That's what The Washington Times and DCRTV are both reporting. The Washington Times says:

We hear that a formal announcement will be made today and that the duo will be heard in middays, a time that has suffered in the ratings since Howard Stern's departure for Sirius Satellite Radio forced WJFK to juggle its lineup.

While DCRTV is confirming the midday move, adding that the date of arrival is June 26th, taking over the 10am-1pm time-slot in a tape-delayed show. While this goes along with on-air conversations of new CBS Radio markets opening up, there's still no additional word on what Citadel markets might get picked up.

[The Washington Times & DCRTV]

Opie and Anthony may be currently syndicated through CBS Radio, but the virus may be spreading on more terrestrial stations with a possible Citadel Broadcasting deal. That bomb was inadvertantly dropped on the XM portion of todays show as Opie took a call from Citadel CEO Farid Suleman.

The conversation made Anthony so nervous that he actually dumped out on some of the conversation (probably learning their lesson from the CBS Radio deal).

From the sounds of it, the deal may be closing within the next couple weeks and might put O&A on an additional half-dozen stations. Of the markets mentioned on air: Providence, Buffalo, and New London. The other three were dumped out of. In addition, Joel Hollander had mentioned on air that there are more CBS Radio stations in the works.

"We're talking to everybody," Opie & Anthony's agent Bob Eatman told FMQB: "We're syndicating the program and there is a lot of interest from a number of great companies." Super-agent Bob Eatman is handling all syndication deals for O&A's program and added that he expects to have "a dozen new affiliates" within weeks. 

Let the speculation begin! (again) 

[FMQB]
Thanks Brian!

So speculates the New York Post, based on a few misquoted segments from the Howard Stern Show. Here's the quote from the Post:

"The joke could be on them if I get good and worked up [because] I got offered a major deal to go back to terrestrial and stay on satellite at the same time," Stern told his Sirius listeners.

Of course, the Post is (as usual) only leading to an inaccurate conclusion because Stern continues to say, "but I won't do it."

Mel Karmazin, as recently as last week, stated wholeheartedly that they intend to keep Stern exclusive on SIRIUS. And considering the investment they've made, that sounds pretty logical. This is simply the New York Post doing what they do best.  

[NY Post]
Thanks Glenn!

A recent study, sponsored by the NAB in fact, shows that the "Less is More" 30-second commercial spots (down from 60-seconds) on terrestrial radio really aren't performing as well as everyone had hoped.

While the general brand recall of the commercial's message was not signficantly different (good news), the recall of the advertisment's message itself is signficantly higher on the 60-second spots. The funny thing is, terrestrial has managed to charge only 75%-80% less for the 30-second spots over the original spots - causing some advertisers to some advertisers to call the plan "giving you less, charging you more."

"Based on these results," said David Allan, a marketing professor and former radio executive at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, "this study further suggests a possible rate of these 30-second commercials at 50 percent below that of a 60-second commercial."

Stay tuned as the NAB will undoubtedly sponsor another study that actually agrees with their advertising policies.

[Newswise] 

During the Q&A session at last Thursday’s Q106 financial results announcement, XM Satellite Radio CEO Hugh Panero was asked about sharing Opie & Anthony with CBS Radio and if this kind of deal opens up a longterm model of satellite radio sharing with terrestrial radio much like broadcast TV does with cable.

Panero responded, "They [O&A] were one of our top 10 shows on XM. They're obviously very popular. My experience having been in the cable TV industry is that when you have these overlapping distribution technologies services companies that everybody tries to find some way to work together. We have found a pretty unique arrangement whereby CBS had a challenging situation with the people they currently had on their radio stations. Opie and Anthony provides them with this very proven radio talent and we get branding and marketing messages along with syndication revenue. We do it on a case by case basis. Our Bob Edwards show is actually syndicated on the weekends to some public radio stations."

Panero added, "I have had a cordial relationship with Joel Hollander for awhile. Obviously competitors in some environments, we are neutral in others and I think in regard to this deal, we're kind of in love with it. The attributes of the deal in its totality is really what convinced us it was a smart thing for both companies."

Whether you agree with the move or not, this is probably going to be a growing trend. Terrestrial has been syndicating to satellite for some time, and now satellite is syndicating back. It's inevitable.

[Radio Ink]