NoFilterPaul
02-18-2007, 12:22 PM
http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com/2007/02/dumb-stunt.html
A "Dumb" Stunt
So, the OMW inbox was peppered with notes from folks telling us about
the streaker who interrupted a "19 Action News" live shot in snowy
downtown Cleveland during this past week's storm. The clip made it
onto, among other places, ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live", and MSNBC's
"Countdown with Keith Olbermann".
Basically, a large, apparently naked man cavorts around 19's Jon
Loufman as the weather forecaster interviews someone else in the snow
out at East 12th and Chester Avenue.
That's otherwise known as The Convenient Downtown Live Shot Location
Right Outside Reserve Square - the home of Raycom Media
CBS/MyNetworkTV combo WOIO/19-WUAB/43.
Given the Naked History of "19 Action News", we wondered if WOIO
itself had put the man up to it. Now, the station has generally been
known to parade around or hire naked female anchors, but maybe this
time, they thought a naked man would be funnier in a major snowstorm.
We weren't THAT far off.
No, it wasn't WOIO management who put the streaker up to it. It was
another media outlet.
The now-world-famous streaker is known only as "Dumb" (sometimes the
shoe just fits so easily), and he's the phone screener for WXRK/92.3
"K-Rock"-based morning drive show "Rover's Morning Glory".
"Dumb" ended up talking to Loufman later, clothed, thankfully, for a
follow-up piece, which brought the forecaster into the WXRK studio.
And a German TV crew, with apparently nothing better to cover in the
United States, visited Cleveland Friday and interviewed both men in
front of Reserve Square.
(We sure hope the crew was already in the States. Sending a TV news
crew from Germany to Cleveland to cover this "story" may be the
definition of television idiocy.)
We say "apparently naked", by the way, because there's at least one
shot of the guy wearing a small pair of shorts after the "romp". Thank
goodness for, uh, small favors. That can't be seen on camera in the
original shot because, again, thankfully, the station's on-screen
graphics obscure that part of his body.
Oh, and one thing?
In all the plays on network or cable TV, or in any of the clips seen
all over the Internet, not once do viewers find out that the naked man
in question is the employee of a radio station doing a stunt...let
alone find out the name of his employer.
We thought it was Radio 101 that such stunts needed to include some
sort of sign or visual display or audio getting publicity for the
radio station and the show.
Maybe the folks in Rover's "kennel" need to call up "Opie and Anthony"
(heard in afternoon drive on WXRK) for some pointers on that...
Various video links to the stories are prominently displayed on
Rover's website, and the "19 Action News" site has its own video links
to the original story and follow-ups.
Speaking of Rover's site, we've noticed it has excised the section on
the show's syndicated outposts. Well, really, are there any left? We
thought "The Nerve" in Rochester NY was still along for the ride...
A "Dumb" Stunt
So, the OMW inbox was peppered with notes from folks telling us about
the streaker who interrupted a "19 Action News" live shot in snowy
downtown Cleveland during this past week's storm. The clip made it
onto, among other places, ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live", and MSNBC's
"Countdown with Keith Olbermann".
Basically, a large, apparently naked man cavorts around 19's Jon
Loufman as the weather forecaster interviews someone else in the snow
out at East 12th and Chester Avenue.
That's otherwise known as The Convenient Downtown Live Shot Location
Right Outside Reserve Square - the home of Raycom Media
CBS/MyNetworkTV combo WOIO/19-WUAB/43.
Given the Naked History of "19 Action News", we wondered if WOIO
itself had put the man up to it. Now, the station has generally been
known to parade around or hire naked female anchors, but maybe this
time, they thought a naked man would be funnier in a major snowstorm.
We weren't THAT far off.
No, it wasn't WOIO management who put the streaker up to it. It was
another media outlet.
The now-world-famous streaker is known only as "Dumb" (sometimes the
shoe just fits so easily), and he's the phone screener for WXRK/92.3
"K-Rock"-based morning drive show "Rover's Morning Glory".
"Dumb" ended up talking to Loufman later, clothed, thankfully, for a
follow-up piece, which brought the forecaster into the WXRK studio.
And a German TV crew, with apparently nothing better to cover in the
United States, visited Cleveland Friday and interviewed both men in
front of Reserve Square.
(We sure hope the crew was already in the States. Sending a TV news
crew from Germany to Cleveland to cover this "story" may be the
definition of television idiocy.)
We say "apparently naked", by the way, because there's at least one
shot of the guy wearing a small pair of shorts after the "romp". Thank
goodness for, uh, small favors. That can't be seen on camera in the
original shot because, again, thankfully, the station's on-screen
graphics obscure that part of his body.
Oh, and one thing?
In all the plays on network or cable TV, or in any of the clips seen
all over the Internet, not once do viewers find out that the naked man
in question is the employee of a radio station doing a stunt...let
alone find out the name of his employer.
We thought it was Radio 101 that such stunts needed to include some
sort of sign or visual display or audio getting publicity for the
radio station and the show.
Maybe the folks in Rover's "kennel" need to call up "Opie and Anthony"
(heard in afternoon drive on WXRK) for some pointers on that...
Various video links to the stories are prominently displayed on
Rover's website, and the "19 Action News" site has its own video links
to the original story and follow-ups.
Speaking of Rover's site, we've noticed it has excised the section on
the show's syndicated outposts. Well, really, are there any left? We
thought "The Nerve" in Rochester NY was still along for the ride...