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Former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. had some well-publicized tussles with the media (notably this medium) during his four years in office. But he sees nothing ironic about his gig as a news analyst and commentator for Baltimore's WMAR-TV, Channel 2. "My commentary is a function of my views, my philosophy, my observations," says Ehrlich, who offered his perspective to WMAR viewers during last month's special session in Annapolis and will return once the...

Obesity is the reality show world's cause du jour since overweight people, it seems, make for good TV. We've already had NBC's Biggest Loser, TLC's Honey We're Killing the Kids! and Big Medicine, and VH1's Celebrity Fit Club. Coming later this summer is ABC's Fat March, in which contestants lose weight by walking hundreds of miles along the East Coast. And now this: Shaq's Big Challenge, in which Miami Heat basketball superstar Shaquille O'Neal sets out to save American youths from eating themselves into oblivion.

"Rodricks for Breakfast," Sun columnist Dan Rodricks' Sunday morning live talk/variety show on WMAR, Channel 2, will air its final program Sept. 5."I'm naturally disappointed but not surprised that Channel 2 has decided to drop `Rodricks for Breakfast,' " Rodricks said. "It's been a lot of hard work and a fun run."News that ABC affiliate WMAR is canceling the show, one of the few locally produced non-news shows on Baltimore television, comes within days of the announcement that the Scripps-Howard-owned station will be trimming its work force through a voluntary buyout package.

Longtime WMAR-TV weatherman and features reporter Tony Pagnotti will be leaving the station's news division, although he will remain with Channel 2 to work on unspecified projects.News that a familiar face at WMAR would be taken off the air seemed to support fears that a wide-scale shake-up was imminent at the station, which rates a distant third in the ratings among Baltimore's big-three network affiliates. In August, the station announced a buyout package aimed at reducing the payroll at the Scripps-Howard-owned ABC affiliate, and rumors pop up every few days that one big name or another at the station is on his or her way out.Although he declined to deal in specifics, Station Vice President and General Manager Steven Gigliotti said the buyout package met his goals, meaning there will be no layoffs at the station.

Morning radio listeners aren't going to have Allan Prell to kick around much longer.Prell, whose morning call-in talk show has been a fixture on WBAL-AM (1090) since 1982, has told management he wants to scale back his work at the station. Beginning in November, once the World Series is over, Prell will move into the 8 p.m.-11 p.m. weeknights slot.Also sometime that month, WBAL will begin Saturday night broadcasts of Prell's syndicated "The Movie Show on Radio," with Max Weiss and Doug Roberts, which currently airs on 68 stations nationwide.

Management at WMAR, Channel 2, Baltimore's struggling No. 3 station, is putting together an employee buyout package to reduce jobs and costs.WMAR Vice President and General Manager Steve Gigliotti confirmed that the station will be offering a "voluntary termination program for some of our employees."Gigliotti would not detail the type of severance package being offered or the degree to which he hopes to reduce the station's staff -- other than to say it would be considerably less than the 50 percent reduction claimed in several anonymous calls to The Sun."

In a gamble calculated to draw viewers to its low-rated news programs, WMAR, Channel 2, is dropping a half-hour of news from its evening schedule and moving the megapopular "Jeopardy!" to 5: 30 p.m.The move, scheduled to take effect Sept. 6, means elimination of the station's 5: 30 p.m.-6 p.m. newscast. And it could also mean decreased viewership for "Jeopardy!" which, teamed with "Wheel of Fortune" at 7: 30, had proven one of the beleaguered station's few ratings successes.But station management said they were willing to take the gamble to put a more popular program in front of the station's 6 p.m. newscast, with veteran anchors Stan Stovall and Mary Beth Marsden.

WJZ, Channel 13, remains atop the Baltimore news heap, capping an impressive run that has seen its news broadcasts winning just about every ratings contest in 1999.For the November sweeps period, which ended Dec. 1, WJZ finished with the top-rated news broadcasts in the early morning -- a dominance morning news hosts Don Scott and Marty Bass have maintained for years, despite the historically poor morning performance of their network, CBS -- as well as at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m.The lone victory for the news at WBAL, Channel 11, came at 5 p.m., when it out-Nielsened WJZ by two-tenths of a rating point, 8.3 vs. 8.1. -- a drop-off from the July ratings book, when WJZ beat WBAL, 8.6 vs. 7.5. Each ratings point represents approximately 10,000 viewing households.

Rudy Miller is changing careers, if not exactly jobs.A fixture on Baltimore TV for nearly two decades, Miller in recent years has concentrated on health and family issues, both as a magazine publisher and as a consumer reporter for WMAR, Channel 2.Her new position, as vice president for marketing and community relations for LifeBridge Health, which operates three Baltimore-area hospitals, will allow her to concentrate on many of the same issues. She just won't be looking at them from the viewpoint of a journalist.

How much better than the competition was CNN's coverage with Christiane Amanpour in Baghdad yesterday?So much better that WMAR (Channel 2), Baltimore's ABC affiliate, was showing CNN's coverage to its viewers instead of ABC's as the bombs started falling on Baghdad just after 2 p.m. (EST).Such a move by a network affiliate in a major market not only says something about CNN but also ABC. In this case, it is an indication of how far ABC News, once considered the top of international reporting on television, has fallen in recent years.

After more than two decades at the Baltimore TV anchor desk, WJZ newswoman Sally Thorner says she is retiring, and her last day at the station will be Dec. 18. She came to represent local broadcast news at its best - serious, trustworthy and nonsensational, but also reassuring and friendly. Thorner, who was on the air for 10 years at WMAR before she joined WJZ in 1993 in one of the most highly publicized anchor moves in Baltimore TV history, could certainly ask the hard questions. She was an excellent reporter.

There have been no major changes at local anchor desks. Nor have any newscasts been added or dropped. But suddenly, Baltimore is a much more competitive local news market than it has been in decades. Front-running WBAL (Channel 11) is not winning by wide margins any more with its evening newscasts, and even more surprising, WMAR (Channel 2) is no longer a ratings doormat trailing the competition by seemingly insurmountable margins. Blame it on the Local People Meters, a new bit of technology introduced in Baltimore on July 2 by the Nielsen Media Co. to measure area viewing habits.

Longtime WMAR staffer Kelly Groft has been named the station's news director, giving her the chance to head a struggling news operation she joined a decade ago. "I'm thrilled, it's something I've wanted for a very long time," said Groft, who officially takes the job Monday. "I've never shied away from a challenge." Groft, a Harford County native who grew up near Bel Air, came to work at WMAR, Channel 2, in 1998 as a producer for the 6 p.m. news. She and her husband, Jay, a news photographer for WPMT, Channel 43, the Fox affiliate in York, live in southern Pennsylvania with their two children, Hannah, 7, and Camden, 4. Groft replaces Peggy Phillip, who spent a little less than a year as WMAR's news director after coming to Baltimore from Syracuse, N.Y. Phillip has been named news director of NBC affiliate KSHB in Kansas City, Mo. Both WMAR and KSHB are affiliates of Cincinnati-based E.W. Scripps.

Series In the Motherhood: : This bright, new sitcom revolves around three moms (Megan Mullally, Cheryl Hines and Jessica St. Clair) who juggle busy lives. (8 p.m., WMAR-Channel 2) American Idol: : Smokey Robinson and former Idol winner Ruben Studdard perform, and the viewers' voting results are announced. (8 p.m., WBFF-Channel 45) Samantha Who?: : Todd and Samantha go on a double date with Andrea and her fantasy crush, a pro basketball star. (8:30 p.m., WMAR-Channel 2) Supernatural:: Sam and Dean get a glimpse of what their lives would have been like if they never had become hunters in an episode titled "It's a Terrible Life."

PressBox, the sports media company started by Baltimore sports talk personality Stan "The Fan" Charles, will be launching a weekly TV show on WMAR in March. Charles and Channel 2's Rob Carlin will be the hosts of the show, which will cover local sports subjects. ( For more, go to baltimoresun.com/mediumwell)

For the programmers at WMAR, Channel 2, the decision was simple: Stick with its noon newscast, airing at a time when the audience is stagnant, if not falling, or be the first Baltimore station to expand its morning news program all the way to 10 o'clock. "There's an old baseball adage, hit 'em where they ain't," WMAR news director Peggy Phillip said of Friday's announcement that the station would be dropping its low-rated noon news and adding a third hour to its morning show. "This didn't grow of thinking, 'Let's do something different with our noon news.

Sports anchor Scott Garceau announced that he is leaving his job at WMAR after 28 years on the air in Baltimore. Garceau made the announcement at the end of his segment during Channel 2's 6 p.m. newscast. He said Thursday would be his last appearance as WMAR's sports anchor but that he would still be seen on WMAR for college lacrosse, the Calvert Hall-Loyola Thanksgiving football game, Orioles Opening Day and Ravens-related programming among other possible assignments. WMAR's Web site said Garceau would be involved in "special projects" for the station.

Critic's Pick-- Sam (Christina Applegate) worries about endangered butterflies in Samantha Who? (9:32 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2).

Critic's Pick -- Samantha (Christina Applegate) is forced to move into her old apartment in Samantha Who? (9:32 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2).

The news division at WMAR, Channel 2, has spent nearly a generation in Baltimore's ratings basement. But this month's newsroom shake-up suggests management still believes it can pull the station out of the hole it has been in for the better part of two decades. "My focus is 100 percent on trying to get those ratings up," says WMAR Vice President and General Manager Bill Hooper, who this month has fired the station's news director and decided not to renew the contract of veteran anchor Brian Wood.