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Wednesday, December 11, 2002

By Adrian McCoy

Will 2002 go down as the year shock radio short-circuited?

Consider two high-profile cases that cost three disc jockeys their livelihoods:

	WDVE morning show host Jim Krenn, left, and partner Randy Baumann have been promoted on billboards featuring scantily clad women and are in the middle of a contest in which the winner gets a breast-enhancement procedure as a Christmas present from the station. Krenn says his work as a stand-up comedian helps him set boundaries for what he does on radio. (Darrell Sapp, Post-Gazette)

In August, the top-rated syndicated morning team of Gregg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia, a k a Opie and Anthony, were fired for an on-air stunt many deemed offensive. The show, which was based in New York, broadcast a couple supposedly having sex in St. Patrick Cathedral. The public outcry included a petition by the Catholic League to have the station's broadcast license revoked.

In October, Phoenix radio announcer Beau Duran was dismissed for calling the widow of St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Darryl Kile a few months after his death, telling her she was "hot" and asking her for a date on the air.

Those notorious examples aside, most within radio industry circles pronounce the shock radio genre -- if you can call it that -- dinged and dented but still ticking. Getting attention is a big part of why edgy DJs and the controversies they inspire are tolerated and even encouraged at many stations.

"There's an ongoing conflict between attempts to get ratings and good taste," says Infinity Broadcasting vice president of programming/Pittsburgh Keith Clark. People getting fired over what they say on the air is nothing new. "It's happened over and over again through the years. But whenever it makes headlines, it's a call for everybody to back up and take a look at what you're doing."

So, is the medium creating a monster -- and then turning it into a scapegoat?

"[The firings] had a little bit of a chilling effect, more in the way management responds, as opposed to personalities policing themselves," says Alex DeMers, a Philadelphia-based rock radio consultant. "The Opie and Anthony thing got so much widespread play, the public realized they could pick up the phone and complain when someone offended them."

Still, it's not as if shock jocks are lining up at the unemployment office. "People are playing it a little smaller," says DeMers, "but raunchy content is alive and well." With so many new rock or active rock and sports talk formats aimed at young males, "the locker room will always be the locker room."

Playing it smaller means not crossing the line, and there are several factors tempering content these days. With a weak economy, stations don't want to see revenues drop because of offended listeners and nervous advertisers. And with a handful of large companies owning most radio stations, there are fewer places for a fired DJ to look for work.

As DeMers puts it, "If you're out of Clear Channel or Infinity, you're out."

Opie and Anthony's ratings were high, and they're considered by many to be top-notch radio talent.

"And yet they still decided to pull the trigger," says Gene Romano, senior vice president of programming for Clear Channel Communications. "That shot was heard loud and clear. You may score a big play, but if there's a penalty, it doesn't matter."

The backlash from those incidents is obvious, says Tom Taylor, editor of the radio trade publication Inside Radio/M Street. "If you're cruising along on the interstate, and you start seeing a few flashing red lights where cops have pulled over speeders, you probably slow down. ... That's what I'm seeing in radio. It's not only talent, it's also management which has put a mild foot on the brakes."

But, he adds, the key thing to remember is that radio disc jockeys are hired to get attention, and ultimately their challenge is to figure out how fast they can go without getting pulled over.

Romano says broadcast companies large and small put a lot of effort into establishing the standards for their staffs. But that doesn't mean they can't be provocative and outrageous. "The edgy morning shows that have been around a long time -- they're also smart. They've learned the instincts, maybe the hard way, on how far they can go."

In Pittsburgh, new rock WXDX-FM afternoon host Alan Cox thinks shock is on the decline, but for the wrong reasons.

"Rather than realizing how tired audiences have become after the 400th stripper interview, it's on the decline due to a Republican administration making station owners more skittish about the effects of questionable humor on their revenue," Cox says. "Combine that with 'shock' jocks lacking the actual creativity needed to stem audience erosion, and you have T&A jocks who become the scapegoats in a sudden wave of 'corporate conscience.' "

Even the syndicated Howard Stern, whose daily no-holds-barred broadcasts set the standard for a legion of imitators, has said he likely will hang it up at the end of his contract, and has cited censorship issues as one reason. In recent months, Stern, whose show airs locally on WXDX, broadcast a call from a pre-adolescent boy, bleeping out the kid's profanities and giving him a lecture on using bad language on the radio. It was a strange moment for longtime Stern listeners.

Cox thinks the wave of Stern wannabes in the radio business has missed the point.

"They only identify with his sensationalism, completely ignoring that Stern is a very intelligent and articulate guy. That's why he has remained so successful, and why he has no heir apparent. That ship has sailed, and it's time to find the next phase of subversive humor."

WXDX-FM afternoon host Alan Cox thinks shock is on the decline "due to a Republican administration making station owners more skittish about the effects of questionable humor on their revenue." (Andy Starnes, Post-Gazette)

The Pittsburgh airwaves generally are a far tamer place, although some listeners are offended by morning show bits and promotions. In recent months, rock stations such as WDVE and WRRK have taken heat for billboards and TV commercials featuring scantily clad women and provocative teasers. WDVE's current "Breast Christmas Ever" contest awards the winner a breast enhancement procedure as a holiday gift.

Infinity's Clark cites contemporary hits WBZZ-FM as the company's Pittsburgh station that tends to push the limits. Nonetheless, he believes what people might complain about here is "mild" compared to markets like New York or Los Angeles.

Indeed, most people who work in local rock radio -- a format that's constantly pushing the envelope -- found the New York and Phoenix stunts to be something they'd decide against putting on the air.

"It was one of those stunts that gives everybody a bad name," says WDVE-FM morning show producer Nik Del Greco. "We don't really get that outlandish. We try to push the limit, but not too far."

Classic rock WRRK-FM program director John Robertson concurs. "The Opie and Anthony thing was so far out there. Our staff has the common sense not to do something like that."

WDVE morning show host Jim Krenn says working as a stand-up comedian has given him an instinct for what's funny and what's just bad taste in terms of comedy material for the morning show.

"When you get up in front of a live audience," he says, "you really learn your boundaries because of the audience reaction. You get that live feel, the quick reaction, as far as material. That's helped me so much [in radio]."

In the end, shock radio all comes down to ratings. As long as edgy and provocative -- even offensive and gross -- broadcasts equals listeners, it will endure.

Adrian McCoy is a freelance writer who covers radio for the Post-Gazette.