Audio 18 is an internet audio station based in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area. It featuring various talk programming from the Voice of America as well as local programming. The most notable local show on Audio 18 is The Radio Racket.

The Radio Racket

The Radio Racket is an internet audio program that discusses the broadcast industry and related topics. It debuted on May 12, 2006 and airs every Friday night at 10pm (EST). The show is replayed in loop format for the duration of that weekend. Regular features on this show include the RJ Update and Julius May Commentary. The Radio Racket is known for landing many important broadcast industry guests, uncensored commentary and humorous discussions and antics.

In-Studio Cast

George Brusstar is the host of the show.

Kyle DeWitt is the executive producer of the show. He also prepares and delivers the hourly newscasts that follow the Voice of America news at the top of each hour.

Remaining Cast

Beavis the Metal God is a non-commercial broadcaster of heavy metal music in the Allentown, Pennsylvania area. He is a former college roommate of Kyle DeWitt.

Roscoe Browning is the former in-studio producer. He left the show because of his recent move to Oklahoma City to train with the FAA as an air traffic controller, but still contributes regularly. Roscoe admitted on the August 25, 2006 show to being Jeff Ryan.

Steve Bryant is a frequent contributor of the many parody songs heard on The Radio Racket. He spent several years working as an on-air host at QVC.

Jonathan P. Casey is a frequent contributor who works for WSNJ in Bridgeton, New Jersey.

Rob Federal is a friend of the show who has worked in the radio business for many years.

Gary, a.k.a. "Surf" is the owner and proprietor of phillytalk.com, a website dedicated to talkradio in the Philadelphia market. He provides the on-line discussion forum for the show and frequently calls into the show.

Dino Gatsoulas serves as the show's engineer. He was the last person on the show to openly support RJ.

Julius May is a frequent contributor, whose e-mail commentaries are the subject of the weekly Julius May Commentary. Unfortunately, he is a less than frequent caller to the program. He is not very well liked by the "message board community". Admitted on the show to being mentally retarded.

Mike From South Philly is a frequent contributor who seldom misses a show.

Shot Stephens is the first person the show hears from with updates from the Atlantic City radio market. He is the man who said the infamous "airchecks are better than sex" line on the WVLT Radio Radio Show. Shot has spent his entire radio career in Atlantic City, currently working at WMGM and WOND.

Frequent Callers

Brandon in Las Vegas

Nate in Florida

Diamond Joe in New York

Former Friends Of The Show

Ron Joseph (RJ) - He was the very first caller to the show. RJ, a well known joke in Philadelphia broadcast circles, exists as a legend is his own mind. After being criticized on the air by Roscoe, RJ called in the following week and went on an anger-filled, profanity-laced rant. The show has since isolated drops from that rant and uses them weekly during the course of the show. His one hour a week brokered show on WNWR provides much comic relief and is the main source of matierial for the RJ Update.

"Rockin' Rob" - Rob was in-studio for the very first show and has never been back. He was offered his own show on Audio 18, but turned down the offer as he would not give up the naming rights. Rob, likely at the urging of his girlfriend Jodi, promptly disavowed all allegence to The Radio Racket and George Brusstar, a friend of many years. Subsequent "contributions" have been profanity laced and less than professional. Discussion of Rob has since been banned on the show.

Scott Tilde - Scott was originally part of the show prior to the launch. Because of disagreements over show content and general programming, he had a falling out with George Brusstar and did not appear on the show in any capacity for 2 months. Scott and George reconsiled in late June. On June 23, 2006, Scott filled in with his WDBK partner Pete Palma for Kyle and Roscoe who were away that Friday. That show which featured many homosexual references, vulgarity and drunken rants was agruably the worst to date and led to more conflict with George. Scott again disappeared and did not return several phone calls from George. Scott has said that George knows the real reason for his disappearance, but claims that George won't disclose it to hs staff. Scott refused to disclose that information himself, only directing interested parties in the direction of George Brusstar. George has claimed ignorance and the feud continues.

Notable Guests

Brian Carter, former morning host on WDAS-FM, XM Satellite Radio and WUSL

Rhea Hughes, morning show co-host on WIP

Rollye James, syndicated talkshow host

Michael Klein, entertainment columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer (in-studio)

Roger LaMay, general manager for WXPN

Hy Lit, legendary disc jockey (in-studio)

Jody MacDonald, talkshow host on WPEN

Glen Macnow, talkshow host on WIP

Jim McGuinn, former WPLY program director

Mike Missanelli, former host on WIP

Laura Nachman, columnist for the Bucks County Courier Times

Phil Neuman, former sports reporter for KYW

Dave Rabbit, Vietnam Era pirate radio broadcaster and founder of Radio First Termer

Show Sponsors

Audubon Ale House Trivia Show - George Brusstar hosts the Sports Rock Showdown at the Audubon Ale House in Audubon, Pennsylvania on Thursday nights beginning around 9:30pm. Teams compete for various prizes while enjoying food and beverage.

Mix Master Studios - This is a mobile DJ business owned and operated by chief engineer Dino Gatsoulas. They promise to keep the music going and to give you "an affair to be remembered".

Elite Cleaners - This is a dry cleaning business in Audubon, Pennsylvania. They offer many dry cleaning services and also delivery through their Elite 2 Go program. There is an 18% discount when you mention Audio 18 or the Radio Racket.

Criticism

One of the biggest criticisms is the lack of attention to the Radio Racket website. Often times, the website is not updated until the day before (or sometimes the day of) the show. Old information such as the guest of the week will stay on the website many days afterwards. As of October 10th, the website has not been updated in 4 days. Also, during the weekend replay, the internet stream is known to go down at times and is typically not restored for several hours.

Other Local Shows

There are several local talk shows currently in development. This includes Steak And Potatos, which is mainly a "guy talk" show, as well as a show focusing on sports.

External Links

Audio 18

Radio Racket Website