# Howard Stern's 8AM announcement **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 6, 2004, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-sterns-8am-announcement/267825 "2004-10-06T11:13:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-sterns-8am-announcement/267825/61 "2004-10-07T14:21:35Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Actually they didn’t get fired. The show was cancelled. They had an iron-clad multi-million dollar contract. Infinity had to pay them the entire time they were on their extended vacation. Thats why they haven’t been on the air until now. Even if Stern has been talking about this for a while, it is very suspicious that he would announce this now. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10953-2004Oct6.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10953-2004Oct6.html) > [@](#): > > XM has also hired Opie & Anthony, who were fired by Infinity in 2002 for an on-air stunt involving a couple having sex in a church. I saw this article this morning and was reminded of this thread. I was pretty sure I had remembered hearing that they were fired. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-sterns-8am-announcement/267825/62 "2004-10-07T14:26:37Z")
WHOA, folks. Where’s it say Stern is getting 100,000,000 per year? I heard the deal was for $100M. That could mean for the whole show, all the personalities, the studio, the production costs for 5 years. I didn’t hear that Stern was getting $100M per year for 5 years. Oprah doesn’t make that much. Leno and Letterman together don’t make that much. I did hear that thought that Stern would have to bring in 1M extra subscirbers to offset his costs, though. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-sterns-8am-announcement/267825/63 "2004-10-07T14:42:26Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > I did hear that thought that Stern would have to bring in 1M extra subscirbers to offset his costs, though. This reminds me, does anyone know how popular XM is? How many people have it? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-sterns-8am-announcement/267825/64 "2004-10-07T14:57:44Z")
> [@](#): > > I saw this article this morning and was reminded of this thread. I was pretty sure I had remembered hearing that they were fired. I know its just semantics. I said that they were cancelled not fired. I think that being fired means that your boss stops paying you. The show was taken off the air in 2002 but they were still getting paid their full salaries until a couple of months ago. When the contract was up(I think in June) they were then allowed to start negotiating with other companies which led to the XM deal. Infinity didn’t want the possible competition so they didn’t try to break the contract. So in my mind fired=you don’t work here anymore and we are not paying you, cancelled = you don’t work here anymore and here is your 15 million for not working. BTW cancelled is how Infinity put it at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-sterns-8am-announcement/267825/65 "2004-10-07T15:00:08Z")
> [@](#): > > This reminds me, does anyone know how popular XM is? > > How many people have it? If you look above \*\*Jonathan Chance \*\* said 2million. Don’t know if its true. ---
**Author:** ![Pashnish\_Ewing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8797f3/32.png) [@Pashnish\_Ewing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pashnish_Ewing)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-sterns-8am-announcement/267825/66 "2004-10-07T15:13:32Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > If you don’t believe my accounts of what I heard then oh well. This is not GD, we are only talking about a radio show and I won’t be losing any sleep over it. It’s not that I don’t believe your (and **MannyL** ’s) personal accounts, but I _don’t_ believe that “Howard went ballistic and whined to Infinity”. It sounds like you’re taking O&A’s word for something they would have no personal knowledge of. How do you know it wasn’t Infinity’s brass who laid the smackdown, without any input from Howard. After all, they had to know who was buttering their bread, and it sure as hell wasn’t O&A. I also think it’s funny that you think Howard masterminded the timing of this press release. Isn’t it more likely a case of Sirus wanting to upstage XM (it’s main rival), rather than Howard wanting to upstage O&A (one out of hundreds of Howard’s rivals)? It’s a pretty familiar pattern. Other hosts like to think of themselves on the same level as Howard, and they like to pretend to their audience that there is this big rivalry, but Howard, with everything he has going on, probably couldn’t care less. Pash ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-sterns-8am-announcement/267825/67 "2004-10-07T15:28:40Z")
> [@](#): > > but Howard, with everything he has going on, probably couldn’t care less. He spent an awful lot of time talking about people he couldn’t care less about. There were very specific things pointing to Howard being directly responsible but my memory is clouded a bit by time. There were third party accounts of it but since I don’t recall it exactly I won’t go into details. Since Howard is petty and vindictive it would surprise me in the slightest. Debella wasn’t a serious rival but Howard did his best to ruin his personal and professional life. Then he made him grovel to get his job back. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-sterns-8am-announcement/267825/68 "2004-10-07T15:39:05Z")
Sorry I keep posting and thinking of something else. > [@](#): > > It sounds like you’re taking O&A’s word for something they would have no personal knowledge of. They each worked at New York radio stations which were owned by the same company. You don’t think there is a possibility that they received inside information from friends at the radio station? I bet both sides were getting phone calls within minutes about what each was doing. Howard did and does consider them his biggest competion. > [@](#): > > After all, they had to know who was buttering their bread, and it sure as hell wasn’t O&A. They gave O&A a 15 million dollar contract so their bread was being buttered by O&A pretty good. They only reason why Infinity got rid of them is because of orders from CBS who could afford to lose millions from one side of the business because they were afraid of bad PR. ---
**Author:** ![My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/My_Darn_Snake_Legs)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-sterns-8am-announcement/267825/69 "2004-10-07T15:53:57Z")
I used to listen to O&A when I was a kid visiting my dad in Boston. I used to think they were pretty funny, but WAAF was just a great station. I listened to that station all the time. I listened to Howard when I was still in Dallas just because I had one of those clock radios with the rotary dial and no digital tuning. He is ok, but I don’t get him here near Toledo. :rolleyes: Oh well. The best radio I have ever heard is the Russ Martin Show. He doesn’t want to be syndicated, but they have spread his show from Dallas to Austin on the condition that he doesn’t have to mention Austin or change the show at all. That is some great great radio! If you are in Dallas or Austin, listen to him! I’ll give you the stations if you email me. -Mike ---
**Author:** ![Pashnish\_Ewing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8797f3/32.png) [@Pashnish\_Ewing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pashnish_Ewing)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-sterns-8am-announcement/267825/70 "2004-10-07T15:54:01Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > He spent an awful lot of time talking about people he couldn’t care less about. Well, that’s his job, isn’t it? Five hours a day is a lot of time to fill. > [@Loach](#): > > Since Howard is petty and vindictive it would surprise me in the slightest… No argument here about petty and vindictive (I’m sure he would admit to this as well), but I still think it’s a leap to assert that he went wining to someone else to fight his battles for him. Not really his style. > [@Loach](#): > > Debella wasn’t a serious rival but Howard did his best to ruin his personal and professional life. Then he made him grovel to get his job back. But Deballa WAS a major rival. (disclaimer: I started listening when Howard first came to Dallas in 1996, so I’m basing this on what I’ve read about the situation). Howard’s first syndicated market was Philadelphia, and Debella was the number one DJ with a typical “Morning Zoo” type morning show. Howard focused on him like a laser to prove that his show could suceed outside of NYC, and that he could take over as number one in other markets (not just Philly). Admittedly, by the time Howard had Debella’s ex-wife on the show to play dial-a-date (and to trash Debella), the rivalry had cooled down. But at one time Debella wasn’t just a rival, he was THE rival. Pash ---
**Author:** ![My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/My_Darn_Snake_Legs)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-sterns-8am-announcement/267825/71 "2004-10-07T15:56:31Z")
Oh, and about Sirius vs. XM --\> Clear Channel Communications owns a good bit of XM, and that’s my guess as to why Howard isn’t going there. ---
**Author:** ![Pashnish\_Ewing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8797f3/32.png) [@Pashnish\_Ewing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pashnish_Ewing)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-sterns-8am-announcement/267825/72 "2004-10-07T16:00:14Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > They gave O&A a 15 million dollar contract so their bread was being buttered by O&A pretty good. So, if Howard supossedly went whining to them, why didn’t they tell Howard to shut up and take it like a man? > [@Loach](#): > > They only reason why Infinity got rid of them is because of orders from CBS who could afford to lose millions from one side of the business because they were afraid of bad PR. And yet, they didn’t have the same concerns about Stern? > [@My Darn Snake Legs](#): > > Oh, and about Sirius vs. XM → Clear Channel Communications owns a good bit of XM, and that’s my guess as to why Howard isn’t going there. Good point. So maybe Howard did have some incentive to take the wind out of XM’s sails. Pash ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-sterns-8am-announcement/267825/73 "2004-10-07T16:17:25Z")
> [@](#): > > So, if Howard supossedly went whining to them, why didn’t they tell Howard to shut up and take it like a man? Even though O&A was spreading making more money for the company with each market they entered, Howard was still much bigger and had more influence. Besides Howard had Mel’s ear. > [@](#): > > And yet, they didn’t have the same concerns about Stern? Big concerns. But he is more firmly entrenched in their radio shows across the country. They had a lot more to lose. I have not been in a position to listen much since the Super Bowl but it does seem like the station has tried to squeeze him even more than in the past to conform. There concerns about Howard ultimately drove him away. CBS cancelled O&A in a knee-jerk reaction to complaints from the Catholic league, which ammounted to basically one guy being interviewed by anyone with a camera. The Catholic Church had no comment and Infinity is fighting the FCC fines. > [@](#): > > Well, that’s his job, isn’t it? Five hours a day is a lot of time to fill. True enough. You have a point about Debella however I meant that he wasn’t a serious rival since he was basically a disc jockey playing music and not a comic or talk show host. I grant you that at the time Stern had something to prove about being able to play outside of New York. > [@](#): > > Admittedly, by the time Howard had Debella’s ex-wife on the show to play dial-a-date (and to trash Debella), the rivalry had cooled down. For those playing along at home, this was Debella mentally unstable wife who later committed suicide. IIRC Howard had some pretty nasty comments after she died. ---
**Author:** ![Pashnish\_Ewing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8797f3/32.png) [@Pashnish\_Ewing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pashnish_Ewing)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-sterns-8am-announcement/267825/74 "2004-10-07T16:40:46Z")
**Loach** , that’s a good point about Howard’s relationship with Mel Karmizan. That could have been enough alone for the brass to come down on Howard’s side (whether Howard complained to them or not). I’ll concede that it’s possible that Howard complained, but I still don’t think it should be stated as fact (what can I say, I’m a GDer at heart 🙂 ). Pash ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-sterns-8am-announcement/267825/75 "2004-10-07T17:02:39Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > I did hear that thought that Stern would have to bring in 1M extra subscirbers to offset his costs, though. He’s got 10 million listeners. I think it’s pretty likely that at least 10% will consider getting a subscription to Sirius so they can listen to Howard uncensored. I know I probably will, especially considering their sports lineup (of which I was not previously aware). ---
**Author:** ![bafaa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@bafaa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bafaa)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-sterns-8am-announcement/267825/76 "2004-10-07T17:07:09Z")
I’ve been a big fan of Howard ever since he was on WNBC and I started listening to O&A when they started on WNEW here in NY. I prefer O&A. I just want to be entertained and Howard hasn’t done that for me in ages. It got a little better when Artie joined the show but overall I still find it boring. The past few years I would turn on Howard between commercials on other shows and only stayed tuned in when he did a non-porn celebrity interview. Those pornstar interviews are sooo damn boring! Do Howard and O&A have a similar show? Yes but IMO O&A are much more entertaining. People say “but Howard did it first!” Should I care? Just because Howard started his show first no one else is allowed to go on the air and do a similar show? No one else can do interviews or just sit around talking about recent events, sex, movies, games, etc? How silly! By that argument Howard shouldn’t be allowed to go on satellite radio because O&A did it first. I’ve been a fan of both shows and IMO Howard ripped them off by stealing actual material from their show. Ever hear him say “junk” and “ballonknot”? O&A said it first. As far as I can recall O&A can only be accused of ripping off the format. The following is info I read on message boards and news articles and what I’ve heard from O&A on air and via their website. They could have gone to Q104.3, here in NY, back when they were first cancelled/fired but could not get out of their contract with Infinity. Q104.3 is a Clear Channel station and Infinity did not want them over there competing against Howard in the mornings. Once the contract ran out Citadel Broadcasting wanted to hire them but they do not have any stations in NYC so O&A didn’t go with them and in general they didn’t want to have to deal with the FCC again so instead went to satellite. XM and Sirius both wanted them but O&A decided that their best bet was XM. I don’t know how true any of that is but it doesn’t really matter to me. Like I said earlier, I just want to be entertained and O&A do a better job of it than Howard does. That’s why I went out and bought an XM radio the day after I heard they were going to XM. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-sterns-8am-announcement/267825/77 "2004-10-07T17:09:03Z")
> [@](#): > > He’s got 10 million listeners. I think it’s pretty likely that at least 10% will consider getting a subscription to Sirius so they can listen to Howard uncensored. > > I know I probably will, especially considering their sports lineup (of which I was not previously aware). Just be aware that its like cable TV, you get the basic package and then have to pay for the extras. The NFL package on Sirius is extra. O&A is $1.99 a month more(I don’t know if you get anything more than the one show for that). I’m sure Stern will be an extra charge too. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-sterns-8am-announcement/267825/78 "2004-10-07T20:10:36Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Just be aware that its like cable TV, you get the basic package and then have to pay for the extras. The NFL package on Sirius is extra. O&A is $1.99 a month more(I don’t know if you get anything more than the one show for that). I’m sure Stern will be an extra charge too. Not true! :eek: There are **no** premium streams on Sirius. You pay $12.95 a month (or $10/month if you pay for a year in advance, or $499 for a lifetime sub) and you get everything: music, talk, news, traffic, weather, sports, and internet streaming (music only). You’re right that O&A cost extra, but they’re on XM, not Sirius. XM also charges extra for Playboy Radio. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-sterns-8am-announcement/267825/79 "2004-10-07T20:34:48Z")
> [@Mr2001](#): > > XM also charges extra for Playboy Radio. What good is it if you can’t see it? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-sterns-8am-announcement/267825/80 "2004-10-07T20:57:41Z")
Sorry I misremembered what a friend told me. XM is 9.99 a month and O&A are an additional 1.99. BTW: > [@](#): > > He hosted Morning Edition on NPR for 24 years and 6 months. From the XM site: > [@](#): > > Bob Edwards debuts XM Public Radio’s new, 1-hour morning interview program, The Bob Edwards Show. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-sterns-8am-announcement/267825.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-sterns-8am-announcement/267825.md?page=5)