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Update: Andy Marra of GLAAD has an update posted at the glaadBLOG:
I received a tip from a GLAADblog follower about a statement posted by KRXQ radio host Rob Williams who owns the “Rob, Arnie and Dawn in the Morning” show. At 11:50am PST, Williams issued a statement about their May 28 segment where Rob and Arnie made offensive remarks against transgender children. They refused to apologize on a follow-up show.The statement comes after a week of turmoil for the radio station. On June 1, GLAAD issued a Call to Action that mobilized hundreds of people to contact the radio station and voice their concerns. You can read more about that here and here.
Huffington Post blogger Michael Rowe and Pam’s House Blend contributor Autumn Sandeen were key reporters regularly following the issue. Their crucial coverage and GLAAD’s Call to Action resulted in a flurry of media pick-up. Concerned community members also began to contact companies and urge them to pull their advertising contracts from KRXQ. I then ended up fielding emails and calls from companies who wanted GLAAD to post and distribute their statements to either pull or not renew advertising on the radio station due to the offensive broadcast. You can read more about that here…
More at the glaadBLOG entry entitled UPDATE: KRXQ Radio Host Rob Williams Declares Failure.
From the front page of the Rob, Arnie, and Dawn In The Morning show:
TO OUR LOYAL ROB, ARNIE AND DAWN FOLLOWERS,WE HAVE FAILED YOU. AS A SHOW, AS PEOPLE, AS BROADCASTERS, WE HAVE SIMPLY FAILED ON ALMOST EVERY LEVEL.
WE PRESENTED OUR OPINIONS ON A VERY SENSITIVE SUBJECT IN A HATEFUL, CHILDISH AND CRUDE FASHION; AND THEN, GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO RETRACT THOSE REMARKS, WE DEFENDED THEM.
SINCE THEN, YOU, OUR LOYAL LISTENERS, HAVE MADE IT CLEAR TO US THAT WE WENT TOO FAR. THE RESPONSE HAS BEEN OVERWHELMING. NONE OF YOU SAID THAT WE COULDN’T HAVE OPINIONS, YET SO MANY OF YOU SAID THAT THE WAY WE GAVE THEM CROSSED THE LINE. FURTHER, YOU SAID THAT OUR ATTEMPT TO MASK OUR COMMENTS AS “JOKES THAT WOULD BE UNDERSTOOD BY OUR AUDIENCE,” WAS UNACCEPTABLE. I WOULD SAY NOW THAT IT WAS WORSE THAN THAT, IT WAS COWARDLY. YOU HAVE MADE THAT CLEAR…
Read the rest of the statement at their website.
Folks, thank you. The advertiser blitz worked. The LGBT and progressive communities have controlled anti-gay and anti-transgender sentiment directed at our transgender youth. I believe it was you, the grass roots activists who took action by contacting the KRXQ advertisers, that made all the difference.
To again quote Bayard Rustin:
“[T]he job of the gay community is not to deal with extremists who would castigate us or put us on an island and drop an H-bomb on us. The fact of the matter is that there is a small percentage of people in America who understand the true nature of the homosexual community. There is another small percentage who will never understand us. Our job is not to get those people who dislike us to love us. Nor was our aim in the civil rights movement to get prejudiced white people to love us. Our aim was to try to create the kind of America, legislatively, morally, and psychologically, such that even though some whites continued to hate us, they could not openly manifest that hate. That’s our job today: to control the extent to which people can publicly manifest antigay sentiment.“
And, Caesar Chavez:
“We are confident. We have ourselves. We know how to sacrifice. We know how to work. We know how to combat the forces that oppose us. But even more than that, we are true believers in the whole idea of justice. Justice is so much on our side, that that is going to see us through.”
And, it has.
Again, thank you grass roots activists for the work you’ve done to have this happen. Contacting the advertisers made a big difference.
By the way, I’ve talked to Andy Marra (of GLAAD); I’ve talked to Kim Pearson (the TransYouth Family Allies executive director); and I’ve talked to Dawn of the Rob, Arnie, and Dawn In The Morning show.
Trust me, this story isn’t over by a very long shot. But that said, this apology was the first, very necessary step.
~~~~~
H/t: Mark
~~~~~
Related:
* Writing FCC Complaints About Arnie States’ Shoe Throwing Comment On KRXQ & KDOT
* Snapple, Sonic & Chipotle Pull Advertising From KRXQ
* Nonviolence In Response To The Rob, Arnie, & Dawn In The Morning Tirades On TransYouth
* GLAAD Action Alert On Rob, Arnie & Dawn in the Morning Radio Show TransYouth “Tirade”
* On Transitioning Transgender Youth II – The Other Side Of The Coin
* On Transitioning Transgender Youth
66 Comments
NOT GOOD ENOUGHThis show should be stopped. Call for their cancellation. they said it, and they meant what they said, taking it back and pretending to care now, is TOO LATE.
Remove these disgusting individuals from the air.
Very GoodThis show, and Rob in particular, have always preached accepting responsibility. I am overjoyed to see that he realized that he violated everything he believes in about how a society treats its most defenseless and is going to give people a chance to educate.
He may offer the stations the chance to accept the show’s resignation. When he let the show cross a line before he did that. I don’t know if this show will be continue with us, but I am glad to see that it will offer the chance to educate the way it should have on the 28th.
Where the way I made my arguments was hurtful, I apologize. I hope that you can understand a part of my passion when I sincerely thought that we were on a path where the ability to take action is robbed from everyone.
I don’t know about thatThis goes in my playbook under How To Apologize.
They covered the ‘You’re oppressing me for my opinion!’ angle, by openly admitting that they had been spanked not for having opinions on cihldrearing but for being complete assclowns.
They addressed the reality that their first attempt to stand by it, which stated that ‘their listeners’ understood them, made their listeners complicit and painted them as bigots too–which no one wants to be.
Finally, they proved that standing by and priding oneself on stupidity is a REVERSIBLE form of bad behavior, not a test of will or faith.
All in all, well played.
It’s not over.I’ve talked to GLAAD; I’ve talked to Kim Pearson (the TransYouth Family Allies executive director); and I’ve talked to Dawn of the Rob, Arnie, and Dawn In The Morning show.
Trust me, this isn’t over by a long shot. But that said, this apology was the first, necessary step.
Great work AutumnThere are still contact lists at HuffPo you can email sponsors
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…
if you notice the blurb on RADs website is ALL CAPS like they are yelling, and you can’t go beyond that page, to individual DJ’s pages of which there were MANY.
I think this is goodbye, not an apology
Cool! A foxhole conversion.The all-caps shouting is a nice touch.
To their credit, they didn’t try the “sorry if we offended anyone” bit this time.
Now let’s see how long their religious conversion lasts. One show? One week? I’m sure people will be listening.
Split feelingsPart of me is very pleased to see them capitulate. Mostly though, I know they are only sorry they’re facing major fines (again) by the FCC.
Still, I’m thrilled to see so many people take action. Well done!
“When he let the show cross a line before he did that.”He was leading the charge and carrying the banner as he “crossed the line,” not trying to hold back the sewage (if I may mix my metaphors).
this reaffirms that $$$ translates to power Do not undermine the power of advertising $$$. Boycott always works!Not sure if I should be happy about the fact that money can actually buy you [almost] everything ~
That was the apology…the BBC should have made half a dozen times over the last year.
I agreeBut we should acknowledge that in the world of common non-apologies (a la Virginia Foxx), this was a forced smackdown. People will not take it any more. Now we have to see what Thursday brings. It’s put up or shut up.
Jared’s and Home Depot…..thanks for NOTHINGand Nothing is what you’ll receive in return….IN ABUNDANCE!
btw with this VICTORY, and Tony awards tonight hosted by Neil Patrick Harris
I might have a GAY-ORGASM-A-THON
don’t worry I’ll spread a plastic drop cloth
Good DevelopmentI will be interested to hear who they will be speaking with on Thursday, and, what is said. Who are these various groups I wonder? GLAAD hasn’t mentioned their participation and in their post says they’re expecting a call on Monday. . .we shall see. In the meantime this by no means says to me to stop holding their feet to the flame.
I’d add put your money where your mouth isif 98 Rock wants to ever attract back the sponsors who left in DISGUST,(no easy feat) maybe Autumn could suggest a trans youth organization they could give a nice fat donation.
a donation to GLAAD would also be fittingThanks GLAADAndy for his dilligent work too
Good ideaRob is attributing his change of heart to the response of his audience. Thursday would be an excellent opportunity for the listeners to donate.
GLAAD has a call from the station Monday morningGLAADAndy posted it on Michael Rowe’s thread at HuffPo
“GLAAD is supposed to hear from KRXQ station management on Monday, June 7. We promise to keep you all updated on this situation. You can read about that here:
http://glaadblog.org/2009/06/0…
GLAAD’s Call to Action against KRXQ remains active. We encourage people to continue respectfully voicing your concerns by following this link:
http://www.glaad.org/Page.aspx…
Have an update to share with GLAAD? Send us a tweet on our Twitter account @glaad.
Stay tuned for more details. Please check back with us for updates on this developing story.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…
there’s a later update too
Autumn will you be talking to Dawn on Thursday show?
From what I read at that foul RAD siteit’d be hard to determine when they weren’t crossing a line.
including nasty t-shirts using the C-word and images of a dog copulating a woman….ewwwwwww!
This is how to make amendsThe show admitted their wrongdoing (as opposed to simply saying they are sorry, sorry usually means that you’re sorry you got called out)
The statement also seems to indicate a willingness to make a direct amend to the community that they harmed and they seem willing to change their behavior.
It is up to us, as Autumn stated, to follow up.
Don’t be fooled by these guysOther than the (temporary) web site closure, they did the same thing with the SIDS people. They made a repulsive remark about SIDS babies and all hell broke loose for a bit. Then the SIDS people called them on the phone or may of been in the studio and the show apologized, complete with Arnie States crying. When they get backed up to the wall they play this game. So all I am saying is be careful. The ONLY way to stop them from ever doing this kind of harm again is for them to be FIRED.
This show has a HISTORY of this kind of behavior. Look at the FCC complaint and the fowl language toward children and women, then the SIDS incident and now this.
END THIS SHOW!!
Just like Don Imusand his racist bombs. (And Imus should really know better.)
There is no apology if you don’t change the offensive behavior. Granted, I am not as familiar with these DJ’s as I was familiar with Imus but if there is a constant trend to these type of offensive comments, they should be fired.
Apologize you misogynistic cowardly bigots.
Anything than a official apology and statement read on the air that confirms that they understand what they did wrong and a promise not to do it again is side stepping their moral responsibilities and doing a discredit to all men.
Apologize you misogynistic bigots.
If these two are allowed to escape without repercussions they will do what they had been doing for years and years.
After they were fined $55,000 in 2004 for exactly the same thing they waited a while until again they began grabbing sensualistic attention dy degrading and belittling woman and children.
When they saw that they could get away with that again they start advocating for violence against woman and children
If you beleive that anything short of financial ruination of there company brought there attention you are deceiving yourself. If you think there is any solution other than banning them from the air waves you will have to prove it to me.
There history proves otherwise.
i think I put the wrong pronoun to GLAADAndy should be HER
I can’t say if I ran into RAD fans or cast on various sitesAt HuffPo, at Sacramento Press, and a couple other sites offensive posts towards me, even toward’s my family members, doesn’t put me in a forgiving mood.
Reading the RAD nasty and putrid garbage towards women and little girls,and towards gays in Arnie’s blog crowing after prop 8 was upheld, and the really suspicious pages of Rob’s on wine tasting, ettiquette, recipes, and how to dress….three sequins beyond metrosexual (in my opinion.)
I just say GOOD RIDDANCE, and hope I never hear about them again.
It is her.
Andy has a sterotypically male spelling for her first name, but Andy is definitely a woman. 
I might accept amends from DawnBut she also has 12 years of other garbage with Rob and Arnie.
I wouldn’t accept Rob or Arnie’s amends.
That’s the things with making amends, there is no guarantee they’ll be accepted, the person is only responsible for their effort to make them.
I don’t wish either Rob or Arnie ill, I just want not to hear of them, or from them again.
Yeah, sometimes the best amendis to leave the person whom you wronged THE FU*K ALONE.
Person in this casebeing the listeners to the show that put up with this garbage, time and time again, it seems (see my Don Imus comment upthread).
Congratulationsto Autumn, and to all of us who contacted the station. I agree that this mere apology isn’t enough, but it’s more than I was expecting from these creeps.
But what does “we went too far” mean? Doesn’t that imply that there are forms of trans-bashing that don’t go too far? It’ll be very interesting to see where this goes now.
They haven’t apologized yet. Their written statement notes that they have not yet apologized.The statement contains no apology. They say that they will “say what needs to be said” on Thursday. I’ll wait and hear what they have to say.
So far, they have neither apologized nor addressed the fact that they advocated violence against trans children.
Not good enough yet.
Thank you AutumnWow, Autumn, what a wonderful victory. Thank you so much for leading on this. I appreciate being able to participate in a small way by letting the jocks know they were wrong. You took the right stand, empowered our community, and made the wrongdoers see the light.
You are someone I am pleased to know. Very good work today.
Yes, it will be.Believe me, my peers and I who are talking to the radio station are very much paying attention to the grass roots — what the grass roots are saying here at The Blend (as well as elsewhere on the web). We hear what the grass roots are wanting from the Rob, Arnie, and Dawn In The Morning show and KRXQ.
I know I personally reject revenge as an activism tool, though. I know I don’t want heads on a platter; but I do want a complete reversal of how they operate with regards to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and (especially) transgender youth to occur.
I’m about sure that none of us in the activism community would be satisfied with a simple apology alone at this point (even though that likely would have been satisfactory on June 3rd). Rob and Arnie escalated the situation on their June 3rd broadcast, and it will definitely take more to deescalate the situation now than it would have before that June 3rd broadcast.
This was a fight FOISTED on many of us, not of our choosingI’m not in CA, I had never heard of these Bozo’s until Michael Rowe’s article at HuffPo, then the next morning here from Autumn (because PHB was down that night.)
Just researching through RAD’s site, and listening to two days of their denials and 9/11 crud, wasn’t anything I had the least interest in, and it was so putrid it should come with a scaulding hot mental shower, and a retina rinse.
But this was the fight we got, and I worked to make it a fight we won.
So if now I’m tired of the whole thing, and just want it OVER, I think is reasonable. No apology from Rob or Arnie would satisfy me, these guys have been sanctioned and fined, and it seems they grew in popularity, and got even WORSE.
demonstrating the power of blogging and the internetto mobilize our community against hate and intolerance. I’ll be interested to see what happens on Thurs and will be listening.
You’re Very Welcome.To be honest though, I believe you deserve more credit, Teddy.
Sure, I kept you informed and took action on my own, but you made calls too, and you took action without me having to tell you that you should do that.
What changed the situation was that with you, Teddy, and literally hundreds of other people who read about the story (and/or listened to the audio) did exactly what you did — you and your peers called or emailed KRXQ and/or their advertisers. It was the collective action of all who sent e-letters and made phone calls that made the difference.
Teddy, individually we may seem weak, but together we are a powerful force. Your small part is the bigger force — you empowered yourself as part of a member of a broader community.
So, take some powerful credit, Teddy — you very much deserve it.
“three sequins beyond metrosexual (in my opinion.)”lol. Slap me and and tell me I’m contributing to intolerance, but my first reaction when I saw a photo of the trio was, “that Rob guy looks a little light in his loafers.”
Hard work pays offMany thanks to you Autumn for all of it…
sometimes WE winhere’s an image I made last night
http://img.villagephotos.com/p…
Hivemind.
They have proven to be masters of emotional exploitation. It’s nothing more than a two-fold manipulative tactic.
1.) Milk media attention to increase listeners, like drive-by viewers of a recent car wreck.
2.) Desperately regain some of the sponsors they lost.
If you seriously think there’s a chance they actually believe what they will be acting out this thursday, and have suddenly had a change of heart, you’re deluding yourself.
Look to the past for their pattern of sleazy behavior.
Essentially ignore them this thursday while on the air, and make every point you can for the listeners. Some that are indifferent may be swayed to a more supportive stance.
The real reason?I think the real reason he is doing anything close to apologizing is because the funding for his show is now walking…. I hope the show is canceled.
Listen to the Mea Culpa Thursday 7:30 A.M. PDTThe message on the web site says that they’re not going to broadcast live until Thursday morning at 7:30 A.M. PDT, 10:30 A.M. EDT. If you don’t live in an area that has a Rob, Arnie & Dawn in the Morning affiliate, here’s where their flagship station, KRXQ, streams live over the Internet for world-wide consumption.
128 kbps, 44 kHz
http://provisioning.streamthew…
My comment at the previous article
I’ll suspend judgement till Thursday, but so far, so good.
It seems to me that we should use this time to edumacate them – not tell them what to say or think, just lay the facts out before them. Maybe make some taped interviews with trans people (Hi Autumn) to show a human face to the bald statistics. We need to work with GLAAD on the details here. Give them some data and suggestions.
you should have seen his blushing beard…er ….brideCharlie Crist carries off the charade better
Well done, peopleI don’t expect RAD to become decent human beings, I just have some hope that they’ll feel obliged to pretend. That’s good enough for me.
Yup. They don’t have to stop hating us……but they are going to have to self edit all future anti-gay and anti-transgender sentiment.
They put themselves on the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community’s, as well as the progressive community’s radar. Not only are we not going to forget the sentiment they expressed on May 28th, but they are not going to be able to forget that we will remember, and that expressing any future anti-gay or anti-transgender sentiment of any sort will be met with another blast of our counterforce.
Autumn I hope you get nominated for a pulitzer for your coverage of KRXQYou also deserve KUDOS on PHB.
We’ll know what the station says to GLAAD on MondayIf there isn’t a no-holds-bar apology from the station, and Rob and Arnie fired, I’ll go back to writing FCC, remaining sponsors….with a vengence.
I was looking for images of you Autumncame across images of your freya tat
http://www.flickr.com/photos/1…
very cool
I treated myself to a tat from a Tom of Finland sailor merman during my midlife crisis, on my tush. The image was on the seat of a Tom of Finland swimsuit
Yeah, so off topic, but yeah……I love my tat.
I’d like to hear your thoughts on 10 national companies standing up for trans youthThat shouldn’t get lost in the KRXQ story. I thought it was very encouraging sign.
That’s gorgeous!And in another photo in that stream, there’s a before pic of you at your previous weight, which I hadn’t seen before. So you’re a veteran, you transitioned genders, you lost a lot of weight and kept it off, and you fight daily for truth, justice and the American way. Good lord, woman, is there nothing you can’t do?
Seriously, you are truly an inspiration. Thanks for doing the heavy lifting and leading the way. I’ll do my best to try to keep up!
Well DoneYou will be the judge, but it seems like this is sending the right message in a number of ways. Great job to get it this far, and your fans have confidence that you will take the ball in for a touchdown. Or something.
I’m traveling today, but……Yeah, those 10 companies deserve our praise and our business. I’ll be eating McDonald’s today, and probably some Sonic in the next few days.
And, my drink holder will have a Snapple.
it wouldn’t hurt to remind HRC and Barney Frank trans people have powerful friendsWith MAJOR corporations, and NEVER attempt to leave trans people out of a ENDA.
happy trailsI’ve also been giving mcDonalds my business, and this area has tons of Sonics. I’ll have to check for a Chipotle, i love me some mexican food. If you want an angle on Wells Fargo Bank, the LGBT employee group in Minneapolis always has a Pride booth.
NO Chipotles in Louisiana….ratsThere are 20-48 Chipotle’s near Minneapolis, so when I get back there I’ll check them out.
Meko a poster from HuffPoPosted guitar center is joining the boycott, but no official word yet
http://glaadblog.org/2009/06/0…
Is KRXQ station manager stalling with GLAAD today?THAT WOULD BE UNWISE.
I think they want to wait as long as they can before they contact GLAAD today, so there will be a let up in sponsors getting floods of emails, and FCC receiving more complaints.
If Rob and Arnie aren’t fired, and a really strong apology which says this station is ASHAMED, and will NEVER allow this hate speech again towards ANY CHILD, I will spend the entire night and every moment until Thursday’s show emailing the remaining sponsors.
GLAAD updateAt 11:45am EST, Cindi Creager, GLAAD’s Director of National News, and I spoke with the station manager at KRXQ. GLAAD successfully made the case for a transgender person and a parent of a transgender child to appear on the Rob, Arnie and Dawn show. We are right now in the process of securing Trans Youth Family Allies Executive Director Kim Pearson and Pam’s House Blend contributor and transgender advocate Autumn Sandeen for the broadcast.
continues at link
http://glaadblog.org/2009/06/0…
I’m glad Autumn may be on the Thursday show…she’s earned itNO APOLOGY from the station, and NO mention if Rob, Arnie, and Dawn show will stay or go.
I’ll be DOUBLING my emails to the show’s sponsors.
THIS was insulting IMO.
btw GLAAD confirms Guitar Center joined the boycott
Mr Geary vice president/general manager of KRXQ sent me a form letterHere’smy response
“Mr. Geary,
I appreciate your responding to my email.
The GLAAD update
http://glaadblog.org/2009/06/0…
Mentions Autumn Sandeen possibly being a part of Thursday’s show….which she deserves.
Your station’s representative made NO APOLOGY, and made NO mention if the RAD show is staying or going.
Unless Rob and Arnie are fired, and the station makes an unequivocal apology of how foul and cruel this program was to children, and that the station will guarantee it NEVER happens again, I will DOUBLE my efforts writing and calling your remaining sponsors to join the Boycott. Stopping an advertiser from leaving is much easier than to try to attract back a sponsor who’s left in DISGUST.”
Has anyone heard from The Home Depot yet?I have yet to receive any reply from them. Looks like I’ll be heading to Lowe’s or OSH from now on. On a related note, I find it shocking that our good friends and steady allys at HRC are not pressuring Home Depot given past actions and their ‘corporate rating’ thingy.
full GLAAD updateUPDATE: GLAAD Speaks with KRXQ Management
Please Click to Share!
June 8, 2009 by Andy Marra, Senior Media Strategist @ GLAAD
For those just now learning about this issue, please go here to read more about this evolving controversy.
At 11:45am EST, Cindi Creager, GLAAD’s Director of National News, and I spoke with the station manager at KRXQ. GLAAD successfully made the case for a transgender person and a parent of a transgender child to appear on the Rob, Arnie and Dawn show. We are right now in the process of securing Trans Youth Family Allies Executive Director Kim Pearson and Pam’s House Blend contributor and transgender advocate Autumn Sandeen for the broadcast.
As yesterday’s statement noted, KRXQ will be airing a special show on Thursday, June 11 at 7:30am PST.
It should be noted that Autumn was one of the very first reporters to shine attention on the May 28th segment alongside Huffington Post blogger Michael Rowe.
KRXQ has assured us that the June 11th follow-up show will be conducted in a “frank and positive manner.” It was explicitly stated to us that we will hear an apology from the radio hosts and listeners will be able to call in. As always, we remind everyone to be respectful and civil when calling into the show.
GLAAD has additionally suggested a transgender media training with our community partners. KRXQ was receptive to the suggestion and we will further discuss this following Thursday’s radio broadcast.
Media have been continuing to follow the story, garnering national coverage. Local media outlets in Sacramento have been especially helpful in covering this story – including The Sacramento Press, FOX40 and The Sacramento Bee. Community blogs have also been extremely effective in sharing updates on this issue and mobilizing readers to take action.
Finally, it should be noted that yet another advertiser has dropped their contract with the station. Guitar Center Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Norman Hajjar, directly reached out to GLAAD following emails from concerned community members.
Norman has provided us with this statement to share with our readers:
Last Thursday, I asked our media agency to speak to KRXQ about the outrageous comments made by their morning on-air team. I wasn’t satisfied with the station’s response. So we decided to pull our dollars from the station.
It’s simple: wrong is wrong. We don’t want our brand associated with such epic insensitivity.
Guitar Center now becomes the 11th confirmed advertiser to pull their contract from KRXQ. You can read more about the others here and here.
nada
write emHOME DEPOT
public_relations@homedepot.com
this from tipsQ“GLAAD spoke with KRXQ today on the planned show and booked two transgender advocates, Kim Pearson and Autumn Sandeen, to appear on the program and further educate the hosts and their listeners about transgender issues. GLAAD’s Media Programs team will continue providing resources about transgender issues to KRXQ and co-host Dawn Rossi, who has defended the community, prior to Thursday’s broadcast.
“We will continue working to demand Williams and States use their radio platform responsibly on future broadcasts,” said Giuliano (GLAAD president).”
http://www.tips-q.com/1002712-…
WHAT DAMN FUTURE BROADCASTS?