Current Mailbag - Mailbag Archive Index - DCRTV Front Page - Support DCRTV DCRTV Mailbag - December 1 to December 11, 2007 Latest messages listed first..... \/ December 11 Messages \/ Hey.. if the old Z104 frequency reverts back to Bonneville.. how's about an all sports station?. "Score 104" sounded pretty good when Dave DCRTV was kicking that idea around. Maybe doing that with Herzog in the management mix would work well? (12/11/07) Dave's response: How about this? 3WT is talk AND sports. With David Burd mornings, Tony Kornheiser late mornings, Chris Core middays, Tucker Carlson afternoons. On 104.1, 103.9, and 107.7. 1500 becomes Federal News Radio. 1050 would play "Farley's Favorites" - vocals standards and polkas..... As has been extended to me in the past, I want to congratulate Aaron (Bob) Rehkopf on his new job at KDKA. That must be dream come true to come home and work at such a great heritage station. Aaron (Bob), I didn't know you were from Pittsburgh, my dad's side hails from little ol Mt. Pleasant off the Donigal exit off the Turnpike...My prayers also go out to Stash, I wish him a speed recovery...Finally I am in search of for nostalgic value any old Hot Hits beds, jingles, etc for my files, in addition if anyone has any old B104 audio, airchecks, jinlges, beds, liners, etc, I would love to get a copy of what you have...Happy Holidays to all DCRTVers. -Michael Popovec (12/11/07) Dave's response: Isn't it Aaron "Bill" Rehkopf..... RE: [ " CREATION OF A LOW POWER RADIO SERVICE. The FCC Adopted Rules to Promote the Growth of the Low Power FM Radio Service. by Third Report and Order and Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.] And in related news, it was announced that all available channels in Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania will carry The Hope Christian Church of Marlton New Jersey radio! Lucky you Virginia/DC, you get Jerry Falwell's Liberty University radio instead. Diversity indeed. :-) (12/11/07) Some time since 2000, WTOP actually broadcast some Nationals games during the past few summers--in full. So the station has broadcast some sports live since 2000. You can confirm that with the station. But, again, there were some Nationals games that were broadcast live during some recent summers. (12/11/07) Enjoy reading the best and worst postings. Isn't it curious that that there are NO comments about any of the urban stations, good or bad??? (12/11/07) CREATION OF A LOW POWER RADIO SERVICE. The FCC Adopted Rules to Promote the Growth of the Low Power FM Radio Service. by Third Report and Order and Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. (Dkt No. 99-25). Action by: the Commission. Adopted: 11/27/2007 by R&O/NPRM. (FCC No. 07-204). MB - hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-204A1.doc, FCC-07-204A2.doc, FCC-07-204A3.doc, FCC-07-204A4.doc, FCC-07-204A5.doc, FCC-07-204A6.doc, FCC-07-204A1.pdf, FCC-07-204A2.pdf, FCC-07-204A3.pdf, FCC-07-204A4.pdf, FCC-07-204A5.pdf. FCC-07-204A6.pdf, FCC-07-204A1.txt, FCC-07-204A2.txt, FCC-07-204A3.txt, FCC-07-204A4.txt, FCC-07-204A5.txt, FCC-07-204A6.txt... Larry Vogt, N4VA Springfield, VA (12/11/07) “I'd be interested to know if any other station in this market would have even taken a second look at Cynne.” Based on the picture that was posted in yesterday’s mailbag, I’d say Cynne Simpson probably doesn’t have any trouble getting second looks from anybody. She certainly got a second, and a third, and a fourth look from me. She’s a stunner. (12/11/07) Dave's response: And might I say that her Uncle Donnie ain't half bad looking, either. Not that there's anything wrong with that..... (RE: I just checked DCRTV for the first time in a long time and couldn't find any info on what happened to Ch. 9's old traffic reporter (the one before Angie Goff).) If you are referring to Nicole O'Brien, she's over at Verizon FiOs traffic channel. (12/11/07) Dave's response: Maybe she was asking about Tracy Metro (who is now Cindy Septa)..... I just saw the Allbritton's hired Donnie Simpson's niece as a new weekend anchor... Further proving that who you know and who you're related to are the major criteria in their hiring decisions. WGCL in Atlanta is the bottom of the barrel station in Atlanta. I'd be interested to know if any other station in this market would have even taken a secong look at Cynne. If she is as good as her fan on this board proclaims, I hope she knows what she's getting into. WJLA has had a lot of very talented people go through (freelance and staff) who they never bothered to hang on to because they rubbed the Allbrittons the wrong way or didn't have rich or famous moms and dads. Most of those people go on to better things. The last black female weekend anchor (Angela Russell) they had over there was put through a bunch of nonsense. They took her of the channel 7 desk and stuck her on weekends on Newschannel 8 to make room for Christianne Klein. Luckily she got out of her contract and left-- and landed nicely, I might add, in Philadelphia. (12/11/07) Dave, the FCC should have looked at their own rulings when it came to WVIR and WWBT showing all of the NBC programing. They could have seen what they allowed Comcast to do in State College and just said no problem...you can have the programs blacked out. I guess that the FCC was bored with the writers strike and figured out a way to feel useful and not as a waste of time. (12/11/07) NBC refunds advertisers as ratings plunge: real-us.news.yahoo.com (12/11/07) On the Chargers game: I was stating that they cut away from a GAME IN PROGRESS GOING INTO OVERTIME to cut to another game just starting. I can't imagine that the network said "Let's cut away from a cliffhanger for the beginning of a 2nd game". Don't they normally stay with the game to the end? I could understand cutting away if the 2nd game was the Skins. I understand the Giants/Eagles game; I was just venting... (12/11/07) Where is Steve C from Fox Morning News? He seems to be out a lot these days. Anything with contract, health or just a end of the year vacation catch up? (12/11/07) “Why did the feds wait three years before deciding to prosecute Ward? And how will this effect "The Lion of Left's" 22 year career. Find out in the current edition of Talking Radio." In a shameless attempt to plug your blog you try to equate someone abusing prescription drugs with child pornography. You can’t be serious, right? Oh by the way, most sane people would not draw a distinction between downloading “a few images of child pornography” and those who download dozen or hundreds of pictures. Both should be shot. (12/11/07) How can ANY ONE even suggest that Allison Starling is boring. She's one of the most nicest television anchors I have ever met! Charming, personable, professional and is anything BUT boring! I feel sorry for things you would call "fun"! (12/11/07) The decision to show the Giants-Eagles game over the Cowboys-Lions is two fold. One, it matched two division rivals of the Redskins instead of one. Two, the Giants represent the next opponent on the Redskins schedule so it is natural to preview them for the following week. (12/11/07) What: Brand new kick ass 8 hour mix show! Wow! Where: MIX 1065-2 HD Radio Baltimore (yes this is ANOTHER reason to go buy an HD Radio) When: Saturday Nights from 8pm-4am! Starting January. (4 hours hip hop 8-12midnight) (4 hours high energy dance midnight-4am) (also a special 8 hour sneak peek on New Years Eve!) Why: Because I kick ass at programming the absolute best mix shows. Nuff said. How: Get an HD radio. It's crazy how cool they are. Here is some basic info --> www.cartoys.com... Notes: MIX 1065-2 is a different format than MIX 106.5. You know that station that Baltimore needs?...that no one does?........well playa.....this is it. I hope you get a chance to enjoy. (don't forget my nightly talk show, 10p-1am,The Back Room, with me and Troy on HFS 1057, myspace/backroomradio) That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Thanks for stopping by. Jon Boesche' (12/11/07) Now that 947 HD2 has gone classic rock, does that mean we will be hearing less tired classic rock and more currents on the globe? (12/11/07) Chris Wallace: Dems are 'damn fools' for not doing Fox News www.politico.com (12/11/07) Re: "Way to go Channel 9. The Chargers/Titans game goes to overtime; do you stick with that? No....." How many FREAKIN times does it have to be said that the locals have NO control over what is shown; the games are tightly controlled by contractual obligation by the NFL. I know some folks derive pleasure by complaining but come on, this one's been explained ad nauseam for years! (12/11/07) Re: (12.8.07) "Grandy and Andy may be crusty in your mind, but MAL has at least 10 times the ratings that TNT has." That didn't stop Citadel from killing Curtis & Kuby on WABC, which had way higher numbers than Imus on WFAN on a regular basis. Now, WABC has a bitter Curtis 5-6am leading into Imus, and Kuby bitching to the press that he got a raw deal. Wouldn't be surprised if these two were back on New York morning radio - on WFAN! (12/11/07) When Rush Limbaugh was charged with doctor shopping and he paid his housekeeper to buy drugs for him behind the Denny's Restaurant in West Palm Beach, he took some time off and voluntarily entered rehab. After several weeks, he was back on the air and about a year later copped a plea. Rush's punishment represented little more than a glorified slap on the wrist. In December of 2004, Bernie Ward, host of the longest running and highest rated liberal talk show in the country, downloaded a few images of child pornography and talked about them in an internet chat room. A police investigation of the matter revealed nothing more. There were no images on Ward's computer and no other complaints. He claims that his brief exploration of child pornography was done to research a book on hypocrisy. Why did the feds wait three years before deciding to prosecute Ward? And how will this effect "The Lion of Left's" 22 year career. Find out in the current edition of Talking Radio. talkingradio.blogspot.com (12/11/07) /\ December 11 Messages /\ \/ December 10 Messages \/ Dear Dave, I just checked DCRTV for the first time in a long time and couldn't find any info on what happened to Ch. 9's old traffic reporter (the one before Angie Goff). Just curious. Tanya (12/10/07) I don't know Steve Ash (never met him) but having gone through a similar scenerio, I wish him a speedy recovery and good health. BD (12/10/07) (Who’s the general sales manager at Bonneville DC these days?) Matt Mills. (12/10/07) Dave's response: And the brother of REM's bassist. Just kidding..... Dave, Shame on you for thinking I was pulling your camo-clad leg about all region DVD players. I wouldn't steer you wrong. I'm glad others with more knowledge of the subject vindicated me. Go to that dvdhacks site and look up your player. Let us know if you make it work. (12/10/07) Dave's response: I did find the hack codes for my brand of DVD player, but I don't have any British discs to test it on. All of my British TV shows are via good old American "region 1" discs..... I wanted to extend my wishes for a quick recovery to Steve "Stash" Ash. I remember visiting him at the 98 Rock studio back when I was in middle school. The studio was a hub of excitement...Stash was cuing up an interview on the reel machine. At that time, they were using cds and carts. At that point I knew that I wanted to get into radio. Stash was my inspiration to get into this business. Since then, I have kept in contact with him. Steve is one of the few on-air personalities in Baltimore that are true to themselves and those around them. He is the definition of professional. His on-air delivery is smooth, conversational and is something that most jocks, if not all, attempt to duplicate. I truly wish Stash the quickest recovery. My thoughts and prayers are with him. Come on Stash, get better so you can open the box...Hey Stash..what's in the box man? Steve (12/10/07) Who’s the general sales manager at Bonneville DC these days? (12/10/07) Kevin Larkin, The old WLPL studios in the basement of the Uniroyal on Reisterstown Road. Remember it well. I was working part time at the new 92 STAR. They broadcast out of that rathole for about a year before moving to the Penthouse at Sutton Place. The drop ceiling had fallen down in many areas, the duct work for the AC was hanging down and wires were all over the floor connecting the studios. The place was pretting much gutted after the move. The WLPL airboard became WSID’s airboard at the new location. The SID airboard was moved to Production Room Two at Sutton Place and that big old production board was put in the newsbooth. The little mixing board they used in the old newsroom on Reisterstown Road caught on fire one weekend. (I think they had plans for it before that happened.) Joe Edwards/Salisbury (12/10/07) Re: Way to go Channel 9. Where to start? I was in Richmond but everything up this way was the same over the weekend. CBS was giving us a “live look-in” at San Diego and Tennessee, they never showed the game wire-to-wire or they would have stayed with it. The NFL is the one that makes that call, and at 4:15, Channels 9 (and 6) went to the scheduled Pittsburgh at New England game. Guess you rather just listen to James Brown and crew yammer for 10 minutes instead of at least seeing SOMETHING. Now to the point of the Dallas-Detroit vs. Philly-Giants games. While I know a lot of Dallas fans around here, and many would have rather seen their team than have to head down to a bar, the Giants-Eagles game had a much more direct impact on the Redskins’ playoff chances, so it made perfect sense to show it here. Frankly, if the Eagles had won, they and the Redskins would be tied, but the locals would still have the tiebreaker, and the Giants’ hold on the other wild card spot would have gotten a little more tenuous. Good news for the non-Redskins fans out there, Washington’s game at Minnesota just got flexed into NBC’s Sunday night spot, so two more weeks to argue about what games ought to be on Fox 5. Charles in Winchester (or Strasburg or Richmond). (12/10/07) Why would you expect a 36 year old blonde to know anything about the biggest national security threat to ever affect this country? Most likely a product of an expensive private school whose United States History curriculum focused on Cesar Chavez and Stokley Carmichael. And while I am here what the hell is the Post doing allowing Alan Dershowitz do a review on O'Reilly's book? That would be like letting Churchill do a book review on Hitler's book. (12/10/07) ("The general rule of thumb is, the cheaper the DVD player, the easier it is to hack into. By the way Im a 40something black woman, if I can do it so can you! AnyWho here's the DVD hack link... www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks. If you are not feeling that adventurous you could buy an already hacked into "all region" DVD player at dvdbuyingguide.com.") This made me laugh because I'm a 40-something white woman who was about the send the same message! Not just to watch Christopher Eccleston and later David Tennant, but also for DVD sets of "Have I Got News For You," the fantastic genealogy series "Who Do You Think You Are" (it should be required viewing for anyone hoping to make fascinating, intelligent TV), "Top Gear" DVDs, and a UK box of the complete "Upstairs Downstairs," which looks 10x better than the horrid one released in the US. And loads of other UK comedy and dramas that are never offered over here without being cut to shreds. Amazonuk is your friend! (12/10/07) Way to go Channel 9. The Chargers/Titans game goes to overtime; do you stick with that? No, you switch to the Pats/Steelers game, leaving those of us that were into the game reduced to NFL.com for updates. I'm not a fan of either team but I like a good game and would like to have seen it TO THE END! Don't even get me started on 5 showing the Giants/Eagles rather than the Cowboys game. I understand both NFC East but Dallas is having their best season ever. If only I lived someplace where I could get DirectTV.... (12/10/07) According to Edison Media Research, here are the five most-loved and five most-hated Christmas songs of 2007: MOST-LOVED... 1. Nat King Cole The Christmas Song... 2. Bing Crosby White Christmas... 3. Johnny Mathis Do You Hear What I Hear... 4. Burl Ives Have A Holly Jolly Christmas... 5. Harry Simeone Chorale Little Drummer Boy... MOST-HATED... 1. Singing Dogs Jingle Bells... 2. Cartman O Holy Night... 3. Elmo & Patsy Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer... 4. Jackson 5 Santa Claus Is Coming To Town... 5. Barbra Streisand Jingle Bells... www.edisonresearch.com (12/10/07) Dave's response: What about Root Boy Slim's "Christmas At K-Mart"? CBS Radio Network was on Radio NY Worldwide on shortwave in the 1960s. That station owned the Mormons i think at that time but ran everything the CBS network ran. I love to hear the crosstalk between the news and sportcasts broadcasts between the booth announcers. Did the booth announcers know that they were live on short wave? It didn't sound like they cared if they knew. Loads of bloopers! Why they ran that stuff, I haven't a clue. They used to have a shortwave club that you could join and of course being a pre-teen into radio, I loved it. Contests. Loads of fun stuff for SWLs. (12/10/07) Dave's response: Wasn't that the old WNYW radio? Those calls are now on NYC's Channel 5, which used to be WNEW, along with that city's 1130 AM and 102.7 FM..... RE: ABC....look at the ratings as compared to the profits. ABC stations don't have the best 12+ numbers, but they do well in thier demo and THEY MAKE money! (12/10/07) (WMAL may not be getting great 25-54 ratings but they are profitable. Why mess with that? Money to the bottom line is what matters to most ownerships.) I wish for all of us it was that easy. you would think it is...make money and corporate will be happy. unfortunately that isn't always the case. Most all stations in this market make money. the number of top 25 stations losing money can be counted on less than one hand. The reality is that stations need to demonstrate they can GROW profit...not just make the same or a little less. Think Wall Street. it isn't about just making money...it is about the potential for growth. This is the reason you see stations being sold or changing formats (see WGMS, WARW). (12/10/07) There's a DVD that is being offered by The Museum of Broadcast Communications that features various animated characters in "song cartoonettes" for the Christmas or Easter seasons. The website says that they were first seen on kid's TV shows on two Chicago stations,, WGN and WBBM, but I'm sure I saw them on a DC station in the early 60s (Channel 5, I think). The Christmastime characters are: 'Hardrock, Coco & Joe - The 3 Little Dwarfs', 'Suzy Snowflake', 'Frosty the Snowman' and, for Easter, 'Peter Cottontail'. Does anyone else here remember them? Here's a link for the first video www.youtube.com and you can find the others on YouTube. Order information for the DVD is here www.tvondvdshop.com... (12/10/07) I loved that piece in the DC Post about O'Reilly's inconsistencies and hypocrisy. I hate that phony blow-hard douche-baggery. KeninBrooklyn (12/10/07) (Regarding rumors of no big changes at WMAL:) I think they are playing straight with you. WMAL may not be getting great 25-54 ratings but they are profitable. Why mess with that? Money to the bottom line is what matters to most ownerships. And they deliver. (12/10/07) I would imagine a lot of 36 year olds don't know the whole story behind the Cuban Missle Crisis. In fact, liberal historians have spun it so much, they make it sound like it was the reason we defeated communism. In truth, we lost more then we gained from the crisis. As part of the agreement from the crisis we removed strategically placed missiles from Turkey. Not a loss, but no victory either. (12/10/07) I live in Potomac, MD and was unable to get the Mayweather vs. Hatton fight on Saturday night via pay for view on Comcast. Comcast was not answering their phone lines on Saturday night, so I’m assuming other would be subscribers had the same problem. Was anyone else out there unable to view the fight? (12/10/07) White House spokesman unaware of Cuban missile crisis bigheaddc.com (12/10/07) (DC Examiner sports media columnist Jim Williams tells DCRTV that he thinks Tony Kornheiser will stay on the ESPN "Monday Night Football"). Jim Williams "thinks"??? Does anyone know if Jim Williams has talked to Tony Kornheiser? Personally, I don't care if he is or isn't...but what I love is the front page stories. It is like watching a tennis match. One week there is a story that he isn't coming back...then the next week he is...then the next week he isn't...then there is a story that he is. I got an idea...maybe we should wait until someone actually gets the story directly from TK himself...or until we hear TK back on the air, maybe he can clear things up? (12/10/07) Hello, all - Here's to remind you the guest at The Q&A Cafe this week is DC Mayor Adrian Fenty, Wednesday, December 12, looking back at his first year in office. If you have a reservation, please reconfirm with Jon Moss at 202.338.2000 during daytime business hours. This will be our last Q&A of 2007. We resume on Wednesday, January 9, with syndicated columnist Robert Novak. You can make reservations now with Jon. As always, the doors open at noon, the program begins at 12:30, and the fee is $35, all inclusive, and paid at the door. During the holiday, watch the Q&A Cafe on News Channel 8 and DC TV 16, and keep up with our line-up at the website listed below. Whatever you celebrate, may it be happy and merry. Carol (12/10/07) Re: "And where do you buy an "all region" DVD player?" LOTS of places. But more importantly, you may already have one! Search for your player here: www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks , and if you're lucky, all you have to do is punch in a code number using your remote control. Cheaper players are actually more likely to have a simple code because the manufacturers install one firmware version for use anywhere in the world. There is nothing illegal about having a region free player, and retailers all over the world (real companies, like Amazon) will sell you DVDs, no problem. I wouldn't be without a region-free player. As for TV shows, "The Goodies" and "The Fast Show" from the UK and "Lano and Woodley" from Australia are some of the best benefits of freeing oneself from the tyranny of the region system. I will look into "Kath and Kim"; I hadn't heard of it before. (12/10/07) Dave's response: Thanks - kathandkim.com..... (Dave's response: And where do you buy an "all region" DVD player? From some guy in a trenchcoat in a deserted parking garage? Cash only. I do have VHS tapes of "Kath And Kim" made from the show's 2006 run on the Sundance Channel.....) Actually, "all region" or region free DVD players are easy to come by. You could either buy one or hack into a regular DVD player to make it region free. By the way I hacked into my DVD player ages ago so that I could watch DVD's of the then new Doctor Who series with Chris Eccleston back when it was not known if the series would air in the US or not. The general rule of thumb is, the cheaper the DVD player, the easier it is to hack into. By the way Im a 40something black woman, if I can do it so can you! AnyWho here's the DVD hack link... www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks. If you are not feeling that adventurous you could buy an already hacked into "all region" DVD player at dvdbuyingguide.com. (12/10/07) Ravens game just ended. WBAL TV’s news tease proclaims that a fire truck collides with an SUV killing three people and “we have the names!” Pretty tasteless, even for me. Bob in Pikesville (12/10/07) I have to wonder how long before big corporate radio finds a way to use computer generated voices, like NOAA does. If the technology get's good in the future, no doubt they will find a way to cut further! Look how it has improved in the past 10 years. Who would have expected that you could do a 6 hour air shift via voice-tracking in under 30 minutes, that's just the beginning... (12/10/07) Dave, isn't it refreshing to see Cynee Simpson's name on DCRTV and then to be first to inform us that she's Donnie Simpson's niece? What a talented family! I knew Cynee very well in my days in Atlanta and she was definitely family. CBS 46 was her home and also the home of my best pals over there. I did a documentary about the station in 2003. Photos at my site Keminications. She was a fresh arrival and talent discovered by a great News Director called "Micah" Johnson Everyone loved to criticize Micah on "talent stuff" but this time they were WRONG! Cynee was a rising star,she in fact has risen, very involved in community causes and I am just proud of you girl if you are reading this post. Cynee, get to know DCRTV girl! Remember Keminications' now and then contest in 2005? I still have the photos and here they are!!! Thanks for the memories Cynee. Miss ya! WJLA ABC-7 has just acquired a true ASSETT! What's up Donnie?? Our dear Mr.PGC......... Kemi Joshua, Publicist, Canadian Assoc of Black Journalists Toronto, Canada (12/10/07) I may be in Canada, but the heck what is going on with my former sister station brother Stash? Is he OK? Head injury? Dave please investigate for us. I hope Stash is alright man! Also what the......is going on at 92Q jams as well? Who was fired? Canada may be cold but we wanna know what's hot news in Baltimore right now. Kemi Joshua, Toronto, Canada (12/10/07) with regards to yesterday's posting about WJLA's weekend anchors...they are 2 of the prettiest, educated, and levelheaded people I have ever seen. I love their new morning newscast with Pamela Brown. Mark my words, that girl is going to be at the network in the next 5 years. She is very very easy on the eyes, and is wonderful to watch and to understand. As for Leslie Cook, she is one of the best anchors in the DC market. I agree with a lot of other posters when they say that she should be the permanent replacement for the 5pm anchor slot. Not sure why it has taken so long, but I enjoy watching her on the weekend as well as Ms. Brown. Does anyone know if Ms. Brown is married / dating anyone? She is a cutie! (12/10/07) BOBB here, be watching, there will be a solicitation from CC. And , yes they have found a way to screw more broadcasters. They will keep on trying until there are no opportunities left for any individual to pursue a career in what at one time, was a great way to make a living!!! God I ‘m glad I got out when I did. (12/10/07) /\ December 10 Messages /\ \/ December 9 Messages \/ Marc Fisher’s lament on the absence of the great downtown department store windows in Sunday’s The Washington Post was smack on target. He extends his sorrow to the dwindling live music at Nordstrom’s and Macy’s, saying “Any romance in shopping has yielded to the utilitarian imperative,” IE, cut costs to the bone. Marc concludes by writing, “ Of course nobody needs a piano serenade while they shop for shirts or a Christmas show on their way to buy a gift. Anytime we lop off the fantasy and romance from our daily lives, though, we are hacking away at the quality of our existence.” Way to go, Marc. Tom Gauger (12/9/07) To Joyce Conroy: I was at Stereo 92 after I left WITH in 1982 just before the switch to 92 Star. I worked with Chris Earl Phillips, Casey Jones and others. Our library had dwindled to less than 600 songs. Thanks for remembering! Kevin Larkin (Former Big Wheel Good Guy) (12/9/07) DCRTV Dave should buy an "all region" DVD player. Then he can watch foreign DVDs including "Kath and Kim". (12/9/07) Dave's response: And where do you buy an "all region" DVD player? From some guy in a trenchcoat in a deserted parking garage? Cash only. I do have VHS tapes of "Kath And Kim" made from the show's 2006 run on the Sundance Channel..... How Long Will Angie Last? From 12/9/07 WashPost Print Edition, Style and Arts, p. M15 Goff-Ellis - Mr and Mrs ..... announce the engagement of their daughter, Angela Renee, to Dr. Robert Haber Ellis III of Columbia, SC. The bride-to-be ..... reports traffic for WUSA 9 News Now in Washington, DC. Dr Ellis .... is a pediatric dentist in Northeast Columbia. A spring 2008 wedding is planned .... in Columbia. (12/9/07) Dave's response: Well, I guess Dr. Ellis could move to DC..... What's going on at 92Q...has a Starr fallen? Lots of chatter in the building, but nothing official...what ever is going on, it ain't good. Sombody's holding on to that bag pretty tight...but the cat's gonna get out! (12/9/07) Hey Kevin Larkin: Always nice to hear from you. Unfortunately, I wish that I could answer your question about the fate of the 7 E. Lexington studios and that of WLPL. I know there are several alums with much knowledge and history to share. By the way, what years did you jock for Stereo 92? Also, here’s wishing Stash all the best. Had a chance to meet him at a 98 Rock sponsored event and he was wonderful. Stash, buddy, you will be in our prayers. Blessings. Joyce Conroy (WHFC) (12/9/07) To the post about CBS Radio. on Sunday Sept 18 1927 CBS made its first network at 3 p.m 16 stations were on board. Originating from WOR in Newark. ( First control room was in the men's bathroom) You can read more at www.oldradio.com (12/9/07) Someone needs to get Ed Walker really drunk and take him to get a Braille tattoo! www.nytimes.com (12/9/07) Does anyone have the history of CBS's shortwave radio stations?? rk (12/9/07) "CC decides to save a dime, knocks her off (Trish Hennessey)THEN starts shopping for a traffic girl/guy for both DC and Baltimore?" BOBB, unless you saw an ad to that effect recently, those people are already in place. I hear a man in the morning on WSMJ in Baltimore and woman in the afternoon doing traffic. Those same voices can be heard on some of the CC stations in DC. They don't give names, just quick, generic reports. And they finish the reports the same in both markets, something like, "That's your up to the minute traffic", with no mention of station. I think CC has found a way to unemploy more people by voicetracking traffic. Who knows where these anonymous voices come from? (12/9/07) For those commenting about the Redskin's radio delay vs. tv coverage you might want to know that I was listening to the Bears radio station, WBBM, Thursday night and they were at least twenty seconds behind each play. (12/9/07) David DuPree has been a regular panelist on WRC/4's "Full Court Press" basketball discussion show that airs on Saturday nights after the Redskins season is complete. Everett W. (12/9/07) Sorry, I made an inexcusable blunder in my last post. Cynne' Simpson WAS NOT fired from her last job at WGCL in Atlanta. Another female anchor there was let go for on air profanity, but not Ms. Simpson. My apologies to Ms. Simpson and all mailbag readers. (12/9/07) Dave's response: I have deleted your previous post..... (regarding a previous post) According to an item on the Access Atlanta website, the WGCL-TV anchor who was fired for allegedly saying 'Mother F-er' on the air, WAS NOT Donnie Simpson niece, Cynné Simpson. "Former WGCL-TV weekend anchor Cari Champion, whose debatable use of an obscenity on air led to her firing last month, called WSB-AM Thursday night to talk for the first time about the situation." www.accessatlanta.com (12/9/07) Wish Mr. DuPree would get back with WaPo. Will miss his work in mcpaper. why couldn't it have been Ms. chip on her shoulder. Hope Mr. DuPree stays on George Michaels show and don't sail off into sunset of retirement in hawaii or some such god forsaken place. If more cuts are coming to channel 4 are we sure George Michaels Saturday night show will survive chopping block? Some strange show with breathy announcer I heard on WBIG Saturday evening played a mark/almond song(no not new wavey one)"I don't want to go back into the city" or something like that. Hadn't heard that song in years and then followed by Blood Sweat & Tears song sung by Steve katz"Sometimes in Winter". D9mn for a moment there I was thrust back to Dec. 1974 and then them old wintertime blues hit me when I came crashing back to a Dec. 2007. (12/9/07) DCRTV Dave was looking at some release dates for tv on dvd and saw mentioned that "One Foot In The Grave" Season 2 had been released at same time as Season 1 last March. Had you heard this? I have not seen season 2 in any of the chain bookstores? Would be most excellent gift to those suffering Britcom withdrawal as MPT, Maryland Public tv, shows the same old tired programs during pledge month. Do you have season 2? I might add Season 3 of OFITG is out in March 2008. Barney Miller will finally have season 2 come out, 4 year's after season 1 was released, in January 2008 and in February 2008 one of my favorite shows"The Fugitive" 2nd half of 1st season comes out. Oh for more St. Elsewhere. Have I mentioned I think cable tv programming sucks. Happy Festivus. (12/9/07) Dave's response: Oh yeah, I snatched up "One Foot" seasons 1 and 2 within minutes of their release and anxiously anticipate "One Foot" season 3's release in early '08. Now, would someone please put "Kath And Kim" up for a US DVD release! I'm telling you, it's one of the funniest shows ever made and nobody outside of Australia knows about it..... /\ December 9 Messages /\ \/ December 8 Messages \/ Dave: I believed you missed a local angle about USA Today's buyouts. Isn't David Dupree a regular on George Michael's Saturday-night sports roundtable show? He used to be -- unless there's another David Dupree who writes for USA Today. Christian (12/8/07) Yeesh, USA Today bought out David DuPree? He seemed to be one of the few good things about USA Today's Sports section. (12/8/07) Jesus…enough with the mental masturbation about Imus taking over Grandy and Andy’s spot on MAL! This is a conservative talk station. As much as Imus is in the headlines because of his comeback, he had paltry ratings on 570. Regardless of the recent headlines, he’s still an almost 70-year-old talk show host on a downhill slide. Grandy and Andy may be crusty in your mind, but MAL has at least 10 times the ratings that TNT has. A year from now this discussion will be moot, and Imus will be retired. (12/8/07) Been thinking over the holidays and the effect it has on broadcasters, especially the ones that have been given the pink slip. I find it amazing that a superior broadcaster such as Trish Hennessy is on the street, she’s a total pro, credentials, talent, background and knowledge, yet CC decides to save a dime, knocks her off THEN starts shopping for a traffic girl/guy for both DC and Baltimore? What’s up with this? The “suits” have actually turned into the Grinches and mercenarys in the industry. Have they no feelings, no heart? I cannot fathom the ruthless employee/employment practices of these organizations. There, I’ve vented. By the way Trish is just one of the many nationwide that get “PINKED” during the holiday season. BOBB (12/8/07) The observation about WJLA's weekend news and it's anchor is the same for most major markets. I live in Phoenix and the same is true here. TV and radio for that matter has become a medium for the young. Owners like getting cheap talent. (12/8/07) NABET-CWA/ABC Negotiations Bulletin 45 BULLETIN 45... December 7, 2007... NABET-CWA and ABC, Inc. have reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year agreement to replace the one that expired on March 31, 2007. The Union's bargaining committee, as well as NABET-CWA President John S. Clark and Sector Vice President James C. Joyce, are unanimously recommending the ratification of the agreement by the ABC membership. The parties reached the agreement after the Union convinced ABC to make several significant modifications to its October 22, 2007 "last, best and final" offer during off-the-record meetings that began in New York City on November 28. Your bargaining committee believes that this tentative agreement, with the improvements negotiated over the last several days, constitutes the best deal we are able to make at this time. Details of the agreement will be released by your Local Union as soon as all the documentation is finalized. In addition, Locals will announce dates for membership meetings to discuss the tentative agreement as soon as arrangements for such meetings are completed. Ratification will take place by secret ballot. Ballots will be mailed on December 17, 2007, and must be received by January 10, 2008. The ballots will be counted and the results will be announced on January 11, 2008. Your bargaining committee thanks you for your support and patience during these very difficult negotiations. In closing, we remind all members to ignore rumors. All official negotiation and mobilization information will be delivered on the Sector website at www.abc-contract.info. Please also check Local websites, hotlines, and e-mail for additional information. NABET-CWA Network Negotiating Committee For an archive of all bulletins, go to www.abc-contract.info. (12/8/07) Hey Dave, Have you seen the December issue of "Baltimore magazine"? It features the top Doctors in the Baltimore area. If I'm not mistaken one of Johnny Holiday's daughters is among those singled out. Dr Kellie Smaldore from Bel Air, Maryland, the older sister of Tracie and Moira. Mr H has got to be one proud Dad!! Just like Donnie Simpson and his niece. Shawn, Bethesda (12/8/07) If reason for the delay on Redskin zebra radio is fear of a f8ck or sh8t or whatnot going over the air why not do away with the on field mikes and just use phoney crowd noise. that way no obscene words and no need for radio delay and can go back to watching game on tv and listening to sonny, sam and frank..oh yeah i forgot....i did listen to radio broadcast of buffalo game , my first this year, and i see larry michael is still the ultimate practioner of plugola...did he infect the sport chunkies when he was over at wjfk....do the chunkies realize they whore themselves out too much? or make hay while the sunshines?...use too be buzz burbank had a number of commercials going on but seems like in last 6 months or so no buzz voiceover work, does he have to get approval from Don Geronimo to do commercial work? julie parker huh, why not susan kidd? (12/8/07) Dave's response: I'm pretty sure that Buzz is employed by CBS Radio and not Don, himself. I have heard frequent Buzz-voiced ads on 3WT of late..... Watching WJLA this morning and I feel like I am watching college TV. Oh yea.... I am since there basically is a college student anchoring the news. Is this an experiment or something ? If you are going to have a Saturday morning newscast in the top ten market can we please have some qualified people give us the news. (12/8/07) The news about Paul Duckworth’s departure makes me sad and it’s a devastating loss to the loyal WMAL fan base. He is a great PD - and always listened to the fans. All of us. I can’t think of a more open-minded person to new ideas, suggestions, topics, etc. He must be given plenty of credit for the success of WMAL over the past year. As the Chris Plante Discussion Forum coordinator, I have received many messages from fans in months past telling me that they enjoy the station’s programming, content & topics, and again, Mr. Duckworth is (or was) a central figure in making this happen. I speak on behalf of the fans in my forum (all 110 of us), whom I’ve IM’d earlier tonight the news of his departure. These are three examples of replies I’ve received: “I hope that he really is “retiring” rather than being forced out over some policy difference. If this has to do with the Imus program potentially pushing into Andy & Grandy, then I really will be torqued off.” Another one stated: “Well, I think we may be seeing quite a few changes at WMAL in the future... among them (sorry, Silvie) the addition of Imus in the Morning.” And another: “Lets hope this doesn’t signal some kind of change to the programming.” Only time will tell. We all know that there are sweeping changes in any business (and radio is a tough biz) when a honcho leaves. Duckworth was obviously loved as a boss and adored by the fans. Now, we ask WMAL & Citadel to make smart decisions. Some of us were willing to overlook the entire Michael Graham fiasco when you brought in Plante and when Grandy & Andy got better & better in the mornings. There will be a listeners’ revolt if things change. You will be missed, Señor Duckworth! Happy Holidays... -Silvie in Waldorf- (12/8/07) Dave's response: Here comes the Citadel bulldozer! The news/talk station that ABC built probably won't be recogizable this time next year..... Hey Joyce Conroy or any 7 East Lexington Street alum. Any idea what became of the studios at the top of that LONG staircase? Or the ones in the basement on Reisterstown Road that was WLPL? I am an alum of both. Kevin Larkin (12/8/07) I used to dare friends and relatives to let me investigate their computers (especially the ones their kids use) as a bet, sort of a cruel joke, and at the same time as a free offer to help keep their kids out of trouble on the internet. In almost every case, it was assumed nothing would be found. Most people just assume they could never be caught with porn on their computer at all let alone kiddie porn if they just delete the email or whatever they "accidently" downloaded or received as spam. Guess what? They're often wrong. Don't get me wrong. I'm not defending anyone who's found with substantial amounts of illegal material. Obviously that's something completely different. But it is easy to have small amounts of illegal stuff on your computer without even knowing it. I stopped doing this free investigation as it's difficult to keep friends this way. But I would pay money to get a crack at some of the talk show blow-hards' computers or the computers at Fox News or CNN! Can you imagine the horrors you'd find??? :-) (12/8/07) /\ December 8 Messages /\ \/ December 7 Messages \/ Re the Bernie Ward situation. Maybe I'm naive, but I don't think anyone downloads kiddie porn for research. Even if he was writing a book about it, he'd be crazy to put himself into such a position. It would be like someone going out and robbing banks in order to research how robbing a bank is done. I'm not buying his excuse, no matter what side of the fence he's on politically. Doc Holliday (12/7/07) Big Changes at WMAL, does that mean Imus In The Morning? (12/7/07) RE: [ " Re: Bernie Ward. If it had been Limbaugh, Hannity or Beck accused and/or indicted in a child pornography case like this, it would be all over the cable news channels..." ].......... Be careful what you wish for. As a computer expert myself, I can honestly tell you that I could probably find some type of pornography even on The Pope's computer! Spam emails with attachments that you open just once containing pictures often stay alive in cache files or AOL file cabinets on your PC long after you've been discusted and deleted them. It would even be easy to deliberately "kiddie porn spam" someone you don't like on purpose and than file an anonymous complaint against them through the FBI website. There would be no guarantees they would be busted, but I guarantee you, if they show up to look, they'd find it if you've opened it whether you've deleted it or not. Of course, it is possible to permanently delete these types of cache files, but face it, the average computer user just does not have the knowledge to do so. That's the scary truth, "Big Brother" can find anything on you these days. (12/7/07) Drew in PG: I believe it is 11.95 a month per digital box, and yes you can get it from your local Comcast office. However, unless you have HDTV, watch which box you ask for, because the HDTV is an extra charge as I noticed on my bill recently. Mike in Waldorf (12/7/07) Nude pix of WBAL radio regular guest bigheaddc.com (12/7/07) If Sean Taylor's death has any meaning it is to call out the scandalous sports media from the mainstream militia. So I did since so many of my friends in the business can't for fear of losing their jobs. Check It Out!! Holla Back. media.myfoxdc.com... Mark Gray, sportsgroove@earthlink.net (12/7/07) I drive from Spotsylvania VA to Washington DC daily when will Imus be back??? Also his signal was awful prior to leaving MSNBC, I use to listen to him in the Boston area on FM talk and the signal was great!! So lets get him back and also a great signal... Is it time to go to XM radio!!! (12/7/07) Big props to Julie Parker for doing a great job anchoring the news on 7. That's a woman who more than belongs sitting at that desk. She's professional and very personable. She has ''it''. Ms. Parker is everything anyone would look for in an anchor. Channel 7 needs to give her that 5PM slot. And yes---She's hot too! I've also come to the conclusion that I'm going to miss Larry Michael staring vacantly out into space every day at 4 after the Redskin season's over. Regardless of how it ends--Hail To The Redskins! Paul (12/7/07) Re: Bernie Ward. If it had been Limbaugh, Hannity or Beck accused and/or indicted in a child pornography case like this, it would be all over the cable news channels... Oh, and it's always the same "I was researching for a book" line. Yeah. (12/7/07) Ed R..had me laughing with the Silverbird twist. My wife is an elementary school teacher. Over the years the kids have come up with various turns on the family name. Her favorite is Mrs. Silverware. But she has been called Silverbird, Silverborg (resistance is futile) ...and the latest which is funny..but annoying...Silverbeak. The One i get more often than Silverberg is Silverbert. Hank SilverBERG (12/7/07) Look out Philly, south central PA, and Delaware, you're NEXT on The Hope Christian Church of Marlton New Jersey's FM radio list! 2 more full power FMs near Philly and south central PA and a boatload of translators are coming your way soon! Apparently the plan is to bombard the FM dial in a 4 state area (although I'll admit I haven't checked New York yet). How exactly can 1 non-profit church in New Jersey afford 5 full power FM stations and 2-3 DOZEN translators in FOUR STATES and where in the world is the upfront money to build 30+ FM radio stations coming from? Inquiring minds want to know. (12/7/07) Does anyone know what Comcast's rate per month is for renting a digital box and if you can just go and pick one up from their office? Drew in PG (12/7/07) Hey 7 East Lexington Street Rat: Great to hear from you. I will share a double rat burger with you anytime. I am intrigued by the songs that have obscure lyrics like "Judy in Disguise". I have been a long time fan of the late John Fred. Unfortunately, he was branded as a one hit wonder, but he and the Playboy Band did some great songs that never made it to the Baltimore airwaves like "Agnes English". When I first heard "Judy in Disguise", I kept thinking John was saying "Keep wearing your bracelets in the UniRoyal" when it was actually "wearing your bracelets with your new rara". What is a rara? I guess UniRoyal works. Ladies need to look good when getting tires or hopefully meeting one of the WLPL jocks back in the Reisterstown Road days . Blessings. Joyce Conroy (WHFC) (12/7/07) Dave, regarding one of your news paragraphs on the front page, "Salvadorian" should actually read "Salvadoran". I wonder if this Salvadoran Committee will honor 630 WMAL with any awards in the future for bringing forth and sticking with the issue of illegal immigration and its burdens on our communities and taxpayers. Doubtful. Maybe in the next century... (12/7/07) Dave's response: It was "Salvadorian" in the press release from Viva 900..... Like Hank Silver Bird (I KNOW it's "Silverberg," but wanted to amplify on the mis-heard lyrics theme!) I had "scanner shock" the night after my then-wife had given me one for Christmas in the early 90's. As I left the radio station at midnight, I heard a call go out for a disturbance at MY gas station/convenience store. I immediately called the cashier to find out that he just had a rowdy drunk who wouldn't leave. When he was shocked that I knew he had trouble, i told him it was the "remote camera system" I'd had installed. That rumor kept the staff on it's toes for a LONG time! Ed Rodriguez (12/7/07) Here we go again always looking to criticize. Tonya Bennett is a lovely, non-flashy but talented and well-informed traffic reporter. Hilary Howard would be missed anywhere she leaves.She lights up a room with energy and is a true professional in all the areas she has been called on to do. Ken/Bethesda (12/7/07) Dave, I like that 'Ashes to Ashes' song, too. Ever read the long treatise on it at wikipedia? To KOF and Joyce, keep 'em coming! Been away, havn't seen you in a while, how've you been, have you changed your style...Gosh, I'm sneaky! Okay, if Major Tom's your man, here's a few for ya: 'Erman's 'Ermits (that's Herman's Hermits if you're west of the Atlantic) song, " A Must To Avoid." Try to top that one! Okay, another: The brits have it, don't they? The 'Ollies (Again, translation-The Hollies, who've had several reincarnations in the music world) and their hit, 'Pay You Back With Interest.' Wonder why no banks ever picked up on that one (Hey, HSBC, can you take a hint? No?). One day all of us should share a ratburger and fries together, maybe some eggnog, too. Happy Holidays to all-7 East Lexington Rat- PS Solve the mystery tune and win! (Well, there's no prize, but you'll still be a winner!) (12/7/07) I kept quiet the last time DCRTV.com mailbaggers started nominating their favorite candidates for the NBC chopping block, but this time I feel compelled to clear up a common misconception. In most cases, the folks who comprise the on-air talent at our local TV stations have long-term contracts, so management isn't free to just terminate an "underperforming" talent. As much as the suits might LIKE to send a particular anchorperson or reporter packing, economics dictate that a contract be honored until it expires (unless the talent gives due cause to be fired). Many months before Arch Campbell left Channel-4, he announced that his expiring contract would not be renewed. He wasn't so much "singled out" for expulsion as he had the misfortune to be at the end of his term. Of course, sometimes a high-ticket contract employee gets a sideways transfer. In the mid-'80s, the NBC News Washington Bureau Chief was replaced when a new NBC News President took over, but the ex-chief then served out his contract by reporting for NBC Radio. In any case, the good old days at the Red Network are long gone, and, trust me, GE won't hang on to that white elephant forever. (12/7/07) "Dance Hall Days" by Wang Chung contains several really funny longtime misunderstood goodies (by me). ACTUAL LYRICS: We were so in phase... TO MY EARS: We were so in vice... ACTUAL LYRICS: We were cool on craze... TO MY EARS: We were cool on Christ... But my favorite is…. ACTUAL LYRICS: And play upon her darkest fears... HOW I HEARD IT: And play upon her doggie spheres... KOF (12/7/07) /\ December 7 Messages /\ \/ December 6 Messages \/ Just when things were going great for Channel 7; hire a young anchor form the DOMINANT last place station in Atlanta. If this is the case, at least give Leslie Cooke the 5PM anchor gig at WJLA. (12/6/07) I think Tanya Bennett, Channel 4's evening traffic reporter, is a robot. Also, although I hope nobody loses their jobs, if there are cuts at Channel 4, before Jim Vance and Bob Ryan, I hope they would consider Barbara Harrison and Pat Collins...they're way past their expiration dates. -- Bobbie (12/6/07) My mother-in-law used to think of that old Doris Day song as "Kay Sit Down, Sit Down, Whatever will be will be." But then again she thought that Jimmy Carter chose Marvin Mandel, not Walter Mondale, to be his vice presidential running mate. Now a question: I always thought Lindsay the Sports Lady's last name was pronounced "Char-nak". Now they pronounce it Zar-ni-ak. Did she change how it should be pronounced, or was I just not paying enough attention until just last week? Maybe I was just distracted by her good looks. -- Carl in Olney (12/6/07) Something else most people don't know about COMCAST CABLE ..... The very first thing I noticed when I bought my first HDTV set was that Comcast is actually sending out around 150 Basic cable channels to HDTV set owners in my area, half of which are not even listed on TV Guide Channel nor are they available to other basic cable subscribers who do not pay for digital cable or pay to rent a digital cable box or have an HDTV set. So the switch to all digital cable has been going on for quite awhile. Basically, every time you lose an analog TV channel from Comcast, you can bet I'm getting several more DTV channels for free that you are NOT getting. Yet I pay the SAME PRICE for basic cable that everyone else does! HAha! (12/6/07) Wonder how much the loss of Imus hurt MSNBC financially? And the move from New Jersey studios to NYC? What to expect more and more repeats of Dateline? But ain't that Discovery hybrid in the bidding for dateline? Man it's just boring crap. And maybe City Paper could save some bucks by getting rid of the staples, makes it difficult to save a page/article and ask Jack Schaefer if'en he'd do a piece or two sometime.Back to Imus is the guy who did the General Patton imitation back with the whacky crew? You don't think Bob Ryan and Jim Vance are on the chopping block at channel 4? (12/6/07) Hi Dave, Interesting discussion about the use of information you may hear on a police or fire scanner. It is not really a matter of legality, but a matter of source. Much of what is broadcast over police and radio scanners can be classified as "conversation" between the people on the scene and the dispachers or headquarters. While it sometimes provides us reporters with good "leads" it is a really bad idea to quote any of it. It's the equivilant of reporting a rumor. The rule has always been listen, write it down for background, and then confirm it all before broadcasting any of it. Anyone who violates that rule is liable to get burned badly eventually. It should also be noted that many law enforcement and fire agencies now use secondary frequencies that are NOT available on public scanners. They do that to keep some information away from reporters or others who just like to listen. I must add the best story I ever got from a scanner came while lying in my own bed about 25 years ago. The guy who lived next door to me in Saugerties, New York loved to listen to the scanner all night long, and in the summer,when the windows were open, I could hear it all. The windows were only about four feet apart on the second floor where my bedroom was. One spring Sunday night, while I was trying to sleep and get ready for a morning drive shift for Monday, his scanner started squawking. It was the fire department calling out three alarms for the local high school which as burning down. I got out of bed and went to the scene. Beat everybody on that story!!! That's all scanners are really good for. Hank Silverberg (12/6/07) And you wonder why AM radio is so screwed up? WXXY AM 1600, Dover, Delaware (yeah, they changed the name again, but they can't hide) just got ANOTHER STA (Special Temporary Authority) extension from the COMPLETELY BROKEN FCC! That's now TEN YEARS THAT THIS STATION HAS NOT OPERATED AS LICENSED AND NOT SERVED ANY PUBLIC GOOD! This radio station license for a station, where it's doubtful the station has even broadcasted much in ten years, should have been revoked years ago! They have no transmission site, no permanent transmitter, they've just held the license and violated FCC rules year after year after year. The station just keeps getting passed around like poker winnings or penny stocks for a company that doesn't even exist. WHEN IS THE FCC GOING TO REALIZE IT'S OUR PUBLIC AIRWAVES, NOT DO-NOTHING POLITICIANS AND THEIR CRONIES TO PLAY & PROFIT WITH? THANK GOD CONGRESS IF FINALLY INVESTIGATING THE FCC! (12/6/07) (snip) Comcast ... last night I had seven stations that seemed frozen in time, no sound and a frozen pitcher. (end snip) Frozen pitcher? Comcast is sending Margaritas thru their fiber optics? Coooool.... (12/6/07) Do you happen to have contact information for the Washington Area Broadcaster's Association (WABA)? If they are on the web, whoever is doing their search optimization, well, isn't doing their search optimization... Peter (12/6/07) Nah, it's apparently only a journalistic issue. ECPA says it is not unlawful to receive communications " by any governmental, law enforcement, civil defense, private land mobile, or public safety communications system, including police and fire, readily accessible to the general public." (12/6/07) This is out of Richmond: www.inrich.com Comcast moves closer to digital-only Cable firm says it will remove four more channels from its lineup of analog choices... - Mike in Waldorf (12/6/07) Chris Core was discussing this morning the mall murders and suicide in Omaha. His take was not issues of mind altering anti-depressants on young people, the availability of assault weapons to 20 year olds, the failure of schools to address the issue of teaching to boys and how no child left behind is making school an incongruent mess for boys, No!, Chris called on the media to no longer disclose names of random murderers that take their own life. I laughed out loud when a caller said something to the effect of "well the army recruiters should have been at McDonald's beforehand giving him a $20,000 dollar bonus to sign up and defend our country In Iraq. the caller continued that the gunman would be good in the army because obviously he was good shot. See, WMAL, you are not the only ones who can take a tragedy, and somehow turn it around to make a cheap political shot. (12/6/07) Have to agree with previous poster… Greg Toland is easily the best no. 2 sports anchor in town and would be a noticeable improvement over most of the CSN crew (love that Chick though)… WRC folks just don’t have that “sizzle” right now.. They could very well develop that with more reps but I just can’t see DH or LC pulling off the wrestling/rodeo stuff that made Ol King George so personable.. Plus they don’t have the same kind of time to play with that George did.. Just surprised no one has hired George to host a specialty oldies show since he left WRC full-time.. WBIG/XM are you listenin’? (12/6/07) Just noticed that the Hope Christian Church of Marlton NJ has gone to PLAN B in their hopes of saturating the state of Maryland's FM band with simulcasts of their New Jersey religious station, WVBV, Marlton, NJ. They now are applying for 2 FULL POWER FMs, 89.1 in Rising Sun, MD (Cecil County) and the other, 91.7 near Cambridge, MD. Apparently, this is the only way they'll be able to connect the dots from New Jersey to meet FCC restrictions on out of state translators retransmitting out of state signals. But, they're requesting an FCC WAIVER for both of these 2 full power FM stations so they don't have to have any offices or studios in Maryland! I would hope that the FCC would see through this maneuver clearly designed for the sole purpose of EVADING FCC RULES! SO PLEASE FCC, DENY THIS WAIVER AND GIVE THE STATE OF MARYLAND BACK ITS AIRWAVES! If anyone in Maryland would like to complain directly to the owners of WVBV FM Marlton, NJ about them littering up Maryland's FM dial, you can find all of their names and actual home addresses in the FCC's public info file. I'm sure they'd very much enjoy receiving your comments and holiday wishes, you know like Tree of Knowledge and Wiccan cards. :-) fjallfoss.fcc.gov (12/6/07) Dave, I noticed your team is running some news around the availability of the Redskins/Bears game this evening – and how the game is not available on Broadcast TV to fans in Howard and Anne Arundel Counties due to the NFL’s rules barring the air of several games (including this one) in secondary markets. I wanted to let you know that Comcast Digital Cable customers in Howard and Anne Arundel counties can still catch the game if they sign up for Comcast’s Sports Entertainment Package – now available for $1.99 per month. Customers should call 1-800-COMCAST and talk to a customer service representative if they’re interested in purchasing the package... Thanks, Alisha Martin, Manager of Public Relations, Eastern Division, Comcast Cable (12/6/07) From the "silly question" department: If both the Washington Post and Washington Times seem more interested in being "national political voices", who'll actually produce a local newspaper for the millions of people who want local news in the DC area? Will anyone? (12/6/07) WBAL news this morning sure took a chance having Jennifer Franciotti quoting fire/police radio scanners as saying people trapped in a burning house. She was calling on a phone and said "we don't know if this is true," but hey, why is she telling us then ? Besides the journalistic issue, she might also want to check the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, where it may have been questionable to disclose any information she heard. (12/6/07) Another classic misheard lyric, I recently discovered, is actually not misheard at all! In the original "Soul Man" by Sam & Dave, a line in the last verse sounds like "I was educated / At Woodstock." If you're aware the record came out a full two years before the Woodstock festival, that lyric appears to be the mistaken result of folks who don't accurately know their rock 'n' roll chronology. Some years ago someone told me the line really says "I was educated, of good stock." I believed that for quite a while, but according to more than one web site S&D were actually singing about Woodstock. But not the farm in N.Y. Sam and Dave recorded on the Stax label based in Memphis, and they were referring to Woodstock High School just outside the city. Verrry interesting. KOF (12/6/07) Speaking of The Washington Times, what is going on over there? I subscribe for several reasons. I don't care about their politics. 1. It costs about .10 an issue home delivered. 2. The sports section is neat 3. The Thursday entertainment insert has some neat things. 4. It has Dear Abby(lol) So now over the past 2 months or so I am getting the earrrly edition of the rag-it has no results of games ending after about 9:30 PM. I have called circulation several times and have not gotten an explanation for this. Next the Thursday insert is now gone. I missed seeing an explanation if there was one. I may as well throw in that they send the "Southeast" edition of the American Profile rag filled with John Deere, Statler Bros, and chewing tobacco ads to say nothing of things to see in Arkansas. Are they dense over there or what? They're just going to lose customers and fold. Regards Biff (12/6/07) Dave's response: I think you're seeing the Washington Times's move to becoming a national news and commentary website, while the local print rag - and its subscribers - get the shaft. The same thing is happening to the Washington Post, although not as quickly. Look at how the Post does it best to avoid covering local media issues, something the late great Post media columnist John Carmody focused on. The future is the national website. The past is the local print edition. Get used to it..... I have to sound off about your piece on why Comcast is losing money, one simple reason, the service from them is CRAP!, and customers are now realizing that. Just last night I had seven stations that seemed frozen in time, no sound and a frozen pitcher. Also they step over programing with their local spots and interrupt Headline News with their own low budget local events segment. When you call them to complain they then ask you to upgrade to high def. saying it will be better, I don't want high def. I just want better service, and RCN is no better. Hopefully when Verizon comes to DC it will be better. (12/6/07) To all of the folks whining about not getting the skins game. How much is Comcast charging? 5 bucks? Is everybody crying about 5 bucks? (12/6/07) Dave's response: Well, it's a bit more than that. You do have to rent a digital box and subscribe to basic service (and more?) to get access to that digital sports tier..... Seasons Greetings from Jeff Zucker... Perhaps to further reduce costs, Howie Mandel can take Brian Williams job, CNBC and MSNBC could be combined, and locally, Bob Ryan can "double up" and do the sports. People aren't watching NBC because they run the same shows over and over, and feed us a steady diet of reality crap. MSNBC is lame, and CNBC is a infomercial machine on the weeknds, instead of showing something useful. Do you think the suits in NY and LA are going to take a pay cut? (12/6/07) Not exactly a misheard lyric, but when I was a wee lad, I used to think that God's name was Howard. You know, as in "Our Father, who art in heaven, Howard be thy name..." Mike in Frederick, who can't keep his $.02 out. Domo! (12/6/07) Good Morning, I love your website, but I believe you may want to revise the piece, "Local Broadcasters Mount DTV Campaign - 12/6", and the statement,"You'll need to buy a still-unavailable digital TV converter box or a new digital TV set.". Digital Off Air TV Tuners have been available for years, on-line and in brick and mortar stores. The first generation STB was pricey, $300-$400, now they are under $200, and should be less in the near future. The set-top-box I use was under $100. I can receive dozens of digital channels, standard, and Hi-Def off a old style TV antenna in Hagerstown. The picture is as good as cable, or satellite, and it's free, after you buy the box. M Garland Hagerstown, MD (12/6/07) Dave's response: Well, I haven't seen DTV converter boxes in any stores. And what I've read, they're still largely unavailable. Still, if you're going to be blowing $100 to $200 for a digital converter box, why not spend an extra $100 and buy a whole new digital TV. DTV set prices are now down in the $200 range, with decent-sized-screen HDTV LCD models in the $300 range, if you catch a good sale..... OK, let’s see a show of hands of everybody who clicked through on the Peter McRosenberger update below . . . yup, nobody. Why? Because nobody cares about the guy. I wonder if he was announcing his hot expansion of his deejaying into Taco Bell, too. Well, we’ll never know, because NOBODY CARES. Sincerely, TMU (12/6/07) Hey, Greg in Reisterstown, and all others ditching Comcast cable TV because it's too expensive: I have a feeling I know how Comcast is going to get you back. Do you still have Comcast high-speed Internet? They're the only provider of high-speed in a lot of places (FiOS is scarce and DSL might be too slow), and people can't help but get addicted to the stuff. I'm sure you agree. Here's what I think's going to happen: "The following is a Comcastic message. You want Comcast High-speed Internet? You gotta get Comcast Digital Cable. Don't like it? Go to dial-up." Sincerely, Mike in Kensington (12/6/07) I have to disagree with the idea that Leslie king would make a better 5 PM anchor than Alison Starling. The criticism seems to be that Ms. Starling is all looks with no intellect or personality. While she is attractive she does a fine job on the early morning and noon broadcasts. as for Ms. king I have never been able to warm up to her. Maybe it's me but she just fades into the background. (12/6/07) Great! Radio & Records, that Radio & Records, having TV people headlining a conference. I betcha' TV conferences don't have radio stars participating very often if at all. Of course, putting TV shows on radio to fill time is a bunch of crap. Just an opinion. (12/6/07) About NABOB...this is crap. As a programmer, I know the Arbitron diary system has its flaws. It is all about book placement. In DC and Baltimore, you can tell where the majority of the books are placed. If alot of DC stations show up in Baltimore books, then the diaries were heavey to the west and south west-which is heavy african amercan. If WXCY showed up, then the books were heavy to the north and east. Same thing in DC. This is also evident on the shore, with the Salisbury and Ocean City market, as usually only 200 books are ever returned. How can you tell me that a station is number 1 with only 200 books..so, you have a 12.5 share out of 200 books....not too impressive. It is all about book placement. PPM is going to be the true measure of who is listening and the old number ones (urban) are sweating bullets. (12/6/07) Thank you Mr. Augenstein. I thought perhaps I had mispelt your name. I remember way back when the general public could go over to AU and watch old movies along with the students, I bet them days are over. I thought you might know about Slickee Boys gigs when I recalled your fine series on D.C. rock of the new wave/harDCore era. Saw story on channel 4 about how Maryland is facing brown outs of electricity unless something is done, like more and more power plants, see no one really cares about environment and conservation, just a lot of wind by most folks as they drive their oversized suv's. HEY, outta my way I'm Hitler!. Anyways following the story were a couple of commercials for local energy producers. Was this product placement? And seeing the dominion energy ad made me wonder, do most folks really have a choice other than dominion and if not why advertise? Watching channel 7 wednesdays night 5 o'clock news they had Pamela Brown doing short bit plugging what's on abc in primetime that night, if she can should try to avoid stuff like that if she aims to be taken seriously, I know she probably has little choice and wants the air time no matter? Does she call famed movie producer Robert Evans, Uncle Bob? So you folks like Julie Parker filling in 5 o'clock news channel 7, she always seems to be on the cusp of flying into a rage, whats that called? And that anita marks is still on the air, holy carp does she have pictures of someone and a cow or something? Did channel 4 ever consider hiring Greg Toland, too me the best sport's anchor in town? You already know my thoughts on Czarniak but Hellie is well zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz how is wally bruckner doing these days? (12/6/07) Hey, when did Woody Woodpecker become the mascot for SoulClassic247.com? (12/6/07) To whomever wrote in and linked to that Tim Rutten "Corrupt News Network", I'll just paraphrase the question asked by this blogger (and echoed by others): When did you Republicans become wussies? "Are [you] Republicans so overwhelmed by the real world that [you] can't cope with half a dozen or so half-assed questions from half a dozen half-assed Democratic operatives?" If y'all are too scared to take a hostile question, how are you going to lead a country in a hostile world? Or heck, even with a hostile Congress? "Explain to me how a Republican President is going to work with the Democratic supermajority in the House and Senate when they can’t even handle a question from a John Edwards supporter without wilting?" Sorry, this CNN-gate is a controversy about nothing! (12/6/07) peter rosenberg update www.declarationofindependents.net (12/6/07) The Washington Times is drunk again bigheaddc.com... Politico in WaPo; Politico Attacks WaPo" bigheaddc.com... (12/6/07) /\ December 6 Messages /\ \/ December 5 Messages \/ Skip’s memory about “the Canada Dry song” reminded me of a couple of others. Around 1969, there was a song that started out with “Morning girl” and then went on to say, “You’re several ages older now.” A friend of mine thought they were saying, “Your Chevrolet is older now.” And then of course there was the Johnny Rivers classic, “Secret Asian Man.” There have been others I can’t think of at the moment. Roddy Freeman (12/5/07) Remember when WRC tried to fire all the sports people but George Michaels quit rather than fire them (then the suits fired the people anyway?) And then they cleaned house in news. At least Vance, Doreen and weather boy took the money without even thinking twice about the fatalities. At the time, the WRC GM made some stupid statement that the viewers are sheep and will keep watching regardless of who is on the air. Now, I know that one ratings book does not mean a hill of beans, but if this is a trend, it had to start with the loss of old friends. John (12/5/07) “You could still have WTOP-FM in DC and WTOP-AM or WTOP-TV somewhere else in the USA - of course, with Bonneville's permission.” You are correct. That is what I meant to say, I just didn’t describe it very well. (12/5/07) If I had my druthers I'd drop Comcast for FiOS in a minute, but the latter is still not available in Germantown. And I've quit trying to find out whether or not it even will be because a lot of other folks besides yours truly have suffered the same experience described in a recent Wash Post article title: "Wanna know when FiOS TV is coming to your neighborhood? Don't ask Verizon." Go to their website, type your home address or zip code in the little boxes, and the only info you're gonna get is yes it's there or no it's isn't. Nothing about future availability dates anywhere. The article says they guard them like a state secret, supposedly to keep the other cable company from counteroffering anything "better" in those areas. The very best Verizon can do is display a not very detailed map of their present TV, phone, and Internet coverage throughout Monkey County. The Post article goes on to conclude that the best answer you're ever going to receive is when or if you see their FiOS van near your house. And the beat goes on. KOF (12/5/07) Unfortunately, I don't recall having Wendy Rieger in any of my classes. I'm pretty sure one of us was a year ahead of the other :) However, Mike O'Meara and I both worked at WAMU-AM 61, the carrier-current station. He and Jeff Gold were the only two people at the station who already sounded like professional DJs. Actually, Tony Perkins was a contemporary, too. My strongest recollection at the time of Tony was his lipsyncing the part of Mick Jagger (wearing a wig) during some "performance" in front of the Mary Graydon Center. I recently listened an hourlong cassette version of "Neal Adams' New Wave and Local Talent Show" (featuring yours truly with my then-fake radio name) with my guests for the week, the Slickee Boys. THEY were about the same as they are now -- sadly, some of my questions in 1979 or 80 were about as artfully phrased as they are now. And, as far as any upcoming Slickee shows, my investigative reporting (courtesy of Wikipedia) turns up the following: Friday, December 28, 2007, Chick Hall's Surf Club, Bladensburg, Maryland; Saturday, December 29, 2007, Ottobar, Baltimore. Cheers, Neal Augenstein (12/5/07) "I think Hillary Howard has to work at WTOP while the party is going on." Would anyone miss her if she left work early? (12/5/07) WNBC-TV in NY, along with NBC’s full build-out for HD, put a h-def camera on the roof of Rockefeller Center for beauty shots during weather segs. The cam can look in several directions including out over Central Park or south toward the Battery for some dazzling video. There’s a second camera (or maybe it’s the same one) able to look down on the Plaza and the skating rink. It’s on DirecTV’s channel 82, for those who aren’t blocked by WRC policy. Tom Gauger (12/5/07) I think Hillary Howard has to work at WTOP while the party is going on. DAMN!!! (12/5/07) Let me see if understand this correctly. NABOB wants Congress to investigate the PPM process from Arbitron because it will hurt the stations that target African Americans. I have been selling radio in Washington for 25 years and four of the top five rated stations have always been targeted to African Americans. Even though the vast majority of the DC Metro population has always been Caucasian, the urban stations dominated. Either white people didn’t listen to the radio or the rating system had major flaws. Finally the Personal People Meter (PPM) comes along, which will measure real listening habits of everyone, and NABOB wants to keep the old weighted system in place. What a bunch of crap! (12/5/07) I never owned a house before the age of 25, but I'm pretty certain no relative or friend of mine threw a party at my apartment when I wasn't there or ever invited gangbangers to my apartment. Maybe I was boring, but that is part of a "lifestyle" I think. Some people aren't betrayed by other people or their advice, they're betrayed by not ever listening to the better advice from better people. I really don't see this story in black and white like many people do and I don't see how it's much different than the harsh lifestyle criticism that Steelers QB Ben Rothlessberger took after his near-death accident or the harsh criticism that The Ravens' Ray Lewis received for hanging out with the wrong people and contributing to a tragedy. The more that comes out about this story, the more the connections between the killers and Taylor seem to be coming out. It's clear Wilbon and Shapiro were not totally correct in their initial criticism, but they certainly weren't totally wrong either. As usual, the people screaming the loudest and complaining the most are just looking for a quick publicity buck off of this terrible tragedy. And that's even sadder. (12/5/07) Not a song but I thought the pledge of allegiance was "I pledge allegiance to the flag of Richard Stanz...." (12/5/07) KOF: thanks for this thread my friend Been reading some good ones here today. Another gem that I can remember was when The Monkees' mega hit "I'm A Believer" graced the charts especially on WCAO. I would often hear the kids in my neighborhood singing something about "When I needed sunshine on my brain". See, Micky Dolenz know love was better than Vitamin C or I guess it was really Neil Diamond. Blessings. Joyce Conroy (WHFC) (12/5/07) Sean Taylor's "lifestyle" had nothing to do with his death. He was betrayed by his half-sister who invited thugs to a party at his house while he was here in DC, and these punks believed they had an opportunity to rob at will. He was only twenty-four years old and needed to receive much better advice from those close to him. Fortunately some of the posters on DCRTV are completely omniscient with the lives of those around them and never made any mistakes in their lives, especially before the age of twenty-five. (12/5/07) So sorry to hear Comcast is losing customers (boo hoo hoo), just goes to show that if you continure to raise your prices while continuing to provide an inferior product with fewer choices, your customers WILL leave you for the competition. Greg in Reisterstown, former 8-year long customer of Comcast who switched to satelitte in '07. (12/5/07) Has anyone else noticed that Rush Limbaugh is starting to clip his "o's" like someone from Minnesoooota? Words like "news" are coming out more like "noooos" from El Rushblow's oral oriface. Listen carefully. The fact that he's deaf (a remnant of his Oxy abuse) is causing certain aspects of his speech to drift. (12/5/07) God bless America........ Land that I love........ Stand beside her and guide her........ Through the night with the light from a bulb. JohnnyuinHanover,Pa. (12/5/07) Dave's response: When I was a kid, my dad used to say a prayer before we ate a major meal. And it ended with a phrase I didn't understand - "ehdestidiy service." I once asked him what that meant. "And us to thy service." Duh..... A poster below had a good idea about Steve Villanueva being included in an upcoming "Battle of the Media Hotties". How about pairing him up with fellow 20-something Geoff Holtzman of WMAL, a.k.a. "The Most Powerful Man in Washington"? (12/5/07) Hey Joyce Conroy: I remember She's About A Mover way back when it first hit in 1965, and I thought they were singing "Think I Better Move On." Maybe she was a little too hot to handle for him. Wanna hear an even better one? A line in the Beach Boys' Surf's Up reads "Canvas the town and brush the backdrop." That's how I've always heard it. NOT!!! "Candace, sit down and brush the sand off." KOF Hey, that rhymes! (12/5/07) I remember one night working at WEEL there was a request made for The Canada Dry song. HUH? After talking to the listener a few minutes I determined he was asking for "Kind Of A Drag" by The Buckinghams. -skip (12/5/07) Just found out that the “Kick The B*tch Outta Town” party for Katherine Green is going to be on December 7, 2007 at Chadwicks after work. I guess “after work” means about 5:30-6:00pm. I’m sure that lots of former Fox 5ers will be in attendance. Looking forward to seeing you all!!! (12/5/07) Dave's response: Even Hillary Howard? Let's let Sean Taylor and family rest in peace. It doesn't matter what or how or who..the man was executed by some thugs that decided to rob him. It's a tragedy, there's no reason to TRY to DRAG HIM and FAMILY through the mud. For God's sake leave it alone. PLB (12/5/07) There has a been good give and take in the mailbag regarding the Sean Taylor tragedy. My feeling is that it's hard to parse the biases and motivations of those like Wilbon and Shapiro with certitude. Certainly they seem to me to be guilty of passing down judgment and hurtful opinons before the facts were clear, and impugned Taylor by doing so. However, my take is similar to another one just posted: that it is risky to own a nice home, where you don't have the knowledge and ultimate control of those who are invited to parties, or are entertained by family members or anyone else who has legitimate access. To waive that control and entrust the good judgment to others of who and how many visit your home is a dicey proposition. If you have lavish accomodations and easily recognizable wealth, it's even a larger risk. Anyone who has had communal living arrangements or housemates can probably relate on some small level to a friend bringing undesirables or unwanted people to visit. While hindsight is 20/20, someone invited or condoned the presence of one or all of these punks at Taylor's house at one point. Certainly, whomever brought or invited the criminal(s) won't soon forget it, and they don't need us to remind them. As to speculating who knew what about whom, and what sort of crowd Taylor's relatives may hang with or know, or what their "lifestyle" might be, this is currently speculation. I think we need to acknowledge the possibility that the "lifestyle" of Taylor's relatives who had access to the house may have played a indirect part in the subsequent crime, but that isn't clear, and probably never will be. Certainly no one would have invited criminals wittingly. These punks, who were most likely strangers to Taylor, identified a criminal opportunity when others decided to entrust them inside Taylor's fancy digs. I think it's fair to wonder was there an alarm system, and was it turned off on the night of the murder? It's a shame these punks chose to bring a gun with them, as now they wouldn't be facing life imprisonment, and Taylor would likely be alive. (12/5/07) My son and I were driving home around 7pm last night (Tuesday) and heard the DC101 dj give some lame story about getting in trouble with his boss about playing the same song all night. If he got in trouble, does he still have a job? (12/5/07) Dave's response: Come on! DC101 is a corporate arm of giant Clear Channel. No "DJ" on 101.1's airwaves would hiccup without prior approval from the suits in San Antonio..... Sorry, but the facts are that Sean Taylor's "lifestyle" had nothing to do with his death. These people who want to use this tragedy to pontificate about such things undoubtedly would have preferred that he was murdered by some hoodlum that he ran around with years ago. That would justify their sanctimony and preaching. But the plain facts are that the only "lifestyle" that had anything to do with his death was his status as a well paid football star, which made him a target for burglars. Wilbon and Shapiro jumped to the wrong conclusion and should be ashamed, as the minister at the funeral said. (12/5/07) I know Barry Lee and I have worked with Barry Lee. You madam, are no Barry Lee… or Donald Scruggs. (12/5/07) When I was 10 or so, I thought the lyrics in Pinball Wizard were "he pays by tuition" where its actaully 'he plays by intuition' . There is a Reader's Digest store about a gal who misunderstood the words "'dawn's early' light" in our National Anthem. Seems it wasn't until she was much older and tired of trying to find "daunserly" in the dictionary that she finally asked someone. EAB (12/5/07) So what was the deal on DC101 on Monday night? Beastie Boys all night and never heard an explanation?!? (12/5/07) Another good misheard lyrics site www.amiright.com... Regards Biff (12/5/07) re:.."No matter how you slice it, people he associated with led to his death. Yes, the truth hurts, but even more when it's in your own family. By the way, I guarantee to you that I usually know when a party is being held in my house and who's there, whether I'm in town or not. Not knowing sounds like nonsense to me. But I guess some people live different "lifestyles" than me. Good call Wilbon and Shapiro."...the racists and disgusting enablers will surely disagree but that right there is a crystal clear "slam dunk"!! Well said!! (12/5/07) Hey Dave, enjoying the posts on misunderstood lyrics. I love "She's About A Mover" by the Sir Douglas Quintet. For years, I kept thinking it was "She's a body mover". This could have been a good anthem for women's rights back in the 60's. Hey, women could do well in the funeral biz too or it could be a warning about a woman scorned. I often joke that the beauty of rock n roll is not always understanding the lyrics. Long live it. Blessings always. Joyce Conroy (WHFC) (12/5/07) Speaking of song lyrics, when the All American Rejects song comes on the radio, I sing to my son: “mow the lawn, mow the lawn, like I told you to (mow the lawn).” (12/5/07) Dave's response: Take "Ashes To Ashes" - one of my favorite David Bowie songs. Yet, many of the lyrics are unintelligible. Until now, via www.lyricsfreak.com. "The shrieking of nothing is killing, Just pictures of Jap girls in synthesis and I ain't got no money and I ain't got no hair, But I'm hoping to kick but the planet it's glowing." Whoa..... Reading some of the comments about Winchester's WINC, that would be a smart move of their part if they went to a format similar to New Jersey's "New Jersey 101.5". However even if WINC decide to go down that route, I have serious doubts they will ever dump morning guy Barry Lee. He is way too much an icon in Winchester to fire him, that would be a big PR nightmare for WINC. That would be kinda like Hagerstown's WJEJ and NBC 25 getting rid of Lou Scally. If you thought the dismiss of Hagerstown's old WWMD was bad with all of those people in a tizzy writing letters to the paper and such, this would be worse. Back to Barry Lee, I wouldn't be surprised if the last thing the Lewis Family ( Mid Atlantic ) did before they sold to Centennial was make some kinda of agreement with the new owners that no matter what direction WINC is to take, Barry Lee will always be there. Not the first time that happened in Winchester. When WEFG-FM 102.5 was sold in 1981 to new owners who would turn that station into Q102, the old ( Shenval Broadcasting ) made some sort of deal with the new ( Holt ) that the late preacher Donald Scruggs would remain with the staff. It took well over ten years for Q102 to get rid of him and only then it was due to the failing health of Scruggs. I would imagine that Barry Lee would remain with WINC no matter how the ratings and any format that WINC decides to take since so many people believe WINC lives and dies with Barry Lee. Then again I could be wrong. 10 years ago they said the same thing about Jenny Lynn with Q102. Well today Q102 is still popular as ever without Jenny Lynn. (12/5/07) Even with the availability of WDCA on cable in Howard County, viewers likely wouldn't be able to see Thursday's Redskins game there that way. Each local carrier of an NFL Network broadcast is only authorized to show the broadcast in its Designated Market Area. Outside of its DMA, the local airing of the game is supposed to be blacked out. I haven't seen anything in the local media about this rule but the Post-Gazette explains it from a Pittsburgh perspective. Everett W. www.post-gazette.com (12/5/07) Hi. Just wanted to let you know I love your website and read it daily. I especially enjoy the battle of the local media hotties and vote in most of them. I do have an issue w/the latest one between Adam Caskey of Channel 7 and Chuck Bell of Channel 4. Why in the world did you pick Chuck Bell when Steve Villanueva would have been the likely choice? He's so handsome and it would have been a more even battle. Jane Beeman, Rockville, MD (12/5/07) Does Mr. Augustein know if the Slickee Boys have a reunion show going on this Crismus in the D.C. area? Where Mr. Augustein and Mr. O'Meara in any classes together over at AU? And did Ms. Reiger wear leopard print blouses to class? No Xmas lights at Bull Run regional park this year? (12/5/07) Hagerstown’s 1490/WARK was not the station in the Hagerstown market that had carried Greaseman. That station was WKMZ, first at 97.5 and then moved to 95.9. Grease did well there, too—always at the top or near the top in Men 25-54 & similar demos. WARK, however, was the station that for many years had carried Imus, so his return to 1490 will just be putting things back the way they used to be. (12/5/07) Dave, all this talk about WTOP calls going here, there, and everywhere is right. I know of an a.m.'er where they gave up the FM rights to the call letters, and they went on a Merchant Marine ship at sea and are now on board the ships low watt FM radio. Bay Country Bob (12/5/07) We're all guilty of mis-hearing an occasional lyric. When Billy Preston passed away last year, I posted a clip at YouTube of ten-year-old Billy (looking an awful lot like Gary Coleman) performing on Nat 'King' Cole's 1957 TV show: www.youtube.com..... Not long afterwards, an appreciative viewer left a comment thanking me for posting that clip, noting that his band often plays one of Mr. Preston's big hits from the '70s: "WILLIE Go Round In Circles". (12/5/07) One's "lifestyle" also includes one's family as well as one's "friends" whether they are "dirtbags" or not. The only difference is one can choose one's friends and can only disown one's dirtbag relatives and choose other actions as part of a "lifestyle." So I don't see where any apology is needed by Wilbon or Shapiro for criticizing or hinting at the wrong part of Sean Taylor's "lifestyle". No matter how you slice it, people he associated with led to his death. Yes, the truth hurts, but even more when it's in your own family. By the way, I guarantee to you that I usually know when a party is being held in my house and who's there, whether I'm in town or not. Not knowing sounds like nonsense to me. But I guess some people live different "lifestyles" than me. Good call Wilbon and Shapiro. The only people who should be apologizing are media leeches like the reverends' Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, who would probably pontificate about practically anything in a racial manner for media attention and money. Anyone who thinks those 2 care about race relations or racism is a complete idiot. Those 2 leeches LIVE for this stuff! Wilbon and Shapiro just write the news and their opinions about it as they see it and I think they do a damn good job. Nobody has to be perfect. Obviously Sean Taylor wasn't. (12/5/07) What "KOF" is looking for is "The Archive of Misheard Lyrics" at www.kissthisguy.com (12/5/07) Wonder if Baltimore's FM Talk 105-7 would bring on Imus if they decide to let go of Kirk and Mark? (12/5/07) Dave's response: I strongly doubt it. CBS is the company that fired Imus from his old radio gig and CBS owns 105.7..... /\ December 5 Messages /\ \/ December 4 Messages \/ “Yes. Unless CBS "parked" the calls on another station it owns, they're free for the taking.....” In that particular case, yes, but not in all cases. For example, even though Bonneville isn’t using the WTOP calls on an AM frequency right now, because they have WTOP-FM, no one else can claim the WTOP-AM call letters unless Bonneville gives them up. (12/4/07) Dave's response: The original owner of the calls, whether it be for a TVer, AMer, or FMer, has complete rights to the call. But, Bonneville doesn't even have to "give them up" on FM 103.5 here in DC to allow an AMer or TVer to use them somewhere else. You could still have WTOP-FM in DC and WTOP-AM or WTOP-TV somewhere else in the USA - of course, with Bonneville's permission. Look at the WBIG, KCBS, and WMET calls - on AMer, FMers, and/or TVers in completely different markets. Look at WRNR calls - on an FMer in Annapolis and an AMer in Martinsburg, with different owners..... (Re Imus:) can anybody hear (Hagerstown's) 1490? was that the station that carried greaseman? it came in and and out, if so. (12/4/07) Dave's response: No, you can't hear 1490 in DC. 1500 (3WT) blows it away. Greaseman was on Gaithersburg's 1160..... (Crazy media world we live in. But, ummm, it turns out Sean Taylor allowed a party to happen at HIS HOUSE with these thugs and had connections to at least 2 of them, possibly more. I even saw that one might have even cut his lawn. So I wouldn't call all the early reports WRONG completely...) You need to follow the case more closely. Taylor wasn't even in town for this party and likely didn't even know about it. And his STEP SISTER was the one with the connections to the dirtbags. And regardless of those errors in your post, what the hell does either point have to do with Shapiro and Wilbon's completely erroneous point, which was that Taylor's lifestyle caused his death? Does having parties and allowing one's step sister to invite their "friends" mean that one's lifestyle is inviting death? What nonsense. (12/4/07) Haven't seen this mentioned yet... Comcast customers in Howard County who don't have the NFL Network (or a nice big antenna at their disposal) will not be able to see Thursday night's Redskins game because it's being show locally on Channel 20, which isn't on the cable system. When we called Comcast, the operator said they've already received over 1,000 complaints. Maybe it's time to switch to Verizon. (12/4/07) Dave's response: Grab some rabbit ears from Radio Shack. Channel 20 covers most of Howard County quite well..... Jeux sans frontieres….I'm guilty of the same thing as you, Dave. Although I always heard it as "She's so funkier" which sounds a little closer to the actual French word for frontiers. But "funky, yeah" makes more sense in English. KOF (12/4/07) Funny that the most recent poster mentioned "Edge of Seventeen." It wasn't until relatively recently that I discovered the words at that point in the song are indeed "wild winged dove." I was shocked. For years I heard it as "Just like the wild wind does." I always thought, why shouldn't the lyrics be that? Doesn't the next line refer to the wind as a she (sings the songs like she's been singin', or something like that)? Just like "They call the wind Maria." Logical misunderstanding, isn't it? There are an awful lot more lyric gaffes like that in my mental library, but again that certain degree of firm logic seems to underlie most of them. Unlike "Bench on a Highway" which is pretty dumb. And no, I never misunderstood that line in "Purple Haze." To my ears they've always been "excuse me while I kiss the sky." It would be a hoot to post some of these mangled gems here. What say the rest of you? KOF (12/4/07) Dave's response: "She's so funky, yeah." What Kate Bush sings at the beginning of Peter Gabriel's "Games Without Frontiers." Of course, what she's really singing is the French version of the title..... I was just reminded of when the band America was booked to make an appearance at a wedding. Before the wedding they asked the bride to be, daughter of a vineyard owner, what songs she wanted them to sing. The bride to be responded with "Bench on a Highway." Dumb brides are funny. Meatloaf scolded a woman during his "story tellers" show at DAR for playing "Two out of three aint bad" for her first dance at her wedding. "I want you, I need you, but there AINT NO WAY I'M EVER GONNA LOVE YOU" are part of the lyrics. Nice starting point for a marriage. Stevie Nicks always hears requests for that "one winged dove" song. (12/4/07) Dear DCRTV; As the article linked to your mention of the gentleman bringing a lawsuit against O&A, XM as well as fan who set off the airhorn, it was not a member of the show’s crew, but a fan – acting independently. A small thing, I know - but it does make a big difference. Susan (12/4/07) Photographs from the NPR News and Iowa Public Radio national Democratic Presidential debate are now available at: www.npr.org (12/4/07) (From DCRTV's Classified Ads page:) Board OP- “Top level technical producer / board op wanted for highly popular radio show located in the east coast. Job responsibilities include (but are not limited to) content production, live on-air console operation, audio production, voice track editing, checking and operating of various radio equipment, etc. At least 5 years experience is required. Must be able to think and react quickly, have excellent communication skills, professionalism and creativity. Send resumes to productionapplication@hotmail.com. (12/4/07) AOL is down to finals on Worst Sport's Announcer. Now I think Stephen A. Smith is a jerk but I think we should all support the home town favorite and push Kornholio over the top. tinyurl.com... And AOL Sport's picks up on the Washingtonian story about Mr.Theismann. tinyurl.com... Wonder how long he can't work elsewhere for the $ 4 million. Like he couldn't takeover for Mr.Jurgenson on the radio for several year's? Maybe Mr. Theismann could help out at Notre Dame. Lord knows the football progrum needs something. So is channel 4 thinking about bringing back Susan Kidd and George Michaels? (12/4/07) Ouch! Brain fart - WARW is indeed WTGB. I deserve at least 30 lashes with a wet noodle. Or be forced to listen to "The Glob" for 48 hours nonstop. And what's all the fuss about that Styx song? C'mon, dawgs, it's only Japanese! Mike from Frederick, who will henceforth keep his yap shut occasionally. (12/4/07) Dave's response: I still call 1310 WEEL, 1390 WEAM, 1600 WINX, and 980 WRC..... RE: [ " However, they were both proven WRONG with respect to Sean Taylor's death. They were WRONG to jump to conclusions. WRONG to publish columns without any basis in fact. And WRONG about what happened. And if they don't apologize to Taylor's family for the extra pain that they caused, they are WRONG in that respect too. " ].......... Crazy media world we live in. But, ummm, it turns out Sean Taylor allowed a party to happen at HIS HOUSE with these thugs and had connections to at least 2 of them, possibly more. I even saw that one might have even cut his lawn. So I wouldn't call all the early reports WRONG completely. If anything, they were partly correct, except for the fact that there was no Sean Taylor drug or gun connection. So, all of these types of calls for political correctness are getting crazier and crazier and certainly biassed and often racist. Is CBS Sports' James Brown going to retract his statement with this latest news? I doubt it. And Comcast SportsNets' Redskins THUGLIFE PostGame Show was equally embarrassing. And then you've got the Washington Post suspending a reporter who referred to former DC mayor Marion Barry as a "crack addict" (which WAS ACTUALLY TRUE) while a reporter for MSNBC/CNBC referred to the President of the United States as a "monkey" and absolutely nothing was done, nor was there even any outrage or coverage of this. In fact, they couldn't stop laughing at NBC! What is wrong with this picture? :-( (12/4/07) "Domo arigato" Means "thank you" in Japanese. Which reminds me of a joke: What do you call someone who speaks three languages? Trilingual. What do you call someone who speaks two languages? Bilingual. And what do you call someone who speaks just one language? An American. Paul Brandus (a Russian speaker, heh heh). (12/4/07) KOF..."Domo Arigato" means "Thank you very much, Mr. Roboto"...hell, he even says it in the song! (Thank you very much, Mr. Roboto for doing the jobs nobody wants to and thank you very much Mr. Roboto for helping me escape when I needed to). Timely post too, about a 24 year old song. I bet you thought Jimi Hendrix was singing "Excuse me while I kiss this guy." or Elton John was singing "Hold me closer Tony Danza" or maybe Creedence Clearwater Revival was singing "There's a bathroom on the right." What does any of this have to do with DC/Baltimore radio and tv? (12/4/07) Dave's response: Man, WBIG plays that "Tony Danza" song every hour. Not that there's anything wrong with that..... Who's going to be the kind, brave soul that removes Larry Michael and/or Bram Weinstein from that miserable noontime joke of a radio show. I don't know who's worse - the blathering Weinstein or the perpetual homer Michael. I knew it was coming and you had to also... If the Skins lost to Buffalo it would be because the mourning players couldn't function properly. If they won it would be because they were inspired to play better and smarter in tribute to Sean. Today Larry Michael says " Sean Taylor's death had a big impact on Sunday's game." Exactly what was that impact, Larry? Are you saying the team didn't play well and lost because of the death of Sean Taylor? Speak up, Larry. The Redskins lost Sunday for the same reasons they lost the other 6--incompetence and stupidity. Regards Biff... I'll have more to say about the station later... (12/4/07) I always thought Styx was singing "Double what he gotto, Mr. Roboto, Double (double)…Double (double)…." What in the world would "domo arigato" mean anyway? KOF (12/4/07) If the best thing that DC101 and their new night time DJ can come up with is playing the same song over and over again, then DC radio just took a huge turn for the worse. No more night time radio for me. Rob ~ streaming on-line (12/4/07) C'mon, people, you're already on the internet, a little research takes 15 seconds. WARW-FM is now 89.5 MHz in Dorsey, Illinois. (12/4/07) Dear all, I've been told The Q&A Cafe is getting "kick ass" ratings on News Channel 8. So, if you've been watching, thank you. Please don't stop. Tell your friends to watch, too. And if you know anyone who would like to help sponsor the show, bring it on. It's Saturdays at 6 pm and Sundays at 11 pm. The show airs Fridays at 8 pm on DC TV-16, too. Going forward: Valerie Plame Wilson is the guest this Thursday. If you have a reservation, please reconfirm with Jon Moss at 202.338.2000, particularly if you can't make it. We've already brought some people off the waiting list and would like to include more, if possible. Olsson's, btw, will have her book available for buying and signing. Next week we welcome DC Mayor Adrian Fenty, on Wednesday. This is virtually sold out, but we do have a wait list. Check with Jon. We will take our holiday break after Fenty, resuming programs on January 9. Guest TBA. Again, thank you for your patronage and support, Carol (12/4/07) You can put money on it (literally) that if Comcast DOES add approx. 30 HD channels to its lineup next year, the monthly rate will go up by at least $10-$15. It's Comcastic! GK in Reisterstown (12/4/07) (I'm curious. When a station changes its call letters--such as 94.7 going from Arrow to The Globe--can the old call letters be used by another station? Any ownership claims on call letters, or could WARW be used by some other station in the future?... Dave's response: Yes. Unless CBS "parked" the calls on another station it owns, they're free for the taking.....) Dave's response is correct; however, the station never changed its call letters, which are WARW. They were WARW as the Arrow, and they remain WARW as the Globe. Not a sermon, just a clarification. Mike in Frederick and the Dashboard DX Society. "Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto!" AMF! (12/4/07) Dave's response: 94.7 is now WTGB, not WARW..... With new management in at WINC, it’s very possible you may see them reach out and meet their signal potential. The old owners were not interested in the land “over the mountain”, as they were living quite well with what the locals were paying. I do believe that if the expansion comes to fruition, most of the air staff must go. They’re just a little Mayberry for such a large audience. (12/4/07) We woke up one day two weeks ago to find no more channel 4 WNBC on Mercer County comcast cable.Why? Is it coming back? We liked watching NBC News -- were we the only ones? Maureen (12/4/07) I don't think either Shapiro or Wilbon are racists (although Wilbon is a race baiter). However, they were both proven WRONG with respect to Sean Taylor's death. They were WRONG to jump to conclusions. WRONG to publish columns without any basis in fact. And WRONG about what happened. And if they don't apologize to Taylor's family for the extra pain that they caused, they are WRONG in that respect too. (12/4/07) RE, “Anyone criticizing Wilbon and others for their accurate comments are the true racists” Michael Wilbon holds a powerful position in our community with his column in The Washington Post. He and his editors must make tough choices before they choose to publish an article. Mr. Wilbon chose to give his opinion based on no substance or factual evidence. He made the decision to stir up the community before he knew the facts. He made the decision to kick the Taylor family while they were trying to deal with a senseless murder. Yesterday, Mr. Wilbon was verbally attacked on his “Chat House” for the crime he committed with his pen. He was flat wrong. Unfortunately, he is digging a deeper hole by refusing to admit he was wrong. What was the rush to print the article and go on countless media outlets to boast of his opinion? It is OK to admit an error in judgment. It is not OK to try and sweep the error under the rug. Shame on Michael Wilbon. (12/4/07) Clear Channel's at it again. Big pre-Christmas (oops, holiday) clearances at their stations in Los Angeles, Chicago and possibly San Francisco. (12/4/07) The D.C. region must be in "snow panic mode" because FOX5 Midday News had, not one, but two weather guys on hand (Tucker Barnes & Tony Perkins) and not a single flurry has yet officially hit the ground. Chris Core's PSA of this morning about frantic D.C. drivers in weather-changing snowy days was the best: "Abandon your cars! Abandon your cars!" Gotta love that Core! (12/4/07) A year or so ago I was at Redskins Park on business and my three colleagues and I were offered autographed Redskins jerseys as part of our close partnership with the team. The three signed jerseys were from Santana Moss, Chris Cooley and Sean Taylor. My two other colleagues went first, and I was really hoping for either Cooley’s or Moss’, I didn’t want Taylor’s because of his nefarious reputation and general thug status. When he was shot and later died last week, my first reaction was that his past had finally caught up with him, that yet another spoiled punk athlete met the same sad end as many of his ilk had before him. Well…working for one of the local TV stations, and seeing and hearing over and over the dozens of honest appraisals of Sean’s drastic sea change in his personal life over the last 18 months, I feel, like many others do now, that I jumped to a seriously wrong conclusion. Yes, Sean Taylor ran with the wrong crowd in the past, and could have easily put himself in the position to meet an untimely end, based on that past. But two things must be said. One, based on the facts of the crime, this murder was not old thugs he knew that were out for revenge, or even former acquaintances of his, but those of his stepsister, who had invited these jack-asses to his house for a party weeks before the shooting, and they cased the joint for a burglary. Plain and simple. He wasn’t at a club doing blow or in an alley scoring crack or mixing it up with the old guard. Sean was merely in Miami for a second opinion on his knee, decided to take some rare time with his fiancé and baby, and Sunday night was sleeping peacefully in bed with his family when without provocation he was gunned down by a stupid career criminal who freaked out seeing him spring out of bed, startled. That’s a fact. Two, every single person who knew Sean has said the same thing over the last week or two, all apart from each other: from his homeys on the team, to Gibbs and Snyder and Williams, to many others, everyone, saying unanimously that that he had made a profound and marked change in his life over the last 18 months, in demeanor, in attitude, in spirituality, in the care of his family, and in his relationship with his teammates. The point here is that people CAN change, even spoiled misguided overpaid athletes, who finally come to the realization that they are the luckiest humans on earth getting paid to play a damn game, and they need to take stock of what they have been, what they now have, and what they could lose. Sean Taylor did this. He changed his tune. Everyone close to him has said that. And I’m savvy enough at 46 to know it’s not lip service. It makes it all the more tragic that he was killed not by his past, but by some misguided kids who thought the only way to get something they want was to steal it. Maybe they should learn from Sean Taylor how to change their ways. If they ever get out of prison that is. Like so many others, in this mailbag and around the country, your past made me misjudge you Sean, and for that I’m sorry. You had turned it around. Your life was going down the right road. You learned from your mistakes. You made adjustments. You saw what was important. You were on the right track. R.I.P. Sean, and I mean In Peace. -Steve (12/4/07) This is only marginally related to radio, but I wanted to get the word out. As many of you on the mid-shore may have heard, the Stone family near Centreville lost their home in a fire on Thursday night. Everyone is O.K. but the family lost just about everything in the fire. There will be a benefit show featuring the band Jack The Penguin this Saturday night (12/8) starting at 8pm at the Hillside Tavern on Rt. 213 in Centreville. The cost is a minimum $5 cover charge and 100% of the money raised goes to the Stone family. Jack The Penguin features Rik Ferrell who used to work in sales at WHFS and WRNR and Keith Thompson who is a personality and operations manager at WCTR in Chestertown. It's Rik's sister and family who lost their home in the fire. Hopefully the radio folks who know Rik can come help out his family this Saturday. For more on Jack The Penguin, go online at jackthepenguin.com. Keith Thompson, WCTR (12/4/07) Anyone criticizing Michael Wilbon and others for their accurate comments following the tragic death of Sean Taylor are the true racists and worse yet...disgusting enablers!! (12/4/07) DCRTV Dave, nice ramble on Bonneville and Radio One, but you're probably wrong on such ideas. I don't think Radio One would sell a station in its home market, at least out of pride. They might sell to get top market value before the PPMs get to DC and potentially destroy their stations' ratings. Bonneville DC (and/or corporate) would be stupid to buy an urban-formatted station and not change the format, with those PPMs in mind. But, what viable format could Bonneville put on 93.9 or 102.3, anyway? It's not like it was before Oxley destroyed Z104 and (essentially) WGMS in one-fell-swoop for WTOP's sake, even though its ratings weren't hurting at the time. If I were Oxley, I would have put WTOP on 103.9 and 104.1, and kept WGMS at 103.5. If the future of newsradio is FM, 104.1 and 103.9 could have been enough of a stopgap among the rest of the old WTOP lineup (1500/107.7/820), and the 104.1 signal is just powerful enough in monoaural (fine for a talky format like WTOP) to get throughout downtown DC and the general vicinity on a good car radio. The 104.1 DC booster that would have come online in late 2006 only would have helped in that regard. Any weak spots would have been filled in by 1500 or 107.7. The 103.9 signal going to WTOP might have been enough of an excuse to sell 820 to someone like Vegas Radio, providing quick cash. 103.5 would have aired Nats games. After a new station was purchased with a more centralized DC station like 102.3, things like resurrecting Z104 and/or trying Washington Post Radio could have be considered. Alas, it's all wishful thinking. Back to reality: If I was in Oxley's position, you know what I would do if I got a new FM station? I'd probably return it to the old free-form WHFS-style rocker. I personally hate hearing repeats, so I'd tell the DJs, "If you get a hankering to play some random song that hasn't been played in the last week, it's in the CD collection, and it's FCC-safe, feel free to play it". Maybe I'd even hire you as a music director, DCRTV Dave. Sincerely, Mike in Kensington (12/4/07) Dave's response: Me MD? Cool! You know, that's what The Globe should be doing. But, instead, CBS is spinning its wheels, trying to do a slightly harder version of the limping Mix 107.3, and watching 94.7 sink. Ponderous, man, ponderous..... Chanukah starts tonight--and Radio Chanukah on XM108 has already started! Or, to put it in a limerick [not Doug] kind of way: Our DCRTV guy Hughes/Has some of his friends who are Jews!/Tonight is the night/The first candle they'll light/And hear XM108's music & news!--Mike from Silver Spring (12/4/07) Dave's response: Awww..... Dear Howard from Virginia: Just because somebody’s old grandma – Chickaboomer – gets a website doesn’t mean that anybody cares about it. Or should. Sincerely, TMU (12/4/07) Dear Dave: I got such a great response to my live blogging of Imus' debut that I'm doing it again tomorrow (Tuesday). I had 21 live Imus posts Monday and people told me they want me to do more. Marty Chickaboomer (12/4/07) I made mistake El Jefe and J. Dubs worked WJFK dec 4th-8th of last year. Damn, I need some good glasses and few less beers. (12/4/07) What the fuck is DC101 trying to prove by playing Beastie Boys - Fight For Your Right for over 2 hours straight tonight (Monday)? Whatever asshole DJ they have on now should be fired immediately. What a fucking joke... DC101 is officially no longer #1 on my presets. -- DM (12/4/07) We own a property out here in The Plains, Virginia, so I often hear WINC, which is just horrible. I LOVED your idea of it being an "all things Virginia" station. If I won the lottery, I would buy it, hire you and move forward with such a brilliant plan.... (12/4/07) Dave's response: Winchester's 92.5 covers more than a million listeners in Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William counties, which it largely ignores. I'm telling you, if WINC's new owners were to start a full-service talk and music service programmed and marketed to the DC suburbs of Northern Virginia, they'd probably quadruple the station's ad revenue..... /\ December 4 Messages /\ \/ December 3 Messages \/ I totally agree with Paul about WJLA replacing Kathleen with Leslie Cook. Allison Starling is about as boring as they come. Yes, she's attractive but has no real news sense and no charisma. Leslie is amazing. She is serious when she should be and light when that is appropriate. You can tell that everyone she works with truly enjoys her. I think she could be huge in DC if just given the chance. The more I watch Cook the more I like her. (12/3/07) Do any of you people look at the WRC-TV camera at images.ibsys.com ? About a week ago they replaced their old camera which cave very sharp images with a new FuzzyMax camera. It is a real step backward, especially at night. (12/3/07) Dave, I liked the "Cindy Septa' Joke! (12/3/07) Dave's response: Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority..... I'm curious. When a station changes its call letters--such as 94.7 going from Arrow to The Globe--can the old call letters be used by another station? Any ownership claims on call letters, or could WARW be used by some other station in the future? Dawn P (12/3/07) Dave's response: Yes. Unless CBS "parked" the calls on another station it owns, they're free for the taking..... I really hope WJFK keeps Buzz Burbank on when Don Geronimo goes off to pasture. The only reason I even tune into the Don and Mike show anymore is to hear Buzz's news! (12/3/07) WUSA/9 aired the Sean Taylor funeral until 1:30 p.m., WRC/4 until 2 p.m. WTTG/5 stayed for its entirety till about 2:30 p.m.. Allbritton had the option to air the funeral on sister station NewsChannel 8, I don't know if it aired there instead of WJLA/7. Everett W. (12/3/07) Wilbon and Shapiro should absolutely not apologize for anything. If there was a hypothetical online poll two weeks ago with the question, "which Redskin player is most likely to be shot" the answer would have been overwhelmingly Sean Taylor and those who pontificated at the funeral know that. And for that matter why do we need three stations covering the funeral of a football player that half of the people in Washington had never heard of? (12/3/07) RE: "I find it funny/strange/questionable that you urge people to support your advertisers, yet when you write about the return of Imus and list three reports/blogs about the return, you FAIL to mention the one from your own advertiser - Chickaboomer. That blog ran a minute-by-minute account of the show, with comments. And you want ME to suppport your advertisers."////// What's your point Mr. Chickaboomer? What, has the initial hit count started dwindle since it's apparent there is no porno, and the reality of some over the hill hausfrau posting her banal media musings and newstake regurgitation's, done better everywhere and elsewhere isn't quite catching on as first thought? My guess is most come here for DCRTV and the choices the webmaster makes, not to be linked to Chickaboomer every time Larry Craig passes wind. Chickaboomer site is like spam email, at first you may be tricked into looking once or twice, before realizing you never need to again. I would no more click on that link than I would Bill O's link. You mean I missed Chickaboomer's take on Imus ?? I would have to put two extra full rotations on the nutsack clamp just to stay awake for that dreamy dictum. I am proud to say after two initial visits, I have been Chickaboomer free now for 2 months. I would advise all others to lay down the pipe and give it up yourself, it's no fun kissing a smoker or licking an ashtray. (12/3/07) Dave's response: Don Imus is a talentless blowhard who should have retired long ago. It would be nice to see him plunge to ratings failure and take the evil Farid Suleman with him. I'm sure most of those working at WMAL, WJZW, and WRQX will soon be agreeing with my sentiment, if not already..... I agree with the previous poster about Sean Taylor’s history… There was a history of gun violence in the young man’s past, so to have died by gunfire was not a total surprise to anyone who remembers his past… If he had died of a drug overdose, then, yes, that would have been a surprise… Plus when reporting on any well-known person’s life, the media will generally give you the good and bad about that person’s life.. If Pete Rose had his legs broken by someone next week, would we be surprised?... No! I guarantee you that when Bill Clinton’s time to leave this veil of tears comes about, more than one news outlet will mention the Lewinsky affair.. Is it racist, is it negative press?.. It’s called history!… All celebs have one, whether you find it palatable or not… I’m not a Len Shapiro fan but I do enjoy John Mitchell’s coverage of the Wizards.. I still think it was a reach for Mitchell to label Shapiro as a racist.. I wonder if Mitchell’s employers at the Times had anything to say to him after his comments on WOL?.. Keep up the great work Dave! (12/3/07) Imus Vows He'll Earn "Second Chance": Rebukes Black Comics Who Agreed With Insult including a pledge Philip Nobile developed for Imus . . . in today's "Journal-isms" www.maynardije.org/columns/dickprince