Current Mailbag - Mailbag Archive Index - DCRTV Front Page - Support DCRTV DCRTV Mailbag - August 5 to August 10, 2008 Latest messages listed first..... \/ August 10 Messages \/ The only reason Bush is attending the Olympics -- Beach Volleyball Babes! Plus, Bob Costas just finished interviewing the Prez live on NBC tonight (Sunday), on prime time, in-studio from Beijing. Asking him questions abut Putin, Russia, Georgia, Hu Jintao, Taiwan, etc. A lenghty and engaging interview. You see, Dave, even the sports anchors want to talk to this man! -Silvie- (8/10/08) Re: Dave's comment about Bush "grandstanding" by appearing at the Olympics, spending a small amount of time with the athletes, etc. Dave, seriously, sometimes I just don't get where these connections in your head come from. Did Clinton grandstand when he attended Atlanta? I know, I know...it was in the U.S., etc. But seriously, there's a lot good and bad about him going. But since he went (as did about every other leader of major western countries) what was he supposed to do? Remain aloof and ignore our athletes so that you and others of your like mind could criticize him for that? Seriously, you're making a big leap with this one. And the time he's spending with athletes is being covered by your precious liberal media, so you should probably be criticizing them for giving him the platform from which to grandstand. Or maybe, for once, they're just treating him as a generic US President supporting 600+ US competitors for which we're all (well...most of us, anyway) rooting? Amazing and, to quote you of late, a little "sad." Bob in Forest Hill (8/10/08) Dave's response: For the host country's head not to attend the Olympics opening ceremony (a la Clinton to Atlanta) would have been quite odd, don't you think? Actually, according to the NBC commentary I heard, it is rare to have a US president attend an Olympics when they're held in another country..... Ref; 90 in a 55 zone? Speeding? In most places, anything exceeding 20mph over the limit is considered reckless driving, and they take away your license for 90 days. Why the special treatment for DG? Because "most places" doesn't include Maryland. There is no such law in Maryland. (8/10/08) (Baltimore-based radio voice) PAT GARRETT TIES THE KNOT IN LAS VEGAS SATURDAY AUGUST 9TH (LEFT TO RIGHT ) DR DAVE FERGUSON,ROY SAMPSON, "THE BRIDE" KATINA HUMPHREY,"THE GROOM" PAT GARRETT AND JACK DANIELS (8/10/08) dave's response -- "With all due respect, Mr. President, quit the political grandstanding and watch the games on TV like the rest of us....." -- whatever dave, if that was everyone's loveable (1/2 black) candidate obama, you'd say "look at him supporting our athletes". Bush has always been a sports fan. What's he grandstanding for, he's out in a few months. Joyce (8/10/08) ‘A salesperson there tells me sales are, to use his/her phrase, "extremely challenging,"’ I challenge the poster to provide us with the name of the person who said this. In fact, June was the best sales month in the history of WTOP and things are going just fine, thank you. (8/10/08) 90 in a 55 zone? Speeding? In most places, anything exceeding 20mph over the limit is considered reckless driving, and they take away your license for 90 days. Why the special treatment for DG? ... (8/10/08) Ok I turned on NFL network Saturday night and couldn't get a picture while the Redskin game was on. Does Danny S. control this to? The Ravens - New England game was on Thursday night and I was able to watch another game on NFL network. I pay extra for this channel. What gives? (8/10/08) Dave's response: My guess is that since the game was on Channel 9 and CSN (both in HD), it was blacked out regionally via the NFL Network..... Dave: Just got done watching my Tivo of last night's Redskins' preseason game and people think the radio call wasn't very good, the telecast wasn't much better. I subscribe to the NFL Sunday Ticket and watch plenty of football on the various networks. I don't understand why Snyder says he wants the best for his team but his media outlets are terrible!!! 1-Someone should ask Mike Patrick to get serious and call a game like he's working for ESPN. He was very sloppy and I was shocked about his lack of sharpness. He needs to challenge Theismann much more. 2-I don't know about what others thought, but what a bland looking telecast. Not one player seemed like they wanted to talk to Kelli Johnson and she barely appeared in the telecast. I remember year's ago, Jeff Bostic was the sideline reporter and he constantly talked about the line-play. Of the 15 minutes I listened to the radio, Doc Walker sounded clueless!!! 3-After the game, the telecast went to commercial and then Mike Patrick quickly said goodnight. What about hearing from Zorn or someone important. I decided to change back to Channel 9, where Haber let me know it was honor to watch him on the field hosting a show. I guess if I had to pick radio or tv, I'd say grin and bare Larry, Sonny and Sam and pass on the TV coverage. (8/10/08) Is DCRTV Dave trying to point out the irony of the date in which don geronimo entered his guilty plea for speeding? Is Donnie G. lost on life's highway. btws a fight club violation on my part but WCTN 950 am had this new format all planned a head of time didn't they. they have some nice bumpers and station ID's going which is nice unlike before when they just ran an endless loop of rock /pop oldies. they do have ad for infomercials going on guess the Spaniards ran out of money adios (8/10/08) Dave's response: Honestly, that didn't even enter my mind when I wrote up the blurb..... Talk about another local girl done good. Not only has Amy Robach gone to do network news in New York, I see that she did the NBC Nightly News the other night and is now in China helping cover the Olympics. I wonder if she ever dreamed that this would happen when she was sitting next to Shawn Yancey at the FOX5 anchor desk years ago. (8/10/08) 90 in a 55? Geronimo must have thought he was still on 295 -- 90 is the norm in the northbound section of 295 just before the route 100 exit. I'm not saying it's right, but people *will* try to run you off the road if you don't accommodate their insanity. (8/10/08) The fact that WTOP bragged about going to the conventions four years ago but is silent now is thunderous. They just don't want to spend the money. Nothing wrong with that, it's a business decision. A salesperson there tells me sales are, to use his/her phrase, "extremely challenging," so they have every right to watch what they spend. What IS wrong, however, is for them to maintain the pretense of being something special. They are not. WTOP is simply one of many content providers struggling to survive in a soft economy where information consumers have more choices than ever. I don't even listen to them for traffic or weather now, so there is no reason for me to tune in. Radio news is like the dinosaurs once were: they ruled many, many years ago but gradually faded away. (8/10/08) Is there are radio coverage of Olympics in DC area? Thanks, John (8/10/08) I regret to report that Phil Stinnett, the guitar player in my band (Big Picture) passed away yesterday in Knoxville at the age of 58, due to complications from cancer. He and I had played music together for nearly 40 years. Our final gig was opening for the Pete Best Band last October in Edgewood, MD. L-R Phil Wood, Mike Harding, & Phil Stinnett Sept '07, Reisterstown Festival, Reisterstown, MD... Phil Wood (8/10/08) The poster complaining about NBC being in the tank for the Chinese needs to stop drinking and keyboarding. What exactly does an American look like? Oh...and I can assume that when I see someone of Asian descent in D.C. they must be Chinese? And NBC HAS reported on the smog, though much of the so-called "smog" has been attributed to high humidity mixed with dust blowing in from the Gobi Desert. My work here is done. (8/10/08) Dave's response: I don't mind if President Bush wants to go to the opening ceremony of the Olympics. But when he attends many events he takes the media spotlight away from the athletes, as the TV seems to frequently cut-away to Bush spectating. With all due respect, Mr. President, quit the political grandstanding and watch the games on TV like the rest of us..... Wow. 90 in a 55. Gee Donnie, why in such a hurry? It couldn't be to get to that "10 dollar an hour" radio gig, we all know how you didn't "really" care about that... In happier news, long live the Mike O'Meara Show!... Rob, Buzz, Mike, Joe, Katie, and yes, even Beth Ann, you rule! -Isaac in Sacramento (8/10/08) And the poster said "not sending someone to cover such a historic event only because the parent company simply doesn't approve of Denver's politics." The station's advertising also has the Mormon influence. Bonnevile refused to explain why they allow commercials for a private, military-style school in our area that practices a severe form of gender bias. Such bias is consistent with their church teachings against women. (8/10/08) After Frank Herzog was replaced by Larry Michael, it is no longer a problem about syncing up the radio and TV. I just put up with the TV announcer. Les in Adelphi (8/10/08) About a year ago I was on You Tube checking out the various news openings from stations from across the nation only to stumble upon a news report from Salt Lake City's KSL-TV channel 5 about the Denver metro area and Denver's mayor John Hickenlooper. The report was about how "liberal" Denver had become in recent years under Hickenlooper such as the city of Denver providing employee benefits to same-sex couples as well as Denver's ultra-lax marijuana laws. To make a long story short KSL did NOT approve any of this and pretty much in certain words called for a boycott against Denver ( when a station tells people to avoid a city over its laws..sure sounds like a boycott to me !! ). Who owns KSL-TV? Bonneville !! Who owns WTOP? Could this be the reason why WTOP isn't sending someone to cover the DNC? Over local Denver politics ? Who knows !! But if this is the case, it really is sad to see a well known news station like WTOP not sending someone to cover such a historic event only because the parent company simply doesn't approve of Denver's politics and John Hickenlooper. A name which means NOTHING in Virginia, Maryland or DC. And I am sure the name means nothing in Salt Lake City either. (8/10/08) Joe Ardinger sure is funny when he reads stuff on his Conspiracy Theory Show. he breathes heavy and sniffles and clears his throat and gulps and even admitting to farting. Joe says ratings are up up up to a 3.5 but i get feeling only idiots like me are listening anymore to this drudgery, hardly anyone calls anymore. the novelty has worn off and it's degenerated into Joe reading stuff and being so open minded and insightful. zzzzzzzzzzzzz (8/10/08) /\ August 10 Messages /\ \/ August 9 Messages \/ It is so obvious that NBC is in the tank for China that is embarrassing. Their correspondents have been falling all over themselves all day reporting that the two Americans, who were stabbed by the Chinese guy, were not wearing anything that distinguished them as Americans or Olympians. Hello? Does it take Sherlock Holmes to figure out what an American looks like? Do you think you would have any problem figuring out what a Chinese guy looked like in downtown Washington? And I have yet to hear any NBC pretty face make one remark about the obvious horrible pollution and smog conditions that are so obvious in the background on all of their reports. (8/9/08) Speaking as someone who has spent 12 of my 34 years in broadcasting dealing with sports programming, it still dismays me to read these endless complaints about the radio play-by-play not being in sync with the TV broadcasts. Let me put it bluntly. Unless both the TV and radio entities are owned by the same company, owned by the team itself, or the play-by-play guys are doing double duty by simultaneously providing audio for a TV and radio flagship station, we don't care. Seriously. We want you to listen to our PBP product on the radio as much as possible. Regardless of what TV is doing, we want to provide the closest thing to "live" as possible, especially for those who can listen to us inside a venue because they are the P1s that follow the teams religiously. WTEM, WWWT, WBAL, WJFK or WNAV, small or large radio station, we are only concerned with our traditional feed. Not the internet delay of 8 seconds (when our agreements allow us to stream PBP). Not the Sirius/XM satellite delay of 21 seconds. And not the additional 7 seconds of delay from DirecTV when they carry a MASN game. Redskins on TV with Sonny, Sam & Frank on the radio with the TV sound down was one of my favorite ways to enjoy the burgundy & gold. Due to the confusion of where to find DC baseball on TV during the first season of Nats coverage, there are a number of fans who love watching MASN sound down with Charlie & Dave on the radio. If the Verizon Center had better reception inside the "phone booth" I'd listen to Steve Kolbe in the arena during Caps games. So please understand, it's truly about the ratings and building the audience for our own station(s). If we could get rid of the HD transmissions we could also do a whole lot more to sync up all the stations in a simulcast. Thanks for listening, and remembering it's a business as well as a service. (8/9/08) Dannyboy, you 5' 7" fkg asshole could you PLEASE get YOUR people to sync YOUR radio stations & YOUR t.v. outlets??! You li'l pin-dick! Oy! Hail! (8/9/08) Other than the fact that the person who wrote about the possibility of violence in Denver during the Dems convention gave WAAYY too much info- isn't the threat of violence ANOTHER reason for TOP to send someone to Denver? So let's see - first black presidential nominee of a major party - Virginia's governor possibly being named his running mate - Hillary Clinton's supporters threatening a roll call - AND threatened violence by protestors outside the convention. Sure makes sense for a news organization NOT to send a reporter or two to the scene. Oh I forgot - throwing Christy King out of a plane IS more important than that. Hmmm - on second thought ... (8/9/08) Re: "Redskins radio delays: WWRC 1260 game broadcast is live in real time but it will die with the sun. WTNT and the Triple-X stations are in delay. WTEM 980 seems to be minutes behind everybody." Assuming you're not posting this from the game itself...the idea of "being in sync" with TV coverage is kind of quaint in 2008. Which TV coverage? Analog OTA? Digital OTA? Digital via cable? Satellite? There are any number of delays depending on what you're watching...and pretty much any radio attempt to "sync up with TV" has to make a decision...which TV? Analog TV won't even EXIST next season. (8/9/08) Whatever, Buddy......*Yawn*...... -Silvie- (8/9/08) RE: "Oh Lawdy, what a chuckle! Are we talking about the same Clinton interview that, within an hour of it ending, was posted on Drudge (with 2 separate links, no less), covered by Jake Tapper of ABC News, written of in an op-ed in the Wash. Post and where Olbermann almost had a thrombosis over, aside from being reproduced in various newspapers across the country? That interview? " - Yeah probably that one. It was the one where Plante kept insisting that the letter from Hilary regarding coverage of Chelsea in the campaign came from letterhead from Hilary's office as a senator and not from the Hillary campaign where it actually came from. Plante just couldn't seem to comprehend that it came from Hillary's campaign and not from her senate office. Just because Drudge (which by the way is not exactly known for being a source of credibility) posted a link, er excuse me, make that two links, and ABC News who WMAL is an affiliate of passed it on doesn't make the interview great or him great. The only place where I routinely hear his name is here. He is not and probably never will be a household name. Having him run his mouth for a few minutes on a cable opinion show also does not make him great. CNN no longer focuses on news like it used to. Now they are more about fluff, speculation and opinion. Plante is a perfect fit for that format and for the endless opinion chatter that is WMAL but both WMAL and CNN were at one time respected sources for news. That is no longer the case today. Plante is just a barnacle on sunken ship as far as I'm concerned. (8/9/08) Redskins radio delays: WWRC 1260 game broadcast is live in real time but it will die with the sun. WTNT and the Triple-X stations are in delay. WTEM 980 seems to be minutes behind everybody. Last year I could listen while watching to a “network” station WFRE FM which was in sync with the TV coverage, but the Frederick affiliate is now WWEG 106.9 which isn’t receivable in Tysons where I live. For the Ravens radio station WIYY FM has no delays. Unlike other sports, during the season the radio broadcast is the local coverage and one would think getting the games broadcast without delays would be a marketing priority. Btw. Isn’t this a return to the 1260 dial for the Redskins? I believe WOL was the station back in the Sammy Baugh era. What happen to John Riggins? – I thought he was still going to be around. Personally I think during the weekday Red Zebra should put the ESPN syndication on one station and make another one local talent. Bring back Riggo and season ticket give-a-ways! -David (8/9/08) Big difference between doing your own daily local Olympics show at any remote new set with reporters in China and WRC just "having somebody there". Poor WRC 4, lowly Baltimore's WBAL 11 puts the NBC-owned station to shame with the best local Olympics coverage of the area's premiere athletes. (8/9/08) I can go with Alison Seymour & Leslie Foster as being attractive ladies of the news, but I can't go along with Holly Morris. It's not that I think she's ugly, but her annoying personality, voice and continuous cackle of a laugh just makes her somewhat unattractive to me. I can't see talking to her 5 minutes before I'd have to just turn and walk away. (8/9/08) To Carrie the "ticket whiner"....GET OVER IT! Welcome to the new age of ticket purchasing. I would have laughed in your face if I had been the one who fielded your request to be put on hold for 9 minutes in order to buy tickets. If tickets for an event go on sale at 10AM, that means they go on sale at 10AM! What gives you the right to think that you deserve special privileges just because you called 9 minutes before they went on sale? I've never had a problem getting good seats online or by phone because I "played by the rules". If you didn't get back in line fast enough at 10:02, oh well! Try Stub-Hub or Craigslist..or even better, wait your turn like everyone else. (8/9/08) Been listening to the Virgin Fest Coverage. WTMD's much better. Interesting interviews with the bands and the groups on site. They've even been telling how to get there on mass transit and other stuff like that. Very good stuff..makes you feel like you're there. (8/9/08) To the Plante poster: Oh Lawdy, what a chuckle! Are we talking about the same Clinton interview that, within an hour of it ending, was posted on Drudge (with 2 separate links, no less), covered by Jake Tapper of ABC News, written of in an op-ed in the Wash. Post and where Olbermann almost had a thrombosis over, aside from being reproduced in various newspapers across the country? That interview? And - Clinton was left speechless twice (one time for almost 5 seconds), when Chris asked him questions about Obama and the Shuster thing. Ed, gracias por tu sinopsis y creeme que yo entiendo lo izquierdistas que son en este website. No te preocupes por mi - yo a esta gente me la como para desayuno y los escupo para la hora de almuerzo! Cariñitos, -Silvie- (8/9/08) Virginia's Governor may be on the presidential ticket, and at the top of the ticket, for the first time in American history, is an African-American -- and WTOP says it's "not a legit news event" for WTOP to cover? What might constitute a "legit" news event? And what might WTOP do with the resources it will free up, then? Cheap and lite stuff like dashboard cooking? Monkey news? Knuckleheads in the news? And how come WTOP bragged about how it was the only station at the 2004 conventions, but now says covering them "isn't necessary?" WTOP shouldn't hide behind the facade of saying it's an editorial decision - if it is then, in this amazing election year your news judgement is astonishing - just admit you don't want to spend the money. (8/9/08) Explain to me how you can deduce that Plante "can't conduct a decent interview to save his life."? - That's an easy one. It's because he can't do it. That Clinton interview that you so proudly posted a link to earlier this year was the biggest joke I ever heard. His follow-up questions were nothing more than the same question he had just asked. I guess a Chris thought he was going to trick the former president. LOL. According to you, interviewing a "nutjob" might have caused him to give a bad interview. I have to disagree with that point. Somebody good at their job will interview a "nutjob" the same as they would a nobel prize winner. Plante simply isn't good at his job and hence the reason he works at WMAL. (8/9/08) Tranquilo, Silvie, mi amor. Dave Hughes tiene mucha gente de izquierda bien loco aqui. Y hay mucha gente que trabajo en los cuartos de noticias loco y de la izquierda. Son hablando el animosidad de George Bush (los dos) y todo cosas conservativo siempre... aqui, en talk radio, en los periodicos. Pero, no tienen specificos. Tienen insultos general solamente... como ninos en escuela. Que lastima. - Ed. Rodriguez, un otro puertoriqueno conservativo, pero con espanol medio/medio. (8/9/08) See attached story – Andrew Fisher – Pres. Cox TV – S&M - Mayflower Hotel – sex with government employee – cover up by press. gawker.com (8/9/08) To the Chris Plante poster: Explain to me how you can deduce that Plante "can't conduct a decent interview to save his life."? First of all, he doesn't even conduct "interviews" during his radio show, which consists of just him talking non-stop for 3 hours a day and listeners calling in. The only handful of "interviews" that I recall him having are with the head of Veterans Affairs (a great man), also with the slimeball Clintonista Craig Livingstone (who called HIM on-air), and also with some tinfoil hat loco from Alaska who ran a website stating that 9/11 was a government "inside job", and a few others - including many nutjobs. Perhaps you're confusing his interview skills with the actual person(s) that he is interviewing. When you interview a nutcase, well, there's not much there to begin with. -Silvie- (8/9/08) Sorry about that chief, I remembered after I posted it was Tuesday that Morning Joe and Mika (btws, did her father get that "right of way" dispute over a sidewalk going across his property settled?) filled in on WMAL youse got me ta da. Speaking of MSNBC Tucker carlson may have had his show canned but must still be under contract for all the appearances he's been making on other msnbc shows. When did Tucker stop wearing the bow ties? And Mr. Paul and the problem with getting expensive tickets for Jackson Browne etc. might I suggest you try some of the clubs in the area that have far lower prices and you get to actually see the musician playing the instrument. Clubs like Jammin' Java and Iota or even the State Theater have reasonable ticket prices and too me a far better experience than paying today's small fortune and not being able to see much like at Wolf Trap or Verizon or truly yucky Nissan Pavillion. I'd throw in the Birchmere, which has gotten very expensive but it is a pretty decent concert experience for its intimacy. Say that young lady with the big honker and the hot body on the Extenze infomercials is a Baltimoron. tinyurl.com... Name of Bridgetta Tomarchio. Seems to be a "B" actress with small roles in tv and direct to vid movies. Has The Glob gone jockless? Wish they'd take on "The Jack" jockless format which has music from all over the place instead of the same old classic rock tripe. I know Bill O'rightly on Faux news has a few loose screws but geez that Oberman is few cards short with his deck too. Watched a little bit of Keith Friday night and must say he had the make up plastered on. Looks like a porcelain doll. Come on now Cowherd sucks compared to Dan Patrick. (8/9/08) To the poster who posted this: "Not sure if I've seen this mentioned, but WBAL TV is doing a daily LOCAL Olympics half hour show just before NBC's coverage and after the local news, and at great expense has sent Donna Hamilton and Gerry Sandusky as well as reporters to China to broadcast the daily show, mostly highlighting Maryland athletes like Michael Phelps & others from a local angle. Anyone know if WRC 4 is doing anything like this? You would think being an NBC O & O, they certainly would have sent local anchors/reporters to China, right ?" Gerry Sandusky and Donna Hamilton record the Olympic Zone from Clipper Mill in Baltimore. They are still in MD. The only TV 11 News reporter in Beijing is Kate Amara, I believe. And the reason Amara is the only one from 11 News there is probably because of the reason which you mentioned is that it would be a great expense. I'm sure WRC has someone over there. (8/8/08) (Dave's response: How much could a plane ticket to Denver for Mark Plotkin be? Maybe connect via SLC)........actually it would be the other way around LOL. Denver's airport is a hub for three different airlines ( United, Frontier and Southwest ) should be very easy and cheap to get a non-stop fright from any of the three airports that serve DC. But going back to WTOP..maybe there is another reason why they aren't sending someone to cover the democratic convention there. Could it be that WTOP has heard the rumors about possible violence that could happen in Denver during the convention? After all Denver is having a very srious problem raising funds to help pay for it, secruity is an issue and the protestors are already getting their plans together and some have already made it known that they want trouble. Protesters like "Recreate 68", even though they promise no violence, then why did they name their group after a year that was so violent? Plus the other groups too that plan on "taking over Denver" like the group that supports making marijuana legal and since in Denver pot is pretty much legal now,( Denver police looks the other way when it comes to pot ) of course those people will be using drugs out in the open, getting high and who knows what will happen.next and add that to those right wing religious groups like Focus On The family who will be there too and those who live in the mountains coming into down to "shut up those god-damn protestors"..ah...this convention has "disaster" written all it. My sister-in-law lives in Westminster, Colorado ( a suberb of Denver ) and she and her family are very scared to death over this. She was telling me that even though Denver is so gung-ho about having this event held in their city that not only the other major Colorado cities like Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, Greeley, Boulder and Grand Junction are less than thrilled at all of this but the feeling is dittos with Denver's own suberbs ( Lakewood, Aurora, Littleton, Centennial, Golden and even Boulder ). And I can see why. Not only do many of those suberbs have to send their own police force to help out Denver but the other cities in that state like Colorado Springs have to as well. Be like Hagerstown, MD police helping out Baltimore, of course those living in Hagerstown wouldn't like it at all. Who could blame them? Also not too mention there are hundreds of thousands who work in downtown Denver everyday and because of the convention my SIL was telling me many of the local bus/light rail lines ( Denver-RTD or "The Denver Ride" as its called there ) wont be able to take many workers to their jobs. and with the Pepsi Center Arena being downtown, of course the streets nearby will be closed. Then you have thousands of Denver families highly upset because Elitch Gardens ( Denver's downtown amusement park ) will be closed during the convention, they wont be able to spend their last days of summer having fun on the roller coaster and the other rides there. And on top of that Obama plans on making his speech at Invesco Field ( Mile High Stadium ) which is right next to I-25, Colorado's busiest freeway. And that will be closed too while Obama is speaking. Imagine what would it be like if I-495 would be closed down for a few hours.. You get the idea. Even Colorado Senator Gary Hart recently made a comment that this convention could be a serious problem for Denver. With the rumors of possible violence and those wild protestors like the one who was passing out packets of lube and small bottles of poppers to just everyone during the Denver Gay/Lesbian Pridefest back in June. My sister-in-law said they called themselves "Bareback for Peace" and yes they will be at the convention too. The cost of staying there for the convention, say $900 a night at one of the Denver area's hotels, $400 could get you a room at Motel 6 !!! Maybe, perhaps WTOP has heard about all of this and decided Tim Kane or not..the Democratic Convention or even Denver for that matter is just not worth the drama and cost involved. (8/9/08) Saw a very strange and rare TV commercial on WBAL 11 today, a commercial advertising and telling people to watch a Baltimore Ravens pre-season game on WMAR ABC 2 next week, complete with the ABC 2 logo and all !! The commercial did also have the WIYY & WBAL radio logos too, but still, how often does that happen, one TV station advertising another's programming? lol (8/9/08) RE: "The political conventions have become nothing more than highly-orchestrated theatrical stage productions, not legit news events." Uh, memo to Brian: the first black man to accept the nomination for President if the United States isn't a legitimate news event? You, sir, have had one too many sips of the "TOP kool ade. Lucas (8/9/08) Anyone who hasn't already been buried in the recent avalanche of nostalgia for WEAM can get a close-up 3-D glimpse of the 2131 Crimmins Ln, Falls Church facility through MS Virtual Earth. Virtual Earth gives a viewer the advantage of examining the building from any one of its four sides. If you don't have the time or inclination to install that free software, there is a lazyman's bird's-eye view of four sides of the building here DCMemories.com and here DCMemories.com and here DCMemories.com and here DCMemories.com... (I wonder which neighborhood kid gets to mow that field... continuously!) (8/9/08) /\ August 9 Messages /\ \/ August 8 Messages \/ Not sure if I've seen this mentioned, but WBAL TV is doing a daily LOCAL Olympics half hour show just before NBC's coverage and after the local news, and at great expense has sent Donna Hamilton and Gerry Sandusky as well as reporters to China to broadcast the daily show, mostly highlighting Maryland athletes like Michael Phelps & others from a local angle. Anyone know if WRC 4 is doing anything like this? You would think being an NBC O & O, they certainly would have sent local anchors/reporters to China, right ? (8/8/08) Regarding the potential sale of the evil empire's Frederick stations, WFRE & WFMD, the buyer apparently will be getting the real property, i.e. the physical buildings and surrounding land. One has to wonder if the market value of the stations takes a significant drop because of the condition of the building. Not to mention the fact that the purchaser will likely inherit the liability, specifically lawsuits, first from employees whose health has been adversely affected by the mold and second from the government (for failure to act appropriately when the mold was first discovered). Even if the current hearing results in a trial and judgement against Clear Channel before a sale, every employee is another potential plaintiff. Who wants to buy into that? (8/8/08) Barack Obama borrowing plot devices from G. Gordon Liddy (and Peter O'Toole) for his book? Coincidence? Hmm-mmm... www.youtube.com (8/8/08) Here is a link on WWIN-FM www.freebase.com... WWIN-FM is an Urban Adult Contemporary radio station out of Baltimore owned by Radio One. It is known as "Magic 95.9," playing a great variety of Urban adult contemporary music from the 1960s to present. WWIN-FM's former nickname from the 1970s was Music 96. Around 1987 the format changed to Contemporary Hit Radio with the call letters to WHTE then WGHT. '"Hot 95.9"' failed to compete with CHR leader WBSB FM "B-104" and all airstaff were fired on June 23,1989. Urban Adult music returned to 95.9 FM as legendary announcers Harold Pompey and Don "Cleo" Brooks created, 1400 AM/95.9 FM WWIN FM "The Best Songs And No Rap". In 1992, after a failed purchase attempt Washington, D.C. station owner Cathy Hughes and her company Almic Broadcasting bought WWIN AM & FM from Broadcast Enterprise Network, Inc. Ragan Augustus Henry, a Philadelphia attorney headed the organization as President and 53% owner. He founded BENI (Broadcast Enterprises National, Inc.) in 1974 as a Black-owned business... (Thomas McNulty was the long term owner of WWIN-AM ). John T. Henneman (8/8/08) The political conventions have become nothing more than highly-orchestrated theatrical stage productions, not legit news events. As for good sports towns, I define a good sports town as one in which the fans there support all the major teams, not just one. And seriously, do you really think Redskins fans are really any more passionate than Eagles, Cowboys, Packers, Browns or Steelers fans? All of those stadia are sold out regardless of whether the team is good or sucks. -Brian (8/8/08) Dave, I just got back in to town from being gone on business and vacation and was informed by a friend that there has been a lot of discussion about former WMZQ,WARW WASH and WEAMER Ed Rodriguez. I know Ed left his gig in the Florida Keys ( for reasons unknown). My cousin who lives in the Keys says that she heard he had a difference of opinion with station ownership. Can you add anything to this? Love the website! (8/8/08) Love it: WTOP isn't sending anyone to cover the Dem convention and the station's apologists say that's OK, because WTOP will be able to gleen the information from other media outlets. Wow, that's top-notch journalism! (8/8/08) Great idea for WTOP. Send Moss to the conventions without a mic and a 1-way ticket! I wonder if he will think that is funny? (8/8/08) Re: Regan Henry. He owned WITH AM. When Scripts bought 104.3 (B-104) the AM was sold to Regan Henry. He asked me to stay on as manager and said that he would retain the programming. At that time it was a nostalgia format that had a 3 share. After a few months, Regan said that he didn't understand the format and wanted a switch to AC I told him that the other four major AM stations all played a form of AC - - but all had stronger signals and it would probably drop us to about a 1 share. A year later, when we fell to a 1 share, he sold the station. Great guy who did a lot for broadcasting, just not for WITH. Ed Graham (8/8/08) So John Edwards finally admits (while Obama was on vacation and on a Friday afternoon before the evening of the Olympics - how sincere) to his affair and the child he bore with his mistress. As the Washington Post (and the rest of the media) has been doing its best to ignore this story for weeks, I wonder where they will bury this front-page bomb-shell. (8/8/08) Re: "And the guy can also quibble about the 17,000 figure at Canton, although anyone who watched the speeches could plainly see that Redskins fans made up 95% of the crowd." As someone who lives just down I-77 from Canton, I can tell you that all the local media coverage during HOF week made it sound like the area was basically invaded by Redskins fans in large numbers, both for the ceremonies and the game. It was the biggest thread through the HOF week stories, locally... (8/8/08) Sad to learn of the passing of Ragan Henry. As owner of Broadcast Enterprises National Inc Ragan was, at the time, the largest minority broadcast owner in the country when he purchased WITH AM in 1980. The FM stayed on at 7 East Lexington Street and became B-104. Mr. Henry moved the AM just a few blocks away to the 6th floor of 5 Light Street and changed them format to Music of Your Life. Mr. Henry struck me as more of a Baptist minister than a broadcast mogul. He was a very gentle man. Condolences to his family. (8/8/08) Lost in today's Olympics & John Edwards headlines, is this item with local interest, B'more tennis ace Pam Shriver is divorcing actor George Lazenby (one-shot James Bond from 1969). news.bbc.co.uk... Pam, we love ya, stay strong whatever's going on; and we hope that it only leaves you a little shaken...but not stirred. (thank you, I'm here all week) (8/8/08) Dave's response: George Lazenby was James Bond just once, but it was one of the better classic Bond films - "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"..... I didn't get a chance to connect with Dave on my recent DC/Baltimore visit - next time, I hope! - but to respond to another ongoing thread, I did get a chance to read the Examiner, or to try to, anyway. I didn't have any trouble finding weekday issues most anywhere I went within the Beltway, but then I was usually on or in close proximity to the Metro each day. What I didn't find, at ALL, were any copies of the Baltimore edition in any of the red boxes I saw there (and I looked at a whole bunch in the vicinity of the Inner Harbor and the convention center, all empty). And is there really a Sunday Examiner? All the red boxes I saw on Sunday still had the Friday edition in them, and there were no signs of any home-delivered copies in the neighborhood where I was staying (off Western in extreme NW DC) or in the walk I took down Connecticut Ave from the Metro station to the zoo with my daughter. I didn't see many copies of the Sunday DC Times on the newsstand, either...but zero copies of the Sunday Examiner. Does it really exist? I'd like to have seen it. Oh, and many, many thanks to all the nice DC and Baltimore broadcast folks who opened their studios and transmitter sites to me and my camera - Kerry Plackmeyer at WBAL, Jan Andrews at NPR, John Holt at WAMU, the NBC/WRC engineering crew and the gang at WTOP/WFED/3WT - Brian Oliger, Art Rose, Ken Sleeman, Jim Farley and Max Cacas. Your courtesies to a visiting colleague were most appreciated! - Scott Fybush, fybush.com (8/8/08) "Also, WTOP might not be sending staff to Denver, but WMAL is -- Chris Plante and his producer Geoff Holtzman will be there for the duration. So, you might want to do a little 'switcheroo' to WMAL for those days, dontcha think?" - Yeah and they'll just switch the radio back after two minutes of hearing a crap host on the crap station. The guy can't conduct a decent interview to save his life. How somebody could not only listen to that on a daily basis but then try to recruit others is beyond me. Chris Plante is somebody who isn't good enough to find another job in broadcasting and gratefully keeps the job he's been given by catering to the very few who still tune into that waste of spectrum space known as WMAL. As it's been said before WMAL is a sad little station. (8/8/08) Anyone notice Holly Morris's pants today? What the hell was THAT all about? Is the circus in town or is she getting wardrobe advise from Pat Lawson Muse? Paul (8/8/08) IIRC, Ragan Henry owned XTRA-104 at one time. And, for the anon poster about WEAM. You're right about the daypart when I entered/exited the place! -Unsigned Corporate Suit (8/8/08) The Ragan Henry radio group owned WXTR (XTRA 104) for a couple of years in the late '80's. Bob Duckman (8/8/08) Dave, I think you have it wrong about Ragan Henry owning "the Soul of Baltimore," WWIN in the seventies. I worked there in the seventies, along with Kelson "Chop Chop" Fisher, Hot Rod Hulbert, Big Al Jefferson, etc. Station was owned by Tom McNulty. Better double-check. Perhaps it was eventually sold to Henry. Name rings a bell. (8/8/08) Dave's response: I don't have first-hand knowledge of Ragan Henry owning WWIN. I got that info from several recent press accounts regarding his death. Anybody know more? Our Next Meeting BE Presents -10dB FM HD... Guest Speaker: Tim Bealor and John Bisset... This month’s meeting will feature Tim Bealor and John Bisset from Broadcast Electronics presenting a timely PowerPoint update on single hottest topic discussed at this year’s NAB show, the proposed -10dB vs. -20dB power increase for FM HD Radio. This power increase is intended to make HD Radio a more resilient service, but may come at a significant boost in interference on the already crowded FM band and raises questions about equipment and tower solutions. Tim will also talk about BE’s new exciter and imbedded exporter technology as it relates to HD Radio and to single frequency networks. Don’t forget that this year’s annual summer picnic will be held on Saturday, September 13 at the WMAL transmitter site, 7115 Greentree Road, Bethesda MD. This year we are pleased to have SMPTE Washington, D.C. Section join us for food and fun. Mark you calendars, more details to come... All Are Welcome at SBE Meetings; SBE Membership is not Required Meeting Time: August 19, 2008 at 6:30 PM... Location: Radio Free Asia, 2025 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20036 (8/8/08) Dave's response: I worked for the Radio World trade pub in Falls Church in the 1980s, and John Bisset was our radio engineering advisor. At the time, he was the chief engineer for classic rock WCXR, 105.9.... To: Unsigned Corporate Suit. When I worked at WEAM, we entered the building through the front door and into the lobby with the chandelier. The main air studio was still on the first floor (with the fire escape showing through the window just right of the control board). You must have worked there in the later part of the 70s? Or, overnights in the basement studio? Thanks for the technical insights. I can vouch the station did sound mucho awesome in the headphones thanks to Butterbaugh's engineering. (8/8/08) (Washingtonian's Harry Jaffe) more video thoughts on dc bureau closings from papers all over the country: tinyurl.com (8/8/08) Hey Dave. I see that Leonard Shapiro (of the Post) finally got around to writing about MASN Play-by-Play Bob Carpenter’s extension with the Nats - washingtonpost.com. He wrote in his column that Carpenter had been the only TV Play by Play man for the Nats..but I remember Mel Proctor and Ron Darling calling the games in their first season. Does anybody at the Post do any research before putting something in print??? GEEZ!! Bob (8/8/08) A previous poster asked about the “WEAM Sound”… Well, when I first encountered the place, the air board was homemade, with processing by CBS’s “Max brothers” (white elephant Audimax and Volumax…) going into a Fairchild/Robbins reverb. The transmitters were a RCA BTA-10E (IIRC on the sub-type) Amplifuzz with a 5KW cutback kit (Improved efficiency… Not uncommon for successful 5KW Top-40 operations in small to medium markets to run this back in the day… But, it was also an investment not every owner was willing to go for. And, then -as now- there was much debate about whether Washington was a major market!) with a late 1940’s Gates 5KW rig sitting cold as the stand-by, which was probably the original WEAM rig. When you’d go into the place from the parking lot, the air studio, rigs and phasor were in what was the “basement” of what otherwise looked like a typical house in the surrounding neighborhood. What helped keep the sound clean was Ed Butterbaugh’s hard work. He used to have WEAM on-air every Sunday night from about 1AM until 5 AM tweaking the place. Among the CE’s whom I understand went through WEAM after Ed left were Wes Wachtell and Morgan Burrow. -Unsigned Corporate Suit (8/8/08) Hi, to all my concert-loving friends! I need to vent. Or be a "scalper". I was thinking of going to see Jackson Browne at the Warner Theater in Washington, DC on 15 September. Tickets went on sale this morning at 10 am. Being at work, I dialed in to the 800 # at 9:40 am, and got thru about 10 minutes later. When the girl answered, I asked politely if I was too early to buy tickets for Jackson Browne, and she said "they go on sale at 10 am". I said, yes, I knew that. She replied that that was 9 minutes away, and I'd have to hang up and call back. I said it had taken me a long time to get thru, and then I thought she offered to put me on hold for 9 minutes, and I said "yes, could we do that, please?", and she asked "what", and I said "put me on hold for 9 minutes", and she said no, the lines were full and that there were a lot of calls coming in, and a lot of calls on hold, to which I replied, "can't I be one of those?". In a seriously nasty tone, she snapped back "NO, you have to hang up and call in again". She sounded young, her words were very muddled (except for "NO", which was quite clear, and quite loud), she was not accommodating at all, and in fact was quite rude. I'm a customer and I neither need nor deserve this kind of abuse. So, in frustration I said "OK, OK, I get it", and hung up. I immediately dialed again. I waited on hold for 14 minutes, and a much more pleasant gentleman finally answered, and entered my request for "two of your best" tickets to Jackson Browne at the Warner. He said, "the best I have are $35.00, in the upper balcony (WHAT?) in row TT". I had the seating chart in front of me, and row TT is the last row back in the upper balcony. It was 6 minutes after 10:00 am!!!!!!!! I said no, thank you. I sat in the back row at the Capital Center many moons ago (I could reach up and actually touch the ceiling with my hand, while sitting in my seat), and I think it was a Bee Gees show - who could tell, you couldn't actually SEE them. I've seen Mr. Browne before, on 4 differnet occasions over the years, and he's a wonderful performer, but even at the reasonable price of $35.00 per ticket (not including a probably disproportionate "convenience" fee), I'm not paying to sit in the back row to see anyone. I'll pass, this time. Everyone loses but the scalpers and the brokers. I repeat, what about the fans - the ones who actually buy the music, and genuinely want to see these performers live, in concert? Similarly, last year, I went on-line and got row HH for Hippiefest, 4 minutes after they went on sale; this year I got 2 seats in the balcony for Hippiefest when I finally got thru 10 minutes after they went on sale. So tell me, how does a normal everyday fan, willing to buy the highest level face-value tickets the minute they are offered for sale to the general public, manage to get decent seats??? I can't WAIT for Paul McCartney nosebleeds at $1,000 bucks a piece! What are people doing to get seats in the front sections?, the front row? I'm sure it's more than the luck of the draw to get thru first on the phone or on-line. Does every venue "block off" their best seats for "brokers" or "VIP's", or people who "donate:" big bucks as "friends/ supporters"? What? I've never been to a show yet where everyone sat in the middle and back, but the whole front areas were empty. SOMEONE gets these seats. Your thoughts? Cary (8/8/08) I will be so glad when the regular FOX5 morning news crew returns. The subs they have had on there just dont' cut it. Claudia is allmost as annoying as annoying as Holly Morris and then when they're on there together, it's just unbearable. And Matt was somewhat annoying as well this morning. FOX5, take note. Everyone on your staff who's a reporter, isn't anchor desk material. (8/8/08) Heard Chris Emry on The Globe last night. (8/8/08) In keeping with your rant -- the voting for hottest on-air female on fishbowl is fast and furious, but I'm told that the frontrunner is doing most of the voting (hundreds and hundreds of votes) -- for herself. (8/8/08) Dave's response: I love it how FishbowlDC and its partner in crime, TVNewser, continue to report how many "votes" have been cast in the former's "hottest" contest - making it look like FishbowlDC is sooooo fucking popular - when a mere handful of candidates (including an Examiner bud of FishbowlDC's editor, himself an Examiner gossiper) are getting the vast majority of votes due to obvious "ballot stuffing." What a fucking joke! Rather than fess up to the problem, they just blindly pretend that it doesn't exist. Okay. All you FBDC hottie candidates who aren't voting for yourself hundreds and thousands of times, you're getting screwed..... Quote 1: "What gives with MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Scarborough filling in Monday night on WMAL? Syndication in the future?" No. Joe & Mika filled in on Tuesday night (not Monday) because, according to their own words, they're being temporarily sidelined from MSNBC for the next two weeks due to Olympics coverage. Austin Hill was out that night. Also, WTOP might not be sending staff to Denver, but WMAL is -- Chris Plante and his producer Geoff Holtzman will be there for the duration. So, you might want to do a little 'switcheroo' to WMAL for those days, dontcha think? Signed, "a very very lonely mailbag poster" -Silvie- (8/8/08) A new radio network coming to town: washingtondc.craigslist.org (8/8/08) Huh? There are more people "from" Baltimore in Baltimore than there are people "from" DC in DC? That's ridiculous. No doubt that there are a lot of transients in the DC area who come there to work and because it is a good place to live. But the notion that there are few DC area natives around is pure bunk. I mean, it isn't the transients who make up the Redskins incredible fan base and it isn't the transients who demand the saturation media coverage of the team. (8/8/08) It’s hard to believe that Clear Channel really wants to spin off WFRE/WFMD in Frederick. Aside from technically being part of the DC metro area, and therefore part of a Top 10 market, FRE (the AM is a throw-in) has to be one of the most profitable radio stations in America. Guessing that they toss of $3 million to $4 million in cash flow on billing somewhere in the $6 million range annually, it would cost a buyer upward of $30 million to $40 million to take it off Aloha Trust’s hands. What’s the upside? The market just keeps on booming, as it has for 30+ years. My hunch is that CC will be very slow to move on this one, and more likely will figure out a way to keep this gem in the portfolio. (8/8/08) RE: "WTOP's decision to not send anyone to Denver is a smart and calculated one." Then it must be equally true that WTOP's decision to send several people to the 2004 conventions - and brag about being the only DC station with a presence there - was a dumb move. And doesn't the Virginia angle make for an even stronger argument for going this year? Call me naive, but shouldn't a news station send its reporters to where the news is? In 2004 they bragged about it. This year: "an easy no" for staying away. Why did they send people to Blacksburg to cover the Virginia Tech shootings? Weren't all the networks there? I'm very disappointed with WTOP. (8/8/08) Our doubting Thomas can quibble whether the Redskins had 28,000 at the intrasquad scrimmage although one thing is indisputable and that is that there was one hell of a traffic jam in Ashburn that day. And the guy can also quibble about the 17,000 figure at Canton, although anyone who watched the speeches could plainly see that Redskins fans made up 95% of the crowd. But the point stands regarding the strong support the franchise has in the DC area. Few sports franchises anywhere even come close. No doubt that the strong bond with the Redskins swallows up the other local teams with respect to media coverage and sportstalk in particular. But that hardly means that DC isn't a good sports town. The other local teams have to earn their coverage and attention and that, in many ways, is a good thing. One example. You are about to see the Caps have one hell of a season attendance wise and, assuming they don't lay an egg, media-wise as well. That is because their remarkable run last season attracted plenty of attention and they have a young appealing team that should be good for a long time, and a charismatic mega-superstar in Ovechkin to boot.. And this concept that somehow all teams in the acknowledged good sports towns like NY, Boston and Philly always sellout and are always the center of attention is just wrong. Most teams in those cities that suck suffer attention and attendance wise (ask the Bruins, Islanders, Knicks, Celtics (before last season), Phillies, 76ers). If you define a "good sports town" as a city where the pro teams always sell out no matter what, then I don't think there is one anywhere. As for Baltimore, it is apples and oranges comparison because it is a second tier city in terms of pro sports. (8/8/08) Everyone's favorite oriole CAL RIPKEN JR will be appearing on washington post live today on CSN AT 5PM. Big day at CSN because it's the debut of their new studio, which is why they've been broadcasting from the newsroom the last 3 weeks. Washington Post Live, sportsnite and the postgame sets have all been remodeled and look incredible, so check it out tonight at 5, 6 and 10. (8/8/08) "If you have a signal in Baltimore, for example, a state government official might return YOUR call about a Maryland-related issue closer to DC. Otherwise, you're the proverbial rim-shot, and the newsmaker don't care about you." So why is Maryland Governor on WTOP so often? Don't kid yourself. Officials in both Baltimore and Richmond return calls to WTOP very quickly. (8/8/08) Legs - Please clarify - "and remember that ARBITRON's antiquated rules don't allow them to give a station crdit (sic) for listening outside of their primary metro area" - 'cause it don't make no sense. If that is the case, then why does TOP show up in the Baltimore metro? I'm not making a case for TOP on 1500 - just trying to figure out your argument. (8/8/08) Despite the figuring of most posters here, WTOP's decision to not send anyone to Denver is a smart and calculated one. There will be so many news agencies offering coverage that there's no reason to send your own reporter. It's about maximizing the work you can get out of your people. Beyond being expensive, the move to keep your reporter at home means you don't have to operate a man/woman down. TOP had to ask itself; is the coverage we are going to get from our own person going to be markedly better than what they will get from the throngs of other outlets? Add in the financial and personnel sitautions and the answer is an easy "no." ND in Va. (8/8/08) Dave's response: How much could a plane ticket to Denver for Mark Plotkin be? Maybe connect via SLC..... To the clearly misguided Baltimore poster who claims: "A newsperson builds contacts and credibility through their coverage area, not an Arbitron market designation." BZZZZZZZZT Sorry, Bunky, I have no idea what kind of funny weed you're smoking there in Dundalk, or wherever you hail from, but I expect you to prove that statement. Odds are you can't.A reporter's credibility comes from doing a good, solid, credible job of gathering and reporting the news, not from where the signal of their radio station covers. In the case of WTOP, most smart lawmakers in Annapolis know that to reach the residents of Montgomery, Prince Georges, parts of Frederick, and other Maryland counties surrounding D.C., you have to talk to the reporter from WTOP. That's just the way it is. I do recall tha WTOP did show up in the Baltimore book from time to time, but not in enough numbers to really count (and remember that ARBITRON's antiquated rules don't allow them to give a station crdit for listening outside of their primary metro area. I know you miss having WTOP and the traffic for your commute to D.C., but I will wager that there weren't enough like you to make it worth WTOP's while to continue to provide that sevice on 1500. Plus, 1500 had such a lousy signal at night because it had to protect that station in Minneapolis til recenty. So please don't trot out phony journalism theory to back a non-supportable "opinion", ok? / stepping gingerly off soapbox in shorts and bedroom slippers / - Just call me 'Legs' (8/8/08) Is the new phrase that pays at The Glob, Less Talk, More Tired Classic Rock! Egads, could we be seeing the end of days for Weasel and Serfe on D.C. radio? maybe the Weas could get a job over at RUSirius/XM. I'd listen. Say dcrtv dave you said you had a management type from borders call you about the newspapers going behind the counter at the Fascista Borders in toothless fairfax. did that muckity muck call you back after looking into matter or is it really like a long time employee at toothless fairfax store told me it was decision made by management above those at the fascist borders? remember when they use to have music at borders? say did they put the newspapers behind the counter at the Tysons and Bailey Xroads borders? Please be quiet about WCTN 950 playing the nostalgia format I know it won't last but shhhhhhh......What gives with Morning Joe 'believe or not" Scarborough filling in Monday night on WMAL? Syndication in the future? How can morning joe work mornings and then turn around and work evenings. Does Czaban prefer cherry or grape cool aid... (8/8/08) Comparing Washington and Baltimore sports fan-wise is a bit like comparing apples and oranges. DC is 2X the size of Baltimore and can obviously support more pro teams and DC has a pro-size arena, Baltimore is the largest metro area in the U.S. without a pro-size arena. I do think Washington can support 2 sports talk stations easily if Baltimore can support 2-3. However, they would have to be different types of stations and both would have to still cater to enormous Skins coverage, but maybe a critical Skins sports talk station would be nice, one that doesn't pull any punches. Obviously Danny Snyder is not going to allow that on his stations, that's for sure and I honestly don't see that there's going to be much of a ratings bump for snyder's radio empire even with all those signals as a result. Also, Baltimore's population is more, well, from Baltimore than DC's originally from the DC metro area, hence a more loyal fan base for O's and Ravens, and still even Colts than say any team in DC with the exception of the Redskins, which obviously are an institution. There are probably more people in the Baltimore metro area with Baltimore Colts or Orioles memorabilia behind their bars than the entire # of such people combined in DC with Wizards, Caps, or Nats memorabilia! Obviously with the Skins its sorta like moving to NYC, you either become a Mets or Yankees fan or someone will make that decision FOR YOU and FAST! Otherwise, GET OUT OF TOWN! LOL (8/8/08) Your front page item on Ed Gordon is somewhat correct, however this is not a new show. Its been in syndication for a while, it currently airs at 2:05AM on Sunday on WUSA. The show will just be moving to Channel 50, it also airs nationally on TVOne on cable. (8/8/08) Dave's response: I have updated the newsblurb..... /\ August 8 Messages /\ \/ August 7 Messages \/ Hello I am a listener of Wjfk from Baltimore on the stream. I use to listen to whfs when such great shows as Don and mike, Out to lunch with Big O and Dukes and the junkies use to be on 105.7 WHFS. Unfortunitly a day came when those shows left and now those shows are not syndicated in Baltimore. These days quality radio can only be heard on the stream as I do not have the ability to hear these great shows in my city of Baltimore. This has led me to create a petition for Maryland people, Wjfk listeners to get the chance to get their voice heard and let the people at WHFS know where they their choice stands. While they have the chance to want syndication in Baltimore I still need help. Most people in the Maryland and Baltimore area do not know about this petition and that leaves alot of people out who could pitch in. Dcrtv I need your help and I am asking If you have anyway if you can get my petition out there on your website inorder for more people to see? It would do more than what I can do myself and can attract more people to know that there is a petition for this to happen. I would be honored if you can help make this possible. here is the link to the petition: www.gopetition.us... Thank you so much for your time and love the website. sincerly, Nelson, The Baltimore listener (8/7/08) "The Redskins have connected with this area in a way that few franchises have anywhere and a lot of that has to do with the absence of baseball for so long. 28,000 at a scrimmage, 17,000 in Canton and that is even despite Snyder's mismanagement and the relatively poor showing of the team since the Gibbs I era." What's the source of that 28,000 figure? The Redskins. Why should we accept it as valid? Did all 28,000 car pool out there? After all, Metro doesn't go there. That would mean they parked at least 7,000 cars. Where? Do you know how much space 7,000+ cars takes up? Use your head, pal. That figure is an absolute joke. And the Canton figure comes from who? The Redskins. I guess the other Hall of Famers' fans stayed home. This is another perfect example of fans accepting whatever the Redskins say as gospel. As long as they know you'll eat it, they'll keep serving it. (8/7/08) (Re: If you have a signal in Baltimore, for example, a state government official might return YOUR call about a Maryland-related issue closer to DC. Otherwise, you're the proverbial rim-shot, and the newsmaker don't care about you.) Let me get this straight. So WTOP should overlap their broadcast on 1500 because a state official will THEN call them back? And they should simulcast on 1500 because they are currently a "rim-shot" and the newsmakers don't care about them? huh? (8/7/08) Okay, let me get this straight. According to a prior poster, DC is not a sports town even though it supports teams in five major pro sports, six if you include women's b-ball. Baltimore IS a sports town even though it only manages to support two pro teams. Basic logic not being taught in the Baltimore school system I see. (8/7/08) The person who is all defensive about whether it matters that Bonneville's news outlet is on a city-grade FM probably comes from the sales department, past or present. A newsperson builds contacts and credibility through their coverage area, not an Arbitron market designation. If you have a signal in Baltimore, for example, a state government official might return YOUR call about a Maryland-related issue closer to DC. Otherwise, you're the proverbial rim-shot, and the newsmaker don't care about you. (8/7/08) The Governor of Virginia may be Obama's running mate, Virginia itself could hold the key to the White House - and WTOP can't be bothered to send anyone to Denver? One of the most short-sighted editorial decisions in recent memory. But why? Wait, I know why - they're too busy diverting their resources to time fillers that are cheap: like monkey news and knuckleheads in the news. Here's a thought: whoever at WTOP decided that the convention isn't news and isn't worth covering is the knucklehead. "Washington's news station" - what a load of you know what. (8/7/08) Dave, here is the concluding statement from the August 5 decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (sorry, I meant "the Kangaroo Court in Richmond"): "The district court granted the motion, concluding that Rhodes’s statements were protected by the First Amendment, either because they were not made with actual malice or because they did not state actual facts about CACI. We affirm." Hmmmmm... that sounds like maybe the First Amendment DID have something to do with the case. (8/7/08) “IT CITED THE FIRST AMENDMENT IN ITS DECISION… Dave in Sterling” That’s precisely why I referred to it as a Kangaroo Court. Mind you, I’m not sitting in judgment of Ms. Rhodes or what she said, because I haven’t heard it. (I also never said I was a conservative, you inferred that.) I’m simply disputing the flawed notion that it’s a First Amendment issue. –Brian in DC (8/7/08) I have to agree that Amy Robach did a great job hosting the NBC News last night. I'm also glad to see the ''FishbowlDC'' recognized that Anita Brikman on Channel 9 is a very, very attractive woman. I know I'm being sexist but she's the ONLY reason to watch 9 now. But what about Alison Seymour, Lesli Foster, Julie Parker and...dare I say it?....Holly Morris. Paul (8/7/08) RE: "is it true that WTOP won't be sending anyone to the political conventions this year?" You've got to be kidding me! No coverage of the Democratic convention where the governor of Virginia may be named as Obama's running mate? Northern Virginia may be a key to whether the state goes Dem for the first time in god knows when. And, please, don't say it's a money thing. From all reports TOP is making money hand over fist. (8/7/08) Dave's response: I forwarded that original message to a top TOPer who refused comment. So, I guess it's true..... Nope, sorry, Dave was right (Re: “Now, go re-read the First Amendment” With all due respect, Dave, YOU re-read the First Amendment. Here’s a clue: it starts with the words “Congress shall make no law…”. The opinion of the Kangaroo Court in Richmond notwithstanding, this case has NOTHING to do with the first amendment, unless CACI is a government entity. Period."). Here's an easy way to tell that the "Kangaroo Court in Richmond" (guess that's what conservatives have taken to calling any court that doesn't do what they want) thought so: IT CITED THE FIRST AMENDMENT IN ITS DECISION. As do virtually all cases involving disputes over protected/non-protected speech. Dave in Sterling (8/7/08) I found this item on today’s “Cynopsis” newsletter. “Retro Television Network (RTN) introduced a new moniker, ‘Classic Television Hits All Day, Live Talk All Night.’ During the next several months, RTN will replace paid programming and starting in September the network will add in live news inserts, general entertainment and sports talk shows in late-night and overnight. In addition, Robin Leach will host an unnamed live show that will be produced in Las Vegas.” I believe that you, Dave, were complaining about the overnight infomercials on ch. 7’s new digital feed of RTN. Oh, the power of DCRTV!! Now if RTN would resolve their issues with CBS/Paramount we could get some of the old shows that were promised back on the channel. (8/7/08) Dave's response: I don't know what all the fuss is about. I'd be surprised if more than a dozen people at any one time are watching RTN7. At least Local Point TV showed that WJLA management was interested in promoting community-produced local programming. RTN is silly and it makes Allbritton look foolish. Want to watch old TV? Go to hulu.com and watch stuff when you want with no digital signal "hiccups"..... I get it now! 'brian wilson'.... That... Arrogant, Blow-hard, Who-hasn't-been-in-working-American society-for-20+years, Thinks-he-is-'conservative/patriotic', has-no-clue-about-America in 2008 (wow! computer os are a topic?...) Dang! -1057fm/cbs radio, should be embarrassed & ashamed for having such a tool on in the truly pathetic city of Baltimore (the peoples democratic of) Maryland... uggh, cant 'ed norris' waste air time better that than this dope? "...better dead than socialist..." ~"kinky-neo-con" (8/7/08) “Now, go re-read the First Amendment” With all due respect, Dave, YOU re-read the First Amendment. Here’s a clue: it starts with the words “Congress shall make no law…”. The opinion of the Kangaroo Court in Richmond notwithstanding, this case has NOTHING to do with the first amendment, unless CACI is a government entity. Period. (8/7/09) SNIP: (Wrong. 1500 can be picked up in Ellicott City, downtown Baltimore, and all the way to Wilmington, DE. 103.5 puts in a poor signal to Baltimore. I live near Baltimore and work in DC). I hate say it my friend, but to be frank, if you live in the Baltimore Metro, which it sounds like you do, then you don't matter to WTOP, or any other DC radio station for that matter. Even though you may listen and think that the station would appreciate that (I'm sure they do), they can't monetize you as a listener. 99.9% of all radio advertising is purchased off of Metro ratings. even Howard County isn't in the DC metro. unfortunately, decisions in radio are often made based on making (more) money!.... You missed the point. I was pointing out the error of the person who said that 105.3's coverage area is the same as the coverage area of 1500. It's not. (8/7/08) Two unrelated items. I was looking over the schedule for Washington Advertising Week, which is a conference (in its 5th year) taking place in mid-September. I noticed that one of the sessions will be on Arbitron’s introduction of the personal people meter technology to the DC market radio ratings. I try to keep up, but I didn’t know that this was going to be happening here within the next few months. At least that ‘s what the little blurb I saw implied. Also, concerning buying a Washington Times outside of the Fairfax Soviet bookstore from a vending box or inside from behind the counter, you don’t pay the sales tax if you buy the paper out of the machine. (8/7/08) WOW--I've got to say, Channel 104.3 is sounding great these days. The processing has been correct and sounds great, the jocks (albeit they are tracked) sound good and relevant...and not much chat, unlike the dinosaur 98 ROCK. However, I'd love to hear some more ALT rock variety on 104.3....such as the Violent Fems; James; Kate Nash; Vampire Weekend; The Kooks; Black Kids; The Wombats. I still find myself listening to BBC Radio 1 and Alt Nation on Siruis for my fix of ALT ROCK that is not featured in the US. I mean, INDIE 98 and HFS 2 feature those artists...why can't 104.3? (8/7/08) (Wrong. 1500 can be picked up in Ellicott City, downtown Baltimore, and all the way to Wilmington, DE. 103.5 puts in a poor signal to Baltimore. I live near Baltimore and work in DC). I hate say it my friend, but to be frank, if you live in the Baltimore Metro, which it sounds like you do, then you don't matter to WTOP, or any other DC radio station for that matter. Even though you may listen and think that the station would appreciate that (I'm sure they do), they can't monetize you as a listener. 99.9% of all radio advertising is purchased off of Metro ratings. even Howard County isn't in the DC metro. unfortunately, decisions in radio are often made based on making (more) money! (8/7/08) "......However, I noticed that the freebie Examiner is not available at the Fairfax bookshop?....." You are correct Dave. What's even stranger is that they sell the Washington Times behind the counter, and from the machine outside the store. Does that make sense? That machine could be replaced by the Examiner. (8/7/08) Some semi-near DCRTV happenings: To the northwest country WROG 102.9 in Cumberland, MD has officially been taken off-the-air July 31st and will soon be moving its station to Chambersburg, PA downgrading from a class B to a class A signal at FM 93.3. Any mailbaggers know what this "new" station will bring to the Chambersburg/Hagerstown market ? Please not MORE country!!! groups.yahoo.com... To the north-north Harrisburg has a new FM station .... sorta. Urban AC'er AM-1400 WTCY "The Touch" is simulcasting on one of those new fangled AM translators, or is it ? Cumulus is actually simulcasting the station via WNNK's HD-2 !! Legal? According to Cumulus it is unless the FCC explicitly says otherwise. So for the time being the new 60 watt "95.3 The Touch" is repeating an HD subchannel and Cumulus has plans to flip AM-1400 to sports. Could this start a trend of new mini-FM station translators merely repeating HD subchannel programming ? Hmmm .... www.radio-info.com... (8/7/08) OK, so CACI files a suit against Air America, the liberal radio network, and loses. In one of those little kozmik jokes that the Universe likes to play on us, the ninth floor of the CACI Building itself on Glebe Rd in Ballston is home to... the conservative Radio America Network. There's no tie-in to speak of; only that Radio America and CACI are both tenants in the same building, nothing more. So let's see: Air America, CACI, Radio America ... three more degrees and we'll reach Kevin Bacon. (8/7/08) Dave's response: The coverage of CACI's tossed lawsuit against Randi Rhodes is getting far more coverage that Rhodes' original comments, which almost nobody heard. Way to go you CACI legal eagles. Now, go re-read the First Amendment..... Dave, Then with the Globe gone classic rockish, do you think the HD2 channel, The Jam, will switch back to a more alternative sound? Drew from Fairfax (8/7/08) Dave's response: Why bother! Go listen to erockster on DC101's HD2. A fucking cool progressive rockish channel..... Dave, is it true that WTOP won't be sending anyone to the political conventions this year? I'm disappointed that an all-news station in a political town in a very exciting election year is turning its back on this story. But do you know why they have chosen to stay away? - Lucas (8/7/08) Snip: "Bonneville would be idiots to put WTOP on 1500. The last time I checked, 103.5 covers the entire area that 1500 covers." Wrong. 1500 can be picked up in Ellicott City, downtown Baltimore, and all the way to Wilmington, DE. 103.5 puts in a poor signal to Baltimore. I live near Baltimore and work in DC. Before the switchover, I kept my car radio on 1500 at all times. I would be alert to traffic problems on my way to and from work. Now, I'm on my own until I get halfway to Washington. Thanks for a great website. (8/7/08) ".....the Nationals have a great farm system going...." My wife has a degree in agiculture from Maryland. She goes to the games to get away from farming. She wants entertaininment. We tried bringing our radios, but WWWT appears to have problems with its signal. Our favorite player (Dimitri Young) is never there. The least they could do is charge less for pizza. If their farm system is that great, it should not cost them that much to grow wheat and tomatoes, and to make cheese. (8/7/08) “I agree there should be at least 2 sports stations in the market, but we've been banging on this door for years.” I suspect this was written tongue-in-cheek. At least I hope it was. Why in the world would you think that when the market has proven over the past 10+ years that it can barely support even ONE all-sports station? Seriously: its love affair with the under-performing Redskins aside, DC is not a sports town. Not like NY or Philly or Chicago or even, dare I say it, Baltimore. Two formats that do not and will not do well in Washington: all-sports radio and (incongruous as it may seem) political talk radio. (8/7/08) Sorry I can't see it. No way the Redskins don't rule the DC area for at least the lifetimes of anyone reading this board. The Redskins have connected with this area in a way that few franchises have anywhere and a lot of that has to do with the absence of baseball for so long. 28,000 at a scrimmage, 17,000 in Canton and that is even despite Snyder's mismanagement and the relatively poor showing of the team since the Gibbs I era. And the local media is fully on board the train by providing smothering coverage from the first day of training camp. I guess what I'm saying is that the bond between this area and the Redskins is so strong that I don't think even Danny Boy can screw it up. (8/7/08) A few comments about things that I have read over the past week. First of all, Bonneville would be idiots to put WTOP on 1500. the last time I checked, 103.5 covers the entire area that 1500 covers. and to put WTOP on 1500 because "all news belongs on the AM dial" is just a stupid (and non-business) reason. you use your signals to reach more people. not duplicate your signals because 1500 is the heritage home for WTOP. there is a reason the Redskins don't play at their "heritage" home (RFK) anymore. they UPGRADED to bigger, newer Fed Ex field (some will disagree with that analogy, but you get the point). Secondly, why would anyone, let alone Bonneville, think that putting a SECOND all sports station on the air is a good idea??? Where do I start? first of all, there are plenty of reasons CC sold WTEM...not the least of which was the fact that they couldn't generate enough money to make it worth keeping it. Red Zebra couldn't make any money with their non-Redskins programming either (signal issues were the major reason, but nonetheless important to point out). As was accurately stated in the mailbag by someone with more than half a brain, when you add up the total sports talk revenue potential in the market you get LESS than $10 Million total (you can't include the $8 mil or so that RZ gets from Redskins sales since that is the same money WJFK got for years). So you put on a sports talk station (and lets not forget that in order to "do it right" it takes MASSIVE investment in good talent...which costs money) and split the already small sports talk pie??? Why? so you can "beat" Red Zebra and "do it better"? you can disagree, but like it or not, WTEM "owns" the local sports talk brand. being the only game in town since the early 90's has led to that. Not necessarily great programming. More by default. But for the sports fan in DC, 980am is the "sports station". And WTEM owns the ESPN brand which is important if for no other reason than that affliation provides all the off hours programming a station like that has to program (which would cost MORE money). so hopefully we can end this stupid discussion about another sports talk station in the market until we find someone with DEEP, DEEP pockets full of money to throw at "doing it better" than Red Zebra/WTEM...and not care that the cash flow on the station will barely hover above the break even point (if even that good). Hmmm. that kinda describes someone like Dan Snyder. VOR. (8/7/08) Hey Dave, What do you think the new classic rock format on the globe will sound like? Like it did as the arrow or a more free-form type classic rock station? In any event, when do you think this will officially happen? Drew from Fairfax (8/7/08) Dave's response: It's pretty much done. The Globe wasn't all that different from a classic rocker to begin with. They've pretty much dropped those "announced current" songs they'd been playing. It won't be classic classic rock like on the old Arrow. You'll still hear Joe Jackson, Madness, U2, the Clash, maybe a Cure gem, along with the petrified rock of the Stones, Led Zep, and CSN..... Karmazin is a piece of work..... The other part of his quote (It was in Inside Radio this morning) was that at CBS when he had to make cuts, the first thing he sold was the art work..... From Tom Taylor at radio-info.com: "Mel Karmazin hints he might sell Sirius XM. Would it be a radio industry rollup candidate for a current broadcaster (I know, you’re thinking “Clear Channel”)? In an interview with the New York Times, Mel can’t resist sitting in his office and saying “I’m not a visionary, I’m an operator. And I’ve been a seller. The bankers all want the next transaction.” Boy, put that one up in gold plate on the wall, because it’s true – and Mel’s used it a bunch of times. Of course the newly-merged Sirius XM isn’t very saleable at the moment because it’s still losing money. Mel thinks profitability is a year or two away, and then they’d have an idea what it might be worth. In the meantime, talking about an eventual sale might not be bad for the stock price. Sirius XM stock (“SIRI”) was basically flat yesterday, up 3 cents to $1.45. The Times points out that its shareholder base is completely opposite from the usual pattern of 80% institutional holdings, 20% individuals. Sirius XM has a ton of subscribers who own its stock and Mel observes “they have a passion for the company.” The Times also thinks Mel was being conservative on his previous synergy/cost-savings estimates – and he might find even greater savings. But so far, he hasn’t shaken up either the former XM or his old Sirius operation with big layoffs to cut out the duplicated services and staffs. Mel's up-and-at-'em early today with an 8am conference call about Q2 results - and probably his immediate plans." (8/7/08) Amy Robach - She is light years better than Katie Couric. I'd rather see her on the evening news. Great delivery and composure. She's good. (8/7/08) I agree there should be at least 2 sports stations in the market, but we've been banging on this door for years. I wouldn't think its gonna happen. In the meantime, the Snyder takeover of WTEM was and could still be the perfect time to clean house. Pollin and Czaben should be cut loose. They are just stale, they clearly don't prepare for the show ever, and don't have much interest in putting together compelling programs. Like real guests not named Loverro or Knoche. Unsponsored guests. Get rid of them. In fact you could pretty much sever ties with everyone at WTEM and just start over. With other DC radio folks, or bring in other sports guys who actually care about putting on a good show from smaller markets. I don't believe you have to be from DC to do smart DC sports radio. Hell I'm so tired of Andy Polley talking about his childhood Redskins I could puke. Scott Linn can stay, I like him away from Czaben. The rest, Doc, Sheehan, JT, Smokin Al, etc can hit the bricks. 15 years of the same old stuff is just tiresome. Radio talk shows have a shelf life, and the reporters, Thompson show have expired. Its the same stuff everyday! If it was great it would be one thing, its at best occasionally mediocre. As for Larry Michael he is a clown. Literally a mascot for the Skins. This Redskin Nation show is unwatchable. I clicked by it once, and he was narrating practice talking about the Tight Ends. No insight, just telling us what we were watching. Yikes. If Snyder wanted a PR win, he would can Michael ASAP. We can all dream. PJ in DC (8/7/08) 94.7 is going back to classic rock? Cool. I'll just fire up my 386 computer, log onto my dial up account and listen online. (8/7/08) Dave's response: DC needs a cool, forward-looking rock station that's geared to adults over 35. Not a station that plays well-worn classics of the past. As I've said many times before, CBS is in the perfect position to give us that on 94.7, but it won't. Or, more likely, it can't. CBS Radio's top "bean counter" Dan Mason - he just don't know rock radio..... "We go to see the Capitol. We know that it will always be there for $5. We can't afford $7.50 for a beer. We can't afford $10 for a hot dog. There is nothing worth watching on the field. They only beat mediocre teams. Big deal. They won't even be here in 5 years." First, hot dogs are not 10 bucks at Nationals Park, so get your facts straight. Secondly, does any really care about what views you have from the nosebleed seats? You should be going to a game because you enjoy the sport, who cares what teams are on the field. I have been there twice this season although I am an O's fan (and neither game was for when Baltimore came to DC) because I like the sport. If you followed baseball well enough, you would realize that the Nationals have a great farm system going, so in a few years, they should be contending for the playoffs. Mike in Waldorf (8/7/08) Did you hear that Rena Popp resigned from FOX 5 to go to NYs FOX5, WNYW? It is true! (8/7/08) (Rant - 8/3 - Here's a way for CBS to become the dominant TV/radio provider in DC) Will you please, and I mean PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE sell me some of whatever it is you're smoking??!?!? Just a little? PLEASE, GOD, PLEASE?!? (8/7/08) "NFL is king in this town and it always will be." That's a pretty broad statement to make. If the football team has an extended playoff drought and the owner alienates even more long time fans, things could change. It wouldn't be an overnight thing, but it could change. The NFL was king in Baltimore for years, and then Bob Irsay, little by little,took it down, long before he finally left town. Snyder's perfectly capable of the same thing, short of moving. Look at his business "empire." Virtually everything else he's bought has gone down the tubes - Six Flags, Johnny Rocket's; there was a piece about it in the City Paper recently, very well-documented. He's King Midas in reverse - everything he touches turns to crap, and I suspect he'll do the same thing with local radio. Other NFL towns have experienced similar downturns when the fans/season ticket holders figured out it was just a shakedown. You can think DC is different, but as a native who's been around since the 1950's I assure you it's not. Stop kidding yourself. There's a limit to everything. (8/7/08) Did Don Geronimo get canned from the O.C. job on the same date he came back in 2005? Maybe he didn't comeback too soon back then. When his world was falling apart the one thing he could hold onto was radio. Of course, maybe this time he did come back too soon after leaving WJFK. I guess with DG no longer on WOCM he's not likely to get or take another job in O.C. so the only way we'll get a chance to hear the ole Don on the air till after 2010 is if he goes to cufflinks newly merged joint but if Big Daddy Mel is going to slash $400 million in costs is he really going to do any new hiring? Btws, would it still be fight club violation to put up podcasts of DG's work for the month of July 2008. but hey now aren't El Jefe and Dubs getting a tryout for The Hideout on sirius/xm? Has the tryout already been broadcast? Why do they blackout the eyes on all the pictures on the Hideout website? I see the skateboarders Op and Ant are in negotiating stance with Sirrius/XM. Any word on Ron and Fez remaining with RUSirius/XM I actually listened a wee of the O'Meara show today just ponderous,was O'Meara really considered a nice guy once upon a time. he sure whines a lot on his show. Maybe it was being with DG that MOM egotiscal quirks weren't quite as noticeable. At as for the Globe will Weasal be returning to evenings and bringing back The Boxed Set segment pretty please... (8/7/08) Now that WLTT ("W-Lite !" ) is back again, will they re-hire Rich Garcia as the news guy? It was stupid for CBS to let him go in the first place, right as the station was on the way to having a real news presence, local coverage, as part of a music format. I mean, who does that ? (8/7/08) ".......Are you going to a major league baseball game to see the Capitol or the game? ...." We go to see the Capitol. We know that it will always be there for $5. We can't afford $7.50 for a beer. We can't afford $10 for a hot dog. There is nothing worth watching on the field. They only beat mediocre teams. Big deal. They won't even be here in 5 years. (8/7/08) Dave's response: I heard on Big O and Dukes (and they have fast food experience!) the other day that it costs about 10-cents to "produce" a soda - the water, syrup, and cup - at an eatery or a movie theater. Yet, the latter charges $4 to $5 for the refreshment. OK, I can see some markup for a fair profit and to pay the kid working the counter, but that price is nothing but an abject ripoff. I now "smuggle" a drink purchased elsewhere into movie theaters. Take that, National Amusements..... /\ August 7 Messages /\ \/ August 6 Messages \/ Davey, my boy, what happened to the DJs on the Globe. When I read the story this afternoon about the shift to classic rock, I tuned in on my way home and didn't hear Cerphe or any of his crappy "interviews/interactions" with callers... what gives amigo??? (8/6/08) Dave's response: I hear it'll be flipping to German beer hall music as of 8/15..... For “Brian”, “OCF”is almost Accountantese New Speak for the now very non-PC term once called “profit”. It stands for “Operating Cash Flow”. Basically, it’s more than merely your EBITDA. It’s how much $ you carry over from one accounting period into the next after payment of all expenses and accrual of all billable expenses during that accounting period which will be paid during a subsequent accounting period. For Mike, I’ve been in ham radio since 1961. The hybrid HF rigs of the late 1970’s were classics. However, I also have two all solid-state HF rigs. For “Legs”, keep the comments coming! It’s refreshing to read someone talking about what this business could (and should) be, as opposed to merely complaining about what it is and is becoming! Please convey your optimism to your kids. Yes, it’s nice too look back at “the good old days” when it seemed we were overworked/underpaid/unappreciated, yet enjoying it! Now, it seems so many are simply overworked/underpaid/unappreciated! And, thanks for blowing me a kiss. Consider it returned! Unsigned Corporate Suit (8/6/08) RE: Talks Underway To Renew O&A's Deal With Satrad - As a longtime XM subscriber and Opie and Anthony fan since I first heard them on XM, I am praying that the boys take this opportunity to sign an exclusive deal with Sirius XM and leave terrestrial radio again. The split shows are not working, in my opinion. They are clearly not happy with the restrictions that they have to adhere to for the first 3 hours of their show everyday and on more than a few occasions, they will often spend the first hour or so on XM bitching about what they cannot say or get away with on the terrestrial side of the show. Don't get me wrong, this does not happen everyday but it does happen often enough. One other thing too, I was listening the other day when "Super Agent," Bob Eatman was on and the subject of them returning to XM exclusively did very briefly come up and it seemed to me that they weren't completely against the idea. -Kevin from HdG, MD (8/6/08) Thanks for asking about me. I'm back in the DC area doing fill in at WNAV in Annapolis. This week's news and a regular Sunday 10-3 shift. I'm at scott@myradio.com. Thanks! Scott Brady (8/6/08) Dave, Wow, now the hatred grows for sportalk in our area along with much dislike for Steve Czaban. Here's my question, at what point do people like Snyder and other executives start listening to some of us and remove Czaban, Pollin, Linn and the old regime...and replace them with a fresh look team of Riggins, Kiley and The Coach and possibly some segments featuring the likes of Sonny Jurgensen or Darrell Green. Here's one thing I do know, Larry Michael should be removed from TV and Radio and shown the door!! Can't watch him on TV because he's bigger than life and it's very uncomfortable to listen to the games when Larry has ZERO respect for Sonny and Sam. (8/6/08) "There used to be a choice. This jerk or Hall of Famer John Riggins. Bring back The Diesel. Choice is good. Snyder doesn't allow choice." About this I wholeheartedly agree. I actually do like Czaban's morning show and am quite upset Snyder dropped it for the unlistenable Mike & Mike. Haven't tried the Junkies in the morning in a while but I might try that. However, I do think it is imperative to have an objective sports talk station in DC. Not owned by Snyder and that has personality. You have to look at what stations like WFAN are in NY and WXYT in Detroit. They may be owned by CBS, but they are quite on the up and up when it comes to sports talk, plus there is enough time for everyone still to call in. ----Jay (8/6/08) Chris Plante is the worst interviewer on the radio. His show is horrible and he can't conduct a decent interview. A crappy radio host appearing on an even worse cable news show doesn't start to make him an up and coming star as one very very lonely mailbag poster would like us all to beleive. WMAL used to be a proud local and informative voice for Washington. Now it's not even a shell of its former self but more of a once proud station forever tarnished by syndicated yakkers and those who work cheap enough to still have a job there. (8/6/08) Dave's response: You said it better than I could have. After hearing Andy Parks lecturing his (diminishing) listening audience this morning about how Barack Obama is snooty and has "his nose in the air," I almost ripped the AM band out of my radio receiver. I wonder if Parks would characterize a like white politician with those same terms? The old 1310 WEEL studio at 3909 Oak Street, Fairfax, is now a kindergarten. www.theboydschool.com (8/6/08) You can see the Capital from the nosebleed seats at the Nats stadium. (8/6/08) Wow, I just find out today that Donnie G was doing a show in OC, and it's after he's not on anymore. What the heck happened? Only a month? (8/6/08) Sports radio in DC? Not! The crap on 980 AM and the Snyder signals is unbearable. The Szabin guy thinks he's funny. Hey---you are not funny! There used to be a choice. This jerk or Hall of Famer John Riggins. Bring back The Diesel. Choice is good. Snyder doesn't allow choice. And at some point the XM-Sirius deal won't provide choice. Oh to the days of local radio with local topics. Oh, and back to the crap with the ZSabeen guy on 980 AM, I get oughta' work and I want to hear sports. He gives us movie reviews and other baloney. What an idiot. Just a terrible program. Always was and continues to be. Oh, and for anyone suggesting I get Sat. radio. Nope! Don't wanna' pay for radio. Can't wait for the Internet radio stations to come to my car. That I'd pay for. (8/6/08) Can't see the Capitol from Nationals Park? So friggin' what? Are you going to a major league baseball game to see the Capitol or the game? That's what was so great about RFK Stadium. Can't see nothin' but the game. And that's why you are there. The game! Baltimore has/had some great views. So what? Look now at the lower number of people attending games at The Yard. Who cares about the views. Most real fans care about the game. Nats suck. O's suck. When teams win, fans will come to see the games, not the scenic views. Excuse me, the view from here isn't the few from there. (8/6/08) Have you seen the Fox5 show this week? As someone else posted Laura Evans and Claudia Coffey are filling in. Guess Alison and Steve are on vacation. Poor Laura should have stayed home and slept in because Claudia does not let her get a word in at all. She's such a chatterbox it is irritating and she talks all over everyone including Tony and the other weather guy. Seems like she's trying to dominate the show. Laura seems to be so professional next to Claudia. Hey Claudia "anchors work in teams do some sharing of the downtime will ya and give your mouth a rest you're forcing me to switch channels. Alison please hurry back you are so missed. (8/6/08) "Senator Chris Matthews from Pennsylvania? Don't Chris and Kathleen Matthews live in Chevy Chase? Wouldn't that be a little like Hillary Clinton running for Senate in New York after living in Arkansas & DC for most her adult life?" - Not really. Matthews was born in Philadelphia and grew up there (went to Holy Cross for College, but still went to High School in Pennsylvania as well), so he at least has a more natural connection. A more apt comparison would be if Hillary Clinton had run for Senate in Illinois (where she was born) rather than New York. (8/6/08) Dave's response: Didn't George H. W. Bush keep his Texas residency by renting a hotel room in Houston, even though he lived in Maine? Maybe Chris could keep a room in the Super 8 Motel near the Philadelphia airport while living down here..... Ok, so when can we expect Mark and Kris back home in DC????? We still miss the hot morning mess! (8/6/08) Dave's response: I think Kane's ratings are pretty solid on Hot 99.5. But, Mark and Kris might just be the ticket to get somebody (anybody) listening to the Moldy Globe or 3WT..... As reported in today's Washington Times, Jim Lehrer and Gwen Ifill -- both from Arlington-based public broadcaster WETA -- will moderate presidential and vice-presidential debates. Lehrer, the anchor of The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, will moderate the first presidential debate in Oxford, MS, on Sept. 26. Ifill, moderator of Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and National Journal, will moderate the vice presidential debate on Oct. 2 in St. Louis, MO. (8/6/08) "....We have a baseball team that has won four straight..." We also have a football team that won its first exhibition game. Ever hear of the Redskins? Even if the Nationals were to go to the World Series, no one cares. The most exciting thing the Nationals can offer is people being impaled on double decker busses. It seems like they don't even have a marketing department. Redskins formula works. 90% marketing, and 10% product investment. (8/6/08) "We're going back to all news radio.........news on demand for the Web produced by broadcast newsrooms is working." Read the full article: www.tvnewsday.com (8/6/08) A look back at the Greaseman. www.onfrozenblog.com (8/6/08) Senator Chris Matthews from Pennsylvania? Don't Chris and Kathleen Matthews live in Chevy Chase? Wouldn't that be a little like Hillary Clinton running for Senate in New York after living in Arkansas & DC for most her adult life? Tom In Silver Spring (8/6/08) The problem with a combined Baltimore/Washington sports talk station is that Redskin fans (in general) aren't all that interested in the Ravens and vice versa. Such a station would have trouble holding its DC area listeners during extended Ravens discussions, while the Baltimore audience would likely tune out whenever a Skins related interview came on. Perhaps the concept would work better for baseball and college sports since the Orioles still have a significant fan base in Washington while both cities support Maryland Terrapin football and basketball. On the other hand, I'm not sure too many people in Charm City care much about the Nationals, Wizards or Capitals. Regarding all the Brett Favre talk on ESPN980, that station has always paid attention to the big national sports topics. Recall that a year ago at this time, the Michael Vick dogfighting story was generating nearly as much discussion as the Redskins. Last week, I posted about the Jonah Goldberg column that blasted ESPN for honoring 1968 Olympic medalists Tommie Smith and John Carlos and was treated like gospel truth by Andy Pollin and Steve Czaban on WTEM's Sports Reporters. Since then, it's been exposed by Dave Zirin (writing in The Nation) as a shoddy, dishonest piece of right wing revisionism: "you could tell right away that Goldberg didn't read a book, an article, even a fortune cookie, about the 1968 Olympics before whipping out his laptop. Smith and Carlos never advocated any kind of violence. Furthermore, they saw their symbol as a sign of resistance that would connect broadly across ethnicities, not a narrow expression of 'black power'". A link to Zirin's article www.thenation.com... Mike, Fairfax (8/6/08) "107.7 FM blanks out almost every game. " What??!!??? (8/6/08) "Why in God's name is the Washington media giving so much coverage to this Farve fiasco in Green Bay? It has nothing to do with our football team, we don't play them, and yet these people on WTEM drone on and it also on every tv sportscast. We have a baseball team that has won four straight with two new exciting players and yet nary a mention about them." NFL is king in this town and it always will be. Just be glad they don't have to cover any murder/dogfighting/rape trials this offseason. All in all, the NFL is secretly enjoying a relatively drama-free year. (8/6/08) It's official, Clear Channel is putting 92.1 and 105.5 in the Salisbury market in the Aloha Trust for sale. How about Layton Moore (as a buyer) that owns WOCM and Secearts! Why would Layton Moore buy another radio station? Seriously, he has gotten his ass kicked on OCM, dragged through the sand and tossed overboard into the bay like a drunken sailor. My guess is he has lost millions on that station. It’s a laughingstock in the market. It's a perennial loser in the ratings. The morning show is absolutely atrocious, almost comedic in its irrelevancy and amatuerism. The station play list is directed at no one. Layton Moore's best option would be to add OCM to the growing list of radio stations for sale and take what he can get. (8/6/08) I really don't like sports talk as a format (just a personal thing), but what most of the comments on this site seem to overlook is: Just talking about sports is not enough. Baseball, football, duckpin bowling are great, but you don't tune-in to hear that unless it is the day after a 40 point come-from-behind Redskin victory. To have ratings you have to have a station that people tune-in to hear the personalities whatever they are talking about. Like any other format, just filling 24 hours with anything, will not make it great. Even a sports talk station has to have interesting, entertaining pros who can make you listen on a slow sports day. I listen to Rob Long on WNST just because I enjoy his program. The same holds true for all formats. OCF=Operating Cash Flow. As the UCS said, cutting your budget with syndication will usually also diminish your ability to sell it. As I posted a few days ago, Red Zebra can't increase their OCF (How to use it in a sentence) by buying more stations and simulcasting. They have to make their product live, local, entertaining, and interesting. People don't listen to Howard Stern to find out what new movie is coming out. Ed Graham (8/6/08) Just moved from DC. While this may not have an effect to DC radio, tis a bad omen for stations like WJFK. Albuquerque had (notice I said had) a WJFK knockoff at 96.3 "The Buzz" Had "talent" such as Bob and Tom (what horrible horrible radio) Dennis Miller and Tom Leykus. Highlight was the Mike O'Meara show. Followed D&M and Mike since I moved to DC in 1992. Turned on 96.3 and got an ear full of Speedy Gonzales. CBS radio strikes again. The station had flipped. Mind you there has to be 20+ Spanish stations in the area. Don't know what the ratings were but what a shock. I am not the only one. Hopefully I can find out through WJFK is Mike's show will be picked up in the future. Point is, nothing is safe. DC may have 99.5 El Zol but JFK reaches from Fairfax out to Front Royal. The station is painful. VERY. (8/6/08) Dave - Looked at the Fredericskburg ratings online at R&R... what's happened to WBQB? They used to be a consistent #2 there and now they don't even show up. Neither does 104.5 or Dave Adler's WGRQ. Insights? - Chris (8/6/08) Dave's response: Apparently, if you don't subscribe to Arbitron's ratings, you don't get your stations listed in the quarterly numbers. Centennial's Winchester stations, including WINC, were also missing from that market's radio ratings..... Quote 1: "Dave's response: MAL, such a sad little station." Not so fast, Dave. Last night they had Mika Brzezinski subbing for Austin Hill, along with Joe Scarborough. Mika's 2-hour diatribe about how great Obama is was not challenged by anyone, even though some callers disagreed with her. Kudos to WMAL for giving her a forum to state her political and elections analysis, even though I disagreed with her entirely. Quote 2: "(Re: WMAL) Talk radio that stifles the talk is called propaganda" Heh... tell that to "Miss Fairness Doctrine", the reclusive Nancy "I'm turning off the lights, the TV monitors and all other media in the Congress through September" Pelosi. -Silvie- (8/6/08) "........What's your point?......." The point is that winning 4 straight means nothing. They are still in last place. They still charge $7.50 for beer. The new ownership stinks. You can barely see the capitol. No tickets are going to inner city youth. Losing games and money is the default form. 107.7 FM blanks out almost every game. Now leave me alone, or I shall taunt you a second time. (8/6/08) Would the Unsigned Corporate Suit please explain (to non-insiders) what "OCF" is? Thanks! *Brian in Reston (8/6/08) " In fact, you reminded me that it’s been far too long since I last exercised the 6146B’s in my TS-530 and TS-830!" Hey, Suit! Maybe you could reach into the fridge and grab a couple of ice cold "807's"? 73, Mike in Frederick and the Dashboard DX, Chowder and Marching Society. (8/6/08) The previous poster literally took the words out of my mouth! The worst thing that could happen would be the CBS cluster going to Clear Channel...talking about jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. CC and CBS have clearly demonstrated they strictly answer to their shareholders and the result is what you hear on their stations. Certainly, radio is a business, but since these guys grabbed a large chunk of it, it has had all the talent and creativity sucked out of it. (8/6/08) ""....We have a baseball team that has won four straight..." The Nationals lost last night." They did - after winning four straight. What's your point? (8/6/08) "....We have a baseball team that has won four straight..." The Nationals lost last night. (8/6/08) You can't see me that much, but you can definitely hear me...FUN TIMES! www.youtube.com... -- Peter Rosenberg, Hot 97 WQHT New York (8/6/08) "to make an investment in satrad hardware right now would be just plain foolish." Yes, that In V2 for $39.99, pro install at $50.00 and subscription of $13.00/month is ASTRONOMICAL. Total bill 1st month: $102.99. Thats quite an investment for music of your choice with no commercials and all the play by play you could ask for. Foolish? A lot of fools are enjoying the benefits of sat radio and I simply love Sirius. Adding XM just makes it that much better. (8/6/08) The corporate suit is all wet. There are PLENTY of folks who grow up around the DC area and stay. Which is not to say there aren't a lot of transients too. But I get tired of hearing the nonsense about no natives living here. By the way, is it those transients who make the Redskins one of the best supported pro sports teams in the world? 28,000 at an intra-squad scrimmage. 17,000 at a Hall of Fame ceremony in Canton Ohio where they took over the town. Those transients get around don't they. (8/6/08) Did anyone else hear Grandy & Andy this morning hang up immediately on a Obama supporter who called to question the poor and biased wording of a G&A's anti-Obama rant? Shame on Grandy and Andy, there is no doubt mow you are mouthpieces for the RNC. Talk radio that stifles the talk is called propaganda. (8/6/08) Dave's response: MAL, such a sad little station. A Marconi nom? The NAB must be nuts..... The question about the Springfield Highway Advisory Radio signal the other day --- wow, I see. The rotating messages include a mention of the project's most recent status... dated 2007. There is also a suggestion to park at the Franconia station and pick up a five-dollar Metro All-Day pass. Those passes are now $7.80 - a more than 50% price increase since the message first hit the air. What are these guys doing instead of updating messages? (8/6/08) 96.5 WCTG, the station out of Chincoteague Va. On the Eastern Shore is now streaming on the internet at www.ctgradio.com. The small station currently has Doc Holloway in the mornings from 6 to 10, the "Lunch Ladies" Robin and Kanen from 11 to 1 and "The Good Doctor and Rayce" for the afternoon drive home from 4 to 7. Would be interested to hear the opinions of folks outside the area who are "in the know" (so to speak) about this little station that has quite a following on the lower shore. (8/6/08) "Why in God's name is the Washington media giving so much coverage to this Farve fiasco in Green Bay? It has nothing to do with our football team, we don't play them, and yet these people on WTEM drone on and it also on every tv sportscast. We have a baseball team that has won four straight with two new exciting players and yet nary a mention about them." Who, pray tell, at 980 would you have analyze what's going on with the Nationals? I rest my case. (8/6/08) re: -- from Dave Arlington: "Yes, the WEAM memories are taking on a life of their own. So let me jump in to say that at least four members of the current WASH-FM air staff worked at WEAM...I am happy to be one of the four"...Dave, I don't remember hearing you. I remember tuning in Lou Katz on WEAM around 1972-73. He's the morning guy now? Not sure who the other two are? I think the WEAM was a lot better than people give it credit. Signed, I love top 40 radio. (8/6/08) Dave... So nice to log on this evening while enjoying the Nats game and finding a posting from the Unsigned Corporate Suit. Such a pleasure to hear from someone who actually has to run one of these radio station "things" in today's very un-quality-friendly, and some might say, uber-business-obsessed environment. I suppose we'll agree to disagree about 1500, although it would not surprise me in the least one day to see they've quietly re-applied with the Feds for the "WTOP-AM" calls, and begun simulcasting with 103.5/103.9 again. On the subject of sports talk: yes, I agree that a well-run, well-programmed "live and local" sportstalk station here in D.C. could easily knock the pants off of ESPN 980. With the right numbers, such a station would attract not only the important local ad dollars, but the equally important NATIONAL ad dollars, the kind you hear on ESPN. As has been previously proven with the late-and-unlamented "TripleX", the only thing Red Zebra cares about is the Redskins, period, end of discussion.In D.C., a station like that wins the day only if the team has a reasonably good, if not excellent (playoffs/Super Bowl) season. Any thing less, and the fans will go elsewhere. Whereas, a station that has a more balanced approach combining all the big pro sports, plus blanket coverage of college, and even solid weekly coverage of high school sports, will be a winner in the long run. Finally, here's an idea that came to me while watching the Nats and then the Os (what a performance by Chris Waters!) on MASN. What if you could do a two-city, regional "sportstalk" super-station? Sort of a "MASN Radio"? Take 1500/107.7, and combine it with, oh, say, WBAL or WJFK-AM (or one of the FMs that Clear Channel or CBS might be unloading), and simlcast them for the local sports talk shows. The morning show would be "double-anchored" from D.C. and Balimore. My "dream team" in the morning would be Frank Herzog and Johnny Holiday in D.C., and that lovely Tom Davis and Phil Wood in Baltimore. Between 6am and 10am, the D.C. and Balimore studios would switch off, half-hour on, half-hour off, anchoring the show from each city. Say, D.C. between :45 and :15, Baltimore from :15 and :45. (Satellite and/or ISDN make such an arrangement very inexpensive to pull off,and require only careful planning). Midday, you alternate between Baltimore and D.C. anchoring shows, making sure that both cities sports are represented. In the evenings and weekends, the stations split to take care of their live play-by-play obligations in their respective markets, hooking up again overnight for satellite programming, say, Fox. (I'm sure there are a million reasons that will be posited on why this won't work; all I will say is I respect your right to have an opinion, if you'll respect my rights to do the same, and leave it at that.) As my friend, the UCS, insightfully notes, such a bold plan would require a serious, long-term committment from a company whose aim is to make money by putting out a quality product. I don't know that, in this really difficult ad/business climate, that there is a company out there (at least the ones that are held by stockholders) with the stones to make that committment. Kinda like the slacker ex-boyfriend who lost me to the man who today is the father to my children! / blowing kiss to UCS, and that very nice "Jim" who posted earlier, while gingerly stepping off soapbox in red denim 'Daisy Dukes' short-shorts and red canvas peep-toe espadrilles with wedge heels from Naturalizer / - Just call me 'Legs' (8/6/08) RE: " OC104 ON THE EASTERN SHORE JUST WRAPPED UP THE FUNKMASTER FLEX CELEBRITY CAR & CUSTOM BIKE SHOW OVER THE WEEKEND AT THE OCEAN CITY CONVENTION CENTER IN OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND" Dude, do you have to yell at us in all caps. Just cause your jocks yell, you don't have to type at us so loudly! If this is who I think it is, you should always know to keep a forward momentum in radio, don't talk about what has happened, look forward and talk about what is coming up. Gimme a good tease and deliver, don't rehash the past. Oh, that is why it is OC 104..or OC Radio!(8/6/08) 94.7, you want people to listen. Steal the playlist from WMMS. Listened to that channel while there for HOF. (8/6/08) Dave's response: Or steal the playlist from CBS's WXRT in Chicago..... Dave, I have long agreed with you regarding The Globe becoming WHFS, but I have to say that with the exception of Bob Waugh, who has been programming WRNR Annapolis, I am not sure how relevant the DJ music choices would be. Weasel is a musicologist and it's clear listening to him on the Globe that anything post 1990, he doesn't really seem to know other than what can be found on Wikipedia. Does he even go to shows anymore? Cerphe has been playing Classic Rock for so long that most don't even remember that he even worked at WHFS. He is DC 101 and Arrow. To bring back WHFS in the form you propose would mean a playlist of 1980-1990 Golds. Sure they would play Coldplay and Radiohead and Amy Winehouse. Who doesn't. The issue really isn't so much the music but rather the personalities. Radio listening and how we get information has changed so much that a new approach needs to be taken. My proposal is that each daypart have it's own a speciality show built in. One where the DJs plan out the entire show with interviews, information, contests, and leave some space for audience interaction. The best show on The Globe is Eclectic Lunch. The show has a theme, audience participation, new music, old music, topical. A focus. Little Stevens Underground Garage is another great example, though not local, at least it's interesting. Michael Baisden, syndicated daily on WHUR, is probably the best show in town. His audience is involved, they discuss life, music, issues. He knows exactly who his audience is and plans out each day with meaning. Most DJs are so lazy now and feel telling us the tour schedule of every band is somehow "news". NPR has a term called "Driveway Radio". When is the last time you sat in your driveway to hear what was coming up next? (8/6/08) What was REALLY going on over at WEEL? The American Legion Post burned down taking WEEL to the ground with it. Judy Kellar backstabbed Jack Alix so she could program her daddy's radio station. "Tiger Bob" Raleigh had his car radio set to 1310 on the way to work one morning when WEEL was off the air. He heard 13Q coming in from Pittsburgh on the skip, and transformed WEEL into 13 Double-E complete with calling PSAs "Footnotes." (13 Double-E ... "Footnotes" ... shoe size reference ... get it?) The Kellars sold the station to Lady Bird Johnson who didn't have a clue about what to do with it. She tried to give it to George Mason University, but they passed and it's now a beacon for the Korean community of Fairfax. Wouldn't you agree that none of that comes close to the 5kW circus that went on over at 1390? (8/6/08) /\ August 6 Messages /\ \/ August 5 Messages \/ (regarding a previous post) Dave Arlington mentioned the "WEAM Great Frisbee Fly-in saucer", which sounds like a small item you could toss around, on a nice day at the park. Does anybody remember the much larger WEAM FLYING SAUCER? Better yet, some photos would be nice. I remember seeing it at the Grand Opening of K-Mart in the 1700-block of Duke Street in Alexandria, around 1965 or so. They would set up a containment ring, maybe 25 feet across, inside of which, was the red and white WEAM FLYING SAUCER. As best as I can recall, it was about six feet across, with lawn mower type engines inside and some kind of mechanism that made it float or hover a few inches above the ground. Listeners would sit on top of it and hang on, as awo or three guys would push it or kick it toward the center of the ring, if it floated too close to the edge. (8/5/08) Dave: I must agree with the last note posted. The Favre soap-opera can be viewed on ESPN or ESPNews and there's no place or time for the story on ESPN980... at least outside a two-minute sports update. This is why Bruce Gilbert and Snyder needed to nuke that old 980 management people like Chris Johnson and Andy Pollin and bring-in people who have some solid sports broadcasting experience. In addition, I listened to Kevin and Doc last week and Doc couldn't be any more colder and non-interested in what Kevin was saying...let along Kevin wasn't stroking Doc's ego...it's a bad mix. I wish people would stop complaining about our local sportstalk radio station because nothing's going to change until we get some much needed competition in the market. Hear my yell for help CBS or Bonneville? we need 1500 as a sportstalk station now!!! (8/5/08) I'm kind of surprised that CBS's best idea for 94.7 is moving back to Classic Rock. In a market with no Smooth Jazz specifically CBS could have made big adjustments. They could Jack 94.7? They could've "Fresh"end things up a bit like NY and Chicago. Or as has been said on several occasions flip the DC signals around a bit. El Zol to 106.7, WJFK to 94.7 and something new all together on 99.1. One thing with 99.1 is that I think it's possibly one of CBS's stronger signals, for me it doesn't start fading until I'm near the Mason Dixon and into PA. IMO, the best place for a maybe a more Baltimore station than DC. I do think that HFS is pretty much dead. Channel 104.3 has sounded better than HFS-2 IMO, and DC101 I think has always held a bit of an edge over HFS in DC. Also just in reading the front page blurbs from the other day, I would certainly hope CBS's Baltimore stations do not fall into the hands of CC. Seriously anyone but them. (8/5/08) why is 'keith'/countdown such a STUCK-UP, BLOW-HARD, LIBERAL, OUT-OF-TOUCH WHINNY BITCH??? IM SORRY, I NEVER SEE 'keith' DOING ANY REAL REPORTING ON MSNBC??? -COULD YOUS EXPLAIN THAT SOMETIME, IF ANYONE @ MSNBC READS THESE EMAILS FROM COMMONERS, like me... ~'kinky-neo-con' USA (8/5/08) Why in God's name is the Washington media giving so much coverage to this Farve fiasco in Green Bay? It has nothing to do with our football team, we don't play them, and yet these people on WTEM drone on and it also on every tv sportscast. We have a baseball team that has won four straight with two new exciting players and yet nary a mention about them. (8/5/08) My “sister-in-common sense”, “Legs”, has shown her gift of understatement. WTOP is in a class by itself among CBS affiliates. Few network affiliate stations today –anywhere- can deliver the big-buck demos that WTOP does every day. That is why CBS treats them with kid gloves. CBS needs WTOP. And, Bonneville knows it. I am also among those who would’ve kept WTOP on 1500, as well as going to 103.5. All-news is a format made for AM… especially in an emergency. Sure, it would take Bonneville seconds to put WTOP audio on 1500. However, radio is very Pavlovian. ‘If it’s not there when you expect it, it won’t be there when you need it.’ It’s bad enough when you trying to do an ad sell to a would-be client. But, in a post 9/11 world, timely & reliable information delivery in an emergency would be critical. As for her analogy of WFAN being an “example” sports-talk station, “Legs” left out that you need a committed station ownership to make it work. Dollars alone aren’t enough. That is why WFAN is successful where others have failed. CBS has a time-honored commitment to quality broadcasting, and to quality sports. Remember when CBS owned the New York Yankees? She is also right about the high costs of quality local programming vs. relaying stuff off the ‘bird. Except for Dave Johnson, the rest of the WTOP sports “team” are contractors from Metro Networks. (I’m leaving out Frank Herzog as he is primarily an anchor (And, a very competent one.), as opposed to being a sportscaster.) However, what “Legs” no doubt politely omitted is that a well-run locally programmed station will almost invariably knock a similar format satcast relay (or automated) station on its ass in the ratings almost every time. No matter how low your costs are, if your competitor has a higher OCF, guess who’s losing? However, my dear, I strongly disagree with you on your comment about “… if you remember my previous analysis that there was not enough ad revenue in the Washington Metro to support three sports talk stations”… “Legs”, I don’t think there are enough reliable ad dollars in the entire D.C. Metro to support even one fulltime sports station! With the exception of the Redskins, no sports team in D.C. has ever had the devoted fan base that other cities have! It’s in the demographics: How many people does anyone on this board know who live here and were born, raised, educated, married, and are now raising kids of their own in the D.C. area? Damn few. There are few “native Washingtonians”. If you look around, you are more likely to find people with an affinity for their college/university or another city’s team(s) than a Washington team of the same sport. Finally, I do remember “keeping the plates warm”! In fact, you reminded me that it’s been far too long since I last exercised the 6146B’s in my TS-530 and TS-830! Won’t be anytime soon, alas. Too busy doing budgets! Unsigned Corporate Suit (8/5/08) The only thing spinning about Keith Olbermann are the voices in his head! Face it whether conservative or liberal, its obvious that guy has more loose screws than a Nuts & Bolts Convention. However, I definitely will be watching him election night just to see if he pops a vein in his neck if McCain wins. LOL (8/5/08) WEAM - What was the strange sound that came from WEAM?? rob (8/5/08) Jesus Hacking Christ -- enough of the WEAM stories already! Now, if anybody can give us the inside scoop on what was REALLY going on over at WEEL..... (8/5/08) Why is Olbermann spinning Millbank's exit bigheaddc.com (8/5/08) Also, Bob received a gold record for Hanky Panky, Tommy James and the Shondells. Steve Miller (8/5/08) (FishbowlDC's) Patrick Gavin seems to have swiped Michael Calderone's reporting earlier today….turns out Calderone broke the news at 11:15am today that Fox's Brian Wilson was stepping down as bureau chief…… www.politico.com..... a short while later, Patrick Gavin backdated his post to 11:16am with the same exact information and claimed to be hearing it…..yeah, from Calderone! Sources tell us Gavin's information did NOT go up at 11:16 – it was more like 11:30am after he read Politico. www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlDC..... A DC source who deals with Gavin frequently tells us he's done this repeatedly to a variety of journalists and continues to get beat in his own backyard…...looks like he might not be getting away with it for much longer….. (8/5/08) At some point, Bob Silverman posted on Geocities' DC Memories site. In the undated post, Bob mentions living in Cherry Hill, NJ. Here's a link to the page: www.geocities.com. Then do a FIND [CNTL+F], and enter Silverman to search for his posting. (8/5/08) Did something weird happen on CBS evening news last night? It looked like the third or half was a rerun from 4/15/08. I have to time shift because of the 6:30 start. (8/5/08) Johnny Rogue (Bob Silverman) I worked with him when he was Bobby Mitchell on the Big 14 WFEC in Harrisburg in 1968-1969. He did tell me he was Bob Earl at WINX and Harry hired him to replace Jack Alix for nights on WEAM and then he went on to do afternoon drive. He was lured away from WEAM by Max Richman (WPGC) to go to WMEX in Boston as Bob Silver. He was a great jock and I enjoyed working with him and learning from him. As far as I know, he and his family live in New Jersey and he is out of the radio biz. (8/5/08) Legs, I don't know who you are but I think I love you. Jim (8/5/08) Dave's response: I'm thinking of starting a "relationship matching" service for members of DCRTV Plus..... Yes, the WEAM memories are taking on a life of their own. So let me jump in to say that at least four members of the current WASH-FM air staff worked at WEAM (yes, yes, not during 1390's glory days...but please don't give us the treatment that Ed Rodriguez was subjected to). I am happy to be one of the four--since WEAM was the station I listened to most while growing up close enough to the station that kids could pick it up on their braces. And, since Johnny Rogue was mentioned in a couple of posts, let me add that I was also a Johnny Rogue "Rogue of the Week" (a secret student contest he had) at Yorktown High School. Damn! They identified me by Wednesday. Most interesting memory of Crimmins Lane: I was hired on a Friday in 1974, when WEAM was MOR...then the PD had me finish off his afternoon drive show that day, since he was leaving town...and when I came in to do middays on Monday, I found that we were Top 40 again (which was a lot more fun). Now...anyone who wants to toss around my WEAM Great Frisbee Fly-in saucer, let me know. --Dave Arlington (8/5/08) this is a GREAT article www.mediaweek.com: Two seemingly unconnected events occurred this month in the world of radio. Rush Limbaugh reportedly signed a $400 million, eight-year contract, and Anheuser-Busch pulled virtually all of its money out of radio for the remainder of the year. These events are not necessarily incongruent. Much has been made of the symbolic blow to radio by one of its mainstay advertisers snubbing the medium, with almost every report singling out the loss of Bud Light’s “legendary,” award-winning “Real Men of Genius” campaign. More troublesome is that this must-have medium for the King of Beers may just not be must-have any longer, thus signaling to other categories that radio may no longer be required media. The news about Limbaugh’s new contract is certainly a signal that radio is relevant. It’s clearly good news for Limbaugh, with The New York Times reporting that his pay will exceed the salaries of Jay Leno and Katie Couric combined. What joins these two stories is that each proves radio is a medium that can work but needs to change... (8/5/08) I noticed that all of the local shows on 980 are gone. What happened with the John Thompson Show, The Sports Reporters and The Doc Walker show? (8/5/08) “Now that the two companies have merged, I won't have to make a choice.” Um, not so fast. There are no interoperable radios yet, and won’t be for at least 9 months (but probably a lot longer than that), so yes, you still have to choose. Sorry. (8/5/08) "......Just why is she on the air?....." She is on the air because her father was Goldwater's running mate. William Miller ran for Vice President in 1964. Stephanie has a lot of political connections. (8/5/08) To the XM flack who posted about the WEAM "Sonic Sound Salute", WEAM's weekly music survey sheet was not the "Lively Line of Hits." It was called the Lively LINEUP. So laughable! (8/5/08) Why is there NOT a smooth jazz station in Baltimore? It was nice listening to WQJZ in Ocean City, but disappointing that it changed to WASH (Adult Contemporary) as we approached Washington and Baltimore. We NEED a smooth jazz station here....PLEASE (8/5/08) Dave's response: You can still hear smooth jazz if you have XM or Sirius or MusicChoice on cable TV. Or have an HD Radio and live not too far from the towers of the DC area's 97.1 or 105.9..... O-TAY! I Get it Now!!! 'brian wilson' aint in Baltimore on 1057fm! -LOL (that whole awkward exchange with 'stacy' & 'brian' today.... 'stacy' with "technical problems & interview with that CATO guy") Last time I heard, 'brian wilson' is still in Ohio??? i get it ;-) its this whole "1057fm" line-up that makes no sense; one show doesn't led into another... just kinda wish you guys would explain that every once in awhile. Thanx. "kinky-neo-con" (8/5/08) (snip)94.7 Back To Classic Rock(snip) Never saw THAT coming... I was hoping for something else :( AL (8/5/08) Dave's response: How about relaying Dan Mason's iPod through 94.7. What the hell..... "We are always evolving the Globe to reflect what our listeners want to hear" They don't have that many listeners, so does it really matter. Why don't they try to get some new listeners?? Actually, I think the Globe is probably the best rock-is station in the DC area. They don't some of the pop crap that 107.3 plays, or the over played stuff that 100.3 plays, which also plays too much pop crap, and they aren't as hard as DC 101, which is good for an old guy like myself. (8/5/08) Dave's response: With CBS's Baltimore stations soon to be on the market, grab the HFS calls from 105.7 and then take 94.7 and make it free-form progressive rock WHFS come 10/1. Like it was in the 1980s and early 1990s, with music of then and now. Let the DJs pretty much play what they want. Make Weasel MD and Cerphe PD. Get Neci back, plus Pat Ferrise, Bob Waugh, Gina Crash, David and Damian Einstein, Tom Grooms. And see how it plays in the PPMs, which come to DC later this year. OK, if it bombs, CBS can flip it to Fresh 94.7 in May or June 2009. But, heck, there's a pretty good chance it'll do a heck of a lot better that the Globe's now doing. Imagine the press and the excitement of a return of the "real" WHFS to DC's airwaves. Every Friday at 5 PM it'll be a "Party Weekend"..... Speaking of CNN, Chris Plante of 630 WMAL will be on "Lou Dobbs Tonight" this evening at approximately 7:45 p.m. Chris is fast becoming somewhat of a weekly fixture on the Dobbs show. -Silvie- (8/5/08) Dave's response: I still miss Chris Core, who is about 65.4 percent smarter than Chris Plante. Sorry..... "...Johnny Rogue (Bob Silverman)..." on WEAM in 1966. Prior to WEAM, he was "Bob Earl" on WINX. The first song he played at WEAM was "Speedo". Last I heard, many years ago, he was selling tape for Ampex. Anybody know what became of "The Duke of Earl"? (8/5/08) Dave, I saw your mention of WEAM. FYI - 60's on 6 "Sonic Sound Salutes" continue as we re-create great 60's radio stations across America. Terry " Motormouth" Young transforms the 60's on 6 into these great stations every Friday, 4-9pm Eastern, with their original jingles, DJs, and local happenings. 60's on 6, The way it was, is the way it is. Fri 8/8 WROV Roanoke, VA 12-40, The station that never sleeps... Fri 8/15 KCBQ San Diego, CA Heavy 11-70... Fri 8/22 WEAM Washington DC 13-90 WEAM... The Lively Line of Hits Music Survey. Catch the WEAM Team Redcoats at Glen Echo Amusement Park, LIVE by the Pool. The Milt Grant Show on Ch. 5 and the Submarine races at Rock Creek Park. (8/5/08) I followed Howard Stern from the disaster that is terrestrial radio and I would follow Don Geronimo there as well. Now that the two companies have merged, I won't have to make a choice. Here's hoping Doni G. comes to Sirius XM and makes it twice as worth the money as it already is! G.K. in Timonium (8/5/08) Hopefully Who Ever Purchases Wfmd & Wfre They Will Clean House. It Needs A Good Cleaning. Long Over Due. Gary In Frederick (8/5/08) Dave's response: Something that kills mold..... OC104 ON THE EASTERN SHORE JUST WRAPPED UP THE FUNKMASTER FLEX CELEBRITY CAR & CUSTOM BIKE SHOW OVER THE WEEKEND AT THE OCEAN CITY CONVENTION CENTER IN OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND. SPECIAL CELEBRITIES IN ATTENDANCE OTHER THAN THE ENTIRE OC104 CREW WERE COLBY O'DONIS, 2 PISTOLS, AND OF COURSE THE LEGENDARY FUNKMASTER FLEX. IT WAS HUGE WEEKEND AND HUGE EVENT! (8/5/08) Was Kapugi pushed? I never met a more insincere man than Jeff… and I’m certain that I’m not the only one delighted by the prospect that he may have been blown out…. But alas, I hear he’s taking his act to Tribune. (8/5/08) Re: "Basically too big for his britches and wanted to do what he felt like doing. That's all fine when you own the place like Leighton Moore does. He can do whatever the hell he wants." I thought it was pretty clear from the beginning. If you're Mr. Moore, you ONLY have a shot at putting a Don Geronimo on your station if he can play in his two hour sandbox and do anything he wants on the air. If he wants to do hog calls on the air in his time slot, let him. If you're gonna hold him to being an "Ocean 98 air personality", and bitch at him for not following station format, why bother? He can easily walk away if he's not having fun. Besides, with all the rumors about Doni G going to the newly merged Sirius XM, playtime on the beach is apparently over. As far as the "making more than 10 dollars an hour" comment by Don, it was clearly a joke... (8/5/08) Since the WEAM posts have taken on a life of their own.............. I ran into Don Grove (Don Cosgrove) in the early 90's, when I was President of the National Association of Radio Talk Show Hosts (NARTSH) , during our convention in Boston. Don came up to me and said, "you probably don't remember me, but I used to harass you about the way you said "warshinton". (all of us locals would say "Warshington, instead of WASHington) Don and I reminised about WEAM and Arlington and had dinner that night. Don was , at that time, the General MAnager of the radio station on Guam Island, and enjoying life! Like all of us in radio, he had bounced around a few stations and somehow ended up on Guam! I've run into a lot of WEAM Alumni over the years. As has been noted, the turnover was horrendous, so there are a lot of folks in broadcasting, from the 50's, 60's, and 70's who can say, "I worked at WEAM"! Pat Murphy (8/5/08) … Sometimes I secretly wish my enemies would eat a bowl of rancid oatmeal. How’s THAT taste, Phil? … I don’t know why they call it fruit punch. It doesn’t punch you in your fruit … Several people on the MARC train read my thoughts … Does the period ever feel inferior to the comma? … I need to floss my teeth … I sure wish Nancy and Sluggo would finally confess their love for one another … The Back to the Future sequel should have been named ‘Forward to the Past’ … Ah, ah, ah, CHOO! … I hope I’m in Sasha Baron Cohen’s next film so I can sue him … Speaking of which, I can’t believe Sasha was one of the two people who made Fargo ... What’s the most embarassing song on your iPod? Mine is Afternoon Delight … boots … You can never have too many pairs of socks … Billy Joel jokes are mean … Is there anything more intellectually challenging than a good Word Search puzzle? … My trip to Dairy Queen last week reduced my net worth by 17% .. When I use my girlfriend’s toothbrush, it’s like kissing her but not really … I love a parade … My horoscope today should have been called a “horrorscope” … Dorothy, I still have your book … Sometimes, I pretend I’m a doctor who still makes house calls … I need a haircut … I feel sad for my son because he looks so much like me … We’re all in the mood for a melody, aren’t we? … If my baby was born looking like Stewie, I would grab the doctor’s stethoscope and strangle it … Not really, but you know what I mean … What are those pro-life demonstrators doing outside my front door? … I like it when I get checked for head lice … Why doesn’t Wal-Mart sell those hilarious wind-up chattering teeth? … I sure wish Mike O’Meara would read my blogs on his radio show …If you’ve read this far, you’re a saint! … I think John Belushi, Chris Farley and Humphrey Bogart were all separated at birth … I wish I could have been a 50’s deejay, so I could have said “stacks of wax” … I’d pierce my nipples, but that would just be gay … Do you think Larry King would get the joke? … Saying you go to Hooters for the wings is like saying you get Playboy for the articles … When I’m alone, I cry. A lot … With the price of gold so high, maybe now I have a REAL million dollar smile … The woman who reads my GPS directions sure sounds sexy … I can’t think of a killer joke to end this email. Signed, Toledo Cliff (8/5/08) Don Geronimo.... What a train wreck. I am taking a break( retire from radio for a good long while) I am back on the radio 2 months later. I love all the guys I worked with, Buzz, Mike, Lie) Mike Sorce did not like Buzzy or Mike O'Meara, he did like no talent kiss ass Rob. GO away Don Geronimo please go away and stay away. Your ego is such if someone is getting hyped about other than you, you freak out. Sorry DONNIE... I love me some MIKE O"MEARA. Patti L (8/5/08) Hi Dave, You kid about over reacting to Arbitron losing power – but all ratings are released via the websites now. So of someone has ratings being released today – they are SCREWED. On ratings day – the ritual is you log in with your password and keep hitting refresh on your browser waiting for the update. If it were my day today and they lost power – I’d need some Rolaids. Brian Beddow, Program Director, WWBN/WQUS Flint (8/5/08) A few more names to toss out regarding the posts on WEAM. Doc Holliday, mornings prior to Russ Wheeler (Bob Allen). And Johnny Rogue (Bob Silverman) who I worked with in Harrisburg, Pa at WFEC. (8/5/08) I doubt, leyton more would want to buy another station in delmarva after, losing a cool million or two on wocm, 98.1, he is better off selling boat drink's, and jerk chicken, and from what got posted here the last two days, he couldn't afford to pay 10 bucks to Don G., after shelling out, over-inflated salaries, for a no name morning show, .7 ratings, maybe Don should buy 92.1, and have all day rock and soul show. (8/5/08) I saw that Dana Milbank was welcomed by Campbell Brown last night as a panelist on her show which airs on CNN at the same time Olbermann is on MSNBC. (8/5/08) Is it any surprise that Don Geronimo didn't last at his new gig? The only thing that might cause you to scratch your head is WHY he was hired in the first place? They certainly knew what they were getting. A maverick DJ who wasn't going to follow the rules or fit into the WOCM "format." DG can only hope for a new Sirius show because that's about the only place this egomaniac can go where he will have a free rein to do whatever he wants. And if he does go to Sirius, how much longer do you think it would be before he is reunited with MOM? (8/5/08) Novak may have retired, but I'd bet he still has a drivers license. (8/5/08) On last night's Countdown (MSNBC), Keith Olbermann announced that Dana Milbank would no longer be a member of his posse. It sounded that it was due to content (or lack of) in the article you referred to on July 31. Olbermann announced that Milbank has taken his allegiance elsewhere. Where is elsewhere (if there is an elsewhere)? Please excuse my punctuation . English was not my goodest subject in school! (8/5/08) (regarding a previous post) "Another potential head-exploding moment in DC metro radio…Bring the WINS format here?!? With all due respect, are you guys nuts? The motto for INS is 'Give us 28 minutes, and we'll give you 13 minutes of commercials and 15 minutes of boring, repetitive shallow news coverage until you wanna vomit!'" If the poster wants to make fun of the WINS slogan, that's fine, but they should at least know what the slogan actually is. - YOU GIVE US 22 MINUTES AND WE'LL GIVE YOU THE WORLD. "28 minutes" doesn't enter into it. It's probably a safe bet that he/she isn't even aware of why "22 minutes" is emphasised. 1010 WINS has also used: ALL NEWS, ALL THE TIME - and - THE NEWSWATCH NEVER STOPS - For a time in the late 1970s, WINS had an additional slogan - NEW YORK WANTS TO KNOW, AND WE KNOW IT. (8/5/08) Wow. I just listened to that clip of Stephanie and Jim on 3WT. Wow. This Stephanie is quite the trip. Perhaps McCain would have done better to use her as an example of a vapid celebrity instead of Paris and Britney. She touts all the usual rhetoric about Bush, yadda yadda about McCain, (listening to her, you would think Bush is running), and yet answers not one question about Obama, the guy she suppossedly supports. Stephanie might have nice hardware, but the software is riddled with liberal elitist bugs. The dismissive attitude provided by Stephanie is well below the threshold of either pundit or journalist. Just why is she on the air? If its only because she gets good ratings with her outlandish comments,,,then isn't she very much just part of the greed machine and doing no good? (8/5/08) Where is the normal Fox 5 morning crew? Steve and Allison. On vacation only I hope. I do love Laura but I love my mornings with Steve and Allison. Especially Steve. What a hottie. (8/5/08) Has 950AM already gone back to doing Oldies/Nostalgia? Through the noise and the static this morning, I thought I heard Bobby VInton's "There I've Said It Again". Unless there is a distant AMer running the same format... (8/5/08) Dave's response: Yeah, the "new" WCTN is up and running..... I was on Don Geronimo's side right up until he said "Oh yeah, and I wanted more than $10 an hour." What the hell, man, what'd you expect? Ocean 98 is an independent, perennially lowish-rated station in a small market, and you do ten hours a week on the air, supposedly "for "fun." Ten an hour is already more than a lot of people on the radio on Delmarva make, who do it as their main job. Besides, it ain't like Donnie G.'s hurting for dough. (8/5/08) It's official, Clear Channel is putting 92.1 and 105.5 in the Salisbury market in the Aloha Trust for sale. The new company had to spin off two FM's since they were over the limit of no more than 4 per band. The question now is who will be interested? Delmarva and Great Scott are at their limits or over (Great Scott has 8 FM's). Maybe a non-comm will by one or both, remember WYPR bought commercial 106.9 to repeat programming in Ocean City. Might Bill Prettyman, the former owner of the Delmarva Salisbury station be interested, he still lives in Salisbury and has stations else where! How about Layton Moore that owns WOCM and Secearts! It should be interesting. (8/5/08) Dave, At my work location, we do not have a typical AM/FM radio so we sometimes use a spectrum analyzer to receive local stations. However, today (Monday Aug. 4) we observed that both WBIG and WMZQ were off the air around mid-day and was wondering if you may have heard why. 73, Michael (8/5/08) Dave's response: Anybody know? The Clear Channel "for sale" list includes both of their Frederick stations and two stations in Salisbury. www.radioandrecords.com (8/5/08) Dave's response: So, who'll buy WFRE and WFMD? Nassau, Bonneville, Red Zebra? RE: "The motto for INS is "Give us 28 minutes, and we'll give you 13 minutes of commercials and 15 minutes of boring, repetitive shallow news coverage until you wanna vomit!" And this is different from TOP, how? Other than trying to get a breif moment of traffic info that's helpful, what makes listening to what's on TOP now all that compelling? (8/5/08) Kevin Sheehan has a face for radio as they say and a voice not made for radio. Is Czaban looking into getting a gig in Milwaukee? Had the muckity mucks at wocm ever listened to Don Geronimo? D8mn, I kept meaning to call in and request Mr. Geronimo play Hey Paula or Hey Baby. Major Bill Smith says hey Don Geronimo but lemme ask you something. Could you please go down to the local Wallymart and get some new pictures taken. Those publicity shots must be 15 years old. I hear Donnie G. got a better offer working the ShamWow booth on the boardwalk in O.C. or was it that weekend board op job in Harrisonburg VA? What happened to Kid McLovin' on the El Jefe and J. Dubs show? Got a better job selling camper shells? I'm sure enjoying this new Retrotelevison channel on WJLA's digital 7.3 but gosh infomercials overnight. And tried watching some of the WETA digital channels last night ,which pixilates quite a bit, but did see that on 26.4 it was doing the fundraising sh8t. It nevers ends. Sorry to hear of the passing of Skip Caray. Missed not hearing the Atlanta Braves broadcasts on TBS. Not much of a Mr. Novak's methods over the years but anyone so devoted to Terrapin basketball can't be all bad. On my way out to the antique car show at the Nokesville Road Burger King last Saturday I drive past the old country music station that use to run out that way for years. Saw a banner out front for a website 1460 classic country but dont find anything online. Anybody know anything about the old station coming back to life from it's spanish language format? (8/5/08) In re "programming to keep the plates warm" has to do, I assume, with Plate Current, a button on a radio transmitter that essentially turns the coupling of the station to "the Air" on and off. The plate in question is a part of a vacuum tube (or valve). To keep a radio station on the Air, the FCC strongly suggests that the carrier be modulated. Programming to keep the plates warm would be low-cost programming sufficient to avoid Government ire; broadcast at times when listenership could be, would be assumed to be minimal. (8/5/08) I recently moved back to this area after working in the radio field for 25 yrs out west. I can tell you that by far the Washington area has the worst sports on-air radio talent ( or lack of ). One reason the Nats TV coverage sucks is due to Bob Carpenter. Bob talks way too much, he tries to be the play by play, the Commentator, Manager, and over analyzes everything. Larry Michael, Kevin Sheehan how they got jobs is beyond me. Listening to Al Galdy ( old 980 ) and Jeremy Gruber ( old XXX ) on the radio, is like listening to finger nails on a chalk board. I think ESPN 980 let Gary Braun go, which was a good idea. After hearing some of the comments Mr. Braun made on the old Riggins show, he should have been fired. Andy Pollin has very limited knowledge in the sports field to have a regular talk show. Steve czaben, just not that impressed. His early morning talk show with the yes boy ( Mr. Linn ) being taken off ESPN 980 is no lost. The programming on ESPN 980, well that is another sorry story. (8/5/08) Funny, Don G., getting fired for wanting more than $10 an hour at a station, WOCM, where the GM and morning dud, gets over 80 G's, for have no ratings, after four years and overall the station pays out over 250, 000 G's, for being rated 15 out of 30, in the salisbury market, mis-management at it's finest..luckily the pain in the asses and dirty bananas cost seven bucks to make out the difference. LOL Don's show was the only fun show on that station, sounded like he was having fun, brought back radio old school style, Good luck to Don, the big merger is complete lets see what the future holds. Sunny and 85 in OC (8/5/08) To the person who wrote in, "I am well over 30 but I confess I do not know that expression." ("keep the plates warm"). That's an expression the chief engineer at one station at which I worked used to refer to programming; it was a way to keep the "transmitter plates" flowing with electricity as part of the process of transmitting a radio signal. And to Cory, who demonstrates how little he knows about the radio business by saying "(CBS could easily blow WTOP out of the water. why, then Dave,haven't they done it?)"...the person who responded to this piece of pfiffle is correct. WTOP is one of CBS Radio's most important affiliate stations that is not an owned-and-operated station. Has been for more than 10 years now, since Bonneville began taking the station into the top 10, then top 5 in the ratings almost regularly. A friend who buys ad time at the networks for an ad agency in NY says the word is that TOP's ratings are a big reason why CBS is able to command top dollar for those spots you hear in the hourly newscasts. Its also why WTOP, almost alone among affiliates, gets custom lockouts for some network features, I am told. Stories like that are why I often tend to dismiss the naysayers and complainers about WTOP almost routinely out of hand as people who often don't know what they're talking about, and nonetheless, don't let that get in the way of indulging in poorly-informed innuendo lightly disguised as "opinion". / gingerly stepping off the soapbox in a Levis denim miniskirt and LL Bean clogs / - Just call me 'Legs' (8/5/08) Yo Dave, Don was fired from WOCM for being the complete douche that we all know he is. WOCM is a small town/fun station. He figured he could get away with all of his big market shit down at the ocean. I was @ seacrets all day Sunday and spoke to some "insiders" who lamented what a jerk he really is. Basically too big for his britches and wanted to do what he felt like doing. That's all fine when you own the place like Leighton Moore does. He can do whatever the hell he wants. I guess Don thought he owned the place, not so and yes I listened to his show to see what all the fuss was about and he constantly talked over his spots and his sweepers. Even if he is DON GERONIMO, nobody like's a loudmouth douchebag coming into a new line-up and trying to re-arrange it to his preference. I say good riddance and F$%K DON Geronimo. O.C airwaves are better off without his FAT ASS...............A.M.F from DELMARVA.............. (8/5/08) At 1044pm The Signal 4 101.9 Lite FM In Baltimore Went Down While The Host Of A Love Show Was Takin Calls All Other CBS Stations Signals Good... 1048pm The Signal 4 Lite FM Baltimore Returns Maybe CBS Was Touring Snyder Around And He Went Into The Studio And Pressed The Wrong Switch (8/5/08) I was out in the Ocean City area last week and had to chance to listen to Don Geronimo on WOCM. He was talking quite a bit between songs, talking phone calls, and reading listener emails. The longest topic was concerning The Dark Knight and his continuing obsession with Batman. After speaking for several minutes about it he said something to the effect of, I’ve been talking so much that I could see myself going back to doing my old show, but just not with those people. (8/5/08) On the road in Danbury CT and was trying to catch up on the news at home and am getting "The page cannot be displayed" when I try to go to washingtonpost.com. washpost.com (corporate site) is OK. Hmmm? (8/5/08) Dave's response: During some of July, when I went to washingtonpost.com (without the www in front) I got the Post's page but fill of error messages. It was OK when I typed the "www" in front. Go figure..... /\ August 5 Messages /\ Jump to the Mailbag Archive Index.....