Current Mailbag - Mailbag Archive Index - DCRTV Front Page - Support DCRTV DCRTV Mailbag - November 7 to November 15, 2007 Latest messages listed first..... \/ November 15 Messages \/ OK, I've seen the "No ho-ho-ho's for Santa" story all over the internet today, and it is unfortunate that those passing it on don't bother to check to see if it's even true. The shocking event apparently happened last week during a training class for Australia's Westaff store santas; by Monday the chain's national manager was telling the New Zealand Press that the santa's were warned about a laundry list of possibly offensive terms but were NOT told they could not say "Ho ho ho." That was three days ago and it was all forgotten in the real world...until American web surfers, who love nothing more than to flash rumors, lies and unfounded innuendo around the world, dug it up somewhere. May Walter Cronkite pee on your copy. (11/15/07) From our "truth is stranger than fiction" department: In Adelaide, Australia, 2 would-be Santa's have walked out of a Santa school after being told that, in order to avoid offending women, they were forbidden to say "Ho Ho Ho". They were ordered to say "Ha Ha Ha" instead. I could not possibly make this up. Politically correct radio managers take note. (11/15/07) TO MICHAEL HIESTAND OR ANYONE THAT CAN ANSWER MY QUESTION: On Wednesday, you reported the following: "Starting on Thanksgiving, live NFL game coverage will be available beyond TV sets for the first time....in snippets. Starting with the NFL Network's Indianapolis at Atlanta prime-time game on Thanksgiving, coverage of the eight games on the league's channel also will appear live online at nfl.com and on Sprint subscribers' video-enabled cellphones. But coverage will consist of look-ins rather than continuous action......" A Press Release from the NFL and Verizon says: "The NFL Network will offer live Web streams of eight Thursday and Saturday NFL games to Verizon customers who get both Internet and TV service from the telco(Verizon)." Are you talking about that deal with Verizon where live streams will be offered exculsively for Verizon customers or are you talking about something seperate where it will be offered to everyone including Comcast, AT&T etc.? Also, when will ESPN360 ever be offered to everyone, especially COMCAST!! I heard a couple of months ago that they were negoiating a deal but haven't heard anything since!? (11/15/07) While I agree with most of the post below about restrictions on editing political ads, "This is a big break the governing class gave themselves" misses the point, to say the least. Without those regulations about pricing, political broadcast advertising would be available to only the very wealthiest campaigns. As it is, marginal candidates are further marginalized by advertising costs; the regulations allow at least a few other candidates to get their message out. And, maybe more importantly, any regulations that force broadcasters to accept and run without edit political adverts makes sense to me, because it keeps the ultra-biased--I'm thinking of the FOX wing of the GOP here--from blocking advertising by their political opponents. Dave in Sterling (11/15/07) "To the poster is wants to know why Bonneville doesn’t have the right to censor the ads on WTOP: Nobody ever stated that they didn’t have the right. Of course they have the right to make that decision." Not for political ads they don't. There are very strict federal rules about political ads. 45 days before a primary and 60 days before a general election a station must not only air ads from candidates for federal office, but give them the lowest rate on the station. This is a big break the governing class gave themslves. And stations may NOT edit the ads. TOP took a lot of heat for running spots from Lyndon Larouche calling the Vice President a nazi. They had no choice. They could not edit. (11/15/07) Re: Today's Rant. The reason component cable prices are so high at these big box stores is because a company called "Monster Cable Products". What they do is buy up exclusive rights to sell their component video and HDMI (another form of high-definition transfer for upconverting DVD and HD-DVD/BluRay high-def players) cables at Best Buy and Circuit City, then those stores, to make up the money they were out, sell the cables at extremely high margins to people at those stores that don't know any better. The trouble is, you'd do better for component cable at Radio Shack or places online like www.monoprice.com. Sincerely, Mike in Kensington. P.S. As for HDMI cable, places like www.bluejeanscable.com (scroll down to "Tartan Cable 28 AWG" for pricing) can sell good-quality cable cheap, and www.monoprice.com can sell you an orange HDMI cable. Does Monster Cable offer that? (11/15/07) Dave's response: I guess Best Buy must figure that if you're shelling out $3,000 for a big screen plasma HD TV, you're not going to mind spending an additional $100 for a $15 connection cable. Also, I noticed at Best Buy that the white colored cables were more expensive than the black colored cables were. Even though they were otherwise exactly the same. Sounds like racial discrimination to me..... The best marty bass story would be the one in which he’s seen leaving the station… FOR GOOD … damn he sucks (11/15/07) I agree with the previous poster about D&M yesterday. I read on DCRTV that Don was out of town for a funeral and thought I should check out the show. MUCH better without Don's anger at callers, derisive attitude to his co-workers (why do they put up with him anyway?) and overplaying of whatever is his favorite clip of the day. I am truly hoping he will be out the rest of the week - what a nice holiday gift that would be! Anyone think he is trying to make the show bomb as he heads towards retirement so it will be harder for the rest of the crew? (11/15/07) Thank you 'Legs" for the most thoughtful, intelligent post in the bunch about TOP. Sounds like you were in the business a while, because you actually know what you are talking about. (11/15/07) Re: Fire On Idaho Ave. "Newsroom (employees) kept wondering why so many firefighters kept coming to the 3rd floor until one of them admitted they were just fans of WTOP." The real reason they were stopping by is that DC Fire Dept. spokesman Alan Etter told them to. He's a former WTOP'er don't you know...LOL (11/15/07) Re: your 11/15 headline concerning WRBS-- Are you sure it's OK to say "ho ho ho"? I mean, we are living in the post-Imusgate era... (11/15/07) Dave's response: Funny! George Noory considering presidential bid? www.worldnetdaily.com (11/15/07) Dave's response: With New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson being a UFO believer, maybe Noory could be his VP running mate..... Mysognistic Rush didn't show up at yesterday's Meet The Press bash because he probably feared that he'd get kneed in the nuts by some "femmeNazi". Rush didn't have anything to worry about. He doesn't have any balls to begin with. When it comes to crawling out from behind his mic, he wimps out. (11/15/07) So I noticed Marty Bass is celebrating his 30th anniversary with WJZ. Wonder if Channel 13 will replay that infamous Patterson Park story?!?! (11/15/07) Interesting discussion the last few days regarding the fine line between news content and advertising on WTOP. I don’t understand why Jim Farley played the “religious bigot” card which was referenced in many posts. The writers merely referenced the Mormon Church as owners and managers of WTOP. The Church reference was necessary because it was there laws that dictate the no gambling advertising policy. I saw no bigotry in any of the posts, but the “religious bigot” allegation kept coming in to the conversation. Generally people play the religious or race card to get off the subject matter. Come on Jim, you are supposed to be a professional news guy. Defend your great station with the facts and leave the bigot card in the closet. If you read the posts you will see it was not warranted. (11/15/07) my memory lapsed and I tuned into D&M last night. I only heard three voices and no repeated loops or fart noises or repeated loops or repeated loops or repeated loops...so I decided to stay and listen. The show was choppy but much more fun without the D continuing to exercise his stupidity over the air waves. Rob and Mike, with Buzz, make a great team and radio show. When D gets back he will have overstayed his welcome and officially put them back into a repeated loop. skimmell (11/15/07) Hey, can someone please tell what has happened to Julie Wright’s voice (Fox 5 Weather lady)? You know how loud her voice normally is? Well, this week it has been soft and low. Even her coworker, Bob Sellars (spelling) mentioned it yesterday. What gives? Has anybody else noticed it too? Joan (11/15/07) Dave's response: Maybe she's got a "frog" in her throat..... Dave, caught a brief bit of the Fox 5 Morning Show today, they were with the WASH FM morning team (I don't listen to WASH so no idea who the two are) and apparently the flip to all Christmas music started today at 5 AM. The female sidekick said she's been getting e-mail for weeks asking when all-Christmas was starting, I have a hard time believing that. Thanks for ruining the Christmas spirit for me here in mid-November. (11/15/07) 'Legs' - Despite your repeated declarations of what "most intelligent people" do and know, there is a reason to keep editorial comment, news and advertising in three separate compartments. If you don't agree and/or don't understand, most intelligent people are hoping you'll stay out of professional journalism. Dave in Sterling (11/15/07) Is this correct and if so what's going on? I saw at 1000000watts.com that WASH had flipped. So I checked Mediabase to see what they were playing. It appears they went all-Christmas at 5 AM and returned to regular programming at 8AM. What's up? (11/15/07) Dave's response: Typical Clear Channel performance - half-assed..... It doesn't bother me that WRBS went all-Christmas. It seems like a normal extension of their normal shtik. What I'll hate is when the satellite services take away regular channels for all-Christmas, and Christmas music will invade almost everything else including the classical stations. I wonder how long until we get a full-fledged Christmas backlash from all this. I was in a store this past weekend, and without exaggeration it seemed like everyone was complaining about the Christmas music on the PA. I even heard a "Bah, humbug". It's just too much. (11/15/07) RE: “Intelligent people know the difference between news content and commercial content” As someone who has participated in and constructed hundreds of radio perceptual studies for the last twenty years you couldn’t be further from the truth. Sure, it is easy for the listener to here a McDonalds jingle and recognize the nature of the information, but when listeners are presented with “live” read spots or produced “spoken word” commercials the percentage drops 50 to 60%.If you listen closely to News and News/Talk stations around the country you will here a series of reports usually at the same time in morning and afternoon drive. They are almost always presented by Federal Contractors, Defense Contractors or companies that are not marketing to the general public. These companies pay a premium to own this space. Some of the reports are written by the news departments and some are written by the client. This is a significant revenue category for News stations particularly in Washington DC, and the clients love them because they sound like news content and not commercials. So, if you think there is such a clear line between editorial and commercial content, you would be wrong. This doesn’t make the News and Programming directors of today bad people. In fact, working with, instead of against sales, has helped them earn more money and keep there jobs. (11/15/07) And you wonder why Washington DC has such suck-ass AM radio signals like AM 1260 & AM 1600?........ Well, the same STA game used on WAMS 1260 Newark (silent or STA low power now), is now being played out on AM 1600 Dover, now changed to WXXY (probably to dupe the FCC once again) and no, they've not filed for an STA extension for temporary low power. EVEN WORSE, they've filed for an extension to remain silent, i.e. not broadcast at all! When is the FCC going to crack down on people owning FCC licenses that are simply just warehousing frequency space with a FOR SALE sign up??? This is beyond ridiculous. When is the last time AM 1600 Dover broadcast 5000 watts? Who knows? Possibly TEN YEARS AGO! At LEAST 10 years for AM 1260 Newark, DE. They just keep transferring these frequencies from "paper-owner" to "paper-owner" with no actual service to the public over long periods of time. Meanwhile, the FCC is overly-concerned about stations broadcasting perceived obscenities? WHAT ABOUT STATIONS NOT BROADCASTING AT ALL? WAKE UP FCC!!! You're wasting our airwaves by allowing sham companies to buy and sell AM radio station licenses with no broadcasting facilities back and forth like junk bonds or a cheap house flipping scam! And all the while, the FCC continually gives out FCC "extensions" allowing no service whatsoever to the public for extended periods of time. What a pathetic FCC we have. (11/15/07) re: "meaningless phrases like "liberal media" ...and this guy/gal has the nerve to call someone else an idiot??? Thats "rich". lol (11/15/07) What's up with Tom Gavin? Since he moved back to Fridays he's almost silent , no singing to the tunes ,no shout outs, no charley! Is robbay suppose to have some big role in the post don and mike whirled, if there be one? Cause o'meara ain't good with coming up with bits is the theory robbay will be a part of a o'meara show? oh good god no not more match game! I still get feeling there will not be any o'meara show once the don leaves for floriduh. is albie dee out of there over at The Glob? (11/15/07) (Re: 'Fascinating to see the Arbitron satellite radio numbers. There can't be a worse return on investment than XM's Home Plate channel 175. A .03 and a cume not unlike a 500-watt daytimer.' How about if a Key Broadcasting 500-watt daytimer became a Somar 10k/1k fulltimer featuring What-A-Bathing-Suit G. Gordon Liddy and the audio of CNN Headline News? The videos are stunning in splendid mono.) Hated to see the tower come down at my old station's site last week. Larry in Leonardtown (11/15/07) WTOP refusing to take ads for booze? Reminds me of the famous story of Winston Churchill at a dinner party. He sat next to a beautiful young woman and asked her: "Would you go to bed with me for a million pounds?" The woman gushed, "Oh, yes, absolutely!" Churchill then asked "Would you go to bed with me for 5 pounds?" The woman, indignant, huffed "What kind of woman do you think I am?" The great man replied "We've already established that. Now we're just talking price." The point here is that WTOP - or any station - would pretty much air anything reasonable if the price was right. Beer is legal, guns are legal, slots (in some parts) are legal. JOEL: I'll pay you $1,000,000 to run beer spots right next to sports at :15 and :45. What do you say? Of course you'd do it. It's all about the Benjamins. Lots and lots of Benjamins. (11/15/07) To the person who writes "What is the big difference between editorial control and commercial advertising control? It all comes out of the same speakers.” Gee, nothing like a discussion about WTOP to bring out the "usual suspects", generally divided between the misinformed and the uninformed. An INTELLIGENT person knows the difference between editorial control (the news) and policies determining the sales and airing of advertising. I'll leave it to you to categorize the brilliant wit who wrote the line above. Same with those people who throw around words like "censorship", and while we're at it, meaningless phrases like "liberal media" and "mainstream media". I find it amusing that the religious bigot who time and again drags the Mormon Church in this conversation doesn't have the cojones to talk about the ad policies of Clear Channel, CBS, Citadel, Radio One, and other companies and organizations who own radio and TV stations in D.C. And let's be clear: ALL these companies have some sort of policies affecting the kind of ads they run. Public radio and TV stations also have discretion to not air underwriting announcements that run counter to the policies they have set in place. Except for political campaign ads, commercial stations have latitude to determine what ads air on their stations, and there's not a thing you can do about it, except switch to another station. To the cynic who says "The listeners have the right to question the policies and dig deeper into the motives.", I say, what's your point? If Bonneville is within its legal right as a company to say what ads they will and won't run, what exactly is the point? As I said, intelligent people are able to distinguish between the ads, and the news. For my money, I tune to WTOP for news, traffic and weather, in that order. Jim Farley doesn't know me, but I know people who work for him, and with him and I'm satisfied that the news content I hear there is of the highest quality, and NOT affected by anything done in the Sales Department. Now, if an ad has something important, or entertaining to say to me, I will listen (my current faves are the Brookstone SONA pillow ad; and that classic Rosenthal Jaguar ad with all the sexy dames who must be some of the best local voiceover talents in D.C., from what I hear. All I can say is, I wish I'd had a chance to do an ad like that 'back in the day' when I was still doing commercial production!). If not, its just part of the background noise. I have an idea. For those of you for whom this is such a big freaking deal, stop bitching on the Mailbag...save up all your coins...and hire yourself an expensive lawyer to challenge WTOP's licence renewal with the FCC whenever that comes up next. Aside from switching to another station (which most intelligent people do when confronted with something they find themselves hearing what they don't like), this to me is a much better use of time than crying here. Good luck, though. I think the good that the station does far outweighs some of the PETTY concerns voiced in the mailbag these last few days. And that includes those from the religious bigot. /Gingerly stepping off the soapbox in Manolo Blahniks 3" heel boots/ - Just Call Me 'Legs' (11/15/07) /\ November 15 Messages /\ \/ November 14 Messages \/ Dave, shame on you for putting Jeff Christie into the same paragraph as such journalists as Al Roker, Bob Novak, or even Tim Russert. Rush Windbag is not a journalist. I'm just shaking my head at whatever you must have been thinkin'! He is at best a disgusting, disrespectful, loathsome, egotistical, hateful, boor whose presence on the airwaves I find shameful. Yes, there have been a few good things he's done over the years. But, they're always about him. Not one whit is usually given about those he's "helped". The French political philosopher Clemenceau once said (loosely translated), "If you're not a liberal by the time you're 25, you haven't any heart. But, if you're not a conservative by the time you're 35, you haven't any intelligence." If one listens to Rush Limbaugh for any length of ! time, you cannot help but wonder about him as he rarely shows any sign of either heart or intelligence. The one thing I hear throughout his broadcasts is an on-going bitterness of varying kinds. And, for that I suppose he should be pitied, not scorned. Sorry for the rant, Dave. But, except for Rush, the only other bipeds that get me riled like that are Rupert Murdoch and Mel Karmazin! Unsigned Corporate Suit (11/14/07) The Firesign Theater said it best: "_TOP _ENSORSHIP!" (11/14/07) Not to belabor a critical mailbag point but Stephanie Miller doesn't have any affiliation with Air America, her show is syndicated through Jones Radio Networks. Any criticism of her program's delayed airing should be placed on the local affiliate. Everett W. (11/14/07) In reference to; "Today, Chris [Core] read a statement from [Mr.] Jacobson [at the top of the 10 O'Clock hour,] rebutting [Mr.] Core's [previous] assertions. I'm sure that was the settlement that led to the dropping of the lawsuit. No further comments about the issue were made after the statement was read." end quote. Why would you make this conclusion, my friend? Just because Chris Core read a statement on air authored by Mr. Jacobson doesn't mean the oral statement was the only subjugation or term of any settlement. Does it, councilor? (11/14/07) “What is the big difference between editorial control and commercial advertising control? It all comes out of the same speakers.” You just showed us all you know nothing about news. Your earlier postings reveal you as a religious bigot. Go away. (11/14/07) To the poster is wants to know why Bonneville doesn’t have the right to censor the ads on WTOP: Nobody ever stated that they didn’t have the right. Of course they have the right to make that decision. The listeners have the right to question the policies and dig deeper into the motives. I love when the news folks get all caught up in the news integrity subject. WTOP exists for the sole purpose of making money. Content is carefully selected to drive ratings, which in turn drives revenue. Integrity is a word thrown around news types who think they are helping to save the world from evil destruction. The line between news content and commercial content is very grey. NBC went “all green” last week for 24 hours. Did you notice that most of the commercials were green related during the 24 hours? They started selling that day 2 months ago and for a premium. I guess it was just a coincidence that NBC nightly news aired from an auto manufacturer last night in Detroit spinning the US auto business in a comeback mode when the battle for automobile ad dollars is critical to a stations success. If you want integrity go work for NPR, better yet, go have another donut and pat yourself on the back. It is all about the money. (11/14/07) Most radio stations will not accept ads for XM or Sirius. Is that censorship, or is that just a desire by radio stations to not commit suicide? And a lot of stations will not accept ads for or against abortion. It's not about censorship. It's just a fact that if you run them, at least 1/3 of your audience will be livid with you. It's just not worth alienating that many listeners. It's lose-lose for radio stations. (11/14/07) (Hey Jim Farley! What is the big difference between editorial control and commercial advertising control?) This guy is not only a religious bigot, he knows absolutely NOTHING about news. (11/14/07) RE: Righty radio and Air America. I get vored hearinf Mark Levin hawk his dog book so I’ve been listening Air America. It was an hour of Randy Rhodes and Stephanie Miller over the last week or so. Jesus H Christ, I see why AA is/was having financial difficulties. Randy makes some of George Noory’s guests seem sane. She is certifiably loony. She maniacally shrieks 9/11 is an inside job and 75%+ of the American people want Cheney impeached? Ummm OK. Stephanie is just “Bush stole two elections/Bush is an idiot/Bush is the Antichrist/Bush is Hitler” and lame sound effects thrown in. ALso nothing topical like a morning show played on tape delay at night. I tried, I really tried but I just don’t get Air America. Even if they were on 50,000 watt blowtorches, the content isn’t interesting to listen to. (11/14/07) Have you heard about the website a Junkies fan has trying to get Lindsay Czarniak from Channel 4 sports in their studio? www.getlindsayinthejunksstudio.com... It's pretty funny. There's a 100% chance they will mention your site if you mention their quest to Lindsay in studio. Check it out. Love your site! (11/14/07) "Hey! What is the big difference between editorial control and commercial advertising control?" If you don't know the difference, I sure wouldn't want you working in my newsroom. (11/14/07) The person throwing around the word 'censorship' around really needs a reality check. Almost all radio companies have guidelines concerning what kind of spots they will accept. I've sent salespeople and/or copywriters back many times for a rewrite. In some cases, I just rejected the ad. Bonneville has every right to reject (or 'censor', if you must) anything that comes across its desk, except in certian political situations during the voting season. Tell me why they don't have that right? If you start down the 'public airwaves' path, just don't. That argument is easily defeatable. (11/14/07) “What is the big difference between editorial control and commercial advertising control? It all comes out of the same speakers.” That’s like asking, “what’s the difference between a news story and an ad in the newspaper – after all, they both appear on the same page”. There is a huge difference. One is run for the profit of the enterprise; the other is run in the interest of informing the community being served. WTOP has no restrictions on running news stories about lotteries or gambling. The station’s owners simply choose not to accept money from those interests. Similarly, even though the station runs ads for gun shows, there is no pressure brought to bear not to run stories about gun violence when events dictate. (11/14/07) Here's another sponsorship opportunity for WTOP, if they take ads for slots: "From the Three Cherry Win-A-Million-At Laural Glass Enclosed Nerve Center" or for guns: "From the (gun SFX here) 12-gauge Remington Glass Enclosed Nerve Center" - or another boozer: "From the White Lightening Glass Enclosed Nerve Center" -- the revenue ops are endless. (11/14/07) Chris Core, once again, took an issue, "planted questions," and attributed it ONLY to Hillary Clinton. Anyone that has followed this current screwed up administration knows that the Bush administration has been guilty, many times over, of the same planned tactics Chris Core attributed to only Hillary. Let's list: Jeff Gannon-fake White House bureau chief, "Talon News Service"- fake news organization, a fake FEMA press conference, soldiers in Iraq being scripted on what to say to the president during a live satellite link up, paying commentators for good reviews on White House policies, leaking partial reports to the New York Times and then quoting as if it were independently assessed information, paying Iraqi newspapers to run fake-feel good stories, and forcing midshipman and enlisted personnel to sit through Bush speeches and warning of attribution if they don't give the President a standing ovation. This current administration has gone out of its way to script appearances, and present closely knit, carefully worded lines and attribute those lines to other people. And by the way, she was asked to ask a specific question; in no way was she an employee of the campaign, Hillary's Senate office, or the DNC. AHHH. But a Hillary aid asked a college kid to ask the Senator about global warming Chris Core needs to get his head out of Mike Duncan's (of the RNC) arse. Full disclosure; I am not a Hillary operative, actually, I like Richardson. I am not with the DNC, or Air America or Media Matters. I do read the Washington Post every day, and the NYT's on Sunday. (11/14/07) Chris Core outraged by Hillary's planted questions? I don't know what that guy was listening to, but Core wasn't outraged. He was perplexed that she feels he need to know the questions in advance. It's hard for me to believe that everyday people really want to defend Hillary on this one. These defenders must be on the campaign payroll, because no one can support the used of planted questioners. It's just weak and to justify it by saying "Everybody does it" or "George W. Bush did it too!" is pretty lame too! Now, Chris Core WAS outraged last month when he saw the letter to the editor in the Wash. Post from Gary Jacobson on the step by step instructions on how to hire a day laborer. Thus, Jacobson sued Core and as DCRTV has written, the suit was settled yesterday. Today, Chris read a statement from Jacobson, rebutting Core's assertions at the top of the 10 O'Clock hour. I'm sure that was the settlement that led to the dropping of the lawsuit. No further comments about the issue were made after the statement was read. (11/14/07) Hey Jim Farley! What is the big difference between editorial control and commercial advertising control? It all comes out of the same speakers. How can you label people religious bigots because they point out that WTOP is owned and managed by the Mormon Church? The Mormon Church is relevant to this discussion because that is the reason WTOP will not accept business from the multi billion dollar gambling industry which is one of the fastest growing industries in the United States. This whole discussion started because you accepted an ad for a gun show. Guns and ammunition is a polarizing subject and the posters found the decision making process a bit hypocritical. Let’s see, the news station in the most powerful city in the world will accept the paid promotion of guns and ammunition but not any form of gambling because of there personal beliefs. This is CENSORSHIP any way you look at it. Oh by the way, listing the industry awards WTOP has won over the years is a lame defense. Nobody cares. (11/14/07) Always enjoy your rants... but have noticed that you rant far more about printed news (esp. the Post) and about station management than about local broadcast journalism. Why so few rants about, say, how local stations cover (or don't) the news? With your bully pulpit, you're in an excellent position to call out some of the nonsense that passes for local news. I'm not talking about critiquing some anchor's wardrobe; I'm suggesting more heavy-duty media crit--the utter lack of political coverage on local TV news, for example, or the sports anchors' shameless devotion to certain local team owners. Just a thought. (11/14/07) Dave's response: I agree! Honestly, though, I don't watch all that much local TV news. Now that I've finally got an HD set and am checking out the HD feeds for 4, 5, 7 and 9, I have been watching some. But it's so baaaaaad (particularly 5) that I can't stay tuned too long. I guess I rant more about the Post because I use it as much more of a news source than I do local TV. I really do think it's one of (if not the) best newspapers in the whole country (despite the Reliable Source gals). Their coverage of the war in Iraq and the Blackwater mess is second to none! I do rant a lot about WMAL and WTOP because I listen a lot. Usually at 5 PM, though, I'll put Chris Matthews on instead of local TV news. Or I'll listen to Don and Mike. At 6:30, I'm often listening to Buzz's headlines than watching Katie or Brian. I used to watch a lot more local TV than I do now. And I'm sure I'm not alone..... Am I the only one that is having trouble picking up WTOP? Nothing in Fredericksburg and mostly static at Ft Belvoir. Ed (11/14/07) Dave's response: Anyone else having trouble with 103.5? The Death of Radio - Found this article via FARK.com: www.hear2.com (11/14/07) Bonneville's anti-gambling ad policy raises some interesting hypothetical questions in my mind. If the proposed slots referendum makes the Maryland ballot for November 2008, would Bonneville refuse to run ads from the pro-slots side advocating its passage? If so, would it also block anti-slots ads in the name of equal treatment? Everett W. (11/14/07) I heard Chris Core for a few minutes this morning and he was outraged, OUTRAGED I tell you, that Senator Clinton's aids asked a college student to ask the Senator about global warming. Did I tell you how OUTRAGED Chris was at this scheme? Anyway, a caller with a campaign background said every politician does it, and Chris was still OUTRAGED about Hillary Clinton. Hey Chris, if you are so OUTRAGED at Hillary's people for planting a question, why have you never mentioned on your show that a gay Republican "escort" (male for male hooker) named Paul Guckert (aka, Jeff Gannon) was planted into the White House press core by a "not outed" now former White House senior staffer to ask politically loaded, misleading, and factually inaccurate laced questions to the President and the White House Press secretaries? Sean Hannity even called Guckert (or Gannon, or whatever name he was using at the time), a "terrific White House bureau chief" before it was revealed the questions and stated premises leading up to the questions Guckert was asking were laced with inaccuracies, or just plain softball. Guckert was finally removed by the White House press core because he was not a "journalist" and his "news" website was pretty much a mirror of a RNC website. Did you know Sean Hannity has never mentioned why he removed Guckert (Gannon) from his radio show? Any comments, Chris, or, can you only be OUTRAGED at Democrats? WMAL, your Democrat bashing "news," and misinformation station. (11/14/07) Okay. Allow me to clarify. I’m the one who nominated Allison Oakley for the hottie stakes. I’m not only not her husband, I’m a middle-aged heterosexual female. I’ve been a fan of hers since her WARW days as a third of “Mark, Art, and Allie”—before I even knew what she looked like—and I thought she was aurally cute even then. My first thought when I initially saw her picture was: “What’s she doing in radio?” Besides, it’s not just looks; it’s personality, and she sparkles. Mother Hubbard (11/14/07) Mike Moss said there were fire trucks outside the (WTOP) studio. You could hear the alarm through the booth's closed door. Bruce Alan made a crack about skimping on the soundproofing. He opened the booth door and it was very loud. They said they got a lot of calls from listeners telling them to get out, but they said they were safe. Moss said "If there were flames, we'd be broadcasting out on the street" (that's not a direct quote). Mike said there was an "electrical smell." Stopped by 6:35 or so. Jerry (11/14/07) And the other Birach Broadcasting shoe drops... The WDMV AM 700 50kw application has been resubmitted to the FCC. Looks like the same site they're currently using. It notes The Damascus Residents for Responsible Tower Siting, Inc. as filing a complaint attacking Birach Broadcasting's "character qualifications" as "without merit". Don't ya just love it when NIMBYs unite and form corporations to destroy businesses that employ people and put food on the table just to protect their backyard cookout views? (11/14/07) From a WTOPer..... Fire alarm went off moments after 6.....clearly audible on air whenever the mikes were open. Didn't go off until 6:40. Very loud. Many concerned listeners called Lisa in the traffic center, so Mike and Bruce explained it on the air. When I got here about 6:25, firemen were reporting a fire in an air handler on the 5th floor (3400 Idaho is a 5-story building......the office building in Mclean Gardens in Northwest DC. Glass-enclosed nerve center is on the 3rd floor, WFED and WWWT are on the first floor. Bonneville occpuies the whole building except for the 5th floor and a small portion of the 4th.....a real estate firm rents that portion). Later, firefighters told WTOP it was not really a fire, just smoke coming from an air handler on the 5th floor. Newsroom kept wondering why so many firefighters kept coming to the 3rd floor until one of them admitted they were just fans of WTOP. They were very nice, and they got here just a few minutes after the newsroom called 911. Mike and Bruce volunteerd to stay on the air and suggested everybody else leave. NOBODY left the newsroom. They all stayed through it and they say hours later, their ears are STILL ringing. (11/14/07) (“There is not a single thread of evidence to support the idea that there is no content control of Bonneville from Salt Lake City” Bonneville refuses to allow its stations to accept any gambling business as advertising. ) There's a big difference between a policy not allowing certain types of advertising (gambling, hard liquor) and control of news content. Bonneville bought WTOP in 1997. I am still waiting for the first discussion of editorial content. Despite what unsigned religious bigots write here, Bonneville has a long, prestigious tradition of editorial excellence and integrity with more Murrows, Marconis and Crystal awards than any other group of its size. Jim Farley (11/14/07) “Why would anyone care about commercials” Sir, you act as if the commercials are not part of the content of a given hour on a radio station. WTOP runs about 20 minutes of commercials every hour. Commercials are part of the content of any radio station. The last stop for commercial approval is the Program Director not the Sales Manager. You can listen to any news station and wonder if the content you just heard was a commercial or a part of the news programming. WTOP has made a nice living off of commercials that sound like news programming. You think all of those Defense Contractor and Federal Government reports aren’t paid for? (11/14/07) What a dope Barbara Harrison is on Channel 4. This morning at 6:50 they showed footage from a Lunar probe of the Earth setting on the moon. Incredible film as our planet lowered below the craters on the moon, but when it ended dopey Babs came out with the statement that it "looked wonderful setting behind the clouds on the moon" ! Joe Krebs and Tom Kierein immediately jumped in to point out they were craters, and hopefully explained to her afterwards that there is no atmosphere and no water on the moon and also to let her know it's not made of green cheese. What a dope she is. (11/14/07) RE: “There is not a single thread of evidence to support the idea that there is no content control of Bonneville from Salt Lake City” Bonneville refuses to allow its stations to accept any gambling business as advertising. You think the local managers don’t want that money? This is not only a huge category today but it is going to get bigger if the slot referendum passes next November. Lotteries, Race Tracks, Casinos like Charlestown in WVA are significant spenders in the ad world. The fact is that Bonneville is owned and managed by the Mormon Church. The Mormon Church, like all religions have rules that don’t follow the mainstream. This is not racial or religious hatred. This is fact. If Bonneville chooses to not accept gambling or liquor advertising that is there business. When they choose to capitalize on the content of news stories that involve gambling or liquor then the word hypocrisy creeps in to the picture. Bonneville is in a tough spot trying to run a mainstream broadcasting outlet while satisfying the church leaders. Imagine if an Orthodox Jewish person owned WTOP and they shut the on air product down for the Sabbath every week and for the High Holy Days. Most of us would think that is pretty unusual. Business and Religion don’t mix if your market is mainstream. Keep them separate, or get out of the business. (11/14/07) (I have no problem with a station taking gun show ads. But if that same station won't take state lottery ads or beer ads, there's something hypocritical there) Dave...why are we talking about COMMERCIALS! Why would you or anyone else care if Bonneville doesn't take Lottery advertising?? The only people who would care about that are people from the Lotteries!!! btw...check your facts. Bonneville does take beer advertising and has for a long time. You just don't hear much at all because of the formats. (11/14/07) RE: "Three hours of "I hate Hillary" every damn day from Rush. We know, Rush, you hate her. But do you need to keep telling us again and again and again! You shameless hack! By the way, you are fat and ugly." You ever listen to Air America?? That's 24/7 of the same, "I hate Cheney & Bush." How come that doesn't come under the same ire from you? It happens on both sides, dude. That's why political radio is such crap now. The lefties all despise the Bush administration, the righties all despise anything Clinton and meanwhile neither side is all that different and the rubes on both sides are left arguing with each other about who's right or wrong but then again, you can always come up with an intelligent argument against Limbaugh by making fun of his weight and looks as you did.... Yeah, because that's not at all hack. (11/14/07) Technology s***ts the bed again: Take a look at this video. A woman struck by lightning wakes up from a coma and begins her recuperation. Its just that the playout system picked the worst possible time to malfunction. And watch how well the anchor DOESN'T handle it. www.break.com (11/14/07) So Fox 5 has decided to launch a website focusing on one demographic in the DC, MD, VA area. Will they also be launching separate websites for other ethnic groups? What about the Latin Community or the Asian Community? We already have radio stations broken down by various ethnic formats so why does a TV station with a far greater reach than any radio station feel the need to create a separate site for one part of the community they serve. Not a sermon just a thought…. (11/14/07) I just bought installed an HD Radio today. $150 from Crutchfield. HD radio sounds great in DC. 100.3 Oldies on HD2 is great. WETA has a excellent Blue Grass optoin. I like what 94.7 is doing with Classic Rock 'The Jam" on their HD2. I'm an HD believer now. And $150 for the HD Radio/CD player is amazing. (11/14/07) Dave's response: OK, three HD channels you like for $150. That's $50 per channel. Oh, it's WAMU doing the bluegrass. WETA-FM only runs its main classical signal on HD..... Looks like his royal gasbag Kornholio just might win the AOL poll for worst sport's expert analcyst tinyurl.com... I don't even bother with MNF on espn anymore it's such a pathetic presentation with all the commercials and hype. Is Wilbon pulling a Sally Jenkins (big yawn for her Carlisle book) by writing columns from a far away place? On the infrequent occasion I bother with WaPo sport's page these days I don't see a Wilbon column no more anyways. Lil' Steven's Underground still there just the numbnuts at The Glob ran an all Bruce show Sunday night and cut off last hour of the Underground. Let's see they cut off my favorite show on The Glob hosted by a mainstay of the E Street band so they could run a show late night for the folks leaving the Bruce concert instead of playing a lot of Bruce music during the day leading up to the concert. Have I mentioned how pathetic I find the morning show on The Glob hosted by weasal and kelly, weasal settle them hormoans down you're nearly 60. Geez I find it sad. I miss the Doodad Daddy! Listened to the Op and Ant this morning for a bit, first time long time. When does the warden come to put them out of their misery? I hear a Fidelity tv ad these days that plays a Paul McCartney song from his Wings day's, doesn't he own the rights to those songs? If so eff to him for selling out like that load of bullocks townsend. if he doesn't own song so sorry, surely the song ain't owned by the king of poop is it? And didn't Donnie Geronimo say many times over the year's he wanted nothing to do with his adoptive parents? Or was that a bit? (11/14/07) /\ November 14 Messages /\ \/ November 13 Messages \/ "Excuse me - but as long as the sale of guns is legal, the ads are too." - what's with the holier than thou, Bonneville? Isn't beer legal, too? Doesn't it also touch wide segments of your audience? More than guns, in fact (except PG County, I suppose). So why not beer ads? Hey, here's an idea: "From the Colt 45 Malt Liquor Glass Enclosed Nerve Center" (11/13/07) What in God’s name has happened to Brian Williams? I just got finished watching the Chrysler NBC Nightly News. An unabashed infomercial for Chrysler dressed in the theme of “Detroit’s Comeback.” Why not just report the news and leave the pom-poms with your daughter? Here’s a sample: Williams – “These trucks being assembled right behind us…those men and women are building someone’s dream!” Brian Williams needed a whole roll of Bounty to wipe the spooge off after that “report.” (11/13/07) I love guns! BLAM! ... Yes, sir, I love guns! But like Bonneville, I don't drink. Remember, guns don't kill people, bullets do. Heh, heh, heh. SIgned, George W. (as in "Winchester") Bush (11/13/07) Excuse me, but what do state laws in Utah have to do with how Bonneville manages their radio stations here? With jewish, muslim & agnostic employees, openly gay air talents, and even lottery ads in the form of live reads from the Metro traffic & news services, you'd think Bob Johnson himself would come running to DC and close the doors at 3400 Idaho. But NOOOOOOOOOO (with apologies to Steve Martin) there's not a single thread of evidence to support the idea that beyond the business control of WTOP, 3WT & WFED, there is no content control or oversight of objectionable ad content from Salt Lake City. You see, the secret is that we transmit all those subliminal messages from the gold statue on top of the Mormon Temple on the north side of the beltway. (he he he) Sometimes I think it's funny that Dave allows the idiots to show their racial & religious hatred here, but funnier when the "bandwagon" gets a little full. (11/13/07) As an adoptee myself, I can tell you that the term "adoptive father" should not be used. My dad is my dad and how he became my dad is beside the point. Please refer to parents as simply that. Thanks. (11/13/07) Dave's response: Mike O'Meara made reference to the term in making today's announcement, so I used it in the Front Page newsblurb..... ("You know, you hear cooler tunes being played as "bumper" music...on talker WMAL". That's because WMAL has the Coolest Cat of Technical Directors, Michael Piercey, who is a Master on the board. Led Zep Rulz!... Dave's response: Maybe he should be programming The Globe.....) The fact that about 16 people have said something to me about this and the post that started it (your Rant on 11/9) means lots of people read the site. Congratulations Dave…but to shut them all up though I should probably take credit for the bumper and promo music on our station. Regarding the above from Silvie, Michael himself brought this to my attention. He’s responsible for the bumper music on Chris Plante’s evening show, but I’ll take the credit for almost everything else (Core’s show being the one exception, shout out to the Commander Mike McKay). As much as you hate our station, we work pretty hard to entertain people. Glad you noticed. And no, I wouldn’t want to program the Globe. I used to work there when it was “Washington’s Classic Rock” and they raw-dealed me big time. You know what? Their loss. JJ Surma, Production/Creative Services Director, 630 WMAL/Citadel Radio (11/13/07) I support gun ads. Guns are good. Guns keep America safe. Guns are the only thing standing between us and the commies and Islamist radicals. - Signed, Dick "I Shot My Friend In the Face" Cheney. (11/13/07) Dave's response: I have no problem with a station taking gun show ads. But if that same station won't take state lottery ads or beer ads, there's something hypocritical there..... "Three hours of "I hate Hillary" every damn day from Rush. We know, Rush, you hate her. But do you need to keep telling us again and again and again!" and it sounds like you listen to every minute of it. Mega Dittos! (11/13/07) Dave's response: I thought it was "mega dildos"..... Last night PBS aired the 10th annual Mark Twain Comedy Award program, which awarded the prize to Billy Crystal. I watched as the end credits whizzed by, but didn't see the name of the announcer for the show. Does anybody know who it was? (11/13/07) Since somebody wrote in to question the hotness of Allie Oakley, I'll add a voice to support her for a hottie contest. She is one. I'm sure whoever posted that only her husbands thinks so has a beautiful wife somewhere on the internets. (11/13/07) I don't care if people rant on me for being a loyal listener to the D&M show, but condolences to Don on the the loss of his "true" father. (11/13/07) "Allowing any type of gun or ammunition advertising on the airwaves is inexcusable, particularly in the Washington area." Excuse me - but as long as the sale of guns is legal, the ads are too. TOP's audience includes people involved in gun sports, including hunting, trap shooting, etc. If the gun shows are engaged in illegal activity, then pull the ads. (11/13/07) Ahhh, the new turf has been added to a stadium for a team no one will care about by 2009. I'm sure DC media will be all over their shiny new toy until the stench from the awful team drives them and most everyone else away. Good one, DC! And some child maybe just a few short blocks from all that ''excitement'' will be wondering where his next meal is coming from. Paul (11/13/07) It must have been Oakley's husband. Holly Warner was much cuter and knew the actual roads! Channel 5 missed that boat! Also...get OVER it on the gun thing! Ever hear of the Second Amendment? Do you really think psychos and thugs go to LEGAL gunshows and sources to buy their weapons? S. Colt (11/13/07) Next week while everyone is slacking off at work before Thanksgiving comes and looking for something to do during those grueling mid-day hours, tune into 106.7 WJFK, or jump on the WJFK.COM stream to catch Big O and Dukes! Thats right the 19th, 20th and 21st your favorite evening duo will be invading the airwaves to provide you all with some pre-holiday entertainment in Jim Rome's slot 1-3pm! Be sure to listen! B_CR@NE (11/13/07) Dave's response: I just looked into my cracked 106.7 crystal ball and saw "El Jefe, J-Dubs, and Dave." Dave? Hmmm..... ".....Heard on all-news WTOP today, an ad for a "guns and ammo" show at the Dulles Expo Center."....It should be noted that the state of Utah still excecutes nonmormoms by firing squad using real bullets. It is part of Utah state law. They also deal one hand of five card draw poker to settle close elections. Talk about a backwards state. (11/13/07) Allowing any type of gun or ammunition advertising on the airwaves is inexcusable, particularly in the Washington area. After all we have been through the last few years with the "Sniper shootings" and the "Va Tech shootings" you would think that the news station would refuse the ad. No lottery ads, but they choose to glorify the lottery when the jackpot gets big in the news coverage. No race track ads, but they choose to glorify the Derby, Preakness and Breeders Cup in the news coverage. What do you think has more value, the news coverage, or the ads? Bonneville claims that they do not want to profit off of a gambling business, yet they use the gambling content for news which turns into ratings which turns into revenue. I guess this convoluted logic helps them sleep at night. (11/13/07) Coal trains are freight trains. Get over it. Mike from Frederick, and the Dashboard DX Society, including many lifelong railfans. "Casey Jones, better watch your speed!" (11/13/07) ("Why is Allison Oakley not on your “hottie” list? She’s cute as a button!") What?!? Who wrote that...her husband? (11/13/07) Levan Reid strikes again. On his noon report from the new stadium he breathlessly reported that the new "turf" had been laid today. Actually the grass was delivered a week ago and by the end of last week and was almost completely in place. Over the weekend I looked at the stadium-cam and the field was completely green. (11/13/07) Three hours of "I hate Hillary" every damn day from Rush. We know, Rush, you hate her. But do you need to keep telling us again and again and again! You shameless hack! By the way, you are fat and ugly. (11/13/07) (From DCRTV's Classified Ads:) RADIO PRODUCER AVAILABLE- I specialize in supporting you the way you want to be supported. I write jokes, come up with contests and bit ideas. I chase down the newsmakers, reporters, celebrities and anyone else you want to talk to. I get the stories that will arouse your listeners. I wade through every maniacal call and make sure you get lucid listeners on the line. I’m an expert in audio production, promotion, research, web updates and much more. I take care of every detail. Call 301-233-4544. (11/13/07) (From DCRTV's Classified Ads:) RADIO SALES - If you wish the company you worked for didn't have so much corporate paperwork and allowed you to be more creative, then we might have what you' re looking for. If you have at least 5 years media sales experience and thrive on competition and creativity, we want to talk to you. WINC has a very unique opportunity with an established billing list for the right salesperson. Generous commissions, established clients and a sales environment that breeds success. WINC has been a legendary radio station for years and now we have a sales position open for just the right person. We are an equal opportunity employer and we look forward to hearing from the best. Join a company that believes people make the difference! Send your resume and cover letter to sales@winc.fm. We are an equal opportunity employer. (11/13/07) Summer 2007 DC Metro Persons 12+: WETA 4.5 share, 9.4 cume rating; WAMU 4.4 share, 12.9 cume rating. www.rrconline.com (11/13/07) Re:"There can't be a worse return on investment than XM's Home Plate channel 175." You're missing the point of satellite radio…. No, the reason SATRAD is on the verge of becoming Mel's next hell hole is the bidding war for NFL, MLB, Oprah and the king of all porn, et all. If XM stuck to providing good music across the spectrum with engaged and knowing DJs, along with nominal news, talk, comedy etc, their cost to break even would be much lower and the content even better. Small is beautiful if you are making money. (11/13/07) Regaring your post about WTOP...Let It Snow. On ABC7 Doug Hill's Weather Blog is a post that says looking into the crystal ball their is a possible snow storm at the end of month www.wjla.com (11/13/07) Do you have any information on how WETA did on the latest ratings, or the fund raising drive? (11/13/07) Dave's response: Nothing specific, but I believe WETA-FM's ratings and pledges are up substantially since the switch to classical music back in January. Not sure how the TV side is doing..... (Regarding the latest Rant:) What he/she said about WMAL is pretty accurate. People focus on their ratings, but their Sales story is strong. They make some nice dough for Citadel shareholders. (11/13/07) Dave, in response to your rant concerning traffic reporters and road names, I also hate it when weather dudes and news readers don't get the names of local towns and counties right. I don't expect them to go into localisms like "Blair Road" for Belair Road, but I do expect them to notice that Harford Road/County is "T"-less. Howie (11/13/07) Dave's response: Or how about when a TV news anchor talks about a fire or accident in "Fairfax County." Ah, there are about two dozen place names for the sprawling county. How about being a bit more specific? It's a long way from Great Falls to Mount Vernon..... Why is Allison Oakley not on your “hottie” list? She’s cute as a button! (11/13/07) Dave's response: It's a "in-progress" project. We'll get to her in one of our upcoming rounds..... This may have been brought up before, but I'm hearing what sounds like WWV time code pips playing in the background behind 570 AM. Who's doing that? And why on 570? (11/13/07) Dave's response: It's Cuba's Radio Reloj or Radio Clock. You can often hear it "underneath" talker WTNT after dark..... Not all classic rock stations are sterile. The music is all the same but the delivery is what counts. "The Globe" is mixing the clasic rock standards with 80's pop-rock and while I understand the concept, the delivery is just wrong. The "green" thing is just smug, and the DJs are very dull and devoid of any local feel. A good comparison is the Baltimore classic rock station who is playing the same "overplayed"songs, but the delivery is very local but not local in an unprofessional small town way. Listening to them on sunday on my way to the Ravens game really was a good experience. The music was what I know, but it was all the stuff that got our van going, and the DJ was at least sounding like he was having a blast playing the tunes. No "we're better than you" or "we're an exclusive crowd" type delivery, but just a woo-hoo crack a beer and lets party type sound. I can't get them usually, but the hour + that we had them on while driving around for parking was nice to hear. The people at The Globe can take a real lesson from the Baltimore guys at "100.9 The Bay" because the station was a fun listen. Too bad that my first Baltimore game was not nearly such a good experience, but that's another story. (11/13/07) Dave's response: How about putting Whitney's brain in Schelby's body. Or the other way around. Oh nevermind..... Vote for BADEN - Hey Dave..... Only cause she shares my wife's birthday......! Dave in Waldorf (11/13/07) /\ November 13 Messages /\ \/ November 12 Messages \/ Re:"There can't be a worse return on investment than XM's Home Plate channel 175." You're missing the point of satellite radio. All XM channels are XM. They are not competing against each other. Each channel allows the others to exist. Personal example: There's a channel on Sirius I listen to a total of 54 minutes each week, and this past week I even turned it off after 5 minutes because it was just unlistenable. But if they dump that channel, I'm dumping Sirius. It's the little oddball things that make satellite radio worth the expense. (11/12/07) FOX Sports promoted Kenny Albert to the number two team on NFL games this year. His regular partners are Darryl Johnston and Tony Siragusa. (aka Moose and Goose). Dick Stockton was demoted to work with Brian Baldinger. Albert was working with Troy Aikman only while the baseball playoffs were going on. You can always find out what games the broadcasters are doing each week by checking out the Friday sports section of the USA Today. (11/12/07) Re: " The Globe is doing just fine. I'm glad your opinions don't match the rest of The Washington area." Ratings prove this statement to be inaccurate. As I've said before, I was suckered in by the initial hype for the station, but I gave up on it months ago. As long as they continue to be a sterile vehicle for Classic Rock (call it "World Class Rock" all you want--which, I guess, was assigned in imitation of the equally bland Sirius station of the same name) with no local attachments of any kind, I see no reason to give it another chance. Dave in Sterling (11/12/07) Dave's response: Damn. If The Globe goes away, who will play 'Til Tuesday? Thanks to the person who sent in a much better picture of Julie Wright..Sorry Dave, but the one you have posted really doesn't do her justice..On an unrelated note. I'm wondering if Wendy Reiger is practicing what she's preaching regarding all of this "going green" stuff or whether she's just being told to read copy. (11/12/07) Does WPRZ 104 have a website??? (11/12/07) Dave's response: It's WPRS. And yes - www.praise1041.com..... The Globe is doing just fine. I'm glad your opinions don't match the rest of The Washington area. (11/12/07) Hey Dave, While I tend to view the Washington Post as “useless” and a liberal cat litter box liner… I must agree with Tim Page in his assessment of Marion Barry. What a disgrace our nation’s capital has been over the last 50 years. I am glad that I live 90 minutes south of DC or Baltimore and only have to go there to attend a concert or sporting event or to take a flight out of BWI. Otherwise, the place is a hell hole. Dean in Southern MD (11/12/07) What happened to Little Steven's underground garage on the globe WTGB? (11/12/07) Dave's response: I hear promos for it. Isn't it still running? RE: anyone know what happened to Dick Stockton… It looks like he has been re-teamed w/ a different Color Man (Brian Baldinger??). Daryl Johnston and Tony Siragusa are with Kenny Albert. The last few weeks Kenny Albert filled in for Joe Buck (doing the World Series). And Daryl Johnston and Tony Siragusa had fill in play-by-play men. It should have been back to normal this week. (11/12/07) Would it be too much trouble for Washington area radio-TV announcers/writers to look at the damn calender every once in a while? I never noticed it in the past, but this year they all decided that Nov. 10 was Veteran's Day. And Nov. 11. And now, Nov. 12. Yes, it's true that there were some parades and other events on Saturday. And, yes, it's true that some people don't have to go to work today. But stop saying "Today is Veteran's Day," because it isn't. Veteran's Day was November 11. PERIOD. Yours in Shut The F--- Up Already, X. (11/12/07) Fascinating to see the Arbitron satellite radio numbers. There can't be a worse return on investment than XM's Home Plate channel 175. A .03 and a cume not unlike a 500-watt daytimer. Who's running that mess? (11/12/07) Bobbie, Snopes MAY be right THIS TIME, but my record with them is running about 85% incorrect! In one case, I KNEW the principals and was party to their discussion, which Snopes swore never happened, "because it didn't make sense." I don't believe anything I read on Snopes now. Also, regarding the lengthy and vast success of KGO, if you listen to Jim Dunbar and the other communicators that populated WLS during it's first five years, you can see how they could easily make the transition to talk radio! Even introducing a new act, Dunbar, Art Roberts and their resident "wild man," Dick Biondi, took the time give you a little bio information and draw you into what brought the artist's song to their air. Of course, now it sounds SO much better to have a laser effect and the station voice scream "NEW MUSIC" instead. Sarcastic? No... my pina colada just needs a little more coconut milk! - Ed. Rodriguez, Key West, Florida (11/12/07) Note to Chris ''Blowhard'' Matthews: Most people would rather watch Spongebob than the ''Evening News'' OR your show. Welcome to the real world. Paul (11/12/07) Dave's response: I like to think of Chris Matthews as the lefty version of Rush Limbaugh. At least Chris likes the ladies..... here is a two minute "Tribute" to the FCC by Eric Idle of Monty Python fame: www.pythonline.com (11/12/07) Wow, a Washington Post writer suspended for telling the truth. Imagine that. Can you imagine all of the emails between Washington Post writers with rude references to George W. Bush over the last couple years? But then again, I bet it's Post policy that you'd have to physically attack the President to be suspended or fired, don't ya think? (11/12/07) RE: "anyone know what happened to Dick Stockton on Fox Football?" As the other poster stated below, he's still with FOX but now is paired with Brian Baldinger. The Daryl Johnston and Tony Siragusa team has had a rotating main announcer this season. Last week it was Kenny Albert (the main announcer in this team). Others have been Thom Brennaman, Matt Vasgersian. Bob Corbin/VARTV.com (11/12/07) Those who know the history of KGO know that it was built on the strength of a top 40 disc jockey by the name of Jim Dunbar in the early 60's and he eventually ruled mornings until his retirement in 2000. (Ted Wygant of course played a significant role as well). Jim will tell you there were those at the time wondering not only about the format but about a "jock" leading a news intensive, issue oriented morning show. (11/12/07) Re: Bobb's post regarding sending cards to Any Soldier (A Recovering American Soldier) at Walter Reed: I got that e-mail also, and it sounded like a good idea, but according to Urban Legends (Snopes), it is not true. According to Snopes, because of security reasons, Walter Reed does not accept mail addressed to "Any Soldier." They suggest other ways to honor them on their website. Just wanted to get out the correct information. -- Bobbie (11/12/07) Great rant today. But I thought that everyone already knew that. Ed Graham (11/12/07) Glad that Neal Augenstein keeps a sense of humor about everything. Going back a number of years, until I saw his name in print, I always thought it was "Aug-DEN-stein". He does kind of say it that way. Just like new listeners to traffic in DC might think they're getting their reports from Lisa "Babe-in". (11/12/07) Did anyone else have problems listening to the Terps game on 106.7 Satursday night? As I drove home from the game, I was receiving 106.7 signal twice one delayed about 6 seconds. Did WJFK set up a repeater in College Park and it was out of sync with the main signal? (11/12/07) Dave's response: We have had reports that WJFK-FM is using a repeater in College Park..... I could have done without the post about Sam Donaldson and the call girl first thing this AM.. Man, if that isn't a frightening visual. Here comes my breakfast.. rraaaaaaaalllpph (11/12/07) An "updated" pic of Julie Wright (as one poster demanded -- I know you take 'em off the respective websites, but still) She's w/Brian Oliger of WTOP. (11/12/07) Dave's response: Brian's going for that Alfred Hitchcock look..... Chris Matthews' ego is second only to Donald Trump's...but a very close second. -- Bobbie (11/12/07) Being a former Vietnam Vet, I thought this might be a nice thing for all broadcasters to think about doing. When you are making out your Christmas card list this year, please include the following: A Recovering American Soldier, c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center, 6900 Georgia Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20307-5001 -BOBB (11/12/07) I also heard Art Andrews on AMU call it SPROUT RUN, not SPOUT RUN, I also think that when they talk about traffic they should be careful on direction where to where like ‘travelling on the toll road east between Hunters Mill to Reston Parkway” seems wrong, though technically not …. Travelling east would be from reston parkway to hunters mill makes more sense … - Marty (11/12/07) To the poster who seemed to find it important to blame all of the ills associated with Dan Snyder, Red Zebra, or pretty much anything else in this world, on his height; we are all very sorry that your mother bit your penis off at birth, but someone's height, like your sister's weight, has damn little to do with broadcasting accumen. And, while Neal Augenstein and Tom Sherwood may be good writers/reporters, they both talk funny and could benefit from elocution lessons. Signed, The Lilyputians, The Lollipop Guild, Mayor Bloomberg, Mike Dukakis and all of the short people of the world. (11/12/07) Dave's response: While he's the best local government TV reporter, I think that Tom Sherwood got his "cotton mouth" style straight from the creepy Brit Hume..... Neal Augenstein has a fine delivery. He's also a fine newsman and an even better friend. Neal is a class act all the way. (11/12/07) To my fan who for some reason didn't sign his name: Mean? Nahhh. I know imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. And, thanks for spelling my name and getting the call letters right. Best, Neal Augenstein (11/12/07) I noticed something last night on my car radio I had not seen for some time. While driving from Leesburg to south Fairfax County, I tooled around on the AM dial for awhile, then landed on a fairly thin signal from 890 WLS Chicago. But it was strong enough to fire off my "AM Stereo" light and split my speakers into an unmistakable two-channel panorama. All the way from Chicago! Does anyone know if there are there any Wash/Balt AMers still airing AM stereo today? (11/12/07) Dave's response: I haven't listened lately, but in my DXing days, some of those Chicago AMers would often come booming in like locals at night in the DC area. WLS on 890, WGN on 720, WBBM on 780, WMAQ on 670, and the old WCFL on 1000 were/are easy and frequent catches around here. As for AM stereo, I'm not aware of anyone around here still running it..... Some random thoughts as the the holidays approach, which means change in the radio world. Will the Citadel stations blow up the current management team and restructure? The people at WMAL, WRQX and Smooth Jazz may tell you that everything will be OK, but a scud missile filled with pink slips is heading toward Jennifer Street in the next few weeks.Will Danny Snyder keep the Red Zebra multi million dollar fiasco afloat for another year? Danny seems to gravitate towards losing efforts like Six Flags( All Time Stock Low) and Red Zebra Broadcasting ( Biggest joke in DC radio history) and his own football club, but enough is enough for the diminutive loser. Danny will blow all three up and boast about his new autobiography titled "You will do it my way because I am short, mean and rich".Will the CBS cluster of radio stations make any changes in Washington? The answer is NO, because that would make to much sense. (11/12/07) Heard WGTS simulcast on 106.1 Sunday 11/11 and this morning 11/12 - heard in Glen Burnie, Columbia, Ellicott City - ID'd as "WGTS 91.9"....?? (Found no existing station for 106.1 on list in DC/Balt area.) Guess the College decided owning one radio station wasn't so bad after all - and built another one.... Ahh - found translator licensed in Ellicott City Md W291BA-FM - since June...4.5 watts doing a heck of a job. Carl Olson, Pasadena. Md (11/12/07) Dave's response: We did report a few months ago that WGTS was starting a Baltimore relay on 106.1..... /\ November 12 Messages /\ \/ November 11 Messages \/ Choosing between Lisa Baden and Julie Wright is too difficult. Both have their idiosyncrasies, but they are as cute as buttons. Doc Holliday (11/11/07) ("anyone know what happened to Dick Stockton on Fox Football?") He's still doing games for Fox. He covered Green Bay's ass whipping of Minnesota today. (11/11/07) I have to agree with the previous writer in regards to the promotional staff that was at the Fall Festival. The "tall lanky" announcer was completely rude and not a very good representitive of the station. Maybe he was having an off day. I have never ever written to dcrtv (I am an avid reader, but not completely one who would write) but I have seen this Bozo at a couple of different promotional events for the station. My question is why did the The Globe get rid of the other promotions guy. He seemed to be everywhere; concerts, car washes, Hooter events, often all on the same day. His wit was a little on the politically incorrect side but he could make some fine stage announcements (using his own voice unlike this new kid) and kept everyone who stopped by feeling as though they really mattered to the radio station. I would strongly suggest they rehire the old guy (he was a keeper and seemed to really have a good time whether he really was or not) and return to when a promotion event was just that; an "event". (11/11/07) I for one am glad Derek Williams is gone from WTOP. His sing-songy delivery sounded amateurish and was painful to listen to. In fact, the majority of TOP reporters and anchors, to me, sound funny, especially Neal Augenstein. How does he make his voice do that? And I giggle at his sig out: “Neal Augenstein: W-Tapey News.” I’ll betcha everyone at WTOP has their own Augenstein impersonation. That’s not mean, is it? (11/11/07) anyone know what happened to Dick Stockton on Fox Football? he used to work with Johnston and Siragusa. I havent seen him in a while. (11/11/07) Count me among the Nats fans that are pleased with Bob Carpenter returning to the broadcast booth next season., Good move by Mr Kasten and Mr Bowden. Also read in the Post that Johnny Holliday will return to host the pre and post game shows on MASN. Another good move!! Johnny and Ray Knight were outstanding last season. Spring training is just around the corner. Go Nats. Shawn, Bethesda (11/11/07) I'm glad Bob Carpenter is coming back but he was treated horribly by the Nationals/MASN. Things like that, combined with the forthcoming parking/access fiasco at the new stadium are starting to make the Lerners/Kasten group look like the Keystone Kops. Also, Jack Kent Cooke's role in keeping expansion football out of Balamer is as much conjecture as Modell's. Both had strong interests in doing so. (11/11/07) Was watching FOX5 news tonight and saw some guy named Wyatt doing the weather and another guy named Dave (not Dave Ross) doing the sports. When did these guys show up?.. (11/11/07) To Dave In Sterling: What a great line about Russert admitting he'd go on Imus's show (if NBC brass allows it). I wish I would've thought of it. Hilarious! Here's what Dave wrote: "Russert Would Do Imus Again." I must have missed something -- when were they a couple? Marty Chickaboomer (11/11/07) Lisa Baden's Traffic report's accurate? What are you smoking? She seems to forget that 95S is the most traveled interstate on the East coast and that not everyone lives in Virginia. On top of it she couldn't be anymore annoying. The forced laughter and jokes are as bad as a 1960's sitcom with laugh trax. Just put Jim Russ on. He is accurate and to the point. (11/11/07) /\ November 11 Messages /\ \/ November 10 Messages \/ Go chew your arm off, who cares. LISA BADEN ROCKS! There...it's now been said. Apparently you don't get your slack-ass out of bed before 6am. It's good to have an in-depth, accurate traffic report right at 5am from someone who can at least put a smile on my face (along with the rest of the ABC-7 crew...winks to Allison). (11/10/07) Dear all, Here's a reminder: if you miss the taping of the Q&A Cafe as it happens each week at Nathans, you can catch it Saturday and Sunday nights on News Channel 8 and, beginning Friday, on DC Cable TV-16. The Saturday broadcast is at 6 p.m., the Sunday is at 11 p.m. NC8 is channel 28 on Comcast in DC and, I believe, channel 8 in Virginia. The interview this week is with Sheila Johnson. Next week is novelist David Baldacci. During Thanksgiving week we will re-run the interview with Tina Brown about Princess Diana. If you would like to be in the audience for one of the tapings, please contact Jon Moss at 202.338.2000 during weekday business hours. An all-inclusive fee of $35, paid at the door, covers food, soft beverages, tax and tip...and an interview with a remarkable and notable individual. As far as we know, it's the only talk show in a restaurant on the planet. Thanks for tuning in. Carol Joynt (11/10/07) RE: "A few weeks back, I blew through a piece on your site about the XM ratings. I've searched the current front page and the recent archives, but can't find it..." You can find the actual copy of the rankings here. Bob Corbin/VARTV.com (11/10/07) hmmmm so our choices are between a traffic reporter who lives to hear the sound of her own voice & a traffic reporter who lives for the sight of her own face... Next time, kind webmaster Dave, may we have a fair & balanced battle between someone like Jessica Doyle & Veronica Robinson? Or even Bob Marbourg & Jim Farley in a Battle of the Great Geezers? I'm going to go practice chewing my arm off just in case. (11/10/07) Dave: Just wanted to say you have a nice website. Interesting information about local and national media, stations, etc.. Just wanted to throw out this tidbit on a billboard I saw on 95 north the other day. Spokesperson for Air Tran, Steve ' AIR ' McNair, number 9 is on the left side and the verbiage goes something like this: " Number 9, you are cleared for take - off. " Wow, now that's a play on words. May have a few meanings, strictly coincidental, but found it ironic especially after the playing so far this year, not to mention last Monday. Hope AIR and the offense " take off " against Cincinnati tomorrow. Rich in Baltimore (11/10/07) The question is not "How" Farid will "Fix the Stations", but "When". We all know how they fix stations. Budget cuts, automation, consolidation, and layoffs. 2008 should be a fun year for that cluster. They will actually have to perform instead of cruise. (11/10/07) Dammit….I was in the business for over 30 years. Back in the day it was mandatory to take a class in Railroads. I mean really, railroads is a really important part of the broadcast business. I mean if you didn’t know railroads back then you just didn’t get hired. Such amateurs these days..I so well remember being taught, caboose….boiler..tracks…Geesus…Learn or burn. BOBB (11/10/07) If the Sirius XM merger goes through, will Howard Stern replace Opie & Anthony, as well as Ron & Fez on DIRECTV? JOHN IN STAFFORD (11/10/07) First of all, I didn't know WTOP was even on the air anymore. I guess its a webcast or something. Anyway, wasn't Derek Williams the same as Kyle Johnson? (11/10/07) Dave, With regard to the Citadel PR, did you read more than the first page? You missed the salient point in the Citadel press release. What you reported wasn't really news but rather obvious. Of course a company will attempt to fix poor performers. The question remains- How? In regard to such, to quote the release, these are "...certain markets that are more likely than not to be disposed." Farid doesn't make statements like that without an action plan at hand. The news in the PR is that something is going to be sold. You once again let your disdain for WMAL redirect your brain from journalist to sensationalist. (11/10/07) Dave's response: But my "distain" is equally spread around to all area stations..... I don't know the details of Derek Williams' departure, but I'd be disappointed if some of the postings about DWill are coming from former coworkers. Derek has broken some big stories, and has never been afraid to track down a newsmaker and put a mic in his face. Sure, he's a little cantankerous, but he's always delivered. I didn't get the chance to say goodbye, I'll miss him, and I'd vouch for him anytime. Cheers, Neal Augenstein (11/10/07) To answer the poster about the radio station ads running on tv...Fall is one of the most important books of the year. Every radio station should be marketing thierselves to the fullest extent. So, yes, most do buy ad time during the Fall. As for JACK, they either bought the ads, or they are running a trade with MASN--seeing that MASN and CBS Radio are in bed together. Steve (11/10/07) Speaking of enjoyable bumper music, I often heard the late great Danny Gatton on several of the bumpers for "Goss' Garage" when it was on WJFK-FM.. It was a nice blend of R&B, country & rock riffs on a constant basis.. Sad to say, the bumpers on 3WT's version of the show don't even compare.. It just takes a little thought & effort to make a difference in ANY endeavor when you get right down to it... Keep up the great work Dave! (11/10/07) Great bumper music is an indication to me of someone who is paying attention to the program or event they are producing, instead of the same tracks over & over & over again. Especially when the music relates directly to something the host just said. I often wonder how some producers can pull up the right music that quickly. A number of talk shows, both local and national, make no effort in that regard. I can remember listening to Art Bell and thinking, "geez I know the guy is in a trailer in the middle of the desert but does he have more than 10 CDs?" As for sports bumper music selection over the past few years the hands down winner for overall themes and quick fingers has to be the Nats producers. And kudos to the same guy (or group of guys) for NOT using Gary Glitter's Rock & Roll Pt 2 at anytime during the new 3WT Capitals hockey broadcasts. The first time I heard the new opening theme it took me almost an hour of digging to figure out it was Aldo Nova from the early 80's remixed. Pretty sad when you hear more variety from bumper music then you do on a music station. - Stan in Alexandria (11/10/07) Was watching the George Mason vs. Vermont basketball game on MASN this evening and an ad continually running for JACK 102.7. I enjoy JACK far more than Globe but seemed odd too me that a Baltimore radio station would run tons o' ads during a game based in D.C. market. Who schedules the commercials? A computer or a human being? Btws, is fall traditionally known as the time when radio stations run ads on tv, seems like many D.C. stations have ads all over the cable these days....that comment on Wizard games being shown on channel 20 five measly times this year drenched in biting satire? Still think Wizards should have gone after Kevin Garnett! trade Agent Zero and Jamison for him. Butler is the best all around player on the team. And speaking of Comcast tv broadcasts of Bullets games, wasn't Chick Hernandez involved in those broadcasts last year, is he off this year? My thoughts on Verizon are negative not from use of their products but from a couple years ago as the dug through the backyard to install their lines. Tore down my fence, which they never repaired and knocked out my phone for a week and went thru the usual bull shit to get it fixed and even now when I see a Verizon truck on my street I could take bets that my cable tv picture will be effed up for a few days afterwards. Hell cable tv sucks so bad programming wise and so much tv on this internet strongly thinking of dumping cable tv anyways. (11/10/07) "You know, you hear cooler tunes being played as "bumper" music...on talker WMAL". That's because WMAL has the Coolest Cat of Technical Directors, Michael Piercey, who is a Master on the board. Led Zep Rulz! (11/10/07) Dave's response: Maybe he should be programming The Globe..... Derek Williams canned from WTOP? ... Once he was asked to keep his live shots shorter than :45 or so, and ... did a live hit in :06 - and then hung up on Shawn and Diane. His (leaving) gives WTOP an opportunity to hire a young, hungry, talented team player. (11/10/07) Thanks to Merriam-Webster it can be told that a coal train is a freight train. Coal is a goods because it satisfies an economiic want. Want heat in the winter? Coal is your goods. (Those who work the railroads have industry jargon. M-W is for the rest of us.) a: the ordinary transportation of something that has economic utility or satisfies an economic want by a common carrier and distinguished from express b: a train designed or used for such transportation. (11/10/07) From the Washington Nationals website (washington.nationals.mlb.com): “Dave Jageler has agreed to terms on a new deal and will continue as one of the Nationals' radio play-by-play voices, according to baseball sources. Jageler's quick wit on the air has made him a popular figure in the D.C. area. Jageler was not available for comment. There is no word if Jageler's partner, Charlie Slowes, has agreed to terms with the Nationals.” That’s certainly welcome news – Charlie and Dave are a great team, and I hope we get to hear similar news about Charlie very soon. Brian in Fairfax (11/10/07) +++Yes, Allie is still doing traffic and breaking news for Fox 5. They changed some of the equipment on the helicopter and are still workingon it.+++ Damn! I thought we were spared. That girl, Holly Warner, was SO MUCH BETTER!!! - John Kluge (11/10/07) Hi, Dave, A few weeks back, I blew through a piece on your site about the XM ratings. I've searched the current front page and the recent archives, but can't find it. Can you direct me to where it is? Thanks, Matt (11/10/07) Dave's response: It's probably gone. News items stay on the Front Page for about three weeks. When I transfer items to the permanent News Archive, I delete the less important articles. That's probably what happened. Sorry..... /\ November 10 Messages /\ \/ November 9 Messages \/ "Then Jim Vance doesn't help matters by again calling it a "freight train". I've found that the media has very little knowledge of railroads." You must be a joy to spend time with. Take a clue Sid Meier, no one cares. There are to basic trains: freight and passenger. If it is not passenger, it is freight for all purposes. Paul (11/9/07) Yes, Allie is still doing traffic and breaking news for Fox 5. They changed some of the equipment on the helicopter and are still working on it. (11/9/07) Not the best start to a newscast by channel 4. On the lead-in they called the train that wrecked on the Anacostia bridge as a "freight train" (it was a coal train). Then they go to the reporter guy on the scene and he calls it a "coal trainer", and as he is talking a woman's voice starts talking over him blabbing about environmental damage. Then he points to leaning coal car and calls it a "train". Then Jim Vance doesn't help matters by again calling it a "freight train". I've found that the media has very little knowledge of railroads. Wouldn't you think that they would consult with someone before they make fools of themselves? (11/9/07) "Man, ain't it amazing that an individual can actually have a list of every song played on 94.7, I mean song, artist...time...egads you MIGHT think the Music Director or PD was posting in a defensive mode. " Any individual can have a list of every song played on 94.7. Its at yes.com -- rog (11/9/07) "Russert Would Do Imus Again." I must have missed something -- when were they a couple? Dave in Sterling (11/9/07) "Is it just me or do all the fill in hosts for Rush really suck?" - You really want to open that door? I'll step through and be your huckleberry....Yes, hosts for Rush suck. I bet you can't imagine why? Is it possible the OxyKing sucks? I THINK IT IS! I KNOW IT IS! YOU DON'T KNOW IT?? Here endth the lesson. - skimmell (11/9/07) Is it just me or do all the fill in hosts for Rush really suck? (11/9/07) Earl Weaver talks baseball on the XM Satellite Radio program “Baseball Confidential” this Thursday, November 15, in an interview taped at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. The interview with the former Baltimore Orioles manager will premiere at 6:00 pm ET on the baseball talk radio channel MLB Home Plate (XM channel 175). Encore broadcasts will air at various times through the weekend. (11/9/07) Nice rehashing of a segment of WTGB's playlist, Schelby (or an equally smug stand-in), but the fact remains that the station is dull, lifeless and totally out of touch with the community it claims to serve. No mention, ever, of the local music scene (and, NO, promoting Van Halen's appearance in DC doesn't count as part of the local music scene), ZERO creativity (unless you count themes like 'songs that start with the letter R' and 'songs that mention cars' during the gawdawful midday segment) and really nothing to differentiate it from any other Classic Rock station on the dial anywhere else in the country. In the age of iTunes and MP3 players, it's going to take more than the occasional Psychedelic Furs record to make it. Maybe, instead of hinting around that you're the new WHFS, think about what that station really was in it's prime, and REALLY try to become that. Otherwise, stop copping a feel off that classic piece of Washingtonia and keep spinning the same worn out records. But fer chrissakes, STOP telling us how wonderful you are already. (11/9/07) ("11/6 - Coming in 2008 (right)? How much longer is CBS Radio going to allow 94.7 to be stuck in the tractionless "green" whatever rock muck?") Hey Dave. It's funny you should bring up this pathectic station. I was at the Fall Festival in Fairfax where several radio and TV stations were trying to attract new listeners and viewers by giving away T shirts and plastic cups. All of the people were very nice except the goons from 94.7. They were actually antagonistic towards people who were not loyal listeners. What a stupid attitude. I can't wait for the station to change format and blow out the so called promotion department. The tall lanky announcer who was there must have been a temp or part timer. (11/9/07) Re:"WBAL/WBOB" news item... Imagine that, a radio show call screener deciding who gets on the air! What is the world coming to? Especially when the caller wants to promote such an insane fiction that a tax hike will save 50000 children from tobacco addition. We can make up numbers on our own, who needs somebody telling us we need one particular fictional number? (11/9/07) Man, ain't it amazing that an individual can actually have a list of every song played on 94.7, I mean song, artist...time...egads you MIGHT think the Music Director or PD was posting in a defensive mode. Then........call Dave Relentless with his HATE for the Globe. Something stinks in Dodge. BOBB (11/9/07) ("Dave's response: My guess is that Salem will hold on to largely righty political talker WAVA since it reaches many important politicos on Capitol Hill.....") You describe WAVA as a "largely righty political talker"? Salem does have stations like that, but WAVA isn't one of them. Check out the Program Guide: www.wava.com/ProgramGuide... Yes, I know James Dobson is considered a right-wing political fanatic, but his show focuses, most of the time, on marital and spiritual issues, as do the other radio ministries that DOMINATE the station's lineup. Or do you describe all radio preachers as "largely righty political talkers"? Christian (11/9/07) Dave, You are relentless with your hate of The Globe... I would consider these songs, played just yesterday, as "cool." Even by your standards.... Beck - Think I'm in Love... Cake - Never There... Church - Reptile... Cure - Boys Don't Cry... DNA/Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner... Depeche Mode - Enjoy The Silence... Dire Straits - Skateaway... English Beat - Mirror in the Bathroom... Everclear - Wonderful... Fountains of Wayne - Strapped for Cash... General Public - Tenderness... Glenn Hansard - Falling Slowly... Mark Knopfler - Punish The Monkey... Dave Matthews w/ Tim Reynolds - Crush (live)... Ingrid Michaelson - The Way I am.... New Order - True Faith & Bizarre Love Triangle... Nirvana - Lithium... Iggy Pop - Candy... Pretenders - Precious and Mystery Achievement... Psychedelic Furs - Ghost in You... REM - Nightswimming... Rilo Kiley - Silver Lining... Smashing Pumpkins - Disarm... Smiths - How Soon is Now... Soup Dragons - I'm Free... Talking Heads - Girlfriend is Better... U2 - Trip Through Your Wires... Violent Femmes - Gone Daddy Gone... XTV - Mayor of Simpleton.... (11/9/07) Dave's response: Tuned into 94.7 at 11:45 this morning to hear "Voices Carry" by 'Til Tuesday. Why is it that whenever I punch up The Globe they're playing "Voices Carry"? Strange, huh..... I can't imagine why anyone is surprised that WBAL radio would screen out a dissenting voice. If anything, it may not screen out enough of them. The station is in an identity crisis, whether to be the right-wing talk station of its past or lite talk radio. The all over the map scheduling isn't doing anyone any favors. Hearst should just choose one path for WBAL and stick to it. On a side note, the virtually complete loss of broadcast television airings for two Washington, D.C. sports franchises is the great unsung local story. The Wizards having only five games on WDCW/50 is no great prize. The Capitals package leaving local broadcast TV altogether certainly isn't to anyone's credit. Maybe D.C. isn't enough of a sports city to raise a fuss over the issue but it shouldn't go unnoted. Everett W. (11/9/07) Speaking of WBOB. Sometimes the world is a small place. WBob Ehrlich hires Ed "HFS" Norris as Police Superintendent while knowing that Norris was a corrupt O'Malley cop as exposed in the Baltimore Sun. Mayor Giuliani hires Bernie Kerik even though his own internal investigators tell him Kerik is a corrupt cop associated with the mob. Kerik and Norris worked closely together for Giuliani and apparently (given the indictments) shared a taste for media babes as mistresses and tax fraud to pay for their spending. Norris goes to prison and Kerik is well on his way. Ehrlich gives WBOB's Ron Smith a state job for his wife--even though she doesn't live in the state. When Ehrlich gets his ass kicked by O'Malley, WBOB's Beauchamp returns the favor Ehrlich did for Smith and pays Ehrlich and his wife to be on WBOB while throwing Bruce Elliott under the bus. Ehrlich uses his WBOB airtime to support Giuliani while Norris does the same at HFS. All while WBOB and HFS compete to see who can get their numbers lower. And folks are bad mouthing Baltimore on this board? With the writers strike you can't get better soap operas than this. (11/9/07) Astonishing story on Ch. 4 last night. They sent Chris Gordon out to do a piece on the Intercounty connector. He interviews Rich Parsons, the head of the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce and the #1 ICC lobbyist in the county. But he gets identified only as "Derwood resident". There was NO MENTION of his years spent lobbying county and state officials. When did it become okay to pass off suits as Joe Citizen? Very surprising, cause Chris knows better. (11/9/07) To answer the earlier question, Verizon has not released any information about if/when FiOS will ever be able in the District of Columbia. Everett W. (11/9/07) Dave's response: If you live in an urbanized area, especially one with underground utilities, multi-unit dwellings, and lots of pavement, you will have a long wait for Verizon's FiOS, regardless of which area jurisdiction in which you reside. Verizon's going to go for the high-income, moderately densely-populated leafy suburbs first. Especially those with above-ground utilities..... I haven't seen the FOX5 Skyfox reporter Allison Oakley lately..Is she still with the station?? (11/9/07) Dave's response: I've heard she's been seen and heard lately wandering the streets of Georgetown muttering something about how she misses "Mark and Art." Hmmm..... I would like to know how raising the price of cigarettes $1.00 will save 50,000 kids from smoking. Just how the hell do you come up with a stat like that? The State Senator that was stifled and hung up on on the Bob Ehrlich program was just hung up on for being an idiot. I'm WAAAAY more liberal than what most WBALers, WMALers, or WCBMers have to say, but I just cannot for the life of me think of anything IMMEDIATELY HEALTH RELATED that would be beneficial from the proposal. I've got nothing. The country is addicted to oil and gas, and the state is now addicted to cigarette taxes. HOOKED. KeninBrooklyn (11/9/07) Dave, is WBAL becoming WBOB??? It's been WBOB for most of the past decade. Screening out the alternative viewpoint is not new in talk radio and certainly not new at BAL. Ron Smith used to book Tom Schaller of UMBC until he found that Tom can hold his own in a political debate and Tom was gone. Beauchamp and company prefer the fixed fight, guys like C4 who have switched sides or weaklings like Flip who do Alan Colmes impressions. Howie P.S.- The Baltimore-Washington p*ssing match is really tedious. (11/9/07) (SNIP) Making matters worse, this was a very sensitive story involving a carcrash that killed three teenagers. Not good. Someone should have cutthe report off right away – I have no idea why they let it air in itsentirety. Brian in Fairfax (SNIP) Hey, Brian, while the screwup WAS stupid and despicable, firing is pretty extreme for one screwup! Most states and DC would not consider that "firing for cause." Employers need to build a profile of negligent behavior in such cases. And, honestly, as sad and horrific as the crash was, those three teens imposed their own death sentence and injured others in the process. I travel that stretch often, It has dangerous curves, even more dangerous drivers and many Amish buggies through there. Please make your driving adapt to the situation and get these kids to slow down! (11/9/07) Anybody know when Verizon FIOS will be available in DC? (11/9/07) To Joe in Essex: Instead of making that your " ... last post on this topic (hurray!)," how 'bout favoring us readers of, and posters to, the mailbag and making that your last post - PERIOD. (hurray!) (11/9/07) Yes, Dave the hair Cerphe is wearing IS real. That's the good news. The bad...it's not HIS real hair! It hasn't been since bald became "cool". I believe it came from a "green".... muskrat. Ken/Bethesda (11/9/07) WBAL's Conversion To WBOB Complete From The Baltimore Sun's Laura Vozzella see www.baltimoresun.com... Vincent DeMarco of the Citizens Health Initiative phoned in to Bob and Kendel Ehrlich's radio show on WBAL last week, while state Sen. Andy Harris was on the air criticizing Martin O'Malley's proposed buck-a-pack tobacco tax hike. "I called in to point out that the governor's proposal would save 50,000 children from tobacco addiction," he said. Put on hold, DeMarco assumed he was in line to talk. But Ehrlich communications aide Greg Massoni picked up and told him otherwise. "He told me that I should go on WYPR, not their show," DeMarco said. "This was outrageous, particularly since at the very moment Kendel Ehrlich was on the air denouncing Governor O'Malley and the Democratic General Assembly leadership for stifling public input into the governor's proposals." Massoni said DeMarco's timing, not his politics, was what killed his call. "He called in right as we were getting off the air, so give me a break," Massoni said. "The lines are always full." Massoni did, however, admit to the public-radio crack. "I did say he belonged on YPR if that's what he wanted to do," Massoni said. "YPR's a good place for him." (11/9/07) "The Tooz" sucks. You're boring, tediously predictable and not funny. Go away and create your own "I hate Baltimore" site and leave DCRTV to people who are interested in Baltimore/Washington media. Signed, "F*** The Tooz". (11/9/07) As I listened to a bit of Don and Mike yesterday as they beat down another idiot caller on their new format of all calls all the time cause we're just too damn lazy to come up with anything else O'Meara exclaimed as his rationale to the folks who might think DnM were being cruel to the idiot caller with this tired old bit is that they were trying to "Feed Our Family's!" Well this listener couldn't help but think if O'Meara the worrier, pushed his phat old self away from the table once in awhile and cutback to 2 6-packs of beer a night he'd be saving a great deal of money. And say Don was feeling so generous last week exclaiming if he had the money he'd give it too the needy. Well hell help his employee of 23 year's out, after all he'll probably be doing voiceover work come June 2008. Sure I find them entertaining from time to time but still able to go over to radio and click it off when it turns into a crapotorium. But geez they are pathetic examples of human beings ain't they! I think Cerphe is jive but do admire his ability for self promotion. Like a shark in an ever changing world he's able to somehow keep moving. Does he have organic hair? I'm losing my hair and would like to know were he gets his. Oh man, the windmills of my mind, that's very cool. The thing I like about the Arthur Treacher's at Fairfax Circle is they haven't bothered to clean the front wall of the counter since the late 70's when I was a toothless fairfax rebel. Good times. Rest in Peace Hank, Porter, Robert and of course the Fabulous Moolah. Anybody know the late actor George Grizzard who apparently grew up in D.C.? Did Silvie of the Waldorf move away? (11/9/07) RE: "Sure, he wanted the Washington viewing area, and he was certainly against any team moving here, but he didn't have NEARLY enough juice to get it blocked. His fellow owners had respect for him, but by that time it was kinda like the respect you have for a doddering old uncle... People in Washington want to blame Angelos, but there's actually very little to blame on him." Ooops, I misquoted you as a joke! But, ahhhh, turnabout is fair play and hypocrisy is king these days. By the way, Paul Tagliabue and Jack Kent Cooke had a special meeting in Washington before the NFL expansion vote and it was reported by many media sources that he made an impassioned plea against NFL expansion into Baltimore to Mr. Tagliabue, who was in fact, a Maryland resident at the time. I remember this because Baltimore's 98ROCK gave out his address over the air at least once when this was all going down. The Tagliabue/Cooke meeting is also a fact because, as we all know, Cooke, just like Angelos, didn't have any problem shooting his mouth off about this type of topic to the local media. Ultimately, all the rest including which city were Tag's favorites & the Modell angle are pure conjecture, but clearly the NFL made a mistake with Jacksonville, just like MLB made a mistake with Tampa and Miami in Florida. I expect Jacksonville to lose its team to either Orlando or some other city after its current owner sells or dies. Even with improvements, the Gator Bowl is still an old stadium and no new owner would ever agree to stay there long-term with the luke warm support. (11/9/07) Hey Tooz.. when did you live in Baltimore?? '78?? There are cranes all over the place. Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons, condos everywhere on the water that are well over a million dollars, some of them are MANY blocks from the inner harbor.. TONS of nightlife all over the city. Tons of choices when it comes to restaurants, shopping and RADIO. Very transient place.. being close to DC doesn't suck either. You have to be from Pittsburgh.. the place with NO economy, NO Jobs and weather that BLOWS year around. People move down here from there every year for jobs, culture and lack of SUN. As long as you have a great football team though, that makes up for it, right? WDVE, a classic rock station, is # 1 with women there. That says a lot about the market. BTW, the JACK station here kicks BOB's ass there. Unfortunately the Ravens did not .. this time. - Lazarus (11/9/07) I actually caught the Tuesday night FOX5 “mishap” that you mentioned on the front page. Yeah, I know I am one of probably only a few people who watch the sorry excuse for a newscast called “The Edge.” I usually get home pretty late, so my end-of-the-day news comes from either the overnight newscasts on Newschannel 8 or the 1am repeat of “The Edge” (and trust me, I prefer Newschannel 8, but it’s all a matter of timing, as they run infomercials at the top of the hour and news in the bottom half). Anyhow, someone at WTTG should be fired over that incident. The other voices aired over pretty much the entire report. While I couldn’t make out what they were saying, there was a female voice and a deep male voice. I’m reviewing the YouTube video, but I still haven’t been able to make out a whole lot. After the report, an embarrassed Brian Bolter apologized for the “technical difficulties,” as he should have. Making matters worse, this was a very sensitive story involving a car crash that killed three teenagers. Not good. Someone should have cut the report off right away – I have no idea why they let it air in its entirety. Brian in Fairfax (11/9/07) You all can argue about market size and primary markets versus secondary markets for TV and radio but it does not matter for the NFL. Unlike other sports, the NFL is a truly national league in that people follow every team. This is due to gambling and fantasy football. If market size mattered, Green Bay would have moved, there would be no team in Nashville or Buffalo and San Diego would move back to LA. As long as asses are in the seats and the national ratings are up, it does not matter. Hell, they keep trying to move a team New Mexico. Paul (11/9/07) Mark Miller, Angela Jackson etc were all glad when they received the e-mail. It's a good day for all of us. Thanks Dave for all your influence and the story. Kemi, Toronto, Canada (11/9/07) Cerphe said, "I was green before green was cool". Reminds me of the quote from the Howard Stern bit, "Larry Fine at Woodstock". 'Larry' said, "I had long hair before anybody!" Mike in Maryland City (11/9/07) Dave's response: Watched the NBC4 interview with Cerphe. Is that his real hair? /\ November 9 Messages /\ \/ November 8 Messages \/ Today’s Inside Radio says Salem is looking at possibly selling a number of “underperforming” stations. Wonder if that could include the perennially low-rated WAVA? On the other hand, the article also says the sales would likely come in “non-strategic formats”, which might be translated to “non-Christian formats”, in which case WAVA might be safe. (11/8/07) Dave's response: My guess is that Salem will hold on to largely righty political talker WAVA since it reaches many important politicos on Capitol Hill..... re: NFL expansion... The "old city, new city" theory was just that, a theory....something we in the media kinda ran with for a while. It had no basis in truth at all. Tags made a firm and impassioned plea about expanding into the sun belt and the owners fell in line. Baltimore got one vote. It came from then-Eagles owner Norman Braman. St, Louis, like Baltimore and Memphis, never had a chance either, despite that "old city, new city" myth. It is amazing how many people have been led to believe that Cooke had something to do with it. Sure, he wanted the Baltimore viewing area, and he was certainly against Modell moving here, but he didn't have NEARLY enough juice to get it blocked. His fellow owners had respect for him, but by that time it was kinda like the respect you have for a doddering old uncle... People in Baltimore want to blame Cooke, but there;s actually very little to blame on him. (11/8/07) So many times broadcasting can be a cruel business..and other times it throws you a surprise. Am very happy for Bob Carpenter. He did a fine job and deserves another year...what promises to be an exciting year! Welcome back. BD (11/8/07) As one poster has said DCRTV is a Media site not really one for bashing NFL teams and such. To set the record straight being a huge Ravens fan, and finding the Redskins ok, Baltimore sucks terribly on offense but don't go laughing too much Redskin fans because yours isd almost as bad. 2 Running backs yet you can't find the end zone! It was a pleasure to see the latest PPM's for Philade3lphia and hearing from the article on nydailynews as someone posted earlier, the bandwagon to jump on seems to be classic hits as WOGL is #2 in Philly and WCBS is 3rd in NY. I'm hoping that the Classic Hits / Oldies on 102.7 HD-2 is the start of a possiblity that the format get's move to 102.7 main signal. I think with PPM's the big losers will be Urban stations which could be one part of the reason Radio One was so reluctant to joi in on PPM ratings, and I think the FM Talkers will tank, which could be why CBS Radio is starting to eliminate many of the FM Talk stations. At somepoint Dan Mason or Scott Herman will start playing with Baltimore and DC stations that aren't quite hot on ratings. 105.7 should go back to Alternative, HFS seemed to do better in Baltimore than DC so leave it on the Baltimore signal. They should put El Zol on 106.7 and give 99.1 a new format. 99.1 is way to good of a Central MD signal to throw it away on a format that only get's ratings in DC. I can get the signal as far north as the south side of Hanover, PA and Shrewsbury, PA with the signal being pretty darn strong. Also I really don't see 100.3 moving up Big with PPM's in DC. The format is extremely narrow and last I checked it's the 150 song playlist Classic rock not a true Classic Hits station. The DJ's are pretty damn boring (with the exception of Lisa Berrigan) and put that with the boring Music and 100.3 is a real winner! Chris in Hanover, PA (11/8/07) "Perhaps you should take time out from your music reviewing to listen to the radio or read the business page. " Thank you, Dave, for exactly proving my point. We're talking about music and he tells me to read the business page. sigh. -DB (11/8/07) From Census figures, since 2000, the Washington market has gained nearly half a million people, Baltimore has gained a little over 100,000, Pittsburgh has lost 60,000, and Charlotte has gained around 250,000 people. But, keep in mind, Charlotte has over 1.1 million less people than Baltimore today, Pittsburgh already has over 375,000 less people than Baltimore and is still losing population. And these numbers do not include the military base relocation population shift which is about to add tens of thousands of people & jobs to the Baltimore market in just a year or 2. This means it's unlikely that Charlotte will eclipse either Washington or Baltimore any time soon and if anything Baltimore will eclipse Pittsburgh in all radio & TV rankings if it hasn't already. Of course, there's always the issue that both Charlotte and Pittsburgh have a lot more radio & TV stations than Baltimore, but in the end you have to have people to listen and watch them right? (11/8/07) This is my last post on this topic (hurray!). I followed the NFL expansion race very closely, even DXd KMOX St. Louis and Charlotte's WBT for more news outside of the Baltimore region. Every major news organization (ESPN, The Sporting News, major newspapers, etc.) predicted one new city, one old city. Everyone knew Charlotte was the favored new city and St. Louis was the favored old city with Jacksonville as the sleeper candidate if anything went wrong with either of the 2 favored cities. And of course the St. Louis ownership group was having all kinds of trouble, that's why Tagliabue convinced Jax to get back in, because he knew that Baltimore had been publicly declared The Redskins market by JKC and was out of the question. Whether Modell had any impact was irrelevant after that public JKC statement. Even the late Al Lerner (later the new Brown's owner and the Modell friend who lent him a plane to BWI to move The Browns) couldn't save Baltimore's NFL expansion bid. This was the coverage by every sports report of the time back then. So you must have been covering your own "facts" and not reading anyone else's print or radio coverage! You are correct about two things though... Baltimore and Memphis never had a chance. Of course hindsight is 20/20 and Jacksonville has had trouble drawing fans and TV viewers throughout a lot of its short history, unlike Baltimore. And as for Charlotte's rising rankings, Pittsburgh has a lot more to worry about as Baltimore's growth rate is quite healthy, not a minus or stagnant like Pittsburgh. -- Joe in Essex PS: A correction about Arthur Treachers & Long John Silvers... it's the worst food FOR YOUR BODY, but great tasting! But, those langostino lobsters are really prawns (sort of like ordering steak and getting squirrel). Shhhhhhh. :-) (11/8/07) I'd love to know what WJLA/7 rocket scientist thought it wise to do a news sweeps stunt called "The Amazing Race Home," a stunt clearly derived and titled off of an opposing network's reality show. Everett W. (11/8/07) Could someone get BOB from college park a tissue, holy cow. How old are you? (11/8/07) Sorry, Joe in Essex....that dog just won't hunt. Tagliabue was pro-Jacksonville all along. They dropped out of the running some six months before the final decision and he "convinced" them to get back in. The NFL was determined to go into two sun belt cities who had never had pro football before, it was all about growing new markets. Their first two choices were Charlotte and Orlando, but the latter could not get it's ducks in a row. That's what made Jacksonville attractive, the thought was that Orlando people would make the drive to Jacksonville on sundays. (That hasn't happened.) The other three expansion finalists, Baltimore, St Louis and Memphis never really had a chance.All they got is lip service and vague half-promises. I know. I covered it. I was there. Joe, these are what we call FACTS...what you have been offering is OPINION. Try to see the difference, ok? (11/8/07) At least Larry Michaels said one thing right. The Ravens DO suck and that Ray Lewis dance looks stupider every single week. Steve McNair (11/8/07) Welcome back, Mr. Carpenter (though I suppose you technically weren't gone...) At any rate, another good reason to look forward to the Nats 2008 season. (11/8/07) Dave's response: My sources tell me that someone in Nats' management had lined-up a replacement for Carpenter, but when that didn't pan out, they had to sheepishly ask him to come back. The moral of the story - make sure your replacement is available before you drop hints that you're getting rid of your current guy. Duh..... Arthur Treachers, you have got to be kidding! Some of the worst food I have ever had in my life. Same with Long John Silvers. But check out Sonic. I went to their Bridgeville, DE store on Saturday. Great food and service! Burt in Denton (11/8/07) Dave's response: There is an Arthur Treachers near Fairfax Circle. Never eaten there. Never will..... bigheaddc.com - That breathless post today from FishbowlDC editor Patrick Gavin, saying that “The Hill’s Editor in Chief, Hugo Gurdon, has called a rare all-staff meeting for tomorrow, saying that there’s ‘lots to discuss’”? Full of hot air. Gurdon tells Big Head DC that “it’s just a regular editorial staff meeting of the sort we try to have about once a month.” But you gotta wonder: who is that Hill newsroom source who always feeds Gavin the false leads? And what is his or her intention? (11/8/07) Ok, Ok, enough with this sarcastic, ill tempered, blasphemy. For God's Sake...DB...go to hell without a helmet you shit-***d. Your uncivilized bagger! BOBB (11/8/07) DB wrote "I thought my point was clear: IF, in fact, CC is avoiding Bruce, it's because his CD isn't worth playing. It sucks. That clear enough for ya?" Yes, it's very clear, but also completely ignorant of the way music radio works. As far as I know it would be the first time a media conglomerate has ever banned an album because "it sucks." Being in the business to make money, they try to appeal to listeners. The album was #1 -- on two occasions -- so even an untrained chimp would gather it was popular with listeners. Perhaps you should take time out from your music reviewing to listen to the radio or read the business page. Dave in Sterling (11/8/07) Dave, you did not get my point about incivility on DCRTV. It's not about Chick being able to handle it. A poster asked a polite question, "where was he last Sunday." The responder, rudely and snidely, answered it rather than simply being civil in response. Not everyone watches the pre game show on Comcast. Seriously, DCRTV is becoming an increasingly: non-civil, mean spirited and ill tempered place. It's more than people being passionate about what they post. It's downright forgetting that real people are at the other end of each mailbag letter posted. Please, with a careful, objective mind…go back and read the posts for a specific period, a week or month and you will see what I mean. This is the type of attitude that has serenely impacted several other fine sites in the past and caused them to go downhill. I don't want to see it happen to DCRTV. - Bob from College Park (11/8/07) "DB...you really think Clear Channel is going after Springsteen because he's too "establishment"?" No, I thought my point was clear: IF, in fact, CC is avoiding Bruce, it's because his CD isn't worth playing. It sucks. That clear enough for ya? -DB (11/8/07) Better question: Why does Tooz use the mailbag to vent his anger about 'which city is cooler' and 'which city has real football fans' when the topic at hand is DC Radio and Television? (11/8/07) Dear Jazz lover: November is jazzradiodc.com's jazz on the internet awareness month... we sincerely appreciate your assistance in forwarding this message to anyone you suspect is interested in jazz or should be! Hopefully, you have listened to our show on the internet... if your radio reception is not the best this is the way to go. We are available live in studio from 5 pm to 6 pm EST Monday through Friday and at all other times in archived format (previously aired shows). You can easily reach us 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 (11/8/07) Regarding the Writers’ Guild strike: I had to laugh when Jay Leno declaimed that without his writers, he’s not funny. I seem to remember a younger Jay Leno tirelessly working the comedy clubs and talk shows a couple of decades ago. In fact, I recall a comedy special he did with Freddie Prinze, back in the late ‘70’s. Jay Leno, sporting a hay-uge Guinea afro, doing his bits, along with Elaine Boosler, Gary Muledeer and Tim Thomerson. I’m pretty sure Jay Leno was funny then, and probably has the capacity to be funny now, without his writers. What he’s really saying is, “I’m too fat and lazy to come up with my own material, now that I’m the king of late-nite TV.” He was actually much funnier before he took on the persona of talk-show host. He was a scream on the early Letterman appearances. I wonder how he would’ve handled Teri Hatcher talking about her kegelmaster back then? (11/8/07) Re:"the proponent is asking the FCC to remove TV Channel 6 (and 5 too) from the TV service and ...establish a digital only band...and create a specific channel for "pirate radio" operators" -- A couple of great ideas, seriously. A new digital radio band is the _only_ way this country will move into digital radio; the current I Broadcast Only Crap system is as doomed as AM Stereo. And while I have no delusions that a pirate radio channel will ever happen, it does seem like the only way to get something interesting onto the airwaves. (11/8/07) As someone who is a fan of both the Redskins and Ravens( which always gets some weird comments,LOL) I have grown to like the Anita Marks show much better than the John Riggins show. Riggins talks to much about himself and his exploits and doesn't seem to stick to more relevant subjects. Marks seems to stay on subjects more current, such as talking to Orioles' players about the Ravens disaster on Monday night. And I wasn't too happy the other day on Comcast when Larry Michaels saying the Ravens suck. Of course i know lots of Baltimore people who would say same about the Redskins. But it always seems the national media comes down very hard on Baltimore sports teams, this has been going on for years. With the 2 cities nearly one big market, I doubt that things will change much in the future. The Redskins should think about bringing back Frank Herzog or someone else to replace Michaels, he just comes across as too arrogant and and a real know it all. Just one person's opinion! (11/8/07) re: " Why does "Tooz" use this is a smack board? Is anyone else sick and tired of him?" I do not use this as a smack board. I share my feelings about Baltimore when crybaby Baltimoreans complain when somebody says something negative about there city. If things go right with there sports teams they brag and boast and say what great fans athey are. When the teams are losing they blame everyone else. They must have blinders on if they think Baltimore is a great city. once you get a block or two from the Inner Harbor area it is a war zone. I lived there for a short time so I know. I NEVER attack anyone personally unlike you. I am just giving my opinion. Since no one responded to you, I guess they are not sick and tired of me. The Tooz (11/8/07) Jack Kent Cooke may have had a role in Baltimore being passed over for NFL expansion. But the person who really should be looked at is Art Modell. He was on the expansion committee of owners and, as subsequent events demonstrated, he wanted that stadium boondoggle for himself. (11/8/07) CC isn't playing Springsteen for the same reason only 35 Mediabase monitored stations are playing RADIO NOWHERE...low POP scores. You can blame research - you can't blame politics. If CC caters to anything too much, its probably call-out. There looks to be 10 CC stations on the list, one CBS and no more than one of any other owner on the list...didn't see any tracking for any other Springsteen song off the CD. Please don't tell me there are 'better' songs on the CD...this is radio remember? Its been this way since before you were born. (11/8/07) Will the urban radio bubble burst when PPM comes to DC less than a year from now? (Oct 08) There is a theory on this if you are interested...... www.nydailynews.com..... New 'PPM' ratings do a number on urban radio (11/8/07) Want to talk back to "Hardball"'s Chris Matthews? Do so tonight on 3WT Radio, 1500-AM and 107.7-FM, from 10:06-11PM on the Jim Bohannon Show. Call 866-50-JIMBO.(11/8/07) You know, Dave, there are some first class, obnoxious, "arses" who post here. Case in point, someone asks a nice, simple question about Chick Hernandez. The snot filled response tore the person a new one because they didn't watch the prename show. Would it take any manners at all for someone replying to a respectfully placed post to answer in the same fashion? Mailbag or not, a whole lot of incivility has entered DCRTV in the past few months and people such as the one I mention here are really dragging this place down. Bob from College Park (11/8/07) Dave's response: Chick's a big boy. I think he can handle the Mailbag "arses"..... You know Pamela Brown of WJLA and Newschannel 8 ain't half bad considering her previous experience. she seems to be steadily improving so she must have some talent and ability. Wonder who wrote her wiki entry details about how her Mom gave birth? and think of the lucky man who marries Ms. Brown will be sitting on top of the Roadhouse Grill empire. Wish Ms. Brown could talk to her Dad about getting some more Arthur Treacher's and Kenny Rogers Roasters in the D.C. area, the fast food selection these days sucks.......... hey DB they be a lot bigger sell outs than Springsteen t