I don't listen to them anymore. But do you think their show will suffer when they have to deal with the censorship thing again?
I dont think so. During the peak of negotiations a few weeks back, they assured their listeners that the show wont be compromised by the deal. They made several key conditions and refused to bend.
Its obviously too soon to tell how this will work out exactly, but I can picture them toning down
some of the show to their prior terrestrial level and letting loose during those long FreeFM commercial breaks and of course the 2 exclusive XM hours (totaling 5 hours - theyve only done 4-hour shows on XM thus far).
As a big fan of the show, Im incredibly excited about this. Its a huge deal and quite amazing considering where they were only 2 years ago. After getting kicked off of regular radio, they were completely silent for 2 whole years. Now theyre not only doing a great show (better than ever, in my opinion) on the #1 satellite radio company, but theyre back on their old regular radio company in the spot in which everyone thought theyd be - Howard Sterns morning drive slot. Although they love XM and have trashed the state of regular radio, theyve made no secret about wanting to be back on the terrestrial air. Its the best of both worlds, and is being described as a "historic deal." And if you know anything about their feud with Howard, its safe to say that their incredibly happy with how things are panning out. They not only have his old spot, but theyre now free to talk about him as they please and will have a significantly greater audience (although its been speculated that they already do on XM alone). To top it off, theyre free to promote XM radio. An amazing turn of events.
Between this and GNR, its been a hell of a week.
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From
Radio & Records:
The official Opie & Anthony can of worms that was opened yesterday by ST Daily was followed quickly by the mainstream press, as the rumblings grow louder that the once-banished team will be welcomed back to CBS Radio ? perhaps as early as next week ? to replace the rapidly unraveling David Lee Roth science experiment. We hear DLR's last day could be as early as tomorrow, with O&A starting next Wednesday.
The current scenario, as we understand it, has O&A cutting an unprecedented deal to broadcast on both terrestrial and satellite radio -- working early in the morning from CBS Radio's WFNY (92.3 Free FM)/New York studios and simulcasting on XM's High Voltage as well as on several or all the following DLR affiliates: WBCN/Boston, WYSP/Philadelphia, KLLI/Dallas, WRKZ/Pittsburgh, WNCX/Cleveland and WPBZ/West Palm Beach. Later each morning they will walk down the street to XM's New York studios do another few hours of XM-only, non-FCC-regulated radio.
Here are several interesting factors to consider: Is it safe to assume that CBS is shelling out major dollars to XM for the privilege of "borrowing" the talents of O&A to consummate this historic, cross-platform deal? Here's something else: The duo will reportedly be able to freely cross-promote their XM show on CBS. If true, it's a factor that should nicely irritate their longtime nemesis (and soon-to-be head-to-head competitor) Howard Stern, who's currently being sued by CBS for allegedly doing something similar for Sirius when he still worked for CBS.
As of Thursday evening, no official announcement has come from either CBS Radio or XM. CBS spokesmodel Karen Mateo is apparently on vacation this week and XM's own lovable Eric Logan would offer us no on-the-record comment. Meanwhile, sources close to the office of Opie & Anthony's longtime superagent Robert Eatman would neither confirm nor deny that such a deal is pending. We suggest you stay tuned -- this thing is going down at any moment.
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