Inqlings | Pat Croce, daughter in bling biz

Pat Croce

is now in the jewelry business.

He and his daughter, Kelly Croce Sorg, will turn up on QVC at 2 p.m. tomorrow to sell a charm necklace, a skull-and-cross-bones necklace and a silvertone charm bracelet - the beginnings of a line they call Pirate Soul Treasures.

The "piratical" trinkets ($34 to $39) are offshoots of the Croces' Pirate Soul museum in Key West, Fla.

Croce, who's always running, was spotted on the Art Museum steps last week accompanied by a camera crew shooting scenes for ABC's American Inventor's second season, premiering June 6. Croce will be a judge with show exec Peter Jones, Spanx inventor Sarah Blakely and grill pitchman/semiretired boxer George Foreman.

"There goes that news van again," go the promos for Action News. But a news van floating in the Schuylkill? That's covering the waterfront. The station put a larger-than-reality model on a raft tied up near Sweetbriar as a promo related to the Dad Vail Regatta.

WMMR's air personalities gathered yesterday at a dive bar near the station to celebrate the new March radio ratings - the first under Arbitron's electronic (and supposedly more accurate) system.

The Preston & Steve morning show, Pierre Robert on middays and Jaxson in the afternoon were all No. 1 among listeners ages 18 to 34 and ages 25 to 54. Nighttimer Matt Cord was tops among 18-34s, and No. 3 among 25-54s. ("When you get to the mountaintop, the target on your back gets a lot bigger, to mix metaphors," said WMMR program director Bill Weston.)

A few morning highlights:

The top five morning shows among listeners ages 6 and older were all-news KYW-AM (1060), Preston & Steve on WMMR-FM (93.3), Tiffany Hill on light rock WBEB-FM (B101, 101.1), Ross Brittain and the Breakfast Club on classic hits WOGL-FM (98.1), and syndicated Steve Harvey on adult urban contemporary WDAS-FM (105.3).

WMMR and KYW together captured 25 percent of the share of morning listeners ages 25 to 54.

More than one in five morning listeners in the 18-to-34 crowd had tuned to Preston & Steve - that's nearly three times the audience share of the closest competitor, WDAS-FM's Harvey.

After Preston & Steve and Harvey, the 18-34s favored Chris Booker on WIOQ-FM (102.1), Evans & Andie on WXTU-FM (92.5), and Sam Sylk on WUSL-FM (98.9).

Irv Homer

says he's not sure of his next move following the death two weeks ago of his wife of 53 years,

Francine

. Homer, who turns 83 this month, left his WBCB (1490) talk show in February to care for her.

If CBS3's

Beasley Reece

ever wants to bag sportscasting, he can make a living at piano bar. He sat in Tuesday on the 88s at an opening party for Joe Palombo's Mirabella Cafe in Cherry Hill, a benefit for Make-A-Wish. During Reece's NFL days, he took lessons whenever he arrived in a new town.

Fox29 had a "wanted" poster for a news director out since Holly Gauntt left suddenly Jan. 25. It just hired Phil Metlin, last in Tampa, Fla., after a management stint with the show America's Most Wanted. He joins Mike Renda, who became the station's general manager last month after Robert Simone suddenly got promoted within Fox.

Upper Darby's Jamie Kennedy, plugging his movie Kickin' It Old Skool, gives a buzz to Martha Stewart on her show today (11 a.m., NBC10). According to a transcript, he spied her potted flora and said: "You know, Martha, that plant looks a little like something illegal." She replied: "Those happen to be ferns." He rejoined: "That's a fern? Oh, OK. That's what you call it now."