Coming Feb. 1: The Dallas/Fort Worth Morning Star-Telegram

Known it for a while, but yesterday the head honchos at our two local dailies made it official: Beginning next month the newspaper sports war competition is over. The former rivals are now shaking hands, sharing headlines. It’s happening all over the place, with even super powers like the Washington…

McGarry/Bush

KXAS-Channel 5 has wisely — nay, brilliantly — posted the entirety of Jane McGarry’s sit-down with President Bush. You know how sometimes, 10 minutes isn’t long enough? This is one of those times. A question, though: What is she saying at the start of the video? And what does it…

105.3 The Fan: Shamless Self-Promotion Time

As we speak, 105.3 The Fan is in the middle of a 30-day negotiating period with the Cowboys to steal the team away from 1310 AM The Ticket and become Dallas’ official flagship station. The new sports-talk station has also hired Dallas’ Only Daily columnist Tim Cowlishaw for a regular role…

Is Your News Worth a Dollar a Day?

A.H. Belo hopes you think so, because The Dallas Morning News just posted the following notice: Starting Feb. 9, The Dallas Morning News will increase the newsstand price of its Monday-through-Saturday newspapers to one dollar from the current level of 75 cents. The News attributed the price hike to continued…

Russ Martin Gives $30,000 to Fallen Officer’s Wife

Say what you will about Russ Martin – and, believe me, I’ve said a lot – the guy deserves credit for keeping his Listeners Foundation up and running even though his gig at Live 105.3 got axed. In keeping with a promise he made upon establishing the foundation after 9/11,…

Dallas’ Only Daily: The Incredible Shrinking Newspaper

Once upon a time, ours was a three sports-page town. There were enough readers – enough advertisers – for the Dallas Morning News, Dallas Times Herald and Fort Worth Star-Telegram to not only survive, but thrive. Shoot, one of my first jobs at the FWS-T in the late ’80s was to…

PPMs: Your 1st-Grader Now Controls Dallas Radio Advertising Dollars

Way back in Two Thousand and Eight I alerted you that radical radio ratings changes were on the horizon. Well, they’re heeere. As of Dec. 31, the data from Arbitron’s new Portable People Meters is certified as legit radio currency in Dallas-Fort Worth. Diaries have officially gone the way of the…

The Top 10 Announcers in Dallas Sports History

In retrospect, Ole Miss and Texas Tech are merely above-average college football teams. Their little clash in Dallas last week, however, was called by two of this area’s icons of announcing. Though he’s looked better, it was good to see Pat Summerall working the game on TV. And on radio…

Dora’s Crying. Mommy, Make it Stop.

On Page 13A of Your Morning Paper is Dora the Explorer, crying all over a full-page ad that screams: “Time Warner Cable is Taking Dora Off the Air Tonight! Along with 19 of your favorite channels!” Which is a bit of a stretch. Spike? Please. MTV? Since when? 1985? TV…

Top 10 Schutze Columns of ’08

For those looking for some year-end reading during the slow news cycle, consider my personal favorites of the year from Observer columnist Jim Schutze. I refuse to play favorites, so the list is chronological. And since any commentary from me can’t compare to the work itself, a memorable excerpt from…

Penny for Your Transmission? Or, Why Charter’s About to Drop WFAA.

A Friend of Unfair Park points us to this announcement from WFAA-Channel 8 concerning its being dropped from Charter Cable come New Year’s Eve, and wonders, “WTF?” So happens, reports Television Broadcast today, that the local brouhaha is part of a larger battle between Belo and Charter, which is likewise…

Hey, Dill, Merry Christmas

After the jump, courtesy the folks at Firehouse Dallas, The Carol of the Christmas Pickle — a nod to this most mysterious of holiday traditions. Says it’s been viewed ’round 30 thousand times since debuting two weeks ago, though first I heard of it was during the annual “Dallas Christmas”…

Dallas Native’s Gonna Turn it On, Gonna Bring You the Power

Good news for nostalgists with kiddos: The Electric Company makes its return to PBS January 19th, when the network sneak peeks the easy-reader with a two-hour marathon in advance of its official January 23 debut. Alas, no Morgan Freeman, Rita Moreno or Bill Cosby this go-round, but says the media…