Heard or seen something on the radio and TV lately that appalled/delighted/enlightened you? Of course you have. That's what Air Check with Paul Farhi is here for. Local stations, cable, radio shows, commercials -- they're all fair game.

Farhi, a reporter in the Post's Style section, writes about media and popular culture. He's been watching TV and listening to the radio since "The Monkees" were in first run and Adam West was a star. Born in Brooklyn and raised in Los Angeles, Farhi had brief stints in the movie business (as an usher at the Picwood Theater), and in the auto industry (rental-car lot guy) before devoting himself fulltime to word processing. His car has 15 radio pre-sets and his cable system has 75 channels. He vows to use all of them for good instead of evil.

A transcript follows.

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

Paul Farhi: Greetings, electronic media fans. Glad you could join me for this inaugural chat. We're going to try to make this as close to a democracy (or at least controlled anarchy) as possible. Gripes, opinions, daring speculation all welcome (lord knows, I've got plenty of my own). Cable, radio, broadcast TV, local, national, whatever--we are down, as the kidz say, with all of it. Bring it, and yourself, on.

19th street, Washington, D.C.: Hi Paul:

What's your take on the Don & Mike/Opie & Anthony radio feud? I am a long-time D&M fan, but I'm wondering how their move to mid-days in addition to this war of words may have hurt their appeal/audience.

Paul Farhi: Personally, I LOVED the feud. It satisfied several of the basics of a news story--drama, conflict, personalities, money (unfortunately, though, no sex). Many people wondered if it was for "real." I am quite certain it was, as evidenced by the suspension of D&M for the past week and a half. And I think it hurts their audience not a whit: yes, running "best ofs" for several days turns people away, but the conflict fuels a lot of buzz for the boys.

Washington, D.C.: Paul,

How do you see the Don and Mike scenario working out? Is there the potential, in your opinion, for Opie and Anthony to be moved to WHFS, allowing Don & Mike to move back to afternoon drive on WJFK? This would put the two feuding shows against one another in the same daypart. Wouldn't this split the listenership of both shows, to some degree?

Paul Farhi: First of all, I have it on pretty good authority that Don and Mike aren't going back to drivetime, at least not in the near future. Which means they're stuck (if you want to call it that) at mid-day. Which also means Infinity will probably stand pat with Opie & Anthony during drive on WJFK. O&A aren't doing that badly here (D&M, however, are a disaster in NYC). Longer term, Infinity is going to want to do something to help WHFS. Whether O&A makes sense for HFS, I know not.

San Francisco, Calif.: Will "The Sopranos" come to basic cable or commercial TV?

Paul Farhi: Short answer: No and No.
Longer answer: I doubt David Chase, the creator of the show, would ever allow it. Reason: It would have to be gutted to pass whatever (eroding) censorship standards remain on basic cable and broadcast tv. Not gonna happen.

Alexandria, Va.: I've been listening to Oldies 100 lately and noticed that Dave Atler has disappeared. Would you shed some light on what happened to him?

Paul Farhi: Dave was replaced around Memorial Day. He lost out in a deejay chain reaction. First, Clear Channel hired a duo from Phoenix to take over morning from Murphy and Cash on WMZQ. Then Clear Channel moved M&C to Big 100. Ergo, no room for Dave there.

Washington, D.C.: Channel 4 has run ads promoting their new helicopter by saying something like: "It tests the theory that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line." What other theories might Channel 4 be aware of as to what constitutes the shortest distance between two points?

Paul Farhi: What a cheap shot! (God, I love cheap shots...)

Arlington, Va.: What's your take on the local TV stations becoming all the weather, all the time? There are crawls beneath the picture, crawls atop the picture during other shows, boxes that pop up showing the Doppler while the show you want to watch is hard to see in its smaller box. All to tell us again and again that it is hot out there.

Paul Farhi: The dirty little non-secret in local TV news is that weather is the greatest common denominator for the audience (sports is guy stuff, the entertainment segment is take it-or-leave-it etc). Stations pray for a good blizzard during the winter sweeps, or a tornado or two during the May book. What can I say? People like to have their reality confirmed for them.

Fairfax, Va.: Paul --

What do you mean the Infinity will want to "help HFS." Are they in need of help?

Paul Farhi: Yes, very much so. They're getting their transmitter handed to them by DC-101. They're barely cracking the top 20 stations locally.

Lorton, Va.: I've gone and gotten hooked again, so I gotta ask, think Mole II will actually be shown through completion this time 'round? Do you have your opinion of who the Mole is, or am I the only person who's actually watching?

Paul Farhi: I watched the first few minutes of the Mole I, which I think was as long as ABC kept the show on the air. Not a fan, unfortunately. Alternative reality obsession: "Amazing Race." Surprisingly watchable.

Boston, Mass.: Mr. Farhi--

I really enjoy your reporting. Thanks for doing this chat.

I noticed in one of the Boston papers recently that the NPR affiliate in Boston has lost a significant amount of donor and sponsor support -- around $1 million -- because of concerns about NPR's coverage of Israel (critics say it is pro-Palestinian.)

Are you seeing any similar reaction in Washington and have you heard of any other NPR stations taking such a hit because of this?

Thanks.

Paul Farhi: I haven't. But thanks for the story idea.

Lexington Park, Md.: Hi Paul, I recently bought XM radio because I couldn't handle the dreck that is local rock radio. Should I go ahead and buy a year's worth of XM or will the HFS/DC101/98Rock simulcasts finally stop copying each other?

Paul Farhi: We here at "Station Break" aren't into giving consumer advice. But I'll say this: XM (and soon, Sirius, the second satellite radio entrant) have a very interesting product. And, yes, it's interesting in part because of dissatisfaction with what's on regular old radio. Easiest parallel: cable grew in the 1980s because of the desire for an alternative to the Big Three networks.

Arlington, Va.: Hi Paul -

It was with great dismay that I saw a commercial over the weekend for "Big Brother 3" on CBS. Ugh. Last night, I saw a commercial for "The Rerun Show" on NBC. They have a troupe of actors re-enact various scenes from different sitcoms. I did sort of laugh when I recognized a hideously ugly looking Mrs. Garrett from "The Facts Of Life." However, since then, I cannot get that damned theme song out of my head! Please help me.

Paul Farhi: Yes, I will consider my life worth living if I can convince CBS never, ever to run another episode of "Big Brother." As for "The Facts of Life" theme song, I got two words for you: "Mr. Ed." There, that should solve your problem.

Washington, D.C.: I hear Jess Atkinson is on his way out at Channel 9. Long overdue, but I digress. Will anybody come along to challenge George Michael and his sports production, or do stations not care enough about sports to make the investment in new people?

Paul Farhi: Well, Channel 9 has certainly tried, with Ken Broo, the re-cycled Warner Wolf, and lately Jess. George is a rock around here; WRC has been leading the late-news ratings for about 10 years. Despite some slippage recently, he (and Jim Vance and Doreen Gentzler and Bob Ryan and Arch Campbell) are a tough crowd to beat.

Herndon, Va.: Good to have a broadcast media discussion back up. Thanks for doing this.

Do you know what happened to that Victoria Jones woman who was doing prime-time on WMAL? She got dumped as part of the Chris Core and Sean Hannity shuffle.

Also any opinions on Laura Ingraham displacing the nastier and more conservative Michael Savage to tape daly over on WTNT?

Paul Farhi: I don't know specifically what happened to Victoria, but it does seem obvious that she wasn't totally in sync with WMAL's red-meat, angry guy, rightward talk tilt...And I think Laura Ingraham does a pretty good show. She's bright, chatty, funny (and, naturally, conservative; aren't they all?).

Re: "The Sopranos": Paul, hasn't David Chase said that "The Sopranos" will only run for four or five seasons? So at this point the question of regular TV would be useless anyway -- and I'd rather buy the DVDs than watch some silly TBS-friendly version. The real question: How will the series end? Will Tony get whacked?

Paul Farhi: Yes, I think I read that about Chase (although HBO will probably bump his salary up from ridiculous money to insane money in order to squeeze another season or two out of him). And given how much care he puts into making that show (he couldn't be bothered to produce more episodes for nearly a year), I am certain he'd go with DVD before TBS.

Gripeville, USA: You're watching a baseball game, or the highlights of a game on Sportscenter or your local news. The batter hits the ball into right field, where it bounces in bounds and then into the stands. It doesn't matter where this game is being played, inevitably the announcer/recapper intones, "Ground-rule double!"

Except that it isn't a "ground-rule" double. A ground rule is a rule that applies to a specific ballpark. The rule applying to the siuation described above is in Major League Baseball's rulebook. And yet just about everybody you listen to, whether they are broadcasting games on Fox or ESPN, or recapping them on Baseball Tonight or Sportscenter, or your local news, will get this wrong. And it bugs the heck out of me. (Except for Ken Mease at Channel 9, who knows the difference and gets it right).

Thanks for letting me vent.

Paul Farhi: Sure. We are all about venting here.

Baltimore, Md.: WHFS is retarded (then again it's owned by Clear Channel, so I shouldn't expect much I suppose). Not that I expect it to return to the halcyon days of the pre-sale '80s, but I think there absolutely is a market for the kind of songs that those of us 30-something Gen Xers grew up listening to on . . . WHFS! And there are sufficiently similar new artists, like David Gray, Badly Drawn Boy, Beth Orton, etc., that it could be a mature alternative mix of yesterday and today. NOT the station that everyone at work can agree on (thank god), but certainly better than the muddy mix of [c]rap-rock, "emo" garbage that they try to compete with DC101 for. And don't get me started on the DJ thing.

Paul Farhi: Well, WHFS is actually owned by Infinity, the "other" radio behemoth, but I get your point. WHFS probably does need to create a better, more distinct identity to compete with DC101. But a kind of Gen X "Mix 107"? I dunno...

La Plata, Md.: Do you think we can start a petition to never have Elliot from DC101 laugh again?

Also, do you think Fox 5 will ever go to a 30-minute late night news show? They seem to run out of ideas about three fifths of the way though and just fill the rest of the show with uninteresting information. I would much rather watch a rerun of "The Simpsons."

Paul Farhi: I would sign your petition. Maybe I'm out of his demographic, but do we really need that cackle even when he's saying "It looks like rain today"?
And, no, Fox will probably never cut its news hour to a half hour. That second half hour costs them very little to produce, and brings in big bucks.

Burtonsville, Md.: Welcome, Paul. Hope this chat will be a regular feature. Frank Ahrens Radio chats have been sorely missed, and there's never been any regularly-scheduled TV and cable chat, so I think this is an excellent idea. Radio question: Why does WAMU feel the need to add another membership campaign? They just finished a self-described successful Spring membership campaign and now they're back with a fully-annoying "half-membership" campaign. They're starting to get like WETA with it's several beg-week's per year, or worse, like WPFW, which seems to be begging every other week. I'm a loyal WAMU member, so once I pay my membership in the Fall, I resent having to put up with all this extra begging. Just my rant of the day. Thanks.

Paul Farhi: See, we do gripes. And we do rants. We are equal opportunity cranks.

Falls Church, Va. -- a report from the trenches: What stations are preset on your car? I have some oldies, some new stuff (104.1, 107.3), traffic on the 8's (WTOP) and 6's (WMAL) and NPR.

Paul Farhi: Ah, shucks, little old me? Okay: WAMU, WJFK, Mix 107, DC 101, WHFS, WTOP, WBIG, HOT 99.5. My son has added WPGC and Z104. I self-tune to WTEM and WMAL. And I hit "scan" all the time. I like channel surfing in stereo.

Arlington, Va.: What about this new show "American Idol" that's premiering tonight on Fox? I think it looks fabulous in a "The Bachelor" meets "Weakest Link" kind of way.

Paul Farhi: I don't know. Frankly, it doesn't seem quite cheesy enough, just kind of amateurish and "Star Search-y." "The Bachelor" by the way, fit my basic definition of good "bad" tv: jaw-droppingly retro, ridiculously sentimental, unself-consciously terrible. I loved it.

Washington, D.C.: I disagree with the earlier writer who stated that Jess Atkinson leaving Channel 9 is long overdue. I enjoy Jess. What he has needed from Channel 9 was more than 30 seconds each evening in which to do sports. Unless Channel 9 increases the time they devote to sports on the vening news, it won't matter who they get to replace Jess. He or she will ultimately fail.

Paul Farhi: That's a fair argument. Jess was, I think, cut down to about two minutes at 6 pm. Two minutes! The guy who does that "Gooooooooaaaallll!" thing takes longer than two minutes.

Washington, D.C.: Brace yourself! Ever since Frank ditched the Style section, we've been laying in wait for a new forum. This will take on a life of its own! Now, my question:

The Junkies signed a new deal with WJFK, but lost their national gig with Westwood. Obviously, they're still going strong here; was this not the case on the national scene? Odd that they would sign a new deal on one hand but lose a bigger deal on another. Thanks!

Paul Farhi: Yes, that is odd, and I don't have a good answer for you. It's especially odd because the post-drive period they're in is not a big audience/big money time slot--hence, low risk for a station Out There to pick up their show. But I'm glad the Junks can still be heard locally. I am a fan.

Baltimore, Md.: Hey, I'm about to get a new TV and wonder if it's worth springing for HDTV yet. Have any opinion (and info) on whether HDTV is really all that?

Paul Farhi: HDTV looks amazing, especially for movies and sports. That said, don't bother yet (oops, so much for our ban on consumer advice). The cable guys are still balking at passing along HD signals; the networks are still slow about getting all their shows in high def; the manufacturers/retailers are still playing confusing games (what's the difference between an HD "tuner" and an HD-capable set?)And not all broadcasters are set up to do HD broadcasts. Someday, it will all work out. Someday ain't now.

Washington, D.C.: Are there any plans by you or someone else at The Post to write some sort of thorough review of satellite radio? I do not read the more specialized magazines, but I think many Post readers would like to read some reviews of the programming before spending money on it. Thanks.

Paul Farhi: Our Financial section has covered it quite extensively. But in answer to your question: yes...eventually.

Cable Guys Are Balking?: It seems to me that only cable channels (HBO, Discovery, etc.) are high-def at the moment. Where are the broadcast high-def channels?

Paul Farhi: All the broadcast networks offer some HD stuff (it's spotty but they usually tell you it's HD at the start of the show). And by cable guys, I meant the system operators, the ones who own the wires. Go bug them.

Washington, D.C.: I think Don & Mike are getting their just desserts. For years, DC made the #1 afternoon drive show in the market. To repay us, they went chasing after success in NYC, ditching afternoon drive and going to a time when nobody with a job can listen to them. And now they're bombing. I say they're getting what they deserve for ditching their loyal listeners.

Paul Farhi: A man's gotta dream, don't he? For the record, they're doing fine here at mid-day (NYC is a different story).

Washington, D.C.: Is it true that Stern's ratings are slipping here and elsewhere?

Paul Farhi: Stern's doing fine here. In the last Arbitron book, his show got a 5.9 rating among 25-54 listeners--about on par with the preceding four ratings periods.

Paul Farhi: Folks, our hour is up. Many thanks for joining in. More to come in two weeks. Hope to see you back here. Stay tuned.

washingtonpost.com:

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