popular thinking

THE END OF HOWARD STERN, PART TWO

Friday was “F the FCC” day in New York City (and radio outlets throughout America syndicating Howard Stern's final morning radio show). Among the things Stern said in his 25-minute speech to his faithful fans:
-- “If you didn’t give me the ratings, I couldn’t have accomplished any of this.”
-- “We RoboSpanked ourselves into history!”
-- “We’re going to go to a whole new universe.”
-- “Let the freedom bell be rung and let it be rung by a stripper!”

Lots of ‘ahs,’ little shock as Stern signs off (Boston Herald)
In the end, Howard Stern’s departure from so-called “terrestrial” radio sounded and looked a lot like the fond farewells of beloved TV sitcoms.
The mouth that roared for two decades of syndicated morning radio, including a decade locally on WBCN-FM (104.1), got mushy.
Stern and company spent their last four hours yesterday traveling down Nostalgia Lane. Old friends stopped by or called to say goodbye. And Stern’s family showed up for his final hour in the studio. His parents, his daughter Emily, his girlfriend, Beth, and his sister Ellen all offered kind words.
He included a few typical stunts, such as a matchmaking contest that paired a fan with a porn actress.
But Stern played more music than usual, even if it remained, as usual, all about Stern.
On one tune, Stern himself sang: “Radio will never be the same/I gotta go, but I won’t be far away.” Stern and his sidekicks will resurface next month on Sirius Satellite Radio, available to subscribers for about $13 per month.
Massachusetts rockers Staind performed live yesterday at an outdoor rally in Manhattan for Stern’s fans.
A Webcast by Yahoo! showed rally speeches about a half-hour ahead of the radio broadcast, so it was 9:35 a.m. (but 10 a.m. on WBCN) when Stern addressed his fans, proclaiming himself “the last of a dying breed” in radio.
“There will never be a radio show like this,” he said. “There will never be another audience like this.”
But Stern, who incurred millions in fines from the Federal Communications Commission over the years and got dropped last year by Clear Channel stations, promised to keep on fighting the FCC. Referring to his new Sirius fist logo, he said: “I want to ram that fist up Clear Channel Broadcasting. I want to ram that fist up the religious right.”
He also asked WXRK-FM manager Tom Chiusano to “torture David Lee Roth every day like you did me” when Roth takes over Stern’s time slot Jan. 3.
By 10:24 a.m., it was all over.
Fittingly, WBCN resumed local programming with “Over Now” by Alice in Chains.

Related: Howard Stern's official site.
Related: WBCN-FM (104.1) in Boston.