 Opie & Anthony at WFNY/New York
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CBS Radio and XM Satellite Radio have entered into an unprecedented agreement that will mark the return of Opie & Anthony to CBS Radio stations in seven major markets -- WFNY/New York, KLLI/Dallas, WYSP/Philadelphia, WBCN/Boston, WRKZ/Pittsburgh, WXRK/Cleveland and WPBZ/West Palm Beach -- beginning on Wednesday, April 26.Under the terms of the agreement, CBS Radio will broadcast a three-hour version the Opie & Anthony Show -- featuring Gregg "Opie" Hughes, "Anthony" Cumia and Jim Norton -- on their stations from 6am - 9am each weekday morning, except in Cleveland where the program will air from 3pm - 6pm. The three hour program will originate from CBS Radio's WFNY/New York studio and be simulcast on XM in an uncensored format, while the CBS Radio version will be FCC-friendly. O&A will then continue to broadcast from 9am - 11am exclusively for XM’s more than 6.5 million subscribers live from their current XM studio in New York. O&A will have the option to keep their channel live until noon on XM. Previously, the channel automatically cut-off at 11am.
As part of the deal, O&A will get back all their bits and material from their days at WNEW.
O&A gave the dual broadcast a dry run today, making the annoucement at 9am on both the CBS Radio outlets and on XM. The show was done from Howard Stern's old studio at WFNY. The first guest to come in and speak with O&A was CBS Radio Chairman and CEO Joel Hollander. When O&A asked for advice from Hollander, his response was "Get me ratings."
Also in the studio was XM EVP/Programming Eric Logan, who told the duo, "Do the same show you have been doing." Hollander cut in and joked, "But not on my air!" Logan continued, "Everybody's talked and made an issue of how O&A have failed. All I can say is I wish everybody in the business can have failure to the degree that you guys are having right now. You deserve every bit of this and worked so hard. A lot of people don't know how this show has changed. For me as a fan, the greatest part is to have the people who remember the show hear the show as it has grown over the last year-and-a-half." Anthony then joked FMQB would only quote the "failure" part of that statement. Thanks for the plug!
CBS Radio stations in New York, Dallas and Philadelphia will also stream the O&A show show online at www.923freefm.com, www.1053freefm.com and www.941freefm.com, respectively.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
"With the combination of XM and CBS RADIO, we now have the best gig in the business. The O&A Show is going to be bigger and better than ever," said Gregg "Opie" Hughes.
"We’ll now be able to reach millions of new fans and old fans with our new morning show on CBS while offering our loyal XM listeners an uncut show and two extra hours that will only be available on XM," said Anthony Cumia.
"Opie and Anthony have proven their determination to succeed in this business, and have a relationship with their audience that is second to none in the industry," said Hollander. "CBS Radio is well known for having among its portfolio some of the best brands in radio, and it’s great to have O&A among that stable again. Loyal listeners of O&A have grown accustomed to a show that’s real and entertaining. As we move forward, we do so with confidence that this new enterprise will continue in that same spirit."
"XM’s agreement with CBS RADIO is a big win for everyone," said XM President and CEO Hugh Panero. "Opie & Anthony will now reach millions of new listeners and will continue to entertain the more than 6.5 million XM subscribers who have made their exclusive show on XM one of our most popular. XM is committed to creating the best content in radio and today’s announcement is an example of how we’re able to leverage it in a variety of ways that help build our business."
Meanwhile, in an unrelated development, O&A have been added back to the DirecTV line-up. Less than a week ago the satellite television company removed the High Voltage channel -- home of O&A and Ron & Fez -- from its lineup, but will now bring it back on DirecTV channel 879, according to foundrymusic.com.