Opie and Anthony Suspended by XM

Lester · Post by **Lester** » Tue May 15, 2007 3:17 pm

Opie and Anthony Suspended - XM press Release

SPIKE NESMITH! · Post by **SPIKE NESMITH!** » Tue May 15, 2007 3:25 pm

Yowzah! A MONTH?

Stern's going to be required listening tomorrow morning. First Imus, now this pair... he's going to be, as my granny used to say, "like a dug wi' two tails".

Hoosier Daddy · Post by **Hoosier Daddy** » Tue May 15, 2007 4:59 pm

... and the hits just keep on coming ...

genlock · Post by **genlock** » Tue May 15, 2007 5:11 pm

NEW YORK (AFP) - The CBS network has fired two "shock jocks" over an on-air slur against Asians, US media reported Monday, weeks after another radio host was sacked for making a racist remark.

The hosts of "The Dog House with JV and Elvis," Jeff Vandergrift and Dan Lay, had been suspended earlier as the broadcaster decided their fate.

The show was permanently canceled after the two placed an on-air order to a Chinese restaurant for "slimp flied lice" and compared food items to certain parts of the body on April 5.

"'The Dog House with JV and Elvis' will no longer be broadcast," CBS Radio spokeswoman Karen Mateo told the New York Daily News.

Arp2 · Post by **Arp2** » Tue May 15, 2007 5:38 pm

SPIKE NESMITH! wrote:Yowzah! A MONTH?

Stern's going to be required listening tomorrow morning. First Imus, now this pair... he's going to be, as my granny used to say, "like a dug wi' two tails".

Has Stern taken a position on the merger yet?

Gotta be a little conflicted at this point....

SPIKE NESMITH! · Post by **SPIKE NESMITH!** » Tue May 15, 2007 6:43 pm

Oh he's all for it - as would anyone else with as much stock as he has. I usually change channels when the merger talk starts on there, their desire for personal profit trumping quality of the product is of no interest to me.

AmpedNow · Post by **AmpedNow** » Wed May 16, 2007 3:19 am

These "incredibly outrageous" things being said are nothing new... I've heard things like this being said for years on these shows. The difference is that nobody complained about it, up until now.

Sure, those comments were vile and unfunny... But they were said on a show that was 100% opt-in. XM even tags their "Virus" channel with an "XL" (explicit language) warning. Who on earth would even be tuned in if they find this kind of content offensive??? I'm certain that 99.9% of the P1 Virus listeners didn't even bat an eye at what was said...

I would like to know exactly who found this broadcast so incredibly offensive that they had to complain, and why XM felt the need to be so heavy-handed with a show that they hired to "say whatever they want" to begin with.

Of course, we all know the answer to the latter...

If I was Stern, I probably wouldn't be too upset, as this virtually guarantees that his show will be "the" show on both services if the merger goes through...

As for free speech, I'm honestly more confused than I've ever been... How can a company hire talent to do a provocative show while at the same time expect them not to cross an invisible line that is constantly moving, depending on the political climate...

Hoosier Daddy · Post by **Hoosier Daddy** » Wed May 16, 2007 4:40 am

K-Rock wrote:As for free speech, I'm honestly more confused than I've ever been... How can a company hire talent to do a provocative show while at the same time expect them not to cross an invisible line that is constantly moving, depending on the political climate...

The pendulum is swinging the other way.

After years -- no, decades -- of pushing and pushing the line into uncharted territory, trying to see how racy and filthy and off-color radio can be, we now find "the invisible line" moving in the other direction.

The problem is the air talent ain't moving with it, and they're paying the price.

I said it five years ago and I'll say it again: Truly talented radio people can create a great program without insulting and hurting people and turning the air blue with profanity and sexual innuendo.

Big Media · Post by **Big Media** » Wed May 16, 2007 8:59 am

Stale FM, 99.5, with Sheila and Jim, Billy C on the sax, Hockey Boy on sports, and Tom Roten commentary. Stale FM is part of the new Nothing Worth Listening To Radio Network.

Arp2 · Post by **Arp2** » Wed May 16, 2007 7:03 pm

K-Rock wrote:I would like to know exactly who found this broadcast so incredibly offensive that they had to complain....

It appeared to me to be the media, but I don't pay that close attention.

If I was Stern, I probably wouldn't be too upset, as this virtually guarantees that his show will be "the" show on both services if the merger goes through...

The reason I asked: management has now shown that it's willing and quick to "set boundaries" when it suddenly "needs" to and/or it benefits them in some way. Isn't that what Stern has supposedly always been against? (I've never completely believed that, by the way...it's just part of the schtick, IMHO.)

As for free speech, I'm honestly more confused than I've ever been... How can a company hire talent to do a provocative show while at the same time expect them not to cross an invisible line that is constantly moving, depending on the political climate...

There is no "free speech" when you're doing it through another's facility/outlet/venue...the speaker is always "speaking" at the permission and pleasure of the facility/outlet/venue. The First Amendment applies to your use of your mouth, your hand, and your stuff.

(Man, was that a straight line or what?)

As far as that "moving" line goes, if there actually is one, I think that the question asked suggests another question:

I mean, let's admit it....a whole bunch of people can talk dirty. It's a very, very low-level talent or skill. Could it be, perhaps, that the most valuable talent or skill is the ability to always know where that line is and keep oneself behind it?

But, of course, that leads into my usual question -- why is the paradigm "how close can we get to the line?" Why not see how far away from it you can get?

Jay Nunley · Post by **Jay Nunley** » Wed May 16, 2007 7:16 pm

How can you see how far away from the line you can get if there is no clear definition of that line? Who gets to decide where that line is? What about the significant number of citizens who prefer and seek out stuff that is near the line? Are they lesser citizens and therefore have no stake in this matter?

Lester · Post by **Lester** » Wed May 16, 2007 7:20 pm

See this is an example, a beautiful example, of there being no defined line.

Pissing off the FCC is one thing, but face it, you know where the line is there. Anyone can cross it whenever they want (and get fined accordingly). People bitch that they don't know the line, but thousands of jocks, everyday, do shifts that don't result in fines.

HOWEVER: Opie and Anthony got screwed. They were operating under the premise that there is no line. (As does Stern.) Then, all the sudden, someone sneaks up behind them, draws a line, and suspends them for being on the wrong side of it. That's dirty pool, imho.

fearpeddler · Post by **fearpeddler** » Wed May 16, 2007 7:21 pm

Jay Nunley wrote:How can you see how far away from the line you can get if there is no clear definition of that line? \

you cant see the line, thats why its invisible

The-Hammer · Post by **The-Hammer** » Wed May 16, 2007 7:38 pm

Arp2 wrote:Why not see how far away from it you can get?

That is easy enough. Just flip the power switch on the transmitter to the "OFF" position. Even a dead carrier is more offensive than static.

"It's called a dead carrier. That's offensive to people who've really died."

Jay Nunley · Post by **Jay Nunley** » Wed May 16, 2007 11:10 pm

Some free market capitalists you guys are.

"No! No! We can't have the fairness doctine! This is a naked attempt by leftists to stifle free speech and get rid of conservative talk radio! The PC crowd is nuts! We have to stop this! This will lead to stale and vanilla radio at the least! It may kill the country at worst!"

Minutes later...

"Wait a minute. That guy just told a blow job joke! We must get that off the air! We must fine him into the ground! Kids may have heard that! We can't have kids laughing at blow job jokes! We need stale and vanilla radio or it might kill the country!"

AmpedNow · Post by **AmpedNow** » Thu May 17, 2007 12:21 am

Arp2 wrote:There is no "free speech" when you're doing it through another's facility/outlet/venue...the speaker is always "speaking" at the permission and pleasure of the facility/outlet/venue. The First Amendment applies to your use of your mouth, your hand, and your stuff.

I understand that...

But I'm talking about talent that was hired specifically to do provocative radio. How are they supposed to know where the line is?

This question was asked here three years ago when this stuff first started, and it still goes unanswered... This proves that nobody could possibly know when they've crossed it, since its position is now entirely at the whims of special interest minority groups and the chronically offended on any given day.

mean, let's admit it....a whole bunch of people can talk dirty. It's a very, very low-level talent or skill.

Not necessarily, but I see your point.

Could it be, perhaps, that the most valuable talent or skill is the ability to always know where that line is and keep oneself behind it?

Why keep it a mystery? I would much rather hash this out and come to some universal agreement on what can and cannot be said. Otherwise, these groups will not stop until anyone who dares to ad-lib an opinion on the air is unemployed.

As for O & A, Mark Ramsey has a great take on this issue...

http://www.hear2.com/2007/05/opie_anthonys_s.html

AmpedNow · Post by **AmpedNow** » Thu May 17, 2007 12:30 am

Jay Nunley wrote:Some free market capitalists you guys are.

"No! No! We can't have the fairness doctine! This is a naked attempt by leftists to stifle free speech and get rid of conservative talk radio! The PC crowd is nuts! We have to stop this! This will lead to stale and vanilla radio at the least! It may kill the country at worst!"

Minutes later...

"Wait a minute. That guy just told a blow job joke! We must get that off the air! We must fine him into the ground! Kids may have heard that! We can't have kids laughing at blow job jokes! We need stale and vanilla radio or it might kill the country!"

If this is an attempt to kill off an entire brand of radio based on morality, then I will support the Fairness Doctrine.

Fuck it... Let's take this all the way. If we can't have fart jokes because they turn children into axe murderers, then by God, we don't need political blowhards on the air all day telling people who to vote for without equal time, either...

Bob Loblaw · Post by **Bob Loblaw** » Thu May 17, 2007 7:20 am

Ok, so then let's come up with the list of things we know you can't talk say/talk about.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Words you can't say:

Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, Cock-Sucker, Mother-Fucker, Tits.

Words you can only say clinically:

Penis, Vagina, Anus, Areola.

Topics (we now know) you can't discuss:

Denigrating terms for Black/Asian people (exceptions: YOU are Black/Asian / You are a rapper (only applies to Blacks))

Discussing the physical assault of a competing show's child

Discussing/Joking about the sexual assault of Black public figure

Wishing Aids upon a listener

Sexual/Oral intercourse (exception: Rappers)

Killing a pig (you can discuss it, you just can't DO it on air)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm sure there's more I'm missing. please cut and paste and add to it

Bob Campbell · Post by **Bob Campbell** » Thu May 17, 2007 7:44 am

Someone has to get Nunley. He's exposed the great Republican hypocrisy.

Dave Loudin · Post by **Dave Loudin** » Thu May 17, 2007 7:49 am

Bob Loblaw wrote:Ok, so then let's come up with the list of things we know you can't talk say/talk about.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Words you can only say clinically:

Penis, Vagina, Anus, Areola.

When you say clinically, you mean only used to refer to body parts? I've heard the first two on Carolla's show lately. There's a long-running gag about naming Teresa's "V," for goodness sakes.