PBW: In the News Again!
The Bob and Dan Show is Pumping Up the World of Bodybuilding
Published in Muscular Development Magazine (August 2006)

The Romano Factor
By John Romano, Senior Editor

Radio and TV has had a lock on the mainstream for decades. Astronomical production costs have made these media pretty much impractical to implement in bodybuilding, except for pay-per-view. Any TV exposure we ever get outside of the aforementioned items usually revolves around one or more of our constituents behaving badly- complete with shackles, handcuffs and SWAT team arrests on both national and local news.

However, today, technology has progressed to the point where all that has changed. Enter Internet radio and the pioneer production to tap that platform: “Pro Bodybuilding Weekly”. With more than 30,000 bodybuilding fans already subscribing to the automatic podcast delivery service (provided by TPS Radio), Monday night's webcast of PBW has become our industry's first audible programming broadcast live around the world.

A live radio talk show featuring top professional bodybuilders and ranking industry insiders is the brainchild of former NPC bodybuilder and journalist Dan Solomon. Solomon has been covering professional bodybuilding for television and print for nearly a decade. He's also the founder of the Physique Management Group, which provides promotional support for many of the industry's biggest stars and promoters. A graduate of the University of Hartford's School of Communication, Dan can also be seen on television providing commentary for major industry events, including the Mr. Olympia.

Dan's co-host on PBW is the inimitable, if not empirical, but certainly comical, Bob Cicherillo. A former USA bodybuilding champion and current IFBB pro masters Olympian, Chick has endeared himself to us as one of the most opinionated athletes in the sport. Bob is also a working actor in Hollywood (credits include Malcolm in the Middle, Charmed, Dodgeball), and currently serves as the athlete's rep for the IFBB.

Their mission statement, according to Solomon, is pretty simple, "Our primary objective for the show is to provide a voice to a sport that desperately needed a new, creative way to communicate with fans”,he says. “Each week, listeners have the rare opportunity to hear directly from the biggest names in bodybuilding.”

So far we have heard from the likes of bodybuilding icons, such as Dorian Yates, Ronnie Coleman, Lee Haney, Jay Cutler, Lee Priest, and Dexter Jackson, to name a few. In fact, they have already featured nearly all of Team MD!
Dan states that, “In addition to showcasing the athletes, we are also committed to integrating the contrasting opinions of industry insiders, such as Flex group editorial director Peter McGough, Arnold Classic promoter Jim Lorimer, and the envelope-pushing commentary of John Romano- who is a frequent guest on the show.”

It's clear that Solomon has his foot in the door of what could become something huge. “Magazines are loaded with great photos, but photos do not tell the whole story,” he says. “Our show is giving these elite athletes a platform to speak directly to bodybuilding fans.”

And we're listening. Dan tells me the listening audience has grown rapidly each week. According to tracking statistics, the show has enjoyed a significant increase in listeners of the live one-hour broadcasts (Mondays at 8 p.m. EST) as well as the on-demand replays. Solomon explains, “The audience numbers have reached levels that are very appealing to advertisers.”

And as you all know, that's the first sign that Internet radio is going to become more and more important to our industry.

THE WAY I SEE IT, bodybuilding does need a voice. Magazines can only go so far in that role as they can't foster live debate and real-time event coverage. That's what everyone wants, but our little world is never going to get any serious airtime on the tube. However, this being the future, technology has brought together a global audience for us to tap into relatively easily. And that's good, because if bodybuilding is going to have a voice, it might as well be one we can all hear. The fact that what we hear comes out of the mouths of Chick, Solomon and industry rock stars is just fine with me. They do a great job. And they are but the first of many more entrants into this new fiscal arena.

I like their show. A lot. I've been on it three times! I think Dan is a true pioneer with a passion for what he does and Chick, well, who else you going to get? He's really quite entertaining. Especially live. The only thing I'm going to stress is that they keep it real and not become beholden to anyone. As long as PBW remains entirely non-biased and non-partisan, then it will endure to become not only the pioneer of bodybuilding web radio, but also the model others will want to copy. The second they get into bed with an industry power player, the game is over. Their credibility will be shot and something that was good will be gone. The good news is that Dan Solomon knows it. Or at least he says he does.

I called him up as I was writing this and pressed the point one more time. For instance, I wanted to get it straight from him just what it means when he says that Flex magazine is supporting PBW.

He responded immediately, telling me that there's no contract, nor other obligatory agreement attached to any support given by AMI/Weider, i.e., Flex magazine. And, absolutely no money changes hands. Their deal is a direct exchange of publicity and nothing more. Just like two friends helping each other?

Dan basically gave me his solemn word that PBW will remain free media. He goes on record as saying, "Despite what some might assume, you can be sure that our sponsors have given us the green light to welcome any guest we desire.” He said, “The success of the show depends on this fundamental freedom.”

To illustrate the point, Dan recalled one of the more memorable episodes during which Vince Taylor came on the show to announce his decision to jump to the PDI. He's offered to have Jim Manion on the show and he's had a verbal agreement from Wayne DeMilia to come on PBW as his first PDI show (the Night of Champions, Sept. 15-16) gets closer. He's had Peter McGough on the show and he's had me on the show. And he maintains that they encourage all of their guests to speak freely and make the absolute most of their appearance on the show. They certainly have let me.

That said, I think the direction PBW is going so far has boded extremely well for our community. And, as more and more of us tune in, it becomes more powerful. It's that kind of power that might not be able to effect any immediate change in our industry, but, as it grows, it puts into play a formidable set of checks and balances.
For instance, conservative radio political pundit Rush Limbaugh has the ear of approximately 22 percent of the electorate. His masterful dismantling of complex political processes and spelling it out simply to the masses being his forte, Limbaugh enjoys immense popularity among certain voters. Enough voters to influence national elections? People listen, they form opinions, they make noise. But only if they can really listen. Limbaugh has the radio. Bodybuilding has the Internet, and unlike Limbaugh, a global, real-time audience.

Finally, bodybuilding fans have the chance to hear what the people who influence bodybuilding have to say. Magazines are a great source of information, but you can never beat the banter between people in real time. You never know what you're going to get. For instance, I would never have known how Peter McGough really feels about MD had I not heard his interview on PBW. He certainly wouldn't have come up to me and said anything. Which is really unfortunate. I sat right next to the guy at the Colorado Pro and he's all stiff upper lip and all of that, making believe I don't exist. Too bad, I thought his daughter was hot.

What I also thought was hot was the show itself. One of its many steps up was the fact that it was the first pro bodybuilding show to be aired live on webcast with Dan and Bob doing their radio show as commentators.
That's a giant leap for everyone! There was a computer setup monitoring the webcast at the far end of the judges' table in front of me. It looked really cool, especially with the five-second delay. I don't know how Chick and Dan came off on your desktop, but live they were off the hook. With the exception of the Arnold, the Colorado Pro was hands down the best show I've been to in a long time. A big part of the reason was because the production was so good and because “Pro Bodybuilding Weekly” was broadcasting live from the stage. PBW commentating live is EXACTLY the kind of thing bodybuilding needs and should be a fixture at every single pro bodybuilding event, regardless of who puts it on or what country it's in.

So, make sure you're tuned in on Monday nights! Check out ProBodybuildingWeekly.com for past shows and the live feed, or set iTunes® to grab it for you each week on podcast.

To learn more about bodybuilding talk radio, visit www.ProBodybuildingWeekly.com