It’s been interesting watching Howard Stern take a well-deserved victory lap as he reaches the 60-year milestone. I remember when he turned 40, Infinity Broadcasting sprung for commemorative wristwatches. Howard’s come a long way.
I’ve been fascinated by some of Howard’s recollections during his “birthday week.” Aside from some of the amazing rock star tributes, it’s noteworthy that Howard’s honesty continues to come through.
His observation after leaving terrestrial radio that he was hoping his former affiliates would tank when he moved to satellite radio is exactly what I’m talking about. As he told Billboard, “I feel so completely gratified that when I’ve left radio stations, they’ve crumbled. I don’t care what anyone says, when you leave, you hope they don’t do well.”
Vintage Howard.
And elsewhere in the interview, he talks about the money – or lack of it in the early years. Howard recalls how when he first went on the air, his belief was that “I never thought I’d ever have any money. I just wanted to do a really wild show.”
And isn’t that why it worked?
Because most of the time, when your art is created with cash registers in mind, it rarely succeeds over the long haul. While Howard may be celebrating 60 years on this earth, I’m thinking the more impressive accomplishment is 35 years of success in the entertainment industry – particularly radio. That doesn’t happen when you just grab the cash or worse, gear your show and your content to what is safe, easy, predictable, and what everyone else is doing.
As a consultant who made a lot of money from the Stern show, I often thought a lot about why he succeeded and how he has influenced hundreds of DJs – for better and for worse. His career would make a great PhD thesis. I’m sure several have been written or are in the works. It wasn’t always pretty and there were moments that maybe even Howard might want to forget. But talk about a guy who influenced an entire industry and medium – that’s the legacy.
But perhaps the key lesson from Howard’s amazing adventure on the radio is that when you do it for the ROI, it rarely works.
When you do it because you’re passionate, well, you just might become the biggest winner of them all.
Happy birthday, Howard.
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Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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After several years of “inactive” status – I recently turned the Sirius Radio in my car back on.
I wasn’t long before I found my way to Howard.
I was amazed at how relaxed and unforced his show is these days. And how utterly riveting it can be. I found myself regretting taking him for granted when he was on locally.
Popping over to the other Howard channel playing classic shows revealed 2 things.
1) Compared to today, Howard’s “character” was far more “put on” back then. He has matured tremendously in his presentation, but the show still maintains an edge. It’s fascinating to hear.
2.) Listening to 12 year old content from old Stern shows is often far more entertaining than “live” AM/FM.
Howard can crow about leaving a crater in terrestrial stations because it’s true. The saddest part is the crater is still there.
Radio groups just paved it over with “more music in the morning” or “commercial free music block” and don’t want to admit they’re sitting atop a sink hole.
It’s painfully obvious to me – more than ever – that Personality – larger than life stars, both Local & National is the only way Commercial Radio can HBO it’s way into a future of high relevance to audiences.
Imagine if FREE-FM wasn’t abandoned 1 year into it’s effort but continued to incubate a next wave of talent. Imagine if other groups had to develop their own versions of FREE-FM to compete.
How many more Radio Stars might there be today making Radio people actually talk about?
Jeff, these are great observations about Stern, and also the way forward for broadcast radio. It has become an ongoing (and probably tired) theme here to continue to point to the personality factor as radio’s “secret sauce.” But the reason that old adages become that way is that they’re rooted in the truth. Appreciate you taking the time to provide some additional perspective.
Fred,
Howard’s been an inspiration and hero of mine for a long, long time. I used to listen to him far before the rest of the world caught on to his antics, when he was on WRNW-FM in Briarcliff Manor NY. In fact…I caught the broadcasting bug in college, and wound-up INTERNING for Howard at WRNW in 1978. I was filling out “Crazy Eddie” affadavits, and mailing back religious tapes!!
Even THEN, with turntables that only OCCASIONALLY worked, could you see the talent waiting to explode. Howard occasionally put me on the air doing wacky impersonations, and we had tons of fun in the offices too–like the time he put a match to a co-workers’ fart.(he became, after all, FARTMAN)
I’ve followed him since then, including his NY days at WNBC, onto K-Rock, and then into Sirius, where my wife now listens more than I do. He’s a true “entertainer” and has done things I never thought possible in the broadcast world. I applaud him for all he’s done…and only wish one day I could meet up with him again to laugh & talk about old times, and what he’s been thru. Who’d have thought…this guy would go on to be the Michael Jordan of radio?
Certainly, not me. But I’m glad it was HIM! Happy Birthday, Howard…from one of your early believers!
Thanks for taking us back, JC. Howard’s had an amazing run that is showing no signs of slowing down. I have similar memories – albeit from the outside – when Howard was at W4 in Detroit. We were SO hoping that he’s leave soon because you just knew he was months away of exploding. Thanks again.
Howard Stern May have a great show, but telling us that “it’s not about the money” is nonsense. How about Howard Stern has struck out in his attempt to revive a $300 million lawsuit against Sirius XM for allegedly cheating him out of promised stock bonuses. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/howard-stern-loses-bid-revive-437810 . Of course it is all about money. Who does he think he is kidding. lol.
Oh, it’s all about the money NOW – and why not? In the world of pop culture entertainment, a star like Howard is entitled to every dime he can get. (Although it’s noteworthy that in the Billboard interview, he’s very effusive about SiriusXM, the company he sued). But the point of the post is that in his formative years, Stern did not envision himself as a multi-millionaire or mega-star. Like the way a lot of people start out, he wanted to be great on the radio. And that’s why it worked.