God, will they EVER stop calling him a jock, as in disk jockey? Has he spun one record in the last, say, 15 years? Does his show have even the slightest remote connection to pop or rock music anymore?
I think “radio personality” is much more descriptive.
Probably closer to 20 and I must say I liked him better that way. I’d wake up listening to Imus and come home from school in time for How-weird.
I think “personality” is giving him a lot of credit. I’d call him a “radio talk show host” and leave it at that.
That said, I neither love nor hate his show, and think the free market will decide whether he should stay on air. If a sufficient number of people are entertained (and if it is possible to prove that they are listening in large numbers), then it will be profitable to sell advertising during his show, and his show will remain on the air. If a sufficient number of companies are reluctant to advertise on his show then it will no longer be in Infinity’s interests to keep him on the air, and his show will go the way of the dodo.
It sounds to me like Clear Channel’s sales reps are having a hard time selling slots on Stern’s show, and combined with public pressures resulting from (among many other things) the Super Debacle, they have found an easy escape hatch. The tide of corporate opinion has turned, and so even though Howard appeals to just as many individuals now as he did before the Stripper Bowl, he doesn’t appeal to as many advertisers as before. Raw listener numbers are irrelevant when your company doesn’t want its product sold via “Anal Ring Toss” and “How many people can stay in the Paris Hilton?” jokes.
ergo, YOINK.
I saw today on the Drudge Report that even Rush Limbaugh is expressing concerns about free speech because of the Sternflap. See http://www.drudgereport.com/flash6rl.htm. I don’t know how sincere Rush is, but the times are getting stranger every day.
If the FCC wasn’t poppin’ a vein over “indecency” (which I doubt they would be if it weren’t for the christian right), Clear Channel wouldn’t have to pay the 10 X fines, and they wouldn’t give a shit either. Howard’s going to have to move to subscriber radio or live, private shows.
When stern and rush was the biggets things on radio in the mid 90s TIME did a
article on the both of them and rush’s position was that althouhg he didnt like stern (actually didnt even really know the show and going on what he heard )
He said even if he didnt agree with it he supported his right to say it and that in radio and tv you had to watch each others back becuase censorship on one coul;d turn into censor ship of all
Where did America go?
I thought that as adults we could chose what we want. When I want to watch/listen to adult programming, I do just that. I listen to Stern, I watch the Sopranos, etc. One knows exactly what one is getting by tuning into these kinds of shows. The FCC should just back off. Before you know it, our troops will be goose-stepping down the local strasse, and our children will be learning to do their best for the Fatherland.
I really don’t like what is happening in this country. The Patriot Act is way too invasive (along with ineffective - but that’s what Dubya wants), and now the FCC is thinking of regulating what is aired on cable. CABLE!!
I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and dog gone it - I can chose for myself what I want to listen to. And so is everyother american for that matter.
I agree with the “Stern is tired” camp. I listened to Howard every morning commuting to college my freshman year (a little over 5 years ago) and I laughed my ass off every morning.
Then it got stupider and stupider and now I can barely stand any morning radio personalities, but Howard especially gets on my nerves.
I think in a few months, rather than just being let go, Stern will be fired for indecency. Which will make him a bankable star again and fuel his controversial crap. And CC gets to stand up for families. It’ll be a win-win all around.
If five seconds of covered-up nipple is as far as the pendulum is going to swing in that direction, someone needs to give it another push.
I like this image of Janet Jackson’s breast as swinging pendulum. The mental image is so clear I think I’m becoming hypnotized.
I’m one of those people who doesn’t love or hate Howard Stern. I think he’s okay. I do hate his gazillion imitators though. Just being randomly abusive, obnoxious, salacious and judgmental does not automatically equal funny. Holy crap. Jimmy Kimmel, I am looking at you. As for Clear Channel, isn’t everyone still boycotting them for banning every song other than Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head shortly after 911?
Well, if you’re gonna accuse Bush of having ‘free speech zones,’ you’ll have to also accuse the Democrats of the same. According to the Boston Globe, planners for this summer’s Democratic National Convention in the city are doing their very best to keep any protesters far away from the venue:
“Under a preliminary plan floated by convention organizers, the “free-speech zone” would be a small plot bounded by Green Line tracks and North Washington Street, in an area that until recently was given over to the elevated artery. The zone would hold as few as 400 of the several thousand protesters who are expected in Boston in late July.”
Still, I think it’s scary and Orwellian what’s going on with the FCC and Howard Stern.
Not until they get back into office, and start censoring people who are protesting actual government actions. The First Amendment doesn’t apply to private parties.
IIRC correctly, just prior to 9/11, the big item of John Ashcroft’s agenda was going to be a major crackdown on indecent speech. Then he got distracted. This is just the continuance of the Bush Admin’s loathsome social agenda, placating the social conservatives “by other means.” Janet’s breast was just an excuse for something they were going to do anyway. And just in time for the 2004 elections. Imagine that. Just like the gay marriage thing.
Am I the only one who’s paying attention?
From Florida Today & the Washington Post:
Of course they are designed to pander to, titillate and shock! That’s why they tune in! We should be glad that someone is bringing eager listeners to radio shows so we can sell products and make lots of money. Wagnerian opera hasn’t been able to do that quite as well lately.
Crude? Offensive? Not worth the Hertz he hangs his humping hat on? You bet. I solve that problem by not listening. Someone else likes him? No concern of mine. I only hope that my favorite performers aren’t censored by others, either.
**A definition of Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, is happy. **(H.L. Mencken)
“The Regular Guys”, two morning disc jockeys here in Atlanta who are part of the Clear Channel conglomerate, refused to come to work today and will supposedly not return until they have a clear definition of ‘what is indecent’. As much as I respect the fact that they want to know where the line is drawn and will not return to the office until it is, I have a feeling they will be back to work on Monday regardless. There are too many starving dj’s who would love a market like Atlanta and would grab their positions in a heartbeat.
The Regular Guys, eh? We have a “Regular Guy” in Chicago, but he does movie reviews…and he works alone. Coincidence? Or an example of body snatching? You be the judge…
Don’t forget that this Clear Channel/indecency drama is being played out in the context of the Deregulation of Media Ownership debate.
Last year, Micheal Powell’s FCC suggested a further relaxing the media ownership rules. Interestingly, they did NOT suggest further deregulation of radio. Clear Channel was very upset as they were hoping that a relaxing of radio ownership rules would allow them to increase their entrenchment in the major markets.
The reaction to the FCC’s proposed rule changes was so strong that Congress and the FCC are examing the need for, and the extent of further deregulation.
Clear Channel is trying to now show that they are responsible broadcasters in hopes that the FCC will allow further deregulation of radio.
As for Stern, this is playing right into his hand. He’s a talent for sure. But he’s an aging, divorced, father of teenage girls, who’s target audience is 18 to 25 year old males. This gives him the publicity and credibility with his audience that’s ‘priceless’.
I was a “viewer of The Man Show” when Kimmel was still on it, and I had no interest in Stern.
The Sun-Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, in an editorial as quoted by USAToday:
Bravo! Someone’s standing up to the FCC and Bluenoses United To Control Media The Way WE Like (BUTCMTWEWL)!
Sorry, man. 
The above, while a valid quote, must be taken in context. Apparently movies cannot be censored but radio can. Here’s the complete quote: