This weekend’s Super Bowl marks 22 years since the infamous Janet Jackson “wardrobe malfunction.” For anyone who doesn’t have that incident etched into their brain, Janet Jackson was the halftime headliner, and the performance included a duet with Justin Timberlake. As the two were dancing, Timberlake pulled off a piece of Jackson’s costume, exposing part of her breast and her nipple, which was covered by a shield, for literally less than a second.
The F.C.C. then proceeded to go crazy levying fines. For some reason, even though the incident took place on television, radio ended up in the crosshairs and received heavy scrutiny. Rock radio hosts—long known for pushing the envelope with racy content—took the brunt of the anger. It eventually led to Howard Stern going to satellite radio, but he wasn’t the only one impacted. A lot of hosts had to quickly change their shows.
One host who lived through those strange days is Mike Calta, currently the morning host at Cox Media Group’s 102.5 The Bone in Tampa Bay.
“It’s a lot different than it was back in what I like to call the Opie and Anthony era,” says Calta. “You had those guys leading the way, and they were so far over the edge. We always thought if they can get away with that, we can get away with this.”
Some of the things they were able to do during that era included a contest called Naked Dog Catcher. Where the oldest listener willing to come to the station and get naked won concert tickets. The show also had six different sets of twins make out in the studio for another contest.
“We had a mother-daughter make-out, which was not nearly as exciting as we thought it was going to be. It was almost sad to watch,” explained Calta. “There were so many things we would just throw out there and be shocked it happened. Then it got so tight we couldn’t do anything outrageous anymore.”
Calta, who early in his career went by ‘Cowhead’ on the air, says it wasn’t just the change in tenor from the F.C.C. that led to the show evolving.
“Our audience got a little older, and that shock jock stuff got old,” says Calta. “You almost had to kill somebody to shock the audience anymore. We had done everything you could possibly do. We pushed the boundaries on sexism and racism. Then when everybody started tightening up, we thought we should probably evolve a little.”
Today, after more than twenty years, the biggest challenge is balancing tradition with innovation. Calta says his cart now spends more time thinking about unique angles with current events to keep the program fresh. His keen sense of knowing when things tend to go stale is another hallmark he applies to how he guides the program.
“The creative team is constantly thinking, ‘what can we do with this,” said Calta. “For instance, there is a car chase. It would be one thing to just open the mics and talk about it. Instead we turn it into a game called ‘How Will It End.’”
The goal is making a story more interesting and engaging with the audience, with people at home coming up with their own scenarios. But no matter how much the team innovates, there are some things Calta says he just can’t get away from.
“We play a game at the beginning of the show just to give some stuff away. I’m sick of it,” explained Calta. “We’ve been doing it for 20 years, and we keep trying to stop. Every time we do, people lose their minds. You must have a feel for what the audience likes, depends on, and doesn’t.”
As morning host, Calta anchors 102.5 The Bone’s lineup of personality-driven talk shows. Unlike most talk stations that are politically focused, the station is primarily lifestyle talk, which is a rarity in the industry.
“I dreamed of being on something like The Bone. This station has beat the pants off the political talk stations for years. Sure, you’ve had Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck followers, but when it comes to local shows talking about politics, we beat the pants off them,” explained Calta. “I’ve never understood why more of these didn’t pop up.”
It doesn’t stop at just local politics. Calta and his team are not afraid to tackle the biggest stories of the moment, including political hot potatoes like the current situations involving ICE events in multiple cities around the country.
“You can’t be afraid of it. Have to have an opinion, and you have to stick with it,” Calta says. “I’m very honest with people. They know what I stand for. Where I fall on gay rights, abortion rights, and other issues. I have no problem saying it, but I admit I may learn something that makes me change my mind. It’s happened before.”
Of course, topics like that can lead to negative feedback from the audience. Calta isn’t bothered by much of that negative feedback, except the ones that make him reconsider his own process.
“I couldn’t give a s**t. Except when I think that they might be right. The one that bothers you is the one where you think, ‘I might be wrong on this,’” said Calta. “That’s the one that’ll eat away at you forever. But I think that’s the good part of me. I’m willing to say, ‘hey, I thought about this. And you’re right.’”
Beyond the daily show, there are a couple of other achievements Calta is truly proud of. His program he felt was ahead of the curve when it comes to adding a video component to the program. Adapting the distribution mechanism for how his devoted following can consume his program.
“Years ago, I partnered with a local TV station because all these great things were happening in the studio that nobody ever got to see. We turned it into a half-hour show, but TV is a lot of work and it’s expensive. We were busting our ass to break even,” Calta explained.
The show later moved online, becoming an early adopter of streaming video with Cowhead TV, which aired on Calta’s own website. Eventually, technology evolved and Cox Media Group embraced video as the company purchased updated equipment for the studio. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the show began to originate from Calta’s home which he then turned into his own home TV studio.
Away from the show, Calta is clearly proud of is his band Pitbull Toddler. The group was born out of frustration. When Calta’s show aired in the afternoon, there were a lot of live appearances. Over time, he got tired of trying to corral bands and strippers to appear
“They are both the same creature. Both feel like they’re superstars and they want to be treated great,” says Calta. “They’re a dime a dozen, and they stink.”
The station’s program director at the time played in a band, as did one of Calta’s co-hosts. This led to the formation of their own group.
“We took a year and practiced all the time. Then we started playing out. Before you know it, we were playing two or three times a month,” said Calta. Fifteen years later, the band has become its own revenue generator, complete with a corporation and employees.
“We’ve played at baseball stadiums, opened for Def Leppard and for Poison. Now, we’re going to open for The Offspring,” noted Calta.
Over the years, Calta’s program has continued to resonate with his following while he continues to grow his band. In that time balancing as many projects as he has on his plate, the task has often become more difficult.
“When the band [Pitbull Toddler] plays somewhere a long way from my house, I’ll spend the night at a hotel. Everyone assumes it’s crazy. But one time I took a picture of my bedside table and there’s a CPAP machine, some milk, and heartburn medicine. There you go. There’s your rock star lifestyle.”
Cultivating that community includes an annual boat cruise and more traditional events like pub crawls. Calta prefers to get out and hang with “the Bone fam” instead of waiving from afar. His success over the many years is proof that his formula works leaving an impression many still are in search of.
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Mike Stern is a Classic Rock columnist and Features writer for Barrett Media. He has been with Jacobs Media consulting stations in the Classic Rock, Rock, Alternative and AAA world for more than a decade. Prior to that he programmed stations in Chicago, Detroit, Denver Las Vegas and other markets. He also worked as News/Talk Editor for Radio and Records, wrote about Top 40 Radio for Billboard Magazine and had his own radio talent coaching business called Talent Mechanic.
