Current Mailbag - Mailbag Archive Index - DCRTV Front Page - Support DCRTV DCRTV Mailbag - October 31 to November 6, 2007 Latest messages listed first..... \/ November 6 Messages \/ Folks I always said if Wpfw/Pacifica had been more active about it's Mission and less about were someone can go and shake there assets, DC Genaral Hospital and the Genterfication of of Washingtion DC would have been a lot slower to take place. It's a dam shame that Wpfw/Pacifica is no longer a real voice of the community and if it was the station as a whole would be more pro-active about the concern's and issues of people of color, poor and senior citizens. Whats going on now is the finale phase of the Genterfication Process. The take over of the historical DC Hack/Taxicab Industry that allowed people of color to have the first and last ecconomic base to buy and own homes and bussiness in the Nations Capitol. I hope Wpfw/Pacifica programmers take a good look at this issue and expose the DC Government under handed tactic's to remove people of color from the city. What I found out today is that the same person Causton A. Toney that lead the attack for the DC Government in the closing of DC General Hospital is the same person that was apointed by the Former Mayor and City Council as Chair of the DC Taxicab Commission with no prior knowlege or exsperance. One day folks are going to ask, what really happen in what was once called the Chocolate City. It most not be said that Wpfw/Pacifica Community Radio was a apart of letting it Die. There got to be more community access to programs on air to address local concerns and issues based on problems in Wards, Neighborhood's and Local Government. Wpfw can no longer be a part of the problem when we have a voice for the community.>>Peace and Love..Billy Ray (11/6/07) re: Steve Coogan - Partridge is a wonderful character, as is Coogan's newest, Tommy Saxondale, the retired roadie now living in the burbs. "Tommy Saxondale gave up life as a roadie when DJ's started replacing real musicians, and the new Health and Safety rules meant that he had to wear a hairnet. So Tommy settled down and became an exterminator." I think BBCAmerica is going to show the second series soon, but do yourself a favor: find a regionfree dvd player, and buy the discs from amazonuk ----bbca cuts so much out of every program to fit in commercials that we don't see any of their series as the producers intended. Perfect example: Life on Mars, which took the UK by storm, but with 12 minutes cut from every show, US audiences had a hard time figuring out what the fuss was all about! Of course David E Kelley is producing a US version, that's already been pulled off the schedule a couple of times---i don't know why they bother remaking and dumbing down these beeb series when the originals are perfection. (11/6/07) Dave's response: Speaking of BBC America, I'm really enjoying "Torchwood." Kind of a British "X Files." Looking forward to the DVD release, to see it without all the ad interruptions..... The Red Zebra triad quietly moved away from the "Triple X ESPN Radio" moniker in favor of "Redskins Radio" at least a month ago, probably longer. A new site was set up at redskinsradioespn.com for the stations. Everett W. (11/6/07) (From DCRTV's Classified Ads:) Producer- One of the country’s most-listened to nationally syndicated radio shows is seeking an Executive Producer. Candidates need a strong political and cultural focus. Must have extensive experience in politics or the media--5 years minimum. College and/or graduate school required. Entails show preparation, research, creative collaboration, guest booking, some travel. Must be highly organized and motivated. Sense of humor is a plus. Qualified candidates will submit resumes to producerapplication@hotmail.com. (11/6/07) (From DCRTV's Classified Ads:) Board OP- “Top level technical producer / board op wanted for highly popular radio show located in the east coast. Job responsibilities include (but are not limited to) content production, live on-air console operation, audio production, voice track editing, checking and operating of various radio equipment, etc. At least 5 years experience is required. Must be able to think and react quickly, have excellent communication skills, professionalism and creativity. Send resumes to productionapplication@hotmail.com. (11/6/07) RE ("John Riggins show on Redskins Radio") The show is also carried on Red Zebra's WXTG 102.1 MHz in Virginia Beach www.1021thegame.com and WLRT 1490 kHz in Hampton, which are FOX Sports affiliates, not ESPN. In that area, ESPN is on Max Media's WGH 1310 kHz. Therefore, no more mention of ESPN by Riggo. Curiously, the Redskins own website www.redskins.com does not list their own stations in the Norfolk area as carrying the games. Best, PWC Garage-man (11/6/07) Does channel 9 sportscaster Levan Reid do an imitation of actor Dennis Haysbert, he played the President on "24" and now spokesmun for Allstate? Why Don and Mike so angry today? on the all calls all the time show. (11/6/07) (I noticed the past couple of weeks that TripleX ESPN Radio (which I listen to online) has changed what they call themselves. During commercial breaks online, instead of saying "Thanks for listening to the John Riggins Show on Triple X ESPN Radio." Now they say, "...the John Riggins show on Redskins Radio.") Makes sense. Easier for somebody with an Arbitron Diary to remember it and write it down. (11/6/07) Birach has re-submitted their WGOP AM 540 Damascus proposal to the FCC (the previous construction permit was set to expire on Nov 26), so apparently, they intend to fight on to build this new DC AM radio station afterall. The proposal also includes re-submitting a reduction in power of Pittsburgh's AM 540 from 5000 watts to 3800 watts (also Birch owned). In other FCC news, Baltimore's WWIN 1400's STA (Special Temporary Authority for temporary low power) was dismissed by the FCC, meaning Radio One is going to have to complete the station's new facilities and/or get them up to spec or face fines. Since the tower was built more than a year ago, I don't understand why Radio One kept filing STA requests for this station. Obviously, they've been using the new tower for awhile right? Odd. (11/6/07) It's now confirmed, Korniehser is a total ass. He was disgusting last night. He kissed more ass than a donkey in a herd. I've followed the Ravens since their first game. Win or lose, they are my team. I sat through all the pain last night, cringed, gasped felt the pain of Billick, Lewis...all of them. That idiot Kornheiser should be ran out of town, tarred and feathered and blew up for good measure. Man, I am sooooooo pissed. Whew, there I let it all hang out. BOBB (11/6/07) Dave- When in the hell is some suit going to get smart and put Greaseman on a nice big fat f.m. signal? I keep hearing people say he sounds like a throwback to another era, but if you listened to his show on WMET, he really sounded up to date, topical and funny as all hell. Damn pity an incredible talent like that is going to waste on hiatus. MICHAEL HUGHES: give Grease mornings on WBIG. You'd be doing a favor to all of the D.C. region. (11/6/07) Dave's response: Michael Hughes works for CBS. Clear Channel owns WBIG. How about "The Doug And Mike Show" come June 2008 in JFK-FM afternoons. Doug "Greaseman" Tracht and Mike O'Meara. Doug would be "coming home" to his old WARW/Rockville studio..... I noticed the past couple of weeks that TripleX ESPN Radio (which I listen to online) has changed what they call themselves. During commercial breaks online, instead of saying "Thanks for listening to the John Riggins Show on Triple X ESPN Radio." Now they say, "...the John Riggins show on Redskins Radio." They used to have recordings of John Riggins saying "thanks for listening to the John Riggins Show on Triple X ESPN Radio" but now they play it but cut off the last part and has another voice saying "Redskins Radio." I also noticed that the website does not have any references of Triple X ESPN Radio other than the website address. Has something changed? Kyle (11/6/07) England Dan & John Ford Coley, Led Zeppelin and King Harvest, all within an hour? Everybody here is out of sight! Big 100 is what it claims to be! (11/6/07) Dave's response: I'm hearing rumblings that CBS is going to launch Hillary 94.7, WHLL, in place of The Globe. Lesbian rock and folk - Pat Benatar, Janis Joplin, Heart, Janis Ian, Carly Simon, Barbara Streisand. Ha ha ha..... I also saw the Fox5 Storm Force Team on Halloween. I'm still afraid to close my eyes at night. What's next; O'Reilly in a speedo? Now, if Fox5 can figure out a way to get Holly Morris or Alison Seymour into some lingerie, I'm there! Sexist Pig Paul (11/6/07) (Regarding today's Rant:) Coogan in the New Yorker... www.newyorker.com... Only an extract on line, but it's a GREAT profile. (11/6/07) I have to wholeheartedly agree with a previous post, the only thing worse than the Ravens performance last night (and it was terrible) was the "I Love Pittsburgh Show", er, Monday Night Football telecast. Kornheiser should be fired. He's a local guy, yet he clearly showed he knows absolutely NOTHING about a team just 40 miles away from his home! Admittedly, it was a bad game to watch, but if you don't want to actually cover the game why bother telecasting it? All of the chit chat about what a great & growing city Pittsburgh is, #13, in the country, all incorrect info, of course, was laughable. (Apparently, the dumbass ESPN statistician used About.com which states Pittsburgh is the 13th largest GEOGRAPHICALLY in the U.S.! LOL) Outside of the stadium, the town was probably EMPTY of course!! HAha!! And it's not like this started after the game turned into a blow-out. There was the least possible mention of the Ravens even from the start of the game. It made me wonder if any of the announcers even knew half of the Ravens players' names. And of course the cheap-ass throwback jerseys/Cleveland Browns comment. And you wonder why Baltimore has an inferiority complex? It's because of ignorant assholes and clowns like Tony Kornheiser! (11/6/07) The Globe would be a better station immediately if they would just play the kind of music they claim they play. I got fed up with their self-promos claiming a huge music library and a cutting edge sound, inevitably followed by a Steely Dan or Doobie Brothers record, so I no longer listen. Too much smug Schelby, too much stale Classic and Light Rock, not enough involvement in the area--the problems at WTGB are well known and, so far, unaddressed by the station. Nobody's listening, and nobody will until they make some changes. The station is boring, boring, boring. Dave in Sterling (11/6/07) "Why does everyone in Washington beat up the DC broadcasters every time they try something new?" If you remember, WAPO radio received tons of good publicity when it debuted. The problem was simple, the station was designed by a bunch of news people who wouldn't understand entertainment if it hit them in the face. People wanted to like the station,but it stunk. The same goes for 94.7,which is a cute idea,but it is the same old music with a ton of commercials.Triple X radio received very good publicity but the station turned out to be a syndicated network format with about 4 hours of "live" programming on a bunch of signals that no one can hear. We are supposed to give credit for this slop? The last station to invest and succeed with a major market morning show was DC101 and that was 8 years ago. Does that tell you something? Now, WTOP creates the HD traffic and weather channel,and the first thing we hear is "we need to get the bugs out" What does that mean? Shouldn't they have removed the bugs before the debut? What was the hurry? This, my friend, is why most of the new ideas get skewered on this site. (11/6/07) ("If those towers were really part of a Baltimore radio station's array, would one of the DCRTV readers please let me know which station it might be?") There are several antenna farms in and around Baltimore. From the description, it sounds like the WBAL farm on Winands Road. I used to live out in that direction, given the right atmospherics you could hear BAL's signal reverberating from the metal in the door and window frames. Our phone system also picked the signal up, it made it hell when we first got DSL. The other possibility is the BAL/JZ TV/radio cluster on TV Hill and Radio Knob. But the writer did not cite the JFX, so probably not. (11/6/07) What station will people living in Frederick, MD be able to hear Don Imus Show? (11/6/07) Dave's response: My guess is that Imus will return to 570, WTNT. Can't you hear that up there? I realize the transmitter's in Germantown, but it beams primarily to the south and southeast, towards DC..... I'd like to see The Globe switch over to the JACK format like 102.7 in Baltimore which I listen too far more than the wimpy, wombly stuff with inane jocks on The Globe. Things seem a bit slow in the mailbag lately, have members of local media who once participated in the mailbag been told not to do so anymore? Too many ads on the site have turned it into something akin to the 19 minute commercial breaks on the pre-satellite Stern radio show? (11/6/07) The only thing I don’t like about 94.7 to many commercials. I understand the need for them, but I’d like to hear more than three songs in a row. Other than that, I like the music. Where else am I going to hear “Making Movies” by Dire Straits then Green Day other than my iPod? Mike in Falls Church. (10/6/07) Dave's response: Or "Voices Carry" by 'Til Tuesday..... It's absolutely amazing. Many many posts here in the newsroom complain Washington radio is stale, boring, uninventive, unexciting. Then, when somebody actually tries something new (Wash Post Radio, WTOP traffic HD Channel, ichannel) everybody here piles on and flames them. Radio stations in this town can't win for trying! (11/6/07) This past Saturday night (ll/3) the National Capital/Chesapeake Bay chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences inducted 10 new members to it's Gold and Silver Circles. The event was held at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in DC and will be shown on DC Cable 16 in the next few days. Check the Chapter's website: captalemmys.tv for day and time. The Gold inductees were honored for their 50 years of significant contributions to the area TV industry. They were: Max Schindler, Sr.- a director at WRC/NBC. (11/6/07) "When Glenn Beck moves from WTNT to 3WT, is there any word on who will replace him?" - Can anyone replace Satan? Gas bags, match-stick men, snack-oil salesmen, carpetbaggers could replace him. Satan would provide more intelligence and humor....without the past drug history drops. I'm just waiting for Beck's head to burst like in the movie Scanners when he tries to rally his forces and get attention. He's got mine...he's funnier than SNL and Mad TV put together. - skimmell (11/6/07) Could last night's game have been more of a Pittsburgh Steeler's love fest or what? Korny was practically eating the corn out of the collective Steelers alumni's (insert body part here). Stuart Scott mentioned that the Steelers were wearing throwback jerseys and then said, "What would the Ravens throwback jerseys be...the Cleveland Browns?". No you cycloptic asshole, those would be the BALTIMORE Colts!!!! We had a team in this town for 40 years before it was stolen from us, so we just took one ourselves too! It's no different than St. Louis, Phoenix, Tennesee or Indianapolis but for some reason Baltimore gets the wrap for "stealing" the Browns...who last time I checked STILL F*CKING EXIST! Hey Korny, get your head out of Bradshaw's ass and look around for a little bit. Yes the Steelers have a great history and yes they should be honored, but even though the Ravens sucked up the field, there were TWO teams playing last night! ESPN = Everything Steelers Programming Network! (11/6/07) David Burd said this morning on 3WT that Stephanie Miller's show starts tomorrow at 7 (p.m., I presume). The 3WT Web site confirms that her show begins tomorrow, but doesn't yet list the time. www.3wtradio.com... Christian (11/6/07) What the hell is HFS doing on the weekends? I rarely tune in except for M-F drive time, but I had a trip to make on Sunday and flipped on 105.7, and I could have sworn that I heard ManCow spewing some idiotic right-wing crap. Then I realized that is was Glen Beck. I guess those two (and others) are interchangeable. But why do they have to put them on HFS? Those call letters should never be associated with gas-bag, ditto-headism. The old man is probably rolling over in his grave. (11/6/07) "Why didn't Baltimore's ABC station carry the game? " I assume because ESPN has to offer the game out to bid and WJZ is willing to pay a higher rights fee. But I could be wrong. Howie (11/6/07) Chris Wallace surpasses Tim Russert bigheaddc.com (11/6/07) Go Sue Palka leading her team! Did anyone else see this? WTTG FOX5 DC's Weather team is called the Fox5 Storm Force. On Halloween they came out in full force. www.myfoxdc.com (11/6/07) “How much longer is CBS Radio going to allow 94.7 to be stuck in the tractionless "green" whatever rock muck?” It was a dumbass idea from the beginning. Kind of like NBC and what they did Sunday night during football. If CBS really wants to do something green, shut down the station. Seriously! Think of all the energy spent on operating the station for what? A handful of listeners. (11/6/07) Gee, 103.5-HD3 is on the air for only one day, and the "usual suspects" are already weighing in with their usual dose of negativity about WTOP. Its been only one freaking day, people! I spent some time listening to this last night at home, and on the road this morning taking the kids to school. I don't think it is designed to be a high TSL radio station, more like something to fill-in the gaps when TOP is doing the news. I certainly don't buy the over-simplified notion that this will take audience from WTOP, since the most current traffic will always be on 103.5-HD1. It certainly sounds like a work in progress, and appears to be automated, since I am hearing instances of audio dropping as (I'm guessing here) the automation system picks up the audio from the last TOP traffic report. Weather is a bit more predictable, likely being the recorded weather forecast that TOP mixes in with live weather reports in morning drive. I recall that back in the 80s, whoever owned KHJ-AM in Los Angeles tried a similar service when they dropped the old top-40 format for "Car Radio", a non-stop traffic and weather forecasts. Inevitably, a service like that is kinda expensive and people-intensive precisely because it was (I think) live all the time, which is probably why it eventually became a repeater for KRTH. (If anyone can clarify what happened to KHJ as "Car Radio", I'd love to hear that!) So far, WAMU and WTOP appear to be the only two D.C. radio stations who "get" the concept that compelling content will sell HD /radio, not those silly promos. Not a sermon, just a thought! {Gingerly stepping off the soapbox in Burberry wellies...} - Just Call Me 'Legs' (11/6/07) WTOP RADIO PROVIDING AN ACTUAL SERVICE? Really? (11/6/07) Replays of the same traffic reports, weather reports and promotional announcements over and over again are not going to fly as a viable FM format. Hearing the same Lisa Baden quips over and over again certainly isn't going to do it. The 24/7 traffic/weather format will have to become more interactive, at least during peak rush hours, to ever become a significant player. Everett W. (11/6/07) It was a wierd night on Baltimore's WJZ last night. The CBS affiliate picked up the broadcast feed of the ESPN Monday Night Football game between the Baltimore (We're really the Browns) Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Because ESPN and ABC are one and the same, ABC promos ran on a CBS station. Why didn't Baltimore's ABC station carry the game? (11/6/07) Good to see Baltimore's ESPN 1300 AM getting significant mention on Monday Night Football last night for the comments Ray Lewis made on his show on the station. Sadly, the Ravens really suck. (11/6/07) Interesting Bonneville is putting together a 24/7 traffic channel. Considering that's at the heart of the audience for TOP, wondering - just how secure do the news people feel at the station? Once the channel is up and running, it wouldn't take much to flip from HD to the current FM signals. (11/6/07) When Glenn Beck moves from WTNT to 3WT, is there any word on who will replace him? (11/6/07) (If those towers were really part of a Baltimore radio station's array, would one of the DCRTV readers please let me know which station it might be?) -- Could they be WCBM? Of course, they're closer to Owings Mills. -- GAB in the Airless Cubicle (11/6/07) ("I just finished watching a re-run of "Homicide: Life On the Street" on WGN Chicago. It was the episode that featured a murder in the New Moon, a seedy motel on the western fringes of Baltimore City...") The motel is the Forest Motel in Ellicott City (www.forestmotel.com). I only know that because I worked at the Pizza Hut near there at the time. - JeffBDemented (11/6/07) /\ November 6 Messages /\ \/ November 5 Messages \/ DCRTV Dave appears in Baltimore Magazine see www.baltimoremag.com (11/5/07) Dave's response: Damn, imagine that..... Mark, now living in Los Angeles, asks: "Do you know if there are any existing recordings of the old Harden and Weaver morning show - maybe on CD or on the web? It sure would be fun to hear those antics again. (I still remember 'the Colonel' leading the march every morning.)" (11/5/07) Australian anchor on NBC4 was Peter Ford (1977-1990). Marge (11/5/07) Dave's response: More from Wikipedia..... Prediction: If the traffic info on WTOP-FMHD3 is continuously updated during drive, watch HD tuners for car radios fly off the shelves while the main WTOP signal starts bubbling in the ratings somewhere between WAVA and WTNT…… WTOP-FMHD3 becomes a solid #1, setting HD radio on fire nationwide with Jim Farley and Joel Oxley hailed as the geniuses they are both capable of being. However, if OTOH, it is an irregularly and occasionally updated pile of recycled verbal dogshit that the stale reports on XM are during local market drivetime, it's DOA. (Dead on Air…) -Unsigned Corporate Suit (11/5/07) So, let's see, Chris Core took a "bit of information," exaggerated it, made assumptions, ignored other possibilities, declared those assumptions as truth, and disseminated this version of the truth as if it were gospel without talking to those involved. Anyone who watched 60 Minutes last night saw this same method used by the White House to justify invading Iraq (and that went well). But, hey, according to Mark Levin, questioning the President on the motives for the Iraq invasion is not "supporting our troops." Also, according to Mark Levin, Ms. Plame was not "undercover" (she was), Scooter did not leak Ms Plame's name (he did, he wasn't the first to reveal it to Bob, Scooter was the second in that regard, but he did leak it to Judith and Matt), John Kerry's medals were akin to Frank Burns' Purple Heart, (they were legitimately earned), global warming is a myth (it is not), Iraq and al Qaeda were in bed together (they were not), Iraq did try to buy uranium from Niger (they did not), and Obama is a Muslim (he is a Christian). Way to go, Mr Berry, you built an A-One piece of crap radio station. The Mussolini's and the other fascist would be proud of your line up. (11/5/07) My friends and I were sitting around talking about past news anchors from NBC 4 and none of us could name the very handsome anchor from Australia who left some time ago. We think his name was Peter but somewhat unsure. Could you help the senior citizens with this one? (11/5/07) Dave's response: I remember him, too. Peter something-or-other..... Gary Jacobsen was on-air with Core for nearly an hour on 10/8, from what I can recall... I know this because I heard the show that day (as I do every day)... he was treated with the utmost respect by Core, the WMAL staff and the listeners who called in... he was given advice and was also told in many terms by listeners that what he was doing wrong... he was even seeking advice from one of the callers... Core was very fair and balanced... -Silvie- (11/5/07) Dave's response: By writing columns in the Potomac News and in the Washington Post, Jacobsen has made himself more-or-less "a public figure." I'd have to think that his suit will be thrown out on that fact, alone..... The following was forwarded to DCRTV by a local radio source..... You may be aware of various reports last Friday that Thomas Barnett, Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust, intends to approve the XM-Sirius merger despite a recommendation from his staff against the deal. Please note that despite the widespread publicity of this rumor, all such reports emanated from only one source, a note issued by Wall Street analyst Tom Watts of Cowen & Company. We are unable to identify any basis for Mr. Watts’ prediction. Short of Mr. Barnett directly informing only Mr. Watts of his intentions, which of course is extremely unlikely, Mr. Watts’ report appears to be groundless, or at least highly speculative. In this vein, it is instructive that no other analysts have endorsed or confirmed Mr. Watts’ prediction so far. As such, NAB intends to assume the rumors are false until further information comes to light. We will continue to investigate and monitor the situation and update you immediately with any further developments. Marsha MacBride, Executive Vice President, Legal & Regulatory Affairs, National Association of Broadcasters (11/5/07) *Chickaboomer's Marty Davis has purchased a prime ad on DCRTV and I don't mind helping to promote her fine site as much as I can.* Is this the same way that Hannity has 'friends' that happen to be his sponsors? You're a GREAT AMERICAN, now send me a check. (11/5/07) Not to add my voice to the chorus regarding “Chickaboomer”, but (aside from the fact that she’s buying ads to promote her third-rate blog) can anyone explain why we care about her on any level? Dave, you know we love you, but ads are ads and content is content . . . sincerely, TMU. (11/5/07) Dave's response: The reality is that DCRTV exists because of your kind donations and revenue from our advertisers. Chickaboomer's Marty Davis has purchased a prime ad on DCRTV and I don't mind helping to promote her fine site as much as I can. While DCRTV has been running since 1997, it wasn't until 2003 or 2004 that I started exploring the financial possibilities of the site. And thanks to Marty and our other advertisers, and your donations, this year DCRTV is on track to turn a profit for the very first time. In the past, I've helped keep it running by, in part, dipping into my savings. If someone will make a donation of $40,000 before the end of the year, I take the site completely ad-free and beg-free for all of 2008. Anyone interested? "Are you folks sure that the posting about Andy Griffith show wasn't referring to Clint Howard on the TAG show and not Alan Melvin? " I assume you mean Rance Howard, Ron's father, and not Clint, Ron's baby brother. A look at IMDB.com shows both Allan Melvin and Rance Howard played numerous roles on TAGS, but Melvin played all of the ones the original poster described. BTW, Ken Lynch is another vet actor who appeared in a lot of these shows. Howie (11/5/07) Are you folks sure that the posting about Andy Griffith show wasn't referring to Clint Howard on the TAG show and not Alan Melvin? And speaking of Clint Howard, he's now doing movie reviews on the Chuck Gooms and Kiley show on WTEM Friday afternoon's, from his bathtub no doubt. Was Evil Kenito at Dan Mason's wedding? Bring him back to WJFK, Dan old boy! (11/5/07) Dave's response: Anyone know if Don and Mike went to Dan Mason's wedding? Just curious..... I just finished watching a re-run of "Homicide: Life On the Street" on WGN Chicago. It was the episode that featured a murder in the New Moon, a seedy motel on the western fringes of Baltimore City. Toward the end of the show, in one shot you could see some radio towers in the background. There looked to be three towers, but there may have been more that were cut out of the frame because of the camera angle. I Googled around, in search of an address for the New Moon (if there actually is a motel with that name), but I didn't find anything. If those towers were really part of a Baltimore radio station's array, would one of the DCRTV readers please let me know which station it might be? (11/5/07) Nestor Aparicio's trip to China with Cal Ripken Jr. is coming to a close but you can read about his adventures in our blogs and see video footage in the WNStv section at www.wnst.net... (11/5/07) To the true 60s cartoon freak Boomer, Allan Melvin was also the voice of Magilla Gorilla, Drooper (Banana Splits) and Punkin' Puss. I can accept it now, but once upon a time, it was a little hard for me to envision Alice from "The Brady Bunch" wanting to put the blocks to Magilla Gorilla. Eww-ww... (11/5/07) RE: [ " Chickaboomer " ]....... By why does DCRTV allow the ridiculous & annoying duplicate plugs? If anyone else posted duplicate posts, you would delete them correct? (11/5/07) Dave's response: Cranky, this morning, aren't we? Funny to see John Riggins as the voice of moderation. During George Michael’s Redskins show Saturday evening, Michael Wilbon was roundly criticized by the panelists (as well, apparently by emails to the show along with letters to the editor in the Post) for his suggestion that the Redskin defense defend Coach “Joe” Gibbs honor by intentionally injuring the Patriots quarterback, as a way of paying Pats coach Belichick back for running up the score. Wilbon longed for the days of the kind of thuggery meted out by the likes of the late Kyle Alzado, while Riggo made the case for ‘evolving.’ Excellent exchange, and one of the best shows Michaels has produced in a while. (11/5/07) Not exactly hard hitting--but some petite local news types are among those standing tall after being named to this list from Petite Sophisticate. - THE WASHINGTON DC PETITE AND CHIC LIST... Ten Washington DC area women who proudly stand at 5’4” and under have made the first annual Washington DC PETITE AND CHIC LIST. Petite specialty retailer Petite Sophisticate is releasing the list in conjunction with the opening of two new stores in the Washington DC area. The list includes local women, 5’4” and under, who show that women of all heights are stylish and chic. The two Petite Sophisticate stores opening in the Washington DC metro area on November 2 are among the retailer’s first stores to open nationwide. The stores are located at the Parkridge Center in Manassas, Virginia and at Central Park in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Petite Sophisticate, the nation’s only retailer that specializes solely in petite fashions, also offers the latest styles exclusively for women 5’4”... (11/5/07) FYI, I live in Poolesville, MD in a one story home. Have a $50 yagi style UHF antenna on the roof, $40 amplifier, $70 rotator. I get the following digital stations... Washington: 4, 5, 7, 9, 14, 20, 26, 50, 56, 66, I get these at 90-100 %... Baltimore: 2, 11, 13, 45, 54, I get these at 70-90%... MPT: 22, 67 and 62 I get 60-80%... On one occasion I picked up Ch 10 WAVY, Norfolk VA. Only lasted for one day. Kevin (11/5/07) Dave, There appears to be an inconsistency in your write-up of the Chris Core lawsuit and what the linked Potomac News article says about it. You wrote that Core made his comments about Gary Jacobsen during an on air interview with him. But the Potomac News story says Jacobsen declined to come on the program, after he was invited to, to discuss his Wash. Post guest column. Core made his comments about him on the air but Jacobsen was not on the program, according to the Potomac News. You do a fine job but, in my view, you're too lenient on Core who is a hack and a prick for the most part. (11/5/07) Dave's response: Thanks for pointing that out. I have clarified the Front Page news blurb..... To the poster who mentioned the actor who portrayed three different characters on the Andy Griffith show: His name is Allan Melvin who also played Sam the butcher who had the hots for Alice on “The Brady Bunch”. He also appeared as Barney Hefner on the “All in the Family” spinoff “Archie Bunker’s Place”. Thanks -hg (11/5/07) Dave's response: Remember the old "Dragnet" show that ran on NBC for many years. Creator and star Jack Webb used a troupe of about a dozen actors to play the various guest parts. You'd see the same actor playing many different parts over the course of a season or two. The first season is out on DVD. Quote a hoot..... Somepne asked, "Did you see the two hour Andy Griffith segment on TV Land last night? The character who is tall, fair complexion, and has slicked back blond hair played three different parts in four shows. Crook, state police detective (with his hair dyed dark), and army recruiting officer." I think you are referring to Allan Melvin, one of the all time great sitcom character actors. He was also Sam the butcher on The Brady Bunch and played at least three different roles on The Dick VanDyke Show. Howie (11/5/07) RE: How did Brian Williams do on SNL last night? Read Chickaboomer's critique and see the surprise show kickoff by Barack Obama before NBC takes it off YouTube. Marty Chickaboomer///// Plonk ! (11/5/07) Dave – I have COMCAST Arlington … and tried plugging the cable directly into my digital tuner TV (without going through the cable box) and got a bunch of stations … see if that works for you …. (11/5/07) Dave's response: Hmmm. Can you get additional channels not officially offered by Comcast via the box? Just a note to the WJLA programmers to please refrain from the images of child torture. During the frivolity and silliness of Desperate Housewives, I do NOT want to be inundated with the images of children being held down, screaming in outright fear. Please, WJLA, I know it's sweeps and all, but these promos are REALLY crossing a line! (11/5/07) Dave, Love the site & will throw you a few shekels when I get a chance. Not a criticism or a flame, but why do you allow mailbag postings that are just plugs for blogs/websites etc? The chickaboomer & bighead come to mind. (11/5/07) Dave's response: I will let paid advertisers run an occasional promo in the Mailbag. And Big Head DC often has some cool local media stuff..... The trick to HD OTA reception is getting a really good antenna. I'm in Fairfax and my professionally installed HD antenna gets HD for 4, 5, 7, 9, 20, 26, 50, and 66. I depend on it for my primary viewing of most of my TV content, including beloved Redskins games. I can get 2, 11, 13, and 22 if I wish, but I don't bother. So it is entirely viable. (11/5/07) Dave's response: I still say that in a "real world" situation, where most folks don't have "professionally installed" antennae, and many people now live in multi-unit dwellings (apartments, condos, hi-rises), reception of digital over-the-air TV can be very problematic.... Happy birthday to Hillary Howard, Walter Cronkite, Laura Bush and me! I'd also like to thank the Redskins for making it an even happier birthday. On today's broadcast of the game, they said it was the birthday of Ron Springs (former Dallas Cowboys star) who is in a coma, and who is the father of Redskins player Sean Springs. I wish a happy birthday to him and a prayer for his recovery. -- Bobbie (11/5/07) Hey Dave...hope this finds you well. I wrote this column/profile on a hockey site called The Fourth Period about Jim "Boomer" Gordon, a producer/on-air talent for XM's "Home Ice" Channel (204). I think the guy's a rising star, and he's brutally honest about hockey and the sports media. www.thefourthperiod.com... Check it out when you have a chance. I know you tend to link up XM stories because it's DC-based, so feel free if you think it fits. Keep up the great work. Greg Wyshynsk (11/5/07) Does Kevin Sheehan , formerly of WTEM, and now of Riggins radio show on Red Zebra, have a speech impediment? So few callers to the now all calls Don and Mike show that they constantly dropped in the taped bit of "1st time caller" on Friday's show. Yeah Buzz, Don and Mike work so hard to bring top flight entertainment. How many times have they done the bit were they leave Buzz alone in the studio? Now that's funny. (11/5/07) “I realize that you probably don't get "real HD" from a $300 19-inch LCD digital set, but it can access all of the HD signals and reproduce them in a pretty decent fashion.” You are confusing digital with HD. They are not the same thing. You are receiving digital signals, but I really doubt your TV is displaying an HD picture. You must have a digital signal to see HD, but just because it is digital, doesn’t mean your set is displaying HD. In your case, it almost certainly isn’t. Do you know what the resolution on your TV is? (11/05/07) Dave's response: For a "720" set, it shows 1080 pics pretty good. Pretty pretty good..... /\ November 5 Messages /\ \/ November 4 Messages \/ Did you see the two hour Andy Griffith segment on TV Land last night? The character who is tall, fair complexion, and has slicked back blond hair played three different parts in four shows. Crook, state police detective (with his hair dyed dark), and army recruiting officer. (11/4/07) As part of George Michael's Monday interviews with the Redskins coaches, he asks people to send in questions. Well, yesterday on his Redskins Report show, he said that people that are displeased with the offensive caoches call, are sending in e-mails asking George to ask the coaches why Al Saunders is still being allowed to call plays. George says he CAN'T ask those questions, he just CAN'T..I was surprised that Michael Wilbon or John Riggins didn't follow-up and ask him why..Because I sure would've asked why heCAN'T. But then again, by his saying he couldn't ask the hard questions, it's obvious that he's in Snyder's pocket and doesn't want to ruin his chances of being Snyder's "boy" or possibly have his usual Monday night interviews with the coaches pulled. Oh, the politics of the D.C. media. (11/4/07) Dear all - We have two interesting weeks of Q&A Cafe on deck. This coming week, on Thursday, Nov 8, the guest is an entrepreneurial power to be reckoned with, Sheila Johnson. Based in nearby Middleburg, Va., Johnson is the majority owner of the Washington Mystics, and part owner of the Wizards and Capitals. She is also president and CEO of Salamander Hospitality, and COB of Parsons The New School for Design. She's one of the richest women in America, sometimes, controversial, has a long relationship with Washington and is undeniably a person worth getting to know. The following week, on Wednesday, Nov 14, we welcome another local force, this one a man who has used his pen to find international success and acclaim: novelist David Baldacci. He started writing short stories while getting his law degree at U.Va. His first book, Absolute Power, was a huge hit and became a Clint Eastwood film. He went on to write a dozen more bestsellers and continues to live here in the local area. More than 40 million copies of his books are in print worldwide. For reservations, please phone Jon Moss between 10-5 Monday through Friday at 202.338.2000. The fee is $35, paid at the door, and is inclusive of all food, soft beverages, tax and tip. Two terrific interviews you won't want to miss. We hope to see you at both. Best regards, Carol (11/4/07) Say guys - great updates on what happens to some of the Maryland TV personalities. Did anyone ever hear whatever happened to Channel 2's weekend weather person from a little over 18 months ago, Jennifer Gilbert? I know Channel2's got quite the "revolvong door" going, but i was wondering if you'd heard anything. Thank you, patrick tracey (11/4/07) How did Brian Williams do on SNL last night? Read Chickaboomer's critique and see the surprise show kickoff by Barack Obama before NBC takes it off YouTube. Marty Chickaboomer (11/4/07) Quality people don't get better quality radio because the people (of the right age and income), who listen to radio, demand lousy quality radio delivered by conglomerates that squeeze every dollar of profit out of the broadcasting bidness. Congress did a great disservice to the American people by permitting the WAL*MARTization of broadcasting. Those would be mainly ultra-pro-business Republican senators and representatives. The American people should have a lobbyist arm capable of stroking the politicians better than the National Association of Broadcasters. Well, I guess I'll turn on Bill O'Reilly or Rush Limbaugh or Fox News so I'll know whom to vote for. (11/4/07) A sad time for rock radio in DC was yesterday around 2:30 PM. Both 94.7 and 100.3 played the song, Big Yellow Taxi, at the same time. One played the Joni Mitchell original, and the other played a cover by a male artist. Where do we go from here? (11/4/07) Dave's response: At any given moment, it's not uncommon for Mix 107.3 to be playing something cooler and more rockish than The Globe. That's sad..... Vince Bagli is alive and well and enjoying life on the golf course a couple of times a week. I had lunch with Vince a couple of months ago courtesy of my friend Phil Wood. I've never known anyone that sharp at 80 years young. Without a doubt, one of the nicest people I've ever known....Johnny Dark (WorldSpace Satellite Radio) (11/4/07) In reference to your 11/1 report about The Washington Post revenue falling, judging from looking at its website this morning (11/4) at 7am, none of its sections where even posted (Style, Sunday Source, Metro, etc.), no wonder people do not want to buy the actual paper if the website can not even keep up. Only reason I buy the Sunday paper if I want coupons, that is probably the only reason the paper keeps in business. (11/4/07) Your latest RANT caught my eye. If I take what you have written literally, you have bought a television that "does" digital OTA tuning; but as for hi-def, if this is the same set you refer to, you don't have hi-def. Even if your set can produce a 16:9 aspect ratio picture, I doubt seriously that it can deliver 720 lines much less 1080 of horizontal resolution. At the best, you are watching 480p (progressive scan) on this set. That's not HD. Digital, yes. I have recently connected amplified rabbit ears to my HDTV and to my surprise it can pull in 2, sometimes 3 Kansas City stations with evening programs in hi-def; wonderful pictures. On adjacent channels they broadcast the "old analog" which really looks bad. But I guess the days are numbered for analog television! Digital can be annoying; during a severe storm, instead of "glitches" we used to see as static or lines in the picture, the picture can blank out momentarily or go into "pixellization" (sp) due to "bitstream deficiencies" (the cable system is overwhelmed by garbage bits from the storm and pictures freeze, slow down in frame rate, tear in MPEG fashion, all sorts of neat tricks. But when it's good, it's great. (11/4/07) Dave's response: I realize that you probably don't get "real HD" from a $300 19-inch LCD digital set, but it can access all of the HD signals and reproduce them in a pretty decent fashion. Now, if I could find a set that gets higher-quality programming to go with that high-quality resolution..... Dave- Your post of Ray Frager remembers Vince Bagli was a bit troubling. It was as if the Dean of Baltimore Sportscasting had died. Has he? Kevin (11/4/07) Dave's response: To my knowledge, he has not..... WMAL 4:02 AM...somebody wake the idiot board operator up! They are playing the closed circuit feed of promos for Norry's Coast-to-Coast, instead of the news and traffic feed. Hey Citadel!!! Waaaaaay to go with those cutbacks! he he he (11/4/07) Dave's response: Sounds like something WTNT would do..... /\ November 4 Messages /\ \/ November 3 Messages \/ Wizards taking a page from the redskins playbook. Have employee of team host post game show where is nothing critical said of the team. Way to go Wizards. (11/3/07) An unsigned poster wrote, "Afternooner Mike Vincent is leaving Fredericksburg's country WFLS (93.3 FM) to head to San Francisco, where his fiance resides." Did you mean to "out" Mr. Vincent by telling us he is betrothed to a man in San Francisco? (Not that there's anything wrong with that!) Or did you mean that his engagement is to a woman, therefore a "fiancee" with two "e"s? (Sorry about the lack of accents over the "e"s to make them sound like "a"s. Don't know how to do that in this mail program.) (11/3/07) RE: "Has WAMU changed their broadcasting pattern? I wake up the fine Saturday morning and can't for the life on me tune in 88.1 . I tried all the in house radios ( with no luck ) and then the vehicle radios(almost as bad) I am around Northeast Baltimore btw..." The real surprise is that you didn't hear WYPR. Speaking of WAMU, they broadcast the last segment of This American Life first today. Listeners got to hear the show end at 12:18 and then start again out-of-sequence. Just before 1PM they heard Ira Glass forward promote the last segment of the show, which had already aired. No acknowledgement of the error on-air. Is WAMU automated then? Was the board op not paying attention or just didn't know what to do? (11/3/07) "I see Brian Williams, former WTTG channel 5 anchor, is host of Saturday Night Live tonight" - I just hope they do a skit with Williams playing Chris Hansen of MSNBC's "To Catch A Predator" - I can totally see him playing the role of Hansen to a "T". (11/3/07) (RE: Has WAMU changed their broadcasting pattern? I wake up the fine Saturday morning and can't for the life on me tune in 88.1 . I tried all the in house radios ( with no luck ) and then the vehicle radios(almost as bad) I am around Northeast Baltimore btw. Not that WAMU has much to draw with now after kicking Bluegrass to the curb!) Might try 88.5, since that's the frequency they broadcast on... (11/3/07) These battles of the local media hotties, how bout doing one from some of the other local markets around here? For example out here in the valley, a contest between the babes and duds from Hagerstown's NBC25 vs. Winchester's ABC3? I have a good friend who lives in Hagerstown and watches TV3 Winchester ONLY because the babes there are better looking than those at NBC25. Meanwhile in Winchester, one could have the battle of the goatees ( Q102's Chris Mitchell vs. WINC-FM's Barry Lee ), The BIG boys of Martinsburg ( WEPM's Jay Patrick Young vs. WRNR's Tom Tucker ). In Hagerstown it can be WIKZ's Rick & Lisa VS. WLTF's Stacy & Casey Brooks. Don't forget Maryland's Eastern Shore and Fredericksburg too. There are a number of local "hotties" out there who aren't on the air in DC or Baltimore. (11/3/07) (Dave's response: If a toll booth attendant on the Dulles Toll Road has, say, Mix 107.3 on his radio, will his "signal" be picked up by anyone with a PPM device passing through the toll plaza? Seems like that toll plaza guy might have a lot of influence in the radio biz.) Not a good example. PPM rules reqire 5 minutes of listening. A better example might be playing Triple X at Redskins games or 3WT at Nats games. (11/3/07) From Chris Kaltenbach at the Sun: Baltimore's TV ratings battle remains pitched between WBAL/Channel 11 and WJZ/Channel 13, with the latter claiming more viewers overall during October, the former claiming more viewers for its newscasts. And they're both right, continuing a yin-and-yang tug-of-war that has had the two stations struggling for dominance for years, if not decades. For total viewers over a 24-hour period, WJZ averaged a 5.1 rating, 13 share for each quarter-hour period, compared to 4.0/10 for WBAL, 2.5/7 for WBFF, Channel 45, and 2.1/5 for WMAR, Channel 2. Measured from 6 a.m-2 a.m., when the majority of programming airs, the ratios stayed essentially the same: WJZ remains on top, with a 5.6/13.9, compared to WBAL (4.7/11.7), WMAR (2.6/6.4) and WBFF (2.5, 6.2). Each ratings point translates to roughly 11,000 viewing households. The share is the percentage of the viewing audience. For local newscasts, WJZ remains dominant in the morning, while WBAL remains dominant in the evening, when more people are watching. For its 5 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. newscasts, WJZ garnered ratings of 3.6 and 4.3, while WBAL earned a 2.6 for its 5 a.m.-6 a.m. newscast. At 6 a.m., WJZ eked out a narrow win, with a rating of 4.9, compared to WBAL's 4.8. WJZ won big at noon, 6.0 to 4.6. The trend reverses come 5 p.m., when WBAL comes out on top, with a 7.4 rating, compared to 5.0 for WJZ. The gap narrows somewhat at 6, with WBAL getting an 8.1 rating, compared to 6.3 for WJZ. WBAL wins narrowly again at 11, 9.6 to 9.4. For its late news, which airs at 10 p.m., WBFF earned a 4.3 rating. WMAR trailed the pack, with its 11 p.m. newscast getting a 3.4 rating. (11/3/07) I see Brian Williams, former WTTG channel 5 anchor, is host of Saturday Night Live tonight, WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! Worse than Blitzer having a8sface Trump on that Situation Room show and asking him seriously his opinion on political issues. Is "The Godfather" movie turning into the Stairway to Heaven of cable tv? (11/3/07) Has WAMU changed their broadcasting pattern? I wake up the fine Saturday morning and can't for the life on me tune in 88.1 . I tried all the in house radios ( with no luck ) and then the vehicle radios(almost as bad) I am around Northeast Baltimore btw. Not that WAMU has much to draw with now after kicking Bluegrass to the curb! (11/3/07) Please vote in the prestigious (as these things go, anyway) 2007 Weblog awards … for the Extreme Mortman blog for Best Political Coverage. You can vote once every day starting now. And the good news for you: it only takes two seconds. Here’s the link again, 2007.weblogawards.org... Thanks much, Howard (11/3/07) Dave's response: The only "award" DCRTV seeks is unconditional love from its visitors..... Having grown up in VA, with a steady stream of DC TV news for the entirety of the '70's, I guess I always figured that Balmer TV news was a cut below that since it was a smaller city. But with the discussion of Vince Bagli (whom I've never seen), I went to You Tube to waste time at work yesterday - and while I didn't find any tape of him, I found a bunch of old WBAL stuff - some from the late 60's - and through the '70's. For the time, seemed impressive. When you compare even CH9's old promos from the same time, the production etc., seems about the same if not better. Course I still love Brenner/Peterson/etc. but that late 60's BAL intro was very 'serious' - sort of like the old WKRP news intro....London, Bangkok...Cincinnati (11/3/07) It's virtually impossible to hate WBAL 11's Vince Bagli, he's such a likable guy, and one of the great Colts broadcasters as well. I got to listen to him on WCBM for only the last 2 Colts seasons in Baltimore and he made The Colts of then as bearable as possible. I think Bagli even did a piece for WBAL 11 just this past year (The Preakness maybe, I forget?). But I always wished he'd retired just like 1 or 2 years earlier from WBAL TV so that Chris Thomas wouldn't have ran off to Tampa Florida and would have replaced him with maybe Bagli doing guest spots here an there whenever he wanted to in semiretirement. That would have been ideal. As it turned out, not long after Thomas went to Florida, Bagli retired and there was just no possibility of dragging Chris Thomas back up to Baltimore and away from the Florida Indian casinos by then! Sure, Gerry Sandusky is just fine, but those 2 were classic. Anyone remember the WBAL Action News 11 commercial where the 2 of them are walking around the newsroom and one trips and spills his coffee directly into the other one's cup? It's just one of those commercials, like Bob Turk's Sunshine on a Cloudy Day commercial, that you just never forget. Speaking of classic sportscasters and The Baltimore Colts, did anyone catch WMAR 2's Scott Garceau's interview last week with former WMAR 2 sportscaster Jack Dawson? I only caught part of it by accident as I normally don't watch WMAR 2 (who does?). But what a GREAT interview! Even Keith Mills was there back on WMAR 2 again! I couldn't believe it. It was like a WMAR 2 reunion on Sports Extra. And Jack Dawson seemed as lively as ever, maybe even MORE lively! He claims to have the only known recorded interview with former Baltimore Colts owner Bob Irsay when he was SOBER! First thing in the morning of course. :-) (11/3/07) Anybody remember when Vince Bagli actually called the "play-by-play" of the Colts games? I don't mean in the 70s (that's when most people think of hearing Vince)..at this time, he was pretty much an annalist (Chuck Thompson was doing all the "play by play" then..but in the early 60s, Vince actually called the games; as I remember it, he was fairly animated; didn't even seem like the same guy who did sports for channel 11! According to Tom Davis, he and Chuck shared the "play by play" duties for the Colts on radio between 1959 and 1961. I hadn't been sure of the year..but I had remembered listening to them do the games..was my earliest memories of hearing Colts football on radio! Tom in Denton, MD (11/3/07) Hey, Halloween's been over for 48 hours? Why is 97.1 waiting so long on the Christmas music?? (11/3/07) NYC Radio List - An AM'er to add. WMTR 1250 Morristown, NJ On the air for about 60 years; 5/7k 24hr A Greater Media station www.wmtram.com (11/3/07) /\ November 3 Messages /\ \/ November 2 Messages \/ (snip)Shannon Bream should always carry several bottles of holy water with her atall times at Fox. Steve Doocy is the Anti Christ, ya know! Is she aware ofthe daily chanting at the altar of O'Reilly? Will she be in charge ofcombing Geraldo's mustache? Paul(snip) Paul, Paul, Paul...you miss the entire point! Shannon Bream got a BIG Bottom! NOTHING else matters! It's...wonderful...and N-O-T-H-I-N-G else matters, man. She make J-Lo look like little boy, says I. Is that Paul blind to the behind? H. Belafonte (11/2/07) Tonight's CSN+ feed of Flyers/Capitals is on Ch. 450 on Dish Network. Dunno if that channel will be a permanent home on Dish for CSN+ but I'm not complaining - - - - - Larry in Luray (11/2/07) dave, i am sure you have had a million corrections but it is not PPV....but PPM! (11/2/07) *Afternoon Change At FLS* - 11/2 - Afternooner Mike Vincent is leaving Fredericksburg's country WFLS (93.3 FM) to head to San Francisco, where his fiance resides. He'll be doing weekends on SF country outlet KBWF, The Wolf. Vincent joins former Fredericksburg weekender/midday host, Niki Landry of WBQB who also spent time in Rochester, NY at WBEE before becoming PD of the Wolf. Todd Grimsted, who did almost two decades at Baltimore's country WPOC (93.1 FM), takes over afternoons at FLS starting Nov. 12th... (11/2/07) Does anyone know if Mike Bagley (Bagli ?) of the Motor Racing Network (MRN) is realted to Vince Bagli (Bagley ?)? Tom in loco MoCo (11/2/07) If CSN+ moves to Channel 74 in FFX Co...any idea where MASN2 will end up? Any any word yet on the fate of Bob Carpenter? (11/2/07) Dave's response: Well, area Comcast systems have CSN+ on the same channel (shared with C-SPAN2) where MASN2 was. Since the baseball season's over, there's no need for MASN2. Don't know what will happen next spring. Cox in Fairfax is using channel 74 as its general "sports overflow" channel..... Several times today I have heard newscasters on tv say to turn back the clock Saturday night because Daylight Saving Time starts on Sunday. Don't they know that Daylight Saving Time ENDS on Sunday? This afternoon, Norah O'Donnell on MSNBC twice gave out that incorrect information. If news shows can't get something like this correct, how can they be trusted with more important information? -- Bobbie (11/2/07) Anybody who listened to Cleveland radio, in the 70’s & 80’s, has gota gota gota read John Gorman’s book “The Buzzard: Inside the Glory Days of WMMS and Cleveland Rock Radio--A Memoir.” grayco.com... A great read from one of America’s legendary Program Directors. (11/2/07) re: "Red Zebra can’t get ratings with the current Arbitron Diary Set up. Now, they sign with the new PPM system which will measure real listening." Actually, PPM measures exposure to a radio station, which is not always real listening. This is already showing up as an issue. It turns out that lots of people, especially outside a station's target demo, can be exposed to the station, driving the AQH up. Example, the 50 year old knitter who isn't paying a bit of attention to the Redskins broadcast her husband is listening to. She just likes sitting in the same room with the old man. That is going to be an issue with ad agencies who won't want to pay extra for reaching someone outside of the target audience. (11/2/07) Dave's response: If a toll booth attendant on the Dulles Toll Road has, say, Mix 107.3 on his radio, will his "signal" be picked up by anyone with a PPM device passing through the toll plaza? Seems like that toll plaza guy might have a lot of influence in the radio biz. What about in-store play of a radio station? Will that show up via the PPM of a shopper, even though he or she is not actively listening to the station? There are going to be ways of "juicing up" the PPM ratings of particular stations. You just know it..... Shannon Bream should always carry several bottles of holy water with her at all times at Fox. Steve Doocy is the Anti Christ, ya know! Is she aware of the daily chanting at the altar of O'Reilly? Will she be in charge of combing Geraldo's mustache? Paul Your commenter on the Fox 5 Edge left out a major part of the broadcast. It should be "Someplace, AnotherPlace, and YetAnotherPlace, all the details on the Edge . . ." And SomeOtherTown, SomewhereElse, and Mysteryville, at 11:00 on the Edge we'll have all you need to know." Etc. Diane in PG (11/2/07) Who's editing the mailbag today? Dan Quayle? First, it was Vince Bagli's name, spelled B-a-g-l-e-y, even over a split that had it spelled correctly, then it was something about a guy's finance in SF! Da-a-a-a-a-ve??? Good to see Todd Grimsted coming back to the area. Julie Wright and Chris Roth WERE married. Tom Sater and Holly Morris were spotted at the Affle House with Elvis. And, as for Shannon Bream...well...she got a BIG Bottom! Mmmmm... The National Savage (11/2/07) Dave's response: Bagli, Bagley. I must have watched too much "The Lucy Show" as a youth. You know, Vivian Vance as "Viv Bagley." Oh, God, I hope I'm not becoming a "trivia twit" like Robb Spewak. Help me..... Rush really went after Hillary today. Man, some woman must have really wronged the rotund one. How many failed marriages has Rush had? They've left a deep psychic wound! Bill (11/2/07) Brian Williams Proves to be Debate Asset - bigheaddc.com (11/2/07) Nice picture of Channel 11 from 1982 - Vince Bagli, Mike Hambrick, Stan Stovall (his first tour w/ WBAL), Rudy Miller & Norm Lewis. Good old Action News 11. My parents always watched Jerry & Al on WJZ 13, but my Dad always turned it to Channel 11 for the sports. He said no one did the sports like Vince Bagli. Fall afternoons in the 70's listening to the Colts on I think it was WCBM with Chuck Thompson & Vince Bagli calling the game. We always listened to the radio broadcast & turned down the TV sound. Hats off to the Dean of Baltimore sportscasters. I miss Vince Bagli too - Jeff in New Freedom, PA (11/2/07) It's been awhile but I sampled Ch. 5's 10 o'clock news last night (Thursday). Here is the transcript as I can remember (with no notes): "Welcome to the 10 o'clock news. We have breaking news but first there's a big story in the District. All the details on the Edge at 11:00. Breaking news is affecting us all tonight. Don't go away. At 11:00 on the Edge we'll have all you need to know. Sue has the weather for you and an update on what was a tropical storm and now a hurricane but going away from the U.S. mainland. That's the story and Sue will have more than the complete forecast after 11:00 on the Edge. Lots going on tonight...more on Edge at 11:00. ... ... ... !!! Sick stuff; I'm done with Ch. 5, WTTG (We Totally Tell Gobblygook). (11/2/07) Ron Smith should team up with Dog the Bounty Hunter given their similar views of the world. They could call the show The Voice of Reasoned Racism. (11/2/07) Live concerts from Arcade Fire and The New Pornographers. Studio Sessions with Sweet Honey in The Rock and Devendra Banhart. Music lists sampling five must-hear tracks. An inside video look at the making of a song. Blogs from music hosts, producers and industry insiders. Songs from unsigned artists on the brink. Dozens of free music podcasts. The latest music news, interviews and reviews. A new, free, comprehensive multimedia Web site to discover the best music, in multiple genres, from NPR and 12 NPR Member public radio stations. Eclectic. Contemporary. Jazz. Classic. Rock. Urban. World. Music to explore, experience and enjoy. NPR Music...coming Monday, November 5... (11/2/07) For the record, Shannon (Bream) co-anchored the *weekend* morning news at WRC. She only filled in occasionally during the week. (11/2/07) Vince Bagli was the WBAL-TV News version of "The Coach" on Cheers, and I mean that in the fondest way possible. I miss him on the sports as well. Howie (11/2/07) Re: last weeks chat about WBAL Brass nuetering Ron Smith: He had done it himself when he allowed his relationship with Gov. Ehrlich to be so cloase, and of course the hiring of Smith's wife to a made up government position, that he wouldn't talk about State overspending for four years. When a caller would bring it up he would say, "Yeah, that's what governments do, what are you going to do" or something flippant. Now that Gov. E is out and MOM is in, Ron has rediscovered his inner fiscal conservative and bashing MOM any chance he can. The transparency of the whole thing is truly pathetic. Brian in MD (11/2/07) (clip) Like that fourteen times a day Bird Flu Pandemic update (end clip). Well, it was necessary to do so. Everyone knows that Bird Flu is untweetable. *cough...* (11/2/07) "I thought WTOP was off the air? There's some crap programming with different call letters on 1500 when I tuned in this afternoon to see what the hell you're talking about..." Earth to poster! Earth to poster! WTOP has been on 103.5 (103.9 in Frederick) since 2005. (11/2/07) Idiots Grandy and Andy were making fun today of transgenered people on Hate 630. This relatively small group of people suffers from a real problem. Bravo guys! (11/2/07) Imus is getting a second chance in radio, after making racially insensitive remarks a few months ago. He was attempting humor when he made those remarks. The late Jimmy the Greek, and the late Al Campanus, were persona non grata in the media, after they made racially insensitive remarks, several years ago. They were not trying to be funny or insulting. However, they made flubs that are generally considered to have crossed the line regarding race in modern America. It cost them their jobs. Should they have been given a second chance? JOHN IN STAFFORD (11/2/07) Let me see if I have this correct. Red Zebra can’t get ratings with the current Arbitron Diary Set up. Now, they sign with the new PPM system which will measure real listening. The Diary is all about what station you thought you were listening to and what station you remember listening to. The PPM is real actual listening. This just in, you can’t hear the damn stations, so how are the ratings going to improve? They are bleeding money over there and they spend a couple hundred grand a year to prove that the ratings are worse then the current last place numbers. Short and stupid is no way to go through life Danny! (11/2/07) I thought WTOP was off the air? There's some crap programming with different call letters on 1500 when I tuned in this afternoon to see what the hell you're talking about... (11/2/07) Congratulations to Don Imus on finally getting back on the radio! He made a mistake and he has paid the price...Citadel is smart to put him on WABC, I do think he will be on WMAL. Why wouldn't he be? They will want him on in DC, and that is the station they own. It will be interesting to see how much his show will change. Anyway I am looking forward to December 3rd. (11/2/07) The 2007 Radio Hall of Fame broadcast is Saturday night, 11/3, 10-11PM ET, heard locally over WMAL 630-AM. This year's inductees include comedian Jimmy Durante, legendary rock jock Dan Ingram of WABC and WCBS-FM, New York, and NPR's Piano Jazz host Marian McPartland. The broadcast will be hosted by Sean Hannity and the announcer is Jim Bohannon. The presenters include XM Radio's Bob Edwards. For more information: www.museum.tv. (11/2/07) "Either way, you heard it first on DCRTV” That’s like WTOP saying, “Either Hillary will win or Obama will win. Either way, you heard it here first!” Will DCRTV be taking credit for the sun coming up (or not) tomorrow morning, too? -Brian (11/2/07) Dave's response: Absolutely..... Some ass wrote ...inhuman troglodytes against illegal immigrants. Well here is what you can do if you are some in favor of criminals living here. We'll send them to your house. You can employ them, nurse them, judge them when they steal from you, bury them when they die, on your dime. (11/2/07) Dave's response: Mr. Parks, I presume? /\ November 2 Messages /\ \/ November 1 Messages \/ Re:"As for multi-path on digital (which does not cause ghosting, but drop-outs)". I never said there were either ghosts or snow on digital TV. Multipath = signals received along multiple paths = ghosts on analog TV = very likely no decoded signal on digital TV. My question was, if they could add a signal onto NTSC (analog) TV that could be used to correct multipath reception (ghosts), why isn't there something similar for digital TV? (11/1/07) John, you cannot "accidentally" run into a poll while trying to listen to WMAL at work because the poll is in the Chris Core page, and you have to click a few times in order to get there. The poll question was the topic of dicussion during his first hour. As you can see by the results, not all listeners to the Core show are inhuman troglodytes against illegal immigrants. This is how they voted: 56% - They should be stabilized first and then shipped back to Mexico. 28% - They should be treated and the hospital should then bill the Mexican government. 10% - Follow the law: Give them full and free treatment. 7% - They should be seized and shipped out of the country regardless of their condition. So, a total of 94% of the people who participated in the poll want these illegals to get treatment here. The good and the bad of the topic of illegal immigration is of interest to the listeners of news talk radio. (11/1/07) **** WTOP continually crafts it's product for changing needs and tastes of it's local audience.**** YEAH! Like that fourteen times a day Bird Flu Pandemic update! (11/1/07) Dave, I can relate to: "How many times have you been to a public viewing room...If that was a digital signal, it would be black screen - and they wouldn't be watching....." A few years ago my wife bought a TV for our bedroom, maybe an 18-inch screen, with a grand modern convenience: When the set decides the signal isn't clear enough, it goes to a solid blue screen. If the signal is on the verge, between a good picture and the minor amount of snow that appears to set the bastard off, it flicks back and forth between the blue screen and the broadcast image. Over and over and over. I'm too cheap to pay for another satellite hookup and we both hate the blue screen monster--so we have a real smart looking 18-inch plastic box sitting on that bookcase. Ain't technology grand? Dave in Sterling (11/1/07) Now that WABC in New York is bringing back Imus, what do we have to do here in DC to get him syndicated locally? Or is this already in the works? R. Walsh (11/1/07) Dave's response: Imus depends so heavily on having Washington media and politicos on his show, he'd have to be on the air here. As I said before, probably back to WTNT. Or maybe WMET, now that the Greaseman's gone..... okay. now that the Imus return is official, who will carry him in DC? inquiring minds NEED to know. (11/1/07) Dave's response: Probably back on Clear Channel talker WTNT, where he was heard before he got canned from CBS Radio last spring. It looks like Citadel's WMAL is committed to Grandy and Andy. Ditto with Bonneville's 3WT to Burd and Kornheiser..... RE: [ " While I'm not an engineer, my experience says that's not true. " ]...... Well, I'm not an engineer either, but I know that with Digital, there is no such thing as "ghosts", it's an all or nothing thing, you either get a good enough signal such that it can be fully decoded and error corrected or you don't. There is no snow either because it's digitally corrected by redundancy. If you're getting either ghosts or snow on digital channels, than it's most likely your cable or satellite providers fault. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but the reason digital signals can travel farther on less power is this redundancy combinded with error correction, meaning errors in the signal as it gets weaker farther and farther away can be corrected by duplicate data as long as enough of the data can be read to produce pretty much a solid picture. But, yes for ANALOG UHF, 5MW @1000HAAT is really what's necessary to have parity with an ANALOG VHF. As usual, apples to oranges comparisons don't work and DTV doesn't need 5MW, but one DTV problem that still hasn't been solved though is that many people in outlying areas who receive a signal with a little snow in it and still watch most likely won't be able to receive a 30% DTV signal that replaces that signal reliably, at least not enough to watch. A tiny bit of snow can be watchable, but drop-outs are downright annoying and unwatchable, so I do think the FCC should increase the max. powers for DTV, just not make them mandatory. As for multi-path on digital (which does not cause ghosting, but drop-outs), didn't FOX45's Sinclair Broadcasting fight against the current DTV system for this very reason? (11/1/07) Dave's response: How many times have you been to a public viewing room at a hospital, bus station, car repair place, or nursing home and see folks watching the most horrible, interference-plagued TV signal. Ghosts, snow, static. But they're watching! If that was a digital signal, it would be black screen - and they wouldn't be watching..... The adjectives describing Mal Johnson in Journal-isms' piece about her death made me smile. (tart-tongued, curmudgeon) I had the pleasure of working with Mal for 2 days as chaperones/mentors on a Washington youth Journalism program in 1993, about 3 years after she retired from Cox. She told me some good stories of her scrapes with Richard Nixon. In 2 days of chats, she never even mentioned her work with NABJ--I had no idea. She truly was humble. I distinctly remember how she described her exit from Cox as White House correspondent. She said they told her they were moving in a different direction, and she leaned over to me and said, "the truth is, I think they didn't want any old ladies on the air any more!" Jeff Hertrick (11/1/07) Nobody understands the Little River Band like Big 100.3. Dave in Sterling (11/1/07) Speaking of WTOP, they DO do a lot of their own reporting. Take the daily "Sprawl and Crawl" series with Adam Tuss. He does fine work day in and day out giving the commuting listeners the information they need to get around this increasingly congested burg. Now, if someone would only work with Adam on his diction. His deshcriptions of the conshtruction on the shtreets of the Dishtrict are shtressing me out! (11/1/07) The following was forwarded to DCRTV..... Mr. Berry, I went to wmal.com to see if I could listen to anything while at work. Then I accidentally ran into today's poll. You guys never stop, even when people have been burned and are in a hospital. It's your business if you want to keep plugging away at illegal immigrants. But don't you think this is going a bit far? There are alternative talk radio stations in the DC area. I don't have to go through this every day. John (11/1/07) Whoa! Is this WJFK or XM202? The junkies ran late today, so some bonehead at JFK figured they could just put Opie & Anthony on the air unedited. Well so far I've heard a caller drop the f-bomb and Ant just said "shit". Time to get the checkbook out, CK! (11/1/07) Dave's response: Just checked with a JFKer who listened to O&A today and he says he didn't hear it..... Now Dave! You know O'Meara doesn't drink beer and he wouldn't have wrote in to complain about kids ringing his balls...Ii mean bell. Sorry for that slip. (11/1/07) Wow, what a tidal wave of similarly worded emails of support for WTOP. Guess Farley has once again spread the word at Idaho Ave. that everyone needs to publicly pat themselves on the back. Look, it's NOT a news station, at least not in the classic sense. They read the morning paper and wire stories, they give the time and temp. That's it. I have no problem with that, it serves a purpose. I like to know what time it is as much as the next guy. But when they try to say that they are journalists, they're fooling nobody. When they say they do investigative reporting, they're fooling nobody. When they say Farley is "innovative," they're fooling nobody. There's nothing wrong with what WTOP is, I guess, but when it claims some kind of journalistic credibility, I have to laugh. They do play a network feed for two minutes at the top of the hour. I like that. (11/1/07) (Kornheiser: Will He Or Won't He Return To "MNF"? - 11/1 - DCRTV now hears reliable rumblings that...Kornheiser will indeed do a full year's worth of radio when he returns to...3WT...originally what we hinted a few days ago...that Kornheiser won't be returning to ..."Monday Night Football"...next year. However, we had heard from a source close to Kornheiser...that Kornheiser will return to his "MNF"...in 2008, which would cause him to leave...3WT...June...Either way, you heard it first on DCRTV.....) Dave, don't mean to bust balls, but couldn't let this story go without commenting. You put this story/non story on the Front Page and point out 2 potential (and really the only) sides to this story...and then at the end, you take credit for "either way, you heard it first on DCRTV". "Heard" what? That TK is either doing MNF next season or not...but isn't that obvious? JC (11/1/07) Dave's response: And you heard it first on DCRTV..... WINS, WCBS, KCBS, KNX, KFWB, et al are good at what they do. WTOP however is the ONLY station among the major market newsers to have significantly increased audience over the years and more impressive increased audience in key demographics. What this says is while the other stations continue to follow a formula (like many major newspapers) WTOP continually crafts it's product for changing needs and tastes of it's local audience. They program for the people not the pundits. One persons opinion. (11/1/07) I did not know that Robert Goulet and Phyllis Diller had hooked up! www.youtube.com... Ain't that former WTTG Panorama host John Willis (11/1/07) As a former 1987 (AIR) award winning volunteer producer and programmer on Wpfw/Pacifica Radio, a Committed Community Activist and a DC Hacker/Taxicab Owner Driver want you all in main stream media to know that the DC Taxicab Strike was a Success in more ways than one even though the DC Government disregarded it‘s own laws and regulation by allowing MD and VA Taxicabs to come in to the city Park and Set to pick up passengers when law states it‘s 500.00 fine. (1) This braking of the law shows just how far the DC Government will bend the law to bring in big corporation and large MD and VA taxicab companies to usurp and stop DC independent owners and drivers of there right to protest and to be heard. We as DC Hackers/Taxicab owners and drivers lost a lot money yesterday to make a point that it’s not all about meters but about our rights as small independent businessmen to own a taxicab and be protected by the law that the DC Government has a fiduciary responsibility to do and haven’t done. (2) DC Hack/Taxicab Owners or Driver broke No Laws in this Strike. So my question is who gave the order to allow MD and VA taxicabs to pick up in DC and how much money did the DC Government lose by not enforcing there own laws? This is what I mean when I say The Washington Post will not print the opposing point of view nor investigate the facts about the corruption in the DC Government, so are you all apart of the problem or a part of the solution in main stream media?>>Peace and Love>>Billy Ray (11/1/07) Dave's response: Keep it to media coverage of the strike. This Mailbag is not the place to debate the strike itself..... Sorry for the late report but I was in a huge hurry to darken my house yesterday. For the fourteenth consecutive Halloween I moved my car a block away, turned off all of the lights, put newspapers on the front steps, and headed for the basement at 5pm with an armful of I Love Lucy tapes, a thirty pack of Milwaukee's Best, and sat in front of my trusty 13 inch color set. I must have passed out around 2am. (11/1/07) Dave's response: Nice to hear from Mike O'Meara again! Dave, similar to your post the other day about Comcast Reston, on Tuesday Comcast Montgomery County finally added the HD channels you mentioned (they had added NHL Network, Fox Biz, and ESPN Classic (265) a couple of weeks ago, although now they have ESPN Classic on two channels, and NFL Network on three channels;), plus Food Network HD and HGTV-HD. (11/1/07) So sorry to hear about Grease. He’s one of the rare REAL talents still alive and kickin. True he’s still doing 60’s/70’s schtick, but he’s still far and above more entertaining than most morning folks in Washington and Baltimore. I really believe if someone took the time to do a bit of “tweaking with him”. He could become very contemporary. I have a real problem with the current batch of suits. There’s a BIG push to bring Imus back and in my opinion, he did about the same thing that got Grease into trouble, I only wish the SUITS would take a long hard look at Grease and maybe give him a shot at AM drive on a station with a big signal. Oh, and I agree, most of us would be out of the business and working an IKEA stock room if we’d been dealt his hand. BOBB (11/1/07) We have all heard misleading political ads before, but I have never heard anything like the current radio ad from "Marylanders for Tax Fairness". The first time I heard it, I actually thought I was hearing a parody because the statements were so outrageously misleading. The radio stations who are airing these ads have sunk to a new low on standards for advertising copy. Besides that, a web search on the organization yields nothing... who knows who is really behind the ads. -Kanling, Baltimore County (11/1/07) Re:"DTV U's will need 5MW ERP to have half a chance of maintaining parity with their former analog signals." While I'm not an engineer, my experience says that's not true. I'm sorry to keep mentioning the same two examples, but the biggest improvement digital TV has brought to my reception in SW Balto County is WETA and WHUT, which my list from the FCC says are using 90kW and 100kW respectively. They went from marginal and unwatchable, respectively, to rock solid. Not that I would mind if every station got a power boost; that would in all probability add Philadelphia (which I get digitally on a good day now) and Hagerstown to my roster, and I would very much like to get MHz from Virginia. OTOH I agree that multipath is a tremendous problem with the digital TV modulation scheme. Someone came up with a ghost-killer add-on to NTSC; I don't know why that's not part of the digital scheme. Heck, it's digital--you can do _anything_ with it, right? (11/1/07) You folks are obsessed with WMAL vs WTOP. They are NOT competing. WMAL is a talk station. WTOP is all news. You all are ranting and raving over nothing. 630 AM is what IT IS and 103.5 FM is what IT IS. Two different types of toys. Please let them play nice, thank you. (11/1/07) Yes, "Unsigned", WMAL trounced EVERYONE when Harden and Weaver were getting 20 shares in this market. When the 9-11 terrorist attacks took place, the need for information increased. WTOP took advantage of the situation with innovative ideas from Jim Farley, while WMAL was hung up on "conservative babble" from Rush and others and changing program directors like people changed buttons. As for not recognizing newspeople, I would agree Lisa Baden who is a "personality" stands out because of the way she does traffic, with a flair. But, it's just an insult to the history of newscasters from Edward R. Murrow to a pro like Bruce Allan, to even some of the TOP anchors on the weekends, that people would listen to ANYONE deliver important information to them. Ken/Bethesda (11/1/07) People are RIGHT! Bill Hess and Rudolf Medoff are, to paraphrase Al Franken, big fat idiots! Concentration camps, sadly, are not solely a phenomenon of Nazi Germany. They were used during the 1915 Ottoman genocide in eastern Europe, during the Japanese occupations (twice) of China and Korea. And, just what do you suppose Manzanar, California was? By this standard, one could never say a criminal was "being sent to the gas chamber,." Grow up, Bill! Rudolf is just trying to ensure his continued income. But wait, there's more! The FCC's Kevin Martin is also a big, fat idiot! The Commish who wanted to take ALL the ownership caps off and let the Mays family own every American radio station, now wants to issue local AM stations FM translator frequencies, along with flooding the market with Low Powered FM (LPFM) stations. Try to picture yourself, driving down Rockville Pike, when your favorite song or a good talk segment comes on the air. Within two miles, poof, the station is gone and replaced by a kid playing polkas in his bedroom (okay, it's a Swiss kid) only to be replaced, three minutes later, by an FM translator for WMAL, blasting Rush. It won't be very pretty at all, kids! Not very pretty. Damn, it's hard to be smarter than everyone else. - B. Franklin (11/1/07) To my Delmarva critic, you're correct, I've not had any "real-world" experience with trying to pick up 16 and 47 over-the-air lately. I did catch 16 pretty regularly in Solomons with rabbit-ears waay long ago. Nevertheless, my point in citing the FCC plots was to show why those stations have the facilities they do, and do a good job of not wasting money putting signal out over water where there's nobody to see it. Those plots are created with the same propagation estimates that are used for licensing purposes. ALL other plots you'll see on the web use the same model, and no other source uses terrain and directional antenna effects completely correct. Are they perfect? Especially for UHF, no. But, to compare one station to another it is the best source. // To your point about WBAL-DT's service plot - you'll be surprised! Down here near the Harry Nice bridge, I get the Baltimore DTVs at 30% reliability and the DC DTVs at near 100% - pretty much like the FCC plots indicate. (11/1/07) Sorry to see The Grease go, but he was the only thing worth listening to on WMET, which had a good line-up when John Gibson, Alan Colmes, and a pre-White House Tony Snow had programs there. (11/1/07) Dave's response: Looks like WMET is looking to make some brokered radio time income from AM drive. We've long heard that the Grease didn't pay for his morning slot on 1160..... Hey “Ken in Bethesda” Just so you know, WMAL trounced WTOP in the ratings through the 70’s, 80’s, and the most of the 90’s. The landscape didn’t change until WTOP discovered the FM Band. Give Bonneville the credit for pulling the trigger on the FM plan but the process to obtain an FM station was started long before they purchased the property. As for Mike Moss, please understand that it doesn’t matter who is the anchor or reporter on a utility format like WTOP. They are all interchangeable parts who are a dime a dozen. I am quite confident that perceptual research would tell you that Lisa Baden is the most recognizable voice and talent on the station and she is not even a WTOP employee. The anchors and reporters would fall somewhere way below Baden, the other traffic guy, and Doug Hill. (11/1/07) Obviously, the unsigned poster who wrote about what Mike Moss went as for Halloween doesn't know, this veteran and professional newsman. And Dave, what's wrong with a radio station which has to meet deadlines and work under pressure having some fun. The "folks" on Idaho Avenue as you call them ,are REAL pros, who bust their butts daily and WIN. Get off their backs and give them credit. MAL has always had a chance to beat them, and for some reason, they can't. Ken/Bethesda (11/1/07) Remember Annabelle Gurwitch from "Dinner and a Movie" on TBS? You can talk with Annabelle tonight at 11:06PM on the Jim Bohannon Show over 3WT Radio, 1500-AM and 107.7-FM. 1-866-50-JIMBO. (11/1/07) goddamn sick of this story but here's the final installment....video evidence of the bad singing..... blog.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog (11/1/07) Lisa Baden does traffic, not weather, you moron. Get your facts straight before you go off on a rant and look even more idiotic. (11/1/07) So there was a little newsroom humor trying to keep our morale up this (Wednesday) morning. Shawn Anderson dressed up as Robin Hood, Hillary Howard was the Good Witch from Oz, Bruce Alan was Cupid, Richard Day was a leprechan, and Mike Maus was a horse's ass. That's right, played himself ahahaha I slay me. (11/1/07) Dave's response: It sound like they're having a little too much "fun" over there at Bonneville, these days. Too much silly stuff on WTOP. I would love to see CBS buy WMAL and put a no-nonsense WINS-type all-news format on 630. That would be far more scarier for the folks on Idaho Avenue. And the competition would make WTOP a much better all-newser. It's getting fat and flabby..... I live up the road from DCRTV Dave… in a valley! I have a 2-bay UHF bowtie facing Tenleytown at a height of 35' AGL. My reliable DTV reception is all of D.C. except for WTTG which drops out frequently. In addition, I also receive WPXW, WNVT, and WNVC. However, none of the D.C. DTV's are immune from at least occasional tiling or even blanking. In analog, I also get reliable reception of WHAG, WWPB, and WWPX. The only "DX" reception I've had in DTV has been WMAR, WBAL, WBFF, and WMPT. And, one-time-only at that! I would rate the current ERP levels for DTV as the modern equivalents of early UHF's like WOOK-TV, WMET-TV, etc., most of which succumbed to economic euthanasia because hardly anybody could receive their 250kW (or less) ERP signals! Unless DTV's (Especially the U's.) are allowed a se! rious power increase (and quick), there will likely be a very serious political stink when analog is shut off. The reason won't be that voters don't have the necessary equipment to receive a DTV signal. It'll be that voters used to being able receive their favorite local stations in analog cannot receive a similar signal in DTV. Viewers, broadcasters, and advertisers will all suffer. And, they won't hesitate to take out "ballot box vengeance" in the 2010 elections. The only good news is that most stations that are analog on channels 7-13 will run DTV on those channels after the switchover. For the stations on 2-6, it's a mess. While DTV will work on those channels, there are serious reception problems in areas with multipath situations. It works in Las Vegas. But, DTV U's will need 5MW ERP to have half a chance pf maintaining parity with their former analog signals. The pinheads at the FCC should have one of their "off-site meetings" in a place like Ogallala, Nebr! aska to see what the DTV switch will mean to people in rural areas tha t may not have cable at all (Not even dreaming of the offerings here in the D.C. area!) and because of the boom/bust nature of agriculture, perhaps cannot afford satellite DTV. I don't think the "DTV Rebellion" will originate from the inner city areas as much as it will from the countryside. (11/1/07) Bill Hess is a little wimp. Had he any balls he would have either ignored Rafael Medoff or told him to kiss his ass. This is political correctness run wild. There is absolutely no relationship between the Holocaust and this offhand reference to a concentration camp. I only wish Mr. Hess had been half as nice to Mr. Feldman and Ms. Maloney when he showed them the door. Another reason not to listen to this shipwreck of a station. (11/1/07) The Greaseman was entertaining on WRC with his old farmer act. But when he joined WAPE in Jacksonville, he reinvented himself. And in my opinion, he was at his absolute best on WAPE and DC101; some of the greatest radio ever. Roddy Freeman (11/1/07) Listened to the postgame on WTEM, as expected the host was apologetic for the Wizards losing and had little criticism of the team. Hmm wonder why. Could it be now that the postgame host is pad by the team. Yeah I think so. (11/1/07) NBC? NBC has become like Fox. A joke! Sometimes tabloid but now using re-enactments (acting, not B-roll) during news reports on Nightly News. I've seen it and I don't like it and NBC should stop. Fox has been doing it for a long time and Fox should stop. News is news. Re-enactments are for documentaries, etc. I think news directors grew up reading the tabloids instead of learning their craft properly. (11/1/07) Sorry to see the end for Greaseman. This came on sudden like didn't it? Wonder if WMET ownership told him to go away we going all spanish? They've pretty much dropped the Nostalgia/Music of your Life programming on WMET. So WTRI drops music for spanish and WCTN goes all spanish and now looks like WMET is going all spanish and haven't listened to WAGE since dropped the local music programs so all thats left on AM side in area is boring righty talk and mediocre sports talk. Of course don't think much of quality of sport's these days, sighed old fart. Don't play by play announcers over sell every play these days and never shut the f8ck up. Now declaring AM radio in D.C. dead too me! And tired as it was I preferred WTGB before the flip and sucks WAMU drops bluegrass music, no I ain't wasting money on a HD radio but will probably finally go wireless. Adieu doodad Daddy, adieu. Hope you keep the website up even if it ain't the utmost in topicality. (11/1/07) Sorry to hear about the Greaseman not being on WMET anymore. He's still one of the great talents in radio and I enjoyed the chemistry with his newsman YDB. Maybe now, it's a time for a real station/company to put him on. He's perfect for rock, oldies, country, a variety of formats. I hope the hiatus is not very long. Ken/Bethesda. (11/1/07) Anyone wanting to send regards or say hello or attempt to bet the bombays on the last two days of the Greaseman show on WMET, please give a call today or tomorrow to 866-724-9338. Best, Jill Nado, Producer, "The Greaseman Show" (11/1/07) /\ November 1 Messages /\ \/ October 31 Messages \/ Missing from the Grease chronology is a short stint at 1390 WZHF(AM) Arlington between his stints with WARW and WGOP. Several fans and associates from earlier radio days gave of their time and talents to work for him for free, out of studios run by Bill Parris in Rockville. Yock it up all you want about his career path since WARW: you and I both would have given up and gone to work in the stockroom at Ikea if it happened to us. (10/31/07) I could only shake my head after reading your blurb about the complaints to WTEM about the use of the term "concentration camp" The person making the comment was clearly using "hyberbole", which, for the sake of the complainers, means "exaggeration for effect, not meant to be taken literally." The complainers really need to get a life. As do all the other political correctness kooks out there. (10/31/07) Dave- Yes, WJFK carried Grease's syndicated show back when. It has been my honor to be his producer during his tenure at WMET. I've had the best job in radio for the past two years because of the Bulky Man and I'm going to miss him and it terribly during his hiatus. Best, Jill Nado (10/31/07) "Lavar Arrington, 9am-11am, tomorrow and Friday on WTEM." Good God! He'll make John Thompson sound like Paul Harvey. (10/31/07) Re: "I recall a time when an NBC News show actually meant something serious." The sooner you forget that illusion, the better. TV news exists solely to sell commercial time. That's it. (10/31/07) The Potomac Nationals have aired games exclusively by webstream for at least the last several years now. I doubt that the outcome will be any different for 2008. The team's Woodbridge location is just not well situated with a suitable nighttime radio outlet. Major D.C. stations would be impossibly cost prohibitive. Prince William's own stations are foreign language outlets. One of the Fredericksburg-based stations may be the best shot. Everett W. (10/31/07) Dave.. Did you see in this mornings Baltimore Sun, one of Johnny Holiday's daughters has been named one of Baltimore's top physicians . Dr Kellie Smaldore has her office in Bel Air, Maryland. I believe another one of Johnny's daughter's is a Neo Natal nurse at Childrens, and the other a producer at Discovery Television. Johnny and his wife should be very proud. (10/31/07) Dave, I found this at www.greaseman.org. It is a list of radio stations that he worked on since his college days. As to WJFK, he was syndicated to that station from about '93 to '98. Tim in Stafford..... Station Location Years..... WICB-FM 91.7 (Ithaca College) Ithaca, NY 1968 - 1972..... WTKO-AM 1470 Ithaca, NY 1969? - 1972..... WENE-AM 1430 (now WMRV) Endicott, NY 1970? - 1972..... WAXC-AM 1460 Rochester, NY 7/72 - 4/73..... WKBW-AM 1520 (now WWKB) Buffalo, NY 1973 (one night)..... WRC-AM 980 "The Great 98" Washington D.C. 4/73 - 1/74..... WPOP-AM 1410 Hartford, CT 2/74 - 6/27/75..... WKYS-FM 93.9 (was WRC-FM) Washington D.C. 1975 (4 days)..... WAPE-AM 690 (now FM 95.1) Jacksonville, FL 8/75 - 7/82..... WWDC-FM 101.1 "DC/101" Washington D.C. 8/2/82 - 1/22/93..... Syndicated 2/8/93 - 1/16/98..... WARW-FM 94.7 Washington D.C. 5/19/97 - 2/25/99..... Syndicated 3/5/01 - present..... WGOP/WDMV-AM 700 Washington D.C. 7/10/02 - 10/14/05..... WMET-AM 1160 Washington D.C. 10/10/05 - present..... (10/31/07) Re: Dave's request for a chronology of Greaseman's radio career There is a fairly complete bio on www.greaseman.org. The WJFK era is listed as "SYNDICATED". Tom in Wonderful Wheaton (10/31/07) "Tracht's local radio career goes back to the 1980s, when he did the morning show on rocker DC101". Sorry Dave, but Mr. Tracht's first DC broadcast experience was on the Great 98 back in the mid-70's. Who can forget his long stretches of the legal ID at the top of the hour.................... "DubyaaaaaaaaaaRRRRRRRRRRRRCeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee....Waaaashhh-ingggg-ton n". (10/31/07) Dave's response: Can someone give us a definitive radio chronology of the Greaseman's career? Wasn't he also on WJFK-FM for a few moments? "I recall a time when an NBC News show actually meant something serious." I don't think episodes like you mention are that big of a deal. Three’s nothing wrong with a little levity now and then. I would argue NBC’s creditability loses come from being joined at the hip to the whacko bunch at MSNBC. I have no idea how NBC can claim to be an objective new organization given the nightly content aired on MSNBC. Hell it makes Al Jazeera look tame. (10/31/07) Gee what a surprise, D&M talking about what the best kind of candy is for Halloween...Is today a repeat of the Halloween show from 2000? (10/31/07) Dave: Just wanted to let you know that the pressures of working four hours a day out of my home studio for an ungodly amount of money have forced me to take a six month vacation to think about my future. I just need to kick back, man. Oh, and nobody ever listened to my show either. Dave in Sterling (10/31/07) On 980, Andy Pollin said Lavar Arrington will be filling in for Doc Walker on Doc's show tomorrow and Friday. Lavar Arrington, 9am-11am, tomorrow and Friday on WTEM. (10/31/07) With all the local media hype & public protests in Annapolis over Maryland's budget crisis, tax increases, budget cuts, and the State Legislature special session, when is just ONE media outlet going to state the obvious? Yes, if the Do-nothing Maryland Legislature (i.e. Democrats) had enacted a Slots Bill 4 YEARS ago to compete with Delaware & Pennsylvania, there wouldn't even BE a budget crisis and the Thornton education plan probably would have been fully funded as well! Yes, it's true. Do the math. Where is The Baltimore Sun & The Washington Post on this, and when is WBAL's Jayne Miller going to run the numbers for the public and let everyone know that the politicians are raising OUR taxes because of THEIR SCREW-UP!?!? And when is a single local news outlet going to mention that the current slots proposal will mean that Baltimore will lose Pimlico Race Course AND THE PREAKNESS as a result the legislature & governor's utter stupidity!?!? Please, can anybody answer these questions? This is one of the classic examples where talk radio tells the truth while the politicians and local reporters play a smoke an mirrors game with the public, all the while wining and dining at all those fine Annapolis restaurants & bars and wasting the taxpayers money (tens of thousands of dollars each day, tick tock...). So enjoy your 2 week vacation while it lasts, politicos and reporters. It certainly isn't going to be a Happy Thanksgiving for the REST of Maryland! :-( (10/31/07) (From DCRTV's Classified Ads:) Job Title: Studio Engineer. Company: Salem Radio Network. Location: Arlington, VA. Job Description: Salem Radio Network (SRN) has an immediate opening for an experienced Studio Engineer in the Arlington, VA headquarters of SRN News. Duties include studio maintenance, news and talk show studio support, remote office support and minor IT work. Experience with automation systems, satellite switching and high speed data lines a must. E-mail letter of interest with salary requirements to Chief Engineer Dave Terry at: davet@srnnews.com or fax materials to (703) 254-2818. SRN is a division of Salem Communications and is an Equal Opportunity Employer. (10/31/07) (snip) How the hell would NBC have handled things had a major world or national breaking news story had happened during all this merriment? (end snip) Oh for God's sake, you don't think they thought that through first? They hand it off to the newsroom for the breaking story, quickly remove the top of their wardrobe and strip the makeup (pro makeup washes right off with Johnson's Baby Shampoo). The first one cleaned up and brushed out takes the hot seat until the others arrive. Sitting behind a desk, they dont even need to remove their costume bottoms. If that cant be done, the control room cuts to live pictures of the news event while the anchors clean themselves up off-camera. Recall that there were not a lot of live studio shots during 9/11, so they all could have been wearing tu-tus for all we noticed. Besides, during other disasters in the past, the nicely-dressed B-Team always handled things perfectly well until the big name anchors arrived. Same today. You don't get a New York network gig if you don't know what you are doing. (10/31/07) There isn't a local connection, really, (except that Willard Scott did the weather & the oldster’s birthday wishes from DC this morning). Anyway, here's my question: Is the Today Show still done under the auspices of the NBC News division? The reason I'm asking is that the staff dressed up for Halloween. This year, with a Munsters theme. Matt Lauer as Herman, Meredith Viera as Lily, Al Roker as Grandpa, Natalie Morales as Eddie, Hoda Kotb as Marilyn and Tiki Barber as Spot the Dragon. Even Ann Curry joined in all the fun in some kind of get-up, viewed by the others inside a crystal ball. While the costumes were clever and well done, how the hell would NBC have handled things had a major world or national breaking news story had happened during all this merriment? I recall a time when an NBC News show actually meant something serious. Once, back in early 70s, when David Brinkley and John Chancellor were together on NBC Nightly News, Brinkley chided Chancellor for wearing a rather loud sports coat on the broadcast, saying “What if someone had died?” While a garish maroon jacket with a large, check-pattern and wide lapels might have been in fashion back then, the implication was clear - how much credibility would have been brought to (or lost by) the newscast with someone wearing a jacket like that, and trying to be taken seriously during a major news story? It's a good thing 9/11 didn't happen this morning during the 8 o' clock hour of the Today Show! (10/31/07) Reminder, November 26, 2007 starts the annual holiday tradition of THE WAR ON CHRISTMAS. Watch Fox News Channel and listen to Sean Hannity on WMAL for up to date information on THE WAR ON CHRISTMAS. Perhaps one day this year we will have Chris Core chime in with a local angle to THE WAR ON CHRISTMAS. Remember, whenever you see a Macy's insert in the newspaper and it says "Happy Holidays," you will know Macy's is a player on the opposite side of THE WAR ON CHRISTMAS. When you go out shopping and you hear Muzac substituting the instrumental "What child is this?" with a similar sounding non Christian tune "Greensleeves," you will know there is a WAR ON CHRISTMAS. THE WAR ON CHRISTMAS always gets me so mad. (10/31/07) If you think WTOP and WMAL do excessive self promoting, ha--you would cringe at NJ 101.5 in NJ-as they mention calls at least 100 times each hour. for example...thier traffic outcue is "New Jersey traffic every 10 minutes on New Jersey 101.5. New Jersey 101.5 chime time is 10:45. This is New Jersey 101.5." (10/31/07) Hello, Just wanted to expand on a blurb you mentioned yesterday about 91.9FM flipping to Christmas music today and wondering if 97.1FM would be far behind. I was ready to e mail my friends to let them know Christmas had officially arrived on Northern Virginia radio, however they are just doing it for Halloween - to put a "positive" spin on the day. They won't be switching to all Christmas all the time until 11/22. Thanks for all of your hard work! Nicole (10/31/07) It might be a good thing if the new programmer for the D.C. area CBS stations cleans house. Opie & Dopie have been dropped from some major cities. Is D.C. the next market for them to lose? Maybe the whole talk lineup on WJFK can be scrapped for music. None of their shows do anything for me. I liked Howard Stern when he was on the station, but I couldn't care less about anyone else they have on the air. Shock radio on terrestrial radio is dying, if it isn't already dead. The fear of fines for indecent language by the FCC has turned that type of programming into mush. If one really wants raunchy talk, just get Sirius and listen to Howard, or XM for the Virus. It would also be great to have the Globe get the WHFS call letters and play better music, as other people have mentioned on this site. I would definitely like them to keep Weasel and Cerphe. Could they bring back Damian and other old WHFS jocks still living in the D.C. area? It would be nice to have something positive to say about D.C. radio. JOHN IN STAFFORD (10/31/07) Thanks for the info on the Windy City. Please help me out. The following list, I believe, are markets that have dropped "Dopey and his "Pervy Pal" in the last year; Philly, Chicago, Austin, West Palm Beach, Dallas, and Detroit. Am I missing any? Have they picked up any new markets in the last six months? (10/31/07) (From DCRTV's Classified Ads:) PR/Media Bookings: www.allenmediastrategies.com is looking for our next media booking specialist to help get our author and entertainment clients in front of radio, TV, print and on-line media. You can work from home, or at our Herndon VA based office as an independent contractor on a per project basis. Must have an existing database of contacts, great people skills and fantastic detail followthrough. Media/market booking experience is required. Our clients have appeared on The Today Show, Letterman, XM, Sirius, CNN, Fox, etc. Please email your resume' and references to cristi@allenmediastrategies.com.. AMS LLC is an EOE. (10/31/07) Another "solution" for the person who's complaining about the "goddamn 10 second voiceover on every single bit of bumper music..." on WMAL. You could always listen to Rush Limbaugh's show online...(and hear not only the bumper music in the clear, but all of the funny fake "commercials" and "PSAs" during the breaks...or just accept the fact that commercial radio plays..uh, commercials...and promotes itself "excessively." One person's excess is another person's ratings point. Any station worth its salt is going to promo itself at every opportunity (in the case of talk radio stations, before AND after every commercial break as well as multiple times at the top of the hour in the legal ID and news/traffic/weathercast). If WMAL's "excessive" self promotion drives this person over the edge, s/he would probably commit suicide after listening to WTOP! :-D --RB (10/31/07) The Kornheiser "exclusive" sounds more like spin from a competitor who is trying to justify why they couldn't land the big prize (again) and had to settle for second or third prize. (10/31/07) Dave's response: Ha ha ha. Funny. You work for the Post? (We also hear that Clear Channel, which owns Kornheiser's old radio home of SportsTalk 980, WTEM, decided to go with Dan Patrick for the late morning/midday slot instead of trying to re-sign Kornheiser for the very reason that Kornheiser might not be there for the full year). From the department of full disclosure...Dan Patrick is CC-DC head Dave Pugh's brother. What are the chances that WTEM would not have picked up his program to air at some point in the day? ZERO. You need to take this obvious "spin" with a grain of salt and think this one through just a little. What else is CC going to leak when they lose Tony to a weaker station for the second time in less than a year?! BTW...the front page DCRTV story said TK is going LIVE 8-10am. the WTEM website says Dan Patrick's show starts at 11am. Sounds like WTEM could have had both. I am sure WTEM would take 6 months of the ratings he gave WTWP over the crappy ratings they have right now...even with his big price tag. (10/31/07) November is jazzradiodc.com's jazz on the internet awareness month . Hopefully, you have listened to our show on the internet... if not now is the time. It is available live from 5 pm to 6 pm EST Monday through Friday and at all other times in archived format (previously aired show). You can easily reach it by clicking on the link below. This will take you to our home page. Once you reach the jazzradiodc.com home page you can then select the "listen live" button at the top of the page to listen while we are in studio or click on the "mp3 player" on the right side of the page for our archived shows... Thanks, Carl David (10/31/07) What is going on with Bob Ryan? He seems to be off the air a lot lately. Pat (10/31/07) Come on Dave. First, you report nothing about the final outcome of the "hate crime" that wasn't regarding Randi Rhodes (after reporting the initial incident and the wild allegations made by Air America). Now, you stay silent when the drunk puts forth the conspiracy theory that Blackwater USA intentionally started the fires in and around San Diego. And don't respond with the "not heard by many people, so it's not a big deal" line. If this were someone like Glenn Beck or Michael Savage, it'd be top of the page fodder. (10/31/07) Dave's response: Ha ha ha. You're funny! We cover local media news, in case you haven't realized..... You were "in tears laughing" because some weather chick wore a goofy t-shirt? Who knew it was so easy? Makes Mark Twain look like a real dumbass for putting all that effort into his writing. Charlie Chaplin spent two years making "The Great Dictator"---what a moron! All he had to do was buy an "I'm With Stupid" t-shirt and he would have had them rolling in the aisles. I actually listened to a few minutes of Washington's "news" station this morning, but flipped to NPR when the oh-so-funny pair of anchors kept yukking over their own lame patter and telling listeners to go online to see photos of them in their Halloween costumes. Who gives a damn? Just read the friggin' news! (10/31/07) I agree, Lisa Baden really takes the extra step to make traffic different. She gives the information, but has fun with it. A real personality and another reason why she's on the cover of "Washington Woman" magazine. In the article, she says she would like to visit Paris. With her success, she WILL get there. It's her, the class of Jerry Edwards and then drop your voice. Ken/Bethesda (10/31/07) Re: "I'd suspect that digital TV reception is like digital radio reception - much more limited than analog reception, especially for those with 'less than optimal' antennae." There's a lot to comment on there. First, the current half-assed digital radio system is piggybacked onto the current analog signals, and makes up a small portion of a station's total radiated power. Hence the bad reception for digital radio. Digital TV is broadcast on its own separate channel, and I don't even know if all the stations are up to their full power yet. Right now, I'd say digital TV has greater coverage than analog. Since WETA upped their digital power this summer, I get them perfectly clearly up in SW Baltimore County, while their analog signal from the same antenna is considerably snowy -- just barely what I consider watchable. WHUT is also delivering a rock-solid signal up here, while their analog signal has too much snow to watch and bad sound to boot. Second, if a person has a less than optimal antenna, that's his responsibility. If you want plug-and-play, you call Comcast, pray for the one installer who knows what he's doing, and accept what channels they decide to give you. But really, a professionally installed antenna isn't that much extra bother. (For apartment dwellers, I'd check out the dimensions of a 4-bay bow-tie antenna--roughly the size of a poster--and see if I couldn't hide one in the apartment, like in the utility closet. I did that back in the 80s.) And what constitutes acceptable analog reception is truly a personal preference. While some people have demonstrated an amazing tolerance for bad analog reception, which in digital would likely just give you a black screen, others go on about the slightest ghost or off-color flesh tone, which won't happen with digital. One thing I will miss about analog TV is that analog will allow you to see the condition of the signal you're getting, from unwatchable to perfect, which is a major advantage in letting you know what's on the air and how to rotate your antenna. (10/31/07) Why doesn't cool TV like *this* happen here? www.break.com (10/31/07) Hi, Do you know why Susan Barnett was replaced by Liz Keptner on CBS 3 (Philadelphia) morning news program? Thanks (10/31/07) Dave's response: Ah, a visitor from our new NYC/Philly news page. Anybody know? In 1970, the North American Soccer League (NASL) Chanpionship series appeared on public TV through something called the Eastern Educational TV Network. The Blast games are NOT a first. (10/31/07) Lisa Baden may not be everyone's cup of tea, but damn I was in tears laughing this morning. She dressed up as a DC commuter for her live shots on Channel 7, complete with a car interior background, steering wheel, and fuzzy dice hanging from her microphone for Halloween. But the best part was her t-shirt that said "I'm Late Because I Took the Red Line". Everyone else on DC's morning TV wore the usual black and orange (how original), but Lisa took the extra step "just because"...a HUGE 2 thumbs up! (10/31/07) Add Chicago to the list of places the virus has NOT spread. I believe their last rating book was around .3 or so ..... great job boyyyyz... An adult-contemporary music format geared to women between 25 and 54 is expected to be unveiled next week on WCKG-FM (105.9). CBS Radio is keeping details under wraps, but insiders said day-to-day management of the new station is expected to be overseen by Dave Robbins, vice president and general manager of country WUSN-FM (99.5) and director of digital programming for the company. Monday marked the beginning of the end of WCKG's FM talk format, with Garry Meier signing off just seven months after his comeback as late-morning host, and the duo of Stan Lawrence and Terry Armour bidding their midday audience farewell too. Also gone are the syndicated morning duo of Gregg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia, as well as the evening team of Matt Dahl and Brendon Greeley. (10/31/07) Has WTGB gone jockless after Cerphe ends his shift at around 7pm? Albie Dee cut loose? Has WJLA changed their website again? Dropped the bio's on station personnel? Could we wake up one day in the near future and find WJFK has changed formats? Has David Letterman announced he's retiring in 2010? (10/31/07) Dave's response: The Globe is the most frustrating music radio station I've ever heard. Love. Hate. Love. Hate. Right now, I'm back to yet another "hate mode." Lately, it sounds like a slightly "harder" Mix 107.3. And now, with the guy who created Mix 107.3 programming the station, I wouldn't be surprised to hear something like Jack Diamond on 94.7. Not that there's anything wrong with Jack Diamond. He's just wrong for the Globe. Sigh..... I don't mean to disrespect DCRTV tech guru Dave Loudin, but have you ever tried to actually receive the Salisbury stations, WBOC or WMDT, from a rooftop, or worse yet, an indoor antenna from Ocean City Maryland or in Delaware? I think not from your comments. I have, and guess what? Your ClubFed FCC plots for WBOC or WMDT certainly wouldn't hold up to any real world test in either Dover, the Delaware beaches, or Ocean City Maryland unless you mean snowy and/or practically un-watchable, especially in the case of WMDT. Is that what Grade B means? And Chincoteague? AHAHAHAHAHAHAH! Give me a break. And the comment "lighting up the bay or the ocean"? HUH? What is that all about? Environmental activism against radio/TV signals that actually work? Are you worried they'll somehow adversely affect the dolphins or something? I'm sure any resident of the Ocean City area would prefer those signals "lighting up the ocean" if they didn't have cable or satellite. But then again, that's only the poor people. Ouch. And that brings up another point about FCC signal plots... The dirty little secret of the FCC AND the TV broadcast industry is that, with most of the country subscribing to cable TV and/or satellite TV (i.e. NON-POOR), the FCC's digital signal plots are a joke and clearly overestimate coverage areas, even for DC and Baltimore. Does anyone really believe you can receive WBAL-DT channel 59 reliably in Newark Delaware, Lancaster PA, Cambridge Maryland and just outside of Dale City Virginia??? Well, that's what the FCC signal plot for WBAL-DT says. C'mon. Be real Dave Loudin. (10/31/07) Dave's response: Unlike broadcast analog TV reception, with its ghosts, snow, and speckles, digital TV is unforgiving. Either you get it perfectly - or nothing. I'd suspect that digital TV reception is like digital radio reception - much more limited than analog reception, especially for those with "less than optimal" antennae. Great via cable and satellite, but when you're battling terrain, urban landscapes, and a plethora of interference in real world broadcast reception, digital's going to be far more tricky. Forget those plots. Here in Northern Virginia, most can get snowy analog reception of most Baltimore TVers if you have a decept pair of "rabbit ears." But, unless you're on a hill or have a damn good rooftop antenna, forget picking up Charm City digital TV..... /\ October 31 Messages /\ Jump to the Mailbag Archive Index.....