quote:

---

Animosity on The Airwaves
Don and Mike Hit Back At N.Y. Lineup Mates


By Paul Farhi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 28, 2002; Page C01



Radio personality Don Geronimo insists he's tried, really tried, to hold his tongue. But the voluble Geronimo says he's had it up to here. So now, it's war.

In an unusual (perhaps even unprecedented) radio feud, Geronimo and partner Mike O'Meara are having it out on the air with another pair of deejays. And not just any other pair: The targets of their wrath happen to be a duo who work for the same company, Opie and Anthony, the New York radio jocks who follow "The Don & Mike Show" on WJFK-FM in Washington and on WNEW-FM in New York. All four are employed by Infinity Broadcasting, which owns the two stations and syndicates their shows nationally.

For months, the New York deejays have lobbed taunts at Don and Mike during their weekday show. Their main jibe is that D&M's midday program hasn't drawn much of an audience on WNEW, providing a poor lead-in to O&A's late-afternoon program. They've also characterized the two men as old, even though Geronimo and O'Meara are just a few years older than the late-thirtyish Opie and Anthony.

This was met with silence by Don and Mike -- until late last week. The two Washington-based deejays impolitely pointed out that "The Opie & Anthony Show" isn't setting Washington's radio market on fire, either. "Your show is ranked eighth in Washington!" said a derisive Geronimo during his show. "What I'm saying is that you're not being embraced in Washington, D.C."

Later, Geronimo called O&A to argue on the air. He was promptly cut off by the hosts. "He looked ridiculous," said Anthony, aka Anthony Cumia. "We thought it was funny."

Media personalities -- especially those who work for the same outfit -- tend to keep their differences quiet. O'Meara and Geronimo, for example, say they have never been friendly with another Infinity star, Howard Stern, whose nationally syndicated program precedes them on WJFK, but neither camp has hurled invective at the other on the air.

The deejays' internecine fight is roughly akin to Barbara Walters dissing ABC colleague Diane Sawyer, or Channel 4 news anchor Jim Vance bashing Channel 4 weatherman Bob Ryan.

Of course, since both radio shows specialize in aggressive, male-oriented shtick, it's worth viewing the current hostilities with a little skepticism. Is it a pro wrestling-style act? Both sides say absolutely not. "I don't like those guys as people, and I don't like their radio show," says Gregg "Opie" Hughes, in an interview. "They're back-stabbers who can't be trusted. They've told a lot of lies about us."

In a separate interview, Geronimo calls the crossfire "petty, ridiculous, egotistical and juvenile," but adds that he couldn't keep quiet any longer. He says he tried to broker peace talks several months ago but was rebuffed.

Ultimately, he blames the stations' management for not silencing everyone. "I would love you to put this in the paper: What I would like management to do is manage. A strong manager would have said to Opie and Anthony: 'I don't care if you like it or not. We're going to get the four of you in a room and work this out.' The shows should be able to coexist."

Careful not to name names, Geronimo describes WNEW, in particular, as "a cesspool of a radio station." (He and O'Meara do two shows a week from the New York station.) Calls to Alan Leinwand and Ken Stevens, the general managers of WJFK and WNEW, respectively, weren't returned.

For the record, "The Opie & Anthony Show" has fared relatively better among Washington area listeners than "The Don & Mike Show" has with New Yorkers. "O&A," heard here since last year when "D&M" moved to middays, ranked 14th among late-afternoon programs in the most recent quarterly audience survey, capturing a 3.4 percent share.

In New York, "D&M" hasn't cracked the top 20, and is attracting a 0.8 percent share. Geronimo concedes that "we're going to get fired in New York because the ratings stink." He blames O&A, in part, suggesting the pair didn't want his program to succeed because it would compete for attention with their show.

Replies Cumia, "Don is a desperate man. His show is a complete disaster."

Only last month, in an interview with The Post, Geronimo said he was "very happy" with the way the Opie show was performing in this market, even though it was attracting less than half the adult audience that "The Don & Mike Show" drew when it aired in the same time period. "The station is in great shape," he said then.

Now, Geronimo said he is so angry about the on-air sniping that he and his partner will refuse to do anything to promote "O&A."

"I'll let them do their show," he says. "And I will bet any amount of money that they won't succeed here."

---

quote:

---

Don and Mike have been #1 in the 12+ category for a while in DC, "Black" stations included.

---

quote:

---

late-thirtyish Opie and Anthony.

---

quote:

---

Now, Geronimo said he is so angry about the on-air sniping that he and his partner will refuse to do anything to promote "O&A."
"I'll let them do their show," he says. "And I will bet any amount of money that they won't succeed here

---

quote:

---

Now, Geronimo said he is so angry about the on-air sniping that he and his partner will refuse to do anything to promote "O&A."
"I'll let them do their show," he says. "And I will bet any amount of money that they won't succeed here

---

quote:

---

Don and Mike? Lykus? What other second rate ass backwards show is WNEW going to bring in now to waste 4 hours of air time?

---

quote:

---

If I remember correctlly, the real reason any animosity began, is because Don and Mike were pissed at the huge contract O&A got, and they took a few shots at them on their show ( I believe the phrase "Flavor of the Month" was used, funny, that was how long ago?) and then O&A took a few shots at them too...

---