CURSES FOILED AGAIN FOR STERN
By DON KAPLAN
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January 23, 2006 -- Howard Stern may be coming down with a Sirius case of the bleeps.
High-level executives of the satellite broadcaster are developing an internal standards-and-practices document that will set boundaries for Stern and other shock jocks, The Post has learned.
“It’s something that’s being taken very seriously," a Sirius source said.
Stern's new show also is being broadcast on a time-delay, giving him the opportunity to censor the program — which he already has done.
Stern moved to Sirius in part because satellite-radio services such as Sirius and XM — unlike free terrestrial radio — are not policed by the FCC, which spent years waging an indecency war against him.
The battle resulted in big-bucks fines against Stern and his former employers at Viacom.
XM, which is now home to shock jocks Opie and Anthony, confirmed that it has had its own guidelines in place for some time, but declined to provide details.
The standards of the private satellite broadcasters can be far looser than those imposed by the FCC on the public airways.
Sirius' move toward self-censorship comes as pressure continues to mount in Congress to regulate programming on cable and satellite radio and TV.
For years, cable executives have resisted government threats of regulation, claiming that self-policing has been sufficient.
It's a move satellite radio seems to be getting ready to emulate.
But even with Stern safely out of the FCC's reach, his foes, including self-appointed anti-obscenity crusaders like John B. Thompson, argue that other government agencies should take up the cause.
"The DOJ [Department of Justice] now has the chance to make amends for its laxity during Stern's criminal conduct on terrestrial radio for 25 years," the Florida lawyer wrote to Bruce Taylor, who oversees the DOJ's Criminal Division in a Jan. 9 letter obtained by The Post. Meanwhile, Stern himself has asked for some restraint on his show, encouraging his staff not to use profanity too often.
On one occasion last week, Stern even "dumped" out a minor bit of his own broadcast to protect the identity of a staff member's family.
On Stern's old show, the dump switch was controlled by station officials, who frequently bleeped out racy material.
It's not clear whether Stern knew he'd be subject to any limitations when he signed on with Sirius, which is paying him about $100 million a year.
He also was awarded $220 million in stock after the company reported that it had signed up more than 3 million new subscribers, boosting its total to 3.3 million. XM has more than 6 million subscribers.
Sirius officials did not return calls for comment on the proposal.
The imposition of loose standards is not likely to put much of a dent into Stern's free-for-all broadcasts or scare off any of his advertisers, an expert said.
"I believe this is just an attempt to put things in place if and when [the government] turns up the heat on satellite radio, much like it has with cable from time to time," said Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University.
"In the end, it won't mean much to the average listener or advertiser."
Advertisers are paying less for Stern's spots on Sirius than they did for his show on traditional radio — especially since there is no way to verify how many Sirius subscribers are tuning in to his show.
Sources said it may be as little as half of the $20,000 per 30-second spot that had been floated when he signed up.
don.kaplan@nypost.com
