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Current Mailbag - Mailbag Archive Index - DCRTV Front Page - Support DCRTV DCRTV Mailbag - September 20 to September 23, 2007 Latest messages listed first..... \/ September 23 Messages \/ The recent firings at WTOP - once thought to be a stable, well-run radio station - should serve as a warning for other employees in this shrinking industry to expand their job skills, network and explore new and growing industries that are likely to offer brighter futures than the one that currently employs them. As was the case with Diane Kepley and Ira Mellman, you may find one day that hard work, loyalty and talent count for nothing when you too are disposed of like a used Kleenex. This isn't personal, it's just business - albeit bad business from a personnel management standpoint. What can you do? 1) Don't act like a deer in the headlights. 2) Take control of your future before the suit down the hall does. 3) Develop an inventory of all the skills you have - it's probably longer than you think. 4) Overhaul your resume - have a few different resumes, in fact, to reflect the many skills you have. 5) Visit job sites (at home, don't do this at work). 6) Pick up the phone. 7) Go on informational interviews. 8) Join professional organizations and go to networking events in industries and job sectors you may be interested in. 9) Get started today. 10) Be confident in your abilities and don't let the negative attitudes or pessimism of others get to you. (9/23/07) Hey BOOB- Read my first post and tell me what I said that disparaged Ira Mellman. I said he knows which cheeks to kiss to maintain any hope of getting his job back! If anything, that proves him to be a wise "playa"... which YOU AIN'T. Now, drop and gimme twenty, junior! Tha Marine (9/23/07) In response to your "take on new Bonneville talker 3WT. A big fat "ho hum." I certainly have no intention of listening. I also think WTOP itself is going downhill and don't listen to them much anymore, either. I generally listen for the CBS newscast and then turn it off at the first mention of "Ledo Pizza". Sometimes they have decent interview guests, but their "reporters" do more lite stuff than real news. Too thin, too much fluff. Too many commercials as well. They're just not trying as hard as they used to. (9/23/07) Just heard Sylvie in Waldorf on WMAL. GREAT job Sylvie. Why don't they give her a weekend show or have her fill in instead of the bloated cookie cutter gasbags from around the country? Better yet, when Andy Parks leaves, I think Sylvie & Chris Plante 5-9AM sounds great. (9/23/07) According to Amazon.com, a DVD of the film inspired by Petey Greene's life, "Talk To Me", is available for pre-order. Quote: "This item will be released on Oct 30, 2007." If that date is correct, I guess that kills any hope that Focus Features will continue to roll out the film to a wider number of theatres. Sadly, it looks like Petey's picture has been given the brush-off after appearing on no more than 193 screens from coast-to-coast, despite good (to great) buzz and attendance. (9/23/07) Dave's response: I enjoyed the picture despite all the alleged departure from reality. Don Cheadle deserves an Oscar nod for his magnificent performance as Petey. I doubt I'll buy the DVD, though. It wasn't that great of a film. I'm sure that after its DVD release this fall, we'll see the film become a staple on HBO or Showtime into next year..... hey,wwwt is on the right track at last! just get rid of that awful program on sunday a.m. at 6:oo.we don't need that on the air. 3ts has a great lineup of shows except for korney.who needs him part time anyway? give the time to burd and let burd be himself. dwain from manassas (9/23/07) Dave's response: The question is - does Burd know who Burd is? Hmmm..... Dave, on you rant today. You are so right. There is very little on 3WT. (9/23/07) Jim Farley, stop playing with 1500 KC Go back to simulcasting WTOP. You'll save millions and get a bigger audience.AM radio is nearly dead,you can survive somewhat. CORY (9/23/07) Several things here: first..to Burt in Denton: I do need to check out 92.1 (I could probably get them on the radio..that is..if I wanted to really upset my mother and mess up her television viewing (we have my stereo hooked to the TV antenna; if I aimed it toward Salisbury, I probably would pick up that station..as well as Froggy 99.9 and several others (I can, oddly enough, pick up Froggy 99.9 on a really good "boom box" radio in the kitchen..but not always real good! Luckily I can get them on line as well (hopefully, listening to radio over the internet will still be around for a long time to come)..now as for the rumored format flip by WSMJ: I think we probably should just sit back and see what happens..often times, I've heard a station say they were making a "big announcement" at such and such time..and it's usually to announce a "ticket run"..or a contest to win tickets..you get the idea! However, if it really does come to pass that 104.3 does flip it's format, then I'm with my friend Joyce Conroy all the way concerning Trish! In my opinion, Trish Hennessey could handle about any format she wanted to! I've heard her do "country", top 40, and..what do they call it "adult contemporary, so as Joyce says..she could probably do "talk" as well! I'd love to hear her do "oldies"..that is..if it were a station where she'd get to do it the right way! Aw..but we know how these corporate types operate; their thing is "never let the DJ decide what to play..and Heaven forbid that the listeners (I don't mean "focus groups" get to have a say about what they want to hear! Now then..to Rusty: hope you're able to do your show today; I probably won't get to hear much of it as we'll be going out for the afternoon..but am sure it'll be fine! A good Sunday to all, Tom in Denton, MD (9/23/07) I don't really know how you could mention 3WT without mentioning the facts that they broadcast Navy football, GW basketball and now the Capitals, along with the Nationals. That seems like a pretty good "sports direction" to me. Those omissions are a serious flaw in your rant. (9/23/07) Dave's response: I really don't think the Capitals, and some of the college sports, are huge radio ratings draws. Apart from a particular "hot" matchup. They may look good on a station's lineup, but radio hockey (or TV hockey, for that matter) has never been a "big thing" in the DC media market..... Scott Jackson was a valuable guy for WTEM, particularly on the Wizards. He couldn't have been happy when WTEM pulled his gig as co-host with Brian Mitchell and replaced that show with the ultimate know nothing blowhard "Doc" Walker. His departure is therefore no surprise. WTEM has lost quite a few "second stringers" of late, Jackson, Bram Weinstein, Kevin Sheehan, Marc Stern, etc. Those guys are often more important that the hosts themselves, and that is particularly true in WTEM's case since people like Walker, Pollin and Thompson are beyond worthless. (9/23/07) Dam’n I dislike people that take shots at people that are really having problems. Hey Marine..You certainly showed you’re one Marine with no BALLS. Ira is a really nice, polite detailed professional. You, should be embarrassed to post as Marine. Evidently, Ira and you met somewhere along the line, and you lost. Now, to “G”. You are right on target. This racial stuff has gone way too far. Between Sharpton..the “let’s keep “whitey” in the spotlight as a reason for black thugs and violence´ to Jesse, “let’s keep on milking the corporations” at 50K a racial lecture. I, for one, am fed up. Equality is supposed to be a two way street. When is enough, enough? BOBB (9/23/07) For the person wondering why no one hears about any cutbacks as far as the Shenandoah valley of Virginia goes, well like everywhere else there have been been cutbacks there. Don't know about Hagerstown, Martinsburg or Harrisonburg but in Winchester I remember back in the late 1990s when Clear Channel not only got rid of most of WNTW am 610's staff such as "Mr. Winchester Radio" Joe Pasquali but at quite soon did pretty much the same with WFQX ( back in their Frog days ) by moving that station from one that was live 24/7 to satellite. However I think ( I could be wrong about this) in WFQX's case most the full timers were demoted to part time status such as board-op'ing sporting events or doing other things behind the scenes. And when Clear Channel moved then-WXVA and WMRE from Charles Town to Winchester, from what I heard with the exception of a lone salesman, everyone else got canned. Never heard of anyone getting fired at WINC but what is now WWRT/WWRE, when that station switched from country ( remember Apple Country? ) to classic rock, I don't think any of their full time staff made the switch from country music to AC/DC. WFTR AM/FM ( WZRV ) was in such a money mess back in the 90s that theynot only got rid of their news department but the very popular Jim Lawrence as well. WSIG was actually dark at one time and other than Les Irby and maybe one other announcer, I dont think anyone else made the move from Mount Jackson to Harrisonburg. And its hard to believe now but until 1992 Woodstock's WAMM 1230 was not only a Hot AC music station but live too around the clock. But they to fired most of their staff with the exception of Craig Orndorff who continued to do morning like he is doing right now ( last I heard ) at Mount Jackson's WSVG-AM and they do have had their share of money woes. There have been quite a few "cutbacks" out in the valley over the years. (9/23/07) Dave's response: Does anyone remember Apple Country? We do (right)..... "DCRTV hears that Scott Jackson, a host for SportsTalker 980, leaves WTEM after seven years to anchor an afternoon sports talk show of his own at a new FM sports talker in Raleigh....." Did you by chance "hear" this from Jackson himself, who made the announcement on the air during The Sports Reporters on Friday? What a scoop, Dave! --Ben (9/23/07) Dave's response: Did I say I "scooped" anyone? No. I simply said I heard something. Although, DCRTV is probably the only website or publication to report Jackson's move..... An anonymous chicken with a yellow streak down it's back wrote: "Ira Mellman's post shows that he has more class in his typing fingers than the posters in this mailbag put together." Noooo... it just proves that he's smart enough to know which hairy, pimply cheeks to kiss if he wants a prayer of getting his job back! The Marine (9/23/07) On NBC 4’s 11 pm Sat news cast James Adams referred to the Jena 6 hooligans as victims. After I heard this sent the following email: Was it your intent to call the Thugs that beat one young man the Jena 6 “Victim’s?” Let me guess “The Man” forced OJ into the room and Imus should have been “lynched”. If a White man uttered the same racial bias he be fired, oh that’s right he was, see Imus above. You are a pampas ass. Cc: DCRTV and all other stations... Any wagers that I get no reply? If the situation was reversed and 6 white guys attacked a black kid for whatever reason and a white commentator referred to the attackers as “victims” would he not (with apologies to Grease) be drug out of town. Now I am certain you NPR and Hillary lovers are formulating how exactly which way to call me a racist. Before doing that please consider this data, if the situation were reversed wouldn’t the righteous right reverend Al still be down there protesting, but for them to be charged with hate crimes? Not a sermon just a thought. G (9/23/07) /\ September 23 Messages /\ \/ September 22 Messages \/ RE: WTOP & Bonneville outrage...... Instigating both founded and unfounded public outrage through blogging or posting comments on websites is now a common thing, and on some websites, practically a sport. I contributed to this whole mess here on DCRTV with 1 of the 1st Jewish-related angles to the story even though I honestly have no inside info as to why these people were fired. I just have ex-Mormon friends with axes to grind & lots of negative info about the church & Bonneville, Inc's Mormon "mission." But at least 1 positive thing occurred here, we heard from a participant himself and that clears it all up. Maybe that wouldn't have happened otherwise. People may think that blogging such stuff serves no useful purpose in society, but just last week I posted on dozens of websites dozens upon dozens of times my outrage over Apple's $200 iPhone price reduction and even got banned by several websites, including Apple's. In hindsight, I guess posting on Apple.com that Steve Jobs didn't even have the common courtesy to give me a "reach-around" was a bit over the top. :-) But, I instigated public outrage and got $100 back from Apple. Would I (we) iPhone owners have gotten that $100 otherwise without many people like me? Doubtful. Ultimately, I think organizations like Bonneville & Apple are big enough to take it on the chin every now and then, deserved or undeserved. (9/22/07) The good news first: Nationals cable ratings are up 60 percent this year. Now, the bad news: the ratings are 0.8, by far the lowest in MLB. (Texas is next lowest at 1.4.) MASN partner Baltimore is at 3.3. The highest is Boston at 12.1, followed by Seattle at 8.9, Detroit and St. Louis at 7.5, and Milwaukee at 7.4; the Brewers' ratings rose 133 percent, the biggest increase in MLB. www.whitesoxinteractive.com... One wonders if the Nats' anemic ratings may be a reason Bob Carpenter isn't coming back. -- Vincent in Triangle (9/22/07) Tom in Denton, like you, I listen to Joyce Conroy's show online. I am so glad her station runs the show online. it is crystal clear and no interference whatsoever. I listen to a number of my favorite stations now online, and I have found the best oldies station here on Delmarva to be 92.1(the Wave), since they play a lot of the forgotten stuff that many other oldies stations pass over. I even listened to Chip Franklin out in San Diego the other day(late of WBAL). That is a shame that WTOP let Ira and Diane go, I met Ira a few years ago at the Washington Convention Center when he was still with WBIG. He is a class act and will turn up somewhere, no doubt. Ira, Happy New Year and Shalom to you my friend! Diane, we will miss you on WTOP, hope you also turn up on another area station. Also, Lisa Baden does a great job on the traffic reports, I often listen to her even though I don't commute to the DC area. Burt in Denton (9/22/07) Am listening to the Maryland at Wake Forest game, and I'm a little disappointed in Liz Drabek with the Terrapin Sports Network. Not once but twice, she has reported that Virginia won big over William & Mary...trouble is, it was Virginia Tech that was playing W&M. (UVa played Georgia Tech today.) I'll forgive making the mistake once, but someone with the network should have noted this to her off the air so she wouldn't repeat it. Add the occasionally subpar sound on WJFK-FM, and this creates a frustrating listening experience despite Johnny Holliday's usual solid work. -- Vincent in Triangle (9/22/07) I thought Bonneville was different. BUT now I see that Bonneville is the DEVIL. I take solace in knowing that Diane and Ira have gone to a far better place. No doubt they will be greeted as they approach the light by a bleeting, goggle-eyed, sprawling and crawling angel who will lead them, belching, safely away from the lying, jew-hating, ass-clowns of Bonneville. (9/22/07) Dave's response: Again, I allow certain stuff to be posted to illustrate the poster's stupidity. Look, there's no way Bonneville is "jew-hating." The two people who replacing Diane and Ira are both Jewish. Duh..... Hey Rusty: Look forward to your return to MHT tomorrow on WEBR. We missed you! Rusty, Tom and Burt in Denton: Thanks so much for your support of "Oldies Block Party" I believe in honoring the artists especially the rock and roll pioneers that are often overlooked nowadays on the commercial "oldies" format. I can't help but get excited when I hear Hank Ballard and the Midnighters' "Annie Had a Baby", etc. and so many others. The person who mentioned that no job lasts forever is so right; however, it is still painful when you hear that a talented broadcaster is getting axed especially when it's a "corporate" decision. It's even more difficult when that broadcaster is a friend. Regarding the rumored flip of WSMJ, I wish nothing but the best for Trish Hennessey. Trish is a classy lady and I could envision her doing female "fun" talk. She would be a big improvement over the abrasive and annoying Dr. Laura on WVIE (just an opinion). Blessings. Joyce Conroy (9/22/07) Delmarva's WGMD has a new afternoon talk host. Bill Colley last hosted a controversial radio talk program in Syracuse, NY. His first radio job arrived in 1986 at WJQZ-FM in Wellsville, NY, population 5,000 and the largest town in Allegany County, NY. Since then Bill has worked as an all request radio jock, an award winning reporter and in both radio and TV news. Bill is the father of a teenaged daughter and hobbies include reading, ranting and radio (listening when not working). A nice guy with plenty to say! (9/22/07) Hey Tom in Denton, Thanks. Rusty (9/22/07) For the radio guy who has damn near everything and more money than s/he knows what to do with: cgi.ebay.com (9/22/07) "Most companies have the right to hire and fire employees as they see fit..." that is true and as far as the firing part, companies can fire anyone anytime and for pretty much any reason. Also companies have the right to ask anything they want in job interviews or ask anything/ say anything they want about you when it comes to background checks too even if the questions are personal and have nothing to do with the job. All part of employment being "at will" in America. I have a sister who lives in Alabama and recently she had an interview with a company that sold office furniture. Among such "important" questions they asked her "...what kind of websites do you visit?", "...how do you feel about the issue of abortion?' "..have you or any members of your family attneded a pride event?" "..have you or any members of your family ever posed nude in photos?" "..how often do you visit Atlanta and why did you go there?" You tell me..how does the asking of these questions related to office furniture? But thanks to the " employment at will" law, well they can ask those types of questions and there really is nothing one can do about it. Someone said on here that in radio one should expect to be fired at least 3 to 5 times in a ten year period. But is that only in large markets or does that include small markets as well? All the years I have visit DCRTV I have read many stories about someone getting fired, but its usually in the big markets like DC and Baltimore. But very rarely have I read about some station out in the Shenandoah Valley doing the same. Clear Channel years back let quite a few people go in DC but the same company owns stations in Winchester, Frederick, and Harrisonburg, did that company cut back in those markets as well? Format changes=Job cuts, is this a "big market" thing ? When all those stations in Hagerstown switched formats a few years back, I don't remember hearing about anyone losing their job as a result. Maybe things are well different in smaller markets. (9/22/07) (People listen to WTOP not for the personalities but for the steady drumbeat of news, traffic, and weather.) Mostly true, I guess, but some people still stand out. When Ira Mellman was on WBIG, I often jumped to their newscasts even when I was listening to some other station because I knew he was good. I was really pleased to see him show up on WTOP - it seemed like a great fit, and I'd sure as heck rather listen to him than a couple of the other guys on the air down there. Ira is a class act (note his post earlier in the mailbag) and I'm really sorry to see him leave WTOP. Maybe they'll smarten up and bring him back, but I'm not holding my breath. (9/22/07) Ira Mellman's post shows that he has more class in his typing fingers than the posters in this mailbag put together. (9/22/07) *snip* Must watch for the Rosenberg haters! *snip* Is that Julius or Ethel? (9/22/07) Scott Jackson, long time WTEMer, leaves station after 7 years to anchor an afternoon sport's talk show of his own at a new FM sport's talk station down Raleigh way....watched Redskin Radio on Comcast Sports tv yesterday, first off that Larry Michael is a handsome man, no?, is Mr. Michael aware he's on tv cause most of the show he annoyingly keeps looking at something off camera ...interesting conversation between I''m Bram Weinstein and Mr. Michael about the media coverage of the Dreadskin's....now as employees of the Dreadskin's Mr. Weinstein and Michael are they or ain't they considered members of the media or providers of the Cool-Aid? and will there be any objectivity by CSN reporters in Dreadskin coverage now that it appears lil' danny has made their minds right.....what's the ad rate on lil' wee danny's coming down from the mount exclusive interview conducted from the truly objective George Michaels on CSN....lil' danny just can't help himself can he....man for the days of The Squire (9/22/07) Apparently some DCRTV mailbaggers are under the impression that a job is supposed to last forever. Finding oneself without a job in the radio business isn't the exception, its the rule. Nearly everybody gets whacked at some point in their radio career. Sometimes for no good reason, other than there were too many warm bodies in the building. (Been there, done that, got the t-shirt) It isn't the end of the world. Getting fired from a radio job might lead to the beginning of a better career. (Done that, too) With that said, it certainly isn't any fun being on the receiving end of a pink slip and I wish both Diane and Ira all the best in their future endeavors. Bob in Sunny Tampa (9/22/07) So, here's the deal. Yes, another writer and I "played the Jewish card" (Jewish is capitalized, you uneducated losers) to a) call attention to Oxley and Farley's general thoughtlessness and ham-handed handling of the immediate situation, and b) in humor. There is nothing conservative or liberal about the discussion. I am more conservative than any of you... frequently accused of being a throwback, in fact. But, part of being a throwback is the respect and consideration given to the results of firing. When one takes a job away from a specialized professional, the prospects ARE dire. Employers stupidly shy away from hiring anyone over 40 or 45 for the same idiotic litany of reasons that ad buyers don't want 60 year olds' money. Workers of that age have usually started families by then. Stress and blame act as a crowbar in healthy marriages. The ripple effect is chilling. I've owned several businesses over the years. The only reasons that I EVER fired personnel so unceremoniously included theft and the endangerment of others. Sadly, Dave is right about the listeners. They cannot distinguish who is reading and disseminating the information in such a structured environment as WTOP's format. And, if you notice, that is how ALL radio formats have been constructed; gradually constricting the performers OUT of the sound, for the last 25 years. Go back and listen to Arthur Godfrey's 1939 broadcast on dcmemories.com. The beauty of the medium, what drew us here in the first place, was the promise of achieving the illusion of one to one communication. That's WHY people use media... to feel a human bond and sense of shared experience. Imagine if every movie simply had Don DeFontaine reading the actors' lines. That's what this bean-counting has reduced radio to. Can you even compare this thug-like behavior by Joel Oxley and Jim Farley to the way that Andy Ockershausen and Harold Green ran WMAL? Or, the way Bill Dalton and Sue Breakefield ran WASH? Of course not. And, you could never compare their talents sense of mission and loyalty with the sheer paranoia now reverberating through the halls of Idaho Avenue. Let's face it, why should they keep Bruce Alan? The guy worked at WINX and failed to get an audience at WWRC. What about McMearty? He was just a second-rate news reader at a crappy little station in Prince Frederick that no one listened to. And, Frank? Well, he's not with Sonny and Sam anymore. No... no one is safe on Idaho Avenue. Not even Ox-brain and Fartley! Clint (9/22/07) I have just read with horror the postings on this web site implying there was ANY kind of religious overtones to Bonneville’s decision to let me go. NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH. Diane and I were NOT left twisting in the wind. The discovery that I was locked out of my computer until the time I was notified of what had happened was no longer than 5 minutes. I am extremely disappointed at the decision to terminate my employment at WTOP. I have worked many places in my career including 2 of the 3 major networks. I have never worked in a better shop than WTOP and had great hopes of spending the remainder of my career there. Jim Farley and Joel Oxley continue to run the best radio station in the nation and continue to have my admiration for the way they do their jobs. I will miss all of the talented staff, many of whom have become close friends. Ira Mellman (9/22/07) I am a Rosenberg fan, but I take the good with the bad. Rosenberg interviews 50 Cent, and Fiddy completely humiliates Rosenberg. Must watch for the Rosenberg haters! www.youtube.com (9/22/07) RE: [ " Pitt Does Post " ]........ Never have I seen women swoon and wet their pants as much as the time long long ago that Tom Selleck filmed outside of the State of Maryland Office Building in downtown Baltimore where I was working at the time. Since these were government workers, of course, no one worked the entire day (not that many of them did on other days either, but we won't go there). Maybe Brad Pitt should consider a mustache to cover up some of his bad facial skin & poc marks too? I've heard he looks a LOT older in person. Ahh, that movie magic. :-) (9/22/07) Dave's response: Damn! Just caught "Eastern Promises." Great Russian Mafia flick. Check out the bloody steambath scene with a naked Viggo. Whoa. That how I pictured the WTOP offices yesterday with the news of Ira and Diane's departures..... Bill Palmer has left the airchair.. sad to hear. I endured more than a few hard stares from Mr. Vickers in my time at WINX; frying a few base meters would do that! After my WINX days, I always made a point to stop in to the Public Info booth at the Montgomery County Fair, where Bill could be frequently found manning the PA mic. Yes, a late-night MoDo fix is called for, 'cept... Farewell. Mark/CharmCity (9/22/07) Hey Rusty (and all the rest of you mailbaggers)..I'll be listening..well..not while Joyce's show is actually being aired..but provided that my recording equipment does what it's supposed to do (and if the internet don't fail me)..I'll probably hear some of it after I get home from my gig tonight. Joyce does a fine job; I think the thing that sold me on her show is the fact that..you can tell that she genuinely loves what she's doing! Seems to me that..let's say someone has a show on radio..or maybe if they're a musician, playing on the bandstand; if they really love what they do, that'll transcend back to their audience; then the audience (if it's a "live audience) will feed it back to them! As I've probably said on this mailbag before: I'm not a "hard-core" fan of rock-N-roll (my heart is with country music) however..some of that early rock music had country elements in there! Plus, Joyce sometimes will manage to throw in a song that actually was a "country" song that crossed over into the "rock-N-roll" field. So I'm with Rusty; if you're a fan of the rock-N-roll of the 650s and 60s (even if you're like me..not "hard-core)..tune her in anyhow; you're bound to find something you like! Tom in Denton, MD (9/22/07) RE: WSMJ: There will be a major announcement on Monday at 10:00! (9/22/07) Dave's response: Hello Whoopi! One of the previous posters mentioned all the laughing and giggling they've been hearing on WTOP Radio News. I've noticed it too. It's okay to be personable in this age of presenting personality with news (if that's what they must do), but at times, it's just a little too much for a news station. They've even moved to presenting their views and opinions during transitions and teases. I actually heard one of the news anchors insert his "I think...." in the teases leading up to CBS the network newscast. This isn't good journalism and should be a no no at WTOP. Stop the cutesy comments and stick to reading the news. As a listener, I don't care what you think. It's not about you, it's the news. Jim Farley, it may be time for air checks there, or are ratings the end all in this? (9/22/07) Just read the blurb about Kepley and Mehlman. They will land on their feet. It is completely disgusting the way the business works. Having spent two decades on the air, and gone through being tossed out on my ass, I can honestly say I do not miss this part of the industry. During my seven years on the air in DC, I absolutely never felt like my job was secure. But it’s a financial boon for the medical industry. Anxiety due to lack of job security does keep doctors, nurses and therapists employed. And I can’t help but saying this in response to your aforementioned comment. (“People listen to WTOP not for the personalities but for the steady drumbeat of news, traffic, and weather…“) How could anyone hear a damn bit of NEWS with all that raucous giggling and laughing? I would venture to say people are really listening to see if they will make it to work on time. (9/22/07) Much as I might like to blame MASN and Comcast SportsNet for not showing today's Maryland football game live, the situation is beyond their control. The Atlantic Coast Conference signed the deal with ESPN that allows the cable net to place some ACC games like today's Md./Wake game on the widely unavailable ESPNU and other games on the even more widely unavailable ESPN360. Comcast SportsNet has done the best it can for fans with a deal for the Maryland game replays. Everett W. (9/22/07) Dave's response: Damn, I'm still wallowing in disappoinment because I couldn't watch the "Mrs. America" contest. My Comcast system doesn't carry the WE channel..... Most companies have the right to hire and fire employees as they see fit. However, cutting off their computers and telling them in the fashion that they did just plain stinks. What kind of message does that send out to the rest of the employees that didn't get their email accounts cut off....yet?!?!?! (9/22/07) Dave's response: I know. My e-mail didn't work the other day and, for a moment, I thought I might have fired myself. A self-employment joke. Sorry..... "Stop the presses! Jesus Christ paid a sort-of-but-not-really surprise visit to The Post's newsroom yesterday, and not since Denzel Washington's newsroom tour in 1993 did so many heads turn and so much workplace productivity swirl down the drain.... In his signature white robe -- not jeans! -- sans tie, Jesus graciously offered a few waves and "heys" to in-house admirers... The visitors lunched across the street at Palette with Post Vice President at Large Ben Bradlee, Executive Editor Len Downie and political reporter Dan Balz. Then they took a tour of the newsroom and had meetings with Managing Editor Phil Bennett, Chairman Don Graham and Publisher Bo Jones. Finally, Jesus headed back downstairs for a chat with military affairs and Pentagon reporter Josh White... The rest of The Post's scribes tried -- but not too hard -- to act nonchalant while gazing dreamily in the messiah's direction. "It was like angels singing," one female employee was overheard saying after apparently making brief eye contact." (9/22/07) Another great show of class by Bonneville/WTOP Radio....Lock out a 10 year employee from her computer and not have the balls to call them in to let them go, only to be told by the tech geeks (no offense) that "We were told to cut off your computer and email access." Gee, must be a real moral booster to work there......Ass Clowns! (9/22/07) Re: "to all the bleeding heart liberals complaining about Kepley and Melman getting let go...SHUT UP" ..... Dear Mr. Angry Guy, I don't think anyone is saying that a company cannot hire and fire employees as is dictated by circumstances, but do it in a compassionate way. Giving someone some notice is nice. Having an employee come in for work and then find they cannot log in to their computer is not the right way to do it. So go have a piece of pie and a cup of decaf; maybe take a little nap; listen to some nice music on WETA and have a relaxing weekend. If that doesn't work, my 1 year old has an extra pacifier you can borrow. SAHD (9/22/07) About all the firings at WTOP. I guess the thing that disappoints me the most is that for all this time, when the folks at Bonneville said they were different, that they were a family, that they were values-oriented, I believed them. I bought into it. They aren't any better. They don't care. Now I understand. Lesson learned. (9/22/07) Ah, another Saturday, and most of us will not be able to watch the Maryland football game. Why can't somebody step up( eg MASN, Comcast ) and make a good tv package for Terps games. Fan support would grow by leaps and bounds and the exposure would also help recruiting. Regards Biff (9/22/07) Reality check. If you are in this business you absolutely must expect to be fired at least 3-5 times in a ten year period. Plan for it. Have CD demos and an online downloadable MP3 updated with your best stuff at least every two months. Have the foresight to not load up local drives on your work computer with personal stuff. Keep a Word version and a printed version of your resume ready at home & keep those contacts current. I have kept at least two other jobs as an insurance policy against being fired from my current station. With format flips, station sales, the readily available syndicated programming and the overall sales & budget problems almost all companies are going through, I have never been at such an elevated level of alert to the possibility that I'll lose one or more of my jobs before the end of the year. Radio is no longer the "career" it once was. It could happen Monday, it could happen the day before Christmas. To take a lesson from the film "Heat" with DeNiro & Pacino, never get yourself into anything that you can't walk away from forever in 15 minutes or less. I hate what Bonneville did to one of my favorite people & the timing was insensitive, but the idea that the "jew card" was being played with Ira is nonsense. Bob Kur & Hillary Howard are both Jewish. It's as stupid as thinking the LDS Mind Control Police are lurking around every corner at 3400 Idaho Ave. With all that said, I can tell you from personal experience that there is now a very low level of trust and isolation in those hallways and Joel & Jim would gain a tremendous amount of respect if they reconfigured the WTOP shifts (much like they did when Ira and Herzog were hired), reduced the shift times and re-hired Kepley & Mellman. There is precedence for this at Bonneville. When Z104 and WGMS were each dismantled the sales people were blown out, only to be re-interviewed with many being rehired. I'd still rather be at Bonneville than CC, CBS or Citadel. - Sign me NOT an LDS Kool-Aid Drinker (9/22/07) Dave's response: It's kind of funny. When I ran a rumor in August that Bonneville was planning to ditch its marriage with the Post and that Washington Post Radio would soon be dumped, a Bonneviller called me and yelled at me very early on a Saturday morning. He said that it was not fair of me to spread such rumors because peoples' jobs, lives, and families were all affected. I wonder how this Bonneviller feels today - about his own firm regarding the uncerimonial cannings of Ira and Diane. And how that could happen to him, someday. Hmmm..... Bottom line: Does anyone here truly believe that Bob Kur and Hillary Howard will do as well at their new respective jobs than Ira Mellman and Diane Kepley. If not, then WTOP has taken two steps backward. Everett W. (9/22/07) Dave's response: People listen to WTOP not for the personalities but for the steady drumbeat of news, traffic, and weather. If they put Crystal Koons and Joe Ardinger as co-hosts of afternoon show, WTOP would still get the same great ratings. Face it, WTOPers, you're all easily replaceable. And Bonneville knows it..... to all the bleeding heart liberals complaining about Kepley and Melman getting let go...SHUT UP! You are a bunch of no talent whiners who sound stupid. Yes it sucks these 2 were let go, but this is business. BFD. Sounds like you never managed or owned a business...because if you did, you would understand that letting people go is an unfortunate part of business. And stop being so hypocritical...you called for the blowing up of Post Radio because it was a failure and when Bonneville does, now you have a problem that 2 WTOPers were let go. and to those playing the jewish card...come on. are you serious? If I'm not mistaken, in the past few years hasn't WTOP HIRED many people who were just FIRED from other stations...like Melman when Clear Channel gave him the boot...and Frank Herzog when the Redskins and Channel 9 showed him the door (9/22/07) BONNEVILLE LIE #1 "There have been no firings at all (other than for cause) at WTOP or WFED in years." BONNEVILLE LIE #2: the ad on DCRTV for "future" job openings at WTOP Radio. Despicable. My sources tell me is that people there are now running scared, don't trust each other, wondering who's next, wondering how their bosses could run such a great station into the ground. One source uses the words "Miserable" and "Demoralizing" to describe the atmosphere. (9/22/07) The best thing Farley's replacement will do is boot that ponderous, self-inflated Mike Maus and slip Amy Morris in there with Richard Day. I heard them together when Maus was on the newspaper radio, and wow, great chemistry, great to listen. I thought Maus got canned from the newspaper but then he turns up on that little FM outlet, WTF? should have changed the locks when they had the chance. (9/22/07) There is far too much drama here when people on this forum bashing other people. The claims of anti-Semitism on the behalf of Bonneville and Jim Farley are despicable. It's sad when people do lose their jobs, but it happens in IT and in plumbing and in other professions, too. I am sure that Diane Kepley and Ira Melmann will find other on-the-air jobs; they have talent. But it's not a crime nor even a sin for a manager to let people go for financial reasons. With the failure of Washington Post Radio, the station was overstaffed. That's it. I speak as someone who has had his own share of sometimes unjustified firings in his own profession. Are you all really that insecure and immature?--GAB in the Airless Cubicle. (9/22/07) Joel Oxley. The head of Bonneville's DC radio cluster just can't seem to shoot straight anymore. Not mistake after mistake, but major blunder after major blunder. Killing off beloved decades-old heritage classical outlet WGMS, a Washington institution, and the human misery associated with way too humiliating discharge of its staff. Followed by that misguided marriage with the Washington Post, only to watch it crash and burn over the past year and a half. And selling off a major signal (104.1) to only physically reduce your company's presence in the market. And how do you top it all off? You fire two highly respected personalities on WTOP. Ira Mellman is a radio news veteran and Diane Kepley co-anchored WTOP's top-rated afternoon drive show. And the way it was handled, allegedly locking them out of the company's computer system. How do you think Bob Kur and Hillary Howard must feel having to fill the shoes of Ira and Diane, who have become "family" to many of WTOP's listeners. Yeah, we all know that radio is not a "nice" business. Never has been. But, Joel, your treatment of Ira and Diane was cold, man, ice cold. Sleep well. (9/22/07) If this afternoon's Randi Rhodes (Roberts?) show on 3WT is any indication of the norm that show will last a month at best. I tuned in about 5pm to hear here whining that the election of 2004 was fixed and that SHE could have proven it if only her network would have allowed her on the air. This lunatic claimed that she was in Ohio on election day and had uncovered election fraud and was frantically trying to call her "network" but a woman, who was from a "cable channel", refused to allow her to go on the air live. I can see why. (9/22/07) Yikes! 'TOP shoulda' nudged Mike Moss out of the tower of blabber. He is soooo, soooo bad. Hey Moss, we listeners (not for long) DON'T want to hear you laugh at not-funny-stuff and we DON'T CARE about your opinions. You are awful. Bruce says something and YOU just have to one-up him, don'tcha'? Hey Joel and Jim ( O & F), get rid of Moss. Bring on Diane and Ira. They do not deserve such awful and hateful treatment. Joel and Jim and the suits at Borringvilla in Utah have really ruined things. Near perfect is what WAS on 1500 AM, WTOP. Near disaster is what's going now on over on Idaho Street. Just terrible. (9/22/07) A "Heads-Up" for my fellow "Mailbailbaggers"": Tune Sat. Nite to the best kept secret in the world. Which is is Joyce Conroy''s "Oldiies Block Partry" which gets underwaway on WHFC at 9:00pm Love to all, Rusty Gibson (9/22/07) David Burd's fawning, sexist interview with 4's Lindsay Czarniak on 3WT Monday was a cringe producing utter embarrassment. Back when he was on WMAL, Mr. Burd was a gentleman. Now, he's turned into a first class perv. Disgusting. (9/22/07) Another radio station for sale on eBay: cgi.ebay.com (9/22/07) It's 11:08pm and the Weather Channel on Cox for Fairfax County is using the guitar solo from the opening segment of Pink Floyd's "Shine on You Crazy Diamond as the background music...keep up the good work! Where can we send requests? (9/22/07) Good news for John Batchelor Fans... John Batchelor, host of the respected ABC Radio program "The John Batchelor Show," will join Brian Lamb on C-SPAN this Sunday, Sept. 23, at 8PM and 11PM ET.Mr. Batchelor will share with C-SPAN's audience his unique perspective on the world at large in conversation similar to that of his respected radio program, which conducted interviews of guests in international time zones that ran the gamut from foreign correspondents to leaders of militant groups in the Middle East, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad...John T. Henneman (9/22/07) /\ September 22 Messages /\ \/ September 21 Messages \/ RE: "How many of you geniuses are currently managing a radio station?" The question is how many people at Bonneville are MISMANAGING a radio station? (9/21/07) I'd rather have Diane Kepley do the traffic on WTOP in the mornings instead of the horrible, unprofessional Lisa Baden. I turn the dial when she comes on. (9/21/07) "Joel: thanks for ripping apart two more families. How can you sleep at night?" Good heavens aren’t we being a little dramatic. Good people lose their job every day. It sucks but that’s life. (9/21/07) I'll be sorry to see Bob Carpenter go, too. However, I'll be sorrier if Ray Knight is his replacement. The guy NEVER. SHUTS. UP. He makes my ears bleed. Please anyone but Ray Knight...well...maybe not Don Baylor, either. Mary (9/21/07) Jim Farley! What the hell are you doing letting go one of the best anchors you have? Diane Kepley was a network star at UPI Radio star long before coming to ‘TOP. With some apologies that UPI at that time was not exactly a good address… but she was one of the really good people. Diane is largely responsible for your good afternoon drive Arbitrons. To replace her with Hillary Howard? C’mon Jim! And Ira Mellman? He’s one of the best-known and most under-rated voices in Washington. I know you are a great manager from your days at ABC and this decision doesn’t sound like one of yours. If it was, I really, really sorry. Diane and Ira are the best and deserve better. I can think of several on your staff who should have been out the door before these two. Tom Gauger (9/21/07) How sad to see / hear Diane Kepley leaving WTOP. Sounds like TOP is about to (if not already) hit the iceberg that has hit most all of the TV stations around town, with the slight exception of WJLA. She is a class act and I am sure she will not have a problem getting a job elsewhere. My best wishes to her, as I always enjoyed listening to her and Shawn. (9/21/07) bottom line is its all about the Benjies. Oxley and Farley can fire folks and then sleep at night because they make oodles of $$$$. So what if they have to let good hard working people go. That sleep comfort bed I am sure feels mighty fine at the end of the day. As long as they keep collecting that fat check they don't care about someone else as long as it is not them getting canned. (9/21/07) WOW! "cutting into the muscle of WTOP itself." Now, that is profound. How many of you geniuses are currently managing a radio station? Tina in MoCo (9/21/07) Its been a long time since I emailed to this site but after reading the comment from Al McGilvray, News Director, WRNR-AM, in Martinsburg, well coming from someone who was born and raised in Berkeley County, WV ( Martinsburg ), what will WRNR do once ( and if ) WEPM goes FM? If a high school football fan in Martinsburg had to make a choice between Rob Mario ( WEPM ) in FM Stereo whose signal reaches FOUR states or Matt Miller ( WRNR ) on am 740 whose signal cant make it past outside Martinsburg city limits at night, who do you think the average Martinsburg Joe would pick? Why WEPM of course !!!! As bad as WICL Cool 95.9 is, lets face it WICL is NOT the old WARX, I am very surprised the plug hasn't already been pulled on WICL and with the increase in sports there, it would NOT be hard to do.. I agree with Al that WRNR isn't going to change formats anytime soon, BUT once ( and if ) WEPM goes to 95.9 FM, ah if I worked for WRNR, I would be looking for another job. Maybe Martinsburg's WRNR should contact Annapolis' WRNR about bringing that format to Martinsburg and the Shenandoah & Cumberland Valley's once/if WEPM moves to FM. Myself thinks WEPM will do just that. (9/21/07) Ira Mellman is just, simply put, a good guy. He is a good guy on a personal level, and also a good guy on a professional level. As a Jew who just isn't buying into the religious implications contained in various postings here (for the record, Bob Kur is also Jewish), Ira did nothing that justifies his being let go by Bonneville, Yom Kippur or not. Simply stated, Ira is a first class radio newsman. (9/21/07) Re: "You are not a program director if you only copy another PD’s stale format. Radio needs relevant new programming....Ed Graham." If that's true, there have been no program directors in the Washington area in more than 20 years. Dave in Sterling (9/21/07) To say I am disappointed that Joel Oxley could do this is an understatement. He has screwed up more times than any executive should be allowed to. Yet someone else always pays the price. Z104, WGMS, Washington Post Radio - and now cutting into the muscle of WTOP itself. Joel: you have damaged lots and lots of lives. Hang your head in shame - yes, you, Joel. (9/21/07) Why does WTOP cut key staffers when they have too many "managers" sitting around doing next to nothing? Mike McMearty, Lisa Wolfe, Mitchell Miller, Darci Marchese? Too much overlap, too much flab - one or two of them could easily go. (9/21/07) Joel: thanks for ripping apart two more families. How can you sleep at night? (9/21/07) Well, it's SO reassuring to know that Diane and Ira weren't left "twisting in the wind" for TOO long. And, for those wondering if this was a local decision or made by the armband-wearing, black-uniformed Mormon Force, in order to punish the Jew, Mellman, and his shiksa consort, consider this: Bonneville's VP of News/Talk Programming is noneother than Washington's favorite media son, Jim Fartley! Nice work, Fartley. We ALL hope that your kids are fired on Good Friday from now on! (Come on, Jewish historians, Yom Kippur is more akin to Easter than Christmas.) It is the "day of atonement." In fact, I'm meeting some priests to self-flagellate in just a little while! Care to join us... FARTLEY? (9/21/07) Does Patrick Gavin Have a Crush on Brad Pitt? bigheaddc.com (9/21/07) NEW TO AREA...Help! - I love your site! Junkies mentioned it...love them too! Best that I have found in this area over the last 6 months or so.... Are there ANY oldies stations in this area? (i am in Ashburn....on good days can get 95.3 from front royal) I am looking for early rock? Elvis / / 60's / Motown, etc.... Any Advice? (I am trying to avoid having to buy Sirius even though I miss Howard Stern!) Thanks! (9/21/07) Dave's response: If you're looking for "traditional oldies" on the radio, I'd have to suggest XM or Sirius. You might find a few Motown tunes on WMMJ 102.3 or some early Elvis on Vegas Radio WTRI 1520, but there ain't much out there on the broadcast airwaves..... In order for AOL to be "The Evil Empire", AOL would have to 1st be an EMPIRE! Hardly. AOL came close with being one of the 1st & largest widespread internet providers, but that's years ago and AOL is nothing but a shell of its former self now. Tom Shales only showed what an internet & media idiot he is for even complaining about AOL in the 1st place. Earth to Tom Shales... AOL is transitioning itself AWAY from being an internet service provider to being an advertiser supported CONTENT provider is hardly a big player anymore! You would think an esteemed media critic would know that right? (9/21/07) Well of COURSE they fired Diane Kepley: she actually knows how to read the news. She never went for all of the childish crap the station is increasingly known for--morning anchors laughing hysterically at their unfunny, awkward banter; weathermen telling dull stories about their kids; traffic dipshits singing; sports guys plugging air mattresses during their 40 seconds--the station is an abysmal source of news, but a great way for five year olds to entertain themselves. Or if you want to know what time it is. Best of luck, Diane. You deserved a whole lot better. (9/21/07) Top WaPo Writer Calls AOL The Evil Empire bigheaddc.com (9/21/07) Did RZ hire salespeople with no experience? That is the only way that I can imagine someone getting blindsided by the fact that they were being paid via a draw. It does not take a rocket scientist to flip to the page that references salary and commission structure to figure out whether the comp plan is decent or a POS. Not much sympathy here my friends! (9/21/07) When I put the Winchester ZIP code (22601) and “Comcast” as my provider into the thingy on Comcast SportsNet’s Web site that is supposed to tell me where to find CSN+, I get a dash, as in no channel listed (it says 36 for CSN, which is correct). Does this mean we’re not getting it, just like we’ve never gotten MASN or MASN2? We’re an hour west of DC for God’s sake. This is ridondculous. Charles in Winchester (a little birdie tells me we’ll have MASN on April 1, 2008, but I’ll believe that when I see it). (9/21/07) Like many have said in this mailbag before, it was easy to act all high and mighty when things are going well at WTOP and Bonneville. Now that there is turmoil in the hallowed halls of 3400 Idaho, we will see the true colors. I guess the long line of people waiting to work at WTOP because they do everything the "right way" just got a little bit shorter. Measure the character of people during adversity and you always come up with the real story. Firing a Jewish guy on the eve of the highest holy day is akin to firing a Gentile on Christmas eve. Then again, I think they did that last year.You stay classy WTOP. (9/21/07) Hey BOBB Bicknell- why not scroll DOWN the page and see the post about the GOOD people of WGTS that I was lifting from. Then, maybe, you'll get my point! And, Dave, I accept your explanation. It sure would be cool, though, if you could put the two posts together to amplify the point! Mr. cabFare and unBalanced (9/21/07) WTOP canning Mr. Mellman? What are the "suits" over there smoking as they obviously spell class with a "K" Horrible situation! Rusty Gibson (9/21/07) RE: [ " So the M****** fire Ira Melman on Yom Kippur. Class act. " ]........ Bonneville is basically a right-wing Christian organization posing as a mainline news & media organization. Think of them as if EWTN, the Catholic network, ran a news service and you'll get the picture. Seriously, the Catholic church is even more kosher! At least I had to learn all the Jewish holidays and their symbolism in Catholic high school upon threat of failure. The Mormon church has a long record of disdain for other religions only exceeded by Scientologists, cults, & other extremists. Seriously, why would you expect more from Bonneville, Inc? "Bonneville" is a code word for who they are that's designed for you to not "get it" unless you're supposed to get it. Apparently Ira Melman didn't "get it" until it was too late. Sad. :-( (9/21/07) Bonneville is going down the drain. Now they're fired two class acts - Diane and Ira. What a shame. I was glad when Bonneville hired Ira when Cheap Channel canned him a while back. What used to be a first rate organization has gone downhill for the last couple of years. My guess is that WTOP and the new 3WT will implode before the end of this decade. We already know of the fire sale of 104.1 to Radio One. My guess is that 107.7 is next, and then they'll keep 103.5/103.9 until they have to sell that too. The AM sticks at 1500 and 820 will be sold to some religious or ethnic group eventually. Jim Farley used to do no wrong. Now it seems that he can do no right. What a difference a few years can make. Dave in Fredericksburg (9/21/07) It's after 3pm and 104.3 is still playing Jazz, or at least what they call Jazz…….. (9/21/07) Dave's response: Maybe Monday..... The only contract Snyder ever honored belongs to a guy who lives way South of Washington. His name is Lucifer. (9/21/07) So the M****** fire Ira Melman on Yom Kippur. Class act. (9/21/07) Rant - 9/21 - We've uncovered a major scandal here. Marc Sterne on the David Burd and Jessica Doyle show at 6 AM on the new 3WT barely has a British accent." Oh the jig is up! Someone alert WTOP that a lame accent instead of a lame, jive, radio voice is on the air waves. How did this comic genius come to pass? How did such a winning comedy style crawl from the ashes and become "funny"? This crap came from "Mr Re-Hash" himself. Old, orange and balding comedy genius from the mean streets of Long Island and the slippery halls of the Washington Post. The use of a freaking phone screener and "producer" is old hat in the radio business. I guess that's why all great comedy radio show utilize their lackeys and freak shows. I mean if D&M, Elliot and Stern can do it why not another gasbag? Skimmell (9/21/07) Lifted from Ira Mellman's bio page on the WTOP web site: "It's really fun to work at WTOP. More than anywhere else I've been, there is a team spirit here to be the best at what we do, and we are." Yeah, team! (9/21/07) Dave, you make a valid point about 103.5's Baltimore ratings increase, but the 106.7 thing is definitely an anomaly for 1 simple reason..... You can barely get 106.7 in College Park, let alone AA county! (9/21/07) Hey man - too funny about me an my English cousin Nigel :-) You'd be amazed at how many people don't know it's me, and the look on their faces when they find out is phenomenal - and of course, blows my mind since I think it's pretty obvious that both "people" are me... (9/21/07) It’s a shame to hear of the passing of Billy Vickers. He was famous for looking at you…grunting…and saying something to the effect of “Don’t know nothin’ ‘bout that…” Billy was a radiophile. When the old WINX building was felled in 1995 (?), Billy’s collection of Washington DC radio history went with it. He never got the time to remove any of it. Who remembers the Vickers “Wall of Shame?” God forbid that you forgot to sign the transmitter log… What a shame… Let’s all raise a dozen Montgomery Donuts with a diet coke up in his honor this afternoon. (9/21/07) It is funny to see the WAPO ad still running on Washington Post.com. The Post is really sloppy for a major newspaper. The radio listings have never been right and they are impossible to fix. I worked a station once that changed formats, and it took us two years to correct the listing. This project became a joke at the station. We wrote 22 letters and logged over 50 phone calls. I finally wrote a certified letter to Donald Graham requesting the change, and the format was correctly published the next day. Unfortunately, the call letters were STILL wrong. (9/21/07) Feldman and Maloney are doing their show today on WTEM from the Capitals training facility, the Kettler Ice Rink in Arlington. Great to hear some hockey and kudos to WTEM for not being petty about losing the team's broadcast rights and still covering them. (9/21/07) To Burt in Denton: Enjoyed (and agree) with your comments concerning the possible reasons why people act like they do)..have a question for you: since I also listen to Joyce Conroy's show (and she does rock)..are you listening "on line"..or do you have a powerful enough radio to actually pull in the WHFC signal? I listen on line; I only wish they had enough bandwidth to accommodate stereo as I'm reasonably sure that some of the stuff she's playing from the late 60s/early 70s is in stereo..and probably sounds good as stereo really did sound like "stereo" back then! Tom in Denton, MD (9/21/07) Hey "fair and balanced?????????????" What the f**k is buzzing your bonnett. Man, you are one angry mofo. It's your type of anal babble that keeps this world of ours on edge. Hate is one of the sickest of illnesses. You DESPERATELY need to seek some psychiatric assistance. Jesse, Al, H*tler....all seem like pussys compared to your babble. Leave the Country. BOBB (9/21/07) John from Delmarva--I hear you about the same formats. Especially on Delmarva, there are 47 market based signals, and only a handful of formats. You have 5 AC/Chr signals, 2 Adult Hits, 2 Oldies, 3 Rock, 2 Urban, 2 Classic Rock, 7 country, 2 sports, 3 talk, 1 Christian (full power, a half dozen Reach FM relays) some nostaligia, etc. What you DO not have are signals dedicated to the community, no local full service station. I hear a few stations trying to do the local thing, mainly on the AM-WKHZ in OC and WCEM-AM in Cambridge are doing a lot of local stuff, like festivals, etc... (9/21/07) There's still a graphic and a link at the bottom of the washingtonpost.com home page for Washington Post Radio. Ha ha ha. I guess they haven't gotten the news yet. (9/21/07) Dave's response: It still exists. Every evening, "DJ" Paul Farhi sets up a turntable and CD player in his basement and plays the Clash, Duran Duran, and the Cure with his own jingles and between-song commentary on his almost-imaginary Washington Post Radio. If the windows are open, you can actually hear the station for several hundred feet. I hear it actually gets better ratings than Triple X..... From the WMAL e-news letter: DCRTV regular Silvie from Waldorf makes the big time! - Jerry Klein has invited 630 WMAL "Uber-Fan" Silvie from Waldorf into the studio to share the microphone with him from 2:00pm-3:00pm this Sunday, 9/23. You've probably heard Silvie as she's called in to various programs, or you may have read one of her "Insider Listener of the Week" columns. Jerry decided it would be interesting to see what happens if she fills-in as co-host for the hour. (9/21/07) Dave's response: Well, Silvie's claim to fame are her frequent postings on the DCRTV Mailbag. Let's see if the WMAL management will allow her to name-drop this site. Hmmm..... The Blade decided not to sell?Good, I hope the god damn paper runs out of money.What a shit format and a waste of decent pulp, the samewith the fucking Advocate and Fucking OUT!!What is DC, the fucking homo belt!?You all need to be catch AIDS. Or, how about: WHUR decided not to sell?Good, I hope the god damn college runs out of money.What a shit format and a waste of a decent class B signal, the samewith fucking WEAA and Fucking WPFW!!What is DC, the fucking n****** belt!?You all need to be lynched. --- The point is, hate speech is hate speech, Dave... no matter who is targeted. Shouldn't you lose the first post? Mine too, if you choose. - Mr. Fair and Balanced (9/21/07) Dave's response: The Mailbag is here to provide a total spectrum of commentary - even, at times, posts from the stupid and ill-informed..... Every day I read the same crap from people who think they should program the radio stations in this area. Some are good ideas, except there seems to be an obsession with formats: Free, Fresh, George, Jack. This morning someone was arguing that a station can’t be Hot A/C if it plays a soft record. You are not a program director if you only copy another PD’s stale format. Radio needs relevant new programming. Doesn’t matter what songs you play - - your audience doesn’t care if a song is hot or new, only if it is good. Program to your audience, not to the industry or your peers. Some stations do a good job of programming 1990s radio. I want to hear some 2007 radio. You complain about corporate greed and then buy into continuing the bad radio that it has spawned. Ed Graham (9/21/07) Tom Gauger and other posters are right about Hybrid Digital (HD) IBOC radio. I warned a long time ago about night time AM screwing up the band. Why does the USA always lag behind the rest of the world in all transmission? Even analog TV uses a system with less resolution than overseas systems, and has for years. Cable, high speed Internet, cell phones, it's a long list. * Interested to see what they do with my old frequency 104.3. * WCBM will never beat WBAL long term. Not enough knowledge. BAL dumped Limbaugh, and baseball, so WCBM was handed a little spike. WBAL will survive. * The idea of trying to compete with someone who is not your competition, WTWP-NPR, was not so smart, but going after WMAL can only help WTOP. To win and have the top news and top talk station will require a little more local programming, but being on AM only will eventually cause WMAL to lose. I have an idea for a new talk host for 3WT. (or any station that has money and wants ratings) When she was released from jail, she said that she would stop playing dumb and be smart. How could you top Paris Hilton on the radio? Ed Graham (9/21/07) Re: “Heh heh... 700 WDMV-AM is advertising on Craigslist for "unpaid interns"…” The ad in question was not posted by WDMV. It is the sole responsibility of The Leaders Spot, a brokered program airing on WDMV. TLS interns perform no duties under the direction of WDMV management or staff. -- dh.(9/21/07) Re: "WGTS decided not to sell? Good, I hope the god damn college runs out of money. What a shit format and a waste of a decent class B signal, the same with fucking WAVA and Fucking WFSI!! What is DC, the fucking bible belt!? You all need to be put in a stadium with hungry lions." As a Christian fot the past 30 years, I just smile at small-minded, hate-filled people like this, pat them on the head and move on. Christian stations have as much right to the bands as (c)rap stations, rock, CHR, so-called country or talk stations do. But what irritates me is that our local markets (DC, Balto, Phily) have a gizzillion stations basically programming the same thing- a dozen rap/urban stations, a half-dozen rock stations, who knows how many AC/CHR stations, etc. You have six basic formats spread out over 50 stations and who knows how much overlapping (or maybe I should say "inbreeding") is involved. Only on AM do you find stations at least trying to be somewhat creative with their programming. FM stations are basically clones of each other and thus, uninteresting. At least HD is bringing *some* variety to FM stations, but they have a long way to go. What a shame to waste a 50kw signal on rap or country or rock when you could put some really interesting or informative programming on. But PDs and the corporate suits that pay them know absolutely nothing about what makes good radio- only what fills the coffers. John, Delmarava (9/21/07) Re: Your Rant about Nigel Sterne on DCRTV.com: Get your facts straight - Nigel is Marks' Brit cousin. It's Victoria Jones who does the fake accent. She's actually from Trenton New Jersey. Buck Wheat (9/21/07) Let's get this straight... that blood-sucking, money-grabbing imitation of a union called AFTRA wants to tell me who I can't work for, after that worthless Pat O'Donnell stood there toasting Bennett Zero while our bleeding corpses were decaying in the Cheap Channel parking lot on Rockville Pike. HA! Try to bite this, you paper tigers! If broadcasters want to organize now, you'd better affiliate with the Teamsters (as the WTOP clerical staff once did) or the Mine Workers. AFTRA is just a crappy insurance administrator and if I get work from Harvey Levin, I'll take it and feed my kids. It's more than these corporate prostitutes have ever done for me! Sam Gompers, Freelance (9/21/07) Dave, Don’t know if you saw this in Tom Taylor’s report today…. "The blogosphere’s been merrily spouting rumors that Westwood and Bill O’Reilly are divorcing when his deal’s up in December – but I think you can expect to hear something quite different, as soon as today. Not sure if the renewal’s going to be for a long term (maybe one year?), but Westwood’s definitely keeping O’Reilly on the reservation. After all, they’ve recently picked up a nice San Francisco clearance on KNEW, plus recent adds in Denver and Washington, D.C. And when Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert paid a visit to “Papa Bear” O’Reilly to autograph the cast of his broken wrist – they did the TV shot in O’Reilly’s radio studio in the News Corp. building." (9/21/07) "NO CONTRACT, NO WORK Order in Effect for ‘TMZ’... syndicated TV series “TMZ”—are not signed to an AFTRA contract covering this program" Now we know why there is so much Reality Shows. The damn unions make it too expensive to produce anything quality. Hell, it is so expensive to produce reality, Survivor went to China. Paul (9/21/07) RE: "2 things caught my attention in the latest Baltimore Arbitron #s.." It's all about book placement my friend. Just another example of how Arbitron is flawed. If the books were heavy in Eastern Balto Co, and Harford CO, then WXCY, WNST would come in bigger....but, this is why you see so many strong DC stations in the Baltimore book, it's the placement. (9/21/07) Congrats to Don Richards! 34 years with the same client is a STUNNING achievment in the voiceover business. I was the voice of Giant Food from 1990 to 2002, and twelve years is pretty good. But 34 years! Wow. I stand in awe. (9/21/07) Dave's response: Speaking of voices, I'm hearing more Buzz Burbank on 3WT this morning than on WJFK-FM's Don and Mike show. He seems to voice about 50 percent of 3WT's ads..... been listening to the new 3WT. After listening through the god awful, boring posties, having intelligent, well known and engaging personalities on that station is a breath of fresh air. Politics aside, their line-up is definitely ten times more engaging and compelling than before. looking forward to hearing Tony back on the air. his call ins and "best of" segments are just a tease for me. not a big fan of how they are positioning themselves with the whole left/right thing...but that isn't a big deal if the personalities are strong. If 3WT add the Nationals as they go into their new stadium then they might have something here. I agree with the other posters who pointed out WMAL's numbers and 3WT expectations...I would assume if 3WT got similar numbers they would be very happy. WMAL bills about $15 Million a year and that translates to a pretty good profit number. (9/21/07) RE: Joe in Essex/HD Radio--HD stands for I've spoken to retailers about HD Radio, and they've told me firsthand that HDR is a load of bull. Moreover, your point about the iPhone is valid--1 million in a month sold, compared to half a million in over three-to-five years on HD Radio. Yet, the OTA broadcasters are so hellbent on crowbarring HD Radio ads into each and every break; it's like they're OVERSELLING this product. Seriously, can anyone who isn't directly vested into HD Radio justify the cost/benefit at $150 and up, all to put a new system into my car, that only picks up, what...five extra stations of the same crap? You make an excellent point--instead of selling this bill of goods called HD Radio. they should have been focusing on digitizing the entire radio spectrum. It's really the same difference, after all, except it doesn't have to be sold to the public as a gimmick alternate to SatRad services. Another example of ass-backwards thinking by the radio industry as a whole. --HiFi AM Stereo (9/21/07) NO CONTRACT, NO WORK Order in Effect for ‘TMZ’ - Effective September 20, 2007, members of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists are advised that TMZ Productions Inc., Harvey Levin Productions Inc., and paraMedia inc.—producers of the syndicated TV series “TMZ”—are not signed to an AFTRA contract covering this program. AFTRA members may NOT accept employment, including recording in-show and/or promotional announcements, on “TMZ” until and unless a fair contract between AFTRA and the producers is achieved. If you are contacted for employment on “TMZ”, please contact Joan Halpern Weise, Assistant National Executive Director, at 323.634.8174 or David Besbris, Los Angeles Local Director of Television, 323.643.8116. All calls are confidential. (9/21/07) Again, ignorance raises its ugly head. Whoever made the disgusting comments about WFSI, WGTB and other Christian based stations needs to get a life and forgo the hatred. A waste of good radio signals this person claims. The real waste of signals are the stations along the dial that play that horrible rap, it is no wonder it rhymes with crap. You all know what stations i am referring to. As a teacher, this is the stuff I hear out of children's mouths all the time at school. It is no wonder we are having trouble with students at all ages now, with all the hate and violence spewed on radio and TV. And by the way, kudos again to Joyce Conroy for her weekly Saturday night program on WHFC. Joyce, you rock! And to Rusty Gibson, sometime i would like to talk to you sometime since it appears you grew up here on the eastern shore, maybe take that trip down memory lane. Burt in Denton (9/21/07) (RE: Don Richards) Watch the entire "Out of the Past" interview of the ubiquitous voice of Ourisman automotive as the show appeared last year on Fairfax Channel 10, (Cox Cable), courtesy of Lee Shephard (who co-hosted the program) at www.veoh.com as well as at Lee's blog: lookoutlee.blogspot.com... Lee also has interviews with several other old-time DC broadcasters featured on his WTOPTV.COM blog... with many more to come! Thanks to Rusty Gibson for the tip. (9/21/07) RE: Marc "Nigel" Sterne...Actually, I remember this topic coming up a few years back. Marc Sterne was the former host of 980's Baseball show in 2004. If my memory serves me correctly, he is an avowed Red Sox fan. It's Marc just playing a character on the air...nothing to get worked up about--except for the audience who doesn't know who the hell this guy actually is. --vcthree (9/21/07) 2 things caught my attention in the latest Baltimore Arbitron #s.... Baltimore has 1 of the lowest Hispanic populations of any Top 20 major market, yet WLZL 99.1 beats 1 of Baltimore's Sports Talk stations, WNST Nasty 1570 (the station that's holding all those anti-Angelos events). And to add insult to injury, AM 1570 is beaten also by WJFK-FM, a Washington station that almost NO-ONE in the BALTIMORE MARKET CAN EVEN RECEIVE! Secondly, WTOP-FM 103.5 is higher rated in Baltimore than WTOP-AM 1500 previously was even though the FM signal is not nearly as strong in the Baltimore market as AM 1500 still is today. Weird. (9/21/07) Dave's response: Howard and Anne Arundel counties are very much suburban DC counties, although they are technically within the Baltimore metro area. There are a lot of people who live in Columbia and Crofton who commute to DC and listen to DC radio stations. I think that's where a lot of 103.5 and 106.7's "Baltimore listeners" come from..... ( I wouldn't be surprised to see Martinsburg's WRNR either go all religious or maybe MOYL, no way WRNR could compete with WEPM; well maybe that area can't support two talkers on FM) One of the problems with message boards like DCRTV's Mail Bag is that you never quite know who is writing letters. For starters, it's difficult to believe WRNR will go "all religious." Right now, we are doing quite well with 500 live sports broadcasts a year, and a "live and local" news/talk format that earned nine state-wide awards last spring from the West Virginia Broadcasters Association and the Associated Press. WRNR in Martinsburg is an AM station; WRNR-FM is in Maryland. There is already a "Music of Your Life"-type station in the area - "Memories 1550" out of Charles Town, WVa., which is actually Clear Channel at the Winchester Airport. Whoever speculated that WRNR would soon have a format change in incorrect. Al McGilvray, News Director, WNRN-AM, Martinsburg, WV (9/21/07) Heh heh... 700 WDMV-AM is advertising on Craigslist for "unpaid interns" and the wording is great. They even suggest that prospective interns that do not have transportation should RENT a car to be there on time (for an unpaid position!). Too much. washingtondc.craigslist.org... At least unpaid interns can't bitch & moan when a company check bounces. (9/21/07) WBAL 17th 25-54 In August?? WCBM beat the almighty?? Beauchump, nice move getting rid of Limbaugh and the Orioles. Will love seeing how you'll spin the free fall.. Look for WCBM to beat WBAL for many years to come. (9/21/07) If you've worked with Steve Kingston for the past thirty years, you are ARE getting "honered"... ever single day! Gremp (9/21/07) Dave: You mentioned "Mr. Roboto" being your fave "Styx" tune. Have you ever heard their cover of the Beatles' "I Am The Walrus" from a couple of years ago? Great job on the song! Rusty... "PLB" Call me soon. (9/21/07) Dave's response: Kurtz's "outing"? I didn't know he was gay..... ================= He's not. He just has a wide stance. Remind me to write Weird Al Yankovic to suggest that he rewrite Stan Freberg's "Wide Screen Mama" as "Wide Stance Larry." He's probably already on it. (9/21/07) Now that it look as if the Nats will replace Bob Carpenter as there play by play voice, how bout Johnny Holliday teamed up with Don Sutton. I enjoyed their work together during the Minnesota series when Holliday filled in for Carpenter. I also like Ray Knight moving over to team with with Sutton, although Knight and Holliday are great together on the pre game show. To these eyes and ears, I saw nothing wrong with Carpenter the consummate professional. (9/21/07) WGTS decided not to sell? Good, I hope the god damn college runs out of money. What a shit format and a waste of a decent class B signal, the same with fucking WAVA and Fucking WFSI!! What is DC, the fucking bible belt!? You all need to be put in a stadium with hungry lions. (9/21/07) Dave's response: As TV's Maude (Bea Arthur) used to say, God is gonna "get you" for saying that..... I'm sorry, but no matter how much they spend promoting "HD Radio" and whatever the hell it actually stands for (we know it's NOT high definition), it's clearly doomed to the realm of such high tech ideas of their time as "AM Stereo" or "Quad" from the public's perception. Everything is heading towards FULL DIGITAL... TV, CABLE, SATELLITE, IPods, iPhones, COMPUTERS (w/ digital receivers). The only medium left with any analog signal 2-3 years from now will be AM and FM, that's it. Face it, HD-RADIO is officially a bust and will never be able to compete against these other formats. Think about it, more people bought Apple iPhones in just 1 MONTH than probably an entire YEARS' worth of HD-Radio sales and more people are listening to music on iPhones as I type this than probably the ENTIRE number of HD-Radio owners going back years! Just like with AM-Stereo, this is what happens when you let the "market" choose the best technology for the public airwaves with little or any FCC guidance. It's time for the FCC to regroup, suck it up, and realize they made a mistake, just like in the past with AM Stereo, and come out with a FULL DIGITAL RADIO PLAN for the public's FREE AIRWAVES before it's TOO LATE! The U.S. is already the Digital TV and Cellular phone laughingstock of the western world with some of the poorest overall services (3G anybody? Euopeans know what it means!). If nothing happens on this front in the next few years, I seriously envision most of the public's airwaves ultimately used for PAY-services ONLY & the ultimate slow death of free radio & TV. Think I'm exaggerating? Well, already the FCC has shrunk the free TV band to nearly HALF it's original size (lack of demand?) and intends to sell off the rest for profit-based services only. Do the taxpayers receive this profit and are the U.S. consumers ultimately going to benefit? Sure, if you have money to pay to access your "free airwaves" America. Sad. --- Joe in Essex (9/21/07) All I can tell you is both Steve Kingston and I both worked at WINX in Rockville 33 years ago and we are working together again today.It's been the best time in my life. (9/21/07) /\ September 21 Messages /\ \/ September 20 Messages \/ Maybe I’ve missed something discussed here previously, but the “High Definition” thing on AM radio is trashing the medium. WMAL used to have the cleanest and brightest AM signal on the air, particularly when our studios were 30 feet from the transmitter on Green Tree Road. On Tuesday of this week I drove down I-270 from Frederick shortly before noon and couldn’t believe the elevated noise floor on WMAL. It’s one hell of a lot of hash! I’m told that WMAL has rolled off a significant amount of audio above 5 Khz to make it less noisy, but it still really sounds bad. It’s hard to believe that this (IBOC) is “the wave of the future.” Tom Gauger (9/20/07) Im am so sorry about Tom Bell. He gave me the opportunity to be a high school reporter on WEAM. Without that break I don't know if I would be in the bussines today. I am very sad right now.Tom thanks! (9/20/07) I've written "Where's Jay" in secret locations at every radio and TV station I have worked at for over 30 years. Almost every station in you can think of...Instead of easter eggs..let's have a "Where's Jay" hunt...Good luck! (9/20/07) I have worked with Steve Kingston for over 30 years. I'm honered to still work with him. (9/20/07) Boy, It's not Thanksgiving yet but I've gotta give thanks to NBC4 sports for all the great stuff they've given us this week. Thank you George for giving us those great Skins highlites on Tuesday, in slow motion of course with dubbed-in crowd noise. Those Eagle fans love to cheer on them Skins! And thanks George for badgering Joe Bugel, saying in so many words " If you lose to the Giants , forget about the first two wins." Oh and Dan! Thank you for telling us tonight (in response to McNab's comments) that we have our OWN black QB right here in Washington!(slow-mo highlites). I thought he was Latino or Cambodian or some shit. Oh and thanks for showing us again Kevin Everett's spinal injury. It really warms the heart to see someone almost die on tv during the dinner hour. Regards Biff (9/20/07) Sorry to clutter up the mailbag with western VA radio news, but since all the smaller sites have dried up, there's no place else to pontificate. WWRE, etc. in Winchester....Since the FOX upgraded its signal a few years back - they have conquered their last hurdle - covering Winchester. Their mix is pretty good for a small market and JBB is huge out there. Market probably won't support a second straight ahead rocker - why should it? DC101 scores well out there too. Also quietly under the radar...WBHB in Hburg flipped too from Classic ROck to just ROCK 105.1. this week. Same deal as Winchester...not enough room for two mainstream rockers. 98 ROCK has JBB. A friend at JMU said that BHB played Mr Roboto in the first hour of their new existence...ouch (9/20/07) Dave's response: "Mr. Roboto" is the only Styx song I can stand..... Where is the Baltimore Sun editorial department when you need them? Are they AWOL? Maryland's Democrat controlled government is about to endorse the MOST REGRESSIVE TAX INCREASE in state history! Bad for poor people, great for people that own expensive homes. Where is the outrage? Why isn't the local media outting these tax increases as the most "REPUBLICAN-STYLE" tax increases ever? I'm beginning to think that the only thing that the Baltimore Sun editorial staff brings to the paper is the "color of their skin." (9/20/07) WTEM is running commercials using their interview with Jason Campbell on Tuesday morning where he revealed that his helmet headset was not working at the end of the first half in Monday night's game inferring that they had broken this story. Had someone from WTEM attended Joe Gibbs' press conference Monday night or listened to an interview with Campbell from the locker room they would realized that this fact was known Monday night. (9/20/07) This just in from WBAL-TV... It's ok to bury as many as 4 dead babies in your backyard in the state of Maryland! I can't wait for FOX News' O'Reilly to pounce on this one. :-) (9/20/07) Congrats to Don Richards on his 34 years! He has been a frequent guest on our "sister" cable TV station (Channel 10 on Cox Cable) here in Fairfax County on a wonderful program called "Out Of The Past". And as the late John Carmody used to write; "A Tip Of The Rabbit Ears To You Sir"! Rusty Gibson WEBR Radio/Fairfax (9/20/07) Re: "HD Radio on AM at night with typical signal fading and skip is going to be a on-off-on-off-on-off experience. Why?" We all know the official name of the system -- In-Band, On-Channel -- is a lie. The digital noise extends far beyond each station's assigned channel, on both sides. Depending on the quality of your radio and the relative signal strength, this can blot out reception as much as 30kHz away from the digital station's nominal frequency; each station then gets 60kHz of the dial to itself. I have always thought this was one of the unmentioned purposes of IBOC "HD" radio, to keep listeners from tuning in to out-of-town stations instead of their local stations. You've seen it in action yourself, Dave--the idea is to set up a wall of digital hash around your town to keep the competition down to the 3 owners of all the stations in that town. (Some may may call me overly cynical, but it makes sense to me--from the big radio corps' pov.) (9/20/07) While I was never a huge fan of Bob Carpenter, it’s still disappointing to see him get axed. Whatever MASN”s plans are, I sure hope they don’t include more time for Don Baylor. While he may have been a good manager, he is a horrible broadcaster. I’m glad he only fills in once in a while. Watching/listening to him is about as exciting as watching paint dry. I enjoy the team of Johnny Holliday and Ray Knight in the studio. While I think Knight would be a great addition to the booth, I’d hate to see the studio team get broken up (especially if Baylor is the replacement). Byron Kerr also fills in once in a while, and I think he’d be a good choice. Who knows, maybe Kasten has other plans and won’t promote from within. I’m really glad the radio team will be returning – I think Slowes and Jageler are both pros and I enjoy listening to their broadcasts. Brian in Fairfax (9/20/07) WGTS staff is on the air right now saying that they are staying on the air. (9/20/07) Dave, WGTS is NOT being sold. They announced it about 15 minutes ago on the air - the powers that be changed their minds at today's meeting. It's not up on the Web site, but they're celebrating on-air. alr (9/20/07) Is it my eyes or is Gurvuir (spelling) Fox 5 News pregnant? Joan (9/20/07) In reguards to Winchester's WWRT/WWRE going from classic rock to regular rock, this has to be one of the most dumbest format changes I have heard in a long time. Not only is crosstown WFQX The Fox doing it, there is NO WAY WWRT/WWRE can beat them . For starters not only has WFQX been doing the Rock game longer but they also have John Boy & Billy ( very popular in Winchester ) and they have Ellwood King ( aka..Ben Gates ) on the staff too. He is very much loved in that area. If WWRT/WWRE were smart they should have gone to "modern Rock" route or at least maybe a hot talk/sports format on FM. Then again on the latter,with the rumors right now going around the Eastern Panhandle that WEPM is moving sports and local talk to 95.9 soon ( if that happens I wouldn't be surprised to see Martinsburg's WRNR either go all religious or maybe MOYL, no way WRNR could compete with WEPM ), well maybe that area can't support two talkers on FM. (9/20/07) HEY DAVE, I just wanted to give you a heads up since you and your site are the BOMB!!! IT'S ACADEMIC begins it's 47th season with you guessed it MAC McGARRY back at the desk for an amazing 47th season.... Taping has begun and the 1st show kick's off this season on OCT. 6TH. @ 10:30. A.M. on NBC4. Thanks MARK McGARRY..................... (9/20/07) Sorry to see Bob Carpenter go; I'd love to see former Phillies announcer Scott Graham be his replacement. To the Red Sox and Yankee fans: If there is justice in the world, we will see an Angels-Indians ALCS, if only to shut up both your factions. -- Vincent in Triangle (9/20/07) HI Dave. I see the Red Sox bashing Yankee fans out of the closet again. News flash for all those sunshine patriots who call themselves Yankee fans... ..it ain't over until it's over. Perhaps, but the lead is down to 1 1/2 from a 14 game bulge in July. Both Hank and myself are old enough to remember the events of 1978 (and unfortunately, 2004). See you in the playoffs, signed diehard Yankees fan. (9/20/07) Wonder if the format change at 104.3 means they'll also change the air personalities as well? If so, guess we won't be hearing one of the sexiest voices that has ever been on Baltimore radio in the afternoons for a while? Will be listening tomorrow to see what changes occur! Tom in Denton, MD (9/20/07) In regard to the "AM" IBOC: I've noticed..when listening to WSM, if their signal drops a little, I'm getting that "hash" from WFAN; wonder how many people who listen to 650 are finding the same thing? Tom in Denton, MD (9/20/07) Dave's response: Part of my "duties" as webmaster of DCRTV is to listen to all area radio stations. But here in Northern Virginia, I can longer get the signals of Baltimore's 105.7 and 106.5 because of the digital "hash" from the DC area's 105.9 and 106.7. The better antenna I use to hear the weaker signals, the better I can hear the "hash." And it's only going to get worse..... So, when are Sharpton and Jackson going to call for an investigation and firing of Isiah Thomas for making essentially the same remark, and by Thomas' admission a race based remark, as Imus is accused of? Both involve a high profile man in NYC heard to be calling a female athlete, a basketball player, by a derogatory and demeaning name. Only difference is the color of their skin,,,and one says its ok for black men to call black women by such words. (9/20/07) Dave, To begin with 101.9 Lite-FM is not leaning or becoming a Hot A/C. When you still play England Dan and John Ford Coley and Air Supply, your not a Hot A/C. Sure they have some Hot A/C songs but they are songs that cross many charts. What 101.9 is, is an A/C with pretty damn good variety, they remind me of the A/C (B-98?) in Albany, NY that had that variety 10 yrs ago. Carpenter is keeping the playlist relatively fresh and frankly I think taking a little of a JAck approach...Mix 106-5 has gotten hotter but they will not become a full blown CHR because the ratings have never been there. 92 Q has a lock on the Urban CHR, urban listeners will not tune over to Mix if they went full blown CHR, they have 92 Q and WPGC, WKYS, etc...I think Lite-FM hurts Jack-FM quite honestly, Jack sucks, its just way all over the place and all it is is Lite-FM and Mix and The Bay mixed together poorly...Secondly as much as I would like to see it, I think Jack-FM flipping to a Greatest Hits format would cause problems for CBS. You know why? It would eat away at 101.9 Lite-FM. Yeah Fresh-FM in NYC is eating away at 106-7 WLTW but you know what is really eating away at WLTW, its WCBS-FM. CBS-FM is taking away the older end of their 25-54 demo...There is no way 104.3 survives as a CHR or a Hot A/C that leans urban. That format sounds like its searching way to hard for a niche. (9/20/07) Re: Brian Wilson, he is PD and afternoon talk show host at CC News/Talker in Toledo, OH I believe it is. He would be great to have back on at WBAL...Say what you want about Bruce Elliott, you may disagree with him, but he comes well prepared for every show and has dissenting guests on...Also one perspective you might want to think about from a PD point of view about Bruce Elliott...you don't give Bruce Elliott a full-time gig because he is too valuable in relief. I know it sounds crazy but there are some that are so valuable in that role you leave them as a part-timer. Elliott is extremely valuable because he can fill in all over the place, morning, midday and afternoon....104.3 as Fresh could strike a dent in 101.9 but with Mix also on the dial could it do enough and sustain a viable niche in the market. Fresh will have to be creative and work hard in getting the right mix of music from both stations and maybe play some songs neither play to be a splash. A good morning show will help the cause no doubt. Sure initially it might do well but you have to think long term, Jack was a splash at first but now its fading...I think it will be tough in the long term though to solidify itself. It couldn't hurt to do a Greatest Hits format first and see how that goes but I doubt CC will committ to that. If I were The Bay though I would jump on that Greatest Hits but their presentation is awful and damn boring, they would not pull it off well enough and they would have to get some jocks who could do that format. (9/20/07) 3WT is unlistenable (with apologies to wordsmiths for coining a new term -- if I did). Skipper (9/20/07) HI Dave. I see the Red Sox bashing Yankee fans out of the closet again. News flash for all those sunshine patriots who call themselves Yankee fans... ..it ain't over until it's over. Hank Silverberg (9/20/07) stan kasten should drop masn's SD for comcast sportsnet's HD instead of worrying about the announcers. Even a shitty team looks good in HD !! (9/20/07) Dave, A news story for your front page. The FCC has just fined WJFK and CBS $600,000 for overplaying tired and well-worn sound bites, mainly during the Don and Mike show. KEN L (9/20/07) Segraves Outs Plotkin - Puts Bounty on Digits www.wtopnews.com (9/20/07) Hello, all - We launch the new season of The Q&A Cafe this Wednesday with DAN RATHER. It will be our sixth year of interview lunches in Nathans back room and the line-up is strong. Thank you for your loyalty and patronage as we've grown from something tiny to something a little bigger, but still intimate, unique and interesting. We couldn't do it without you. The Rather lunch is sold out with a wait list. If you have a reservation please reconfirm with Jon Moss by Monday afternoon, because if you can't make it we would like to give the seat to someone on the wait list. Jon's number is 202.338.2000. Here are the interviews scheduled for October: Thurs-Oct. 4: CONNIE SCHULTZ. Get an inside look at the campaign trail through the eyes of a senator's wife who also happens to be a Pulitzer winning columnist for The Cleveland Plain Dealer. Her husband is Ohio democrat Sherrod Brown. We will have her book, "...And His Lovely Wife," for sale and signing. Wed-Oct. 10: HOWARD FINEMAN. Does this smart, amusing and clued in Newsweek columnist and TV commentator even need an introduction? No. We'll have an interesting chat about the presidential campaign and other events relevant to the world. Wed-Oct. 17: MARK WARNER. He's the former governor of Virginia and now a candidate for the Senate. He's popular, attractive and a rumored possible running mate for Hillary Clinton. Thurs-Oct. 25: ROBERT FRANK. At last count there were almost 400 billionaires in the U.S. Who are they? How did they score? What do they do with their money? Are they really different from you and me? Frank is the "wealth" columnist for The Wall Street Journal. He wrote a great book called "Richistan," which takes you inside the board rooms, living rooms, jets, yachts and playing fields of the "Big Dogs." We will have the book for sale and signing. Wed-Oct. 31: SALLY BEDELL SMITH. Happy Halloween to Bill and Hillary Clinton, whose White House years are the focus of Smith's new book, "For Love of Politics," which hits bookstores the week before this Q&A. Expect the kinds of revelations that made best sellers of Smith's earlier books on Princess Diana, the Kennedys, Bill Paley, and Pamela Harriman. We will have the book for sale and signing. Coming in November: SHEILA JOHNSON, DAVID BALDACCI, MARTHA JOYNT KUMAR. Coming in December: VALERIE PLAME WILSON, MAYOR ADRIAN FENTY. Coming in 2008: DENISE AUSTIN, SCOTT SIMON & more. We will take reservations for those lunches at a later date. YOU MUST MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS DIRECTLY WITH JON MOSS. We don't mean to be difficult, but it's the best way to keep the reservations list accurate. Jon is available in the office Mon-Fri between 10 and 5 at 338.2000. As always, the doors open at noon, the program begins at 12:30, it is webcast and the fee is $35, all inclusive of food, soft drinks, tax and tip. We'll see you at The Q&A Cafe. Carol Joynt (9/20/07) Amazingly, Jim Williams may be right on this one. Don Sutton will likely become the Nats' p-b-p guy on MASN, with Ray Knight joining him. Sutton did some p-b-p with the Braves and was fine. Bob Carpenter anticipated the play far too often and ended up backpedaling. He'll get another gig, I'm quite sure. Who should replace Knight on the pre-game shows? Please don't give us Don Baylor, who's got about as much pizzazz as a wax figure. (9/20/07) Looks like a format change has happened over at 104.9/105.5 in Winchester, VA. They have dropped Classic Rock in favor of Rock. As of this afternoon, their website says "Rock 104.9/105.5 Whatever Rocks - New website coming soon" -jamie (9/20/07) Don't know if anyone else has noticed, but it's apparently official. AM stations throughout the country have begun nighttime HD broadcasting. Yesterday evening between 8:30 and 9:30 I did a bandscan and it was like somebody had flipped a switch and suddenly there's IBOC hiss all over the left half of the dial that wasn't there Tuesday night. Specifically from WTNT, WIP, WLW, WGN, WJR, WABC, WGY, WHAS, WCBS, WTEM, WMVP, WBZ, KYW, WIBC, WTAM, WRVA, WHAM, and WPHT. And those were just the stations that happened to be coming in strong enough to hear their @#&%! digital hash. Well, that's it, muchachos. The era of interference-free AM DXing is dead. As dead as the Bosox, who after 3 years of being curse-free are sadly in the process of resuming their accustomed and rightful position as the Yankees' whipping boys. Too bad. Too bad. KOF (9/20/07) Dave's response: I don't get it. HD Radio on AM at night with typical signal fading and skip is going to be a on-off-on-off-on-off experience. Why? Regarding Todd McDermott's picture on the WUSA website, it has not been removed, the headers change according to time of day. The header you spoke about was the 5PM team, later in the day Todd will reappear as part of the 6&11PM team. Early in the morning JC and Howard Bernstein appear and really early in the morning you see Mike and Andrea. Tom in DC (9/20/07) Here we go again. Katsen will bring in another Atlanta guy to replace Bob Carpenter who was very good. Of course we don't know what happened behind the scenes but this is classic Katsen. Piss him off and he will bring in one of his former cronies just like he did when he brought Sutton in from Atlanta. (9/20/07) The poster said "Were there any "atmospheric issues" the last couple of days? I couldn't get WTOP 103.5 on my clock radio in my palatial Wheaton estate..." Doncha know? The parking meter outside their building at Idaho Ave. is actually a transmitter. It matches the FCC authorized pissweak city signal, but you still have to drop coins in it every so often. (9/20/07) Dave, check your facts. In the last full Book (Spring) 25-54, 10a-3p, WJFK (with O'Reilly) did a 1.6 and WMAL did a 1.1... 1.6 middays for 3WT (with O'Reilly) would be a GOOD thing... (9/20/07) First guest on Bill O'Reilly first outing on 3WT.....Howard Kurtz from the Washington Post (9/20/07) Dave's response: Kurtz's "outing"? I didn't know he was gay..... I liked Bob Carpenter. sorry to see he has not been renewed. Kasten and the Lerners should be more concerned about their lousy MASN non-HD TV setup featuring Radio Shack equipment. (9/20/07) I'm not so sure that the new 104.3FM will be labelled "Fresh". I noticed on radiostationworld.com that a soft AC station Fresh 102.7 WWFS-FM in New York is owned by CBS. Since Whoopi is rumored to be 104.3FM's new morning host, I wonder if Clear Channel will model the station after its rhythmic AC station 103.5KTU, The Beat of New York, which is also Whoopi's flagship station. I checked http://fcc.gov, and the call letters WBTB are not used anywhere in the US on the FM dial. So, CC could call it 104.3BTB, The Beat of Baltimore! It would be cool to hear dance music 24/7 on terrestrial radio in Baltimore for the first time since the demise of B102.7 in 2001. I'll be listening tomorrow! -Greg in Perry Hall (9/20/07) It's been interesting - in all this talk about WBAL, replacing Franklin and Douglas, Bruce Elliot, etc etc - where is Brian Wilson? He was the #1 fill-in for Ron Smith for several years and one of the most popular, recognizable air personalities on Baltimore radio. Why wouldn't he be a perfect fit to replace Rush/Douglas? Elaine (9/20/07) Regarding Don Richards... how about the old guy that does the Empire Carpet ads? He's been doing them so long that most people assume he's the owner of the company, but really he's just a spokesman. (9/20/07) Dave, The Nationals made a mistake by letting Carpenter go, he is a good guy and a class act. But I think they have their broadcast team for 2008 already in house. Look for them to move Don Sutton to play by play, Ray Knight (who is now the studio host with Johnny Holiday) to the analyst role and keep Debbi Taylor as the field reporter. www.examiner.com... Cheers, Jim (9/20/07) With his most recent recording session for the Rosenthal Automotive Group, it marks the 34th consecutive year that Don Richards has voiced commercials for that organization. Can anyone else in the country match or surpass that record? (9/20/07) Why wouldn't Bonneville take an ad from CC? There is no competition between BIC news'ers and CC music stations, except perhaps for ad dollars. Even that is unlikely to overlap. This puts money in BIC's pocket and, unlike most banner ads, provides CC with a good possibility that the ad dollars were well spent as they are advertising to people who already are likely already listening to radio and may be likely to mention the ad among their friends and family. It's a good fit when radio supports radio. What makes me cringe is when radio takes ads from TV and newspapers. (9/20/07) "That's bullshit. D&M continue to deliver..." What Robbay? Soft ratings? Self-indulgent, non-funny content? Oh, I know what they deliver, stellar "best of" shows. BTW, when are D&M scheduled back from their current vacation? knowonecaresinherndon... (9/20/07) Dear Dave, I'd like 1,750,000 DCRTV Plus subscriptions once I win that frivolous lawsuit, I really don't need the money. Love, Dan Rather. (9/20/07) Dave's response: Cool. Make your donation via PayPal via DCRTV's Support page..... Does anybody no where I can find some old audio clips from WOOK-FM and Disco 93.9 from around the 70s and early 80s? (9/20/07) I'm going to have to start sending a bigger check to Joe Kasell. Joe, it's funny that Charlie & Dave and I were joking Monday night about where the heck we were going to get free "Bob Carpenter Scorebooks" if Carp was the one on the chopping block. It puts together the sighting of Mr. Kasten in the radio booth at Turner Field last week. I'm speculating we may see a Carey-Sutton TV combo on MASN. As one Nats radio fan said this morning in an email to Jim Farley, it would be nice to have a 'Scully-esque' rotation of Slowes & Jageler into the TV booth for 3 innings. No word on any deals yet for Charlie, Dave, Jack Hicks or myself concerning long-term agreements, but I'm sure DCRTV will scoop everyone when & if we all get together for our 4th year. As a thank you to Joe I've sent along a Nats version of the new 3WT logo I did last night...we like to call this "3 CurlyW T" - Steve (9/20/07) Ok... to all this weird talk about DC 101 and maybe flipping formats - NO, NOT HAPPENING! A couple of weeks ago they had some sort of oldies Rock weekend or whatever it was and on Labor Day weekend they had "songs to grill to". Since Roche has been directing the music they like to play around a little and switch it up - which is a fantastic thing!!! Playing the same "power-currents" 24/7 can get really lame... However, the regular alt. rock is still the main thing!! And I think most of the older people that actually write a post here (and like what WWDC did music wise) are not necessarily DC 101's demographic... So , hope you enjoy it while can!! (9/20/07) Dear Dave: Looks like Bob Carpenter is out as Nats TV play-by-play guy for next year. www.washingtontimes.com. A shame because I really liked the guy. Stan Kasten must have somebody in mind. Wonder who? The rest of the radio and television crew will remain...hopefully this will include Steve Ray on the radio side. Great site Dave! Sincerely, Joe Kasell (9/20/07) Some one said CC will do Fresh in Baltimore. WLIF is already basically doing the Fresh format. Compare playlists to WWFS. New York is a bit more urban, but they are basically the same. (9/20/07) Dave's response: It sounds like CBS has been gradually moving hot AC WWMX into a contemporary hit direction and AC WLIF into a hot AC direction. If Clear Channel flips 104.3 to a hot ACer, maybe with an urban feel, it would be a torpedo directly aimed at CBS's WLIF and WWMX, and could damage Radio One's urban adult WWIN-FM, too. Clearly, Clear Channel, with only two major FMers in Baltimore, wants the underperformer, currently smooth jazz WSMJ, right up there with top-rated country WPOC. Interesting..... I know someone who reads the DCRTV Mailbag will know the answer to this -- What is the correct link for the fcc.gov website, to find out if an AM station has applied for new call letters, and to see the status of said application? (9/20/07) Dave's response: Click here..... RE: 3WT website.... Ahh, that "Jesus Didn't Exist? Learn More" ad again! What a great way to start a right-leaning talk radio station! HAha! :-) (9/20/07) Dave's response: Ah, the wonders of Google ads..... What happened to Lou Dobbs? If no return of the Fairness Doctrine, and frankly in this posters opinion radio and tv were far better then than today...how about eliminating these gawlarn infomercials...weren't it an FCC decision to allow 30 minutes blocks for commercials that opened the door wide open for this shit...and what's the dealio lately of TBS simulcasting CNN, to effing cheap to show it's own programming and I don't count that shit called "house of pain" carp bring back the Louis L'Amour westerns! (9/20/07) As of 5:00am Thursday, Real Classic Rock 104.9/105.5 in Winchester had dropped the syndicated "Bob and Tom" show, and Joe Sanchez had returned "live and local" to the morning slot playing music, from the Pleasant Valley Road broadcast complex. Al McGilvray (9/20/07) On last night's 10:00 News on Channel 5, Steve Centani was reporting on the OJ Simpson saga. He was standing in front of a building with the word "Justice" engraved on it, but Centani blocked the letters "s" and "t," so the word in back of him in big bold letters said "Juice." -- Bobbie (9/20/07) RE: LEGAL IDS. I was told that on 9/14 the rules changed about ID'ing HD signals...Evidently the same rules apply to the HD signals now (Didn't before?)that have always applied to the regular on air signals. Hence the ID's that now include the HD lingo. (9/20/07) Why is WTWP advertising WIHT and WWDC?? (9/20/07) Just checked out the 3WT website. HA--a big banner ad with Clear Channel stations at the top. So the whoring begins! (9/20/07) Sorry it took me so long to get the info. You know I like to give you the details of Don And Mike's trend. After today's 2nd trend of the book, here is how Don And Mike look in Washington, DC. 18-34 they are in 8th place and 25-54 they are in 6th place. In Baltimore, 18-34 they are in 8th place as well. And 25-54 they are in 9th. Great work Radio Gods. Don, you are a worthless sack of... -- Brett (9/20/07) The Dan Rather thing has me recalling my impression of him in the anchor chair. Although he was an excellent reporter, in the anchor chair he came across as alternately cold, peculiar, vain, irritated and inappropriate. They tried to warm him up with a wardrobe change and by painting the backdrop a different color. The most successful anchors on CBS have been avuncular. Those would be dear old Walter Cronkite and Bob Schieffer. They were comfy to come home to night after night. Neither Dan Rather nor Katie Couric can be said to be avuncular. CBS could use a Bill Paley and/or a Frank Stanton to choose whom to seat in the anchor chair. Their talent detector is out of whack and has been for a long time. Roger Mudd probably would have a been a better choice than Dan Rather. Anyway, I like Dan and wish the rock that sits where the heart would be in the unnatural person called CBS Corporation had softened so as not to treat its long time employee harshly to the extent that it makes the present lawsuit necessary. Too bad the smoking gun implicating President Bush in having had his Vietnam-era military service made cushy turned out to be fraudulent. (9/20/07) Well, if Brian Maloney's "Radio Equalizer" blog is correct, the brand new "3WT" will have another two hour weekday schedule hole to fill in December. radioequalizer.blogspot.com (9/20/07) Hey Dave, Just went to www.wusatv9.com and noticed that Todd McDermott's picture has been removed from the header. Instead it shows Derek, Tracey, Topper, and Brett. Is there anything we should know about Todd? Brian, Columbia, MD (9/20/07) On the Phil Dirt debate… Phil could vouch for me probably as I know him, KC and the whole move from KHI to the X crew. It is I Kyle Shannon. Now for some clarification. Jesse “Crash” Collins was the first night guy on Jack DaWacks 95.9 KHI after Crash was Stevie B, (Stevie demann in Florida) somewhere in there was Storm Bennnett and Jason Wright? Is that who you’re speaking of because Jason Wright is Jason Kidd the first of LJ’s KHI night jocks and then the Coast. Someones shiznit is all farked up. Didn’t phil dirt go on to be a record rep? KC went to AIR and then to Epic and Skip is the king of all media in ocean city… good jocks everywhere surrounded by one “Hitman” kyle (9/20/07) Having stopped listening to DC-101 years ago, their format change that's been mentioned does not interest me. Though I think I'd be an ideal candidate to run the "how" over there for a little while. At least I'd play real music and wouldn't insult anyone. Anyone's thoughts? Love to all, Rusty Gibson (9/20/07) (Dave's response: If Clear Channel will combo DC/Baltimore countryoutlets MZQ and POC, it would make more sense to flip Baltimore's 104.3to contemporary hits and combo it with DC's Hot 99.5. Or flip 104.3 toAC and combo it with DC's WASH.....) Why. Dave? Hot 99.5 and WASH both put great signals into Baltimore and WASH/104.3 would face stiff competition from WLIF. I think the AAA combo would make more sense. But, look for CC to mimic Fresh as a strike against WLIF. And, it'll hurt'em. Oh, it'll hurt'em, boy! Roy (9/20/07) Obviously the DC 101 thing is a stunt. Joke-metal is just that, a joke. As for "Smooth Jazz 104.3' changing formats - why? They are doing ok in B'more. I can see WHFS or WZBA changing formats because their ratings always are piss-poor and they're both really poorly executed stations, but WSMJ? It just doesn't jive. -Scott J (9/20/07) OMFG! BREAKING! Wonkette Editor Alex Pareene Gets Robbed! Has Girlfriend! But He Couldn't Protect Her! bigheaddc.com (9/20/07) (Hey, D&M are often "stuck in 1988" when it comes to their jokes and the music they play.....) That's bullshit. D&M continue to deliver. Dc101's horrible format change is like a 98ROCK rock block. DC101, 98 Rock and even the Globe suck, but at least I can hear Keep on Rockin in the Free World on 94.7..... Pat in MV (9/20/07) /\ September 20 Messages /\ Jump to the Mailbag Archive Index.....