![]() Contents - Front Page - Mailbag - Support DCRTV - News Archive January 2015 to December 2015December 31, 2015Lisa Baden Heads To Fresh ![]() December 30, 2015 Walter Pincus Retires From WaPo Walter Pincus, who is leaving the Washington Post after more than 40 years of covering intelligence, defense, and foreign policy issues, reflected on his time there. "There are no words that could sum up how grateful I am to have had this opportunity to write about subjects I care deeply about, and for a readership that often responded in ways that showed they too cared, whether they agreed with what I wrote or not," Pincus writes. "It was Ben Bradlee who hired me originally in 1966, and three generations of the Graham family plus a group of editors that put up with me, even when what I wrote seemed critical of issues they believed in or individuals they admired." December 30, 2015 Dark & Santos To Leave WTTR Johnny Dark and Betsy Santos are leaving Westminster's oldies WTTR, 1470. Dark, who does afternoon drive, and Santos, who is program director and who does late mornings, will do their last shows on Monday, January 4. "This decision was not easy for either of us but necessary," writes Baltimore and DC radio veteran Dark. "Words can't express how much the both of us love Carroll County and the marvelous listeners who have supported us. I will still be doing all my outside appearances and look forward to seeing many of you face to face." Since the 1960s, Dark has been heard on many area "top 40" and oldies outlets including WBIG, WCAO, WQSR, and WEAM. December 23, 2015 WaPo Photo Editor Dies Dyan Elovich, 55, a photo editor at the Washington Post, died December 22 at a hospice in Rockville. She had complications from ovarian cancer. Elovich began working in 1997 for the Post's online operation. In 2010, she moved to the newspaper's main newsroom. December 23, 2015 WPGC Vet Charlie Shoe Dies Charlie Shoe died December 21 in Punta Gorda, Florida. He worked as program director and in ad sales at then-contemporary hits outlet WPGC in the late 1960s and 1970s. During his career, Shoe also worked at radio stations in New Hampshire, North Carolina, and, most recently, Florida. December 22, 2015 WTOP & WLIF Top December Radio Ratings The Washington market radio ratings for the month of December. Full-day, age 12+: 1) WTOP, 2) WAMU, 3) WASH, 4) WIHT, 5) WHUR, 6) WPGC, 7) WMMJ, 8) WETA-FM, 9) WMAL, 10) WBIG and WKYS, 12) WIAD, 13) WMZQ, 14) WGTS, 15) WWDC, 16) WRQX, 17) WJFK-FM, 18) WTEM and WLZL, 20) WPRS, 21) WAVA-FM, 22) WDCN and WNEW, 24) WERQ and WBQB, 26) WFLS and WWEG and WAFY and WIYY and WFRE and WYPR, 32) WINC-FM and WWMX, 34) WPOC and WILC and WQSR and WBJC, 38) WGRQ and WJYJ and WPFW. The December radio ratings run from early November to early December, before the four-week "Holiday" period. The Baltimore market radio ratings for the month of December. Full-day, age 6+: 1) WLIF, 2) WERQ, 3) WPOC, 4) WWIN-FM, 5) WRBS-FM, 6) WWMX, 7) WIYY, 8) WZFT, 9) WJZ-FM, 10) WCBM, 11) WQSR, 12) WBAL-AM, 13) WZBA, 14) WCAO, 15) WAMU and WBJC, 17) WASH and WNEW, 19) WYPR, 20) WKYS and WWDC and WTOP and WPGC, 24) WHUR, 25) WXCY and WLZL, 27) WMZQ and WLIFHD2 and WRQX and WTTR and WMAL and WIHT and WBIG, 34) WRNR-FM, 35) WGTS and WTEM and WEAA, 39) WSOX and WFRE. The December radio ratings run from early November to early December, before the four-week "Holiday" period. December 21, 2015 Jerry Coleman Loses Radio Gigs DC-Baltimore sports radio veteran Jerry Coleman has had a batch of bad employment luck lately. Last week, CBS's DC news talker WNEW canned its entire air staff, including Jerry, who was doing commentary and reporting duties. And, this week, Jerry heard from Baltimore's WJZ-FM, 105.7 The Fan, another CBS station, that it will no longer need his anchoring and reporting skills. His contract at the Charm City sports talker is not being renewed, he's announced. December 18, 2015 CBS Yanks Local News From WNEW, Relays Bloomberg ![]() December 18, 2015 Glenn Harris Retires From NC8 ![]() December 17, 2015 Parr To Replace Joyner On MMJ ![]() ![]() December 16, 2015 Bohannan Leaves "America In The Morning" ![]() December 14, 2015 Balto Radio Vet Brian Macdonald Dies Brian Macdonald, whose career in Baltimore area radio spanned more than 30 years, died December 12. He worked at WBAL-AM, where he was a music director and talk show host, as well as at WBJC and WCBM. Also, he taught at Towson University, the Community Colleges Of Baltimore, and Harford Day School. December 11, 2015 Willard Scott To Retire From "Today" ![]() December 11, 2015 Carmean Out In Red Zebra Revamp The Redskins organization is making some big changes in the structure and management of its Red Zebra radio broadcasting arm, which owns sports talkers WTEM, ESPN 980, and WSPZ, SportsTalk 570. We're told that Red Zebra CEO Rick Carmean was let go yesterday, to be replaced by executives from the Redskins, including Larry Michael, who calls the team's radio games, and ad sales manager Steve Johnson. "The team plans to exert more direct control over the [radio stations]," a source tells us. WTEM has been locked in a bruising battle with rival CBS sports talker WJFK, 106.7 The Fan, the past few years, with both stations frequently ranking in the 16th to 18th place range. December 11, 2015 Barry Schweid Dies Barry Schweid, the legendary Associated Press diplomatic correspondent who reported and analyzed events from around the world over a career spanning 56 years, died December 10 at age 83. Schweid died at home from complications of a degenerative neurological condition. Among his career highlights, he traveled with Henry Kissinger on the secretary of state's "shuttle diplomacy" flights and covered the difficult negotiations at Camp David that President Jimmy Carter brokered to reach a historic peace treaty in 1977 between Egypt's Anwar Sadat and Israel's Menachem Begin. December 9, 2015 Ava-joye Burnett To 13 ![]() December 9, 2015 Max Cacas Dies ![]() December 8, 2015 WAMU's Rehm To Retire In Late 2016 ![]() December 8, 2015 WAMU Trims Kojo To 1 Hour ![]() December 7, 2015 Doug Limerick To Retire ![]() December 6, 2015 Ken Beatrice Dies ![]() December 2, 2015 Barr Becomes WaPo's Managing Editor The Washington Post names Cameron Barr as managing editor, overseeing news and features. He replaces Kevin Merida, who left for ESPN in October. Previously, Barr was national editor at the Post, and, before that, was deputy national editor, national security editor, and Middle East editor. Prior to joining the Post in 2004, Barr was Middle East correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor. November 30, 2015 Former WBIG Personality Tom Kelly Dies ![]() November 25, 2015 DC TV News Veteran James Schultz Dies James Schultz, 70, died of a brain hemorrhage on November 22 in Christiana, Delaware. He was CNN's first senior White House producer, starting in 1980. He also served as the news network's assistant bureau chief in Washington. Later, he worked for Fox News, creating the Fox News Service, serving as Washington bureau chief as well as the director of affiliate relations. The DC area native and University Of Maryland graduate began his news career as a sound man, freelancing for various networks and local news channels, then landing a permanent position at Channel 5/WTTG back when it was owned by Metromedia. He worked his way up through various positions at WTTG, as a writer, producer, and field producer thorough the 1970s. November 24, 2015 WTOP, WLIF, WPOC Top November Radio Ratings The Washington market radio ratings for November. Full-day, age 12+: 1) WTOP, 2) WAMU, 3) WASH, 4) WIHT, 5) WHUR, 6) WMMJ, 7) WPGC and WMAL, 9) WBIG, 10) WETA-FM and WKYS, 12) WMZQ, 13) WIAD, 14) WGTS, 15) WWDC, 16) WRQX, 17) WJFK-FM, 18) WTEM, 19) WLZL, 20) WPRS, 21) WAVA-FM, 22) WNEW, 23) WFLS, 24) WDCN, 25) WBQB, 26) WERQ and WFMD, 28) WIYY and WINC-FM and WWMX and WWEG, 32) WAFY, 33) WILC and WPFW and WQSR and WFRE, 37) WYPR and WBJC and WPOC, 40) WVBX and WRBS-FM and WGRQ and WBMD and WSPZ and WKDV and WBQH and WKIK. The Baltimore market radio ratings for November. Full-day, age 6+: 1) WPOC and WLIF, 3) WERQ, 4) WWIN-FM, 5) WWMX, 6) WIYY, 7) WRBS-FM, 8) WJZ-FM and WZFT, 10) WBAL-AM, 11) WQSR, 12) WZBA, 13) WCBM, 14) WCAO, 15) WAMU and WNEW, 17) WBJC, 18) WYPR, 19) WKYS and WPGC, 21) WWDC and WTOP, 23) WHUR, 24) WBIG and WASH, 26) WLZL and WIHT, 28) WLIFHD2 and WMAL, 30) WTTR and WRNR-FM and WTEM, 33) WMZQ and WRQX and WTMD and WEAA, 37) WFRE and WXCY and WGTS, 40) WSOX. November 24, 2015 Jamee Whitten Back To WMAL Jamee Whitten returns to Cumulus news talker WMAL to do morning traffic. She used to be heard on the station when it subscribed to Total Traffic, but left to handle family matters when Cumulus switched to a different traffic service. November 23, 2015 Cumulus Ups Bill Hess To Ops Mgr Bill Hess gets promoted to operations manager of Cumulus's DC radio cluster, which includes news talk WMAL, 105.9/630, and hot adult contemporary WRQX, 107.3. He will continue his current roles as program director of WMAL and corporate program director of Cumulus's news talk stations. Hess's 38-year radio career has included local stops at WTEM, WASH, and WBIG, in addition to Air America and radio stations in Providence. November 21, 2015 Austin Kiplinger Dies Austin Kiplinger, a Washington publisher who sustained the growth of his family's media business, died November 20 at a hospice in Rockville. He was 97. The cause was cancer. Kiplinger Washington Editors, founded in 1920 by his father, Willard Kiplinger, included business and economics forecasting publications. The company, which Austin led for more than three decades as president or chairman, was valued at more than $100 million when he passed control on to his sons, Todd and Knight, in 2000. Austin served as board chairman for several years. November 16, 2015 Austin Hill Dies ![]() November 13, 2015 WAMU Says Goodbye To Jerry Edwards, Ends Morning Traffic Reports ![]() November 13, 2015 Tony Washington Dies Radio One veteran Tony Washington, 73, died November 10. He joined the firm in 1991, when founder Cathy Hughes had just two stations in DC, including WOL. Most recently, Washington was vice president of advertising sales for Radio One's Reach Media syndication division. "Tony was as loyal and trusted employee as you could ever want, who always fiercely advocated for and protected Radio One's share of the advertising pie. We will sorely miss him," according to a company statement. November 11, 2015 Jack Diamond Returns To WRQX ![]() November 11, 2015 Jim Lokay To 5 ![]() November 9, 2015 WRQX Says Goodbye To Sarah, Ty, Mel, More WRQX morning personalities Sarah, Ty, and Mel have been let go. Also disappearing from the Cumulus station are midday host Melony Torres and afternoon host Marco. Along with DC radio veteran Bryan "Flounder" Schlossberg, who worked on the morning show. November 9, 2015 Louis Diaz Takes PD Post At WRQX Louis Diaz has been named program director of WRQX, the Cumulus owned, ratings-struggling contemporary hit outlet. He comes from Cumulus's sister contemporary hit WLIF in Dallas. Before that, he worked in Portland, Oregon. A native of Queens, Diaz got his start at hot adult contemporary WPLJ in NYC, which is also now owned by Cumulus. Diaz replaces Jan Jeffries, who got the ax as WRQX's PD last month. Jeffries replaced Rick Gillette, who got the ax as WRQX's PD in July. November 6, 2015 WTOP Makes Job Cuts, Blames Soft Ad Climate Job cuts hit top-rated all-newser WTOP. Some of the names we're hearing are Ari Ashe and John Meyer. Over at sister WFED, we're hearing the name of Francis Rose mentioned. Apparently, management is also not replacing vacant and posted fulltime jobs as well as some "behind the scenes" people, we're told. By late afternoon, we got forwarded a staff memo from WTOP head honcho Joel Oxley who writes, "Our financial situation continues to be very challenging. National, local agency and sports revenue are all down. Many costs that we cannot control continue to rise. So we have had to make difficult expense decisions in all departments including these staff reductions as we head into 2016." Oxley's memo adds that Matt Wingfield of WFED has also been let go. In addition, several editorial positions that have recently been vacated won't be filled, including the WTOP reporter position left open by Andrew Mollenbeck's recent departure to Los Angeles news talker KFI and the digital position that Kerry Walter held. Also, three open sales positions won't be filled. A DCRTV source adds: "I'm told WTOP, while likely to be the top biller in the country again, has had a crunch between increasing expenses and soft revenue resulting in double digit losses in free cash flow, which is what they deliver to Hubbard in profits. They're still printing money hand over fist but their EBIDA and OIBIDA are way way off." Yet another source tells us: "TOP has had layoffs before, but each time after sales got stronger, position were re-filled and staff grew. Still the biggest local radio newsroom in the country by far." November 4, 2015 WAMU To Outsource Underwriting American University public radio news talker WAMU, 88.5, will outsource its underwriting department as of the start of 2016. According to a source, there was a staff meeting at which underwriting managers, who solicit donors to support the station's non-commercial programming, were informed that they will no longer be employees of WAMU and American University as of January. They will work for a company based in Phoenix called Market Enginuity. "That's if the underwriting managers agree to what the company offers them and if they agree to work for the company," we're told. "Management says they made the decision to save money." This is the most recent of decision in the continued down-sizing efforts by WAMU General Manager JJ Yore. November 4, 2015 Judge Tosses Nats' MASN Arbitration A New York State Supreme Court judge has tossed out a Major League Baseball arbitration decision that gave the Washington Nationals millions more in annual broadcast rights fees, a significant victory for the Baltimore Orioles-controlled network in the protracted dispute. In vacating the June 2014 MLB decision, the judge suggested that the Nationals and the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network settle the issue through an independent arbitrator or, if the concerns of impartiality are fixed, that they return to MLB's arbitration panel. According to the Washington Post, the immediate impact of the judge's ruling means the Nationals will receive $40 million in annual TV rights fees from MASN per year, $20 million less than the amount awarded by the MLB panel. MASN broadcasts both the Nationals and Orioles games but the Orioles have a controlling stake in the network as part of a 2005 agreement brokered by baseball and then-commissioner Bud Selig to allow the relocation of the Montreal Expos to Washington. November 4, 2015 Pink Slips At Nat Geo The DC-based National Geographic Society will lay off about 180 of its 2,000 employees in a cost-cutting move that follows the sale of its famous magazine and other assets to a company controlled by media baron Rupert Murdoch. The reduction, the largest in the organization's 127-year history, appears to affect almost every department of the nonprofit organization, including the magazine, which the society has published since just after its founding in 1888. The reduction also will affect people who work for the National Geographic Channel, the most profitable part of the organization. November 3, 2015 Loudoun Times-Mirror Buys Leesburg Today The weekly Loudoun Times-Mirror has acquired the assets of the weekly Leesburg Today and Ashburn Today newspapers along with the LeesburgToday.com website from Texas-based HPR-Hemlock, which operates locally as Northern Virginia Media Services. No price was announced. The Times-Mirror is owned by local resident Peter Arundel, who has served as president and CEO of the company since 1996. His late father, Arthur, owned the newspaper before him, along with one of the first all-news radio stations in the country, Arlington's WAVA, 105.1. NVMS will continue to operate its other media properties in the region, which include six Northern Virginia weekly newspapers, the monthly Middleburg Life and Washington Family magazines, and local news website InsideNoVa.com. November 3, 2015 13's Christine Ileto To Philly ![]() November 2, 2015 7 & 54 Add Comet Baltimore-based Sinclair debuts its new Comet sci-fi network on the digital subchannels of DC's Channel 7/WJLA, where it replaces the Live Well Network, and Baltimore's Channel 54/WNUV. November 2, 2015 Pat Clawson Dies Pat Clawson was known as "Cowboy" in his days as DC bureau chief with now defunct radio trade publication Radio And Records, because of the impossible-to-miss Western-style hat he habitually wore. He died October 29 at age 60. Clawson got his start in radio in his native Michigan and, during his lengthy broadcasting career, went on to reporting gigs at CNN and NBC News Radio, Radio America, and Independent Network News. October 31, 2015 Michelle Marsh To 7 & NC8 ![]() October 30, 2015 WQLL Buys FM Signal Baltimore oldies outlet WQLL, 1370 AM, is buying a low-power FMer on 99.9 that it has been leasing for its signal. Nick Mangione-led M-10 Broadcasting is paying $150,000 cash for a 220-watt translator licensed to Aberdeen. It's W260BV and becomes part of the M-10 group along with WQLL and its sister Baltimore news talker WCBM, 680 AM. October 28, 2015 WTEM Ends "Man Cave" Just over half a year after launching the locally-based "Man Cave" morning show, Dan Snyder owned Red Zebra's WTEM, ESPN 980, will pull the plug immediately. Today's show was the last. The sports talker will restore ESPN Radio's "Mike And Mike" to morning drive. Nationally syndicated "Mike And Mike" has been airing on Red Zebra's other sports talker, WSPZ, 570, which has a weaker signal than WTEM. While the "Man Cave," which was launched in late March after a delayed original start date and hosted by Jason Reid and Chris Paul, trailed badly in the overall radio ratings behind the "Sports Junkies" on CBS's WJFK, 106.7 The Fan, it was increasing in its numbers among key male demos, we're told by some sources. Says WTEM Program Director Dan Zampillo, "Unfortunately we were not able to obtain the consistent level of ratings success needed in morning drive over the last seven months, and therefore felt the need to make this change." October 27, 2015 WTOP & WPOC Top October Radio Ratings The DC market radio ratings for the month of October. Full-day, age 12+: 1) WTOP, 2) WAMU, 3) WIHT, 4) WASH, 5) WMMJ and WHUR, 7) WPGC, 8) WMAL, 9) WBIG, 10) WKYS, 11) WIAD and WMZQ, 13) WETA-FM, 14) WGTS and WWDC, 16) WJFK-FM, 17) WTEM, 18) WRQX, 19) WLZL, 20) WPRS, 21) WNEW, 22) WAVA-FM, 23) WDCN, 24) WAFY and WERQ and WFLS, 27) WWMX and WWEG, 29) WIYY and WFRE, 31) WBQB and WQSR and WINC-FM, 34) WPFW and WILC, 36) WGRQ, 37) WACA and WKDV and WLIF and WBQH and WRBS-FM and WSMD and WSPZ and WVBX. The Baltimore market radio ratings for the month of October. Full-day, age 6+: 1) WERQ, 2) WLIF, 3) WPOC, 4) WWIN-FM, 5) WIYY, 6) WJZ-FM, 7) WWMX, 8) WZFT, 9) WRBS-FM, 10) WBAL-AM, 11) WZBA, 12) WQSR, 13) WCBM, 14) WCAO, 15) WAMU, 16) WKYS, 17) WPGC, 18) WWDC and WNEW, 20) WHUR and WYPR, 22) WBJC, 23) WTOP, 24) WBIG, 25) WIHT and WTTR and WRNR-FM and WASH, 29) WMAL and WLZL and WEAA and WXCY, 33) WRQX and WMZQ and WGTS and WLIFHD2, 37) WTEM, 38) WTMD and WFRE, 40) WJZ-AM and WSOX and WOLB. October 27, 2015 WaPo Classic Music Critic Dies Ronald Broun, who wrote hundreds of classical music reviews for the Washington Post while working as a litigator for the National Labor Relations Board, died October 20 at a hospital in Lawrence, Kansas. He was 75. The cause was respiratory failure. October 26, 2015 Ed Walker Dies ![]() October 26, 2015 Rusty Gibson Dies Rusty Gibson died on October 21 at Inova Fairfax Hospital following a series of long illnesses. He spent the past decade working at Fairfax Public Access via its online cable radio station, WEBR. Gibson, 59, had suffered a serious stroke in 2000 and recovered enough to do a rock, pop, and soul oldies radio show every week. October 22, 2015 Vanessa Herring Joins 11 Vanessa Herring joins Channel 11/WBAL a reporter. She's been freelance reporting in the Baltimore-DC area for about a year. October 21, 2015 Brendan McNamara To 2 Brendan McNamara joins Channel 2/WMAR to be a reporter and multimedia journalist for the Scripps station's "Good Morning Maryland." He comes from Channel 8/WGAL in Lancaster, where he worked as a producer and photographer before becoming a reporter. October 20, 2015 Jan Jeffries Out At RQX Jan Jeffries is out as program director of Cumulus's hot adult contemporary WRQX, All The Hits 107.3. Barely three months after taking the job in July. Jeffries came from Chicago where he'd been program director for the firm's classic hits WLS-FM. We're told that Bill Hess, program director for WRQX's news talker sister, WMAL, 105.9/630, will fill his shoes across the hall for the time being. Since joining WRQX, Jeffries has been unable to boost the station's ratings, which are in a two-plus-year slump since the departure of longtime morning man Jack Diamond in the spring of 2013. Also, since Jeffries' arrival, Atlanta-based Cumulus has seen a complete top management change with the departure of CEO Lew Dickey. Jeffries has left Cumulus, where he also served as a senior vice president of programming, after 18 years with company, which is flirting with bankruptcy. During his career, Jeffries worked at a number of radio stations in the DC-Baltimore area, including the old contemporary hit B104, WBSB. October 19, 2015 WaPo's Kevin Merida Heads To ESPN Washington Post Managing Editor Kevin Merida heads to ESPN to be editor-in-chief of "The Undefeated," a digital site that will explore the intersection of sports, race, and culture. "He has been here 22 years," writes Executive Editor Martin Baron in a staff memo. October 15, 2015 WashTimes Reports 1st Profitable Month The Washington Times says it achieved in September the first profitable month in its 33-year history, following $1 billion in losses. It is "successfully transforming a traditional money-losing print publication into a leaner multimedia company with diverse revenue streams and a growing national audience," according to an announcement. October 15, 2015 Joe Yasharoff Leaves CSN ![]() October 13, 2015 Jeff Loughridge Dies ![]() October 9, 2015 WaPo's Kamen To Retire Al Kamen, for the past 23 years author of the "In The Loop" federal government column in the Washington Post, writes his final column as he heads toward retirement. October 6, 2015 Sam Rogers Returns To CBS Radio Sam Rogers returns to CBS Radio in Washington, where he'll serve as vice predisdent of national sales and corporate partnerships. He'll report to Bob Philips, the manager of CBS Radio's Baltimore cluster, who doubles as the firm's director of ad sales. Since 2013, Rogers has been vice president of national and corporate sales at Silver Spring-based Radio One. Prior to that, he was vice president of political sales at Cumulus in DC, and also served as general manager of WMAL and WRQX. Before that, Rogers spent two decades with CBS Radio, where his last position was manager of its DC cluster. October 5, 2015 XM Vet Steve Harris Dies Steve Harris, who worked at DC-based XM Satellite Radio in its early days as vice president of external programming and vice president of music, has died after suffering a stroke. His radio programming career include gigs at ABC Radio Networks, Reach Media, ESPN Radio, and Radio One's Cincinnati cluster. October 4, 2015 WaPo Circ Down To 395K Ever since the Washington Post got bought two years ago by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, it no longer runs news reports on its print circulation numbers, which, like many other print newspapers around the country, had been falling at a steady rate over the past decade. However, in Sunday's Post, the newspaper did give us a hint of its current circulation numbers by running a required ad statement of the latest figures. It showed the current average daily, Monday through Sunday, paid print circulation during the past year to be 395,234. That's down about 37% since 2009, when the paper's average daily circulation was 633,100. October 3, 2015 Ken Denlinger Dies Ken Denlinger, a longtime Washington Post sports columnist who also wrote books on college athletics, died October 3 at his home in Frederick. He was 73. The cause was esophageal cancer. Denlinger worked for the Post from 1965 to 2003, initially as a sportswriter and later as a columnist. October 2, 2015 Gannett Sells Tysons HQ London-based real estate investor Tamares Group has closed on its $270 million acquisition of the Gannett headquarters building in Tysons Corner, about two-and-a-half months after the deal was first reported. The 787,000-square-foot complex, located at 7950 Jones Branch Drive, cost about $300 million to build in 2001. Media giant Gannett has signed a 12-year lease with Tamares to remain in the building. Tegna, which encompasses the former Gannett's TV stations, has signed an 18-month lease for 20% of the office space in the complex. Tegna has said it is searching for new office space, but is committed to remaining in the Washington region. September 30, 2015 Karen Campbell Jumps From 11 To 45 Karen Campbell leaves Channel 11/WBAL, where she was freelance reporter and weekend anchor, to join Channel 45/WBFF, where she'll be a full-time reporter. Before WBAL, Campbell worked at Channel 16/WBOC in Salisbury. September 29, 2015 WTOP & WLIF Top September Radio Ratings The Washington market radio ratings for the month of September. Full-day, age 12+: 1) WTOP, 2) WAMU, 3) WASH, 4) WIHT, 5) WHUR, 6) WPGC, 7) WBIG and WMMJ, 9) WKYS, 10) WMAL, 11) WMZQ, 12) WETA-FM, 13) WIAD, 14) WGTS, 15) WWDC, 16) WJFK-FM, 17) WPRS, 18) WTEM, 19) WRQX, 20) WLZL, 21) WNEW, 22) WAVA-FM, 23) WDCN, 24) WERQ, 25) WFRE, 26) WINC-FM and WIYY and WFLS and WWMX, 30) WWEG and WBQB, 32) WPFW and WAFY and WPOC and WGRQ and WQSR, 37) WILC, 38) WKDV and WSMD and WRBS-FM and WLIF and WKIK and WTNT and WSPZ. Age 25-54: 1) WIHT and WTOP, 3) WASH, 4) WPGC, 5) WKYS, 6) WAMU, 7) WHUR, 8) WBIG, 9) WWDC, 10) WMZQ, 11) 11) WIAD and WGTS, 13) WMMJ, 14) WMAL, 15) WJFK-FM, 16) WLZL and WRQX, 18) WPRS, 19) WTEM, 20) WETA-FM and WNEW, 22) WDCN, 23) WERQ, 24) WAVA-FM, 25) WINC-FM and WIYY, 27) WFRE and WWEG and WAFY, 30) WQSR and WGRQ, 32) WFLS and WBQB and WKDV and WWMX and WTNT, 37) WILC and WRBS-FM and WPOC and WBMD. The Baltimore market radio ratings for the month of September. Full-day, age 6+: 1) WLIF, 2) WERQ and WPOC, 4) WWIN-FM, 5) WWMX, 6) WZFT, 7) WJZ-FM and WIYY, 9) WZBA and WQSR, 11) WRBS-FM, 12) WBAL-AM, 13) WCBM, 14) WCAO, 15) WKYS, 16) WAMU and WPGC, 18) WYPR and WNEW and WHUR, 21) WBJC, 22) WWDC, 23) WTOP, 24) WTTR and WMZQ and WLIFHD2 and WIHT, 28) WRQX and WLZL and WBIG and WXCY, 32) WTMD and WGTS and WASH and WFRE and WRNR-FM and WEAA and WMAL, 39) WTEM, 40) WSOX and WWIN-AM and WOLB. September 22, 2015 WFBR Vet Bob Bolton Dies Bob Bolton died September 15 after suffering an aneurysm. From 1980 to 1986, he did afternoon drive at what was once WFBR, 1300, in Baltimore, back when it had an adult contemporary format. His tenure ended when WFBR changed formats from music to talk. During his lengthy radio career, Bolton worked at numerous stations across the country, including in Raleigh, Atlanta, Cleveland, and Miami. September 21, 2015 O'Brien To Oversee Political Ads For CBS DC radio veteran Mark O'Brien has been named vice president for political sales at CBS Radio. In this newly-created DC-based position, O'Brien will be reporting to Bob Philips, senior vice president and director of sales. Philips is also market manager for CBS's Baltimore radio cluster. In his new gig, O'Brien will work with campaigns, advocacy groups, and political strategists on radio campaigns and targeted messaging. O'Brien had been market manager for Cumulus's DC radio cluster from early 2013 to early 2015, but left when his contract was not renewed. Over the years, he's also worked for Clear Channel and Red Zebra's DC radio operations. September 17, 2015 Sun's Rodricks Leaves WYPR Dan Rodricks leaves "Midday," the daily two-hour talk show on WYPR, 88.1, Baltimore's NPR affiliate. Rodricks will focus exclusively on his column in the Baltimore Sun as well as his newly launched blog and other projects, including a podcast. September 16, 2015 New PM Drive Show On HUR "Afternoons With Tony, Mo & George." With former WHUR morning man Tony Richards, Mo Ivory from Atlanta, and comedian George Wilborn. That's the new afternoon drive show, replacing Frank Ski, on Howard University's adult urban contemporary WHUR, 96.3 FM. September 13, 2015 WOL Great Bobby Bennett Dies ![]() September 10, 2015 Murdoch Buys More Nat Geo Media titan Rupert Murdoch has long been partnered with the DC-based National Geographic's TV networks, the National Geographic Channel and Net Geo Wild, but now his 21st Century Fox company has paid $725 million for 73% control of a partnership with National Geographic's media arm, giving Murdoch and his media empire sway over the yellow-bordered magazine revered for its science coverage. September 8, 2015 Johnson To Replace McGinty At 9 ![]() September 3, 2015 Al Payne Leaves Radio One Al Payne, operations manager of Radio One's Baltimore radio cluster, has said goodbye to the urban radio giant. Before overseeing Baltimore's urban contemporary WERQ, adult urban contemporary WWIN-FM, Magic 95.9, gospel WWIN-AM and Praise 106.1, and urban talker WOLB, Payne worked for Radio One in DC and Detroit. September 2, 2015 Carlin Replaces Hernandez On CSN's "SportsTalk Live" Rob Carlin has been named co-host of Comcast SportsNet's "SportsTalk Live" with Brian Mitchell. The weeknight sports talk and debate show airs live at 10 PM beginning September 8. Carlin replaces current co-host Chick Hernandez, who will return to covering the Washington Redskins full-time. Since joining CSN in October 2011, Carlin has been an anchor and reporter for "SportsNet Central" and hosted home game editions of "Capitals Pregame Live" and "Capitals Postgame Live." Last season, he also served as TV beat reporter for the Redskins. He has also hosted "The Baseball Show" for three years. Prior to joining CSN, Carlin covered the region as a sports anchor and reporter with Baltimore's Channel 2/WMAR-TV and Channel 47/WMDT in Salisbury. He's also served as a sports producer for Baltimore's Channel 45/WBFF and spent time as a radio host on Baltimore sports talker WJZ-FM/AM. September 1, 2015 WTOP & WPOC Top Radio Ratings For August The Washington market radio ratings for the month of August. Full-day, age 12+: 1) WTOP, 2) WAMU, 3) WHUR, 4) WASH, 5) WIHT, 6) WBIG, 7) WPGC, 8) WMAL, 9) WKYS, 10) WMZQ, 11) WIAD and WMMJ and WETA-FM, 14) WWDC, 15) WPRS, 16) WGTS, 17) WRQX, 18) WJFK-FM, 19) WLZL, 20) WNEW, 21) WINC-FM and WTEM, 23) WFRE, 24) WAVA-FM and WFLS, 26) WIYY and WFMD and WERQ and WDCN, 30) WBQB. The Baltimore market radio ratings for the month of August. Full-day, age 6+: 1) WPOC, 2) WERQ, 3) WLIF, 4) WWIN-FM, 5) WZBA and WWMX, 7) WZFT and WJZ-FM, 9) WIYY and WRBS-FM, 11) WQSR, 12) WBAL-AM, 13) WCBM, 14) WGUR, 15) WCAO, 16) WKYS and WYPR, 18) WPGC, 19) WNEW, 20) WWDC, 21) WBJC and WMZQ and WTOP and WRNR-FM, 25) WIHT, 26) WASH and WTTR and NC106 and WLZL and WFRE and WAMU and WXCY and WBIG. August 28, 2015 Sun Cuts "B" The Baltimore Sun has cancelled its "B" daily freebie tabloid aimed at millennials. Vending boxes around the city are being picked up, we're told. Not long ago, the Sun bought Baltimore weekly freebie tabloid City Paper. August 28, 2015 WAMU Cuts Elliott Francis American University public radio news talker WAMU, 88.5, has laid off afternoon news anchor Elliott Francis. He used to be a Channel 7/WJLA reporter and anchor. August 27, 2015 9's Erica Grow NYC Bound Channel 9/WUSA meterologist Erica Grow has signed with WNBC-TV in New York City to be weekend weather anchor. Before joining WUSA in 2012, the Penn State grad worked at WTNH-TV in Hartford/New Haven and WPVI-TV in Philadelphia. She's been doing weekend evening weather duties at WUSA. August 27, 2015 Scott Smith Leaving Fox 5 Scott Smith, sports director at Fox-owned Channel 5/WTTG, is on the way out when his contract expires in three months. His position is being eliminated, DCRTV hears. FTVLive reports, "Word is that News Director Paul McGonagle said they're 'de-emphasizing traditional sports' and therefore (have) no need for a sports director." August 27, 2015 McGinty Leaves Anchoring Gig At 9 ![]() August 26, 2015 Chuck Sapienza Joins Navy Football Chuck Sapienza, WTEM, ESPN 980's former program director, joins Annapolis-based Navy Football as executive producer. Sapienza either resigned or got fired (depends who you talk to) back in the spring regarding delays surrounding WTEM's new "Man Cave" morning show, which eventually got launched to less-than-stellar ratings. August 25, 2015 Frank Ski To Leave WHUR ![]() August 25, 2015 Carol Maloney Gets Full-Time Gig At 4 ![]() August 19, 2015 Jake West To Be WASH's PM Driver Jake West has been named afternoon drive host at iHeartMedia's adult contemporary WASH, 97.1. Most recently, he's been hosting various dayparts on DC and Baltimore area iHeart stations, including WASH. West also spent time producing the Nashville-based syndicated "Bobby Bones Show," which is heard on iHeart country outlet WMZQ, 98.7. Prior to joining iHeart, he programmed radio stations in Michigan and Indiana. August 19, 2015 Erin Hawksworth To 7 ![]() August 17, 2015 Louis Cedrone Dies Louis Cedrone, who was the film and theater critic for the old Baltimore Evening Sun, died August 13. "Lou was a great guy. I first met him during a Baltimore daily newspaper strike in the 1970s," a friend and colleague tells us. "During the strike, Lou went to work for Stromberg Publications which owned a chain of suburban weeklies surrounding Baltimore, including the Howard County Times and Towson Times. Lou was given a desk in the sports department where I worked (part-time during college) with Sport Editor Roger Marino." August 15, 2015 El Zol's DJ Nestor Stabbed In DC ![]() August 14, 2015 James White Dies ![]() August 14, 2015 45's Karen Parks To Balto Schools Karen Parks, an anchor and reporter at Baltimore's Sinclair-owned Fox affiliate, Channel 45/WBFF, has been tapped as communications director for the Baltimore City public school system. August 12, 2015 Andi McDaniel To Head WAMU News American University public radio news talker WAMU, 88.5, names Andi McDaniel as senior director of content and news. She starts September 8. According to a release, she will "oversee the station's news and talk show teams. Her duties will include defining the sound and style of WAMU's broadcast and digital products, spearheading new content, and building partnerships with local and national news organizations." She comes from Minneapolis, where she's been director of content strategy and innovation for Twin Cities Public Television. August 11, 2015 Chas Henry Gone Fron WNEW WNEW news anchor Chas Henry is among the recent wave of cuts at CBS Radio. We're told that he's already moved to his next gig - as an anchor and correspondent covering security issues at Westwood One News. August 11, 2015 Hayward Released From Charter School Allegations ![]() August 11, 2015 Skip Tash Dies Robert "Skip" Tash died August 6 after battling pancreatic cancer. He was the former vice president of advertisng sales with the DC-based National Association Of Broadcasters. Before joing the NAB, Tash worked in ad sales at Inner City Broadcasting, Broadcasting & Cable magazine, the Northern Virginia-based Radio World trade journal, Comcast Spotlight, and Norstar Media. August 10, 2015 Rouse To Return To Baltimore Radio Steve Rouse, a veteran Baltimore radio personality, will return to Charm City area radio this fall with a new morning show on Havre de Grace-based oldies outlet WHGM, 1330 AM and low-powered 104.7 FM, which has been branded as "The Point." Rouse's 17-year morning show run ended in 2005, when it was cancelled by Baltimore's oldies WQSR. Rouse, whose new WHGM show will debut October 12, will be joined by Annie Beccio. "One of the biggest things for me on this was, [WHGM] is not a big, corporate-run, major deal. It's one guy and one owner, and everyone is working as a team to make this thing work. And I love the music," Rouse said. August 5, 2015 Riggo Joins JFK ![]() August 4, 2015 WTOP & WPOC Top July Radio Ratings The Washington market radio ratings for the month of July. Full-day, age 12+: 1) WTOP, 2) WAMU, 3) WIHT, 4) WHUR, 5) WASH, 6) WBIG, 7) WIAD, 8) WPGC, 9) WKYS, 10) WMAL and WMZQ, 12) WETA-FM, 13) WMMJ, 14) WWDC, 15) WGTS and WPRS, 17) WJFK-FM, 18) WRQX, 19) WNEW, 20) WLZL, 21) WFRE, 22) WTEM, 23) WINC-FM and WDCN and WAFY, 26) WBQB and WAVA-FM and WFLS, 29) WWEG, 30) WGRQ and WQSR and WERQ, 33) WIYY and WPFW, 35) WSPZ and WKDV and WSMD and WPOC, 39) WILC and WBJC and WWMX and WACA and WZBA and WLIF and WKIK. The Baltimore market radio ratings for the month of July. Full-day, age 6+: 1) WPOC, 2) WERQ, 3) WZBA and WLIF, 5) WWIN-FM and WJZ-FM, 7) WWMX, 8) WZFT, 9) WRBS-FM and WIYY, 11) WQSR, 12) WBAL-AM, 13) WCBM, 14) WCAO, 15) WHUR and WPGC, 17) WYPR, 18) WKYS, 19) WNEW, 20) WBJC, 21) WWDC, 22) WMZQ and WIHT and WTOP, 25) WXCY and WBIG and WRNR-FM, 28) WASH and WAMU and WTTR, 31) WWIN-AM and PR106.1 and WRQX and WLZL, 35) WEAA and WTMD and WFRE, 38) WGTS, 39) WAVA-FM and WMAL. August 3, 2015 Donnie Simpson To Do Afternoons On WMMJ ![]() August 3, 2015 Curtis Anderson Dies Curtis Anderson, 61, a veteran of Baltimore soul music outlets WWIN and WEBB, died July 21. According to British soul music site soulwalking.co.uk, he will, probably, be best remembered for his 1980 Brown Bag Records single "The Hardest Part." Anderson was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer last year. During the late 1970s, he was heard on WWIN, 1400 AM, where he also served as program director. He also worked at WEBB, 1360 AM, which was owned by soul singer James Brown. July 31, 2015 UMD To Shutter AJR The American Journalism Review will no longer be published by the University Of Maryland's Philip Merrill College Of Journalism. "Over many decades, American Journalism Review has been an incredible value both to the college and to American journalists," said Merrill College Dean Lucy Dalglish. "Unfortunately, we are unable to provide the resources needed to keep AJR the vibrant, innovative online publication it deserves to be." Although no longer publishing original content, the ARJ website and its archives will remain available online. July 31, 2015 Jack Diamond Leaves Chicago ![]() July 31, 2015 Chris Russell Returns To 106.7 Chris Kinard, who programs CBS sports talker 106.7 The Fan, WJFK, Tweets that Chris Russell will again be heard on his station after six years. Just recently, Russell got the non-contract-renewal boot from Red Zebra sports talker ESPN 980, WTEM, where he'd been covering the Redskins. Russell worked at WJFK before joining WTEM. July 31, 2015 Larry Israel Dies Larry Israel, a veteran media executive who served as president of the Washington Post Company from 1973 to 1977, and led an expansion of the company's radio and television holdings, died July 29 at a hospital in Bethesda. He was 95. Israel was hired as chairman and chief executive of Post-Newsweek Stations, a Post Company subsidiary that owned DC's WTOP radio and TV, including Channel 9, 1500 AM, and 96.3 FM. July 28, 2015 Yasko Out Of TMD Stephen Yasko is out of his gig as general manager and executive director of Towson University's adult alternative WTMD, 89.7 FM. He's held the post for more than a decade. WTMD Program Director Scott Mullins replaces Yasko in a temporary, acting capacity. Yasko joined WTMD in 2002, focusing the public, non-commercial station on local Baltimore music. DCRTV's take: Yasko was probably canned for failing to generate ratings in the bruising rock radio battle in the Baltimore market. In the latest Baltimore market monthly numbers, for June, WTMD placed 31st, tied with Annapolis electic rocker WRNR-FM, and way behind mainstream commercial rockers like WZBA at 7th, 98 Rock at 11th, and DC's DC101 at 23rd. And, among public radio outlets, WTMD was bested by WYPR at 15th, WBJC at 21st, and DC's WAMU at 28th. July 28, 2015 MPT Moves Master Control To Boston Maryland Public Television has contracted with Public Media Management to handle the station's master control, which controls the flow of programming over the statewide TV network. PMI, based in Boston, is a partnership between Boston public TV outlet WGBH and Sony Electronics. The move of MPT master control from local facilities in Owings Mills will result in the elmination of two positions and save the station more than $2 million during the next five years, according to MPT. July 26, 2015 WaPo Foreign Policy Reporter Don Oberdorfer Dies Don Oberdorfer, a former Washington Post diplomatic correspondent who chronicled international news from the Vietnam War to the fall of the Soviet Union, died July 23 in Washington. He was 84. He had Alzheimer's disease. Oberdorfer spent 25 years with the Post, beginning in 1968. July 23, 2015 Erin Como To Do AM Traffic At 5 ![]() July 23, 2015 Hoffman To Be WTEM's Skins Beat Reporter Craig Hoffman joins Redskins flagship WTEM, ESPN 980, as its Redskins beat reporter. He comes from Dallas sports talker KESN, where he was a host at sports news update anchor. Hoffman will cover the Redskins year-round and will contribute to WTEM's local shows. He will also be part of the game-day broadcasts on the Redskins Radio Network while producing content for ESPN 980's website and social media outlets. "This is an amazing opportunity," said Hoffman. "It's everything someone in my shoes could ask for, all in one of the nation's best sports towns." Adds WTEM Program Director Dan Zampillo, "Craig is an incredibly talented individual, and his ability to succeed on many different media platforms makes him the ideal person to cover the Redskins." July 23, 2015 Evan Haning To Host "First Light" DC news radio veteran Evan Haning, who's worked at WTOP, WRC, and WNEW, has been named host of Westwood One's nationally syndicated "First Light" radio news program. He'll be doing that in addition to the network's morning drive news. He replaces Dirk Van, who retires next week. Haning had been a fill-in host of "First Light." July 22, 2015 Matt Davis Says Goodbye To 98 Rock ![]() July 22, 2015 Clinton Portis Joins WTEM Clinton Portis joins Redskins flagship WTEM, ESPN 980, as an analyst for the upcoming football season. The running back played seven seasons for the Redskins and is the second-leading rusher in team history. Portis will call-in Monday afternoons during "The Drive" with Chris Cooley, Steve Czaban, and Al Galdi to recap every Redskins game. He will also co-host a monthly one-hour show on Fridays during the season. July 22, 2015 Tegna Sells Tysons HQ Tegna, as the former Gannett broadcasting division is known, has signed a contract to sell its McLean headquarters in the Tysons area to private investment group Tamares for $270 million. Tegna will continue to occupy a portion of the building for 18 months and plans to stay in the Washington area thereafter. Locally, Tegna owns Channel 9/WUSA. July 16, 2015 ABC News Vet Glennwood Branche Dies ABC News veteran Glennwood Branche, 62, died July 15 of complications from leukemia. In 1995, he began serving as vice president of operations at ABC's Washington bureau. For 20 years, up until his retirement just a few months ago, "he was involved in each and every story in Washington, always the first to arrive in times of crisis and breaking news," according to a staff memo from ABC News President James Goldston. Branche started his career at the assignment desk at Channel 7/WJLA, soon jumping over to ABC, where he held numerous producer roles. He moved on to be ABC's bureau chief in St. Louis and Philadelphia, as well as senior producer for the network's "World News Tonight." During his career, Branche won an Emmy Award and two Peabody Awards. July 16, 2015 Nat'l Journal Cuts Print Edition National Journal, the Washington-based political news outlet owned by Atlantic Media, announced that it will suspend its weekly magazine later this year, bringing an end to its 46-year run in print. July 15, 2015 Jeffries Replaces Gillette As PD At WRQX Jan Jeffries is the new program director for Cumulus contemporary hits outlet WRQX, All The Hits 107.3. He comes from Chicago where he's been program director for the firm's classic hits WLS-FM. He replaces Rick Gillette, who will move to New York City as program director for hot adult contemporary WPLJ. Jeffries will continue in his corporate role as senior vice president of programming for Cumulus, while Gillette will retain his responsibilities as corporate program director/contemporary for Cumulus. Jeffries has more than 40 years experience in broadcasting, including at several stations in the DC-Baltimore area, such as WRQX and the old WBSB. July 15, 2015 Beth Parker Leaves 5 Reporter Beth Parker is leaving Channel 5/WTTG at the end of the July. She's heading to PricewaterhouseCoopers, where she'll be a public relations director. Parker joined DC's Fox station in August 1998 as a general assignment reporter. She started her career in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley at Channel 3/WHSV in Harrisonburg. July 8, 2015 WTOP & Hot 99.5 Top DC Radio Ratings For June The Washington market radio ratings for the month of June. Full-day, age 6+: 1) WTOP, 2) WAMU, 3) WIHT, 4) WHUR, 5) WASH, 6) WBIG, 7) WIAD, 8) WKYS, 9) WPGC, 10) WWDC, 11) WETA-FM, 12) WMAL, 13) WMZQ, 14) WMMJ, 15) WPRS, 16) WRQX, 17) WGTS, 18) WJFK-FM, 19) WLZL, 20) WNEW, 21) WFRE annd WTEM and WINC-FM, 24) WAFY and WDCN and WAVA-FM, 27) WFLS, 28) WBQB, 29) WERQ, 30) WWEG and WQSR. Age 25-54: 1) WIHT, 2) WTOP, 3) WASH, 4) WKYS, 5) WHUR, 6) WAMU, 7) WPGC and WIAD, 9) WBIG, 10) WWDC, 11) WMZQ, 12) WGTS, 13) WMAL and WRQX and WPRS, 16) WJFK-FM, 17) WMMJ, 18) WLZL, 19) WETA-FM, 20) WNEW, 21) WDCN, 22) WINC-FM, 23) WAFY and WTEM, 25) WERQ, 26) WFRE and WFLS, 28) WAVA-FM and WQSR and WBQB. The Baltimore market radio ratings for the month of June. Full-day, age 6+: 1) WPOC, 2) WERQ, 3) WLIF, 4) WJZ-FM, 5) WWIN-FM and WWMX, 7) WZBA, 8) WQSR, 9) WZFT, 10) WRBS-FM, 11) WIYY, 12) WBAL-AM, 13) WCAO and WCBM, 15) WYPR, 16) WHUR and WMZQ and WPGC, 19) WKYS, 20) WTOP, 21) WBJC and WNEW, 23) WWDC and WIHT, 25) WBIG, 26) WTTR and WLIF-HD2, 28) WASH and WAMU and WLZL. Age 25-54: 1) WPOC, 2) WERQ, 3) WWMX, 4) WQSR, 5) WLIF, 6) WJZ-FM and WZFT and WIYY, 9) WWIN-FM, 10) WZBA, 11) WRBS-FM, 12) WKYS, 13) WYPR and WPGC, 15) WMZQ, 16) WBAL-AM and WWDC, 18) WHUR and WIHT, 20) WCAO, 21) WCBM, 22) WTOP, 23) WNEW and WASH and WLIF-HD2, 26) WBIG, 27) WAMU and WRQX and WTMD, 30) WLZL and WRNR-FM and WFRE and WGTS and WWIN-AM. July 7, 2015 Grant Paulsen Adds Sports Duties At 5 Grant Paulsen, who co-hosts middays on CBS sports talker WJFK, 106.7 The Fan, will also cover the Redskins for Fox-owned Channel 5/WTTG. He'll contribute to Redskins' "Game Time" show, which airs on DC's Fox 5, and to the station's sportscasts. Paulsen also hosts a weekend baseball show on SiriusXM's MLB Network. July 6, 2015 Albert Calogero Dies Albert Calogero, who was a professor at the University Of Maryland's Merrill College and a news editor at Channel 9/WUSA, died July 5. He collapsed during a run while on vacation with his family in Ohio. "Albert was always available to our faculty and students, and he was helping us evaluate our broadcast equipment needs over the summer," according to Merrill College's Facebook page. July 2, 2015 ESPN 980 Cuts Chris Russell Chris Russell posts on Twitter that Red Zebra sports talker WTEM, ESPN 980, has informed him that it's not renewing his contract. The former WJFK sports personality will continue his work with the Monumental Network's sports website. June 30, 2015 Kidd O'Shea Joins JLA Kidd O'Shea leaves Milwaukee hot adult contemporary outlet WMYX, Mix 99.1, to join Sinclair's Channel 7/WJLA as social media anchor for "Good Morning Washington." O'Shea, a Milwaukee native, is also a lifestyle reporter for Milwaukee's WISN-TV. He's been morning show host on WMYX since 2006. According to Milwaukee media site duanedudek.com, in 2012, after President Obama announced his support for same sex marriage, O'Shea announced on the air that he's gay and is the only openly gay member of Milwaukee's broadcast media. June 30, 2015 Gelfman Sells WCTR On Maryland's Eastern Shore, talker WCTR, 1530 AM, in Chestertown sells for $200,000 cash. Part of the attraction for first-time buyer Brian Moore is the two FM translators that WCTR seller Richard Gelfman's been leasing. They're both owned by Hope Christian Church of Marlton NJ. One's in Fairleemon at 102.3 and one's in Wye Mills at 96.1. WCTR is an AM daytimer, with 1,000-watts. Seller Gelfman is a former Channel 13/WJZ news anchor and investigative reporter. Buyer Moore of Hometown Multimedia has worked in broadcasting for more than 30 years, most recently at the Jersey Shore. June 30, 2015 Maynard "Lee" Simms Dies Maynard "Lee" Simms, 59, of Leesburg, died June 20 at Inova Loudoun Hospital Center. He once worked with Leesburg's WAGE radio as a DJ, in addition to his jobs with the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, Leesburg Subaru, and, most recently, Jerry's Ford as a car salesman. June 29, 2015 Ed Waters Leaves Frederick Paper After 50 Years Reporter Ed Waters is retiring after 50 years at the the Frederick News-Post. Born and raised in Frederick, Waters, 67, began working at the News-Post on June 10, 1965, the night after his graduation from Frederick High School. June 28, 2015 WUST Owner Jim Weitzman Dies Jim Weitzman, who owned several DC area radio stations, died in his Rockville home on June 25 due to complications from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. He was 68. Under the banner of New World Radio Group, Weitzman owned WUST, 1120 AM, a longtime brokered ethnic station in DC. He later purchased Leesburg news talker WAGE, 1200 AM, moving it to the Dulles area and changing its frequency to 1190, as WCRW, carrying the English language Chinese Radio International service. In 1975, Weitzman was a partner in the firm of Shrinsky, Weitzman, and Eisen. The firm later merged with the Washington offices of Kaye Scholer. Jim retired from the firm after founding New World Radio Group, which also owned AMers in other markets, including Philadelphia. "The radio stations reflected Jim's love of international and multicultural programming, which has been the format of the broadcast group for 23 years," according to an obituary at legacy.com. June 27, 2015 WUSA Technician David Rankine Dies David Rankine, 53, a technician at Channel 9/WUSA for 33 years, died suddenly in mid-June. He was "considered one of the kindest, most graceful individuals we have collectively known," a colleague tells us. "David will be sorely missed at Broadcast House." June 22, 2015 Meymo Lyons Leaves WAMU ![]() June 22, 2015 WTOP Promotes McMearty To Top News Post ![]() June 18, 2015 "Veep" Leaves MD HBO has that it will move the production of "Veep," its DC-based political comedy starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, out of the Baltimore area of Maryland to Southern California. The decision by the cable network was a coup for California, which has been trying to woo television productions back to Hollywood through tax incentives. June 18, 2015 Pexton To Edit Frederick News-Post Former Washington Post ombudsman Patrick Pexton has been named top editor at the Frederick News-Post. Pexton, 60, of Chevy Chase, said he hopes to "lead the newsroom to be an integral part of the Frederick County community and the Frederick conversation." During his career, Pexton worked as a staff writer for the Montgomery Journal and the Navy Times before moving into management positions. He served as a managing editor and later deputy editor of the DC-based National Journal. In 2011, Pexton became the Post's ombudsman, where he served as an intermediary between readers and the newspaper's staff. June 18, 2015 Georgetown Sells Sports Rights To Fox Sports In a 10-year deal, Georgetown is selling its multimedia rights to Fox Sports. Via a new entity, Georgetown Sports Properties, which will be a division of Fox Sports. In the deal, Georgetown will outsource its marketing and corporate sponsorships for its radio broadcasts, digital and print advertising, game-day signage, and hospitality. The deal will pay Georgetown upwards of $3 million per year, according to estimates. June 17, 2015 Gazette's Founder Dies As Last Edition Is Published In 1959, the first issue of the Gaithersburg Gazette was pieced together by Earle Hightower out of the basement of his Rockville home. On June 8, Hightower died in Pinehurst NC at 92 years old, four days before it was announced that the Washington Post-owned Gazette in Montgomery and Prince George's counties - publications that evolved from his original creation - would print their final editions this week. June 12, 2015 WaPo To Shutter Gazette, Sell Other Papers The Washington Post will shut down the Gazette newspapers it operates in suburban Maryland. Come mid-June, both the Montgomery and Prince George's editions of the weeklies will end publication. About 70 jobs will be cut. According to a staff memo from Post Community Media: "After a comprehensive but unsuccessful effort to find a buyer for the Maryland Gazettes, we are sorry to report that they will cease publishing effective June 18, 2015. The publications, through their employees, have made a positive contribution to the community over the years and this is truly a heartfelt loss for all of us." Also, Adams Publishing, which owns five regional newspaper companies in Ohio, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, will buy Post Community Media's Southern Maryland Newspapers and Comprint Military Publications, which print 13 papers at military installations across Maryland, Virginia, and DC. And, the company's Fairfax County Times in Northern Virginia will be sold to Whip It Media, whose chief executive, Richard Whippen, was the paper's former general manager. June 12, 2015 Bill Hess Adds Nat'l News Talk Duties At Cumulus ![]() June 9, 2015 WTOP & WPOC Top June Radio Ratings The Washington market radio ratings for the month of May. Full-day, age 12+: 1) WTOP, 2) WAMU, 3) WASH, 4) WIHT, 5) WHUR, 6) WBIG, 7) WPGC, 8) WWDC, 9) WKYS, 10) WMAL, 11) WIAD and WPRS, 13) WMZQ, 14) WETA-FM, 15) WMMJ and WGTS, 17) WJFK-FM, 18) WRQX, 19) WLZL, 20) WNEW, 21) WDCN, 22) WTEM, 23) WAVA-FM, 24) WFRE, 25) WAFY, 26) WQSR and WBQB and WINC-FM and WERQ and WFLS, 31) WKDV and WPFW and WIYY and WWEG, WHUR STREAM. The Baltimore market radio ratings for the month of May. Full-day, age 6+: 1) WPOC, 2) WERQ, 3) WLIF, 4) WJZ-FM, 5) WWIN-FM, 6) WWMX, 7) WZFT, 8) WRBS-FM, 9) WQSR, 10) WZBA, 11) WIYY, 12) WBAL-AM, 13) WCAO and WNEW, 15) WCBM, 16) WYPR, 17) WHUR, 18) WMZQ, 19) WKYS and WPGC, 21) WTOP, 22) WWDC and WIHT, 24) WMAL, 25) WAMU and WTTR and WBIG and WBJC, 29) WASH and WFRE and WTMD and WLZL and WEAA. June 9, 2015 9 To Launch "Great Day Washington" Come September, Channel 9/WUSA will launch a 9 AM "daily lifestyle program" called "Great Day Washington" that will feature "in-studio interviews, product demos, on-location feature stories, and a frequent live studio audience." On-air talent for the program will be announced in early July. June 8, 2015 Kirk Re-Joins 98 Rock For Afternoons ![]() June 5, 2015 Caitlin Roth To Do AM Traffic For 5 ![]() June 5, 2015 Thomas Tobin To 7 & 8 Thomas Tobin joins Sinclair's Channel 7/WJLA and NewsChannel 8 as weekend executive news producer. He returns to DC from NYC where he's been assistant news director at WABC-TV and a consulting news producer at WPIX-TV. Before heading to NYC, Tobin was an executive news producer for Channel 4/WRC and a senior news producer for Channel 5/WTTG. After graduating from Virginia Tech, he worked in TV news in Richmond, Harrisonburg, and Roanoke. June 3, 2015 Kathleen Matthews Announces Congressional Run As has been widely rumored, former Channel 7/WJLA news anchor Kathleen Matthews formally announced her candidacy as a Democrat running for Maryland's 8th District congressional seat. She brings a name well known both from her 25 years as a reporter and anchor for WJLA and her marriage to MSNBC "Hardball" host Chris Matthews. Their deep network of friends and allies in Washington is likely to be a boon to fundraising. June 1, 2015 Maxx Myrick Gone From HUR Maxx Myrick is out of his program director gig at Howard University's adult urban contemporary WHUR, 96.3 FM. Before WHUR, Maxx handled jazz programming at DC-based XM Satellite Radio and worked for Clear Channel (now iHeart Media) in Chicago. June 1, 2015 Brenda Carl Returns To BAL Baltimore news radio veteran Brenda Carl has returned to Baltimore news talker WBAL, 1090 AM, doing fill-in news reporting and anchoring work. She recently left DC news talker WNEW, 99.1 FM, after its studio move from Lanham MD into DC, near Nationals Park. "I said no to the 80 mile commute - parking, tolls, Metro - and I'm very excited to find something at my old station," she tells us. After her first WBAL gig, she spent many years at Baltimore news talker WCBM, 680 AM. Carl also works at the Apple store in Towson and teaches communications courses at Howard Community College. May 29, 2015 CCN's Charnice Milton Gunned Down ![]() May 24, 2015 WHGM Flips To Classic Hits Havre de Grace MD's WHGM, 1330 AM, has flipped to classic hits as "104.7 The Point." The CRS-owned station also has a low-power FM simulcast on 104.7, which is leased from the Hope Christian Church of Marlton NJ. May 23, 2015 Keli Fulton Leaves CSN After nearly a year and a half, sports news anchor Keli Fulton is leaving Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic. She says she's heading to South Florida to work in a non-TV-related job. May 18, 2015 4's Dianna Russini To ESPN Another DC TV sports reporter-anchor is leaving for ESPN. Channel 4/WRC's Dianna Russini is heading to Britol CT to be an anchor for "SportsCenter" and do other reporting duties. She joined NBC-owned WRC two years ago, replacing Lindsay Czarniak, who also left WRC for ESPN. Before WRC, Russini worked at NBC-owned WVIT-TV in Hartford CT. May 18, 2015 Former WUSAer Osman To Head MG's DC Bureau Media General will open a DC news bureau and names Jim Osman as chief. The bureau will serve the Richmond-based company's local television stations in 48 markets. Osman, who has more than 15 years of experience covering state and national political campaigns, was most recently a reporter for Gannett-owned Channel 9/WUSA. Before that gig, he served as a DC-based national correspondent for Scripps Television. May 14, 2015 Kristin Fisher To Fox News Kristin Fisher, who used to report for Channel 9/WUSA, joins Fox News Channel as a politics reporter its DC bureau. She also worked for ABC NewsOne. Fisher replaces Molly Henneberg, who left Fox News last fall. May 14, 2015 Joe Galuski Dies Joe Galuski has died of complications from non-Hodgkins lymphoma. He was with WSYR in Syracuse NY since 1987 and hosted mornings there since 1998. Galuski came to Baltimore to host the afternoon shift from 1979 to 1981 on WCBM, 680 AM, during the Metromedia full service adult contemporary format. May 14, 2015 Ed Fouhy Dies Ed Fouhy, 80, a longtime Washington-based TV news executive, died May 13 in Chatham, Massachusetts. He was suffering from complications relating to cancer. A Boston native, Fouhy worked at all three major TV networks, starting as producer of "CBS Morning News" in 1966. He was Washington producer for the "CBS Evening News" with Walter Cronkite from 1969 to 1974, was a producer for NBC News from 1974 to 1977, and Washington bureau chief for ABC News from 1982 to 1985. May 13, 2015 Don Omar Sues El Zol Tom Taylor Now tells us that Puerto Rico-based entertainer Don Omar is suing CBS Radio for $9 million regarding last year's summer concert held by Spanish tropical El Zol, WLZL, 107.9 FM. Omar contends that then-WLZL program director, Pete Manriquez, who only recently left the station, was planning a summer concert at Rosecroft Raceway. The performer's suit claims that CBS and Manriques had a dispute over terms of the contract and Omar was dropped from the show. After which, Omar contends, WLZL reduced the on-air frequency of his music. Omar is also suing the event's insurers, ad agencies, and sponsors, Taylor adds. May 12, 2015 WTOP & WPOC Top April Radio Ratings The Washington market radio ratings for the month of April. Full-day, age 12+: 1) WTOP, 2) WAMU, 3) WHUR, 4) WIHT, 5) WASH, 6) WBIG, 7) WPRS and WETA-FM, 9) WMAL, 10) WWDC, 11) WMZQ, 12) WMMJ, 13) WKYS and WPGC, 15) WIAD and WGTS, 17) WJFK-FM, 18) WRQX, 19) WLZL, 20) WNEW, 21) WTEM, 22) WAVA-FM, 23) WDCN and WAFY, 25) WFRE and WBQB, 27) WERQ and WFLS and WPFW and WHUR STREAM. The Baltimore market radio ratings for the month of April. Full-day, age 6+: 1) WPOC, 2) WERQ, 3) WWIN-FM, 4) WJZ-FM and WLIF, 6) WWMX, 7) WZFT, 8) WQSR, 9) WRBS-FM, 10) WZBA, 11) WIYY, 12) WBAL-AM, 13) WNEW and WCAO, 15) WHUR, 16) WKYS and WMZQ and WCBM, 19) WTTR and WPGC, 21) WWDC and WTOP and WYPR, 24) WIHT, 25) WMAL and WAMU, 27) WASH, 28) WBJC and WBIG, 30) WTMD and WEAA. May 8, 2015 Rod Daniels To Retire From 11 ![]() May 8, 2015 Ken Strayhorn Dies Ken Strayhorn, 61, a former sports anchor at Richmond's Channel 8/WRIC, back when it was WXEX in the 1980s, has died. He also did fill-in sports work at Baltimore's Channel 45/WBFF in the 1990s. May 7, 2015 Cavendish Named WCP Editor The Washington City Paper names Steve Cavendish editor. He starts in June and will replace Mike Madden, who joined the Washington Post in March. Cavendish, who comes from the Nashville Scene alt weekly, was a news editor at the Post from 1999 to 2002. Nashville-based SouthComm owns both the Washington City Paper and the Nashville Scene. May 6, 2015 WNEW's Sanchez Adds OM Duties At El Zol Robert Sanchez, the program director and executive editor of CBS Radio news talker WNEW, 99.1 FM, adds operations manager duties across the hall at Spanish contemporary El Zol, WLZL, 107.9 FM. Sanchez replaces Pete Manriquez, who'd been El Zol's program director. May 6, 2015 WTRI To Pick Up Asian Programming WTRI, 1520 AM, in Brunswick MD, gets bought for $275,000 by Hasmukh Shah, who runs a company named 1520 Radio Asia. The Frederick County daytimer, which has been off the air for about a year, got turned over to receiver Roger Rafson last year on behalf of creditor HSBC. Shah owns an Asian-formatted AMer in Parsippany NJ. May 5, 2015 WMAL Sells AM Transmitter Site The north Bethesda AM tower site of news talker WMAL has been sold to two home builders, according to Maryland Newsletters, a local real estate publication. Cumulus, which owns the DC-based station, has sold the 75-acre site that sports the towers and transmitter for 630 AM at the I-270 "split" at the Capital Beltway just off Greentree Road to a partnership of Winchester Homes and Toll Brothers. The purchase price was not listed, although estimates have the land valued at $75 million. Up to 300 homes on quarter-acre lots under current zoning in Montgomery County could be constructed on the site. WMAL will have to move its AM transmission facilities to a new location. There's talk that the station could relocate to the Germantown site used by Red Zebra sports talker WSPZ, 570 AM. WMAL's 105.9 FM tower site in the Merrifield section of Fairfax, at the Capital Beltway and I-66, is unaffected by the Bethesda land sale. May 5, 2015 Spirit 1400 To Get FM Relay Radio One's gospel Spirit 1400, WWIN-AM in Baltimore, will land a low-power FM translator on 101.5. Hope Christian Church's 106.1 last week started airing Radio One's new gospel Praise 106.1. And Hope is applying to relocate a 90.9 translator from Church Hill, on the Eastern Shore, to 101.5 in Baltimore, where it will broadcast from the tower of Radio One's urban contemporary WERQ, 92.3 FM. April 29, 2015 Balto TVers Mobilize For Riots The Baltimore TV stations have been live for much of the time since violence broke out in the city over the weekend, following the memorial mass for Freddie Gray. Tuesday's coverage focused on the clean-up, the countless brooms in the hands of residents serving as symbols of the city’s efforts to get back to normal. It has also showed public figures, such as Jesse Jackson, walking the streets with residents. It's been a hectic few days for the stations, including WBAL, WJZ, WMAR, and WBFF. "We're all on standby," says Dan Joerres, WBAL president and general manager. "It's a tipping point for the city, and certainly for the country." The station chiefs say reporters were mostly allowed to do their jobs as angry residents clashed with police. Keith Daniels, reporter at WBFF, was hit with tear gas. "He was visibly shaken," says Bill Fanshawe, WBFF general manager. As always, the newsgatherers' first order is safety. "They know when to pull back when necessary," says Joerres, "and when they are safe to tell the story." April 25, 2015 Zampillo Joins ESPN 980 Dan Zampillo is the new program director for Red Zebra's WTEM, ESPN 980. He replaces Chuck Sapienza, who either resigned or was fired (depends who you talk to) back in March after the sports talker's new morning "Man Cave" show had its launch delayed several weeks after a dispute with the management at the Dan Snyder-owned station. Zampillo comes from SiriusXM, where's been director of programming for NBA Radio and Bleacher Report Radio. Before that, he worked at Detroit sports talker WXYT. April 24, 2015 QuickSilva & L'il Mo To Do PM Drive On 92Q Changes at Radio One's urban contemporary WERQ, 92.3 FM, in Baltimore. Longtime 2 PM to 6 PM host Konan will be moving to the 10 AM to 2 PM slot. Complementing this move, 92Q welcomes two Baltimore natives back home to take over afternoon drive. DJ QuickSilva and TV One "R&B Divas" star L'il Mo will now be heard from 2 PM to 6 PM. April 22, 2015 Fox Sports Vet Steve Byrnes Dies Fox Sports personality Steve Byrnes, 56, died April 21 after battling head and neck cancer. Raised in New Carrollton and a graduate of James Madison University, Byrnes joined Fox Sports in 2001, hosting and reporting for NASCAR programs and serving as a pit road reporter for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races until 2014. Most recently, he was the play-by-play announcer for Fox Sports 1 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and was co-host of NASCAR Race Hub. Before Fox, he worked at CBS, WTBS, and TNN. Byrnes started his career as a weekend sports producer at Channel 7/WJLA in the early 1980s. April 22, 2015 Vance To Cut 11 PM Duties, Stay With 4 Thru '17 ![]() April 22, 2015 First NPR President Dies Donald Quayle, a public broadcasting executive who helped establish DC-based National Public Radio in 1970 and served as its first president, died April 16 at a hospital in Silver Spring. He was 84 and a Bethesda resident. The cause was complications from brain surgery. April 20, 2015 Area Radio TV Veteran Ron Smith Dies Ron Smith, a veteran broadcaster in the Mid-Atlantic region, died April 17 in Egg Harbor Township NJ. He was 75. He most recently served as general manager of WMGM-TV in Linwood NJ from 2003 to 2013. He came to WMGM in 1989 as sales manager after a brief stint as a radio sales manager in Roanoke. From 1987 to 1989, he owned and operated WCBG-AM in Chambersburg PA. Smith's advertising and broadcast management career began in the mid-1960s when he was a vice president at Adler Advertising in Washington. Smith and Warren Adler expanded the company's operations to include broadcasting, with Smith acquiring and operating Baltimore's WAYE-AM and Hagerstown's WHAG-AM/FM for the company. In January 1970, Smith launched WHAG-TV in Hagerstown. He stayed with WHAG-TV for 17 years through several ownership changes, mostly as sales manager. While at WHAG, he briefly and concurrently owned and operated WAAT-FM in Johnstown PA. Born in Baltimore, Smith began his broadcasting career as a weekend announcer at WFBR-AM while a senior at Catonsville High School. He would later work at WDMV-AM and WICO-AM on Maryland's Eastern Shore. At Baltimore's WITH-AM, his shift followed that of personality Buddy Deane who would hire him as an announcer for WJZ-TV's "The Buddy Deane Show." April 16, 2015 Britt McHenry Has Video Meltdown, Gets Suspended ![]() April 14, 2015 UMD's Diamondback To Cut Print Frequency Laura Blasey, the departing editor of the University Of Maryland's student-produced Diamondback newspaper, says that "readers don't want a hard copy of the news anymore," so the print edition will come out with just one print paper a week beginning this fall - down from four. "We used to print almost 20,000 papers every day, and now we print a fraction of that at 7,000," Blasey says. April 14, 2015 WTOP & WPOC Top March DC Radio Ratings The monthly March radio ratings for the Washington market. Full-day, age 12+: 1) WTOP, 2) WAMU, 3) WHUR, 4) WIHT, 5) WASH, 6) WBIG, 7) WMAL, 8) WETA-FM, 9) WMMJ and WWDC, 11) WPRS, 12) WMZQ, 13) WKYS, 14) WIAD, 15) WGTS, 16) WPGC, 17) WJFK-FM, 18) WRQX, 19) WNEW and WLZL, 21) WTEM, 22) WDCN and WAVA-FM, 24) WFRE, 25) WBQB, 26) WFLS and WERQ and WAFY, 29) WQSR and WINC-FM, 31) WIYY and WGRQ, 33) WWEG and WKDV and WPFW and WHUR STREAM and WBJC, 38) WILC and WSMD and WSPZ and WACA and WZBA. The monthly March radio ratings for the Baltimore market. Full-day, age 12+: 1) WPOC, 2) WWIN-FM, 3) WERQ, 4) WZFT, 5) WQSR, 6) WWMX, 7) WLIF, 8) WJZ-FM, 9) WZBA, 10) WBAL-AM, 11) WRBS-FM, 12) WIYY, 13) WCAO, 14) WYPR, 15) WNEW and WCBM, 17) WHUR, 18) WTOP, 19) WWDC and WPGC and WMZQ, 22) WIHT and WKYS and WTTR, 25) WBJC, 26) WMMJ and WMAL, 28) WASH, 29) WBIG, 30) WEAA, 31) WGTS and WRQX, 33) WFRE and WRNR-FM and WLZL and WTMD and WXCY, 38) WWIN-AM and NC1061, 40) WSOX and WAVA-FM. April 14, 2015 Ken Merson Joins WLIF ![]() April 14, 2015 7's "GMW" To Continue On NC8 Starting April 20th, "Good Morning Washington" will air from 4:25 AM to 7 AM on Sinclair's Channel 7/WJLA and then continue under the same brand on the company's NewsChannel 8 from 7 AM until 10 AM. The newscast will feature Larry Smith, Autria Godfrey, Jummy Olabanji, Eileen Whelan, Jacqui Jeras, Jamie Sullivan, and Julie Wright. With the change, NC8 morning anchor Kellye Lynn will move to the weekend anchor desk, Melanie Hastings will co-anchor NC8's "Let's Talk Live" with newcomer Julie Wright and continue with NC8 at noon. The "GMW" field reporters will include Sam Sweeney, John Gonzalez, Jeannette Reyesm, and Eileen Whelan. With the new schedule, there are numerous weather anchor changes. Among them, mornings on WJLA will feature Whelan. Jeras joins "GMW" on NC8. And, WJLA noon weather duties will be handled by Doug Hill. April 13, 2015 Dan Mason Leaving CBS Radio ![]() April 12, 2015 Dickerson Named New "Face The Nation" Host John Dickerson has been named the next anchor of "Face The Nation," CBS's DC-based Sunday morning political talk show. The news was announced Sunday by the program's longtime host, Bob Schieffer. "My friend CBS News Political Director John Dickerson - who has been on this broadcast 83 times and he sure has the right bloodlines," Schieffer said. "His mother Nancy Dickerson was the first female correspondent in the CBS News Washington bureau." Dickerson has been political director for CBS News since 2011. He began working at CBS News in April 2009 as an on-air political analyst. Dickerson has been a reporter in Washington for almost 20 years, working for Slate and Time. April 9, 2015 Radio One To Launch Praise 106.1 In Balto ![]() April 9, 2015 Schieffer To Retire This Summer After nearly 50 years with CBS News, "Face The Nation" anchor Bob Schieffer announces that he will step down from his post this summer. Schieffer, 78, has been with CBS News for 46 years, and has moderated the network's DC-based Sunday morning public affairs talk show for the past 24 years. In addition to his role at "Face The Nation," Schieffer is also the chief Washington correspondent for CBS News. April 8, 2015 Pinkard Named BAL Radio News Director, More Promotions Malarie Pinkard has been named news director for Baltimore news talker WBAL-AM, 1090. She's worked at the Hearst station for more than 15 years and most recently has been managing editor. Also, Mike Wellbrock has been named assistant program director for WBAL radio. He's been at the station more than 30 years, handling many aspects of the development and production of content. And, Johnny Goldsmith has been promoted to executive producer for WBAL radio. He joined the station in 1987 as an intern and most recently served as game director for WBAL's Ravens Game Day Network. April 5, 2015 Buddy Belote Dies Washington broadcasting pioneer Buddy Belote died March 20 in Tempe, Arizona. He was 93. In 1945, Belote started doing engineering duties for and spinning records at WINX radio when it was owned by the Washington Post. And he later did engineering work for WTOP-AM and TV, also when they were owned by the Post. He continued with DC's Channel 9 during its post-Post ownership changes as WDVM and WUSA. Belote retired in 1986. He's the father of championship swimmer Melissa Belote, who received numerous medals in the 1972 and 1976 summer Olympics. April 2, 2015 Julie Wright Joins WJLA DC area traffic reporter Julie Wright joins Channel 7/WJLA. She will be doing news features reports during "Good Morning Washington." In March, Wright left Total Traffic Network, where she was seen doing morning traffic on Channel 5/WTTG and heard on a variety of area radio stations, including WPGC and WNEW. April 1, 2015 WTOP Drops To 2nd In Nat'l Radio Revenue ![]() March 31, 2015 98 Rock's Sarah Fleischer To Retire ![]() March 30, 2015 Delayed "Man Cave" Debuts On ESPN 980 Two weeks after it was supposted to debut, the "Man Cave" finally aired its first show on ESPN 980, WTEM, on March 30. The hosts of the new morning show, Jason Reid and Chris Paul, did acknowledge the delayed start but avoided talking about the multiple rumors surrounding it. "During that whole time that we were not on the air, Jason and I both remained silent because we had to," said Paul. "Things were being worked out behind the scenes, things you young folks wouldn't understand. It's a different level of grown-up mentality needed to understand exactly what was going on behind the scenes. So we had to let the people talk. We had to let them say what they were gonna say. But now, if you want to know what happened with the 'Man Cave' and why we did not debut, this is why." March 29, 2015 DC Gospel Radio's Bishop Long Dies Bishop C.L. Long, a charismatic DC pastor who was a dominant voice on radio and television for nearly four decades and was known for his high-octane preaching and gospel concerts at his Scripture Cathedral church, died March 21 at a hospital in Baltimore. He was 74. The cause was kidney disease. Long was part of the Radio One family for 37 years, first on WYCB, 1340 AM, and then WPRS, Praise 104.1. His programs would always begin with a soul-stirring gospel selection, followed by tearful confessions from radio callers and concluded with one of his sermons from "the Cathedral." Says Karen Jackson, general sales manager for Radio One, "Bishop Long was staple on WYCB for more than 37 years. He was one of our first pastors who would do his broadcast live from our studios and from church." March 27, 2015 Larry Smith To 7's "GMW" Sinclair's Channel 7/WJLA has hired Larry Smith as an anchor for "Good Morning Washington." He comes from WGCL-TV in Atlanta and worked at CNN before that. March 27, 2015 Bill Toohey Dies William "Bill" Toohey, a former spokesman for the Baltimore County Police, died Thursday of lymphoma at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. He was 69. A native of New Jersey, Toohey came to Baltimore after stints as a National Public Radio New York correspondent and as a newscaster for the ABC News' FM radio network. In 1986, he started as a reporter for the old Johns Hopkins University radio station, WJHU, now WYPR. He became the station's interim news director in 1987 and eventually its evening news anchor. Toohey became the Baltimore County Police spokesman in 1996 and, for many years, was seen and heard on Baltimore area media outlets providing information about indicents, crimes, and cases. He was a civilian employee and held the post until retiring in 2010. Toohey then went to work as the communications director for the Maryland governor's Office Of Crime Control And Prevention, a post he held at his death. He also taught communications at Towson University. He is survived by his wife, WNEW news anchor Rosemary Frisino-Toohey. March 26, 2015 Tim Brant To Leave 7 ![]() March 24, 2015 Jamie Sullivan Joins JLA Jamie Sullivan is now doing morning traffic reports on Channel 7/WJLA and Sinclair sister NewsChannel 8. She left the DC traffic operation of Clear Channel (now iHeartMedia) in 2013 for a TV traffic gig in her hometown of Cleveland. March 18, 2015 Mike Masco Leaving 2 Meteorologist Mike Masco is leaving Baltimore's Channel 2/WMAR, where he's been for three years. He writes on his Facebook page: "My plans going forward will feature a new adventure that will take me away from full-time TV. You'll see me pop up on ABC2 from time-to-time to help when I can." March 17, 2015 WTOP & WPOC Top February DC Radio Ratings The DC market monthly radio ratings for February. Full-day, age 12+: 1) WTOP, 2) WAMU, 3) WHUR, 4) WIHT, 5) WASH, 6) WBIG, 7) WMAL, 8) WETA-FM, 9) WWDC, 10) WMMJ, 11) WPRS, 12) WMZQ, 13) WKYS and WGTS, 15) WIAD, 16) WPGC, 17) WLZL, 18) WJFK-FM, 19) WRQX and WNEW, 21) WTEM, 22) WFRE, 23) WAVA-FM and WDCN, 25) WBQB, 26) WAFY, 27) WFLS, 28) WPFW and WGRQ and WERQ and WINC-FM, 32) WILC and WIYY and WQSR, 35) WTNT and WHUR STREAM and WKDV and WPOC, 40) WRBS-FM and WBQH and WSPZ and WLIF and WWEG and WACA. The Baltimore market monthly radio ratings for February. Full-day, age 6+: 1) WPOC, 2) WERQ, 3) WWIN-FM, 4) WLIF and WZFT and WWMX, 7) WZBA, 8) WJZ-FM and WRBS-FM, 10) WBAL-AM, 11) WQSR, 12) WIYY, 13) WCBM, 14) WNEW and WYPR, 16) WHUR, 17) WCAO, 18) WTOP, 19) WWDC and WASH and WBJC and WPGC and WIHT and WTTR, 25) WKYS, 26) WMZQ, 27) WMAL and WTMD, 29) WGTS and WAMU and WBIG, 32) WRQX and WXCY, 34) WEAA and WLZL and WFRE, 37) NC1061 and WRBS-AM and WRNR-FM and WJZ-AM and WWIN-AM. March 15, 2015 Gardening Show Off NC8 After 25 years, the Merrifield Garden Center's Saturday morning TV show is no longer airing on NewsChannel 8. The contract was up for renewal - the garden center paid the station to air the show - and Merrifield didn't like any of the time slot changes suggested by the station. The last show aired February 28. March 13, 2015 Laurie Cantillo Leaves WTOP ![]() March 11, 2015 Lee McCarthy Dies Former NBC correspondent Lee McCarthy has died as a result of complications following cancer surgery. McCarthy came to Washington in 1967 to work at WTOP radio then worked for NBC, primarily out of the DC bureau, until 1986 when he went to WTAF (now WTXF) in Philadelphia to anchor their start up news operation. He retired from broadcasting in 1993 and taught journalism at Villanova until 2005. March 9, 2015 WTOP & WRC Form News Partnership ![]() March 9, 2015 City Paper's Madden To WaPo Washington City Paper editor Mike Madden jumps to the Washington Post to be deputy editor of Outlook and PostEverything. March 8, 2015 Tsi-Tsi-Ki Felix To 14 Tsi-Tsi-Ki Felix joins Univision affiliate Channel 14/WFDC as evening news anchor. She comes from Chicago, where she worked for Telemundo's WSNS-TV up until 2012. Since then, she's worked at Univision radio outlet WRTO in the Windy City. Here in DC, Felix will also host the Sunday morning talk show "Perspectiva Nacional." March 7, 2015 CBS Radio Moves Into New DC Digs Last spring, we told you that CBS Radio would be moving its offices and studios from Lanham in Prince George's County to new facilities in southeast DC, near Nationals Park. Now, we hear the move of the firm's six stations will start this weekend. Back in April 2014, CBS Radio signed a deal for leased space at Capitol Riverfront, where it will join the National Labor Relations Board at 1015 Half Street, SE. The broadcaster will occupy 33,042 square feet on the second floor and about 3,000 square feet on the building's ground floor for use as a performance studio, which opened late last year. CBS will air backup programming Saturday night and Sunday morning while it moves news talker WNEW, 99.1, which should be operating from its new DC studios by 9 AM. El Zol, WLZL, will make the move next weekend, followed by 94.7 Fresh FM, WIAD, the following weekend, with WPGC and WJFK-FM/AM to follow. The business office will make the move around March 21st, we're told. March 7, 2015 45's Janus To RNN Reporter Stephen Janis is leaving Channel 45/WBFF. He's headed to the Real News Network. March 6, 2015 Jay Philpott Heads To Atlanta Jay Philpott is leaving his afternoon drive gig at Baltimore classic rocker WZBA, 100.7 The Bay. He will be heading to Atlanta to do afternoons and assistant program director duties at Rock 100.5, WNNX. Philpott tells us: "I will be joining Program Director Greg Ausham once again. I've respected Greg since we met in Minneapolis during the early days of both of our careers, and I worked for him for over four years at Lazer 103 Milwaukee during its famous rock war versus WQFM." March 6, 2015 Sam Sweeney To 7 Channel 7/WJLA has hired Sam Sweeney as a general assignment reporter. He'll start April 13. Sweeney comes from Fort Myers, Florida's WBBH-TV. Before that, he worked at WMGM-TV in Atlantic City and KNXV-TV in Phoenix. March 5, 2015 Jonathan Elias To Join 7 Jonathan Elias will head to Sinclair's Channel 7/WJLA in June to join the evening anchor desk along with Maureen Bunyan, Leon Harris, and Alison Starling. He comes from Boston, where he anchored at CBS-owned WBZ-TV and its sister station, WSBK-TV. Before that, Elias worked at KNXV-TV in Phoenix and KCBS-TV in Los Angeles. He's also worked at TV stations in Minneapolis, Birmingham AL, and Sacramento. March 4, 2015 Jim Purks Dies Jim Purks who for many years was heard on Leesburg's now-defunct community news talk WAGE, has died. Battling cancer, he passed away at Fairfax Hospital after suffering an injury at his Sterling home, we're told. March 4, 2015 Cumulus Says Adios To O'Brien Last July, we told you that Mark O'Brien, the market manager for Cumulus's DC radio cluster, had been removed of his duties. Although he was under contract to Cumulus into early 2015. Now, we hear that O'Brien's two-year contract will be allowed to expire. He came to Cumulus DC in early 2013 to oversee news talker WMAL and then-hot adult contemporary WRQX. Since then, WMAL's fortunes have improved with an expanded news department, more staff stability, and higher ratings. But O'Brien's canning of WRQX, Mix 107.3 longtime morning man Jack Diamond sent that station into a ratings spiral that it still hasn't recovered from, even with its new contemporary hits format and Sarah Frasier-based morning show as DC's 107.3. No word about O'Brien's plans. He's a DC radio veteran, having worked in the past for Clear Channel and Red Zebra. Cumulus Senior Vice President Gary Pizzati has been handling DC market manager duties since last summer. March 2, 2015 Tabitha Abrams Dies Tabitha Abrams, 41, died on February 21 after a 20-year battle with ovarian cancer. She was a news anchor on Washington area radio for WTOP and WFLS, as well as a newspaper reporter and editor at the Fredericksburg Freelance-Star, the Caroline Progress, and the Annapolis Capital. March 1, 2015 Kirsten Lindquist Dies Kirsten Lindquist died of pancreatic cancer February 14. She was 60. Linquist, who grew up in Alexandria, worked at then-all-newser WAVA radio in Arlington in the early 1970s. In 1976, she joined the Associated Press Radio Network in Washington, where she covered the White House, State Department, Congress, and the Supreme Court. She left radio in 1980 to join the startup crew of CNN. Lindquist later anchored news for CNN in Los Angeles. In 1985, she moved to Minneapolis where she worked for NBC, anchoring the news and becoming involved in community work. February 25, 2015 Chandrasekaran Leaving Washington Post Rajiv Chandrasekaran, the national editor of the Washington Post, where he has worked since 1994, is leaving the newspaper "to form a small media company based in Seattle that will create and produce nonfiction, social-impact content, some of it in partnership with the Starbucks Coffee Company," he writes on his Facebook page. February 25, 2015 WNEW's Now A News Talker CBS all-newser WNEW, 99.1 FM, transitions to a news talker with the addition of talk programming in evenings and overnights. On Monday, the station added three hours of Dave Ramsey's financial talk show at 8 PM. And, in overnights, it's now running the syndicated "Overnight America" talk show. WNEW still carries locally-produced news updates at the top of the evening and overnight hours. It remains an all-newser from 5 AM to 8 PM weekdays. During the past few months, WNEW has been adding infomercials during its night and weekend hours. It's also added sports - carrying Wizards games. CBS launched all-news WNEW in January 2012 and has not made a significant ratings impact on Hubbard's top-rated all-news WTOP. February 24, 2015 Finn Neilsen Joins WNAV Finn Neilsen is the new news diretctor at WNAV, 1430 AM, in Annapolis. The full-service station is owned by "Wheel Of Fortune" host Pat Sajak. Neilsen's career includes stops at DC's WTOP and Frederick's WFRE. February 24, 2015 Cucchiella Joins WNST Former 98 Rock, WIYY morning man Mickey Cucchiella will be a contributor to Nestor Aparicio's Towson-based sports talker, WNST, 1570 AM. Starting in March, "Mickey will be doing his own thing interspersed throughout our daily programming, but on Fridays and weekends you'll hear some segments where we'll be chatting with each other and attempting to have some fun as a radio tandem," writes Aparicio, who does the morning show at WNST, at wnst.net. Back in November, Cucchiella, a local stand-up comic, guest hosted mornings at CBS sports talker 105.7 The Fan, WJZ-FM. After leaving 98 Rock in mid-2013, Cucchiella has been running the Vape Lounge in Harford County, where he sells electronic cigarettes. February 20, 2015 Paul & Reid To WTEM Mornings Chris Paul and Jason Reid will team up and form a new morning drive program on ESPN 980, WTEM. "The Man Cave" will be a blend of sports, comedy, and entertainment, according to an announcement from the Red Zebra sports talker. Paul is a veteran of local broadcast radio, co-hosting the Donnie Simpson show on WPGC for 16 years, and for the last six years with the syndicated Tom Joyner show. Reid has been the Redskins beat reporter and later a sports columnist for the Washington Post, where he's worked since 2007. Before that, he covered sports for the Los Angeles Times. The show debuts March 16. It will replace the nationally syndicated "Mike And Mike" show from ESPN Radio, which moves over to Red Zebra's other sports talker, Sports 570, WSPZ, replacing Andy Pollin's "Sports Reporters" show. February 18, 2015 WTOP & WPOC Top January Radio Ratings The Washington market radio ratings for the month of January. Full-day, age 6+: 1) WTOP, 2) WAMU, 3) WHUR, 4) WASH, 5) WIHT, 6) WBIG, 7) WETA-FM, 8) WMAL, 9) WWDC, 10) WMMJ, 11) WPRS, 12) WGTS, 13) WIAD, 14) WMZQ, 15) WKYS, 16) WPGC, 17) WLZL, 18) WJFK-FM, 19) WTEM, 20) WRQX, 21) WNEW, 22) WFRE, 23) WBQB and WDCN, 25) WAFY, 26) WINC-FM and WAVA-FM and WFLS, 29) WGRQ, 30) WPFW and WERQ. Age 25-54: 1) WTOP, 2) WWDC, 3) WHUR, 4) WASH, 5) WAMU, 6) WBIG, 7) WIHT, 8) WIAD, 9) WMAL, 10) WKYS and WGTB, 12) WMZQ, 13) WPGC, 14) WMMJ, 15) WJFK-FM, 16) WPRS, 17) WETA-FM, 18) WLZL and WNEW, 20) WRQX, 21) WTEM, 22) WDCN, 23) WFRE, 24) WBQB and WINC-FM, 26) WAVA-FM and WAFY and WERQ, 29) WGRQ and WKDV. The Baltimore market radio ratings for the month of January. Full-day, age 6+: 1) WPOC, 2) WWIN-FM, 3) WLIF, 4) WJZ-FM, 5) WWMX, 6) WERQ, 7) WBAL-AM, 8) WZBA, 9) WZFT, 10) WQSR, 11) WRBS-FM, 12) WIYY, 13) WCBM, 14) WBJC, 15) WCAO, 16) WYPR, 17) WNEW, 18) WPGC, 19) WTMD, 20) WAMU. February 17, 2015 Rochelle Ritchie Leaves 13 Channel 13/WJZ news reporter Rochelle Ritchie has left the CBS-owned station to become director of communications/spokesperson for the the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office. February 16, 2015 Garrett Haake To Join 9 Garrett Haake will leave Kansas City's KSHB-TV for Channel 9/WUSA, where he'll be a reporter. He starts in March. Before joining KSHB in February 2013, Haake was an NBC News campaign embed covering Mitt Romney's run for president. Before that, he had been an associate producer for "NBC Nightly News." February 15, 2015 Arnaud de Borchgrave Dies Arnaud de Borchgrave, 88, former editor in chief of the Washington Times, died February 15 at a hospice in Washington after a lengthy illness with cancer. He was editor in chief of the Times from 1985 until he retired in 1991. He had earlier been the chief foreign correspondent for Newsweek for 25 years. February 13, 2015 Rick Strauss Returns To PD Gig At 98 Rock ![]() February 11, 2015 Leinwand Out At Radio One DC radio veteran Alan Leinwand is out as general manager of Radio One's DC cluster. And that Jeff Wilson from Radio One's Cleveland cluster will replace him. The DC cluster includes both WKYS and WMMJ, both of which have been under-performing in the ratings of late. Plus, WPRS, WOL, and WYCB. February 11, 2015 Scott Masteller Joins WBAL Radio Scott Masteller is the new program director at Hearst news talker WBAL, 1090 AM, in Baltimore. He comes from ESPN Radio, where he was senior director for content and audio. Masteller, who starts February 19, replaces Dave Hill, who left for a radio management gig in Portland, Oregon, in late 2014. Mike Wellbrock served as WBAL's PD in the interim. February 11, 2015 Tim Watts Gone From Magic 95.9 Tim Watts, program director of Baltimore's adult urban contemporary WWIN-FM, Magic 95.9, returned from vacation yesterday only to be "let go" after 17 years with the Radio One station. Before that, he was with the now-defunct urban contemporary V103, WXYV, for 17 years. February 11, 2015 9 Drops WeatherNation Gannett's Channel 9/WUSA has replaced the WeatherNation network with Justice Network on its 9-3 digital subchannel. With the drop, there are no full-time weather networks on any DC area broadcast channels. WUSA provided local weather inserts on WeatherNation with its team of meteorologists, including Topper Shutt and Howard Bernstein. February 10, 2015 Steve Burns Joins WMAL Cumulus news talker WMAL, 105.9 FM/630 AM, expands its local news department with the addition of Steve Burns, who will serve as a weekday field reporter and a weekend anchor. Burns most recently served as an anchor and reporter at WATD in Marshfield, Massachusetts. His joining the station will allow additional weekend local news updates anchored from WMAL's Jenifer Street studios, WMAL Program Director Bill Hess tells us. February 10, 2015 Kruz Adds PD Duties At Z104. Baltimore contemporary hit outlet WZFT, Z104.3, named Kruz as its program director. He had been assistant program director at the station. Kruz will continue as its afternoon drive host. He began his radio career in Detroit in college at WDRQ and WDVD. After graduation, he joined WQAL in Cleveland, where for three years he took over the evening show before moving to DC to do nights on iHeartMedia's like-formatted Hot 99.5, WIHT. February 2, 2015 Steven Portnoy Joins CBS Radio ![]() February 2, 2015 Mary Cliff Among WAMU Cuts ![]() January 30, 2015 Washington Times Cuts Radio, Podcasts January 30 was the last broadcast of Andy Parks' Washington Times show on Salem talker WWRC, 1260 AM. All radio and podcasts will cease from the Times studios. The newspaper's radio and podcast programs are not generating sufficient financial resources. January 29, 2015 WAMU Cuts 6, Dumps Intersection The axe has fallen again at American University public radio news talker WAMU, 88.5 FM. More cuts have been announced by new General Manager JJ Yore in a staff memo, including a reduction of operating costs at its Eastern Shore outlet, Ocean City's WRAU, 88.3 FM, and at Bluegrass Country, which is carried on several low-power outlets such as Bethesda's 105.5 FM and via WAMU's HD2 subchannel. Also, Yore plans to eliminate WAMU's Intersection service, which is carried on the HD3 subchannel. "Unfortunately these savings require eliminating the full-time positions held by Bryan Russo and Chris Teskey. We also will eliminate four part-time positions connected to BGC and HD3 [Intersection] held by Echo Propp, Jenn Hitt, Mary Cliff, and Morgyn Vernon," he writes. "We need to balance our budget and must do that in a strategic way. I'm committed to protecting our core assets - the programs and services that reach the most people - and to laying the foundation for future growth. I've focused reductions on areas that have not proven to be sustainable in their current form, following the path I laid out in our December staff meeting." Late last year, WAMU cut the frequency of its local traffic reports, axed "The Animal House" Saturday show, and eliminated several staff positions January 26, 2015 WaPo Cuts Biz Tab The Washington Post is pulling the plug on its Monday weekly Capital Business tabloid, which it charged extra for but would often waive the charge if requested by a subscriber. In a piece entitled "This Is Not Goodbye," editor Dan Beyers insists that the Jeff Bezos-owned newspaper is not scaling back its local business coverage with the publication's termination. January 26, 2015 Joe Clair To Replace Pablo At PGC ![]() January 23, 2015 Alpha Buys Free Lance-Star Stations Portland, Oregon-based Alpha Media will acquire the four-station Free Lance-Star Radio group in Fredericksburg. The stations include country WFLS, 93.3 FM, news talk WNTX, 1350 AM, rhythmic contemporary WVBX, 99.3 FM, and classic rock WWUZ, 96.9 FM. Alpha chairman Larry Wilson says: "Around 50 miles from Washington DC, Fredericksburg is a thriving place that continues to grow. It will be a nice addition to our East Coast footprint. I feel privileged to be able to get into that market and work with the great people there." The stations were acquired by Sandton Capital in a bankruptcy auction last year. Sandton holds on to the Free Lance-Star newspaper. January 23, 2015 Tommy Chuck To Be PD Of Hot 99.5 & WPOC Tommy Chuck joins iHeartMedia's DC contemporary hits outlet WIHT, Hot 99.5, and Baltimore country outlet WPOC, 93.1, as program director of both. He comes from the company's Tampa radio cluster where he's been program director and digital director of contemporary hits WFLZ and hot adult contemporary WMTX. He starts February 9. January 23, 2015 9 Announces Retirement Of JC Hayward ![]() January 22, 2015 Carson Heads To KC Local radio veteran Rob Carson is leaving the DC area for a Cumulus-owned news talker in Kansas City. He'll be hosting mornings at KCMO. The station is also adding Chris Plante's WMAL-based show for late mornings. For many years, Carson hosted afternoons and middays at WRQX, back when it was hot adult contemporary Mix 107.3. He also did fill-in talk show work at news talker WMAL. Both WMAL and WRQX are owned by Cumulus. Recently, Carson's been hosting the nationally syndicated "America Weekend" talk show for Envision. He's also been doing a fill-in service for news talkers around the country from a studio in his DC area home. Carson began his broadcasting career in Missouri after graduating from Northwest Missouri State University. January 22, 2015 50 Years For McConnell At WTOP ![]() January 21, 2015 WASH & WLIF Top Holiday Radio Ratings The DC market radio ratings for the "Holiday" month, mainly early December to early January. Featuring a seasonal surge for WASH, which played holiday tunes for most of the period. Full-day, age 6+: 1) WASH, 2) WAMU, 3) WTOP, 4) WHUR, 5) WIHT, 6) WBIG and WETA-FM, 8) WMMJ, 9) WMAL and WWDC, 11) WPGC and WMZQ, 13) WIAD, 14) WGTS and WPRS, 16) WKYS, 17) WTEM, 18) WJFK-FM and WLZL and WRQX, 21) WNEW, 22) WFRE, 23) WBQB, 24) WAVA-FM and WINC-FM, 26) WDCN, 27) WFLS, 28) WERQ and WPFW and WAFY. Age 25-54: 1) WASH, 2) WHUR, 3) WWDC, 4) WIHT, 5) WTOP, 6) WAMU, 7) WBIG, 8) WPGC, 9) WIAD and WKYS and WMZQ, 12) WMMJ, 13) WGTS, 14) WMAL, 15) WTEM and WPRS, 17) WJFK-FM, 18) WLZL and WRQX, 20) WETA-FM, 21) WNEW, 22) WFRE, 23) WDCN and WINC-FM, 25) WBQB, 26) WAVA-FM, 27) WTNT and WERQ and WAFY, 30) WKDV and WACA and WIYY and WLIF. The Baltimore market radio ratings for the "Holiday" month, mainly early December to early January. Featuring a seasonal surge for WLIF, which played holiday tunes for most of the period. Full-day, age 6+: 1) WLIF, 2) WERQ, 3) WPOC, 4) WWIN-FM, 5) WJZ-FM, 6) WWMX, 7) WZBA, 8) WBAL-AM, 9) WQSR, 10) WZFT, 11) WIYY, 12) WRBS-FM, 13) WBJC, 14) WCAO, 15) WCBM, 16) WPGC, 17) WYPR, 18) WNEW, 19) WTMD, 20) WAMU. January 20, 2015 Bill Rehkopf Returns To WNEW Bill Rehkopf, who was one of the original news anchors on CBS all-newser WNEW, 99.1 FM, when it launched three years ago this month, is returning. He'll be anchoring afternoon drive with Stacy Lyn. Rehhopf left WNEW later in 2012 to return to Pittsburgh to be closer to family and deal with personal matters. While there, he anchored afternoons on CBS news talker KDKA-AM. January 18, 2015 CBS's Greg Anthony Arrested For Solicitation In DC CBS Sports commentator Greg Anthony, a former NBA player, was arrested in DC January 16 and charged with soliciting a prostitute during an undercover sting operation. Anthony, 47, a father of four, was arrested in a room at the Doubletree Hotel on Rhode Island Avenue NW, not far from the White House. He was slated to announce the University Of Maryland-Michigan State game Saturday afternoon in College Park for CBS Sports, where he has worked since 2008. CBS News released a statement saying Anthony has been suspended indefinitely and will not be working for CBS this season. January 17, 2015 Earl Kelly Dies Earl Kelly, a former Annapolis Capital Maryland State House reporter who retired two years ago, has died of an apparent heart attack. He was 64. Kelly had recently been hired to study Maryland politics and ethics by DC's Center For Public Integrity. January 15, 2015 Kim Brown To Kansas City Kim Brown heads to Kansas City to co-host mornings on urban contemporary KPRS, Hot 103 Jamz. She most recently worked at WRQX. Her media background inchudes stints at Channel 2/WMAR, International TV Services, and WKYS. She will continue to be a guest contributor on News One's DC-based "Roland Martin Show." January 12, 2015 Doug Hill Signs Deal To Stay At 7 ![]() January 12, 2015 Orioles Leave BAL For 105.7 The Baltimore Orioles have announced a new multi-year deal naming CBS Radio's 105.7 The Fan, WJZ-FM, the flagship station of the Orioles Radio Network. Beginning in 2015, fans will be able to hear all 162 Orioles regular season games, select spring training contests, and Orioles programming on 105.7 The Fan and across the seven-state, 34-station Orioles Radio Network. The team had been on Hearst news talker WBAL-AM. Orioles games will continue to be called by the broadcast team of Joe Angel and Fred Manfra, who return for their 12th season together on Orioles radio coverage. The Orioles' radio rights return to 105.7 The Fan, where the station had previously broadcast Orioles games between 2007 and 2010. "With a dedicated FM presence, a strong network of local CBS Radio stations, and an around-the-clock lineup of sports programming, 105.7 The Fan is the ideal flagship home for the Orioles Radio Network," says Orioles vice president of communications and marketing Greg Bader. "Partnering with the region's premiere radio destination for sports fans and CBS Radio's powerful cluster of stations allows us to effectively reach our diverse fan base on a daily basis and to develop valuable multiplatform marketing opportunities for our sponsors," adds Bader. CBS Radio Baltimore cluster senior vice president Bob Philips says, "We are thrilled that the Baltimore Orioles are coming home to 105.7 The Fan. This partnership with the Orioles is a great addition to our market leading number one sports brand and platform in Baltimore." January 12, 2015 Michelle Butt Leaves WBAL ![]() January 8, 2015 Kashon Powell Joins WMMJ Kashon Powell is the new program director at Radio One's adult urban contemporary WMMJ, Majic 102.3. She comes from Norfolk's WNSB, where she was station manager of the Norfolk State University outlet. Her career includes stints at urban stations in Philadelphia and Houston. Powell replaces Dionne Burkett-Lewis, who left WMMJ in November. January 2, 2015 Cortright To Do TMD Mornings Alex Cortright moves to Towson University adult alternative rocker WTMD, 89.7 FM, to host the morning show, starting January 5. Back in September, due to a reported budget cut, he left Annapolis eclectic rocker WRNR-FM, 103.1, where he did weekday mornings. He's no stranger to non-commercial, public radio. Early in his career, Cortright worked at Johns Hopkins University's now-defunct WJHU. He replaces Erik Deatherage, who left the morning show gig at WTMD in early December to follow his fiance to North Dakota. "Supporting musicians and sharing music and stories about music is the most meaningful thing I've accomplished in radio," Cortright says. "Growing up, I was always the kid making mixtapes for friends and family and now, thanks to WTMD, I still get to share that same youthful enthusiasm of discovery. I can't wait to get started." For news items from 2014 click here..... ![]() |
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