Current Mailbag - Mailbag Archive Index - DCRTV Front Page - Support DCRTV DCRTV Mailbag - July 7 to July 13, 2008 Latest messages listed first..... \/ July 13 Messages \/ Wow - I didn't know baseball was still at RFK. Check this out. dc101.zipscene.com... Mike in Waldorf (7/13/08) Jesus Christ--can someone at FOX 45 please tell the monkey in the control room how to run a board. They have been cutting away from network programs to run a silent news promo, then they run a spot-and cut away from the spot in progress to join the network programming already in progress. This has been happening since 7, and its 9 now! They are starting to be like Comcast! (7/13/08) Tom in Denton, you may be right, I only go back so far, circa-1975 when it comes to Shore DJs, either way John's had one of the very long runs at one station that probably will never happen again on the Shore or anywhere for that matter. Now longest running DJs on the Shore, that is a good question? Choppy Layton who has some 50 plus years out of Pocomoke has to take the cake. Mike Cheney and Sandi Alexander have some 30 years on the Shore. JJ McKay The Hitman has to be right around there although I know he was in a few different markets before the Shore. JT Cruise had a nice long run as did the late Kevin Ocean (Kevin Evans) There are remarkably a lot of current DJs on the Shore with a solid 10-25 years in the market. Its pretty neat that a lot of good names have stayed around and been a staple of Shore radio. I'm coming up on a small four years at the end of July when I started at WCEI/WEMD in Easton back in 2004. Hard to believe, where does the time go?...Oh and got a chance to catch Donnie G on my way to a remote on Thu afternoon, no doubt having a lot of fun, pretty cool to here the sounds of old time Top 40 radio...Its all about having fun, being personable and local. -MP (7/13/08) The WashTimes piece on George Noory, found only via a Google News search: www.washingtontimes.com (7/13/08) I've spent five minutes trying to find a link to send to you for today's Washington Times profile of George Noory. It's in the new "wraparound" Sunday section, and it's written by staff writer Jennifer Harper. So it should be prominently featured on the Washington Times site. But I don't see it. I type "Noory" into the search engine and get listings for his radio show. I type the title of the article, "No Sleep for the Curious," and that doesn't work. I type in the author's name and get stuff from May. I'm so glad the Times has "improved" its site. Christian (who hopes you can find the link more easily) (7/13/08) Dave's response: Yes, I find that the search function at the DC Times' site is generally useless. A "pretty" site that isn't very functional. I hope they didn't spend big bucks on the redesign..... Albritton's ABC27 in Harrisburg has a Dennis Buterbaugh reporting news there. Also, formerly at WGAL-TV in Lancaster. I wonder if he is any relation to Ed Buterbaugh? JohnnyuinHanover,Pa. (7/13/08) RE: According to the info that I have your run on mornings is the longest in Eastern Shore radio history Does anyone know for how long Phil Adams was on WCEM 1240? Seems to me as if..he was there forever! Tom in Denton, MD (7/13/098) I think it's pretty clear to everyone reading this mailbag that the board clowns are the Danny Snyder suck-ups & apologists, same with those who defend Peter Angelos or Clear Channel or CBS Radio blindly. Everyone knows you're all just trying to protect your jobs, now go back to work and stop playing the role of PRAVDA on DCRTV. We get it. Most people realize those types of opinions have no real value. Sure Snyder will keep some dissent, but it'll be a CONTROLLED dissent. There's just something intrinsically wrong with a team owner owning ALL of the discussion about his team! The Phil Wood firing is just like how Angelos got rid of Jon Miller. Angelos knew that there were no circumstance and/or amount of money that would control Jon Miller from criticizing the O's and when Jon Miller said something, people listened. I'm not saying Phil Wood is as good as Jon Miller, obviously not, but the reason Phil Wood bothers Snyder is because Phil knows his facts and statistics like few other sports talk personalities. What appears to be a harmless rant from another WTEM employee in the voice of Phil Wood is regarded as a trusted opinion based on a lot of researched facts. This is what scares the Snyder people about Phil Wood. He's not a team player, he calls them like he sees them based on a lot of researched facts and knowledge. He's also not a loudmouth or a cheerleader, and it's pretty clear Snyder is going to go that route, not to mention in a more Redskins aimed format (if thats even possible! HAha!), all with TOTALLY CONTROLLED PEOPLE WHO ARE GO SKINS GO 24/7! It's sick to think about really. I honestly hope Snyder fires LOTS more people, it'll be a golden opportunity for a second DC Sports Talk station in my opinion with all that talent in the DC/Baltimore markets not being used. Unfortunately, I just don't see any company looking to invest in a sports talk station. Hell, even Clear Channel didn't want WTEM that bad! -- Joe in Essex (7/13/08) I just wanted to chime in on the well-wishing to John Harris form 106.3 The Heat. I was a part timer there for a couple of years and he was my boss. What a great guy and someone that truly understands local radio. He was the first PD that I had that just let me be ‘me’ on the air and from that I was able to really get better at what I do. Where are you headed to John – maybe back north after all these years?!? Cheers and thanks for just being you, a great guy and unique broadcaster. (7/13/08) Does anyone know if there is a connection between brain tumors and headphones? Broadcaster Bobby Murcer and WBZ talkshow host Paul Sullivan both died from brain tumors. There are sketchy reports of people who use cell-phones contracting brain cancer. (7/13/08) I want to wish all the best to 'Long-Time Fixture' John Harris. (You'll never let me live that down will you, lol?) Seriously I wrote that in all kindness on the ESRTV profile as the mid-shore has come to rely on the Morning Mischief show for so long going back to the days of when 106-3 was A/C-Mix 106, before that on AM 1240 when it was country. According to the info that I have your run on mornings is the longest in Eastern Shore radio history. (Off hand I think Mike and Sandi are the only ones that came somewhat close at 11 or 12 years.) Its great you have been able to do something you love for so long there on the banks of the Choptank with the same company which is very rare these days. I can only hope 20 years from now I am still in radio doing what I love. MTS is losing another good one. It speaks a lot of the work you have done. All the best wishes in your future endeavors. -Michael Popovec (Former ESRTV Editor) (7/13/08) Very sad to read about Ed Butterbaugh. While with "The Big 8", he was also with the "The Big 9", namely CKLW-TV channel 9 doing engineering there when it was when a co-located RKO General O&O. Later on of course, it became "CBET" under CBC ownership. (Strangely, CKLW-TV was a CBC-TV English affiliate when RKO General owned it. Part of an old Canadian law which required CBC-TV affiliation of a privately-owned TV when there was no CBC-TV O&O in the market...) I'm also sure Ed was involved in the engineering at CKLW-FM on 93.9 MHz... As I understand it, in addition to CKLW and WJR, Ed also did engineering at WJBK-TV channel 2 in Detroit. -John Pinkney (7/13/08) The poster is correct. Board clown is too nice a reference with respect to Joe in Essex's posts. He demeans the entire board and tarnishes its credibility. As for WTEM, the poster below is correct. Loverero was great on Sports Reporters and should have his OWN show. He was clearly the best of the Sports Reporters guests. Czaban, like him or not, is WTEM's superstar and is the only one of its hosts who has a daily syndicated show. That doesn't mean Snyder won't jettison him, but it does mean he'd be stupid to. Wood going is hardly a surprise. (7/13/08) ("........But Citadel will do exactly what CBS did with the Globe - get "halfway there" on building a great station and then "chicken out.........") I think it's too late for that Dave. Where the stock price is 87 cents, the only choice is brokered programming. By the way, have you ever heard of ITV? They sell a product called the "All Mighty Cleanse". These infomercials show up on various TV stations on Cox. (7/13/08) Dave's response: Was listening to all-news WTOP interviewing a "mosquito expert" this afternoon who seemed to be shilling for an Avon brand of mosquito repellant. Oh, radio and TV are in such a sad state..... Not a sermon...just a Sunday thought...it would be nice if Phil Wood could loosen up just a little when he fills in on MASN's shows with Johnny Holliday. But Phil is solid on Radio. It would be nice if the True Oldies guru Steve Allen would tip off Scott Shannon to use Holliday or Johnny Dark, as fill ins once in a while. Those Two former legendary Top 40 personality's would run circles around anyone on that station. And it would be nice for DC to get a real sports station on the air. Sadly, there is none. It would be nice to read Len Shapiro's offerings more in the Post sports section. Shawn, Bethesda (7/13/08) Dave's response: Ditch Imus and put some cool live legendary DJs like above on 105.9, throw in some cool jingles, and the station would be so fab. But Citadel will do exactly what CBS did with the Globe - get "halfway there" on building a great station and then "chicken out." Just watch. Oh, I heard old Jackson Brown twice on 94.7 of late. I have officially removed the station from among the six "major music station" presets on my car radio, which currently include 101.1, 100.3, 105.9, 97.9, 99.5, and 102.7..... Hey Dave, When is Don Geronimo's contract up with CBS so we can listen to his entire show on WOCM? Thanks. Mike Mechanicsville, MD (7/13/08) Dave's response: Some time in 2010, I think..... What a shame to hear about Ed Buterbaugh. Seems like yesterday he was making WEAM melt the front ends of AM radios with that superb audio. Also seems like yesterday we would tune in just after sunset to hear CKLW's astonishing sound. There are/were only a handful of engineers who, in my mind, "get it" when it comes to air sound. But Ed Buterbaugh paved the way. He deserves our thoughts and prayers. He was a true innovator. swh (7/13/08) Dave's response: Always loved it when WEAM would go to its night pattern at sunset, which cut off the signal to just about everyone in the western suburbs. "Good night Rockville," the DJ would shout just before they threw the switch..... Dave...Tony Snow was on my show every week for several years and filled in for me when I was on vacation. Its hard to put into words what a warm, nice man he was. I last talked with him at the funeral for legendary Pentagon reporter Ivan Scott... it was typical of Tony to be there. At that time, three months ago, he told me he was healthy and feeling great. What a terrible shock to learn of his death today. He was likely the best Presidential press Secretary of the TV era. God Bless his wife and three kids. Chris Core, WTOP Radio (7/13/08) Pollin and Czaban away this upcoming week, will they have jobs at WTEM when they come back? Pollin, being a whichever way the wind blows kind of guy, stays but Czaban I don't know, maybe being a hometown guy makes him drink from the Dead Zebra punch bowl but I bet he could find a decent sports talk show elsewhere. Let's face it ,things won't get better till lil' danny is gone and sadly that'll probably be a very long long long time. Anyways also going to miss the weekly appearances on the Sports Reporters of Washington Times Thom Loverro ( that story he told of stealing the seating chart from a mob banquet back when he covered organized crime in Penn. was pretty interesting, can call him Big Balls Loverro) and AOL's Kevin Blackistone. Enjoyed the El Jefe and J. Dubs show again on Saturday night. My J. Dubs quote of the week, "I won't eat my DOG!" Listened to the JoeRadio show for little bit Saturday night and well who thought that radio needed more political talk and even more who decided that it should come from the likes of Joe Ardinger the world's oldest phone screener. Bad like O'Meara doing political talk on his boring show. Hey Scott Shannon for gosh sakes can't hear the lead vocal on Buffalo Springfield's "For What's It's Worth" and this has been going on for several months. Doesn't anyone working at True Oldies listen to the songs playing on True Oldies? When MSS gets back from his journey to Africa could he get on that? Also Manfred Mann "Blinded by the Light" and "Tighter and Tighter" by Alive 'n Kickin' and there's a Rascals song that also sounds messed up. Oh and what's the play list length? 200 songs? Seems like same songs being played over and over and over again. I heard the Pina Colada song played 3 nights in a row and I love the Grass Roots but "2 Divided by Love" is way down on their lists of hits and would rather hear some other stuff from other groups. Kick that programming computer, it appears to be getting stuck! (7/13/08) Ed Buterbaugh was Chief Engineer at WEAM in the mid-60s and, then after a few years at WABC/New York, returned to WEAM from 1969-1973, when he was hired away by Detroit-area 50 kW flamethrower CKLW. A few years later, Ed went to work for WJR, another 50 kW stick in Detroit for more than two decades until his retirement a couple of years ago. He was always among the top Chief Engineers in Radio Ink's annual listing of the best in the business. Sadly, Ed is now in a Windsor, Ontario hospital undergoing treatment for bladder cancer. Art Vuolo, Jr. has written a brief article for his column for Michiguide.com with more on the story, including an address where well-wishers can send Ed a card. Here's the link to Art's column: www.michiguide.com. I think this would be of interest to market "veterans", especially those of us who worked with or knew Ed. (7/13/08) /\ July 13 Messages /\ \/ July 12 Messages \/ I, too, had the pleasure of working next to John Harris at MTS Broadcasting for several years. You couldn't ask for a nicer guy to work with. He was especially helpful to me... since I was a newbie in the business at the time. He has the knack of taking whatever bullshit management hands down to you, and putting it into a perspective that anyone could understand and appreciate. That... and he's just one hell of a guy. Johnny... we've got to go out for a beer sometime and get caught up... seriously. And... hopefully after your 6 month non-compete is up... you'll end up somewhere else on the radio dial around here. Matt Spence... you listening?? Corey Dukes (7/12/08) May I ask why is it that FOX5 locally aired an Arizona vs. Philly baseball game today? We are neither close to AZ nor PA.... (7/12/08) Dave's response: The Phillies are the third-closest baseball team to the DC-Baltimore area..... wrote to Phil Wood before I checked your mailbag. Below is my letter and his response. I went to listen to your show at 10AM this Saturday, they had someone else on who started by talking about AROD and how he shouldn't be married and being a superstar he has the right to bed anyone he wants he wants. I immediately turned it off and won't bother with the station again. Have you been fired by Dan Snyder already or are you only off for the week? If you are, is there an email address I can write to? Alan It's no big deal, really. Snyder's new program director - a guy from Portland, OR - told me that as a business decision he didn't see the station "moving forward" with a baseball-only show. I was immediately rehired by my former Baltimore station 1300 to co-host Saturday 11am-2pm, which is simulcast on MASN. I could see it coming. (7/12/08) Joe in Essex is far more than DCRTV's board clown. He's just a horse's ass. Just try to ignore him like most posters and readers do, I'm sure. (7/12/08) Visiting Baltimore this weekend. I picked a good one, it was great hearing Tom Davis and Phil Wood back together, their knowledge is unsurpassed when it comes to baseball in Baltimore and they are pretty good with football too. They are the Mike and the Maddog of Baltimore. Yes it was a one time gig, Phil was able to come on as a guest since Dave Johnson is filling in for Joe Angel on the Oriole broadcasts while Joe is on vacation. Tom said Dave would be back next week. Phil said that they (Snyder group) were hesitant or did not want to continue with an all baseball show (paraphrasing)-its their decision, they have the right to make it and so it is. I did not hear him bad mouthing DS at all...I hear Jack-FM with a Totally 80s weekend again...100.7 The Bay with a new voiceover guy...I am loving DC 101 and I am the not the world's biggest active rock fan but the mix of 90s gold-active and alt with a touch of 80s here and there along with the newer stuff. Good. Haven't an opinion on 104.3 yet...Very sorry to hear the passing of Tony Snow, seemed like a great guy, very knowledgeable, I enjoyed listening and watching him...he will be missed like Tim Russert. -Michael Popovec (7/12/08) Once again, I'll repeat it for the hearing impaired..... I've heard Phil Wood attack Peter Angelos on multiple occasions yet Wood still manages to keep a position with MASN as well as other sports talk stations. Are people on this DCRTV board that dumb or are all Skins/Danny Boy fans nothing but lambs for slaughter? Does anyone in DC even know what the sports talk format is? Yes, it's supposed to be critical by its very nature. Has anyone in DC ever even listened to Baltimore's WNST 1570? Have any of you been to Philly and listened to sports talk?!? I mean c'mon, these posts defending Snyder are beyond ridiculous and show a clear lack of understanding or these are just Snyder employees/shills posting to save their jobs. I'm not sure which is the case, but the Snyder fans here at DCRTV clearly have made themselves the board clowns. And I'm not even a big fan of Phil Wood! No wonder Nats TV and sports talk ratings are so poor in DC. And yes, foul language is sometimes necessary to smack some people upside the head when their thinking is so comepletely out of reality that they potentially pose a danger to themselves. Think of it as an intervention and thank me next time. :-) Joe in Essex (7/12/08) Dave: I think this is what is going to happen with the Brett Favre story. Brett and his agent come to Baltimore, he signs a deal with the Ravens for 3 years and the Ravens trade Kyle Boller to Green Bay so he can learn behind Aaron Rodgers. Sound far-fetched ? Ah, the NFL carousel continues..... Rich in Baltimore (BF, stands for Baltimore Football, or Brett Favre) (7/12/08) Dave's response: Well, that'll made Don Geronimo happy. Doesn't he have a "man crush" on Brett? Lets be honest....The moves by Red Zebra are only the first step. There will be some bigger names to go in the coming days and weeks judging by some of the things written and said on 980 and Zebra. Suck ups and contracted employees like Jt and Pollin will always keep their job. Hard liners ( Czabe, Mitchell, Doc, and already Jerry Coleman ) may be on the clock -- but i guess that is only if you go off recent history.Lol... I personally thought Coleman (despite still living in Baltimore which pissed me off at 1st, ) did an admirable job covering a team that probably never made it easy for him because he wroked against flagship and Never lobbed any softballs. Yet, as a previous post pointed out, the classy Gibbs DID call him and personally apologized to the guy for yelling at a reasonable and fair question. I thought he also gave 980 listeners at times- a different "flavor" when he was sent to cover Wiz, Nat's, Caps, Terps, etc., interesting to see where he lands next having been one of the few sports reporters to work in both Dc and Balt. Mark Ladsen, Ashburn (7/12/08) I want to wish John Harris the best of luck with his future adventures. I had the pleasure of working with him for some time at MTS. He has got to be the most professional, yet kindest and most encouraging person that I have had the chance to work aside on the Shore. He always had a sense of humor about things, even among the days where it seemed like the tedious activities of working in radio was dragging everyone down. He managed to entertain the marketplace, whether on the air or at an event. He is a true jewel in the business and I'm sure he'll be missed on and off the air. John, keep those headphones handy-cause as we know in the business, you can step away but never leave! All the best to John Harris! Steve "Mann" (7/12/08) Good luck and best wishes to John Harris (WCEM/106.3 the Heat). I was lucky enough to be the P.D. there for a while and I cannot think of a more genuine, professional person than John. For years he'd do his usual morning show and then make himself available for what ever community event that came up. He did it all...from calling local Little League games on the sister AM station, broadcasting live from the annual Cambridge Christmas parade (hell...doing live remotes from everywhere in the tri-county area, 7 days a week), and conducting some of the best community-oriented interviews on his morning show, no questions asked. Delmarva radio, and radio in general, has lost a true talent, professional, and friend. I raise a glass and give two thumbs up, John...you will be missed! G.E. (7/12/08) What a shame to see Tony Snow lose his cancer battle. I remember after he got his press secretary job at the White House, I was sent to do a story with Rebecca Cooper. We just went to the front of the gate and he walked out. I have no clue where he was walking to, but he stopped and did an on camera interview with us and was so extremely nice and generous with his time, even though, as a press secretary, we knew he was busy. I am glad I got to meet him, because he (like Tim Russert) are two of the good guys, who are gone way before their time. My heart goes out to his friends at Fox News and his friends at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. If he was this nice to total strangers, I can imagine what it was like to work with him. God Bless You, Tony!!! Edwin Wilson, photojournalist, WJLA TV. (7/12/08) A couple of things… First, I’m very sorry to hear of the passing of Tony Snow. A really nice guy who respected those he disagreed with. Not the “tunnelvision junkyard dog” we see all too often on both extremes of the political spectrum. I’d expect to see a clip of “Beats Workin’ ” in performance on tomorrow’s “Face the Nation”. He and Bob Schieffer had a friendly musical rivalry. However, let this be a warning to those of us in our 40’s and up: Get tested for colorectal cancer! I lost a relative to this and it was a very unpleasant way to go. Early detection improves prognosis. Second, I want to comment on Keith Mills. He has been mature enough to face up to both his actions and shortcomings. I applaud him for that. And, also the judges for upholding the state’s conditions of Mr. Mills’ conviction while he abides by his. My hope is that he continues his recovery. Not just of his career, but his life. Continue to stay strong! I hope that the time comes where he can use his experience in ways to deter others from doing the things he did in the past. He could've swept this under the rug but didn't. And, before anyone here says anything about what he did, I suggest they look around themselves. Starting in the mirror. Including myself. Haven’t almost all of us done something that we’d be horribly ashamed of if word of it were to “get out? There are people in this business who’ve stayed where they are, in part because of fear and shame (and possible rejection or termination) they think they would feel in having to answer “yes” and “explain” to that employment application question that starts out, “”Except for minor traffic violations…” I also applaud Hearst/Argyle for giving the guy a chance when perhaps others were “afraid” to. That aversion to risk-taking is one of the reasons this industry is in the shape it’s in. I hope Keith’s career progresses to the point where he has CBS and/or Scripps-Howard are competing for his services. Unsigned Corporate Suit (7/12/08) I just heard part of the beginning of Tom Davis's show on 1300 with Phil Wood. I heard Tom say something like "When the owner of the football team owns the sports station, well, you see what happens," but I didn't hear what else was said concerning Phil's firing from 980. Was there anything revealing/insightful? (7/12/08) Some of the disparaging comments made here about Phil Wood's dismissal from WTEM sadly show how difficult it is to build a baseball culture in this town similar to Philadelphia, New York, Boston and, dare I say it, Baltimore. (Or, should I say, revive the baseball culture; D.C. was a strong baseball market in the '20s and '30s, when the Senators won three pennants and were invariably competitive, and much of that continued into the '40s in Washington's black community during the heyday of the Homestead Grays. If the original Senators had remained in town, with its core of players who became stars on the fine Minnesota Twins teams of the '60s, baseball history in this city would have been far different.) The team is drawing reasonably well -- more than 33,000 Friday night for a so-so Houston team -- considering the awful product. And yes, TV ratings are dreadful, but as someone in the Washington Times noted, that will take a generation or two to build -- and competitive teams will speed the process. Philadelphians are used to turning on the set and watching the Phillies; it's a conditioned, reflex action. That hasn't happened here yet. -- Vincent in Triangle (7/12/08) Tony Snow was a true Washington correspondent/commentator. Yes, he had his agenda, like all commentators do. And, yes, he knew how to shake hands and befriend those on both sides of the issues, good-naturedly laughing and breaking bread together. He posessed a grace and spirit that, hopefully, taught us to remember that politics is just work. Real life is where we connect. - ER (7/12/08) "Wood's show is targeted to old men who are baseball geeks. That is hardly a huge demographic. See ya Phil." - And I suppose all football shows aren't targeted to old men who are football geeks? Fantasy GM's who actually don't care who wins or loses as long as their "guys" give them stats? Geez, what a maroon, to quote Bugs Bunny. Have you even been to a baseball game lately? D'ya think those are cardboard cutouts of people in the stands? Think they're all old? It's people like you who elected George Bush twice. (7/12/08) Joe in Essex again shows why he is DCRTV's own board clown. Frankly, posts with that kind of language and personal attacks on a poster really shouldn't even be tolerated. But back to the subject, I also heard Wood attack Snyder rather gratuitously on WTEM about a month or six weeks ago and wondered about it since the show had to do with baseball, not the Redskins. Did his comments have anything to do with his being jettisoned? Who, knows? I suspect it had more to do with the poster's other point about the show having a very limited audience. (7/12/08) This mailbag post REALLY ticks me off and I've even been a harsh critic of Phil Wood for his defense of poor Washington Senators MLB attendance in the 1970s, but I just gotta defend Phil here..... [ " Let's stop all the whining about Phil Wood. Just a couple of weeks ago, Wood said on his show that Dan Snyder had "ruined the Redskins for him." Now, there are quite a few people that feel that way. But they aren't working for Snyder either. Wood shot off his mouth and is paying the price. And frankly, Wood's show is targeted to old men who are baseball geeks. That is hardly a huge demographic. See ya Phil. " ].......... Yet Phil Wood has said MANY negative things about Peter Angelos and STILL keeps a part-time job at MASN ?!?!? Hmmmmm. As a critic of Phil Wood, I have to say, this post is beyond ridiculous. Sorry, but you little punk-ass NFL rotisserie geek suck-up to Snyder Skins kids should be required to grow a penis before being allowed to stick your feet in your mouths in a public forum. And no, this is NOT in ANY WAY a defense of Angelos, just to make the point at how LITTLE the LITTLE MAN SNYDER and HIS LITTLE SHILL BED-WETTER BOYS who post here in his defense ARE! It's pretty clear to me that in order to work for Danny Snyder, you have to be WAY BEYOND SHILL & SUCKUP! As bad as Angelos is, soon, entirely NEW TERMS will have to be invented for Danny Snyder employees! HAha! :-) Joe in Essex (7/12/08) Having seen next week's WTEM air schedule, they have Doc Walker slated for Monday morning (9-11) but live Dan Patrick the rest of the week. Vacation (like the Sports Reporters) .... or something else? Hmmmm ..... (7/12/08) There first three firings at WTEM are very interesting and I believe they were meant to send messages. All the talk a few weeks ago that the station would operate independent of the team and they would be free to criticize is bull crap. Jerry Coleman, who was the Skins very capable beat reporter last season, got into a dust -up with Joe Gibbs when he caught Joe Gibbs in a lie and Joe Gibbs shouted at him. Later, Joe Gibbs had to apologize personally to Jerry. The firing of Jay Cottrell is a message sent to Doc Walker who is probably the WTEM most vocal Redskins critic. He also go into a dust-up with Vinny Cerato on the air a few weeks ago. Finally, Phil Wood who was famously let go for criticizing station management the first time around on WTEM, has said on air that he didn't understand the hype over football and would not talk about football if you held fire to his feet. He knows baseball and rock and roll very well and he had a pretty good show on Saturday mornings. Coincidently, when Phil came back, he credited John Thompson for convincing management to put him back on the air. I do not expect Doc Walker and John Thompson to survive the revamping of the lineup at the station. Even though before Snyder bought Triple X, John Thompson was a regular in Dan Snyder's box at Redskins games. In addition, Clear Channel gave John Thompson a lifetime contract a few years ago and Big John's representation is David Falk. I would love to be a fly on the wall in the negotiations between Falk and Snyder to get him out of that contract. Bottom line...everything Dan Snyder puts his hands on turn to crap (see Six Flags, Triple X, Redskins). They are thin-skinned panty waste and are full of themselves. I hope he doesn't own the company I work for. (7/12/08) I love you twerps who are experts at telling others how it should be, despite the fact you have never successfully cracked a mike in your life. Mike's show is fun, the people do gell and they belong in drive. And they will achieve more with the new show on the net than the old show. I loved Don and Mike too, but the guys sound more relaxed and natural and people need that driving home after working with pricks like you all day. (7/12/08) Who, may I ask, was given authorization to sell MY home? Signed, Brad Bishop, France. (7/12/08) Dave's response: Wasn't he seen in a restroom in Italy decades after the "incident"? Hmmm..... As found on WaPo.com Friday Night 07/11/08 @ 11:30pm www.washingtonpost.com... Chandra Levy's Remains Found in Park Dog Walker's Discovery Occurs a Year After Ex-Intern Vanished... By Steve Twomey and Sari Horwitz, Washington Post Staff Writers, Thursday, May 23, 2002; Page A01 (7/12/08) Let's stop all the whining about Phil Wood. Just a couple of weeks ago, Wood said on his show that Dan Snyder had "ruined the Redskins for him." Now, there are quite a few people that feel that way. But they aren't working for Snyder either. Wood shot off his mouth and is paying the price. And frankly, Wood's show is targeted to old men who are baseball geeks. That is hardly a huge demographic. See ya Phil. (7/12/08) I think FTVLive is “fishing”. Sam Zell is still digesting (Probably in dire need of a financial Heimlich Maneuver!) his acquisition of Tribune to where any talk about him buying WRC-DT (Which is what the callsign could well be after 19 February. “TV” will be a thing of the past, alas.) is just that. Talk. Sam is smart enough to realize that throwaway print (as we know it today) has a limited future. But, some of the print properties may have a future with innovation and development. Likewise, some of the TV’s are in really good shape and are keepers. WPIX, WGN, and KTLA are examples. Sam Zell just doesn’t have the ready cash right now to buy a big fish like WRC-DT. Also, when GE sells the NBC-TV stations, they are going to either want cash at such a level as to make the tax payment worthwhile, or a “structured buy”, where for “consideration” in exchange for lowered tax visibility, a lower price is accepted. However, I would be very surprised if WRC-DT didn’t set a price record when it is sold. Although CBS is a natural, I also wouldn’t be surprised if old (literally) Rupert joined the bidding for WRC-DT. Sure, he’d have to sell off WDCA-DT. But, WTF has he done with WDCA-DT since he got it? There’s an old saying in business, “If you can’t beat a competitor, buy it and then kill it.” Buying WRC-DT would definitely remove a viable competitor from the spectrum. Unsigned Corporate Suit (7/12/08) /\ July 12 Messages /\ \/ July 11 Messages \/ Ed Rodriguez...your memory has totally failed you. On one posting, you remembered Ed Graham and me holding the string to President Harding's phone conversation. What really happened was that Ed Graham held the string, I was in Parkville doing a record hop. But now you've gone too far. You remembered me driving an A-rab cart. As I remember it, it was around 1957 and WITH had just purchased a huge mobile home, put in a lot of remote equipment, and I drove it out Washington Blvd to the Montgomery Ward store and did a remote broadcast. On the way back to the studio at 7 E. Lexington Street, I was stopped by the police and told the unit was an "outlaw of the highways". It was too wide for the roads. That's a true story. Ed, I suggest you take a quick memory course from Ed Graham. Jack Gale (7/11/08) Anybody hear that 100.7 The Bay is making changes on their morning show? (7/11/08) " ---------I predict that they will offer infomercials soon, like WMET.---------" I believe this is referred to as brokered programming. Several stations do this as a last resort. It would appear that some Citadel stations are getting close to that. There doesn't seem to be much difference between canned music and brokered talk. It's possible some music stations are even brokered. If I had the money, I would buy time for "All Elvis" or maybe "All Roy Orbison". (7/11/08) So manchild Blaine Young can be heard yakking with his good-ol'-boy friends and arguing with no one (because he's no good at it) every weekday now on WFMD. Nice publicity stunt on GM Doug Hillard's part. (7/11/08) The Ryan Stormscope! Tom, would you believe the equipment was still quasi-functioning when I first arrived at WPOC in '99...in fact, I was rebuffed in my attempt to remove it by an engineer who told me "You never know when you might need it!" :-) It finally disappeared to parts unknown when the second floor was gutted and renovated in '02 to make room for WCAO and (fill in the call letters here) 104.3. Oh, and Mark...I knew you were older than dirt, but WKC? Wow, dude... Bill "Aaron" Rehkopf (7/11/08) ("Maybe now Citaldel will be forced to change its policy of paying part time program directors full time salaries.") I have to agree with this idea. I often wonder who is running this station, if anyone. It would actually sound more consistent if everything were voice tracked. I can't imagine anyone programming the music on purpose. Margaritaville every hour. They must be paying someone big bucks to come up with that. Only the pressures of a bad economy can help this station. I predict that they will offer infomercials soon, like WMET. (7/11/08) OK this is older news but WTHU in Thurmont is now a religious Gospel music station supported by several churches in Frederick and the surrounding area. It was a classic oldies station for years. www.fredericknewspost.com (7/11/08) Ok just when I get my day planned around the two hour segment of Hogan's Hero's on TV Land they cut it to one hour and stick in Beverly Hillbilly's!!!! (7/11/08) Leave it to Cheap Channel to voice track the rest of Channel 104.3. "Klinger" is on "Planet Radio" in Jacksonville FLA. I guess he's doing double duty seeing as his "show" goes from 5PM - 12AM. Hmm, out of market tracked nights, and an out of market laughing hyena in the morning. This station definitely won't do well against the very local 98 Rock or any of the other rock-ish stations in the area. A big "FAIL" for WCHH. Too bad because I was hoping for something good. (7/11/08) God I miss Don & Mike! (7/11/08) I've known Mike for a long long time, back to the "Billy" days. When he was younger, he was just full of talent, humor, he was flexible and was a good listener. Being over-powered by "Geronimo" who look(s) looked down on everyone due to his own insecurity, Mike was pummeled into being a "second banana". Taking over the lead on a show that had as much mileage as the D&M show, from the highs to the bottom of the barrel (quality wise). Mike is having a tough time mentally getting into the leadership role. I agree with the poster that says he (the group) should be moved to mid-days until they Gel. I personally hope Mike wins. He was always a nice guy and he too has had his bad time. Wish I could contact him, but that's up to him, I'm sure he knows who posted this. (7/11/08) Fox News' Molly Henneberg tying the knot tomorrow. She's a friend of mine. (7/11/08) I have listened to Phil Wood on many stations in the area over the years. He is one of the best, and handles his callers with respect and humor. He needs a permanent gig on 3WT. That said, as a D&M fan since they got together on WAVA, and going to many of their events over the years, including one where a friend of mine got married at their mass Valentines day wedding in 1990. I have gotten to know both D&M over the years, and it pains me to say this, but Mike is in over his head, and you can hear it every day on his show. Mike, along with the rest of the ensemble have changed their on air personalities such that it is painful to listen to. I understand the want and need to break away from the former show’s tone, but Mike has been put unfairly in a no-win situation. It’s like being the person who took Brooks Robinsons or any other legends place. Anything less than perfection will fail. Being in the same time slot has only elevated the situation. In my opinion, the way they should have gone would have been to move Big O and Dukes to the afternoon slot, and given Mike mid day, to at least help the show find footing. Putting the troupe in the position of replacing themselves, and in an immediate fashion, really set them up for failure. C’mon JFK, rattle the lineup a bit, if only for a short time, and swap the slots to give both shows true opportunity. (7/11/08) To Ed and Mark, It's too bad I never had a chance to work with either of you, those days at WPOC were most memorable, and you did a super job. Now, I worked in the days of early traffic pioneer Jim Conway, a well known and respected WFBR vet from the "Transit & Traffic" days during my 6 year tenure with WPOC. This guy knew Baltimore better than anyone I had ever known. Back in the early 80's WPOC had the first "computerized" newsroom in Baltimore, and on FM no less! How about that Ryan Stormscope? Real high tech at the time. I tried doing beach traffic for Metro for two summers serving about six stations, no doubt a regular air shift was far easier than cramming so much information into one or two minutes, a great job for the younger broadcasters (which I was NOT at the time!) Tom Conroy (7/11/08) Couple of things: First, since RTN’s programming is customizable by its local affiliates, I’ll be interested to see what type of menu WJLA gives us. Secondly, on the question of Dan Patrick’s show on WJFK vs. Jim Rome, they could actually air both since Patrick is live from 9 a.m. to noon. It’s just that WTEM has been airing it on delay and chopping off the last hour unless Doc Walker is taking the day off. Charles in Winchester (Yay for Comcast 205!) (7/11/08) Mike Kelly put in a shift on BIG 100.3 last night. Josh Cunningham who was filling in for Struber introduced him as: “A voice you haven’t heard on this station in a very, very long time.” When Kelly signed on, he mentioned driving down Rockville Pike in one of his hotrods when the BIG 100.3 van pulled up along side him and he was pulled inside. It was good to hear his voice in front of classic rock again! (7/11/08) Dear Mr. Graham, Agreed, you have no vision and no sense of humor whatsoever. BUT when you start taking shots at my Pacer you've just gone too far. I take umbrage at the fact that you poke fun at a vehicle that has proudly carried my carcass around for a long long time. It's actually an heirloom, kind of like you, but it's worth more. PLB:0)-(I mean this in the nicest way of course) (7/11/08) I took a trip through the Wayback Machine and dredged up memory of a live feed of a game show from New York, circa 1957. Sound, but no picture. They had a slide on with a cartoon man pulling vacuum tubes out of a cartoon TV camera. Digital is more frequently all or nothing or weird. Weird as in sound way out-of-sync with the picture. (7/11/08) Mark Williams, I am insulted and dismayed by your attempts to mislead the audience. It is futile to try and hide the fact that you and I did the afternoon show together on WKC from 1912 until 1915! In fact, I remember Baltimore's first traffic report on WKC when you announced that a mule turning onto East Baltimore Street had run into an "A-rab Cart" driven by Jack Gale. Best wishes to you and everyone at one of the best stations I ever worked for, WPOC! - Ed. Rodriguez (7/11/08) "________Walker is a serviceable color guy______" Sounds racist to me. (7/11/08) Glad to hear that RTN is coming soon. As you may recall last time the question of when it would debut was asked around here everyone jumped on a bandwidth crusade instead of answering the question or saying they don't know. Local Point was an experiment. maybe even a noble one but that is all it was. RTN should not mean that more or less bandwidth is required. (7/11/08) Phil Wood hosting "Nationals Talk Live" after each home game would be spectacular for WWWT. Right now the hosts of that show (and most of the callers) are almost unlistenable, especially Byron Kerr. He cut off a guy last week for daring to mention some people want Jim Bowden fired. Wood has enough integrity not to be a p.r. mouthpiece for the team. Charlie and Dave do a great job with the team. Why not make the post-game equally enjoyable? (7/11/08) Dave's response: I'm told that hosts of Nats' pre-and-post-game shows are picked by the Nats and not by 3WT..... I understand Phil Wood will be on WJFK-AM in Baltimore from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. this Saturday, although I don't know if this is just a one-shot or a sustained deal. I hope there was no "exclusivity" clause in Phil's contract that would prevent him from joining WWWT anytime soon. I mean, I'm glad he's still on the radio -- but it should be at this end of the Parkway. Stupid move, WTEM. -- Vincent in Triangle (7/11/08) Alfred Liggins is not only Ms. Hughes' son but Radio One got $23 million from the District of Columbia to move from PG County back to DC. Not bad for "free" money and a huge, ridiculous pay raise and bonus, too. You go, Al! As for traffic reporters, some of you folks are nuts! They all do the best they can with what they have to work with. Information. Give them a break. (7/11/08) (WFBR broadcast) "...June of 1922 and probably almost no one even heard it! " This is probably quite wrong. The first few years of the 1920s were an extraordinary time for radio listenership as "wireless" caught the public's imagination. We were already about ten years past the prominent role wireless played following the "Titanic" disaster, moving from utility communications toward broadcast news and entertainment. The Radio History Society at Bowie, Maryland documents all this. Come see. www.radiohistory.org... (7/11/08) Doc Walker is gone from WTEM?? Finally, Snyder does something right. Walker is a serviceable color guy on football games, but he should never have been given his own show. His juvenile use of the English language was his downfall. (7/11/08) Dave's response: No, Doc Walker's producer is gone. At least that's what we're hearing. But it could mean that Doc's next..... Very sad about Phil Wood being gone (again) from WTEM. His Saturday morning 2-hour baseball & rock/roll show was must listening, either at home puttering around or while running errands. I guess it will be XM all morning after Phil Hawes is done “talking golf”, assuming XM doesn’t start to suck following Big Mel’s take-over. BTW, the Sports Reporters are on vacation next week and they’ll be doing “Best of” which is unusual since they usually have guest hosts, Chris Knocke or Thom Lovaro. I wonder how long Czabe’s contract has to run, and let’s also hope the Sirius doesn’t dump Fox Sports Net from the combined channel so I can at least hear The Czabe in the mornings. DCThunder in Rockville. (7/11/08) 87 cents a share??!!?? How does Farid keep his job?? (7/11/08) Dave's response: Or Alfred Liggins..... So stations are still using consultants? Geez, I thought today they just hired some self-proclaimed expert as PD, and then fired them when they didn't pay off. We called them insultants, and as soon as a GM announced we'd be "getting some help," we knew we were doomed. There used to be a whole industry of out-of-work PD's who hung their shingle out as an insultant and suckered GMs into putting them on contract. A couple of quick fixes, short-term payoff, and they're on to the next hapless station. I suppose group ownership has simply re-scaled the size of the contract from local to chain. (7/11/08) I want to chime in on this traffic discussion. This is another example of why consultants are a waste of money in this busness. They tend to say that traffic is clutter. When in fact, traffic and weather are almost as important as anything else on a radio station. Consultants also dictate how traffic gets read, as a list. Cut back on the details, just read the headlines. This tends to rob the commuter of important information. However, it is up to the PD to maintain a seperation between the jock and the traffic. Traffic should not be used as a point for banter. DJ banter is not effective when capturing an audience...now that is clutter. A talented jock should know how to seque from his or her prep and content to the traffic content at hand. (7/11/08) I've always enjoyed Phil Wood when he's talking Baseball. What WTEM is thinking in showing Phil the door, I have no idea. Then again that's Dan Snyder for you. At least we have MASN to thank for having Phil step in for Ray Knight from time to time and sit alongside Johnny Holliday. As a long time DC Baseball fan, I enjoy Johnny and Phil. Its one of the few bright spots on and otherwise bland channel. (7/11/08) Probably my imagination but seems like WTEM is already piling on the commercials. I'm dreaming but any chance WJFK picks up the Dan Patrick show in lieu of Jim Rome show, both syndicated by Premiere I believe. As much as I'd love to see El Jefe and J. Dubs and/or Ron and Fez returned to WJFK the only way that is going to happen is for me to buy CBS Radio and I just am unable to get the credit in these tough financial times for the purchase. And speaking of traffic reports, my memory may be wrong on this but does the O'Meara show have a traffic report anymore? Isn't the company that provides the traffic reports on WJFK also a branch of the viacom empire? And I assume even podcasts of the new rockin' soul Donnie G. show ain't allowed? I use that Radio Locator site to track down streaming stations across this U.S.A. and the Whirled. It's just that AOL had a decent Beautiful Music station and out there in Radioland there just ain't many of them stations left. Oh that André Kostelanetz! Did Michael Scott Shannon ask Davey Jones to sit in for him on the True Oldies channel while the Michael Scott was away on vacation? Bringing it strong to the mike! (7/11/08) ".....Stock of Citadel, which owns WMAL, WRQX, and WJZW, saw its price plunge almost 21 percent Thursday......" Maybe now Citaldel will be forced to change its policy of paying part time program directors full time salaries. This could actually be a good thing for them. (7/11/08) /\ July 11 Messages /\ \/ July 10 Messages \/ Anybody know why Elliot on WWDC is off the air tomorrow morning? Their website says something about it being Diane Stupar's idea. (7/10/08) It is truly a shame that WJLA will shut down Local Point TV on 7/28. Local Point is the only local entertainment programming on the air. It was a grand experiment and it worked more often than not. As much as I am in favor of real programming on digital subchannels--and so I was happy to hear of the coming addition of RTN--to lose Local Point while keeping the redundant and near-worthless Weather Now channel is just a terrible decision. When you come down to it, RTN is another canned, national (and therefore impersonal) service while Local Point was different and interesting. RIP, Local Point TV... You will be missed. (7/10/08) Hey Ed R, I know your not old enough to remember the WKC you mentioned, and neither am I but I do know the tower is on top of the Amusement Pier in Fells Point, sometimes known as the set used to film Homicide. I remember seeing the call letters from my boat and wondering about it. They might still be there. As for traffic reporting, I find it best to tell the traffic story as it affects the driver and not just read a laundry list of "incidents". Detour Dave on WBAL is a great example of this approach. Mark Williams (7/10/08) In the middle of the MASN attacks here it is refreshing to see a positive reaction to one of the hosts. Phil Wood, even as a fill-in on the MASN Nats Xtra is always a treat. I'm already one of those who watches MASN with the sound down and Nats radio PBP with Charlie & Dave turned up. Although there was never much of a reason to turn to WTEM, Phil Wood's weekend show was an oasis for Nats fans who have been in DC long enough to remember the Senators in their many reincarnations. I would take a page from the old rock 'n' roll shouts to turn it up, lock it in & rip off the knob if 3WT hired Phil Wood for Nationals shows. The man just knows his DC baseball. - Jerry (7/10/08) While it's a shame Phil Wood will no longer be on WTEM, I strongly echo the suggestion that WWWT turn over the Nats postgame show to him and give him a show on Saturday morning like he had at WTEM. This guy should be on the air talking about the Nats on at least a game-by-game basis. (7/10/08) Phil Wood gone from WTEM? Quick! 3WT call Phil now and get him on Nats Insider and the postgame show and his own show and commercials and let him do traffic and weather on the 8's and get Frank Herzog to join him on another show! We want our Phill of Phil! (7/10/08) Local DC/Baltimore CBS radio stations officially come to AOL Radio via the Apple iPHONE 2.0 software release sometime today/tomorrow! I'm using a pre-release version of the 2.0 iPhone software and can officially confirm this, shhhhhhh. I'm listening to 94.7 The Globe as we speak. :-) The available Washington stations are 94.7 The Globe, El Zol 99.1, Heaven 1580, WJFK-FM, & WPGC 95.5. The Baltimore iPhone locals are Lite 102, 102.7 JACK FM, ESPN 1300 (really WFBR, grrrrrrrr), Mix 106.5, and WHFS 105.7 (grrrrrrr) That's the list. Enjoy. Oh, still can't get ANY of these stations on my computer running the latest AOL Radio by the way but I can now control music and videos being played on my widescreen HDTV via my CELL PHONE as a REMOTE CONTROL from the bathroom! HAha! Free by the way too. Thank YOU Apple. :-) PS: All of this will be officially available tomorrow for those wondering.... You also get song info and album cover artwork as songs play along with each DC/Baltimore station's logo on your iPhone, very cool. And you can "remember songs" and/or purchase them immediately through either AOL or iTunes. Now all we need are some decent CBS radio stations to listen to! LOL :-)... www.macrumors.com... This is very cool stuff. If you want pics of the DC or Bmore local stations logos on my phone, I can do that too. i've already downloaded the AOL Radio iPhone application this morning, upgraded my iPhone to 2.0 software, and have been listening to many of the DC/Baltimore local & national CBS radio stations, although I don't think any of this gets officially released until tomorrow. And yes, local CBS radio stations will be available for both the NEW 3G iPhone AND the original iPhone as I do not have a pre-release 3G iphone and I suspect (although I don't think it's been announced) that our local CBS radio stations will also be available on the iPOD Touch as well. I can't confirm this as I don't have one, but I can tell AOL Radio is working via WIFI and all IPOD Touch's have WIFI, so there is no tech limitation for it not working. Now if only they could get AOL Radio & the CBS stations working on my computer! Grrrrrr (7/10/08) Programming traffic into a format was always a pain. If you don't carry it, listeners tune-out. I always had the problem of jocks (some really good ones) using the traffic reporter as an excuse to banter (I hate that word). Some of the DJs liked to hit on the female reporters. Just seemed like a necessary evil for a music station. Traffic reporting has gotten much better over the years since David stopped trading commercials. PBL said I would make a great traffic reporter (Ed's nearsighted, and has no sense of humor). He might be right, but I know that Paul is a bit distracted trying to install that water engine in his AMC Pacer. Ed Graham (7/10/08) RE: “For those complaining about "I don't know which roads they're talking about..." then I would suggest spend more time listening more closely, and less time cramming your Egg McMuffin down your gullet as you shave/do makeup along the Outer Loop.” Obviously you saw me this morning. I was the one applying my makeup and shaving while refusing to use my turn signal. Tough to use a turn signal while holding a brush, a Norelco, and breakfast. And by the way, it was a McGriddle. Please turn down the paranoid meter and recognize that some (I know not all) comments of these WHINERS as you call them are simply observations, not attacks. If you are a traffic reporter, don’t get so defensive. All of us who work in the business know your job is high stress, and of great importance. People notice issues with traffic reporting specifically because they’re listening so closely. That’s good. Only someone with no knowledge of what you do would suggest your job is for a 5th grader. But if you’re not a traffic reporter, you shouldn’t be one, because apparently you get frazzled very easily. (7/10/08) Its great to see FOX"News" hiring 16-20 year old blond sorority sisters/bimbos to report important/critical "entertainment news"... Great job Roger Ailes giving these girls a chance to be on TV ;-) (7/10/08) Dave's response: A new TV show, "Roger's Angels." Each week, a disembodied voice (Roger Ailes) via a phone line commands three female Fox News anchors (all beautiful, young, and white) to track down and torture a lefty TV news blogger..... Brad, you are correct that Paul Wagner did traffic on WTOP and so did Dave Statter. (7/10/08) To the previous poster who said, “NOBODY WANTS ANOTHER CLUNKY STUPID REMOTE CONTROL & CABLE BOX JUST FOR BASIC CABLE FOR EACH AND EVERY TV SET IN THEIR HOUSE! DUH! THIS IS JUST PLAIN MADNESS!” There are things called CableCards which, not perfect, do eliminate the need for a cable box if your TV can accept them. Interestingly, and I think I have this correct, when I installed a Cox Cable HDTV set top box for my father-in-law in Phoenix this past December I peered into the top of the box and there wasn’t much electronically to it, but a two-way CableCard was installed in the box. As far as I know his set didn’t have a CableCard slot so that the set-top box could be eliminated. Now I’m sure that the previous poster will say that he/she was only talking about basic cable, well CableCards will go the trick there, too. (7/10/08) W F B R 1300 vs. W C A O 600 timeline... It's very simple, WCAO 600 1st LICENSED radio station to go on air in Baltimore. WEAR/WFBR 1300, first on air unlicensed. There are lot of situations like this in many cities where experimental radio stations eventually became licensed stations and in some cases experimental stations just ceased to exist. WEAR / WFBR predates all other Baltimore radio stations on air for this reason, but I guess some people will continue to argue about this forever since many experimental radio stations in the early 1900's were probably not very well documented and came and went. However, the 1st presidential live remote broadcast though is in the history books and I remember reading about it at the library as a kid. It's doubtful that AM 1300 was even officially licensed to even broadcast that event in June of 1922 and probably almost no one even heard it! But it's pretty certain that WEAR/WFBR was on the air before WCAO, even if only by a few weeks or months. But yes, the official FCC record books will always list WCAO AM 600 as 1st on air in Baltimore. True. (7/10/08) DEAR TRAFFIC WHINERS. For traffic reporters, weekday morning rush is insane. Most days - esp during inclement weather!! - they're flooded with calls, they're monitoring cameras, checking with the folks who drive cars/fly choppers to get info. They do the best they can to keep information as real-time as possible, and it's no walk in the park, and it certainly isn't a job for a 5th-grader, as some genius previously wrote. **ALSO** For those complaining about "I don't know which roads they're talking about..." then I would suggest spend more time listening more closely, and less time cramming your Egg McMuffin down your gullet as you shave/do makeup along the Outer Loop. Fact is, most traffic reporters will preface their reports with "In Virginia..." or "now, moving onto the District..." to make things very clear. Got it? Good. (And for crissakes, please, use your bloody turn signals out there; it's only inches from your fingers at the steering wheel. Not hard, people.) (7/10/08) Nationals TV rating, Everytime I turn on the damn game it's in SD, now way I'm watching a BB game in SD on a 60" HD TV. Just not going to it. And trying to find ANY game in HD between 5 channels , MASN, MASN HD, MASN 2, MASN HD 2 and MY 20, give me a GD break. Put it on ONE channel and give it to me in HD. And the only time they put a game on My20 is Friday night, I'm doing other things on a Friday night. Jeff in FFX (7/10/08) re: Traffic reporters to air personalities. WMAL's Andy Parks was the airborne traffic guy for many years following Captain Dan. Fox 5's Paul Wagner did traffic for a long time and WTOP's Kristie King was a traffic reporter in, I think, Florida before making the jump. Wasn't Bruce Allen a traffic reporter a long time ago before becoming a "newsman"? By the way I think the description of Sprawl and Crawl Steve's post as pathetic was totally unwarranted. He did the job for many years and knows what he's talking about. It's also nice to see people in this business speaking favorably about people with whom they used to work or places that no longer employ them. Brad (7/10/08) On the topic of traffic reports, I agree that the biggest problem in this market is lack of clarity on numbers. I often hear references just to Route 193. That could be G’town Pike in VA or Greenbelt Rd/University Blvd in MD. Also, sometimes I hear something like I-95 southbound. No mention of state. Usually you can figure out what they mean by description, but occasionally not. Sometimes the road names are confusing, like Columbia Pike. Do you mean in Silver Spring or Arlington? Also, “Backup on the Parkway!” Which one? BW? GW? Suitland? Rock Creek? Reporters such as Lisa and Bob don’t usually fall victim to this stuff, but some others do... A LOT! Andrew on F Street (NW, in the District, for clarity’s sake) (7/10/08) Although I am retired and no longer driving on Rockville Pike or Georgia Ave. or the Capital Beltway, I still listen to WTOP every day. I still have to listen to Lisa Baden and her traffic reports. When she reports a problem, I can still picture in my mind where that incident happened. I still think that there is no one better than Lisa Baden. JohnnyuinHanover,Pa. (7/10/08) “I don't recall ever seeing technical problems of this magnitude in the analog domain.” Then you have a short memory. Technical problems were just as prevalent in the analog world as they are in the digital, they were just different in nature. But they still had the same end result – no audio, no video, wrong audio, wrong video, or some combination of the above. I laugh when I read posts like yours because I remember clearly “back in the day” when everyone couldn’t wait to get new equipment and go digital because of all the problems we thought we would be rid of. We tend to view the past through rose-colored glasses, but if you really remember back then, there were plenty of technical problems – different than today’s issues, but crippling problems just the same. (7/10/08) "My pet peeve about the radio traffic reports is that they too often use the state road numerical designations for roads that are almost exclusively known to the listeners by their name. Some of them everybody knows, such as 29 in VA is Lee Hwy or Rt 1 in VA is Jefferson Davis Highway, but there are a lot of streets that are known by name pretty much exclusively and not by their number. Just thought I'd throw that out there." Another example: references to "Route 28." There are two of them in this area -- one in Virginia near Dulles, and one in Maryland that intersects with I-270 in Rockville. Whenever I hear "Route 28" on a traffic report here, it invariably refers to the former, not the latter. Why not say "Virginia 28" or "Maryland 28"? Just a tip to Lisa, Bob, etc. -- Vincent in Triangle (7/10/08) I've been watching this conversation regarding Traffic Reporters and the way they are received. I don't live in the DC area, but in my opinion, Lisa Baden stands out as one of the best. She realizes that radio is supposed to be "informative/entertaining. She does both, with what is probably the most boring feature in broadcasting. She's funny, uptempo, imaginative and communicates. What more can you ask for from a TRAFFIC REPORTER? The late Walt Starling had that ability. He was a close friend and his sense of humor always shined even during traffic reports-Oh, I think Ed Graham would make a terrific traffic guy...he's nearsighted, and has no sense of humor. PLB:0) (7/10/08) Dave queries: "If there was a major emergency in the DC area, where would you turn for important information?" You're right Dave, now that WTOP is gone from 1500AM, I would turn first to local TV, then NOAA "all hazards radio," formerly known as weather radio. NOAA has just put up a new transmitter in Washington with much better coverage than from the one located in Manassass. Pick around the other "channels" on your little portable weather radio and you'll hit a stronger one. The NOAA website says "It broadcasts from north central DC at 162.450 MHz with a call sign WNG-736." (7/10/08) (Dave's response: If properly marketed, the Junks, Big O & Dukes, and Mike O'Meara would do at least 25 percent better in the ratings. And that doesn't mean running freebie promos on 106.7.....) Don't you think that O & Dukes may be the hardest working guys on that station? They seem to do something to promote themselves every week with MMA fights, movie previews, happy hours, and other events outside the station and outside their time slot. Not a lot of these seems to be promoted outside of listening to the station or clicking on WJFK.com. How does a station expect to get additional listeners if they do not advertise outside their own channel? (7/10/08) Good morning DCRTV Mailbag, First, I love the site. In today's posting about a replacement for Bob Sellers, there was no mention of Steve Chenevey. He's been serving as the co-anchor over the past several days. Has his status changed as well? Thanks. Respectfully, Antoine Hoffman (7/10/08) Dave's response: Anybody know? In terms of traffic reporters I like Angie Goff of WUSA. I particularly like the graphics used by WUSA in the AM. (7/10/08) All this talk about traffic reporters has reminded me of a fact that may have been overlooked. I am not trying to continue this endless debate of who is the better or worse traffic anchor, but ultimately the decision on who does the traffic reports for the stations, especially during drive times, lies with the stations themselves. The radio and television stations often select who does the reports, and just as importantly, what content the reporter covers within the report. Another thought to keep in mind, the traffic anchor/reporter is only as knowledgeable as the information they are given. There is an old computer programming phrase, GIGO (Garbage in, garbage out) which means they can’t report on it, if they don’t know about it. Just because you can see it, doesn’t mean the person doing traffic can. Instead of complaining, maybe picking up the phone and calling it in, would be a more efficient use of your time? Ultimately, you as the consumer have the choice to either watch or listen to a certain traffic reporter, on a certain station. If you don’t like them, don’t watch or listen. But don’t criticize them for delivering the content they are requested to deliver, in the manner that the station wants. (7/10/08) Thanks for passing on the news that Gurvir Dhindsa is doing fine. I am very happy to hear that. (7/10/08) My pet peeve about the radio traffic reports is that they too often use the state road numerical designations for roads that are almost exclusively known to the listeners by their name. Some of them everybody knows, such as 29 in VA is Lee Hwy or Rt 1 in VA is Jefferson Davis Highway, but there are a lot of streets that are known by name pretty much exclusively and not by their number. Just thought I'd throw that out there. (7/10/08) I remember a 60th anniversary poster hanging on the wall at WCAO when I worked there in 1988. It was a timeline of big events that happened at the station. At the top of the poster it said, “May 8, 1922, Charles A Osborne begins broadcasting WCAO on 600 AM.” I don’t know if it’s accurate, that’s just what the poster said. Maybe this helps in the WFBR/WCAO discussion. (7/10/08) WHEN ARE COMCAST AND VERIZON GOING TO "GET IT?" Soon, apparently from what I read here at DCRTV.COM and elsewhere, both Comcast AND Verizon now are going to REQUIRE digital cable boxes for service (Comcast deleted another analog signal just today and didn't even bother to replace it on the basic digital QUAM band, I'm sure American Movie Classics is quite happy about that, NOT!). People are buying brand new HDTV sets with all these cool new features and universal remotes, picture in picture, etc... and most of these TV sets have QUAM digital signal reception via cable and ATSC reception over the air! I can understand why they're removing analog signals in favor of digital to reduce bandwidth space, but unless you have PayTV services or want PayPerView, seriously, NOBODY WANTS ANOTHER CLUNKY STUPID REMOTE CONTROL & CABLE BOX JUST FOR BASIC CABLE FOR EACH AND EVERY TV SET IN THEIR HOUSE! DUH! THIS IS JUST PLAIN MADNESS! Not to mention, it's a complete waste of the technology investment people are making in these new HDTV sets! Who the hell wants to spend $5000 on a huge HDTV flat screen and then have this ugly clunky cable box sitting in front of it???? Ummm, DUH! This situation is going to become so seriously irritating come next February and all of 2009 that the FCC should probably step in NOW and set some basic demands on these 2 giant TV service companies so that this fiasco is solved by the time the big HDTV switch happens next year. With Verizon FIOS's recent FORCED digital box decision, it's pretty clear that the public's interest is NOT being properly served right now. FCC, are you there????? Grrrrrrrrrr. :-( (7/10/08) To those who dislike the lack of info and frequently erroneous info that WTOP and WMAL seem to feature, I'd suggest finding out which stations get their info from Traffic.com. In DC, it's harder to find. I only know of WRQX-107 and Oldies 105.9. In Baltimore and Philly, it seems like everyone uses Traffic.com. Like Metro, they use callers, airplanes, scout cars and cameras, but they also have sensors in the road for real time info! I have a friend who worked for both and she said that Traffic.com was about ten years ahead of Metro. I think XM uses them too! (7/12/08) Another traffic reporter-jumps-to-air personality...Sherry Alliker (sp?) from years ago on D&M. (7/10/08) I've heard traffic reports all over this country, and nobody beats the WTOP team. As for Lisa Baden's personality: She's a bright spot in my day, every time out, providing the needed information with a little pizazz. One problem with all traffic, however: Is it really necessary to tell us where there are no problems? I know--outside of rush hour, this makes the traffic report short, but so what? When you're driving, watching the other guy, the speed limit, etc, and your radio is blathering "along 270 and the inner loop of the beltway down to Tyson's Corner................no problems", that's meaningless b.s. Since metro does news for so many stations, I've always wondered why they don't tell us, "No robberies at Riggs Bank today. Likewise, Bank America has no robberies, and Wachovia is robbery-free as well". (7/10/08) While we're on the subject of quality traffic reports (and I find Lisa's reports informative, timely, and entertaining) let's not forget two of the greats: WASH-FM's Airborne Traffic Advisor, Walt Starling, and WWDC's Captain Dan. They set the bar way back when. (7/10/08) Many traffic and news reporters have made the successful turn to full time air personality and I think most of them came from the old Metro Traffic. The most successful one was Diane Stupar on the Elliot in the morning show, and others include Kim Burton who became the co host on the Bill and Kim show on WASH in the mid 90’s. How about Stacey Binn with Jack Diamond all of those years and Erica Hillary who started on WASH in the afternoons, and is currently on the Mix morning show? (7/10/08) Obama is right: Jesse Jackson needs to stop fathering illegitimate children. While cutting Reverend Jackson's nuts out would be a tad harsh, perhaps he and Robbay Spewack could be vasectomy buddies. Vice presidential nominee: Bill Cosby. Come on, people! Jello Pudding Pops for everyone! --- Caller X (7/10/08) Open letter to " Sprawl and Crawl Steve:" What makes your posting (from 7-9-08) so pathetic goes beyond your apparent ability to understand what the end-user of on-air traffic reports from WTOP really needs. Instead, you choose to predictably "circle-the-wagons" and defend your former colleagues at WTOP. I do respect your loyalty. However, we in traffic and so adversely affected, don't care about your (or WTOP's) issues in the work-place. All we really care about is getting information about traffic problems reported quickly, accurately, and timely. Spare us the drama about the personal difficulties at the job -- or the lack of diligent monitoring of the available technical resources. We are looking forward to real-time accurate reporting of traffic issues -- so we can make plans to AVOID the jams. Wow, what a humble concept. Are you really up to delivering what you represent? Or, is it all "theater-of-the mind?" Hopefully, it is all about results (or realistically maybe more about revenue to the suits?). IMHO, I think WTOP traffic reporting (primarily related to Baden's work) is representing itself as a service that might be beyond the scope of realistic and accurate delivery. Distract the people with an occasional song...ha-ha...how cute and entertaining and funny. I missed the details of the report. Those of us stuck in traffic so often see "The-Wizard-Of-Oz Concept" at work (at WTOP) for whom she really represents...a lot less than what we expect or deserve year-after-year in morning drive time especially. Integrity. (7/10/08) Wednesday morning my DVR captured WRC-DT and "The Today Show." The show started out in black with sound. It progressed to black with sound and the time and temperature bug in the lower left corner. Picture and sound arrived, only to devolve to no sound no picture. This went on for several minutes beginning at 07:00:00. Eventually, the program resumed with Sen. Obama being interviewed by Matt Lauer about his inadvisable interview with the future First Lady and the couple's daughters. I don't recall ever seeing technical problems of this magnitude in the analog domain. (7/10/08) So the first inning of the Wed Nats game was on ESPN as bonus coverage..... Wow...more than 9k viewers thanks to a bit of rain in philly may be..... Mlb fan, DC (7/10/08) /\ July 10 Messages /\ \/ July 9 Messages \/ Well, cut my nuts out and send me to Hymietown! Jesse Jackson does not disappoint. I haven't seen anything in the news about the Secret Service talking to him, but Sen. Obama is a "protected person" and they really should take an hour or so out of "Reverend" Jackson's busy schedule. Unlike Dave, I am looking forward to the 12-parter on Chandra Levy. I'm really hoping that Gary Condit gets a rigid sigmoidoscopy. He creeps me out big time. There was stuff in the alternative media that I would like to see covered and sourced by a mainstream media organ, the kind that knows how to spell "unseemly". Don Geronimo: he SAID he was going to go back into radio, probably playing a box of records. Bitches need to stop hating. Stay thirsty, my friends. --- Biff from Burke (7/9/08) And the poster said "In the old days traffic reporting was a stepping stone job that many people worked until they got a tape together to do something else.." This is incorrect. Steve Thompson, Walt Starling, "Capt. Dan" and others all stayed in traffic and rose to prominence, popularity and authority for the stations they served. (7/9/08) how old is keith mills from WBAL? (7/9/08) Dave's response: 43? Am I right? No, PLB doesn't want to be me right now. 52 and hot flashes are not fun. However, I am still rockin! I think of Steve Martin's film "All of Me" when I saw that post and had to laugh. Enjoying the stories about WFBR and the history. Johnny Contino was also a favorite on the station. He was a joy to work with at WAMD and another great mentor of whom I will always be grateful. Love and blessings to all. Joyce Conroy (WHFC) P.S. As Sammy D, Jr. says "I gotta be me - daring to try, etc." (7/9/08) In response to the traffic reporter thread I just have to weigh in... To say that Lisa Baden or any of the other traffic reporters who have done this job for many years is doing something that a 5th-grader or "any newsreader" could do shows a lack of real understanding of what it takes to do the job. In the traffic business the "news" is always breaking, the top story can change in a second. Traffic reporters have to know not just the roads but also the impact and potential work-arounds off the top of their heads. Many don't even script their reports but ad lib off general location notes. Add to that the fact that there is very little that commuters know better than the roads they drive. Get the information wrong or deliver something in the wrong order and they will know it. Does the U-S have 150,000 or 200,000 troops in Iraq? Most commuters don't know if the network news anchor is correct. What they do know is if the back-up is five or six miles long and that the crash has been cleared to the left shoulder. Because of this personal perspective traffic reporters are held to a higher accountability. The best reporters are the ones who really care about getting the information right and then getting it first. Bob, Jerry, Lisa, Jim, Beverly and the rest of the gang work their asses off to know as much as they can about the area's road systems. In the old days traffic reporting was a stepping stone job that many people worked until they got a tape together to do something else in the broadcasting field. These days it's one of the more reliable jobs but only for those who get it and who give a shit... Sprawl and Crawl Steve (7/9/08) I'd support any effort to bring Ron and Fez back to the DC airwaves. If marketed properly, they'd do just fine. (7/9/08) Dave's response: If properly marketed, the Junks, Big O & Dukes, and Mike O'Meara would do at least 25 percent better in the ratings. And that doesn't mean running freebie promos on 106.7..... I have to agree that Jerry Edwards is the dean of Washington traffic reporters. Jerry is smart, concise, totally informed and very radio/TV savvy. He knows what needs to be said and says it. If you give him 30 seconds, he fills it to the second with exactly what is important to DC area commuters. I have had the pleasure of watching him in action and was in awe of his dedication and expertise. On top of that, he is one of the nicest human beings I have ever met. Jerry does not have an enemy in the world. He works with young talent and is pulling for them to make it in the biz.Unlike so many others in radio/TV his ego is such that he does not need to call attention to himself with silly jokes and mindless banter. He is only interested in getting the info to DC commuters in a timely manner with clarity and accuracy. Thanks, Jerry for all you have done for the Washington road warriors. You are a treasure. (7/9/08) So with Bob Sellers gone, I wonder if the station is going to "promote" someone to that toney spot or as they've done in the past, bring someone in from outside of the area. But then again, history at that station shows that it's just a revolving door for many that come through there. It seems like every other week, I see a new reporter show up for one or two broadcasts (usually on the weekends) and they're never seen again. (7/9/08) Anyone check out "wipeout" on ABC7 last night (how do you say "deja vu" in Japanese? -lol) Some one in DCRTV Land agree with me; that little Alaskan ARIEL TWETO IS A HOTTIE!!! :-) (time to add a new fetish to the web searches; 'sexy eskimo' ;-) ~kinky-neo-con. (7/9/08) re - But Lisa Baden, Julie Wright, Bob Marbourg, and Max Wyatt do it with a certain style and verve that... - Dave, I'm not sure who Max Wyatt is, but the rest of them aren't too hot. Yes - they have been doing their jobs forever, but please. Baden and the singing is bad and should be an embarrassment to WTOP. Wright and the obnoxious fawning over the male anchors on Faux 5 is another. Marbourg sounds like Elmer Fudd as he picks his lane and stays with it. For my money, Jerry Edwards is the dean of traffic in this city. Johnny Cantino (7/9/08) Ref: WKHI’s move to 107.7 is one part of the plan for Cox Radio’s.....blah blah, Yea but what happened to 106.5 in Pocomoke - It just vanished/off air - you know the station that Great Scott forgot. (7/9/08) WMAR in Baltimore has dropped sports from its nightly newscasts. They've been having news anchors read sports highlights on their 11pm and morning shows. It appears as if they'll still do sports on weekends but you won't see it during the week. Just another bad decision by a station that can't do anything right. (7/9/08) "JFK did plop Ron and Fez in the evening slot a few years back and CBS was not impressed with their ratings...". That's true Dave, but could Ron and Fez do any worse than Jim Rome? What are his ratings @ JFK? Ron and Fez had more that decent ratings in their short 06/07 stint at FreeFM 92.3 in New York - they deserve another chance at JFK, but realistically, a return to the Main St. studios for R&F is totally unlikely - recall Fez's famous quote: Don't bury me in Fairfax!! deepjdjenva. (7/9/08) Dave's response: I agree. I love R&F..... "Eric Logan is gone from XM? Start the clock ticking, O&A are doomed." Indeed! On the plus side it will be interesting to see who does the firing: Mel, Howie or maybe BeetleJuice!! I smell a pay-per-view opportunity Mel!! On the minus side, Ron and Fez will probably be the babies thrown out with the OnA bathwater. That's a shame, but R&F would be an outstanding replacement for Jim Rome at the JFK 7-10pm slot. (7/9/08) Dave's response: JFK did plop Ron and Fez in the evening slot a few years back and CBS was not impressed with their ratings. But JFK didn't really do much to promote 'em, either..... The thing about Lisa Baden is that she does a job any 5th-grader could do, except that by age 13 most children have stopped laughing at their own jokes. Baden hasn't. (7/9/08) Dave's response: Let's face it, any newsreader could read the traffic info. But Lisa Baden, Julie Wright, Bob Marbourg, and Max Wyatt do it with a certain style and verve that makes breathing in all that truck and bus exhaust while stuck in Beltway gridlock an almost pleasurable experience..... Baden only reports traffic where they have signal. That's why you get so many "elevator 3 at the K Street office is out" since downtown buildings are their reputed biggest audience ever since they abandoned 1500 AM. (7/9/08) Eric Logan is gone from XM? Start the clock ticking, O&A are doomed. (7/9/08) "I think Ed Graham posted this nonsense!" Yes, I did, but only because you corrected Dave's spelling. I have heard your commercials, and it has to be REED St. Ed Graham (7/9/08) Don Geronimo Stream... Day 3 - still streaming here. just FYI (audio only and video but the camera is aimed out at the water)... They just killed both feeds. Oh well. it was fun while it lasted.... (7/9/08) RE: "Delaware line last weekend listening to an O's game at night. Club DJ talking between every record? Wow - a live jock! That's different!" That is good, having a live jock--if he actually preps for a show and has some sort of content, not just a 2 hour commercial. (7/9/08) Anybody notice the RDS for WJFK was wrong this morning? It showed "BIG O AND DUKES ON WJFK" at 7:40 this morning, right in the middle of the Junkies show. TL (7/9/08) "TV One CEO Jonathan Rodgers told AP. "We are a television network that is designed to celebrate African-American achievement. That is why we are covering (Obama's) convention. If Hillary (Clinton) was the nominee, we would not be covering this year's Democratic convention" Still waiting to see the specials on the extraordinary achievements of Colin Powell, Condi Rice, Michael Steele, J.C. Watts, Clarence Thomas, Alan Keyes, Janice Rogers Brown, Larry Elder, Walter Williams, etc. Oh, never mind..... (7/9/08) ("making the singal crap on the island due to the power lines.") Must have a shitty car radio, sunshine - I didn't have a problem taking them from the inlet to the Delaware line last weekend listening to an O's game at night. Club DJ talking between every record? Wow - a live jock! That's different! (7/9/08) Dave's response: The sad thing is that the AM band is "shitty" on many radio receivers these days. Programming and electronics..... RE: "You might not be able to hear the 105.1 most places (except in OC proper) but the 1590 you can hear up and down the coast *clearly* since it is running 250 watts non-directional. Clear as a bell - all over. Of course, the "normal" programming is shit, but it's a fun listen." I did catch some of it last night, where some club DJ was doing a show--talking between EVERY SONG giving shout outs to restaurants and the such. Funny shit! We''ll the 250 watts is well and good, until the sun goes does. So does the power, to 50 watts, making the singal crap on the island due to the power lines. (7/9/08) Hello Sir, I just wanted to tell you I enjoy your flash reports of DC area every day. It is interesting. Since you have gossip also, it becomes little boring to read what did Lara Logan did, or Katie Couric does. Who cares about their personal lives? Give us News, and only News, and not who got pregnant by who? I am even surprised CBS did not take any action on this. I was outraged to see Professor Howard will even spend huge amount of time to report the information on The Washington Post. Howard is loosing it. He talks too much. Any way great job. All the best wishes, Steve Mukherjee (7/9/08) Dave's response: A newsblurb on who Katie Couric "does" on DCRTV? Don't recall that..... (It's time to expose Bicknell. He has been posting under fake names for too long. He is: Unsigned Corporate Suit, Caller X, Joe from Essex, Silvie, and Joyce Conroy. It's time to stop this insanity. PLB) I AM NONE OF THOSE LISTED. (*I DON'T THINK)-PLB:0) I think Ed Graham post this nonsense! (7/9/08) Dave slow down here.....First of all it's Read Street Sound and Video, NOT Reed. Secondly, Pat Murphy is in The Virginia Beach area and still agitating Conservatives. He's still just as funny as ever and he and I remain in contact cause we're both a bit on the "crazy side". Now, this accusation that I torment posters on the site with a series of alternate identities. Get outta town, ME? Best Regards, Granny, and the "others"-PLB:0) (7/9/08) Dave's response: Hell, you're not an advertiser so I don't have to spell your name right. Ha ha ha..... If you're tired of waiting for CBS & AOL to get their act together, there is a another alternative if you own an Apple Mac..... RadioRocker! www.whimsplucky.com... This bad boy is like the little program that could, THOUSANDS of local radio stations all over the country including MANY stations in DC and Baltimore and yes many of the CBS stations that AOL hasn't figured out how to add yet! Although as with many stations streaming these days, of course the streaming is buggy and often quite a large # of stations have their streaming off at different times or try to mess w/ free services like this and make them not work because this program obviously avoids the stations' website advertising. You can even add radio stations not included or if the idiot CBS suits change the streaming link or something devious like that, you can change it manually yourself. Finally, while reading the docs, the best part is that the developer will allow stations to remove themselves from the service upon request, but he reserves the right to ridicule the station suits and PDs for doing so! haha Gotta love this developer, he obviously understands radio execs well! :-) (7/9/08) It's time to expose Bicknell. He has been posting under fake names for too long. He is: Unsigned Corporate Suit, Caller X, Joe from Essex, Silvie, and Joyce Conroy. It's time to stop this insanity. PLB (7/9/08) I don't listen to her very much anymore, but in the past I've been amazed on how many times Lisa Baden has failed to report on problems on I-395. Maybe she just assumes 395 is perpetually a disaster? (7/9/08) Please don't pick on Lisa Baden. She reports on I-270 as much as any other jammed-up roadway in the area. She and Bob Marbourgh are the best. Thanks Lisa and Bob for being there for us. (7/9/08) ("You can hear the O's there, if your able to pick up the cluster fuck known as KHZ on either 1590 or 105.1fm") You might not be able to hear the 105.1 most places (except in OC proper) but the 1590 you can hear up and down the coast *clearly* since it is running 250 watts non-directional. Clear as a bell - all over. Of course, the "normal" programming is shit, but it's a fun listen. (7/9/08) Ref "The highway I'm talking about is I-270, which connects Frederick, MD, to the Washington Beltway (I-495). As the region has grown, so has the volume of traffic on this highway. To either not mention it at all in your traffic reports, or to say (as you did in a report last week), "there's something going on on 270, but the cameras can't see it -- WHATEVER", is doing a disservice to the people who have chosen to listen to your traffic reports" I don't listen to Lisa Baden and don't need traffic reports because my commute is less than five minutes or not at all. But what is this woman supposed to do? Be omnipresent? Have satellite camera capabilities? Have a direct radio link to every state trooper on duty? Have spotters stationed every hundred yards on the interstate? Things happen quickly, cars break down, morons slow down to watch a tow truck, any number of things can happen that can slow traffic. Deal with it. (7/9/08) So the Today Show on Channel 4 had Martha Stewart on, and Good Morning America on Channel 7 gave precious air time to Kelly Ripa training for her high-heeled dash on her show. Could we make the shilling a little more obvious, please? Next week, Fox 5 will have DCRTV Dave on to preview his appearance with Rupert Murdoch on The Morning Show With Bad Haircut Boy And Obligatory Blonde Babe. (7/9/08) RE: [ " No one gives a shit what station certain highlights and milestones were heard on. " ]............ And next you'll say no one gives a shit what station they first heard a particular song on growing up or when dating their first girlfriend or when hearing the Orioles win their last World Series maybe or the beginning of Cal Ripken's streak? Or maybe nobody even cares what stations they listen to at all huh? I'm trying to figure out your logic, but I have to admit, its tough for me to relate to the Myspace/Youtube, me, myself, & I generation even being only 40. Not to mention, my age is closer to AM 1300's target audience for sports talk since no one under 30 even listens to AM radio anymore! HAha! And apparently, the Baltimore Orioles do care about the old WFBR Orioles Magic promotional campaign, so much so that they went to a good bit of effort to recreate the WFBR Orioles Magic song with an acompanying video with today's players, didn't they? And there are even quite a few versions of it on Youtube I might add for those historically challenged younger people who don't even listen to AM radio. And yes apparently, I've touched a nerve at CBS Baltimore once again. Oh well, it's once again deserved. :-) PS: Finally, I have the same problem as others, both the local and national CBS Radio stations still do not appear or work in my now updated version of AOL Radio! Geez, I don't know what the bigger joke is, CBS or AOL! This mess just is BEGGING for a "How many AOL/CBS Execs Does It Take to Screw in A Lightbulb?" joke! HAHA! (7/9/08) WKHI’s move to 107.7 is one part of the plan for Cox Radio’s WDYL/101.1 Chester VA to move and upgrade its signal on 100.9 from Lakeside VA, much closer to Richmond. WNNT/100.9 Warsaw (on the Northern Neck) will move to 107.5… Bob/VARTV (7/9/08) I miss Paul Bicknell and Pat Murphy on WMOD. Why can't we get quality talent like that anymore? Are these guys even alive anymore? What are they doing? CB (7/9/08) Dave's response: Last I heard, Pat Murphy's down in the Norfolk area. And Paul Bicknell runs Reed Street Sound And Video, an ad production house in Baltimore. And torments posters in this Mailbag using a series of alternate identities..... "On the day I mentioned, I was asked by my boss why I was 45 minutes late for work. I considered saying, "there was something going on on 270 - WHATEVER", but I decided my boss probably wouldn't appreciate that tone. Frankly, neither did I." You couldn't come up with a story about SOMETHING happening on your commute? Newsflash: your boss won't check. Newsflash: Cellphones, perhaps you've heard of them. If you were my employee, I would have fired you (keep in mind that I'm typing this so it's all fake, not actually doing it). You had a situation and failed to handle it. I am much better than you. I once showed up at 2 o'clock for a 10 am shift, a few minutes of jazz hands and it was hugs all around and bob's your uncle. You just suck. Who listens to traffic reports anyway? You know what never has a delay? Six Flags roller coasters. Give it a try. --- Caller X (7/9/08) As the guy who originally got Joe in Essex all fired up about WFBR, let me just say, that I can match you in knowledge of Orioles history even at my younger age. No one gives a shit what station certain highlights and milestones were heard on. If you want knowledge of players, events, whatever else, I'll bury you. Even if I'm under 30. Knowing jacksquat about a station that hasn't had the games since I was in pre-school means nothing anymore. Give it up, old man......... Also, Silvie, Austin Hill is a tool. The day he went on the air and blasted Va Tech students for not fighting back against Seung Hui Cho was the day he became just a worthless, insensitive, know-nothing rabble rouser in the worst sense of the words. Turns out some students did fight back and help other students, and that dickbag had to come on the air with his tail between his legs and admit he was being an insensitive douche. How WMAL ever let him back on their air again afterwards is beyond me. And that's not censorship; it's good taste. Austin Hill has none. That Sunday afternoon proved exactly what kind of horse's ass he is and was. You may have forgiven and forgotten, but I haven't. There are other talk show hosts, some without a job right now (John Ziegler comes to mind) who, even if I don't agree with them, have much more class and decorum than that Sacramento Scumbag does. If you want to pledge your loyalty to WMAL, that's fine. That station gets a lot of credit from me for helping me attain success in this business. But don't be a blind cheerleader. Putting that clown on the air is a huge blemish to what was once a great station. (7/9/08) How comes the CBS muckity mucks are on top of interupting the stream of donnie G. but the player for the new AOL/CBS radio alliance still don't work after a month? Or was that CBS' plan all along? so donnie G.'s first song was The Jam's "A Town Like Malice" (doesn't Weller have a new album out?) And I thought that was Robbay who got that song played as rejoinder music on ye olde D&M show. If Brett Farvre(sp) wants to come back so soon can't see why donnie G. can't neither but now he won't have as much time to enjoy the fishing on Lake Anna and his wonderful A-frame. btws, I believe Emmylou Harris also had nieces that graduated from Oakton High. And didn't Joe Gibbs(man o' man he sure looks a helluva lot happier being away from lil' danny(do I need to trademark the term lil' danny?)) two son's also graduate from Oakton and who should have been the new Redskin coach, Russ Grimm's son? Watching the AFI tribute to former Arlington native Warren Beatty on USA cable network. CBS didn't carry it this year? And by golly is that his sister Shirley sitting next to him? Wonder what it was like when Kate Smith baby sat lil' Warren way back when. (7/9/08) Bill Mayhugh is one of the classiest people I've ever known, in or out of broadcasting. He's been a mentor to me and while I've certainly not lived up to his standards, Bill has been my goal. We could use a lot more Bill Mayhughs. Jim Bohannon (7/9/08) I wanted to chime in on a few things about OC radio. You can hear the O's there, if your able to pick up the cluster fuck known as KHZ on either 1590 or 105.1fm. Also, the Joe fm thing..they haven't even updated thier logo or website to reflect the recent change. Come on, in this age of everything digital--the website should be as important as your on-air programming! (7/9/08) You noted: "Barack Obama is an inexperienced moron elitist." Rush Limbaugh today via Citadel talker WMAL..... He also compared Fox News's Bill O'Reilly to Ted Baxter. Tim Phares (7/9/08) Dave's response: I saw that. Very funny..... In reguards to Baltimore's old WFBR-AM being top 40...yeah chicken rock may be best to describe it but still I would still consider them top 40 at least for 1980 standards anyway. 1980/1981 top 40 looking back really was a variety of music. Disco was coming to an end ( Funkytown came out in 1980 ), country crossovers were big, some hard rock and new wave however a lot of the other "rock" tunes of that period could easily be played on LITE AC stations today. With that being said I don't think there was any top 40 station in this region that played everything that was, well on the top 40 charts at the time, well maybe except WPGC. I am pretty sure WPGC ( and WFBR for that matter ) played some of those country crossovers such as Kenny Rogers and Terry Gibbs ( remember "Somebody's Knockin" ) or Dolly Parton's big tune "9 to 5". However I don't recall Q107 ever touching those songs nor did Frederick's "Hot Stereo Rock" Z104 either. However both stations did play Led Zeppelin's All Of My Love ( actually I remember I first heard that song on Dude Walker & Doug Limerick's morning show on Q107 back in 1979 ), WPGC I am pretty sure played that but WFBR did NOT. It is funny telling people who weren't around then ( late 70s-early 80's ) about how many country music stars actually had HITS on the top 40 charts. In my hometown for example I remember back then our local top 40 FM station playing AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long" right beside Alabama's "Mountain Music" and Crystal Gayle 's "Half the Way" beside the SOS Band's "Take Your Time". MTV and many country music stars put an end to those days. Even though Ronnie Milsap and the late Eddie Rabbit were fans of classic rock and roll from the 50's and early 60's neither were fans of the then current crop of top 40 music. Actually its been reported that Ronnie Milsap whenever he heard one of his hits like "Any Day Now" being played on such a station, say beside Pat Benatar or Journey, he would call up the station and scream at the dj for mixing his music beside that rock "trash". Myself, considering hwo top music is today, I kind of miss those days. (7/9/08) Re: The change to 107-7--One must realize that having coverage over on the mid-shore is nice but at the same time you already have a major A/C and country station in Easton and a Cambridge cluster plus Baltimore/DC station bleed ins. Focusing your signal on your market-Salisbury/Ocean City and the Delaware beaches where 107-5 had weak coverage is not a bad move at all. In addition the strength in Sussex County should be better. Any bleed in from WWWT in DC I would think should not be happening in Seaford for instance, might just be atmospherics. (7/9/08) /\ July 9 Messages /\ \/ July 8 Messages \/ That really sucks that Bob Sellers is gone. What's going on over there at FOX5? (7/8/08) Dear Ms. Lisa Baden, I have been listening to your traffic reports for some time now, and think you perhaps are not aware of one of the highways in the Washington, D.C., region. It is "one of the oldest sections of freeway in Maryland", according to the website www.mdroads.com. That site says construction began on this road in 1953, and it has grown into a 12-lane highway with local, main and HOV lanes. And it goes on to express the opinion that it rivals almost any highway found in the Los Angeles area in terms of congestion and usage. The highway I'm talking about is I-270, which connects Frederick, MD, to the Washington Beltway (I-495). As the region has grown, so has the volume of traffic on this highway. To either not mention it at all in your traffic reports, or to say (as you did in a report last week), "there's something going on on 270, but the cameras can't see it -- WHATEVER", is doing a disservice to the people who have chosen to listen to your traffic reports. On the day I mentioned, I was asked by my boss why I was 45 minutes late for work. I considered saying, "there was something going on on 270 - WHATEVER", but I decided my boss probably wouldn't appreciate that tone. Frankly, neither did I. Now I have chosen to listen more frequently to the admittedly more abbreviated traffic reports on another station for my commute, because the person doing them actually makes a point of mentioning the highway that I share with hundreds of people every day - and does it without an attitude. Sign me - just trying to figure out how to get to work with the least amount of aggravation. (7/8/08) The more I'm listening to the dropouts and glitches on WDMV 700 AM, the more it is sounding like local interference than their transmitter popping off. Close to the Springfield Mixing Bowl, the heterodyne whistling is unbearably loud, and you can just barely make out the program material on WDMV in the background. For a moment, the interference cuts out and the signal is readable, then goes back to being sh**. Is there something happening at Belvoir or at Davison Airfield that could be causing this? Is there some radionavigation thing at 233 or 350 kHz that's causing a harmonic? Can any RF guys chime in on this? Isn't anyone at WDMV concerned about this? (7/8/08) The Hybrid Digital radio mess is worth ranting about. Gleaning various articles from Radio World Online, apparently the current effective radiated power for digital FM signals is 0.1% of the total power. No wonder reception is so bad. Commercial broadcasters want that raised to 1% of a station's total transmitted power. NPR Labs has determined that if that happens, many _analog_ stations will lose 50% of their audience due to interference--that shows the utter hopelessness of the idea of trying to cram digital signals into the current analog allocations. The ONLY way to successfully create a terrestrial digital radio service is to create a new band for it. It could be done in just one or two of the TV channels that will be emptied in February. (7/8/08) Ummm, Six Flags stock price is borderline junk, Johnny Rockets also in trouble last I checked, his Red Zebra radio biz has yet to turn a profit that I'm aware of. Don't know about his other businesses other than the Washington Redskins where the little man literally rips off Redskin fans blatently and ruthlessly in the worst way possible even compared to other sleezy NFL owners, but your point was once again??? Oh thats right, I didn't have inside info on exact cash-flow for the respective businesses. Sorry. My bad. :-) (7/8/08) I could deal with either WJZ-AM or WFBR-AM 1300 call letters, take your pick, or honestly just ANYTHING BUT W J F K !!!! And really, why not do the same thing to Baltimore's FM 105.7? Do the WHFS calls really make any sense on a political talk & Orioles station? DUH. WJFK & WHFS just make no sense historically or marketing wise for EITHER station! Funny thing is there are probably more people reading about Baltimore's AM 1300 on DCRTV.com than actually LISTENING to "Baltimore's ESPN 1300!" HAha! :-) By the way, I've always wished that Clear Channel Baltimore would take WCAO AM 600 to sports talk. Except for some nulls in Harford & Howard counties, the station has a killer low-end on the dial signal that stretches to practically Ocean City @night and it's now virtually impossible to find the O's in OC anymore! :-( Joe in Essex (7/8/08) re: snyder "and And except for the Redskins, ALL losing money I might add!" You're sure about that are you? All those businesses spent more than they took in recently in their last fiscal quarter? year? Negative cash flow? You might want to check on that. yeah, I thought so...geez (7/8/08) RE: "He owns a telecommunications company, an NFL team, a chain of radio stations, a host of other businesses, including the aforementioned Six Flags... and, you do WHAT?"............ And except for the Redskins, ALL losing money I might add! LMAO And for the politically correct DC crowd, you were close, it is officially called "height-challenged" :) (7/8/08) "RE: The poster who wants everyone to stop referring to Snyder as “Danny Boy”…How about the “Little One” or the “Diminutive One” or “ Vertically Challenged One’ or “Minnie Me” or “ Shorty Redskin” or finally “Potomac Putz”? Any of those work for you?" I believe Snyder would call those with hyperactive pituitary glands..."customers and investors." He owns a telecommunications company, an NFL team, a chain of radio stations, a host of other businesses, including the aforementioned Six Flags... and, you do WHAT? (7/8/08) I wonder if Danny Boy would benefit from getting a hold of Eva Cassidy's version of the song. A little sensitivity (the good kind) couldn't hurt him. KOF (7/8/08) Am enjoying reading about the history of WFBR and such! I wouldn't have a problem with ESPN1300 going by "WFBR" again..or if they wanted to go by WJZ-AM; that wouldn't be so bad in one way; in another..if 1300 carried the O's, that might cause a problem for those of us who might want to listen to the games at night here on the eastern shore as their signal (at least during the early evening)..can be kind of difficult to listen to! Funny thing about that signal: I've found that it'll come in a little better..we'll say..around eleven at night or so..then earlier..say around eight or nine (in the summertime)..at least 105.7's signal (right around where I live)..for the most part is fairly clear..except for those occasions where 105.9 sometimes will crowd it! Tom in Denton, MD (7/8/08) A blind item for the mailbag; what former local celebrity got a ticket for going 90 in a 55, sporting a brand spanking new 2009 Toyota truck, on route 100 over by Arundel Mills Mall a few weeks ago? Please people, slow down, slow down, slow down. It is important that you slow down. If you know the answer, please don't post the answer to protect his privacy. Pease slow down, you know who you are. (7/8/08) Anyone doing traffic reports for WFMD this afternoon? Haven't heard a one in the 4 PM hour. (7/8/08) Austin Hill doesn't "try" to sound "local" -- he's actually got more knowledge of the inside-the-Beltway machinery and 'suburban politik' than do some of these morons who pass themselves as TV reporters on local newscasts and other media. No one around here can mix politics, elections, pop culture and music as brilliantly as Austin does. -Silvie- (7/8/08) What we should call Denial Snyder: "That little effer who ruined the Washington Redskins"..."Tree Killer, Enemy of the Ents"..."Pocket Terminator, sent back from the future to 2008, the year roller-coasters became self-aware -- The Rise of the Rides. He can't be bargained with. he can't be reasoned with. He doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And he absolutely will not stop, ever..." -- Biff from Burke (7/8/08) Re: The Hideout being taped. I was wrong, you were right. I was giddy with the newness and didn't notice the lack of callers. Do you know how hard it is to give yourself the People's Elbow and type at the same time? Looking forward to them filling in (hopefully live) for the vacationing Jim Rome....epic!!! --- Caller X (7/8/08) Kevin Blackistone also writes for the Politico. TL (7/8/08) Dave's response: I have updated the newsblurb..... (Rupert: I don't know if you do links in the mailbag, but I wrote a post after seeing your blurb yesterday. And you are credited in the post.) The Nats television numbers are not that surprising. We've been writing for a while that a Nats fan base is simply not materializing. There's just too much to do in D.C. www.east-coast-bias.com... -- Jason (7/8/08) Dave's response: Cool. And now that Don has "left the building," I am no longer "Rupert." There is only one Rupert, the evil Rupert of Murdoch. Oh, did you know that Rupert Murdoch's real first name is Keith. And, as Paul Harvey would say, "now you know the rest of the story"..... Just a friendly correction: In your DCRTVideo post about Howard Kurtz celebrating his 10th Anniversary as host of CNN’s Sunday morning “Late Edition”, you incorrectly stated that Howard Kurtz is the host of “Late Edition” and that it was his show. Wolf Blitzer is the host of “Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer” not Howard Kurtz. Howard Kurtz is the host of “Reliable Sources” which airs before “Late Edition”. The video that is posted is the interview Kurtz had with Blitzer which aired on Reliable Sources. (7/8/08) Bob Sellers possibly gone??..Oh no!!!..I really liked him..I didn't watch the news yesterday morning, so I don't know if he was on there or not..But, I did see Steve Chenevy on there this morning and just though Bob was off. Did Steve say he was in for Bob or not? And of course we'll never hear what happened since people just disappear off of that station.. (7/8/08) Dave's response: Fox is the Soviet gulag of modern-day public relations. They prespire creepiness. Luckily, we here at DCRTV do not depend on PR from anyone. Never have. We are true muck-rakers..... (Notable Quotable - 7/8 - "Barack Obama is an inexperienced moron elitist." Rush Limbaugh today via Citadel talker WMAL.....) As opposed to Rush, who has more experience at being a moron elitist...Tim in Stafford (7/8/08) Re: Bob Sellers, just as an FYI. I just checked and his bio is no longer on the website. (7/8/08) Dave- I saw your Rant about HD radio. I have to agree whole heartedly. I have a question…do you have difficulty tuning in regular stations on your HD radio? I have a Boston Acoustic HD radio and I have trouble getting good reception on most FM stations and this is from just outside the beltway in Vienna. Reception on every other radio in the house is just fine- not to mention the HD radio is $200 more than any other radio I own. I wonder if you have had the same experience. I enjoy DCRTV very much. Keep up the great work. Dave (7/8/08) Dave's response: The particular model of HD Radio that I have is quite a bit less sensitive than other plain old radios in tuning in plain old non-digital stations. On a normal radio at my location, I can get the analog FM signals of stations within about 50 to 70 miles, including Baltimore, Hagerstown, Winchester, and Fredericksburg. I can't get any of those signals on the HD Radio, even the non-digital signals. Just the close-in DC area stations..... I just heard Don Geronimo play Someday, Someway by Marshall Crenshaw on WOCM and day 2 seems to be going a lot smoother. He sounds like he’s having fun. He started the show today with an explanation about why his show couldn’t be streamed online due to the CBS situation. In other Eastern Shore radio news, Joe FM’s move from 107.5 to 107.7 has drastically reduced their coverage area. The station could be heard almost to the Bay Bridge on the old frequency but on 107.7 it doesn’t even reach Easton or Cambridge and this morning was covered up by WWWT as far east as Seaford, DE. A great move on Great Scott’s part if they want far less people listening to their station. (7/8/08) RE: The poster who wants everyone to stop referring to Snyder as “Danny Boy”…How about the “Little One” or the “Diminutive One” or “ Vertically Challenged One’ or “Minnie Me” or “ Shorty Redskin” or finally “Potomac Putz”? Any of those work for you? (7/8/08) Dave please quit calling Katie a pixie. It has the pixie lobby very upset. Try "HD will soon put an even harsher light on aging news reader Katie Couric, which may push her more quickly to the peacock network as hostess of MTP." (7/8/08) Here in classic Rockville today, I was listening to Donnie G's show on-line starting at 1:15. Around 1:25, he had just finished playing "Someday Someway" by Marshall Crenshaw, and the audio got dumped. Couldn't get it to reset. To paraphrase Family Guy's Stewie, "Damn you, CBS. Burn in hell!" Mike from Frederick and the Dashboard DX Society (hi, Tom in Frederick!) (7/8/08) Dave, Do you happen to know where in Herndon, VA the old WOHN station was located? (7/8/08) Dave's response: It was not in the town of Herndon proper. It was in Fairfax County at the intersection of Fox Mill Road and the Fairfax County Parkway, where the Verizon cell tower now sits. And when WOHN was there, the Fairfax County Parkway was just a dotted-line on a planning map. I have pics and memories of the old Herndon radio station at DCRTV Plus. Including "Jack Edwards" looking for the ghost of 1440 AM station's honcho Jay Beattie in a trash can at the old WOHN gravel driveway (right)..... Don Geronimo's first song yesterday on OC's WOCM - "A Town Called Malice" by the Jam. I wonder who that was directed at? CBS, perhaps? (7/8/08) The kid that lost his head at Six Flags is still taller than ole Danny Boy.... (7/8/08) First, I'm really glad that Tom Conroy mentioned Floyd Daisey, the Chief Engineer and unsung hero for WFBR's incredible audio all those years. His plant was also immaculately clean! WFBR was never what one could call Top 40. In the mid to late 1970's, they had a number of personalities with Top 40 experience, but they never got hotter than a "chicken-rocker." And, the 1960's WFBR that Roddy Freeman mentioned yesterday was a straight-ahead MOR (Middle of the Road) station. A lot of the info in that book that was mentioned sounds pretty specious. Joe in Essex, I am a call-letter slut, too, and would LOVE to see CBS resurrect the WJZ-AM calls on 1300. Since they "own" the original call-sign for Channel 13, the precedent is set. And, using them broadly or not, it's 13/WJZ on both bands. Why not? Confusion? Doubt it! And, so what? It's the same company getting the credit. Another long-forgotten set of Baltimore calls is WKC. As near as I can tell, it was a navigational station used to direct harbor traffic around 1911. Finally, there is a rumor that Jack Gale held one end of the wire to Fort McHenry and Ed Graham held the other during President Harding's speech. Just a rumor... Ed. Rodriguez (7/8/08) Hey Tom in Wheaton... the guy who wrote this *** Maybe Danny Boy and his six station empire might consider offering the races on one or more of the signals? *** And maybe he will if dorks like you quit calling him Danny boy! Man-up a little. (7/8/08) Dave's response: The pipes, the pipes are callin'..... Dave, Today, you reported that Ted Koppel will guest host NPR’s “Talk of the Town” at the Newseum on Wednesday. Actually, the show is called, “Talk of the Nation.” It’s a daily live show from 2 to 4pm on weekdays. To attend tomorrow’s Newseum broadcast, send your request to tickets@npr.org. (7/8/08) WFLS does carry every NASCAR Sprint Cup race. They have a pretty powerful signal into the lower parts of MoCo. However it would be nice if someone more local would also carry these races. Maybe Danny Boy and his six station empire might consider offering the races on one or more of the signals? After all, his idol Joe Gibbs is a big player in NASCAR. Tom in Wheaton (7/8/08) Hi Dave, regarding the earlier post about NASCAR broadcasts on WFLS – yes they do still carry every race as well as the pre-race show. (7/8/08) WFLS still runs almost all the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. I can get it all over the DC area. That is actually a very good station overall (owned by the Freelance Star newspaper down there). (7/8/08) WJFK-FM 106.7 stopped airing NASCAR races after the 2006 season, no idea why it was dropped. WFLS-FM 93.3 out of Fredericksburg still airs NASCAR. In terms of the WJFK-AM 1300 interruption for women's basketball, I believe that the station aired the remainder of the Daytona 500 on a tape delay after the game. Everett W. (7/8/08) Now THIS would be a funny bit: John Batchelor reads Craig Wilson's column. (7/8/08) Dave's response: Don Geronimo use to do that..... Dave- Hate to quibble about Sundays on WMAL but John Batchelor show didn't replace Jerry Klein. The dreadful Dave Ramsey show did. Nothing like a Bible thumping financial planner *YAWN* If WMAL gets Laura Ingraham show live, PLEASE kill the Paul Harvey show. It is such a pain hearing shows cut off for that drivel. If Laura goes live 9-12, then put Chris Plante back on evenings. He was awesome there: a little more relaxed and loose with what he said. He and Michael Pearcy had a good dynamic that Austin Hill doesn't have, with Austin being 2000 miles away and trying to sound local. Let Austin go back to doing fill-in work for vacations. (7/8/08) Jenna Jameson singing the national anthem? Nude? You presume she even knows the words. Where would she hide a cheat sheet with the lyrics? (7/8/08) WINX-FM carries all the NASCAR Sprint Cup races for those folks who live on the Eastern Shore. (7/8/08) WJFK AM did carry the Daytona 500 race in February and I was very happy to be able to listen to it. However, about 1/3 of the way into the race, the audio was upcut, by the following message: "Welcome to University of Maryland women's basketball!!!!" There were no announcements that indicated that WJFK would be joining the game or whatever. So, I would just as soon, they not carry it at all, if they are going to dump it right in the middle of the race. Makes the Hedi game look tame. J.R.Richardson (7/8/08) Complain about CBS blocking Don G's webstream all you want, but the fact of the matter is that Don signed that contract, and made a lot of money off it for many years. He shares equal blame. Everyone is so quick to grant this guy sainthood, but the facts are irrefutable - he walked out early on the loyal listeners and company that made him rich. Now he decided he made a mistake leaving radio and wants back in. Fine. But he has to lay in the bed he made, and this is part of it. (7/8/08) (earlier post) Why is it that in an area with a zillion radio stations that NASCAR is absent? (end) A handful of years ago, WFLS-FM Fredericksburg VA ran races on weekends. They put a decent signal into both Richmond and DC. Have they stopped? (7/8/08) Dave's response: Wasn't JFK-FM running NASCAR on the weekends? I make it a point not to listen to 106.7 on the weekends, except maybe for El Jefe and J-Dubs. Sorry Joe..... Bonneville is committed to News/Talk on FM. It is being adopted in other markets. Production of sports would take an entire duplication of effort and possibly more than the size of a news staff as little could be shared. The costs of sports production are obscene. News/Talk fits with their mandate from the church, sports does not. All that aside, if 1500 can be heard up and down the East Coast, esp. at night, then one must wonder when did they drop one or two towers to let the pattern out so, do stations further West know about this. Has anybody alerted Dave Garner to the sudden improvement south of the District? If the signal is that great, why all the money and effort to buy FMs to fill in the coverage? That poster boasts without proper information. (7/8/08) (You could have Jenna Jameson sing the Star Spangled Banner nude and people wouldn't tune in.) Paul - speak for yourself. I have to tell you, I love the Nationals. I don't so much care to watch them on TV. They are great to see in person, though. It's a bond that I can share with my old man. He can tell stories about watching a crappy team in DC and I can tell those stories to my offspring as well. However, if Jenna Jameson was to sing the Star Spangled Banner in the nude on TV, I'd be all over it. All over my TV, Paul. With or without my father in the room. Catch what I'm saying? The things I'd do... (7/8/08) There is nothing wrong with Don Geronimo being talked about on this website. He was a major broadcaster in the Washington, D.C. area for close to 30 years. Why shouldn't his current work on radio be discussed here? He is still a working broadcaster, and people in the D.C. market are naturally going to wonder what he's doing in Ocean City, just because he has a long past with that audience. Interest in his career is not going to go away, when one considers all the discussion on this board about past D.C. area broadcasters who have left the area, retired or died. Don is a very recent part of the history of D.C. radio. People who are not interested in reading about his current life are in a small minority on this board. JOHN IN STAFFORD (7/8/08) Folks... Why is it that in an area with a zillion radio stations that NASCAR is absent? Are we living with clueless people on all sides? Regards, WR Hale (7/8/08) Of course the ratings are low for the Nationals. No one wants to see a really crappy product. They barely are able to get people to actually go to the games in person. And now it's only going to get worse with the approach of Redskins training camp and the Wizards upcoming season getting all the attention. People in this city want to see a pro team that has potential. People want to sit in front of their TV's and see a team that actually will make them cheer. After all the glitz and glamour of a new stadium and a ''fresh'' start has faded, you're still stuck with a team that just sucks. You could have Jenna Jameson sing the Star Spangled Banner nude and people wouldn't tune in. Paul (7/8/08) The "wire" strung around Baltimore's Inner Harbor from the transmitter to Fort McHenry (I'm guessing from the old Waterview Ave site) happened on June 14, 1922 as President Warren G. Harding dedicated the Francis Scott Key Memorial at Fort McHenry. It was done by telephone wire and from some accounts, some of it hastily strung up just for this event. It's in several radio historical chronological timelines as a radio first, 1st U.S. President to do a live remote radio broadcast, and the station would have been called WEAR that far back. Coincidently, every historical reference to this I could find does NOT mention WJFK, only WEAR and/or WFBR. Apparently historians have good taste too. :-) The reason WCAO can claim to be older has to do with WFBR's experimental unlicensed days on air. WFBR was the first Baltimore radio station on air and one of the first regularly broadcasting in the U.S., but others were first to be licenced officially by the government. No matter what anybody says, I still think it's utter lunacy for CBS Baltimore to not somehow connect to the WFBR Orioles Magic era or even to bother to brand/co-market AM 1300 with, ummm, maybe co-owned WJZ channel 13 ?!?! DUH! Especially being that AM 1300 is a sports talk station with a HUGE Baltimore sports legacy whether Labrozzi or Philips like it or not. Just seems like those 2 have no clue about old AM 1300. :-( Joe in Essex (7/8/08) Perhaps some mailbaggers are not familiar with The Fight Club rules when discussing streams and such. Oh man Donnie G. rejects The Monster, okay who gave him the number? He's already been squelched at the MOM show and now this. No more Monster ROAR Well what did Donnie G. play first? Ah I enjoyed the John Batchelor show last Sunday night, seemed like it went from 6-9 pm. Still with the doom and gloom music. May not agree with much but I dig the presentation. Is this a sort of another tryout for The Hideout on WJFK in the evenings? Seems like El Jefe has a nice gig down there in Tampa, plus engaged, think it would take a mighty fine offer to lure them back to 'JFKland. Not that I think that'd be a bad thing. If XM crashes and burns do Ron and Fez(?) go back to Florida? Is Brian Lamb pretty much limiting his on air appearances these days to Q & A? (7/8/08) It's been interesting following the stories of the once great WFBR. Ron Matz was mentioned as one who was there for years. Norm Brooks was PD for some time, he's at the Broadcasting Institute of Maryland. I bet he can provide a LOT of information about that station. By the way, back in the early 70's the chief engineer, Floyd Daisey, wined and dined me about being Johnny Walkers producer, I saw the writing on the wall and kept my Army position and collected a pension while still having fun on Baltimore's dial part time. Another fact most people don't know is that WCBM was at one time on 1370, which as you know is the SAME frequency as their sister station. I was able to save the old licenses of WCBM during the final days of the Painters Mill transmitter/studio site, and the documents relating to their sale of 106.5 to AS Abell. This is some excellent reading! Perhaps I'll take some photos of the licenses for DCRTV Dave. Also, I understood that WFBR was Baltimore's first, followed by WCAO. I bet Johnny Dark, Ed Graham and other radio vets can clarify that. Thanks for the memories. Tom Conroy (7/8/08) Wasn't aware of this, but just read on the FOX5 blog page that one of their sports guys, Dave Benz, has recently had brain surgery. He's been blogging about his experience..Wishing him and successful recovery. (7/8/08) All this talk about the Orioles and Baltimore's WFBR..does bring this up..what exactly was the format on WFBR during the 60s, 70s and even early 80s? The reason I ask this, several years ago I was visiting an used bookstore in Buffalo. They had this book called "The Rock and Roll Radio Directory..1980". One chapter listed all the radio stations at the time ( 1979-1980 ) who were Top 40. Of course WPGC was listed ( but oddly WRQX Q107 was NOT..I thought for sure they were top forty back then !! ). In Baltimore WKTK 105.7 was listed as being top 40 at the time ( but NOT B104 ) and interesting another Baltimore station was listed as being top 40 in 1980....WFBR !!!! So was WFBR really top 40 back then? Also the same book listed a bunch of songs and the radio stations who played that song first before the other stations around the country did. Both "All Over the World" by ELO ( from the infamous movie Xanadu BTW ) and "Driver's Seat" by Sniff N The Tears, according to this book both songs were played first on Baltimore's WFBR-AM. Wonder how accurate this is? If WFBR reallly was top 40, when did the music stop on WFBR? I used to visit Baltimore quite often in the early 80s and while I do remember WFBR playing current pop music I don't know if I would consider them top 40 though. Also I seem to remember hearing a LOT of "Bob" on there. Bob Bolton? Bob Freeze? And I I seem to remember their midday guy was named Bob too. Whatever became of those guys? (7/8/08) /\ July 8 Messages /\ \/ July 7 Messages \/ Just wondering where Cindy Maguire has gone-has she left Mix 107.3? We went to HS together in Oakton...just wondering!!! Thanks! (7/7/08) Dave's response: Don't know. My niece Kate went to Oakton HS..... I was tuned into to WOCM's stream and clicked on the inside camera shot. At around 5 minutes to 1pm I saw the Don walk into the studio and start familiarizing himself then it died. At least 5 or more time throughout his 1-3 slot I was able to hear his show just fine by clicking th camera, it just showed a flapping window shade but the audio was fine. I even had the luck to hear Don & Mike Show regular idiot caller Tom Gavin sp? call in only to be quickly disconnected and told by Don that "he belonged to that other show". Classic radio it was. Apparently the suits at CBS did not stop this Alexandria listener from getting the program. Mother f-ing lawyers. Tom (7/7/08) Bill Mayhugh discussed his long career as radio broadcaster at WFAX, WGAY, WPIK, WOL, and of course, WMAL, (as well as a performing musician) in an on-camera interview with Lee Shephard in 2007. Watch that interview (commercial free) at video.aol.com (7/7/08) Dave, I understand the need to make money with your ads, but the 'old days' where we could see the first headline of the day "above the fold" without having to scroll down past ads was great. Could you maybe put more of the ads on the side...or alternate between news story - ad - news story? Just a thought, so we can see the first story or two without having to scroll down past ads (which of course we all are clicking on to support your awesome sight....) - DH in Bethesda (7/7/08) Dave's response: Advertisers pay more for those banner ads at the top of the pages. Hey, you could buy the space and then not run an ad there..... Dave: I would love to see 3WT go all sports to compete with Dan Snyder. I don't think it will happen. Synder will make serious bid to put the Nat's games on 980 after next season when the contract with 3WT is up. The Nat's are already on Synder's stations in Richmond and Virginia Beach. Soon to be heard in Roanoke Va. Too bad for sports fans, 3 wt has a better signal and can be heard up and down the east coast at night. One person controlling the sports is not healthy. Enjoy your web site. Patrick (7/7/08) Dave's response: I just don't think that a team owner should also own the radio station (or newspaper or cable network) that covers his team. It's a conflict of interest..... I guess it’s WFBR day. Joe in Essex: The WFBR transmitter move took place in 1974. As far as a wire going from Waterview Avenue to Fort McHenry, well…that would have been quite some wire. And The Flying Dutchman, Jim Morton and even Ron Matz as Harry Hornye were in the 70’s, a somewhat different era from what I was describing, and represented a much different-sounding WFBR than in the 60’s. Speaking of WFBR’s beginnings, in the ‘60s WCAO and WFBR were having a little brouhaha regarding which station was on the air first. (WFBR stood for First Broadcast Regiment.) And one more memory all this brought to mind was my trying to decide in 1966 whether to tune to Johnny Dark on WCAO or Ed Graham on WFBR in the evening. Roddy Freeman (7/7/08) Still not sure why "Patton" (1970) (with George C Scott playing the role, ) is on the air each time I tune in to WCBM lately. It was on a few times leading up to July 4th, then ON the 4th of July, and today, and here it is TONIGHT and by golly, the same clip is running again. Is it to show patriotism with the Independence Day holiday or showing support for the great films of the last century? Because it IS from a movie and not real life. Maybe George C Scott will be doing a talk show and this is a preview?? It is confusing since it seems to be on at least once per day. Sometimes 2, or 3 times. Why not run some other types of film dialogue like, a speech from "Rocky" or even Will Farrell in "Anchorman" he had some really inspirational words. Anyone have ideas on it . Its kind of gross where George says to cut out the Nazi's guts to grease the treads of the tanks....why? (7/7/08) Looks like Topper Shutt is using Just for Men or some similar hair coloring product. (7/7/08) A few more points about WFBR... the WEAR call letters were in the days of experimental AM radio and possibly not even on AM 1300 from the beginning, but the WFBR calls were the 1st to broadcast a live remote of a U.S. president and that did happen on WFBR AM 1300 with actual manually stringed wire from the then Waterview Ave tower (near the Inner Harbor) to Fort McHenry where then President Warren G. Harding spoke live, if I'm not mistaken. The tower move must have happened some time not long before WFBR gaining the Baltimore Orioles broadcast rights because I distinctly remember as a kid people in east Baltimore complaining about the difficulty in listening to Orioles games at night back then after the big switch from WBAL, EVEN at old Memorial Stadium itself in the parking lot! Almost sounds like a Danny Snyder plan huh? hehe I wish there was a way to pull up a PRE-WFBR 1300 TOWER move signal plot, but unfortunately the FCC doesn't keep those records so there's really no way to know whether the old signal was better than the current. Also, doesn't WJZ 13's Ron Matz STILL to this day on the WJZ TV morning show, do his old WFBR 1300 Harry Horni LA gossip character/personna??? Yep, see there's another current WFBR connection. Finally, Yes, this post is signed, Joe in Essex (probably not loved at CBS Radio/TV Baltimore I might add, but that's their fault for their complete stupidity, not mine.) :-) PS: I do want to apologize to Marty Bass though for all my Patterson Park jokes, they're gettin a bit old even I'll admit and after meeting the guy just once I do actually like him and feel bad about my jokes. Everybody has a bad day. :-) (7/7/08) I see WBAL-TV is promoting a segment for tonight's (Monday's) 11pm news on how to ramp-up the mileage you get from your car. Not sure what they're driving at (pun intended), until it airs, but I sincerely hope this isn't another one of those "hypermiling" stories that have already been beaten to death. Shutting your engine off while going downhill, getting in the draft of the 18-wheeler behind you, etc.,etc.... That stuff may save you some bucks on gas, but could also just as easily get someone killed. Hopefully, they've found some real, practical gas-saving tips that don't involve any of that....We'll see tonight... (7/7/08) Dave's response: Like to plan your route so that you only make right turns, because when you make lefts you often have to idle (and waste gas) while waiting for red lights to turn green. Oh, it's funny. I have a VW Rabbit and I get better gas mileage when I run the AC. Hmmm..... About Don Geronimo and OC radio being discussed here @DCRTV.com .... Very simple, many people in both Washington and Baltimore vacation in Ocean City, Maryland, duh! (7/7/08) Dave's response: And DCRTV does cover nearby markets, a la Winchester, Harrisonburg, Hagerstown, Cumberland, and Ocean City/Salisbury..... Blaine Young has announced that his last day of hosting the Saturday morning WFMD talk show "Frederick's Forum" would be Saturday, July 19. He made the announcement on a "Sound Off" blurb, during which he said he had received "special permission" from station GM Doug Hillard to air the announcement. Young, a former Frederick City alderman and WFMD sales director, is now the owner of Interstate Mobile Advertising and is a part owner of City Cab of Frederick. I do not yet know what will become of "Frederick's Forum" after that date. (7/7/08) Dave's response: Anyone know more? Dave, We know you`re a big fan of Don Geronimo and this is fine. He`s a very funny man and we wish him the best. He`s had a great radio career and we respect that. Still, please give it a rest with these constant updates about the man. We have nothing against Don at all. It`s just that his new life and career is of little interest to the rest of us. Don Geronimo has moved on with his new life. Please let us move on from Don Geronimo. DCRTV Fan (7/7/08) Dave's response: Don's made a decision to get back into the radio biz. Yeah, a smaller, nearby market. And since he's a well-known commodity here in DC, I think his latest exploits merit coverage on DCRTV. Don't want to read the newsblurbs/posts about him? Just hit the "scroll down" button on your browser..... 1. CBS was right on the money to enforce the shut-off of Donnie's streaming from OC. 2. As for XM going away if they don't merge with Sirius. Who is writing this stuff, the clowns at Lehman Bros. who backed the Sirius stock fraud all along? Let's see, which satrad needs to purchase two satellites, Howard Stern and a major sports retransmission package by the end of August? Not XM. Let's see, which satrad is headed by a guy who has always had to sell his company, or leave before the company got sold? Not XM. Which satrad is headed by a guy who has built one of the largest diversified media companies in the world and managed to produce a well respected product and a healthy ROI while building world class faclities? Not Sirius. Let's see, which Satrad is too cheap to pay for ISDN lines to carry sports games,,,not XM. Sirius needs XM, but nobody needs Sirius. The SEC should investigate Lehman. (7/7/08) Yet another view on the badly beaten dead horse that passes for sports talk in the DC market. I wouldn't necessarily advocate that hosts regularly dedicate segments to every college team in the area (examples cited by others include GW basketball and Navy football), BUT I do think it would be a good idea for the local hosts to regularly open the lines for callers to discuss any local team they wish. Of course, that would require the hosts to spend some time getting to know the local teams (and sports, for that matter) they don't currently follow. It's a good idea and not too much to ask. This move, along with a little respect shown for ALL sports, would go a long way to drawing a broader and larger listening audience. (7/7/08) Can someone seriously explain to me why Don Geronimo is being discussed here? I'm pretty sure this a website about radio and television in the Washington DC market, last time I checked Ocean City is not in the DC market, and besides, that fat eff turned his back on all his "fans" in this market when he left. And now because he is back to being just a hack DJ, much like all the guys he used to crack on, we should care about him for some reason? Please. And bravo to CBS for making him stick to his contract. So Dave, can we try to stick to commentary about things that happen in THIS market? (7/7/08) If you listen to WBCN now opposed to 3 years ago before Dave Wellington brought his Extreme radio experience that he " perfected" in Las Vegas, then fucked up WBCN in Boston, There shouldn't be any major changes to DC101. (7/7/08) This is weird. I was able to hear the entire Don Geronimo Show from my desktop here in Rockville. B.R. (7/7/08) Ref: CBS Blocks Web Streaming Of Geronimo's New OC Show - they must have known something we had to endure on a local level, show sucks. (7/7/08) I was able to hear Don online today. I clicked on the "live video" - Irieradio.com on the wocm website. The camera was aimed away from Don on a window or something, but I heard the whole show and he was great. He sounded rejuvenated. I'm glad I got to hear it. I'll be in OC tomorrow. I plan to go to seacrets and hear him live and in person! Dave (7/7/08) Listened to the whole Don show on Irieradio.com. Voice, music, everything. (7/7/08) Old habits die hard. Don Geronimo said your listening to the Don & Mike Show and quickly correctedhimself. He then took some phone calls and one of the callers was Tom, frequent caller to the Don and Mike Show. He quickly hung up on him saying "oh no, you belong to the other show". Don appears to be having problems getting used to being behind the board, but he sounds happy! (7/7/08) Don't know what it was because it went down before 1pm...we could just see him getting ready (shaking hands with engineers, loading CD's and iPod, getting headphones, turning off transmission, etc.) (7/7/08) No, Dave, there was obvious work being done by engineers to pull the plug. Once said plug was pulled, it was as if a TV transmission went down--quick scrambling of picture, then black. It had nothing to do with an overload, based on watching it. Geronimo doesn't want video--or apparently audio outside of tiny OC--getting out. (7/7/08) I have been listening to Don G. on the internet. He just took a call from Denver and the girl said she was listening online. Don said " You better not be. If so the lawyers from CBS will be contacting me". The station is not supposed to be streaming his voice online. Not sure what is going on. (7/7/08) Dave and friends - I heard the first 5 minutes or so of Donny G on WOCM. Don said today due to his CBS non-compete clause you won't be hearing his voice on the stream, only the music. Looks like they couldn't figure out how to separate the two and just pulled the plug on it all. Tom in Frederick (7/7/08) Geronimo - nice show, but one pure asshat. Nice - moving the in studio camera and pointing it at the ceiling - and it appears closing the shades of the studio as well. Plus, the re-hashing of the D&M show jingles are pure class. Nice to hear you back on the air. (7/7/08) I had Donni G's new show on for about 10 minutes. He said CBS radio is going to censor out all parts of the show where he talks due to non compete. It went dead 5 minutes later. F you CBS... Xarias (7/7/08) Yes, the station that BECAME WFBR is in the history books for a number of "firsts." But remember, Joe in Essex, those events took place, by and large on the station when it bore the WEAR calls, before WFBR! And, Ed, here a few other names from the station's history; Commander Jim Morton, Pete "The Flying Ducthman" Berry, and didn't both "Larry's" work there (Walton and Hall)? The other historical note to bear in mind is that, like tiny then-250 watt WITH, WFBR, with 5,000 highly-directional watts at 1300, really held it's own against stations with huge signal footprints like (then) 10,000 watter WCBM, WCAO with 5,000 watts very low on the dial (600) and 50,000 watt blowtorch WBAL. WFBR and WITH both did it with talent and innovation! Finally, Joe, you and your crusade can never stay incognito. And, if you're wondering, incognito is right next to Arbutus! - Ed. Rodriguez (7/7/08) Welcome to DC, Mr. Wellington. As you warm up that seat and listen on the phone as your bosses tell you what 15-20 mind numbing songs to play in rotation, please remember that sheep herding is also a great career. Also ''Do you want fries with that?'' is a part of our every day language. Don't bother making too many drastic changes to your office decor, because it's probably going to be some other shlubs office in...about...6 months. Enjoy your stay. Paul (7/7/08) Many thanks to Ed Graham and Roddy Freeman for the additional info on WFBR. My apologies for not knowing more about the greater past of WFBR. All things considered, I think Ed put it best: don't return great calls to an inferior station. As for Mr. Unsigned, I was decidedly an Orioles fan from the point the Senators left to the point Cal retired (and I keep track of them now, too, but not rabidly). That said, I wasn't a fan because of or through WFBR, and - rightly or wrongly - I dare say most fans don't care about the calls...they care (if at all) about the signal, the personalities broadcasting and the quality of the team on the field. And of course it's been well-established on this board and elsewhere that no one understands Baltimore except those from Baltimore. I come close, having been born and raised in MD suburbs of DC, and having lived my whole adult life in the Baltimore suburbs, but I'm still an outsider several decades later. Anywho, enough said from me on this. Thanks for reading. Bob in Forest Hill (7/7/08) For those trying to listen to Don Geronimo on WOCM try this link.. irieradio.com... The main website is apparently overrun. (7/7/08) Dave's response: I get a "service unavailable" message at that address, too..... The longest continually running radio show around here surely has to be the Radio Church of God (not to be confused with the Herbert W. Armstrong Church of God), which ran on WTOP from 1929 or thereabouts until just a year or so ago, when they got bumped over to the gospel FM station that is currently on 104.1. This Church of God was founded by Elder Lightfoot Solomon Michaux, who wrote the "Happy Am I" theme that still introduces the broadcast. The broadcast originates from the church at 2030 Georgia Avenue, NW, right across from the site of the old Griffith Stadium, where Michaux and other evangelists regularly held meetings that drew big crowds and where the multitudes were baptized with firehoses. tinyurl.com (7/7/08) I want to concur with Ed Graham’s thoughts on WFBR and add a few things. As great an Orioles flagship as WFBR was, the station was at its absolute best in the 60’s. And Ed named a number of the terrific personalities. Another thing about WFBR in its “Rainbow Sound” era was that it had processing unlike any other I’ve ever heard. It sounded like high fidelity, which was a major thing in those pre-stereo days; in fact, it sounded great. WFBR also had a piercing signal that you couldn’t miss, from its transmitter site in Westport. In the mid-seventies, when a great deal of the white population had moved to the west and northwest of the city, WFBR made a decision to move its transmitter site to Hebbville. But the new signal, while covering some different geography, was nowhere near as strong. And WFBR was neck-and-neck in ratings with WBAL, WCBM and even WCAO in the mid-sixties. Back to the personalities, Joe Knight was one of the most creative morning men; Bill Jaeger was the perfect midday host, known for his movie reviews and the number of microphones he’d award each film; and Mike James had one of the best voices in the business. Of the WFBR alumni, Jack Wheeler went on to big things as a newscaster in Boston and New York. I visited KBIG/740 in L.A. in 1973, and there was Dave Robinson on the air. WFBR was definitely a bright spot in the not-always-great-sounding Baltimore radio market. Roddy Freeman (7/7/08) Hmmm...after watching Donny G frantically get ready for his show, the video and website "mysteriously" went down just moments before the show. Conspiracy theories anyone? (7/7/08) Dave's response: Too much demand on the WOCM webserver? What was Don's first song? Has JC retired yet?..Just turned on the news and Andrea Roane was on there. And Derrick McGinty was on there the other day. (7/7/08) Dave's response: I hear she's in OC today and will be guesting on Don Geronimo's new radio show..... I guess the WP is taking a lesson from the American automobile industry of the 1970s -- 'Selling less product? Raise the price!' Too bad the WP didn't learn the entire lesson. It's called supply and demand, profit ratios, earning curves, etc: Business 101, Marketing 101, Econ 101, etc etc etc. You don't attract more customers with higher prices. You also don't attract any new readers by turning your newspaper into an 80-page per day advert for your website. Welcome to your death spiral, WP. (7/7/08) Dave's response: The USPS also subscribes to that model. When volume and revenue of first class mail drops, they raise the price to make up the difference. Only to cause the volume and revenue to drop even more..... Well, I don't know how much a "tip" this is…but notice on the WOCM website, he is Don Gerinomo…not Geronimo. A typo, or some legal thing? (7/7/08) WFBR is also Baltimore's FIRST radio station going back to the 1920s, its in the radio history books even for the 1st live remote broadcast of a U.S. President ever in the U.S. Imagine no WMAL, WRC (or even WWRC) or WWDC calls in DC. You seem to go to great lengths to laughably dismiss a lot of points willy nilly grasping at straws to defend WJFK AM / ESPN 1300 and CBS, all for a station that often BARELY even makes the Aribitron ratings! HAha! This has nothing to do with team spirit or somehow causing a voodoo event to happen that would improve the team, although a voodoo witch doctor was once previously used on WFBR 1300 to improve the Orioles Magic and it did work if I'm not mistaken. :-) Obviously, you were not much of an Orioles fan from 1979-1986. Fine, that's all well and good. But could my WFBR suggestion possibly HURT or turn out to be a horrendous marketing idea? SERIOUSLY, I think not! It's painfully obvious the CBS suits know nothing about Baltimore sports history or heritage and ESPN 1300's poor ratings show it. Geez, the station gets beat by more than a HALF DOZEN Washington radio stations!!! DOH! :-( (7/7/08) I really have to comment on the WFBR call letter thing. WFBR was one of America's great radio stations. Jim and Phil Christ, Ralph Phillips, Lou Corbin, Mike James, Bill Jaeger, Harry Schriver, Dave Robinson, Joe Knight, Brent Gunts, Arthur Godfrey, Mike March, Tom Marr, Johnny Walker... I could really make this a very long list. When I was a kid, WFBR was great. When I was getting into radio WFBR was like WNEW in NY. Great talent, music, news, information. When I worked there with Joe Knight, Bill Jager, Mike James, Harry Schriver, Ron Gold, Lou Corbin, Jack Wheeler, Ron Gold, and Ken Maylath - - I felt like I was really lucky to be in the presence of these great radio professionals. Later when WFBR changed to talk and Johnny Walker left, I returned to WFBR and was honored to program the best talk station in Baltimore until it was sold. Yes, WFBR did show WBAL how to broadcast Oriole Baseball, and Harry Shriver did everything to make it exciting, but that was only a small part of the history of WFBR. It was truly one of the best radio station in America for many years. Please, don't bring the call letters back and put them on an inferior product. Ed Graham (7/7/08) Yes, you obviously missed the joke, you dolt. I damned well know it's "Bueller". Try reading the front page of this thing. Yeah, you get jokes. You're obviously a damned humorless liberal Democrat…Genghis Cohen, continuously pissed off at all things smacking of political correctness and sniping at those damned kids who won't stay off my lawn, in increasingly humid & geriatric Prince William County…. (7/7/08) During WTEM's coverage of the Tiger Woods tournament (sans Tiger) at Congressional yesterday, Andy Pollin remarked that due to Don Geronimo's recent retirement, Phil Hawes' Better Golf show (a Saturday morning staple on the station since 1992) is now the longest continuously running local radio program in the DC area. I'm not sure that's true - hasn't Mary Cliff's Traditions been on the air for nearly three decades (although forced to move from WETA to WAMU last year)? If Pollin was referring strictly to the talk format, what about Diane Rehm? - I think she's been doing a show on WAMU since the 80s. Shortly afterwards, Al Koken was co-hosting with Hawes and they promoted an interview with the winner of the tournament (apparently a tradition dating back to the Kemper Open years) - but the show went off the air abruptly at 3 PM without delivering. After seemingly endless live broadcasts from the golf course over the weekend, you'd think the station could hang around for a few more minutes to provide the promised chat with Anthony Kim. I disagree about DC United and Navy football talk being 'bad for sports talk radio'. That's what they said about hockey for years, yet there was no shortage of callers when 980 finally decided to open its phones to Capitals fans during their recent playoff drive. Come to think of it, they barely pay any attention to the Maryland football program - for whatever reason, the thinking seems to be that Terps basketball is a much bigger deal locally. Of course the recent purchase of the station by Dan Snyder doesn't exactly bode well for teams not attired in burgundy and gold getting much run in the future. Mike, Fairfax (7/7/08) Re: the anonymous WFBR freak, a few comments. As someone older than the "YouTube generation" but younger than, say, Ricardo Montalban, I can affirm emphatically that the WFBR calls mean little to me. Not nothing, but little. You seem to be intimating that getting those calls back will somehow complete the picture for some kind of Orioles Magic resurgence which will - presumably - translate into something on the ballfield. I agree that as nostalgia, it would be great. But it was all about business and marketing THEN, and it's all about business and marketing NOW. Unless there is the perception of real value (read: revenue potential) in doing it, they probably conclude that it's not worth doing. I'd venture a guess that the small percentage of people who care about this are folks who still tune into Orioles coverage wherever it is, so what would be the business gain? I say the same thing to folks who still go nuts over returning the WHFS calls to DC, where they had performed poorly for YEARS. And WHFS actually has some historical significance beyond the region. I do agree with those who say that CBS should at least use WHFS for some kind of Alt Rock format, but putting them back in a market where those calls and that format drew less makes no sense, and is - again - nostalgia for its own sake. So, while I'd love to hear Sonny, Sam and Frank doing Redskins radio on WMAL for a team owned by Jack Kent Cooke and coached by Joe Gibbs (the first time around), trying to cobble all that back together (ignoring that certain parts would be metaphysically and astrophysically impossible) probably wouldn't make business sense because those folks that care about such things are already watching, listening or attending. And I'd love to wake up to Harden and Weaver again, too. Bob in Forest Hill (7/7/08) Caller x - Just because a show is taped does not mean it has to bee weeks old. It was more than likely taped during the week. Think about it they took no calls and cedited no listeners with ims. Also did you hear the awful quality of the show? Its a holiday weekend they wanted it off so they taped it. (7/7/08) I enjoy getting the latest media info for the Washington area on your website. I am curious to know your thoughts about Sports Talk 980’s lack of any reference to on their on-air personalities and line up on their website. I don’t visit the 980’s site everyday but I checked it out Sunday. Thanks, Todd (7/7/08) Dave's response: I'm sure there are going to be big changes at 980 now that Redskins owner Dan Snyder's got control of the station. Oh, can't confirm it, but I'm hearing rumors that Snyder is in talks with the Washington Post to buy its sports section. Just joking, I hope..... To the people who have NO CLUE about WFBR AM 1300 or Orioles Magic or The Oriole Way, here's a quick refresher course for the Youtube generation about the WFBR Orioles Magic marketing campaign from 1979 through 1986 (god knows nobody would ever learn anything without YouTube these days, Geez!)..... youtube.com... And if that doesn't help the less than book-smart MySpace generation, check out Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org where you'll find out that WFBR was the station that hired ESPN's JON MILLER to do his first Orioles broadcasts! Now that the Baltimore Orioles THEMSELVES are doing RETRO marketing with the Orioles Magic song and a brand new video with all of today's current players, it's kind of shameful that the Labrozzi and Philips CBS Clown College of Radio Marketing hasn't jumped on board. And yes, I'm aware the call letters are currently taken, but these 2 clowns have had 2-3 opportunities to get them for free over the last 5 years and stood firmly behind W J F K , the call letters that most Baltimoreans associate w/ either Don & Mike OR, perish the thought, The Washington Redskins, certainly NOT the Orioles or Ravens or any sense of Baltimore sports heritage! Hiding this travesty and loss of the WFBR Orioles Magic heritage call letters by saying simply "Baltimore's ESPN 1300" except when FCC required is beyond unacceptable in my opinion. :-( (7/7/08) /\ July 7 Messages /\ Jump to the Mailbag Archive Index.....