WTOP is moving...

...to 103.5 on the FM dial.  It seems its so they can consolidate all of the smaller broadcast points they've acquired over the years to fill in transmission holes into a single, powerful FM spot.  The classical station is moving to 104.1/103.9.  107.7/1500 are currently broadcasting WTOP until they can rig up a new more indepth news/analysis station working with The Washington Post.  They'll still hold onto 820am for Frederick, but being able to pick up the 50,000 watts of 1500 from, say, the McDonalds on the hill at the intersection of 70 and 76 in PA, the Hudson River Bridges (or even the Delaware Memorial Bridge) is about to become a thing of the past.

Z104 appears to be long gone.  So much for the power (and more importantly, the value) of pop music these days.

On the bright side, it means their "bumper" they have to run every half hour won't be quite so long since they won't have to name so many transmitters every time.  :)

On the down side, it shows that having the power of a 50,000 watt am transmitter only gives a station the financial means to get out of am.  It used to be that 50,000 watts was a gold mine, rarely given out by the FCC.  Now its just a stepping stone.

goodbye "epics" hello "biopics"

there's always a back-n-forth between the "biopic" and the "epic" in the hollywood award system.  consider the past 10 years has seen "Return of the King" and "Gladiator" winning some, while "A Beautiful Mind" winning another, and several that are hybreds in that in their race to become epic, they have given up some of the "bio" accuracy (Braveheart, Titanic, Shakespeare in Love).

Well, the hints are that this year is a "biopic" year, at least in the early nominations.  Capote and "Good Night and Good Luck" are getting the early nods, and Munich and Kong are being ignored.  Not that I think Kong is really worth the awards -- its a vehicle for movie fun, that took its effects and authenticity seriously enough to be convincing, like its predecessor, never took itself seriously enough on the whole to warrent the big wins.  Not every Oscar-winning director's subsequent films have to be of the same award-winning caliber.