Preston and Steve

Infobox Radio Show
show_name = The Preston and Steve Show


imagesize = 200px
caption =
format = Comedy, Talk
runtime = ~4 hours or more
creator =
developer =
executive_producer = Nick McIlwain
Casey Foster
starring = Preston Elliot
Steve Morrison
opentheme =
endtheme =
country = flagicon|United States United States
state = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
first_aired = 1999 — February 23 2005 (Y100) May 23 2005
last_aired = Present (WMMR)
website = http://www.prestonandsteve.com
home_station = 93.3 WMMR
podcast = http://prestonandsteve.libsyn.com/

The "Preston and Steve" show is a morning radio comedy and variety broadcast on Philadelphia Active Rock station 93.3 FM WMMR featuring DJs Preston Elliot and Steve Morrison. The show, which originated at Y100 in Philadelphia, features daily telephone interviews, in-studio guests, celebrity impersonations, unusual news stories, and numerous sound clips and running gags. It broadcasts live on the radio as well as streaming audio via the station website from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. EST, Monday through Friday, and is a featured podcast in the comedy section of the iTunes store.

The show has been named the "Best Morning Show" by Philadelphia Style Magazine, [cite web |url=http://www.phillystylemag.com/bos2006/webonly.html |title=Best of Style |year=2006 |work= [http://phillystylemag.com phillystylemag.com] |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20060714001204/http://www.phillystylemag.com/bos2006/webonly.html |archivedate=2006-07-14] and "Personality/Show of the Year" in the active rock category by Radio & Records trade magazine. [cite web |title=WMMR-FM’s Preston & Steve Take Top Honors at 2007 Radio & Records Convention |url=http://www.greatermedia.com/press/detail.php?ID=254 |publisher=Greater Media, Inc. |date=2007-09-28] Before switching to WMMR, the show won various Philadelphia A.I.R. Awards, including the "Best Weekday Morning Team" award for 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2005, [cite web |title=Philadelphia A.I.R. Award Winners |url=http://www.airawards.org/2007-CATEGORY.pdf] and was voted best local morning show in the country in FMQB’s Year End Leaders Poll for 2004 and 2005 in two different formats. [cite news |title= Q&A with WMMR/Philly Morning Hosts Preston & Steve |url=http://www.fmqb.com/article.asp?id=175262 |work=FMQB |date=2006-02-16]

In the Summer 2004 Arbitron ratings book, the show was rated fourth in market share for all people ages 18-34, and second for men in the same category, beating out Howard Stern on WYSP Philadelphia. [cite news |title=Y100's Preston & Steve Cross The Street To WMMR |url=http://www.fmqb.com/article.asp?id=61921 |work=FMQB |date=2005-01-14] During each of David Lee Roth's, Opie and Anthony's, and Kidd Chris's tenures at WYSP since January 2006, Preston and Steve were ranked first in the key demographics. They continue to rank number one in the ratings board as of May 2008.Fact|date=May 2008

In 2006, Preston and Steve received a multi-year contract extension [cite web |title=WMMR's Preston and Steve Extend Contract Through 2010 |url=http://www.greatermedia.com/press/detail.php?ID=118 |publisher=Greater Media, Inc. |date=2006-03-14] and in 2008, the station gave them a new 1,800 square foot studio with their own production equipment. [cite news |author=Klein, Michael |title=Inqlings |url=http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20080504_Inqlings__Try_a_slug_of_this_with_your_pizza.html |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=2008-05-04]

History

in 2007. [cite web |title=The Greater Media Grapevine |url=http://www.greatermedia.com/newsletters/fall_2007.pdf |date=Fall 2007|format=PDF]

WPLY's owner, Dan Lerner, one of the last independent owners in the Philadelphia market, sold the station to Radio One, a national broadcasting corporation, in 2001. Ironically, Radio One was the same group that bought Preston, Marilyn & Steve's previous radio station 103.9 WDRE. Radio One and Preston and Steve did not successfully negotiate a new contract, and the personalities agreed to a deal with local broadcasting group Greater Media. Preston and Steve's contract with Radio One expired on February 24, 2005 and Y100 changed format and became WPHI "The Beat" at 11:50 p.m. EDT that same day. [cite news |title=Radio One Displaces Y100 Philly With The Beat |url=http://www.fmqb.com/article.asp?id=69087 |date=2005-02-25]

A legal battle between Radio One and Preston and Steve over their non-compete clause was resolved by a ruling that they were no longer in competition with WPLY. Their new show officially debuted on the air on Monday, May 23 2005. [cite web| title=The Greater Media Grapevine |url=http://www.greatermedia.com/newsletters/Grapevine_Summer_2005.pdf |date=Summer 2005|format=PDF]

On-air personalities

Infobox_Person
name = Preston Elliot
birth_name = Preston Elliot Wilson
other_names = Kenny Knight
birth_date = birth date and age|1968|1|25
birth_place = Tennessee, U.S.
residence = Skippack, Pennsylvania
spouse = Rachelle
children = Parker
Carter
CarolineInfobox_Person
name = Steve Morrison
birth_date = birth date and age|1959|6|12
birth_place = New York, U.S.
residence = Manayunk, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
spouse = Claire
Preston Elliot Host
Steve Morrison Co-host and comedian
Casey Foster Executive producer
Nick McIlwain Producer and webmaster
Kathy Romano Traffic, news, and female personality
Marisa Magnatta Associate Producer, supports the show primarily off air [cite news |title=Q&A: WMMR/Philadelphia APD Chuck Damico and MD Sean "The Rabbi" Tyszler |url=http://www.fmqb.com/article.asp?id=460641 |work=FMQB |date=2007-07-24 ]

Frequent guests

* Michael Barkann - sports host on Comcast SportsNet
* Mike Birbiglia - comedian
* John Bolaris - Chief meteorologist for Philadelphia's Fox 29 10pm News Cast on WTXF-TV
* Frank Caliendo - comedian and Impressionist
* Bam Margera - skateboarder, star of "Jackass" and "Viva La Bam"
* Rob McElhenney- creator/actor from "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia"
* Matt O'Donnell - early morning anchor and field reporter for Action News on WPVI-TV. [cite news |title=Matt Visits The Preston & Steve Show |url=http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=4427422 |publisher=6abc.com |date=2006-08-07 ]
* Terry O'Quinn - actor and star of the TV series "Lost"
* Cecily Tynan - meteorologist for Action News on WPVI-TV, and a professional duathlete
* Rob VanBeek - forward for the Philadelphia Wings indoor lacrosse team
* Michal Klein - journalist

Publicity events

Camp Out for Hunger

For several years the show has held an annual "Camp Out For Hunger", in which both Elliot and Morrison live in a trailer for one week in December to raise food for the Greater Philadelphia Food Bank. The show awards prizes to individuals and groups that donate the most food. Since 1998, the event has raised hundreds of tons to feed the hungry around Philadelphia. Each of the last three years shattered the previous years' record collection amount for the "Philabundance" organization, with 87.4 tons in 2005, 151 tons in 2006, and 232 tons in 2007 (as well as $27,000 in cash). This is the largest single location food drive in the United States. [cite news |title=Local Radio Show Camps Out For Hunger |url=http://www.nbc10.com/news/14793615/detail.html |work=NBC10.com |date=2007-12-06 ] [cite web |title=Preston and Steve’s Camp Out for Hunger – Record Setting |url=http://www.greatermedia.com/press/detail.php?ID=302 |publisher=Greater Media, Inc. |date=2007-12-11]

Month of Stunts

In April 2002 and 2003, the show performed a month-long publicity stunt called "Casey's Month of Stunts". During the month, sidekick and producer "Caseyboy" performed various stunts on the streets of Philadelphia, or in the broadcast studio. One stunt was performed every day, until Casey was injured nearing the end of the second full month. The stunts were varied, but always involved inflicting some sort of physical harm upon "Caseyboy" while he held either a station microphone or his cell phone, and were broadcast live over the air. Stunts included: Rolling down the Art Museum's stairs while wrapped in Bubble Wrap, driving a car into a pond, being towed around an ice rink by a Zamboni while sitting down with no pants, and having a pitching machine fire baseballs at his genitals. The stunts were also filmed and the video was posted on the show's website. A short film directed by former Y100 DJ and current filmmaker John Von titled "Kill Casey!" was created from footage of the 2002 version of "Casey's Month of Stunts", and a DVD of "Kill Casey!" was released with Y100's "Sonic Sessions Volume 8" CD.

In May 2006, Preston and Steve reprised the "Month of Stunts", in a lesser frequency (three per week instead of one per day), and using Intern Joe instead of Casey. Intern Joe completed a number of stunts, including receiving a tattoo on his "taint", driving around in a pick-up truck covered in horse manure (called the "Poop Coupe"), standing between two sumo wrestlers while they were fighting, partaking in an activity known as the "Human Piñata", being pulled by a horse across a farm, being fired upon by a woodchipper with various objects inserted, and also towering over the ground on a toilet for 24 hours (mocking magician David Blaine's attempt to live in water for a week.)

Drunk Day

Also known as their "Public Service Announcement", this annual tradition typically occurs on the last weekday before the 4th of July weekend. In 2004, Kathy got drunk live on the air, a show which has been cited as a favorite of the cast and crew as well as listeners. In subsequent years, Casey (2005) and Nick (2006) joined Kathy. Nick and Marissa replaced Kathy, who declined to participate in 2007. Typically a state trooper is present in studio to administer sobriety tests while Preston and Steve 'administer' their own forms of sobriety tests. Drunk Show 2008 was aired on Thursday, July 3, 2008. Nick and Casey participated, and it was "Double Dare" themed, complete with host Marc Summers.

Science Day

Since the spring of 2005, "The Preston and Steve Show" has hosted an annual Science Day. On that day, the show uses strange science experiments as fillers instead of their normal conversations. These experiments have involved various home made explosives such as dry ice bombs, and experiments involving liquid nitrogen, such as freezing and breaking various things, or making ice cream. These experiments are usually followed by the show crew screaming "SCIENCE!" accompanied by a clip from the song Weird Science. The clip of Steve screaming "THAT WAS AWESOME" comes from the experiment where they set off the dry ice bomb. This is one of their more popular shows, rivaling the Fourth of July PSAs.

Painfully Single Mixers

"The Preston and Steve Show" hosts these mixers for listeners at different locations. Occurring roughly every two months, single listeners of the show can reserve a spot at the mixer by providing their personal information to the jocks. Elliot and Morrison make the final decision as to who gets to attend; those who get in get a chance to meet others, start a relationship, possibly hook-up, and meet the cast and crew of the show. There have been several weddings that have resulted from the mixers.

Philly's Hottest

Preston and Steve have reinstated another tradition from their Y100 days on WMMR, the "Philly's Hottest" Competition. Selecting a category, such as "Philly's Hottest Student", or "Philly's Hottest Healthcare Worker", female listeners and paid models that qualify for the category that submit their pictures will have their photographs posted on the radio station's website. Listeners and visitors to the station's website then vote (a process that takes normally one to two weeks), after which a winner is decided.

As of 2007, Philly's Hottest Sponsor, Steven Singer Jewelers, known for its viral "I Hate Steven Singer" campaign, created the exclusive Philly's Hottest Necklace. Valued at $2,000, the necklace can only be obtained by winning the Philly's Hottest contest. Not only do they win the exclusive necklace, but Steven Singer Jewelers provides the winners with a $500 piece of jewelry, and a $500 gift certificate for redemption in store.

10,000 Marbles

To celebrate the anticipated 10,000th loss in Philadelphia Phillies franchise history, Nick rolled 10,000 marbles down the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum as Bill Weston (WMMR's program director) looked on. After being cleaned up by the show's production crew, the marbles were donated to Toys for Tots and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. [cite news |title=Marbles Roll Ahead Of Dubious Milestone |url=http://www.nbc10.com/sports/13681031/detail.html |work=NBC10.com |date=2007-07-13 ]

The Vag Launch

Once a year the show launches a blow up sex doll equipped with balloon from the roof of a building. The doll is filled with a prize and many people try to catch it. In 2008 they launched a second: Sputdick. Nick and Pierre Robert have done the broadcast from the launch site.

Cultural references

* Preston and his wife Rachelle were featured in the first episode of Season Five on "Trading Spaces" [imdb episode|0829986|Trading Spaces] . Elliot and his wife traded homes with their neighbors, and over a period of two days, both families renovated a room in each other's homes. The entire "Preston and Steve Show" cast and crew broadcast live from Elliot's house for two days, and were briefly featured in the episode itself. In that time frame, Preston's fellow cast members pranked him by making him believe his house was on fire.

* Steve and his wife Claire were featured on an episode of the HGTV show "Spice Up My Kitchen" [cite web |title=Spice Up My Kitchen |url=http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/shows_hsumk/episode/0,3145,HGTV_29056_50289,00.html |work=HGTV ] where their kitchen was redone for a budget of $40,000.

* Casey and his wife Diane were featured on an episode of the HGTV show "Save My Bath"imdb name|2439338|Casey Foster] , which premiered on October 17, 2006. The episode featured the crew renovating a worn-out bathroom in Casey and Diane's house, with the total estimate of the renovation costs being around $30,000.

* Kathy Romano regularly did the traffic reports for NBC 10 before joining the show. She still fills in on NBC 10 occasionally [cite web |title=Saucy Sidekick |url=http://www.temple.edu/philapeople/kathyromano.htm |work=Temple University ] .

* Kathy had appeared on an episode of the third season of "The Simple Life" [cite web |title=Kathy Romano |url=http://www.kathyromano.net/resume.pdf ] , commenting that the producers present on a Greyhound bus had to "spoon-feed" every line of dialogue to Paris Hilton.

* Kathy will appear in the upcoming film "Our Lady of Victory" [imdb title|1034324|Our Lady of Victory] as a gate agent. The film is produced by Pat Croce and is about an all girl Catholic college basketball team.

* Casey signed a one-day contract with the Philadelphia Soul [cite web |title=Casey Boy Plays for the Philadelphia Soul! |url=http://wmmr.com/gallery/caseysoul |work=WMMR ] .

* Casey and Nick [cite news |title='Always Sunny" Third Season Debuts |url=http://phillyedge.com/node/4405 |work=phillyedge.com ] appeared in two episodes of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia", and Kathy [imdb name|2754163|Kathy Romano] appeared in the season three episode "Dennis Looks Like a Sex Offender". Both Preston and Steve appeared in an episode, playing construction workers, alongside several Philadelphia Eagles. Steve's role was originally to include one line ("Uh, yeah... I guess?"), but was shortened ("What?"), Preston's role had no lines. [cite web|title="It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" Eagles Shoot |url=http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/multimedia/index.asp?mm_file_id=5401&play_clip=y |publisher=philadelphiaeagles.com ]

* Kathy's cat attacking itself in a mirror was on an episode of America's Funniest Home Videos.

See also

* Philadelphia
* WMMR

References

External links

* [http://www.wmmr.com WMMR website]
* [http://www.prestonandsteve.com Preston and Steve website]
* [http://prestonandsteve.libsyn.com Preston and Steve podcast]
* [http://www.kathyromano.net Kathy Romano website]
* [http://www.prestonandsteverock.com Preston And Steve forum and complete podcast archive]
* [http://www.phillymag.com/articles/philadelphia_magazine_media_radio_heads/ phillymag.com article]