I disagree with all premises set forth.
Barack Obama is a Nobel Prize winner. And John McCain never won one of those. Howard Stern gets better ratings than John McCain and Rush Limbaugh combined.
Instead of posting a link to a useless irrelevant article, I will now just paste it.
Howard Allen Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American radio personality who has hosted
The Howard Stern Show on
Sirius XM, an uncensored
satellite radio service, since 2006. He gained national recognition in the 1990s while on
terrestrial airwaves, and is known as a "
shock jock" for his outspoken and controversial shows. Stern is the highest-paid radio figure in the United States.
[1] He is also the most fined,
[2] following a
history with the
Federal Communications Commission over indecency from 1986 to 2005.
Stern wished for a radio career at the age of five. While attending
Boston University in 1975, he co-hosted a comedy program at the campus station,
WTBU. He made his professional debut at
WNTN in
Newton, Massachusetts that year. In 1977, he gained on-air and managerial experience for two years at
WRNW in
Briarcliff Manor, New York. He showed a more open personality throughout 1979 and 1980 in mornings at
WCCC in
Hartford, Connecticut and
WWWW in
Detroit. In 1981, he paired with his news reader
Robin Quivers at
WWDC in
Washington, D.C. to host the morning shift. In the following year, Stern worked afternoons at
WNBC in
New York City, where differences with management led to his firing in 1985. He was rehired at
WXRK for the next 20 years before leaving for Sirius in 2005. During this time, Stern would attract a peak audience of around 20 million across 60
markets in the United States and
Canada.
Stern describes himself as the "King of All Media" for his successes outside radio. Since 1987, his television career has included several
late night shows and
pay-per-view specials. He is the author of
Private Parts (1993) and
Miss America (1995), which spent a combined 36 weeks on
The New York Times Best Seller list.
[3] The former was made into a biographical comedy
film in 1997, starring Stern and some of his radio show
staff as themselves. The film grossed over $41 million in the United States alone.
Early life and education
Howard Stern was born on January 12, 1954, in New York City, to a
Jewish American family (his
Hebrew name is "Tzvi").
[4][5] His parents Ben and Ray (n?e Schiffman) are children of
Austro-Hungarian immigrants. Ellen, his elder sister of four years, is described by Stern as "completely opposite" though they maintain a good relationship.
[6] Five months after Stern's birth, the family moved to the suburban area of
Roosevelt on
Long Island.
[7]
Stern's interest in radio began when he was five years old.
[8] While Ray was a
homemaker for most of his childhood,
[9][10] Ben was a co-owner of Aura Recording, Inc., a recording studio in
Manhattan where cartoons and commercials were produced. When he would occasionally work with his father, Stern met the likes of
Wally Cox,
Don Adams and
Larry Storch who were the voices of his favourite cartoon characters.
[11] Such visits influenced him to be on the radio to talk, rather than play records. Ben was also an engineer at
WHOM, an AM radio station in Manhattan,
[12] where its FM
sister station became
WXRK in 1985. Stern would broadcast for over 20 years in his career at the station.
Stern attended Washington Rose Elementary School until the end of sixth grade,
[13] followed by
Roosevelt Junior-Senior High School, where at the end of the 1968-69 academic year more than three-quarters of Roosevelt's four-thousand school children were African American.
[14] Stern later published his experiences, describing the abuse and beatings he received from black students.
[15] In June 1969, the family moved to nearby
Rockville Centre, where Stern transferred to
South Side High School and graduated in the spring of 1972.
Having turned down an acceptance at
Elmira College in upstate New York, Stern attended
Boston University in the fall 1972 for its reputation in broadcast communications.
[16] He spent the first two years at the College of Basic Studies. In 1973, he read the news, spun records and hosted interviews at the campus radio station,
WTBU.
[17] Stern also put on a comedy show with three elder students called the
King Schmaltz Bagel Hour.
[18] The four were fired during the first broadcast for a sketch called "Godzilla Goes to Harlem", though it continued for a further nine weeks after being reinstated.
[16] In the fall of 1974, Stern gained admission to the School of Public Communications;
[16] earning a first class FCC license the following July.
[19] He gained professional experience as a newscaster, producer and air personality at
WNTN in
Newton, Massachusetts from August to December 1975.
[20][21] He graduated
magna cum laude in May 1976 with a bachelor's degree, carrying a 3.8
Grade Point Average,
[18][17] and now funds a
scholarship at the university.
[22]
[edit] Career
See also:
The Howard Stern Show,
Howard Stern television shows, and
Howard Stern videography and discography
[edit] Early professional radio career (1977–1981)
Among the radio stations Stern contacted after graduating was
WRNW, a
progressive rock station in the small village of
Briarcliff Manor in
Westchester County, New York. The general manager praised his audition tape, but Stern rejected offers to work. He became unsure of his potential, and questioned his future in the industry. He then took a marketing position at
Benton & Bowles, a New York advertising agency, followed by a job in radio advertising.
[17] Stern was contacted by the station a second time, agreeing to work a shift on December 25, 1976.
[21] He was hired full-time on May 12, 1977,
[23] working a six-day midday shift for four hours, for
USD$96 a week before taxes.
[21] While retaining his air shift, Stern became the station's
program director that November, for an increased salary of $12,000.
[20][24] Steering the station towards
soft rock, Stern aimed for a definite sound. "We want people to turn on and know right away, 'that's WRNW, that's my station, I like it'", he told
The New York Times in 1978.
[24]
In early 1979, Stern spotted an advertisement in
Radio & Records for a "wild, fun morning guy" at
WCCC, a rock station in
Hartford, Connecticut.
[25] He showcased a more confident audition tape, performing flatulence routines, one-liners and played records by
Robert Klein and
Cheech and Chong. He was hired in the spring with no change in salary, but a busier schedule. After a four-hour air shift, he voiced and produced commercials for another four. On Saturdays, after six hours on the air, he did production work for the next three. As the
public affairs director, he hosted a talk show on Sunday mornings without music, which he favoured.
[25] In the summer of the
1979 energy crisis, Stern began a two-day boycott of
Shell Oil Company. The station backed Stern, and the two made national news.
[25] Fred Norris, the overnight disc jockey at the time, went on to be Stern's show producer and writer as of 1981. In the
Arbitron ratings survey covering October–November 1979, an increase in Stern's listeners (to a 3.2% share of the listening audience) help pull WCCC ahead of rival station
WHCN.
[26] In March 1980, Stern left the station after being denied a $25 weekly increase in pay.
[25][27]
Stern's audition tape for a morning spot at
WWWW, a rock station in
Detroit, Michigan, was well-received by management. Accepting a $30,000 salary, Stern made his d?but on April 21, 1980.
[28][18] Stern improved his confidence, learning to become more open on the air. "I decided to cut down the barriers ... strip down all the ego ... and be totally honest", he later told
Newsday.
[29] He began getting noticed in the industry, having won a
Billboard Award for "
Album-Oriented Rock Personality of the Year For a Major Market",
[30] the
Drake-Chenault "Top Five Talent Search"
[31] and a Michigan Rock Award for "Announcer of the Year".
[32] The station however, was losing popularity to strengthening competition. Arbitron figures released in January 1981 showed
WLLZ, the city's fourth rock station that emerged in August, shot to a 4.6% market share, while Stern slipped from 3% to 1.6%.
[29] On January 18, 1981, WWWW switched to a more successful
country music format. Much to Stern's dislike, he left the station soon after.
