Stern update

Hmm. I didn't realize that Howard Stern had already made an appearance on Houston's airways at the time I blogged about his upcoming presence.

Radio listeners expecting their regular dose of business news on KIKK-AM (650) Wednesday morning got a jolt when shock jock Howard Stern temporarily took over the airwaves.

The controversial disc jockey, whose sexually explicit talk show was yanked from several stations for indecency, announced that he soon will be heard in Houston and eight other new markets.

Beginning July 19, Stern's polarizing show will be carried from sunup until 11 a.m. weekdays on the Houston station, which is switching to a "hot talk" format.

"You either really love him or are on the other end of the spectrum," said Bill Van Rysdam, director of programming for KIKK and KILT-AM (610), both owned by Infinity Broadcasting.

The switchboard at KIKK lit up during the hour and a half that Stern was on the air and most callers were not happy, Van Rysdam said.

No surprise there - those people tuned in expecting one thing and got another. They're not the intended audience.

Some Houstonians strongly disagree that Stern will draw a large number of listeners in the Bayou City.

"Certainly there's a niche for his lewd and raunchy behavior, but whether it's large enough to succeed in our staunchly conservative city remains to be seen," said conservative activist Richard Hotze.

May I just say that this is the dumbest, most self-deluded thing I've seen in print in a long time. Let me explain this to you slowly, Bubba: Houston has lots of strip clubs in it. Strippers and strip club customers are the core of the Stern audience. Simple, isn't it? If he fails to get ratings, it won't be because the demographic isn't there.

From the Department of Enormous Understatements:

Stern's talk show is like no other program in the Houston market, although it could affect the ratings of the Walton & Johnson morning show on KLOL-FM (101.1), which also attracts a large adult male following.

If there's any justice at all, Stern's arrival will cause Walton and Johnson to ooze their way right back under the rock from which they originally emerged. Here's a suggestion to the folks at KLOL: Play music in the mornings. You'll be better off.

Damn. This is going to be more fun than I thought.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on July 01, 2004 to Music | TrackBack