Monday, January 05, 2009

Bubba Raw Radio - For Boys Only

By Don Browne

Lame Name Dropping At Its Finest - Bubba Returns To Boring Radio

LABELLE, FL. -- A mishmash of not funny talk radio aimed at young males, with Tampa based brash raspy-throated Bubba The Love Sponge (trademark!) and lame sidekicks, Spice, Brent, Manson and Ned. After a long stint on Sirius satellite afternoon radio, Bubba returns to add terrestial radio to his arsenal with never-ending talk about his musician friends, wrestling buddies, racing buddies, continuous sports-celebrity name dropping, appealing I would think only to 17 to 25 year old guys.

The Bubba show, after a listen to its first hour and a half, is like a monster truck loaded with advertising banners, hawking stuff that would only appeal only to young males. Who would be listening to this radio other than a few guys on their way to work? I don't think the unemployed, probably a more likely target audience, would be up at 6 a.m.

Sponsors' ads may be the most exciting part of the four-hour broadcast, loud announcers behind rock music, hocking Lookers "exotic erotic, possibly psychotic" Men's Club in Ft. Myers, auto detailing, an auto repair shop, the monster truck show at the Lee Civic Center, credit counseling, transforming "debt into wealth" hucksters, and curiously Edison Mall and Applebee's Restaurant.

I can imagine this show survives only as long as advertisers can be hoodwinked into buying spots on it. When the advertisers find out they've been had, I would guess they will pull out sooner than later.

The crude language is toned down from Bubba's unabridged Sirius satellite radio show in order to meet FCC requirements for traditional radio wave broadcasting, but even so an occasional "ass wipe" "fag" and other somewhat narrowly offensive language is heard.

Bubbaraw.com, his semi-porn wrestling, hot-gal photo web site; btls.com, and bubbaarmy.com the Bubba online store, were mentioned, making me wonder what's with having so many different web sites. Heard this morning were name drops of Bubba's son Brent, wrestler Hulk Hogan, race driver Tony Stewart, Bubba's football star friends, Bubba's other wrestler friends, and a very bad commentary about the weekend's Palestinian Gaza strip invasion by Israel, comparing it of course to Bubba's favorite topic, a wrestling match.

Radio listeners looking for entertaining talk, and not finding it here, can still listen to the afternoon Stan and Haney Show at 2 p.m. on Ft. Myers' K-Rock 96.1 or Miami's (by way of Toronto, Canada) Neil Rogers Show mornings on the internet or on WQAM 560 at 10 a.m..

Where's Bubba: Miami. Beasely Broadcast Group Fort Myers 96.1, Tampa, Orlando, and Richmond, Va.

14 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:02 AM

    Some guys just don't get it, do they?

    Seems to me Don's head of grey hair is probably stuck in his ear and eyes, that he fails to realize that Bubba's stellar ratings on terrestrial radio justified this expansion.

    Hey, while my hair is as grey as yours, your time is up and your opinions are no longer relevant. Why not go back to listening to oldies, sit in your rocking chair with a blanket over your legs and sway to the Token's "The Lions Sleep Tonight".

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  2. Anonymous10:28 AM

    i agree what ass

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  3. Anonymous12:02 PM

    17 to 25 year old guys is the demographic that is out spending cash, you old timer.

    Glad I have Sirius and don't have to listen to Stan and Haney Show.

    How bout that?

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  4. Anonymous12:47 PM

    Hey Don... Go lie down and die already! Bubba Army lets get the sheens after this guy!!

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  5. Anonymous3:35 PM

    Bubba does not have stellar ratings at Sirius. He works for dirt cheap just for exposure. Bubbas audience is a bunch of losers who have no life. Bubba is no Howard. Bottomline. Sirius is on the brink of bankruptcy with their stock trading a measly 12 cents. For the same price as a Starbucks coffee you too could own 30 shares !! hahaha what a joke. Just because Bubba works cheap for Sirius does not mean he has a good show.

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  6. Anonymous4:09 PM

    Howard 101 is the 2nd most listened to channel on Sirius/XM. Bubba does have good ratings. I have an Ivy League education, work in finance, and listen to Bubba everyday. Thanks for playing though...

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  7. Anonymous6:17 PM

    Allow me to step back a second from my first post where I first took a shot at the grey haired guy as I am/was a Bubba mark.

    I am a white collar professional civil engineer in Philadelphia and don't fit the red-neck profile.

    As we know know, Bubba will be replaying his FM show M-R and go back to an uncensored show on Friday.

    As someone who believed in Bubba, enjoyed his show more than Howard, I am aghast by this programming and negotiation decision.

    The assumption is that half a Bubba is better than no Bubba.

    I am dismayed at this deal and while it's good for the guys, he totally sold out and I am pissed beyond belief.

    I may need to go back to Playboy Radio and be bored there with their repetitive questions by losers who don't know a thing about sex.

    And just for those who are fans of Tiffany, as I am on replay, some herbal remedies for a mild ED problem do work. But that is not the topic here.

    To repeat my original theme, Bubba sold us out.

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  8. Anonymous8:20 PM

    don my friend you are completly right! Bubba is a complete joke this guy spends every morning whining about his competition and just screwed his closest fans.... The guy is a fake and must have took some pointers from his buddy ned

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  9. Anonymous9:00 PM

    You guys are a mess. Bubba found an audience and appeals to it. If you dont like turn the channel. Bubba and Howard are kings of media. They speak their mind and excerise there right for free speech. Don you should not talk bad about Bubba you should thank him because its people like him that keeps a bad journalit like yourself employeed.

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  10. While I am not a big fan of Bubba's and his use of the word "fag," I find this to be just another stupid decision at Sirius/XM not to pay Bubba what he is worth. Bubba is one of the most listened to shows on Satellite radio. Bubba has a huge fan base that very few host on XM or Sirius have. His fans buy radios and pay for subscriptions.

    XM and Sirius have foolishly wasted their money on people like Martha Stewart and Oprah. Their channels are awful and their fan base won't spend the $12/month to listen to something they don't even promote.

    Another waste of money: offering basically the same service twice. 15$/month to get the best of Sirius or the best of XM? Are you kidding me?

    And finally, why continue to invest in Satellite technology when smart phones can stream radio for free, and the phones cost as much or less as the poorly made radios.

    The first step to turning this company around, is to fire Mel - but I could be too late.

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  11. Anonymous4:22 PM

    One steps into uncertain waters when they try to generalize about what will be appealing to who...
    I am a 48 year old gay man with HIV who listens to the boys each day...not exactly the listener you would expect...but I guess people have to write articles about something!

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  12. Anonymous9:39 AM

    Kidding aside they do pass on some current affairs information that is clear and on point. Take most of it tounge in cheek, and it becomes very entertaining. Just imagine that there actually are people out there that live like that all day long.

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  13. Anonymous9:43 AM

    Bubba is just another voice of reason on the uncensored information super highway. We don't need another whinny self induldged New York jew !

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  14. Anonymous6:38 PM

    You clearly have never listened to his show if you think those are his demographics. If the callers represent a good deal of the listeners, most of them are well above that age group, including me.

    And way to stereotpye the hardworking men and women of North America as "red necks"....that's really nice of you.

    Judging by the fact that you write for an online newspaper, my guess is that you really, really wish you were in the real media and take your frustration out on things you really know nothing about.

    Please go ahead and listen to whoever Stan and Haney are, and stop writing about things your can't understand.

    Thanks.
    John -Toronto, Canada

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