Suspended: Opie & Anthony

May 16, 2007 Off By Eric O'Brien

In the latest round of “Shock Jock” shake-ups, XM Satellite Radio’s Opie and Anthony have been suspended for 30 days. The suspension comes as the result of a segment on 5/9 – in which a character named “Homeless Charlie” used vulgar terms in a conversation about Condeleezza Rice, Laura Bush and Queen Elizabeth – and the 5/14 broadcast on which the pair joked further about the conversation. O&A apologized for the segment two days after it aired. On Monday’s program the duo called on other shock jocks to join the fight to allow shock jocks to be shocking.

In a statement released Tuesday, XM said, “Comments made by Opie and Anthony on yesterday’s broadcast put into question whether they appreciate the seriousness of the matter.” Content aired on Satellite Radio is not regulated by the FCC. O&A are the first to be suspended from Satellite Radio – a move which some analysts suspect is to keep the lawmakers, who will eventually decide on the XM/Sirius merger, happy.

The pair’s tamer program on terrestrial radio via CBS stations (including WTZN-FM 93.7) will continue despite the suspension from XM. Oddly enough, it was a CBS-owned station who fired the pair in 2002 after broadcasting a call from two listeners who claimed to be having sex in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in NYC.

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