ih8Uboo-boo
07-25-2005, 01:44 AM
The Following article ran in Today's (Sunday) Philadelphia Inquirer. It's mainly about the potential aftermath of morning radio here in philly after Hoo-Hoo leaves. But still, a mention is a mention...
There's also an interesting mention of someone else for some of the older fans...
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/entertainment/12187135.htm
Open Mic
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All presets are off as Howard Stern prepares to cut the cord and soar to satellite. Where will his legions of young male free-radio fans turn?
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By Michael Klein
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Inquirer Staff Writer
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Where will Howard Stern's Philadelphia listeners go when he signs off of Infinity Broadcasting in favor of Sirius Satellite Radio?
"That's the $10 billion question," said Mike Boyle, vice president and executive director of Friday Morning Quarterback, the Cherry Hill trade publication.
Actually, it's a $10 million question.
Ratings and ad dollars are closely tied, and analysts believe that the syndicated Stern - by far the most popular radio personality among Philadelphians - brings in $10 million a year to WYSP-FM (94.1).
Not surprisingly, executives at other stations are almost gleeful at Stern's impending departure after nearly 19 years from Infinity's WYSP, his first station outside of New York. It gives them a crack at the male audience that craves his oft-raunchy shtick, which has drawn heat, and fines, from the Federal Communications Commission.
"That's why there's so much mirth in my voice," said Bill Weston, program director at WMMR-FM (93.3), a rock station owned by Greater Media. "... He has an ardent fan base, and a percentage of them - 15 percent? - are going to buy Sirius. But there's a ton of people in the habit of [free] morning radio," and morning-show performance sets the pace for a station's day.
Stern's Infinity contract expires Dec. 31. Shortly after he announced in October that he would depart, Greater Media set out to sign the Preston & Steve show, whose Preston Elliot and Steve Morrison deliver semi-macho talk and comedy bits and the occasional rock song. The duo then were on Y100.
Although WMMR might stand to gain from P&S, it's an open game with no clear front-runner.
"For us to pigeonhole Howard's listeners as fans of rock-and-roll is not accurate," Boyle said. "All the genres will have opportunities."
Aside from Preston & Steve, a show considered likely to pick off Stern listeners is Free Beer and Hot Wings, a dose of sophomoric testosterone heard on WTHK-FM (97.5). The Trenton station is expected to begin marketing heavily this fall in Philadelphia. Some of the audience may also shift to John DeBella, whom Stern unseated as morning king 15 years ago. He does bits and plays music on classic-rock WMGK-FM (102.9).
Some may turn to Rocco the Janitor on WRDW-FM (96.5), Monie & Pooch on WPHI-FM (100.3), and Chio in the Morning on WIOQ-FM (102.1). All run music and bits aimed at teens and young adults, as does the edgier syndicated Star & Buc Wild show on urban WUSL-FM (98.9).
The other big force besides Stern is Tom Joyner's African American-themed syndicated talk-music show, heard on WRNB-FM (107.9).
Brian Carter, who hosts the rival Carter & Sanborn with Dave Sanborn on WDAS-FM (105.3), isn't convinced that Stern's listeners will migrate to urban stations such as WDAS and WRNB. Carter, who had worked here before leaving several years ago, was hired away from XM satellite radio in January. He said he was more concerned with "slicing off Tom Joyner's ratings," particularly among women ages 25 to 54.
The rest of the commercial dial is largely a collection of personality-driven music targeted mostly to adults:
Evans & Andie on country WXTU-FM (92.5), Ross Brittain & the Breakfast Club on oldies WOGL-FM (98.1), Chris & Tiffany on adult-contemporary WBEB-FM (101.1), Jennifer Ryan and Donna Rowland on adult-contemporary WSNI-FM (104.5), and Loni Taylor on smooth-jazz WJJZ-FM (106.1).
DJ-free gospel is heard on WPPZ-FM (103.9), and DJ-less rock and pop plays on WBEN-FM (95.7).
No one believes WYSP will lose everything when Stern leaves. Its rock lineup the rest of the day draws a large male audience. WYSP also is the radio flagship for Eagles football, helping it generate male-focused dollars.
There's a school of thought that FM radio as a whole could take a hit. Bernie Shimkus, director of research for Harmelin Media of Bala Cynwyd, which buys more than $1 million in ad time a year on WYSP, said a large chunk of Stern listeners would follow him to Sirius.
Infinity is keeping plans for a new morning show closely held, and speculation is rampant.
One scenario has rocker David Lee Roth, who worked during the spring at stations in Boston and Los Angeles, taking over at Stern's outlets in New York and Los Angeles. Another has Roth working in New York and other markets, including Philadelphia, while comedian Adam Carolla, who hosts the syndicated sex-talk program Loveline, would host in Los Angeles. Yet another has Chicago-based "Mancow" Muller taking over at some stations.
The company's chief executive, Joel Hollander, has said that his firm would not syndicate a single host to all of Stern's 46 stations, of which 27 are owned by the company. Pleading competitive secrecy, Infinity representatives declined comment for this article.
The firm already gets a large morning male audience here with Angelo Cataldi's sports-flavored talk show on WIP-AM (610), Michael Smerconish talking topics on WPHT-AM (1210), and all-news KYW-AM (1060).
The next host on Stern's stations faces a huge challenge.
"I want to be the person who replaced the person who replaced Howard Stern," said Rich Lewis, market manager of Clear Channel Communications' six Philadelphia stations. "... He's one of the bellwethers of morning radio. People are just not going to be happy about hearing someone else in his place."
Post-Stern, Lewis predicts that listeners will be "punching buttons around, at least for the short term."
Last week, Kidd Chris - a Stern protege and crack crank-call maker working mornings at an Infinity station in San Antonio, Texas - visited WYSP. Although executives declined to say what the man born Chris Foley was doing there, radio insiders believe he is being considered for an afternoon or nighttime show on WYSP.
Stern's departure, and the programming hole it will leave at his stations, was a wake-up call to the industry "to develop new, exciting personalities for FM talk radio," said Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers magazine, which covers talk radio.
Harrison believes that stations will begin leaning toward FM talk, last heard in Philadelphia at the former WWDB-FM (96.5), which dumped the format in November 2000. Harrison does not necessarily see stations changing formats, just the rise of "talk-y elements" and programming aimed primarily at young adults and women.
Stern's show, it should be noted, started more than 20 years ago as music and talk. Stern now airs no music to speak of.
Sirius is one of two U.S. satellite-radio providers (the other, XM, features Opie & Anthony in the morning). Sirius saw a healthy uptick in subscribers after Stern's Oct. 6 announcement. The five-year Stern deal was valued at a reported $500 million.
The satellite firm, whose typical monthly rate plan is $12.95, reported 662,000 subscribers in September; three months later, it said it had nearly doubled its customer base, to 1.1 million. The company, which in late March reported a base of 1.4 million, said it will turn a profit in 2007.
Stern has made no secret of his disdain for Infinity, and frequently plugs Sirius on his show and Web site.
That leaves Infinity in a shaky position. If it pulls Stern off the air before his contract expires, ad revenue could suffer and the company likely would have to pay him anyway. On the other hand, Sirius could pay Infinity to free Stern from his contract so he could start on satellite before January.
Stern's return from two weeks' vacation on Monday was marked by a bit in which comic Billy Mira impersonated Roth and said Stern had been canned. The Roth character played sundry bits and fielded phone calls from distraught fans.
After an hour, Stern came clean about the stunt and picked up his show as usual.
"This was brilliant," said Boyle, of the Quarterback. "He was telling us, 'This is what your life will be like when I'm off terrestrial radio.' "
Contact staff writer Michael Klein at 215-854-5514 or mklein@phillynews.com.
The Power of Howard
Howard Stern far outranks all other morning radio personalities among listeners ages 12 and older in the spring Arbitron ratings announced last week, and trails only the news format of KYW. Here are the top 10 radio stations from 6 to 10 a.m. weekdays, listed in order of percentage of the morning audience over an average quarter-hour listening period.
Audience Station Personality
Share or format
10.9% KYW-AM (1060) News
9.7% WYSP-FM (94.1) Howard Stern
6.0% WBEB-FM (101.1) Chris & Tiffany
4.5% WRNB-FM (107.9) Tom Joyner
4.4% WOGL-FM (98.1) Ross Brittain
3.9% WMMR-FM (93.3) Preston & Steve
3.8% WIP-AM (610) Angelo Cataldi
3.7% WXTU-FM (92.5) Evans & Andie
WMGK-FM (102.9) John DeBella
3.5% WUSL-FM (98.9) Star & Buc Wild
Radio highlights
Radio post-Howard Stern: Whom would you listen to? Vote at http://go.philly.com/radiopoll
There's also an interesting mention of someone else for some of the older fans...
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/entertainment/12187135.htm
Open Mic
http://www.philly.com/images/common/spacer.gif
All presets are off as Howard Stern prepares to cut the cord and soar to satellite. Where will his legions of young male free-radio fans turn?
http://www.philly.com/images/common/spacer.gif
By Michael Klein
http://www.philly.com/images/common/spacer.gif
Inquirer Staff Writer
http://www.philly.com/images/common/spacer.gif
Where will Howard Stern's Philadelphia listeners go when he signs off of Infinity Broadcasting in favor of Sirius Satellite Radio?
"That's the $10 billion question," said Mike Boyle, vice president and executive director of Friday Morning Quarterback, the Cherry Hill trade publication.
Actually, it's a $10 million question.
Ratings and ad dollars are closely tied, and analysts believe that the syndicated Stern - by far the most popular radio personality among Philadelphians - brings in $10 million a year to WYSP-FM (94.1).
Not surprisingly, executives at other stations are almost gleeful at Stern's impending departure after nearly 19 years from Infinity's WYSP, his first station outside of New York. It gives them a crack at the male audience that craves his oft-raunchy shtick, which has drawn heat, and fines, from the Federal Communications Commission.
"That's why there's so much mirth in my voice," said Bill Weston, program director at WMMR-FM (93.3), a rock station owned by Greater Media. "... He has an ardent fan base, and a percentage of them - 15 percent? - are going to buy Sirius. But there's a ton of people in the habit of [free] morning radio," and morning-show performance sets the pace for a station's day.
Stern's Infinity contract expires Dec. 31. Shortly after he announced in October that he would depart, Greater Media set out to sign the Preston & Steve show, whose Preston Elliot and Steve Morrison deliver semi-macho talk and comedy bits and the occasional rock song. The duo then were on Y100.
Although WMMR might stand to gain from P&S, it's an open game with no clear front-runner.
"For us to pigeonhole Howard's listeners as fans of rock-and-roll is not accurate," Boyle said. "All the genres will have opportunities."
Aside from Preston & Steve, a show considered likely to pick off Stern listeners is Free Beer and Hot Wings, a dose of sophomoric testosterone heard on WTHK-FM (97.5). The Trenton station is expected to begin marketing heavily this fall in Philadelphia. Some of the audience may also shift to John DeBella, whom Stern unseated as morning king 15 years ago. He does bits and plays music on classic-rock WMGK-FM (102.9).
Some may turn to Rocco the Janitor on WRDW-FM (96.5), Monie & Pooch on WPHI-FM (100.3), and Chio in the Morning on WIOQ-FM (102.1). All run music and bits aimed at teens and young adults, as does the edgier syndicated Star & Buc Wild show on urban WUSL-FM (98.9).
The other big force besides Stern is Tom Joyner's African American-themed syndicated talk-music show, heard on WRNB-FM (107.9).
Brian Carter, who hosts the rival Carter & Sanborn with Dave Sanborn on WDAS-FM (105.3), isn't convinced that Stern's listeners will migrate to urban stations such as WDAS and WRNB. Carter, who had worked here before leaving several years ago, was hired away from XM satellite radio in January. He said he was more concerned with "slicing off Tom Joyner's ratings," particularly among women ages 25 to 54.
The rest of the commercial dial is largely a collection of personality-driven music targeted mostly to adults:
Evans & Andie on country WXTU-FM (92.5), Ross Brittain & the Breakfast Club on oldies WOGL-FM (98.1), Chris & Tiffany on adult-contemporary WBEB-FM (101.1), Jennifer Ryan and Donna Rowland on adult-contemporary WSNI-FM (104.5), and Loni Taylor on smooth-jazz WJJZ-FM (106.1).
DJ-free gospel is heard on WPPZ-FM (103.9), and DJ-less rock and pop plays on WBEN-FM (95.7).
No one believes WYSP will lose everything when Stern leaves. Its rock lineup the rest of the day draws a large male audience. WYSP also is the radio flagship for Eagles football, helping it generate male-focused dollars.
There's a school of thought that FM radio as a whole could take a hit. Bernie Shimkus, director of research for Harmelin Media of Bala Cynwyd, which buys more than $1 million in ad time a year on WYSP, said a large chunk of Stern listeners would follow him to Sirius.
Infinity is keeping plans for a new morning show closely held, and speculation is rampant.
One scenario has rocker David Lee Roth, who worked during the spring at stations in Boston and Los Angeles, taking over at Stern's outlets in New York and Los Angeles. Another has Roth working in New York and other markets, including Philadelphia, while comedian Adam Carolla, who hosts the syndicated sex-talk program Loveline, would host in Los Angeles. Yet another has Chicago-based "Mancow" Muller taking over at some stations.
The company's chief executive, Joel Hollander, has said that his firm would not syndicate a single host to all of Stern's 46 stations, of which 27 are owned by the company. Pleading competitive secrecy, Infinity representatives declined comment for this article.
The firm already gets a large morning male audience here with Angelo Cataldi's sports-flavored talk show on WIP-AM (610), Michael Smerconish talking topics on WPHT-AM (1210), and all-news KYW-AM (1060).
The next host on Stern's stations faces a huge challenge.
"I want to be the person who replaced the person who replaced Howard Stern," said Rich Lewis, market manager of Clear Channel Communications' six Philadelphia stations. "... He's one of the bellwethers of morning radio. People are just not going to be happy about hearing someone else in his place."
Post-Stern, Lewis predicts that listeners will be "punching buttons around, at least for the short term."
Last week, Kidd Chris - a Stern protege and crack crank-call maker working mornings at an Infinity station in San Antonio, Texas - visited WYSP. Although executives declined to say what the man born Chris Foley was doing there, radio insiders believe he is being considered for an afternoon or nighttime show on WYSP.
Stern's departure, and the programming hole it will leave at his stations, was a wake-up call to the industry "to develop new, exciting personalities for FM talk radio," said Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers magazine, which covers talk radio.
Harrison believes that stations will begin leaning toward FM talk, last heard in Philadelphia at the former WWDB-FM (96.5), which dumped the format in November 2000. Harrison does not necessarily see stations changing formats, just the rise of "talk-y elements" and programming aimed primarily at young adults and women.
Stern's show, it should be noted, started more than 20 years ago as music and talk. Stern now airs no music to speak of.
Sirius is one of two U.S. satellite-radio providers (the other, XM, features Opie & Anthony in the morning). Sirius saw a healthy uptick in subscribers after Stern's Oct. 6 announcement. The five-year Stern deal was valued at a reported $500 million.
The satellite firm, whose typical monthly rate plan is $12.95, reported 662,000 subscribers in September; three months later, it said it had nearly doubled its customer base, to 1.1 million. The company, which in late March reported a base of 1.4 million, said it will turn a profit in 2007.
Stern has made no secret of his disdain for Infinity, and frequently plugs Sirius on his show and Web site.
That leaves Infinity in a shaky position. If it pulls Stern off the air before his contract expires, ad revenue could suffer and the company likely would have to pay him anyway. On the other hand, Sirius could pay Infinity to free Stern from his contract so he could start on satellite before January.
Stern's return from two weeks' vacation on Monday was marked by a bit in which comic Billy Mira impersonated Roth and said Stern had been canned. The Roth character played sundry bits and fielded phone calls from distraught fans.
After an hour, Stern came clean about the stunt and picked up his show as usual.
"This was brilliant," said Boyle, of the Quarterback. "He was telling us, 'This is what your life will be like when I'm off terrestrial radio.' "
Contact staff writer Michael Klein at 215-854-5514 or mklein@phillynews.com.
The Power of Howard
Howard Stern far outranks all other morning radio personalities among listeners ages 12 and older in the spring Arbitron ratings announced last week, and trails only the news format of KYW. Here are the top 10 radio stations from 6 to 10 a.m. weekdays, listed in order of percentage of the morning audience over an average quarter-hour listening period.
Audience Station Personality
Share or format
10.9% KYW-AM (1060) News
9.7% WYSP-FM (94.1) Howard Stern
6.0% WBEB-FM (101.1) Chris & Tiffany
4.5% WRNB-FM (107.9) Tom Joyner
4.4% WOGL-FM (98.1) Ross Brittain
3.9% WMMR-FM (93.3) Preston & Steve
3.8% WIP-AM (610) Angelo Cataldi
3.7% WXTU-FM (92.5) Evans & Andie
WMGK-FM (102.9) John DeBella
3.5% WUSL-FM (98.9) Star & Buc Wild
Radio highlights
Radio post-Howard Stern: Whom would you listen to? Vote at http://go.philly.com/radiopoll