Current Mailbag - Mailbag Archive Index - DCRTV Front Page - Support DCRTV DCRTV Mailbag - June 10 to June 16, 2008 Latest messages listed first..... \/ June 16 Messages \/ If there are people who complained there was too much coverage of Tim Russert following his death, can you imagine what it will be like when Oprah goes? (6/16/08) While we're on the subject of great aftra negotiators, let's not forget Don Gaynor. I remember after one session with the Schering Plough management from Memphis at V-103, the shop sat down and talked things over and agreed it was a pretty good deal. We were all set to call in management again to accept when he asked if anyone had cards. We asked why the cards he said we had to pass some time so we didn't seem too eager! We never found any cards but waited and they eventually came back with an even better offer! What a master! (6/16/08) To the poster complaining about the Sunday morning sportscasts not mentioning the Nationals game: since the Nats played a night game in Seattle, it didn’t end until around 1am Eastern Time. The sportscasts for the weekend morning newscasts are recorded after the 11pm newscast the previous evening. The stations are too cheap to either have a live sportscaster on the morning shows or to pay someone to stick around until the late games are over before recording their report. I know Channel 4 has been guilty of recording two different versions of the same sportscast: one saying the Nationals won, one saying they lost, with neither giving late highlights nor even a final score. The following morning, they’ll play whichever version is appropriate depending on the outcome of the game. Brian in Fairfax (6/16/08) Psst.... Rick... you forgot the "P" on the front of your first name! Why don't you have Mommy teach you to be a gentleman? - ER (6/16/08) What did Steve Rudin do? (So what is the story with weather forecaster Steve Rudin? For years he was on channel 9 as an up-and-coming talent. Then he was out-of-here and on his way to KNBC (channel 4) in Los Angeles. Now he is doing extended weekend shift-work on WTOP -- not that there is anything wrong with that. What happened in between?) He was working the housing bubble. www.washingtonpost.com from 2005... "'The numbers are much more difficult to work now,' said Steve Rudin, a former local television weatherman who left the forecasting business a few years ago to become a real estate investor and developer. 'It's a much more dangerous game than it was even two years ago. Prices are so high that it's harder to make a profit.' Still, Rudin said, he plans to continue investing." (6/16/08) Rush, your comments about Timmy Russert were totally uncalled for! What's the matter you worm, was Russert better than you? yes he was, and did you want to sit in his chair on "Meet The Press"? You probably did at one time. How dare you attack the character and skill of a man who asked direct and sincere questions during interviews, that's what made him so unique! How dare you attack a man who died doing the work of 10 blow hards like yourself and got results! That's why you'll never get past that pathetic talk show you have. Broadcasting was invented to inform the common folk on what's going on in this country and the world and no one had done it better than Tim Russert, a man who protected the little guy in broadcasting from the pompous bastards like yourself who forgot were they came from. Tell you what, you piece of snake fish feces, why don't you and Bill O'Really both climb into a beer barrel and take a plunge down Niagara Falls. Rick (6/16/08) It's funny how you ranted about to much Russert coverage... and I now count 10 or so posts you have put out there... now that's just great blogging!! (6/16/08) Dave's response: Go over to TVNewser and count the Russert news posts since Friday. Hundreds. I just report the news items as I see 'em..... Re: all the Russert coverage. What on earth will happen when 92-year old Walter Cronkite passes away? On Friday's CBS Evening News, 14 of its 22-minute newshole was dedicated to Russert. They'll probably just devote the whole show to Old Ironpants. CBS doesn't have a cable news channel, but I predict Moonves will clear some time on CBS's weakest primetime slot for a tribute. Maybe after the primetime edition of "The Price is Right." - Paul (6/16/08) Dave's response: Honestly, when Cronkite goes, I don't think he'll get the coverage that Russert's getting because Walter's been off the tube for three decades. If you're under 30, you don't know who he is..... How bad is that Redskin's Radio show on Comcast!! Larry Michael has a face for radio. And who the hell is Rebecca Mejia, is she an intern that they allow on the set? She is afraid of the mic and mummbles and stutters the whole time. Today they bashed Bram Weinstein and basically called him a racist saying he didn't like black women. What is that about? (6/16/08) No disrespect to the Russert family or the memory of an obviously fine man, but I am sick of the endless, gratutious coverage. President Kennedy's assassination got three days' coverage. Since Russert's death is being covered with all the solemnity and hand-wringing of a presidential or papal death (or so it seems), I follow up with these sarcastic questions, and perhaps these can be future segments on Nightly, Today and on MSNBC: "The death of Tim Russert - what effect will it have on the Middle East peace process?" "Will oil prices rise and fall?" And for the day-trading mentality on CNBC, this segment: "The tragic death of Tim Russert -- is it a good time to buy? After the break we'll ask some analysts about their picks." ENOUGH. Bury the man, say a prayer for him and his family (I did yesterday) and move on. Maybe GE can slip in a few ads during the "private/televised" service? The excessive coverage is well-intended, but in the end has turned out to be disrespectful. (6/16/08) Dave's response: You're watching the death of TV journalism and the rise of "headline hype" TV with sensationalist carnival barkers..... Now that the Sirius buyout of XM looks certain, How long will it take for Mel to start blowing out programming and sales staff at 1500 Eckington? (6/16/08) Dave's response: Once the deal is officially approved - about 10 minutes..... There have been a lot of interesting postings about HD on FM. Like many who own these new HD radios, I agree, recception is poor, and marketing is just as dismal. As I understand, there is a good bit of interest in improving reception, by increasing the signal by 10db. That's a sizeable improvement, one that will need some field testing. It's pretty bad when a new technology comes along and those selling the products know little about it, even worse when you try to demonstrate an HD radio and don't get a signal lock. Just wait and see what happens when HDTV kicks off early in 2009, that will be real interesting for a lot of consumers. One has to wonder where all the unused analog transmitters will end up, along with millions of lead filled CRT analog TV's that people will eventually dispose of. Isn't technology great! Tom Conroy (6/16/08) (1) When Rush is right, he is right. The whole Tim Russert thing is just sadly becoming a MADTV parody. Whatever nice touches there were (and there were more than a few) have long since been submerged in a sea of maudlin hypocrisy. I don't think he would have wanted this. AND NOW A BLOODY "PRIVATE" MEMORIAL SERVICE BROADCAST LIVE ON MSNBC??? Babylon, indeed. (2) However, on the other hand, if Lew "I'm so batshit crazy it hurts" Rockwell (who, if the rumors are right, once dated Cindy Sheehan, how absolutely hand-washing and mouthwash gargling creepy is that image to sear into your brain ? ) slimes you in death, you had to have been doing something right. Genghis Cohen, feasting on sacred cow all the Goddamned day long….. (6/16/08) ("Snip") In the interview they asked (Lisa Miller) what she did in her spare time. She mentioned listening to the radio BUT she said that she WILL NOT listen... to WRNR-AM because (WRNR) goes against my faith !!". ("snip") What station was Miller interviewed by? I would like to see the interview. Al McGilvray, News Director, TalkRadio WRNR AM 740 (6/16/08) Hi Dave - I know your team has been covering this so I wanted to get you this info about Tim Russert. NBC's tribute to Russert will be available through (Comcast's) On Demand service this week – for anyone who missed it on Sunday or wants to see it again. To find the June 16 Meet the Press segment, go to the News & World category, select the NBC folder then select News. The segment will come down on Saturday. Here’s more on the tribute: www.washingtonpost.com (6/16/08) Re: "did I just buy Betamax or DIVX?" -- More like AM Stereo. Without a government mandate saying that everyone must use the Hybrid Digital format, it's a marketplace decision. And it appears the marketplace doesn't care. So, because of the investments, digital radio will languish for a while and finally slide off into oblivion. Yes, that's merely an observer's opinion. But every time I'm browsing a retail store's electronics section, I look to see what HD radios they have. Usually, the answer is "none". And it's not because they've sold out. Maybe if Hybrid Digital actually _worked_ it would be a different matter, but your experiences with your new HD radio are right in line with everyone else's. (6/16/08) Regarding my inquiry about the HD radio I bought, did I just buy Betamax or DIVX? Even though it doesn't seem to be taking off, I think radio stations have made too much of an investment to just let it go. There are enough stations broadcasting in HD. Am I wrong? - Steve in Burtonsville (6/16/08) Sorry, but no matter how over the top the Russert tributes might be, they are nothing compared to the 8 minutes of Fathers Day-related hell ABC put viewers through during halftime of the fifth game of the NBA Finals on Sunday night. For some reason they decided that what America really needed was to watch a very staged, very creepy sit-down conversation between always-annoying basketball color man Bill Walton and his equally annoying son, who comes off the bench for the Lakers. BW: "I just want you to know that I'm the proudest dad on earth and I love you very much." Pardon my French, but who gives a shit? Dave in Sterling (6/16/08) FYI, CN8’s “Out of Bounds” host Gregg Murphy received his fourth Emmy this past Saturday at the National Capital Chesapeake Bay Emmy Awards in Washington, D.C. In the program host/moderator category, Murphy beat out Florence Henderson at Retirement Living TV, Jeffrey Barnd at WBFF and Robert Heck at Maryland Public Television – 18 entries in total were submitted for this category. (6/16/08) Rush Limbaugh is a voice of reason on the excessive Russert coverage?? Look up at the sky... there be pigs flying. Everett W. (6/16/08) The Baltimore network switch of 1981..actually it was CBS that dumped WMAR mainly due to the Baltimore Orioles broadcasts that WMAR aired back then. I remember reading in TV Guide at the time at how CBS was very upset with WMAR at doing such a thing, interesting the same article said that because of WMAR's constant pre-empting of CBS for the Orioles, at the time DC's then-WDVM channel 9 had more viewers in Baltimore than WBFF did, and WMAR !! I wonder how exactly true that is? And speaking of TV..and radio, here is mystery I can't quite figure out, Last night my husband and I were flipping through the channels and stumbled upon an interview with the Shenandoah Valley's Lisa Miller. She is the woman who now claims she is a "former lesbian" ( hey that is whay she said on TV ) and is in the process of getting custody of the daughter she had with her female partner when both were in a civil union in Vermont a few years back. In the interview they asked her what she did in her spare time. She mentioned listening to the radio BUT she said that she WILL NOT listen to any radio station that is owned by Prettyman Broadcasting ( WLTF, WICL and WEPM ) and WRNR-AM ( Martinsburg , WV ) because as Lisa puts it "....listening to those radio stations goes against my faith !!". Exactly what did those stations do to her? I don't get it !!. (6/16/08) Shed no teams for Tim Russert... He was a perfumed prince of Babylon, careless of the truth and servile to power. It's not hard to see why the likes of Bush and Cheney praised this newsman in death. Two stories this morning say exactly that: www.lewrockwell.com... wsws.org... (6/16/08) Big news! Big O and Dukes are waiting for a tidal wave of new listeners nationwide who'll be "tuning in" to their JFK show via the new iPhone and its streaming deal with CBS Radio. Oh, on today's show, one of the two (I always get them mixed up - which is the one who sounds like Anthony Cumia?) admitted to listening to Mix 107.3. (6/16/08) "But if CBS were to bid on 4, it could face a co-ownership hurdle, since it owns five radio stations in the DC market." Like, rocket science? Which do YOU think will keep going up in value? Shareholders agree. Regardless of buyer, I wonder what would happen to the "WRC" call letters. Remember back in the 1980s NBC corporate refused to sell that famous, and now unobtainable 3-letter sequence when it sold the station that originally held them (the AM on 980Kc). The buyer of the AM had an unconrollable urge to stutter, and we got this "W-W-R-C" thing once an hour to keep the FCC happy. NBC engineer Will Hagy, using splicing tape and razor blade, sliced the pre-recorded official ID down to an almost monosyllabic "WW" R-C to try to bury the change in the final days before they kicked the station out of 4001 to a rundown building in Silver Spring. (6/16/08) ("WJZW's HD2 was silent.") That was not silence. It was the program director programming, and planning his next junket to Texas. The next ratings book should bring some changes to Citaldel staff. (6/16/08) Dave, this is out of the ordinary, but I want to wish my daughter Ariel a happy and wonderful graduation day today (6/16), from West Springfield High School in Virginia. And since she's way smarter than her old man and actually wants a future to look forward to, she has no desire to get into broadcasting whatesoever. God love 'er. -- Al Peterson, Springfield VA. (6/16/08) (Anybody catch this in Broder's tribute to Russert?)Get over it. It's simply an upscale Kraft Foods Table. This is standard practice in any large corporation, and shrimp isn't that expensive anyway. If you want to talk to someone in a relaxed informal setting, the second best way is to feed them. The first best? Well, there's probly some champers available.--- and to the poster who asked about Gurvir, she was on the very early news last week and looked radiant. I'm going to step out of character and remind myself (and everyone) that she's requested some privacy on this board, so I thought posting this would quash any speculation. --- Biff from Burke (6/16/08) ("......Any input would be greatly appreciated. - Steve from Burtonsville.....") I thought about buying an HD radio until I actually tried one at Radio Shack in Fairfax. I simply couldn't pick up anything. Even if I could pick up a signal, what is there to listen to? If I were you, I would return the radio, and get my money back. The whole HD experiment was a failure. No content = no listeners = no buyers. Bring back George 104. (6/16/08) Dave's response: I had a friend over this weekend and was showing him all my "gadgets." He loved the Comcast HD DVR and the XM receiver. But he was underwhelmed when I cranked up the HD Radio. Only a handful of stations offer additional HD2 or HD3 channels, and, of those, a few weren't working. WBIG's HD2 was missing and WJZW's HD2 was silent. Clearly, local radio suits don't give a shit about HD Radio. Hell, they'll only take listeners away from the advertisers on their main channels. And if they don't care, how are consumers supposed to get fired up about it? Duh..... It would be truely revolutionary if NBC were to sell one of their two flagship stations(Along with WNBC New York, WRC IS NBC NEWS!, the Washington Bureau is based there, and other aspects of NBCs Washington production infrastructure) I recall the big NYC blackout of the late 1970s, WRC, in effect took over for WNBC as the flagship of the network for several hours! Also, ABC has made several offers for WJLA through the years, and Joe Albritton essentially wants more for it than it's worth! As for the Network Shuffel, This is not that unusual! Since I first came to the DC area in the early 1970s WMAR-2 in Baltimore has, at one time or another, been affiliated with all 3 major networks! It was a CBS affilliate then. In the mid '80s WBAL didn't like the news product they were getting from NBC, and shifted to CBS, leaving WMAR with NBC. In the mid '90s CBS merged with Westinghouse, which had owned WJZ-13 all the way back to it's days as(now defunct) Dumont Network affilliate WAAM-TV! That left WJZ as the new CBS affiliate, and WBAL I suppose, forgave NBC, and since there was reference to it as an NBC affiliate in the movie Forrest Gump, it went back to NBC, leaving WMAR as the ABC affiliate! Look at what went on in Philadelphia as a result of that same merger! CBS owned WCAU-10, and Westinghouse owned NBC Affiliate KYW-3 NBC ended up owning WCAU-TV and the radio station got new call letters! Watch us end up like Denver! There, the Gannett-owned KUSA-9 is an NBC affiliate, and KCNC-4 is a CBS owned and operated! Then again, all the way back to it's days as the Television Station of the Evening Star, WMAL-TV, channel 7 has coveted the CBS Affiliation, and made several offers to CBS! (6/16/08) Anybody catch this in Broder's tribute to Russert? www.washingtonpost.com - "But as soon as the camera lights went off at 10 a.m. on Sunday, he relaxed. Ali, the NBC butler, brought out the platters of shrimp and glasses of juice, and the reporters who had been on the roundtable (and sometimes the last interviewee) would join Tim and executive producer Betsy Fischer for a lengthy exchange of political gossip." So the broadcasting and journalism industries are handing out pink slips like cups of water at a marathon and NBC has "Ali the butler" serving up platters of shrimp to senior MTPers and their guests? Really, really nice image. No offense to the late Mr. Russert. He was very, very good at his job. But the image Broder offers up sounds like something written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. You would think Broder would be too embarrassed to mention such unrealities. (6/16/08) I was wondering if some people who own the Boston Acoustics Receptor HD radio would provide there experience and assessment. The radio was clearance priced at 50% off at Radio Shack this weekend. I bought it and set it up. I have found the reception to be greatly subpar even in analog mode and wondered if this is typical or if I have a defective unit (i.e. should I return vs. exchange the radio). I live in Burtonsville, MD, 17 miles from downtown DC via Rt. 29 and 25 miles from Baltimore via Rt 198 & I-95. I also live on the 4th floor of a four story wooden structure with brick facade. I should be able to receive every station in those markets with no problem, but I've found that I have to continuously position the antenna to try to get HD stations in. It seems that a near perfect signal is needed for the HD to kick in. I can't get Big 100 in HD. I barely get Mix 106.5 in HD out of Baltimore. I can't get any of th e smaller stations at all in HD. In analog, I haven't had too many issues with local stations. However, I do have a noticeable issue with WINC FM. With the Phillips cube compact stereo I had been using, I had no trouble getting the station aside from having to reposition the antenna to attenuate the bleeding of WERQ. WINC was a relatively strong signal. With Boston Acoustics radio, there is one specific position the antenna has to be in to get it without static. I'm using a set of Phillips rabbit ears. Between the two wire antennas supplied with the radio and this, I found the TV antenna was the best one to use. Any input would be greatly appreciated. - Steve from Burtonsville (6/16/08) Does anyone know where Gurvir is? Is she on vacation or on long term leave due to the babies? (6/16/08) What ever happened to the Bald Truth Radio Show on WJFK? Has it been canceled? James in Centreville, VA (6/16/08) Dave's response: I believe that it was a paid infomercial..... For the Russert coverage bashers, just let nature take it's course. It will taper off thursday after the memorial services. I can only imagine what they'll say about you grumpy gum flappers when you pass away. I know they'll be lined up a mile long to dance on my grave, which is why i'll be buried at sea. haaaaaaaaa! - The Armchair PD (6/16/08) /\ June 16 Messages /\ \/ June 15 Messages \/ It’s by no means the worst example of this mistake, but it may end up causing some confusion—and it is tied in with the point that you were trying to make about Eastern Time: You wrote, “Fine reported the time to be 2:01 PM ET, but because GMT doesn't switch for daylight savings, there is currently a four hour difference with EST.” Technically, that is incorrect, in that EST (Eastern Standard Time), by definition, is GMT-5. It would’ve been correct to have, instead, said either “…there is currently a four-hour difference with ET” or “…there is a four-hour difference with EDT” (with EDT, by definition, being GMT-4). It’s a common mistake, but “EST” and “EDT” are not interchangeable—and are, indeed, mutually exclusive. Ironically enough, the best explanation that I’ve seen for all this is on Wikipedia… en.wikipedia.org... en.wikipedia.org... en.wikipedia.org.... As always, thanks! EJM (6/15/08) Dave's response: That newsblurb, including the bit about time zones, was from TVNewser, as credited..... Mr. Tim Russert, "NBC News Washington Bureau Chief, moderator of 'Meet the Press'..." After I heard about his awful death Friday I did not go near FOX"News". I could not take hearing some scantily-clad, air-headed, news reading bimbos & some shiny-faced, metro-sexual, on air tool from NYC 'comment' about the death of Tim Russert. Maybe some people at FOX"News" have a real background in Journalism so they could respect Tim Russert... Tim Russert, AMEN :-) (6/15/08) Dave, you're ''On The Mark'' with your rant. You KNOW the TODAY show will be doing 4 hours of non stop ''tributes'' and rememberances''. Can't wait to see Kathie Lee's ''insight'' into Russert's passing. Maybe Ann Curry will shed some crocidile tears at the urging of the NBC higher ups. I'm not trying to be cruel. NBC is doing that itself. Will Cronkite get the same treatment? 48 hours of non stop ''coverage''? No. He won't. He'll barely get 48 minutes. NBC is using Tim Russert's death for ratings. It's very sad and in very poor taste. Paul (6/15/08) Your "rant" about the Russert coverage is off the mark. You are out of line on this, you are nothing more than a guy tapping on keys posting online, one of many 'bloggers' that can't make it in an industry so they write about it. You may have not learned anything about the presidential race, Iraq, or dead scouts because of not looking at other sources. (6/15/08) Hey *sarcasm* - well, you're obviously listening to the Big O and Dukes show AND logging onto their website ... yeah, you REALLY must hate them. Make sure you write frowny faces in the margins of your Arbitron diary, just so they know how you really feel, schmuck. Drab is gay. (6/15/08) Notice the picture of the "Meet the Press" set on the front page. The camera is labeled "WNBC." That's their New York City station. (6/15/08) Dave's response: Tell that to the Smithsonian. It's a pic of their "MTP" display..... Dave, you mentioned Adrienne Washington’s last column was today. Over at the DC Post, Stephen Barr filed his last Federal Diary column today as well. (6/15/08) Here's a photo from last night's Emmy awards at the Ritz-Carlton with academy award winning director Barry Levinson, who was an assistant director at WTOP in 1966 and worked on the Ranger Hal show and helped to operate the puppets seen here for the first time in 25 years, Oswald the Rabbit and Dr. Fox. The puppets were loaned to NATAS for the 50th Anniversary Emmys by Mrs. Joan Shaw, Ranger Hal's widow. The complete list of 50th Anniversary Emmy Award winners can be found at www.capitalemmys.tv. The other hosts of the Emmys were Mika from MSNBC, Christopher Meloni from Law and Order SVU, Tony Perkins from WTTG and Bob Heck MPT's Bob the Vid Tech. (6/15/08) Dave's response: That's Channel 9's Tom Buckley on the right. We also have the Emmy award winners here..... To answer the question, "WHD-TV" is the still-valid callsign that the ATSC has been using with NBC as the host for experiments that have been done in the past (mostly on channel 68) to try to make VSB-8 work in the real world. All the stuff is still up at 4001 Nebraska Ave, but hasn't been used in ages... Unsigned Corporate Suit (6/15/08) Re: "The radio properties, of course, are long gone, though Channel 4 is still there - but what the hell is WHD-TV?" Thanks to a quick Google search, the answer: "WHD-TV was the call sign for the Model HDTV Station in Washington, DC. The facility was located at NBC's Washington facility which is also home to WRC-TV, WRC-DT, The NBC News Washington Bureau and portions of other NBC Television departments." www.oldradio.com (6/15/08) "Remembering Tim & Losing Touch" You hit the nail on the head Dave! No doubt most everything being said about him is true. But, you would think at some point someone at NBC would realize this is all a little much, exercise some discretion, and dial it back a bit. Some of these people come across as "look at me," I knew Tim and he said hello to me in the hall. I guess it's all about getting camera time during a big story. Then there are those sad few who turn this into something about them. Olbermann playing the clip of Russert telling him that's a fantastic question Keith. Geez The big media is often accused of living in their own world. This just validates that criticism. It is a tragedy. But it happens to good people in big and small town America every day. Honor your colleague but keep it in perspective. (6/15/08) I watched the morning sports on Channel at 7:00 am, channel 4 at 7:30, and channel 9 at 8. Not one of the sports reporters mentioned a thing about the Nationals game against Seattle. Yes I know who won but devoting over a minute to some stupid soccer game and not ever mentioning the baseball game is inexcusable. (6/15/08) I agree about the "wall to wall" coverage of Russert's death. I enjoyed "MTP" over the years but this coverage was too much, I finally shut off the TV and looked toward radio for my news, which thankfully, has not gone "Russert mania". If anything, the whole coverage reminds me of the old Saturday Night Live News update open: " I'm Chevy Chase and General Francisco Franco is still dead". Thanks for the Rant. I'm sure Tim himself would be pinwheeeling over this and he's not buried yet! Regards, Pat Alder, New Paltz, NY (6/15/08) So what is the story with weather forecaster Steve Rudin? For years he was on channel 9 as an up-and-coming talent. Then he was out-of-here and on his way to KNBC (channel 4) in Los Angeles. Now he is doing extended weekend shift-work on WTOP -- not that there is anything wrong with that. What happened in between? (6/15/08) Things have really changed since I used to visit 4001 Nebraska Avenue in the late 60s & early 70s - including the sign at the entrance. Back in the day, when the building housed the NBC O&O's AM-FM-TV combo, the sign read: "WRC-AM-FM-TV". The radio properties, of course, are long gone, though Channel 4 is still there - but what the hell is WHD-TV? (6/15/08) Ref: "Bullfrog & Ocean 98 in OC, Md" - Here is how it's going to go down downy ocean Hon: 1:30pm on Monday July 7, Donnie G. hits the air on WOCM, 1-3pm air shift Monday through Fridays with a DJ show...Money is no object shift pays $8.00 per hour and you will get your monies worth. And in 6 months he will take over the morning show from Bullfrog - one of Mancow's buddies. Trust Me, Mr. Annonomiss in Ocean City, Md. (6/15/08) /\ June 15 Messages /\ \/ June 14 Messages \/ Yes, Tim Russert was a truly nice guy. What you saw on TV was what you got with Tim. I had the privilege to met Tim at a media event and we spoke about our common roots in South Buffalo, NY- we were both born there. It is a community of hard working, blue collar people that have endured hard economic times for the past 30+ years, but they simply keep going, plugging away against the odds of success. We spoke about long gone places in the neighborhood. In addition, when I mentioned that my brother and Tim went to the same high school for several years at the same time, he broke into a broad smile when I mentioned the school's name. Also, he went to the same church my mother and her family went to when she was younger. I am not surprised about the outpouring of tributes to Tim, but I am surprised by how widespread they are - witness the tributes on the other networks, cable outlets, and syndicated entertainment programs. He will always be Tim from South Buffalo. He made all of us from South Buffalo (past & present) proud of his accomplishments. What you saw was what you got. (6/14/08) I think you should take it a little easy on the folks at NBC for their coverage of Tim Russert. Do you think the people who present the news really could have concentrated on much else yesterday afternoon? Russert was NOT only a tv interviewer as some have mentioned here. He was one of NBC News' biggest news faces, not to mention the boss of every person who worked at NBC's Washington bureau! ABC did the same thing when Peter Jennings died, and they KNEW Jennings was dying. This whole thing took NBC News and the TV News fraternity by complete surprise. It shouldn't be a surprise they have been a bit consumed by it. Also - compare this to when Katherine Graham died. She was not even really a public figure, and both the Washington Post AND Newsweek treated it as a state funeral. Newsweek put her on the cover, for pete's sake! (6/14/08) I still cannot get over what Chris Matthews said about Tim Russert as a "tribute" from Paris of all places, basically that he was the perfect example of an average American being duped into the Iraq war unjustly. Even if that were true and you adamantly believed it, what improper timing and, well, just how rude especially when he prefaced the comment by admitting he was not at all a friend of Tim Russert! Matthews said he meant it as a compliment and said it was a tricky thing to say, but it was a really creepy tribute that just didn't seem like much of a tribute at all. If ever there was a time for Matthews to just STFU, boy this was one of them. Anyone know if Bill O'Reilly has put his foot in his mouth yet? And no, I'm not even going to go into Keith Olbermann's 24/7 watery puffy eyes. (Still cringing and shaking head, geez.) (6/14/08) When does MSNBC's ''coverage'' and ''rememberance'' of Tim Russerts death become a lil creepy and an obvious ratings ploy? It's 3 30 Saturday afternoon and MSNBC is in full ''live'' mode. Normally at this time MSNBC fills those lonely afternoon hours with stories of pedophiles and murderers. Is this what the suits at NBC decided to do? Do you really think Andrea Mitchell WANTS to sit there on a Saturday afternoon for 6 hours saying the same thing over and over. I'm starting to wonder what's sadder- Russert dying or MSNBC's ghoulish ''coverage''? And are people as sick of Keith ''I hate Fox News'' Oberman as I am? OK Keith, you don't like Bill O'Reilly. We get it. Move the fuck on! Paul (6/14/08) Some non-Tim Russert-related news....... According to the NY Times, VA based AOL is going to release AOL Radio for iPhone, and that includes being able to listen to all of our local DC/Baltimore CBS Radio stations and with CD quality sound! COOL! www.macrumors.com (6/14/08) Your take on Russert and how the media handled the death was right on target. Nicely written, concise and a fair opinion. I was astounded at the length to which channel 9 went. It was close to what an assassination attempt on a public official would have gotten. Felt sorry for Bob Schieffer who plainly was a bit uncomfortable during the live Q & A with the locals at 9. Schieffer would agree with your view completely. Tell the news and move on. (6/14/08) I can’t believe the thoughts being contributed to the Mailbag regarding Tim Russert. True he wasn’t a head of state or a Pope, BUT he was without a doubt the best of the best at what he did. His interviews were riveting, his ability to really get to the “meat” of any political figure was amazing, truly amazing. I acknowledge his contemporaries and the way they are treating this “sudden, sad, tradgedy. This is the hottest Presidential race in modern times, and he was the “figurehead” that DARED push the buttons. My sympathy goes to friends family and colleagues. God Bless PLB (6/14/08) About your rant, Hooray! To cover ONE thing only is to cover NOTHING. I also don't think the blanket coverage was warranted. My condolences to the Russert family and NBC. To die at 58 two days before fathers day was a very undeserved fate for a interviewer that set the standard. Les in Adelphi (6/14/08) A lot of people checking in on Tim Russert's untimely passing at 58. A real nice guy. Perhaps no peer in what he did for a living. Some people just have the knack. But behind that knack was a real sixth sense and a real love for what he did. Many don't realize what kind of prep Tim put into that show--and it showed. Completely prepared. Broadcasting is still a craft trade, despite what the bean counters want us to think. The truly great ones still "have it" and always will--regardless which generation they show up in. They define the business to the masses. I loved to watch MTP just to gauge when he'd drop the bomb on a guest. Sometimes; those questions were so buried in the show the guest got deer-in-headlights! Never knew what hit 'em! Great stuff! I was not surprised NBC dropped what it was doing and went with him as the lead yesterday. It was only somewhat surprising to see virtually every other newsgathering organization drop what they were doing and try to top it. Were FOX and CNN really trying to pay homage to Russert--or were they scrambling to spin not getting the scoop? I think part of it was the universal (no pun intended) respect Russert had from his peers and other news organizations. Sure, there was plenty of other news, but it had already been "covered" for the day and--given how we get our news nowadays; we probably already knew about it. Tim Russert turned MTP from a stuffy, time-filling Sunday show into a pregame show for the rest of the week's news. When MTP was on; people watched. And they talked about it afterward. As Tom Shales wrote yesterday: "How'd you like to be the poor guy who follows him in the job?" For some; Russert's death may not be the real story. It may be who actually WANTS to come forth and replace him. swh (6/14/08) When did 98 Rock flip? I see the ads on your site but nothing about the switch. (6/14/08) Dave's response: Those ads are for WIYY's two HD Radio digital subchannels, which were added late last year. 98 Rock's main signal is the same active rock that it's always been..... Dave, interesting rant on the passage of TJR. Especially liked the line "Too often, they hog the spotlight at the expense of what they're covering." Have you a mirror? ---- Biff from Burke (6/14/08) Dave's response: Damn, you're right! I have derived incredible public fame, fortune, and wealth from running DCRTV. What a hypocrite am I! Ha ha ha. No, I don't have a mirror, but Beth Ann McBride lets me use her horribly stained one..... Dear Dave, During last month's A.M. commute, I entered the TWILIGHT ZONE. Desperately seeking respite from Grandy and Andy, I stumbled upon a voice from the 1980's (I think). The disc jockey, David Byrd! That twit canned by MAL, still doing the "A-Hole of the Week" (last Friday). The same inane routine that fake Section 8 marine used to bore us genuine jarheads with in my relative youth. I had to write. Please! Give me back Spike Jones or the Three Stooges or someone with two brain cells and the ability to intelligently discuss important issues. And to do a little advance homework before being handed a microphone. And who's his sidekick? None other than Victoria Jones! Wasn't she fired by MAL too? She must be what?, fifty by now and still talking about wearing a thong. I nearly barfed in my car fighting off images of bad personal hygiene. The other chick, Jessica, sounded like a competent journalist who accidentally wandered into the psych ward of Walter reed Hospital. What a nightmare! Please, A.M. 1500! Give us some better programming. Even three mimes and a monkey would be a vast improvement. Sarge E-6 (6/14/08) I'm sure that Tim Russert was a fine guy and he was good at his job. But he was just a tv interviewer. He wasn't a head of state or a pope or something like that. Watching the way overdone coverage of his death on the news casts and cable news stations just emphasizes the self importance of these nitwits. (6/14/08) I never knew the man. I only watched him and knew of his life. I respected him for his values and his strength. When I saw Tom Brokaw break in with the news, I was stunned. I walked the long hall and told everyone who didn't have a TV. We all weep. He was a great broadcaster, father and husband. That makes two. Who is three? (6/14/08) I had the highest respect for Tim Russert and am heartbroken at his passing. That being said, the wall-to-wall coverage, sans commercials, was way over the top. That kind of coverage should be reserved for truly earth-shattering events like President Kennedy's assassination, the moon landing or September 11th. The death of a journalist, no matter how prominent and accomplished, just doesn't warrant such coverage. I don't think Tim, a self-depracating blue-collar guy at his roots, would have approved. - Tom (6/14/08) Dave's response: Agreed. I think Tim would have said to his news bosses at NBC last night, do a five-minute piece on my death during the "NBC Nightly News" and then report the other news, as usual. NBC is not honoring Russert's life by essentially ignoring his news standards and giving him the superstar "blanket coverage" treatment..... Dave, thank you for your Rant. I deeply respect Tim Russert and will miss him so much. He was so full of life and most of all Tim was a true professional and devoted father. I think his passing makes us realize that life is so tenuous and it is important to leave behind that special part of ourselves that contributes to all of our world family. Tim reflected that in his work and personal life. I am a more informed voter because of him and it was his unrelenting quest when interviewing political figures to break down all that rhetoric and get to the truth that I most respect. I agree that the media must not lose sight of the tragedy with the Boy Scouts and other events. It was very hard to watch the story about the Scouts because Tom and I have a son who is close to the age of those precious young guys. I was hit hard when on one news program the commentator shared their interests and dreams. One young guy was an Elvis fan. Bless his heart. They are all in a good place now. Sorry to get heavy because as you know I lost my own dad this year and it's Father's Day. I love all of you and deeply respect the great colleagues and friends I know here on the Mailbag. Dave, I will stick you in there. Thanks for all you do. Blessings. Joyce Conroy (WHFC) (6/14/08) Why can't Mark Levin get it through his thick head that Scooter did leak the information to at least three reporters? This basic fact seems really hard for Mark to accept even though Bob Novak and Matt Cooper admitted it under oath. The way Mark Levin distorted the truth while trashing Tim Russert's reporting was despicable. (6/14/08) Can't get WAMU in Leonardtown this morning.....today WVTW (1k Charlottesville) is coming in loud and clear. (6/14/08) Why is it that all the Big O and Dukes kool-aid drinkers in this mailbag feel the need to use "they do a 5 hour show" as a defense to any negative comments? Who cares if their show is 1, 2, or 10 hours long...The content sucks!!!! It's not an automatic plus for show based solely on how long that show is... And in response to their numbers going up. Hmmm...seems to me I read that their trends DROPPED this last period. What say you now, "sucka"? Face it, they have about 1 year left before JFK management either finds the next flavor of the month and shit cans them, or blows the entire format up completely....In either scenario, your "heros" are ultimately unemployed....Get over it, they are not that good. Stop believing THEIR hype. Never a good sign when there is photographic evidence of a remote and it appears only 30 people showed up for it...Wow...That's a hell of a following!!! *sarcasm* (6/14/08) If it is possible to find anything positive in the outcome of the death of Tim Russert, it could be found in the tempo of the afternoon and evening radio talk shows. Many are spending an hour or more on the topic of heart disease and prevention before trotting back into Obama-land and the usual buslht topics. I'm going to miss Tim and his work on television, but if it is true that a heart attack was the cause of his demise, maybe some folks - especially a few chunky broadcasters I know - might think about pushing away from that bacon triple-cheeseburger. (6/14/08) Dave's response: My dad, who was an avid jogger, fell asleep on a beach in Florida in 1991 and never woke up. At age 57. He was seemingly healthy, had regular checkups, and all that. The more I think about it, I think there's a Great Book Of The Universe that lists when everyone's going to leave this mortal coil. And when your time comes, your time comes. Some people are here for 95 years and some people are only here for 58. Some even less. If you try to question why you'll only find yourself smack up against the unknowable..... Mark Levin has abused Tim Russert, calling him names and questioning his reporting ability. Mark did not admit his own lies about Tim, and did not acknowledge his own misinformation about Tim and Tim's reporting. As an example, Mark has repeatedly stated when Tim said Scooter Libby "leaked" the information to Mr. Novak, "The Pillsbury Doughboy" got the facts wrong, it was Arbitrage not Scooter. As we all know, Mr. Novak admitted Scooter did leak the information to him, but was the second, not the first. Mark's eulogy to Tim focused on Tim's work and support on family and children issues, something Mark never mentioned before. Tim never said anything abusive about Mr. Levin and Mr. Levin used Tim's decorum to bash him. (6/14/08) The contributions Tim Russert won't be making to the rest of this election year will leave quite a void. It would have been something to look forward to. I'm curious as to the final edition of the "Tim Russert Show" on MSNBC that he and his guests just taped in DC Friday morning. This would be his last work for the network (not counting the MSNBC blog from a few hours later)--- Will it air this weekend as planned, or at some later point? I'd wonder what he would have wanted? Anyone aware of the plans for it? (6/14/08) After watching all of the news coverage about Tim Russert's death, I'm still numb and in a state of disbelief. Given modern life expectancies, 58 is considered "the prime of life". Sunday mornings just won't be the same without Russert on the scene and if I had any illusions about life being fair, those notions were dispelled Friday, with the news of his passing. I can't help but wonder why it wasn't Limbaugh or O'Reilly or Hannity's number that was up, instead of Russert's. As cruel as that might sound, I say it only because none of those three has even a fraction of the class and credibility that Russert had. His approach was grounded in fairness and accountability - concepts that are sadly lacking in what passes for political discourse and journalism these days. Tim Russert's untimely death has me feeling like I've lost an old friend and the news has left me feeling quite empty and sad! (6/14/08) "Being as no one is listening to that drivel between 10am - 3pm on WJFK...Who's gonna complain?" ....... Uhhh, are you on CRACK? Chad and Oscar have a great show overall, and they have to fill five hours! Their ratings are going up all the time, and once PPM is for real, it'll jump even more. How about you check the ignorance, sucka, and tune in. Better still, check back in 10 years, when these two will be having more succe$$ in radio than Don & Mike and The Junkies combined. BOO YAH. Drab is gay. (6/14/08) /\ June 14 Messages /\ \/ June 13 Messages \/ Godspeed, Tim Russert. -Unsigned Corporate Suit (6/13/08) "My guess is Mark will have a sub on tonight to do some more Supreme Court bashing so Mr. Levin can avoid the Russert topic," Levin has far more class than you. At the close of his show tonight he said something to the effect that we should all keep the Russert family in our prayers. You on the other hand have to use the tragedy to go on some hack political tirade. Either you are very immature or you're one sick person. Grow up or get help. (6/13/08) Here's an interview with Tim Russert at The Q&A Cafe in Jan '05. Before we did TV. I can send you a pic of me with him to use, or just a pic of him appearing. But it's good and fun: bingbong.biz (MP3)... Carol (6/13/08) We've already had the three pass away, Jim McKay, Charlie Jones (who passed yesterday and did work for ABC and NBC) and Tim Russert. (6/13/08) "Our issues this Sunday" began the broadcast and "If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press" ended the broadcast. Both will go down as some of the famous words spoken in television history. I echo the many thoughts of those who have spoken already. The most important being that Tim was tough but fair. The fairness of Tim Russert is important, especially when you hear so much biased garbage spoken by the Chris Matthews and Sean Hannitys of the world. Russert may well go down as the Walter Cronkite of his generation. When Cronkite said of Vietnam, "We have lost the war", President Johnson knew it to be true. When Tim said Obama had won, we could accept that to be true. Tim Russert joins Jim McKay, another broadcasting giant, in that studio in the sky. "They're both gone". (06/13/08) Maybe NBC shouldn't have let Chris Matthews speak at all about Tim Russert! Geez, Matthews admited he was not a friend of Russert, then in some crazy little "OOps I've had too much to drink in Paris" fashion manages to tell a single story of a converstion between them that somehow ties Russert to the War in Iraq?!?!?!?! OH MY GOD!!!! How just plain weird if not worse. (6/13/08) RE: [ " Tim Russert knew how to ask a question and let people answer. Doesn't sound like much of a talent, but compare him to some of the conservative talk show hosts. " ]... Sorry, but conservatives did not invent rude or obnoxious behavior last I checked. And I hate to be a total media cynic, but did MSNBC have fake tears in Keith Obermann's eyes all day long today or is he genuinely that close to coming unglued? Don't get me wrong, obviously MANY people at NBC cried today. I just don't believe Olbermann was one of them. If you believe deaths come in threes, than O'Reilly and Olbermann better be double-downing the heart meds today. While I disagreed with Tim Russert on a lot of issues, it was difficult to criticize not only his political analysis, but more importantly his detailed QUESTIONING of both issues and politicians in a fair and decent, but religiously thorough way, in a world when most pundits or moderators or news and/or talk people just phone it in half the time. And the only person I can think of with more, ummm, just honest to goodness down home common decency credibility than Tim Russert would be CBS's Bob Schieffer and I have to say, even as a direct competitor, Schieffer's slightly less teary eyes looked more credible than Olbermann's Hollywood act today. Oh, almost forgot Chris Matthews... he's probably consulting with his agent right now for the new contract and pay increase. Yep, I'm a cynic, but some of these so-called news-people really are clowns. Tim Russert was not. (6/13/08) Dave, I'll only echo the sentiments about Tim Russert from my friend and colleague Steve Ray by sharing this message I sent to Channel 4's website a little while ago: I'm so sad about the passing of Tim Russert. I got to shake his hand years ago when I worked at the original Newseum in Arlington. I was a radio producer there at the time, and he had come to the Newseum to donate his famous "Florida Florida Florida" whiteboard. I remember when the interview was over, he took the time to shake the hand of all of the studio staff, camera people, the floor director, and me, before he was escorted to a VIP reception with the bigwigs. I was so impressed that a prominent person like him wanted to spend even a moment with the folks behind the scenes. He was a friend and mentor to so many in my business, and his loss will be felt deeply especially by his friends and colleagues. And how sad he passed two days before Father's Day, after writing two of the best books about dads ever! My condolences and prayers to his family, friends and co-workers at Nebraska Avenue. - Max Cacas, WFED / WTOP Radio (6/13/08) Anyone see Chris Matthews on any coverage of Russert's death? I watched a lot of MSNBC and other networks and couldn't find him anywhere. (6/13/08) Dave's response: I'm told that Chris just started a vacation in Paris and is expected to issue a statement soon..... Tim Russert knew how to ask a question and let people answer. Doesn't sound like much of a talent, but compare him to some of the conservative talk show hosts. (6/13/08) Mr. Russert was a great friend to all of us at 3WT Radio and the Washington Nationals. He was a great fan of the game and did a tremendous amount of work for the team. From his hosting of the Washington Nationals Inaugural Season Welcome Home Luncheon in 2005, to his association with Nationals Dream Foundation events, to narrating special video presentations for the scoreboards at RFK & Nationals Park, and of course as a devoted fan of the game, his sneaking out of work to come and see a game with his son Luke. Russert was also on the Board of Directors of the Baseball Hall of Fame. I can remember approaching him at the "Welcome Home" luncheon, asking Tim if he had the time to come up to the booth for the home opener that first year. Without hesitation he gave me his cellphone number and said, "Just make the call and I'll be right up to the booth." He was also that way when his good friend Ted Kresse would call to request an appearance on the old Washington Post Radio. Well known for his love of the Buffalo Bills football team, Russert also had a place in his heart for the International League Buffalo Bisons and could talk eloquently about every aspect of the game on a moments notice. I'm especially sorry to hear of his passing just before Father's Day. - Steve Ray, Producer - Washington Nationals Radio Network (6/13/08) Tim Russert reported dead of a heart attack at his Washington studio around 3 pm today. Sad news of a relatively young (58) journalist with whom I practically never agreed but respected immensely. A great loss, one of the few serious journalists in an increasingly frivolous profession. Genghis Cohen….. (6/13/08) Dave, Sad, sad day. Tim Russert drops dead on set doing spots for MTP. First thing Steve and Andy brought up today. Frank in Arlington. (6/13/08) I can't believe I'm the first to write in about Russert's death. What a damn shame. NBC already has been adrift, and now without its centerpiece morale at Nebraska Ave will really circle the drain. (6/13/08) How will Mark Levin treat Tim's passing tonight? Will Mr. Levin refer to Mr. Russert as "the Pillsbury doughboy," again, as well as call him "slimy?" Will Mr. Levin call Mr. Russert's flagship, "Meet the Depressed" tonight? My guess is Mark will have a sub on tonight to do some more Supreme Court bashing so Mr. Levin can avoid the Russert topic, and be back on Republican message Monday. It is a shame when I now think about Mr. Russert, my brain also brings back all the nasty partisan things Mr. Levin has said about him on the radio. The nasty partisan attacks against Mr. Russert were, as we all know, Mr. Levin's way of obscuring the truth. Hey Mark, Scooter Libby did leak the name to Bob Novak; Armitage wasn't the only one to read the memo that clearly outlined who she was. Scooter read it to and blabbed it to the press as well. Please stop the misinformation. Other than that, Mark, you are a great American. (6/13/08) Tim Russert collapsed and died today at the bureau. He was doing voice-overs when someone noticed he wasn’t talking any more. He had collapsed, 911 was called, medical attention given, transported to hospital and did not recover. It is a very sad day for his wife & son and the NBC family. Other details on the news places online. Tim was my boss since 1984. I will miss him greatly. Roger Byrd (6/13/08) NBC reporting Tim Russert died this afternoon, collapsing of a heart attack. (6/13/08) So sorry to hear about Tim Russert...God bless his family, and all of us who will miss his passion, intelligence, and wisdom every week. For many, this is going to take a while to sink in...wow. (6/13/08) The news of Tim Russert's death is shocking and sad on many levels. The news business, particularly those who cover national politics, needs more -- not less -- people like Russert. (6/13/08) Dave, just heard on ABC that Tim Russert has passed. (6/13/08) Dave's response: I took my daily walk at 3:30 PM and came back to hundreds of e-mails telling me the shocking news. Wow, just 58. My dad died of a sudden, out-of-the-blue heart attack at 57..... So very sad to hear of Tom Powers' passing. He had not been in good health for quite a while but got in there and did it til the end. God bless him! A quietly powerful man who could get things done with a phone call. A terrific lawyer and a great mind. Broadcasting--as a whole--has lost a good friend. swh (6/13/08) "The NAB Radio Board is opposing a proposal before the FCC that would transition the spectrum used for TV channels 5 and 6 to radio." Ask yourself, why would the National Association of Broadcasters oppose opening up additional spectrum space to radio. Answer: competition. Were commercial broadcasters' remaining audience to be drawn to locally-owned and operated stations, the power of the broadcasting cartel would be diminished. The value of their properties would decrease. So, owners seek to use political influence to affect technical usage of a physical resource that is owned by the American people. Under Bush/Cheney, what the FCC would decide is without doubt. (6/13/08) God, Evelyn Freyman...I'll share another GREAT story re: her powers for negotiation. While I was with WPGC, Union time came up again, we were all in Bob Howards office, Me (Davy Jones) Harve Moore, Bob Raleigh, Evelyn Freyman and Bob..There may have been others, not sure. Bob and Evelyn were going at it hot and heavy, Bob HATED the union AND Evelyn..There was an outburst, Bob got up out of his chair and headed for the door calling her and the union every name in the book. Suddenly Evelyn is out of her seat following him with her face about six inches from the back of his head..out they went through the secretary's office, into the lobby..screaming all the way. Bob then walked into Charlie Scheu's office and SLAMMED THE DOOR in Evelyn's face. She stood there for about 20 seconds and screamed through the door..."you slimey bastard, you don't have the balls to open that door and fight LIKE A WOMAN!!!!" a PRICELESS MOMENT in radio/Union history. PLB (6/13/08) "Heard the word shi* go over the air on the Big O and Dukes show around noon today. Whoever is in charge of the dump button must have missed it. Wonder if there will be repercussions for this violation of FCC rules?" ---Probably not. In order to get an FCC violation someone listening has to have a recording, as well as file some kind of paperwork with the FCC. Being as no one is listening to that drivel between 10am - 3pm on WJFK...Who's gonna complain? (6/13/08) Heard the word shi* go over the air on the Big O and Dukes show around noon today. Whoever is in charge of the dump button must have missed it. Wonder if there will be repercussions for this violation of FCC rules? (6/13/08) Dave's response: The FCC will yank CBS's license for 106.7, which will get transferred to Salem and become Christian contemporary. Meanwhile, CBS will drop the low-rated Globe from 94.7, and move WJFK-FM's guy talk over there. Without Big O and Dukes, who'll now be working for Taco Bell. Ha ha ha..... This is from Inside Radio: "The NAB Radio Board is opposing a proposal before the FCC that would transition the spectrum used for TV channels 5 and 6 to radio. Engineer John Mullaney is pushing the plan, saying one TV channel is capable of creating 30 additional FM stations. That could mean more than 2,000 new or improved FMs nationwide." My thoughts would be....isn't the NAB suposed to protect the creative interest of radio. So, instead of creating more options for listeners on the FM band-they want to leave it the way it is. Face it, HD is not going to catch, its too expensive, limited by distance and lacks quality programming. 200 additional stations could be used to attract smaller groups to buy those freqnencies--where they should not be allowed to be purchased by a CBS, Citadel or Clear Channel. A somewhat more powerful LPFM if you will! (6/13/08) The Washington Post made its name uncovering the Watergate scandal. Now that newspaper is, by its own admission, a mouthpiece for the government. In line with that transformation the Post is now a place where star writers get paid big bucks to give speeches before trade groups. Many of these organizations have a vested interest in pending legislation. Among those writers are David Broder (who's just taken a buyout from the Post) and Bob Woodward (yes, the Pulitzer star). Broder: harpers.org... Woodward, part 1: harpers.org... Woodward, part 2: harpers.org... (6/13/08) I'm curious. Recently heard an expletive go out over the local airwaves. Hypothetically, would you weigh in on public and government forums if this occurred on one of your favorite shows knowing that said show might come under (rigorous and unhelpful) review by regulatory agencies? Just asking. --The Ghost of Vince Lombardi. (6/13/08) Dave's response: I have long said that the FCC should not be in the business of regulating content on radio and TV stations. The feds should deal strictly with ownership and technical issues. If I was you, and what you heard really bothered you, I'd contact the offending station's general manager. And threaten to take it to some of the station's advertisers if you don't get satisfaction..... Good article in the City Paper about the Man Boy Dan and Triple X. One of many great lines in there “Triple X Radio, his bizarrely named radio network, has to this point been essentially unlistenable for D.C. residents, and not just because of content issues:” washingtoncitypaper.com... TC in SS (6/13/08) To the guy who keeps asking about what happens if Ch 4 gets new owners: A local station basically has two parts to it, 1) its own staff, and 2) the network that supplies much of the programming for it, kind of like a subscription. If a station is bought, what is bought is the local staff and site, and it usually gets the rights to broadcast the network it had an agreement with. Currently WRC-TV is owned by the company that provides much of the national programming. If the station got sold to CBS, CBS would probably want to transmit its own network's output, so it would break the contract for NBC network programming (separate from buying the local station and staff from NBC); the only other VHF station left is Channel 9 which would lose its contract with CBS, so it would probably sign a contract to transmit NBC's programs. If Channel 4 got sold to me (for example, unlikely as it may be), I would probably still show NBC programs because I would try to maintain my contract, but I, not the NBC network, would be the employer of Jim and Doreen. And this is why, when a network shows something that the FCC finds offensive, it is the local stations that have the license, are ultimately responsible, and pay the fine. -- Carl in Olney (6/13/08) A reminder that a memorial service for DC/Baltimore actor and radio personality Bill Hamlin will be held on Monday, June 16, 2008 at 7:30 pm. Organized by friends of Bill from the Washington Stage Guild, Theater J and his radio career, the service will be held in the Aaron and Cecile Goldman Theater at the DC Jewish Community Center, 1529 16th Street NW (at the corner of Q & 16th Streets). A reception with refreshments will follow. Mr. Hamlin, an award-winning actor and radio personality in the greater-DC area for many years, passed away on February 21 of this year from lung cancer at the age of 64. It is not too late to send personal and professional reminiscences to hamlin.memorial@comcast.net, to be displayed in the theater lobby for the service. Persons interested in making a memorial donation in Bill's name may do so through: The American Cancer Society - www.cancer.org/donate... Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS - www.broadwaycares.org/donations... The Washington Stage Guild Capital Campaign - www.stageguild.org... (6/13/08) (".......Not a big fan of afternoon host on True Oldies WJZW, tendency to play boring '70's songs that can hear at WASH or WBIG.......") I totally agree. What's frightening is, the bloated budget that Citaldel spends to air this block of time. I would rather listen to Imus or Shanon reruns. One can only hope that someone at Citaldel gets smart and replaces this show with something entertaining. (6/13/08) This is where Dave Hughes' liberalism gets funny. Like any good Marxist, if a post disagrees with him or threatens his income, he CONTROLS it. How dictatorial! After seeing yesterday's post touting an opening at Nassau Broadcasting, I wrote a small piece about how crappy they treat their people. But, since Nassau (I assume) PAID for their ad, Comrade Capitalist decided not to post my post! Gee, Dave, I thought you had a modicum of integrity. Guess not. We'll see if Comrade Hughes has the courage to post this message: If you really need a job, think FOUR times before choosing Nassau over Wal-Mart! Ask the TEN sales reps who were fired or left in despair this year alone... including the top billers in the stations' histories. Ask their top rated morning show ever. Ask their promotions people. And, don't think that anyone INSIDE the building is safe, either! Friends in Princeton are chattering about big changes to come. Could there be more New Jersey plates in the parking lot by Labor Day? This is old style treat'em like crap and fire'em radio at it's worst! (6/13/08) Dave's response: The post I deleted was one in which you made specific employment-related allegations about a former radio station employee who is not necessarily a "public figure." Therefore, my legal eagles advised that I trash it..... Couldn't help but notice The Doc Walker Show was not on WTEM this morning at 9 a.m. Any idea why? Is Doc on vacay? Has he left the station after the Snyder purchase of WTEM? Moved to a new time? Thanks, jb (6/13/08) "The last 'marquee player' the Nats had was Alfonso Soriano...Burd blaming Jim Bowden, who knows when to hold 'em & when to fold 'em, traded Soriano at the perfect time.........Idiots! - Signed, Boron V." Hey Boron, you realize Alfonso Soriano was never traded away by the Nationals, right? (He left via free agency, and signed with the Cubs in November 2006.) -Kenneth270 (6/13/08) (That's too bad about Tom Powers. He was a litigator without being a stereotypical union strongarm. I was a beneficiary of his talent in the 1980s when an NBC O&O faced a threatened license challenge because management hired me, a non-minority, to "numerically replace" a minority person. Tom helped establish a case that the two moves were NOT cause and effect, not based on bias, but instead based on skillsets that were separately considered and within the employer's right to decide.) so you were hired based on merit, not skin color. imagine that. MLK's dream was briefly alive. (6/13/08) The previous poster was correct about this mornings Burd, Doyle and Jones debacle about the Nationals. While few fans have much tolerance for losing teams, these three know zilch about the team. To start with, they continually (as they've done on prior shows) repeat the falsehood that the stadium construction money came at the expense of other city spending priorities, and say that DC taxpayers should be steamed. Then they displayed a lot of ignorance about the team itself. Seems like these three who obviously don't follow the sport or the team thought they could stir up some heated calls about the team's disappointing season. Stirring up the passions of listeners and callers is, of course, a staple of the radio talk show biz, but the show was really reaching this morning with all the contrived outrage. (6/13/08) So agree with the thoughts about Burd and company. I said moons ago, Burd is not funny, Burd is not and intellect, Burd is not creative, Burd IS B-O-R-I-N-G. His sarcasm is agitating to listen to, his pompous attitude shows through. Why anyone thinks that’s entertainment is beyond me. BOBB! (6/13/08) Driving into work moments ago I punched up 3WT to hear Jerry Edwards traffic & weather. Always excellent. Then the three headed monster that is Burd, Doyle & Jones started to speak. What a nightmare. They tried to pump the phones by insisting that the Nationals were dropping in attendance & that they should sell off the majority of the roster to bring in high priced marquee players. Fact 1: The Nationals reached the 1 million mark in attendance one month earlier than last year, with a smaller stadium than RFK. Fact 2: The last "marquee player" the Nats had was Alfonso Soriano, who is in a major slump with the Cubs after having a career year with the Nats. Burd blaming Jim Bowden, who knows when to hold 'em & when to fold 'em, traded Soriano at the perfect time to free up a huge chunk of change. I'll grant you the Nats are on a losing streak, but having someone like David Burd (who once called "Manager" Manny Acta "coach"), and the admitted sports hater Victoria Jones, discussing baseball is madness. I'll leave Jessica Doyle unscathed because she usually gets dragged into these conversations by the two chattering nimrods. Nice job again to Burd for letting a listener call one of the Nats a wife beater, without following up or even knowing who the guy was referring to. All this from the flagship of the Nationals? If I were Bowden, Kasten or Lerner I'd make a few calls this morning. Idiots! - Signed, Boron V. (6/13/08) Not a big fan of afternoon host on True Oldies WJZW, tendency to play boring '70's songs that can hear at WASH or WBIG. Prefer Mr. Scott Shannon bringing it strong to the mike and playing lots more '60's songs that one don't hear as much these days. Enjoying this weeks Sport's Reporters on WTEM far more legitimate laughs and interesting conversation than the boring O'meara show. Still get the feeling, as Czaban said, the black helicopters have landed and the pod people have taken over and many current WTEMers will be sent packing in the very near future. Does WJFK have a new sales manager. Promo, promo, promo seems to be the order of the day. Will it work with mediocre talents who talk loud and fast and constantly laughing at seemingly nothing But hey maybe can improve the ratings with whacky promo stuff. Listened to Jeffrey Ross interview on O'meara show. Whom decided that the bulk of the MOM show would be interviews when O'meara is so gosh darn bad at it? Then again without much creativity in that well what else have you got. cue the crickets (6/13/08) /\ June 13 Messages /\ \/ June 12 Messages \/ That's too bad about Tom Powers. He was a litigator without being a stereotypical union strongarm. I was a beneficiary of his talent in the 1980s when an NBC O&O faced a threatened license challenge because management hired me, a non-minority, to "numerically replace" a minority person. Tom helped establish a case that the two moves were NOT cause and effect, not based on bias, but instead based on skillsets that were separately considered and within the employer's right to decide. (6/12/08) Tom Gauger, you dredged up another memory of better days in Washington radio. It was the WASH-FM contract negotiation in 1979 and Metromedia's lawyer was a creepy little fellow from New York named Kenny Cohen. At one point, Evelyn Freyman actually CRAWLED ONTO the conference table and said, "You listen to me, you little pisher! I was sitting across the table from your father negotiating contracts when you were still in nappies, so don't pull your high and mighty bullshit with me or these good people!" Tom sat next to Evelyn, looking sideways at Greg Cole, John Dowling and me, just chuckling at watching the "Grande Dame" of our local in full performance. In the caucus, he gave us very real advice on what we could expect to win and what were hopeless causes. Needless to say, we took Tom's advice and many aspects of that contract remained in force through the 2000 unified Clear Channel contract. Pat, we love you and are all keeping you and Tom in our thoughts and prayers! - Ed. Rodriguez (6/12/08) Sometimes those folks out Californy way come up with some neat ideas. (6/12/08) WTTG's digital signal has suddenly moved from it's normal 5-1 identifier to channel 44-1, and shows up on my converter box as "KWKT-HD", vice WTTG-HD. What gives? I don't think the actual frequency changed, as I didn't have to rescan for new channels. It was still there, but is now called a different channel no. with different call letters. The Fox 5 logo is still on the screen, though. Maybe a technical glitch? I verified this on two different converter boxes of different brands. Al (6/12/08) Dave's response: You're right. I just fired up my over-the-air DTV and WTTG comes in on 5-1 as WTTG and 44-1 as KWKT. Strange! KWKT is a Fox station in Waco, Texas..... Things went very well at the Improv last night...thanks for mentioning it. The event creator actually sent me the DCRTV link last night before the show. Carson (6/12/08) It was with great sadness to learn of the death of AFTRA attorney Tom Powers (left) after his long battle with cancer. As has been noted here by others, Tom was a skilled negotiator, always smiling and tough as nails when it got down to the bottom line. He spearheaded my “creative discharge” suit against WMAL in 1986 which went to a daylong arbitration that saw several WMAL’ers such as Johnny Holiday and Marge Kumaki testifying. Tom won the battle for me handily. As most AFTRAN’s know, Tom was married to AFTRA General Secretary Pat O’Donnell, a beautiful, and tough negotiator in her own right. The combination of Tom Powers and Pat O’Donnell across the table from broadcast management was formidable. It should be noted that the two of them have been worthy successors to the late Evelyn Freyman who ran the Washington/Baltimore local for most of its history with a firm, but fair hand. It was Freyman who could intimidate broadcast management across a table with a single chilling look over the top of her glasses… while muttering “The slimy bastards.” Tom Gauger (6/12/08) The Chickaboomer ad isn’t so much offensive as stupid. Big Brown was supposed to run away with it. Victory has looked unlikely for Hillary for months. What’s clever about that? I have no problem with satire, but at least make it make sense. (6/12/08) I thought it was interesting the other day seeing Bulldog from Ocean 98 and Don Geronimo having lunch together at Seacrets. It must have been a productive lunch meeting as Donnie G will now be joining the crew at WOCM. Apparently Don was serious when he said he was going to make his home in Ocean City. I look forward to hearing him back on the air. (6/12/08) "Peter Rosenberg has been running an underground show on Hot 97 for the past year." Number One, its really sad that this ignorant POS was able to get back on live radio...Number Two..I was watching that clip and PRAYING....PRAYING that .50 Cent would smack the shit out of that nutless little wind-bag....WB Centreville, VA (6/12/08) RE: [ " The paper will be about 1 and 1/2-inches narrower once the presses are reconfigured " ]....... Why doesn't The Sun go to an even NARROWER size to better match the narrow-mindedness of their editorial staff!?! HAha!! :-) (6/12/08) So Dave, you said that if indeed CBS buys NBC, Gannett's 9 could be forced to flip to NBC. Because I'm quite ignorant regarding how these media purchases go on, are you saying that these two stations, along with their on-air staff, would somewhat merge? (6/12/08) Dave's response: No. Channel 9's employees would still work for parent Gannett despite a hypothetical network affiliation flip from CBS to NBC. And Channel 4's workers would get a new employeer - CBS instead of NBC. But there would be no "merging" of the two stations' workforces..... I like the MOM show, most of the time. However, should WJFK consider a telethon or something to buy Mr. O’Meara some extra buttons for his sounders board? It seems I can’t listen for more than about 12 minutes without hearing Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel, and it’s gotten very tiresome… I seem to remember Mr. Geronimo having maybe dozens of sounders available, so did he make off with all of the extra buttons? It sounds like MOM’s only got 4 or 5… (6/12/08) Quick thoughts on rumors of NBC selling off most of its O&Os. 1. Local television isn't the cash cow it used to be. 2. Morale at 4001 Nebraska is horrible. 3. The news product has been gutted - behind the facade of the tired duo of Doreen Gentzler and Jim "been phoning it in for years" Vance, longtime employees, usually those earning the most have been unceromoniously sacked, replaced by more energetic youngsters willing to work for next-to-nothing. 4. GE long ago ended its retirement health benefits. 5. NBC itself hasn't done well for quite a while, and after the cash flow from all the Olympic and election spending, GE (without which "greed" can't be spelled) is likely to put the entire network up for sale. 6. The parcel of land at 4001 Nebraska Ave. is worth a small fortune, and the Homeland Security complex next door wants to expand. 7. The food in the commissary sucks. (6/12/08) “Marc Sterne, a WTEM castoff riding on Kornheiser's coat tails, is just unlistenable when he insults callers and cuts them off.” – couldn’t agree more, his “baseball roundup” was awful on WTEM back in the day…speaking of which, will someone please tell Phil Wood to talk about Baseball, enough with the music talk. Also, “WTEM is running the Dan Patrick show as of 9:30 am. It doesn't sound like a rerun since they are talking about the NBA referee scandal. This is supposed to be the time slot for Doc Walker. Have they changed the lineup already?” – this would be the smartest thing Danny Boy could have done, please close the Locker Room doors for the listeners sake. (6/12/08) Dave: I live in Baltimore and I was just watching the retirement news conference of Jonathan Ogden on the NFL network. Can anybody explain why that news conference was only on the NFL network and none of the local channels, like 2 ( ratings in the cellar ) , 11 ( live, local and latebreaking ), or 13 (we're always on )...... I mean, I have been a season ticket holder since the inception of the Ravens and I just figured that a genuine player like JO, who has been the heart and soul of the offense since the Ravens moved here would get more local coverage on television to announce his retirement. Every time there is a high speed chase, a tree down from a severe storm or the gas pumps hitting four dollars a gallon in most areas, you see the reports on those things that are going to happen anyway. It is not everyday that a Raven retires with the playing caliber as JO, not to mention the fact he was the first Ravens picked in the 1996 draft, their first ever draft pick and he played outstanding his entire 12 year career and will retire a Raven. Not many players can do that. I just found it rather amazing that there wasn't more local tv coverage. Rich in Canton (6/12/08) (From DCRTV's Classified Ads:) Nassau Broadcasting in Maryland is seeking its next Creative Services Director. We’re looking for the newest addition to a great, creative team and the ideal candidate will bring all of the above to the studio. You’ll oversee commercial production for a vibrant 3 station cluster in Central Maryland, including a Mainstream AC, a Classic Hits and a Talk station. Copywriting skills are important, as you’ll pitch in with copy writing for the sales team. Station imaging production for AC, Classic Hits and Talk, is a must; you’ll be producing the imaging for all 3 stations. Solid AC and Classic Hits on-air experience is a huge plus! Send your resume’, production, voiceover (character voices are nice, but please be sure to include a clear sample of your natural voice too,) imaging samples, and sample of your on-air work (if you have it…) along with some good examples of your writing to: Marc Richards, Director of Programming, Key 103 – Nassau Broadcasting Partners, LP/ Mid-Atlantic Region, 5742 Industry Lane, Frederick, Maryland 21704. Or email to: mrichards@nassaubroadcasting.com. Nassau Broadcasting Partners, LP is an EOE. No calls please! (and we really mean it!) (6/12/08) WTEM is running the Dan Patrick show as of 9:30 am. It doesn't sound like a rerun since they are talking about the NBA referee scandal. This is supposed to be the time slot for Doc Walker. Have they changed the lineup already? (6/12/08) I got Verizon Fios in May. I signed doing the TV promotion. I called them last week to ask about the TV. I was told that I will be getting it in July. (6/12/08) Regarding Katie Couric's "jab" at Chris Matthews for sexist comments about Hillary Clinton, according to Keith Olbermann on last night's "Countdown," the remarks were aimed at Lee Cowan, the NBC reporter who covered Obama's campaign. Olbermann named Couric "Worst Person in the World" for her comments (a change from O'Reilly, who was only #2 last night). Also, I agree with those who have commented on Chickaboomer's illustration of Hillary/Big Brown...they are so old news, it's time to change the subject. -- Bobbie (6/12/08) While we still have the deer in the headlights look on Angie Goff (traffic reporter on Channel 9), I do not see the rock on the appropriate finger any more? Wasn't she just married? (6/12/08) I've sent countless e-mails to Dish Network about providing MASN in HD as well...always get the standard form letter response about how they will "forward my suggestion to the Programming Department." At least I can watch the "World Fishing Network" in HD...thanks Dish, just what I was waiting for! Greg in Reisterstown (6/12/08) Hey Dave, Just thought I would note that Katie Couric's reference was not to Chris Matthews; the statement that "(it was) hard to be objective when it came to Obama" came from a news report in January by Lee Cowan. newsbusters.org... Milt (6/12/08) Dave's response: For the record, that newsblurb was a direct quote of News Blues' Mike James..... Dave, Have you heard anything about if/when Verizon FIOS will add MASN HD? No updates on MASN's or Verizon's websites! (6/12/08) Dave's response: Haven't heard anything..... Re: More: NBC To Sell 4? - 6/12 - DCRTV has been reporting rumblings that NBC might sell its longtime DC TV station Channel 4/WRC…. Can anyone explain what the difference would be to the viewer if this "Sale" happens? Does channel 4 become a UPN or WB type of network? Or does it stay NBC programming.. Matt (6/12/08) Dave's response: Channel 4 would most certainly stay an NBC affiliate if it got sold by NBC. But I guess CBS could buy 4, making it a CBS station, and forcing Gannett's 9 to flip to NBC..... Re Verizon TV give away -- We signed with Verizon last year and opted for a Best Buy gift card instead of the TV (because the TV was too small) which we received promptly. Skipper (6/12/08) Standard article from the Washington Post regarding Snyder, and radio network. The key question was not asked. They must move the majority of the ESPN programming to 980 which means a lot of talent will be shifted to the inferior signals or fired. Double the ratings??? This gives them a 1.2 share. They need a 3.5 share to make it work. Gilbert managed 300 stations????? No, he was in charge of the syndication that aired over 300 stations which is a big difference. Shapiro would be better if he spent his time fixing the Six Flags business disaster that he and his diminutive friend created. One final thought, just because they keep telling us that Snyder won’t be involved doesn’t mean anyone believes it! (6/12/08) /\ June 12 Messages /\ \/ June 11 Messages \/ Has anyone received their free TV from Verizon yet? I’m still waiting!!! If I don’t get it soon I’m going back to directTV! (6/11/08) G.Gordon Liddy does the cellphone-popcorn trick: www.youtube.com (6/11/08) I've got to add my voice to those who state that the challenge facing Red Zebra XXX radio isn't just signal related; it's about the programming. (1) The first mistake is relying on too much syndicated stuff. While it's cheaper, it's dull, generic stuff that misses so much of what's of interest with respect to the local teams at all levels of sports. Perhaps he's hamstrung with the agreement with ESPN, but it's a big issue. (2) The second mistake is thinking a former athlete with name recognition can carry a show. Snyder's challenge is to find and develop some talent who can make themselves relevant on the local sports scene and build an audience. To connect with passionate sports fans, sports talk hosts need an obvious passion for sports that translates into both enthusiasm and knowledge (and not just about one or two sports). Give sports fans a reason to tune in. If Snyder's now got some decent signals, he ought to do it right. (6/11/08) 'no cheering at high school graduation'? -LOL I was a LOSER in 'high school'; Lower middle class, No friends, No girl-friends, Unpopular, Uncool... I went to 'High School Graduation' AND NO ONE 'Cheered' for me... Yet THAT 'MOTIVATED ME'... -I served in the US Military (unlike you 'brian wilson'-lol ;-) -Worked my way into a College; Earned a B.A. in Chinese History/Intenational Politics -Worked my way into a M.A./J.D. at a prestige Univeristy... So I was 'amused' hearing your talk about 'high school graduation' with the few ignorant peasant who have a chance to call into your self-centered show = pathetic 105.7fm line-up :-) (6/11/08) “Let's just say a meteor hits northwest DC and knocks out 103.5 FM. Would Bonneville move WTOP back to 1500 AM to provide emergency coverage?” Actually that specific scenario is moot since the 103.5 backup transmitter is located at the 1500 site on University Blvd in Wheaton. So TOP could stay on 103.5 in that situation, although if the poop really hit the fan, WTOP’s audio could easily be switched onto any or all of the other Bonneville signals at a moment’s notice. -Brian (6/11/08) Less room to watch baseball on ESPN. Anyone notice the stupid stat ESPN puts above the score graphic near the top of the screen. A stat about how a player hits when the count is 0-1; 0-2; 1-2; 2-2; 3-2; 1-0; 1-1; 2-1; 3-1; 3-2; 2-0; 3-0? So stupid. Who the heck cares. Too many graphics on the TV screen. Can't even see NBA games there's so much crap on the screen. And did you see the really stupid design on NBA floors in Boston and Los Angeles showing the championship trophy. How silly. Call a foul on that artistry. (6/11/08) Dave, there's NOTHING happening worth posting about in the Mailbag. We Need a good "bitch slapping" post. I can't come up with anything that's even fun to chat about right now. Dan Snyder, WHO CARES? HD-WHO CARES? CHICKABOOM'S BULL-WHO CARES. Too bad Jack Diamond is no longer something to "chat" about. We can't hear O'Meara up here so there's no honest way to comment on his show..GEEEEEZE! (6/11/08) Reach? Dan Snyder wants to improve his reach? How about a stepladder for the office and a phone book on his driver's side booster seat? Face it. The only way Snyder is going to "improve the reach" of SeptupleXXXXXXX Radio is to improve the quality and scope of the programming he carries. He doesn't have three of the hottest DC franchises play-by-play. The Nationals, although mired in a slump, reached 1 million in attandance a month faster than last year. They have fans who want to talk about the team -- good or bad -- especially when George Wallace, Craig Heist or Byron Kerr host the postgame call-in show. (Marc Sterne, a WTEM castoff riding on Kornheiser's coat tails, is just unlistenable when he insults callers and cuts them off.) When does TripleXXX talk about the Nats? One report a day? Moving on to the Capitals, who are the Southeast Division Champions, a great call-in show with Jonathan Warner & sometimes Steve Kolbe. It's the only time DC hockey fans get to talk about the sport! Ted Leonsis made the smartest move of any owner in the past 12 months by moving his team off of WTEM. As for DC United, they continue to pack RFK and have a super play-by-play guy in Tony Limarzi. I can't ever remember tuning into either TripleXXX or WTEM and hearing a conversation about DC United. Snyder isn't going to make any improvements by parking more ESPN & FoxSports syndicated crap on his collection of Mini MagLite powered stations, or by shoving company controlled Redskins news down our throats 24/7. What do the other three sports team broadcasts have that RedZeebah doesn't? People who educate themselves on ALL the sports they cover and plenty of credibility from reporting DAILY on WTOP!!! Those non-sports talk programmers on Idaho Ave have the Rockville Pike gang beat at their own game. I doubt anything will change dramatically after the July 1st changeover. Tom Cruise needs to find a place on his lap so Danny Boy Snyder can see over the top of his desk to read DCRTV! - The Armchair PD (6/11/08) Dave's response: I hear Snyder has banned himself from viewing DCRTV. He's using the same type of internet filtering device that CBS Radio/Baltimore uses - the "Labrozzi 1000GX"..... Here is some additional info to add with respect to the memorial service for Tom Powers: The memorial service for Tom will be held on Friday, June 20th at 11:30am at Solidarity Hall located at the George Meany National Labor College at 10000 New Hampshire Avenue Silver Spring, MD 20903. Immediately following the service (approximately 1:30pm), there will be a reception at Solidarity Hall. Flowers may be sent for the memorial service (National Labor College, George Meany Center for Labor Studies, Room 9201A, 10000 New Hampshire Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20903) or donations can be made in Tom's name to the National Labor College. (6/11/08) ".....If the local stations were smart, they would buy a local radio station and simulcast their audio signals......" What will happen to the radios that carry TV bands? Will they no longer work? Stores are still selling them. I guess am and fm will still work. (6/11/08) Dave's response: The TV bands on current radios will become largely useless. However, you'll still be able to hear the audio from low-power TVers like Channel 49/WWTD (which will be relaying WJLA). LPTVers will be staying in analog mode after February 2009..... blog.washingtonpost.com... Heath getting ripped by comments below this article. One topic the Post knows very little about is radio........ (6/11/08) (Dave's response: Let's just say a meteor hits northwest DC and knocks out 103.5 FM. Would Bonneville move WTOP back to 1500 AM to provide emergency coverage?) In a heartbeat. (6/11/08) Some snippets… 1) One of the main goals of post-transition DTV allocations was to duplicate to the best extent possible the service areas of the analog operations they were replacing. WNVC's analog operations were never at the maximum for UHF, so the DTV equivalent on ch. 24 was originally not at the maximum possible. This new application intends to maximize their DTV operations on ch. 24. 2) This past Saturday morning, I could not catch DC-101 worth a darn, but I could hear MAX-FM (100.5) from Norfolk and a whole bunch of others from that market. Class A's from Fredericksburg were totally covered by others. Fun! Later, I caught some DTV DX from WVEC-DT (41) Hampton and WCPB-DT (56) Salisbury. Regards, Dave Loudin (6/11/08) Dave said: "Would Bonneville move WTOP back to 1500 AM to provide emergency coverage?" The land will probably be sold off and developed by then. You raise a good question however -- has WTOP lost its status as an Emergency Broadcast station since it abandoned the station for which it had that status? (6/11/08) Re: DC-area Blaw-Knox "Diamond" towers. It's highly unlikely any DC station had such a tower. There were only 6 DC stations prior and during WW2 and 2 of them were new 250-W class-4s with minimal antennas. AFAIK, 980 had the earliest serious installation - which towers they are still using. 1500 had flat-top wire antenna until about 1940 when they moved to the present towers at Wheaton. 1260 also had a flat-top across Ager Rd from 980, perhaps until the move to Silver Spring after WW2. I think 630 had a roof-top antenna in downtown DC until the mid/late-1930s move to Greentree Rd and the present towers. That's all there were. (6/11/08) I am afraid I have to agree, The Chickaboomer ad is really offensive. We all know Hillarys head is on the wrong end of the horse. (6/11/08) CBS oughtta just start streaming WQSR-HD2 online as well. Also they should take advantage of the 104.3 stuff and give 101.9 a Smooth Jazz HD-2 channel. (6/11/08) About masn not showing the blowup between dukes/acta, they didn’t show it because MASN’s BROADCASTS ARE TERRIBLE. Seriously, why do we need pitch trax on EVERY replay? We can see where the pitch was located, LOSE THE STUPID BOX. (6/11/08) Rush just denied calling Obama a Marxist a day after he called Obama a Marxist. Now, Rush slams Obama for being in bed with a suit from mortgage giant Countrywide, but never slams Cheney and the Repubs for being shills for big oil. Rush = pathetic hack. (6/11/08) Yes, QSR-HD2 is running Oldies, with old QSR jingles. (6/11/08) Andrea Mitchell's "real redneck" slur is as under-reported as expected. It's not that Ms. Mitchell's comments were so awful (they're not), it's just that if a someone had made a remark about her way of life/heritage (or, say, about her lovely Jewish countenance?), I'm pretty sure some special interest group would be in a lather about the whole thing. Well, hell, here's the outrage now? It's not there, because it's correctly UNWORTHY of outrage...just like most faux anti-[fill-in-blank] outrage. Well, to the good people of Southwest Virginia I say we, from the D.C. area, aren' t all like Andrea Mitchell. Not by a long shot. And, as for her, I say a pox on her face, err, house. Sorry, beautiful. -Kenneth270 (6/11/08) Dave, Re: "Book your Ocean City MD vacation now before the oceans boil away in billions of years as "our planet spirals to a vaporous death" as the sun expands."-Why do you think I moved down here, there just is no time to waste, lol...On a serious topic, very sad of course to see the passing of Jim McKay. I will have to dig it up but in one of the old Sunday Sun's, (their local Sunday Magazine I believe it was) had a front story covering Jim McKay and a letter he wrote to his grandson concerning life, growing up, life experiances, it was great. I think I have it in an old scrapbook at my parents house in Baltimore but its worth digging up on-line or at the library. -Michael Popovec (6/11/08) On Hdradio.com, WQSR-HD2's format is now listed as "The Greatest Hits of All Time" (euphemism for Oldies). I know they were previously airing sports programming (as a simulcast of 1300-WJFK). Are they now running Oldies? If so, are they using the old WQSR jingles and imaging like WCBS-FM in NYC did during its Jack Phase? Anyone with an HD Radio out there have info? (6/11/08) Dave's response: I have an HD Radio, but here in Northern Virginia can't get QSR's HD2 channel..... "Did any D.C. area AM ever use a “Blaw-Knox” tower of the “diamond” type? If so, who and when? Unsigned Corporate Suit" - send an e-mail to Scott Fybush, the Guru of All Tower Info (and a DCRTV reader), at scott@fybush.com. If he doesn't know about it, it never happened. Not a sermon, just a suggestion. And to the dude who heard KMOX down in Pax River a while ago, I logged KNEN in Nebraska about 5 years ago from Urbana, MD, and after that, logged a whole boatload of heartland stations on the way home from work on 270 one afternoon! When the DX gods are smiling on the faithful, it's all good! Mike in Frederick and the Dashboard DX Society (who have been very busy DXing in the car for the last week or so). (6/11/08) Re: the poster referring to "...the child actor who played Dennis Kucinich in SNL skits" -- that would be neither a child or a male, but was cast member Amy Poehler, dressed in a business suit and wig. (look it up). Also, for the poster seeking a small portable, digital-ready TV w/battery option, Radio Shack shows one on their site, its called the "Accurian" www.radioshack.com... I'm assuming that Circuit City & others have similar or will get on the bandwagon with those, too. (6/11/08) "Has anyone yet seen a battery-powered digital HDTV set? I haven't. What will people use during a power-out emergency?" They'll use what they've been using for 60 years: a battery-powered radio. These days they'll tune it to 103.5 instead of 1500 as in the past. (6/11/08) Dave's response: Let's just say a meteor hits northwest DC and knocks out 103.5 FM. Would Bonneville move WTOP back to 1500 AM to provide emergency coverage? ("Has anyone yet seen a battery-powered digital HDTV set? I haven't. What will people use during a power-out emergency?") If the local stations were smart, they would buy a local radio station and simulcast their audio signals. I know there are other areas in the country that do this. (6/11/08) Dave's response: I assume that if we had a major emergency situation in the DC area, a la 9/11/01, the four local TV news audio signals would be relayed by a variety of local radio stations. So, we'd have 4, 5, 7, 9, and WTOP available as "radio" news sources..... Has anyone yet seen a battery-powered digital HDTV set? I haven't. What will people use during a power-out emergency? Or take to the ballpark? I'm amazed this has been overlooked. - P of the AW (6/11/08) Dave's response: I always think it's funny that local cable TV systems are required by the FCC to flash emergency warnings on all their channels. Hell, a few gusts of wind these days and the cable TV/electricity is the first thing to go out. Old fashioned radio is still the best information source in an emergency, even though the big old DC area has only one full-fledged local radio news department (WTOP)..... Re: WNVC & 160kw of digital power--Hooray! Their analog signal just barely makes it to SW Baltimore county, and I'd love to have another set of channels available. I'm hoping that once the dust settles from the switchover, a lot of stations will boost their power. *-*-*-*-* Dave, you saw a channel 27 reference because WETA obviously lost its data stream, which includes the phony channel number ID. Your TV just filled in the real channel number. *-*-*-*-* As for the WaPo article about so many people being unready for digital TV, how many people are ready, today, for Christmas? That's coming almost 2 months sooner than the switchover. Talk about a non-story. (6/11/08) Dave's response: No. WETA-HD/Channel 27 never went off the air last night. They aired a video ID that included a reference to "Channel 27" after losing their incoming feed of "Nova"...... Dave, I love your quote from Bruce Gilbert at DBBC (Danny Boy’s Broadcasting Company, aka Red Zebra) “They [WTNT & WWRC]may continue airing political talk, Gilbert adds. While RZ will take over operations of all three AMers [including WTEM] from CC on 7/1, the current programming will most likely remain until RZ can ramp up its personnel levels to fully staff the outlets, Gilbert says.” “Full staffing” at WTNT means that NO ONE will be looking after the operation, just like now. Just listen to the station – dead air, outdated (sometimes by months) business “updates” on the weekends, and audio upon audio during commercial breaks and other times as well. Heck, I was trying to listening to WTNT a couple of weeks ago for Dennis Miller during PM drive and they were running some syndicated talker in Miller’s time-slot who usually runs on 3WT. I guess that the “fully staffed” WTNT operation forgot to change the satellite feed. I can’t say anything about WWRC because, though I live 4 miles west of the White House, I have to put my hand on the radio to get any kind of acceptable reception. Even in the car it is very bad. All of that said, I dread the coming day when Danny takes control of another set of local AM band stations. The CC operations may not be too good, but at least with them there is/was diversity of thought and opinion on-the-air. When Danny takes control their will be close to none, except only good PR for the Redskins on the DBBC! (6/11/08) There's a simple explanation as to why WMAR doesn't have Jim McKay file video from his early days. The station doesn't have it & doesn't own it anymore. More than a decade ago (even before Scripps owned it), all of WMAR's archive video was sold to the University of Baltimore. It's in their Special Collections holdings. Check the university's website. (6/11/08) Re: "I DON'T miss Alison Starling. Not seeing the Darling of Dull at 5 PM puts a smile on my face and Julie Parker warms my heart! Paul" Paul, are you Julie Parker's husband? Or father? I've seen quite a few comments from you clamoring for more Julie and less of the 'boring' Alison and the other 'collegiate' female anchors. I think Julie does a good job, but not noticeably better than Leslie Cook, Cynne Simpson, or anyone else that is likely to get a full-time anchor position. And I really don't understand the 'dull' comment. I find Alison quite entertaining in the morning when I usually watch WJLA. The 5 o'clock news is generally more depressing, with the days murders, car accidents, and local politics. The entertainment and sports reports are the only time that it is really appropriate to be anything but serious. It is interesting that there hasn't been an offical replacement for Kathleen Matthews, when they didn't name Alison as the replacement immediately, I figured that they had their eye on a national/network personality and were waiting for the end of her/his contract. But now I just think that the management doesn't know what to do. They are probably afraid that if they take Alison off the mornings, that they will lose alot of viewers, and they may be right. As long as she is willing to work at 5am and 5pm, and the ratings keep going up, they will probably keep things as they are. They should put Alison at noon and 5, and find a new morning host, and that will probably be Julie Parker, Leslie Cook or Cynne Simpson. Just not Caroline Lyders, please... Jimbo (6/11/08) Okay... it's a weak excuse... but perhaps part of the reason that WMAR-TV found no film to share of Jim McKay's early days in television was because while working at the station he used his birth name, Jim McManus. This photo was taken from a 1952 publication "WMAR-TV FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. Five Years of TV Service To Maryland". DCMemories.com (6/11/08) Dear Ernie- Jim London has left the airwaves so, no, for now pleasant radio listening has been restored to the airwaves. Please, with God as my witness, don't let anyone fix that broken bed! BH (6/11/08) I too have had difficulty accessing the stations on AOL for sometime, seems like it all went bad around the time XM left. Actually I find the new beta setup a pain for AOL radio. But I do have the Beautiful Music station on my pre set list. Czaban said other day that he has meeting with the new Insect Overlords on Wednesday. I presume he gets canned. Hopefully Czaban keeps his syndicated morning show but I bet the insects at Dread Zebra will doing anything possible to keep show off the air in D.C. area. Damn, Bowman's store and now Bob Peck bite it! (6/11/08) MASN missed a pair of controversial moments from Tuesday night's Nationals game. After Lastings Milledge hit a dramatic two out ninth inning home run to give the Nats the lead, he and baserunner Elijah Dukes engaged in a little extra hand slapping action. That was seen by Nats fans. What was not seen locally but was seen on the Pittsburgh telecast was manager Manny Acta getting into a heated face to face confrontation wuith Dukes in the dugout. Acta yelled at Dukes and Dukes yelled right back at Acta. The other moment came at the end of the game when the team came out on the field to congratulate each other. When it came time for Dukes to high five his manager, he purposely missed him. Again, MASN didn't have it but Pittsburgh did. It was duly noted on ESPN. Is MASN afraid to show controversy involving the local team? (6/11/08) Is MHZ Networks' WNVC 56 looking to be the dominant public TV station in the DC market? I wonder because they just applied today for quite a bit more DTV station power than WETA will have when the DTV conversion happens next year. WETA will be 90kw, WNVC will be 160kw if the FCC approves this app. Unlike many of DC's over the air TV signals, WNVC 56 has never really been able to be received much in the Baltimore/Annapolis market, but with this signal, if approved, that might change a bit, not to mention make WNVC-DT 24 the more powerful DC public TV signal compared to WETA DT-27's signal coverage area. Interesting turn of events considering the long running poor signals of both channels 53 & 56 over the decades. (6/11/08) Dave's response: WNVC's tower is in Fairfax. Maybe with the extra power, it's just trying to provide a decent signal inside-the-Beltway. Oh, speaking of WETA, I was watching a "Nova" documentary yesterday evening on Channel 26-HD when the feed went down. WETA's HD signal was still there, with the WETA-HD "bug" in the lower right, but the pic was black screen. I tuned over to WETA-SD and it was out, too, with just a WETA ID. I flipped back to the HD channel, and found an ID for WETA-HD with a "Channel 27" reference. I thought all stations were not supposed to refer to their new digital numbers, instead relying on their old numbers. (WRC ain't NBC48.) I then flipped over to WUSA's weather radar and noticed a boomer over Shirlington. Maybe that was the cause of 26/27's problems..... RE: [ " We're talking Dennis frickin Kucinich. " ]........ The question begs... If the child actor who played Dennis Kucinich on TV in various NBC SNL skits fell into a well, would anybody but MSNBC's Keith Olbermann hear his cries for help to save him?!?!? :-) (6/11/08) Sorry to see the Bob Peck Chevrolet building has turned into rubble. When I worked the very early shift at AP Radio in from 1979-82, my 1978 Monza spent a lot of afternoons in the repair shop there. A click on the attached Arlington link showed the Weanie-Beanie in Shirlington where I got a ticket for failing to come to a complete stop …at 4 a.m…..on my way to that APR job. Bob in Pikesville, MD. (6/11/08) Dave's response: I used to enjoy the Bob Peck "Chevy City" jingle on local radio and TV. "Check with Peck before you buy." Wasn't quite as catchy as the "You can be the judge at Tom Hatton Pontiac" jingle, though..... RE: Smooth Jazz 105.9 is Back! - Yeah right. What we really want are the REAL on air personalities and the REAL Sunday Brunch restored. Sadly but expectedly disappointing. JK (6/11/08) One of my fellow posters was complaining here about WMAR-TV's falling short on their tributes to Jim McKay, who worked at WMAR years before his work at ABC. That's far from the truth. WMAR, unlike the other stations in town, covered Mr. McKay's funeral LIVE from the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen for two and a half hours without commercial int eruption. I saw the telecast and it was among the best I have ever seen. It was actually like being there.The wall to wall coverage was equal to what you would see the networks carry for a head of state. The broadcast was so good, it should be submitted next year for Emmy Award consideration. This is coming from someone who has been a critic of WMAR's coverage over the years and their what almost seems like a "who cares about the stinking ratings" posture and attitude for close to 30 years. In this instance, they cared and delivered product that would make Mr. McKay probably blush, but certainly make him proud. WMAR's Sports Director Scott Garceau was excellent with his live interviews of broadcasters Al Michaels, Dick Ebersol, Jackie Stewart and others. His background knowledge professionalism and lifelong preparation placed him high among the greats with his first rate commentary and his interviewing of these giants in the industry. It was very apparent that Al Michaels and Dick Ebersol were appreciative and very impressed with Scott Garceau's thoughtful and insightful questions and prospective. Additionally, WMAR Anchors Kelly Swoope and Christian Schaffer were superb and very much prime-time in their pre and post coverage of the event. Channel 2 should actually consider an encore weekend airing of this presentation, as so many people missed the live 10:30 AM to 1:00 PM coverage during the workday. Channel 2 WMAR-TV was at its best yesterday! (6/11/08) It was WMZQ and WBIG, (not WWDC) that use a combiner and common antenna, which took a hit from lightning that destroyed the lower half of the antenna. Substantial damage was done to the antenna throughout. The entire antenna must come down for evaluation and repair, or replacement. Expect continued reduced power operation while repair options are considered. (6/11/08) Although not unexpected, I’m sad to hear of the passing of Tom Powers. I only met him once or twice, but I know he was a skilled negotiator and quick with a smile to break the ice or ease the tension. I also know he was loved by many and will be deeply missed in the DC media community. (6/11/08) /\ June 11 Messages /\ \/ June 10 Messages \/ NBC once again proving it's become moonbat central. Tonight Olbermann was having multiple orgasms over Dennis Kucinich's call to impeach the President. We're talking Dennis frickin Kucinich. The guy who's repeated presidential campaign's could not garner as many votes as the guy running for local dog catcher. You can't hardly find mention of the story anywhere else yet Olberman and his equally deranged guests act like this idea has appeal and could possibly happen. I say go for it! If in fact their ratings are inching up, I guess I'm a partial contributor. I love to watch a good train wreck just as much as the next guy. (6/10/08) You might want to edit your email response to my WMAR 2 / Jim McKay comments as Jim McKay actually worked for WMAR 2 back when the station first went on the air and was owned by the Baltimore Sun and was possibly the first person ever seen on WMAR2 by Maryland TV viewers. Between whatever footage WMAR has from that period and their connection to get ANY footage from ABC Sports or News, its really inexcusable. (6/10/08) Dave's response: You're right. He did work for WMAR-TV long before he joined ABC. I stand corrected..... This is unbelievable...Peter Rosenberg has been running an underground show on Hot 97 for the past year. He played 50 Cent's record on Sunday and now 50 Cent actually videotaped a threat to have his friends KILL Peter because he gave it a poor review. It's all over the internet! www.rosenbergradio.com... This probably partly stems from when Peter interviewed 50 Cent last year and the interview didn't go so well.... youtube.com... Chris (6/10/08) "Gilbert stresses to DCRTV that, while Snyder will own the stations, he will not be involved in day-to-day programming decisions." What a joke! What an unholy alliance! Does anybody realy think Danny is going to allow criticism of his team,, his decisions, his coaches, his players, let alone himself on RZ? Censorship need not be done solely on a day-to-day basis. You don't even need to call it censorship. Just call it something like "loyalty" or "Team Spirit", or some other bullshit feel-good phrase and put it in your "Mision Statement" or your "Corporate Culture" just once, and that's all you need to do. I call it "Robert Ringer Democracy"... Unsigned Corporate Suit (6/10/08) WMAR's website has no Jim McKay tribute, just 1 news story, 'Nuff said. As his former EMPLOYER, you would expect a LOT MORE! Both WBAL and WJZ have Bob Costas & Katie Couric remembrances of McKay and quite a few print and video stories each. So, yeah, I know the WMAR archival footage might be hard to find, but WMAR 2 REALLY SUCKS no matter how many excuses you come up with. Only FOX45 and MY24 have less or same news about McKay! That's beyond pathetic. Oh, and a note to FOX45... Your website's video news stories are now Mac-incomptibale. Might want to fix that. And as for the best FM signal in DC, I would submit that WETA, even at 75,000 watts is not the best. Sure, in land area maybe, but not in the number of people it reaches since a lot of its 75,000 watts goes into rural areas deep into Virginia, whereas, say, DC101, maybe its closest rival signal-wise, hits more populated areas throughout the Baltimore region way up I-95 and soon even farther into Virginia as Richmond's 101.1 will be moving to 100.9! When that happens, you'll be able to get DC101 along I-95 from near Cecil County, MD (in the Philly market!), all the way down to into the Richmond suburbs! WOW! (6/10/08) Dave's response: Channel 2/WMAR is not owned by ABC. It's owned by Scripps. Actually, most of Jim McKay's ABC TV heritage was seen in Charm City via Channel 13/WJZ, the city's one-time and long-time ABC affiliate..... RE: [ " PBS Shows To Hulu " ]......... Hehe, made me laugh. More people probably watch Carol Joynt's Q & A Cafe via DCRTV.com than watch videos on HULU.com !!! HAHa! Just kinda shows you both how out of touch and a waste of tax payer dollars PBS can be sometimes, you know like when they pay Bill Moyers an ungodly sum of money to argue with Fox News reporters on camera. Funny thing about that story is that I saw it both on The Kim Jung Ill Network (MSNBC) and also on O'Reilly's The Jerk Factor on FNC and Moyers looked bad in BOTH reports. Yet Olbermann continued to smile and gloat like a madman in serious need of lithium while O'Reilly had something bordering on a parapsychologist analyzing the video! HAha! I dislike both shows equally. Only difference is I dislike agreeing with O'Reilly because he's the quintessential pinhead jerk he always calls others while I feel I need my antidepressant med levels possibly adjusted when I agree with Olbermann! HAha! Oh, and I too also have yet to find those 140 CBS Radio stations on AOL Radio, including The Globe, which cannot be easily received around Baltimore or at my home at all. So I'm not sure this has actually happened yet and might just be in the works. I hope so. I'd really like to give The Globe a listen and compare it to Baltimore's new 104.3 WCHH or WRNR. (6/10/08) Can Jim London be found anywhere, or is pleasant radio listening extinct? Ernie (6/10/08) It's probably unrealistic to have expected archival footage of the early days of the late, great Jim McKay's career to be readily available for a broadcast tribute at his funeral. There's undoubtedly a lot of material from his ABC days around, but little if any from his early work in Baltimore. In today's You Tube era of cheap and plentiful video storage, it's easy to forget that once upon a time, recording television was an expensive and rare process, especially at the local station level. It's unlikely that kinescopes would have been made of most live broadcasts, and while remote and news packages would have originated on film, most local stations would have long ago run out of storage space. Even after the advent of videotape, 2" tape stock was expensive and bulky, and was often recycled rather than stored indefinitely - even the networks short-sightedly disp osed on much of it. Some of that early footage may be around, but may not be all that easy to locate quickly. Much of what surfaces today probably comes from the personal collections of performers or production staff who horded the occasional clip for demo reel purposes. (6/10/08) Dave... With the RZ takeover of the CC stations got me thinking about signal strength in the DC area. What would be your top 5 stations for coverage of the DC metro both AM (day & night) and FM band? Thanks Tim (6/10/08) Dave's response: The best AM signal in the DC area would have to be 630. Not the most powerful, but its low dial position and pretty good pattern covers most of the DC metro at night. Runners-up include 1500 and 980, both of which have coverage gaps (particularly in the western suburbs) at night. As for FM, 90.9 would be the best since it's 75,000-watts. But any of the major 50,000-watt inside-the-Beltway signals are equally good - a la 88.5, 89.3, 93.9, 94.7, 95.5, 96.3, 97.1, 98.7, 99.5, 100.3, 101.1, 103.5, 105.1, and 107.3. Also good but a bit more marginal are 90.1, 91.9, 99.1, 102.3, 104.1, 105.9, and 106.7..... To our local TV meteorolgists: If you're showing a still shot of cluster(s) of severe t-storms moving through the area, could you please indicate where the storms are moving towards [i.e. north, north-east, south, south-east]? It would be really nice to know that bit of info. If not, just show a loop and we the viewers can probably figure it out by ourselves. Gracias, -Silvie- (6/10/08) RZ “May” merge the two Sports outlets??? Are you kidding???? They have to merge the two outlets to have any chance of showing a profit. When you add the debt service to the salaries of Riggins and cast, Thompson, Czaben, Andy, Walker and cast and the Redskins 4.5 million dollar rights fee plus beat reporters the math doesn’t work. They would have to bill somewhere around 25 million. Good luck with all that! Good thing we are not in a recession. What a bunch of mooks! (6/10/08) I DON'T miss Alison Starling. Not seeing the Darling of Dull at 5 PM puts a smile on my face and Julie Parker warms my heart! Paul (6/10/08) I just received an e-mail announcing that Smooth Jazz 105.9 is back. You can listen to it on your computer (as I am now) on www.smoothjazz1059.com or on a HD radio receiver @ WJZW-HD2 which is their new high definition radio. (6/10/08) Dave's response: Several folks have forwarded me that particular e-mail promotion. But, Citadel put Smooth Jazz 105.9 (minus the on-air personalities) on the HD2 digital signal of 105.9 on 2/29, when it flipped the main signal to oldies and (soon thereafter) Imus. That's also when Clear Channel's WASH put smooth jazz on its 97.1 HD2 signal. Old news..... I'm an Obama supporter, but... that Chickaboomer ad is really fucking offensive. (6/10/08) It's been good to see WMAR spend the time on the air to give the proper dues to Jim McKay, the first person on Baltimore television airwaves at Ch.2 . Now would someone please make their website article look a bit more professional at this time, by listing his age right as 86 (he would have been 87 in 3 months) and not be crediting Katie Couric as an NBC anchor? (6/10/08) Know anything more on the lightning hit DC 101/WMZQ took on Saturday June 7th? (6/10/08) "Citadel can't sell any of the Disney stations for two years more under their purchase agreement." Wish the purchase agreement had included not being able to fire ME!!! (boo-hoo!) alf (6/10/08) The following was forwarded to DCRTV by someone on Idaho Avenue..... I was heading home to Round Hill from work last Wednesday with you on the radio. I heard the "alert" sound and your wonderful pm radio hosts told me where rotation had been spotted (Berryville), what communities were in the path (Round Hill included) and to take immediate cover. I had no choice but to stop my truck and hunker down. It was a white-out with unbelievable winds rocking the truck. After the storm had passed and I made it home, a tree had fallen on our garage, 2 sections of deck railing were torn off by flying deck furniture and the neighbor's property had 5 or 6 huge pine trees whose tops had been twisted off and thrown through fencing. It may not have been a tornado here but it was powerful and scary. You gave the warning. I heard you. Thank you! (6/10/08) I understand from DCRTV that WMAR televised Jim Mckay's funeral this morning, but like most people, I rarely watch WMAR and missed it. So I'm kind of disappointed that I could find virtually no archival footage of Maryland's VERY FIRST broadcaster who just passed away or the funeral on WMAR 2's website. I was sort of debating in my mind whether WMAR had a fire or something and lost all the old archival tapes or if the WMAR reporters covering the story found out McKay first worked at WMAR from the WJZ or WBAL coverage of the story! You would have thought that WMAR, Maryland's 1st TV station, of all the area stations, would have had the best tribute and have something up on their website about this great broadcasting legend, Maryland native, and 1st Face on Baltimore television! But geez, both WJZ and WBAL had Katie Couric and Bob Costas tributes from their visits to Baltimore & at the funeral on their websites while almost nothing on WMAR's website. WMAR is just so pathetic. :-( PS: To Dave Hughes: I would suggest linking to WBALTV.com or WJZ.com in your "2 To Cover McKay Funeral Live" headline, seriously. (6/10/08) Dave...more stuff from today's memorial for Jim McKay wbal.com (6/10/08) Dave, It dawned on me I hadn't seen anything about these on DCRTV. I think we've all been swamped with McKay stuff. These were given out this past Saturday..... OCEAN CITY, Md. (AP) - The following stations received awards Saturday in Ocean City at the Chesapeake Associated Press Broadcasters Association convention: Baltimore Metro Radio: Spot News Reporting: WBAL-AM, "The Cecil Avenue Fire"... News Series: WBAL, "A Short Walk Home, a Long Journey Ahead"... Coverage of a Continuing Story: WBAL, "The Baltimore Fire Department: A Year of Crisis"... Use of Sound: WBAL, "Beer Man"... Documentary/In-depth: WBAL, "The Road to Cooperstown"... Year-round Local Sports: WBAL... Public Affairs: WBAL, "Neighbors Helping Neighbors"... Enterprise Reporting: WBAL, Anne Kramer, "Trash Talking"... Feature/Human Interest: WBAL, "Briefcase to the Past"... Sports Feature: WBAL, "All Things Ravens".. Specialty Reporting: WBAL, "Rubbing the Toe of the Golden Arm"... Best Newscast: WBAL, "Apr. 5, 2007, 7 a.m. News"... Outstanding Web Site: wbal.com... Outstanding Talk Show: WBAL, "The Shari Elliker Show"... Outstanding News Operation: WBAL... Baltimore Metro TV: Spot News Reporting: WBAL-TV, "Church Fire"... News Series: WBAL, "Tracking Down Landlords"... Coverage of a Continuing Story: WJZ-TV, "Virginia Tech Massacre"... Documentary/In-depth: WBAL, "Africa's Maryland"... Year-round Local Sports: WBFF-TV... Weathercast: WBFF, Steve Fertig... Public Affairs: WBAL, "Silent Summer Danger: Rip Currents"... Enterprise Reporting: WBAL, Barry Simms, Joyce Karp, Greg Marsh and Ken Brown Jr., "Michael K. Lewis"... Feature/Human Interest: WMAR-TV, "Baltimore's Wild Side"... Sports Feature: WBFF, "Ray's Workout"... Television Photography: WBFF, Sean Filburn... Specialty Reporting: WBAL, "Medical Alert with Donna Hamilton"... Best Newscast: WBAL, "11 News at 6"... Outstanding Web Site: wbaltv.com... Outstanding News Operation: WBAL... Washington Metro Radio: Spot News Reporting: WTOP-AM/FM, "Sean Taylor Shooting"... News Series: WTOP, "Napa Valley Next Door"... Coverage of a Continuing Story: WTOP, "The Virginia Tech Tragedy"... Use of sound: WTOP, "D.C. Rollergirls"... Documentary/In-depth: WAMU-FM, "Immigration Stories"... Year-round Local Sports: WTOP... Editorial or Commentary: WTWP-AM, "Virginia Tech: The Day After"... Public Affairs: WTOP, "Killer Commute"... Enterprise Reporting: WTOP, Mark Segraves, "Perks of Power"... Feature/Human Interest: WTOP, "98 Degrees, 88 Keys"... Sports Feature: WTOP, "Agent Zero"... Specialty Reporting: (tie) WTOP, "Man About Town"; WTOP, "Spraw