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July 1999 to December 1999
By Dave HughesDecember 27, 1999
Stevens Goes To NYC
Ken Stevens, who helped mold Infinity's WJFK (106.7 FM) into the successful "hot talker" that it is, jumps the shuttle to take on GM/VP duties at NYC Infinity station WNEW, which dropped its three decade-old rock format several months ago for "hot talk." Alan Leinwand fills Stevens' shoes at WJFK.
December 26, 1999
WNTW Goes Religious
Winchester VA's WNTW (610 AM) flipped to a contemporary Christian music format on 12/26 and is now known as "The Word." WNTW used to have a mainly right-wing talk format.
December 22, 1999
Orioles To Stay On TOP
WTOP (AM 1500/FM 107.7) is finalizing a contract to continue carrying the Baltimore Orioles for the next three years. The deal reportedly includes TOP airing mainly weekend games, not to disturb news and traffic coverage on weekdays. DC area radio listeners can always turn to Baltimore's WBAL (1090 AM) for games not carried on TOP.
December 20, 1999
Channel 14 Goes AIN
Arlington's Channel 14 WTMW has become an affiliate of the American Independent Network which provides syndicated programs (cartoons, sit-coms) to its member stations. 14 had carried the Panda Shopping Network since last spring when it flirted with carriage of the Military Channel before that went belly-up. WTMW also carries a healthy dose of infomercials.
December 19, 1999
WAMU's Hickman Dies
WAMU radio historian John Hickman, 55, died 12/10 at his home in Gaithersburg of a complications from stroke he suffered in 1990. For many years he hosted "Recollections" which showcased programs from radio's "golden age." The program later became "The Big Broadcast" which still airs on 88.5 FM every Sunday night. Mr. Hickman was a graduate of (WAMU owner) American University.
December 18, 1999
WTRI Sold
WTRI 1520 AM in Brunswick MD has been purchased by JMK Communications and will likely flip from its current "Alfa" Spanish language format to a Korean language format in early 2000. JMK recently purchased long-time country outlet WPWC 1480 AM in Dumfries VA. WTRI returned to the airwaves last summer (with improved signal coverage to the DC area) after being off the air for a year or so; it used to have an eclectic music format.
December 18, 1999
WMET To Use 1160
DCRTV has been told that the FCC has approved an application for higher daytime power for Gaithersburg MD business news/talker WMET (AM 1150). The station will be unique by operating on 1160 days with 19 kW (6 towers in a row), and back on 1150 at night with the present 500 W installation.
December 17, 1999
Goodbye WMUC-AM
The University Of Maryland plans to shut down its carrier current WMUC-AM, 650, by the end of the current semester. That leaves the school with only the 10-watt WMUC-FM at 88.1.
December 17, 1999
WJZW's Webcast Gets Good Ratings
DC's smooth jazz WJZW (105.9 FM) is a top radio webcaster according to Arbitron. 105.9's Real Audio feed at www.smoothjazz1059.com is the number one ranked "average time spent tuning" webcast, so says Arbitron's just released October numbers.
December 17, 1999
HTS Expands
Home Team Sports is exploring the possibility of adding a second local sports channel to your cable line-up to accommodate its lengthy list of Orioles, Capitals and Wizards games.
December 17, 1999
9 Picks Atkinson For Sports Slot
Channel 9 finally gets around to replacing sports anchor Ken Broo. Jess Atkinson, the former Terrapin and Redskin place kicker who became a sportscaster in 1990 for WRC Channel 4, will be joining WUSA in February. For the past few years, Atkinson has been doing sports at a Providence, Rhode Island TV station. 9 signed Atkinson to a three year contract and he'll be doing the station's weekday sportscasts at 5, 6 and 11 PM. Broo was canned in September.
December 16, 1999
Latino Groups Compain To FCC About Don & Mike Comment
Several Latino groups have filed a complaint at the Federal Communications Commisssion (FCC) against WJFK's Don & Mike in connection with an incident last summer in which the bad boy duo got thrown off the air in Albuquerque after making what some claimed was an anti-Hispanic joke. Last August, the afternoon team at 106.7 FM, whose show is syndicated nationwide, phoned the council of a small Texas town after they learned that the town would be holding meetings in Spanish; the two jested that if people didn't speak English then they should go back to Mexico. While WJFK officials have apologized for the remark, Don & Mike's show was soon dumped from the New Mexico station. But the controversy continues.
December 10, 1999
Bob Dalton Dies
Former Channel 9 reporter and anchor Bob Dalton (left) died at Suburban Hospital on 12/10; at 74 he had pneumonia and was under treatment for cancer. Dalton covered the business beat during the later part of his 44 year radio & TV career and was an anchor on WUSA's top-rated noon news before he left the station in 1995. According to the Washington Post, veteran Channel 9 anchor Gordon Peterson called Mr. Dalton "just a grand guy with a good word for everyone." Decades of extraordinary changes in television "never changed him. He was still the same guy." Mr. Dalton joined Channel 9 in 1951 and news and everything else, including making pitches for milk and beer and wearing a cowboy hat as host of a western series. At one time, he provided a series of daily business reports on the radio in addition to his television demands. In the early 1950s, he even served as a horror movie host for then WTOP-TV. Mr. Dalton was born in Washington, attended the old Central High School and, after serving in the Army Air Forces during World War II, embarked on a radio career that took him to Annapolis (WASL) and Richmond (WRNL). He returned to Washington in 1951 and got a job with WTOP-TV, Channel 9, which was then owned by The Washington Post Co. As his career progressed, Mr. Dalton found himself giving 20 business news reports a day on radio and had a slot on the evening TV news. Soon after, he said, the station manager was looking for a midday anchor. Mr. Dalton said, "How about giving me a chance?" And the boss, as the story went, said, "Why not?" Mr. Dalton, who lived in Bethesda, later anchored segments of the evening news and won honors from his colleagues in the industry.December 8, 1999
4's News Gets Good Ratings
The latest TV ratings are here. WRC Channel 4's newscasts win at 5-7 AM, 4 PM, 5 PM, 6 PM and 11 PM. WJLA Channel 7's newscasts are down substantially from last year at 5, 6 and 11 PM. While Murdoch's WTTG Channel 5 10 PM blood & guts news is down 16 percent; its morning newscast is in 4th place. 5's rather hideous Fox prime time is down to 4th place while WUSA Channel 9's CBS programming is in first place.
December 1, 1999
WGRX Drops Country
Westminster/Baltimore country outlet, WGRX, 100.7 FM, (formerly known as Froggy Country) became WZBA, "The Bay" at 3 PM 12/1. The new format is adult rock. "Rock without the hard edge," is the station's new tag line. Eagles, Elton John, Styx, Eurythmics, Stones.
November 29, 1999
PGC Doninates Late Fall Ratings
Preliminary Arbitrend radio ratings August to October out 11/29 - DC: 1. WPGC-FM, 2. WKYS, 3. WHUR, 4. WJFK, 5. WRQX, 6. WMAL, 7. WASH, 8. WBIG and WMZQ (tie), 10. WTOP, 11. WWDC, 12. WGMS, 13. WJMO and WJZW (tie), 15. WWZZ, 16. WMMJ, 17. WARW, 18. WHFS, 19. WTEM, 20. WAVA and WYCB (tie), 22. WOL. Baltimore: 1. WERQ, 2. WPOC, 3. WBAL, 4. WWIN-FM, 5. WQSR, 6. WWMX, 7. WLIF, 8. WXYV, 9. WHFS, 10. WIYY, 11. WOCT, 12. WCAO, 13. WCBM, 14. WJFK-AM and WPGC-FM and WRQX (tie), 17. WRBS, 18. WHUR and WJMO (tie), 20. WKYS, 21. WWDC.
November 20, 1999
Mega Buys WMJS
Mega Broadcasting acquires an FMer in the DC area. It's WMJS, 92.7 in Prince Frederick MD, an easy listening outlet best heard south and east of DC. Mega is picking up the station for $5.25 million from MJS Communications. Mega already owns five Spanish language AMers in the DC area - WBZS (730), WKDL (1050), WZHF (1390), WKDV (1460) and WINX (1600). However, WMJS won't switch to Spanish until "sometime during the late second quarter of next year," says Mega President Alfredo Alonso. Makes you wonder if Mega doesn't have more area FM acquisitions up its sleeve. Possible formats include love songs or dance oriented.
November 20, 1999
WNVT To Add MuchMusic
Get ready for some big changes at WNVT, Channel 53, in Goldvein VA, come January 2000. While the public station will continue to carry educational programs during the days, it will start carrying Canada-based contemporary music network MuchMusic in the evenings. 53 will also add some computer and other tech programs to its schedule. WNVT is carried on cable in DC and Virginia and on some Maryland systems.
November 15, 1999
WPFW Accused Of Censorship
Washington CityPaper reports that Pacifica's WPFW (89.3 FM) has been censoring its programming to avoid mentions critical of its parent organization. CityPaper says that in mid-November WPFW muffled about one minute of "Counterspin," produced by the media watchdog group Fairness And Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR), when it contained a reference to the recent firing of Dan Coughlin, Pacifica's news director. CityPaper adds that the station aired a short interlude of jazz music in place of the Couglin item. Last summer Pacifica was accused of editing out references critical of its radio network during a highly publicized dispute at its San Francisco station.
November 13, 1999
WETA-FM Pledges Down
WETA's (FM 90.9) October pledge drive netted $544K, down from last fall's $658K. This is the first beg-a-thon the station held since it canned some of its classical music for news & public affairs. WAMU (88.5 FM), which features mainly talk and public affairs and was worried about WETA's move in that direction, netted $1147K in its October fundraiser, up from last fall. Meanwhile, Baltimore's classical WBJC (91.5 FM) raised $100K in its fall pledge drive, up $30K from last year, with many new pledges from the DC area.
November 12, 1999
Post Aligns With NBC
The Washington Post Company forms a news gathering alliance with NBC, which owns DC's Channel 4 WRC. The Post owns Newsweek and a whole bunch of TV and cable properties (among other stuff); while NBC (which is owned by military contractor General Electric) owns CNBC and part of MSNBC, which is connected to corporate giant Microsoft (which in turn is connected to dozens of other companies).
November 10, 1999
Greaseman Does Cable
The Greaseman is planning a return - this time to television. The former WARW morning man, Doug Tracht, who was fired last February after making a racist joke, is set to play a character in a cable TV show called "Match-Maker-dot-com," named after the dating service. Tracht plays Doctor Chip Bandwith.
November 14, 1999
WGTS Fundraiser
Columbia Union College's religious WGTS (91.9 FM) just finished its annual 3-day fundraiser with $419K, above the $400K goal (and we're told that's more than double the station raised when it had a classical format a few years ago). Meanwhile, the Takoma Park station is planning to move its transmitter (not to Arlington) sometime in early 2000 to provide an improved signal throughout the DC metro area. Also, GTS kicks off 36 hours of Christmas music the day after Thanksgiving.
November 12, 1999
WETA Pulls Plug On Forum
WETA Channel 26 and the Freedom Forum have pulled the plug on the planned Forum cable TV channel, a local public affairs network. Comcast (via Jones), which will soon own just about all the DC area's cable systems, has said that it could not carry the new channel full time on its systems. Forum was set to launch in February.
November 11, 1999
WOCT Launches Controversial Campaign
Baltimore classic rocker WOCT (104.3 FM) has launched a billboard campaign for its morning team of Bob & Tom that features a woman's breasts with the phrases "Politically Incorrect" and "What A Pair." Needless to say, the campaign has generated complaints from the Baltimore chapter of the National Organization For Women (NOW).
November 4, 1999
Greaseman Update
Infinity and former morning driver the Greaseman (aka Doug Tracht) have resolved a dispute surrounding his firing from classic rocker WARW (94.7 FM) last February. While details regarding the negotiations are confidential, word is leaking out that Tracht may not have had to cough up the $100,000 Infinity was seeking in claimed lost ad revenue resulting from his dismissal following the utterance of a racist joke. Meanwhile, the Greaseman accompanied a man to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge just south of DC on 11/4. One year ago the man had tied up traffic when he threatened to jump off the bridge. The return to the bridge was said to be a sign of redemption. Tracht and the man are members of the same Springfield VA church.
November 3, 1999
Count Gore Returns To 20
Count Gore De Vol (aka Dick Dyszel), will be returning to his old haunt, WDCA Channel 20, on December 31 to host a New Years' movie "Count Down" featuring two horror flicks. This is Gore's first return to WDCA since the station canned its horror movie host & kiddie show host (he was also Captain 20) in the mid-1980s.
November 2, 1999
Salem Buys WABS
Salem Broadcasting picks up Arlington religious AMer 780 WABS for $4.1 million. The religious broadcaster also owns Arlington's WAVA (105.1 FM) and Baltimore's WITH (1230 AM).
October 24, 1999
Sonny Taylor Dies
Sonny Taylor, a DJ on WMMJ (102.3 FM), died 10/22 at 59. Taylor worked at a number of New York area radio stations including WWRL, WRKS and WNJR since the mid-1960s before moving to Washington DC in the early 1990s. Taylor also worked ar radio stations in St. Louis, Chicago and Miami. "There's a fraternity in radio that you can't join just by being on the radio," Bob Law told the New York Daily News. Law succeeded Taylor as WWRL program director. "It's a fraternity of brothers bonded in a circle of trust and respect. Sonny was in that circle when he was at 'RL, along with jocks like Gerry Bledsoe, Hank Spann, Bobby Jay, Gary Byrd, Eddie O'Jay, Enoch Gregory."
October 17, 1999
AMFM Promotes Zier
AMFM has promoted WTEM/WWRC/WJMO general manager Bennett Zeir to become the firm's DC "cluster vice president." He'll now oversee all of AMFM's DC area properties including the above as well as WWDC, WASH, WBIG, WMZQ and WGAY.
September 30, 1999
WNST Goes Talk
Baltimore area sports talker WNST (1570 AM) bit the dust 9/30. It has become a religious talker owned by Catholic Family Radio Network. WNST's "Nasty" Nestor Aparicio moved his sports talk show to WCBM (680 AM) at 10 PM.
September 29, 1999
Chip Franklin Goes To WBAL
WMAL (630 AM) evening talker Chip Franklin joins Baltimore's WBAL (1090 AM) to replace Allan Prell in the 9 AM to noon slot. Prell moves to evenings on BAL in November.
September 19, 1999
Broo Fired
Channel 9 has fired sportscaster Ken Broo and gave no reason for its decision, although ratings are the suspected motive. WUSA will rely on Frank Herzog and Ken Mease to fill Broo's shoes for the time being. The talk is that former Channel 5 sports reporter Bernie Smilovitz, now in Detroit, may join 9. Broo continues his radio work for WTEM and WHFS.
September 1, 1999
WJMO Soars In Ratings
DC likes its "Jammin' Oldies," according to the prelim summer Arbitrends out 8/31. JO WJMO takes 5th place. As usual, PGC, HUR and KYS are the top three. WBIG is 4th. MZQ is 6th, MAL is 7th, and a four-way tie for 8th: WGMS, WJFK, WASH and WRQX. MMJ and DC101 tie for 12th. Z104 is 14th, WJZW and WTOP tie for 15th. WARW and HFS tie for 17th. WAVA is 19th and WTEM is 20th. In Baltimore WERQ and WWIN take top honors followed by WPOC, WBAL, WQSR, WLIF, WWMX, WHFS, WXYV, WIYY and WOCT.
August 30, 1999
Gray Dies
James B. "Jimmy" Gray, a record producer who was a DC DJ from the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s, died 8/25 after a heart attack. He was 62. Mr. Gray played jazz music on WGTB, WHUR and WPFW.
August 30, 1999
WJFK Fined
The FCC 8/19 fined WJFK (106.7 FM) $4000 for airing a conversation between two sisters without their knowledge during a January 1998 edition of the Don & Mike Show. JFK owner Infinity claims that the women were aware their conversation was being broadcast. A Sacramento station carrying the program was also cited and fined.
August 30, 1999
WJFK's Don & Mike Bounced Off Albuquerque Airwaves
WJFK's (106.7 FM) Don & Mike, the nationally syndicated bad-boy talk duo, August 17 allegedly urged Spanish speaking people who don't speak English to get on their burros and go back to Mexico. That remark angered many listeners of a New Mexico station which carries their program. A resulting demonstration in downtown Albuquerque to protest what many called racist remarks has pushed the management of KHTL-AM (920), to pull the plug on the show effective August 28. That action came after "Don and Mike" (who are really Mike Sorce and Mike O'Meara) phoned the El Cezino, Texas city hall to ask why council meetings were being conducted in Spanish. The JFK duo told El Cezino officials they were angry because the city made Spanish its official language. Several advertisers reportedly called the Citadel-owned station to cancel their accounts because of the segment. The Albuquerque Journal quoted Citadel GM Gayle Shaw as saying that she decided to pull the show off KHTL solely because of Citadel's "commitment to the community," and not because of advertisers' complaints. Don and Mike allegedly told a woman who answered the phone at the El Cezino city hall that people who won't or can't speak English should "get on their burros and go back to Mexico." The Don and Mike Show originates from Infinity-owned WJFK-FM in Fairfax VA and is syndicated nationwide via Westwood One.
August 13, 1999
Tribune Buys Channel 50
The Tribune Company has agreed to purchase DC's WB network affiliate, WBDC, Channel 50. No prive was divulged. Tribune, which has operated WBDC according to a 1995 management agreement with owner Jasas Corp., also owns WPIX, Channel 11 in NYC and superstation WGN in Chicago (both WB stations), as well as five other WB affiliated TV stations.
August 10, 1999
Channel 26 Changes
WETA-TV Executive VP/CEO Linwood Lloyd announced his resignation and will be replaced by Joseph Widoff, 26's senior VP for technical support services. Lloyd, who is starting a consulting firm, has been responsible for a several WETA projects including Fanfare (a classical music cable channel) and the Forum Network (a local public affairs channel), both of which have yet to materialize.
August 9, 1999
Radio One Reports Profits
DC based Radio One, owner of WKYS, WERQ, WWIN FM/AM, WMMJ, WOL, WOLB and WYCB, reports second quarter revenue increases of 30 percent. Also, we hear that WMMJ has been hurt by the launch of "Jammin' Oldies" 99.5 and that "format adjustments" at Magic 102.3 are possible. Radio One also hopes to syndicate urban oldies 102.3's Les Brown show nationwide.
August 8, 1999
WNST Sold
Baltimore sports talker WNST (1570 AM) has been sold to Catholic Family Radio (the group that almost bought DC's 730 and 1390 but was beat out by Mega) and will be going religious in October. "Nasty" Nestor Appericio will be moving his sports talk show to WCBM (680 AM).
August 8, 1999
Digital Radio Tests To Start
USA Digital Radio has selected WTOP (AM 1500), WETA (FM 90.9), WPOC (FM 93.1) and WJFK (FM 106.7) as test platforms for its new digital radio technology.
August 2, 1999
AMFM Reports Earnings
AMFM/Chancellor, the largest corporate owner of radio stations in the DC area (WASH, WJMO, WMZQ, WBIG, WWDC, WWRC, WTEM, WGAY), can definitely do one thing right - make money. Spring quarter revenues (released 8/2) were up 35 percent.
August 1, 1999
RCN Comes To Montgomery
RCN/Starpower begins cable TV, high-speed Internet and phone service in the DC area. Montgomery County approves franchise agreement with RCN.
July 30, 1999
Agronsky Dies
Martin Agronsky, who hosted political talk show Agronsky & Company for many years on Channel 9, died 7/25 at 84.
July 29, 1999
Greaseman Case Faces Arbitrator
Infinity/CBS has claimed that former WARW (94.7 FM) morning man Doug "The Greaseman" Tracht's racist remark, which led to his firing last February, cost the company $100,000 when advertisers cancelled contracts with the classic rocker, so reports radio trade journal Radio & Records (R&R). The late July R&R article says that Infinity had filed its lawsuit in DC Superior Court back in May and that the case was transferred to a DC federal court in June. Infinity/CBS's suit reportedly claimed that Tracht's remarks "destroyed the essence of his employment contract ... [and] outraged WARW-FM's advertisers ... WARW received numerous threats of violence, and had to hire security personnel," according to R&R. However, the American Federation Of Television & Recording Artists (AFRTA), which represents TV and radio personalities including Tracht, asked the court to dismiss the Infinity/CBS suit on July 21, the R&R article indicates. AFTRA maintained that Tracht's contract specified that any disputes between himself and his employer be settled by arbitration. Infinity/CBS has reportedly dropped the suit against Tracht and a Washington DC-based arbitrator is scheduled to determine the fate of his contract, and the claim against it by his former employer, in late September. The radio trade journal also reports that lawyers for Infinity/CBS and Tracht had been previously holding negotiations regarding severance pay for the radio personality, who was dismissed after making a joke about the death of a black man in Texas who was dragged behind a pick-up truck. Tracht reportedly worked according to an $800,000 a year three-year contract of which he was in the second year. R&R reported that Tracht continued to receive payments from Infinity/CBS through May 1999.
July 20, 1999
Drudge Shows Up On WMAL
In its continuing effort to present all political points of view (as long as they're on the right), WMAL (AM 630) adds Internet gossip columnist Matt Drudge's talk show beginning July 11th at 10 PM.
July 15, 1999
Pre-Season Redskins Go To WRC
Channel 4 snagged Redskins pre-season games away from Channel 7. The two-year deal cost upwards of $2.5 million. WRC's George Michael and Sonny Jurgenson (who also handles play-by-play for WJFK radio) will do the coverage.
July 1, 1999
99.5 Becomes WJMO
Back in April, Chancellor/AMFM switched WGAY-FM (99.5) from its long-time easy listening format to “Jammin’ Oldies.” Yet the old call letters stayed in place. Chancellor even duplicated the calls on its nostalgia formatted AMer at 1260 (formerly WWDC-AM). However, as of July 1, Jammin’ Oldies 99.5 got its own call letters - WJMO. The calls are also in use at a Chancellor-owned AM station in the Cleveland area. FCC rules allow such sharing of call letters (witness KCBS-TV in Los Angeles and KCBS-AM in San Francisco).
July 1, 1999
VA Governor Gets Stuck In Traffic On Way To Radio Show
Virginia Governor James Gilmore got elected several years ago running on a platform of reducing the “car tax” (local auto property tax) in the Old Dominion. He has also rejected raising the gas tax to help reduce the gridlock on the highways, particularly in the Washington DC suburbs. So, many saw it as poetic justice June 30 when the governor, on his way to his monthly talk show on Washington's’ all news WTOP AM/FM (1500/107.7), got stuck in traffic on the Key Bridge and couldn’t make it to the station in time for his program. Never fear. Gilmore used his trusty car phone to conduct the first part of his radio show.
July 1, 1999
Changes At DC101
More changes are in store at rocker WWDC-FM (101.1), also known as DC101. Chancellor/AMFM purchased the station a year ago and has positioned it as a solid active rocker. And it appears to be a winning move. In the latest spring Arbitrend ratings, DC101 came in at a strong 6th place. At the same time, DC’s two other rockers, Infinity owned classic rocker WARW and progressive rocker WHFS took 18th and 17th places, respectively. D101 will get getting into the morning drive in a brash way when it unveils Elliot Segal, half of the morning team at Chancellor’s New York City station, WHTZ (Z100) on July 16. DC101, by many accounts, has been lacking in the morning drive department the past few years. The station had been the home of Howard Stern in the early 1980s, and also once featured the Greaseman (who moved to WARW and got fired) and Paul Harris (who moved to WARW and got fired; he’s now in St. Louis). DC101 also has a new general manager. He’s Mark O’Brien, who will continue similar duties at Chancellor adult contemporary WASH-FM (97.1).
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