Courtesy Des Moines Register

(March 23, 2009) Three employees at sports radio station KXNO have been suspended until further notice as a result of the heated on-air incident Friday involving broadcasters Marty Tirrell and Larry Cotlar, a Clear Channel Radio Corp. official said Monday.

Sanda Coyle, vice president of marketing for Clear Channel, declined to name the individuals suspended in an e-mail response to a listener.

The Des Moines Register received a copy of Coyle’s e-mail Monday morning and Coyle confirmed that the information was received from KXNO officials.

“The suspensions follow an on-air incident Friday morning, March 20, in which a private conversation that included profanities accidentally aired. The situation and the behavior of the employees is under review,” Coyle said in the e-mail.

Joel McCrea, vice president of WHO/Clear Channel, could not be reached for comment Monday morning.

Cotlar, however, was not on the air this morning for his regular drive-time show for KXNO (AM-1460). In addition his regular producer, Geoff Conn, also was not on the air.

Cotlar referred all questions to McCrea.

On Friday, listeners of the sports radio station heard a profane argument between broadcasters Tirrell and Cotlar that included Tirrell's use of the "f-word" at least a dozen times.

The argument — apparently over media credentials used during the recent Iowa high school boys' basketball tournament — took place just moments before the beginning of an NCAA basketball preview show.

An audiotape of the tirade obtained by WHO-TV showed that Tirrell began his rant by mentioning an official with the Iowa High School Athletic Association who deals with credential requests and angrily argued with Cotlar over an issue relating to use of credentials.

Tirrell also has declined comment on the incident.

Officials for two of Tirrell’s other employers took separate views Monday on the controversial broadcaster’s status with them.

Jerry Crawford, an owner of the Iowa Energy men’s basketball team, said Tirrell would remain as the team’s play-by-play announcer.

“Marty Tirrell has been a model employee of the Iowa Energy and we believe he is the best play by play announcer in the league,” Crawford said. “If Tirrell had known he was on the air when he had the conversation with Larry Cotlar, we would terminate him.

“But as we understand the facts, he had no way to know he was on the air and had the right to assume he was in a private conversation.”

The future of Tirrell’s weekly “Mouth of the Midwest” commentary on KCCI-TV in Des Moines, meanwhile, was uncertain.

“Obviously, we want to see how this plays out,” said Paul Fredericksen, KCCI president and general manager. “At this time, I’m not certain what the end result will be.”

Asked directly if the segment will air in its Thursday slot, Fredericksen said:

“We’ll wait and see. It all depends what information comes out. If he said what we heard that he said, then those are pretty bad words as far as radio and the FCC is concerned.”

Coyle said it is possible that there will be no official announcement of the suspensions by KXNO because of company policy regarding personnel.

Asked how company officials explain the absence of two broadcasters from their shows, Coyle said: “Oh, that happens all the time in this business.”