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Current Mailbag - Mailbag Archive Index - DCRTV Front Page - Support DCRTV DCRTV Mailbag - November 12 to November 15, 2006 Latest messages listed first..... \/ November 15 Messages \/ Chris Plante posed the question on whether or not the American public would watch the new Al-Jazeera English (AJE) network. Most of his audience replied that they already watch coverage very similar to AJE on CNN and MSNBC. Am I the only person in this region who really wants AJE on my Comcast Cable? I called up Charles Co. Comcast about this today, and they practically hung up on me. I want to get rid of my crappy channels -- Lifetime, Hallmark Channel, Animal Planet. -Silvie in Waldorf- (11/15/06) my alleged radio career began in 7th grade, when i would stand before the cafeteria mic at kenmore jr. high in arlington and do my best imitation of jack alix. girls would cringe. guys thought it was neat. needless to say; no girl friends til at least 9th grade. jack alix's passing is another time-mark in our lives. a sad one. /sean hall (11/15/06) Hey Mark in Glen Burnie: The morning show you are talking about is the "Rude Awakening Show" from Ocean 98 (WOCM). It is syndicated because the host Bulldog has strong ties with that island. I live on the beach, and this is a great show. It is a perfect mix of rock music, very topical, and pretty damn funny. He has a bunch of authors on--does great interviews-and is better than the shit you find on the dial in Baltimore and DC. Actuallty, it is probably the best station you'll find on the entire Delmarva. The jocks could use some work-but overall the station is better than The Beach, 96 Rock, Joe, Sam, Max, Q, B, Big, Cat and Froggy anytime!!!!!!!! (11/15/06) On Dave's WEEL Tribute page if you click on the Jingle link and listen to the Gwinsound package, you can hear Jack Alix's nameplate from those Million Dollar Music days. Also we've put up a short aircheck of Jack interviewing former Great 98 GM Bruce Houston about the WRC Top 40 days. It's at www.98wrc.com. (11/15/06) I remember Jack Alix, especially when he was on WEAM, in the good old days of DC radio when Cokes were a dime and I was young. Sigh. RIP Jack. You brightened many a day with your music. GAB in the Airless Cubicle (11/15/06) "WaPoRad may be the right place for the Nats as far as the signal strength, but they have always fallen short when it comes to covering team news outside of the game. If it were not for the fact that the Nats get a great signal at 1500 AM and additional coverage from WTOP on 103.5, I'd say the team might be better off somewhere else. Yank the deal now and find a new station before next March!" The good news is that the deal with WTWP includes a postgame call-in show (please, please, please find a way to lure Phil Wood from WTEM!) and some other Bonneville "bonuses." Stan Kasten apparently insisted on such things in the package; good for him. Now Bonneville and the Nats have to find a way to get some more stations in outlying Virginia and Maryland on the network -- Vincent in Triangle (11/15/06) I agree 100% with Mark from Glen Burnie about Bulldog's morning show versus D&M, Elliott and the Junkies. I am only 33 years old and I have already grown tired of the adolescent behavior and regurgitated bits from D&M. Allow me to add another 2 cents to the Bulldog bandwagon and say that if you have a reasonable grasp of the English language beyond the elementary level that seems to overrun the D&M show, you should give it a try. Can you imagine a morning radio show that does not have to resort to insulting each and every caller? Can you handle a show that has interesting interviews and limited boob, dick and gay jokes? WOW, what a concept! I spend a lot of time in Ocean City and have been listening to Bulldog’s show since he began at Ocean 98 about 2 or 3 years ago. I think the syndication to the Caribbean is because that is where he was from before Ocean City. The station is also owned by Seacrets. I remember going to Seacrets about 10 years ago when it was much smaller than it is today. I hope their radio station grows the same way as the bar. They also have Skip Dixon on the station in the afternoon. Skip has always been one of my favorites! Julie from Cambridge, MD (11/15/06) "...Both WTEM's John Thompson show and Triple X's John Riggins show interviewed the new Nats skipper yesterday, but as far as I know no local show on either station saw fit to open the phones on the topic." Well Mike in Fairfax, you want to know why? Because the first question from a caller would likely be: Who in the hell is this guy? And not one person on WTEM or Triple-X would be able to answer it. People in this town have waited for weeks for Brunell to be benched, not the next Nats manager. Go get a big-name manager and the Nats will get better coverage. Hire a no-name, very people care. Anything involving the Redskins will be the bigger story. You're just going to have to get over it. (11/15/06) So sad to hear about Jack Alix's passing. He was truly an icon in Washington radio back in the 1960's. Combined with his involvement in the Capitol Fleet Club and Giant Music, Jack could've been a Washington radio institution had he not sought greener pastures elsewhere. Sad... But, as my late grandfather (Who wholeheartedly encouraged my entry into the 'biz!) used to say, "If the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence, stand downwind before you jump to the other side of the fence!" This has been a tough week in the biz in the D.C. area. Cox Communications of Northern Virginia lost Jim O'Neil this past weekend. Jim was 58 and succumbed to a heart attack. He served the Sales and Dispatch departments of Cox with professional aplomb and an unforgettable gift of wit and good humor. Jim began his cable telecommunications career with Media General Cable back in 1988. He will be sorely missed. Graveside services will be on Saturday in Manassas... (11/15/06) (Regarding the latest Flashback:) Don't forget that Deena Clark of "A Moment With" is also in the WRC-TV montage! (11/15/06) Dave - I have been a long time visitor to your website, but this is my first mailbag post. About 3 weeks ago I was vacationing in the Caribbean on the island of St. Martin and heard a local radio show talking about Baltimore. Here I am in St. Martin and these guys are talking about spending the weekend at the Inner Harbor? Growing up in the Glen Burnie area I was a bit surprised hearing local Baltimore chat in the Caribbean? Upon listening to the show a bit longer I realized that this was a syndicated radio show based out of Ocean City, MD. Why is an Ocean City radio show broadcasting in the Caribbean? I have no idea where the connection comes from, but I have been hooked on their morning show ever since returning home. This does not sound like any other local OC show I’ve heard in the past 37 years of spending my summers at the beach and I just thought I’d pass this on to the DCRTV family. You can listen and watch online www.irieradio.com and from what I understand the radio station is either associated or located at Seacrets. The morning show is hosted by a guy named "Bulldog" and the quality of interviews and general talk is (in my opinion) much higher than that of D&M, The Junkies, Elliott or any other show in the DC area. I’m sure I will now face the consequences of being attacked by all the D&M, Junkies, and Elliott fans on DCRTV, but I wanted to lend my 2 cents. There are so many complaints here that I think the complainers should try this semi-local alternative. MARK - Glen Burnie, MD (11/15/06) Jack Alix passes away, but [a certain radio personality] still walks this earth? Is there no God? (11/15/06) WaPoRad may be the right place for the Nats as far as the signal strength, but they have always fallen short when it comes to covering team news outside of the game. If it were not for the fact that the Nats get a great signal at 1500 AM and additional coverage from WTOP on 103.5, I'd say the team might be better off somewhere else. Yank the deal now and find a new station before next March! (11/15/06) Dave's response: At least via WaPo Radio you'll be able to actually hear the games, particularly at night, via 107.7 and/or 1500. SportsTalk 980 drops to 5,000-watts directional at night and fades out about central Fairfax County. And we all know about the signal woes affecting Triple X - two FM "rimshots" and an AMer that drops to lightbulb power after dark..... I'm saddened by the passing of Jack Alix. I did Jacks news on WEAM in 1965, when he was JA the DJ. Then worked again with Jack at WEEL in the early 70's and did the afternoon show. It was always fun to watch Jack fight with Art Kellar over music, it was worth the price of a ticket. Both were passionate about their beliefs. The man knew radio and he knew how to run a radio station. Jack always treated me fairly and with humor and kindness. Sad to see another DC radio great pass on. And Jack was a DC radio great in every way. Thanks for the tunes, thanks for the jobs and thanks for the memories, Jack Alix. Pat Murphy - Norfolk, VA (11/15/06) Gee...way back when I sent in my self addressed stamp envelope to jack Alix in the 60s for an Alix Allies card did I ever think it would pop up in so many places on this thing we now know as the internet. Jack was a good guy and will be missed. I can still remember driving from Hyattsville MD to Fairfax just to help him answer the request lines at WEEL. Led Zepplin had just come out with A Whole Lotta Love and every request was for that song. I believe it was played once an hour at night. A few years later, when I was in 10th grade and still living at home, my mother told me I had a phone call...it was Jack. Holy Crap...Jack Alix was calling me at home! How and why could this be? He was just starting Wing Ding and needed dancers. The following week a bunch of us from Northwestern High found ourselves on a hectic highway known as The Beltway looking for some small UHF station called WDCA. I was a regular for about the first year and Jack was always helpful and generous. I last saw him at the Big Daddies reunion held by WXTR and got an email from him this past summer. RIP Jack and "wo...wo...whip it on em" in radio heaven. - Skip McCloskey (11/15/06) In creating the media resources page for the WNET channel 13 NYC site, I included dcrtv.com. It is an excellent site. - Michael Collins... click on: www.thirteen.org (11/15/06) Dave's response: Cool. I am a native New Yorker, by the way. I was born at Lenox Hill Hospital on the upper east side..... Hi Dave, The weatherman was Don Sarreals. a nice guy and one of the first in the business. He was a meterologist so he knew twice as much as Willard and I put together. Regards, Paul Anthony, Still Sirius in NYC (11/15/06) Oh, go ahead and give Dicks and Beans the rest of this week and all of next week since they are such great professionals and need to rest up what with being without their Samsonite, power-inducing telephones. And all next week, too, since it's a such short week. Then, they'll be back for one week before their Carson-like X-mas break. By the time they come back in January, all the listens will have gotten their Stiletto's, iPods and Zune's for X-mas and will be so entranced by them they'll kiss terrestrial radios good-bye. (11/15/06) D&M: Technical difficulties or suspension. You decide. Dave methinks you're right. (11/15/06) WRC Channel 4, DOESN'T have a NBC4 noontime news. If you want to BITCH about something have your fact straight! (11/15/06) Thanks for The Beatles, Jack. You'll be missed. - Al Peterson, columnist, engineer, jock, production madman.(11/15/06) This is so weird. I was just talking about Jack Alix this morning. Jack was my first broadcasting instructor when I was in Washington D.C. during the 70’s. He was one of the top professionals of his day and influenced my career. He’ll be missed. “The Doctor” (11/15/06) I’m a D&M listener; I still think they’re the funniest thing on the radio around here, even with the inevitable ups-and-downs. That being said, their behavior this week appears to be pretty much on the toddler-temper-tantrum level. OK, there are equipment issues. That sucks. However, it seems to this loyal listener that they could sack up and do the show from WJFK. Or do a remote from Hank’s Look Around Café. Or do a remote from Don’s living room. But, somehow, they could do the show. Apparently, they’d rather pout. I look forward to their three-week vacation around Christmas. Sheesh. I’m not going try to say I won’t listen, I will. I just think they’re behaving badly. Sincerely, TMU (11/15/06) As a regular viewer of NBC4 I was not aware of a noon news program on Channel 4...I thought the noon news shows were on 5, 7 & 9, but not 4. When did Pat Lawson Muse become a news anchor at noon? Or for that matter, when did Arch Campbell begin appearing at noon on Channel 4? What is the name of the program? I am completely unaware of it. -- Bobbie (11/15/06) I'm sorry to hear of the untimely passing of Jack Alix! Smack dab in the middle of the turbulent 1960s, his was a warm, friendly presence in the evening on WEAM. For thousands of DC area kids like me, struggling through nightly homework and assorted adolescence angst, JA the DJ was there for us, with all the hits - the latest sounds and blasts from the past, straight out of the Golden Grooveyard. Scott Marinoff (Alix Ally 0035) (11/15/06) I was so very sorry to learn of the passing of Good Guy, Jack Alix. What a terrible loss. And what a GREAT Guy! (11/15/06) Growing up just behind the mighty 1390 WEAM in Falls Church, their signal would bleed into every wire in our house. We couldn't make a single phone call without the accompaniment of JA. A bunch of us kids would go over to the station and throw pebbles at the studio window. At first Jack would yell at us but quickly learned if he threw out a hand full of 45's we'd go away. God Bless JA the DJ. Walt Palmer, Lewes, DE (11/15/06) Hey Dave, What NBC4 noontime news anchor totally screwed up an interview this afternoon with major TV and film star Gorin Visnijic and co-star Maur Tierney both stars of ER, doing promos for tomorrow's ER episode? Ms. Lawson-Muse of course. Arch was not available, out doing another shot. It went sooooo badly that Mr. Visnijic pulled his ear piece and asked rather loudly why he got up for this shit. NBC4 might want to rethink for how long they reup Arch next year. (11/15/06) Me thinks Don and Mike will be in "Best Of" again today. If you go on their website, usually by this time the daily log is cleared of the previous show and today's date is at the top, in anticipation of the ensuing hilarity. Not so..., that must be one hell of a flood. Jay (11/15/06) Dave's response: Yup. "Technical issues persist," according to a top-of-the-show announcement today from Robbay. Can't fix those phone problems in two days? Hmmm..... To the poster wanting to know something about a "Chuck" at WEBB-AM, I think his on-air name was Chuck Max. He usually did afternoons until signoff. Chris Paulus (11/15/06) The passing of Jack Alix - JA the DJ - is sad news. An absolute icon in the 1960's, Jack seemed to work for every rock station in the area at one time or another. He used to promote a Sunday dance at the Capital Fleet Club in Franconia with local bands who would play for peanuts - I think he gave us $40 in expense money - but he'd plug it on the air all week, which, according to him, was worth "hundreds." Jack Alix stories abound in the area. Hopefully we'll see some on this site in the next few days. Much too young to leave us. (11/15/06) If they're looking for a co-host at WPR look no farther (further?) than David Burd. Anybody remember Baker & Burd? (11/15/06) Ok... I have a bitch/complaint/question about JFK. Generally the web streaming doesnt start untill about 6 or 7 minutes into a show. D&M usually go on the air at 3:07 pm..streaming. So why the fuck do they cut O & A off at 12:50pm? By my math they should run until 1:07 pm!! It sucks... JFK could go away for all I care...worthless fucking rudderless ship!! WB Centreville, VA (11/15/06) According to the NY Times, Lea Thompson isn't one of "Dateline's" on-air correspondents getting the axe: www.nytimes.com... "Most of those being laid off from “Dateline” are producers, but two correspondents, Edie Magnus and Rob Stafford, have also been told to leave, the official said." I suppose there could be more cuts coming, or some that were unannounced. Christian (11/15/06) Dave's response: Do you believe everything you read in the New York Times? ERR, Ah yes you are correct the term is HALLOWED. In all my anxiety over reading about those two fat worthless assholes that get so much attention on these here SACRED pages I forgot all about my formal training in the school of PROPER ENGLISH. Which by the way is now the official language in a few states w/immigration problems.DAVE as always your site is the best. Now if we could start that DOUCHEBAG I was talking about you could have a whole new site for all those LOVERS/HATERS OF D&M...AMF from DELMARVA (11/15/06) Re: “am trying to locate a dj who worked in the late 70's and 80's at a black radio station, WEBB-AM in Baltimore. All I know is that his name is Chuck.” Chuck “The Checker” Ried maybe??? (WSID/OK100) (11/15/06) Nah, I never sense any animosity from Gibbs when he is asked questions by journalists. He is great at saying alot which doesn't say anything. I do think he rightfully resents personal attacks of the type that Czaban and some others engage in. It seems to me that WTEM has decided that the correct response to Triple X is to become the anti-Redskins and the Skins have cooperated by being terrible and giving WTEM's hosts plenty of fodder. I've noticed a vitriol coming out of many of WTEM's hosts these days toward the Skins that wasn't there in the past, even when they sucked. (11/15/06) INteresteing coverage on Rick jordans house fire... First let me say more images of this fire can be see at www.fithp.com... I found it interesting that WBOC had a live unit, and helicopter at the scene of this fire. Yet zero coverage on their stations. However, rival WMDT lead of with it in the A block (11/15/06) "... I do have to say that Czaban, and Brian Mitchell for that matter, seem to harbor personal animus towards the Redskins and sometimes cross the line between legitimate questions and personal attacks." The difference is that Mitchell is tough but fair whereas Czaban tends to hit below the belt. He also has a propensity for making federal cases out of inconsequential things involving the Redskins that nobody else takes much notice of, such as Joe Gibbs not watching the final field goal attempt in the Dallas game. WTEM appears to be trying hard to become the anti-Triple X, going strongly in the direction of 'take no prisoners' criticism of Skins management and players. Not that Triple X is a bunch of pom pom wavers either - Bram Weinstein, Kevin Sheehan and John Riggins have been rather candid in their evaluations of the team's play. But they manage to to do it calmly and analytically in contrast to the angry rants of Czaban, Mitchell, Andy Pollin and Doc Walker on 980. A sure sign that local TV and radio outlets still don't quite get the baseball thing is the fact that on a media buzz scale of zero to ten, the Redskins' quarterback change seemed like 15 while the hiring of Manny Acta to manage the Nationals registered about four. In most other cities with both the NFL and MLB, the gap wouldn't be quite that wide - and the Acta story would actually be bigger than the Jason Campbell story in places like Boston, New York or St. Louis. Both WTEM's John Thompson show and Triple X's John Riggins show interviewed the new Nats skipper yesterday, but as far as I know no local show on either station saw fit to open the phones on the topic. I refuse to believe that the Skins are all anyone in DC wants to talk about right now. While the Ravens are clearly the number one topic on Baltimore sports talk radio, somehow I think those stations would have found some time for baseball fans to weigh in had the Orioles changed managers. Mike, Fairfax (11/15/06) Lindsey Czarniak was on with Elliott this morning and she announced that she won the contest at the Improv. Her interview this morning was hilarious and I loved it when Elliott made fun of George Michael and Wendy Rieger. Lindsey seems like a really neat person and I'm happy for her for winning. Now we just need to get rid of George so she can get the airtime and exposure that she deserves. (11/15/06) Err.. I think the term you were searching for is hallowed pages, not "hollowed." Justified or not, I don't think walking out during a live broadcast because the phones aren't working is a bit. Pretending to walk out is a bit, throwing a hissy fit because your main tool that moves your show forward isn't working, is a bit. Advertisers have paid for live reads and advertising rates for D&M live on the air. Like a previous poster alluded, I am sure they have a 40 page contract which covers all this in detail. They already get the Howard Stern vacation plan. My guess is the fat men will return to the air soon with their tails between their legs, as they always do after they suffer a humiliation They have a lot of practice bowing to the man, and they love being overpaid. (11/15/06) Silence from the skateboarding community as arbitrends show "Free" FM in NYC pulling a HUGE 1.3 rating. Boy those kids can't draw flies ... (11/15/06) Dave's response: 40-year-old "kids"? As with Bob Kur, Mike Moss sounds better with a co-host on WPR. Both men are extremely smart and up on everything in the news, but they sound much more human with a partner. (11/15/06) "Who was that co-anchoring with Mike Moss this morning on WPR?" Jessica Doyle of washingtonpost.com. You also see her doing business news on Channel 4 in the morning. (11/15/06) Who was that co-anchoring with Mike Moss this morning on WPR? (11/15/06) Dave's response: Jessica Noel or Doel or Doyle or something..... (RE: WEBB) I remember a dj on several black stations in Baltimore named Chuck Richards. I don't know if that is the one you are looking for, but he was very popular during the 60's and maybe the 70's. Marshall E. Feldman (11/15/06) (RE: WEBB) CHUCK MAXX aka CHUCK Mc COOL (11/15/06) Tony, Czaban a "journalist"?? You are on crack. Czaban needs to pull his mascot outfit out of the closet and go back to doing what he does best. He's a moped guy in a Harley band . . . (11/15/06) Steve Czaban's question asked of Mark Brunell was unprofessional. There is no reason to ask a pro athlete whether he should go to the coach and ask that another player start in his place. Who starts is a question for the coach. The only reason to needle a player with such a question is if there is some indication that the player isn't giving a maximum effort or if there's speculation of an undisclosed injury, neither of which is the case here. The reason some folks have cheered Czaban on with this question is because some fans actually begin to dislike players who play poorly, whether or not the player is doing his best. It's idiotic and juvenile. Czaban admitted on the Sports Reporters yesterday morning that he partly asked the question to see Brunell's reaction. It's obvious that he just wanted to jab at the guy with a question that should only be asked of the person who makes that decision: Joe Gibbs. As for Gibbs, however, I will say that Czaban has been one of the few to hold the coach accountable for the terrible job he has done as head coach and general manager. Gibbs is not unlike some politicians in this town who are in denial and resent the smarty pants press' right to ask tough questions about stubbornly incompetent performance. The parallels are striking. (11/15/06) Hi Dave, I am trying to locate a dj who worked in the late 70's and 80's at a black radio station, WEBB-AM in Baltimore. All I know is that his name is Chuck. Can you help? What sources can I try even if he is no longer on the air. I just need his name. Carolyn Erwin-Johnson, Correspondent Associated News and Features (11/15/06) Dave's response: Anybody know? Click on Toby Knapp's page on the Hot 99-5 website (under Hot Jocks) and behold the image on his first page ... Ecce homo!! hot995.com (11/15/06) Dave's response: That's his boss - Jeff Kapugi. Looks pretty good for 50, huh! ["Keep repeating this every day when you wake up “Everything...is a BIT, very few things on the live air are real.”] Really? OK... (11/15/06) Whar's all this unmitigated carp in the Ole Mailbag about Hardin and Weaver walking out on their show again.....Why this is outrageous! Why I thought when you looked up professional in the book there'd be a picture of Hardin and Weaver....and frankly this move of their studios to Rockville to avoid dealing with the Duke of Durwood Mr. Engineer is just soooooo childish....What's that? Oh, nevermind.........Hey Geronimo baby, have you found out who took the strawberries, yet? And what about them pictures you were suppose too see last week?...........Well I also think we got a lot of softball tossing sport's reporter's in town but Czabe baby, a little more humor please! As for Jon Jansen his skills are on the downhill side, as so it seems for Chris Samuels.....just changing the QB ain't going to solve the team's problems other than finding out if Campbell has some ability as NFL QB, you know ,you know.....you got an aging offensive line with no valuable reserves and a pretty ineffective defensive line with poor penetration...but isn't the lack of a decent pass rusher sort of the Dreadskin's curse...who was last pretty good defensive lineman...that dude who wanted a pay increase and ended up in Carolina? Hey maybe Cooley can be traded for some offensive line help...Dreadskin's already have tons of receivers.....did anyone catch Larry "The Frogman" King the other night with Judge Judy....the old sage Judy was using a pretty lame story about Judy's Restaurant and Larry's Restaurant to describe the recent election's...I swear to gawd ,jack Larry is resting is head on his his fist and his eyes glaze over as Judy is bleating on.....but got to hand it to Larry, as this 5 minute boring story ends he wakes up and says more with Judge Judy in our remaining moments, after these words from our sponsor, Duke Zeibert's.........Bill Smith....gotd8mn I hate coming out of those slow song's with a d8mn dog death dedication, Robbay you're fired!..... (11/15/06) There is a little note in today’s (Wednesday) Post Sports section that the Nationals are going to announce today a 1-year deal with WTWP to broadcast the games in 2007. Bill R. (11/15/06) Dave's response: That makes sense. Both SportsTalk 980 and Triple X ESPN Radio have signal problems at night..... RE: "If you did such a poor job in your line of work, would you still have a job? I doubt it." Then explain how D&M have kept their jobs for so long?? (11/15/06) I saw Sketer Rosenberg bomb at the Improve tonite (Tuesday). He’s my boy, but dammit, you could do better!!!!!! (11/15/06) Dave's response: Who won the funniest sports celeb contest at the Improv? Birdsie and the bag, whatever they are called on WJFK last night sucked. There is no substance or order to the show, just constant rambling about crap and more crap. Put something good on please, please, pretty please. How I miss ron n fez and the hideout -_- Signed, Ex-WJFK lover (11/15/06) Rumor going around that czab won't be participating in REDSKINS POSTGAME LIVE for the next couple of weeks. It's a shame because someone finally stood up and asked a tough question. (11/15/06) /\ November 15 Messages /\ \/ November 14 Messages \/ Dave, OH PLEASE will you go back to your distain for D&M a least for a few days or how about putting them in their own mailbag.... OOP's I meant DOUCHEBAG.. I'm not a fan of theirs but I am a HUGE fan of your site but the constant attention that these two complete FAT assholes garner here on these hollowed pages is enough to make my dead grandmother puke... There I feel better now as always my good man AMF from DELMARVA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (11/14/06) Dave, I believe you can get the Fox News Channel in Qatar hotels only. Qatar is also the home base for Al-Jazeera, so there's a sorta conflict there. -Silvie in Waldorf- (11/14/06) I have to admit, I like being able to watch at least ONE Washington area newscast on cable (no antenna required) in the Baltimore area, so I sort of enjoyed the first couple weeks of MY24 News at 10. But, you shouldn't put out a press release pretending that you're expanding your "NEWS" coverage when you're really just expanding your news "COVERAGE". BIG DIFFERENCE! If WJZ can give the ski conditions/weather at Wisp in Garrett County, MD, then how is it that FOX 5 cannot even manage to have the Baltimore temperature on their weather map on a regular basis or a simple mention of I-97 or I-95 traffic heading south from Baltimore at the very least? This whole My24 News at 10 thing has quickly turned into a smoke and mirrors stunt that has all the makings of nothing but "cost-savings". Is FOX that cheap that they can't even buy some more of their OWN M*A*S*H episodes for Baltimore's WUTB 24?!? (11/14/06) Personally, I'd like to see a picture of Gov-elect Martin O'Malley's "heterosexually-challenged" workout partner/trainer from Baltimore's Downtown Athletic Club. I hear he's hot! Str8 guys just don't seem to have a chance these days, they just seem to be genetically inferior at the gym. :-) (11/14/06) I like Czaban's show generally (although he suffers from having dead wood like Pollin around) and his question of Brunnell was in no way out of line. However, I do have to say that Czaban, and Brian Mitchell for that matter, seem to harbor personal animus towards the Redskins and sometimes cross the line between legitimate questions and personal attacks. One can be unhappy with the way the team is run and ask legitimate questions without attacking peoples' integrity, manhood and mental capacity. I understand why Mitchell does it because the Redskins cast him aside when they brought in Deion Sanders. I have no idea why Czaban harbors such animus to Joe Gibbs in particular, who by all accounts is a very decent person. (11/14/06) FOX5 at 5's Laura and Shawn were commenting on how Oprah did not get invited to TomKat's wedding this weekend. They also mentioned that there were 1,400 invited guests (if I heard the number correctly). So out of that number, you're telling me that these two couldn't make one exception and invite Queen Oprah? Especially after Tom made such an ass of himself on her couch... -Silvie in Waldorf- (11/14/06) Dave's response: Is Redskins owner Boy Danny gonna be there? Most of these arial photo mapping sites used to be as much as more than a year out of date, but that seems to be changing. My point is that many stations are operating under STA authority for long periods of time these days and their actual transmission sites have long since been sold for development. The FCC seems to have an unlimited STA renewal program going, even with stations that have not had permanent licensed transmission facilities in years, in some cases, maybe a decade. That is pathetic and a disservice to the public and its airwaves. The owners of these types of radio stations are doing nothing other than wharehousing frequencies for future sale. I attached the day/night site photos of WVIE AM 1370, which is clearly visible (all 6 towers). If someone can really find 5 towers at WFBR AM 1590, seriously, you win a prize. I don't see it. Obviously, I've touched a nerve with somebody. But, if I'm wrong and they're there, how in the world could such an AM facility be so overgrown and wooded? Where are the dirt roads to the towers? Where's a building near one of the towers? Seriously, humor me Dave. I don't see it. I've checked dozens of radio transmission sites using google and rarely, no never, is it impossible to see an AM radio station's transmission site that uses more than 1 tower and even those are usually visible! I can even see WNST 1570's 1 tower in a NIMBY area north of Baltimore and WPGC 1580 in PG county, so this idea that you cannot see towers or transmission facilities is total bunk. Yep, I touched a nerve. Who wants to be next month's DCRTV NON-TOWER of the MONTH? :-) (11/14/06) RE: "Dave's response: What's the prize? A pic of soon-to-be-former Governor Bob in a Speedo? Hmmm....." David Hughes, If you post a picture of Bobby E. or even G. Gordon wearing a Maryland Flag Speedo, I swear on my mother's soul that I will make it my only mission in life to hunt you down and strangle you in your sleep. I still wake up screaming from the evil vision burned into my cornea from the LAST time you posted G.G. sporting the nut-bra. Do us all a HUGE favor...Move that satanic image to a disc, burn it, bury the ashes, and sprinkle lime over the hole so nothing will ever grow there again. (11/14/06) Dave's response: How about Wendy in a swimsuit? RE: [ " There sure looks like a tower where I've circled in yellow " ]...... ummm, try FIVE towers next time Dave, find those and you win a prize! :-) (11/14/06) Dave's response: What's the prize? A pic of soon-to-be-former Governor Bob in a Speedo? Hmmm..... Poor Dave Marash, how do you go from a key job at a top NBC O & O and a job with ABC's Nightline all the way down to frikkin Aljazeera?!? Geesh, now THATS a BIG fall from the top! But, I guess if things get really bad, Marash can always fall back on that job at the neighborhood CITGO or 7-11. (11/14/06) Dave's response: You gotta eat. And sometimes camel's the only thing on the menu..... re: "My wild guess is that Michael Hughes has suspended D&M for walking out on their Monday show." What sucks more - taking marching orders from a genius who (a) makes a fraction of your salary and (b) thought it was a good idea to let Ron and Fez leave WJFK, or being that genius and (a) knowing that you are truly impotent because people in NYC make all the tough decisions for you - and (b) that any sort of disciplinary actions are meaningless because they make more in a month than you will all year? Hmmmm... (11/14/06) Why couldn't D&M have done the show today from the studio in Fairfax? Oh, that's right, Don doesn't want to be in the same building with Lisa Broyhill. WJFK should bring back Ron&Fez and El Jefe. D&M are financially set for life, it seems like they just don't care anymore. (11/14/06) Dave's response: My wild guess is that Michael Hughes has suspended D&M for walking out on their Monday show. Phone problems, me thinks, aren't serious enough to get in your cars and drive home mid-show. Maddening yes. But show-cancelling? No. Me also thinks that the CBS legal eagles are looking very carefully at the contracts of the show's performers, particularly Mr. G. Maybe this will be the impetus for WJFK-FM to finally put O&A in morning drive and move the Junks to afternoons..... I thought that the Fox 5 news, now broadcast on My24 was going to be more of a "regional" newscast? It still seems to be very focused on DC. Even in areas like weather where it would be easy to provide more regional coverage, they still zoom in on DC and leave out Baltimore, western MD, and the Eastern Shore, areas they claimed they would provide coverage. I don't see the point to broadcast Fox 5 news on My24 if they aren't going to provide more regionl coverage. (11/14/06) (Regarding today's Flashback:) You wondered who the weathercaster is in the WRC-TV nostalgia graphic (Upper left in the "6"). It was Don Sarreals who went to work for NOAA after leaving the station in the mid-70s. At NOAA, he was working on developing the Nexrad/Doppler radar stuff. Dave, if you can send a larger version of the graphic, perhaps we can make more id's. joel (11/14/06) Dave's response: Sorry, but I ran it at the size I got it at. I didn't shrink it..... One more correction to Dave's FLASHBACK and I'll leave... Mike Berry of 98WRC.com remembered Carroll Hynson as the on-air personality "Mr. C" of WOL-AM in the '60s. His 1969 local variety TV show "The 'C' Thing" aired Saturdays on WRC-TV at 1:00pm. Take another look at that ad and I'll bet you see Hynson pictured inside the number "1", below Julian Barber. (As previously noted, Don Sarreals is the weatherman in the number "6".) (11/14/06) Come boo and heckle Peter Rosenberg at the Improv tonight! It’s for charity!! (11/14/06) Hey Dave, Do you think Qatar will ever find room to run Fox News Channel? Haymarket Joe (11/14/06) Dave's response: Seriously, do cable TV subscribers in Qatar get Fox News? I dunno..... I, for one, am glad that Steve Czaban called out the former starting QB of your Washington Redskins. I've been sick and tired of no one asking him tough questions. It was a legitimate question by a journalist to someone whose play has more than warranted someone calling him out on it. Something you'd never get from homers George Micheal and Sonny J. Seriously, if I have to hear anymore of Coach Joe's "hey I give the other team credit, and this all starts with me", I will puke. For god's sake, start calling out the lack of effort from your players in the media (maybe then these money-grubbing bastards might learn how to play football with some passion and effort), including the lackluster play of Mr. Jon Jansen and his pathetic pass blocking. Big deal, Czaban's not an athlete. So f-in what??? These guys makes millions of dollars to play a freakin game. Apparantly Mr. Jansen feels that means they're immune to being criticized for their sucky play this entire season. I think not. So I say to Steve Czaban, keep calling out these sorry bums on this sorry ass franchise run by that sorry midget. - Tony, lifelong and very frustrated fan. (11/14/06) Oh dear!! Now it's **three days** w/o the "Radio Gods"! When will CBS wake the F*** up and realize the week-day drive time slot in DC is a ship that's not only sunk, it's resting on the ocean floor in the slime. In recent months, 'ol Donnie has been teetering on the verge of sanity - now the chubby psycopath doesn't want to come to work. Good. A "flood" in your phone equipment room? How about a "flood" of original radio bits "Gods"? (There's Ron and Fez, the Junkies, and after that, it's a long, long trip down the entertainment spectrum to find third place in the vast, vast wasteland of DC talk radio right now. And R&F aren't even in DC!) The "Gods" should stay home forever, but if they choose to grace the airwaves with their presence, I hope they are using the time off the polish up some really funny Elvis bits, or another razor-sharp Low Budget Jeapordy, or more cutting-edge "Jew-to-Jew" marathons. One final thing, I know more about the "Gods" by reading this mailbag than I do by bothering to tune in those losers - I gave up trying to listen after Donnie G.'s "Emotional Breakdown #587" six months ago. PJ_DJ_n_VA. (11/14/06) Don and Mike still having "Technical Difficulties"???? Coach (11/14/06) RE: "if I pull up a Google maps satellite pic of area radio stations' 1,2,3,4, or 5 tower array transmitting facilities and I find no towers at all"....The issue is not if the antenna is there or not...the issue is the resolution of the aerial imagery you are looking at. I went to Microsoft Live Local and the antenna is clearly there. You need to find a source with better than 1 meter resolution to pick out something as thin as a transmittion tower. (11/14/06) Dave's response: There sure looks like a tower where I've circled in yellow..... There may indeed be technical problems at D&M's studio, but these walkouts and temper tantrums are simply a work. As someone noted, these are bits, nothing more. The boys have staged walkouts before, and they'll do it again anytime they think they can stimulate a bit of interest to make the listener wonder what's really going on. If D&M actually did get up and walk out of the studio for a real or perceived problem that management didn't know they were going to do in advance, they'd be fired. Pure and simple; doesn't matter how long they've been there.(11/14/06) Ah, good old Paul Farhi. Never before has a man said so much... and said nothing at all. (11/14/06) Keep repeating this everyday when you wake up “Everything on a “Don and Mike” type show is a BIT, very few things on the live air are real.” “Everything on a “Don and Mike” type show is a BIT, very few things on the live air are real”......... All of you will rest a little easier today and tonight. Howard (11/14/06) Hahahah!! I laugh in Don's face. He whines that the Don and Mike Show is not taken seriously by management, yet he runs a ridiculously exaggerated reverb that makes the show sound like its coming from a cellar or a cave. You can't have it both ways, Don. If you want to be taken seriously, you'll have to lose the dumbass tin-can reverb. But then you'd have to admit that you were a desperate idiot for starting the reverb, and you're incapable of admitting you're wrong, so you're in a trap of your own making. Don, it's not only managment and technical support staff that don't take you seriously; your few remaining listeners are having a tough time taking you seriously, too. Don and Mike, you're a trainwreck that's hardly worth seeing any more. You should retire and let us at least have the memories of when the show was funny and worth listening to. (11/14/06) so Don and Mike walked off the air because of technical difficulties... I hope that stupid reverb machine is the cause of their problems and forces them to ditch it. lamest concept ever and i will continue to not-listen till they get rid of it. (11/14/06) It looks like change will be coming soon to WITH, which currently runs Salem's more mainstream conservative talk show (Bill Bennett, Mike Ghalager, Dennis Prager, Hugh Hewitt, etc.). Instead of promoing as WITH, all mentions except the legal ID now say "newstalkdc.com", a site which is still "under construction" if you actually try to look at it. My guess is that it will replace WITH for these shows -- maybe it will show up as an HD-2 channel, or on some small AM station as well. Dennis Prager (noon to 3) is worth tuning in, whether you agree with him or not. ...Sam (11/14/06) Robbay's already thinking about his next gig. New Hitler Youth leader. And I thought Chris Core always wore a bra. Paul (11/14/06) So Don and Mike walked out and put on tape instead......... Anyone notice? (11/14/06) I did name one person who stood up to Don on a consistant basis, former producer Charles Broyhill. I realize Don is a big bully. He even picks on kindly Buzz. Mike will argue with him on personal issues such as the Red Sox but never disagrees on procedural or technical issues. He realizes if he ever does, Don will implore him to become more involved in the behind the sceens stuff which Mike is unwilling to do. He is content spontaneously drawing on his talent with little or no preparation. He has the talent to pull that off, Robb does not but he is too stupid or lazy to put in an adequate effort. He is a terrible producer and was at his best sitting in the back sniping at callers until Don shuts his mic off. I just wish he would at least grow a set and bark back at his "best friend" once in a while. Former producer Broyhill would shut Don down over and over, it was really weird and almost like he had something on Don. If you don't go back that far with the show you can't understand but believe me Don couldn't bully that guy. (11/14/06) Thanks to "Tom of DC" for remembering Don Sarreals as the weatherman pictured in the FLASHBACK from 1969. According to "The Faces of Science: African Americans in the Sciences", webfiles.uci.edu... Sarreals was Channel-4 meteorologist from 1969 until 1976, when he joined MPT of Owings Mills in the same capacity until 1980. (I believe it was Willard who filled the post of "chief WRC weatherman" during that era.) Say... while we're at it, a round of holiday cheer to Tom (and the entire dcbatwing) for "turning-on" the Christmas lights on the old Broadcast House tower! www.youtube.com (11/14/06) More players should threaten that idiot Czaban, I hope the Jansen story is true . Why should any player put up with insulting comments and questions from a non-athlete (golf doesn't count) former mascot - puhleeze . . . (11/14/06) Just my two cents. Don and Mike have a show that is largely based on listener participation. Now, if the main vehicle for these listeners to call in goes down, there's not much of a show. The crew knows one very important thing. Controversy creates ratings. Some of you are under the opinion that the show is not what it use to be. It's not. Times have changed and most shows have had to adapt to new restrictions and guidelines. Opps, off the topic. The show has created some much needed buzz. The station/ management/ engineers have an obligation to the crew under contract to make sure that all equipment is provided and working properly. In return the employees, with working equipment, will put on a show. Bad equipment equals a show that is not up to the standards the crew strives for. I surely don't want someone to provide me entertainment that's not up to their standard. Coach! (11/14/06) Postie Paul Farhi chimes in on the D&M walkout in today's Station Break chat: Lake Ridge, Va.: Hey Paul -- Any thoughts on Don and Mike walking off their show two days in a row because of technical difficulties? - Paul Farhi: It's a stunt, of sorts. The technical difficulties were legit (problems with hearing callers on the air, I guess), but c'mon. Do you walk off your job when your computer's down? (11/14/06) Don and Mike Walkout: I am almost totally on Don's side on this one. His job depends on phones and equipment working. Things were not working. Now how is Don supposed to make things work ? From his perspective, the engineers have ignored him. They do not work for him. The engineers' bosses have also ignored Don. This isn't the first time it has happened either. So Don feels they will continue to ignore him and has had enough. He has one tool he can use to get them to stop ignoring him. That tool is the "walk off". What we don't know is what other tools Don has used off the air to resolve the techical issues. We also don't know what other issues are involved besides the Zypher and the phone. Sometimes you just reach the point where you have had enough. You are tired of dealing with idiots and you are tired of your bosses doing nothing about your cries for assistance. They ignore you because they know you will be a good - add professional title - and continue on. It happens at my job. "Sometimes the train has to wreck" before the bosses will listen. It's good old crisis management and it has extremely bad "worklife" consequences. - Bert in Manassas (11/14/06) To the poster who wrote: "The Don and Mike problems can all be linked to one major source, their lazy, spineless, producer Robb..." Don't you think that ALL of the people associated with the show are afraid of Don? No one comes forward and says anything to stand up for themselves. Neither Robb or John were responsible for the phone debacle yesterday, yet both of them took a verbal beating. Last week it was Robb when Don was sick, and a few weeks ago it was Mike. I know Buzz and Joe have been recipients of Don's on-air beratings at some point. Name one person who has stood up to Don in the last several years. (11/14/06) Steve Chaconas – NICE of you to make that disparaging comment about Julie Wright. Could that be because she got you a nice talking to when you were on the air at WWRC (I mean…FIRED)? Yeah…that’s the ticket. Go catch a fish, moron. (11/14/06) The mailbag on this site is getting very tedious with about 60 - 80% of the messages about "Don & Mike". I honestly can say that I would have no idea how to find this show on the radio and don't care to find out. If people knew how idiotic that they sound fighting over two men who sound like morons... (11/14/06) Perhaps everyone involved in this Don and Mike debacle are at fault. Managers that can't prioritize or determine how to focus resources and talent where it's needed, and clearly have no understanding of contingency plans. The engineers are at fault for either A) being in over their heads, or B) not caring enough to get what needs to be done done, and then if they have doing the quadruple checking that's required to ensure everything is working. The producers, Rob and John, are at fault for not shaking the branches hard enough to get the higher-ups to pay attention, and then cowardly hiding out from Don to avoid the wrath they actually deserve. Don and Mike are at fault for being unable to cope with the technical difficulties that come with doing a live show, and after years of indenturing themselves as slaves to the phones, they are now completely unable to a show without them. To the listener just seeking entertainment however, all of this falls squarely on the shoulders of Don Geronimo. It is completely inexcusable for someone who calls them self a broadcaster to walk out on a show once it has begun, no matter what befalls him. Don has become such the antithesis of a professional that this notion eludes him and he believes sabotaging the show, thereby punishing the audience, is an acceptable way to make a statement to the executives. It isn't, and for someone who has been in the business as long as him, he should know it. Shame-shame. (11/14/06) I didn't hear it personally, but Brian Mitchell is claiming that Jon Jansen of the Redskins "threatened" Czaban on WTEM's air regarding some things Czaban asked Mark Brunnell during the COMCAST post game show after the loss to the Iggles. Mitchell is a blow hard so I don't know whether to buy it, but it seems like things between the Redskins and WTEM are getting kind of nasty. (11/14/06) Pretty soon there won't be anyone left at NBC except a bunch of reality contestants, Howie Mandel, Bob Saget, and the casts of the three "Law and Order" shows. Fifth place here we come. The local news can be offshored and read from Bangalore, India. (11/14/06) For my money, the best radio newsman is Mack David on the Tom Joynor Show and this morning when my son was punching around, I heard him on the Russ Parr Show. The music on the TJMS is my generation, but it was great hearing the stories and the stuff you don't get on any other station on both of these for a change. No one else talked much about the King Memorial or other stories dealing with African Americans, unless it's bad stuff, except for Mr. David. We need that is an area with such a high black population. Herb/Bethesda (11/14/06) Don & Mike are not behaving like the radio pros they are supposed to be. Skipping out on the show because of the kinds of minor technical difficulties they encountered is just bullshit! If you want to talk about a program going all wrong, think in terms of Chicago announcer Herb Morrison, as he was covering an event at Lakehurst NJ in 1937! Even with the airship Hindenburg bursting into flames overhead, he stayed on the job and kept reporting the story, making sure his tech guy ("get this Scotty!") kept his recording equipment running. Listen to a real pro at work: www.npr.org... By the way, the NPR report suggests that the event was aired live - it wasn't. The story about that is found here: members.aol.com... "The Don & Mike Show": The biggest disaster on radio since The Hindenburg! (11/14/06) Dave's response: That would make Robbay proud - that Hindenburg reference..... Dave... The Harry Nice Bridge is located on RT 301 in southern Charles County Maryland... That's a long jump from I-95. Don in VA (11/14/06) Dave's response: I think it's the Tidings Bridge I'm thinking about - that I-95 link between Harford and Cecil counties..... The Don and Mike problems can all be linked to one major source, their lazy, spineless, producer Robb. He doesn't have the ability to produce a major league program and he proves that over and over. The so called "best of" segment on friday was an entire episode which was only about 2 weeks old and there was little if any "best of" material on that show. Then his every break apology "through no fault of our own" grew old about the second time he said it but that didn't prevent his repeating it over and over. How about taking some responsibility mr. producer!! Don does yell at him a lot and this makes him a sympathetic figure to some but his sheepish, wimpy responses just make him sound like a big pathetic pussy to me. Stand up for yourself for God's sake, you didn't hear Don yell at Charles Broyhill like that because he wouldn't take it. Don talks crap about him now but I honestly believe that Don was afraid of Broyhill.. (11/14/06) This whole thing about Don and Mike: About seven years ago, an underground transformer explosion knocked out power to downtown Norfolk. The news department of WTRK-TV (CBS) took some office furniture out to the street, and did an entire 30-minute newscast using the electricity in the satellite truck to send the signal to the transmitter. The weather guy drew maps on 8.5x11 pieces of paper, and commercials were hand-fed into a tape deck in the truck. It was beyond primitive, but they got the show on the air. Al McGilvray (11/14/06) You may want Czaban to lighten up but thats his schtick. Additionally, leave him alone because he's the only one at 980 capable of smart analysis on the Redskins and their station is the only one that can be heard consistently. It's a shame that Triple X is hard to hear because their Skins coverage is much better than 980's in part because, Czaban isn't there on gamedays. (11/14/06) A Cadillac SUV radio ad heard this morning made my skin crawl. Targetting "Soccer Moms", Cadillac went on to say that [paraphrasing] moms look sexier in Escalades than in mini-vans and some "Moms" on the ad were saying that minivans are just not right for them... that they were still young and look better in a Caddie SUV. It makes me laugh about how some parents try to cling to whatever is left of their youth by wanting to be seen in an SUV and not a - gasp! - minivan. Not that I have a minivan (I have only one child), but by Cadillac stating that "Sexy Soccer Moms" should drive their SUVs makes me wonder if Ford Truck would stoop so low as to do an ad to target "Sexy NASCAR Dads"? -Silvie in Waldorf- (11/14/06) Dave's response: Speaking of our biggest WMAL fan (Silvie), anyone hear Chris Core today threaten to do his show wearing only a bra? I almost threw up right then and there..... "Practical suggestion for Don and Mike: You're in a very populated area. When the phones go down, instead of giving up, why not take the mics outside and talk to people? Invite listeners to meet you outside the studio. You could draw a crowd and have some real interaction. Might make for some really good programming." Sure - but it wouldn't draw nearly the buzz their walking off stunt did. This was a godsend. Look at the attention they're getting and it didn't require any effort on their part. (11/14/06) I'm not an engineer, but D & M reverted to "Best of" segments after a 5-second segment of the entire program feed--not just the phones--began looping like an old broken record. I think it was the same delay equipment that failed Friday. I suppose they could still have gone real-time and just avoided the phones, but is it that simple? Can that be done quickly? (11/14/06) In defense of both D&M and management---the blame is both on the engineers for not getting the kinks out first-then to D&M for not doing thier job. I have been in this business for 11 years, and have worked for small stations and large ones. An Air Personality's primary job is to entertain-no matter what curves they are thrown. If the phones are down-go on the streets and do some bits. If not--they are PROS, and have tons of experiences that they can re-live--or re-hash some GOOD bits. I have been in Programming and Operations as well, and I expect my staff to perform no matter what obstacle that comes thier way. Phones are down,so what-grab some prep, and make bits. THEY NEED TO LEARN TO APPRECIATE THIER RESOURCES--cause they could always be shit canned tomorrow! (11/14/06) Re: Stations' towers not showing in Google aerial photos.... You often won't see the towers if the photo was taken from directly overhead. In the picture of 1590's site even the shadows of the towers blend into the swamp where they are sited. I assure you that there are seven (7) short towers at their site. You can download "KML" files to plot transmitter locations on Google Earth for the top-nine metro areas from my site users.erols.com/rcarpen Unzip KMLFILES.ZIP and enjoy. (11/14/06) Practical suggestion for Don and Mike: You're in a very populated area. When the phones go down, instead of giving up, why not take the mics outside and talk to people? Invite listeners to meet you outside the studio. You could draw a crowd and have some real interaction. Might make for some really good programming. (11/14/06) You know what? I’m going to come to D&M’s defense on this. There is nothing more frustrating than shitty equipment that doesn’t work. It is fundamental to the work—putting on a show—that technical components function reliably. The people running radio stations these days don’t seem to give a shit about this anymore. If you bring it up that something doesn’t work properly, or if you have ideas about new elements, you get ignored. Bring it up again and you’re a crybaby whiner. Next thing you know, you’re handicapped by equipment and process failures that you have to work around just get a show on the air. That takes your focus off content, the product. When technical failures hang around, add up and no one cares, what are you supposed to do? Give up and suck? I give D&M credit for having the stones to walk out. I'll bet the problem is fixed today. (11/14/06) From the "Google me THIS Batman" Department...... if I pull up a Google maps satellite pic of area radio stations' 1,2,3,4, or 5 tower array transmitting facilities and I find no towers at all, or the land being cleared for housing development on the Google maps satellite pic, exactly how long can a legitimately FCC-licensed radio station get away with not having actual radio towers at their licensed transmitting location? I suspect a few area radio stations might not be so amused by this "new-fangled" Google maps technology (like WFBR AM 1590 Glen Burnie, MD). Not that I think anything bad is going to happen to any of these stations. Hell no, the FCC website has the appearance and functionality of one of the best third-world government websites known to mankind, so I'm sure Google Maps poses no threat to any radio station's FCC STA status. I'd love to post a Google Maps Non-Radio Station Transmission Site of the Month pic, sort of like an alternate universe FYBUSH calender. And these are the GREENEST of all radio transmitting facilities you'll ever find in the world as there aren't any transmitting facilities at all at many area FCC-licensed radio locations. You'd be amazed how many. :-) (11/14/06) I listened to Bob Kur yesterday for thr first time in weeks to hear Victoria Jones. She is a welcome addition, funny and incisive, and probing, particularly with that priest yesterday, and I may even listen to the broadcast regularly if she remains. Shawn in DC (11/14/06) OK Dave, since I have your attention, comments on broadcast broads.... Why did Ch 9 replace one of the most talented traffic reporters in DC...Beverly Farmer (in the dell)? Bev was the Queen of the Segue! She also is a pro broadcaster! The new person is still lost! BAD MOVE! Want to move someone? Drop Julie (I'm in the union) Wright! She got where she is today taking little steps....on as many others as she could! As far as Michelle Basch (sp?) She too was a pro! Sounded like she enjoyed her work! Another news pro, Kristy King! Keep up the great job! Erica Hillary....FORCES everything! Too much! Sounds like she is competing for airtime! Local radio needs Victoria Jones back! Hey WMAL, Why not drop some of your syndy talkers and go local...remember local radio? And for the Princess of the Potholes, the Mistress of the Median, our Gal on the Guardrail, Lisa "Beltway" Baden! You are the best! Thanks goodness, Ben Hill and Jay Stevens couldn't recognize true talent! Steve Chaconas (11/14/06) While I can completely understand the occasional Don And Mike beating, the ongoing problems at their studio can hardly be blamed on Don or Mike or Buzz or Joe or John or even Rob. How about placing the blame squarely on the shoulders of the people responsible for making sure that equipment works? The engineers! I highly doubt Don knows the inner-workings of all the equipment in the station! When your phone craps out, do you call your son or husband? I don't; I call the phone company! Listen people, I may be nothing more than a MILF with a lot of time on my hands, but cut D&M some slack and bitch and moan about the engineers who supposedly know what they are doing. If you did such a poor job in your line of work, would you still have a job? I doubt it. Kristen (11/14/06) Anyone who would consider Ehrlich's reference on the Junkies to Giuliani's running for president in '08 as a "scoop" clearly doesn't keep up with the news cycle. It was about as fresh as reading yesterday's ballscores. (11/14/06) What is up with am730? I was in the car trying to catch the Skins game on Sunday. The feed was lost several times. The studio announcer let the audience know there were technical difficulties! If I was the PD, I would have told all studio operators to never talk about technical difficulties. Just turn on the TV and BROADCAST the game. Where has all the talent gone? Steve (11/14/06) Dave's response: Speaking of Triple X, I was picking up 92.7 quite loud and clear here in Wild West Fairfax on my car radio yesterday. Something that usually isn't possible in my neighborhood. Has someone jacked up the power - or maybe it was just the weather? Hmmm..... Don Geronimo reminds me of the guy in the office (everybody knows someone like this) who uses every single drop of vacation and sick time during the year because "he's earned it". On top of that he continues to come up with creative and inventive ways of getting even more time off from work. Yesterday's tantrum and subsequent walk-off is simply a disgrace to the industry that he claims to care so much about. Hey Don, you're the self-proclaimed CEO of the D & M program right? Well, why weren't you in earlier on Monday to make sure all was well at the studio? You are as much to blame as anybody else over there, so cut the whining and get around to entertanining your audience for a change. Picking on engineering personnel and other staff is the stuff of bullies and cowards. You know what you need Doni? You need a good old-fashioned kick in the pants and somebody to tell you to act like a man. With only two years to go you sure seem content to go out with a whimper rather than a bang. The horror, the horror. -Bill in Sterling, VA- (11/14/06) In answer to the question about 60s WRC weatherman, its Don Sarreals, as I recall he did the 1PM show and was the No.2 at the time. Tom in DC (11/14/06) I'm wondering why everyone is jumping all over Don and Mike. Why do you pay so much attention to a show you hate? You guys were real quick writing into the mailbag... Listen much? Doesn't make much sense and I'd bet a lot of hidden agendas are behind a majority of these emails. Not having the phones dampers the show badly, as the show relies on the phones for content (durrrr). The freaking weekend infomercial shows on JFK have working phones, the fact that the behind the scenes staff there can't get the s--- right for D&M just shows the station's lack of support for the guys. (11/14/06) If Don had any balls he would have stayed on the air and battled through the technical difficulties. So you can't take calls, then don't and do a show without calls. "Buck up soldier". And it's very apparent that Mike is always the first one ready to get the hell out of the studio. While I'm ranting, Don has been such an ass to Rob since Rob became the producer. In one sentence Rob is "supposedly" his best friend and in the next sentence Rob is brutally berated. I know Don it's just a show, but it's becoming uncomfortable and less funny because of this. Question: Has EVERY producer you have ever had sucked, or are you just and a-hole? Loyal listener. (11/14/06) It was said why should don and mike whine about phone problems....and then you go on to say ron and fez have been dealing with them for over a year..........THIS SHIT HAS BEEN PERFECTED!!!! What this industry needs is some engineers that are worth a damn...We had a phone problem once...i forgot to pay the bill....otherwise it never fails. steve in iowa (11/14/06) To the writer who said Don & Mike are not quitters. I flipped the stations around while I was at work yesterday and heard Don & Mike bantering about soccermoms and pornography ...giggling about soccermoms reactions to the C word. That is funny? I turned the station out of intense bordom. I turned long before they walked off the show, thank God. If Don & Mike are the best things going, we are all in trouble. I sometimes wonder if Don & Mike read your sight and send postings under a fictitious name to your mailbag to support their own show. I bet that was Don writing that posting. Dave, hang on....by January the mass exodus of republicans out of Washington will freshen the air quite a bit. Miranda in Mclean (11/14/06) Don and Mike walked off the show AGAIN. What now-blame this on engineering? I tell you as a professional, shit happens. Sometimes the phones don't work. A true radio show can operate without phones. They are just over paid BABIES. Big Pussies. I can't wait until they retire and this shit gets off the air. (11/14/06) Twenty five year old radio account manager and Dewey Beach animal Lisa Tsimbidis proves in today's Washington Post she is inarticulate. www.washingtonpost.com (11/14/06) Walking out on your show in the middle of the Fall Book is a classic way to boost ratings. Gullible listeners will tune in to see if you come back. Stern did it many, many years ago. So did Imus. Heck, even Dan Rather did it. Not very fresh or original but it probably still works. (11/14/06) How are Don and Mike "quitters"? They have the best show on radio. Period. I'll bet this won't get posted, because dave is a pussy. (11/14/06) Michelle Basch, the most awesome newsgal at WMAL, is not with the station anymore, as stated by Chris Plante in the last seconds of his show tonight (Erica Kane filled-in this evening)... Michelle was a great newsperson and I'm sad to see her go... I don't know if this was a personal decision or not. -Silvie in Waldorf- (11/14/06) Dave's response: Technically, Erica works for Westwood One's Metro Traffic. ABC's WMAL gets its evening, overnight, and weekend newscasts from an outside vendor..... I can't believe what I'm hearing about Dum-dum and Lard Butt walking off that late in the show. They had two days worth of news that Buzz Burbank could have read that would have been exponentially more entertaining than the crap they are passing off as entertainment on their show. Please, just let them out of their contract and put the Junkies on in their time slot Anything. Just something more entertaining than what's on 3-7 on 106.7. (11/14/06) Re: "What's this with Don and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz........" Almost an I Scream Headache! The Ghost of WHarr still rides on....thanks for making me laugh. That Sylvia Jaffe IS loaded for bear! (11/14/06) Wow. WTMD is going to relay their signal on WAMU 2. I'll just traips my ass down to Radio Shack and spend 200.00 just to hear it. Here's a better idea, put the shit format on WAMU2, and put AAA on 88.5 FM. (11/14/06) Will someone please put Don and Mike out of our misery and destroy the rest of their studio so we no longer have to hear those big fat babies whine and cry over their little technical problems. If these gasbags had an ounce of talent, you think they would be able to get on the air and do some interesting radio. Instead, they piss and moan and whine like a couple of 5 year old girls who had their Barbie dolls taken away. Ron and Fez have been dealing with phone problems for over a year now, and they never quit. They bring the funny. Ron Bennington is twice the professional and ten times the talent than both those shitbags Don and Mike rolled into one. Have mercy on the listeners WJFK! Bring some real talent back to air, fire those fat fuck crybabies Don and Mike, and bring Ron and Fez back to Free FM. (11/14/06) It looks like the Junkies got the scoop last week when Gov. Ehrlich slipped up and announced that Giuliani was running for president in 08'. It's a shame you glossed over this huge story last week. (11/14/06) Dave's response: Hardly a "scoop." Virtually everyone in the political punditry world has been predicting that Rudy's gonna run. He'll never get the GOP nomination - he's more liberal on many social issues than many Democrats are. Look, something is seriously wrong with a country that has presidential campaigns that last two friggin' years. We're talking about an election that's going to happen in 2008, not even next year! American politics is terminally corrupt when you need to raise gazillions of dollars from an army of favor-seeking fatcats to become president. It's nothing but nauseating. We're bringing "democracy" to Iraq and yet the citizens of our own capital city STILL can't even vote for Congress. Something's seriously wrong with this "picture," baby! Hey, I'm waiting for Jeb to run so that we can have daddy AND his two sons be president. If two Bushes haven't screwed things up enough, why not a third! The "royal" line of succession. Sheesh..... Haven't checked the "bag" for a while, and when I do, what a hot couple of topics!!! WaPoRad auditioning co-hosts in an effort to salvage itself from the ratings basement? And D&M walk out in a snit over technical problems? In both cases, what we have here are programming failures trying to make themselves relevant. Good luck. I doubt very many people are listening or care anymore. (11/14/06) Please let Don and Mike's big fat listeners walk out on them. PLB: What an asshole. Now? Now, will you climb down from your high horse and be a lowly human? It does happen to professionals? Sincerely, Kate Coolats (11/14/06) /\ November 14 Messages /\ \/ November 13 Messages \/ I'm Gordon Williamson. It's impossible for me to check daily for happenings in D.C. I am finishing up on my book about the start of WTTG. In fact I have just observed the 60th that's six zero years since I began on WTTG in the Harrington and Raleigh Hotels. DCRTV as been an extremely gratifying contact for me. I have received many responses from my appeal for any who may have some info on the whereabouts of the surviving old timers. Thanks to all of you. If you have any questions about ancient days contact fsp2a@aol.com. I'm continually trying to reach anyone still alive or anyone related to anyone who was in that great bunch at WTTG. I am especially trying to find another kinescope from DuMont done by Aletha Agee and Art Lamb. We have found one owned by Art's wife and rescued by Jill Lamb King, a really great person who is Art's daughter. From the granddaughter of Roger Coelos has come a picture but I need more. By far, the most helpful collaboration has come from Jil and Kaptainkidshow. Again best to all of you. Gordon Williamson (11/13/06) Hi to all of those that have been so caring during this very difficult time. As you know, Eisner Communications closed their doors as of 5:00PM Friday. We (Read Street Sound) were leasing from them. We were told at 10AM on Friday morning we must get all of our "stuff" out of the building by midnight, NO EXCEPTIONS or it would be considered Eisner Inventory and we would have lost it all. So, with the help of 20 Eisner Communications ex-employees we dismantled the studio(s) and moved all into storage. Web McPherson former broadcaster gave us the storage space. Sean Hall offered us recording space in any emergency. Thank God we have no emergencies. Then, Bill Paris called me at home and offered us space to set up our studios. We have done that already. We are not yet in place for actual recording, but will be by Thursday.Today has been one hell of a day, I've thrown my back out. I'm dead tired and I'm still looking for permanent space. We have an entire inventory of top of the line recording tools and need desperately to get settled in and are willing to listen to any offers. We can continue to provide services to our clients without interruption, but we need to land somewhere in the Baltimore area soon. If anyone has an area of approximately400 sq. feet, and would like to help build out a place for us, we can make a very attractive offer-You can contact my office by going to www.readstreetsound.com. You can also call the number on the site. Joyce Conroy, Bill Stone of Year Once, Bill Paris, Sean Hall, Web McPherson and the Eisner crew, God Bless and sincere thanks. We hope to hear form you. In closing, the sooner the better. PLB (11/13/06) Dave, Radio Shack now has an HD desktop receiver for under $200. Your readers may not be aware, but constraints in the laws of physics and regulators currently allow the digital radio signal to be only 1%, that is not a typo, only 1% of the analog ERP. That is all the FCC will allow during hybrid analog/digital operation, and it does not increase if you run HD 2 and 3. So if your station has a Class ERP of 50kW, which is most of the stations in this area, the digital is only 500 watts ERP. If your transmitter has an analog TPO of 18kW, then your digital is only 180 watts. I have built some mountain top sites already where the digital is as low as 28 watts for a Class A. It is somewhat of a miracle that you get the signal at all in some cases. Imagine if you will that you have six common 75W floodlights together lighting your backyard. That is the ERP of most digital stations in this area (although some are quite lower than that.) Now, how far down your block do you think you can clearly see that light? While we expect the FCC to eventually allow closer to 1,000 watts, but not more than 5,000 watts at Class B during the hybrid period, there is no date for that yet. However, most of the digital signals do make it as a usable signal to the station's 60dBu analog contour at this time. Eventually, it will be all digital, at probably 10% of the current TPO to achieve the same replication of pattern as was available in analog, but with up to eight times the channels available per assigned station (if regulators approve all proposed implementations). Yes, doing more with less is achievable. So work with us, buy the radio, tell the stations what you think of the added channels and hope the new Congress assists the industry to move ahead. We have built five of the HD FM stations in the Washington DC area. Sincerely, EAB (11/13/06) Don & Mike walk off again and blame everyone but themselves. It appears to this listener that they are akin to Quitters. Things go sour and Don vents & sprints for his Escalade , taking his portly partner Mike with him while stiffing his audience and advertisers. W G Hatcher (11/13/06) What's this with Don and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz........ Speaking about Bluegrass music I was thinking about Bill Clifton and not the late Buzz Busby..my mind weren't right.....and how is Jerry Gray doing these days? I guess we shan't hear from him and Clyde the cow again, unfortunately? Hope he has plans along the lines of Felix Grant for his vast record collection. Btws, has anyone tried accessing Felix Grant collection over at UDC online www.lrdudc.wrlc.org ..... I wondered what had become of Ray Brown on the Comcast Sport's Redskin's Postgame Live show. After searching this here internet I find Mr. Brown has rejoined them Dreadskin's in some capacity and linebacker extraordinaire Ken Harvey has joined the show. Heck with the mediocre play of the Dreadskin's linebacking crew Mr. Harvey might still be helpful on field. And as for that Comcast postgame Live show I got to say, Czaban lighten up dude! A major reason I enjoy listening to Czaban was his sense of humor but for some reason he seems to almost be taking personally the bplight of the mediocre Dreadskin's. Remember what Dr. Sidney Freedman said, Drop your pants and slide on the ice! I presume if they gave it more effort and were more of a "Team" the Dreadskin's could probably be a .500 team in this NFL but with all the unwise spending they probably have salary cap issues for several year's to come and have little wiggle room to get out of this rut. And as for Brian Mitchell, hey baby always with the negative waves, that's what I dig about you.... and what does it say that Comcast has moved the Monday Night Live show to 11:30 pm pre-taped?......... Bill Smith.... the things we do for love... Watch It! (11/13/06) (Dave's response: Now all I need is an HD Radio. Hey, anyone in the biz want to do an ad trade with DCRTV for a free receiver? Be happy to run a couple of ads in the right column on several DCRTV pages. Lemme know..) Dave - I like the Boston, but I need a really good antenna in Laurel to get WAMU's signals and WGMS fades in and out. Your mileage may vary. GAB in the Airless Cubicle (11/13/06) Well, poor little Don Geronimo had yet another blow up at the end of the show, culminating in a walk-out around 5:30. Real professional. So the phones aren't working. Can you not do a show without phones? You admitted it yourself, Don: "Sure we yell at people when they call on the phone..." So what's wrong, Don. With no one calling in you don't have anyone to yell at? Can't do a single show without yelling at someone? So you take it out on Rob. Your show is tanking, and you know it. You're on the verge of a nervous breakdown, no doubt. And as for your challenge to CBS management to fire you: We could only hope so. (11/13/06) Well, it appears that Don and Mike have "walked" off the show yet again. From today's show log at www.donandmikewebsite.com: "Robb says that the phones 'should' be working...it is something about an 'auto call hang up'. Don is going to give the phones a try...still don't seem to be working. Don is getting close to a melt down. We should not be testing equipment while we are on the air, that should be done before the show...we have been off the air for three effing days, it would have been nice to get this all cleared up over the weekend. Don says he thought that he would never quote Joe...but Joe emailed Don over the weekend, he was apologizing for the problems we had on Friday, but Don is holding Joe accountable, and is wondering why this show doesn't get the same consideration that all the other shows in this company gets. The people behind the scenes need to do their jobs. Don and Mike have been making something out of nothing for too freaking long, all we are asking is that all the equipment work correctly. All the other shows on this station don't seem to have these same problems. This is not the show that Don had planned to do, we were looking forward to having a fun show. Don doesn't want to piss off the people who listen to this show, but he is ready to bail on this today. Don has a contingency plan for when things don't go right...but he has no contingency plan for this mess. Don says that he loves this job, but this is making him wonder why he came back. This show has never been a priority with the company. Hopefully we will see you tomorrow, sorry that this has to happen again." (11/13/06) Dave's response: Damn, I missed it..... Sweet about WTMD getting a DC relay via WAMU !! Along with WAMU's HD-3 bluegrass, 88.5 is one cool radio frequency. Speaking of HD, anyone heard the new world channel on WHUR HD-2 ? Nothing on the website yet. (11/13/06) Well D&M, Walk off the show today... (11/13/06) "I think they should hire former MALer Brooke Stevens to pair with Kur so they can kick Chris Bore's ass." Sounds like this poster doesn't even know Chris hasn't been in afternoon drive in years, he is now on 9-noon. Chris has been around a long time. That makes him a convenient, familiar target for people who want to vent, even when they don't know what they are talking about. But if you ask actual colleagues working in the business, including at competing stations, they'll tell you he is a solid, respected professional and a real gentlemen. (11/13/06) RE: ["Chris Core is one of the best talkers in DC?" Are you kidding? He has the creativity of a shovel handle and is almost as sensitive. (Ex-ABCer)] .....Even after being run out of town on a rail over two years ago....Isn't it nice to see that Michael Graham STILL stops by now and again to skim the DCRTV mailbag? How's the gig going on Beantown now that they've demoted you from afternoon drive to the 7-10 graveyard, Mikey? (11/13/06) Who recalls the name of the man shown here on WRC-TV in the '60s who may be DC TV's first African-American weatherperson? (My fuzzy brain is telling me "Carroll Henson".) (11/13/06) I came into the tail end of the D&M rant...what were they mad at???? (11/13/06) To the poster saying "Mike Maus" is a right-winger, you are wrong on two counts. First, it is Mike Moss. Second, the guy is a straight arrow news guy. Love him or not, people know is not partisan. That's an unfiar rap and your conclusion (opinion) is based on what, ONE interview? (11/13/06) Dave: to the poster who writes (in part): "I think Victoria Jones would be better suited as a foil for the right-leaning Mike Maus". For god's sake, we've had this discussion before, seemingly over and over again: the man's name is spelled "M-O-S-S". I don't give a flying fig what you *think* his name is: that's how it is spelled. If you don't believe me, then go look at their website! Geez louise, if you're gonna slam the guy, at least have the decency to spell his name correctly!!!!! And so it goes... - Max in Mild West Arlington (11/13/06) I really do like Victoria Jones anchoring with Bob Kur on Wash Post Radio. I think of her as a lefty but it sounds like she is playing this right down the middle. Kur is smart, but she injects personality. A male-female team may be just what this radio station needs. (11/13/06) Anybody else think comedian Bill Kirchenbauer--the dad from the 80's sitcom "Just the Ten of Us"--looks a little like a certain Radio God? (11/13/06) Dave's response: Maybe if you crossed Don Geronimo with Rob Reiner..... Anyone else find the new morning show with Kane this morning on hot 99.5 boring as hell. It was like a more music morning show with filler talk between bland old songs like "Don't Speak" by No Doubt. At times I thought I was listening to mix 107.3. also, I don't understand the Clear Channel philosophy of cleaning house in markets like New York, DC,Baltimore, Raleigh and many others is. In the case of hOT 99.5 I don't mind Vibe Girl or Toby during the day and I am sure they were cheaper than Albie and KT but in the case of Kane in the morning I actually liked Mark,Kris and Ron and listened to them for years. This move reminds me of when Z104 got rid of Billy Bush and replaced him with the best of Rick Dees, then Dylan, then haber then Mathew Blades. To all the programming geniuses of the radio world if it aint broke don't fix it. In the case of hot 99.5 their numbers were never better why all the changes!!! (11/13/06) Dave's response: Hey, I'd just like to officially welcome Kane to DC, the "most funnest" radio market in the country thanks to DCRTV! Enjoy your stay. Ha ha ha ha..... The Joe Cipriano mentioned in the mailbag is indeed the late 70's WKYS disco jock. His wife used to work at the station, and they have a beautiful Beverly Hills Home. Not every announcer has a state-of-the-art studio overlooking a pool. (11/13/06) Delmarva Broadcasting has taken another of it's FM's HD. WSTW in Wilmington was the first, and has added an HD2 format targeting the under 30 crowd with an Aternative format. Now they have turn on HD at WAFL in Milford. What's interesting is that it's only a 3kw class A. I listened to the station in HD, sounded the same as in analog. I did notice that the HD coverage was much less that analog. I have the JVC KD-HDR-1 and picked up the HD signal from a little north of Georgetown to the souther part of Dover, not quite the 60dbu contour. Interestingly Clear Channel in Dover (WRDX) wasn't first in Delaware. I hear that as least in Salisbury the engineering budget for next year has been cut.With the sale pending, it's not just people being cut. I wonder which Delmarva Broadcasting station will be next. One more not, WRTX (Temple's little class A in Dover 91.7) is also in HD. (11/13/06) Dave- Thanks so much for giving us some prime space for the HD radio announcement! Both stations are excited about this, and this will really help us get the word out (on what I hope is a positive development for radio in the market). Kay Summers, Director of Public Information, WAMU 88.5 (11/13/06) Dave's response: Now all I need is an HD Radio. Hey, anyone in the biz want to do an ad trade with DCRTV for a free receiver? Be happy to run a couple of ads in the right column on several DCRTV pages. Lemme know..... I agree that WTWP drive time shows could use some co-hosts. Although, I think Victoria Jones would be better suited as a foil for the right-leaning Mike Maus (any doubts I had otherwise were shattered by Maus's interview with former Attorney General John Asscroft back on Columbus Day where Maus had his head so far up Ashcroft's butt Maus was practically massaging Asscroft's prostate gland). I think they should hire former MALer Brooke Stevens to pair with Kur so they can kick Chris Bore's ass. cj (11/13/06) "Chris Core is one of the best talkers in DC?" Are you kidding? He has the creativity of a shovel handle and is almost as sensitive. (Ex-ABCer) (11/13/06) Speaking of WTMD...I know they were seeking an Operations Manager a while back. Did they ever find anyone yet? (11/13/06) A name came to mind last night that I just cannot seem to place. Toni Zimmerwoman. For some reason, I am connecting this name to DC radio, perhaps in the mid to late 1970s, but I'm not sure. Does anyone out in the vast dcrtv audience remember an air personality by this name or have any details? Thanks! (11/13/06) Someone asked D&M today if they're now in the Greaseman's old Rockville studio when he was at WARW. Yes, right next door! And then Buzz jested that it was like moving into a house where someone had committed suicide. Funny guy! (11/13/06) "Dave's response: Oh, yeah, the Nice Bridge on I-95." Wrong. It's on US301 connecting Maryland and Virginia. Completed in 1940 for the horrendous cost of $5 million. (11/13/06) The Information Super Station was both an LPTV station and online service in DC operated by Dennis Dunbar and a few local investors and one national investor. It was on the air for a short period of time in the 90's and tried to air Federal programming both on-air and via the Internet. Dunbar got sued by his investors for various reasons, lost the license, and didn't really program the station a great deal. He was more interested in getting Federal contracts for video conferencing using a big Fed-Ex dish he got at auction, or to air Federal paid programming under the GSA schedule. The Internet was not yet truely broadband ready so that didn't help also. I was involved with the station at the start-up and saw from the inside what was going on. Good idea, poor execution. (11/13/06) I’ve found information on your website referencing Information Super Station. Do you have any contact information for them? This station was the brainchild of Dennis Dunbar who wanted to provide TV coverage to members of the House and Senate. I know he’s back in town, but I don’t think he’s in that business anymore. (11/13/06) RE: "WTMD has dropped The Polka Hop and Reflections of Ireland..." Looks like it is time for another NEA study on how public radio is flushing culture down the toilet. The poor Irish Polka Hoppers, they have nothing to reflect on now. What's this country coming to? (11/13/06) General Bull moose, your ranting's are the reason the Republicans lost the election.Get out of your state of denial! This war was unneeded and a sham. Cheney wanted it and Bush gave it to him. Finally, the people saw through the right wing screen. BUTCH (11/13/06) RE: "101.9 in Baltimore has begun it's Christmas music... Rouse is good, but I sure miss Carpenter in the morning!"...The best Christmas gifts 101.9 could offer its listeners would be to lose that lump of coal Greg Carpenter in the afternoon and warm-up the radio hearth with the return of the Merson Person. (11/13/06) I think Washington Post Radio would sound so much better with drivetime co-hosts. WTOP does. (11/13/06) Hello. I’ve found information on your website referencing Information Super Station. Do you have any contact information for them? Thank you, Monica (11/13/06) Dave's response: There used to be a low-power TV operation on Channel 28 in DC that called itself the ISS. Is it still on the air? Anyone know..... "The only Republican governor in eighty years????????? I seem to remember Spiro T. Agnew. JohnnyuinHanover,Pa." "And Theodore Roosevelt McKeldin....." (1951-1959) And Harry W. Nice (1935-1939) (11/13/06) Dave's response: Oh, yeah, the Nice Bridge on I-95. Isn't that the one from which a DC music promoter jumped a few years back? For those who missed it, this is vintage Gurvir Dhindsa after the live "Grape Stomp" incident...Pat R. in Smothern Maryland... my.break.com (11/13/06) Dave's response: The number one sex fantasy for males in the DC area is to have Gurvir "stomp" on them..... Only a Nattering Nabob of Negativism would have forgotten Spiro Agnew... (11/13/06) Dave's response: WMAL has applied to the FCC to change its calls to WAGN - Agnew 630..... I was kidding about the ZZ Top thing, I hope you took it that way. You are a good man Dave. Donation "in the mail"... (11/13/06) Hi...maybe I'm showing my age here, but isn't this the same Joe Cipriano who was on the air here in DC? www.apple.com... Got it from Apple's alternate Web site. alr (11/13/06) "Mike," to say "I understand that the entire Fox operation has never received the memo that the Iraq war is controversial" is like saying "I understand that this attack on Italy to get to Nazis is controversial. That General Patton cusses sometimes." There is no controversy. If you support the war and the President's attempt to prosecute it, you are a patriot. If you do not, you are a yellow-stained coward or a supporter of our sworn enemy. There are NO other options! Sorry. That's fact. Has our President done a good job? Heck no! He should have sent in half a million troops and air strikes that made it look like the gates of Hell had opened. But, none of this has a damn thing to do with showing the troops on television, in any form, on Veteran's Day! Now, refrain from writing mindless graffiti on the computer until you have passed US History and Government I and II! - General Bullmoose (11/13/06) Re: Troops shown on the football game. Get over yourselves. Showing the troops has NOTHING to do with Rupert or politics. There simply involving them in the broadcast as they always do around this time of year. It is something that helps them out over there doing this gawd awfully thing. Being in the military and stationed away from family this time of year REALLY SUCKS!! And CBS, ESPN and NBC will soon be doing it as well. Dave if your shit came out wrong, you'd try and blame it on Fox. (11/13/06) (quote) Just 2 weeks left until the end of WGOP AM 540 Damascus, MD (CP). (end quote) What legal options does Birach have to extend/modify/refile the construction permit to keep it on the front burner? If for nothing else, combining 700 and 540 in one location means they would finally have a station address that someone could actually find; never mind magically-disappearing studios on Wisconsin Ave and in Fairfax. For that matter, why on earth are 700 and 540 still on the air? Totally unlistenable, both of them. (11/13/06) "Will Bob Kur have a co-host again today on WaPo Radio?" Yes. Victoria Jones again today. (11/13/06) WaPO: Why I don't listen. "This is -name of host- on Washington Post radio. There was a real interesting article in the Post today about…". Then the reporter comes on and regurgitates what the story is. I already know the story, I read the paper…online no less. Why should I listen about a story I read and had only moderate interest in to begin with? There are a few bright spots here and there, like Hilary Howard and some local angles and backgrounds not reflected in the printed stories; but that does not do it for me. I simply cannot listen to it because I know enough about the story after reading it. Bring back "Traffic and Weather" on the 8's to 107.7 so I can hear the reports south of Dumfries on my way back from Richmond. Jim F. is listening, right? Dave: Loved your guitar playing in ZZ Top! Do you still have the '32 Ford hot rod? Good to see you kept the beard. -Arby (11/13/06) Dave's response: You're funny..... While few would have a problem with Fox TV showing US troops in Baghdad watching yesterday's telecast of the Redskins-Eagles game, the network flirted with overkill by doing so after every commercial break (at least during the first half). I understand that the entire Fox operation has never received the memo that the Iraq war is controversial, but efforts should be made to avoid the slightest appearance of politicizing during broadcasts of sports events. Meanwhile over at CBS, James Brown (a longtime Skins fan) said something you'd never expect to hear from a national studio host - he called the team's effort in Philly 'disgusting and pitiful'. Mike, Fairfax (11/13/06) Dave's response: Everything on Fox has a political subtext, even football. That's just the way Rupert Murdoch operates. Hey, I just heard an ABC Radio news report on WMAL which says there's a John Stewart-type parody newscast on Iraqi TV that elicits humor from the continuing bloodshed over there. Absolutely unbelievable..... Nearly 40 years after the Woodstock era, its music is enthralling legions of high-school and college-age fans who have Jimi Hendrix on their iPods and Neil Young T-shirts on their backs. And now, it's on the Web - and there's much more than just music - posters, T-shirts, photos, memorabilia and paraphernalia. It's a treasure trove and a time capsule. Thousands of hours of unreleased audio, video and film recordings from concerts Bill Graham staged at the Fillmore and other venues as well as an archive of King Biscuit Flower Hour concerts broadcast on the radio. 300 concerts - from the Allman Brothers to Led Zeppelin and everything in-between - all collected since the 1960s by rock impresario, Bill Graham, who died in 1991, and now compiled for free online listening. This collection had been owned by Clear Channel and was purchased for about $6 million by longtime rock fan and entrepreneur, Bill Sagan. Here's the link to the website www.wolfgangsvault.com and an article from Sunday's Los Angeles Times about this amazing collection www.latimes.com (11/13/06) "The only Republican governor in eighty years????????? I seem to remember Spiro T. Agnew. JohnnyuinHanover,Pa." And Theodore Roosevelt McKeldin..... (11/13/06) 101.9 in Baltimore has begun it's Christmas music... Rouse is good, but I sure miss Carpenter in the morning! (11/13/06) Will Bob Kur have a co-host again today on WaPo Radio? I read about Victoria Jones over the weekend and I am sorry I missed them together. (11/13/06) Dave's response: Somebody's gotta do something. The show's just not getting any ratings traction. If I were running WTWP, I get Buzz Burbank to co-host..... Just 2 weeks left until the end of WGOP AM 540 Damascus, MD (CP), tick, tock, tick, tock....... (11/13/06) Why do you hate the Junkies so much? They are the best thing going in the mornings in this area. They blow that idiot Elliot away by miles. It's not like they get awful ratings either. (11/13/06) Dave's response: I like the Junkies when they stick to sports..... The only Republican governor in eighty years????????? I seem to remember Spiro T. Agnew. JohnnyuinHanover,Pa. (11/13/06) Regarding Fisher's blog: Ken Stern of National Public Radio is wrong. The purpose of public radio is not to point listeners to streaming Web sites or alternate HD channels. Often you are marginalizing those listeners who can't afford an HD set or broadband. The purpose of public radio is to provide services to the public that commercial radio will not touch. It should not be a direct competitor to commercial stations. If you want rich listeners, then why not broadcast the fur, Persian Rug, and diamond commercials instead the pretense of being above commercialism? -- GAB in the Airless Cubicle (trying out HD and disappointed so far) (11/13/06) Fox 5 News has a new reporter Ellen Chang - does anybody else find her to be one really scary looking chick? Very severe looking with blood-red lipstick and she seems to never smile. How do these people get to be TV news reporters? Someone at Fox needs to tell her to lighten up a little. BTW, I am living Don and Mike-free for almost two years now. I don't miss them and I won't ever go back to listening to them again from what I read about them on here AND I have Sirius radio and have only listened to Howard Stern one time before turning him off and removing his channel from my pre-sets. For very funny and smart talk radio on Sirius, catch the Jay Thomas show in the afternoons, it's worth it. (11/13/06) Clear Channel - how to fail at radio without really trying (11/13/06) Dave's response: The problem is that CC doesn't run its radio stations like radio stations. They run them like a chain of shoe stores or widget factories..... On the Saturday edition of NBC Nightly News, there was a story on how personal digital music technology has decimated CD sales, and retail outlets, like Tower Records. Here's the link for those who missed the broadcast: video.msn.com (11/13/06) /\ November 13 Messages /\ \/ November 12 Messages \/ WHFS website is now saying that KMS is soon coming. Is the 'S' Spiegel or someone new? Josh Spiegal's face is still on 98 Rock's website. (11/12/06) Dave's response: Maybe it's Kirk, Mark, and Spewak. Oh, nevermind..... "Number two, the GOP can now run against the do nothing Congress. " You mean like how Republican Texas Governor George W. Bush ran against a Republican "do-nothing" Congress? Listen to me -- Media pundits who peddle the conventional wisdom don't know any more than the rest of us do. (11/12/06) Clear Channel is letting all these REALLY talented people go but hang on to such lightweights as Maureen MCLane. Please, get rid of this poor excuse for a DJ. She is the worst thing I have EVER heard on the radio. She is fake, phony, pathetic. Lisa Berrigan on WBIG would be great in this spot. Thanks. (11/12/06) Dave you are losing credibility by the second. Do you think the Junkies could have gotten 100,000 extra people to vote for the only Republican Maryland Governor in 80 years? Not even your hero Howard Stern could have pulled off that miracle. Erhlich lost because of the public's hatred for Bush. No radio personality could have saved him. And if you seriously think an obese drunken sidekick could have generated a single vote for Jim Webb then the apocolypse is already upon us. (11/12/06) I remember a while back--there was word that Salem would be buying Aberdeen's WAMD, and skim the power back. Is that still happening. I know First Broadcasting applied to build a new tower farm across the bay in Kent County. I heard this from a buddy that buys time that the station is running without a staff--as they are entirely automated--with all day parts voice tracked from Waitt Radio Networks in Omaha--with no management--and no fulltimer present--which I believe is against the FCC policy. I think you have to have at least one full timer present during normal business hours. (11/12/06) Dave's response: I haven't heard any more about Salem's plans to buy WAMD. The plan we heard was to scale back Aberdeen's 970's coverage to allow a night power hike for Salem's 970 in North Jersey, which serves the NYC metro. Salem did sell its Baltimore outlet, WITH, 1230 AM, to Peter And Paul, which owns WRBS, 95.1 FM..... Can someone tell me what has happen to Washington radio? ... WJFK is in the trash, WMAL sucks... HFS is gone. CBS could give a rat ass about WJFK. There is nothing on radio on the weekends. dj (11/12/06) Dave's response: I have eight area music FMers on my car pre-sets - DC101, Turgid 100.3, WRQX, Lotsa Ads 94.7, 98 Rock, WINC-FM, Jack 102.7, and Hot 99.5 - and I frequently find either ads or really sucky tunes on all. Clear Channel is bad. CBS is absolutely horrible. I got so desperate for something to listen to, I actually found myself on Vegas Radio WTRI (1520 AM), which was airing a cool old Jack Benny show followed by the great Steve Ray doing a promo. Oh, the Sunday pre-noonish DJ on Mix 107.3 called U2's Bono "Boe-No" (a la Sonny Bono). It's THAT bad, folks! So-did Drep leave CBS. I know that he has been working crazy hours on a broadcast that just simulates what is happening on tv during the game, as well as Terps, and other large projects. (11/12/06) Dave's response: I have attemped to contact him but have, as yet, received no response..... How far will the BLOOD BATH at Clear Channel go? If the blood bath goes too far might some of the better on air folks decide to jump ship and go to the competition? With Ed Rodriguez already on the air at KEY-103 in Fredrick and Jessica Cash starting at Fredricksburg's WFLS tomorrow, the defection of a Jim London to another area station could hurt their ratings across the board.. When will Daniel Snyder wake up and admit he made a HUGE mistake by firing Frank Herzog and hiring Larry Michael. Larry Michael makes me want to vomit every time I listen to him call a game. (11/12/06) The Junkies get some good press in Sunday's Washington Post. The Metro section includes an article on Governor Ehrlich's plans and credits the Junks with doing the most candid interview with the Governor of all media outlets. Love em or hate em they do interesting interviews. (11/12/06) Dave's response: I don't know how "good" the press is if, even with the Junks behind him, Ehrlich still lost. I mean, Howard Stern could get people elected. And Mike O'Meara's on-air endorsement of Jim Webb was probably the push he needed to squeak to victory..... Actually, one thing the results of this election did is improve GOP presidential prospects for 2008. Number one, the voters had their hissy fit this year instead of two years from now. Number two, the GOP can now run against the do nothing Congress. As for Webb, he doesn't have the clout or prestige to be a maverick. He'll quickly toe the left wing line. (11/12/06) Dave's response: Nice to hear from you, George Allen..... Okay, a co-host might help Core and Plante - I'm not saying it necessarily won't - but the joy of listening to Plante, for example, is when he goes on his 20-minute near-cussin' rants where he doesn't even stop to take a deep breath. Some people are so "offended" by these rants that they call up the show accusing him of oh so many things. It is something to behold. A co-host might impede him to do that, which is actually his best asset. I think Plante works well with Klein. Putting ratings aside, Core is so centered and balanced, that he doesn't really need a co-host, does he? -Silvie in Waldorf- (11/12/06) WTMD has dropped The Polka Hop and Reflections of Ireland. They now play music starting at 9 instead of 1 on Sundays. There is an announcement on the WTMD website. (11/12/06) Re: Webb is hardly one to spout off self righteously about Drudge and dirty politics. Webb's campaign was as sleazy as it gets and Allen's was about on the same level. Ironically, Webb is a stranger in his own party from day one and will slowly be forced to drift to the left. He won't win a second term as a result.//// First it was religous kooks, and now mailbag has been infiltrated by psychics. Let's give Webb a chance to make a few decisions, mistakes, whatever...before we predict his leanings and what will happen in six years. At this point, no one really has any idea how he will act but for his pledges on a few issues. So,put away your turban and crystal ball and let events take their course, starting with his swearing in, before you start interpreting the tea leaves. (11/12/06) Dave's response: Hey, I don't know how many media political pontificators have actually said that the Dems' big wins last Tuesday was bad for the Dems because they'll get to make decisions in Congress and - gasp - might make the wrong ones. So, I guess, it would have been better for the Dems if they'd remained the minority party and out of power. These TV and radio media political guys are ALL nuts. Except for Chris Matthews..... ...spoke with PLB this morning. he and partner jay harrison plan to be back in business in a couple of days; perhaps even back at the old eisner building. they're supposed to meet w/building officials tomorrow. paul says fortunately; he's pretty much caught up on work and has a little bit of breathing room. FYI dave: i wouldn't worry too much about strange DCRTVers calling me. i've already been through that, so it can't be any worse. /sean hall (11/12/06) Hey, Biff....Do everyone a favor and throw yourself on a "DAGGER"!!!!!!!!! Your friend, Steve Buckhantz (11/12/06) Dave's response: We cannot confirm that the above was from "the" Steve Buckantz, if that's how you spell it..... www.usps.com... Here is a link to the USPS holiday schedule. Does anyone at the Post or WTWP know how to use the internet? The people at 107.7 repeated what was printed in the paper. I wonder how many people wasted their time because of poor research by Bonneville and Washington Post radio. (11/12/06) Today’s Chicago Tribune is reporting, “Turning up the heat on the already simmering auction for the assets of Chicago-based Tribune Co., Gannett Co., the nation's largest newspaper publisher, has emerged as a possible bidder for Tribune's newspaper properties, the Chicago Tribune learned Saturday. Executives from the McLean, Va.-based media giant, which publishes 90 U.S. newspapers, including top-read USA Today, were in Chicago last week to hear presentations on Tribune's financial condition, two sources close to the situation said. . . What Gannett's strategy would be is unclear. But industry sources noted that Gannett already owns several papers in Florida and would likely be most interested in owning Tribune Co.'s highly profitable papers in Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale. . . Tribune and Gannett have a long history of working together. Gannett earlier this year paid $180 million in cash for WATL-TV, Tribune's television station in Atlanta. And the companies are partners in several Internet-based businesses meant to replace the classified advertising disappearing from their newspaper pages: CareerBuilder.com, ShopLocal.com and Topix.net.” The link to the full story is www.chicagotribune.com. (11/12/06) RE: the Post incorrectly listing no mail delivery Friday. The post offices were indeed open and there was home mail delivery - a normal business day for the post office. I even talked to one of my mailman friends they day before, so I was well aware that Friday was a regular workday for them. The Post did indeed get this information wrong, as did ABC7 News at Noon on Friday when they went through the rundown of what was open and what was closed. (11/12/06) ("Dave's response: Two words - Brooke Stevens.....") Stevens and Core had higher numbers than Core has scored since going solo... (11/12/06) re: Buzz busby. He died in 2003, or 2004, I think. There is a great profile of him here: www.thetriffids.com. As for the Reno and Harrell shows, I think there are a few floating around somewhere, perhaps the folks at www.bluegrasscountry.org can tell you more. You could try contacting eddie stubbs, too - - - but he used to not be much for email. Bill Harrell was still performing a few years ago, but I think he's now retired. His son Mitch still plays, and used to live in Annapolis. I don't know if he still does. (11/12/06) Webb is hardly one to spout off self righteously about Drudge and dirty politics. Webb's campaign was as sleazy as it gets and Allen's was about on the same level. Ironically, Webb is a stranger in his own party from day one and will slowly be forced to drift to the left. He won't win a second term as a result. (11/12/06) "I think that the co-host of choice at WMAL is Jerry Klein. He's good -- and especially when he's paired with Plante or Core, although I think the latter two can hold their own shows by themselves." Silvie, if that's true, why are their ratings so awful? Face it, a co-host would help a lot. (11/12/06) Dave's response: Two words - Brooke Stevens..... PLB: You'll be back and better than ever. The Eisner thing is tragic. Even more tragic you've been displaced. Meantime; feel free to call me if you have any pressing projects you need studio time for. You might have to buy me lunch, but I'm happy to help you. My number's listed on my Web site (I know Dave won't post it, so...). /sean hall (11/12/06) Dave's response: I'll be happy to post your phone number, Sean, but you might get some strange calls from DCRTVers..... David Burd's weekend shows are the best thing on DC radio without question. cj (11/12/06) Dave's response: If Washington Post Radio is serious about getting ratings, it needs to put David Burd on weekday morning drive. However, he could very well hurt Bonneville sister WTOP's morning ratings. As Tom Gavin says: "Watch it"..... The Emperor has no clothes!! I was listening to Triple X ESPN just fine during the pre-game show but as soon as the game started, I couldn 't hear a damn thing! It was like they just turned 730 off. I tried the other 7 or 8 stations listed in The Post sports section this morning and I could not get the game on radio ANYwhere. What a joke!!!!!! Thank got I got home by 8:30 and could watch Channel 4. Redskins on the radio is a joke. Henry (11/12/06) Jack in your correction for the WOHN tribute you mention a Reno and Harrell show on channel 20. When was that and any video exist of the show? And same for the Buzz Busby show on channel 5? Any video of that show or I guess kinescope? Does Mr. Busby preform anymore?....and since speaking of Herndon and Bluegrass music might I suggest a dandy place to hear music in Herndon on pretty much a weekly basis, the Holy Cross Lutheran church, which is pretty much across street from the Fuddruckers. Here's a link for more info... www.holycrosslutheranchurch.net... Randy Barrett next Saturday and Turkey Weekend is Jimmy Gaudreau.......was listening to WJFK-fm(guess they got a fresh batch of hamsters) Saturday afternoon while raking leaves and heard a commercial for Craftsman Tools voicedover by "Lurchie" of the "Chunkies" show, that seemed an appropriate commercial for "Lurchie".......say at the end of the hot infomercial of the moment ,the Time/Life Soft Rock collection, do those guy's from Air Supply give each other a wistful look? And who is Benny Mardonnes who had a hit with the same song in 1980 and then again in 1989?......Bill Smith...and if your out on your bike tonite for gawd's sake pay attention to traffic, sheesh (11/12/06) To Jeff Loughridge... I was defending you. The previous poster said that engineering couldn't get their one big show technically co-ordinated right. Maybe they are right. If you have all those resources and still muck things up you need to go to the SBE website and redo your certs. (11/12/06) Re: Rudy Giuliani. If he's McCain's VP choice, they have a really good chance of getting elected, provided the theory that the country is still moving towards the middle in '08. Unless, of course, Hillary picks Obama as her VP -- then the GOP will go to hell in a handbasket because they'll garner the minority and women vote. -Silvie in Waldorf- (11/12/06) Dave's response: Why did Mark Warner so mysteriously drop out? Because Hillary's promised the VP spot to him. She needs to win the south and he's proven he can win in "formerly red" states like Virginia. Oh, sorry, we're getting off-topic here..... Our thoughts and prayers are with Paul Bicknell and the staff of Read Street Sound. It's a very painful experience to say the least. When one of the final ownerships of WHRF was about to go belly up and facing eviction from their building on Main Street in Bel Air, we were told on very short notice. Tom and I have memories of running into the building late at night to rescue some audio equipment that we loaned to the station. Luckily, my key to the door still worked as the stuff was already being tagged for inventory. I was never paid for my last shift there; however, I have heard similar horror stories from fellow broadcasters that were far worse than my situation. Blessings. Joyce Conroy (WHFC) (11/12/06) This may be a little off the topic, but I cannot believe the blunder the Washington Post made on Friday. In the Metro section, under Federal offices closed for Veterans Day (observed, they listed all U.S. Post Offices. They also said no mail delivery. This was simply not the case. Post offices were closed on Saturday. No mail delivery on Saturday either. You would think that even a second rate newspaper like the Post would check it out. (11/12/06) Dave's response: I had mail delivery on Friday but not on Saturday..... /\ November 12 Messages /\ Jump to the Mailbag Archive Index.....