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Howard Stern

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File:Howardstern1.jpg
Self-proclaimed "King of All Media" Howard Stern, circa 2000.

Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954 in Roosevelt, Long Island, New York) is an American radio personality.

The self-proclaimed "King of All Media" has been dubbed a shock jock for his highly controversial use of scatological, sexual, and racial humor. Some of his commentaries are perceived by many to include bigoted and misogynistic remarks about various religious and ethnic groups, women, and men. He is both the highest-paid radio personality in the United States and the most fined personality in radio broadcast history—facts, as his fans know, he takes pride in.

His national television shows include The Howard Stern Show (1990-2005 on E!) and The Howard Stern Radio Show (1998-2001 on CBS). On August 3, 2005 Howard announced to his audience that his Sirius show will be available on television through the ON DEMAND service that Comcast offers. In the early 1990s, Stern had a weekly skit-driven show on WWOR-TV for three years.

Biography

Howard Stern was born in New York City. His father Ben worked at a radio station and Howard developed an interest in broadcasting as a child when he would accompany his father to work. Stern often joked that his parents "abused" him as a child. He said that his mother ran her house with "the intensity of Hitler" and that his father often called him a moron. However, he admitted this was just part of his gimmick and that his parents were warm and loving and supportive. In 1976, Stern received his Bachelor's degree in communications from Boston University, where he had worked as a volunteer at the college radio station.

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Stern handing out Sirius radios during a promotion in 2005

After graduation, he worked as a disc jockey for an obscure station in Westchester County, New York playing rock music. He discovered a talent for Lenny Bruce-type comedy, and developed a wide-ranging confrontational style. In 1978, Stern landed his first morning show job in Hartford, CT at WCCC-FM and WCCC-AM where he was hired by station owner Sy Dresner. The radio stations with a progressive rock format lend itself nicely to developing Howard's "free-form" personality. It was at the Hartford radio station where Howard also met his future show writer and producer, Fred Norris, who was working as an overnight DJ. After Dresner held-off on giving Stern a $25 raise, he migrated to FM radio station in Detroit (WWWW known as W4) and Washington, D.C. (putting in a year at DC101 and making it the #1 station in town in the process), and returned to New York in 1982 to work at NBC's flagship AM radio station WNBC-AM. Also working at NBC 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 were strained from the beginning. He quickly returned to the FM band by joining local rival station WXRK, premiering on November 18, 1985 and returning permanently to morning drive in February 1986. Stern's show was syndicated nationwide starting in 1986 by Infinity Broadcasting. The program made great sport of feuding with other cities' top-rated DJs, but soon enough, Stern's broadcast was #1 in such important markets as Philadelphia and Los Angeles, among several others. His Arbitron numbers remain strongest in the country's #1 radio market, New York, where his morning ratings more than triple his station's average numbers the rest of the day.

Although both his parents are Jewish, Stern has long claimed on his show to be "a half-Jew". His Hebrew name is Tzvi; his paternal grandparents, Froim and Anna (Gallar) Stern, and maternal grandparents, Sol and Esther (Reich) Schiffman, were Jews from Austria-Hungary who emigrated to America at about the same time.

On June 4, 1978, Stern married his college sweetheart, Alison Berns, at Temple Ohabei Shalom in Brookline, Massachusetts; they have three daughters: Emily Beth (b. 1984), Deborah Jennifer (b. 1987) and Ashley Jade (b. 1993). A hallmark of Stern's humor was that he often expressed how tempted he was by the strippers, porn stars, and lesbians who appeared on his show, but always insisted that he had to be faithful to his wife. In October of 1999, Stern announced that Alison was divorcing him, due to the fact that he is a workaholic. The couple's divorce proceeding resulted in a settlement, and Alison remarried in 2001 to David Simon. Since early 2000 Stern has been dating model Beth Ostrosky, who is 19 years younger than he. Ostrosky has appeared in the men's magazine FHM several times, and in early June of 2005, the editor-at-large of the magazine, Jake Bronstein, was fired after he commented that Ostrosky is only famous because she dates Stern. It has been alleged that Stern pressured FHM to fire him. Stern has vehemently denied these rumors, citing Bronstein's comments about FHM airbrushing many of its photographs as the true reason behind Bronstein's termination.

Radio Show

In one typical example of his radio show, he persuaded a female caller to have phone sex with him on the air. He made deep buzzing noises into his microphone, and had her sit on a speaker with the volume turned up until she reached an on-the-air orgasm. Another notable episode was on WWDC-FM (DC101 Radio) in Washington D.C. in which Stern called Air Florida Airlines and asked what the fare was for a one-way ticket from Washington National Airport to the 14th Street Bridge (on the Potomac River less than 1 mile from the airport). He was making light of the crash of Air Florida Flight 90 one day earlier, on January 13, 1982, which had killed 78 persons (both onboard the airplane and in vehicles stopped in traffic on the bridge). That 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 is they would like to get new DC-101 DJs 'The 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."

Stern has also shown the ability to take society's misfits and turn them into celebrities through The Wack Pack. Wack Pack members are able to parlay their exposure on Stern's show into personal appearances at clubs and even the occasional movie.

Stern referred to himself as the "King Of All Media," a parody of Michael Jackson's claim to the title "King of Pop." To his subjects this title is true, as they have been loyal consumers of The King's books, pay-per-view events and movies. Stern believes he represents the future of America, where, in keeping with a longstanding trend, public moral standards will continue to loosen. His show is frequently the subject of complaints by various listeners who find his deliveries offensive - something he deliberately encourages. Fines have occasionally been issued against radio stations airing his show, generally for violating FCC requirements regarding content. Still, the parent conglomerate that hosts Stern's show, Infinity Broadcasting (a subsidiary of Viacom), seems to consider these fines a necessary price to pay in order to support Stern's continuing popularity.

As of November 2004, the show, typically airing in the morning, is syndicated on 45 radio stations all across the U.S. (27 owned by Infinity Broadcasting), down from Stern's peak syndication of 62 stations. The stations are not allowed to stream the show over the internet.

1990s

File:Howardsternvoiceofamerica.jpg
Howard Stern and Rush Limbaugh illustrated on cover of Time Magazine.

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 "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."

In 1994, Stern embarked on a political campaign for Governor of New York, formally announcing his candidacy under the Libertarian Party ticket. Although he legally qualified for the office and campaigned for a time after his nomination, many viewed the run for office as nothing more than a publicity stunt. He subsequently withdrew his candidacy because he did not want to comply with the financial disclosure requirements for candidates. He claimed that he had ultimately decided to support the Republican, George Pataki, who wound up winning over incumbent Mario Cuomo, and Stern was seen shaking Pataki's hand on television in congratulation.

In March of 1995, one day before the funeral of slain Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla, 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...they have no depth." After pressure from his radio station, Stern gave an on-air apology a week later in Spanish.

In 1997, Stern's autobiographical book, Private Parts, was adapted to film. The movie did moderately well at box offices and in video release, garnering a total of over $60 million. He had also announced plans for a film provisionally titled The Adventures of Fartman based on a character created for his appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1992. As of 2005, this project has not even begun pre-production.

On his show dated September 2, 1997, Stern, in an anti-French rant says "I've been picking on the French people for 15 years. I don't like French people. I felt that during World War II, France betrayed us. I believe that what they did was the most cowardly act. That when the Nazis marched into France, the French bent over... When I was over in France recently, Americans are looked at as dirt, as filth. We are the people that liberated them during WWII. They would be Nazis, they would be under the Nazi regime right now. They should only be kissing our asses, singing our praises."

Being a personality that most people either love or hate, he has had his share of stalkers and death threats. On January 15, 1998 Lance Carvin, who had been stalking Stern, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for threatening to kill Stern and his family.

His 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."

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.

Also in 1997, Stern's show aired for the first time in Canada, appearing on CILQ in Toronto and CHOM in Montreal. Both stations cancelled Stern's show in 2000 after frequent listener complaints to the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council and the CRTC; 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. Stern has commented on-air that the Canadian government disapproved of his use of the ethnic slur polack, and that was one of the reasons why his show is no longer broadcast in Canada.

2000s

The number of commercials aired during his radio show has greatly increased from the 1980s to the present due to a decline in his lack of humor.

It was officially announced on March 5, 2001 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. After auditioning himself, it was eventually announced that comedian Artie Lange was the permanent replacement.

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. His live reporting was the first news of the incident for many East Coast residents. Crew member K.C. Armstrong was the notable exception, as he left the city immediately and refused to return for several days. Stern and the rest of the cast/crew continued to broadcast over the subsequent days following the disaster. 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. 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.

In 2002, Stern's production company Howard Stern Productions acquired the rights to the 1982 movie Porky's and the 1979 movie Rock 'n' Roll High School. Stern was a producer of the short-lived TV series Son of the Beach.

Despite the provocative content of Stern's show, or perhaps because of it, many listeners and critics consider Stern to be a talented on-air personality and formidable interviewer. (He informed listeners early in 2004 that the ABC television network was in talks with him to produce an interview special.) His popularity has given rise to a number of rival "shock jocks" who have attempted to outdo Stern in terms of offensiveness and rudeness, but these rivals have yet to challenge Stern's ratings or impact.

On February 25, 2004, Clear Channel Communications "indefinitely suspended" him from six markets because of alleged indecency involving sexual and racist dialogue during his show. The show in question featured Rick Salomon, whose claims to fame include a publicly released home video showing him having sex with Paris Hilton. During this broadcast Stern held, what could be considered, a sexually-provocative and racially insensitive interview with Saloman, 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. This is considered to be part of a wide-ranging backlash against obscenity triggered by the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy. 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 .

It should be noted that Stern was one of the few celebrities who publicly supported Bush sending U.S. troops into Iraq; he turned against him, as he did Bill Clinton, because neither, as he has put it, got "the FCC off my back." He endorsed John Kerry in the 2004 U.S. presidential campaign, and urged his listeners to vote for him.

This is only the latest in a long string of political endorsements Stern has made, having earlier supported former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, among others. In an 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."

On February 27 of 2004, long-time Stern show regular John Melendez left the show to become the on-air announcer for The Tonight Show.

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. However, on July 19, Stern returned to four of the six markets Clear Channel booted him from, and added five new ones to the roster—this time on Infinity-owned stations. In late August, he returned to a fifth market, Miami, on an independent station. Here, as is 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.

Throughout the Spring of 2004, Stern was a very vocal and staunch critic of Mel Gibson and his religious epic, The Passion of the Christ. He called the film a "kook festival for a robotic freak audience" and even linked his radio suspension to the film, claiming that it was causing a "religious frenzy" and that anyone who goes to see the movie is "stupid and ignorant". At one point Stern said that "Mel Gibson makes Hitler look like Gandhi".

On October 6, 2004, Stern announced on his show that he signed a five year, $500 million deal with the satellite radio service Sirius. The deal, which takes effect on January 1, 2006, would enable Stern to broadcast his show without, as of present, the content restrictions imposed by the FCC. In addition, the deal would also enable Stern to program two additional Sirius channels, one of which would be available at an extra charge to subscribers.

This move has been met with much controversy, as Stern has been talking about his move to Sirius on his show, even telling listeners how to purchase gigantic Sirius equipment and over priced subscriptions. To promote this latest venture, Stern even held a rally in New York where he gave out coupons for free or discounted Sirius equipment. His impending move to Sirius has resulted in some radio stations censoring him every time he mentions the words "Sirius" or "satellite radio". In one incident, Farid Suleman of Citadel Broadcasting has gone so far as to have billed Stern $200,000 for the plugs he's given Sirius on his show. Stern's response was, "Keep sending me bills. Like I'm going to pay 'em," which he publicly stated on his show.

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 U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner Jr.'s recommendation. FMQB.com quoted Stern as saying about his current employer, "They're 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." Full Story It must also be added that within Stern's contract with Viacom (specifically Infinity Broadcasting), if he should be fired or his show cancelled, his employer would have to pay out a Twenty Million Dollar fee as a result of this early termination to him and his production company.

On June 22, 2005, Stern announced that his E! television show was ending. The last new episode was taped on July 1, 2005 and aired on July 8, 2005. E! will continue to rerun the show indefinitely.

Television shows

  • The Howard Stern Show (WWOR show): 69 episodes; July 14, 1990–Aug 1, 1992
  • The Howard Stern Interview (E! cable show): 36 episodes; 1992–1993
  • Howard Stern (E! cable show): 2,283 episodes; 1994–July 8, 2005
  • The Howard Stern Radio Show (syndicated): 1998–2001

Cast and crew of the Howard Stern show

Regulars on the Howard Stern show

Former cast and crew

Former regulars

External links

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