WCAP "Afternoon Live" Co-Hosts On Tonight's WBZ-TV 11PM News

["Mark Watson" <markwats@attbi.com>]

  On Tonight's WBZ-TV (Channel 4) 11 PM news, a story featuring WCAP's
"Afternoon Live" co-hosts Gary Francis and Ryan Johnston is scheduled to
air, unless it gets bumped by unexpected news happenings.

    Interesting, but lengthy story on how this came about and how it turned
into a battle between Gary, Ryan and the Lowell Sun. The piece was taped
yesterday (Tuesday 10/29) during the 5 PM hour of "Afternoon Live", when
Gary & Ryan interviewed Jeannie Polay(sp?), a Lowell woman who supposedly
"morally offended" some neighbors on her street because she would do yard
work, sit in her yard, or ride her bike around the neighborhood while
wearing a thong bikini. The story first made the front page of the Lowell
Sun on Oct. 20, and ended up going national via the wire services and
various show prep sites. Gary arranged for Ms. Polay to appear on the show
Wed. Oct. 23. However, her boyfriend/public affairs coordinator/spokesperson
cancelled the appearance the night before claiming Ms. Polay was offended by
hearing "The Stripper" by David Rose being played while Gary & Ryan were
talking about another topic unrelated to Ms. Polay's story. This past
Sunday, the Lowell Sun's weekly "The Column" which lists Christopher Scott
(who wrote the article about Ms.Polay in the paper) and Paul Sullivan on the
byline (yes, the same Paul Sullivan of WBZ radio fame) mentioned the
interview that didn't happen, claiming the "WCAP afternoon talk jockeys"
blew their chance for the big interview. They named the "talk jockeys" Gary
Frascarelli (which is Gary Francis' real name) and "his sidekick" instead of
Ryan Johnston. Ryan let the Sun have it during Monday's show, demanding an
apology and correction be published in the paper. Ms. Polay had a change of
heart and agreed to appear on yesterday's show. WBZ-TV's David Robichaud was
on hand with the camera crew for the interview (they were on the way to
Lowell for the first interview when they were told Ms.Polay backed out). And
Sun reporter Christopher Scott was to show up for yesterday's show, but he
was a no-show. Supposedly his 4 PM assignment ran late. Or is he afraid of
radio "talk jockeys"???.

Mark Watson