Howard Stern’s Sad, Predictable End Game
Former King of All Media stumbles to the finish line after glorious career
The King of All Media deserved a better fate, but he has only himself to blame.
Howard Stern’s dwindling radio empire will be reduced to one new episode a week following the Labor Day holiday. A show that once ruled terrestrial radio and revolutionized broadcasting is now an afterthought, a place holder for Stern reruns.
The news comes after Stern’s contentious contract squabble with SiriusXM last year. That resulted in a three-year deal with no announced price tag.
He’s earned a quasi-retirement, but he’s hardly going out on top. The Stern of the last decade bares little resemblance to the cutting-edge cad who made radio cool. He’s become a parody of his old self, betraying the principles that made him an industry legend.
The man whose celebrity feuds were the stuff of legends is now as safe as a bubble-wrapped hummel figurine.
He should have quit a long time ago.
He’s already a forgotten name in the media landscape, surpassed by a new generation of talkers – Joe Rogan, Alex Cooper, Charlamagne tha God and that “SmartLess” trio (Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett).
The old Stern would have declared war on the Rogans and Coopers who threaten his audio supremacy. This version would rather talk about chess.
The fire in his belly went out long ago, but that’s not the only reason for his shocking decline.
RELATED: SAYING GOODBYE TO KING OF ALL MEDIA
Let’s start with Stern’s famous free speech battles. The shock jock raged against the FCC in the 1990s, battered by indecency fines that threatened his ribald showcase.
He relished the fight, beating his chest and saying what pleased him whenever it pleased him. Come and take me off the air. He even made merch out of the free speech slugfest – the 1991 box set “Crucified by the FCC” featured unexpurgated Stern bits.
The new, not-so-improved Stern sat by as Cancel Culture ravaged comedy, forcing stand-ups to watch what they say, or else. Veteran comics like John Cleese, Bill Maher and Rob Schneider fought back while Stern kept a low profile.
He also said little about conservatives being chased off college campuses or otherwise silenced. The Twitter Files scandal? What’s that?
Would George Carlin have stayed quiet during these speech-chilling episodes?
Unlikely.
Stern even embraced the woke mind virus. while admitting he didn’t know the word’s meaning.
“And if woke means I can’t get behind Trump, which is what I think it means, or that I support people who want to be transgender or I’m for the vaccine, dude, call me woke as you f***ing want.”
The old Stern complained about married life, shredded egotistical stars and mocked sterile TV fare. He later divorced his longtime wife, Alison Stern, cozied up to A-listers like Jimmy Kimmel and became a judge on “America’s Got Talent,” the epitome of toothless TV.
Now, we didn’t want a 60-something Stern to keep throwing bologna slices at naked strippers. He still could have matured while maintaining his edge.
And then came a global pandemic. COVID-19 turned him into a germaphobe. He stopped socializing and hunkered down, hermit style, at home. He got the virus anyway.
Stern mostly avoided partisan bickering during his glory days, pinging from Left to Right depending on the cause. He was a fierce gun rights advocate who held socially liberal beliefs. He wasn’t easily pinned down, nor did he obsess over the latest Beltway business (except during his 1994 New York gubernatorial run).
Yet he eventually drifted to the far Left, hailing MSNBC as his beloved news network. And, when Democrats needed a milquetoast interviewer to lob softballs at President Joe Biden, Stern did as told.
Embarrassing barely describes that fawning Q&A. His similarly obsequious Hillary Clinton interview proved nearly as bad.
Some Hollywood stars wisely knew when to call it quits. Think Johnny Carson, who left “The Tonight Show” in 1992 while still atop the late-night pile.
Jerry Seinfeld pulled the plug on his eponymous sitcom after nine glorious seasons. No clunkers. Director John Hughes stopped making teen comedies after a monumental run including “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Sixteen Candles” and “The Breakfast Club.”
Stern, in sharp contrast, never saw how far he had fallen. Now, his remaining listeners can hear him live just one day a week.
Longtime fans may sample the endless reruns to remember why Stern once dubbed himself the King of All Media … and the nickname fit like a velvet glove.
Time’s up, Howie. Time to go home and play with your $100,00,000 toys.
At some point I hope Howard takes the time to call each and every person out LIVE on the air and confront them with this bull++++
All this slanted media reporting is enough
My Dad turned me on to Howard in the late 80s when I was a teenager. The Channel 9 show was the ultimate trigger that got me hooked. Living in suburban NJ, I listened through much of the 90s and 00s — took me through high school, college, and then commuting to a job, moving away from home, marriage, kids, etc. I remember going to see his movie in theaters probably 5 or 6 times, with different sets of friends each time. The mid to late 90s were probably the height of my enjoyment of the show.
I phased out listening shortly after Artie left. I think I was becoming more aware of how the show was overly formulaic and predictable. You could sense the over-planning and structure — and maybe it was always that way, but I started noticing it more and more. Things also just felt different — more sanitized, more mainstream, less edgy. I’ve tried to listen a few times since then, was just never the same.
I appreciate how he was able to earn such a fantastic living doing what he did, especially in the late 80s and 90s. He and his staff certainly contributed to shaping my own sense of humor. It’s sad what happened to him but as he used to say in his heyday during all the controversy surrounding his show — if you don’t like it, just switch the channel. I did just that a long time ago. I have tons of old tapes and clips and compilations from radio recordings from the 90s that I hope to go through in coming time.
oh this is too funny. didn’t we all want to listen the last time like last summer when all the stuff came out I think we’re at it again.
Stern became famous by getting women to take off their clothes…….on the radio. That is how dumb his supporters are.
While he used to rail against the “man,” but has now become the “man” is a sad state. His vulgar act will not be missed.
Even though he’s turned into a far left ideolog, I kept listening, giving him a pass on his anti freedom rants. The day he blubbered about free speech for Kimmel lying about the Kirk assassination I listened. I said to myself if he extends condolences and denounces murder, I’ll stick by him. He never did. i turned the station off for good.
Started listening to Howard way back in 1984 working as a mechanic. Had a small portable radio and listened when he was on afternoon from 1 to 4. Then moved to mornings, which was better. He’s been evolutionary in that he has changed over time, become more mellow and matured as an interviewer. He still does great interviews. Has he changed, yes, in a good way for some.
When he recently decided to not talk politics, he made a big mistake. It was great to hear him bash the orange s*** stain on a daily basis, but someone must have grabbed him and said he’s losing listeners due to this, so he stopped. In the past that would have not swayed him a bit. Now he is winding down his shows and to stay relevant, is down to one show a week. That might be it for me. Some of the older shows have Artie and Jackie in them, which is good. But most of the really good stuff will never be aired again. Way too ‘woke” for him now.
Its been a great ride.
I used to clean bathrooms in the ’80s and listened to him on my portable headset radio in the afternoons. Made work so much easier!
Here we go again. Same bull as last year when every single story that was all over the world turned out to be a complete fake and phony made a piece of junk.
Like a lot of so-called “free speech warriors” on the left, Stern really only cared about fighting for free speech when it affected his livelihood. He couldn’t care less if everyone else’s freedoms get trampled, as long it’s not his ox getting gored.
Someone needs to do a deep dive into what happened to a lot of these guys. Robert DeNiro, Mark Hamil, Jimmy Kimmel, Steven Cobert, Howard Stern, Zach de la Rocha, Steven King, Eminem, etc. What caused them to lose their manhood? Was it money? Do they have skeletons in their closets that has been used against them? What caused them to lose their minds and just rage against truth. Are they just that brainwashed?
Someone needs to do a documentary about this. Is it their wives that did it. One of the Coen Brothers is married to a lesbien and they are very open about it. Guess who went woke? The man married to a lesbien. Are these other guys married to lesbiens too?
It’s one thing to have an opinion about politics, but when you make it your life’s goal for over a decade, there has to be more to it. The documentary can be called I Married A Lesbian and All I Got Was Neutered.
LOL, I was just thinking how Stern’s constant shtick was getting girls to make out. (Not that there’s anything wrong with it)
It’s depressing seeing all these older performers who professed to be one thing all their lives, turn on a dime.