» DePetro's Predecessor Speaks Out: The man who John DePetro replaced at WPRO, veteran talker Dave Barber, pulls no punches in commenting about the tainted diaries incident calling it, "a ratings scandal." Barber says he relocated to Providence from Michigan after being recruited by WPRO, but was, "fired after just ten months when DePetro became available after being discharged from his radio job in Boston." Now PD of Rhode Island's Capitol TV, Barber admits he has some "sour grapes" about getting fired by the station, but says he is speaking out because, "it's unfortunate to have the WPRO brand tarnished this way. I feel sorry for my friends who are not part of this scandal."

» So, Who's Covering The Conventions? Actually a better question would be, "who's not covering them?" We've been inundated here at NTS Aircheck Today with notices from local hosts, national hosts and every major radio news network about plans for covering next week's Democratic gala in Denver and next month's Republican confab in Minneapolis. Suffice it to say if you're a radio news network affiliate, or carry programming from just about any network or syndicator out there, you have plenty of options for on-the-scene coverage and live reports and analysis from both conventions. In a presidential election year the next few week's will be Talk radio's "playoff" season, culminating in November with the format's "Super Bowl" -- Election Day 2008. With Labor Day just around the corner, for the candidates and Talk radio, it's "go" time!

» Prosecutors Seek Nine Years For Ward: The San Francisco Chronicle reports that federal prosecutors will ask for at least 9 years in prison for former KGO/San Francisco talk host Bernie Ward when he's sentenced next week on charges of distributing child pornography over the Internet. Ward's attorney has reportedly counter-proposed a five-year sentence for Ward telling the newspaper that Ward's involvement in child porn began as a research project but, "lost it's focus" due to an, "inexplicable error in judgment" the lawyer says was due to a drinking problem. Ward, who is scheduled to be sentenced next week, is currently under electronic house arrest and could face up to 20 years in prison on the charges.

» Fun In The Sun: Enjoying 18 holes together during last weekend's annual Fun In The Sun Golf Tournament to benefit Shelter 37 -- a non-profit group for at-risk kids in Southern California -- are (l-r): FOX Sports Radio hosts Krystal Fernandez and Andrew Siciliano, FSR VP/GM and Executive Producer Andrew Ashwood, FSR host Sean Farnham and network Senior Producer Greg Toohey.