| The Stern Show - Wednesday, September 19, 2001 |
Stern: ... Radio has this weird thing of like it's a sheep mentality. I know the day that I leave radio, which can be anywhere within the next four years, maybe even tomorrow, 'cause I'm getting fed up with the constant bull. And I won't go in to it because Tom told me not to and he's probably thinking more rationally and clearly than I am at this point, 'cause I don't think rationally.
Robin: You're emotional.
Stern: I'm an emotional guy, I am. ... |
| Stern: "It's almost over, and I haven't been re-signed by this company." |
Clear Channel to pick up Stern? RadioDigest.com
ADA is not waiting with baited breath. Our work will continue whether Stern sticks
with his crony Karmazin or looks for another chance with Clear Channel. |
| Stern discusses his future with CBS - |
Stern: Ya know I'm planning the last show. And I'm assuming I'm going to be out of here very soon. There's an article in the paper today (New York Post). It's a little harsh actually.
Robin: What does it say?
Stern: It says I'm almost out the door. I'll read it to you. They're not right about that.
It says "Stern - sniff - is down in the dumps with no contract." . The article leads people to believe I'm angry somehow with the company. I am not. I understand this is a business matter. Company thinks I'm worth X number of money. They've got to make a decision. I think I'm worth a certain amount of money. Look I feel this way. I'm very loyal to this company. I love this company very much. I came here when I was at NBC. NBC was not a good situation for me. I came to work because of one guy Mel Karmazin -runs the company. He was a lot smaller. Mel and I hung out every day together. We checked in with each other every day. And, together, I feel built this company. I don't care what anyone tells me. I know I built it with him. I was responsible for a huge part of the financial success. I feel I've been paid a fair wage. I'm not saying no. . I just want to say that I believe there are a lot of people in this company who became multimillionaires - much richer than me - off of my success. .. I'm a salaried guy. No one ever came to me during the huge boom when this company bought CBS. No one ever came to me and said we're going to set you up, man. Just the way we set everyone else up. And that's okay. I understand that. I signed a contract and that's what I'm worth. But there is this matter of a contract. And, I'm weighing it out heavily. I just want to make sure that if the company is successful but that I somehow participate in it. . Listen I've just got to figure this out and Mel's got to figure it out. And not only Mel but he's got to figure it out for the stockholders. And everyone's got to sit down with a clear head and figure out really what can be worked out. .. I'm letting the chips fall where they may. If I'm out - I'm out. I will go. I have other things that I want to do with my life. It's been a tough year for me with my family. It's been a tough year. I understand. I would like to continue in radio. I love it. I do. All said and done. There are mornings I can't stand getting out of bed. It's hard. Last week I wanted to stay up late. But that's anybody who works. You love and you hate your job. All at the same time.
Robin: But once you're up.
Stern: But once you're up. ...
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| Stern discusses whether he will be leaving CBS or not -- |
Stern: ... the contract is up in December. I'm hoping that some - I guess I'm looking for some kind of reward. I don't know what I'm looking for but ah I ... November 11, 2000
Robin: Well are you gone from TV if ah
Stern: I'll certainly be gone from the syndicated show. I believe E would maintain me. ...
I have a lot of ideas about what I want to do. This will not be the end of Howard Stern. It will just be a different Howard Stern. ... So if I'm not here it's a beginning. Of something new. A new Howard Stern. ... |
| Stern says CBS Saturday night show renewed for third year because he was willing to take a pay cut |
Stern: We're the only guys who have a syndicated show in its
third season. This year alone they forced me to take a huge pay cut - to cut me back.
Robin: Ha.Ha.Ha.
Stern: I don't know how that works.
Robin: We'll soon be paying them.
Stern: Because I'm so g--d-- proud - that I'm the guy that'll put on
stuff that - I don't care - I'm puttin' stuff on - whether it's
commercially viable or not. I could do a Rosey type show. I probably should because then I'd have Oprah money.
Caller: You takin' a pay cut on your syndicated show?
Stern: Yeah. Big one. Big hunk, man. .. I know Jackie thinks I lie about this stuff ... It's a disaster. We're the ones who get hit up. We're not renewing unless you take a pay cut. ...
October 5, 2000 |
| Stern: Setting his listeners up? |
Stern: You know what I heard about you? I heard on the movie set you get full massage. Even your genitalia. Like Happy Ending. That's what I heard. That's the rumor going around.
Arnold Swartzenaeger: What can I tell you? ... It's exactly this kind of talk that I will miss when you don't sign your contract. That's all I can tell you.
Stern: Let me tell you Arnold as you know. December 15th is my last show.
Swartzenaeger: I know it's your last show. That's what I'm saying. It was this kind of sense of humor that you always displayed on the show ... a little sexy talk and stuff like that I'm going to miss. I was saying to my assistant the other day that - are you really telling me that this is going to be the last time I'm on Howard Stern?
Stern: Well if it is - and there is a very good possibility it will be, I want to thank you for the years of calling in. You're a superstar you don't have to call in here. .. |
October 12, 2000 - Stern frosted that the Louisville station broadcasting his program has been airing advertisements for a competing morning show while his program is playing --
ADA COMMENTS FOLLOWING "THE SMOKE". |
Stern: I don't know anything about Clear Channel and their policies but I would imagine that we are probably on a lot of the stations. Unless they are looking to get rid of us. ... It could be that it's cheaper to hire these guys so what they do is try to -
Robin: Build them up.
Stern: Build them up and then get rid of us. That's what it seems like to me.
Robin: Develop them and boot us out of town.
Stern: Yeah. That seems to be the general trend. ... Why sabotage your own people? ... It's got to be some evil plot against us. I can't imagine that it's someone pulling for us. This just doesn't make sense to me as a human being - let alone a radio guy for over 20 years. ... Believe me Tom (Stern's boss) has sabotaged this show more than any guy I know on the planet. ... Tom doesn't go to bat for anything. He doesn't fight ... for the integrity of the show. He doesn't fight for anything. Never tries to figure out the whole censorship thing. Where it's getting crazy. ... Stern: Most of the guys in this company are coasting. The sales department works really hard. They're actually the guys that have their a-- on the line.
Robin: Yeah Bucky looks like he's going to have a heart attack.
Stern associate: Howard, those dudes are getting hammered lately. I mean they are so downtrodden. They all come in and say "Ah, we're working so hard. Oh my G--."
Stern: Yeah, they're working hard. Because the market is set to work against itself. ... Please I have a million theories on it. ... Of course, they're working hard. It's the same format. My show is the same as all the other shows on the other stations. So you got to compete there against yourself for advertising dollars.
Robin: When the guys who put on the programming decided all the programming should be the same, how do you sell?
Stern: There's nothing original. There's no risk taking. They're all afraid of FCC and everything else so they do whatever has been done already. Oh please. The radio business has changed. The radio business is a g-- d---- mess. I mean it really is. And they don't really understand how they are ruining it. But I see the big picture. I see what's happening. You got to have diversity in programming. Imagine being a car salesman and all the cars are exactly the same.
Robin: Yeah. What difference is it what dealership you go to.
Stern: How do you sell? How does a sales guy handle this? And how does a salesperson handle this when in Louisville they're running promos for another morning show. I mean that's unheard of.
Robin: Guys running promos for another station.
Stern: How do the guys on my station in Louisville feel like we have something to protect? It's insanity. And no one talks about it because everyone's afraid of losing their jobs. Personally I could care less. If they take me out of radio tomorrow. I ain't going to be crying. It's such a nutty a-- business. It's just a suck up crummy business. It's changed. It's just gotten absurd. But, the sales department here works very hard. .... We're the product. We're what you put out on the air. And you've got to be very protective of it like a vicious attack dog. ...
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| Stern's station (K-ROCK) no longer plays his program in the background for telephone callers to listen in when they are on hold. |
| Howard discovered that his station doesn't play his show when you call in and are put on hold. He figured it's so sponsors don't get offended when they call in and hear a portion of his show, but he's EXPLETIVE anyway. He feels that the station thinks he's an embarrassment so he set out to change that. RADIODIGEST.COM - 05.08 |
| April 3, 2000: Stern discusses a recent article in the New York Post that suggests that Stern is not making as much money as he should be. The article claims that Stern's recent whining is all about Stern bargaining for more money. New York Post |
Stern: By the way let me tell you something. I swear on the life of my children. I am not making noise about leaving radio so I can get more money.
Robin: You don't do this every time you have a negotiation either.
Stern: No. I'm telling you. I don't see what the expletive I'm doing getting up so expletive early in the morning. Life is passing me by. That's all. I swear it has nothing to do with the negotiation. .... |
| Is Stern setting himself up for a departure? |
Stern: Yesterday - now it's a 100 degrees in here. But I'd rather it be a hundred than freezing.
Robin: You know I was about to get a coat because it was like such cold air blowing.
Stern: But then I like called Scott. Just give me a little wamth. Now we're up to - gotta be ninety.
Robin: The mix is never right.
Stern: It's really not Scott's fault. It's that the lights are too low on the ceiling and I talked to a very important person here in the company
and he informs me that the floor above us is available. They could move these lights in two seconds but seeing as how I only have a year left why should they bother doing it.
Robin: But how long have we been sweltering?
Stern: That's what I'm saying. I mean come on. A year or three weeks. I'm dieing here. ... I'm crumbling let everybody else in the company work in this kind of heat. And then cold. Then the cold starts blowing on ya.
Robin: Yeah. We never have a good temperature. It's either freezing or we're on the equator.
Stern: Now I feel some cold air blowing on me so I'm going to be freezing in a minute. February 10, 2000 |
| Howard Hanging It Up? |
| "I have a couple of months left on my contract, and I don't know what I want to do," Stern said during a press conference . |
Stern setting his fans up. Below he mentions the FCC. What a joke! When was the last time you heard that the FCC fined Stern?
Theatrical Stern at his best. "Oh the difficulty. Oh it's too difficult to bear." All the pressures. Stern withdraw? If he retires, it won't be because of the FCC or "Tom". |
Stern: For some reason, I'm treated. For some reason, and I've never figured it out, I am treated differently than everybody. The FCC treats me - there are guys on the air doing stuff fifty times worse than me, I can't even open up my mouth anymore.
Robin: And they never hear from the FCC.
Stern: I got an idiot censor sitting here who's trying every minute to rein me in. I got - I go on the air and talk about my life and I talk about some of the projects I'm producing. Right away everyone gets nervous. I'm getting something for nothing. I'm getting something for free. Listen. I don't need any of this any more. I don't even want to be here. Don't drive me a way.
This guy Tom is insane. He's running commercials. He's making money. Shut the F up. SHUT UP. You can see I'm cracking. Read the situation.
Robin: Tom will never notice.
Stern: Tom doesn't even know what's going on with me. He has no idea I have one foot out the door.
Gary: Well, there really is a lot of speculation.
Stern: Trust me. It's all true. ... February 16, 2000 |
