January 2004 to June 2004

Latest items listed first.....

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June 28, 2004
4 Reporter Lives With Police Official
Howard Kurtz in the Washington Post reports that Jackie Bensen, a general assignment reporter for Channel 4/WRC, "sees no problem with the fact that she lives with an assistant DC police chief, Peter Newsham, who oversees ethics investigations and disciplinary reviews as head of the department's Office Of Professional Responsibility." Bensen tells the Post: "We're both professionals who have been in our respective fields for some time. We made a conscious decision not to have contact with each other professionally." By agreement with her bosses, she says, she does not cover anything involving Newsham's office. Kurtz adds that Vickie Burns, Channel 4's vice president for news, who had been unaware of the relationship, says she is "comfortable" with Bensen just steering clear of Newsham's unit. The relationship attracted attention in March after Newsham's ex-girlfriend pleaded guilty to assaulting Newsham and Bensen. Cheryl Gargac showed up at what she thought was Newsham's Bethesda home and discovered Bensen there, and in the altercation that followed, she cracked Newsham in the face and grabbed Bensen by the hair. Bensen, who owns the house, said in a police statement that she was also kicked in the groin. Gargac agreed to pay $600 for breaking a window. Bensen has been with Channel 4 since 1999. Before that, she worked for Channel 5/WTTG and NewsChannel 8.

June 26, 2004
Former Sun Publisher Dies
William Schmick, former publisher of the Baltimore Sun, died Friday of heart failure at a retirement facility in Towson. He was 90. Schmick's career at the then A.S. Abell-owned newspaper company spanned more than 40 years, including nearly two decades as its chief executive. He also headed the paper's broadcasting operations, which once included WMAR-TV/FM in Baltimore and WBOC-TV/FM/AM in Salisbury.

June 23, 2004
WETA Transforms Long-Running Arts Program Into Segments
"Around Town," Washington's only weekly television program devoted to the local arts scene, will not return to Channel 26/WETA's schedule this fall in its traditional half-hour format. Instead, the 18-year-old show hosted by Robert Aubry Davis will run as 2 1/2-minute segments during program breaks throughout WETA's early evening and prime-time schedule.

June 22, 2004
Sorenson To Leave 4's Sports For 5's News
Channel 4 weekend sports anchor Jill Sorenson is "defecting" from the NBC station next month to become a general assignment reporter with Fox-owned Channel 5. Sorenson, whose four-year contract with Channel 4 expired this month, was given the opportunity to re-sign with the station's sports team but wanted to jump to news, Channel 4 sports director George Michael confirmed. Channel 4 didn't offer her a spot in its newsroom; Channel 5 did. Nicole Zaloumis, a sportscaster with NBC's affiliate in Medford, Oregon, will replace Sorenson.

June 18, 2004
PFW's Nap Turner Dies
Blues and jazz great Nap Turner, who, for the past two decades, did a show on Pacifica's WPFW, died yesterday at 73. Turner battled hard drugs for many years. And did "hard time." From Marc Fisher in the Washington Post: Those who listened to Turner on the radio heard a bit of the backwoods (plenty of country phrases such as "God willing and the creek don't rise"), some recitation set to music (he had a habit of reading "Wedding Pledge," a poem by Frederick Douglas Harper, while the tune "When A Man Loves A Woman" played in the background), and the occasional tune of Turner's own composition (such as his "Good Morning Blues," which says, "I am a soulful scream and a moan as one, I'm a personal expression. I am the blues").

June 17, 2004
Charlottesville Rocker Crusades Against Religious WGTS
Non-commercial rocker WNRN in Charlottesville is mad at DC area contemporary Christian outlet WGTS. Apparently, the recent power hike by the 91.9 FM station owned by Takoma Park's Columbia Union College is causing interference to WNRN's signal, also on 91.9. A few months ago, WGTS started broadcasting with more power (23,500-watts) from a tower in Arlington. WNRN (352-watts), via wnrn.rlc.net, says that it has been running in mono to reduce interference from WGTS. WNRN alleges that WGTS is in "gross violation of FCC rules. The project to increase this station's power was completed some three weeks after their construction permit expired. We have taken all possible steps to get the FCC to enforce their own rules in this case, and are optimistic that they will send this station packing back to its non-interfering facilities in Takoma Park, sooner rather than later." Also, WNRN claims that religious WGTS believes that it's on a "mission from God" and is "quite pleased with the havoc they are causing." WGTS General Manager John Konrad tells DCRTV that his station operates according to FCC regulations. He adds that the interefence is caused by a summer atmospheric condition which allows "signals to travel even farther than is usually expected. This phenomenon occurs no matter where a transmitter is located, and no matter what the power level of a station is."

June 16, 2004
Jon Anthony Joins XM
Jon Anthony, former afternoon guy, music director, and assistant program director at Clear Channel's country WMZQ, joins DC's XM Satellite Radio as music director for the Highway 16 country channel. He expects to soon move to Nashville, as XM plans to establish a presence in the country music capital. Anthony got the boot from WMZQ in March.

June 16, 2004
New PD For ZBA
Jon McGann joins Shamrock classic rocker WZBA (100.7 FM) as program director. He comes from KKZX, a classic rocker in Spokane.

June 15, 2004
Programming Changes At WARW
Christie Banks, the former program director of Infinity classic rocker WARW, takes the same gig at KZPS, a Clear Channel classic rocker in Dallas. She replaces Max Dugan, who, ironically, just became program director of WARW.

June 11, 2004
Hot 99.5 Escapes Indency Fine Due To FCC Error
Clear Channel's Hot 99.5, WIHT, didn't get fined by the FCC because of a "clerical error." The rhythmic contemporary station was hit with a September 2002 indecency complaint for a "Hot Morning Mess" show bit about a penile-enlargement device. The commission voted in February 2004 to impose a fine. However, according to Radio And Records, FCC rules state that pending complaints must be resolved before a station's license is renewed. And the statutory limit expired when WIHT's license was renewed in the fall of 2003. About the screw-up, Commissioner Michael Copps says: "This case highlights the need to address complaints filed with the commission expeditiously. The commission must begin acting in a timely fashion so that we can, literally, enforce our rules."

June 11, 2004
Comcast Channel Changes
DCRTV is hearing about changes coming to area Comcast cable systems this summer. Look for a reduction in the number of digital pay-per-view channels (in favor of video-on-demand), with the service being moved from the 200s to the 500 channel range. Also, look for Comcast's high-def channels to be relocated to the 200s. In the DC area, WJLA jumps from 180 to 210, WRC 181 to 211, WUSA 182 to 212, WTTG 183 to 213, WBDC 184 to 214, and WETA 190 to 220. Comcast SportsNet HD leaves 172 for 200, with ESPN HD going from 173 to 202. Nicktoons, MTV Hits, the Biography Channel, Lifetime Movie Network, and History Channel International will be added to the digital service, with the Hallmark Channel and WGN coming to analog. Look for a batch of religious networks to be added to the 290 channel range. Also, there will be several MusicChoice audio service changes, including the arrival of Radio Disney on 440. "New wave" tunes from the 1980s will be heard on the new "Retro-Active" channel on 415. The changes will be phased in throughout the summer.

June 9, 2004
WITH Veteran Rex Miller Dies
Rex Miller (left, in 1968), who worked at Baltimore's "top 40" WITH (1230 AM) in the late 1950s and early 1960s, died on 6/6 in a nursing home near St. Louis after a heart attack. He was in his mid-60s. According to area radio vet Jack Gale, Miller was "one of the funniest jocks ever." Miller, a big man who weighed more than 300 pounds, worked for "top 40" radio genius Gordon McLendon, KQV in Pittsburgh, WUBE in Cincinnati, KLIF in Dallas, and with Gale at WITH. Gale adds: "Another one of the great radio personalities has left us too soon."

June 7, 2004
50 & 20's Ad Sales Manager Dies
Scott Pressler, 41, national advertising sales manager of Fox-owned Channel 5/WTTG and Channel 20/WDCA, suffered a massive heart attack and died instantly while playing in a Pittsburgh rugby tournament on 6/6. Pressler had been with WTTG/WDCA since March 2003, and had worked with Fox Station Sales since July 2001. "Those who knew Scott remember him as a dedicated, professional, out-going man," WTTG/WDCA General Manager Duffy Dyer tells DCRTV. "His presence and friendship will be deeply missed by all who knew him."

June 4, 2004
88.5 Goes Digital, Starts "WAMU 2"
Radio World reports that American University's WAMU (88.5 FM) is converting to digital "HD Radio." Also, the NPR outlet has been beta-testing a second digital channel. According to RW, WAMU becomes the first area station to air a live second digital channel broadcast. WAMU is the third DC area FMer to go digital, following WETA and WHUR.

June 3, 2004
Catholic Group Seeks Frederick Radio Outlet
The Frederick News-Post reports that a Catholic group wants to start a Frederick area religious radio station by the end of the year. Holy Spirit Communications has received approval from Cardinal William Keeler of the Baltimore Archdiocese. The group, which hopes to purchase an existing radio station and run programs that reflect the beliefs of the church, says it has no plans to buy WJTM, a religious outlet that was recently acquired by WYPR, Baltimore's National Public Radio affiliate.

June 3, 2004
Ron & Fez Debut In Charm City
WJFK-FM 106.7 evening duo Ron and Fez debut on Baltimore's WXYV, Live 105.7 - also in the 7 PM to 11 PM slot. Tom Leykis moves to the 11 PM to 1 AM slot on 105.7. However, the straight/gay team's 11 AM show, which used to be live on 106.7, is now a replay of the previous evening's first hour.

June 3, 2004
Discovery To Open Virginia Facility
Silver Spring's Discovery Communications is expanding to Virginia's Dulles technology corridor with a 100-person operation that will feed its channels to cable companies. Discovery will turn a building in Sterling into a state-of-the-art center that compiles and transmits its 14 US channels to cable operators around the country. The center is scheduled to begin operations in the fall of 2005.

June 3, 2004
Fairfax, Comcast Battle Over Reston
A skirmish is brewing in Fairfax County over Comcast's cable TV franchise in Reston, which is not served by Cox, like the rest of the county. According to the Reston Times, the Fairfax board has agreed to extend until the end of 2004 the just expired 15-year agreement with Comcast (and predecessors Warner and Jones) while the parties hammer out a new deal. But DCRTV hears that all is not going well. Apparently, the county wants 18 channels reserved for various government functions. That's more than half of the 32 channels of the system's "limited basic" service. Currently, the Reston system carries seven government, school, and public access channels. Also, the county board is demanding a 40 percent hike in the franchise tax.

May 30, 2004
WTTG Vet Joe Rizzo Dies
Joe Rizzo, a news producer, editor, and operations manager of Channel 5/WTTG's "10 O'Clock News," died on 5/27 at age 67. He had suffered a stroke several years ago and was being cared for by his family in Charlotte. Rizzo worked at WTTG for four decades, from its DuMont days in the mid-1950s, through ownership by Metromedia, and eventually Fox. Former Channel 5 news anchor Morris Jones, who now works for Sinclair's Hunt Valley-based News Central, tells DCRTV: "I remember the first week that I started at WTTG some 20 years ago, when I was thrust into solo anchoring the 10 o'clock news when everyone else took the night off for the correspondents' dinner. Joe Rizzo singlehandedly produced that newscast, and it was flawless for both of us. He knew television and he knew Washington." Rizzo won numerous Emmys as well as the Silver Circle Award from the National Academy Of Television Arts And Sciences.

May 29, 2004
Warner Thrown To The Wolves
Warner Wolf, 66, has been "unceremoniously dumped" by the Big Apple's WCBS-TV. In the early 1970s, Wolf was the top sports anchor at DC's Channel 9, then WTOP-TV. In 1976, he jumped to NYC's WABC-TV, and, four years later, moved to cross-town WCBS-TV. Wolf returned to Channel 9, now WUSA-TV, in 1992, after the death of sportscaster Glenn Brenner. Wolf returned to WCBS-TV in 1997. He used to be heard on Don Imus's radio show.

May 28, 2004
WTOP Forbids Plotkin From Attending Pro-Choice Event
Bonneville-owned all-news WTOP will not allow Mark Plotkin (right) to attend a pro-choice abortion rights fundraising dinner for the Women's Campaign Fund. "Apparently (others) don't have a problem with that, but we do," WTOP news and programming VP Jim Farley told the Washington Times. "WTOP radio has a policy that none of our news people - including Mark, who is both a political analyst and a commentator - will participate in political or partisan events, support candidates or causes, contribute to candidates or causes, take sides or do anything that even appears to be partisan or one-sided."

May 27, 2004
WMAL & WJFK Up, WIHT Down
No big changes in the latest round of Arbitrend radio ratings (age 12+) for DC. WMAL is up three, WJFK-FM up two, and WIHT down four. As usual, WPGC-FM is 1st. WTOP places 2nd, WMMJ 3rd, WGMS ties WKYS for 4th. WHUR is 6th, WJZW 7th, WMAL 8th, WASH 9th, WMZQ 10th. The Baltimore numbers: WERQ is 1st, WPOC 2nd, WBAL 3rd, WWIN-FM 4th, WLIF 5th, WQSR 6th, WSMJ 7th, WIYY 8th, WCAO 9th, WWMX 10th. WHFS ties for 11th with WXYV. WCBM places 13th, WZBA 14th, WRBS 15th. In Fredericksburg: WFLS is 1st, WBQB 2nd, WTOP 3rd. WJFK-FM ties with WYSK for 5th.

May 27, 2004
Translator For Gainesville
The FCC has approved a construction permit for a 6-watt FM translator in the western Prince William County community of Gainesville for Radio Assist Ministry at 95.9. The station will rebroadcast Winchester religious outlet WTRM, 91.3 FM.

May 26, 2004
May TV Ratings
Channel 4 maintains its news lead in the DC market, according to stats from the May "sweeps." The NBC station takes 1st place at 5 PM, 6 PM, 11 PM, and in the morning news race. Channel 9's news continues to struggle, particularly in early evening. At 5 PM it finishes in 5th place - behind 4, 5, 7, and 50's "Judge Mathis." Channel 9's 7 PM news also finishes in 5th. Channels 4, 5, and 7 experience double-digit gains in the early morning news battle, except 9, where viewership drops roughly 15 percent. Late last year, Channel 9 dumped vet Mike Buchanan from the morning news beat. Up in Baltimore, Channel 11 takes the news lead at 5 PM, 6 PM, and at 11 PM. Plus, Channel 11's 4 PM airing of "Oprah" easily beats Channel 13's early afternoon newscast. Channel 13 takes the top news spot at 5 AM, 6 AM, 7 AM, and at noon.

May 26, 2004
Changes At 11
Channel 11/WBAL morning news anchor Marilyn Getas will be replaced by Mindy Basara, a reporter and weekend morning anchor. The Hearst station is not renewing Getas's contract. Also, weekend sports anchor Sarah Caldwell has accepted a job with Traffic Pulse. After the birth of her second child this year, Caldwell decided that she could no longer work on weekends. Caldwell will be replaced by Pete Gilbert, currently a weekend sports anchor for WGAL-TV in Lancaster. And, Brandon Sherer, assistant news director, is also set to leave the station for family reasons after the end of the ratings period.

May 26, 2004
Foxx Assumes PD Gig At POC
WPOC's Michael J Foxx adds interim program director stripes. The Baltimore Clear Channel country outlet's old PD, Scott Lindy, recently joined Sirius Satellite Radio. Foxx continues his music director duties.

May 25, 2004
Kelly Knight Out In Hagerstown
DC/Baltimore radio vet and former DC101er Kelly Knight has left Verstandig's Hagerstown radio cluster - WAYZ, WWMD, and WSRT. Don Brake takes over program director duties on an interim basis.

May 24, 2004
New PD At MZQ
George King is the new program director at Clear Channel's country WMZQ. He comes from a Cox country station in San Antonio and, before that, spent two decades at a Clear Channel country station in Phoenix. He replaces Jeff Wyatt, who stays on as a regional vice-president for Clear Channel's DC radio cluster.

May 24, 2004
250 Treated For Heat Exhaustion At HFStival
Alt rock WHFS staged its annual HFStival at RFK Stadium, which attracted some 60,000 "hard-partiers" on Saturday. Associated Press reports that "nearly 50 people were sent to area hospitals, and more than 200 others were treated for heat exhaustion... One 18-year-old man was treated for chest pains and several other people suffered broken or dislocated bones."

May 24, 2004
Carpenter Gets LIF PD Post
Greg Carpenter, AM host at Infinity's adult contemporary WLIF (101.9 FM), adds program director stripes.

May 23, 2004
Comcast Channel Changes
Area cable giant Comcast is planning to rearrange channels on its digital line-up this summer. Including cutting the number of pay-per-view channels (due to the popularity of its recently introduced video-on-demand service), and moving some cable networks from analog to digital. New digital channels coming soon: Biography Channel, History Channel International, Lifetime Movie Network, Nick Toons, MTV Hits, and Independent Film Channel. Also, look for the addition of the Hallmark Channel and Chicago's WGN to the analog service if you don't already get them.

May 22, 2004
Maurice Karp Dies
Maurice Karp, 90, a retired broadcast engineer with the Voice Of America who worked on transmitting programs to the Soviet Union during the Cold War, died of cancer on 5/19 at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda.

May 21, 2004
Sheldon Levy Dies
Channel 9 news photographer Sheldon Levy, 57, died of complications from kidney failure on 5/13 at his home in Gaithersburg. He worked the overnight shift at WUSA from the mid-1980s until he took disability leave a few years ago. "He won three local Emmys for his work at Channel 9, one of them for filming a dramatic rescue of four children from a burning rowhouse on Missouri Avenue. That work also won a New York Film And TV Festival award and a White House News Photographers award."

May 17, 2004
Labrozzi To Head Infinity's Charm City Cluster
Dave Labrozzi has been named vice-president of programming for Infinity's Baltimore radio stations, including WLIF, WQSR, WWMX, WXYV, and WJFK-AM. He comes from Clear Channel's Pittsburgh radio cluster. Labrozzi replaces Bill Pasha, who joined radio station group owner Entercom as its vice-president for programming and research in March.

May 12, 2004
Berg Did Area Radio Tower Work
DCRTV hears that 26-year-old Nick Berg, the West Chester, Pennsylvania man beheaded in Iraq, worked as a broadcast tower engineer in the DC-Baltimore area during the past four years. At radio stations WPGC, WHFS, WMAL, WWGB, and WMET. He also worked in south central Pennsylvania at WSBA, WARM, WSOX, WGTY, WGET, and WIOV, and at outlets on Maryland's Eastern Shore. According to the Washington Post, Berg was employed by Prometheus Methods Tower Services and was in Iraq to inspect radio towers damaged by the war.

May 11, 2004
New Gig For Jeff Gilbert
Jeff Gilbert, chief meteorologist at Channel 7 for nine years - before Doug Hill jumped over from Channel 9 in late 2001, is joining the DC-based Pharmaceutical Research And Manufacturers Of America as its director of media relations. After leaving 7, Gilbert headed to Phoenix to obtain additional ratings on his pilot's licence. And, since mid-2002, he's been doing fill-in weather work at Channel 5, which he plans to continue as his schedule permits.

May 9, 2004
Heart Attack Hits 630's Fred Grandy
Fred Grandy, who co-hosts WMAL's "Morning News," suffered a heart attack on Friday evening at his Bethesda home. According to wmal.com, Grandy was taken to Suburban Hospital where he underwent an emergency angioplasty procedure. He's expected to make a full recovery. Grandy, 55, who used to be a Republican Congressman from Iowa and the character "Gopher" in TV's "Love Boat," will be off the air for a week.

May 7, 2004
Get Ready For Channel 19 In Charlottesville
Gray Television has launched a website for Charlottesville's Channel 19 at wcav.tv, its new call letters. CBS affiliate WCAV is expected to be on the air by mid-August. In addition, WCAV will have local newscasts at 6 PM and 11 PM, with a morning newscast coming in the "foreseeable future." Atlanta-based Gray also owns Harrisonburg's ABC affiliate, Channel 3/WHSV.

May 7, 2004
"Stinkfish" Creator Dies
Washington City Paper reports that Robert "Buzz" Chambers, who, for the past eight years, did the "Stinkfish" cartoon as PJ O'Ross, died on 4/28. "Buzz always had an off-beat take on the world, and the editors of this newspaper were always delighted to let him express it on our pages. Buzz was also a dear friend to us at the paper." No age or cause of death was listed.

May 6, 2004
Donaldson Loses Radio Show
Sam Donaldson's DC-based radio show has been axed. In a message to a DCRTVer, the ABC newsman says: "My program has been canceled and my last day is sometime in May... I will miss doing the show." ABC Radio has syndicated the former White House correspondent, but his show didn't have the greatest ratings or national clearance rate. It was on only about three dozen stations. In fact, DC's ABC Radio outlet didn't air any of it - just a 9 AM hour specially produced by Donaldson for WMAL. News Talk 630 will expand Michael Graham to a 9 AM start. Graham's show currently airs from 10 AM to 11:45 AM. "Sam is terrific, and a great friend to WMAL and radio in general. I hope to continue to use him on a regular - perhaps daily - basis," WMAL General Manager Chris Berry tells DCRTV.

May 5, 2004
Rudin To Leave 5
Steve Rudin, the Channel 5/WTTG weekend weatherman who settled a discrimination lawsuit with the Fox station last year, plans to leave in June. Rudin will focus on a business he started a few years ago converting old brownstones in the District into condominiums. He also plans to get his master's degree in business administration. Rudin sued WTTG last year after he was passed over for a job forecasting on 5's 5 PM newscast. Rudin, who is white, claimed discrimination because the job went to Gwen Tolbart, who is black.

May 5, 2004
"Girl Talk" Silenced
Bonneville's Z104, WWZZ/WWVZ, drops "Girl Talk," its Sunday evening talk show geared toward women. Station managers said the program doesn't fit Z104's new hot adult contemporary music-heavy image. Debra Leigh and Erica Hilary, the creators and hosts of "Girl Talk," which used to air on Clear Channel's WASH, hope to shop their format to a national syndicator. Hilary will continue to deliver traffic reports on Z104's weekday mornings. Leigh and Hilary received DCRTV's 2003 "Person Of The Year" honor.

May 3, 2004
Starling Battles Cancer
Walt Starling underwent surgery Monday morning at George Washington University Hospital for colon cancer that was discovered in mid-April. And DCRTV hears that he came through fine. Starling, a news writer at Channel 4, was a traffic pilot from 1974 to 1997. His traffic reports were heard on WLTT/WARW, WPGC, WASH, WAVA, and on Channel 5. Starling organizes the annual Washington Quarter Century Broadcasters dinner.

May 2, 2004
11 News Vet Hertsgaard Dies
Rolf Hertsgaard, Channel 11/WBAL's evening news anchorman from 1958 to 1973, died on 4/30 at the Oak Crest Village retirement home in Parkville at age 81. He suffered from prostate cancer. Born in Minneapolis, he spent his early career at that city's WCCO radio. Hertsgaard moved to NYC in 1956, and was hired by WBAL-TV two years later.

May 2, 2004
Former 7 Honcho Lands In Pittsburgh
Christopher Pike has been named vice president/general manager of Viacom's Pittsburgh TV duopoly, KDKA/CBS and WNPA/UPN. Pike used to be president and general manager of Allbritton's Channel 7/WJLA and NewsChannel 8. He was shown the door in March after five years at the helm of the ratings-starved DC ABC affiliate.

May 2, 2004
Nightly Hideout
WJFK-FM is moving Saturday evening's "The Hideout," with El Jefe and J-Dubs, to weeknights at 11. Could this be the first move to get the local team "up to speed" to take over the 7 PM slot if/when Ron and Fez bolt 106.7 this summer? Formerly known as "El Jefe's Hideout," the show debuted about a year ago.

April 29, 2004
TOP Gets 104.3 Leesburg Relay
The Federal Communications Commission has granted Bonneville a "fill-in" translator at 104.3 FM in Leesburg. It's a directional 100-watts, with some protection to the northeast, in the direction of Baltimore's WSMJ, also on 104.3. It will be used to "repeat" all-news WTOP's Warrenton 107.7 signal, which receives interference in the Leesburg area from Gettysburg's WGTY, also on 107.7. DCRTV hears from a Bonneville source that the new 104.3, which should hit the airwaves by fall, will cover the fast-growing Ashburn area.

April 30, 2004
Goodbye Paul Berry
It looks like Clear Channel talker WTNT has given the heave-ho to local PM driver Paul Berry. AM 570 now airs Glenn Beck from 3 PM to 6 PM, with Michael Savage from 6 PM to 10 PM. Berry, who used to be a news anchor for Channel 7, took over the 4 PM to 7 PM slot in early 2003 when its former occupant, Michael Graham, got a Richmond gig. Graham now does late mornings on ABC's WMAL, AM 630. In the latest ratings, WTNT posted a 0.2 share from 3 PM to 7 PM among those aged 25 to 54.

April 29, 2004
Senators Announcer Dies
Bill Brundige, a radio and TV sportscaster who once called baseball games for the Washington Senators, died on 4/23 of heart failure. He was 89. Brundige spent most of his career in Southern California, announcing games for the Los Angeles Lakers, Angels, and Rams. Also, he had small roles on several episodes of "Dragnet," "Perry Mason," and "The Donna Reed Show."

April 27, 2004
Stern Rises In Latest Radio Ratings
Indecency fine-plagued Howard Stern did post a gain in DC's Arbitron radio ratings, but he didn't knock all-news WTOP out of its first place position in AM drive. Among the advertiser friendly age 25-54 demo, WTOP's Mike Moss and Richard Day placed 1st with a 7.9 share, with WMMJ's Tom Joyner in 2nd with a 5.9. WJFK-FM's Stern was 3rd (up from 5th), WRQX's Jack Diamond 4th, and WPGC-FM's Donnie Simpson 5th. In midday, same demo, WJFK's mix of Ron and Fez and Bill O'Reilly soared from 10th to 2nd, just behind WJZW. Rush Limbaugh on WMAL placed 14th. In PM drive, also 25-54, WTOP took 1st, with WJFK-FM's Don and Mike up from 4th to 2nd. In evenings, same demo, WJFK's Ron and Fez placed 11th, up from 16th.

April 27, 2004
Ted Stecker Dies
Ted Stecker died on 4/27 at age 55. From lung cancer. He was program director at DC market country outlet Kix 106, WPKX-WVKX, in the 1980s. Most recently, he was operations manager at KSCS, the ABC-owned country outlet in Dallas. During his career, Stecker worked at stations in San Antonio, Atlanta, New Orleans, Cincinnati, and Oklahoma City. He also ran a consulting biz.

April 27, 2004
XTRA 104 Vet Dies
Arnold Winsett, 62, who went by the radio name of "Art Brandon" on oldies XTRA 104, died of lung cancer on 4/25 at his home in La Plata. According to the Washington Post, Winsett spoke in a "crisp, baritone voice" as host of WXTR's "Nite Watch Show," which was broadcast from midnight to dawn on then oldies formatted 104.1 from 1981 to 1995. He left in the mid-1990s after the station changed formats under new ownership. Winsett began his career in Baltimore, where he attended the National Academy Of Broadcasting and worked on the staff of WMAR-TV and WMAR-FM from 1966 to 1969. He hosted the morning show on then country WTRI in Brunswick from 1969 to 1974. Winsett then did the midday show on then country WXTR-FM and La Plata sister WSMD-AM from 1975 to 1981.

April 27, 2004
Comment About Coach Gets MAR Sports Analyst Canned
The Baltimore Sun reports that Mark Dixon, an analyst on Channel 2/WMAR's "Toyota Lacrosse Game Of The Week," was fired last week after he made a sexually oriented comment about the appearance of Maryland men's lacrosse coach Dave Cottle. Dixon's remark, which occurred before the opening faceoff of the 100th Johns Hopkins-Maryland game on Saturday, 4/17, did not air on Channel 2, but was heard on the College Sports Television network, which purchased the rights to broadcast the game from WMAR. According to the Sun, it was apparent that Dixon and co-anchors Scott Garceau and Keith Mills did not realize that they were on the air when the comment was made. Dixon was an analyst for Johns Hopkins broadcasts on WJFK (1300 AM) for six years, and replaced Quint Kessenich, who is now an analyst for CSTV, in the Channel 2 booth this spring. Brian Kroneberger, a former lacrosse midfielder from Loyola College, has replaced Dixon.

April 27, 2004
VOA's Campbell Patch Dies
From the Washington Post: Campbell Patch, 86, who retired in 1981 from Voice Of America as a broadcast technician, died on 4/23 at Inova Fairfax Hospital of complications from a fall on 4/10. He lived in Springfield. Patch began working for VOA in New York and settled in the DC area in 1954. In his final job, he did quality-control work affecting the fidelity of broadcasts.

April 23, 2004
VOA Signs-Off Voice Signs Off
William Kaslaitis died on 4/19 at age 83. For more than 15 years, until his retirement in 1982, Kaslaitis worked for the Voice Of America in DC. According to the death notice in Friday's Washington Post, "he was considered THE voice of America." Kaslaitis voiced the sign-off announcements for the VOA's international radio transmissions. His broadcast career dates back to 1947. Kaslaitis was known as "Bill Kastle" on TV in the Easton, PA area.

April 23, 2004
Junks Lose Friend
The Junkies didn't do their WHFS show Friday in tribute to Craig "Crickety" Walden (second from right), 32, who died Thursday from injuries he received in a car accident near Chesapeake Beach. Walden, a frequent contributor to the Junks' show, became friends with the WHFS morning team (and former WJFK-FM evening team) during their college days at the University Of Maryland.

April 22, 2004
Laying Down The Law At MPT
The Baltimore Sun reports that state officials have revoked the purchasing power of Maryland Public Television after determining that managers with the taxpayer-subsidized broadcaster deliberately circumvented state rules to award more than $500,000 in fast-track construction projects to a single company. Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich called the improprieties, which occurred from 2000 to 2002, "very troubling," and said he welcomes an additional review by lawyers to determine whether the allegations constituted a violation of criminal law.

April 20, 2004
Radio One To Leave Baltimore City For County
Radio One is planning to sell its Baltimore city studio and office digs, and buy new ones in Baltimore County. The owner of Charm City's rap/hip-hop WERQ, adult urban WWIN-FM, gospel WWIN-AM, and urban talk WOLB has put its building at 100 St. Paul Street on the selling block and plans to move its operations to Rutherford Road in Woodlawn. The move will affect 125 employees.

April 19, 2004
Rizer To 98Rock, McGregor Leaves ZBA
Buddy Rizer, former DC101 program director, is doing fill-in work on 98Rock, WIYY. His first shift at the Hearst rocker was on Sunday. DCRTV hears that Rizer's been dipping his toes in the investment biz and is not looking to return to the on-air rock radio world full-time. He was at Clear Channel rocker WWDC until last August. In his 15 years at DC101, Rizer wore many hats, including night jock and music director. Also - at classic rock WZBA, Bruce McGregor leaves the program director post to take a like gig at an Omaha station.

April 17, 2004
Renee To Walk Away From GMS
DCRTV hears that Classical 103.5, WGMS has put a "help wanted" ad in a trade pub seeking "a full-time on-air announcer for the midday shift." Is Renee Chaney leaving? Our sources say yes. Some time in May. Apparently, Chaney's moving to Florida to help her ma and possibly hang her voiceover shingle. And she may do some weekend voicetracking work for Bonneville's GMS.

April 16, 2004
Husband Arrested In Arlington Murder Of FCC Official
Police have arrested the husband of Susan Lewis, 41, in connection with her 4/12 strangulation death at the couple's Arlington home. She had been director of the Federal Communications Commission's office of public affairs for former Chairman Reed Hundt. Her mother is Ann Lewis, a Democratic National Committee official who was President Clinton's director of communications. Also, Susan Lewis is the niece of Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank, Ann Lewis's brother.

April 16, 2004
Sam Moss Dies
Sam Moss, who hosted a Baltimore Jewish weekend radio show for four decades - via WITH, WFBR, and the final 10 years on WCBM, passed away Thursday at the age of 86. Baltimore Magazine reported Moss's retirement in 2003: "He had them laughing, wincing, and reminiscing on his eponymous Yiddish radio show, outlasting three radio stations. But on Sunday, August 31, Moss sign(ed) off for the last time, on WCBM, which (was) forced to let him go due to dwindling ad support."

April 15, 2004
Cox To Add PBS Digital Signals
Cox has agreed to carry the digital signals of local PBS stations. That would mean that cable subscribers in Fairfax County will soon get WETA's high-def signal, plus three of its standard-def services: WETA Prime (prime-time programming 24/7), WETA Kids (children's fare), and WETA Plus (how-to shows). Comcast has been carrying WETA's digital services on its DC market cable systems since late 2002.

April 10, 2004
FNR To WiFi?
DCRTV hears that Bonneville is looking at "broadcasting" its Federal News Radio internet audio stream over parts of the DC region via wireless WiFi technology, which allows computers to access the internet without being physically plugged into a connection. Bonneville would try something new - WiMax, which would send a signal over a 30-mile area that could be received via computers equipped with WiFi gear. While Bonneville, which also owns all-news WTOP, has explored the possibility of broadcasting FNR via traditional radio, it hasn't been able to find an available area AMer with decent night coverage - for the right price.

April 9, 2004
WTOP Is Tops In DC Market Radio Revenue
DCRTV has gotten to peek at financial firm BIA's estimated 2003 revenue totals for DC area radio stations. And all-news WTOP tops the list at $36.6 million. Urban contemporary WPGC-FM places 2nd with $32.4. Hot adult contemporary WRQX is 3rd with $25.8 million, adult urban contemporary WMMJ 4th with $24.8 million, and hot talker WJFK-FM 5th with $24.6 million. Adult urban contemporary WHUR and urban contemporary WKYS tie for 6th place, each with $21 million. Adult contemporary WASH and oldies WBIG tie for 8th place, each with $17.5 million. Country WMZQ takes 10th with $16.6 million. News talk WMAL ranks 11th with $15.1 million and smooth jazz WJZW places 12th with $14.3 million. Rhythmic contemporary WIHT and rocker WWDC tie for 13th, each with $14 million. Rounding out the over $10 million club, alternative rocker WHFS ranks 15th with $12.4 million, and classic rocker WARW places 16th with $11.6 million.

April 9, 2004
Gene Klavan Dies
NYC radio legend Gene Klavan has passed away at 79. The Baltimore-born Klavan, whose razor-sharp wit woke up New Yorkers for a quarter-century on the old WNEW-AM, died on Thursday, reports the NY Daily News. He was recently diagnosed with multiple myeloma. Klavan moved to afternoons on WOR radio until 1980 and then did television work at CBS and American Movie Classics before returning to WNEW for a weekend show. After World War II, Klavan worked in the Baltimore-DC area for radio stations WCBM, WITH, and WTOP, along with Channel 13, then WAAM.

April 8, 2004
11's Julius Westheimer Retires, Sort Of
Julius "Westy" Westheimer is retiring from his financial news analysis post at Channel 11/WBAL after 23 years. While he'll be giving up his on-air TV duties as of 4/30, Westheimer will still dispense financial advice via the station's website. Westheimer, born in 1916 and a lifelong Baltimorian, will continue his work at local investment banking firm Ferris, Baker, Watts and provide financial news reports via WBAL radio. He'll also continue writing a column for Baltimore's Daily Record newspaper. Westheimer recently completed a 29-year run as a panelist for "Wall Street Week," which is produced by Maryland Public TV.

April 8, 2004
104 Evolves Back To Z104
Hot adult contemporary More Music 104, WWZZ/WWVZ, goes back to its old Z104 label. No format change. The Bonneville station "will continue to play songs and artists targeted to adults 25 to 54 years old" such as the "Dave Matthews Band, U2, Sheryl Crow, John Mayer, Jason Mraz, and more." The "new" Z104 will run hour-long commercial-free blocks of music at 9 AM and 5 PM. And, Brett Haber will continue to do the morning show - without his old partner, Erin Carman. Even though some of the new Z104 graphics proclaim "Z104.1," the signal is still being relayed on Frederick's 103.9.

April 7, 2004
Former HFS PD Joins AOL
Robert Benjamin, who used to be program director at WHFS, joins "Radio@AOL" as its alternative/rock program manager. He'll be handling Dulles-based America Online's Top Alternative, Alt Mix, Xtreme Alternative, Modern Punk, 80s Alternative, and 90s Alternative audio streams..

April 7, 2004
Laura Evans Is Sexiest TV newscaster
After sorting through hundreds and hundreds of e-mail "ballots" yesterday, DCRTV has discovered the DC-Baltimore area's sexiest TV newscaster. And the overwhelming favorite is Channel 5's Laura Evans (right). She alone received 36 percent of the votes - four times (!) the number of votes that the 2nd place finishers received. DCRTV did its best to limit one vote per person, but there were rumblings that her win was part of an organized campaign. The results are here.

April 8, 2004
Scott Lindy To Sirius
Scott Lindy, program director of country WPOC and operations manager of Clear Channel's Baltimore radio cluster, is joining NYC-based Sirius Satellite Radio in May. He'll be the director of country programming and be based out of Nashville. Lindy's been with WPOC for seven years.

April 6, 2004
Maxwell Gets Cleveland Gig
Maxwell, formerly half of the "Max And Miles" morning team on defunct Baltimore classic rocker WXFB (now smooth jazz WSMJ), is headed to Cleveland rocker WMMS to do afternoons. Recently, he's been filling in for Lopez (who's fighting lung cancer) on 98Rock/WIYY's "Kirk, Mark, And Lopez" morning show. Maxwell's also worked at rockers in Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Tampa.

April 6, 2004
Carl Kasell Inducted Into Halls Of Fame
DC news radio veteran and National Public Radio newscaster Carl Kasell has been inducted into the North Carolina Journalism, Public Relations, And Advertising Halls Of Fame and the North Carolina Association Of Broadcasters Hall Of Fame. Kasell, a 1956 University Of North Carolina-Chapel Hill alumnus, joined NPR in 1975 and started doing "Morning Edition" in 1979. Before joining NPR, he worked at then all-news WAVA.

April 5, 2004
Carson To Afternoons On RQX, Diamond Stays For Now
Is Jack Diamond on the verge of losing his morning gig at Mix 107.3? Apparently not yet. Late last week, the Cincinnati Post reported that Rob Carson, a Cincinnati radio personality, would be joining WRQX as "the ringleader at a high-powered, five-person morning show starting Monday." However, Diamond was on the air Monday morning, as usual, with no sign of Carson. And now, DCRTV hears that Carson will be doing the afternoon drive shift on 107.3, replacing Mike Kaufman, who was handed his walking papers last week. Carson used to be the morning man at Cincinnati's WVMX, a Clear Channel hot adult contemporary "mix" station that did not renew his contract at the beginning of 2004. "There were some opportunities there, but nothing I was really interested in," Carson told the newspaper. "When ABC contacted me about a top 10 market, that is something you work for in radio." DCRTV hears that Carson did do the WRQX morning show during the week of 3/8 with the usual Mix morning team, minus Diamond, in what appeared to be an on-air audition. The Cincy Post adds that Carson also produces radio comedy bits and writes for Rush Limbaugh's show. DCRTV's sources said that Diamond was not too happy about the Cincinnati paper's mix-up.

April 5, 2004
Elliot Loses Eastern Shore Station
DC101 morning man Elliot Segal is no longer being carried on the Eastern Shore's 96 Rock. He's been replaced with "The Morning Buzz" with Skip Dixxon and Bill Baker. DCRTV Eastern Shore reporter Michael Popovec tells us: "Dropping Elliot has long been contemplated because of his paltry ratings and now this gives 96 Rock a chance to compete locally morning show-wise with Murph, Miki, and the Cowboy on 93-5, The Beach." Elliot is still heard on Richmond alt rocker WRXL.

April 3, 2004
Parenteau Gets Jail For Sex Abuse Of Teen
Former XM Satellite Radio comedy programmer Mark Parenteau has been sentenced to three years in jail for sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy. He's also been sentenced to three years of probation and must register as a sex offender. Parenteau, 54, pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of second-degree sexual abuse after allegations arose that he had been luring teenaged boys to his DC home for sexual activity using drugs and alcohol as bait. According to the Washington Post: "Prosecutors said that Parenteau, who is white, was attracted to black youths and that he sought them out through a support group for gay minority youth, who can be estranged from their families and living on the street. At his home in the 1400 block of Swann Street, NW, he and the youths, ages 14 to 16, would smoke marijuana, drink, and have sex, prosecutors said." Parenteau is a rock radio veteran, having worked at Boston's WBCN and NYC's WAXQ.

April 2, 2004
Kaufman Leaves RQX
Is WRQX, Mix 107.3's PM driver Mike Kaufman leaving after more than seven years with ABC Radio? Apparently so. A station source tells us that he was "let go earlier this week." No word as to why, or about his plans.

April 2, 2004
Wilson Sells Eastern Shore AMer
Charm City radio personality Brian Wilson is selling his Chestertown radio station. Adult contemporary WCTR (1530 AM) has been sold to Richard Gelfman. The same Gelfman who was a reporter at Channel 13/WJZ. The price is listed at $340K. Wilson now co-hosts oldies WQSR's afternoon drive show with another Baltimore radio veteran, "Big Don" O'Brien.

April 1, 2004
Erin Carman Gone From 104
Erin Carman, co-host of WWZZ/WWVZ's morning show with Brett Haber, has bid farewell. Confirms Joel Oxley, general manager of the Bonneville hot adult contemporary outlet: "I wanted to make sure everyone knew that Erin Carmen and 104 have parted ways. I sincerely wish her all the best."

April 1, 2004
Melweski Joins Ironbirds
Former WBAL radio sports director Steve Melewski joins the Aberdeen Ironbirds as their play-by-play man. Melewski, a Baltimore native, left WBAL after a spirited dispute in September 2003. He replaces Steve Spadafino, who returns to his native New Jersey. Previously, Melewski has covered baseball games for the Richmond Braves, Frederick Keys, and Bowie Baysox. All 76 Ironbirds games will be broadcast on Aberdeen's WAMD (970 AM) and can also be heard at ironbirdsbaseball.com.

April 1, 2004
Sutton Joins Air America
Steve Sutton, who was once "Steveski" on rocker DC101 and "Steve" of defunct W-Lite WLTT (now WARW), joins the new lefty talk radio network Air America as VP of programming and operations. Most recently, Sutton was program director for WSPD, a Clear Channel news talker in Toledo.

March 30, 2004
D&M Take A Dive
WJFK-FM's Don and Mike continue to sink in the latest Arbitrends. Down to 14th place (from last spring's 3rd) in PM drive among all listeners. And, they plunge to a 6th place tie (from last spring's 2nd) among the age 25-54 crowd. WTOP's AM team of Mike and Richard and PM team of Shawn and Diane continue to dominate the DC radio kingdom among age 12+ers and 25-54ers. Over at WMAL, Andy and Grandy rank a lowly 15th among 25-54ers in mornings.

March 30, 2004
Female Broadcast Engineering Pioneer Dies
We're just hearing about the death on 1/15 of Marianna Woodson Cobb, 79, of complications from emphysema. She was a broadcast engineer for Kear And Kennedy of DC. Cobb, a resident of Arlington, was one of only two women who were registered broadcast engineers in the Washington area in the 1950s. After leaving Kear And Kennedy, Cobb helped her husband and mother-in-law build, own, and operate WBCI in Williamsburg and WEMD in Easton. Also, she was a consulting telecommunications engineer with Moffet, Larson, And Johnson in Falls Church.

March 26, 2004
Kornkeiser Says Adios To Radio Show
Washington Post sports columnist Tony Kornheiser bid farewell to his ESPN radio show on Friday. It was heard locally on WTEM (980 AM) and WJFK (1300 AM). Colin Cowherd takes over the midday sports slot come Monday.

March 26, 2004
Molette Green Leaves NC8
Molette Green is leaving the morning news anchor post at News Channel 8. Her last day is 3/31, we're told. She's been at NC8 for eight years, anchoring the "Rush Hour" report, the Allbritton local cable news channel's highest rated show. A source tells us that "she was worn out from the morning show. She really likes NC8, and the station likes her, but there are not any open anchor positions, so there was nowhere to move her... It’s a very tough job. 3 AM comes awful early."

March 26, 2004
Schmidt Jumps From 45 To 9
Six time Edward R. Murrow winning reporter Emily Schmidt joins Gannett's Channel 9/WUSA from Sinclair's Channel 45/WBFF.

March 25, 2004
Tracey Neale Joins 9
Gannett's Channel 9 is finally making it official. That Tracey Neale will be joining the WUSA news team. DCRTV reported way back in November that Neale was making the jump from Fox's Channel 5/WTTG. But a bunch of legal hurdles have delayed the move. We hear that Neale will appear on 9 in May or June, after sitting out a six-month non-compete contract from her old employer. She'll most probably be co-anchoring the 6 PM and 11 PM newscasts with Gordon Peterson, replacing Gurvir Dhindsa.

March 23, 2004
Sher Cancels Retirement
Richard Sher, 62, has decided not to retire from a 28-year gig at Channel 13/WJZ. Last month, Sher, who's been a talk show host (with Oprah), news reporter, and news anchor, announced that he'd be retiring in April. He tells the Baltimore Sun that his decision "made him ache." So he's changed his mind. "It was the shortest retirement in broadcast history."

March 23, 2004
New GM At 7, NC8
A big change at Allbritton's Channel 7/WJLA and NewsChannel 8. After more than five years at the helm, General Manager Christopher Pike will be taking a newly created a corporate sales post and be replaced by Allbritton "big boss" Fred Ryan. Since WJLA/NC8 is located near Allbritton's corporate HQ, Ryan, who is already head of Allbritton's broadcast group, has decided to also take charge of the "struggling" DC station. In fact, some say that Ryan's been running things lately, anyway. Sources indicate that Allbritton's suits have been disappointed with WJLA's news ratings, which they blame on ABC's lame prime-time line-up. Adds the Washington Times: "The management change rattled some newsroom staffers, who said they fear corporate executives will become too involved in news coverage and personnel matters. Some staffers trace the recent decisions to dump WJLA veterans Del Walters and Rene Knott to the corporate office."

March 22, 2004
Changes At HFS
Jenn Wagner has landed the midday slot at Infinity alternative rocker WHFS. She had been doing fill-in shifts at 99.1. Wagner used to work at Charm City's 98Rock and at defunct classic rocker WXFB-WOCT. Former HFS middayer Pat Ferrise will focus on behind the scenes music programming stuff. Also, HFS hires Libby Carstensen as assistant program director. She replaces Bob Waugh, who recently jumped to adult alt rock WRNR. Carstensen's been program director and on-air personality at a Tucson alt rocker. But wait, there's more. HFS has named Maggie McAleer as promotions director. She's worked at alt rockers in LA and Philadelphia, and has most recently been an ad exec with DC's City Paper.

March 22, 2004
MTA Voice, Comic Mac McClellan Dies
William "Mac" McClellan died late Friday night, just before he was to give a comedy performance at the Improv in Baltimore. He was 48. Natural causes. McClellan, an accomplished stand-up comedian, worked for the Maryland Transit Administration and provided bus and rail information for Baltimore area stations, including WBAL-TV, WHFC, WBGR, WJSS, WEAA, and the Ravens Radio Network. In the 1980s and 1990s, McClellan was an on-air personality at Norfolk rocker WNOR. His comedy work has been seen on ABC and Showtime, and in many area clubs.

March 22, 2004
AM Changes Proposed
The FCC has belched forth its list of 1,308 applications filed during the recent AM major change window. Of local interest. Spindale NC's WGMA applies to move to Falls Church on 920 AM, with 500-watts day, 2,000-watts night into six towers. It competes with a bunch of other 920 applications for Crisfield, Forest Heights, Lexington Park, Dale City, Manassas, and Quantico. Also, requested moves: Annapolis's WYRE (810 AM) to Essex, Potomac's WCTN (950 AM) to Aspen Hill, DC's WYCB (1340 AM) to Oxon Hill, and DC's WOL (1450 AM) to Forest Heights. Plus, applications were submitted for signals on 1070 AM in Pocomoke City and on 1250 AM in Salisbury.

March 22, 2004
Former MZQ PD Dies
Infinity radio executive Tom Rivers has died at age 38 from an asthma attack. He was program director of country WMZQ in the early and mid-1990s, when the station was owned by Viacom. Recently, Rivers was operations manager of Chicago's country WUSN.

March 19, 2004
Leahan Leaving 13
Channel 13/WJZ weekend news anchor Katie Leahan is leaving at the end of May. She will become a public affairs officer for the CIA. Leahan has been at WJZ for nearly eight years, first as weekend morning anchor-reporter and then as weekend night anchor-reporter. Recently, she'd been caught up in a bit of a press controversy regarding the investigation of a Maryland state police honcho.

March 18, 2004
New GM For 32
PBS programming veteran Jennifer Lawson is set to become general manager of Howard University's Channel 32/WHUT. She replaces Adam Clayton Powell III, who left the cash-strapped public TV station in January 2003 after a nine-month stint to join the University Of Southern California's Annenberg School For Communication. Lawson was in charge of PBS programming from 1989 to 1995. Since then, she's headed Magic Box Mediaworks, which produces programs for PBS and the National Geographic Channel.

March 18, 2004
TV One To Silver Spring
TV One, the black-oriented Radio One/Comcast cable TV network that launched in January, will locate its headquarters in downtown Silver Spring. Joining Discovery Communications, Univision's WMDO and WFDC, and a bunch of video post-production companies. The new channel had been using temporary space in Radio One's Lanham facility, with speculation that it might move to DC.

March 16, 2004
New PD For TMD
Dan Reed will join Towson University's progressive rock, adult alternative WTMD (89.7 FM) as program director in June. He's currently programming an adult alternative FMer in Louisville, and will oversee the 4th annual "NONCOMMvention" in May.

March 15, 2004
William Wells Dies
William Wells, who was a broadcast engineer for Channel 4/WRC (previously WNBW) from 1947 until retirement in 1978, died on 3/6. The Silver Spring resident was 90 and had been suffering from cancer.

March 12, 2004
FCC Fines DC101 & Elliot, Again
On 3/12, the Federal Communications Commission hit Clear Channel rocker DC101 with $247,500 in fines. The FCC says that morning man Elliot Segal violated indecency standards nine times in a March 2003 broadcast. The offending content included a comment by someone saying that she liked the way porn star Ron Jeremy "licks pussy. I want to do a threesome with him. See who's the best. If I can lick better or he can lick better." The segment was repeated in promos aired on two other stations that carry Segal's show - Richmond's WRXL and Salisbury's WOSC. Both are also Clear Channel stations. After the issuance, FCC Commissioner Michael Copps said that the fines weren't high enough and that he wants license revocation hearings to be held. However, he admitted that Clear Channel "has taken some steps in recent days to address indecency on its stations." The fine reflects the current maximum that the Commission can levy - $27,500 - multiplied by nine. In a statement, Clear Channel said that this latest fine was for an incident that took place "nearly a year ago," well before the firm's "zero tolerance policy" on indecency. Since then, Clear Channel adds, it has instituted a seven-second delay on Segal's show. Last December, the FCC hit DC101 with $55,000 in fines for a 2002 Segal show segment in which teenaged girls were questioned about their sexual activities at a local high school.

March 12, 2004
Stronger Signal For WGTS
Christian outlet WGTS (91.9 FM) has moved its antenna from Takoma Park's Columbia Union College campus to WETA-FM's stick in north Arlington. "The new signal reaches about 2.5 million more listeners than our previous signal, giving us a coverage area with about 4.5 million total people," says John Konrad, general manager for the college-owned station. "Based on the calls and e-mails we're getting, we're already adding grateful new listeners from miles around." Konrad adds that it will cost about $50,000 more per year to lease the tower and pay for the cost of the digital line that carries programming from the Takoma Park studio to the new transmitter site.

March 10, 2004
Goodbye Jon Anthony
Jon Anthony, WMZQ's afternoon guy, music director, and assistant program director, has been given the heave-ho. A source tells us that it had to do with a dispute over what new country tunes get played on the Clear Channel station. Also, it might have to do with his 11th place finish among 25-54ers in the latest Arbitrends, down from 8th place last year. He'd been with MZQ for eight years. Weekend and fill-in guy Mike Kelly will do 98.7's PM drive shift, for now.

March 9, 2004
5 Picks New AM News Anchor
Steve Chenevey replaces Amy Robach as a Channel 5/WTTG early morning news anchor. Last August, Robach left the Fox station for MSNBC and NBC news duties. Chenevey joined WTTG in January 2003 as a reporter. He came from Pittsburgh's WPXI-TV. Chenevey will co-anchor with Shawn Yancy on 5's 5:30 AM to 7 AM shift. He's already been doing fill-in anchor work on that newscast.

March 9, 2004
7 Dumps Consumer News Reporter
Channel 7/WJLA has not renewed the contract of consumer news reporter Elizabeth Manresa. She left the station in late February. WJLA news honcho Bill Lord tells the Washington Post: "We're committed to consumer reporting, but we may not have a specific reporter assigned to it." Manresa joined WJLA in the summer of 2001 to cover the consumer news beat, but she'd been covering more general news of late.

March 8, 2004
Waugh Jumps From HFS To RNR
Bob Waugh, who's been an on-air personality as well as music director and assistant program director at Infinity alt rocker WHFS, joins Empire adult alt rocker WRNR as operations manager. He replaces Jon Peterson at the Annapolis station. Before his 13 years at HFS, Waugh worked at NYC alt rockers WXRK and WLIR. "I am thrilled at the opportunity to be reunited with market legend Damien Einstein, who will continue in his role as music director," says Waugh. "I look forward to building on the WRNR brand as a radio station and a musical destination for both artists and listeners in the Baltimore-Washington area."

March 5, 2004
Albert Barthelme Dies
Albert Barthelme, a sportscaster and play-by-play announcer for 20 years on Leonardtown's WKIK, died on 3/5. He was 85.

March 5, 2004
John Edwards Dies
John Edwards, 92, a former White House correspondent for ABC News, died of respiratory failure on 2/29 at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital. The Rockville resident worked for ABC News from 1945 to 1963, mostly as a senior Washington reporter.

March 5, 2004
Ernest Teutschbein Dies
Ernest Teutschbein, 86, a retired television broadcast engineer at Channel 7 back when it was WMAL-TV, died of pneumonia on 2/29 in Youngstown, Ohio. From 1948 until 1983, he worked at Channel 7 as a transmitter engineer and maintenance supervisor.

March 3, 2004
Bill Pasha Leaves Baltimore Infinity Post
Charm City Infinity radio czar Bill Pasha is joining radio station group owner Entercom as its VP for programming and research. He leaves at the end of March. Pasha oversees WLIF, WXYV, WQSR, WWMX, WJFK-AM, WBGR, and WBMD.

March 3, 2004
Davey Marlin-Jones Dies
Davey Marlin-Jones, 71, who did film and theater reviews for Channel 9 in the 1970s and 1980s, died on 3/2 at his home in Las Vegas. DCRTV reported in early February that he'd been suffering from liver cancer. After leaving DC, with a stop at a Detroit TV station, Marlin-Jones had been teaching theater arts at the University Of Nevada. "He was such a lovely man," says a report at wusatv9.com.

March 3, 2004
4 Leads DC TV Sweeps, 11 & 13 Do Well In Baltimore
Without February 2003's big blizzard and heightened terror alerts, DC TV news viewership was down this February. But the "sweeps" news is still good for Channel 4/WRC, which continues to keep its lead in the market's news race. Channel 9/WUSA still has big problems with its early evening ratings. Its new 7 PM newscast finishes a very distant 4th. The arrival of Leon Harris from CNN has done little to bolster Channel 7/WJLA's fortunes. While Channel 5/WTTG posts gains in the early evening, but sees losses late. Early mornings: 4's 1st, 9's a distant 2nd, 5's 3rd, and 7's 4th. At 5 PM: 4's 1st, 7's 2nd, 5's 3rd, 50's "Judge Mathis," and 9's 5th. At 6 PM: 4's 1st, 5's "The Simpsons" 2nd, 7's 3rd, and 9's 4th. Late: 4's 1st, 5's 2nd, 9's 3rd, and 7's 4th. Once again, Channel 11/WBAL and Channel 13/WJZ have much to crow about newswise in the final February TV "sweeps" numbers for Baltimore. Channel 2/WMAR and Channel 45/WBFF again bring up the rear. At 6 AM: 13's 1st, 11's 2nd, 2's 3rd, and 45's 4th. At noon: 13's 1st, 11's 2nd, and 2's 3rd. At 5 PM and 6 PM: 11's 1st, 13's a close 2nd, 2's 3rd. Late: 13's 1st, 11's a close 2nd, 2's 3rd, and 45's a close 4th.

March 2, 2004
Johnny Walker Dies
Baltimore radio veteran Johnny Walker Monday evening at University Specialty Hospital in Baltimore. He was 56. In the 1970s and 1980s, Walker did the morning show at WFBR, which was at 1300 AM. On Tuesday morning, WCBM radio made the announcement of Walker's death. Walker, who had retired to West Virginia, apparantly had been in poor health with heart and lung problems. He died on Monday afternoon at a rehabilitation center. Thomas O'Connor, in his "Baltimore Broadcasting From A To Z," says that Walker was "the king of zany morning shows on AM radio." The photo (right) is from O'Connor's book.

March 2, 2004
GMS Surges, PGC Plunges
Another round of Arbitrend radio ratings for DC. In the overall age 12+ numbers, adult urban WMMJ takes 1st place with a 6.3 share. Classical WGMS jumps from 4th to 2nd place with a 6.1 share, up from a 5.5, to tie with urban WPGC-FM, which drops from a 7.3 share. All-news WTOP is up from a 5.6 to a 5.8 share, but actually dips one notch to 4th place. Urban WKYS remains at 5th, adult urban WHUR stays steady at 6th, adult contemporary WASH jumps one to 7th, smooth jazz WJZW is down one to 8th, with news talk WMAL and country WMZQ in a tie for 9th. The rest: oldies WBIG 11th, hot adult contemporary WRQX and rhythmic contemporary WIHT in a tie for 12th, rocker WWDC 14th, talker WJFK-FM 15th, classic rock WARW 16th, sports talk WTEM and Spanish contemporary WBZS/WBPS in a tie for 17th, hot adult contemporary WWZZ/WWVZ 19th, and alternative rock WHFS 20th. In Baltimore, it's urban WERQ 1st, country WPOC 2nd, adult contemporary WLIF 3rd, news talk WBAL 4th, adult urban WWIN-FM 5th, hot adult contemporary WWMX 6th, oldies WQSR 7th, smooth jazz WSMJ 8th, rock WIYY 9th, and religious WCAO 10th. Alternative rock WHFS and nostalgic WWLG in a tie for 11th, with talk WXYV and classic rock WZBA in a tie for 13th, and talk WCBM 15th. In Fredericksburg, country WFLS ranks 1st, with hot adult contemporary WBQB 2nd.

March 1, 2004
Lopez Battles Lung Cancer
98Rock/WIYY personality Bob Lopez has just been diagnosed with lung cancer. More technically, non-small cell lung cancer. Lopez, 50, says he started smoking at age 12, but quit 25 years ago. "If he responds to therapy then his survival is arguably going to be significantly better obviously than if he arguably did not respond to the therapy," says oncologist Robert Donegan. "We don't have a precise time. We'd like to think that he has a survival measured in years, but if it does not respond in time, we may unfortunately be talking about a shorter period of time." Lopez, one third of WIYY's "KML" (Kirk, Mark, and Lopez) morning team, tells WBAL-TV: "What I feel is my family - my family is the most important thing to me. My daughter - and this is also important - and if there is an end game. If there is going to be an endgame, then this is my joy. This is what I live for - Leandra and my wife Trixie who is with me and my partner and my support and my rock. That's what it's about."

February 27, 2004
Brent Gunts Dies
Brent Gunts, who led Channel 11/WBAL from 1959 to 1973, died of complications from a stroke on 2/25. He was 86. "Brent was a legend in Baltimore. He was a thoughtful, innovative, sincere and honest human being. He was community-minded and never blew his own horn," Vince Bagli, retired WBAL-TV sports anchor, tells the Baltimore Sun. Adds Rolf Hertsgaard, former long-time WBAL-TV news anchor: "He set the tone for the station in every way - not just on the air, but in how we treated each other. He was also ahead of his time. He believed that a television station had a responsibility in giving back to the community." Mr. Gunts joined WFBR radio in the 1930s, and began writing and directing radio programs. From the late 1940s and through the 1950s, he produced a series of radio shows. And moved into television. In the late 1950s, Mr. Gunts was appointed vice president and general manager of WBAL-TV.

February 27, 2004
DC101 Employee Sues DC101 Morning Man
The Washington Post reports that Montgomery County resident Jamie Doody has filed a $3.25 million lawsuit against DC101 morning man Elliot Segal for "defamation, injurious falsehood, and undue invasion of privacy." The lawsuit claims that, last summer, Segal broadcast "false and defamatory statements" about Doody, an office manager at Clear Channel's DC101, that exposed her to "public scorn, contempt, ridicule," causing her "professional damage and severe emotional distress." According to the lawsuit, Segal claimed on the air that Doody was having sex with a fellow employee. He also gave listeners her office phone number and encouraged listeners to harass her, the suit says. One caller told Segal that she was a "whore" who had an abortion, the lawsuit contends. Bennett Zier, who oversees the company's eight local radio stations, declined to comment on the lawsuit, telling the Post: "I don't have all the facts."

February 27, 2004
WJMA To Move To Culpeper's 103.1
Orange's WJMA, 98.9 FM, will begin simulcasting its country programming on Culpeper's WCUL, 103.1 FM, starting on 3/1. WCUL has been a country station. The WJMA calls will move to 103.1 when the 98.9 frequency relocates to the Richmond suburb of Midlothian with new calls and a new format. Also, look for a new format and calls for Louisa's 105.5.

February 26, 2004
Sonny, Sam, And Larry
Long-time play-by-play man Frank Herzog won't be returning to the WJFK-FM radio booth for the upcoming Redskins' season. Herzog, who is the top sports anchor for Channel 9/WUSA, will be replaced by Westwood One/WJFK-FM sports anchor Larry Michael. Sonny Jurgenson and Sam Huff will remain on the Skins' radio team. Channel 9 is carrying the Redskins' pre-season games this year.

February 26, 2004
William Lynn Dies
William Lynn died on 2/25 after a long battle with cancer. For more than three decades, Mr. Lynn, 62, was an engineer for Channel 7 and WMAL radio.

February 26, 2004
Carl Degen Dies
Carl Degen, 77, died on 2/22. From 1949 to 1957, Mr. Degen was a producer and director for NBC in DC, where his work earned many awards including an Emmy. His television credits included "Meet The Press," the "Today Show," and the Huntley-Brinkley newscast. Also, Mr. Degen directed stage productions at the DC's Arena Stage and he was chief of audiovisual arts for the National Park Service.

February 25, 2004
WOLB To Move Transmitter, Reduce Daytime Power
The Federal Communications Commission has granted a request by Radio One to move the antenna of Baltimore's WOLB (1010 AM) about four miles to the east, northeast of its present location. The new antenna will be co-located with the pending move of sister station WWIN (1400 AM) to the same tower at 3500 Monument Street. Also, WOLB will decrease its daytime power from 1,000-watts to 250-watts. Its night power will increase from 26-watts to 30-watts.

February 25, 2004
WMET Flips To 1160
Gaithersburg talker WMET has made the move from 1150 on the AM dial to 1160. In a few months, the station will also hike its daytime power to 50,000-watts.

February 25, 2004
WMJS Is Back
Southern Maryland's WMJS is being reborn as a low-power outlet on 102.1 FM. You'll recall that the WMJS calls and community-based format resided on Prince Frederick's 92.7 FM, before the frequency flipped to DC-oriented Spanish sounds (as Mega's WBZS) a few years back. Bill Santiff, WMJS's volunteer general manager, tells DCRTV that the new outlet will be a "true community radio station," with a mix of contemporary, adult contemporary, oldies, and country tunes, plus news and sports on the hour and half hour. A July launch is planned. The group is holding a March "informational" meeting and hopes to raise $100,000 to fund the project.

February 25, 2004
WCTN Goes Korean, Stays Christian
WCTN (950 AM) in Potomac/Cabin John will drop English Christian for Korean Christian on 3/1. According to WCTN's website, this is the format's "last week on the air" after "30 years of ministry... We will hand off to a wonderful group of Korean brothers and sisters in Christ. Please pray for the transition, and for their success as they carry on the work of 'broadcasting' the Good News." John Vogt's Seven Locks Broadcasting recently sold the station to Win Radio Broadcasting, headed by Richard Yoon.

February 24, 2004
Orioles Move Back To 20
The Baltimore Orioles will be returning to Channel 20/WDCA in the DC market. Channel 20 aired the O's for 15 seasons, ending in 1995. Since then, the team has aired on Channel 50/WBDC and, last year, on Channel 66/WPXW. In the O's home market, the birds' 65 broadcast games will again air on Channel 13/WJZ and Channel 54/WNUV. Comcast SportsNet will carry 87 regular season games. Other O's "broadcast" TV affiliates include WLYH and WHP in Harrisburg, WSPC in York, UPN 21 in Salisbury, and WSKY in Norfolk.

February 24, 2004
Al Casey Dies
Al Casey, who was program director at contemporary WPGC in the early 1980s, died on Monday in the Seattle suburb of Bainbridge Island. He was 60 and suffered from cancer. Casey worked at radio stations in Miami, NYC, Detroit, St. Louis, Kansas City, and San Diego. Also, he operated a radio consulting firm.

February 24, 2004
Judlyne Lilly To FNR
Bonneville names WTOP anchor and reporter Judlyne Lilly as morning drive anchor for Federal News Radio, its internet-only federal government news stream. In addition to her WTOP experience, Lilly's worked at Fox's Channel 5/WTTG, UPI, Unistar, and ABC Radio News. Lilly's appointment fuels rumblings that Bonneville will soon put FNR on a DC area radio signal.

February 20, 2004
Former 11 Sports Anchor Dies
Chris Thomas, who was a sports anchor in the 1980s at Baltimore's Channel 11/WBAL and, before that, Salisbury's Channel 16/WBOC, died on 2/18. He was 55 and had been suffering from cancer. Thomas, whose real name is Christian Thomas Olrick, worked at Tampa's WFLA-TV and several Tampa radio stations since 1988. During his Baltimore years, he hosted a sports talk show on radio stations WFBR and WBAL.

February 18, 2004
Evelyn Freyman Dies
Evelyn Freyman died on 2/16 at age 92. She was a founding member of the Washington-Baltimore local of AFRA (American Federation Of Radio Artists) in 1940, served as president of the local from 1941 to 1948, and then was executive secretary of AFTRA local (American Federation Of Television And Radio Artists) from 1948 to 1983. She served as AFTRA national vice president from 1945 to 1954, and represented SAG (Screen Actors Guild) in the Washington-Baltimore area. Freyman acted on stage and radio, and co-hosted "Consumer Time" on the NBC radio network in the 1940s and 1950s with DC broadcasting vet Johnny Batchelder. Also, she owned the Olney Theater from 1946 to 1955, allowing racially integrated audiences even as local authorities threatened to enforce segregation laws and close the theater.

February 17, 2004
WHUR Hires Tony Richards
Tony Richards is the new morning man at Howard University's adult urban WHUR (96.3 FM). Says Urbaninsite: "Although Richards is new to Washington airwaves... he is no stranger to the rest of the morning team. WHUR morning personality TC was first hired by Richards during his double duty as PD and morning man at WOWI Norfolk... The two were subsequently hired to wake up KBXX and then KMJQ in Houston, and WPHI in Philadelphia. WHUR morning comedian George Wilborne teamed up with Richards during (an) afternoon gig at Chicago's WVAZ."

February 13, 2004
Jason Kidd Bound For Texas
Baltimore radio vet Jason Kidd becomes program director of KQBT, an Infinity-owned urbanish contemporary station in Austin. The Annapolis native began his radio career in 1989 at Charm City legendary hit music outlet B104, WBSB. He's also worked at former contemporary hit WXYV, along with a very short recent stint at smooth jazz WSMJ. Kidd's career path has also included stations in Ocean City, York, Richmond, Scranton, Allentown, Syracuse, and Pittsburgh.

February 13, 2004
Simpson Named PD For 104
Sammy Simpson is the new program director at Bonneville's hot adult contemporary More Music 104, WWZZ/WWVZ. He comes from ABC-owned hot AC Mix 107.3, WRQX, and smooth jazz WJZW, where he's been marketing and promotions manager. In January, Mike Edwards left 104's PD post after four years. Simpson had been marketing and promotions manager at WWZZ/WWVZ in the late 1990s when it was known as Z104, with a contemporary dance-oriented format. He's also worked at Clear Channel's contemporary hit Z100, WHTZ, in NYC.

February 12, 2004
Larry Krebs Dies
Larry Krebs died on 2/11 at Sibley Hospital. He'd been in poor health, having suffered a stroke a while back. He was 81. Krebs was WMAL radio's overnight reporter for more than 30 years. He started as a cameraman on then-WMAL-TV (now WJLA), and his news tips to the newsroom at the then-Washington Star co-owned WMAL radio led to a job on the air there. "He was a unique voice in Washington broadcast journalism and he will be missed by all of us here at 630 WMAL," says General Manager Chris Berry. In 2002, Krebs received the Washington Achievement In Radio (AIR) lifetime honor award. According to the Washington Post, Krebs was "Washington's last old-school gumshoe newshounds who was perhaps best known for being the only cameraman at the Tidal Basin the night a powerful congressman and a striptease artist landed in hot water... For more than a half-century, Mr. Krebs roamed the city streets as a television cameraman and radio reporter covering the night police beat... He became an institution among the police officers and firefighters whom he befriended and the reporters of competitive media outlets he often scooped."

February 12, 2004
William Brown Dies
William Brown, 73, of Sterling, died on 1/29. He was the anchor of "Loudoun News" on Adelphia's Loudoun County cable TV system. Brown produced CBS's "60 Minutes" during the 1970s, and later worked as a producer and reporter for ABC and NBC. During the 1980s, he produced training and promotional videos for several government agencies. Also, he co-authored "My Thirty Years In Hoover's FBI."

February 12, 2004
Helen Morrow Dies
Helen Morrow, who was once an account executive at Baltimore's WCAO radio, died on 2/7. The Carroll County resident, who also worked at other area radio stations, eventually left the radio business to raise a family.

February 10, 2004
Stretch Leaves 92Q
"Love Zone" host Stretch exits Radio One's WERQ. After five years, the "six-foot-six phenomenon" no longer does the late show on the Baltimore urban outlet. No word of a new radio gig for him.

February 9, 2004
FCC Silences GMU's 650
FCC paid a visit to George Mason University's Fairfax campus on 2/5. Apparently, the Communications Department was operating an unlicensed 30-watt AM transmitter on 650 AM (interfering with Nashville's WSM at night) using bogus call letters (WGMU is not assigned), and selling ad space, to boot. The signal had been on-air since mid-December, covering much of Fairfax City, and even parts of Springfield. A like AM operation at GMU had been nailed before. After the Commission's latest visit, the transmissions ceased and all links to GMU's AM operation were removed from wgmuradio.com, which features an audio stream.

February 9, 2004
Clear Channel Tops DC Corporate Ratings
Arbitron has released the fall 2003 DC market radio ratings by ownership group. And Clear Channel (which owns WASH, WMZQ, WBIG, WWDC, WIHT, WTNT, WWRC, and WTEM) takes the top spot with a total 19.9 AQH (average quarter hour) share and a 45.1 percent "cume" rating. Infinity (WPGC-FM/AM, WHFS, WJFK-FM, WARW) places 2nd with a 15.1 AQI/39.7 percent cume. Bonneville (WTOP-AM/FM, WWZZ/WWVZ, WGMS, WXTR) takes 3rd with a 13.0/34.3. ABC (WMAL, WRQX, WJZW) is 4th with a 11.0/26.2. Radio One (WKYS, WMMJ, WYCB, WOL) is 5th with a 6.2/16.2. Howard University (WHUR) is 6th with a 4.5/11.4. Mega (WBZS/WBPS, WKDL) is 7th with a 2.1/4.4. Salem (WAVA, WABS) is 8th with a 1.2/3.6. Mid-Atlantic (WINC-FM, WBQB) is 9th with a 0.7/3.4. And Free Lance-Star (WFLS) is 10th with a 0.7/2.7.

February 9, 2004
Joe Angel Calls O's
Joe Angel re-joins WBAL radio's Orioles' broadcast team. He'll be the lead play-by-player, paired with Orioles Radio Network vets Jim Hunter and Fred Manfra, who also will be doing TV games. Angel will broadcast on the radio side, while Hunter and Manfra will join him when they're not in the TV booth. Angel, who used to call O's games with Jon Miller, has also covered the Yankees, Marlins, Giants, Twins, and A's.

February 5, 2004
Inga Rundvold Kuhn Dies
Local TV pioneer Inga Rundvold Kuhn passed away on 2/4 at age 83 due to complications from a stroke. The then Washington Times Herald columnist moved to Channel 4/WNBW (pre-WRC) in 1950 to do an interview, fashion, travel, and cooking show that followed the "Today Show." "Inga's Angle" aired live at 9 AM from the NBC Studio Theater at the Wardman Park Hotel. Other incarnations of Inga's program followed until 1970. Inga also substituted as a talk show host for Patty Cavin on WRC radio.

February 4, 2004
MAL Snatches Noory, Bell From TNT
George Noory and Art Bell will be moving from WTNT (570 AM) to WMAL (630 AM). The Premiere nationally syndicated sci-fi oriented "Coast To Coast AM" show will air on ABC's news talk WMAL from 1 AM to 5 AM. WMAL currently airs Sean Hannity reruns during the wee hours.

February 3, 2004
Sun, 2 Get Unhitched
The Baltimore Sun has announced that it will "sever its two-year-old exclusive arrangement with Channel 2/WMAR, in which the newspaper's reporters appeared on the station's newscasts and the two news outlets swapped ad space for commercial air time."

February 3, 2004
WJRO Sold To Metro Radio
Glen Burnie's religious WJRO (1590 AM) has been sold by Erald Broadcasting. The buyer is Northern Virginia's Metro Radio, which owns business news WPLC (1050 AM) and Spanish WKCW (1420 AM) in the DC area. The price is $425,000.

February 3, 2004
Cucchiella's New Comedy Club
98Rock PM driver Mickey Cucchiella, and his former evening shift producer Don, have joined forces to create a Baltimore comedy club, the Comedy Factory Outlet on Light Street. It opens in a few weeks. Planning for the outlet has been in the works for more than a year. Also onboard is Dan Tracey, formerly of the Baltimore Improv, who'll handle PR, management, and booking duties. Cucchiella owned another comedy club, Stitches, but it burned in 2001.

February 2, 2004
WJSS Sold
WJSS (1330 AM) in Havre de Grace, Maryland has been sold to Tidewater, Virginia-based Benjamin-Dane LLC for $350,000. The seller is Peoples Broadcasting Network, which has operated the Harford County station with a religious gospel format.

February 1, 2004
Kornheiser Says Adios To Radio
The Washington Post reports that its sports columnist Tony Kornheiser is giving up his morning radio show, which airs on WTEM-980, at the end of March. Kornheiser, who also stars with fellow Post columnist Michael Wilbon on ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption," has been on WTEM for more than 11 years, the last six for ESPN Radio. "I'm not retiring from radio, I'm just taking a break," Kornheiser said.

February 1, 2004
John Panagos Dies
John Panagos, 82, editor and publisher of the Gaithersburg Gazette, died of leukemia on 1/30. In the late 1950s and into the 1960s, Panagos was a vice-president of United Broadcasting, which owned several radio and TV stations in the DC area, including soul music WOOK-AM (later FM) and the market's first commercial UHF TV station, Channel 14/WFAN. United also owned DC's first Spanish radio station, WFAN-FM (later AM). In the 1960s, Panagos was an advertising sales consultant to Channel 20/WDCA. Also, he founded Gaithersburg's cable TV system.

January 30, 2004
9 Grabs Skins' Preseason Games From 4
The Redskins' preseason TV games will be moving from NBC's Channel 4/WRC to Gannett's Channel 9/WUSA. WRC has a major late summer conflict - it will be airing NBC's Summer Olympics. Channel 9's top sports anchor is Frank Herzog (right), who has traditionally handled the Redskins' radio broadcasts via WJFK-FM.

January 29, 2004
Parenteau Pleads Guilty
Mark Parenteau, XM Satellite Radio's former director of comedy programming, pleaded guilty on 1/28 in DC Superior Court to second-degree child sexual abuse and to giving alcohol and marijuana to minors. Parenteau was arrested in August 2002 in connection with the sexual assault of a 14-year-old boy. The Washington Post then reported that Parenteau, 52, had been charged with assaulting the boy three times in Parenteau's Swann Street home, according to the arrest warrant. Parenteau, who once worked at Boston rocker WBCN, could face up to 10 years in jail along with a $100,000 fine. He is scheduled to be sentenced in April.

January 26, 2004
New Management Structure At 26
Kevin Harris, a public TV consultant and general manager of Atlanta public TV station WPBA, has been named as the first vice president and station manager of Channel 26/WETA. He takes over from Ed Kennedy, who is WETA's director of engineering and technology. Kennedy will now report to Harris.

January 26, 2004
Tom Reeders Joins WAMU's Bluegrass Team
Tom Reeder, who spent 27 years at Warrenton's traditional country WKCW, is joining the staff of rotating hosts at WAMU's "Bluegrass Overnight." Reeder, known as "Old Tomcat," joins Gary Henderson, Lee Michael Demsey, and Lisa Kay Howard on the 88.5 program, which runs from midnight to 6 AM Sunday (late Saturday night). Reeder's country music radio days date back to 1956 and Arlington's WARL. He became a member of the Country Radio Disc Jockey Hall Of Fame in 1990. WKCW flipped to Spanish music late last year.

January 24, 2004
Mike Buchanan To 7
Mike Buchanan is making the move to Allbritton's Channel 7, WJLA. As a reporter. Gannett's Channel 9 let him go in December, after three decades. "Channel 7 was looking for another pretty face," Buchanan, 62, joked in the Washington Post. In reality, he said, "I asked for a job." Adds WJLA news director Bill Lord: "Once we knew he was available, several people suggested I talk to him, and it just kind of ballooned from there. We talked and we came to an understanding on how he could help the team." Lord did not specify what Buchanan will cover except to say that "it will have to do with law enforcement, and we'll branch out from there."

January 23, 2004
Joe Johns To CNN
Former Channel 4/WRC reporter Joe Johns is jumping from NBC's Washington bureau to CNN to cover Congress. Johns had been with NBC and NBC-owned WRC for two decades.

January 23, 2004
Osei, KYS Sign Deal
WKYS has signed afternoon driver Osei (aka "The Dark Secret") to a two-year deal. Osei was initially hired in May 2003 by KYS as the host of "Chocolate City Soul," the station's former "slow jams" program. However, a month later he was moved to PM drive. Before joining the DC Radio One urban outlet, Osei worked at Infinity's urban WPGC-FM and former urban outlet WXYV in Baltimore, and at Radio One's urban WPHI in Philadelphia. He's also been a voice for BET and has been heard on the World Space network.

January 23, 2004
Paul Anthony Joins Sirius
DC radio and TV veteran Paul Anthony will do mornings on the Pure Jazz channel at NYC's Sirius satellite radio. Anthony, who is often seen these days doing fundraisers for Channel 26/WETA, has been on the DC area airwaves for 40-ish years, having worked at WRC radio, WGMS, WMAL, and at NPR.

January 21, 2004
New Tower, Lower Powers For WYCB & WOL
Radio One's gospel WYCB (1340 AM) wants to move its antenna from Coral Hills (about 7 miles southeast of central DC), to just across the Potomac River from Alexandria (about 6 miles south of central DC). With a power reduction from 1,000-watts to 270-watts. Also, Radio One wants to move the antenna for urban talk WOL (1450 AM) from central DC (North Capitol Street and Pierce Street) to co-locate with WYCB's new tower. WOL will seek a power reduction from 1,000-watts to 390-watts. The move will give WOL somewhat better coverage to the south and southeast, in the general direction of increasingly African American Prince George's County.

January 21, 2004
WHUR Goes Digital
Howard University's adult urban WHUR became the first commercial station in the nation's capital to begin broadcasting in HD Radio at approximately 11:32 AM today. According to Radio And Records, "WHUR threw a party at its northwest Washington transmitter site to celebrate the occasion, and a representative from Mayor Anthony Williams' office was on hand to present GM Jim Watkins with a plaque designating today as 'WHUR HD Radio Day' in the District. FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein and iBiquity CEO Bob Struble were also on hand for the occasion, as Struble joined Watkins in flipping a large 'light switch' to officially turn on the station's digital signal. Watkins tells R&R WHUR was due for a new transmitter and says the economics of adopting HD Radio now simply made sense. He notes that while the station spent about $100,000 on digital equipment, it has spent a little less than $500,000 in overall upgrades that include a new main studio console, automation system and four new transmitters." The first song WHUR played after flipping the digital switch was Issac Hayes' "Theme From Shaft" - the same song played when the station debuted in 1971.

January 21, 2004
Oziel Gets FNR Gig
David Oziel is the new news director of Bonneville's Federal News Radio. He had been the bureau chief for the Washington News Network and was assistant news and program director for all-news WCBS-AM in NYC. Oziel will oversee the daily news operations of FNR's website and online streaming.

January 21, 2004
Del Walters To 2
Former Channel 7/ WJLA news anchor Del Walters is making the move to Baltimore's Channel 2/WMAR. Look for him to do investigative reporting and anchor the Scripps station's early evening newscasts. An official announcement will be coming on Thursday or Friday, we're told. Walters got bounced from DC's Channel 7 late last year, shortly after Leon Harris arrived. "I wanted to be in a place that was aggressive. They're in a dogfight, and I like dogfights," Walters tells the Washington Times. Channel 2's been in Charm City's news ratings cellar for many years.

January 20, 2004
Jerry Nachman Dies
Jerry Nachman, who once served as general manager of DC's Channel 4 and WRC radio, has died of cancer at 57. During his colorful career, Nachman worked for MSNBC, the NY Post, NYC's WNBC-TV and WCBS-TV, and was executive producer of Bill Maher's "Politically Incorrect."

January 19, 2004
Olivia Fox To Tampa
Olivia Fox is heading to WBTP, a Clear Channel urban outlet in Tampa, where she'll host the morning drive show. In late 2002, Fox got canned from Russ Parr's nationally syndicated morning show, which is based at Radio One's urban WKYS. After giving birth to a girl, Fox guested on Infinity's urban WPGC-FM in the spring of 2003 and seemed to strongly hint that she'd soon be on the air there. But nothing materialized.

January 12, 2004
Randy Dennis Joins WSMJ
Randy Dennis joins Baltimore smooth jazz WSMJ (104.3 FM) as its morning man. Dennis, a Charm City radio vet who has worked at the defunct urban V103 (WXYV), along with WERQ, WWIN, WKYS, and XM, also will host SMJ's "Smooth Jazz Brunch".

January 13, 2004
WPGC, WERQ Top Fall Arbs
Urban WPGC-FM and adult urban WMMJ take the top spots in the fall Arbitron radio ratings for DC. All-news WTOP places 3rd in the overall age 12+ numbers. The rest: classical WGMS 4th, urban WKYS 5th, adult urban WHUR 6th, smooth jazz WJZW 7th, news talk WMAL (up from summer's 11th) and oldies WBIG and adult contemporary WASH (up from summer's 12th) tied for 8th, country WMZQ 11th, hot adult contemporary WRQX 12th, rhythmic contemporary WIHT 13th (down from summer's 8th), talk WJFK-FM and rocker WWDC tie for 14th, Spanish contemporary WBZS/WBPS 16th, classic rock WARW 17th, hot adult contemporary WWZZ/WWVZ 18th, sports talk WTEM 19th, and alternative rock WHFS 20th. In Baltimore (age 12+), urban WERQ takes 1st, country WPOC 2nd, news talk WBAL and adult contemporary WLIF tie for 3rd, adult urban WWIN-FM 5th, hot adult contemporary WWMX 6th, oldies WQSR 7th, smooth jazz WSMJ 8th, rock WIYY 9th, alternative rock WHFS 10th, gospel WCAO and nostalgic WWLG tie for 11th, talk WCBM and classic rock WZBA tie for 13th, talk WXYV 15th, and religious WRBS 16th. In Fredericksburg (age 12+), country WFLS takes 1st, hot adult contemporary WBQB 2nd, and WTOP and alternative rock WYSK tie for 3rd.

January 11, 2004
Baltimore's WYPR Buys Frederick's WJTM
Baltimore public radio outlet WYPR is buying Frederick's WJTM. Both stations operate on 88.1 FM. Joy Public Broadcasting is selling religious WJTM for $1.2 million. The addition of the 4,000-watt Frederick signal could allow the expansion of WYPR's news talk NPR format into the northwest DC suburbs. Last year, WYPR owner Your Public Radio attempted to get relays on the Eastern Shore, but failed to acquire Salisbury State University's WSCL and WSDL.

January 9, 2004
WETA Founder Dies
Elizabeth Campbell died on 1/9. She was 101. In 1953, Mrs. Campbell founded the Greater Washington Educational Television Association, a coalition of local schools, universities, and cultural institutions that petitioned the FCC for the license of UHF channel 26. The TV station, which went on the air in 1961, was soon joined by an FM radio station. WETA went on to become a powerful force in the Washington broadcasting community and a national producer of programming for PBS and public television.

January 9, 2004
B&O'B To QSR's PM Drive
Bob Worthington announced that he's moving to evenings on WQSR. Paving the way for the return of Brian And O'Brien in PM drive on the Baltimore oldies outlet. Brian Wilson and Big Don O'Brien were the 1980s morning team on Charm City's old B104. Last month, they did a reunion at oldies WQSR and Infinity's radio guys were impressed. Big Don has done evenings on WQSR. And Brian has done fill-in work on talk radio outlets like WBAL. Area radio vet Sean Hall will join B&O'B as newsman.

January 9, 2004
Mickey & Amelia To 98Rock's PM Drive
The evening team of Mickey and Amelia will be taking over the PM drive slot on WIYY, 98Rock. Our source says that the move is being made to "compete directly with Don and Mike" on Live 105.7. Producer Don is being dropped and will become an on-air fill-in. Stash has been doing the afternoon shift on 97.9 FM. He's moving to evenings.

January 9, 2004
Mike Edwards Leaves 104
Mike Edwards has left the program director's post at Bonneville's hot adult contemporary WWZZ/WWVZ after four years. He's the second suit to recently depart the station. Mark O'Brien, 104.1/103.9's general manager, bid farewell in December. He was replaced by Joel Oxley, who is GM for both all-news WTOP and classical WGMS. Sean Sellers is interim PD. Bonneville sources insist that More Music 104's format will be retained, despite all the management changes.

January 9, 2004
2's News Director To Detroit
Andrea Parquet-Taylor (left), news director at Scripps' Channel 2/WMAR in Baltimore, is replacing Bill Carey, news director at Scripps' WXYZ-TV in Detroit, who is going to be general manager at Scripps' WFTS-TV in Tampa. Parquet-Taylor has been in Baltimore less than nine months. She used to work at WXYZ, where she was assistant news director to Carey, and at Raleigh's WRAL-TV.

January 8, 2004
Rene Knott To St. Louis
Channel 7/WJLA sports anchor Rene Knott is heading to a St. Louis TV station. Knott, who's been with 7 almost 12 years, will be the top sports anchor at KSDK, an NBC affiliate owned by Gannett, which owns DC's Channel 9/WUSA. In December, WJLA announced that Knott's sports spot would be filled by Tim Brant.

January 6, 2004
Goodbye Tony Colter
Tony Colter, WARW's midday personality, has already left the building. And, the Infinity classic rocker is looking for a new midday person. According to "help wanted" announcements in various radio trade pubs.

January 5, 2004
Binn's Back
DCRTV hears that that Stacey Binn (more recently Stacey Williams), who's been on medical leave for several months while undergoing treatment for cancer, spoke by phone with Jack Diamond on Mix 107.3. All signs of her cancer are gone and she's feeling great. And starting today she'll be doing afternoon and evening traffic reports on WRQX.

January 5, 2004
Laura Ingraham To 570
Clear Channel talker WTNT (570 AM) has started airing DC-based Laura Ingraham's show in the 9 AM to noon slot. Until last summer, WTNT had aired the right-leaning Ingraham during evenings. WTNT has trimmed Don Imus's show to a 9 AM end-time. And G. Gordon Liddy now starts at noon, instead of at 10 AM.

January 5, 2004
DC Pirate Located
Channel 9/WUSA reporter Dave Statter has tracked down the pirate that's been broadcasting on 93.5 FM. Statter does confirm that the unlicensed radio station is in DC, but won't publicly reveal its location. According to 9's Sunday night newscast, the outlet's operating from the basement of an apartment building in the northwest part of the city. It took less than an hour of searching to find it by using the car radio and scanners. There is an antenna mounted on the roof of the apartment building. The operator of the radio station identified himself as Carlton Joseph who says he has been promoting Caribbean music and culture in DC for a number of years. Joseph showed Statter the little booth used as a studio. Joseph admits that they are not licensed but have an application on file and a lawyer working on the process. Joseph says in the meantime he is serving the needs of the community. Statter also interviewed Von Martin, longtime host of Caribbean music on WPFW. Martin says that commercial radio fails to serve this audience and he is not surprised by this turn of events. The station has been operating for about two months or so. In December, DCRTV reported that the pirate has been IDing itself as WEFM. The urban, rap, and West Indies music outlet seems to come in best from downtown DC, south along I-395, to the Springfield area. A "202" phone number was given for requests.

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