Access Atlanta > Entertainment > Radio Talk > Archives > 2006 > October > 26
Thursday, October 26, 2006
10/27: Format changes at Clear Channel?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rumor #1: A few weeks back, I heard Lite 94.9 might go to a dance pop format called “Movin’ ” that would appeal to a much younger female audience with syndicated Whoopi Goldberg as morning host. The only issue I’d have is that Lite has been such a dominant Christmas player that it would make more sense to wait until after Christmas was over to do that.
Rumor #2: WGST might dump the Kimmer and Denny in favor of an all-news format (like WINS-AM or WCBS-AM in New York) except for Rush. (At 12:30 p.m. Friday, I got a hold of the Kimmer, who demurred. “I don’t have a comment about anything nor do I know anything,” he said, with that trademark laugh. “I’m happy to be working and being a proud American. I’m preparing my show as usual. I’ve been here since 7 a.m.”)
Rumor #3: Getting rid of 105.3/The Buzz for regional Mexican music to complement the current Spanish music format at Viva 105.7.
Rumor #4: With the Buzz gone, Clear Channel would move the active rock/alternative rock format over to 96rock.
Some of these changes could happen as soon as Monday the 30th.
Any thoughts, good or bad?
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10/27: Eric off the lawsuit
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jamie Hernan, the attorney for Yogi & Panda, informed me by email this evening that they’ve decided to take Eric Von Haessler off the civil lawsuit.
For Von Haessler, that’s small comfort. “At least I won’t lose my house now,” he noted. “I’m glad I’m not in the stupid lawsuit. But it’s a stupid lawsuit. And I feel bad that Larry is still on it.”
One amazing fact: Von Haessler said technically he can’t work for 90 days on Atlanta radio due to a non-compete clause in his contract. Despite the fact Clear Channel fired him without pay, he still has to abide by that. Theoretically, he noted, someone could punch their boss in the nose, then go to the rival company. But it does seem rather draconian and I’m not even sure legally enforceable.
He did say the Regular Guys as Larry and Eric is 100% over, that this time he won’t get back together with Larry as he did in 2005.
He also hates the fact that he’s being “treated like a criminal by Clear Channel.” He had planned to leave after his current contract was over in March 2007 and three weeks ago, management had begged him to stay, he said Thursday. Now he said he can’t even go back to the office. “My personal effects are being mailed to me,” he said.
Given what he’s heard about Yogi & Panda, it sounds like to him that the two Viva morning hosts “are getting as much as they can out of their career on the graves of the Regular Guys.”
He also said they hardly ever talked about Yogi & Panda specifically, but they presumed anytime the Regular Guys were talking about illegal immigrants or Mexicans, it was targeted at them. He said they used to joke that Spiff of Randy & Spiff was a drunkard, which they know is not the case but it was just a joke and Spiff understands that.
Von Haessler noted one irony: Clear Channel made the right move by starting a Hispanic FM music station. “But if they had never made that move, they would never have opened themselves up for charges of ethnic hostility.”
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10/26: Yogi/Panda using bodyguards
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There was reasonable speculation that Yogi & Panda would drop their lawsuit once Clear Channel fired the Regular Guys Monday. But according to their attorney Jamie Hernan, that’s not going to happen.
Clear Channel and Yogi & Panda negotiated, he said, but Yogi (Juan Tapia) & Panda (Jose Carias) couldn’t get reassurances that they wouldn’t be retaliated against for their lawsuit, which also targeted Clear Channel (as well as Larry Wachs and Eric Von Haessler). He said Yogi & Panda, who do mornings on Clear Channel Spanish language station Viva 105.7, are under contract through 2009.
Hernan also said they demanded reassurances that Clear Channel not be allowed to hire the Regular Guys ever again. Clear Channel, he said, refused to make that a condition.
“We attempted to withhold comment on the story as long as we could to allow for this to be resolved in as private a way as possible,” Hernan said. “For months, Yogi and Panda tried to resolve this internally without having to go to a lawsuit. It’s a nature of things that us withholding comment doesn’t stop the story. The story has been shifted by blog postings. We are absolutely shocked and floored by the emails we have been receiving. Just vulgar, racist emails.”
Yogi and Panda have had to hire bodyguards because they fear for their safety, he noted. And given that their boss Chuck Deskins has told employees not to discuss the case with the media, he doesn’t want to jeopardize their jobs by having them speak to me.
He also said Yogi & Panda have filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and plan to do so with the Federal Communications Commission. He declined to comment about the criminal charge against Regular Guys co-host Wachs for the restroom recording stunt Oct. 9 that led to their dismissal.
“We are loyal, team players and made every effort to handle this matter internally,� said Yogi in a press release. “However, after months of being ridiculed publicly without Clear Channel taking any action to stop it we finally had to draw the line and stand up to protect our rights. While we appreciate that Clear Channel terminated the employment of the Regular Guys, it is upsetting that we were forced to file a lawsuit and make this a public issue to get any response from the company. All we want to do is come to work, do our job and feel safe. Who should be subjected to a daily barrage of nasty comments and actions solely based on our race and the fact that we speak Spanish? What type of work environment is that?�
I’m sorry I can’t allow comments on this item because things went off the rails Tuesday and Wednesday. We had to take about 30 comments down.
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10/26: Eric’s turn to speak
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This is from Eric Von Haessler of the Regular Guys. He was mad as hell and wasn’t going to take it after he got fired Monday but the reality is, he can’t afford it and even if he won, he would have spent more money fighting it than he’d get back. In other words, it’s a Catch 22. He is trying to fight off the bitterness of the situation and fans can only hope he can.
Here are his thoughts:
To whom it may concern,
I write this as a man who has just been mugged. Your faithful radio friend feels as if he’s just been run over by a Mac truck and left for dead in the middle of the road.
For reasons known only to themselves Clear Channel has decided to fire me with cause based on trumped up charges that have been fabricated out of thin air. They have also lent their moral weight to a lawsuit filed against me by the hosts of the Viva morning show- a lawsuit which also happens to name them as defendants as well. Seem strange?
It is strange and gets stranger with every passing day. First of all, how did I ever get to a point in my life where I’m being sued by guys named Yogi and Panda over jokes made about their bathroom habits? It’s all in the company you keep, I guess. But I digress…
My first reaction to all of this in the press was that I would fight to the bitter end. After all, I’m right and they’re wrong and justice should be served. But it turns out that justice is a murky and possibly prohibitively costly concept to secure.
Every lawyer I’ve consulted has assured me that I have the facts on my side and that for just a couple of Brink’s trucks full of cash they’ll be glad to present my wonderful case in a court of law. The problem is that it’s likely to cost more money to win than the amount of money I would actually win- if I won. In which case I would have simply wasted a number of years of my life tilting at windmills. Not a prospect I look forward to.
I’m sure the folks at Clear Channel reading this are all smiles, since rolling over the little guy is what they’re designed to do, but I’m beginning to come to terms with the fact that sometimes the bad guys win and there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it.
I’ve been ambushed and I don’t know that there’s any reasonable expectation that a person can beat an ambush. So I’m thinking that I’ll just hire no lawyers and defend myself until judgments are made and all of this gets moved into the past.
The sad fact is that I know I’m in the right but I don’t think I have much of a chance against these guys. That’s humbling and instructive, but true.
It is important to me that fans know that I’m not full of B.S. here. The ‘controversial’ on-air bit that sparked all of this was approved beforehand by management. I, as an employee, do not have the right, let alone the duty to overrule management and kill an approved segment. Clear Channel knows this to be true, but they also know how much it will cost me to prove it.
Clear Channel has also helped spread the idea that I was somehow involved with creating a hostile workplace for those working on the Viva staff. Which is interesting since I haven’t had a single conflict with any member of their staff at any level- sales, programming, promotions, or any other department, in the nearly two years since my return to the building.
What Clear Channel and the hosts at Viva are doing to me and my family is immoral. But I’m learning that morality and the law are kissin’ cousins at best.
Honesty and integrity are quaint notions that I choose to live by. But they don’t have much currency when you’re up against immoral people who know how to work the system.
Bringing honesty to a battle with Clear Channel is like bringing a knife to a gunfight. So I think I might just go have a beer instead.
The hardest part in all of this is keeping from becoming completely bitter about everything that’s going on. But that’s a battle worth fighting. I won’t give into bitterness because, if left unchecked, bitterness consumes and eventually destroys the soul.
I’ve been ‘blessed’ with the Chinese curse of an interesting life and I wouldn’t have it any other way. My family and I will just huddle up with friends and loved ones and wait for the storm to pass.
It will pass.
They always do.*
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10/26: Porn Czar speaks
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Porn Czar (aka Tim Andrews), the former producer of 96rock, questions the usage of the term “shock jock” or “shock radio” as a journalistic crutch, that it’s not what Larry & Eric were at all. I agree with Tim that it is journalistic shorthand. But it’s recognizable to the average person and the reason most jocks hate the term is because it is pejorative and vaguely insulting. I know Larry and Eric hate the term and I’m sorry it was in there. But that’s the tradeoffs we make when summarizing what’s going on.
Here’s what Tim wrote cogently on his blog. What are you doing in radio, Tim? You should be a writer!
*Did anyone in Atlanta read Rodney Ho’s article, Potty Talk Ends Shock Radio Era in Atlanta this morning?
I read it, and while the Yogi y Panda bathroom “stunt” spelled the end of the Regular Guys Show on 96rock, it hardly spells the end of the Regular Guys Show, or any type of facsimile thereof, and…I can’t imagine anyone thinking TRG show was helmed by two so-called “shock jocks.â€? Not by a long shot, and anyone who thinks so, wasn’t a listener.
The term “shock radio” is ridiculous. It means absolutely nothing. It’s a crutch journalists (print and television) have used to describe the nefarious antics of wacky morning shows since the 1970s. But it doesn’t actually describe anything because not all morning shows are created equal.
For instance, Atlanta’s Star 94 is anchored by Steve & Vikki, a milquetoast, vanilla type of morning show for the easily amused and those with a vapid sense of humor. They are good at what they do, they serve their audience well, but they have no substance, which in my opinion serves Atlanta well; see Jezebel magazine if you don’t understand what I mean. It’s all steak, no sizzle. It’s what I call “oh you� radio – the male co-host says something silly, the female co-host says “oh you� and the soccer-mom giggles her way to the tennis club. Nothing too controversial, i.e., they don’t talk about anything.
Now, I pose a question, what’s so shocking about discussing things people do? Everyone screws (when, and if, they can), everyone farts, everyone picks their nose, and everyone takes a dump (some people even do it with their co-workers, at the same time, and chuckle like school boys).
Men, white men, aged 35-54 care about a lot of things besides sports. They like to talk politics, they like to discuss hot women, TV shows, movies, beer, music, porn, and yes, even farts. Farts are funny, man. You show me a guy who’s grossed out by a fart and I’ll show you a picture of Eric Von Haessler (he doesn’t like the smell, but I’ve seen him chuckle at one of my rips).
I grew up listening to the Howard Stern Show, and let me tell you, I was never shocked by anything they did. Truth be told, I laughed a lot and that’s shocking because very few things make me laugh. Opie and Anthony are funny guys, their show is good, and they talk about things that interest me without apologizing for it. Larry Wachs and Eric Von Haessler are funny guys (and great bosses), were funny pre-2004 and during the second go round.
In order for radio to remain successful, they need to embrace “more is more� (a play on my previous employer’s “Less is More� sales initiative) – more talent = more ratings = more money. Currently, Clear Channel embraces less talent + less commercials (which isn’t true, they’re have the same amount of spots only they’re thirty-seconds instead of sixty) = More REVENUE. I’m not good at math but anyone with a modicum of sense can tell that the numbers aren’t “adding up.�
Returning to Rodney Ho’s AJC article: He’s probably correct in assuming “shock radio� is dead in Atlanta. And, even though the statement is altogether wrong, commercially successful morning talk shows with a sense of humor featuring a group of people who don’t take themselves too seriously are dead in Atlanta.
We’re no better than you, the listener, and we never pretended to be. Note I say we because after a year on-air and after being fired, I feel I’ve earned the proper pronoun. The listener is just another member of the show, the gang, the group of pals. I felt that way in my teens and early 20s when I listened to Stern, and I felt that way two weeks ago when I was doing Michael McDonald during Regular Guys Squares.
The next morning show to be embraced by so many non-specific ethnicities without an entitlement mentality to be successful in this city will deserve the moniker “shock jocks� because it’ll be shocking to see such a thing actually happen.
Right on,
Curtis Washington (AKA Porn Czar, AKA Tim Andrews)*
