Apparently there was a little snow storm that blew into Washington, DC over the weekend. What’s now being called the “Blizzard of 2010″ dumped nearly three feet of snow on the Nation’s Capitol, sending the market’s top-rated all-newser WTOP-FM into wall-to-wall storm coverage mode. “Thanks to the people who’ve been living in nearby hotels and sleeping on the floor at the radio station — working 6th and 7th days and getting entire meals from the 3rd floor vending machine — we made a difference in people’s lives during this storm,” said Jim Farley, Bonneville VP/News and Programming. “Ironically, there’s not even a ratings payoff for all their hard work because if people have no power, their PPM’s can’t report data to Arbitron. But we made a lot of friends and fans that will likely pay off for us down the road.” Following a brief break to catch a breath, WTOP and hundreds of other stations up and down the east coast will quickly be thrown back into 24/7 storm coverage mode tomorrow night and Wednesday as a “Winter Weather Watch” is predicting more heavy snow for the region.

Likely thanks to that aforementioned snowstorm that kept even more folks than usual trapped inside with their TV’s, yesterday’s NFL Super Bowl game drew a reported 106.5 million viewers who watched the New Orleans Saints defeat the Indianapolis Colts 31-17. CBS reports those numbers broke the previous television audience record of 105.9 million viewers who tuned in for the final episode of M.A.S.H. back in 1983. Along with a great football game, those 106 million people also saw the annual parade of highly anticipated Super Bowl commercials, including the Tim and Pam Tebow spot that caused so much pre-game controversy. As Focus On The Family President/CEO Jim Daly told NTS MediaOnline Weekly last Friday (2/5), most viewers were probably surprised by the FOTF-sponsored ad, mostly for what it didn’t say vs. what it did say. In fact, the Tebow ad currently has amongst the highest “power rating” scores of all the Super Bowl ads being rated on this day-after-the-big-game at Hulu.com’s AdZone 2010.

Dial-Global syndicated talker Neal Boortz (pictured) goes one-on-one with fellow Dial-Global radio talker and MSNBC personality Ed Schultz to critique FOX News contributor Sarah Palin’s speech to the National Tea Party Convention HERE … While Michael Irvin was all over cable TV’s NFL Channel on Super Bowl Sunday, KESN/Dallas has dropped the former Dallas Cowboys receiver from the ESPN Radio outlet’s lineup, replacing him with former crosstown KRLD-FM afternoon drivers Ben & Skin … In a sure sign it’s contract re-negotiation time for Howard Stern, the “King of All Media” has a whole ‘lotta media outlets buzzing that the Sirius XM Radio host could be replacing Simon Cowell on American Idol. The New York Post has details HERE … Congrats to Westwood One as the network’s daily syndicated feature Bill O’Reilly’s Talking Points passes the 200 affiliates milestone … Condolences: To the family and friends of legendary broadcast owner Cecil Heftel who died February 5th at age 85. See our story, posted to the NTS MediaOnline website over the weekend, HERE … R.I.P. Frank Magid, who pioneered the art of modern-day television and radio audience research. Magid died February 5th in Santa Barbara from cancer. More on his life from his company’s website HERE.

WTAQ-AM/Green Bay has added an FM simulcast at 97.5. offering listeners greater accessibility to the the Midwest Communications-owned News/Talker. Midwest VP/News and Talk programming Jerry Bader reports the new 3000 watt WTAQ-FM gives the station better coverage over metro Green Bay and areas north of the city, as well as parts of the Fox Valley and out to the lakeshore. ”If you’re one of those listeners who struggle a bit to hear us in an area where our AM 1360 pattern change has affected the quality of listening, that’s just simply not going to be the case anymore,” said Bader. WTAQ’s new FM antenna is mounted on a tower originally built for WFRV-TV (pictured) which “retired” it following the television station’s analog to DTV conversion.

During a recent behind-the-scenes tour of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Southern California, Salem Radio Network VP/News and Talk programming Tom Tradup snapped a photo of this once-again-timely cover of an early career “spoken word” album recorded by the former President. This past weekend marked what would have been the one-time WHO/Des Moines radio announcer’s 99th birthday, and officially marked kick-off off plans for a Reagan Centennial Celebration in 2011.

The pioneering broadcaster and former Hawaii Congressman died February 4th in San Diego. His family released a statement saying the 85 year old Heftel had “been in failing health for awhile and died of natural causes.” Heftel is remembered for his groundbreaking stint as the owner of KIMN/Denver before he moved to Hawaii to become one of the islands’ most successful radio and TV broadcasters. Following a decade in politics in Hawaii, Heftel returned to the mainland — specifically Las Vegas — where he rekindled his broadcast ownership career and was one of the first in the industry to recognize the future potential of Spanish-language broadcasting in the U.S. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin has more on the life of Cecil Heftel HERE.

Yesterday, WABC/New York and sister News/Talker KABC/Los Angeles announced that, beginning next week, both stations will debut Citadel Media’s newly syndicated Doug McIntyre’s Red Eye Radio in overnights. The official announcement included some not-so-subtle jabs at Premiere Radio Networks Coast To Coast AM — a longtime fixture in overnights at WABC — from both KABC PD David G. Hall and WABC programmer Laurie Cantillo. Late yesterday PRN President of Content and Affiliation Julie Talbott released a statement on the upcoming change at WABC saying, “It’s shocking when a top-rated program is removed from a station. However, we’re incredibly proud that Coast to Coast AM continues to be the most-listened-to overnight radio program in North America, broadcasting live on 527 affiliates to more than three million passionate and loyal listeners each week who enjoy hearing one of the most relevant and entertaining shows in the News/Talk world.”

That’s the headline on a review by Chicago Tribune theater critic Chris Jones of the Windy City comedy troop’s new show, Rush Limbaugh! The Musical. Commenting on the actor who plays ‘El Rushbo’ in the play, Jones notes that although Mark Sutton “has many aspects of his man down, what he fails to channel is the man’s outsize charm and charisma.” Jones adds, “That’s partly because this show keeps dodging the core of Limbaugh: the talker, the microphone, the listeners. It’s all about the relationship, stupid. That’s the man.” Read Jones’ full review of Second City’s latest satirical theater production HERE.

From our “So How Do You Get This Gig?” Department: Not only has DirecTV Sports host Dan Patrick gotten to spend NFL Super Bowl week broadcasting live from Miami, on this morning’s show Patrick was hanging out in his mobile “Man Cave” with the entire cast of the new movie, Grown Ups, including Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Kevin James, Rob Schneider and David Spade … Mmmmm, Breakfast of Champions: This morning, WIP/Philadelphia held its 18th annual Wing Bowl where amateur eater Jonathan “Super” Squibb managed to burn through 238 wings in 30 minutes — just shy of a record 241 set by professional competitive eating “god” Joey Chestnut in 2008. Pictures are posted on the WIP website HERE … Citadel Media syndicated talker Don Imus chats with FOX News Sunday host Chris Wallace about this week’s Jon Stewart/Bill O’Reilly face off. YouTube has the video HERE.

Condolences: To the family, friends and admirers of longtime Tampa Bay radio personality “Captain” Mel Berman. Veteran Tampa Bay radio exec and resident Gabe Hobbs tells NTS MediaOnline Today that Berman died from complications following heart surgery that was performed yesterday. One of the original WMCA/New York “Good Guys,” Berman’s colorful broadcast career spanned nearly six decades. Read more HERE.

CBS Radio’s soon-to-launch “93.7 The Fan” (KDKA-FM) will feature a prime time lineup of local Sports/Talk hosts when the new station debuts on February 15th. A trio of Steel City Sports media veterans, Paul Alexander, Jon Burton and Jim Colony, will anchor mornings (6-10am), followed by Vinnie Richichi and Ron Cook (10am-2pm); John Seibel and Joe Starkey (2-6pm); and Gregg Giannotti (6-10pm). “Fan” PD Terry Foxx reports that late night and overnight shows for the new FM Sports/Talker will be announced shortly. “This has been one of the most exciting times in my life,” said Foxx of his experience in helping to build and develop the new station in recent weeks. “I’m working alongside a team of passionate, compelling and wonderful air personalities. The sports fans of Pittsburgh will be truly served 24/7 by this radio station.”