Preston & Steve


Preston & Steve show is a morning radio, comedy and variety broadcast on Philadelphia Active Rock station 93.3 FM WMMR featuring DJs Preston Elliot and Steve Morrison. The show, which originated at WDRE and then on Y100, both in Philadelphia, features daily telephone interviews, in-studio guests, celebrity impersonations, unusual news stories, and numerous sound clips and running gags. It broadcasts live on the radio as well as streaming audio via the station website from 6 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. EST, Monday through Friday, and is a featured podcast in the comedy section of the iTunes Store.

History

Preston Elliot, Steve Morrison and Marilyn Russell were among a group of radio personalities introduced to the Philadelphia market through the now defunct radio station WDRE. With several of their WDRE co-workers, they departed the station for Y100 in 1997 when WDRE changed format. After four successful years of The Y100 Morning Show with Preston, Marilyn, and Steve, Marilyn Russell left the morning show on March 1, 2002, for family reasons. She has worked part-time on many stations in the Philadelphia area since then, including WMGK, and SoJo 104.9, WYSP, and joined morning personality Dave Cruise as co-host on "The BENFM Morning Show on 95.7 in 2007.
WPLY's owner, Dan Lerner, one of the last independent owners in the Philadelphia market, sold the station to Radio One, a national broadcasting corporation, in 2001. Coincidentally, Radio One was the same group that bought Preston, Marilyn & Steve's previous radio station 103.9 WDRE. Radio One and hosts Elliot and Morrison did not successfully negotiate a new contract, and the personalities agreed to a deal with local broadcasting group Greater Media. The hosts' contract with Radio One expired on February 24, 2005, and Y100 changed format and became WPHI "The Beat" at 11:50 p.m. EDT that same day.
A legal battle between Radio One and the Elliot and Morrison team over the hosts' non-compete clause was resolved by a ruling that they were no longer in competition with WPLY. Their new show officially debuted on the air on Monday, May 23, 2005.
In 2006, Elliot and Morrison received a long-term contract extension and in 2008, the station gave them a new studio with their own production equipment. They signed another multi-year deal in 2011.
In April 2019 the Preston and Steve show signed an extension with Beasley Broadcast Group, the current owners of WMMR. The terms of the contract were not revealed but were described as a multi-year extension.

On-air staff

Awards and ratings

The show has been named the "Best Morning Show" by Philadelphia Style magazine, and "Personality/Show of the Year" in the active rock category by Radio & Records trade magazine. Before switching to WMMR, the show won various Philadelphia A.I.R. Awards, including the "Best Weekday Morning Team" award for 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2005, and was voted best local morning show in the country in FMQB's Year End Leaders Poll for 2004 and 2005 in two different formats.
In the Summer 2004 Arbitron ratings book, the show was rated fourth in market share for all people ages 18–34, and second for men in the same category. The Preston & Steve show's ratings surpassed Howard Stern's during his last month on the air, and they outranked each of David Lee Roth's, Opie and Anthony's, and Kidd Chris's tenures at WYSP., Preston & Steve was the top rated show in Philadelphia, and over a four-year period, they had the #1 show in the Arbitron ratings for the 25–54 adult demographic a total of 42 times.
In 2014, Elliot and Morrison were nominated by the National Association of Broadcasters as finalists for the NAB Marconi Radio Awards for Major Market Personality of the Year.
On June 11 2019, Elliot and Morrison were honored by The National Association of Broadcasters Leadership Foundation, receiving the 2019 Service to Community Award in acknowledgement of the Camp Out for Hunger.

Publicity events

Camp Out for Hunger

Since 1998, the show has held an annual Camp Out For Hunger, in which both Elliot and Morrison "camp out" for one week in November to raise food for Philabundance. The show awards prizes to individuals and groups that donate the most food. Since 1998, the event has raised hundreds of tons to feed the hungry across the Delaware Valley.
Results
YearTons of FoodUS Dollars
200587.4$10,000
2006151$18,337
2007232$27,427
2008223$40,540
2009187$45,000
2010264$64,119
2011288$80,000
2012313$106,000
2013386$240,522
2014420$110,518
2015580$158,995
2016683$74,870+
2017839$272,683
2018913$198,188
20191,339$200,000

10,000 marbles

To celebrate the anticipated 10,000th loss in Philadelphia Phillies franchise history, executive producer Nick McIlwain rolled 10,000 marbles down the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum as Bill Weston looked on. After being cleaned up by the show's production crew, the marbles were donated to Toys for Tots and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

"Totally Office Calendar"

In 2006, Elliot had a slip of the tongue while trying to say "awesome" and instead said "office". Later that year they announced that they would be releasing a calendar featuring one woman a month. Lauren Harris had been the only woman to appear in the calendar every year, until the 2015 calendar, when other commitments kept her from participating. Release of the Calendar is typically accompanied by a "Totally Office Calendar Party", which can draw thousands of participants to see the women depicted in the Calendar in person and receive signed copies of the Calendar.

"I Bleed for Preston & Steve" blood drive

This annual is hosted by Preston & Steve in coordination with the American Red Cross. The event typically attracts a very large crowd, and various promotional items and free concert tickets are often given out. The 2011 blood drive collected a total of 1,174 units of blood, and gives them a 6-year total of 6,409 units. The 2016 drive collected a total of 1,297 units of blood.

In media