Current Mailbag - Mailbag Archive Index - DCRTV Front Page - Support DCRTV DCRTV Mailbag - May 21 to June 2, 2010 Latest messages listed first..... \/ June 2 Messages \/ Did anyone else completely lose the ESPN 980 signal tonight? The 92.7 frequency was taken over by Wave 92.7 The Wave (Country?) and the only way to pick up 980 was AM. Dan, throw a couple of bucks at a new transmitter! Sheesh! (6/2/10) I was in Beast Buy a couple of days ago and almost bit on something which caught my eye… An FM-only HD radio “tuner/adapter” for $39.00! Is it the POS I’m expecting it to be? Or, is it more like my XM “Roady2”??? Some comments from users would be appreciated. Yes, I believe HD has no business on AM. On FM, there might be a place, if marketed properly. But, I also have a Sony SRF-A100 and an SRF-A1 in my “collection”. (Pity I didn’t buy the Sansui “Amax” component receiver I was tempted to buy!) –Unsigned Corporate Suit (6/2/10) I know it's not politically correct, but I don't like watching Craig Melvin and his girlfriend on WRC TV4's news. Been a lifelong fan of that broadcast but have switched to ABC7. (6/2/10) Tommy (McFly) was on Let's talk Live today...and the host was on his show tonight. (6/2/10) I don't think Chad has a contract with CBS so he can do what he damn well wants! Screw the suits! Maybe Big O and D will smite them!!! (6/2/10) Great news about Ron Weber! He, perhaps more than any other person, laid the seeds which have now sprouted with DC area Caps hockey. Pollin treated the Caps as the red-headed step child, but Weber was Mr. Caps longer than anyone. Most importantly, he tought many of us the sport during the team's early years and made the Caps fun to follow on radio even when they were awful. He was treated horribly by Pollin and Susan O'Malley in the end and I still don't think the franchise has really recognized its debt to him. I think a Ron Weber "night" at a Caps game next season is way overdue. How about it Leonsis? (6/2/10) Chad Dukes does the Mike O’Meara Show tomorrow. I wonder what the suits are thinking about this? I can’t wait to hear the old JFK guys together. OOBBEE (6/2/10) WLZL in the top 10, The Bay beats 98Rock & YPR beats both? I think the world is coming to an end... Or maybe just some people are finally getting tired of hearing the same old Classic rock & newer rock played daily over and over on 98Rock. For having to the ability to dig deep into classic, alternative, and modern rock 98Rock's play list is extremely bland & boring. I could understand if they had realistic competition from a Rock or Alternative station for the listenership (Channel 104.3 was so half assed programmed they don't even count) so they had to watch what music they played. Mickey, Ameila & Spiegel are worth listening to all four hours daily. Though after they sign off I waste no time changing the station, and I love alternative rock & newer rock music. As for the post about WTTR, they play great music but it has too much of a local Westminster & Carroll County feel to it to make it into the actual Baltimore metro market, not to mention the signal probably doesn't even make it to Owings Mills or much further than that. WLIF could really use some competition on the FM dial from a Classic Hits station with some solid DJ's, and while it could probably be very successful it won't ever happen. Still I just hold out hope that someday the great Alternative HFS music found on 94.7 HD2 finds a way to a main FM signal so I can listen in my car on my standard better than aftermarket radio, but I won't hold my breath on that one. Chris in Hanover, PA (6/2/10) Is there anywhere to find out how many people actually have and HD-capatible radio? Also, are the DC area CBS owned radio stations making money? Who is the top dog as far as making money in DC? -Pete (6/2/10) Dave's response: Oh, if you have a major FM commercial license in DC you're making money. Now, are you making as much money as the suits back at Corporate HQ want you to be making? Probably not. WTOP is far and away the top ad revenue radio biller in the DC market. I have no idea what the HD Radio penetration rate is among all radio owners/listeners, but I don't think it's too great..... Tom Gavin - I give credit to this man for overcoming the perils of mental illness to become what he has today. A legend at WEBR that others like Rusty Gibson should admire. AHHHH (6/2/10) I thought WBIS was going silent and WAGE would move to 1190. Now I'm not hearing anything about that. Does that mean WAGE will remain at 1200 kHz? KOF (6/2/10) I wouldn't bet on WAGE having main studios at Crimmins Lane - your main studio needs to be within 25 miles of your city of license. Crimmins Lane falls just outside, it is 27.6 air miles from the "official post office" of Leesburg, VA. (6/2/10) Yes there is little relationship between Ms. Brown's hair color and Ms. Starling perhaps going to an anchor slot in the evening, just some non-linear thought on my part. I imagine doing a morning and then evening slot is a bear. I could have sworn I saw a John Waters interview within last year in which he talked about living in San Francisco these days. But he does have a book to sell. He is quite the self promotional devil ain't he. Does John Waters have a protege? Someone new and fresh on the film scene to direct Pink Flamingoes II? Did Don Geronimo turn down a chance to work with Delilah over who got to play the wind chimes? Did Don Geronimo really make fat comments about the Gore's on his Tweet page? Ah Donnie G. just being forever hypocritcally teen. Rock on daddio! Did you hear Tom Gavin's on Facebook. Won't you be his friend? (6/2/10) "ZBA Bests IYY - 6/2 - Holy crap! Classic rock WZBA, The Bay, nudges ahead of active rock WIYY, 98 Rock..." - and Public Radio station WYPR actually beats them both?!?! (6/2/10) More on today's vote regarding WAGE... www.loudouni.com (6/2/10) I actually have John Water's Pink Flamingos on DVD, in one scene if you look very close for a few seconds one can spot a WLPL-FM billboard promoting Gary "more music" Michaels in the background. Speaking of Waters, doesn't the Baltimore TV stations have this love/hate relationship with John Waters? A few years back I was watching LOGO one night and they had this interview with one of the "gay bears" from Waters' "A Dirty Shame". If I remember correctly he had mentioned that WBFF-TV FOX 45 was supposed to be featured in the scene where Johnny Knoxville had his "climax" but Sinclair had said NO at the last minute also a reference to Captain Chesapeake in the same movie was vetoed by Sinclair as well. And the scene of the bears den where the gay men hanged out having their "bear soup" in A Dirty Shame, according to the LOGO interview John Waters had at first wanted to shoot that scene in Manassas only to get a letter from Prince William County Republican senator Bob Marshall saying more/less "...HELL NO..not in my backyard you don't !!". I wonder if that was true? (6/2/10) The COMCAST Xfinity brand and the DTV cable conversion is based on a premise that is a FRAUD in and of itself. There is no technical reason that the QAM channels need to be encrypted, encryption doesn't save any bandwidth, nor is there any technical reason that anyone should need a converter box and COMCAST remote. Satellite is different, it's over the air, it has to be encrypted because anyone can receive it. VERIZON FIOS has no excuse either technically but at least that's how they initially rolled it out and advertised it as. So basically, the only ADVANTAGE COMCAST HAD over VERIZON FIOS & all the other services, DISH, DIRECTV, is now GONE, and that advantage was that you could hook a cable ready HDTV set up from BEST BUY up to the cable and it would just work and get all the basic cable channels with YOUR OWN HDTV's remote control. NOW THAT ADVANTAGE IS GONE. And VERIZON FIOS is STILL FASTER than Xfinity which is just a brand name, not a faster speed or really any more channels. The VERIZON commercial with the cable guy picking up the cable box to me is hysterical because it sums up why Xfinity is a joke. COMCAST screwed over their own customers, there's just no other way to describe it. So I intend to switch to VERIZON now. COMCAST screwed up. It's just that simple. (6/2/10) Dave's response: Hey, if Verizon's Fios served my multi-unit condo building, I'd be leaving Comcast, too..... Hitman - So happy to see you back on television and GM'ing Monday Night Raw! AHHHHH (6/2/10) Dave- I saw that you reported it, I was just surprised there wasn't more reaction over it in the mailbag. As for an O & Dukes reunion I don't see why they would attempt to do that since Lavar is the headliner. As for Kevin and Rock, they filled in for Rohland Monday and announced they would be on again soon filling in on the weekdays. All I can say about those two is; they are a different breed. Nothing to get excited about if CBS decided to keep Wise around however. Great decision.- NYC Suit (6/2/10) Dave, is it me or was the news that Mike Wise was re-upped with "The Fan"not big enough news on your site? Perhaps The holiday weekend caused everyone to glaze over it? They wouldn't dare leave things the same for another year would they? -NYC Suit (6/2/10) Dave's response: You musta missed it..... JFK Re-Signs Wise - 5/29 - DCRTV has told you that a number of key talent contract for CBS's sports talk WJFK, 106.7 The Fan, are coming due this summer, with the new format's one year anniversary. Now, we're hearing rumblings that Mike Wise has been re-signed and will continue doing middays with Holden Kushner. Most likely, Lavar Arrington will also be back for afternoons, we're told, but still no word yet about Chad Dukes. And we assume that there'll be no changes in mornings with the Junkies. More soon..... You asked for it. (And YouTube delivers, as always...) NSFW (6/2/10) So WAGE gets the approval for new towers? GOOD! Somewhere in Walkersville MD, the entire Birach clan is kicking the legs of the WDMV towers, yelling "Damn damn damn damn!!!" after multiple failed attempts to put up some new sticks in Damascus. HA! (6/2/10) I don't remember John Waters ever showing anyone actually defecating in his movies, maybe my memory is bad. I know he showed a live take of someone eating shit in the one movie. It was shot without any editing to prove it actually happened and yes someone actually ate it off the ground. My favorite John Waters scene of all time though is in Serial Mom, when actress Kathleen Turner pushes a window AC unit out of the window to kill former WBAL TV 11 movie critic Doug Roberts because he had food stuck in his teeth! It's just sooooo Bawlamer hon! LOL (6/2/10) Dave's response: Right, it was someone eating poop. Dog poop, I think. And, yeah, "Serial Mom" is one the funniest movies of all time. Lots of Baltimore media vets in it, and plenty of WHFS plugs, particularly at the end at the old Hammerjacks. And you'll never think of "Annie" the same way again after seeing it..... I am not sure how Pamela Brown's hair color says anything about Alison Starling's shot at the 5 PM anchor desk but it would seem that if declining ratings for GMW is the issue at WJLA then her chances would be slim. Ms. Starling did double duty for about a year and was passed over. While I enjoy her as an anchor I suspect it is even less likely now that she will move to 5 PM. (6/2/10) Don Geronimo, who's kind of a fat, unattractive load himself, Tweets this about Tipper & Al's breakup: "In all seriousness, who would want to do either of them? They're identical from the neck down. D-I-V-O-R-C-E" (6/2/10) While some mailbaggers might think Comcast "sucks" as it rolls out its World of More, I'm getting impatient for its arrival in the valley. Are they doing something different in Baltimore than anywhere else? As far as I can tell from the Internets, they are providing one regular box and two DTAs for free because its worth more to Comcast to spend that money and make a little more dough (d'oh) off me with my DVR and HDTV. Where do you want to go? Dish? Need boxes. DirecTv? Ditto. FiOS? Oh wait, not in Baltimore, but if it was, you'd need boxes. We're out here in the former Adelphia area, so we have to wait for Cisco/Scientific Atlanta to roll out its DTAs. And I'm sure there will be a lot of complaints when that happens. But right now, I'm pretty sure I won't be one of the complainers. Charles in Winchester (6/2/10) Dave's response: Comcast has completed the digital conversion thingo at all of its systems that use Motorola boxes, and is now moving to switch over its systems that use Scientific Atlanta boxes. Reston was the first area SciAtl system converted. With Arlington, Alexandria, Howard, Baltimore city, Prince William, and many of the former Adelphia systems in Northern Virginia next in line. But there are still no cheap little "DTA" devices for those who currently lack digital boxes via SciAtl systems, so you'll be getting a full-fledged digital converter (a la the Explorer 2200) at a temporary discount for that analog-only set in the bedroom in order to make the conversion..... Was cruising around last evening enjoying the weather and music on the radio, when 94.7's HD2 and both DC101's HD1 and HD2 were all playing that "angry, thrashing yelling guys" format that I don't care for. So reluctantly I hit the button for 105.9 and immediately heard the notes of one of those damn Boston songs. ARRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!! Robert, Arlington (6/2/10) When it comes to your obsession over Don Geronimo, just remember one thing, Paul - WWCGD? (6/2/10) The new news guy at WNAV apparently also ships audio files to co-owned WTTR for playout in their afternoon newscasts. I've heard him on both stations. The music format on both stations is bland, just like Sajak. But both stations, especially WNAV with its bigger signal, could acquire advertising revenue away from community newspapers if these stations made a substantial, prolonged effort to do local news. I don't think WTTR's audience can be covered from Annapolis, but with a local presence around Carroll County it could be done. In both cases it would take at least a couple years to convince local merchants they should spend money on radio advertising rather than weekly newspapers or junk mail. It is also nice to hear WBAL in the mornings doing a real news block. That guy Bill Vanko is an ace writer and knows how to deliver in a conversational way, unlike other news stations I previously listened to. (6/2/10) On New York Social Diary today, my take on Tipper and Al: www.nysocialdiary.com (6/2/10) The Wash Post print edition had a pic and article this morning about Sir Paul McCartney being in town. I am always happy to have him back in the burg that launched their incredible American journey, and I hope he had a chance to drive by the old Coliseum just for old times' sake. But I have to say, at nearly 70 years of age, its time for him to either lose the hair weave or go with one more age-appropriate. It is really starting to look artificial and incongruous. You don't have to be The Cute One anymore, Paul - it's OK. (6/2/10) Why is WTOP.com boycotting the Centreville day labor situation currently underway? For crying out loud, it even got an editorial in the Post yesterday! (6/2/10) I too wonder about the latest news regarding Don Juan Geronimo. He goes back to work for the company that kept him off the air for 2 years? And in a small market(does KHTK factor into ratings for San Francisco or too far away?) 3,000 miles from his home. I just find the move curious like Larry from the corner. I do find Senor Geronimo most entertaining in a radioland that is deadly dull these days but was hoping he'd land a job in the D.C./Baltimore area. Pleasant surprise to this viewer's eyes this morn as I turned on channel 7 in the AM for first time in a month, uh-oh. Pamela Brown has finally decided on a permanent new hair color , thumbs up. Does this forebode more change for the morning show at channel 7 with Alison Starling moving to an evening anchor slot? Is the doug Hill Weather Mobile in mothballs? How come the Spork Junkies have most of their guests in the latter part of their show all the time? They have a hard time pulling in guests before the 8 am hour? Any rumors of the suits at CBS radio in N.Y. seriously thinking of a week day slot for Kevin and Rock on WJFK Duh Fan? A Big O and Dukes reunion? Come on CBS suits they talked enough sports to make it feasible on a sports talker and yet provide more guy talk stuff for those who bore from all the blah blah blah sports talk. (6/2/10) Dave's response: Yeah, you probably can hear KHTK in San Francisco (daytime plot at radio-locator.com), but I don't think it gets any significant ratings in the Bay Area..... Hitman & Company live on Ustream. h.c.r. herald harbor,md. (6/2/10) I know you know more about this clear channel brawl. Post it, this is the best news story of the year. There's nothing like middle manager on middle manager violence and it is so under-reported. Awesome scoop. I want the full skinny... Great job. (6/2/10) To John T. Henneman: Only 1 problem with that WTTR 1470 prediction... the radio signal does not even reach the Baltimore city line! WTTR Signal Plot... Speaking of Pat Sajak though, I've wondered why he hasn't expanded WNAV AM 1430's signal, at least daytime from its current 5000 watts. If I'm not mistaken at least a couple regional AM 1430's have fallen by the wayside over the last 5 years or so. Should have some signal improvement wiggle room now. (6/2/10) Hey Dave, Went to work today and not a word about us loosing the free stuff (for Comcast employees). If they do that they'll have a riot on their hands. I'll keep you posted if I hear anything... (6/2/10) Dave's response: I dunno. It came from a biggie within the company. Maybe they changed their policy after the bad press they got here on DCRTV. Ha ha ha..... /\ June 2 Messages /\ \/ June 1 Messages \/ Hey Dave, I know that I'm sick & twisted but I found the Fox 5 Gurvir Dhindsa misidentification to be hysterical. Dean in SOMD (6/1/10) Kuhner is tinfoil hat crazy. Art Bell laughs and says "Dude you are waaaaaay out there!" The good thing about Kuhner going to 5 PM; we don't have to hear his filling in for Jerry Doyle. The bad thing about it is that he was the best fill host Jerry Doyle had (not saying much). Doyle's fill ins suck. today was Dwight Schultz....that's right...Murdock from the A-Team. Whatever else youelse you wanna say about Rush, Hannity and Levin, at least their fill ins are (with the exception of Tom Marr and Mark Belling) generally listenable. (6/1/10) Only thing loonier than the Kuhner show this afternoon on WTNT was the commercial log -- the 5:30 break contained two spots for "Ovaltine Hot", which featured kids coming home after a day in the snow to mugs of steaming hot Ovaltine. Call me a stickler for detail, but wouldn't that be more appropriate for February than a 90-degree day? (6/1/10) Interesting to note that would-be “Climate Czar” Al Gore and would-be “Pop-Culture and Public Good Taste Czarina” Tipper Gore are splitting. In honor of this event, I’ve got to see if I can download to my iPod one of my favorite songs dedicated to a political personality, “Ode to Tipper Gore”, by Warrant. –Unsigned Corporate Suit (6/1/10) Alan Christian was at WBAL for several years, then jumped to WFBR and was replaced by...Joe Lombardo. When WFBR changed formats, Christian tried to start his own "Maryland Radio Network" and got into big trouble for selling stock in it without the proper licenses, registration, or anything. While Les Kinsolving then reappeared at WCBM with Tom Marr and Lombardo, Christian never came back from that debacle. At least that's what this outsider remembers, along with a memory of seeing Alan in the waiting room at my dentist wearing his WFBR blazer one time. Howie (6/1/10) Anyone have a guess why WBAL Radio keeps attributing to a website, Investigative Voice, a report of a tenth weekend homicide in Baltimore rather than call police and actually confirm it? Is there a "special relationship" between WBAL and the website? Do they get paid for advertising the website? Is it laziness? Bob A. in Pikesville, MD. (6/1/10) I too saw the caption this morning on FOX Morning news identifying the Al-Quida leader who was killed as Gurvir Dhindsa and just shook my head and laughed...Who in the heck is doing the editing at that station?..This isn't the first time they've had the incorrect name under a picture or incorrect location under a picture of someplace.. (6/1/10) Who's this Don Geronimo fella? (6/1/10) Pretty sure Alan Christian was on WBAL AM. If he was on FM, I don't remember. My dad used to listen to him all the time in the car. He had a very unforgettable voice. I never understood what they were talking about since I was a kid, but I still can't get that voice out of my head. LOL He was kinda the Ron Smith of that era, a voice of reason. (6/1/10) ("Dave's response: I pretty much let folks talk about what they want to talk about here in the Mailbag. Do you, Trent, want to apply for the job of Official DCRTV Mailbag Censor? It's open, no pay, though.....) Have to agree with this comment. What is the obsession with these two guys that have not been on the air in ages (Don and Mike)? Folks aren't talking about them..you are! And the only time folks talk about them is when you bring them up. Who cares if they are getting some snivling spot in sacramento. Let SMFRTV report about them. It really comes off as creepy stalker type. (6/1/10) Fox Morning News Mistake - Check out the Chyron (6/1/10) Within the next Year: Under Bob Mathers and his outstanding staff and sound WTTR AM 1470 will be the number 3 AM radio station in the Metro Baltimore ratings. In other words only WBAL AM and WCBM AM will have higher ratings on the AM band within the next year if not sooner. Well deserved Bob. John T. Henneman (6/1/10) So long as WUSA demands me to fill out their obnoxious survey every freaking time I try to read something on their website, I will be an 11-year-old Mexican boy. I hope others will follow suit. (6/1/10) "Do you, Trent, want to apply for the job of Official DCRTV Mailbag Censor?" --Sign us up for this gig, Dave. -TOGS (6/1/10) RE: Hitman and Company. So, I guess Bill started bouncing checks, again! Good to see that Hitman is able to move on. So, from what I've heard, Bill has lost two people in the past 30 days. The hits just keep on comin'. (6/1/10) Thank you for printing and responding to my mail. However Dave I must take umbrage with your words, "I pretty much let folks talk about what they want to." Doesn't make your nameplate as EDITOR any less. You select the mailbag items to run. YOU have the issues with Geronimo. Please don't hide behind PLB or whomever is writing the poison pen letters. That hurts your credibility when I look at DCRTV.com to find out real news items. Signed, Trent Robinson REAL NAME: Bill Roshental (6/1/10) Dave's response: I try not to edit the Mailbag at all. Obviously, if something is grossly tasteless or offensive, I will trash stuff. But if some posters want to slam or praise Don, who is back in the news again, why not - Trent, er Bill..... Re "I am issuing an open challenge to this AHHHH submitter. Here's the deal...." Here's the real deal, you love to feed the trolls. The only salient thing about your post is the tacit admission that AHHHH has figured out how to tug on your short hairs with great effect. There will be no Open Challenge, and that dim light bulb floating above your head only confirms you haven't been reading the Mailbag for long. If you don't like the incessant babble about the fortunes of a washed-up local DJ, just scroll on by. (6/1/10) Count me in as ready, willing, and able to listen to the great Donnie G. via podcast from Sacramento, or the moon, for that matter. Donnie G. reading the phone book would be funnier than Mike O'Meara with his entire cast of sycophants and a freakin' circus. As for AHHHHH (however many H's he prefers), who gives a damn? Says a lot about this market that my local radio experience can be so drastically improved by somebody coming back 3,000 miles away. Sincerely, TMU (6/1/10) Why are you, Dave so obsessed with Don Geronimo? Beyond any actual radio news he is making -and none IN DC-, why do you as editor choose to print one person's personal vendetta? It says much about your credibility, and any your actual site may have. Please answer seriously. I am interested in actual media events, not your own personal obsession with a former market personality. Signed, Trent Robinson (6/1/10) Dave's response: I pretty much let folks talk about what they want to talk about here in the Mailbag. Do you, Trent, want to apply for the job of Official DCRTV Mailbag Censor? It's open, no pay, though..... "HitmanAndCompany" morning show with JJ "Hitman" McKay and Glenn L. Martin hit the air this morning 6-9am on www.ustream.tv/hitmanandcompany "live" from Ocean City, Maryland - The Hitman and Company Inter-NET-work is streaming Classic/Modern Rock HITS.....24/7 - ref: KHZ in OC, They have left the building and wish Bill and his crew all the best. If you missed the first show go to ustream and watch the podcast. Thanks Dave and the folks at DCRTV for always keeping the folks informed and up to date on the Eastern Shore radio movements...JJ "Hitman" McKay Ocean City, Maryland (6/1/10) CNN signed on 30 years ago today... (6/1/10) I am issuing an open challenge to this AHHHH submitter. Here's the deal, and Dave, it involves you. AHHHH, explain to the mailbag readers, in full detail, why you have this ghoulish, Carl Grossman like obsession with Michael Sorce/Don Geronimo. And don't BS us, most here can sense it. If you fully explain your creepy, nonsensical anti-Sorce babble WITH your true identity, then I vote you stay on this island. Fail to give a viable explanation and identity and I think your days of silly, obsessive post are over on this site. Dave, I understand it's your site with your rules and policies, but I implore you to follow through on this open challenge. (6/1/10) Don Geronimo - Another bumber ass "Spray-tanned guidos on the Jersey Shore have nothing on me. The DGS." AHHHH (6/1/10) Nice to hear: Dave Brown is back on WT-Opie... (6/1/10) /\ June 1 Messages /\ \/ May 31 Messages \/ What happened to Alan Christian on WCBM AM and FM radio long ago???? rob (5/31/10) WICO-FM picks up Sean Hannity Tuesday June 1st. He had aired on WQMR in Snow Hill. (5/31/10) Just like as predicted on DCRTV: BINGO! COMCAST deleted the CSPAN/MASN2 digital overflow QAM channel in Baltimore County, so no O's / Nats in that bedroom for the rest of the summer unless I go get a converter box. Thank You Comcast. YOU SUCK! (5/31/10) "The TEM shows allow the non-pure sports content that makes radio local work." That's what I don't get - the format's called sports talk radio so you'd think the core audience for ESPN 980 and 106.7 The Fan would be the hardcore sports fans of the DC area. So why do two shows (Tony Kornheiser and the Junkies) that intepret the format very loosely get the highest ratings? One plausible explanation is that it's all about built-in loyalties to established brand names in this market - a lot of Kornheiser's listeners must be casual sports fans (or non-fans) who only tune in WTEM when he's on the air and don't necessarily hang around for Sports Fix and the other shows on the station (ditto for the Junkies on WJFK). Speaking of off-sports discussions, someone needs to inform 980's Steve Czaban regarding the true meaning of Memorial Day. On last Friday's Sports Reporters, he told listeners to think about the US troops currently serving in the war zones as well as veterans of previous wars on this holiday weekend but neglected to say anything about the soldiers who've paid the ultimate price. Come to think of it, that's indicative of a widespread misinterpretation of the holiday that a lot of media outlets seem to be guilty of these days. Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) was created specifically as a solemn day of observance in tribute to fallen American soldiers - it's not supposed to be about shout-outs to servicemen and women deployed overseas right now (which you can do anytime during the year) or honoring living war veterans (for which there's a separate national holiday in November). Mike, Fairfax (5/31/10) Did WMAL support Lynndie England or VP Cheney? Did WMAL support the Marine Core Band, or slam their policies? Did WMAL support our troops or act as a catalyst in sending them to a war under pretenses of lies? Did WMAL support complaining troops, or call them "phony soldiers?" Did WMAL support our troops or slam a family, after losing two in Iraq, for asking the DoD not to send their daughter there with her National Guard division? Did WMAL support our troops or minimize the issues at Walter Reed? Did WMAL support our troops or support a junk D Graded "charity" designed to fly Sean Hannity around the country in private luxury jets? Did WMAL ever mention President Obama donated $200,000.00 to Fisher House? On this Memorial Day, stop and think about the hardships our troops and their families went through or are going through, thank them in person or in your heart, write a check to the DAV (not that sham Hannity shills for), and remember how WMAL loves war, but hates our troops. (5/31/10) Re: "Toledo Sickens Brian Wilson" -- Are my eyes deceiving me or does program director Brian Wilson www.dcrtv.com/bwilson.jpg look like onetime FoxNews DC bureau chief Brian Wilson ? www.freewilliamsburg.com (5/31/10) DCRTV READERS: Don't buy new bedding. Don't buy a new gas grill. Today, Monday, starting at 2PM, its the 2010 National Memorial Day Parade right through the center of Washington. Presented by the American Veterans Center - the parent organization of the Radio America Network. It'll be on cable TV, but it's much better in person. (5/31/10) RE: [Aside from calling me a dumb broad, you really didn't answer any of the scenarios I listed, Jeff.-Silvie] Don't feel slighted, Hon...it is just that none of the scenarios you dreamed up had any basis whatsoever in reality. Oh, and I have never called you a dumb "broad". That term is far too sexist. I have on occasion called your cognitive abilities and/or sanity into question, but I still love 'ya Sil...you amuse me. However...let's face facts; you are a loyal Chris Plante listener. Let me correct that...you are THE loyal Chris Plante listener. Unless your interaction here at DCRTV is part of some sort of long-term performance art masterpiece in-progress, it appears you actually believe in the excrement that oozes out of Plante's noxious pie-hole on a daily basis. That fact alone certainly provides enough evidence for any reasonable person to form an opinion regarding your intelligence and general sanity. - Jeff in (Laurs Ingraham? Really?) Bowie (5/31/10) 2 FRAMED WAYE AM 860 RADIO STATION PROMO ADS CHRIS EMRY - ebay.com (5/31/10) I've noticed that when Tony Perkins is off, Gurvir and Tucker have NO time whatsoever for Julie Wright's chit chat..The other day, she started with some small talk and Gurvir cut her off pretty much midstream with a "What's the traffic like today?"..And I've heard Tucker make some sarcastic remarks when introducing her after he does his weather segment. (5/31/10) I had to laugh when I read that the Post was going to charge for the TV Guide because not only do they want to charge, the copy I received was for Anne Arundel, Prince Georges and Howard County..Well, I live in D.C. and the cable channels are NOT the same.. (5/31/10) I thought that something was going on and had to log on to this site to find out for myself. Just as I feared, Don Geronimo is coming back on the air. I knew that Paul must have been consumed by something the last week or so. These old pictures of Ann Margaret and Angie Dickinson were doing nothing for me. - Paul's libido. (5/31/10) WOW! Many mail-baggers must not be near a restroom wall to vent their inadequacies! If you could be on DCRTV for real, you would be! Your idle criticisms are really bizarre, childish, and moronic! If you really HATE someone, tune to another station! Specifically what's up with the KIM MARTUCCI hating moron? Call Ch 4 if you really have a beef and if you have the BALLS! Channel 4 is number one for a reason...they hire the best talent in the market...and guess what...they hired Martucci! She's funny and friendly...and she knows her weather! The AQH Listener (5/31/10) /\ May 31 Messages /\ \/ May 30 Messages \/ Dukies.....It's not you we hate. It’s the new format: Same old classic rock lead ins, CBS handcuffs, Lavar, ect. It is also making me turn off my Junks some mornings. The TEM shows allow the non-pure sports content that makes radio local work. In fact, I would like to see you not get signed so that you can creatively be you somewhere else. The comments last week by the MOS about you were honest, so un-corporate and refreshing. Could you reciprocate on air? I don’t think so. Wike Mise is a bore. Just afternoon filler that is cheap for CBS. Not a lead in anyone would want. Actually, the rock and whoever on the weekend would be a better lead in than Mike Slice. I know how hard you work to get Lavar to make an opinion that makes sense. Sometimes, it is down right uncomfortable hearing you try to do radio with him. I am worried about your guns!!!! He is mailing it in like JT2. You finally have the dream spot you always wanted but no freedom and a linebacker anchor around your neck. It must be killing you. They would be nuts to leave Lavar on his own or with some of the “talent” at JFK. OOBBEE (5/30/10) "I know if you are under the skin of people in the mailbag then clearly you are becoming a real player in the local media market." --LaDawn...that's not entirely true. Paul Bicknell has been getting under the skin of mailbag readers for ages and he hasn't been a "real player" in local media for damn 30 years. Signed, The Catalyst (5/30/10) My wife watches the Bachelor on {ABC?} She said there was a wrestler on there called Rated R Superstar. I looked it was not the right one. I can't believe WWE owner Vince McMahon who trademarks and copyrights everything will let this show get away with this. Maybe ABC should do a background check on the people on their show. (5/30/10) This just in...Paul L. Bicknell (aka Davy Jones) is AHHHHH....That is all. (5/30/10) Re: "Toledo Sickens Brian Wilson" - Are my eyes deceiving me or does Program Directror Brian Wilson look like Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys? www.dcrtv.com/bwilson.jpg vs. www.brianwilson.com... (5/30/10) Looks like XM is “giving it away for free” again. Only the music channels, though. And, no idea for how long. Last time they did this, it was Thanksgiving until New Years Day. -Unsigned Corporate Suit (5/30/10) Don Geronimo - His self-serving tweets on Memorial Day weekend. "Keep your bumpers comin all wknd, gang! email me! DonGeronimoShow@gmail.com RELEASE THE HOUNDS!!! How about this one pal "The fucker is never moving here. The DGS." AHHHH (5/30/10) (In response to the posting -- so happy to see that picture of Ladawn gone from your advertising page. It was creepin' me out...) -- Thank you so much for noticing the ad. Clearly it did what it was suppose to do. Also, thanks for placing me in the DCRTV mailbag. I have been reading the site for years and I know if you are under the skin of people in the mailbag then clearly you are becoming a real player in the local media market. Woohoo! Much Love - LaDawn Black (5/30/10) DCRTV READERS: Don't buy a new couch. Don't buy a new car. Today, Sunday, May 30, from 8:00 to 9:30 pm ET [check local listings] The 2010 National Memorial Day Concert. Live on PBS from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol. In High Definition! (5/30/10) Anybody have an idea what is going on at Baltimore's Jack FM? They have had a mono signal with no audio since at least 1:45? Kind of odd.... Nevermind. At 2:13 Jack returned to 102.7. (5/30/10) Dave's response: Maybe they're doing some tests for Rush Radio..... New website design for HFS at www.whfs.com - Also, Jerry Hoyt is now DJing M-F from Noon to 5 (5/30/10) Aside from calling me a dumb broad, you really didn't answer any of the scenarios I listed, Jeff. Oh well. In the spirit of keeping this post media-related, I'll end it with a joke, as heard on the Laura Ingraham Radio Show on Friday. Here it goes: Malia Obama: “Daddy, have you plugged the hole yet?” President Obama: “No Sweetheart, we haven’t been able to shut up Rep. Sestak yet!” -Silvie- (5/30/10) Hopefully [deleted] and [deleted] were not involved in that CC D.C. brawl since they are the two top execs there. Can we say that someone will be jobless. (5/30/10) RE: [Someone should send Jeff in Bowie a Glenn Beck-inspired blackboard so that he can make his points in a more clear & concise manner. If Dems feel that President Reagan did something wrong, then let them call for an independent investigation alongside an independent investigation of the Obama administration in all of this. If they say that the Obama admin. did nothing wrong, then what's their beef with Reagan? - Silvie] Silvie, to quote Chris Matthews, "You are a beautiful lady, but if you concentrate, I am sure you can keep up.". We don't need a blackboard to see the obvious, hon. Sestak was nothing but politics as usual, and it is obvious that the plethora of WMAL radio hosts are singing harmony with the tea party chorus in a silly and desperate attempt to whip the Sestak story into some sort of a tempest in a teacup [pun intended], but simply put,their dilemma is that there is no "there" there. My point is, if the Rightie-Con pundits on WMAL really feel in the bottoms of their hearts that it is an impeachable crime for Obama to have horse-traded in the PA race, then they should also freely admit that it was clearly a high crime and impeachable offense when Saint Ronald of Simi Valley broke the code even worse in the CA race where his daughter was a candidate. My personal feeling is it was politics as usual in both cases, and this is just another instance of rightie-talk "It's okay if you are a republican" mentality. I'm only pointing out the hypocrisy, darling. Hope you understand now. - Jeff in (My hometown is 70 I.Q. points higher than Waldorf) Bowie (5/30/10) Someone should send Jeff in Bowie a Glenn Beck-inspired blackboard so that he can make his points in a more clear & concise manner. If Dems feel that President Reagan did something wrong, then let them call for an independent investigation alongside an independent investigation of the Obama administration in all of this. If they say that the Obama admin. did nothing wrong, then what's their beef with Reagan? Can't have it both ways, Toots. If they then say that Obama, like Reagan, should not have an independent investigation started on him, then Dems should defend Obama against an independent investigation being conducted on his administration and not attack Reagan. Obama himself destroyed the Dems defense of “everyone does it” when he stated officially that “Nothing improper took place” with or by his administration concerning Sestak and the contacts made with him. And don't even get me started on Lyndon Baines Johnson! [Dave, I know this is not a media-related post - just wanted to reply back on this. Gracias!] -Silvie- (5/30/10) So, the usual crowd of Don Geronimo's "friends" are here poking at his announced move to Sacramento. Fun reading! One question: do you honestly believe everything you hear on a radio show? You know, the whole "they hated Sacramento" thing. I used to work in the market, and I can tell you that the show was very popular there. D&M had the younger male demos locked up in middays. A talk show host on the news/talk station had the older male demos. Even Robbay LOVED the show's success in Sacramento, "Sacramento Dance" and all. They were rock stars at the height of their popularity, and it's no wonder KHTK came to the plate to get Don there. Now, will he have the same success as a solo act? Who knows? My guess is that he'll find supporting cast players and work his magic off them. And he'll figure out a way to work in the same building as Grant Napear...why not? He doesn't have to hug the guy or anything. One key he has here vs. his various short-term OC gigs: It's a REAL GIG, not just something he's doing to keep his toes in radio on the beach (literally) waiting out his contract expiration. And its on a station with a built in favorable audience for what he does. The question, again, can he do it without Mike, Buzz, Robbay et al? Who he brings into the show to play off of, may be the key. Remember, he's the Alpha Male Radio Dog from the old show...he's the driver of the bus. (5/30/10) Ugh. Someone tweeted me that the lame radio website in town is saying I might not be retained at WJFK? So hilarious. Keep hating, creepy guy -- Chad Dukes (5/30/10) Dave's response: Hey, how about the Don and Dukes show at KHTK? Has a nice ring to it..... /\ May 30 Messages /\ \/ May 29 Messages \/ Dave, RE:WaPo Adds Charge For TV Week . Its getting harder and harder to justify being a subscriber to the Washington Post. It has become such a rag and to think this is one of the nation's best newspapers. I may "opt out" next time my renewal bill comes in. Tom Robinson, Fairfax (5/29/10) Dave's response: Seriously, if the Post carried decent TV listings every day, including Sundays, we wouldn't need TV Week. Since so much of the Style section is fluff and filler, including oh so many extra large graphics/pics, it wouldn't be all that difficult to find the space..... Since we're comparing notes on Comcast, a couple of updates here in the valley....I just opened up my bill and saw a notice that CSPAN-2 was going digital only as of Saturday, May 29 (no kidding), and cable channel 33, which had been the shared C-SPAN2/MASN2/CSN+ deal is going to be ESPNews unless it is needed for sports overflow. Turned on the TV to check, and yes, they have made the switch. Makes sense since it is right next to ESPN anyway, and MASN2HD is doing the ESPNews HD thing unless it has a game to show. Meanwhile, when they add the ION HD channel at 813 on Wednesday, they plan to take the Travel Channel (60) to digital only (like they did with Cartoon Network last year). But because the Scientific Atlanta/Cisco DTAs are still a ways off, they are offering a free box for 12 months to expanded basic customers. As I have a DVR, and don't really need to see Travel in the bedroom, I think I'll pass at this point....Charles in Winchester (5/29/10) Dave's response: Here in Reston, if you have a digital box you get EVERYTHING in digital, although Comcast still offers cable channels 2-31 (minus WMPT, WHUT, the Comcast Network, and soon WMDO) still in analog mode for those who don't have boxes. That includes most of the local broadcast channels and public access, plus USA, FAM, QVC, HSN, C-SPAN, and WGN still available in analog. But that's it..... Truer words have never been said. Brian Wilson always the victim. Yes Brian Wilson the Ultra Right wing talk show host .....always the victim. Classic. John T. Henneman (5/29/10) So if the Post is charging for TV Week, are they also letting you opt out of receiving it altogether? I can recall maybe 5 or 6 times in 20 years that I actually bothered to look at it, my Comcast cable guide has always been far more useful. (5/29/10) Dave's response: Yes, you can "opt out." I hear that, soon, you'll also be able to "opt out" of the dreadful Style section, too. Ha ha ha..... Brian (Wilson) always plays the victim....very well. Hope he's not allergic to Liberty U! (5/29/10) BREAKING NEWS...(OKAY...IT'S FROM 1981): For the better part of the last week, I have patiently listened to virtually EVERY 630 "Dubbya Emmay Yell" show host breathlessly regurgitate the exact same right-wing perpetuated talking points regarding what FauxSnooze has blessed as "Sestak-gate". Not only 630 Emmay-Yellers, but Far-righties from all over the AM dial have expended hundreds upon thousands of hours of air-time on this topic, desperately trying to build a case against what has always been seen as normal everyday political horse-trading. They have whipped every little detail into a froth of speculation and innuendo desperate to hype it into some sort of an impeachable offense with the potential to bring down the entire Administration, including President Obama. This overly-repeated meme made me wonder "Hasn't this sort of thing regularly gone on in the past?"...so - as usual - I did a little digging. Ya know what I found? Feast your eyes on this delectable little morsel published by the Associated Press back in 1981: "Sen. S.I. Hayakawa on Wednesday spurned a Reagan administration suggestion that if he drops out of the crowded Republican Senate primary race in California, President Reagan would find him a job. Hayakawa, who was seeking a second term at the time, was being urged by GOP officials to withdraw from the 1982 primary, a race that included, among others, Reps. Barry Goldwater Jr. & Bob Dornan, San Diego Mayor Pete Wilson, and [wait for it....] First Daughter Maureen Reagan." HOOOO-LY JEEBUS!....not only did the Conservative Messiah - the anointed one - "Saint Ronald of Simi Valley" - try to sell a Gummint position to influence a candidate to drop from a primary race, he did it in a race where one of his freaking relatives happened to be a candidate???? Why haven't we heard THIS reported on Dubbya Emmay YELL!!!!! Guess 630 listeners are gonna be holding their breath for quite some time waiting to hear Grandy, Plante, Limbaugh, Hannity and Levin ask the burning question; "What Did Ronald Reagan Know And When Did He Know It?" - Jeff in (Karma...ain't it a Bitch!) Bowie (5/29/10) One of my sources says to keep an eye on the Comcast-NBC/U merger. If the Sustek thing goes much further it'll suffer a slow (read expensive) and merciless regulatory death. With possible implications for Comcast itself. Seems a Comcast reporter was the first to ask Sustek on-camera about a "quid pro quo"... (5/29/10) "Dave's response: Ah, local sunset and evening AM power down is at about 8:30 PM this time of the year. My guess is that maybe 1580's signal is being slammed by some early skywave activity, which can affect the upper band AM stations even a few hours before sunset." Ah, power down time is specified in the license. And according to my copy of Rawer's "Wave Propagation in the Ionosphere" skywave activity is good for AM reception, not bad. - ZombieWoof (5/29/10) Dave's response: Yeah, the license may state the power-down times, but they correspond with local sunset, which is after 8 PM at this time of the year. And, skywave can be good and bad for AM signals. By bouncing the signals all over the place, it can extend coverage for some stations, particularly strong ones, but it can also produce co-channel interference and reduce coverage for others on "non-clear channels" - like what's probably happening to 1580 in evenings..... AHHHHH = Pant Load (5/29/10) Comcast added 40 new HD channels in Baltimore City in April. This week we got several HD sports channels, including MLB, NHL, ESPNU, Big Ten, and Tennis Channel. WFDC, WZDC, and WMDO are listed in the local lineup at Comcast.com so we should get those soon. - Marcus (5/29/10) Dave's response: Check out my Reston cable lineup here for the complete Comcast list of new HD channels in the 800s, plus the soon-to-be-added local Spanish HDers in the upper 700s. Comcast is planning to add the HD sigs of WFDC and WMDO in June, as well as making WMDO's standard-def signal digital-only on the basic tier..... /\ May 29 Messages /\ \/ May 28 Messages \/ Dave, in honor of those who valiantly gave their lives defending this great nation, I ask that you not post any AHHHH submissions over this holiday weekend. Happy Memorial Day, baggers! (5/28/10) Wow, "AHHHHH" really seems to have wood for Don Geronimo (real name "Real Name"). No move to Sac? Who cares? Bart living in LaLa... isn't a reason not to move, it's a reason TO move, according to what the Donnie said on the air. You seem to have a fixation on the Allenwood Lane house. Is this Cheeseface back from the grave? Oh, AHHHH, "Not only did dude get professionally thrown out of DC market and East Coast" DUDE, what part of "negotiated a release from a contract" do you not understand? He wasn't thrown out, he walked out. With MONEY. Maybe it just is what it seems to be, someone who doesn't have to work for a living has a passion for radio. Godspeed, Don Geronimo. Dave, you dropped the ball on the question about 1580 AM, The Big Talker, from Scott in Alexandria. They power down around sunset (civil, nautical, or astronomical) and it has crept from 5 pm to apparently 5:45. I would expect you to know this instead of just flinging a rope of seed about the letters "WHFS" - ZombieWoof (5/28/10) Dave's response: Ah, local sunset and evening AM power down is at about 8:30 PM this time of the year. My guess is that maybe 1580's signal is being slammed by some early skywave activity, which can affect the upper band AM stations even a few hours before sunset..... "Not only did dude get professionally thrown out of DC market and East Coast, CBS radio executives had dude go all the way to Sac to find work." --Certainly beats dude paying by the hour to do a schlockey top 40 show...Don't ya think? (5/28/10) (RE: don't see a CP on 89.3 for Fredricksburg) OK settle down, the WHMM CP is for 88.3, not 89.3. It won't go far, only 2.5 kW at less than 300-ft using a peanut-shaped directional antenna pattern pointed east and west. (5/28/10) So dj Mike Sorce signs multi-year non-compete and then out of desperation, fires his longtime agent, hires a new one and immediately crawls back after two years to resign with the same network who bent him over and banished him from the radio island - ah the sweet smell of success - NOT. Not only did dude get professionally thrown out of DC market and East Coast, CBS radio executives had dude go all the way to Sac to find work. Paybacks are a bitch. Happy Memorial Day weekend at the beach pal. Better keep your radio career flag at half-mast. AHHHH (5/28/10) Dave's response: It was CBS that kept Don off the DC radio airwaves for the past two-plus years. It was CBS that prevented Don from doing an Ocean City-based podcast since leaving WJFK. It was CBS that didn't put Don in the line-up of its new 106.7 The Fan, even though he could do a sports show and probably would have been a ratings magnet for the new format. That's why I find it very surprising that Don's signed a new deal with CBS to work at Sacramento's KHTK. There is certainly a love-hate relationship between Don and CBS. Go figure..... Dave, Just checked the FCC and don't see a CP on 89.3 for Fredricksburg. I hope any WPFW listeners don't mind being wiped out by right wing crapola. Liberty wants to take over all of VA. I guess the Lynchburg crowd isn't giving enough to save their souls so LU hast to mine some cash out of Northern VA. WPFW listeners should let the FCC know how they feel. Bob Fairfax (5/28/10) Have you heard any complaints about the signal for WHFS fading about 5:30 p.m. everyday? I listen to Dennis Miller and at the beginning of show, I have a strong signal on my walkman radio, but by about 5:45 p.m. everyday, the signal becomes broken and there is a lot of interference. Just wondering if anyone else was having the same problem? Thanks, Scott, Alexandria, VA (5/28/10) Dave's response: That's 1580 AM, which sports the legal WHFS calls..... I'm sure that you got the application for the 89.3 frequency in Fredericksburg from the FCC website. But FYI the Stover family has a full power FM station at 89.5 in Spotsylvania that did program a bluegrass format before they changed to a Christian format. They operate that station in tandem with a Lynchburg-Rustberg full power FM at 91.7. Is Liberty selling to them or what? (5/28/10) (re:They need all of those signals to cover the market) Again, since my insight is ridiculous, and your knowledge is somewhat lacking, perhaps you should consider the possibility that Red Zebra is increasing their signal for said channels to help not only ratings, but sales. You appear set on your mindset, but not open to actual possible business decisions companies make in order to invest in their own bottom line. Just as you thought I was someone else. Right? - Enjoy your weekend Unsigned. - NYC Suit (5/28/10) RATINGS: Yeah Channel 9 WUSA, you still suck and will continue as you are still the most boring personalities in Washington DC News (5/28/10) (Re: Not sure if you realize Red Zebra can separate their AM station's license from their FM stations license.Arbitron would still recognize 980 as ESPN and the FM stations as something new.) I know they CAN do that... but that would be a horrible business decision and they won't do it. No chance. They need all of those signals to cover the market. Again, your idea was ridiculous. (5/28/10) There is only one thing sadder than a failed, blackballed, out of work disc jockey who spends his days on a local media site repetedly trashing a DJ who actually has suceeded in the industry...And that is one that does it while hiding behind one of his childish fake names. Smacks of hardcore jealousy... (5/28/10) Moving vans spotted at Mike Sorce's Ocean Beach condo? NAAAA! One, why does he need 5-6 months to "relocate to Sac?" He doesn't! Already sold family home in Virginia. Bart in LA... He isn't moving to SacTown and if so, greatly move-up your relocate date. The day Sorce moves to Sacramento is the day Granrt Napear welcomes him to town with un-forced open arms - ain't going to happen. AHHHHH (5/28/10) John is right in his posting about how signals on the AM band are enhanced by the nature of the soil beneath the antenna. A point of local interest, the Radio History Society in Bowie has an early transmitter acquired from WFOY, St. Augustine Florida. The "Fountain of Youth" station was the first where engineers deliberately placed the AM tower in saltwater wetland along the Matanzas River to test what was then a theory about signal enhancement. The prevailing philosophy was to place AM aerials as high as possible, including on rocky mountain ridges. Yet, from WFOY's location, a hundred watts or so was heard across the Atlantic, up to Canada, and toward the South Pacific in the late 1930s when the station went on the air. (5/28/10) (re:You really know your stuff. Great idea. OH... except that would make them ineligible for "total line reporting," meaning Arbitron would not combine the ratings of 980 and the FM's, lowering their overall ratings.) Not sure if you realize Red Zebra can separate their AM station's license from their FM stations license.Arbitron would still recognize 980 as ESPN and the FM stations as something new. You may want to do your Broadcasting research.(whoever you are) - NYC Suit (5/28/10) Brain cancer victim/CNN DC Buro cameraman Jerry Thompson is being terminated by the network due to a company policy that says an employee is automatically terminated if they are absent from work for a period of one year. Thing is, they NEVER informed him of this policy. Jerry has been an exemplary employee whom everyone loves and has worked for or worked under the CNN contractor system for 24 years before being stricken with the same cancer that Sen Kennedy died from. Jerry had always been told during his ordeal not to worry about work and to just get better and is now about to lose his health insurance and life insurance. Jerry has two teenage sons and a one year old. From the facebook page of Jerry's supporters: "Friends of CNN DC cameraman Jerry Thompson who want to speak out over the injustice of CNN's without warning "termination" of Jerry because he has cancer and after 24 years of service cannot return to work. We also welcome any effort to help our long time friend and colleague." Nobody deserves this kind of treatment. He gave CNN 24 years of his life, and now when he need them most, they abandon him. CNN used to be a union shop (NABET), but I don't believe they are anymore. Does that give them the license to behave with such cruelty? (5/28/10) The Don haters are my favorite part of the mailbag, since they are so obviously trolls. Before Freda passed away, Don mentioned numerous times that Tampa Bay was the place they wanted to move. But when they signed their final contract on 12/6/02, Don spoke about moving along with Mike to anywhere in the country once Mike's kids were in college. He even spoke highly of Sacramento during this time frame, prompting Mike and Robb to do the Sacramento dance. When Freda passed away, obviously all plans went out the window (with good reason - dealing with that was obviously the toughest part of Don's life). Tim, Baltimore (5/28/10) So happy to see that picture of Ladawn gone from your advertising page. It was creepin' me out (5/28/10) RE: new Liberty station ... How many religious translators does that make in Fredericksburg now? At least this one is plucked down on a non comm frequency that won't interfere with a neighboring fringe commercial one. But seriously, what is it about the Fredericksburg area that so many religious stations are necessary? And, that church group in New Jersey that was/is involved in every LP or new station CP bidding - who are they and how can they afford so many stations? Also, was listening to KHZ the other day while viewing an empty studio on their website. Are they already so bored with the format that a live jock can't be on during drive time? I smell a brokered ethnic format returning to 810 coming very soon again. Pick a format and stick with it for once. MLB4 (5/28/10) Nice to hear about Liberty's relay. The one they have now, which I think is also in Fredericksburg or close by dies at the Mixing Bowl. It's probably one of the better Christian stations in the region. (5/28/10) Dave's response: Is that the one on 89.7 that blocks my formerly spotty reception of WTMD here in Wild West Fairfax? Grrrrrrr..... How's the retooling of Scarborough's radio show coming along? Surely it should be coming back from hiatus any day now. (5/28/10) Perhaps I wasn't listening close enough to my portable radio but I thought Mr. Geronimo had said that Tampa Bay was the place he and his late wife had strongly considered moving too after his last contract ended. I sort of recall that shortly before her passing they had planned on signing the contract on a house in Tampa. Perhaps I remember wrong? Then again I seem to remember Howard Stern saying when his contract with Sirius ended he was planning to retire. (5/28/10) As the blame game about the oil spill revs up full tilt, those who are running their mouths the loudest and pointing fingers the most furiously, would do well to watch a program on the National Geographic Channel called "Gulf Oil Spill". It presents a dispassionate timeline of the event as it unfolded. This program doesn't really lend itself to partisan posturing, so I doubt that those on the right end of the political spectrum will have much use for it. And, there might even be some who will try to use this factual presentation to gain some political advantage - so the point of the program will mostly be lost for them. I imagine that some will attempt to label the show "liberal, tree-hugging propaganda". For those with an interest in a calm, rational hour of information about an environmental tragedy of historic proportions, the show airs on Sunday and next Thursday and it really is worth watching. (5/28/10) Re: AHHH - "The Gravy Train"....Oh, you're such a card, Bicknell...You, of all people, making a crack about a wife joining in on a show? Bit of a hypocrite, are ya? Hmmmm...BTW...Tell Renee the fellas in the mailbag say hi! (5/28/10) /\ May 28 Messages /\ \/ May 27 Messages \/ In searching for something else entirely, i came across a brief note on your site about WUSB, Stony Brook. To bits of info - the station was 820 am, not 620 am (and could be heard on any reasonably well tuned toaster ), and since 1977, it is now WUSB-FM, 90.1 on your dial, the most powerful non-comm station on LI, and the fourth most powerful FM overall. You can check in on your alma mater's free-form voice at there www.wusb.fm net feed. (5/27/10) Dateline KHTK - Unconfirmed reports out of Northern California that Mike Sorce's new show will be called "The Gravy Train" featuring his new wife Jan. AHHHH! (5/27/10) They say that the definition of "Mixed feelings" is watching your mother-in-law go over a cliff in your new Cadillac. I feel the same way about this WAGE brouhaha. First, a flood plain, rookery is the best place to put an AM array. I had a directional in a mangrove swamp in Florida and the signal went forever. WLW (Worlds Lowest Wages) in Mason Ohio has 50 KW but doesn't get out very well because the ground is loaded with rocks and clay. Half the antenna is up; the other half is down, buried in the ground. The better the ground, the better the signal hugs the curvature of the earth. Directional arrays do not damage, hamper, or adversely affect flood plains or rookerys. Construction can be done with minimal intrusion. There has never been a study that links electromagnetic radiation in the 1 mHz range to any physical ailment. Period. Not people; not birds. Don't even think about trying that one. The important part is that, if the owners of WAGE are really going to have a station that serves it's city of license, then the locals should welcome them in with open arms. But get guarantees, in writing. As Ronald Regan used to say, "Trust but verify." If, however, they are going to broker the time or run satellite or rebroadcast some other station, then everyone in Leesburg should do everything in their power to keep them off the air and run the scoundrels out of town. Hint: block them every which way and drain them dry with lawyer's fees. John (5/27/10) I'm mad as Hell and I'm not going to take it anymore. (5/27/10) Re: AHHHH - Hi Bick! How's that Ocean City vacation going? Still obsessing over Sorce, I see. (5/27/10) After reading all the negative comments in your mailbag, all I can say is that dcrtv posters = losers…….Oooops! (5/27/10) Hilarious that 106.7 'Var got all emotional and cut a caller over the prospect that Tiger's wife may get many divorce settlement of millions. 'Var rails against a system that awards Tiger's wife millions but has no thoughts about that same 'system' that awarded his own clown football contract a value of 30 times the worth of a NASA rocket scientist. We need more brain surgeons to figure the logic on this one. (5/27/10) Dave correction for ya Jamillah Muhammad comes from Clear Channel Detroit where she was laid off from her PD job. WMXD is Owned and Operated by Clear Channel not Radio One. Also i guess this means that Neke Howse will remain as OM of the entire Radio- One D.C. cluster and PD of WKYS. (5/27/10) "DCRTV cannot verify the factual accuracy or authorship of posts..." Whenever I see a Mailbag post bashing one particular station or personality, I keep in mind that the poster could have a vested interest in seeing that station or person do badly. The poster could be a disgruntled former employee, a former GM or PD seeking to make a successor look incompetent, or an employee of a rival station. The latter is very common in the movie industry, where studios foster negative rumors about competitors' upcoming releases. Sometimes a studio will even do this with its own releases shortly after a regime change, to bolster the reputation of the new administration at the expense of the old one. (5/27/10) Don Geronimo - KHTK 'Inner-circle' connection. If there was ever any further proof that joke Mike Sorce doesn't change stripes, then you need to look no further than his over the top, overly aggressive, try-to-hard, bull in a china shop romp inside the studios of KHTK yesterday. Radio bull-shitters can spot one of their own a mile away and Sorce was in grand poo-bah form saying he "always loved Sac" "was moving there in 4-6 months" and "buying a house there" Even lower, was Sorce dropping quotes that "he and Freda always wanted to move here" I'm sorry, I thought it was the beach house in Ocean City? They say that one can't go home again and Sorce's knee-pad wearing, sucking CBS Radio executive cock as he resigns, is evident of a desperate dj & man. He may be "back-home" out of limited options but Sorce's personal bull-shit is as thick as ever including demanding that station management put out a memo to on-air staff not to criticize him? Great for ratings but garners him no industry respect... Now fumigate those studios on Madison & 80! AHHH (5/27/10) Oh my gawd…5 items mentioning Don Geronimo and not ONE mention of his real name. Looks like people are learning….no body calls him by his real name (well, no one in the biz…only the wanna be’s and pretenders who think they’re in the “inner circle” and think they sound cool). Refreshing… (5/27/10) Dave - Far be it for me to tell you how to manage your site. But the rumor mongers trolling your mailbag are painting quite the inaccurate portrait of the Donnie G moving to KHTK. Jim Kozimor, who was previously doing a show in what will be Don's new afternoon block on KHTK was pulling a measly 1.2 share. (stats pulled from Sac Bee article) Tell me how that makes Kozimor a "popular ratings winner" as was stated by one of the idiots here in the mailbag. The same dunce then said that this is the 2nd time that KHTK or the Maloof's have let Kozimor go. Well maybe I'm illiterate, but I'm looking at the SacBee article right now and in it the station market manager specifically says that Kozimor will continue to broadcast for KHTK. Yesterday Don made mention on air that the syndicated show occasionally had higher ratings in Sacramento than at the "home station" in D.C. After hearing that, now try telling me just how "unpopular" he was out here. Lastly, I don't know the first thing about how radio markets are defined, but you issued a correction in which you said that if Baltimore and DC had shared a market they'd be 4th largest in the nation. I know for a fact that KHTK's signal can be heard throughout the Bay Area and as far north as Chico and running all the way down past Stockton and Modesto. Now call me crazy here, but if Baltimore and DC can be considered a combined market, just how large would the combined market be in California when you include the northern valley areas I've mentioned as well as San Francisco, Oakland, etc? I understand that people are free to post what they wish in the mailbag, but even the smallest amount of effort on your part should be done on the fact-checking side of things....unless you're ok with the trolls running rampant. (5/27/10) Dave's response: There is no way I can fact check Mailbag postings. In fact, at the top of this very page you're warned: "Each posting is solely the opinion of the person who wrote it. DCRTV cannot verify the factual accuracy or authorship of posts"..... (Dave's response: Sacramento is the 27th largest radio market in the USA. Baltimore is 22nd. DC is 9th. If Baltimore and DC were one market, it would be 4th, just behind NYC, LA, and Chicago.....) I realized my mistake after I posted with the market size. But no one can dispute that Don (and Mike) was very hard on The Sac. People, weather, location. Now Don would have us believe he will be moving there from Ocean City? Oh right, 'eventually'. Like I will eventually be successful. (5/27/10) (RE: Red Zebra does have flexibility of using Mike & Mike on strictly 980 only if ratings are a detriment to sales and revenue. Which then leaves other FM channels free for "New" talent.) You really know your stuff. Great idea. OH... except that would make them ineligible for "total line reporting," meaning Arbitron would not combine the ratings of 980 and the FM's, lowering their overall ratings. Whoops. Try again again, Rock. Or Kevin. Whichever one you are. (5/27/10) Adding to the Donnie G story - lots of sound clips khtk.cbslocal.com (5/27/10) Last night, Fox 45 News at Ten's lead was (not surprisingly) the American Idol finale. After the lead package, gushing anchors Jennifer and Jeff invited us to add to their Facebook page, which they scrolled on-screen. Right at the top for all to see was a complaint from a dissatisfied viewer who couldn't believe they would lead with this story. A funny bit of live TV. Today (again not surprisingly), that complaint is off their Facebook page. My grandma would have called their lead and Facebook deletion a "shonda". Bob A. from Pikesville, MD (5/27/10) Any you guys ever hear of "Donk" deejaying? My god, this is the stupidest-sounding musical remixing style I've ever heard. www.donkdj.com... (You have got to hear what they did to Kenny Rogers' "Coward of the County") If I ever hear of a station going All-Donk - even as a stunt - I'm going to heave my guts all over Rockville Pike. (5/27/10) Imagine this: The Don Geronimo Show featuring Chad Dukes...THAT would be a hoot (5/27/10) Don Geronimo visiting KHTK Sacramento studios yesterday - "you can cut the uneasiness with a knife." (5/27/10) "I find dead birds in my yard often" --I bet they were killed by the sub-par programming found on KHZTV.com. Signed, LEISURE Suit (5/17/10) Is KHTK in Sacramento pretty much controlled by CBS Radio suit in NYC like Duh Fan network on the east coast? Is the thinking that the Don Geronimo show will be syndicated to The Fan cluster? You know like Don Geronimo makes a return to WJFK airwaves via syndication from KHTK? Is Donnie G. really going to do the show alone? I sort of think he needs someone to play off of and mock. Can his voice handle 2 hours and 40 minutes 5 days a week anymore? If Ms. Czarniak would sign for big bucks to channel 7 wouldn't they also have to bring along some of the folks who help her with show prep. Like that inane play by play stuff she does. Sorry that's just me. I'd rather hear more actual sport's news in a sport's report but I'm in a wee wee minority. Does this mean the end of hey youI wanna hear another sports cliche Tim Brandt? And was wondering when does Doug Hill's contract come to an end? Wasn't Brian van der graff Doug Hill's boy going back to channel 9? Come on HFS 2 would you please run Lil' Steven's Underground Garage for gosh sakes! (5/27/10) Top Sportscaster List... I thought Nick Charles was on WJZ 13 Baltimore. As for the tower thing, it depends where the birds land on the tower. However with AM radio, technically the ground is electrified too, but is it enough to kill birds? I honestly don't know. If so, why has this never been reported on the news? I would think millions of endangered birds would have been killed by towers by now. Just because you find a dead bird near a tower does make it the tower's fault. I find dead birds in my yard often, but I'm pretty sure I didn't kill any of them. This NIMBY thing is getting funnier and funnier every day! LOL (5/27/10) Dave's response: Nick Charles went from 13 to 4 and on to CNN..... One really cool radio station used to treat Baltimore/Washington as one market. But we see what happens to those who think outside the leg space under the execs desk. (5/27/10) Potential new line up on 'The Fan': (Junkies 6-10) (Brian Mitchell/Holden 10-12) (TBD/ Bill Rohland 12 -2) For purposes of countering Red Zebra Programming.Possible six month test drive. (Lavar/Dukes 2 - 6) (Kevin & Rock 6-10). Red Zebra grumblings of hiring Potential "Fan" On Air Talent also discussed to shake things up for younger Demo and push sales. Red Zebra does have flexibility of using Mike & Mike on strictly 980 only if ratings are a detriment to sales and revenue. Which then leaves other FM channels free for "New" talent. Don't be surprised. - NYC Suit (5/27/10) Here's a compilation of some video of Marty Levin through the years - with a few faces familiar to DC viewers - which aired Wednesday night on his last broadcast on San Diego's KNSD. www.nbcsandiego.com (5/27/10) What a world. BP says their well is only a small leak and the impact on the environment will be 'minimal'. And Don Geronimo goes from number 1 in a top 10 market to a place that is 150th or something and that he has made relentless fun of over the years, but now says 'he loves it'? It all makes one wonder. (5/27/10) Dave's response: Sacramento is the 27th largest radio market in the USA. Baltimore is 22nd. DC is 9th. If Baltimore and DC were one market, it would be 4th, just behind NYC, LA, and Chicago..... Adding to the Donnie G story www.sacbee.com (5/27/10) Dave's response: Better article in the Modesto Bee..... Regarding NIMBY radio towers – When I was in the cell phone business in the late 80s and early 90s, the 2 competing companies had what was called something like “cell tower managers” who were responsible for the upkeep on the towers. Part of the responsibility was to clean up dead birds around the antenna. Speaking with one of these managers, I was told the birds tend to sit on the antenna because it is warm, and then after a bit, just fall over dead. And cellular is a low power operation. I don’t know if digital has improved the situation any. Mark in Annandale. (5/27/10) Dave, are you going to let Paul Farhi scoop you on the return of Don Geronimo to the airwaves? You've been curiously dcrtv silent on this. Are you trying to hinder his career (good luck)? Seriously, why no coverage on this (and mailbag entries that eventually get reposted on the Front Page aren't really coverage.) This is big news, even in the DC area. If it were the Greaseman or Joel A. Spivak speaking, you'd be on it like black on black beans. - ZombieWoof (5/27/10) Dave's response: Hey, dumbass, we got a Front Page blurb up two days ago. Oh, still nothing in the WaPo about Geronimo's move. Maybe Mr. Eatman should give Farhi a call..... Geronimo To Sacramento Talker - 5/25 - DCRTV hears that DC radio veteran Don Geronimo (right) has landed a gig with Sacramento sports talker KHTK, one of the national affilaties of his "Don And Mike Show," which originated at WJFK before Geronimo left the show in April 2008. Geronimo starts June 21st and will do the noon to 4 PM slot, which is 3 PM to 7 PM on the east coast. The show will be streamed and podcast on the internet, and national syndication is a possibility. KHTK is owned by CBS, and Geronimo's contract with CBS's WJFK prohibits him from landing a gig elsewhere on the DC radio dial before October 2010. Having been based in Ocean City since leaving WJFK, Geronimo has done two short radio stints there - a gig with rocker WOCM in the summer of 2008, and one with talker WGMD in the summer of 2009. Geronimo says he'll initially do three weeks a month of the show from a radio studio in Ocean City, and one week per month at KHTK. But plans to relocate to Sacramento "eventually"..... The word on the street is that Huma is into Weiner, sorry to ruin that part of your lesbian fantasy post. To think someone owns a book by Gennifer Flowers is funny enough, but to admit they have a DNA soiled bookmark in their favorite section (p.41,dontcha know), and have been waiting 15 years to dust off an old carpet-munching chestnut is even better. Yawn..who cares. (5/27/10) Was it just me or was watching Paula Abdul on Idol the most uncomfortable 4 minutes in television history (with the exception of Barbara Harrison and Julie Wright of course) (5/27/10) /\ May 27 Messages /\ \/ May 26 Messages \/ With Marty Levin announcing his retirement and Bob Ryan going to WJLA, here’s a look back when they were both together at WRC in 1982. Tom in DC (5/26/10) I bet Len Shapiro didn’t even think of some of the D.C. sportscasters I’d consider great. The again, I’m probably the only one on this board who remembers Morris Siegel (WRC-TV); Bernie Smilovitz (WTTG); Steve Gilmartin, Mal Campbell, and Len Hathaway (All WMAL-TV), and Jim Simpson (WRC-TV). Not all of D.C.’s great sportscasters are of the recent past. There was also Bob Wolff on WTTG in my younger days (when they were in the Raleigh Hotel and still a Dumont O&O.) who also did a great job on sports considering the technical limitations we lived with back then. –Unsigned Corporate Suit (5/26/10) Dave's response: How about Ken Broo..... Major props to CBS Radio for making the logical move of plugging the legendary Neci into mornings on WIAD’s digital channel HFS-2. Speaking of WIAD, another shrewd consideration would be to find a regular slot for weekender Ken Merson on Fresh 94.7. (5/26/10) Since when is someone visiting someone, news? Scott wykoff and The OTHER Mike? Who REALLY cares! SLOW NEWS DAY, I guess. Jeff in catonsville (5/26/10) RE: Washington Life magazine cover shown below...Wow, who knew Hillary and Reese were a couple? I wonder what Hillary's old girlfirned Huma Abedin thinks of this? Will Huma be able to keep her Hillary-pad on 12th Street? Will Huma still receive her monthly clothing allowance? (And here's the media angle dear readers...) Will the Los Angeles Times ever admit that Hillary's "Humagate" was the story they were holding if Ms. Clinton got the POTUS nomination? Wagging tongues want to know! This New York magazine quote from August 2007 gives us an insider peek into the relationship..."Huma Abedin, Hillary's beautiful, enigmatic "body person," spends nearly every waking minute with Hillary and so has the best sense of her daily rhythms and routines." And according to Bill' Clinton's long-time ex-girlfriend Gennifer Flowers, Hillary enjoyed performing oral sex on other women. On p.41 of Flowers' autobiography "Gennifer Flowers: Passion and Betrayal", Gennifer asked Bill if there was any truth to the rumor that Hillary was having an affair with another woman. Bill laughed and said (referring to Hillary): "Honey - she's probably eaten more p--y than I have." Not that there's anything wrong with that! ~ Sign me ROFLMPO (5/26/10) To Joe--“This is just another ignorant NIMBY argument of people who don't want it in their backyard because they don't want to look at it and think it will devalue their home, and that's probably an exaggerated argument too. And don't forget, WAGE is in Loudoun County too, they have the same rights as you, so if this plan passes state and federal environmental guidelines, it should be built.” Joe—a few points here. I don’t consider myself an expert on towers. This is a zoning issue which has to be approved by the Loudoun County BOS. Residents and supervisors have every right to question the environmental impact three radio towers will have in this particular area (clean streams, floodplains, habitats). Secondly, I’m not a NIMBY. The proposed tower sites are in eastern Loudoun. I live in the far western section and will never see these towers. I am merely speaking out to request that WAGE find another tower location and define “local programming”. So while I appreciate your comments about nesting birds in towers you overall tone makes you come off like a complete ass. Laura Lieberman (5/26/10) May issue of Washington Life Magazine is the annual “Power Issue” featuring movers and shakers in the nation’s capital... 3 on this year’s Power 100 list is “intelligent Talk” 1260 WRC’s morning drive personality Bill Bennett, host of Bill Bennett’s MORNING IN AMERICA on the Salem Radio Network (paired in the article with another powerful Bennett…his brother Bob, who defended President Bill Clinton during his impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate.) “The Bennetts” edged out “The Bidens” (Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Dr. Jill Biden) who placed #4 on the magazine’s ‘Dynamic Duos’ list: www.washingtonlife.com (5/26/10) Dave's response: And, of course, Bennett's now heard on DC's 1260..... From HFS2's facebook - HFS welcomes Neci to mornings! 7am to noon Monday through Friday! (5/26/10) KHTK Sacramento rumor central - Did station management put out a memo to all on-air staff that they are not to say anything negative about Don Geronimo and his new show? Did Sorce demand that? (5/26/10) KHTK's Geronimo on move to Sacramento: 'I love it here' -- from sacbee.com via SacConnect.us www.sacbee.com (5/26/10) Is Mike just visiting Baltimore for fun or could we see him on the air there? (5/26/10) Dave's response: Hmmm..... Reports of Art Linkletter dying at age 97. (5/26/10) Art Linkletter has passed away at age 97. He hosted "Art Linkletter's House Party," one of television's longest-running variety shows.It debuted on radio in 1944 and was seen on CBS-TV from 1952 to 1969. www.latimes.com (5/26/10) Dave's response: Wow. Didn't know that he was still alive..... Does anybody else think that channel 4's new HD news set broadcasts are not as bright looking? It looks to me like they are sitting in a dimly lit room. They need to turn up the lights! (5/26/10) Interesting radio. Live from Jamaica as the hosts take calls from people caught in the rioting and uprising in that country. www.go-jamaica.com (5/26/10) Here's a new slant on remixing and mashing-up music. Some guy wrote a little bit of software that turns most any song into a Swing tune. Check his site musicmachinery.com... and listen to what he's done to "Every Breath You Take", "Money For Nothing" and even "White Rabbit". Bouncy! (5/26/10) I too think Gordon Peterson enjoys what he's doing and would prefer not to retire at this time..However, if the powers that be are only concerned with ratings and believe bringing Doreen and Lyndsay on board will increase those ratings, I'm sure they'll kick to the curb Gordon, Maureeen or anyone else they feel is expendable.. (5/26/10) When it comes to the salaries of local TV news anchors, I wonder how often those figures are inflated? My guess would be, its quite often. In the past I have seen some online posts by fans of Baltimore's Jerry Turner, Al Sanders and Rudy Miller all making a claim that each of them had made a million dollars of year when they did TV. Of course such postings later on had come with other postings by people who knew Rudy, Jerry and Al saying it was not the case and that the people making those claims should "..get a damn life !!". Shortly after he became famous, OK infamous Jerry Springer had made some claim in some interview ( I am thinking Larry King ) that he was making a million per-year doing the news for Cincinatti's WLWT back in the 80's and likewise with Nick Clooney with WKRC, Both men have since denied that. Detroit's Bill Bonds ( WXYZ-TV ) I believe it was reported in TV Guide so many years ago that he was making that figure however as it turned out later on that number was inflated too, again reported by TV Guide. Why did Buffalo's WKBW radio was sold to become WWKB in 1987? Why it was to pay for Irv Weinstein's million dollar salary for him anchoring WKBW-TV's "Eyewitness News" if one believed the rumors going around Western New York at the time. Ah yeah.....Irv thought so too. (5/26/10) Nevermind “Save Dave” from the Ron & Fez Show. Save the whole friggin’ show before it goes down in flames totally. I was a fan of Ron & Fez since their WJFK nights, but their XM show has devolved into a brutal wreck that’s become unlistenable. Fez is a neurotic mess, a shell of the guy who was so funny while on the air here in DC. Ron bullies Fez constantly, seemingly hoping that Fez will quit. Since being on satellite, Ron has developed an annoying verbal crutch where he has to use “fuckin’” as an adjective at least once in every sentence. (More annoying than his constant giving out the phone number, always twice at a time.) East Side Dave (who joined R&F when they went to XM) is a former intern/stuntboy who ingratiated himself to Ron with his willingness to do any stunt and with his common love for movie and music. For awhile, ESD was funny and did well in covering for Fez and his neuroses. But now, Ron treats Fez like a potted plant. Fez pretty much only speaks when spoken to, and those exchanges usually end in awkward silences or tears from Fez. Of course, with Ron’s carny background, all of this can be a bit. If it is, it’s been a long, tedious, and unfunny one. Wouldn’t surprise me to see the whole show gone when their contract is up, if not before. The show should be renamed “Ron Bennington Desperately Trying to Kill 4 Hours.” It's not nearly the yuckfest it was on WJFK when they had their own version of a wack pack, comedy pyramids, etc. (5/26/10) Regarding the Politico piece on death threats against lawmakers, in which DCRTV Dave pointed out specifically the case in which Rep. Stabenow (D-MI) was threatened by a man upset that the Fairness Doctrine might be re-established (or re-instanted... whatever!), Dave fails to point out other cases in the piece about, for example, violence against Republican lawmakers. Not specifically Fairness Doctrine-related, but the do exist -- such as a death threat against Rep. Ryan (R-WI) and his daughter by anti-Iraq war protestors circling them in a black SUV around the streets of Milwaukee. The beginning paragraph of said article points out that a man suffering from mental illness, who happens to be a Democrat, threatened Rep. Shuler (D-NC). Okay, I agree that DCRTV Dave wanted to keep the front page blurb about this piece media industry-related (hence the mention of the Stabenow case only), so why has no one even noticed that the best war journalist of our time has been kicked out of Afghanistan and the media could care less about this? Nobody in the media seems to care that Michael Yon has been removed from the front lines by Obama/General McChrystal and sent to Thailand. Yon has openly stated the problems in Afghanistan right now and how we could lose this war, unless changes are made. He has been critical of the current rules of engagement. Imagine if the current administration threw Helen Thomas out of a WH press conference, or removed Jack Tapper from the WH lawn. There would be a media revolt! The Fairness Doctrine is very real, and it's coming soon to a media outlet near you! -Silvie- (5/26/10) The radio station cancer that is Don Geronimo has entered KHTK and things couldn't appear to be more uncomfortable among his peers and staff - suits are only concerned with ratings & revenue. One, longtime station jocks like Grant Napear & others have never been fans even going back to the syndicated Don & Mike Show - Mike Sorce's "I got a boner in church" drop this morning on The Rise Guys didn't help. Two, Geronimo replaces popular ratings-winner Jim Kozimor who is not only a listener favorite but well-liked within KHTK. It is the second time in 14 months that KHTK & Maloof Sports is letting him go. Three, inside employees know that there is no way in hell Sorce will move to Sacramento. Four, resigning with CBS shows Sorce's career choices desperate and limited - add KHTK to WOCM & WGMD. It's a good thing Sorce is doing the majority of his shows from Ocean City because his frosty reception at KHTK will be slow to thaw - if ever! (5/26/10) Ditto on Ron Menchine....his call of the '71 Senator's last game forfeit remains a classic. (5/26/10) Only 1 problem Washington Nationals fan some parts of the Northern Virginia will still not be able to get 107.7 hd 2 I live in Woodbridge Va bought a hd radio and could not get 107.7 hd2 signal for the nats games however I get 106.7 4 hd stations. To solve the problem I purchased mlbtv where as a subscriber I get to access to all nationals games via the radio feed for the rest of the season if you buy it today you can listen to them tonight where for around $110 dollars you can listen to Charlie Slowes and Dave Jaegler on your computer and also watch any baseball game online day or night. It is obvious WTOP does not care what they do to there listeners who are sports fans same goes with wtop management I think it is time that questions get raised to the nationals front office by local media and media tells the front office they are people that are very upset with what is going on with wtop. I am a nationals fan and will still be Stan Kasten or the lerners you have some explaining to do the fans about this. (5/26/10) Yeah. Everybody's gotta retire sometime. But Gordo, born in 1937, was already past retirement age when he jumped to WJLA at the end of 2004. I think he really loves what he is doing and the public faithfully watches him because of that. (5/26/10) There is no Fairness Doctrine in the works. There is no gun control measure supported by the Democrats. There are no "death panels" in the Healthcare Bill. The government didn't "take over" and are running health care in this country. The current depression was not caused by poor people buying homes. Al Gore did not say he "invented the internet." There were no WMDs in Iraq. Kagan didn't "kick the army off of campus." ashleymadison does not have "six million members," and 31,000 married women did not sign up the day after Mothers Day. These people listen to too many Hannity lies. Good grief. (5/26/10) Regarding the comment about Eun Yang being the up and coming talent, I totally agree..I really miss seeing her on the weekends..The Kimberly Suters/Aaron Gilchrist duo doesnt' work for me..Kimberly seems to be trying way too hard. And her ad libs are just weak.And Aaron gives me the impression that he can't wait until the broadcast is over..The chemistry just isn't there..But maybe in time, things will get better.. (5/26/10) To Laura Lieberman: You do realize there are birds near radio and TV towers all over the world right now, some of them even NESTING in the towers!? And tons of AM radio stations are in floodplain zones and the towers have no detrimental effect. WBGR 860 for example, which is near a marshy area near a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. So your argument is complete bunk and it's clear you don't know much about radio or TV towers. This is just another ignorant NIMBY argument of people who don't want it in their backyard because they don't want to look at it and think it will devalue their home, and that's probably an exaggerated argument too. And don't forget, WAGE is in Loudoun County too, they have the same rights as you, so if this plan passes state and federal environmental guidelines, it should be built. This reminds me of the Liquid Natural Gas terminal controversy near Baltimore. The NIMBYS claimed it would be a terrorist target and blow up their houses and that it was an environmental disaster in the making (even though the area was already zoned for industry). NIMBYS just make up these stories because they need a crutch to fight something that should legally be allowed to be built. The irony in Baltimore is that the same people fighting the terminal are the same people screaming for cleaner fuels, but when it came to putting an LNG terminal to deliver clean burning natural gas near their home, they turned into instant liberal hypocrites just to protect precious waterfront views. -- Joe in Essex (5/26/10) The other thing about the Comcast basic cable QAM encryption is that if you didn't go out to get a converter from Comcast for say a bedroom HDTV set because you just wanted one remote in the bedroom for simplicity, you also now will only see roughly HALF the Orioles games (with the exception of the occasional WJZ 13 game) because MASN is gone and only MASN 2 shows up on the CSPAN channel. But I bet that doesn't last either. (5/26/10) Len Shapiro's ranking of DC sportscasters was a fun look back at the last 40 years of local television history, but I take issue with his rankings at the top. George Michael and Glenn Brenner were far and away the dominant personalities of the television era. Warner Wolf may have broken ground by "going to the videotape", but he was here, then gone, then back again for a brief unsuccessful run. Both George and Glenn were at the top of their games throughout - and both left too soon. My ranking would be 1) George Michael, 2) Glenn Brenner, 3) Warner Wolf and then so on down Shapiro's list. And at the rate she's going, he's going to have to make room for Lindsay Czarniak sooner rather than later. (5/26/10) Interesting story about WJLA trying to get Doreen and Lyndsay..And if so, I wonder what time they'd be on air..Who is WJLA willing to bump? Cyne' Simpson, Caroline Laders or Maureen Bunyan?..Maybe Maureen's ready to retire?..Just don't see any of them leaving anytime soon..But you never know..And is Tim Brant willing to share the spotlight with Lyndsay?..Who else does the sports over there anyway?.. (5/26/10) Dave's response: Gordo's got to be close to retirement..... (re: Junkies Key Demo's) I understand better than most the key demo's the Junkies have but I would also submit that those demo's include affluent males 25 - 54. Since the move to Sports talk, I believe the demographic has become much more diverse. Does CBS realize there is more market share to be gained in addition to the "key" demo's being targeted now? Who on "The Fan" can bring that diverse demo to the station and keep them there? Brian Mitchell? Lavar Arrington? Or will Gus Johnson be hired to shake things up? I believe the HFS Festival shoved down the throats of Sports Talk Listeners can help and hinder progress for the station. -NYC Suit (5/26/10) $1,000,000 for Doreen Gentzler? Eun Yang is the rising star at 4. She's fabulous. Seven could save a bunch of money and get someone who is not teetering on the edge of irrelevance by picking up Eun. (5/26/10) “Given that WAGE would likely be a voice-only broadcaster, I could see them using monopoles to satisfy the NIMBY’s. No need to broadband the array. I bet the NIMBY’s will bitch about the strobes, though.” Hey, “Unsigned Corporate Suit”—this current situation for WAGE is that it wants to locate its three towers in a floodplain and heron rookery…so how is a Monopole going to be much better when it’s still in a floodplain and heron rookery?? And out here in Loudoun the NIMBY’s are the actual voters and residents who have to deal with these issues on a daily basis. If you have the answers to all of radio’s woes—why not sign your name and take credit for it?? Laura Lieberman (5/26/10) ABC2 Baltimore redone web site - It looks cleaner and easier on the eyes w/ larger fonts and more white space (maybe a little too much) www.abc2news.com (5/26/10) There's no one like Tony. He's a gentleman with a big heart. And, oh-that-voice. I miss hearing him chat with Jim Bohannon in the morning. Here's the link where you'll find the text below: www.rbr.com... Tony Roberts - the voice of The Fighting Irish on Mutual and Westwood One starting in 1980, Roberts had already established his play-by-play credentials at Indiana University, Navy and the Washington Senators before bringing his unbridled enthusiasm to the Notre Dame booth at college football’s flagship university. Rita (5/26/10) I’ve been curious for a while now, so I thought I’d drop you a line. I recall that back in the day you used to report more frequently on the salaries of local TV and radio talent. And seeing the story on Albriton trying to woo talent to ABC7, it raised my curiosity about what the current salaries are given the recent budget cuts at NBC4, and the abysmal ratings at 9News. For example, I’m assuming longtimers at 9 no longer make $500,000+? But it looks like some of the top anchors (according to your note about the possibility of Gentzler being lured by $1M) are still in the upper 6 figures. So what can you tell us? (5/26/10) Dave's response: Anyone want to chime in about local TV news salaries? I really don't know much about 'em..... With an eye toward promoting goals for competition, localism and diversity, the FCC said Tuesday that it wants public comment on a possible revision of media ownership rules. It's about time! Since the vast rules changes in the mid-1990s, we've seen the radio industry turn completely to shit. Even with mega-owners trimming of costs and staffs to the bone, more than a few broadcast companies are in an economic shambles. And, any notion of serving listeners and their communities, has long been a thing of the past. Maybe finally shaking up this crazy ownership situation and reinstating proper oversight, will repair and revive radio -- or at least, forestall its demise. www.nytimes.com (5/26/10) Dave's response: The FCC is a complete industry-driven fraud. A joke. I hear that after the FCC approves the Comcast-NBC marriage, Comcast will gobble up the spineless FCC, too. What the fuck..... So 1260 is "Intelligent Talk", eh? That's close to the slogan WMET was using around 2003-2004 ("Intelligent Radio - 1150 WMET") as they were ramping up for the jump to 1160 and 50 kW. I was doing all their imaging and commercial production at their new M Street facility while it was still under construction. All programming at the time still originated from Gaithersburg. Shortly before they lit the fuse to launch the new WMET 1160 studios and new programs, a bunch of us were shown the door. Pity, it would have been a fun ride. - Al Peterson (purveyor of impeccable audio production) (5/26/10) Latest buzz on Doreen Gentzler's rumored defection to WJLA: Robert Albritton reportedly bankrolled a huge pay-off to move production of her wildly popular DGDC Collection from the Sheinhardt Wig Company to a backroom Vietnamese sweatshop on Wilson Blvd. (5/26/10) Dave's response: Besides buying his way to becoming the most important Washington DC local news media mogul with JLA, NC8, Politico, and TBD, Robert Allbritton is planning to buy up all the wig shops in PG county. Ahhh, OK, I guess you can get to being the top-rated local news channel by paying big bucks to nab up all of the local news talent. You're not "earning" the ratings with quality journalism and crap like that, you're merely "buying" them. There is a distinction..... He's right Dave, the Junks have those target demos locked in. I heard JP jocking Kevin and Rock too this week...there will be some changes at old 10800 Main but it won't be The Junks being curbed... (5/26/10) /\ May 26 Messages /\ \/ May 25 Messages \/ Dave, nothing exposes your lack of access/knowledge of the Arbitron ratings more than your continual speculation that CBS might fire the Sports Junkies. They have been either the #2 overall or #3 station in Men 25-54 EVERY MONTH since the flip to sports in July. That means the only stations beating them in their target is WTOP, which beats every station every month and has for years, and once each for DC101 and WHUR. They are dominant in the biggest money making demo in the market. No, WAMU doesn't count since they don't sell ads. If you listen to their show, they don't seem to have any lack of interest from advertisers considering the constant endorsement ads they do. Those aren't cheap. Add about 1/3 on top of the normal cost. Oh, and last time I checked, local PD's at Clear Channel and CBS don't have the authority to fire million dollar morning shows with huge ratings. They might recommend that, but it's a decision that goes all the way to the top. So no, I don't think CK will be calling up Dan Mason to recommend nixing arguably the biggest morning show in the market any time soon. (5/25/10) In all fairness, Tony Roberts is one of the all-time great football voices, and was pretty terrific when he did the Bullets games, too. But he only did Senators' baseball for one year - 1971 - and took a backseat to Ron Menchine, who had done the games since 1969. Tony was a huge improvement over Shelby Whitfield, but Menchine has never received the credit he was due for his baseball work. Rock solid. (5/25/10) regarding Kinard at The Fan. He wouldn't lose his job. He's not really a PD, he's an administrator really. The suits need him. I doubt the Junks would be let go, they actually have solid ratings, AND, here's the important part, They do promotional stuff with the station. Poker Open, Spring Break Party, etc, and their ratings show it. Wise doesn't, Lavar, HA riiiiiight. So if you put Kevin and Rock in the afternoons, get them out for on air appearances, and throw "The Turd Dukes, I've been in radio along time, Show" in the mid day slot, you might have a chance to bring your "overall" ratings up. But it won't happen until some one from NYC tells Kinard to do it.... (5/25/10) Right after Nathan Roberts signed off for the last time on WTOP at 2 p.m., he walked out of the Glass Enclosed Nerve Center to a heartfelt round of applause from the crowd gathered in the newsroom. It was a well deserved ovation. Nathan has seen and done it all during his time here in Washington -- TV, as well as radio; sports, as well as news. And during his four years here, he cemented himself as a big part of the WTOP staff with that wonderful voice, warm and engaging manner, enthusiasm and passion. He's simply a first class broadcaster. Nathan, here's to many enjoyable evenings at Dodger Stadium and the Vibrato Grill. We'll all miss you. Shawn Anderson, WTOP Radio (5/25/10) Dave, just read your front page regarding channel 7 possibly trying to woo Doreen Gentzler and Lyndsay Czarniak from channel 4!!..WOW!!!Can this possibly be true?..And if so, Dave do you think they're actually considering the jump?.. (5/25/10) Dave's response: Sure! Anything to get away from NBC4 before Kabletown takes over..... (to see if Mr. Kinard will indeed shake things up as you mentioned Dave or maybe the Suits in Lanham can make the ultimate decisions for him. His job could depend on it. - NYC Suit) Although it would be great to hear how the Sports Junkies (especially EB and Lurch) would handle the loss of those sky-high salaries (250K+ per year for each of the four), CK will never fire them (or Dukes) on his own. He's waaay too close to those guys to do that. Even though the Junkies are lazy, much too expensive and uninformed, CK would have to be told to fire them by upper management. ~slaw (5/25/10) DCRTV— California congressman David Dreier (R-26th) took to the floor of the U.S. House on Monday (5/24), and offered remarks in support of the recent launch of “Intelligent Talk 1260 WRC”…the Salem Communications-owned NewsTalk outlet in the nation’s capital. In his floor speech, Dreier observed that “Some might think that Intelligent Talk in Washington, D.C. was an idea whose time would never come.” But the 15-term GOP representative added that with Salem Radio Network hosts Bill Bennett, Mike Gallagher, Dennis Prager and others now heard daily in D.C., “there’s a little more common sense kicking around now in our nation’s capital.” Dreier added that—in his view—“these hosts are consistently thoughtful voices for sound public policy. They have built large audiences and broad respect not by being the loudest or most outrageous, but by consistently offering reasoned, sound analysis and positive, center-right solutions.” SRN’s V.P. of News & Talk Programming Tom Tradup reacted to Dreier’s unusual floor address by stating: “It is humbling and deeply moving to have the work of our SRN hosts praised on-the-record in the greatest deliberative body in the civilized world. We are grateful to Congressman Dreier for his unsolicited but powerful endorsement of our efforts, and of the opportunity to reach other Senators and Congressmen on our newest outlet 1260 WRC.” (5/25/10) Round two of pay cuts at Clear Channel Radio: Radio giant Clear Channel well be renegotiating employment contracts and cutting sales commissions this fall in all major markets. Inside sources in San Antoniao say that the second phase of cost cutting will happen this fall in order to keep CC from filing for Chapter 11. Managers who are currently under employment contracts will be given two options: accept a pay cut or receive a severance package. Clear Channel, currently in default on their loans, is taking desperate measures to bolster the bottom line. Clear Channel has made many attempts to renegotiate their debt but lenders refuse to cooperate. The new pay cuts will save the company millions of dollars. Managers will be paid on the same scale across the board according to their job title. Pay cuts could be as high as up to 40% depending on current compensation. Inside sources say that they cannot terminate any more jobs because the company is already to lean. The cuts will then trickle down to smaller markets. It will not be Happy Holidays for CC employees! (5/25/10) And let's not forget to cast those votes for Tony Roberts for the Hall of fame. Last voice of the Washington Senators and long time voice of Navy and Notre Dame Football..not to mention the NFL and College Basketball on nationwide broadcast' for Westwood One and NBC. Great guy, who still lives in Gainesville, Va. (5/25/10) Dave's response: Also liked Tony in all those old Woody Allen movies..... Nathan Roberts did a classy on-air goodbye just before 2pm on WTOP. (5/25/10) RE: The QAM bomb... Comcast sent letters out warning they were dropping analogs for QAM to have increased Xfinity internet speed and bandwidth, or at least that's how they sorta spun it publicly, but that apparently was not the case. I think a lot of people therefor just assumed they have an HDTV with QAM capability and things would be fine and that maybe it was just for people with older TVs, like my sister thought. But she already had a cable box because her TV was a very old model TV. Of course, no media will touch Comcast with any negative story or even a report about it because they spend so much advertising money everywhere. I think the only thing I read about it was one story in The Post & here at DCRTV, haven't seen anything on local TV news or radio. The crazy part is the channel duplication and that they added channels that my Comcast converter didn't get too like Dave Hughes said below. It just makes no sense since there is no technical reason to scramble basic cable channels other than they can, the DMCA law allows it, and probably to prevent theft. They are too lazy to come out to peoples' houses who are stealing cable TV and yank the wires from thieves. They could have just as easily required a converter for just analog TVs. But now they'll get to charge you for the extra boxes eventually, since that's legal too. All in all, typical shitty Comcast. (5/25/10) I was in & out of radio from 1973 to 1998 and used Sennheiser headphones and mikes at many of the stations along the way. I'm wearing a pair right now, listening to my iTunes as I post this. The company's founder, Fritz Sennheiser, died on May 17. He was 98. www.nytimes.com (5/25/10) Given that WAGE would likely be a voice-only broadcaster, I could see them using monopoles to satisfy the NIMBY’s. No need to broadband the array. I bet the NIMBY’s will bitch about the strobes, though. As for Hearst radio, what would’ve made sense would have had them buying 102.7 from CBS and making it “WBAL-FM”. That would’ve accomplished two goals: Put WBAL on a real FM signal (I remember the nascent “WTOP-FM’s” on 94.3 and 102.3…) and eliminate a competitor to WIYY. Pity they didn’t think of doing it. I would have done more than think about it. I would’ve done it. There’s nothing more fun in this (or any) business than creating careers –not mere jobs. A local expansion of a news/talk WBAL would’ve done just that. Done right, it also would’ve knocked WCBM on its ass and given CC second thoughts about doing “Rush Radio” in this region. -Unsigned Corporate Suit (5/25/10) Comcast (Balto County West) QAM bomb: open channels dropped from 107 to 45, still augmented w/ 17 analog slots. All broadcast channels in HD at conventional channel slots (2.1, 2.3, 11.1, etc) with each main channel assigned a digital SD 'mirror', the usual franchise channels (BCTV, BCPS, CCBC), the local WeatherScan (but not The Weather Channel), CSPAN (1 & 2, but not 3), all three shopping channels (QVC & HSN each taking an analog AND a digital slot; ShopNBC still at their leased (dig.) channel assignment), three Spanish channels, with Univision taking an analog/digital pair.. In fact, if this transition was supposed to be about allocating bandwidth, why all the duplication? (no answer req'd) Trying to get ahead of this, I called Comcast twice: got cut off one one call, 2nd call got me to a CSR who responded to any question with a question and never provided an answer; visited a B&M service center where my clerk was certain NO change would occur(!). Utterly clueless! Maybe they mandate Stupid pills upon clocking in? Mark/CharmCity (5/25/10) Are all the useless AHHH anti-Geronimo posts really necessary at this point? Tell Paul to post under his real name or beat it already...geesh. (5/25/10) DAVE STATTER, Wow - you are unflappable - must have some Franciscan blood in your veins. Kudos. Also, I enjoyed the hazmat clip from 1988 - I was on the one at G'town Pike/Beltway (DLVFD 13). m (5/25/10) “7 Wants Czarniak, Gentzler.” Me too! And a five-gallon bucket of cooking oil, zip restraints, and some plastic sheeting. What fun we’ll have! Oh, perhaps I’ve said too much here… (5/25/10) Over the past four and one half years, “East Side” Dave McDonald has evolved from producer on SiriusXM’s Ron and Fez Show to show personality with significant airtime, aptly providing comedy and commentary. What has not evolved has been Mr. McDonald’s meager associate producer salary. Last week, Mr. McDonald informed SiriusXM that he is unable to support his family of four on the paycheck he receives and that he will be forced to leave the job he loves and take a more lucrative, non-radio position if he is not better compensated. Mr. McDonald has stated that Thursday will be his last day with the Ron & Fez Show unless SiriusXM provides a counteroffer on his salary needs. It remains to be seen how SiriusXM will react, but they are already saving significant money on staffing of the Ron & Fez Show by declining to replace executive producer Earl Douglas who resigned sixteen months ago. Listeners have launched an online Twitter campaign in support of Mr. McDonald. Details can be found at www.twitter.com/davepound... The Ron and Fez Show can be heard Monday through Friday from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm on XM 202 and Sirius 197. (5/25/10) This guy was a psychic on Coast to Coast. How the hell did he not see this coming? online.wsj.com (5/25/10) "It would probably go little noticed were it not for her recent contretemps over in Merry Ole, but dear Sarah, Duchess of York, will be in our fair city the weekend of June 26-27, which means the paparazzi will be in tow. She'll be appearing at the very early hour of 8 o'clock in the morning at the American Library Association meeting at the Convention Center. The purpose is to promote a new children's book series because, when she's not getting into trouble, Fergie writes popular children's books." More at www.caroljoynt.com (5/25/10) After hearing the content on "The Fan" on the weekdays for a very long time now after the station flip, I still wonder how The Kevin and Rock show fly under the radar or where they even came from. I think Holden Kushner was put in a bad spot trying to assist with the Mike Wise show. Lavar & Dukes are what they are, but do they really have that radio magic? Bill Rohland was done a favor by being moved to evenings but could he possibly be paired with Holden to take on T.K. during mid days? Can Lavar and Dukes improve their show in order to make a significant change in the OVERALL ratings? If Brian Mitchell moved to the weekdays would he hold an audience any better than Wise? I think I heard 10 minutes of sports in all from the Junkies yesterday. Sam, can't be too happy with that. Lastly will they just hire more re-treads from 980 or elsewhere and not improve the overall roster? I from my perch; is as interested as many others in the industry to see if Mr. Kinard will indeed shake things up as you mentioned Dave or maybe the Suits in Lanham can make the ultimate decisions for him. His job could depend on it. - NYC Suit (5/25/10) To be fair, no, Krauthammer doesn't smirk. But also to be fair, I think David Gregory does a good job on MTP. He was just letting his hair down on the Leno show. Easy to do, because he was in dire need of a haircut. And he has really skinny legs and undersized feet. - ZombieWoof (5/25/10) Again, to be fair, since I have whizzed on the Barcalounger Tom Shales is slowing accreting to, he did admit in his blog today that the "inauguration" that he CLAIMED to see in the FINALE of 24 was, in fact, just a COMMERCIAL not connected to the show. Just sucky, Tom. And it's fun to say "Sig-Sauer" but Jack Bauer's pistol hasn't been a Sig for quite some time. Just sucky. - ZombieWoof (5/25/10) Don Geronimo - With Sorce's "track record" wonder how long his non-compete clause will be this time - 5 years? AHHHH (5/25/10) I just heard Nathan Roberts of WTOP saying it was his last day at the station, except for occasional appearances. He worked at Fox 5 and Newschannel 8. (5/25/10) Re: AHHHH's post regarding Robert Eatman - Now there's an agent that won't let his clientele work at some dumpy, pay for your own airtime radio station. Pffffft.....Anybody working a station like that has to be...ohhh...an E-Lister at best! (5/25/10) There is a world of difference between a licensee who enters into a Local Marketing Agreement (LMA) with another operator or brokers blocks of time and allowing a local zoning board to dictate programming. The FCC recognizes LMAs and time brokering. The licensee is still charged with the responsibility to see that the station continues to operate in compliance with FCC rules and regulations. The FCC slapped Centennial Broadcasting with a fine for a clause in the sale of some of its Roanoke-area stations that it would not adopt a sports format on any of its remaining Roanoke stations. When Centennial reneged on that non-compete, the buyer complained to the FCC. The Commission dismissed that complaint, but fined Centennial for agreeing to such a formatic non-complete in the first place claiming that Centennial was allowing the buyer of the other stations to dictate programming, I.e, unauthorized transfer on control. See the similarities? (5/25/10) Hi there, thought you maybe interested in this article by The Internationalist: D.C which profiles BBC anchor Mishal Husain (used to be based D.C.) dcinternationalist.wordpress.com (5/25/10) Quote: "Don Geronimo has tweeted that he is going to make a big announcement tomorrow (Tuesday). Referring to a new gig?" He's joining The Grandy Group. I kid, I kid! ;-) -Silvie- (5/25/10) Anyone know who's running this ad? washingtondc.craigslist.org... Is this a sports show? Hate when they never give a name... AND when they want you to work for free. (5/25/10) Let's cut to the chase on WAGE... It's not about the environment or heron rookeries or even programming (especially since Loudoun county technically has no authority and are overstepping it even asking that question). What is it all about? NIMBYS not wanting to see the damn towers from their McMansions or have to drive by them! I don't even think herons are even an endangered bird and even if they are, what the hell difference does it make? There are birds near radio towers all the time as well as towers even in floodplains. I fail to see how the towers will effect the floodplain. NIMBYS always pull this phony stunt and make up all these nonsense environmental excuses like blabbering idiots to hide their true intensions. Sorry, BUSTED! (5/25/10) I had been checking periodically and I noticed Comcast very quietly did what everyone suspected they were about too do when they notified customers of the switch to digital signals. In Baltimore County, they scrambled practically every cable networks' QAM channel leaving nothing but locals, public access, & foreign language channels. My major gripe with this is it forces customers to use a clunky junky Comcast remote instead of the nice remote that probably came with their brand new HDTV set and makes certain features a hassle and a pain for no reason. Plus, they can legally charge for the boxes down the road since there's nothing stopping them. And not to mention, my elderly Mom still hasn't figured out how to use the HDTV remote! So Dad's been changing the channels and turning the TV on for her now! LOL Thank you Congress and the DMCA law. (5/25/10) Dave's response: Comcast has completed its digital conversion in Reston and that's exactly how it is here. Only the local TVers and their subchannels, public access channels, and maybe one cable network (USA, which is part of the basic tier) are in the "clear" QAM-wise. In fact, Comcast has some of the religious channels, like EWTN and one with nothing but Lyndon LaRouche, in the clear but not available with a digital box. Go figure..... Would someone please tell me where in DC the "East Village" is? I always thought it was in New York. Thanks, mizburd (5/25/10) Very Interesting -- the comments about WAGE and its attempt to secure zoning rights. First, about this mailbag post: "Potomac Radio will not make any concessions to the Loudoun Board of Supervisors regarding programming on WAGE. To do so would constitute unauthorized transfer of control in the eyes of the FCC." Doesn't that exact situation happen all the time, e.g., when a station signs an LMA, affiliates with a network, features brokered content, etc.? As for Unsigned Suit's comments ("no governmental body should have any interest whatsoever in the programming of any broadcaster"), overlooking for the moment that the FCC is a governmental body, this raises an interesting question. (Well, at least interesting to me.) Everyone bemoans the loss of local radio, and in fact an exurb like Loudon may actually be hurt by it, since it leaves local businesses with no practical broadcast outlet to advertise their services. The board is seeking to address that problem -- is that inappropriate? Is it any different than, say, requiring a developer to build a park or a road in exchange for approval of its land use request? Is what Potomac Radio is being asked to do that much different than what any company seeking a zoning exception goes through? (5/25/10) Robert Eatman: So this is Geronimo's new LA based 'super agent' With a client base that includes Clark Howard, Kid Chris, Opie & Anthony and hold your breath, Nick Cannon, [we] can see why Sorce is re-branding himself as dj-Dlist. AHHHH (5/25/10) To the person writing about how I handle criticism: No, actually my feelings are just the opposite. Have you ever read my blog? For the three years I have written STATter911.com I have encouraged people who have gripes or think I am a jerk to write in. As long as it meets the station’s language standards I post the comments (moderating about 20,000 comments has kept me busy). As a news person I truly believe more voices should be heard. And I also believe there is an obligation for reporters to answer questions about what you do and why you do it. I do challenge those writing about me to come up with the facts to go with their emotions. Too often in the news business we are good at asking the questions and then hide behind corporate policy, our own egos or even fears and refuse to answer the charges made against us. BTW, this is really mild stuff compared to what firefighters have blasted me for. Also important is a little reputation management. When someone Googles Dave Statter and sees the charge that he is dishonest by someone anonymously commenting on DCRTV, I want them to be able to read my response, on the record, with my name attached to it. Many of my friends in the news business and the fire service have advised me not to respond to these toxic comments (as some people call them). Obviously I disagree. I really don’t take any of it personally and have never lost sleep over what has been written. Sometimes I find the person has a point. I then admit my error, and correct the story or change my ways. Also, thanks for your concern that I am insecure. If being willing to respectfully answer to people who express their dislike for you is the definition of insecure then I am guilty and will continue to be guilty. A question for you: Is it possible the real problem here is that you are just not used to someone responding directly to their critics on DCRTV or other anonymous Internet forums? Dave Statter (5/25/10) "His liberal bias showed through in the form of a couple smirks." No, Zombie, that just means he's a member of the DC establishment media. That smirk covers all political persuasions. See Krauthammer, Chuck and Carlson, Tucker. Howie (5/25/10) WOW Statter sure has a hard-on. Reminds me of what happens on here when anyone dares to criticize WTOP. Insecure people. (5/25/10) WIYY was created out of the AOR WBAL-FM to become all-news with the ill-fated “National News and Information Service” of NBC. (WBAL-AM was an NBC radio affiliate and WBAL-TV has a long history of affiliation with NBC-TV.) Once NNIS was euthanized, “98 Rock” was born. –Unsigned Corporate Suit (5/25/10) Dave, Any word on the duration of contracts for Mike Wise and Lavar over at JFK? Seeing as JFK is back in the 21rst spot overall, (after the bump up from the Caps), do you think there will be a shake up over the summer? I'm assuming the station is still doing good in their key demos... (5/25/10) Dave's response: I've heard that most JFK contracts come due in July, a year since the sports talker launched. I would expect some more line-up changes. You know, it wouldn't surprise me if CBS did something radical and pulled the plug on the Junks..... Just heard Mr. Tom Grooms on 105.9 The Edge. Why don't they even have him listed on The Edge's website? To be honest I think its dumb how he's pretty much left in the background...... (5/25/10) Dave, You might want to check out Don's Twitter account.........according to him a big announcement is comming today...... Keep Up The Good Work! Tommy (5/25/10) Dave, just wanted to "weigh" in on Tom Shales's article on tonight's 24 finale. Perhaps you could use your considerable pull with the Post's ombudstron. This fellow, who probably couldn't squirm into his onld WHFS t-shirt like certain local media journalists, crafted THIS sentence for money: " It became almost impossible to put something on the screen that seemed tacitly impossible." While that might mean something to someone whose job requires him to be slowly welded to his BarcaLounger, an editor should have caught it. And Tom, while it was good to hear from you about "the alleged election of George W. Bush" your note that "in production terms, sets that are supposed to represent interiors at the United Nations look a trifle chintzy" rang hollow, since the UN Headquarters is actually an old building. Tom, you watched a tv show and phoned in an article. I expect better of you. In other news, David Gregory had his Chris Matthews moment on the Tonight show when he told the vastly more talented Russell Brand "the adults are talking." His liberal bias showed through in the form of a couple smirks. Keep it in your pants, Lurch. There's your Lurch. Anyone who messes with Kim Martucci messes with me. - ZombieWoof (5/25/10) There's no way 98Rock is going anywhere, it's too popular especially with the younger crowd. It's the ONLY rocker in Baltimore, and it gets ratings. WBAL is fine where it's at it doesn't need to be relayed on FM since WBAL-AM is a blowtorch and probably covers a much greater area during the day than any Baltimore FM station. As for WMAL, the product doesn't really seem to be there right now to warrant a switch to FM, and as with 98Roch again WRQX isn't going anywhere. That leaves the Edge which I think it's too early to tell if it's a failure or a success to warrant a format switch. The Edge has a nice rock blend that you aren't going to find anywhere else on one station alone. It also probably helps them having Kirk McEwen though he'd probably be better fit for the morning drive. The next FM move CBS needs to make in Washington is to put HFS back on an HD1 signal, whether it's on 94.7, 99.1, or 106.7. CBS doesn't have any room for an FM talker, and no decent show line up for one. I never was a fan of Don & Mike, but Mike O'Meara on 98Rock was great radio this morning. (5/25/10) Dave, Don Geronimo has tweeted that he is going to make a big announcement tomorrow. (Tuesday) Referring to a new gig? "Arrived. Announcement tomorrow, gang! Stay tooned." (5/25/10) Potomac Radio will not make any concessions to the Loudoun Board of Supervisors regarding programming on WAGE. To do so would constitute unauthorized transfer of control in the eyes of the FCC. (5/25/10) /\ May 25 Messages /\ \/ May 24 Messages \/ Unsigned Corporate Suit- I understand your concerns over the Loudoun Board's involvement in the WAGE land use proposal. What you probably don't know is what is happening behind the scenes. The new owner of WAGE and a paid consultant are telling everyone that they will cover local news and speak of how the station used to cover Loudoun from everything from board meetings to high school sports. The problem is they never seem to say what they mean by local news in the future tense.... (5/24/10) WIYY was all news before it became 98Rock. I guess it was sometime in the late 70s. (5/24/10) I find the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors "interest" in whether WAGE would offer “local-interest programming” with regard to zoning and land-use issues for a proposed tower site rather chilling. IMHO, with the exception of the scripts of today’s equivalent of the EBS “red card” and “white card” announcements of my youth, no governmental body should have any interest whatsoever in the programming of any broadcaster. For the Loudoun BOS to even think this way is reprehensible. To even insinuate approval of WAGE’s tower site based on programming would embolden other local (not to mention state or even Federal) governmental bodies to try to control broadcast content. Should Loudoun prevail in this, what’s next? D.C. going after Bonneville’s studio and transmitter use/occupancy permits because of WTOP’s coverage of Mayor Fenty and the D.C. City Council? I hope Sigma Delta Chi gets involved in this. The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors deserves some well-earned bad publicity for this blatant attack on the Bill of Rights. –Unsigned Corporate Suit (5/24/10) Nats on 107.7's HD-2? BFD...who's gonna hear it? Once again Bonneville pulls the wool over Kasten & Company's eyes. (5/24/10) Saw Kim Martucci on channel 4 yesterday. Holy Ice Cream Headache, Batman. Oh well, it looks like she's got a bun in the oven, so we can look forward to someone else filling in while she's on maternity leave... (5/24/10) Was quite happy to see Chuck Bell do the weather on the 5pm newscast on channel 4..Good to see someone who can put some life into their broadcast. Veronica and her monotone delivery is enough to put you to sleep.. (5/24/10) Who is the unnamed poster who said The Edge 105.9 is kickin' ass with men, and if he's in a position to know, can he explain the station's philosophy about its morning show? Is that daypart also kickin' ass with men, and therefore not in need of the boost a morning-show host could add? I ask these questions as a fan of the station who'd like to know more. Christian (5/24/10) Dave's response: Well, in the overall age 12+ numbers, the Edge has inched up from 20th to 18th place since it launched last August. I think the station will do better if, as it seems to be doing, expands its playlist to include more alt rock from the 1980s and 1990s..... American University should buy WMAL and put their all blab all the time on AM where it belongs. Then put together a local AAA music station like WXPN on the FM and Ocean City relay. Well I can dream can't I. Bob Fairfax (5/24/10) Dave, can you please explain your assertion that ad revenue is down at WJFK since they switched to sports? What is your source? As a journalist, I am sure you have a solid basis for that claim. Thanks. (5/24/10) Dave's response: Those BIA financial stats for last year showed JFK making about one-third of the annual revenue in 2009 as opposed to the glory days with Stern/Don-Mike/Redskins..... I wanted you to know that the Edge is kickin' ass with men. It's really exploded both 25-54 and 18-34. it's gotta have DC 101 and Big freakin' out. They won't relay MAL on the signal, it's doing extremely well. (5/24/10) Re: AHHHH....Back to the Geronimo bashing again, huh Bicknell? (5/24/10) Attention radio management. For those of you who are signing Don Geronimo, you can pick-up his personal & career baggage at Baggage Claim carrousel's 101, 102, 103 104, 105...ahhhhh (5/24/10) Don Geronimo - The minute Mike Sorce 'signs on the dotted line' is the time [we] can once again start the 6 month fired or quit clock. After all this time off, if Sorce resigns with CBS, then he has squandered an opportunity to embrace the future technology of radio [which is not terrestrial] and start his own branding media empire which would have included content [his and other talent] You can lead a tired, old-ass desperate to have a job dj to water... AHHHH (5/24/10) To the person who wrote those “wonderful” things about me including “The Ego has left the building” let me pass along a big thank you. I was getting so many nice comments on my blog, on Facebook and by email that it was really sickening. Up until now I thought I had died and was attending my own funeral. There needs to be a dissenting opinion. Thank you for the reality check. As for STATter911.com you are correct that it has been an issue. The direction I received from management about the blogging has rubbed some people in the newsroom the wrong way. I understood that and fully expected it. Change is difficult. While I didn’t like the conflicts it caused I never took their complaints personally. You may call it being ”lazy”, but at former news director Mike Ward’s request I jumped into the blogging experiment with both feet and since then have worked much longer hours than I ever had (just in a different way). It has consistently become the most popular part of the station’s website (second to the home page) and provides a lot of news tips. But finding the right balance in doing the blog in a way that will have some success, and also being a one-man-band TV reporter, is a real challenge. There may not enough hours in the day. Dave Statter (5/24/10) Dashboard DX sighting: On Thursday, in Rockville, at 1:30 PM, on 1670 khz, I heard a station identifying as “WD2XXM Frederick, and WD2XAB Catonsville.” Programming consisted of a loop tape pimping the wonderfulness of HD radio, done in interview format. The message alternated with the ID. No doubt this was originated by Ibiquity, lords and masters of HD radio. Mike from Frederick and the entire Dashboard DX Society, laughing and scratching as we chase electrons to and fro. (5/24/10) Dave's response: Still can't beat the CIA's "Sounds Of Silence" on 1640..... Two short topics I would like to address: 1) How can a trio of radio towers cause such an uproar in Loudoun when the cellphone people have been jamming hundreds of ugly-ass pylons into the ground for two decades with almost no fanfare? And 2) Is Big 100.3 staffed on Sundays? If not, their voicetracking strategy is kinda cool ("Hey, I'm here for two more hours, so e-mail me your favorite song at..."). But if they are, then someone should have jumped on an EAS flub that took place in the early afternoon, with a prerecorded setup followed by minutes of dead air. All done now. Bye bye. (5/24/10) Hi Dave, What do you know about FiOS programming in Northern Virginia? I'm a big baseball fan with a new 56-inch HD screen. Got FiOS because the trees in my neighborhood prevent me from getting DirectTV HD. I was thrilled to hear this year about MASN HD 2, which meant ALL Nats (and O's) games would be available in HD. But guess what? FiOS doesn't offer MASN HD 2 in HD. Kind of misses the point. Then there's the case of the MLB Extra Innings package. Ordered it and only get at most 2 HD games per day, but usually just one. The rest of the games are in SD and they often look terrible on the HD screen. I know some cable companies control MLB Extra Innings through InDirect and they want to stick it to Verizon. But why doesn't Verizon warn its customers instead of just passing along the misery? I've twittered the FiOS guy - twitter.com/FiOSTV - and his answers about this stuff are pretty weak. But he does say it's not an issue of capacity. And he simply has no info on the MASN 2 HD. So are baseball fans making a big mistake with FiOS? From my experience, I'd say yes. But I wanted to check with you to see if you knew any more details. Many thanks. FW (5/24/10) Dave's response: I know that Comcast here in Reston has one channel in HD for its MLB Extra Innings Package, with the rest of the nightly games in standard-def. We do however get both MASN-HD and MASN2-HD. It seems to me that Verizon's Fios simply doesn't have the bandwidth to add MASN2-HD mainly because it's not a fulltime channel. Other than the evening ballgame, it's pretty much a relay of ESPNews. As for Verizon, I've found them to have rather mediocre customer service, and I'd expect Fios to be no different..... With regard to today's rant: "C'mon Citadel. Relay WMAL on 105.9 FM. You should have done it two years ago." -- I disagree because I still think AM is fine for news and talk and FM is still ideal for music. Don't radios still come with an AM band these days? Besides, it seems like a waste of FM band space when it is not being used for music. And I find that switching between BIG 100.3 and Edge 105.9 usually allows this 35-49 year old male to listen to a decent classic rock song. (5/24/10) Dave's response: I just heard the Simple Minds on 105.9. The station is getting better with more 1980s alt rock/pop. Cool..... Dave: I'm a fan of WVRX, 105.9 "The Edge," and would be sad to see it go, but your argument to put WMAL on that frequency makes sense. Regardless of WVRX's ratings -- it appears to have ticked up, ever so slightly, in the weekly ratings, although it's possible that it hasn't gained any listeners but has merely benefitted from listener erosion among the many stations that rate higher -- the fact that it still has no morning show feels like a death knell, as if Citadel is just biding its time until the axe falls on the format. Christian (5/24/10) Dave's response: Here's what's gonna happen. 105.9 will start playing some way cool 1980s alt rock/pop that'll I'll like and THEN they'll pull the plug for WMAL-FM. Jeff Boden and Kenny King are evil, pure evil..... Once again, MASN went with the joint TV booth for the three games between the Nationals and Orioles in DC over the weekend. I'm convinced that Os announcer Gary Thorne has some objection to the concept and always begs out - he may have participated the first time it was done (two years ago), but Jim Hunter's been splitting the play-by-play with Bob Carpenter for every "Battle of the Beltways" series since then. While Jim Palmer and Rob Dibble could hardly be more different, they're both former major league pitchers and there was no shortage of in-depth pitching discussion between the two. Unfortunately, Dibble couldn't restrain himself from openly cheering for the Nats at times - he should keep in mind that Os fans comprise at least half the audience for these games and avoid that type of thing whenever the two teams get together in the future. On Saturday's Nats postgame show, Ray Knight showed a distinct lack of professionalism by doing nothing but make excuses and alibis for Nyjer Morgan's mental lapse in the outfield that led to an inside-the-park home run for Baltimore. Is it Knight's job to actually analyze the games or be a mere shill for the team? - the fact that he chose to spin the Morgan play as 'impressive' (because slamming your glove on the ground instead of chasing the ball is apparently a great way to show that you care about winning) definitely suggests the latter. I noticed that former Channel 7 weekend sports anchor Greg Toland was part of Channel 9's Sports Plus show last night (reporting on the Nats) - he did some work for Comcast SportsNet last year but apparently has been hired to replace Sara Walsh (who went to ESPN) at 9. Mike, Fairfax (5/24/10) A bummer I've encountered with Rave taking over the former National Amusement theatres at Fairfax Corner is Rave has dropped the Silver Cinema program. NA would show old movies from 40's and 50's on Monday afternoons for 2 bucks. It was a well attended program. Saw White Christmas and It's A Wonderful Life last December on a big screen for the first time in many a year. Heck I'd even pay more for the screenings but doubt Rave gave it a second thought in dropping the Silver Cinema. Also I think Reston Towne Center is quite interesting from a visual standpoint but whoever designed it gave little consideration for handicap accessibility imo. It's a haul from parking garage to movie theatres and stores when you got mobility problems. (5/24/10) Dave's response: That street in front of the Reston Town Center movie theater becomes a wind tunnel on windy winter days, and you literally have to hold on for dear life in the freezing cold and/or rain while waiting to buy a ticket out front. Why can't ALL movie theaters put their ticket booths inside, like they do at Fairfax Corner or at Fairfax Town Center? There is so much wrong with the Reston Town Center multiplex - don't get me started. Although, I do like the under $8 matinee prices, which probably won't last under the new ownership..... Interesting article at Blatherwatch on the steady decline of right-wing partisan political talk radio: blatherwatch.blogs.com... The article contains a perfect moniker to describe the WMAL "Chris Plante" format: Political Tabloid Radio. Also, have you noticed that 'MAL recently added Scarborough to the evening lineup following that disgusting troll Levin? - Jeff in (Could Mark Levin possibly wedge his head any further up Sean Hannity's Ass?) Bowie (5/24/10) Dave's response: Scarborough's been on MAL's evening sked since last fall, after getting his (now cancelled) live late morning radio show dropped from old 630 last summer with the restoration of Mr. Plantefood..... Good morning, Washington - I'm pleased to let you know director Oliver Stone will appear for an interview at The Q&A Cafe, Thursday, June 24. We will discuss, among other topics, his new documentary, "South of the Border," a personal journey among several Latin American leaders, and the upcoming sequel, "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," which got a strong response at the just-concluded Cannes Film Festival. Stone's interview follows by a week the appearance of Michaele and Tareq Salahi, which is Thursday, June 17. I'm looking forward to both programs and will hope to see you there. Again, the location is the Georgetown Ritz Carlton, seating begins at noon, the fee is $50, all inclusive of food, beverages, tax and tip, and there's a discounted $10 fee for valet parking. For reservations please call 202.912.4110. On New York Social Diary today I shine light on something that transcends the usual Washington hoopla. This is a town of galas, many of them celebrating the lux life, which is why I'm glad I attended the Brady Center Gala last week. It had special meaning. Also, a dinner party at the home of Elise and Marc Lefkowitz. All here: www.nysocialdiary.com... Have a good week, Carol (5/24/10) Just read your rant and could not agree more on moving WMAL and WBAL to FM. I still cannot figure out why Hearst does not blow up WIYY and make it WBAL FM. You could run all news on FM and do the talk shows on AM. Also, you are totally correct on Fresh. What a waste. There are so many options for 94.7. One could be Country. CC has destroyed WMZQ. (5/24/10) Dave's response: No, Hearst should not blow up 97.9, WIYY. 98 Rock is one of the few locally-based real rockers out there. It's a radio treasure. Perhaps Hearst could pick up 100.7 from Shamrock for BAL-FM? Or maybe CBS would sell 99.1, a DC market station which covers the Baltimore market very well. Hmmm..... Speaking to a friend this weekend, most of the newsroom @ 9 won't miss Statter. Give him a story he doesn't want to cover, and it's fireworks. Lazy and spends more time on his blog than TV!. 7 can have him. "The Ego has left the Building" (5/24/10) (regarding a previous post) "Could someone please identify the music played at the end of the NBC4 video. I recall that music played at the end of the 11 pm news on channel 4 for years." It's 'My Mood' by the group MFSB. (5/24/10) yup, I entirely agree with the feedback about Fresh 94.7. Seems like the suits at Black Rock also are responsive - don't be too surprised if the PD is ousted in the VERY NEAR future. (5/24/10) Could someone please identify the music played at the end of the NBC4 video. I recall that music played at the end of the 11 pm news on channel 4 for years. Hey Mark Seagraves I think Gary Williams stays at Maryland for as long as he wants for what he's done for the program. It's that AD who should have been gone a long time ago. And so long to Ms.Barnes and Mr. Statter from channel 9. Didn't Mr. Statter work at CNN for a brief time about 5-6 years ago? And maybe a good thing is Mr. Statter won't be sent out to the latest severe weather event from now on. So what's happening at channel 9 they plan on hiring more recent college graduates or go to infomercials? Do channel 9's morning news get better ratings than the static channel 7 news? (5/24/10) Dear Dave: Went to the above at the National Press Club last night. All the biggies in AFTRA and SAG national and local were there to present voiceover legend Sheldon Smith with the Howard Keel Award. Thought you might be interested! xomarty chickaboomer.blogspot.com (5/24/10) Hey Dave! I am a Comcast subscriber and have been for the past 12yrs since i moved up here from DC to 'Balmer. I just getting around to having my cable restored...a few years back, Comcast Baltimore City was carrying Fox 5 DC as well as other DC affiliates- 4,5,7,9 during the early days of cable before deregulation...just after 1998 all but Fox 5 DC was carried- until Comcast discontinued it at around 1999 or maybe earlier..I noticed the surrounding counties AA, Howard, PG, and to a certain extent- Balt Co. all have DC affiliates- but Baltimore City does not..I called Comcast about rectifying the situation to AT LEAST put Fox 5DC back on its cable system, but all they seem to tell me is 'when the powers that be decide to pay us the fee to put it back on, we'll consider it- or some other lame duck excuse as to delaying it...I can only get WHUT 32 as perhaps to only true DC affiliate on my cable....any solutions or words through the grapevine you've heard that might improve the situation? (5/24/10) Dave's response: I'm amazed that so many Baltimore market Comcast systems still carry "out of market" Washington signals. Here in the Washington market, we don't get Baltimore TV signals any longer, except for WMPT. Channels 2, 13, and 45 got dropped from Reston cable in 1993, and 11 a few years later. I know that Comcast Montgomery no longer carries any Baltimore commercial TV signals, and Comcast Prince George's dropped them a few years ago. Technically, Howard and Anne Arundel counties are in the Baltimore market. I guess because of "viewership patterns," Comcast has decided to continue carrying some DC network affiliates in some of its Baltimore markets areas, particularly the Columbia and Annapolis areas. Anybody know more?..... I still dont understand why this "Fresh" crap continues to pullute the airwaves of 94.7. Why can't we have a Jack FM on there? It gets good ratings in many other markets...We just dont need any more of this freaking modern pop crap thats on every other f'ing station. DO we have A station that plays any decent 80's music? NO. Or just solve the HFS2 transmitter problem and just put it on 94.7-1.....but hell will freeze over if that happens (5/24/10) Dave's response: CBS management here in Washington does not want to have any stations in the "top 10" in the overall age 12+ demos. They'd rather have niche-formatted stations that reach niche demos, a la Fresh geared specifically to young women and no one else. Ditto with WJFK to young men. You can make a load of ad revenue if you "target market" your message, CBS believes, and, to a certain extent, they're right. Although, I'm pretty sure that both Fresh and JFK and way down in ad revenue from previous format incarnations. The recession? Yeah, right. Ha ha ha..... Hey, Dave, this isn't a Washington/Baltimore issue in as much as a case of a case of Murphy's Law at Cleveland, Ohio's heritage ABC affiliate, WEWS Channel 5 (sister station to WMAR Channel 2, and symbolic flagship of the E.W. Scripps chain) at the worst possible time - the airing of LOST's finale. At some point during the broadcast, transmitter issues on their end arose that caused their digital OTA signal to break up, rendering it unavailable on many cable systems. As a result, the vast majority of Clevelanders could not see the program in its' entirety, or at all. These transmission issues persisted beyond the end of the program, and throughout the entire post-LOST newscast at 11:30PM. WEWS' apology on their website (www.newsnet5.com) noted that the finale would reair on Saturday at 8:00PM - a decision that was already made by ABC well before this incident took place. As one could surmise, there's not a lot of happy people here in Cleveland, and especially at WEWS. Considering all the people that tuned in to watch the finale, heck, it could even be the last hurrah for a widely-viewed sendoff of a show on broadcast television - this was bad. - Nate in Cleveland - (5/24/10) Also saw Kim Martucci this morning..Whenever it was time for her to give the weather, she kept introducing herself with a "I'm Kim" which I thought weird since the anchors had already introduced her..And at one point said "You may have seen me before"..Just seemed like she was going a little overboard in ensuring that the audience know who she is.. (5/24/10) /\ May 24 Messages /\ \/ May 23 Messages \/ Bill Webber was one of the greats in the heyday of WIP. As you mentioned, he was Bill Webber on the radio but also referred to himself as Wee Willie Webber occasionally. I understand he was actually quite tall. Roddy Freeman (5/23/10) Some very young faces on the decidedly low-definition NewsCenter 4 news set back in 1982 just before Marty Levin headed back west. (Cue MFSB.) (5/23/10) I think that the move at WBAL is not only a good move, but a necessary one. I was very happy to read the post on your main page. I have long believed that an all-news station would work in Baltimore particularly now with all of the activists taking part in trying to change the policies of our country I feel that there is a need for more reporting of the activities taking place. What I would really like though is to see WIYY actually become an all-news station 24 hours a day ala WTOP. I know that's asking for a lot and realize that probably would never happen in my lifetime but it is a wish that I do have. I think that the job that WBAL does with is Maryland Morning News is exceptional and I expect the same kind of results with its afternoon-evening drive time show. I wish WBAL nothing but great success and great ratings with its new endeavor. Marshall Pikesville, MD (5/23/10) Dave, I was watching Ferris Buehler's Day Off last night on a cable channel called IDHD. Its one of my favorite movies. But every twenty minutes the movie was interrupted by commercials that lasted twelve minutes. That is just not fair. I used each break to get another beer and you know how mom does not like me drinking upstairs. Can you do something about this? (5/23/10) Dave's response: IDHD on my Comcast system is Investigation Discovery-HD and wouldn't be running that "Ferris Buehler" movie. Good flick, though..... (regarding a previous post) "Folks who know the real reason Marty Levin left NBC-4 in 1982 will be amused by his quote". I remember Channel 4 being a revolving door for a while there. When I first started watching, the main anchors were Neil Boggs and Glenn Rinker. Then it was Rinker and Jim Vance. At some point, Fred Thomas came over from Channel 7. There was also a period in the early 70s when the 7pm newscast had three anchors who rotated each night. I think John Cochran was part of that, but I can't think of the other two. Jackson Bain was in there for a while. And, of course, Marty Levin. There may have been others, from say, '69 - '82 (when I left DC), but if there were, I'm a little fuzzy on the names/faces. Anyway, the poster suggests that Levin left over more than DC's bad winter weather. Well??? Are you gonna tell us or not? (5/23/10) Kim Martucci, doing the weather this a.m. on Channel 4 9:00 a.m. edition (5/23/10) Re: WKHZ WYRE – In my earlier post I could have made my point without being mean and insulting, and I apologize for taking that route (5/23/10) I got to thinking, after reading about the departures of seasoned reporters Audrey Barnes and Dave Statter. When it comes to providing "news" information to the public I don't know whether having a cooperative among local TV stations is worse than having reporters shoot and edit their own material. The DC market is trying both these approaches, and journalism is the loser. In the move toward one man bands, it was our loss that Gary Reals left WUSA during the digital correspondent changeover. In the time since, Bruce Leshan is trying to juggle all the functions, Scott Broom has embraced the approach. What seems to happen is a tradeoff bringing down the overall quality of reporting. Gone from the final product is the specialized expertise of a cameraperson, the video editor, and the reporter. As for the cooperative, without competition there seems to be a tendency to cover the minimum number of stories around town, knowing that your rivals probably won't cover other news either. It is cheaper this way. Maybe someday it'll shift back. I think a few years ago a station in San Francisco deemed the tradeoff unacceptable after they had tried it, and came back toward having tailored talent on the various tasks. (5/23/10) Anyone see our "beloved" Chris Matthews on the Tonight Show the other night when he flung a zinger at comedienne Chelsey Handler ? He was talking about a bunch of political stuff at his usual fast pace and so she sarcastically asked him if he could talk faster..His response was "My dear, you're beautiful, but if you concentrate, you can keep up.".. (5/23/10) Folks who know the real reason Marty Levin left NBC-4 in 1982 will be amused by his quote in the SignOn San Diego article: "Snow is really fun until you have to shovel it every day." Marty shoveled snow? Yes, indeed. (5/23/10) Re: WKHZ I have not heard the Ocean City signal, but based on WYRE, it is dreadful, an embarrassment to the era. Whoever is behind this should just retire and go away. The audio is awful, the formatics are horrific and the music and music sequencing reveals they are incompetent now, and didn't have a clue back in the "good old days" either. Seriously, how difficult would it be to pick a decade, set up a well sequenced rotation of hits and adjust the audio processing properly? I can sound better than WYRE just playing seventies music on my PC. What is the problem with the audio and music? Any competent radio person could do better in their sleep! WTF? It makes the past look bad, they need to stop it now. I never thought I would support block programming, but that would be better than what these fools are doing. (5/23/10) Long-time DC area news viewers will remember Marty Levin, who once co-anchored the news on Channel 4. He's retiring from his 5, 6, and 11 post at the NBC station here in San Diego, after 23 years. www.signonsandiego.com (5/23/10) Thank you, Dave Statter, for sending that thoughtful post and thanks also to Dave for posting it. That was one of the most thoughtful posts from real radio personnel that I've had the pleasure to read. -Chainsman (5/23/10) Dave's response: I don't know if Dave's going to Channel 7, but it seems that all the DC TV news greats eventually end up there. So, when he does, we'll report it first, too. Take THAT, Paul Farhi..... Horror and gore have spilled into the monstrous swamp of American politics in the new book, "Repuglicans: They Came to Feed on the Body Politic". The artwork is by Pete Von Sholly, with commentary text by Steve Tatham. Watch the slideshow gallery of ghoulish G.O.P.ers here: www.washingtonpost.com (5/23/10) /\ May 23 Messages /\ \/ May 22 Messages \/ To the person who wrote “Dave Statter was disingenuous in saying he ‘will be exercising an option’ when actually he was invited to leave as part of a buyout”: Well, if I was invited to leave then the invitation was lost in the mail and management did a real poor job of showing I wasn’t wanted. Even when I told them a few weeks ago that after recent knee surgery restrictions from the doctor prevented me from regularly shooting stories, the news director couldn’t have been more accommodating. My conversations with Fred D’Ambrosi and Allan Horlick over the past few days have been delightful and from my vantage point this an extremely amicable parting. While I do not and will not speak for AFTRA, I can tell you that I simply exercised a clause in our CBA that was negotiated in late 2008. It is not mandatory, but it is a somewhat profitable option we can take and there is absolutely no penalty for not taking it. It was put there to benefit the reporters on staff at the time and is separate from the official buyout offered in December of that year. But I am guessing with your insider’s information, you probably already knew that. Just in case you didn’t, feel free to contact me (dave@statter911.com) and I will give you a copy of the CBA and my PSC that will provide some facts about my parting. In return please show the DCRTV readers the evidence you have that I was invited to leave (not that it is anything at all to be ashamed of in this business). By the way, in one respect I wish you were right because they would owe me a lot more money. But I guess you also knew that. Thanks for your interest in my career. I look forward to your response with some facts. To Dave Hughes: Thank you for all of your support and kindness through the years. My one goal in going out on my terms was to be able to break the news on STATter911.com before it was on DCRTV. While I was able to do that, I seriously had doubts I would scoop you. Especially when a friend from another station told me more than a week before I gave notice that the word was already out among people he worked with. Good luck Dave. I am sure we will be in touch. And don’t be so hard on my friend Paul. Dave Statter (5/22/10) I do remember Joe Palka having a talk show briefly on WCBM. JohnnyuinHanover,Pa. (5/22/10) "Official Autopsy: Bored to Death... " --With dreadful humor like that, you should be doing two hours a day on KHZTV.com. Have a good one, ass. (5/22/10) Just saw the main show post about WBAL changes and personally I think it is a good move. WBAL needs the news block in the afternoon. As for Shari, I have grown to like her in the morning and will miss her. I wonder if BAL could do something like this. 5-9am, Maryland's Morning News. 9am-noon, Ron Smith. noon-1pm, WBAL at noon and put Shari in with a couple interview segments. 1-4pm, C 4. 4-7, Maryland's Afternoon News. 7-10, Sports Line. 10-mid, Shari with some sort of pre-taped interview show. No matter what, I am glad a news block is coming to afternoon's. (5/22/10) Dave's response: I like Ron, and I'm more likely to listen to him if he's on in mornings than afternoons. I like the move..... Looks like Sue Palka's husband, Joe, authored a letter to the editor in today's (Saturday) WaPo. Didn't he once have a talk show on the old WRC-AM years ago? (5/22/10) Way to go WBAL radio! I was wondering how long it was going to Hearst to make the change.All-news can make it in Baltimore. CORY (5/22/10) Dave's response: If Citadel wasn't broke and staffed here in DC by complete morons, it might be just the ticket for WMAL. Simulcast on 105.9 and do morning and afternoon all-news blocks with a staffed-up news department, keeping talk in middays, evenings, and overnights. Give WTOP some competition..... (RE: "This just in... The "bored" op who died up on Jenifer Street was reportedly said to have recently realized how banal radio currently is and simply expired due to a lack of interest... Official Autopsy: Bored to Death..") Hey jackass, do you have any respect. The poor guy is dead. No matter how timely the Citadel and radio jokes may be, there are not appropriate. Lay off the shit, gutless fuck. (5/22/10) (excerpt) The "bored" op who died up on Jenifer Street... (end) Aw man, that is just uncalled for. I admit I post a lot of dopey shit here, but the deceased should be off-limits. (5/22/10) Did Allison Seymour's husband Mark ever land another radio job? (5/22/10) Dave's response: I think we did report that Marc Clarke was doing something for an internet radio show somewhere, but I forget which one..... This just in... The "bored" op who died up on Jenifer Street was reportedly said to have recently realized how banal radio currently is and simply expired due to a lack of interest... Official Autopsy: Bored to Death... (5/22/10) Saw an item in The Week that claimed Lifelock's CEO Todd Davis, who puts his social security number on radio ads, has had his identity stolen. Interesting spin coming from Davis. This has to be pretty damaging to a major radio advertiser like Lifelock. Christian today.msnbc.msn.com (5/22/10) Dave Statter was disingenuous in saying he "will be exercising an option" when actually he was invited to leave as part of a buyout. If he hoped to save face that WUSA informed him that they no longer wanted him around, he has instead undercut his journalistic credentials. Not that it matters if he's getting out of the business, as reported, but a shame to piss away years of honesty. (5/22/10) Put Doug Hill on Good Morning Washington. (5/22/10) Dave's response: Or, maybe Bob Ryan could work the 11 PM to 9 AM shift at 7 and do both the late newscast and the early morning newscasts..... "Now that the dust has settled, this whole WMAL soap opera is a staggering example of a management cluster fuck," etc... Frankly, WMAL's been in MCF mode since Jack Weaver died. They were just so well-run until then, they were able to weather certain storms after the fact. Sad but true: The longer WMAL is in MCF mode; the longer it'll take to straighten it out. The fatal mistake has always been thinking WMAL is destined to compete against WTOP. And when it comes to morning show partners sticking up for each other? Please tell me the last time you know of someone who openly did that--putting their own job and career on the line. Andy and Fred may be friends off-mic, but both know the other would be nuts to put someone else before themselves. The last time a morning show in this town had that kind of clout was, well...Harden and Weaver. (5/22/10) (Dave's response: WRC is fine on my Comcast system. Is it just 4? Try tuning away from and back to the channel a few times. Try rebooting your cable box - unplug it, count to 10, plug it back in. If these don't work, attempt calling Comcast. Good luck.....) Thanks Dave for trying to help with my problem. 3 and 5 have sound, 4 doesn't. I unplugged the cable box, didn't work. I called crumcast here PG county, it was no help. (5/22/10) RE:re: "Everybody criticizes WTEM, yet they keep listening. Fucking bewildering..." No, what's fucking bewildering is your belief that people are listening to WTEM. What do you base that on? My book tells me the station is doing just a hair better than static." Amen brother! Amen! (5/22/10) UCS you're kidding, right? Let the Citadel work family grieve? What family? There's no mention of this poor soul dying on any of the station websites, as far as I can tell there's no e-mail to staff, posted memo, or anything indicating someone who worked at Mix, WMAL or The Edge had passed away. No collection efforts for his wife & child. No sympathy card to sign. There is no "Citadel family". There is a dysfunctional group of managers who think more of getting a sponsor out to the golf course than posting a current work schedule for the staff or preparing a music log to follow. There are three or four "Nero"'s who fiddle while Rome burns. And then there are the people that actually show up every day with some backbone who keep the place humming along in spite of the lack of effort by their supervisors. They are the real "family", who have been orphaned by years of neglect. The "Citadel family" consists of Farid Suleman and his unprepared for major market radio lackeys, who in spite of all the warning signs, seem to be very happy to order down for more ice as the Titanic sinks. Sign me D. Gruntled (5/22/10) I picked up 90.5 KHS as far as Dover but not down the ocean. It came in like a freight train when I worked in Rock Hall but then so did that Grasonville signal that I struggled for so many years to pull in which made it a tough choice. XPN does an awesome job of serving most of Pennsylvania on its list of simulcasts maybe they should take care of thier fans to the south a little more. With 88.5 and 88.7 using thier secondary channel for Y-RockonXPN I wonder what thier HD reach and lock is. Too bad KHS isn't multichanneled I'd love to have Y-Rock in reach since Bethesda is a just a bit out of my range. The first time HFS was there I had no clue what I was missing....sadly thats not the case now. By the way WKHS makes it into northern Harford and Baltimore counties where 88.5 and/or 88.7 also do pretty well. For any interested: Y-RockonXPN formerly Y100Rocksdotcom formerly WPLY 100.3 Media/Philadelphia Y100 broadcasts on WXPNs main signals and simulcasts on Wednesday,Thursday and Friday evenings 7-12(I believe) including 90.5 WKHS Worton/Baltimore unless KHS has a local DJ ,which doesn't seem to be a consistant program, and the variety of longtime and new DJs and the music is what Modern/Indie/Alternative should be...kinda like a cool little station that used to reach most of the bay area....the fans of Y100 protested its loss and they were taken MUCH better care of than CBS did for us HFS fans. Donnie (5/22/10) RE: Oh, I didn't know 980 AM was off the air. I don't listen to 980 AM. I listen to 106.7 FM. Sorry I missed the dead air; ....Now Chad stop this. (5/22/10) 1) Too bad about Brian Van de Graff. Great meteorologist and fun to watch & listen to. Nice personality too (contrast his cheery personality to that of Alison Starling's, and Brian would light up that studio). Could it be that he was demoted to make way to the Bob Ryan changes on ABC7? 2) So sad to hear about the death of the Jenifer St. board op individual. I'm not exactly sure which station he worked for, but I see that you named a few of them in your front page blurb, Dave. May he Rest In Peace and my deepest condolences & sympathy to his family. -Silvie- (5/22/10) Thanks for the info about XPN on KHS. I do know about the relay. It has never reached Rehoboth before. They did replace their antenna late last summer which improved there signal so I will check to see if there is any change at the beach. Interestingly, when I was in Rehoboth last summer, I was able to pick up both XPN's 88.5 in Phila. and their 88.7 relay in Middletown due to Tropo but not the 90.5 relay in Whorton. It may be that the antenna in Whorton is not high enough to get the signal into the Tropo layer at the right angle to duct it to the beach. The coast is the best place for Tropo due to the temperature and humidity changes at the coast line. The best time for XPN in Rehoboth is warm humid weather in the mornings at sunrise and evenings around sunset. Use a car radio. If there is a is a strong westerly wind it will kill it. One evening I listened to a Jazz show on WGBH in Boston loud and clear driving from Lewes to Rehoboth. Bob Fairfax (5/22/10) /\ May 22 Messages /\ \/ May 21 Messages \/ Mike O'Meara, Connie Chung, Maury Povich, Gary Sinise and Ricky Schroeder all on Newsplus with Mark Segraves. Saturday @ 5 pm and Sunday @ 10 am on DC 50 TV. (5/21/10) Yes, this is a tough business to be in these days. This reminds me eerily of the “Little Depression” that went from 1974-1982. It’s not just front-line staff and managers taking the hits, but more than a few VP/GM types have gone on to not just other employers but other careers as consolidations continue and careers are eliminated. The advice I give interns during their time with me is that cable and “new media” are today what broadcasting was in my younger days. Not just in terms of creativity and innovation, but also professional security. There’s something to be said about getting a steady paycheck. Finally, I’m very sorry to hear about the board op who passed away at Citadel. In spite of all the justified comments Citadel has been receiving of late, how about we all prove that we’re not just broadcast professionals but ladies and gentlemen as well, and cease the Citadel comments for a few days? Let’s provide not just the op’s grieving family but their “work family” a brief time for peace, privacy, and prayer. This is a time for the type of fraternal compassion, which once made this profession great. –Unsigned Corporate Suit (5/21/10) I don't think 90.5 XPN will make it to Rehoboth. It covers Annapolis, Kent Island and down to Easton well. I love XPN and listen to it daily. Ocean 98.1 and 96.5 WCTG are good statons while at the MD/VA/DE beaches. Kevin on KI. (5/21/10) I have never been able to get xpn or wkhs in Rehoboth (5/21/10) Dear Dave, What you didn't mention about the Brian van de Graff demotion, is the utterly demoralizing effect it has had on the morning crew at WJLA. Brian has the well deserved reputation as a stalwart character. Nobody works harder in that building that Brian did on the morning show. In addition, he would always delay his own self interests at a moment's notice to help other people out. He was always cheery. In addition to his brutally difficult hours, he was out almost everyday meeting with this or that school group in remote parts of the viewing area. This was demanded by upper management not as a means to foster better relations with various communities, but as a ploy to seek out certain areas where management guestimated that Nielson people meters might be. His demotion is a cruel, cynical and desperate attempt to deflect blame for dismal ratings from where it really belongs, on the news director, Bill Lord and his upper management enablers. The three are clueless about what it takes to produce a good newscast that appeals to this unique metropolitan area. Brian was made to fall on his sword and -- as a measure of his true character, he is doing it without complaint. (5/21/10) re: "Everybody criticizes WTEM, yet they keep listening. Fucking bewildering..." No, what's fucking bewildering is your belief that people are listening to WTEM. What do you base that on? My book tells me the station is doing just a hair better than static. (5/21/10) WMAL van at the Andrews Air Show last weekend.....still sporting Grandy & Andy logo! (5/21/10) I used to watch Lancelot Link Secret Chimp, Kimba AND The Banana Splits on Channel 7 before school. Now THAT would be a improvement over that horrible ''GM Washington'' or whatever that nonsense is called. Paul (5/21/10) Hey Bob in Fairfax, there is actually a relay station for 88.5 WXPN in Worton MD up in Kent County. It's on a 13.5 KW stick and on 90.5. Should reach Rehoboth I have no problems with in in Bel Air MD (Northeastern MD) Hope this helps. (5/21/10) Dave's response: I'm sure Bob is aware of that..... Does anybody else have no sound ch. 4 wrc on comcast? (5/21/10) Dave's response: WRC is fine on my Comcast system. Is it just 4? Try tuning away from and back to the channel a few times. Try rebooting your cable box - unplug it, count to 10, plug it back in. If these don't work, attempt calling Comcast. Good luck..... At the time of writing this, I don't know who died at the DC Citadel facility, or what the circumstances are- my condolences to kith and kin. Has anyone noticed a lot of people in the radio industry passing on lately? It's a stressful time to be in that racket these days... (5/21/10) Everybody criticizes WTEM, yet they keep listening. Fucking bewildering... (5/21/10) Dave's response: Ahhh, you don't criticize radio stations or radio personalities that you don't listen to, do you? There's a YouTube video of the Wilkins Coffee puppets posted over at Dan Savage's blog. thestranger.com... I should point out that, if you read his column in The Washington City Paper, you know that his blog can be raunchy on occasion. You never see that at DCRTV, of course. I still have my 1958 Wilkins and Wontkins puppets. $2200? worthpoint.com (5/21/10) Oh, I didn't know 980 AM was off the air. I don't listen to 980 AM. I listen to 106.7 FM. Sorry I missed the dead air; I am sure it was better radio than when anyone talks on that AM frequency. (5/21/10) From Politico: Chris Matthews is used to conversing at cable-speed. So when the Hardball host took his high-velocity analysis to the "Tonight Show" Thursday, it proved too much for a fellow guest to follow. He made it halfway through a diatribe linking Dick Cheney to the BP oil spill before comedian Chelsea Handler cut him short. "Could you talk faster please?" the "Chelsea Lately" star joked next to him. Matthews managed to get out "The oil industry is comple --" before he paused, swallowed and turned to her. "You know, my dear," he said. "You're beautiful, but if you concentrate you can keep up." Hanlder's mouth dropped, the audience exploded and Jay Leno started cheering. "Thank you," Leno yelled, leaning over to give Matthews a high-five. "I should have done that five years ago." (5/21/10) Dave: It's really amazing how much ink WMAL gets on the posts. I really hope you're getting royalties from all of these mentions. Anyway, am I the only one who's pointed out to you that 980 goes-off the air every 5-8 minutes and no one's noticed this? What does this tell you? I know Snyder's severely cut their operating budget but this is crazy. I realy hope someone has the smarts to clean-house from 12p-7p and get back some more money. Between Sheehan's lack of good English and bad programming, how do people keep their jobs. I think WJFK has done a great job covering the Redskins OTA's and actually get some pretty good guests. At least 106.7 doesn't use their producers as talent like 980 and make people like Doc Walker look bad for a lack of knowledge. I think WMAL should consider a sportstalk format and kick some serious butt in the this town. (5/21/10) Dave's response: I have noticed 980 going off the air momentarily when listening to Kornheiser. I switched to 980 because WTEM's signal via Virginia's 94.3 has been rather poor lately here in the Reston area..... OK, so AM radio in DC sucks. That doesn't mean you can't have some other fun with an AM receiver ... or three... Woo-OOO-ooo... www.youtube.com (5/21/10) Hey Dave, Thought the linked article below about my new co-hosted show broadcasting from Colorado might be of interest given my former gig at WBAL. Thanks and I hope all is well. Rob Douglas www.steamboatpilot.com (5/21/10) Hi Dave: Always like to keep you updated when we have a weekend program with a local angle at the Newseum. We have two this weekend. On Saturday, May 22, Jim Lehrer - newseum.org... On Sunday, May 23, "Finding Chandra" authors and Washington Post reporters Scott Higham and Sari Horwitz - newseum.org... Both have 2:30 p.m. start times and both programs are followed by a book signing... John Maynard, Newseum Exhibits Writer (5/21/10) It's not so much PD-less stations, it's pretty much the economy. Corporate radio is demanding more for less, and from less. Payrolls must shrink so the various veeps and CEOs can get their bonuses at years end. Then again, ratings don't really matter anymore. As long as a major market station can get their share of McDonalds, Budwiser, and TV sitcom advertising dollars, who cares what's on the air. Ratings are now just used to threaten talent into toeing the line. It's possible that when the economy finally comes around, you might see more creative programming, but with few dollars around to free up competition between advertisers, (i.e. competitive bidding), the industry remains in the crouch mode. Seems like simple economics to me... (5/21/10) /\ May 21 Messages /\ Jump to the Mailbag Archive Index.....