 Contents - Contact Us - News Tips - News Archive - Mailbag - Twitter - Rant - Support Us Station List - Classified Ads - Advertise On DCRTV - RSS - NYC - Boston - DCRTV Plus Christmas Comes Early At WASH - 11/20 - DCRTV told you a while back that it would happen on November 20th. And it did happen on November 20th. WASH (97.1 FM) went all-Christmas. Now, look for the Clear Channel adult contemporary station to soar to the top of the Portable People Meter radio ratings for the "Holiday" period. More at washfm.com..... Riggins Offers Plenty Of "Shtick" - 11/20 - John Riggins, who now does sports work for WTOP radio and is regularly seen on YouTube, "speaks loudly and carries a big shtick." That's according to Len Shapiro at washingtonpost.com..... WaPo's Merge Of Paper & Website Causing Job Losses - 11/20 -  Erik Wemple at washingtoncitypaper.com: Multiple sources are reporting that several employees at washingtonpost.com are losing their jobs as part of the merger of the site with the main Washington Post newsroom. Several of dot-com's editorial staffers as well as some non-editorial workers are among those who've gotten the ax, according to the sources. A top Post official cautioned against using the term "layoff" to describe reductions at washingtonpost.com, insisting that any dismissals are "targeted" at duplication of work between the website and the newsroom.....Jessica Taylor To Politico - 11/20 - Jessica Taylor jumps from the National Journal to the Politico, where she'll be web editor for its 2010 mid-term campaign coverage..... Governing Mag Sold - 11/20 - From the Politico: When the Economist Group - owners of Roll Call - purchased Congressional Quarterly last in July, they didn't acquire Governing magazine, which had also been up for sale. But now Times Publishing, which previously-owned CQ, has unloaded Governing to e.Republic. The Sacramento-based company bills itself as "the nation's leading publishing, research, event and new media company focused on the state and local government and education markets." Governing will remain in its downtown Washington office under publisher Fred Kuhn, although "some operations will be combined with similar functions at e.Republic." It's unclear what impact that will have on Governing's staff. However, the merger of CQ and Roll Call - where there were also redundancies - led to 44 layoffs..... Oprah's New TV Net Won't Start Until 2011 - 11/20 - The start date for Oprah Winfrey's new cable network, OWN, a joint venture with Silver Spring-based Discovery Communications, has been pushed back from next year to early 2011. It'll take the place of the Discovery Health channel. More from B&C..... It's Official: Oprah To End TV Talk Show - 11/20 -  DCRTV tipped you a few weeks ago. Now, David Zurawik at baltimoresun.com has more: "The Oprah Winfrey Show," one of the most successful franchises in TV history, will come to an end in September 2011, as the former Baltimore talk show host commits her energies to launching a cable channel with Maryland-based Discovery Communications. Winfrey, who did news anchoring (right) and got her talk show start at Channel 13/ WJZ in Baltimore, will make the announcement on her show Friday, according to WABC-TV, the ABC-owned NYC station that carries the show in the nation's largest TV market. The syndicated program, which debuted in 1986, has been a gold mine for the stations that use it as a lead-in to their early evening newcasts. The program airs in Baltimore on Channel 11/WBAL and in DC on Channel 7/WJLA. More from Lisa de Moraes at washingtonpost.com.....More: 30 For Bob Marbourg - 11/20 -  Four days ago, on the actual anniversary, DCRTV told you that DC traffic reporter Bob Marbourg (right) was celebrating 30 years with all-news WTOP radio. Now, the Washington Post profiles the local traffic news legend. "It's not just traffic reporting for him," says WTOP honcho Jim Farley, Marbourg's boss. "It's quality of life." Also: "Dr. Gridlock" tips his hat to Marbourg at washingtonpost.com.....Matt Stover Does Shine-FM - 11/20 - DCRTV hears that former Baltimore Raven, now Indianapolis Colts kicker, Matt Stover gives his only interview before Sunday's game to "Mornings With Tracey, Mike And Dave," during their Friday show on Baltimore's Christian contemporary 95.1 Shine-FM. Stover had a regular weekly segment on the program when he played for the Ravens..... Newseum Opens Russert Exhibit - 11/20 - Today, DC's Newseum debuts its "Inside Tim Russert's Office: If It's Sunday, It's 'Meet The Press'" exhibit, which features a recreation of Russert's office at 4001 Nebraska Avenue, NBC's Washington bureau. Including draft scripts for an interview with President George W. Bush and Russert's wooden "Thou Shalt Not Whine" sign. Longtime "MTP" host Russert died of a heart attack in June 2008 at age 58..... Get Plus & Support DCRTV - 11/20 -   Have you helped support DCRTV lately? DCRTV is an independent, locally-based, one-man site. The best source of local media news, commentary, and gossip for the DC-Baltimore region. We don't have a parent company to subsidize us. Please put some bucks on safely on your credit card via PayPal or drop a check in the mail. Click here. Make it $39 and get a year of access to local radio and TV memory-packed DCRTV Plus, where we've got a 1970s memory of Jonathan "Weasel" Gilbert at WHFS when it was on 102.3 FM (left) in high-def. Join DCRTV Plus or renew your subscription by 12/31/09 and get a free Shirtshack t-shirt.....DCRTV's On Twitter & Facebook - 11/20 -  Get local radio and TV news, gossip, and commentary the instant it fires on DCRTV Dave's brain synapses at twitter.com/dcrtv. Also, check us out at facebook.com/dcrtv.....Former 104.3er Ty Becomes Bailey To Replace Whitney On 101.1 - 11/19 - Clear Channel alternative rocker DC101 fills its midday slot with Ty, who was heard on Baltimore's WCHH, Channel 104.3, the alt rocker that Clear Channel blew up for contemporary hit Z104.3 earlier this month. Ty, who will call herself Bailey on DC101, begins on 11/23. She replaces Whitney, who now does mornings on Seattle alt rocker KNDD. Ty, er, Bailey will also host a regional new music program, "Local Lix," on Sundays at 10 PM starting on 12/6..... Scarborough Slumps On TV, Imus Bombs - 11/19 - Joe Scarborough, who recently lost his morning radio slot on DC's WMAL, is seeing declining TV ratings on MSNBC. And Don Imus, who recently lost his morning radio slot on DC's WJZW (now WVRX), is getting virtually no TV audience on the Fox Business Network. The Observer has more..... Remillard To Produce C-SPAN's "Wash Journal" - 11/19 - First on DCRTV. Michele Remillard becomes executive producer of C-SPAN's live morning interview/call-in program "Washington Journal." A veteran of Fox News for 11 years, Michele launched "Beltway Boys" and was a top producer at "Special Report With Bret Baier." Earlier in her career, Michele helped launch "Hardball With Chris Matthews" at CNBC, where she produced "Equal Time." She was also a producer at "The McLaughlin Group" and worked at The Hotline before that..... Mary Beth Marsden Leaving 2 - 11/19 -  DCRTV hears that Mary Beth Marsden (right) is leaving Channel 2/WMAR after 21 years. Marsden, who now anchors the Baltimore ABC affiliate's 5 PM, 6 PM, and 11 PM newscasts, said her last day will be December 2. The 48-year-old newscaster said the reason for her departure now is that she is taking a Scripps buyout offer made to employees of the low-rated news station, according to the Baltimore Sun. Marsden's departure from Channel 2's anchor desk will mark a major changing of the guard in local TV, with Sally Thorner's already announced retirement from Channel 13/WJZ on December 18, the Sun adds. Marsden was the anchorwoman tapped to replace Thorner as the lead anchor in 1993 when Thorner jumped to WJZ in a highly publicized move. Before coming to WMAR as a reporter for its morning show, Marsden worked at TV stations in Scranton PA, Washington DC, and Harrisonburg VA. She started at WMAR in May 1988.....Supreme Court Demands Clearance On GW Coverage Of Justice - 11/19 - From Romenesko: In an October 13 e-mail to student reporters, a George Washington law school PR official wrote that "the Supreme Court's Public Information Office has asked to approve any quotes you use from the justice's speech." WRGW news director Jesse Regis tells Jess Bravin he had no choice but to comply with the preclearance request. Justice Anthony Kennedy's lecture was "a big event for us, and you have to play by their rules." More at wsj.com..... DCRTVideo: Alena 7 - 11/19 - Former WPGC video lady, Alena 7, is the subject of today's DCRTVideo clip at the bottom of the right column of this page. We'll have some news about her here on DCRTV real soon..... Batchelor To Be Syndicated - 11/19 - John Batchelor, whose NYC WABC radio-based show is heard on Citadel sister talker WMAL in DC, will be syndicated nationwide. His satellite-distributed show will air from 9 PM to 1 AM on Saturdays and Sundays..... Lotsa Comments On "DC Sports Teams In Balto" Piece - 11/19 - In this week's online sports media column at pressboxonline.com, your friendly webmaster gets lots of comments on this month's November issue print column at pressboxonline.com which dealt with Baltimore sports fans supporting DC sports teams, a la the Capitals and Wizards. We hear from someone who says that we ignored DC United in the piece, someone who claims that the Wizards aren't all that popular in Baltimore even though it's a big basketball town, and someone who points out that the Orioles do better in DC TV ratings than the Nationals do. Plus, the latest on Comcast SportsNet's plans to create a Baltimore-centric sports website..... AOL Seeks 2,500 Buyouts Before Spin-Off - 11/19 -  Dulles-based AOL is looking to shed more than a third of its work force as it prepares to spin off from Time Warner next month. AOL, which now employs 6,900 workers, is asking for 2,500 volunteers to accept buyouts and plans to resort to layoffs if it does not get enough people. The voluntary offer is open to all employees from December 4 though December 11. Time Warner, the New York media conglomerate, plans to spin AOL off as a separate company, AOL Inc., on December 9. More at nytimes.com.....Some Local Comcast Systems Go All-Digital, Some Wait - 11/19 -  DCRTV hears more about Comcast's plans to switch its area cable systems to all-digital, which will allow the addition of many more high-def networks. Systems with Motorola boxes, including Montgomery and Baltimore counties, are being converted right now in a two-stage process. The approximately 20 percent of subscribers who don't already have digital converter boxes will have to get special digital adapter devices, which will convert the high-def digital signals to standard-def analog for their sets. And Comcast is offering some of the devices free. The Motorola systems will be converted to all-digital by December. Other area Comcast systems that use Scientific-Atlanta/Cisco boxes will be converted in 2010, as that firm's digital adapters become available. This includes Baltimore city, Howard and Arlington counties, Alexandria, and Reston, and should be completed by mid-year, we're told.....TWT Honcho Denies "Discrimination" - 11/19 - The Washington Times, responding to a federal complaint by its former editorial page editor Richard Miniter, says that the newspaper "does not discriminate and does not tolerate discrimination." In a note to readers in Thursday's editions, Jonathan Slevin, the acting president and publisher, also says that despite changes to be unveiled in the coming weeks and months, "we will continue to maintain the same spirited reporting on our news pages and online, and a robust alternative voice on our opinion pages." More from Howard Kurtz in the Washington Post..... Obama Makes BBG Noms - 11/19 - President Obama has nominated former Time editor and CNN CEO Walter Isaacson to chair the Broadcasting Board Of Governors, along with a slate of seven others, including Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman Michael Lynton and President George W. Bush's former press secretary, Dana Perino. The board governs all government sponsored, non-military international broadcasting outlets, such as the Voice Of America. Variety has more..... WashBlade To Be DCAgenda - 11/18 - The Washington Blade relaunches as DCAgenda..... Schwartz Returns To WaPo - 11/18 - Maralee Schwartz, who took a buyout from the Washington Post in April 2008, will rejoin as a political editor on a temporary contract..... McKenna On Korny: "Bad Guy With A Dark Heart" - 11/18 -  Dave McKenna at washingtoncitypaper.com: "Tony Kornheiser's (right) acting like a bad guy with a dark heart again. Earlier this week, he went after Mike Wise on Dan Snyder's sportstalker, WTEM, spending much of his show ranting about a week-old column from Wise for no obvious reason. Kornheiser mocked Wise for wondering if the Redskins would win another game this season before the Denver game. Kornheiser behaved as if Wise had called Dewey over Truman. There was nothing funny about Kornheiser's rants... Kornheiser, of course, really didn't give a rip about Wise's column. He just wanted to rip Wise. Full disclosure: I think Kornheiser's a bad guy with a dark heart".....Bill Toohey Leaving BCPD - 11/18 - From DCRTV's 11/18 Mailbag: "Former network radio reporter and longtime spokesman for the Baltmore County Police Department, Bill Toohey, is leaving the department. Good and fair man who elevated the position of spokesman to an art form with his style and vocabulary. Bravo, and job well done, Bill." He's married to WTOP weekend anchor Rosemary Frisino Toohey. More: The Baltimore Sun tells us that Toohey, the public face of the BCPD since 1996, has been dismissed and will be replaced by a uniformed officer..... Dave Humphrey Leaving MD State Gig - 11/18 - From DCRTV's 11/18 Mailbag: "Another former Baltimore radio guy - Dave Humphrey - is leaving his spokesperson position with Maryland state government. Dave has been the communications director for Maryland's Department Of General Services for the last 16 years. He was one of the 70 state employees whose jobs were abolished this week as a result of budget cuts. As you'll recall, Dave was a news anchor at WCBM and WLIF for a combined 25 years. Beside having one of the best radio voices going, Dave was reliable, honest, and fast as a PIO"..... Harlan Gives Up Nats Job At WaPo - 11/18 - Chico Harlan is leaving his spot as a Nationals reporter at the Washington Post. And the Post is looking for someone to replace him. Harlan will be moving on to another, as yet unnamed, writing gig at the Post..... Verizon Disappoints Caps Fans By Not Carrying CSN+ - 11/18 - Local sports writer Mike Holden at wordpress.com: "Verizon FIOS is not carrying CSN+ in Howard County, Anne Arundel County, and other markets. This is leaving some fans of the Washington Capitals without access to quite a few game broadcasts that some of their neighbors in other parts of the DC area can still view on their FIOS service"..... Dave Johnson & Rich Tandler Write For CSN Site - 11/18 - DCRTV hears that Wizards broadcast veteran Dave Johnson is now writing for CSNwashington.com after every game. The articles are posted by morning, so fans will get a game summary and Dave's view of the game first thing. Redskins veteran writer Rich Tandler, author of the Redskins Chronicle, has also joined Comcast SportsNet's site. For Dallas week, Rich is writing about the most memorable games between the Skins and Cowboys..... WLIF Tops Balto Radio Heap - 11/18 -  Baltimore market Portable People Meter radio ratings for the second week of November. Full-day, age 12+: 1) WLIF, 2) WWIN-FM, 3) WPOC, 4) WWMX, 5) WERQ, 6) WQSR, 7) WRBS-FM, 8) WIYY, 9) WBAL-AM, 10) WCBM, 11) WYPR, 12) WCHH, 13) WJZ-FM, 14) WIHT, 15) WBJC, 16) WTOP and WAMU, 18) WWDC, 19) WCAO and WHUR and WZBA, 22) WPGC, 23) WTEM, 24) WRQX and WKYS and WASH, 27) WGTS, 28) WBIG, 29) WLZL, 30) WRNR-FM and WETA-FM and WMAL and WXCY, 34) WJZ-AM and WEAA and WMZQ, 37) WPFW and WTGB and WFRE and WTMD, 41) WMMJ and WWIN-AM, 43) WJFK and WAVA, 45) WVBV and WOLB and WVIE and WAFY.....WaPo Supports WashBlade - 11/18 - The Washington Post editorializes on the journalistic importantance of the Washington Blade, which shut down this week as its parent company faces liquidation..... Gibson Wanted Stephy To Anchor ABC News - 11/18 - From the Politico: It's already been reported that Charlie Gibson was "livid" about Diane Sawyer getting the "ABC World News" anchor job, although that was sourced anonymously and without context. Now, Page Six reports that Gibson was "shocked" and "really angry" over the choice of Sawyer, according to another anonymous source, and actually wanted George Stephanopoulos to get the job..... Adam Pasick To Atlantic Media - 11/18 - Adam Pasick jumps from Reuters to DC-based Atlantic Media to be managing editor of a digital media brand launching in early 2010..... NPR's Audience Ages - 11/18 - A new study shows that public radio's audience continues to age, with the average age of listeners for NPR News rising from 47 to 52 in a 10-year period. Jazz listeners aged from 48 to 55 and classical from 58 to 65. More from Walrus Research..... Comcast Digital Conversion Hits Baltimore Area - 11/18 - A Baltimore area resident tells DCRTV that area cable TV giant Comcast is in the process of removing some expanded basic cable channels from its analog service and replacing them with an announcement that tells subscribers to obtain a digital converter box from the firm. Comcast says that the change to all-digital will allow it to offer improved service and more channels to better compete with Verizon's FIOS system, which is already all-digital. Critics charge that Comcast customers who watch on "cable ready" analog sets will now have to pay extra for some of the digital boxes. Comcast is reportedly making the conversion on many of its Maryland systems, including those in the Baltimore area, but not Baltimore city and Howard County. So, far, no changes - yet - in DC and Northern Virginia. The Catonsville Times has more..... Verizon Cuts 1,000 Locally - 11/18 - The largest union for Verizon Communications workers said the company is laying off more than 1,000 employees in the District, Maryland, and Virginia. Verizon spokesman Alberto Canal said the layoffs are part of the already-announced plan to cut 8,000 jobs at the local telephone, cable TV, and internet provider before the end of the year. The DC Post has more..... Sy Syms Dies - 11/17 - Sy Syms, the clothing retailer who coined the TV ad phrase that became his company's trademark - "An educated consumer is our best customer" - died Tuesday of heart failure in NYC at age 83. More from northjersey.com..... Former Blade Staffers To Publish "Newsletter" This Week - 11/17 - We're told that longtime Washington Blade reporter Lou Chibbaro said in a NewsChannel 8 interview today that former Blade staffers are working on a "newsletter-type paper" for distribution around the region this week. They want to keep the Blade's weekly publication streak - 40 years and counting - alive. He also said that they've received offers of financing assistance and temporary office space for use while they reconstitute themselves as a new entity. Yesterday, the Blade's owner, Window Media, closed its newspapers due to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing. Chibbaro also said he's been surprised by how much interest there's been in news of the paper's demise beyond the gay community. New website from Blade staffers: SaveTheBlade.com..... Shales Apologizes For '67 "Prisoner" Color Blindness - 11/17 -  In this Q&A today at washingtonpost.com, Washington Post TV critic Tom Shales (right) says he's sorry for calling the original 1967 "The Prisoner" a black-and-white program in his Sunday piece on the AMC remake. "Darn I hate these errors! We googled Prisoner to bits and checked our own sources at the office - the copy desk which is supposed to ensure accuracy (but we writers are supposed to TRY to be right as well) saw 'black-and-white' and passed it right on through to the immorality - I mean IMMORTALITY - of print. This isn't an excuse BUT I think a lot of us 'remember' the show in B&W. It was so stark and so strikingly shot; it had its own look, as few TV shows ever do. When I try to picture it in my fat little head, it's a black-and-white image I see. My apologies".....Fall Church News-Press Owner Tried To Buy Blade - 11/17 - The owner of the Falls Church News-Press says a deal for his company to buy the Washington Blade fell through, and it is unclear why. According to the Washington Business Journal, Nicholas Benton contends his Benton Communications won a bid from parties that included the Small Business Administration in September to obtain the assets of the Washington Blade from its owner, Window/Unite Media, and had planned to continue its publication. The Blade was closed on Monday without his advanced notice, Benton said..... Bryant Named PD At WVBX & WWUZ - 11/17 - Down Fredericksburg way, Justin Bryant is named program director at rhythmic contemporary WVBX (99.3 FM) and classic rock WWUZ (96.9 FM). He replaces Victor Starr, who is now working with morning man Donnie Simpson at DC's urban contemporary WPGC (95.5 FM)..... Miniter Files EEO Complaint Against TWT - 11/17 - Washington Times editorial page editor Richard Miniter is filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against the paper today, alleging discrimination based on age, disability, and religion - being forced to attend a Unification Church mass wedding - and he will ask the government to enjoin the Times' assets, his lawyer tells TPM. More from the DC Post..... Korny & Wise Start Radio Feud - 11/17 - At washingtonpost.com, Dan Steinberg tells us that former Washington Post sports columnist Tony Kornheiser on WTEM and current Post sports columnist Mike Wise on WJFK have been trading verbal barbs. In the latest radio ratings (below blurb), Kornheiser and Wise are virtually tied in midday audience..... TOP Tops DC Radio Heap Again - 11/17 -  The Portable People Meter radio ratings for the second week of November for the DC market. Full-day, age 12+: 1) WTOP [1st both drivetimes], 2) WHUR [Harvey 2nd] and WIHT [Kane 4th], 4) WAMU, 5) WMMJ [Joyner 5th], 6) WASH [L&L 12th], 7) WETA-FM, 8) WBIG, 9) WWDC [Elliot 9th] and WRQX [Diamond 7th], 11) WMAL [G&A 12th, Rush 3rd, Hannity 7th], 12) WPGC [Simpson 14th], 13) WMZQ, 14) WTEM [Korny 15th], 15) WKYS [Parr 11th], 16) WTGB, 17) WPRS, 18) WLZL, 19) WJFK [Junks 9th, Wise 14th, Arrington 19th], 20) WGTS, 21) WVRX, 22) WBJC, 23) WDCN and WAVA and WFLS, 26) WACA and WFRE and WINC-FM and WPFW, 30) WBQB, 31) WWEG and WERQ, 33) WTNT [TWT 28th] and WFMD and WGRQ and WIYY and WJYJ and WWGB and WPOC and WAFY and WFED, 42) WILC and WKDV and WQSR and WLIF and WZHF and WYCB and WWMX.....One APer Cut In DC, So Far - 11/17 - About 75 layoffs are expected at the Associated Press, but, so far, just one person's been cut in DC. The Politico has more..... Palin Complaint Hypes Newsweek - 11/17 - Sarah Palin blasted the Washington Post-owned Newsweek on her Facebook page because the news magazine used a photo she took for Runner's World as this week's cover. She wrote that the "out-of-context Newsweek approach is sexist and oh-so-expected by now." The Politico has more..... NAB Salutes Lawmakers - 11/17 - The DC-based National Association Of Broadcasters placed an ad today Roll Call and Congressional Quarterly thanking the almost 300 lawmakers who have co-sponsored the Local Radio Freedom Act, the resolution against the proposed Performance Royalty rate. The ad lists the names of 252 representatives and 27 senators who have pledged their support to the LRFA..... 4 Execs Named At New Discovery Kids Net - 11/17 - The upcoming Silver Spring-based Discovery/Hasbro joint venture channel has added four senior executives. Amber Fredman-Tarshis comes from Victoria's Secret to be chief of marketing, Dan Pimentel leaves Discovery's commerce division to head finances, Brooke Goldstein jumps from Mediacomm to be senior VP of ad sales, and Hasbro's Lorrie Copeland will be senior VP of consumer insights and research for the network which will replace the Discovery Kids channel next year. B&C has more..... Will WashBlade Archives Be Preserved? - 11/17 - Bill Dobbs at poynter.org wonders: "What about the Window Media archives? Over the years publications that target gay/lesbian/ bisexual/transgender audiences have come and gone - witness (yesterday's) tumult at Window Media. A key newsweekly, the Washington Blade, may be no more after celebrating its 40th anniversary last month.... In today's digital world, what happens to the online archives? Earlier this year the New York Blade shut down and all its online searchable back issues vanished... I also hope Window Media's owners/shareholders will keep the Washington Blade (and its other newspapers') archives - online and otherwise - available. Publisher, editors, writers - and GLBT communities - have a responsibility to ensure that such archives remain intact and widely accessible"..... Wizards, Caps Build Balto Media Base - 11/17 - Baltimore sports fans will actually root for and watch/listen to coverage of Washington sports teams - if they they don't have their own team in that sport. The November issue of PressBox takes a look at how the basketball Washington Wizards and the hockey Washington Capitals attract Baltimore fans, and how both teams have landed deals to get carried on Baltimore radio stations..... 4's 3 PM Local News Comes From NYC - 11/17 - The Observer takes a look at Channel 4/ WRC's 3 PM "Daily Connection," which is "the first show of its kind - a network-produced, 'local' news show that is largely created at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City and yet airs in a local news market, several hundred miles away"..... Karmazin Says He'll Stay At Sirius XM - 11/17 - Sirius XM honcho Mel Karmazin denies rumors that he might leave the satcaster to manage a merged Comast-NBC Universal. In a Fox News interview yesterday, Karmazin also said that he would not accept a job as number two to Warren Buffett, and that and that no amount of money could convince him to leave Sirius XM and run another large media company..... WAMS Sold, Sort Of - 11/17 - Nearby news. Gospel-formatted WAMS (1600 AM) in Dover, Delaware, gets sold - but stays in the family. Radio-Info.com tells us that the seller is Vincent Klepac of WXXY Broadcasting, and the buying entity, K-5 Communications, is himself, his wife Lorrie, plus their kids Branden, Sarah, and Lily..... CSN Plans Separate Sites For DC & Balto - 11/16 -  PaidContent.org tells us that Comcast SportsNet is planning to upgrade its regional network websites, including DC and Baltimore, with big name writers and dozens of staffers. And there will be two full sites for the Mid-Atlantic network: CSNwashington.com and CSNbaltimore.com.....More Power Problems For NBC DC, No NBC4 News At 4 & 5 - 11/16 - Earlier today, DCRTV told you that Channel 4/WRC, which also serves at NBC's Washington news bureau, suffered power problems on Sunday. Now, we're told that the problems continue on Monday. With newsroom computers and video servers down, and a non-functioning control room. Pepco attempted to switch back to main power around 3 PM and more equipment was affected, a source tells DCRTV. An audio operator even got shocked when this switch was made, we hear. NBC's MSNBC is doing live Washington shots from the lawn at WRC's 4001 Nebraska Avenue facility, using a satellite truck, instead of from Capitol Hill or the White House, we're told. Update: Channel 4 aired Ellen DeGeneres at 4 PM and MSNBC's "Hardball" with Chris Matthews live from LA at 5 PM, instead of its local newscasts. The DC Post has more..... Bob Marbourg Celebrates 30 Years At WTOP - 11/16 - "Thirty-years-ago today, Bob Marbourg (right) opened a microphone at WTOP radio and hasn't stopped talking since. He talks about the topic he knows best and is most passionate about: traffic... Bob is unique. He is truly one of the rare people you meet in your life who is a master at their craft," writes Channel 9/WUSA reporter Dave Statter in his blog at statter911.com. More from Adam Tuss at wtop.com.....More: WashBlade Staff To Start New Pub - 11/16 - From washingtoncitypaper.com: Tomorrow morning, the staff of the defunct Washington Blade will meet to launch a new publication that does pretty much what the Blade has done/did since 1969 - cover gay Washington. It just won't be called the Blade anymore. "The staff is united," says current/former Blade editor Kevin Naff. "We're all together. Our first meeting for our new venture is tomorrow morning." The staffers don't yet have a name for the newspaper. The Blade as a standalone publication runs a profit; however, not enough of a profit to keep its debt-troubled parent company, Window Media, in the black. According to Naff, Window is filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protections, which means that it's ceasing operations. Staffers were given till 3 PM today to pack up. When asked if the company was handling the shutdown in a professional manner, Naff responded, "I should probably not comment." More from the Washington Post, TPM, and in the newsblurb below..... Washington Blade Closes, Editor Promises "New Venture" - 11/16 -   Updated. The Avalon Equity Fund, a majority shareholder for DC's gay-oriented freebie weekly, the Washington Blade, and its Window Media parent, has been forced into liquidation. DCRTV is told that the Blade, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, is affected and has been shuttered. The Blade, via its Twitter account, is confirming that it is closed - at least for the time-being. The closings also hit other gay publications, including Atlanta's Southern Voice, the Houston Voice, and the South Florida Blade. AP says that Steven Myers, co-president of Window Media in Washington DC, declined comment on the closings. Blade editor Kevin Naff, who is not authorized to speak for the company, but can do so now as an independent citizen, tells the Politico: "The Blade staff is united and ready to continue the paper's long-standing mission. The first meeting for our new venture is Tuesday and we welcome the community's input as we move forward." More at creativeloafing.com and ajc.com. More soon.....Journalists Covering Obama In China Face Twitter Blockage - 11/16 - Updated. DCRTV hears that some journalists traveling with President Obama in China are having Twitter troubles. One of them is Paul Brandus, who writes from Beijing that "Twitter is blocked on my laptop. No tweets. I also tried to google 'Tiananmen Square Massacre' and that was blocked too. Apparently, they haven't figured out how to block my BlackBerry because that's working OK. But if you actually plug into the net in your hotel, Big Brother is alive and well. I have been to China several times and once again am reminded that the People's Republic remains a repressive police state that fears both its citizens and the free flow of ideas and information." The Twitter account in question is former WTOPer Brandus's West Wing Report, which has been named one of the "Top 30 Washington Insiders You Should be Following" by the Atlantic magazine. More: Brandus tells us that CNN's Ed Henry was "harrassed" at the Shanghai town hall and wasn't allowed to interview any of the students. ABC's Jake Tapper and Fox's Major Garrett also have noted their Twitter blockages. "The Chinese government is comprised of cowards when they prevent students from being interviewed," Brandus adds..... Classified Ad - 11/16 - Someone's looking for an ad agency media buyer. That's the latest DCRTV Classified Ad. Reach loads of local media movers and shakers for just $25..... Sirius XM To Salute Miles Davis - 11/16 - Sirius XM is launching Miles Davis Radio, a channel devoted entirely to the zazz legend. The limited-run channel runs from Friday, 11/20, to Wednesday, 11/25, on Sirius-72 and XM-70..... Herndon "Most Obscene" City In Whole USA - 11/16 - The DC suburb of Herndon, Virginia, tops the list of "Most Obscene Cities In America." Its Fairfax County neighbor (and home of the DCRTV World HQ) Reston was 5th. That's according to Business Insider. The list is based on Google Trends data for each of the "seven dirty words." The two DC area towns are joined in the "top 10" by Philadelphia, St. Louis, Los Angeles, Orlando, Tampa, Boston, Louisville, and California's Irvine. More at switched.com..... 5's Will Thomas Robbed At Gunpoint - 11/16 -  Fox5, WTTG reporter and anchor Will Thomas (right) was robbed at gunpoint as he got out of his car in Georgetown, near Wisconsin and N, on Wednesday night. Lost a wallet to the mugger - no injuries, but "as you can imagine, I'm still a bit shaken up," he told the DC Post in a statement through a station rep. No arrests yet, he said, but "I'm very thankful to the police department for their diligence in this investigation".....AP Makes DC Cuts - 11/16 - A source tells DCRTV that Jerry Bodlander, longtime Capital Hill correspondent for Associated Press Broadcast division, has been pulled from that assignment and Sagar Meghani has been pulled from the State Department broadcast beat. On top of that, the union blog is indicating AP job cuts are imminent. AP President Tom Curley recently held a town meeting to say that only 90 some staffers took voluntary retirement and that leaves over 200 jobs to be cut to reduce staff by the necessary 10 percent as advertised..... Power Outage Hits NBC DC - 11/16 - A Sunday power outage hit Channel 4/WRC, which also serves as the Washington bureau for NBC News, causing NBC's Chuck Todd to go missing from a live report in China covering the president's Asian trip. Washington bureau chief Mark Whitaker told the Politico that "somehow the bureau lost power and the electrical system froze in transition to the backup generator"..... Newsweek Hopes For Profit In 2011 - 11/16 - The Washington Post's Newsweek expects to operate "less in the red" in 2010 and hopes for a profit in 2011. The NY Times has more..... Trib Eyes End Of B'ruptcy Protection - 11/16 - The Tribune Company, which owns the Baltimore Sun and Channel 50/WDCW, could emerge from bankruptcy protection on May 31, 2010. More from chicagotribune.com..... Fox's Shep Smith Is Different - 11/16 - Howard Kurtz does Fox News anchor Shep Smith, who leans in a different direction from most others at the conservative news channel. Not that there's anything wrong with that. More in the DC Post..... 4 Cameraman Don Stumpo Dies - 11/15 - From DCRTV's 11/15 Mailbag: "There is sad news that longtime WRC-TV cameraman Don Stumpo died of a heart attack this past Saturday night... My heart goes out to the Stumpo family." More soon..... Former Metro Traffic Guy Recalls "Unit 12" - 11/15 - Thomas Ponton, who "worked for Metro Traffic for about two years when I decided that - like traffic - I was going nowhere fast and needed to make real money," shares his memories of "Unit 12" and Beltway backups in a "Behind The Wheel" column for the Washington Post..... Color Blind Tom Shales - 11/15 -  Rant. In his Sunday Washington Post review of the remake of the British TV drama "The Prisoner," which debuts tonight on AMC, Tom Shales writes: "Strikingly photographed in starkest black and white, the '67 'Prisoner' was a curious and rather tantalizing melange of counterculture imagery, traditional paranoid fantasy and even a bit of Cold War spy thriller, with the spy stuff mostly expunged from what AMC calls its 'reinterpretation' of the story." Ah, Tom, the 1967 version was filmed in glorious "colour" (as the Brits spell it). Patrick McGoohan's previous series, "Secret Agent," aka "Danger Man," was filmed in starkest B&W. More Rants.....Tainted Book Review In WaPo - 11/15 - Washington Post ombudsman Andy Alexander says a conflict of interested tainted a recent book review of Jon Krakauer's "Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey Of Pat Tillman"..... Moon Losing Interest In Washington - 11/14 -  Rant. Look, there's simply no way a major daily newspaper can survive in a market of 4-to-5 million people with a paid circulation of less than 70,000. That's the basic problem facing the Washington Times. The Washington Post, even with more than 10 times (!) that circulation, is bleeding cash in this recessionary environment. Luckily, it has a parent company that's in pretty good shape. Even before the slumping economy hit, with a circ of about 100,000, there's no way the Times could have survived on its own without a constant infusion from the Rev. Sun Myung Moon. Moon and some other very rich men have come to Washington, over the years, to become publishers in the most powerful political city in the world. Look at Philip Anschutz, the Denver billionaire who runs the Washington Examiner. While that paper is a freebie that doesn't have the staff of the Times, it's still never going to make any money, having recently cut its home delivery days down to two per week. Even Robert Allbritton started the Politico to make himself a national political powerplayer, something he couldn't do by owning a local TV station. I can't imagine the Politico makes any money, despite the claims from Allbritton suits. It's clearly subsidized, in part, by WJLA's revenue. Now, it looks like Mr. Moon and his family are starting to complain about the never-ending serious sucker of cash the Times has become. John Solomon was brought on a few years ago to get the paper into the black by sprucing it up, revamping and expanding washingtontimes.com, plus starting a national radio show and a conservative website. But one small problem - the organization is certainly losing more money than ever. Now, with the ouster of Solomon and three Times suits in the past week, it looks like big changes are coming to the rag. Either it will fold, or, more likely, become primarily a website with a small, much scaled-down newspaper companion. My guess is that the Moon family will continue to subsidize the Times, but not as massively as before. Or perhaps sell it to another billionaire "wanna-be Washington publisher." Perhaps Anschutz. South Korea's Mr. Moon is probably starting to believe that owning a newspaper in Washington, and the access to Capitol Hill power players, isn't worth as much in a world where China, with its 2+ billion people, is quickly becoming the most powerful economic force. More Rants.....Jon Gosselin Sues TLC - 11/14 - Lisa de Moraes in the DC Post tells us that Jon Gosselin has gobsmacked Silver Spring-based the Discovery Communication's TLC network with a $5 million lawsuit, accusing it of violating Pennsylvania child-labor laws when it shot footage of his eight children for the reality series that made him a household name, "Jon & Kate Plus Eight." The lawsuit, filed in Montgomery County Circuit Court, claims TLC failed to get work permits for the kids. "Evidently, Mr. Gosselin figured out that children need work permits only after he milked the show for five seasons," de Moraes chimes in. Last month, TLC sued Gosselin for allegedly breaching his contract with the cable network when he started getting paid to do interviews on celebrity shows..... WZFT To 104.3 - 11/13 - Clear Channel puts the WZFT calls on Baltimore's 104.3 FM, in place of WCHH. After flipping the station from alternative rock Channel 104.3 to contemporary hit Z104.3 last week..... WaPo Pulls Tech Podcast - 11/13 - The Washington Post pulls the plug on Rob Pegoraro's Tech Podcast. "My general understanding is that while the listener numbers were OK, the ad revenue now and in the future did not match up," Pegoraro says on his Facebook page..... Hagerstown's 95.1 1st To Go XMAS - 11/13 -  It's November 13th and the Hagerstown area's WIKZ, Mix 95.1, has the dubious distinction of being the first regional radio station to make the jump to all-holiday tunes. More at mix95.com. Ho ho ho.....105.9 To Remain Jockless Pending Citadel's B'ruptcy - 11/13 -  A few weeks ago, DCRTV tipped you that Citadel was busy conducting interviews of some currently unemployed/under-employed local radio vets for its new hard classic rocker, WVRX, 105.9 The Edge, which it started in August. Well, we hear from some of those vets that they haven't heard back from Citadel, causing one to surmise that all WVRX hiring has been put on hold pending the firm's widely-rumored bankruptcy filing, which could come in early 2010. So, for now, DC's 105.9 will continue to remain jockless, we assume.....AMC Sees Smaller Audience - 11/13 - Decreased attendance caused AMC Entertainment to dip into the red in the second quarter on 5 percent lower revenue compared with the same period last year. AMC has 14 multiplex movie theaters in the DC area, with more than 150 screens. The DC Biz Journal has more. DCRTV wonders: Perhaps AMC should re-start its ads in the Washington Post's daily movie listings..... ZBA Yanks Bob & Tom For Music - 11/13 - DCRTV hears that Baltimore classic rocker WZBA, The Bay, has canned the syndicated-from-Indianapolis Bob and Tom morning show due to low ratings. Starting Monday, the station will debut the "More Music Morning Show" with Michael Filippelli. Says WZBA Program Director Harvey Kojan: "The importance of this being a music show cannot be overemphasized. There will be no extraneous banter. The only talk will be providing the important elements of news, traffic, and weather. We will consistently deliver on the promise of more music"..... Stephy Wants To Keep "Week" If He Lands "GMA" - 11/13 - From Romenesko: George Stephanopoulos is hoping to remain at the helm of "This Week" if he becomes "Good Morning America" host, perhaps as a kind of fall-back in case things don't work out at "GMA," reports Rebecca Dana at The Daily Beast. "If Stephanopoulos isn't able to hold on to 'This Week,' ABC senior White House correspondent Jake Tapper and 'Nightline' co-anchor Terry Moran are seen as inside favorites to replace him," she writes..... TWT Suspends Retirement Plan Contribs - 11/13 - For Washington Times staff, already shaken this week by the mysterious departure of executive editor John Solomon and the firing of three top business executives, management made another move Friday that's unlikely to restore confidence: matching contributions to the paper's retirement savings plan have been suspended. Ever since Monday's management shake-up, there has been speculation that the paper could be lacking in funds to keep the operation going. And security guards have been brought in to watch over the financial records as a new CFO comes aboard, with staffers blocked from accessing management's third floor, so reports the Politico..... Comcast To Launch OnDemand Online - 11/13 - Comcast's long-awaited OnDemand Online will launch in December. It'll allow area TV and internet subscribers to watch programming on three devices per household, and use those devices, including computer laptops, outside the home using any type of internet access. More from B&C..... CBS's 106.7 & 94.7 To Share Terps Hoops - 11/13 - CBS Radio sports talker 106.7 The Fan, WJFK, announces its University Of Maryland men's basketball line-up. The season starts with the 11/13 outing against Charleston Southern. However, due to conflicts with Wizards games, 11 of those UMD matches will air on CBS sister 94.7 Fresh FM, WTGB, which is geared to a female audience that likes hot adult contemporary tunes. The first game on 94.7 will be the Terps' 11/20 battle against New Hampshire..... PGC Slammed For Chris & Rihanna Contest - 11/13 -  From Radio-Online.com:
CBS Radio's WPGC is under fire over a ticket giveaway that says "95.5 is bringing Rihanna and Chris Brown together again... sort of!" The urban outlet is offering Chris Brown tickets in DC, while qualifying entrants to see Rihanna in concert in London. WPGC's "Bringing Chris and Rihanna back together" giveaway is supported by graphic (left) on its website that is "a very realistic picture of them together, almost like the real thing." With recent events and Brown's assault on Rihanna, many call this promotion a humorless advocate for domestic violence, RO.com adds.....Lanny Davis Quits TWT Column - 11/13 - Attorney and Democratic commentator Lanny Davis told Washington Times editors in an e-mail yesterday evening that he would not be continuing his weekly "Purple Nation" opinion column, a decision prompted by the departure of his friend John Solomon as executive editor of the Times. More from TPM and the DCRTV newsblurb below..... Clouds Of Gloom Envelope TWT - 11/13 - Howard Kurtz has more on yesterday's late-day bombshell that Washington Times top editor John Solomon has been forced to resign. "Solomon started a number of expensive initiatives - from launching a talk-radio show to beefing up the paper's website to creating a companion site called TheConservatives.com - and had hoped to begin distributing a national print edition by early next year," Kurtz writes. "Some staffers wondered whether these initiatives were deepening the Times' financial plight and questioned reports of high salaries for some of the newcomers that far exceeded the typical wage in the non-union newsroom." Jonathan Slevin, who was named acting president and publisher after three of the paper's top execs were canned, said in a statement that an "assessment team" would develop "a market-based plan that supports the sustainability of the Washington Times." But others close to the situation have suggested that Unification Church politics and personalities were more responsible for the shake-up than financial concerns. Meanwhile, there are widespread rumors at the Times that a big batch of cuts are coming. More in the Washington Post..... Naive FCC To Deal With Massive B'cast Restructuring - 11/13 -  A former Federal Communication Commission staffer tells Radio-Info.com that, with a major re-structuring in radio, from Clear Channel and Citadel on down, the FCC is going to be presented by challenges arising out of bankruptcy and other
situations it's not used to, on a scale it's never seen. Hopefully, they'll be
somewhat sympathetic to the broadcasters, although they seem to think that it's
a case of payback, because of consolidation. The FCC needs to understand that there's no capital out there
right now. The ex-staffer tells RI.com's Tom Taylor that this Commission needs more "real-world education" at a time when it's piling more
reporting requirements on broadcast licensees.....More Cuts Coming To AOL - 11/13 - New regulatory filings suggest that more layoffs could be coming at Dulles-based AOL as the internet company separates from Time Warner by the end of the year. AP has more..... TWT's Solomon Out - 11/12 - From TPM: The Washington Times today announced the resignation of Executive Editor John Solomon - effective six days ago. Solomon had a three-year contract that began in January 2007. Earlier this week, a Times staffer suggested to TPM that, "when you're in positions like that, you know where the bodies are buried. They would give him a buyout to keep quiet." This comes as three top TWT execs were ousted earlier this week. The Politico has more..... Fox's Jennifer Griffin Has Cancer - 11/12 - Jennifer Griffin, Pentagon correspondent for Fox News, was diagnosed six weeks ago with breast cancer. More at washingtonpost.com..... Parsons Resigns At Sirius XM - 11/12 - Sirius XM Radio said Gary Parsons resigned as chairman and will be succeeded by independent director Eddy Hartenstein, publisher, and chief executive of the Los Angeles Times. Parsons was founder of XM Satellite Radio Holdings and served as chairman of DC-based XM Satellite Radio, which merged with Sirius in the summer of 2008. More at wsj.com..... 30M DTV Coupons Go Unredeemed - 11/12 - The government's digital TV converter box coupon program has officially ended, with approximately 30 million, or $1.2 billion worth of coupons, going unredeemed. B&C has more..... Segraves To Replace Core On 50 - 11/12 -  WTOP political investigative reporter Mark Segraves (right) will replace DC radio veteran Chris Core on Channel 50/WDCW's weekend local politics and public affairs show. Segraves will continue his WTOP duties. Core, a longtime WMAL veteran who got budget cut in 2008 and who currently does daily "Core Values" commentary pieces for all-newser WTOP, has hinted that he's got a new gig up his sleeve, but he's being tight-lipped about it. More from the DC City Paper.....Gartell Named WTOP.com DND - 11/12 - Mike Gartell gets promoted to digital news director for wtop.com. He'll be managing the editorial direction for the Bonneville all-newser's website, with an emphasis on growing audience and activity. "Mike will continue to work with the other news managers and the rest of the newsroom to expand our position as a tier one, platform agnostic, local news source," a WTOPer tells DCRTV..... DC Times Workers "On Edge" - 11/12 - With payday looming on Friday, employees remain on edge at the Washington Times. There's even uncertainty over whether the troubled newspaper has enough short-term cash flow to keep its operation running. Also, Doug Joo, the fired Times chairman, denies that a rift in Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church, which owns the newspaper, had caused the staff shake-up at the paper. TPM has more..... More "Grill Sergeants" For Pentagon Channel - 11/12 -  The Arlington-based Pentagon Channel is dishing out some more tasty offerings with the third season of "The Grill Sergeants," premiering Monday, 11/16, at noon. This season welcomes SSG Guy Winks, an instructor for the Advanced Culinary Skills Course at Fort Lee, Virginia, as a "grill sergeant." The show features some of the military's top chefs. Seasons 1 and 2 are available, along with recipes, at pentagonchannel.mil....."MTP" 1st Again - 11/12 - As usual, NBC's "Meet The Press" was top-rated last week among the Sunday morning DC political talkers. ABC's "This Week" was 2nd, CBS's "Face The Nation" 3rd, and Fox's "Fox News Sunday" 4th..... Notable Quotable: Pompous DC Journos Party While Many Are Jobless - 11/12 - A posting today about yet another FishbowlDC round-up of DC celebrity "media elite" journalist party pix: "More snotty bubble-world crap. Most of the local reporters who have been fired or laid off or bought out don't go to any of these upper-middle-classe bubble-world snotfests!! Some get free passes from where they work. Most don't really care at all about these things - they're all fake, from top to bottom. Please - more media news, less bubble-world snotfests! Most people just don't care!"..... Another Celeb Journo Site - 11/12 - The Hill launches "The Washington Scene" at washingtonscene.thehill.com. Like the Politico's Click, it features beautiful young Capitol Hill staffers and journalists at parties and hanging out with celebrities..... A Dozen Cuts At Newsweek - 11/12 - Jon Meacham, editor of the Washington Post-owned Newsweek, says that about a dozen positions will be eliminated due to the "economic climate in publishing." The Politico has more..... Dobbs Says Adios To CNN - 11/12 - Longtime CNNer Lou Dobbs, who has been transitioning from unbiased journalist to opinionated talk show host, has resigned from the TV news network. He'll continue to do his radio show, which is heard locally on CBS's WHFS, The Big Talker 1580 AM. There's speculation that he'll be jumping to Fox News, but that channel denies it's been talking to Dobbs. WMAL's Fred Grandy, a former GOP Congressman, speculated this morning that Dobb may run for political office as a Republican. More from Howie Kurtz at washingtonpost.com and David Zurawik at baltimoresun.com. Update: CNN President Jonathan Klein has named veteran reporter John King to replace Dobbs as host of a new 7 PM show devoted to news and politics starting next week..... WaPo Profiles Snyder's "Henchman" - 11/12 - The DC Post looks at Karl Swanson, the self-described public-relations "henchman" for Redskins and WTEM-owner Dan Snyder..... New Book For Del Walters - 11/12 -  DCRTV hears that former Channel 7/WJLA and Channel 2/WMAR news anchor Del Walters (right) will hold a book signing for his new World War II thriller, "Wereth The Black Parade," at Howard University's bookshop on Saturday from 4 PM to 6 PM. More at fencepostpublishing.com.....New Biz For Bloomquist - 11/12 - Former WMAL Program Director Randall Bloomquist starts Talk Frontier Media, a company which offers "talent management, content development, and talk media strategy services to all segments of the growing spoken-word media." A DC area native, Bloomquist recently got the boot from his programming gig at Atlanta talker WGST. More at talkfrontier.com..... Core On Snyder - 11/12 - DCRTV hears that DC radio veteran Chris Core has Dan Snyder and the Redskins on his mind. And will sound off on his Thursday "Core Values" commentary on WTOP at 3:40 PM, 6:10 PM, and 8:40 PM..... WaPo Issues CX On Discovery Piece - 11/12 - The Washington Post made a few errors in its recent story on Silver Spring-based Discovery Communications starting a new website. "A November 10 A-section article about the launch of a news site by Discovery Communications incorrectly said that the company blamed a rise in operating costs for its most recent quarter's decline in profits. The company cited a change in the value of stock-based compensation as the main reason for that decline. Also, early advertising on the Discovery News site includes the company's line of retail products, not its retail stores, which were closed two years ago"..... DCRTV Ad News - 11/12 - DCRTV welcomes back local internet radioer The DC AM as an advertiser through January. Plus, we thank Comcast SportsNet for extending its ad through the end of the year. And check out the US Naval Institute, Funk Radio Online, and Baltimore sports newspaper PressBox for their new ads in the right column. Please support DCRTV's advertisers because they support DCRTV. Reach a million movers and shakers every month. Click here..... Newseum Prepares To Open Russert Exhibit - 11/11 - DC's Newseum describes highlights of its Tim Russert office exhibit, which will include a large wooden sign reading "Thou Shalt Not Whine" that was located at the front of Russert's desk. Plus Russert's collection of historic and nostalgic items from American pop culture and other humorous political souvenirs sent to him by fans. The exhibit, "Inside Tim Russert's Office: If It's Sunday, It's 'Meet The Press'," opens to the public on 11/20. The longtime NBC "MTP" host died of a heart attack in 2008..... Cox Warns Of MTV, Food Net Drop - 11/11 -  In ads this week in local newspapers, Fairfax County's Cox cable system warns that it hasn't yet completed negotiations with MTV Networks and Scripps to continue carrying a batch of channels beyond the end of 2009. Including MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, TV Land, BET, and Food Network. Cox says that it is "optimistic that agreements will be reached prior to the current expiration of midnight on December 31." But it is running the ad as formal required notification to its subscribers in case the channels get dropped.....DirecTV Slams Cox - 11/11 - Also in local newspapers this week, DirecTV is running an ad attacking Cox cable in Fairfax County for its system-wide outage last week during the final game of the World Series. "Cable's signal reliability is for the Minors. Join the Big Leagues with DirecTV's 99.9 percent signal reliability," the ad touts..... Borders To Close Some Express Outlets - 11/11 - Book retailer Borders announces that it'll be closing a batch of stores nationwide as its deals with the recessionary economy. Including Borders Express locations in Glen Burnie, Owings Mills, Wheaton, Dulles, and Springfield. And a Waldenbooks in Gaithersburg. More at baltimoresun.com.... Shapiro On Czarniak's Softball Treatment Of Snyder - 11/11 - At washingtonpost.com, Len Shapiro looks at Channel 4/WRC sports reporter and anchor Lindsay Czarniak's gentle questioning of Redskins owner Dan Snyder last week during his impromptu press conference to apologize for his team's losses. "Some have suggested that Czarniak showed up... only after being tipped off by the team, but Czarniak said that was not the case. She said she went to the event just as she or someone else from the station has attended other events this season on the Redskins' off-day"..... WLIF Tops Balto PPMs - 11/11 - The Baltimore Portable People Meter radio ratings, first week of November, full-day, age 12+: 1) WLIF, 2) WWIN-FM, 3) WPOC, 4) WWMX, 5) WERQ, 6) WIYY, 7) WRBS, 8) WBAL-AM, 9) WQSR, 10) WCBM, 11) WCHH, 12) WYPR, 13) WJZ-FM, 14) WBJC, 15) WTOP and WHUR and WPGC and WIHT, 19) WCAO and WZBA, 21) WTEM, 22) WWDC. More: 32) WEAA, 34) WRNR and WJZ-AM, 37) WTMD and WWIN-AM, 43) WOLB..... Armed Guards At TWT - 11/11 - From Michael Calderone at the Politico: Armed guards have been spotted on the third floor of the Washington Times building on New York Avenue, where management works. The floor, it was reported, has now been closed to the rank and file. And this morning, Managing Editor David Jones informed staff that they have to contact him if they need special access to enter the paper's parking lot, which was abruptly closed this week. There's still a lot of confusion in the Washington Times newsroom, two days after the removal of three top business-side executives and high-ranking members of the Unification Church. Executive Editor John Solomon hasn't been in the office for several days, and it's unclear whether he'll return..... 9's Bruce Johnson To Do Book Signing - 11/11 - Channel 9/WUSA news anchor Bruce Johnson is holding a book singing for "Heart To Heart" on Thursday, 11/12, 6 PM to 8 PM. It's at Busboys And Poets, 14th and V streets NW, DC. The book focuses on a dozen people, including himself, and how their lives were made better after a heart attack. Dr. Kenneth Kent, cardiologist at the Washington Hospital Center, wrote the forward. More at brucejohnsonhearttoheart.com..... C-SPAN To Air Jack Nelson Memorial - 11/11 - C-SPAN will have live coverage of the 1 PM Saturday memorial service for Jack Nelson from the Grosvenor Auditorium at the National Geographic Society. Nelson was a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and the Washington bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times. C-SPAN will air a repeat of the service at 8 PM Saturday..... Kate Julian To WaPo - 11/11 - Kate Julian, former managing editor of the New Yorker, joins the Washington Post as deputy editor of the Sunday Outlook editorial section..... Spewak Returns To Iowa - 11/11 -  Former WJFKer Robb Spewak (right) is back in Iowa to do the KCJJ morning show on Thursday, and to do his normal Friday afternoon show on Thursday afternoon, as the station is doing a fundraiser on Friday. Spewak will also be doing KCJJ's Monday AM show. Listen at 1630kcjj.com, click on "KCJJ Raw." The former Don and Mike show regular, who normally does his show from his Loudoun County home, has a blog at robbradio.com.....Geronimo Talking To SatRad? - 11/11 - Speaking of the Don and Mike show, there are more rumblings on the internet that DC radio veteran Don Geronimo paid a recent visit to satellite radio firm Sirius XM, and even was hanging around during Ron and Fez's midday show. Like Don, R&F also used to work at former "guy talk" WJFK. Could Geronimo, 51, be talking to Sirius XM about a show after his contract with WJFK owner CBS ends next October? Stay tuned..... APer & CNNer Nab NPF Award - 11/11 - AP's Julie Hirschfeld Davis and CNN's Brianna Keilar will get National Press Foundation Dirksen Awards for distinguished reporting on Congress. They'll be awarded at the NPF's 27th annual dinner in February..... Dan Mason Re-Signs With CBS - 11/10 - DCRTV hears that CBS Radio head Dan Mason, who hails from the DC area, has extended his current three-year contract. Mason re-joined CBS Radio as president/CEO in 2007 and he's agreed to an extension of his deal. Mason once programmed "top 40" WPGC. Locally, CBS owns nine radio stations, including WPGC, WJFK, WLZL, WTGB, WJZ-FM/AM, WLIF, WHFS, and WWMX..... Charges Dropped For Former 16 Sports Anchor - 11/10 - The charges of trespassing, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest were dismissed on 11/5 by a Delaware court for a now-former Channel 16/WBOC sports anchor. Dewey Beach police officers arrested Yianni Korakis in mid-September after he refused to vacate a motel room when ordered to do so, according to WBAL.com. Authorities say Kourakis and another male suspect would not leave the room when asked by motel security. Kourakis announced via his Twitter account later that month that he and Salisbury's WBOC were parting ways..... Church Feud Led To TWT Firings - 11/10 - Justin Elliott at TPM: "The Sunday firings of executives at the Washington Times and the possible exit of its top editor are apparently being driven more than previously known by last month's transfer of power of the Unification Church and associated business empire from Rev. Sun Myung Moon to his children"..... NPR Honcho Questioned - 11/10 - National Public Radio head Vivian Schiller fielded questions today in the "Station Break" Q&A at washingtonpost.com..... Hot 99.5 Is Hot, MAL & TEM Up - 11/10 -  Contemporary hit Hot 99.5, WIHT, soars to 2nd place in the first batch of "November" (actually late October) weekly Portable People Meter radio ratings, full-day, age 12+. News talker WMAL jumps into the top 10, and Redskins owner Dan Snyder's WTEM takes the lead in the sports talk radio battle. 1) WTOP [1st in both drivetimes], 2) WIHT [Kane 4th], 3) WHUR [Harvey 2nd], 4) WAMU, 5) WASH [L&L 9th], 6) WMMJ [Joyner 5th], 7) WBIG, 8) WETA-FM, 9) WMAL [G&A 9th, Rush 2nd, Hannity 8th], 10) WWDC [Elliot 15th] and WPGC [Simpson 8th], 12) WMZQ, 13) WRQX [Diamond 13th] and WTEM [Korny 16th], 15) WKYS [Parr 11th], 16) WPRS, 17) WTGB, 18) WJFK [Junks 12th, Wise 18th, Arrington 18th] and WGTS, 20) WLZL, 21) WVRX, 22) WINC-FM, 23) WAVA. More: 26) WDCN and WPFW, 30) WTNT and WKDV, 35) WACA, 38) WZHF and WILC and WYCB, 45) WKCW and WFED and WWRC.....Via Tape, Joe & Mika Back On MAL - 11/10 - After yanking their late morning show last month in favor of local talk radio rabble-rouser Chris Plante, news talker WMAL (630 AM) has restored half of Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski's syndicated NYC-based radio show to the 9 PM hour weeknights, tape-delayed..... Team Makes Cuts At MEBN - 11/10 - DCRTV hears that Team Broadcasting, the contractor that provides broadcast services to the Springfield VA-based Al Hurra Arabic language network, is busy handing out pink slips. The company lost its contract with the US-backed Middle East Broadcast Network. And we're told that senior techs and production department personnel are currently taking "a big hit." Supervisors and master control ops are next, our source says. The DC Biz Journal says 96 jobs are being cut..... WH Comm Dir To Step Down - 11/10 - White House Communications Director Anita Dunn will step down at the end of this month, to be replaced by her deputy Dan Pfeiffer, the DC Post reports. Dunn, a longtime Democratic media consultant, escalated the White House's verbal assaults on Fox News last month saying on CNN, "The reality of it is that Fox News often operates almost as either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party." She will remain as a consultant to the White House. Pfeiffer began working for Obama in 2007 following Senator Evan Bayh's decision not to pursue the presidency. He served a stint as the traveling press secretary for Obama's presidential bid but eventually took a slot overseeing the campaign's communications operation..... Nixon Leaves CapFile - 11/10 - Susan Nixon steps down as publisher of Capitol File. The DC Examiner has more..... Record Streaming For C-SPAN - 11/10 - DC-based C-SPAN reports that its website served more than 200,000 live streams of the House debate of the health care reform bill Saturday, the highest online viewership C-SPAN has seen since President Obama was inaugurated in January..... WaPo Returns To Bigger Weather Map - 11/10 - Starting Tuesday, the Washington Post has re-redesigned its weather page in the print Metro section. As promised, it has restored a larger national weather map, which got shrunk about a month ago, when the weather segment was forced to share its half-page with a Post Points promo column..... Solomon Still At TWT After Shake-Up - 11/10 - DCRTV broke the news yesterday. Now, the Washington Post has more on how three top executives at the Washington Times were ousted Monday in a top-level shake-up prompted by the ongoing economic crisis. It is unclear what the changes mean for former Washington Post investigative reporter John Solomon, who is now executive editor at the Times..... 2 Axes Another Newscast - 11/10 - Channel 2/WMAR will cancel its 6:30 PM Sunday newscast next month, replacing it with Richard Sher's public affairs show "Square Off," which now airs Sunday mornings. It is the latest in a series of moves that Baltimore's ABC affiliate has made in the last year to reposition its news programs in the market. Bill Hooper, general manager of WMAR, tells baltimoresun.com: "We want to counter program our competition with strong local community oriented programming and 'Square Off' is the perfect answer. Richard Sher has brought in a 'who's who' of panel guests to discuss today's many issues. This will start on December 6th, and run until further notice." Hooper said the station will continue to produce an 11 PM newscast on Sundays. Recently, Channel 2 has not been running an 11 PM Saturday newscast following ABC college football overruns, favoring a PressBox sports show instead..... WTNT Gives Ed Schultz The Boot - 11/10 - From the 11/10 DCRTV Mailbag: "Seems that WTNT (570 AM) has canned the ultra-left wing socialist Ed Schultz in favor of local talk hosted by conservative Jeff Kuhner. I turned on WTNT at noon to hear Schultz fallate over the Congress passing health care, and he was gone, kaput, outa here"..... Shales Does Stephy - 11/10 - Tom Shales ponders the TV future of ABC DCer George Stephanopoulos. Will the already heavily overcovered "This Week" host jump to "Good Morning America"? And if he does, what will happen to his Sunday morning political talk show? In the DC Post..... Taylor Shay To 99.5 Evenings? - 11/9 - Someone sends this rumor to DCRTV: "Chris Styles is out. Taylor Shay is the new 7 PM to midnight DJ at Hot 99.5." More as we hear it..... Discovery Launches News Site - 11/9 - Silver Spring-based Discovery Communications is expanding its science and technology news coverage online with the launch of a new website, DiscoveryNews.com. The site will break out the science news sections that currently reside on Discovery.com. More from B&C and the DC Post..... New NAB Head Speaks - 11/9 - B&C talks to Gordon Smith, the new head of the DC-based National Association Of Broadcasters..... CBS's Pitts Reveals Secrets & Triumphs - 11/9 -  Channel 13/WJZ's Vic Carter reports on the life of Baltimore native Byron Pitts (right), the senior national correspondent for CBS News and frequent contributor to "60 Minutes." While Pitts is at the top of the ranks when it comes to television news, he struggled growing up in Baltimore with personal difficulties and secrets including not being able to read until he was 12, and that his teachers suggested he be institutionalized. Pitts recently wrote of his struggles growing up in a book titled "Step Out On Nothing." More at wjz.com.....WASH To XMAS On 20th - 11/9 - DCRTV hears that Clear Channel is planning to do its annual Christmas flip of adult contemporary WASH (97.1 FM) on Friday, 11/20. Although that date could change since it's leaked out, and the Clear Channel DC suits would just love to see DCRTV get the date wrong..... Citadel Eyes Bankruptcy - 11/9 - Credit-crunched Citadel Broadcasting, which owns WMAL, WRQX, and WVRX, inches closer to a bankruptcy filing. Radio Online has more..... 3 TWT Biggies Gone, Solomon Out Soon? - 11/9 - Major changes at the Washington Times this morning, with three top executives gone. The axing includes president and publisher Thomas McDevitt, chief financial officer Keith Cooperrider, and chairman Dong Moon Joo. Jonathan Slevin, who had been vice president, has been named acting president and publisher. According to Michael Calderone at the Politico, news of the executive shake-up follows rumors swirling that there could be a major change on the editorial side, perhaps including executive editor John Solomon. The DC Times, in a release, noted that "today's industry conditions and the general economic downturn necessitate this team-based assessment, planning, and subsequent implementation of a plan to enable the Times to become a sustainable multimedia company in today's challenging news industry environment." There's also been speculation that changes could be associated with last month's handover of power in the Unification Church. The paper's owner, Sun Myung Moon, who turns 90 in January, handed over power to his three sons. More: Curtis Scheel will become acting CFO..... Ed Walker Joins Hall Of Fame - 11/9 -  Congratulations to DC radio legend Ed Walker - getting a smooch from former Joy Boys partner Willard Scott (right) - on his induction into the Radio Hall Of Fame in Chicago on Saturday evening. Pics in DCRTV's 11/9 Mailbag. In his acceptance speech, Walker told how he used to handle delivering a five-minute newscast by listening to a rival station that subscribed to the same news service and memorizing it - but he got crossed up one day when the station threw on a religious program instead. Walker's radio career began in 1951 as an American University freshman and one of the founders of WAMU-AM, the campus radio station that preceded the current WAMU-FM. The same year, Walker met fellow AU student Willard Scott. In the 1950s, they became the comedy duo Joy Boys on WRC radio until 1972, when WWDC added the show to its schedule. WWDC aired the last Joy Boys show in 1974. Walker has also worked at WPGC and WMAL and at Channel 7/ WJLA and NewsChannel 8. In December 1990, Walker returned to WAMU to host vintage radio program "The Big Broadcast" on Sunday evenings. Also inducted on Saturday, "Queen Of All Media" Wendy Williams, who got her start at DC's WOL. More at radiohof.org.....ABC Radio's DC News Bureau "All But Closed" - 11/9 - From DCRTV's 11/9 Mailbag: "I'm reliably informed that the ABC Radio News bureau in Washington is all but closed. ABC suit Andrew Kalb laid off all the editors and tape people. Pam Coulter is gone along with almost all of the once excellent team of reporters. In New York, all the editors are gone, half the newsroom, by one count. Two engineers are left to operate the Washington audio distribution (WAND). The defacto bureau chief Jim Kane is left with an empty bureau. The remaining correspondents will now file direct to New York and all the copy editing and tape processing will be done there, despite the fact that most actuality material was filed from Washington. Vic Ratner and Steve Portnoy (ex-WMAL) remain as reporters in Washington along with engineers Art Gauthier and Steve Stefany. Bill Greenwood and others left some time ago. Other layoffs at the management level in New York are expected"..... Surging WCHH Gets Yanked - 11/9 - DCRTV got you the latest Baltimore Portable People Meter radio ratings on Friday. And now, Tom Taylor at Radio-Info.com tells us: "Clear Channel's just-detonated modern rock 'Channel 104.3' WCHH rose 1.9 to 2.1 to 2.7. The station's now blasting mainstream CHR as 'Z104.3'." DCRTV wonders: With such a steady PPM upswing for WCHH, to 10th place in the Baltimore radio heap, did CC make a mistake by pulling the plug on the alternative rock format last week? Hmmm..... News At 10 For 4 & 11? - 11/9 - If area cable TV giant Comcast gets control of NBC, there's talk that NBC stations, like DC's Channel 4/WRC and Baltimore's Channel 11/WBAL, could move their local news from 11 PM to 10 PM, with Jay Leno moving to 11 PM. There's more at sun-sentinel.com..... Jon Ward To Tucker's Site - 11/9 - Jon Ward, a White House reporter for the Washington Times, jumps to Tucker Carlson's new website, Daily Caller..... Derek Wallbank To MinnPost - 11/9 - Derek Wallbank, who was among the casualties during the September mass pink slipping at CQ-Roll Call, becomes the Minneapolis Post's Washington correspondent. Wallbank replaces Cynthia Dizikes, who is leaving to take a reporting position at the Chicago Tribune..... Local Man Does 1,500 Podcasts - 11/9 - From Romenesko: Ron Evry has just recorded his 1,500th episode of "Mr. Ron's Basement." He claims no other podcast can boast so many episodes. The 59-year-old computer technician for Arlington County public schools is head of the DC chapter of the National Cartoonists Society - "mainly because nobody else wanted it." More in the DC Post..... Stuever On DC Sniper Doc - 11/9 - In the DC Post, Hank Stuever previews "Anatomy Of A Takedown: The Washington Sniper," conveniently airing Monday night on the Discovery Channel, as Virginia prepares for John Allen Muhammad's execution..... Support DCRTV's Advertisers - 11/9 - DCRTV welcomes Scentsy as a new advertiser. Scentsy Warmers use a low-watt bulb to melt specially formulated wax slowly, maximizing the fragrance time of the Scentsy Bar or Scentsy Brick. With no flame, soot, smoke, or lead to worry about, the Scentsy system is a safe way to enjoy more than 80 delightful Scentsy fragrances. More at myunitedscents.com. Also, we welcome the US Naval Institute for renewing its ad through the end of the year. Check 'em out for premier experts on homeland security, defense, and intelligence. DCRTV's got some great ad deals for terms through the end of 2009, but act fast. They won't last! Please support our advertisers because they support DCRTV..... Zurawik Falls Asleep Listening To WCSP - 11/8 - From David Zurawik at baltimoresun.com: "All hail C-SPAN. I went to bed Friday night with the sounds of a late-night debate in the House Rules Committe coming from my bedside radio tuned to WCSP (90.1 FM), and awoke at 7 AM to C-SPAN's 'Washington Journal' skillfully raising the curtain on the live and historic (health care) debate taking place in the House Saturday"..... Jayson Blair Talks About His "Transgressions" - 11/8 - Disgraced former New York Times reporter and Northern Virginia native Jayson Blair discussed his "transgressions" at Lexington VA's Washington And Lee University on Saturday. The Roanoke Times has more..... Too Many Anon Sources At WaPo - 11/8 - Washington Post ombudsman Andrew Alexander says that Post reporters continue to rely on too many anonymous sources..... WWIN-FM Tops Balto PPMs - 11/6 - The Baltimore Portable People Meter monthly radio ratings for October, full-day, cume, age 6+: 1) WWIN-FM, 2) WLIF, 3) WPOC, 4) WWMX, 5) WERQ, 6) WRBS, 7) WIYY, 8) WBAL-AM, 9) WQSR, 10) WCBM and WCHH, 12) WJZ-FM, 13) WYPR. More: 16) WZBA, 17) WCAO, 19) WBJC, 33) WEAA, 35) WRNR and WJZ-AM and WTMD, 40) WWIN-AM, 47) WNST and WOLB and WVIE..... Robert Westgate Dies - 11/6 - Robert Westgate, 79, a journalist who wrote freelance articles for the Washington Post and the old Washington Star, among other publications, died on 10/9 at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington. He had head and neck cancer. More in the washingtonpost.com..... VA GOPer Slams Rush - 11/6 - GOP leaders have been loathe to criticize righty radio talk titan Rush Limbaugh - but House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, a Republican from Virginia, is taking issue with Limbaugh's claim that President Obama's push for health care was comparable to Hitler's stranglehold on Germany. Cantor, the highest-ranking Jewish Republican elected official in the country, says that his party needs to be more inclusive to regain power. The Politico has more..... WaPo To Enlarge Weather Map - 11/6 - Readers complained about the Washington Post's recent shrinkage of its national weather map in the Metro section. So, the larger map will return on Tuesday. Ombudsman Andy Alexander has more at washingtonpost.com..... He's Back: Rusty Gibson - 11/6 - After two-ish years off the air, DC area radio veteran Rusty Gibson returns to Fairfax Public Access's WEBR at 5 PM today. With his rock oldies based "Magical History Tour" show. Catch it on Northern Virginia cable TV (Cox Fairfax 37, Comcast Reston 27) or via fcac.org/webr..... Mailbag: Camera Trouble At 4 - 11/6 - From DCRTV's 11/6 Mailbag: "You have to find out what happened on the 11 PM news on WRC last night (Thursday). They lost control of the robotic cameras. It was pretty funny." A viewer tells us: "I totally saw it! The only cam that was functioning was 'stage left' so to speak... and it could only get a shot of all three of them. They said there were no human beings behind the cams, but now that there was a malfuntion. There were people tending to the cams." More soon..... Reid Wilson to Nat'l Journal - 11/6 - Reid Wilson is leaving The Hill newspaper for National Journal's Hotline OnCall. Previously, Wilson worked at Real Clear Politics..... Guardian Lays Off 6 In DC - 11/6 - From PaidContent.org: Guardian America is laying off six production/edit employees. Most of them are in Guardian's DC office.This comes as the company is trying to re-figure its US expansion strategy and how best to mesh it with the parent back in London. Last month, the consulting editor of Guardian America, Jim Brady, left to head editorial at Politico's new sister site focusing on local DC area news..... Power Hike For HD Radio - 11/6 -  Columbia MD-based digital HD Radio developer iBiquity and DC-based National Public Radio have agreed on a compromise signal hike of 6 dB to improve HD Radio reception. In many areas, a station's HD signal does not cover anywhere near the full analog signal area. This is due to a reduced digital signal which could interfere with stations on adjacent channels. The influential NPR Labs issued a Pittsburgh-based research study that probably dissuaded the Federal Communications Commission from heeding the call for power hikes of as much as 10 dB. According to Radio-Info.com, now HD Radio's Bob Struble and NPR Labs' Mike Starling reach a deal about halfway in between. The DC-based National Association Of Broadcasters says it's "encouraged by the consensus agreement for optimal increased digital power" and it "urges the FCC to move quickly." The Commission has already permitted some stations to raise HD Radio power on an experimental basis.....NFL Ratings Up - 11/6 - Instead of spending Sundays at the mall, recession-strapped consumers are instead spending more time in front of the TV watching the NFL. TV ratings for NFL games this season are up 15 percent from last season and are at a 20-year high for this point in a season. Even with the Washington Redskins' struggles, all seven of their games have been the highest-rated shows in the DC area in the weeks they aired. The DC Post has more..... Folkenflik Does Blair - 11/6 - David Folkenflik at npr.org gives yet more press to Jayson Blair, the Northern Virginia native who rose to fame by fabricating stories for the NY Times..... Salem Sees Rev Drop - 11/6 - Christian conservative broadcaster Salem, which owns WAVA (105.1 FM, 780 AM), reports broadcast revenue down 11 percent in Q3..... Oprah To Move TV Show To Her "OWN" Network - 11/5 - Daytime TV talk diva Oprah Winfrey says she will move her nationally syndicated show, featured locally on Channel 7/WJLA and Channel 11/WBAL, to her new "OWN" network, run by Silver Spring-based Discovery Communications. Come 2011. More from Deadline Hollywood..... Questions Surround Czarniak At Snyder Press Conference - 11/5 - Dave McKenna at washingtoncitypaper.com looks at Redskins owner Dan Snyder's press conference this week and why so few reporters showed up. Snyder only talked to Channel 4/WRC's Lindsay Czarniak, who also works for Snyder's Redskins broadcast network and wears licensed Redskins gear on the air, McKenna tells DCRTV..... Bias Doc Debuts On ESPN - 11/5 - The new ESPN documentary on University Of Maryland basketball great Len Bias is among the latest Baltimore sports media news at PressBox..... Competition Hurts Arbitron - 11/5 -  Columbia MD-based Arbitron revealed how much it expects defections of Cumulus and Clear Channel stations to Nielsen will hurt its bottom line. The radio ratings firm called the small-and-mid-sized market stations' jump to Nielsen "a primary factor" in a $4.6 million decline in its revenue for the nine months ended 9/30. The firm said it also expects that its future annual rate of revenue growth will be "slower than historical trends".....Sirius XM Sees Light At End Of Recessionary Tunnel - 11/5 - Sirius XM Radio announced its 2009 third quarter fiscal results today, with the satcaster reporting its fourth straight quarter of "positive pro forma adjusted income from operations." The firm ended the quarter with 18.5 million subscribers, adding just over 102,000 since Q2 2009, but still down two percent from a year ago. FMQB has more..... CBS Sees Profit Despite Sluggish Ad Market - 11/5 - CBS says that it has moved to a third-quarter profit even as an impairment charge and decreased advertising revenue cut into the bottom line. Television revenue rose to $2.27 billion from $2.08 billion. Radio revenue declined to $319 million from $392 million. Locally, CBS owns Channel 13/WJZ, plus nine radio stations, including WPGC, WJFK, WLIF, and WWMX. MarketWatch has more..... Rush On "FNS" 4th - 11/5 - Chris Wallace's interview with Rush Limbaugh couldn't save last weekend's "Fox News Sunday" from a 4th place finish among DC talkers. As usual, NBC's "Meet The Press" was 1st, with ABC's "This Week" 2nd, and CBS's "Face The Nation" 3rd..... More Cuts At 7? - 11/5 - Updated. A source tells DCRTV that there's been a new round of personnel cuts this week at Allbritton's Channel 7/WJLA. Including some news photogs. However, a WJLA source tells us: "There have been no layoffs. Some freelance hours got adjusted. That affected two people. That's all"..... TOP Tops OCT PPMs - 11/5 - The monthly October Portable People Meter radio ratings for the DC market. Full-week, full-day, age 12+: 1) WTOP [1st in both drivetimes], 2) WHUR [Harvey 2nd], 3) WAMU, 4) WIHT [Kane 4th], 5) WASH [L&L 9th], 6) WMMJ [Joyner 6th], 7) WBIG, 8) WETA-FM, 9) WKYS [Parr 8th], 10) WRQX [Diamond 10th], 11) WWDC [Elliot 12th] and WMZQ, 13) WPGC [Simpson 14th], 14) WPRS, 15) WMAL [G&A 15th, Rush 13th, Hannity 14th] and WGTS, 17) WTGB and WTEM [Korny 16th], 19) WJFK [Junks 11th, Wise 15th, Arrington 18th], 20) WLZL, 21) WVRX, 22) WAVA, 23) WPFW. More: 24) WDCN, 29) WACA, 32) WILC and WKDV, 35) WTNT [TWT 28th], 39) WYCB and WFED, 46) WXTR and WMET and WWGB and WTOP's webstream. In the battle of the DC sports talkers, in the key male age 25-54 demo, full-week, WJFK placed 4th and WTEM ranked 7th....Wiz See Ratings Hike - 11/5 - Curious what a healthy Gilbert Arenas does for local interest in the Wizards? Through the first four games, the team's Comcast SportsNet broadcasts are seeing a 93 percent increase over the ratings for the same four games a year ago. Dan Steinberg has more at washingtonpost.com..... No Travel For Discovery - 11/5 - Silver Spring-based Discovery Communications loses its battle to buy back the Travel Channel from Cox. Instead, it goes to Scripps, which owns Baltimore's Channel 2/WMAR, plus HGTV and Food Network. More from B&C..... Slump For 2's Owner - 11/5 - Speaking of the Channel 2/WMAR owner, Scripps reports that TV station revenue slid 22 percent from the same quarter last year. More from B&C..... More: O'Meara Planning Return - 11/5 -  We're hearing more rumblings about former WJFKer Mike O'Meara's (right) return to the media world. A source tells us that Robb Spewak and Buzz Burbank are involved, in addition to "another individual who is familiar" to the audience of the old afternoon show, which got axed in June when WJFK flipped to sports talk. And "no, it's not Don," we hear. Still no word if it's a new local radio show or something via the internet. Look for a "formal announcement" some time after Thanksgiving. We've told you that O'Meara's contract with WJFK owner CBS expires in December. More soon.....Cox Suffers Major Outage In Fairfax - 11/5 - DCRTV hears that Cox cable of Fairfax County suffered a massive outage on Wednesday evening, during the final game of the World Series, affecting many of its addressable converter boxes. A source tells us that "a major power disruption occurred just past 5 PM, lots of equipment affected. They are now bringing things back online slowly, major channels should be back in a few hours, will take longer to restore complete service." A Cox spokesperson tells DCRTV that the system was back up and running by about 10:30 PM. With more than 200,000 subscribers, Cox Fairfax is the largest single cable system in the DC-Baltimore area.....Riggo Blasts Snyder On Showtime - 11/5 - Redskins great John Riggins "really blasted" Redskins owner Dan Snyder last night on Showtime's "Inside The NFL." Jim Williams has more at washingtonexaminer.com..... More On Birth Of Balto's Z104.3 - 11/5 - Tom Taylor at Radio-Info.com has more on the flip of 104.3 yesterday: "Baltimore's new Z104.3 is 'the mainstream CHR that Baltimore has been without for a decade.' That's the judgment of Radio-Info.com's Sean Ross, who says yesterday's switch from modern rock 'Channel 104.3' WCHH closes the hole for a format that 'many had expected Clear Channel to put on the frequency of heritage CHR B104 several format changes ago.' Indeed, the very serviceable Class B signal has hosted a veritable parade in the last 15 years - 'Variety 104.3.' 'Soft 104.3,' 'Colt' classic rock/classic hits/classic rock again, smooth jazz as WSMJ, and then modern rock. The first tip-off came yesterday when DCRTV reported that the simulcast of DC101, Washington's Elliot Segal morning show was yanked. Soon the whole format was vaporized. It never made headway against '98 Rock' WIYY. Now Clear Channel tries a straight-ahead CHR that will make the folks at CBS-owned hot AC 'Mix 106.5' WWMX call a few extra meetings. Radio One's urban '92Q' WERQ may look in the mirror a little, too. But those stations are already near the top in the first-ever Arbitron PPMs for Baltimore. The September rankings put 'Mix 106.5' in fourth place and WERQ in fifth. '98 Rock' was seventh, while WCHH was way down in 13th"..... New Gig For Beth Ann - 11/5 - Radio-Info.com tells us that Beth Ann McBride, who produced the former Don and Mike show and the former Mike O'Meara show on WJFK, is the new director of affiliate relations for the Tom Kent Radio Network. Kent says he's known Beth Ann for years and she's "a tireless worker who will pour her heart and soul" into the job..... WaPo Covers Yankee's Nasal Discharge - 11/5 - NY Yankee Alex Rodriguez launched a televisied "snot rocket" during game three of the World Series. And the DC Post thought it was worth a front page Style section article..... Drobnyk Leaves Trib DC - 11/5 - Josh Drobnyk, the Washington correspondent for Tribune's "The Morning Call," is heading to Capitol Hill to join the staff of Pennsylvania Congressman Chris Carney..... AOL's Income Down - 11/5 - Dulles-based AOL's operating income fell 50 percent in the third quarter, as the Time Warner unit continued to face declines in the number of subscribers and revenue. More in the DC Post..... Sinclair's Income Up - 11/5 - Baltimore's Sinclair Broadcast Group reports a 47 percent jump in third-quarter net income as revenue fell and said it had successfully restructured its balance sheet. The Baltimore Sun has more. Sinclair owns Fox45 and operates CW54..... TWT's O'Halloran Joins WTEM - 11/4 - Updated. DCRTV hears that Ryan O'Halloran of the Washington Times joins the 4 PM "Sports Reporters" on WTEM, ESPN 980, today. He'll be an occasional guest on the show. As we've already reported, fellow TWTer Thom Loverro is heard each weekday during the noon "Sports Fix" on WTEM..... Veteran DC Reporter John Mashek Dies - 11/4 - John Mashek, a political reporter who covered every presidential election from 1960 to 1996, died of a heart attack Tuesday while watching his granddaughter's high school soccer game in Maryland. He was 77. Mashek started out as a local reporter with the Dallas Morning News in 1955 and five years later joined its Washington bureau to cover the Texas congressional delegation. He left to become Houston correspondent for US News And World Report, returning to Washington in 1974 for the magazine to cover Congress and then the White House. After serving as US News's national political editor, he worked briefly for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and then became a member of the Boston Globe's Washington bureau, where he worked for seven years before retiring in 1995. The Politico has more..... Sirius XM Gets In Holiday Spirit - 11/4 - Sirius XM announces its holiday music line-up. Holly (Sirius-3, XM-23) will feature contemporary holiday tunes from 11/16 to 12/31. Holiday Traditions (Sirius-4, XM-4) will feature traditional holiday recordings from the 1940s through the 1960s from 11/16 to 12/25. Holiday Pops (Sirius-79, XM-77) will feature classical Christmas carols from 12/7 to 12/25. Country Christmas (Sirius-62, XM-10) will run from 12/7 to 12/25. And Radio Hanukkah (Sirius-76 and XM-28) will run from 12/7 to 12/19..... CC's 104.3 Drops Alt Rock, After Stunting Stops At CHR - 11/4 -  At about 10 AM today, Clear Channel dumped the alternative rock format from its WCHH, 104.3 FM. It stunted for a while with soul oldies as "Baltimore's Best R&B" - "Charm 104.3." But then at noon-ish, the Baltimore station switched to contemporary hit radio as "Z104.3" (left). And it looks like the contemporary hits format will be permanent. There's now a fleshed-out "Z104.3" website with an internet stream at z1043.com, "Baltimore's New Hit Music Channel." No word of an air staff yet. It'll be running commercial free for the first 10,000 songs. Playlist includes Justin Timberlake, Kanye West, Rihanna, Black Eyed Peas, Jay Z, Beyonce, and Lady Gaga. In a real sense, the new format is a flashback to the old "top 40" B104 days in the 1980s on the same frequency. Baltimore has lacked a full-fledged CHR outlet, with CBS's hot adult contemporary Mix 106.5, WWMX, being the closest thing to the format. In 2008, Charm City's 104.3 flipped to alternative rock as "Channel 104.3" after many years with smooth jazz as WSMJ.....CC Yanks Elliot From Balto's 104.3 - 11/4 -  DC101 morning man Elliot Segal (right) announced today that he will no longer be heard on Baltimore's Channel 104.3, WCHH. That's according to his fan site eitmfans.blogspot.com. Clear Channel, which also owns DC101, put Elliot on its 104.3 when it flipped it from smooth jazz to alt rock last year. Elliot continues to be heard on Clear Channel alt rocker WRXL in Richmond. Elliot can still be heard in Baltimore via DC alt rocker DC101, which covers the Baltimore area.....WaPo Hosts Wine Tastings - 11/4 - Having taken a beating for trying to set up evening salons where reporters could mingle with corporate types who'd pay big money for the privilege, the Washington Post now is attempting a more benign way to raise revenue: wine tastings - with reporters as guests. This week's event is scheduled for Thursday from 6 PM to 8:30 PM at the Post's downtown DC headquarters. Harry Jaffe has more at washingtonian.com..... Newsweek Jumps Into Bed With Oil Lobby - 11/4 - Washington Post-owned Newsweek is teaming up with an oil industry lobbying group to host a climate-change forum for lawmakers with magazine columnist Howard Fineman. TPM has more..... Jean Cryor Dies - 11/4 - Jean Cryor, a member of the Montgomery County Planning Board, and former three-term state legislator and newspaper publisher, died Tuesday night. Her death, at age 70, was from cancer. Before entering politics, she was a former editor and publisher of Montgomery County's Gazette newspaper..... Will CSN Merge With NBC4's Sports? - 11/4 - With all the talk that area cable TV giant Comcast is buying NBC, with a deal to be announced any day now, there come rumblings that Comcast could consolidate its regional sports networks with the sports departments of local NBC-owned TV stations. And Jim Williams wonders how this could impact Bethesda-based Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic and NBC-owned Channel 4/WRC. This is "very much in the talking stages at this point, but (we're in) in a marketplace where TV stations are cutting back on sports or doing away with sports departments." More at washingtonexaminer.com..... Kate Discovers Ratings Slump - 11/4 - "After all the hype by TLC and the money spent by the Maryland-based cable company (Discovery) to try and buy some credibility from NBC News, Monday night's interview show with Kate Gosselin did not make much of a dent in the ratings loss that 'Jon And Kate Plus 8' has suffered in recent months," so reports David Zurawik at baltimoresun.com..... Mucho Typos For Boswell - 11/3 - Readers of Tom Boswell's coverage of Sunday's World Series game in Monday morning's print Washington Post "encountered a mess. By my count, the column contained at least 20 typos, grammatical errors, or misspellings," says Post ombudsman Andy Alexander at washingtonpost.com..... Discovery Bucks Recession - 11/3 -  Silver Spring-based Discovery Communications continued to buck the advertising trend in the third quarter, reporting domestic advertising sales increases of 5 percent, fueling another strong period of growth. Multichannel News has more.....Support DCRTV's Advertisers - 11/3 - DCRTV welcomes back Maura Sullivan and her "Christmas Eve In Washington" holiday classic for their second yearly seasonal ad here on DCRTV. And we'd like to thank CSN Washington for renewing their top banner ad for another two months. Please support DCRTV's advertisers because they support DCRTV..... POC's DeYoung To Country DJ Hall Of Fame - 11/3 - Baltimore country WPOC (93.1 FM) morning host Laurie DeYoung is among those being honored by Country Radio Broadcasters with its 2010 additions the Country Music DJ Hall Of Fame. DeYoung will be inducted during a dinner at the Nashville Convention Center on February 23..... O'Meara Show To Return? - 11/2 - DCRTV hears rumblings that "big things (are) coming" regarding former WJFKers Mike O'Meara, Robb Spewak, and Buzz Burbank. O'Meara's contract with WJFK owner CBS Radio expires in December. Both Spewak and Burbank are already free agents. WJFK axed the Mike O'Meara afternoon show in June, when it flipped WJFK from "guy talk" to sports talk. More soon..... Older news goes to DCRTV's News Archive. Copyright Dave Hughes/DCRTV.....  |
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