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Howard ignores warnings from clearchannel boss { February 26 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
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U-Redlands Daily Facts
Howard Stern ignores boss' warnings: Gets suspended
By Sandy Wells
Staff Writer
Thursday, February 26, 2004 - Clear Channel Communications, the nation's largest radio broadcasting corporation, announced yesterday they suspended Howard Stern's show from the six stations they run that carry the program including one in San Diego.
Howard Stern returned earlier this week (on KLSX-FM 97.1) from a week off. He was not only hoarse and irritable from a colonoscopy, but determined to ignore his boss' warnings to avoid questionable language and stunts or face immediate termination. During one rant about the loss of long time cast member "Stuttering'' John to Jay Leno's "Tonight Show'' for a $500,000 annual salary, Stern repeatedly uttered expletives, a caller used a derogatory word for African Americans and Stern referred to Leno as a "douche bag."
Infinity CEO Mel Karmazin, whose TV network, CBS, aired the breast reveal stunt during the Super Bowl half time show, was feeling the heat from a Senate panel and reportedly told all his station managers in a widely reported conference call to err on the side of caution.
Station programmers and talent should watch it now that FCC Chairman Michael Powell has abandoned kid gloves approach to broadcaster decency transgressions in favor of a potentially punitive investigation one that may lead to the imposition of fines so large that the mega-wealthy broadcasting industry could conceivably feel them.
If Stern, who issued a CD in the 1980s, "Crucified by the FCC,'' wants to end his radio career, and he often says he's tired of it, this might do the trick. Yet it was Stern, the bad boy of radio, whose immense success lifted Karmazin's fortunes and carried him to the lofty position and tremendous power he now enjoys.
Top-rated afternoon host Renan Almendarez Coello's crew stormed out of the KSCA-FM 101.9 ("La Nueva'') studio last Friday after cursing a blue streak in Spanish. A station spokesperson I reached last Friday wouldn't comment on the event, except to say, "stay tuned.''
Although I didn't hear it, a friend who's fluent in Spanish said it sounded very spontaneous and that the station suffered a spell of dead air after the talent walked out. Eventually, a board operator was rushed in to fill the remainder of the afternoon drive shift with music.
Renan built his reputation for bawdy humor as a morning host on KHJJ-AM 930 (now just KHJ) back in the '90s, later taking the show to unrivaled heights of ratings glory on KSCA, first in the morning, then later, the afternoon. Will KNX become 'KFI north'?
The signature Teletype background is gone from KNX-AM 1070. The Dodgers and the NFL now fill huge swaths of time on "Give us 22 minutes and we'll give you the world'' KFWB-AM 980. Come to think of it that slogan no longer precedes the three times an hour summary of news.
What has happened to news radio in Los Angeles? The answer is David G. Hall. He's the man Infinity Radio has hired away from Clear Channel to rev up the ratings on KNX and KFWB. Hall once programmed KFI-AM 640, the station that continues to hold a decisive lead in the news/talk ratings. In fact, for the first time since 1968, the Southland is without a dedicated all-news radio station.
KNX recently added two talk shows to its weekend schedule. Melinda Lee now serves up recipes and advice about cooking and food Saturdays and Sundays from 8 a.m. to noon, while Computer News with Jeff Levy follows on both days from noon until 3. (For Lee, it's a coming home of sorts. She once co-hosted KNX's daily "Food News Hour.'')
During the week, Dave Williams is now co-anchoring morning drive with KFI-AM 640 veteran Vicki Moore. Ex-AM drive announcer Linda Nunez joins Dave Zorn in the afternoon, while her former co-anchor Tom Haule moved from mornings to midday. Wil liams has a decidedly lighter take on the news and a more informal delivery style than his predecessor.
The former KABC- AM 790 talk show host is a strong choice to handle a busy schedule of telephone inter views with news makers every morning.
Does KNX's new sta tion IDs promoting it as the place to turn for "perspective,'' "answers'' and news "analysis'' point to more long form talk shows eventually arriving on weekdays? If so, it may mean that rather than revitalize the presentation of straight news, the man running the show on both Infinity stations, Hall has elected to develop a version of all the "spin'' and talking heads commentary we hear on talk sta tions and cable news networks.
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