dcrtv.com - Mailbag - November 3 to November 8, 2009

Current Mailbag - Mailbag Archive Index - DCRTV Front Page - Support DCRTV

DCRTV Mailbag - November 3 to November 8, 2009

Latest messages listed first.....
\/ November 8 Messages \/

www.delcotimes.com - Footage of the final seconds of Villanova’s 21-20 upset of No. 1 Richmond was uploaded to YouTube fewer than two hours after the game. Not for its dramatic finish, but what was said on-air during the closing moments of the game that was regionally broadcast on Comcast SportsNet. As play-by-play man Bob Picozzi described the final seconds while an unknown person is overheard saying, “What a bum. Come on, end this (bleeping) game.” The first part was a reference to the 35-yard field goal Richmond’s Andrew Howard missed with five seconds to play in the game that would have given the Spiders the lead. After a roughly 10-second pause, the same unknown person is heard saying, “Go home, already.” Initially, the comments were thought to have been uttered by Picozzi or color commentator Scott Brunner. However, Colonial Athletic Conference officials quickly dispelled that rumor. In all likelihood, it was an open microphone in the production truck. Scott Meyer, the director of football communications for the CAA, said the conference was looking into the incident. (11/8/09)

I can deal with Larry Michael on Redskins radio, but both Sonny Jurgensen and Sam Huff have become unlistenable. Poor Sam had his bell rung once too often and makes no sense at all. Sonny is past his prime in knowing the ins-and-outs of today's game (just like Joe Gibbs was). I hope that when Snyder finally decides to clear house of the entire Redskins coaching staff, that geriatric radio duo will follow. /s/ S. Baugh (11/8/09)

Hey Dave, The other day you started talking all technical...saying things about "sync-up" and "analog signal" and "coverage area." Oh man, that got me totally HOT! I'm looking at you through new eyes. John (11/8/09)

Just found another Christmas flip; KOSY out of SLC. (11/8/09)

First off, why the hell would conservative Comcast want low-rated liberal MSNBC yet not any NBC properties? At least NBC News has some vestige of credibility left, and even that's stretching it a bit. Now Universal, I get, clearly a profitable part of the company, no baggage. And my second point is why the hell would anyone believe any story in The Examiner?? They have the Redskins TV ratings UP while The Post has them DOWN. Who would you believe? And if you click on the Examiner links from Baltimore, the paper STILL pretends it's operating a Baltimore Examiner newspaper! What's up with that BS? My last point is, between this and the terrorist attack at Fort Hood, boy are FOX News ratings going to go through the freaking roof! It's looking like 2010 is going to be like a bad dentist visit w/ a tooth pull for Democrats both locally and nationally unless things "change" drastically soon. (11/8/09)

Alright... Pop Quiz time. I'm sure the building has long since been bulldozed to make room for one of Bethesda's new high-rent high-rises, but can any of you fossils positively identify the street where WJMD's studios were located in 1969? Could it have been Woodmont Avenue? The old Broadcasting Yearbooks are of no help. I am aware that the station relocated to Suite 530 on the 5th floor of the Chevy Chase Bldg at 5530 Wisc Ave (near the District Line) in the early '70s. (Photo courtesy www.JohnInMontana.com) (11/8/09)

WNIC 100.3; Detroit has flipped to Christmas Music. Looks like they are the first to flip. (11/8/09)

Near the end of the Villanova vs. Univ. of Richmond football game on Comcast Saturday, Nov. 7, a voice other than the announcers' could be heard saying something like "Dumb fuck. Let's get this over with" after UR missed a field goal and lost the game. The voice did not appear to be just a fan's voice that bled into a microphone. 1) Does Comcast know who the person was that uttered "fuck"? 2) How did the voice bleed into the audio? 3) Are there any consequences yet, such as suspensions at Comcast or sanctions against Comcast by the FCC? - Ray Frantz, Winchester, Va. (11/8/09)

Dave's response: The FCC does not regulate "verbal indecencies" on non-broadcast services, such as Comcast SportsNet.....

Why wouldn't Micro$oft buy the pieces of NBC that Comca$t doesn't want? Even if they temporarily picked up a few television stations, they could sell them off to help finance the parts they want to keep. How ironic for that slow-talking Brian Williams -- after barely saving himself from "anchoring" MSNBC, now only to be back over there, perhaps. (11/8/09)

If you're an over-the-hill DC broadcast historian like me, the following page is just right for some quick Sunday surfing: www.johninmontana.com (11/8/09)

The correct Sound Off..address was Box 8550 Washington DC....the phone was 779-1580....Harve Moore, Bob Peyton, Charlie Scheu, Davy Jones, Famous Amos, Handy Andy. Been there done that. Voice of Mr. Sound-Off, Bob Howard General Manager....ciao...Mr. C. (11/8/09)

Yep, I stand corrected - the P.O. box was 8550 back then but I don't recall the zip code. Oh well, my bad. Back then I could only listen to 'PGC on 1580 in the late evenings (and only til sunset even then) because 95.5 didn't carry into this area. Maybe CBS could bring back that format......naaaaaaaaaaah - - - - - Larry in Luray (11/8/09)

Dave's response: One of my suggestions has to put a "retro top 40" format with 1970s and 1980s pop tunes on 1580 as WPGC-AM. But does CBS listen to me? Nah.....

NBC still for sale, but maybe not to Comcast, in the Examiner: www.examiner.com (11/8/09)

Hmm My Washington Times had the Health Care story right there on the Front page, near the fold. It said ' House Okays Heath Reform Bill' (11/8/09)

I thought the address for the WPGC Sound-Off was Post Office Box 8550, Washington DC. This would've been around the time that the Contest Line number was 779-1580. I remember that sometimes when they had a contest, for a Good Guys Sweatshirt or something, so many people would call at once, that between the "loud" part of the busy signal and the "pause," you could hold a conversation with other callers. I think it had to do with the old fashioned "crossbar" telephone switching system in the central office back then. (11/8/09)

I wonder if Count Gore de vol likes this spooky song??? (11/8/09)

OK, apparently the Washington Post and the Washington Times have given up on full coverage. Bad enough that the Post no longer bothers to cover sports ending after dinner time: on Sunday both the Post and the Times ran front page stories (way, way out here in eastern Loudoun County, anyway) about the House healthcare vote being "near." Meanwhile the NY Times that was thrown in my driveway had the complete story, with the results of the vote, and seperate analysis. Seriously? The two newspapers headquartered within miles of the Capitol couldn't hold their press runs for one of the most widely anticipated congressional votes of the past half century, but a New York paper could? Do the local dailies not have access to email and the internet? Have they not been able to figure out that the digital age can SPEED UP the process and SHORTEN the time from an event to print? I've wondered for months if I should keep my NY Times subscription, but this makes it clear that it is the Washington papers who no longer deserve my business. (11/8/09)

"Sun Dial" was the name Arthur Godfrey gave his wake-up show on DC's CBS-owned radio station WJSV. (The station would be rechristened WTOP on April 4, 1943.) A popular baseball announcer/sports reporter named Arch McDonald (who had joined the station in 1934) was the first host of the "Moon Dial" show at 11:15 pm, every Monday through Saturday, starting June 6th, 1940. Then, on Monday May 27, 1946, a young whipper-snapper named Eddie Gallaher took over the Moon Dial show from McDonald. Once Arthur Godfrey moved full-time to the Big Apple, Eddie also became permanent host of the "Sun Dial" on November 1st, 1948. In a predecessor of today's voice tracking, Eddie's Moon Dial contribution would be recorded to transcription disc each morning for playback that evening. (11/8/09)

Caught one of Casey Kasem's American Top 40 shows from Nov. 1975 running on satrad this morning (70s on 7). He would drop in mentions for a few stations that carried the show, and this time he gave a shout-out to 'PGC - however he ID'd the station as WPGC, Washington instead of WPGC-AM and FM, Morningside! Bummer! Best Sound-Off Of The Week wins $10.00...send yours to Sound-Off, WPGC, Box 3649, Washington!! Amazing how stuff like that sticks in your mind all these years later (did I get the P.O. box right? LOL) - - - - - Larry in Luray (11/8/09)

"John" seems correct in his FCC observations. There is no federal mandate to convert the AM and FM bands to "digital," yet the FCC has allowed itself to be steamrollered by a proprietor that wants to latch on to the buzzword "digital," as if it will save the on-air broadcast industry. It is not an "agreement" between engineers at National Public Radio and the company selling the "digital" franchise. It is an endorsement of each others' agenda. If only it took a lawsuit to end the in-band, on-channel interference being caused by "digital" on AM, then the FCC would do right by the people and ban the damn hash. (11/8/09)

By chance I was clicking through football games on Saturday and stopped to catch the last play of the Richmond-Villanova game on Comcast SportsNet. After the Richmond kicker missed a field goal on the game's last play you can hear someone in the control room call him a bum and ask if they could just end the fucking game. After the commercial break, the announcers did issue an apology for the outburst. Here's a clip of the broadcast: www.casttv.com (11/8/09)

Congrats to a very deserving Ed Walker on his Hall Of Fame enshrinement! Though, after viewing the current roster, I cannot believe the greatest I ever heard (Johnny Dark) i still missing from the honorees. "JD" you deserve it! Rusty Gibson, WEBR/RadioFairfax (11/8/09)

Robb Spewak will return to Iowa this week and appear on the KCJJ Morning show on Thursday and the following Monday. Also due to special programming (a fundraiser) his regular show will air this Thursday at 3 eastern. (11/8/09)

Regarding this whole FCC letting the industry make the HD radio rules kerfuffle... The FCC stopped caring about anything other than EEO and Tower Lights a long time ago. Oh... and getting sued. They really hate that and they will do anything to avoid it. They used to do research and make rules. I remember the issue when all that changed. It was AM stereo. Motorola had their system; Kahn had his system. The FCC wouldn't make a decision because everybody warned them. "If you don't approve my system, I'm going to sue." Motorola was a big company and Kahn was crazy so they would have had protracted litigation whichever direction they had gone. They decided to just approve both systems and let the market decide the winner. And the winner was: Nobody! I think it was at that point when they decided to just let the combatants know that they wouldn't make any ruling until there was a consensus. From then on, present them with some data...not really important if they're accurate, like those HD-AM at night results, and if you get everybody to agree, it's a done deal. John (11/8/09)

Cantor's office was inundated with phone calls from around the world from mostly Jewish people demanding he condemn what elRushbo said. Many callers said that if Cantor did not respond to the idiot, the congressman personally would bring shame on all Jewish people, and he would be a Jewish embarrassment in front of the gentiles. OY VEY! The guilt they can instill! Other scuttlebutt on Capitol Hill, batsh$t crazy and George W. Bush saliva swapper, Representative Michele Bachmann, had a top aide, that handled media, abruptly quit on Wednesday, the day before the Bachmann organized Capitol Hill Teabagger Demonstration against any public option or Medicare. Mark Levin at that demonstration spoke before a crowd of about 4,000. Mark Levin on WMAL wrongly claimed there were 20,000 people there. (11/8/09)

HD-Radio will always be a failure until it can be received on an iPOD or iPHONE, and that's probably never going to happen because it's hard to receive most of the stations and probably will be after this power upgrade too. Apple will never tolerate such half-ass bad technology. I'm still waiting for someone with a ZUNE HD to state how easy it is to receive the HD-Radio stations while jogging in say Germantown or Bethesda or in Fairfax. I bet it's near impossible and that's essentially why you're never going to see it on any iPOD or iPHONE. And it'll be a failure until that happens, let's face it. The FCC should step in and force a new all digital system on the industry on channel 6. That could potentially offer each station even more signals and have quality that rivals an iPOD and would be full-power and easier to receive. That's the only solution that Apple will ever accept, a solution that actually works. HD-Radio is a failure that does not work and the FCC is just approving tiny band aids for what is essentially a DOA condition. Do they even have any engineering people in charge at the FCC anymore? It doesn't seem like it. (11/8/09)

What do "sundial" and "moondial" mean in radio parlance? When was it used? I have heard references to it on some of WAMU's nostalgia programs. (11/8/09)

Rod Serling's "Twilight Zone" = "Kick the Can" Clear Channel's "Twilight Zone" = "Kicked to the Curb" Rod Serling's "Twilight Zone" = Thirty-minute mysteries Clear Channel's "Twilight Zone" = Never-ending and ever-expanding miseries -Unsigned Corporate Suit (11/8/09)

I had meant to post this sooner, but I forgot about it. Here's a link to the list of stations that will be airing tonight's (Saturday's) Radio Hall of Fame ceremony. DC's Ed Walker is one of the inductees. www.radiohof.org/2009 (11/8/09)

Dave's response: Whoops. Got it up a little too late. But congrats to Ed! A very well-deserved honor.....

/\ November 8 Messages /\

\/ November 7 Messages \/

NBC EVP/GC Rick Cotton doesn't want the over-the-air TV station model damaged further, but says the the FCC’s plan to perhaps reclaim some additional broadcast spectrum for wireless broadband (on the so-called “white space channels”) is "a set of discussions that are going to have to take place." Cotton was interviewed yesterday about the topic for C-SPAN's Communicators series, Qualcomm chairman Paul Jacobs was hyping the need for more spectrum to investors in their fourth-quarter investors conference call. "The availability of license spectrum remains an important issue as worldwide demand for mobile broadband applications and services continues to accelerate," he said. "We support the FCC's efforts to increase the amount of licensed spectrum available for mobile broadband." About the potential of the FCC taking some of broadcasters spectrum and giving it to the wireless industry, Cotton said that was going to be "a matter of a good deal of discussion." FCC broaband advisor Blair Levin has been talking to broadcasters and other stakeholders about the need for spectrum, including ways in which broadcasters might be able to give up some while maintaining a broadcast presence. That could include, for example, combining the Big Four network affiliates into the spectrum space now occupied by a single channel and attendant multicast, or potential multicast, streams. Cotton said that it was "a reality" that viewers were accessing TV, broadcast and cable and satellite channels, over paid platforms (about 85% of TV station viewing is via cable or satellite), "so it is natural that there should be some discussion about the broadcast spectrum," he said. He called it "a set of discussions that are going to have to take place." But central to those discussions, he suggested, was the recognition that "the network local affilate over-the-air broadcast system has served this country enormously well over a period of 60 or 70 years. I don't think anyone wants to see, frankly, damage done to that system," he added. Cotton said there were two important interests in play. One is access to television by the 10% of homes still getting an over-the-air signal (One suggestion that has been floated is to subsidize lifeline multichannel video service for those viewers.) The other is "the challenge that the FCC faces in terms of wirelss spectrum." Cotton touched on numerous topics in the interview, including network neutrality, piracy, profanity and the new FCC. He said the FCC got it right in the network neutrality rulemaking proposal when it said explicitly that networks had to be able to manage their networks to prevent piracy, but got it exactly wrong in defending its crackdown on fleeting profanities, which he argues is unconstitutional. Cotton would not comment on merger talks between Comcast and NBCU, saying he had "certainly read about it in the papers. But he did have some nice things to say about the newly reconstituted FCC. Cotton said early returns on the more open and transparent process the FCC vowed to put in place as it considers the multitude of issues on its plate were "enormously positive" and had not gone unnoticed by industry players making their case at the FCC. He also pointed to putting piracy issues "squarely on the table" in the network neutrality proposal as an indication that the commission was trying to conduct careful policymaking that took into account and responded to the issues on the table. (11/7/09)

Can I ask a question? Is there only one photo in existence of the Fort Hood killer that we have to see the same fucking picture every five minutes on the news? JFC! It's bad enough local news has taken this guy under their wings as a homeboy and has to tell us where he took a leak and such! Regards Biff (11/7/09)

Re: HD Power Hike- Also- I noticed some industry news sources positioned it as a done deal now that the parties have worked out their differences. I think that is a big time insult to the FCC. Maybe "the fix is in" but the HD promoters are not even being discreet about it. My view is the FCC should evaluate HD radio signals through the spurious emission and contour protection limits currently in the rules, and TOTAL station ERP should not exceed the licensed analog ERP. The second point would force stations to make a decision, instead of taking a free second helping. (11/7/09)

I thought the Washington times was getting sold out because of lower price I see that not case. It's distribution at newsstands is getting sort of like the City Paper. Okay maybe not that bad but still a difficult find. Me I like the sports pages in the Times more old style than WaPo which is more gossipy oriented these days. Me I find the sound quality on the new Beatles cd releases far better than the crap of the earlier releases. But someone needs to slow down George Martin's son and his too many ideas. This is going on 3 years now that the sound quality of Maryland football radio broadcasts still is bad. Some kind of electronic blip and the sound drops. Still happens constantly. Boo to whoever is in charge of this! (11/7/09)

Every single year, right about now..the debate begins about Christmas songs because that WASHed up AC station in town, with it's over rated, self absorbed, TIRED, over the hill DJ's...changes formats for a few weeks so another tired, over the hill, unemployed DJ..who had a brain fart 25 years ago can "crow" once again about some stupid song and pat himself on the back for donating to charity...when people, like myself, give to charities all year long and don't expect or want anything in return. Now, because the lounge singer who belted out the tune gives a couple of bucks to support this left wing excuse for a media website, no one is allowed to criticize or state the fact that the song blows! Signed A-Hole!! (11/7/09)

The "gym locker room smell" that one poster sensed was more than likely his/her upper lip. Yeah, you know what I mean. Like WOW are you standing on your head or are you in need of a certs? (11/7/09)

As best I can tell, the FCC defers to the technical ability of the industry these days. If iBiquity and NPR say it's OK, higher power for FM IBOC must be OK. It must be very frustrating for any competent engineers still at the FCC. (11/7/09)

Let me see if I can understand this? A person calls another person on here an "asshole" and no one takes issue with it. But, a person makes a old people joke and that gets someone up in arms that results in a mandatory cease fire? Sorry Dave, but your mailbag priorities are tragically out of whack. You may want to moderate this mailbag a bit better. The "asshole" comment should have ended it. (11/7/09)

(" Damn it was good to be back in the "air chair". And thanks to you Dave for your kindness. Rusty Gibson") - Even if that chair did smell like a gym lockerroom, right Rusty? Eh? Yeah, you know what I'm sayin'! (11/7/09)

While we're on the "Christmas" rant would it be too much to ask for TV and radio to wish the public a "Merry Christmas" as if we were in the United States of America? I realize we're not really in the US anymore but it would certainly be a Blast From The Past for those of us who recall having a tradition without being accused of tyranny. Political Correctness dictates that we stop 'assaulting' other cultures with our offers of holiday cheer and I can certainly understand the terror and humiliation a pine tree poses to members of other religions, I myself dive under a parked car when a decoration unexpectedly manifests on a door or utility pole. I fully realize that with movies like Die Hard 1&2 and Lethal Weapon Christmas has become a thinly veiled threat to those with strong beliefs in non-Christian or Catholic traditions but do the words "Merry Christmas" actually send anyone to the E.R. or a psychiatrists couch?? But Seriously:Correct me if I'm wrong( and I know someone will) but the largest influx of immigrants is from Central and South America and the dominant religion there is Catholic which indicates that they,too, celebrate Jesus' birthday. I am not a very religious person but I respect the beliefs and actions of all religions provided they do not practice human sacrifice,murder of non-participants or palm my forehead and shove my head back in religious fervor. If citizens or visitors don't agree with the FREEDOM of Religion,which this country was based upon, then by all means go to a country which does not separate state from religion and help weed out the dissidents there. In the spirit of Mr Binks-"We say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year here" ATTN: Radio and TV: You cannot use the same mouths to both kiss ass and talk at us,it's disgusting. And don't give me that "unbias" shit. Donnie in USA (11/7/09)

Dave's response: Donnie, turn off Fox News and go out and get some fresh air! Now.....

Re: HD Power Hike. Seems like quite a bit of hubris for the promoters of HD Radio to "agree on a power hike". Does the FCC no longer control FM spectrum? Is it not the FCC's decision to make? I think the FCC should slap them down, and put this matter on the back burner for a few years, in response to the arrogance of the HD promoters. (11/7/09)

(Regarding the "Christmas Eve In Washington" song...I don't like it either...there, I said it!! and all that says is that my taste in music is different than yours. There is no intent to insult anyone!) Liking the song or not liking the song is one thing. Going out of your way to trash the song on a website where it is advertised makes you an a-hole. (11/7/09)

Why do you allow the personal attacks that don't even remotely mention anything media related? The last Mr. Collings post should be TOAST! But, its your website, you can degrade it as much as you desire I guess. (11/7/09)

Dave's response: I get a perverse kind of pleasure watching these old radio guys slinging shit at each other. But, yeah, I guess it's time to call halt to it, for sanity's sake. Hey, guys, why don't you meet behind the Leisure World Giant with some boxing gloves to continue this "discussion".....

You keep responding to my messages so as long as i get under your skin that is all that matter`s to me you are making a fool out of yourself you understand what iam saying because if you did not you would not keep going back and forth with me you are still a CLOWN and a IDIOT case closed. (11/7/09)

ATTN Messrs. Collings and WOW: www.forumspile.com (11/7/09)

DCRTV needs to take over The Baltimore Sun's website. They have no clue what the hell they're doing. Just read the comments at the end of this Baltimore Sun story (story is irrelevant) www.baltimoresun.com and you'll see why The Baltimore Sun is a ship adrift. I've reported spam comments repeatedly on www.Baltimoresun.com and they just leave the damn things up like they don't give a rat's ass. They're even giving out my email address against the words of their privacy statement publicly on the website and they have no way to fix the problem so my email address is all over The Sun website and I'm now getting like tons of spam along with them! When will this newspaper fold? tick tock... (11/7/09)

I turned on Fox5 at 11:30 last night to see The Simpsons and instead I got The Office. Is there no escaping that show? It can't be that great a 2nd time around. WHERE are The Simpsons? Fox5, how about putting The Office on at late night and giving The Simpsons a full hour like you used to earlier? And why is CNN getting ''advice'' from Dr. Phil about the Ft. Hood shootings? Why is it that with each national horror I become less impressed with how it's handled, locally and nationally? Paul (11/7/09)

Dave's response: I was always a huge fan of the original British "The Office" with Ricky Gervais. I never watched the US version when it ran on NBC, but I am now enjoying it via reruns on TBS and TTG. Such a magnificent take on "corporate culture".....

RE: [ " the Washington and Baltimore area sports cultures are distinct and separate from each other. Plugging a Baltimore station on a Washington subchannel or vice versa just wouldn't be serving anyone's interest. " ]...... Historically, your point is correct regarding the markets and sports interests, but something rather interesting happened I think just a year or so ago that might eventually change that thinking. The U.S. gov't does studies on population shifts in markets. Historically, the largest influx of new people moving to Baltimore were from New York City. However, that changed recently. The largest influx of people moving to Baltimore now is from? (drum roll please) Yes, you guessed it, the DC area. Washington is a significantly more transient market, and I've not read the stats on that, but obviously Baltimore would not be #1. But, the continuing melding of the 2 close markets is undeniable, despite the fact that this seems to bother many people in each market. There have been Orioles fans around DC for decades, and there are tons of Skins fans around Baltimore still as well. The bigger problem is that HD-Radio as a whole is a complete FCC failure and no one is listening to ANY sub-channels nor can anyone hardly get the main channels even since the signals are so bad. And an iPOD still sounds better and young tech-smart people have lost interest in radio as a result. Bad FCC policies have basically lost a generation of radio listeners who might never come back. (11/7/09)

Dave...don't go cashing that CBS consultant check just yet (re: rant). CBS is not in the biz of spreading their product aropund for the enjoyment of others. If there was a logical money related issue for putting WJFK on HD3 in Bmore and WJZ in DC - they would. But there isn't. And, they would know - all they would have to do is check their streaming stats to see how much out-of-market listening there was and they would respond to it. (CBS may be stupid, but they're not dumb). Besides - HD is DOA. They can raise the power all they want but the vast majority of consumers have already responded to this technology with a collective yawn. (11/7/09)

No caps anymore? Damn WOW, you've become about as sadistic as a group of Nuns with that new shot at me. Phew! You old timers sure know how to drop the hammer on a younger generation, don't you? Nervous, you ask? (I assumed you were asking, just managed to forget to hit the question mark button. That happens in old age. You geriatrics have more pressing issues to worry about like what denture glue is on sale this week and when Matlock is on next. So, I'll cut you some slack on the sub-par typing skills) To answer your poorly executed question, not nervous at all. You tuned in last night. I know you did. Love us or hate us, irrelevant. You know that word well don't you? That's the word that was most commonly used to describe your career in the industry - irrelevant. So, take your time...Hell, take all weekend, and sit back...confer with your other Social Security check pulling pals from the industry and think about your next witty retort to me. But make it a good one, you're sinking fast. -Mr Collings (11/7/09)

A sincere thank you to those who caught my show yesterday. The feeling inside when the notes of the first song began was complete euphoria. Damn it was good to be back in the "air chair". And thanks to you Dave for your kindness. Rusty Gibson WBR/RadioFairfax (11/7/09)

Ok, since DCRTV's media guru Dave Hughes won't answer or doesn't know the answer or doesn't want to comment, let's cut to the chase.......... Who's CORRECT? TV Ratings Slump With Skins - 10/26 - Local TV ratings for the losing Redskins are down for the first six weeks of this season, by about 120,000 households from the same period last year. More in the DC Post www.washingtonpost.com..... or Strong Ratings For Skins Despite Slump - 11/1 - Even though the Redskins are experiencing a rather dreadful season, their TV and radio ratings are stronger-than-ever. Including the numbers for such shows as "Redskins Kickoff" on Comcast SportsNet. Jim Williams has more at washingtonexaminer.com..... www.washingtonexaminer.com..... It's important to note that the stories are less then a week apart! LOL Somebody wanna solve this puzzle? It appears no one seems to know who's correct or they are scared to death to answer the question! If, however, I had to make a Vegas bet, I'd say The Examiner loses this round bigtime! Is Jim Williams not like the biggest local media suckup ever invented? LMAO (11/7/09)

Okay,,,my last word on the subject: if Christmas Eve In Washington horrifies you, then turn down the radio before you start getting nightmares about Satanic Santas or Flying Monkey Elves. But, if like thousands before you, you love the song and want to send a copy to friends and family who used to live here or to military far from home, then click into Maura Sullivan's ad here in DCRTV.com. Peace, love and laughter.--JL (11/7/09)

Man, mr. collings (no caps anymore) You sure jabber, nervous you ass-hole-WOW (11/7/09)

/\ November 7 Messages /\

\/ November 6 Messages \/

RE: It`s hard to take your missage(message) seriously when you butcher the english language. My friend you are a REAL CLOWN you must be an unemployed Clear Channel employee or a local idiot radio ad executive. ~~ It's missive not "missage," just like it was spelled, get a dictionary. Also, it's the English language, not "english." For God's sake you insufferable fool, one doesn't need to be involved in radio to want to understand what someone is trying to say. Your original post was full of redundancy and poor diction. Portions were confusing and nonsensical. If you don't understand the need to communicate in a clear and concise manner to get your point across, then it shouldn't be a surprise that no one is listening. When someone is trying to convey an important message, yet they write like a high school freshman, anyone with a hint of an education is going to speculate on the veracity of the content. If you don't understand that you are lost. (11/6/09)

Dear Dave: You are nothing if not swift and responsive. Thanks for the Baez/Earle post. (11/6/09)

To the individual who is claiming that my post was sent in by the Collings person, I can assure you I am NOT Mr. Collings. I am nothing more than a person who happened to read the conversation over the past few days between he and this WOW fellow. You, unfortunately, look like you are doing nothing more than baiting someone into a war of words with you, who ever you are. I don't have a dog in this fight, so I personally do not care. I simply made a comment that was nothing more than my opinion. And suddenly I am accused of being this Mr. Collings guy? Dave can verify that I am NOT Mr. Collings, and you can retract your comment like an adult. -Jim from Herndon (11/6/09)

I for one am glad to see Rusty Gibson back in the saddle again on WEBR. He did a fine job on his re-maiden flight. Yes he was a bit rusty, but then again, he is Rusty. So now on fridays, we have Fitzgrass from 1pm to 3pm and Rusty's show from 5pm to 6pm. Then there's that guy in between us on the schedule. I won't name names, but you know who I mean. Welcome back Rusty. Plenty of good tunes ahead on the Magical History Tour...don't ya know. Fitz (11/6/09)

To the new poster claiming to now know WOW/Mr. Harrison....You're right...I did start it with making fun of a certain foul mouthed, ego ridden person...And yes, WOW took exception....See, the thing is....Neither I, nor most people reading this mailbag care what WOW thinks. Hell, some probably hated what I said....I respect that...But they didn't feel compelled to write in and tell me about their resume and all they have done in the industry. But all in the while, never mentioning who they were. Anonymity can be a powerful thing. It lets a person be more than they actually would in real life, but at the same time, makes a person look weak and scared. Much like how WOW is now, afraid to really admit who he actually is. I give credit where credit is due...If WOW really is or was a big shot like he claims to be, then I stand corrected and will openly admit that in this forum. But, I suspect WOW/Mr. Harrison/etc. is nothing more that a bitter old man who the industry left behind, like one of those old bags of trash you see on the roadside that fell off a truck some time ago. Old, tattered, full of stuff that mattered once upon of time, but now....useless....Only WOW won't man up and admit who he is...He's much to scared that his lack of talent back in the day will only garner him a "Never heard of him" now. Gotta go old timers, time for this young blood to do his show tonight. Sure, for family and friends...and for that special someone, WOW....Because he will be listening....Oh, and I know you'll admit it on here sometime in the future....I know it.....Talk to you soon, WOW....Don't forget...11pm on the mighty "webber's" station...WEBR -Mr. Collings (11/6/09)

Regarding the "Christmas Eve In Washington" song...I don't like it either...there, I said it!! and all that says is that my taste in music is different than yours. There is no intent to insult anyone! It's great that you made some money for some cause...but instead of sitting around having your feelings hurt, maybe you could take that same creativity that you had 25 YEARS AGO!! and re-tool the song! The lyrics are great, a lot of people like Maura's version and guess what? a lot of people don't! (I personally find it similar to listening to fingernails going down a chalk board!!! That's just MY TASTE!) A lot of people also like "Loo & Lori" and a lot of people would rather get H1N1 than listen to that crap every day! Maybe if you re-cut the song, include a Children's chorus or something and freshen it up, you might sell even more copies. You'll also showcase your talent and that might get you a job! (11/6/09)

(Here's one poster who likes Christmas Eve iin Washington. I think it is a nice song, even putting aside the charitable aspects of it. I think Mr. TMU's comments reflect poorly on him more than anything else.) Ain’t Chris Plante back on WMAL enough for you Silvie? Actually if you want a great Christmas in DC song, try Steve Earle... (11/6/09)

I find it interesting that the Collings dewd is now posting as someone with knowledge about Mr Collings. He thought WOW had done that!!! Mr. Harrison is in business with WOW. Collings is still just a "webber". and not half as good as Rusty Gibson, a man with a heart. What's a shame, is that Collings started this whole thing making fun of someone learning impaired. All WOW did was take issue with Collings lack of taste, respect and effort. Collings don't expect anything to happen on your WEB show tonight. WOW doesn't care. You're the slow learner. LMAO or if I'm dyslexic LAMO. Talk to family and (friend) iyou have any, tonight. They will be the only ones listening. In fact if I knew you, I'd stop listening out of embarrassment. (11/6/09)

Correction. Dave, in light of her "mercy hire" by Tom Kent, time to be correct today & put an "X" across Beth Ann McBrides face on your MOM Show front page graphic. With that bad professional fit gone, time to bring in the next generation of O'Meara, Elston & Spewak. (11/6/09)

Dave i understand if you do not post my last message i guess that person is a real jerk. What i said was true bad language keys or not but some people can not handle the truth and that is sad. (11/6/09)

In Response to: "When I mentioned the 104.3 flip to my 14-year old daughter (who’s into the music played on CHR), she had absolutely no interest because she said she gets all of the songs she likes on ITunes. When I suggested that she might enjoy the unpredictability of not knowing what song would be played next, she said she could use the “Shuffle” mode on her IPod. When I told her that listening to the radio was cheaper than buying songs on ITune, she just laughed. Do radio programmers even realize the significance of IPods?" - With all due respect, you are missing the mark on this one. Did you catch the headline that Apple added, to the chagrin of your 14 year old daughter, FM tuners to the latest iPods? I have said for years that radio and iPods can coexist in a mutually beneficial arrangement, and we are finally getting to that point. Perhaps your daughter, being 14, would like to have the latest iPod for Christmas since she has an outdated piece of equipment, and I'm sure she'll want to keep up with her friends! :-) GOOD programmers do realize the significance of the iPod, hence the ability to do iTunes tagging on HDradios, various podcast programs, and the iHeart Radio application that only works on iPhones and Blackberry phones. On a side note, I wouldn't admit to my dad that anything he said was cool at 14! (11/6/09)

RE: It`s hard to take your missage(message) seriously when you butcher the english language. My friend you are a REAL CLOWN you must be an unemployed Clear Channel employee or a local idiot radio ad executive. (11/6/09)

Over at the NBC Color Plant, maintenance has taken a back seat. Robot cameras break down. One, still perhaps under remote control, provides a static three-shot. Well, at least robot's rules of order still apply. They didn't go on a rampage trying to attack the talent. (11/6/09)

RE:Erasmus Hall..No, I went to Thomas Jefferson High School '63. I recognized the area you were describing. CORY (11/6/09)

With a very few exceptions, the Washington and Baltimore area sports cultures are distinct and separate from each other. Plugging a Baltimore station on a Washington subchannel or vice versa just wouldn't be serving anyone's interest. It would be better just to leave the HD2s plugged into national networks most of the time. During nights and weekends, the HD2 can then be used to air games of local minor league and high school teams that wouldn't otherwise have access to the radio. CBS Radio already is using an HD2 in Hartford, Conn. for that purpose with hockey's Hartford Wolf Pack. Everett W. (11/6/09)

I'm still waiting for a definitive answer..... DCRTV has 2 conflicting news stories running currently, one saying Washington Redskins ratings are up, one saying Redskins ratings are down after 6 weeks. Dave Hughes, wanna explain or are you just repeating it from the horses' mouths and/or asses? hehe Speaking of Skins TV, I noticed from checking www.the506.com, that this week's Skins game will not be widely televised in the region, which is a rarity. Normally the Ravens are minimally televised regionally while the Skins blanket the region. Now that it's Friday, I noticed several markets have switched away from the Skins game at the last minute, in Charleston, West Virginia and WPMT FOX 43 in south central PA, both markets that normally might carry a Skins game, but will not carry the Skins this weekend. And no, the Eagles or Steelers are not a factor either since neither team is playing at 1 or 4pm, so it's kind of glaring that FOX43 has chosen to not carry the Skins game and clearly by choice. Oh, and the Skins game will not be on FOX 45 in Baltimore either, but FOX 21 in Salisbury is apparently carrying the Skins. I wonder how long WBOC will stick with the Skins. Technically, Salisbury is not a secondary market for any NFC team, so WBOC could easily switch to carrying the Eagles if they wanted to while WBOC is NFL-obligated to carry the Ravens at times, same with WPMT FOX 43. Plus, the Eagles are very popular in Delaware and in south central PA. Comparatively and surprising this weekend is that the Baltimore Ravens are getting wide regional coverage including all of MD, PA, WV, OH, all of Colorado, and even parts of Kentucky and Wyoming! Wow, now that's an epic shift in TV interest in my opinion. If Dannyboy continues down this nutty destroy the fan-base road, I wonder how long it will be before the Harrisburg, Salisbury, Norfolk, & WV markets all bail on the Skins? I don't think that Daniel Snyder realizes that none of these TV markets are obligated to carry the Skins. I could easily see Norfolk switching to the Carolina Panthers and Delmarva switching to the Eagles. And just think what the Skins national TV allotments will be for next season, probably 1-2, like The Ravens used to get? By the way Dave, where's that story about Baltimore Ravens TV ratings? My guess is they are up a LOT more than Skins TV ratings are either up or down, hehe. :-) (11/6/09)

Two things... First, welcome back, Rusty Gibson. Even though you're not "on the air", you have an enthusiasm and passion for broadcasting which is absent from so many who are "on air". And, Dave, I like your idea of out-of-market co-owned stations being available on the "HD" streams. How about a real oldies station like WCBS-FM or KRTH-101 on 94.7? The flaw is that how many people who are not "rafio people" avtually have an HD radio unless it was standard in their car? In other words, how many people have actually specifically gone out to buy one? especially at a non-discounted price? Probably not many. Of the FCC's many recent "successes", I'd put HD radio right behind AM stereo, but only slightly ahead of ATSC... -Unsigned Corporate Suit (11/6/09)

On the WRC camera fiasco, you asked "Anybody know more?" Dave, you really don't want to know more. NBC is getting ready to jawbone the FCC regarding spectrum and is prepping it for a shift to an all-pay model (satellite and cable), ditching over-the-air completely. A source at 30 Rock says "free" TV's days are "numbered". Also, local governments are monitoring this as the next Congress will be under pressure by the networks and local broadcasters for a "lifeline" service level to be subsidized by the Feds for satellite in rural areas, but provided free by the cable companies by legal mandate. Where the local governments are interested is that if you're in a "wired" area, you would either have to get the free cable or pay for satellite yourself. The local governments are pissed at the thought of people not being forced to watch their crap because of satellite TV. (At one time Fairfax County wanted to ban satellite dishes entirely (on "aesthetic" grounds) until threatened with a lawsuit because of their government-mendated programming not being on satellite.) There's also talk that the "lifeline" satellite service would carry a Federally-created equivalent to the local government channels. Now you know why NBC isn't investing in local broadcast unless it has to... (11/6/09)

If it's always been on cable or the internet, how could it have ever been "on the air" in the first place? I am of course referring to the cable TV government and public access channels. Cable could be a lot more profitable if it adopted a strict "pay for play" business model like that of broadcast. There's nothing wrong with public service. But, the amounts of "spectrum" (or capacity or whatever they call it) that the cable systems are ordered to give away for free is obscene. Not to mention the equipment buys, etc. Talk about a bail-out!!! Forcing the cable subscriber (who ultimately pays the bills.) to pay for this crap is ridiculous. If the FCC forces cable to go "a la carte", the government and public access channeks should definitely be included. If people want to pay for them, fine. If not... "No soup for you!" -Unsigned Corporate Suit (11/6/09)

It's all about demographics. With Don Imus's numbers at FBN showing that 93 percent of his viewers are over the age of 55 and 57 percent of them more than 65, it's no wonder he can't and never will find a slot on Washington radio. There are only so many advertisers selling cemetery plots. www.businessinsider.com... ACH (11/6/09)

Sorry, Dave, gotta disagree on this one. My buddy Nestor, for whom I worked in the mid 90s, always said the difference between the average sports fan on a bar stool in Dundalk and someone in the media is access. So therefore, you can't go on the air thinking you can pull one over on your audience because said audience is made up of people who know a heck of a lot about sports. So sports talkers need to do their homework and be up on the latest, and I can tell you from first hand experience, having been in the media, many do not. To be fair, some do, but just a few. I now work in sports at the high school and college level, and the things I hear on the radio make me really wonder what those people are thinking. I've heard the Junkies and there is better and more informed sports talk at any sports bar in town. The Junkies are just a bunch guys who think that because they are on radio they are the end all, be all. They are not. Same thing with Anita Marks. Scott Garceau is a grizzled veteran, but Marks is an overly opinionated amateur who thinks that because she's a pretty blond who played girls football, she's an authority. She is not. All hearing the other market's' shows would do is prove that no matter how bad(and it is bad) sports talk is in your home market, it is worse done the road. I do love your site and make it required reading everyday. Thanks, Ken Berger, Baltimore (11/6/09)

Seriously? Capt. Janks? Howard Stern? What is that, an email from 1997? Who even knew these guys were still on the air? (11/6/09)

(quote) Capt. Janks has got to be the most class-less, heartless bastard on the planet (/quote/) Times surely have changed. Remember back in the late 90s when folks thought it was funny when he made it through, whatever the news story? Guess what, Stern fans? You're all growed up now. (11/6/09)

Here's one poster who likes Christmas Eve iin Washington. I think it is a nice song, even putting aside the charitable aspects of it. I think Mr. TMU's comments reflect poorly on him more than anything else. (11/6/09)

"He knows everything about being a “big bad newcomer”. LMAO!!!!" -Nah, not everything...but one thing I DO know is that our old radio pal WOW will be listening to my show tonight at 11pm on the home for web announcers, WEBR. Happy listening, WOW...Hope you enjoy the show. -Mr. Collings "The Other Guys Show" (11/6/09)

RE: Z104.3 sounding muddy. Channel 104.3 had to be the WORST processed station. Now, Z104.3 is following suit. CHR needs to be crisp, compressed but NOT muddy. Actually, all of CC Baltimore sounds like crap. JACK sounds like a bad DSL line, WPOC is so flat and 104.3 sounds like...donkey shit. (11/6/09)

I can't attest to Mr. Collings' abilities as a newcomer or consultant, but it certainly looked to me that he systematically dismantled this WOW guy over the course of a couple days. (11/6/09)

Welcome back Rusty Gibson! Your passion for what you do has been sorely missed....To Jim London, I totally agree with your comments about the posters knocking "Christmas Eve In Washington." During my time at WBIG-FM, it was one of our most requested Christmas songs. You and Maura captured the feel of that very special time of year in the nation's capitol...By the way, Jim is a good friend and one of the many terrific professionals who got kicked to the curb by Clear Channel. The dollars they saved is the listeners loss...Johnny Dark (11/6/09)

'Capt. Janks' has got to be the most class-less, heartless bastard on the planet. I was just watching live TV coverage of the deadly shooting in Orlando from WESH-TV when someone called the station, allegedly from the hospital where some victims were sent, and was put on the air live, giving "details" of the victims conditions. Suddenly, Janks (who else would it be?) began chanting 'Howard Stern... Howard Stern .. Howard Stern." Janks is a jerk. And I don't want to hear any shit about the station being at fault. They were, no doubt about it, for not confirming the source before putting him on the air. But that's no excuse for that demented bastard to pull such as sick, perverted joke while innocent people are dying. (11/6/09)

To OTA viewers: Anyone else notice that MHz Network Ch. 30.n is sending out the wrong time? They haven't reset their clock to EST. I contacted their engineering dept by e-mail and they said it's fixed but Ch.30 still look off by an hour on my box (and WDCA 20, too). WHUT Ch.32 has always been off and seems to send some random time. (11/6/09)

For some reason I have never heard "Christmas Eve in Washington." Maybe I don't spend enough time listening to WASH. Looking up the lyrics, they seem a little syrupy to me but that's not necessarily objectionable in a Christmas song, depending on how it's handled. However, I was put off by the songwriter's self-righteous defense of the song. There's nothing wrong with wishing for "peace, love and laughter," and anyone would applaud the aid that has gone to Children's Hospital. But those are moral positions, not artistic ones. Music that embodies those things isn't automatically exempt from criticism. The poster who called CEIW "horrifying" is making a subjective judgment of the song as music. It's irresponsible to treat artistic judgments as condemnations of the song's sentiments. That's almost like Cal Thomas accusing Kathie Lee Gifford's critics of hating decency and loving immorality (www.jewishworldreview.com). And it's ridiculous to treat th! e judgments as insults to the people who like the song. (11/6/09)

I’ve been musing at the comments on CHR in Baltimore and the thoughts on Brian and O’Brian and the rest of the great theorizing that’s being presented. Ed Graham actually hit the nail on the head. All good thoughts but I really think we should bring Mr. Collings in as a consultant. He knows everything about being a “big bad newcomer”. LMAO!!!! (11/6/09)

Ed Graham never ceases to amaze me with is astute understanding of the needs of broadcasting. He is right on target “CHR stations do not do RETRO. The format is designed for forward motion, and should be as local as possible, local jocks..local news..technology of today..etc. Brian and O’Brien, was someone pulling our leg? We old great jocks are for the most part out of touch with the Taylor Swift phenom. KUDOS Ed-WOW (11/6/09)

MOM Show: If done right, KCJJ could plan & implemement a high quality podcast/stream like The Adam Carolla Show. Similiar to the Carolla podcast & complete with live SKYPE calls, KCJJ would be wise to hire as Carolla did, Leo Laporte as a technical consultant. (11/6/09)

While I agree with Ed Graham and others that the return of Brian and O'Brien to Z-104 would be tragic, I must admit that even on the far side of 50 I think that I understand the "Taylor Swift phenomenon" completely. Howie (11/6/09)

RE: [ " Oprah To Move TV Show To Her "OWN" Network " ]....... OMG! IS OPRAH COMING BACK TO BALTIMORE? With the deal with DC based Discovery now confirmed, that pretty much confirms my previous rumor posted here on DCRTV.com months ago that Oprah is indeed moving back to Baltimore from Chicago to tape her show in this area! It's already been reported that she bought a huge Baltimore Inner Harbor double condo/townhouse unit at the exclusive Ritz Carlton development in Baltimore. She could easily tape the show from a variety of DC or Baltimore venues, although I have a sneaking suspicion it might be THIS venue, the recently restored old theater, The Hippodrome. Donald Trump already used the venue for his Miss USA Pageant once. The only issue would be how it would impact Broadway shows visiting Baltimore. Hmmmm. (11/6/09)

Has anyone else noted the content of a commercial running on ESPN 980 for Plumbers Local 5? In touting the plumbers associated with Local 5, the announcer admonishes the listener not to become involved with an (presumably non-union) "scrupulous plumber." Thanks Local 5. We certainly wouldn't want to find ourselves doing business with someone who has integrity. Gary in Southern MD (11/6/09)

re: Also, I've noticed that the processing on the over-the-air signal is strange. It sounds very "muddy"...Is "Vic" still the CC engineer in Balto? (11/6/09)

Re B104 Retro..."trust me"... Indeed -- Satan will don a tutu, perform 2 Flying Camels and a Double Lutz just before that show airs. Other offers considered.... (11/6/09)

Dave's response: Hmmm. I wonder who that was from.....

To whoever said change the call letters to WBSB and have a weekend RETRO show with BRIAN and O'BRIEN, CHR stations do not do Retro - - and 10,000 songs commercial free is also dumb. Why imitate my iPod when I like my mix better. CHR needs live, exciting, entertaining, fun, interactive personalities, not great old veterans doing jokes about Mama Cass and Rod Stewart. They have to, at least, understand the Taylor Swift phenomenon. 104.3 has to discover some young talent and not just dig up (pun) the old guys. CHR in Baltimore could be wonderful. I don't have much faith in the owners of 104.3, but the web site looks good. You can't use syndication, automation, or music flow alone to make radio work. You actually have to give the listeners something to make them tune in, something not available anywhere else, but inclusive of the technologies the target audience now uses. Ed Graham (11/6/09)

While the main reason for the Times' Ryan O'Halloran being added to the guest lineup of WTEM's Sports Reporters was almost certainly the fact that he covers the Redskins, it turns out that he's knowledgeable on hockey as well (having been assigned to the Capitals beat in the past). During his debut appearance two days ago, he actually managed to work in some commentary regarding on-ice issues with the team - 'is Bruce Boudreau the coach who can take them to a title?', 'should Semin be traded?', 'why hasn't George McPhee called up Alzner and Carlson from the minors?'. Of course Andy Pollin and Steve Czaban hardly ever deal with topics like that on the show due to their stubborn refusal to treat the Caps as a mainstream DC team whose fan base can't exactly fit in your attic, and they hadn't planned to do it that day either - O'Halloran brought up Boudreau's name during a discussion of the Nats' managerial situation. So he could possibly serve as the go to guy on the Capitals for Reporters if the hosts (especially Pollin since Czaban seems a bit less close-minded) ever decide to change their attitude toward the sport. Meanwhile over at 106.7 The Fan, it appears that Mike Wise and Holden Kushner are delivering on their earlier promises to give the Caps decent coverage - I flipped over to Kushner's show while Reporters was doing its in-depth analysis of Halloween candy last Friday and he was reacting to Don Cherry (a well known Canadian TV hockey commentator) calling Alex Ovechkin a 'dirty player' and taking calls on it. A few days later he spent some time speculating on the possible extent of Ovechkin's injury, while Wise has been keeping the Caps in the mix as well (his sidekick Bill Rohland is apparently a big fan). Despite the fact that the Skins are obviously the overriding topic of discussion on both sports stations, it's becoming increasingly clear that WJFK should be the preferred choice for local hockey fans. Mike, Fairfax (11/6/09)

To the genius who said that Z1043 should do a retro show with Brian and O'Brien....duh. Not a great move, as the demographic has no idea who they are and could care less about heritage. Z1043 needs young, fresh, fun, interactive DJs, not old folks that are going to bitch all the time. If young people wanted to hear that, they would listen to WCBM or WBAL. (11/6/09)

Dave's response: I don't think you'll ever hear Brian and O'Brien ever doing a radio show together again after that fiasco a few years ago on the old oldies QSR. Trust me.....

Robb's KCJJ show sounds voice-tracked. How would Mike and the others do a live show for the station from DC? My guess is that they would need a toll-free number and a full-service broadcast studio (as opposed to a recording studio) that can supply a live feed to Iowa City. Are there recording studios with the equipment necessary to do that type of show? If not, a voice-tracked Mike O'Meara Show would be listenable but wouldn't have the same energy as a live broadcast, with the interaction with callers and texters. Elliott and the Junkies appear to record some phone interviews off the air for later broadcast, and my feeling is this interferes somewhat with the flow of the show. (11/6/09)

To TMU (11/5),,,When Maura Sullivan and I wrote the song Christmas Eve In Washington 25 years ago, we vowed to never take a penny profit from its sale. Over the years thousands of people have bought CEIW to the benefit of Childrens' Hospital, the homeless and other charities. To call the song "horrifying" is an insult, not only to the wonderful people who love it but to the disadvantaged whose lives have been helped by its sale. TMU, try broadening your horizons and understand that people whose tastes differ from yours are not inferior, stupid or horrible. Turning a wish of "peace, love and laughter" into a negative says a whole lot more about you than about the song. At the risk of really bumming you out, TMU, have a Merry Christmas. --Jim London (11/6/09)

A couple of days ago, I mentioned in a post regarding Z104 that gospel radio is a tough sell to advertisers. Since then, I’ve seen a few posts saying that “race” has nothing to do with ad billings; that urban stations bill as well as general market stations targeting the same age demos. I’m not sure whether these posts were responding to what I said. But I want to make clear that I said nothing about race or urban radio. I was speaking strictly about the gospel format. And it’s a fact that the gospel format has a very low “power ratio,” which is the format’s share of ad billings compared to its share of audience. According to Miller Kaplan, which measures and reports station billings, the gospel format has a power ratio of .46. That means if gospel stations have a 5% share of the audience, they (on average) get 2.3% of the market’s ad billings. Compare this to the AC format, which has a power ratio of 130. That means if AC stations get 5% of the audience, they pull in 6.5% of the ad billings. That’s a fact and not an opinion. Roddy Freeman (11/6/09)

Dave, I've posted the last 30-minutes of Elliot's show from Wenesday which includes his announcement that he would no longer be on Channel 104.3. Enjoy! Audio here: eitmfans.blogspot.com... -- Josh (11/6/09)

Re: "....Stop with the denial Its not AGE or RATINGS so the question begs why do these stations have to charged lower ad rates my question is why has this been a problem in radio for decades i do not have it all wrong. You who are in denial have it wrong if you are a black or white radio listener it does not matter what your race is your in denial if you do not question this WHY...." /// It's hard to take your missive seriously when you butcher the English language with such wanton disregard. (11/6/09)

HD radio at +10dB (10x power) reportedly equalized analog and digital coverage but I suppose 6dB (4x) is better than nothing. Considering the apparent apathy toward sub-channel dead air, I hope there's motivation to invest in the equipment to handle the transmitter's much higher digital power requirements. (11/6/09)

These days, I know the prime public target to take shots at are the Redskins and their owner. However, even if something was "set-up" between Channel 4 and Dan Snyder, give both parties some credit for trying because it was the first time, in many months-years, Dan Snyder has talked in public. What I do think is wrong and not real is the fact people on ESPN980 bash the team and then remind listeners there's no bias or "drinking the punch" when it comes to spin control. Yesterday, my sympathy went-out to Tom Laverro because he is a true journalist who knows the P-R game and how to handle tough situations. Unfortunately, his on-air partner has no journalistic clue and shows no respect toward Tom. I know WJFK is still getting it's feet wet in sportstalk radio but you can tell all of their talent know how to conduct themselves over the airwaves. If Snyder is going to clean-house with his football team...the same should go for his radio properties. (11/6/09)

Between last Sunday’s transmitter “maintenance” shutdown at mid-day and last night’s snafus with the cameras on the late news, WRC is illustrating for the for the other broadcasters and the cable people what happens when you can your local tech people and depend on “contractors”. When the s—t happens, having your own people already on-site makes it a whole lot easier to clean things up. Otherwise, it’s more difficult and more people notice… (11/6/09)

The person who continues to push the race issue continues to miss some essential points... First off, there are more white people than black in both the Washington & Baltimore markets and CHR crosses both races well. And all of the Urban stations you mentioned which you say bill less advertising than white stations have similar competition within their own market on similar formats, and therefor would naturally bill less advertising wise than say WTOP or WBAL, which have virtually no competition at all in their formats. The CHR format has no direct competition in Baltimore, except maybe for Hot 99.5, but that station doesn't even have a good signal over most of Baltimore, so its not really direct competition. The next closest competition would be Mix 106.5. So if you were trying to make a valid case that race played into Clear Channel's decision making on 104.3 due to racially based advertising inequities, you did not pick very good examples to make your case. And let's not forget, WCAO AM 600, another Clear Channel property, bills quite well for an AM station. So, I just don't see where race was the issue in determining the format for 104.3. That doesn't mean Clear Channel made the perfect decision. Honestly, with neither DC or Baltimore now having a smooth jazz formatted station, going back to the WSMJ format might have been an even better idea now that 104.3's tower is nearly 20 miles closer to DC. Although I've yet to hear from anyone near DC as to whether 104.3's signal is better or the same since the tower move. Has anyone noticed if 104.3's signal is any better down there towards DC? (11/6/09)

Dave's response: Still can't get Balto's 104.3 down here in Northern Virginia, as Praise 104.1 completely wipes it out.....

Dave, You have to find out what happened on the 11pm News on WRC last night (Thursday). They lost control of the robotic cameras. It was pretty funny... WRC 11PM News Thurs. (11/6/09)

Dave's response: Anybody know more?

I noticed that the web stream of Z104.3 is seconds ahead of the over-the-air signal. Why is this? Also, I've noticed that the processing on the over-the-air signal is strange. It sounds very "muddy", is if the music is coming through a poor internet connection. The sound isn't as crisp, and the over-all processing is kind of watery-sounding on the high end. 99.1 WLZL sounds similar. The web streams sound much better than the over-the-air signal. (11/6/09)

Dave's response: If stations run their signal in digital, too, via an "HD1" HD Radio broadcast, it causes a delay. Stations need to sync-up (slightly delay) their analog signal with their digital one or else folks listening in their cars in weakish coverage areas will get an annoying "echo" effect when their HD Radios flip between analog and digital modes. In some cases, this delay is rather huge. WTEM's delay on AM 980, which is in HD Radio mode, is something like 10-15 seconds "behind" the two rimshot FMers, 92.7 and 94.3, which are not broadcasting digital HD. Gawd, I'm starting to sound like a freaking radio engineer.....

Dave this will be the last time that I send you an e-mail to your mailbag on this issue i promise. Again It does not matter about AGE when it comes to black formats and the ad billing verses white formats Magic 959(Baltimore),WHUR(Washington), and Magic 1023(Washington) are stations that target african-americans age range 25-54 a very money heavy target group and get great rating`s in that age group. These three stations do not bill as well as Example: WTOP(Washington),WBAL(Baltimore),or the white format stations that are under them ratings wise,so AGE DOES NOT MATTER. Why did CC play games with Charm1043 it was soul oldies target age 25-54 if they believed that it would have billed better than Z1043 it would have been soul oldies not CHR. Stop with the denial Its not AGE or RATINGS so the question begs why do these stations have to charged lower ad rates my question is why has this been a problem in radio for decades i do not have it all wrong. You who are in denial have it wrong if you are a black or white radio listener it does not matter what your race is your in denial if you do not question this WHY. (11/6/09)

Saw a promo for the 11pm news on NBC and as usual when a tragedy has occurred, the local media wants to find some way of connecting the person to this area..And this time is no different with them making it known that the guy in Texas who killed those people went to school in this area.. (11/6/09)

Any word as to who (names) got cut at WJLA? (11/6/09)

Mike O & Oscar = The MOO Show? Sorry but it writes itself.... (11/6/09)

Hot off the presses: 1) WJLA layoffs to make room for a big new hire from a cable news outlet. Source: source at WJLA newsdesk; 2) WJLA breast exam is the first of several "news" specials that will push the envelope of FCC regulations. Source: WJLA staffer; 3) the people who are being let go are only getting two weeks severance. Seems a bit cruel given that the people have been with WJLA for several years. --Chris in DC (who works for Allbritton) (11/6/09)

Re:WXYZ Here is a way to research call sign availability: gullfoss2.fcc.gov... The policy statement is here fjallfoss.fcc.gov (11/6/09)

Re: "Let the angels rejoice & the new MOM Show begin." OK, we get it... you don't like Beth Ann McBride, and feel it's a grand and glorious day that she won't be a part of any revival of the O'Meara show. Of course, even before we knew about BA's new job, Dave's items hinting at a MOMS return had no mention of her name. It didn't stop you, though. By the way, Tom Kent is now the dominant syndicated classic hits/oldies 7 PM-midnight host in the country, airing in many large markets. I can't find an affiliate list on his site, so I don't know if he's on in DC/Baltimore...but he's on in Boston, Dallas, Phoenix and a lot of big markets. www.tomkent.com... The Wikipedia article on Tom Kent says he was born in, you guessed it, Winston-Salem NC, so his career probably intersected with Beth Ann's career at some point. Anyway, congrats to BA! (11/6/09)

Tom Kent's Saturday night and Sunday night shows air on WLIF in Baltimore: www.1019litefm.com (11/6/09)

/\ November 6 Messages /\

\/ November 5 Messages \/

Okay there is only one way for Lindsay to make up for this: (Dave McKenna at washingtoncitypaper.com looks at Redskins owner Dan Snyder's press conference this week and why so few reporters showed up. Snyder only talked to Channel 4/WRC's Lindsay Czarniak, who also works for Snyder's Redskins broadcast network and wears licensed Redskins gear on the air, McKenna tells DCRTV). That would be for her to accept an invitation to a sports anchorette wet tee-shirt contest hosted by the Junks & WFAN wearing any of the numerous “Fire Snyder” garbs available. Video with Jim “Loose Dentures” Vance at 11: posted on The Junks Facebook by 10. (11/5/09)

Just spotted the initial DCRTV ad of the season for Maura Sullivan’s horrifying “Christmas Eve in Washington” [etc]. . . Sincerely, TMU. (11/5/09)

Dave's response: Hey, Maura was nice enough to cough up some bucks to buy a holiday ad on DCRTV and support the site. And how about you, TMU? Have you helped support DCRTV lately?

The following was forwarded to DCRTV by a third party.....

A Note from Cox NOVA's General Manager: We let you down. You expected to turn on your television and sit down to watch the game or your favorite Wednesday night show. That probably didn’t happen and I apologize for that. Some of our most vital equipment took a significant power hit, and when rebooted, much like a home computer, it did not come back on line properly. In spite of tremendous effort on the part of our best people, that reboot process took several hours and frankly, probably ruined your night. As your neighbor, I experienced the same in my home. We are committed to you, our valued customer, and nothing is more important than rebuilding your trust in us by taking action to make things right. First, we’re going to credit your residential account with a free month of digital gateway service ($6.99). The credit will be automatically applied to your account, no need for you to do anything. We also hope you will take advantage of a free video On DEMAND movie by clicking on www.coxnovaoffer.com for details. While such an outage has not occurred in the history of Cox NOVA, we take this very seriously and are already working to ensure higher reliability of our video network as we completely review processes and emergency procedures so that you can enjoy your your TV service uninterrupted. We appreciate having you as a customer. It's important to us. My thanks for allowing us to serve you, Janet Barnard, SVP and General Manager, Cox Communications (11/5/09)

Dave, a small heads up for futures. Re: your item on Scripps buying Travel. Scripps divided into two independent publicly held companies about 18 months ago. Scripps Networks Interactive (SNI) owns Food Net, HGTV, and acquired the stake in Travel. E W Scripps (SSP) owns the TV stations and newspapers, including WMAR. Thanks for doing a great job on the beat. (11/5/09)

While the WXYV calls are still available, believe it or not, according to Radio-locator.com, the call letters WXYZ are available for both FM AND AM! Can you believe that? Hell, if I owned a station, I'd grab those quick just for the novelty although most kids today barely know the alphabet! LOL By the way, CHR has changed dramatically in the last couple decades. V-103 / WXYV 102.7 was largely a totally black artist station while B-104 / WBSB 104.3 played a mix of both back in the day. And the person who talked about ad billing for black vs white stations has it all wrong, at least in today's world. Age is the factor in lack of billing for many urban stations because the ratings show those stations have so many under 20 listeners who have less if any spendable income on products advertised on the stations. Not to mention the iPOD which is basically killing CHR FM radio! The previous post from the person asking his 14 yr old about the new Z-104.3 is very telling. I got a similar response from my young nephew after asking him after reading that post. However, I did also talk to a 25 yr old friend and got a more positive response from the new Z-104.3. But, I think it could be a challenge establishing a CHR format in Baltimore given that it's been gone for so long. There's like no one left in Baltimore who REMEMBERS the FORMAT or they've already switched to HOT 99.5 or just compromised on MIX 106.5, or more likely just plugged in their iPOD in the car. (11/5/09)

Dave: you better choose your words carefully ("... idiots like Chris Plante ..."). Nutty Silvie will never forgive you and might quit posting. Oh, should we be so lucky. (11/5/09)

Dave's rant, "...idiots like Chris Plante..." Dave, with all due respect, you have grossly insulted every idiot who has ever existed, currently exists, or will exist from the dawn of time until the end of time. Chris Plante is in a separate category unto itself... (11/5/09)

Dave, I got cut yesterday, someone (at WJLA) does not know what they are talking about !!! (11/5/09)

(From DCRTV's Classified Ads:) Media Advertising Analyst - Consultant project shceduled for 12-15 months at $35/hr. Work is onsite in DC. This Analyst role requires media planning and media research to develop and implement interactive advertising campaigns in an effort to attain annual sales goals. Additionally, this position utilizes interactive advertising research efforts to support ongoing sales activity and identify competitive advantages for our online audience and various properties. Responsibilities include: - In-depth knowledge of online advertising... - Responsible for the development of targeted media plans... - Maintains current information on inventory availability, pricing and the launch of new products across family of brands... - Utilizes media research tools such as comScore and Nielsen... - Facilitates the development of custom advertising opportunities... - Develops or contributes to sales presentations and marketing materials... - Maintains a high-level of internal and external client-service orientation... - Ability to use Operative and Salesforce to keep a current representation of the sales pipeline... - Use web analytics tools to provide insights. MINIMUM EDUCATION AND WORK EXPERIENCE: 4+ years combined marketing program development or advertising experience... Excellent oral & written communication, negotiation and presentation skills... Competency in financial analysis, planning and modeling... Experience in sales operations... BA/BS Degree... please send resume and note describing relevant experience and skills to staffing@a-quire.com. Thank you! (11/5/09)

Here's a crazy idea... Contact Ball State University and make a deal for the WBSB call letters. I'm sure they'd give them up for chump change. Then do a weekend RETRO show with BRIAN and O'BRIEN! It could be pre-taped, since both have current radio gigs, but neither in the Baltimore market, so there's probably no contract issues. In this day and age, they don't even have to be in the same studio or the same city, so there's little chance of them hating each other anymore! LOL The WBSB calls and B-104 Means Music ad campaign is still to this day what most people remember 104.3 for and the most successful period the station ever had. Just a crazy thought. (11/5/09)

Dave's response: Or, get the WXYV calls for 104.3. That was a cool CHR for a short while on 102.7. Ah, didn't Letterman go to Ball State?

Dave, Your front page news about Ryan O'Halloran is not correct. He made his first appearance as a Sports Reporters guest yesterday, but isn't going to be on every Wednesday. Just once in a while, like all the other guests. (11/5/09)

Two mailbag responses: Yes, CORY, I went to Erasmus Hall HS, class of '67. Louis Berger went to the HS of Performing Arts. Are you an Erasmian? (Is this getting too narrow-focused?) Also, for someone else: I get Channel 32 SD on 1-1 also; I think it is a default when the station doesn't set it correctly. There was a time about a year ago when, if the sunspots and weather were just right, I could get low power Channel 47's Digital signal at 1-1 also. Now I don't even know if they have one since I never see even their analog signal anymore. If Channel 14 were smart, they would put Channel 47 at 14.2, since I believe they own both, and they've got a nice blank output currently at 14.2. If WJLA can intelligently put out an analog signal on LP Ch. 49, why can't the Univision/Telefutura folks do the reverse? Finally, I agree that ThisTV is really lousy; I have never been able to watch more than 1 minute of it. Yet sometimes RTN (Channel 7.3) is often fascinating with Rockford Files, Leave it to Beaver, Banacek, Run for Your Life, etc. Did we really wear clothes like that and live in an oversaturated pastel 64-color universe? -- Carl in Olney (11/5/09)

CHR usually leans more Rhythmic/Urban than a Hot AC. You'll definitely hear the Kanye et al on a CHR station. You have more of a chance of hearing the occasional Michael Bolton or Celine Dion on a Hot AC station. CHR's usually hit you with their top 10 around once every three hours whereas a Hot AC is more likely to play theirs once every four, even five hours. (11/5/09)

Beth Ann McBride - IT'S A GREAT DAY AMERICA! The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, & McBride will NOT be the producer for the next generation of the Mike O'Meara Show but instead work for something called The Tom Kent Radio Network. Ah hell, forget about the fact that he looks like a scary Michael Keaton, I am proclaiming today on DCRTV Tom Kent Day. Ya Tom, forget about the fact too that McBride & radio go together like oil & water, every network needs their tireless "worker bees" and McBride is indeed that. Of course, so are the ponies at the state fair that go around & around & around. Funny thing about those ponies though, as hard as they work, they never accomplish much, get no pay, kids cry when they ride them and they always end up back where they started from - in the barn with a bucket of oats only to start all over again the next day...around & around. Congratulations Tom, you are now the proud owner of the hardest working Catholic woman with fake boobs in radio based in that religious ass-backwards part of the country known as Winston-Salem. Let the angels rejoice & the new MOM Show begin. (11/5/09)

I am glad Holiday Traditions is going to be included on Sirius this year. Last year, it was only available on the XM portion and my car receiver could not play it. I did have it on my DirecTV, however. I so enjoy listening to that channel so I am not subjected to WLIF umpteenth playing of The Christmas Shoes. (11/5/09)

RANT........ I'm sure most people who post here on DCRTV.com are media savvy enough to understand the Comcast cable box situation and probably are not up in arms over it because they've probably had cable boxes for quite some time to order pay per view and/or the ability to receive HBO. But, I know my elderly parents don't have boxes for several of their TV sets and are totally clueless as to what's about to happen. I mentioned something to them about it and they don't think they'll need a box because they already just bought brand new HDTV sets. I think a lot of people think like that. They think buying a new HDTV set solves the problem and that they will not be affected more so than possibly people who post on this website. The media is supposed to present stories that the public NEEDS to hear, not stories it thinks are important to JUST media people themselves. And while I don't think Comcast is pressuring any media organization to not cover the story of the end of cable ready TV sets as we know it, the fact that so many local and national media organizations benefit from Comcast's ridiculous advertising budget, including DCRTV.com, speaks volumes of silence as far as how Comcast is treated by the media. In addition, I think it's an important public policy issue since the FCC is by inaction, allowing all TV sets purchased today to no longer be cable ready, yet few media outlets want to touch the story and even The Washington Post was unable to get an answer from Comcast regarding this matter. As for FOX 45 and ThisTV / 45.2, I think someone hit the nail on the head. Sinclair apparently runs 45.1, 45.2, & CW 54.1 all through the same digital master control. This explains why normally 54 is out of sync during primetime and sometimes both 45 and 54 are out of sync and/or skipping when HD programming is running. My guess is Sinclair panicked that they would get tons of complaints if their HD signal was crappy during the World Series, so they took 45.2 out to ensure they had the proper bandwidth to not have problems. Now, the World Series is over, & ThisTV is back. Surprise, surprise. So I guess they feel they can go back to their normally crappy and out of sync WBFF and WNUV HD programming. I'm guessing that the reason they don't permanently fix this HDTV issue is because of cost and because so few people watch the programming of WNUV 54 in HD (they don't even have much HD programming), so there are probably few complaints, but it's another story that no news organization has bothered to cover, including DCRTV.com. I think I'm one of the very few people who have complained repeatedly about FOX 45 and CW 54's HD signal problems. I think it's an important story because it means that unlike most people who post on this website who have cable or satellite and can just switch to the SD channel when there's a problem, people watching FOX 45 or CW 54 over the air during primetime often don't get a watchable signal and have no such option. And nobody, including the FCC, or various media outlets, once again, even DCRTV.com, cares about this problem because "media people" largely aren't as much affected. Both of these stories sort of are like poster children for the term "media elite"....... END OF RANT. (11/5/09)

Mike O'Meara and Oscar Santana? What do you think Dave? (11/5/09)

Dave's response: How about giving Oscar first billing? The Oscar and O'Meara show? Hmmm.....

Could someone please explain the difference between Hot AC and CHR formats and maybe list a couple of songs that would be unique to one or the other format? Thanks. (11/5/09)

Despite last night's Cox outage, I was still able to see most of World Series game 6. Even as a die hard Oriole fan (& most importantly a baseball fan), I must tip my cap in congratulations to the Yanks. What a grand way to inaugurate the new Yankee Stadium. At least the Crown is back in the American League (where it belongs) Kudos to the FOX announcing crew as well! Rusty Gibson WEBR Radio/Fairfax (11/5/09)

The absence of ThisTV from 45-2 had nothing to do with Comcast; it was not on their OTA signal. I'm guessing that they wanted to give full bandwidth to the World Series, because ThisTV is back today. Not that I'd miss it. It's redundant for 45 to have it since 50 comes in so well OTA up here in B'more. Now, another OTA question: Why does WHUT's SD channel identify itself as "1-1"--or is that just what my tuner defaults to showing when there is no PSIP data at all? (11/5/09)

When I mentioned the 104.3 flip to my 14-year old daughter (who’s into the music played on CHR), she had absolutely no interest because she said she gets all of the songs she likes on ITunes. When I suggested that she might enjoy the unpredictability of not knowing what song would be played next, she said she could use the “Shuffle” mode on her IPod. When I told her that listening to the radio was cheaper than buying songs on ITune, she just laughed. Do radio programmers even realize the significance of IPods? (11/5/09)

Why not put O'Meara's show on DC 101, 94.7, or some other local FM station from 3-7 pm? Seems like that would be a great way to take ratings away from 106.7 and LaVar/Dukes show during afternoon drive. I have never understood why DC 101 and most of the other stations didn't go up against D&M with a competing talk/entertainment show. Or, they could replace the EITM show and put O'Meara on from 6-10 am and crush the Junkies in the ratings. (11/5/09)

Dave's response: DC101's owner Clear Channel is too cheap. Ditto with 94.7's owner CBS. I still think Mike's local radio best shot would be either AM or PM drive on Citadel's 105.9, WVRX. Yeah, Citadel's cheap, too, but credit-crunched Citadel might be able to unload the new classic rocker for a better price in early 2010 if someone, anyone, listened to it. And that's something that O'Meara could make happen.....

I hope Beck had his ass removed from his ass. (11/5/09)

Carl in Olney, I bet you went to Erasmus Hall High School? CORY (11/5/09)

The strange thing about the cable problem in Fairfax was that a good number of HD channels did not go off the air, including FOX 5 and the World Series game. (11/5/09)

"Maybe some of the MIX people may be lured over to the new 104.3" Man lets hope not! None of the people at MIX 1065 sound like they belong on a real Top 40 station except maybe Jason Kidd. If I were him I would be pissed at CBS, isn't he the one who has been trying to make Mix a Top 40 station? Except for some of the music the station doesn't sound like a CHR station, the people on it sound way too old for the music they currently play. (11/5/09)

Glad to know that SiriusXM will once again have their dedicated Christmas music channels, but it’s too bad that they aren’t bringing back the channel that XM had a few years ago that was nothing by novelty Christmas songs. That was must listen radio for the two seasons it was on. I heard some Christmas songs that were outright classics, including such gems as “Low Rider Christmas” and of course, the Hippo song. I guess Sirius killed it because it was missing last season and isn’t in the line-up posted today. Too bad… Peter in Rockville (11/5/09)

We have HDTV and SDTV but now we have LDTV. What is that? Its low definition tv as featured on last nights 530 news on CH45. There was something called streaming now which had horrible picture quality which dropped in and out, as well as the audio dropping out. Have we come so far with HD to step back so far? Good grief! (11/5/09)

So Dave you reported on Beth Ann's new gig but didn't say where this will be located. Is she will at the Extended Stay or what? Steve (11/5/09)
I hope no one took my 'redneck and rap stations' remark as pulling the Race Card. I know for a fact the alot of Mexican construction workers listen to WPOC and plenty of white people listen to rap. That tends to eliminate any slur of race(or how about Ethnicity since we're all of the Human Race??) connected to the choice of musical formats. I raged and ranted over WHFS flipping to Spanish. I did exactly the same over Y100's flip to Urban. I would have raised hell if either had flipped to Country,Classical,Religious or Bluegrass. I did not,and do not,care what they flipped to. They flipped FROM my preferred format and that is enough for me to get a little excited about. It seems that big business blatantly and deliberately sabotages the Modern/Alternative format then claims it was doomed all along. Think about this-Modern/Alt/Indie is what most college students listen to and we all know who gets the attention of the world when no one else can. I believe it is only because there are other sources to get thier music from than strictly FM radio that there hasnt been a much louder outcry.Donnie in Klan county. --- Not a member. (11/5/09)

The ThisTV FOX 45.2 problem has to do with Comcast's current and constant moving of analog & digital channels. Do a re-scan on your HDTV set. However, the fact remains that you will lose many digital channels soon starting on Nov. 17 for good unless you pay them more money. But this gets little press or news coverage since Comcast is one of the biggest advertisers on every TV station in the region and even advertises on DCRTV.COM, so it gets little coverage here as well. Advertising apparently does pay off. Go figure. (11/5/09)

Dave's response: Honestly, Comcast has not pressurred me not to cover the story. It's pretty much no secret that most everyone will need a converter box when local cable systems go all-digital, a la Verizon's FIOS system. I'm just not getting a giant outcry of panic from local folks and don't see it as all that newsworthy. As for ThisTV, it is carried by Channel 50 in DC and it is one of the dullest channels out there. The most boring TV shows and movies from the 1970s and 1980s with a shitload of ads for really crappy stuff. Yuck.....

As someone who knows a little about Deep Throat and Woodstein, let me weigh in. Many suspected Mark Felt from the beginning but a pointblank denial by Felt in his own autobiography threw a lot of sleuths off the track. Further, DT was described in All The President's Men as a heavy smoker and Felt always pointed out that he had quit smoking years before Watergate. The smoking by DT and the underground garage meetings with Woodward were likely literary devices or fabrications designed to jazz up a book. It's interesting that Felt (admittedly 90 when interviewed) said that he could not recall any late night meetings in underground garages. Using Felt as the anonymous source known as DT allowed ATPM to be embellished and made into a spine tingling bestseller which resulted in a get-rich-quick movie deal. Kudos to Woodstein for pulling it off. ACH (11/5/09)

I’m a little late on this. Last night while listening to the Billy Bush Shown on 1065, I heard an announcement during a commercial break that “Mix 1065 is Baltimore’s #1 Hit Music Station”. Of course, I didn’t know of 104.3’s format change until I read of it on DCRTV. Mix had a chance to go full blown CHR, and could have been great at it. Now they may have to redo some things over there format wise. With 104.3 going commercial free for 10,000 songs, it’s not going to hurt things any for them. Who knows? Maybe some of the MIX people may be lured over to the new 104.3. (11/5/09)

Re: "When W. Mark Felt, the onetime number two at the FBI, unmasked himself as Deep Throat in May 2005, a few close observers weren't surprised. They had suspected that Felt was Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's fabled Watergate source." It wasn't only "close observers" who weren't surprised that Mark Felt was indeed Deep Throat, but anyone who closely followed Watergate knew for decades that Mark Felt was the only logical candidate to have been Deep Throat. It came as no surprise to almost everyone when he "outted" himself and his identity was then confirmed by Woodward and Bernstein. /s/ J. E. Hoover (11/5/09)

The appendix is traditionally thought to have no function in the human body. This may well be the case, but one function I can think of in Glenn Beck's case, is that it will shut him the hell up for a little while. Good. (11/5/09)

(1) Montgomery County's traffic signal master computer crashes, causing complete gridlock; (2) A Metro computer fails, causing their website to crash and a host of other problems;and (3) Cox experiences a major outage causing all converter boxes to stop working. Wow - what are the odds of three major technological failures in a single day? Speaking of failures, WUSA's Brett Haber can find time on tonight's 11pm sportscast to talk about the latest Redskins rumors, but can't even mention the fact that there's a baseball game going on. You know, something called the WORLD SERIES in which the Yankees are three outs away from becoming world champions. Come on, Brett. People DO care about baseball in this market, you dumb jerk. BG (11/5/09)

Hello, Any news as to why Cox Cable TV is down. Some stations are working. But the most important channel, Fox 5, cannot be seen. I am missing the World Series. I am so pissed off. I was wondering if you heard anything as to what happened. I cannot call anyone, the phone is busy. Sent an email but doubt I will hear anything for days. Demanded 30 day refund for this crap. Cox suggested this: "Some customers in Northern Virginia may experience a loss of Video services. For those customers using a cable box if it is bypassed and a direct connection is made then channels 2-99 will be available." It did not work for me. Michael Carr (11/5/09)

From techs at the Cox headend: A major power disruption occurred just past 5PM, lots of equipment affected. They are now bringing things back online slowly, major channels should be back in a few hours, will take longer to restore complete service. (11/5/09)

We’ve checked with Cox in Atlanta since you can’t get through on the local lines, it appears there has been a major power disruption at their distribution center in Northern Virginia and they are working on restoring the UPS (Uninterruptible Power System). It looks like this has been going on at least since 6PM, that was the time stamp on one of their emails. (11/5/09)

Is it just a glitch, or has WBFF permanently abandoned ThisTV? ... Meanwhile, MPT is right now conducting a prolonged demonstration that they STILL don't know how to work their DTV equipment--no sound for 19 minutes, abandoning a program for a PSA informing us to get ready for DTV by February 2009, re-starting the program from the beginning with the wrong aspect ratio AND no sound... sheesh... (11/5/09)

All the unencrypted channels coming through the QAM tuner in my HDTV have had garbled audio and video the past 24 hours. I have Comcast basic cable in Stafford. I am wondering if it is even worth it to call the support line as I have a feeling it will be a futile cause given past experience with these folks. (11/5/09)

/\ November 5 Messages /\

\/ November 4 Messages \/

Dave, I have to agree with you on Plante being an idiot. This morning, I could only stand a few minutes of this buffoon going on and on about the NJ & VA results, while completely ignoring the results from the NY 23rd and the CA 10th.(...not to mention the exit polling data from the governors races that completely contradicted his position). Additionally, he was crowing about a gay marriage law being defeated in Maine while never mentioning the domestic partnership bill that was approved in Washington. Do rational people really listen to this fool? Is there no one at WMAL that can present a balanced, thoughtful discussion about anything? Even the most casual observers would concede that the results from yesterday were a mixed bag at best. I suppose that the WMALers are the embodiment of the old saying...when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. MW (11/4/09)

A major outage for Cox customers in northern Virgina. All service through cable boxes has failed. Customers are being advised to bypass cable box and plug cable directly into TV for analog channels 2 through 99. Outage has been ongoing for several hours with no estimate on a fix. (11/4/09)

How cute...The mailbag tough guy has moved on to another name in hopes of hiding from the big bad newcomer...Well, "Mr. Harrison"...You know, that's a fine idea...Maybe my show calling him at that classy Ocean City establishment is the way to go...So, why not just give me this forgotten on air personality's name and we'll chat with him on Friday night? I mean calling a bar and asking for Mr. WOW would just be silly, now wouldn't it? Almost as silly as, say, posting in a mailbag anonymously, don't you agree? -Mr. Collings (11/4/09)

RESPONSE TO: OMG did someone bring race into the WCHH flip the answer to that is yes i did it is a know fact that urban radio whether it is hip-hop urban or urban adult that these formats do not bill as well as there white counterparts. Well why is that? Is it because advertisers do not want the black 18-34 set in there stores who knows i have even heard Kathy Hughes herself say this out of her own mouth so.............. Radio One her company dominates Baltimore because CBS Radio and Clear Channel let Radio One dominate the market 92Q and MAGIC 959 are not that great PLEASE. It is a medium size radio market so that might be part of the reason as well look at the top 10 CBS and or Clear Channel battles Radio One with no problem so market size might be why Baltimore is ruled by Radio One Its not top 10,15, and it is NO LONGER a top 20 market. Remember X1057 that was a CBS station(urban hip-hop) and it had strong ratings verses 92Q so you are wrong and what happened CBS flipped it in 2003 WHY because it did not bill well even when 92Q was number #1 it did not bill as well as WPOC, WLIF, or even WBAL why is this and it still does not? I think that the market would have been better served with a MAGIC 959 clone and Steve Harvey in the AM not CHR but only time will tell there is always 102.7. I think that when race might be a factor in something people need to stop assuming that the race card is being pulled or OMG here we go again with race and pull there head out of the sand. There is a reason why WPGC and 92Q (for example) did not bill as well as stations under them even when they were number #1 rated stations. THINK ABOUT IT. (11/4/09)

From washingtoncitypaper.com: Allen v. Roig-Franzia Fisticuffs: The Movie... Did anyone actually end up writhing on the floor? Where did Allen connect? Was there any shoving involved? How quickly did Brauchli get to the scene of the crime? Hit play and find out! (11/4/09)

Good job by CC with putting CHR on 104.3!! The only format Clear Channel does well is Top 40/CHR! Look for Elvis Duran in the morning and Ryan Seacrest during the midday somewhere. I'm sure they will have a local DJ in the afternoon and something cool at night. Then look for the Premium Choice programming to fill out the rest! (11/4/09)

Hey Collings! I'll be more then willing to call you out! I know WOW he will not be listening, He does not care what you post, He likes to dangle the prize in front of you and keep you as a sucker. He's done that very well with a pompous webcaster that loves to see his name on posts. (So do I). You asked how many listeners he has, I would guess on any given day over 100, 1,000, 10,000. Believe him when he tells you he agreed to dis-agree, he meant that and wanted to end it right there. But no, you had to git uppity. WOW will not call you, He'll probably be in Ocean City with his bride at Liquid Assets toasting Webcast Broadcasting. Of course, you could call him there. Mr. WOW is not afraid of calling he just doesn't care. Signed: Mr. Harrison (11/4/09)

On the subject of “stunting”, my earliest recollection of it is from the early seventies when “the real ABC” flipped KGO-FM in San Francisco to a pseudo-“Musicradio” format (as KSFX, IIRC “Rock ‘N’ Stereo 104!”) from an alt-rocker by playing Gary Glitter’s “Rock and Roll Part Two” continuously for something like a month between formats. And, thank God the election campaigns are over. Spots for Boston Medical, Evercleanse, and the like are much less a punch-out factor than political spots will ever be. –Unsigned Corporate Suit (11/4/09)

OMG, did someone actually try to bring RACE into the 104.3 switch? Did I hear that correct? I mean c'mon, that's the nuttiest complaint I've ever read. First off CC already runs a profitable gospel station, WCAO 600 that bills well, but CBS has already tried to compete with Radio One in Baltimore and failed miserably. This notion that urban radio formats don't do well advertising wise needs to just stop right here. This has nothing to do with race, more the fact that Radio One pretty much rules Baltimore's urban formats except for WCAO and even that is probably only because of the superior signal and facilities since both AM 1400 and 1010 have been downgraded to basically local neighborhood radio stations. Neither cover the market anymore. Baltimore has NO CHR Top 40 station and hasn't for quite awhile. The format was obviously picked for exactly that reason, and because HOT 99.5 keeps popping up in the Baltimore Arbitrons. This notion that urban stations don't bill advertising well is ridiculous. The ad billing problem on Top 40 or Urban stations is not based on race, its based on AGE! (11/4/09)

So far so good with Z104.3 IMO. The music is great & CC seems to be the only ones who can program CHR so I think it was a good move... But the question will be the airstaff. Is Kane going to be the morning man? If so than Z104.3 will probably have issues gaining ratings traction as it would be just a duplicate of 99.5 much like Channel 104.3 was to DC101. Also will they be smart enough to have a local morning show & afternoon show? I don't think anything says the people have to have been born in B-More but not being Vt-d in the Morning, Afternoon & evening are big. If CC learned from mistakes of Channel104.3 or at least does the CHR station right like 995.5 & Lancaster PA's 96.9 then Z104.3 will pounce at the joke known as Mix 106.5. As for Jason Kidd calling 106.5 the #1 hit station, funny. They're still playing a ton of 90's female crap & every other song is Nickelback or O.A.R. or something. Mix was only good when they were true hot AC & played 80's as well all of the tweaks into what it is now have made it a pure crap station. As for gospel on 104.3, it's yet wasting another good Music signal on something only worth being on the AM dial. The move of 1300 local sports to 105.7 worked because sports is actually relevant especially in a town with a heritage Baseball team & a great football team. FM Talk & Gospel won't work because it's just people preaching their opinion whether by the bible or their one way political views than no one is ever allowed speak against if they don't agree in the show host's opinion. Then there was 98Rock celebrating the death of Channel 104.3 this morning. Yes 98Rock won the battle that never was, but 98Rock's music wasn't & isn't any superior to 104.3's. 98Rock plays the same older than old rock songs or the usual played Sublime or Foo Fighters, and when it's not those songs it's all talk all day long & especially at nights when the last thing I want to hear is talk, couldn't they simply plug in the HD3 programming that would be so much better than some random guys running at the mouth? Mickey, Amelia, and Spiegel are the best morning show Baltimore has & I listen every morning but outside of that they are no better than Channel 104.3 when it comes to the music. Alt-rock is a great music format, but when CC does it half assed & 98Rock acts like Alt-rock never existed it automatically gets a bad rap. Meanwhile the station that could take it to 98Rock in the Baltimore market & yet play the best Alt-rock music still has Spanish shit on it's frequency. (11/4/09)

So the Baltimore market finally has a CHR station again. For years, I couldn’t believe the market had no CHR. When the PPM came to town, CHR just had to happen. Clear Channel and CBS have been flipping a bunch of stations to CHR because the format is inexpensive and gets tremendous cumes with the PPM. A huge cume can mask short time spent listening by helping to generate good quarter-hour numbers, and most media buys are based on AQH. For the poster who wanted a WCAO simulcast, a gospel FM in Baltimore probably would get pretty good Arbitron numbers. But that format is still a hard sell to advertisers. Roddy Freeman (11/4/09)

The imaging is very simular to Z100 in NYC. It also sounds like Dave Foxx is doing the imaging. Mike (11/4/09)

Just saw the note about MIX 1065 mentioning #1 Hit... What a mistake! Mix is so vurnerable, espcially with the spot load, 10 minute stop sets don't work with chr. They would do best headed back to being an adult CHR and let Z1043 get the young ones. Think about Z1043 6-18, Mix 18-34. I would much rather have the later demo. (11/4/09)

Clear Channel is ridiculous. I was a loyal listener to the Smooth Jazz 104.3 station and actually came to enjoy the Alt Rock format that just got yanked! Maybe the next format should be Gregorian Chant music. (11/4/09)

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), better known by her stage name Lady Gaga is an American recording artist. (11/4/09)

I saw in the mail bag that people think Kirk & Mark are going to 104.3 They are not top 40 style morning dj's. I agree what other are saying in that Baltimore radio needs Baltimore roots for their hosts. People read right throught the Bob & Tom crap and are smart enough to figure out that Elliott was from dc when you can pick it up loud and clear in downtown on DC 101 and hear the delay as you hit the 104.3 button on your car radio. It was kinda funny to hear that. My feelings are that 104.3 will get a zoo style morning show like z100 in NYC and that Kirk maybe w Mark will land at 100.7 the Bay. I think that would be a good move for the Bay to bring back Kirk as he is a big part of Baltimore morning radio. Just my 2 cents. Mike (11/4/09)

I agree with others...I think CC will either put Top 40/CHR or Rush/Hannity/Beck on 104.3. But my guess is Top 40/CHR. They don't have one of those in Baltimore, and they would love to get Seacrest on in that market. Both of the new Rush markets have Top 40's already and Baltimore doesn't....So my guess is that it will be Top 40.... (11/4/09)

Interesting convo in the mailbag today! Here's a question, why flip to hit music to go up against Mix 106.5 when they should go up against the station that has dropped from 1 to 5 overall in the past few years...92Q! There is no void in CHR with Mix performing very well. CC should hire a search party to find the 'Big Phat Morning Show' if they want to really want to 'MIX THINGS UP!' (11/4/09)

WOW.....Ouch, you're on to us....Yeah, broadcasting to friends and family...So, so accurate. Tell me something, how many listeners do you have today, Old Timer? None, you say? Well, that's because you are a nameless nobody who is too ashamed of his broadcast career to post his name on this site for fear a reader will think to themself "Who?". Sure, we broadcast to a small audience...Have to start somewhere...See, we like the challenge of building an audience. Hell, I know I gained a new listener this week...You....And I have your attention..You wouldn't feel compelled to respond to my every post if I didn't have your attention. Afterall, you're about to type another response to me right about now. I know I can't wait to see it. -John Collings (11/4/09)

So, Jason Kidd just id'ed MIX 1065 as Baltimore's #1 Hit Music Station.... (11/4/09)

Wanted to plant a seed that CC might be thinking of placing Kane in Baltimore now. Of course that leads to a "battle for CC morning show supremacy" or sorts between Kane and Elliott, but that rivalry has been quietly brewing anyway with Kane's popularity on the rise. (11/4/09)

Dave's response: Look, importing DC's Elliot for 104.3 wasn't so successful. Why would doing the same with DC's Kane be a good idea? Give 104.3 its own Baltimore-based morning show, you Clear Channel cheapskates. Sheesh.....

As long as we are discussing Sesame Street and its 40th anniversary, I'll mention my one degree of separation from the show's chief writer, Lou Berger, whom I first met when we sat next to each other in the first grade at P.S. 139 in Brooklyn, NY. Even as a young kid, he told stories with made-up characters when we were walking down the street, came up with music parodies (even though none of us knew that was what you called creating your own clever lyrics to songs), put on puppet shows, and was an all-around great guy; he was also good at Rigolevio (look it up), which we played in the alleys between the apartment buildings. His parents were the nicest people on earth. His father worked at a business in Manhattan and his favorite customer was (I'm not kidding) Soupy Sales. They took me to see Man of La Mancha at the Anta-Washington Theater in Greenwich Village when it was still an off-Bway production; how did they know it would become world famous? It just seems fitting that the most inventive, entertaining kid from off Cortelyou Road in Flatbush would entertain millions (billions?) of children with his inventiveness. I haven't seen him in 30 years but this 40th anniversary got me reminiscing. -- Carl in Olney (11/4/09)

Someone here made reference earlier to Clear Channel Radio not being big on the idea of executing Urban Contemporary or black formats. That must be the case because they continue to launch lame no listener no money making formats and stay with them for years before launching another lame no money maker in these large urban markets. Clear Channel has a AM Gospel station called WCAO there in Baltimore that consistently places in the Top 10 in ratings and is programmed well. The station has been named the nation's "Best Gospel Station" numerous years in a row. If they were ever tired of failing at 104.3 all they would need to do is adjust the building's digital switcher to carry WCAO's winning gospel format on 104.3 and watch this top 10 AM station be a Top 5 FM for the region. It would be a smart move, but Clear Channel is not into smart moves. They'll instead go from one joke of a format to another. In this instance, go after MIX 106.5 and chip literally fractions off their numbers leaving them still in the ratings basement. All of this as they ignore a move to a black format that makes sense and would work. AMAZING! (11/4/09)

Don't know if this means much, but among the fan list on "Z104.3" facebook page is Rob Kruz (Feldman). He's the weeknight DJ on Adult CHR WQAL/104.1 (Q104) in Cleveland. Again, it's prolly nothing, but that's the real name that sticks out for me. I have a feeling this format is going to stick. Consider, too, their first two posts: "Listen LIVE to ALL THE HITS at the new http://Z1043.com!" and "Hello Baltimore!!! How ya doin'? We're here to MIX THINGS UP!!!!" -Nate from Cleveland (11/4/09)

I sure as hell hope that Comcast SportsNet and NBC4 don't merge. If that happens, all the Caps' and Wizards' games will once again be in standard definition only, George Michael will be anchoring Sports Night, and the network will see virtually no technical upgrades for about a decade, quickly falling far behind its competitors in appearance and presentation. (11/4/09)

What is hard to believe isn't that CNN finished outside the top-30 cable networks in prime time, but rather, the fact that they were beat by MSNBC?!?! www.mediaite.com. Olbermann and Maddow must be laughing their butts off after beating Larry King and Anderson Cooper. (11/4/09)

Kane will most likely be the morning show Dave along with Ryan Seacrest etc. and Thea Mitchum will be OM/PD Steve Harvey and the urban adult was the way to go oh well good luck CC(not really) ha ha. (11/4/09)

Collings…again, grow up! You are a WEB announcer with an audience of family and friends only…get it WEB. And, you still can’t read-*(AGREED TO DISAGREE-Your statement.*“I won’t be listening”, and no one I know will. we’re too old and in bed that time of night. LOL. You aren’t getting my attention you’re making an ass of yourself.-This is the end of your 15 seconds of glory-WOW (11/4/09)

Dave, I'm assuming, based on a previous message that you posted, that Fox 5 is still undergoing some sort of transmitter problems. I have Directv and, along with other posters from other cable, satellite feeds, all experiencing the same garbled picture during recent football and baseball games, along with periods where the audio is also garbled. I can deal with the lack of the audio problems, but a lost or distorted picture during a touchdown drive or a critical inning of a World Series game is very frustrating. Fox 5 doesn't even bother to acknowledge a problem nor offer an apology. David in Hyattsville (11/4/09)

Poster who was defining Conservatives and Republicans. I did understand that just mis-spoke. You are totally correct my bad! –WOW:0) (11/4/09)

Well Dave I guess since Hot 995,Magic 959,Mixx 1065, and WHUR are all successful formats in both markets i guess that CC is trying out all of them. Problem is they probably should go with the soul/urban adult format giving Baltimore`s large african-american population and with the PPM success of WWIN but as you and so many other people have said urban station`s even when highly rated do not ad rate very well which may be a racial thing(probably is). I know someone a CC(Baltimore)and it has been explained to me that they are not really hot on black formats(If Charm 1043 was a stunt they most likely will not run that format) so we will see,but good business is good business people`s personal feeling`s should not come into play. Z-1043 sounds like Hott 995 and WWMX. Let`s see what happens at 2p.m. format wise. (11/4/09)

I just glanced again at the WCHH website; earlier, there was just a splash graphic, but now it looks like there’s an actual site using the Z104.3 graphic—with the standard “10,000 songs in a row” launch line. As always, thanks! EJM (11/4/09)

I will miss Z104.3 if it too is a stunt. Hopefully this one will stick and they will stop messing with us. I bet Mix 1065 won't be happy if it stays around. (11/4/09)

WOW....Got YOUR attention, didn't I? Mission accomplished. Offer still stands, Old Timer. And thanks for listening. -John Collings (11/4/09)

To WOW,” A) Hoffman did not run as a Republican, he ran under the “Conservative Party;” don’t confuse the parties, and don’t discount or dismiss the differences between the Republican Party and the “Conservative Party.” Listen to Sean Hannity and Mark Levin on WMAL and they will explain the differences in ideology between the two. B) Republican nominees won in Virginia and New Jersey, not, “Conservative Party” members. Again, don’t confuse the two. C) Did Sean Hannity ask a real question to Doug Hoffman here? www.realclearpolitics.com. Remember, Sean Hannity is not a “Republican,” he is a “Conservative.” In summary, David Brooks, a Republican, was correct; these political talk show "entertainers" don't have any real political power or muscle. They tried to show they had electoral influence using New York 23, but they failed. Sean, Freddy, and Jerri probably even made matters worse with that embarrassing interview linked above. (11/4/09)

Exactly how much power a town has when it comes to control over its local radio stations? Reason I ask, my sister works for the town of Mount Jackson, VA and she was telling me there is actually a very old law that is still on the books dating back to 1955 where WSIG-AM radio under Mount Jackson town law must air "at least 75% of religious programming on Sundays and 25% during the rest of the week". Now I know the call letters WSIG are now based in Harrisonburg and the old WSIG-AM 790 has gone through a variety of different formats over the years including the changing of the call letters to WSVG-AM so I guess this "law" means nothing now since it applies only to WSIG-AM, not WSVG-AM and there is no WSIG on the AM in Mount Jackson. But going back to the days of WSIG-AM 790, I wonder if this "law" was even enforced? On a similar note I swear I can remember reading back in the early 80's in the old Washington Star where the town of Warrenton had some "law" on their books in reguards to WKCW-AM 1430 where the format of WKCW can't switch away from country and western music. As I can recall the town of Warrenton became concerned over the rumors that "Big K" would switch from country to rock & roll. Wonder if this law is still on the books in Warrenton? If it is of course it wasn't enforced" when WKCW dropped classic country in favor of spanish many years ago. Wonder if the current/past owners of WKCW know about this, that is if the WKCW law is still even on the books in Warrenton. (11/4/09)

They (CC) are also stunting at a St. Louis station (11/4/09)

Looks like CHR is it. They now have a full website for “Z-104.3” including a Facebook page. (11/4/09)

RE 104.3 - Look at what CC just did in several markets: yanked Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannitty away from the AM stations that had been airing hin and switch an FM to news/talk. CC owns Premiere which syndicates Rush & Hannitty and others....... (11/4/09)

Dave's response: My sources tell me that Clear Channel almost put news talk on 104.3 in 2008 instead of alt rock. Hmmmm. That would really kill WCBM if it happens.....

Can someone in the radio industry please explain for me the purpose of "stunting" (ala 104.3)? Sure, it gets the notice of radio geeks and insiders, but I would think "bluff" formats just confuse and annoy average listeners. Why waste time getting to the new format? Just do the flip and march ahead. Why is that a weird concept? (11/4/09)

I guess its easier to change an entire format than to put more effort into doing more than skimming the surface of Modern Rock. Taking Idiot in the Morning off was a good move. Too bad it came while trashing what could have been a good station. The ratings would have been higher if listeners could hear music in the mornings. There is a reason music lovers turn on the radio and it ISN'T for a self adoring talk show. CC could have taken a lesson from WHFS and the incredibly dumb decision to put The Junkies on what was supposed to be 'coffee for the ears' morning drivetime. I don't LIKE junkies or idiots in the morning. I like MUSIC. And THATS what Channel1043 could have been about...good music!!!!But a halfass attempt is the best you'll ever get out of media giants these days. After all...why bother earning the money for being in charge of something you know nothing about when you can just butcher it?!?!????Donnie in Redneck and Rap ONLY country. (11/4/09)

104.3 is stunting different formats. Now it’s “Z 104.3” CHR. (11/4/09)

By the way...we are still rocking! - DCRTV May 23, 2008: 104.3 Flips To Alt Rock & Elliot... Clear Channel flipped Baltimore's Smooth Jazz 104.3 at noon Friday to alternative rock, with a relay of "Elliot In The Morning" from sister rocker DC101 in morning drive. Now known as "Channel 104.3," the station is aiming at the heavily male demographics of Hearst active rocker WIYY, 98 Rock, and Shamrock classic rocker WZBA, The Bay. The first song on the new 104.3 was "No Way Back" by the Foo Fighters. WSMJ will change calls to WCHH on 5/29. New website at channel1043.com. So, how does a top 98 Rocker react to the news? "Just another 'corporate' rock alternative. Guys with ties don't understand Baltimore. We are a rock town. And with over 31 years of rock under our belt, I am looking forward to another 30 years being the rock of Baltimore," WIYY Program Director David Hill tells DCRTV. (11/4/09)

Mr. Collings identifying yourself is your desperate attempt to get attention we pro’s understand that: get a life (snippet) Take care! -John Collings(end of snippet)-WOW (11/4/09)

Thought you and your readers would enjoy this piece on the fact that Nixon's White House had their own source inside the Washington Post during Watergate. www.washingtonian.com. An excerpt: "When W. Mark Felt, the onetime number two at the FBI, unmasked himself as Deep Throat in May 2005, a few close observers weren’t surprised. They had suspected that Felt was Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s fabled Watergate source: In 1974, just two months after All the President’s Men disclosed Deep Throat’s existence, Washingtonian editor Jack Limpert fingered Felt as the likeliest Deep Throat. What remains a Watergate mystery is how the Nixon White House learned in October 1972 that Felt was the Washington Post’s source. Decades later, it’s apparent that the White House had a secret source of its own inside the Post, a person who might be dubbed Richard Nixon’s Deep Throat." Thanks!(11/4/09)

"Clear Channel has dumped the alternative rock from its WCHH, 104.3 FM, in favor of soul oldies as "Baltimore's Best R&B." Baltimore folks... you can still hear alternative rock on your computer. Point your computer to whfs.com and you can listen to HFS all you want! (11/4/09)

Dave's response: DC101 plays pretty much the same music and you can hear that throughout Baltimore. Plus, 98 Rock has an alt rock HD Radio channel. And you can probably hear WCHH's sister alt rocker from Philly, WRFF on 104.5, in some northeastern Baltimore area neighborhoods and in Harford.....

Another Snippet(And you sir, are nothing more than a wanna be know it all hidden by a curtain on anonymity. So, get back to me when you have the bravery to post your true identity on here...But until such time....Enjoy our show...Friday's 11pm on WEBR...Because I know you'll be listening....And my offer still stands...Feel free to call....Take care! -John Collings "The Other Guys Show" (end of Snippet) Once again I repeat..You stated in your initial diatribe (“AGREE TO DISAGREE”) Re-read what I said back sir. As for relavency…webtalk….not radio…webtalk. As for listening….LOL. There is not a chance in hell I’d be listening to you or anyone else on the web that time of night any night. You want my credentials…3 MAJOR MARKETS, 3 TOP STATIONS. NATIONAL TALK (*RADIO) OVER 100 AFFILIATES. I know who I am and most of the readers on DCRTV know who I am. Rusty knows who I am.-Chill your drawers, grow up-WOW (11/4/09)

LOL at the mainstream media at MSNBC, CNN, and the rest of them saying yesterday's results weren't a referendum on Obama's radical policies. Hopefully, Comrade Obama will continue on his road to a socialist America so that the November 2010 massacre can rid American of our path to tyranny. (11/4/09)

More bay. Harvey "Would hire Tommy in a heartbeat..... Multiple choices: (A) Tommy doesn't want to be in Baltimore, (B) Harvey doesn't want Tommy in Baltimore (C), Harvey does want Tommy, but can't pay all of the players that Tommy wants because the station pissed away one quarter of a million $$$ on Boob & Tom, or (D) heartbeat ???...what heartbeat??? (11/4/09)

Not surprising that Elliott didn’t work on 104.3 in Baltimore. Baltimore has a long history of rejecting non-local radio except the right-wing AM radio talkers and Urbans. Howard Stern never got numbers in Baltimore, and Bob and Tom failed twice (amazing that the nit-wits at The Bay brought them back). Either just shut up and play music, or get someone local talking about Baltimore-centric things in there. Nothing else will work and never has. I wonder what’s in store for 104.3? Anyone know more? (11/4/09)

Idiot…the one raking Limbaugh and the rest of the “talkers” because NY was won……(didn’t notice New Jersey and Virginia???) You DICK-WOW (11/4/09)

The entire station is gone. Charm104.3 R&B. (11/4/09)

Oh yeah. Kirk & Mark will get back together right after Brad Pitt & Rosie O'Donnell go down on each other. (11/4/09)

I recall the day clearly when Laurie DeYoung, (with Rocky at that time), came to WPOC. I was the Sunday morning guy then. They rang the front door and told me they were the new morning team in for training. Nobody told me anything about this, so it took a call to the PD before I allowed them in. Rocky rubbed me the wrong way, but even then Laurie was the most gracious person who I knew had quite a future. Indeed, she was a trailblazer, and despite radio, has managed to stay a fixture in Baltimore morning radio. Laurie, it was a pleasure being the one to help get you trained, just as Jeff Michaels was the one to show me the ropes way back in 1978! Congratulations Laurie! Tom Conroy, afternoons WZBB (11/4/09)

Looks like 104.3 switched...check its website (11/4/09)

Didn't I read that there was a roast of Mervis and Hedges coming up? that Greaseman was one of the roasters. when was it? if it already happened, how did the Grease do? Anyone go? (11/4/09)

just saw your blurb about elliot no longer being on 104.3 as of 10am this morning. out of curiousity, i pulled up their website (www.channel104.3.com) and it now goes to a single page site that says "Charm 104.3 Baltimore's best R&B" so i'd say its official that they're flipping formats. (11/4/09)

Baltimore's Channel 104.3 has just flipped to R&B as Charm 104.3. (11/4/09)

104.3 - Did you check out their website they switched to R&B. (11/4/09)

WOW, sir....clearly you are in over your head at this point. So, I don't fault you for taking your ball and going home. You've abandoned your original argument and moved on to nothing more than reciting your past work history and personal rules of life...None of which have any relivancy to the original subject. Additionally, I openly announced who I was on this site, yet find it interesting that you continue to hide your identity, but while all the same telling readers how "important" you may have once been. I invited you to discuss the issue and it is evident you don't feel you can step into the ring and talk it over. I can respect that. Not everyone has a point to their posts on here. Some just post to be "that guy". You, sir, are "that guy". The guy who loves to log on to a web site message board and be Mr. Speak for the Masses. The only problem is...You have nothing to fall back on. No substance. Where you've worked, who you know, and what company you may or may not own has no relivancy here. What does have relivancy is identity. And you sir, are nothing more than a wanna be know it all hidden by a curtain on anonymity. So, get back to me when you have the bravery to post your true identity on here...But until such time....Enjoy our show...Friday's 11pm on WEBR...Because I know you'll be listening....And my offer still stands...Feel free to call....Take care! -John Collings "The Other Guys Show" (11/4/09)

This was forwarded to DCRTV.....

Thank you for supporting Baltimore's Channel 104.3! Everyone at Channel 104.3 would like to take this opportunity to thank you for listening and supporting us since we came on the air in May of 2008. We couldn't have done it without you, nor could we have asked for more passionate music fans like you. Unfortunately, today we must say goodbye to Baltimore's Alternative - Channel 104.3 as WCHH makes way for a new Baltimore radio station at 104.3 FM. We hope that you'll check out the new station. Elliot In The Morning and your favorite Alternative music can still be heard in Baltimore on DC101. You can also listen to Elliot In The Morning, DC101 and other great music formats at iheartradio. Check it out here and download the free app to your iPhone or BlackBerry. (11/4/09)

Could 104.3 be "clearing the (morning) deck" for a return to the Baltimore airwaves of Kirk and Mark? --Barney in Annapolis (11/4/09)

Elliott on DC101 just announced that today will be his last day on 104 in Baltimore. He says that more people in Balto were listening to him on DC101 than on 104. (11/4/09)

Interesting and good to hear Michael Graham on IMUS this morning. Also, (RE: I do suspect that Deeds will win in Northern Virginia - especially in Fairfax and Arlington counties - but lose big time around the rest of the state.) Deeds did win in Arlington CO and the City of Alexandria but lost Fairfax and Loudon pretty handily The Virginia SBE site is pretty "red" this morning...Its a good morning~! (11/4/09)

Dave's response: The race was pretty close in Fairfax, but Deeds did lose the county by a few points. Yes, that was a surprise to me. And, yes, McDonnell won rather handily in Loudoun (!) and Prince William, as expected. I think that many voters were disappointed with current Dem gov Kaine and his decision to take the party chairmanship while also remaining gov. A bad move. And, I think, that many Dems were also disappointed with Deeds and his unimpressive and lackluster campaign. Yeah, McDonnell ran a great campaign and painted himself effectively as a "son of Fairfax" and it worked. Now, Obama and the Dems need to heed the "message" of yesterday, including the loss of the NJ governorship, and prevent a mid-term massacre next year, like what happened to Bill Clinton in 1994. But remember, even with that, including the failed "Hillary Care," Clinton managed to get re-elected in 1996. Yesterday's events are far from the "total Dem collapse" that idiots like Chris Plante are calling it today.....

I have to laugh every time I see the Reliant ad at the top of the DCRTV page touting they are on in Barstow. Well, that’s not such a big deal anymore because those Barstow stations are almost totally automated now, the staff of the ‘Highway Stations” having been cut about a month ago. Only AM and PM drive are live now, and the rest is segue city. I’ve heard too many times where the automation failed to fire up the traffic reports and we’d hear nothing but dead air for a couple of minutes before a jingle and more music. The reports I have heard while on the way to Vegas sound like they’re phoned in and are hissy. It’s kind of disconcerting that traffic reports come from across the country now. At least they used to come from Metro/Los Angeles. Bill Powers/Los Angeles (11/4/09)

Google is observing the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street. Man, lotta f***ing cookies gone under THAT bridge, eh? So let's see where we are: Jim Henson is dead, Mr Hooper (Will Lee) is dead, David (Northern J Calloway) is dead, Placido Flamingo (Richard Hunt) is dead, at least one of the Gordons (Matt Robinson) is dead, Jeff Moss (composer of "Rubber Duckie") is dead, Joe Raposo (composer of "Its Not Easy Bein' Green" and "C is for Cookie") is likewise dead, and now Elmo is coping with the death of an uncle in combat. So who's outlived them all? A 7-foot canary. Ponderous... (and congrats to Baltimore native Kevin Clash for being the life and soul of one of S.S.'s most enduring and globally-recognizable characters: Elmo) (11/4/09)

Mr. Collings I made a rule to myself many moons ago…NEVER DEBATE THE UNARMED. I SIMPLY AGREE TO DISAGREE. Evidently you can't read either! As ror the comparison between you and Sorce/Geronimo...you just don't get it do you!! I'm done, I fight fairly in life, AND FULLY UNDERSTAND STUDIO CONTROL...SWITCH OFF AT OPPORTUNE TIME.! Now, try for another intelligent retort. BYE-WOW (sheepishly grinning) (11/4/09)

I agree that the EB-JP argument was hideous to listen to...because it was so transparently phony. It was obvious they were vamping and just trying to kill time. They were so upset with each other that they were preparing to let it continue through to another segment and take calls about it. Sure, sure. I don't know if they did or not; I switched over to Jack Diamond for some real laughs by then. (Jack's best line this morning: "I don't know how Bruce feels about bootleg recordings; I've never asked him"...as if he chats with Springsteen regularly. He then went on to talk about his good friend Simon LeBon. Jack always delivers!!) Meanwhile back to 106.7: EB, you have to ease up on the fake "angry man" schtick. It's old. (11/4/09)

It's fantastic news to see that Laurie DeYoung is headed for the Country Music D.J. Hall of Fame. She has been a trail-blazer for women in radio (and the rest of us too!) as a headliner of a female-only morning show on WPOC that has consistently ranked near or at the top of the rankings over the years! And to top it off, she is a warm, humble and decent human being who always puts others in front of herself. I count myself blessed to have spent almost ten years working and learning with her. God bless, and way to go, LDY! You surely deserve this! Bill "Aaron" Rehkopf, KDKA-Pittsburgh (11/4/09)

I would personally like to thank Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Freddy Thompson, Mark Levin, and Rush Limbaugh for mucking up New York's 23rd Congressional race this year and handing the solidly Republican seat to a Democrat. Keep talking guys! www.mediaite.com (11/4/09)

/\ November 4 Messages /\

\/ November 3 Messages \/

"Checking in on this clawless cat fight from afar, one fact holds true. ANYONE, who professionally or personally thinks it is a compliment to be compared to Mike Sorce/Don Geronimo IN ANY FASHION, loses by default!" -Yeah....God forbid anyone actually appreciates a local radio legend....just more mailbag know-nothing psychobabble. (11/3/09)

What I like about lil' tommy gavin is his drive despite what adversities life may have placed upon him. Plus I think he's funnier than your average re. You know! Is the MOM show coming to KCJJ 1630 am? I hope MOM has learned to lighten up, less political talk and lousy interviews. frankly, I think BAM understood more what Geronimo was trying to do just not great at the execution. So if'en O'Meara's free in January 2010 does that mean Don Juan Geronimo is also free at same time? Did Lindsey Murphy climb over Dave Ross on the sport's ladder over at channel 5? (11/3/09)

Checking in on this clawless cat fight from afar, one fact holds true. ANYONE, who professionally or personally thinks it is a compliment to be compared to Mike Sorce/Don Geronimo IN ANY FASHION, loses by default! (11/3/09)

You should call this part of your website the Dirtbag- because there is so much dirt. Tommy Griffiths has his audio web site and on it is a link to his resume page. Harvey Kojan wrote in his resume reccomendation that he would "hire Tommy in a heartbeat despite his politics" This is getting interesting, Love you, Kelli (11/3/09)

To the self-described "crack detective" speculating about Tommy Griffiths and the Bay: I'd "bet" you're dead wrong. -- Harvey (11/3/09)

WOW....while your resume is undoubtably impressive to those in your circle, it fails to really add much to our discussion. Are you declining my invitation to talk about the subject at hand on my show? And thank you for the kind words comparing me to Don Geronimo....I would consider myself honored to even be half the talent he was on the air.... (11/3/09)

As a radio listener, I lament the formats that have been lost. But, the business case for a niche format in a major market is tough to prove. Classical, Jazz, Oldies, C&W… all relegated to the ignominy of the “Island of Misfit Formats”. You’re actually more likely to find these in a smaller market than in the majors, albeit probably via a satellite feed. (Remember “True Oldies”?) In my Cadillac, if I have the radio on, and if I’m not listening to WTOP, I’m listening to the “Garage” on Sirius/XM. That’s because, if I’m listening to the radio and I’m not being informed, I want to be entertained. (There was a time when I actually listened for distant stations. But, I haven’t done that in decades.) I know that according to the White House, if I followed my “demographic identity”, I should be listening to Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity for entertainment. However, I find neither of them the least bit of an “entertainer”. But, then again, I’m one of the guys that pisses-off both political parties: I’m an independent! -Unsigned Corporate Suit (11/3/09)

Dave- I can’t seem to find any mention in the WaPo of the newsroom kerfluffle reported Monday by various sources. Has Broccoli imposed a newsroom crackdown on the incident? Maybe Kate Widemouth? I say put it on the front page; sell some damn papers for a change. Rick in Frednecksburg, VA (11/3/09)

(Shippet) WOW.....Agree to disagree then....See, you call it classless...but that's nothing more than your opinion...You are more than welcome to call my "classless" show Friday night at 11pm on WEBR and defend Old Tom if you'd like.(End of Snippet) Mr. Collings I made a rule to myself many moons ago…NEVER DEBATE THE UNARMED. I SIMPLY AGREE TO DISAGREE. Been in the WEBR studios, worked with Rusty. Been major market PAID rocker, talker, well salaried owner of an agency. Try your Geronimo elsewhere!-WOW!!!! (11/3/09)

Hey Shaun: Saw your post, you and I had some problems long ago in the past. Which is precisely where I'd like to leave them! I'll be sure to tune you in on Friday and I'd like to invite others to do the same. Though if I may say so myself, I thought the "Wednesday's Child" tag was quite appropriate if not somewhat harsh. Rusty Gibson /WEBR (11/3/09)

Before I read on DCRTV, "Al Santos seen roaming the halls of Jenifer Street yesterday"... let me put an end to any rumors before they start. Yes, I was up there and yes, I was roaming the halls (saying 'hi' to friends) but, the reason for my visit was to photograph a piece of art which, for the past 3 years, hung in the office of the Smooth Jazz Program Director. The beautifully rendered drawing of Jackie Allen, Jay Lang and yours truly, was sent in to the station some time ago. I was alerted by email the other day that it was going to be put up for grabs and while I DID WANT IT, it was just too LARGE and heavy to be hung on any of my walls (Jay Lang will be taking it) but, I did want to, at least, get a photo of it... and that (as Paul Harvey, heard on WMAL, would say), "is the rest of the story!". federAL SANTOS (11/3/09)

I am so ready and waiting to hear MOM and crew back on the air, somewhere/somehow. After months of nothing but political yelling and Redskin's (well Snyder/Vinny) hate, I long for a good, funny, variety-style show back on the air. (11/3/09)

Ok I'm officially confused Dave, the Monday Night Football skins ratings were up, but in separate news blurbs The Post said Redskins ratings were down after 6 weeks while a week or so later, Jim williams of The Examiner says they are strong and UP! HAha! Who's right and who's wrong? The MNF football ratings are irrelevant btw, every team gets a boost from that, but somebody's not telling the truth here. They can't be both right! LOL (11/3/09)

WOW.....Agree to disagree then....See, you call it classless...but that's nothing more than your opinion...You are more than welcome to call my "classless" show Friday night at 11pm on WEBR and defend Old Tom if you'd like...I'm certainly not afraid to debate your points on the air...but I'm willing to bet you don't have the balls to pull back that curtain of anonymity and call....11pm - Friday night - WEBR - 703-560-8255. Hope to hear from you, sir. -John Collings "The Other Guys Show" (11/3/09)

Response to Gavin: Yes I have met him, no I don’t like him. Yes he suffers from a gigantic ego..yes he does not take care of his body, yes he’s crass, rude and I am guessing very insecure realizing his limitations. he is handicapped. But, I see no reason to get to the level that was demonstrated by the CLASSLESS individual that made the comment. I’ve been around a long time and dealt with all types. I’ve been fairly successful in the broadcasting industry and in advertising. I see no reason to be that ugly. WOW (11/3/09)

Say what you want about Gavin, he’s always on time—never tardy. Seems like we’ve been listening to him forever. It seems like only yestardy he was on every day with D&M, telling us about his life in the group home, what he had for dinner, spelling things like “hambloorog” (Halloween). Watch it!! Roar like a monster, Tom! (11/3/09)

Dave, I love your site, I've read your for a few years now. This past summer I moved away from the DC area to Mobile, AL for college. I've had to get used to the new stations down here, but it's surprisingly similar. I have a question for you regarding one of the stations down here. I know that you specialize in DC/Baltimore TV and radio, but is there a way you can find out something for me? Down here we have a station called Q 100.7 FM, it's WJLQ based out of Pensacola, Florida. I set my alarm clock tuned to this station last night and they were playing normal music, but when it went off this morning they were playing some really weird shit. They played a few fake infomercials, then played some weird "If you encounter an extraterrestrial, please put on your GA and approach the EST..." or something like that. They keep telling listeners to tune in on Thursday, Nov 5 at noon, and the first time I heard them say that, it was obvious to me that they were stunting for a format change. They keep playing all sorts of off-the-wall stuff, from Cher to Michael Jackson to Conway Twitty to KC and the Sunshine Band. They also keep saying "A storm is coming..." so I can't figure out what they're switching to (other than a station called The Storm). Are you able to find out for me to what format they're changing? Thanks! Dennis (11/3/09)

Dave's response: Try All Access or Radio-Info. They both do a great job covering radio outside the DC-Baltimore area.....

Update on WAMS 1600 and the FCC STA madness....... DCRTV tech guru Dave Loudin was defending WAMS 1600 for its special temporary authority authorizations from the FCC for operating at low power for practically 10 years and not having proper transmitting facilities as licensed and gave several reasons why there is nothing wrong with this FCC policy. So, I decided to do an FCC search for all WXXY Broadcasting Inc. stations and guess what I found? Practically every station the company owns is either operating under an STA, completely dark, or operating under constantly changing construction permits & applications, none of which seem to ever get built. Is that not the definition of frequency warehousing or what? I'm sure you could make a valid argument for maybe 1 or 2 of their stations that there was a valid reason, but when you look at this company as a whole, in its entirety, it really looks pretty damning. Why in the world would the FCC keep giving out new stations to serial offenders? The only analogy that came to my mind would be like if adoption agencies were continuing to give out kids to serial pedophiles over and over. It's the public's airwaves, the FCC is supposed to protect it. Why is it wasting it by giving it out to people and companies with no interest to broadcast anything as licensed? I think my next FCC search is going to be Birach Broadcasting. I can't wait to find out how many dark or STA stations they have across the country. I think they have 2-3 dark stations just in the mid-Atlantic region! At what point does the FCC finally start yanking delinquent licenses? It seems like they don't ever. They'll fine stations for content violations like Janet Jackson or language, but if you don't broadcast anything at all, it's like they just don't seem to care. They just keep collecting permit fees and look the other way. (11/3/09)

Hey WOW....Didn't like the Tom Gavin comment, huh? Feel the need to be the last bastion of hope for Mr. Gavin? Spoken like a person who doesn't know the aforementioned ego ridden, foul mouthed individual....And, please...don't be one of these people who uses a disability as an reason to lay off a person. Ol Tommy Boy puts himself out in front of the public and acts like he is better than everyone else. So that, in itself, opens him up to any bashing....I know the guy, and can not stand the man....How about you, WOW? Do you know him? Ever met him? I eagerly await your response. (11/3/09)

Here we go again, we get rid of Sorce/Geronomo and BAM it’s MOM. Who really cares? They dug their own grave. Let the fat settle. And the nasty comment about Gavin, unforgiveable. The man has a disability, he’s at least productive and you schmucks have to comment on BO- I can only imagine what you’re contributing to society. Classless, totally CLASSLESS- Rusty best wishes. Hope your life has straightened out completely-WOW (11/3/09)

I've noticed in the past, whenever anyone has commented about 100.7 since harvey has taken over, he ALWAYS responds. Not so with yesterdays info about Tommy Griffthsreplacing Bob & Tom. Bet that means it's on & he's not happy. (11/3/09)

COMCAST Sprtsnet is the Caps network so one would think they may have special access to find out about Ovie's injury. On the other hand, Caps GM McPhee is NOTORIOUS around the league for not giving out information on injuries. If you saw the clip of Ovie after the game, you could see the wheels turning in his head while he tried to answer reporters' questions but not divulge too much. So I don't think anyone can fairly be too hard on COMCAST Sportsnet here. And if our name-calling poster has a source for a network saying that Ovie is out for the year, I'd like to see it. I'm certainly not aware of any such report. (11/3/09)

I've been listening to Junkies this fall, after years of not listening, primarily, I think, as a form of communal commiseration over the sorry state of the Washington Redskins. The show has been cathartic. I like it. But this morning, walking to the local precinct to vote, I turned my radio to the Junkies to hear one of them lighting into another of them for being unprofessional and always arriving late, while the yeller (I don't know who's who on the show) claimed to be better prepared for each show. He was tired of being "nitpicked" by the guy he was yelling at. Apparently this happens during a certain segment of the show where the Junkies are supposed to take issue with the arguments of the other Junkies. Anyway, the one guy snapped and was screaming at his co-Junkie. They went to a commercial and came back, started taking calls. When one caller criticized the yeller for being unprofessional himself for airing dirty laundry between the hosts on the air, the yeller claimed that his rant was entertaining and made for good radio. Yeah, in a train-wreck sort of way, it got my attention, but it was pretty hideous to listen to. Seems to me that these sorts of interpersonal disputes are common among on-air talent, but that true professionals keep that to themselves while on the air. This morning's Junkies show was strictly amateur hour thanks to the one guy's ranting, and it made me question why I've been listening to the Junkies the past couple of months. Christian (11/3/09)

According to the crawler that Comcast is currently running, the beginning of the end of Cable-Ready TV sets begins on Nov. 17 as they are switching a number of analog channels to digital. So it's officially time to start running to Comcast to get all your boxes for your bedrooms & kitchen TV sets if you don't already have them. The Washington Post story on this voices.washingtonpost.com is unclear as to whether Comcast is going to support HDTV sets with QAM tuners or not. Since Comcast refused to comment on the subject to The Post, I'm guessing not and someone commenting on that story noted that Comcast has received a waiver from the FCC to encrypt practically everything except the locals. Even though Verizon does require boxes too, they never ran any false advertising stating that nothing would change for customers after the big HDTV switch like Comcast pounded into peoples' heads for months as an attempt to get new customers. You could make the case that Comcast was only referring to local channels, but I don't think most people got that impression from the ads since they were very non-specific. Like most of Comcast's deceptive advertising, I imagine this will piss off a significant number of customers to switch to Verizon FIOS despite the DCRTV news blurb that FIOS sales are slowing. A quick check of The Post story also suggests a lot of people are already calling their local politicians to complain as I intend to do. My opinion on slowing FIOS sales is that the only reason that's happening is because of the lack of access to even get it in many of the larger counties around DC & Baltimore as of yet. But that's going to change very soon. And if you have to have a box in every room of your house, what advantage will Comcast have over Verizon at that point? NONE! (11/3/09)

Make sure you bring a full can of Lysol with you to your show, Rusty! I do the 11pm Friday night show at WEBR and Gavin's odor still remains even hours after his departure. I can only imagine the stench in that studio at 5pm (11/3/09)

I love the MOM show and have missed it, but agree that it is amazing that someone would pay to restart that show in the current economy. One way it could work would be for Mike and his crew to own the show themselves or part of the show, and share whatever profit comes in after the broadcast cost. I certainly hope they make it back on the air somehow. (11/3/09)

WJLA in trouble over uncensored breast exams - Where is the line between medical advice and selling sex on TV to get ratings? A Washington, DC TV station may find out soon after viewers expressed displeasure over a breast exam piece that may have show a little too much flesh. www.topofthenudes.com (11/3/09)

Whoever did the rundown of Baltimore AM stations has a bit of a skewed perspective. First I wouldn't use the "ethnic" label on those two stations; especially WFBR which is largely brokered but does Motown oldies when they haven't sold the time; WOLB should be labelled racist talk. I won't listen to talk radio or religious radio, which means a Baltimorean needs a _good_ radio to go beyond the city limits. WCTR 1530 (Chestertown) is a fair oldies station that is actually more interesting on weekends than during the week. And CFZM 740 with its nostalgia format, receivable at night. And then there's... no, they went Spanish. But there's... Radio Disney on 640 and 1650??? Can't listen to that for more than 2 minutes. You're right, the programming across the AM dial is just about worthless. UCS is probably right about the religious stations making money; after all, WCAO and WWIN both invested in HD Radio (yes, WWIN is back to occupying 3 channels on the dial), as has WOLB, although I can't imagine who would be listening to the digital signals. I don't agree with UCS about non-represented formats being inherently unprofitable. If anyone in the radio biz CARED about what they were broadcasting, they could make money at being different instead of being redundant, boring, me-too stations. But who in the position to make such a decision knows the first thing about music, or even has a passion for radio in general? The religious stations may not have to care about ratings, but if you're a commercial station that has no ratings, why are you sticking with a redundant format? (11/3/09)

(RE yesterday's Rant:) Dave, If you're with Geico, my agency could probably save you money and give you stronger coverage with another carrier. We represent all of the top carriers in the area. Let me know if you'd like a free quote from multiple carriers. Josh (11/3/09)

Baltimore native, Barry Levinson's new documentary, "Poliwood" premiered on Showtime Monday night. It's a clear and straight-forward presentation of the role that celebrities sometimes play in national politics, filmed at both the Democratic and the Republican conventions in 2008. The film examines how the involvement of figures on the left and on the right, is sometimes viewed negatively by the public. You can see re-airings on Showtime and via On-Demand, during November. It was pretty good and you should check it out. (11/3/09)

Not knowing whether "M.O.M" will supplant (or replace) "Wednesday's Child" Fridays from 3 - 5 on WEBR, I can now tell you that I'll be returning to the station this Friday from 5 to 6 (following Mr. Gavin). I hope everyone can tune in. Rusty Gibson, WEBR Radio/Fairfax (11/3/09)

Many references being made in recent trade and web reports to Party 87 as a dance music station. But it's an R&B/Hip Hop/Top-40 rhythm format. This may seem inconsequential to casual observers but it's an important distinction to dance music fans; such inaccurate references confuse those who are not familiar with what dance music - including mainstream dance - really is. Keep up the good work with DCRTV. Jim in Jersey (11/3/09)

I'm just glad the election, and the frigging endless robocalls, are over. (11/3/09)

WTTG-TV's long-running "Panorama" debuted Monday January 30th, 1967 with John Willis, Maury Povich, and Miss Pat Collins as the first co-hosts. She served only one year in that capacity, but would move on to a gig with CBS. Barbara Howar and Meryl Comer would soon fill her place. Yes... a decade later, Pat Mitchell did a stint as co-host from 1977 to '79. The show was axed in June of '87 shortly after Channel-5 was absorbed into Rupert Murdoch's new Fox Network... replaced by reruns of "Alice" and a syndicated home-shopping program. (11/3/09)

/\ November 3 Messages /\

Jump to the Mailbag Archive Index.....