Wbal Radio

When WBAL Radio broadcast the Baltimore Orioles season-opening games this weekend, it marked more than just the official reunion of two major Maryland institutions that had been synonymous for most of six decades. The return of Orioles baseball to WBAL after four years on the FM dial is also part of a larger move by the 50,000-watt station. It's re-emphasizing its news-and-sports roots after more than a decade featuring highly political talk with the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Chip Franklin.

Are you ready for Sunday night's two-hour "Mad Men" season premiere? Take a look at our photo gallery of cocktails and dishes inspired by the airless, joyless overproduced television show. We found recipes for classic dishes from Danny's, The Chesapeake and the Harvey House and other Baltimore restaurants that flourished in the 1960s. And read David Zurawik's hilarious post on the momentous televison event. Tonight is the Drink Like a Mad Men Party at the Creative Alliance, featuring classic cocktails crafted by Doug Atwell of Rye. The party will include appetizers and hors d'ouevres that were popular during the 1960s, as well as music and visuals from the same era. Atwell will be talking about some of those classic cocktails Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. on WBAL radio 1090.

(From the Z on TV blog) WBAL Radio Friday confirmed that Kendel Ehrlich is leaving the station, and will be replaced Saturday mornings on air by Clarence Mitchell IV starting tomorrow. Both general manager Ed Kiernan and news director Mark Miller characterized the move as something Ehrlich had been considering at least since the election in November that saw her husband, Bob, defeated by Martin O'Malley in the governor's race. Miller and Kiernan said Ehrlich was making the move in an effort to spend more time at Saturday sports events involving their family.

It is good to hear that former GovernorRobert L. Ehrlich Jr.is providing a "spirit of healthy dissent" with his column in The Sun ("Ehrlich column to run in The Sun," Jan. 22). In the spirit of reciprocity, perhaps Mr. Ehrlich could encourage his friends at WBAL Radio to do the same for those who disagree with that station's positions. Michael P. Kennedy

WBAL radio has signed Mary Beth Marsden as the new anchor of its "Afternoon News Journal. " She will start Sept. 6 at the news/talk station's afternoon drivetime anchor desk. The former anchorwoman for WMAR-TV replaces Shari Elliker whom the station dropped last week when it declined to offer her a new contract. Marsden, a fixture on Baltimore TV for two decades, is sure to bring a heightened prominence to WBAL's afternoon drivetime news program -- as well as a veteran sense of news judgment.

Shari Elliker is out as afternoon drivetime anchor on the station's "News Journal" program, General Manager Ed Kiernan said Friday. "After months of discussion, we have decided not to renew the contract of Shari Elliker," Kiernan wrote in an email. "Shari has been an important part of the 1090AM/WBAL Radio family.  Whether called upon to be a Talk Show Host or PM Drive Anchor, her characteristic style of hard work, preparation and professionalism is admired by all of us. Thank you, Shari.

WBAL radio will launch its new post-Ron-Smith lineup Monday, and it will feature more news and less daytime talk, according to Dave Hill, program director for WBAL and FM sister station 98 Rock. "Maryland's Morning News" will now run for five hours from 5 to 10 a.m., while the station's afternoon newscast anchored by Mary Beth Marsden will start at 2 and end at 6 p.m. It had been starting at 3 p.m. The only daytime talk show will be hosted by Clarence Mitchell IV, known to WBAL audience as C4, who will now start his four-hour program at 10 a.m. The station will offer an expanded 15 minute newscast at noon, and Mitchell will then continue to 2 p.m. Smith, who hosted talk shows on WBAL for 26 years, died this month of pancreatic cancer.

Veteran Baltimore newsman Mark Miller is leaving WBAL radio after more than 31 years at the station. As news director for 21 of those years at WBAL, Miller led one of the most competitive and ambitious radio news operations in the country. The station was recently rewarded for its efforts with another national Murrow Award. The 52-year-old journalist said changes in his family life in recent years, which have led to him now commuting be out of state on a regular basis, are partially responsible for the decision to leave WBAL.

WBAL radio, one of the most powerful broadcast outlets on the East Coast, was temporarily knocked off the air for about five hours Monday, General Manager Ed Kiernan said. Kiernan described the outage, which began at noon, as a "very frustrating experience. " The station resumed broadcasting at 5:30 p.m. and would be able to air Monday night's 7 p.m. Baltimore Orioles game. "It's a major power issue, and it is weather related," Kiernan said during the outage. "The toughest of this is that we have just been through a very difficult weekend.

The Baltimore Ravens and Hearst Broadcasting announced a new deal Sunday night that will keep the team on WBAL radio and television for the next five years. Given the incredibly strong media performanance of all things Ravens locally and nationally, this is big news for WBAL -- news that is sure to keep the Hearst-owned radio, TV and online properties at or near the top of Baltimore sports media. Here's the announcement: Hearst Broadcasting and the Baltimore Ravens signed a new five year extension of their partnership today.

Friends, family, fans and colleagues said a public farewell to WBAL radio show host Ron Smith Tuesday at Goucher College. And it was as powerful and moving in some respects as the way Smith, who died in December at age 70, lived his final weeks and months after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in October. The manner in which Smith shared his final days with his radio audience until he could no longer go on air, and then the way he said farewell to them in a live broadcast, was remarkable --  both public and yet incredibly intimate.

WBAL radio will launch its new post-Ron-Smith lineup Monday, and it will feature more news and less daytime talk, according to Dave Hill, program director for WBAL and FM sister station 98 Rock. "Maryland's Morning News" will now run for five hours from 5 to 10 a.m., while the station's afternoon newscast anchored by Mary Beth Marsden will start at 2 and end at 6 p.m. It had been starting at 3 p.m. The only daytime talk show will be hosted by Clarence Mitchell IV, known to WBAL audience as C4, who will now start his four-hour program at 10 a.m. The station will offer an expanded 15 minute newscast at noon, and Mitchell will then continue to 2 p.m. Smith, who hosted talk shows on WBAL for 26 years, died this month of pancreatic cancer.

The Baltimore Ravens and Hearst Broadcasting announced a new deal Sunday night that will keep the team on WBAL radio and television for the next five years. Given the incredibly strong media performanance of all things Ravens locally and nationally, this is big news for WBAL -- news that is sure to keep the Hearst-owned radio, TV and online properties at or near the top of Baltimore sports media. Here's the announcement: Hearst Broadcasting and the Baltimore Ravens signed a new five year extension of their partnership today.

WBAL radio show host Ron Smith doesn't hesitate when asked if anything has changed since he announced he has Stage Four pancreatic cancer and will no longer undergo chemotherapy. "I'm facing death in a very short time," says Smith, 69. "So what becomes supreme in importance is love, friendships, relationships. It's so clear: My family has grown closer together - one to the other. It's been a valuable experience - one I'd rather not have immediately gone to - but you've got to die sometime.

I couldn't do it again. Honest, I tried, but I just couldn't. I saw Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf on my TV screen at the top of the Ravens telecast Sunday, and I knew I couldn't spend another Sunday afternoon listening to dumb and dumber of CBS Sports without my head exploding. It was radical, I know, but after too many Sundays spent with Gumbel and Dierdorf, I dared to consider the possibility of actually enjoying a Ravens game over the airwaves. And so, I did what dozens of readers have been encouraging me to do all season: I watched images of the game on CBS, and I listened to the play-by-play and analysis on WBAL radio from Gerry Sandusky, Stan White and Qadry Ismail.

Ron Smith went on WBAL radio Thursday, just as he has for the past 27 years. But the conservative talk-show host, who was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, opened his show telling listeners — with characteristic bluntness — that he was abandoning his chemotherapy treatments. Instead, Smith will remain on the air while undergoing palliative care designed to make what time he has left as comfortable as possible. And then he simply went on with the show. "That's the way I've conducted my career," Smith, 69, said Thursday from his home in southern York County, Pa., where he's been doing most of his broadcasting work since announcing his inoperable Stage 4 cancer diagnosis on Oct. 17. "I have never been one to hide anything.

I couldn't do it again. Honest, I tried, but I just couldn't. I saw Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf on my TV screen at the top of the Ravens telecast Sunday, and I knew I couldn't spend another Sunday afternoon listening to dumb and dumber of CBS Sports without my head exploding. It was radical, I know, but after too many Sundays spent with Gumbel and Dierdorf, I dared to consider the possibility of actually enjoying a Ravens game over the airwaves. And so, I did what dozens of readers have been encouraging me to do all season: I watched images of the game on CBS, and I listened to the play-by-play and analysis on WBAL radio from Gerry Sandusky, Stan White and Qadry Ismail.

Jay Grayson, the versatile WBAL radio and television personality who for nearly 40 years closed his show with the admonition, "If you liked my show, buy my jams and jellies. They're on sale in the lobby," died Tuesday from complications of a stroke at Villa St. Michael Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Northwest Baltimore. He was 77. Until he retired in 1982, Mr. Grayson had been one of Baltimore's more enduring and popular disc jockeys and masters of ceremonies, known for his witty and authoritative on-air persona.

WBAL radio has signed Mary Beth Marsden as the new anchor of its "Afternoon News Journal. " She will start Sept. 6 at the news/talk station's afternoon drivetime anchor desk. The former anchorwoman for WMAR-TV replaces Shari Elliker whom the station dropped last week when it declined to offer her a new contract. Marsden, a fixture on Baltimore TV for two decades, is sure to bring a heightened prominence to WBAL's afternoon drivetime news program -- as well as a veteran sense of news judgment.

WBAL radio, one of the most powerful broadcast outlets on the East Coast, was temporarily knocked off the air for about five hours Monday, General Manager Ed Kiernan said. Kiernan described the outage, which began at noon, as a "very frustrating experience. " The station resumed broadcasting at 5:30 p.m. and would be able to air Monday night's 7 p.m. Baltimore Orioles game. "It's a major power issue, and it is weather related," Kiernan said during the outage. "The toughest of this is that we have just been through a very difficult weekend.