 Contents - Front Page - Past Mailbags - Rant - Classifieds - BW2009 - Support DCRTV Edited by Dave Hughes. Send posts to dcrtv@dcrtv.com.  Put "MAILBAG" on the subject line. DCRTV can't take responsibility for message content, although we attempt to edit for taste and fairness. Each posting is solely the opinion of the person who wrote it. DCRTV cannot verify the factual accuracy or authorship of posts. If you see a message that's in poor taste or unfair to someone, contact us and it will be removed. Messages that don't deal with local media issues may not get posted. We can't forward messages to posters..... Support DCRTV and the world famous Mailbag! Just a few bucks a month is all we ask! Click here. Thanks: Rob, Ted, Kelly, Pa, Laura, Rich, Leah, Donta, Marc, Kevin, Walt.....    DCRTV'S RADIO/TV/MEDIA NEWS/GOSSIP IS NOW AVAILABLE THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE NORTHEAST USA /\ \/  Latest messages listed first.....  \/ September 3 Messages \/ When did Bob Ryan become Chief Meteorologist at Channel 7? (9/3/10) Dave's response: Shhhhh. Don't tell Doug..... Re: "XM is having technical problems". Mojo Nixon on Outlaw Country is fine. Quit listening to wimpy easy listening music. (9/3/10) RE: [Well since folks want to get political and pretend that enviro whackos are so peace loving...] With all due patience, no. Personally, I have to give you and Chris Plante props for your desperate and insistent attempts to malign all environmental causes with a swipe of one big sloppy tar brush, but sadly, it just isn't going to work in this case. Michelle Cottle published an excellent piece today in The New Republic that very effectively dismantles that theory. It is titled "Whatever Happened to Crazy?" (www.tnr.com). In it she delves into the pathological knee-jerk reaction and tendency of certain partisan mouthpieces who are intent on scoring partisan political points whenever a tragedy of this nature occurs. She states the following, "Lee wasn’t an ideologue driven by his own political extremism to do something drastic. He was, first and foremost, batshit crazy...Far from any sort of winger—left or right—Lee was a deeply messed up guy...Lee wasn’t part of some broader community whose goal it is to wipe humanity from the face of the earth, he was a lone crazy who had to actually pay homeless people to take part in his protests." She concludes, "Admittedly, it’s hard to pass up an opportunity to score points for your political team by trying to wrap every disturbed individual to come down the turnpike around the opposition’s neck. But, no matter our affiliation, we need to be able to recognize real insanity when we see it. Sometimes a nut is just a nut."With that in mind, please just give up your attempts to sell the notion that Lee somehow provides you with mysterious proof to label all environmentalists as crazy and dangerous...In this case, your conclusion simply does not fit the factual narrative. (9/3/10) What’s in the water, or the Kool Aid, at The Washington Times Psychiatric Ward, the Allbritton Fortress and Clear Channel’s Doomsday Center? They’ve all gone bat-quano crazy. (9/3/10) Dave's response: I don't know. I'll ask Betsy Rothstein, who, I hear, will be spending the holiday weekend clearing her closet of wire hangers..... XM is having technical problems! I have not checked all of the channels, but their easy-listening station now has "Blues Traveler" playing! It is not easy to reach anyone there, but I figured so many radio people seem to read this mailbag that someone will find out. Now they are playing "Hey, There Delilah". (9/3/10) RE: Your front page item about Metro Traffic. I don't know if that's a really old photo of Lisa Baden, the best-ever Glamour Shot, or a photo of someone else entirely. But if that's how she REALLY looked, I wouldn't have to skip past Ch. 7 each morning for fear of puking up my Cheerios. (9/3/10) You'd think that Tony Kornheiser would have a field day with the story of Mike Wise (his sports radio competition in the 10 AM to noon timeslot) getting suspended by the Post and Comcast SportsNet, but I listened to his last three radio shows in their entirety and the topic never came up. For Mr. Tony to take the high road and not gloat over a rival's misfortune seems out of character - perhaps he was deterred by recollections of his own recent suspension from ESPN's Pardon The Interruption for critical remarks on WTEM regarding Hannah Storm's wardrobe. Interestingly, that incident was analogous to the recent one involving Rob Dibble in the sense that comments made on one media outlet led to disciplinary action by another. At the time, I thought it was a mistake not to suspend Kornheiser from his radio show because it sent the message that Red Zebra was perfectly okay with remarks that ESPN considered out of bounds. Similarly, it doesn't look very good for Wise to continue hosting on WJFK (which no doubt hired him for his journalistic credibility and sources) while on involuntary hiatus from his other two platforms. There's a disturbing sexist element involved in Lisa Hillary's impending transfer from CSN Washington to its sister network up in Philly because (based on the blog article posted here a few days ago), her bosses basically told her - "you're too hot to be covering early morning hockey practices that nobody cares about - we need you on the set anchoring our highlights shows." Her replacement Jill Sorenson filed a Capitals report for CSN this morning - she does have some hockey background, having worked previously in Minnesota and later for George Michael at Channel 4 (where she was often the lone reporter from an over-the-air channel who got to travel to Caps road playoff games). Meanwhile, the firing of Dibble has the ripple effect of moving Ray Knight from the TV studio to the Nats' broadcast booth and Phil Wood to the pre and postgame shows (replacing Knight), meaning that Wood probably won't be hosting the postgame call-in show on WFED for the rest of the season. Incidentally, both Kornheiser (on 980) and Bill Rohland (on 106.7) have stated incorrectly that the Nats canned Dibble - he was actually an employee of MASN. Mike, Fairfax (9/3/10) Dave's response: Well, Mike Wise is Tony's main local sports talk competition in late mornings over on JFK. Maybe TEM told him not to talk about 106.7 or anything on its airwaves..... Here's a head's up for Glenn Brenner fans. Watch the Ernie Baur interview through to the end and see some of Glenn's memorable moments during the closing credits, (thanks to Tom of DC). (9/3/10) What a coincidence...that whole Elliot/Ballard brouhaha on Monday and then Dave Wellington gets fired on Friday. If there is one thing we have learned about Clear Channel: They have NO sense of humor. Maybe that explains why their stations are so boring. John (9/3/10) It must be contract negotiation time for Tony Kornheiser because he's been making veiled references to not being around and played a special billy Joel song at the end of today's show. Did he only sign a one year deal last year when he came back? (9/3/10) Didn't hear today's show ... But tweets indicate this may have been TK's last show (until the next last show somewhere else) (9/3/10) How 'bout "Googling" Michael Enright, Laura? He's a more recent left-wing nutjob. Re: NYC Muslim cab driver. (9/3/10) (RE: Kudos to WBAL's John Patty for some solid reporting from from the coast....) Thank you, Mom. Signed John Patty (9/3/10) Kudos to WBAL's John Patty for some solid reporting from from the coast. Even though Earl veered away from the coast, I've enjoyed his reports the past two days. The one thing I've always liked about Patty and the reporters from WBAL is they talk to so many people that I get a true flavor of a story. The vast majority of the reporting on the hurricane was bland. But Patty's stuff was informative, not over-hyped, and interesting to listen to. (9/3/10) I was wondering that since WTOP uses Metro Traffic for its traffic services it is uses other services for weather and perhaps sports. For example I hear a meteorologist name Mike Luccini (sp?) from midnight until 5 am on both WTOP and WCBS AM in New York. On WTOP he says he works for Channel 7 weather center but if he's on WCBS in New York he must work for a service that syndicates. Does anyone know what is actually happening here. Also I heard a Greg Bianco giving sports on WTOP. Is he the same Greg Bianco who is the producer of C4's show on WBAL? Just curious about some of the personalities on WTOP? Marshall (9/3/10) WMAL had to go with live, local coverage of the Discovery gunman. However, it was still a joke. They did not have a reporter on site and instead watched TV coverage to get their info! They did not go after the story. They watched TV news sources to get the information they reported. That's sad considering the great news station that WMAL once was. The old WMAL would have been one of the first news organizations on site. Now, with no real news department, they rely on other radio news stations and local TV stations to embellish their coverage. BTW, John Mathews is not the news director. He is a part-time, mostly web based news writer. That's it. (9/3/10) Ernie Baur reminiscences about his career in broadcasting. (9/3/10) Hey, to that guy who thought that James Von Brunn was a Left-Wing Extremist, you were totally schooled by Laura! What a moron. Hey, go back into your delusional hole...and while you are there, tell Silvie we said, "Hi." John (9/3/10) HAPPY LABOR DAY, DCRTV: Message Of Hope #1941, "We Hold These Truths". Listen to this one on Sunday or Monday night, with the lights down-low: www.davidtate.net (9/3/10) A wonderful and well deserved article about the retirement of CSN's Ernie Bauer in today's Post. One of the truly good guys in Washington's broadcast family, he's contributed so much to sports coverage over the decades. Enjoy! voices.washingtonpost.com... BD (9/3/10) Redskin’s reporter Grant Paulsen is a joke. Phone call in to Junkies was a joke this am. Get a phone that works or have cheap ass JFK pay for a land line. Even Lurch brought it up. Both sports stations over analyzing a third team game are a joke. Who cares what the last five on the roster are? How about an O line? How about a run D? OOBBEE (9/3/10) Gang- enjoy on Sunday I will have a detailed look at Monday's big college football double header with "Mr. College Football" Tony Barnhart of CBS so please check it out and also the blog for plenty of updates. Have a safe and wonderful holiday weekend! All stories and my blog (bookmark it!) - www.washingtonexaminer.com/bios/jim-williams.html... Cheers, Jim (9/3/10) It's all in the details...first, it's BILL Stabler not Jim. Second, 105.9 already has the great Tom Grooms at Midnight. Third, Kenny King has neither the imagination, balls or foresight to do this without meddling with their natural talents, but the dream Edge line-up should be Kirk & Mike and Shamrock add Stabler, Suzie stays middays, Greaseman afternoons, Ballard evenings, Grooms overnight...Cerphe Specials Sat/Sun Noon to 6, Weasel Sat/Sun 6 to Midnight...K.T. Harris VT weekend overnights...dump the two lunatic board-ops who sleep in their cars in the garage...promote the hell out of a personality driven line-up and then let each talent add music, content & special elements are unique to them. It's about fucking time someone gave us a reason to listen to the radio again. Kenny? Jeff Boden? Citadel VP of Music Formats Scott Shannon? ANY-FREAKIN-BODY AT 4400 Jenifer Street? Are ya lisssssstening? Are ye? Or are you too busy getting yer knobs polished by washed up no talent board-ops trying to get on-the-air? WAKE UP!!!!! (9/3/10) Dave's response: I love Tom Grooms, but please don't let him anywhere near a Xerox machine..... Item: So three of the best local rock DJs are currently out of radio broadcasting work—Weasel, Cerphe and Ballard. Here’s what 105.9 should do: Hire all three of them. And hire Jim Stabler for news, whether it’s mornings, or afternoons, or all day. How great would this be: 5 a.m. to 9 a.m.: Kirk McEwen and Mike O’Meara, with Lunch Box Shamrock and Jim Stabler. 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.: Weasel, with a special themed lunch hour from noon to 1 p.m. Maybe call it, oh, the “Eclectic Lunch.” 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.: Cerphe. 7 p.m. to midnight: Ballard. Now, really, how great would that be? (9/3/10) Well since folks want to get political and pretend that enviro whackos are so peace loving, perhaps the local media should ask the Japanese about the non violent intervention by Greenpeace of Japanese soverign fishing activities (9/3/10) I'm just curious where the mention of Jennifer Gilbert is in your latest column for PressBox. You teased it on your site, but I saw no mention of it in the column. (9/3/10) Dave's response: Whoops. Jen's new sports show was mentioned in my PressBox column of the previous week, at www.pressboxonline.com..... Kinda late to the party on this one...but...kudos to Bill Hess for breaking format to cover the Discovery situation. This is not something WMAL has done for quite some time. And, unfortunately, that is the problem. As Dave pointed out - who knew? No one expects WMAL to cover breaking news. That is WTOP's specialty. If you look at the history, WTOP went from utility status to mainstream because of 9/11 and the sniper (plus a few winter storms thrown in). They have a stranglehold on news in DC...and their brand is extending beyond radio. Situations like the Discovery gunman come along rarely and even though WMAL did the right thing I think its a matter of too little, too late. (9/3/10) Dave, more weird news out of downtown Silver Spring where I'm hearing that a crazed man has barricaded himself into the Metro/Shadow building, he's shouting and waving around a checkbook, has bags of cash tied around his waist, and is threatening to start hiring away traffic reporters ... I think it's Jim Farley. (9/3/10) RE: [...James Von Brunn was a Left-Wing Extremist. Google it...] This message bought to you by Google: The hard-hitting journalistic source of choice favored by 4 out of 5 lazy fringe political lunatics with a dial-up modem, a 386 computer and a partisan bone to pick....Dude, really...you can't be serious, are you? Thanks for the good laugh though! (9/3/10) Previously, a picture was posted of what appeared to be Will Thomas at the Real Housewives of D.C. premiere with one of it's "stars", Cat Ommanney..Well, in today's paper, there's a blurb about her being at the Four Seasons and it mentions that she was spotted having drinks with "Fox 5 anchor Will Thomas"..Sooo, are they an item now?..I do know each Friday morning, FOX5 does a synopsis of the Housewives show (don't know why since it's on BRAVO, which I didn't think was affiliated with FOX) and was wondering if the show gets any inside scoop from Will..HMMMM. (9/3/10) /\ September 3 Messages /\ \/ September 2 Messages \/ No - I meant Rich...don't know anything about a double douchebag - all I know is for years whenever Rich comes one it sounds as if he was just running. (9/2/10) In regard to Rich Hunter catching his breath, that was some other douche bucket filling in who got intro'd as Rich. That guy quit the same day. (9/2/10) Hey...maybe with the decreased work load as a result of WTOP leaving Metro Traffic....Rich Hunter will finally be able to catch his breath before he does reports! (9/2/10) Did somebody mention "Captain Dan?" (9/2/10)  Thank you for the 20-year old photo of Lisa Baden. Regards Biff (9/2/10) (RE: Um, James Von Brunn was a Left-Wing Extremist. Google it, Laura...) Obviously you watched Fox News when the story broke. Von Brunn was a white supremacist and a “birther”. He wrote “Kill the Best Gentiles” and handed out literature against Jews and blacks. And he often complained that there was no physical proof of Obama’s birth certificate and not enough other supporting documents. So, where do you find any proof of a liberal leaning in Von Brunn? Fox News was the only network to put the liberal slant on this guy—a noted white supremacist and birther. Maybe you ought to try doing some research of your own.--Laura (9/2/10) Gosh, I just love the mailbag! Sometimes when reading it and there is no one around I just squeal out loud! Now, down to business: Jeff in Bowie - Did not Glenn Beck heel that shoe? If not, how exactly does one heal a shoe, perhaps cobbler's school helps. Could it be a case of time wounding all heels? Second, What's it all about, Alfie? Why not ask Dionne Warwick - Oh, that's right - so much legal stuff, y'know! Lastly, the untimely end of Mr. Lee yesterday. Was it W.C. Fields who said, "Any man who hates kids and animals can't be all bad?" Oops, strike that animals part. Of course, I'm all in favor of saving our squirrels - SOS. But I'm SOR - which stands for SAVE OUR RATS. - 7 East Lexington Rat (9/2/10) Nobody believes Metro's "no layoff" assurances. They've made those same promises before. (9/2/10) Oh, Silvie. How little you know and how you prove it every time you post on this site. The Discovery Channel hostage taker was a deranged man who was just as far right as he was left. He railed against "filthy illegal immigrants" in rants that would make Chris Plante proud. And WMAL? They proved what an empty shell of a station they have become yesterday by not being able to put a single reporter on the scene. Sad. You are kind of a cute Latina though--gotta give you that. ACH (9/2/10) Um, James Von Brunn was a Left-Wing Extremist. Google it, Laura.... (9/2/10) (“Remember its you leftists that go around trashing places as a rule, not Conservatives.") What a selective memory this particular poster has. Prior to 9/11 the deadliest act of terrorism in the US was the Oklahoma City bombing…carried out by one Timothy McVeigh. McVeigh was former military, a gun enthusiast and a militia man who loathed liberals. It’s interesting that one unhinged “environmentalist” can somehow be the poster boy for all environmentalists. How about we call out Tim McVeigh, James Von Brunn, Daniel Cowart, Scott Roeder, etc. If this poster wants to point out the fringe and crazy on the left let’s make sure the right is well represented. Don’t lump one mentally ill activist in with the rest of us…and we won’t lump “your kind” in with the aforementioned extremists. Laura (9/2/10) Was driving through Hagerstown this morning and caught Verstandig's 101.5 BOB Rock. WOW... has anybody heard the puker they have on in the morning "BIG BOB"? sounds a lot like a jock that used to be on the same frequency before, but I think his name was Shaffer. Truly awful. how long has Verstandig been trying active rock in this market? Or better yet how long till they give up on this one to a play Wheel O' Format and see what pops up next? (9/2/10) RE:"On WBIG’s going jock less:..." I believe the "jock less radio station" was pioneered by Arthur Carlson at WKRP in Cincinnati..... (9/2/10) (that still leaves Metro Traffic in Silver Spring with Citadel, CBS, Radio One, Red Zebra, Salem, WAMU, WGTS, WETA-FM, Centennial in Winchester and Fredericksburg, Nassau, the FLS group, and all the local TVers.) Metro no longer services WAMU or WGTS. The only thing at Citadel they service is WMAL. CBS they only do PGC (does JFK do traffic? IAD?). Red Zebra only takes traffic during Skins home games. They do have Radio One, though. I thought channel 9 had gone to a competing service, as well. The mighty Metro is falling. Hard. (9/2/10) Dave's response: 9 doesn't use Metro Traffic, and, yes, JFK does traffic, and I think it's Metro..... Channel 9 is boasting about their coverage yesterday saying they had the most reporters on the scene than anyone else. Yeah, since it appears that they sent every single reporter they had on staff..So guess that's why they had Brett Haber doing the news in studio because no one else was around?? And PLEASE do not send Derek McGinty or Bruce Johnson out for live scenes again. Derek was totally out of control, said he was going to "sneak" in with another news crew to get nearer, then made with a subsequent comment about he doesn't know where HIS news crew is,and then running up and down the street like a crazed man trying to get the story..And yeah, yeah, he was trying to get a scoop, but calm the freak down!!..And then Bruce Johnson goes over to a bus stopped at an interesction asking if he knew what was going on and proceeded to tell him there's a man in the Discovery building with a gun to which a passenger yells that to the others on the bus and tries to get some face time.And then there's the dumb questions the anchors were asking from the studio..One reporter on channel 5 when asked something by either Laura Evans or Shawn Yancey kinda snapped at them saying he was nowhere near the location they were asking about and therefore couldn't answer that question. Then the studio lost the signal and the screen was blank."Coincidence"?..HMMM. (9/2/10) GreatBigRadio.com featuring 1970 through Labor Day. h.c.r. (9/2/10) When you criticize the owner/ manager of Bonneville, Hearst, Westwood One, Red Zebra, CBS Radio etc, have they ever written to the mailbag with, -"we'll all go over to Kurtz's Beach, and make you pivot person in a circle jerk, OK? ". I would ask this person, 'Why are you defending Parris so steadfastly?', but more than likely, this is him (or one of his puppets or family). Maybe a circle jerk is what you're looking for but I'll pass, seeing that Im not a closet Homosexual. Aren't there any more 20-something year old girls that can bounce around while you try to remember what it was like to get a hard on without the aide of pills? Here's a word, and I hope its spelled correctly- Sophomoric- It's the phrase used to best define the staff and owner of three 200 watt radio station that barely comes in anywere on or near route 50 from Annapolis to Ocean City. 'Dangerous D' had a full page cover in The Capital newspaper this past weekend, with only the slightest mention of Parris' Radio stations. (9/2/10) Hello, Dave and Fellow Posters. Just a couple of things: When I was on vacation in New York last week, I saw former TV 11 Weatherperson Domenica Davis on a WNBC4 newscast doing the weather. I wonder if she’s still on CNN doing the weather. On WBIG’s going jock less: When did CC fire the other personalities? The only firing that I read about was Ballard’s. I remember back in the early 70’s when FM was becoming more popular, most of the stations were jock less. The only stations I remembered that had jocks were the progressive rock stations, the Solid Gold Rock & Roll stations (which were automated), and the Soul stations. Some of the early FM top 40 stations had announcers, although some were automated. [If the above is incorrect, please post corrections.] With BIG going jock less, this could be the future for music stations. Jack FM is jock less and is doing very well. I personally like to hear a dj play and talk about the music, but once again, if we choose to listen to radio, we have to accept the product they give us. Ed Jones, Bel Air MD (9/2/10) Kudos to Chris Plante and John Matthews for covering this crisis in real time on WMAL yesterday afternoon. I heard Matthews on The John Batchelor Show last night as well. First of all, aren't y'all the same Mailbaggers who kick & scream constantly that "WMAL sucks and will never, ever be like the amazing WTOP!"? Well, now that WMAL went on-air live to a DC suburb crisis situation, you're still complaining. Of course they had to go live. They went live throughout most of the days of the Beltway Sniper in 2002 (Nehman was a rookie street reporter back then!), and of course, on 9/11/01 (I called Paul Duckworth during the Feb. 2010 Blizzard and asked him to keep Plante on live for a few days (instead of running Rush), and he laughed his ass off and then said: "No way, Silvie!", and hung up -- I miss him!) Anyway, the situation yesterday between 1-3 p.m. was very fluid and dangerous. The perp could've blown up the entire block and the building, á la Murrah Building, and scores of people could've died. Thank goodness everything turned out fine. You would all be still screaming if something serious had occurred and if WMAL had not been broadcasting the events live, opting instead to run Rush & Sean. The guy was a complete environwhacko nutjob who probably obsessed that the blockbuster movie "2012" was fact 'because Al Gore sez so.' -Silvie- (9/2/10) Dave - would love to see a tv station run a continuous loop of these movies for the Labor Day Weekend: Summer Rental, Summer School, Hot Pursuit, Endless Summer, Weekend at Bernie's, One Crazy Summer, The Great Outdoors, American Pie 2, Club Dread, and Point Break. (9/2/10) I commend WTOP Radio for expanding its traffic team. I am one of the many who tune in on the 'eights' for just that--and pretty much only that. And I have no problem with Bob Marbourg--sure he pontificates but he means well, kind of like a middle-school teacher who volunteers his time to lead the eager beavers who serve as crossing guards--and I was one in Fresno in '71 with the power to halt cars with a day-glo orange sash and a portable stop sign. But I digress. And I like Lisa, too. She personifies 'perky' and that is a good thing when traffic congestion is your beat. Or beatdown. And I lament the termination of Ballard at the BIG Jack in the Box. Hopefully, corporate radio management will one day learn to balance technology and creativity and stop playing revenge of the nerds. Robb de Capitol Heights (9/2/10) More from Bob in College Park, Wise's PR guy. Dude, you are probably the only one in the world "defending" Wise on this. He used a twitter feed identifying himself as a Post reporter to send out completely fabricated information. And he did it with the intent of deceiving people. That's as low as it gets. The guy is as arrogant as they come. The sad part is that you may be right. He may well be treating the entire thing as a big joke. As our moderator said, Wise needs to grow up. A lot. (9/2/10) Interesting to see all the reaction(s) to WTOP dropping Metro. In Baltimore, Dave Sandler's been doing traffic on WBAL/98 Rock for probably 25 years. He's a Hearst employee; always has been. Let's not forget the late Walt Starling, who did quite well for himself as a traffic reporter and only worked for Metro at the end as an observer pilot. Then, there's Captain Dan; also remember Steve Thompson, whom Bob Marbourg replaced after the plane crash. All indies who did well for themselves. Also interesting to read all the speculation about Lisa Baden. Will WWO open the wallet to keep her or will she sit out a non-compete and end up on WTOP and 7? Or, will Bonneville write WWO a check and tell them to shut up? Lots of possibilities. Let's go back in time to before WTOP did 24 hr traffic and remember Metro basically becoming a ghost town after 7pm. Again; Jim Farley and Joel Oxley don't make hasty moves. They seldom fail. Metro won't dry up and blow away. Sure, it's a big blow to them to lose their number one client. But they'll survive. They always do. (9/2/10) Dave's response: Well, Clear Channel does its own traffic, so with no more WTOP, that still leaves Metro Traffic in Silver Spring with Citadel, CBS, Radio One, Red Zebra, Salem, WAMU, WGTS, WETA-FM, Centennial in Winchester and Fredericksburg, Nassau, the FLS group, and all the local TVers. Plus its traffic services to stations in Richmond, Norfolk, and the North Carolina markets. It will survive, but there'll definitely be some cuts with the golden goose of TOP gone..... "Lisa de Moraes will report this news in tomorrow's Washington Post....." Laughing my ass off!!! (9/2/10) Dave's response: I don't know. Lisa always seems to write up Channel 50 press releases like they're huge exclusives. Except, she missed this one for today's column..... If it is true that the traffic reporter for WTOP will be gone soon that would be really good news. She is unlistenable, she says nothing she is unfunny and fake. Just read the report and leave the entertaining to the professionals. I think the radio term for her act is a "puker." (9/2/10) Regarding the legal ID on ESPN 980 -- WTEM Washington DC 980am (small pause) WWXT Prince Frederick Calvert County Maryland 92.7fm (small pause) WWXX Buckland Prince William County Virginia 94.3fm." -- If you listened to it, that is what it says, almost... It says ...980 WTEM Washington, 94.3 WWXX Buckland and 92.7 WWXT Prince Frederick. The station only has 10 seconds for the ID - it has to be read "fast". Oh, If you've lived here for 20 years, and know where Calvert County is, but don't know what the largest city in Calvert is???! Buckland - I'll give you that one. (9/2/10) OK, now that it's over and people in the building came out safe, be honest ---when you heard it was possibly an Asian guy with a grudge against Discovery Communications, one of the first things crossing your mind was "This is it; Jon Gosselin's finally gone postal. " Come on...show of hands? (9/2/10) Dave's response: When I heard that, I first thought of Michio Kaku, the Science Channel superstar. Ha ha ha..... THE DISCOVERY HOSTAGE FALLOUT: Will TV Nets Become Isolated Fortresses? THE TV NEWS 9.2.10 thetvnews.tv (9/2/10) A previous Mailbagger's comments re WTOP's 'and you have about 5 minutes of actual news' statement. Here's a little support for his commentary. A couple of months ago, I sat down with a stop watch and timed out an hour of WTOP's morning drive news coverage, and here is what I noted: 3 minutes of CBS News; 1 minute of CBS News Commercial Time used for WTOP Commercial Time; 2 minutes of legal ids/billboards/liners; 4* minutes of sports; 9* minutes of traffic; 8* minutes of weather; 18 minutes of commercials/psas/promotional spots; 15* minutes of actual news reads... (*) Time includes announcer banter, singing,etc. So, I'd have to agree that his observation was pretty on target! (9/2/10) Maybe WTOP can rehire Dave Statter to do traffic with Bob Marbourg, just like back in the day? He's not doing anything now, right? And Hillary is sure to get tired of him just hanging around the house all day... LOL (9/2/10) B.S. WTOP carried the news conference live. (9/2/10) (regarding a previous post) "Perhaps Jim Farley is on to something: Live & local, done correctly, can work!" Lord knows it worked for WMAL for years. Once upon a time, they had everything going for them - ratings, prestige, listeners. For years, WMAL was the station of record and an outstanding example of how you do radio right. Sadly, they've become irrelevant and now can only manage to do radio right-wing. (9/2/10) Baden is under a long term multi year contract with Metro (9/2/10) Dave's response: A big "get" for WMAL's traffic, come February 2011. I'm sure Bill Hess is on it..... Perhaps Jim Farley is on to something: Live & local, done correctly, can work! If it can work in an expensive news operation, it certainly can work in music. For jockless music, I have ipods, streaming, satellite, & HD--I don't need terrestrial radio. If I turn on radio, I want personalities, preferably local. Same thing for talk. Promoted correctly, and inserted not just on radio but streamed, podcast, etc, local radio has the potential to be extremely profitable. Bonneville knows that. You'd think the other national radio "chains" would learn the lesson. But Bonneville succeeds. Why? They're innovative & industrious. The rest: mostly predictable, lazy, and content to make meager profits or declare bankruptcy. Metro, Shadow et al grew because local stations--even large local stations--didn't want to put their resources into a money losing traffic operation. Jim Farley apparently recognizes that traffic (and weather & sports & business & news), each in therir own way, has the potential to make money. Great!--Mike from Silver Spring PS: Memo to 105.9: Love Kirk & Mike--now promote them! Make money from them! Sell a sponsor for Mike's fart of the day! (Any air purifier companies out there?...) (9/2/10) RE: WTOP To Staff Up For Traffic & Sports, End Deal With Metro Traffic: While it is true that there is much "talent" and "experience" floating around, in my opinion it is important that whomever runs the WTOP traffic operation KNOW the Washington DC area. From the traffic alerts on my cell phone or checks of local websites both of which are fed by Metro, it is apparent that there are person/persons providing information in the afternoons that are utterly clueless about the roads in this area. The (dis)information displayed there stays for a long while with no updates? Seriously? Road situations in this area can change FAST. Then I tune into satellite traffic or for radio station updates and I hear some of the same crap coming out of some of the reporters mouths yet others that probably sit next to the other person are reading something else entirely different? What? Don't they talk to each other? Share information? It frustrates me to no end. Let us hope that these people and/or their manager that allows it to happen aren't over moving to WTOP. Marge (9/2/10) 
The best part of Lee's manifesto, as printed in the Post this morning? When he ran down all the animals that must be saved: "...and, of course, the squirrels." (9/2/10)I hate Kate Gosselin as much as anyone but in her defense she did not plan to have eight kids. They had two and wanted one more but she could not get prego so they went to a fertility doctor and ended up with an additional 6 kids instead of one. (9/2/10) Don't believe everything you are hearing about the break up (between WTOP and Metro Traffic). This was a joint solution by both companies. It will all come out in the next couple of weeks and WTOP will not look so good. Major interest in Lisa Baden ( #1 radio personality in Washington in everyones perceptual study) to compete dead on with WTOP. This has been in the works for months. (9/2/10) (regarding a previous post) "Remember its you leftists that go around trashing places as a rule, not Conservatives." Of course, most Conservatives are perfectly willing to trash the whole freakin' planet - or let global warming get the job done. Nobody should be surprised if the next time stations have to cut to coverage of some idiot causing mayhem or even killing people, that there's some disgruntled Teabagger or outraged gun nut behind it. Irresponsible behavior, like we saw at Discovery on Wednesday - or worse - could easily become a regular thing, what with the huge number of right-wing crazies, ranting up and down the dial! (9/2/10) Re: WMAL's "coverage" of Discovery Communication's hostage situation. No other way to put it--there was no coverage. While rival WTOP had two reporters on the scene and were the first to hear and report on the gunshot that killed the gunman, WMAL had none, relying on wire and network reports. Chris Plante did manage to take advantage of the life and death crisis to turn the story into a snarky rant against Al Gore. Even then, he missed the juiciest protest that the deranged man was voicing .......ready? Kate Plus 8 was encouraging people to have more children and thus should be banned from the airwaves! ACH (9/2/10) Dave's response: In a modern society like ours, where you don't need an army of kids to help with the family farm, why have eight or more kids? Face it, Kate Gosselin is an irresponsible idiot and a publicity hound..... Metro is notorious for holding people to those non-competes, even if it hurts them or their employees. Unless TOP pays to get Metroers out of those non-competes, nobody will be joining WTOP from Metro. (9/2/10) Some advice for WTEM 980: I had NO IDEA WHERE PRINCE FREDERICK AND BUCKLAND ARE until I just looked them up on a map, and I've lived in the DC area over 20 years. But I know where Calvert County and Prince William County are. When you announce your station identification, consider saying "WTEM Washington DC 980am (small pause) WWXT Prince Frederick Calvert County Maryland 92.7fm (small pause) WWXX Buckland Prince William County Virginia 94.3fm." This way I know if I'm driving to, say, Waldorf I should consider switching from 980am to 92.7fm to improve the reception. Wasn't that the whole purpose of simulcasting on the additional frequencies? Also, you presently read the station id quickly without pauses so I can't easily discern which frequency goes with which city. I think it works best as: call letters, city, frequency, pause, ... (9/2/10) Dave's response: Yeah, I did the same thing. Buckland is near Gainesville, west of Manassas..... Spent a lot of time tuned in to the standoff coverage on Wednesday. A pretty good job by the crew at WTOP. Good work by the Ryan / Tuss duo, and the anchors sounded calm and measured. JJ had information, but his presentation needed a little help. A solid "A" though. One obviously blunder. After the police chief's news conference, where he repeatedly said he did not know the condition of the suspect (hint, hint) the anchor declared that police "have the suspect in custody." He was dead! Not in custody. But a small misstep in otherwise fine coverage. Also got to check out some of the good video from the scene on wtopnews.com. Hopped over to the AM dial and heard their coverage. Sounded small market. Bad pun here, but they were out gunned. Sounded like a station without many resources with a guy who liked to hear himself talk. And the WMAL website is USELESS! WTOP rocked. (9/2/10) i always listen to wmal on my way home but not when the hostage situation was going on. as soon as i heard plante i changed the station..... he is one of the worst people on wmal. he can talk and talk and talk and not say anything/. (9/2/10) Dave's response: If you can't stand Plante's juvenile rants and want to hear some intelligent conservative talk, might I recommend Ron Smith on Baltimore's WBAL, 1090 AM. The station has an excellent signal throughout much of the DC metro and Ron's now on opposite Plante, from 9 AM to noon..... RE: WTOP To Staff Up For Traffic & Sports, End Deal With Metro Traffic - A number of people will lose their jobs over this. Particularly part-time weekend staff. This will likely signal the end of their 24 hour operations at the DC "hub." Most days there seemed to be only one or two people there on the weekends anyway. On the other hand, anyone that is hired by Bonneville for WTOP traffic, will likely see a significant pay raise over the pittance that Metro is paying them now thanks to their union negotiated pay reductions. (9/2/10) RE: The hostage situation: Anyone know who the idiot "reporter" was who asked the police spokesman (paraphrasing), "Why did you shoot him? Weren't you afraid of hurting the hostages?" What a moron! Heard this on the radio and almost drove off the road. Tom in Frederick (9/2/10) Not sure anyone has picked up on this yet, but Sports Business Daily is reporting that Mike Wise has been suspended by Comcast Sportsnet as well. Wise frequently appeared as a guest (paid, it appears) on Washington Post Live. Story here: www.sportsbusinessdaily.com... So Wise has been suspended by 2 out of 3 jobs, yet took not-so-subtle, repeated jabs at co-workers at WJFK Wednesday... even though WJFK is the only one of his employers who hasn't suspended him. Seems like he hasn't learned much humility from this whole fiasco--which is completely of his own doing. (9/2/10) Dave's response: How old is Mike Wise? In his 30s? Pushing 40? On JFK, he sometimes sounds like he's 15 with some of the silly crap he says, a la the Twitter fiasco of earlier this week. He needs to "grow up" a bit. I think the CBS Radio suits are trying to encourage him to be a "bad boy" in order to juice up his ratings. It only makes him sound like a clueless jerk..... I really don't know what else happened Today other than the nutjob at Discovery channel hdqtrs. Over 3 hrs of incessant coverage. Les in BH (9/2/10) RE: [maybe you were pissed because this guy *was* an extreme left-winger who worshipped at the altar of gore and you couldn't stand to have it pointed out. i'm sure you wouldn't have minded the commentary if this had been a "teabagger" who took people hostage.] Three problems with that scenario: 1.) The guy wasn't a "left winger", he was a deranged, mentally unstable person. Plante repeatedly assumed he was - and you know what they say about assumption. 2.) It's clearly a moot point...had it been a deranged, mentally unstable person who appeared to lean to the right of the political spectrum, MAL would likely never have interrupted Limbaugh or Hannity to go live. They didn't do it with the holocaust shooter or any recent local story involving right-wing leaning hate crimes...why break that track record? And 3.) Here's the most important mistake WMAL allowed Plante to air - During the police operation, Plante had a woman live on the phone who was in the 15th floor of building across the street with a direct line of sight on Discovery. Plante kept asking her, "Can you tell us if you can see any police S.W.A.T. or sniper activity inside the building or on the adjacent rooftops?" Hello?? Just what was Plante smoking? Had there been active police special tactical operations, I'm sure the officers involved would have really appreciated some prissy right-wing shock-jock blabbing real-time play-by-play reports about their strength, position and progress live over the air. As I said, Plante had no business on the mic on this. He was horrible. (9/2/10) In my Opinion both ABC7 TBD and also WUSA 9 wins the award for best news live news coverage this afternoon for going on the air around 1:30 pm while fox5 and nbc4 went on 30 minutes later also a big thanks to all of wjla and 9 reporters including evening anchor Derek Mcginty leading coverage from near the Discovery building keeping viewers updated on the breaking news today. 9 was the only one on till 7:30 with live coverage of the news story. (9/2/10) I don't understand why WTOP has to keep the mindless bantering between the weather staff and the anchors. Look, unless the sky is falling, there is nothing that has changed in the past ten damned minutes to warrant another round of yucks and ahhss. CBS could make an all traffic and weather station on 1580 - enough of a daytime signal to cover the area - and you would see a big dip in the WTOP ratings. Listen to any 30 minute segment of the WTOP morning show and you will soon find there is NO NEWS. Take out the endless weather reports, the endless commercials, Lisa Baden's singing, the sports reports with very little information and even more mindless banter in them, and you have about 5 minutes of actual news. MLB 4 (9/2/10) I wish I could provide better confirmation on this, but I think we (WAMU) beat 'TOP yesterday in getting first word on air that the hostage standoff had ended. MoGo Co Chief Tom Manger came out with the word in a scheduled presser maybe 3-minutes before 5p. I was standing in back of TOP's Kate Ryan when Manger gave the basic details including the shooting of Lee. This was at 5 on the nose. I turned, called Pat Brogan (afternoon anchor) and told him put me up live ASAP...he did at 5:04p. Shortly before I hit air. the presser was still in progress and Kate was where I left her with the crowd of reporters. Not trying to slam Kate or TOP' but we've made some strides in an effort to stay competitive, and occasionally I think it shows. (9/2/10) Pretty funny that some guy is all bent about Plante calling that misfit at Discovery what he really is. You see,you don't have Tea Party advocates or others conservatives behave like this as they weren't raised by kooks. Toss this jerk into the same pile as the Unabomb. He had Al Gore memorabilia in his little hut too. Just love you guys. Remember its you leftists that go around trashing places as a rule, not Conservatives. (9/2/10) /\ September 2 Messages /\ \/ September 1 Messages \/ Metro in this area is holding on by less than a string, and Joel Oxley and Jim Farley are going to cut them? I can't believe they'd be that callous, just to make a few more bucks. WTOP already makes a mint. And now dozens of people are going to be out of work, just so WTOP can make even more? C'mon-- this business is cruel, but does it have to be that cruel? If WMAL was smart, they'd go with an all traffic and weather format. It was traffic and weather that made WTOP so rich. (9/1/10) Do you really think WTOP will go Baden-less in morning drive? They promote that time period as "Mike, Bruce, and Lisa". They'll sign her to a nice WTOP contract and likely share the cost with TV-7, which also features her in mornings. Besides, where else are you going to get that much personality from a traffic reporter? Not in any other major market I've ever heard. And as for her frequent critics who find Lisa too perky, I'm really surprised that these folks can be out driving with a broomstick in that position. (9/1/10) Loving all the Lisa Baden hate today. She annoys the crap out of me every morning! OOBBEE (9/1/10) Let's not jump to conclusions when it comes to WTOP doing its own traffic. Jim and Joel don't make hasty decisions. We don't know what Lisa Baden's status is. WTOP made Lisa Baden a star. You may not like her, but you listen. Bob Marbourg will most likely stay on. Don't be surprised if Lisa's offered a contract. Will WTOP raid Metro? Probably not. A few people, maybe--but they won't gut the place. Given the state of the business these days--there will be plenty of outside people applying; plenty with lots of experience. This also shows the power of billing $50M a year. It's expensive enough doing all-news. Imagine what it'll cost to add an in-house traffic service paying AFTRA scale. WTOP is already number one across the board in the PPMs. All this does is make them larger than life. A gutsy move. (9/1/10) Dirty Sanchez? Is that what they call it when your favorite radio station gets flipped to Spanish? Or does it involve a Chihuahua a can of Crisco and a chain hoist? I can never keep those straight. And the Cleveland Steamer ....Baltimore would be more fitting for Steamer type things.... but then everyone would fight about the rights to the name. Too bad 'The Block' is gone I'm sure we could have asked some pros there. Hey that would be a good radio format!! Baltimores New Adult FM 105.7 "The BLOCK" featuring stripper music and porn tunes. Donnie (9/1/10) Hey Dave! How about a little "DCRTV Love" for our team at WMAL? In addition to the TV stations and "Brand X" all news station, WMAL dropped the last hour of Rush and all three hours of Sean, and offered live and local coverage for four hours as events unfolded. Anchored by Chris Plante and John Matthews, our coverage featured live updates from the scene and analysis from hostage negotiators and others. ABC Radio carried MAL coverage on its national Special Events channel, and Chris Plante unveiled the suspect's manifesto in the 3pm hour. I know you've been a proponent of more local coverage on WMAL and our team really stepped to the late Wednesday. - Bill Hess (9/1/10) Dave's response: That's cool. I didn't even tune in old 630 because, in the past, they've never seemed to interrupt Rush and Hannity for breaking local news..... To those criticizing Wise, or myself, GET F'ING REAL! He's a columnist and he was making a satirical point. Even his "apology" was a Pulitzer worthy piece of satire. The Post lost it's journalistic "standards" first with Janet Cooke and her 8 year old corner drug saleskid/addict and then when Publisher Wentworth began inviting those who wished "access" to hosted dinners in the past year or two. Wise, was and is being set up and he should tell the Post to stick it up its anal sphincter (just like my critics here on this), btw IMHO. Bob from College Park (9/1/10) A QUICK NOTE TO NEKE HOWSE AND THE STAFF OF 93.9 WKYS: Here we are stuck in another controversy! We just can't seem to kick anybody to the curb without the press and various media websites sticking their noses around my front yard. What a lot of people can't seem to understand is that politics and broadcast stations (TV included) are strange bedfellows. There are certain unspoken understandings that have to be upheld. I'm not saying Radio One has treated anyone unfairly I'm just saying there are certain things that can't be ignored if you expect a favorable relationship with any city municipality. Are you starting to figure out the math? Speaking purely in hindsight, if we had hired people who actually had a solid back ground in radio and not those from related industries (e.g. club jocks, actors, wannabees straight out of college) we wouldn't be getting unfavorable press now. But what can I do, my elders (guess who-ha ha!) thought we could keep our operating costs down by hiring these "never been a jock before" clowns. Oh, well, as long as the pay checks keep cashing who am I to complain. Now here is what I propose to do to combat some of this "stress", I plan on having a very PERSONAL relationship with an attractive woman. She must be at least "19ish" (translation 18 to around 21). She should be tall, leggy, possess a great RACK, have her OWN place and has no interest in getting into radio. Now is that too much to ask? Signed "Slick" Alfie (the steamroller) Liggins! (9/1/10) RE: WMAL & Chris Plante.. I’m unable to get WMAL’s audio stream at work. Were they actually giving live coverage of the hostage situation at Discovery’s offices and breaking away from the syndicated Rush show? My experience is that they haven’t done this with the recent thunderstorms and that shooting at police station at Chantilly several years ago. (9/1/10) Speaking of teabaggers.....Dirty Sanchez? Arabian Goggles? Cleveland Steamer? What do the mailbaggers prefer? (9/1/10) (Thank Goodness the hostage situation is finally over....I was listening to WMAL on and off during my drive home and I swear to GOD, if I heard Chris Plante sputter the phrases "whacko fringe lift wing environmentalist misanthrope" or "This is all Al Gore's fault" one more time, I was seriously considering pulling into the closest Home Depot, buying a roll of duct-tape, strapping road flares to MY body and storming Jennifer Street to get that freaking loud-mouthed flamer to just SHUT the $%#@ UP! Can someone please explain what specific tid-bit of any transient value that whiney girley-man added to the running commentary?) yes, you were *forced* to listen to WMAL. you couldn't simply flip the dial to WTOP. maybe you were pissed because this guy *was* an extreme left-winger who worshipped at the altar of gore and you couldn't stand to have it pointed out. i'm sure you wouldn't have minded the commentary if this had been a "teabagger" who took people hostage. (9/1/10) Greg Toland doing sports on WBAL-TV tonight freelance work. (9/1/10) Thank Goodness the hostage situation is finally over....I was listening to WMAL on and off during my drive home and I swear to GOD, if I heard Chris Plante sputter the phrases "whacko fringe lift wing environmentalist misanthrope" or "This is all Al Gore's fault" one more time, I was seriously considering pulling into the closest Home Depot, buying a roll of duct-tape, strapping road flares to MY body and storming Jennifer Street to get that freaking loud-mouthed flamer to just SHUT the $%#@ UP! Can someone please explain what specific tid-bit of any transient value that whiney girley-man added to the running commentary? Message to WMAL...PLEASE, PLEASE, JUST GIVE US NEWS, WEATHER AND TRAFFIC and keep your yippy lap dogs on a shorter leash! (9/1/10) WTOP gets a shout-out from MSNBC… www.redlasso.com (9/1/10) YES!!! I truly hope that when WTOP ends their contract with Metro traffic that I never have to hear Lisa Baden's voice on that station EVER again. I'd also retire Marbourg too. Does nothing but preach platitudes instead of just give the damn traffic report. And Baden is just way to perky for people who are stuck in gridlock. They want information, not schtick. I'd hire Jim Russ away from Metro traffic full time and give him both morning and afternoon drive. His reports are clear, concise, and no BS! And he covers every major interstate as well as you can in the small amt. of time allotted. - Tony (9/1/10) Props to Jim Farley and WTOP for investing in there own traffic operation.This means Lisa Baden(who works for Metro Traffic) will be gone...Thank you...Thank you. (9/11/10) Regarding WTOP dumping Metro: Smart move! Now WTOP controls the content. Perhaps more importantly they better control their inventory. (9/1/10) Whoops! I guess Google News did a little rejiggering of their story clusters; the new one concerning the hostage situation is at news.google.com. Again, thanks! EJM (9/1/10) Just in case, the full Google News story cluster concerning the hostage situation (sorted chronologically) is at news.google.com. As always, thanks! EJM (9/1/10) Dave's response: Huh? Was Paris Hilton taken hostage? Channel 4 is doing a good job covering the gunman in the Discovery Building in Silver Spring right now...a friend of mine works nearby and her building is in lockdown...they're reporting that the gunman has issues with Discovery about their handling of global warming...he thinks they're not doing a good job...there is supposed to be a news conference at 3:15. -- Bobbie (9/1/10) Dave, Monica Hesse mentioned you at the start of her online WaPo chat today, actually referencing the Ian Shapira piece. Over the years I've been concerned that DCRTV may often be exploited by industry insiders seeking to push agendas. I suspected from the start that Times rumor was a negotiating tactic by one side trying to pressure the other to concede or soften its demands. How do you determine which of your rumormongers have self-serving motives? (9/1/10) Dave's response: Definitely, some rumors are intentionally dropped at DCRTV in order to further a particular "cause." And that's OK. DCRTV has always been a big mix of news, commentary, and gossip. As long as everything is "labeled" properly, the intelligent reader can make his/her own decisions about what to "believe" when they read stuff here..... Breaking news: Gunman with hostage in Discovery Channel building in Silver Spring, MD (9/1/10) News is reporting a hostage situation at the Discovery Channel building in Silver Spring. (9/1/10) Yes, we’re indentured servants to cable and satellite TV. After receiving a form response to my initial written inquiry to DirecTV about the FOX Sports standard definition issue, I received another. A real person, actually took the time to frustrate me further by ignoring the details and again suggesting I adjust the aspect ratio on my TV. This is the award-winning customer service about which DirecTV boasts. Yes, I imagine compared to cable, any type of interaction is good. But, this amounts to kneeling out the clock. DirecTV knows it’s not worth the average person’s trouble to wade through levels of customer service representatives, explaining the same crap to each and every one. So, there’s your answer … you’ll pay $60+ a month for 2/3 of the program on the screen and you’ll like it. Or, you can go nuts trying to explain the issue to us. Trust us, “we’ll never understand … hahahahahahahahaha” So, as an indentured servant … I must now shop the Labor Day HDTV sales. DirecTV customer service … always there for you if you’re handing over fists full of cash … otherwise, go screw yourself. It’s kind of a twist on Comcast’s, check that, Xfinity’s “F-U” motto. Matt (9/1/10) Discovery Communications headquarters in Silver Spring evacuated www.tbd.com (9/1/10) Hostage situation @ Discovery Channel.. WJLA/TBD has been on live since 1:30 with it.. (9/1/10) So anyone heard if FOX5 is phasing Steve Chenevey out?..Reason being, more and more Tony Perkins, Gurvir and lately Wisdom Martin have been filling in for him on the morning news..What's up?? (9/1/10) WTOP reporting that a man with a gun and/or explosives, possibly, at the Discovery Building in Silver Spring, and Montgomery County Police SWAT teams are on their way. No other details at the moment. (9/1/10) Erica Hillary - I heard her on Diamond. Is she back? (9/1/10) RE: [Glenn Beck has been criticizng CBS News over the estimate we commission of the crowd at his "Restoring Honor" rally. He claims there were more than 500,000 people there, not the 87,000 figure we put out.] Haven't you heard? Why, Michele Bachman explained it all! Apparently the discrepency in crowd numbers occurred when some 413,000 Beck-er-heads who were attending the rally mysteriously "Raptured" and floated off into the heavens after Beck performed his third miracle: 1.) He healed a shoe. 2.) He cured a ham. 3.) He transformed 87,000 loafs into wallets he could fish. - Jeff in (Sometimes this stuff just writes itself!) Bowie (9/1/10) Anybody who believes for a second that Mike Wise broadcast information that HE ADMITS HE KNEW WAS INACCURATE in an effort to "to showcase the absurdity of bad journalism" is about as stupid as Wise is. The guy is a lot of things -- a hack sports writer, a really bad radio talkshow host -- but he is NOT a journalist, at least not one with any integrity, and he proved it through this moronic display. The Post should fire his sorry ass and move on. (9/1/10) Bob from College Park must be Wise's PR guy. Now let's look at the facts. Wise used his Post twitter account to deliberately send out false information. It doesn't really matter why he did it. And it certainly doesn't matter whether Wise is classified as a reporter or a columnist (since when is it appropriate for columnists to intentionally lie in their columns?) What matters, IMHO, is that he did it deliberately. He compromised his own credibility (to the extent he had any to begin with) and that of his newspaper. He really deserved to be fired. And frankly, WJFK should discipline him as well. Sure, sports talk types have more leeway than journalists, but what Wise did was fraudulent and reflects poorly on WJFK as well. The guy's arrogance level must be unbelievable to think he could get away with this. (9/1/10) Re: the jockless BIG, I wonder if anyone remembers the one Chrsitmas Eve night so many years ago when channel 4's Jim Vance made a list of things he had wanted for Christmas...top of the list was that Jim Vance had wanted to turn on the radio without hearing "those stupid dee jays". I still remember that line by Vance to station owners "..fire all the dee jay bums and just play the damn music !!". Well Jim Vance is finally getting his wish, I guess. that is if even he still cares about it anyway. On a similar note I had always heard that Gordon Peterson, Maureen Bunyan, the great late Glenn Brenner and a number of other TV news people for some reason all had this "personal dislike" towards their radio counterparts ( those dee jays ), actually come to think of it when Howard Stern was on DC101 so many moons ago didn't he somehow ended up getting into some kind of a very nasty tiff with Jim Vance? (9/1/10) I know its probably giving Clear Channel too much credit in thinking they might have a plan for WBIG. But just suppose they are trying to drive the Edge out of the Classic Hits/Rock format. They could do so by getting higher ratings than the Edge with a cheap bare-bones operation while the Edge brings in high-priced DJs with no traction in the ratings. How long would Citadel continue with the format? I predict that within a year, 105.9 is WMAL-FM and Mix 107.3 moves in a more CHR direction to try to capture some of Hot 99.5 ratings and distingush itself from rapidly gaining Fresh. Andy in Reston (9/1/10) Just got this on Facebook: Jason Nicholson changed the name of the group "The Bruce Cunningham Show on 105.7 the Fan" to "Deleting Group". (9/1/10) (From DCRTV's Classified Ads:) Are you familiar with Washington’s regional highways, road network, and local mass transit? WTOP radio needs a Director of Traffic Operations with a minimum of 8 yrs broadcast traffic reporting, and 3 yrs. Broadcast traffic management experience…significant web experience, and flexibility in work schedule…Degree in Journalism preferred with knowledge of adobe Audition, ENPS and ENCO. Complete application at www.wtop.com link “inside wtop” click on “careers”, follow instructions from there. An Equal Opportunity Employer (9/1/10) "Scott Shannon took a sleepy little New Jersey signal, re-invented it as "Z-100" in New York City and took the station to first place in a meteoric burst of energy, great music, fun and relentless promotion." It may have been fun to listen to, and yes, it did go, as Shannon used to say "From worst to first!," but working there was another story. Take it from someone who knows firsthand about Scott... (9/1/10) I remember another time some years back when radio was boring, uninspired, and just flat out crap. Listeners would settle for anything mediocre and not make any waves. Then Scott Shannon took a sleepy little New Jersey signal, re-invented it as "Z-100" in New York City and took the station to first place in a meteoric burst of energy, great music, fun and relentless promotion. Every other station in town was caught without a paddle, copycat "zoo" stations popped up across the country and both Shannon and Z-100 went into the radio history books. Corporate radio won't dare do something like that today (not safe enough), but watch out for that one edge-of-market rimshot that decides enough is enough. It won't be the same formatics or strategies, but it'll be the Z all over again. Sweet dreams, BIG... (9/1/10) FYI…Erica Hillary is back on Mix107.3. She was doing traffic, so it wasn’t a ‘best of’.. (9/1/10) Even as Sarah Palin’s public voice grows louder, she has become increasingly secretive, walling herself off from old friends and associates, and attempting to enforce silence from those around her. Following the former Alaska governor’s road show, the author delves into the surreal new world Palin now inhabits—a place of fear, anger, and illusion, which has swallowed up the engaging, small-town hockey mom and her family—and the sadness she has left in her wake. Vanity Fair shows us the Sarah Palin That Sarah Palin Doesn't Want You To See www.vanityfair.com (9/1/10) Dave's response: Hey, if Palin gets elected in 2012, she could turn the presidency into a TV reality show. She could have cameras following her all around the White House, every day. It could air on Fox News, right after the "Reverend Glenn Beck Revival Hour"..... A couple of thoughts… WBIG: as long as people listen to jockless stations, people will continue to get jockless stations. Until the listening audience votes with its presets and abandons jockless radio, the corporate beancounters will continue to get away with it… and just wait until the performance tax passes… not only will more music stations go jockless, more FM stations will start simulcasting AM talk/sports… radio can’t afford to pay both the singers and an airstaff… HDTV: here in Richmond, Comcast HD boxes also show HD signals in letterboxed SD on an SD set… which allows me not to have to buy an HDTV for a while yet… :) to Bob at VARTV: they were “fired”… “laid off” implies the possibility of being hired back… and as to the WaPo: they’ll be the first against the wall when the revolution comes… :) – Rob in Richmond, VA (9/1/10) Dave, Just read the blurb on Big100.3. Can't say I have listened much to D.C. radio lately, except for occasionally WTOP.. After reading your blurb, I will just stay on Sirius/XM. I was a jock for close to two decades, About 10 years in large to major markets. I used to want to own a station. If someone gave me one (for free), I would likely just sell it. Radio has to reinvent itself. It cannot try to be an iPOD and expect to succeed. Tom R./Fairfax (9/1/10) WBIG just committed a bigger, better, suicide. No jocks and an agonizingly boring, 70's based classic hits format. In DC, the rock radio race to the bottom continues. Norm (9/1/10) Lisa Hillary do you know why she is leaving? (9/1/10) /\ September 1 Messages /\ Messages from August 21 to August 31 can be reached HERE.....  |
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