Originally Posted On May 18, 2007 12:21 PM ET
O&A Sponsors, Fans React To XM Suspension
By Keith Berman, Kevin Carter and Mike Boyle
Pro-Opie & Anthony support is coming from a very unusual place: their advertisers. Under what passes for normal circumstances, you'd see sponsors pull out of a show to distance themselves from something negative the hosts said or did. In this case, it's the opposite, as a couple of clients are actually dropping their advertising because XM suspended O&A.
In a letter posted on his company's Web site, Nashville Coffee GM, Lou Galli went off on XM: "It is apparent that XM Radio is beholden to crybaby special interest groups who cannot separate humor from reality," he wrote, saying he's not only pulled his own ads, but also contacted other O&A sponsors and encouraged them to do the same.
Galli added, "It is also unfortunate that XM Radio executives don't have the guts to stand up for their on-air talent."
Adult company Adameve.com has plans to yank its spots as well, with this note posted on the People Against Censorship (P.A.C.) Web site (peopleagainstcensorship.org) from the company’s Libby Lynn:
“Just wanted to let you know that PAC is making a difference. Today, I received several phone calls from P.A.C. members, asking us to stop advertising on XM202 in light of the recent suspension of Opie & Anthony. After meeting with our marketing team, Adameve.com has decided to cancel our advertisements on XM202 until and unless Opie & Anthony are allowed back on the air. Our ads should stop airing some time next week, and we will be sending out an official press release on Monday, 5/21/07. As an adult company with a long history of fighting for our First Amendment rights, freedom of speech issues are extremely important to Adameve.com and our parent company, PHE. We are a proud member of the Free Speech Coalition, and our founder, Phil Harvey, is a vocal and politically active opponent of First Amendment violations.”
XM is also apparently feeling the heat from some subscribers. In a poll conducted on the P.A.C.’s Web site, as of Friday morning (May 18) over 3,200 people claimed they've cancelled their XM subscriptions over the O&A mess, with another group of more than 1,600 subscribers saying they've put their subscriptions on hold until the show comes back.
In another letter posted on the P.A.C. Web site, Nashville Coffee’s Galli wrote:
“Just want to let you know that we pulled our advertising from XM. It's a shame. We just increased our sponsorship last week because it was going so well. FYI -- I also cancelled my 12 XM Radio accounts. Guess we will go back to listening to CDs.”
P.A.C. is the group behind a three-day XM suspension protest that has been going on outside O&A’s CBS Radio studios in New York from 6 a.m.-9 a.m. since May 16 and is set to conclude Friday (May 18).
This all began with the May 10 airing of a bit on O&A's XM show that centered on a character named “Homeless Charlie,” who declared his desire to sexually assault secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, first lady Laura Bush and Queen Elizabeth. The duo has since apologized for the incident and XM issued a statement denouncing it.
XM might not have taken action at all if it hadn't been for Opie and Anthony’s May 14 comments on their XM show about the bit and the reaction it caused, which included this exchange: Opie: "You do work for a company, they do pay you, so you have to obey their dumb regulations." Anthony responded: "If people don't like it, you get poor ratings and you lose the show."
XM Satellite Radio announced a 30-day suspension for O&A on May 15 following those comments and said that by the duo uttering them they “put into question whether they appreciate the seriousness of the matter. The management of XM Radio decided to suspend Opie and Anthony to make clear that our on-air talent must take seriously the responsibility that creative freedom requires of them.”
XM was not immediately available to comment on the advertiser cancellations and the validity of the poll numbers from the P.A.C.'s Web poll.
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