NEWS
By David Zurawik | July 24, 2009
Jeff Beauchamp, vice president and station manager of Baltimore's powerhouse WBAL radio, is leaving the station after almost 34 years on the job. His last day at WBAL, the 50,000-watt broadcast outlet that he helped transform from an adult contemporary music operation into one of the most honored news-talk stations in the country, will be next Friday. "The company presented me with a package that is fair, and I'll be doing some consulting work for WBAL radio in the months and year ahead," the 58-year-old Beauchamp said Thursday.
NEWS
By RAY FRAGER | March 28, 2008
It's Friday, and so here's one more unpleasant thing before the weekend - another set of sports media notes: After working the first two games of the major league season for ESPN in Japan earlier this week, Gary Thorne's vocal cords should be over jet lag in time to call Monday's Orioles opener. Thorne is joined by Jim Palmer in the booth and Amber Theoharis on the field. The game will be simulcast on WJZ/Channel 13 and Mid-Atlantic Sports Network at 3 p.m. However, the high-definition version of the Orioles vs. the Tampa Bay Rays will be available only on the MASN HD channel, not WJZ. WJZ's pre-game show begins at 2, featuring sports anchor Mark Viviano and his news-desk colleagues.
NEWS
By Jill Rosen and Meredith Cohn | February 13, 2008
Days after firing longtime talk-radio host Marc Steiner, WYPR announced yesterday that Sun columnist Dan Rodricks would replace him. The news came as the station, facing passionate protests from Steiner loyalists, pushed back its fundraising drive originally set for next week. While Steiner's firing came as a shock to people who viewed his show as a unique civic forum, some said replacing him with a well-known local columnist and media personality might quell some of the backlash. WYPR programming director and vice president Andy Bienstock said Rodricks, who in addition to his newspaper column has worked on local television and radio programs, was his first choice.
NEWS
By Frederick N. Rasmussen | January 25, 2008
John Rowland Kraft Jr., a retired WBAL-TV supervisor who enjoyed gunsmithing and keymaking, died Sunday of lung cancer at his Sparks home. He was 68. Mr. Kraft was born in Baltimore and raised in Hamilton. He was a 1958 graduate of Polytechnic Institute and attended the old Baltimore Junior College. He also served in the Coast Guard on active duty for six months and remained in the Coast Guard Reserve for eight years. In 1960, he went to work in the engineering department at WBAL radio and transferred in the late 1970s to its television station.
NEWS
By [LIZ ATWOOD] | November 25, 2007
After working seven years as a contributor for WBAL radio, Shari Elliker started doing her own show on Sundays this past summer. Then in September, she got a full-time gig, The Shari Elliker Show, which airs weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon. Along with the job came a new home. She moved from Alexandria, Va., to Fells Point. Elliker, 45 and single, says she loves her new job and her new town. When she thinks of what she wants, she thinks of one thing: food. Here are five lunches she would love to have, not only for the food but also the conversation.
NEWS
By RAY FRAGER | July 20, 2007
And now back to our regularly scheduled sports media notebook, but there's no need to TiVo it. Comcast SportsNet doesn't carry Orioles games anymore, but it still has plenty of Cal Ripken Jr. Hall of Fame coverage. It will run a series of features daily on SportsNite starting Sunday, and Chick Hernandez and Brent Harris will report from Cooperstown, N.Y., starting Wednesday. Comcast SportsNet also has commissioned a song for the occasion, a Ripken-centric version of Terry Cashman's "Talkin' Baseball," written and performed by Cashman.
NEWS
By Nick Madigan | March 15, 2007
Former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and his wife, Kendel, will host their own two-hour show Saturdays on Baltimore's WBAL-AM 1090, starting March 31. The hiring of the former first couple is a coup for WBAL, which muscled aside competing interest in the Ehrlichs from two other stations, WCBM-AM 680 and WHFS-FM 105.7. As governor, Ehrlich was a frequent guest on WBAL, where he sometimes broke news. "Bob has always appeared on our station," Jeff Beauchamp, vice president and station manager of WBAL Radio, said yesterday.
NEWS
By J. Wynn Rousuck | February 22, 2007
On a freezing February night, being transported to a boathouse on the Fourth of July should come as a welcome relief. But Theatre Hopkins' production of Lanford Wilson's Talley's Folly, which takes place in Missouri on that day in 1944, isn't as delightful a respite as it could be. The boathouse -- the gazebo-like "folly" of the title -- isn't the problem. William Roche has designed an enchantingly rustic set, decked out with props including an old tennis racket, ice skates, wicker picnic basket, etc. But the sense of enchantment, that is, chemistry, between the two people in the boathouse could stand a boost.
NEWS
By Childs Walker | January 15, 2007
The Orioles wanted creative control of all pre- and post-game programming on WBAL Radio (1090 AM), and the station's objection to that was a major reason its 19-year relationship with the club ended, said WBAL vice president and station manager Jeff Beauchamp. The Orioles counter that between a clearer FM signal on WHFS (105.7), the ability to promote the club on five different stations, a strong investment in high-definition radio and creative ideas for pre- and post-game content, CBS Radio offered too good a package to turn down.
NEWS
By ANDREW A. GREEN | February 3, 2006
Over the past several days, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has shifted from the sidelines to the center of the debate over a proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. After a Baltimore judge ruled last month that the state's gay marriage ban was unconstitutional, the governor said he would review the amendment but was not sure it was necessary. He said he wanted to let the legal appeals process play out. He issued a statement Monday saying he favored a full floor debate on the issue.