Howard Stern interviewed on moving to Sirius
Reuters reported an interview with Howard Stern on his announcement he'll be leaving traditional radio for Sirius Satellite Radio in 2006 (10/7 RBR Daily Epaper #196).
Excerpts:
"Calling himself radio's "biggest star," controversial talk show host Howard Stern said on Wednesday he was abandoning commercial broadcasting for satellite subscription radio because he wanted to be free of censors, government regulators and the religious right.
Stern, who has long battled the Federal Communications Commission over his raunchy brand of humor, said he had been especially frustrated by the FCC's recent crackdown on explicit material since Janet Jackson bared a breast on television during the Super Bowl halftime show last February.
"I haven't been able to communicate with my audience because of all the restrictions that the government has imposed...," he said in an interview with Reuters.
"I am radio's biggest star and I have decided that satellite radio offers me more potential than terrestrial radio. I can't do the same show I did a year ago because of FCC pressure," he said shortly after announcing that he was soon
quitting his morning broadcasts now syndicated in 46 cities.
He will take his show to Sirius Satellite Radio, which currently has only 600,000 subscribers, in a five-year, 500 million deal.
Joking, he said, "That's the most money I've ever earned. I can buy a Manhattan apartment now."
He said he planned to bring several radio stars with him to Sirius but declined to name them. "I believe that I am the person who changed broadcast radio. I got people talking about radio again. I opened the door for radio comics and (through me) radio has been reborn." he said of his career that helped usher in a new era of talk radio.
He called Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone a hero for standing by him as the FCC leveled millions of dollars in fines against Infinity and other carriers for his bawdy skits and references."
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