Mancow Muller

Mancow
File:MANCOW-DDW.jpg
Career
Show	Mancow's Morning Madhouse
Station	Talk Radio Network
Country	United States
Website	Mancow.com

Erich Matthew Muller (born June 21, 1966 in Kansas City, Missouri) is an American radio and television personality known as Mancow or Mancow Muller.

He is best known as the controversial radio personality from Mancow's Morning Madhouse formerly on WKQX-FM (Q101), a Chicago-based radio show that has, in recent years, been nationally syndicated mostly in small markets by Talk Radio Network. Muller's career with Q101 was cut short in July 2006, when Marv Nyren, Vice President and General Manager of Emmis Radio in Chicago announced "We’ve decided that the time has come for us to develop a morning show that will better serve the needs and sensibilities of this audience.

Before he was on Q101, the show originated on Rock 103.5, another Chicago rock radio station. On Saturday, November 18, 2007 at 9:00 PM EST, Muller hosted his own show on Fox News titled "Planet Mancow" featuring William Shatner. He has claimed to be a libertarian at times. However, he has also described himself as a "conservative, Bible-thumping radical who curses."

Radio career beginnings

Thanks to his radio mentor, Marion Woods, Muller's radio career began at KOKO-AM (a one-kilowatt AM radio station) in Warrensburg, Missouri, playing commercials during the Larry King satellite feed. His role gradually expanded until he got his own afternoon show.

Among Muller's fans was the general manager of KLSI-FM in Kansas City, who offered him a full-time job as head of station promotions. Muller accepted the position, plus a weekend air shift, while completing his final semester at the University of Central Missouri.

Pre-Chicago notoriety

After a stint at KDON (the first radio station to feature UFO Phil) in Monterey, California, Muller headed north to San Francisco. In 1993, Muller made national headlines working for radio station 107.7 KYLD-FM in San Francisco, California, when a story was circulating that President Bill Clinton tied up traffic on an LAX runway for over an hour getting a haircut on Air Force One. Muller staged a parody of the incident on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge during rush hour. He used vans to block the westbound lanes on the bridge while his then sidekick, Jesus "Chuy" Gomez, got a haircut.

As a result of this publicity stunt, Muller was prosecuted and subsequently convicted of a felony by a San Francisco Municipal Court. His sentence included three years probation, a $500 fine and 100 hours of community service. The radio station eventually paid $1.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by a bridge commuter.

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Mancow's 2003 book

Mancow's Morning Madhouse

Main article: Mancow's Morning Madhouse

After leaving California, Muller came to Chicago where he was offered a job by Evergreen Media President Jim de Castro at more than double his salary if he would move to Chicago to work at WWBZ-FM, "The Blaze". "The Blaze" had lost its fire and it was renamed to "Rock 103.5" (WRCX-FM), and created his radio show, Mancow's Morning Madhouse which debuted in July 1994.

Within two Arbitron ratings periods he took the station's 19th-ranked morning show to #5 among all teens and adults, and #1 among 18-to-34 year olds.

Originally, he broadcasted from WRCX-FM (Rock 103.5) studios in the John Hancock Center and in 1998, moved to the city's foremost alternative rock station, WKQX-FM (Q-101) 101.1, where the show was broadcast from the Merchandise Mart for eight more years. However, due to falling ratings, on July 11, 2006, WKQX-FM in Chicago announced that they would no longer carry Mancow's Morning Madhouse after July 14, 2006.

On March 19, 2007, Muller was removed by radio station, KAZR, located in Des Moines, Iowa for what the station manager cited as "decline in the consistency and quality of Muller's show". [3]

Mancow and the FCC

Muller and Emmis Communications, the company that owns radio stations on which Mancow's Morning Madhouse is broadcast, have had numerous run-ins with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for broadcasting offensive or obscene material. In particular, in 1999 David Edward Smith, then Executive Director of the Illinois-based Citizens for Community Values, began filing complaints with the FCC. While the first several of these complaints were initially dismissed by the FCC for lack of context , eventually FCC began levying fines on Emmis—largely as a result of persistent efforts thereto from anti-obscenity commissioners Gloria Tristani and Bush appointee Michael Copps. By June 2002 various media sources reported that Emmis had paid $42,000 in fines for FCC violations on Muller's program.

Smith continued to file complaints about the content of Muller's show. In 2004, Muller filed a suit against Smith, claiming that Smith was violating his First Amendment rights to free speech. A federal judge declared this suit to be "frivolous and insubtantial" and as a result Muller dropped the suit on August 3, 2004. Shortly thereafter Emmis Communications announced it had reached a "consent decree" with FCC, agreeing to pay $300,000 and to admit that the Mancow program had at times violated FCC regulations. In the meantime, Smith had petitioned FCC to deny the renewal of Emmis station licenses, including one for a station, WIBC-AM in Indianapolis, that did not broadcast Muller's program—which was unsuccessful.

Smith has maintained at least as recently as 2006 that he continues to monitor Muller's radio program for objectionable material.

Cowboy Ray

On November 20, 2005, Ray Hofstatter, aka Cowboy Ray, a 45 year old mentally challenged frequent caller and guest on Mancow's Morning Madhouse, was struck by a car in a hit-and-run accident and was killed. During the following January, a devastated Muller offered a $23,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the faceless culprit. Ray's life support was terminated on January 11, 2006. The still unsolved hit-and-run case of Cowboy Ray was featured on Fox's America's Most Wanted television show on February 25, 2006. To this day the driver has still not been found.

Controversies

For many years, the show hosted a plethora of unusual contests in which listeners would be subject to humiliating ordeals, such as eating cat food and other disgusting items. On other occasions, the show would use contestants to play pranks on Chicago businesses, walking into a Chinese dry cleaner with a bloodstained shirt while feigning anguish over a supposed murder. Other contests were designed to scare passersby, such as "Grand Theft Auto" where contestants would be issued car keys, and instructed to find an expensive automobile which would preferably be parked on a busy Chicago intersection. However, only one of the keys would actually work. Even so, a contestant could win the car without the proper key by pretending to be a car thief to an uninformed observer.

In 2007, following the "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" Controversy Mancow started the Foundation For Responsible Radio, calling for the end of "voyeuristic radio", a style of radio he has been known to do in the past. He also released a list a commandments for radio personalities, many of which he has been known to break on his own show. Both lead to heavy criticism from others in radio including Opie and Anthony, Don and Mike and Bubba The Love Sponge.

Fred Durst incident

After Wes Borland left Limp Bizkit, Fred Durst was to be a judge in a Guitar Center competition to find the next guitarist for the band. Having hundreds of people show up to "audition", Durst came to the event late, gave everybody in attendance the middle finger, then promptly left. Mancow then hosted a picture of Durst giving the finger on his website and subsequently started the anti-Durst rants on his radio show. For a full week leading up to Limp Bizkit's Summer Sanitarium 2003 concert in Chicago, Muller mocked Fred Durst on his radio show, inviting fans to attend the concert with anti-Durst placards. When Muller's fans complied by showing up with the placards, openly taunting the singer, booing him and pelting him with refuse, Durst erupted into a profanity-laced homophobic tirade and left the stage only 17 minutes into the show. Durst was eventually sued for breach of contract (for not completing the show) by Chicago lawyer Michael Young.

Jim Norton incident

Comedian Jim Norton appeared on Muller's Chicago radio show as a child molester character to be chastised by Muller and his crew. Rather than presenting this is a comedy piece, Norton was asked by the show's host to perform in dramatic character.

Howard Dean incident

On December 6, 2005, Muller drew controversy when he vilified Howard Dean on Fox News Channel's Fox & Friends, antagonizing with such words as "vile", "bloodthirsty", "evil" and retaliated to Dean's opinions on the War in Iraq, calling Dean a traitor that "ought to be kicked out of America" and "tried for treason". [4]

Personal life

Since February 14, 2003, Muller has been married to Sandy Ferrando, a former publicist. He also has twin daughters named Ava Grace and Isabella Sofia Muller.

See also

• Mancow's Morning Madhouse
• Al Roker, Jr.
• Cowboy Ray
• DJ Crazy Lips
• DJ Luv Cheez
• Turd the Bartender
• Freak (Wally Kozielski)
• Irma Blanco
• Marissa Sanchez