Posted on 12/16/2005 4:19:04 AM PST by Momaw Nadon
NEW YORK - The free ride for Howard Stern fans ends Friday. Stern, a New York radio fixture for 20 years and host of a syndicated show for 12 million daily listeners, bids farewell to his fans with a final show on terrestrial radio. On Jan. 9, Stern makes his move to satellite radio — where his once-free speech will cost listeners $12.95 a month.
Stern, no surprise, will not leave quietly. He's scheduled a two-hour party in midtown Manhattan to say goodbye to his loyal listeners. And he plans to deliver an address to fans on his final show, finishing up a quarter-century on terrestrial radio as arguably its most influential figure.
Stern leaves behind a plethora of imitators spawned in the wake of his success, when his show enjoyed an unprecedented ratings run to hit No. 1 in New York, Philadelphia, Washington and Los Angeles.
His move to Sirius Satellite Radio, while somewhat risky, comes with a huge financial reward: Stern signed a five-year, $500 million contract to create two new channels for Sirius. The salaries, overhead and other programming costs come out of his windfall.
During his career, Stern evolved into the center of attention in First Amendment issues and censorship. Infinity Broadcasting paid $1.7 million in 1995 to settle complaints by the Federal Communications Commission against Stern. In April 2004, Clear Channel dumped Stern from six stations because of his show's content.
Sirius is depending on Stern to reverse its money-losing ways. Since the 51-year-old shock jock announced his move last year, the number of Sirius subscribers jumped from 600,000 to more than 2.2 million. That figure is expected to hit 3 million by the end of the year.
Howard Stern - blech. I never listen to him anyway and won't miss him "when he's gone" from the public airwaves.
LOLOL! You'd think the REST of the world wold have found out by now. :-)
I don't listen anymore. But I did listen everyday for years. I just got sick of the butt bongo and the Bush trashing.
but--- he is friggin funny... always was, always will be. And I'm thinking seriously about Satellite radio, and not just for Howard, who I will probably still pass on.
Another technology coming down the road - WiMax mobile (standard just agreed on) - will allow you to pick up any one of the thousands of Internet streaming radio channels in your car - for free. Satellite will be history along with Fartman.
This writer hasn't heard of Rush, I guess.
Remember, Imus took credit for electing the popular Bill Clinton.
I have Sirius Sat Radio. Like it. Some of the talk radio folks I don't get locally and there is plenty of music as well. Won the first one at the Consumer Electronics Show, but just recently upgraded to a smaller version at Sam's club on a last item buy for 40 dollars. That didn't include the subscription but was still half the price of buying a new one.
I was flipping thru MSNBC early this morning, and he was talking about the "makeup lady"....you'd never know he has one of those!
I like sirrus radio but I dont have to listen to him
Now we need the I-man to retire or join Howard.
They are soooooo yesterday
You don't have to like him, but the man is an institution. And funny as hell. I've been listening since his first day on in Phila.
You seem upset. I didn't refer to you by name. Perhaps you recognize yourself.
Exactly. What a hypocrite.
Is he definitely getting that $500 million? How is it guaranteed?
I heard part of it on the news- he thanked his children, his parents, etc., but not his (ex)wife. For some reason that surprised me.
No matter what he spends on programming and salaries, he's doing quite well.
I was just wondering if he is definitely going to get this money.
LOL! What is that writer smoking?
"Arguably" means you can make a plausible case.
Like him or not, talk radio and music radio changed because Howard's act sold. Stern's rise came at a time when radio comedy was zany, jokey or folksy and lagging far behind the standup avant garde. And those few talkers who edged into the transgressive, ribald, controversial or daring lacked Stern's comic gifts -- just compare him to any one of his witless imitators. Stern more than anyone else changed what you could talk about on radio; he's been the standard since he became famous.
I'm not taking anything away from Rush Limbaugh as a radio host. His influence has been huge too. Bigger than Stern's? If you can measure it objectively, hey, go nuts and show me what you come up with.
As for his hypocrisy, hey -- he's a hypocrite. Now, you got something to say about his show?
Yeah, but can his production costs be THAT much?? Its a radio program. I'd imagine that he's pocketing most of it.
Shame about Sirius's decision to drop Fox News. That was one of the only redeeming programming that the channel offered.
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