Friday, October 08, 2004

I wonder if I'm the only one slightly saddened by Howard Stern's announced departure from broadcast radio to the unchartered territory of satellite radio on Sirius. One imagines that in 5 years, Sirius may be crying too.

Certainly to Howard, the 500 million dollar deal makes sense. After all, it's 500 million. Years of taking crap from the FCC, his bosses, critics, and religious groups has probably taken its toll. Given the draconian measures of Michael Powell and the FCC (who seem to respond only to complaints, not to people who tell them they AREN'T offended), Stern probably got tired of having to censor his material down to half the intensity of what he could do even a year ago.

I'm even sure his fans are applauding. Finally, we can hear bits as their meant to be heard, unfiltered conversations, clips that couldn't be aired, skits that were deemed too offensive previously.

But therein lies the problem. Pushing the envelope is usually more entertaining than obliterating it. There is a certain sense of amusement in listening to people try to get away with as much as they can. Without the threat of censorship, the show essentially would lose the edge it once held. Because they can get away with more, it isn't hard to see the show going for more cheap easy laughs than actually working to be humorous. Add to this the fact that being crude for the sake of being crude gets old quickly. And one would have to guess that the guests who already were fearful of going on there will now run the other way when they know the show is no holds barred.

What is also missing in the equation is that radio for most of us is background noise wherever we are. Most of us started our day with Howard in the shower, Howard for breakfast, Howard on the drive to work, Howard until 11 O'Clock at work. While the show was crude, seldom was it such that you couldn't listen to it in mixed company. With the move to Sirius, if Howard decides to let the f-bombs fly and turn the naughtiness up a notch, the potential for the same audience he enjoys now dwindles considerably. I can't see many people wanting to pay $12 a month solely for programming they will only be able to listen to for 30 minutes to an hour a day.

Still, I hope I'm wrong. Howard has proven to be a survivor, and I would have to imagine his ego wouldn't let him exit radio a failure, as though a man with 500,000,000 could ever be considered a failure.



(c) 2004 Rob Mattheu