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Current Mailbag - Mailbag Archive Index - DCRTV Front Page - Support DCRTV DCRTV Mailbag - August 5 to August 9, 2007 Latest messages listed first..... \/ August 9 Messages \/ Ok....I have given Jim Rome's show a chance for a month now, and here are my pros and cons....PROS: 1) It's not Bill O'Reilly.....2) His interviews...Rome does tend to ask good questions and has good guests for the most part....CONS: 1) The missing 1st hour (granted, thats a WJFK issue...) 2) Rome's constant repeating of the answers of interview questions seconds after the interview has concluded...Ok Jim, we heard it the first time! 3) His show basically feels like that movie "Groundhog Day". There was an entire week that all he went on about was Mike Vick and how a caller called him racist. A week! BORING! Not to mention its the same rejoiner songs at the exact same times everyday..Shake it up already. 4) And this is the biggie...Someone please...PLEASE...tell Rome to stop acting like every guest he has on is the reincarnation of Christ. Damn man...could you possibly kiss your guests ass anymore? "That was Dan Deedootler, 8 year old QB for the Pop Warner Sharks...What a great guest...Great person...Big BIG player...Phenominal!" ----Overall, it's not a horrific show. Could be worse. But it's repetative format is getting real old... (8/9/07) "To Christian: Before you worry about the LifeLock guy giving out his SSN, ask these questions... Is this the same guy who's been banned from working in the credit repair industry? The same guy who lied about being a victim of identity theft when he started LifeLock? The same guy who apparently stole his own father's identity to charge over $150,000? These questions all come from the full news story here: www.phoenixnewtimes.com. I'm certainly not going to worry about his SSN." Good story, thanks for sharing it. I still find the ad remarkably attention-getting, but the story you linked to does plant a seed of doubt about the company's prospects and intentions -- to say the least. Christian (8/9/07) Travis Edelin, the voice of Michael Hughes on the Don and Mike show, in the Frederick News-Post (8/9/07) Re: layoffs at ABC Radio Washington Bureau. Was there something in the ABC-Citadel deal about no layoffs for 90 days after the deal closed? 90 days would coincide with the end of the fiscal year in September. ABC probably did not want the bad publicity connected to whatever layoffs Citadel plans. Remember, this is Farid who has made a career out of slash and burn. (8/9/07) Layoffs at ABC DC Bureau: that's a shame. Steve Densmore is a really talented guy and a nice guy to boot. I had the privilege to work with him years ago. I hope he lands well. He deserves it. Jim (8/9/07) The early 80's version of "Party 97" on WASH-FM was A) not good, B) NOTHING like the format that WPGC and WERQ later embraced and C) way behind the times in that it sounded like a cheap imitation of 93/KYS circa 1978! Now, about Dude and Marilyn- sure, they sounded great. They could sound good on an all-fart station. They're both very talented. It was the statioin itself and the format that sucked! Also, if you have ANY comfort in your own skin, it REALLY boosts your credibility to sign your posts. If the boss won't let you, just say so up front and we'll respect that. - Ed. Rodriguez (8/9/07) "Don't Blame it on Technology" www.fmqb.com (8/9/07) Dave's response: "The fact is, radio today is Boring with a capital B." Amen. With a capital "BIG" as in 100.3 The most boring rock station ever created. Shame on Clear Channel..... i ate a pancake and a burger at mikes resturant they were both a+ (8/9/07) I know that WASH's flirtation with Dance-CHR was ultimately a critical and financial failure...but isn't it fair to say that it might have been slightly AHEAD of its time? After all, WPGC ended up succeeding several years later, with a rhythmic-crossover approach. Maybe the timing (and execution of the format) just wasn't right for WASH. My hazy memories of CHR WASH include a TV commercial with an animated "97" logo. I also recall some very good jocks, including Dude Walker and Marilyn Thompson. And about that million dollar contest: I think the station's slogan was "The Million Dollar Sound of 97 WASH-FM" during the promotion. They made random calls to people in the phonebook. If you said your favorite station was WASH, you won 97 dollars. Then, if you could name the last three songs WASH played, you won the million! The embarrassing part was hearing how many people would say "WMAL" or some other station, in answer to the first question. As I remember, when WASH finally did get the million-dollar winner, he was absolutely lifeless on-the-air...the ultimate unexcited listener. I don't think WASH stayed in the format very long, after that lackluster conclusion to such a big promotion. (8/9/07) A collegaue of mine commented; "Who KNEW Mike Hambrick was bald?" To which I remarked; "Who KNEW Mike Hambrick had EARS?" (Watch a much more elegant job of morphing with faces that have graced both the big and little screens at www.youtube.com (8/9/07) To Christian: Before you worry about the LifeLock guy giving out his SSN, ask these questions... Is this the same guy who's been banned from working in the credit repair industry? The same guy who lied about being a victim of identity theft when he started LifeLock? The same guy who apparently stole his own father's identity to charge over $150,000? These questions all come from the full news story here: www.phoenixnewtimes.com. I'm certainly not going to worry about his SSN. (8/9/07) So far, more and more television stations across the nation are now broadcasting local news in HD. WUSA 9 is currently the only Washington, DC station offering news in HD. 6 other Gannett-owned stations are offering news in HD as well. Still no news on the other Washington, DC stations... and still no news on the Baltimore stations. I don't know about any of you... I'm predicting that NBC 4 could and might be looking at becoming the 2nd Washington, DC station to broadcast local news in HD. It's been rumored that NBC 4 plans to broadcast news in HD, sometime in 2007... this move come a year after WNBC's move to HD. I'm predicting ABC 2 or WBAL 11 becomingn the 1st Baltimore station to broadcast local news in HD. 4 of ABC 2's sister stations... WPTV, WFTS, WXYZ, and WEWS are now broadcasting news in HD. 2 of WBAL 11's sister stations... KCRA/KQCA, and WCVB are also broadcasting in HD. This is sure to be interesting. Just my predictions. Thanks, Eric from Atlanta (8/9/07) Who is this Gary Keeler they have doing poetry on WAMU just before 7AM every day. BAD !! He sounds like he's drunk or well on his way there. Wanders around, slurs his speech almost as bad as Bawb Edwards. Is this his replacement? (8/9/07) To the poster who said they hope Nissan closes because they're parking and traffic is bad. I just saw the Police in Hershey a few weeks back and let me tell you.. Nissan is like a Taco Bell drive thru at 11am compared to Hershey's parking lot after a concert.. YOUR IN AND OUT!!! Took me 1 hour and 45 mins just to get to a hill of grass where I went off road and put the truck in 4 wheel drive while leaving a nice patch for Hershey's groundskeeping to take care of in the morning.. At least Nissan has some cops out there trying to direct traffic.. All Hershey had was a couple of traffic lights.. I'LL NEVER SEE ANOTHER SHOW AT HERSHEY AGAIN!!! (8/9/07) Hey! Stop ragging on Classy-95... If it wasn't for Allen Hotlen (then PD) hiring me in late 1985, I probably might never would have found my way to Washington, DC but, he DID hire me and one of my first shifts on the air (doing Mid-Days) was the date the Challenger space shuttle exploded... that day was a blur to me but, recall, Allen asked me to work that evening just answering phones ON THE AIR.... Damn! I've been on the air here in DC since 1986... seems like only yesterday! Al (Smooth Jazz) Santos (8/9/07) Virgin Fest pics - I'm a not a photographer or a photoshop wizard, nor do I play one on TV. But, hope you like. :-) (8/9/07) There's an ad on WMAL's stream for something called "Lifelock," which supposedly guarantees it can protect you against identity theft. I don't know if it's a great product, but it sure is a great ad. The voice of the founder announces who he is, then gives out his actual social security number! He's not afraid, he says. No one will be able to steal his identity. Every time I hear the ad, I picture hackers and scam artists licking their chops to go after the guy. I don't know if the ad airs on the over-the-ari broadcast signal. Christian (8/9/07) If I remember correctly, WASH in the Party 97 era gave away $1 Million, an even bigger amount back then than it is now. I think that the "fine print" was that the winner got $50K a year for 20 years. To think that they only recently paid that off - an annual reminder of a big blunder. I'd still have to say that Classy 95 still takes the cake in the "how to fu** up a Washington radio institution" competition, but the Party 97 debacle is a close second. Bonneville has been trying to jump into the lead for a couple of years as they continue to dismantle their Washington empire. (8/9/07) Hey! You're freakin' me out. I believe the guy with the "Ed Rodriguez Head and Goatee" combo is my old (albeit short-termed) PD from WBMJ in San Juan, Mike Hambrick, whom you all will recall from his anchor duties at Channels 4 and 7. Now, about the Bill Tanner/ WASH fiasco. By the end of 1982, WASH was getting hurt by the brand new WLTT "Lite Rock/ Less Talk" format on 94.7. While Bob Hughes BEGGED Metromedia to lower the spot count and raise the rates, they wouldn't do it. Bill Tanner had lusted after WASH and WMAL-FM, and the opportunity to program to a multi-ethnic audience like DC's for years. He campaigned to the NY Metromedia suits and got the job. I had already left to become GM at WXAM in Charlottesville by then. His "Party 97" (basically, a Disco format, two years after Disco had peaked) took WASH from a 4.5 to a 1.6 or 1.8 in the Arbitron. It was the first time that XTRA-104, owned by WASH-FM creator and former GM, Bill Dalton, beat WASH. IIRC, "Party 97" lasted about 18 months before Tanner was sent on his way. The subtext that we didn't know at the time was that John Kluge, Metromedia's chairman, was buying back all the stock to begin parcelling out the company in a hugely profitable selloff! Metropolitan Broadcasting was a group comprised of MM GM's and other executives. They are the group that returned WASH to A/C, but with a very scripted, canned approach. They were also the ones who created that horrible "Continental Breakfast" show that Max referenced! As long as "The Original Crew" was there, Eddie Gallaher was untouchable in mornings. He wisely read the tea leaves when Tanner arrived and had his agent work the deal out that took him to WWDC to host mornings with their "Music of Your Life" format. And, think about it, Eddie stayed there from 1983 until a year before his 2003 death! Elwin, the check is on the way. BOBB, WASH-FM was not programmed for you. WDON and the Muzak system in the Prince George's County Jail were. But, thanks for the mention! - Ed. Rodriguez (WASH- FM 1976-82) (8/9/07) RE: [ " Jesus F***ing Christ, is that Mike Hambrick?? " ]..... God, I sure hope not. Otherwise, a lesson learned, that's what being a spokesperson for the cigarette industry does to ya! Geez, Ron Smith is now the only cutey left from the old Action News team! :-) (8/9/07) RE: "Name that anchorman" Jesus F***ing Christ, is that Mike Hambrick?? Where's the Conan O'Brien poof he used to have?? "Hi, I'm Mike Hambrick for Life Alert..." (8/9/07) To answer the AM radio problem-why doesn't the FCC do what OFCOM does in the UK...they regulate the format. If a station breaks the format or changes a format without proper approval or without proper studies on the impact of it's listening area, the license is revoked. www.ofcom.org.uk.... And Canadian radio stations are regulated by profit--no profit, they loose thier license. (8/9/07) Shorties: Angelos is a weird apple; a rotten one at that. MASN is MASN and it will take a lot to make it better. DC radio is worse than the lowest market on Arbitron's totem pole. DC is rich in jazz and blues; except for Saturday's on WPFW, forget about it. Shame. Stopped watching a local news on DC stations. Sick of the police blotter taking up the first five or 10 minutes. And the worst TV newscasts in DC? That be on Channel 5. Just awful. I don't miss watching that trash. Some good things: it's football season; Nats TV & radio announcers; it's football season; Barroid B*nds can now be forgotten; DC has a big league baseball team; it's football season. (8/9/07) Mr. Max said: "Oh, yes, and maybe lean on receiver manufacturers to use something more recent than 1930s circuitry and components that are found in the AM sections of even some of the most high-end car and home radios." Wrong, wrong. Average AM radios were FAR better in 1930 than they are today. Find a moderate- to high-end 1930 radio and see for yourself. OTOH 21st century car radios use Digital Signal Processing for most of their functions, something not even thought of in the 1930s. But the DSP is designed to handle the overpopulated AM band and the high noise levels. Just wait until AM IBOC is authorized at night for the real fun to begin - the start date has not yet been set. (8/9/07) Great discussion about AM radio and the old MAL. And as an old member of the Jenifer Street gang, let me say, Tim Brant is D.C. and by far the best in town. I heard he may be looking for a new producer. If he is, I'm available. (8/9/07) Dave, Here's a story Don's boy Robb Spewak would be interested in - www.washingtontimes.com (8/9/07) Why who doesn't remember PARTY 97 ? (8/9/07) The old WASH FM brings back memories. I remember when my Dad switched from WMAL to WASH it was a pretty big deal within the family. My father’s brothers and sisters were very loyal to MAL, and Harden and Weaver in the morning. It is interesting to point out that every time WASH returned to its AC roots the station was very successful. The Bill Tanner years were the low point, and those years compare to other radio disasters during the past thirty years like Classy 95. I guess the Tanner WASH days and Classy 95 would compare to the current radio warts of today, which would be Red Zebra and Post radio. (8/9/07) For the third time this year, I sent my concerns about the need for an HD timetable to MASN. This time I requested "no canned replies". Instead of the usual list of MASN acheivements, I received back a terse reply thanking me for me interest and stating that the email was being forwarded to the proper receipient to deal with my comments. Now we'll see if I ever hear from them again. Howie (8/9/07) Nice photos of the WTOP (FM)'s "old" facilities. Don't forget... there are photos of WTOP (AM)'s really old facilities at this site: DCMemories.com... (Please forgive an out-of-date link on that page.) And in a not entirely unrelated development... my bedside clock radio, faithfully tuned to 103.5 FM, woke me this morning with the sound of an unfamiliar announcer. When the top of the hour station ID arrived, I realized I was listening to "102.7 The Shark" out of Atlantic City. We should have some good DXing today, kids! (8/9/07) Re; possible closure of Nissan, Damn I hope it happens. First, their parking (& surrounding traffic) on concert dates is terrible. And lastly, the town of Manassas is by far thy worst municipality in the free world... Hey "Silvie in Waldorf", we miss you. Rusty Gibson WEBR/Radio/Fairfax (8/9/07) Okay, as long we we're playing "Name That Face", who can identify this 1980s-era TV anchorman from his present-day photo? (8/9/07) (regarding a previous post) Yeah, she's a real looker, all right. What's so sad is that her ugliness is from the inside out. Of the thousands of people who were displaced by Hurricane Katrina and dispatched to the New Orleans Superdome, she said: "So many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them." You can really see where Dubya gets his 'compassionate conservatism' traits! (8/9/07) Dave says (in part): "I still think AM is viable - if we can cut the clutter of small stations, reduce the number of AM stations per market for between two and four, and let those remaining stations broadcast with very high power levels. " Dave, the only problem with your "dream", such as it is, is that it doesn't take into account how the FCC allocates radio station licences under the laws as they are currently written. You can't allocate frequencies according to programming (not allowed; programming can be taken into account in licence renewal only, as I understand it); and you can't arbitrarily take away large numbers of stations by not renewing licences, at least not without cause, and then that cause usually has to be some egregious violation of technical rules. What you propose would require a huge rewrite of the laws affecting broadcasting, and it just ain't gonna happen, not the way Congress is these days. A more realistic course of action might be to more stringently enforce the regs on power, antenna pattern, and also the spurrious causes of electrical interference that make AM radio such a hash. Oh, yes, and maybe lean on receiver manufacturers to use something more recent than 1930s circuitry and components that are found in the AM sections of even some of the most high-end car and home radios. To Roddy Freeman: My recollection of what happened at WASH went like this (and I know my stereophonic compadre, Ed Rodriguez, or one of the other WASH refugees will refine/clarify my recollection where needed): In the final years that Metromedia owned WASH, they first tried tinkering with what was a very successful AC station by introducing a multi-host, "magazine" format morning show, patterned after a morning program that Ed Rodriguez, Bob Hughes and I tried out with some modest success at WXAM/1400 in Charlottesville. The WASH version of the show was a disaster, however, and never really flew. Shortly after that, Tanner was brought to town to introduce a Miami-inspired "dance" format to the station. Before he even had a chance to hang up his coat, he sacked the whole air staff, and if I remember correctly, he was rather rude and brutal in how he handled firing all these talented folk who had worked so hard during the station's successful years. (And please spare me the posts about "no good way to fire someone", that's a crock.) That's ok, tho. Quite honestly, his "dance" format was a train-wreck, and the station plummeted to the bottom of the ratings; more importantly, and the sales staff found it next to impossible to sell advertising for something that sounded so foreign to D.C. Made lots of people in the business ask just how much research Metromedia had done before launching something so unlistenable. Before long, Mr. Tanner was shown the door, and sent packing back to Miami, his radio tail between his legs, and I believe he ended up on the frequency of one of his former competitors. Good riddance. Sometime after that, they flipped the format back to a fairly bland version of AC just before Metromedia sold the station to the first of several owners; at one point, WASH was co-owned with WTOP, and I believe Evergreen was one of those owners. WASH's studios and automation system were just around the corner and down the hall from WTOP's newsroom. By the way, TOP's new temporary newsroom and 'glass-enclosd nerve center', just opened yesterday, are located in this area while the old newsroom (and beloved 'glass-enclosed nerve center') undergoes demo for the second phase of the station's renovation. You can see a short article and pictures of the soon-to-be demolished 20-year old facility here renovation. You can even see a picture of the writer's workstation where I, Shawn Anderson, and legions of WTOP writers and anchors both past and present over the last 20 years prepared our newscasts. And so it goes... - Max in Mild West Arlington (8/9/07) RE: [ " Dave's response: You know, why doesn't the FCC just say, "Hey your AM license is expiring and we're not renewing it" to all stations that don't have 24/7 authorized operations or daytime powers of 1,000-watts or less. " ]........ Dave, this would work if not for ABC NEWS's John Stossel's SECOND GREATEST THREAT TO AMERICA (behind the terrorists of course).......... THE LAWYERS!!!!!! Probably the ONLY way any of those tiny little AM stations could make their biggest killing, BY SUING!! ( Btw, John Stossel said lawyers were our 2nd greatest threat on DC-101's Eliot in the Morning Show awhile back. :-) (8/9/07) Dave's response: OK, then maybe the FCC could "buy back" the AM licenses at $100-per-watt. The "AM de-clutter" campaign could be funded by increased "indecency" fines that would be extended to cover any on-air comment critical of the Bush administration (the Murdoch Act) and a sales tax on high-def TV sets, at 2-cents per line of screen resolution. Oh, nevermind..... /\ August 9 Messages /\ \/ August 8 Messages \/ Do not under any circumstances bring back Kiley and the Coach. Regards Biff (8/8/07) " Miller isn't the p-b-p voice of the Giants." Ooops! I missed the word "only." Kind of an important omission. Thanks to Joe Kassel for pointing out my error. While I'm wiping the egg off my face, I still must say Jim Williams' column is still full of useless info and ass-kissing. (8/8/07) To the "Select-A-Tenna" guy, do you recognize this lovely? I doubt it. Barbara Bush was a stunningly beautiful young woman who, (as sometimes is the case), didn't retain her Cover Girl good looks as she approached her senior years. Now, I can't so much as glance at the visage of our current Commander-In-Chief without becoming physically ill, but we don't need to be dissing his po' mama. (8/8/07) Dave, a couple of weeks ago in a post to your Mailbag, I too wondered if Amy Robach would be replacing Campbell Brown. I noticed that she seemed to be a "regular" on the Weekend Today show as well as filling in for Campbell when she was off..I also noticed that she was really trying to "shine" whenever she was on there..Maybe an audition tactic??.. (8/8/07) Nothing better than Don scoulding his staff today (Joe) for not answering the phones while Buzz is reading the news. Then, Mike admits that he sleeps at home in a "professional hospital bed." Damn funny shit! (8/8/07) I thought i heard something way back about this. Are people who have the Dish Network in the DC area going to get the Harrisburg,PA NBC station soon? I know we just got WHAG 25, but i thought i heard somthing about Harrisburg too. Thanks! Jamie, Brunswick, MD (8/8/07) (regarding previous posts) I've used the Model 541 Select-A-Tenna for nearly 20 years to help improve my reception of local and distant AM stations. It's uglier than Barbara Bush, but the Select-A-Tenna is a simple, inexpensive and effective solution for better AM reception, whether for everyday listening or DX-ing. www.selectatenna.com (8/8/07) I believe DCRTV Dave's suggestion that the FCC trim the AM band down to a handful of the most important stations would suit the correspondents to the Washington Post's "Local Broadcast Comment" column of December 3rd 1922. DCMemories.com... These "listeners-in", (as they were called), wanted DC broadcasters to observe "quiet hours" by going dark several times a week, thus allowing distant mega-power stations to be received without interference. As Wm. J. Mertz wrote, "It is most annoying to be tuned to a good concert or lecture and be completely blanketed by some local stations starting up with an assortment of cheap gramophone records." BTW, there's still time to pick-up a Franco crystal radio receiving set for Christmas, (complete with a double head set); only $10 at The Hecht Co. Radio Shop downtown. As you know, Hecht's operates their own station, WEAS, from the store. And that crazed DC inventor, C. Francis Jenkins, will be addressing the Washington High School Radio association next Friday on his fanciful notion that motion pictures can be sent through the air by radio. (8/8/07) Dave's response: I probably read that article when it was published! Oh, did I tell you that in my previous life I helped invent radar during the 1930s and 1940s in WW2-era England? That's why when I visit London I feel like I'm "coming home." I know that city like the back of my hand and yet I've never lived there - in this life, anyway..... BOBB, The only euphoria that I would get from your post is if YOU were WASHed away. Some people happen to like Music that is less laced with edge... Jocks that don't have to scream their personality. Yeah, it's middle of the road. Hopefully, the road that you're standing in while I'm driving. Elwin (8/8/07) Here’s an Ed Rodriquez or John Dowling question. I was living out of town in 1983, but I’d thought WASH was doing well with its AC format. Bill Tanner was brought in after having huge success with Heftel in Miami and attempted to install some sort of a dance AC format; at least that’s what it sounded like when I visited the area. In the process, he managed to create anger among the longtime staff, who all ended up exiting. Not only did this turn out to be a major blemish on WASH’s history, but it seems to be the only negative on Tanner’s considerable radio resume. (In programmer John Rook’s online bio, he calls Bill Tanner “the cream of the crop” as far as programmers go.) What was the impetus behind changing the format? Did it come from the Metromedia powers that be or Tanner? Roddy Freeman (8/8/07) Dave... Sorry to hear about your AM reception problems. I ran across an ad in the Washington Post from a firm who can easily straighten-out your problem. (The newspaper is a little bit yellowed, but I hear the company is quite reputable. I understand they even operate their own radio transmitter.) (8/8/07) Dave's response: I'm glad that Mr. M.A. Leese never lived to see the pathetic political dung heap that his namesake station (WMAL) has become..... What is it with the WASH euphoria? The station sounded like a middle of the road radio for the sweet. No Balls, no electricity, no nothing. I moved into DC in the mid 70's. I could not stand the soooooooooooooooooo polite gush. I looked for Kick ass radio. WASH was never there. BOBB (8/8/07) I agree that the AM band is becoming too difficult to listen to, and I consider myself a radio junkie. But extending the FM band by 12 MHz would only add 60 "channels", while the current AM band contains 126 channels. (This doesn't include adjacent channel interference considerations.) Moving AM stations to digital FM subchannels seems on the surface like a good idea, but not under the current system. Digital FM currently doesn't have any reach, and nobody (relatively speaking) has the proper radios. Under the current half-digital, half-analog mess, nobody is likely to buy the necessary radios, either. The whole IBOC experiment smells like the AM Stereo fiasco. Any technological change in radio is going to require the government to wake up and define a changeover to a new standard, like is happening with digital TV. (8/8/07) Dave's response: You know, why doesn't the FCC just say, "Hey your AM license is expiring and we're not renewing it" to all stations that don't have 24/7 authorized operations or daytime powers of 1,000-watts or less. To start, anyway. I know, it wouldn't work, but I can dream, can't I? It would be nice to have all-traffic and weather stations on AM. Not the deadly dull "travelers advisory radio" prerecorded loop tape TIS's, but a full service type station run like WTOP with real people, that goes beyond general reporting and emphasizes detailed coverage of trouble spots even on secondary roads as well as exactly where bad weather is hitting at any given moment, in essence an audio version of doppler radar, bringing the information down to the individual street level. Any down periods like the wee a.m. hours they could fill in with news, etc. but the main purpose of the format would still be in-depth weather and traffic coverage. KOF (8/8/07) Dave's response: There would be a national network of government-operated Homeland Security stations between 540 and 570 kHz and a national network of National Weather Service stations from 570 to 600 kHz..... Sorry I'm in such a bad mood and ragging on evil Dems again today. My girdle's too tight and my ankles are swolen. - Rush (8/8/07) Was it Big O or Dukes who declared Anchorage the capital of Alaska last night? (8/8/07) Wow! It's like looking at a family scrapbook. I really enjoyed the WASH exhibit on DCRTV Plus, Dave. A couple of quick clarifications, though. Barton Eckert's newscasts and Eddie Gallaher's airchecks are from 1973 instead of 72. "Bad Bad Leroy Brown" didn't come out until spring or summer of 1973. I was always sorry that I missed the "class reunion" in 1984. Greg Cole left in early 1980 and Dowling left in 1981. Greg was production director and I succeeded him, then moved into evenings when Dowling left for afternoons at WMZQ. Greg is now at KNCI in Sacramento and John succeeded me as program director of UpCountry at WorldSpace Satellite Radio. The jingle you described as "lush" was from the Johnny Mann package that we bought around 1976. It's really comical to hear the old 1970 news format with that cheesy "Here's the time" jingle. I think Bob Duckman came over from WINX in 1969. - Ed. Rodriguez (8/8/07) Dave… Actually, there are a lot of markets where AM is still viable. A lot of the Midwest big cities, like Chicago, St. Louis, etc., all still have big viable AM radio stations. Same in California, and some West Coast markets. As I mentioned to the Washington Post’s John Kelly a few months ago when I helped him answer a reader’s question about why AM radio here in D.C. is so bad, D.C. basically got screwed on powerful “clear channel” radio frequency assignments by the early FCC and Congress, because it was a much smaller, less influential city, with significantly less population; that changed after World War Two. Also, because the powerful members of Congress at the time came from rural areas, their interest was in making sure their areas got the big 50kw AM stations with great signals that could serve a more spread out rural audience. It’s questionable at best to make judgements on the basis solely of AM in the D.C. market, and even what you can supposedly pick up in one’s suburban domicile. And so it goes… - Max in Mild West Arlington (8/8/07) Dave's response: I still think AM is viable - if we can cut the clutter of small stations, reduce the number of AM stations per market for between two and four, and let those remaining stations broadcast with very high power levels. By its very nature, the AM signal does a great job covering large (rural) and very hilly (mountaineous) areas. The FCC should redefine AM as a "regional informational service" band. DC would have news talk 630, sports talk 980, and news talk 1500. Baltimore would have news talk 680, news talk 1090, and sports talk 1300. All of the five stations would run at 500,000-watts. The remainder of local AM signals would move to satellite or digital FM channels - or go dark. Maybe the FCC could extend the FM band down to 76 MHz to accommodate the new AM-to-FM operations. Also, a portion of the AM band would be set aside for local, regional, and national Homeland Security and National Weather Service stations..... Note to GK-It really isn't the Royals who set next year's timetable for HD; they are actually abandoning their own RSN and going back to FoxSportsNet (who already have HD). It's a minor point. Anyway, I don't think NOT having HD in year one of actual existence is a horror or a conspiracy by the evil one, but not making plans to add it in the near future will be. I probably would be more upset if I thought DISH would pick up MASN HD as soon as it were offered (They won't). BTW, the stretched SD looks a lot sharper on the Pioneer plasmas at Camden Yards than it does on my home set, but I guess they have a better source signal than my compressed DISH one. I also see that CSN is broadcasting the Redskins preseason games in HD, but I won't see them that way on DISH unless the HD version is added rather quickly. Howie (8/8/07) (Listening to WTEM the last day or so, it is clear that John Thompson, Brian Mitchell and Doc Walker have decided to use the Barry Bonds HR record to engage in an orgy of race baiting) Those are 3 of the worst hosts in the history of radio. black, white or whatever........they are unlistenable. Bring back Kiley and the Coach! (8/8/07) Regarding the Nissan Pavilion question: although I did not hear that Nissan was supposed to be leveled for the project, there was talk of plans a few years ago for developers (including Brookfield Homes) to build out the area around Nissan with additional housing, retail, a VRE station, and even additional exits off of 66. It is my understanding that when the housing market started tanking, they took the plans off the table as the infrastructure requirements for the deal would be too expensive to make it profitable. That coupled with Prince William County’s recent efforts to curb growth make me think that this might be an old rumor. It is true that the Nissan concert schedule has dwindled in recent years, but I don’t know if that’s a reflection of the state of the music industry, or a desire by management to get out of the business. - Chris in Bristow (8/8/07) Dave's response: Or maybe concertgoers are just damn sick of the infernal traffic jams before and after events..... Rumors of Live Nation shuttering a lot of their sheds is pretty strong. I think they have sold off a number of sites in recent years. The days of the shed seem to be coming to a close. Just ever decreasing number of acts that can fill a venue that size. Seems to me the dinosaur rock acts of yore only have one or two touring cycles left in them. Especially for 18,000 seaters. With most folks spending most of their time indoors these days outdoor venues don't have the appeal of the past, imo. But would they sell off Nissan Pavillion in this lousy real estate market? And wonder what the status of Merriweather is for next year with the idea of selling that land off constantly swirling over that site. (8/8/07) I can't agree with dumping the AM band just yet. Much of what little ownership and ethnic diversity that still exists is on AM. Many sports teams outside the upper echelon leagues also need AM to reach radio listeners. An FM-only radio universe could just end up being more homogenized than ever. Everett W. (8/8/07) Dave's response: The AM band in DC is almost all Spanish. How is that "diverse"? If don geronimo is the good guy and easy to getalong with dude in real life he claims to be I'd think he'd try his bestest to make sure he leaves a good situation for his buddies Mike, Robbay and Buzz. He keeps saying he's leaving early to give the boys room to get their sh9t together A.D. Is something going on between Donnie G. and cbs brass, like the don can't work elsewhere till 2011?.......during another era I believe a number of A.M. stations in D.C. area broadcast at stronger power.....I get the Grease, grease, grease just fine in my apartment......are there cities in the U.S. that still have a strong A.M. side?.....tom gavin is returning to his old friday afternoon time slot with the recent departure of mr. gibson! How is TAGS complaint to the union about not getting fully paid for his bits on that radio show?......dcrtv dave I saw Tim Conway on the Travis Smiley show last week. I don't think he mentioned anything about his diaper changing abilities. The shows are sometimes available on podcasts on Smiley's website....what's the dealio with the eyebrows on that channel 9 evening newsreader? (8/8/07) Dave's response: I can get WMET and other DC area AMers if I listen on a battery-powered radio (free of powerline interference) and contort it over by a window on a certain side of my domicile. But you have to "work at it" to listen to AM radio. Yeah, other cities have far better AM stations/coverage that does DC, including NYC and Philadelphia..... Dave, Hey, I've been hearing some rumors about this being the final concert season at Nissan Pavilion. There is talk of bulldozing the venue and building town homes on the site. I can't find any hard news stories to back it up, just curious if there is additional talk in the No. Va arena on this? Mason (8/8/07) Dave's response: I haven't heard anything. Anybody else? Listening to WTEM the last day or so, it is clear that John Thompson, Brian Mitchell and Doc Walker have decided to use the Barry Bonds HR record to engage in an orgy of race baiting. Basically, the theory goes that the big bad white folks have been abusing poor Barry because he's black. Never mind that Bonds cheated and that the record he broke was also held by a black man. But this leads to a larger issue. If one listens to Thompson's and Walker's programs, you will find that perhaps 80% of the callers sound like they are black. Clearly, those shows are targeting a black male audience. An interesting strategy for a sports station that could appeal to a much wider demographic. (8/8/07) Who knew "greaseman" was still on the air? (8/8/07) Dave's response: On a side note, I live in a condo and my AM reception stinks. With my and my neighbors' electronic devices - everything from Wifi internet, light dimmers, computers, HDTVs, and whatnot (sorry D&M) - I can't hear hardly anything on the blasted AM radio - much less the Greaseman on 1160. I get decent reception of only the very strongest signals at my location - including WMAL, WTNT, and daytimers WUST, WFAX, and WABS. That's it baby! Even WTWP's 50,000-watt 1500 signal barely makes it through the "hash." It's time the FCC simply shut down the AM band. Move all the AMers over to FM digital. Or trim the band down to a handful of the most important stations, perhaps two or three per market, and then let them broadcast at power levels of between 100,000-watts and 1,000,000-watts to cut through all the electronic clutter, like they do in Europe. The AM band as it currently exists in the USA is an unlistenable mess..... Wow, I don't believe that the DTV allocation process has the slightest hint of corruption. Two things to remember: first, this process was all about replicating the existing, or at least authorized, service provided by analog TV broadcasting with a digital service, and second, this replication must use less spectrum. Unused analog allocations had to go away to achieve this goal. There will certainly be an auction in the future for full-power DTV stations (just like the ones for FM translator and new or major change AM station applications), which will be a far more flexible approach to expand the number of stations. In the meantime, LPTV is where the action is with existing stations applying for digital channels and with requests for new digital LPTV stations. Regards, Dave Loudin (8/8/07) RE: WGTS and Baltimore Translators: WGTS has been asked if we would allow our signal to be used on several translators in the Baltimore area on a temporary basis. WGTS granted permission to rebroadcast WGTS on three translators, two from Hope Church - W287AS Whitemarsh & W272BJ Fairlee and one from Radio Assist - W291BA Baltimore. WGTS does have some coverage issues in those areas due to the grandfathered shortspacing with second adjacent WBJC. RE: WGTS STA: We are operating at full power from the Arlington site. The shared WETA/WAVA/WGTS antenna developed a problem in one of the many radiators or connections that caused an increase in reflected power. We all had to reduce power to keep operating from the Arlington site. WGTS immediately filed an STA to operate from the former MAIN site in Takoma Park (Application is pending for the former MAIN site as an AUX site), when the tower workers go to fix the antenna so that WGTS could remain on the air (all of this info is available from the FCC database in our STA application). The tower company went up and it appears the issue has now been fixed, and we returned to full power from Arlington. We do need to let things shake out for a few weeks and make sure there are no more issues. John Konrad, Vice President/General Manager, WGTS 91.9 fm, Washington D.C. (8/8/07) WGTS listeners at Sunday's Nats game. (8/8/07) Tim Brant is a lightweight and doesn’t belong in DC. Greg Tolland is a much better sport announcer and personality. (8/8/07) Dear Jazz lovers: The featured artists line-up for the week ahead continues with our summertime vacation look at all the great jazz artists from A to Z as in Ahmad to Zoot and everybody in between... to find out more click here... jazzradiodc.com. Please note if any page on the site doesn't open... simply click your refresh button. Thanks, Carl David (8/8/07) Dear Dave: Yet another unsigned poster (these are getting damn annoying), quotes the following from a recent Jim Williams article "...and Jon Miller former Orioles announcer and now voice of the Giants on KNBR will be calling the game..." and follows it with his own interjection "...He missed another name. Miller isn't the p-b-p voice of the Giants. Dave Flemming was doing p-b-p when I was listening on XM last night. Get your facts straight before you come across as a know-it-all..." I think you should get your ducks in a row before firing off a salvo at another. A quick jump to the San Francisco Giants web site (sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com) has at the very top a picture of Jon Miller with his bio, which ID's him as the "Voice of the Giants." The page lists other members of the broadcast team, including Dave Flemming who, as mentioned in his bio, is a native of Alexandria. The Giants, like many other teams, have a broadcasting arrangement where the voices will split time between radio and television. So, while the poster may well have heard Dave Flemming doing play-by-play on the Giants radio feed to XM, other parts of that broadcast would have featured Jon Miller. Also, it is Miller's voice as heard on the KNBR radio broadcast last night calling Barry Bonds' 756th home run that has been played on ESPN, Fox Sports, CBS Radio, XM's MLB Channel, etc. And congratulations to Miller on the call. So much has been said about Bonds and the controversy surrounding him and so much could have been said last night on the call. But Miller, taking a page from the legendary Red Barber approach to baseball play-by-play (i.e. - don't add your opinions or thoughts, just report) called it straight and let the crowd noise and excitement at the ballpark last night tell the story. Miller, certainly on his way to being a recipient of the Baseball Hall of Fame's Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in baseball broadcasting, now has two calls of significant events in the history of baseball: last night as well as the evening Cal Ripken set the consecutive games played record. Great site Dave! Sincerely, Joe Kasell (8/8/07) Greaseman refered to his studio as "the methane enclosed nerve center" this morning. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! (8/8/07) Tim Brant may be a knowledgeable sportscaster in some areas, but in baseball he's struggling. On Tuesday night, he said more than once that Nats pitcher Mike Bacsik (Back-sick) was in the game. You pronounce his name Bass-ic. He also needs a Spanish lesson. Brant called Seattle slugger Raul Ibanez, E-bon-nez. It is E-bon-yez. Of course, he got all of the Redskins names right. (8/8/07) Two things - first, Liz Drabek is exceptionally attractive; you'd be happy to have her around. Second, the Orioles' lease with the city of Baltimore was ironclad, and EBW was dead before ground was broken on OPACY. True, WTOP had the Orioles' rights in 1988 and thereafter had their own "DC rights" deal until they dropped them several years ago and the team was forced to buy time on WTEM. But moving the Orioles to DC was not on EBW or Larry Lucchino's radar screen after 1979. But I do agree - the programming on MASN is really second-rate. (8/8/07) What's the website which shows radio station coverage patterns? (8/8/07) Dave's response: www.radio-locator.com..... The Hope Christian Church of Marlton NJ fun with the FCC continues........ flurry of FCC minor modification apps granted today confirming that all of their Baltimore area translators (pretty much blanketing the Baltimore market, 98.3, 97.5, 89.1, & a few others) will carry NOT their New Jersey FM station but (drum roll please)...... WGTS (which is for sale!). And by the way, anyone know why WGTS is now operating under low power Special Temporary Authority and do the new proposed owners know about this? (8/8/07) hey phil in S. Park, I thought you moved to brooklyn park away from severna park a couple of years back. At least thats what you claimed in this here mailbag. So now you're in severna park again? Must be fun to bounce from one extreme to the other. Anyway, it's good to see Medhurst posting about himself again. I was starting to wonder what happened. Not really. (8/8/07) The Stereo or Mono status of the FM Main carrier has no impact on the HD portion of a channel. Similiarly, having HD carriers has no impact on a station being Stereo or Mono in the main channel. The FCC has been pretty clear about maintaining the integrity of the main channel during transition. (8/8/07) as heard on XM radio... Tuesday, August 7, 2:29 pm Channel 8 The 80's "Let's Get Sirius(Serious)" by Jermaine Jackson While zipping around the inner loop, everyone in the car thought it was funny... (8/8/07) /\ August 8 Messages /\ \/ August 7 Messages \/ From Jim Williams: " Dave, Barry Bonds is one homerun away from becoming the all time homerun leader at 756 breaking Hank Aaron' s record. The Nat and the Giants are playing this week in San Francisco and Jon Miller former Orioles announcer and now voice of the Giants on KNBR will be calling the game. Also, MASN's Bob Carpenter and WTWP's Charlie Slowes will make the signature call once Bonds hits the record breaking homerun." Well duh! Once again, more riveting information from from a wanna-be columnist. As one poster pointed out, Dave Jaegler wasn't even mentioned. Guess what? He missed another name. Miller isn't the p-b-p voice of the Giants. Dave Flemming was doing p-b-p when I was listening on XM last night. Get your facts straight before you come across as a know-it-all. And by the way, it's home run, not homerun. (8/7/07) WMAR landing on 38 is interesting since it's WJZ's CURRENT DTV channel! Maybe WMAR gets some decent ratings the week after the final switch huh? LOL (8/7/07) Wow! Thanks to the unsigned note from a DCRTV watcher regarding CHWO in Toronto. I found AM740 in Toronto shortly after moving to West Virginia. It can only be heard in these latitudes after sundown, but on the Internet it’s clear as a bell. There seems to be very little “localized” programming or chatter at night, but those who miss Felix Grant will really enjoyu hearing it live on AM740 or on the Internet at www.am740.ca. Tom Gauger (8/7/07) Thanks Dave Loudin for the new final DTV info. If this is the final word on DTV, then I am VERY disappointed. Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware ALL LOSE FULL SERVICE TV STATION ALOTMENTS from what I can see from quickly skimming the document. The question begs, does this mean all the old unused alotments are gone forever and no new TV stations will be allowed without a complicated expensive and not worth it process of filing for a new alotment in a particular market? From what I can see Maryland loses 2 or 3 potential TV station alotments, Delaware loses 1 or 2, and I haven't calculated Virginia yet, but it's certain some will be lost. If so, isn't that like fixing a public/private monopoly for the current owners of TV stations, mostly conglomerates and abandoning many small markets by disallowing new signals in them? I hope I'm wrong, but on my first skim of this, this whole FCC report smells of corruption in my opinion. (8/7/07) I seem to remember that for at least 1 or 2 seasons WTOP was actually The Orioles flagship station, feeding the signal to WBAL and other stations on the network, not the other way around. At least I remember reading that in The Sun because it sort of caused a stir that possibly it was a precursor to the O's heading for DC. And no one really knows what EBW would have done had Camden Yards not been built and he's not going to be talking about it any time soon so there's really no sense in stating what he would or wouldn't have done had OPACY never been built. Bob Irsay said "I'm not gonna move the goddamn team anywhere" and look where they embarrassingly hauled ass in the middle of the night during a snowstorm to. As for MASN, why are people surprised the network has screwups in the very first year of broadcasting 2 MLB teams? DUH. Sure, I want HD brodcasts and I'll be shocked if they don't have them next year. I just think they're busy working out the kinks in their 1st broadcast season of the 2 MLB teams as well as waiting for DC's new stadium to be built. Investing any money in HD at RFK would be like throwing money in the Potomac. And as for the Nats prez complaining in the Post, yeah, that's sorta like New Coke threatening to sue Old Coke isn't it? Or just PR BS? If the Nats management wanted changes at MASN, maybe they should as part owners, ummm, maybe DO SOMETHING!? DUH! Furthermore, I'm surprised every MASN complainer never mentions COMCAST or the fact that COMCAST keeps moving MASN around. So not only do you have to keep track of whether the game is on MASN or MASN 2, you have to first win at the COMCAST shell game, & find where MASN is in the FIRST PLACE! And COMCAST's TV Guide channel was WRONG for like THREE WEEKS! With all these hijinks going on, it's very difficult for me to believe that COMCAST hasn't been messing around with the signal quality in different areas or the very appearance of a game in and of itself. Sure Angelos plays dirty pool, but is Comcast really any better for either the Orioles or Nats? I think in the long term, no. And for sports fans in general, the competition is going to mean LOTS more local sports being broadcast in the DC/Baltimore market on all 3 channels (4 if you count the occasional CN8 broadcast). And as a sports fan myself, that's definitely a good thing. So for all these reasons, I'm willing to give MASN another year before bitching unlike everyone else in this mailbag apparently. (8/7/07) Dave, The final (or at least as final as it gets) DTV channel selections have been released by the FCC. From hraunfoss.fcc.gov complete list: Washington: 7, 9, *27, *33, 35, 36, 48, 50; Annapolis: *42; Baltimore: 11, 13, *29, 38, 40, 41, 46; Frederick: *28; Hagerstown: 26, 39, *44; Salisbury: 21, *28, 47; Arlington: 15; Ashland: 47, Fairfax: *24, Front Royal: *21, Goldvein: *30, Manassas: 34, Petersburg: 22, and Richmond: 12, 25, 26, *42, *44. With no channels below 7 (frequencies less than 88 MHz), home antennas will not need the largest elements anymore to work. Regards, Dave Loudin (8/7/07) Dave's response: So, Dave, which local station is going to be on which number? Will WJLA drop its UHF DTV allocation and put that on 7? Will that take place on the same day in 2009 that analog WJLA goes dark? Very good questions! ;) Yes, there are cases where stations will give up the transition DTV channel and go digital on their current analog channel (WJLA, WUSA, WDCW, WBAL, WJZ, WMDT, and WWBT. Plus, there are a couple of cases where the final DTV channel is completely new, as in WNVC landing on 24, WPXW landing on 34, WMAR landing on 38, WHAG landing on 26 and WJAL landing on 39... Regards, Dave Loudin Edward Bennett Williams and his protégé Larry Lucchino never had any intention of moving the Orioles to DC. They wanted to keep the Orioles in Baltimore and take advantage of the rich and more populated DC market. Camden Yards never would have happened in the DC Metro. The stadium was made possible through Maryland tax dollars driven by powerful Baltimore politicians. Williams and Lucchino were smart to forge the relationship with WTOP years ago. It was interesting to note that WTOP was never an affiliate on the Orioles radio network and flagship station WBAL. WTOP had its own rights deal and revenue sharing program and worked directly with the Orioles negotiating all of the radio rights deals. There was always a caveat in the deals, which allowed WTOP an early out should DC get there own team. Lucchino used to scoff at the clause saying “it doesn’t mean anything because DC would never get a team.” (8/7/07) After seeing “Talk to Me,” I have a couple of Petey Greene questions. The movie, though excellent, contained a lot of poetic license. My first question is: When did Greene join WOL? My other question is, did he really later do a weekday show? The movie portrays him as being a music personality, which was certainly not the case in the first several years of WOL. And it shows Dewey Hughes pushing morning man Sunny Jim Kelsey into the overnight shift to make room for Petey. That didn’t happen either. Dewey Hughes was a newscaster in the heyday of WOL, but I’m pretty sure his stint as PD came much later. He definitely wasn’t PD in 1966. And it was kind of funny seeing “Egmont Sonderling” (Martin Sheen) sitting at the station and listening to every word. When I create “The Dave Hughes Story” for the big screen, it will be much more factual. Roddy Freeman (8/7/07) Dave's response: Last week's DC City Paper has a lot of info about the "poetic license" taken by the producers of the movie. Including the movie's claim that Petey appeared on "The Tonight Show" and walked off. Apparently, he never showed up for his appearance. As for "The Dave Hughes Story," don't forget the scene of me being bathed as an infant by Tim Conway, who was an Army buddy of my dad at Fort Lewis in Tacoma, Washington. The definite highlight of my life (so far, anyway)..... The WHFS website still says that it's oh so wonderful Oriole games are still in FM Stereo. Does this effect WHFS2's HD broadcast? Will HFS music still be in stereo? (8/7/07) Dave's response: I'm not an engineer, but I don't think a station's stereo/mono status affects the stereo-ness of its HD channels. Or does it? Hmmm..... Let's all observe a moment of silence as the end comes for "Weekly World News". The wild, weird, wacky, wonderful tabloid will cease publication soon. It was an important part of show prep for countless deejays for many years. www.washingtonpost.com (8/7/07) I whole-heartedly agree with "Howie". Once MASN finally decides to go HD, but Dish Network, DirectTV, or Comcast decide not to carry it, then the blame falls on the providers. But until then, the responsibility to join the 27 of the 30 MLB teams that DO broadcast in HD falls on MASN and Mr. Angelos specifically. BTW, the Kansas City Royals are the only other team that don't broadcast in HD and they are setting a timetable of next year to do so. The O's and the Nats will be the ONLY TWO TEAMS IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL THAT WILL NOT BROADCAST IN HD BY 2008. It's obvious that there are no problems accomidating HD cameras in either Camden Yards or RFK Stadium (for the visitng teams), so why can't we get them here? I've written it before, you can't spell "Angelos" or "Orioles" without "LOSE" (for the Nats fans, you can't spell "Nationals" without "LOST") G.K. (8/7/07) Pete Medhurst is everywhere...filling in for Bob Duckman on WNAV today..sports traffic..music....WNAV another local success story live bodies....all day..phil in S. PArk (8/7/07) I ran across this great station out of Toronto am740. It can be picked up over night only. But they do have a real quality stream over the web. Mid days remind me a little of the greatly missed Tom Gauger show. www.am740.ca (8/7/07) "Hi Dave, Evans/Starling – cute faces. But the real test is ASS. m" Giddy up! The Assman (8/7/07) Anyone have a photo of Liz Drabek who does the traffic for KMS and the Ed Norris show on HFS? (8/7/07) From the cheap seats: Mindy Basara(sp) Channel 11 Baltimore is HOT! Jack is NOT! MASN low def bites, but Gary Thorne(Orioles) is a man among men. The Nats or the Nads? Channel 2 morning show won an Emmy? For what? Sure it wasn't a Hammy? BAL radio..wow! The classical music trio is on the deck playing. Mickey needs another stripper? Tata tv? I hear they use his head as a rack rest as they peer over for tall, dark and handsome! Back Room (Troy & John?) HFS nights just more amateur dribble, but damn they're funny and infectious. TOP Am and the ole BAL morning and evening news shows; where have you gone? That Chris Daltry song "Going Home" is pretty cool. Dan Snyder, you all hate til he calls you to head up one of his departments. XM now in Ferraris. Wonder if you have to pay extra? Uh sir, that's 175 g's for the car and oh by the way another 200 clams for the receiver. We need DCRTV radio. Jerry Springer meets Big Brother meets The Apprentice meets Cheaters. You guys are a hoot! Bobby. Baltimore/DC Metroplex Bio-Dome (8/7/07) I don't have a problem keeping up with which game is on MASN and MASN2; for one thing, (as has already been pointed out) it's advertised; even if you don't see the graphics (like I usually don't...they verbally advertise it. I have Dishnet; I can't say how it's done on the cable systems..but on the dish, MASN and MASN2 are right next to each other. So for me, (even if I do get confused..it's just a matter of going up one channel! As far as picture quality (although I admit not having that great of vision)..the picture looks pretty good to me! Tom in Denton, MD (8/7/07) Tracey Metro of Traffic.com (center) is joined by two of her colleagues Cat Astrophe (left) and Vee Dott. (8/7/07) Dave's response: No, the one on the left is Michelle Hughes, who does the afternoon traffic on WJFK-FM..... Hey you dumb hack, Charlie Slowes isn't the only play-by-play voice of the Nats on radio. At least once when Bonds was up last night Dave Jageler had the call, including the highlight that has been playing on WTOP and other sports shows all morning when John Lannan struck Bonds out in the 7th to end the inning and send "Mr. 755 with an Asterisk" to the showers. Sometimes I wonder if Jim Williams even watches or listens to the games he "covers". Don't worry Jim, there's still plenty of room for you in the Paul Olden Broadcasters wing at Cooperstown. You know they're running out of people to go in there ever since Olden asked the infamous question of Lasorda that prompted this response: tommykingman.ytmnd.com (NSFW) (8/7/07) &&& I have been a Don & Mike fan for the past 10-15 years. I have tried to listen as much as possible, but yesterday's show was the worst. It just seems that Don is pissed off at everything and just does not want to be there. I say end it now before they become an even bigger joke. You had a good run guys, you are financially set, now say goodbye and go away. Patrick J. Elkridge (8/7/07) Dave's response: Don does seem to be quite angry of late at producer John Normand. I still prefer BA and her mirror..... There are certain problems with MASN that need to be dealt with at once. Screwing up the blackouts is unforgivable. While I didn't expect HD in their first year of full time operation, I now think it's time they set a timetable to provide the service and stick to it. If the cable/satellite services won't open up the bandwidth for MASN HD once it starts, blame them. Other complaints, I think, are a little less compelling. The constant complaining about not knowing where the games are, for example. I know each team will appear on MASN for about 100 of the games and be on MASN2 for the others. I need to know the locations of two channels to view all the games. When CSN had the Orioles, they would usually be on CSN for about 90-100 games and be on local channels for most of the others. I needed to know the locations of two or three channels to view all the games. I fail to see the difference. Howie (8/7/07) Here's a story regarding the House That Jack Built He use to own the old Cellar Door nightclub amongst other things The Dream Home That Never Was... Concert Promoter to Auction Mansion He Built Then Gave Up On... It has been two years since legendary local concert promoter Jack Boyle decided to sell the 25,000-square-foot dream house he had built in McLean but never moved into. After attempting unsuccessfully to sell it the old-fashioned way, he has decided to try an auction. The mega-house sits on five acres off Georgetown Pike. It has nine bedrooms, 12 full baths and five half-baths, two fountains, a sauna, and a six-car garage with two bays for limousines. Boyle, whose shows have featured such acts as Paul McCartney and Jimmy Buffett, asked $18 million when he listed it with Fairfax Realty in 2005, just as the real estate market started to soften. "I just don't think we hit the right market," Boyle said, speaking from his home in Maine. www.washingtonpost.com (8/7/07) Hi Dave, Evans/Starling – cute faces. But the real test is ASS. m (8/7/07) To the poster who claims that "a certain DC attorney" did all he could to make the Baltimore Orioles the Washington Orioles, please elucidate. Please tell everyone exactly what EBW did to try and move the Orioles to Washington. "Baltimore" last appeared on the road uniforms in 1972 - EBW bought the team 7 years later, which means Baltimore guy Jerry Hoffberger took "Baltimore" off the road jerseys. EBW did more to get Camden Yards built than anyone. By the way, where were the Baltimore millionaires when the Orioles were for sale before EBW bought the club? Obviously they didn't think the Orioles were a going concern. Go sh#t in your white-paneled hat. (8/7/07) Angry Nats fans, let MASN know how you feel here about blackouts and lack of HD Orioles fans can also send their love to Mr. Angelos' S**tty Networks: www.masnsports.com (8/7/07) On today's Burdshow, Nigel talked about seeing the movie Godfather when a guy he used to go with. Did Nigel just step out of the closet or has he already been out? (8/7/07) To the poster who inquired about the Teletubbies attending Reverend Jer's funeral; Those lovable little fellows conducted their own memorial ceremony, as well documented by April Winchell in the following clip: youtube.com (8/7/07) "Ref: MASN - B'more to DC, How does it feel to be treated like the ugly red headed step child? now you know how Baltimore felt about getting slighted or at least feeling that way like when a certain DC lawyer owned the O's and did almost everything he could to make it the Washington-Baltimore Orioles.......away uniforms still don't sport the city of Baltimore....but someday they will." Uh, the switch from "Baltimore" on the Orioles' road uniforms was made in the early '70s, under the Hoffberger regime; that "certain D.C. lawyer" didn't buy the franchise until 1979. And two subsequent owners have had the chance to restore "Baltimore" on the uniforms (Cuban Pete for more than a decade), but neither has. Hmmm. -- Vincent in Triangle (noting that the Nationals' road uniforms have listed "Washington" from day one) (8/7/07) Dave, Barry Bonds is one homerun away from becoming the all time homerun leader at 756 breaking Hank Aaron' s record. The Nat and the Giants are playing this week in San Francisco and Jon Miller former Orioles announcer and now voice of the Giants on KNBR will be calling the game. Also, MASN's Bob Carpenter and WTWP's Charlie Slowes will make the signature call once Bonds hits the record breaking homerun. www.examiner.com... Cheers, Jim (8/7/07) Hey MASN, YOU SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hey Angelos, YOU SWALLOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm a die-hard Orioles fan, but I'm also interested in watching the Nats games when the O's are off. Unfortunately, I couldn't watch the ESPN2 High-Definition feed of the game because it was blacked out. Instead, I had to look through the grainy 1970's picture from your "wonderful" network. Join the rest of us here in the 21st century! Greg in Reisterstown (8/7/07) "Why does every single newscaster, radio or tv, refer to all murders as "brutal" and all heart attacks as "massive"?" It's all in "The Book"....the one that says all serial killers are to be referred to as "Mr. (insert last name here)", all thunderstorms are to be referred to as "Severe", anyone inflicted with the dreaded disease is " 'Battling' Cancer". the gunmen is always "alleged", and so on. (8/7/07) HOLY SHIT MASN SUCKS !!!!!!! (8/7/07) They call her Crisco because she's fat in the can. (8/7/07) Was listening to WBIG last night and after they played 3 in a row the dj said something about not interrupting the music with talk and none of this laser shot stuff (Don Geronimo loves the laser shot don't he!) anyways right after the dj said that I heard a laser shot going into commercial. are the dj's at WBIG on an hourly wage?.......does Gary Nuremberg work for CNN and channel 9 these days?.......People what's wrong with you I always believe what mighty Cufflinks says. What hasn't our good buddy Mel not done for us? Seems to me he's always been the consumer's friend.....hey you, did you see Miss Gurvir this morning?..... Did any of the Teletubbies attend the Rev. Falwell's funeral? Did Tammy Faye say well at least I out lasted that s.o.b.?....Why does it seem on your basic cable that a lot of the same movies keep showing up on different channels around the same period? (8/7/07) Dear MASN, Thanks for blacking out the ESPN2-HD feed of last night's Nats-Giants game. It looked and sounded so much better on MASN's old equipment in 4:3 SD. We are so fortunate to have you as our RSN. Signed, Stan Kasten (8/7/07) Just an FYI that Lee Hazelwood passed away recently from kidney cancer. Lee sang several great duets with Nancy Sinatra like "Some Velvet Morning" , "Jackson", etc. and also wrote and produced her mega hit "These Boots Are Made For Walkin". I can remember when 1370 AM was The Legends and actually hearing Lee and Nancy's duet "Ladybird" for the first time. He also had some great speaking pipes and I later discovered that Lee was also a disc jockey in 1955. Will miss him. Blessings. Joyce Conroy (WHFC) (8/7/07) But the "For Sale" sign has been out on what I understand was Mr. Koppel's house roughly since he left ABC. Clearly not a fast mover. (8/7/07) Regarding MASN--they have screwed up Orioles games. I've watched the O's several times on MASN2 when the screen just goes blank. Eventually, DirecTV will put up a graphic stating that that they are aware of the problem and the signal will come back. There have also been sound issues for O's games, and this weekend, the MASN2 games had the scoreboard graphic too high on the screen so that you couldn't exactly make out the whole score or if anyone was on second base. I think this is more an issue of MASN growing pains than a conspiracy against the Nats. Remember, MASN loses money if people can't see the Nats. Is the MASN versus MASN2 thing that confusing? The ads I see are very clear about which team will be on which station each day, and if you missed those, I know that during every O's game that runs against a Nats game, they will put a graphic on the screen early in the game and the announcers will state that the Nationals are also playing on the other MASN channel. Yes, the WDCA screw-up was probably MASN, but finding a game on MASN versus MASN2 just isn't as difficult as some make it out to be. Fred (8/7/07) Ref: MASN - B'more to DC, How does it feel to be treated like the ugly red headed step child? now you know how Baltimore felt about getting slighted or at least feeling that way like when a certain DC lawyer owned the O's and did almost everything he could to make it the Washington-Baltimore Orioles.......away uniforms still don't sport the city of Baltimore....but someday they will. Doesn't feel so good does it? Kinda makes one wonder why some smart ass DC attorney didn't come with the idea of putting together his own sports net. (8/7/07) "Burt/Choptank" drools (in part): "Last year they complained about not getting the games on TV. Now that they are MASN, they whine they dont know what channel its on." If you'd bothered to really read what we were complaining about, "Choptank", you'd know that MASN advertised that the game would be on WDCA/"My 20" here in D.C., and MASN2 elsewhere. When we tuned in, the game wasn't there. And more likely than not, it was the fault of MASN. Again. Which, as I expected, hasn't had the courtesy to respond to the note I left on its website. That has nothing whatsoever to do with having a "scanning remote". It has to do with the Angelos-owned "sports network" not performing as it has advertised. Period. Is it too much to ask that they provide games the way that they advertise them? It was their idiotic idea to do this MASN/MASN2 nonsense that keeps confusing the situation for fans. Also: I don't recall that MASN has ever screwed up the broadcast of any Orioles games. Hmmmmm... My thanks to my good friend Joe Kasell for passing along the Washington Post item about the MASN screwup. I hope Ted Lerner stays good and mad at MASN for stupid cable tricks like this. And "Bart", if you're gonna take cheap shots like that, at least get your facts straight first, ok? And so it goes... - Max in Mild West Arlington (8/7/07) (Whine, Whine and whine some more. Some of the Nats fans act like big babies. Last year they complained about not getting the games on TV. Now that they are MASN, they whine they dont know what channel its on. What is so hard about scanning with a remore.! Either some of Nats fan must be lazy or stupid..or both. Nats whiners, and Orioles whiners as well...deal with it and get over it!) And what is so hard about using spellcheck and grammar before you send an e-mail... Love, Peter Angelos (8/7/07) Perhaps even more interesting (to me, anyway) than the asking price of $2.4 big ones for Edward J. Koppel's old Glen Mill Road residence (f.k.a. "GATTONS ADVENTURE") is the original purchase price in 1971 of $106,000. That's also a matter of public record: sdatcert3.resiusa.org (8/7/07) Dave's response: But $106,000 was a lot of money back then. My dad, in 1968, bought a brand new house with five bedrooms, three bathrooms, three levels including full basement, on a half-acre semi-wooded lot in the Philadelphia suburb of Woodbury for $29,000..... Walter Palmer- Thank you for the clarification! I knew the show ran before the 1957 switch to all Rock and Roll (or, at least, Top 40, including the "Pop" hits of the day.). But, I have to say, he looks awfully young to be retiring in that picture. WEAM was, to me, what the show in "My Favorite Year" was to the kid in the play. - ERod (8/7/07) /\ August 7 Messages /\ \/ August 6 Messages \/ Nat fans will ALWAYS complain about MASN because it is owned by a competing franchise. Thus, there will always be suspicion about ulterior motives any time something goes wrong. Such is the natural result of the sheer stupidity of how the thing was set up. (8/6/07) Saw your piece on (Ted Koppel's Potomac MD property). Here are the details. Matter of public record with MLS. No problem using it... matrix.mris.com (8/6/07) Well, I see that Dorren Gentzler is back without a sling. And she seems to be a really good mood. Guess the pain's not as bad anymore..However she's not moving that arm around too much..In any case, glad to see she's back. (8/6/07) Re: Saturday Nite Gnats: The WaPo weekly TV listings had the Gnats on MASN2 so I tuned to DirecTV channel 671 here in zip-code 20650. Usual Gnats/St Louis banner but no game; this was the 3rd time in the past month the Gnats game has not appeared on the DirecTV I see. WDCA didn't have 'em, so I called Customer Service; again saying I didn't know if it was DirecTV or che%$#-^%$it MASN that was messing up. Despite the game being listed as blacked out in the DC market on MASN2 according to the CustRep, she promised to get the problem checked out. Later, as happened the other two times, the Gnats appeared. MASN was probably at fault the 1st two times also. Gotta take a nap before the game doesn't show up on MASN tonight. Larry-in-Leonardtown (8/6/07) In case you hadn't seen, interesting article from Sunday's Washington Post magazine re: could a class of college students from American University's "Understanding Mass Media" class survive without any kind of electronic media for 24 hours. Thought you might want to link to this. - craig... www.washingtonpost.com... The Longest Day - Could a class of college students survive without iPods, cellphones, computers and TV from one sunrise to the next? (8/6/07) Why does every single newscaster, radio or tv, refer to all murders as "brutal" and all heart attacks as "massive"? (8/6/07) While GEORGE CARLIN wrote and spoke of the 7 DIRTY WORDS, back in the good ol' days if anyone were to utter those words on the air it was the death of their career. Those of us in the industry at the time referred to those words as the 7 Deadly Words. (8/6/07) To WEAM Team Redcoat Ed Rodriguez- The photo of Lt Frank Palmer of the WEAM safety club was from 1953. My Dad retired from the Arlington Co Police Dept in 1954. Walter Palmer, Lewes, DE (8/6/07) gotta love it.... ABC's Gibson is a down to Earth kinda guy www.startribune.com (8/6/07) Now that you have admitted the Battle of Media Hotties is a shameless way to increase website traffic, we can go ahead and participate knowing that we are simply pandering, and anything remotely to do with journalism is null and void. And while I would like to cast my "Hottie" vote based on a wonderful resume and/or career achievements, honesty dictates that I admit I don't care about any of that. I harken back to the mid 1990s when I was a serial Internet dating machine. The first rule, is never meet a head shot or someone hiding their body in a photo. All the excuses for having no photo or old photos, and all the key words that are synonymous with "fat" are keys one soon learns to avoid. So, not to endorse the heads photoshopped on others bodies, as mentioned by a previous poster, but a full body screenshot would be desirable. I mention this because by chance I got up early enough to see a 3/4 body shot of Alison Starling for the first time ever. Pretty face....but my my..what wide carriage you have Red Riding Hood. Yikes... I would have voted under false pretenses. It's Laura Evans for me, based on the possibility she may not be carrying a sack of potatoes. By the way something..when is there going to be the Battle of the Handsome but Vapid Weekend Anchor Dude contest ? (8/6/07) D&M pulled a great guest today...the vacuum cleaner-collecting kid who was on Leno like almost a year ago. (8/6/07) DCRTV's hits would more double that 2000 if it were to run hot-shots (especially Starling)as suggested: The two entries for DC media Hotties require some skin shots in order to make a choice, so how about photoshopping their head shots on some hot bodies to make it an informed vote. JT (8/6/07) Responding to the poster referring to Mel's "Bullcrap sandwich: you have it right on the button as far as I'm concerned! I don't care what ol, Mel says about "lower rates"..what have you;; if ?XM and Sirius merge, sure..they'll probably have all kinds of good offers! And then..once they have everyone suckered in, watch those rates go "up, up!" Now about the "Squeezebox" thing: I'll probably show my ignorance here. But at the time I first heard that song, I didn't know that a "squeezebox" was another name for an accordion! I can remember exactly where I was when I first heard that song..it was at a place in Stevensville that was known as "The Silver Dollar"..that song came on the jukebox..and the drummer and I just howled with laughter! Did we have our minds in the toilet? Probably! Tom in Denton, MD (8/6/07) Whine, Whine and whine some more. Some of the Nats fans act like big babies. Last year they complained about not getting the games on TV. Now that they are MASN, they whine they dont know what channel its on. What is so hard about scanning with a remore.! Either some of Nats fan must be lazy or stupid..or both. Nats whiners, and Orioles whiners as well...deal with it and get over it! Burt/Denton (8/6/07) A TV show advertising on craigslist for a stripper-type girl as a co-host? They should just stop right the hell now and blow the whole idea up. This wouldn't be entertaining on cable access and it has trainwreck written all over it. Also, how often does that news reporting job open up at WNAV? Some of my trips on Metro last longer than their news reporters. What gives? (8/6/07) Does anyone know what possessed WMAL to add a 1980s-style techno keyboard riff to its audio stream during the stretches when no programming or advertising are airing? It's hideous -- less Devo than Eddy Grant. Christian (8/6/07) I have to agree with the comments below about WTGB and "Shelby." She is the WORST. I heard a few minutes of her interviewing some band over the weekend and the musicians sounded like they wanted to get away from her as fast as possible. Beyond her never-ending reminders of how "cool" she is, she doesn't know how to ask a simple question--she always answers it herself and leaves them hanging [example from this weekend: Shelby: "So, tell me what you guys are going to do next. I hear you're going to get on the tour bus and go to your next show, in Atlanta." Befuddled Musician: "Uh.....we're going to get on the bus and go to our next show. In Atlanta."] I know the station is bending over backwards to say it is the new 102.3FM WHFS, but they are so far off the mark it is embarrassing. The very, very, very few new records WTGB plays are all syrupy Pop, like the outtakes from a Beverly Hills 90210 soundtrack, and HFS was NEVER as smug as "Shelby." My favorite Shelby inanity: the promo where she said "Do you like Alternative music?!?" and the next music clip was Steely Dan. Even better, when I spun the dial over to WTGB Sunday morning they were trying out some acoustic morning show--y'know, just like every other music station on earth does--and her dumbass promo, in which she babbled on about how 'we let you mellow out and chill,' or some such stupidity, followed the Foo Fighter's howling (and electric) live version of "My Hero." She's the annoying girl in high school who insisted that she was cool and couldn't shut up about Sammy Hagar or her favorite Battlestar Gallactica episode. I'd like the whole station a lot better if she'd put a friggin' cork in it. (8/6/07) Regarding The Globe and Schelby this weekend… "I could only stand about 3 minutes of that carp" - I understand. I can only take about 5 minutes of halibut, but 10 minutes of salmon on a good day." --- Not tonight honey, I have a haddock. How about a little grouper then? he he he (8/6/07) Hey Dave - I figured you, and your readers, might find this local-media-related post fairly hilarious. I know I did. baltimore.craigslist.com (8/6/07) Okay, Radio Wise Guys (and I mean that in the best literal sense), time to put your thinking hats on during the brutal August Summer heat of DC and Virginia. The question for today: what would you recommend to fix the EAS both technically and operationally? This is a serious request. Part of my job is to look for ways to improve federal response to regional and national crises (both natural and man-made). That includes mass communication aspects of emergency management. I think we're all in agreement that the EAS, as presently constituted, needs substantial fixing. The recent inclusion of SATRAD networks into the system is a good start, but what else needs to be done? There's been a lot of justifiable complaining on this site that the Feds don't solicit the expertise of those who are really in the know about things like this. Well, here's a real opportunity for all of you (especially broadcast and engineering professionals) to provide your input to fixing a national emergency communications system deficiency. All serious replies will be incorporated into a study examining the problem as part of a larger effort to improve national and regional crisis response. You can do it anonymously or named. I'll take answers (through the mailbag) for the rest of the month. I don't want the same old re-hashed rote answers that the usual in-house and contractor guys always seem to re-circulate, and considering the unique professional aspect of DCRTV and the EAS discussions we've had in the past, I thought I'd give this approach a try. I look forward to the discussion, and thanks again, Dave. Genghis Cohen (apprehensively driving the bridges daily between oppressively humid Ft Belvoir and incredibly muggy Prince William County, VA) (8/6/07) Who is that person dressed like a cupie doll named "Tracey Metro" on Channel 9 News. She looks like Brats doll from Toys R Us??? (8/6/07) (From DCRTV's Classified Ads:) NOTICE OF JOB OPENING... Date: August 6, 2007... Job Title: News Anchor/Reporter... Contact: WNAV Sajak Broadcasting Corp... Deadline: August 31, 2007... Job Description: Full service AM station in Maryland’s capital city has an opening for a full time news anchor/reporter. You will be responsible for on-air newscasts, outside news reporting, remote assignments, generating and researching local news stories, interviews, and production. Must have knowledge of topics of interest to our audience to include: politics, the environment, business, and local sports. Must be competent on digital equipment, computer use, and flexible hours. Tapes/CD’s and résumé’s (NO CALLS) to: Jane Schlegel, News Director, WNAV Radio, Radio Park, PO Box 6726, Annapolis, MD 21401. Or a résumé and a short (2 minutes, max!!!) mp3 to jobs@wnav.com. (8/6/07) Since Dan Snyder has never been “fair” to any fan, client or employee in Washington he should not receive any slack from this message board. He is a weasel, and should be treated accordingly. (8/6/07) (“"Stan Kasten for being one of the few execs who will actually walk through the stands... Can't see Dan Snyder doing the same." 20k vs. 100k and Exec vs. Owner. If it was Lerner that would be saying something. I don't care much for Snyder but at least try to keep things legitimate in your argument.) Ted Leonsis interacts with the crowd and as been known to walk around The Verizon Center talking to fans. Rob in Ashburn (8/6/07) At least you people can complain about one Nationals game that did not show up on the TV machine. We're STILL sitting out here an hour or so from DC with no MASN and, yes, I have a feeling that they will invoke territorial rights and we won't see Bonds going for the home run record the next four nights unless they also break in on ESPNews or in the middle of a USFL game on Classic (an INSTANT Classic!!). Somewhere that it's not as easy as turning a switch to give us "alternate programming in some areas" as was listed last night. Not a Bonds fan, but I am a baseball fan, and would like to see if he breaks one of the game's most enduring records. Actually, I hope he does break it over the next four days, because it will give me an excuse to call Comcrap yet again. Charles in Winchester (8/6/07) Regarding The Globe and Schelby this weekend… "I could only stand about 3 minutes of that carp" - I understand. I can only take about 5 minutes of halibut, but 10 minutes of salmon on a good day. (8/6/07) Hi Dave ...from the clear grasp of the obvious file, your explanations about what the term "hottie" really "means" miss the point. No matter what kind of rationalizing justification you wrap the term in (bio, etc), when you peel that away, you are left with what is, has been and will always be the immediate and unavoidable connotation: "hottie", as in T&A, Hooters, babe, etc, ad nauseum...... and offering up male "hotties" to dignify the whole thing is so obviously two wrongs trying to make a right that it insults the intelligence of the everyone except those who arent interested in explanations anyway.. what exactly, besides pandering to the cultural climate of entertaining the lowest common denominator, is the purpose of this little "contest" anyway? you're already the best example of internet broadcast resource reporting.....indulging in this kind of s**t just lowers the bar...again....for you and the rest of us...... best, sep/wncl (8/6/07) Dave's response: Look, it's a shameless way to get our "traffic" up. OK! And it works. We had more than 2,000 additional unique visitors yesterday than we have on a typical Sunday..... I noticed a few comments about Live Broadcasts at Music Festivals, specifically Virgin Fest. WTMD received no compensation to broadcast from Virgin Fest. In Fact, it cost us money for the space, power and other logistics. Why did we do it? One important part of our mission is to create a more intimate relationship between our listeners and the artists we play. We do that through events and live interviews, so Virgin Fest was a tremendous opportunity to talk to the artists we believe in. After all, not everyone who wanted to get to Virgin Fest could, or would have the opportunity to chat with the singers personally. We also spoke with many of the non profit organizations that participated in the event so listeners, in the Baltimore/Washington area and world wide through our webstream, could a full look at Virgin Fest. Virgin Fest is also one of the largest music festivals on the East Coast, and as seen from its first two years, is on the road to becoming one of the largest in the country and we feel it's important to document it for our listeners and the public. Early feedback from our members has been positive and enthusiastic. If you missed any interviews you'd like to hear, check our website later this week for podcasts and streams, wtmd.org... Steve (8/6/07) In response to the earlierr post on WTEM, it would be great if they put money into beat reporters for some of the other sports. But economic realities being what they are, that's not likely. But there is NO excuse for people like Pollin mostly refusing to talk about certain sports and, on the rare occasions that he does, demeaning those sports and their fans. That's why I think the guy should be shown the door. WTEM does seem to have taken a broader approach to loca sports since Triple X rattled their cage. But Pollin is dead wood there, has not gotten with the program and should be let go. (8/6/07) The two entries for DC media Hotties require some skin shots in order to make a choice, so how about photoshopping their head shots on some hot bodies to make it an informed vote. JT (8/6/07) Dave's response: As I said before, the term "hottie" also applies to non-physical attributes, such as career achievements and intellectual backgrounds. Look, you've got an imagination. Use it..... Re: That WashTimes OpEd piece from Sirius' ol' Mel on the merger with XM: Smells to me like ol' Mel is serving up a supersized bullcrap sandwich, and I'm not biting. We've seen how cable TV companies have lobbied to be a monopoly in each community and what that's gotten us: poor service and limited choice. Why should a satellite radio monopoly be any different? Ol' Mel still hasn't provided one single specific detail about this supposed radio utopia that he says will occur, and so everything he has said means nothing. I think he himself is providing the evidence that the merger is a very bad idea, because he can't give us any hard details about why it would be a good idea. (8/6/07) I missed the blackout fiasco this weekend with MASN and DC20. Earlier this year, Nats games which actually were on 20 were being blacked out on MASN in the Baltimore market even though most viewers in that area don't have access to channel 20. Yes, it's a travesty. And, no, the Nats don't have an out on the deal. They probably wouldn't want one because they still have the prospect long term of owning a third of the RSN broadcasting the games while also receiving an annual rights fee. With CSN, they'd only get the rights fee. Howie (8/6/07) Paul writes: "20k vs. 100k and Exec vs. Owner. If it was Lerner that would be saying something..." Point taken. OTOH, members of the Lerners were at the gates greeting fans last year after the sale of the team and Mark Lerner has been at the gates a couple of times since, including this year. Again Dave, a great site! Sincerely, Joe Kasell (8/6/07) What happened to the pictures Tom Gavin was going to post here of him and Dennis Murphy shopping at the Kwik-E mart in bladensburg at 2:30 am? (8/6/07) Dave's response: Speak of the devil, we just got an e-mail from Tom (below)..... im going to be faiday webr (8/6/07) The love-fest for MASN (the game was on DirecTV Saturday evening) will likely continue this week. Will they be SOBs and black out any games ESPN is showing as Barry ***** attempts to pass Aaron? It would be nice to see what the Nationals players look like in HD vs. the Radio Shack quality of audio/video on Mr. Angelos Shitty Networks. (8/6/07) Somebody in the washingtondc LiveJournal community community.livejournal.com was asking for info about good stations to listen to in DC, so I posted there to point them in the direction of DCRTV. (8/6/07) Dave, do you think the nats have an out in their television deal with MASN? Let's face it, MASN blows and why should one team control another teams' tv deal? In any other sport have you heard something so dumb, but that's baseball and the retards who run it (bud selig). Don't you think Stan Kasten would get a deal done so quickly with comcast sportsnet if he could? He's been on their washington post live show a bunch and you know CSN would cover them a whole lot better then MASN (already do) plus have the games in HD. Remember what baseball looked like last year in HD? But hey, MASN has the incredible LD picture with the super slo mo replays. WOW, groundbreaking stuff guys. (8/6/07) listening to a few moments of WTGB Shelby's interviewing technique from Virgin Festival Saturday eve(at least it seemed real time unlike the cut and paste job for Live Eart) Do some of you folks like that affected dragging each word out way she talks? Was it as bad,imo, before the switch from WARW to WTGB. And what a piss poor interviewing technique, the most inane, boring leading questions. I could only stand about 3 minutes of that carp........I sure don't think of tv news readers, female or male, as being intellectual, ain't most of'em entertainers these days? and with broads being a significant majority in tv psuedo news business these days, if they all so smart why don't they get themselves taken more seriously than being considered eye candy...vanity? hell it's all carp!...what's the dealio with live broadcasts from concerts, heck what's the deal with this live from archives stuff.........hey you julie wright disliker, who do you like? (8/6/07) Phil Wood does have other commitments besides WTEM. He is the co-host of "Talking Baseball" on Radio America, which I hear on WAVA-AM Sundays from 4 to 6 p.m. He replaced the late Syd Thrift there.-- GAB in the Airless Cubicle (8/6/07) "Stan Kasten for being one of the few execs who will actually walk through the stands... Can't see Dan Snyder doing the same." 20k vs. 100k and Exec vs. Owner. If it was Lerner that would be saying something. I don't care much for Snyder but at least try to keep things legitimate in your argument. Paul (8/6/07) /\ August 6 Messages /\ \/ August 5 Messages \/ To my good friend Max in Mild West Arlington and others wondering what the heck was going on with the Nats/Cardinals TV broadcast fiasco on Saturday, here's a short piece in today's Washington Post about it. (www.washingtonpost.com)... I don't think Stan Kasten is happy with this broadcast setup with MASN. Off-topic, my complements to Stan Kasten for being one of the few execs who will actually walk through the stands (including the relatively cheap partial plan seats I have at RFK) to see if everything is OK as well as what can be done to make things better. He walked by my seats this past Friday, the second time he has done so this year. Can't see Dan Snyder doing the same. Great site Dave! Sincerely, Joe Kasell (8/5/07) the redskins preseason games will be on comcast sportsnet !! they'll also have a post game show (8/5/07) It's XM-related, not *strictly* local, but it's from today's Post and it's excellent: www.washingtonpost.com... Who knew Joe Madison would be "the heavy"? I always thought he was more reputable than that. (8/5/07) RE: Redskins Preseason on TV... According to redskins.com, besides the game on NFL Network, the last 3 preseason games are on Comcast Sportsnet or WUSA 9 (and Comcast Sportsnet HD). With the Ravens joining HDless MASN, it frees up Comcast Sportsnet to show all Redskins preseason games live in HD.... (8/5/07) All Redskins preseason games will absolutely be televised. The first game Saturday evening will be shown on channel 7 and NFL Network. The other three games will be on channel 9 and Comcast SportsNet. I'm guessing that the online source quoted only listed the national TV carriers. Everett W. (8/5/07) Can anybody explain to me why the Redskins preseason games are not going to be televised...except for one on the NFL Network (which I don't have)? In past years, preseason games were televised. I got this information from an online website, which I hope is incorrect. Does anybody know if it is true that the preseason games will not be televised, and if so why not... Bobbie (8/5/07) Do you suppose that Debbie Taylor, MASN's girl-about-the-stadium, could find another phrase besides, "what does it mean to you?" What does it mean to you to get that homer? What does it mean to you to beat St. Louis? What does it mean to you to win six straight games? What does it mean to you to be on this team?, etc, etc, etc. (8/5/07) FYI... WLIF has added Casey Kasem's "American Top 40" 1970s Hits Countdowns to its Sunday morning line-up from 8 to 11. Also, WWMX (and former WQSR) PM Driver "Fast Jimi" Roberts has returned to NY on the new WCBS-FM for weekends. No word yet as to whether he will continue his Mix show. (8/5/07) Did anyone catch Phil Wood's baseball show from 10-12 on WTEM on Saturday? He had Mike Bacsik as a guest for both hours and they complimented each other very well. Bacsik will have his own show someday. He is very well-spoken and witty. I don't understand why they don't give Wood more time during the week unless he has other commitments. (8/5/07) I come to DCRTV because it has news and information (and opinions)that are relevant to media in this region, not for the typical internet schlock that is everywhere else. Look at your page: it's not fancy, it lists the information we want to see. This isn't the sort of site that appears to pander to the lowest common element of our society. A contest like this is the height of sexism. As long as people think it is ok to look at female reporters this way, they'll never achieve any sort of real equality (unless we go so far to just have vapid, hot male reporters as well). Things like this contest feed the image-is-everything, who-needs-content problems today in our society. To hold a who's-hottest contest is decidedly below the "just the facts (and rumors) ma'am" approach that I thought you were shooting for. DCRTV has always been better than this. Please reconsider what you are doing here. -Grant (8/5/07) Dave's response: We are planning to feature male reporters in future contests. And, we're not featuring nude shots of these reporters. Plus, we give you complete biographical and career data so that you can make a decision based on more weighty characteristics, if you so choose. Think of it as picking "an intellectual hottie"..... (Can someone explain the effort that is being put into the "We're here" broadcasts on the local stations?)Yes, that’s quite easy to explain… $$$. In most cases stations are paid to be there. Just like they’re paid to sit in the parking lot of a car dealership with their prize wheel for two hours on any given day – handing out cheap magnets and key chains and maybe if you’re lucky a stinkin’ t-shirt or CD. (8/5/07) My 2 cents on WTEM, which for the record I have not listened to probably since the Wizards season ended...Don't forget it started out as a WFAN clone, from having a 'non-sports' show in the morning (harris in the morning), right down to the same jingles. I can't listen to any of the other programs. One poster mentioned Andy Pollin being mean to callers. In my opinion, that comes directly from his being Tony K's #1 minion and following his lead with how Tony dealt w/ some listeners. As much as we need shows to talk about more teams and different teams in the area when it is called for, I think the thing the DC area desparately misses is "Sports Call." Whether it were to be on TEM or XXX Radio, or a different station, the metro area really needs a local nightly sports talk radio from 7-10. ESPN radio is fabulous, but we need something local! (8/5/07) Re: "...7 deadly words..." Deadly? DEADLY!?!? Has our society's descent into constant fear gone that far? I guess we need to compile a list of the words to prevent people from dropping dead left and right. What could they be? Obviously the much-dreaded "F-bomb" and "S-bomb", but what else? the "P-bomb"? No, that word's in the Bible (Isaiah 36:12, KJV [and 7 other verses]), so it must be OK. Whatever can we do? Will whoever compiles the list die? We need to know but I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!! (8/5/07) This is an excerpt from a letter I sent to MASN on their website: "I'm writing to complain about the 'bait and swtich' that was perpetrated Saturday night, August 4th. I am on Comcast here in Arlington, Va. MASN said that the Nationals/Reds game would be on My20/WDCA in the Washington area, and on MASN2 elsewhere. But when I tuned in channel 20, they were running 'Star Trek'!!!!!!!!!!!!! MASN2 was a black screen. On MASN, we were getting the Orioles game, which I don't really care about!!!!!!!! I'd like to know what happened, and why I was not able to watch the Nationals game ANYWHERE on broadcast or cable television Saturday night. If there was a reason, the least you could have done was run a crawl across the bottom explaining to people what happened. While I have you, I also want to know why the Nationals can't be he primary team on MASN here in D.C., and the Orioles be the primary team on MASN in Baltimore. MASN2 should be where the Orioles are on regularly in D.C., and where the Nats are on regularly in Baltimore. Its really annoying to have to switch back and forth like that, and to have to know which of the channels to go to for any given game. It seems to be something more for the convenience of you people running MASN/MASN2 than it is for the fans." I should also say I tried to call channel 20, but like most stations these days, there is no longer anyone staffing the phones on weekends anymore, and I really didn't care to bother the newspeople at co-owned channel 5 with something like this. If I get any real answers from the people at MASN, I will pass it along here on the mailbag. And so it goes... Thanks, Dave. - Max in Mild West Arlington (8/5/07) "Can someone explain the effort that is being put into the "We're here" (at the Virgin fest) broadcasts on the local stations?" Because when you have a .6 share you need something to hang your hat on. (8/5/07) Gee, it's nice to feel the love! That pic on DCRTV Plus' Page 33 was on the WorldSpace website for years, when I was programming the UpCountry and OrbitRock Channels. It was a Hazy, Hot, Humid day in late July of, IIRC, 2001. I had just come off the elevator from lunch when Billy Sabatini snapped it in a studio. I sure was heavier then! Whew. And, the hair is not up for discussion. I think I sold it to Mac MacGarry! Lt. Frank Palmer's picture was from before 1960. If I had to guess, I'd say 1955 or 56, since The Safety Club was a part of WEAM's pre-Top 40 history. Before 1957, WEAM had a more generic "Music and News" format that INcluded Patti Page and Sinatra, but EXcluded "race music" and "Rock'n'Roll" music from those young hellions like Buddy Holly, Bill Haley and... gasp... Elvis Presley! In fact, you'd be shocked if I told you a couple of the titles that we NEVER got to air on WEAM, because Mr. Thoms thought they were either, "too Black" or "too dirty." The last song that was banned by the corporate office in Asheville NC was "Squeeze Box," by the Who. Mr. Thoms called me DIRECTLY on that one! My ear still burns when I think about it. - WEAM Team Redcoat Ed Rodriguez (8/5/07) What is the deal with the WJFK website? It says A New WJFK is Coming. (8/5/07) Dave's response: They're dropping the Free FM logo and on-air imaging for the new/old "106.7 WJFK Washington's Superstation" logo and branding come Monday. See our Thursday and Friday newsblurbs on the Front Page. Don't fear/celebrate (whatever your inclination), the Junks and D&M will be there, as usual..... I don't need/want my grandkids to hear learn of the 7 deadly words from the public airwaves, regardless of their meanings, and especially from a reputable news organization. They have plenty of time to grow up and learn those words on the street. If their parents wanted them to become potty mouths, they'd let them listen to Stern. (8/5/07) WDCA/20 did NOT have last night's Washington Nationals game listed on its own schedule, it can't then be blamed for not airing the game. Verizon can't be blamed either, it looks like that company and other parties including the Washington Nationals themselves were given incorrect broadcast information. My guess is that the fault for the fiasco lies with the original source of that bogus schedule listing, MASN. Everett W. (8/5/07) My first beef against FiOS in NOVA; I was driving around listening to tonight's (Saturday's) Nats game eager to get home to watch it. But guess what, No MASN2 which is usually on FiOS Ch1. OK, Nats schedule says it's on DC20, so Iturn it on and what do I see? American Friggin' Idol reruns!?!?!?!?!? WTF?!?!?! (8/5/07) To the Pollin attacker: I am not a WTEM employee. I don't believe the station should be made into a WFAN clone. It is entertaining, even if it's not all-comprehensive. Pollin is not meant to carry a show; rather, he helps keep the stars' pace going. I don't think there's enough coverage of Maryland sports on WTEM, probably because they don't have the rights for the Terps' games. Let's face it; the Redskins make a big, dumb, fat target because they talk too much, underachieve their promises, and have an ownership who is either clueless or are dishonest liars. You won't hear that coverage on Dan Snyder's stations. -- It seems the issue is not Pollin; it's how much Clear Channel is willing to sink into having beat reporters cover the Capitals, Wizards, Nats, Terps, Hoyas, and Cavaliers. (Forget the Hokies.) They won't put any money into these. A shame. A radio program with game recaps would fill that 7:00 hour well. (8/5/07) I never understood why stations feel the need to do live broadcasts from events like the Virgin Festival. Anyone that wanted to go went, and anyone listening doesn't care that you're there. Can someone explain the effort that is being put into the "We're here" broadcasts on the local stations? (8/5/07) /\ August 5 Messages /\ Jump to the Mailbag Archive Index.....