Current Mailbag - Mailbag Archive Index - DCRTV Front Page - Support DCRTV DCRTV Mailbag - August 1 to August 10, 2009 Latest messages listed first..... \/ August 10 Messages \/ The Nationals, who are the hottest team in MLB right now, got some bad news today as their top prospect, pitcher Jordan Zimmermann will have to undergo Tommy John surgery and will be out until the 2011 season. However, I heard one of the Redskins passed gas at training camp today, so that will probably be the lead story on tonight's sportcasts and in tomorrow's Post. (8/10/09) The first local reporter that Marion Barry chose to sit down with (and see the unedited, complete interview).... www.wtop.com (8/10/09) Not many people realize that Walter Cronkite started his television career right here in Washington DC at WTOP-TV Channel 9. www.examiner.com (8/10/09) Detour Dave, get well soon. Traffic simply ain't the same without ya!!! (8/10/09) Reluctantly I turned on WBIG this evening, intending for some background music while I did some work. But what came on was Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd. For freakin cryin out loud! How many trillions of times has this g damned song been played on "Classic Rock" stations over the past thirty years with their four dozen song playlist?! I had hopes for BIG when 94.7 self destructed. Indeed their ppm numbers rose, but their programming is just unlistenable now. I had hopes for HFS-2 also but they have turned to sh*t too with automated noise. One bright spot is DC101's HD-2 erockster programming. Someone with a brain is programming that source with an appealing, eclectic mix. I wish they were on one of the mostly worthless zombie FM'ers now on the DC air. Robert, Arlington (8/10/09) Don Geronimo:: Any reference to "hating Don Geronimo" coupled with 'strange & sad' inference is unwarranted and misplaced as it applies to our commentary here on DCRTV - albeit Geronimo or any other topic. As true experienced lovers of radio too, our mailbag comments, like today's suggestion that Sorce attempt to buy his way back on the national radio stage faster is intended as insightful and sincere. Hell, even [we] get tired of sports talk 24/7 and see the value of his return to a national format should he desire. Dave, we accept and respect you to edit submissions that you deem inappropriate. Inasmuch, you better post disclaimers on the mailbag page that reads this is not a "thin-skin zone" and "there is no crying in radio." Then, if Sorce doesn't like people looking at his online communities that HE launched and commenting on them here from time to time, he can always adapt to the Brian Bolter school of "take my radio ball and go home" philosophy and remove his Twitter and other accounts all together. (8/10/09) Has WETA tv dropped the Around town segments with Robert Aubrey? Don't think I've seen one in awhile. EB(on vacation this weak) of the spork Junkies mentioned last week that CBS Radio had given them a new contract. Any idea for how long? The chunks have dropped the occasional comment about the diva ways of the former afternoon dude at the old WJFK. How come the channel 7 Weatherbug seems to have so few locations in the District? Is WAGE up for sale? Are the old owners of WAGE, before New World Order took over, still breathing? Or ship has sailed not coming back? (8/10/09) Radio host visited by Secret Service after alleged threat against Obama rawstory.com (8/10/09) Dave's response: No, it wasn't anyone at WMAL..... "Don Geronimo::" - for hating him so much, the ghost poster who uses the double colon sure does seem to follow Don's every step - from his Twitter to his live appearances. Very strange and sad. (8/10/09) Dave, I was a listener to Imus back in the last century on 106.9 out of Hagerstown. At that time, he was on MSNBC but I didn't have that on my cable system. Later, I did and I watched him every morning before going to work. When 106.9 changed, the only alternative I had was 570 which I could only hear when I got to about Damascus. I haven't heard him for a long time now. I will give him a listen on FNC. I don't know what to expect. Maybe time has passed him by. Waiting to see. JohnnyuinHanoverPa. P.S. Dave, I love your site. I can't live without it. (8/10/09) Dave's response: Awww schucks..... Sorry to hear of Detour Dave's personal detour, but may his bypass be clean and green when it's all over. Thinking of you and good luck. BD (8/10/09) Dave, a note to ya... Former WXYV/WERQ(Baltimore) morning man and current WVEE(Atlanta) morning man the very popular Frank Ski is sitting in for Donnie Simpson this week did not see anything on your site about it. Might not be a big thing to D.C. listners but his old Baltimore listners might be jazzed up to hear him again. His station and his morning show still are top rated in Atlanta in the ppms may PGC can take some notes from Reggie Rouse and WVEE. (8/10/09) Don Geronimo:: As a multi-millionare ... how bad does Sorce want his radio career back - NOW? Time will tell if he is willing to dig deep in his pockets and buy his way out early of his CBS non-compete - monies that could be all/partially recouped with a new, long-term & lucrative syndicated contract with another network. Sorce's agent did him NO favor in negotiating his CBS exit non-compete. With management still having the upper hand in terms of negotiating power, the least Sorce & his agent can do now is open discussions with CBS. It won't be cheap as Sorce will need to bend over and grab his career ankles. However in doing so and re-gaining his radio freedom, the one thing Sorce should embrace in writing that check is the life lesson that nobody can buy more time. As Jimmy Buffet would chime, all Sorce is doing now is "wasting away in WGMDville." And for that, all his fans coast-to-coast now pay the price with more fuckin' sports talk! (8/10/09) When you sign up for Facebook or similar sites, you are accepting a Terms of Service agreement, so typical ownership rights no longer exist when you post something publicly. Or think of it like this... I post flyers for a yard sale all over my neighborhood with my picture on them. But, someone moves one to a pole outside a sleezy adult porn theater so all kinds of creepy people see my picture and show up at my yard sale. Do I still retain legal rights to the pic and its misuse at that point? Nope. There's a difference between picture ownership and pictures put in the public domain. By consenting to such Terms of Service agreements, you are almost always giving up a certain amount of ownership rights. Facebook has controls to limit the use or viewing of such pictures however, but its not like someone could sue over their misuse easily unless there was a deliberate & blatant attempt to libel a person. And just because a pic is funny hardly makes it libel by any stretch of the imagination. So this FOX 5 Brian Bolter thing is a whole lot to do about NOTHING! As far as I can tell, Bolter hasn't even asked to have any of the last 3 pics of him removed and I'm sure Dave Hughes would remove a pic of someone upon their request just out of simple courtesy. Finally, the only people who look bad here are the paranoid Fox suits. I'd love it if someone got a hold of some Facebook memo regarding this. It's hard for me to imagine Brian Bolter yanked his Facebook account without some type of pressure. Seriously, why would he yank his entire FACEBOOK account over practically nothing? (8/10/09) Imus to FBN latimesblogs.latimes.com (8/10/09) Dave's response: Nobody watches Fox Business Network now. Nobody will watch Fox Business Network with Imus on it. Yawn..... Now that the Nationals are playing "real" baseball, is there any chance The Nationals will get on a radio station that can be heard in Fairfax? (8/10/09) Dave's response: My sources say that there's a decent chance that the Nationals will leave Bonneville's WFED. If so, they could go to WTEM, which can be heard at night in much of Northern Virginia on 94.3 out of Warrenton. Or JFK could get 'em for 106.7. Hey, there's always a "wild card" possibility that Citadel will get 'em and put 'em on 105.9. "Baseball & Oldies 105.9." Hmmm..... Sam Ford is interviewing Marion Barry now on NewsTalk, 4-5pm and again at 8:30 and 11 tonight. Online at news8.net. (8/10/09) Ed Graham we both agree that the market(s) are sick. There is no real radio on the dial. You mention Bob Mathers, in my opinion (humble) You’re equally as qualified to run a “hot” operation. We also both agree there is not a signal in the combined B/W market or, management with enough Kahuna’s to go for it. Ahhhh, for the good old days. PLB (8/10/09) I briefly heard a bit this morning about Detour Dave Sandler being off the air at WBAL radio. Dave, anybody know what's going on? He's a traffic legend. (8/10/09) More on why HD Radio is a technological joke and disaster www.latimes.com (8/10/09) Your rant for today is wrong. It's _Sony_ that's demanding that rental DVDs be destroyed instead of sold. Fox wants a month's delay before their DVDs show up in the $1 rental machines. And Universal wants a 45-day delay. But Redbox can easily get around both of the delays by buying discs from a discount retail outlet instead of a wholesale distributor. ~~CA in BC (8/10/09) Tonight's Marion Barry doc on HBO... (8/10/09) Ed Graham ....I second the emotion ! If you want your radio with "passion" and "energy" Bob Mathers is "The Man" www.oldies700.com... What 105.9 could become! JohnT. Henneman (8/10/09) "While I don't go "lifting" photos from Facebook pages, I can't be held responsible for photos forwarded to the DCRTV Mailbag by third parties." Actually, Dave, it's your website, so if you publish the pictures, you are responsible, whatever that means. Remember, unless you have a release (I know you like release) the photographer holds the copyright. On a more important note, why has DCRTV slept on the recent announcement of the return of Big O and Dukes to the airwaves via HD? It was the talk of the town at the Eagle on Friday. Did DCRTV not "hear"? --- ThePenIsMightier (8/10/09) Dave's response: I did check with CBS Radio and they told me that there were no plans to put BO&D on 106.7's HD2. And I haven't heard anything more. If you know more, do tell. The Eagle? What's that - a gay bar? Just wanted to let you know that you have a great site. It's the only place I can keep up with local media news! (8/10/09) Dave's response: Thanks and God bless you! Just a note about Bob Mathers: Bob took a small local station in Alabama and turned it into a radio station that served the community with music, news, local events, remote broadcasts, and fun. He created a great little station, and it's a shame that the recession hit at just the wrong time. Bob is maybe the only man that I know who can do everything at a radio station. He is great on the air, can manage, sell, write commercials, stage events, pick the right music, pick the right staff, and if I left anything out - - he can do that too. I know it's selfish of me, but I would sure like to hear him doing a "Local" radio station in DC or Baltimore. Somebody has to. Ed Graham (8/10/09) Was surfing the web this morning and found this, www.realcountrywsig.com. Uncle Johnny is back (8/10/09) Dave, re: your (1,277th) rant on Rupert where you say "Media baron Rupert Murdoch wants more of your money. Soon, you'll be paying a fee to access his website like FoxNews.com." Actually, Murdoch's paywall strategy applies only to his newspaper properties. This was a leap that you and many other Rupert haters made, but it isn't supported by anything announced by him or his company. FoxNews (like CNN) occupies a different space in media than newspapers and is, therefore, subject to different pressures. I think Murdoch will have a challenge for some of his papers that don't have the immediacy hook and reputation that WSJ does, but I believe he's at the vangard of this among newspaper owners. Lots of folks will follow suit if he gets the pay-for-play approach even half way right. Bob in Forest Hill (8/10/09) Today on New York Social Diary I write about Diane Schuler. FLAWED... By Carol Joynt... "The Taconic State Parkway may be more than 200 miles away from Washington but its impossible not to be drawn to the story of Diane Schuler, the Long Island woman who went from “every mother” to “death driver” in one toxicology report. The distance between the two may not be that vast. Schuler’s family and friends appear to be genuinely stunned that she was drunk and stoned in the middle of the day when she drove the wrong way and plowed head on into another vehicle, killing herself and seven others." MORE AT: www.nysocialdiary.com (8/10/09) (Dave's response: Hey, we've got a dead 700 here in the DC area. It would be great if we could hear your Oldies 700 there.....) We also have a dead 1200 out in Leesburg that could be revived as a local - which is what it should have left at. Maybe he can help us there. (8/10/09) Dave's response: Or how about Oldies 630 and WMAL 105.9? That would work..... Finally! John Batchelor intelligent thoughtful informative discussion replaces repetitive name calling racial-entertainment driven hustle. The best move in Washington talk radio in over a decade. Will DC talk radio ever truly reflect the demographic makeup of the Region! John T. Henneman (8/10/09) I understand the media suits wanting to protect their corporate image and the image of FOX 5 News, but the point is none of the FOX 5 Brian Bolter pics posted so far on DCRTV are really all that embarrassing at all. I just don't understand the controversy. It makes no sense. That's why its so crazy that FOX suits are forcing personal pics off of Facebook (like Matt Ackland, why?) or in the case of Brian Bolter, forcing him to completely shut down his Facebook account (or he decided that on his own, that's debatable, but hard to believe 2 FOX 5 anchors yanked pics simultaneously without getting a MEMO! C'mon, not to mention Brian Bolter in his last post on Facebook pretty much admitted he had to do it). That's just insane paranoia. It's not like he posted obscene or naked pics of himself! Is there anyone here who really disagrees with me on this? Come BACK Brian Bolter, we like you! I always thought Bolter had a good sense of humor, but I guess I was wrong. (8/10/09) Agree w/ earlier posts that baseball could use better coverage on the two sports talkies. Actually "Talkin' Baseball" on Sundays @ 4 pm with Tim Donner & Phil Wood is very good but WAVA AM's signal can be spotty. Did hear a good interview with Tim Brant about the BCS controversy on WJFK Saturday around 2 in the afternoon on Parker & Parker.. Nice to hear a woman's voice among the male-dominated hosts of The Fan.. It can be done.. Suzy Waldman @ The "Original" Fan in NYC has always been very credible. (8/10/09) (clip) There's a piece of music that Imus plays sometimes, that has audio bits from Nixon's resignation speech interspersed (end clip). I haven't listened to Imus in a long time, but he used to do that to Neil Young's "American Dream" ("I used to see you on every T.V., your smiling face looked back at me..."). Which is one reason I don't listen to Imus. 35-year-old comedy bits don't exactly tickle my tush anymore. (8/10/09) Looks like WMAL is really becoming WABC-2. They scrapped Bill Cunningham for John Batchelor (YAWN!) (8/10/09) These comments about Fox 5's Brian Bolter and Facebook...ah why is it that i have a feeling many of these people posting such things do NOT work in the biz. Its hardly a secret that many local television and radio stations are asking ( ok forcing ) many of their employees to delete their My Space, Facebook, You Tube, X-Tube, Twitter, etc..accounts or at least make them "private" rather than allowing just anyone to see their profiles. The reason being from what I have been told ( and its the case where I work at ) is not so much as for an employer to stick their noses where it doesn't belong but rather it's to prevent stupid and in some cases damaging rumors about their staff. In other words there are some people out there who when they see a pic only to think the worse even if the photo was a simple joke. Like the jock in my hometown. His girlfriend on her Facebook page posted a pic of him sitting on a horse without a saddle while he was shirtless and smoking a cigar. OK big deal..BUT under that pic as a joke she posted "..my sexy daddy bear likes to do things bareback !!". "Bareback" as in riding the horse without a saddle however it didn't stop people from thinking that this guy likes to have sex without condoms. Result..his radio station was getting a ton of hate mail from all over the country from the pro-gay rights crowd accusing him of being a "bug chaser" ( guys who have unprotected sex on purpose just so they can catch HIV ) and of course those right-wing religious nuts who promised that they will start a boycott against his station if they didn't do something about this. To sum it up..DRAMA !!! As a result of all this crap not only did the radio station force the girl to take down that pic but they also banned their employees from using Facebook and other similar sites. Since I haven't see the Bolter pics I can't comment about that but my guess is that maybe Fox had the idea that Bolter's pics though harmless they may had been, well it could create silly drama for WTTG since there are people out there who do take things the wrong way such as a news anchor showing his two tats and thinking he is "low class". (8/10/09) Geez reading all these "WTTG ANTI-FACEBOOK/TWITTER" posts looks like different standards for the station vs their employees, where do "the suits" at WTTG get off making their staff shut down their Facebook & Twitter accounts when the station sets up it's own www.facebook.com (this one for it's morning news) and they even have a Twitter page www.myfoxdc.com (they tell us about it in every newscast!) Get the word out to the WTTG interns. Here's their page and it could be next!!!! Interns your TV futures could be compromised just ask TV vet Bolter!! www.facebook.com... Seems to me that personal stuff is just that "personal" and they are entitled to a life outside of work. So I think the WTTG staffers need a diplomatic intervention. Someone call Bill Clinton. (8/10/09) "Does Theismann on WTEM in the morning mean Riggins is out for the mornings after Redskins games?". Riggins is almost certainly gone from that station with Theismann getting hired as his replacement. If it was Riggo who chose to part company with Red Zebra, you can't really blame him considering that the afternoon drive show he'd hosted for two years on the Triple X stations was unceremoniously dumped in favor of Sports Reporters after Dan Snyder bought WTEM. They tried to placate him with a bunch of assignments during football season including co-hosting the postgame and Monday morning programming as well as a show leading into Monday Night Football, but apparently that wasn't good enough. I think Riggins still does a daily program on Sirius XM's NFL talk channel, but his departure from ESPN 980 coupled with the demise of Channel 4's Redskins Report leaves him (at least for the time being) without a Skins related radio or TV gig. Regarding the Baltimore/Washington comparison, fans in Charm City seem overly sensitive to perceived slights from the national media. If you listen to sports talk radio in Baltimore for any length of time, you're almost certain to hear callers bitch and moan about announcers and commentators at CBS, NBC or ESPN not giving the Ravens their just due (that rarely happens in DC regarding the Redskins). On the topic of WJFK choosing to go Skins heavy since becoming an all sports station, the explanation is simple - a fear that listeners wouldn't hesitate to flip over to the rival sports talker if they tuned in and didn't hear anything burgundy and gold related within five minutes or so. But the Nationals' current eight game winning streak is actually creating some buzz around town despite the fact that they're hopelessly out of playoff contention - some local TV sportscasts are even leading with them instead of workouts at Ashburn. So I don't think it would kill 106.7 The Fan to ramp up its baseball coverage a bit, especially with the impending deadline for signing Steven Strasburg (the highly touted collegiate pitching prospect drafted by the Nats) fast approaching. Mike, Fairfax (8/10/09) It's 9:20 Sunday night, and I've just pulled up WMAL's stream to listen to "The John Batchelor Show" ahead of Bill Cunningham's 10 p.m. Sunday show. Instead, I got "Money Talk." So I checked the station's Web site. Although Cunningham is listed as a weekend host, I can't for the life of me find his show on the lineup. Looks like Batchelor comes on Saturday AND Sunday nights now: wmal.com... I had thought Cunningham's show was successful, so I'm wondering if this is a mistake. Guess I'll find out in about 40 minutes. Christian (8/10/09) Brian Bolter:: There is a saying in radio & life that goes "dumb people must pay" We know it applies to Geronimo. That logic also should apply to the "dumb" holes that Bolter & Fox have dug for themselves; a hole that DCRTV readers continue to, and properly so in order to make their point, fill-in with more pictures & comments. Since Bolter & Fox fail to "get it", DCRTV should continue to allow readers to make people [bolter] and companies [FOX] who make "dumb" policy and response pay. Bolter, Fox or both could have quelled this wildfire with a fun crisis management statement. Continuing to hide their heads in the online sand will, and should, keep the "controversy" alive. (8/10/09) /\ August 10 Messages /\ \/ August 9 Messages \/ Have you heard some of the terrible shows that 1067 the Fan is trying out on the weekends? This one show, was “Kevin and Rock” on Sunday afternoon – these guys were the corniest hacks, trying way to hard to be shock jocks, intellectually insulting, and a total waste of time. I am an avid radio listener/P1 of 1067 during the weekdays, and this show made me change to a music station. Stick with the Fox Sports national feed you have, or I am out. Ric.Ric (8/9/09) There's a piece of music that Imus plays sometimes, that has audio bits from Nixon's resignation speech interspersed. I'm trying to find it online, but I'm not sure where the music is from. Can anybody help me find the info and/or song? Thanks! (8/9/09) NEW SLOGAN FOR FOX NEWS..... WE CENSOR, YOU DECIDE! (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) (8/9/09) All those in favor of a Mailbag lockdown on Brian Bolter Facebook/Twitter/MySpace/PornHub/YouTube etc, etc , etc talk.... say I....I!!!!!!!! (8/9/09) ANOTHER BRIAN BOLTER FOX 5 NEWS UPDATE...... Brian Bolter deleted his Twitter account too! The Paranoia continues! LOL (8/9/09) Do you know when Verizon Fios will be in Charles County (Waldorf)? (8/9/09) UPDATE on THE BRIAN BOLTER CONTROVERSY...... he now deleted himself completely from FACEBOOK! Too funny. LOL (8/9/09) I did some quick and fast Facebook research today, and it appears FOX 5's Brian Bolter did indeed remove lots of people from his Facebook friend list. Even YOU, DCRTV Dave Hughes? He also removed all his photos and locked his profile down, so this is no urban legend, it really did happen. The only question now is was it under pressure from the FOX suits. I still intend to go forward with this "Brian Bolter Embarrassing Pic of The Week" thing. I don't feel its an invasion of his privacy since he posted everything publicly and there really is nothing all that terribly embarrassing, c'mon. It's not like the man posted anything all that bad, but he did post some funny pics and since he took them all down, I'll make them all even MORE public. Nothing illegal. Paranoia WILL Destroy YA! :-) (8/9/09) I have wanted to put in a note about Bob Mathers Alabama adventure for some time but I felt it should come from him first . Bob is humble the station was terrific with maybe as good an oldies play list as I have ever heard anywhere in the USA or beyond. Its special when you never hear a song you don't like. And the remotes where first class as well. Bob and his co-workers gave their best effort every day.I have listen to the station on the net since the first time I heard it. My wife would often ask why I never played the radio anymore I said because oldies700 in Dothan and RJ100 in Philippines were better than anything on the dial around here. I urge everyone looking for a wide variety of oldies to give oldies700.com a listen. John T. Henneman (8/9/09) Wowie--I did not even know Bolter had a face book page. I live in ultra-right wing Nova, and catch Bolter on WTTG. As a gay male--I thought he is very cute,--do you think FOX is upset he has a gay following? I know 2 buddies in DC how are really into him and ove even posted a CL ad ages ago about missing him at some coffee shop--Bolter has his shirt off and was cathcing ray for his pre-summer tan it sounds like in the back courtyayrd area one mid-afternoon. (8/9/09) Dave's response: I wouldn't exactly call NoVA "ultra right wing." I know for a fact that Fox encourages gay men to watch its local and national newscasts. In fact, it's producing a "Men Of Fox" calander for 2010 that'll feature O'Reilly, Beck, Hannity, Doocy, Geraldo, and Cavuto all shirtless. And, the local Fox5/DC version will also have Feldman, Perkins, and, yes, Bolter naked from the waist up. However, if you have a weak stomach, you may want to avoid the December 2010 "MOF" "calendar boy" - Roger Ailes. Ewwwwwww..... Although a station in Alabama doesn't have a lot of relevance to Baltimore-DC media doings, I nevertheless thought I'd write and share for anyone's interest my experiences as a station owner and operator in a small market in 2009. One year ago, the legendary Jack Gale offered me the chance to lease a 'silent' AM and build an FM CP in the city of Dothan. This very unique market (#190) is 17 miles west of Georgia, 10 miles north of Florida, and pretty much the most unconventional radio market I have ever experienced. We started by leasing both stations. We bought the FM last November. Last Friday, we sold the FM to a solid broadcast group who is likely to assume the AM lease as well. We received twice as much for the FM as we bought it for...but in the end we took an overall loss. Even so, we'll dig out of it and keep on going. So much is written on this site about radio about the way it used to be, and the way many wish it could still be. We had a rare chance to run WEEL like a 'throwback' station. It was fun. You know, the Lord does at times give a person the desires of his or her heart. I always wanted to own a station, program oldies, and give something to the community. We had the opportunity. Many in Dothan told us they loved what we gave them. That makes it worthwhile. I knew going in it was likely to be an uphill battle. The opportunity came up all of a sudden and I went in with meager capital. The enormous challenges with technical issues pretty much took what dollars we had. The business plan we put together actually came together nicely, but we didn't foresee the economy going in the tank. We also didn't understand the nuances of Southern culture. Namely, if you're a Yankee or an outsider, they want to get to know you. Re: no buys y'all on your station we they do. Just to relate a couple of instances how incredible this thing came to be. First, we did 'live' continuous broadcasts (no 3 cellphone cut-ins an hour) on the street and in stores. We would broadcast once a month on a street corner in downtown Dothan and draw 300-500 people for cruise-ins. We aired weekly sock hops charging admission and folks from Dothan came and learned how to do 'The Madison' from Hairspray! Baltimoreans can relate to how surreal that must be to see the dance done in of all places, lower Alabama. I've attached pictures. We also streamed the broadcasts, meaning when the mic was open and the classic cars came rumbling by, listeners around the world could hear the engines gunning in stereo. We interviewed local stars like Bobby Goldsboro, aired special themed weekends, and gave away a trip for two to Memphis with our 'We Love Elvis' contest. And...at the end...we were finally breaking even financially...with ongoing support from clients like Harley-Davidson, Coldwell Banker, Rheem Heating and Cooling, and Piggly Wiggly Supermarkets. All on a licensed 16 watt FM translator and a daytime AM'er. Unfortunately by the time the town embraced us, we simply ran out of money. But we proved we could do it. And yes I would do it again...but with a bit more capital to bring to the table. We all know radio is going through a rough time...but if the mindset changes and operators return to local full-service community...the fun and the revenues can also return. Meanwhile, we continue the sound of Dothan (with a few tweaks) on-line at www.oldies700.com as I make my way back to Seattle and the patient wife who's waiting there. Bob Mathers (8/9/09) Dave's response: Hey, we've got a dead 700 here in the DC area. It would be great if we could hear your Oldies 700 there..... (snip) Arthur Page..." (end snip) The problem with the Washington Post obits is I'm always reading about someone who I wish I had met before they passed away. The stories Mr. Page must have had to tell about the early days of television in D-C. Hopefully, he passed them on to his grandchildren. Rest in peace, Mr. Page. God bless you. Al McGilvray (8/9/09) Dave: Well, from reading some of the posts, a second sportstalk station may not have been such a good idea. After listening to ESPN980's coverage of yesterday's scrimmage, it's quite evident there's not one person running the place. So, what do you want to talk about next...seemed to be the general idea between Hanrahan and Galdi yesterday and I can't image any advertiser was happy with their programming. To address a post about bad programming on WJFK, it's quite simple. Current WJFK thinks they know how to program sports and we're quickly finding out that's not the case. Again, hiring ex-WTEM people wasn't the smartest move and more than ever before, we're seeing the desparate efforts of ESPN980 to gain some respectability by hiring Theismann. Let's make a bet: on this Monday's Sports Reporters' show, how much you want to bet that Czaban will spend no less than a hour talking about his golf vacation!! and we should care? Furthermore, my stomach is still unstable from reading about last week's inexcusable discussion during the 12p-2p show relating to "relieving yourself in the shower." Dave, any professional radio person would have said, "You're Gone!!" I guess that subject matter sum's-up where sportstalk stands in this market. (8/9/09) Today, CNN's Howard Kurtz had some interesting analysis on the Olbermann/O'Reilly feud... (8/9/09) Howard Kurtz's Estranged Twin? Hey Dave, Has anyone ever seen Howard Kurtz and Bob Saget in the same room together? - A Mailbagger (8/9/09) NBC4's Keith Garvin just announced that today is Steve Villaneuva's last day!!..He will be moving to NY to be with his wife who's expecting their first child. I have to agree with Keith Garvin when he said that Steve brought personality to the weekend news show..I'll really miss him, but wish him luck.. (8/9/09) Obit for Art Page in the Sunday's Washington Post. He was 89. "Joy Boys" regulars will remember he was frequently one of their engineers. (8/9/09) I'm am a news collector of news footage, such as 2 news, new11 and action news footage. Would you know where i can get copies, because tv stations do not give copeis out (8/9/09) I heard part of the Tanner Cooley show on The Fan last night. That is the worst excuse for sports talk ever. I did laugh at him begging for phone calls from pepole at the Nationals game or at Redskins training camp and not getting any. He's gotten more out of his brother Chris than Dan Snyder has. It is also one more reason why The Fan is horrible. Get real sports talk people and not just the brother of a famous Redskin player who has no experience in broadcasting. (8/9/09) to the poster that pointed out the Laura Ingraham and Byron York interview Friday. She was broadcasting her show from WABC in NYC, which is no longer an affiliate (I believe). I bet the powers to be up there rigged up a "mess up" to where their on-air product cut into the Ingraham show. I listened and it happened twice..right towards the end of the show, they came back with a long edition of the Beatles then you heard Laura yelling---then it cut out again, and she came back said that they were having some technical problems. (8/9/09) From a previous post.."I'm told from a Brian Bolter Facebook friend, that FOX 5's Brian Bolter posted himself on Facebook that he was going to have to remove pics and personal stuff so its not like this is an urban legend or myth..."...the thing to remember is that many of these types of stories ( a radio or TV station getting involved with an employee's personal life ) many of times it indeed does end up being just an urban legend. Such as the story where WRC-TV was going after Reelradio.com several years ago "demanding" a photo of George Michael be taking off the Reelradio site because it showed George with a cigarette in his mouth or that site will face their lawyers because WRC didn't want people to know that their on-air staff smoked cigarettes, never mind the fact that the Reelradio photo of George Michael was taken in 1968 when we was working at Philly's WFIL-AM. Anyway both WRC-TV and Reelradio has since denied that story. Then there is this juicy story that gets reported from time to time on other media sites about how some employee from WMAL ( others said the employee was from WRQX ) who had planned on taking their kids to Kings Dominion only to be told that they would be fired if they as much as go on the property of Kings Dominion because ABC is owned by Disney and Disney of course owns their own theme parks and Kings Dominion isn't one of them. A similar story had an employee from LA's KABC-TV facing the same thing had they went to Knotts Berry Farm rather than Disneyland. Even though ABC/Disney denied all of those claims, it still doesn't stop people from telling such stories. Anyway maybe the Bolter/Facebook saga may very well may not be a myth but for every 10 stories like this, 9 of them usually turned out to just that..an urban legend. (8/9/09) /\ August 9 Messages /\ \/ August 8 Messages \/ To Dave Edwards, My name is Cory Haber. I worked with your talented father,Marty from 9/74-7/76 at the Mutual broadcasting system. In those somewhat disappointing studios on 16th and Kist. Marty was a pleasure to be around. Along with Marty we had Julian Barber, another crazy man...especially when he was blitzed. Happy birthday, Marty....God take good care of Marty... CORY (8/8/09) (re; "When will Channel 4's Doreen Gentzler come back from that 3 month "summer vacation?" Why aren't the NBC-4 suits coming clean about why she was really off the air for so long? Is anyone inquiring about this?") Maybe the simplest explanation is the correct one, i.e., maybe she just needed some time off. I wouldn't read anything nefarious into it. 'Sides, it's really none of our business, now, is it? signed, mizburd from northern va. (8/8/09) I'm told from a Brian Bolter Facebook friend, that FOX 5's Brian Bolter posted himself on Facebook that he was going to have to remove pics and personal stuff so its not like this is an urban legend or myth. This is a pretty trusted source who's seen Bolter's Facebook page. Whether that was under pressure from the FOX suits is debatable, but I'm told Bolter certainly made it sorta seem that way in his last post on Facebook before yanking everything, but of course now no one can read his comments regarding that either! LOL (8/8/09) “Dave's response: Did I not recently slam O'Reilly, Beck, AND Olbermann as cable "news" douchebags?” Why yes you did: as Emily Litella might have said on SNL, “Never mind.” (8/8/09) “You know, Fox is absolutely nuts. It's perfectly OK for Fox News Channel nutjob Glenn Beck to call the president a "racist" and worse”….just as it’s perfectly okie dokie for that bloated bottom heavy impotently inclined Keith Overbite, who frets more about “torturing” terrorists than his fellow Americans, to say that President Bush and Vice President Cheney are guilty of “war crimines” again and again: all’s fair in politics, eh? (8/8/09) Dave's response: Did I not recently slam O'Reilly, Beck, AND Olbermann as cable "news" douchebags? These stories about employees at WTTG Fox 5 getting into trouble over their facebook accounts, ah for some reason I have a hard time beleiving such stuff. Yes while Fox does has ties to My Space but still Bolter & Ackland aren't on the clock for WTTG 24/7 so they do have a private life so I can't see how FOX can shut down and/or force changes to be made to their Facebook accounts. I guess people who believe such stuff still believes that "story" some years back about how WAVA had threatened to fire any of their employees if they were to visit Denver or Seattle for any reason ( even to visit family who live there ) because "according to WAVA", Denver & Seattle "are against God" or that Giant Food has "fake profiles' on gay porn websites in an effort to catch their employees from checking such stuff out..even from their home PCs. Or my favorite..A few years back Chick-Fil-A the restaurant chain had paid people to be stationed outside various movie theatres around the country in order to catch their employes ( and to fire them ) if they paid money to see "Brokeback Mountain". Sorry, All of those stores ( WAVA, Giant Food & Chick-Fil-A ) sounds like pure bullshit to me and I bet its the case with WTTG vs. Facebook too. A company can only do so much to their employees if they are off the clock whether its at home or even on vacation. Whats next? WTTG/Fox won't allow their employees to watch NBC/ABC/CBS at home because those networks are competiton or to visit any city that doesnt have their own local Fox affiliate? Yeah right !!!!! (8/8/09) Does Theismann on WTEM in the morning mean Riggins is out for the mornings after Redskins games? Riggins was excellent last year teamed with Sheehan and Czaban like the show he had on MASN. That show and the Riggins television show with George Michael, Jurgenson, and Wilbon were the best Redskin shows on radio and tv. (8/8/09) Word on the Facebook street says FOX 5's Matt Ackland also got his Facebook account shut down by the FOX 5 Suits! Too Funny! (8/8/09) Dear Washington....... I think someone said it best... DC is twice the size of Baltimore, so The Skins will always be bigger to some extent no matter what happens, but their popularity in the region outside of DC has faded very fast and their season tickets waiting list is shrinking while The Ravens list is growing. I think Snyder is the kinda guy who'd be pissed off that The Ravens have a DC radio outlet while The Skins don't have any Baltimore media presence (CSN aside). Remember, there was originally this sorta private agreement between The Ravens & The Skins to not market themselves specifically in the other market. That agreement was probably originally broken by Danny Snyder when he got Skins games on MY24 in Baltimore years ago. Now the Ravens have struck back with a DC radio deal on a 10,000 watt, albeit small radio station, WZAA. There won't be huge Ravens ratings in DC, but I still bet the little man is a bit pissed. The Redskins have no media presence in Baltimore anymore whatsoever, and their media presence in the region is shrinking while The Ravens media presence is growing. As for the Nats vs. The Orioles, well they're both bad teams, no doubt about that. But The Orioles have a much better farm system and future to look forward too, that much is certain. Angelos will most likely die before Lerner too! (bad joke) The Nats are MLB's absolute worst. The Nats TV & radio ratings, even in DC, are the worst in the MLB. Like The Ravens, The Orioles have a radio presence in DC, but actually a much stronger one than The Ravens/Bonneville deal since the O's are on WTEM. The Nats have no Baltimore radio outlet nor are they ever even discussed. No one hears the games or pre-game or post-game shows and hardly anyone in DC listens either according to the ratings. Basically, in Baltimore, the Nats don't even exist except when we Baltimoreans turn on the wrong MASN channel accidently. People in Washington complain about MASN all the time, yet if they had 2 discreet channels 24/7, no one in Baltimore would ever have even known The Nationals exist at this point. Sorry, Washington. Love, Baltimore (8/8/09) In the annual softball game between the WTOP newsroom and the WTOP Sales department, the 4-foot trophy and all honors associated are bestowed on the WTOP Newsroom. It was billed to be an epic battle, but the Newsroom got to pitcher and GM Joel Oxley early and often. Said Oxley, "we played them evenly except for that 10 run third inning. I wish I could have some of those pitches back." WTOP reporter Hank Silverberg's pitching combined with the fair and balanced fielding behind him --helped hold the lefty-laden Sales staff to a paltry 16 runs. Final score Newsroom 26 -- Sales Slime 16. (8/8/09) re: " Some doctorate student out there should really do a study of the Baltimore inferiority complex. It is really quite amazing and is demonstrated on this board with great regularity.".......lmao...they're too busy busting a gut at dc's silly inferiority complex....they're smart enough to know that considering the fact that the little city consistanlty has beaten the great big city on the gridiron and the baseball team on the diamond over the decades, just where the inferiority complex resides! It's like the good looking, more athletic little brother teasing the less attractive but has every advantage bigger brother. It's not a rivalry of course because we have the best one going in the NFL with pittsburgh, it's merely a 'superiority thing" on our end. dc's continued inferiority complex about it all never ever gets old. Quite humorous really. (8/8/09) Too funny. The initial comment was simply that the Redskins are by far the most popular sports team in the DC-Baltimore region, which is indisputable, so Danny Boy is not losing sleep over the Ravens having an outlet in DC. The Baltimore inferiority complex shifts into high gear and we get 1) all kinds of distortions of what the region is in a silly attempt to claim the Ravens are more popular than they are (by the way, if you include Richmond and Norfolk in the region, both of which are Redskins territory, the Skins numbers increase. That works both ways), 2) arguments about Baltimore being a better baseball town, 3) claims that the Ravens and Orioles are better than the Redskins and the National on the field (which, if you buy that argument, actually makes the Redskins continuing popularity all the more amazing). Of course, none of these can counter the original point. Some doctorate student out there should really do a study of the Baltimore inferiority complex. It is really quite amazing and is demonstrated on this board with great regularity. (8/8/09) JFK has been silent for over an hour this am. Once the Junks sign off, it is college radio at best. Mike Wise and his GMU buddy host a show from the basement of the science building (WDORM) Chad Dukes has to be on suicide watch having to deal with his rookie broadcaster every day. It is painful to listen everyday. His talent is wasting. Did you hear the Brendan Haywood show!!!!!!!!! This is just making the TEM guys thing. Tom Lavero was a great idea. Local talent in the AM another good idea. Radio is a local medium! (8/8/09) [b]oth Baltimore's franchises appear to be going in a good direction, both ratings, attendance, and success or at least future success. Sorry that the truth hurts DC. Signed, Baltimore.] What the bleep are you talking about? The Oriwoes haven't had a winning season since 1997 and are coasting to their 12th straight losing season with their usual second half el foldo. I'd take the Nationals any day. Shawn in DC (8/8/09) On WTOP yesterday, Chris Core used his "Core Values" ridiculed Radio Shack's rebranding to "The Shack" because, he said, he likes Best Buy better anyway. Perhaps the name of his poorly written bits should be changed to "I'm a Whore." (8/8/09) (re; "When will Channel 4's Doreen Gentzler come back from that 3 month "summer vacation?" Why aren't the NBC-4 suits coming clean about why she was really off the air for so long? Is anyone inquiring about this?") Why is it any business of yours asshole? She is not an elected official and you are not paying her salary. Its a matter between her and her employer. If you are so interested then call the newsroom. (8/8/09) For the person curious about Doreen's whereabouts... Latest word leaked by Scheinhardt Wig Co. spokesperson Kathy Geiss hints Ms. Gentzler's breathtaking "DGDC Collection" will debut by Labor Day. (8/8/09) This sounds like it might be fun! "The Nine Lives of Marion Barry" - Monday, August 10th, at 9 pm on HBO. www.hbo.com (8/8/09) "When will Channel 4's Doreen Gentzler come back from that 3 month "summer vacation?" Well summer isn't over and why the hell do people need to know EVERYTHING about everybody. Live your life and let others live theirs, maybe if people didn't need to know, crap like TNZ would go away. (8/8/09) Brian Bolter. In a really dark place or just woke-up?... brian bolter. Is that the way you look at don geronimo? (8/8/09) Dave's response: Not running the pics you sent. Losing its humor factor. Let's move on..... (RE Previous message about new channel 4 and new channel 2 applications:) New channel 4... New channel 2... (8/8/09) So the final chapter in the Billy Mays saga will be that he will always be forever remembered as the asshole that personified him on "Pitchmen." Fame and fortune can't trump stupidity and drug use. What a fucking jerk. (8/8/09) Dave's response: Cocaine use can cause rapid and severe rises in one's blood pressure. It is a major cause of strokes and heart attacks..... /\ August 8 Messages /\ \/ August 7 Messages \/ Assuming that the person posting the Brian Bolter pics became a "friend" of Bolter's on Facebook, wouldn't that individual have the asumption of privacy of photos posted on Bolter's wallpage, where he/she is privy to the photos only by viewing them from Bolter's Facebook page? The photos are public to those on the friend list, and Bolter himself could have had it set up that way in his privacy settings, which you have distorted and ruined for the rest of his Facebook friends (of which I am not part of, btw). DCRTV Dave, this is ridculous -- you should shut down the idiocy of these photo peddlers... So give Brian his privacy and get a freakin' life, for Chrissakes! -Silvie- (8/7/09) Dave's response: I assume that if you upload photos to Facebook, they become the property of Facebook. If Facebook asks me to remove photo that was obtained from a Facebook page, I will gladly oblige. Likewise, if Mr. Bolter asks me to remove a specific picture that he claims is his property, I will again gladly oblige. So far, I haven't received a request from either. As I've said before, if you want "privacy," don't post it anywhere on the internet. While I don't go "lifting" photos from Facebook pages, I can't be held responsible for photos forwarded to the DCRTV Mailbag by third parties. You know, Fox is absolutely nuts. It's perfectly OK for Fox News Channel nutjob Glenn Beck to call the president a "racist" and worse, but not OK for our wonderful local Fox5 anchor Brian Bolter to post a few harmless and fun pics of himself on the internet. Maaaaaaan..... WTF was going on with Hot 99-5 between 7-7:30 this evening with voice tracks for 106-5 The End in Charlotte being played underneath Kings Of Leon, Black Eyed Peas, Kaci Battaglia and The Fray? It was a real Top 10 major market moment. Premium Choice, indeed! (8/7/09) When will Channel 4's Doreen Gentzler come back from that 3 month "summer vacation?" Why aren't the NBC-4 suits coming clean about why she was really off the air for so long? Is anyone inquiring about this? (8/7/09) So WMAR 2 and WRC 4 had to vacate the VHF dial and the FCC is going to allow NEW CHANNEL 2 & 4's in the area ??? A new DC Channel 4 and a new Channel 2 in Salisbury! I thought these frequencies were being turned over to emergency services and mobile communications. What the hell are they smoking at the FCC? This makes absolutely no sense. (8/7/09) re: "B'morans need to get over the Colts history, they are in Indy. Your B'more Ravens have one Super Bowl and NO NFL Championships.".....ridiculous! washington, your silly "inferiority complex" is such a bore!! (8/7/09) Dear Washington...... At the risk of getting off topic, The Baltimore Orioles have better TV & radio ratings and attendance than The Washington Nationals this season (and better TV/radio ratings throughout the Nats existence) and had the same (on WBAL & WFBR) when The Washington Senators were around. The Orioles ALWAYS OUT DREW The Senators year after year after year until the Senators folded and failed in a virtually BRAND NEW STADIUM while the Orioles played in a complete DUMP of a stadium and still sold more tickets. Go figure. If you can't attract fans to a brand new stadium, and your team LEAVES NOT ONCE BUT TWICE, what does does that say about your DC fan support again? The Baltimore Colts also had better attendance for the majority of their existence then The Redskins and the longest running sellout streak is true for that period of time (and Memorial Stadium was a pretty large stadium too for the time at 65,000), but that record was broken in the late 70's, also true under extremely odd circumstances that make the Browns move look like a walk in the park. Championships are championships as previously stated. Baltimore has more NFL and MLB championships than DC, and historically better MLB ratings and attendance, regardless of the previous post. Why do I have the feeling I'm arguing with Phil Wood who's still in denial about how BAD the Senators attendance was? Furthermore, all Skins fans have to brag about is the mid-80s to mid-90s, the Joe Gibbs era, when Baltimore didn't have an NFL team. The Baltimore Orioles, Colts, & Ravens have lots more to brag about across the board, many more championships. People don't forget The Colts championships here anymore than people in DC forget the Skins Championships, deal with it. I understand why DC people are angry, you have the worst MLB team in baseball all over again and pretty much throughout MLB history, the Nats are like a scary repeat of history, and you have one of the worst NFL teams again, and both Baltimore's franchises appear to be going in a good direction, both ratings, attendance, and success or at least future success. Sorry that the truth hurts DC. Signed, Baltimore. (8/7/09) I a little bit puzzled by 106.7 the Fan's programming choice of Brendan Haywood and Holder on Friday night 7-10 pm. I realize 106.7 will be carrying the Wizards this season, but we are on the cusp of the NFL season in a Redskins crazy town. Who gives a 's' about hoops right now? (8/7/09) Dave's response: I imagine it's kind of a test show..... Word on the street from Facebook friends of FOX 5's Brian Bolter.... Bolter removed all pics and personal info about himself from his Facebook page, just yanked it all & locked it all down. But, never fear, a Facebook friend of Brian Bolter compiled all the pics that were publicly available, so just to spite the FOX 5 stupid paranoid suits, I've decided to start posting an "Embarrassing Brian Bolter Photo of the Week"! (By the way, I actually like Brian Bolter & FOX 5 News and think the whole non-controversy over that last pic is ummm, a non-controversy, and yes these were public photos so there should be no threats to DCRTV unless the FOX suits are really mental. PS: I'll stop posting the pics when the FOX 5 suits let go of the Facebook deathgrip). So here's this week's FOX 5 Brian Bolter Embarrassing Pic of the Week, YAY! Pic #1: "A Bad Weekend / Little Hung over?"...... (8/7/09) ("Ask any Colts fan from 1977, they'd take The Baltimore Colts w/ Danny Snyder as an owner in a frikkin heartbeat and that 1977 playoff game would have been a sellout!") A hypothetical "would have sold out"? Does that explanation also hold true for the failure of Orioles fans to sell out World Series games? Only a Baltimore mongoloid like yourself would assert you live in a good sports town. (8/7/09) B'morans need to get over the Colts history, they are in Indy. Your B'more Ravens have one Super Bowl and NO NFL Championships. (8/7/09) I don't want to start a stupid pissing contest between Skins and Ravens fans, but I can't let that one comment go without a response. The Baltimore Colts once had the longest running streak of sellouts in the NFL for decades and did quite well for WCBM. Few cities have ever suffered under such an owner as Bob Irsay, who was drunk before noon daily and traded away John Elway in a drunken stupor over the phone without even his GM knowing about it! People think Danny Snyder and Peter Angelos are bad owners today. Geez, you people have no clue. The closest thing in the modern era to Irsay might be senile Al Davis, who's probably also drunk by noon daily. Even Modell in Cleveland doesn't compare. There are really few comparable examples today of an owner who deliberately destroyed a rabid sellout crowd fan base so quickly through unbelievably erratic behavior. Ask any Colts fan from 1977, they'd take The Baltimore Colts w/ Danny Snyder as an owner in a frikkin heartbeat and that 1977 playoff game would have been a sellout! Name another owner who moved a team during a snowstorm to evade the law! Finally, Championships are championships. Only a DC policy wonk dork would try to parse words and say The Skins won more "modern era" championships! TOO FUNNY! Oh, thanks Bob in Forest Hill, you said the rest of what I was gonna say pretty much and I agree. (8/7/09) re: "The modern era began with Super Bowl 1 and there your comparisons are not so rosy."....Wrong. The modern era of the NFL began in 1958, fact with "The Greatest Game Ever Played!", sorry, you lose. (8/7/09) with dave feldman's appearance on 1067 Duh Fan does that mean his days of appearing on WTEM Sport's Reporters come to an end? Has the City Paper's Dave McKenna, of the Cheap Seats column, ever been considered for some air time on a local sport's talk station Was Allison Starling ever a participant in beauty pageants, she sure knows how to smile a lot lil' old Korean ladies with their nail salons huh...noticed that despite the severe recession that not a single nail salon has shuttered it's doors in my region, is something funny going on with them nail salons, why there must be more of them than starbucks, money laundring? entry way for psuedo legal and illegal immigrants, uh-oh (8/7/09) News media is reporting Mr. Oxy-clean Billy Mays had cocaine when he died. Al McGilvray (8/7/09) New Junks logo (8/7/09) Don Geronimo:: Bring in the clowns, his career is done. By all accounts, The Don Geronimo Show's live broadcast from the Barista Cafe today was a small, cozy affair. That has to be as disappointing to Sorce as it is for [us]. See, deep down, we were hoping that a true old fashioned Las Vegas style show would have broken out - a wild, packed affair that would have pissed off WGMD & Barista Cafe management but would of have been a testament that his legions of loyal fans still support him. After all, it was Sorce who put the word out about today's event. Sadly it seems, instead of a surprise stripper, you had Jan Sorce trying to play the role of Freda. Instead of midgets, you saw in the audience, a few twitter followers to Sorce's posts. Instead of cops being called to break-up an unruly crowd, you had what, soft music playing in the background? Simply put, Sorce must have looked like one of those yesteryear washed-up athletes you see time to time at Wal Mart begging to sign a few autographs. Looking uncomfortable sitting at the card table as the majority of people walk by saying "how sad, isn't that Don Geronimo?" Sad clown indeed. (8/7/09) You know Dave, if you reword some of these headlines they will be much funnier and interesting. For example: Jim May to nab head? WB-Centreville VA (8/7/09) ("Since the modern era began in 1958 Baltimore has 4 Titles and dc has 3 and two of those have an asterisk.(strike years) The Washington racialslurs are Maryland's J.V. entry in the NFL!") The modern era began with Super Bowl 1 and there your comparisons are not so rosy. Also, I wasn't aware that the Redskins were the only team competig in the years they won their Superbowls. Baltimore is a great sports town, that's why the Colts-Raiders playoff game in 1977 wasn't sold out and blacked out even in DC. However, I was able to get a ticket at the gate. Great F...ing sports town. (8/7/09) I'll wade in on this Redskins versus Ravens "region" thing. It all depends on how you define "popularity" and "region." Anyone who's lived around DC and Baltimore for a while (I grew up in DC and have lived near Baltimore for most of the last 20 years) knows that while geographically close with intertwined transportation, television, radio and such, they are two different worlds. I agree that the Redskins dominate on sheer numbers, largely because the DC metro area is larger in absolute numbers of people than Baltimore. But once you get to Columbia, the transition is pretty obvious. Anything north of there to York and east to Ocean City is Ravens country. And don't forget Carroll County up into south central PA, due north of DC straight up Georgia Avenue. You're hard-pressed to find any Redskins stuff there. As for popularity, if you define it by event participation or ratings within their defined market, I'd bet that the Ravens are close or even beat the Redskins on a percentage basis...I know the local TV ratings for Ravens games in the Baltimore market regularly exceed those for the Redskins in the DC market. And add interest in secondary markets like York and the Eastern Shore, too. All that said, the Ravens might have a higher percentage, but it's of a smaller market, demographically speaking. So I think the argument could be made that the Ravens are as successful (if not moreso) as the Redskins in their home market. Regionally - such that it even matters - Redskins take the prize, but that prize can't be carried north of Brookeville or north/east of Columbia. Bob in Forest Hill (8/7/09) As Jim Williams of the D.C. Examiner noted, we now have two sportstalk radio stations which are already completely focused on the Redskins. Is there really a demand for WTEM's nonstop Training Camp shows? What "news" comes out of these on-site shows? A tackle had a twinge and didn't practice? We still have almost two months of baseball to play and 20,000 fans show up at Nationals Park every night, regardless of the poor record this year. I will be especially curious to see what the PPM ratings for this first week of August show. Sadly, switching over to JFK gets me the same non-news Redskins coverage. (8/7/09) John Feinstein "blowing up?"... No effin way!!! Gotta love those Dookies.. (8/7/09) "Mike Handley Narrator, Voice-Over Artist . Mike Handley, 66, who spent more than 30 years in Washington as a narrator and public service announcer for federal agencies and corporate clients, died April 10 at his home in Citrus Heights, Calif. An autopsy will determine the cause of death, but foul play is not suspected. Mr. Handley, who was born in Norfolk and graduated from East Carolina University, came to Washington in the 1960s. He spent three years as an announcer at the old WGAY-AM radio. He later became a freelance announcer and voice-over artist for commercials, films and public service announcements. He made campaign commercials for Ronald Reagan and did narration for the Secret Service, White House, Customs Service (now U.S. Customs and Border Protection), Drug Enforcement Administration and the military. His commercial clients included Toyota, McDonald's and airlines. In the 1980s, Mr. Handley was the on-air announcer for Larry King's radio show. He also helped found the Washington Humane Society's Animal Injury Hotline and raise awareness about animal welfare. Mr. Handley spent a great deal of time in Hollywood, where he was a media instructor for the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Radio and Television Artists and occasionally appeared as an actor. From 1999 to 2008, he lived in Iceland, where he owned the English Language Centre in Reykjavik. After returning to California last year, he sought to bring Icelandic and other foreign language broadcasts to U.S. audiences. Mr. Handley never married. He is survived by a son from a relationship, Magnus Magnus Magnusson of Los Angeles." From the WaPost, Sunday, May 10, 2009 www.washingtonpost.com... (8/7/09) Hendrie On 2 Different DC Stations At Same Time ... and nobody listening on either station. (8/7/09) For someone who is normally known for upbeat and optimistic and given that he's taking a vacation next week, market manager Hartley Adkins is unusually morose these days, casting more gloom at 1801 Rockville. Speculation among sellers behind Adkin's unusually pessimistic demeanor include ... the understandable concern Adkins is possibly having about being replaced by the Philly/Pittsburgh market manager in yet another downsizing maneuver by Clear Channel... (8/7/09) "... the amount of non-sports related topics [WTEM's Andy Pollin and Steve Czaban] discuss between 4 and 7 seems to be increasing each day." A liberal dose of celebrity gossip type stuff and they seem to revel in it a bit too much for anyone's comfort - you wonder how they'd react if someone was prying into their private lives and using it as fodder for entertainment on the public airwaves. Along those lines, how about John Feinstein nearly blowing his top the other day on Sports Reporters when Czaban asked him to comment on the issue of Tiger Woods and flatulence on the golf course? While Czaban was clearly out of line to bring up something like that to a noted author, you can't help recalling a certain incident involving Feinstein and off color language that took place during a Navy football broadcast a few years back. But by far the most distasteful thing heard on that station of late was Kevin Sheehan devoting two segments on Sports Fix yesterday to 'urinating in the shower' (with more than one defecation reference thrown in for good measure) including going to the phones on it. Perhaps someone can explain the thinking process that leads a talk show host who's usually insightful regarding the local sports scene to pick such a topic for the lunch hour, because I sure don't understand it. What's even worse is Sheehan's co-host Thom Loverro gleefully going along with the sordid chit-chat - you'd think a print guy would have higher standards than that. With Redskins GM Vinny Cerrato doing a show on ESPN980 from 10 to noon on Fridays and (as just announced on that program) Joe Theismann getting the 8-10 AM Friday timeslot starting Aug. 14, it looks like Tony Kornheiser will be working a four day week during football season. Apparently the Wizards' Brendan Heywood and ex-Channel 5 sports anchor Lou Holder will be co-hosting on 106.7 The Fan today in the 7-10 PM slot that's been covered by former XM Home Plate hosts Chris Russell and Holden Kushner since the station switched to all sports a few weeks ago. Last Saturday it was Earl Forcey (who used to host Skins gameday programming on WJFK and previously worked for WTEM) getting an on-air tryout - hopefully a permanent lineup for evenings and weekends will be in place before long. Mike, Fairfax (8/7/09) I believe it was conceded in the original post that the Baltimore Ravens have been the better managed franchise for the past decade. Joe in Essex is arguing with himself. But when you think of it, Baltimore's better performance over recent years kind of makes it all the more remarkable that the Redskins continue to be so much more popular in the region. I doubt Danny is losing sleep over Baltimore having a DC outlet. (8/7/09) WBAL TV's website writes the following about a fatal accident in which a fleeing carjacker crashed into an innocent driver's car. "The culprit faces charges that include manslaughter, wreckless endangerment and driving a stolen automobile." Of course, if it had been "wreckless" the innocent woman would not have died. Bob A. in Pikesville, MD. (8/7/09) Attn: Dave Edwards... Follow this link for the sad news about Mike Handley: www.wqmrwgaymemories.org... (BTW, I loved listening to your dad's authoritative delivery during his many years on the Mooch.) (8/7/09) (RE Shirtshack:) Jeez, Dave, only two size XXL's available? Regards XXL Biff..(lol) (8/7/09) Dave's response: I know. Bad news for MO'M..... Incredibly stupid of WPLG to fire their newsman AFTER he filed a discrimanation complaint against the station. This will ultimately cost the Washing Post big bucks. (8/7/09) ("But, due to an "automation" problem, (Phil) Hendrie continued to be heard on Bonneville's WFED (1500 AM), even though he'd been officially pulled off the schedule a few months back. "Everything (is) squared-away now," we're told by a Bonneviller.") Uhhh... someone didn't tell WFED webmaster for months either. And still hasn't. Phil also counts WFED as an affiliate, but his affiliate count hasn't been updated since April. (8/7/09) Laura Ingraham was just interviewing Byron York and the interview cut out, then another interview, with someone else, began airing. I had thought York had said something that the show's producer had to dump, but Ingraham just came back on and said there had been a major technical glitch. She didn't blame York, but neither did she explain what happened. I'm not overly suspicious, but I'm curious to know if there's more to the story. Christian (8/7/09) Hi, my name is Dave Edwards. My dad was Martin Edwards, who was with "Mutual Broadcasting System" for over 30 years. Today is his birthday and he would have been 83 years old. I wanted to know if you could please post his b-day in his memory. Also I was reading the new Aftra magazine and in the obits it listed that Mike Handley had passed away. I wanted too if it was the same Mike Handley who used to work at Mutual and did many PSAs. He moved to Iceland many years ago and I e-mailed him, but he didn't reply. He is a dear friend and I'm very concerned. Could you please let me know if it was him... Thank you very much. regards, David M. Edwards (8/7/09) Dave's response: A tip of the ol' rabbit ears in honor of your dad on his birthday! Anybody know about Mike Handley? Dan Snyder has had the same success with the Redskins franchise as he has had with Six Flags. Just because he has made millions with the Redskins, doesn't make them successful in terms of defining what the ultimate goal of a sports team is. Snyder may be a whiz at marketing, but he sure doesn't know a fucking thing about running a sports franchise or an amusement park. The problem is not the Redskins' players or the coaching staff. The problem is the owner. Just ask Joe Gibbs. (8/7/09) Howard Kurtz comments on the O'Reilly vs. Olbermann feud redux: www.washingtonpost.com... Also, here's video of O'Reilly going off on Olbermann (albeit not by name, of course) vis a vis his attacks on Lou Dobbs, from last night: www.youtube.com... (What radio stations in the DC area is Dobbs heard on again?) (8/7/09) Dave's response: Dobbs is heard locally on 1580 AM, the pride of CBS. Ah, am I the only one who doesn't give a rat's ass about the O'Reilly/Olbermann "feud"? Them, Dobbs and Beck are what's "wrong" with cable "news." Bloviating clowns. Yawn..... Re: "the Redskins have a stadium with 92,000 people and the Baltimore stadium is somewhere around 60,000."....lol....The 6th? largest market should draw a lot. The 26th? market just 40 minutes away with a palace for a stadium actually draws 71,000+...that's impressive!! But what really matters is the head to head competition ON THE FIELD and for that, it isn't even close. Baltimore always beats dc in football...the all time record is like 17-6. Since the modern era began in 1958 Baltimore has 4 Titles and dc has 3 and two of those have an asterisk.(strike years) The Washington racialslurs are Maryland's J.V. entry in the NFL! (8/7/09) Dave: Just got back from the Outer Banks and for the past two weeks, I've had the chance to listen to both of our sportstalk stations in the market and have concluded the following: DC area sports fans are in big trouble! I'm not sure others will agree, but you can tell there's a bit of ESPN980 present at WJFK. What did I say when DCRTV broke the news that WJFK was changing formats. I said the station {WJFK} will only be successful if they hire new producers and talent and start fresh. Hiring bad producers and nasal sounding talent from WTEM wasn't what I had in mind and the bottom line? Both stations aren't very good.. It's finny but without Czaban, ESPN980's afternoon drive needs to run ESPN syndicated programming. Pollin's ego is getting in the way of anything mildly entertaining and their 12noon-2p slot just got worse. Let's see, Snyder losing over 125-million with Six Flags...gee, he must know how to hire the right people, ya think? That leaves WJFK, what now? Well, the Junkies will be fine and I guess LaVar needs better producing. Mike Wise is a great get and will be a superstar! Now, WJFK needs to find a way to get more Redskins programming and take the area by storm...a storm that hasn't blown through as of today. (8/7/09) Anyone who longs for the return of 70's style FM Rock radio has to download the Lionel (1050 AM) podcast for 7AM Friday Aug 7. This morning on the show, Talkers magazine editor Michael Harrison - himself a former WNEW-FM NYC jock - was interviewed by Lionel and explains succinctly why the format and style of that time can never come back, and would sound ridiculous if it did. Air America's website has a link to on-demand downloads. (8/7/09) It's funny. I don't find it surprising that listenership has gone down since the merger--the playlists have gone WAY down hill. The music I am hearing on XMU, AltNation, Lithium, Spectrum has completely fallen off. I have started to listen to terreserial radio recently because Sirius has gotten so bad. I only listen to serious for its talk radio now--the rest brodcast and iPod. Mike in SF (8/7/09) Brian Bolter today of WTTG FOX 5 stated his facebook was closed for the summer. All pics and vids were cleared off, could this have stemmed from last month's beach pic of him posted on this site? Did the FOX suits get upset that their lead anchor sported his 2 tats on the beach? Botler then later in the day posted on his Twitter site that he was applying for life insurance We hope the long exposure to the sun down the beach and the bottle of night wine drinking that Bolter has so famously posted about does not effect his ability to obtain a decent insurance premium. Your tanned face and weekend tales from OC will be missed. (8/7/09) Too Funny. The poster says that the Redskins are by far the most popular team in the dc-baltimore region, which is indisputable, and the response by Joe in Essex is that 1) the Ravens are more popular in Baltimore and 2) the Ravens have a growing waiting list while the Redskins is shrinking. Of course, as to point one, that's a total straw man because the claim wasn't that the Redskins were more popular in Baltimore, it was that they are more popular in the region. That's kind of a surrender on the original claim as to the region. As to point two, Joe in Essex doesn't mention that the Redskins have a stadium with 92,000 people and the Baltimore stadium (paid for by the taxpayers) is somewhere around 60,000. That fact alone makes Joe's argument kind of frivolous. Let's face it, the Redskins rule the region and always will, even with a dumbass owner. The Ravens will always be second tier. So I guess the fact that they have an outlet on DC radio isn't such a big deal. (8/7/09) Twats tweet Twitter: SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – “Twitter and Facebook said they suffered service problems from hacker attacks on Thursday, raising speculation of a coordinated campaign against the world's most popular online social networks.” The funny part is this: “Motives for denial-of-service attacks range from political to rabble-rousing to extortion, with criminal groups increasingly threatening to hobble popular websites that don't pay demanded fees, according to security experts.” Hey Dave: ain’t that what you do by making DCRTVers pay in order to get one of your crummy tee shirts by paying for this: “Join DCRTV Plus & Get A Free Shirt DCRTV's Shirtshack is back! Make a $39 donation to DCRTV and we'll give you a year's access to local radio and TV memory-packed DCRTV Plus.”? BTW: you ought to pull that link to the Trojan virus site before one of your readers gets their computer’s hard drive fried. (8/7/09) Dave's response: You know, some of those "crummy t-shirts" could just maybe fetch mucho bucks on Ebay, especially some of the HFStival ones. Act now, they'll be gone soon. And, just think how much better you'll sleep knowing you helped support a wonderful site like DCRTV..... /\ August 7 Messages /\ \/ August 6 Messages \/ ("Today's Nationals game was the seventh straight game that they have been on MASN2. Of course Baltimore has been on high-def MASN for seven games") The Nationals and Orioles have the exact same amount of games on the MASNHD channel this season. It just so happens that this week it was 7 Orioles HD games in a row. The Nationals will now have 7 HD games in a row starting tomorrow. (8/6/09) So WPGC is modifying it's format by watering down its lineup so that it's "not too black sounding"..Did someone actually say that?..Look, I'm no fan of hip-hop and no expert on radio ratings, however, there's an audience for hip hop and rap that's continuously played on WPGC. And I don't believe that "watering down" their sound, is going to result in changing the dial from 102.3 and 96.3 to start listening to WPGC..But like I said, I'm no ratings expert, so obviously the powers that be at WPGC know something that I don't (8/6/09) Fo Shizzle ma nizzle, Ravens #1! Did Snoop show at Skins camp today? NOPE! Who's more popular again? Peace baby. - Snoop Dogg (8/6/09) I've noticed that for the past few weekends, NBC4 has gone with only one anchor on the morning news..Wonder if that's going to be a permanent decision..I must admit that I kind of like only one anchor..Also, came in on the last 15 mins. of the evening news and noticed no Jim Vance again... (8/6/09) Today's Nationals game was the seventh straight game that they have been on MASN2. Of course Baltimore has been on high-def MASN for seven games. (8/6/09) Ed Walker Elected to the Radio Hall of Fame! (8/6/09) Dave's response: And we broke the news yesterday evening..... Fresh FM is still at 16th? im surprised their ratings havent gone below 20th yet! it is the most plain, tasteless, boring station that EVER existed! something we dont need, like 106.7 the fan....thank you CB$! (8/6/09) So DC101 is still in a nosedive and Channel1043 isn't doing well either....hmmmm seems CBS could make a smart move by putting WHFS on 99.1. The signal reaches both Baltimore and DC by the way. Imagine that...a Modern Rock/Alternative station that could cover Annapolis,Baltimore and DC...wow what a concept. It may even show up on PPMs. They could have a music festival that caters to listeners in 2 major markets!! They could play music in the morning when most stations have a talk show and music lovers would tune in since music lovers love music much more than sports shows and auto salesmen and politically slanted points of view thinly disguised as talk shows. They could even have a short segment of totally UNslanted views of current events. They could hire people who know things about music and artists. OR they could just hire a guy in a suit who used to manage a movie theater or frozen yogurt stand to pick songs to play and put the signal on a hard to get subchannel and let a popular format die a slow death. (8/6/09) Does Fox 45 even watch Fox 45? For a while now, their forecast graphic has read "Weather Panner," which presumably should be Weather PLANNER. I catch the error every night, but they have yet to. Bob A. in Pikesville, MD. (8/6/09) Dave's response: And Tony Pann doesn't even work there..... "NOR MA RAE... NOR MA RAE..." Go get 'em, Kid... (8/6/09) (you could go to a non-union job. Right across the river, Virginia is a "right to work" state, for instance) Spoken just like a shop steward that only gives a shit about themselves. You are right, we'll all head out to WAGE for a great job...oh, wait. Then you'll tell us to go to JFK because "they're in Virginia", and we'll explain that they are a sports talk station. You'll tell us "don't complain to us that you're not talented. That's not AFTRA's fault that you're not talented..." ROTFLMAO (8/6/09) "Of course DC 101’s ratings are falling. How many times can you hear a 5 year old Green Day, Offspring or Red Hot Chili Peppers song before you stop tuning in anymore? " THANK YOU!!! i myself am happy that DC101's ratings are falling. it is the worst "rock" station that ever existed. they play the same fucking songs 20 times every day. BTW Cheap Channel, when will you stop calling it a "rock" station? its not a fucking rock station, it's SHIT! the only good thing i can say DC101 has is Elliot in the morning...after that, the radio is off for the rest of the day... (8/6/09) RE: [ " The Redskins are far and away the most popular team in the DC-Balamer area by every conceivable measure. No other team is remotely close.......Fact is, the Balamer Ravens have been a better team over the past decade but they are still minor league when it comes to competing with the Redskins for fans. " ]........ Umm, check your numbers again. The Ravens waiting list for tickets is now quite long & steadily increasing. The Redskins waiting list, which was huge, is dropping people like flies. And that was posted recently by a Redskins season tickets holder too, not a Baltimorean with an inferiority complex. Even though FedEx Field is always sold out, I often see tons of empty seats on TV. That's a rarity at M&T Bank and will definitely be a rarity this season too. And no, the Skins are not more popular in the Baltimore area than the Ravens. If the Skins were more popular, a local Baltimore TV station would be carrying their pre-season games (CSN doesn't count). There is rarely any Skins talk on any of Baltimore's 4 Sports Talk stations. My 24 gave up on the Skins and no Baltimore radio station wants to broadcast their games. The Ravens are also more popular on the eastern shore. I don't know who this year's broadcast outlets for the eastern shore will be yet, but you can bet The Ravens will get more radio coverage down there than the Skins as well. Does any Skins player have a street named after him in Ocean City? Is there a yearly Skins parade in Ocean City? Sorry to give you the bad news and jolt you out of the 1980s! Oh, is Joe Gibbs still there? hehe. :-) (8/6/09) (Y'know, there ARE shops that are non-AFTRA. Maybe instead of crying like a four-year-old you could go to a non-union job. Right across the river, Virginia is a "right to work" state, for instance.) How many radio jobs are in Northern Virginia? Most seem concentrated in DC or Maryland. Am I missing something? I might be. So I am asking. Anybody know? (8/6/09) Re: "I know of one shop, on a high floor in Silver Spring..." Y'know, there ARE shops that are non-AFTRA. Maybe instead of crying like a four-year-old and making up things ("After taxes, you get to take home 18.00 net.") you could go to a non-union job. Right across the river, Virginia is a "right to work" state, for instance. (8/6/09) Hey Dave— Speaking of Newspapers on “TV” www.herald-mail.com... Gee, I thought when you were on TV you weren’t supposed to look like you were reading. What’s next—monkeys at typewriters? Funked in Funkstown (8/6/09) ("making $12 an hour to start") That's generous. I know of one shop, on a high floor in Silver Spring that you have to take an express elevator to get to, that starts it's people at 10.50, yet you have to pay $1300 (maybe soon $1600) for the "privilege" to work there. Don't want to join the union? Tough shit. You have to pay to work. You have to pay in order to be paid. Highway fucking robbery. Oh, but they'll break it down for you over 12 months. So what if you only work 20 hours in a month. After taxes, you get to take home 18.00 net. Congrats for that hard work. You're on the air in Washington DC, kid! Doing traffic! ...and you've got that union card! Bullshit. Take that union card to the bank when you get fired...see what you get. (8/6/09) media.myfoxdc.com - Definitely a rogue page and my anti-virus. First clue: referring to the station as "My 5" (8/6/09) Add my vote AGAINST raising the AFTRA initiation fee. There are board Ops jobs at WMAL that pay less than $10 an hour. There are on-air jobs at Metro that don't pay much more. How can you expect someblody breaking into the business at the bottom to cough up $1,600???? (8/6/09) Ed, Thanks for the “thumbs up”. That narration is one of the most enjoyable jobs I’ve had. So much fun. Also thanks for “outing me as a deranged caller. If any talk show hosts need a “character” for “funny phone calls”. Just contact me, I’m reasonable and know how to push buttons, especially political buttons. PLB (8/6/09) DCRTV Dave - Your story about management versus sales at CCDC could be written about almost any corporate cluster in any market, especially those corporate owners whose names begin with the letter "C". These companies rule by fear and intimidation in many cases. One corporate owner has recently been slapped with four employee or former employee lawsuits in just one of its cluster operations (not DC) because of serious employee mismanagement issues. Corporate radio has succeeded in eliminating most GM, news, jock and engineering positions. Now, they are attempting to destroy sales as a decent career path. Commissions have been cut, revised and changed at the whim of a corporate decision maker. Worse yet, the hostile working conditions that exist for many radio salespeople today is deplorable. Clusters do not create efficiencies. They create inefficiency by forcing sales people to work with sales people from the other stations in the cluster. This flies in the face of human nature and creates friction between sales staffs. Sales staffs will perform better when they work for their own interest only. Radio is probably the only industry in America with more talented people out of the business than there are remaining employed in it. Its very sad to have witnessed the last decade and a half of corporate decimation that has killed the industry. -gnusasaurus (8/6/09) In addition, what does it say about afternoon drive-time being used as Czaban's platform for airing his anger and hatred toward women and outright people he dislikes. Where's management to reel-in Czaban and Pollin and steer the boat back to sportstalk. I couldn't agree more, the amount of non-sports related topics they discuss between 4 and 7 seems to be increasing each day. (8/6/09) AFTRA is insane for even considering an increase in the initiation fee. Radio is cutting salaries and staff beyond the bone. The union is supposed to be helping its people and its potential members, not bleeding them to death. We all know these are tough economic times and AFTRA needs to bite the bullet as much as anyone else. (8/6/09) From TVNewser: MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan is in hot water with the mother of one of his show's regulars -- Washington Post reporter Jonathan Capeheart. (8/6/09) Since Julie is giving twitter-ish updates from the AFTRA convention, how about putting this to a vote - LOWERING the AFTRA initiation dues. You might actually get members, instead of having units voting the union out. You get MUCH less these days from a "union" that doesn't do NEARLY as much as they used to (free medical, dental, retirement which is nearly depleted) - yet, they want to raise the dues. These are greedy fucks (not the local, but the union in general) who should literally be ashamed of themselves. This is nowhere near the same union that we joined 35 years ago. If Evelyn were alive to hear/see/read, she'd die. (8/6/09) Why AFTRA initiation raise is a story: problem for employers. Particularly when hiring for entry level jobs. Imagine boss explaining you will be making $12 an hour to start, BUT you must pay $1,600 for the privilege...... (8/6/09) Glad to hear that Charley Lake is with Greater Media. One of the few good companies left. Good people shouldn't have to work for CC, Citadel, or Cumulus. I don't know Charley, except by reputation, but he is one of the great ones. * * I heard PLB's game narration and it's great. Davy/Paul can actually do phony voices and make them sound real. He used to call me on talk shows and the audience thought he was really a deranged caller. * * I think a MILF contest is really sexist. Unless you do a FILF contest also. * * Can't wait to see the PPMs for Baltimore. Ed Graham (8/6/09) Look what Google says about media.myfoxdc.com/my5... (8/6/09) (RE AFTRA:) That's what the Inside Radio article says....it will be put to a vote. Easy to raise the fee for people who have not yet joined....easier than raising dues on those who are already members (8/6/09) I am currently at the AFTRA National Convention and I want to clarify that the resolution to increase the initiation fee has NOT been officially brought to the convention floor and voted on by the delegation. Therefore nothing is definitive as of right now! Julie... (8/6/09) Obama at Deeds rally at Mclean Hilton in Tysons this afternoon and evening... White House told Deeds campaign what roads would be closed... "Are you crazy?" was their response? We'll hear every ten minutes on the eights (on WTOP) that we caused a huge traffic jam!... WH response.....well, you'd have to pay $7,000 for us to fly him there in Marine One... Deeds campaign: sure. Money well-spent to avoid hearing every ten minutes we were screwing up afternoon rush hour traffic in Virginia... (8/6/09) If Radio Shack does, indeed, become "The Shack", they could resurrect and reinvent one of their old slogans - "You've got questions, we've got blank stares!" Mike from Frederick and the Dashboard DX Society, newly tanned from a week on the Outer Banks. (8/6/09) Of course DC 101’s ratings are falling. How many times can you hear a 5 year old Green Day, Offspring or Red Hot Chili Peppers song before you stop tuning in anymore? Why can’t we get an alternative rock station in DC that actually plays new, current alternative rock, instead of washed up old post-grunge pseudo alternative crap? Seriously – are the Chili Peppers even a band any more? No more 311, Linkin Park or Franz Ferdinand either! How about some Decemberists, Shins, Vampire Weekend, Kings of Leon, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Interpol, or Bloc Party? I could go on and on. Please don’t tell me about HFS2 – I want a station I can actually listen to, not one that gets heard by the 5 people with an HD radio. And I don’t want to shell out $10 a month for Sirius XM to get one station I’d listen to and 100 I don’t. I already have a service like that – it’s called cable TV. (8/6/09) Regarding WZAA - "I'm not mistaken its 10,000 watts daytime now " You ARE mistaken... They are still 3500 watts and have CP to go to 10,000 watts. (8/6/09) (“my5-The hottest links on the net with Paul Raphel and Lauren DeMarco media.myfoxdc.com”) Warning, warning Will Robinson, warning: the second I clinked to this link my virus alert went bonkers! Better check this one out Dave because just as one would want to “wrap up” before having sex with a stranger, this link may be a “Trojan” virus. (8/6/09) Just knowing Charley Lake (aka-Alexander Goodfellow) is still alive and kicking is music to my ears! Hey Charley….give me a shout-PLB/Davy Jones (8/6/09) The Balamer inferiority complex never ceases to amaze. I'm no fan of Danny Snyder. But the plain fact is that the Ravens having an outlet in DC is a pimple on the ass of an elephant. The Redskins are far and away the most popular team in the DC-Balamer area by every conceivable measure. No other team is remotely close. And that is even with the Redskins having been mismanaged for a decade now. Fact is, the Balamer Ravens have been a better team over the past decade but they are still minor league when it comes to competing with the Redskins for fans. (8/6/09) Well he’s at it again…PLB has just been retained by Big Fish Games as a narrator. Check out his first VO-go to www.youtube.com. Go to the Search window, type in Drawn The Painted Tower. Good stuff, fun to listen to. The Game itself will be out in September. 3 more will be done. JH (8/6/09) Saw the ad for the West Wing Report on DCRTV. It is a must follow if you are on Twitter. But who is WWR? (8/6/09) Charley Lake, the original Alexander Goodfellow at WPGC in the early-'70s, is alive and well. He's currently program director at Greater Media's WMGK in Philadelphia. (8/6/09) I love DCRTV and you know that, but credit where credit is due: The Post ran a profile of Ed Walker over the weekend or late last week -- about how he was likely to get named to the hall of fame this week... (8/6/09) Dave's response: I know that and I linked to it. Still, it would have been nice for the Stale section to have cut one of its MULTIPLE HUGE pics today, and run a story today about Ed Walker's honor. Heck, they could have even lifted Ed's quotes directly from yesterday's WAMU press release, like I did. His honor deserved more than one teeny tiny paragraph at the bottom of the "RS" column today..... From Inside Radio: AFTRA votes to increase initiation fee. The union’s national board of directors held a two-day meeting leading into today’s 62nd AFTRA National Convention. The board voted to recommend that union members approve a $300 increase in the initiation fee charged to new members. In November, the standard initiation fee would jump from $1,300 to $1,600. The last increase was in 2003. Proceeds would be earmarked for organizing efforts to increase the number of broadcasters in the union. AFTRA national president Roberta Reardo. (8/6/09) Can we have a DCRTV hottest MILF contest? If so, I would like to vote for Allison Seymour. She is pretty sexy, and looks like she has full, adult boobies. I think Lesli Foster should be in the running for the MILF contest as well...HA! (8/6/09) By golly, squirrels really CAN talk out their butts: pst.rbma.com (8/6/09) THIS JUST IN: Squirrels can talk out of their assholes!!! See the amazing proof in "Mark Trail" in the Weds 8/6 Washington Post comics page. (8/6/09) RE: [Wow, Rush Limbaugh looks Hot! He must've gotten a lot of flak at CPAC last Feb. and dropped the weight in no time.] Any Health Care Professional who truly has YOUR well being in mind will tell you that any diet that causes you to lose 90 pounds in 90 days is both unsustainable and dangerous to your well-being. Limbaugh said it best himself; "I've lost ninety pounds four times in my life folks, and I've lost forty or fifty pounds six or seven times, and other than golf, I don't exercise." A series of cumulative diets totaling dramatic losses of 600-800 pounds with re-gain of the lost weight plus more? Not good. That is a serious red flag for underlying self-esteem and body image issues. Not to mention that binge dieting causing you to yo-yo dramatically in weight risks serious damage to vital organs. Quick weight loss aside, any weight loss plan absent of the necessary lifestyle changes to maintain a healthy weight is stupid. Any public figure that promotes quick weight loss diets of this type is an idiot. (8/6/09) Dave's response: Damage to vital organs? The brain? Hmmm..... RE: WAGE/AM Special Temporary Authority & Dark Stations / [ " I think a new policy that takes licenses away from the "bad" owners would harm those who are not evil. " ]...... That's like saying... Let's not arrest people with a smoking gun at the scene of a shooting because some of them might not actually have done the shooting. Or how about lets give all the students passing grades so we don't hurt anyone's self esteem? But seriously, I'm still scratching my head trying to think of a single valid reason someone would defend the FCC violating its own policies & allowing stations to keep licenses for TEN FRIKKIN YEARS WITHOUT A PERMANENT TRANSMITTING FACILITY!!!!! C'mon people, at some point ya gotta say, PUT A FORK IN IT! IT'S OVER. ELVIS HAS LEFT THE BUILDING, only there is no transmitter building, but you get the point. :-) (8/6/09) I imagine The Baltimore Ravens / WZAA 1050AM deal isn't really big news in DC, but you can bet its a real pisser to poor old Dannyboy Snyder, who's team used to claim the Baltimore market as its own, but now doesn't even have a radio outlet in Baltimore at all as far as I know. Oh, but good job at downplaying the story by saying the station runs at 44 watts at night. If I'm not mistaken its 10,000 watts daytime now and most of The Ravens games will be daytime, so that's kind of a useless suckup comment to Snyder. Does he own this site too? Oh, probably not, this site seems successful, hehe. So this means The Ravens now have a better radio presence in DC than the Skins have in Bmore. WNST would never pick up the Skins games in a zillion years, and I doubt SportsTalk 1370 or 105.7 The Fan would risk their success on the Skins either! Maybe 1300AM possibly? You can bet the little man is on the phone right now as we speak, hehe! Funny and ironic that Baltimore has many more sports talk stations than DC, but they all sort of know picking up the Deadskins would be like their last nail in the coffin! LOL (8/6/09) Dave's response: Bonneville currently runs the Nationals on its WFED. I'm wondering if Snyder will snatch them away for his ESPN 980 next year? Something nasty's going on between B'ville and Snyder. I just sense it. Stay tooned..... Don Geronimo:: The Barista Cafe in Delaware where Sorce will be broadcasting live Friday claims they are the place for "fresh beans & healthy greens. " Memo to management. Let us introduce you to Don "Mr. Healthy Greens" Geronimo. Better hide the pastries. Dear Dave: Regarding the demise of WAGE: after the sale and sacking of the on-air staff, I began to notice some differences in the commercial spots broadcast during the day. This became more apparent about the time that the long-time salesperson left last year. What was once a multitude of local spots diminished quickly, so I'm not surprised about the suspension of broadcast operations. Seems to me that while management thought they were saving money by going more to syndicated fare, they were actually shooting themselves in the foot, and tearing the heart and soul out of what I thought was a good local AM station that provided local news and traffic and weather, as well as providing the high school game of the week broadcasts, and being a presence at many community events. Also affected was Washington Nationals game broadcasts. This year, it seemed that whomever was responsible for airing games on that station was doing a poor job. I can remembe r an instance earlier this year where the station left an extra-inning Nats game in progress in favor of Fox Sports radio programming, and another instance just several weeks ago where the same thing happened mere seconds after the final out of a regulation, nine-inning game (and I mean before the broadcast went to commercial break after the final out was recorded). This past Saturday, the Nats-Pirates game wasn't even carried by WAGE, leaving me wondering who was in charge of operations. Now we know. The thing that stinks now is that one can't even listen to the Nats out here in Ashburn, or anywhere in Northern Virginia west of Hunter MIl Road in Reston. I know, there is XM (which I have) and MLB play by play on the internet, but you have to pay for both (and as for the former, you get the tremendous play-by-play work of Charlie Slowes and Dave Jaegler only for home games). To me, there is no excuse for the game broadcasts of any Washingto n team in the four major sports not to be available and listenable o n terrestrial radio in the greater DC area. Again, Dave, a great site! And congratulations to Ed Walker on his electon to the Radio Hall of Fame! Sincerely, Joe Kaell (8/6/09) To Edward Heston Walker: Congratulations on your election to the Radio Hall of Fame! Ed, you are the Cat's Pajamas, the Bee's Knees, the Height of Excellence in the Radio (and Television) business! Keep up the great work for many years to come! Bill Stabler, WBIG-FM (8/6/09) Wrong answer guys. DeMarco does work for Fox5 as a full-time producer and writer. She works for Metro Traffic on the side as a second gig & does radio traffic. They are just using her as a fill-in for Julie on WTTG. Julie is out of town for the week. DeMarco is young, a little slow on her traffic info. It's easy to see she is not camera-comfortable, you were right when you said "stiff",seems to like showing her profile and her "girls" and smiling about those damn traffic jams that we cuss at. Julie Wright is a traffic pro and has been for years so big shoes to fill by anyone. And when it comes to getting as much traffic information as possible in short spurts well sorry but no one can match the vet Julie. She covers every highway and byway better than anyone else, even the lady Lisa B. Untouchable Julie rocks! (8/6/09) my5-The hottest links on the net with Paul Raphel and Lauren DeMarco media.myfoxdc.com (8/6/09) Dave's response: Enjoy it now, because righty media baron Keith Rupy Murdoch is gonna make all his websites pay. I guess that brown hair dye is getting absorbed into his brain. Sad. People will pay for "quality journalism," he said yesterday, as his firm, News Corp., was looking at huge losses from his MySpace investment. Fox News may get the elderly to tune en masse to nutjobs like Glenn Beck, but "quality journalism"? The NY Post? Ha ha ha..... Any word on a service or funeral for Alexander Goodfellow? We worked at several of the same stations, though not at the same time. (8/6/09) Dave's response: If I hear about it, I'll post it..... /\ August 6 Messages /\ \/ August 5 Messages \/ So Phil Hendrie is being simulcast on WTNT and WFED. (8/5/09) I would like to add myself to those who would love to see a WCAO tribute site. That station was legendary, especially in the 60s, when it seemed like every radio you ever heard was tuned in. Roddy Freeman (8/5/09) (regarding a previous post) "Wow, Rush Limbaugh looks Hot!". Playwright, Neil Simon put it best, in 'The Sunshine Boys' - "If this room was on fire you wouldn't be hot!". (8/5/09) Re: AM STAs. I say give these stations a break. There is no assurance someone else would do something better with the spectrum, and how is "better" defined? At least while the stations are off there is less interference. The FCC gives stations great flexibility in preserving a licensed coverage area, and I think that is correct. Think about exactly how a station that may have been operating on a shoestring can afford to acquire land and build a new transmitter site. Zoning, NIMBY neighbors, FCC allotment rules, etc. I think a new policy that takes licenses away from the "bad" owners would harm those who are not evil. (8/5/09) Mailbagger writes, "Any word as to why Julie Wright's not doing the traffic?" Julie's at the AFTRA national convention this week. (8/5/09) Rumor has it that Amy Robach and her husband have either split or in the process of divorcing..If so fellas, she'll be back on the market.. (8/5/09) Dave's response: If true, I'm sure she'll want a creepy DCRTV Mailbag poster as her new main squeeze. Ha ha ha..... Any word as to why Julie Wright's not doing the traffic?..She was on there Monday and then yesterday and today, another woman was doing the traffic..I know that on Monday, all of the anchors were getting on her about using sunscreen when she tans..And they said it more than a couple of times..So, I'm wondering if her feelings were hurt and/or they just got on her nerves and she decided to not come in the past few days..But come on Julie, you definitely "over" tan to the point where you look orange..And to say you don't use sunscreen and have been lucky not to have contracted skin cancer is just stupid..O.K..That's my public service announcement regarding skin cancer. (8/5/09) A good source tells me CSN will be the only place you can see redskins preseason games in HD, WRC will also carry them, but NOT in HD -- James (8/5/09) 1) Wow, Rush Limbaugh looks Hot! He must've gotten a lot of flak at CPAC last Feb. and dropped the weight in no time. 2) NBC4 on Sunday evening showed a photo which appeared to be Michael Jackson's empty bed at the time of his death, but Craig Melvin stated that [paraphrasing]: "NBC cannot confirm the legitimacy of this photo".... Sheesh, what do you expect, Craig? It's been more than a year that the President's birth certificate story has been circulating in the media, and no one in the business seems to be able to put their lab coats on and play Inspector Cluseau and confirm the legitimacy of said document and get it over with already! 3) Dave, I was near DCRTV headquarters yesterday but unable to see you -- I enjoyed the Pat Benatar, Blondie & The Donnas concert at Wolf Trap, though! Next time! -Silvie- (8/5/09) Dave's response: Rush Limbaugh is the complete opposite of sexy. A dead pine tree has more sex appeal to me! It would be funny if Rush just kept shrinking and shrinking and shrinking like Lilly Tomlin did in that old movie from the 1970s. Hey Silvie, you can actually see the DCRTV World HQ building from Wolf Trap. Just look for the tall structure with Edward R. Murrow's metalic head on top on the western horizon. It's particularly visible at sunset, when the sun reflects off of Mr. Murrow's forehead..... The link for WTOP discount Newseum tickets all through August can be found at the bottom of this article: www.wtop.com... In my opinion, $10 is about right for the Newseum. - Chris in Alexandria (8/5/09) WJFK’s flip had nothing to do with WAGE. In April of 2007, they fired their local staff, keeping only an operations manager and their best salesman, costing them some local business. That salesman, through 30 years of local contacts, kept some revenue coming in through the summer of 2008, when he quit. Since then, with no local programming and no salesperson calling on businesses, contracts ended and they ended up for the last few months with no advertising revenue at all. WJFK’s flip is mere coincidence. (8/5/09) Speak of the devil... In other FCC news... fjallfoss.fcc.gov... WNWK AM 1260 Delaware, 10 years (maybe 12 now, I think I've been ranting about it for 2!) and still running without a transmitter location, not operating as licensed for TEN+ FRIKKIN YEARS! Unbelievable mismanagement of the public's airwaves by the STILL CONTINUES TO BE BROKEN FCC! (8/5/09) Could WJFK's flip to sports talk sealed the fate of WAGE in Leesburg, VA? Both WJFK and WAGE carried Fox Sports during the overnight. With JFK's stronger signal, did CBS management force Fox Sports hand to not share their product in the same market? Doing so would have forced WAGE to find other, possibly more expensive programming, since Fox Sports was aired at no cost. Also, WAGE was paid by the Wizards to carry their games. Now that WJFK is the official broadcast station of the Wiz, could Abe Pollin have pulled cash away from WAGE? Is this another case of big radio killing community radio? (8/5/09) WAGE 1200 did indeed file their Remain Silent Authority w/ the FCC. fjallfoss.fcc.gov... It does indeed claim that they are remaining silent while attempting to get approval for their 50,000 watt signal. The unusual part of this is that WAGE's original application stated there would be a separate night time application for the new WAGE 1190. That never happened. So why should the FCC approve this since WAGE has not shown a true interest in finishing this construction permit as previously stated directly to the FCC? I guess what I'm saying is that WAGE has violated the terms of their FCC application and construction permit and legally, the FCC should just yank the license, but we know that won't happen. This probably means they can remain silent until Oct 2011 now. But what does this mean for co-owned WBIS 1190 Annapolis? Will the FCC let both of these licenses float in limbo, not serving the public interest for OVER TWO YEARS??? I personally think the FCC needs to start letting these AM stations fail if they're not on the air or on STA for 2 years or more. This 10 year STA or dark BS just needs to stop. It's not at all in the public interest to let these licenses just sit and collect dust. Many AMers are basically sham companies that are frequency squatting right now, hoping to later sell for profit when the economy turns around. It's not like taking these licenses, like Birach's dark stations & the couple of Delaware AMs, would lay off any people or put people out of work. It's just a piece of FCC paper that has a monetary value, there's no public interest or public good here. Just frequency squatting. YANK'EM FCC! (8/5/09) (Is that the same Byron Kerr from WTOP who is doing Nats Xtra with Roy Miller in place of Johnny Holliday?) Yes. (8/5/09) You mentioned Amy Roback as one of the hottest newscasters, and while I do not disagree, you failed to mention No. 9 -- Kiran Chetry who graduated from the Communication Arts Program at Eastern IS and Montgomery Blair HS as well as the University of Maryland College Park. Truly a beautiful woman inside as well as outside. Skipper (8/5/09) Dave's response: I didn't mention Amy, some website did. If I was doing a "hottest anchor" list, Derek McGinty would be at the top..... Who is the girl replacing Julie Wright on the morning traffic report??? WOW! And why aren't we allowed to see Ashley Linder on Channel 4 traffic reports anymore? We hear her just fine, but some of us miss her fresh face! Kristen (8/5/09) Top 19 Hottest Newscasters (National) www.asylum.com (8/5/09) PC World magazine chimes in on the Radio Shack name change: tech.yahoo.com (8/5/09) ...anyone happen to know if bill phelps, who also went by bob scott, was the bob scott who also worked in baltimore radio (B104, WXYV, WWIN, etc)? sean hall (8/5/09) Snippet: “I am dumbfounded -- and we all should be embarrassed by what NBC is alleging to be "news" at nbcwashington.com. When are you gonna pull your head out of your ass? Or haven’t you heard the latest from the Obama camp. “FLAG”….”the chance for all to expose their friends neighbors and family if they say anything disparaging about the current administration. This according to “ Tom Marr –WCBM, and acknowledged to be true by Helen Bentley. www.whitehouse.gov/blog. Under “Facts are stubborn things”. I don’t know about you BUT I’m scared shitless. WOW (8/5/09) The NBC O&O's brought in outside bloggers for their sites awhile ago in a desperate attempt to gain web hits. The sewage being perpetuated on NBCWashington.com as a result has nothing to do with WRC's on-air product but reflects badly on it all the same. Everett W. (8/5/09) I am dumbfounded -- and we all should be embarrassed by what NBC is alledging to be "news" at nbcwashington.com. There is a whole section on the site called "What the . . .?" and every single news piece is written with a shitty, snarky tone. For example: "Apparently, President Obama just can't be trusted. The left is disappointed because he's still endorsing some aspects of Bush national security policies. Middle-class voters are thinking he's about to double-cross them on tax hikes. And now, even Al Qaeda -- who as many people know, recruited Obama fresh from his mother's womb after his birth in Kenya and immediately inculcated him into its radical Islamist ways -- is criticizing him." This isn't news . . . this is just bs . . . and NBC, the home of Dave Garroway and David Brinkley and Chet Huntley and John Chancellor and Tom Brokaw should bow its head in shame. (8/5/09) I have a simple question.. Are there any other known photographs of Doc Walker, Kevin Sheehan and Thom Loverro other than the ones that constantly appear in print and on the web? Speaking of Doc Walker, his full page ad in the Sunday Washington Times is one of the stupidest ads I've ever seen. The pictures are all ancient, the personalities are not identified and the copy is out of date. I guess as long as Doc can maintain his "machine" everything is cool. Regards Biff (8/5/09) It was interesting listening to the Junkies this morning. The guys were discussing the top cars purchased through the cars for clunkers program. They started disparaging some of the models and were quickly dumped, not sure by who. The listener missed most of the cars on the list due to someone hitting the delay. They continued to talk about how bad the Ford Focus was but were advised by their producer (Brett) to move on. EB stated something about upsetting sponsors. Nice to see the boys are free to discuss anything without interference from advertisers. (8/5/09) Dave's response: It's like the WaPost running columns telling people to save money by cutting back their cable TV service, and then running big full-color ads for Comcast, Cox, and Verizon..... Lauren Demarco is hiding her boobies today. She must have read DCRTV's mailbag yesterday. LOL. (8/5/09) MSNBC's Savannah Guthrie, with her moles now covered up with a collar level shirt, with “Breaking News” on The Morning Joe The Schmoe Show, actually covered a NPS worker with a leaf blower on The White House lawn this morning: who says the MSM is out of control? (8/5/09) Digging into the DCRTV Mailbag archives: "Marty's voice--at its best--may be heard in perpetuity...by calling 202-762-1401...that's the US Naval Observatory Master Clock. Marty was a great talent, but, above all, a great person. I will miss him. /sean hall" Wikipedia says the voice belongs to the late Fred Covington. Can somebody clear this up? (8/5/09) Is that the same Byron Kerr from WTOP who is doing Nats Xtra with Roy Miller in place of Johnny Holliday? (8/5/09) I know it has been quite a few months, but I used to listen to 94.7 The Globe radio station. They had the most awesome DJ's particularly WEASEL and CERPH . What happened to them.??????Also Shelby, who did the 10am to 2pm slot. I know the whole format changed and now the station STINKS!!!!! to put it mildly. I don't know if you have any info on these DJ'S or where they went, but if you do or can find out I would appreciate if you tell me. Thanks Carolyn B (8/5/09) Dave's response: Cerphe is sitting out his CBS Radio contract. There are rumblings he could be jumping to another station soon. Maybe WBIG? Not sure what Schelby or Weasel are up to..... WDMV might be off the air, but their website is still hosting a show (!!!). Hit this site - dcradio700.com - and listen to Ed Handley's "Technical View". Chances are good you and he will be the only ones listening. Horrible audio quality, dopey use of Blondie's "Call Me" as the opening theme, you name it. (8/5/09) /\ August 5 Messages /\ \/ August 4 Messages \/ The news has only now reached our normally-computerless MD outpost about the departure of Jeff Beauchamp from the corner office of WBAL-1090. This is not good. Beauchamp was a strong leader and more than once he rescued what most likely would have been a radio dinosaur from the grave. As others have written, Beauchamp identified and cultivated talent both on-and-off-the air. Mark Miller and Mike Wellbrock are excellent examples of news/talk/programming folks who made WBAL an extraordinary station operating at a level above the market, especially in the age of voice-tracked, satellite-fed generic radio. Miller and Wellbrock are both home-grown graduates of JB University. The switch to a harder-edged news-and-information morning show should be smooth, and don't be surprised if shorter, crisper versions of the 'lighter' features the station may be shelving for now resurface in the morning show as it evolves. The lack of an FM outlet for WBAL continues to hobble the station's viability but WBAL leapt ahead of the pack in developing Internet products and online services, including real local news that might keep the brand alive long enough to take advantage of more widespread online mobility. Beauchamp's support of Ron Smith is another example of the kind of out-of-the-box thinking that could be sorely-missed in coming years ... or maybe weeks, given the introduction of PPM surveying in Baltimore this year. For some time, WBAL and WIYY-97.9 have been fortunate to be the only radio stations owned and operated by what is mainly a television and publishing company with much bigger successes (and challenges) in its primary areas of business. Let's hope as listeners and advertisers that the relative freedom that grew from that situation allows both radio stations to succeed. Godspeed, Mr. Beauchamp. No name in Maryland. (8/4/09) "I remember when WAGE was in Syracuse, NY (620). I think that it was an ABC station. It competed with WSYR at 570, an NBC affiliate. WSYR is still there, I believe. -= Jim " I'm a native Syracusan, and sometime in the 1950s, WAGE changed its call letters to WHEN. Not sure if it still has those call letters; last I heard, it's an all-sports station. WSYR is still there; in fact, my family lived several blocks north of its transmitter on Valley Drive. (Syracuse had another AM station whose call letters comprised a word -- WOLF, 1490. It was a Top 40 station for many years, and I believe it now runs Disney programming.) -- Vincent in Triangle (8/4/09) Anyone know what George Michael doing these days? No one seems to want to hire him sadly. Considering the talent he has it's quite disappointing not to see him in media work. (8/4/09) One thing that's missing this Redskins season is George and Sonny. I saw George on Fox5 during the NFL Draft but that was it. Why doesn;t Fox5 or Comcast make an effort and get that Redskins Report back on? At LEAST give them a spot on Monday. Don't even bother with 7 or 9. Not worth it. It saddens me to think I have to suffer through pre season games listening to that Lindsay Czarniak and whoever that tool is that's with her. No offense to her but ''Lunch With Lindsay'' doesn't exactly give her loads of credibility. Redskins season is going to seem awfully empty without George and Sonny this season. George Michael and Sonny J. are legends in this city and I don't understand why another station hasn't approached them. Paul (8/4/09) Check this out - Washington Post's New Editorial Team-TDAAWC (8/4/09) In his remarks during the dedication of the new NBC/WRC facilities, David Brinkley referred to "television Studio A and the two other studios adjoining it". I recall two rather large TV studios on the main floor at 4001 Nebraska Ave NW, but I'm having trouble figuring out which "third TV studio" he was talking about. I remember a very small TV studio downstairs that was used from time to time, across the hall from the room with with film chains and other video equipment, but that's all. (8/4/09) Don Geronimo::ALERT! LAS VEGAS STYLE SHOW COMING FRIDAY? From Dan "the Gaff" Gaffney's mouth to every Delmarva strippers lips "Looking forward to Don Geronimo Show live show broadcast on location at Barista Cafe Friday 9am - 12noon! Rt. 1 Lewes next to Bling Salon" How great would it be on Friday if every stripper, pimp, hooker, drunk, gay, lesbian, minority, midget [ little person] transvestite, toothless & grocery cart pushing homeless person, clown, juggler, stilt-walker, Harley Davidson biker club member, bad rock band, and missing limb gimp in Delmarva and beyond shows up for Sorce's show. Throw in some WHITE WGMD Republican Christians, coupled with the jaw-dropping disgust of Jan, his new bride and you have a DCRTV audio & video remote broadcast classic. Pass the word! (8/4/09) Joke of the Day: "Bill Clinton Heads to North Korea and Picks Up Two Women." Two shows nightly. - The Unknown Comic (8/4/09) So Daniel Snyder's theme park company, Six Flags, is bankrupt. His tacky restaurant chain, Johnny Rockets, has also been reported to be in financial trouble and is being sued by a family who found shards of glass in their meals at a New York J.Rockets. His radio network is a disaster. But overlooked is the potential financial abyss the Redskins are hurdling toward. Anyone who has been on the season ticket waiting list can testify to the fact that they used to move up maybe a dozen spots on the list each season; now the team is sending multiple mailings to every name remaining on the list, begging you to buy packages. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who has seen the team advertising tickets for sale on MASN and other local sports channels lately. Whatza matter, Danny Boy? People realizing you offer crap product for top dollar? When a Redskins game gets blacked out because you haven't sold out that ugly stadium, your house of cards will completely collapse, won't it? (8/4/09) There's a great pictorial essay at: www.quadvideotapegroup.com on how that WRC Dedication video from May 1958 (which is the earliest known color recording discovered to date) was lovingly and painstakingly restored.One interesting anecdote: (quote) "About two-thirds through the show the audio crapped out. NBC had the backup telco line, so they switched to it (during David Sarnoff's speech). Sounded like a phonecall!" (end quote) I'll bet Sarnoff saw that someone's head rolled for that tech snafu! (8/4/09) Thanks to Tom in DC for posting the link to the NBC/WRC studio dedication. That is just wonderful. Robert, Arlington (8/4/09) Marvelous to see the half hour dedication show for NBC/WRC's new studios on Nebraska Ave from 1958 in its entirety. To the best of my recollection, I've only seen the part where Sarnoff fils presses a button, a tone sounds, and the monochrome picture goes to color. Nice color, too. Not like the color typically seen on vintage RCA sets of the bygone era. The Stu and Dave Show reminds me of the caliber of the voices that once graced the microphones and cameras. The speeches given by the bigwigs were snoozy, as would be expected at a dedication ceremony in which the government praises a very large publicly-owned corporation for doing what comes naturally: invest money in plant and equipment to make money broadcasting bedtime stories for the children, and other things as the Sarnoff family may deem to be fitting. I'm wondering when President Obama will be invited to a similar ceremony at which an NBC executive presses a button and broadcasts from the NBC COLOR PLANT pop into high definition. Perhaps that'll have to wait until General Electric has disposed of the very same piece of real estate that is depicted in this historic piece of quad television tape. And a nice piece of land it is, too. Perfect for condos, a few McMansions, or, perhaps, a government agency. (8/4/09) Many thanks to the person who posted the video of the dedication ceremonies of the WRC/NBC facilities in 1958! Seeing the plaque that was installed in the lobby of the building, brought back nice memories of many happy hours visiting with the Joy Boys there, back in the day. I wish there had also been some video scenes of the radio section downstairs. As far as I know, the only photos of this area online can be seen at Bob Bybee's Joy Boys Tribute site at www.thejoyboys.com and at Mike Berry & Skip McCloskey's The Great 98 website www.98wrc.com... (8/4/09) I don't know if WMET 1160 is for sale or not, but they did file a Consummation extension with the FCC. It's debatable what the purpose of that is since the application says little. (8/4/09) Being in the advertising business, I see this as total stupidity. “THE” Radio Shack is a legendary and totally recognized branding identity. To change to the “SHACK” will really confuse the consumer. Shack….seafood restaurant? Maybe the “NEW Radio Shack?????? PLB (8/4/09) anyone see Holly Morris on the news today? That outfit gave the traffic woman a run for her money. Keep it up and i will have to watch Fox everyday. (8/4/09) If a WCAO tribute page ever goes up, I'd definitely check it out! I'm a life-long fan of country music..but also listened to WCAO a lot in my early childhood; I, too, listened during that last day of the country format on WCAO! Tom in Denton, MD. (8/4/09) www.truveo.com... Here's a link to the half hour dedication show for NBC/WRC's new studios on Nebraska Ave from 1958. It starts in black and white, halfway through a button is pushed and President Eisenhower becomes the first President to appear on television in Living Color! Tom in DC (8/4/09) "New low power digital on the shore....W35CS...has a strange pattern..." With a pattern like that, a lot of viewers are getting screwed. (8/4/09) Ed Jones is right on the money regarding Walt Howard. I hired Walt to do mornings on WCAO sometime in 1984. When Summit Broadcasting decided to drop the country format and change to gospel at the end of 1991, they gave all of us the opportunity to reminisce and say goodbye to our listeners. They knew that the professionals on my staff would not abuse the privilege. It was an extremely emotional couple of days that many like Ed remember very well. As far as a WCAO tribute site, it's a good idea that I might well put into action. I have all the old jingle packages, many air-checks, and virtually all of the Top 40 sheets. Since my daughter Michelle put together my site (Livinglegendonline.com) I'll discuss it with her. Thanks Ed, I'm making you our honorary WCAO historian.....Johnny Dark (8/4/09) According to Inside Radio, the new creative agency for Radio Shack has proposed the company drop "radio" from its name and now be called simply "The Shack". The company is going along with it, thinking it will brand them every bit as successfully as "Coke" or "FedEx". I think they have charcoal briquettes for brains. Opinions? (8/4/09) Dave's response: Maybe they could hire hookers and call it the Love Shack? Re: Six Flags....chances are this is one company that will never be in the black again. Even in a "good" economy and this thing called "swine flu" never existed, Six Flags would still be losing money.How? Call it a case of making stupid promises. Six Flags New Orleans and that "imfamous" lease they signed with the city of New Orleans when Six Flags took over the Jazzland park there, never mind the fact that Jazzland was already in bankruptcy ( or close to it ) at the time. One would think Six Flags would had known better. Duh !! Oh Six Flags made this bonehead promise that they will always be in New Orleans and then came Katrina and now the city of N.O. won't let Six Flags out of that lease. When Six Flags took over Adventure World about 10, maybe 11 years ago I believe they made some similar promises to the state of Maryland as well such as they will never close down their park nor will they lay off any employees regardless of the economy ( imagine Clear Channel or Citadel making such a promise? ). However last year I did hear that Six Flags America did lay off some folks, kinda surprised the state of Maryland didn't step in like New Orleans did and say "..hey Six Flags..do you remember??? " Six Flags some years back did however shut down Houston's Astroworld Park, but again thanks to another stupid promise the chain had to shell out millions for a contruction of a new wooden roller coaster at a small park they didn't even own along the Gulf of Mexico so "..the people of the Houston area can have a coaster to call their own again". More wasted money !! That little girl who lost her feet on a ride at a Six Flags park in Kentucky, the attempt to buy Lagoon Park in Salt Lake City from the Mormon Church ( who BTW makes millions from that park..why would the church even consider selling the place?), spending money on "research" as to whether or not they should build a park in Phoenix only to decide against it only because they had "found out" it gets hot in Phoenix during the summer, the "promise" of expanding LA's Magic Mountain despite Califlornia's poor economy. Six Flags is a text book case of well..being "too nice". Yes its good to be nice but sometimes being nice doesn't always pay off. (8/4/09) Dave: One small point on your B&C writeup: The ALJ hearing is a discrimination case, where Comcast Cable is carrying a rival RSN (CSN-Mid Atlantic in Virginia and CSN-Philly in Harrisburg) while refusing to carry MASN. Other operators (DirecTV, Dish, smaller carriers) do carry MASN in the areas in question. The basis for MASN’s case is that Comcast is using its market power to promote its wholly-owned cable network, while refusing to carry MASN. (8/4/09) Hi, Dave. Just a friendly correction: The picture of Walt Howard on the DCRTV Plus page was more than likely taken in 1982 at the earliest. WCAO changed to the Country format in the fall of 1982. The reason for sending the correction; Walt Howard is holding a WCAO Country coffee mug. I remember several of the Top 40/AC announcers stayed on after the change. Scott Richards (Bill Worthington), Scott Carpenter, Joe Pachino, and the legendary Johnny Dark. There may have been some others, but my memory is failing me. I listened to WCAO on the last day of their country format, and they took callers from their listeners. Johnny Dark was the last announcer I listened to, and at the end of his show, he cried his heart out. That was the end of his 30 year run on CAO. Speaking of WCAO, is anyone going to a tribute website to this great radio station with their old top 40 surveys, jingles, and airchecks? Ed Jones, Bel Air MD (8/4/09) Gee Dave. You get to be an excellent example of how conspiracy and diversity nuts takes words out of context to start trouble. The item referencing WMET for sale fails to note that the entire post specifically stated that it was fixed assets being reviewed and that none of the business affairs were being reviewed. Please remove both the mailbag and the front page comments before you contribute aid to a troublemaker. Thanks. (8/4/09) Hey Dave, a few quick questions: 1)Has anyone been able to utilize the “stream” from WGMD between 9:00 AM and Noon weekdays in order to listen to you-know-who? Oddly, I cannot hear a thing even though the player says it’s playing. 2) Now that WJFK is defunct, the RSS Feed for the dearly departed MOM is fouling up my Outlook, causing an “Error” message each time I pull-up Outlook…how do I make it stop? 3) Indeed, Lauren DeMarco’s “Facebook” photo indicates endowment & cuteness, but surely she’s dwarfed at least in the endowment department by Lisa “Dumb-Dee-Dumb” Baden’s mammaries: I know it’s not your cup of tea (breasts & wymyn), but what do you think? Otherwise: how’s the Summer of 2009 going for you, dude? (8/4/09) Dave's response: I'm sure that WGMD would get a nice FedExed cease-and-desist letter from CBS's legal eagles if it streamed Doni's show. As for my summer, it's goin' great! Lots and lots of sun and sex. Yup, everyday is a vacation when I do DCRTV..... Just a friendly challenge - but her (DeMarco's) Linkedin profile says she works for Fox AND Metro Traffic. www.linkedin.com... Also, she has a blog (although old) myfoxdc.com... (8/4/09) Hey Dave, I saw that Julie Wright wasn't on TV this morning - She was replaced by this broad with big ole tiddays - Lauren Demarco. I see she is a traffic producer and writer. Any chance they dump Julie for this chick? Even though she is a little stiff on camera, her large breasts (without the excessive bodyfat) might please male viewers... (8/4/09) Dave's response: Wright and DeMarco both work for Metro Traffic, not Channel 5. But if WTTG says it wants a big-breasted gal to do morning traffic, I guess Metro would have provide that to keep its contract with the station..... Curious to learn that WFSI's business office may not be co-located with their main transmitter site in Crownsville. There was some controversy about ten years ago when this religious station filed papers with regulators to consolidate their studio(s) at the tower location, which is in a residential area. The neighborhood complained to Anne Arundel County zoning officials that the use was incompatible with homes, mostly on a threat of vehicle traffic to and from the "business" of the radio station. Others suspected the station owners were preparing to sell out, and were cutting expenses by not having a separate business/studio complex. This fanned the controversy that a new owner may not comply with any assurances about traffic. (8/4/09) They need to have Lauren Demarco and her...er..."twins" doing the traffic on the Foxy Morning News more often.. (8/4/09) Karith Foster, one of two African American comedians hired after Don Imus' return to radio, seems to be missing from the morning program's line up. She had only been on sporadically in the past couple of months, but recently Foster has not been heard on the program at all. All references to Foster have been removed from the WABC radio website as well as imus.com. All references to Imus have been removed from her website, karith.com. No mention of Foster or her departure has been made by Imus or any member of his program. (8/4/09) New low power digital on the shore. W35CS is owned by EIBC-East, licensed to Ocean City is now on the air. It operates from a tower West of Millsboro. The station runs a religious format, and has a strange pattern, check it out. www.fcc.gov (8/4/09) RE: [The media appears to be adding fuel to the fire because the issue still remains that the long-form birth certificate has not yet been released.] The more important question is why should it need to be released? The State of Hawaii has provided and certified the copy of the record, and the State official in charge of vital records for Hawaii has personally attested to its authenticity. With that in mind, here's a question YOU need to answer....if the Official Hawaii State Certificate that has been presented is sufficient proof for the U.S. State Department to certify that a person was born in the United States, why is that not good enough for you? I swear, Obama could release an 8mm movie of him emerging from the womb on the summit of Diamondhead wearing a lei and playing a ukulele with Don Ho and Jack Webb eating poi and singing Tiny Bubbles in the background and that still wouldn't be enough to satisfy some of you idiots. This continual bitching about how you are not personally getting to see the "Real" birth certificate (you know..the one with the little ink footprints on it) is nothing but thinly veiled racism - and your protestations on the matter are making the conservative movement look like it is currently infested with a bunch of mouth-breathing fruitcakes. Let it go for chrissakes! - Jeff in Bowie (8/4/09) A Monday posting on the Radiolists.Net "Broadcast Digest" suggests that someone may be looking to acquire 1160 WMET Gaithersburg, or that the owners are looking to unload it. A poster to the digest has been asked for an "informal idea of the value" of a "5-tower DA-2, day is 50 kW, night is insignificant, middle of the band" facility. Since there are no other 50K directional AMers with five towers close to DC, the compass rapidly points to WMET. (8/4/09) The same people who run the freebie paper and WashingtonExaminer.com do in fact own Examiner.com, but they turned it into a cheaply run freelancer/blogger network. Like Gawker, but less distinguished, cheaper and with much lower pay for its writers. And apparently, no editorial oversight. (For instance, I saw a "DC Examiner" tout the upcoming DC Tax holiday as a good time to shop for clothes and save money. DC canceled that tax holiday weeks earlier.) (8/4/09) Dave's response: Or maybe Anschutz wants to use it as a "channel" for spreading political garbage like Obama's "Kenya birth certificate" without taking responsibility - and the heat - for actually running it. Sheesh. The Washington Examiner looks like a cool little rag, until you start reading it. And then you discover that it's mainly Phil's little propaganda "tool." Does he really think we DC rag readers are that friggin' stupid?!?! Or does he even care about the readers at all? Oh, lookie, I own a DC "newspaper." I must be important..... Re: Whatever happend to Tom "Cat" Reeder? Last I knew, he was still on WAMU's "Bluegrass Country.org. Not sure what time he's on; I remember listening to him some back during the days when he was a part of WDON! Tom in Denton, MD. (8/4/09) Here's a follow-up on the obituary www.nytimes.com of Michael A. Wiener, a founder of Infinity Broadcasting Corporation. In 1972, Wiener and his partner purchased KOME-FM, which served the San Francisco area. The seller was from Mel Gollub, who later owned WESM-FM (which he renamed WMJS) in Prince Frederick, MD. (8/4/09) Dave's response: KOME - remember them! How many cool heritage rockers has CBS (which inherited Infinity's properties) run into the ground? KOME, WNEW, WXRK, WYSP, WHFS, and, now, WBCN. Maaaaaan..... /\ August 4 Messages /\ \/ August 3 Messages \/ Will a face to face be taking place at the Delaware State Fair? I've heard that O'Meara is doing the announcing for the demolition derby and some of the concerts. So maybe Donaldo and Miguel might hook up. Then again I believe the announcing duties take place in the evening and Mr. Donnie will be there in the mornings. ......I see Tony Pann still lingers over at channel 9. Is he sticking around till La Martucci returns? He couldn't wear the sweater one last time on air before he departs for Baltimore! Well maybe dcrtv got this right! Brian Van der Graff seems to be absent from channel 7 quite a bit the last few months. Could dcrtv speculation of some 2 years ago that Mr. Van Der Graf was departing, be on the money! with that report last week about tanning bed dangers maybe a certain channel 9 sporks reporter should consider taking it easy on them rays. Haynes Johnson sighting! I had not seen him on network news /talk show for some time. I assumed he had retired or that in the yute movement carrying on by network "news" programs been told we have a quota of old folks on the show and your out. Anyways saw Mr. Johnson on Meet The Press on Sunday, hosted by Howdy Dowdy. Sure miss old Buffalo Tim. Lisa Baden says "songs" on her wtop station promo like its a dirty word but on her channel 7 broadcasts she often breaks into song. does channel 7 have to pay a performance fee when she sings? Whats with all the tongue clicking on channel 7 morning "news" show? (8/3/09) It looks like CBS Daytime is rolling out a newer incarnation of the iconic game show "Let's Make a Deal", which is set to debut October 5th. The show will be an hour in length, as "The Bold and the Beautiful" will remain a half-hour soap until further notice.. The show will be hosted by "Don't Forget the Lyrics" host Wayne Brady. From variety.com. Deal will be joining other new daytime shows, including "The Wendy Williams Show", "Wedlock or Deadlock", and "Dr. Oz"... TV Guide reported on July 24th that "Guiding Light" is officially dead, as other TV networks had no interest in picking up the long-running soap, which is set to air its last show on Sept. 18th. Loyal GL fans are being encouraged to savor the final episodes while they still can. From tvguidemagazine.com. "Christina's Court" and "The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet" join GL as cancelled daytime shows. (8/3/09) Dave's response: Mike and Juliet cancelled? Proof that there might be some sanity remaining in the TV universe..... I am forwarding you guys a letter I wrote about this new show on WJFK. I am trying to figure out if this is going to be a regular show. If you have any information, can you please let me know. Thanks! ------- Hi, I felt compelled to call the radio station to get your email address so that I could send you this message. I have been a long time WJFK fan. I was here through the Don & Mike days, the Stern and O&A days and more recently I have been a huge fan of the Junkies and Big O & Dukes. I have to be honest and tell you that I was excited to hear about the new format but I am pretty disappointed with the execution of the change. I was really upset that The Big O & Dukes show was canceled. Also, I have found myself turning the station off during most/all of the new shows. On a brighter note I was able to listen to your station yesterday and heard the start of what I'm assuming is the new Sunday show with Kevin & Rock. It was awesome to hear a blend of the old WFJK "talk comedy" mixed with the new sports format. They brought a new perspective that lives up to the stations new name "THE FAN". Kevin and Rock kept me tuned in for the whole show!!! I honestly can't tell you the last time I listened to EVERY minute of a radio show. I am not trying to bash any of the other on air personalities but after listening to the Kevin & Rock Show I am struggling to figure out my they are not in one of the prime time slots during the week. Thanks for your time and if you could forward this email to Kevin & Rock I would appreciate it. Good Job guys, keep it up!!! Chris Fuller, Security Specialist, Girls Varsity Basketball Coach, Boys J.V. Basketball Coach, Graham Park M.S. (8/3/09) Hey, I go on this website occasionally to check out what is going on with radio in the area. I am forwarding you the email I wrote to WJFK, you guys should really check these guys out. -----Original email------ I hope this email is going to the right person, if it is not, please forward this to the program director. I am a new listener to WJFK. When my boyfriend, a long time listener, hijacks the radio, I have no choice but to listen. I became a fan of The Big O and Dukes radio show and a sporadic listener of the others. The other day when I turned on the radio, I realized that the format changed to all sports. I am a casual fan, I love all of the Washington sports teams, but I hate talk that is extremely technical. I am quite turned off by the technicality of some of the new on air personalities. And, some of the pairings are quiet odd, it seems as if they dont even get along. It is extremely difficult, even painful to listen to some of the personalities go back and forth with each other. That being said, I tuned in on Sunday evening and heard the newest addition to the WJFK family, Kevin and Rock. They are hysterical. I loved listening to them banter back and forth and the way they are able to mix sports into every day conversation. Even better, I love the way the race relations play out. I am black and I notice the subtle differences between black and white people as well as black and white fans. I am glad that Kevin and Rock were able to talk about this and point out subtlties that I assumed only I noticed. It was light and unoffensive but very, very honest. It was laughing so hard at some points I could hardly drive. All of that being said....more Kevin and Rock, less of those others who shall remain nameless. Thanks for bringing me a little further into the WJFK family! Karima (8/3/09) Don Geronimo:: Hey WGMD 92.7, just donate our consulting fee to DCRTV! Two weeks ago, we called out GM Jack Renault, PD Dan "the Gaff" Gaffney and dj Mike Sorce to broadcast live from the Delaware State Fair - you know, prove that the self-absorbed Sorce will take one for the team. No luck! But then in our perfect Gomer Pyle "surprise...surprise...surprise diction, look what Gaffney tweets today 'Looking forward to Don Geronimo Show live show broadcast on location at Barista Cafe Friday 9am - 12noon! Rt. 1 Lewes next to Bling Salon." Ok, broadcasting live from the Barista Cafe will be not the same as seeing Sorce sweat from the State Fair broadcast table located between the 4-H Pygmy Goat stalls and funnel cake trailer, but this is good. Closing our eyes with a rye smile picturing an audience of WHITE 80 year old "birthers" coupled with WHITE 20 year old Dennis Murphy types. What a perfect time for Robert "the angry BLACK mailman" or Bulldog & the Rude Awakening Show from WOCM 98.1 to crash this remote. LOL. How fast is Sorce wishing this broadcast Friday will come and go - at least he gets a $50 payday and free mocha's. Better make them fat free. [We] are begging someone, please attend this live remote, take a few digital pictures and upload them to DCRTV. Is it Friday yet? O'Meara, Spewak, Elston, Hughes, Mason stop laughing! (8/3/09) Dave: I don't listen to WAMU's "Bluegrass Country" stream, but your news item got me thinking about how long it's been since WAMU switched out bluegrass for talk. At the time, I was outraged. I grew up listening to bluegrass in the car with my dad, and although I was merciless in mocking the music as a boy, I grew to enjoy it as an adult fresh out of college. I'd listen to it during drivetime, on my way home from IMAS Publishing HQ in Falls Church. When the station ditched the music for talk, I fumed and swore I'd never send them a red cent. I never have, although I have to confess that I only recently realized I'm no longer angry about the change to talk programming, which surely must be deemed a success in terms of boosting listenership. The philosophy and debates over what public radio should be and do continue, of course, but I guess it's time to lay down my arms. I do listen to WAMU, especially on Saturdays, and I appreciate that they picked up "Traditions" after WETA went through its own publicly embarrassing series of programming switches. Our local public stations, over all, do a nice job, I think. But when it comes to my cash, I contribute only to the best of the best: WPFW. Ragged and not to my liking politically, but I appreciate the rough edges, the opinionated talk, and most of all, the drivetime jazz. Christian (8/3/090) WMAL Housecleaner: I suppose a forgery almost worked for Dan Rather, huh? So by Fred saying "interesting" and "worth looking into", you're trying to prove what? He might say the same thing about a transvestite impregnating Miley Cyrus or about Michael Jackson's missing nose. As Gov. Deval Patrick might say: "Just words!" The morning show was merely following up on an issue that Chris Matthews, Jon Stewart, Lou Dobbs, Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, and countless other shows have been covering in recent weeks. The media appears to be adding fuel to the fire because the issue still remains that the long-form birth certificate has not yet been released. (8/3/09) Set back in a residential area a few blocks from the Lowe's home improvement store on Rt 1 in Alexandria, there is a pair of houses pushed together with signs out front for (Religious formatted) 107.9 FM WFSI Annapolis. At times there is also a station promotional vehicle parked out front. Does anyone know if WFSI maintains an office or even studios here in NoVa? Their mailing address puts them on Chesapeake Ave in Annapolis, but I'm here to tell you: dis don't look like no house to me. (8/3/09) Dave's response: I can pick up WFSI here in Reston on 93.5 via a translator located in the Frederick area (I think)..... Dave, if you'd look at the two sites, you'd see that examiner.com/dc appears to have absolutely nothing to do with www.washingtonexaminer.com the D.C. newspaper's site. Further, a search on the newspaper site for "birthers" or "Geoff Linsley" fails to turn up anything similar to the item you link to on the examiner.com site. To be clear, my objection is not to the link or its content, but the lack of clarity as to its source. I'm surprised that you're so adamant about this, when you are not shy about jumping on the mistakes of others. Jeff Barron (8/3/09) Dave's response: If you go to the bottom of examiner.com you get this - "Copyright © 2009 Clarity Digital Group LLC d/b/a Examiner.com. All Rights reserved." Isn't Clarity the parent of the Washington Examiner? To the "WMAL housecleaner"; what was there really to say about the cop that said a reprehensible thing? You expect them to take sides and try to defend it? Fred: "That was an awful thing to say." Andy (or Brian subbing): "Yep that's awful." The Gates/Crowley fiasco at least had 2 sides. Get a life. (8/3/09) Who is the chick they have filling in for Doc Walker on the John Thompson Show while Doc is on vacation? (8/3/09) 95.1 WRBS flips to (nearly) all music - becomes 95.1 SHINE-FM (8/3/09) Does anyone know the status of Comcast plans to move NFL Network to the non-premium channels? I know it’s only $5 a month, but it’s just another one of their dumb charges. They said initially it would be in August – but I haven’t heard anything else. TB\VA (8/3/09) Dave's response: According to the agreement penned in late spring, Comcast will not move the NFL Network to its analog expanded basic tier, as the NFL wanted. But it has "moved" it to its digital basic tier, out of the pay-extra $5 a month digital sports tier..... Uhhhh.....I think the fact that this hasn't been mentioned in the Mailbag today says a lot: 94.3FM has been dead air since at least 9:45am today. I suppose it's possible that it is being picked up elsewhere, but in western Fairfax and eastern Loudoun counties, where it is usually a strong signal, there isn't even static today. (8/3/09) Dave, I have to agree with a previous post. Your headline “DC's Examiner Jumps Into ‘Birther’ Controversy” inaccurately portrays this. This is not from the DC Examiner per se but from a a blogger from Grand Rapids, Michigan who post to their site. A clarification is in order! (8/3/09) Dave's response: Don't care. It was on the Examiner's site - and I reported that. You can beg all you want, but I ain't doin' no stinkin' clarification..... Apparently Tiger cut the cheese on the 18th hole of the Buick Open (The blast was heard on CBS)... The PGA Tour must own the rights to his farts because when you go to You Tube to check it out one gets this message: This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by PGA TOUR. A copyright claim to a fart--LOL! However, several thousand other non-fart videos of Tiger exist on You Tube. Where's the PGA Tour there? (8/3/09) Great stuff! Read the comments... Problems Plague Paul McCartney Concert... www.washintonpost.com (8/3/09) A few housecleaning notes; WMAL talked a lot on the Gates-Crowley thing, but never mentioned the Cambridge police officer who referred the professor gates as a “Banana-eating jungle monkey.” I guess Fred missed that one. This morning Bill Thompson read a story from WorldNet Daily on Obama’s Kenyan Birth Certificate being found. Fred didn’t shoot down the story at all and actually said “interesting,” and “worth looking into.” Now that the certificate in question has been determined “fake,” (they didn’t even get the name of the country right), will Fred or Bill inform the public tomorrow morning on how bad the document forgery actually was? I doubt it, but I ask them to prove me wrong. To summarize, it was Irresponsible on their end to read that item as legitimate news this morning. FedEx Field problems for McCartney concert Saturday night; doin’ a heck of a job, Danny. www.washingtonpost.com (8/3/09) Dave's response: I've noticed that via its newscasts yesterday and today, WTOP has been really playing up the problems at the McCartney concert Saturday night at FedEx Field. Almost makes you wonder if Bonneville's got a bone to pick with stadium/Skins/WTEM owner Dan Snyder? Hmmm..... Dave, you must know that the birther story isn't from the Washington Examiner newspaper or its website, but you made no attempt to make that clear in your posting. Actually, a reader could reasonably infer that you did just the opposite. I believe a clarification from you is in order. (8/3/09) (Does WJLA really have to monitize the hell out its local weather channel? Can't it just offer it as a fucking public service? Sheesh.....) You live in a surreal world, my friend! (8/3/09) Dave's response: I don't have a problem with 7 making money by putting ad logos on its weather channel, but the relaunched Doug Hill's Weather Now is now too cluttered and too busy and risks driving viewers away from its, all too often, lack of the latest important weather info. I can flip over to WUSA's 9.2 anytime (except during those Saturday and Sunday morning "E/I" kiddie shows) to find out where the storms are. WJLA now makes me wait. Not good..... From the NY Times: Michael A. Wiener, a founder of the Infinity Broadcasting chain of radio stations who in retirement focused more on philanthropic work supporting the performing arts and research on heart disease, died on Sunday. He was 71. www.nytimes.com (8/3/09) (Does WJLA really have to monitize the hell out its local weather channel? Can't it just offer it as a fucking public service? Sheesh.....) C'mon Dave, we are talking Allbritton here, the same cheap company that pre-empts ABC programming for 20-30 year old movies, for the extra ad revenue and the same company that airs endless infomericals on the weekends! (8/3/09) Speaking of web sites and annoying ads, can someone tell the 3DSJ folks that their animated ad here is extremely annoying (as well as looking like a relic of 1997-ish bad web design)? As a result of their ad I usually shrink my browser window to completely block out the right-hand column. (8/3/09) Good morning, In my New York Social Diary column today, thoughts on the fire at the home of Peggy Cooper Cafritz, and a Nora Ephron drop by at the National Museum of American History on behalf of her new film, "Julia & Julia." www.nysocialdiary.com... Also, we've set up a direct link to The Q&A Cafe, and it will be the go-to for news on the program when it resumes in the fall. When we know more, you'll know more. www.caroljoynt.com... Have a good week, Carol (8/3/09) Even though I am sad to hear that Leesburg's WAGE-AM has gone dark, why is it I think its more of a case of "questionable programming decisions" that forced WAGE to go off the air rather than simply the economy? After all isn't Loudoun County still one of the fastest growing counties in Virginia and even with all that growth and being Loudoun County's only "real" radio station, and they still couldn't make enough money? Makes me wonder how long will it be until we hear about the other AM stations in the area like Hagerstown's WJEJ or Brunswick's WTRI ends up going down the same road..dark. Then again those stations ( WJEJ & WTRI ) are still more/less all local while WAGE pretty much wasn't since that station had got rid of a large chunk of their staff some years back. Looking back I wonder if WKCW "Big K" 1420, would they still be around today doing classic country had they weren't sold back in 2003 which paved the way for their current Brokered Spanish format. Hard to believe next month it will be six years when WKCW ended their country days with Floyd Cramer's "Last Date". Whatever happend to Tom "Cat" Reeder? (8/3/09) Dave, Did i read that the Rob Long show on Fox 1370am is moving BACK an hr? 8a-12pm ? TODAY?...That is GREAT news for FOX 1370 Sports adding even more LOCAL programming to Coleman in their mix...with a nice blend of QUALITY National shows ( as IN NON ESPN talent) like Czaban, Rome and soon, The must listen Tony Bruno ( who must be good to get his gig back at Fox ) . And as opposed to the weaker sports stations, who just lazily are RE Running their lame shows. Michael S. in Towson . (8/3/09) In FCC news, it should be noted that WAGE 1200 has yet to inform the FCC that they are going dark temporarily or filed for an STA permit, nor has any such application been approved by the FCC yet either. Failure to do so could result in forfeiture of the license. Does anyone know if WBIS 1190 is still operating from Annapolis? (I'll have to listen today) Their STA authority expired in May '09, and it doesn't appear that they've applied for another extension and they obviously don't have a permanent transmitter site that meets their FCC license and should be dark as well. Their license could also be in jeopardy. Finally, it would be odd if the station they intended to take dark permanently is still on the air while the station they want to upgrade to 50,000 watts is going dark. And their application includes both AM 1200 transmitter sites (old & new), so its not like they'd be selling the land to raise money, well unless the 50k plans are scrapped and BOTH 1190 and 1200 are going dark? Hmmmm, starting to wonder............ In nearby FCC news, Hearst owned WGAL 8 in south central PA was approved for a power increase to help fix its DTV reception woes. I suspect sister station WBAL 11 is scheming to possibly attempt the same thing. WBAL's situation though is more difficult as there are no more UHF frequencies left to move to and WBAL is surrounded by channels 10s, 11s, and 12s. I'm also wondering what WUSA 9 and WJLA 7 are going to do considering they're having similar VHF DTV reception problems. Haven't heard anything at all about WJZ 13 yet. Have there even been complaints about 13 at all? (8/3/09) I was just watching Doug Hill's Weather Now on 7_3. I think they need to change the name because I have seen them replay Steve Rudin's Weather Now forecast from YESTERDAY twice in the last 10 minutes. (8/3/09) Dave's response: During summer thunderstorm outbreaks, I like having local radar weather available 24/7, like what WUSA offers on 9.2. So, I'll be watching 7.2 a lot less, since they now only offer the full-ish screen radar in little segments - with loads of annoying station promos and ads. Does WJLA really have to monitize the hell out its local weather channel? Can't it just offer it as a fucking public service? Sheesh..... I agree with the poster's observation about the BaltimoreSun.com website. There was nothing wrong with the website design that it replaced which was extremely user-friendly. The current design has info all over the place and those drop down ads on the front page are annoying as hell. I seldom pull it up any longer. You have to wonder if it wasn't broken, why "fix" it? /s/ Edgar A. Poe (8/3/09) /\ August 3 Messages /\ \/ August 2 Messages \/ Former Fox 45 (WBFF) chief meteorologist Lori Pinson now working in her hometown of Detroit for CBS. wwjtv.com (8/2/09) I remember when WAGE was in Syracuse, NY (620). I think that it was an ABC station. It competed with WSYR at 570, an NBC affiliate. WSYR is still there, I believe. -= Jim =- (8/2/09) Re: the 7/20/2009 response to the al-Jazeera/MHz 5 thread - Sorry it took so long to get back to this. RCN has all the MHz channels except 5. In fact, until al-Jazeera started up, RCN broadcasted all the MHz channels. It just seems suspicious that as soon as al-Jazeera gets started up, this one channel is removed from the lineup. (8/2/09) Tornado warning on lower shore, Both channels 16 & 47 off air, Cable gets Fiber feed. NOAA Salisbury 162.475 on the Channel 16 tower also off the air. Got to love it. (8/2/09) I ponder what the Birachs might get for standalone WDMV-AM should they decide to sell that property, but I seem to recall the land under the tower site might be owned by a local farmer. So I guess the amount might be diddly-squat (in 2009 dollars). (8/2/09) WAGE: Am'ers certainly haven't held their value. When my late f-in-l sold his 1k daytimer in 1967, he got $100k (or about $650k in today's dollars). Sold 10 years later after going full time with four towers but the same transmitter, the station fetched $378k (or about $1.3m in 2009 dollars) Around 1984 +/- a year, the same station sold for about $185k in 2009 dollars; in 1991, though still profitable but using the same original transmitter, it went dark. The land was worth more. The property finally sold in the last couple of years, the remaining stick coming down last year (now somewhere out west). The site is now a commercial "park" on Radio Way with the owner's building using the same footprint of the original studios. The last owner of the station bought the license for 95.9 in Colonial Beach, VA for $8k around 1985 ($16k now). Naturally it cost $ to put the tower, etc. in Colonial Beach, but until sold to an employee, WGRQ (Get Rich Quick) ran out of the Am'ers MD location. I sense the value of WGRQ has appreciated. (8/2/09) Let's remember that Laura Ingraham has breast cancer in remission and the adoption is partly due to the health risks to pregnancy that cancer treatment poses. The treatment most likely continues at least until 2010, when she will be almost 47 years old. -Chainsman (8/2/09) Taking nothing away from WGMD because they are a solid local station that serves the community quite well but it certainly helped that over 50% (479 of 912) of the diaries came from Sussex County, DE. If that number came from Wicomico County where 92-7 does not get in much if at all because of 92.5 WICO-FM the number would be different. The same goes for WAFL (Eagle 97-7) whose signal does not get into Salisbury because of sister Delmarva Broadcasting Station at 97.5-WKTT. (8/2/09) Your Sirius XM “I’m canceling” trick is indeed correct. I got XM for $5 a month or so for over a year that way. Every couple months I would have to call back and “cancel” after my “promotional” rate expired. Their radios work like cell phones—they’re subsidized on a pro-rated basis, so once you’ve been with the company for a certain period at the full rate, your radio is essentially “paid for.” Any money they can get out of you at that point is gravy. My XM experience ended when my Roady2 conked out, and they wouldn’t give me both a new radio and discount package. I was offered either/or, but the discount rate did me no good with a busted radio, and I didn’t want the free radio with the $12.95/month bill attached. I thought I would miss it a lot more than I do. (8/2/09) Someone asked about the Top 25 Nielsen market rankings. www.tvb.org... The answer is Baltimore will be back in the Top 25 probably within the next few years for a couple of reasons... #1) Despite the current economic slump and maybe in part due to it to some extent, the DC market is literally expanding into the Baltimore market now due to cheaper housing costs and that will ultimately increase ad revenue & population around Baltimore. Also BRAC is just now happening........ #2) Cities like Pittsburgh, Cleveland, & Detroit are hemorrhaging jobs and people like there is no tomorrow, unlike Baltimore and the 2010 Census is just beginning. It will not have good news for New Orleans, Cleveland, Detroit or Pittsburgh and will seriously affect these rankings. Technically, Baltimore is already a Top 25 market, as there are several markets that are ridiculously huge that really shouldn't even be combined into one Nielson market. A good example would be Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne. In land area, that's like combining Baltimore, DC, NoVA, Wilmington, Hagerstown & parts of south central PA all together. Now that I think about it, maybe even throw in Philly! You think those TV stations can effectively cover the news over that great area? Yeah right. It's over an hour and a half drive from each of those cities. Originally Daytona Beach and Orlando had their own TV stations if I'm not mistaken. I'm not sure what FCC or Nielsen or network shenanigans caused this combination fiasco to happen, but trust me, Orlando FL is not bigger than Baltimore. Also, notice Tampa FL is listed higher than Miami. That's a ridiculously glaring slam against these rankings as everyone knows Miami is a much larger market than Tampa and most certainly generates more ad revenue. This is caused by the networks, Nielsen, & the FCC for not allowing some of the smaller growing fringe markets to have their own TV stations. Both Melbourne & Daytona Beach Florida could easily support multiple network stations on their own. The Washington Post probably stays afloat just from owning a station in Orlando alone. It's a total cash cow scam. The one station in Orlando, WESH 2, doesn't even have a studio or offices in Daytona Beach I don't think anymore even though they are technically licensed to that city, but the FCC does nothing about this stuff anymore. They just do whatever the corporations & networks want. But yes, Baltimore will most likely be a Top 25 Nielsen market after the next Census is done, probably 2011. I think its a safe bet that Pittsburgh will drop out of the Top 25 and Cleveland and Detroit will drop considerably, hard to say how far at this point. My final point about Nielsen is, I think they should count overlap households, i.e.: households in border counties that can receive stations from 2 markets. Like for instance, I think TV households in Howard County & AA county should be counted in some way towards Washington, DC's TV households, but AFAIK, that doesn't happen. Similarly, Baltimore stations are not counted in PG or some eastern shore counties where many stations are viewable and also watched on cable as well. Basically the rankings are phony and its a shame advertisers even use them anymore. (8/2/09) Interesting comment on WBAL bringing back Tom Clendenning. Wouldn't it be great if they teamed him with Dave Humphrey. He too was one of the best on the airwaves during the 70s and 80s. (8/2/09) Am I the only person who thinks The Baltimore Sun's new website design for www.BaltimoreSun.com is the most confusing shittiest website update they've ever seen? Information that should be related is scattered all over the damn page. Some links aren't even links, they're actually a Flash video link that really just links to a text page, but that means you can't open the story in a new window anymore. And there's no rhyme or reason as to why. What a complete jumbled confusing mess of scattered information. I don't mind advertisements sliding down on the front page or plenty of them next to a story, but the ones that pop up or interrupt where I want to go & direct me somewhere else are ones that very much upset me and turn me off to reading any website. They're just way too intrusive. I'm reading BaltimoreSun.com LESS now just from the confusion, annoyances, & EYE STRAIN! There even appear to be far less stories on the site, or maybe I'm just not finding them anymore? If Tribune thinks this is the key to increase ad revenues. boy are they living in a delusional world. I expect another round of budget cuts at The Sun if this mess isn't fixed soon, that is if the paper doesn't fold before then. Geez, Tribune is like the gang that keeps shooting itself in the foot. (8/2/09) In honor of George Taylor Morris' passing, I am streaming 8 shows of Reelin' In the Years from the summer of 1996 here... (8/2/09) I carried GTM's show Reelin' in the Years at the station I owned in Casper, Wy and then later in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. I will always cherish my mug I got from the producers. His delivery was so one-of-a-kind and casual that no one dared imitate it. Then when I heard him on XM about 4 years ago, I called the Deep Trax line and asked for a tour. He graciously accepted and when I met him in the lobby I did the "I'm not worthy" bow and he said, "ah, proper respect!". He spent over 2 hours leading through what was at the time the real place to be. George, I will miss you. A real prince of a guy. Charlie Wilson / Springfield (8/2/09) Dave, I have a TV question for you I know that you may not really know but do you think that the Baltimore TV market will return to the top 25 and really is there much difference between being #24,#25, and or #26 which is where It Is now? (8/2/09) Dave's response: Generally, market size does affect ad sales rates, but I don't think it really matters whether it's 24th or 26th..... (Earlier posting) 48 is the actual RF channel that WRC broadcasts on (end) So that means WRC-DT's *actual* frequency is still in the UHF band? Is it the same for the other DC biggies? If so, why is everyone telling me to put up a VHF (ch 2-13) antenna? Anyone here familiar with the actual spot-on frequencies that Ch. 5, 7 and 9 are on? I don't want to buy or fabricate an antenna I don't really need. Thx. (8/2/09) Dave's response: WJLA 7, WUSA 9, WBAL 11, and WJZ 13 all send their digital signal on their old, original VHF channel. All other local TVers are on the UHF band. You can see a local TV station's "real" broadcast channel designation, and whether you'll need a VHF or UHF antenna, at DCRTV's DTV Page..... There has certainly been a lot of discussion about WGMD. We have a place in North Ocean City where we spend much time during the summer. WGMD comes in very well in most of Ocean City. Heading West, their signal drops out between Bridgeville and Denton. With all the talk about WGMD's ratings, I'm surprised nobody mentioned that WKHZ did not show up at all in the ratings, and several Baltimore stations did. (8/2/09) Yo, Dave! "The little old Korean lady down at the strip mall nail salon" probably isn't Korean. Usually she's Vietnamese. Sometimes, she's even a he. Larry in Springfield (8/2/09) Regarding your rant....Or why doesn't the Washington Post tell you that if you really want to get the paper, but wan't to save some money, you can call up and say you want to cancel your subscription and they will give you the subscription for half price to keep you as a subscriber. (8/2/09) Dave's response: I hear Sirius XM does the same thing..... Speaking of cc in Baltimore. You may as well may it 2 1/2 stations are tracked for the most part. Jack and 104 are almost always tracked or run a show from elsewhere. WPOC is live in the morning and some of the afternoon. MJ is from DC and the night show is the pd, which I am sure is tracked. Not sure if WPOC is live at all on the weekend, maybe a daypart here and there. (8/2/09) WISZ was country. However, it was in Glen Burnie. The AM is WFBR now. I don't recall what happened to the FM. JohnnyuinHanover,Pa. (8/2/09) Dave's response: You mean 1590 (not 1300, which some of us will always call WFBR). Wasn't the FM 95.9, now WWIN-FM? Radio Icon George Taylor Morris who was most recently the daily morning host on XM Satellite Radio's 'Deep Tracks' classic rock channel and was the primary host of the company's "XM Artist Confidential" series, an all-star interview program that featured music stars ranging from Paul McCartney and Willie Nelson to Faith Hill and the late folk great Odetta, passed away at his home in Reston, Virginia, from throat cancer. He was 62. George Taylor Morris (aka GTM) began his radio career in his hometown of King City, California, in 1963 while still a high school sophomore. A graduate of King City High School in 1965, Morris took programming and DJ positions in Lake Tahoe and Santa Barbara, CA, then Hempstead, L.I., NY, where he was News Director at WHLI guiding local coverage during the 1967 war between Israel and Egypt, the assassinations of Martin Luther King and New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy, the student riots at Columbia University, the Apollo moon landing and the famed Woodstock Festival. Morris also became a well known personality at various other Long Island stations before securing a DJ position with upstart WWDJ, a top-40 contender in the New York metropolitan radio market. By 1975, Morris was programming a top album rock station in Boston, MA, WCOZ-FM and then was hired away to program WPIX-FM, New York, followed by a year in national album records promotion for RCA Records in Los Angeles. In 1979 he was hired as a news anchor at the fledgling NBC young adult radio network, The Source, where he did national reporting during the Iran hostage crisis and the 1980 presidential elections. In 1981, Morris was selected to be the first entertainment program director for The Source, where he developed a successful series of radio interview programs and a live concert series from venues around the U.S. After his tenure at NBC, Morris was hired as the first program director at the Westwood One Radio Network. In 1984, Morris was recruited by the Global Satellite Network to write, produce and host "Reelin' In The Years", a weekly syndicated album rock show that was a mix of music, interviews, commentary, vintage commercials and film and TV clips. In the 15 years "Reelin' In The Years" aired on hundreds of radio stations across the US, Canada and on Armed Forces Radio. In 1996, Morris was the subject of some worldwide media attention for passing along a puzzling musical oddity often referred to as 'The Dark Side Of The Wizard Of Oz' where, by pairing Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon' album as the soundtrack for the film, a wide variety of coincidental music markers come into play. Morris always contended that he was 'just the messenger' for story (it originated on the still new world wide web), he was nonetheless sought after by media outlets like NPR's 'Weekend Edition' and from as far away as Japan and Russia to guide listeners through the maze of clues. In lieu of flowers, his family suggests donations to the non-profit organization, Capital Hospice, located at 209 Gibson Street NW, Suite 202, Leesburg, VA 20176. Details for the memorial service will be announced shortly. Morris is survived by his wife of twenty years, Gail Markens Morris and son Evan Markens Morris of Reston Virginia, brothers Michael Morris of Chatsworth, CA, and Roy Morris of Greenfield, CA and his sister Karen Bertrand of San Jose, CA. (8/2/09) How many remember radio station Wisz am and fm in baimore, believe it was a country station??? rob (8/2/09) Dave, I hope that Clear Channel does not buy anymore Baltimore stations two of the four stations in the market that they own suck ratings wise. Clear Channel also loves to voicetrack It would be hard to voicetrack WBAL with the live call In shows(they really do not want to pay live on air talent)WBAL radio uses live bodies all day long. Also they would not want to spend several millions of dollars for the Ravens rights so If WBAL and WIYY were up for sale Cheap Channel noooooooooooooo. (8/2/09) Dave: Believe it or not, we also got MTV in my hometown of Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico on Aug. 1, 1981. The island had a pretty decent basic cable system back then, with such U.S. mainland channels as TBS, WGN, WOR, ABC, CBS & others (I don't recall NBC, though). At the time, we probably had about 25 channels - 5 from Puerto Rico and 20 being piped in from the U.S. via satellite. -Silvie- (8/2/09) I appreciate the information posted regarding channels 7 & 9 that I am no longer receiving after the digital conversion in June. I do have a UHF/VHF antenna, and I still cannot receive those channels even after many rescans. Fortunately, I watch channels 4 & 5 more than I watch 7 & 9, and I do have tvs with cable if I want to watch the other ones. That digital conversion seems to have been a disaster in some ways. I give up on trying to retrieve the lost channels. -- Bobbie (8/2/09) /\ August 2 Messages /\ \/ August 1 Messages \/ Happy Birthday MTV! Originally called Music Television, it turned 28 years old today! Here's the original video that aired on MTV 28 years ago today, The Buggles - Video Killed the Radio Star www.youtube.com... And here's the only recorded live performance of that song (25 years later)... www.youtube.com... I can't decide which radio personality to dedicate this song to, so many have been fired this year, not to mention MTV doesn't even play music anymore. Damn. (8/1/09) Dave's response: MTV was started by Warner and Reston's cable system was owned by Warner in 1981, so we got MTV from day one. I remember the launch. By the way, Reston's cable TV system dates back to the 1960s and is perhaps the oldest in the DC area. Check out some early channel lineups at my Reston Cable History Page..... (Re: Ch 7 and 9) You need either a combo UHF/VHF antenna, or one of each and connected with with this type of device www.solidsignal.com ...I used an old pair of rabbit ears, for the VHF, and a Phillips/Zenith Silver Sensor for 'HD' UHF. Once I used the UVSJ to combine the two antennas, everything was good (if ugly looking) to go. Big O & Dukes to come back on HD radio according to the hint dropped by Chad Dukes on thefukerton.com. As well as on his twitter account on www.twitter.com/chaddukes. Thank god I’m not restricted to hearing about Favre, Vick and Big Ben for talk radio. (8/1/09) Dave's response: Is WJFK gonna finally fire up the digital HD2 on 106.7 with some of the old gang? Hmmm..... RE: WGMD and Sussex County......... I ran the google math on the Sussex County population numbers and discovered the previous post is incorrect on multiple levels....... #1... the numbers are wrong, but taking just the numbers themselves, he was close, but Sussex County does not have a bigger population than the 3 Maryland counties as stated....... #2... Lots of people from other states have beach and vacation homes in Delaware and Maryland, but only in Delaware do they use it as their permanent residence as a tax dodge since there is little to no income tax. People who have a 2nd home near OC have no such need to do such, but people from MD, DC, VA, & PA certainly do take advantage of the Delaware tax dodge when they have a 2nd home or condo there. Yes, there are still more chickens in Delaware than people and I think if the PPMs were in the Salisbury-OC Arbitrons, WGMD 92.7 would not have any chance of being #1. Their signal simply cannot be received well in the 2 largest cities in the market. Arbitron calls it Salisbury-Ocean City for a reason, those are the 2 largest population centers most of the year. When they add ANY Delaware city to that description, let me know. Until then, I'll continue to believe this WGMD #1 ratings thing is nothing but a fluke. (8/1/09) Quote: "Are there equivalent numbers for Channels 7 & 9 that I could try so I could receive those channels?" No. Channels 7 and 9 reverted from their temporary transition UHF channels to their old VHF channels (7 & 9) so there is no other place to try. From the many complaints, this seems to have been a bad choice. There are similar problems in other cities. (8/1/09) Is WJFK holding auditions for their Saturday morning show? Last week they had a guy who said his name so fast and indistictly that I could never understand it in two hours of listening. This week starting at 10 the show was hosted by a guy whose name sounded like "Sean Tree". Not a great choice of topics to lead off with. "Should Michael Vick be allowed to own a pet"? (8/1/09) ...I have the following to say about Don Whatever His Name Is Sorce. There is no question that Don Geronimo/Mike Sorce is one talented guy: ... brought up in circumspecht circumstances near DC, a “disc jockey” as a teenager in the Great Midwest according to his own “story”, his career in radio is amazing. In an time of cloned blondes reading from an Obambi-like teleprompters, Don/Mike (take a real frigging name, willya?) is the real thing. But he has never recovered emotionally from (Freda's) untimely & wrongful death... His relocation to the Eastern Shore, as he knew professionally, would always place him within striking distance via radio to the DC market, where people would rather hear him than a much, much, much too bloated Mike O’Meara. He knew that, has supposedly has gone to WGMD with a low profile, but knows in his heart he has never “retired”. Come on Mike/Don: either come back to real radio or let fatso go to another market. (8/1/09) Dave's response: Looking at Don's Twitter/blog posts and his self-promotion, it doesn't look like there's anything "low profile" about his WGMD gig. Yeah, it's a much smaller market than DC, but Don is playing, even baldly hyping, the "big fish in a small pond" thing. And doing it very well. I wouldn't be surprised to see his late morning show the highest-rated thing on already top-rated WGMD when the summer/fall Salisbury "book" comes out..... Did anyone pick up The Redskins Report? I heard rumors last spring but nothing since. (8/1/09) Don Geronimo:: WGMD # 1 OC/Salisbury & Minority hiring - or lack thereof. The fact that [our] fart oder travels farther than their signal and the hiring of Sorce will always be more risk than reward, the bigger issue for this lily-white, nut-job conservative Christian, anti-abortion & right wing "BIRTHER" station seems to be race and the lack of minority hiring. In just one case, Resort Broadcasting Company applied for Renewal of License for Station WGMD-FM. The FCC found that the licensee's EEO efforts were in violation of the Commission's EEO Rule and policies, 47 C.F.R. 73.2080, because the licensee failed to recruit for 28 (53.8%) of 52 vacancies and to engage in meaningful recruitment efforts, as evidenced, in part, by the absence of minorities in a significant number of applicant and interview pools. Further, the record reveals that the licensee did not contact minority-specific sources for its vacancies and maintain adequate records for meaningful self assessment of its recruitment efforts. Although the FCC granted renewal in light of the EEO deficiencies, they imposed reporting conditions and a Notice of Apparent Liability for $15,000. RBC neither disputed that it violated the FCC EEO Rule, nor contested the propriety of their decision to impose reporting conditions. Rather, it requested that the Commission rescind or reduce the forfeiture amount . The FCC rejected that request and the fine was imposed. So the question remains today, HOW MANY MINORITIES WORK AT WGMD? Did Dan "the Gaff" Gaffney interview minority candidates aside from Sorce? In the interest of transparency, time to revist this issue. (8/1/09) How did WGMD do it! Well, first they replaced their tower a couple of years ago, improving their coverage. Second look at the population, Sussex County has more people that Wicomico, Worcester and Somerset combined. Third, look at where the largest population is in Sussex County, East of RT. 113, 20,000 just in the Longneck area, not to mention the Beach and nearby towns. Fourth, do to taxes, Sussex County draws a large number of retirees, and most are east of RT 113. Fifth, both WGMD-FM air Rush, and they are next to each other a look at midday between the two may show that some may have heard Rush on 92.5, but mistakenly though they we getting a better signal from WGMD. What we don't know from the 12+ Monday through Sunday results is what demographic, I suspect it's heavily 45+, note that the Wave had it's best book since they split 92.1 and 105.5, and it was geared to this demo (Clear Channel in their cut people to save the company dropped Kemosabe Joe the PD and morning personality responsible for the success of the station). Also look at the Active Rock stations, WZBH and WOSC, both down significantly in the last two years, but Big is up, again older demo then WZBH. The age of the audience is changing in Sussex County and it's shown in the ratings. The exception to this is WDKZ Kiss 105.5, which is the only station appealing to the 12-24 audience. Some programming suggestions: Move Big to 93.5, move The Wave to 95.9, WQMR-Give it up, Radio Disney got better ratings on 1470, it would do very well in the Beach area, and much cheaper to run. WICO-FM, hang in there, local drive time is the key, give locals a voice on the lower shore, plus get them out of the building to meet people, take a lesson from WGMD. Q-105, stop being so boring. Froggy, real people again, Note: WGMD, watch out, Don G. does not fit with your demo, they may loose the lead into to Rush. (8/1/09) For the past two days, I hadn't been able to received Channel 4 on my tv with the convertor box, so I sent NBC4 an e-mail asking what I should do. They responded that I should try Channel 48 and it would default to 4-1. In the meantime, Channel 4 came back as suddenly as it had disappeared (I had rescanned several times, but with no luck). Are there equivalent numbers for Channels 7 & 9 that I could try so I could receive those channels? I haven't been able to receive either of them since the conversion in June (I can only get channels 4 & 5). -- Bobbie (8/1/09) I noticed The HEARST Corporation did an ownership change application this past week through the FCC. Could be just a paperwork/corp. reorganization shuffle, who knows, but apparently there is basically no independent HEARST RADIO, Inc. anymore. Hearst Television basically controls WIYY & WBAL AM now, the last 2 Hearst radio stations in the country. They were previously independent of the TV division to some degree. Who knows what this means, maybe nothing. But it makes one wonder if its possible the move was made for tax reasons to put the stations up for sale. It's obvious Hearst doesn't want to be in the radio business anymore. They've sold every station in the country except the 2 Baltimore stations and WBAL 1090 is not the money tree it used to be with WCBM tying them in the ratings month after month. Hmmmm. (8/1/09) Dave's response: If Hearst put BAL and IYY on the market, who would buy? Clear Channel? Bonneville? Hmmm..... Happy Birfday to The Big Greasy One...... www.98wrc.com (8/1/09) If ever there is a market that could use the People Meter to fix ratings flubs, Salisbury-OC is one of them. With or without Don Geronimo, WGMD 92.7 has a signal that barely reaches Salisbury or Ocean City or Dover and is #1? How is that possible? About one third of its local signal is over the Delaware Bay and the Atlantic Ocean! Do the ships at sea get diaries too? Too funny! www.radio-locator.com (8/1/09) Those of us who grew up in the 60's and 70's remember WPCG-FM well during the Top 40 days. During the 70's, I can't think of any FM in the DC/Baltimore markets that had the sound that WPGC had. I'd love to know what magic boxes they had in the rack back then. As I recall, they even had reverb at the time. How about the "Soundoff of the Week". Today's Optimods, Omnias and others sure have the capability to sound great too. The down side now is super compressed CD's are coming in, making it a major challenge for engineers. I often wish the producers would do a lightly processed edition for radio, and do what they wish for those CD's and MP3's reaching consumers. There needs to be a standard. The old saying "garbage in, garbage out" certainly applies. Keep in mind too that the station engineers don't always have a say in the signature sound of a given station. It's often driven by the PD, consultants, and GM's. There are many outstanding engineers that would just love to perform their magic, but many times they have their hands tied. Tom Conroy (8/1/09) /\ August 1 Messages /\ Jump to the Mailbag Archive Index.....