The sports radio airwaves beaming through South Florida have certainly been a bit more tame over the past few weeks while shock jock Sid Rosenberg has been suspiciously missing from his WQAM show. The official word was he was taking personal days, which seemed awfully strange considering it's the middle of the NFL season.
Now, Jose Lambiet reports for the Miami Herald that Rosenberg is actually serving a suspension for trying to sell on-air promotions behind the station's back.
Lambiet's sources say Rosenberg was caught practicing "plugola." That means he was getting paid to mention products on air without the station's approval. That's a serious violation of FCC rules that could cost a station its license.
Rosenberg was apparently in debt somewhere in the neighborhood of $100,000 to a sports betting website, the Herald reports. Instead of paying off the losses, he struck a deal with the site to mention it on air.
Rosenberg was allegedly caught after he made some sloppy mistakes.
"He received a fax at the station spelling out their private agreement, and Sid forgot it in the fax machine. Someone found it and brought it to our attention," a source tells Lambiet.
Though, it's worth noting that no one at WQAM is going on the record to confirm the suspension. Earlier this month, Sun-Sentinel writer Tom Jicha reported that Rosenberg was merely taking a long vacation and that there was no controversy. Rosenberg himself denied the allegations via text message when reached by Lambiet and suggested competing stations were trying to stir up rumors.
Regardless of the real story, Rosenberg should be back behind the mike January 2.
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