By Jail Enno / Assembled Press
Only two months old, the new “personal ad” service being offered by KCRW FM public radio has involved numerous emotional outbursts and instigated at least three divorces resulting from recorded personal ads placed by listeners.
One woman threatened on air to cause injury to her husband’s “cheating parts” when she recognized his voice in a personal ad “looking for a little exotic playtime with someone who deeply understands the word ‘discretion.’”
KCRW supervisor of “On-Air Personals” Whit Wattage said that the new service, which allows the station’s listeners to record a personal ad played in rotation for one week, had initially been a success.
Said Wattage, “We were just looking to give folks an opportunity to find that special someone or perhaps sell a sofa bed, in return for opening up a new revenue stream for public-supported radio.”
Instead, Wattage says that “people began taking the term ‘personal’ too far, too often.”
Santa Monica police detectives said they were following up on leads after one personal ad in which a young man announced “I know where your missing cat is.”
Another ad created a firestorm of angry e-mails to KCRW when two men claiming to be “auto repair experts” said they would “happily fix your transmission for free… if you know what we mean.”
KCRW is considering replacing the “On-Air Personals” with a new feature, “Lie About Your Neighbors!”
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