💼 Careercow Anthony Cumia - A once successful radio host crashes and burns, turning on all his fans and the drama around it

  • 🏰 The Fediverse is up. If you know, you know.
  • Want to keep track of this thread?
    Accounts can bookmark posts, watch threads for updates, and jump back to where you stopped reading.
    Create account
Tanner Glass said:
It's never confirmed as such, but feels fairly obvious that Mel Karmazin was already looking to exit Viacom (who owned Infinity) and knew he was already going to Sirius (where he would be CEO over Stern's initial reign) and got Stern to buy in and go to Sirius while promising him the world.
Click to expand...
It's pretty much confirmed in the lawsuits and some of the Epstein stuff with Leon Black. That Stern and his people were going to sign with Sirius, then turn his last year at terrestrial into a four hour satellite radio commercial, nearly every day. Stern promoting the Sirius move was a violation of various stock trading laws, but of course rules for jews are different, so nothing really happened. Around the time Leon Black was meeting daily with Stern to negotiate his Sirius contract then pump the stock through Epstein's contacts he was also accused of raping a retarded teenage girl repeatedly. Or in Stern terms a 'conqueror' girl. And had a few other rape allegations against him that went nowhere because the police and FBI just ignored them.

Leon Black's family is closely tied with Trump. Black once worked with Michael Milken, no surprise a jew, who was fined $600 million for insider trading and then ratted to avoid jail. Years later Trump would pardon him on Leon Black's recommendation. Black would end up paying Epstein over $150 for 'estate planning'. Black and Trump would often attend parties with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell were attending. One time when one of Epstein's rape parties on his island attracted police, Leon Black gave the U.S. Virgin Islands government $62 million to look to settle the crimes. Nothing to see here.

Stern's lawyers and managers also did tons of insider trading on Sirius stock. As did Leon Black and Jeffrey Epstein through Apollo Global Management. Leon Black would insider trade like crazy in the open and throw huge parties with the profits. He still does the same with Trump currently. Stern mentioned Leon Black on the air constantly. Any time Stern talked about a big party in the Hamptons it was a Leon Black event. Once Black was outed as being a major Epstein associate his name was blacklisted from the air and Stern ordered Marci Turk and Jason to scrub his name from old replays.
Tanner Glass said:
Howard not only got gigantic piles of money but got to turn his terrestrial contract into a full blown advertisement for Sirius for 2 entire years while Opie and Anthony only got to advertise on Wackbag Forums (in secret). Mel was likely all too happy to waste Viacom money and fuck Opie over at the same time.
Click to expand...
Mel Karmazin probably made over $500 million for himself from Sirius in cash and stock payouts.
 
Hey Johnny Bravo said:
Sirius management didn't even know how to make Sirius successful. Their strategy was to put all their eggs in the Howie basket, and look how that turned out.
Click to expand...
Sirius is just staying afloat with car dealers. Outside of Howie, there is no relevant show worth subscribing to on there.

Tanner Glass said:
and I think while Opie knew that, he didn't think that Howard / Mel would spend $10-20 million dollars just to keep O&A off the air for 2 years. Not just eating the time left on the entire O&A show contract, but also losing their audience and money they would have generated over those two years as well. Opie always seemed to get (not in this case, but..) that as long as the business is making money from you - they're very inclined to keep you around.

It's never confirmed as such, but feels fairly obvious that Mel Karmazin was already looking to exit Viacom (who owned Infinity) and knew he was already going to Sirius (where he would be CEO over Stern's initial reign) and got Stern to buy in and go to Sirius while promising him the world. Howard not only got gigantic piles of money but got to turn his terrestrial contract into a full blown advertisement for Sirius for 2 entire years while Opie and Anthony only got to advertise on Wackbag Forums (in secret). Mel was likely all too happy to waste Viacom money and fuck Opie over at the same time.
Click to expand...
There’s a theory that XM Radio wasn’t entirely enthusiastic about bringing Opie & Anthony on board after Infinity forced them to sit out their contract. When XM eventually signed them in '04, it wasn’t for a standard placement among the regular lineup of featured music and talk channels; they were instead being pushed to Premium-only channels, which required an extra subscription fee of a couple of dollars a month. This arrangement wasn’t just about making more money from new subs; it was a deliberate buffer. XM executives were fully aware of the duo’s controversial reputation, especially being known as the “Church Fuckers” ala Sex for Sam 3, Behind closed doors, management reportedly viewed the pair as a risky but potentially lucrative gamble: they knew Opie & Anthony had a fiercely loyal audience that would follow them anywhere, but there was real unease about associating the fledgling satellite service’s brand with shock jocks who were still radioactive from the public backlash. The premium-tier setup was, in essence, XM’s way of testing the waters, keeping them onboard for the subscriber boost, but at a safe distance from the rest of the company’s more mainstream programming. Hell, they didn't even have right to name their own channel in the first few months being on the air. They really couldn't do much to promote the show, as you mentioned, Wackbag, and obviously Jim Norton or other comedians who went on the air for a couple of plugs.
 
basically gayer fez said:
The premium-tier setup was, in essence, XM’s way of testing the waters, keeping them onboard for the subscriber boost, but at a safe distance from the rest of the company’s more mainstream programming.
Click to expand...
The premium tier for O&A was done for the same reason Howard had a premium sub. It made more money. And also because it was the best way to see if those shows were actually driving subscriptions. As both XM and Sirius didn't have a way at getting user data from activated radios. Now it's the standard on practically every single streaming service. Where you get the ad tier, ad free tier, then 4K premium.
 
Hey Johnny Bravo said:
Wait, so E-Rock is mad because Opie didn't hire him to work at Westwood One?
Click to expand...
No, E-Rock was hired by Tim Sabian to produce Opie, and Opie wouldn't let him do his job. Opie denied this, E-Rock has texts to prove it. It's easy to get confused because Opie reacts like a textbook Cluster B here.
 
Solomon Bundy said:
No, E-Rock was hired by Tim Sabian to produce Opie, and Opie wouldn't let him do his job. Opie denied this, E-Rock has texts to prove it. It's easy to get confused because Opie reacts like a textbook Cluster B here.
Click to expand...
If E-Rock was hired by Westwood One, wouldn't he have a paystub rather than texts? I'm not saying Opie is telling the complete truth here, but there's a difference between "Opie didn't want to hire me" and "I was hired and Opie screwed me."
 
TheHarbinger said:
The premium tier for O&A was done for the same reason Howard had a premium sub. It made more money. And also because it was the best way to see if those shows were actually driving subscriptions. As both XM and Sirius didn't have a way at getting user data from activated radios. Now it's the standard on practically every single streaming service. Where you get the ad tier, ad free tier, then 4K premium.
Click to expand...
It was still fairly new technology at the time, and the premium tier didn't even last a couple of years with the rebranding of the ViRUS Channel. I just had a feeling why they put O&A in the category with Playboy Radio, charging an extra $2 on top of the standard $11? per month at the time. But you answered it better than I could have.
 
Hey Johnny Bravo said:
If E-Rock was hired by Westwood One, wouldn't he have a paystub rather than texts? I'm not saying Opie is telling the complete truth here, but there's a difference between "Opie didn't want to hire me" and "I was hired and Opie screwed me."
Click to expand...
I think the screwing over was Opie tanking his own show by refusing to listen to others (including E-Rock and Sabian) IIRC
 
Solomon Bundy said:
No, E-Rock was hired by Tim Sabian to produce Opie, and Opie wouldn't let him do his job. Opie denied this, E-Rock has texts to prove it. It's easy to get confused because Opie reacts like a textbook Cluster B here.
Click to expand...
Even if E-Rock has a fucking full video confession by Opie that's still mainly on him.

On what planet do you see (and participate in) the absolute motherfucking Opie has done to producers (Steve C, Stuntbrain, Ben, Rick, etc) and decide "Yeah I'll get hired and not talk to him about it. He clearly likes when Management goes over his head" and wonder why it went badly.

Not even just Opie (who is probably a bit of a primadonna) but if you interview at a producer level for "The X Show" and "X" isn't part of the interview process - that's a huge red flag.
 
Hamburger Detractor said:
Actually it'd be about $499,990,000. Don't forget about that time he was robbed by a FUCHITIVE!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=5sAuqLwpm7s
(Pretty sure I posted this not too long ago but any reason to post the greatest bit from the O&A later years)
Click to expand...
Opie getting mad at every fugitive bit never ceases to give me douche chills.

"The Fugitive is all about Fresh Thinking and Healthy Eating at Pita Pit©"
 
This is a total non-sequitur, but there's a piece of O&A lore that I've never been able to figure out: who was the enormously fat female DJ who had a sexy voice, and the station put her behind a tree in a promo photo? I've always wanted to see pictures out of morbid curiosity and maybe find an aircheck to hear her voice. However, I've never been able to find any info besides the boys alluding to it. It sounds like O&A actually felt bad for her and liked her, so they never named her and burned that bridge.
 
Hey Johnny Bravo said:
Sirius management didn't even know how to make Sirius successful. Their strategy was to put all their eggs in the Howie basket, and look how that turned out.
Click to expand...
In Sirius's defense, nothing was going to make satellite radio a super successful venture. Ignoring the fact that it came along way too late and the emergence of internet content dethroning the last bastions of radio, satellite radio still isn't a well thought out idea. No one was going to pay money for something that they could get for free and is naturally built into every car. Having uncensored content obviously was a major draw when shock jock radio was at its peak, but as time went on and that fad ended there was no real draw.

What Sirius is today is what satellite radio was always going to end up being and the most successful form it could possibly take.
Tanner Glass said:
Even if E-Rock has a fucking full video confession by Opie that's still mainly on him.

On what planet do you see (and participate in) the absolute motherfucking Opie has done to producers (Steve C, Stuntbrain, Ben, Rick, etc) and decide "Yeah I'll get hired and not talk to him about it. He clearly likes when Management goes over his head" and wonder why it went badly.

Not even just Opie (who is probably a bit of a primadonna) but if you interview at a producer level for "The X Show" and "X" isn't part of the interview process - that's a huge red flag.
Click to expand...
It sounds to me like fat ass is just looking for someone to blame for why he was unable to find another job after getting shitcanned from Sirius. You are in a dying industry that isn't what it once was Erock. Jobs are always going to be limited. You didn't help yourself by being on a show with a completely negative public reputation where you of course were involved in plenty of negative things that could be attached to your name.

I am sure if you had asked Opie ahead of time about trying to get a job on his new show he may have actually helped you out. I obviously don't know if Opie had any ill feelings towards Erock for all the backstage drama behind ONA, but given that he was at a low point in his life after Sirius fired him he may have been willing to throw Erock a bone for loyalty.

Why would Erock even want to work with Opie considering throughout the entire run of ONA on satellite he constantly shit on the guy? You always made it clear Erock that you hated your job and those that you worked with. Was the little amount of clout you received that much of an incentive?
 
LordofCringe7206 Vol. 2 said:
In Sirius's defense, nothing was going to make satellite radio a super successful venture. Ignoring the fact that it came along way too late and the emergence of internet content dethroning the last bastions of radio, satellite radio still isn't a well thought out idea. No one was going to pay money for something that they could get for free and is naturally built into every car. Having uncensored content obviously was a major draw when shock jock radio was at its peak, but as time went on and that fad ended there was no real draw.

What Sirius is today is what satellite radio was always going to end up being and the most successful form it could possibly take.
Click to expand...
lmfaooo when CBS tried to compete and (failed very horribly) for "Free FM" to go against both Sirius and XM at the time, people didn't even bother with the hot talk formats, especially back then, when most of the terrestrial radio stations became feeding troughs for the same 10-20 pop songs, or sports radio.

Now, with all the podcasts and streaming services being available on your phone, it has been the new media direction for the last decade, especially now that car companies are starting to shift away from AM or even FM radio and go all in on just using your phone, connect with bluetooth, and go to Audacy or iHeartRadio and stream the stations from your phone.
 
basically gayer fez said:
lmfaooo when CBS tried to compete and (failed very horribly) for "Free FM" to go against both Sirius and XM at the time, people didn't even bother with the hot talk formats, especially back then, when most of the terrestrial radio stations became feeding troughs for the same 10-20 pop songs, or sports radio.

Now, with all the podcasts and streaming services being available on your phone, it has been the new media direction for the last decade, especially now that car companies are starting to shift away from AM or even FM radio and go all in on just using your phone, connect with bluetooth, and go to Audacy or iHeartRadio and stream the stations from your phone.
Click to expand...
I actually loved the FM shows because it was fun to see the dump reports and watch how the boys tried to get around (or mock) the censors. The walkovers were great. Louis CK getting constantly dumped out was funny.

Also, maybe I'm just an old fart, but I still listen to AM and FM radio a lot. There's an aesthetic and meaty history to radio as a format, something Denny Falcone showcased with his awesome radio history bits (which Opie & Anthony loved, as evidenced by them asking him to bring that stuff in). All the instant gratification and invasive everything-connected aspects of new online media is, in my opinion, a key reason why it will see a decline. People increasingly don't want to own a car that will harvest your user data, for example.

Maybe I'm wrong. It could also be that I'm in an area with lots of independent radio stations on AM and FM. If someone lives in an area where all you get are top 40 stations and morning zoo drivel the likes of which O&A would Jocktober, then what I'm saying probably sounds retarded.
 
Hey Johnny Bravo said:
I actually loved the FM shows because it was fun to see the dump reports and watch how the boys tried to get around (or mock) the censors. The walkovers were great. Louis CK getting constantly dumped out was funny.

Also, maybe I'm just an old fart, but I still listen to AM and FM radio a lot. There's an aesthetic and meaty history to radio as a format, something Denny Falcone showcased with his awesome radio history bits (which Opie & Anthony loved, as evidenced by them asking him to bring that stuff in). All the instant gratification and invasive everything-connected aspects of new online media is, in my opinion, a key reason why it will see a decline. People increasingly don't want to own a car that will harvest your user data, for example.

Maybe I'm wrong. It could also be that I'm in an area with lots of independent radio stations on AM and FM. If someone lives in an area where all you get are top 40 stations and morning zoo drivel the likes of which O&A would Jocktober, then what I'm saying probably sounds retarded.
Click to expand...
Don't get me wrong, I loved the terrestrial radio shows not just for how O&A tried to get around censors, but for the "theater of the mind" type shows (wiffleball bats, 55 gallon drums, homeless shopping spress) they were able to do until years later when corporate suits stepped in and made it so that if you told a minor joke deemed "offensive," you sit out for a week. That really reflects about how soft radio in general has gotten with the modern-day climate, being reduced to background noise that you might hear in a store or restaurant in passing. Even back then, when Opie & Anthony went after those morning zoo radio shows, a lot of the points that they made were right for how terrestrial radio has no originality, paying for prepburger bits that some program director or general manager shoves down a disk jockey's throat in meetings. And yes, radio stations today still do "War of the Roses", and especially "The Fugitive"...

I still listen to AM/FM simply, it's a format that is available, not behind a paywall, especially for history, like Denny mentions with the 60s-70s news clips and shock jock bits, which I get his point that disk jockeys nowadays don't have any soul or excitement, driving listeners to check out their shows and make a name for themself.

Iron Hamster said:
That was the original allure of Stern too. It's odd no one realizes this.
Click to expand...
Back then, terrestrial radio reached out to a lot more people. Stern, in his heyday, had 20 million* listeners and was able to market himself a whole lot better than "his clones" (in his own words) did, albeit he had to follow the same FCC rules that every show/station did.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom