Roth Out, Opie And Anthony May Be Taking His Place

David Lee Roth's run as a morning radio host seems to be over.

It appears raunchy satellite radio stars Opie and Anthony will replace him on seven CBS Radio stations, including WBCN-FM in Boston.

A deal was in the works to dump the ex-Van Halen singer's ratings-deprived program with shock jocks Greg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia, according to two people with knowledge of the deal. They spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity pending an official announcement of the agreement next week.

Opie and Anthony were banished from terrestrial radio in 2002 -- oddly enough by their new boss, CBS Radio -- after airing a live account of listeners having sex in St. Patrick's Cathedral. CBS Radio was then known as Infinity Broadcasting.

Opie and Anthony resurfaced on XM in October 2004. The satellite radio provider has more than 6.5 million subscribers, with the Opie and Anthony show one of the most popular programs on its 170 channels.

XM will now syndicate the program to the stations in New York and six other markets, with three hours of the program airing on the CBS Radio stations, the people familiar with the deal said. XM will simultaneously broadcast that portion of the show, along with another two hours of exclusive O&A, they said.

A spokeswoman at CBS Radio declined to comment on the report, as did a spokesman for XM.

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