XM Satellite Radio Programming

Opie and Anthony

Who are Opie and Anthony?
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For many brutal months O&A endured the negative feedback from WNEW listeners, shocked and outraged that their rock establishment had been demolished. No one seemed to want to hear talk, and O&A dropped into last place. Times were tough, but the boys predicted they were simply purging the audience, and once they were gone new listeners would emerge. As usual, they were right.

Going into the second half of 1999 ratings began to rise as O&A's show developed further. Comedian guests became friends of the show, as the likes of Jay Mohr, Jim Breur, Brian Regan, and Andrew Dice Clay made far more appearances on NEW than other stations, and the loyal fan base began to grow anew. O&A spread like a virus around NYC, and WOW was reborn, bigger and better than ever. The bits began to get edgier, the language began to get rougher, and the ratings continued to rise.

By 2000 O&A were the number one afternoon drive show in NY. 102.7 dropped the "FM Talk" handle, becoming simply WNEW once again. The guests got better as O&A gained more exposure, and though around them the line up changed regularly, the station as a whole showed signs of hope. Despite problems with Howard Stern and his enormous ego, O&A's show matured into an original and new concept, where listeners became a huge part of the show, contributing jokes and ideas for bits. Their show was the most interactive radio program going, with various forms of feedback available for fans to get their thoughts to the boys instantaneously. A regular feature of the show became "What Did I Learn," where listeners would take the last half hour of the show to review what had gone on that day. Through the unofficial website Foundrymusic.com , fans could see pictures and videos of the raunchy acts that happened in studio, and at times O&A even had a live webcam operating. Soon the O&A road shows began to appear, where thousands of listeners would flock to various venues to watch O&A do their thing live. Debauchery ran rampant at these shows, with full nudity and many sordid sexual acts. Both lesbians and teens became key phrases for O&A, and this helped ratings grow even more.

It was in November of 2000 when O&A almost pushed things too far during the Voyeur Bus incident. They loaded the all glass bus with nude teens and famous comedians, including Jim Norton and Lewis Black, and then proceeded to have it drive around the city to give folks a show. Unfortunately, they drove by City Hall where President Clinton was scheduled to appear later that day, and Mayor Guliani called in the troops. Dozens of cops surrounded the bus, and all aboard were arrested and imprisoned for over twenty four hours without being charged. This event brought a somber mood to the show, and though all emerged relatively unharmed, it was never truly forgotten.

As 2001 and the end of O&A's contract began to roll around, things got a little hairy. Syndication was the name of the game, and negotiations escalated to the point where day to day O&A had no clue what would happen next. Despite such famous bits as the Homeless Shopping Spree, Sex For Sam, and the 55 Gallon Drum Challenge, Infinity Broadcasting was unsure how to handle the next phase of O&A's career. The boys were very focused, however - they had a great thing going, the ratings were unbelievable, and syndication was simply the next logical step.

Finally, management agreed and O&A returned after a two week hiatus. They began broadcasting on WYSP in Philadelphia on June 11, 2001, and the other stations in more cities soon followed. Over the course of six months, O&A expanded to 18 new markets, including WBCN in Boston, which was a major competitor of WAAF. O&A had finally come home to Boston to get their revenge.

In September of 2001 tragedy struck NYC when the Twin Towers were attacked. O&A found themselves broadcasting very different shows, as the whole city wept. Their show became simply an outlet for people to grieve and share their stories. It was a strange couple of weeks, where humor was forgotten and emotions ran the gamut from suffering to anger at those responsible for the destruction. It took some time, but eventually O&A helped people try and get back on track, not forgetting what happened but still able to move on. They helped people remember laughter.

Within a year of syndication, O&A were number one in several markets, Boston included. Both Dave Dickless Douglass and Rocko (the DJ who replaced them on WAAF) were soon let go, and O&A won that battle in the end. Things could not be better. Top notch guests began appearing, and O&A found a new partner in the form of Jim Norton, a comedian introduced to them by Dice. Norton's biting commentary and vicious wit soon won O&A over, and he began working with them full time, giving the show even more depth. As their ratings grew in other markets, O&A took their show on the road, spreading their debauchery to the likes of Philly, New Orleans, and Buffalo. The horizon was big and bright, and O&A were loving every minute of it.

But alas, in August of 2002, O&A went too far yet again. During Sex For Sam 3, where contestants where encouraged to have sex in various public places around NYC, one couple was caught up in a scandal at St. Patrick's Cathedral, and were arrested. Déjà vu set in a few days later O&A were suspended, and within a week their show was cancelled. Once again they had pushed the limits of radio broadcasting over the edge, outraged too many people, and the price had to be paid.

Although the pair were barred from the airwaves, they were never fired. Infinity paid out the balance of their massive contracts over the next two years which afforded the boys to take up some interesting hobbies.

Opie spent his time traveling the U.S., almost getting himself killed in the Grand Canyon and roller blading endlessly around Central Park.

Anthony took a different route, and amassed a respectable video game collection and crashed many radio controlled helicopters.

As far as Lil' Jimmy Norton goes, He appeared continuously on the now-defunct Comedy Central series, Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, shot a few pilots for MTV (as in TV shows, not actual gunning down of licensed airline pilots...you wouldn't think we'd have to clarify that), and he appeared on Last Comic Standing and The Tonight Show.

As we all sat about patiently waiting for the boys' contract to expire, some rumors began to surface. One of which was that the gang would be signing with satellite radio. On June 1st 2004, the contract officially expired, however Infinity had included a non-compete clause which barred the duo from broadcasting until October 1st, 2004.

As photos leaked, we all knew the boys would be heading to one of the two satellite radio companies, and on August 5th, the mystery would put to bed. Opie and Anthony held a press conference at the Hard Rock in NYC to announce they had officially signed a contract with XM Satellite Radio to do mornings, with their first live broadcast to air October 4th.

With that news, O, A and the gang led a huge promotional tour around the country all the while appearing on varoius media outlets including radio, tv, and print.

Will the show be the same? What new enemies have surfaced while the show was dormant? What affect will waking up at 4AM have on the show? None of that really matters you know, because O&A always win in the end.
Written by FMGrizzly and FoundryMusicDanny

From: http://www.opieandanthony.com/

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