Armstrong & Getty is a 4-time Best of Sacramento award-winning[1] morning drive radio show and television show airing in Northern California on several Clear Channel radio stations and a Newport Television station. The "call-in format" talk show is a mixture of political commentary, observations on both local and national news and reflections on social issues presented with humor.
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Jack Armstrong became a radio DJ in Kansas in 1984. According to statements made on the air on December 19, 2008, Jack's first day of full time employment on the radio was at a tiny radio station on December 19, 1984, stating that he was only given the job because the former DJ had complained about being required to go to the company Christmas party . Around the same time, Chicago native Joe Getty was also working as a DJ. According to statements made on the air, Joe trumped the competition to land his first job because he was the only one who typed his cover letter.
The two began working together in 1992, hosting morning shows in Kansas, before taking their show to a bigger market in Charlotte, NC. The two often recall their days as typical DJs, calling out soft rock hits and the occasional promotional radio stunt.
Later on, the pair moved to Sacramento, CA in 1997 and again found themselves in a format show, going by the name Out of the Sack with Joe and Jack. That show aired on Adult Contemporary KYMX-FM in Sacramento, a stint later referred to by Joe as "nightmarish".
On August 31, 1998 the duo debuted as the current Armstrong & Getty show.
Both Armstrong and Getty are fiscal conservatives but moderate on many social issues, and are self-described "wannabe libertarians". Common themes of the show are wasteful government spending, social responsibility, and personal accountability, all involving current events. Arguments often ensue that are centered on the disapproval of local, state, and federal legislature, with the idea that over-regulation caused by these entities are controlling more of citizens' daily lives, a property of Socialism against which the show constantly argues against.
While the show deals with issues regarded as societally important, the show itself also tends to be very lighthearted most of the time en lieu of the topic's seriousness. The duo also will delve into sports-talk or pop-culture gossip, on occasion.
Armstrong & Getty airs live on KSTE in Sacramento, CA and KNEW in San Francisco, California weekdays from 6-10A.M..
Rebroadcasts air on some of the stations at different times, including The Best of Armstrong & Getty on KSTE and Armstrong & Getty at Lunch on KFTY. From March 2007 through February 2009 they were also heard on KFI from 3-5PM in a Sunday afternoon show.
The television simulcast originally aired on KQCA-TV in Sacramento, CA, and on Bay Area's TV-50 in San Francisco, CA. In 2007, KCRA-TV cancelled the simulcast of the show, and decided to replace it with a morning news show. In September 2011, Bay Area's TV-50 was sold to an Azteca America affiliate, cutting the simulcast and, ultimately, ending the show's long-running television appearance.
The show follows a fairly predictable format. The airing of the show (played live) begins at 6am PT and ends at 10am. The hosts introduce the staff members, and read selected letters and e-mail submitted by listeners before commenting on news stories of the day.
The show usually has both preplanned headlines to be discussed, and breaking news updates that are reported on. While headlines are planned in advance, the banter and discussion the hosts pursue is claimed as being ad lib and only the opinions of the hosts, While the show is dominated by the subjects, (The show only allows callers to comment on the current subject.) the 9-10AM hour of every Friday is known as "Last Call", and allows callers to call in to discuss any subject.
The show often relies on input from its local listening audience. In addition to the call-in portion, Armstrong and Getty will read selected mail/e-mail messages, and have recently added an experimental text message phone number in an effort to gauge the audience reaction to subjects much more efficiently.
The hosts' names "Jack Armstrong" and "Joe Getty" are possibly pseudonyms, and any information about them - including personality, beliefs, and anecdotes - only applies to their on-air personalities and are only verifiable by the hosts' claims. No information is available about the hosts in actuality. Jack Armstrong is divorced once, and recently married to his wife Laura. He also has a son named Sam and another unborn son on the way. He often speaks of living out in the countryside and owning a large patch of land he has dubbed "Rube Hollar", which is the largest goat farm in California (estimated 56,000 goats, pigs, hamsters, and the discarded cat of Wolf Blitzer). Jack is widely known for buying and wearing $30 underwear. Joe Getty is married to his wife, Judy, and has 3 children. He often speaks of his living in his suburb, dubbed "Caucasian Acres."
Joe Getty is constantly berating himself for his over eating and lamenting his resultant portliness. Jack Armstrong often suffers mishaps such as potentially lethal bee-stings or even aortic explosions. Their newsman, Marshall Phillips, is also the victim of accidents, though they usually occur when he is "fueled by the grape" (i.e. inebriated on fermented grape juice) and tries to conduct roof repair, clean out drain pipes, operate power tools or heavy machinery, or assist his sainted mother.
Marshall Phillips is also of Finnish descent and celebrates his heritage by pronouncing sauna as "sow-na". Scott, their executive producer, likes to engage in voluntary Bataan Death Marches known as "100 Mile Marathons".
Politically, Both Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty heavily and openly lean towards libertarian views, going as far as to say "there is almost no issue where I wouldn't accept the libertarian argument"[2]. Both hosts have come out as being against both the Democrat and Republican parties, and have stated that a two-party system does not appear to work. They have also expressed support for the Tea Party movement, and regularly advocate stricter illegal-immigration laws.
During their show's broadcast, Jack and Joe claim to be both humorists and amateur sociologists, which they style as "entormation", (a portmanteau of Information and Entertainment)
Joe plays guitar and sings in his band, Joe Getty and the Dead Flowers. They released a debut CD in 2009, as well as having a documentary produced about them, and play in various venues around the Northern California area. Jack formerly played for his band, The Painkillers, but due personal circumstances, he had decided to vacate his position in the band. He is also rumored to have once killed a man. Jack once stated on air that he purchased a white dress shirt from a grocery store.
Armstrong and Getty have come under fire — even approaching the point of forced-resignation — for multiple reasons in their past years on-air. Protest groups, progressive organizations, and even a sitting mayor attempted to run the duo out of town. Legal troubles have also visited the Armstrong and Getty studio, most recently when the duo were sued by the National Association of Soup Connoisseurs for defamation in the wake of scathing anti-soup comments made by Jack Armstrong.
Armstrong and Getty fought off "media censorship" in August, 2000, after Time magazine had published an article on diversity.[3] The article reported on Sacramento as being the most diverse city in America, and used very approbative language along with much more editorializing than fact-based news to compile the article.[4]
During Armstrong and Getty's broadcast, shortly after the article was released, the duo had lampooned the article's approach to the subject, stating the article had used editorial terminology, "touchy-feely" language, and little factual information to support the thesis of the article. They went on to point out that diversity also may have negative impact on certain societal aspects, when it occurs under some circumstances..
After that broadcast, Mayor Heather Fargo of Sacramento was allegedly "mad to hear the show denigrating that distinction (regarding Times honoring Sacramento)" and used connections with the Capital Unity Council to start bombarding the show's producers with e-mails, and used other public channels to rally support for the cause of censuring these controversial comments, and shutting down the show.[5]
Public arguments on both the side of Armstrong-and-Getty and Heather Fargo ensued, which culminated in the radio hosts' broadcasting live from the Capital City Hall steps the following Monday. As the contention resolved, the popularity of the show and the actions of support by the producers insured the duo's career through this event.
On July 28, 2010, Armstrong and Getty were tipped off by a listener that a fellow radio talk show host, Doug Stephan, had been stealing audio material from the Armstrong and Getty show, editing the audio, and using it in his show in an attempt to portray it as if he is speaking to their caller.
During that same broadcast, Armstrong and Getty were able to speak to Douglas Stephan, himself, regarding the plagiarism that appeared evident upon comparison of the duo's show content and Douglas Stephan's "callers" some days later. Stephen never admitted to the allegations, but apologized, saying that the calls were misplaced and accidentally played on his Good Day show.
Plagiarizing of owned, private-works material is copyright infringement and illegal. The subject is still developing and a legal resolution has not yet taken place, if at all. According to the hosts, they are not personally offended at the infringement; however, after the interview of Stephan, Armstrong and Getty were dissatisfied with the challenging host's condescending attitude.
In September 2008, both Armstrong and Getty were named to Sacramento Magazine's 100 Most Powerful and Influential list.[6]
Armstrong and Getty have had quite a few well-known guests and have interviewed such figures as California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, State Senator Tom McClintock, former Ambassador to the United Nations John R. Bolton, former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Additionally the duo has become popular as emcees for various events in Northern California, participating in "The Great Debate" between Willie Brown and Ed Schultz,and opening for a few of political commentator Michael Savage's live shows.
In October 2011, Armstrong & Getty began rallying support for the charity organization Fischer House. During a promotional period of approximately eleven days, the show alone was able to raise over $350,000 in listener donations, a sum which even the charity-founder Zachary Fisher spoke of as "incredible".[7]. Later, in December, the Armstrong & Getty podcast would be named one of the three "Best New News and Politics" podcasts on iTunes.