Howard Stern:
his new Satellite Radio Show!
Howard Stern: his Private Life
The Move to Satellite Radio
Save up to 50% on satellite radio: Sirius & XM
On October 6, 2004, Stern announced on his show that he signed a five-year, $500
million deal with the
Sirius Satellite Radio Service.
The deal, which took
effect on January 1, 2006, enabled Stern to broadcast his show without the
content restrictions imposed by the FCC.
In addition, the Sirius deal gave Stern two channels of his own, "Howard 100"
and "Howard 101."(A third channel was announced in 2004, but later dropped for
unknown reasons.) Both of these channels launched in October 2005. Although
Stern himself was not able to broadcast on Sirius until his Infinity contract
expired, he had been producing content to fill the otherwise dead air. Shows
have included a live, 24-hour broadcast of Wack Pack member "Wendy the Retard,"
another 24-hour broadcast of "High Pitch Erik" which featured the weighing of
his excrement, and auditions of other Wack Packers for their own permanent
shows. A legitimate news team of award-winning journalists was put together to
launch "Howard 100 News," a nightly broadcast of "all things Howard." Stern also
announced fellow shock jock Bubba the Love Sponge would have his own nightly
talk show starting in January on one of his stations. Howard himself is only
heard four days a week, Monday through Thursday, live.
This move has been met with much controversy, as Stern talked about his move to
Sirius on his show, even telling listeners how to purchase Sirius equipment and
subscriptions. To promote this latest venture, Stern held a rally in New York
where he gave out coupons for free or discounted Sirius equipment. His impending
move to Sirius resulted in some radio stations censoring him every time he
mentioned the words "Sirius" or "satellite radio". In one incident, Farid
Suleman of Citadel Broadcasting went so far as to have billed Stern $200,000 for
the plugs he'd given Sirius on his show. Stern's response was, "Keep sending me
bills. Like I'm going to pay 'em," which he publicly stated on his show. Stern
and his colleagues, and even callers, began to "censor" themselves by saying
"eh-ehhh-eh" instead of "Sirius" or "satellite radio."
On April 6, 2005, Stern pleaded on-air for Infinity Broadcasting to let him out
of his contract, citing the reason of possible prosecution, per U.S. House
Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner Jr.'s recommendation. FMQB.com
quoted Stern as saying about his current employer, "They're holding me to the
contract and I'm afraid to break the contract, because I don't want to ever do
anything illegal or wrong. I'm very, very clear on that. I'm a pretty honest
guy. I try to live by the laws, but it seems like I'm being set up." [5] It must
also be added that within Stern's contract with Viacom/Infinity, if he were to
have been fired or his show cancelled, his employer would have had to pay out a
twenty million dollar fee as a result of this early termination to him and his
production company.
On June 22, 2005, it was announced that production of the Howard Stern
television show on E! would be ending. The last new episode was taped on July 1
and aired on July 8. E! continued to rerun the show until December 31, 2005.
On October 25, 2005, Infinity Broadcasting (now CBS Radio) announced Stern's
replacements on every station it owned that broadcasted Stern. These
replacements include:
The David Lee Roth Show broadcasts from Howard Stern's former radio studio at
K-Rock to such cities as New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, and Cleveland.
Adam Carolla broadcasts to such cities as Los Angeles, Portland, San Diego,
Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle, Fresno, Sacramento and Las Vegas
Penn Jillette broadcasts from Las Vegas.
Rover's Morning Glory in Chicago, Rochester, and Detroit.
CNN news radio in Houston
Jack FM music in Sacramento, Buffalo and Fresno
The Sports Junkies in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore.
It was announced on November 7, 2005, that Infinity Broadcasting suspended Stern
from going live on air on November 8, 2005, because Stern was promoting his move
to Sirius radio too much.
It was revealed in the December 12, 2005 issue of New York Magazine that XM
Satellite Radio was prepared to offer Howard a $30 million dollar per-year
contract in 2004. XM executives were slow to close the deal, giving Sirius the
chance it needed.
When asked why he picked Sirius over the competitor, XM, Howard replied that he
"always liked the underdog. Every radio station I ever went to was a toilet
bowl." He has also stated that during very preliminary negotiations with XM, he
found the management to be slow and unresponsive while Sirius was "nimble".
Stern's budget with Sirius, including all operating costs, is $500 million for
the 5 year contract.
Goodbye to terrestrial radio
Howard 100 LogoHoward's last show on conventional AM/FM "terrestrial" radio was
on December 16, 2005. The show was on the streets of New York below K-Rock,
simulcast live accompanied by video on the Internet through Yahoo!, with several
thousand fans in attendance at the scene. The studio segment of the show ended
with Stern and company each saying a final farewell, then leaving the studio for
the street stage, with Stern being the last to leave. Many members of the show's
"Wack Pack" gave speeches and Staind performed. Speeches were given by each
member of the show: Gary, Artie, Fred, Robin, and finally Howard, who frequently
referred to himself and his fans as "the last of a dying breed." During his
speech, Stern thanked the NYPD and dedicated the show to Sgt. Keith Manning, a
friend of the show currently serving in Iraq. Stern was then bussed to the Hard
Rock Cafe in Times Square, where Martha Stewart (who also has her own Sirius
talk channel) was on hand to induct Howard Stern into the Sirius family. Much of
the show took place at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York where Sheryl Crow
performed and mentioned on stage the debt America and musicians should pay
towards Stern.
True to the last broadcast, much of Stern's final statements were
bleeped/edited-out on the radio and even on the Yahoo internet broadcast. These
statements largely pertained to Stern's animosity towards Clear Channel and the
future at Sirius.
As a response to Stern leaving FM radio, many of the radio stations under
ownership of CBS Radio, including K-Rock in New York, changed their format from
music to a hot talk format. Select stations were rebranded "Free FM". Stern's
flagship station changed its name from 92.3 K-Rock to 92.3 Free FM. Stern
himself was a harsh critic of the "Free FM" format in his last days on
terrestrial radio, arguing that the name was a joke due to continued FCC and
industry censorship.
Due to his former contract with Infinity Broadcasting, now CBS Radio, neither
Stern nor anyone under contract from his show could be heard on Sirius before
January 1, 2006. On January 1, 2006, Stern did a commercial free segment on his
two stations Howard 100 and Howard 101 playing clips from his days as a child,
to working at WTBU (Boston University college radio), WCCC, W4, WWDC, WNBC, and
WXRK. On January 3 and January 5, 2006, Stern and other members of his show
conducted live test broadcasts, 70-minute and 130-minute respectively, in which
he tested, live and on-air, various components of his new studio including audio
levels, call-in functions, and studio ease-of-use. Various callers congratulated
Stern on his new venture, although he reiterated that the broadcast was nothing
more than a test designed to give users a sneak peek, and not an actual show. He
made a point to reaffirm the first show, technically clean but completely
uncensored, would take place on January 9, 2006.
Alas, parting with CBS Radio is not without some sorrow for Stern. On February
28, 2006, CBS Radio announced it had filed a lawsuit against Stern, Stern's
agent Don Buchwald and Sirius Satellite Radio, saying Stern used CBS's airwaves
to unfairly promote the satellite service and enrich himself. The lawsuit also
claims that Stern "repeatedly and willfully" breached his contract with CBS,
"misappropriated millions of dollars worth of … airtime" for his own benefit,
and "fraudulently concealed" his performance-related interests in Sirius stock.
The suit, filed in New York state court, seeks compensatory and punitive
damages. Not to be outdone, Stern earlier in the day (and prior to CBS's
announcement) held a press conference at which, among other things, Stern said
CBS added to the media attention and it, booking him for appearances on its news
magazine show "60 Minutes" and "Late Show with David Letterman." "I made them
millions of dollars. If I was hurting them why did they keep me on the air for
14 months?" Stern said. "How can you have it both ways?"
There has been some controversy among his fans as to the poor availability of
the Sirius signal in many buildings, where many of his fans listen from. As of
this writing, Sirius has not begun streaming his show online (the company
streams all of its music content and some select talk programming), however,
they have indicated they will be doing so shortly.
Initially, Sirius Canada chose not to carry Stern because of the possibility of
a future issue with the CRTC. Josef Radomski, a Canadian writer, announced on
the January 11, 2006 show that he has started an online petition to bring Stern
to Sirius Canada. On February 1, 2006, Sirius Canada announced that they would
start airing Howard 100, starting February 6. His first day on Sirius Canada, a
caller claiming to be Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister designate who was sworn
in as Prime Minister that same day, welcomed Stern back to the Canadian
airwaves.
The Sirius Show
The Howard Stern Show debuted on Sirius, on January 9, 2006. The "Howard 100
Heartbeat" broke away to Also Sprach Zarathustra tunefully performed with
flatulence. Howard's theme music, "Great American Nightmare," played a few bars
before George Takei introduced himself as the show's new announcer. Callers were
soon invited to call into the show using their new toll-free line,
1-888-9-ASSHOLE.
During the show, Stern revealed that there were 180,000 Sirius receivers
activated the day before his inaugural broadcast. He also revealed that he was
not married, squashing rumors which appeared (and he happily fed) during his
hiatus.
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