The Rob, Arnie, and Dawn Show
Encyclopedia
The Rob, Arnie, and Dawn Show is a syndicated morning radio show
on KRXQ
(98 Rock; 98.5 FM), formerly from Entercom's building in Sacramento, CA and being rebroadcast on KDOT
(104.5 FM) from Lotus
' building in Reno, NV and KZND (94.7 FM) from Anchorage, AK.
Rob Williams, Arnie States and Dawn Rossi (sometimes referred to collectively as "RAD") host the show. In addition, the show has three tertiary members; as such, show host Rob Williams often states the show is quickly becoming a "morning zoo." Brandon is the show's current executive producer and webmaster, and Cristi is the newest producer, imported from Cleveland. Nick, a previous producer, has also returned to the show after its relocation to RAD Studios.
The show has existed in various forms within various cities in the western United States such as Reno, NV; Seattle, WA and Sacramento, CA. Its present form is a call-in show.
The Rob, Arnie and Dawn show airs Monday through Friday from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. Pacific Time, and can be streamed online via KRXQ and KDOT's 'listen live' services. In addition, a Member's Only site was made accessible February 11, 2008, providing exclusive and uncensored content.
Inspired by John London, Williams knew he wanted a career in radio at the age of 14. After attending Ohlone College
in Fremont, CA, Williams received his first full-time radio job in 1991 as the host of the KRLT morning show in Lake Tahoe
. Less than a year later, he was running said station.
Rob hired Dawn Rossi in 1991 during his time in Tahoe - a work relationship that has endured to this day. In 1992, the two left Tahoe to work at a Reno country music radio station. Within a year, Williams ran this establishment as well. During this time Williams met Arnie States, a Texas transplant, in a bar. The two connected instantly on the basis of loving sports and alcohol
. States confided unto Williams that he had an interest in working in radio.
Rob Williams is often characterized as pompous and unrelatable on the show. He is a connoisseur of both fine wine and cigars, owning hundreds of bottles of expensive wines and a $1,000 humidor
. Williams resides in a home that was formally valued at a million dollars, but is likely worth about half that now. 4000 square feet (371.6 m²) home in Lincoln, CA, the size and price of which he mentions at every opportunity. He also fancies himself a great cook, having only the highest grade meat shipped to his home from New York. In addition, Williams regularly plays golf with Arnie States, Dawn's husband Gary (also known as "Dumb Dumb", "Larry" or "Barry") and personal friends.
Williams also seems to be quite perturbed by the social state of the United States, often making lengthy tirades concerning parenting, rudeness, ignorance and other social issues in a manner reminiscent of comedian George Carlin
, whom Williams has admitted to admiring. Another outlet of his is the show's website on a page titled Rob's Soapbox.
. States lived with his father and stepmother until his mid twenties, taking care of his ailing stepmother. His birth mother died while States was very young.
In 1992, States met Rob Williams in a bar in Reno, Nevada; the two became fast friends. Williams offered States an internship at the station at which he worked. States interned seven days a week for several months at the Reno-based country station until he became an overnight disc jockey
. When the woman who did the morning show left the station, States took over with Williams. It was also during this time that States met Rossi while working at the radio station.
Arnie States' on-air persona can be summed up as a, sexist, ignorant, Texan. States acts as the comic relief to Williams' "smart talk." More often than not, Arnie is the catalyst for the humorous climax for each segment which allows the show to transition to commercials. As the fattest member of the show, weighing approximately 400 pounds, Arnie is often the target of fat jokes by Rob and the audience. He is the least intelligent individual on the show, often comically asking for clarification on Rob's extensive vocabulary. States is also often teased for his numerous short-comings, including but not limited to: misunderstanding movie plots, failure to maintain adult relationships, fidgeting as a result of making a mistake on the show and tripping over his words.
In September 2010 Arnie was on the Travel Channel show "Man vs. Food" when host Adam Richman visited Parker's Hot Dogs in Roseville, California
. His most memorable quote from all seven seconds on the air was, "You're off your rocker."
In May 2011, Arnie officially announced that he was getting a divorce.
When Williams eventually moved to Reno, Nevada
, he recommended Rossi for a shift during the midday and she followed Rob to Reno. It was during this time that Arnie States became a part of Rossi's life, interning at the same station that Dawn worked at. After a while, the station Rossi, Williams and States worked at was sold to a new company, and eventually switched formats, becoming a rock station rather than country. On July 5, 1995, Rossi received a call from her sister, learning that her father had died from his third heart attack. She took a week off of work to attend the funeral and grieved; it wasn't until six months later that the reality hit her. She delved deep into religion, and decided to leave the station as she didn't want to be affiliated with "the devil's music." Williams knew her religious phase would pass and convinced the company that owned the radio station to make her William's assistant (a position that had not existed before then). Soon after she was promoted to Promotions Director, still not wishing to be an on-air DJ. During this time Williams and States were a part of a morning talk show, and she was invited to be the girl on the show. She reluctantly accepted, and wasn't immediately accepted by the Reno audience. However, she became a vital part of the morning show and grew on the audience. After a while, the show's ratings sky-rocketed and the show eventually became syndicated in Reno and Sacramento. The show eventually took residence in Sacramento, where all three members of the show currently reside.
In 2003, Rossi met a friend of Rob and Arnie's by the name of Gary. He had shown an interest in Rossi before, but had been turned down. The two began dating and eventually wed, which resulted in Rob and Arnie referring to him as Dumb Dumb for having married Dawn (Dawn's Bio). It is implied by Rob and Arnie that Gary's last name is "Key," thus making Dawn's full name "Dawn Key" (though Arnie will usually refer to her as "Dawn Rossi Key"). It can also be seen that in multiple photographs on the show's website where her last name would be printed she has gone out of her way to hide her true last name to the audience.
Dawn generally acts as the primary source of empathy and compassion. This counteracts comments made by Rob and Arnie, which are more often to be prone to controversy and coldheartedness. She volunteers often for special interests groups and promotes these charities often on her website and the show. However, she also has a vindictive side towards specific groups such as criminals. Rossi openly enjoys kinky sex, and has even gone so far as admitting to spanking herself in front of a mirror.
Many individuals who have written in to the show often express their annoyance of Dawn as she spends the majority of the time cackling and berating Rob and Arnie's activities such as discussing sports or video games. She is also an admitted hypocrite, and accepts it. In addition, many find her worship of Rob to be annoying as well; because she views him as a strong role model, she places him on a high pedestal and compliments him and defends almost everything he says and does.
As a result of Dawn's odd behaviors, interests and outbursts on the show, it has become an on-going joke that Dawn is the least fun person on Earth; as a result, the show has composed a continuously updated list of reasons why she is the least fun person on Earth, which can be found here.
Due to what some said were low ratings, the show ended in late July 2011. A letter to the contrary on www.robarnieandsports.com stated after going from a one hour show to a two hour show every weekday they both realized they had taken on too much with the morning show airing from 5am-10am and the sports show airing from 4pm-6pm every weekday. They claimed the later hours for each of them combined with the higher amount of show prep for Rob was hurting the quality of the morning show which ultimately is their top priority.
Radio programming
Radio programming is the Broadcast programming of a Radio format or content that is organized for Commercial broadcasting and Public broadcasting radio stations....
on KRXQ
KRXQ
KRXQ is a commercial radio station in Sacramento, California, broadcasting on 98.5 FM. The station airs an active rock music format branded as "98 Rock"...
(98 Rock; 98.5 FM), formerly from Entercom's building in Sacramento, CA and being rebroadcast on KDOT
KDOT
KDOT is a commercial radio station located in Reno, Nevada, broadcasting on 104.5 FM. KDOT airs an active rock music format.-History:KDOT-FM began its Rock programming in early April 1996. Previously it had been a moderately successful country station will the call letters "KHIT-FM". In the...
(104.5 FM) from Lotus
Lotus Communications Corporation
Lotus Communications Corp. is a media company that owns numerous radio stations and a few TV stations, and is one of the largest privately owned radio station groups in the United States. Headquarters are located in Los Angeles, and the company's President and CEO is Howard Kalmenson.-Radio:Lotus...
' building in Reno, NV and KZND (94.7 FM) from Anchorage, AK.
Rob Williams, Arnie States and Dawn Rossi (sometimes referred to collectively as "RAD") host the show. In addition, the show has three tertiary members; as such, show host Rob Williams often states the show is quickly becoming a "morning zoo." Brandon is the show's current executive producer and webmaster, and Cristi is the newest producer, imported from Cleveland. Nick, a previous producer, has also returned to the show after its relocation to RAD Studios.
The show has existed in various forms within various cities in the western United States such as Reno, NV; Seattle, WA and Sacramento, CA. Its present form is a call-in show.
The Rob, Arnie and Dawn show airs Monday through Friday from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. Pacific Time, and can be streamed online via KRXQ and KDOT's 'listen live' services. In addition, a Member's Only site was made accessible February 11, 2008, providing exclusive and uncensored content.
The Hosts
The Rob, Arnie, and Dawn show has three hosts who act as the primary voices on the show. Aside from the components of the show where the hosts interact with the listeners, it is primarily built on segments where the hosts share their views and discuss various issues, which can range anywhere from politics to their personal lives.Rob Williams
Born on September 17, 1971, Rob Williams was raised in Pleasanton, California (an East bay suburb of San Francisco). Williams describes his upbringing was "as normal and fantastic as you could imagine," playing sports and video games with friends.Inspired by John London, Williams knew he wanted a career in radio at the age of 14. After attending Ohlone College
Ohlone College
Ohlone College is a community college located in Fremont, California. It was established in 1965. Ohlone College is a single college, multi campus district serving the areas of Fremont, Newark, and Union City with its main campus and district office in Fremont...
in Fremont, CA, Williams received his first full-time radio job in 1991 as the host of the KRLT morning show in Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. At a surface elevation of , it is located along the border between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America. Its depth is , making it the USA's second-deepest...
. Less than a year later, he was running said station.
Rob hired Dawn Rossi in 1991 during his time in Tahoe - a work relationship that has endured to this day. In 1992, the two left Tahoe to work at a Reno country music radio station. Within a year, Williams ran this establishment as well. During this time Williams met Arnie States, a Texas transplant, in a bar. The two connected instantly on the basis of loving sports and alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
. States confided unto Williams that he had an interest in working in radio.
Rob Williams is often characterized as pompous and unrelatable on the show. He is a connoisseur of both fine wine and cigars, owning hundreds of bottles of expensive wines and a $1,000 humidor
Humidor
A humidor is any kind of box or room with constant humidity, and ideal temperature, used to store cigars, cigarettes, or pipe tobacco. For private use, small wooden or acrylic glass humidor boxes for a few dozen cigars are used, while cigar shops may have walk-in humidors, sometimes consisting of a...
. Williams resides in a home that was formally valued at a million dollars, but is likely worth about half that now. 4000 square feet (371.6 m²) home in Lincoln, CA, the size and price of which he mentions at every opportunity. He also fancies himself a great cook, having only the highest grade meat shipped to his home from New York. In addition, Williams regularly plays golf with Arnie States, Dawn's husband Gary (also known as "Dumb Dumb", "Larry" or "Barry") and personal friends.
Williams also seems to be quite perturbed by the social state of the United States, often making lengthy tirades concerning parenting, rudeness, ignorance and other social issues in a manner reminiscent of comedian George Carlin
George Carlin
George Denis Patrick Carlin was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, actor and author, who won five Grammy Awards for his comedy albums....
, whom Williams has admitted to admiring. Another outlet of his is the show's website on a page titled Rob's Soapbox.
Arnie States
Arnie States was born on September 17, 1971 (exactly the same day as Rob) in Garland, TexasGarland, Texas
-Climate:* The average warmest month is July.* The highest recorded temperature was in 2000.* On average, the coolest month is January.* The lowest recorded temperature was in 1989.* The maximum average precipitation occurs in May....
. States lived with his father and stepmother until his mid twenties, taking care of his ailing stepmother. His birth mother died while States was very young.
In 1992, States met Rob Williams in a bar in Reno, Nevada; the two became fast friends. Williams offered States an internship at the station at which he worked. States interned seven days a week for several months at the Reno-based country station until he became an overnight disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
. When the woman who did the morning show left the station, States took over with Williams. It was also during this time that States met Rossi while working at the radio station.
Arnie States' on-air persona can be summed up as a, sexist, ignorant, Texan. States acts as the comic relief to Williams' "smart talk." More often than not, Arnie is the catalyst for the humorous climax for each segment which allows the show to transition to commercials. As the fattest member of the show, weighing approximately 400 pounds, Arnie is often the target of fat jokes by Rob and the audience. He is the least intelligent individual on the show, often comically asking for clarification on Rob's extensive vocabulary. States is also often teased for his numerous short-comings, including but not limited to: misunderstanding movie plots, failure to maintain adult relationships, fidgeting as a result of making a mistake on the show and tripping over his words.
In September 2010 Arnie was on the Travel Channel show "Man vs. Food" when host Adam Richman visited Parker's Hot Dogs in Roseville, California
Roseville, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Roseville had a population of 118,788. The population density was 3,279.4 people per square mile...
. His most memorable quote from all seven seconds on the air was, "You're off your rocker."
In May 2011, Arnie officially announced that he was getting a divorce.
Dawn Rossi
Dawn Rossi was born on January 17, 1970 at Kaiser Hospital in Fontana, California. Growing up in San Bernardino, California, Rossi was raised to be a devout Catholic. The Rossi family was stable until her parents divorced; Rossi's relationship with her mother was quite poor, and as a result she had many demons which had to be sorted out with a team of psychologists. After being a waitress during her teens, she began pursuing a career in radio at age 20. She applied to a station in [Lake Tahoe] for a job following her occupation at broadcasting school. It was Rob Williams himself, who was the Program Director at the time and only 19 years old, who called her in and offered her the Friday overnight shift at the station. Rossi moved from Sacramento to Lake Tahoe and maintained her job at the radio station under the mentorship of Williams.When Williams eventually moved to Reno, Nevada
Reno, Nevada
Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...
, he recommended Rossi for a shift during the midday and she followed Rob to Reno. It was during this time that Arnie States became a part of Rossi's life, interning at the same station that Dawn worked at. After a while, the station Rossi, Williams and States worked at was sold to a new company, and eventually switched formats, becoming a rock station rather than country. On July 5, 1995, Rossi received a call from her sister, learning that her father had died from his third heart attack. She took a week off of work to attend the funeral and grieved; it wasn't until six months later that the reality hit her. She delved deep into religion, and decided to leave the station as she didn't want to be affiliated with "the devil's music." Williams knew her religious phase would pass and convinced the company that owned the radio station to make her William's assistant (a position that had not existed before then). Soon after she was promoted to Promotions Director, still not wishing to be an on-air DJ. During this time Williams and States were a part of a morning talk show, and she was invited to be the girl on the show. She reluctantly accepted, and wasn't immediately accepted by the Reno audience. However, she became a vital part of the morning show and grew on the audience. After a while, the show's ratings sky-rocketed and the show eventually became syndicated in Reno and Sacramento. The show eventually took residence in Sacramento, where all three members of the show currently reside.
In 2003, Rossi met a friend of Rob and Arnie's by the name of Gary. He had shown an interest in Rossi before, but had been turned down. The two began dating and eventually wed, which resulted in Rob and Arnie referring to him as Dumb Dumb for having married Dawn (Dawn's Bio). It is implied by Rob and Arnie that Gary's last name is "Key," thus making Dawn's full name "Dawn Key" (though Arnie will usually refer to her as "Dawn Rossi Key"). It can also be seen that in multiple photographs on the show's website where her last name would be printed she has gone out of her way to hide her true last name to the audience.
Dawn generally acts as the primary source of empathy and compassion. This counteracts comments made by Rob and Arnie, which are more often to be prone to controversy and coldheartedness. She volunteers often for special interests groups and promotes these charities often on her website and the show. However, she also has a vindictive side towards specific groups such as criminals. Rossi openly enjoys kinky sex, and has even gone so far as admitting to spanking herself in front of a mirror.
Many individuals who have written in to the show often express their annoyance of Dawn as she spends the majority of the time cackling and berating Rob and Arnie's activities such as discussing sports or video games. She is also an admitted hypocrite, and accepts it. In addition, many find her worship of Rob to be annoying as well; because she views him as a strong role model, she places him on a high pedestal and compliments him and defends almost everything he says and does.
As a result of Dawn's odd behaviors, interests and outbursts on the show, it has become an on-going joke that Dawn is the least fun person on Earth; as a result, the show has composed a continuously updated list of reasons why she is the least fun person on Earth, which can be found here.
The Rob, Arnie, and Sports Show
In February 2011, Rob and Arnie began a new sports talk show: The Rob, Arnie, and Sports Show. It aired on ESPN 1320 in Sacramento on Monday through Friday, from 4-6 pm. It was also syndicated on ESPN 94.5 in Reno, NV.Due to what some said were low ratings, the show ended in late July 2011. A letter to the contrary on www.robarnieandsports.com stated after going from a one hour show to a two hour show every weekday they both realized they had taken on too much with the morning show airing from 5am-10am and the sports show airing from 4pm-6pm every weekday. They claimed the later hours for each of them combined with the higher amount of show prep for Rob was hurting the quality of the morning show which ultimately is their top priority.