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11 shows left...

I can't believe it is ending this way. Imagine Michael Jordan with the Bulls on his farewell tour through the NBA...but his accomplishments and dedication to success is just being ignored by the Bulls...so each game the home team gives Michael Jordan the PA and he bashes the Bulls organization to a packed house each and every chance he can until his last game.

Then he is interviewed by every sports news organization there is, and Michael continues the bashing.

No banner, no trophy, no statue, just leave Michael and no, you can't take your sneakers with you. The world's greatest, most dominant all time player, and his own organization will not thank him publicly for 20 years of unmatched success. In fact, the Bulls organization goes on the offensive and attempts to diminish Michael's impact on the team.

The fans do not understand why the Bulls would take such an asinine position. The more Michael talks the angrier they become. Talk about insulting the fan's intelligence and their utter dedication for years to the Bulls because of Michael’s efforts. The fans love him, and his words inspire a revolution against the Bulls.


Infinity dropped the ball in an enormous way. I know it's not the local guys decision's but they are guilty by association. I am cherishing these last days of Stern. He is the Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky and Joe Montana all wrapped into one of radio. This is the end or an era.

Like him or not, agree with his content or don't, but it is undeniable that Stern has endeared himself to millions upon millions of utterly dedicated, loyal fans (like me). Infinity should have either taken him off the air the next day after his announcement or given him a proper send off. The damage is now done. Anything within the last days will be seen as fake, or worse, inspire more anger.

I hope that the money that Infinity made since his announcement was worth it, because the rallying cry has changed from "F-the FCC" to "F-Infinity". Infinity, right or wrong, has become the enemy. The fear of loss Howard has affected on his audience and the emotion of the issue will be directed at one entity.

Note: I am writing this while listening to Stern right now...and the more he talks about his "last show" and "tension with the company" the more inspired I become. I have already decided to get eh eh eh, I mean Sirius, and now I am considering heading to NYC the morning of Dec 16th. I am not a Stern wacko, just a regular listener since 1986. Never been to one of his events, never purchased his tapes, saw Private Parts in the theater once, and did not regularly watch the E show. I am just your average listener. That is what is scary for Infinity, cause if I am writing it here, imagine what all those millions upon millions are thinking.
 
Re: 11 shows left..till Howard Who?

> I can't believe it is ending this way. Imagine Michael
> Jordan with the Bulls on his farewell tour through the
> NBA...but his accomplishments and dedication to success is
> just being ignored by the Bulls...so each game the home team
> gives Michael Jordan the PA and he bashes the Bulls
> organization to a packed house each and every chance he can
> until his last game.
>
> Then he is interviewed by every sports news organization
> there is, and Michael continues the bashing.
>
> No banner, no trophy, no statue, just leave Michael and no,
> you can't take your sneakers with you. The world's
> greatest, most dominant all time player, and his own
> organization will not thank him publicly for 20 years of
> unmatched success. In fact, the Bulls organization goes on
> the offensive and attempts to diminish Michael's impact on
> the team.
>
> The fans do not understand why the Bulls would take such an
> asinine position. The more Michael talks the angrier they
> become. Talk about insulting the fan's intelligence and
> their utter dedication for years to the Bulls because of
> Michael’s efforts. The fans love him, and his words inspire
> a revolution against the Bulls.
>
>
> Infinity dropped the ball in an enormous way. I know it's
> not the local guys decision's but they are guilty by
> association. I am cherishing these last days of Stern. He
> is the Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky and Joe
> Montana all wrapped into one of radio. This is the end or
> an era.
>
> Like him or not, agree with his content or don't, but it is
> undeniable that Stern has endeared himself to millions upon
> millions of utterly dedicated, loyal fans (like me).
> Infinity should have either taken him off the air the next
> day after his announcement or given him a proper send off.
> The damage is now done. Anything within the last days will
> be seen as fake, or worse, inspire more anger.
>
> I hope that the money that Infinity made since his
> announcement was worth it, because the rallying cry has
> changed from "F-the FCC" to "F-Infinity". Infinity, right or
> wrong, has become the enemy. The fear of loss Howard has
> affected on his audience and the emotion of the issue will
> be directed at one entity.
>
> Note: I am writing this while listening to Stern right
> now...and the more he talks about his "last show" and
> "tension with the company" the more inspired I become. I
> have already decided to get eh eh eh, I mean Sirius, and now
> I am considering heading to NYC the morning of Dec 16th. I
> am not a Stern wacko, just a regular listener since 1986.
> Never been to one of his events, never purchased his tapes,
> saw Private Parts in the theater once, and did not regularly
> watch the E show. I am just your average listener. That is
> what is scary for Infinity, cause if I am writing it here,
> imagine what all those millions upon millions are thinking.
>
He's actually depressing to listen to.He sounds like he has real mental problems.A has-been heading to nowheres-ville.Wah,Wah,Wah.The Company is not nice to me.Wah.Wah.
STFU!
Maybe after his last show he'll come out,greet his fans and ...kill himself.Now THAT would be revolutionary.
 
Re: 11 shows left..till Howard Who?

> >
> He's actually depressing to listen to.He sounds like he has
> real mental problems.A has-been heading to
> nowheres-ville.Wah,Wah,Wah.The Company is not nice to
> me.Wah.Wah.
> STFU!
> Maybe after his last show he'll come out,greet his fans and
> ...kill himself.Now THAT would be revolutionary.
>

A has-been? Have you seen the numbers? How about the ratings for the tv shows that he has appeared on? Have you seen his schedule of appearances coming up?

http://www.howardstern.com/hottopics/Howard_s_Appearance_Schedule_551.html

How about 18,000,000 listeners? I have no doubt in my mind that Stern will finish on top in the ratings. If no one CARED then that would not be the case.

And how many people do you think will show up for his last day? I am guessing 1,000,000+.
 
Wexler,

You have a great argument, I agree with most of your points, but put yourself in Infinity's shoes for a minute. They know what Howard has done for the company, thats why many of the stations have flipped formats, they know what will happen when he leaves. They are holding onto hope that the people who do not go to satellite will give one of Stern's replacements a shot.

If Infinity acknowledges that Stern was the second coming, that would make it even harder for Roth et al to succeed (snowballs chance in hell is where they are at now though).

When Jordan "retired" the first time, everyone thought he was done with basketball, thats why he got his tour, and all of the admiration from the Bulls. If he had announced he was leaving for the 76ers, and then constantly berated and ripped the Bulls apart, he would have been booed out of his own building every night.

Right or wrong, Infinity is trying to hold on to some sort of audience. Not praising Stern is a business decision, and they really are fighting an uphill battle after the holidays.
 
Re: 11 shows left..till Howard Who?

First.....WHY(?) would anyone want to be the next Howard Stern?
After years of pounding I'm "the King" "the First" "the best" etc.,
the banter has turned into.."they're after me", "they're trying to shut me down"
WAH WAH WAH..... The amazing thing is how many people actually fell for the old
programming ploy of pounding the subject into your head so much, that you start
to believe that it's true! True, Stern has taken the limits of raunch
to the outer limits, but now the real test comes into play. Instead of competeing with maybe three or four staions in a given market, targeting his demo, he has to deal with the distraction of many staions that his audience has to chose from, all the while PAYING for his entertainment. I am a Stern fan but really, how long has it been since we've had a great stern show. Excluding best of, he's been pretty lame. Sirius has over 100 channels a rocker can choose from, f-bombs and wresting nude lesbos are cool but for how long?
Maybe, when the Stern $500,000,000 price tag kicks in, the romance ends, Sirius has a corporate take-over and Infinity/Viacoms point man Mel Karmazin sits at the helm.
 
Re: 11 shows left..till Howard Who?

> > >
> > He's actually depressing to listen to.He sounds like he
> has
> > real mental problems.A has-been heading to
> > nowheres-ville.Wah,Wah,Wah.The Company is not nice to
> > me.Wah.Wah.
> > STFU!
> > Maybe after his last show he'll come out,greet his fans
> and
> > ...kill himself.Now THAT would be revolutionary.
> >
>
> A has-been? Have you seen the numbers? How about the
> ratings for the tv shows that he has appeared on? Have you
> seen his schedule of appearances coming up?
>
http://www.how> ardstern.com/hottopics/Howard_s_Appearance_Schedule_551.html
>
>
> How about 18,000,000 listeners? I have no doubt in my mind
> that Stern will finish on top in the ratings. If no one
> CARED then that would not be the case.
>
> And how many people do you think will show up for his last
> day? I am guessing 1,000,000+.
>
Put down the crack pipe...1 million people?Are you nuts?
More like 1,000 people most of them unemployed with bad hygiene.
He also doesn't have 18,000,000 listeners.The real number is 8,000,000
I guess you believe private parts was a hit movie.
This just in...it FLOPPED.One big week and then it cratered.Howies appeal is fanatical buit narrow in scope.No network TV for him,no Movie #2 for him and less than 1,000,000 satellite listeners for him.
SIRIUS=BANKRUPT in 07
 
Re: 11 shows left..till Howard Who?

> First.....WHY(?) would anyone want to be the next Howard
> Stern?
> After years of pounding I'm "the King" "the First" "the
> best" etc.,
> the banter has turned into.."they're after me", "they're
> trying to shut me down"
> WAH WAH WAH..... The amazing thing is how many people
> actually fell for the old
> programming ploy of pounding the subject into your head so
> much, that you start
> to believe that it's true! True, Stern has taken the limits
> of raunch
> to the outer limits, but now the real test comes into play.
> Instead of competeing with maybe three or four staions in a
> given market, targeting his demo, he has to deal with the
> distraction of many staions that his audience has to chose
> from, all the while PAYING for his entertainment. I am a
> Stern fan but really, how long has it been since we've had a
> great stern show. Excluding best of, he's been pretty lame.
> Sirius has over 100 channels a rocker can choose from,
> f-bombs and wresting nude lesbos are cool but for how long?
>
> Maybe, when the Stern $500,000,000 price tag kicks in, the
> romance ends, Sirius has a corporate take-over and
> Infinity/Viacoms point man Mel Karmazin sits at the helm.
>
personally, here's my take. I wish Infinity would ditch Stern's cheerleader...uh I mean Kidd Chris. I have no idea about Penn Gillette's magic show on the radio in some of Stern's markets. I have nothing to go on about Rover or the Sports Junkies. I think Adam Carolla will do well in his take-over markets for Stern. But here in Philadelphia, I am enjoing the build up of Mr. "broadcasting from sea to shining sea, on the way to work, nothing but Yeahhh" David Lee Roth. What a great lead in to The Barsky Show.
 
Re: 10 shows left...

> Right or wrong, Infinity is trying to hold on to some
> sort of audience. Not praising Stern is a business
> decision, and they really are fighting an uphill battle
> after the holidays.

Then ultimately that business decision will be evaluated against the decision to keep him on the air. Was it worth the money to have him bash their own company to this length and advertise for his new venture?

In that case, Infinity should have treated Stern like any other radio jock that announces he is going to the "competition" - take him off the air immediately. They could have run best-of while they put their plan into action. The problem was, there was no plan, and they valued the short term rev over the long term damage.

Michael Klein had an article a while back about where Stern's audience will go. I wonder how much those numbers have changed. Think about how many opportunities Inifity gave Stern to promote his channel and bash their company between then and now.

I think that this entire Stern episode is just a microcosm of the radio industry as a whole - take the short term revenue and worry about the problems later.
 
Re: 10 shows left...

> I think that this entire Stern episode is just a microcosm
> of the radio industry as a whole - take the short term
> revenue and worry about the problems later.
>

Wexler, you just saved me a whole bunch of typing.
 
Re: 11 shows left..till Howard Who?

> Maybe, when the Stern $500,000,000 price tag kicks in, the
> romance ends, Sirius has a corporate take-over and
> Infinity/Viacoms point man Mel Karmazin sits at the helm.
>

Oh My God, I never would have thought of this angle in a million years. You may be on to something.
 
Re: 10 shows left...

> I think that this entire Stern episode is just a microcosm
> of the radio industry as a whole - take the short term
> revenue and worry about the problems later.
>

Amen to that.
 
Re: 9 shows left...

> I think that this entire Stern episode is just a microcosm
> of the radio industry as a whole - take the short term
> revenue and worry about the problems later.
>

9 shows left.

Anyone hear the Steven Singer spot this morning? It had Steven with Howard and Steven telling his tale about how before he advertised with Stern the store was about to go out of business. Steven took out a loan on his house so he could pay for his new venture - Stern spots - and that it worked, and now he sounds larger than life because he advertised with Stern.

What does that say about WYSP? Which is bigger, the personality or the Station? Jocks come and go all the time, but rarely do advertisers directly attribute their success to one personality. Even more rare do stations flip formats because one of their dayparts leaving (or in this case in the "process" of flipping). This one is different.

Singer is now a regular radio user buying other stations. Wouldn't it be ironic if Steven Singer was to advertise on other stations and NOT WYSP when Howard goes? Hasn't Singer been sort of conditioned that Stern was the effective part of WYSP and not the station itself?

Sure sounded like that in his spot, and even more so that Singer is going with Stern to Sirius one way or another.
 
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