"Listeners won't know what Stern plans to do until Jan. 3, when he returns from vacation."
At the rate Stern is going, I wouldn't be surprised he does something that will get him kicked off Infinity Broadcasting in no time flat. 
A Wall St. Journal article mentioned that Stern was asked to tone down his mentions of Sirius on his show and also couldn't appear in advertising for the satellite radio provider, all until his Infinity contract expires a year from now.
We have been trying to decide between XM and Sirius. Howard Stern on Sirius makes it easy--XM here we come.
Which makes sense, from a practical, business-oriented standpoint.
If you were an executive working at Infinity Broadcasting, would you want your on-air talent promoting your competition?
Oh if Howard would only play music on his show. I have seen bits and pieces on cable television. Music would be a great improvement.
Howard Stern, no dummy he, will take about 3/4 of his audience to satellite (referred to as "uh ah" on his show after he found out that some of his affiliates were hitting the kill button when he mentioned it on his show). His move, in my opinion, is the end of free radio as we know it and I, for one, have already bought a Sirius subscription and the equipment. I've bought into the logic that I want to hear what I want to hear without the interjection of inane commercials, listless music, blathering know-nothing "talent" and, most importantly, censorship.
Well, I don't care for Stern but since I own quite a few shares of Sirius I certainly hope something can be worked out so he comes on board early. Go SIRI !
I can't figure why people listen to Howard. I got tired of his kind of humor when I was 10.
"All Things Considered" -- that's a good one. They should change the name of that show to "All Liberal Things Considered".
"Listeners won't know what Stern plans to do until Jan. 3, when he returns from vacation."
At the rate Stern is going, I wouldn't be surprised he does something that will get him kicked off Infinity Broadcasting in no time flat.
(Must resolve to read closer next time.)
Hey, you might want to get in on this since it will inevitably turn to GPS, WAAS and LAAS. :-)
sirius made an audacious and foolhardy move when they did this. I said so then, say so now. They're both doomed to obscurity, barring a miracle of repentence or some such.
One thing missing from all of this, is why doesn't Viacom fight Michael Powell, and the FCC in court??? Michael Powell is violating 1st ammendment rights!
Howard's biggest gripe is that Clear Channel took him off the air to avoid any heat from the FCC. Viacom's attorneys worked out "deals", rather than fight a constitutional battle that these broadcasters would win. BTW, Howard says he isn't going to "sensitivity training", he never agreed to any of these consessions.
Howard driving force is to bankrupt Clear Channel, that took him off in 9 markets, without paying him. He was not in violation of his contract with them.
To spite what one thinks about the content of his show, this is a constitutional arguement, a very important one. Howard Stern is in the scope of Michael Powell, while he turns his back on all similiar targets. The networks need to fight back.
When it comes to music, there's nothing like a good CD player, preferably a recent one that will also play MP3. Then you can play what you like.
We had Stern here in Minneapolis for a while. The local guy kicked his ass in the ratings.
Stern coming to town was big news. The local "shock" DJ, Tom Barnard, reacted by... doing nothing. He didn't even acknowlege that Stern was on in the same market. Stern did some on-air tirades about how Barnards time was up, he was finished, blah blah blah. Still, Barnard just kept business as usual and never mentioned Stern.
Six months later, Stern was off the air here in Minnesota, but picked up "Crazy Cabe" from the Tom Barnard program for some reason. Cabe was in idiot, and I was glad to see him gone. I was glad to see them BOTH gone.
When I listened to Stern, he just didn't live up to his reputation. Among the things I remember from his program is an hour long analysis of a Chemical Brothers song and Hank the drunken dwarf. Robin Quivers' hideous cackle accompanied it all. I guess she was the news woman AND the laugh track. It was miserable radio.
Stern's career doesn't mean a fig to me, I guess. As for the FCC, well, it IS the public airwaves. One can get arrested by slinging obscenities around in the public square or behaving lewdly, and technically, the airwaves are of little difference.
It'll be interesting to see how the chips fall on this, though.
Merry Christmas
APf
Ping
Stern appeals to the sophomopric voyeur in all males--I don'[t think he's so hot for women.
But for him to claim that his show is a valuable contribution to our culture or society is ridiculous.
One wonders which is more acidic to public morale...
Sleeze or sedition... I think they are linked..
The sleeze is a diversion from the real airwave oversight..
Like Monica Lewinsky was a diversion from Clintons more heinous and REAL CRIMES against the nation(public).. JUST so, airwave sleeze is a diversion from the REAL RAPE of the airwaves.. The FCC is BLOCKING real oversight of the airwaves NOT monitoring it.. With a 300 million dollar budget(2004) the FCC could do their job. Instead they are a blockage to real oversight BY their diversion... The FCC is in WORSE shape than the FDA... much worse.. The drug companys literally OWN the FDA.. and the MSM literally OWNS the FCC...
ALL that WITH a Republican House, Senate and Executive Branch(the President) wringing their hands over National Security and won't even close the borders. The airwaves obviously are not important either.. They(the republican party) has been busy proving that they are irrelevant.. The Iraq War, you know, is a diversion too.. Proof ?... The borders are still wide open, and I mean WIDE OPEN.. The Iraq War is a diversion.. From WHAT.?.
Yeah!... from WHAT... Our pockets are being picked.. If they have been picked ALREADY...
OTOH, he's trying to make himself appear to be a martyr to motivate his listeners to switch to Sirius.
Call him what you will, but Stern is no dummy when it comes to making money.
I don't know what the difference is, really. CPB funded stations play just as many on air advertisements as stations who don't suck at the government teat.