Will Clear Channel fire Bob and Tom?

[kcwayne]

The Bob and Tom show is a nationally syndicated morning drive time radio program that has a fair amount of penetration in the US. I was listening to their program this morning and they had a guest comedian on that made two very offensive racial jokes.

On one she said she was promoting a new TV show about her and her black boyfriend called "Conjugal Visits". She went on to say that she was fat and had lost alot of weight, but not enough that white guys would do her.

The other joke I didn't catch all of it was something about Hispanics being incredibly lazy and some tie in to lawn mowers.

Bob and Tom did not acknowledge the offensiveness of what she said but her mike went silent for a few minutes. I thought they might have escorted her out of the room. Maybe they scolded her off air. However, she came back on she started making sexual jokes about fat people saying that if she and one of the other "personalities" in the room were to have sex it would be a foursome.

Here is the email I sent to them.

I listened to a segment of your program this morning (2/26/2004) and was deeply offended by the overtly racist jokes about blacks and Hispanics recited by your
guest comedian Lisa Lampanelli. Has someone in your marketing department decided that you need to appeal to the inbred white racist demographic?

I surely hope that you do not pay this cretin. You should impress upon your guests that if they think it is funny to champion rhetoric that makes DC Stevenson wannabes laugh, they should audition for the Rush Limbaugh show.

While Clear Channel may give you a raise for this sort of garbage, I am filing a complaint with the FCC in hope that someone over there will do their job.

I encourage people to quit listening to these rubes. Oh, for those of you that do not get the DC Stevenson reference, he was the head of the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana in the 1920's, and was sentenced to jail for the murder of a woman he brutally raped and poisoned. It broke the back of the KKK. Bob and Tom will get it because they broadcast out of Indianapolis, which is where DC lived until he went to prison.

I don't see much distinction between what they did and the event surrounding Howard Stern. In fact, they should have had more control over the comedian, because she was in the control room, unlike an outside caller in Howard's case.

[LeftHander]

1. I never listen to that crap

radio or any Clear Channel stations....

[KissMyAsscroft]

2. Clear Channel gets about as much listening from me as Faux News..

Which is zero.

I think all independant media needs to work together to get ownership of our airwaves that won't be used in the manner in which Clear Channel uses their grip.

[Nlighten1]

3. Bob and Tom are on Clear Channel?

Well that explains Tom's right-wing attitude.

[Killarney]

4. This is important!

CC can just claim that they are forced to ax Stern by the FCC but if we can show that they change their tune based on whether or not the show is liberal (stern) or conservative (b&t) leaning... then we have a case against CC.

[Killarney]

5. Are Bob & Tom conservative leaning?

Or do they talk bad about Bush like Stern does?

[kcwayne]

6. Tom is a conservative

and Bob is just a hedonist that spends his spare time on nude beaches and counting his money. I don't listen to them alot lately but I can't recall him ever saying anything political, other than concurring politely Tom is ranting about something.

Tom is not a conservative in the Rush Limbaugh model. He wants freedom of speech to talk about penises and Michael Jackson's pediphelia because that's what gets them their money. He just wants liberals to shut up about freedom and ethics. He is a big Toby Keith fan if that gives you a clue.

[nickinSTL]

8. Alleged pedophilia

Michael Jackson has not yet been convicted.

He may or may not be guilty, but until convicted, it's alleged.

[Indiana Democrat]

10. Tom is not a conservative.

I've been listening to them since they first started in Indianapolis back in the mid-eighties. If anything, he's a bit libertairian. But for the most part, he hates all politicians. I can't hardly blame him.

Oh, and by the way...

The premis of this thread is assanine. Bob and Tom are not racists.

[KharmaTrain]

7. Setting Things Straight...

First, the Stern "suspension" by Clear Channel had little to no effect as Stern's show originates and primarily airs on Infinity Stations (owned by Viacom...CBS, MTV, Spike, etc....). Thus I got to hear Stern this morning on his Chicago affiliates (an Infinity station) as well as those in New York, LA, St. Louis, Detroit and most the large markets. The Clear Channel stations are in smaller markets.

Yes, I believe there was poltical motivation due to the close relationships between Tom Hicks and Lowery Mayes of Clear Channel and this corrupt regime. Personally, I think this is a stupid move as censorship only helps build up the ones it intends to bring down. A classic example is George Carlin's 7-dirty words on WBAI in New York in the early 70's...he became a cult hero. Stern's always thrived when he's the victim...and his listeners in the markets where he's off are sure to take up the cause.

Regarding Bob & Tom...many around the country haven't had the "pleasure" to hear these adolescent hyenias from Indianapolis. Typical T & A humor with non-stop laughter that gets on your nerves.
The show originate from Emmis Broadcasting...and most the affiliates are small and medium markets around the Midwest.

Clear Channel once carried the show in Chicago, but the ratings were abysmal and were quickly dropped...never to be heard from again. I picked up on the Stephenson reference on your post (don't get on any strange trains)...but this is typical of not just this but a whole bunch of "morning zoos"...designed for men 25-54 with lots of racial, sexual and even relgious overtones.

Bob & Tom won't get the play a Stern does, since they don't have the name or the audience. Hicks & Co. were out to make a statement that is token at best and that wouldn't hurt their stations. Stern was the quick way out as it would make the headlines, yet really hold little teeth...especially since CC does produce and distribute a ton of Right Wing Hate Radio.

[Sgt. Peppers]

9. I liked Bob and Tom, but they just replay old jokes

They would do better to just grow up a bit.