Current Mailbag - Mailbag Archive Index - DCRTV Front Page - Support DCRTV DCRTV Mailbag - January 1 to January 8, 2009 Latest messages listed first..... \/ January 8 Messages \/ The traffic lady on WTOP always burps. I wonder if she has acid reflux? (1/8/09) "Dave's response: Telling a minority radio station that their audience is slim is kinda like telling your sister that she's fat. Don't....." Then maybe we should stop feeding her so much bullshit. (1/8/09) I just love reading the posts from Johnny Dark. They're refreshing and positive. I enjoyed working with him at WBIG and WQSR, and occasionally, filling in for him. I also remember him turning me down as I applied for my first job at WEAM in the mid 60's.(deservedly so, I'm sure). Rock on....Bob Duckman (1/8/09) Correction on the Dashboard DXing... it was not WWVA, which is on 1170, but CHOK-1170-Sarnia, Ontario! That's better! I got a clear ID this evening while the Colts fans are still demanding Tony Dungy get fired. GAB in the Airless Cubicle and the Kia (1/8/09) Hey, there Dave –another birthday boy today – Randy “Rock” Johnson from 110.7 The Bay turns 40 today! -- Media Maven (1/8/09) Dave's response: The Bay is now broadcasting in the aircraft band? Hmmm. Does the FCC know? (Regarding an alleged orgy on the 2nd floor of WUSA's Broadcast House:) The sales department is not on the second floor of Broadcast House, it is on the third floor. The GM and a huge conference room is located on the 4th floor. Sports, what is left of graphics and promotions is on the second floor. (1/8/09) Bonneville’s iChannel Network, which included www.ichannel.fm and HD Radio stations 101.9 HD2/Chicago, 103.5 HD2/Washington, 102.7 HD2/Salt Lake City, 101.1 HD2/St. Louis and 92.3 HD2/Phoenix, has signed off. There were plans to expand the network into Seattle and Cincinnati, but Bonneville pulled the plug and replaced the HD multicast with new content. The network, helmed by PD Ken Williams, played music submitted by independent and unsigned artists from all over the world and provided them with Web sites to help promote their music for free. (1/8/09) Dave's response: We reported in early December that WTOP replaced iChannel with a south Asian (Indian) service on its HD2..... OK....we've been friends for many years...but that aside, Phyllis Armstrong leaving WUSA is a great loss. I believe it's generally a good idea to stay away from absolutes, but I can say without any hesitation that no reporter ever worked harder or cared more about getting it right. Ran into Pat Collins recently and we talked about the changes underway. He compared the old Ch 9 to the Lakers. They were unbeatable. They were on the top of the ratings heap and deserved to be. Whether they were first or fourth Phyllis has never changed her high standards. Susan Kidd (1/8/09) Does anybody have a recommendation on a table top radio with extremely good FM reception? I have a Boston Acoustics Recepter radio in my bedroom that I love because of its sensitivity and full bodied sound in a small package. Now, I need another similar radio for my kitchen. From what I can tell, this model is no longer being made and has been “replaced” with the Solo. I would like to get any feedback on the Solo or other recommended radios that meet my requirements. -- FairfaxStu (1/8/09) very interesting. this morning on xm 140 the mike and mike show seemed a bit light on commercials. lots of espn radio promos. now at 4pm my xt roady still show mike and mike as the show id. problems over at xm beyond the normal? (1/8/09) So Clear Channel decided after all to make some cuts... Good for them! What is Clear Channel without job cuts?! 8% of the workforce, eh... Does that mean that the Mays family and Bain Capital are going to be 8% richer? But at least they are not alone in the entertainment industry. World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) laid off 10% of their workforce today, too! Who knew the Mays boys were wrestling fans??? And because they are I have a special message for them... The Mays boys can "suck it"... it's a wrestling term if you're not familiar. (1/8/09) Johnny, We have mutual friends and I never realized it. Dave Maynard was one of my instructors while in college and I worked with him at WBZ. Bob Raleigh and I first me in Portland Maine, he was with WJAB and I was with WPOR. He was the first jock to welcome me to Portland. When I moved to DC and WPGC, he was the first to welcome me to DC. Both have been friends through the decades. You probably know Dave now resides in Hernando FL. His health is not the best, but his humor remains. Dave and Bruce Bradley have been two of my lifetime heroes. Bruce is the reason I entered the industry. Your comments about Ken Merson are right on, one of the nicest in the industry. Would love to see both of you back behind a mic. PLB:0) (1/8/09) I totally agree with your satirical rant about Discovery and its other channels, except that I gave up on them a little while back. The last time I watched Animal Planet was when they had Steve Carrell do pointless joke inserts in what I thought was supposed to be a serious show on a serious topic. Other channels, like A&E and Bravo, flushed themselves down the toilet a LONG time ago. Really, TV is about fluff, and any channel that starts out to not be about fluff is turned into fluffy mush before you know it. Even with a coupla hundred channels, my DVR is not very busy at all these days. It really may be time to cancel the satellite service. ~~CA in BC (1/8/09) Dave's response: It is funny to see what some cable channels have morphed into. A&E? Arts? It's a crime show channel. Ditto with the mistakenly named Biography Channel. History in the History Channel stands for almost nothing these days. Ditto with music on Music Television or VideoHits 1. National Geographic looks more and more like Animal Planet. I almost flipped my wig when the Sci-Fi Channel did a recent marathon of "Mork And Mindy." Yeah, I get it - Mork from Ork, another planet. Duh. But hardly a sci-fi show. Bruce Springsteen should update his song - "357 Channels And Nothing On"..... RE: [ " Arbitron To Rework PPMs In NYC, Philly " ]............ I'm sure there are some problems with the PPM system by the very nature of it being "new", but DIDN'T ANYONE EVER WONDER WHY minority radio stations topped the ratings in so many markets for so long? HELLO! So we don't like the truth in the #s now that they are more technically accurate huh, so we hire lawyers like Andrew Cuomo to change the truth to something more politically correct? What's wrong with this picture? What's next? We are forced to refer to minorities as "Majority-Challenged" ? Where does the madness end? (1/8/09) Dave's response: Telling a minority radio station that their audience is slim is kinda like telling your sister that she's fat. Don't..... Hammity/Levin scare tactic #1 for today and tomorrow. They will be talking about the re-emergence of the scary “Fairness Doctrine.” You know, the one that is not going to happen, and the Democrats will not bring back. Notice only Republicans are talking about bringing back the “Fairness Doctrine.” The Democrats are like “OK, so few people actually listen to and believe AM Republican political talk anymore that we don’t need no stinking ‘Fairness Doctrine’.” The Democratic leadership is saying “it has been proven the public no longer falls for Republican right wing talk radio BS anymore. Hammity can’t get in the top 15 in the ratings if he tried, Rush is a pill pusher, everyone hates Levin, and O’Reilly is leaving talk radio all together now that every person in the world knows he is a complete liar after that MSNBC thing started popping up on youtube.” But hey, now that the “Stop Obama Express,” and the annual “War on Christmas” are over, Hammity and Mark Levin need some propaganda to talk about, and according to all access, the Republicans are helping Hannity and Levin out with a stunt. From all access - Snip - The "Broadcaster Freedom Act" is back, as Reps. MIKE PENCE (R-IN), GREG WALDEN (R-OR), and JIM DEMINT (R-SC) and Sen. JAMES INHOFE (R-OK) reintroduce the bill in the new Congressional session barring reinstituting the Fairness Doctrine. The bill has 24 Republican co-sponsors. "Freedom of speech is under attack in this country," said DEMINT. "I am just committing today to use every rule, every tactic that we have at our disposal to keep the Fairness Doctrine from moving in Congress or to overrule it if it is implemented by the FCC." While a few Democrats in the Senate and Congress have voiced a desire to bring back the rule requiring "balance" in broadcasters' treatment of controversial topics, leaders of the Democratic majority deny any immediate intention to introduce a bill to reinstitute the doctrine. - End snip - ..... Also, Surprise! Governor Palin talking about losing her First Amendment rights (live, and not dumped, on the Chris Plante show), the dumbest thing said last year on the trail, didn’t make the best soundbites of 2008 on the G&A Morning Show. The number one soundbite was a Joe Biden montage. I knew it! As soon as Andy started talking about best soundbites of the year, I knew Biden would occupy the #1 spot and Palin wouldn’t make the top five. If only we could take bets on the upcoming content of WMAL, I would clean up. (1/8/09) Happy birthday Merson Person, the consummate professional if ever I knew one. It was great working with him at WQSR (If only for an instant). I'm happy that his voice-track business has done well by him...On another note, to those who post about local programmers waking up and providing better variety and different formats for DC-Baltimore listeners, it's NOT THEIR FAULT! Programmers haven't been allowed to program for several years. They are micro-managed by the mega-conglomerates they work for. In most cases, corporate pays more attention to their consultants (If they have one)....Final note, thank you Michael P. for remembering my night show on 'QSR and that "One Hit Wonder" Hot. Doing that show was a labor of love. I've still got a lot of stories to tell but nowhere to go to tell them...Oh, one more thing. I grew up in the Boston area where WBZ is a legendary station. My old friends Dave Maynard and Bob Raleigh spent most of their broadcasting careers there. As of next week, the WBZ newsroom will close every night at 8 and reopen the next morning at 4:30. I know the economy and the king-size layoffs in our industry has a lot to do with that but radio was headed south long before our economic problems. I will now relinquish my soapbox to another poster. Johnny Dark (1/8/09) Re: News item re Zebra spared Snyder cuts: He'd better NOT make any cuts to the broadcast arm. Not when there are feelers out for three new engineers to join the team. How'd you like to get that gig then find out you've been cut a day after you've taken the job? I posted a warning on this website a few weeks ago warning engineers to stay away from this place. It doesn't have a record of longevity for technically oriented individuals. In fact, last summer, they hired an engineer from Florida and blew him out after 6 weeks because they figured it was easier than fixing the multitude of problems plaguing their screwed up facility. Does anyone know if Ed Bukont still works for them? (1/8/09) the death knell for satellite radio gizmodo.com (1/8/09) Dave's response: Could put a big dent in old-fashioned broadcast radio, too, especially music stations..... Please tell me you are just joking in the rant about Discovery Channel; it's name change and it's "acknowldgement" that dumbing down its programming increases ratings. The implication being that all future programming will be reduced to the lowest common demoninator. I was one of the early employees back in 1984 at what was originally known as Cable Education Network. It was hoped to be a lone voice for truly thought-provoking and intelligent programming in an era of music video and home shopping channels. We thought long and hard about how we wanted to position this network and concluded that we would always take the high road without the implied snobbery. About the only thing that sort of trivialized what was being aired was a statement from Chairman and channel-visionary John Hendricks was that "the biggest and scarier the animal, the bigger the ratings." He said that at the launch of the first Shark Week because it was true. Unfortunately, I guess that the statements you quote by the unnamed Discovery spokesperson are true as well and that the U-S television viewer just won't support something that is not all slick and simple. I guess that the Hollywood assholes they insisted on bringing in over and over to run the network and the channel finally got what they wanted... to homogenize and pasteurize something that stood out from the crowd. Of course, it's all in the name of revenue and now that Discovery is really traded publicly I guess that's all that matters. I hope that John is at least sobered by what has become of his dream. Sprawl and Crawl Steve (1/8/09) Dave's response: It was a joke. A Rant. I've always loved channels like Discovery, but now, it seems, every night's programming involves something exploding. Or dog stuff and more dog stuff on the National Geographic Channel. Or endless reruns of that "How They Make It" show on the Science Channel. Not bad shows once in a while, but it seems that, increasingly, they're put in endless repetition at the expense of shows aimed at an audience with a brain. Pledge break crazed PBS sent me to channels like Discovery. Now, if they become dumbed-down shadows of their former selves, I guess I'll have to turn off the damn HDTV and read a book. It sad. American TV broadcasting - take something cool, and overcommercialize it to the point that it becomes unwatchable. Please, Discovery, don't make that mistake..... RE: MiRGE…..If one is into hearing every possible sports type/game/event broadcast, then buying this contraption would be a necessity since XM and Sirius carry different sports between them. (1/8/09) WORD: EG has been seen skulking around a certain Broadcasting outlet in the area. Put on your ear plugs. (1/8/09) Folks - 3 buses leaves at 6 am Friday from the White Marsh Park & Ride. Stop by if you want to talk to Ravens fans before they head to Nashville! -- Steve Hennessey, Director of Sales and Promotions, Baltimore Sportstalk WNST AM-1570 "we never stop talking"... www.wnst.net (1/8/09) WORD: PLB is returning to the air. Hide your children. Ed Graham (1/8/09) (RE today's Rant:) Dave - The Boom TV change - aren't we about 81 days early for that??? Joe in SS (1/8/09) Cuts at Red Zebra do hit the broadcast arm...in other markets From Vartv.com... Greg Burton, who hosted the afternoon radio show "Hardly Workin'" on Red Zebra's Sports "ESPN Radio 950" WXGI Richmond, was let go last week. He said Red Zebra's actions were related to cost-cutting. We hear Burton will continue to call games for VCU. His first show on WXGI, "The Drive," debuted on July 19, 2004. Also hear that atleast 1 producer is demoted from full to part time and long time production manager is let go.... (1/8/09) Wow, stumbled across BaBa WaWa's interview with Patrick Swayze last night. Not sure who looks worse. Who performed BaBa's latest plastic surgery, Stevie Wonder? (1/8/09) ''To the poster who said I was 9's PR person... that's not true. I'm just a viewer'' I'm trying to figure out what's more shocking- That someone actually went to that morons ''weather blog'' or someone watches channel 9. Paul (1/8/09) The economy has hit the TV news world (in addition to staff layoffs). The word is that WBFF-TV has been recording newscasts (the ultimate sin in tv news) that air following sporting events. This is apparently to save overtime. Let's hope nothing happens after taping. (1/8/09) Beatrice WAS a hard worker and a sports talk pioneer, but the whole making things up thing was a bit of a problem. On another subject, I notice today that Tom Boswell has written his third Caps column in a month (after going years without writing one) and is basically falling all over himself how he's been converted. Maybe Pollin isn't hopeless after all. (1/8/09) The lowly numbers of BIG and TGB got me thinking about this Mike Lyons column at aaaradio.com: "AAA...New music. It'll be the only format pounding the new Bruce Springsteen album in a few weeks. It'll be the format pounding the new U2 in March. Christ, the format is filled with worthy new music, serving a niche that will help keep the format alive in this difficult time, presented by people who don't lie and don't waste a listener's time. The rest of radio thought AAA wouldn't serve enough people when it rose in the early 90's. The old rock signals would continue to dominate with their mass appeal numbers. Wrong. Radio's current music stations are sooooooo terrified of adding new music that they've killed themselves. Jocks sound bored as they read cards. While AAA may end up on new stations that can soon be bought for 20 cents on the dollar!..." (1/8/09) Dave, did you see that Larry Flynt is calling on Congress to bail out the porno industry, which apparently has gone limp due to the recession? I thought of some possible newspaper headlines for the Post: "Hard Times for Porn Industry," "Economy Brings Porn Industry to its Knees," "Downturn Leaves Porn Industry Flat on Its Back," "Porn Industry: Good Times Behind Us," "Flynt to Congress: Stop Jerking Us Around," "Flynt Plans to Whip Porn Industry Into Shape" -- Call me Rodney Dangerfield (1/8/09) In the latest DC Radio ratiings...from Inside Radio...WTOP number one...no brainer there..WAMU number THREE! ..WETA number Eight...not much better that old WGMS did....I see the demise of WBIG,WJZW and WTGBs format though. Same formats kick in LA and NYC...so something is wrong...they are NOT reading the demographics and missing the boat...SMOOTH JAZZ format work in both those markets...Citidel and WASH-fm HD2 need to address this...the interesting thing is bottom of page 2...WCBS NewsRadio 880 makes the DC book! Ya think perhaps the DC radio programmers need to address the fact folks are LOOKING for quality programming...and they are NOT finding it in DC Radio! With all the changes at MAL and Red Zebra there STILL is NO local programming worth a hoot! Sad for a major market....New York, LA and Chicago ALL have multi outlets for local talkers...we lose! Best of all in 2009! Dave (1/8/09) Dave: Could it be Dan Snyder finally realizes he needs to clean house at ESPN980? Hey Bruce and Dennis, make sure you check with your mortgage brokers about a buyout! I just got back from a road-trip in New Mexico and ran into some Redskins fans at the Santa Fe airport and they actually listen to ESPN980 during the afternoon...but for only 5-10 minutes. This guy's son can't get enough of the Redskins but can't stand listening to Doc and Kevin. He couldn't undstand how two people are so badly paired together on a radio show. Funny thing, the son thought Kevin was the expert and Doc "had no clue." I really hope changes are coming! (1/8/09) Dave's response: Definitely some very nervous folks over there at Red Zebra..... Media job of the week! Read it before it scrolls off: washingtondc.craigslist.org... Where the hell do these people come from? (1/8/09) "...earn a proper living." Exactly what do you mean? There are many of us in local TV who do earn a proper living and do it with pride, skill and professionalism. Be careful with your insinuations to the contrary. (1/8/09) News item re Zebra spared Snyder cuts: He'd better NOT make any cuts to the broadcast arm. Not when there are feelers out for three new engineers to join the team. How'd you like to get that gig then find out you've been cut a day after you've taken the job? Something similar happened at WMET five years ago when a newly assembled programming staff was let go even before the new studios were done being constructed. The GM had to fight corporate to get any kind of severance for the ex-employees. (1/8/09) If you see locally MIA Baltimore Radio great Ken Merson, please wish him Happy Birthday. It sure would be wonderful if some Baltimore/DC station would find a way to get him back on the air locally. For that matter, he would be a perfect fit for any of Sirius/XM's 50's, 60s, 70s or 80s Decades channels. One can only hope. Happy Birthday Merson Person! (1/8/09) So a station takes radical action to turn itself around and the amateur grim reapers all come out to play and play The Death March. Let's be honest, most of the moaning seems to be coming from old and creaky industry employee's that would be better of removing their heads from the sand and realizing that the good ol' days are long behind them and either adapting or simply calling it a day and getting a job at McDonalds. Then they might understand the concept of hard work. One station has the balls to move forward for better or worse. Trust me , every station in town will be watching this and one small sign that shows some possible success then all the old long-timers that want to do one job and then scratch their butts for seven hours will be swept away with the tide. Change is good my friend and it's time many finally started to earn a proper living. (1/8/09) I noticed this before Christmas but didn't start really paying attention until I started watching some episodes of "Law & Order" on my DVR. Apparently at some point in the past few months, at least on Comcast out here in Winchester, telecasts of shows that are letterboxed on NBC, such as the aforementioned "Law & Order," "Late Night With Conan O'Brien," and "Saturday Night Live" are being zoomed to full-screen by WRC. I found the cutting off of graphics and people's shoulders kind of irksome while watching "Law & Order," so I'm now watching it on WBAL, since I have that luxury. Actually, WHAG is also showing "Law & Order" letterboxed, which is the way NBC and/or Dick Wolf intends it to be shown, I'm sure. Is this something that WRC is doing to encourage me to replace my trusty Trinitron? If I DVR it from the HD feed, it chews up all kinds of space on the DVR. So thanks for nothing WRC. Charles in Winchester (1/8/09) As of about 1:30 this afternoon [Tues, Jan7], WBFF started broadcasting on 45.2 with a slate for ThisBaltimore. On Jan 12, we will be putting on ThisTV (Wikipedia), which will have movies and shows from MGM. We don't have any program guide info for it yet, and I haven't found a web page for it yet, but here's a link for page that has the schedule: titantvguide.titantv.com (scroll to the bottom of the page) (1/8/09) /\ January 8 Messages /\ \/ January 7 Messages \/ Any discussions about WUSA dropping newscasts entirely from the schedule? With Phyllis Armstrong leaving soon they seem to be running on fumes. Does Bruce Johnston still work at channel 9? I don't really watch local news very much during the week and it appears Mr. Johnston no longer anchors the weekend evening newscast. How come on the local newscast on Univision they devote about a minute to the weather but on the 'ingles stations they go on and on and on about the weather? A big reason I don't watch much local newscasts anymore. Oh yeah , the constant plugging of network entertainment(?) shows and psuedo news stories that stink like product placement. So 2008 brought the end of Twinkies, didn't the company that makes'em go kerplunkt and the same for Archway cookies and does NewsWeek magazine pretty much disappear from newsstands in February. I hate change. Btws, didn't William Peter Blatty go to Georgetown University? Local author, Mark Opsasnick, has a book discussing the Mount Rainer exorcism tinyurl.com... And if you want to know more about D.C. rock music history you might check out his book Capitol Rock (1/7/09) To the poster who said I was 9's PR person... that's not true. I'm just a viewer and thought it's pretty cool that Kim had the idea to broadcast from her laptop. I personally think it's a cool idea, so I mailed it in to tell you all about it. Sorry I bothered (1/7/09) Can a station really collapse? I assume everyone's just talking about staffing? Not that the station would be taken off the air. Right? (1/7/09) message to the sports reporters and John F. there is nothing in the world wrong with ESPN promoting themselves and the announcer switch tonight! you dont want you watch, dont watch! promotion is was companies do to get people to watch! (1/7/09) Hey Dave, just thought I'd let you know that you do an EXCELLENT job with DCRTV. I wish I could donate some money to the site, but I'm not doing so good financially. Hopefully when times get better, I'll donate! Once again Dave, great job with DCRTV!!! Aaron (1/7/08) Dave's response: Thanks Aaron..... I'll second Paul in missing Jennifer Ryan's legs...and smile to boot. if management has any brains, they will put her in another anchor chair and start plugging the holes in the ship. The weather blog, OMFG, this gets the station excited? Guess this is all they left in the cannon. Bye-Bye! (1/7/09) Ken Beatrice used to give out his office number on the air so callers who couldn't get through (it was tough) could call him during the daytime. And he did answer it every time on the few occasions when I called. The guy really was a hard worker. (1/7/09) If my assignment was to get up at 4:30 a.m. to blog about local weather for 50 non-paying "viewers," I'd be e-mailing my resume to every competitor in the region before sunrise. Dave in Sterling (1/7/09) Dave's response: I sometimes "blog" at 4:30 AM. It's only "fun" if that's what you want to do at that ungodly hour..... ''I've been riding his coattails long enough'' says Kris Gamble. Coattails? Honey, do you know you rode those magic coattails to a hellhole like Jacksonville? And you two didn't exactly set the world on fire here either. Wouldn't a lil honesty be refreshing in any radio person? I saw that simulcast thingy on WUSA 9's site with Kim. How embarrasing. THIS is your ''innovation''? THIS is what you actually think is ''cool''? How about being ''cool'' and ''innovated'' and find some people in the morning that aren't brain dead. And I'm going to miss being able to see Jennifer Ryan's fantastic legs on Saturday morning. Paul (1/7/09) Dave's response: Hey, milder winters. Kris could have followed Mark to Cleveland or Rochester..... Happy Birthday to author, William Peter Blatty, who turns 81 today. In the mid-50s, he appeared as a contestant on the comedy/quiz show, 'You Bet Your Life', hosted by Groucho Marx. Blatty won $10,000. When Groucho asked what he planned to do with the money, he said he would be taking some time off to “work on a novel.” The result was his 1971 book, 'The Exorcist'. The DC-connection is that the exteriors of the 1973 film of the novel were shot in Georgetown and the actual exorcism, on which the book was based, was performed in the late 40s, in nearby Mt. Rainier Maryland. (1/7/09) I'll be blunt: the reason WUSA is twirling down the toilet is because of stupid ideas like having their weather person "simulcasting from her personal computer to viewers on her blog," and suits who think viewers will find it fascinating to "watch the simulcast live, chat with each other" and ask her questions---at 4:30am. The PR hack who called it "incredible!!!" in the Mailbag actually bragged that "she drew over 50 viewers on the first day." As an advertiser, I'd be willing to be about 50 cents a month for that kind of return. Total. Period. It's gut-wrenching to watch what was once the finest local news station in the area (and a good earner too) turn into the worthless, stinking turd it is today. As I will happily tell any of your sales staff the next time they manage to track me down: I've lost all of your phone numbers; please return the favor. (1/7/09) It is hard to believe that Ken Beatrice was Andy Pollin's mentor because Andy has made it clear that if he doesn't care about a sport he won't watch it or make an effort to learn about the sport. Ken always made an effort to know al the sports. (1/7/09) Re: "Pollin would rather talk about the skins punting situation or a draft that’s 4 months away then talk about the greatest hockey player on the planet and reigning MVP that’s in his backyard." True. And Ric Walker would rather spend entire airchecks talking with people who are off mic, thus giving listeners half a conversation, than do anything else. The station is a disaster.When it goes off the air for minutes at a time (as it seems to do 2-3 times every day), nobody complains. Hint, hint. (1/7/09) Pollin would rather talk about the skins punting situation or a draft that’s 4 months away then talk about the greatest hockey player on the planet and reigning MVP that’s in his backyard. DOUCHE (1/7/09) Public Broadcasting Goes For A Half Billion in Stimulus Money - Sent to public broadcasters yesterday by CPB's EVP and COO Vinnie Curren... "Dear Colleagues: Attached, please find a letter that CPB, NPR and PBS submitted in consultation with APTS last Friday to President-elect Barack Obama. The letter provides a menu of ways public service media can respond to the nation's financial crisis. We had many discussions with groups and individuals close to the transition team who helped guide the development of this proposal. They encouraged us to think "outside the box" about the important role public service media can play at a critical time for our country. In addition to PBS, NPR, and APTS, we consulted with other stakeholders, however the tight turn-around requirement occurring during the holiday season meant we had to move quickly. While Congress is likely to take immediate action on the stimulus bill, we believe there will be opportunities to refine the concepts in the attached document as we discuss them with the transition team and Capitol Hill. We welcome your insights; please feel free to email me, Mark Erstling, or Bruce Theriault with any ideas you have. Thanks. Vinnie" (1/7/09) Dave, Kristin Gamble's facebook says she's moving back to DC...something's up...I'm sure you might know something? (1/7/09) Dave's response: Just got the Front Page blurb up..... I heard Kris Gamble formerly from Hot 99.5 is moving back to DC. Is this true and will she be working at a radio station and which one? (1/7/09) ...did u know that fox 5 and nbc 4 brand aerial footage as their own even when skyfox flies the morning and chopper 4 flies the evening. They both will fly on big stories...somewhat deceptive, thought viewers should know. (1/9/09) Dave's response: Yeah, we reported back in November that 4 and 5 would be sharing news video..... Re: RTN Returns – yes, I am rejoicing. I need my lunch time Adam-12 every day. Now if they would only sync up the tv listings with tivo again, my world would be perfect. Manually recording programs is so 2006. (1/7/09) As someone who frequently attends Caps games, I would say that they are generally very family friendly EXCEPT when they are playing certain teams like Pittsburgh, Buffalo, NY Rangers and Philadelphia. Often, fans of those teams can get tickets and to say that some are an undesirable element is an understatement. I will say, however, that the problem seems to be dimishing as the Caps are becoming an elite team and more of the tickets are purchased by those supporting the Caps. Mike in Fairfax is right about the demographic of the Caps supporters. Between the team's internet saavy marketing, the team's youth and exciting style of play and the "student rush" nights, where college and high school students can get hugely discounted tickets, they do seem to have a huge following among young adults. I've been impressed by how many young adults I see at the games lately . That's a good sign for the future. Finally, I see from the Caps website that they have announced a weekly half hour show starting in February on COMCAST Sportsnet. A good idea and an indication of the buzz the team is now generating. I've even heard Czaban start beating on Pollin lately to get on the bandwagon and start talking some Caps. But one gets the feeling that dead wood like Pollin would rather see his show go up in smoke rather than learn something new or change his ways. (1/7/09) (GREAT IDEA from WUSA9, First in HD, and First on Simulcast. Take notes!) And first in weekend morning Infomercials beginning soon. Must be taking notes from WJLA on infomercial overload. Pathetic. (1/7/09) ("Kim Martucci (WUSA) changed DC TV for the better Tuesday morning... ") Nothing like a bit of shameless self-promotion, eh USA9 Webmaster? If this is what it's come down to, Pat O., 9 is doomed... (1/7/09) I am in Centreville and want 11 and 13. I have a long-range Yagi for UHF and a VHF dipole array that I can put on the chimney. Perhaps I'd be ok if I were in Towson or Catonsville with a UHF antenna to get those VHF channels, or getting 7 and 9 from where I am now, but I'm not wasting time trying to use the Yagi with 11 and 13. I'm glad the policy info on channel assignments seems clear now but it hasn't been. If my neighbors' bow-ties on a rotor have been watching 11 and 13 on their current digital UHF assignments, we'll see what happens next month. (1/7/09) RE: [ " The WAVA signal is perceived as being a premium DC/Baltimore signal. " ]............ BY WHOM? In fact, if you check radio-locator.com or the FCC its not that at all, at least not in Baltimore, but certainly DC for sure, so I understand the interest. Plenty other DC stations have much better signals to Bmore than 105.1. I know that for a fact too trying to get WAVA ROCK RADIO 105 on my radio as a child because i liked the music better than DC/101 or 98ROCK. WAVA was the ONLY station that would play a really long YES or GENESIS song. :-) PS: The Official List of PREMIUM DC/BALTIMORE stations: WWDC, WRQX, WKYS, WHUR, WETA, WASH, WAMU, all better than WAVA 105.1 in Bmore by FAR! (1/7/09) "I didn't say that WAVA was worth listening to, only that it delivers a strong signal throughout the dual market; WJFK-FM doesn't." And if no one in Baltimore cares that WAVA has a two-market signal, as it seems now with its 0 rating, then the issue is irrelevant. "Hell, most people can't receive it well in College Park!" Perhaps during the WJFK antenna replacement, when a more distant antenna was online, but now that the replacement is online, double-check to see if the signal is still bad. With an antenna in a car radio or office boombox, 106.7 should be easy to pick up there (and there's always 1580 just in case). Eleven out of twelve months of the year, 1580 provides a robust signal into eastern portions of the DC area from 9-5 for any office workers who would have troubles with 106.7. In December, the daytime 50 kW signal stays on until 4:45 PM -- good enough. 1580 can only be good for backup purposes these days. I had said previously that AM isn't viable for younger adult audiences. The adult WAVA listeners tend to skew older, and would therefore be more willing to listen to AM. But I believe that most WAVA listeners would be able to pick up 106.7 without 1580's help. I'll admit that in terms of establishing a completely new "brand identity" in the DC area, unless it's beyond unique in nature compared to what's out there (another news/talk station doesn't fit the bill) you need to be on FM for it to be successful. Right now, El Zol isn't getting enough ratings traction on 99.1 to make sense, and 1580's not cutting it ratings-wise with a talk format. 99.1 would bring in more money as a Baltimore/Washington dual-market talk station, with 1580's current programming. 1580 would be more valuable to Salem than it would be to CBS Radio, for that backup "just-in-case" purpose I've mentioned. Put WAVA side-by-side on 105.1 vs. 106.7? 105.1 would win; everyone's so used to it being there. But whether the signal is on 105.1 or 106.7/1580, WAVA's loyal audience would be willing to do what it takes to tune the signal in. Sincerely, Mike in Kensington (1/7/09) Was that a hearse in the driveway today at Channel 9 WUSA!? Further evidence Lane the Douch Michelson was brought in to close the station from Gannet. The new idea is to have three shows during the weekday nights...one for Maryland one for Virginia and one for DC. Talk about shrinking your already dismal audience share. Will Bath Fitters only run ads on Va. shows now!!? Funny but really sad. Ridiculous! Announcing the cancellation of the weekend mornings, cutting salaries and single lining anchors. Lane, what great ideas to shrink viewership! Your job should be secure for about 11 months until all the lights go out. Sad to watch management ruin a great station. (1/7/09) Kim Martucci (WUSA) changed DC TV for the better Tuesday morning... She started simulcasting from her personal computer to viewers on her blog and on www.mogulus.com/weatherkim. People can watch the simulcast live, chat with each other, ask Kim questions. Plus she gave studio tours and a behind the scenes look at the entire morning on WUSA9. It is just incredible!! What a great idea! This goes far beyond the local TV twitter craze. Check it out weekday mornings 4:30ish am. She drew over 50 viewers on the first day. Angie Goff also has a channel, she'll likely go live soon. GREAT IDEA from WUSA9, First in HD, and First on Simulcast. Take notes! (1/7/09) Either they only made one episode of "Emergency!" or someone at the "new" RTN master control is asleep since I just saw the paramedics pull Dixie's hand out of the coffee vending machine for the second time in two days. As an early Gen-Xer who remembers watching "Emergency!" on Saturday nights as a tot, I'm guessing it's the latter..... Charles in Winchester (1/7/09) Remember that Channel 4 news clip where Jim & George laugh uncontrollably to the video of a fashion model losing her footing and falling? www.youtube.com... It's poised to break the 4 million views mark on YouTube. Very popular! (1/7/09) I think I read somewhere that the greatest # of new residents moving to Baltimore are now from DC (& I mean Baltimore city & county, not AA & Howard which always had lots of DC influx). It used to be New York oddly, but I think thats changed. So that definitely could explain some of the WJFK #s in Baltimore. (1/7/09) "if I were a religious broadcaster looking to get programming on WAVA, I'd pay the same for 106.7/1580 as I would for 105.1, and that's coming from someone locally. In fact, with the 1580 signal in play, I might pay slightly more (maybe 1-2%) for it." Maybe YOU would, but you would be the only one. Perception is reality. The WAVA signal is perceived as being a premium DC/Baltimore signal. WJFK is barely perceived as a DC signal. 1580 should be simply signed off, it's a waste of electricity. You have no idea how much of a premium the ministries pay to be on WAVA. I mean, you really have NO idea. It's amazing. WAVA may have the best profit margin of any station in DC, and yes, I'm familiar with WTOP's ratings. Ratings are simply a tool to be converted to revenue. WAVA pays board-ops minimally and rakes in cash that's guaranteed a year at a time. For Mon-Fri 6am-7p, I bet they have a waiting list. Signed, CommonMan (1/7/09) Yeah, what Dave Loudin said. :-) But since a quick tutorial on short-spacing seems to be in order, here's a quick tutorial on short-spacing: under 47 CFR 73.213, "stations at locations authorized prior to November 16, 1964, that did not meet the separation distances required by Sec. 73.207 and have remained continuously short-spaced since that time" have no spacing restrictions at second- or third-adjacent frequencies. For that to apply to WLIF and WMMJ, those two stations would have to have been "continuously short-spaced" - i.e., closer than 69 km to each other - since 1964. As soon as WMMJ was licensed at its present site at the WAMU tower, which *is* fully-spaced to WLIF, the short-spacing grandfathering ended and WLIF and WMMJ were subject to the "usual" rules. Those rules do NOT lock WLIF into its present site. It can still move closer to Washington, but it must use contour predictions or a directional antenna to demonstrate that it will not create any new interference to WMMJ. That need not be a hugely complex or expensive directional antenna; as long as the radiation in the direction of WMMJ is not increased above current levels, there's no problem with a WLIF site change. - Fybush (1/7/09) /\ January 7 Messages /\ \/ January 6 Messages \/ Red Zebra’s Richmond outpost, ESPN Radio 950 (WXGI), fired its afternoon drive host over the Christmas holidays, opening the time slot for ESPN 980’s “The Sports Reporters”. “Hardly Workin’ with Greg Burton” had been airing on WXGI since 2004, when it started as “The Drive” in afternoon drive, then moved to middays when Red Zebra put the John Riggins show on WXGI, then back to afternoon drive when the Red Zebra purchase of WTEM left the Riggins show out in the shuffle. When the show started, Burton was working as a sports reporter for WTVR-TV, but eventually left WTVR to focus on radio. Burton is still heard weekly on WXGI, making a deal with Virginia Commonwealth University to host their two one-hour Thursday night shows, “The March and The Madness” with VCU AD Norwood Teague, and “The Anthony Grant Show”. This is the second season for Teague’s show, and first for Grant’s, on WXGI. The original plan was for Burton to host them as part of Hardly Workin’. Since VCU is paying for the time, their shows remain, and apparently VCU hired Burton to host the shows after his departure from Red Zebra. “The Sports Reporters” now airs in afternoon drive on WXGI (except for the VCU pre-emptions on Thursdays). This puts Steve Czaban in the unusual position of being on two stations in the Richmond market. “First Team on Fox” airs mornings on Clear Channel’s WRNL/910. Rob Hoffmann (1/6/09) Re: "WJFK appears in the book, and WAVA doesn't." -- I didn't say that WAVA was worth listening to, only that it delivers a strong signal throughout the dual market; WJFK-FM doesn't. And look at WJFK's numbers in previous ratings: 0/0/0/0--having WJFK-FM show up in one Baltimore ratings book is an unexplained aberration. ... "if you want to listen to a signal enough, you'll tune to it." -- If you can't get it, you can't get it, no matter how much you want to listen to it. ... "Look at WTOP when it was 107.7/1500. 107.7 became the more-listened-to signal"-- OK, put the same programming on 105.1 and 106.7, and if 106.7 wins, then I'll believe you. ... "I'd pay the same for 106.7/1580 as I would for 105.1" -- Your previous example says that Washington is not an AM-listening town, so I don't know why you think 1580 is so valuable. ~~CA in BC (1/6/09) Sorry, but those WJFK #s in the Baltimore Arbitrons are completely phony. I mean it's just technically impossible for WJFK 106.7 to get any measurable # of listeners in the Baltimore area. There are only like 2 places in the Baltimore market where you can even receive WJFK-FM at all and that would be like southern Howard & AA Counties and the signal is even sketchy there. Hell, most people can't receive it well in College Park! HAha! So those #s are probably either for WJFK-AM or the last few Don & Mike fans in Baltimore venting steam and/or just proof that Arbitron's diary method for ratings is completely inaccurate in general. (1/6/09) Dave's response: I've always theorized that some folks who live in Columbia or Annapolis commute to work in DC and listen to WJFK. And then write it in their Arbitron Baltimore radio market diaries..... Carl, WBAL will be broadcasting their digital channel 11 signal on their current analog channel 11 antenna. No modifications to their antenna will be needed. Also: In response to, "The argument over WJFK/WAVA, complete with maps... There's more to life than signal strength plots. WJFK is generally impossible to receive in the Baltimore area thanks to WWMX on 106.5." Look at the official Arbitron 12+ book data on www.radioandrecords.com -- WJFK appears in the book, and WAVA doesn't. For WAVA, providing a signal to the Baltimore DMA, including Howard and Anne Arundel counties, is irrelevant. Also, note that the DC listener base for WAVA is very loyal and will listen to the station through any perceived signal issues, especially with the new 106.7 transmitting antenna just installed, improving signal quality further. Besides, if you want to listen to a signal enough, you'll tune to it. Look at WTOP when it was 107.7/1500. 107.7 became the more-listened-to signal, and it was much more of a rimshot in the DC area than 106.7 ever has been. And don't forget 1580 in this, playing the role of 1500 in the daytime for listeners to the east who don't like 106.7's signal enough. WAVA listeners are just as loyal as WTOP listeners. Point is, if I were a religious broadcaster looking to get programming on WAVA, I'd pay the same for 106.7/1580 as I would for 105.1, and that's coming from someone locally. In fact, with the 1580 signal in play, I might pay slightly more (maybe 1-2%) for it. Sincerely, Mike in Kensington (1/6/09) Regarding TMU’s comments about the Junkies “Yeah, they're Everymen, but they're LAZY Everymen, and the lack of effort and creativity shows” – I respect your opinion. However, from my viewpoint I feel that by hearing stories about their kids growing up and their lives changing by moving, etc. it does keep the show moving forward. It’s real life – THEIR real life – whether you like them talking about what freebies they are getting or not. THAT’s what makes them different from practically everyone else on the radio. They’re sharing their lives with you, and that’s refreshing in today’s world. Maybe I’m on an island here (and by the ratings numbers maybe I am!) but I hope that WJFK stays with the first two shows in their lineup. I personally am bored with MOM and don’t listen to him anymore, but I think that Robbay could DEFINITELY put on an entertaining show and be a nice addition to that lineup. You can say that the numbers are so low and all of that, but Imus has lived on a LOT longer with a LOT lower numbers…BWG. (1/6/09) Hi Dave, Wanted to let you know that Air America just posted its congratulations to Senator-Elect Al Franken on its Web site, highlighting Franken’s work with Air America on “The Al Franken Show,” including video footage from the official launch of Air America in 2004, as well as a photo gallery featuring shots from Franken’s time at Air America. airamerica.com... airamerica.com... Shelley (1/6/09) To the poster below who said that the Junks and Big O and Dukes were hilarious this morning . . . well, they might have been, I guess. But I don't listen to the Junks anymore, because they started repeating themselves about five years ago. Yeah, they're Everymen, but they're LAZY Everymen, and the lack of effort and creativity shows. It's been a great (if low effort) ride for them -- but the end of the ride may be close. Sincerely, TMU (1/6/09) Dave, last week someone (me) made a 2009 prediction that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's prediction that major newspapers could vanish within a decade was too long of a time frame. Check out the January/February issue of The Atlantic, in which columnist Michael Hirschorn looks at the future of The New York Times. His argument: the Times is much closer to the edge than people think. He says: "The Times is destined for significant and traumatic change. At some point soon—sooner than most of us think—the print edition, and with it The Times as we know it, will no longer exist...." (1/6/09) OK! what-the-fuck??? 'Shep (i like gay) Smith' of FOX"News" is some-type of "Mid-East Expert" now??? ...there is no Justice in this world; Im a US military veteran (with sooome "special ops experience") YET I cant get anywhere near being a shallow, on-air, talking head 'expert'? (1/6/09) How is Chris Core's show on channel 50 doing ratings wise? Scott in Alexandria (1/6/09) Too bad for the remaining folks over at the one & only 9… The management of WUSA and Gannett are merely re-arranging the deck chairs on their Titanic. That flushing sound is WUSA swirling away out of business… Around the bowl and down the hole. With any luck maybe someone with a clear vision of the future will come along buy what is left of this once proud station. We can only hope. (1/6/09) Dave, I see a huge amount of misinformation regarding digital TV posted on your site. One topic being discussed now is the realization that some DC-Baltimore channels will return to the high VHF band come Feb ( this is hardly classified information and has been known for at least the last 18 months). But some readers may be relieved to know that the UHF yagi and bow-tie antennas which have been installed will usually work just fine to recieve channels 7-9-11-13. (1/6/09) Although I'm sad about Chris Berry's departure from WMAL, I must thank him for, in my view, making the right decisions for the station, which have in turn brought a smile to my face year after year. Things are not all perfect all of the time, and I've been very vocal about the things I like and don't like, and he's always listened to what I have to say. Thanks, Mr. Berry! Also, Dave, did you hear John Matthews back on the news on WMAL this morning? It was a joy listening to him again on-air. I'm concerned about the future of Austin Hill, however, given the fact that Mark Levin will expand his show for one more hour in the evenings. In this new year, I'm back in full force listening to my favorite radio guy, Chris Plante, who has started the year with a BANG! -- an array of fascinating and awesome topics. Thank goodness my morning guys - Fred, Andy & Nehman - are back as well. It's going to be a great 2009! Hope you had a nice holiday also, Dave. -Silvie- (1/6/09) "Who the hell cares who is doing the weather?" I agree 100%! When I tune into the weather, I really don't need fancy-schmancy graphics of jet stream swirls over Kansas, or video of flooding in Texas. I realize they use the jet stream stuff to try to predict the weather, but I don't need their entire thought process in their prediction. I just want their 'best guess' (and despite all the technology, a lot of it is just a guess) as to what it'll be doing for the next few days. Do I need an extra jacket? Do I need an umbrella? Is it going to snow so that I can go to Giant and wait in line for hours to stock up on bread, milk and toilet paper? The weather should be 2 minutes maximum. (1/6/09) (“Did WBAL ever give any reason why Neal Estano left or did Neal ever give any reason? Since Dish & DirecTV will only provide me Baltimore stations, Neal was the only weatherman worth watching. Don't get me wrong, Sandra is great to look at, but Neal seemed to have his stuff together.”) Geez, Bobo the one-armed chimpanzee could do the weather. (assuming he could read the teleprompter and push the button to change weather maps at the right time – something 90% of the weather persons on the air can’t do on a regular basis) Who the hell cares who is doing the weather? Go to the weather channel if you care that much. (1/6/09) Dave, I thought you might find SSA's newest PSA campaign interesting. Howie - www.ssa.gov (1/6/09) Dave's response: Nice to see old Patty Duke still able to make a buck these days..... Just as we have “Child Protective Services,” we should have a separate division called “Corporate Protective Services” that would step in to protect companies from destroying themselves or employees. I would report WUSA first, quickly followed by WRC and the Post. (1/6/09) Regarding the WJFK signal strength – EB said this morning on the Junkies show that all the signal problems that they’ve experienced in the past months have now been cleared up – I’ve never heard any problems here in NOVA, but someone from Amissville, VA called in to say that there is no longer any static on the signal. I know that this is the wrong direction from Baltimore, but their signal strength may improve there as well. Also – for all the Junkies/Big O & Dukes haters out there – they were absolutely hilarious this morning talking about which show was going to be fired first. It is so refreshing to hear radio hosts talking about anything and everything. The people that want them off the air simply want their plain vanilla programming with no originality. For those haters, just twist the dial down to 94.7 and you’ll have a taste of what’s coming if you get your wish. YAWN… BWG, Chantilly. (1/6/09) Dave's response: Yeah, I'm sure that's it. Now that its signal's back up to strength, JFK's numbers will skyrocket in the PPMs..... sigh...no more weekend morning news on channel 9...oh the memories... (1/6/09) "My advice? Keep the Nats and Caps right where they are and get UMD on Bonneville too. The Junkies and O'Meara are too crude for the majority of family friendly fans who make up the bulk of season ticket and merchandise buyers for both [the Nats and the Caps]". While that statement may be somewhat accurate for baseball at Nationals Park, hockey's a rough and tumble sport which tends to attract the beer drinking, working class types who'd have no problem with racy radio shows. I've been to a Sabres game in Buffalo and believe me - some of the language I heard there isn't exactly what you want your kids exposed to. The atmosphere at Verizon for Capitals games is probably more family friendly than that, but their fan base (which isn't just those who attend games) shouldn't be mischaracterized as consisting mainly of women, children under 18, well-to-do professionals and old timers born and raised in more traditional hockey towns to the north of here. That's the type of thinking which may contribute to local sports radio hosts being reluctant to talk much hockey - the incorrect assumption that the typical Caps fan doesn't fall in their target 25-54 male demographic while Redskins and Wizards fans do. Mike, Fairfax (1/6/09) Did WBAL ever give any reason why Neal Estano left or did Neal ever give any reason? Since Dish & DirecTV will only provide me Baltimore stations, Neal was the only weatherman worth watching. Don't get me wrong, Sandra is great to look at, but Neal seemed to have his stuff together. Jeff n E'burg (1/6/09) Re: The argument over WJFK/WAVA, complete with maps... There's more to life than signal strength plots. WJFK is generally impossible to receive in the Baltimore area thanks to WWMX on 106.5. WAVA has virtually no first-adjacent problem in either NoVA or MD, and hardly even any second-adjacent to worry about. And even if "106.7 can send a more than serviceable signal into College Park IF you have a decent antenna", how many people _do_ have a 'decent' antenna? WAVA has a huge, clear signal throughout the entire metro area. ~~CA in BC (1/6/09) Check this out...backstage with Kim Martucci at W*USA9...a live broadcast: www.wusa9.com (1/6/09) Someone misread Scott Fybush's message. As Scott said, since WLIF is not grandfathered towards WMMJ, it is essentially locked in place. He went on to describe what could have happened if the spacing between the two stations had ALWAYS been less than 69 km. Relax! Regards, Dave Loudin (1/6/09) Re: "In an era where you have 4 local news stations in the Baltimore area, why doesn't one of them realize they are facing an un-winnable situation and cut their news entirely?" With modifications, this idea could pay off big. Just as the Baltimore Sun and Washington Post now share stories, why not have just ONE television news department in Baltimore? That way, they can always truthfully claim to have an exclusive, can always truthfully provide Baltimore's most complete coverage of everything, can be the official news department of any sponsor they want to sign a deal with, can avoid all expenses necessitated by that pesky thing called competition, and can otherwise dumb down audience expectations to the point where they just might be able to eliminate news completely. It can't miss! Bob A. in Pikesville, Md. (1/6/09) "By 2/17, WBAL will move its digital signal from UHF channel 59 to its longtime VHF perch of channel 11....." Does this mean WBAL will be transmitting digital signal on the 'old' VHF Freq's? (Or will the Digital Antenna be placed on the old VHF (Chan 11) tower site. I thought all TV Stations would all be UHF after 2/17,,,that's why I am being told to buy a directional UHF antenna (to stop frequent audio dropouts and and frozen pixilated video that we are forced to live with now. Thanks, Carl (1/6/09) Dave's response: Many "high-band" VHFers (7-13) will be returning to their old VHF channels for their digital signals on 2/17. That includes WJLA, WUSA, WBAL, and WJZ. Most (with a handful of exceptions) "low-band" VHFers (2-6) will be staying in the UHF band, with some changing frequencies. Locally, that includes WMAR, WRC, and WTTG. In the DC-Baltimore area, the active digital TV "dial" will go from 7 through 50 come 2/17..... Your democracy at work... -ha. If they let that ASS-CLOWN Al Franken in the Senate, then why not that ASS-CLOWN Chris Matthews -? (ass-clowns from NBC? hmmmm, I sees a pattern...) NBC News/MSNBC = 'OBAMA-TV' Seriously will someone expose this? (1/6/09) RE: Channel 9 news cuts. Since channel 9 admits they can't compete on weekend mornings, why don't they just throw in the towel on other time slots where they badly trail? That would be weekend evenings, weekend nights, weekday mornings, weekday evenings, weekday nights. Oh, I forgot the midday stuff too. Local news is worse than ever. Why on earth do young journalists want to get into local TV or radio? You could make a better living as a garbage man. Better benefits too. (1/6/09) How could WLIF 101.9 lose its grandfathered short-spaced status to WMMJ 102.3 when WLIF has never moved its transmitter since day 1 and they were originally short-spaced to WMMJ 102.3 who (under various different calls) has altered its power & transmitter location several times and only just recently in the 1990s I believe moved to its current location which is technically not quite short-spaced? I think WLIF would have a good case before the FCC were they to lose their transmitter site from say a land sale or something, i.e. Bonneville buys the station, but CBS sells the land? Where would WLIF go if their current site were not available? Well guess what, not anywhere damn near close to where they are now considering the land values in that area. That much is certain since all would be so ridiculously prohibitively costly! Would the FCC force WLIF off the air under such a circumstance or force the station to a ridiculously directional system that would severely diminish the station's coverage? Based upon Scott Fybush's statement, the answer would be yes, because TV Hill would be out of the question, all of the sites on the west/SW side of town also would be unusable and its questionable whether even the WJZ-FM 105.7 site in east Baltimore or anywhere nearby would be usable due to adjacent channels on Delmarva. Overall, I just find that all hard to believe, that a station could lose its grandfathered short-spaced status not by it own doing and then be boxed in, but then again the FCC is a total mess, so nothing would surprise me. (1/6/09) Well I hope that WUSA finds use for the weekend anchors other than letting them go…... (1/6/09) WHFS started in a 20x20 room in the basement of the Bethesda Medical Bldg, 8218 Wisconsin Ave, with the tower on the roof. Then it moved for a short time to Woodmont Ave ??? a few blocks away. Later its transmitting tower was on the roof of Triangle Towers on Cordell Ave for a number of years. All of these locations are in the Woodmont Triangle, Bethesda. Eventually there was the move to the American Univ tower with higher power and much better coverage. IIRC, this site originally required a directional antenna, now long gone. (1/6/09) Dave, 105.1 doesn't appear in the Baltimore Arbitron 12+ book, unlike WRBS. WJFK does better in Baltimore than WAVA, with arguably the worse signal. And don't underestimate WJFK's signal quality locally. When in monoaural (like the talk programming of WAVA), 106.7 can send a more than serviceable signal into College Park if you have a decent antenna. Compare the www.radio-locator.com signal map of 106.7 with the www.radio-locator.com map of 105.1. And of course, there's the 1580 signal (in the daytime, anyway) to compensate if you're still worried. With those three factors in mind, if I'm a religious broadcaster wanting to purchase time on WAVA, and I look at those two maps, how does 106.7 look like a bad signal to put my program on, especially since 106.7 provides a stronger signal into heavily populated Northern Virginia? Sincerely, Mike in Kensington (1/6/09) Hey Business Minded News watcher...why don't you mind your own business. If Channel 2 or FOX 45 offered you a job today, you would take it. How dare you suggest this stupid opinion. Did you watch Channel 13 the other night..."Channel 13 has exclusively learned the Ravens are flying back to Baltimore from Miami and we have also learned they should be landing in a few hours." Why don't you suggest CH 13 shut its news operation down. These 2 stations are not as bad as you think they are...its the promotion and marketing that is hurting both! (1/6/09) How WUSA/9's late Friday night newscasts will be wrapped next fall: "Thank you for watching 9 News Now. Our next 9 News Now will be tomorrow night at 11, unless our GM can come up with another &*$&*%# 'new initiative' and get that newscast canceled too. At least we're always on at WUSA9.com. Okay, we won't update the site with actual new stories over the weekend but if something really bad happens, we'll Twitter you." Everett W. (1/6/09) "Legs", your "lease TV transmitter time" idea is an interesting idea. If networks get rid of the "take it or leave it" model of a set programming lineup for a given network, then things get really interesting. But with the current network system, the idea probably won't happen. Nielsen won't collect ratings on network TV affiliates without an over-the-air signal online. It's why stations rushed to get over-the-air signals on the air after 9/11, before the November, 2001 (ad revenue) sweeps. If they didn't, ratings at each station would have been counted like nobody on cable or satellite ever tuned in. With a lease agreement, there's too much of a risk that a higher bidder will come in to buy time, locking out local TV stations like "NBC Washington" and "My Fox DC" from those signals (and ratings). However, I would understand an attempt to, over time, reduce transmitter power levels as much as possible, believing that it would pretty much affect only very-long-range viewers that aren't desirable for Nielsen numbers. This might explain why WBAL will run their digital channel 11 signal at such low power (5 kW). By my calculations, WBAL could go up to 12.8 kW on their non-directional antenna, without interfering with channel 12 in Martinsburg, if they wanted to. Even though their current analog transmitter will be used to power the digital signal, in the future, they could save money on a new transmitter if they buy for a 5 kW signal, vs. a 12.8 kW signal. In the meantime, the power costs saved will add up quickly in this down economy. Also, they might be able to sell one of their older, high-power VHF transmitters to pay for a new, more efficient (per watt of transmitted power output), lower-power one, and pocket the difference (or make it up over time in further reduced electricity bills). Seems like a shrewd but brilliant move as far as I can see it. Sincerely, Mike in Kensington... P.S. In response to the earlier statement, "Plus, couldn't CBS save even more money by shutting down the Fairfax studios and running everything from Lanham?" 106.7's Manassas license precludes this due to an FCC rule that requires a station's studio to be within a certain distance of the community of license (25 miles, if I remember right). This idea becomes possible if CBS swaps 106.7 for a more locally licensed signal. In the past, I've suggested swapping 106.7 and 1580 for 105.1 (Arlington) for this very reason. (1/6/09) Dave's response: A swap of 106.7 and 105.1 will never happen because Salem would lose 105.1's coverage of Baltimore. Hell, 106.7 barely covers College Park..... But is the current site for WMMJ the original site for WHFS 102.3 and would that have any impact? I'm pretty sure WLIF has been at its current location for ages, maybe since its inception, but 102.3? I'm not sure. Seems odd that this rumor of moving a Baltimore FM closer to DC was floated out there on DCRTV. Sounds like somebody was thinking about something, but maybe its just not WLIF, but another station? Hmmmm. (1/6/09) Channel 9 cutting News, they might as well get rid of that 9am weekday broadcast as well. They never have news on, it's always someone talking about crap nobody wants to hear about. This morning while flipping, they were talking to someone about clay. A women finds raw, natural clay and DOES NOTHING WITH IT, and they were rushing her to talk faster her time was over. :bullet in chamber, press to my temple, pull trigger. (1/6/09) /\ January 6 Messages /\ \/ January 5 Messages \/ I took a quick look at the suggested WLIF move to the WRBS tower, and it ends up being a non-starter, but for a somewhat odd reason. You see, the grandfathered short-spacing rules are great things - IF you're already grandfathered. Full spacing between 101.9B and 102.3A is 69 km, and the distance from the current WLIF site and the current WMMJ site (on the WAMU tower) is 70.7 km. Had WLIF been built just a mile and change closer to DC in the first place, it would have been able to use the grandfathering rules to move almost ALL the way into DC. (Believe it or not, after WMMJ the next restriction on a WLIF move would be WCSP on 90.1, thanks to the IF-spacing rules that would keep 101.9B at least 20km from the 90.1 tower on Georgia Ave.) Because WLIF isn't grandfathered with respect to WMMJ, though, it's more or less locked in where it is; it could move closer to DC, but only with the use of a directional antenna that wouldn't give it an ounce of extra signal in the direction of WMMJ. - Fybush (1/5/09) “Legs” is right on the money about the future of Broadcast TV. Watch the networks eventually give up on the TV station O&O biz. We’re already seeing it with The NBC’s (I’m old enough to remember calling it “The National Broadcasting Company”!) not-so-subtle efforts to shop some of its medium and sub-major market stations. And, with the implosion of the Miami deal, not only was NBC’s “successful” bid lower than expected book value, take a look at who the “losers” were and it includes a “who’s who” of some of the best-run broadcasters still in the ‘biz. To my business sense, they were the real “winners”! That dead deal combined with the unsuccessful efforts to peddle KNSD San Diego and WVIT Hartford and the so far futile effort to ditch WRC proves that the future of broadcast TV is dimming faster than the dot you used to see in the middle of the CRT fifty or so years ago when you turned off the TV. Several factors have combined to cause this. First, cable and its seemingly never-ending array of channels has been diluting the broadcast TV market share for decades. Especially in the major markets. With very few exceptions, Broadcast TV has failed to adapt to the changed environment. If I turn on my TV at 6 AM and see the same infomercial on both WJLA and The History Channel, will someone please tell me what WJLA is doing differently? The only thing most broadcast TV’s have done to even acknowledge cable is to demand increasingly outrageous re-transmission fees (It’s no longer merely “in kind” compensation!) of the cable companies. And, to take carriage disputes public to their air rather than keeping them confidential like most business negotiations. Broadcast TV’s biggest fear really should be the day when a cable company says “no way will I pay” and goes ahead and yanks the signal as required by law… with either an insignificant amount or even zero complaints! What will the broadcaster do next? We’re talking uncharted waters here. The question will be which broadcaster and which cable company will blink first? The second problem facing broadcast TV ownership is the forthcoming meltdown of reception coverage with the DTV transition. Granted that each generation of DTV receivers has better RF and D/A designs. However, that’s small comfort to the family that laid-out kilobucks years ago on what was then a top-end receiver. And, is used to replacing a TV only every decade or so. While increasing the transmitter power levels will work at places like KDUH-DT or KELO-DT, it will actually make the problem worse in major markets, as you’ll expand your range of packet collisions. Thus, broadcast TV will need cable (or satellite) carriage to survive. Getting a signal to the each headend without running massive amounts of fiber to every small town will be expensive. That is, if you can get carriage. (I can hear it now, “How much are you willing to pay us for your primary and each secondary channel?”) That is on top of the RF design challenges of reliable & economical Class C 100% duty cycle at the TPO some DTV’s will need to serve their rural audiences. Then there’s the matter of the transmitter electric bill… So, “Legs” is 100% resonant on the future of Broadcast TV O&O’s. We’ll skip the discussion of radio until later in the week. Unsigned Corporate Suit (1/5/09) GAB in the airless cubicle: WWVA is on 1170 AM. Only way you would have heard them on 1070 is if their crystal cracked. (1/5/09) It's time once again to play Fun w/ Photoshop......... What If Bonnevile does buy Baltimore's WLIF 101.9 and moves the transmitter to say the WRBS site, what might the signal look like? (see pic, as always I'm not an engineer nor do I play one on TV and please, no wagering, hehe). Just imagine what that would do for the overall value of WLIF 101.9. I imagine 2nd adjacent WMMJ 102.3 might not like it, and I'm not sure of the grandfathering situation between those 2 stations or the added interference. But still interesting. (1/5/09) Odd, but TNT is off the analog Comcast cable here in Montgomery County as of Monday evening. Just snow on cable 48. Don't know if it's an outage or a move to digital. Same with CN8--nothing but snow. Style on 79 has been off analog for weeks. All this with no notice from Comcast. (1/5/09) "they never introduce themselves (which tells me they're quite sure that everyone listening listens every day to every word) they're not particularly well informed on anything, including sports, which tells me they're lazy & complacent." Wrong. if you are up and listening at 5:50 AM or so, that is the first thing JP does is have everyone say something. (1/5/09) Does Don Geronimo really have much contact with any of the old gang at WJFK? I kind of get feeling he does not, perhaps Robbay, but Robbay probably won't discuss so he won't piss off O'Meara? I think it was being around them folks was also part of the issues Mr. Geronimo was having and the memories of his wife. I actually think returning to the air was what kept him from going bonkers at first but then after awhile he was going through the motions and struggling with a place he just didn't want to be at anymore. that's my 5 cents on that. Sure would like him back but I think highly unlikely. With Levin expanding to 3 hours on WMAL does this hopefully mean the end of the dullish Austin Hill show? Heard his tactic whenever a liberal caller gets through, oh geez. Anyways wouldn't mind a slide from Levin to Sliwa but I guess Sliwa doesn't start his show till 10 pm. So an hour on WMAL from 9-10pm weeknights. How to fill, howto fill, hmmmmmm,"YOUR NEXT" perhaps? Doesn't Mr. Beatrice still live in the area? And here we are almost 2 years from the passing of Milt Grant, any chance some video from his archives might be released? (1/5/09) Congratulations to Rebecca Cooper, Natasha Barrett and Doug McElway for the launch of their new shows today on Newschannel 8. Barrett and (part time host) McElway host "Let's Talk Live" that airs at noon and Rebecca Cooper's solo anchoring of "Washington Business Tonight," airing at 7pm. Both look great, IMHO, and hope that they get a long shelf life on the "still rising and making a name for itself," Newschannel 8. (1/5/09) A little Dashboard DXing tonight... WFNI-1070-Indianapolis from 6:10 to 6:20 with a sports call-in show regarding the Colts. For fans of a team that has won 12 games a year the past six years, they're truly a disappointed bunch. WWVA-1070-Wheeling came sneaking in every couple of minutes or so, but nothing specific to identify. Now, as for that sports talk show... perhaps it was Indianapolis, but there was remarkably little screaming, posturing, or sneering. Mr. Czaban, please note. -- GAB in the Airless Cubicle's Kia (1/5/09) FOX5 must be paying people like Claudia Coffey, Stacy Cohan, Allison Wilson and Wisdom Martin a mint because I don't know how they make a living working, what, maybe once or twice a week?..I saw Claudia Coffey on today's news for the first time in what appears to have been months..But then again, it appears that her nose is much smaller, similar to Michael Jackson's, so maybe that's why we haven't seen her.. (1/5/09) RE: "I think it would be cool if CC brought back B104 with Classic Hits of the 70s and 80s. Even if they had it voicetracked, if they could get some of the old Baltimore personalities to do it I think it would be cool with a live morning show."...My five year B104 midday stint was the craziest chapter in my radio life and it flew by in a fever-pitch flash. Internally, it was a mad house with enough ongoing plots and sub-plots to give even the most skilled H.R. director a nervous breakdown. Despite the never-ending bedlam, I am still very grateful that I was able to play a role at the greatest Baltimore station of the 80s and create along side of some spectacular talents - some who remain close friends to this day. Ken Merson - Merson Person Voice Tracks (1/5/09) Happy New Year to everyone, including my industry friends, Dave Arlington, Howard Lesser, and Burt Cohen. Anyway, I need to make these three comments. First: While I sadly agree with the person who thinks WMAR could drop the 6 and 11 PM news and find a more competitive program alternative, I disagree about Channel 45 doing the same. They have the only 10 PM news in Baltimore, and they also do a very good job. I myself can choose between Channel 5 and Channel 45 and WGN Chicago (on cable), and prefer 45's news and I am sure many others do. When I think how they went from "Baltimore's Finest Features" (on the proverbial shoestring budget) and their Station ID looking like it was on a small piece of cardboard to now being a profitable Fox station, I am really impressed. Second: Kristy King may have a somewhat distinctive voice and accent (it sounds perfectly normal to me) if not commonly heard in DC, MD, or VA, and maybe her reports aren't the hard hitting on es, but news stations want someone to do that job, and she does it well. I would think that people get hired for their abilities, and not just for their looks or sound, though I know the latter two things unfortunately are important, too. She sounds fine to me, and she does her job well. Listen to some of the people on WBZ Boston: I can't take it, but apparently everyone in Boston can. Third: WBAL Radio should stand up and take a bow, as someone else has written, because their programs on Christmas Eve/Day were not only well produced but exceedingly rare currently on the radio. How many stations will expend that much effort to actually create an intelligent holiday day of programming? And New Year's Day was also great, as all the talk show people had great discussions about the past year and the upcoming year, without stupid cliches or dumb political crap. I know some people will not like that I have nothing but good things to say about these three stations (WBFF, WTOP, WBAL), but I can't help it. I even feel bad for Channel 2 not being competitive. -- Carl in Olney (1/5/09) Celebrating that holidays are over and WJFK O/Dukes and O'Meara (freaking Rob destroys) are back and hitting on all cylinders. Junks are good too. Screw TV and your digital conversion- I hope your signals wrap your neck and strangle...opps... keep breathing long enough to show NFL playoffs. (1/5/09) Dave's response: I love pro football as much as the next guy, but the games simply have too many of the same fucking ads played over and over and over and over and over and over. Total numb brain rot. I wish eternal Hell on the inhuman shitbag who thought up that campaign about buying a luxury car for your spouse on Christmas - and equating it with childhood Christmas memories. Pure evil..... Some comments on Bmore and 104.3. After reading the mailbag for a while, I dismissed all the 104.3 noise as just that, noise. The bag never gives anything a chance, much less anything from CC and when something does succeed, its ignored (xmas on WASH, DC 101's overall numbers, etc.)...but I must say 104.3 is a waste. I like 101's morning show and generally I like their music. I drove through the area on Friday PM (listening to Elliot on the air live on 101 setting up his new studio between 3-5pm. It was a hoot listening to them set up the mic processing...My wife was grossed out by the woman on the show talking about one Elliots zits) then I flipped over to 1043 heading into Bmore on 70. Music is deadly quiet and the mix sounds as if no one is even attempting to perk it up in selector - lots of slow stuff in a row, slow stuff coming out of commercials. Processing had gaps in it on low intros. Then the female voice tracker on Friday PM and again on Sunday midday was a waste of space. Good voice but no content. And someone forgot to check to see if the breaks fell in - because at least one or two were missing and music ran into the General Steel spots. Sounds as if CC has already given up on it and its just a place holder for whatever is coming next. (1/5/09) There's a very good reason WJFK's PPM numbers are so lousy: They got nothin'. The Junkies never had much of an act to begin with. The idea that you coud take 4 guys, break all of the rules about radio talk and keep an audience - pure nonsense. There's no flow to anything they do, they talk over each other, they never introduce themselves (which tells me they're quite sure that everyone listening listens every day to every word) they're not particularly well informed on anything, including sports, which tells me they're lazy & complacent. Think there'd be a clamor for their services if they were suddenly free agents? Think any of them will still have on-air jobs in their 50's? Please. The sooner CBS Radio figures out that almost anything would be better than they've got now, the better. (1/5/09) Re: "Can somebody explain how Christy King keeps an on-air gig?..." I've always been baffled by that myself. I have major problems with WTOP's pun-a-minute version of journalism, but they have some good reporters on their staff -- particularly Rosemary Frisino Toohey, Debra Feinstein, Hank Silverberg and J.J. Green. But Kristi (not "Christy") King and a few of the others -- Neil Augenstein? Please -- just don't cut it. Check out King's self-penned bio on the WTOP website. According to her, she was cut from the newsroom of her previous employer, WOKV in Jacksonville, FL, and sent into the field to do traffic reports because "They needed a traffic reporter who could sound like a bimbo for the FM station and serious for the AM station." I've always thought King's "serious" voice is much funnier than her "bimbo" voice. I wonder if she's ever considered just speaking like a normal human being? (1/5/09) Dave, With 2010 coming which makes any song in 1980 30 years old, what about an All-80s format on 102.7 or 104.3? You would be hitting a good mix of 25-54 year olds both male and female with that format. I really believe the All-80s formats failed because they launched too early but I think in a year or two it would be pretty viable, you have the potential for 1,000-2,000 song playlist if you wanted to go that far...I think it would be cool if CC brought back B104 with Classic Hits of the 70s and 80s. Even if they had it voicetracked, if they could get some of the old Baltimore personalities to do it I think it would be cool with a live morning show. (1/5/09) Dave's response: I love the "all 80s" pop music weekends on QSR. I think it could work on DC's 94.7. An oldies "resurrection" of B104 would be an absolute blast..... Mike Elgan at itmanagement.earthweb.com: "I hate to say it, but somebody has to: Satellite radio will come crashing down to Earth within the next two years. The newly merged Sirius XM Radio is already living on borrowed time -- and borrowed money -- and simply will not and cannot survive." (1/5/09) The following posting will I am sure offend people working at the station(s) listed, but I am speaking from the perspective of cost-cutting for a minute. In an era where you have 4 local news stations in the Baltimore area, why doesn't one of them realize they are facing an un-winnable situation and cut their news entirely? It's interesting, but in the era of cost-cutting, why doesn't Fox 45 or WMAR eliminate its local news entirely and run either the Fox News national news feed or run other programming? WMAR for example is consistently the lowest-rated news station in Baltimore. It doesn't even have that many people --- 600,000 in the metro area. Why does it need news at all? Same deal Fox though their news is on an hour earlier and isn't a direct competitor. First of all, people watch Fox for its programming not its news. Bruce Cunningham has a thorough sports report, but is it really worth all the salaries they have to pay the news staff? I think sometimes having local news is wasting money. Most of the time the news can be gotten by reading the local paper online and most of the time it's about the same stuff: death, shootings, Ravens celebration, cat caught in a tree, weather, and sports report. They could make a ton of money on putting on syndicated comedy programming at those hours (Simpson's) and probably get same amount of advertising. Studies have shown that people who watch local news for an extended period of time become despondent and depressed. I wrote this to ignite a debate. Please everyone respond with your thoughts. Signed, Business-minded News Watcher (1/5/09) ".....Frederick's WAFY Tops JZW & JFK In "Holiday" PPMs...." That truly must be embarrassing for the so called "management" at WJZW. However, I do have some good news for them. I was getting my hair cut for $5.99 at a Korean barber shop, and they had 105.9 tuned in. I don't think they understood any of the words, but they seemed to enjoy the toe tapping melodies. Maybe the sales staff could find some Korean sponors. (1/5/09) Hi Dave! I just wanted to personally invite you to the first annual Journopalooza this Friday at the National Press Club. It will be a vicious competition between four of DC's best reporter-based bands as they battle for the Journopalooza crown. Dave Marash will emerge from hiding to host the evening, proving his stint as anchor for Al- Jazeera English did not earn him a room at Gitmo. The concert promises to be a good time--and will benefit two worthy causes. All proceeds will help fund the Journalist Assistance Program of the Committee to Protect Journalists and the scholarships and training programs of the National Press Club's Eric Friedheim Library. See our website for more general info or to purchase tickets. www.Journopalooza.com... I hope you can make it Friday! Cheers, Christina (1/5/09) Can somebody explain how Christy King keeps an on-air gig? And I don't mean the "she's a real classy gal" or "she's a true friend" kind of explanation; I need to understand how somebody who does only fluff pieces and consistently screws them up keeps a job. The clown voice she uses is an embarrassment, but I know she's not the only one on the air doing that. But the fact that she leaves the point of the story on the cutting room floor and gets facts wrong so often shouldn't be tolerated. (1/5/09) After being in the Baltimore area this weekend and having 99.5 on the entire time without changing the dial once, I think it'd be kind of stupid to put a CHR on 102.7. 99.5 carries from above Westminster, 695/95 South of B-More, to Federal Hill, 695/95 North of B-More, and past Timonium with the signal being clear the entire time. The only place I lost the signal was when I was driving through the Harbor Tunnel. Maybe CC should be smart about it and make 99.5 a DC & Baltimore Station, maybe even ditto for DC101 depending on how good their signal is around B-More as a whole. Then 104.3 could be cleared up for a much more profitable format. People in Baltimore are used to hearing DC101, but when they tune to 104.3 it's just a very poorly done copy of DC101. Which does one choose, the station with actual DJ's & better everything or the station with with the same morning guy, a good playlist, VT'd DJ's that have no personality and which kill the station, and dumb liners from a guy who sounds completely boring when he's saying it? Channel 104.3's failing is no surprise. EITM is great, the music is great, but Cheap Channel has to get some real DJ's in there and some better liners or just make DC101 a B-More & DC station. (1/5/09) www.washingtonian.com: Postologists will remember that the newspaper's gulag of the 1990s was the Outlook section. A top editor axed in a power struggle or ejected from Style or National or Financial often was exiled to the Sunday section on big thoughts. Second choice for a soft landing was a fellowship, preferably at Harvard. Under the latest regime, heads chopped off in the newsroom often take the elevator from the fifth floor up to the ninth-floor executive suite. There, Post Company chair Don Graham finds them an job appropriate to their status. Susan Glasser, whose management of the National staff was considered disastrous by many, was removed last year as associate managing editor. Graham scooped her up and gave her an office on his ninth floor and a job working on "projects." Shortly thereafter, Graham bought Foreign Policy Magazine and installed Glasser as executive editor. Cut to this morning's pair of Post memos about the exit of Phil Bennett. As managing editor for three years under departed executive editor Len Downie, Bennett made a run for his job. When new publisher Katharine Weymouth passed Bennett over for Marcus Brauchli, Bennett's days were numbered. In today's farewell note to staff, Bennett thanked Graham and wrote: "Next week, I'll move to the 9th floor to work for Don on a project relating to the future of the news business. I will be writing, thinking about what's next—and pulling for you." Postologists were left with two questions: • Will Don Graham buy a magazine for Bennett? • Why did Graham not reward Jim Brady, departing editor of washingtonpost.com? (1/5/09) Obama selected LEON PINNETA to be CIA Director... Are you f*cking kidding me? (1.He Has NO INTEL experience. 2. ANOTHER Clinton re-tread. WHEN WILL SOMEONE IN THE MEDIA CALL OBAMA; DA MESSIAH; DA MAGIK NEGRO OUT!!!) Man, F*ck It... Im leaving Langley and getting a job as an on-air 'Intelligence Analyst' -LOL and hang-out with all those soft-core porn stars who work @ FOX"News" (or get a gig with Blackwater and kill some shit)... ~Kinky-Neo-Con (1/5/09) ("The service area for WWXX 94.3, Warrenton, the western outpost of the WTEM triple-cast, does not go north of the Fauquier County line (see this www.fcc.gov, so starting to hear interference at Gilbert's Corner is not out of the question. The offending station in this case is WQCM, Greencastle, PA, that serves the Hagerstown market. The two stations meet separation requirements between co-channel Class A FM facilities.") Thanks Dave Loudin! That certainly explains it. There is definitely some gaps in NoVA coverage for the three stations that are supposed to cover the metro area. Anywhere from Dulles, to Leesburg, to Winchester, to Middleburg, you get evening gaps in the ability to hear Wizards/Caps games. By contrast 107.7 and 106.7 (not to mention the WTOP 103.5 powerhouse) comes thru much better at night. For the major sports teams in area, you would like to think we could get solid coverage. (1/5/09) Dave, Happy New Year! I know its been a while since I posted. I wanted to tip my cap to John Patti for the 'Christmas in Maryland' special on WBAL. I was really sick much of the week of Christmas which was blessing in that I got to spend more time with the family and we enjoyed listening to it on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day...Been enjoying the Totally 80s weekends on Jack-FM. I see on Saturday nights though they pause to do a Jamming Saturday Night show now...I don't why everyone is so down on WJFK-FM, I know the PPMs have them low but talk radio is ever changing and fresh and fills a nice niche. Its 2009 there are so many competing mediums now you have to put things in their proper perspective. Heck forget the Ipod and MP3 player (I own neither, still spinning CDs at home), I play half my music in my free time off of You Tube. I don't think changing WJFK-FM to sports talk will do much considering its going after pretty much the same demo...I hope for radio in general because I know so many who have been laid off and I have been so fortunate to keep mine that there comes a rebirth, for the bigger corps, smaller clusters that can focus its money and energy on just a few stations and make them steller instead of having to run so many stations on a thread of a budget. For me when a studio is filled with lots of voices and it sounds like everyone is having fun and it feels like a party and the place to be I get a kick out of that. Its the content in between that makes radio stick out and different, I can hear Jack and Diane anywhere I want but what makes it fun is what comes before and after... Oh and I wanted to say Happy New Year to my radio friends out there including radio mother Joyce Conroy. The more time I have spent in radio the more great people I have met and made friendships of and I continue to meet more and more especially being in the press box for Ravens games. I really appreciate all the kindness from everyone...To Johnny Dark: You would appreciate that when you did your night show on WQSR (I think it was your something 'Album' feature), I remember you introducing a forgotten 45 on a Friday night as I headed back from the beach after a week's work, it was Hot's-'Angel in Your Arms. Well two weeks ago I was doing a holiday Noon-6pm shift and had the pleasure of doing my old 12 O'Clock Whatever feature show where we play anything from 70s-Now. Its my favorite hour because I have snippets of Old Top 40 jingles I play as drop-ins and I talk between every song and after liners and jingles the way it used to be. Anyway my turntable song of the day was Hot-Angel in Your Arms. I bring in a record player and drop the needle. That was a great forgotten one hit wonder, I tried talking up like you did with the background info...Oh and now I have reinstituted the old Top 40 radio bell chime before I give the time. I had a blast on Friday playing it during our new Retro Weekend. I guess its the little things in life, lol. - Michael Popovec (1/5/09) Woke up/fell out of bed/ran a comb across my head/ made my way downstairs and had a cup/ looking up I noticed I was late…..turned on the Junks to hear them butcher current events and their “take” on the Middle East. Same o’l same stupidity and lack of knowledge so I muscled through. UNTIL they started talking about family killing Santa’s. Seriously boys!! 1. Old news. 2. Pathetic. 3. Broaden the horizon juuuuust an bit to cover something, anything, but deranged Santas. How about them CAPS!?! How’s about them Hot Stove? How’s about the Pro Bowl announcements??!! How’s about Teresa having to smell Lurch’s breath or how Lurch’s sister is doing? I was so looking forward to hearing the other looped routine about your adventures and poker prowess. Thanks for jarring me back to everything disgusting about the world. D-bags Hint: If you don’t know current events….shut up. I can and will turn the dial to the right. skimmell (1/5/09) "We're thrilled to see that our stream is the only one in the market to be ranked. Kay Summers, Director of Public Information, WAMU 88.5." Not true. WASH's stream also showed up. (1/5/09) “If a local news channel is broadcasting their newscast in HD and the local sports anchor is giving the sports highlights for a game that was broadcast in HD, why are the highlights usually or always in SD? Thx!!! “ --- they probably don’t have the ability to record the game in HD, meaning they don’t have HD boxes or HD satellite capabilities. Also, they game itself may not have been broadcast in HD.. (1/5/09) The service area for WWXX 94.3, Warrenton, the western outpost of the WTEM triple-cast, does not go north of the Fauquier County line (see this www.fcc.gov), so starting to hear interference at Gilbert's Corner is not out of the question. The offending station in this case is WQCM, Greencastle, PA, that serves the Hagerstown market. The two stations meet separation requirements between co-channel Class A FM facilities. Regards, Dave Loudin (1/5/09) If you see Kay from WAMU (say it out loud...it is funny) - tell her congrats. That webstream thing is great! (1/5/09) (Re: today's PPMs and WAFY Key 103) 25-54 they were 18th was a 2.1 beating both WMAL and WJFK. When you get beat market-wide by a station that can only be heard in Frederick and Poolesville.....ouch!!!! (1/5/09) Yes, RTN is back, although I don't know if WJLA is getting its own local schedule or the national one because at 12:15 "Quincy" was on while the Comcast guide data indicated it should be "Adam-12." Considering that we had NO guide data for the first month after it replaced Local Point TV, who knows what will be on next... Charles in Winchester (1/5/09) Dave's response: The Comcast/Reston electronic program guide has shown a different RTN sked for the past week or so. Including "Oprah" at 10 PM. I'm wondering if 7's planning to supplement or revamp the RTN sked in the near future..... So i have a question that I hope someone may be able to answer. If a local news channel is broadcasting their newscast in HD and the local sports anchor is giving the sports highlights for a game that was broadcast in HD, why are the highlights usually or always in SD? Thx!!! (1/5/09) Hi Dave- Thanks for calling out our stream's cume rating (from your post in 12/31 about Dec. PPMs). One correction: as we understand it, the 0.6 cume rating you reference represents our flagship channel's web stream, at wamu.org, rather than our HD channels. We're thrilled to see that our stream is the only one in the market to be ranked. Kay Summers, Director of Public Information, WAMU 88.5 (1/5/09) WHOA! The commercial breaks on WJFK ("Our Station's Not Big, It's Titanic") down to a mere 4-5 minutes? Heck, in the heyday of D&M, you could fix your lunch AND EAT IT during the LooooooooNG commercial breaks . . . shorter breaks couldn't hurt. However, it will drop the time available for them to defibrillate MOM during the breaks. BACK AWAY FROM THE TACO, MR. O'MEARA! Sincerely, TMU (1/5/09) Retro Television Network is back on the air on WJLA 7.3 (Comcast 205) as of Monday 5 January 2009 10:00am EST. (1/5/09) WTEM 94.3 is out of Warrenton VA right? If so why does a really bad "hard rock" station out of (I think) rural Maryland, step all over 94.3 around Gilberts Corner, Middleburg area? Its annoying, the closer I get to Warrenton VA on the evening commute, the more the Wizards games get stepped on by heavy metal. The 92.7, 94.3, 1500 AM set up is not covering NoVA very well in the evenings. The whole ESPN/Dan Snyder merger has been a dud. Losing Steve Czaben's morning show, for Mike and Mike was the last straw for me. . .if they lose the Wizards I'll have no reason to ever check in with these stations. I really hope we don't lost the WJFK daytime lineup of the Junkies, Big O and Dukes, and Mike O'Meara. They are getting killed in the ratings, why I don't know. They are local, topical, funny and REAL. Really they are gems for the area and they deserve our support. Chad Dukes and a few locals like Buzz came on on Christmas day for a few hours and put on a great show. The Mike O'Meara show is finally starting to get its groove, I heard a lot of great segments over the holiday's "best of" broadcasts. Unlike in prior years, all these shows get along together and the cross-pollinizations have made for some great radio. I don't think the area would really respond that much for another sports talker. We have sports talk already, and right now its so damn Redskins centric that more of the same would suck. What we need are stations with better signal strengths carrying the games. The Nats on 107.7 at least come thru loud and clear. I don't think trying to alter the Junks, Big O and Dukes, and Mike O'Meara into sports oriented shows is the way to go. All of them cover sports topics, when there are things to talk about, but all three shows offer so much more than just sports. In particular Big O and Dukes, and the MOM show just need more time and patience from the powers that be. . .they are good radio, let them jell. Losing the WJFK lineup would mean losing the most authentic and real talk radio available locally. (1/5/09) hey dude, WBAL's staying on the air with analog right up to the deadline on February 17th. the info you got probably referenced spots we're running about the fact that we have to reduce analog power "on or around" 1/21 to prepare for digital. our digital signal will come from the same transmitter that's currently broadcasting our analog signal, so the engineers have to bring it partially down to prepare it for the switch in February. (1/5/09) Noticed the shorter breaks on the Big O and Dukes show? They've been about 4 or 5 minutes. And they've had 3 breaks this hour instead of their normal two 9 minute breaks. (1/5/09) Dave's response: Yeah, I heard Big O and Dukes remark that they'll be here "for a while." Looks like Michael Hughes convinced Dan Mason to give JFK's "guy talk" a PPM reprieve for another few months. Cutting back some of the 10+ minute (or so they seem) ad breaks could help. We'll see..... Hey Dave, I loved the Rant on Don G. and WJFK…the lineup on the station is solid but, love him or hate him, many of us MISS Don Geronimo. For those of us in the Balt/Wash area he was a mainstay in our Radio lives for years and I know that he must be chomping at the bit to come back, in some capacity. It would be great if he could come in and do an abbreviated “guest” hour or two on the show each day just to get him back in the mix. That way he doesn’t have to run the show and can just have fun with it. I want to say that the Mike O’Meara show is great and I love the current cast, but having Don back in the mix would be a great thing for the station and the ratings. Dave, Baltimore MD (1/5/09) Dave, I'm not home to check it myself, but a poster to AVS forum is reporting that RTN is back on WJLA. Howie (1/5/09) Dave's response: Yeah, just updated the Front Page blurb..... "The much vaunted WTOP promotion didn't stop Nationals' radio ratings from being the lowest in MLB last season by a significant margin." I would blame that on the lousy team they fielded, not the radio stations. Nats TV ratings sucked, too. (1/5/09) (Previous item: BIRACH has filed yet another amendment to their 50,000 watt upgrade proposal for WDMV 700 to the FCC.) You know, I actually hope it goes through this time. I would love to see the excessively expensive array they'd have to construct to protect WOR in NYC, put to use for only about ten hours daily of service every winter; and watch as the interference complaints pile up from WLW in Ohio. Tack on to that all the wonderful financial and investment information they are now feeding into what is basically farm country, and you have the makings of a multi-million dollar lawn dart. Haven't these clowns noticed that we already have two local 50k-watters (WWGB and WMET) that do nothing but keep the worms warm? Scuttlebut has it that Birach Broadcasting was buying up AMs a few years ago in anticipation of digital IBOC-AM being the salvation of the band, and everyone lining up to bid for those stations. Well, IBOC barely works on FM to anyone's satisfaction, so this 50 kW project - predicated on iffy technology no one really wants - will absolutely go bust. "Ladies & Gentlemen, watch closely as The Amazing Birach-o will make a million dollars vanish into thin air!", and in the end the only one who will make out is the sodbuster in Walkersville who sold/leased the land where the WDMV towers are built on now. U-F-B! ... (1/5/09) So, will the glorious disaster that is the Mike O'Meara Whining And Self-Pity Show return today? Is there anything left to save? Does the rumored 1/23 date have any validity? Will B.A. McBride be shipped back to North Carolina on a Trailways bus? How long IS MOM's contract, anyway? Ah, the drama . . . Sincerely, TMU (1/5/09) The Elliot suspension was mentioned on today's show. It had to do with comments he made about Bernard Madoff going to Florida to meet with the Jewish Old Boys network. It seemed rather tame, and it wasn't a Holocaust joke. (1/5/09) Dave's response: He got suspended for that? Hard to believe..... Re: "Wouldn't it be nice if someone perhaps 106.7 WJFK/CBS Radio would find a live feed of the Redskins game and hire comentators like Hertzog and others such as George Michael etc and have them do an off site play-by-play that was not affiliated with Little Danny's empire. They could do it just like a radio show and pipe in crowd noise." Except that the second they went into "faux" play-by-play, NFL lawyers would swoop in quickly. That whole "the descriptions and accounts of this game" line in NFL disclaimers also precludes "rolling your own" play-by-play, from a sports bar or anywhere else. (1/5/09) From NBC station WSAV: Turn on WSAV’s secondary digital channel today, MyTV, and you’ll find a distinct difference. Some of the shows aired on this channel are provided by a programming company called Retro Television Network or RTN. They include classic TV shows like “Greatest American Hero”, “Kojack”, and “The Incredible Hulk”. A contract conflict between Equity Media Holdings Corporation and RTN has, at least temporarily, interrupted the airing of these classic TV shows. Prime time shows Monday through Friday like WWE Friday Night Smackdown! and others aren’t affected. (1/5/09) Dave's response: My bet is that RTN is over, done, finito. Oh, it's Kojak..... Dave, Dave, Dave... Well, I come back from vacation to find your ED medication shipment arrived, and this time, your obsession is apparently with WJFK. Once again, you want someone else's radio station to become a sports talker just to suit your "jones". Never mind the fact that any sports talker that enters this market while Red Zebra has almost ALL the national and local advertising money for this format pretty much locked up for the next year, is doomed to failure. My very knowledgeable friend,the Unsigned Corporate Suit, will likely confirm for me that for the time being, its going to be a tough business environment into which any new venture is going to compete, much less sports talk. Again, the only way sports talk works here in D.C. is if its mainly LOCAL during the day, and a mix of ALL sports, not just the Redskins. Hear that great sucking sound? That's ESPN 980's PPM numbers going down the toilet as they enter the off-season still talking about a team no one wants to hear about til training camp this summer. That's just the reality, no matter how much the rabid fans would like it to be different. Besides...let me offer another scenario. For one thing, I believe we're about to see CBS finally join NBC and ABC getting out of the owned-and-operated radio station business all together. (Yes, I know ABC still has some ESPN-formatted owned stations...but they sold all the ABC stations like WMAL, WRQX and WJZW to Citadel, right?). I just think that in the long run, these big companies are gonna get out of the business of running properties with transmitters and government-issued licences. Why? Because slowly but surely, there's no longer big money to be made from these sticks, not even in "clusters". The networks are going to become pure content providers with revenue still based on advertising, but no longer with the expense and hassle of having to be regulated. They'll sell the sticks to people who know how to run them efficiently, like Bonneville, and some of the smaller better financed companies. And that's where the "Legs Scenario" kicks in. I think, for one thing, when CBS decides to get out of the radio all together, they'll sell 106.7 to Bonneville, and it will go sports talk. They will simulcast the Nats and Caps, plus the Maryland Terps on 1500/820 (which will remain Federal News Radio daytime Mon.-Fri.) An enhanced 1050 daytimes will handle any overflow play-by-play from their other college and pro play by play. I think they will run LOCAL sports shows during morning drive and afternoon/evenings, and have serious sports talk programing Saturday mornings. And I think eventually, ESPN will either move to 630/105.9 as satellite sports talk station, or be part of the new sports talker built around 106.7. There's no way ABC can be happy with the poor performance of 980 and the cabal of RZ stations. (And to the Bonneville bashers: The Nats and Caps are on 1500 because of the regional "reach" the station has, the fact that they do terrific production of their broadcasts, and the fact that they're great to do business with. The ratings will move up with the performance of the teams; I think if the Caps make it to the playoffs this time, the ratings will be very good, indeed. And my spies tell me that by opening day, there will be a Northern Virginia FM for the Nats to replace 107.7, if they don't yet have a deal to buy 106.7.) By the way, I also predict that sometime in the next several years,NBC is also going to get out of the business of owning over-the-air television transmitters, for the same reason I mentioned above for radio. That's whythey changed the url of their website to "nbcwashington.com", IMHO. With cable penetration what it is, it no longer makes any sense to put all that money into radiating a signal. Instead, I think down the road that the transmitters and antennas will be sold to companies who can run them efficiently, and both the stations and the network will become pure content providers. So, there would still be a much smaller "NBC Washington" providing the local news in video and on the web, but which could air on channel 4 one hour, and maybe 5 the next hour, for example. Its even been proposed down the road that the local stations might bid on programs "cherrypick"-style from the network and cable providers, and do their own schedules independent of the old network model. Just as it no longer makes sense for newspapers to own printing plants and trucks (an the attendant costs involved), it really no longer makes sense for the networks to own transmitters anymore. Which I think bodes well for those who want more local ownership, and more localism in over-the-air broadcasting. The Viacom/CBS', and the Clear Channels of the world got way too big through mergers and acquisitions to the point of collapse, and the economic climate is going to change that, thank goodness. Anyway, should be interesting to see what develops in the New Year! {gingerly stepping off the soapbox in warm comfy UGG boots}, - Just Call Me 'Legs' (1/5/09) BIRACH has filed yet another amendment to their 50,000 watt upgrade proposal for WDMV 700 to the FCC, so they're still fighting to turn AM 700 into a 50,000 watt station. I suspect NIMBYS are still fighting this, but I think BIRACH will win this one since its the same current site being used so no zoning approval will be necessary. So that makes it possible DC gets 2 new 50,000 watt AM radio stations in 2009, WDMV 700 and WAGE 1190. I wonder if either site, especially the Dulles WAGE site, might be of interest to WTEM 980 (particularly as a higher power night time site) or some other stations maybe looking to sell land and diplex in the current bad economy to save money. It's not actually quite certain yet that WAGE even intends to use the Dulles site for night time use so you never what possibilities that site holds for another AM station. (1/5/09) Wouldn't it be nice if someone perhaps 106.7 WJFK/CBS Radio would find a live feed of the Redskins game and hire comentators like Hertzog and others such as George Michael etc and have them do an off site play-by-play that was not affiliated with Little Danny's empire. They could do it just like a radio show and pipe in crowd noise. They could add a real pregame show with traffic ala WTOP back in the day. A cutting edge idea that would keep things out of Little Danny's control. Of course the legal minds would have to figure out the speciffics but I bet it would work well. Frank Mosby/Leesburg Va (1/5/09) Just in the last few weeks have I discovered for sure that some DTV stations were reverting to their old analog channel assignments. I've been looking on and off into that for the last couple of years but could never seem to find solid info. I'm glad I put off getting that UHF-only Yagi since 7, 9, 11, and 13 are reverting to their original freqs for digital. I've seen a lot of "DTV" antennae go up on houses in my neighborhood that only pick up UHF (Yagi only and those bow-tie arrays with flat reflectors). The changeover expense might be more than just those without ATSC tuners having to get converter boxes... (1/5/09) Now here is an idea to hear: D. Snyder puts Steelers programming on one or two of his stations and Giants program on one or two of his stations. Lots of interest in those teams. Of course he would have to get NEW hosts since the ones he has now don't like phone calls from listeners. They talk a lot; way too much. If Steelers and Giants fans can put 'em into FedEx Field then why not program sports for the groups? (1/5/09) As if the satrad industry isn’t flaky enough already, I’ve had an interesting situation arise this past week that makes me doubt it’ll be surviving much longer. A few years back, I bought a Delphi SkyFI2 radio and also received a Roady2 unit for free. At one time I had both activated and both were working just fine. After several moves, I had the SkyFi2 packed away and my wife was using the Roady2. She asked one day if she could switch the Roady2 and activate the SkyFi2. We called up Sirius-XM, gave the appropriate radio ID numbers, and that should have been the end of it. Well, the darned SkyFi2 wouldn’t activate! We tried and tried through various calls to Sirius-XM, even to tech support, and after a day and a half of no activation, gave up. The tech told me “all these radios have about a 3-year life span.” Great. Swell. Nobody said that when we purchased the radio. Since the Roady2 is the same age as the SkyFi2, I had to wonder if it would reactivate, but fortunately it did. Even so, this leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Could it be that Sirius-XM has upgraded its activation software and my old SkyFi2 simply didn’t understand the signal? Could this be a precursor to all of us needing to replace all our radios down the line because of their software changes brought on by the merger? Yet they had the nerve to ask if I wanted to buy a lifetime subscription! Feeling that the satrad service might fold in a year or two, I don’t think that would be a very wise thing to do. Just be warned if you have to reactivate any of your receivers, if you even want to listen to what’s left of their programming. Bill Powers, Los Angeles (1/5/09) A question for the listening audience. Does anyone know what weekday 24 will normally be on once it gets up and running? I’ll hang up and listen to the response. Haymarket Joe (1/5/09) /\ January 5 Messages /\ \/ January 4 Messages \/ For the poster who asked about using the 1260 site in Brookvile for diplexing: I think that’s a non-starter for several reasons. Not the least of which is that, IIRC, he doesn’t even own it as Cheap Channel was smart enough to keep possession of the real estate at that location when they dumped the AM’s. (Which includes the DC101 stick…) Besides, the old WWDC-AM site is one of the most (if not the most) technically decrepit sites around here. It needs a lot of work. I believe the place is being kept on-air via a succession of STA’s. Unsigned Corporate Suit (1/4/09) (RE: Newschannel 8 airing Good Morning Washington) I’ve noticed that on their online program guide several times dating back several months now, but they still air their own Morning Report beginning at 5am. It must be an error on the listing, but one would think that airing a single newscast instead of separate ones on each station would be a good way to save some money. However that hasn’t happened, at least not yet. The only day of the week that 8 simulcasts GMW is on Saturday mornings from 6 to 7am. Brian in Fairfax (1/4/09) Six and a half straight hours of infomercials this Sunday on ABC-7, plus another hour or two in the overnight. Why can't Allbritton show some old movies (like the ones they use to pre-empt network shows) or a syndicated show or two? This is no way to run an ABC affiliate in the nation's capital. (1/4/09) Hello: As I suggested earlier, RTN has not gone "belly up" as the front page story implies. While it's still showing the red slide of death for me locally, it has made its return in Detroit and Austin at least, and I gather it's slowly returning across the country. - Trip (1/4/09) George Michael and his crew to WTTG??!!!..No way..Just don't see it..From the number of people whose contracts weren't renewed, those reporters that are only seen once or twice a month (suggesting it's a budget thing), I don't think WTTG is willing to dish out the amount of money it will take to bring George and his group on board.. (1/4/09) I really hope RTV isn't gone because I like watching that station. It is much better then TV Land I hope they get this situation resolved very soon. (1/4/09) Dave, If you didn’t know … Netflix has lots of those shows … (McMillan & Wife, McCloud, Kojak, Rockford Files, etc.) Most, including McMillan (all seasons) are available for instant viewing (WATCH INSTANTLY) either over computer or with a $100 Roku set top box. All this, until the internet bandwidth sheriffs crackdown and slow the service, $8.99 a month gets you one DVD out at a time and unlimited INSTANT viewing. I started on Netflix last month and am very happy with the service. The Roku works well, including wireless. www.netflix.com... Matt Bender (1/4/09) Dave's response: Cool..... I "support your 'bag", but what in the blue hell is Jim Williams doing? Continued speculation based on wishful thinking, unsubstantiated rumors & media manipulation by people with an obvious agenda. Does the DC Examiner pay you to run this crap or have you switched your man crush from Buzz Burbank to Jim Williams? - Ponderous Baby, Simply Ponderous (1/4/09) Re: RTV. Glad I recorded McCloud last night. But where can I see part 3 of the three-part Sheirff Lobo that was supposed to run tonight. D'oh! Charles in Winchester (1/4/09) Dave's response: I'm a big fan of "McMillan And Wife" and Universal has only released one season - the first - on DVD. I was enjoying DVRing and watching shows from later seasons on RTN..... Dave... Seriously: (They also have the cash to keep the "Michael team" of Sunny Jurgensen and Michael Wilbon intact.) It's spelled Sonny. Tsk tsk. (1/4/09) Dave's response: Whoops. But it's pronounced "sunny"..... Is newschannel 8 going to start airing WJLA's Good Morning Washington from 5-7am weekdays? Look at their program lineup... (1/4/09) Hello: There's nothing to suggest that RTN is gone for Good (pun intended). Equity launched RTN a few years ago and then sold it in mid-2008 in an attempt to prevent the bankruptcy that eventually hit it anyway. It sold RTN to Equity's largest shareholder, under the name "Luken Communications," but the network was still run out of Equity's CASH system in Little Rock. I've heard that the satellite company was threatening to cut them off too, and that's not what this is about, so I don't know at this point, but I can't imagine they'd walk out on so many stations and such wide coverage without an attempt to bring the network back online... - Trip (1/4/09) The much vaunted WTOP promotion didn't stop Nationals' radio ratings from being the lowest in MLB last season by a significant margin. The only difference for the upcoming season will be a negative one with the loss of sports programming on NoVa-based 107.7 FM. Considering that a plurality of the Nats' fanbase come from Virginia as opposed to Maryland or D.C., the team needs a radio stick that can reach most NoVa fans at night. 1500, 820 and 1050 all don't qualify as such. Everett W. (1/4/09) Dave's response: If the Nats are on 1500/820/1050 this season they could have even lower radio ratings than last year. If that's possible. They'll have no night game radio coverage into Northern Virginia..... You posted on your website, that WBAL 11 was discontinuing it's analog broadcast on January 17. I don't see any filings by WBAL to the FCC or info on their website that they plan to do this. If they shut down early, WBAL would be required to be running a lot of notices on the air starting 30 days in advance. WBAL's transition plan calls for reducing the analog ERP by half sometime before Feb. 17 in order to modify one of the two transmitter cabinets for digital operation. Are you sure that is not what you heard? WBAL's Form 387 transition plan attachment, filed last spring: fjallfoss.fcc.gov... In the event, WBAL-DT 11 will be losing a number of longer range viewers anyway as the station will be operating at only 5 kW ERP on VHF 11 post-transition. This is a rather low power for upper VHF digital broadcast. Compare that to the post-transition power for WJLA-DT 7 at 30 kW, WUSA-DT 9 at 12.6 kW, WJZ-DT 13 at 28.8 kW (directional antenna). Alan, Sterling, VA (1/4/09) "Also, could Bonneville move 1050 to the 1500 site and beam that signal across the DC area it increased day and night power?" They are in fact doing that. It will result in a huge improvement of the daytime signal but not the night. I believe Dave Loudin or one of the many tech-savvy Mailbag readers can confirm that there is nothing any owner can do to improve the nighttime signal of 1050 currently. (1/4/08) Dave's response: You'd have to buy and shut down 1050ers in Toronto, NYC, and Norfolk to get a better night signal on 1050 in DC. And then again, it's still AM in a heavily FM market..... "A smart owner like Leonsis and even Kasten must know something if they've stuck with Bonneville through thick & thin." Jerry is correct. What Jim Wiliams and others who advocate for 106.7 miss is the single biggest reason the Caps and Nats remain on 1500, 820 and 1050 is NOT that the combination of the three sticks is pretty awesome, it is because the # 1 station in town, WTOP, tells people every half hour that your team is playing that day and where they can hear it. That is powerful promotion nobody else in town can match. (1/4/08) Re WJFK signal options. It's tempting to run an allotment analysis for WJFK and share the results. But in this recession that feels like bad Karma. Providing actionable business information for free may deprive someone of livelihood. Let CBS pay an engineering firm or ask an employee to study options. Seems to be little love for CC, CBS or Red Zebra here, why provide them good information for free? (1/4/09) Given how far East WJFK has moved from their city of licensce, and their need to stay within the contour of WPXW after the change to DTV, I would think it unlikely that CBS will be investing in the regulatory process needed to let the pattern out on WJFK. WJFK gets to have their studio and transmitter where it is because of the facility site rules that allow a radio station to be within the contour of a TV licensced to the same city. (1/4/09) The "Retro Television Network," which has been airing on subchannel 7.3 seems to have gone the way of Channel 9's "GoodTV." Early Sunday morning, the network's normal collection of classic programming and infomercials were replaced by the following notice, in white letters on a red background: "As of 5:00 AM on January 4, 2009, Equity Media Holdings Corp's contract to service the Retro Television Network has expired. EMHC attempted to coordinate a seamless transition, but despite repeated attempts to comminucate with Luken Communications representatives, it received no response." It provided an address and telephone number for Luken Holdings Inc., and suggested that viewers cointact them directly with any questions. Neither the RTN website nor that of Luken contained any additional information about the transition as of this writing. (1/4/09) Dave: Gee, what a great idea to possibly have two sportstalk radio stations in the Washington, DC market. I just hope the people at CBS Radio don't screw things up by hiring another "Bruce Gilbert" type to run their operation. I know it's a cliche, but Dan Snyder doesn't get it! For some reason, he doesn't know how to hire the "right" people. If you remember, CBS brought-in all of those young, arrogant-types several years ago when WJFK had the Redskins' radio rights and that didn't work. Yes, the "Imus" format could work with D&M in the morning and the Junkies in the afternoon. But please CBS, don't keep hiring re-treads in the market like Kevin Sheehan or Earl Forsey. Let's get some fresh blood and finally close-down ESPN980 to the point where no-one listens...oh excuse me, we're already at that point. (1/4/09) Too funny! Even FOX5's Brian Bolter's SHOES don't stink! LOL (1/4/09) WBAL TV 11 News debuted in HD 1/3/09 with a brand new set and graphics package. (1/4/09) Dave---as we know the definition of "insanity" is doing the same thing over and over ,and expecting a different result. So why would just re-labeling 106.7 as "sports and more" or whatever, and keeping the tired Junks in mornings and the tired MOM show in afternoons give anyone reason to believe the results would be different.?...NO..your idea of 94.7 sports...el zol on 106.7 and a reborn HFS on 99.1 is the only idea that might , repeat MIGHT spark some life is the DC radio market...and maybe a slimmed down Junkies show for afternoons and something NEW for mornings on the new FM sports talker might work... otherwise, just expect more of those stellar 21st place PPM ratings. (1/4/09) WBAL TV ran the Maryland Lottery in dual screen NFL Game + Lottery for the 1st time that I know of during tonight's NFL game, so I think its guaranteed WBAL NEWS is going HDTV tonight. Also, WBAL is advertising its sorta discontinuing its analog service (low power) on Jan. 21 (1/4/09) I was watching the Colts-Chargers game on WBAL-DT, and I also saw the promo for WBAL-TV's HD news a couple of times. The commercial looked to be in HD to me. Maybe they improved the quality of the ad between the NFC and AFC playoff games? Anyway, I'm watching WBAL-TV 11 News Tonight now (on 1/3), and they are indeed broadcasting in HD! -Greg in Perry Hall (1/4/09) Don't sit by the phone, Dave. This is why you're not programming a station: "Get Don Geronimo out of retirement and reunite him with Mike O'Meara for mornings on new sports talk WJFK (106.7 FM). Don and Mike (left) back for "sports and more" with the longtime "zoo" show's usual cast of characters." -- Wrong, Mike is top dog now and you see how that worked out for Michael Vick. Mike has the role of show leader (and is doing pretty darned good at it. --"Look, Don has lived and breathed radio since he was 12 or so. Isn't a 9-month "retirement" long enough?" -- Without rehashing the details, you've got a lot of balls to say that. --- "Take the Junkies back to their Sports Junkies ways and put them in afternoons, where they could focus on the day's sports developments." -- Wrong, the Junkies were never actually actually a sports show, except on cable. "Heavily hype the return of Geronimo, who's a huge pro football fan and could easily do a sport-ish show." -- Hype it to whom, the people who are already listening? No one cares about sports on the radio. It's too bad the suits at CBS kept Don from doing a more sports oriented show. If only you'd mentioned this incredible idea to him back in the day. What makes you useless as even a wannabee programmer is the fact that you've overlooked, and you've even written about it: GEORGE F'ING MICHAEL IS ON THE MARKET. A DJ with a passion for sports. --"Over the next few years, JFK-FM could get the Nats, the Wizards, the Caps. Maybe even take 1580 AM, now a political talker that no one listens to, and make it JFK-AM, with more syndicated sports stuff from Fox Sports and Sporting News Radio." -- Yeah, nuts to that. "Hell, middayers Big O and Dukes could stay on and do a college sports show." -- That would SO work, because college sports is their passion. "Then CBS would have FM/AM sports talkers in both DC and Baltimore. Sounds like a winning formula to me." -- That's why you would make a perfect program director or CBS executive. (1/4/09) Dave's response: Glad I get you all "worked up" with my writing. Nice to have such a a powerful effect with mere words..... The WBAL NEWS in HD promo is now running in HD during tonight's football game so I think we will see WBAL NEWS in HD tonight (Saturday) and of course a new set. But, I honestly wish WBAL TV had gotten rid of 2 meteorologists and KEPT NEIL ESTANO instead. What a shame that he's gone. He was easily better than several area DC/Baltimore weather guys by far and obviously better than these 2 clowns that are replacing him at WBAL. What a big mistake for WBAL. If WJZ were smart, they'd dump that huge load Bob Turk and snatch up Neil Estano. WJZ already let Brooks Tomlinson go to pay for Bob Turk's lousy cheap suits & pay check. WJZ needs a makeover. No one remembers Al and Jerry anymore nor do they connect Bob Turk or Denise Koch to them. WJZ needs like a total makeover and has missed a couple opportunities. Either Neal Estano or Brooks Tomlinson would have been by FAR BETTER than lousy Bob Turk. And don't even get me started on Marty Bass! Geez, what a bunch of loads WJZ has! The only reason WJZ EYEWITNESS NEWS isn't in HD is because they'd have to install circus clown mirrors to make everyone NOT look like your parents Oldsmobile! HAha! :-) (1/4/09) Another name game, and just as ineffective. First we get the "petition" to change the names VH1 and MTV because someone wants music videos. That'll work, sure. Now we get the trade group realizing it has lost its place as a source of news. OK, let's drop "paper" from American Society Of Newspaper Editors. Sure, that will bring in the more popular television journalists right away, and they will be glad to share with ink-and-paper media outlets. (1/4/09) WBAL TV is advertising that their news is in HD now (1/4/09) /\ January 4 Messages /\ \/ January 3 Messages \/ "At least drop Lurch, he's a cancer on that show and I might think about listening to them if I didn't need to hear about how little he does for the show and how very little her cares about going into work." -- Lurch definitely needs to stay because his morning gig gives me a time when I can put stones to T. Dave, do you ever regret not becoming a stuctional engineer back in the day? Every house in Reston would have four chimneys. Austin Hill on WMAL is a douche who cannot admit when he is wrong, as exemplified in last night's three hour diatribe on the local US born of Arab descent who got kicked off of a RedneckAir flight because they were talking IN ENGLISH about the safest place to sit on an airliner. They did not, as the douche Austin Hill alleged, use the phrases "blow up" or "blew up" they simply had a conversation any business class traveler would have about the safest seats in an airplane. There are websites about that. The douche's call screener is a hateful ball busting bundle of hate who is probably not pretty enough to work her issues out as a stripper. There were allegedly two air marshals on the plane who phoned mommie for help. Skypussies. This douche, Austin Hill (that name again is Mr. Plow), delivers good radio for the first ten minutes of his show, then delivers it over and over again. This douche, Austin Hill (that name again is Mr. Plow), delivers good radio for the first ten minutes of his show, then delivers it over and over again, just like that. If he had a brain to go with his talent he'd go far, and it is my fervent wish that he does. As a listener who doesn't know the business, I'd love to hear Dennis Miller in his place. --- MightierToThePointWhereINeedSomeKetchupWithItsNaturalMellowingAgents (1/3/09) I have one word for the idea that WJFK flips to sports. D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R-O-U-S !!! I work between Baltimore and DC and there isn't an area from Columbia, MD to the District line where 106.7 doesn't sound sketchy or drop out completely. It's even worse to the north & west of the city where 106.9 steps on them. I have friends who are huge University of Maryland fans and they complain about 106.7 not reaching College Park constantly. They miss hearing Johnny Holliday on Terps Football & Basketball on the drive to see the games. If you think the Nationals and Capitals were unhappy about the loss of 107.7 from the old 3WT mix of stations, they would be absolute fools to rely on 106.7 for complete coverage of their fan base. I saw the earlier post about 1050 AM being added to 1500 and 820 for sports on Federal news radio and gave it a try on New Years Day. I had no problem hearing 1050 AM from Laurel down to Annapolis. My advice? Keep the Nats and Caps right where they are and get UMD on Bonneville too. A smart owner like Leonsis and even Kasten must know something if they've stuck with Bonneville through thick & thin. The Junkies and O'Meara are too crude for the majority of family friendly fans who make up the bulk of season ticket and merchandise buyers for both teams. Let WJFK go after the Bullets/Wizards and Mystics, maybe GMU Basketball, and take Sporting News Radio for overnights. (Their late nights are better that JT the Brick on Fox Sports) Speaking of Fox Sports, why does WTOP need 4 stations? Get 1050 signed to a Fox affiliation. Just my thoughts as an admitted armchair PD who is a big sports fan. - Jerry in Towson - Happy New Year Dave, love the site. (1/3/09) Dave, love the idea on Rant today but let's be serious for a minute.....Danny "MoneyBrat" Snyder already has losing radio stations along with the Redskins who although they are my favorite team are not doing so hot either. Danny boy needs to have a dose of reality.....focus on the Skins and leave radio for good. Perhaps JFK will stick the fork in Snyder for good when it comes to radio and make him leave his hobby in favor of the Redskins. Side note....you forgot the Skins.....if Snyder goes down the drain and he will do that mark my words right here.....JFK can pick them up and have the Junkies back doing pregame. Take away Larry and bring in someone great to have alongside Sonny and Sam. Maybe Riggins would be a good idea....have former Redskin greats in the booth instead of the tiring sound of Larry and bring in Big John into the booth! (1/3/09) I don't see Don coming back to JFK in any way unless they move buildings to at least start the conversation with him. He said when he left that it was hard for him to come into work where he would see the same things that were there when Freda was alive. Even though they have reconfigured the studios at the flagship station (of which they moved him out of to get away from the people who worked there before) i don't think it will be enough. I also don't see CBS or JFK being able to pay him what he'd want with the economic reality that will be the next 3-5 years for the radio business. I am okay with sporting news radio but don't think that the junkies A. do enough prep to do a very good sports show B. will really ever succeed in the mornings with their apparent disdain for the listeners. At least drop Lurch, he's a cancer on that show and I might think about listening to them if I didn't need to hear about how little he does for the show and how very little her cares about going into work.. Rollo T. (1/3/09) "How about this? Get Don Geronimo out of retirement and reunite him with Mike O'Meara for mornings on new sports talk WJFK (106.7 FM)." I think you're forgetting what a POS (Piece of ...) the show was in it's final years. Why keep going back to the same tired shows & personalities? There has to be something new and fresh out there worth trying. (1/3/09) Why doesn't CBS put a directional at WWMX and let out the pattern at WJFK?. They just installed a new 4bay at JFK. I believe they could also have a mutual interferrence agreement if so chosen. And to the many WTEM/WAGE proposals: Yes 730 would work in Germantown though they might have to add one additional tower for nighttime pattern. (1/3/09) "When I wrote the original post, I should have added that I only listen FOR A FEW SECONDS, then I CHANGE the station. That way you would have understood. I will not spend my money at those car dealers or any other advertisers on JFK. It is that simple. Get it?" ---- What you seem to be saying is that it is the commercials, not the shows, that determine if you will listen to a radio station. Interesting. I'm sure Farrish Automotive can get along just fine without your scary discretionary income.---------- And all the bitterness about MOM, you folks need to get over it. If you know what the show's like, you're listening. If you don't like it, don't listen. I have a good friend was a big dnm fan but doesn't like the new show. It don't make him a bad person. --- ItReallyIsYouKnow (1/3/09) Would be nice Dave, but didn't Don just sell his house in Falls Church for a cool 1.2 million? I think Donnie is sitting this one out until the non-compete is over, then hustling off to SiriusXM for a music intensive show, say 70s on 7? Josh in Harrisburg, PA (1/3/09) Dave's response: That's presuming that Sirius XM is still here in 2010. Hell, CBS Radio might not be here in 2010..... Last night on 11 News at 11 (WBAL-TV), at the end of the newscast Stan Stovall said tomorrow night (today) they'd be moving back into the studio and would be in HD. We'll see after the game... Also, they just aired an HD promo before the Falcons-Cardinals game, but the promo gave no details about when it would start, but my guess is tonight as was promised. By the way, the commercial was SD. (1/3/09) Dave, Great point about Don Geronimo to mornings on JFK. I think he would like that actually. Didn't he want to move to mornings after Howard left? It could be like how WFAN was when Imus was doing mornings, except Don and Mike are more guy talk anyway. It would be great. (1/3/09) Dave's response A couple of years ago (2006?), when Don walked off the show in early November and didn't come back until January, there were lotsa rumors that Don and Mike would be moving to mornings, with the Junkies moving to afternoons. Didn't happen, obviously..... Things may be worse at WRC Ch. 4 than we think. Yesterday I tuned in to catch a bit of the Rose Bowl parade and at 12:30pm Al Roker said something to the effect that some stations would be leaving the broadcast and for the stations that don’t that the parade coverage would continue after a short commercial break. The parade coverage DID NOT return to WRC. They ran an infomercial for Time-Life Music instead! (1/3/09) If I'm the Nationals -- the likely prime property of a Washington FM sports talker -- I tell CBS that sure, I'll move my broadcast rights to your station...but only if it's on 94.7. The directional 106.7 signal is a no-go. If that isn't part of the deal, I stay with Bonneville, all things being equal (especially if Bonneville ends up with 100.3). -- Vincent in Triangle (1/3/09) While looking at that Rabbitears.com site, I noticed something that I suspected for years, but never really knew for sure was true.......... I always thought BALTIMORE had the SMALLEST # of TV stations of the TOP 50 MARKETS! But I was wrong, only the smallest # of TV stations in the Top 49! (tied w/ a couple though) Yep, even Fargo, ND has TWICE the # of TV stations as Baltimore! And some markets have almost TWICE the # of TV stations that EVEN DC HAS in the TOP 50! HAha! This clearly explains why both DC and Baltimore's NIELSEN DMA rankings are under rated more than anything I've ever read previously. DC/Baltimore is like the 4th largest market that NO ONE pays any attention to because technically we're not allowed to have the same # of TV stations as most OTHER smaller markets because the 2 cities are so close. Unbelievable, but true. -- Joe in Essex (1/3/09) "... not a good way to attract and keep listeners. Especially when I hear those smug, arrogant elitists eb and jb shilling for yet another automotive dealer. Why any advertiser would pay to be on that station when so few are listening, is mystifying ..." Apparently because you, with your scary discretionary income, are LISTENING. --- Really, It'sMightier" - No, it is not mightier, you of little brain. I just knew someone like you would respond this way. So predictable. But you are so wrong! When I wrote the original post, I should have added that I only listen FOR A FEW SECONDS, then I CHANGE the station. That way you would have understood. I will not spend my money at those car dealers or any other advertisers on JFK. It is that simple. Get it? (1/3/09) I just don't know why everyone is shocked that, surprise, WJFK 106.7 doesn't get good ratings under the PPM ratings system. DUH! It's because their ratings were always over-inflated in the first place. Geez, at least 1/4 of the DC market cannot even receive the WJFK 106.7 SIGNAL! And you can't get it well even in places that are supposed to be local coverage areas like College Park. Even a sports station would fail on that weak HIGHLY directional signal! Danny Snyder's stations' failure to gain any ratings traction is proof. Why they've not flipped 106.7 to a Hispanic format yet boggles my mind to be honest. With the 99.1 transmitter moving closer to DC and with both an improved DC and Baltimore signal now, I just don't get the CBS strategy. It makes no sense. 75% of El ZOL's 99.1 signal is in areas where, ummm, guess what, NO LATINOS EVEN LIVE! And 75% of the 106.7 signal is in places where Latinos DO live in this area! Too funny. :-) (1/3/09) Dave's response: You are absolutely right. I have said it before. If CBS wants to do sports talk in DC right, it needs to put it on 94.7. Then, 106.7 could become El Zol and 99.1 a reborn heritage progressive rock WHFS. Plus, couldn't CBS save even more money by shutting down the Fairfax studios and running everything from Lanham? If Geronimo does come back to JFK, he could buy a place right near Michael Hughes in Annapolis since he's already sold his Great Falls home..... In looking at previous posts regarding diplexing AM signals I was wondering why Dan Snyder couldn't move his 730 station to either the 1260 or 570 site? The 570 site is similar to the Dulles area site and would allow him to beam the signal across the DC area. It is a relatively new antenna farm with numerous towers. Also, could Bonneville move 1050 to the 1500 site and beam that signal across the DC area it increased day and night power? Besides WMAL's fantastic antenna site, WMET in Gaithersburg also has a good location for possible diplexing. I would think antenna sharing is a better alternative than fighting the NIMBYs all over the area. Most of these stations need to protect distant stations to the West, North, and South. Present sites to the West of the city would seem to be the best choices. (1/3/09) Nothing screams Sports Talk like Beth Ann McBride. ALSO can't wait for Rob Speewak's in depth, comprehensive analysis of the up coming Nationals season. In all honesty, a sports talker that's NOT owned by Darth Synder would be a god send in this city. Paul (1/3/09) Yesterday's DCRTV News Page notes: "FCC Asked To Lower Costs Of DTV Sets". In today's Los Angeles Times, this article notes that starting in 2011, California regulators want retailers to sell only the most energy-efficient models of power hungry LCD and plasma sets. www.latimes.com... The article mentions, "During a peak viewing time when most sets are on, such as the Super Bowl, TVs in the state collectively suck up the equivalent of 40% of the power generated by the San Onofre nuclear power station running at full capacity. Televisions account for about 10% of the average Californian's monthly household electricity bill." Personally, I think this move is overdue and it's a plan that all 50 states should implement. (1/3/09) Thankfully, it's not OUR Willard - nytimes.com (1/3/09) That W9WI site is useful, but I find RabbitEars.info easier to use. Try this page: www.rabbitears.com or just poke around the site a bit. Lots of good info. (1/3/09) Don't hold your breath for K & M ....unless you can hold it until August 2010. The dipshits @ CBS (Phillips/Labrozzi) paid those two jackasses to sit it out til then. Now you know why they had to fire so many employees in Baltimore. (1/3/09) Dave's response: Money for nothing. Can't beat that! ("Happy New Year to all and I hope that there are some out there who are watching and enjoying the Twilight Zone marathon. Dave's response: I am DVRing that, actually") I know it's a while to Christmas ''09, but here's the best $200 I ever spent .... amazon.com (1/3/09) Regarding a previous post by “ Confused.” I don’t know if the American OTA digital TV specs where developed by Zenith, but through the years Zenith certainly was an innovator in TV technology. I do remember that Baltimore’s Sinclair Broadcasting petitioned the FCC about the faults in the American DTV OTA standards and requested a review of the European standard which Sinclair believed to be superior, particularly for in-home reception. This was before DTV really hit the air, expect for the experimental station located at WRC’s transmitter site (remember the call sign WHD-TV which you could see a distorted picture on a regular analog TV when they were testing the Japanese analog HD system), I guess the FCC basically said “no” to the Sinclair petition and we now have what we have. (1/3/09) WBAL HAS NOW OFFICIALLY SWITCHED 2 SPORTING NEWS WNST AND WVIE R STILL FOX SPORTS RADIO (1/3/09) Dave.....Overnight radio DXing and AM talk show host listening will never be the same. - Dave in Waldorf, MD... "Dear Mr. Casey, Even though I have lived in the Washington, DC area my entire life, I have turned to WBZ late night for stimulating local talk....first with Bob Raleigh and for the past ten years, Steve LeVeille. I also was a frequent listener to Bob Logue, then Gary Dickson at KDKA in Pittsburgh until the CBS corporates got a hold of the overnight locals and ruined their format. Dennis Miller disgusts me and I have not turned them on again. How dare WBZ bow down to corporate execs to penny pinch and ruin overnight local talk radio? Looks as though CBS Radio has had lightning strike twice to save money. It's a pitiful statement for commercial radio to bow down to cheap, crude and unfriendly syndication. Next thing you know you'll probably dump Jordan Rich for all infomercials. Consider your loyal listening audience first. I'm not local, but I have been a huge WBZ radio fan for 35 years. I know times are tough, why make them more difficult for your overnight listening audience? All The Best, Dave Kremnitzer, Waldorf, MD" (1/3/09) /\ January 3 Messages /\ \/ January 2 Messages \/ "... not a good way to attract and keep listeners. Especially when I hear those smug, arrogant elitists eb and jb shilling for yet another automotive dealer. Why any advertiser would pay to be on that station when so few are listening, is mystifying ..." Apparently because you, with your scary discretionary income, are LISTENING. They're not marketing to people who think they know how to program radio stations, they're marketing to people with credit cards. Kudos to you for being privy to the numbers of people listening when, in what demographics, and how much time spent listening. Just spectacular on your part --- Really, It'sMightier (1/2/09) Well, I'd love to see WJFK go to a sports format, which I think could be very successful on DC's FM dial if done right. If both the Junks and Mike O'Meara are to remain, perhaps they should switch time slots. Hard for me to imagine a sports talker without a heavily sports oriented show in PM drive. (1/2/09) Re: list of DTV channel numbers? www.w9wi.com and click on DTV Permanent Channels. Has the current alog, digital and February digital channels for each station in an easy to read listing by state. Would be nice if each station provided this info on their ID frame. H (1/2/09) I like ESPN 980 but I wish they would have a local show at 10:00 am instead of Colin Cowherd he is horrible. He is always bashing the Skins and he just bad he doesn't know much besides college football. I would rather ESPN 980 give Liz Drebek her own show at that time slot she would be better then him. (1/2/09) Re: "ZENITH, an American company?" -- Define, 'an American company'. Zenith has been owned by LG (aka Lucky GoldStar) for 10 years. (1/2/09) ("Dave's response: In this new PPM environment, if you're a local guy talker like WJFK you need to have live drivetime shows every single workday, including days like 12/24 and 1/2. No exceptions. Do all four Junkies have to take time off at the same time? Two Junks could man the fort while the other two are away. Couldn't Oscar Santana and/or Chad Dukes sit in for the Junkies or for Mike O'Meara when they/he's away? Reruns are OK only on actual holidays, like Christmas and New Years days. If JFK sinks, the suits at CBS Radio will be largely to blame for not adapting fast enough to change.....") - Dave, normally I would have given kudos to you for finally thinking through your scheme to program WJFK. But from one never-been-in-radio guy to another, do the December PPM's actually affect the numbers that advertisers depend on, or is this simply your personal preference? As you no doubt know, historically December ratings don't count. You do realize that "adapting fast enough to change" means renegotiating contracts, right? To be fair, this is better than your earlier suggestion that Robb and Buzz should get no vacation at all. I do agree with you that Chad and Oscar are underworked. It is really --- The PenIsMightier (1/2/09) Good evening, Dave. Thanks for noting the recent death of longtime AP reporter Bob Poos. It was my privilege to know Bob for many years through our membership in the Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association. I've met many people over the years who had known Bob through journalism or military circles -- to a person they recounted impressive recollections of his Marine Corps service in Korea, and his reporting -- particularly during the war in Vietnam. He provided me not just inspiration, but frequently an exceptional journalistic sounding board. I'll miss him a great deal, as will many others of the fighters and writers in his circle of acquaintance. Best, Chas (1/2/09) RE: "Gannett doesn’t need to study the Detroit situation since they own the Detroit Free Press and control the JOA!" Egads, I forgot about that and apologize for the error. I suppose they'll evaluate it for their properties in other markets. (1/2/09) Very bad business decision by WJFK to let the morning drive, midday, and afternoon shows all take vacation at the same time. Airing repeats for weeks, littered with a plethora of commercials, is not a good way to attract and keep listeners. Especially when I hear those smug, arrogant elitists eb and jb shilling for yet another automotive dealer. Why any advertiser would pay to be on that station when so few are listening, is mystifying. Things are different now. The format at WJFK is tired, stale, and staffed by broadcasters that are paid far more than they are worth. (1/2/09) Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the current DTV standard and patents largely developed by ZENITH, an American company? So why would U.S. HDTV sets cost more than abroad? Isn't this also the reason we don't use the European DTV standard? -- Confused (1/2/09) From a 2009 prediction on a previous post, “Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's prediction that big city newspapers will vanish within a decade may prove to be too long of a time period, witness the recent decision by papers in Detroit to print just three days a week. The WaPo and Gannett are studying this move as well. . .” Gannett doesn’t need to study the Detroit situation since they own the Detroit Free Press and control the JOA! (1/2/09) What ever happened to the Kirk and Mark radio show that was on 105.7 in the morning in Baltimore. Are they on another station? (1/2/09) Dave's response: Both are currently off the air. I believe they both have several weeks or a month or so to go on their current CBS Radio contracts. They could show up again somewhere on the Baltimore (or elsewhere) radio dial sometime this spring, I'd guess..... Maybe the reason WJFK did so poor in the December with ratings is because the station takes the month off with the MoM show leading the way. In this day with competition, you can't just think you can take 3 weeks off and still think people will listen to the show. The successful shows on radio have host that work. I do understand a week off for a vacation, but all these two weeks and to end the year with 3 weeks off. To me shows laziness and lack of pride in your job. I would like to see WJFK fire MOM show and move the midday show to afternoon and drop one of the junkies. tom, falls church (1/2/09) Dave's response: In this new PPM environment, if you're a local guy talker like WJFK you need to have live drivetime shows every single workday, including days like 12/24 and 1/2. No exceptions. Do all four Junkies have to take time off at the same time? Two Junks could man the fort while the other two are away. Couldn't Oscar Santana and/or Chad Dukes sit in for the Junkies or for Mike O'Meara when they/he's away? Reruns are OK only on actual holidays, like Christmas and New Years days. If JFK sinks, the suits at CBS Radio will be largely to blame for not adapting fast enough to change..... Another prediction for 2009: Dan Snyder buys a couple more rim shot signal stations and still the Redskins broadcasts can not be heard after sunset in the DC area. Meanwhile, someone buys a one of the powerful FM signals in the DC area and carries Ravens games. The Ravens can now be heard loud and clear at Fed Ex and the Redskins fans can't hear their own teams broadcasts at their home field. (1/2/09) I'm pretty sure I saw Sonny Jurgenson hanging out by a Metro with a cup and a sign saying ''Will Throw Football For Food''. And oddly enough, written in small print at the bottom was ''George Michael Sucks Donkey Nuts''. Paul (1/2/09) "I did a little sampling of the TV stations to see which were alerting viewers to what their new channel may be, even if it remains the same, after 2/17/09. I was amazed at how poor a job the stations are doing of informing the public beyond just having the link the DTV answers page. Stations, if you lose viewers or they are confused as to your identity, its your own fault. " Which leads me to ask, does anyone have or know where we could get a list of the new channel numbers? And another thing, we have some digital now and they start at 14-1, how do you punch those numbers into a remote? Can it even be done, or do we have to arrow up and down (or get a different remote)? Thanks - Martha (1/2/09) Dave's response: You don't need to know the "actual" channel numbers for DTV stations. In fact, just set your TV set to "scan" for over-the-air broadcast signals. The stations will continue to come in on their old analog numbers even if they're on different channels. For example, even though WRC broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 48, it will still show up as "4" on your digital TV..... Dave, some predictions for 2009: 1.) SiriusXM will be able to roll over its debt, but will also issue more stock, thus further diluting existing shareholders. There will be another round of layoffs in the Spring. 2.) Local TV stations in Washington will mimic channel 9's move to one man crews, forcing reporters to be lighting and sound guys while chasing the news. 3.) News Corp. will move to consolidate its business radio brands - notably, Wall Street Journal Radio Network, Fox and MarketWatch. The first two are the stronger brands and will survive; MarketWatch may go away - (so says a senior News Corp. official) - but its contracts with big stations around the country will be reworked and rebranded under WSJ or Fox. 4.) The gradual merging of WaPo's newspaper and online resources will accelerate, resulting in further job cuts, but a more cohesive product and better cross-promotion between each platform. 5.) Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's prediction that big city newspapers will vanish within a decade may prove to be too long of a time period, witness the recent decision by papers in Detroit to print just three days a week. The WaPo and Gannett are studying this move as well -- and could move to reduced publishing schedules by 2011 or 2012. 6.) Ad revenue will grow on the web, but equally important will the ability of web platforms to better track and analyze traffic. 7.) The Politico will continue to lose money. 8.) Audiences for the big three evening newscasts may stabilize a bit - or at least show slower audience erosion. 9.) CNN, Fox News and MSNBC, whose ratings have fallen since Election Day, will up their collective coverage of tabloidish events -- missing white blond girls etc. -- while increasing their partisan-style programming in prime time. 10.) Social media such as Twitter, Facebook and MySpace will become still bigger parts of efforts by media companies to connect with viewers, listeners and readers. (1/2/09) You asked what kept O’Meara on the D&M show???? You MUST be stoopid, it’s called insecurity. Mike has, was and always will be totally insecure. He’ll never change. He didn’t have the confidence to cut loose and move on, he was AFRAID he’d fall flat on his face. With Geronimo he thought he was safe. He lost his edge and gave in to “comfort”. Now, he’s paying for the loss. (1/2/09) /\ January 2 Messages /\ \/ January 1 Messages \/ “The worst thing that happened to him was Don Geronimo. He took all that Mike had and left him floundering. Mike could have enjoyed on his own success. But, Geronimo up-staged him used him and left.” The very last thing I want to do is defend Donnie G but this is a load of touchy feely BS. Who was holding the gun to O’Meara’s head all these years forcing him to stay if he could have done better on his own? If I recall, Geronimo had the highly rated show on WAVA when O’Meara joined him. O’Meara doesn’t appear to care much about his own health. Sorry to be so harsh, but you’re wasting your time. The two had their day in the sun but it’s over. O’Meara, or maybe WJFK, just hasn’t accepted that fact yet. (1/1/09) Dave: First, Happy New Year and thanks for providing a great product! Now to the business at hand: I'm quite disturbed at the fact Len Shapiro can write a second article about George Michael's split with WRC. Once again, like his first article in April 2007, Len paints George as the fall- guy and the victim. How many times are we going to hear this crap??? George was a great on-camera talent that had a horrible off-camera reputation. There's been no mention about how Wilbon or Sonny really felt, let alone no mention about additional staff people losing their jobs. Shapiro never mentions anything about the fact that George had his entire staff fired and yet stayed with WRC an additional two years until NBC had enough. I think it's irresponsible reporting to paint George as some hero and a person to feel sorry for when people like Sonny, Riggo, Wilbon and his supporting staff made him look great and had to sacrifice salaries to keep George's program afloat. Len Shapiro and others need to read more DCRTV material. (1/1/09) Only nineteen days until the inevitable crush of humanity that will accompany the Inauguration ceremonies. Luckily, our Metro Transit Police have been provided with this useful training film on how to keep the crowds moving safely and orderly. www.youtube.com... After all, sometimes it just takes a gentle hand or two! (1/1/09) A 2009 PREDICTION: At least 1 Washington AM station makes a deal with WAGE 1190 on this 50,000 watt proposal to diplex from that site near Dulles. I can think of at LEAST 2 or 3 DC AM stations just off the top of my head who could benefit from such a deal and actually make a profit from a move. Some might even consider if it hurt their signal a bit just for the quick cash. WAGE has an advantage, the land they're going to use largely cannot be developed and is county owned and has space for at least 3 towers, possibly even more, whereas the current WAGE site along with the transmitter sites of several of DCs AMs could easily be developed for huge profit. Danny Snyder's name comes to mind immediately since he's already kicked the tires on land adjacent to that site. Regardless, somebody's gonna take a bite of that offer in late 2009 I bet. (1/1/09) With the addition of 1050 AM to the sports broadcasts on Federal News Radio, as linked to by Everett below, I wonder if that is a preview of things to come? All sports on one of those 3 AMs? Maybe your prediction of Sports Talk on WJFK might be abandoned if cash rich Bonneville does indeed pick up an FMer here and there & add 1500 and/or 1050 to the mix during game time. I wouldn't be surprised. Happy New Year & Go Caps! - Jerry in Towson (1/1/09) Happy New Year to all and I hope that there are some out there who are watching and enjoying the Twilight Zone marathon. (1/1/09) Dave's response: I am DVRing that, actually. I DVRed the "Star Trek - Next Generation" Christmas marathon on SciFi - and I'm still watching those..... Something people will notice in 2009.......... The power of the dial position @AM 1050 vs 1500........ The New WTOP AM vs the old WTOP AM (WFED 1500). Surprising huh? (1/1/09) I read the post about Mike O’Meara and felt badly for him. Mike was, and probably still is a creative giant. When I knew him he was funny, full of energy and excited about this God forsaken business it has become. The worst thing that happened to him was Don Geronimo. He took all that Mike had and left him floundering. Mike could have enjoyed on his own success. But, Geronimo up-staged him used him and left. Put yourself in his shoes, a second banana that would have been a number one act had he stayed the course. I for one wish Mike health, happiness and a re-birth of the Mike I knew. Mike, you were a great guy back in the day. It’s a shame what success can do to talent. (1/1/09) I did a little sampling of the TV stations to see which were alerting viewers to what their new channel may be, even if it remains the same, after 2/17/09. I was amazed at how poor a job the stations are doing of informing the public beyond just having the link the DTV answers page. Stations, if you loose viewers or they are confused as to your identity, its your own fault. (1/1/09) Dave's response: Be warned. Folks who already own DTVs or digital TV converter boxes won't be getting 7, 9, 11, and 13 on Digital Doomsday because those channels whill be moving their DTV sigs from UHF back to their old VHF channels. You'll need do a new "channel search" if you're connected to an antenna. It's gonna be fun, fun, fun..... That's a creepy prediction Dave Hughes as I actually do have a pic somewhere of the current WRBS tower and live near the 3 tower WBGR 860 array and they could easily turn one of those into an FM stick for WRBS right near my house! I was hoping for Liberty University though as New Jersey has already invaded Maryland. It's time to give Virginia a chance, hehe. Happy New Year! -- Joe in Essex :-) (1/1/09) Bob Edwards of Sirius XM posted a message last night on Facebook referring to his "darkest personal and professional hour". He didn't say what it was, but one can imagine more cuts are involved. (1/1/09) Hi Dave, One ends, another begins, let's give it a go to make this a happy one :) I just beamed my Paypal payment for DCRTV Plus--thanks for your offer--and chipped in a bit extra for a few cups o' coffee. Thanks, Dave! Robb (1/1/09) Dave's response: I just want to thank all the folks who've signed up or extended their subscriptions to DCRTV Plus in the past few days. I had a number of people ask me to extend the deadline a few days so they could get their checks in the mail. So, I did. If you make your donation via PayPal or get your check in the mail through 1/2 (mail arriving a few days late is OK) you'll still get the $39 for two years rate. One guy even mailed his donation to our pre-2005 Myrtle Lane address and had his check returned to him as "unforwardable" by the USPS. Don't worry, you'll still get the discount. Even if you're not a huge fan of local broadcast memory stuff, your donation will help support independent DCRTV into the new year. Thanks again..... Minor change with Bonneville. Effective today (1/1), WTOP/1050 will simulcast WFED's sports game broadcasts in general, not just the overlap games. Everett W. www.federalnewsradio.com (1/1/09) /\ January 1 Messages /\ Jump to the Mailbag Archive Index.....