Howard Stern's Comeuppance

It seems like it was just yesterday that Al "Grandpa Munster" Lewis was yelling "Fuck the FCC!" at a rally in support of Howard Stern's radio program.

Times have changed, as The Washington Post reports in a story titled "FCC Rules 'Howard Stern' Meets Standard Of a News Show":

It's official: "The Howard Stern Show" -- the popular morning radio program that features flatulence humor, lesbian sex talk, and ridicule of minorities and the handicapped -- is a bona fide news show just like "Meet the Press" or "The CBS Evening News."

The Federal Communications Commission accorded Stern's show that status yesterday in granting it an exemption from federal equal-time rules, which enable candidates to demand airtime from television and radio stations when their rivals have been interviewed or featured on the air.

[Link courtesy Romenesko]

Comments

[anon homo]

The last hour of the show, where Robin read all the news wire stuff, and the recording of Jackie "The Jokeman"'s laughter got played during the worst stories, was always my favorite part of that show.

I stopped listening after his wife dumped him, though.

[Anonymous]

The show went to shit once his wife dumped him. Also, bring back Jackie. YEAAAAAAAAAH.

[dhex]

howard stern? sigh...

to be fair he did teach the hillbilly fucktards (from long island and other environs) that there's no reason to hate (stereotypes of) lesbians, so i suppose he wasn't a total loss. but never really saw the appeal of 4 hours of hearing someone narrate naked people his audience can't actually see.

[Jayson Gilligan]

What groups of poor souls would have demanded equal time on Stern under fairness doctrine?

-The porn stars who haven't yet appeared?
-Siamese Twins?

I really can't think of any other oddity he has not hosted: retarded dwarves, people with abnormally small heads, movie stars, the insane, etc...

[Rob]

I agree 100% that the show sucks since his wife left him. But why? I can't exactly pinpoint what changed.

Maybe it's just that getting laid on a regular basis now that he's single, and it's draining all of his creative juices.

No pun intended.

[Dan]

What groups of poor souls would have demanded equal time on Stern under fairness doctrine?

Plenty of normal people have been on his show. He's not an especially outrageous interviewer. So far as "legitimate news" goes... well, he's certainly better than Larry King or Barbara Walters (who don't so much "interview" as "sit there while the subject reads his PR guy's prepared speech"). His news commentary is utterly biased and frequently misinformed, but so is the rest of TV news commentary.

In any event, the vast majority of people running for the governor's office are doing so either as a publicity stunt or for fun, not because they have any actual desire to be governor. It's a safe bet that almost all of the publicity-hound candidates would love to be on a radio show that reaches millions of upscale listeners -- and yes, I said upscale. Stern's audience tends to be middle to upper income and college-educated. Stern's subject matter is puerile, but there's a lot of fun to be had in low humor. Besides, a lot of white-collar guys have no outlet for dirty jokes and T&A talk -- the modern workplace is hostile to that, and it's not the sort of thing you can discuss with your wife. Stern's routine has gotten less appealing lately because, since he's no longer married, he no longer fits the role of "married guy saying and doing the sorts of things his married-guy audience wishes they could say and do". 🙂

[magatha]

>Also, bring back Jackie. YEAAAAAAAAAH.

Too right. The show hasn't been worth the bother since he left. They should have paid him whatever he asked.

[clueless]

Why are people getting worked up about this? Exceptions have been made for at least 20 years when Donahue got one for his talk show. Oprah and Jerry Springer have also received the designation. The whole rule is a joke anyway. So Arnold wants to reach Howard's audience, who cares? Conservatives go on Republican shows and Liberals will sit down with Democrats because those are the votes they need to win. Someone please inform me why this rule exists.

[nm156]

Howard Stern was brought into the Toronto market to much fanfare a few years back. For the first couple of months Howard's schtick is pretty funny. After that it gets old real quick. His show is a short term ratings boost, and that is all. In another few years he will have disappeared.

[Anonymous]

Good point, nm156. That would explain why he's been a top-rated radio personality for 20 years.

[nm156]

Has he been on top that long? Or is that how long he's been in the business? Admittedly, I'm distanced from the U.S. radio markets with the exception of Buffalo. However Howard did not register with me until about 5-6 years ago. The T.O. experience WAS very short lived, and Montreal was even briefer. Besides, don't fart jokes get a little stale once you hit, I don't know, 12? Still I'm willing to admit when I'm wrong, if that is the case? What's his market share like now?

[Bigg Rigg]

Didn't you guys see Private Parts? Howard is great, eventually everything will settle agian and Things will get back to normal. It'll just make things more interesting if he makes a sequal to the movie.

[Jack Meoff]

The Stern show has been going downhill now for four years. With a very few limited exceptions, there has been nothing new or fresh on his show for that period of time. Howard, if you are reading this: IT'S TIME TO RETIRE. Your ratings are going down the toilet. You should have quit while you were on top, and I strongly suggest you quit before you reach rock bottom.