King of all Media

Posted on June 29, 2008 | Leave a comment

The Howard Stern Show is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern on Howard 100, one of two channels on SIRIUS Satellite Radio that was developed by Stern during his transition from terrestrial radio.

For over twenty years[1] the radio show was syndicated on FM radio stations (and a few AM stations) throughout the United States until the last broadcast via terrestrial radio on December 16, 2005. The Howard Stern Show began broadcasting via the United States subscription-based Sirius Satellite Radio satellite radio service on January 9, 2006. It began broadcasting to Canada via the Canadian version of Sirius on February 6, 2006.

Contents

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Overview

The Howard Stern Show is a free-form comedy show consisting of banter between the cast, various games (often with sexual themes) involving the cast or listeners, taped inserts such as prank phone calls, and celebrity interviews. Common themes include current events, Hollywood gossip, politics, and ridiculing staff members for their mistakes and incompetence. Traditionally, producer Gary Dell’Abate (also known as “Baba Booey”) and Scott the Engineer take the brunt of Stern’s anger most often, but no person or topic is considered sacred and every cast member, including Robin Quivers and Stern himself, has taken ridicule on the show.

Terrestrial radio history

1970s and 1980s

The earliest recognizable incarnation of the Howard Stern Show started in 1979 at WCCC in Hartford, Connecticut. Stern decided to apply for the job after reading a WCCC ad in Radio & Records looking for a “wild, fun, morning guy”. Stern was hired for $12,000 a year. It was at WCCC that Stern met Fred Norris. Norris was working evenings under the pseudonym “Earth Dog”.

In 1980, when his ratings had increased but his pay remained the same, Stern found an advertisement in Radio & Records, for an opening at WWWW in Detroit, Michigan. (Howard replaced the controversial Steve Dahl who left for Chicago‘s WDAI.) He met with management and signed a contract for $30,000 and moved his family to Detroit. At WWWW (W4), the show was further refined with bits such as Dial-a-Date being invented. The show started to get noticed by the industry, and Stern won the Billboard award for best AOR disc jockey. But then W4 suddenly changed formats, from rock to country. Fortunately for Stern, his success in Detroit led to a job offer at WWDC-FM DC-101 in Washington, D.C.

In one typical example of the radio show, Stern persuaded a female caller to have phone sex with him on the air.[2] He made deep buzzing noises into his microphone, and had her sit on a speaker with the volume turned up (this incident appeared as a scene in Stern’s 1997 movie Private Parts). On June 29, Stern was fired from DC-101 radio after being suspended for criticizing his station management and two other radio stations. Stern’s lawyer alleged:

It’s our view that the real reason they’ve [fired Stern] is they would like to get new DC-101 deejays ‘GreaseMan‘ and ‘Adam Smasher’ on the air as soon as possible, and hope the audience forgets about Howard, and that’s a perfectly rational business judgment.[citation needed]

Another notable episode on DC-101 was when Stern did a bit where he pretended to call Air Florida to ask if the 14th Street Bridge would be a “permanent stop”, in reference to the crash of Air Florida Flight 90 one day earlier which killed 78 people. Stern later stated that he was ridiculing the airline for allowing such an error to occur.[3]

In 1982, the Stern Show made it to New York City to work at NBC‘s flagship AM radio station, WNBC (66 WNBC). Also working at NBC at that time was David Letterman, who became a fan of Stern’s radio show. Stern’s guest appearance on Late Night with David Letterman on June 19, 1984, launched Stern into the national spotlight and gave his radio show unprecedented exposure. Stern would appear on Letterman’s show many times thereafter.

Stern and his crew were fired from NBC in 1985, ostensibly in response to a particularly outrageous sketch — “Bestiality Dial-A-Date” — although relations between station management and Stern had been strained from the beginning (as well-documented in his book Private Parts). He quickly returned to FM radio by joining local rival station WXRK, premiering November 18, 1985, moving permanently to the morning drive time slot in February 1986. By year’s end, 1986, Stern’s show was syndicated in Philadelphia via WYSP, which he announced on Late Night with David Letterman. The local media initially doubted that Stern would be a success in the Philadelphia market;[4] however, in a move that would repeat itself many times over in his career, Stern was successful in knocking off the local morning talent (John Debella) to become number one in the ratings.[5] Before long, it was also heard in Washington, D.C., and was then syndicated nationwide by Infinity Broadcasting. The program made great sport out of feuding with other cities’ top-rated deejays, and soon Stern’s broadcast was number one in several major markets, including Philadelphia and Los Angeles. His Arbitron numbers were strongest in the country’s number one radio market, New York City, where his morning ratings more than tripled his station’s average numbers the rest of the day.

Early in his career, the show was already becoming lucrative for advertisers, due to Stern’s promotional ability. Defying critics like Don Imus, who in 1986 responded to Stern’s success with, “Talk to me six months from now… Prestige accounts are not going to advertise on that kind of program no matter what Howard does. You can get local retailers on who don’t care what he says about them and there are only so many of them out there.”[6]

The Strippers/Pornstars infusion: In the Spring of 1989, Stern (by then at WXRK) received a letter from a striptease dancer named Lisa of Centerfold Stars Talent Agency in NYC (now known as: ModelsToGo), stating she was a fan and would love to meet him. He invited her on as a guest and at the end of the segment asked if there was anything else on her mind before they said goodbye; she replied “I’d love you to spank me!” … Howard obliged, bared her buttocks and spanked her live (audibly) on the air. This not only inaugurated “butt bongo” a novelty feature for many future bits, but began a parade of strippers’ appearances from Lisa’s agency, that included well-known centerfold models and video porn stars. Over several years the agency had its talent appear on dozens of radio and TV shows with Stern & company, including WWOR-TV shows in New York and a famed E-channel episode about naked maid service. The friendly association between this talent agency and the Stern show helped make strippers and porn stars turn into a weekly staple of the show’s ingredients.

1990s

In 1991, The Howard Stern Show began to broadcast in Los Angeles, a move that was considered risky at the time, on the station KLSX 97.1. Predictions about the success of his show like the one of a local L.A. radio listener, “Vulgarity has reached a new low. I think he’s going to bomb beautifully out here. At least I hope he does. I’m sure he’ll find the Los Angeles market is more sophisticated”, proved in the end to be untrue.[7]

In 1992, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) fined Infinity Broadcasting $600,000 after Stern discussed masturbating to a picture of Aunt Jemima. His exact statement was, “The closest I came to making love to a black woman was I, uh, masturbated to a picture of Aunt Jemima on a pancake box. I did it right on her kerchief.”[8]

Stern made national news in 1994 by preventing a suicidal man from leaping to his death off the George Washington Bridge.[9] Stern was again in the national news June 17, 1994, when a live broadcast in Cleveland was sabotaged, when an employee from rival WMMS cut the wires, temporarily stopping Stern’s “funeral” broadcast.[10]

Selena controversy

In March 1995, one day before the funeral of slain Tejano singer Selena, Stern played the sounds of gunshots in the background over some of her music. He also made comments that were considered racist by many people, such as “Alvin and the Chipmunks have more soul,” and “Spanish people have the worst taste in music… it has no depth.” Stern apologized in Spanish a week later.[11][12]

A brief stint in Canada

Also in 1997, Stern’s show aired for the first time in Canada, appearing on CILQ-FM (Q107) in Toronto and CHOM-FM in Montreal.[13]

CHOM cancelled Stern’s show (in 2000), after frequent listener complaints to the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission; for most of the time that the stations did air Stern’s program, they were required to monitor the show for offensive content through the use of broadcast delays. CILQ cancelled the Stern show after John Hayes, who Stern refers to as The Incubus[14] became program director of Corus Radio. This was a personal vendetta against Stern by John Hayes, as Stern was the most highly rated radio morning show in Toronto in November 2001 when the show was pulled from the air. Howard Stern’s fans in Toronto were able to hear the uncensored show on a Buffalo station until the move to Sirius Radio in 2005.

Stern has claimed on-air that the Canadian government disapproved of his use of the ethnic slur “Polack”, and that this was one of the reasons why his show was not broadcast in Canada until February 6, 2006, when “Howard 100” debuted on Sirius Canada.

Columbine controversy

Stern’s April 21, 1999 show drew angry criticism and official “censure” from the Colorado State Legislature for his comment regarding the motives of the two male students who murdered 12 classmates and one teacher in the Columbine High School massacre in Colorado:

There were some really good-looking girls running out with their hands over their heads. Did those kids try to have sex with any of the good-looking girls? They didn’t even do that? At least if you’re going to kill yourself and kill all the kids, why wouldn’t you have some sex? If I was going to kill some people, I’d take them out with sex.[15]

Stern did not apologize for his words but instead argued that his comments were an attempt to figure out what was wrong with the two attackers. Stern believes much of the furor was roused by deejays at competing stations in the Denver market. He said:

There has been a tragic shooting in Denver. It’s a national horror and what are the deejays doing? They’re announcing my sponsors trying to get them to pull out. Are they really caring about the Denver community, or are they really just saying, ‘Hey, maybe we can get Howard Stern off the air?’ If I’m so vicious, why would you draw attention to me?

Stern explained his remarks this way: “I had zero intent to make fun of the situation. The point in making that comment was an attempt to try to understand a motive… We didn’t know anything about motives (the morning after) and were trying to consider all possibilities.”[16]

2000s

Jackie leaves the show

On March 5, 2001, the Howard Stern Show officially announced that longtime show regular Jackie “The Jokeman” Martling had left the radio show after failed contract negotiations. Over the next several months, various comedians auditioned in the “Jackie Chair” for the job, with comedian Artie Lange eventually becoming a permanent member of the cast.

September 11, 2001 attacks

Stern was on the air in his New York City studio during the September 11, 2001 attacks and stayed on the air with his cast/crew while many other broadcasters fled the city.[17] Fittingly, he was in the middle of a rousing story about a rendezvous with Pamela Anderson when he first mentioned the World Trade Center was on fire. His coverage of the attacks increased as the gravity of the situation became clear. His live reporting was one of the first news of the incident for many East Coast residents. The show had a somewhat subdued tone, with many listeners calling in to share their own stories of survival or personal loss. As other comedy performers like David Letterman and Jon Stewart later returned to the air, many with emotionally-charged monologues, Stern was furious at the glowing response they received in the press, as he had been on the air the whole time without any positive reaction. This reinforced his long-held belief that there is a bias against him in the mainstream media. Stern’s September 11, 2001 broadcast was replayed in its entirety on the first and fifth anniversary of the attacks. Among Stern fans – many of whom work in the broadcasting and entertainment fields – the September 11 broadcast was a watershed moment; as Stern remarked before the gravity of the situation was truly apparent, “I’m auditioning for Dan Rather‘s job”.

Parting ways with Clear Channel

On February 25, 2004, Clear Channel Communications “indefinitely suspended” Stern from six markets because of indecency involving sexual and racist dialogue during his show.[18] The show in question featured Rick Salomon, whose claim to fame includes a publicly released home video showing him having sex with hotel heiress and socialite Paris Hilton. During this broadcast, Stern held a sexually-provocative and racially insensitive interview with Salomon, asking him graphic questions about anal sex and making light of a caller’s use of the word “nigger“. Clear Channel president John Hogan said, “Clear Channel drew a line in the sand today with regard to protecting our listeners from indecent content, and Howard Stern’s show blew right through it… it was vulgar, offensive and insulting, not just to women and African-Americans but to anyone with a sense of common decency.” The move came only a day after Clear Channel fired Bubba the Love Sponge for similar reasons. Due to the timing of the incident, this is considered to be part of a wide-ranging backlash against obscenity triggered by the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy.

On April 8, 2004, Clear Channel Communications announced it would “permanently terminate” its relationship with the shock jock after being fined $500,000 by the FCC.[19][20] However, on July 19, Stern returned to four of the six markets Clear Channel had booted him from, and added five new ones to the roster, this time on Infinity-owned stations.[21] In late August, he returned to a fifth market, Miami, on an independent station. Here, as was often typical with Stern, his return was greeted with controversy as the Miami Dolphins threatened to revoke their broadcast deal with the station in question if the station did not fire him.

 Political tones

Because Clear Channel and some of its executives have donated over $200,000 to the Republican Party, Stern claims the company was trying to penalize him for his harsh criticisms of President George W. Bush. Stern told his listeners:

There are a lot of people saying that the second that I started saying, ‘I think we gotta get Bush out of the presidency,’ that’s when Clear Channel banged my ass outta here. Then I find out that Clear Channel is such a big contributor to President Bush, and in bed with the whole Bush administration, I’m going, ‘Maybe that’s why I was thrown off: because I don’t like the way the country is leaning too much to the religious right.’ And then, bam! Let’s get rid of Stern. I used to think, ‘Oh, I can’t believe that.’ But that’s it! That’s what’s going on here! I know it! I know it![22]

Stern turned against Bush because neither Clear Channel nor Bush “got the FCC off my back.” Stern perceived Bush’s religious beliefs as fanatical and has described George W. Bush as a “Jesus freak,” a “maniac” and “an arrogant bastard”.[23]

Stern endorsed John Kerry in the 2004 U.S. presidential campaign, and urged his listeners to vote for him, the latest in a long string of political endorsements Stern has made.[24] In the past, he had also supported former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani. In one on-air stunt, Stern promised then-gubernatorial candidate Christine Todd Whitman of New Jersey that he would endorse her candidacy if she promised to name a rest stop on the New Jersey Turnpike after him if she were elected. She won and kept her promise, although one of her successors, Democrat Jim McGreevey, later claimed impropriety by Whitman and revoked the honor. In recent years, Stern has been a staunch opponent of Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman. On July 25, 2006 Stern launched into a tirade against the Senator. He attacked Lieberman’s past support of indecency laws and his current support of the War on Terror[25]. In February of 2007, Stern announced on his radio show that he is currently supporting Hillary Clinton for the 2008 U.S. presidential election.

Stuttering John leaves the show

On February 27, 2004, long-time Stern show regular John Melendez left the show to become the on-air announcer for The Tonight Show. Stern has consistently claimed the hiring of John was an attempt by Jay Leno to steal ideas from Howard’s show, citing John’s speech impediment, heavy east coast accent, and limited show business resume as questionable qualifications for the job of Tonight Show announcer. Prior to this, many late-night talk show bits had been stolen from the Stern show, such as Leno’s “Jaywalking” segment, which closely resembles “The Homeless Game”. After John’s hiring, additional bits were borrowed such as goofy red carpet interviews (with Ross the Intern) and booking Stern Show regular Kenneth Keith Kallenbach as a guest (albeit Leno intentionally mispronounced his name [26]). After a lengthy search and auditioning process, Richard Christy of the heavy metal band Iced Earth became the winner of the “Get John’s Job” contest, and was hired as John’s replacement.

Infinity contract ends

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 House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner’s recommendation. FMQB.com quoted Stern as saying:

They’re (Viacom) 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.[27]

It must also be added that within Stern’s contract with Viacom/Infinity, if he were to have been fired or his show canceled, his employer would have had to pay him and his production company 20 million dollars.

Artie’s drug abuse

In early June 2005, Lange began missing work at the Howard Stern Show, prompting concerns of a possible relapse into the substance abuse which had affected him in previous years. The situation climaxed in Lange behaving incoherently and belligerently while on the air. He infamously sneered at Stern and the crew that: “Artie’s going to do what Artie’s going to do!” Howard later commented that this statement had scared him. Lange subsequently missed the next two days of work.

At the time, Lange’s absence from the show went largely unmentioned and was written off as stress from doing the radio show and beginning production of his movie Beer League. The real reason for Lange’s absence was made public in a spontaneous revelation on the September 21, 2006 Howard Stern Show, on which Lange acknowledged that he was regularly snorting heroin from February to June 2005. Lange discussed prior episodes of heroin use, beginning when he was a stand-up comedian and continuing until Beer League was set to begin shooting. Lange detailed his painful withdrawal, which included common side effects such as cold sweats, shaking, and vomiting. Lange recalled disconnecting the telephone to avoid speaking with his mother, who ultimately intervened and helped Artie recover. Lange was threatened with legal action by the Beer League producers (whom he later described as having “waste management connections”) if he failed to show up for the first day of shooting in June 2005, which led Lange to secure a home visit from a doctor who prescribed Lange with buprenorphine (Subutex) to alleviate his heroin dependency. Since starting the medicine, Artie claimed to be free of any illegal substances, but on May 24, 2007 he stated that he has abused Subutex. He stated that taking more than his recommended dose gave him a small high.

The E! show ends

On June 22, 2005, Stern announced that production of the Howard Stern television show on E! would also be ending. The last new episode was taped on July 1, 2005, and aired on July 8. E! continued to rerun the show until December 31, 2005.

The move to Sirius Satellite Radio

On October 6, 2004, Stern announced on his show that he had signed a five year, $500 million deal with the satellite radio service Sirius.[28] The deal also contained an additional $225 million one-time stock bonus which he would receive if the show attracted a certain amount of listeners in a given time, which it did.

The $500 million contract and $225 million stock deal placed Stern at the second richest celebrity of the year at $302 million, ahead of George Lucas, Oprah Winfrey, The Rolling Stones and Tom Cruise.[29] 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 deal enabled Stern to program an additional Sirius channel.

The move to satellite radio met with controversy, as Stern talked about his move to Sirius on his terrestrial show, including telling listeners how to purchase Sirius equipment and subscriptions.[30] To promote his move, Stern held a rally in New York City where he gave out coupons for free or discounted Sirius equipment. Stern’s touting of his 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 billed Stern $200,000 for the plugs he gave Sirius on his show. Stern’s responded publicly on his show “Keep sending me bills. Like I’m going to pay ’em”. Citadel eventually pulled Howard Stern off 4 stations in Grand Rapids, Providence, Syracuse, and the lower Susquehanna Valley area of Lancaster, Harrisburg, and York during Howard’s Christmas break in 2004.

On November 7, 2005 Infinity Broadcasting suspended Stern from going live on air on November 8, 2005 because Stern was excessively promoting his move to Sirius Radio.[31]

The December 12, 2005 issue of New York Magazine revealed that XM Satellite Radio had been prepared to offer Howard a $30 million per-year contract in 2004, but its executives were slow to close the deal, giving Sirius the chance it needed. When asked why he picked Sirius over their competitor XM, Howard replied that he “always liked the underdog. Every radio station I ever went to was a toilet bowl.”[32] 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 five-year contract.

In addition, Sirius gave Stern two channels, “Howard 100” and “Howard 101“. 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 included a live 24-hour broadcast of Wack Pack member “Wendy the Retard“, a 24-hour broadcast of Wack Packer “High Pitch Eric” featuring the weighing of his excrement, and auditions of other Wack Packers for their own permanent shows. A 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 2006 on one of his channels. Since the move to Sirius, Stern has created “The Friday Show”, which is an extended version of “The Wrap-up Show”, which airs every day after his Morning Radio Show. “The Friday Show”, hosted by Jon Hein, Gary Dell’Abate and Ralph Cirella, aired live on those Fridays when Howard’s show was not on the air, although it has since been replaced by “Master Tape Theatre“, replays of selected pre-Sirius Stern Shows.

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. Stern called in to a New Year’s Eve broadcast on Howard 100 a few minutes past midnight on January 1, and spoke to hosts from Howard 100 News for over an hour. 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 broadcasts, 70-minutes and 130-minutes respectively, in which he tested 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 that the first show would be technically clean but completely uncensored, and would take place on January 9, 2006.

Goodbye to terrestrial radio

Howard’s last show on conventional AM/FM terrestrial radio was on December 16, 2005.[33] The studio segment of the show ended when the Stern staff each gave a final farewell, then walked to a stage on the streets of New York City below K-Rock, simulcast live accompanied by video on the Internet through Yahoo!. Several thousand fans attended the event. Stern was the last to leave the studio. On the stage, 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 New York City Police Department and dedicated the show to Sergeant Keith Manning, a friend of the show who at the time was 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 City where Sheryl Crow performed and mentioned on stage the debt America and musicians should pay towards Stern.

True to the last broadcast, many of Stern’s final statements were 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. CBS Radio revenue fell eight percent after Stern’s departure.[34]

Eight months following the changeover to satellite radio, Ad Age reported that advertising revenue from Stern’s show is a third of what his terrestrial radio show commanded for a live read spot.[35] Analysts partially attributed this to the lack of measurable listener data Sirius makes available for its individual channels, but also due to the smaller satellite audience when compared with Stern’s previous terrestrial broadcasts. What Advertising Age failed to mention was that Sirius Satellite Radio is a pay radio service, similar to HBO or Showtime, and as such, airs approximately 8 minutes of commercials per hour (0 minutes per hour for music channels), compared to Stern’s show on FM radio, which aired approximately 22 minutes of commercials per hour.

The Sirius show

The Howard Stern Show debuted on Sirius, on January 9, 2006.[36] In addition to his regular morning show, which can be heard on Howard 100 at 5:55 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. and noon – 5:55 p.m., several “spin-off” shows have emerged, such as The Wrap Up Show (aka “the show about the show”), The Super Fan Roundtable, and The Intern Show, all dedicated to discussion of the Stern Show from the points of view of Howard’s producer, fans, and interns, respectively.

On the earlier Sirius shows, Stern placed a gag order on himself and other members of his staff regarding excessive use of profanity.[citation needed] Sal the Stockbroker and Ronnie the Limo Driver were especially singled out for excessive cursing and were forbidden to curse. However, since then, profanity has become a regular part of the show.

Howard 101

Along with Howard 100 on Sirius, which carries the live morning feed of Stern’s show, the Howard 100 News hourly updates, and show replays all day, Stern is also in charge of Howard 101.

Howard 101 carries the West Coast feed of Stern’s morning show, along with Bubba the Love Sponge in the afternoon and Scott Ferrall in the evening. In addition, the 7 o’clock hour is devoted to weekly original content, such as The Intern Show, The Superfan Roundtable, Miserable Men, “Hello, Earth” with Riley Martin, and Basic Training, a show dedicated to military issues hosted by Brent of the Bubba the Love Sponge Show.

Stern has promised to provide more original content on his channels. In April 2006 Sam Simon, co-creator of and writer on such shows as The Simpsons and Cheers, announced he was writing a radio show for Stern’s channels, a satirical take-off on ABC’s hit Desperate Housewives, which would follow the daily lives of the cast members’ significant others. The show, The Bitter Half, aired on October 24, 2006.

Sirius Canada

Initially, Sirius Canada chose not to carry Stern because of the possibility of a future issue with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. 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.[37] On Stern’s 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 first show

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. Stern’s first Sirius show was broadcast without commercial interruption, although several short music breaks were taken for minor technical problems.

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. One of his first radio acts on Sirius included the playing of Pat O’Brien‘s sex tapes uncensored and his uncensored versions of parody songs using the sex tape.

Later Stern began his long-awaited Revelation Show where staff members of the show revealed dark secrets about themselves.

For a complete recap, see The Howard Stern Show Revelations Game.

Terrestrial radio return controversy

In May 2006, after Opie and Anthony started doing both satellite (on XM Satellite Radio) and terrestrial radio programs (CBS Radio); Stern said that he had received offers from three major terrestrial radio companies to return. Stern said that while he would not return “It would be cool to go back and kick their [CBS] asses.” None of the companies involved were named or came forward.

Media organizations announced that he was thinking of returning to terrestrial radio and to clear up the rumors Stern called Associated Press on-air on May 10, 2006. While talking to Associated Press Stern said, “The story is I wouldn’t do [terrestrial radio] for any reason.”[38]

In September of 2006 rumors once again arose that Stern would be returning to terrestrial radio. These rumors were once again denied by Stern and Sirius. Sirius representative Patrick Reilly told UPI “There has never been any discussion of Howard Stern in any way, shape, or form being anything but exclusive to Sirius. Published reports suggesting otherwise are wrong,”.[39]

Artie Lange walks off the show

On Thursday, April 10, 2008, Artie Lange attempted to physically attack his personal assistant, Teddy, while on the air. An off-air argument between the comedian and his assistant escalated on-air as Stern asked Lange to explain the situation. The altercation quickly turned to recriminations regarding money that Lange had loaned to Teddy (though Lange referred to the repeated requests for financial assistance as theft), and soon several show staff members had to restrain Lange, who lunged at his assistant. One of the offences that Artie cited was that Teddy referred to Bloomingdale’s as “Bloomie’s” which Artie thought was “gay”.

“Lange blamed Stern for the fight, saying that Stern “pushed” him to the breaking point and that he couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t snap again in the future. He then told Stern he loved him and resigned.”[40]

Tim Sabien (Sirius Program Manager), when interviewed by the Howard 100 News program, stated that they had not yet decided on the fate of Artie’s future on the Stern Show and whether they would allow him to withdraw his resignation if Lange chose to request that it be withdrawn.

On Monday, April 21, 2008, following a week long vacation, Artie Lange returned to the show.

Controversy and criticism

Stern is a polarizing figure in the entertainment industry. While beloved amongst his fans, he is loathed by his critics.[41][42] In 2005 aides to former FCC Commissioner Michael Powell admitted that Stern is a lightning rod (for FCC action), while entertainers like Oprah who also discuss issues like sexuality are “untouchable”.[43]

Government

The FCC has fined stations for content on The Howard Stern Show upwards of $5 million since 1990.[44]

FCC fines

Over Stern’s career, the Stern Show has drawn FCC complaints for indecency. These complaints are paid by the broadcast station against which the complaints were filed, not by Stern or the Stern Show. The first complaint was filed in 1986 when Stern asked a caller “Have you ever had sex with an animal?”, to which the caller answered no. Stern continued, “Well, don’t knock it. I was sodomized by Lamb Chop–you know, that puppet Shari Lewis holds?”.[45] He was not fined for this complaint, but after his first fines in 1988 they continued until he left terrestrial radio.

FCC Fines leveled against The Howard Stern Show
Notice Date Total Amount Incidents Company Fined
December 16, 1988[45] $6,000 3 Infinity
October 27, 1992[45] $105,000 12 Greater Media
December 1992[46] $600,000 N/A (Settlement) Infinity
August 1993[46] $500,000 N/A (Settlement) Infinity
February 1, 1994[45] $400,000 4 Viacom
October 1996[45] $10,000 1 WVGO Richmond
July 2001[47] $27,500 1 Infinity
April 8, 2004[45] $495,000 18 Clear Channel
2004[45] $1,750,000 N/A (Settlement) Clear Channel
2004[45] $3,500,000 N/A (Settlement) Viacom

Selective prosecution

Stern feels that he has been selectively targeted by the FCC. Though this defense has never been used against the agency, some legal scholars believe that Stern’s case passes the selective prosecution test and that the FCC’s regulation of indecency is not proper.[48] However, in a 2004 interview the FCC commissioner Jonathan Adelstein stated that the FCC was not out to drive Stern off the air and was just enforcing the law. “I don’t think it’s a necessary outcome that good content is driven away from the radio,” Adelstein told Billboard Radio Monitor.[44]

Watchdog groups

Media watchdog groups have been especially aggressive in attacking The Howard Stern Show, and Stern personally. Jack Thompson, a disbarred Florida attorney, has stated he thinks Stern should be in jail.[49] The Parents Television Council headed by Brent Bozell has been one of Stern’s chief critics,[49] organizing write-in campaigns to the FCC and frequently appearing on television to speak against Stern.

Needing an enemy

One criticism of the show is that Howard is only funny when he has an enemy to rail against. After his move to Sirius in 2006, Rolling Stone’s Rob Sheffield wrote, “No wonder he’s bored – he’s got nobody to piss him off anymore”.[50] Stern has responded to these criticisms by making analogies like, “That’s like saying Chris Rock’s HBO special would have been better if he had a censor to fight.”[51]

Show staff

Main article: The Howard Stern Show Staff

Regular guests

For the Wack Pack regulars see: The Wack Pack

Former cast members

Deceased

Feuds, splits

  • Alison Stern (Howard’s ex-wife; since their split, she no longer calls in to show)
  • Bill Maher (angry at the show staff, refuses to appear anymore)
  • Jerry Seinfeld (angry at show staff, refuses to appear anymore)
  • Jay Leno (personal feud with Howard)
  • Kevin Smith According to the filmmaker, Stern treated him poorly during publicity for Jersey Girl. Kevin now goes to Opie & Anthony

No longer appears

Banned

  • Chaunce Hayden (for misrepresenting Howard in the media)
  • Crazy Cabbie: former WXRK DJ[52][53] (Cabbie was presumably banned for planning to sue Howard over disparaging comments about a weight loss product Cabbie was promoting on a June 2007 appearance.[54][55]
  • A.J. Benza: Fought with Stuttering John Melendez, banned afterwards. Recently has phoned in and told that he could come back into the studio.

Hosting on other radio shows

  • Jackie Martling Host of “Jackie’s Joke Hunt” program on Sirius Howard 101 Channel.
  • Adam Carolla (The West Coast terrestrial radio replacement for Stern. Stern joked that when Adam gets fired, he is welcome back on the show.) Adam has called into Howard on Sirius and aired it on FreeFM in Los Angeles.
  • Kidd Chris Hosted radio show on WYSP, but was fired in May of 2008.
  • Dead Air Dave former WXRK DJ and show censor on terrestrial radio. Now the afternoon drive host on WWFS New York.
  • Andre Gardner who formerly “hit the button” to censor Howard’s show at WXRK, now hosts a radio show on WMGK in Philadelphia.

Other reasons, and might come back

  • Jackie Martling– Has never officially said “never” to re-joining the show, is the host of “Jackie’s Joke Hunt” on Howard 101, has been subject of and interviewed for a “Stern Spotlight” showcase special, and “The History Of Howard Stern” programs on Howard 100. However, he has admitted the demands of working on the Stern show as a full-time member are “An extremely tough life.”
  • Nancy Sirianni – Jackie’s ex-wife. Appeared on Dial-a-Date in 2006.
  • Barrett Moore also known as Veronica Caine (adult film star)
  • Richard Simmons (may return as a regular, as they had been close friends on and off the air; he recently reconciled with Stern on the air after more than 10 years but again left in tears. Afterward Robin and Howard doubted the authenticity of Richard’s emotional outburst.[56])
  • Billy West – Former employee, left due to disagreement with K-Rock management. He has returned to the show in a sense by appearing on Howard 101 with Greg Fitzsimmons. He was also interviewed due to his being the subject of a “Stern Spotlight” showcase special on Howard 100.

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