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Current Mailbag - Mailbag Archive Index - DCRTV Front Page - Support DCRTV DCRTV Mailbag - December 13 to December 18, 2006 Latest messages listed first..... \/ December 18 Messages \/ Good Lord, am I going to have to submit my birth certificate to let all of you know that Chris Plante and I are not the same person? Basically, I don't give a sh*t if people think I'm his alter-ego and I know Plante doesn't give a crap either. I know who I am. -Silvie in Waldorf- (12/18/06) Well, the Grinch must have had a change of heart. Yesterday,us folks north of the Mason=Dixon line got to watch the Ravens on WJZ and the Steelers on WHP. What happened to the NFL's rule about broadcasts? We also got the Redskins on Fox 43. Maybe, Christmas came early. JohnnyuinHanover,Pa. (12/18/06) In regard to "Is being linked on www.drudgereport.com not relevant?" Look at DR now, a story about a teenager who left a little bit of himself in the school salad dressing is also linked. So taunting taunting homeless people is just as entertaining, I guess. By the way, no mention of the "other" radio dudes in this post..... (12/18/06) David Burd - Did you hear his comment on Sunday's show. When talking about Flight 93 getting some film award nomination he sounded upset and then said mockingly "Don't ruin the ending for me". That was a stupid comment. (12/18/06) Jumping into the "is/isn't Sylvie real" debate; I thought Sylvie was the alter ego of Chris Plante as well. I heard her call into (I think) Chris Core's show. I just about sh*t myself because I was dead sure it was Plante posting as Sylvie here. I don't always agree with Plante but he is a funny mofo. I just pray that they don't put Steve Malzberg on in his place during vacation. He is the quintessential bad host. Annoying doesn't BEGIN to describe him. He makes me switch WMAL off faster than even Terps sports. I'd rather hear Tom Gavin and Dennis Murphy debate "Who's the better Captain of the Enterprise: Kirk or Picard" than hear Malzber. Merry Christmas (12/18/06) Dave's response: I did get a Christmas card from Silvie. Thanks! But I don't believe it had a return address on it other that "Silvie In Waldorf." I didn't think to check the postmark before throwing away the envelope. The handwriting on the card looks definitely feminine, though..... Re: O&A's "press hyped" stunt? I guess the "virus" is more like a mild cold and the pests are more like an irrelevent annoyance. Is being linked on www.drudgereport.com not relevant? (12/18/06) Chris Plante actually has the blatent 'nads to call ANYTHING said about 'MAL on DCRTV "Scurrilous"???? Helloooooo.....he can't be serious, can he? Excuse me, Chris, but there is a call holding for you on line two...it's a Mr. Kettle...he is lodging a complaint...something about you calling him "black"? Just another example of Plante blabbering out of both sides of his mouth...and neither side making sense, as usual. BTW...I'm still not convinced that you and Silvie are not the same person, Chris. That "call" from "Silvie" is nothing that a seven year old with a tandy cassette recorder and a mike switch couldn't figure out in show prep....next time, try not to make your "Silvie" voice sound so much like Lilly Tomlin doing Ernestine the Operator and it might just be believable. (12/18/06) ("In fact, we've even tried something like that back in 2003 - and quickly saw it abused with a shitload of (even more) mindless crap .......") The stuff that gets posted is a "Best Of"? Oh the humanity. I was sure that this mailbag was an example of the Unsynthesized Manifold. (12/18/06) Dave...good for you in the rant. Its WTOP's work that caused us to lose WGMS. They screwed up a winning formula (1500, 107.7) ...kicked WGMS off a good signal (103.5) then stuck the knife in by selling to Snyder. The unholy alliance between the Post and WTOP is EXACTLY what the government tried to prevent with its multiple ownership restrictions. Too much power in the hands of one company (the Post) screws the community of Washington. Shame on them and WTOP. (12/18/06) Lots of people mentioning WWZZ in the best/worst. If they would have just listened to "The Coolest Elf", John Mayer, they would still be on the air right now. He is a revolutionary in a tall man's world. He's been mislead...(hahahahahahaha)... Keep looking up. The curb is right there, lil' guy! (12/18/06) From your Rant on the Post's coverage: "Dan Snyder, who is buying the station for his sports talk format, was painted as the evil, anti-arts, anti-culture culprit." I'm not so sure that Snyder is the evil one here. I think we can look at certain members of the WETA Board for getting WETA-FM and classical music into the fix we have now. Snyder may just be the catalyst for change here -- providing WETA-FM a chance to clean off their eyeglasses and focus on a more clearly-defined mission for the station. When all is said and done, Mr. Snyder might turn out to be the unexpected hero -- perhaps deserving of a medal instead of being burned at the stake. LJ in Vienna (12/18/06) CC will not spin off one of the big 5 Washington-Licensed FMs. It will dump WFRE-99.9, which is technically in the DC market, although licensed to and targeting Fredrick MD. I would imagine they will decide to get rid of WFMD too instead of WTNT or WWRC. My bet would be that Nassau picks up 99.9 and 930; they've been in a buying mood lately and have a foothold in Western Maryland. (12/18/06) Good news! My son and I just checked his shoebox of allowance money. He has enough to buy Air America. Where do I send the check? (12/18/06) Just some speculation from a long time NUTMEG State Resident who's a long time radio geek and who has been a long time follower of DC Radio. 1. Red Zebra buys WBIG and backs out of the deal to buy the WGMS simulcasters. Classical Music Fans Rejoice. 2. Bonneville buys WBIG flips it to a simulcast of AM 1050 Federal News Radio. They still sell WGMS to Red Zebra. 3. Bonneville buys WBIG flips it to Clasical and they still sell 103.9/104.1 to red Zebra. Classical Music Fans Rejoice. 4. Nassau Buys WBIG flips it to their "Hawk Format". Marc (12/18/06) On behaf of all kindurgardinners I'm ofanded to be lumped in with Joe Ardenger and the other WFJKers...Sinserly Tom Gavin (12/18/06) 1)Great, finally a Rant that shows both sides! Of course it's your website. 2) Either buy a big antenna, move closer to Baltimore or to DC, or get Direct TV NFL ticket. If not, STOP THE GOD DAMN WHINING! Every week it's the same damn crying. probably from the same effing person. 3) Dave, you say you don't have time to make sure the mailbag posts are formatted. How's about putting fewer of the bullshit post up that say the same thing over and over. Maybe mine would count, but these people cry about every little effing thing. I mean 20-30 e-mails about how someone hates D&M or how they loved to suck O&A, because they RULE!!! Or Howard or Snyder. Merry Christmas, if not Christmas, which ever one you do. (12/18/06) Dave's response: Hey, I've gotten real good at "cutting and pasting." I can transform a whole batch of "I hate D&M" e-mails into Mailbag postings in a mere matter of seconds..... O&A's "press hyped" stunt? That's a good one. I guess they must be incredibly relevant, because not one NY or PHILLY paper picked up the story. I guess the "virus" is more like a mild cold and the pests are more like an irrelevent annoyance. I also don't hear anyone bragging about ratings. Oh right, I forgot, they don't GET ratings, and their 4 fans are all busy posting to some lame message board nobody reads .... (12/18/06) I actually like the temporary set at News4 better than their regular set. I read a blurb on their website last week where they explained that they're using the temporary set while they upgrade the lighting racks on their main set. It does not look like any other upgrades are planned, which is too bad, because I think that set is pretty dull. There's been mention of them "preparing" to go HD, but I couldn't find anything definite anywhere. With their budget cuts, I certainly wouldn't expect anything to happen anytime soon. I really don't think they'll be the leading news station for much longer. Across the Potomac, is there any news about a replacment for Kathleen Mathews on ABC7's 5pm 'cast? Personally, I think Allison Starling would be a good choice. And then I would like to see either Julie Parker or Susan Kidd teamed with Doug McKelway in the mornings and at noon. We'll see... BG in Fairfax (12/18/06) Looks like D&M and the kindergardeners running WJFK can't even rip someone off without screwing it up. Their "01-07-07" return looks a little too much like Howard Stern's "01-09-06" campaign when he launched at Sirius. Yes, I know there are only a few ways to format a date, but how much less creative can WJFK be? My apologies to kindergardeners everywhere for lumping them in with WJFK staff. Oh and by the way, the sound you won't be hearing in January is radios changing to 106.7. (12/18/06) I listen to WMAL; would that be "Osama Hussein" Obama's big ears, or "Obama "Hussein" ODumbo's big ears? And Chris Plante called the posts in DCRTV "Scurrilous." Look up the word "scurrilous" and you should find an ABC Radio Networks logo below it with a picture (God help us) of Mark Levin and Sean Hannity gritty their teeth and foaming at the mouth. (12/18/06) Can someone….Anyone Tell me why the Fox TV affiliate in Baltimore, WBFF, would run bad sports talk shows like Tim McCarvers and then run even worse video clip comedy shows instead of a football game on Sunday afternoon. I know the Redskins are not liked in Baltimore but come on. Please tell me there is some FCC regulation behind this and not just some petty programmer. Steve in Elkridge (12/18/06) Dave's response: It's the same NFL TV regulation that prevented CBS affiliate Channel 9 from showing the Ravens game in DC on Sunday. Instead, we got skiing..... To the author of "Good riddence to 104.1 as a muzak station. I can't wait to hear the Skins again. Old people don't buy anything anyway. Redskins fans buy lots of stuff." My income is higher.and I spend at least much money buying things as when I was under 54.. I have no interest in sports, but do listen to WGMS and sometimes WTOP. In the past I gave money to WETA but stopped when they dropped virtually all radio and TV programs that interest med. I could spend much more money on many things, but nobody seems to want my business. PG County senior citizen. (12/18/06) "JFK Hyped Wrong D&M Return Date" Amateur hour, friggin Amateur hour. (12/18/06) Dave's response: Ponderous, man, ponderous..... Today on his show, Rush went on a rant that Washington Postie Howard Kurtz ran a Hillary Clinton clip on his CNN show over the weekend that presented his comments out of context. Nice to see Rush, the king of out of context political shit, getting a taste of his own medicine. Also, great fun to hear Rush, who doesn't like people talking about his fat ass, jesting about Obama's big ears. (12/18/06) 106.7 Free FM has already changed their website to reflect D&M coming back on 1/2/07 Rob (12/18/06) Dave's response: It's funny. That wrong date had probably been up on JFK-FM's site about two weeks, and only now someone noticed. Ha ha ha..... So Opie and Dopey bussed a bunch of homeless men to a mall in New Jersey, armed them with gift cards, and let their fans follow the poor men around video taping and taunting them. Now that is goooood radio. www.youtube.com (12/18/06) Nesty Nastor here! Dave, in light of the Radio Gods leaving us all high and dry for the last month, I am proposing a "Take Back The Radio" walkout event. On January 2, 2007 at exactly 3:08:36pm (308 for Mike's weight and 36 for his bra size) we all need to turn off our radios. I truly believe that peaceful protest will show WJFK management how serious we all are. Then at 3:10 pm we all need to go outside and sing Cum Ba Ya. I don't really know what that will accomplish. Either way, Peter Angelos and I will return next spring with an even better useless protest. Cheers! Nastor (12/18/06) 1-7-07 is a SUNDAY, There is no way Don & Mike are returning on a Sunday. It's obviously just some idiot at JFK who read a "2" as a "7" Greg in Reisterstown, MD. (12/18/06) Looks like Dan Snyder might have jumped the gun. If Clear Channel has to give up an FM, and do it quickly, he probably could buy a great signal at a fire-sale price instead of overpaying for one of the weakest signals in the market. I would guess that he is stalling the WGMS purchase and knocking on CC's door... or kicking himself! (12/18/06) Just cruising the WJFK website and they have "THE RETURN" being 01-07-07. What's up with that? Tim in Warrenton (12/18/06) Seventy-five miles to the west, Clear Channel also owns SportsTalk 610, Q102, "99.3 The Fox" in Winchester, Va; and Memories 1550 in Charlestown, WV. (12/18/06) Dave's response: Can't forget Kiss 98.3 (the old WXVA). And a bunch of stations in Baltimore, Frederick, Salisbury, and Richmond, along with DC. Soooo..... To Tim in Pocomoke City, Md and Mark in New Church, Va concerning the so-called "Hick" on the Island WCTG 96.5 in Chincoteague, opinions are like, well, you know. I thouroughly enjoyed the station and The Good Doctor. Coming from an area where most stations are or attempt to be slick with their overproduction and cookie cutter on-air personel, it's very nice to hear a DJ that seems to (1) enjoy what he does, (2) doesn't take himself too seriously, and (3) talks to his listeners as if they were friends and not just a method to raise ratings. If this constitutes a "Hick", then it would be nice if a lot more "Hick's" were on the air, especially in the metro area. I didn't have the opportunity to listen to the morning show host "The Hitman" while in the area, but if he is the "real radio talent" that you profess him to be, then I would say the the lower shore has a hidden diamond in the rough with WCTG. I always look forward to my trips to the lower shore and regardless of your opinions, will tune in to 96.5 every time I can. Happy Holidays D/Greenbelt (12/18/06) Hey Dave, You wrote that Tom Shales "Pans Teller" and referred to the magician as Penn Teller. His name is Penn Jillette and his partner in his magical act is named Teller. The act is called "Penn & Teller" they are two separate people. (12/18/06) Dave's response: Ha ha ha. Don Geronimo is today's DCRTV "guest host"..... "However, DCRTV hears that MASN rival Comcast SportsNet and the Redskins have a long-term multi-year deal and "they would look unkindly" at the move of Riggins to MASN." I don't understand this. Red Zebra and the Redskins are seperate companies, are they not? Plus, Comcast Sports Net personalities are on Sportstalk 980 (a Red Zebra competitor) almost EVERY DAY. Sportstalk 980 personalities are on Comcast all throughout the week. The only thing that CSN could have a problem with is the fact that the Riggins show carries the Gibbs press conference and has the Joe Gibbs show, which would basically give MASN some "official" Redskins programming that CSN is supposed to have TV rights to. The show itself, however, should be fair game to everyone. James, Baltimore, MD (12/18/06) This is what we already know about radio, but now it's "official." www.thenation.com... (12/18/06) I have already started my preperations for the format change on 104.1 ans 90.9. I will begin donating again and have a check already made out to WETA. I have cleaned all of my Redskins shot glasses and will use them while listening to the games. I may even cancel my subscription to XM. It will be better for everyone. John Riggins is not a great broadcaster, but at least he sounds like he cares and I learn something from him. Classical radio should take a tip from the Texas Hold'em producers. People want to learn. Not just be entertained. Long live the Red Zebra. (12/18/06) "YOu dont need to publish this but has anyone ever written how Barbara Harrison talks in that condenscending high pitched voice when talks to the disadvantaged child" OK Barbara is a pretty easy target but give her a break on this one. It can't be an easy job dealing with a subject like that on a routine basis. For this one she deservers some credit and our thanks. (12/18/06) The list of markets where Clear Channel probably needs to sell something, post-grandfather. It’s quite a list — ranging from New York and L.A. to Roanoke. About half are already on CCU’s list of small markets that it intends to spin completely. At least one broker’s circulating his own “to spin” list of Clear Channel’s oversize markets, where the FCC will require it to conform to current limits. View the list at ftp.media.radcity.net (PDF). Heads up-2 possible spins here in DC. (12/18/06) Dave's response: Clear Channel could easily spin off its AMers, particularly low-rated talkers WTNT and WWRC. But if an FMer is involved, my guess is that WBIG would be the one to go. Likely buyers: Dan Snyder's Red Zebra and Bonneville. Maybe Nassau. I'd have said Radio One, but the increasingly cash-strapped firm may not have the available dough..... Hello folks. I caught WCTN's temporary Oldies format today. Temporary because if you have not noticed within the past few years, Oldies on AM, especially around here and Baltimore, is merely a transitional format until owners either sell all the time (as CTN is advertising),discover a non-musical or ethnic format they believe will work or find a long term lesee. Regarding WGMS, unfortunately, the station began its demise after it's RKO days. People were let go, some lengthened, others canceled, live concerts cut back, and hourly Mutual News broadcasts dropped altogether. It got even worse when they took on a top 40 sound with their sweepers, and hip sounding commercials. Finally, they automated the overnight shift to a point where none of the pieces and composers are even identified. (12/18/06) /\ December 18 Messages /\ \/ December 17 Messages \/ "Hot Rod" of WITH (circa 1957). See his mug along with the entire "WITH Big Six": dcmemories.com... See the "Wax Winners" for the week of October 21st, 1957: dcmemories.com... And learn exactly what Jack Gale was doing on Sunday nights: dcmemories.com.. (12/17/06) Have you heard the Tom Moore Show on WVIE? No you haven't! Arbitron (12/17/06) Good riddence to 104.1 as a muzak station. I can't wait to hear the Skins again. Old people don't buy anything anyway. Redskins fans buy lots of stuff. The sooner the better. WETA could mean We Entertain Total Audiences. Dan Snyder may end up being a great hero after all. Is it possible he got the idea from reading this message board? Praise Jesus. Merry Chistmas. Happy New Year. (12/17/06) Don't know if you are allowed to print this but this is on hippogryph.com site about WETA... "A purely economic move, rather than an altruistic one. (I was WETA's first PD back in 1969 , hired before it signed on to establish programming so I feel better qualified than most to address this). Let's assume WGMS does drop the classics, that means there's about $3 million, maybe five, in billing that will need a home. Some will be lost because advertisers won't live with the "public" radio restraints on content and length of spots. But let's say that in year 1 they sell 1.5 million in what I call advertising. But of course, the begathons will start and bring in an equal amount from relieved listeners who are grateful for their Bach "fix". Over time, I think WETA could grow that at 20% a year. That means $3.6 million in year two, and over $4 million in year three. Not counting government grants (our tax money at work). A couple of points to ponder: 1. WETA is the most powerful signal in the market at 90kW, and with the exception of Baltimore there's not much classical radio around. 2. CPB and NPR are constantly stretching the limits of underwriting announcements to where in some markets they run 30 seconds (even a jingle!), and blatant selling rather than "information" (my favorite example is the daily lunch special at a delicatessen) 3. NPR stations no longer discuss on-the-air that contributions are tax deductible, though they are still 501C3 IRS status which means contributions could be itemized. The obvious outcome is that Public Stations will soon ask for commercial status, as soon as they fill up the "reserved" band (below 92 Mhz) which is now exclusively for them. Then...watch out! Our tax money, directly or indirectly, will have financed an enormously powerful radio voice that will exceed Clear Channel in influence and political clout. 4. WAMU always did better that WETA on talk. So WETA could probably shave $1 million off its budget by dropping news & talk. Playing CDs is not an inherently expensive exercise. All told WETA FM could send Corporate three million bucks a year so Channel 26 could buy BBC programming." (12/17/07) The FCC has recently decided that changing City of License in now a Minor Change, not requiring waiting for the opening of an application window, etc. We might see some FMs moving closer to DC. In addition to the required mileage spacing, one impediment could be that such a move would be hard if the present City of License would lose its only "radio voice" in the process. (12/17/06) Dave's response: Gee, do you think Manassas will miss losing all that "service" it gets from WJFK-FM, which is licensed to Manassas? Ha ha ha..... YOu dont need to publish this but has anyone ever written how Barbara Harrison talks in that condenscending high pitched voice when talks to the disadvantaged child in her "Wednesday's child segment. She does a great job with the feature, but the tone of voice bothers me. (12/17/06) "Silvie": no "double condre" from my house. "Tempest" was a very tight classic rock/Top 40 band in the Southern Md area in the late 70's. As we played many venues throughout the region (in addition 2 DC clubs). Sorry 2 have thrown U 4 a loop as I haven't been in that area 4 a long time. Rusty Gibson (12/17/06) Chris Plante today juxtaposed our current length of time in Iraq and its future to how long American troops have been in Kosovo (10 years). Does he really believe people would accept such an illogical comparison? What's next, the length of time US Forces have been in Korea? (12/17/06) "So why haven't you invested in the sort of bulletin board or blogging software that would let readers post directly to the site? Figure out how much it's going to cost and do a fundraising drive specifically for it." Dude, just let it go, just let it...... (12/17/06) What is total bullshit about Sonny is that in the preseason he will predict, say, an 8-8 season record. Then he will go on to predict a Skins win every weekend during the season. Why bother with this bullshit? Who are the 8 losses going to be to? He may as well predict 16-0! At 5:50 on Friday he's going to say " Check back at 6:50 and I'll tell you how the Redskins are going to lose " Right! Who's gonna watch at 6:50 if he predicts a Skins loss? I can't stand it! I know..don't watch! OK! Regards Biff (12/17/06) Rusty: I don't know if your post is to be construed as a double entendre for using the word "Tempest" and my name in the same sentence. But, if your post was written with good intentions, I was only in grade school during the early 70's, so the person you're thinking of is not me. To the other poster: When did I mention on Plante's show anything about illegal immigration from Santo Domingo to Puerto Rico? If you listen to the audio closely, I say nothing of the sort. I just said that there were a bunch of drunk people on the plane and that the pilots were not paying attention because they were too busy coming back to the cabin to chit-chat with the passengers. Geez! -Silvie in Waldorf- (12/17/06) I have been watching George's and Sonny's football picks for many years -- long before Dan Snyder owned the team. I have seen George pick against the Skins in years past, although not since Snyder came along. Sonny said on Friday night that he has never picked against the Skins, but I am almost 99% sure he did once many years ago. I wish I had it on tape, because I couldn't believe it myself. I don't remember the team he picked, but it was at the end of a losing season for the Skins when the game didn't make a bit of difference to them (kind of like this season) and it seemed like he may have done it for spite and also because it was the correct pick. Does anyone besides me recall this? Obviously Sonny doesn't. -- Bobbie (12/17/06) Airs Sunday night at 8 p.m. /11 p.m. ET on C-SPAN... Incoming editorial page editor of the NYT says "its becoming more likely" that the paper will call for the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, in an interview with C-SPAN's Brian Lamb for "Q & A", airing tonight at 8/11 p.m. ET. Andrew Rosenthal assumes the post Jan 1. A link to the video clip is online at www.c-span.org. A transcript and video will be available online at www.q-and-a.org on Monday. (12/17/06) Dear Baltimore… it’s been ages since we’ve exchanged mail and I hope you are well. I understand that you’ve been listening in great numbers to Washington radio! How sweet, but you really should get your own. However, we’d like to trade WETA for WBJC. Simple little thing… just send it down and we’ll do the rest as we like classical music more than you. We’ll even throw in our entire City Council for your Mayor. Love, Washington. (12/17/06) Dave's response: Why stop there? DC could trade away the abysMAL 630 for WBAL radio - a talker done "right." We'll give you the CCC (clotted classic crud) of WBIG for the refreshment of Jack, WQSR. And how about our technologically-challenged WTNT for WCBM. And, why not send WARW and DC101 up I-95 in exchange for WTMD and 98 Rock..... Sonny has been picking the Redskins to win long before Danny Boy came on the scene. He's hardly a "whore" to Snyder as the misguided poster claims. He bleeds burgundy and gold, makes no bones about it and deserves all the credit in the world for it. On another point, last night's Caps victory over Philadelphia on COMCAST featured the first hockey broadcast in the USA (reportedly) that had the announcers, Joe Benanati and Craig "Locker" Laughlin at ice level rather than in the booth. Pretty interesting stuff. (12/17/06) Hey "Silvie in Waldorf": Been reading your posts for sometime now. Do you remember the old "Stardust"? Well, I used to play drums there in the 70's w/ a band called "Tempest" (been meaning to ask you that for a while as perhaps we have some mutual friends). Merry Christmas, Rusty Gibson (12/17/06) If Dan Snyder puts the "sports talk and Redskins wasteland" on 104.1 and 103.9, and moves classical to 92.7, 94.3, why should it affect WETA's decision to revert back to classical? WBJC probably has the same % of coverage in DC metro as the two Class A rimshots, and does WBJC "effect" WETA? (12/17/06) Dave's response: Hey, maybe Dan Snyder could lease or sell 92.7 (WBJD) and 94.3 (WBJE) to WBJC and its 91.5 for Triple BJ Classical Radio..... I forgot to mention in my last post concerning the book "Group Harmony..." that radio legends Hoppy Adams of WANN and "Hot Rod" (Maurice Hulbert) were mentioned extensively . There is an entire section devoted to radio personalities. "Hot Rod" was one of our guest speakers at BIM and it was a night to remember as he shared his days at WITH. The book talks about how "Hot Rod" booked various acts into the Royal Theater. Chuck Richards, who was one of my favorites, was at one time a singer with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra. Getting back to "Hot Rod". He shared that WITH allowed him to develop and create his on-air persona. Not to get off on a rant, but nowdays jocks are lucky if they have any autonomy at all. VOSA "Hot Rod"! Joyce Conroy (WHFC/WYTI) (12/17/06) Sylvie to the rescue! Good job, Sylvie, for bring up another great issue- Illegal immigration into Puerto Rico from Santa Domingo! Then I was stunned to hear Chris Plante talked about "scurrilous attacks" toard WMAL on DCRTV? "Scurrilous" is right, and I am sure the following will agree the recent attacks on WMAL were "scurrilous: BJ Clinton, Hillary Rotten Clinton, American Commie Loving Union (ACLU), The New York Slimes, The Washington comPost, the people that actually believe there is a "WAR ON CHRISTMAS, The Iraq "Surrender" Group, Nancy "face lift" Pelosi, ""Barack Hussein Odumbo" (or is it "Osama Hussein" Obama-I can never get that nailed down), and "the liberal main stream media" that doesn't support our troops. Is Chris Plante kidding? Maybe he doesn't know the attacks here were based on actual statements made by WMAL hosts over the last month because Chris, like the rest of us, turns off Mark Levin and Sean Hannity after only a few minutes of listening to their spewed acerbic garbage. (12/17/06) This site is a conversational site. Much of what comes in Dave edits for taste, if necessary, adds his comments and puts a divider between posts. If you need more of a paragraph break than that, you probably aren't much fun in conversation either. Chill, this is not McNeil/Lehrer, its Dave's site. He has fun, we have fun, you too should have fun and forget the ferkin formalities. (12/17/06) WCTN-950 on Friday and Saturday afternoons (12/15-12/16) played a very limited selection of oldies, perhaps a recorded loop or set of loops. The mix was mostly familiar, with heavy Motown slant and specifically a big dose of the Four Tops. Three Tops songs in a row were heard at one point Saturday afternoon. On both days, there were occasions when the same song would repeat within 10 to 15 minutes ('My Sweet Lord', the Tops cult favorite 'Ask the Lonely', 'Cathy's Clown' by the Everly Brothers were each heard twice with almost no time separation). The voice of Bill Parris was heard reading legal identifications, presumably recorded. These ID's were joined on Saturday afternoon by the same voice soliciting brokered-time or infomercial business ('all hours are available...great rates'). A similar announcement has been heard for months on the Parris station in Glen Burnie, WFBR-1590, but that message addresses those who want to buy time for their 'ministries': WFBR (the former WJRO and before that WISZ) essentially runs paid religion with interludes of traditional black gospel music. To the north and east of Montgomery County, WCTN's day signal fights WPEN-950, the Greater Media station in Philadelphia that now runs a sports talk format including Fox Sports Radio. It would be great if oldies collectors would buy some hours on WCTN with backing from sponsors. No name in Maryland. (12/17/06) RE: George & Sonny's football picks. I used to get pissed off every single week that Sonny would pick the Skins to win. There was no way that anyone with an ounce of logic would pick Washington to win against certain teams. To his credit, this week, he said that he would never pick the Redskins to lose. I admit that picking them every week to win is a whorish/Dan Snyder employee expected response. But at least he came clean. Now, when they discuss the Redskins, I can flip around the dial for a minute or so because I know that they are paid cheerleaders for Dan "Napoleon" Snyder. (12/17/06) Download audio from the link below for further proof that "Silvie in Waldorf" and WMAL's Chris Plante are not the same person. Silvie's comments on the Chris Plante Show on Fri., 12/15 appear at the 48:40 minute and there's even a little DCRTV mention by Mr. Plante! Click on "Chris Plante Weeknights", then "Listen Later", then "Friday". www.630wmal.com (12/17/06) (Dave's response: The Mailbag already takes up too much of my time. It would take even more if I had to add webpage coding for paragraph breaks, italics, text size/color/style, various fonts, etc., that everyone would demand.....) So why haven't you invested in the sort of bulletin board or blogging software that would let readers post directly to the site? Figure out how much it's going to cost and do a fundraising drive specifically for it -- like if it's $1000, then 50 people need to send $20, etc. Sure there's going to be a learning curve for you and some transition hiccups, but do you really want to spend all this time reading and re-posting e-mails for years and years? (12/17/06) Dave's response: We've been through all this bullshit many times before. DCRTV is NOT a "bulletin board" or a "blog." In fact, we've even tried something like that back in 2003 - and quickly saw it abused with a shitload of (even more) mindless crap. The charm of this Mailbag is that it's kookie, old fashioned, fair and biased, and, yes, my little ego stroking machine. I wouldn't waste my time doing it if I didn't love it. So there. Get used to it. There are plenty of other automated posting services on the web. If you're so disenchanted with this little human-based "watering hole," please leave and go there. Or start one yourself. Over and out..... Dan DeVany is a basically decent guy working for a completely dysfunctional station. The twists and turns at WETA are easy to explain: Sharon Percy Rockefeller long planned to shift the station from classical music to news, but could only act once the station's founder - Elizabeth Campbell - had passed on. The shift to news made no sense given WAMU's dominance among the public radio audience, and given WETA's historical inability to counter-program effectively. So now they're stuck with a flipped station that has not won the audience bonanza that Rockefeller promised. What does the Board do now? Dust off the Verdi Requiem and put the turntables through their paces again. It's a no-brainer. They've even got the old classical continuity staff on hand, and they've all been itching to cue up a bit of Bach for months. The biggest losers: Rebecca Roberts and the team of people working on "The Intersection", which will presumably become a footnote in DC radio history. When DeVany says they can "move very quickly", he's right. (12/17/06) To the unsigned poster( re:last day @ Memorial Stadium): Chuck Thompson was in fact there (he was in the booth w/ Jon Miller & Scott Garceau). As to ex Colts, both Johnny Unitas and Brooks thew out the 1st pitch in tandem to whom were I'm sure very confused former Mayor Kurt Schmoke and Ermie Tyler. (Johnny threw a football & Brooks a baseball obviously). Only the day before they had paid tribute to the Colts with an appearance of the Colts Marching Band and good ol' Dixie the horse. Al Bumbry on that last was part of the Red Sox coaching staff and would not be excused from his duties (despite "B"'s pleas to Boston management to attend a day that I'll never forget. To this day he has never forgiven the Red Sox organization for that. Yes Palmer had tears in his eyes (all of us did). And if you were there and you didn't shed tears as well , you're not human. And as to my show on Friday, no I didn't play "Little Saint Nick" (had too much other stuff to run) But thanks for listening! Rusty Gibson, WEBR Radio/Fairfax (12/17/06) /\ December 17 Messages /\ \/ December 16 Messages \/ Why won't you insert paragraph breaks into the mailbag? Not doing so, makes far too many posts look like one big run on sentence, at best, and one long stream of consciousness, at worst. Come on man, leave the line breaks in! Will you print this? Will you make us proud and print the criticism? (12/16/06) Dave's response: The Mailbag already takes up too much of my time. It would take even more if I had to add webpage coding for paragraph breaks, italics, text size/color/style, various fonts, etc., that everyone would demand..... Dave, thank you so much for mentioning the passing of Ahmet Ertegun. I would like to recommend a book if you enjoy reading about the black vocal groups that emerged from the Baltimore-Washington area. Check out Stuart L. Goosman's "Group Harmony, The Black Urban Roots of Rhythm and Blues.". Ahmet was certainly a man of vision. Along with Herb Abramson and Jesse Stone, they molded the sound of great vocal groups like D.C.'s Clovers. The book also mentions Jack Gale and WITH. Howard Spinney who sang with a Baltimore group, The Howards acknowledges that Jack was responsible for recording his songs and also for assisting them on the business end. Howard also mentioned that another jock also spinned a record for him was on WITH and the show "Cupid's Corner". Being the nostagia buff (Rusty, you are guilty of this too sweetie), I would like to know who hosted that particular show. Thanks in advance and blessings always. Joyce Conroy (WHFC/WYTI). (12/16/06) Question: Despite AM 730 being mentioned in Paul Farhi's article about pending changes at "Triple X", WGMS and WETA... wouldn't it be logical to assume that Danny Snyder hangs onto 730 for Triple X, no matter what he does with 92.7/94.3? Then, it'd still be Triple X, only with two much better FM signals...and remember, Snyder recently filed to make major upgrades to 730. (12/16/06) Dave's response: I'd have to think that Snyder will hold onto 730 for his Triple X. The new FMers - 104.1 from Waldorf and 103.9 from Frederick - still have some coverage gaps inside the Beltway that could be "plugged" by 730. Plus, with the three signals he could still call it "Triple X." Putting classical WGMS on 92.7 and 94.3 would simply be giving temporary "life support" to a "dying patient." If I was running Red Zebra, I'd flip 92.7 and 94.3 back to Spanish as sports talk Triple X En Espanol (with La Rojoskins), and try to pick up a closer-in AMer to bolster that signal, possibly 780, 950, 1160, or 1310. A WETA-FM flip back to classical would be the best way to preserve that format on the DC radio dial..... If Dan Snyder can get: James Brown, Tony Kornheiser and George Michael to each host a 3 or 4 hour block on his network, I'm positive, he would have a top ten, maybe top five station from the first book. The naysayers who say TK won't leave the Post need to keep in mind that the Post is in serious staff reduction so the time may have come for Tony's buy out. TEM is going to great links to always say that they have a home for Tony when he's ready but the bucks are with Danny. JB, being a lifelong Washingtonian with family ties here should be available for the right price. Whether you love or hate George (and I'm in the love column), George "unplugged" on sports/entertainment radio should be a hoot. One big P.S. - …..WRC, I hope and pray does the right thing and gives George's job to Lindsay rather than Dan when the time comes. She's paid her dues and is ready for a shot at the big job. Dan, IMHO, is a packaged Ken doll who, like so many here, can't figure a proper line up for his segment too many nights. My family thinks he comes across as cocky and arrogant and is a channel switch a lot of the time. Does WRC have the guts to promote a: talented, young and, yes, attractive, woman to be its Sports Director In a major market? I'd hope to high heaven that the old girl network at WRC (Doreen, Wendy, even Pat Muse) will put it on the line to management that Czaniak should be the choice. - Bob from College Park (12/16/06) Quote (responding to my earlier): "Dave's response: Perhaps WETA could use the relaunch of classical as the foundation of a cool new music-based multimedia service (digital and internet) to provide a wide array of formats not now available or underrepresented on the DC radio dial, a la jazz, blues, world music, folk, gospel, as well as progressive and roots rock." Whoa there big fella!!! Get back inside the box! What you're proposing is using a public radio station (with a great signal, BTW) as a touchstone for something that could really enhance the arts in the Metro DC area. That would involve shameless leverage of primary broadcast, HD radio, and perhaps internet technology into something that could touch more than just the classical music audience (though using that demographic for a fairly reliable revenue stream). Underwriting (from all those nice folks who lost their WGMS customers) could really reach into the community beyond just WETA. Something like that could be one of those "rising tide that lifts all boats" things. That would involve WETA-FM being a catalyst for positive change. You must me daft! (12/16/06) Remember Foster Brooks? jeremy.zawodny.com... When TV was great! Tom Gauger (12/16/06) So WBAL TV is either hurting for people this time of year or grooming another TV anchor. Sarah Caldwell was filling in for Kate Amara on the morning news today. Didn't do too bad, but would've preferred to see sexy Kerry Cavanaugh sitting there. Is this a common practice, to stick someone in traffic and then work their way up? I know she did sports before she started having children, so maybe this is her comeback? Either way, she did a good job, next time show some more cleavage. I always love to see cleavage since it pisses off the self-righteous in here who are holier than thou. (12/16/06) WETA-FM and classical...What is with Dan DeVany? What does he REALLY think? Last year he was bubbling over with justifications for WETA's relentless quest to be the third-rate(d) (or is it fourth?) news/public affairs station in the market. Today the Post tells us that Devany believes that WETA-FM "'could move very quickly' back to classical if circumstances warrant." What is he basing his opinions on? Are there any circumstances where the station's books are actually open to the public so we can get an idea of what is really going on? Since the big switch I put WETA on my e-mail spam list, and happily shred everything WETA-ish that arrives in the mail...They don't respond to critical e-mails from the public so I don't think I'm really missing anything. (12/16/06) Dave's response: Perhaps WETA could use the relaunch of classical as the foundation of a cool new music-based multimedia service (digital and internet) to provide a wide array of formats not now available or underrepresented on the DC radio dial, a la jazz, blues, world music, folk, gospel, as well as progressive and roots rock. Hmmm. Damn, I'm tired of being an unpaid "consultant" for all these area radio suits. Sheesh..... Believe me, Rusty, the happiest guy in the world over Dempsey's move to the booth is Sam Perlozzo. Rick's reputation over the past few years has been that of someone who would criticize his own manager rather openly and question why he wasn't the skipper instead. Angelos loves him, but in the clubhouse, he's not at all popular. Don't kid yourself that he's a great baseball man - he's a great self-promoter. As for Riggins show showing up on MASN, don't be terribly surprised if 1300 cuts Anita Marks loose when her contract is up in May. Look at the numbers she's not generating... (12/16/06) Dave's response: In yesterday's Arbitrends, WJFK-AM didn't even make the 20 top stations in Baltimore. That's pretty sad for a major AMer with a sports talk format in that market. When is CBS gonna learn! Co-brand "Sports Radio 13" with "CBS 13" and cross-promote the hell of it on WJZ's sportscasts. Or take the AM sports talker and move it fulltime on 105.7, and flip 1300 to Spanish, La Luna (to 99.1's El Zol)..... I sounds like 950 has flipped the switch to oldies. I'm hearing a listenable, if weak signal, here in Northwest. -jason (12/16/06) Dave's response: I'm getting nothing but a loud buzz on 950 this morning..... Classical back on WETA?!?! BABY, WE'RE BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! XOXO -- LUDWIG, WOLFGANG, GEORGE, AARON, JOHAN SEBASTIAN, GEORGE FRIDERIC & ALL THE GANG... (12/16/06) When we moved here almost 9 years ago, the Junkies were new and entertaining. Now, they just suck. It is sad, in the same way that the decline of JFK's afternoon is pathetic. Anyway, not sure why there is all this fuss about comparing them against the so-called, KOAM -- pit them against their current and real competition on DC-101, where Elliot puts together an entertaining show each and every day. There really is no comparison, because they still suck. Just saying. LO (12/16/06) "They really suck."----Yes they do. Glad you see it our way! Signed, Flunkies hater. (12/16/06) I welcome your news that WETA-FM might return to classical music if WGMS eliminates it (one of that football-failure Snyder's attempt to toss his money around in another failed effort to make a mark - send him back somewhere!). But, it also raises questions in my mind about all the reasons WETA gave way back when for eliminating the music. Were they lying to us? Were they misinformed? Did their talk-effort fail, and this is their way of admitting it? Surely, it couldn't be because they CARE about their listeners or about classical music. Howard (12/16/06) RE:"Here are some FACTS for all of the Junkies haters. In the fall of 2005 Howard Stern had 5.2 in Men 18-34. Summer of 2006 the Junkies had a 9.8" One more FACT, CBS/Micheal Hughes was cutting off Sterns show in mid sentence and pulling 20 minute commercial breaks, Stern was unlistenable the last year he was on JFK, not because of his abilities but because management was ruining the show. (12/16/06) I'm probably one of the few people who pays attention to George's and Sonny's weekly football picks--pretty much a joke as they both always pick the Redskins to win. Last week they both picked all the same teams except for one game, and the team George picked won that one. So last night on the 5:00 news they said they tied in their picks last week and they're tied for the year. According to my calculations George won by one game last week and is ahead by one game for the season. Their picks are on the nbc4 website each week for people like me with too much time on their hands to check out. -- Bobbie (12/16/06) Just read on The Baltimore Sun website that current Oriole Bullpen Coach Rick Dempsey is reprtedly leaving the field and will be joining the MASN team as color commentator for "selected games" in '07. Though there has been no official announcement from the Orioles yet (that I know of). "Demper" was part of the Comcast "team" several years ago. With all of his baseball knowledge, I truly think he should remain a coach. Afterall, the O's need all of the help that they can get! Know 'bout this Diamond Dave? Rusty Gibson (12/16/06) When did the CBS stations in Baltimore start streaming their audio? All four FM's are live. What ever technology their using, it sounds great. Something new - "CBS Streaming The World" player. You don't need tro download anything, it just seems to play through Windows Media. Click on "Listen Live". (12/16/06) Who knew that DCRTV.COM Dave would be *SO* happy about WETA-FM's return to classical that he'd make a total elf of himself? www.elfyourself.com (12/16/06) He did it again! There's that sports guy on Ch. 4 tonight at 11:09 p.m. giving sports headlines. He plugs the Caps win, then something about Tiger Woods, and third he mentions the Wizards finally beat the Miami Heat after a series of losses. Seems to me that the Caps and Wizards should come before a Tiger headline. I like Tiger but hey, sports guy, why don't you think about YOUR AUDIENCE. It's DC, pal! (12/16/06) Here are some FACTS for all of the Junkies haters. In the fall of 2005 Howard Stern had 5.2 in Men 18-34. Summer of 2006 the Junkies had a 9.8. In adults 18-34 Stern had a 3.7 in the fall of 2005. In Summer of 2006 the Junkies had a 6.5. In Men 18-49 Stern had a 6.8 the Junkies had 7.1. Stern did slightly better in Men 25-54 6.9 to 6.6 and Adults 25-54 4.6 to 4.2. Bottom line the Junkies have almost doubled Sterns younger audience and held on to most of the older audience. They've done all of this in less than one year. They really suck. (12/16/06) I have a lot of respect for Tom Gauger (his nickname would be “The Man” in my lexicon). If Tom wants to talk with me about WCPE and its plans, I am more than happy to do so, offline. After all this is DCrtv, and I hate to mess up Dave’s excellent place with a load of NC news. But yes, I had a lot to do with that station east of I 95. Tom, we can always talk at wcpesux@rock.com. Yeah, I still have a grudge. But the link works. (12/16/06) If Mr. Snyder had offered ABC and Citadel 50% more of the current value of WMAL would that have been a lot more than what was paid for WGMS? I'm having a hard time finding Red Zebra hot dogs, chips and salsa and beer in my grocer's freezer, when will Mr. Snyder get that straightened out?....did Mr. Riggo ever think of getting together with fellow Hogs and opening a bar called the "5 O'clock Club"?....say maybe all these notables with diabetes could do some fundraising or raise awareness of the epidemic taking place in the U.S. with regards to diabetes. Joe Gibbs, Chris Matthews, Shawn Springs Dad Ron( and some broad on espn identified him as Seattle defensive back Shawn Springs) and Wes Unseld is amongst those with this disease and yours truly. Hell if I'd known I was sticking around this long I would have taken better care of meself. I can think of a very good reason why Coach Joe hired Al Saunders, he was dern tired. Me, if I'm 65 or so, got enough F.U. money(excuse me coach joe) for kid's and even the grandkids I go and sit in rocking chair and enjoy the fruits of one's bounty. You've proved enough for most men in a lifetime now take care of yourself and you might see the grandkids to college. Of course, that's just me spitballing...is this the kind of stuff Riggo is concerned about with regards to Coach Joe?....MASN ran the last game at Memorial Stadium this afternoon. Say where was Chuck Thompson and Al Bumbry on that day? And maybe a few of the old Colt's wouldn't have been so bad? Jim Palmer had tears in his eyes and Earl Weaver avoided speaking to the Crow and that matter regarding team speed.......who's this Don and Mike everybody is fussing about?Bite Me! ERRRUFFF...Rusty couldn't listen to whole show today did you play Beach Boys and "The Little Saint Nick"? (12/16/06) /\ December 16 Messages /\ \/ December 15 Messages \/ Re:"Speaking of Greg Carpenter, I really enjoy listening to him. When he was on MIX 106.5, he had more personality simply because of the music played there. When coming to 101.9, he had to tone down his personality to fit the format there." 1) One's "personality" is not based on the music one plays. You either have one or you don't. 2) Doesn't one have to first have a personality before one can tone it down? (12/15/06) "Is it true that The Junkies Ratings at WJFK are Higher than Stern was in the mornings?"--Not a f**king chance....I heard that dumbass JP say that this morning and my intial thought was it was the booze from the drinking show coupled with the ass pounding he took in the ring last weekend talking....If the Flunkies actually think they are pulling a higher rating than Stern was, well, they are ALOT dumber than we thought.... (12/15/06) QUOTE 1 "According to Space.com, a major solar flare was supposed to occur yesterday, with the potential to disrupt HF radio communications". I'm sure George Noory or Art Bell will cover this topic and call it another "alien conspiracy". QUOTE 2: "Morning drive, age 12+: 7) WMAL. Afternoon drive, age 12+: 10) WMAL." YEE-HA! My WMAL is up during the morning drive! Slightly up in the afternoon too! WOOHOO! -Silvie in Waldorf- (12/15/06) I checked the 101.9 Lite FM website. It's been several months since the demise of the Merson Person and the arrival of Steve Rouse. They are still showing Greg Carpenter as the morning show host and the Merson Person the afternoon drive host. Speaking of Greg Carpenter, I really enjoy listening to him. When he was on MIX 106.5, he had more personality simply because of the music played there. When coming to 101.9, he had to tone down his personality to fit the format there. Also speaking of the classic rock wars between the "New Big 100.3" and WARW, if they "killed each other off" as you quoted in your response to an earlier post, what do you think would happen format wise at either station? Ed Jones, Bel Air MD (12/15/06) Hey All, Just wanted to let you know that, yes, SVRTV is back, but we are at SVRTV.net. Rock on, Tybois Uphold, Editor/News Director, SVRTV-Winchester, VA (12/15/06) Well here we go again with everything DUMB& MIKE..WHO CARES??? some of you do and some of you don't..Does anyone really think they are going to change their tune?? I don't even feel sorry for all of those out there who can't seem to get by without these 2 no-talents.. It's the holidays,Thank God they aren't on..Just one more button on my radio dial that will remain dirty from lack of use...The mailbag/DCRTV has been a great read these last few weeks w/out the constant drone of everyone (LOVERS/HATERS)Whining about thses 2 fat jerks who treat their listeners like shit..Keep believing in these 2 assholes as they laugh their fat asses all the way to the bank!!! DAVE BTW, with the demise of WGMS from the most hated man in the D.C. area any chance that the format will resurface..I was getting used to listening to their soothing music before I would go bang my head to some old school "REAL ROCK" on my turntables...I promise their's a check coming as soon as I get my christmas duties out of the way!!!! AMF FROM DELMARVA... (12/15/06) Dave's response: We're now hearing that WETA-FM is going to flip back to classical. Got the blurb up a little while ago..... 1300AMs and MASN's"the princess" anita marks has been whining since she began covering the ravens gamedays on HFS that she can't go to a game (wah, wah) well she is getting her wish as the GM of HFS is replaceing her for this weekends bcast so "the princess" can attend the ravens game. i guess she finally did what she needed to do, to get those tix. here here to the worst radio cluster in town CBS Bal-tee-more. (12/15/06) "Anyone want to place any bets on the probability that the first thing Don & Mike will do when they return on January 2nd...." I agree 100% (12/15/06) hi.. I am jack in Sterling and I am an idiot? aaa, sure. JR, why do you care what Don and Mike make? You and other posters complain about the money, what does it have to do with you or yoru live. I don't have a crap what don does or dones not make. If he got one hundred million a year, that has no impact on my phone bill being paid. Get over yourslef. How did don screw me? If they are on the air, I listen, if not, I don't. my life does not revolve around "Don" Do I work for don.. no way, he's an ass, but he make me laugh...oh, by the way. Don, is not real. It's a character name that "some guy" uses for a radio show to get ratings. The show for me, most of the time is funny and I listen, if they were never on again, I would not die... my life would go on. were you this upset when mash went off the air? get a grip. radio show.. thats all it is. (12/15/06) Please stop with all the Don & Mike postings. They've been off the air for weeks and they still dominate your lives people. Get over them. Based on today's trends, the market definitely stopped listening to them. Take a look at the numbers below. For AM Drive I will put them into the words the junkies use to describe their ratings when they discuss them on-air. And since it's a trend I'll tell you what they did in Oct then to Nov: Mon-Sun 6a-12a, A18-34: DC101 - 7.3 to 5.3..... WJFK - 6.7 to 2.7..... Mon-Sun, 6a-12a, A25-54: DC101 - 2.8 to 3.2..... WJFK - 4.9 to 2.1..... A25-54, AM Drive: Elliot - 3.7 to 5.1 -27% increase..... Junkies - 6.6 to 3.2 -51% decrease "we lost half our audience donkeys!"..... Mid-Day (for you O&A fans): DC101 - 3.3 to 2.8..... WJFK - 2.1 to 1.0!..... PM Drive: Don & Mike - 9.7 to 3.3! - this is before they decided to stop doing their show!..... DC101 - 2.9 to 2.2..... A18-34, AM Drive: Elliot - 9.1 to 11.3 -24% increase...... Junkies - 11.5 to 4.3 -62% decrease "we're so money we don't need those people"..... Mid-Day: DC101 - 9.1 to 3.7 -the SS Doni is sinking quickly without any guidance..... WJFK - 2.5 to 2.2..... PM Drive: DC101 - 7.1 to 2.9 - does the station survive on AM Drive alone?..... Don & Mike - 12.3 - 3.8! - almost 75% of the audience saying buy-bye!..... Jeff, keep sending Dave those emails calling Booger out. They make me laugh every time! (12/15/06) Greg in Reisterstown, MD hit the nail on the head. Doni G. lives to rip his detractors, especially the local ones. And if anyone thinks that we'll ever get the "real" truth about what happened, they're sorely mistaken. I'll be listening on the 2nd, but it'll be with a skeptical ear... (12/15/06) I see that it's not just the two boring classic rock stations in Washington that are getting terrible numbers, but now the Baltimore classic rock WZBA is in the gutter as well. Geez, when will they figure it out that the listeners want to hear more than the same 50 or so songs over and over and over and that we miss live DJs that can add to what we are listening to. I understand that you can't add to playing "Jump" for the zillionth time, but they could play something better and relate it to the audience. That's what radio did when I was growing up listening to what is now classic rock. Now it's just dull nonsensical chatter of ten seconds to get to the next tired Elton John song. It irks me because done right, that music is still wonderful and would do well. Done wrong, like the 3 classic rock stations seem intent on doing, will only drive it into the ground. C'mon guys, there's over 40 years of music to choose from. Give "Angie" a rest and play something that hasn't been beaten into the ground, then either hire DJs that can entertain, or train what you have now. I don't need a DJ to tell me that I just heard "Hotel California", like I hear every day. (12/15/06) Dave's response: I don't recall ever seeing so many DC stations so far up in the Baltimore radio ratings. WHUR 12th, WIHT, WPGC-FM, and WWDC tied for 15th, WKYS 19th, WTOP 20th, WRQX 21st. Get your own stations, Baltimore. Stop stealing DC's. Ha ha ha..... To the poster (i..e. Bannister Banter"): Craig's show is kinda a spoof of Johnny Carson (he's actually pretty good at times). Like the other night when he did his Christmas show w/ Santa Claus and Craig asked "Santa". How do you keep tabs on every child in the world to see if they've been naughty or nice? When "Santa" said "surveillance", I thought I was going to fall out of my chair. And the guy that does the "monster shows" with him is Jerry Moore a real talent with a terrific sense of humor. Because at Fairfax Public Access, like it or not we're family. But gang watch out for a drop dead gorgeous actress named Nicole Brooks! Rusty Gibson WEBR Radio/Fairfax (12/25/06) WOW,When i was driving by 1801 I saw the FAT LADY tuning up! Nice numbers, BOOGER ,DAVIE the speed bumps! Love to see how fast the audience is saying,"GREAT BUSINESS DECISIONS JEFF!Maybe you can get your BS PD gig in FLA back.Oh wait, with your proven track record,you can qualify to p rogram the drive thru at McDonald's.Repeat after me...." Would you like to Super size that?" (12/15/06) Hi, In the early 90's, I think it was WAVA had an all acoustic weekend morning show. Do you remember it and is there anything like it on now? Thanks for your help! Rick... P.S. I don't even remember the DJ's name...Mark maybe? (12/15/06) Actually, Clark Howard is a consumer guru, not financial. His thing is helping people who got ripped off... (12/15/06) Anyone want to place any bets on the probability that the first thing Don & Mike will do when they return on January 2nd is bash all of us who are posting to "Rupert's" website? Don will start off demeaning Dave and dcrtv.com and the Radio Gods Forum, them he'll continure by calling us all "Little Brains" and "B.M. Eaters" and go off on everyone who posts on the Internet about them. The LAST thing you can ever expect Don & Mike to do is a "Mea Culpa" for being off the air for almost two months, that will never happen...place your bets!!!! Greg in Reisterstown, MD (12/15/06) Dave, DC based XM is giving folks a chance to hear their all Hanukkah channel 108 for the entire 8 days of the festival of lights! All the have to do is to read the directions on the link below and they hear the sounds of the season. www.xmradio.com... The promo code: thechosen (hey don't be mad at me it was part of a Jackie Mason promo he did for XM)... All kinds of interesting stuff! Cheers, Jim (12/15/06) With all of the hoopla concerning D&M’s return onto the air on January 2nd and the big audience that they may attract to find out just WTF was going on, I would like point out that the Winter Arbitron Survey doesn’t begin until January 11th. So even if everyone on the planet listened to the January 2nd show it will not mean squat for D&M’s ratings. Bill R. (12/15/06) ""DA_PJ_DJ_in_VA” – You sure know a lot of Junkies lingo...". How can I take credit for that?!?! I didn't use "BOTCH", "JEFF SMOKER" or "DONKEY" in my post! The 'ol DJ is really BITTER that his artfully disguised attempt at ironic reference shot right into the ozone!! DAGGER! Another great idea gets PUMMELED. Haba-do-gaga fellow shriekers!! Nino_in_Potomac. (12/15/06) Hey Dave, Can you also put up the ratings for WHFS in Baltimore, I was interested in seeing the ratings for the Junkies in Balt, as well as the Ed Norris show…Thanks! (12/15/06) Dave's response: I post what I get. Anyone want to let us know some Baltimore ratings specifics? The Arbitrends posted show exactly why the Junkies should just shut their pieholes. Things go up and down. It's not stable. They run their mouths every time they get a blip upwards, then you don't hear from them when the opposite happens. (12/15/06) Question about the WGMS demise. Hi, Thanks for your coverage of this event... I looked at the Arbitron ratings from the last three quarters, the most recent being Summer 06. What am I missing here? WGMS came in at 4.1, 3.8 and 3.8, while WTWP started at 1.9, but quickly fell to 0.9 and 0.8. Why is it *not* a no-brainer to move the GMS programming over to 107.7? Are they so bent on pushing the Washington Post's view of news that they will turn their backs on this advertising cash cow? What am I missing? Thanks, Theron Keller (12/15/06) What came of the famous 3PM meeting at The Washington Post??? (12/15/06) Dave's response: Nothing terribly earth shattering, apart from Paul Farhi doing double duty as Bob Woodward's houseboy. FishbowlDC has some rumblings...... SVRTV.COM is back up and running again after a several-month-long absence. (12/15/06) Dave's response: Yeaaaaaaaay..... Dave -- when you call Hillary Howard "the late morning gal" you make it sound like she died. -- Bobbie (12/15/06) Dave's response: Hmmm. OK, I'll change it to "midday gal"..... This is a memo to “Jack in Sterling”. You are an idiot. D&M walked out on there show because they can’t handle a part time job that they were overpaid for. You are the type of person that would fall for anything that those 2 fat guys would tell you. How gullible can you be? If they received a new contract, then you can put two and two together and come to the conclusion that they simply wanted much more time off from their stressful jobs and more money and they screwed you and other listeners. Jack, do you work for Don? Sincerely, R.J. (12/15/06) "DA_PJ_DJ_in_VA” – You sure know a lot of Junkies lingo. Listen to enjoy or hate but just keep listening. (12/15/06) If the Washington Post wants to get rid of some lead weights, how about those overpaid gas bags who write the opinion columns. The first to go should be Benedict Arnold-Novak. Why they didn't can his ass after Plamegate is beyond me but they really should have let him go after his Crossfire tantrum. Next should be Minister of Mis-information Herr Krauthammer. After that would be George Will. If I read one more column comparing baseball and politics, I'll scream. Makes me wonder if George has a problem with PE. They might be able to afford some decent writers once those has beens have been cast out to sea. (12/15/06) Dave's response: The whole Style section needs a redo. The new daily TV listings and John Maynard's daily "what's on" column are grrrrrrreat. But Lisa is sooooo "been there, done that." And those "RS" gossip gals are a joke..... Is it true that The Junkies Ratings at WJFK are Higher than Stern was in the mornings? (12/15/06) Agree with the prior poster about Gumbel. It is clear that he is too arrogant to do any real preparation for these games and it shows. But it does add comic relief. Last night, he referred to 49ers running back Frank Gore as "Al" and a few weeks ago, he came up with a "three minute warning." (12/15/06) To "Bryant Gumble" poster--- I agree about how badly Mr. Gumble is covering the Thur. night football games. Last week, he started into a commercial break by refering to the 2nd quarter as the 2nd period. I did a double take at the TV to make sure I wasn't watching hockey. Maybe he needs to a NFL Football 101 workshop many wives and girlfriends attend to converse with their spouses and boyfriends on Sunday afternoons. Lisa, Ashburn (12/15/06) Regarding the Post (11/2) DJ, Soul Poppa, the B’bopper. When I was reading that post, it really brought back some memories of former DJ’s. I do remember back in the 70’s when he was on WOOK or was it WOL? Did they really find out who really killed him and what about “The Nighthawk”? Is he really dead also? And speaking about former DJ’s does anyone remember this ole tune from this former DJ? It goes like this:”This is Mel, Mel, Mel from the big OL, sounding swell, swell, swell, on the big OL, ‘cause it’s Mel, Mel, Mel from the big OL?” “OL” means “WOL” radio station. Do you remember his name? Also does anyone remember the DJ, Johnny Lloyd? What ever happened to him? He was one of my favorites when I was a child. Come on some of you ole timers like myself, you got to remember. If so, please inform. Joan (12/15/06) According to Space.com, a major solar flare was supposed to occur yesterday, with the potential to disrupt HF radio communications and possibly enhance VHF/UHF conditions. Did anyone notice anything goofy on the radio yesterday (not including the 'best" of D&M)? Mike and the Dashboard DX Society. "It doesn't matter where the train is going. What matters is deciding to get on!" (12/15/06) Dave's response: You know what's funny? Listening so the old reruns is more entertaining than listening to the more recent "live" shows had been. Wouldn't at all be surprised to see WJFK-FM's afternoon ratings actually rise with D&M being absent two-ish months..... Two veterans in local access television - John Dimes ("Dr. Sarcofiguy" from "The Spooky Movie" - Falls Church Channel 12) and Bannister (from "Bannister's Banter" from Fairfax Channel 10) will be together for the first time LIVE this Friday night at 10:00 p.m. on the season finale of "Monster Madhouse Live" (www.monstermadhouse.com). Since it's debut this past summer, "MML" (hosted by "Karlos Borloff") has gained local and national attention, and has become a destination for guests such as Tom Savini and Count Gore De Gol. In addition to being treated to a rare public domain classic, this week viewers will get a chance to win the three-disc set of the 2005 version of "King Kong" from Universal. Both Bannister and Dimes have put in over 10 years of work on community television. "Monster Madhouse Live" airs exclusively on "Falls Church Community TV" and can be seen in Fairfax County and Falls Church on Cox channel 12 and Starpower channel 2, and as of this month can be seen in all of Northern Virginia on Verizon's Fios channel 35. (12/15/06) "DA_PJ_DJ_in_VA – So what you are saying...". I said what I said. If the Junkies are going to slam Ron & Fez, they should be presenting a better radio program. The Greaseman and Jack Diamond weren't mentioned in my post, and I'd doubt I'd "rub one out" to JD on 107.3 - BUT! - I would get "cissed" if I had access to JD's Geronimo-like pile of cash!! As for "bits", who, in today's radio does "bits"? O&A - yes. R&F - yes. Elliott - yes. Howie - yes. Even Ed Shultz, who does progressive political talk on XM 152 intros his commercial breaks with "bits". Doing bits "don't make you a bad person". "FU DA PJ in VA...". Point well taken. In the spirit of the Holiday season, I will STFU for the weekend. I'm heading up to NYC for the ronfez.net XMAS party Saturday @ Calico Jack's, 800 2nd Ave., Between 42nd & 43rd, 9pm to Midnight, then it's off to Vegas - this hottie named "Tanya" hooked me up with a room in Vegas for the weekend and the it's costing me ZIPPY!! Tanya is MONEY!! (A now silent) PJ_DJ_in_VA. (12/15/06) For the record, I never washed BZ's or Dave Pugh's SUVs. Very funny line there: "what the hell does a DC101 PD do anyway". A lot but I still think it was funny. Happy Holidays. r (12/15/06) Referring to Cruze (new DC101 PD) : "I absolutely love the vibe that [VP/market manager] Dave Pugh and [OM] Jeff Kapugi have created at CC/D.C." Wow! If a facilty of dead man walking is your place than this it. This place has gotten so bad it didnt even allow spouse or significant others at the Holiday party. A morgue has more company spirit. I agree a new kiss ass is in town. (12/15/06) Dave's response: Let's just face it - DC is a HORRIBLE rock radio town. WARW and WBIG are killing each other to see who can be the most boring classic rocker. And "alternative" (yeah, right!) DC101 sits back and counts up the listeners (by default) as it cranks out the bland corporate tunes pre-selected by a computer in San Antonio. My question is - what the hell does a PD at DC101 do? Wash Mr. Pugh's limo? Don't forget--Chanukah starts this evening! Don't forget to light the first Chanukah candle prior to sunset! And, check out www.xmradio.com/hanukkah. Type in the special promo code chosen & listen to Radio Hanukkah & the rest of XM's great programming via the internet free for 8 days! C'mon, Dave--I know you're cooking those latkes in your palatial estate right now!--Mike from Silver Spring (12/15/06) Dave's response: My friend Sandy recently returned from Israel, and she said that - with my long beard - if I donned a white shirt and dark pants, I could easily pass for someone of the Hasidic faith. Not bad for someone born and raised a Presbyterian..... In a recent thread, someone called the WCPE (Chapel Hill) GM as a “maniacal woman.” Since the PD is an old Carolina buddy, Dick Storck, I asked “Who is that woman?” His response: "That woman" occupies the office next to mine and is my boss, WCPE Station Manager Deborah Proctor, chief engineer and founder of WCPE in the late 1970s. The message is absolutely not accurate. I'm deeply involved in the translator project myself. I allege the blog entry was written by somebody involved with another public broadcasting multi-station entity who protested vehemently when we installed 10 watt translators in several locations east of Interstate 95, which they believe is totally their territory. If the quality of their classical music service was equal to or better than ours, we wouldn't have a viable audience or reason to install low power boosters in the area. 1-The stations around the nation drop classical on their own, influenced by market forces and their own economics. When we get word of a format change, we have a promotional package ready to drop in the market to give alternatives to receive classical music including satellite, cable systems, internet and about 25 affiliate stations as far away as Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Texas and Nevada. 2-Our outreach department does send out promotional mail to potential affiliate stations, but we don't badger their boards. We offer our satellite feeds for free to stations who voluntarily wish to affiliate with us, most of whom are with us during the overnights. Once again, it involves their own sense of economics. Rather than pay staff announcers, they can relay our programming hosted by our live (most unusual in this day of automation) announcer. 3-Before the FCC puts more restrictions on construction permits for low power translators, we have routinely applied for translators in other areas of North Carolina and southern Virginia. Most of them are in or barely outside our 100,000 watt transmitter's fringe coverage area. We were invited to use transmitters owned by WUNC on North Carolina's Outer Banks. We also own and operate a 675 Watt facility in Bath, NC, WZPE. Greenville, NC is the most recent translator facility which went on the air in October. Tom Gauger (12/15/06) I'll be glad when WMAL is done with MD sports. There's something inherently wrong with Joe Ardenger getting more airtime than Chris Plant... (12/15/06) To the doofus who is trying to cry foul over Stern advertising Sirius radio in time for xmas, go get yer skateboard and yer WOW shirt and listen to yer boyz over at XM. It's not stock manipulation to try to get people to buy your (really great, btw!) service, and besides, Stern sold all of his stock last year as soon as he was legally allowed to. Only morons would say---or believe---that growing listenership from 600k to over 5M in 1 year is a "hugh loss," especially when XM had such a huge head start over Sirius. Interestingly, in Canada, where Sirius and XM got into the market at the same time, Sirius is outselling XM 3 to 1. I got the Stiletto 100 (handsome portable Sirius radio/mp3 player that picks up either satellite or wi-fi) for Christmas, and it's as amazing an invention as the transistor radio (gawd we loved those we we were kids!). I'm taking it horseback riding on Sunday so I can listen the the Skins since godnoze I don't have any hope of picking up Danny the Troll's weak signals way up thar near Front Royal (or do i?). Heck, I don't even know what stations he's on. LOVE my Sirius! But I've got nothing against XM. I wish they'd merge so I could have the best of both worlds, but I just gotta' get my Stern fix every day. He's on a Don and Mike-like xmas vacation starting today, so we'll be hearing some of his 20,000 hours of tapes of past shows in the meantime, but with all the censorship removed (they've unbleeped everything) they're a joy to listen to. (12/15/06) (Regarding a previous message:) Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_McAllister (12/15/06) "Dave's response: They should have hired Fez....." There is a similarity if you listen close enough. I'll bet Fez has had plenty of testosterone shots. If you know what I mean..... (12/15/06) The song on WASH (I believe) is "Christmas Canon" by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Has the kids in it.. (12/15/06) If you need to ID any song on WASH or the other CC stations, go to their websites. The last ten songs played are listed on each home page. (12/15/06) I never knew you where so kinky Dave. Fav letters S and M, humm!! And speaking of beards and being cute (beards are pretty hot!!), I bet you get a lot of "Bears" lusting after you!! (12/15/06) Dave's response: Yeah, like Wolf Blitzer. You know, we need more bearded news anchors..... A Prime example...If a tree falls in the forrest, and now one is around to hear it, did it really fall. As for Delmarva, if a radio station is off the air, and no one listens to it, is it really off the air. X106.9 has been off the air for two days now. I was graced by Family Radio's propaganda hailing in from South Jersey yesterday at 106.9, and today I was greeted by Cat Scratch Fever radiating from the mighty FOX 106.9 in Norfolk, VA--which is much better than any classic rock outfit found in Baltimore, or the Delmarva. So--what happened to the market's Ravens affiliate? Is it transmitter problems, or money problems. Did they fold up? Inquiring minds want to know. (12/15/06) Dave - Goldy is with me, in beautiful North Carolina creating award winning radio. Reach Goldy at our website - www.oldiesradionc.com. Thanks! CR (12/15/06) Bryant Gumbel is horrible. Last week we "have come up on the three minute warning"... and the score of the game was reported as "21-love"... They should have gotten Imus to do play by play. (12/15/06) To the "paul" and those like him. "Don and Mike RAN out in the middle of their own show because they had to make a ''stand''. BULLSHIT. They ran out for the simple reason that they ARE cowards and acted like spoiled little children" why is it so many people on this site post total crap and pretend it's real. so Paula, where did you get this inforamtion that they walked out have you thought maybe they were pulled off the air for starting to mention what was going on? Do you find it odd, that Monday's D&M show was posted in the log section for a few day's, then pulled off... hum.. why is that? maybe it contained proff of what was said ? how do you know what happened, you don't. so just close your mouth or in the case come out of the basement in the science building and leave the PC alone tonight. you don't have a clue. Why not use facts, not made up crap. Jack - Sterling VA (12/15/06) Someone brought up the old kid's show, Wonderama. I used to watch it as a kid. I forgot all about it until the topic was brought up here. Is Bob McAllister still alive? (12/15/06) Bah humbug on the WASHing machine and its "All-Christmas All The Time" format in which they don't identify about 2/3 of what they're playing! Case-in-point: A very beautoful catol sung by what sounds like a choir of youngsters that I can best describe as "A Special Christmas Night" or "This Very Christmas Night", The direction sounds like it's either central or eastern European. But, I've yet to hear WASH (or WLTT, for that matter) ID it! Info would be appreciated,,, Otherwise, I've been listening to XM-107 this Christmas season. (12/15/06) Dave's response: Gawd, I was in one store yesteday that was piping in WASH and they played two of the saddest holiday tunes back-to-back. A couple of those "I'm all alone at Christmas, woe is me" thingos. Get me outta here, was all I was thinking. And away from 97.1. Sheesh..... Old WHFS Dave? Got any recordings of the MOR days? Those s t e r e o station ID's that bounced between the channels (More Music... Listen and See... WHFS, Stereo 102 point 3" --- and perhaps the Del-O show, Music with McMasters or the Jules Henry Show? KC Bill, a long way from Rockville - snif - (11/15/06) Dave's response: No. Most of my recordings are from the late 1970s and early 1980s - Milo, David, Sarah, Damian, Weasel, etc..... Tanya Roberts is all over the airwaves to include the Stern show. The "free" stay in Las Vegas scheme, is simple and an old marketing plan. YOU PAY your own way to Las Vegas, they give you some cheap hotel rooms in some mega structure and tickets to some show on the strip. The cost: your time and money to get there....oh yeah, and you have to spend a few hours listening to a sales pitch trying to get you to buy into condos or a time-share. Other C & D level celebrities push the same deal as Roberts in other media. (12/15/06) Let me understand this. You put out a subscriber projection at the start of the year, then very soon after you post a new and higher projection. You carry that for three quarters and most of the way through the 4th quarter, everything is rosey all along and the stock rises. Then suddenly, just a week after the biggest shopping day of the year, you lower your projections, the stock dumps and you start a campaign trumpeting how good you are and how the company is doing great and look at how many you have signed up, beyond expectations. Never mind that the 'exceeded' expectation is your original (we hope they forgot by now) expectation and never mind that you are under the reported guidance for the past 11 months. Sounds like fraud to me. (12/15/06) /\ December 15 Messages /\ \/ December 14 Messages \/ Hoo Hoo...Ahhhh....I invented Letterman...Dave stole it from me...Hoo Hoo..Tell 'em Robin.... (12/14/06) QUOTE: "In response to the comment someone made yesterday about the Junkies/Tanya Roberts commercial on WJFK" -- Is that the one about the Las Vegas resort? If so, she also did that ad with George Noory, heard late nights on WMAL. She's getting 'around'... -Silvie in Waldorf- (12/14/06) To Kevin Jones... Perhaps the only surviving glimpse of Captain Chesapeake (George Lewis) is right here: www.youtube.com (Courtesy of John House via Gary Helton's CrabCityKidsTV.com) (12/14/06) Boy Bryant Gumbul, calling games on the NFL Network, kind of sucks ass. The guys doing high school games on the local access channel have more energy. Sounds like he could use a shot of testosterone too. His voice is weak and high pitched. (12/14/06) Dave's response: They should have hired Fez..... Tim in Warrenton, When was the last time Don and Mike were on Letterman? Stern PROVED that he IS still ''revelent'' by being ON the show. SIRIUS gave him 500 Million reasons to go to SIRIUS. Don and Mike RAN out in the middle of their own show because they had to make a ''stand''. BULLSHIT. They ran out for the simple reason that they ARE cowards and acted like spoiled little children. Howard's show has gone back to being just as funny as he was in his heyday. IF Don and Mike gave any kind of a shit about their ''fans'', one could pretty easily post some sort of message on the website. BUT they don't. BECAUSE they don't give a shit about YOU, me or ANYONE who listened. There's your Christmas present from D&M, Tim. A nice, fat ''Fuck You'' from them both. Feels good, don't it? Paul (12/14/06) Does anyone have contact info for Goldie, formerly of WBIG? (12/14/06) Dave's response: Isn't he working for Chris Roth's cluster of stations in Fayetteville NC? Anyone know how to reach him? Dave- here is the link to the wall of audio..it focuses on all the great jingle,imaging ect and a few jock breaks..in no particular order it includes WBSB,WRQX,WAVA,WGHT,WDJY,WXYV,WQXA,WMKR..if you notice there was a real human firing off those elements i haven't heard automation sound that slick! www.patdemos.com (MP3)... PAT GARRETT (12/14/06) Dave's response: Cool. Thanks Pat..... The pre-mailbag Flashback did bring back memories. Anybody know whatever happened to Howard Page? Walt in Lewes (12/14/06) Whether Stern is responsible or not for the total number of subscribers since he announced he was going to Sirius is irrelevant. They hired him to put the company out there as a legitimate competitor against XM. And it worked. They went from 600k to over 5 million subscribers in one year. People took notice because one of the most famous names in radio signed with them. I have listened to both Stern and O&A for years and like them both a lot. Sterns show was being dumped every 5 minutes the last year or two. He was the radio lightning rod for the FCC. Being a fan of both shows I know without a doubt he was always held to a different standard. O&A say things every single day that Stern was getting dumped on a daily basis. If you have heard both shows it is obvious. If you think otherwise either you haven't heard both shows or your full of crap. (12/14/06) For the twelfth consecutive year I snuck out of work an hour early and did every bit of my Christmas shopping at Dollar Tree. A bit annoying this year with the number of elderly clogging the aisles and carols playing on the store p.a system and somehow I overspent to the tune of $23.00. (12/14/06) FYI, Bush will also host the new reality competition series "Grease: You're The One That I Want" starting January 7 on NBC. Please don't watch it. Everett W. (12/14/06) REF: "Well Tim in Warrenton, appearently he's still relevant to you as you can't get him out your mind... J" I'm sorry, who where you talking about, I FORGET! Tim in Warrenton (12/14/06) What happened to the producer of the First Team on Fox morning show (Czaban, Scott Linn and Al Galdi). It used to be Jay Cottrell but now he’s been replaced. Thanks, Alan (12/14/06) Hello my name is Kevin Jones, Looking for childhood episodes of the captain chesapeak show. Also some of the cartoons he played. Is possible to obtain some that material? Please advise? (12/14/06) RE: "Howard who!?!?!?! Do you mean "Irrelevant Stern"? Well Tim in Warrenton, appearently he's still relevant to you as you can't get him out your mind... J (12/14/06) There's an AM station here in town that's going OLDIES. Yep, you are seeing it first right here. Soon, WCTN 950 Potomac/Cabin John. Such a surprise. The "bluehairs" Strike Back! ANG (12/14/06) Dave's response: Really? Hey, Dave. I’m betting the station you heard on 1090 (underneath WBAL) is either WILD/Boston, a Radio One property, or WCZZ in little ‘ol Greenwood, SC. Both run about 5-kw day and 2-kw in critical hours—non directional—before shutting down for the night. On the other hand, AM signals are apparently bouncing all over the place. On my way home for lunch at noon I punched up Chicago’s WGN & WBBM—northwest of DC. I flipped over to ABC radio news and they were talking about some sort of “magnetic event” in the atmosphere likely to screw up TV signals. Maybe the same cause? (12/14/06) DA_PJ_DJ_in_VA – So what you are saying is that you want the JUNKIES to be like everyone else on the radio. If you want by- the-book… go rub one off to Jack Diamond every morning, if you want bits listen to Grease. FU DA PJ in VA. (12/14/06) Below is (a link to) Brian Lamb's letter to Speaker-Designate Pelosi which was delivered today, requesting that C-SPAN cameras be allowed to cover the House floor proceedings (right now House/Senate coverage is controlled by Congressional cameras). As the letter states, "Rules and established practices prevent congressional cameras from taking individual reaction shots or from panning the chamber, leaving viewers with an incomplete picture of what's happening in the House of Representatives. The requests are made in the hopes of allowing a viewer of C-SPAN's gavel-to-gavel coverage the same access to information as any citizen who's watching the debate while sitting in the House gallery." The letter is available online at www.c-span.org... (12/14/06) re: "Does anybody have recordings of the old WHFS when the station was located in Bethesda? Local radio was great at that time. How about old WGTB broadcasts from the 1970's?" Old 1970s WGTB broadcasts are heard every Wednesday all day on www.wgay.fm. If you're interested in obtaining material yourself (not just hearing them), contact me through the website, and I'll put you in touch with the "archive gurus." Thanks! - Dave of www.wgay.fm (12/14/06) Distortions and lies ... I guess it's easier when you just go ahead and make things up. When the year started, SIRI estimated 6 million listeners. The guidance was UPPED shortly thereafter to 6.3 million. The guidance was LOWERED back to the ORIGINAL figure (or thereabouts) of 5.9 to 6.1 million a few weeks ago. So before you go accusing people of financial crimes sparky, get your facts straight. Of course, we probably won't hear much about the fact that XM started the year with a guidance of 9 million and has lowered that figure TWICE so it's now 7.9 million. That's right, a cut in guidance of more than 1 million subscribers from the *alleged* leader. You also won't hear about the "Oprah Effect" since no such thing occurred (we won't even mention the limp and flaccid O*A who brought in a whopping 35K skateboarders errr subscribers before XM got smart enough to pawn their lame show off on CBS Radio). As for Stern's Letterman appearance, 3 segments, basically the entire show ... Opie and Dopey ... 1 segment, 5 months ago and haven't been back since. Oh right, that was also the latest in a 20 year run of appearances for a guy who was the undisputed king for two decades and is now single handedly spanking XM on sat. radio. (12/14/06) Hi, check out this page: Dave Hughes: The FishbowlDC Interview www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlDC... Anonymous Guy who writes the mailbag too often (12/14/06) The "Hick" guy doing afternoon drive time on Island-96.5 needs a doctor for a voice change and if you think he should to be in a bigger market, he should try Food Lion I hear they are accepting applications. Mark in New Church, Va. (12/14/06) Dave: I think it is great news that Don could not acquire a morning slot on is own radio station. That guy has never had any pull at WJFK. They simply move his show where they want it and he has to take it on the chin. Hahahahahahah! Michael Hughes owns that dude and he can’t spin it any other way. Way to go Don, you really showed them this time didn’t ya? When you come back, do us a favor and walk off the show again. Everyone loves a quitter. Sincerely, RJ (12/14/06) To the person who says Howard Stern went to satellite because he's a "coward," you miss the point. Two points, actually. He is being paid $500 million. Secondly, the FCC was on his ass, intent on nailing him for one infraction or another. Stern himself said that he would have retired because of the restrictive nature of radio had Sirius not come along and offered him a deal. Who, besides Dave Chappelle, would turn down that kind of money and the level of freedom Stern has on satellite? (12/14/06) (RE: FishbowlDC:) Interesting Q&A, Dave. Your favorite letter? “S” followed by “M”? You are a nasty bugger…hahahahaha (12/14/06) Dave's response: Noooo. I'm a closet Stevens and Medley fan. I admit it. I'm so sorry..... ref: "Island 96.5" - that's the station where the Hitman does mornings, Now that's real radio talent. I like the station in the morning but the afternoon guy sounds like a "Hick" and needs a board operator, real bad ! Tim in Pocomoke City, Md. (12/14/06) "The Flunkies, er, i mean Junkies, are notorious for being schills...but damn, that is an all time new low....HORRENDOUS" You have the wrong spelling it should be Whorendous. Bryslock (12/14/06) Howard who!?!?!?! Do you mean "Irrelevant Stern"? He exposed himself as a coward when he went to satrad. He let a lot of people down and crushed the illusion of being a rebel. Who's stupid enough to pay for that? O & A had no choice. D & M may not respect their audience but they didn't tuck tail and run away. I wish everyone in the media would let this old feeb just wither on the vine and go away. Tim in Warrenton (12/14/06) First off, its a joke to think WJFK would put MANCOW on in the morning. He SUCKS!! He's failing all over the US. He just got dropped from his LA station and of course we all know about him getting fired in Chicago. I remember hearing him in an interview saying he'll be back on in Chicago in a few months...Where are you now MANCOW?? Opie & Anthony should be on live in the morning on WJFK. The Junkies in the midday. Why not? It just makes sense. Oh wait, nothing in radio makes sense so I'm sure Mancow will be on soon enough. (12/14/06) Seeing the story on the front page about Howard Stern on Letterman makes me laugh. He's such a has been. He does NOT have as many listeners as he says. FYI....O & A on Letterman got "more gooder" ratings than the other night with Stern. AND FYI.....Opie & Anthony on Leno is coming up on the 21st! O&A PAAAARRRTTTTTYYYYY ROOOOCK!!! (12/14/06) So the Junkies think Ron&Fez are terrible. OK, Junks, how about a little constructive criticism for your four hours of amateur radio on JFK each morning? #1 - The Junkies are 25 to 50% heavy in the "Junks" department. A good start would be putting the no talent "Big Dummy Lurch"/Jason Bishop out to pasture. This pantload brings nothing to the table - maybe he and Norman Chad can occupy one of JFK's many under-utilized weekend spots and regale the DC area with fascinating stories about poker and point spreads. Yawn... #2 - Get a producer, who, well, actually "Produces" a show. Reading the entertainment news or playing endless variations of "Trivial Pursuit" gets old real quick. Ron&Fez actually do something called "Bits" - some of them, like the "Fezatorials" are actually written in advance! And quite amusing. What a novel idea - putting effort into a radio show! #3 - Since the Junks don't have comedic talent or stand up backgrounds, why not involve interns and regular, wacky callers in the show? Mix it up. Do something other than drone on about "flops", or brag about all the free stuff you get from advertisers. #4 - Try stealing some content from the "Monsters in the Morning" (XM 152) - they have a large ensemble crew - but the show flows well because there are distinct personalities, and a daily game plan mixed with stunts and orchestrated comedy bits. The "Monsters" are an evolution of the 90's legendary "Ron&Ron" show - which featured Ron Bennington and Fez Whatley, who now are on XM headed for Free FM. But they a just terrible!! To paraphrase a previous poster: "STFU Junks". DA_PJ_DJ_in_VA (A 99.2% free WJFK zone!) (12/14/06) Kraig the"Daphnie" you mentioned had a show called "Daphne's Cartoon Castle" Though I don't recall the channel date or times the show aired. I do though have some fond memories of Bob McAllister back when he had his kids show in the mid to late 60's on Channel 13 in Baltimore. Ain't nostalgia fun? Rusty Gibson (12/14/06) In response to the comment someone made yesterday about the Junkies/Tanya Roberts commercial on WJFK...I just heard it for the first time...and wow...talk about cringe inducing...The Flunkies, er, i mean Junkies, are notorious for being schills...but damn, that is an all time new low....HORRENDOUS (12/14/06) Does anybody have recordings of the old WHFS when the station was located in Bethesda? Local radio was great at that time. How about old WGTB broadcasts from the 1970's? (12/14/06) Dave's response: I do. The old HFS anyway..... To Vincent and the other previous poster: WPTF, AM 680 in Raleigh, NC can be heard frequently in the BaltiWash area, although not usually well. Up in toothless Frederick, I can usually hear it, WCBM, and at least one other station in the "stew" at night. On the FM side, on an October morning, I was listening to 100.7, usually the home of "The Bay", when I heard a commercial for the Carolina Lottery! By listening further, I found that I was listening to "The River", WRVA-FM in Raleigh/Durham, coming in like a bat out of hell (sorry, Meatloaf!) It just does to show ya, you never know what DX you're gonna hear! It all depends on the propagation gods . Mike in Frederick, and the Dashboard DX Society. "As God as my witness, I swear I thought Don & Mike could fly!" - Cameron Gray (12/14/06) Dave's response: As far as I can tell from the e-mail address, I strongly doubt that the "real" Cameron Gray wrote the above..... Hey Dave, first time poster and wanted to pass this on. Had to travel down the Eastern Shore recently and picked up a station that goes by The Island 96.5 from Chincoteague, Va. Great selection of Classic-southern rock, not over produced with minimal interuptions. The afternnon on-air person goes by the moniker of "The Good Doctor". This guy should be in a much larger market, great on-air presence. Anybody have any info on this station or where The Good Doctor came from? Thanks, D./Greenbelt (12/14/06) DCRTV Dave: Hearing loud rumors in a CC market (not DC) that all CC stations are being told there will be no remotes done by any CC properties chainwide for any advertisers in 2007. Someone had posted on mailbag a few weeks ago that promotions people at CC DC would be feeling the "wrath of Mays" soon, but I haven't seen anything posted here since. All this could be bs, but inquiring minds want to know if anyone has heard anything. Bob (12/14/06) OK Dr. De Cock is for real according to the WHO web page. Go figure! (12/14/06) Dave's response: He works with Richard LaGrande..... Stern has always been the biggest believer of his own PR. He is probably also the biggest believer of Mel's PR. However, neither deceiver needs a believer as the legal proof is in the annual report. That is what you should be linking to Dave, the annual report of SIRI. What Stern is attempting to do is manipulate the stock price at the end of the year, possibly to make it more attractive to the XM board as either an asset or a threat. The simple fact is, their own guidance on Dec. 5, 2006, shows that SIRI did worse than expected this YTD, by @ 400,000 less subscribers than expected,,,,so it obviously did not meet its targets regardless of Stern and the spin-Melster. Mel has done the same before at his prior employers. Mel however now has to operate in the world of Sarb-Ox and thus he has to be more careful than Stern, so they concocted this little 'news via entertainment scheme" where Howie goes on a non-news show to talk about the company's performance. As a side note, the drop in Sirius is considered a bad thing for Radio Shack, which reported poor sales of Sirius radios but had a bright spot, and an offset of that loss, in an unexpected demand for HD Radio products. Let's be sure that is understood. Sirius signed up @ 9% LESS subscribers than expected with Stern for the YTD. In the world of stocks, where things are measured in decimal increments, that is a hugh loss number. Note that their stock fell 8% on that news. Stern however qualifies as an insider and an investor, not a disinterested analyst nor newsmaker. His statements of 'subscriber facts' and possibly unethical attempts at salesmanship on Letterman (CBS let him get away with it before) can be held accountable. Stern and Mel's recent actions prove what some of us have known for five plus years. Sirius is a stock fraud. Was, Is, Always will be. Eliot Spitzer is asleep in the AG chair and so is the SEC. (12/14/06) Consider the source ...John Mainelli, who has it out for Stern, lost his job (according to him) because of Stern and now programs the radio station that Howard left. Please. First Howard wasn't going to get the million listeners he needed to "justify" his contract. Once he did that, it was "he's irrelevent." Now, it's, "he didn't get as many subscribers as he claimed." The numbers speak for themselves and all the haters and all the wannabes can try to refute them, but at the end of the day, SIRI is outselling XM, has outperformed XM for the last year, and has closed the gap considerably in total subscribers. Not to mention the fact that both CBS and Clear Channel are dumping stations like hot cakes and that CBS has already admitted it lost $100 million in advertising when Stern left. If Mr. Stern is so irrelevent, why is he the only radio personality that gets nationwide, wall to wall coverage? You never hear CNBC or FOX discussing any other radio broadcaster and the effect he has on the industry. (12/14/06) Dave's response: Another thing to consider - however many new subs Sirius has signed since Stern's arrival, not all are Stern listeners. In fact, most probably listen mainly to the other 100 or so channels Sirius offers..... Did anyone else catch the front page story in the Post Express "Circumcision May Limit HIV?" In it they quote a Dr. Kevin De Cock of the WHO. Doesn't anyone proof read this stuff?? (12/14/06) Looked thru the Nostalgia and History sections of DCRTV. Brings back a lot of memories! Anyone remember the kids show with witch Daphanie (spelling?) On in the afternoons probably late 1960's. She'd do silly things then show cartoons. Name of program? Channel? "Wonderama" on Metromedia WTTG 5 (channel 5, preFox days) with Bob McAllister (Bob always looks like Peter Noone from Herman's Hermits to me). Also, anyone remember the, seemed like, all day dance show, "Now Explosion" on channel 20? This was in the 1970's, I believe. Or, how about hours and hours of wrestling on channel 20 and channel 45? This was wrestling when the actors looked fit as opposed to today's Hercules look. Wrestlers like Batman, Ivan Koloff the Russian Bear, "Crazy" George (who would yell at the audience "You"). Part of my youth was spent in Pittsburgh, PA. There we had "Chiller Theater" with Bill Cardille (He was in the movie "Night of the Living Dead"). Count Gore DeVol here in channel 20 was good, but nothing compared to the antics of "Chiller Theater". Remember when channel 20 had news? The weatherman gave a talk at my jr high school (Kilmer Intermediate in Vienna, VA in the early 70's). I believe he died years ago. What was his name? I believe he also did a lot of announcements for WDCA. Happy Holidays. Kraig, KG4LAC (12/14/06) Dave, I've counted up D&M's best of's for 2006. As of today there were 68 best ofs, with 12 more shows in 2006 that would be a total of 80. Jack, Silver Spring (12/14/06) The Junkies goofing on R&F because they are "terrible"?? Yeah..and nothing says good radio like 4 hours daily of gambling talk! STFU Junkies...you suck..and you know it.. (12/14/06) My NEXTEL beeped w/a "Dense Fog Advisory". Sure enough, here in Wild West Fairfax, UHF propagation is starting to materialize! In addition to the usual local off-air DTV signals, I'm also getting pretty steady reception of WBFF-46. Interesting thing is, I'm getting that, but not WNVT or WPXW! And, WETA is intermittent,,, Give the fog some time to build. Tomorrow morning might provide some interesting DX! (12/14/06) I don't think one runs to John Mainelli for an honest appraisal of the state of Satellite radio. He has a vested interest in "Free" radio, and anyone with a memory longer than that of a fish will remember he was fired from his newspaper gig for lying and promulgating false rumors about Stern. The post links to an article on the FMQB website, a site which serves terrestrial radio, and again, not a place where one goes to get impartial information about satellite radio. As to parsing Stern's words uttered on a late night comedy show, and Mainelli's faux outrage,threats, and phony letter to Sirius, it is simply a ploy to get attention and bad mouth Stern. Let's examine the record and the troubling statement with which Mainelli finds fault--Stern says in answer to a Letterman question about Sirius: "It is going so great, We started out with 600,000 listeners. In one year - January will be one year - we now have almost six million." This douchebag Mainelli gets out his slide rule, thesaurus, and wizard's hat and conjures up his own intent, mixed in with a health dose of supposition. Lets examine the statement according to the inarguable facts and numbers presented in FMQB. Stern announced in early Oct. 2004 he was going to Sirius. At that point, Sirius had roughly 600,000 subs. Stern has been actually broadcasting on Sirius for almost a year, and the sub numbers will be very close to 6 million at years end. Those are the basic facts give or take 100,000 grand either way. The fact, that he announced in Oct. 2004, and now it's Dec. 2006, a period closer to two years is what has gotten Mainelli's undies in a snit. I watched Stern on Letterman, and outside of Dave letting Stern pimp Sirius the whole time, it was pretty unremarkable. While Stern maybe the penultimate huckster for Sirius, you have to take his statement out of context, and add your own supposition and intent to claim he was saying anything than Sirius had about 600,000 subs when he started and by years end they will have close to 6 million. When Stern says to Letterman "January will be one year" it's clear he is speaking about when he started actually broadcasting on Sirius, and not referring to the moment when he announced he was leaving terrestrial radio. The time line doesn't even make sense if you believed Manelli's tortured interpretation. It's just laughable. Times must be tough at Free FM in NY... (12/14/06) re: "Fisher, Farhi and other Posties have disclosed that so often since the Post radio station launched it is old news. Go back over time and readh what Fisher has written about Bonneville and he's been brutal." Thanks for the heads-up. I had not noticed and will check it out. I have to disagree with you on the disclosure piece, Disclosure isn't news. It is a requirement. Every time. There is always a first time reader. The fact remains that Marc Fisher works for a company and appears on a radio station that are trying to take away listeners from public radio. I know this is laughable given the spectacular magnitude of WTWP's failure to date, but Fisher and the Post stand to profit by printing negative stories about WAMU and WETA. The reader deserves to know that every time. One final point, I think WETA is a spectacular failure too. My issue is with Fisher and the Post not coming clean with their readership. (12/14/06) It's a good thing that they're just the "Junkies" these days, and not the "Sports Junkies," since their overall lack of genuine sports knowledge is so appalling. There was a time when radio sports guys actually had to know something to get a job. These guys are on a par with any yahoo you'd run into at a bar. They know what they think they know, but trying to actually find out what they don't know isn't an option. I've seen them a couple of times on ESPN Classic shows where they debate some Top 20 list of a sports category. It's clear they just wing it with a bunch of stream of consciousness blather that shows no actual knowledge, just what they think they know. For those truly knowledgeable sports fans in the audience there's some entertainment value, based largely on amazement that these guys can actually make a good living with so little real talent to back it up. I understand that the under 40 crowd, for the most part, thinks facts are overrated, and that those individuals who do actually know something are geeks or weirdos. It doesn't make it any easier to swallow. Gee, I miss radio. (12/14/06) What exactly is keeping King Don and his Prince Mike and the rest of the court jesters from returning to the airwaves of 'JFK before Jan. 2? Is this some kind of cooling off period? King Don feverishly working away in his batcave coming up with exciting new characters and bits for the legions of window lickers, working on getting an appearance by Scatter, to make it the bestest Elvis birtday show yet? Do you suppose El Rey Don and Santo Miguelito are getting paid for this time off while the station is taking big hit in ad revenue?...Who knows? Who knows if enough still care?.........and this supposed feud between the Sport Chunkies(did JP throw the fight?, ha-ha) and Ron and Fez, ain't radio the land of fantasy and exercising of the imagination and stirring of the pot? Watch It! Have the Sport Chunkies and Ron and Fez even seen nor heard from each other since R&F left ? Here let me dangle these keys in front of you, you are getting very sleepy, now bark like a sheep..Baaaaa-Baaaaa Roof!......How I heard of Bread drummer Michael Botts passing...I spend hours cruising the internet and I've even been to the edge...you should see those old webpages from 1998 scream out as they sink into the black hole of the time space continuum or whatever that is at the edge of the WWW.. ah heck Maryland Public TV ran his ,Fogelberg's, appearance on Soundstage,I think, a couple of times and well I sort of liked that crazy kooky California country rock of his first few albums back in my yute and went to check out his website www.danfogelberg.com... I saw that Michael Botts was his drummer and checked out his website www.mikebotts.com... I see I recollected incorrectly and he passed Dec. 9, 2005, as for David Gates, beats me, don't think he liked touring and lives in seclusion in Northern California, rumor is he takes painting lessons from Don van Vliet but can't verify, why Bread doesn't seem to have an official website, very strange in this era of hype hype hype....meanwhile for you Root Boy fans I saw this video of Root posted on youtube.....seems to be a Root song about el presidente shrub's father but heck could just as well apply to current President decider www.youtube.com ......carve the turkey, turn the ballgame on, make Bloody Mary's cause we all want one!........everybody say cheese, Merry Christmas From The Family.....Bill "Nails" Smith........doesn't Rocky Mozell sound a lot like Penn Gillette? a star, a star shining in the (12/14/06) NY Times... Not Boasting, Even Though He Could... By DAVID CARR... Published: December 11, 2006... Correction Appended... "Last Wednesday afternoon, Donald E. Graham, the chief executive of the Washington Post Company, arrived in Manhattan for the Credit Suisse media week for analysts and told them, well, not much." (12/14/06) I was wondering if you could give me an update on the Orioles and the possibility of a new flagship station for 2007? I read in the early fall that WBAL might be out as the flagship? Any help would be appreciated. Steve (12/14/06) Dave's response: I haven't heard about an Orioles radio deal for next season. The word is that the team could move from Hearst's WBAL-AM to CBS's WJFK-AM and WHFS-FM. Stay tuned..... /\ December 14 Messages /\ \/ December 13 Messages \/ This is probably one of the type of ads you won't be seeing from the Nine News Now contest... youtube.com... Nor this one, either. youtube.com... (12/13/06) Geez Paul, can you cool it down about Wendy Rieger's looks and Liz Crenshaw's reporting? Some of the men on News4 look like they're ready to drop in a coffin at any minute, but who cares what they look like -- as long as they are good anchors, reporters and can read a teleprompter! -Silvie in Waldorf- (12/13/06) I was listening to The Junkies this morning and I'm not sure if everyone is aware of what's going on in baseball, but mediocre pitchers are getting fat contracts. The Junks were talking about Miguel Batista who just got 3 years 27 mil, and they called him Miguel "Ron and Fez" Batista and I dont' remember the exact quote but totally smashed Ron and Fez implying that they are terrible and keep getting rewarded with huge contracts. I thought the Junks and Ron/Fez were cool cause the Junks use Ron and Fez drops from their JFK days sometimes. But it definitely didn't sound like it was all in fun, really sounded like a jab. (the following was posted on The Ron and Fez Fan Site www.RonFez.net) (12/13/06) WHAT is happening with this phenom of a few ears ago. Are there any success stories. I'm Gordon Williamson and my address is fsp2a@aol.com. Any old timers around who would like to add something to the book concerning WTTG-TV and the start up 61 years ago. October 2006 marked the 60th year since Boib Wolff and I and others flipped the switch on the first commercial TV station south of the Mason-Dixon Line. If you know of anyone who would like to be in the book as it nears completion, let me know. This month I'm looking for Elaine Shepard, early woman special events reporter on WTTG, Channel 5. My thanks to Jill Lamb King for sending me a "kine" of Art ( her father) and Aletha Agee. lip-syncing their hearts out. Also keeping my interest up, I thank Kaptainkidshow@yahoo.com for continued interest. Good lord, it's December, time to support DCRTV again. Happy New Year.. Gordon Williamson fsp2a@aol.com (12/13/06) RE: Rumsfeld Interview poster:... are you really that much of an idiot or do you just play one on a message board? sheeesh, lol. You were correct though in your self analysis "I guess it is proof that there are people out there who will believe anything." Perfect! (12/13/06) "AM skywave is opening pretty early in the afternoons these days. WPTF Charlotte is clobbering 680 WCBM in these parts..." Just so you know, WPTF is based in Raleigh. Perhaps you're confusing it with North Carolina's other 50,000-watt AM, WBT in Charlotte (1110). -- Vincent in Triangle (12/13/06) Dave's response: With Don and Mike on hiatus, I often listen to Ron Smith on WBAL during afternoons. And, lately, I can hear another 1090 coming in underneath Baltimore's 1090. At about 4 PM, when BAL is still on its much stronger (here in Northern VA, anyway) daytime pattern. Couldn't ID the mystery signal, though..... Two things: NBC4 has had troop holiday greetings up online for a while: www.nbc4.com... And from the sounds of it, they're not going HD, like you reported, just "positioning" for it: www.nbc4.com... (12/13/06) stern sirius numbers fmqb... Howard Stern usually makes headlines for his appearances on David Letterman's late night program because of outrageous stunts. After last night's stop by the Ed Sullivan Theater, he's making them as "Bravo Sierra" is being called over the satellite radio personality's claims regarding Sirius Satellite Radio subscription counts. "It is going so great," Stern said on Letterman's program last night. "We started out with 600,00 listeners. In one year - January will be one year - we now have almost six million." That statement prompted a letter from WFNY (Free-FM)/New York PD John Mainelli to Sirius SVP/Communications Patrick Reilly asking, "Are you penny-ante Sirius people so desperate for subs these days that Howard Stern has to go on David Letterman as he did last night and flat-out lie -- brazenly and shamelessly? From '600,000 to 6-million subscribers in one year'? I thought he misspoke himself when I saw that in a Sirius transcript two weeks ago. But I guess this is how low he, you and Melvin have sunk." More at fmqb.com... (12/13/06) I thought you'd enjoy the opening paragraph in this week's Post review of Gore Vidal's book: www.washingtonpost.com..... "The Great Gadfly," Reviewed by Louis Bayard: "When I was growing up in Washington, WDCA-TV ran a weekly horror-flick showcase called 'Creature Feature,' hosted by Count Gore de Vol. The count was suave, fond of cheesy movies and inclined to plant his teeth in the nearest neck. In all these respects, he was the double of Gore Vidal, whose vampiric sang-froid has seen him through a long and bustling career of pamphleteerism and historical revisionism -- with plays, novels and screenplays thrown in for ballast. And if Vidal isn't technically speaking undead, there has always been something about his tireless stream of prose that seems unruffled by mortality." (12/13/06) Channel 4, that new lighting is aging even ageless Wendy. She looks closer to 60 now. And if you REALLY are looking to make some cuts there, how about losing Liz Crenshaw? You could train a monkey to do Consumer Reports better than her. Paul (12/13/06) Mack, Jenny Chase is now on WMZQ doing news and traffic. Don’t know about the other two. Bob (12/13/06) Color me curious here: What kind of "shot" did the Junkies take @ Ron and Fez today? I didn't hear much of their show, they did back-to-back interviews with a comic appearing at the Improv and the Mason basketball coach when I tuned in @ the 9am-ish hour so I bailed out to "Tuttle's Travails" at Monsters in the Morning. Any details of the Junques comments directed to R&F would be appreciated....DA_PJ_DJ_in_VA (95% WJFK free...) (12/13/06) Dave's response: Just reporting what I hear. A local radio dude told me today that, in early 2007, 106.7 will "clean house" leaving only D&M in afternoons. And Mancow may get mornings. Gag! Didn't believe him. Anyhoo, we report. You decide..... RE: Rumsfeld Interview - Hey DA, I think the show Hannity and Colmes is called "fair and balanced" because THEY give you both sides of the story. I don't think Sean Hannity has ever claimed to be anything but what he is. If you can't comprehend that, good luck with something complex like an interview! (12/13/06) One more thing, WBJC broadcasts the Lesson's and Carols from London, every year. Kevin (12/13/06) I can vouch for the unusual AM skywave early this afternoon, causing reception of a lot of southern stations you don't normally hear during normal AM daytime skywave. In particular, I caught bluegrass on 870 kHz and gospel on 930, 1080, and 1180. At the 1080 spot, there were ads for Baptist churches in Virginia and what sounded like the call letters WKBY (that would be Chatham, VA), and at 1180 kHz there came in, not WHAM, but quite possibly WFGN in Gaffney, SC! They were featuring similar ads for churches in SC and GA. The gospel station strongly interfering with WFMD at 930 kHz--could that have been Charlotte? And the bluegrass music could not have come from WHCU in Ithaca, but most likely WFLO in Farmville, VA. Wish I could've stayed longer to catch some definite IDs! KOF (12/13/06) RE: "... a new NCRTV with its own URL (instead of that crappy geocities url) may be in the works in a few months." NCRTV.com is already up and running, and looks great! (12/13/06) "WETA had decided not to broadcast Lessons and Carols this year. What could they be thinking? Certainly not that they'll get my pledge dollars..." WETA cares little about you once they get your pledge money. Just ask the poor souls who have poured bucks in WETA TV's coffers for years when WETA threatened over and over to cancel "Eastenders" because it was "too expense". Yeah, 2.5+ year old episodes of an English soap are the most expensive programming you've got WETA. WETA out of touch and why would anyone waste time enduring their endless beg-a-thons is beyond me... DA_PJ_DJ_VA (12/13/06) Well, thanks to D&M I’ve really enjoyed my iPod on my afternoon commute for the past few weeks. I listen to music and Junkies Podcasts. I believe I will continue this even after 1/2/07. For all you Junkies haters out there it’s pretty obvious you all have no friends and live isolated lives huddled in a dark room next to your radio in your Mothers house. The Junkies are funny, they are like watching Sunday football with your buddies every morning, if you can’t relate don’t listen! I’d suggest powering up the DVR and watch your season pass backlog of all the various editions of “Star Trek” you have recorded over the years. “The Donkey” in Fairfax. (12/13/06) Calling the Dashboard DX society and anybody who wonders what is meant by "critical hours." AM skywave is opening pretty early in the afternoons these days. WPTF Charlotte is clobbering 680 WCBM in these parts and 1030 WWGB is already suffering from heterodyne fading at 2:30 this afternoon. (12/13/06) There are 2 other stations on the Eastern Shore playing all Christmas music. 107.1(WTDK) Cambridge and 104.7(WQHQ) Salisbury. 107.1 can be heard just about all over Delmarva. (12/13/06) Hahahaha..After reading about the entry less Ch9 promotion of "make our promo for us, cuz....we are outta material NOW"...doesn't someone have to actually be watching Ch9 for a promo to be effective? Maybe they should just wait and run all their promos during the Super Bowl when people WILL actually be watching. The promos they run are "NOT NOW" I mean outdated as it is...not that I'm watching. (12/13/06) "I finally got to listen to 'Christmas Eve in Washington' on WASH-FM!!! Al McGilvray." My sincerest condolences, Al. KOF (12/13/06) Dave, you said BW postings had to be local. But you voted for Mancow as a Worst. Does that mean I can vote for "24" as a Best? (12/13/06) Dave's response: Certainly. Actually, Mancow is on on the Eastern Shore. So he is kinda local..... With a decent antenna (I’m in PG County) you can also catch all the holiday tunes you want on Easton’s 96.7. Nothing like the feel of small town radio – until Delila comes on with her nauseating show…..gb (12/13/06) Now that Dan Tangherlini is leaving Metro for the DC government many of those that he hired are being let go. It started on Monday with the firing of Tony Dorsey. He was let go after returning from a Christmas lunch he treated his staff to at Clydes at Gallery Place. No official announcement has been made nor is there an official reason for firing him. (12/13/06) Hey Dave -- Snyder's not the only Grinch. First, I'm losing my WGMS; today I checked on WETA-FM's website for the schedule for the annual live Christmas eve broadcast of Lessons and Carols from King's College, Cambridge. When I could find no holiday programming at all, I called and was informed that WETA had decided not to broadcast Lessons and Carols this year. What could they be thinking? Certainly not that they'll get my pledge dollars... Louise Anderson, Arlington (12/13/06) Did anyone catch what that neo-con political tool Sean Hannity called an "Interview" with Donald Rumsfeld the past two days? Here's a snippit....HANNITY: "So these are your final nine days....do you feel sad?" RUMSFELD: "No, no, not at all. Not at all." HANNITY: "Are you misunderstood by the media and maybe some of your political opponents?" RUMSFELD: "Well, no...." HANNITY: "I mean, the media, you know, they want to say this civil war has broken out in Iraq. We've got politicians out there publicly saying we can't win the war. I believe they've undermined the president in a lot of ways. How has that impacted your ability to fight a war?" --SNARK WARNING-- Wow....what a friggin' spineless marshmellow Hannity REALLLY is....All I can say is, don't transactions like that cu