If it's on the dial, over the air, on the cable, or just plain Out There, it's fair game for 'Station Break with Paul Farhi.' Bring your comments to the conversation on America's Fastest Growing Pop Culture Chat.

Farhi was online Tuesday, June 17, at 1 p.m. ET.

A transcript follows.

Farhi is a reporter in The Post's Style section, writing about media and popular culture. He's been watching TV and listening to the radio since "The Monkees" were in first run and Adam West was a star. Born in Brooklyn and raised in Los Angeles, Farhi had brief stints in the movie business (as an usher at the Picwood Theater), and in the auto industry (rental-car lot guy) before devoting himself fulltime to word processing. His car has 15 radio pre-sets and his cable system has 500 channels. He vows to use all of them for good instead of evil.

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Paul Farhi: Greetings, all, and welcome back...First, of course: RIP, Tim Russert. Plenty's been said already, and I won't belabor what TV has made obvious in the past few days, but that was a shocking death of a fine man and journalist. RIP indeed...

At the risk of completely tacky transition: Let me throw this onto the bonfire of Commercials We Hate: Ellen DeGeneres' "call-my-people" ad with Beyonce for American Express. I wince every time I see it. Premise: Ellen is too down to earth and normal to have "people" who can score her some concert tickets. Uh huh--she's just your everyday multimillionaire syndicated TV talk-show host, just like the rest of us. And then the kicker: Ellen goes out to the studio lot and bathes in the adulation of her fans because, you see, these are her people. I like Ellen and think she does an amusing show. But who's buying this elaborate corporate-run effort to seem "normal"?

Let's go to the phones....

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Centreville, Va.: Hi Paul. Do you feel the coverage of Tim Russert's death have been excessive? I can understand why NBC and Ch4 have had extensive coverage, but not the other networks. Also, the extra emphasis on heart health issues is a positive, however I'm amazed that the experts seem baffled that a favorable stress test does is not a 100 percent guarantee a heart attack cannot happen??? What are your thoughts???

Paul Farhi: Let's throw in a couple of mitigating factors: Russert WAS highly beloved, trusted, skilled. His death WAS shocking. He WAS famous. But even after factoring that in, I don't quite get all the coverage. Let's control now for TV stardom and ask a question: Would the death of any of the 10 most famous/accomplished/important PRINT journalists rate a fraction of the same coverage? Not even close.

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Silver Spring, Md.: Wilbon called me an idiot yesterday for questioning whether he should be taking pictures with porn stars while on assignment for the Post. I don't really care who he hangs out with. I think its sort of funny that he thinks spending time with sleazy women makes him cool. But I don't like being called an idiot when I am a customer of this newspaper and should be respected if I have a legitimate question. Perhaps this lack of respect for its audience is why the Post circulation is declining. Thoughts?

Paul Farhi: Well, I don't know anything about this, and it's not nice for anyone to call anyone else an idiot. But I doubt very much that our circulation is declining for THAT reason.

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Houston, Tex.: Here is something I have been wondering about forever. You are listening to a Top 40 station. A song that hasn't been in rotation for more then ten years is played -- the Spin Doctors' "Two Princes," for example. You don't like this song, so you change the channel to the only other Top 40 station in town. What is playing? The Spin Doctors' "Two Princes." This seems to happen so often. What causes it? Is there some commercial service that both stations have purchased that tells them that this is the exact song that the city's Top 40 audience wants to hear at 8:10 in the morning of Tuesday, June 17th, and so both stations obediently follow along? I know that the two competing DJs didn't come up with the idea of playing this out-dated song on their own at the exact same moment.

Paul Farhi: I've noticed this phenomenon, too. Most recently, I believe, the song was Ted Nugent's "Just What the Doctored Ordered," which I shamelessly adore and which I never hear on the radio--until I heard it twice within a few days. While I can't speak to any specific song, this is very likely an artifact of radio research. Lists of songs are played for test audiences, who then rate how "burned out" they are on a song. Songs that haven't been played in a while on the radio obviously haven't bored their audience in a while, so perhaps the research points this out. It all depends, I guess, on what songs are played for the test audiences. If an oldie gets on several test lists at the same time, it's not unlikely that it will get on the air soon after the research is conducted.

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To Be Fair: Wilbon called him an idiot because his (or her) question implied that Wilbon should be checking the employment of people who ask to be photographed with him, not because he (or she) asked the question. I thought the question (and the implication) was kinda dumb myself...

washingtonpost.com: Wilbon's 'Chat House' Discussion (Post, June 16)

Paul Farhi: Again, I don't know from all this. But I can't endorse people calling people names on chats. You people, for example, are the kindest, nicest, smartest folks around. Except for the idiots, of course.

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Wilbon and Silver Spring: Wilbon fully explained the circumstances of that picture to you. He did not say that having a picture taken with porn stars made him cool, but he also didn't have a fake moral attack over it. He is frequently asked to take pictures with absolute strangers, and it would be EXTREMELY odd for him to ask for a background check before complying. Your tone in pursuing this question is truly distasteful. Are you condemning these women for being porn stars? Are you trying to "get" Wilbon for not detecting and condemning their profession, indeed for declining to condemn them even after informed of their profession? Why are you so concerned about this? Are you also very concerned about politicians who may or may not wear lapel pins of our flag?

Paul Farhi: Oy. We've moved from porn stars to flag pins...Let me say this (again, please ignore my ill-informed speculation): Wilbon is famous enough that all kinds of people want to be around him, photographed with him, play golf with him, etc. Kornheiser, too. I doubt he has people checking the credentials of the people who approach him. And he's just being nice by standing beside them while someone snaps a picture. But I still don't like people calling people they disagree with "idiots." Save that for talk radio.

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Springfield, Va.: What is your professional take on broadcasting schools? Worth it? Will certainly advance your career? A glorified technical school whose graduates are destined for behind-the-scenes positions?

Paul Farhi: I've never met a professional broadcaster of any talent or achievement--heck, of ANY standing--that went to, or admitted going to, a broadcasting school. That's not to say there aren't any such people, or that broadcasting schools are no good. But I would guess that people mostly break into the business with other kinds of education.

That said, I fondly remember the old Columbia School of Broadcasting commercials from eons ago. They had a guy in a radio studio spieling about how great CBS* is/was. His signoff was a classic: "And pardon me, I've got to get back to playing records."

* Not affiliated with the Columbia Broadcasting System.

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Silver Spring, Md.: Do digital cable or FIOS provide data on who is watching what? It seems like this technology would give the cable companies immediate data on who is watching what with (potentially) stupendous implications for the ratings biz. Could I possibly be on to something here?

Paul Farhi: Nielsen already has this data, of course. Not sure if the phone and cable guys collect it on their subscribers, but I wouldn't be surprised if they could and did.

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Arlington, Va.: I haven't seen this much media ink and air time devoted to one journalist since Bob Edwards left NPR. Media coverage of Tim Russert outweighs press coverage of the most recent Medal of Honor winner by at least 50-1! What a bunch of self-serving navel gazers -- when will it be ENOUGH?

Paul Farhi: Well, okay. But there seems to be some--albeit a limited--audience for this stuff. As my fine colleague (MFC) Lisa de Moraes pointed out in her column this morning, the cable news networks got a ratings bump out of their Russert coverage. A small bump, to be sure, but that tends to be the case in cable, where the bumps are all relative.

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RE: Silver Spring, Md.: : Obviously you have an axe to grind. Maybe by Friday you will have hit all the chats. This the third chat you've posted on. We get it, you were offended. How do you know it was a porn star? Research? I'm offended you know that. Paul, what about you? Would you pose with a porn star? Would you know a person was a porn star? (Don't lie.)

Paul Farhi: Pose with a porn star? You're asking that question as if I haven't already.

And who among us hasn't?

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Oakton, Va.: Did you see Obama and McCain interviewed about Tim Russert Saturday morning on the Today show? McCain came across as the guy next door. Obama talked about the time he interviewed Russert. I must have missed that. He gives a great scripted speech but he really needs help when he he speaks extemporaneously.

Paul Farhi: Didn't see that. But I was amused by some of the reactions from others in the TV biz about Russert's passing. Several famous folks (sorry, no names) took the occasion to turn his death into a statement about themselves. Tack-ee.

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Herndon, Va.: Mr. F: I have a solution to the "Wilbon-Mr./Ms Silver Spring" problem. All Post employees (you included) should simply do their job, then immediately head for home or a hermetically sealed hotel room and stay there until called on to work again.

Paul Farhi: Actually, all Post employees are required to attend Media Conspiracy Training each day immediately after work. Keeps us on the same page n' all...

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Bethesda, Md.: Re Wilbon: Wilbon wasn't "on assignment" for the Post when those pictures were taken. He was at a club/party on his own time. He happened to be on travel for his job, but just being on the road doesn't mean every waking minute is on the clock.

Paul Farhi: I don't know how or why we got on this topic, but let me state my basic reaction and be done with it: 1) People can be photographed with anyone they choose; 2) Post columnists don't check the credentials of the people they get depicted with during off hours; 3) It's STILL not nice to call someone an idiot, even if you disagree with them. Strongly.

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This seems to happen so often. What causes it?: Sorry guys, I have to fess up. It's me. I've been reading "The Secret" and learning to control what plays on the radio with my thoughts. Sorry it was Spin Doctors this weekend. For my next trick I'm working on getting ALL radio stations, regardless of format, to play the same song at the same time. Any requests?

Paul Farhi: Sounds like a juicy opportunity. I like that Ted Nugent song. Anyone else down with that?

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Silver Spring also: Hey, if you're in Silver Spring how do you have Fios already? Anyway, they HAVE To disclose collection of individually identifiable data and let you consent. If they haven't gotten your consent, you can sue them...or spit into the wind, your choice.

Paul Farhi: Thanks for that clarification. Was not aware. And on a slightly different note: When the heck is Fios gonna get to my neighborhood? I keep checking with that dude in the kiosk in the mall and calling the 800 number. The dude just smiles at me. The recording on the phone says not yet (and I believe I heard the faint sound of technicians laughing at me in the background).

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PB: Investigators Enter Home of Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon. Real headline or season 6 of the Wire?

washingtonpost.com: Investigators Enter Home of Baltimore Mayor (Post, June 17)

Paul Farhi: But Carcetti was clean, wasn't he? Oh, wait. You mean that city council lady who had the deal to succeed him as mayor if he got to be governor, which he did (according to the massive loose-ends-tying montage at the end of the series)? Yeah, she seemed a little shady. Could definitely see the feds going after her...

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Satellite Radio Fan: Curious to hear your take on the XM/Sirius merger. Ilove XM for a variety of reasons... good programming, SMART DJ's, mostly break-free channels, and REAL 'oldies' -- seems like the "full employment act" for those DJs from the past, not to mention the use of echo, etc. While my teenage kids are alternately baffled, enthralled and amused by those guys (especially Phlash on the 60's on 6 channel), I love the replay of 60's airchecks and being able to listen to the hometown play-by-play baseball announcers. Listening to Vin Sully or Jon Miller is wonderful!

Paul Farhi: I was ardently opposed until they started cutting deals with the feds. Now, I'm not so sure. Look it: XM and Sirius have never made a dime (and, in fact, lost lots and lots of them) in all the years they've been in business. There's no prospect they will ever make money, really, given the competitive nature of the business. So one of them is bound to fail at some point. And where would be then? Likely with a monopoly that could do whatever it wanted, without condition. Prices would rise, service would stink. In short, satellite radio would resemble something like the cable business, which holds a "natural" monopoly. So, letting them merge now--with lots of conditions on 'em--might be the best possible deal we can expect.

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When the heck is Fios gonna get to my neighborhood?: I know! You can register on the Verizon website and you'll get an e-mail letting you know when the time is near, but they won't tell you ahead of time. If they keep us guessing, we'll think it's soon, and we'll be less likely to go with the Cox two-year commitment.

Paul Farhi: Clever, Mr. Bond, but too clever. Why don't they just say, "We expect to get to your neighborhood next February (or March or September, or whatever)?" I'll wait, and I'll wait with a rough guess on how long I have to wait. Now, people just shrug at me when I ask. Doesn't exactly fill me with confidence about their customer service.

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A different Silver Spring: Fios is in parts of SS - Not mine yet, but close. Getting information on when is probably impossible unless you know someone who knows someone at Verizon. I called, I went to the customer service website, but they don't seem to know or care to contact the people who (I know someone has to be planning/scheduling the system) are in charge...I did get a post card a few weeks ago saying it will be soon - next couple of months.

Paul Farhi: Well, a postcard is nice. But I don't understand the non-answer. Here we/I am asking to take their service, and they won't even give out a rough guess as to when I can. If you walked into a store and they were out of the product you wanted, you'd certainly hope the clerk or the manager would say, "Come back next week. We'll have a shipment in by then."

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Sheila Dixon: It must've been Lester who put the Feds on her.

Paul Farhi: Yep. Lester had a couple of axes to grind. That would have been one of them. Unless, of course, she threw a few municipal bucks at the wire operation and cop overtime.

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Arlington, Va.: Several famous folks (sorry, no names) took the occasion to turn his death into a statement about themselves. Tack-ee.

I'll name names. Katie Courics remembrance was TACKY. Nothing about Russert the man, but instead all about how Russert identified her talent and got her into the Pentagon, blah blah. She must have used the word me or I 15 times in her response.

washingtonpost.com: CBS' Katie Couric Remembers Tim Russert (CBSnews.com, June 14)

Paul Farhi: No comment from here.

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"The Secret": If the thought control guy throws in some Hendrix and early James Brown, you can have all the Nugent you want. And I'm a vegan!

Paul Farhi: Deal!

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Dulles, Va.: No has asked this yet?! What do you think happens to Czaban, Pollin, Doc Walker, B-Mitch et al in the near future? Will Daniel Snyder dump all of them for syndicated ESPN radio, or stay with the local fare? Will Riggo's horrendous show replace "The Sports Reporters".

Paul Farhi: Ah. We seemed to have overlooked Dan Snyder's little foray into sports radio (very brief recap: Snyder's radio company bought WTEM-AM and two other stations, giving it a lock on the sports-talk market locally)..Well, I have no specific information about personnel moves, but I take Bruce Gilbert, Snyder's point man for radio, at his word: Snyder would not have bought the station if he wanted to get rid of the personalities who made it worth purchasing in the first place. That said, Andy Pollin and Steve Czaban wondered aloud (on the air) about the chilling effect of having Snyder as the source of their paycheck. In other words, it's not what they'll say, it's what they WON'T say on the air about Snyder, the Redskins, etc. And we'll never know what kind of self-censorship, if any, is going on.

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Silver Spring, Md.: No FIOS on my block, yet. Who knows when it's coming. A Comcast truck was torched on my corner a couple months back in the middle of the night so I figure there is some kind of "turf war" going on. I thought Nielson only had sampled data (or was that 20 years ago?) Comcast/Verizon could just bury some minor privacy waver in your subscription contract -- hey, maybe that already happened.

Paul Farhi: Wow--a telecom-cable gang war! (I would suggest that before the fireworks begin, the Comcast and Verizon crews get more colorful names)...And for the record, Nielsen collect data continuously on who's watching what at a given time.

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FIOS is coming, FIOS is coming, FIOS is coming!!!: Now, when you wait for your cable repair guy, he gives you a four or sometimes an eight-hour window -- and you thought that service was poor. Verizon won't even give you an eight-month window for when you will get service! Could they screw this up any more?

Paul Farhi: Can you be home between the months of March and August? Thank you...

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Ron Canada: I just read the IMDB and Wikipedia listings for actor Ron Canada, which say he was a TV newsman in the Washington-Baltimore area in the 1970s. Do you know more on this? I don't remember him, but that proves only that I didn't get Baltimore channels.

washingtonpost.com: Ron Canada (Wikipedia)

Paul Farhi: Never heard of him. Anyone?

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Silver Spring, Md.: I hate to find myself in the position of defending Verizon, but I always assumed they wouldn't give out info about Fios ahead of time because they're afraid their competitors could use it somehow, to offer particularly awesome deals or something. Come to think of it...I can't think of a way that would work. But it's all I've got.

Paul Farhi: Yes, wouldn't that be terrible. If we knew when Fios was coming, we might get better choices and prices from the cable company. Terrible outcome. Really terrible. It's definitely worth it for Verizon to keep its would-be customers in the dark...

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Arlington, Va.: Of course it didn't help that the Wilbon chat was posted on Deadspin and probably AwfulAnnouncing and, not to mention, hundreds of other 'lesser' blogs as well.

So...I saw this list of 10 worst TV shows and was happy to see 'yes, dear' on the list (in the top 5, I think) but decidedly less happy to see that Jim did not make the cut - what gives?

Paul Farhi: I have no respect for any 10 Worst list that has "Yes, Dear" on it but not "According to Jim." As everyone knows, they are the same show.

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Gaithersburg, MD: XM and Sirius may claim they can't survive and there is only enough room for one. But I'll bet you anything they'll fight tooth-and-nail if someone else thinks they have a way and applies for a license.

Paul Farhi: Fair point. I've seen this before: An entrenched company always claims it's in "the public interest" to keep the company entrenched by keeping out would-be competitors. That's capitalism, baby...

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Who was it?: On the "Meet The Press" remembrance of Tim Russert, James Carville mentioned a politician (he didn't say who, just that everyone at the table knew who it was) who'd gone on MTP ill-prepared and Russert had torn him apart (and that the person was much better prepared on a future appearance). So, who was this unnamed politician?

Paul Farhi: I must have missed my Media Conspiracy meeting the day this was discussed. So I don't know. Anyone?

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PB: To follow up, Dixon did a Post Chat a few months back where she admitted that the character in the show was loosely based on her, but she denied any wrong-doing the writers attributed to her character.

washingtonpost.com: Live Online: Mayor Sheila Dixon (Post, Feb. 19)

Paul Farhi: Excellent! Life imitates art. Except when it only sort of comes close to it. Or maybe vice versa.

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Olney, Md.: The Fios cable laying crew was in my neighborhood last week laying the underground cable as well as the above ground lines. They really like to mark your front lawn. However they do try to minimize digging. Good for me, since I spent every weekend in April laying down new sod.

Paul Farhi: I don't know about Verizon, but all of the utilities are pretty obnoxious about that marking-the-lawn business. I've woken up on more than a few mornings to discover Day Glo lines spraypainted across my grass. Makes me wanna yell, "Hey, you kids, get off my lawn!"

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So, who was this unnamed politician?: I'd love to think it was Cheney.

Paul Farhi: I kind of doubt it. Say what you will about Cheney, but he's usually well prepared and very disciplined about whatever message he's trying to put out.

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Seattle: A Sirius question -- and a serious question: My car came with XM radio, which I love and subscribe to. If there's a merger, or Sirius survives and XM dies, will my car stereo be able to accommodate Sirius without alteration?

Paul Farhi: I believe you'll need a new piece of hardware for the full full service. But your existing set will continue to work for the programs you're getting now.

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Paul Farhi: Folks, we haven't identified the mystery politician and we've got to bring this session to a close. But there's still time. I'll give you two weeks to come up with some names. Report back in then. In the meantime, regards to all...Paul

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