I think it all began with just random goofing on Howard by O&A. I know that he also had a secret concert ticket giveaway that Opie and Anthony ruined by announcing on the air the band that was going to be having the concert in NY and Howard was absolutely furious about that. The thing that really got Opie and Anthony pissed off though was when Howard went to Mel Karmazin and had him put a gag order on O&A preventing them from even saying Howard's name under penalty of being fined or losing their jobs. That became the moment to them where they saw Howard as a fraud. He spent a decade+ campaigning for free speech on the radio and saying fuck the FCC and suddenly he is having gag orders put on his colleagues.

Gag order your colleagues because you are the "king of all media" and no one else in America can listen to anybody else but you, or else they'll be "ripping you off, Robin."

The thing that drives me mad about the guy is his ego. You aren't the king of all media anymore. You're a washed up old hag who can't bother to even do a regular radio show anymore. You're a has been, you're a shell of your former glory, and you were never funny at all. Just retire already.

I wonder if they take any satisfaction that he was so disarmed by their tactics that he had to slink off to mgmt. like a tattletale. It's exactly what he would have done to a popular rival. If this had had been he and Imus back at WNBC, we would never hear the end of how that old woman ran to PigVirus to have him silenced. As infuriating as working under that gag order must have been, they can always rejoice that he had to resort to this b/c he couldn't hang on the air.

Mel kind of implied that he had something to do with the gag order as well. He's a pretty straightforward no-nonsense business person, and he said something to the effect of, his duty was to make sure that Infinity Broadcasting was as profitable as possible, so why would he let anyone from within the company damage Infinity's most profitable asset and biggest moneymaker, which at the time was Howard Stern.

They were both Howard fans but started dissing him to get him to talk about their show. http://youtu.be/bX1Q11kmJ9E

It's funny because they did what Howard did, but Howard was so unaware that he got pissed instead of realizing what was going. Then, to me at least, it was funny that the boys didn't see it that way and thus the war began.

They also made it a point in going after Howard as soon as they got to NYC to do radio. The small dog going after the big dogs. It apparently worked enough to draw some attention to themselves.

Howard issued a gag order on FM radio when they worked together, and essentially pulled strings to get them off Letterman. Therefore, Howard is a slimeball and any criticism towards him is warranted.

I like how the fans complain every time Opie tweets about Howard or AGT. OHHHH YOU JEALOUS. No he's not jealous.

Before they went to WNEW they were supposed to be the afternoon guys at the same station as Howard until Howard had a hissy fit and ruined the deal for them. That's how they ended up at NEW. Then they bitched and busted his balls and that's when Howie put a gag order on them where they couldn't even say his name on the air.

Didn't Howard also have some news conference when they first started in NYC and he wouldn't come out until they were escorted out?

Another good thing is that Howard tells his guests that they aren't allowed to go on other talk shows if they go on his.

Louis CK is the only one I can think of that has the balls to do what he wants and does both.

Comedians who do/have done both shows:
- Louis CK
- Colin Quinn
- Jim Breuer
- Jim Florentine
- Nick DiPaolo
- Bob Levy

And I'm sure there are more.

Colin, Florentine and DiPolo all started doing O&A more/ ONLY O&A when Artie left. None if them do Howard at all now

Especially Levy

Isn't Levy not allowed in the building due to some problem that happened? I heard a vague reference to this a few months ago, but I don't know if it's true or what the details are.

The 2-week rule pretty much only applies to general celebs. O&A have been the comics' choice for a bit, and Howard can't fight that, really.