Life after Howard Stern

Howard Stern

Howard Stern fans, like me, know that last year he quit his job as the top morning radio program in the US. He is defecting to Sirus Satellite Radio, a subscription based digital radio broadcaster. This will allow Howard to get out from the jurisdiction of the FCC and be as raunchy as he wants to be. He has been working under contract for Infinity Radio, part of the media giant Viacom, for years.

Infinity has been trying to figure out what to replace Stern's morning slot with. He was their biggest star. His show is consistently the ratings winner in all the major US metropolitan markets. His defection has been a big blow to Infinity. To their credit, they are doing something smart, which is why I bring this up in my blog. It is not often that I see one of the US media giants doing something that I think is smart.

Rather than try to replace Howard Stern in all his previous markets. They have opted to tap multiple personalities to fill in for different markets around the country. They have given the two top markets, New York City and Los Angeles to David Lee Roth, former lead singer for the 70's-80's rock band Van Halen. This is smart because rather than trying to find a magic bullet to replace Howard, the are casting their net wide and letting new talent build an audience. They know that are going to take a beating. So they might as well use the farm teams to find the next Howard Stern somewhere out there in the US. They are spreading their bets, which will pay off in the long run. Just hope that they can recognize true talent when it shows up.

'Diamond' David Lee Roth

Personally, I don't think that David Lee Roth is going to cut the mustard. He is a has-been. A relic from the 80's. And a general all around asshole. He can't fill Howard's shoes because the appeal of Howard was that he was a nobody, looser that could never get the girl. Howard looks and act like a freak show. He is able to get strippers and porn stars on his show and flirt with them shamelessly. But he never got anywhere with them. At the end of the show, he would always go home to his wife. That was his gimmick.

Diamond Dave, on the other hand, was the hard partying lead man for one of the most successful rock bands in the 70's and 80's. He had everything. Girls, money, drugs, adoring fans. He doesn't have it any more. He is now working as an ambulance EMT in New York City.