snyder's 10 year contracts. So I think the hilarity is in The Skins suing the GRANNY and the mad-crazy Skins fans' delusional posts here defending him. By the way, by all measurements, you'd have to say Camden Yards is a model for other cities for sports complexes and well spent public money that dramatically increased tourism to Baltimore. I know there have been lots of studies on how public financing of stadiums is a waste of money and that's mostly true, but Baltimore is one of the anomalies and a total success by practically all forms of measurement as far as bang for the buck. FEDEX Field was a dumpy old stadium in a bad location on the very first day it opened and Daniel Snyder is dumping tickets to ticket brokers as we speak & suing Grannys. Too funny! 'Nuff said. Why else would people be slamming the guy on 106.7 The Fan so much? Sure, 106.7 The Fan is inciting the riot to some extent for ratings, but the facts still remain. And why not? It's the perfect storm! CBS Radio should write a check out to The Washington Post Co., Inc like tomorrow, hehe. -- Joe in Essex (9/4/09)

Joe S for Prez - Didn't Ted Kennedy already prove you can't successfully run for President when one of your aides dies mysteriously? (9/4/09)

"DC Radio is junk!", everyone says. Well, overseas, they are building radio stations OUT of junk! Check out the ingenuity of these guys: www.afrigadget.com (9/4/09)

Not to prolong the ticket debate, but I have to point out the hilarity of Joe in Essex whining about MD spending money on infrastructure in conjunction with Jack Kent Cooke PAYING FOR HIS OWN STADIUM, yet not even mentioning that the Ravens stadium was completely built on corporate welfare. As for PSLs, even Joe concedes that they are a screw job. So what is the debate? Snyder could implement them if he so chose and, unlike Baltimore's owners, he hasn't. So he deserves credit for that one thing. Simple. I know giving Danny Boy any credit for anything interferes with Joe's view of Danny as the ultimate DC bogeyman (I kind of picture Joe sitting in his bedroom sticking pins in a Danny voodoo doll) , but rationality must prevail once in a while. (9/4/09)

After watching the "Spooky Movie Film Festival 2009 Teaser Trailer", am I the only person who was left believing the event already took place last week? If I hadn't lingered until the 4:07 point, I wouldn't have known the the Festival is coming in October. The video was cute ('though hackneyed), but it failed for me as a promotional tool. (9/4/09)

According to Forbes, if you bought a personal seat license for the Ravens when the team moved into its new stadium in 1998, you have, on average, seen a 300 percent increase in your investment. What a rip off. I am not sure how this can be considered worse than a 10 year contract to buy Redskin tickets for thousands of dollars. (9/4/09)

OK…I live in Florida, have never heard of Angie Goff before, have never seen her on TV. BUT..a simple Google search revealed that Ms. Goff is indeed an Emmy-award winning journalist. You could have even checked out the WUSA website and found out. Here it is: www.wusa9.com... In my advancing years I seem to hate morons more and more…. (9/4/09)

"putting a story to paper which is what a Journalist is" Maybe during the last century. Bruce Alan, when WTOP used to do the news on 1500 AM, was one of the best broadcast journalists around. He used to be a traffic reporter when NBC owned WRC radio on 980 AM. I miss hearing him. Goff's voice sounds like someone taking a handsaw to some sheetmetal. (9/4/09)

Adolf Hitler (the greatest monster of them all) is upset he missed The Spooky Movie Film Festival... (9/4/09)

1:02 pm, WBIG and the Edge both playing Foghat's Slow Ride (9/4/09)

"She's not a journalist". Most of the people that are on TV telling, yes telling you the news, ARE NOT Journalists, they didn't go to school for, nor do they have degrees in it. Go to any website for a news channel and read the bio's for the people in front of the cameras. They have degrees in MANY OTHER SUBJECTS. Most have never worked at putting a story to paper which is what a Journalist is. (9/4/09)

RE: PSLs & WJFK & [ " Danny Boy hasn't stooped that low and for that one thing, he deserves credit. " ]..... I agree PSL's are a bad idea, but they tend to produce nicer stadiums (aka M&T Bank) and if you sell the PSL, there is usually a good return on your investment, that much is certain. Daniel Snyder didn't own The Washington Redskins when that dumpy huge stadium called FEDEX Field was built, so he deserves NO CREDIT for NOT having PSLs since he wasn't even THERE THEN and didn't build the stadium. JKC did. The whole idea of Baltimore's PSL deal was to help build M&T Bank Stadium and I think a lot of that initial PSL money went towards the actual stadium construction since Modell was obligated to pay $10 million towards M&T Bank. Few infrastructure improvements for M&T had to be done since Oriole Park was already there and the roads were built. For FEDEX Field, however, the state of Maryland had to spend over $100 MILLION dollars on infrastructure improvements (while JKC financed the stadium himself, and that's why it was shitty when it opened). Somebody correct me if I'm wrong. But I still cannot fathom how some Skins fans think PSLs are worse than the Skins Club Level contracts where Dannyboy is suing grannies into bankruptcy or why people are calling in to defend Snyder for dumping Skins tickets to brokers and not to his loyal waiting list fan base. How is the Skins Club Level contract different than a PSL in reality? If anything, it's a shittier deal! How can Skins fans excuse that behavior and try to say other owners are just as bad or worse? Now that's what I call delusional thinking almost like what they say about Apple's Steve Jobs, his "Reality Distortion Field", hehe. By the way, some of the Ravens original PSL licenses were only $300-$500 FOR LIFE! Just think what those are worth now, at least double if not triple or quadruple! Finally, doesn't this basically mean the Skins waiting list is a joke now? Doesn't it mean Snyder knows 9 out of 10 people on the list didn't even want those tickets so why bother asking them? If that's NOT the reason, then he is even more real scum than previously thought! It's a no win situation for The Redskins either way & the worst kind of PR. There's just no good excuse, especially in a bad economy where many people are hurting financially. And it'll probably at least immediately get WJFK 106.7 The Fan noticed by sports talk listeners, at least for a short time. You couldn't have a better marketing PR campaign develop accidently than this, that's for damn sure! -- Joe in Essex (9/4/09)

Dave: Inquiring readers want to know -- what does DCRTV's mysterious Mr. Hughes think of Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds"? I think I might catch it this weekend, having been persuaded that it's not strictly a festival of violence, revenge and gore. Christian (9/4/09)

Dave's response: I give it a "B+." Brad Pitt and the German actor who plays the Nazi general are magnificent. Some of the talk sequences are a bit too long, as is the movie by about 30 minutes. If seeing people get literally "scalped" doesn't bother you, you'll enjoy it.....

My, my, my...everything does seem to have a connection to Winchester doesn't it? Geez Louise...If its a private stadium - not built with taxpayer money, or if it is - its out of the control of the local government and just got tax breaks, why wouldn't who ever owns it (Dan Snyder, Shen University - not a state school btw) sell the naming rights to the highest bidder - ala Fedex field? How could a local government have anything to say about what its called? I guess with Obama it could have a TAX associated with it or a czar or some other stimulus connection...:). Roanoke actually has a local statute that says "thou shalt not name non-public buildings after supermarkets? (9/4/09)

Not in DC, but in Seattle - Interesting.... www.kirotv.com (9/4/09)

Regarding the investigative voice website, mentioned by a mailbagger. Take a look at the ad for Brick Oven Pizza on their home page. “TELL THEM YOUR A LISTENER…” instead of YOU’RE. When called to his attention the web site guy said ‘who cares’…not much credibility if you ask me…. (9/4/09)

Just heard the latest Creigh Deeds commercial on WTOP, and I can see we're back to the old social-issue crap again (and this is coming from a Democrat). Worse, we're back to the old mealy-mouthed "woman's right to choose" instead of the word "abortion," which is just as asinine as someone calling themselves "pro-life" when they support capital punishment. Jeez, I'm sick of euphemisms, but what else do you expect from a society that refers to "pre-owned" cars and "preseason" football games (ever heard Nats exhibition games labeled as "preseason"?). Sigh. -- Vincent in Ttriangle (9/4/09)

Re: Most Mysterious Mike Allen's people must have stuffed the ballot box near the very end. When I voted (17th time) for you around 11:00pm Thursday night, you still had 55% of the vote. ALSO...About some local coverage of Steny Hoyer's Town Meeting in Waldorf earlier this week, St Mary's Today and The Hill mentioned how the crowd got nastier as it was given speeches for at least 45 minutes into the 90 minute meeting before Hoyer started taking questions. Political mentioned the yelling but did not detail the possible reasons for it - unless I misread the article. (9/4/09)

Dave's response: I just knew those Politico people were evil. Ha ha ha.....

Aside from misspelling the sex offense, is this really what they meant to say on Baltimore's investigativevoice.com?: "A sergeant and two officers from the Baltimore's Police Department have been suspended with pay pending an investigation that they failed to properly take a report from a rape victim. Among the allegations are that a supervisor conducted an interview of an alleged victim who was sodimized over the phone." Bob A. in Pikesville, MD. (9/4/09)

All these comments about Channel 9 news anchors and teleprompters and such makes me realize why the BBC calls their people news presenters or news readers. And recently, Mrs. Olney and I were watching something on Biography and guess whose picture showed up? Max Robinson! I almost cried; with Max and Gordon in front of the WTOP-TV cameras, the local news on Channel 9 was the best news program on TV. Even when I lived in Baltimore, I often turned the antenna and watched their Eyewitness News, which featured the main tune from the ill-fated Broadway Show, "Superman" (you can look it up). That tune fit them perfectly. -- Carl in Olney (9/4/09)

I believe that the point was that PSLs in and of themself are classless and a ripoff. I agree with that. Unlike Modell and Bisciotti, Danny Boy hasn't stooped that low and for that one thing, he deserves credit. And again I would point out that people who claim that the Redskins were "dumping tickets" are fabricating things and misrepresenting what the Post wrote. The story said that they were taking general admission tickets, which should have gone to waiting list customers, and instead selling them to ticket brokers as part of deals for the brokers to also buy club seats. That is the story. Nothing more, nothing less. (9/4/09)

"You’re kidding, right? So far I can’t tell the difference between The Edge and BIG. They’re virtually identical." Unless BIG is playing Motley Crue, the stations are not identical. There is some overlap, more than I like, but I've been reduced to being thankful for the Edge, a station that's merely decent, simply because it doesn't totally suck (yet). Christian (9/4/09)

TO the poster wondering why a traffic reporter is in an anchor spot ast WUSA 9--Angie Goff was an anchor previoously. he is simply filling in for Andrea Roane. I think that there are a lot of problems at WUSA but letting Angie Goff fill in as anchor is not really one of them. (9/4/09)

RE:"What's going on at Channel 9? Having Angie Goff fill in for the WUSA morning shows is an embarrassment. She's not a journalist. She's the traffic girl--who's next in the anchor chair, the secretary? Signed--My Ears Are Still Bleeding From OMG." Maybe if the douchebag had done his research, he would have known she's achored before in the midwest and the south. I'm pretty sure she has an emmy to her name. Could you do the job? Could you edit a story for TV? You probably can barely edit an email that looks anything better then what my 8 year old writes. (9/4/09)

Re: "What's going on at Channel 9? Having Angie Goff fill in for the WUSA morning shows is an embarrassment. She's not a journalist. She's the traffic girl"..And on the same lines, look at FOX5 doing the same with Tony Perkins..He's the weather guy. I agree with the comment that you don't need to be a journalist to read a teleprompter..And even then, some of the "journalists" have difficulty reading it..And speaking of WUSA, I think this may have been posted before, but who the heck is the woman I've seen doing the late news on the weekend?..Her silliness is just unbearable..Is she just out of school or what?..And when I say school, I mean high school.. (9/4/09)

At the risk of turning this mailbag into an off-topic sports/Danny Snyder mailbag, I feel a need to chime in again, especially since I've been listening lots to 106.7 The Fan about this topic lately: The vast majority of Baltimore Ravens PSLs were not contract-based by length of time, meaning The Ravens would never be suing a season ticket holder most likely nor has it ever been reported that they have done any of these sleazy things that Daniel Snyder is reported to have done, so it's really not fair to slam Bischotti and Modell and throw them in the same basket as Dannyboy. Clearly, Dannyboy wins the Scumbag Award between the 2 stories currently being discussed on WJFK 106.7 The Fan and in The Washington Post. Also, The Ravens have never pulled all those sleazy parking lot scams either. In fact there are still tons of totally free places to park around Camden Yards. Also, I can attest that at least twice during my PSL history with the Ravens I was over a month late on my final season ticket payment and they hung in there with me and let me slide. One year, after losing my job, I paid for my tickets so late, they were printed by TicketMaster and not even from the regular season ticket printing run. Think Dannyboy would let me slide there? I think not. I think those tickets would have been dumped to a broker for sure & my PSLs cancelled. And that was the Modell years. Another time, I bought Ravens Club Level seats off of Ebay and was removed from the stadium because the tickets had been reported stolen to police from The Ravens offices by The Ravens. What did the Ravens do? When I complained, they gave me free Club Level seats to another game even though technically they didn't have to because by law I had inadvertently, through no fault of my own, purchased stolen property. They even gave me a choice of games! That was under Bischotti. Finally, I've also sold 2 of my Ravens PSLs for double the money I paid The Ravens, so technically, you could call it an investment, rather than a rip-off. Even though I think in general PSLs are a disgusting practice, you'd have a hard time making a case that The Baltimore Ravens are not a much classier organization, top to bottom to even the stadium, either the Modell or the Bischotti years, compared to Daniel Snyder's Washington Redskins organization. (9/4/09)

Since we all know that "news" stations here can't/won't spend money on real news, they resort to cheap, low-hanging crap to fill the time. Like this time-waster from across the pond: www.telegraph.co.uk (9/4/09)

This talk about who has the biggest football stadium DC or Baltimore somewhat reminds me of the "debate" I have seen on other sites about as to whether or not indoor sports arenas in Virginia were allowed to have naming rights attached to them or it the practice illegal in the commonwealth. As it turns out only in Roanoke is where the practice isn't allowed ( WDBJ had reported that years ago ). With that being said, would a radio/TV station be allowed to get the naming rights for a sports facility if they really wanted to and of course if they had the money to do so? For example if WJLA ABC 7 had the cash to pony up instead of "FedEx Field"..could it be possible for the old Jack Kent Cooke Stadium to be known as "WJLA Stadium" or "ABC 7 Field"? Would this be allowed? Reason I ask, about 20 years ago when Winchester's Shenandoah University was considering building a small 6,000 indoor arena for their expanding sports programs such as Shenandoah Basketball. As I recall Shenandoah actually got naming rights for this project. The "Q102 Arena" !! While I am sure the other stations in that region would bulk at the idea such as WINC-FM "..yeah like someone on the air at WINC would say "..last night at the Q102 Arena...." but from a legal standpoint would such a practice be allowed? For the record the Shenandoah University arena..ok "Q102 Arena" was never built which was to be near where the local Price Club is at now because of the 1991 Recession and by the time that ended both Shenandoah Univsersity..and Q102 had lost interest. (9/4/09)

(RE: “Memorial Stadium held 60,000 in the Colt days (back when RFK held about 56,000), but even it was jacked up to an uncomfortable 64,000 when the Ravens moved in.” The Ravens never played in Memorial Stadium. It was vacated after the Baltimore CFL team left town.) Ahhhhh, wrong again attendance breath. The Ravens played their first two seasons in town at Memorial Stadium. 1996 and 97. Look it up. But, dont let the facts get in the way of a good story. (9/4/09)

“The Edge is the best station we've had around here in quite awhile,” You’re kidding, right? So far I can’t tell the difference between The Edge and BIG. They’re virtually identical. (9/4/09)

Re: Nationals staying with Bonneville for 2010, Dave said, “Because they've been promised an FMer.....” Before the supposed deal is even done? Not likely. Bonneville doesn’t need an FM to keep the Nats. (9/4/09)

Re: Orson Welles hoaxed listeners with "The War of the Worlds" -- No, a hoax is a deliberate deception. "War of the Worlds" was clearly and normally announced as a dramatic presentation. No hoax was intended. ~~CA in BC (9/4/09)

" The Ravens never played in Memorial Stadium. It was vacated after the Baltimore CFL team left town." --Wrong.....The Ravens played their first two seasons at Memorial Stadium - 1996 & 1997. (9/4/09)

"The Ravens never played in Memorial Stadium. It was vacated after the Baltimore CFL team left town." At the risk of reducing the mailbag to a discussion about Baltimore sports, the Ravens most definitely played their first two seasons in Baltimore at Memorial Stadium while PSINet/M&T Bank Stadium was being constructed. (9/4/09)

If that wasn't Memorial Stadium where the Ravens played their first few seasons in Baltimore, pray tell what was that ballpark on 33rd Street I was going to all those Fall Sundays in the 90's? Also, 106.7 is kidding themselves if they think Holden Kushner will attract an audience - particularly a baseball audience - at night. His show on XM was virtually unlistenable - no sense he knows the nuances of baseball beyond your typical fantasy GM whatsoever. He sounds like a kid "playing radio" in high school...although the Nats' postgame radio hosts now aren't a whole lot better. Also, where would Orioles' attendance be without all those games against the Yankees & Red Sox? When both clubs start to play better than .500 baseball, then you'll see why having two clubs in this market makes sense. (9/4/09)

"The Ravens never played in Memorial Stadium. It was vacated after the Baltimore CFL team left town." Wrong! The Ravens played there in '96 and '97 before the downtown stadium was built, just as the Nationals played at RFK for three seasons before the Navy Yard ballpark was ready. -- Vincent in Triangle (9/4/09)

The Ravens most certainly DID play at Memorial Stadium. The 1996 and 97 seasons. Their new stadium opened in 1998. (9/4/09)

/\ September 4 Messages /\

\/ September 3 Messages \/

Re: all the hate directed to Angie Goff - Why even bother with having anchors at all on the news at Channel 9. One of these, all you're going to have are digital reporters handing one story off to the other along with the weather, sports, and traffic. Oh well, hopefully, my anchor dream team before that happens would be to pair Angie with Lauren Demarco who is a star waiting to burst of her shell. They would be the pants of all the blonde bimbos at the Faux News Network with their prosthetic boobs and collagen implants. (9/3/09)

RE: “Memorial Stadium held 60,000 in the Colt days (back when RFK held about 56,000), but even it was jacked up to an uncomfortable 64,000 when the Ravens moved in.” The Ravens never played in Memorial Stadium. It was vacated after the Baltimore CFL team left town. (9/3/09)

Re: "The Kane Hoax" -- The WaPo article today sez "Stunts have a long history in American radio. In 1952, for instance, an Omaha station marked the one-year anniversary of a catastrophic local flood by rebroadcasting the year-old emergency announcements without explanation. Panic ensued, though there wasn't a flood in sight..." --- Actually, Ruth McCann, it goes back even further than 1952! On October 30, 1938, on the CBS Radio Network, Orson Welles (who, interestingly enough, played a character named Kane in his 1941 film debut) hoaxed listeners with a Hallowe'en eve "Mercury Theatre On The Air" production of "The War of the Worlds" based on the novel by H. G. Wells. (Are we playing "Six Degrees...?"). Panic ensued during and following that broadcast, too, even though Orson Welles prefaced and ended the broadcast with a disclaimer. Most of the dramatization (which was directed and narrated by Orson Welles) was presented without commercial interruption as if it was "breaking news," with "live" reports from the scene of the "Martian invasion" in New Jersey. "The Media" was duped then, too, and they didn't like it then either. They didn't "fact check" then either! --- Bottom line: Kane is not a journalist; neither was Orson Welles. But "The Media" are (supposed to be) journalists! Some "journalists!" HaHaHa!! -- RB (9/3/09)

To the poster who didn't know the Baltimore Ravens current owner it is someone named Steve Bisciotti. And I have to agree that PSLs, which Modell and Bisciotti have both favored, are every bit as sleazy as anything Snyder has EVER done, including subjects of the Post articles. Danny gets points for not going into that sewer. (9/3/09)

Angie Goff may not be a journalist, but do you realty need to be one to read a teleprompter? Channel 9 did not replace Mike Walters who left in a contract dispute so what can they do when overworked Andrea Roane wants some time off? I think that sometimes the quality of TV has gone way down in the interest of cost cutting. I'm sick to death of cheap to produce reality TV, but that's another story. Stephanie, Rockville, MD (9/3/09)

WPGC is advertising at its web site the debut of the station’s new morning show on Tuesday, Sept. 8. (9/3/09)

Dave's response: Yeah, Donnie and Anji, the winner of that "Next Top Jock" contest. See our 9/1 newsblurb on the Front Page.....

(From DCRTV's Classified Ads:) WJLA-TV/NewsChannel8 has an opening for a Desktop Support Engineer provides at-desk, phone and email support to users of computer hardware and software, peripherals and fixed and mobile phones. The Desktop Support Engineer reports to IT Services Manager and is under the Director of Operations and Engineering. Responsibilities: Performing at-desk analysis, diagnosis, and resolution of laptop, desktop, phone and printer problems. Installation, configuration, maintenance and troubleshooting PC and Mac hardware and software. Meeting agreed customer SLAs. Documenting problems and solutions, participating in root cause. analysis and creating standard operating procedures for common tasks. Participating in projects such as hardware software rollouts, and other duties as assigned. Requirements: Associate’s degree and/or 2 years relevant technical experience Recent MCSE or MCP. Experience supporting a Microsoft environment (Office 2003 / 2007, Windows XP, Vista, Active Directory). Experience supporting a Mac environment. Experience supporting Blackberry, Blackberry Enterprise Server, and Iphones. Effective verbal and written communications. Solid telephone presence along with a calm and professional demeanor. Flexible, highly organized; ability to multi-task, re-prioritizing as needed, consistently delivering on time. Reliable transportation, as occasional on-call issues will require after-hours visits to the facility. Applicants, should send resume and cover letter to ABC7/NewsChannel8 1100 Wilson Blvd. 6th Flr. Arlington, VA 22209 or Email to: hr@wjla.com. No Phone Calls Please! EEO (9/3/09)

(From DCRTV's Classified Ads:) TOPICAL PROMOTION WRITER/PRODUCER/EDITOR - WJLA-TV, the Allbritton-owned ABC affiliate in Washington, DC, and one of the most technologically advanced TV stations in the nation, has an immediate opening for a talented topical promotion writer/producer/editor. We’re looking for a competitive, hard working, spirited producer to join our award-winning shop. We’re a station in a constantly moving, rarely boring market, and we’ve got all the toys you need if you’ve got the creativity to match. Great writing is key! Must be a highly creative producer/director, and a gifted non-linear editor (Final Cut experience a huge plus). Please send resume and demo materials to Bonnie Wood, Promotion Manager, WJLA-TV, 1100 Wilson Blvd., 6th Floor, Arlington, VA 22209. Resumes will not be considered without demo materials. EEOC (9/3/09)

A response to that "DRIVEL" comment: M&T Bank Stadium is 70,000! LOL I also think its funny that Skins fans are so upset by these Daniel Snyder stories and are so in denial about it all. It's really hysterically funny. I also listened to WJFK a bunch today and there were actually some Skins fans who called in to defend the organization for such slimy behavior. I couldn't stop laughing my ass off at these LOSERS! Did you Skins fans have Madoff investing for you too? LMAO It's pretty clear that if the Redskins sold these tickets to brokers, they were basically dumping them on the market out of fear of not being able to later sell them because the Skins "Waiting List" is either all dead people or people who no longer want the tickets! (9/3/09)

IIRC, the terms of ABC selling its stations to Citadel contained a clause that Disney must first be consulted regarding any reselling of the stations. I can't imagine ABC/ESPN would be too thrilled about Bonneville setting up a third sports station in town (although if Baltimore, a smaller market without the NBA or NHL, can have three sports stations, D.C. should be able to do likewise). Perhaps Bonneville would have to agree to carry the Cowherd show, which would be a small price for it to pay for sports on 105.9. As far as local personalities are concerned, a number are available for Bonneville in addition to its in-house staff -- Al Koken, Phil Wood, perhaps John Feinstein if you could wean him away from Kornheiser. I don't know if Johnny Holliday would be interested at this stage of his life, particularly with all the Terrapins and Nationals stuff he does. Let WTEM and WJFK obsess with the Redskins; they obviously shouldn't be ignored, of course, but cover them in a more balanced and realistic context. (I would also assume that the Nationals and Capitals would remain on 1500 and 820, with the signals broken up when there are conflicts.) -- Vincent in Triangle (9/3/09)

What's going on at Channel 9? Having Angie Goff fill in for the WUSA morning shows is an embarrassment. She's not a journalist. She's the traffic girl--who's next in the anchor chair, the secretary? Signed--My Ears Are Still Bleeding From OMG. On another note--The Junkies for President. Hope they kick-the-butt of that cackling fool, Elliot. (9/3/09)

Actually, the Nationals and the Orioles were tied in attendance in 2006. The Orioles averaged one fan more per game. The Nationals had the higher percentage of capacity. And I'm glad someone brought up the PSLs which are about the sleaziest sales tactic going. Snyder has a lot of flaws, but at least he has stayed away from those. Unlike Modell and the guy who now owns the Ravens. As for the sportstalk radio stations, WTEM has been talking about the Post stories for two days now, and any suggestion to the contrary is just false. (9/3/09)

To the clueless pro-Redskin poster: M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore has 71,000 seats, not 60,000 as you claim. That's quite a difference. Facts and accuracy are important, you know... (9/3/09)

Naming Holden Kushner permanent evening host would definitely be a good move on the part of 106.7 The Fan - hopefully his baseball expertise won't be totally wasted due to perceived apathy toward the sport in the DC area. The recent signing of pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg by the Nationals holds the promise of almost singlehandedly propelling baseball into prominence on the local sports radar, much as Alex Ovechkin has done for hockey (although it wasn't until the Capitals started winning and making the playoffs that the town really began to take notice). Will WTEM make a countermove and add local programming in the 7-10 PM timeslot? With the station no longer owning the radio rights to either the Caps or Wizards, there won't be too much evening play-by-play once baseball season ends and trying to compete against Kushner with syndicated ESPN fare seems like a losing proposition (although it doesn't cost much for Red Zebra to air it). The debut of Tony Kornheiser's show next week means that Colin Cowherd's off the air once again in DC - I think the same thing happened when the former returned to 980 with a local program five years ago after a hiatus following his departure from ESPN Radio. One good thing about Mr. Tony's previous radio stints is that he successfully resisted any pressure to make the content Redskins heavy. Of course he also devoted substantial portions of his show to pop culture, politics and other topics having little or nothing to do with sports, a somewhat polarizing approach to the format that's since been copied or adapted by other sports radio hosts. Now that he's on the payroll of one Daniel M. Snyder, you wonder how much leeway he'll have to comment on business and marketing issues involving the Skins (such as the ticket controversy that's been the hot topic on WJFK over the past two days). An apt moniker for ESPN 980 might be 'geezer radio', both Kornheiser and John Thompson being over 60 with Joe Theismann knocking on that door and three other hosts (Walker, Pollin and Loverro) in their 50s. By contrast, I think Mike Wise is the only member of JFK's daily lineup over 40. The weekly program hosted by Redskins VP of Operations Vinny Cerrato on WTEM has been moved to the 8-10 AM Friday slot. Mike, Fairfax (9/3/09)

For all of WTEM's other faults as a sportstalk station, (weak on baseball and basketball (aside from John Thompson's show), focus on drama, personalities, and everything BUT the actual play on the field/court) they have been consistently pretty critical of the Redskins owner, front office, and coaching staff thru the years. They do seem to call BS when they witness it from Redskins Park. The Sports Reporters is particular Czaben and Andy express plenty of independent scepticism and don't at all parrot what Snyder might want them to say. I can speak for the midday local shows, but the Sports Reporters have been all over the recent ticket issues. But they also have taken time to discuss OTHER sports topics of the day. Its only been a few weeks but so far WTEM has outshined The Fan in head-to-head competition. The Junkies are what they have always been, sometimes entertaining, but often hard to listen to with too many strident voices not saying much. Mike and Mike are way cheesy, but deliver actual sports content better than the Junkies. (Granted from a national vice local perspective). Mid-day's from what little I get to listen, seems to be a wash. Mike Wise and Roland are mostly dull, but could get better. John Thompson is not worth listening to until hoops season rolls around. Tony K will blow the Fan out of the water once he is back. Czaben and Andy run circles around Lavar and Chad in terms of being comprehensive AND entertaining. 106.7 is running on one issue: being the anti-Dan Snyder all Redskins station. Its real easy to hate Snyder, is a soulless monster who is driving the love right out of Redskins football. But they got to do more, and right now they are not. (9/3/09)

Someone seems to have missed the point of the Post ticket broker story. It isn't that there is no waiting list or that there weren't real sellouts. It was that the Redskins ticket people were ignoring the waiting list and selling general admission tickets to ticket brokers as part of deals for the brokers to also take expensive and hard-to-sell club seats. In other words, they were screwing those fans who were ON the waiting list. I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for blackouts. (9/3/09)

OMG, Angie Goff. I have known Angie for a long time and admire her hard work, dedication, and her strive to succeed. Those that write negative comments without any reason behind it other than to be rude, I feel sorry for. (9/3/09)

This image, take from the 150 foot solar telescope atop Mt Wilson, overlooks Mt Alta where the the television and radio antennas that serve the Los Angeles metropolitan area are located. The image -- taken on September 1 at 1:49:06 PM (PDT) -- was the last image posted by the camera before the T1 lines to the observatory were lost due to the fire. [Photo courtesy of the Division of Astronomy and Astrophysics at UCLA] (9/3/09)

Washington Post Investigative reporter James Grimaldi will be on The Sports Groove with Mark Gray tonight on WOL 1450am Or The all New woldcnews.com, The Show Is on from 7pm-10pm. (9/3/09)

This week Angie Goff has been filling in for Andrea Roane, and she’s been doing a fantastic job! I’ve always enjoyed the energetic approach she brought to the Traffic Report, and it’s refreshing to see her taking on the lead anchor duties with the same enthusiasm. I look forward to seeing her work as an anchor again in the future! (9/3/09)

For the guy proclaiming that the Ravens are somehow a minor league team: Yes, the Redskins have 92,000 seats thanks to the Danny pushing them into every obstructed corner possible. The stadium built by JKC was more reasonably sized. The Ravens stadium (I hate corporate names) holds over 71,000 and it about the same size as most NFL stadia. Memorial Stadium held 60,000 in the Colt days (back when RFK held about 56,000), but even it was jacked up to an uncomfortable 64,000 when the Ravens moved in. Both franchises are in the NFL and very financially healthy, thank you very much. Howie (9/3/09)

"If the Oweoles do outdraw the Nationals this season, it will be the first time that has occurred since the Nats got to town." False. The O's outdrew the Nats in both 2006 and 2007. The Nats outdrew the O's in 2005, their first year and 2008, their first year in a new park. (9/3/09)

To be fair, Kevin Sheehan and Thom Lovarro have spent their whole show today talking about both ticket stories. And taking callers. On ESPN 980. Yeah, I'm not a Lavar talk fan. (9/3/09)

Chris in DC, I think you're missing the point of the Redskins' season ticket scandal ("It's just not good business practice to sue your fans, especially if there is a 160,000 season ticket waiting list..."). As the Post pointed out in its previous story, the Redskins have been selling off left over tickets to ticket resellers, who unload those tickets in the visiting team's market. Which means all the Skins tickets are NOT being sold, which means they don't really have the sellouts they claim and their claims of 160,000 people waiting in line for tickets are bogus. The real fallout from this will be when the NFL coughs up an audit proving the charges are factual and Redskins games start getting blacked out. (9/3/09)

Joe in Essex's drivel notwithstanding, the Redskins ARE the dominant team in the region and will be for everyone's lifetime who is reading this board. There is a difference between a trying to sell 92,000 seats, which the Redskins have, and 60,000 seats, which is what Baltimore has. The Redskins are a major NFL market team and Baltimore is a mid market. But putting that aside, the suing the fan story is a non-story in my opinion. If people sign a contract for club seats or suites, they should live up to the contract. If they don't, they risk being sued. And those club seat and suite contracts are big dollar deals. No one is talking about suing general admission holders which aren't under contract any way. The ticket broker story is another issue, though. Selling to ticket brokers when there is a mega-waiting list is pretty sleazy. No question. (9/3/09)

Wow, Danny Boy is just the gift that keeps on giving to CBS Radio. I wasn't done laughing over the original "Ticket Broker" season tickets story yet and now the "Skins Sue Granny" story! This is just too good to be true for a person who hates The Skins. And I bet the management of 106.7 The Fan are high-fiving themselves while the ESPN980 staff are all walking on pins and needles wondering how they can safely touch the now 3rd Rail of Skins Talk for the next week, hehe. You couldn't even make this stuff up if you wanted to. Too Funny! Thank god for AOL Radio so I can now listen to this Skins Train Wreck from up here in Baltimore! Thank you DC-based AOL. :: SCORE! :: :-) Btw, just to compare a class act organization to a scumbag one, I remember people originally really slammed Art Modell for the whole original PSL model of revenue enhancement that The Ravens used, but in hindsight that PSL legal contract was a model of decency compared to these sleazy Dan Snyder tactics. If ever there was an opportunity for The Wizards or Nationals to get in the hearts/minds of DC sports fans on radio or TV, boy strike while the iron is hot, put a decent team out there for a change. This is a golden opportunity. It's really amazing how much Daniel Snyder is running every single company he owns into the ground. (9/3/09)

Beck Sponsor Boycott Hits 57 - from what i've read about this, the sponsors aren't pulling their ad money, just having their spots moved to other time slots. so not only is fox still getting the ad revenue, but now beck has even more air time every day. brilliant move, black nationalist van jones. it kind of reminds me when that c*** martha burk made a stink over augusta national, and the masters went commercial free for a couple years, making the tournament even better than before. and if memory serves me well, i think one of those years the masters was presented "commercial free" by the sponsors in question, like a soccer game. (9/3/09)

Washington City Paper has banged the Redskins over and over on this topic - www.washingtoncitypaper.com... www.washingtoncitypaper.com... www.washingtoncitypaper.com... Others, too; search their site for "Redskins Tickets" and the like. They get the scoop. Magnus (9/3/09)

If the Oweoles do outdraw the Nationals this season, it will be the first time that has occurred since the Nats got to town. And imagine, it took a near record loss season for the Nationals for that to occur. If I were Angelos, I wouldn't take to much comfort. As for the Redskins, they have a way of constantly shooting themselves in the foot when it comes to fan friendliness, even though I don't blame them for suing deadbeats on club seat and suite contracts. But I think these stories are also evidence of the Post's continuing anti-Snyder agenda. What's the old saying about "a pox on both their houses"? (9/3/09)

I'm working on a screen play remake of a classic.... E. Scrooge (played by D. Snyder) is visited by the ghost of B. Marley (JK Cooke) who predicts the visit by three ghosts from football seasons..... Will any DC TV station pick it up? (9/3/09)

Dave's response: And those three ghosts? Sonny, Sam, and Frank.....

Love to see Howie Bernstein on 9 doing this! (9/3/09)

OH Peter, Peter…Peter, Let’s see if you can get any more press. Remember that rule…NEVER bite the hand that feeds you! Someday you will need REAL press and you will get NADA! (9/3/09)

Dave: Thought you might be interested in posting this new audio clip the Radio and TV Museum has done with J.R. Russ of WBAL. This is the Museum's 10th anniversary so we wanted something to sent to media outlets. - Pete Eldridge, Radio & TV Museum, Bowie (9/3/09)

Dave, I was the original poster here who discussed the Mt. Wilson fire and its threat to the transmitter sites of television and radio broadcast outlets in the LA Market. The latest is that the fire is no longer a threat to broadcasting on Mt. Wilson. It was a close call for LA. This should be a wake-up call to broadcasters in LA and around the country to establish auxiliary sites and to have backup plans for situations of all sorts. And none of that auxiliary antenna on the same tower or adjoining tower stuff. You need auxiliary transmitter sites far away from the main site to be safe. There will unfortunately be other situations in this increasingly unpredictable world we live in. After September 11th, Katrina and now Mt. Wilson any station or broadcast owner group caught by surprise in another such event doesn't deserve to be on the air. (9/3/09)

Angie Goff is a great and welcome change on the anchor desk on 9 in the mornings. I'd rather watch her than Andrea Roane any day. Whoever that blonde is with her is the worst though. Paul (9/3/09)

A classic Stern moment to lighten things up a bit. Man the show was great back then! (9/3/09)

Wanna feel old in a hurry? Ross Harris, the kid from "Airplane" ("Joey, you ever see a grown man naked?") is 40 this year. Only thing worse is knowing my former TV crushes Maryanne (Dawn Wells) will turn 71 next month and Barbera Feldon (Agent 99) is already 77. I hate my life... (9/3/09)

Concerning the Redskins ticket scandal, I am so disappointed in this franchise. It's just not good business practice to sue your fans, especially if there is a 160,000 season ticket waiting list. Move on to the next guy, Dan! On another note, I just wanted to say that the DC airwaves are getting a true professional in Holden Kushner. I worked with him at XM and while I didn't get a chance to know him well, he was highly regarded around the building at Eckington Place. I listened to him pontificate on this ticket scandal last night and I must say that he was on target. Congrats, HK! Chris, DC (9/3/09)

One reporter refused to do the cheater story last week at WJLA. She told her bosses she felt something was fishy and investigated the guy who didn't check out. She told her bosses that this looked like a radio stunt and convinced them to not put a reporter on it and therefore preventing the station from looking stupid later. (9/3/09)

I see people here blasting the Lavar Arrington Show, but I have to say, it is a very welcome relief from the rah-rah of Sportstalk 980. Is Lavar the second coming of William F. Buckley when he speaks? Of course not. But he is entertaining and not shy about his opinions, and his insight as someone who played in for the Redskins is, to me, always interesting. People are also saying here it is a non-stop Snyder bash on his show - then I am listening to a different show because I have heard him disagree with Chad Dukes about 'Skins players and have some great back-and-forth. Bottom line for me is it is a good show I now make remind myself to look at the clock so I can listen. I tried to listen to the John Thompson Show, and it is just so hard to listen to, I am thankful there is a sports talk show in the area now that holds my interest and keeps me coming back for more. And this is from a lifelong Giants fan who, while I respect the Redskins history still hates the team. Actually I am pretty pissed because the current owner has taken a great franchise and run it down so much that it is no fun to root against them. Nick in Frederick (9/3/09)

OMG , Angie Goff is now anchoring newscasts for 9! Is this a joke? 9 must REALLY be hurting for $$ to scrape the bottom of the barrel. It's sad that a once great station is now the joke of DC. (9/3/09)

Ref: Dave's response: Maryland is run by crooks, "Yes I know but we try to send them out west - like the Squeeker of the house - Nancy P." J.J. HItman McKay (9/3/09)

Dave's response: She's baaaaaaaack!

Sent this to Labrozzi this morning re WJZ 1300 AM. Think I'll get an answer? "What in God's name are you people doing this morning ? I'm trying to listen to Mike and Mike, and to say that you all have things totally screwed up is an understatement. You've joined it progress twice between 8:00 and 8:30, you've got a LIFEBRIDGE HEALTH Commercial, running over that insipid "music" that is used to introduce the traffic, and of course ridiculously runs underneath while the traffic is read. Do you all realize that ESPN stopped the 7 minute top of the hour breaks back in February, and now has 2 minute breaks? Guess not. Does anyone at CBSRadio/Baltimore even listen to understand how screwed up the broadcast is this morning? Obviously NOT. What a joke !" Doug in Bel Air (9/3/09)

And then we got this.....

Re prior e-mail re: WJZ 1300 problems this morning...actually got this quick response. WOW !!! I'm shocked. Thanks Mr. Labrozzi.... "Thanks Doug. Computer issues this morning caused the problem. We appreciate your words" Dave Labrozzi, Vice President of Programming, CBS Radio, Baltimore, MD (9/3/09)

Czaban and Pollin did cover the Skins ticket story on 980 AM, and they took calls, too. They didn't open their show with it but it was within the first hour...Name change, it should be Washington Scalpers. (9/3/09)

How did the LA hill fire come to be known as the "Station Fire"? Every time I hear that reference on TV or radio, my memory retreats to West Warwick, RI., and the 2003 concert fire that took 100 lives. Anyone know? (9/3/09)

To the poster who commented on how it’s amazing that stations here in the LA market haven’t learned from 9/11 about having backups. Some stations here do have backups, but not all, and I see no good reason for this. Mt. Wilson seems to have been spared this time, but what about the next time there’s a huge brush fire? It just never ceases to amaze me how little station owners will spend on a good backup system to recover from a disaster. A good case in point is Chump Channel’s KFI, whose big ol’ 50KW blowtorch tower got came crashing down a few years back when it was hit by a plane. Management had been warned for OVER 20 YEARS to put strobe lights on that tower, so the warnings go back to when KFI was still owned by Cox, but management kept ignoring the warnings. Management just didn’t think it would be a problem, but then there was nobody in management that ever rode a plane near that tower to see why strobe lights would have been absolutely necessary. Had they been installed long ago, that fatal accident would probably have been avoided and in the end, would have saved lots of money in rebuilding costs. Not only that, but in the interim, KFI was reduced to 25KW. We all know that management is largely crisis-oriented, only acting on a problem once THEY see it as a problem. Getting these suits to be proactive would actually save them money, and you would think they’d be all for that. But they live in the world of “we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” and we know what happens then. In the current case of disaster almost striking, I’m glad that Antenna City along with the Mt. Wilson Observatory have seemingly been spared, THIS TIME. I live just far enough from all this to be out of harm’s way but believe me, the smoke and ash in the air makes it very difficult to breathe here, but that is already getting better now. But air quality here in the San Gabriel Valley will be low for at least the next week. Amazing to hear that clouds from this “Station Fire” have reached all the way to Denver though. I hear that the smoke clouds went up to about 60,000 feet and then the storm that hit over Arizona pushed the smoke clouds northeast and spread it all the way to the Mile High City. Don’t know if it’s spread any further though. I just hope though, that the next time this happens, stations will be better prepared in case they get knocked off the air. Now about the post concerning George Putnam. Oh yeah, he was one of those LA icons that bounced back many times between MetroMediocre’s KTTV/11 and Gene Autry’s KTLA/5. He made each station a tone of money carrying his loyal audience with him and made even more for himself every time he bounced to the competition. One day, though, his charm kind of dried up and all of a sudden it seemed like all he could do was radio talk shows, even then never getting enough of an audience to keep him employed. He was once a good reporter, but the world changed and age got the better of him, so eventually he wasn’t a sought-after item anymore. I would rather have remembered him as a bigger-than-life TV personality, but instead, we had to watch him get indignant as he went down the radio ladder when he would get booted from one station after another, until he slipped into obscurity and eventually passed away in his early 90s. I didn’t know he had ever worked in Maryland though. In all the press stuff about him, I thought he came from Chicago directly to LA, but you know, when these guys get big they forget where they started from. Lastly, I wanted to comment about $hitadel. Their LA properties are as much a joke as the ones you have back there in DC. They seem to actually be making Chump Channel look competent, and that’s really saying something! I hope they sell all their properties and just get the heck out of radio. Bill Powers, Los Angeles (9/3/09)

Tickets, Scalping, Redskins, Brokers....now would be the perfect time for the name change and become the Maryland Skins...as they play in the state of Maryland, not in DC.....But they will remain the 3rd best team in the state #1 Ravens, #2 Terps, #3 Skins Just a thought from down the ocean hon. Hitman McKay (9/3/09)

Dave's response: Maryland is run by crooks, Virginia by right-wing loonies. It's a crazy region!

Lets see. ABC boots an anchor born in 1943, for one born in 1945. Glad they're going for the younger demographic. If only we could understand what she's saying. Maybe she'll take enunciation lessons from a certain anchor at Ch. 4. (9/3/09)

Dim-witted yet once-respected Sacramento TV station falls for one of the oldest radio tricks in the book: www.alltheexcess.com (9/3/09)

If Lavar and Dukes are #3 Men 25-54, how do The Sports Reporters compare - - anyone know? (9/3/09)

What ever happened to that guy who was claiming the Washington Redskins will always be the dominant sports franchise in the region forever? Last I checked, The Baltimore Ravens didn't have to ditch a single ticket to a sports broker in a desperation move to sell out their games this year, nor did The Browns or a dozen other NFL teams! HAHA! Too Funny! From a PR perspective, this is almost as bad as The Jacksonsville Jaguars reducing the # of seats at their stadium by covering the seats just to justify a sellout! jacksonville.com... HAHA! Of course that's not all the bad DC sports news either. These #s also don't look good... espn.go.com... Both the Orioles and Nats are both in last place in their divisions, yet Baltimore is better than you would expect attendance-wise for a # 27 market with a team in last place, right at #20, not too shabby. Conversely, DC, a # 9 market, is #26 and their MLB TV #s are LAST PLACE in the MLB! Go figure. What kind of sports town is DC again? Hmmm. Good luck WJFK The Fan AND ESPN980, you'll BOTH need it! It might just be a battle that you BOTH lose! LOL (9/3/09)

I seriously hope that if/when Bonneville buys Citadels stations, that they wont kill 105.9 The Edge and replace it with even more fucking sports talk. I wouldn't mind if it broadcasts Nats games and keeps broadcasting the classic rock the rest of the time. The Edge is the best station we've had around here in quite awhile, and i would get extremely pissed if it went away after not even at least a year. . (9/3/09)

If the shysters formerly in the 'Skins ticket office sold tickets to brokers and individuals, does that mean Redskins games ARE NOT sold out? Those ticket office employees, the way I read the Post story, sold tickets in the lower and upper bowl of The Big Package (FedEx Field), not only club seats. And the guy on WJFK early this evening had a great point about that 'Skins lawyer, Donovan. The sports talker said that because Donovan, according to the article, called selling about 1,600 tickets "insignificant" bcause there are 91,000 seats, that means the Redskins think all the thousands of fans who want to buy tickets and cannot, are "insignificant." Great point on the part of the guy on 106.7 FM. You won't hear deep thoughts like that over on 980 AM, that's for sure. (9/3/09)

“The addition of an FM outlet that reaches Northern Virginia is a top priority for Bonneville to extend its deal with the Washington Nationals into the 2010 season and beyond.” Oh really? Then explain why the Nationals have already confirmed they are staying with Bonneville for 2010. (9/3/09)

Dave's response: Because they've been promised an FMer.....

RE: "For all the complaints about the format change of 106.7 The Fan, the proof was in the pudding today. JFK actually went as far as to monitor TEM to listen to what was being reported of the ticket scandal and poor Coach Thompson was reduced to talking about the Wizards...." /// This maybe true, but the problem is that beating up on Dan Snyder hour after hour, is not a long term basis for success. Today's story about the Redskins and tickets, was ripe for WJFK, and they milked it, as they should. But, we already know Danny is a skunk, squeezing the blindly loyal fan base for all it's worth. The story simply confirms what most already suspect: that Snyder is going to make sure every revenue avenue is tapped to the max. After all, he seems to have ably survived all other incidents which appear to be linked to obvious greed. If WJFK is going to make it's primary mission to affect the mind-set of the Redskins fan base vis-a-vis putting up with this kind of crap from Snyder, then it might be a good thing. However, it might be terribly boring radio. There appears to be a small segment of the population which seems satisfied to speculate, pontificate, and participate ad infinitum in the schizophrenic hyperbole, which is the grist of sports talk radio. If that is the case, then WJFK simply dilutes the market, because of outside of today's day long diatribe against all things Synder, they are covering the same ground as WTEM. Mike Wise still seems to need the Slumdog Millionaire battery jumper cable treatment to initiate a pulse, and his partner sounds like every second- banana sports dweeb on radio. Chad and Lavar..well, a couple of weeks ago, one guy was rating snack foods and now he is an expert on sports. Ever wonder why Bob Denver never escaped being Gilligan ? Lavar...the guy has energy and certainly has a lot to say, but he should be operating with an egg timer set at about 45 seconds. The longer he rambles, the more his thoughts and points become muddled. Yes, he butchers the English language, but another local marble-mouth John Thompson somehow still manages to stay on the air, so good elocution is not an imperative. The tragic misuse of the language does present it's own cringe entertainment value, so perhaps being "unintentionally funny" does add to listenership, I dunno. The question remains, will Washington support two Sports talkers with the only real difference (since they are usually discussing the same crap) is that one is willing to pile on Snyder and the Redskins, and the other is owned by Snyder. (9/3/09)

Totally concur about WMAL going off the air between 3AM and 5AM and the truck drivers would probably enjoy the Country music as well..I think management thought the show would be a better lead into G & A then Coast to Coast but the declining ratings of G & A say otherwise.John T. Henneman (9/3/09)

Dave: Glenn Kessler is already on the national security reporting staff. His role is just changing from State Dept. reporter to a reporter/coach slot where he'll do more broader work and occasionally edit the work of his colleagues. (9/3/09)

Alex Trevino was probably offered 50k to move to DC and crapped his pants. The move from market 87 with a TSA of 350k to DC is a big one. But he'll fit in with Angie Goff and Chris Sneed just fine. I'll be watching NBC 25 in Hagerstown where the talent is a bit more polished. (9/3/09)

/\ September 3 Messages /\

\/ September 2 Messages \/

Reguarding Redskin tickets. Just for the hell of it I put my name on the waiting list just to see how long it took. I just received my notice of congratulations I had qualified for tickets All I had to do was send a $100.00 downpayment to hold my tickets. Then I read the fine print. No guarntee where my seats were. If I didn't like them I lose my $100.00 deposit. Hail to the Redskins take all our mooonnneey. (9/2/09)

WRC ran the Skins tickets story right before sports tonight. Lets see the Post has the story in today's paper and the local news covers it in the evening news. DOESN'T SOUND like they are running away from the story. Some people need to get a life, but it sounds like all they do is listen to WJFK, whos only thing going for them right now it to dump on the Redskins. They've been doing it since day one. COME UP WITH SOMETHING ORIGINAL TO TALK ABOUT. Or would that be too much hard work????? AND I'm not talking about JUST the ticket story. But people will see only ONE SIDE to this story. Not that people have been fired over the sell of tickets. (9/2/09)

The Ravens PSL/season ticket license restricts resale of tickets to brokers and has an anti-scalping policy. I'm not certain if the Redskins have the same rules as The Ravens but I bet they do. Generally, its a rule that's never enforced, but that even adds insult to injury w/ The Skins selling tickets to brokers while having a waiting list and shows what a total low-life desperate scumbag Danny Snyder really is. I hope this really skyrockets WJFK 106.7 The Fan's ratings. This is just really scummy behavior to arguably the NFL's best, most loyal fan-base. Of course the Redskins are not in any financial trouble, but is it possible Danny Snyder's empire is crumbling and he's in financial trouble? I can't think of any other reason for pulling such a low stunt. (9/2/09)

For all the complaints about the format change of 106.7 The Fan, the proof was in the pudding today. JFK actually went as far as to monitor TEM to listen to what was being reported of the ticket scandal and poor Coach Thompson was reduced to talking about the Wizards and Georgetown baseball. Although The Sports Reporters tried to play catch up, JFK clearly wiped the floor with Snyder today. You may not like HOW Wise and Arrington speak their mind, but you can appreciate WHAT they say. (9/2/09)

Question: "Is anyone else getting a strong country music station that overrides WMAL's signal after dark?" Answer: www.wsmonline.com (9/2/09)

Dave's response: WSM's on 650, and WMAL's 630. I can't see a station from Nashville two channels away overriding WMAL around here. Just searched Google and found CFCO, a country station on 630, directly "underneath" WMAL, from Chatham, Ontario - radiotime.com. Could be that.....

Is anyone else getting a strong country music station that overrides WMAL's signal after dark? For the last few days I have been hearing this unknown station. (9/2/09)

Dave's response: Gee, maybe MAL could go off the air from 3 AM to 5 AM (when the Midnight Fucking Network is on) and let us hear it. The country tunes would be a big improvement.....

Bonneville doesn't really want any Citadel AM's (including WMAL), but will buy 'em and sell 'em if that's what it takes to get the FM's. Once an attractive property, WMAL now has more baggage than anyone wants to deal with. Especially in this so-called economy. (9/2/09)

One correction on the Post's Redskins tickets story: The team has not been continuously sold out since 1937. The current sellout stretch began in the mid-sixties, a few years after the team left Griffith Stadium for D.C. (now RFK) Stadium. The team didn't draw well in the fifties, both because the team was awful and because owner George Preston Marshall refused to sign black players (the Redskins were the last major pro franchise to integrate, even after the Red Sox). -- Vincent in Triangle (9/2/09)

I see a few people saying how bad The LaVar Arrington Show with Chad Dukes is but the show is doing pretty damn well in the ratings, #3 men 25-54 to be exact, which this site would never acknowledge. Looks like everyone complaining is in the minority because it is well received. As much as I loved the old show and the old station, this new format is doing really well and the new shows while different are not as bad as everyone is making them out to be. With solid ratings like this, I highly doubt Chad is downing a fifth of vodka every night. - Erik (9/2/09)

When and where will Imus be back? (9/2/09)

There has been a lot of discussion that Bonneville might want Citadel...some blogs call it the rumor that will not die. The thing stopping it is that if Bonneville were to buy the old ABC stations, the remainder of Citadel would have almost no cash flow and still too much debt to service. Bonneville won't overpay to buy the whole thing. I have heard (from a reliable source) that Bonneville is ready to buy something, but they are waiting for the inevitable bankruptcies. Clear Channel, Citadel and Cumulus will all have to be parted out in the next year or so when the crushing debt catches up with them. Then Bonneville will swoop in and get what they want for cheap. If station prices get depressed enough from the fire sales, then maybe Bonneville can get CBS stations at a good price. Watch and see, it's going to get ugly out there. (9/2/09)

Let me pile onto WJFK. I gave it a shot, more out of laziness as for years one of my presets was 106.7. Greatness in one area isn't always translatable into greatness in others; witness Michael Jordan's foray into baseball. You'd think that someone would learn from the Washington Post Radio debacle: just because someone can WRITE prolific prose on paper does NOT mean that they will be equally engaging pontificating extemporaneously on the public airwaves. This brings us to Mike Wise: I don't read the Post so I don't know if he's a good writer or not. I'll take others word that he is. His radio show should have a Nyquil warning: "Do not operate heavy machinery or motor vehicles as this product may cause drowsiness". As for Lavar, I admit (it pains me to as a Dallas fan) great playerbut he has no business behind the microphone. He must have a phobia about the letter "TH" together, since he never pronounces them correctly. Ive heard "dis (this), dat (that), dare (there), wit (with)"; another notable butchering was "simular" for similar. You get the idea. One of the things that made Don G. and makes Rush great (love him or hate him) are that they are #1 ENTERTAINING to listen to because they are first and foremost BROADCASTERS. I'd probably listen to either one read a phone book and enjoy it more than the drivel on WJFK now. (9/2/09)

On the TV side Dave, we haven't seen much on the Skins ticket scandal from WRC, WTTG or CSN either.. It was mentioned in WJLA's first segment after the CA fire stuff.. Corporate partnership > consumer-related news about the city's most popular team? (9/2/09)

Dave's response: Doesn't surprise me. The TVers have a working relationship with Snyder/Skins and probably don't want to make him/them angry.....

Is Mike Francesa's Sunday morning syndicated "The NFL Now" show is carried in the DC/Baltimore area anymore? (9/2/09)

Any chance we can trade Lavar Arrington for BMitch? Lavar, no matter what the topic, comes across as condescending and a whiner who's got an axe to grind. I miss BMitch, who's got his own reasons to be bitter with Danny, but can still give an objective opinion. At least, he still has his gig on ch. 9. (9/2/09)

I have a Cox modem for Phone and internet. I also have cable TV as well but it doesn't go through the modem. The modem has a internal back up battery that lasts for eight hours. It runs both the internet and phone. I have a UPS on the computer that also runs my wi-fi. If the power goes off I shutdown the desktop and use my laptop which I have an extra battery for. The UPS will run the wi-fi for several hours. I also have a UPS on the small TV in the Kitchen as well as a UPS in the attic to run the antenna and cable amplifiers. When the power went off a few months ago the phone and internet worked fine. The TV also worked as well on both cable and and antenna. These things can be turned off to preserve battery live during a power failure. Bob Fairfax (9/2/09)

In theory, it wouldn't seem to make much sense for Bonneville to convert 105.9 into a sports talk station after WJFK did likewise; in practice, after listening to WJFK, it just might work. While I can certainly understanding heavy Redskins coverage with football season coming on, WJFK simply sounds too much like a WTEM clone. With the Nationals and Capitals in its arsenal, a Bonneville FM sports talker would trump the Wizards and Terrapins on WJFK. And just as WTOP has touches that differentiate it from all-news stations in other markets, so am I sure that its D.C. sports station wouldn't be a cookie-cutter. -- Vincent in Triangle (9/2/09)

I loved the Big O and Dukes Show and I admire Chad for his talent and extreme faith in himself and what he does, but someone has got to put a stop to this show. Chad must be downing a fifth of vodka every night to calm down from dealing with an illiterate, babbling moron every day. -Chainsman (9/2/09)

Thank you so much for your update on Cami McCormick Cami has frequently given news reports on WTOP on behalf of CBSNEWS and I've heard her a LOT. She's a great reporter. We've not heard much about her, other than her being transferred from place to place and now to Walter Reed. Certainly she qualifies as someone within your area of interest and I appreciate you reporting about her. Please do continue to keep us updated about Cami. -= Jim =- (9/2/09)

Dave's response: Sometimes I don't see the "local angle" in a national or internationally-reported story. Thanks for pointing that out.....

Listened to some Dukes-Arrington on 106.7FM on my lunch hour. The words "unintentionally funny" are the only apt description of that train wreck. Today, Arrington was trying to take credit for the Post's story about the Redskins selling tickets to resellers before fans...he said that since he's talked about his contract negotiation problems with the Skins in the past, any stories about the Redskins running a shoddy operation are thanks to him. What an idiot. Oh, and when Dukes asks Arrington to speak about himself in the third person, and then laughs like a hyena while he does it, I have to cringe. The guy has apparently thrown away what talent he had for this shit. Can something be sadly funny? (9/2/09)

You'd better have a very strong radio if you try to listen to DC101 anywhere near Cecil county. It gets tromped on by an Oldies or CHR from Philly around Aberdeen or Havre de Grace. So....Y101 to 100.9? That would make it Y100 wouldn't it? Even though its outside my listening area by far it would be awesome for a Y100 to be rockin' the airwaves again! OK that makes me feel like hearing another song my father didn't listen to while I was being concieved. Y100 rocks...... (9/2/09)

You probably don't remember but I sooo predicted this in the mailbag... oh and sorry about the rein/reign thing (my bad) www.nbcwashington.com (9/2/09)

So 99.5 put on last week's "Cheater" hoax. (9/2/09)

Newsflash: Every single radio station in the DC/Balt market is flipping to 24/7 sports at midnight. They'll all carry legendary WHFS on an HD subchannel. Pass it on! Howie (9/2/09)

Disney is buying out Marvel? Cool. What's the new name, "Dismal"? (9/2/09)

Whether Bonneville acquires a new FM signal for the Nationals or loses the Nationals altogether, at least it won't be forced to downgrade another Capitals postseason run. The Caps would figure to stay on 1500 in either scenario. Everett W. (9/2/09)

Just a little correction to the candelabra comment. WIYY is located directly underneath the WBAL-TV antenna. The adjacent tower is for Mix 106. The rest is correct, however its OSHA law for radiation exposure that requires cutbacks in power to protect workers. Work can be done in radiation suits, but they are cumbersome and can cause their own type of safety hazard when they restrict a workers eyesight and mobility. (9/2/09)

(Dianne Sawyer will take over the reigns of the half-hour evening newscast in January.) Not to put too fine a point on it but I think you mean "reins." Wait, maybe she will "reign." Shawn in DC (9/2/09)

Dave's response: Ha ha ha.....

Sorry but the "Bob Fairfax" poster on this sight is not the one you are looking for. I don't know the other Bob but I hope he is okay. Bob Fairfax (9/2/09)

“Their battery back up lasts only a couple hours, and it does not run the internet nor television during a power failure.” When the power goes out – my TV stops working – I don’t think it would help to have a copper telephone line when that happens. Plus the internet is probably working fine – just run the battery down on your laptop when the power goes out. Signed : crablike (9/2/09)

Hi there my very special friends! I would like to ask you for your help. We’re starting something very new and a different for a public radio station. We’re asking our listeners to create their own WTMD pledge pages and then encourage their friends to become members their page. No other public radio station has done this and we’re hoping it will be successful. There are a couple of cool things associated with project. Everyone who raises $3,000 for WTMD gets a Free HD Zune MP3 player. We’re also tying this our 3rd Annual Hood to Hood Fund Drive. When folks create their page, all their contributors count to the page creator’s ‘Hood. The neighborhood with the most contributors will play host to our 7th Birthday Party. It will be kicking band and event—Yes, we will hit Duff up for a cake. HERE IS WHAT YOU CAN DO! If you have a few moments, create your own page. Even if you can’t actively solicit members for us, having a lot of pages created by listeners will help encourage other folks to get started. If it is time for you to renew your membership or make an additional gift, then consider doing it through one of these pages. It would be a big help for folks coming to the pages to see some “action” going on. After all, no one wants to be the first person to jump in the pool! ***Can You Help Get the Party Started?**** Here is the link… and thank you so much! www.alumnifidelity.com... Steve (9/2/09)

Regarding WJFK, they seem to be making the mistake of trying to outtalk WTEM on the Redskins. That isn't going to work. Not only has WTEM been focused (overly in my view) on the Redskins since day one, but they are now owned by Snyder. WJFK just isn't going to win talking Redskins. So what should WJFK be doing that may give them a chance? How about appealing to the fans of the other local sports who are given short shrift by WTEM. Obviously, there has to be some Redskins talk, but why not bi-weekly shows dedicated to Nats talk, Caps talk, Wiz talk and even (horrors) DC United talk? How about open line shows where callers can bring up whatever sport they want to talk about (that seems to have disappeared when Ken Beatrice retired). How about getting some hosts who are actually knowledgeable about things other than the Redskins? I find it ironic that at a time when the Post is running front page stories about how the Redskins are selling their tickets to ticket brokers to sell out and the legendary "waiting list" may be a farce, local radio stations are still living in the 80's Gibbs era with all Redskins all of the time. (9/2/09)

Hey Dave- I just heard Charlie Gibson is stepping down from ABC World News, to be replaced by Diane Sawyer. True? Thoughts? Rick in Fredericksburg (9/2/09)

Dave's response: Honestly, I don't remember the last time I watched ABC's evening news.....

Last night a young police officer was shot and killed in the line of duty in Georgetown, Delaware. WGMD is collecting contributions to the officers family. Please call on-air 302-945-9292 with a pledge or email don@wgmd.com . Mail checks to WGMD PO Box 539 Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. (9/2/09)

If you hear any on-air splashing on Baltimore's WTMD here's why: WTMD Survives Flood Last week's heavy rains invaded the WTMD studios and offices, damaging furniture and equipment. Morning Show host Erik discovered three inches of muddy water in the community room when he arrived at the station at 4 a.m. Friday. The water made its way into our air studio, stopping just short of our computers and transmitter equipment. The flood then seeped into our music library and then across the hallway into our administrative offices. It's a mess. But our valiant staff is keeping the music playing amid the chaos of torn up walls, waterlogged carpeting and roaring fans. We want to thank the Towson University Facilities Management for their quick response. Otherwise, it could have been worse. - Copied from WTMD's weekly e-mail newsletter (9/2/09)

Not looking good for WJFK. Junkies look like they are holding their ratings, while the rest of the station is sliding, and they are now finishing below WTEM. What’s going to happen when Tony K comes back on? Tony K – great columnist, good radio. Mike Wise – good columnist, terrible radio. His sense of humor just doesn’t translate on the air. What does it say when two of your shows have more compelling and listenable co-hosts (Rowland and Dukes) than the show “stars” (Wise and Lavar Arrington)? And what does it say when you try to start a sports station in a town that isn’t a sports town and only follows one team (Redskins) that just happens to own the other station? And that other station gets the coach and GM of the Redskins to do a show, player and coach interviews, access to practices, pre-game events? And that other station adds one of the two biggest sports media personalities in town (Kornheiser, with Wilbon being the other) with a proven radio track record? It says WJFK FAIL. They blew it – rather than build on their two local shows (Junkies and Big O and Dukes) and try to re-create the guy talk format 24/7 that might work in a town like DC with its young urban population, they went with a format that caters to middle aged, working class, blue collar cities with a rabid sports fan base that DC just doesn’t have. (9/2/09)

Good morning, On the lighter side of things in Washington, the summer's talk has been about the re-invented rooftop bar at the old Hotel Washington. It's the subject of my column this week on New York Social Diary: www.nysocialdiary.com... Carol Joynt (9/2/09)

Question regarding PPM's. How sophisticated are they, and how detailed are the reports? Curious, because every time I hear that truly obnoxious Verizon Commercial with the "Shouting Office Workers", I switch stations. Is there a way that the PPM's show, say at 9:16 your rating was x, but at 9:18 your listenership dropped dramatically? Would anyone at the station see this and say "Wonder why we dropped so much all of the sudden?", go back and see what was airing at the time, and say Hmmm? At what point do your ad dollars become less of a value than losing listeners because of the respective ad? Just wonderin'. Maybe something else to talk about here today besides another Donnie G. episode. Oh, and please don't delve into the "you remembered that it was Verizon, so the ad was effective" speech. It isn't. The 2 biggies out there for that particular service, with the biggest name recognition, are Verizon and Comcast, and we pretty much know everyone has a negative opinion about both. (9/2/09)

Is John Roggins on the air anywhere? Redskins Report,will it ever resurfave? Thanks. Gary (9/2/09)

So Scott Shanon is whining about getting dumped in DC. And, he's actually saying he was making in roads here? I guess no one shared the pathetic ratings his true oldies format was drawing. He has whined on the air when other markets dumped him, too. I guess he can't believe that some people think his presentation and music selections sucked. (9/2/09)

Responding to Liz' post from 9-1: I was the host of "The Make Believe Ballroom" on WEAM from 1980-1984. The records are gathering dust but still sound good! It's nice to know someone still remembers that show! Rick Colom (9/2/09)

RE: [ " WDYL Richmond flips frequencies from 101.1 to 100.9 at 2 PM EDT. " ]..... This will make WWDC DC/101.1 probably the most powerful DC/Baltimore radio station now by far. When driving on I-95, you'll be able to get it from near Richmond, VA all the way up to almost Cecil County, MD! You have to go way down to Snow Hill, MD (Class A) or way out to Garret County, MD (Class A) or up to Penn State or up to Philly now to find another 101.1 FM. There's not even a 101.1 southwest or southeast of Richmond! It's a shame they don't license Class C stations in this area because WWDC might just have the clearance to be one now! (9/2/09)

Last night when two Georgetown, Delaware officers were shot, one killed, WGMD was on top of the Story. The were Live and Local", Jared Morris on the air, as well as a night news person. Not the Big Guys, WGMD. I wonder how they snagged #1? (9/2/09)

I suggest that WMAL replace G AND A with Former County executives Duncan and Curry in the morning. Grandy should be on federal news radio or Washington Times radio. John T. Henneman (9/2/09)

FOX5 news from 4:55-10am??!!..WHY??..And what the heck are they going to do from 9-10am?..Wonder if it's going to be similar to NBC's 4th hour of the Today show with lots of fluff?.. (9/2/09)

Sorry for the off subject, but a Google search alerted me that you have an occasional poster who goes by "Bob in Fairfax." Someone by that name was a regular member of another community on the web for some time where he was much beloved before abruptly disappearing. Many are concerned. Bob, if you read this and it is the same Bob in Fairfax, drop by the LR for at least one quick post to let us know you are well. Nole Lou (9/2/09)

Re the Mt. Wilson fire: "Most of the ones without an auxillary site are presently scrambling to locate one. This is amazing when you consider LA is the #2 broadcast market in the country." No, what's really amazing is that no one seemed to learn from what happened to the #1 market on 9/11/2001. And the LA event isn't a surprise terrorist attack. (9/2/09)

Does Mike Wise suffer from Tourettes Syndrome?? He mumbles and stammers the complete English language. Without, the worst radio show to ever air!! (9/2/09)

/\ September 2 Messages /\

\/ September 1 Messages \/

Who was the host of WEAM's "Make Believe Ballroom" from 1980-1983? Liz (9/1/09)

Hey Dave, at work I listen to Scott Shannon's True Oldies format online off of 850wref.com. The very next day after his format went off in DC, Scott Shannon had some words to say about it on the air right before his :20 break. He says that he was given no prior notice from Citidel that a change was coming. He went on to say that since he also worked for the same company you would have thought he'd have been told. He also said he was beginning to make inroads into the DC area. He first mentioned this (the day after the change) in the 1pm hour and than again in the 5pm hour. I'm surprised no one has told you of this. I kept looking for a mention on your website and hadn't seen one. So, if you didn't already know about this............now you do! Take care! Alvin G. Lawton (9/1/09)

Completely out of my regular coverage area or area of concern, but Dr. Phil is moving to Fox 5 starting soon... The Metro is plastered with ads. Ed O'Keefe, The Federal Eye, The Washington Post (9/1/09)

$hitahell in D.C. is a classic case of when you have both an “ownership” and local “management” who are in fact, neither. The good news in all this is that Bonneville is likely going to get one decent FM (107.3) and one with potential (105.9). If Bonneville is smart, they’ll give Joel Oxley full freedom to succeed with both. Now, as for $hitahell’s missing link, WMAL… Just like a Packard, it was once the finest on the block, but is now a rusting stripped-out shell of its former self with only a name and a memory of its former greatness. WMAL and the rest of $hitahell’s D.C. operation is a classic example of what I call “Dysfunction by Design”. Because of layoffs and resignations of what I call “property personalities”, you institutionalize fear and resentment among your remaining staff and gain their long-standing contempt and distrust as a result. By “property personalities”, I’m not specifically referring to airstaff, but people whom the staff sees everyday. And, when they are let go, or suddenly quit… look out! DCRTV Dave has talked about them as the departures have occurred. I’m not just talking about WMAL here, as the legion of “property personalities” who’ve been laid-off or quit that place would take up too much bandwidth. An example of this would also include the recent layoff of the in-house courier over at Clueless Channel along with so many others at 1801 Rockville Pike. As for WMAL, the person who needs to be concerned is Dan Snyder. With ABC retaining title to the transmitter site "ESPN630” would be a natural if ABC takes back affiliation. Or, might ABC buy Snyder’s cluster of signals (some of which are likely dwarfed by CB operators in terms of power), shift the sports to 630 (and its “round the Beltway coverage), and sell the “junk” and keep 980 for ESPN en Eapanol? As for “Dysfunction by Design”… Its prevention is actively promoted. When symptoms are detected, those responsible are provided the guidance to correct things. Otherwise, those responsible are provided the opportunity to pursue professional employment elsewhere. That’s the great thing about broadcasting today. Ownership is so concentrated that a person you piss-off or fire is unlikely to damage you by going to a competitor. The favorite example I quote is from forty years ago when John Kluge hired George Putnam (who once worked in D.C. at WFED when it was WJSV) to anchor the news on Metromediocre’s KTTV, channel 11 in Los Angeles because Putnam wanted $100K per year and KTLA’s owner at the time, one-time cowboy crooner Gene Autry balked. The result? KTLA got its ass kicked up one side of Sunset and down the other in the ratings until Putnam’s contract with KTTV was up. And, Autry was then willing to pay Putnam’s new (and higher) salary demand. That’s why I feel sorry for the cable people. If you layoff, fire, or piss-off the wrong person, they might not only get a job with your fiercest competitor, they might take your customers, clients, and perhaps other staff members with them. The closest in D.C. broadcasting is WJLA, which over the years has acquired WUSA’s anchors and meteorologist –not to mention their clients, audience, and ratings! Sorry this ran long… Unsigned Corporate Suit (9/1/09)

My Verizon FIOS channel guide in Howard County shows starting Monday 9/14 on WTTG: FOX5 morning news from 9am – to 10am, Dr. Phil from 11am to noon and 3pm to 4pm. (9/1/09)

For Jim in Tampa Bay, check out Florida News Center (at flnewscenter.com) for TV-related news. And, concerning Dr. Phil, I’ve noticed a lot of Metro ads (definitely rail and maybe also bus) concerning the move to Fox 5. As always, thanks! EJM (9/1/09)

RE: [Beck speaks mostly off the cuff and unrehearsed] Is that what they call it in your neck of the woods? Around these parts, we call it "incoherent babbling". Beck sure is passionate. How unfortunate his passion doesn't extend to fact-checking. (9/1/09)

(clip)...and it does not run the internet nor television during a power failure (end clip). You must gotcherself one of those fancy new propane-powered TV sets... (9/1/09)

Just received this in an e-blast from Sportstalk 980. (9/1/09)

RE: [ " WIYY has it’s own stick directly next to the canelabera tower shown in the picture below. " ]..... WRONG!!! Hearst owned WIYY 98 ROCK has had a transmitter on the candelabra tower for DECADES! And for the record, the candelabra is exactly within 1 foot of the then 1000 foot maximum height above average terrain FCC limit at the time in 1959. The much taller tower next to the candelabra is the 1300+ foot WBFF/WNUV tower which also has WWMX 106.5 and WCHH 104.3 on it, but at different heights apparently. (9/1/09)

(RE: "WIYY has it’s own stick directly next to the canelabera tower shown in the picture") Thats not true. The WIYY FM antenna is on the candelabra tower. Its attached to the bottom of the WJZ-TV13 antenna stack atop the candelabra. WIYY also has a stand-by antenna on the main tower structure a couple hundred feet down from the candelabra. The taller tower to the right is WBFF DTV46 and WNUV DTV40, also WWMX FM (106.5) and WCHH FM (104.3). (9/1/09)

Big difference between Olbermann and Beck is the teleprompter. Beck speaks mostly off the cuff and unrehearsed (note that Olbemann admitted to rehearsing in his tirade). Really, Keith O. holds rehearsal for his poorly rated show? Why? Olbermann rarely speaks off the cuff, mostly following the words of his writers from a teleprompter. And he still stumbles all over the place. Back in my TV days we had an anchor who stumbled through the teleprompter, a friend of mine at the station had a classic tirade towards her- "Its Just Fucking Reading!!" (9/1/09)

I'll admit I'm surprised by WTGB's latest PPM numbers, but is anybody the least bit surprised that WJFK and the Junks have stalled in the basement? I mean, seriously? Nobody's listening! (9/1/09)

I have always been told that the tall tower was WIYY. I am corrected. (9/1/09)

Olbermann goes after Beck whenever he says something insane (read:all the time). Why is this news today? Howie (9/1/09)

RE: [I often pitty Baier, who follows Beck at 6 PM. He reminds me of the poor schmuck who has to push that big shovel to clean up the massive piles of poop after the elephants have performed.] Great...just great....Anyone know how to get Slurpee out of a keyboard? - Jeff in (Honestly, it came out my nose, Dave) Bowie (9/1/09)

As a former co-worker of Glenn Beck, I can attest that he is not far from Andy Griffith's "Lonesome Roads" character in "A face in the crowd"...and he's not in it because of his political ideals, he's in it because being a right-wing blowhard is in fashion..trust me, if being a political pundit suddenly becomes un-popular, and reading death notices is all the rage, Glenn will be there with a copy of the obituaries... (9/1/09)

FiOS coming to DC -- don't let them take your telephone away ! Get service only as "DATA and TV." Once you give up your copper phone line, you're stuck with everything being on that one slender little strand of glass. Plus, you're responsible for powering the thing when the lights go out. Their battery back up lasts only a couple hours, and it does not run the internet nor television during a power failure. (9/1/09)

A caller on the Sports Reporters just asked Andy Pollin if he was going to start working morning (i.e., reuniting with Mr. Tony), and Andy responded, "I don't know." Really? They don't know who's going to be hangin' with Mr. Tony yet? Interesting . . . . Sincerely, TMU. (9/1/09)

If the poster below is saying the tower to the right of the candelabra is WIYY's, he or she is incorrect. WIYY is on the candelabra along with the 3 TV stations. The tower on the right is WBFF and also carries WWMX. Roddy Freeman (9/1/09)

I'M SELLING RECORDINGS MADE BY MY FATHER,MARTIN EDWARDS,WHO WAS IN RADIO FOR OVER 45 YEARS.THE RECORDINGS ARE FROM WHEN HE WAS A D.J. IN BALTIMORE AND WHEN HE WAS A NEWSCASTER WITH THE "MUTUAL BROADCASTING SYSTEM" THERE ARE LOT OF INTERVIEWS WITH FAMOUS PEOPLE,AND VERY HISTORIC NEWSCASTS,AND BEHIND THE SCENES WITH LOTS OF PEOPLE OF INTREST.THERE ARE OVER 500 TAPES,MANY WERE LOST WHEN MY BASEMENT FLOODED. I FEEL THAT THESE TAPES SHOULD BE ENJOYED BY PEOPLE IN THE RADIO BIZ,AND NOT JUST COLLECTING DUST. THERE IS ALSO A LOT OF VINTAGE RECORDING EQUIPMENT TOO. THAT TOO SHOULD BE ENJOYED. HE SAVED A LARGE COLLECTION OF HISTORY THAT SHOULD BE SHARED,NOT COVETED. MY E-MAIL ADDRESS IS: NORMANDDAVE12@YAHOO.COM OR NORMANDDAVE12@LIVE.COM AND MY PHONE # IS: 301-942-8871.THANKS,DAVE EDWARDS (9/1/09)

Van Halen - Pink Floyd - Rolling Stones - rinse/repeat every 2 hours - sheeeeeeessh. At least I heard "Smells Like Teen Spirit," which just this morning I made a mental note that I haven't heard recently on regualr radio. Commercial free 105.9 is effective "white noise," but once the commercials and jocks begin, I'm going back to finding decent internet radio. (9/1/09)

Michael Calderone at politico.com: MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, taking a break from the usual O'Reilly-bashing, turned his attention last night to Fox's Glenn Beck last night, riffing on the "Oligarhy" clip that's been making the rounds. "In our number one story in the COUNTDOWN, the comfort of today`s mythical, home spun, awe shucks, TV totalitarian, lonesome roads Glenn Beck is that every day he gives away the essential truth that he is an idiot." So is Olbermann going to set his sights on Beck, who's on at 5pm, rather than O'Reilly, his competitor at 8pm? In another departure, Olbermann took a few shots at Beck's viewers, and their "low brain function." Despite Olbermann's critique of Beck's audience, the Fox Host still pulls in lots of more viewers each day. (9/1/09)

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Dave's response: Don't forget to read my Glenn Beck Rant.....

I just noticed the response in the mailbag on 7-24-09 regarding WJZ and WIYY sharing towers. This is form Wikipedia: "In the United States and Canada, the plural term candelabra also is a nickname for radio masts and towers with multiple tops. Baltimore 's TV stations, WMAR-TV, WBAL-TV, and WJZ-TV in 1959 built the world's first three-antenna candelabra tower, 730 feet tall. Other examples include the Mont Royal Candelabra in Montréal, Québec, the KXTV/KOVR/KCRA Tower, KSMO Candelabra Tower, and KMBC/KCWE Candelabra Tower." WIYY has it’s own stick directly next to the canelabera tower shown in the picture below. The candeabera tower to the left is 2, 11, 13 the tall tower to the right is WIYY. Since the WIYY tower is directly next to the candelabera tower it is common practice for the adjacent tower to reduce power when work is being performed. (9/1/09)

As I understand it, Steve Villanueva never moved down here from NYC, he would commute for the weekend gig. So, I don't think his wife was transferred... (9/1/09)

I read the posts about rumors concerning 3pm news at NBC4. Here's an interesting development. Could Dr Phil be moving to Fox5? Check out this link-- www.drphil.com. Also I noticed NBC4 is broadcasting Dr Phil in high-def all of a sudden. Also isn't it weird that Dr Phil is going up against another Oprah-connected show-the new Dr Oz show on Ch9-in the same time slot? Regards Biff (9/1/09)

Dave's response: I have seen Channel 5 running "Dr. Phil" promos.....

Dave,,,,,My wife and I recently moved to the Tampa Bay, Florida area and, try as I might, I can't stop checking in with dcrtv.com. It's like a song you can't get out of your head. I appreciate knowing what's going on in my former home town's media circus but really,,,I DON'T LIVE THERE ANYMORE! Dave, do you or any of your Mailbag readers know of a site down here that may be similar and fill me in on Tampa area media? I've Googled myself into a stupor and can't find one. Thanks a lot.---Jim (9/1/09)

Breaking radio news. From the twitter account of Delmarva WGMD PD and consultant "twit" Dan Gaffney "Good morning Sussex County dove hunters! Season opens today! Dove n dumplins' is a local favorite!" Oh HELL NO! I'm hittin' Subway. Sometimes, even DCRTV needs a comedic break from serious topics. (9/1/09)

WDYL Richmond flips frequencies from 101.1 to 100.9 at 2 PM EDT. y101rocks.com (9/1/09)

For years, CBS affiliates have had the option of airing Guiding Light at 10 a.m. or 3 p.m., depending on how it fits with the rest of the schedule. The same option will exist with Let's Make a Deal. WUSA is taking the 10:00 option for GL in that last week to make room for the start of Dr. Oz on Sept. 14 at 3:00. When LMaD starts in October, it will also be at 10:00, paired up with The Price is Right. Not sure what this means for The Insider and Inside Edition. Steve in Lanham (9/1/09)

I read the Seattle Times article. The point wasn't whether Rush was fading, but whether AM talk was in Seattle. And the implementation of the PPM seems to show that. It also confirms that, in Seattle, the audience for talk radio isn't the key demo. I suspect that Baltimore is a little more AM conscious (read: old fashioned) than a lot of cities and AM talk may hang on longer here. Note that even with WCBM's surge, the combined ratings for WCBM and WBAL are about where WBAL used to be in the Prell-Smith days. Howie (9/1/09)

Not sure if it's been mentioned here yet, but looks like what you posted in awhile back is coming. . I've seen Fox5 promoting the Morning News until 10am. And have seen NBC4 promoting a 3pm newscast. (9/1/09)

Dave's response: We reported a rumor several weeks ago that had 5 yanking its 11 AM newscast for a 10 AM extension to its morning news show. Anyone know more about a 3 PM newscast on 4? Hadn't heard that one before.....

Just a note -- hard rock without the edge -- at 906am today they played REM's "Losin' My Religion". So it's hard as a baby's bottom, I guess. -- diamond dave. (9/1/09)

Dave's response: Yay. Now, how about some U2?

For the poster who inquired about the final week of "Guiding Light" airing on channel 9. On Monday afternoon's broadcast, WUSA ran a crawl across the screen advising that "Guiding Light" will air at 10 am during it's final week on the air. Interesting that the message mentioned "will air live" since the final episodes were taped in early August. I assume WUSA wants to begin airing Dr Oz that week to compete with Fox 5 which will be the new home for Dr Phil at 3, dueling doctor alums of Oprah fame. Now I wonder what will become of the new version of "Let's Make a Deal" (sans Monty Hall) which is scheduled to air on the CBS network at 3, but not on 9. David in Hyattsville (9/1/09)

RE: AM Talk Radio [ " But it's gone, gone, gone from the top rankings compiled by Arbitron." seattletimes.nwsource.com " ]...... And you could look at the Baltimore ratings and say the EXACT OPPOSITE is TRUE. WCBM 680 has surged to TIE 50,000 watt blow torch WBAL 1090 in the ratings since Rush switched to WCBM. I'm not even a fan of Rush, but the reality is undeniable. He significantly boosted WCBM and caused the ouster of Jeff Beauchamp at WBAL. There are many great things you can say about Beauchamp over the years for making WBAL the powerhouse it has always been and no one in the mailbag criticized him when he, ummm, retired. But let's be real here. He was let go, fired basically because he made several bad decisions, Rush, Chip Franklin, etc, that caused WCBM to surge in the ratings. I suggested all news for either WCBM or WBAL a long time ago as did Dave Hughes and I'm glad one of the stations finally did it. But saying what happens in Seattle is a bellwether for the nation and talk radio is going down the drain because of what's happening in Seattle is a bit of a stretch. Even DC is not a good bellwether. Maybe it's just because these markets are much more liberal markets than most other markets or it's just a poorly programmed station like WBAL ultimately became under Jeff Beauchamp? (9/1/09)

re: re: "Verizon customer here in Va. Signing up for Verizon FIOS is a nightmare! ". My experience was the same as the poster from Howard County. Got it installed at my new place in Woodbridge. Install date was 9 days after signing up. Got an email a couple of days before to run through a pre-install check list. Got a call the day before from Verizon confirming installation date the next day. The tech, who called 30 minutes prior to arriving, came a little late in the day (2:30pm), but finished installing the box, UPS, 3 TV's (2 HD), and internet in about three hours. He even put new connectors on all existing cabling. Everything went smoothly, and works great. Overall, a very positive experience, and I'm very picky. Johnny D, laughing and scratching, in the new digs n Hoodbridge. (9/1/09)

RE: WBAL morning news...shouldn't this be just the start? Aren't the most successful radio news stations 24/7? WTOP is an example. Anytime you want the news its there. WINS is NY is another example. Would Baltimore support this? (9/1/09)

Dave, The LA radio-television broadcast market is presently dealing with an interesting situation that broadcasters here and around the country should pay attention to. Many of the LA stations have their transmitters located at a huge transmitter site situated above LA called Mt Wilson. A large fire burning on the hills of Mt. Wilson is threatening the various TV and radio operations located there. Unfortunately, a large number of these stations have no auxillary transmitter site or a prepared backup plan. Most of the ones without an auxillary site are presently scrambling to locate one. This is amazing when you consider LA is the #2 broadcast market in the country. Here's a story from an Orange County, California newspaper. Scott Fybush is quoted. www.ocregister.com (9/1/09)

Was wondering what happened to Meteorologist Steve Villanueva. I noticed he has not been on the weekend shows and his biography is no longer on NBCWashington.com. (9/1/09)

Dave's response: Didn't his wife get transferred to NYC and he tagged along?

More bad news for little Danny Snyder's failing Six Flag's empire in today's Baltimore Sun: Adventure Park USA to build new water park near Frederick... www.baltimoresun.com (9/1/09)

Re: Regarding WBAL's new morning news format: IT's ABOUT TIME!!! (9/1/09)

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