Adieu DCRTV; PBRTV continues; Thoughts on a small-town AM
May 1, 2022A little over 4 months have passed since the untimely and unexpected death of Dave Hughes, and it seems that his beloved DCRTV.com has now gone into the history books as well. Hughes passed back on December 27, 2021, just a short time after posting to his site for what ended up being the final time. We all miss him.
Granted, Dave had more time to devote exclusively to his site than I do to this site. And we all know that his mailbag forum was quite active – even if it did get a bit snarky toward the end. But every contribution was moderated and maintained by Dave who no doubt had a quick system for posting, and several times each day at that! And, although he had a personal Facebook page, he never created a page just for DCRTV. It was all maintained on the website long after many other sites of various types had abandoned their URLs and webhosting costs and had given in to the social sites.
Anyway, may Dave continue to rest in peace and may the memories we have of him and his love for the business remain in our hearts and minds forever.
But rest assured PBRTV is here despite its editor/owner/webmaster being quite busy with his work life. But it’s good to have Ken Hawk back on board… several years back when Ken was still in Indiana, PA he would send me correspondence regarding the Central Pennsylvania stations. Lately he has been covering the WQZS/Roger Wahl situation on Meyersdale. Meanwhile, he is still heading up Saxonburg Radio on the Internet and on Part-15 transmitters in the small Butler County locale.
Seeing as the pandemic seems to be somewhat subdued, I’m looking at getting the podcast machine back up and running… but I remind you that a podcast is only as good as the guests who are willing to be a guest. Several of you made guest suggestions way back pre-pandemic. Some whom I had approached mentioned they were humbled to be asked but graciously declined. Others never responded… and over the last two years my original list has gone missing. Not for lack of trying, trust me. But who said a podcast has to happen daily or even monthly?
How’s my health? Always happy to share, thanks for asking. Overall I’m fine. But the expected muscle stiffness and aches and pains with Parkinson’s remain a part of me. If you are interested in my “journey” please visit my Shakin’ Not Stirred blog.
With sincere apologies to most of the fine talent we have in Pittsburgh, there isn’t much I listen to on the local dial these days. No offense, but my dopamine-challenged brain can’t take too much of the fast-paced and often bombarding formats anymore. For as little time I spend in the car these days, WQED-FM is my companion on the short jaunts I make between home and the church (perhaps farther if I’m having a good day or if my best friend is being my chauffer in my car). For PURE easy listening, my long-time favorite format, I tune in to Warren Schroeger’s JIB on the Web – a tribute station to Boston’s WJIB-FM (96.9) where he worked for a number of years.
But there is one little 89-year-old AMer out there that has me tuned in pretty regularly via my smart speaker. WJEJ (1240; W282CR 104.3 Hagerstown, MD) has the perfect format for those who like a little bit of everything.
It was probably over 20 years ago now when the aforementioned DCRTV Dave sent me a few cassette recordings of the former WJEJ-FM which carried the calls WWMD (104.7). As I recall WWMD had a pretty powerful signal and was still perfectly spaced between Pittsburgh’s 104.7 (which would have been WJJJ at that time) and Salisbury, Maryland’s WQHQ. WWMD was, I am pretty sure, the old-fashioned automated beautiful music formatted FM while WJEJ was where the live action was. Hagerstown Broadcasting Company sold WWMD off to VerStandig sever years ago and flipped it to country.
That wisely leaves Hagerstown Broadcasting Company with an AM signal, an FM translator and a webstream. Even with their small staff, they do it well! Long-time morning man, Lou Scally who has been with the station since late 1976, signs on each morning at 5:08 following the national anthem and plays a mixture of Adult Standards and some of the lighter music anywhere from the 40s to now in among the instrumentals left behind by its former FM sister. Scally is at the microphone until noon each day with local news, sports, and features from the Farmer’s Almanac to the local preacher. His last hour or so is hosting the station’s Phone Party which I have yet to have a chance to listen. Scally recently left his other position – as long time weather man at the local TV station – WDMV (formerly WHAG), an NBC affiliate. (Nextar owns the station and will be relocating operations to co-owned WDCW in Washington, DC. Scally will remain as a Hagerstown correspondent for the next year at least.)
Other personalities include Dennis McPherson and Phil Miller. WJEJ is also the Wednesday night outlet for Chuck Southcott’s program which is the perfect “Music of Your Life” blend that our WJAS used to play during its Renda Broadcasting ownership. And wait until you hear WJEJ do Christmas music come December!
For that folksy, small-town, good-feeling, no-stress sound – WJEJ Hagerstown, MD receives the PBRTV.com Seal of Approval! “ARR… ARR… clap… clap… clap… ARR… ARR… ARR!”
Thanks for letting me know of WJEJ. I need formats like this to work all day. Also wanted to let you know that I been listening to a station in Northwest Ohio, WERT. https://streamdb5web.securenetsystems.net/cirrusencore/WERT
Wow, I’ve only just now learned of Dave Hughes’ death. I had many direct exchanges with Dave, roughly during the period 1997 to 2012, let’s say. Dave and I had common memories of, and interest in the fate of, former DC-area rocker WHFS-FM, and also shared a fascination for radio and TV trivia, in general. I lived in DC for many years, but have been based in London, England for 35 years, and Dave enjoyed my own perspectives on broadcasting from “across the pond” (he was an Anglophile). I visited Dave at his townhouse in Reston in 2007 or so, and we had an interesting lunch together at a local eatery. I used to go to DCRTV several times a day, occasionally supplied Dave with “breaking news”, and posted often in his Mailbag comments section. It’s a sign of the times that DCRTV gradually “slowed down” after Dave moved to NC, and I’ve only learned of his death 5 months later, after finding out today that DCRTV is offline during one of my increasingly infrequent visits to the site. Such Sad News! Mark O.