XM Radio announced today that radio shock jocks Opie & Anthony will be suspended for 30 days. The news release excerpted below makes a nondescript reference to a crude May 9 radio bit with a homeless man in which said man suggested he'd like to rape Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Here's an excerpt:
XM Radio deplored the comments aired on "The Opie & Anthony Show" last week. At the time, the company strongly expressed its views to Opie and Anthony, and they issued an immediate apology.
Comments made by Opie and Anthony on yesterday's broadcast put into question whether they appreciate the seriousness of the matter. The management of XM Radio decided to suspend Opie and Anthony to make clear that our on-air talent must take seriously the responsibility that creative freedom requires of them.
Patrick Ishmael of NewsBuckit notices that XM didn't find the rape references worthy of discipline but rather that the shock jocks may "appreciate the seriousness of the matter." Ishmael also points out CBS Radio plans to keep airing O&A, even though it quickly canned Imus shortly after MSNBC killed his simulcast:
So they sort of got the Imus treatment; it wasn't their comments about raping Condoleezza Rice that got them suspended, but other comments that made their apology seem less than genuine. Moreover, Drudge is reporting that CBS Radio, which syndicates the show on the traditional airwaves, expects them to go on tomorrow as scheduled.
As CBS Radio is the common denominator for Imus and O&A, it will be interesting to see if they stick with this decision.
—Ken Shepherd is Managing Editor of NewsBusters
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Well now..if this isn't pot c
May 15, 2007 - 16:50 ET by bigtimerWell now..if this isn't pot calling kettle when it comes to Imus and CBS.
What irony...what hypocrisy IMO.
The Imus thing was so blown
May 15, 2007 - 17:37 ET by blogonatorThe Imus thing was so blown out of proportion. PC bullsh-t. If CBS has any integrity, they won't make the same mistake again. These guys are on satellite radio, people pay to hear the stuff they can't get on FM - regardless of how tasteless.
Agreed. Imus's mistake was
May 15, 2007 - 17:52 ET by JerryAgreed. Imus's mistake was cowering to Sharpton and apologizing. He should have just said something like... "Here's 10 dollars, why don't you go out and buy a sense of humor. This is WHAT I DO. There's not a single ethnic, economic, or political group that I have not insulted at one time or another. GET OVER IT."
When asked if he went to war with Iraq to derail the impeachment
vote: “I don’t think any serious person would believe that any
President would do such a thing." - President Clinton (Dec 1998).
Suspension my butt. After t
May 16, 2007 - 07:40 ET by Long Island PeteSuspension my butt. After their last disgusting act in St. Pats. I am sure they have something in their contract stating suspension with pay.
I heard that XM received thou
May 15, 2007 - 18:35 ET by ThisnThatI heard that XM received thousands of subscriber cancellations the past few days, which promted the suspension. Can anyone confirm this? If true, BRAVO! Hit'em where it hurts the most.
I doubt it. Think of the i
May 15, 2007 - 19:14 ET by blogonatorI doubt it. Think of the investment an xm owner has made in both hardware and subscriptions. It'b be like cancelling your cable because something on one show on one channel offended you. I'm sure the numbers of people claiming to cancel will far outnumber those who actually do.
The number of subs they've lo
May 15, 2007 - 20:45 ET by totalpakajThe number of subs they've lost BEFORE today will pale in comparison to the number of subs XM lost today BECAUSE of the O & A suspension. For what it's worth, on the O & A messageboards I frequent, there is a mass exodus of subscribers from XM. I am a Conservative, and an O & A fan, and none of the recent DJ firings should have occurred. The advertisers are kowtowing to the whims of special interest groups with axes to grind. I don't agree with the comments made by the deranged homeless guest, but after all sat radio is a PAY service, and XM practically kills you with disclaimers regarding the explicit language and channel-blocking methods. XM is simply trying to protect their precious merger by throwing O & A under the PC bus, and may subject themselves to FCC jurisdiction in order to make the merger happen. I cancelled the 3 subscriptions I had today.
I didn't like what Imus said
May 15, 2007 - 19:23 ET by mostlymoderateI didn't like what Imus said and I don't like what Opie and Anthony said. However, I don't think either should have been suspended or kicked off the air. As a society, we are playing into the hands of the P.C. left. People need to stop being such whiny-wimps.
There's a lot of stuff on television that bothers me (gays kissing, violence, disgusting rape scenes, etc.) but I don't complain about that, I just don't watch.
There is also the issue they
May 15, 2007 - 21:03 ET by Right2thePointThere is also the issue they are trying to merge the satellite radio systems and they want to show "responsive" management to not rock the boat during the merger approval process.
I would dare say it is more l
May 15, 2007 - 21:24 ET by Roger the ShrubberI would dare say it is more like the O&A virus is being given the stink-eye by XM because, if and when they merge with Sirius, there will be no room for both them and Howard Stern, and we all know who would win that tug-o-war.
That being said, censorship sucks, and all of this recent pc crap is rather disturbing. And my progressive comrades thought the Patriot Act would take away all their rights...
The sad truth about this witc
May 16, 2007 - 01:39 ET by EcstasyOfGoldThe sad truth about this witch hunt is that the media is driving it.
John Q. Public couldn't care less about what OnA, Don Imus, JV and Elvis, and the numerous other less known radio personalities that have been canned recently have to say.
A precedent was set with Don Imus, a minority was allowed to bully a company into firing an on air talent over a joke. What would have happened to the advertisers like Staples and CBS radio if Imus had not been fired? Al would have found another ambulance to chase. The fact is any “boycotts” that would have occurred would have been small and short lived and the business wouldn’t even feel a ripple, mostly because people don’t care anymore. If they did Wal-Mart would not be the largest retailer in the world.
The amazing laziness that the MSM has shown in the last decade is what I find the most disturbing. The lack of research that was done in reporting almost all of these recent radio firings are shocking. Nearly every report on television was filled with horrid inaccuracies, it almost seemed like they just copied straight from Drudge onto the teleprompter. We live in an age where “Bloggers” are considered to be legitimate journalists, by many. Lets be honest, a vast majority of bloggers are just regular guys whose opinion is no more valuable then yours or mine.
Anywho, judging by the wait time I had today with xm customer service, this will be the largest drop *in subscriptions* XM has ever had. Anyone want to buy an inno? J
"We live in an age whe
May 16, 2007 - 08:21 ET by MightyMouth"We live in an age where “Bloggers” are considered to be legitimate journalists, by many."
What you fail to mention EoG, is that even "legitimate journalists" aren't ligitimate journalists anymore. That IS the reason for the popularity of the blogosphere, and sites like NB in particular. Don't blame the sad state of affairs on the blogs, the blogs are response to the sad state of affairs in the MSM!!
"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...
Now the free market censors ?
May 16, 2007 - 08:05 ET by SportPoliticsNow the free market censors ? lol
I am enjoying all the upset rantings and angles everyone has been spewing over the firings.
What appears to me to be missed by so many, is the fact that those in support of Imus and O & A have to live with the fact that they aren't the only ones in the free market with an opinion, and they really, really don't like that.
Oh well, as the democrats always say, with a lot more dishonesty than can be said in this case " The American people have spoken".
After the government had their say with the Janet Jackson exposure, and also against Howard Stern, it appears to me these latest two issues are much more "the market working" - than anything else, and I find so many people who used to proclaim their total support of letting the market decide, have decided in these cases, they don'tlike at all what it has concluded, and they demand that it turn their attention to just their own desires, and obey.
LOL - It's a wonderful, wonderful lesson for me.
I guess the whole "Dixie Chicks" thing is lost in the memory hole.
WOW.
It all depends on wether or not your own favorite or disfavored ox is being gored.