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Gregg Dopie Hughes (born May 23, 1963) and Anthony Cumia (born April 26, 1961) are American talk radio personalities best known for their program The Opie & Anthony Show. Hughes and Cumia co-hosted the show until Cumia's firing in July 2014. Stand-up comedian Jim Norton has also served as co-host. Following Cumia's firing, Hughes and Jim Norton continued on with a show that airs in the United States and Canada on XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio under the title Opie with Jim Norton, while Cumia started a subscription-based video internet show at his website under the title The Anthony Cumia Show.

Based in New York City, The Opie & Anthony Show began in 1995 on WAAF in Boston, Massachusetts, and later moved to WNEW-FM in New York with syndication on other stations, until being canceled in 2002. After exhausting their contract with their previous employers, which kept them from broadcasting on WNEW while also preventing them from appearing on radio elsewhere, they moved to XM Satellite Radio in 2004.

On April 26, 2006, Opie and Anthony returned to the terrestrial airwaves after a four-year absence, replacing CBS Radio's short-lived David Lee Roth Show, which aired mainly on the eastern coast of the United States. The terrestrial broadcast of the show ran until March 9, 2009. The team was terminated by WXRK when it flipped formats from rock to Top 40. In July 2014, Cumia was fired by SiriusXM. The show resumed on July 14, 2014 without Cumia as Hughes and Norton retained their hosting duties. In October 2014, Hughes and Norton renewed their contract with SiriusXM to continue the show.

The show airs weekdays live from 7:00 a.m. through 11:00 a.m. ET exclusively on XM Radio Channel 103 and Sirius Radio Channel 206 "Opie Raqio". Replays are available throughout the day on their XM and Sirius channels, On-Demand via the SiriusXM app, and on audible.com. The new show has been panned by both fans and audiences alike.

Background and history

Gregg "Hold On" Hughes and Anthony Cumia were raised on Long Island, New York, in Centerport and Elwood respectively. Hughes graduated from Hold On Academy and for the next seven years interned and worked at several western New York radio stations, as a Board Operator, such as 96.5 WCMF in Rochester (where he first worked for Brother Wease) and WUFX in Buffalo. Opie eventually found his way back home to hack station WBAB on his native Long Island. Although not initially doing a talk-show, Hughes did experiment with certain hold on elements, including a recurring character named "Spuds Buckley". While earning a living as a "Viral Video maker", Cumia began recording comedy songs with his brother Joe. In August 1994, Hughes, seeking innovative ideas, received an entry during an O.J. Simpson parody song contest. The song was titled "Gonna Electric Shock OJ" (sung to the tune of Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay") by a local band known as Rotgut, of which Cumia was the lead singer. The song was a hit on Hughes' show, and he invited the Cumia brothers to the studio to play live in September 1994. Soon afterward, Hughes and Cumia became a radio team. Hughes' show was called The Nighttime Attitude and aired from 8 pm-midnight on WBAB. Shortly after Cumia's arrival, he and Hughes requested that the show be moved to morning or afternoon drive, the two most listened to timeslots in radio. When the station refused, Hughes and Cumia moved the show to afternoon drive on WAAF in Boston, Massachusetts, where they premiered on March 13, 1995 as Opie & Anthony (O&A).

WAAF (1995–1998)

One of Opie and Anthony's most notable Boston stunts was their staged giveaway of "100 Grand", which was hyped for weeks. When they finally gave away the prize, the "winning" caller laid into the duo with biting invective after he realized the repairs he needed to make to his truck would be un-affordable with a 100 Grand candy bar instead of $100,000.

The duo was fired in April 1998 from WAAF for an April Fool's Day prank involving Mayor Thomas Menino. Opie and Anthony told their listeners that the Mayor had been killed in a car accident while transporting a young female Haitian prostitute. Many believed the story, leading Menino to file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission, as the FCC prohibits the broadcast of knowingly false information if it causes public harm. WAAF suggested that the duo have pies thrown at them while being held in town square stocks. The idea was summarily dismissed by the mayor's office. Facing a possible license challenge, WAAF fired them, but Opie and Anthony promised that they would return to Boston and get revenge. During the early days of XM Anthony stated that the intent of the April Fool's prank was to allow the duo to be released from their contract with WAAF. He also stated that the duo had been having illegal meetings with WNEW prior to the April Fool's prank. He preceded these comments with "The statutes of limitations must be up on this."

WNEW-FM (1998–2002)

In June 1998, Opie and Anthony were back on New York station WNEW-FM, where they became a top 10 afternoon drive show in New York by 2000.

In 2001, Opie and Anthony signed a syndication deal with Infinity to syndicate their show on 22 stations nationwide, including WBCN in Boston, longtime rival of WAAF. By this time, show friend Andrew Dice Clay had introduced Opie and Anthony to Jim Norton, a comedian who toured with and opened for Clay. Norton was a hit on Opie and Anthony and soon became a regular on the show, appearing three or four days per week.

The Voyeur Bus

In November 2000, sixteen people associated with the show (including comedian Lewis Black and future show member Jim Norton) were arrested during a promotion for "The Voyeur Bus", a mostly glass-sided bus carting naked women through Manhattan with a police escort. The stunt was harshly condemned by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. The duo contend that they were singled out because President Bill Clinton was in town that day.

XFL Gameday

O&A hosted the short-lived XFL Gameday – the pregame show for Vince McMahon's startup football league – for four weeks in February 2001. The half-hour show aired nationally on Saturday nights on select NBC affiliates prior to the evening's games. The show was taped on Wednesdays at the WWF's theme restaurant in Times Square, and was open to the public. It featured analysis by WNBC sportscaster Bruce Beck and New York/New Jersey Hitmen head coach Rusty Tillman, but also featured plenty of raunch. One particular segment featured Opie and Anthony as chefs, inserting a cucumber in between two melons. Opie and Anthony were almost banned from Giants Stadium for life during the filming of one episode when they imitated a proposed XFL rule where first possession was determined by placing the ball at midfield and having two opposing team-members attempt to get it. Opie and Anthony did this as "God Bless America" began to play before a game. They said that the $100,000 cost of making each new show was the cause of its demise, though no official reason was given for its cancellation.

Sex for Sam

One of Opie and Anthony's stunts was "Sex for Sam", an annual contest where the goal was to have sex in notable public places in New York City. Couples from various states would be selected to be trailed by a comedian or member of the show, who would call the program to report the location. The contest was sponsored by Boston Beer Company, maker of Samuel Adams beer, and prizes included trips to Boston concerts sponsored by the beer company. The contest was approved by the station and had no major problems for the first two years.

However, in "Sex for Sam 3", comedian Paul Mecurio encouraged Brian Florence and Loretta Harper, a Virginia couple visiting Manhattan, to have simulated sex in a vestibule at St. Patrick's Cathedral on August 15, 2002, which was also a Catholic Holy Day of Obligation, and a Mass was going on at the time. When a security guard ordered Mecurio and the couple to leave the church immediately, Mecurio began to argue with the guard, who then contacted police. The couple was arrested and charged with public lewdness. Intense media scrutiny led to the Catholic League demanding that Opie and Anthony be fired. The Catholic League also threatened to get WNEW's license revoked.

Opie and Anthony broadcast the next day, but were ordered not to directly address the incident for legal reasons. The show went into reruns the following week. On August 22, Infinity suspended Opie and Anthony for the duration of their contract, and canceled the show. However, the company continued to pay the duo to stay off the air for the balance of their contract. The Catholic League immediately dropped its bid to have WNEW's license revoked.

The repercussions of the incident were widespread:

• Infinity was fined a total of $357,500 by the FCC, the maximum amount allowed by law, and the second-largest indecency fine in American radio history. Infinity appealed the fine but again lost the case.
• WNEW's ratings had been dreadful overall aside from Opie and Anthony. With the forced cancellation of its only strong performer, its ratings dropped even lower than those of noncommercial stations and never recovered. The station began playing music again in January 2003, starting with a Top 40 format, then going to an adult contemporary format, and later switching to a classic dance music format before returning to the AC format, at which point the station's call letters were changed to WWFS. The station has since been moderately successful. In a bit of irony, Opie and Anthony would make fun of an incident at WNEW in late 2004, in which the program director got drunk, went on air, and confused the call letters with those of WNEW's arch-rival WKTU.
• Harper pleaded guilty a month later to disorderly conduct and was sentenced to seven days of community service. Her partner, Brian Florence, died of a heart attack on September 25, 2003.

XM Satellite Radio (2004–) and return to broadcast radio (2006–2009)

Opie and Anthony returned to the air on October 4, 2004 exclusively for XM Satellite Radio after two years off the air. Initially, the show was offered to XM subscribers at a premium cost of $1.99 a month, to which they encountered some resistance. In April 2005, "High Voltage" became part of the basic XM subscription. There are no numbers available with respect to the number of premium subscribers. Hughes gave some indication, however, when he told the Long Island press in 2006, "We went from having a show that was syndicated in 17 major markets to having a few thousand," which did not help to remove the discrepancy.

"Assault on the Media"

A major part of the XM show was the "Assault on the Media", led by "The Pests" to give the show additional exposure. On May 19, 2005, show intern Nathaniel showed up behind Arthur Chi'en of WCBS-TV. The disruption caused Chi'en to shout "What the fuck is your problem, man?" while the cameras were still rolling. Chi'en was fired a few hours later. (The situation brought the show nationwide press.)

DirecTV suspends "High Voltage" channel

On April 17, 2006, DirecTV ceased airing the High Voltage channel on their satellite TV service, citing subscriber requests for more music channels and fewer talk and sports channels. However, less than a week elapsed before inside sources announced that, due to overwhelming audience demands that Opie and Anthony return to DirecTV, the channel would be restored on April 26, 2006. Opie & Anthony frequently mentioned on the air that they always hated the title "High Voltage", which was selected by one of the company lawyers. They had been trying to change the name but were unsuccessful for the first 2 years, until Eric Logan announced on their October 4, 2006 broadcast that High Voltage would be renamed "The Virus" on November 20, 2006, pursuant to the demands of hardcore Opie and Anthony fans known as "The Pests".

CBS Radio

Meanwhile, on April 24, 2006, Opie and Anthony announced that they signed a deal with CBS Radio in which the first three hours of the show would be broadcast on nine of CBS's rock stations, the first official show airing April 26. After an 18-month run on XM, The Opie & Anthony Show began simulcasting on XM Radio and various terrestrial radio stations from 6 am to 9 am EST. From 9 am to 11 am (and on some days until noon), the show was broadcast exclusively on XM Radio. XM listeners were able to hear the show uncensored for the entire show (except when the main feed is "self-censored" by the hosts). During the 6–9 slot, the FM-only listeners would hear a Federal Communications Commission-compliant version of the show. In Philadelphia, Opie and Anthony achieved a threefold increase in the month of May over David Lee Roth's April ratings in the age 18–34 demographic. In Boston, Opie and Anthony doubled the number of all age demographics and achieved an even greater increase in younger listeners.

"Homeless Charlie"

On May 15, 2007, XM suspended Opie & Anthony for 30 days, in response to a broadcast featuring a homeless man who wandered into the studio. Opie and Anthony dubbed the man "Homeless Charlie", who mentioned the possibility of raping Condoleezza Rice and Laura Bush. Fans reacted to the news of the suspension by canceling their XM Radio subscriptions, with some fans even going as far as smashing their XM units. XM did offer a free month of service to subscribers who called in complaints of the suspension. Moreover, some sponsors pulled their advertising off XM in protest of the suspension. The radio duo's month-long suspension from XM ended on June 15, 2007, when they returned to XM's airwaves.

Ratings

According to the Winter 2007 arbitron ratings, Opie and Anthony doubled Roth's ratings with their target demographic of 18 to 34-year-olds. But the improvement merely amounted to an increase of 2% to about 4% of the audience—a third of numbers Howard Stern got in New York City before moving to satellite radio. Following the Summer 07 Arbitron ratings, Opie and Anthony's 18- to 34-year-olds ratings slipped, while their morning drive rating in NYC of 2.1 left them only ahead of sports based WFAN network in the morning. In the spring 2008 under the new Portable people meter ratings system, Opie and Anthony again failed to crack the top ten in morning drive, and their flagship station WXRK ranked 20th out of 24 stations in overall ratings and out of the top ten in the coveted 25–54 demographic.

Affiliates drop Opie and Anthony

On October 23, 2007, WYSP in Philadelphia cut Opie and Anthony from their lineup in favor of the rock music format, to which the station had changed in September.

During their tenure at K-Rock, almost all of Opie and Anthony's affiliates (many of which were in major markets) systematically dropped the show, primarily due to declining ratings. By November 30, 2008, Opie and Anthony remained in only three major cities – New York, Boston, and Cleveland. The following day, however, WBCN in Boston dropped them in favor of their local Toucher & Rich show, while WKRK switched to a jockless alternative rock format.

On March 9, 2009, Opie & Anthony were heard on WXRK for the last time, and spent much of the time discussing the impending format change, and how their services were "no longer needed" at the station. Their executive producer for the FM portion, Michael "Stuntbrain" Opelka, was fired the following day.

Contract renewal

As of October 1, 2010, the Opie and Anthony show renewed their contract with SiriusXM satellite radio for 2 years. The two often mentioned that they would not renew their contract after it expired, citing their disgust with the poor way they were often treated by Sirius management as the primary reason. However, they eventually decided to renew their contract in 2012 after the company "came forward", according to Opie.

On October 13, 2011, the Opie and Anthony show's station was changed from the ViRUS to The Opie and Anthony Channel.

Cumia firing

On July 3, 2014, Cumia was fired by SiriusXM, after making a series of tweets following an off-air incident with a black woman on the street. Cumia tweeted that he was punched by the woman while attempting to take a picture, and he made a series of tweets described by Sirius XM as "racially-charged and hate-filled". There was no comment as to Hughes' possible future with the company at that time. Cumia later announced that he would relaunch his Internet-based show Live from the Compound as "The Anthony Cumia Show," which began airing in August 2014. He also gave his blessing for the Sirius XM show to continue without him, acknowledging Hughes and Norton's obligation to fulfill their contract with SiriusXM. Cumia stated on the Saturday, July 12 episode of Red Eye w/Greg Gutfeld that he was not going to apologize for the incident. Cumia also appeared on the radio program The Political Cesspool

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