Current Mailbag - Mailbag Archive Index - DCRTV Front Page - Support DCRTV DCRTV Mailbag - November 16 to November 22, 2009 Latest messages listed first..... \/ November 22 Messages \/ (regarding a previous post) "I'm gay and even I think the name "Agenda" sucks." I'm not disagreeing that the name that was picked, "DC Agenda," isn't all that catchy. I was just reminding the original poster that a publication having an agenda is not anything new or necessarily bad. (11/22/09) Rusty it went extremely well, I've been invited back for a second interview. It was a blast. In fact, they want me to contact Johnny Dark, Grease..and Bill Parris. 2 of the three have been done. They didn't know when it would be aired, but told me that they would let me know. I'll let you know and thanks for the kindness. Tony, you're more than welcome. My goal has always been to be fair and balanced...>:)PLB (11/22/09) The fallout from Oprah's decision in the Examiner: www.examiner.com (11/22/09) To all DCRTVers. Please support Sean Hannity in these low times for him. Poor Sean has had a very rough month. First, Sean heavily supported “conservative” candidate and carpetbagger Doug Hoffman in NY’s 23rd district election. Sean had Doug on his show several times declaring Mr. Hoffman a winner, and “congressman elect.” Sean sent up a producer and a reporter to Mr. Hoffman’s election night headquarters to report live on his Fox News cable program when Mr. Hoffman was declared the winner. Mr. Hoffman lost to a Democrat after the good people of NY-23 realized Sean Hannity, Dick Armey, and Freddie Thomson were hoodwinking them, using talk radio crap to get Mr. Hoffman elected. Poor Sean, he tried so hard, and to put salt on a wound, Newt Gingrich scolded Sean on the air for disrupting the RNC, losing the seat to a Democrat. Next, Sean wrote the forward to Carrie Prejean’s book on conservative values for teenage girls. Sean’s exclusive first interview with her was sideswiped by TMZ when they revealed Ms Prejean made and distributed pornography (possibly child pornography). Woops, that didn’t work out for Sean. Then the Larry King interview happed, proving she is an idiot, and putting egg on Sean’s face for praising Ms. Prejean for being “smart” in the forward to her book. Now for Sean’s latest screw up; after Sean declared he had the first “political” interview with Sarah Palin, he touted on his radio show how well she answered questions on International affairs, and to watch Fox News for the taped interview. We all did, and we saw a tape of Sarah confusing Iraq and Iran. Sean forgot to dump or edit that gaffe Is Sean losing it, or is God punishing Sean for lying about going to church every Sunday? Sean Hannity crap and mistakes can be heard locally on WMAL. (11/22/09) Any idea why WABC was off the air for 30 minutes on Thursday, from approximately 12:50 PM top 1:20 PM? Inquiring minds, etc, etc...... (11/22/09) Dave's response: Radio or TV? Ventriloquist Otto Petersen observes the 46th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination. vodpod.com... Mature audiences only. (11/22/09) Hey Davy (PLB); How'd your appearance on Out Of The Past" go? And did Ed happen to mention when the show would be airing. Can't wait to watch and record it (+I'll promote the hell out of it on my show). And an early Happy Thanksgiving wish old friend! Rusty Gibson WEBR/RadioFairfax (11/22/09) PLB....Thanks for proving my point in your response. -Tony in Vienna (11/22/09) Hey Dave. Key 103.1 in Frederick also switched to 24/7 Christmas tunes on Friday. Haven't seen it mentioned so I thought I'd let you know that WASH aren't exclusive on their premature flip. (11/22/09) Scott E Fitzgerald (AJ, Tony Oles)...Thanks for picking up on the blurb about Bill Quinn (MQA-Michael Q Anthony) LIVE IN BALTIMORE-WASHINGTON!!! (11/22/09) Thank you Vincent in Triangle for explaining the Examiner business model and reason for the name. And in many cities like transient DC, I can honestly see that business model working quite well. But you'd have to be a complete IDIOT to believe that business model would work in provincial & less transient Baltimore or similar type mid-size older cities. Why would some marketing guru think that translating a San Francisco newspaper name to other different less liberal cities would work well? Baltimore may have created Nancy Pelosi and Gov. O'Malley might have named a street after her, but trust me, few Baltimoreans want her to come back! (11/22/09) DIRECTV has just started carrying Maryland Public Television in HD here in the DC area market. The satellite television firm now has 2 area PBS stations in HD - MPT, which is based in Owings Mills, Maryland & sister channel WETA, which is based in Arlington, Virginia. (11/22/09) Dave's response: Does DirecTV also carry WETA in the Baltimore metro? "This almost reminds me of the ill-fated Baltimore Examiner. All they had to do was get the rights to the Hearst named newspaper "The Baltimore News American" and the paper probably would have been marginally successful. Instead, they chose a completely different route foreign to provincial Bawlamore and look what happened." As I understand it, the business plan for the Examiner was to build a chain of newspapers nationally with the same name ("Examiner" came about from the San Francisco Examiner, the paper Anschutz acquired several years after Hearst -- which had owned the News American -- let go of it to buy the San Francisco Chronicle). The name wasn't meant as a dis to Baltimore. -- Vincent in Triangle (11/22/09) Tony, saw your "holy Palomino" post. First of all, some of us are not old FARTS, secondly the last thing we curmudgeons worry about is being crossed, thirdly, we respect the beginners that are humble enough to keep their mouths shut and learn, and have respect for us that have done well, It's the wannabees that piss us off because they are doing their damndest to get noticed and they do. Most of them are sarcastic, rude and don't have much to say that is intelligent about the industry itself no input, no fact, no basic evaluations, thought provoking content. . So my suggestion to you is to "give it a damn rest". PLB (11/22/09) Although Eddie G did recreate his Moondial for WASH-FM's Sunday Night Thing of the Past in 1979, it was Bob Duckman and, later, John Dowling who each served as that show's host in the long run. (BD can fill-in the details.) (11/22/09) I recently posted a pic of all the piled up newspapers on my porch as sort of a joke, but I was talking to some of my neighbors and discovered that they are also receiving The Baltimore Sun for free daily. In fact, they all thought it was a free newspaper now! What's even more hysterically funny is that The Baltimore Sun keeps sending me email solicitations for what are actually incredibly good deals to subscribe to the newspaper. I said this to my neighbors and they all laughed. Of course, who wouldn't? WHY BUY A NEWSPAPER THAT'S ALREADY FREE? The only sanity that I can make of this, receiving The Sun for over 6 months free, so far is that possibly, The Sun is targeting households that were previous Baltimore Sun customers, but even that is a specious argument because I've not subscribed to The Baltimore Sun in over 10 years, and the same is true for one of my neighbors. The question begs... Is The Baltimore Sun now a FREE DAILY or at least testing the waters for such a thing? I thought my house getting the paper for free was just a fluke, an address error or something, or that I was possibly getting a neighbor's daily newspaper, but now that I've talked to my neighbors, I know that's not the case. I'm starting to seriously wonder what the hell is going on at The Baltimore Sun. Are they like, now delivering it for free to any previous subscriber to somehow save the newspaper from folding in like some last ditch effort? I'm seriously wondering what the deal here is now. (11/22/09) Ready to heave your guts? sonicbomb.com... I don't know who's nervier; the guys doing the work or the guy who climbed above them to get the pic? (11/22/09) Heard on CSPAN 2 last night-- Andy Borowitz said "this is a cluster fuck." He was on a program that had been taped two days earlier and aired right after the senate cloture vote on health care reform. Anyone know if CSPAN could be liable for this? (11/22/09) Dave's response: Nope. The FCC's broadcast "indecency" policies apply only to licensed broadcast TV and radio stations. C-SPAN is not a broadcast TV station or network and, therefore, can air all the f-bombs it wants to without incurring the FCC's silly wrath. Now, if the quote got aired on C-SPAN's DC radio station, WCSP 90.1 FM, then a fine could be levied if someone filed a complaint with the FCC. But that would even be unlikely, since the word occurred in a news-type program and not on a zany morning zoo-type show. See, the FCC's "f-bomb" policy is pretty fucked-up itself..... I'm gay and even I think the name "Agenda" sucks. Aren't there enough agendas in Washington already, right & left? Why can't they make a deal for "The Blade" name or is that too old school stereotypically gay for today's gay people? This almost reminds me of the ill-fated Baltimore Examiner. All they had to do was get the rights to the Hearst named newspaper "The Baltimore News American" and the paper probably would have been marginally successful. Instead, they chose a completely different route foreign to provincial Bawlamore and look what happened. I have a feeling "The Agenda" is going down that same bad road. I'm gay and even I don't want to read a daily agenda, sorry. Epic Fail. NEXT! (11/22/09) Mike O'Meara Promises "Major Announcement" On Friday November 27-- Announcing the day after Thanksgiving that you had consumed more turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls, cranberry & pumpkin pie than any other dj in the history of radio is not news - nor is it good timing for a real presser. Bring in the clowns, the fart machine and a real PR team. (11/22/09) Pretty Scarey when a certified EMT declares Bill Quinn is dead.John T. Henneman (11/22/09) You've Got to See This! www.m2film.dk (11/22/09) Dave's response: Warning, not safe for work. Unless you work at PGC..... WTMD giving the Senator new life would be great especially in this atmosphere of poison towards music stations these days. WXPN has done well for listener supported radio and has a reputation for putting the listeners first. Incredible!! What a concept! Thier decision to bring Y100/Y100rocksdotcom into the family showed true loyalty to music lovers as well as keen business sense. Too bad commercial stations and corporations lack the talent and intellect to follow suit. I enjoy WTMD when I'm in the listening area and believe they'd do a great job managing a World Cafe type venue. (11/22/09) (regarding a previous post) "The agenda? Boy is that aptly named. And yeah, there is something wrong with that." According to the dictionary definition of "Agenda," it is a noun that can mean: 'a list or outline of things to be considered or done,' or 'an underlying often ideological plan or program'. There's not a publication or radio program or broadcast TV program or cable TV program or website or blog in the country that doesn't operate from a 'point of view'. This it true whether we're talking about "The Washington Times" or the new publication, "DC Agenda". There's nothing wrong with this dynamic. It's as American as apple pie and the poster needs to get over it! (11/22/09) (Sherman “Big Boy” O'Meara posted this late Saturday on his Facebook page:) For those of you who have been sitting on the edge of your rather large collective seat awaiting word since the demise of The MOM Show, he also quickly issued this Shermanesque statement immediately after implying he has a new show lined-up: "If drafted, I will not run; if nominated, I will not accept; if elected, I will not serve"... (11/22/09) Holy Jesus Palamino!!! Would you old fart radio people give it a damn rest already with this "wanna be" shit?? Christ, you all sound like a bunch of curmudgeons who are scared silly that anyone dares cross you people! -Tony in Vienna (11/22/09) /\ November 22 Messages /\ \/ November 21 Messages \/ Ok, now I do feel like a total ass, HOWEVER I am so glad to hear that Bill MQA Quinn is still breathin and beatin !!! (wait, was that him or that other G guy in the old Engineer's room at the end of the hall at 6623, Hmmmm) My deepest apologies to you Bill. I had lost total contact with you and after you had departed from WBJC I was obviously misinformed that you had "dearly departed". OK, so now Ive got to catch up Bill. (someone hand me the calendar please), Happy New Year, Happy MLK Day, Happy Ground Hogs Day, Happy Dave and Scott's Bday, Happy Presidents Day and Washington and Lincolns BDay, Happy Easter, Happy Memorial Day, Happy 4th (dont celebrate with a 5th), Happy Labor Day, Sad Patriot's Day (Sept 11th), Happy Columbus Day, Happy Veterans Day, Happy HALLOWEEN, Happy Turkey Day, and Merry Christmas !!! Also not forgetting any particular religious holiday that you may or may not observe, or any special "Hallmark" day, Fathers, Mothers, Grandparents, etc. Bill I would more than LOVE to get back in touch with you, the guy who gave me my first major market job over 35 years ago, oh and the air name too. See what you started ??? THANKS. Dave if there is any way at all, that you could reconnect us via email it would be greatly appreciated, oh great man who shares bday's with me !!! yeah, Feb 8th ROCKS !!! Bill, let me know where you are these days, living , working, playing, etc. I make my home in Cockeysville now (a whole 5 minutes away from the Magnificent Bay Studio's). . . . .. . . ... .. . ... A very RED in the face, Scott Fitzgerald (11/21/09) Eddie Galliher worked Sundays as late as his WASH days when he's re-create "Moondial" for the former "Sunday Night Thing of the Past"... Unsigned Corporate Suit (11/21/09) I wonder if all of the people who are complaining about the early flip of WASH FM to Christmas music actually listen to the station on a regular basis????? (11/21/09) While watching the video of David Burd, I noticed that he reminded me of someone. Take a look at the attached photo to see if you see a resemblance. (11/21/09) (From Mike O'Meara's Facebook page:) I want thank all of you for your patience and understanding during these difficult months for me. I will have a major announcement on Friday November 27th, and again I want to thank all of you for your unbelievable support during my down time. (11/21/09) For "Mark (In The Hinterlands For The Holdays)"(sic) You'll find a flood of old newspaper radio and TV listings from 1930 to 1960 at JJ's Newspaper Radio Logs: www.jjonz.us/RadioLogs (11/21/09) The agenda? Boy is that aptly named. And yeah, there is something wrong with that. (11/21/09) First Person Singular: 'Diane Rehm Show' phone manager Dorie Anisman www.washingtonpost.com (11/21/09) James, I saw your post and I'll try my best to shed some light on the subject. In my opinion, a dedicated, intelligent Webcaster is just that. Respected, dedicated, a true pro. He or She may not have the polish of the professional, but the dedication to whatever their cause shows through. Take Rusty for example, he's been at it for years and he loves the music, the audience and the pros that he's been fortunate enough to come in contact with. I'm one of them. I had the pleasure of guesting on his show and truly enjoying his enthusiasism, his love of the trade, the music, and his genuine respect for those of us that lived in the trenches. As for the Knights of Columbus, that's a totally different ball-game. They are dedicated to helping others and that is to be respected in any arena, broadcast, web, television. I've done my share of webcasting and loved the work..had a show called Read Street Rock and Roll with Davy Jones. I also did an oldies show that was simulcast on web/radio station(s). I will be doing that again soon. Then we get to the "wannabees" ie: that Collings character that felt he could get in the arena with a heavyweight..he, at least in my opinion was just begging for press and I truly hope he was adequately "SPANKED" for his arrogant and pompous diatribe, and for his "unfeeling" attitude toward those less fortunate, that are at least trying to live a normal life. (God Bless Tom Gavin)- I hope I've contributed something to you and your questions. Be well, be kind, you only go through this once-Regards-Davy Jones/PLB (11/21/09) What's going on at WTOP? Here's what :) David Burd's Whipped Cream Challenge (11/21/09) From WaPo Online 11/21/09: www.washingtonpost.com... Guess the radio station info isn't the only thing out-of-date with the Post. (11/21/09) who picks the songs on this station (the edge?) is it the same guy who selected the songs on K-TEL super rock hits of the 70's and 80's... i remenber frank zappa said the artists had more freedom under middle age corporate types who"let those crazy kids do what the want" than when the young guys started running things and wouldnt allow the same "experimentation"... oh for the good old FM days (11/21/09) To all the verbal combatants, I've been reading the back and forth going on amongst a number of parties, and I have some questions for anyone willing to shed some light. Some have turned their noses up at "webbers" with the exception of Rusty. With changes in the radio industry (particularly with the use of computers making DJs less necessary especially in terms of economics), is Rusty the only veteran that has taken his love of the industry to web stations? What are the exact parameters at which someone at a web station is no longer that derisive "webber" and is respected? Also, I notice that the Knights of Columbus have a show on the same WEBR. Are the people on this site looking down on them as well, despite all the charitable work that they do, including raising funds to help those that are mentally challenged (That one is for you "Mr. Collings" given all your comments on Tom Gavin; Have fun with it.)? Thanks in advance for laying down the guidelines for the rest of us who are not as well versed on this issue. Sincerely, James (11/21/09) Hey, Mailbaggers I need help! I need Johny Dark and Doug Tracht to get in touch with me. PLB/Davy Jones (11/21/09) What is going on with 104.3 in Baltimore? They are back to using the WCHH call, but are still playing the 10,000 hits program. Their HD2 channel has been using the WCHH HD2 identification the whole time. The RDS ID also switched back. (11/21/09) (Now, look for the Clear Channel adult contemporary station to soar to the top of the Portable People Meter radio ratings for the "Holiday" period.) Yep. WTOP has been # 1 full week 12+ every single month since PPM began in October 2008 EXCEPT FOR the Holiday 08 Book. So WASH will again win Holiday 09, and then sink back to 6th or 7th by early 2010. The stunting worked in the Diary and it still works in PPM. (11/21/09) This just in from The Baltimore Sun / www.BaltimoreSun.com...... [graphic deleted] No I'm not trying to spam DCRTV, I'm just posting this to make complete ASSES of the people who run The Baltimore Sun because this is all over their website, on like nearly every single story & page. Do they not have any technical ability to filter SPAM comments out? I mean c'mon, this is beyond ridiculous. It's as if their website people just don't care. I'm not an expert on web design, but even I know enough to know that this kind of BS can be filtered out automatically, especially when its completely repetitive. No wonder The Sun is in bankruptcy. (11/21/09) Dave's response: I don't feel like giving Baltimore Sun junk ad firms any publicity on DCRTV so I'm not running the graphic..... In a time when most radio stations are cutting costs, WTMD announces a bold proposal to move into Baltimore's historic Senator Theater with both space for studios and live music performances. The Senator is one of the last of the huge old movie houses going back to the live performance vaudeville days and was, until recently, still running 1st run movies. More in The Sun... www.baltimoresun.com (11/21/09) From mailbag "Ya hear me now?-Dear Ya hear me now? NOW that's a great last name!!! LMAO-PLB (11/21/09) Dave...Imagine such Washington Radio stalwarts as Fred Fiske, Ray Morgan, Felix Grant and Eddie Gallaher working on Sundays? In tracing the great program director/top 40 cosultant Dick Lawrence, Buffalo broadcasters indicate that Dick did news on WWDC (1260) and also worked on WPIK 730 AM out of Alexandria. My guess is that placed it around 1950 or early in that decade. Dave, I am sure that you or one of your readers can better fill in the picture. Just the other day, a vintage DC radio timetable listing surfaced showing these legendary names and others handling Sunday shifts on local stations on the same day. WWDC was a Mutual affiliate at the time and listed "The Dick Lawrence Show," on a Sunday afternoon. at 3:30 following a Yankee-Dodgers World Series Game, preceded by Fred Fiske at 10 AM. My guess is "back the day," everybody worked Saturdays, Sundays and even the holidays, like Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays and St. Swithin's Day. What do you think? Mark (In The Hinterlands For The Holdays) (11/21/09) Unlike some around here, I'm actually enjoying the Christmas "tuneage" on WASH. As the song from (I think it was "Mame") says, "We need a little Christmas". Though it would be splendid if they could throw in some of The Beatles' Christmas messages from time to time. Yup you can call me (among other things), a sentimental fool. Rusty Gibson WEBR/Fairfax (11/21/09) Dave's response: I enjoy Christmas tunes, too. But the week before Christmas, not the week before Thanksgiving..... CORRECTION to both me and some other posts....... Campbell Brown does NOT have a journalism degree, and no, she was not kicked out of college, but she was kicked out of HIGH SCHOOL! So I stand corrected, hehe. Shep Smith was in fact kicked out of college, but did actually study journalism. Soledad O'brien was kicked out or dropped out of Harvard, but returned for a degree several years later and once again didn't get a journalism degree. Katie Couric wrote for her college newspaper, but never studied journalism that I could document. She basically graduated with a general studies type degree. While we're on the subject of media credentials, let's go further... Keith Olbermann has an RTVF degree and never studied journalism and did nothing but sports reporting until getting his first gig after ESPN, and Glenn Beck is a college dropout from Yale University who took ONLY ONE CLASS, theology, and never studied journalism or broadcasting in any way other than being a radio DJ. Beck converted to the Mormon faith after that 1 Yale theology class. And Anderson Cooper, while being a filthy rich heir to the Vanderbilt fortune, has also never studied journalism, but he did go to Yale because he's filthy rich and was a successful male model for both Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren! So yes, FOX NEWS's resident borderline homo/metrosexual Shepard Smith IS the ONLY ONE OF THAT BUNCH who ACTUALLY studied JOURNALISM! Irony of all ironies. Who would have thunk it? Doesn't it seem like we're all getting our news from people who've all stayed at a Holiday Inn Express? :-) (11/21/09) RE: No offense, but that makes no sense. What does Wilbon fame at the time of the Bias' death have to do with him being qualified to discuss Bias on the ESPN show about Bias? At a beat report, he covered Bias and the team on a regular basis. Wilbon is far more qualified to discuss this incident that occurred while he was a beat reporter than he would have been if Bias had died 5 years ago when Wilbon was a well known columnist, but covered Maryland basketball a couple times a year at most. (11/20/09) No offense taken, but you seem to believe Wilbon was in a position of insight although he was a step above a UM Diamondback reporter, which makes you or I about as qualified to tell the story (if you lived here at the time). Was this the same insight Wilbon used to surmise that it was more than likely Sean Taylor's lifestyle that brought about his own demise before he knew what really happened? I appreciate your thoughts. Thanks. (11/21/09) Dave, just wanted to let you know that Montgomery College Professor Ann Norris passed away this week. She taught several Television/Broadcasting classes at the Rockville campus for many years. She was a wonderful person and I'm sure many of your readers took a class or two of her and have very fond memories. Patrick H (11/21/09) clak-clak-clak-clak-THIS JUST IN !!-clak-clak-wellllll sorta- The not so recent lack of decent talk radio has caused massive spillover of talk radio callers onto a local television and radio site resulting in mischief,mayhem and...soap....err sorry thats Fight Club...resulting in enraged arguments over politics and sports. This phenomonon is believed to be at the core of the recent rise in violent crime and psychotic citizens roaming the streets while screaming into cell phones at talk show hosts who are no longer there. In one neighborhood a riot broke out when a talk show fan inadvertently tripped over a music fan who was,unbelievably, lying on the sidewalk and screaming "SPEAK ENGLISH" into his phone. Apparently trying to request an Alternative song he had actually reached El Zol 99.1 and the stress was too much for him. Both men were critically wounded and dozens of others recieved medical care following the resulting melee. For further developments stay tuned to a webpage near you because Radio and TV stations are not interested in local events. clak-clak-clak (11/21/09) RE: "Hello, Can you tell me if Kim Matucci is still with WUSA9? I watched this morning at 9am and Howard Bernstein was doing the weather. I was curious because in your mailbag section there were comments that she was no longer there. Can you tell me who replaced Steve Villanueva on NBC4.".....Kim Martucci is still there - she now does the 9am and noon shows, not the 5-7am newscast. 9 hired a new meteoroglisht several weeks ago, Devon Lucie, whom I have not seen on-air since the first week he was hired (anyone know what's up with him? He is on their bio page). As a result, Kim's been doing the weekend shows too, so maybe she takes Thursday and Friday off. Just a guess. Over at NBC4, Chuck Bell has been doing the weekends since Steve left. Makes sense to me, as he was already on staff as weather producer and on-air fill-in - it's cheaper than hiring someone else. (11/21/09) /\ November 21 Messages /\ \/ November 20 Messages \/ General David Sarnoff was indeed proud of NBC's Washington Plant when he coaxed "hundreds of honored guests" (including Ike, the Commander-In-Chief) to attend the dedication ceremonies in May of '58. If you watch closely at the 2:14 mark, you'll see NBC Radio correspondent Peter Hackes filing his report into a headset, standing just to the right of the front doors. (11/20/09) Find more videos like this on www.truveo.com. (regarding a previous post) "Ah, Trig Palin checking in. If you really think I got that wrong, then if you work really hard you can maybe someday aspire to mongoloidism." With this comment, ThePenIsMightier has finally outdone himself, when it comes to bad taste! Dave, is this kind of thing really necessary for inclusion in the DCRTV Mailbag? (11/20/09) Sooooo....Let me see if I understand this....Someone telling another reader to do oral on them is acceptable in this forum? Damn this place is just pure sleaze now. (11/20/09) Man, these debates about internet nicknames (WOW vs wOw, Penismighter, etc etc etc) are as childish as hell. If you're going to stay 14 years old and type some goofy moniker at the end of your emails, please understand that you look like a clown and get no respect from anyone with a brain in their head. Ya hear me now? (11/20/09) Something Else I Found While Cleaning Out My Files (11/20/09) HERE......HELP, HERE HELP....!!!!! (rotfl)-WOW (11/20/09) " 'Weasel (real name Michael Sorce)' ---There went your credibility. Know something else Chad Dukes used to say all the time? 'No schtick'...Practice that as a homage too," Ah, Trig Palin checking in. If you really think I got that wrong, then if you work really hard you can maybe someday aspire to mongoloidism. Apparently you are too dull-witted to appreciate the meta-reference to those who delight in citing Danni Ocean's real name. Yes, we all know "Jonathan Gilbert". The line of people who can just suck me just grew longer. I know Chad Dukes likes giving Asian. Do you like giving Asian? As much as I miss him being on the air, not everything he does is right, Trig. I'm simply smarter than you and I will always beat you. --- ThePenIsMightier (11/20/09) "Weasel (real name Michael Sorce)" ---There went your credibility. Know something else Chad Dukes used to say all the time? "No schtick"...Practice that as a homage too, ThePenIsMightier. (11/20/09) Hello, Can you tell me if Kim Matucci is still with WUSA9? I watched this morning at 9am and Howard Bernstein was doing the weather. I was curious because in your mailbag section there were comments that she was no longer there. Can you tell me who replaced Steve Villanueva on NBC4. Their website doesn't give staff bios any longer. Thank you, Stephanie (11/20/09) Hey WOW...do you know for a fact...emphasis on fact...that the person you were bickering with a while back is the same person using your WOW name now??? Those are some pretty hefty accusations you are throwing around there that you might want to be able to prove... (11/20/09) ("No offense intended Dave....But ... shithole for pontificating assholes...useless stand up comics. Would it be too much to ask that you possibly consider not posting messages from people using stupid signatures? Nothing useful ever has come from people named ThePenisIsMightier, Unsigned Corporate Suit, Silvie or WOW....Enough already, Dave....Clean this place up.") Wow, someone sure likes to tell people what to do. Also, someone is not familiar with the concept of "indoor language". Do you gamahuche your mother with that mouth? What you call a stupid signature is more properly known as a persona. You might try it some time so we can track your valuable contributions, or alternatively you could just sign your real name. Just today I answered an inquiry about well-known local radio personality Weasel (real name Michael Sorce). Not useful to you, perhaps, but you can just go screw. Someone asked for information and I provided it. Did I mention that part about just go screw? Yes, I see I did. I remember when Chad Dukes was still on the air, that was a favorite phrase of his, and I use it as an homage. As always, --- ThePenIsMightier (11/20/09) WOW...How dare you attack me! You've exhibited pettiness and childishness at it's absolute best and you have the nerve to throw stones at me? Seek help. -Tony in Vienna (11/20/09) I said Hammity and Beck never graduated college. Then, I said they both had poor reasoning skills (which they display, daily), as a probable outcome. These two statements logically can not be deciphered to mean everyone that didn’t graduate from college has poor reasoning skills or those that do graduate from college have great reasoning skills. Did you guys ever take logic, (it was out of the philosophy department), in college? Speaking of reasoning skills, memo to Sean Hammity, Glenn Beck and Andy Parks; KSM was not captured “on the battlefield,” as all three of you have been saying for the past two days. Repeat to everyone out there; KSM was not “captured on the battlefield,” and if you heard on WMAL or Fox News that he was “captured on the battlefield,” they misinformed you. KSM was captured in Pakistan, an ally of ours. With this knowledge, the premise of Senator Graham’s question to AG Holder earlier this week was irrelevant to the issue at hand. On another note, Holly was in her element this morning at the Basilica. Did she go to Catholic school growing up? (11/20/09) David Aldridge is a shill for the NBA and has no hockey background whatsoever. So I would take whatever he says about Washington being or not being a hockey town with a huge grain of salt. As for Kornheiser, he's a pathetic old man that is too set in his ways to recognize that the local sports market is changing before his very eyes. Sad, in a way. (11/20/09) Tony you are about as thick as a shoe full of babyshit. The issue with wOw, started when he made what I considered a tasteless crack about body odor and a certain learning disabled WebCaster. I took umbrage with this and said so..at that time he called himself mr. collings. That's where this started. I'm no politically correct do-gooder, but I do object to people making fun of the disabled. The little "webber" started a parry and thrust with me and finally caved and began using wOw and trying to make people think it was me WOW. I want to put this to rest today and I do agree with you. It should NOT be on this site, but some of these wannabee broadcasters have no courtesy, no sensitivities and above all no brains. I will not post again on this topic again I promise. ,So in essence, I have Shut the fuck up.WOW (11/20/09) How the once mighty have stumbled! (I bet David Sarnoff is spinning in his grave. WRC was always on of his "pets". And, the Washington Color Plant wa one of his prides. And, now... (11/20/09) Merry Christmas! It's all Christmas, all the time, on WASH-FM. I think they started during the morning drive. Why don't they have any competition? (11/20/09) Dave's response: As we predicted it would happen on 11/20. I'm sure Loo Katz is jumping for joy! No offense intended Dave....But your mailbag has turned into the shithole for pontificating assholes and useless stand up comics. Would it be too much to ask that you possibly consider not posting messages from people using stupid signatures? Nothing useful ever has come from people named ThePenisIsMightier, Unsigned Corporate Suit, Silvie or WOW....Enough already, Dave....Clean this place up. (11/20/09) "Tony, evidently you haven’t been following our little “webber”. As for who I am, let’s just say I’ve been there, done, that, and I’m working on the coffee mug. Rather than embarrass our “little wOw…I remain the real deal-WOW" ***What the f**k are you talking about???? All I've seen are post by you screaming about people being phony, real deals and something about webbers. You sound insane! Just shut up already! -Tony in Vienna (11/20/09) (Elitist BS: I went to WVU when it was the Number One Party School and am no worse for it) Really? (Shawn in DC) (11/20/09) Dave's response: When I was at JMU, on the weekends everyone left for UVA to party. Leaving all us nerds plenty of room to see if we could pull in DC/Richmond/Roanoke radio and TV stations on our makeshift dorm antennae while getting progessively stoned or drunk. Now that's fun..... Dave, Dave, Dave can’t we just end this WOW/wOw bull-sh*t. It has nothing to do with the media..it’s a “little webber kid” pissin up a rope and a pro taking him to task. JD (11/20/09) Tony, evidently you haven’t been following our little “webber”. As for who I am, let’s just say I’ve been there, done, that, and I’m working on the coffee mug. Rather than embarrass our “little wOw…I remain the real deal-WOW (11/20/09) Two questions: (1) Why are so many people who can't spell, form a grammatically correct sentence or hold down a full time job filling the Mailbag with claims that their education leaves them "no worse for it" than Presidents of the United States, network news anchors, etc? and (2) What the hell does this have to do with radio or television? (11/20/09) To the Real WOW....Just exactly who are YOU to be calling anyone a "wannabe broadcaster"? -Tony in Vienna (11/20/09) Now these (as seen on various LOCAL WASHINGTON TV STATIONS) are funny (especially Obambi aging): www.politico.com (11/20/09) Friends, FYI. The miltiary’s American Forces Network, headquartered in Riverside, California is looking to hire a new Sports Programmer. Information at www.myafn.net, click on the word “JOBS” at the top of the home page for the link to the official job announcement. From my friend who heads programming at the network: “Please advise them to complete all portions of the application and to provide all documents requested well before the deadline and then to call the numbers on the announcement and make sure their application is complete. Lots of red tape but this is a dream job for any TV programming professional with extensive sports knowledge.” Best, Chas (11/20/09) THE END OF CABLE READY TV SETS PART 3........... Let's not forget the inconvenient timing of the BIG COMCAST CABLE SWITCH, just a couple weeks after the digital converter coupons expired? Wonderful. That means all that Comcast advertising that nothing would change on your TV after the BIG DTV SWITCH if you stayed with or switched to Comcast has turned out to be FALSE ADVERTISING and should probably be investigated by the FTC AND the FCC! Sure, Comcast will give you free boxes right now in a limited time offer, but ultimately, instead of getting a free DTV QAM band converter from the government, you're going to have to PAY COMCAST and thanks to the DMCA law, most likely your brand new off the shelf HDTV set will become useless as well without a box and new clunky Comcast remote that removes half of its features soon! Thank you FCC! HOW THE HELL DOES COMCAST GET AWAY WITH ALL THIS FALSE ADVERTISING?............... Regarding Oprah............. Missed in all of the Oprah news stories is that she's apparently purchased 2 huge Ritz Carlton townhouse condos in Baltimore's Inner Harbor, the same place that author Tom Clancy just made a record purchase yesterday. wbal.com... Funny that David Zurawik didn't mention that even though The Baltimore Sun's real estate section reported the Oprah purchase a long time ago! Between the Baltimore housing purchase and the deal with DC-based Discovery Communications, it's looking more and more likely that Oprah will be doing some type of show from either DC or Baltimore. And I'm convinced The Sun's David Zurawik couldn't come up with a news scoop if it bit him on the ass. (11/20/09) (Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck – who had to work to support themselves instead at the time -- never graduated college? I always wondered why their reasoning and logic skills were so poor. Now I know. (11/19/09) Dave's response: Ditto with Rush Limbaugh). Elitist BS: I went to WVU when it was the Number One Party School and am no worse for it as an “Ivy League” edumacation has produced such thugs as Bill “Cigar Boy” Clinton (as well Her Thighness, Hillary “Cankles” Clinton), George Bush I & II (for all you Bush haters), John “I Look Like Lurch But I Marry Well” Kerry, did I mention Bubba C.?, Hussein Barack “Smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em” Obambi, and last but not least: Jodi Foster. No, one is in good company to have either not gone to a plush school or to have never gradumacated from college in the first place. Ask Bill Gates or most truly self-made, successful men & wymyn. And you, DCRTV Dave: from what great Virginia higher edumacation institute did you graduate from? (11/20/09) Dave's response: I am a proud graduate of JMU, comm arts/poli sci degrees..... From DCRTV mailbag(PHONY)- Wrong...Hacksaw makes a "HOOOOOOOO" sound while carrying a 2 by 4. WOW (11/20/09)mr.webber- Stop with the childish baiting-You’re still a “wannabe broadcaster” (The Real-WOW ) (11/20/09) Not sure how they do it without breaking court rules, but WBAL is tweeting from the trial of Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon. I'm also not sure who is doing the tweeting but it may not be too reliable. Despite a case that's been going on for years and a trial that's two weeks long, the latest tweet refers to "prosecutor warbaugh," rather than his actual name, "Rohrbaugh." Even Tweeters should get it first but first get it right. Bob A. in Pikesville, MD. (11/20/09) "What’s going on with Anita [Marks] on 105.7/MASN? She’s on air only a day or two a week (thank goodness)." She's been working as a sideline reporter on the Versus network's telecasts of United Football League games (including last night's regular season finale in San Francisco). Speaking of the UFL, I don't know if it plans to expand anytime soon but Washington would seem like an ideal choice if that were the case. The widespread discontent (bordering on disgust) with the way Dan Snyder's been running the Redskins creates a potential opening for a franchise in an upstart league to attract a sizable following right off the bat. A few days ago, TNT reporter David Aldridge said the following on Tony Kornheiser's radio show - "Washington's not a football town - it's a Redskin town." That’s a highly questionable statement considering the fact that this area's level of knowledge and passion for the sport of football is a key reason for the Skins' longstanding popularity (and those who claim there's not much college interest need to be reminded that the largest crowd ever at FedEx Field was for a VA Tech-USC game several years back). I know the USFL's Federals weren't exactly a rousing success at the box office back in the 80s, but they were abysmal on the field and trying to compete with the Redskins during the glory years under Joe Gibbs was probably a hopeless cause anyway. Last Sunday's Skins/Broncos game must have been ESPN 980 day in Snyder's private box at FedEx Field as Kornheiser, John Thompson and (apparently) Andy Pollin were special guests there. Rival sports talker 106.7 The Fan's been using the slogan "the view from the cheap seats - not the owner's box" and it rings truer now than ever with at least the first two hosts sounding like shameless apologists for Danny Boy lately. Mr. Tony in particular has voiced surprise and annoyance with the anti-Snyder sentiment expressed by a number of spectators at the games, which only serves to underscore the disconnect between him (in his hoity-toity world of cocktail parties with the rich and powerful) and the Joe Lunchpail type fandom which has represented the team's core support for decades. Of course it doesn't help matters that he adamantly refuses to take calls from listeners while Mike Wise (his WJFK competition in the 10 AM to noon timeslot) is going to the phones all the time. Aldridge also remarked that Washington's "not even close" to being a good hockey town while Kornheiser referred to the people who've been packing Verizon Center for Capitals games dismissively as "bandwagon jumping yuppies" (or words to that effect). Could there be a hidden agenda on the part of WTEM to try and marginalize the fan base of any local team seen as a potential threat to steal some of the spotlight from Snyder's franchise? - it sure seems that way considering not only Kornheiser's and Aldridge's comments but the station's nearly total lack of meaningful Caps discussion and the jettisoning of hockey expert Al Koken earlier this year. But I think it's ultimately a losing proposition for 980, which will have only itself to blame if listeners start defecting to 106.7 in droves once football season‘s over. Mike, Fairfax (11/20/09) [A self-appointed maven wrote: "appalled at your inability to ... understand the difference between "literally" and "figuratively."] The poster who wrote "I think he'd say the state of the news business LITERALLY SUCKS!" was using the term "literally" correctly, as "sucks" in this sense means, literally, "is really really bad." So you can literally suck me. The ever-inflatable-faced Michael Wilbon is relevant to Len Bias because they both have/had heart trouble. Cocaine only kills weaklings with defective tickers. Bias culled himself from the herd. Inflatable Face abides. Shoutout to Jesse Hijackson: You can't lie about the events of April 4, 1968 and call yourself a black man. Michael Wilbon is more relevant than you. Gene Weingarten is still a douche. The man hates Indian food across the board without even trying a particular dish, as well as crunchy peanut butter, and thinks it's his god-given right to crush your bumper because he cannot parallel park. He also has a fetish for women's pantylines, well-documented in his WaPo chat. Does Don's wife Jan have a "gap" like the hot Korean housewife D&M once interviewed? Weasel can still be spotted scuttling around Bethesda. I suspect he never moved out of 4853. I wish some station somewhere would bring Chad Dukes back to the airwaves. Big O & Dukes was the best thing goin'. Remember when Oscar's mom would put Vicks Vap-O Rub on his chest? or that time Drab ran "The Routine" on that girl and his mom got called to the school? Bring Chad Dukes (and Oscar) back to the air! As Bruce Williams would say, "Go get 'em, Tiger!" (And on a personal note, with the demise of the Blade, where's a bear to go for his classifieds, know'm sayin'?) --- ThePenIsMightier (11/20/09) Kudos for Bob Marbourg for doing something well and keeping it up for three decades. Still, one of the funniest things in the Post feature story has to do with the number of one-minute traffic reports he's done in 30 years. Having introduced a few of them myself, I can tell you that Bob has done quite a few traffic reports...but many fewer one-minute reports! (11/20/09) RE: [ " flipping unbuilt stations for profit is not that unusual. In the last commercial FM auction, a number of unbuilt CPs were sold for profit. " ].......... As usual, Dave Loudin misses the point. The point is why the hell is the FCC giving out new station licenses to companies that already have almost none of their stations on the air as licensed? It's like rewarding a bad kid with more candy. I cannot believe I've found the ONLY person in the world, Dave Loudin, who'll defend this "house flipping" practice. The FCC should be vetting prospective new station owners to see if they really do intend to build & broadcast. In the case of the AM 1260 and the Klepac family that owns AM 1600, these people are just buying FCC licenses and reselling them with no intent to be a broadcaster and have stations that haven't had proper transmitter sites for over TEN YEARS! The FCC is an epic fail. Not only are they mismanaging the public's airwaves and cluttering up the FM dial, they're also giving out FCC licenses to bad station owners, not to mention just plain ignoring the AM dial in general. It's just indefensible. But apparently, I've found the ONE person in the world who's willing to defend the FCC. If you don't work for the FCC Mr. Loudin, boy are you seriously wasting your time, because they should be paying you if they're not already! :-) (11/20/09) Does The Baltimore Sun even care anymore? Page down on this story: www.baltimoresun.com... Most of the comments on BaltimoreSun.com are now just advertising SPAM! They don't seem to be doing anything about it either. I've tried reporting it. It's clear The Baltimore Sun is a rudderless ship. Why else would I be getting the paper for 6 months now for free? (see pic) (11/20/09) To your list of never-finished-college, I believe you can add David Brinkley, who attended several. And regarding pirate radio, if you listen to WMAL, you'll sometimes hear, on the ABC News at the top of the hour, Tom Rivers reporting from London. Before ABC, Tom reported for NBC, and before that, Tom was a screaming pirate radio jock. I've stayed with Tom and his British wife, and I've seen matronly women do a bobby-soxer swoon when they found out who he was. (11/20/09) In the spirit of equal time, how about a reality check for radio fans as well? Barry Farber (the aforementioned "Father of Talk Radio") hasn't aged so gracefully either. Source: www.huembwas.org Maybe we are ALL growing older... ya think? (11/20/09) Wrong...Hacksaw makes a "HOOOOOOOO" sound while carrying a 2 by 4. WOW (11/20/09) I am sure glad that Oprah is giving us two years notice before she moves on to cable TV....Two more years of that junk with farewells on every show! I will stick to SpongeBob...he is deeper. (11/20/09) Hacksaw on sheet metal = the voice of Angie Goff. Try it, same sound ! (11/20/09) Hey TV fans... time for a reality check. Who is this lovely lady? If you guessed the lovely Lynne Stewart ("Miss Yvonne - the most beautiful woman in Puppetland") from Pee Wee's Playhouse, give yourself a cookie. They grow up so fast, don't they? (11/20/09) Re:"...Wilbon on Bias". Agreed. I think Wilbon's insights on Bias, and indeed the team, the coach and College Park in general were a valuable contribution to the show. MW (11/20/09) "What do Brian Williams, Carl Bernstein, Glenn Beck, and Sean Hannity have in common? None of them graduated from any university or college but all make several million dollars a year." You can add the late, great Peter Jennings to that list. (11/20/09) Rusty, you are forgiven. This time. WOW (11/20/09) Bill Quinn, MQA, Michael Q Anthony is alive! While Scott Fitzgerald of the original WLPL inadvertently stated otherwise, let's set the record straight, " although it seems we've gone beyond the beyond, a thousand times " well.. I just checked AND WE'RE STILL HERE.. live..live, ALIVE! ALIVO! So please help dispel any rumors to the contrary. "From Memphis to Mobile, From Reisterstown to Rockville, wherever the four winds blow ... wherever you can shoot a signal at the stars and bounce it back from Mars simply stated to make it right. shoot a rocket, light a light ," the very basic fact is Billl Quinn (MQA,Michael Q Anthony) is ALIVE.! " L'CHAIM! Happy Thanksgiving to Scott....Happy Holidays to All ! Stay Happy, Live and Be Well! Thank you very much! bill quinn (MQA-Michael Q Anthony) (11/20/09) (RE: "Wilbon had absolutely no place in the ESPN special on Len Bias because he was not relevant to the Washington Post sports scene at the time." Wilbon was the beat reporter for University of Maryland basketball at the time of Len Bias' death.) Yes, he was also a "cub" reporter for the Bullets. I said "relevant". No offense, but that makes no sense. What does Wilbon fame at the time of the Bias' death have to do with him being qualified to discuss Bias on the ESPN show about Bias? At a beat report, he covered Bias and the team on a regular basis. Wilbon is far more qualified to discuss this incident that occurred while he was a beat reporter than he would have been if Bias had died 5 years ago when Wilbon was a well known columnist, but covered Maryland basketball a couple times a year at most. (11/20/09) Dave, I just read some rather sad news on the Baltimore Sun Website. It appears that MaryBeth Marsden is leaving WMAR-2 in a few days. I presume because she was 2's labor union steward among other issues. This too along w/ the pending retirement of my heartthrob Sally Thorner over @ WJZ 13 on 12/18. Well, I guess I'll be turning my affection to Alison Starling or Angie Goff. Forgive me if I've mentioned something that was previously reported on our site. Rusty Gibson WEBR/RadioFairfax (11/20/09) In my humble opinion, I think that "Morning Joe" would see a real ratings disastrous slump if Mika was not a part of the show. I mean, let's be realistic here: Mika is classy and she's the one who carries both the TV show and the radio show. Period. And yes, Joe is a classy & likable guy - but Mika is so much better, she's more 'demure', she 'paces' herself, she has tact, she's analytical. I really like her as a person, and as I've stated here before, I've actually agreed with her in a few more instances than with Joe - which is bizarre considering that I'm a suburban conservative mom. So since Oprah is leaving in 2011 -- may I suggest a talk show featuring Sarah Palin and Mika. -Silvie- (11/20/09) /\ November 20 Messages /\ \/ November 19 Messages \/ Re: "This is how you treat people who do their jobs well? ....This was a dumb move by the county .... Bill Toohey, chief spokesman for Balto. Co. police, to be replaced." Quite frankly, legal or otherwise, I don't think it helped Bill Toohey that he had become somewhat ... let's just say ... a little "long in the tooth." (11/19/09) CBS ran an NFL promo during Survivor supposedly for this weekend's games. Their star attraction was the Jets (led by Brett Favre) at the Titans. At least if you're going to make a mistake, get the right year let alone (Favre) the right team. (11/19/09) The cable morning show ratings blip brings to the surface a couple of things. Joe Scarboro is not that entertaining and now it shows. He's an OK interviewer and he spars at times with the rest of the libs on the network which is reason enough to have him around but other than that - very dry, which is a curse in the morning. Elsewhere, all the libs want to take pot shots at Fox Biz news for not having viewers...hell, it doesn't have homes yet. As FOX News didn't have 9 years ago (its ten years old now)...come back and give me your death watch in a couple of years. We'll see where the cable biz race is. Once you find FBN, it is vastly superior in product to CNBC (yes you may argue). It does have the better talents - and several are easier on the eyes, which is the formula they used for FOX NEWS. Well, that and flipping everyone elses reporting on its ear and showing the sheep in the audience the bias every else, while providing their own. I can't watch CNBC outside of Becky in the morning show....mmmm Becky. (11/19/09) Breaking News on WTOP! Oprah's calling it quits! Whatever will WJLA do? Sometimes I think they put more effort into promoting Oprah during their newscasts than they put into, say, their entire sports segments. Oh wait...her last show? Septmber 9...2011!!!! Good luck, Joe A! (11/19/09) Dave's response: I hear that Allbritton is carefully studying Channel 4's 3 PM show for replication in the 4 PM hour on 7..... I doubt very much that Mary Beth Marsden would end up on CH 13. I’m sure the folks at 13 realize that no one watched her on CH2. (11/19/09) Dave i would not be surprised if Mary Beth Marsden ends up at WJZ as the 4pm and 5pm anchor with Kai Jackson replacing Sally Thorner again. Kai Jackson and Mary Beth Marsden has a nice ring to it. (11/19/09) Dave wrote "... And after reading Milloy's review, I'm even more glad I saw "Pirate Radio" last weekend, instead" So what'ya think of the movie? You're the first person I know who's seen it. Is there any "story" along with the comedy? The competition between Auntie Beeb and the pirates over rock and roll is a great story. Does the movie cover stations broadcasting from the WWII sea forts? Thanks. Robert, Arlington (11/19/09) Dave's response: The movie has very little on the fascinating story of all the real off-shore pirate radio operations around England in the 1960s. And, the personal "filler stories" in the movie are kind of silly. Still - hearing some of the coolest music from the 1960s (Kinks, Turtles, Stones) pumping out of that big movie theater sound system, and seeing some elements of "by the balls" radio of the era, is definitely worth the price of a ticket and two hours of your time. I give it a solid "B+." You can definitely dance to it..... Whatever you did to fix the blue hypertexting situation worked. Thanks! (11/19/09) Dave's response: One errant quote mark in the code for a hypertext link..... To the poster who suggested one never sign a contract with a non-compete clause: some people do not have a choice. In Baltimore, for example. (11/19/09) (RE: "Wilbon had absolutely no place in the ESPN special on Len Bias because he was not relevant to the Washington Post sports scene at the time." Wilbon was the beat reporter for University of Maryland basketball at the time of Len Bias' death.) Yes, he was also a "cub" reporter for the Bullets. I said "relevant". (11/19/09) There's an ad that's been running on TV for a while now, for an outfit called Identity Guard. The gist of the spot is that too much of our personal information is "out there". As an example, the commercial shows a checkout girl reading out the info from a customer's driver's license, over the store's P.A. system. The address she gives is 106 West Jefferson Street, Falls Church VA. Out of curiosity I Googled it and it turns out to be a VW repair shop. You'd think that the ad agency that created this spot would've checked first, to see that the address they used wasn't an actual address. (11/19/09) Of course Scarborough's "Morning Joe" ratings sux... When did "Morning Joe" on MSNBC become a liberal, elitist saloon for uppity, arrogant, left-wing, self-centered media elites who only care about NYC-DC/LA and talk about how great they are... (and when did that obnoxious, stuck-up, elite, liberal, prude bitch Mika take over "Morning Joe" ?) IMUS :-) needs to be on Fox News ASAP!!! -so we can all see the I-Man!!! (11/19/09) We would be lucky to have someone like Ken Beatrice on DC sports radio today. (11/19/09) To correct an error the current post regarding Marconi was not posted by WOW…it was posted by wOw(flying a$$hole)….Now I see blatant envy-WOW:0) (11/19/09) I just put up a new Winegard HD 7698P UV Antenna CH. 7-69 last month with a mast mounted preamp at my location in western Fairfax near Cosco Plaza. I'm shooting through a lot of trees to Baltimore and DC. The new antenna works very well with both VHF and UHF from DC and Baltimore. Channels 11 & 13 are better than UHF from Baltimore because they are less affected by the trees. All the Baltimore stations are very reliable with only very occasional dropout. A windy day however will cause the UHF signals to bounce and drop out more frequently. The wind causes the trees to move around and affects the signal. In the analog days a windy day would cause the UHF signals to go from clear to snowy and ghosty due to tree movement. All the DC stations V & U are very strong (above 90 on the signal meter) and never dropout no matter what the weather. Bob Fairfax (11/19/09) Speaking of game, Marconi, now there is a man who had game. He could do things with a transistor that would make any girl sigh. I was 21 when I dated him. What a man he was! WOW (11/19/09) This is how you treat people who do their jobs well? And, by the way, not everyone in public safety and journalism agree that spokesmen should be departmental officers; in fact, many people believe otherwise--that, most of the time, spokesman should be civilians, with backgrounds in journalism, public relations or similar fields. Most spokesmen from inside the department--"sworn officers"--to be honest, have no clues about real journalism or public relations. A few do--they learn it naturally--but most just don't, and that's a fact. This was a dumb move by the county. baltimoresun.com Bill Toohey, chief spokesman for Balto. Co. police, to be replaced (11/19/09) Thanks for the link, STA hound, to that translator sale document - $2.00 is not a lot to spend! (Well, there is the matter of assumed debts.) One more time, I'm focusing on your STA baiting of 1260 and 1600 only. I can't comment to the owner's business ethics or other use of other stations because I haven't looked at that. You have been misrepresenting 1600's plight - it is still broadcasting from its original site at 25% power, which is a standard STA practice. I'm pretty sure those facilities cover the community of license with 5mV/m signal days, and probably meet the NIF requirements at night, too. If push comes to shove, the owner could file to license the current facility. The fishy part of all this is the application for a replacement full-power facility - the application is blocked awaiting clarification from the applicant. There should be a time-limit on that. 1260's plight is, as I said before, a lot more tenuous, as I don't think its STA meets COL coverage requireme nts. If the new owner can't find a new home, then 1260 should go dark. However, given the crowded spectrum, I wouldn't automatically assume Washington's 1260 could apply for better coverage. There's protection to stations on 1230, 1240, 1250, 1270, 1280, and 1290 to consider, too. Regards, Dave Loudin (11/19/09) What’s going on with Anita Marx on 105.7/MASN? She’s on air only a day or two a week (thank goodness) (11/19/09) I love love love Lindsay Czarniak (sp?) and Craig Melvin individually when doing regular newscasts on NBC4, but their pairing for that Daily Connection horror show at 3pm is just too painful to watch. -Silvie- (11/19/09) Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck never graduated college? I always wondered why their reasoning and logic skills were so poor. Now I know. (11/19/09) Dave's response: Ditto with Rush Limbaugh..... Please make reservations now for our next Q&A Cafe, Wednesday, December 9, featuring Georgetown Cupcake owners Sophie LaMontagne and Katherine Kallinis, who have made a revolution out of the cupcake business. Call the Georgetown Ritz-Carlton today at 202.912.4110. Maybe we'll have their incredible Egg Nog cupcake for dessert. Or maybe the Peppermint. Hmmm. btw, Georgetown Cupcake is scheduled to be featured on Nightline tonight ... that's ABC, Channel 7 in DC, 11:35 pm. (11/19/09) Dave: This isn't TV or radio-related, but I know you're a movie fan. What did you think of Courtland Milloy's blistering rant against "Precious" in yesterday's paper? Have you seen the film yet? Christian www.washingtonpost.com (11/19/09) Dave's response: Even though it's gotten good reviews, it just doesn't sound like something I'd like to see. And after reading Milloy's review, I'm even more glad I saw "Pirate Radio" last weekend, instead..... wOw…you are as bad at satire as you are at playing the game. You’re funny only to yourself. Read what all others are saying about you a$$hole. You are making a fool of yourself. JD (11/19/09) (Dave said: Another sterling fuck up from the FCC, which should have put all of a market's DTV stations on the same TV band, a la UHF.) Weren't the stations given the option to stay on their transitional DTV freqs when the transition period ended? If so, then perhaps the FCC did screw up by allowing the stations to have a choice but--if so--why did WUSA and WJLA choose to go back to their VHF freqs for digital once they ended analog service? They seem to have caused their own problems. (11/19/09) Dave's response: I wasn't aware that stations had a choice..... Yawwwwwww next! Bring back Ken Beatrice! Bring back Ken Beatrice! At least he wasn't a shill like the those on the frequency of 980 AM. Except for Arby's, of course. But then again, I hear those Curly Fries are delicious. I don't eat them but I hear they're really good. (11/19/09) Oh, one more thing for the STA baiter, flipping unbuilt stations for profit is not that unusual. In the last commercial FM auction, a number of unbuilt CPs were sold for profit. Regards, Dave Loudin (11/19/09) What do Brian Williams, Carl Bernstein, Glenn Beck, and Sean Hannity have in common? None of them graduated from any university or college but all make several million dollars a year. Perhaps some of the professed know-it-alls who post on this site might want to hustle more and stay off the keyboard. Just sayin' ACH (11/19/09) Satire [sat-ahyuhr] -noun - the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc. - wOw (11/19/09) Ken Beatrice's downfall on DC radio began when he first admitted that he didn't have the "reesawsis" to scout high school football. But he could plug Bernie Streeter's Arby's like no other!! If you'll indulge me, I'd never thought I'd say this, but Gawd, I miss Ken Beatrice. (11/19/09) My God we were right! wOw is truly an a$$hole. Must work on the internet somewhere add to that your lack of knowledge regarding the LATE: Born Henry Louis Mencken September 12, 1880(1880-09-12) Baltimore, Maryland... Died January 29, 1956 (aged 75) Baltimore, Maryland (11/19/09) Hey Dave, nice pic of Weasel...any idea what he's doing now? Is he on the air anywhere, or is he yet another victim of a non-compete clause? And has everyone now learned the lesson, i.e. NEVER SIGN A CONTRACT CONTAINING A NON-COMPETE CLAUSE?!? (11/19/09) Dave's response: I have no idea what Weasel's up to. Anybody know? THE END OF CABLE READY TV SETS PART 2......... I sent the entire DCRTV Comcast-related post (that didn't originally show up in the DCRTV mailbag for over 1 day) with the pic to David Zurawik of The Baltimore Sun. I've not yet heard back, and probably won't. In the meantime, thanks, Dave Hughes, for fixing the mailbag coding error. Hopefully Zurawik will not run a Comcast conspiracy story by mistake, but maybe there still is a story here. While I'm sorry for being bitter about it, I think this is a bigger story than local media think or want to or can financially think it is, but then again, I don't accept advertising from Comcast, so I guess I'm way too impartial to be a journalist nor do I have the credentials of Katie Couric, Soledad O'Brien, or Shepard Smith. Oh wait, I have Shep's credentials. LOL The fact that Comcast buys HUGE amounts of advertising calls into question how this or any story about Comcast is covered, or in this case NOT COVERED, well except by DCRTV and The Washington Post (who chose not to follow up on their story, what did The Post get an angry email from Mr. Roberts in Philly?). And for those DC area residents annoyed by my rant on this story. Guess what? You're NEXT on Comcast's list! This is not just a Bmore thing, THE END OF CABLE READY TV SETS is coming to a town near you SOON! Start hoarding your kitchen, bedroom, etc converter boxes because you will need them soon thanks to the DMCA Law passed by Congress, and although Comcast is giving at least 2 of them out for free at the moment, guess what? That's a limited time offer! You WILL ultimately pay for each and every one of them just like the British do to watch TV. Yes, that means EVEN YOU TOO DC! (11/19/09) Dave's response: Dave Zurawik, bless him, is totally obsessed with Kate Gosselin. Nobody writes more about her than he. OK, maybe he's second only to Lisa de Moraes..... Mary Beth Marsden is leaving WMAR after 21 years... (11/19/09) I talked to Comcast in Frederick County, MD this morning. They said Frederick was switching over on Jan. 3, 2010. We got 2 boxes for free, except the $10.00 shipping fee, additional are $1.99 a month rental fee. If you want Comcast to come out and install the boxes it is $25.00. - Martha (11/19/09) Why Do Stupid People Talk So Much Dept.: Actually, Katie Couric began her journalism career as an intern at WAVA when it was all news and worked for UVA's daily newspaper while earning an American Studies degree there; Soledad O'Brien has an English degree from Harvard; Campbell Brown majored in Political Science/International Relations and graduated from Regis University in Denver. None of them was, as you slurred it, "kicked out of college even!" Shepard Smith went to the University of Mississippi for some time but did not graduate. As anyone who actually works in a newsroom can tell you, journalism degrees are hardly the only credentials we are looking for. English, polysci and several other degrees are highly sought. I don't think Mencken (who never went to college at all) would have any problem with any of these educational backgrounds, but he would be appalled at your inability to write a coherent sentence, spell his name correctly, or understand the difference between "literally" and "figuratively." (11/19/09) H.L.!!!! I just last week was wondering where you had gone! I absolutely miss the days we spent tooling around Baltimore in your father's 1939 Ford Deluxe Coupe looking for drive-in theaters...That time we saw the Wizard of Oz...Exhilerating! wOw (11/19/09) Mr. Mencken, thanks for the insight into wOw…..certainly does resemble a “flying a$$-hole-FUNNY-WOW (11/19/09) Just noticed this post, first time up on site in a while(Pffffftt...Web radio...wOw) I guess I could call that ENVY???? WOW (11/19/09) Someone mentioned Soledad O'Brien and I couldn't resist posting this... What do Soledad O'Brien, Cambell Brown, and Katie Couric all have in common? NOT ONE OF THEM HAS A JOURNALISM DEGREE nor do any of them have any real educational credentials for their current jobs. And one was kicked out of college even! To be fair and balanced, FOX NEWS' resident homo/metro-sexual Shepard Smith actually studied journalism in college, but, hehe, he FAILED OUT TOO! Go figure. If H.L. Menckin were alive today, I think he'd say the state of the news business LITERALLY SUCKS! (11/19/09) "Howie seems to have missed the point." Agreed, to some extent. I was responding to one post, but the earlier post indicating that the Orioles may want to withdraw from the Nats/MASN deal escaped my notice. I'll stick by my point still, because I doubt MASN would want to give away a competing product to CSN or to any new network that might form. "Howie may not see any problems with the current arrangement, but Stan Kasten does, since he has publicly complained about it." Kasten may indeed have a problem with it, but it was MLB's cost of doing business. Once again, the ownership knew of the deal when they bid for the team and still shelled out for it. Kasten was also aware of it when hired. It isn't going to be changed on either side. Howie (11/19/09) "Wilbon had absolutely no place in the ESPN special on Len Bias because he was not relevant to the Washington Post sports scene at the time." Wilbon was the beat reporter for University of Maryland basketball at the time of Len Bias' death. (11/19/09) Regarding a previous post, "WJLA 7 petitions the FCC to attempt to keep an increased experimental DTV power to fix it's OTA DTV coverage problems..." A question, why in the world did broadcast engineers working at analog VHF stations (e.g., ch. 7 & 9 in Washington) think it was a good idea to migrate back to VHF frequencies with the digital transition? I do know that the only OTA digital reception problems I have in central Arlington are with channels 7 & 9. Everyone else is on UHF and I have no reception problems with these stations - and no, I'm not using just a UHF antenna. (11/19/09) Dave's response: Another sterling fuck up from the FCC, which should have put all of a market's DTV stations on the same TV band, a la UHF. In so many ways, the clueless FCC makes things so much worse for broadcasters and viewers..... What happened to Roche on DC101? Thanks, Heidi (11/19/09) It seems that WOW and wOw are two different people. wOw is just too hard to type for it to be a mistake. wOw looks like an e-mail emoticon for Flying A$$hole. HL Mencken. (11/19/09) Are you telling me Dave that WVBV, Medford Lakes, NJ radio-locator.com made the Baltimore PPMs ??? Are you seriously kidding me ??? The Hope Christian Church of Marlton, NJ got same or better ratings than several local Baltimore stations, including 2 sports talk stations, WNST 1570 and WVIE 1370 as well as urban talk WOLB 1010 ??? What's wrong with this picture ??? The FCC should stop this out of state CASH push from right wing nutjobs in other states. Is this beyond ridiculous or what ??? And aren't they legally required to NOT RE-BROADCAST an out of state station ??? Weren't they translating DC's WGTS? When did that change? I do not believe they have enough translators to legally bounce WVBV from Medford Lakes, NJ to Baltimore. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong. Oh, and WJFK 106.7 is still showing in the Baltimore PPMs, a station that cannot be heard almost anywhere in the Baltimore market either. I'm starting to think these PPMs are really f'd up, not to mention the FCC! (11/19/09) Radio One in DC has being trying to get HD done without certified help since 2005. At Radio One in other markets, such as Baltimore, Philadelphia and Atlanta, it was done a long time ago and works. The 102.3 and 93.9 signals have intemittently had HD since about 2007. (11/19/09) Another word on the Bill Toohey situation…I hope Chief Jim Johnson remembers that a new administration will be elected in November. He could face the same fate since the Chief is a political appointee. The new Lt. spokesman had better be good! (11/19/09) So happy to have seen a response from Scott Fitzgerald....By the way, I love your car dealership commercials! They are fantastic. wOw (11/19/09) WMMJ powers up HD-Radio... WKYS fires up HD-Radio (11/19/09) Dave's response: Just checked and I'm not getting an HD Radio signal on either 93.9 or 102.3..... WXXY Broadcasting (owner of WAMS 1600 in Delaware) sells ANOTHER radio station that they never put on the air, yes another dark station owned by this Klepac family that DCRTV tech guru Dave Loudin keeps defending... licensing.fcc.gov... Now, the new owner will petition the FCC for a Special Temporary Authority permit (STA) in order to hold onto the license and frequency space. Who the hell knows whether this station will ever go on the air or not, but once again, let me drill down on the most important point...... THESE PEOPLE AREN'T BROADCASTERS, THEY'RE FREQUENCY SQUATTERS CLUTTERING UP THE FM AND AM DIALS! My favorite line of the seller agreement is "WXXY Broadcasting, Inc., a Delaware not-for-profit company in good standing" Good standing? For christ sakes, most of their stations are not even on the AIR or are at unlicensed low power! And not for profit? PuhLEASE! Clearly, they are selling the FREQUENCY/station they never built FOR PROFIT. You'd have to be a complete fool to believe otherwise. The FCC is a complete joke. All they care about is boobs and language. They couldn't give a rats ass about complying with FCC licensed technical requirements or companies pulling scams like these Klepacs are. For lack of better words, they're basically "house flippers", "frequency squatters", NOT broadcasters. I predicted that they would start selling their dark stations for cash and Dave Loudin disputed my prediction or their intentions or FCC actions related to them claiming it seemed normal and that they were making a valid effort to get these stations on the air or up to licensed specs. Once again, my prediction came true. (11/19/09) WOW. Hey, thanks for the mention "curious mind". I am alive and well and still living in Cockeysville, Fresh from my annual Halloween Haunted Extravaganza. I am still working as a Dispatcher and Paramedic in the EMS and Public Safety Field full time, and still part time at "100.7 DaBay", also looking into following in Jack Edwards' mighty footsteps and driving when needed in an arena where you can NEVER get any complaints from your customers !!!!! . . .Cant wait to hear the airchecks of my first PD at WLPL, the late Bill (Michael Q Anthony) Quinn., The guy who gave me my air name 15 minutes before going on the air that first night of Jan 20th, 1974...I had to write that one down with Magic Marker on the board for the first few weeks !!!!!... . . Scott Fitzgerald (11/19/09) WJLA 7 petitions the FCC to attempt to keep an increased experimental DTV power to fix it's OTA DTV coverage problems... licensing.fcc.gov (11/19/09) How can government agencies like the Baltimore County Police and the state Department of General Services think replacing two extremely competent PIOs is in the public's interest. Higher-ups aren't thinking about the consequences. Both Bill Toohey and Dave Humphrey did so much more in their jobs that talk to the MEDIA. My guess is their bosses/budget-cutters have no idea of their day-to-day activities. The Sun says Toohey wil be replaced by a uniformed officer. In an stranger move, Humphrey's duties will be shifted the the state Health Department. Now what in the world does health have to do with buildings, procurements and real estate? As a previous writer said "These two men came from the media and had the background to deal with reporters." Prediction 1: Their bosses will soon regret the loss of Toohey and Humphrey. Prediction 2: The MEDIA will surely miss both; the flow of information will suffer. Prediction 3: Both will land on their feet, they are too good at their craft. Lastly a suggestion for Maryland's Morning News: Hire Humphrey. His voice on Baltimore radio has long been missed. (11/19/09) Why are parts of the mailbag all screwed up, just one long link? (11/19/09) Dave's response: I uploaded a "broken" version of the Mailbag at about 7 AM on Wednesday and uploaded a corrected version about two minutes later when I discovered an HTML coding error. Since then, I have updated the Mailbag at least a dozen times with fresh posts. But, I have received about six or seven complaints from people who say that all they can see is that 7 AM "broken" version of the Mailbag from yesterday, despite the numerous updates of the page. I don't know what's going on. Some server somewhere has "gotten stuck" on that page. Most complainees seem to be using Macs and most seem to be using either Verizon or AT&T DSL. But, otherwise, I really can't find a common link as to why this is happening. All I can say is that the problem is not on my end and that the vast majority of Mailbaggers seem to be getting their page updates just fine, as the volume of postings since 7 AM yesterday seems to be at a normal rate. Go figure. UPDATE: I did find an extra " mark in the Hinn link. I have removed it. Fumble fingers me often makes coding errors, but I've never had one that was evident only on a relatively small number of browsers. Live and learn..... Shawn in DC = +1. Sad, slackjawed hillbilly with less-than-cogent ramblings = -2. For chrissakes, fellow right wingers, if you're going to bitch about the current state of politics and the way it is covered in the MSM, please post relevant WELL-THOUGHT-OUT arguments that don't rely on name calling or the pathetic "talking points" that are parroted by the inane Fox News and Limbaugh. Signed, The Ghost of Teddy Roosevelt. (11/19/09) "Kornheiser and Wise are both arrogant and obnoxious." And both could use some ratings. That's all you need to know about this. (11/19/09) I hear the Photographer that got laidoff two weeks at WJLA, is in the process of buying a beach front hotel, in Daytona Beach Florida. I guess he is really, "on the beach" Ironic? (11/19/09) /\ November 19 Messages /\ \/ November 18 Messages \/ RE: "Kornheiser and Wise are both arrogant and obnoxious. But Kornheiser had a point. Wise is a carpetbagger who has no particular knowledge of or appreciation for DC area sports." What the hell are you talking about? Kornheiser and Wilbon are two biggest hobos ever to jump off the box car train at Union Station. Wilbon had absolutely no place in the ESPN special on Len Bias because he was not relevant to the Washington Post sports scene at the time. Looking back, I believe Wilbon and Kornheiser should have been working for USA Today instead of the Post. (11/18/09) Pretty sure all of the old Adelphia areas are also on Scientific Atlanta, Dave. Comcast did take Cartoon Network and WETA-26 and move them to digital only a few months ago (actually, took WVPT-51 first, then changed their minds and gave us that back at the expense of WETA), but we’re hearing the same thing out here, that they are not ready to make the move toward nearly all digital until next year. In the meantime, the interactive program guide we have looks like something out of the early or mid-1990s, because, well, it is... Charles in Winchester (11/18/09) Dave's response: Here in Reston, you need a digital box from Comcast to get MPT, Comcast Network, Game Show Network, Cartoon Network, and Style..... Soledad O’Brien is such a phony. In April 2008, Reverend Jeremiah Wright gave a speech in Detroit to the NAACP. One of the things that he said in this speech was that black and white children learn with different parts of their brain, and then gave an "unflattering imitation of the way white pastors speak." Peoples comments were that he gave a racial speech. Soledad O'Brien, on CNN, was quoted as saying, in a gushing manner, that the speech was a "home run" and "really funny." When questioned about the things he said in the speech, she would say things like, what he really meant was .....or what he wanted to say was... Once again she's covering the truth and being racist. Just as with the Henry Gates incident. In an appearance on Anderson Cooper, the night or so before CNN's "The Moment of Truth" she appeared enraged that it was a racial profile against Gates. She said that she got calls from her FRIENDS saying it was all about Gates being black. She went on that show with the purpose, at all costs, to destroy the credibility of the white police officer and throw him under the bus. When Cooper was talking she wanted to make the point that Gates said "Thank You" to the police officers. By mentioning that, she was purposely misrepresenting the truth by playing down Gates' belligerence and racial remarks, which she didn't even mention. Even Gates' attorney and friend, said to the media that he used very strong language. Colon Powell and President Obama both said he should take blame in the incident. I have seen this in many occasions with her, where she doesn't speak the truth and hides the true facts. Another time on Anderson Cooper, Cooper said to O'Brien that Senator John McCain hasn't brought race into the campaign, like he said he wouldn't. You would think her response would have been something like, that's great because he shouldn't. Instead she strongly insinuated that he would, even in the last week of the campaign. Also, her questioning style, in interviews is completely different with a white person than it is with a black person. Like in her interview with Henry Gates in "The Moment of Truth" She just went along with his lies. I have seen several comments on various websites about her racism. There are many other examples I could give of her racial bias, dishonesty and hypocrisy. She seems to consider herself to be black. She mentioned in an interview that her parents made it clear to her “you’re black” and that’s all there is to it. She’s all about being #1, she wants the world to revolve around her. She comes first, before her family. She wants to be a celebrity figure and a star. In interviews she says she works 6 days a week, mostly out of town, and on some holidays. She goes to gala events, concerts, lots of entertainment events, as a single woman, leaving her husband and kids behind. I think Soledad O’Brien is a very poor journalist. What ever happened to the days of CNN with Bernard Shaw and Judy Woodruff? They were honorable journalists. You could believe what they said. John Las Vegas (11/18/09) Wash Times Publisher Memo: More Changes Coming | TPM LiveWire tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com (11/18/09) Apparently, the "retirement" of Bill Toohey has been greatly exaggerated. "Bill Toohey, a former radio reporter who has been the chief spokesman for the Baltimore County Police Department since March 1996, is to be replaced with a uniformed officer .... Sources in the county government .... said the decision, conveyed to Toohey on Tuesday, took him by surprise. He was described as "very upset." www.baltimoresun.com (11/18/09) CSN+ isn't available on FIOS in Howard County, either. (Thankfully, we do get Versus.) We've called and complained; all they say is that "they're working on it". I don't know why they don't put it on channel 1, like it is in Montgomery and PG Counties. I think there are 12 Caps games on CSN+ and four have already aired...... Ooops, I guess I should've actually read Mike Holden's blog BEFORE posting my comments about CSN+ in Howard County. (11/18/09) Wow, Dave! You got to talk with a "real" Comcast tech??? I am impressed. All I've ever seen here are "rent-a-tech" contractors out of some company in New Jersey. Nice to see they've got at least one tech still working for them when it seems everybody is ditching non-IT tech talent. (11/18/09) "In Search of..." It's amazing the vintage airchecks and studio recordings that we've been able to locate with sigificant Washington & Baltimore connections which we've been transfering from tape to cd to expand our library of memorabilia. And, yes, we continue to be on the look out for other rare collector items, sometimes off the beaten path which have local tie-ins. For example, some extremely rare WINX All Hit Format recordings of Rob Michael "Scorpion", "Scorpio" & Michael Q Anthony (Bill Quinn) have been found including a variety of station production drops. Meanwhile, we're searching for Johnny Holiday airchecks from WVOM in Rochester. Dick Lawrence, the outstanding Progam Consultant who put WKBW in Buffalo on the map used do do news on the old WWDC-AM....it would be a real terrific find to discover an aircheck of any Dick Lawrence newscast,or his programming work on WPTR Albany for that matter or any of his trailblazing production tracks. Also how about Bill Quinn pre Michael Q Anthony on WPRO Color Radio For Southern New England, a format similar to WHK in Cleveland when Johnny Holiday was there. Kevin Bacon was in a very fascinating movie inspired by that era of color radio in Cleveland, Providence and LA. How about a tape of Larry "Dirty Shirt" Walton on WRC AM 980 and later on WNAV in Annapolis and recordings of Nick James and Neal Ellis on WNAV and tapes of other staffers on their journey to---or on local airwaves--like Jack Alix on WEEL, Tom Grooms on WHFS &WINX, Andy Parks on WLPL with Michael Q Anthony, Jonathan Holly on WLPL, Jim Lavin and Juan O'Reilly on WINX. Certain air personalities show up on numerous occasions in their travels like the legendary Barry Richards, of course, and Bill Quinn (Michael Q Anthony) on WPDM in Potsdam, WBAL AM &TV in Baltimore, PD of WBJC, WPAW, WNDR & WFBL in Syracuse and the storied WTLB Utica-Rome and as well as a pre Leesburg WAGE when the calls letters were those of a Syracuse Station now known as WHEN not to mention WLPL & WSID in Baltimore or WINX " The hits can keep on comin' " as long as the old tapes can keep on being re-discovered. So, should you come across something....please send word. Our little but growing is always pleased to hear about "a new find." Thank you Dave for helping to keep our humble efforts alive on your exceptional website. And thanks in advance to new and old friends alike who care enough to be part of the search and let us know. Mark Eastwood, dbt123@verizon.net (11/18/09) Tommy Griffith seen touring a station in PHILLY and behind closed doors. So, no DC for Tommy Griffiths? Interesting comments on his web site. www.imeem.com. From a Hampton Roads/DC commuter... (11/18/09) For the sole NTSC TV in the house, their POS STB.. is a Motorola (HDC70, if I'm remembering correctly), newly attached this PM, to no useful effect: automated activation, CSR-initiated commands, "nuttin" Ah, bedroom's for better things anyway.. (11/18/09) Dave's response: Oooo oooo oooo, Lifetime and E and Style and Tru TV in HD. Can't friggin' wait..... Yes, Bombcast wiped some dozen or so analog slots today, with more to go next month, per ink in this week's Catonsville Times. So far, though, each channel is duplicated in their digital tier and is readily available (in the open) via a QAM-tuner-equiped HDTV. How long such channels will *remain* open via QAM is a point to which Comcast will not commit. For the sole NTSC TV in the house, their POS STB refuses to display anything: bums. Mark/CharmCity (11/18/09) Dave's response: If your local Comcast cable system uses Scientific Atlanta (Cisco) boxes, you won't be upgrading to all-digital just yet. This includes Howard, Arlington, Alexandria, Reston, and some others. But there will be an SA digital-to-analog box available by mid-2010, I'm told by a Comcast tech..... With the “retirement” of two competent public information officers, Bill Toohey of the Baltimore County police department and Dave Humphrey of the state department of General Services , comes thoughts of what now. I hope these agencies, and others, are prepared for dealing with the media on deadlines in need of information. These two men came from the media and had the background to deal with reporters. Baltimore County plans to replace Toohey with a uniformed officer, who obviously has no media background. The chores handled by Humphrey will likely be absorbed by another state agency on Preston street. While the budget cuts help the government, the loss of these people will hurt the readers, listeners and viewers and the flow of information. Good luck Dave and Bill. (11/18/09) Shawn, I didn't think you'd get it. As I said "idiot" The Media...Obama, the United States, Afghanistan...the economy, where do you get your news from, a crystal ball? JD So sorry to hear about Dave Humphrey, an outstanding MEDIA guy. (11/18/09) The departure of Ken Beatrice was exactly when the Internet became a household phenomenon. Beatrice could no longer spew bogus statistics and names without immediately being called out. Google was the end of Ken Beatrice. (11/18/09) Another former Baltimore radio guy -- Dave Humphrey -- is leaving his spokesperson position with Maryland state government. Dave has been the Communications Director for Maryland's Department of General Services for the last 16 years. He was one of the 70 state employees whose jobs were abolished this week as a result of budget cuts. As you'll recall, Dave was a news anchor at WCBM and WLIF for a combined 25 years. Beside having one of the best radio voices going, Dave was reliable,honest and fast as a PIO. Understand he's entertaining job offers. Good luck Dave! (11/18/09) CSN+ (The Plus, as I like to call it) is also not available on Shentel Cable in Shenandoah County. Unlike DirecTV, Shetel does offer VS, but it is in a sports package that costs additional money each month. So there are probably 30 Caps games people in Shenandoah County cannot see without an odd cable/dish combo. Still cannot fathom why CSN is putting the supposedly hot property Caps on the Plus so much, unless...they are trying to force other operators’ hands like ESPN did with ESPN2 and ESPN 360...Hmmmm. Charles in Winchester (where we do get the Plus). (11/18/09) If you aren't getting new stuff here on Dave's page, try doing a "Refresh" of the page and most likely you will see new info. Sometimes the cache doesn't reset and you have to do it. And as for T.K. and 980AM, think of this: "If you don't listen, you won't hear how bad WTEM really is." Hey, works for me. (11/18/09) Y'know, Kornheiser said some odd things about another WP columnist today. He was talking about Courtland Milloy's column about the movie "Precious," saying he agreed 100% with Milloy...but prefaced his comments by saying he doesn't like Milloy "in any way." What the hell was that about? I think Kornheiser sounds more bitter and twisted every day, and the sycophants he pays to sit and giggle at his lame jokes don't help his show at all. And as long as I'm all over the bald one's ass, why does he insist on declaring anything he thinks is funny "smart"? Because it is invariably NOT funny and NOT smart. Who ever it was that first told Kornheiser he was funny was dead wrong and created a horrible monster. (11/18/09) Kornheiser and Wise are both arrogant and obnoxious. But Kornheiser had a point. Wise is a carpetbagger who has no particular knowledge of or appreciation for DC area sports. Kornheiser is from elsewhere also, but at least he paid his dues and built a real following. As for McKenna's story about Beatrice, no doubt Kornheiser was unduly mean and nasty to Beatrice for whatever reason. BUT I'm not aware that anyone ever challenged the facts that Kornheiser asserted about the alleged fabrications in Beatrice's background. That was all relevant and fair game, in my opinion. (11/18/09) (Next, Shawn, you drivelling idiot, the political topics being discussed are all over radio and television. Does that answer your question? JB ) Umm, no, doesn't even come close. (Shawn in DC) (11/18/09) Frustrations with Fios for Caps Fans mikeholden.wordpress.com (11/18/09) Tony Kornheiser:: 'acting like a bad guy with a dark heart again.' Hell, I thought that phrase was reserved for Geronimo-Sorce. If the microphone fits! (11/18/09) (SNIPPET) (me-thinks the “libs” are getting ready to blow a gasket..". The only thing anyone is blowing a gasket over is your grammar and punctuation.) Let's tackle this first: The only individual I have noticed that's got their nuts in an uproar over my punctuation and grammar is YOU.Punctuation and grammar have nothing to do with the truth. Next, Shawn, you drivelling idiot, the political topics being discussed are all over radio and television. Does that answer your question? JB (11/18/09) Former network radio reporter and longtime spokesman for the Baltmore County Police Department, Bill Toohey, is leaving the department. Good and fair man who elevated the position of spokesman to an art form with his style and vocabulary. Bravo, and job well done, Bill. Greener pastures await. (11/18/09) Hi Dave. I recently read your piece for Pressbox on Washington sports teams with a Baltimore following and noted the omission of D.C. United. Considering Baltimore has recently commissioned a study of the viability to build a soccer stadium with the hopes United playing there, the fact that Scarborough reports more than 125,000 people from Baltimore attend/watch United games annually and one of our star players (Santino Quaranta) is a Charm City-native, I'd think our club should be involved in the discussion. That said, I enjoyed the article and keep the area in mind for all we do in the broadcasting, public relations and marketing areas of our business. I also am an avid visitor to your dcrtv.com site. Please let me know if you'd like to be added to our media distribution list for all team media updates or broadcast-specific missives. Best, D (11/18/09) Dave's response: Sorry about the omission in the PressBox article. I'll pen an update in this week's online sports media column..... With regards to the NPR poll. It leaves out AAA music stations. I have seen other polls that include that demographic and the average age is younger with a wider span. Bob Fairfax (11/18/09) (Oh yeah, and Congress is planning for a government take-over of our health care system, legislating higher energy prices and raising taxes he’s got the US on fire with his success stories. Expect an intelligent retort, sure!!!! ) Okay, this may not sound intelligent, but what does this bloviating have to do with radio/tv/print, teabagger? (Shawn in DC). (11/18/09) I don't know why people can't see the Comcast post. It's been on my screen all day long. (Shawn in DC). (11/18/09) Dave's response: I check DCRTV pages via my internet connection all day long and have no problem with the Mailbag. But I'm told that some in the Baltimore area are having trouble seeing the Mailbag today..... How come there's nothing posted about Comcast deleting all the channels today? (11/18/09) Dave's response: There are several posts here in the Mailbag and I have a Front Page blurb up. The poster of the original Comcast post says that he hasn't gotten an updated version of the Mailbag since early this morning, even though I've updated the page at least a half dozen times. Is everyone able to see the graphic of the Comcast channel deletion message in the second from the bottom post of today? I'm wondering if someone somewhere is "blocking" the Mailbag page in some parts of the DC-Baltimore region..... Say, I was listening to legendary Redskins Radio 94.3FM on my legendary lunch hour today, when I noticed something legendary that really is annoying. There's this one legendary word which legendary Kevin Sheehan and every other legendary talking head on the legendary station applies to every legendary thing. I mean, at some legendary point, the legendary overuse of any legendary word makes it a lot less legendary meaningful. Maybe some legendary body at the legendary station could buy a legendary thesaurus and leave it in the legendary studio to help end this legendary lack of legendary speaking ability. Oh, and before I forget: is Ric "Doc" Walker really that stupid, or is it an act he puts on whenever he opens his mouth? (11/18/09) Two things: (“I really miss Don and Mike and/or just Mike and crew.”) Understood: but then I miss the two front teeth I lost in a bar fight in Reno. Next: (“It's good to see them exercising good sense about who they're letting into their country. Apparently TV preacher, Benny Hinn, was turned away - twice - last month.” ) Agreed: the only problem is that they remain in the USA. Meanwhile: "Good morning FishbowlDC! Congrats to Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) who becomes the longest serving member of Congress today." Thus the problem: Senile Senator vs. Carpetbagger Commie. This is not what the Originators had in their very brilliant minds. BTW: Byrd thinks Obambi's a Negros. (11/18/09) RE":...me-thinks the “libs” are getting ready to blow a gasket..". The only thing anyone is blowing a gasket over is your grammar and punctuation. Before you write that book, you may want to master the ability to parse a sentence. (Sorry, too intellectual?) As for the wing-nuts...they like their info cut up into manageable portions with easily understood labels, so naturally the they go to Fox. The "Fair and Balanced" network gives them both sides, conservative and ultraconservative. MW (11/18/09) Howie seems to have missed the point. A poster posed a scenario where the Orioles were continuously good and the Nats continuously bad and suggested that, under that scenario, Angelos may want to work something out to cut the Nats loose. The assumption is that the Nats would be taking in more under the MASN arrangement than they are contributing through advertising revenue. The point that was made was that the Nats would be more than happy to forego any short term gain they would have by staying in the MASN arrangement in order to gain control over their own TV rights. And Howie may not see any problems with the current arrangement, but Stan Kasten does, since he has publicly complained about it. (11/18/09) Here’s some more of the accomplishments our current government is touting: Dream on “Flaming Liberals”- :Sure, the economy sucks. Unemployment is at least 10.2% and, yes, if you include part-time workers who would rather have full-time jobs it may be over 17%. The government is showering our cash on Wall Street and burning through piles of our children and grandchildren’s money “saving” phantom jobs in Congressional Districts that don’t exist.Oh yeah, and Congress is planning for a government take-over of our health care system, legislating higher energy prices and raising taxes he’s got the US on fire with his success stories. Expect an intelligent retort, sure!!!! (11/18/09) Dave, I'm a Comcast subscriber in Montgomery County and I got a letter about two months ago telling me about the change. They sent me two converters for the two cable-ready TV's I have for free (no monthly free or install fee or delivery fee) and they installed in a snap. If someone is all of a sudden going to have trouble, it is because they weren't paying attention. (11/18/09) Saw the congrats to Rusty further down the page. Wanted to add my 2 cents. Rusty you’re the only real dedicated pro on that site. JB (11/18/09) With the U.S. unemployment rate at 10.2---double-dip recession-debt since inauguration-$12,031,299,186,290.07...Blame this on Bush????? This is what the current administration has done for you and me…since last January. Show me accomplishments,not your Liberal head up your butt illusions. This is radio and television discussion-Back to radio and television discussions, please. (11/18/09) Oh how I miss my afternoon/evening drive-time witty banter about nothing in particular while stuck on 495 (now in the dark). I really miss Don and Mike and/or just Mike and crew. I know the past is gone but I think Chad Dukes could carry a drive-time show in the tradition of the D&M show with no problem and people would listen. He is shackled now with all sports and I think it limits his true talents that would shine in the old D&M format… and bring back Snacks of the Round Table! (11/18/09) Be careful of over reacting to the Walrus Research study on the aging public radio listener. There are biases when comparing data collected via Arbitron's diaries versus Arbitron's PPMs. In the Walrus study, 21% of the classical stations were in PPM markets, 43% of the NPR News stations were in PPM markets... and 100% of the jazz stations were in PPM markets. Not an even playing field when you consider that PPM shows smaller core audiences than the diary does. (11/18/09) From what I could interpret from the spelling-, punctuation- and grammar-challenged post below, somebody wants to know why most people (which he called "flaming libs") turn to ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN for news, instead of FOX. I can't speak for anybody else, but the main reason for me is that while those traditional sources have occasional lapses in the bias department, FOX actually promotes itself as a biased, pro-conservative network. I have no use for that, or for FOX's xenophobic, anti-science, anti-intellectual, pro-war "news." They aren't journalists; they're propagandists. And to answer what Obama has done in his first 10 months in office: for starters, the current administration pulled the economy out of the death spiral Bush et al had put it in and they managed to slow the death count in Iraq, thereby saving a lot of our soldier's lives. If you enjoyed impending economic apocolypse and never-ending war, I guess Bush was your "PREZ," as you put it. But I'm am much happier, am in a far better financial situation, and feel much safer now than I did a year ago. Back to radio and television discussions, please. (11/18/09) "Baltimore's chances of getting an NBA franchise are slim and none. And I suspect the Nats would be more than happy to forego some cash in the short term in order to get their own television rights. Angelos tries to screw them at every turn. It is still mind boggling that MLB allowed that arrangement." On the first point, you are absolutely right. You may substitute NHL for NBA in that sentence as well. A city the size of Baltimore should have a big league winter sport, but not when it has the proximity to another market that Baltimore has to DC. We could also extend that further and state that was also the argument against putting baseball in DC-that the markets were too close for two teams-but MLB needed to solve the Montreal problem and there was no other viable way to do it. On the second point, the TV rights thing was the price for MLB to get into DC without a lawsuit and they were more than willing to pay it. The ownership in DC knew of the situation when they bought in and it's just as silly to continue to argue about the MASN deal as it is to argue about putting the team in DC to begin with. I also still see no actual evidence that PA is doing anything to screw the Nats. MASN pays them and puts the games on the air. Both teams get equal time on MASN prime. Howie (11/18/09) Help me here: why do the “flaming libs” insist on taking shots at Fox…and have a love affair going with the Alphabet Nets who kiss the PREZ’s ass. Tell me in one sentence what has he done for our country since his inauguration? That’s DONE FOR, not TO!( I could write a book on that). Let’s all bow to our enemy’s. Avoid the troops and their situation in Afghanistan, didn’t respect the Fort Hood troops, *(didn’t salute). I could continue, but me-thinks the “libs” are getting ready to blow a gasket. (11/18/09) Interesting that the NPR study doesn't contain any data on listener age of the handful of NPR-affiliated AAAs such as WTMD, The Current, KEXP, and the brand new KXT that launched last week in Dallas. If NPR wants to stay relevant among non-senior citizens they need to look into more of these. (11/18/09) Baltimore's chances of getting an NBA franchise are slim and none. And I suspect the Nats would be more than happy to forego some cash in the short term in order to get their own television rights. Angelos tries to screw them at every turn. It is still mind boggling that MLB allowed that arrangement. (11/18/09) I posted info about Comcast's end of Cable Ready TV support, but DCRTV, which accepts advertising from COMCAST seems to not want to post my information. Sounds fishy, I'll just send the more detailed info to The Sun, The Post, & Examiner and see who has the LEAST COMCAST ad money in their pockets, I guess. I would have thought Dave Hughes would have been the very last to be a corporate suck up, but I think I've been proven wrong sadly. What a shame Dave. (11/18/09) Dave's response: It's been up since 7 AM. Scroll down..... To the person about to experience a coronary about the Comcast digital switchover; you may want to take a look at this FAQ from a Seattle newspaper: seattletimes.nwsource.com... Even though this is from Seattle the same information still applies. Please note the first paragraph, which says all expanded cable subscribers will recieve one free digital box. Also note that subscribers will also get 2 free digital adaptors, which are much smaller than a regular digital box. Please note the word free. Also Dave, I've heard Calvert County has already made the switch, and Montgomery County is now in the process. I live in Arlington, and due to the fact that we use Scientific Atlanta equipment instead of Motorola like most other Comcast systems, we will not be making the switch to digital anytime soon. (11/18/09) Interesting news about NPR's aging audience. Another decade and they'll have the same demographic as FOX; ten years after that and it'll be Jay Leno's audience. (11/18/09) Hate to repeat myself, but the "X" factor regarding Washington baseball viewing numbers -- the thing we can only conjecture -- is what viewership would be like if Washington had a winning team to watch. The only stretch of good Washington baseball during the entire television era was the first half of 2005, and with almost nobody being able to get MASN on cable systems then, that isn't a good indicator. Capitals ratings in recent years have become solid as the team improved; I expect the same thing would happen with the Nationals. And as stated before, I'd like to see what Orioles numbers are like in D.C. for games not involving the Yankees or Red Sox. -- Vincent in Triangle (11/18/09) My name is Caroline Lacey and I’m from Bethesda, Maryland. I’m writing to you because of a charity event that I’m helping with in December. About a month ago my good friend and his older brother were killed in a car accident coming home from college, on route 81. His parents started a foundation in memory of their only children called the Stone and Holt Weeks Foundation. This foundation helps all of the charities and organizations that their sons were involved with and cared about such as the Leukemia Lymphoma Society, Habitat for Humanity, and Muscular Dystrophy. The website for the foundation is www.stoneandholtweeksfoundation.org. I decided to help them plan an event that will raise money for the foundation and also be a reason to remember their sons with everyone who loved them. This event is going to be a karaoke night called We Kare-eoke. I am contacting you because we want to spread the word of We Kare-eooke. It is an open event and we want everyone to come! ... Thank you so much, Caroline (11/18/09) (The latest in "flat panel" technology. Makes a great holiday gift!) NBC 4 will be offering an updated version to make their news “look HD” (when things are actually working, of course) with a donation to their fundraising drive to buy more duct tape for their 1990s setup. (11/18/09) Recently a "Mailbagger" mentioned the name of former WTOP traffic guy Steve Thompson. Anyone know what he's doing these days? I very well remember his terrible plane crash. 'Twas a miracle that he survived. Rusty Gibson, WEBR/RadioFairfax (11/18/09) Thanks for listing the full PPM weekly, appreciated. (11/18/09) Don't be surprised at a Victoria's Secret exec moving to Discovery Kids. You just have to understand management these days: "Any business is the same as any other business." That's pretty much what whatsisname said when he took over the Tribune company (and look how well that worked out). That's why nobody at the top of any business knows or cares what the end product is--and if you don't believe me, turn on the radio. Heck, my wife works for a long-term-care pharmacy, and the guy in charge doesn't even know what a pill looks like. But any business is the same as any other business, so it's the title of the exec's position that matters, not the product or the customers. Are the customers happy? Are businesses tanking left and right? Is the economy down the tubes? Does anything make any real sense? It doesn't matter to the people at the top, so it's not an issue. (11/18/09) Dave, Did I just read correctly that Discovery Kids is hiring somebody who used to work at Victoria's Secret? Who's going to be the network's chief educational programming advisor, Mary Kay Letourneau? - Me (11/18/09) Those DC/Baltimore MLB TV ratings numbers were kind of shocking to me. The most interesting thing is that overall, there were, including both teams in each city, on average, 36,000 people watching an MLB game in Baltimore while only 30,000 in Washington, DC, with both teams being in last place or close to last place most of the season. Keep in mind DC is nearly twice the market size of Baltimore. So the shocking part to me is not that the Orioles had more TV viewers in DC than the Nats, but that overall MLB TV viewership in DC was so much lower than in so many substantially smaller TV markets and the lowest in the nation. Currently, the Orioles are getting the majority of the money, but MASN profit sharing towards the Nats increases each year even though ratings are going down. Currently, the Nats enjoy substantial advertising support and probably generate more revenue for MASN than the Orioles. But over time, if this trend continues, it's possible The Orioles might want to consider scrapping the the O's/Nats MASN deal because advertisers are certainly going to take notice of the disparity in the ratings numbers. Of course if the Nats become a winning team before the Orioles, those numbers could easily flip flop. However, if say 5-10 years go by and the Orioles are a winning team and the Nats are still not, the Nats TV broadcast costs could literally end up being a financial liability that the Orioles might reconsider wanting to fund. With all the blind Angelos bashing, I doubt anybody has ever considered this possibility. (11/18/09) (regarding a previous post) "You may or may not be aware that Michael Savage, host of “Savage Nation”, was banned from entering the United Kingdom - by then Home Secretary Jacqui Smith - last year." It's good to see them exercising good sense about who they're letting into their country. Apparently TV preacher, Benny Hinn, was turned away - twice - last month. www.timesonline.co.uk (11/18/09) AREA MEDIA GIANT COMCAST PULLS THE PLUG ON ANALOG CABLE READY TV SETS! Well, at least partially. At least a dozen+ analog channels were yanked overnight from analog to digital in some areas. What's left for analog TV owners with bedroom or kitchen sets without converter boxes? Well sorry, you missed your chance for a government coupon, so you'll have to PAY COMCAST NOW INSTEAD! And without that, you've got slim pickins for that ridiculously high Comcast basic cable price, that's for certain. Basically, you have your locals, public access, and a smattering of channels left including Hallmark, WGN, CNN, FOX News, & ESPN among others. Interestingly, MSNBC is gone, I guess they thought no one would notice? And what's most interesting is that all the Latino & black networks are still on analog, along with all the networks that cater to, well, for lack of a better phrase, the assisted living crowd! Too funny! Here's a pic of the COMCAST WARNING currently running temporarily on all the deleted analog channels in the Baltimore area... I would bet serious VEGAS money that not a single local media outlet will cover this story today except maybe DCRTV. Oh, finally, so far, the channels moved to digital are not encrypted or scrambled, so if you have a brand new HDTV set with QAM band (pretty much every HDTV set sold today), you will be able to find the channels by rescanning your DTV set, but, geez, they are all over the place on weird channel numbers that would drive an elderly person to give up hope and commit suicide trying to find The Golden Girls at an assisted living facility. The bigger question, which Comcast refused to answer to The Washington Post in a previous Post story on this (the only one I've read anywhere I might add except here), is whether COMCAST will continue to not encrypt these digital signals. The irony is that if that happens, every single HDTV set sold in America will have basically a useless remote control included with it and will not receive Cable TV out of the box, and have reduced features as a result and you'll have to deal with those clunky cheap-ass cable remotes instead. Is THAT WHAT COMCAST CALLS "ENHANCED NETWORK"??? FCC, are you listening? Oh, and to add insult to injury, COMCAST vigorously advertised during the DTV switch that nothing would change if you switched to or stuck with Comcast. Now us poor fools are paying COMCAST more money as of today. Are these people like slimeballs or what? (11/18/09) new international news operation in DC? Wondering if you have heard of anything starting up. Could this be the Iranian pro-Democracy English/Farsi channel? Thanks! (11/18/09) /\ November 18 Messages /\ \/ November 17 Messages \/ The latest in "flat panel" technology. Makes a great holiday gift! (11/17/09) You may or may not be aware that Michael Savage, host of “Savage Nation”, was banned from entering the United Kingdom - by then Home Secretary Jacqui Smith - last year. He was placed on a list of terrorists and murderers and denied freedom of speech for defending America’s borders, common language and culture. Congressman John Culberson has taken up his cause and has written to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, asking that she look into this matter in order to have Michael Savage’s name removed from the UK government’s list. Attached is the Congressman’s letter for your information..... Dear Secretary Clinton: I urge you to use all diplomatic tools at your disposal to press the United Kingdom to remove Michael Savage from the list of individuals banned from the United Kingdom, and to ask the British government to grant him a travel visa as soon as possible.  Dr. Savage’s rare plant specimens have been archived at Kew Gardens since 1969.  They are a world-class collection of rare medicinal plant specimens from Fiji and Tonga.  Dr. Savage needs to visit London for his scientific research, but he is unable to do so because of the Home Secretary’s travel ban.  I strongly urge you to press the British government to lift these restrictions on him immediately. The British Government has classified a well-known and popular member of the American media alongside criminals, murderers and terrorists, which is defamatory and disturbing.  Michael Savage is a loyal American, and he is passionate about protecting America, which is why I enjoy listening to him.  He speaks for most Americans when he criticizes people who apologize for our success and who will not protect our borders, our common language, and our American culture.  If he were at the fringe of society like the other people on the U.K. list, he would not have a nationally syndicated radio show, and he would not be the third most popular talk show host in America.  I listen to Dr. Savage's radio show regularly, and I have never heard him encourage hatred or incite anyone to engage in violence. The travel ban against Michael Savage demeans and diminishes Great Britain as a free and open society.  The United Kingdom should immediately remove Dr. Savage's name from this list of criminals and terrorists, lift his travel ban, and grant him a visa to travel to Great Britain whenever he wishes.  In the weeks ahead, I will be working with my colleagues in Congress to help protect Dr. Savage's First Amendment rights, and his ability to travel freely to Great Britain.  I urge you to press our British friends to remove him from the Home Secretary’s list of banned individuals. Thank you for your prompt attention to this important matter. Sincerely, John Culberson, Member of Congress (11/17/09) Between the alcohol, the big black cigars and the enormous meals on a routine basis, it's no surprise that Rich Miniter had to exit his office via the canvas taxi with a heart scare. And a Moonie wedding? Well boo hoo - I hate going to Passover seders, but I go every year out of respect. I don't wish anyone ill, but suck it up and quit Rich, or do the job you were hired to do. Dozens of people are lined up to have your position, bum paper or not. (11/17/09) I remember seeing SYMS commercials when I lived in the DC area. Company founder and spokesman, Sy Syms, has died at age 83. www.northjersey.com (11/17/09) Wait, so Rich Miniter is now suing the moonies? Didn’t he just counter sue Eagle Publishing when they demanded their book advance money back after failing to deliver a promised book? Something tells me Rich is a bit of a sc*m bag. (11/17/09) Actually Tom Kent (the original TK) did the night shift on WAVA from 1983-1986, long enough to cross paths with the "WAVA Morning Zoo with Don and Mike". (11/17/09) Save the Blade home page www.savetheblade.com (11/17/09) Some investigative work on this mailbaggers part has turned up that Beth Ann McBride has joined the Tom Kent Radio Network in media relations, or something like that. It appears that Tom Kent was born in Winston-Salem, N.C. the town that Ms. McBride grew up in. My memory foggy but Mr. Kent at one time worked at WAVA in these parts but had stint on WLS for a time I see. Wonder if he knew the then young Don Geronimo whilst in his days in Chicagooooooooo! Guess Ms. McBride will not be amongst the olde gang if'en they return on say KCJJ out of Ottumwa, Iowa or some place like that just down the road a piece from kevin costner's ballfield. And had thoughts of the Greaseman the other day and find his Greaseman.org site has not had much action in awhile but find the Jacksonville station he's on these days has some greasecasts for your dining and dancing pleasure rock105i.com hobble dah gee or something like that. Is Kiristin Fisher sort of trying to fill the vaccumm left by the departure of La Martucci on the morning "news" show? And someone please hep me what exactly is Willie Jolley? Does he pay for them appearances on channel 9? I usually watch old Reege so didn't notice till today that channel 9 had dropped the 9-10 am extension of the morning "news"? So wha' happened to La Martucci? Academically speaking she seems to be most qualified of the weathermun but her shtick just way over the top. If Romper Room was to ever be started up again do you think Allison Starling would make a great Miss Connie? And wonder if leon Harris has ever been considered for spots on Syms commercials. boy that Syms store at 7 corners sure did downsize. COWMAN is no longer on WTNT ah sigh (11/17/09) Dave's response: Ah, we reported BA's new gig with Tom Kent on the Front Page a few weeks ago..... In the early 60s, I remember that you could buy a plastic sheet that could be placed over a B&W TV screen, that would give the impression of Color TV. I'm trying to find copies of any print ads that may have run for this item. I remember that it only seemed to "work" if you were watching a Western or nature show, because the top of the sheet was blue and the bottom was green (suggesting sky and grass). Does anyone recall the name of this novelty? (11/17/09) Here's how to get a bigger Arbitron PPM sample: www.alltheexcess.com (11/17/09) Got to see the demos for the PPM numbers that came out today. 18-34: Junkies 10th, Mike Wise 10th, Lavar Arrington 16th... 25-54: Junkies 7th, Mike Wise 9th, Lavar Arrington 13th... (11/17/09) I'll be hosting "The Time Machine", a 50's and 60's oldies show, tonight from 8 PM to 11 PM ET on www.topshelfoldies.com. I invite you to tune in, and to join your fellow oldies aficionados in the chat room. Top Shelf Oldies features different deejays every evening, with rare recordings, live interviews, dedications and requests. Ken "Carpenter"� Sleeman... Photos are posted at: picasaweb.google.com/daddiooftheradio... (11/17/09) Pffffftt...Web radio...wOw (11/17/09) Yo, Rusty (Gibson) really nice seeing you “pop up” on this site. Best of everything on your show….A fan, and admirer of your dedication. Keep on keepin on! WOW (11/17/09) I would argue that the Wizards and Caps are going in opposite directions in the Baltimore market. The Caps, as a successful franchise, are growing a small loyal Baltimore fan base while The Wizards, a long floundering franchise, have continued to lose interest from Baltimore. Many years ago, the Wizards would play 4 games in Baltimore. And those games sold out completely in Baltimore I might add. Ever since they stopped that and moved out of the Cap Center, interest has declined considerably along with the team's fortunes. Hockey fans are a rugged lot and Baltimore area hockey fans have always known that Baltimore will never in a million years get or support an NHL franchise, so they're used to traveling to DC or Philly to see the NHL. I think less and less people want to travel all the way deep into DC to see the lowly Wizards and there is a growing clamor up in Baltimore to attract an NBA team after the city builds its new arena, which is now slated to be NBA sized as part of a mixed use project, just like in DC. It's debatable whether The Wizards and Abe Pollin could stop any NBA team from moving to Baltimore since the city had the Bullets previously, but who knows. Despite The Washington Examiner's Jim Williams comments, several NBA owners have expressed interest in Baltimore in the last decade. How serious they were is debatable since the arena always made any discussion a non-starter. What's not mentioned in the PressBox story regarding Baltimore fans supporting DC teams is the fact that there's an active attempt by Baltimore and the Maryland Stadium Authority going on to lure DC United to Baltimore in a possible smaller outdoor stadium at the Camden Yards complex. Feasibility studies are under way and DC United is interested after being ignored by PG County and DC. With, the recent phenomenal success of the AC Milan/Chelsea game at Camden Yards, if I were a DC soccer fan, I'd be a bit worried right now. You might lose your MLS team to Camden Yards. (11/17/09) Dave, Thank you for the link to my ramblings about Bob Marbourg, but please don't forget the great work by Adam Tuss. Adam was able to wrestle him to the ground and force Bob to talk about a few things even I couldn't make him do. The best part of my visit to the WTOP Traffic Center yesterday afternoon is that my "all business" good friend Bob even cracked a smile when Frank Herzog congratulated him on the air for his 30-years at WTOP. Here's the link to Adam's work with the first two parts of his series of reports already posted- www.wtop.com. Dave Statter (11/17/09) Congrats to Bob Marbourg. Talk about a classy guy - he is it. I have called him once in a while to report this or that traffic problem or even to ask him a question about a traffic situation. I am not a "regular" caller - have spoken to him maybe half a dozen times over the years. No matter how crazy the traffic is or how many things are going on, he takes the time to talk, listen clarify any issues and is always polite and courteous. I remember the first time I heard him on the air was the day after the crash of the WTOP traffic plane. I assumed he was a short term substitute for Steve Thompson. Hah! (11/17/09) Hey Dave Hughes, can I advertise my expensive cupcakes that are not remotely DC media related in the DCRTV mailbag for FREE too? They only cost $50, all inclusive, and valet parking is available at a discounted $10 and I'll include a link to my blog too where I talk about my dog. Signed, Not Carol Joynt :-) (11/17/09) Bless you James and thanks for your kind words! Rusty Gibson WEBR/RadioFairfax (11/17/09) One small contention with your latest Pressbox column... The DC-Baltimore market is really one big ‘mega market’ - as Stan Kasten has called it. And I think, based on Nielsen, that O’s fans might quibble with your contention that Washington is Nationals territory: Sports Business Daily, Tuesday, October 13, 2009, Bird Calling: Orioles Outdraw Nats In DC-Area Homes This Season, By John Ourand, Staff Writer: DC is the only TV market in the country where a team from another city gets better ratings than the hometown team. Orioles games on MASN drew a 0.67 rating and 16,000 homes in DC during the '09 season, a rating that is 12% higher and a household distribution that is 14% higher than the Nationals' 0.60 rating and 14,000 homes. Added together, an average of 30,000 DC homes watched two teams that combined for 201 losses, a household mark that is better than just two other teams: the A's (20,000) and the Royals (29,000). "The Nationals continue to grow strong roots and build a passionate fan base," said MASN VP/Communications Todd Webster, "but the Baltimore-Washington region is really one large mega-market, where support for both teams transcends traditional boundaries." The Orioles outdrew the Nationals by a wide margin in the Baltimore market, pulling a 2.90 rating and 32,000 homes. That is compared to a 0.4 rating and 4,000 homes in the market for the Nationals. (11/17/09) To Boston.com, I was saddened to hear of Ken Ober's passing last night. He did a great job of hosting MTV's Remote Control. Let's not forget that his career did have a local impact in that he did voice work for Jerry's Subs and Pizza radio spots. He will be missed. Sincerely, James (11/17/09) From DCRTV Mailbag: (“Does the poster have any idea how stupid posts like this (with lame, made-up nicknames of people/programs) makes him/her look? Jesus! If you can't get a point across without resorting to this 3rd grader approach, just shut the hell up!”) “The poster” looks forward to your attention to this: (From a previous post "...Grandy should ask Carrie Prejean tomorrow morning "Regarding the gay agenda setting same sex marriage question' Perez Hilton asked you, who would you say is the 'master baiter,' you or Perez?"..." Funny !!! LOL !!) or this (I will donate $25.00 to Fisher House if Brian says "good Moaning, Carrie" to Ms Prejean on WMAL this morning. - Go to it….. (11/17/09) Here's a reminder to please make your reservations for our next Q&A Cafe on Wednesday, Dec. 9, which will focus on the cupcake phenomenon that has swept the retail food industry in a way not unlike the premium coffee revolution of an earlier decade. Our guests will be an entrepreneurial duo - sisters Katherine Kallinis and Sophie LaMontagne - the owners of Georgetown Cupcake. Yes, they are sponsors of The Q&A Cafe, but they are also a great story and are about to relocate to M Street and open a branch in Bethesda. They opened with five employees and now have more than sixty. Try that in a recession! Also, what's better during the holidays than an interview about SWEETS? So, again, please make your reservations at 202.912.4110. The location is the Georgetown Ritz-Carlton. Seating begins at noon. The fee is $50, all inclusive, and valet parking is available at a discounted $10. (This is a date change. It was initially scheduled for Dec. 10) In my New York Social Diary column this week I focus on the new fashion: Obama Bashing, plus some fun stuff. www.nysocialdiary.com... Have a good week, Carol (11/17/09) Country would do better than classic rock on WZBA since classic rock in “hits” form is basically dead, but you have to keep in mind that Shamrock would never spend the money to get any real personalities in there. It would only be a country jukebox, like the classic rock jukebox it is now. The reason that “Jack” is handedly beating them isn’t because people like the no-DJ format, but that they like some variety. WZBA seems to be copying “Jack” with no personalities and barely any speak at all, but not with any diversity in the classic rock music, so it’s a real predictable snoozer of a radio station. Shamrock should try something unique to the market instead of listening to some graph paper brain that relies on research that isn’t specific to Baltimore. If I were them I would go with an alt-rock format that encompasses the new hits, classic 80’s, and the heavier side of the AAA format together, because the lighter stuff doesn’t play well in Baltimore as can be seen with WTMD. I would also have the station be full of sharp personalities that drive the music, not distract from it like 98 Rock has become. That would get the “Jack” listeners who want variety and now have more than a jukebox, the 98Rock listeners who like to laugh as well as listen to music, and the displaced HFS type listeners. It would also appeal to a good money demo like AAA stations as well. It wouldn’t be the #1 station in town, but it would be a top 10 and it would have a killer TSL, and it would definitely get more listeners than they could ever get with classic rock as it is now. Unfortunately it’s Shamrock, and looking at their track record they would never do it because it would require some outside of the box forward thinking. I’m sure their B.S. research says it won’t work anyway. (11/17/09) I know this is not local news related, but Ken Ober died. Host of MTV (when MTV was "real"). www.boston.com (11/17/09) In this morning's Post, Ana Marie Cox says she only ''skimmed'' the last 150 pages of Sarah Palin's book. She says she didn't have time before her deadline. My question is: Why even bother ''reviewing'' it at all? And why should readers who subscribe to the Post have to read a ''review'' by someone who clearly needs to stick to blogging on the internet? I've never read anything as ''dumbed down'' as that. Paul (11/17/09) I will donate $25.00 to Fisher House if Brian says "good Moaning, Carrie" to Ms Prejean on WMAL this morning. (11/17/09) Dave's response: I believe she cancelled..... Pardon my tardiness, but welcome back to the air, Rusty! There's always room on the air and web for a veteran class act. Sincerely, James (11/17/09) From a previous post "...Grandy should ask Carrie Prejean tomorrow morning "Regarding the gay agenda setting same sex marriage question' Perez Hilton asked you, who would you say is the 'master baiter,' you or Perez?"..." Funny !!! LOL !! Seriously, she is just like Fred and Shirley Phelps from the infamous Westboro Baptist Church based out of Kansas, she just wants to be on the radio and/or TV and nothing more. Funny I can remember hearing Fred Phelps on some station out of West Virginia some years back ( Martinsburg's WEPM-AM 1340 with Chris Strovel? ). He even knew what a "gay bear" was and this is from a guy who is sooooooo against gays. Hmmmmmm !!! And didn't Hagerstown's WHAG-TV "NBC 25" have a policy at one time "..no coverage of any funerals..UNLESS Fred or Shirley Phelps are there"?...Sad actually !!! (11/17/09) /\ November 17 Messages /\ \/ November 16 Messages \/ WRC-48 took a serious digital dump for most of the day. It’s not just a matter of reliability but also quality of supply. Yes, WRC has a backup generator. But, it was designed for the analog era. Digital needs are quite different. Not noted in earlier posts, but included in the digital dump was the WRC fiber feed to Comcast which also went kaput. Unsigned Corporate Suit. (11/16/09) Is it any surprise that WRC is experiencing more and more technical problems? That station has been sadly neglected and would make a great museum of 1990s television technology. Why exactly has NBC refused to bring operations there into the 21st Century? A few years ago, the excuse was that the station was about to be sold, but clearly, nobody's going to buy it if they need to dump a ton of money into it to bring it up to date. And the lack of HD news in this top-10 market is something they have gotten away with for a long time now, but it's beginning to look pretty embarrassing. It's really unfortunate that the area's most talented and experienced news operation is stuck producing newscasts that look exactly like they were produced 15 years ago. (11/16/09) Grandy should ask Carrie Prejean tomorrow morning "Regarding the gay agenda setting same sex marriage question' Perez Hilton asked you, who would you say is the 'master baiter,' you or Perez?" (11/16/09) Hmmm! If 100.7 did go "country"..I'd give them a listen..especially if they went "classic country"..hell..I don't hear too much time on mainstream "so-called country radio" devoting that much time to "_real_ country music! maybe it would give WPOC a run for their money! Now then..if only their signal were stronger (and they went "classic country", maybe it'd even give the country stations here on the eastern shore something to think about! Tom in Denton, MD. (11/16/09) Re: "Am I the only one who's really REALLY sick of Joe in Essex?" No, you're not. The rest of us who stop by the DCRTV mailbag are too. Maybe if we just ignore the poor old windbag he'll just go away. Just like Silvie. (11/16/09) (regarding a previous post) "Chris 'Spittle' Matthews 'Hairballs' ... THE LOONS OF PMSNBC ... Keith 'I Look Like A Fat Penguin From Head Down' Overbite ... his brother, Rachael Madsow ... Ed 'Not Sergeant' Shultz" Does the poster have any idea how stupid posts like this (with lame, made-up nicknames of people/programs) makes him/her look? Jesus! If you can't get a point across without resorting to this 3rd grader approach, just shut the hell up! I understand that this stuff is what passes for "intelligent political discourse" these days and they parrot the same stupid shit they hear on rightwing TV/Radio, but Dave, there's really no useful purpose served by allowing this shit to clog up the DCRTV Mailbag. (11/16/09) I see former Mike O'Meara's radio show producer Beth Ann McBride Twitter page has gone bye bye. Wonder why? Any word on El Jefe and J Dubs these days. Tried to download some stuff from the Hideout website but nothing worked anymore. sad, sigh (11/16/09) I remember when Bob Marbourg was Walt Starling's backup in the late 70's at WASH-FM. So very happy he's hit this milestone. Bob is very good at what he does. BD (11/16/09) (From DCRTV's Classified Ads:) FREELANCE VOICEOVER ARTIST WANTS WORK! Former large-market female television news anchor now in D.C. seeking occasional voiceover/on camera assignments. Experience in corporate, commercial and non-profit projects. Very professional. VERY REASONABLE RATES. Please call 202-731-2722 for photos, audio samples, estimates. (11/16/09) I can listen clearly to Michael Savage via 710-WOR at a parking lot in Pomfret, MD (So. Md.) - Silvie via cell text. (11/16/09) Dave WZBA might go country even though they tried it before years ago and it failed. There are not a lot of formats that are out there for these companies to flip too sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. I say adult urban but i should probably let that go. (11/16/09) Did Lisa Baden ever do any voiceover work on the charlie Brown tv specials? Your a Blockhead Brian Van Der Graf! Is Katie Powers still with WJFK? When they switched to sports talk she was all over the station voiceover wise but don't think I've heard her voice in awhile. Then again I don't listen to WJFK all that much anymore. I listen a lot to the dull listless JACK FM out of Baltimore cause I like the variety of music they play. I didn't know they played Casey Kasem's 1970's shows on sunday mornings. (11/16/09) You'd think that if the NBC affilliate in Roanoke could air their newscasts during a power outage, WRC could do the same: www.youtube.com. News4 is back on at 6:00. BG (11/16/09) I hear that WASH-FM 97.1 plans to start playing holiday/christmas music on Friday, Nov. 20 - a week before Thanksgiving. That's not too early and at least they don't start at the beginning of month as stores have started adversting (11/16/09) OMYGAWD: WRC is running Chris “Spittle” Matthews “Hairballs” and running MSNBC ads…it’s finally happened! NBC has been totally taken over by THE LOONS OF PMSNBC. Now Americans will witness on the NBC Network what others have been subjected to on its sister station MSNBC on cable: anti-American, anti-conservative, anti-Republican rhetoric by such LOONS as Keith “I Look Like A Fat Penguin From Head Down” Overbite to his brother, Rachael Madsow, to that ranting chubbster & Rush Limbaugh rip-off wannabe Ed “Not Sergeant” Shultz. Doh! (11/16/09) Why do you rant about Wise but not about an owner having control of the radio stations broadcasting his crappy team. Isn’t that a conflict, which is amplified by having his GM on the air pushing Snyder’s propaganda. I think it’s refreshing to have an opposing view to what Snyder wants everyone to hear, keep it up Mike. (11/16/09) Dave's response: I have ranted many times about the FCC allowing the owner of a sports team to own a radio station that carries the team. Just sounds like a giant conflict of interest to me. Also, I like Mike Wise. He's one of the few Posties who has the balls to acknowledge the presence and power of DCRTV, unlike the fathead Farhi and that ombudsman stooge..... It was nice to read your post Tom Conroy. Hope all is well down there in God's Country @B99. Please give my love to Sister Joyce and tell her to give me a ring sometime (she has the number). Ciao 4 now, Rusty Gibson, WEBR RadioFairfax (11/16/09) Looks like nbc4 still having elec issues. Currently at 5pm running hardball with chris matthews from msnbc feed, not news 4 at 5 (11/16/09) Dave's response: They ought to change the WRC calls to WJOK. What a fuckin' joke of a station..... Re: CBS’ 60 Minutes last Sunday. It sounded as though the stereo audio was totally out of phase. And on the matter of WRC’s uplink to DishNet: It sounds as though no one is running audio on local shows. Spots are deafening, others are so low as to be almost inaudible. It sounds as though all the engineers walked out and there has been no tweaking of audio sources in months. At least, if the feed to DishNet was run thru a processor the levels could be smoothed out. Tom Gauger (11/16/09) Dave, From Inside Music Media… Citadel's Game Plan insidemusicmedia.blogspot.com (11/16/09) The problem that you conveniently avoided Dave Loudin is that every time one of these STA stations is sold because they've run out of allowable STA extensions, they immediately petition the FCC for a NEW Special Temporary Authority permit, that then can be extended for a period of time. And for christ sake, the guy is selling the station to his freaking WIFE just for this purpose! WAMS 1600 is being protected at 5000 watts even though there is clearly no intention of ever running this station at 5000 watts ever again! Plus, I think this Klepac family was involved in the WNWK 1260 fiasco too, because if I'm not mistaken, that station used to be called WAMS. Not to mention, they applied for FM translators that they then took dark and/or continually applied for various construction permits, few of which have ever been built as licensed. Next they'll sell WAMS 1600 to one of the children and the FCC STA Merry-Go-Round continues! Indefensible in my opinion and sorry Mr. Loudin, I see eggs. (11/16/09) So what is up with Channel 4 in DC today? Been off air all day and is now airing Hardball instead of local news? Seems to be a continuous problem for them? Thanks (11/16/09) Dave's response: Power problems. See the blurb on our Front Page..... Thanks for the information about Channel 4. I got home and was expecting to see the news and instead I have The Ellen Degeneries show on. Thanks! (11/16/09) I watched 60 minutes last evening on ch. 9.1HD over the air with no sound problems. Bob Fairfax (11/16/09) Doesn't WRC-TV have an emergency generator they can spark up? (11/16/09) RE: "On a slightly different topic, does anyone else find it weird that the three anchors that WUSA has let go over the last year or so have not been replaced? Is it a coincidence that they are all white (Jennifer Ryan, Todd McDermott and Mike Walter)? Anita Brikman is the only white anchor they have now. I'm not trying to start a race war - just stating a fact." As an attorney for a former Gannett anchorwoman in another market, I can tell you that it is most likely NOT coincidence that WUSA let its white anchors “go,” and let its black anchors “stay.” My client was a long-time white female anchor who was abruptly replaced after more than a decade, by an inexperienced black female who’d been in the market less than two months. Although a resulting lawsuit never made it to trial, much was learned through the discovery process, including the fact that Gannett has a little-known and closely-held internal policy of rewarding managers who promote minorities, through a point system. I am dismayed that to this point, no Gannett anchor has ever been able to get this little tidbit made public in an open courtroom. (11/16/09) WRC still suffering from major power disruptions, as of 4:15PM, the newsroom computers are down, the video servers are down and they can’t get a control room to work. Pepco attempted to switch back to main power around 3PM and more equipment was affected, an audio operator got shocked when this switch was made. MSNBC is still doing their live shots from the lawn at Nebraska Ave, not sure when or if they will be able to a get a news show on this afternoon. (11/16/09) On this continuing STA rant, all I was ever after was to set the record straight on what was happening with WAMS technically. Judging from the rants, I expected to find a long-dark station or, at best, broadcasting with flea power using a long wire out the window. However, WAMS is STILL broadcasting from the SAME site, but with only one tower, since the land under the other two towers was sold. Even at 25% power, they are producing enough signal to cover their community of license. They have filed an application for new facilities and while they await FCC action, they have no choice but to file for STAs until the FCC rules one way or the other. Passing the license around between entities has no bearing on this. With regards to 1260 WNWK, the situation is a bit murkier. The old owners lost the transmitter site, got an STA for "an existing tower" about 2 km away, then lost their studio and had to go silent. New owners reactivate from STA site, identify new site but can't come t o terms with site owner, then continue to search for new site. Since the existing tower is not currently licensed to another station, I can't tell what it is, so whether the STA facility covers Newark is debatable. So, the bottom line: WAMS's situation is pretty defensible, but figuring out why their application has been hanging fire for so long could change that assessment while WNWK's situation is very tenuous. I don't know how long the new owners can claim that they are looking for a new site while likely not serving the community of license. The worst that could happen at this point is for both stations to have to apply to make their STAs permanent. I don't see any eggs. Regards, Dave Loudin (11/16/09) I like that people in the media don't like me, Joe in Essex. It points out very clearly how you all stick up for yourselves when the chips are down even when you're dead wrong or even politically disagree with each other. Why else would ABC, NBC, CBS, & CNN stick up for FOX News when President Obama tried to block them from a press opportunity? It also explains why many people on DCRTV defend the FCC no matter what crazy policy they enact (like the STA policy) or failed technology like HD Radio that the FCC continues to blindly support. Because every media professional is in some way beholden to the FCC and corporations that are beholden to the FCC. And everyone loves keeping their jobs. I don't blame you all. Why else would there be no media coverage of the end of Cable Ready TV sets starting tomorrow, Nov. 17? I seriously doubt any local media organization will cover that story because Comcast buys way too much advertising. Nothing on DCRTV.com about tomorrow's impending epic cable TV change either, and yep, Comcast buys advertising here too. A dog rarely bites the hand that feeds it. The dogs here don't like me upsetting the apple cart. And that's just plain fine with me. I like it that way. But for the record, I didn't use the F word (but I think I have in the past), nor am I the only person who's trashed Daniel Snyder or FedEx Field. The rumors of me being everywhere are greatly exaggerated! -- Joe in Essex :-) (11/16/09) Howard Stern? I haven't heard that name in years. I remember he went over to satellite for outrageous amount of money, but then it was like he fell off the planet. I assumed his fee bankrupted the company. (11/16/09) Anyone heard anything about Scott Fitzgerald on 100.7? A curious mind needs to know.-WOW (11/16/09) 57 year old Michael Isikoff (spelled correctly) married a much younger Post writer that came from Roll Call named Mary Ann Akers. They now have a baby boy named Zach. I certainly can’t wait to see Michael going on Cub Scout camping trips at 63 years old. (11/16/09) Syracuse and Utica are 55 miles apart. I worked near Utica there one winter (lucky me!). But Rome, the second city for most Utica stations is only 40 miles from Syracuse. But really, the two main cities are pretty danged (pardon the language) far apart. Maybe Buffalo and Hamilton are closer, but they have not network duplication, and in a sense Hamilton is part of the Buffalo market, and also part of the Toronto market, but so close to both. -- Carl in Olney (11/16/09) Dave's response: How about Toledo and Detroit, or West Palm Beach and Miami? Am I the only one who's really REALLY sick of Joe in Essex? (11/16/09) Howard Stern said this morning that he is still the ''most powerful person in media'' AND he meant it. I haven't laughed so hard at his show in years. Delusional much? Paul (11/16/09) (From DCRTV's Classified Ads:) SEEKING EXPERIENCED AD AGENCY MEDIA BUYER - Ad agency seeks experienced media planner/buyer with minimum 2 years buying/planning experience. Must be proficient with media software and resources (Tapscan, Scarborough, SRDS, etc) as well as Excel applications. Print buying experience a plus. Salary and benefits package. EEO. Email resume to Elliot@roiadvertising.com. (11/16/09) A question for Andy Parks to Ask Carrie Prejean, tomorrow morning: I know this book is written for teenage girls and what they are going through these days; do you feel you have your finger firmly in place on what American teenage girls’ desire? (11/16/09) NBC/PMSNBC/WRC et al must be using a single camera via a mobile satellite set up: that’s what they’re doing right now for an interview Of Mike Issakoff (trivia question: who is Mike married to & what do they now have?) outside of Nebraska studio by Andrea “If They Found Water On The Moon Maybe My Craters Have It Too” Mitchell. (11/16/09) I'm listening to WMZQ, and Jenni Chase just announced that Michael J. is back, ready to go on air today, after recovering from unspecified surgery. Christian (11/16/09) Dave, I love dcrtv.com, have a lot of respect for what you do, and completely understand that you can do anything you want with your web site. But I am at the end of my rope with the never-ending back and forth in the Mailbag about parking, roads, bathrooms, ticket prices, attendance figures, etc etc etc etc etc concerning Redskins/Ravens/Nationals/Senators/Orioles stadiums.....without even the flimsiest connection to radio or television. This conversation has been clogging up the works for months. I thought the law of the land was "has to concern Washington area radio or television"? This is more like bad 2am sports talk radio than anything else. (11/16/09) Country was done on 100.7, remember, Froggy 100.7. It failed, miserably! (11/16/09) Joe in Essex: using the "F" word doesn't make you look any smarter. If you can't see the difference between a State building a road, which is what governments do, and building a stadium for a privately owned team, then I can't help you. No one can. (11/16/09) Dear Dave: You write "Yeah, there have been times when I've seen a listing for a classic movie coming on TCM that I remember being in B&W and am surprised when it's a color flick..." Reminds me of my recently perusing the book by the publishers of The Onion titled "Our Dumb Century" (a collection of front pages through their take of history) which included the following headline from the late-1960's: "Nation's Collective Memory Switches from Black & White to Color." Great site Dave! Sincerely, Joe Kasell (11/16/09) How funny is it that during the Today Show’s Kathy Lee & Hota closing moments Monday morning they were running the latest SNL sketch mocking them both BUT as we now know NBC’s having technical difficulties and the entire clip was tainted with no audio & frozen video: “NBC's D.C. bureau loses power” (which is totally out as of 11:55 AM) And here I thought Thuck Codd had been demoted. Hey Chuck: since you’re in China, how about bring me back Number Two from Column A and Number Four from Column B. No MSG, please. (11/16/09) Carl - What's the distance between Syracuse and Utica NY? Isn't that closer? (11/16/09) What's up with WRC??? Ellen was on after no sound on FIOS and no signal on over the air. Les in College Park no longer in Adelphi. (11/16/09) Hey Dave, Time to put on your reporter's hat and find out a couple of things: 1. Why was Ellen on WRC at 11 AM in place of the news. 2. Why are WRC and WUSA frozen on FIOS? this happened mid way during the news on WRC. Time to report for a change. Steve (11/16/09) Regarding Tom Shales and The Prisoner; I can believe that Tom may have just consulted his memory instead of doing research in saying the show was in B&W when it certainly was not. Another instance of his memory not being of the best: When a young woman cast member (name escapes me) dropped the F-bomb on Saturday Night Live a couple of months ago for the second time in show history, Tom said that the very well remembered first time, by the late Charles Rocket, took place while Dick Ebersol was producer. It certainly did not; the incident in February 1981 happened during the short producership of Jean Doumanian, from November 1980 to March 1981 (and was seen as an attempt on Rocket's part to get himself or Doumanian canned; if so, he succeeded in both). Tom may or may not have watched The Prisoner when it first was on the air; he certainly should have known the history of SNL because 1) he later wrote a book about it, 2) he was reporting closely while the events of 1980 and 1981 unfolded, including 3) writing one of the great critical eviscerations I've ever read after Doumanian's first SNL in mid-November 1980. This mail is about as much attention as Doumanian has probably gotten in years; but she is the answer to a great trivia question (being SNL's only producer other than Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol), and there is an even greater one connected with her (who did Michaels want as his successor when he left SNL in mid-1980? Not her--none other than future Senator Al Franken, along with his then comedy partner Tom Davis--no, not the former congressman.) (11/16/09) Dave's response: Yeah, there have been times when I've seen a listing for a classic movie coming on TCM that I remember being in B&W and am surprised when it's a color flick. They say that men tend to remember things more in B&W, while women remember things in color. So, I guess Tom Shales is just a manly man, memory-wise..... Baltimore to Washington: 41 miles; Boston to Providence: 50 miles. We win, as the closest separate Radio/TV markets in the country. -- Carl in Olney (11/16/09) Hey, Dave! Don't know what the issue is and if it's only RCN (my cable provider) but WRC-TV has had a frozen screen since 7:04 this morning. I saw the post about the power outage last night and wonder if that has anything to do with it. (11/16/09) I just read the FCC filing on WXXY. What broadcaster in his/her right mind would want to work for a radio station where the address is "FIRED ROAD"? (11/16/09) "Radio Earl" WTRI 1520 Brunswick appears to be 'off the air" again, no country music coming out of that spot on the radio dial. Oldies Radio 1620, an internet station (www.oldiesradio1620.com) will be airing the Dick Clark Birthday Special with Jimmy Jay Thanksgiving weekend. The show will feature music from Bandstand and the voices of many of the artists who were on the show. Dates/times will be posted later. (11/16/09) Sunday night audio issues with "60 Minutes" on CBS TV: entire soundtrack was edgy and metallic-sounding. This was present on both the hi-def and conventional CBS channels on the Verizon FIOS system feeding Springfield VA. Has anyone else noticed this, and did it happen on any other carriers such as Comcast, Cox etc? (11/16/09) Awhile back DCRTV tech guru Dave Loudin argued with me regarding the FCC's Special Temporary Authority policy in reference to stations not having or building proper transmitting facilities for as much as 10 YEARS or more. Dave Loudin's claim was that this is just normal and there's nothing wrong with it and that they are obviously making an attempt to fix the station's facilities. Well, sorry Mr. Loudin, a recent FCC filing just dumped some SERIOUS EGG ON YOUR FACE BIGTIME!... fcc.gov... These people previously owned the AM 1260 in Newark, that has not had a transmission site for like 10-15 years, and they own several other stations that are either dark or under STA. Now the husband, WXXY Broadcasting is selling WAMS 1600 to his OWN WIFE, K-5 Communications in order to avoid building proper transmitting facilities!!! Do you still agree that the FCC should continue to give this Klepac family more FCC licenses??? If this is not the clearest definition of warehousing broadcasting signals for nothing but just holding them as like stock for future sale, I don't know what is!!!! Immediately after our stupid FCC approves this phony SHAM of a SALE, guess what will happen??? You guessed it... the wife will file for an extension on getting the station back up to it's licensed 5000 watts, making some phony claim about available land or something. C'MON PEOPLE IT'S DELAWARE, THERE ARE MORE CHICKENS & CORN FIELDS THAN PEOPLE! And after they get away with THIS SCAM, guess what they'll do? They'll either sell it for profit to someone else OR, ONCE AGAIN, better yet, SELL IT TO ONE OF THEIR CHILDREN and the whole STA process begins anew!!!! Notice their children are listed in the ownership too. Do you really approve of this ridiculous phony shell game Dave Loudin? If so, Dave Hughes, you seriously need to stop putting the phrase "tech guru" before this man's name. You'd have to be a complete and utter FOOL to not denounce this FCC STA policy or what this Klepac family is getting away with, and they own or have interests in at least 5-6 stations, most of which, NOT OPERATING AS LICENSED! fcc.gov... YET THE FCC KEEPS GIVING THEM MORE STATIONS! And Dave Loudin keeps on defending this! I cannot imagine anyone of sound mind defending this unless that person works for a vested interest. Just unbelievable and what a complete waste of the public's airwaves, especially considering both AM 1260 & 1600 are problematic signals in DC that could use a boost. :-( (11/16/09) With all due respect to Tom Conroy, I just don't see a country format working on WZBA 100.7 and especially not to boaters. I always found it ironic that their signal is poor over the bay and near the water especially towards Annapolis and worse during the summer too, yet they market the station as "THE BAY" It seems like everything Shamrock does makes little sense, just like with Bob & Tom. I've talked with someone at WZBA and was told that even the DJs and most employees could just not understand management's decision to stick with Bob & Tom for so long. Even their own employees are shaking their heads at the stupidity of management decisions from what I hear. So I wouldn't hold your hopes out for anything good to happen at 100.7 anytime soon. I think they are very content to remain mediocre & boring. (11/16/09) Dave's response: I bet that a country format, perhaps something like classic country, would get a much better rating for WZBA than classic rock does. It would steal away or share a lot of top-rated WPOC's audience and get a good chunk of listeners in Balto's extended western suburbs, from Carroll to Frederick counties, and into southern Pennsylvania, where country is king. Remember, 100.7's signal is best west and north of the city. If Shamrock was smart, it would have done contemporary hits about a year or four ago as Z100. Too late now..... Didn't they build roads for Camden Yards too? Toilets, roads, access to parking lots that charge you your 1st born, who the fuck cares what the money was used for? Maryland still contributed tons of money to that shithole of a stadium. Cooke did not pay for it himself. It's not like the roads were built for taxpayers or area residents or built themselves. Plus Cooke held us hostage too for the money, by threatening to stop The Browns move if he didn't get it. He also promised to keep the Skins training camp at Frostburg, MD & The Skins broke that promise and moved to VA to evade Maryland taxes! But I guess you have to write this all in blood to get a stupid Skins fan to accept the truth! LMAO (11/16/09) Jesus...are the people at Clear Channel Baltimore deaf? Do they not realize how BAD the entire cluster sounds? WPOC and JACK FM are so damn flat. WPOC sounds like they are feeding the transmitter from a dial up internet connection. If JACK FM can stay on the air, they sound dull and lifeless and Z1043 sounds like a bad tape. The bass is hitting in all the wrong areas and they are too compressed. Sound like MIX 106.5 and you have a winner! (11/16/09) RE: "I keep reading snippits about Kim Martucci and the Channel 9 weather line-up. Can someone please enlighten me as to what is happening? If Kim is not doing the mornings than who is? Furthermore can someone please post who of all their weather folks is doing what shows." Kim Martucci does the half-hour newscasts at 9am and noon (when did they cut the 9am cast to 30 minutes?). Howard Bernstein does the 5am-7am show. That's a fairly recent change. Maybe they needed some testosterone on the set, since you already have Andrea Roane, Angie Goff and Jessica Doyle, among others. Watching that show almost reminds me of "The View," except Angie Goff is prettier than any of those hags! They have a new meterologist named Devon Lucie (Surae Chinn's husband) who took Tony Pann's place. Supposedly he does the weekends, but Kim has been on the last couple of weekends (I haven't watched 9 this weekend). On on a slightly different topic, does anyone else find it weird that the three anchors that WUSA has let go over the last year or so have not been replaced? Is it a coincidence that they are all white (Jennifer Ryan, Todd McDermott and Mike Walter)? Anita Brikman is the only white anchor they have now. I'm not trying to start a race war - just stating a fact. Brian in Reston (11/16/09) It's a shame to see FM outlets in any city fail so badly in the ratings war. In this case I'm talking about 100.7, the Bay. I can say with knowledge that Baltimore has a very strong country heritage, there were once several AM country formatted AM's in the 60's and early 70's. 100.7 tried that small market "Froggy Country" format years ago and got clobbered by WPOC, which had a huge following at the time, and still does. Why not try a personality intensive country format featuring a large mix of the biggest hits from the 80's thru today? This would draw in the 35-64 demos that have no choice but WPOC. This format segments the audience without really hitting WPOC's 25-54 target directly. It's unlikely that WPOC would make many changes to what has worked successfully for decades. Music from the 80's mixes well with today's country as well. I'd recommend a traditional country gold show on weekends with many of the Top-40 crossovers that were country, plus traditional stuff from the 60's thru 80's. Stick with the Bay logo ,as Bay Country 100.7. The signal is good along many portions of the middle bay. One thing that amazed me when I grew up in Baltimore is that the stations did not program to the thousands of boaters in the area and the advertisers, as tiny 810 WYRE Annapolis did in the 60s, quite successfully. I will add that Johnny Dark was kind enough to allow me to produce a boating safety package which they aired on WCAO. Down here in SW Virginia, we have such a format, which was a good choice since we are surrounded by four 100kw modern country signals. Like many markets, sales are down a bit, but we still have the full staff, and things are picking up. I believe this was a good choice by the owners considering competition. Now's a time to fill a much needed void for thousands of country fans in and around Baltimore. Respectfully, Tom Conroy WZBB-FM (11/16/09) WMAL's Chris Plante appeared on Howard Kurtz "Reliable Sources" program on CNN over the weekend. He makes as little sense on television as he does on radio. If the words "liberal" and "conspiracy" were outlawed, he would be a mute. MW (11/16/09) Listening Alert! A known pornography distributor and demander of free boob enhancements, Carrie Prejean, will be on the WMAL Morning Show, Tuesday, during the 8:00 AM hour, to discuss her book on the importance of socially conservative and Republican values for teenage girls. As we all know, in order to reach teenage girls contemplating becoming promiscuous, an interview by Andy Parks is the best soapbox to disseminate your message. (11/16/09) /\ November 16 Messages /\ Jump to the Mailbag Archive Index.....