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June 2001 — PREVIEW
Not So Dumb Jocks
With their guys-will-be-guys routine, New York radio stars Opie and Anthony have gained a huge and loyal following. They may be rude and crude on the air, but these two average Joes are more savvy than you might think.


By Jesse Oxfeld

No professional wrestlers are in attendance at the World Wrestling Federation New York theme restaurant one night in late January, but the cavernous and windowless dining-and-entertainment establishment in Times Square is nevertheless jam-packed and rocking in anticipation of the evening's main attraction. NBC is preparing to tape the premiere episode of XFL Gameday, a pregame show to air on several local television stations for the much-hyped XFL football league, and just past the bar, where tables surround a small stage in front of a large mosh pit, hundreds of screaming fans are begging women to whip 'em out. XFL Gameday (which has since been canceled) is being hosted by the New York radio duo Opie and Anthony, whose show is the city's top-ranked afternoon drive-time program in its target demographic of young men -- a feat accomplished almost exclusively through word of mouth. The pair's stock-in-trade is sophomoric sex humor, most notably their Whip 'em Out Wednesdays campaign (a.k.a. "WOW"), wherein women listeners are encouraged to flash -- only if they want to, notes Opie -- their, um, 'em at drivers of cars bearing WOW bumper stickers, most issued by the radio station but some homemade. The crowd this night is the duo's fan base, and it goes wild when O&A, as they're called, finally take the stage.


- Read this entire article in the June 2001 issue of Brill's Content. On newsstands May 14.
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