**Howard Stern's perfectly pubbed trial balloon to leave radio to become a judge on "American Idol" is further indication he's headed back to terrestrial radio.
Stern's contract with Sirius satellite is up at the end of the year. As scribbled here a few times, Stern's been lost at the water-cooler since 2006 when he took a huge amount of coin and left his commercial syndicated gig.
While his bank account may have enlarged, the shows topical edge has lost its zip. Stern doesn't need any more money and I'd seriously doubt he'd leave radio, be it satellite or commercial. As a morning wag noted, Stern has been threatening to leave radio for over 25 years.
He's already getting serious offers from Clear Channel and the Idol gig; while a great idea in theory, would take too much of Stern's time.
**KRON4 has lost its traffic helicopter. As usual, its a money deal...By the way, the station's financial turmoil continues down a beaten path: almost all employees, including a few prominent anchors are being paid on an "at-will" scale, which in layman's terms essentially means "no personal services" contracts. And yes, it does include THAT GUY that does the sports.
**KSFO's gutter-mouth morning man, Lee Rodgers, sank to new lows Tuesday. During his usual paranoid early-morning monologue, Lee referred to the N.O.W. (National Org. for Women) as the "National Org. of 'Broads."
Not stopping there, Rodgers called Patrick Kennedy, the son of the late Ted Kennedy, a "local drunk." Not funny, pretty damn petty, even by Rodgers "bleepin'" standards. I'm sure the Walmart demo from Livermore ate it up.
**A reader of this site had a great point: Jay Leno's cameo on the Super Bowl with Letterman and Oprah, was probably the first decent, positive PR he's had in six months.
Come to think if it, Letterman helped himself too, if only to diffuse his noted off-show dalliances, and yes, even Oprah was funny. How the heck he pulled it off still boggles the mind.
**Appointment radio: Ex-Fox house liberal, Alan Colmes weeknight syndicated show on Green 960 from 9 PM to Midnight is topical, funny, and Colmes' "graffito radio" bit, easily one of the best shticks in radio.
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I'm a very big fan of Satellite radio,specifically XM. I'm not a fan of Howard Stern, but he's considered the life support system for the service, particularly following the merger between SIRIUS and XM.
ReplyDeleteI agree that he's lost his edge and likely to leave subscription radio for access to a broader audience. He also generates more heat when the FCC is involved.
My fear is that subscriptions will evaporate when he leaves and that Satellite radio will become cost prohibitive or disappear altogether.
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DailyHelping.com
Stern is a genius, both in the biz and beyond, I'm sure he'll make the right move...Hey, you obviously, HFM, have impeccable taste in reading this minutiae, is there a spot for me at DailyHelping? Yes, I AM a media whore.
ReplyDeleteI'm an XM Radio subscriber and I enjoy Howard Stern's show. (I never listened to him when he was on terrestrial radio.) He did a break-down of Carrie Fisher's haunted house story last week that had me laughing so much it hurt. I can't imagine him going back to a tamer version of the show he now does on satellite, but who knows? He may feel that he's missing out on a wider audience. I do think it would be a shame if he leaves Sirius.
ReplyDeleteI never thought I'd ever pay for radio, but after being exposed to satellite programming through the dozens of rental cars I have used for business travel over the past few years, I started to get hooked on it, especially the music stations which play songs that you no longer hear on FM radio. I used to listen to KNBR in the afternoon while working in my office, going back to the days when Hank Greenwald and then Ken Dito hosted the old "Sportsphone 68" in the late 1970s and early 1980's. In the past few years, however, I have come to feel that the hosts are just shills for the teams that are on KNBR -- like the Warriors and Giants -- so it was no longer honest radio. Since I bought the XM tuner in my car, and the portable unit for my home, I NEVER listen to terrestrial radio any longer. Satellite is the only way to fly!
As usual, Darby0, you're right on the mark...Giants/KNBR is a colossial joke, as if Fitz shilling Warriors--what a disgrace. KNBR can't get any worse; wait. they can.
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