By Frank “Smokin” Truatt
It happened last week. It seemed like only yesterday that one of radio’s innovators was creating havoc on the radio as an inexperienced new addition to New York City radio. Love him, or hate him, Howard Stern was making a name for himself with his unique style of broadcasting on WNBC in 1982. Many thought that his often crossing-the-FCC-line of broadcasting wouldn’t last. That young man last week turned 70 years old and is still on the radio! I was lucky enough to hear Howard do his afternoon show on WNBC from the beginning. In those early days Howard would tell stories, play pre-recorded bits, and of course play music as well. At that point in history, he was far different from anything else I heard on the radio. His shock radio style was, at times, controversial, but what also happened on the air was hilarious. His continuing success, I believe, is due to the people he has surrounded himself with throughout the years, primarily Robin Quivers who has always been there to try to balance things out.
He gained more attention from becoming the most fined radio host costing station owners $2.5 million in FCC fines, however in 2005, Stern left terrestrial radio to join Sirius satellite radio, who paid him $100 million a year to take over a channel on their network. It also ended his battle with the FCC since satellite radio is not regulated by the federal government. When I was working in Sussex County, New Jersey for WSUS, the local radio station, the station owner had heard of Stern and incorporated criticism about him in one of his daily commentaries. He then sent a recording of the commentary to Stern who responded with a live on-the-air call to WSUS asking for equal time.
I was at home listening to WNBC and couldn’t believe what I was hearing! Stern used a part of that conversation in his daily show opener for the next year! By the way, the station owner did record Stern and aired his rebuttal comment the next day! Once again, love him or hate him, his career on radio has expanded into records, DVD’s, television and movies. Happy birthday Howard, and thanks for showing us that at 70 years old you can still be, as was self-proclaimed in 1992, “King of All Media.”
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