SUPPORT DCRTV'S ADVERTISERS /\ \/  DCRTV'S RADIO/TV/MEDIA NEWS/GOSSIP IS NOW AVAILABLE THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE NORTHEAST USA /\ \/   Contents - Contact Us - News Tips - News Archive - Mailbag - Rant - Support DCRTV Station List - Classified Ads - Advertise On DCRTV - RSS - NYC - Boston - DCRTV Plus Legal Clouds Disperse Over Clear Channel Buyout - 5/13 - Clear Channel jumped 9.6 percent in New York Stock Exchange trading yesterday as buyout firms and banks negotiated a settlement of lawsuits related to funding the radio broadcaster's acquisition. Still, there is no assurance an agreement will be reached. The $19.5 billion acquisition by Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners has been tied-up in legal wrangling the past few weeks. More from Bloomberg. Clear Channel owns 13 radio stations in the DC-Baltimore area..... Fox & FCC Battle Over WUTB's DTV Allocation - 5/13 - DCRTV hears that Fox is battling with the FCC over Baltimore's Channel 24/WUTB, regarding its digital television operation. While WUTB is owned by Fox, it is a My Network TV station. According to our source, the FCC has held up WUTB's digital allocation because of possible interference to an FCC monitoring station in Laurel. In an FCC filing, Fox states "legal reasons beyond station's control" for its prolonged DTV build-out of its WUTB digital signal, which is still not available on area cable systems. The FCC filing is at fcc.gov..... DCRTVideo - 5/13 - Behind the scenes at Channel 13/WJZ's "Eyewitness News" in 1992. Via DCRTVideo at the bottom of the right column on this page..... Notable Quotable - 5/13 - "I voted for him. I'll wear that badge forever." WMAL right-leaning morning man Andy Parks admitting this morning that he voted for Democrat Jimmy Carter in 1976..... Richmond AMer For Orioles - 5/12 - The Baltimore Orioles nab a Richmond affiliate - WLEE (990 AM) - its eighth station in Virginia. There are now 30 Mid-Atlantic radio stations carrying the O's, including DC's WTEM (980 AM). The team's flagship station is Charm City's WHFS (105.7 FM)..... O'Meara's Hit With $26K In Booze Fines - 5/12 - From the Potomac News website InsideNova.com: O'Meara's restaurant racked up $26,000 in Virginia Department Of Alcohol And Beverage Control fines and administrative costs between September 2006 and April 2007. The ABC charged the Manassas restaurant with 26 violations. The documents didn't specify if the fines were paid. The restaurant, which is owned by WJFK-FM afternoon personality Mike O'Meara, closed in April. Seven of the violations were for allowing the consumption of alcoholic beverages by a person the licensee knew or had reason to believe was intoxicated. The restaurant was charged with seven counts of making gifts of alcoholic beverages in violation of Virginia law and eight counts of holding happy hour between 9 PM and 2 AM. On his Monday show, O'Meara said he is in the process of selling the restaurant..... Support DCRTV's Advertisers - 5/12 - We have a new Classified Ad: Metro Networks is looking for a reporter/anchor. Plus, check out other recent ads: a web account manager for WJLA and NewsChannel 8. And a satellite coordinator for WJLA and NewsChannel 8. Also, DCRTV thanks Matt K. Baker and his mattspeaking.com voice biz for renewing their DCRTV ad. You'll hear Matt's voice in commercials for the DC United soccer team, on promos for the Discovery Channel, as well as Discovery's UpFront 2008 Tour. Plus, Matt does imaging for Classic 98 Rock, another DCRTV advertiser. Please support DCRTV's advertisers because they support DCRTV..... WTOP Does Video - 5/12 - OK, WTOP is a radio station. But here's a video report from the all-newser. At wtopnews.com. "Not bad for a radio station that has not been doing this very long," a local radio guru tells us..... WAMU Places 5th Among All Stations In DC, 3rd Among Public Outlets Nationwide - 5/12 -  American University's WAMU (88.5 FM) is touting its fifth place overall finish in the DC radio ratings. Usually, public radio outlets, like WAMU, are not included in the commercial radio ratings. WAMU says its broadcast of NPR's "Morning Edition" ranks third, with 353,000 weekly listeners. The evening drive, anchored by NPR's "All Things Considered," placed second, with more than 214,000 weekly listeners, according to WAMU. The station, which programs news and talk on weekday, and some music programs on weekends, also touts its top-rated Saturday morning and Sunday lineups.
When compared with public radio stations in other markets, WAMU says it ranks third nationwide, with 534,100 DC metro listeners, and a weekly total audience of 621,600, including the Baltimore metro. This places WAMU behind only San Francisco's KQED-FM and NYC's WNYC-FM in public radio listenership. Also, WAMU has signed a new contract with the Radio Reseach Consortium, which allows it to use Arbitron ratings data.....Big Cuts At RLTV - 5/12 -  A source tells DCRTV: "Major, major layoffs sweeping through Columbia-based Retirement Living TV. Production department completely gutted, ad sales gutted, marketing gutted. Skeleton crews left within 60 days. Hearing that they're going to suspend their pay-for-carriage deals with DirecTV and Comcast's CN8. That doesn't leave them in many households, and that they may go off the air for 'up to 12 months.' For those who've worked through such situations, that's a nice way of saying the whole thing is probably about to go belly up." RLTV uses a batch of media folks to host its shows, including WMAL morning man Fred Grandy. More as we hear it.....Jack Diamond's Mother Dies - 5/12 - Condolences to Mix 107.3 morning man Jack Diamond, whose real name is Harvey Fischer. His mother, Ann Fischer of Silver Spring, passed away on Saturday. More at legacy.com..... Rush's Radio Girth Grows - 5/12 - Rush Limbaugh: "My impact will increase." So reports the Politico..... Two Suits Leave Radio One - 5/12 - Two top executives are leaving black media giant Radio One, as the company continues to struggle. Alejandro Clabiorne, vice president of marketing for the Lanham-based urban radio giant, has given his notice and Lee Michaels, national program director for Syndication One News/Talk, has already left, reports Redding News Review..... 4 Media Firms Make Post's Local Public Biz List - 5/12 - Four media companies made the Washington Post annual "Post 200" list of DC area public companies - Gannett at 13th, the Washington Post Company at 16th, XM Satellite Radio at 32nd, and Radio One at 63rd. That could drop to just three DC HQed media companies next year if the FCC approves Sirius's marriage with XM and the merged company is based out of NYC, as expected. Also, Radio One placed 8th on the Post's list of companies with the biggest decline in revenue in 2007, with XM coming in 4th among companies with the greatest 2007 loss. The Corporation For Public Broadcasting and the Public Broadcasting Service made the Post's list of nonprofit media organizations HQed in the DC area, and Discovery made the local private companies list..... XM: Subscribers & Losses Up - 5/12 - DC-based XM Satellite Radio ended first quarter 2008 with 9.33 million subscribers, an 18 percent increase. First quarter adjusted operating loss was $30.7 million, compared to a loss of $27 million in first quarter 2007. More at xmradio.com and from the DC Post..... Storm-Related Power Outage Causes Problems For 45 & 54 - 5/12 - A DCRTVers tells us: "Major problems at the Sinclair owned Baltimore stations WBFF Fox45 and WNUV CW54 this morning. WBFF-DT and secondary channel Good-TV are off the air, WBFF has a stagnant traffic cam pic stuck up with no sound whatsoever or morning news, WNUV has no video or audio this morning and WNUV-DT is also off the air. With this morning's weather and traffic problems, this would be bad timing for doing tower maintenance. And that brings up another issue, the two stations' towers are in different locations, although both DT signals that are off the air are on Television Hill right next to the candelabra tower. Finally some info from WBFF, power outage is the reason the stations have been knocked off the air. I'm guessing at Sinclair HQ in Hunt Valley? Since all of Baltimore's other stations are still on the air this morning, so that would make sense. More: WBFF is now doing live storm video and news coverage from the field with their anchors, but apparently not from their normal studios for the most part." UPDATE: DCRTV hears from a top 45/54 engineer: "It's three unrelated power problems - two at the station, one at the transmitter. We're currently on generator at both locations, but we're really short on fuel at the station"..... WaPo's Peter Baker To NY Times - 5/12 - From the Politico: On the afternoon of 4/22, when the Washington Post's Susan Glasser was removed from her position as assistant managing editor for national news, rumors immediately flew around the newsroom that her husband, White House correspondent Peter Baker, would leave the paper. Baker, who told Politico that day he had "decisions to make," has finally made one - he's jumping to The New York Times Magazine..... 2 More Take Post Buyouts - 5/12 - FishbowlDC tells us that Deb Heard and Steve Fehr are the latest additions to the list of Washington Post employees taking the latest cost-cutting buyout. Also, Ann Gerhart and Gene Weingarten are not taking the buyout..... Kurtz Does Todd - 5/12 - Howard Kurtz profiles NBC's political director Chuck Todd in today's DC Post..... DCRTV Flashback - 5/11 -  Today's Flashback: A 1955 memory of WOL and DC area broadcasting legend Milt Grant (right). The complete hi-rez image is at DCRTV Plus. Just opened at DCRTV Plus: A new DCRTVideo section, with loads of cool DC and Baltimore news and station promo videos from many decades. Plus, we've just opened our 41st photo gallery with memories of WTOP, WINX, WWDC, and WBAL. Don't forget, DCRTV is an independent site that still depends on donations from you, our wonderful visitors. Ad income pays only part of our monthly expenses. Make a donation via PayPal or mail a check. Click here. Make it $39 and get memory-packed DCRTV Plus through May 2009.....Rant - 5/11 -  Today, we make another suggestion with a "Music The Globe Should Be Playing" video on our Rant page. Send us your suggestions for cool 94.7 Globe tunes to dcrtv@dcrtv.com.....Post Corrections "Not Consistent" - 5/11 - In Sunday's Washington Post, the newspaper's ombudsman Deborah Howell writes: "The Post's approach to corrections is not consistent: Some run promptly, others are resisted, a few go astray. And top editors are not looking for trends in the statistics kept on corrections." Any some corrections that are approved to run never get published, she adds..... BAL Radio's Josh Leng To Program Tucson Talker - 5/11 - WBAL radio producer Josh Leng becomes program director of news talk KNST, a Clear Channel AMer in Tucson. He spent the past 10 months as producer of "The Bruce Elliot Show" on Baltimore's 1090 AM. Leng tells DCRTV: "I've thoroughly enjoyed working at one of the best run radio stations in America. Bruce is a consummate professional and ratings winner. Thanks to Mike Wellbrock for pairing us together to help Baltimore wake up on the weekends." Leng's previously worked at LA's KFI and KTLK. He got his start at Grand Rapids MI's WOOD and WTKG..... Who'll Replace Harley In CC Ad Job? - 5/11 - With Harley Adkins recently shifted from top sales honcho to cluster king at Clear Channel DC, who might take his place in the top ad gig? DCRTV hears from Rockville Pike sources that it could be Melissa Kelly, who's currently the cluster's general sales manager. Stay tuned..... New ND For 4 - 5/10 - Camille Edwards becomes news director at NBC's Channel 4/WRC. She comes from NBC's WMAQ-TV in Chicago, where she was news director. Early in her TV career, in the early 1990s, she produced the 6 PM newscast at Hearst's Channel 11/WBAL in Baltimore. Edwards has also worked at ABC's WPVI-TV in Philadelphia, ABC's WLS-TV and at CBS's WBBM-TV, both in Chicago. She replaces Vickie Burns, who left her news director gig at WRC in March for the news director gig at NBC's WNBC-TV in NYC. Burns had been with WRC since 2003..... Post-Steiner YPR Posts Mixed Ratings Results - 5/10 - Radio ratings for the first three months of 2008 suggest that the changes at Baltimore public radio outlet WYPR (88.1 FM) have not led to the drastic ratings decline some fans of ousted talk-show host Marc Steiner predicted. But they also suggest the station has alienated some key listeners, according to Chris Kaltenbach at baltimoresun.com. In the noon slot, where Baltimore Sun columnist Dan Rodricks took over for Steiner in February, WYPR took a considerable hit among key demo listeners aged 25-to-54..... Lehrer Recovers From Heart Surgery - 5/10 - DC-based Jim Lehrer, who anchors PBS's "NewsHour" from WETA-TV, tells colleagues that he's on the mend from heart valve surgery a few weeks ago. "There remain a few bruises and scars to heal but there is progress - literally - every day. The heart things, including the new valve stolen from a pig on my behalf, are moving right along the way they were intended," he wrote in a memo to his staff. Lehrer says he hopes to return to his anchoring duties in several weeks, although no firm date has been set..... BET Head Slams Post - 5/10 - DC-based Black Entertainment Television Chairman Debra Lee fires back at the Washington Post for its critical piece of a few days ago. "We are proving every day that BET can thrive as a business while offering the full range of images - yes, including some that our critics would prefer to never see. We regret that the Post seemed to have made so little effort to acknowledge how we are changing, improving and serving the needs and aspirations of our viewers - aspirations that are more often than not ignored by other networks." In a letter-to-the-editor in Saturday's Post..... AC Future For 105.7? - 5/10 - A job hunter tells DCRTV that she found an ad sales job posting for CBS's WHFS (105.7 FM) in Baltimore. At the CBS Radio section of monster.com. With the station listed as "adult contemporary." A possible format change for the talk outlet? Or just a mistake? Hmmm..... Joe Lehan Becomes Voice Of Crabs - 5/10 - Joe Lehan, a local radio veteran who has worked at WMJS, WMDM, WPTX, and the old DC area oldies outlet XTRA-104, becomes the public address announcer for the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs baseball team, which plays in Waldorf. Lehan still does part-time engineering duties for Bonneville in the DC area..... Battle Of The Media Hotties - 5/10 -  Round 22. This week, we pitted WTOP investigative reporter Mark Segraves (right) against WTOP "sprawl and crawl" reporter Adam Tuss (left) in our Battle Of The Media Hotties. Voting ended at midnight Friday, and it was very close. With only a few votes separating them among the 900 votes cast, Segraves held onto a 50.1 percent lead when the polls closed at midnight. Tuss, who surged late Thursday and early Friday, received 49.9 percent.....Citadel Asks DCRTV To Remove Diamond Article - 5/9 - On Thursday, DCRTV featured a link to a Wikipedia article which made a reference to Jack Diamond, the morning man at WRQX. When we posted the link, we stated that Diamond's employer, Citadel Broadcasting, had claimed that there was no truth to information contained in the Wikipedia article. On Friday, DCRTV received a letter from Nancy Ory, an attorney representing Citadel, who told us that Citadel "has made no announcement concerning plans to replace the 'Jack Diamond Morning Show' with alternative programming and has every expectation that its relationship with Mr. Diamond will continue in the future." Also, Ory's letter requested that we remove yesterday's news item that featured the link to the Wikipedia entry. We have done so..... 2 To Buy 13's DTV XMTR Gear - 5/9 - A DCRTVer tells us that Scripps' Channel 2/ WMAR does not intend to build a new digital TV facility or buy any new transmitting equipment for Baltimore's famed "candelabra" tower. WMAR is instead purchasing the existing equipment from CBS's Channel 13/WJZ. We're told that means both stations will be unlikely to be launching high-def local newscasts any time soon. Check out 2's FCC DTV filing at fcc.gov..... Wittman Leaves Post's Publication Subsidiary - 5/9 - FishbowlDC tells us that, after only four months on the job, Kevin Wittman has resigned from his position as president of the Washington Post's Post-Newsweek Media. Apparently, Wittman had been commuting back and forth to the area from New Jersey and ultimately found the travel too overwhelming. Wittman oversaw PNM's 41 publications, including: 12 Comprint Military Publications newspapers, 22 Gazette newspapers, and seven Southern Maryland newspapers..... FCC OKs Upgraded 88.1 In Lex Park - 5/9 - A Lexington Park church has received licensing from the Federal Communications Commission to build a 30-meter tower in St. Mary's City that will carry a 1,900-watt signal across most of St. Mary's County and to the Eastern Shore. William Ruckman, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Lexington Park, said his church has been broadcasting low-power radio programming for the past nine years on the FM frequency of 88.1. More from somdnews.com..... State Legal Eagles Voice Concerns About Satrad Merger - 5/9 -  State attorneys general continued to register their concerns with the proposed satellite radio merger of DC's XM and NYC's Sirius. The attorneys generals met with Federal Communications Commission member Jonathan Adelstein this week to talk about the lack of an interoperable radio that would work with both services, as well as their general concern that "significant harms" would result from "the loss of a direct competitor." Broadcasting And Cable has more.....Notable Quotable - 5/9 - "I don't need a girlfriend, ma. Where's the meatloaf?" So said Oscar "Big O" Santana on his Friday show about what he says upon returning home after his WJFK-FM midday airshift..... Radio One Stocks "Crushed" - 5/9 - "Our stocks have been crushed," Radio One chief executive Alfred Liggins acknowledged in a conference call with investors yesterday, following news of a continued revenue slump at the Lanham-based broadcaster. "Since we happened to be, my family, the largest shareholder, when the stock is below $1, it's very painful." The company sought to explain why Liggins and his mother, Radio One founder Cathy Hughes, sold shares in April. Liggins said the sales were required to satisfy a forward sale of stock for about $7 a share two years ago. "Ms. Hughes and I want to affirmatively allay any fears that we were selling into the stock's current weakness," Liggins said in a statement. "We want to assure all of our security holders that we stand firmly committed to Radio One and these transactions were isolated sales triggered solely by historical events." More in the DC Post. Also in the Post, Steven Pearlstein paints a brutally honest picture of the highly-compensated Liggins and Hughes and how they're running Radio One into a big financial ditch..... Revenue Up For Discovery - 5/9 - Silver Spring-based Discovery Communications reported yesterday that first-quarter revenue was up 12 percent on the strength of advertising and subscriber revenue at its television networks. DC Post..... Revenue Down For Tribune - 5/9 - A continued weak advertising environment resulted in an 8 percent decline in first-quarter operating revenue and a 16 percent drop in operating cash flow for the Tribune Company, parent of the Baltimore Sun and DC's Channel 50/WDCW. There's more from the LA Times..... Weaker Financials For Clear Channel - 5/9 - Radio station operator Clear Channel, which owns 13 stations in the DC-Baltimore area, posted a weaker-than-expected profit as softness in the overall advertising market overshadowed gains in its outdoor ad unit. Reuters has more..... Ingraham Adopts Daughter - 5/9 - Radio talk show host and DCer Laura Ingraham, heard locally on WTNT, has adopted a 3-year-old girl from an orphanage in Guatemala..... Examiner To Scale Back Home Delivery - 5/8 - DCRTV hears that the DC and Baltimore editions of the Examiner freebie tabloid newspaper will stop 6-day home delivery come mid-July. Then, it will begin 2-day home delivery, on Thursdays and Sundays only, with a new Sunday edition. The paper will still be printed and distributed via newspaper vending boxes each day. Editor And Publisher has more..... Marc Steiner From 88.1 To 88.9 - 5/8 - DCRTV is hearing rumblings that Marc Steiner, who recently got the boot from his gig at Baltimore public radio outlet WYPR (88.1 FM), may soon be heard on another Baltimore public radio outlet - WEAA (88.9 FM). More soon..... Ignatius, Meacham Might Replace Downey At Post - 5/8 - The NY Post on the Washington Post: The Beltway buzz now is that longtime Executive Editor Len Downie will be taking the latest round of buyouts. Among those thought to be in the running are veteran editor and columnist David Ignatius, who served for several years as executive editor at the International Herald Tribune when it was owned jointly by the Washington Post and the New York Times, and Jon Meacham, wunderkind editor of the Washington Post's sister publication, Newsweek..... More Red Ink At Radio One - 5/8 - Lanham-based urban radio giant Radio One reported more losses Thursday - a net loss in the first quarter of $18.3 million. Revenue in the latest period decreased 2 percent to $72.5 million versus the year-ago quarter. Radio One execs cited the decline in national radio advertising for the decline. More from bizjournals.com..... Limbaugh: Post Gets It Wrong - 5/8 - "When you read it, you can't figure out what they concluded." So said Rush Limbaugh on his radio show today about the Washington Post, and other "mainstream" media outlets, reporting that the righty talk titan had "called off" his "Operation Chaos" campaign, which commanded Republicans to cast primary votes for Democrat Hillary Clinton. And reports that he'd "thrown his support to Obama," her party rival. Neither of which has occurred, Limbaugh alleged via WMAL and WCBM..... Slump For Citadel - 5/8 - Citadel, which owns WRQX, WJZW, and WMAL, reported that its first-quarter revenue dropped 5 percent. Citadel's bottom line swung to a loss of $8.3 million, following the acquisition of ABC's radio stations last year. More from Radio Ink..... Savage Leaves Globe For NY Times - 5/8 - Big loss for the Boston Globe: Charlie Savage, who won a 2007 Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the Bush administration's sweeping expansion of executive power, is headed to the New York Times. He'll start there later this month. More from thephoenix.com..... Morning Man Moore At FLS - 5/8 - Geoff Moore has been picked by Fredericksburg country outlet WFLS (93.3 FM) to co-host mornings with Jessica Cash. He replaces 31-year FLS veteran Brian Strobel, who retired in late 2007. Moore comes from a hot adult contemporary station in Tampa. He starts on 5/12..... Memorial Service For Bill Hamlin - 5/8 -  A memorial service for longtime DC radio personality Bill Hamlin (right) will be held on 6/16, 7:30 PM, in the Aaron And Cecile Goldman Theater at the DC Jewish Community Center, 1529 16th Street NW. This is the home of Theater J, where Hamlin performed many times. Hamlin, an award-winning actor and radio personality on 94.7 FM - as WJMD, WLTT, and WARW - died on 2/21 from lung cancer at the age of 64. More in DCRTV's 5/8 Mailbag.....FCC Plans Early Digital TV Switch In NC - 5/8 - The Federal Communications Commission plans to pull the plug on analog TV signals in Wilmington NC in September - five months ahead of the national February 2009 digital-only broadcast TV deadline - in order to work out "kinks" in the procedure. Viewers who rely on over-the-air reception will need to either purchase new digital TV sets or digital converter boxes for their old analog sets, and maybe even install new antenna systems. More in the DC Post..... Post Puts Rush's "Chaos" Campaign On Front Page - 5/8 - Thursday's Washington Post puts righty radio talk titan Rush Limbaugh on the front page and asks if his "Operation Chaos" campaign gave Hillary Clinton the edge in Indiana on Tuesday, thereby prolonging the Democratic Party's presidential primary content..... Too Many DODers Talking Up Iraq On Nets? - 5/8 - A pair of powerful legislators want to know whether news networks bear any culpability related to a Department Of Defense program to recruit ex-military officers to talk up Iraq and other policies on TV, online, and elsewhere. Broadcasting And Cable has more..... DC Times Runs "Muslim" Quote About Obama - 5/8 - A Washington Times article uncritically quoted an Indiana man saying of Barack Obama, "I can't stand him.... He's a Muslim. He's not even pro-American as far as I'm concerned." So reports Media Matters..... Rush Switches Sides In Dem "Chaos" Campaign - 5/7 -  Righty talk radio titan Rush Limbaugh (left), between crowing about the success and attention of his "Operation Chaos," switched sides in the Democratic primary today. "I now urge the Democratic superdelegates to go publicly make your mind up for Obama," he said on his show, heard locally on WMAL and WCBM. Earlier, he said, "I'm now tempted to tell superdelegates to pick Obama because I now believe he would be the weakest nominee." Limbaugh had been urging his listeners to support Hillary as the only chance for Republican victory in November, and to extend the Democratic primary. Exit polls and anecdotes suggest that many did. More from the Politico.....Thomas Roberts Makes Advocate's Cover - 5/7 -  National gay news magazine the Advocate features Baltimore native and former CNN Headline News anchor Thomas Roberts as its cover guy (right). Roberts was outed by a blog when he was an anchor at CNN in 2006, but has since openly discussed his sexuality. "If people don't like that I'm gay or that I talk about being gay, I'm sorry. Because that's not my problem." Roberts made the news a few years ago when he revealed that he, as a youth, was molested by a priest while attending a Baltimore Catholic school.....CSN To Air 5 Mystics Games - 5/7 - Comcast SportsNet will air five Washington Mystics games this season, including four games in high-definition. The CSN games of the pro basketball female team will be featured during July. In addition, the Mystics will be featured four times on national television, making their 2008 national debut on 5/31, when the team hosts the Los Angeles Sparks on ABC..... Local News Channel From 4? - 5/7 -  Broadcasting And Cable reports that NBC's flagship TV station, WNBC in NYC, is transforming its headquarters into a "content center" as the station prepares the launch of a 24-hour local news channel which will be available on WNBC's digital signal. With live headlines every half-hour and plenty of weather and traffic coverage. Might NBC's DC station, Channel 4/ WRC, be thinking about doing the same thing? Stay tuned.....With Editor Maybe Taking Buyout, Big Changes Coming To Post's Style - 5/7 - At washingtoncitypaper.com, Erik Wemple tells us that the Washington Post's Style section may be saying goodbye to its top editor, Deborah Heard, who has plowed 20-plus years of service into the paper. She is weighing an early retirement package. "Less clear is whether Heard may be feeling a push as well. Her section is the subject of considerable intra-newsroom sniping, much of it a lamentation of how far Style has fallen over the years"..... Segraves Begs For "Hottie" Votes On WTOP - 5/7 - At the start of the "Ask The Governor" program today, featuring Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, WTOP reporter Mark Segraves made a shameless and brash request for DCRTV "Battle Of The Media Hotties" votes from the station's listeners (see newsblurb below). Hear his plea here (MP3)..... Princell Hair To Head 2's News? - 5/7 -  FTVLive tells us that rumors spilling out of Baltimore are saying that former CNN boss Princell Hair (right) is going to be named news director at struggling Channel 2/WMAR. Sources tell FTVLive that WMAR Acting News Director Kelly Groft has been told she isn't getting the ND gig. Hair has been spotted in the hallways at the Scripps ABC affiliate. Hair once was the ND at Channel 11/WBAL, "so he knows the area," FTVLive adds.....7 To Go HD News By End Of Summer - 5/7 -  DCRTV hears that Channel 7/WJLA will go to high-def local newscasts by the end of summer. New studio cameras and a new switcher are down to final bids from major equipment vendors. Field cameras are already HD-ready, and graphics are ready to go. Promotions has been shooting in HD for months. Allbritton sister NewsChannel 8 will also be in HD, but nobody will see it since the deal with local cable providers Comcast and Cox has no provisions for HD, and they have not asked for it, so NC8 will be "down converted" to standard-def. We're told that it's easier for the whole 7/NC8 facility to be HD and down convert NC8 to SD than to have WJLA in HD and NC8 in SD. Also, we also hear that NC8's will have new studio space in the former SunTrust bank space on Wilson Boulevard, just down the street from WJLA's Rosslyn HQ.....Baltimore Can't See Al Jaz Coverage Of Baltimore - 5/7 - The English language Arabic news network of Al Jazeera just finished doing an in-depth story on Baltimore. "From the crime and grime to the hope and prayer of a powerful Bethel AME service," writes Kim Andrew Elliot via his international broadcasting blog at kimelli.nfshost.com. But, you can't see Al Jazeera in Baltimore, since no major USA cable or satellite companies carry it. Despite its "large and active bureau in Washington," according to the former host of "Communications World" on the Voice Of America..... Manassas OKs Verizon FiOS - 5/7 - Manassas is the latest area jurisdiction to give the green light to Verizon to wire the city for its FiOS TV and internet service. Currently, Manassas is served by Comcast. More from prnewswire.com..... NFL's Battle With Comcast Continues - 5/7 - The NFL Network continues its battle with area cable TV giant Comcast, which moved the pro football channel onto a $5-a-month digital sports tier last year. In a complaint to the FCC, NFL says Comcast, which the nation's largest cable operator, made the move as punishment for not landing a package of eight regular season games last season. Those games, instead, aired on the NFL Network. There's more from Broadcasting And Cable..... 58 For Russert - 5/7 - NBC's DC-based host of top-rated "Meet The Press," Tim Russert, turns 58 today..... Rant - 5/7 - We asked you yesterday what should the alleged alt rock Globe be playing instead of Joe Cocker and Paul Simon. And you told us: Flaming Lips, Gorillaz, Old 97s, Rachael Yamagata, Matthew Ryan, Rhett Miller, the Waterboys, Wire Train, the White Animals, Jason And The Scorchers, Editors, Embrace, Hard-Fi, Kaiser Chiefs, the Kooks, Safety Suit, Monster In The Machine, Ryan Cabbera, Bjork, the Smiths, Big Audio Dynamite, Flamin' Groovies, Big Star, Let's Active, dBs, Spoon, Sloan, and King Crimson. Today, we make another suggestion with a "Music The Globe Should Be Playing" video on our Rant page. Send us your suggestions for cool Globe tunes to dcrtv@dcrtv.com.....Where Were You When Indy & NC Voted? - 5/6 - From DCRTV's Does Anyone Give A Shit Department: Patrick Gavin, of FishbowlDC, finds out what more than 50 (count 'em) DC media types will be doing tonight as the monumental primary results from Indiana and North Carolina are tabulated. Reveals WMAL honcho Chris Berry: "Watching? All of the cool kids are listening to the radio for election coverage. The pictures are much better on the radio"..... Notable Quotable - 5/6 - "I was gonna take my mother to O'Meara's for Mother's Day." So said a disappointed caller to Mike O'Meara's WJFK-FM show on Tuesday. Replied O'Meara: "You're going to have to take her somewhere else." O'Meara recently shuttered his Manassas eatery due to the slowing economy..... WOLer Joe Madison Joins XM - 5/6 -  Joe Madison (right) leaves Radio One urban talker WOL (1450 AM) to do mornings at DC-based XM's The Power black talk channel, XM-169. Madison, aka "The Black Eagle," spent 10 years at WOL, with his show being simulcasted on The Power. But, starting 6/2, Madison will be doing his show from XM's New York Avenue studios from 6 AM to 10 AM. It's still not certain whether he will continue to be heard on Lanham-studioed WOL, although some radio trade publications seem to suggest that he won't. "The addition of Joe Madison to our in-house team underpins XM's commitment to outstanding African-American talk programming," said XM President Nate Davis. "The Black Eagle delivers for his listeners everyday. His engaging style is driven by his unmatched curiosity and awareness of the key civil rights issues around the world".....Once Heard On GTS, Walter Camp Dies - 5/6 - Walter Camp Jr., 79, who once hosted a German music show on Takoma Park MD's WGTS (91.9 FM), died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on 5/1 at his home in Silver Spring. The son of German immigrants, Camp was a member of the Washingtonia Schuhplattler Verein, which performs traditional Bavarian Schuhplattler dances, German drinking songs, and Alpine bell-ringing. He and his brother, Ronald, hosted "Musical Memories Of Germany And Austria" on WGTS for 20 years. More in the DC Post..... Arbitron Hit Over Philly PPMs - 5/6 - Columbia MD-based ratings firm Arbitron gets slammed by a Philadelphia radio exec for its problematic portable people meter (PPM) radio ratings. At DCRTV's Philadelphia/NYC News page..... 'Net Radio Surges At Work - 5/6 - Twenty percent of at-work radio listening is done via the internet. That's up from 12 percent a year earlier. More from Radio Online..... Former Mix 106.5er Lands At WCEI - 5/6 - DCRTV hears that Kenny Campbell, former morning man with JoJo at Baltimore's Mix 106.5, is now at hot adult contemporary WCEI, 96.7 FM, in Easton. When Campbell left WWMX several years ago, he landed in Denver..... Hume To MC Awards Ceremony - 5/6 - Fox News DCer Brit Hume will serve as master of ceremeonies for the 2008 Bradley Prizes awards gala and the Kennedy Center on 6/4. The Bradley Prizes honor "outstanding individuals who have distinguished themselves in promoting democratic capitalism, freedom, and the defense of American institutions"..... Mason Takes CBS Radio Down Digital Path - 5/6 -  Radio isn't dead. So proclaims Dan Mason (right), the DC area radio vet who is now president of CBS Radio. He claims that "$1 billion in ad dollars were telling you that the iPod and satellite radio will lead to the death of radio. That's a myth. Like when you were told the eight-track tapes, cassettes and the CD would sign radio's death warrant. To say that an iPod or satellite radio, with little or no human connection will ever replace radio is absurd." Mason was calling attention to CBS Radio's intention to make use of digital distribution - via the "Player.Play.It" media player - even as the radio firm and its peers struggle to cope with the additional competition from those platforms. More from washingtonpost.com and FMQB.....Czarniak's Prom Memories - 5/6 - Washingtonian posts high school prom pics of some DC superstars, including Channel 4 sportscaster Lindsay Czarniak at Centreville High in 1995..... Indie Rock & More On Digital DC101 - 5/6 - DCRTV plops erockster.com on its digital radio HD2 subchannel. Lots of indie rock, plus Brit pop, dance, and more. We heard Cut Copy, Nirvana, Weezer, White Stripes, Bjork, and Bloc Party. More at dc101.com..... ABC & Woodruff To Produce Green News For Discovery - 5/6 - ABC News' Bob Woodruff will anchor a weekly environment-oriented series for Planet Green, a network being launched by Silver Spring-based Discovery Communications. Scheduled to premiere in July, Woodruff's new series is billed as an "eco-newscast." It will be produced by ABC News, where Woodruff, 46, has been a correspondent since 1996. After serving as a chief anchor at ABC for less than a month, Woodruff in January 2006 suffered a serious brain injury from a roadside blast in Iraq. AP has more..... More: "Takeaway" On WEAA - 5/6 - The NY Times looks at "The Takeaway," a new public radio show from NYC now airing on Baltimore's WEAA (88.9 FM)..... New Gig For Nicole Zaloumis - 5/5 - Nicole Zaloumis, who was once a sports anchor and reporter for DC's NBC4, leaves her reporter gig with Comcast SportsNet West for an anchor/reporter job with Fox Sports Net Northwest..... DC Times Hikes Newsstand Price - 5/5 - The Washington Times, one of the last major daily newspapers pricing newsstand copies at just 25-cents, has doubled its price to 50-cents. Same as the Washington Post. That's still cheaper than USA Today at 75-cents and the New York Times at $1.25. But more expensive than the Washington Express (owned by the Post) and the Washington Examiner, which are free..... Sponsorship Slump Causes NPR Belt-Tightening - 5/5 -  Ellen Weiss, DC-based National Public Radio's vice president of news, asks her employees to limit discressionary travel and overtime to keep budget costs in line. She says that NPR is "seeing a serious slowdown in the sponsorship market underwriting," according to a memo posted at FishbowlDC.....Hillary: Rush Has Crush On Me - 5/5 - "He's always had a crush on me," Hillary Clinton said of Rush Limbaugh, to a crowd in Indiana. The righty radio talk titan has encouraged Republicans to vote for Clinton to divide the Democratic Party. More in the Indianapolis Star..... Jaffe: Singletary Singled Out, US News In Trouble? - 5/5 - At washingtonian.com, Harry Jaffe looks at Michelle Singletary, the Washington Post's chief personal-finance columnist. Plus, Jaffe does a video piece, also at washingtonian.com, about whether news weeklies, like US News, "are on the way out"..... Sunday Morning Meltdowns At 105.9 & 100.3 - 5/5 - DCRTVers tell us that both of DC's oldies outlets were in meltdown mode on Sunday morning. We're told that Citadel's oldies WJZW (105.9 FM) not only went for several hours without an hourly legal ID, which is mandated by the FCC, but it also featured lengthy periods of "dead air" and periods with two commercials being run at the same time. Some of which cut into the "true oldies." And, down the dial at Clear Channel's classic hits WBIG (100.3 FM), we're told that it was repeatedly playing two songs at the same time. Is this any way to run major market radio? Hmmm..... NY Post Retracts O&A Story - 5/5 - From the NY Post: "On April 23 we reported that the fiancée of Gregg 'Opie' Hughes, one half of the Opie and Anthony radio show, was involved in an X-rated sex video with MTV star Bam Margera. We reported that Hughes was taking legal action against a disgruntled ex-employee of the radio duo who had acquired the rights to the video. We have since learned that this information, supplied by Steppin' Out's Chaunce Hayden, was entirely incorrect. There is no sex tape. Further, Hughes' fiancée has never met the MTV star. The Post sincerely regrets the error." O&A, who used to be heard on WJFK-FM, are still heard on XM..... More: O'Meara Closes Eatery - 5/5 - Not only do the DC Post gossip hacks get the news five days after DCRTV first reported it, they also fail to credit Postie Paul Farhi for catching the item on DCRTV and feeding it to them. About WJFK-FM afternooner Mike O'Meara closing his O'Meara's restaurant in Manassas..... Chaffee Joins Washington Life - 5/5 - Kevin Chaffee has left the Washington Times after 17-years covering society and the arts. He joins Washington Life magazine as a senior editor..... Postie's Home Consumed By Flame - 5/5 - FishbowlDC tells us that Washington Post Washington Biz Blog writer Mike Shepard had the misfortune of having his DC home severely damaged by fire on Saturday night. He and his family are safe..... Paul Harvey Loses His Angel - 5/5 - Lynne "Angel" Harvey, known to many as "The First Lady of Radio," died at her Illinois home on 5/3 after a year-long battle with leukemia. ABC News reports her age was 92. Lynne, one of the great broadcasting figures of the past century, developed and edited husband Paul Harvey's best-known feature "The Rest Of The Story," heard locally on WMAL and WCBM. She was also the first producer ever inducted into the Radio Hall Of Fame in 1997. More from Radio And Records..... CBS Moving Lara Logan To DC - 5/5 - CBS may be looking to add a little female star power in the expectation that Katie Couric will relinquish the anchor chair next year. The network is close to a deal to bring Lara Logan, its South African-born chief foreign correspondent, to Washington. So reports Howie Kurtz in the DC Post..... Support DCRTV's Advertisers - 5/5 - Thanks to area radio legends Ken Merson, mpvt123.com, and Chris Core, chriscoretalks.com, for renewing their ads on DCRTV. Don't forget, DCRTV is the perfect place for local radio and TV veterans to reach the movers and shakers in the local media biz. Thinking of a job change, expanding your current business, or maybe even launching a career as a talk or music show host? Advertise on DCRTV. Click here for the details about an affordable ad that'll reach many thousands..... DC's AM Band: Down, But Not Quite Out - 5/4 - In Sunday's DC Post, Marc Fisher takes a listen to the incresingly low-rated AM band in the DC area and finds lots of Spanish, some religion, and lots of satellite-delivered talk. And a shrinking handful of local voices, a la WFAX, WPGC-AM, WOL, and WNAV. "A comeback for AM is a long shot, but it is only possible with programs that cannot be heard anywhere else, not even on the web, with the daily recitation of the police blotter, the triumphs of local high school athletes and the voices of the places where we live," writes Fisher..... Too Much Bling At BET? - 5/4 - Has film director Reggie Hudlin been able to change things at once DC-based Black Entertainment Television, where he's president of entertainment? "His critics blame him for serving up a steady diet of the same old same old: poisonous, stereotypical images of blacks, specifically rap videos featuring scantily clad vixens and blinged-out gangstas," says the DC Post..... More: Plagiarism At KidsPost - 5/4 - Washington Post ombudsman Deborah Howell: "Plagiarism is a serious crime in journalism; it can be embarrassing and career-ending. But what if the plagiarists are children who won the KidsPost poetry contest, children who said the work was their own?"..... No 1st For Fox's Obama Show - 5/4 - Chris Wallace's interview with Barack Obama last Sunday couldn't even generate a first place finish for Fox's "Fox News Sunday." A second place DC political talker finish in the DC market, behind usual first-placer "Meet The Press" with Tim Russert on NBC. Obama's interview with Wallace got aired four times - once on the Fox broadcast network and three times on the sister Fox News Channel for about 4 million viewers in total. Heck, even CBS's Katie Couric gets more pairs of eyeballs..... More Red Ink On Post's Pages - 5/3 - More bad news for the Washington Post. Its parent company reported a 39 percent decline in first-quarter profit. Operating income at the Post's newspaper division plunged 92 percent, with revenue down 6 percent, and print ad revenue off 11 percent. Ad revenue at the Post's website was up 8 percent for the quarter, but that was a slowdown from the double-digit increases posted last year. More in the Post..... O'Meara & CBS Sign On The Line - 5/2 - DCRTV hears that CBS Radio has signed a new contract with WJFK-FM afternoon man Mike O'Meara. A top CBS DCer tells us: "We did sign an agreement and thrilled to do it.... WJFK is committed to Mike and Mike to WJFK for a good run." Terms of the deal were not released..... Lehrer Out Of Hospital - 5/2 - PBS's "NewsHour" host Jim Lehrer has checked out of Massachusetts General Hospital following heart surgery last week. Lehrer will be staying in Boston, continuing his recuperation for a few weeks, before heading back to DC..... 2nd Place For Chris Matthews - 5/2 - MSNBC DCer Chris Matthews takes 2nd place in the UK Telegraph rag's kind of dopey list of the "most influential US political pundits," beating out Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. As expected, Matthews stroked his over-inflated ego with the news during his Friday "Hardball" show..... Radio One Stock Continues To Slide - 5/2 - Even with the Dow Jones average closing above 13,000 yesterday, for the first time since early January, the stock price of Lanham urban radio giant Radio One slid to 95-cents, its lowest price since the company went private in 1999. It closed at $7.30 a year ago - before it plunged 87 percent. If the price doesn't climb back above $1 within a month, the stock could be de-listed..... NC8 To HD, Politico TV On Track - 5/2 - A tipster tells DCRTV: NewsChannel 8 is getting a new state-of-the-art news set and studio and will go high-def by late summer (presumably with sister WJLA). They are moving the "studio" out of its current space to the second floor of the Rosslyn facility to make more room for Politico TV. This should help squash some rumors about the possible demise or scaling back of the political rag/website's TV efforts. Allbritton's "WJLA/ NC8/Politico is by no means getting smaller. If anything, they are expanding"..... Sandy Johnson & AP Part Company - 5/2 - Sandy Johnson is gone from her DC bureau chief gig at Associated Press. She was pushed, we hear. Didn't get along with the AP suits in NYC, apparently. Ron Fournier will be acting DC bureau chief until her replacement is found..... Copycat Kids At KidsPost - 5/2 - Future Janet Cooks or Jayson Blairs? Among the "Corrections" in today's Washington Post: One of the poems that KidsPost published April 29 as part of its poetry contest was not written by the child who submitted it. The poem that appeared as "Horrible, Just Horrible" was actually written by Shel Silverstein and is titled "One Out Of Sixteen." The child who sent in the poem originally told KidsPost that it was her work. Another poem on the page, titled "Eraser," was inspired by, but not credited to, Louis Phillips, who wrote "The Eraser Poem"..... Sun Launches HoCo News Site - 5/2 - The Baltimore Sun Media Group, which publishes the Sun and baltimoresun.com, today launches ExploreHoward.com, a website focused solely on news from Howard County. The Columbia Flier and the Howard County Times are teaming up to create the site, which includes articles and photos from these publications, in addition to blogs written by staff editors and reporters. ExploreHoward.com will also feature live feeds from other publications' websites, including those of the Sun, the Washington Post, and the Baltimore Examiner. News and features from monthly publications The View From Ellicott City and The View From Western Howard County also will appear on the site..... Jack's Back On 107.3 - 5/2 - It's Friday morning - and Jack Diamond is back on his Mix 107.3 morning radio show. Apparently working without a Citadel contract, or some new deal got worked out at the last minute. Someone blinked. More as we hear it. More in DCRTV's 5/1 and 4/30 newsblurbs..... Foreclosure Notices Fill Post's Classified Ad Pages - 5/2 - The mortgage crisis is good news for local newspapers, with foreclosure legal notices filling up the classified ads section. So reports the DC City Paper. "There are definitely more than we've ever seen," says Ginger Stanley, executive director of the Virginia Press Association. "I've been in the business 30 years." In a recent edition, the Washington Post's classifieds section totaled 22 pages, approximately 14 of which were devoted to what are technically known as "trustee's sales"..... Hockey TV Ratings Up - 5/2 - In the DC Times, Tim Lemke tells us that TV ratings for professional hockey are up. Thanks, in part, to the Washington Capitals' playoff games..... SatRad Receivers Need More Stuff - 5/2 - Two powerful members of the House Of Representatives have told Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin that satellite radio receivers must not exclude HD Radio, iPods, internet connectivity, or other technology if the FCC permits XM and Sirius to merge. More from Radio And Records..... Honors For Nat Geo - 5/2 - DC's National Geographic picks up a batch of National Magazine Awards. In the DC Post..... Examiner Gets Bland - 5/2 - Jacque Bland, currently the managing editor of the State Journal in Charleston WV, will be joining the Washington Examiner as features editor..... Allbritton Doesn't Pull Plug On Politico TV - 5/2 - DCRTV hears that Politico TV is still "on," despite what FTVLive told us yesterday (see newsblurb below). It was never supposed to be a "channel" - like a fulltime cable channel. Instead, it is supposed to be a broadband channel, a la bunch of video clips on a website. So far, we're told, they have hired three people for the Politico TV project - none are being fired. In fact, they are looking for one more. We do hear that Don Ennis, the new producer for Politico's Sunday TV news show, "Capital Sunday," is going to be replaced. And there's been a lot of internal in-fighting about the project, including lots of sleepless nights about a new studio set and other alleged meddling by Allbritton sister WJLA-TV. But the new Politico TV show and the web video project are still going forward..... Allbritton Pulls Plug On Politico TV - 5/1 - FTVLive tells us that the plug has been pulled on Politico TV. The TV channel was supposed to be a spin off of the website politico.com. The Politico was conceived as a political news-gathering operation, recruiting its reporting talent from traditional newspaper, web, and television backgrounds to join the 24-hour newscycle of the internet. Launched by Allbritton Communications, which also owns Channel 7/WJLA and NewsChannel 8, the website went hot in January 2007. The TV channel, Politico TV, was supposed to follow. According to FTVLive, a number of TV people were hired and the TV side of the Politico was said to be moving along. Now, word comes that Politico TV is on "hiatus" - which is the code word for "it ain't happening," adds FTVLive..... Positive Spin For Comcast - 5/1 - Area media giant Comcast reported mostly improved first-quarter earnings Thursday, although it experienced a net loss of 57,000 video subscribers. Comcast reported a 10 percent rise in income, while revenue climbed 14 percent. Comcast said average revenue per basic subscriber hit $107 per month in the quarter, up from $96 one year earlier, and $87 two years ago, indicating the impact of customers buying multiple services - TV, internet, phone. More from Broadcasting And Cable..... DC Madam Commits Suicide - 5/1 - Police say "DC Madam" Deborah Jeane Palfrey, 52, has killed herself in Florida. Police were called to the Tampa home of Palfrey's mother on Thursday to investigate the alleged suicide. She was found hanged in a backyard shed. Palfrey was arrested for allegedly running an upscale call girl ring in the nation's capital, one that serviced a number of media and political men. In mid-April, she was convicted of money laundering, using the mail for illegal purposes, and racketeering, but she had not yet been sentenced. More from the DC Post. One of Palfrey's last interviews was with DC's Carol Joynt at her "Q&A Cafe." Via YouTube..... 30 Cut At DC Times - 5/1 - More on those budget/employee cuts at the Washington Times. As the right-leaning rag fights the slumping economy, the continuing presence of the Washington Post, plus two local freebie tabs - the Post's Express and the Washington Examiner. It looks like some 30 Times staffers have been given pink slips. Plus, there are more Times changes than we reported in our 4/29 newsblurb. Like: The paper's Metro and Business sections will become part of the a new main "Plugged In" section. The washingtontimes.com website redesign takes effect in mid-May..... Payne To Program KYS - 5/1 - Radio One names Al Payne as program director of urban contemporary WKYS (93.9 FM), as well as vice president of the nationally-syndicated Russ Parr morning show, which originates at WKYS. Payne comes from Radio One's Detroit radio cluster, where he'd been operations manager. He replaces Steve Hegwood, who became operations manager of Radio One's Atlanta radio cluster last November..... Rush Slams "Oddball" Chris Matthews - 5/1 - On his WMAL/WCBM show today, Rush Limbaugh (left) dissed DCer Chris Matthews' "Oddball" show, claiming that the host and a guest on yesterday's MSNBC "Hardball" show downplayed Limbaugh's "Operation Chaos" campaign as being ineffective, merely an ego boost for the righty talk radio titan. Limbaugh wants Republicans to vote for the weaker candidate in Democratic primaries. Up until now, that had been Hillary Clinton.....MASN Baseball Ads "Pleasant Surprise" - 5/1 - From natspride.com: MASN's terrific stable of clever, top-quality "Fantasy Camp" commercials this season has been a pleasant surprise. There's the one where Bob Carpenter is tutoring an eager young broadcaster who over-sells a Ryan Zimmerman home run. "It's the bottom of the first inning - save the pipes," he says. "Remember people, there's no DL for announcers"..... 7's Kathy Fowler Shares Painful Memories To Prevent Teenage Car Accidents - 5/1 - Channel 7/WJLA medical reporter Kathy Fowler shares the on-going pain of a tragic car accident she was in 20 years ago, as a teenager. She visits area high schools "in hopes of opening at least one pair of teenage eyes to the fragility of life and the consequences of decisions." There's more in Bethesda Magazine..... Thanks - 5/1 - Thank you for making April DCRTV's highest traffic month in the past year..... Diamond "Shopping Himself" To Other Stations - 5/1 -  Regarding DCRTV's rumblings of yesterday. A source tells us that Mix 107.3 morning man Jack Diamond "has been shopping himself around for about the last six months to various DC radio clusters. His contract is up very soon and he does not have a non-compete clause written into it." DCRTV is hearing rumors that the high-salaried Diamond may be the next one to walk the Citadel budget-cutting plank. "Jack Diamond has the day off, but he'll be back tomorrow," is what they're saying on Mix 107.3 this morning. The word is that his contact expired yesterday, and he was advised by his reps not to return until he has a new deal. Which means he may not be back. The pic at right is from happier times at WRQX, when Diamond celebrated his 17th anniversary with the hot adult contemporary station last fall.....O'Meara Closes Restaurant - 5/1 - DCRTV hears that WJFK-FM afternoon man Mike O'Meara's Manassas eatery is now closed. O'Meara's Irish Pub had been open only on weekends since mid-March. The slumping economy, Virginia's stringent booze regulations, and the demands of launching his new JFK show, since the recent retirement of partner Don Geronimo, have all contributed to the demise of the restaurant, we're told. We also hear that O'Meara would like to get back into the restaurant business someday - if the economy improves and he has the time..... TW To Spin-Off Cable, AOL Next - 5/1 - Media giant Time Warner will spin-off its cable unit, it said during its quarterly earnings call yesterday, formalizing a decision that has been months in the making. Now the future of Dulles-based AOL has moved squarely to the spin-off fore. More in the DC Post..... Huffington Feuds With Russert - 5/1 - Arianna Huffington claims that she was banished from NBC News shows because her new book, "Right Is Wrong," blasted DC-based "Meet The Press" anchor Tim Russert. Huffington is the force behind the Huffington Post, a political website where she had started a blog called "Russert Watch." More in the NY Post. Oh, Russert makes a Time list of the top 100 "artists and entertainers".... Ratings: Junks Stalk Elliot - 5/1 - In Thursday's DC Post, Paul Farhi focuses on the continued rise of WJFK-FM's morning Junkies in his piece on Wednesday's release of the winter radio ratings. Writes Farhi about the 12th place Junks: Elliot Segal's "Elliot In The Morning" still holds a big advantage overall, primarily as a result of his strength among female listeners. Segal's program finished tied for sixth overall during the most recent quarter. In part, that's because Elliot is heard on DC101, a rock station that attracts both men and women in roughly equal measures throughout the day. The Junkies, on the other hand, are on WJFK, an all-talk station that barely bothers trying to win over women..... Wolf Blitzer Speaks - 5/1 - ESPN chats with DC-based CNNer Wolf Blitzer..... Lehrer Recovers - 5/1 - An update on "NewsHour" host Jim Lehrer, who recently underwent successful heart surgery, at pbs.org. Oh, DCRTV recently spied a car being driven through Oakton with VA plates "PBS ORG." Hmmm..... TOP Tops Winter Radio Heap - 4/30 -  Those quarterly winter radio ratings are out. DC. Age 12+ demo. Full-day: 1) WTOP, 2) WHUR, 3) WMMJ and WPGC-FM, 5) WKYS, 6) WASH, 7) WIHT, 8) WLZL, 9) WMZQ, 10) WPRS and WRQX and WMAL, 13) WBIG, 14) WJZW and WWDC, 16) WJFK-FM, 17) WTGB, 18) WTEM, 19) WAVA, 20) WFRE, 21) WFLS and WWXX and WWWT, 24) WWGB and WYCB and WBQB. Morning drive: 1) WTOP, 2) WHUR, 3) WMMJ, 4) WKYS, 5) WPGC-FM, 6) WWDC and WIHT, 8) WASH, 9) WMAL, 10) WLZL, 11) WRQX, 12) WJFK-FM [Junkies 1st in men age 18-49] and WMZQ, 14) WPRS, 15) WBIG, 16) WJZW, 17) WWWT, 18) WTGB, 19) WAVA and WTEM, 21) WWXX, 22) WFRE, 23) WYCB and WFLS and WBQB. Afternoon drive: 1) WTOP, 2) WHUR, 3) WLZL, 4) WPGC-FM, 5) WMMJ, 6) WKYS, 7) WMZQ and WIHT and WASH, 10) WRQX, 11) WJFK-FM [D&M 4th in men age 18-49], 12) WMAL, 13) WBIG, 14) WJZW, 15) WPRS, 16) WWDC, 17) WTEM, 18) WTGB, 19) WWXX and WFRE, 21) WAVA and WFLS and WBQB, 24) WWGB and WWWT and WINC-FM. There are more numbers at radioandrecords.com. In Baltimore, full-day same demo: 1) WERQ, 2) WPOC, 3) WWIN-FM, 4) WLIF, 5) WBAL, 6) WWMX, 7) WIYY, 8) WSMJ, 9) WCBM, 10) WZBA, 11) WCAO and WQSR, 13) WHFS, 14) WRBS and WHUR. More at radioandrecords.com.....Comcast Adds mun2 - 4/30 - Featuring bilingual programming for Latino youth in the USA, mun2 joins Comcast's DC area digital cable lineup on channel 636. Offering Latin and mainstream entertainment, including a heavy dose of contemporary music, mun2 "celebrates the lifestyles of Latino youth - from award-winning original programs to exclusive interviews, performances, and the latest music videos." As part of the agreement between mun2 owner NBC Universal and Comcast, both mun2 and NBC's Telemundo programming will also be available on Comcast's On Demand service. More about mun2 at holamun2.com...... Citadel's Next DC Cut: Jack Diamond? - 4/30 -   DCRTV hears rumblings that something big could be coming down the pike at Citadel's hot adult contemporary Mix 107.3, WRQX. Is morning man Jack Diamond (right) soon to be on the outs? We hear that longtime DC radio vet Diamond's contract is up soon, maybe today, and station owner Citadel wants the high-priced talent gone. Citadel recently made a batch of big budget cuts at its smooth jazz, now oldies WJZW and news talk WMAL. If Diamond is a gonner, might RQX put afternoon man Rob Carson in mornings? Stay tuned.....45 Launches HD Newscasts - 4/30 - A DCRTVer tells us that Baltimore's Fox affiliate, Channel 45/WBFF, debuts its high-def newscasts today. DCRTV told you a while back that station owner Sinclair was planning to start HD local news broadcasts on Fox45 this spring. That would make WBFF the second TVer in the DC-Baltimore area to air news in HD. Joining DC's Channel 9/WUSA. DC's Channel 5/WTTG is expected to launch HD news in May..... Sorensen To Do Q&A - 4/30 - Ted Sorensen, former chief speechwriter and counsel to JFK, and the last of the close Kennedy White House aides who is still alive, will appear at the "Q&A Cafe" with Carol Joynt on 6/24. He has written a much anticipated memoir, "Counselor: A Life At The Edge Of History," which will be out soon. More at nathansgeorgetown.com..... Randi Rhodes Returns To XM - 4/30 - DCRTV tipped you off a few days ago. And now XM announces that lefty talker Randi Rhodes will return to the DC-based satellite broadcaster's lineup on 5/5. The new "Randi Rhodes Show," which is syndicated by Nova M Radio, will air weekdays from 3 PM to 6 PM on XM's liberal political talk channel, Air America (XM-167). Rhodes got canned from her Air America radio network gig (unrelated to XM's Air America channel) a few weeks ago after she made rude comments about Hillary Clinton and other Democrats at a public appearance in San Francisco..... Big Bucks For XM Head - 4/30 - The president and chief executive of DC's XM Satellite Radio received compensation valued at $4.85 million in 2007, according to a regulatory filing. AP has more..... More For Core At Bonneville? - 4/30 - Yesterday, DCRTV told you that DC radio talk veteran and former WMALer Chris Core was joining all-newser WTOP to do one-minute commentaries. Today, the DC Post quotes WTOP programmer Jim Farley as saying Core could host a talk show on WTOP's Bonneville sister talker 3WT. Actually, Farley told DCRTV that, too, yesterday, but we thought the comment was off-the-record and didn't report it. "Stay tuned," was how Farley reacted after we suggested that Core could host a live and local afternoon drive show on 3WT, replacing the syndicated talk now airing. Farley is the de facto programmer for 3WT, with its official PD, Greg Tantum, leaving for California. Also, the Post adds that Core replaces DC TV news veteran Mike Buchanan, who had been airing commentaries on WTOP. Buchanan got bounced in a recent budget cut..... More Rumblings Of A Senate Run For Matthews - 4/30 -  The possibility of the host of MSNBC's "Hardball" political show host Chris Matthews (left), running against Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, a Republican, for Specter's senate seat in Pennsylvania is intensifying. Although Matthews said to Bill Maher of HBO that he's "not getting involved in it" when asked about whether he would seek the position in 2010, it is odd to employ his TV program in a way that would make him a favorable candidate to run for senator of Pennsylvania as a Democrat. The NY Sun has more. Also, Jossip reports: One MSNBC exec wants Matthews gone, giving more time to David Gregory.....David Gregory A "Jerk" - 4/30 - Gawker tells us that DC-based David Gregory, who replaced Tucker Carlson in MSNBC's 6 PM slot, is pretty much a "jerk"..... Website Upgrade For Nat'l Geo - 4/30 - The DC-based National Geographic Channel unveils a redesigned website that features more than 800 hours of video, 2,000 photos from its most popular shows, and a TV scheduling tool. Multichannel News has more..... Congress To Call For FCC Head's Head - 4/30 - As Congress continues to investigate alleged mismanagement at the Federal Communications Commission, Chairman Kevin Martin might be called to defend himself in a hearing regarding his leadership. More from FMQB..... Marriage For Jim Angle - 4/30 - Jim Angle, Fox News's chief Washington correspondent, is finally taking the plunge. Angle is engaged to Patrice Pisinski, a former senior adviser at the Department Of Energy. More from the DC Examiner..... Katie Suffers Dip After Replacement Speculation - 4/30 - The "CBS Evening News" audience has taken a noticeable dip ever since the latest round of speculation over DC media pixie Katie Couric's job. The broadcast averaged 5.34 million viewers last week, breaking a record low for CBS News' flagship show that had been set the week before. More from AP..... Cuts At DC Times - 4/30 - FishbowlDC tells us that Kevin Chaffee, Cathy Donohoe, Seth McLaughlin, Jim Brantley, Shelley Widhalm, and Bert Goulait are out in a round of budget cuts at the Washington Times. Also, Chris Dolan has been named deputy assistant managing editor for politics..... Budget Woes At "NewsHour" - 4/30 - Also from FishbowlDC: Money problems over at the Channel 26/WETA production of PBS news show "NewsHour" with Jim Lehrer. Reportedly, they've frozen salaries and cut retirement contributions. Apparently, the slumping economy has reduced donations to public TV..... CBS & NBC Want Weather Channel - 4/30 - CBS and NBC Universal plan to bid between $3.5 billion and $4.0 billion for The Weather Channel, privately held by Norfolk-based Landmark Communications..... 85 For Roll Call Founder - 4/30 - Roll Call founder Sid Yudain celebrated his 85th birthday last Saturday with a performance by satirist Mark Russell at Yudain's Virginia home..... Verizon & Comcast Improve Customer Service - 4/30 - With an increasing number of websites and blogs filling with complaints about local cable TV and phone providers, companies like Verizon and Comcast are bolstering their customer service staffs and even launching their own live online chats. More in the DC Post..... Lehrer On The Mend - 4/29 - TVNewser tells us that PBS's Jim Lehrer is on the mend after undergoing heart surgery last week. Colleague Judy Woodruff visited Lehrer in the hospital and says he is doing well and is in good spirits..... 13's Weather Team To Entertain Kids At Oriole Park - 4/29 - Channel 13/WJZ's weather team of Bob Turk, Bernadette Woods, and Tim Williams will hold a Field Trip Day workshop for area school kids on 5/1 at Oriole Park. Presented by WJZ and MASN, it's an educational opportunity for students in grades 3 to 8 to take part in a fun and interactive program about Maryland weather. Orioles head groundskeeper Nicole Sherry will discuss how weather patterns affect the playing field at Camden Yards, as well as the impact on the game itself. All this before the Orioles versus the Tampa Bay Rays at 12:30 PM..... Chris Core To Do WTOP Commentary - 4/29 -  DC talk radio veteran Chris Core (right) joins all-news WTOP, where he will do a daily commentary, "Core Values," which will air weekdays in afternoon drive and will also be available on the station's website. Core, who spent 30-ish years at talker WMAL until he was budget-cut on 2/29, has been doing work for DC-based XM Satellite Radio's POTUS '08 presidential election channel for the past few weeks. WTOP programming head Jim Farley says: "In an important election year like this one, Chris strengthens our lineup of commentators and analysts from both sides of the political spectrum. It's a perfect counterpart to our straight news reporting." Core's first day with WTOP is 5/1.....Farhi: Mike Lacks Don's "Edge" - 4/29 - In his Tuesday "Station Break" Q&A at washingtonpost.com, Paul Farhi gives us his take on the new Mike O'Meara show on WJFK-FM: "Yes, it's kinder/gentler, but goshdarn, I miss that old bile-spewer Geronimo. The show had more, um, spunk (cut to clip of Lou Grant saying, 'I hate spunk!') with Don in the chair. I'll repeat what I said last time: Give Mike O. some time to ease into the lead; he's a really fine broadcaster and superb comic talent. But I really do miss the 'edge' that Don had"..... CBS Radio Slumps - 4/29 -  CBS Radio reports that revenue fell 9 percent, as ad sales remained weak and the unit was affected by the sale of nearly 40 stations in 10 markets. At radio stations the company has owned at least a year, revenue slipped 6 percent. However, as a whole, CBS's quarterly earnings rose 14 percent, helped by greater profits on the TV side. More from MarketWatch. In the DC-Baltimore area, CBS owns about a dozen radio stations, including WPGC, WJFK, WTGB, WLZL, WLIF, WQSR, WHFS, and WWMX. It also owns TVer Channel 13/WJZ.....Larry King Cancels "Q&A" Appearance - 4/29 - DCRTV hears that CNN talk legend Larry King has pulled out of his "Q&A Cafe" Wednesday noon interview with Carol Joynt. He did not promise to reschedule..... Post Buyout List Lengthens - 4/29 - FishbowlDC tells us that Anne Groer is the latest to confirm that she's taking the Washington Post's latest employee cost-cutting buyout. Others who are reportedly taking the buyout or are already gone include: Walter Nicholls, Peter Carlson, Bill O'Brian, Tom Ricks, KC Summers, Desson Thompson, Eve Zibart, Richard Harrington, Tamara Jones, Susan Schmidt, Tim Page, and Maralee Schwartz..... XM & Sirius Delay Stockholder Meetings - 4/29 - DC's XM Satellite Radio has postponed its 2008 annual meeting of
stockholders. The company will announce a new date for the meeting when it
has further information relating to the timing of its pending merger with
NYC's Sirius Satellite Radio, which has also postponed its shareholder meeting. The 2008 annual meeting of XM stockholders had been
scheduled for 5/23. The Department Of Justice gave its blessing to the merger proposal in March, but the deal still awaits approval from the Federal Communications Commission. The DC Post has more.....4 Considered Selling Lot & Building - 4/29 - From TVNewser: "This weekend we also learned NBCU was recently considering selling their Nebraska Avenue lot and building in Washington DC which houses the NBC News bureau, MSNBC-DC, and WRC. But no deal, everyone stays put." DCRTV recently reported that WRC sold its broadcast tower, which is also on the Nebraska Avenue property. NBC recently shuttered its news bureau on Capitol Hill, and moved in with co-owned WRC, which is in upper northwest..... DC Times To Get Makeover - 4/29 - The Washington Times announces a bunch of upgrades. Including a widening of the distribution area for its "two-star" later edition. And a redesigned website that will feature a mobile news platform, video programming, news feeds, and a "news cube" that will allow readers to dig deeper into a story. Also coming: an electronic edition on the web and a redesign of the print product. The Times' subscription level continues to hover in the 100,000 range, well below the Washington Post's 670,000 daily level..... Older news goes to DCRTV's News Archive. Copyright Dave Hughes/DCRTV.....  |
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