Opie and Anthony have been fired.... (1 Viewer)

[DaveBB]

Eric, I have to second your opinion on Bob & Tom. While they occasionally have funny bits, the humor is negated by them laughing at their own jokes. The annoyance factor is much higher than the actual humor. I actually got to meet Bob & Tom quite a few years back when a friend of mine worked for 102.9 here in Dayton. Let me tell you, they're just as "funny" in person as they are on the radio. After about 10 minutes of sitting there listening to them laugh at each other, we left.

It now seems that all their show consists of them laughing and giggling at their own jokes.

 

[Mike Broadman]

They made fun of other radio personalities getting canned due to low ratings and the like. They have nothing to be arrogant over now

They did not get kicked off because of low ratings or because people didn't like their show. Their arrogance was based on their success and fan base. A running theme of the show was about how boring, trite, and insipid the vast majority of radio is.

I never really paid much attention to that until the last few days. I drove around a lot this past week, especially this past weekend, and was stuck listening to the radio because my car (with a CD player) was being repaired. All I had was a tape player, but I have no tapes, so I was just flipping the dial.

Radio is dreadful. The music they play is the same thing a bazillion times a day. I'm not going to criticise the quality of the music, but the frequency and limited song lists are appalling. The DJs use every cliche imaginable, with fake bits, laugh tracks, and cheesy contests. Howard Stern used to be funny, but now every question to guests is, "Did you ever do anal?" I have lost my patience with Robin Quivers. Either my tastes changed or Howard's just doesn't have it as much as he used to. I give him plenty of credit for what he did... I think it's the same with Letterman for me- I celebrate their careers and glad they've been around, but maybe the sun is setting for them.

Everything is just so homogenised and safe, even the "racey" stuff. I really have tried giving other programming a chance, but it's just way too corny.

Of course O&A weren't on all the time. It's a 4 hour show- what do you expect? But when they were on, it was great. I actually was never a big fan of the big events- Sex For Sam, 55 Gallon drum challenge, various internet voting competitions, etc. When they would just riff on stuff, esp with Norton around and Antony's exaggerated impressions, it would be great.

They deserve to be fined, prosecuted for a misdemeanor... but not thrown off the air. It is a cowardly move by an already failing radio station. The same thing happened with WAAF in Boston after the mayor prank- and look at WAAF now.

If O&A get picked up and broadcast from or are syndicated in NY, they will campaign against WNEW the same way they did against WAAF in Boston. Admittedly knowing little about the radio business, a radio station would be fools not to pick them up. Their fan base in Philadelphia and Cleveland is rabid, and they are huge in Boston and, yes, New York. There will be companies that refuse to advertise... so what? There are plenty that would still do it. Look at the commercials that were on for O&A- they were all sex related (creams and pills and other nonsense). They would kill themselves throwing ad money at O&A again.

There are stations that have supported O&A enthusiastically. WNEW was not one of them. It would take some time, of course, both from the legal and business aspects of this mess, but it's very possible.