The Howard Stern Show

File:Hsternshownew.jpeg
Genre	Talk, comedy, entertainment
Running time	5 hours on satellite 4-5 hours on terrestrial
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
Home station	Howard 100
Starring	Robin Quivers Artie Lange Fred Norris
Announcer	George Takei on satellite Paul Turner on terrestrial
Produced by	Gary Dell'Abate
Opening theme	"The Great American Nightmare" by Rob Zombie and Howard Stern (1999–present) "Tilt A Whirl" by Jimmie Vaughan (1994–1998) "In a Mellow Tone" by Duke Ellington (1988 approx.–1994) "H.O.W.A.R.D S.T.E.R.N" by The Double-O Zeros (Until 1986 approx.) "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!" by Napoleon XIV (1982–1984)
Website	www.howardstern.com www.sirius.com/howardstern

The Howard Stern Show is the talk radio show hosted by American media personality Howard Stern which since January 9, 2006, has been broadcasting on Howard 100, one of his two uncensored channels on the satellite radio service Sirius XM.

The show developed to what it became during its time on terrestrial radio, since the spring of 1979 when Stern became a morning disc jockey at WCCC in Hartford. After a year at Hartford and meeting future producer Fred Norris, Stern worked a further year at WWWW in Detroit in 1980. Although he trailed his competitors in the ratings, the station's progressive rock format allowed him to tweak his show. His move to mornings at WWDC in Washington, D.C. in early 1981, along with pairing up with his news anchor Robin Quivers, led to Stern having the top morning show in the Washington radio market in less than a year. Stern then pursued his dream by broadcasting to New York City airwaves in mid-1982 at WNBC, then the flagship station of NBC. Despite disputes with management and rival Don Imus in the morning, Stern topped the station's ratings as a whole by the spring of 1985, having the city's top afternoon program. Following an abrupt firing, Stern quickly returned to afternoon airwaves at WXRK by November, before working the morning shift in early 1986 until his move to Sirius XM in December 2005.

During this 20-year period the show was nationally syndicated across the country (including Canada) to as many as 60 markets,^[1][2] while attracting a peak audience of approximately 20 million.^[3][4][5] By the time of the show's departure for Sirius XM on December 16, 2005, it was tied with Laura Schlessinger as the fourth most-listened-to radio show in the country.^[6] Three weeks after the final "terrestrial" show, Stern began on Sirius XM without the broadcasting regulations imposed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Previously the commission had a history of fines against the show for what they considered "indecent material," costing Infinity Broadcasting (owner of WXRK) millions.

After two years as a disc jockey and announcer at WRNW in Briarcliff Manor, New York, Stern got his first morning job at WCCC in Hartford, Connecticut, beginning on October 9, 1979.^[7] As advertised in an edition of Radio & Records the station wanted a "wild, fun morning guy" which along with its rock music format, allowed Stern to develop his on-air personality. It was at Hartford when Stern met Fred Norris, a college student working overnights as "Earth Dog," who on occasion would stay during Stern's shift providing comic impressions including Howard Cosell.^[8]

Stern left Hartford as he could not get a $25-a-week raise that he requested.^[9] He declined for a position at a station in Columbus, but successfully applied to an advertisement in Radio & Records for a morning job at WWWW in Detroit, Michigan, beginning on April 21, 1980 with a salary of $30,000.^[10][11][12] While in Detroit, Stern began getting noticed in the radio industry. He won a Billboard Award for "Best Album-Oriented Rock Disc Jockey," the Drake-Chenault "Top Five Talent Search," and one of his on-air bits was sent across the industry in the country.^[13] Stern, however, quickly left the station following a swift change in format from rock to country music, by this time earning a raised salary of $50,000.^[13][14] In terms of ratings, he trailed his competing stations with a mere 1.6% share of the morning audience.

Stern did have offers at CHUM in Toronto, WXRT in Chicago^[13] and WPLJ in New York City, yet they were not taken.

Stern signed a contract with WWDC, an album-oriented rock station in Washington, D.C, to work mornings with a starting salary of $40,000.^[14] Beginning on March 2, 1981, he was determined to "kill his competition" in the Washington radio market and then move to New York City, his eventual goal.^[15][11][16] Wishing for an on-air sidekick after realising how important news segments for satirical humour were,^[16] program director Denise Oliver made Stern listen to a tape of Robin Quivers, a news anchor and consumer reporter at WFBR in Baltimore.^[17] Likewise, on hearing Stern interview a prostitute on-air, Quivers said she "had never heard anything like it...I just said, where do I sign? I’ll do anything just to meet this guy!"^[16][18] The pair-up was a success, with the 1981 rating books showing that Stern, who inherited a show with a 2.6% share of the morning audience, had a 5.2% share by the spring, and a 5.6% share by the summer.^[19] In less than a year, Stern tripled the station's morning ratings to 8.0%.^[20]

Perhaps the most known incident that occurred at Washington was when Stern called Air Florida, following the crash of Air Florida Flight 90 on January 13, 1982 that killed 78. "What's the price of a one-way ticket from National to the 14th Street Bridge? Is that going to be a permanent stop?," asked Stern.^[21] Stern later revealed that the call in fact fake, and was not the cause of his departure from the station.^[21] He was merely ridiculing the airline for allowing such an error to occur.

Stern's contract at "DC-101" was terminated on June 29, 1982 with Quivers leaving early on June 17.^[11] Having moved back home to Baltimore, Quivers worked at WCBM, an AM talk radio station.^[22][23] Because Stern was not allowed to say goodbye on the air, he presented a farewell show two weeks later on competing station WAVA without Quivers.^[11]

WNBC, the flagship AM station of the NBC Radio Network, hired Stern for an initial $200,000 salary.^[24] Starting on August 4, 1982 from 4–8 pm,^[25][26] future show comedian and writer Jackie Martling would would be hired in February 1983 to make occasional appearances,^[11] taking part in show bits such as "Stump the Comedian" and "Match Game." Martling would become a full-time "head writer" by August 1986 for an initial $1,500 per-week.^[14] In addition, to maximize his viability in the day's line-up, Stern moved more prominently in the day's schedule to afternoon drive, from 3–7 pm.^[27]

Throughout 1984, Stern was increasing his popularity in the ratings. With a 3.8% share of the listening audience in the spring, he had 4.2% in the summer and 4.6% by the autumn.^[28] More impressive, however, was Stern's ability to attract the highly marketable audience of males aged 18–34.^[28] Appearances on NBC's Late Night with David Letterman launched Stern into the national spotlight, being a guest on the talk show four times between May and October.^[29] On September 4, 1984, Gary Dell'Abate, who worked in the station's traffic department, began working for the show as an assistant, and later the show's executive producer.^[30][11]

By the spring of 1985, Stern had the top afternoon show in New York City and the station as a whole. With a record 5.7% share of the afternoon audience, the highest at the station since 1981 set by Don Imus,^[31] WNBC was attracting a mere 3.0% for the rest of the day.^[31] Despite the success, Stern and Quivers were abruptly fired on Monday, September 30 1985 due to "conceptual differences."^[11] Although the firing followed an on-air "Bestiality Dial-a-Date" segment on September 20, the relationship had been strained between Stern and management from the beginning.^[32]

After a two-month absence, Stern returned to New York City airwaves on WXRK, an FM album-oriented rock station owned by Mel Karmazin, president of Infinity Broadcasting. Stern began his twenty-year run at "K-Rock" in from 2–6pm on November 18, 1985.^[33] Ratings increased instantaneously, as the station had a 4.6% share of the listening audience after three weeks.^[34] Determined to beat his rival Don Imus at WNBC, Stern moved to the 6–10 am shift on February 18, 1986,^[35][36] and stayed there until he left the station for Sirius XM in December 2005.

Stern made national news on December 7, 1994 by preventing a man from committing suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge that connects New Jersey and Manhattan.^[37] Emilio Bonilla, who called in at approximately 8:10 am, was kept on the line for five minutes until Port Authority Police, who found out about Bonilla because their tour commander had been listening to the show, arrived and took the 29-year-old into custody.^[38] Bonilla was charged with cocaine possession and reckless endangerment, and was later taken to a hospital. Later on in the show, then U.S. Senator Al D'Amato and Ed Koch, the former Mayor of New York City, called in to congratulate Stern.^[39] Stern also held a live press conference and answered questions from news reporters.

On April 3, 1995, following the shooting of Tejano singer Selena three days earlier, Stern caused controversy after commenting on her music. While playing a track with added gunfire sound effects over it, Stern said "Spanish people have the worst taste in music. They have no depth. Alvin and the Chipmunks have more soul."^[40][41] He called one of her records "awful music that could only be popular with that segment of society."^[42] Furious callers from KEGL, the show's Dallas affiliate, jammed the station's switchboards.^[43] The League of United Latin American Citizens attempted to get Stern off the air, while angry listeners called for boycotts against the show's advertisers and KEGL.^[44][42] On April 6, Stern responded to his comments, in Spanish, with the following:

As you all know, I am a satirist. My comments about Selena's tragic death were not made with the intention of causing even more pain to her family, friends and those who loved her. It infuriates me that this young woman's life was snuffed out in such a senseless way. Her murderer has to be dealt with to the full extent of the law. Thank you.^[44][42]

Justice of the Peace Eloy Cano of Harlingen, Texas went further, issuing an arrest warrant on Stern on charges of "disorderly conduct."^[45] The warrant remained even a year later, as one March 1993 article from The Morning Star of Wilmington reported that it still "remained in the books."^[46]

Stern's comments on April 21, 1999, a day after the Columbine High School massacre in Littleton, Colorado, drew angry criticism regarding the incident with the following comments:

There were some really good looking girls running out with their hands over their heads...Did those kids [the suspects] try to have sex with any of the good looking girls? They didn't even do that?...At least if you are 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.^[47]

Hundreds complained to KXPK, the show's Denver affiliate, and KCNC-TV where The Howard Stern Radio Show was shown on.^[48] The Colorado General Assembly demanded that KXPK cancel the radio show. Stern did not apologize, but argued that his quotes were taken out of context, and called Colorado legislatures "hypocrites" and accused his critics of being overly sensitive. "I dared to ask if kids had sex," he said. "So what? That's how I think."^[48] Stern explained his remarks with "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."^[49]

It was officially announced on March 5, 2001 that Jackie Martling, the show's head writer for 15 years since 1986, left the show after not being able to negotiate a new contract.^[50] Stern announced a "Win Jackie's Money" contest, where various comedians would audition for Martling's "seat" by sitting in during shows. Those who sat in included Craig Gass,^[51] Doug Stanhope,^[52] Richard Jeni,^[53] Jim Florentine^[54] and Ron Zimmerman.^[55] On October 26, 2001 comedian and actor Artie Lange replaced Martling, and joined the show full-time.^[56]

The show was broadcasting live during the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and stayed on the air with most of the show's staff until around 12:15 pm.^[57] Stern and the crew were in the middle of a discussion about a rendezvous with Pamela Anderson when he first mentioned the World Trade Center was on fire. The live reporting was one of the first to report the incident for those listening across the country. Listeners called and shared their own experiences. On September 11, 2006, the fifth anniversary of the disaster, the original broadcast was played from the first attack, around 8:58 am on Howard 100 and Howard 101, followed by a special edition of The Wrap-Up Show and the September 11, 2002 broadcast which originally had no commercial breaks.^[58] In September 2006, Howard TV aired a 90-minute special featuring the show's staff and their recollections of the broadcast, titled 9.11.01: A Retrospective.^[59][60]

Following his announcement in becoming the new announcer for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, show staffer John Melendez left the show on February 27, 2004.^[61] After the hiring of Melendez Stern accused Leno of stealing his radio show bits, such as goofy red carpet interviews and booking Kenneth Keith Kallenbach, a long-time member of the show's Wack Pack.^[62] Stern then announced on March 17 an auditioning process known as "Win John's Job," where ten finalists would work on the show for a week and show their contributions.^[63] Listeners then voted on-line for their favourite candidate to win a three month job and $25,000, which included Bob Levy, Yucko the Clown, Joey Boots, Shuli Egar, Crazy Cabbie and John the Stutterer. It was announced on July 1 that Richard Christy, former electrician and drummer of various death and heavy metal bands including Iced Earth and Death, had won the contest with 30% of the vote.^[64] Sal "The Stockbroker" Governale, the runner-up with 24%,^[64] was hired full-time that September.

On October 6, 2004, Stern announced that he had signed a five-year deal with satellite radio service Sirius XM Radio.^[65] A contributing factor for the move was the aftermath of the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy, resulting in the tightening of censorship and regulation of broadcasting. Sirius is a subscription-based medium, and therefore free from broadcasting rules imposed by the FCC. The deal, reportedly worth approximately $100 million a year,^[66] included a bonus of $83 million in January 2007 for surpassing subscriber goals set in 2004.^[67] The deal placed Stern at the second richest celebrity of 2004 at $302 million, ahead of George Lucas and Oprah Winfrey.^[68] To promote his move, Stern held a rally in New York City where he gave out coupons for free or discounted Sirius products. The move met with controversy, as Stern promoted SIRIUS on his show, instructing listeners how to purchase equipment and subscriptions. In one incident, Farid Suleman of Citadel Broadcasting billed Stern $200,000 for the continual advertising plugs he gave.^[69] Infinity Broadcasting suspended Stern for one day on November 8, 2005 due to excessive promotion of Sirius.^[70]

The show's final broadcast on "terrestrial" airwaves was on December 16, 2005 from 6:00 am to around 10:00 am.^[71] Outside the WXRK studio, 56 Street was blocked off from traffic to allow a stage to be constructed for Stern, his radio show colleagues and Wack Pack members to make their "goodbye" speeches. Stern made his final speech around 9:35 am,^[72] and thanked the New York City Police Department and dedicated the show to Sgt. Keith Manning, a friend who at the time was serving in Iraq. He finished with a final "F-Jackie!" and thanks, with the crowd chanting Stern's name as "Tortured Man" from the Private Parts film soundtrack was played out.^[72] When off the air, Stern and his staff went to the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square on an open-top bus where Martha Stewart, who was broadcasting on her own Sirius channel, was on hand to "induct" Stern into the Sirius family.

Stern's dream of hosting a national show came true on August 18, 1986 when he was simulcast to Philadelphia on classic rock station WYSP.^[33] At the show's introduction, Stern said "Hello Philadelphia! Welcome to your worst nightmare!"^[73] Though the local media had doubts for success in the Philadelphia market,^[74] Stern lifted the station's morning show rank among males aged 18 and over from 11 to 3 in two months.^[75] He began feuding with the city's number one show, hosted by John DeBella on WMMR. By October 1988, Stern was a mere two tenths of a rating point away to surpassing DeBella, who had an 8.6% share of the morning audience.^[76] In celebration of becoming number one, which took over two years, Stern held a mock "funeral" for DeBella on May 10, 1990 in Rittenhouse Square.^[77]

Following a separate short-lived syndicated program on Saturday mornings from 1986–1987,^[78] Stern added his third market, Washington, D.C., on talk station WJFK-FM on October 3, 1988.^[79] His kick-off line was "Welcome to WJFK. Assasination radio!" after which Fred Norris played gunshot sound effects.^[80] Returning to Washington airwaves after six years, Stern predicted he would "crush" his former station "DC-101" within six months.^[81] In January 1989, Doug "The Greaseman" Tracht, who preceded Stern at "DC-101," lost 2.5% of his strong 25-54 male audience.^[82] Ratings however, failed to show any rise for Stern, and observers questioned if it was worth the reported $500,000 he would earn for the Washington simulcast.^[83] Tracht continued to lose his audience in late 1989, this time reducing his share of 18-34 year-old listeners from 9.1% to 5% the following March.^[84] In the same category and time period however, Stern had grew from 2.2% to 5.9%.

Los Angeles became the show's fourth affiliate through classic rock station KLSX on July 25, 1991.^[85] The station's switchboard lit-up continuously with negative calls during the first simulcast.^[86] Despite this and doubts of success from local listeners, Stern became the first to top the New York and Los Angeles markets in just one year,^[87][88] thus ending the three-year reign that rivals Mark Thompson and Brian Phelps of KLOS had. While acquiring a 6.4% share of the morning audience among listeners aged 12 and over in Los Angeles, Stern at the same time gained a record 9.5% share in New York.^[89][90] In celebration, Stern held another mock "funeral" for Thompson and Phelps, reportedly attended by 5,000 in the parking lot of the Los Angeles Palace Theatre on November 25, 1992.^[91][92]

The show would add Cleveland to its affiliate list on August 31, 1992 through classic rock station WNCX^[93][94] for an initial four-year deal starting at $400,000.^[94] Similar to that of previous markets, Stern promised he would become number one in the market. Within nine weeks, the show doubled the station's morning ratings.^[95] By January 1993, the first full ratings book following the addition, the show became top in Akron while finishing fifth in Cleveland, with a 9.5% share of the morning audience in the Portage and Summit counties.^[96] In celebration of becoming top of the ratings, Stern held his last "funeral" for his rivals – John Lanigan of WMJI and the Buzzard Morning Zoo team of Jeff Kinzbach and Ed "Flash" Ferenc of WMMS – on June 10, 1994 at the Cleveland Flats, attended by 5,000. During the broadcast, William Alford, a 30-year old radio engineer from WMMS cut the wires which temporarily stopped the broadcast.^[97][98] In June 1995, Alford was later sentenced to ten days and a $1,000 fine.^[99]

The show began syndicating to Canada on September 2, 1997 on classic rock stations CHOM in Montreal, Quebec and CILQ in Toronto, Ontario.^{[100][101][102]} The first broadcast contained controversial references to the French and the French language, causing issues with some Canadian listeners. "There is something about the French language that turns you into a pussy-assed jack off," said Stern. "Anybody who speaks French is a scum bag. It turns you into a coward, just like in World War II the French would not stick up for us. Screw your culture and we're invading you all."^[103] Despite the negative reaction, ratings for the two stations increased by 62% and 47% respectively, though they slipped nearing their first anniversary in carrying the show.^[104] Stern was ultimately dropped in Montreal on August 27, 1998^[105] following frequent listener complaints to the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). The show was then cancelled in Toronto on November 26, 2001 after John Hayes, who was General Manager during the show's time at WNBC, became Program Director of Corus Radio.^[106][107] Some Canadian listeners however, were able to hear the show without the heavy content restrictions that they faced from February 26, 2001 when the show began syndicating to Buffalo, New York on WBUF.^[108]

After midnight on December 31, 2005 Stern called into the special New Year's Eve show on Howard 100 presented by George Flowers and Lisa G of Howard 100 News.^[109] This was Stern's first time on satellite radio after his contract with Infinity Broadcasting expired at midnight.^[109] Following two live test broadcasts on January 3 and 5, a heartbeat sound effect could be heard on Howard 100 which got progressively faster. Television interviews of Stern could be faintly heard in the background.^[110] Then, at 5:55am on January 9, the heartbeat broke away to Also sprach Zarathustra with added flatulence sound effects. George Takei then introduced himself as the show's new announcer. With no commercials to play, (the first being played on January 10) music was played to fix technical problems. It was revealed that 180,000 SIRIUS receivers were activated the day before on January 8. One of the first bits to be played included the uncensored versions of the Pat O'Brien sex tape along with song parodies about it. Stern also announced the list of revelations for the anticipated Revelations Game, where the show's staff told an unknown secret about themselves the following week on January 16 and 17.

In May 2006, Stern said that he had received offers from three major companies to return to terrestrial radio. Although he would never return, Stern did mention that it would be "cool to go back and kick their asses". None of the three names were released or came forward. Media organizations announced that Stern was thinking of returning to terrestrial radio. To clear up the rumors, the Associated Press were called on-air on May 10. While talking to the Associated Press, Stern said "the story is I wouldn't do terrestrial radio for any reason".^[111] That September, 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 news agency United Press International that there were never "any discussions of Howard Stern in any way, shape, or form being anything but exclusive to SIRIUS." "Published reports suggesting otherwise are wrong."^[112]

On June 7, 2006 Stern announced on his show that the lawsuit settlement with CBS Radio (formerly Infinity Broadcasting) finally gave SIRIUS exclusive rights to Stern's entire back catalogue of radio shows from his time at WXRK which spanned over twenty years from November 1985 to December 2005, totaling almost 23,000 hours.^[113] It was reported that SIRIUS agreed to pay CBS $2 million for the rights, which equates to approximately $87 per hour of tape.^[114][115] SIRIUS holds the rights to the tapes until the end of Stern's current contract with SIRIUS (finishing in January, 2011) when all rights will return to Stern. This has allowed various special shows such as Mammary Lane, Stern Spotlight and The History of Howard Stern to be produced and aired while the show is on vacation.

• Howard Stern, primary host, writer
• Robin Quivers, co-host and news anchor (1981–present)
• Fred Norris, producer, writer and sound effects (1981–present)
• Artie Lange, comedian (2001–present)
• Benjy Bronk, intern (1998–2000); writer (2001–present)
• Gary Dell'Abate, executive producer (1984–present)
• Scott Salem, engineer (1986–present)

• Jackie Martling, part-time writer (1983–1986); head writer (1986–2001)
• Stuttering John Melendez, intern and writer (1988–2004)
• Billy West, voice impressions (1988–1995, part-time)
• KC Armstrong, associate producer (1999–2004)
• Steve "Gorilla" Grillo, intern
• Mitch Fatel, intern
• David "The Intern" Race

• Bill Maher, angry at the show's staff and refuses to visit^[116]
• Patrice Oneal, offended because Stern could not remember his name^[117]

• Chaunce Hayden
• Crazy Cabbie, former WXRK disc jockey^[118]
• A.J. Benza, physically fought with John Melendez in 2001 and then banned from the WXRK building by Tom Chiusano.

• Jackie Martling, host of Jackie's Joke Hunt program on Howard 101 on Sirius
• Adam Carolla, the replacement for Stern on terrestrial radio in Los Angeles
• Kidd Chris, hosted a show on WYSP in Philadelphia but was fired in May 2008
• Dead Air Dave, former WXRK disc jockey and show censor on WXRK and now on afternoon drive on WWFS in New York
• Andre Gardner, former show censor at WXRK, now hosts a show on WMGK in Philadelphia

• Richard Simmons, may return for a visit as they had been close friends off the air; in 2006 Simmons visited the show after more than 10 years but again left in tears. Stern and Quivers doubted the authenticity of Simmons' outburst.^[119]

• History of FCC fines against The Howard Stern Show
• List of celebrity guests on The Howard Stern Show
• The Howard Stern Show games and bits
• The Wack Pack
• The History of Howard Stern

• Stern, Howard (1993). Private Parts (1st ed.). Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0671880163. OCLC 28968496. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |origdate= ignored (|orig-date= suggested) (help)
• Colford, Paul (1997). Howard Stern: King of All Media (2nd ed.). St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0312962210.
• Lucaire, Luigi (1997). Howard Stern, A to Z: A Totally Unauthorized Guide. St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 978-0312151447.
• Kamalipour, Yahya R. (2001). Media, Sex, Violence, and Drugs in the Global Village. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0742500617. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

• Stern, Howard (1995). Miss America (1st ed.). ReganBooks. ISBN 978-0060391676. OCLC 33432817. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |origdate= ignored (|orig-date= suggested) (help)
• Luerssen, John (2009). AMERICAN ICON: The HOWARD STERN Reader. Lulu. ISBN 978-0557042043.

• The Howard Stern Show on Sirius XM Radio
• The Howard Stern Show on HowardStern.com

• Daily radio show rundowns on MarksFriggin
• Howard Stern Wikia