Howard Stern Off Clear Channel

[EdwardKnoxII 0]

http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,13870,00.html

 

Howard Stern off the Shock Block

 

by Sarah Hall

 

 

It's official: Howard Stern has shocked his last Clear Channel listener.

 

Faced with close to $500,000 in FCC fines, the broadcasting giant dropped Stern's radio show from its airwaves for good on Thursday.

 

"Mr. Stern's show has created a great liability for us and other broadcasters who air it," said John Hogan, president of Clear Channel Radio, in a statement. "The Congress and the FCC are even beginning to take a look at revoking station licenses. That's a risk we're just not willing to take."

 

Proving that they are ready and willing to play hardball, FCC commissioners recommended the maximum fine of $27,000 for each of 18 allegedly indecent remarks made during an April 2003 broadcast of the Stern show.

 

The conversation that fateful April day centered on the sexual proclivities of former Stern staffer Stuttering John Melendez (who has since absconded for the Tonight Show), and was punctuated by bouts of flatulence.

 

An offended listener in Fort Lauderdale complained to the FCC, sparking the investigation that resulted in the heavy penalties for the six Clear Channel stations that carried the show: WBGG-FM, Fort Lauderdale; WTKS-FM, Cocoa Beach, Florida; KIOZ-FM, San Diego; WNVE-FM, Honeoye Falls, New York; and WXDX-FM, Pittsburgh.

 

Following an unrelated inflammatory incident, Stern was suspended from those stations in February as part of Clear Channel's resolve to crack down on indecency in the wake of Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction.

 

The shock jock himself took the latest crackdown in stride.

 

"This is not a surprise. This is a follow-up to the McCarthy type 'witch hunt' of the administration and the activities of this group of presidential appointees in the FCC," Stern groused on his Website, www.howardstern.com.

 

Stern went on to say that FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell and his supporters "are expressing and imposing their opinions and rights to tell us all who and what we may listen to and watch, and how we should think about our lives. It is pretty shocking that governmental interference into our rights and free speech takes place in the U.S."

 

Stern and his staff are on vacation this week, so they have not yet had the opportunity to discuss his firing on the air. "Best of Stern" segments aired in lieu of live radio all week on the hundred-odd non-Clear Channel stations that still employ him.

 

At this time, broadcasters other than Clear Channel will continue piping Stern over the airwaves each morning. E! Entertainment Television will also continue to air the program.

 

However, Stern has frequently said that he feels his days at Infinity Broadcasting are numbered--particularly since Infinity is owned by Viacom, whose parent company is CBS, and as we all know, it's CBS that's taking the heat for airing the Super Bowl halftime show to begin with.

 

On April Fool's Day last week, Stern toyed with his listeners by pretending that his show had been pulled from the air and replaced by wholesome deejays Cross and Lopez, who promised "fun without the filth."

 

At the rate the FCC is going, his joke may soon become a reality.

[Youth N Asia 0]

I never liked Howard Stern, I've just never found him entertaining, so it was always my choice just not to listen to him. But this is bullshit. The guy's been doing the same show for 20+ years and just cause that ass showed a tit at the Superbowl, this guy and countless others are going to have to pay for it. His show is no more offensive today then it was the day before Janet showed her breast. Why are so many people offended now that weren't before? You can bet the people who bitch over stuff like this don't even listen to the program.

 

Janet Jackson needs a suckerpunch.

[Mole 0]

He should just move to XM.

 

XM sales are on a rise and in a few years, everyone will have XM. Then he can do whatever he wants and the FCC can't touch his ass.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Here's a question: would all of this FCC bullshit have been worth it if it was Trish's boob that was broadcasted to millions?

[Youth N Asia 0]

The Superbowl reaches millions millions more and is pretty much marketed as an event for the entire family. So no.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

Absolutely fucking ridiculous. Here's to hoping Stern moves onto better days.

[Vern Gagne 0]

Guess Stern forgets he was fined 1.7 million when Clinton was President.

 

This is not a partisan subject, and if Kerry win the Presidency nothing will change. Both the left-wing and right-wing have people offended by Stern and other shows.

 

Personally I think Stern just wants to leave the air with a bang. Go down has some crusader for the first amendment. When really he only cares about what happens to him.

[Guest Jimbo]

I really don't care about him or his radio show (he was once funny, but the last3-4 years haven't been very good, he's old, done everything before, and his "wannabe clones" are funnier), but I am going to miss the E! show.

 

That E! show was great. You could actually see what was happenning in these "funny" bits, and how hot the chicks actually were.

 

I hope E! continues the show, or Howard tries to do something for it...

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

This is not a partisan subject, and if Kerry win the Presidency nothing will change. Both the left-wing and right-wing have people offended by Stern and other shows..

And things would have been so much better for Howard had Gore been president. *coughTIPPIERcough...*

[snuffbox 0]

This is not a partisan subject, and if Kerry win the Presidency nothing will change. Both the left-wing and right-wing have people offended by Stern and other shows..

And things would have been so much better for Howard had Gore been president. *coughTIPPIERcough...*

Its true, its true.

[Guest Dids]

Tipper was NEVER about censorship. Just the warning lables. Now the way the labels were applied and used is utter bullshit, but that's a really important disctinction.

 

The danger with Gore wasn't Tipper, it was Joe Lieberman. He's actually worse when it comes to censorship bullshit.

 

Either way- things would still be better under Gore. He'd never had appointed John Ashcroft- who's the real enemy of free speech. Moreoever, Clear Chanel is totally in bed with Bush- so it's hard not to look at this as a reflection of his administration.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

That E! show was great. You could actually see what was happenning in these "funny" bits, and how hot the chicks actually were

.

 

How much later would the TV version be shown of a certain radio broadcast of his?

[Guest Jimbo]

Depended on the radio shows...if they had a few slower days without any awesome bits or guests in a row, it would take a week or two. Sometimes though, they'd have new stuff ready in only a few days time if something big happenned. There wasn't much of a science to it.