Current Mailbag - Mailbag Archive Index - DCRTV Front Page - Support DCRTV DCRTV Mailbag - June 26 to July 6, 2008 Latest messages listed first..... \/ July 6 Messages \/ Very sad to hear of the passing on Thursday of Ron McDonald, former WDBJ-TV (Roanoke) anchor and longtime journalism professor at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, VA. Ron was a pro’s pro, an outstanding teacher and mentor to many of us in the news business, particularly on the broadcast side. Ron retired from teaching in 2001, and had been in declining health for the past few years. He was 75. Here’s the story WDBJ did on Thursday: www.wdbj7.com. -Brian (7/6/08) Wasn't Solomon Burke the King of Rockn'Soul? (7/6/08) 6 weeks before she was kidnapped, now freed Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt appeared on the Jim Bohannon Show. That interview will air Monday night, 7/7. 10:06-11PM, over 3WT Radio, 107.7-FM and 1500-AM. (7/6/08) Is it just me or is DC based Discovery channel showing ''Deadliest Catch'' over and over and over, morning, noon and night? Don't they have any other shows? ENOUGH already. I LIKE Discovery. I USED to like that show. But now....Make it stop! Paul (7/6/08) Dave's response: Likewise, the Sci-Fi Channel ran the same annoying promos and ads over and over and over during its 4th Of July weekend "Twilight Zone" marathon. So, I just used my Comcast DVR to record only the episodes that interested me and when I watched 'em I fast-forwarded through all the crapola..... Well, looky looky here! A quick glance of the 630 WMAL weekly schedule today (yes, I've been sorta lonely on Sunday afternoons ever since "The Jerry Klein Show" went off the air) indicates that "The John Batchelor Show" is returning to their airwaves on Sundays, from 7-9 p.m., followed by "Danger Zone" and "Bill Cunnigham". Thank the Lord! Yiiiippppeee!!! -Silvie- www.630wmal.com (7/6/08) Dave's response: "Danger Zone"? Isn't that the unofficial name of the Citadel on-air personality lounge there on Jenifer Street? I hear they replaced Jack Diamond's pic with one of Don Imus..... ("live broadcoast of the Hideout taken off the air with half an hour to go on Sat. Jul. 5? ---- Caller X... Dave's response: The ISDN line from Tampa died? The show was taped which might have something to do with it.) -- Dave's response is my goto answer too. The poster who thinks the whole show was taped apparently wasn't listening with both ears. It was most definitimacvaltarooneymoly live. Dubs moving out, the continuing journey of the manboy McLovin...know your role, Jabroni. -- Caller X (7/6/08) Have you seen what you get these days when you Google "WOHN radio"? www.radio1.ca (7/6/08) Hmmmm... So, Don Geronimo's new show is using the "Rockin' Soul" name? I've seen that badge used before! www.youtube.com... I'll have to ask the "Real BR" what he thinks of it. And if memories of Soupy Sales float her boat, Chickaboomer (and other Deee-troit Kids) might want to click back the years to Motor City and DetroitKidshow.com... Anyone who grew up around our Nation's Capital need travel no farther than KaptainKidshow.com... (7/6/08) "Goodbye Scott Garceau, Goodbye WMAR-TV. The last person worth watching on channel 2 is being pushed out the door by his own station. I watched DC/Baltimore's best sportscaster announce his departure at the end of his 11p Friday sportscast. Sure, WMAR will save his big salary but at what price? WMAR will lose much more in revenue because viewers no longer have any reason to watch its pathetic daily newscasts." there ahs been no reason to watch for many many months.....not even the prime does well as a network affiliate, one of the worst performing in the country. Scott was wise to leave on the last lifeboat out of there. They have hit the iceberg, and are sinking fast. Just sell the land, bulldoze the place and put up a Martins Towson already. Congratulations to Scott for escaping. Only good things in his future. -- Media Maven (7/6/08) Thursday September 4th, Paul Harvey turns 90. (7/6/08) (Why was the live broadcoast of the Hideout taken off the air with half an hour to go on Sat. Jul. 5? Inquiring minds want to know. ---- Caller X... Dave's response: The ISDN line from Tampa died?) The show was taped which might have something to do with it. (7/6/08) Dave's response: OK, the tape machine broke..... I’m sorry – did somebody below suggest that Charlie Slowes could do sportstalk? He’s a perfectly OK game announcer. He DID some sportstalk for 570/980 back in the day on the weekends, and he was (as Casey K. would say) PONDEROUS . . . PONDEROUS. I think there’s a spot for a sportsyak station outside the tiny iron fist of Danny S., but you’re not going to get there with shows that talk about D.C. United and Navy football. I realize that EVERYONE thinks that THEIR favorite sport needs regular love on the radio, but, let’s face it, every D.C. United fan goes to the games. What’s next – this week with the WNBA? Oy. Sincerely, TMU (7/6/08) Rush - It's really funny how much the left hates him. He's such a sad lonely man with his cat in a bunker. How confused can you people get. (7/6/08) Dave's response: Rosebud..... Yeah bummer that Hideout cut out in the middle of a bit! Even though the sound was sh9t on Hideout last night still found it more entertaining than a number of other regular WJFK weekday shows. DCRTV Dave, shirley your not suggesting that WJFK drop The Hideout on weakends? And what about JoeRadio, he's so ummmmmmm..... And Geronimo is allowing the unwashed to watch him in action? He's gotten past the don't look at me phase he was in at 'JFK. Hey Tom Gavin let's go on a road trip to O.C.! I thought I saw some replica of the Batmobile with some dude in a Batmun suit tooling around Great Falls Saturday afternoon. The studio doing promo work for the forthcoming film? It couldn't have been Donnie G. could it? Nah, he's in O.C. getting ready for the Big Boss Show. But dern the station stream doesn't seem to handle us lowlife dial uppers. Steve Alan filling in for the vacationing Michael Scott Shannon, ugh. Come on, should have asked Harv Moore! Saw the Anderson Cooper show other night, not a regular viewer, they had the schtick of some bogus professorial type analyzing body movements of the presidential candidates. Isn't that a Bill O'Rightly bit? (7/6/08) Ref: “Great Scott owner of 10 stations on the Delmarva Peninsula has moved WKHI 107.5 to 107.7, and downgraded from B-1 to Class A. The new tower location is south of rt. 50 at Pittsville, east of salisbury. the move is causing interference to two lp’s in Millsboro and Ocean City” Whoops forgot I had this station, Or is it a way to try and kill The Hitman “J.J. McKay in the Morning” on LP 107.9? Just asking !! (7/6/08) Willard Scott was also the first Ronald McDonald...once a clown, always a clown. (7/6/08) /\ July 6 Messages /\ \/ July 5 Messages \/ Why was the live broadcoast of the Hideout taken off the air with half an hour to go on Sat. Jul. 5? Inquiring minds want to know. ---- Caller X (7/5/08) Dave's response: The ISDN line from Tampa died? Great Scott owner of 10 stations on the Delmarva Peninsula has moved WKHI 107.5 to 107.7, and downgraded from B-1 to Class A. The new tower location is south of rt. 50 at Pittsville, east of salisbury. the move is causing interference to two lp’s in Millsboro and Ocean city, and will either result in them moving to other frequencies or shutting down. LP’s have not proterction from full power changes. This whole move is part of a bigger plan by Cox radio in virginia and covers several stations. By the way in great scotts application they neglected to list their 10th station, wkhw 106.5 in pocomoke city, which is currently dark. with all the lawyers involved to make something like this happen, how do you forget one of your radio stations. since they don’t claim it, i’ll take it, if they don’t want it, or maybe they can give it to the owners of the to lp’s they are killing. (7/5/08) Was on the FOX website and came across a post where the webmaster responded to a blogger's question as to the whereabouts of Gurvir. He said that she's on maternity leave, which many assumed. But no word as to whether she's given birth, on bed rest or what. Guess you can't expect ALL of the details, huh? (7/5/08) Dave's response: My sources say she is on bed rest..... "Could you imagine if a WINS relay ended up getting half way decent numbers, what would happen? A very salty sweating in Salt Lake I imagine." Never happen. Why would anyone in DC - even if they were from NYC - want to listen to traffic, weather and local news from New York? That would be like Bonneville putting TOP on their signal in LA (which some knuckleheads in this mailbag actually thought they would do). Makes no sense. Radio's strength is in its ability to be relevant to a local audience. (7/5/08) I’m not going to weigh in on whether people tend to associate Orioles Magic with WFBR. But speaking for myself, I always think of WFBR as one of the major factors that made those years great. And deviating from radio, I’ll say that another phenomenon combined with WFBR to create that magic. Those years were the beginning of free agency, when Reggie Jackson spurned Baltimore to play with the Yankees, when people like Bobby Grich went where the money was, when the Yankees started spending millions on Jackson, Catfish Hunter and others, when everyone predicted gloom and doom for teams not in the really big-money media markets. Those were the years when the Orioles and their blue-collar roster (e.g. Doug DeCinces replacing Brooks) continued to win and in 1979 went to the World Series again. Baltimore rallied around this amazing team that won in spite of it all, and WFBR was the soundtrack of those years. Roddy Freeman (7/5/08) Dave: I saw the thing on Soupy Sales looking a bit long in the tooth. Soupy's MySpace head shot is much better. He's already logged on to his MySpace today - July 5th. www.myspace.com/officialsoupysalespage... I'd run into him from time to time at WXYZ's cafeteria (where his show started in 1953 - I was on the AM radio side). This was in the early 70s after Soupy went to LA. Your mailbagger made me nostalgic for the good old days in Detroit where Soupy show studio tours were etched in kids' memories. Marty Davis, Chickaboomer (7/5/08) Regarding a previous post. Does anyone think that Paul Harvey will be back on the air? He is somewhere in his 80’s (though, God bless him, he got a contract renewal for something like $10 mill per year for 10 years), I understand has health problems and his wife of, what 60 years recently died. The guy who has been filling in for Paul over the past few months is dreadful!! Paul Harvey, Jr. could do a better job, though he does try to copy his dad’s speech patterns. Paul Harvey has had a very good, long and lucrative run. But, sad to say, today’s radio business doesn’t accommodate 15 minute noontime newscasts well, not even on all news stations. I’m a Harvey fan but I think that it’s time for him to say “good day!” for the last time. (7/5/08) Dave's Rant: "and ditching Imus or moving him to WMAL evenings" Um, No. WMAL evenings are going just fine & dandy with Austin Hill on the air. He's a Gen-X'er who brings politics, pop culture, wit and the news of the day to a format that is quite enjoyable. I like him a lot. -Silvie- (7/5/08) A great rant Dave! But if your idea of flipping 3WT to sports talk became a reality why would they want to hire the same people from 980 who produced such mediocre content year after year? Look at the reaction former WTEM hosts Tony Kornheiser and Marc Sterne get on 3WT. Mixed at best. The only person I would poach from that line-up is the DC baseball expert Phil Wood. The best bet is to blow the format up and start with as much live & local content as possible. Embrace EVERY pro team in town. 3WT already has the rights for the Nationals, Capitals, DC United, GW Basketball and Navy Football. You can't tell me that there isn't enough to talk about with those teams. Dave Johnson and other WTOP talent at 3400 Idaho Ave are hooked into most of the other pro/college teams of interest & have better credentials to talk about them than the hosts who sit on their backsides in a studio all day. Jonathan Warner already does a great job with the Capitals. I understand Dave Jageler did sportstalk in Providence, RI and he and Charlie Slowes are certainly prepared at a moments notice to talk sports, as witnessed by all the recent rain delays they've filled. Image the station to appeal to both men & women. Have a 7 day lockout of regular callers to keep the input fresh. Grab the legendary Johnny Holliday from MASN for morning drive and you've got the makings of one helluva new era full service sports station. Not a sermon, just a thought. Thanks for the rant.. (7/5/08) WKHI.....107.5 JOE-FM is not 107.7 FM (7/5/08) RE: [ " But those of you who say WFBR means something now are wrong. Those days are over. " ]..... And when you watch the NEW Orioles Magic video at Camden Yards, you actually think in your narrowminded little mind, yeah, I heard that on WBAL ?????? NOPE, WFBR AM 1300, that's where Orioles Magic was born, that's the years the Orioles first had decent attendance at Old Memorial, and that's the marketing campaign for the last time the O's won a World Series. So, sorry, when you think Orioles World Series, and Cal Ripken's start of the streak, and Orioles Magic, you naturally think WFBR AM 1300 where it all started! Maybe later snippets of the Orioles Magic song were on WBAL, but I seriously doubt that's what most people remember. Baseball is a game of history. That's why it's not popular with today's kids, they're stupid about history and don't give a rats ass about much of anything but their own little world, just like the previous post about this topic. Thanks, Dave for taking on the cause to bring back WFBR and Orioles Magic to Baltimore! Those WJFK calls just MUST GO BACK TO DC just like those WHFS calls MUST be on an alternative rock station. Some things just should be, these are 2 of them. 'Nuff said. I also agree with much of the rest of your rant as well. Could you imagine if a WINS relay ended up getting half way decent numbers, what would happen? A very salty sweating in Salt Lake I imagine. :-) (7/5/08) Dave, I agree with a number of things in your rant. But I do want to point out that Imus is not there because 105.9 thinks he’s the best morning show. He’s there because being able to sell the Imus syndication to national advertisers would be difficult without a DC affiliate. 105.9 is in effect taking one for the company. Roddy Freeman (7/5/08) Dave's response: Well, we know that Clear Channel, which used to own talker WTNT, wanted Imus for 570's mornings. Perhaps Imus would be a better "fit" for Citadel on its talker WMAL, perhaps the late morning slot..... What the hell is all this whining year after year after year over the WFBR call letters? I'm nearly 30-years-old and have zero recollection of those call letters. They mean less to me than than any of the tripe written by the Post's Style columnists. While you're at it, lets have Ford bring back the Model A, why not? It's the same thing. As far as Baltimore sports is concerned, WBAL was always my go-to station. That's where I listened to the Orioles every night, and where I got inspired to get into radio as well. Even if WHFS and WJFK have no business being on 105.7/1300, and that's definitely the case, I could give two shits about WFBR. ANY other call letters will be fine, whether it's WFBR or anything else. But those of you who say WFBR means something now are wrong. Those days are over. (7/5/08) Laura Ingraham on WMAL would be a good idea, but would they have to cut the last 15 minutes of her program in order to broadcast Paul Harvey? (7/5/08) Dave's response: Do they really need to carry Paul Harvey at 11:45 AM? Or, maybe they could run Paul at double speed and reduce the show to only 7.5 minutes..... I was laughing and in tears watching that video for "DCRTV Dave Hughes for President" video! Whoever produced that one and, whoever discovered it, is a true genius. (7/5/08) Dave's response: Brilliant, huh..... As long as Willard Scott is alive, we DC-area baby boomers still have OUR Bozo! (7/5/08) /\ July 5 Messages /\ \/ July 4 Messages \/ Just heard on KNX that former U.S. Senator Jesse Helms has died. Before going into politics, Jesse was Anchorman and Editorial Director of WRAL-TV in Raleigh, back when it was a killer AM-FM-TV combo... (7/4/08) RE: "Why don't you listen to WTOP at work?" I counter with "Why should I?" I have more sources of info available at work than they can provide. Sports? Why should I wait 'til :15 or :45? Etc. Plus, they spend so much time on wasteful crap - "soda that tastes like turkey and gravy" or every cutesy-pie monkey item. I can "pull" all the specialized content to any platform I want, whenever I want. I'm my own program director. Because of its inflexibility, I suspect their program wheel -- around since LBJ was president - is becoming more a curse than a blessing. For me, and I concede everyone is different, I need specialized content, I need it faster and, not to hurt anyone's feelings, I need it conveyed more intelligently than they are often able to. (7/4/08) Speaking of Dateline NBC's egregious child predator shows...... Locally, an interesting thing happened on AOL last weekend in Baltimore. An apparent underage teenager had been in a gay male chat room on AOL, the Baltimore M4M room, and was soliciting gay adults for sex. I was one of those people solicited and of course said no (obviously the teen lies at first about age to gain the chat, but I figured it out like many others did). What the teen was doing after being turned down for sex was far more scary though, threatening police and Dateline NBC on adults to gain leverage over them to still gain sex AFTER being turned down! Unbelievable, but true. I reported everything to America Online (including the IM) as did many others and what did AOL do? They shut down a legitimate gay chat room completely for 24 hours yet the teen still has an active AOL account and is online daily hunting for more unsuspecting adults as I type this. The teen even contacted me afterwards and said, "Haha, u got me banned from 1 chat room, big deal, I just use a new scr name!" When is Dateline NBC going to do a story on ADULT PREDATOR TEENS !?!?!?!? The kids clearly know more than their parents and even the child predators when it comes to computers! And I'm NOT defending child predators or their actions in any way, its a despicable thing, but clearly the kids truly are running the online candy store and this is a fact not often reported if ever at all by Dateline NBC or really ANY news organization. :-( (7/4/08) Red Zebra Acquires Three Lynchburg-Roanoke Radio Stations - 105.9 WLNI is a great local news-talk station in the Lynchburg-Roanoke area, with an intelligent, local, dual-hosted (male-female) political-community 3-hour morning show called Morning Line. The others are more generic, having been through various format and I think frequency changes over the years (I believe 101.5/97.9 was once 101.7, WJJS, the great soul station in Lynchburg in the 1960s/1970s). www.newsadvance.com... Mike A., Alexandria, VA (Lynchburg native) (7/4/08) "Nothing says ''Happy Birthday, America!'' more than MSNBC's" may I suggest that if you want to celebrate America and all that's good about it, you not waste your time watching MSNBC. (7/4/08) You might not detect it from this June 2008 photo, but Soupy Sales is somewhat frail at age 82 and uses a wheelchair since seriously breaking his leg in the mid -'90s. However, he (and Dana Velery) are the only survivors in this clip... video.aol.com (Non baby-boomers needn't bother clicking.) (7/4/08) "Survey: Does anyone on here listen to broadcast radio news in their OFFICE ? Tells us why not." Of course not, I get information I need through news websites. I can select the news I want, and don't have to listen to the blather that usually accompanies the flow of "information" on TOP. The only time I turn that station on anymore is to get a quick snapshot of traffic conditions - and I'm doing that in my car, not at the office. (7/4/08) W3XK started out in Whetaon not Dupont Circle and while it might have been the first with "radio movies" W2XB was on the air on a regular basis starting in January of 1928 almost six months before W3XK. So you are little late with that 80 candle cake. (7/4/08) Verizon has been notifying their FIOS customers in MD and NOVA about the switch to all-digital service mid July. This means that all TVs that are connected to FIOS will need a set top box to receive any channels. Verizon is giving away 3 free (no initial cost and no monthly fee) digital adapters per household. These digital adapters are a dumbed-down version of their normal set top box. No channel guide or Video on Demand but they do get all channels including premium channels minus of course the HD channels. The switch to all-digital service will allow the roll out of the new channel line-up in mid September which adds about another 20 HD channels but no word yet on MASN-HD. Brian (7/4/08) Re: Digital TV and bitrates: ALL digital TV data is compressed using lossy compression, even if there is only one HD channel being transmitted. The compression is designed for an adjustable tradeoff between quality and bitrate. As subchannels are added, the available data channel is divided up. The compression scheme looks at changes in the picture from moment to moment and only encodes those, and the allocation can be dynamic so the data can be allocated to the program where it is needed most. So yes, subchannels can rob enough bits to affect the quality of the HD channel... There is no significant difference in data demands between a 1280x720p signal (1280x720 picture sent 60 times per second) and a 1920 x 1080i signal (1920x540 picture sent 60 times per second). But note that both of those HD formats send a 60 frame (or field) per second signal. This is to reduce flicker, like the higher shutter rates in movie theaters. 30fps would not likely be acceptable. (Most of the world gets by on 50 fps TV, but some Yanks say it looks flickery to them.) ~~CA in BC (7/4/08) Dave, I figured out the true meaning of 3WT. 3 Washingtonians Tuned in. (7/4/08) And the poster said "I have a question: what's 3WT? Never heard of it." That's where radio news used to live before WTOP got out of it. Survey: Does anyone on here listen to broadcast radio news in their OFFICE ? Tells us why not. (7/4/08) Nothing says ''Happy Birthday, America!'' more than MSNBC's 17 solid hours of watching pedophiles getting caught. What happened to this country where that crap passes for infotainment? Paul (7/4/08) Sad to see Bozo's gone. No, really. This pretty much leaves us tail-end Boomers with Soupy Sales, and his meter's ticking too. When he goes, I hope he has a public wake in New York, because I'll be there. (7/4/08) Dave's response: As a kid in the Philly suburb of Willingboro NJ in the 1960s, my dad put an antenna on the roof and I was able to watch Soupy via Channel 5 from NYC. Ah, the memories..... Hi there. For the fourteenth consecutive July 4th I will spend the morning and afternoon hours channel surfing to find the most patriotic war movies that I can find. As usual I will tape the best ones and then in the hours before darkness go on patrol in my neighborhood to look for those with sparklers and then call my local police. At the hour of darkness I will descend into my basement with my thirty pack of Milwaukes Best and finish it off watching the fireworks from the Mall on my 13" black and white. (7/4/08) Dave's response: Try the "Twilight Zone" marathon on Sci-Fi. You can dangle the cable down the basement stairs from an outlet on the first floor..... Red, white and blue, gaze in your looking glass/You're not a child anymore/Red, white and blue, the future is all but past/So, lift up your heart, and make a new start, and lead us away from here.-Suite: Madame Blue (Styx) Happy 4th to all!-7 East Lexington Rat (7/4/08) As long as we are discussing technical trivia regarding digital TV, let us answer the following questions. If a TV station is sending out a 1080i program, that consumes some portion of the maximum bitrate that the channel can handle. Does it consume all of the maximum bitrate or is it possible to transmit alternative program content on the same channel at lower bitrates to use up the remaining bitrate? Do the alternative programs, if any, degrade the main channel? The aspect ratio of the soon-to-be-defunct NTSC television standard is 4 by 3. Four units across. Three units up and down. ATSC screens are 16 by 9. I would expect 30 fps to be sufficient to give a presentable picture. If I recall correctly, ATSC standard television permits transmission at 24 fps to match the frame rate of motion picture film. In theaters, projectors show each frame twice to lessen flicker. I put up an antenna and now receive the best signals ever from stations in Baltimore. Sure beats the snowy channel 2 seen here some 50 years ago. (7/4/08) Speaking of the Frogman dipping into the archives will he be playing the "paint your bald spot' clip or "what characteristics to look for in a young M.D." clip? Watch out for them hurricanes! He's done a good job of getting that stuff wiped from the Internet. Speaking of Count Gore, sure miss The Spooky Movie on Falls Church TV! Here it is 4th of July weekend and no horror stuff last night. And boy, Czaban was in foul mood on Sports Reporters on Thursday. lil' danny's people already getting too him? Czaban has been trying to track down old Ken Beatrice for a while now, anybody know where he's at these days? Moved back to New England? (7/4/08) Used to LOVE Lancelot Link..Wonder if there are any DVD's out there for that show. (7/4/08) QUOTE: "the resolution not the screen size determines whether it is HD"..... True and what a lot of people don't know is that almost ALL of Comcast's DIGITAL channels are really just 480i SD, as in standard definition and resolution, basically a digital copy of the analog signal shrunk down to save transmission space. I imagine a lot of people think digital cable means HDTV..... Oooops, NOPE! (7/4/08) Happy Fourth of July to the undisputed premiere source for DC Radio and TV-biz news. In fact, Dave Hughes seems to have tapped an enormous ground swell of fans if this news report is correct: www.news3online.com (7/4/08) Dave's response: Whoa! Now that is freaky. But, If I'm elected I will make Chris Rock head of the FCC, and get the FCC out of program content and "indecency" regulation. Let the courts handle that. I'll also change ownership rules to go back to the days when a single company or entity can own only one AM/FM combo per market, and only 12 AM/FM combos across the country. And only 12 TVers across the country, with no duopolies. No radio/TV/newspaper cross-ownership in the same market. Sports team owners cannot own media properties (including regional cable networks) in markets where they have teams. No cross-ownership of broadcast and cable TV properties. No one company can own more than five cable networks. No cable TV system can serve more than 25 percent of any market. And no company can own more than 25 percent of the cable systems nationwide. And I'll provide big tax breaks for true local ownership of media properties (no shell companies). Plus, I'll create several "public broadcast bands" where anyone can operate an unlicensed, unregulated radio station that's 50-watts or less. I'll also forbid network ownership of television stations, and require all broadcast TV and radio stations to have at least 25 percent of their broadcast day locally-produced (and that doesn't include overnight or early early morning hours). So, vote for me for radical changes in the broadcast biz. Thank you..... With all this talk about turmoil at 3WT andc people getting canned and the whole operation going to hell, I have a question: what's 3WT? Never heard of it. (7/4/08) Dave's response: You and most other DC area radio listeners, judging by the latest Arbitrons..... /\ July 4 Messages /\ \/ July 3 Messages \/ Of course a firing is a "personnel issue." Isn't that what this site is for, to learn about what's going on in the business without information being filtered by management? Are you afraid that your inside sources on Idaho Avenue (Jim Farley) will dry up if you go so far as to share the name without the specifics? If someone was let go from 3WT and you know about it I think you have an obligation to tell us who it was. The particulars surrounding the firing are none of our business. Brad (7/3/08) Dave's response: If it was an on-air personality or someone in station management, I would have no problem telling you who it was. But, since it was a lower-level behind-the-scenes person, I won't. Don't like that? Start your own local radio site and then you can make the decisions about what to report..... Anyone remember watching Bozo cartoons on Channel 7 early weekday mornings in the late 60's and early 70's? I think it rotated mornings with the Banana Splits and Lancelot Link Secret Chimp. I was kinda broken hearted to see that Larry ''Bozo'' Harmon has passed away. Thanks for the chuckles, Bozo. And speaking of Bozo's, Taylor Hicks is part of the ''entertainment'' on the Mall tomorrow night. Taylor Hicks??? [Groan] Paul (7/3/08) RE: [ " I also don't think that DC is a "two sports talker" town. " ]....... I disagree. What DC sports talk radio needs is a Nasty Nestor type station like Baltimore's SportsTalk 1570, with rabid Redskins fans showing up at games in full Redskins garb and ANTI-SNYDER T-shirts and signs! Say what you will about Nasty Nestor, but his station and its format has outlasted quite a few of the big conglomerates' brilliant programming "concepts" over the years. That's what DC needs, a critical sports talk station, almost like pirate radio like sports talk. Seriously, Baltimore has TWO FULL-TIME sports talk stations + 2 part-time sports s tations that are at least succeeding and DC can't support more than ONE??? C'mon, DC is almost 2X the size of Baltimore now. When I look at Snyder buying up all these stations, my first thought is, WOW, what a golden opportunity this is for a station like WMET or maybe even WAGE if they get approval for 50,000 watts. I'll give Snyder credit though, he's smart about one thing. He's bought up practically all the AM station competition for sports talk that has a decent DC signal day/night and obviously no competing sports talk station could make it on FM. But I still think this is a golden opportunity for WMET or the new WAGE or maybe even Birach, but its hard for me to imagine any of those companies pulling this off successfully without a Nasty Nestor type character. Geez, DC sports talk is going to be sooooooooo booooooring soooooooon. :-( (7/3/08) Dave's response: Or maybe Bonneville's 3WT should go all-sports. It can't do any worse than it has with canned talk. By the way, how about Snyder buying Nestor's station as his Baltimore outlet for the Redskins? Oh, nevermind..... (First of all most HD programming is in 16x9 NOT 6X9. but there is HDTV programming in 4x3. Universal HD shows quite a bit of it.) the resolution not the screen size determines whether it is HD. (7/3/08) Jim Bohannon spent 15 years filling in for the Larry King Radio Show, and Friday night, the 4th of July on 3WT Radio (107.7-FM and 1500-AM), Larry returns the favor as Westwood One dips into the archives for a special Larry King Show, 10:06PM-1AM. You'll hear classic King interviews with Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, Ross Perot, Barry Goldwater, and Tip O'neil. (7/3/08) A few things… First, it’s 16x9, not 6x9. Second, it’s “Bueller” not “Beutler,” unless I’m missing a reference/”joke” of some sort. And finally, would an old John Wayne movie (in Panavision, or whatever it was) shown on a 16x9 screen stretched from 4x3 look normal? The Duke always looked so tall and thin when they’d run those features on the Saturday matinee on the local independent stations (Channel 20 when I lived in Texas). (7/3/08) Here is a seemingly trivial question that I am hoping someone can answer. Right now there is a WUSA-TV and a WUSA-DT, a WRC-TV and a WRC-DT and so on for all stations currently broadcasting in analog and digital. In February when analog broadcasting ends which designation will survive the -TV or the -DT? But then again if we can't decide if the first TV station was in Schenectady, NY, Dupont Circle or Wheaton, MD what makes me think we can figure this one out? (7/3/08) If anyone feels disappointed that they missed the 80th anniversary of America's first regularly-scheduled television station, located near Dupont Circle in DC, don't despair. You've been given a reprieve. Although C Francis Jenkins had targeted the night of Monday, July 2, 1928 for the first "broadcast of movies by radio" over station 3XK from 1519 Conn. Ave., the actual debut presentation was delayed by 96 hours until Friday, July 6th. So, light 80 candles on the cake and gather around your PC to read the details at DCMemories.com (7/3/08) To elaborate on CA in BC’s comments on HDTV TV, HDTV sets (not to be confused with simply digital, though HDTV sets are digital) usually have 6x9 screens, meaning that the screen size is 6 units high and 9 units across – thus horizontal. Old-style TVs have 3x4 screens – thus almost square. (I do believe, though, I have seen some 3x4 sets advertised as HDTV.) When a station is delivering true HDTV programming it’s in the 6x9 format, with very good to excellent picture clarity, and the smaller picture of a different program on the same channel is caused by them airing programming that’s in the 4x3 format. Using the smaller picture shows that they are not trying to fool the viewer that it HDTV content (though the signal is still) by using such techniques as “stretch-o-vision” which will fill a 6x9 screen with 3x4 content but looks distorted or the bottom of the picture is cut off. TBS uses “stretch-o-vision” a lot on their old movies and sitcoms. One other thing, I don’t believe that stations (b’cast, cable or satellite) can or would want to change their transmissions from 1080i to 780p or vice versa on-the-fly. I think that they send out the HDTV programming in one format and let the TV set convert it to the set’s native resolution. (7/3/08) "Beutler? Beutler?" Man, how long before the tin-foil hat crowd at Air America claim that Karl Rove had Dick Cheney shoot the lefty blogger to cover up Big Oil's involvement in Abu Ghrayb? Ghengis Cohen, continuously pushing the boundaries of good taste under the water and holding them there until they stop thrashing, in hot and muggy Prince William County (7/3/08) Plante poster: I think that you’re confusing Chris Plante’s call for cooperation with authorities with some kind of call for abrogation of constitutional rights of the correctional officers involved. I’ve listened to the same shows you have and did not hear Chris refer to this in the manner that you’ve described. Personally, I agree that they have a right to silence, however, if they have nothing to hide, they won’t mind cooperating. -Silvie- (7/3/08) W3XK as likely NOT the first TV station W2XB was broadcasting on Ch 4 out of Schenectady NY some time before that in fact it is fairly well established that it was broadcasting regularly since Jan of 1928 . BTW the modern WRGB on Ch. 6 traces its roots to taht station. (7/3/08) "Actually, it?s to free up the analog spectrum so the gov?t can make money auctioning it off. THAT?s the real reason behind digital TV." - There are TWO parts to the digital-TV history. Part 1 was the PUSH by broadcasters to allow digital/analog simulcasting. Part 2 is the PULL by the government to re-claim the analog frequencies. CA in BC made a comment about the reason for part 1, and then this quote here responded by talking about part 2. You're talking about something different, dude. There's no contradiction here. -Jeff in Springfield (7/3/08) “I am one of those who firmly believe that the real impetus behind the switch to digital TV is to allow multicasting, not to give us eye candy.” Actually, it’s to free up the analog spectrum so the gov’t can make money auctioning it off. THAT’s the real reason behind digital TV. A wise man once said, “Government has nothing to give save what it first takes away.” How true. (7/3/08) Dave's response: Ah, why doesn't the government start charging a spectrum fee to all radio and TV stations? With spectrum in larger markets fetching higher fees. Most stations are using this "public resource" to make a "corporate profit." Shouldn't "the public" get a "cut"? Have I missed something? Did someone say David Burd was fired!!!! That is the craziest thing I've ever heard. He is the only thing worth listening to on 3wt. I loved him when he was on WTOP in the afternoons. This has to be a typo. Enough of the bullshit from some of the posters. What's the real story here? Time to do your job Dave! Get the story! (7/3/08) Dave's response: No, Burd was not fired. But a behind-the-scenes 3WTer did get canned a few days ago. I did "get the story," but I'm not running it because it's mainly a private "personnel matter"..... For the last few days Chris Plante has devoted at least some of his show to the PG County jail inmate murder case. How does a guy, who apparently worked for CNN, get a job like this without having at least a working knowledge of the United States Constitution and the difference between the corrections department vs. the police department? He has been railing that corrections officers (who are not police officers) should cooperate with inquisitors and it took two callers, one a police officer and the other an investigator, to call to his attention that these correctional officers have the same constitutional right to silence that you and I do. His predecessor was ignorant about the law but I expected more of Plante. (7/3/08) So who's more Charles Foster Kaneish, Denny Snyder or Rushbo? Or maybe lil' denny is the middle aged Charles Foster Kane and Rushbo is the latter day CFK squirreled away in his Xanadu? And speaking about Jackie Kent Cooke, is there a Paper Moon in Boston? She's HOT! And regarding O'Meara. He'd never heard Elvis sing "His Latest Flame" oh man that must a made Geronimo cringe... (7/3/08) Dave's response: I'm telling you - Matt Drudge and Rush Limbaugh, THE "power media" couple. Not that there's anything wrong with that. And Danny Snyder, the owner of more dink-watt radio stations in Virginia and the DC suburbs than anyone else..... Howdy Dave. Thanks for the in depth coverage that the other media feels is insignificant. Especially like the reference sources from the Advocate. You embrace all kinds of media sources. I admire that. A fan for a long time, but just getting the nerve to express it. Chuck (7/3/08) Dave's response: God bless you..... Has anyone heard if Verizon FIOS is planning to add MASN-HD along with all of the new HD channels? I'm looking to ditch Dish Network and go with either DirecTV or Verizon FIOS and want to know if FIOS has MASN in HD. Thanks, Greg in Reisterstown (7/3/08) "Come on, the MO'M show is absolutely not funny. Friday (every damn Friday) we hear a bunch of drunks laughing at each other..." It's odd that the same crowd who complained about -- but always listened to -- D&M now complain and habitually listen to MO'M. At some point you've got to realize that stations and advertisers don't care if you find their programming funny or not, they just want you to listen. And somebody who can say exactly what he hears on MO'M "every damn Friday" is a habitual listener. Get it? Dave in Sterling (7/3/08) The first half of the worst year is over, so let us take a much needed long weekend, and hope for the best in the second half. My prediction for the second half is more of the same. Dan Snyder will continue in his quest to buy every poor signaled station from hear to North Carolina. The satellite merger will still be pending. John Hogan will be accepting an award for the Less Is More initiative. Bennett Zier will have “left” his lofty Air America post after trying unsuccessfully to convert the liberal network to a conservative network. The Globe will still have the same playlist. 3 WT will be a 24 hour best of Tony K format. WTOP will be number 1 in the market and finally, radio listening will continue to shrink as no one will be driving cars due to the $12.00 a gallon gas price. (7/3/08) One last misapprehension: Broadcasting a 720p TV signal does not result in a "shrunken" picture. Fox and ABC HD shows are always 720p and always fill the screen. Besides, the main channels of MPT and WETA are always 1080i, but most of the time they insert a small picture into that area. The black areas around the picture are actually part of the picture. ~~CA in BC (7/3/08) Gee...MO'M just getting to the story Jackie Kent Cooke on Wednesday. That story broke on Saturday and Elliot was talking about it on Monday. Way to keep up there, Mikey! (7/3/08) Thanks to several posters here for explaining the tech standards of HDTV. Fortunately, I get a DirecTV feed on ch 82 of WNBC New York and their 1920x1080i is dazzling, both local news and “Nightly News.” The picture shrink of 720 is annoying and looks silly. Another rant has been fully “ranted” here on Dave’s site before… why DirecTV has to conform to a list of large-city broadcasters for “local television.” Here in West Virginia local TV for me would be Martinsburg or Winchester and possibly West Virginia Public TV. I can get any of that. WJLA also blocks my access to ABC-TV’s HD east coast programming. The theory is that I must watch ‘JLA in order to get ABC, even when ‘JLA wanders off into local movies or infomercial land. It’s time to lift this FCC mandate. Tom Gauger (7/3/08) Dave's response: I actually had a dream last night that I could again get most of the Baltimore TV stations on my Northern Virginia cable TV system, like pre-1993. Does it mean there's something wrong with me if I dream about stuff like that? Hmmm..... I can’t believe that someone like Bill Hess gets to be VP of anything. He wasn’t even a good program director. He sailed by with WASH, which is hard to tank, and is such a bad manager, and the reward? A good title in New York, (although the station’s in big trouble.) Are they even rated? And Bennett Zier as CEO? What’s his track record? Dave you’re right, what a damn cool biz! (7/3/08) The broadcast standard for digital television mandated by the FCC is ATSC (see atsc.org). A range of resolutions can be transmitted, but the maximum is 720p / 1080i, both of which are "high-definition", the maximum resolution that can be transmitted. You can criticize PBS for using 720p, but other broadcast networks, including FOX, do the same. Now, you can criticize WETA for transmitting three standard definition sub-channels along with the high definition main program. There are not enough bits to go around, so you will see pixellation in the main channel when there's a lot of motion in the video. (7/3/08) Mr. Gauger: HD in TV is defined as either 1280x720p (ABC, FOX) or 1920x1080i (CBS, NBC). The broadcast TV standard could allow 1080p, but at only 30fps, and I don't know how acceptable that would be to look at. I agree about the downgrading of PBS HD channels some time ago--they are ostensibly sending out a HD signal, but the content is not HD. But the full-time HD channel they had before was a limited amount of programming with a lot of repeats. There really isn't that much HD content available no matter where you look. I am one of those who firmly believe that the real impetus behind the switch to digital TV is to allow multicasting, not to give us eye candy. ~~CA in BC (7/3/08) Yesterday (July 2) was the 80th anniversary of America's first regularly-scheduled television station, and it was right in Washington, D.C.'s Dupont Circle. W3XK was operated by Charles Francis Jenkins from July 2, 1928 to 1934. It broadcast from 1519 Conn. Ave., NW (where Gallery 10 is now located) at a resolution of just 48 lines. This station operated as a mechanical television station with the Nipkow disc. Under good conditions, if you had built your own receiver, you could watch the channel as far west as Columbus, OH. Al McGilvray (7/3/08) Dave, you gotta love Jackie Kent Cooke! Such moxie! That's what you call a real 'Billion Dollar Baby!' And a million dollar mooning! Imagine, mooning a cop, then flipping him the bird! If he'd had any class he'd have offered a 'Police Escort' to their destination! He should get upon his knees and beg to be mooned again! What, hasn't that cop ever heard of 'The Moonman?'-7 East Lexington Rat (7/3/08) Dave's response: Just heard JKC on the MO'M show..... RE: [ " WZBA's Site Vying For VH1 Honor " ]..... Hmm, could it have something to do with the HUGE VH1 ADVERTISEMENT splashed front and center on 100.7 The Bay's WEBSITE??? HAha! (7/3/08) Surfed by MASN Wednesday afternoon and saw that Anita Marks for the first time in a couple of months. Is she sporting green hair these days or do I need to adjust the color on my TV? Daniel Snyder acquires more radio stations for his Red Zebra network huh. He doesn't by any chance call his estate Xanadu, cost: no man can say? Wonder what John Kent Cooke thinks of all this malarkey? (7/3/08) Firing David Burd is a bad idea? How can canning a guy with the IQ of a lamp post be a bad idea?! (7/3/08) there si no such thing as 1080p broadcast TV. Broadcast Tv can be 1080i or 720p and it is still appropriate to call it HD. SD is the old 480i standard and 480p is generally called ED. (7/3/08) During the Frederick Morning News Express drive time show today, Blaine Young was heard returning to his daily "Sound Off" comentairy segment. He announced that a new contract between he and news talker WFMD is being reviewed and that he would be returning to his "Frederick's Forum" talk show this Saturday. The show will be on remote out of Brunswick and will be a fund raiser for the food bank. He will also be resuming the daily commentary segments Monday morning. Blaine walked out of the studio and off the air last Saturday in a dispute with WFMD management. Program Director Frank Mitchel had to finish the program. (7/3/08) /\ July 3 Messages /\ \/ July 2 Messages \/ It sound like they increased the speed on Pat Collin's taped report on the 6:00 news on Channel 4? (7/2/08) Firing David Burd would be about the dumbest thing Jim Farley could do. The Burd adds a lot of seasoning to a somewhat bland mix of on-air types at the ‘TOP stations. While I’m on the subject, since WTOP finally beat the pants off my old alma mater ‘MAL some time back, I sure wish Bonneville would restore the all-news programming to 1500. Tom Gauger (PS: You should walk through Len Deibert’s old news room at ‘MAL… it’s a ghost town.) (7/2/08) Dave's response: I agree. There's just something wrong with WTOP not being on 1500 AM. Maybe Bonneville can buy 570 and 1260 from Dan Snyder and put 3WT on those AMers in addition to 107.7..... Overheard on the Sports Reporters show this afternoon. Apparently someone was critical of Bob Carpenter's home run call during the Baltimore series last week on MASN during their "mixed booth" travesty. It was pointed out to Mr. Czaban that the booth contained both Baltimore and Washington announcers and perhaps that MASN needed to forget this setup in the future. Mr. Czaban, was unaware that during the other 156 games of the season that MASN has two stations, MASN1 and MASN2, one showing the Washington game, one showing the Baltimore game. This is guy who is paid to comment on local sports? (7/2/08) I get what Snyder is trying to accomplish with the recent buying spree in DC and Virginia. He is trying to build a network to cover his Redskins fan base which stretches from DC to upper North Carolina. I just don’t see why people will flock to bad programming on poor signals. Maybe 16 times a year for the play by play, but the other programming is marginal at best, and is targeting a small universe. The revenue opportunities in the Virginia markets are small and getting worse by the day. Besides, if you can’t make money at the mother ship in Washington then how are you going to do it Roanoke? He has over 70 million invested in stations with this purchase. Snyder would have been better served had he bought one blow torch FM in DC with a decent male format that could generate revenue 12 months a year. (7/2/08) You want to hear 94.7 The Globe live? Try www.cbsradio.com/streaming. That's what I use to listen to WCBS and KCBS, the two best all-news stations as far as I'm concerned. -- Carl in Olney (7/2/08) Why are PBS stations advertising themselves as “High Definition” when by any definition of the words, they aren’t HD at all. I had an exchange with someone at WETA about this some months ago when the previously dazzling h-def video stopped being 1080i or p (not sure which) and became 720 with a much smaller picture and loss of resolution. She said, “Oh, we ARE high definition!” Same thing at Maryland Public Television. They are re-defining what high definition is in favor of several useless sub channels. There isn’t enough really good content to go around as it is without carving up the spectrum allocated to PBS stations so they can air programs that few watch. Again, at the beginning PBS stations owned high definition television… it has been gone for over a year. I know a few people who have stopped contributing to the noisy begathons because of the absence of h-def TV from PBS on their expensive new flat screens. Sure wish the FCC would weigh in and define high definition television as 1080p. I remember there were some writing on Dave’s site some years ago that TV stations would opt to kill technical quality in favor of more sub channels. Tom Gauger (7/2/08) Dave, Any update on the repair status to WBIG’s transmitter? I’ve been getting spotty reception around the area since it got hit by lightning. Thanks Paul, Waldorf (7/2/08) Dave's response: Haven't heard anything. Anybody know? The Glob is on the list of available stations on the new AOL/CBS radio. Just the d9mn thing doesn't work and this is 3 weeks now. oh for the original AOL radio. (7/2/08) IF "The Bay" does win the VH1 honor, they should put the web site audio onto the FM. It would probably make the FM sound better. What a joke, a good example of why radio is in trouble. Worrying about having a cable TV outlet honoring your web site. Which of these activities adds to ratings or revenue? (7/2/08) Dave, Steve didn't appear to "Flip his Lid" or have a hissy-fit. He disagreed with the article but one thing he didn't do was address the gist of the article...that the competition is catching up to Fox. He sidestepped that one. I thought the article was very factual and ratings tinged. The truth hurts sometimes AND they really didn't mention the FandF show. (7/2/08) Dave's response: When will media people realize it - TV or radio. If you ever talk about your ratings (good or bad) on your show, it makes you look insecure. Including a mention about a related write-up in a rag..... I can’t speak for the mid-day girl on 100.3, I never listen mid-day. But I think Struber is very good in the PM drive slot. Since D&M have ended in Baltimore I don’t change the radio at all on my commute home. I enjoy pretty much everything Struber does and plays. Ballard is good too but less entertaining. My hats off to Stuber. He keeps me tuned in. (7/2/08) Dave's response: That's Jon Ballard's official motto - "GOOD TOO, BUT LESS ENTERTAINING." I hear he's often seen around 1801 Rockville Pike in a t-shirt sporting that slogan..... The only thing lamer than 100.7 is VH1. (7/2/08) I find it hard to believe that "100.7 The Bay" was just picked out of nowhere of actually good stations that are far more well known around the country. Me thinks me smells a rat. They could win awards for "Dullest sleep inducing Morning Show", "Most boring DJs", or "Ability to pass Bryan Adams off as Classic Rock" maybe, but as "Rock Station of the year"? No freakin' way! The only thing that they should be concerned about winning is the Baltimore Arbs, and the combination of tired DJs, tired songs, and 10 minute commercial breaks isn't actually a winner for them. How long before the jockless "Channel 104.3" with an equally spotty signal tops them? SJ (7/2/08) WFLS News to receive prestigious National Clarion Award - www.wfls.com (7/2/08) What's all the fuss about BZ. He's done very well at proving he can sell himself. (how cheap) well that's another story. You have to admit he keeps on going and going. No successes since Big 100, and he blew that. I really think the best way to get rid of him is to not talk about him on the site. BOBB (7/2/08) If Dan Snyder bought Centennial's 92.5 WINC-FM, Winchester, he'd effectively extend the range westward of Red Zebra's adjacent frequency 92.7 WWXT-FM, Prince Frederick. (Not that it would make any more sense than his other acquisitions!) (7/2/08) Dave's response: If he did pick up 92.5, Snyder could ditch 94.3 in Warrenton, since those two signals have a lot of overlap - and 92.5 has better coverage throughout much of the Virginia suburbs of DC. If Snyder put a single sports talker on 980 plus 92.7 and 94.3-or-92.5, it would have quite decent coverage of the extended DC metro. Don't know what he'll be doing with 730, 570, and 1260. However, I think a Spanish language sports talker might be the way to go with the non-980 AMers. I also don't think that DC is a "two sports talker" town. It would be smarter of Snyder to combine Triple X and WTEM and make one "strongish" station out of it..... (Dave's response: That's $500,000 a year!) Dear Dave, That's chump change, I need $20 mil a year to play here, love Agent Zero (7/2/08) (It's Official: Radio One Buys 104.1 - The price: $38 million) Does anyone know what Bonneville paid for the station? I think I read in the mailbag that is was somewhere in the low 20's? if that is correct, then a decent profit in today's world...on top of whatever cash flow they squeezed out of it over the past 10 or so years. much better product on it now. certainly fits better on that signal. (7/2/08) 100.7 the Bay is up for a rock honors award from VH1 for best classic rock station. All voting is done by the public....currently they're in 2nd place behind a station from NYC. Here's the link to vote. GE www.vh1.com (7/2/08) Come on, the MO'M show is absolutely not funny. Friday (every damn Friday) we hear a bunch of drunks laughing at each other and Mike alternately interrupting/ignoring everyone and being totally ADD. Then (yea) a bunch of dumb girls come in and laugh at everything the unfunny drunks say while trying to outdo each other getting the attention. Then yesterday I had to change the channel when Mike made Charlie un-funny with his "quiz show" game. When I turned the show back on they were doing an awful, unfunny memorization game that seemed to take forever with each listener. I finally gave up and listened to my iPod. I think I will get XM installed next week for my evening drive. It is a shame since the morning and mid-day are finally great. (7/2/08) Zeir at Air America. Cool, we won't have to worry about them being around much longer. (7/2/08) Interesting to note that there was no mention of the Twin Star job he held for around 4 months before he (left) along with Jeff Wyatt late last year. This happened shortly after he (left) Snyder, which happened a year after he (left) Clear Channel, which happened after he (left) Colfax Communications and the Rales Brothers. I think that whoever creates his resume and press releases just writes the opposite of what really happened! (7/2/08) (Snip) Rumor is that Red Zebra is buying the Centennial stations in Roanoke. (7/2/08) (Snip) Centennial also owns the WINC cluster of stations in Winchester. The Redskins on blowtorch WINC-FM 92.5 would possibly be a huge plus. (7/2/08) Dave's response: We ran rumors a year or two ago that Snyder was interested in Mid-Atlantic's WINC-FM, but Centennial got it instead. I can't imagine why Centennial would sell it after it just bought it. Well, I guess if Snyder bought 92.5 he could add it to his collection of six other marginal-coverage stations in the DC area. But why? A shout-out to the Clear Channel Baltimore folks... The Hope Christian Church of Marlton NJ is at it again, this time requesting a waiver on operating on 104.7 in Harford County, so their soon to be New Jersey based programming can interfere with Baltimore's new Channel 104.3 alternative rock station! :-( (7/2/08) STILL NO LOCAL CBS RADIO STATIONS, or national for that matter, on AOL RADIO! What's up with that? Did they scrap the plan? False rumor maybe? Or is it still going to happen? I thought I was finally going to be able to listen to 94.7 The Globe while at work before CBS pulls the plug. I guess not? :-( (7/2/08) Rumor is that Red Zebra is buying the Centennial stations in Roanoke. (7/2/08) /\ July 2 Messages /\ \/ July 1 Messages \/ 'Zier at Air America. The list of people that will follow Bennett has shrunk to one. Unbelievable that he could still find a job" and the zeros in his annual salary have shrunk to five, guaranteed! (7/1/08) How about this: as a condition of an XM-Sirius merge, one entity has to completely surrender its slice of the spectrum within 5 years. So by 2013, both companies find a way to squish all their signals into one pipe, and the remaining spectrum gets freed up for other purposes. Also you hand in your [Sirius] receiver and get a receiver optimized for [XM] by 2013. Don't want to buy a new receiver so soon? Tough shit. That's what is going on with the elimination of analog TV right now. Get used to it. (7/1/08) I’m a proud conservative Republican and a subscriber to BOTH Sirius and XM, and for the life of me I can’t see any reason to even consider allowing them to merge (the satrad companies, not the Republicans). There is not one consumer group, not one state AG, not one respected media legal scholar who isn’t opposed to it, yet Kevin Martin seems insistent on jamming it down the throats of American consumers. Givebacks to minorities after the fact is not the answer. The original rules allocating the spectrum and establishing the industry were written to specifically and clearly forbid a merger for a reason. Just reject the damn deal like the original rules say you must and be done with it. -Brian (7/1/08) BREAKING NEWS FROM NBC4 - Starbucks will be closing 600 stores. Give me a break. (7/1/08) Dave's response: Well, Starbucks operates 15,000 stores. That means that 4 percent of its stores will close, while 96 percent won't..... Check out the 3WT ad on page 5 of today’s Politico. It has the old lineup with Tony Kornheiser on from 8am to 10am and again from 2pm to 4pm. Who’s goof is this one…Politico or 3WT? (7/1/08) This writer never wrote the current president had anything to do with the Telcom Act of 1996. For that matter, neither did Maryalnd drivers. Just because he didn't have anything to do with its passage doesn't mean he isn't retarded. Happy trails! (7/1/08) Dave, here in Annapolis Comcast added 3 new channels today.AMC HD 218,CNN HD 234 & Animal Planet HD 241. Have a great 4th of July! Ron in Annapolis (7/1/08) Why nothing on dcrtv RE: Lockdown at WTOP today? (7/1/08) Dave's response: We hear from a top TOPer - "We can't comment on personnel issues. But there's no lockdown, just some added security." Know more? Let me know..... WWDC FM 101.1 was easy listening for many years. rob (7/1/08) I thought lil' danny was a good right wing republican? Shirely he can keep with the party offensive and keep the likes of Bill Bennett's early morn show, I've listened a few times, a real snorer and not once does he give advice on gambling, Dennis Miller and the Savage man on in the most powerful city on the planet(sic)? Any other station in the D.C. market likely to pick up the Dan Patrick show? I think Patrick does a mighty fine show and doesn't talk funny ala Jim Rome? And Czaban's Fox Sports morning show is likely gone, ain't it? I think ESPN's Mike and Mike show is okay but I enjoy Czaban's morning show also. As for Czaban's staying with the new WTEM on the Dread Zebra network, I believe Czaban said that lil' danny or his minions had Czaban canned from Comcast Sports tv. So even if Czaban stays drinking the party cool aid it will be hard for this listener to keep tuning in, sort of like trying to listen to Weasal on the gawdawful morning show he does now. Listened to Scott Shannon's True Oldies show last night and by doggies it was practically all '60's. Loved it but don't get how the song selection is done. I mean when Steve Alan does the afternoon show he picks the snorer's from the '70's. it's like listening to them dudes from air supply doing the Time Life commercial, driving around with the top down on a cool summer evening zzzzzzzzzzz (7/1/08) Re: Zier at Air America. The list of people that will follow Bennett has shrunk to one. Unbelievable that he could still find a job! (7/1/08) To the brave unsigned who posted: "Only in a Liberal’s mind is it correct for somebody to give up some of its business to another group who did nothing to found that business." While that is not an unreasonable point, I don't think that you understand that the FCC granted two companies the right to build on those frequencies. They also hold the power to take away the licenses. They only opened up two slots for satellite. If you had a billion dollars to spend, you couldn't start a satellite system. If you wanted to buy one of the existing systems, you would need FCC approval. I agree that adding minority channels is somewhat after the fact, but considering that the FCC wanted two companies to broadcast satellite radio, they are inserting several conditions for the merger, since they are taking away competition. (Not the American Way) I hope that helps you to understand why the FCC is adding conditions to the merger. Now, about your obvious racism - - can't help you. Ed Graham (7/1/08) [snip] Only in a Liberal’s mind is it correct for somebody to give up some… [end snap]. What an a$$hole. It’s this kind of attitude that is polarizing American politics and paralyzing our social discourse. Ooohhh, just read the rest of this post; you’re a racist, too! Grow up, dummy, or just do society a favor and blow your brains out (shouldn’t be much of a mess). (7/1/08) RE: Katharine Weymouth's salary. What, does $500,000 sound like a lot of money? Does anyone think it's enough to retire on? Inflation will nibble that in half in 20 years. The scary thing is only 23% of all Americans have even $250,000. Half, in fact, have just $10,000 saved. Salaries are flat and reduced benefits amount to a de facto pay cut. So if you think 500K is a fortune (it's not), what's your plan to get there? (7/1/08) Dave's response: That's $500,000 a year! In 10 years, when Ms. Weymouth is just 52, that'll be $5 million. If she can't retire on that, plus a Post pension (etc.), what are poor radio slobs like Oscar Santana going to do on his $35,000 (just a guess) per year? Hey, Does anyone know what happened to Bay country's WKHW 106.5 K-Rock out of Pocomoke ?? It has been dead air for several days now, I thought it was back last night, Till I figured out the bad weather was actually allowing mix 106.5 out of Baltimore to reach the eastern shore... Glenn L. Martin in Ocean City (7/1/08) I don't get it. Some moron wrote in this morning bitching, appropriately, about consolidation, Congress' ignoring of the public interest, the lethargy of the FCC, etc. But, then they wrote, "The President is retarded." The current President had NOTHING... get it? NOT ONE THING... to do with Telecomm '96. It was promoted and signed into law by the very man who is now berating Barack Obama like a pouting second grader, the man who allowed the Branch Davidian slaughter of babies and their mothers, the man who boinked an intern in MY and YOUR office*, the man who allowed the 1993 prologue to 9-11 to be treated as a state crime... William Jefferson Clinton. That blackguard stole YOUR JOBS and MINE and robbed the public of the professional broadcast medium that was, until his and Congress' nefarious acts, the gold standard of the world. Listen to radio around the world and you will see what an also-ran our radio industry has become! Guglielmo Marconi *One of Baltimore's BEST general managers was terminated before lunch the following day when the Home Office found out about his trysts with a secretary! It's called maintaining decorum in the workplace! (7/1/08) Dave – I too wonder about the lemmings who will follow BZ to the floundering Air America. However, I would like to point out to you that Cameron Gray should not be included in this group – ever. He was never part of that posse. He is a radio professional who got gigs based on the fact that he works his ass off. (7/1/08) how is it possible tha Jim London is on the street...I was proud to be a small part of WMZQ when it was king...Jim London..the great Mary Ball...Gordon Barnes and Da Coach in the morning....Bill Worthington...Kieth MacDonald...Katie Daley...Lee Michael Dempsey...and so many more of the most talented radio people I have ever had the pleasure of working with....are there no program directors left in dc that want thier stations to get good ratings and make money...what a sad day when real radio pros like jim are outside looking in....Rich Da Coach Gilgallon....ps...when is a sports talk pd going to hire Mike in Fairfax...the guy has had his finger on the pulse of sports talk for years on this site.. (7/1/08) Dave's response: Hey, what about me? If I was running The Globe, it would be 11th in the local ratings and not 17th..... I love when I read about the SATRAD merger. Only in a Liberal’s mind is it correct for somebody to give up some of its business to another group who did nothing to found that business. They want Sirus/XM to GIVE AWAY their satellite space to some “minority programmer.” The quote "squanders the great opportunity for truly enhanced minority ownership or control created by the proposed merger" is some of the worst garbage I have heard in a long time. This idea shouldn’t even be on the table. Why should there be any other control of a company other than those who have created and run the company? As usually, it is the pandering those those who have the biggest mouths, a la, Jesse “when did I last hold a job?” Jackson and Al “Everybody is racist except for me” Sharpton. I don’t remember when it was decided that Exxon/Mobil merged that some of the refineries or oil wells had to be given to minority companies. If they want a minority-owned company to have satellite channels, have Jesse or Al pool their money and start a company of their own. (7/1/08) "Look for this line up [on Dan Snyder's sports talk stations]….Mike and Mike 6a to 10a….ESPN from 10a to 1p….Riggins from 1p to 4p….Sports Reporters from 4p to 7p…ESPN 7p to Mid." Meaning that Steve Czaban's morning show as well as the ones hosted by Dan Patrick and Doc Walker would no longer be part of the daily mix (not to mention Thompson's program). Perhaps the rather redundant fourth hour of Mike & Mike and the first hour of Colin Cowherd's ESPN show could be preempted to create a two hour local block for some combination of Walker, Thompson, Koken and Mitchell (whoever stays on board). Listening to Reporters on days when Andy Pollin's on vacation is often an exercise in exasperation, and yesterday was no exception. Czaban had USA Today's Larry Weisman and the Times' Thom Loverro in the studio for three hours and didn't see fit to bring up a single baseball topic despite the fact that we're smack in the middle of the season - Loverro (who writes about the sport all the time) had to do it himself in the final segement. For the third hour, Czaban asked listeners to call in with "your football questions for Larry" (thereby leaving Thom hanging out to dry). By contrast, a year or two ago I seem to recall those same two writers being guests on a day when Czaban was away and Pollin inviting callers to pose NFL questions to Weisman OR baseball questions to Loverro. At least Pollin shows a modicum of respect for fans of the game, although to be honest he and Czaban have bypassed a number of intriguing out-of-town stories (including ones like Curt Schilling shutting it down that led SportsCenter and PTI) in favor of topics like 'your favorite advertising jingle.' Mike, Fairfax (7/1/08) Sportstalk 980 RIP. (7/1/08) Congratulations to Dave Adler on his award! I ALWAYS enjoyed hearing his morning shows when he was on Oldies (BIG 100) and on WASH. Unfortunately I can't get his current station in on my dial or I'd still be listening to him! -- Kim (7/1/08) The 'Listen Live' option for Sportstalk 980 is gone. Would this have anything to do with Snyder taking over? (7/1/08) Dave's response: Probably, since it most-likely linked to some Clear Channel server somewhere..... Day One of Danny's Reign of Error at Sportscrap980 -- I'm betting that Andy Polley lives on after the changes. He's like the old mail room manager in "How To Succeed in Business" -- his brain is a company brain; the company washed it, so he can't complain. Incidentally, the Danny's theme park consigliere, Mr. Shapiro, is in this week's Business Week, explaining how everything's JUST FINE at the Six Flags parks! Really! It's great! I guess that would make him the Comical Ali of the Snyder empire. Sincerely, TMU (7/1/08) Regarding your take on the mailbag entry ( I know, I know, that ad revenue has to be sent to Cheap Channel or Citahell's corporate honchos for their private jets and mansions, and not to be spent in any shape, manner, or form on local talent that knows radio and music.....), you have captured the essence of why radio is losing audience, why it's not competitive, and why it...how to say this...SUCKS! Consolidation was a bad idea. Radio is not competitive anymore. It is a bank--and only deposits can be made. Withdrawals are not allowed. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 should be repealed. Ownership levels should be capped at, say, 8 FM's and 8 AM's and no more than 2 properties per market. Then, maybe locally focused radio might have a shot at returning. The FCC is either asleep at the wheel or complicit in the money grab by corporate radio, depending on how you look at it. Congress, as it demonstrates its relevance to most things in American life, is a collection of clueless morons. The president is retarded. What else? Uh, oh, yeah, they don't know how to drive in Maryland. There, I've said all I need to say this morning. Have a nice Summer. (7/1/08) I am sure that you already know this, but it seems that with the change in ownership the internet stream is gone. Nothing is noted on their website or on WWRC’s website. But the ability to click on “Listen Live” is gone. It would be nice if they at least posted something on the website for those of us that can’t pick up their signal inside an office building. I am a web listener to both of these stations during the day. They have had plenty of time to warn us. I call this bad management and poor planning. Not a good way to start. But I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by anything that Dan Snyder owns. Thanks for listening to my mini rant. Kim (7/1/08) It is a dark day in DC broadcasting as Snyder assumes control of the three Clear Channel stations. Look for this line up….Mike and Mike 6a to 10a….ESPN from 10a to 1p….Riggins from 1p to 4p….Sports Reporters from 4p to 7p…ESPN 7p to Mid. Thompson could end up in the 10 to 1p slot if they can get ESPN to rewrite the contract. There will only be one pre and post show for the games, with all of the characters participating. They are going to have a huge payroll for a network of stations that could maybe generate 15 to 17 million, which would include Redskins money. The numbers don’t work when you have all of this high priced talent that doesn’t produce significant ratings. The GM of the station makes around 600K…Riggins show is a million+….They have to give inventory to ESPN…Thompson, Czaben and Andy aren’t cheap, and the Redskins rights fee is around 4 million. They must be thinking they can bill 25 million. They be thinking wrong! (7/1/08) (From DCRTV's Classified Ads:) New talk radio venture in the Shenandoah Valley seeks an aggressive, energetic and entrepreneurial radio station sales manager. Responsibilities include overseeing sales and collections, business development and day-to-day station management needs. Report to the owner and manage a small staff with expectations of growth. New and different perspectives are encouraged. Must be a self starter and motivated to succeed. Please e-mail resume and qualifications to shenandoahvalleygroup@hotmail.com. (7/1/08) Happy 67th anniversary to television commercials! The Bulova watch ad for WNBT (NBC) in New York City aired today (July 1), and cost the advertiser $9, since there were only about 7,000 sets in the New York City area.. Al McGilvray, News Director, TalkRadio WRNR 740AM, Martinsburg, WV (7/1/08) It's interesting to see the posts about Jim London and Dave Adler, neither on the air regularly in DC. They were two of the brightest stars on Oldies 100 which, I believe, hit the air 15 years ago. That was a time when jocks made solid contributions to their station's product and image. The fact that they aren't employed locally is a damn shame. To be honest, I can't think of one of the jocks currently on BIG 100. It's sad where our business has gone and is apparently going. (7/1/08) Dave's response: Imagine how great Big 100 and True Oldies 105.9 could sound with some live DC radio "classic jocks" running the shows. I know, I know, that ad revenue has to be sent to Cheap Channel or Citahell's corporate honchos for their private jets and mansions, and not to be spent in any shape, manner, or form on local talent that knows radio and music..... Re: "If Danny Boy pulls the plug on talk on TNT - does that help the ever-floundering 3WT? ... And would Bonneville be willing to pick up Laura Ingraham to inject a little life into the ratings?" You're suggesting that the current host in that daypart, Stephanie Miller, has no ratings. If that was the case, why would Bonneville commit to a third hour after Tony resumed his golfing career this week? It only seems like there's few D.C. listeners of that show because there's one caller who calls in all the time, Kevin... he must be part of the SMS "wack pack" (if there even is one) because his schtick is every time he calls in, he has a prepared script designed to smooth-talk Steph and get her turned on. Hey, genius, Leon Phelps called, he wants his act back. (7/1/08) Weymouth is a friggen lawyer accustomed to high-bucks billable hours. That's the basis of her pay at the Post, sustained by her family ties. She has no journalistic credentials newspaper or otherwise, and has held only sales and legal counsel positions at the company. Her sales success is probably linked with being good-looking and likable. Is that worth a half mil to a struggling legacy media outlet? Subscribers may help decide. She can always fall back on the law degree. (7/1/08) Congrats to Dave Adler, long time friend and on couple occasions (WLTT-FM & WBIG-FM) co-worker, on being awarded the 2007 "Best Morning Show" award from the Virginia Association Of Broadcasters. (Signed, BIG AL!!!) (7/1/08) After last night's Nats game I left the radio on for Jim Bohannon. Right around 11:45 I heard repeated inserts of cuckoo clock sound effects and a piece of dramatic classical music being used as sarcastic commentary laid over Bohannon and his guest Amb. John Bolton during a very serious discussion of Darfur. I immediate flipped over to WFMD to see if it was actually Jim's show doing this. Not a single sound effect. If I were Bohannon I would call Bonneville in the morning and demand that the late night board operator at 3WT be fired on the spot. Not only was it distracting, innappropriate & unprofessional, but I have a feeling it has happened before. The kind of thing that happens when someone thinks no one is listening, especially not the program director, because of how long it went on. I'm sure the engineers keep a digital log of the programming for FCC purposes. It would be interesting to hear the aircheck. Bohannon should be outraged and yank his program off of 3WT. - Jerry in Towson (7/1/08) "Until then, FAUX 5 it shall remain. So THERE! NYAHH!" --- Oh, Pall... you're such a naughty, silly boy! Love, Mommy (7/1/08) I DID see the Chris Wallace's profile on Fox News Sunday and Carol, you are awesome... a true treasure in this city,,, the likes we haven't seen since Pearl Mesta! (But, you're SO MUCH prettier and wittier than Pearl.) I so hope that you can find a way to keep your location or, at least, stay in the neighborhood. Please don't hesitate to tell me if there is anything that a relic from radio days past, present and future can can do anything to help! Again, you... and Nathan's... are local icons to those of us who make Washington our home. - Ed. Rodriguez (7/1/08) You know Dave, I think that in general, it would be great if the big time CEO's of the airlines, gas companies and others like Katharine Weymouth would take pay cuts in order for their companies to stay afloat, avoid people losing their jobs and avoid having to increase prices of their products. But noooo, those big wigs couldn't possibly take a pay cut. How in the world could they exist?..But yet, it's o.k. to pass those costs on to the consumers.. (7/1/08) /\ July 1 Messages /\ \/ June 30 Messages \/ First I'd like to say I've enjoyed your website for many years, but today you displayed an unprecedented amount of ignorance. Have you not seen the price at the pump? The Washington Post HAS to raise the price to cover the cost of fuel for its deliverers. Will the price increase drive people away? Maybe. But if all 6 cents per paper is given to the paperboys it'll make up for the loss. I make 10 cents per paper currently and deliver about 340 papers on a weekday. That's 34 bucks a day. I need to fill up about once every 3 days for around 60 bucks leaving me with about 40 bucks left over for 3 days of work. I started delivering the post 3 years ago to have some extra cash for bills and such. Since I started the price of gas has almost doubled and the post never once has given us a raise per paper. This home delivery increase is long overdue. I'd appreciate it if you quit telling people to cancel. Cancellations hurt working joes like me and NOT Katharine Weymouth... Sincerelly, Dan Roberts (6/30/08) Dave's response: So, you think people are going to cancel because I tell them to? Seriously, what if a good chunk of subscribers cancel the paper because of the price hike, since they can already get much of the content free on the website? If the cost of your gas, electricity, health care, food, and your local newspaper are all going up, which would you cut? Maybe Katharine Weymouth could try getting by on, oh say, $250,000 instead of $500,000 per year. I realize that it would be a great hardship for her, but maybe she should show solidarity with many of her newspaper's carriers in these tough economic times. Perhaps you would be better to direct your anger at your paper's management, the big oil companies, the Wall Street financial spectulators, the inventor of the internet, and a batch of politicos, all of whom are more-or-less responsible for the Post's current predicament. And not your friendly webmaster..... Dave wrote: "I've been hearing that WMAL wants Laura if she comes back to radio after her Fox News stuff." Laura did return to her TRN show this morning. No word on her contract future, that I've heard, at least, but she was on the air live today. Whatever happens with her future as a FNC TV host, it isn't linked to her radio gig...she said today she can easily do both. (6/30/08) Thanks for posting a very nice blurb for Jim London. I worked with both Ira at BIG & Jim at WMZQ. While I didn’t know Ira too well I can tell you, first hand, Jim is one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. And he’s one of my all-time favorite jocks. Jim made country music interesting. And for a rocker like me that’s quite a feat. Jim’s life story is a real scream. You ought to get him to give you some stories for your archives. He got drunk with George Jones on his tour bus…and you can only imagine the rest. Jim was one of the best things going at WMZQ and I wanted to thank you for putting his name out there. Laura (6/30/08) I would not be so sure that WJLA intends to keep all the existing subchannels in particular Local Point when RTN comes along. But at least as important does anyone know the answer to the question asked----when do they start carrying RTN? (6/30/08) Dave Said Tell that to most of the Post's subscribers..... I love you libs, always ready and willing to draw the class warfare card. (6/30/08) I enjoy the Q&A show but will Nathan's be around much longer? (6/30/08) RE: "Post Publisher Katharine Weymouth makes a salary of $500,000 per year." Dave, half-a-million dollars isn't much these days - certainly not for a job like that. (6/30/08) Dave's response: Tell that to most of the Post's subscribers..... I noticed on page 2A of today’s the Washington Post that next week there will be an increase in the price of home delivered copies from $0.35 to $0.41. This is a 17% increase! Now let’s do the math. I believe that the Post’s weekday circulation is about 650,000 and guessing that 2/3 of it (and it may be higher) are home delivered copies that’s 432,900 newspapers daily. With the 6 cent daily increase this becomes an additional $25,974 in circulation revenue each day, or $155,844 each week (based on a 6-day week, Sunday sub prices are not increasing, yet), or over $8 million a year assuming that the paper’s circ doesn’t’ continue to fall (not a good bet in my opinion). All that said, a printed local newspaper in the DC area is still a good value, but I will also say the WaPo does know how to get blood from a stone. I will also note that the Washing Times recently doubled (a 100% increase) their newsstand price (I don’t know about subscription prices) and cut from a 7-day printing to 6 days. But I don’t think that the Wash Times has made their first nickel since they started however many years ago it’s been. (6/30/08) From Scott Fybush's Northeast Radio Watch: "*There's a morning show change on the way in NEW YORK next month, as Emmis' WQHT (97.1 New York) parts ways with morning host Tarsha Jones, aka "Miss Jones." Jones is scheduled to remain on the air this week to say goodbye to her New York listeners, but beginning July 21 her morning timeslot will be filled with two shows. From 5-7 AM, Hot 97 listeners will hear a local morning show hosted by WQHT swing jocks Cipha Sounds and Peter Rosenberg - and then, from 7-10 AM, they'll hear the Big Boy morning show from Emmis sister station KPWR (105.9) in Los Angeles. Miss Jones will remain on the air on her Philadelphia affiliate, Radio One's WPHI (100.3 Media PA), moving production of her show to WPHI's studios in the Philadelphia suburb of Mequon beginning July 7. Speaking of WPHI, it's named a new assistant PD/music director, Johnnie Glover." Why do I get the feeling a few people's undies are gonna get in a bunch over a certain person's name being mentioned there...? (6/30/08) Dave's response: We reported the Rosenberg thing last week..... A brief word from us before a summer holiday... If you were not able to see the profile of The Q&A Cafe that Chris Wallace did yesterday on Fox News Sunday, here's the link. First there's a short commercial, and then the piece, which runs just under 3 minutes. Happy Fourth of July and, again, thank you for your support from all of us, Carol, Spencer, Leo and Ozzy, and the staff of The Q&A Cafe and Nathans... www.foxnews.com (6/30/08) If Danny Boy pulls the plug on talk on TNT - does that help the ever-floundering 3WT? Or do the few 570 talk listeners go over to the equally rightwing oriented WMAL? And would Bonneville be willing to pick up Laura Ingraham to inject a little life into the ratings? (6/30/08) Dave's response: I've been hearing that WMAL wants Laura if she comes back to radio after her Fox News stuff. I don't know how many WTNTers 3WT would want because WTNT's ratings are equal to or lower than 3WT's are..... Mike O'Meara doing a gay sounding Wayne LaPierre at the start of his show today? Ah, the National Rifle Association's HQ is almost within "shooting distance" of the WJFK studios in Fairfax. (6/30/08) I'll stop saying Faux 5 when they stop trying to hammer people over the head with overhyping and sensationalizing everything under the sun. Until then, FAUX 5 it shall remain. So THERE! NYAHH! Paul (6/30/08) Dave, Reading about my old friend Ira Mellman on your site last week inspired me to get in touch with you. After 2 tours of duty totalling 16 years at WMZQ, (#1, 25-54, Morning Drive with Mary Ball, '84-'92 & led Q's #s middays '00-'07), CC's budget axe fell on fellow MZQ veteran, Seth Warner, and me last August. Now, after nearly a year of spending my kids' inheritance, I can borrow John Riggins' quote when he came out of retirement to join the Redskins in the early '80s, "I'm bored, I'm broke and I'm back." Listeners, (bless them one and all), have followed me, regardless of format, from MZQ to Oldies-100, WGAY, WASH and back to WMZQ. "When are you coming back?" has pulled even with "How is Mary Ball?" as the question I hear most at Safeway where I appear daily in the "15 Items or Less" line. Looking for a pro with a built-in following who's burning to get back on the air? Contact Jim London at cyrusplace@hotmail.com. Thanks. Jim London (6/30/08) Re: "Whenever 7 starts running the classic TV show net, it's going to be pretty choppy video." WETA TV currently runs 3 SD subchannels, and the video on them is just fine. Besides, WJLA could consider dropping Weather Now, which is only marginally useful (even if they don't, it can't use up all that many bits). ... On another subject, I don't understand the dichotomy of Bonneville was stupid to kill off WGMS but WETA FM should not have picked up the format. WETA failed at being a second public talker, WaPo radio is failing at being a commercial talker. There is simply way too much talk on the dial now. (6/30/08) Dave's response: I wouldn't say that WETA-TV's three standard-def digital channels are "just fine." They often sport muddy audio and choppy video. One of the WETA digital SD channels now runs WETA's main programming during the evening hours, and you can flip over to analog 26 to compare. And old analog 26 often looks and sounds better..... Albritton's ABC 27 in Harrisburg dropped their weather about one month ago and is now running RTN. There is no problem with the picture up here. JohnnyuinHanover,Pa. (6/30/08) Dave, I just dropped in to see what was up with DCRTV-Plus. Man, you've outdone yourself. There's some really great presentations up there. I hadn't been a visitor since page 41. The stuff is amazing and a joy to read. Ahhhhh, the Daze of GREAT RADIO,how sad that it's in the state it's in. Total Confusion, no great programming, no great hosting, nothing Great! I once again chime in with Ed Graham...IT'S BAD OUT THERE. Where have all the great talents gone??? PLB (6/30/08) Does anyone know when WJLA intends to start broadcasting RTN on a digital subchannel? All I have ever heard was "sometimes in 2008" or "later in 2008." BTW I have to say i just don't understand the results of the latest hotties contest. While I wish that Pamela Brown would pick a slightly more convincing shade of blonde she is absolutely gorgeous. (6/30/08) Dave's response: Whenever 7 starts running the classic TV show net, it's going to be pretty choppy video. With the station squeezing three standard-def digital subchannels (with Weather Now and Local Point already running) and JLA's HD channel into the bandwidth mix of one digital channel..... Dave, you are right about WAPO radio and public radio in DC. "There's so much public radio talk and music programming not airing here because DC only has WAMU." Just as an example, this is one of many sources of 1,000s of public programs that could be aired in DC, and why the Internet offers more than radio. www.prx.org... Plus the fact that there is little or no program development going on. I wonder, if Bonneville hadn't inherited WTOP programming, how would they be doing in DC. 3WT really is mediocre for a major market talk station. Citadel made a good move selling off the bad AMs. Bad radio doesn't beat other bad radio, it just drives listeners away. I don't want to be negative, but have you listened to this crap? You can't have five talk stations in one market with almost no good, local hosts. Please, somebody, do something great. Ed Graham (6/30/08) Dave's response: You meant to say that Clear Channel "sold off the bad AMs." While Citadel AMer WMAL's programming may suck, it does have a pretty good signal..... Not radio or TV related but still a great story...the arrest of Jacqueline Kent Cooke over the weekend in Boston. www.thebostonchannel.com... GE (6/30/08) Yes, Bonneville did show a tidy little profit of around 12 million on the 104 sale. My guess is that they have already spent that amount or more. WGMS was still making about 3 million in profit when the lights went off so they lose that money, and the ill fated WAPO and 3WT projects have lost millions. Throw in a bunch of severance packages and big legal bills and you got yourself a big “matzah ball” on your face! (6/30/08) Dave's response: It also seems to be that the 1500/107.7 combo "worked" when it was relaying popular WTOP. It doesn't seem to "work" with any other format. By moving WTOP over to WGMS's 103.5 did improve WTOP's signal, but it also created an unusable "orphan" out of 1500/107.7, an AMer in an FM market, and a rimshot FMer that can't be heard in DC or MD. Smart? Ehhh..... "What happens to 980 July 1? I'd guess a lot of pink slips. Mr. Snyder bought the station to shut the 980 critics of his beloved burgundy and gold." WTEM's current lineup will probably continue until Red Zebra figures out what to do with the various stations. But decisions have to be made soon because the Redskins are scheduled to play in the Hall of Fame game in a few short weeks. For years Sports Talk 980 has provided its own gameday presentation as an alternative to the official Redskins station, but I assume RZ would prefer not to go with separate pre and postgame shows on different frequencies. There's an opportunity to reunite Andy Pollin and Joe Jacoby, who hosted 980's postgame call-in show for more than a decade before Jake was hired by Danny's network two years ago. On Sports Reporters, Pollin's been dropping some hints that he plans to hang around and drink the burgundy and gold Kool Aid. He's never really been a harsh critic of Snyder anyway and in fact has applauded some of the owner's more controversial moves such as signing Deion Sanders and hiring Steve Spurrier as head coach. Regarding Reporters playing 'best of' material last Friday, they probably assumed that nobody would notice because according to Steve Czaban, the period from late June to late August is a 'dead zone' for sports when nothing remotely worth talking about takes place (never mind that a combined 75,000 fans showed up for sporting events at two separate stadiums in Washington yesterday). On MASN's telecast of Saturday's Nationals/Orioles game, I noticed that Amber Theoharis was always on camera for her O's reports while Debbi Taylor was heard but not seen during her Nats updates. That just doesn't seem right, but I guess it's not too surprising considering the stepchild status of DC's baseball team on a cable network owned and operated by Peter Angelos. Mike, Fairfax (6/30/08) Yet another record store memory...Kemp Mill Records with that crazy-ass announcer doing their radio spots. "It's amazing, it's incredible, it's $4.99...that's right, $4.99"! Let's not forget Record and Tape Traders, but I believe that was more of a Baltimore-area phenomenon. GE (6/30/08) To PrairieRobin and everybody mocking the weather coverage - I'm a former Iowan who now lives in DC, and that storm Saturday night was as violent a tornado that I've seen since I chased a F4-producing cell from Grainger through Camp Story and Altoona back in 2000. The difference out here is that we don't have the benefit of 2 to 10 miles of line-of-sight in most places. We can't see them coming from miles away - this area has way more hills and old-growth trees. The storms hit in Iowa, and you can count on WHO 1040AM to provide comprehensive storm-tracking coverage by radio. WTOP provided their regular traffic-and-weather report, just saying "watch out for the storms" - well, where are they? The only real storm tracking is being provided by the TV stations. Of course, that doesn't help folks in cars, or when the power gets knocked out, but it's better than nothing. We don't get the storm sirens around here, and we can't count on the local radio stations to give us the information we need. (6/30/08) (RE: Now that Bonneville's also blown up frequent top-fiver classical WGMS, it's down to just one major DC station, the always-successful all-newser WTOP. They've got to be kicking themselves on Idaho Avenue about the GMS blunder.) Not to rehash a topic that had plenty written about it, but it would be relevant to point out, that "blowing up WGMS" seemed like a calculated decision by Bonneville to bolster WTOP. from what I heard, they knew they were killing WGMS when they took it off 103.5...basically admitting that. however, we can safely assume that they figured Wash. Post Radio was going to be a hit...and when it was, would do much better then WGMS who struggled to just get to just $10 million in revenue each year. If they are kicking themsleves over anything, it is that Washington Post Radio failed. and that is why they are left with only one big player. they did sell 104.1 to Radio One for a big hunk of change (considering how bad that signal is for any format that doesn't target PG County and the district) and will make somewhere around $10-$15 million off that deal. I guess if you are only going to have one big station in a market, WTOP isn't a bad one to have. (6/30/08) Dave's response: In retrospect, I think the big mistake the WaPo made with WaPo Radio was to link up with Bonneville, which applied a traditional commercial talk radio format to the project. It might have been (more) successful, and more of an experiment, if it had been programmed more like a full-service public radio station, with move diversity among its programming. Including music-based programs. Look, with commercial WGMS gone, non-comm WETA-FM is devoted to classical when it should be the region's second major news/talk/music NPRer. There's so much public radio talk and music programming not airing here because DC only has WAMU. And WAMU can't get it done even with all its little-listened-to HD Radio channels. It's a shame that Minnesota Public Radio didn't get WGTS, with that Christian contemp format moving to one of the area's commercial outlets. DC radio is a never-ending reminder of unfulfilled potential..... It wasn't the joint Nationals/Orioles broadcasts that bothered me, it was the fact that I had an "MASN-HD" logo in the corner all weekend and I couldn't see the games in HD...thanks Dish Network! Greg in Reisterstown (6/30/08) "Pall:" If you stop spelling it "Faux News" or "Faux 5," we'll stop calling you "Pall." No station can invent a tornado warning on their own. The decision of upgrading a "watch" to a "warning" lies with NOAA and the National Weather Service. We happen to be in a very active storm season that has produced more bow echoes than usual, creating more dirt devils, waterspouts and tornadoes. Mommy made you some warm milk and cookies before bedtime, so slip into your jammies. Now! Or, you won't get to stay up and watch Louie Allen's "Woodle!" (6/30/08) It was fun remembering all the local DC-area music stores from back in the day - but at least one was left out of the line-up: Jack Schaeffer's GIANT MUSIC CENTER! Here's a spot by Jack Alix, from the WPGC Tribute Site, during the 1966 Christmas season www.amandfmmorningside.com (6/30/08) Too bad that another record store is going out of business. I remember when Orpheus was on M Street in Georgetown. I don't know why they moved. Was it high rent and/or taxes in D.C.? Well, I hope they don't quit, they and find a new location for their store. I miss the old record stores, where the people who worked there were enthusiastic, and could knowledgeably talk about different types of music. The old Penguin Feather stores always had cool people working behind their counters. Well, I suppose the record store is dead. Will the CD soon follow vinyl into a small niche, like the LP? JOHN IN STAFFORD (6/30/08) /\ June 30 Messages /\ \/ June 29 Messages \/ Goodbye Scott Garceau, Goodbye WMAR-TV. The last person worth watching on channel 2 is being pushed out the door by his own station. I watched DC/Baltimore's best sportscaster announce his departure at the end of his 11p Friday sportscast. Sure, WMAR will save his big salary but at what price? WMAR will lose much more in revenue because viewers no longer have any reason to watch its pathetic daily newscasts. Worst personnel decision since Maryland Public Television fired Wall Street Week's Louis Rukeyser. And we all know how badly that ended for the contemptable dunces at MPT and PBS. (6/29/08) WNUV-DT / The CW Baltimore is still skipping away out of sync in Hi-Def 1080i in primetime now for 2 months!! Anybody home at Sinclair ?!?!?!? Or do they have a team of engineers that are just too busy trying to make that racoon on Jeff Barnd's head look less scary in Hi-Def? :-) (6/29/08) Spotted ex-Danny Boy employee Bram Weinstein last night on ESPN News during the Nats/O's rain delay (thank goodness MASN runs something else during a delay besides a MASH rerun for the 400th time). He sounded reasonably competent, actually. Out here in Luray on Dish Network, I got Nats/O's on MASN and MASN 2 today, and on both MASN 2 and Ch. 20 Fri. and Sat. nights. Guess I live in the right zip code - go figure - - - - - Larry in Luray (6/29/08) Went by the Border's in toothless fairfax Sunday and found the music section had shrunk considerably. When inquiring was told plans were to phase out entirely. Us old farts being left behind? I thought the baby boomers were huge with lots of disposable income? I still think the sound of records is best! Which btws, the closing sale goes on at Orpheus Records in Arlington, the deal to turn building into another restaurant fell through so the store goes on through end of July. Go in smell a bit of yesterday one last time. Hey the smell ain't that bad. Meanwhile, Clarendon turns into Ballston whoopie(sic). Listened to El Jefe and J. Dubs Hideout Saturday night and the dynamic duo don't work together during the week? and The Hideout is only time they see each other anymore? Doesn't sound like a situation that calls for The Hideout to continue much longer, sigh'! Missed the Joe Radio show, last week's edition had been an all call in show, Joe hadn't prepared anything. Too busy with all the hard work going into the O'Meara show,(sic)? And finally, listened to about an hour and a half of WJZW True Oldies late Saturday night. I'd say the ratio was 4 to 1 playing 70's music versus 60's music. Seems like only when Scott Shannon is doing a show do you get a few more 60's songs but I sense that's even changing. Man it's just turning into WASH II zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz With the Dreaded Zebra network being carried on 5 stations, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, does that mean the ad rates will be higher to whom ever chooses to advertise on the Dreaded Zebra? (6/29/08) Nationals fans may not have wanted a sea of orange in D.C. but the Nationals management deliberately sought it. The Washington Nationals directly promoted the series in the Baltimore media including ad buys with The Sun & WBAL radio. Let's not blame Bob Carpenter or Peter Angelos for this one. Everett W. (6/29/08) I have to say I disagree completely about MASN joint broadcasts. As an Orioles fan, I love seeing Don Sutton especially and Bob Carpenter is growing on me too. Sure, Jim Hunter is a bit of a homer, but when mostly the Nats team was calling the game, I didn't find that it bothered me any more than watching a FOX Saturday game really. I don't understand what all the fuss is about. Not to mention that more than half of the Nats fans are or were at one time Orioles fans and are used to hearing the O's broadcasting team. Maybe one day, there will be an intense rivalry, but honestly I just don't see it that way right now with the Nats being so new. I'm sure Angelos likes it for the cost savings, but don't forget, its also promoting the Nats broadcast team and the Nats to lifelong Orioles fans, many of whom may not have ever watched a Nats game. If anything, I'd think Orioles fans would be more offended, but like I said, I wasn't. What other teams can put together that much talent and analysis for a single series of baseball games? As for the "Final Destination" accident at Six Flags, I believe I read somewhere that a single person's foot, ummm, how do I say this delicately, ummm, punted the ball well. Wouldn't wanna be that person getting off the ride with the bloody shoe that's for sure. Geez. :-( (6/29/08) Why is Faux 5 giving Tornado Warnings every single time there's a prediction of thunderstorms? I know some storms are ''severe'' but Faux just seems to can't wait to put the doom and gloom in. Seriously, all DC TV ''Forecasters'': Stop pushing the panic button with every blip on a radar. It's Summer. It rains. I'm pretty positive most people get the concept. Paul (6/29/08) Marc, Troy and Marva's Original Big Phat Reunion Crabfeast & Party-Tickets are Selling Fast. Friday, July 25, Martin's West. 8pm-Midnight. Open Bar, #1 Crabs, DJ Tanz, Hot & Cold Buffets. $65. Fundraiser for Baltimore Citywide Youth Tackle Football Program & Association of Black Media Workers (ABMW) Scholarship Fund. 410-599-9159 or marva@marvadevents.com (6/29/08) Glen Music in their "Convenient Downtown Location" at 12th and G Sts held off the onslaught of local record chains before finally throwing in the towel around 1978 when the first Peaches mega-store opened in the 'burbs. Of the the locally owned music giants, Max Silverberg's "Waxie Maxie's" was still adding locations as was The Schwartz Brothers' "Harmony Hut" chain. Of course, "Kemp Mill" was "breaking all the records". (It wasn't until 1984 that "Tower Records" arrived and dwarfed them all.) I worked for John Olsson back in the '70s when his stores were still called "Record & Tape, Ltd. with The Book Annex" and most music came on round, grooved platters with one hole in the center. If money was a little tight as payday approached, you could count on Johnny O to quickly declare a "big sale" and immediately prime the cash pump at the registers. I don't remember him ever failing to make a payroll. (6/29/08) Here's hoping that Peter Angelos and MASN will get rid of the joint broadcasts of the Nationals games against the Orioles next year. As a Nationals fan, I want to hear our hometown broadcasters. I don't want to hear Jim Hunter get excited when the Orioles hit home runs in a 9-1 blow out of my team on my broadcast. I don't want to hear Hunter go nuts when Luke Scott tied today's game with a homer. In fact, I almost threw my shoe at the TV. Hey, Hunter is doing his job. He is an Orioles announcer paid by the Orioles. How would Angelos and the Oriole like to hear the Yankees or Red Sox announcers call of games when the Orioles play them? Also, several times in the series Bob Carpenter has commented about how nice it is to see "orange" or Orioles fans in the ballpark. Give me a break! I don't want to see any "orange" or Orioles or any other visiting fans in Nationals Park. You think Asbestos Pete and Orioles fans love seeing all those Red Sox and Yankees fans at Camden Yards? My guess is Carpenter feels the need to see this since he works for the MASN-run Orioles, so I am not putting this on him. Look, they already use Nationals graphics, pre and post game shows on MASN and the Orioles on MASN2, so let's do the same with the announcers. I filled out a survey sent to me by MASN about the split-crews. Did anyone ever see the results of these surveys? Matt in Olney (6/29/08) How exactly does a roller coaster knock someone's head clean off their body? This coaster in particular was one of those where you hang from above, rather than sit in a moving tram car. It's all so very 'Final Destination' ... (6/29/08) Re: the recent comment about the 6 Flags tv ad ("Mo flags, Mo fun") and 6 Flags in general: "This is the reason why Six Flags has taken the reputation of being an unsafe place to visit." The reason 6 Flags is unsafe to visit is because it's located in PG County (en.wikipedia.org (scroll down to "Crime and Law Enforcement")). (6/29/08) Hey Roddy, that's a good question about Buzz Bennett. Perhaps, Bob Mathers would know. Buddy shared in a chat that Buzz and the guys loved to play practical jobs on him during the TV show days. When Buddy would do live spots featuring any type of product it was always rigged in some way especially the carbonated stuff. Ah, live TV. Live radio has it's moments too as many of us know. Blessings to all for a happy 4th if we do not speak beforehand. Love, Joyce Conroy (WHFC) (6/29/08) Regarding the DC weather fear-meisters - I issue an open invitation to come out to Iowa to see what constitutes a real weather emergency. We've endured a record snowfall and frigid winter, endless spring rains, tornadoes and flooding. I'd welcome the opportunity to go through a DC thunderstorm compared to what we're been through! ~PrairieRobin (a former DC resident) (6/29/08) It turns out Blaine Young walked off his WFMD show on Saturday due to a contract dispute: www.fredericknewspost.com... Guess he showed them. (6/29/08) Obviously a terrible, horrible tragedy, but according to several comments at AOL News (not exactly the best source for truth but sort of locally based to some extent), Six Flags employees (teenagers) often let other teenagers into restricted areas unsupervised. That was posted by an alleged Six Flags employee (teenager) in Georgia, so sure, Six Flags probably isn't liable here, but apparently Danny Snyder at the very least has detractors in MANY states of the U.S.! (6/29/08) Just What Dan Snyder Didn't Need... www.wtopnews.com... As much as I can't stand the sonofabitch... I feel sorry for him on this... A teenager was decapitated by a roller coaster after he hopped a pair of fences and entered a restricted area Saturday at Six Flags Over Georgia, authorities said... Authorities were investigating reports from witnesses who said the teenager jumped the fences to retrieve a hat he lost while riding the Batman roller coaster... (6/29/08) Dave's response: A tragic story, to be sure, but the kid allegedly climbed several fences and "broke into" a restricted, dangerous area of the park. I can't imagine Snyder's company will be held liable, and even if it is, I'm sure his firm is quite heavily-insured..... Looking forward to going to the Nats game on Sunday. Listening at home on the radio tonight to Charlie & Dave while watching MASN (old habit started the first year). As MASN on WDCA cutaway to the usual old episode of M*A*S*H, Charlie & Dave updated us on the scoreboard, took a handful of calls, played interviews with former Washington Senators Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew (WOW that was incredible to hear a childhood hero!) and Joel Hanrahan. Then as quick as it started an hour earlier they got us set for the game to resume after the rain delay. As the previous poster said, why couldn't MASN do the same thing? Aren't Johnny Holliday and Ray Knight and Rick Dempsey and so on available at the MASN studios along with the dual broadcast crews at Nationals Park? Inexcusable for the fans. Kudos to the real "voices" of the team. - Jerry (6/29/08) Dave, on a nice Saturday evening in Pasadena when it’s 71 and 10% humidity (Compared with your horrid 75 temp and 83% humidity –I just looked at WTOP’s website!) I thank you for posting the old WWDC Top-40 chart on the best value in broadcast history preservation, DCRTV+. My father used to pick those charts up at a place called “Glen’s Music” on G Street N.W. in D.C. whenever he’d buy 45’s for me while stopping off between Keene’s and Corr’s. As I recall, “Glen’s” was adjacent to Campbell’s Music and several other music and record stores in that part of Washington. What 45’s I still have from the early 1960’s (Some actually survived the move west!) that didn’t come from “Glen’s”, came from my aunt who was a floor manager at the old Neisner’s Department Store that was nearby. All that vanished I guess, in the re-development of downtown D.C. that came post-Metro. Anyone besides yours truly remember the “discount stores” that proliferated on F Street N.W.? They had a seemingly endless array of fascinating imported radios, tape recorders, cameras, etc. One record I lost along the way during my many moves was something called “High School U.S.A.” by Tommy Facenda (IIRC the spelling correctly!)… In the version I had (and lost) on the “A” side, he called out the names of the various high schools in the D.C. area back then… Anacostia, Dunbar, Wilson, Duvall, etc., while on the “B” side, different cities were mentioned. I have the 45 Nichole’s late mother left behind when she passed away. But, being from the Southland, all the high schools mentioned on her copy are those local to L.A. back then. Does anyone else remember this seemingly obscure oldie? I understand that at least ten different versions were cut to reflect the local high schools in the major markets back then. I enjoy the site immensely, Dave. While it brings back happy memories of my younger days, I must say that the best days are those that lie ahead of us all. Oh yes, WWDC was definitely what could be called “chicken rock” back in the 1960’s. However, it did boast a full service news department. They also had a Hughes 300 traffic helicopter, “Copter 1260”, IIRC. The last time I was in D.C. and punched-up 1260, the signal was only a mere shadow of its former self. But, isn’t that also true of what were once so many near-powerhouse local AM signals? -John Pinckney of Pasadena, California (and a long way from the mess that is Northern Virginia!) (6/29/08) Dave's response: Regarding your crack about the weather, yesterday evening here in Reston we got the outflow from some nearby thunderboomers. No rain, but a lot of gusty wind. Actually, a very pretty evening. A very warm, sunny, not overly-humid day, followed by a rather majestic evening of big dark billowing purple clouds amidst the windy sunset. A quite stunning weather event. It's a shame that the TV weatherman have turned into "fear hypecasters" - turning every weather event, many quite beautiful and stunning like summer thunderboomers, into something we're to fear. Yeah, don't stand outside during a lightning storm (duh). But these TV weather idiots are doing a huge disservice to the abject awe and beautity of nature when they try to make every storm seem like the end of civilization as we know it with their plethora of daily "warnings" and "watches." C'mon guys (and Sue). Sheesh..... Does anyone know why Blaine Young was off the air for the 10 AM to 11 AM hour of AM 930 WFMD's "Frederick's Forum" on Saturday? All I know is what Dave Serio mentioned on his show that followed, namely that PD Frank Mitchell had to take over for the second hour. Serio joked about a "contract holdout" (possibly a passing reference to Laura Ingraham, aired on WFMD), but he did not elaborate further. So I have no idea whether Young had to take care of some family emergency or had to get his foot extricated from his mouth yet again. (6/29/08) It's nice to see the Baltimore Sun credited you for the Scott Garceau scoop. The Sun has become quite progressive in crediting online sources for their scoops, though not in the sports department. (6/29/08) /\ June 29 Messages /\ \/ June 28 Messages \/ Why does MASN feel that they need to break away for "alternate programing" within one minute of a rain delay? With that crowded booth wouldn't you think that they could think of something to say to each other instead of having this phony crap that is on now? (6/28/08) Maybe what Six Flags needs is a good controversy in order to increase attendance? We went there last week and I'm quite certain that we will never return. The place has gone down in quality over the past year. The park itself is dirty and graffiti is seen about in different areas. Also, when asking some of the employees there (especially in the Looney Tunes section) specific questions about whether or not some rides were broken or just not open, no one had a clear answer. No one had a clear answer either on the question of whether or not there would be a "Justice Show" that day (or whatever it's called). Well, there was no show that day because of a concert taking place later in the week. That's one of the reasons we took our son there in the first place. Also, the fact that we pay for a ticket to enter and we still have to pay to use the Sonora Speedway is beyond ridiculous. Some management are clueless and have no forthcoming information on why this is. There are many youths milling about (unsupervised) and harrassing families. No one seems to care about this. This is the reason why Six Flags has taken the reputation of being an unsafe place to visit. They need to do something about all of this. Maybe the Asian guy in the TV commercial ain't such a bad idea. (6/28/08) Ha! Don Geronimo has to be wetting himself with laughter right now. Back in the early to mid-90s, Bruce Bond was infamous for stealing D&M's material off 1300-AM and recycling it on WNNK-FM as his own work in Harrisburg. Bond even won an NAB Marconi award for Medium Market talent of the year in 1996, on the work of more talented people he lifted his entire show from. When D&M got syndicated into Harrisburg, they did their best to give Bruce what-fer to little effect. Well now, Bruce is in the jug facing prison time and Don is living the life in O.C. Ain't Karma a (nasty female doggie)? -Signed, ex-WNNK'er and one of hundreds P.O'd by Bruce Bond (6/28/08) I agree with the poster about the 6 Flags ad. It has annoyed me since it first began to broadcast. I mean how politically incorrect can you get? I think it's offensive even if you're not Asian. If that was a black guy saying "MO FLAGS, MO FUN" Al Sharpton would have immediately grabbed some air time and you can bet the ad would have been taken off the air long ago. (6/28/08) Joyce Conroy: Speaking of the Committee, does anyone know the whereabouts of Buzz Bennett? He was such a notorious radio figure but seemed to disappear at the end of the 80’s. Roddy Freeman (6/28/08) Scott Garceau single handedly rescued channel 2 sports and the station when he came to Baltimore in 1980. He always conducted himself with class. He will be missed on the evening news but WMAR, like nearly all other local stations in Baltimore and Washington with the exception of WBFF, have so severely cut back on the on the amount of air time allotted to sports, why stick around until 11pm just to do a two and a half minute show? Now he gets to continue to do what he loves and go to bed at a reasonable time. Good for him! Congratulations Scott and good luck. (6/28/08) What happens to 980 July 1? I'd guess a lot of pink slips. Mr. Snyder bought the station to shut the 980 critics of his beloved burgundy and gold. --Steve (6/28/08) Just wanted to thank my radio uncle Bob Mathers for the fun time and great job at the Block Party last Sunday. It was a memorable tribute to Buddy Deane and it was a blast meeting many of the Committee members like John and Connie Sankonis, Polka Joe, Gene and Linda Snyder, Sue Bennett and of course, Madison James who is one heck of a dancer. I think yours truly is getting the Madison down, but it is still fun to do Jack Gale's version of the Sloppy Madison. Have to remember it's not a karate form and kill the others beside me. Let's get Buddy Deane into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Have fun this weekend my friends. I am chatting with Mike Vale of Hog Heaven (one of the former Shondells on "The Block Party" tonight. Blessings. Joyce (WHFC) (6/28/08) Former Harrisburg radio personality Bruce Bond is in some deeeeeep doo-doo: www.whtm.com... More detailed story here: pennlive.com... (6/28/08) What is up with the Six Flags TV spots. I mean, that little guy that screams "MO FLAGS, MO FUN" is so annoying. Bring back the old dancing bald man! I mean, if I was asian...I'd be offended by that spot. (6/28/08) What becomes of WTEM on July 1st? So maybe the ones left don't care whats on cause they'll be out the door soon anyway. So Joanne's Bed and Back is no more bankruptcy and bought by rival. didn't Joanne's first start off with a big ad campaign on the old Trumbull and Core. Me I like the True Oldies but there is a creep going on of less '60's music and more and more of the overplayed '70's and the other afternoon heard some 80's. Yuck! sounding just like 3 other stations in the market. And the AOL/CBS Radio alliance is a drag so far, cannot get the new player to work or shuts off after one song. Most of the CBS stations appear to be the HD station in most markets so hard to tell if they got some interesting stuff going on and it's not just the D.C. market that sucks for CBS well except for WPGC, of course my opinion and by gawd old Ken would fight to the death for me on that and say I do enjoy the curly fries Come On! Pamela Brown folks! (6/28/08) Dave's response: I'm hearing that 980, 730, 570, 1260, 94.3, and 92.7 will all sound pretty much the same come 7/1, with the big changes coming in late August or early September as Red Zebra ramps up its expanded operations..... Comcast - five or six years ago I needed to get cable internet; the installer offered me basic cable in addition for a "one time fee" of $40. I had two $20 bills ready then decided that the way my luck works I would probably be the one to get caught. --- Burf from Bikke (6/28/08) Goodbye Scott Garceau, Goodbye WMAR-TV. The last person worth watching on channel 2 is being pushed out the door by his own station. I watched DC/Baltimore's best sportscaster announce his departure at the end of his 11p Friday sportscast. Sure, WMAR will save his big salary but at what price? WMAR will lose much more in revenue because viewers no longer have any reason to watch its pathetic daily newscasts. Worst personnel decision since Maryland Public Television fired Wall Street Week's Louis Rukeyser. And we all know how badly that ended for the contemptable dunces at MPT and PBS. (6/28/08) "....Garceau's move was reported earlier today by the Web site dcrtv.com... " Nice going Dave. (6/28/08) /\ June 28 Messages /\ \/ June 27 Messages \/ Sun credits you for breaking the story... Sports anchor Garceau leaving WMAR... Veteran newsman spent 36 years on air in Baltimore... FROM STAFF REPORTS... 6:49 PM EDT, June 27, 2008... Veteran sports anchor Scott Garceau announced he is leaving his job at WMAR after 36 years on the air in Baltimore. Garceau made the announcement at the end of his segment during Channel 2's 6 p.m. newscast. He said Thursday would be his last appearance as WMAR's sports anchor but he would continue to be seen on WMAR on such things as college lacrosse coverage. Garceau said he also would "pursue other broadcast opportunities" locally and regionally. Garceau's move was reported earlier today by the Web site dcrtv.com... www.baltimoresun.com...(6/27/08) Dave's response: Wow! Take that Paul Farhi..... Well, Dave as long as you're on the subject of "kiss cam" catching Chris Wallace, (front page), how about this little gem caught during a station break on this morning's Today Show? Curry & Viera....don't wanna know, don't need to know, just enjoy it everybody! (6/27/08) Dave: The ratings that came out today are Spring 2008 Phase 2. They measure ratings during the 12 weeks from March 6 - May 28. So, those afternoon ratings from WJFK you discuss on your main page aren't entirely due to the Mike O'Meara Show. Some portion is live Don & Mike (March 6 - March 13), some portion is Best of Don & Mike (March 14 - April 4), some portion is the special retrospective Best of Don & Mike (April 7 - April 10), one day is the last D&M show (April 11), and some portion is the Mike O'Meara Show (April 14 - May 28). Take from that what you will. -Ari (6/27/08) Dave's response: I was led to believe that those O'Meara numbers in the blurb today are May numbers, completely post-Geronimo..... to echo the other poster, yeah it would make it too much sense to give someone else at 980 a shot to fill in for the sports reporters. God forbid they try anything different. RIP 980. (6/27/08) Let's see . . . all a sports talk station has to sell, really, is TODAY -- they talk about what's new in sports, and what's going to happen, and so on. Immediacy. So what's Sportscrap980 got on today at 4PM? "The Best of the Sports Reporters". OK, that would be pathetic at 3 a.m. It's REALLY kind of sad at 4 p.m. They don't have some hungry young readers on that station that would love a couple of hours of air time? Just lazy, really, but typical of that station. Sincerely, TMU (6/27/08) So, I send Steve Doocy a note wishing him happy birthday...his response...thanks but my birthday is in october. (6/27/08) Dave's response: Well, he had his brain reprogrammed with the Murdochian Chip in October, so I guess he now celebrates his "birthday" in that month..... The nightly sportscasts may be walking out the door along with Scott. The smart money says management will take a page from a Scripps sister station and restrict the traditional sports segment to weekends only. That would leave some GAPING holes during Ravens season, especially if/when they're in the playoffs. Also...if I were Norm Lewis or Mary Beth Marsden, I wouldn't be feeling too comfortable right now. Especially Norm. Garceau was EXTREMELY expensive, and he's leaving because the station's offer for a new deal was embarrassing. MB and Norm are both making as much as Scott was, and probably more. It's stunning to think of the huge names the station has lost in the past 12 months: Scott Broom, Tisha Thompson, Brian Wood, and now Scott. That's a LOT of key people to walk away/be shown the door in that short a period, and we're not even counting the dozens of off-camera folks who have been axed or ran for the hills. As one who ran for the hills, all I can do is shake my head and sigh. (6/27/08) Scott Garceau was on 1570 with Rob Long and Bob Haney around 2pm to clear everything up. Paraphrased- he is no longer doing anchor desk work there as of next Thursday, but will continue to be doing special projects, like ravens and preakness coverage. He also will be doing the ESPNU lacrosse games and other regional opportunities. (6/27/08) Dave's response: Yeah, that's what 2's press release of this afternoon confirms. See the blurb we just got up on the Front Page. Sounds like he's free to do stuff with sports talk radio or one of the regional cable sports talk nets. Kind of like George Michael's deal with NBC4. Still seen on the station, but no longer doing nightly sports duties..... (Dave's response: I know someone who scaled back his service to basic-only - about 30 channels - and Comcast/Montgomery County never bothered to come around to "filter-out" the expanded basic channels. So, he's paying less than $20 a month for about 70 channels of expanded basic cable.....) We call that a cable drive by or a coffee shop work order.Installer (usually a contractor) see's a easy way to make a quick buck and completes work order as if he did it . (6/27/08) Dave's response: I've known friends in apartment complexes who get free cable because the cable company never disconnected the service from the previous tennant. Yeah, if you want a box to get premium and digital channels, you have to establish an account with the cable company and pay for it. But if you just want to view basic or expanded basic cable without a converter box, it often works..... I am glad to hear that Kirk Mark and Lope….OOOpppss Shamrock have got stones. Now if they could just find a way to be funny or entertaining. Elkridge Steve (6/27/08) I don't think the Catholic church has any right to be lambasting anyone over a 'morality' issue. Signed, Madeline M. O'Hair (6/27/08) Is that Buzz Burbank and his wife in the "DCRTVLAND LIFE IS GOOD" photo? (6/27/08) Dave's response: Yes, that's Buzz and Marsha..... RE Your Front Page: "Some "insider" jokes during the "Big O And Dukes Show" this morning on WJFK-FM about coming to work to find the CBS guy talk station's 106.7 Fairfax studios boarded-up, with a move to Silver Spring." You didn't get it Dave, there have been rumors for years that corporate would move the WJFK staff and studios to be in the same building as the rest of the local CBS stations - not combine JFK with the Globe for more coverage. Don and Mike used to talk about how they put their foot down about it, obviously before Don made the crew move to Rockville anyway. (6/27/08) Dave's response: The only reason 94.7's studios are all-by-themselves in Silver Spring and not in the CBS DC radio HQ in Lanham (along with PGC and LZL) is because 94.7 is a union shop. JFK ain't. So there'd be no need to move them to SS, when they could go to Lanham, instead. But JFK is licensed to Manassas, and moving the studio across the river all the way to SS or Lanham might not be so cool with the FCC. What's the distance between city of license Manassas and the studio in Lanham? Something like 40 miles..... EdRod....Graham and I already have our bibs on. You know, we geezers drool! (LOL)Give me a shout, I'll treat you to lunch anytime. PLB (6/27/08) Dave's response: I hear that PLB has an O'Meara's Lifetime Free Meal Card. Oh, nevermind..... “You're a hypocrite of the worst kind.” Hey OP, don’t forget to pick up your 2008 Limbaugh Pill Popper’s Hypocrite of the Worst Kind Trophy next to the podium. Damn, why can’t I ever win anything cool like that!! (6/27/08) Hi Dave, Here's a link to a WRC 1986 promo with lots of shots of birthday boy Steve Doocy! www.youtube.com... Tom in DC (6/27/08) Have it on pretty good authority that the longest tenured Baltimore sportscaster is out coming up next week. Charm City will be losing a real class guy and a great broadcaster. It seems that sports is being de-emphasized in B-more and most markets I assume. I know Sports isn’t the best ratings grabber, but when there are times when it can galvanize a city and if you don’t have a “known commodity” heading up the coverage, you will lose winners. (6/27/08) To the poster who showed no class in dubbing Lara Logan a "whore:" She goes to bed with a married man and she's the villian? And she has another boyfriend, so what? I suppose he's a saint too, huh? What business is it of yours? You're a hypocrite of the worst kind. (6/27/08) Dave what Is the status of the WPGC-FM PD job It has been open for months are they close to naming someone? What are you hearing? (6/27/08) Any update on Gurvir's absence?..I also saw a reporter by the name of Carolyn Presutti this morning. Is she new? (6/27/08) As announced on Thursday's Big O and Dukes, DCRTV hears that Tom Leykis will soon be joining the WJFK evening lineup. Hopefully not in the Loveline slot; keeping Rome.... brutal. Leykis then Loveline.... epic! --- Biff from Burke (6/27/08) that's great! bring laura logan to DC so i can bang her and her little british ascent. (6/27/08) Wow! Nice words from Ed Graham and PLB. Thanks! The bad news is that now I have to pick up the check the next time we see each other! :D E-Rod (6/27/08) I'm just curious; as a minority, US military veteran, who has worked as a 'mercenary' for a private military company overseas & is currently going through chemotherapy treatments...(that's why I have to watch 'countdown') Why does Keith Olberman of 'countdown' hate Americans like me so much? Sure Keith it must be great to live in a multi-million$ ivory tower in NYC... but come on. Get out and talk to 'real people' once in awhile? Such arrogance in the media. "TRIAD_SPOOK" (6/27/08) Hello, all - Somehow the stars aligned in our favor, or was it just Chris Wallace, but on this weekend's edition of Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, the "Power Player of the Week" will be (drum roll)... The Q&A Cafe! When he showed up to interview me for the segment, Chris asked, "Do you want to know why we're doing this?" I nodded. "I watch the show every Saturday on Channel 28," he said. So, please, if you don't already, please tune your HD TV's to your local Fox channel this coming Sunday morning at 9 a.m. The "Power Player" segment happens at about 9:53 into the show. It will repeat on the Fox News cable channel at 6 pm (Comcast Channel 37, Direct TV 360), which translates to 6:53. My advice: watch the whole show. This is a significant accomplishment for The Q&A Cafe, the only talk show on the planet that happens in a corner saloon, a show that's now 7 years old, and it wouldn't have happened without the support of you, our friends and fans. Until then, please watch the most recent Q&A, with John F. Kennedy's loving and devoted friend and collaborative wordsmith, Ted Sorensen, on YouTube at this link: www.youtube.com... Thank you, Carol (6/27/08) /\ June 27 Messages /\ \/ June 26 Messages \/ Sorry to disappoint you but whoever is receiving the Comcast programming without paying for it is committing a crime. It is no different than someone who goes through a checkout line in a grocery store and knowingly walks out the door with a ten dollar steak that the cashier forgot to ring up. Or the person who sees a wallet on the street, picks it up and sees a hundred dollars and a drivers license, and fails to either turn it into the police or contact the owner. (6/26/08) Dave's response: So, if a customer requests Comcast's basic-only service and Comcast then fails to filter-out the expanded basic channels, the customer is committing a crime? I can't believe that. Or what about a Comcast customer who discovers, through no fault of their own, that a channel not in their paid-for channel "package" happens to be coming through on their box without requesting it. Are they to be jailed, too, for not reporting it? Sorry, Mr. Orwell, but I just can't equate that to smuggling a steak in one's pants from the Safeway..... RE: [ " With Don G. returning to the airwaves in OC, will doorways be big enough to fit both him and JJ McKay's head through? " ]......... JJ AKA The HITMAN hasn't been at Seacrets for quite awhile, he's at The WORLD FAMOUS Purple Moose on the OC Boardwalk last I checked. He once gave me a quick tour of the then being built Ocean 98 setup, great guy. :-) (6/26/08) Some Funny posts, Good Luck to Don G., in Ocean City, He will enjoy playing his own format sorta like D.J. Batman does on weekend with that station....like the earlier poster said, will they'll be enough room, for Don, Bullfraud, and Mister More, in that same building on 49th st, we will see and listen. Definitely enough mixed drinks, and pain in the asses, hehehe But, Looking at Salisbury ratings, WOCM's .7 ratings...he will only be a plug for the hole in that sinking ship on de bay In O.C. signed sunny and 85 in OCMD (6/26/08) More on Don G working in OC, from The Daily Times: www.delmarvanow.com (6/26/08) RE: [ " Dave's response: I know someone who " ]...... I know someone who cancelled Comcast and the Comcast employee or contractor was too lazy to climb the pole and turn the cable off at the box like they're supposed to or even disconnect the line to the house! Instead, he just disconnected the outside and inside cables, both installed by the homeowner I might add, right near the damn TV! HAha! When he reconnected the 2, BINGO, cable TV is back. I warned him that that is probably illegal still since Comcast has successfully lobbied for all kinds of draconian cable theft laws in most counties and states, but in my humble opinion, I don't blame him, nor do I think he really did anything wrong. If Comcast doesn't shut your cable TV completely off and leave all Comcast installed lines intact, why should the customer be at fault for re-connecting his OWN wiring? Oh, and to add insult to injury, Comcast didn't reconnect the guy's antenna cable which was right NEXT to the cable TV cable he did disconnect! So what should he say in court I wonder? Ooops, I reconnected the WRONG cable, MY BAD? :-) (6/26/08) Congratulations to WTOP New Media reporter Markette Smith who yesterday was crowned Mrs. District of Columbia. (6/26/08) Check out this page: www.politico.com... SO WHY DONT YOU GUYS CALL ME??? (6/26/08) RE: Comcast dropping DC channels. Since my DirecTV will only allow me to have Baltimore affiliates, I had Comcast basic just to receive the DC channels I called to cancel my basic subscription but want to keep my internet connection. They told me there would be a one time fee of $15 to put a filter on my cable. I asked them how could they charge me to put a filter on something I didn't want. There was silence on the other end. It was just 4 years ago they begged me to sign up for basic because they didn't want to come out and put the filter on at their expense ($7). Now they want me to pay for something I don't want. HOW? Looks like Verizon here I come. (6/26/08) Dave's response: I know someone who scaled back his service to basic-only - about 30 channels - and Comcast/Montgomery County never bothered to come around to "filter-out" the expanded basic channels. So, he's paying less than $20 a month for about 70 channels of expanded basic cable..... That guy Byron Kerr must have pictures of someone at 3WT. No question he dodges anything remotely critical of the team. On the other hand, did you catch Nats post game extra with Holiday and Knight Monday night on MASN? Talk about being honest in assessing the team, they were right on, and even brought in Carpenter and Sutton to get there thoughts. Not critical mind you, but honest and to the point. Very refreshing show and enjoyable to watch. Looks like a couple of guys sitting around with some buddies telling Baseball stories.. (6/26/08) brian wilson lives in toledo, ohio. he's also program director of "news talk 1370 wspd" out there as well. (6/26/08) EdRod, I have to agree with Ed Graham, (not that that's unusual) But I consider you one of the survivors. Life in this industry is tough if it's your choice of occupation. I've known many that quit and moved on to another career. It's not for the frail. To continue to work is a sign of strength and determination that a lot of the folks in this industry don't have. Go for it. PLB (6/26/08) Kirk, Mark & Shamrock played a song called "Nail the Mayor Get a Contract" this morning. (it's up on their site.) Looks like THEY have "the stones" over @ HFS. (6/26/08) OK; I get 'the deal' now. "brian wilson" aint 'local/baltimore' (he has admitted to having 2 radio shows) and seems to have no pulse on local/current baltimore events. (he is some type of whore filling in CBSRadio 'talk format') Where does he live by the way? I am curious? does "brian wilson" HAVE ANY CLUE ABOUT THE 2 HOURS OF RADIO THAT WASTE THE TIME BEFORE HE COMES? -"troy johnson show"... Its '2 hours' of lefty/liberal stuck-up talk that wastes air time on 105.7fm. Everything he spews goes against "brian wilson" (and even "ed norris") I AM CURIOUS? -WHY IS THERE NO 'CONNECTION' BETWEEN THESE TWO PATHETIC SHOWS? ~Arthur S. (6/26/08) CNN Radio was lucky enough to have Ira Mellman for a while too. I think I heard him via the network on local WNAV. Here's hoping he shakes something loose. (6/26/08) ''Im Mike Wallace. I'm Leslie Stahl. I'm Steve Kroft. I'm A Complete Whore. All that and Andy Rooney, tonight on 60 Minutes.'' Wheeeeeeeeeeeee! Paul (6/26/08) RIP Jay Votel. It's shocking to lose such a talented reporter, editor and musician at a relatively young 52 (although the great Ted Williams once said, "After 40, you're on a pass") Jay will be missed by his friends and family and countless colleagues. To learn more about Jay log onto: alleghenyuprising.com... Vaya con dios Jay! (6/26/08) The application for 250 watts daytime on 1700 kHz in Jackson, CA, is for test transmissions for measuring ground conductivities. The FCC grant is for Special Field Test Authority as KJ6XCA that expires July 27. Regards, Dave Loudin (6/26/08) With the state of broadcasting today, there are a lot of extremely talented people on the street. In my honest opinion, no one deserves to be behind a microphone more than Ira Mellman. Anyone who knows him, or has had the pleasure of working with him as I have (10 years at BIG100.3) is fully aware that Ira is a true professional, an honest, hard-working talent that any DC area operation should be proud to have on their staff. During my 55 year career, I've been very selective about giving recommendations. However, when it comes to Ira, I would never hesitate to recommend one of the finest professionals I've ever worked with. Get in touch with Ira, he's the best hire you'll ever make.....Johnny Dark (WorldSpace Satellite Radio) (6/26/08) Have to give props to Faux 5 for actually breaking into Rachel Ray to let people know the handgun bill has been lifted in DC. Welcome to Dodge City, everyone! All other channels just ran a crawler on the screen. Good one, dummies. Paul (6/26/08) To: Ed. Rodriguez. More like Survivor. Actually, I used to call guys like you (and me) "Local Drifters." I seemed to develop a pattern of three years per station. When I worked at WBAL with Allen Prell, he told me that he had worked at 19 stations in 19 years. He said that stations would hear an air-check and hire him, then hear him on their air and panic. He was happy that WBAL got what he was doing. (at least for several years). Some real heavy personality jocks that I knew, couldn't go from one station to another in town and had to change markets every few years. There was something to be said about jocks who could adjust to a new station and fit in without leaving town. Ed Graham (6/26/08) Bob Endicott - Haven't seen any updates on his condition. Heard anything? (6/26/08) ''The return of Cousin Luigi made my day... Mike, don't be afraid to bring back some of the great old stuff, and just see where it goes in this new environment. More voices and characters please! GREAT show today.''----- While I was looking forward to Uncle Cartoon (I guess Mike was just too tired by that time), Cousin Luigi was a nice blast from the past. It was great to finally hear Mike do one of his voices for more than ten seconds.--Alyx (6/26/08) Maybe Byron hung up on the caller because he doesn't know crap about baseball and was afraid to answer a real question. That "FireJimBowden" blog has been mentioned on so many Nats fan sites that I can't believe one mention on a Nationals broadcast would make that much of a difference. I am a partial season ticket holder who drives down from Towson for every game and I listen to the postgame shows on my long drive back. There is a distinct difference when Kerr hosts and when anyone else hosts. The night before, when the Nats lost, the show went on for more than an hour with plenty of calls. When Byron hosted the call-in program the show was over before I got to Columbia and it was filled with a bunch of pretaped stuff I could care less about. Are they there to take our calls or are they there to fill time, play commercials and get home quickly? I agree in part with the poster below. The answer to these problems lies on your front page Dave. Get Ira Mellman to take Byron's place. Long time listener, first time caller --- and the jackass better not hang up on me or my next call would be to the team. - sign me a radiophile and baseball fan, great site. - Jerry in Towson (6/26/08) With Don G. returning to the airwaves in OC, will doorways be big enough to fit both him and JJ McKay's head through? (6/26/08) RE: "Touring a town of my youth "virtually" via Google Maps. Now, how cool is that!" Recently, Hampton Roads has been added to Google Maps' “street view.” If you plug in my parent's address, there's my dad, for the whole world to see, weed-wacking his yard... Hahaha... Bob/VARTV (6/26/08) Dave's response: He should have been wearing a VARTV t-shirt and you could have gotten free publicity for your site..... Hey Dave-- Can you explain something to me and all your readers? Last night, Wednesday, after the Nationals game I think it was Byron Kerr hosting "Nats Talk Live" on WWWT. He took a call from someone who quickly touted a blog called "FireJimBowden." Kerr acted like the person had uttered something extremely indecent, immediately cutting the caller off, not even acknowledging what was said, and moving swiftly to change the subject. So I ask--do the Nationals pay for the time and/or produce "Nats Talk Live" and is Kerr on their payroll? I couldn't believe his reaction. Kerr is supposed to be a sports journalist on WTOP so why would he have such an extreme reaction to very predictable criticism of the GM of a last place team? Are listeners of "Nats Talk Live" only supposed to hear happy talk about the Nats and their management? Is this official policy of Bonneville? I know the guys who call the games for virtually all baseball teams are on the teams' payrolls but is the post-game show on WWWT really just a p.r. tool? When Charlie Slowes and Dave Jageler hosted the show last season and when they still take calls during rain delays, they handle criticism of the team and management in a much more objective way than Kerr did--and Charlie and Dave work for the team. Please look into this. Maybe you can even get a copy of the show last night. It was bizarre. Or maybe just something out of the Dan Snyder world of sports. Thanks. (6/26/08) (snip) Big 100.3 ... second HD channel ... it’s still off the air (end snip) On the same topic, I've been hearing some probs at 700 AM WDMV yesterday and today during morning drive. First, a long and loud heterodyne whistle as they beat against WLW, but no program material. Once in awhile, a bit of audio pops on (..."investment opportu"...) and then goes off after about 1 second. Are they aware of this over at their palatial broadcast complex in Fairfax? (6/26/08) Re Latino Skins: There was a plan in place two years ago to create and produce a local Deportes station. The station was going to use ESPN Deportes as the network and broadcast soccer, baseball and of course, the Redskins play by play. This was supposed to start when Red Zebra took over 104.1 once the sale was complete. Well, that never happened because Snyder backed out of the deal at the last minute…maybe now? (6/26/08) Since most like to criticize on this board, I’d like to say “kudos” to Sonny Fox and XM. His Stand Up Sit Down with George Carlin tonight (a couple of hours worth) had me in stitches and, then, tears. (6/26/08) (Today in Washington Social Diary: "To me, what we have in the nation's capital, is the gayest population of straight men." www.nysocialdiary.com - Dave's response: Or, how about Washington's male TV weathercasters - "the straightest population of gay men".....) Funny that this comes on the day that Chad Dukes remarked on the large number of pictures of men on DCRTV. When Dave meets with one of his informants, who picks up the check? --- Biff from Burke (6/26/08) Dave's response: Ha ha ha..... Hey Rockville Bill - I just tallied the numbers. Of the 36 radio stations included in the March 24, 1966 listing, I worked at 27 of them! That does not include my Frederick, Annapolis or Baltimore experience or any number of new stations that have come online since 1966. I still worry that Ed Graham will label me a "floater." - Ed. Rodriguez (6/26/08) Comcast here in Annapolis has dropped DC channels from it's basic lineup and moved them to their digital tier. WJLA 7-193 WRC 4-194 WUSA 9-195 WTTG 5-196. If you a analogue TV you will now need a converter box to get these channels. The only addition is WUTB 24 on HD Channel 215. Still no sign of CNN HD,FOX NEWS HD or The Weather Channel HD. Great news about Don Geronimo returning to his first love playing music. Great Web Site! Ron in Annapolis (6/26/08) Big 100.3 advertised their second HD channel yesterday. Checked this morning, and it’s still off the air. – Steve in Burtonsville (6/26/08) /\ June 26 Messages /\ Jump to the Mailbag Archive Index.....