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95X Ditches Opie & Anthony

July 14, 2008 by CNYRadio.com

Citadel rocker 95X (WAQX) has once again changed its morning show.  Effective today, the syndicated Opie & Anthony Show is out, and locally-programmed "Shut Up & Rock Mornings" are in.  WAQX had carried the O&A show since January 2007.

A poster on Radio-Info.com's Syracuse/Utica board suspects the sudden change means "the deathwatch is on" for 95X, which is now on its third morning show since dropping the long-running Howard Stern show before his historic move from terrestrial to satellite radio.

According to Radio and Records, middayer/PD Alexis is hosting the new morning show through Thursday, when she'll be relieved by Paulie Scibilia "for the foreseeable future."  R&R says the removal of O&A from the Syracuse airwaves "appears to be an economic decision."

Ironically, WAQX reportedly dropped Stern before his move to satellite, because Citadel was upset about Stern's frequent mentions of Sirius leading up to his move.  But the entire time O&A were carried on WAQX, they were being simulcast on XM Satellite Radio... and their terrestrial show is followed by another three hours available exclusively on the bird.

UPDATED 7/15/08 - A former station insider reminds us that this is actually the second time 95X has dropped Opie & Anthony.  (It was in one of the archive articles mentioned below, but we forgot to mention it in today's article.)  O&A temporarily filled the morning drive slot for the weeks between Stern's removal and Beaner & Ken's arrival.  At the time, O&A were only on XM Satellite Radio, and much of their content was not suitable for terrestrial radio.  This required 95X to air the show on a one-day delay.  The station would record the show as it aired on XM, edit out any objectionable content, and then fill the holes with songs, so the show would still time out properly when it aired the following morning.  (We imagine that task won't be appearing on any "all-time favorite jobs in radio" lists anytime soon.)

95X Morning Show Timeline

  • June 1996: Starts carrying Howard Stern (source: Wikipedia)
  • October 2004: Stern announces plans to move to Sirius Satellite Radio
  • December 1, 2004: WAQX and other Citadel stations cut off Stern at 10am (and Stern takes time on-air to criticize 95X then-middayer Ryno's open letter about Stern's impending departure)
  • Later in December 2004: Stern goes on vacation; rather than airing "best of" shows, WAQX opts to air Opie & Anthony on a one-day delay
  • January 3, 2005 (same article as above): Stern returns from vacation; WAQX continues airing O&A on delay
  • February 2005: Beaner and Ken morning show begins
  • January 2007: Beaner and Ken replaced by Opie & Anthony (source: Northeast Radio Watch)
  • July 2008: Opie & Anthony replaced by "Shut Up & Rock Mornings"

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