NY Post - "STERN EYES FREE RADIO" (1 Viewer)

[Jeff Gatie]

http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/63508.htm


What a rag the Post is. Quoting Stern via the O&A show is like quoting George Bush via Ted Kennedy. Anyone who heard the show in question would know the "them" he was referring to is CBS and Les Moonves, not O&A. He didn't even mention O&A. Once again the "Love me daddy!" syndrome causes them to inject themselves into a story.

Also, he said repeatedly he never wants to go back to terrestrial. Now we all know what "never" means, but these quotes are way out of context.

 

[Brent T]

Yeah the only times I have heard him mention OnA was when all the crap went down and he never said a bad thing about them and did wish them luck. Seems everything gets twisted around when Sterny talks.

I just dont get why they do mention him so often. I have tuned in twice so far to check OnA out and one time they were doing Gay Chicken (old and tired bit from about 10 years ago on Stern) and this stuff... I just havent found them to be amusing at all.

 

[dailW]

i've been reading some stories about this. it happened last thursday and he said it in passing now its full blown story. he wont go back the show too good to have it chopped up.but then again if we had an edited version were they took out bob levy and sal talking now theres a show.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

He made a statement to an AP reporter this morning that clarified the story. He said on no uncertain terms that it was three terrestrial radio companies who contacted him, not the other way around, and he said he turned them down flat. The reporter asked why he didn't want to go back to terrestrial, where he could go up against his "rivals" O&A and Howard replied that O&A had to return to Free FM, he did not, because he had his contract and he's already paid for himself with subscriptions. He also said that he did not want to let down his Sirius customers by going back to an essentially censored, watered down, 22 commercial minutes an hour format, just so it would be able to air on terrestrial.

 

[Jeff#]

Opie & Anthony are clearly jealous of Stern's success and they are just giving their own take to cover their asses. It makes me glad I don't subscribe to XM.

The Sirius version of The Howard Stern Show, other than having some uncensored profanity and reports from the Howard 100 news team, it really isn't any different from when he was on FM broadcast radio. One major addition are the occasional comedy roasts, which feature lots of comics heard on the Raw Dog channel (Sirius 104). Starting in late January and airing approximately once a month as a big part of an otherwise regular show, the roastees have included Ralph Cirella, Ronnie Mund, and Daniel Carver a.k.a. the KKK Guy. Artie Lange will be roasted on June 8, and he's preparing his jokes right now. Don't miss it!

 

[Ronald Epstein]

According to what is being discussed at this moment...

This story is total bullshit. Opie and Anthony are talking
about it as we speak.

According to all the radio sources that were investigated by
O&A and the station they worked for, Nobody contacted
Stern with a deal to come back to Terrestrial radio.

The truth of the matter, according to O&A, is that Howard is
extremely jealous of the deal that O&A were offered.

Furthermore, it is certainly not making Howard happy that O&A
are sitting in the very chair that he once sat in, broadcasting to
an audience that is potentially mega times larger than his.

In fact, Howard Stern's audience is so small compared to O&A
that Howard is reportedly having problems booking some big-name
guests that have been and will be appearing on O&A's show, one
of which is Richard Dreyfuss.

This was simply an attempt for Howard Stern to get some press.
Now in case O&A are completely wrong about all this, they are
pleading with Howard to name exactly WHO made an offer to him.
Since Howard is not taking the deal, it should be no problem naming
the contacts. Thus far, Howard has refused to comment when asked
this very question.

I'm not here to start another Howard vs. O&A banter. I am simply
giving you the other side of the story as it is being discussed on XM
radio at this very minute.

You can believe what you want - it makes no difference to me
personally. All that has been said time and time again is that
Howard Stern has been making life difficult for O&A for the past
10 years. This includes constant crying to Mel and the issuing of
gag orders simply because he can't take a joke (the same kind of
humor he throws at others) and finds his overly-large ego being
challenged.

This has got to be bothering Stern that O&A are sitting at his
old job, getting huge amounts of positive press, and enjoying a
potentially HUGE audience that Stern may never be able to recapture.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

And the spin goes on...

Ron, the only thing I ask you is if one of your "coworkers", who supposedly was trying to be "on the same team" as you, started a rumor that your minor daughter was in the hospital because of a drug overdose, would you call it a "joke"? Let's admit that there was dirty pool on both sides and stop with the "Howard Stern has been making life difficult for O&A for the past
10 years" BS. We both know that Howard barely, if ever, talks about O&A. Matter of fact, after the CBS deal, he took about 2 minutes to wish them good luck and hope they'd do well.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Jeff, though I am in agreement that starting such a rumor would
be dirty pool, I have not heard of such a prank being started by O&A.
If it is true, was this the event that started the war or has been
just another stepping stone in the escalation from both sides?

For instance, I heard that Howard Stern was going to expose dirty
facts about Anthony's divorce on the radio at one point. If this is
true, that's a hit below the belt because it's a personal issue that
doesn't need to be discussed.

From the soundbytes O&A have been playing this past week,
I'd say that Howard has been talking about them more than you
might realize.

 

[Jeff#]

Howard has had very little to say about Opie & Anthony, and he hasn't said anything about Anthony's divorce. But even if he did, that wouldn't be a big deal because he discusses celebrity hookups and breakups all the time. The way this works is those jealous of Stern's success trash him, and that opens the door for Howard to return fire.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Ron, the "war" was always inside O&A's head. From 'AAF on, their plan was to gain exposure by baiting Howard into talking about them, and it has never worked. The story about the overdose is true, I was listening to them back then and heard it. They even had a fake interview with a security guard at the hospital. They never mentioned Howard by name, but they did hint that the minor's first name was "Emily" (duh). This, coming right after the time they revealed a secret outdoor concert event of Howard's, was the last straw that led to the gag order. I am not "drinking the kool-aid" on this one, because Howard never talked about it. I heard what I heard.

As far as revealing things about the divorce, Howard never did it. He gagged them instead because an escalation was no good for both parties, given they both worked for Viacom and especially given Stern's long time protective attitude towards his daughters. As I said, I listened to both shows back then and like the "Mayor Menino is dead" gag, I felt O&A went a little too far.

Also, O&A were never mentioned in yesterday's discussion of the move back to FM; the "them" in the quote was CBS and Les Moonves, and if O&A had played/read the entire quote, that would be clear. He didn't even take the bait this morning when the reporter mentioned O&A, only saying that he felt they needed to go back to FM in order to get a larger audience.

Honestly, I listen to every minute of every Stern show via recording on my S50. As others who do the same have posted, he simply does not talk about O&A. Even after O&A announced what they consider to be the biggest move in radio since Marconi picked up a soldering iron, all Stern said was "Good luck to them, I hope they do well." This is par for the course because Stern never talked about them because he was/is not willing to give them the airtime they crave. As far as the "jealosy" and other feelings, I tend not to believe what other biased parties assume about an individual's feelings, especially if they contradict what the person himself says.

 

[dailW]

ron continue to drink the O&A cool aid. try the tropical punch.there rival now is whoopi.maybe in there second hour they can play what she says then they have the rest of the show to listen to howard to see what time he goes off the air each day.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Jeff,

Let's just say that neither of us are in agreement upon
each other's opinion. What I reported above was not stated
as fact, and I was careful to word it in that regard. I also
don't believe what you posted to be factual, either.

The real truth may never be known since neither you nor
I were personally privy to the original conversations. What we
have heard is simply the retelling of the situations by two sides
that obviously have different truths pertaining to what really
happened.

....and O&A were playing recent soundbytes this week of Howard
talking about their move to FM.

And Dail, I'd be a little more responsive to your opinion if I
could actually understand what you actually wrote in that
above post.

 

[Chris]

Since I don't listen to either and don't care to start, I'll be commenting only on the business end.

Look, the reality is, right now the free radio market is adrift with power players who are trying to advance their status on terrestrial radio. As a result, a lot of people are being approached with offers. The assertion that "hey, no one approached Stern" is kind of ridiculous. People like Jim Breuer, Gay Radio hosts Derek & Romaine, and others have all been approached to do a terrestrial radio version.

The terrestrial radio world has lost a few big names in the last year; not just Stern, but now hosts like Phil Hendrie, and it appears as though soon a few other names will be leaving.

As a result, there is a marketplace void to fill, and ownership groups have made an effort to recruit back talent.

Any assertion by anyone that "so & so has never been approached' is kind of ridiculous; especially in the light of the fact that in a shareholders meeting it was confirmed that people had asked about co-opting programming to which SIRIUS refused to do so. If that's all a ruse to get at O&A, then it's a ruse that would be a SEC violation - which makes the claim it's all bogus seem, well, bogus.

I'm glad you like O&A, Ron, and I'm sure they bring you enjoyment. But as an investor, all of their bragging about a deal with terrestrial radio, combined with bandwidth concerns and channel changes at XM, as well as lower customer acquisition rates for XM and the loss of exclusives like NASCAR at the end of the year... how does this bode at all well for XM?

I mean, put aside the O&A vs. Stern. I get it that it works for some people, but just worry about the business. O&A bragging about being back on Terrestrial radio benefits XM... how?

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Ron, unlike you, I actually heard the show(s) in question, not a "retelling". O&A did do the overdose bit, I heard it. I also heard Howard's rant about revealing the concert, as well as the O&A show that revealed it. I also heard the full Howard quotes about a "move to FM" and aside from saying saying this morning that O&A "had to move back to Free FM to gain an audience, since they only sold 13000 premium subscriptions at XM" and saying "good luck to them" etc. right after the move, he has not mentioned them.

We can agree to disagree, but I have not called you "unfactual" and believe everything you say you heard via O&A. Please offer me the same courtesy when I say what I heard, including the "dirty pool" overdose bit that O&A pulled to get themselves gagged. Of course, I'll admit it is my opinion that this was the reason for the gag, but I think you and I agree this is a distinct possibility.

PS, Ron, if you are really interested in hearing both sides, I can rip the Howard audio of the quotes that apply to an MP3 and send them to you. You have my E-mail, feel free to ask. I'm not here to argue, just to clear up a few things and hearing both sides can sometimes do that.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Jeff,

I would be interested in hearing the audio, thanks.

I never accused you alone of being "unfactual" .... I was
simply stating that none of what you and I have heard can
truly be stated as "factual" since there are two sides of a
story being told by two different parties -- and none of us
here were privy to the events that actually happened.


It benefits XM greatly. XM gets mentioned on the FM show daily.
That's advertising. Additionally, people who become fans of O&A
through that show are going to consider migrating over to XM radio
for an "uncensored" version of the show, and an additional 2 hours
of show that is exclusive to XM radio.

It's a win-win situation.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Can't PM you Ron. Send me an E-mail and I'll try to find it, rip it and send it in the next couple of days (work is tough nowadays).

 

[Jeff Gatie]

That's fine Ron, but the only conclusions you can take from my stating that I heard O&A do the overdose bit is that I am (1) Lying (2) Mistaken or (3) Telling the Truth. Given that I am not telling you what Howard says about the bit, but what I actually heard from O&A, which one is it?

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Jeff,

I believe you heard the overdose bid. Heck, I have heard
O&A recently broadcasting bits of Stern's daughter doing a
Broadway show and parodying her using the words, "my vagina."

What I question regarding the overdose bit is whether that
was what started the war, or merely a response to something
Stern started.

I'll be in touch email, Jeff.

Thanks!

 

[Jed M]

As somebody who doesn't care for either show, I find it funny that people are arguing over which one has more ethics. These guys are as low as they come and to get upset that O&A played a cruel prank on Stern is beyond hypocritical. Stern has skewered people like Yoko Ono and Kathy Lee Gifford for years, including her kids and even making fun of her miscarriage and you guys get all ruffled up over somebody dishing it back? O&A aren't any better. All of these guys are the most unethical degenerates on the face of the earth. I hope the continue to rip into each others personal lives because at least they all truly deserve it.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Although I mostly agree with you, Stern never picked on Kathy Lee's kids. He was always very sympathetic towards the kids and crucified their mother for putting her little kids on stage for her own financial benefit. He always said it was cruel to include your kids in your own notoriety, something he fiercely avoided with his own daughters (hence the gag order). As far as a miscarriage is concerned, the only one I ever heard Stern mention is his own wife's, a thing (the only thing actually) he later regretted saying.