John DePetro Back

As news came today about the dismissal of Dean Blundell, one other shock jock got better news.

Rhode Island talk show host, John DePetro was back on the air today after he was taken off air in mid-November due to some crude comments (to be exact he called some protesters, “union hags” and “whores”). He was back despite union chiefs, state representatives on both sides of the floor and even the governor himself petitioning to get rid of DePetro…meaning DePetro must be bringing in crazy good ratings.

As for the man, and his thoughts, he saw this as “nothing more than politicians and unions trying to interfere and silence public opinion.”

Some people, I tell you.

-The Copy Writer-

Dean Blundell Show Done?

Back Story Here: Dean Blundell Show Suspended

It seems all but certain now, Dean Blundell has been fired from the Edge, it appears.

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-The Copy Writer-

UPDATE: Well, this is it. From the man’s mouth.

 

A Brief Look At Freedom Of Speech And The Media

Unless your current mailing address is under rock, than you’ve probably heard about the whole “Duck Dynasty” fiasco. To sum it up, main character, Phil Robertson, said in a magazine interview that he doesn’t understand where gay people are coming from and what they do is sinful. He also mentioned that black people were much happier in a time period when they had heavily restricted rights. Hmmmmm. Naturally, the network his TV show is on, A&E suspended Phil Robertson because they wanted the world to know that’s not where they stand.

Where the story gets more interesting is that many fans actually stuck up for their favourite redneck, and now news is coming in that his suspension has been lifted. Begging the questions to be asked, should he have been suspended in the first place? What is the role of the network? What does this mean for radio?

Should he have been suspended? What is the role of the network? In my opinion, that should be completely up to the network. It’s their investment, their name on the line so who would be better to make that desision? Whether it’s right or wrong, they will be the ones who will have to live with the consequences…positive or negative.

What does this mean for radio? Ahhh I’m glad you’ve asked, because I’ve been thinking about this a lot. Quite frankly, turn on any AM talk station, or edgy morning host and you will be able to hear something just as offensive. Guaranteed. So why don’t people care about that? Well this is how I see it: people listen to what they want to hear on the radio. I doubt you will find many liberals listening to Rush Limbaugh, and as a result, many won’t protest the crap that comes out of his mouth. What happened in Robertson’s case was that the story went viral, crossing almost every platform and it hit everyone, not just the viewers of his show or the readers of the magazine. The story was unavoidable, and because of that, he was screwed from the start. With that being said, with the ability to share things easily over the internet, I wouldn’t be surprised if in the near future, the same thing happens on a similar scale with a syndicated shock jock. With such things as podcasts, anyone can access and share potential offensive views at any time, meaning every announcer could be potentially one slip up away from being hunted.

As it turns out, I wouldn’t be surprised if this was just some big marketing ploy, and it will likely work, as these things usually do. Of course, not everyone is so lucky when it comes to saying controversial things….just ask Dean Blundell.

-The Copy Writer-

Happy Holidays

You may have noticed the lack of posts over the last couple of days… Well, it is Christmas, and everything seems to be winding down for the season, but no complaints here!

Wishing all of you a Merry Holiday Season, and if you’re working tomorrow, I hope the PD takes pity on you and brings in some Christmas baking!

-The Copy Writer-

Radio Vs. Artist

Back in college I was at a hip-hop station. And I have to say, if I had a nickel for every time I heard that we “didn’t support local hip-hop”, I would have never had to find a job. Really. Now what those people would usually overlook is that their music simply was not radio friendly…poorly produced, bad language and far too underground sounding.

As you can imagine, the bigger the station, the more shots it gets taken at it, and since Hot 97 is the top of the top in the hip-hop world, it gets shots taken at it often.

This latest round comes compliments of Talib Kweli, who started on twitter, calling out PD Old Man Ebro for not supporting NY hip-hop. Now what Ebro did in return, was genius in my opinion. He invited Talib in.

 

Not only did he take the issue face on, but due to the amount of build up this had, he was able to pump up some major social media numbers. There is a reason why Hot 97 is still the power house it is. They are the best at social media and they are the best in their genre.

Definitely a good watch for all of you interested in the music.

-The Copy Writer-

Jock Announces Addiction To Pot and Pain Medication On Air

Chicago talk host, Dan McNeil, has announced his return to WSCR-AM after a 7 week absence due to an addiction to marijuana (wait a second…) and pain medications.

While we here at Records in Milk Crates wish him only the best, this is not the first instance of an absence/comeback for McNeil and we genuinely hope he has taken the time to actually get himself better.

If you want to hear his comeback episode, be sure to check this out.

-The Copy Writer-

Sunday Night Radio

It’s not often a guy like me gets time to enjoy the radio, but tonight I got to do just that.

After a long day of Christmas festivities with the family, I had a long drive home alone. Just me and the radio. First I turned on an all Christmas station, then the Eagles game. You know, there is still something special about listening to the radio while driving at night. Maybe it’s just me, but the feeling is just so darn therapeutic.

Anyways, no news tonight, but sometimes you have to step away from that and just admire the magic of the airwaves.

-The Copy Writer-

Radio Praised For Helping To Build A Nation

In the creation of any nation, there are things that are credited with “building,” said country. In my home and native land, Canada, the building of a nationwide railway, the re-capture of Vimy Ridge in World War One are just some of the things credited with the building of this nation.

Today, the Pakistani Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Pervaiz Rashid credited Radio Pakistan with being a vibrant media which had been playing an effective role in nation-building. Also saying, “generations would come and go but the Radio Pakistan will remain alive.”

Too often, it seems that radio is being slagged for being archaic, out of touch and soon to be extinct. Our national broadcaster is seen as all of that and a “waste of money”, according to the attitudes of the latest government.  It’s time that national broadcasters be seen for what they are, national treasures, ways to communicate ideas nationwide.

A few other cool facts about Radio Pakistan: It offers programming in 21 languages, and covers 97% of the country, and if your familiar with the country, that’s pretty darn impressive.

-The Copy Writer-

Media Researcher Predicts The Demise Of Radio… Again

Well, its not the first time, that’s for sure. First it was TV that was supposed to kill radio, more recently satellite radio was to act as the grim reaper to terrestrial radio. Now, according to IBISWorld, an industry research publisher, it will be streaming services and mp3s as well as competing mediums in combination, in combination with lack of interest and a slumping economy that will do the industry.

Taken right from the report, ““Radio’s role will not be eliminated overnight, but will instead diminish slowly as companies dedicate more resources to reaching consumers online.” Now I don’t claim to be any sort of industry expert, but a few things are amiss.

1) I tune in to the radio for companionship on my drives, it offers interesting opinions and banter that I don’t get from an mp3 player.

2)Other people agree, as currently the most popular format of radio is talk radio, pulling in ten percent of radio listeners.

3) Despite predictions in the report that revenue will fall annually by 2.5% over the next 5 years, radio posted 1% growth this year…otherwise seen as a very tough economic year.

As my radio profs often told me, what radio has going for it is the “local”  factor, and as long as we keep that, we will always have something our competition.

-The Copy Writer-

New York Radio Dynasty Comes To An End

As a radio jock, the top of the top is New York City,once you’ve made it there, you can make it anywhere. Needless to say it takes years of perfecting your craft and learning what makes your audiences tick but sometimes you have to wonder if perhaps, there are some jocks who are born ready for New York.

If there was anyone born with a radio sense, it would be John R. Gambling, who signed off for the last time in New York today on WOR. John, was the third member of his family to rule New York morning airwaves, and his departure today marked the end of an 88 year uninterrupted New York morning radio dynasty.  John R, who was preceded by his father John S. and his grandfather John A, was visited today on his show by Donald Trump, Bill O’Reilly and even Mayor Bloomberg.

No matter who you are related to, it’s no easy task to work in big apple radio,  and stay there. Happy retirement, Rambler.

-The Copy Writer-