Clear Channel Communications Inc. has fired two more shock jocks in the wake of the government's indecency crackdown.
"The Regular Guys," Larry Wachs and Eric Von, who hosted WKLS-FM's Atlanta's weekday morning show, were fired last week for a March 19 segment called "Backward Smut." The pair had taped a conversation with a porn star that they intended to play backward over the air. The conversation was accidentally aired live, however, when an on-air microphone was left active.
Clear Channel's chief legal officer said the company isn't taking a chance given the federal crackdown on broadcast raunch. "They pulled a stupid stunt that backfired," said Clear Channel EVP, law and government affairs, Andrew Levin. "Indecency fines are growing exponentially and some in Congress and the FCC have even threatened license revocation. That's a word no broadcaster can afford to ignore."
The Regular Guys' ousting is the third high-profile firing by Clear Channel over raunchy DJ broadcasts this year. The San Antonio-based radio giant previously dropped Howard Stern's syndicated show from six of its stations and dismissed its own Florida morning host, Todd Clem, "Bubba the Love Sponge." The FCC last week proposed a $495,000 fine against Clear Channel for an April 2003 Stern broadcast and in January levied a $755,000 fine for various Clem routines.
