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Ron Fez Biography & Facts

The Ron and Fez Show was an American talk radio show hosted by Ron Bennington and Fez Whatley, which aired from August 1998 to April 2015. After a run in Tampa, Florida as part of The Ron and Ron Show, and then several other stints in Daytona Beach, Florida, New York City, and Washington, D.C., and on Sirius XM Radio. History Formation In 1987, stand-up comedian Ron Bennington joined Ron Diaz to create a wildly popular and raunchy morning radio program, The Ron and Ron Show at Tampa Bay's WYNF-FM, 95ynf (now WWRM). On December 21, 1994, Ron Diaz announced that his wife Debbie was diagnosed with AIDS, and Diaz began periodically missing broadcasts to care for her. Debbie died on November 13, 1995. Diaz announced his departure on-air from The Ron & Ron Show in early 1997, and on September 29, 1997, after a successful 11-year run, the show ended. Fez Whatley, a producer at the time, became Bennington's new co-host. 1998–2000: WKRO Daytona Beach On August 24, 1998, The Ron and Fez Show debuted on WKRO-FM in Daytona Beach in the morning drive-time slot. Just a few months earlier, on May 22, 1998, The Monsters in the Morning (then known as The Monsters of the Midday), briefly reunited several regulars from the cancelled Ron and Ron Show, including Bennington, Whatley, Billy "The Phone Freak," and Paul O, where on-air Ron and Fez announced their return to radio. Using the formula they helped develop in Tampa, Ron and Fez recruited new employees, interns and characters for the new show. They were on WKRO until January 2000, when they left for New York. 2000–2003: WNEW-FM New York The Ron and Fez show debuted on WNEW in New York City on February 21, 2000, and within one month their program was syndicated to Washington, D.C.'s WJFK. New York's WNEW-FM was converted from a long-respected rock station to all-talk in 1999, with afternoon drive show Opie and Anthony as the focal point. Ron and Fez signed on to host an overnight talk show named Ron and Fez Dot Com, beginning February 21, 2000 and broadcast from 11pm–3am. Ron and Fez eventually moved to evenings (7:00–11:00 pm), then to early afternoon (12:00–3:00pm) and later back to the evening timeslot. Buoyed by Opie and Anthony's lead-in ratings, the duo began to enjoy success. During this period, several memorable characters joined their on-air team, including taciturn producer Hawk; Dumpy, Tasteless Ginny; and the call-in prankster Joe Poo. The show's web-based premise inspired the founding of several websites devoted to the show, including RFBabies.com (once a haven for the show's cadre of young female fans), and the unofficial site for the show. Though "Dot Com" was soon dropped from the show's title, Ron and Fez have garnered an admirable online following due to RonFez.net. Big ASS Cards Ron and Fez developed the "Big ASS Card" for those wanting to join their "All Secret Society." Aside from providing discounts at sponsors' establishments, the "Big ASS Card" identified cardholders with the show. Whenever "Big ASS Card" holders gave their card number at the beginning of the call, a sound clip was played of Al Pacino yelling "HOO-AH!". Though the promotion was discontinued, some callers still announce their "BAC" numbers, and the clip is usually played when producers are paying attention. September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks On the evening of September 11, the team stayed on the air taking calls from distressed listeners, some of whom were unsure if loved ones were still alive inside the Twin Towers. It is said that Hawk walked across the Queensboro Bridge against outpouring hordes of people to get to his job; Billy Staples hid in a Long Island Rail Road bathroom so he could return to work because only medical and rescue personnel were allowed into the city. Ron and Fez expressed heartfelt sympathy and related the feelings of many New Yorkers, and staged several "bar crawls" and other events under the motto "New York Forever," designed to encourage listeners to patronize businesses in lower Manhattan. "The 2001 Halloween Bar Crawl" was particularly memorable thanks to the heavy turnout and shenanigans that ensued. The bars most publicized included The Slaughtered Lamb and Karavas' Place. AFRO Shows Ron and Fez enjoyed amicable relationships with WNEW's other personalities, particularly Opie and Anthony (O&A), who would sometimes sit in with the Ron and Fez show. These shows were known as "AFRO Shows" (AFRO being an acronym for Anthony, Fez, Ron, Opie). 2002–2005: WJFK-FM Washington, D.C. Jeremy Coleman (PD of New York's WNEW in 2000) became aware of Ron and Fez when he was a program director for WJFK-FM, the sister station he nurtured. He originally intended to bring the show to DC, but instead became WNEW's program director. One month later, on March 27, 2000, Ron and Fez began tape delay syndication in DC where they found a small but loyal fan base in a late night timeslot. In November 2002, WJFK's evening radio show The Sports Junkies relocated to WHFS, opening a timeslot for Ron and Fez to syndicate their show live in Washington DC (7p.m.–11 p.m.), following The Don and Mike Show. Relocation to Washington, D.C. After WNEW changed formats in early 2003, Ron and Fez began broadcasting the show on WJFK. Although heard only in Washington DC, Ron and Fez chose to remain in New York until June 2003, when they finally relocated to the WJFK studios in Fairfax, Virginia. During the following year, several memorable characters, listeners and staff gave the show a fresh identity. While the WNEW show had been heavily influenced by a dedicated and funny core group of callers, WJFK proved to be fertile ground for eccentric visitors who each brought their own unique humor to the show. Perrynoid, Cherrynoid, Mikeyboy, David Lee Kinison (aka Elfish), Cigar Sid (aka Sidcada) Crazy Jen and Don the Hypnotist became call-in and studio regulars. During the late summer of 2003, Ron and Fez took calls for 2 extra hours on the evening of Hurricane Isabel. All of the DC, Northern Va and Maryland areas were without power or under water. Known for being team players, Ron and Fez worked on split shifts, did drop-ins for WJFK's Redskins broadcasts, did live commercials and appearances, and helped mentor the hosts of a weekend show (later to become weeknight show), The Hideout. A good relationship with lead-in show Don and Mike, along with improved call-ins, freshly funny bits, and a community needing a good laugh during the 2004 presidential election propelled Ron and Fez to stellar ratings in January 2005. The Fastest Hour in Radio In mid-2003, after being on WJFK exclusively for a mere few months, Ron and Fez agreed to host a one-hour midday show entitled The Fastest Hour in Radio, scheduled between Howard Stern and commentator Bill O'Reilly. This timeslot would supplement their evening duties, and would not be caller driven. Instead, Ron and Fez emphasized their own witty social commentary. When the nighttime show was syndica.... Discover the Ron Fez popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Ron Fez books.