Entercom’s KRXQ 98 Rock Sacramento pulled their syndicated morning show, “Rob, Arnie and Dawn” after crosstown CBSSports1140 morning host Don Geronimo called out the trio for jokes they made about Boston, a day after the marathon bombings.
Geronimo, who aired in afternoon for years on CBS Radio’s WJFK-FM DC, criticized the morning crew on his show for discussing if it’s “too soon” to make jokes about Boston and joking about a “top 5 list” of reasons to hate the city.
“Maybe I’m the one with the problem. I’m the one who’s the shock jock doing the shock jock radio show and I don’t feel good doing jokes about what happened in Boston,” Geronimo said on this show.
At one point, with fake Boston accents, Rob, Artie and Dawn talked about people losing their limbs. They go on to discuss how one couple’s relationship might change after one man went to see his girlfriend at the finish line and lost his legs, reported CBS Sacramento.
“He’ll hold that over her head forever. Yeah she can never leave him now. No she can’t,” they said.
A statement was then posted, criticizing Geronimo was posted on the Rob, Arnie and Dawn website: “Our show came under attack from a Sacramento radio host who would love to call himself a ‘competitor,’ but who instead is just another bottom-feeder looking and hoping for ways to better himself by disparaging and defaming us, our show and others in the local media market.”
Geronimo responded, “It bothers me even more when I read this bull “s” statement which is blaming me. It’s blaming me for simply pointing out what they did on their radio show.”
The trio’s statement also criticized 98 Rock’s decision to pull the show: “For reasons unclear to us, our Sacramento carrier, 98 Rock (KRXQ), allowed itself to be bullied and misled by the local radio host who so grossly distorted truth and facts. We understand a radio station’s desire and instinct to protect itself for economic and political purposes, but this is absurd.”
The statement ended with a call-to-arms of the show’s “faithful listeners and all other truth-seekers” to call and email the station.
Entercom Vice President and Market Manager Sean Shannon then released a statement addressing the station’s decision not to air the syndicated radio program: “This Monday in Boston was a tragedy. There is nothing funny about it. We disagree with how Rob, Arnie and Dawn treated those events and thus took their syndicated show off the air. We prefer the focus to be on our friends, colleagues and the city of Boston in this difficult time.”
According to the statement on Rob, Arnie and Dawn’s website, the show will return 4/22.
See the CBS Sacramento story here.
RBR-TVBR observation: Sean Shannon did exactly the right thing here. It sends a message that it was completely inappropriate to make any jokes whatsoever about the tragedy—whether Don Geronimo pointed it out or not. Bringing them back on the station after a couple of days to think about it is fine as well—but they had better issue some sort of apology. They will lose this battle for themselves, their affiliates and advertisers if they don’t.
