the Virus (XM)
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| the ViRUS | |
 |
|
| Broadcast area | United States, Canada |
|---|---|
| Branding | xL the ViRUS |
| Slogan | Spread the Virus |
| Frequency | XM202 DirecTV 879 Telus 202 |
| First air date | August 6, 2004 as High Voltage November 20, 2006 as The Virus |
| Format | Talk radio |
| Class | Satellite Radio Station |
| Owner | XM Satellite Radio |
| Website | the ViRUS |
the ViRUS (formerly High Voltage from 2004—2006) is a hot talk channel on XM Satellite Radio. It is one of only two talk-based XM channels in stereo, the other being XM Public Radio.
The Virus is one of XM Satellite Radio's 9 xL channels, which include frequent explicit language. The Virus is XM's only talk channel that has the xL tag, the others being either music or comedy channels.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] High Voltage (2004-2006)
[edit] Launch
The launch of the channel came the day after XM's 2004-08-05 announcement that they were hiring former Infinity Broadcasting talk radio personalities Opie and Anthony to be part of a subscription-only channel on XM.[1] For two months, High Voltage repeatedly looped two different, 40-second announcements with no background music touting Opie and Anthony's return. At midnight ET on 2004-10-01, the loop was interrupted to air "Opie and Anthony: Ungagged".
The original channel name High Voltage was decided by one of XM's lawyers, despite them telling Opie and Anthony they had time to think of a name. The decision was made without consulting Opie or Anthony when XM decided to put out a press release that afternoon.
Opie and Anthony premiered on 2004-10-04 where their show ran from 6-10 AM ET, with replays throughout the day, and blocks of music at night which usually consisted of an active rock playlist. Due to technical restrictions on XM's master computer in Washington, D.C., no previously recorded show on XM is able to run past 12 AM ET. This was the main reason why High Voltage had to have "variety hours" and Worst of O&As airing at night time, due to the replays either ending at 10 PM or 11 PM ET. Up until early Spring 2005, the channel would run stand-up comedy bits during the commercial breaks. In the show's early days on XM, most of these bits were from George Carlin. Carlin's spots were so frequent it caused listener complaints. In March 2005, they moved their start and end time back an hour, beginning to air from 7-11 AM ET each weekday. This was done to encourage more west coast participation.
[edit] The end of the premium channel
Originally launched as a premium subscription channel, XM abandoned the premium charge in April 2005, making High Voltage a standard part of the XM platform. High Voltage became available to all XM subscribers, as did XM Radio Online. In exchange, XM increased the monthly rates of its subscribers. However, they offered a pre-payment plan beforehand that allowed subscribers to pay the same rate for a long-term period.
[edit] Ron and Fez arrive
For nearly eleven months, O&A were the only program on the channel. After their original show had ended, the replay of the show from that day would begin immediately after. On 2005-08-01, XM announced that they had signed talk-show hosts Ron and Fez, who worked with O&A at WNEW-FM years prior and were long-mentioned on the Opie and Anthony Show as O&A's best friends in radio.[2] On September 12, 2005, Ron and Fez began airing on channel 202 from 11am-2pm every weekday, beginning immediately after O&A end their program.
Since November 2005, XM 202 has been a part of the DirecTV Total Choice Plus package on channel 879. XM has rated the channel TV-MA L for DirecTV listings. However, shortly after Opie and Anthony returned to FM radio, DirecTV decided to remove the channel from their service, claiming they wanted to go "all music." Thanks to a series of listener complaints, DirecTV restored High Voltage to its lineup.
In honor of Jim Norton's birthday, on July 19, 2006, the channel was renamed xL Jimmy Day, and on the new line of XM2Go's that include color displays, Jim Norton's face was put on the display.
[edit] the ViRUS (2006-)
High Voltage was rebranded as the ViRUS on 2006-11-20 and remained on channel 202. The name is derived from the Opie and Anthony slogan 'Spread the Virus,' a reference to Viral Marketing. The launch featured a new channel logo as well as exposure on packaging of XM Radio products. In addition, some extra spots on the weekend were dedicated to new weekly shows, such as the Razzle Dazzle Variety Hour, and the Saturday Night Virus.[3] The latter is a weekly rotating slot featuring comedians and friends of the show. Weekend programs were not restricted to Saturday nights though, as The Cosmic Circus, hosted by Perrynoid, aired during a Ron and Fez weekend afternoon replay. Sometimes the Saturday Night Virus includes a second show, running it to 3:00 in the morning.
[edit] Opie and Anthony suspension
In May 2007, an Opie and Anthony audio byte appeared on the website Breitbart.tv, which had a clip of their show featuring a homeless man talking about how he would sexually abuse Condoleezza Rice, and the Queen of England. This clip soon made its way to the Drudge Report, and gained a lot of attention through news media outlets, as this was following the firings of CBS Radio peers Don Imus, and JV & Elvis. Opie and Anthony were not allowed to discuss the situation on the air, and continued their show. On May 15 2007, Opie and Anthony were suspended for 30 days for comments made on the previous days broadcast. [4] The show could no longer be heard on XM, but it was still heard on the terrestrial outlets. The Virus turned into Ron and Fez every hour, every day, and the weekend programs were also suspended. The fans of the show were angered by this decision, and were calling XM to complain or cancel their subscriptions. Weeks later, XM began hyping up Opie and Anthony's return, and even abandoned the embargo on the show to run worst-of CBS show blocks four days before the live show returned. The show returned on time as promised, on 2007-06-15.
On 2007-09-23, the Virus added Unmasked to the weekend lineup. The show is hosted by Ron Bennington of Ron and Fez, as he interviews a comedian in front of an audience of their fans. The show runs every other Sunday at 2 p.m. ET, which will be an encore of the show's real premiere on XM Comedy Saturdays.
[edit] Weekend programs
- SModcast - Hosted by Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier. This is simply an XM broadcast of the duo's podcast. It airs on Saturday Morning at 6 am ET and re-aired at 8 pm ET, and 1 pm ET Sunday.
- Unmasked- A weekly show hosted by Ron Bennington (and occasionally Sonny Fox) that features in-depth interviews with comedians in front of an audience of fans. The show is similar in spirit to XM's music series, Artist Confidential. The show airs every other Sunday afternoons at 2 pm ET, which is an encore of the show's premiere on XM Comedy Saturdays.
- The Big City - A weekly hour long show hosted by Ron & Fez discussing the news and commentary of New York City during the past week.
[edit] Notable Saturday Night Virus shows
- Big Kev's Geek Stuff - Hosted by resident O&A show geek, Big Kev.
- Black Rock Coalition - Hosted by Ron and Fez producer Earl Douglas.
- Black Phillip - AKA Bitch Management, hosted by Patrice Oneal and a few friends.
- Brother Wease - Hosted by WCMF personality Brother Wease, and other personalities from his morning show in Rochester.
- The Lazlow Show - Hosted by tech host and Grand Theft Auto producer Lazlow.
- The Than and Sam Show - Hosted by O&A show producers Than and Sam.
- Uninformed - Hosted by Bill Burr and Joe DeRosa.
- Vos & Bonnie - Hosted by Rich Vos and Bonnie McFarlane.
- Dee Dee's Basement - Hosted by former XM Kids personality Dee Dee Grucelski.
- Storytime with Francine - Hosted by former O&A intern Francine.
- Bob Kelly and Sometimes Colin Quinn - Hosted by comedian Robert Kelly, and rarely Colin Quinn co-hosts with him.
- Louis CK - Hosted by comedian Louis CK.
- Weird Medicine - Hosted by Dr. Steve and PA John.
- High Society Radio - Hosted by Pepper Hicks, Bronx Johnny, and Chris from Brooklyn
- The Secret Show - Hosted by a drunk, Danny Ross, Co-hosted by a drunk, Anthony Cumia.
[edit] Other programs
- The Cosmic Circus - Hosted by Perrynoid. Two hour-long shows were aired across one weekend in 2006 during the Ron & Fez replay block.
[edit] Former programs
- Razzle Dazzle Variety Hour- Programming included "the Opie and Anthony Staff Musical Adventure Hour," "worst of the walks," and "when the mics are off."
[edit] Programming lineup
[edit] Weekdays
| ET | PT | Show | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 AM | 3 AM | Opie and Anthony | Live from CBS |
| 9 AM | 6 AM | Live from XM | |
| 12 PM | 9 AM | Ron and Fez | Live |
| 3 PM | 12 PM | Opie and Anthony | CBS/XM Replay |
| 7:30 PM | 4:30 PM | CBS/XM Replay | |
| 12 AM | 9 PM | Ron and Fez | Replay |
| 3 AM | 12 AM | Opie and Anthony | XM Replay |
[edit] Saturdays
| ET | PT | Show | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 AM | 9 PM | Ron and Fez | Best of the Week |
| 3 AM | 12 AM | Opie and Anthony | Worst of the week part 1 |
| 6 AM | 3 AM | SModcast | Taped |
| 7 AM | 4 AM | Ron and Fez | Best of the Week |
| 10 AM | 7 AM | Opie and Anthony | Worst of the week part 2 |
| 2 PM | 11 AM | Ron and Fez | Best of the Week |
| 5 PM | 2 PM | Opie and Anthony | Worst of the week part 1 |
| 8 PM | 5 PM | SModcast | Taped |
| 9 PM | 6 PM | Saturday Night Virus | Live; rotating hosts of "O&A" personalities |
[edit] Sundays
| ET | PT | Show | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 AM | 9 PM | Ron and Fez | Best of the Week; sometimes used for live or special programming |
| 3 AM | 12 AM | Opie and Anthony | Worst of the week part 2 |
| 7 AM | 4 AM | Ron and Fez | Best of the Week |
| 10 AM | 7 AM | Opie and Anthony | Worst of the week part 1 |
| 1 PM | 10 AM | SModcast | Taped |
| 2 PM | 11 AM | Unmasked | Replay from XM150 or Ron and Fez Best Of |
| 3 PM | 12 PM | Ron and Fez | Best of the Week |
| 5 PM | 2 PM | Opie and Anthony | Worst of the week part 2 |
| 9 PM | 6 PM | Ron and Fez | Best of the Week |
| 12 AM | 9 PM | ||
| 3 AM | 12 AM | Opie and Anthony | Friday XM replay |
- Note: Ron and Fez weekend replay schedule is set after the Friday show. See this RonFez.Net Thread to see which day will be on what timeslot.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ XM Satellite Radio (2004-08-05). "TALK RADIO STARS OPIE AND ANTHONY TO JOIN XM SATELLITE RADIO". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-10-29.
- ^ XM Satellite Radio (2005-08-01). "TALK RADIO PERSONALITIES RON AND FEZ TO JOIN XM SATELLITE RADIO". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-10-29.
- ^ XM Satellite Radio (2006-11-20). "XM ANNOUNCES NEW “OPIE & ANTHONY” WEEKEND PROGRAMMING". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-10-29.
- ^ XM Satellite Radio (2007-05-15). "XM Radio Suspends Opie & Anthony". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-05-16.
