(An explanation of "Hooker Ads")

It was a generally down week for Hooker Ads, starting with an above-average 12 and ending with a below-average nine.

Monday continues to close in on 800 total ads, being only the second day to do so. Tuesday and Thursday are bringing up the rear as they both close in on 500 total ads.

Monday and Wednesday were the only days this week to post above-average numbers.

The trend this week is up over last week, but generally down over the last several weeks.

DCRTV says, "Seen at the Rosslyn HQ of Channel 7/WJLA today: Laurie Dhue, formerly an anchor at Fox News and other cable news nets. Possible new JLA anchor? You know, 7's never formally replaced evening anchor Kathleen Matthews, who left more than a year ago. Hmmm."

First Couric's ratings start tanking and now this...

From a tipster:

nothing is going right for cbs these days... no water (or bathrooms) at the dc bureau

From WaPo:

John McLaughlin, the progenitor of TV's longest-running political talkfest, is taking his group to a new venue.

"The McLaughlin Group," which has been seen on, and produced at, NBC-owned WRC-TV of Washington, will move next week to WUSA-TV (Channel 9). The change ends McLaughlin's 26-year association with NBC. The roundtable show's Sunday-morning time slot, at 11:30 a.m., will not change.

MoveOn.org plans to deliver 200,000 petition signatures to ABC in Washington "asking the networks not to parrot FOX's right-wing smears during the critical 2008 election."

Read the petition here.

The WJLA newsroom in Rosslyn is abuzz about this news, which came to us via the anonymous tips box yesterday:

who was the wjla producer arrested by fairfax cops for trying to pickup a teen boy online?

And, now, the real story:

Fairfax County police have arrested a 29-year-old Arlington accused of using a computer to solicit a child for sex.

Ryan Gabriel Pratzel, of 1221 South Eads Street, allegedly made sexually explicit comments during an online chat with a detective posing as a 14-year-old boy.

There's a Comcast Campaign 2008 On-Demand spot airing on DC cable in heavy rotation. It spells Democrat as "Democrate."

(earlier)

The release:

CN8, The Comcast Network, the nation's preeminent regional cable network, and Roll Call, the must-read news source of Capitol Hill, today announced a unique partnership to launch "Roll Call TV with Robert Traynham," a first-of-its-kind television program covering the Congressional landscape.

"Roll Call TV with Robert Traynham" is not a talking-head show. It goes beyond anything available from traditional political programming, taking a deeper look at legislative issues that impact both inside and outside the Beltway. Unique in its approach, the show looks past the faces and figures on the Hill to bring CN8 viewers an inside look at the issues and policies shaping the campaigns, politics and ever-changing landscape of our nation’s and region's government.

CN8's Washington, D.C. bureau chief, Robert Traynham, will lead the half-hour political roundtable discussion each week, featuring a panel of political pundits and noted journalists. The show airs every Sunday at 10 p.m. from the network's Capitol Hill studio, featuring a Roll Call panelist as well as political experts, lawmakers and other newsmakers.

We've been wondering for a long time why Kathleen Matthews' face was still greeting folks as they enter 1100 Wilson Boulevard.

Now we hear that Matthews is gone and there's a new poster in the front lobby of the 1100 Wilson Building touting all the new hosts.

NBC's "Meet the Press" is five for five in its Sunday guests winning their next contest after MTP Appearance:

12/30 Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama (both win Iowa)
1/6 John McCain (wins NH)
1/13 Hillary Clinton (wins NV)
1/27 John McCain (wins FL)