WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:01.800 And he's out for a couple of hours. 2 00:00:01.879 --> 00:00:02.480 Not me. 3 00:00:03.520 --> 00:00:05.280 I just started the show. We haven't said anything. 4 00:00:06.400 --> 00:00:10.400 Hey, it's it's Mike Aja and everything is a bit 5 00:00:10.640 --> 00:00:14.279 episode number thirty eight, back at you two weeks in 6 00:00:14.279 --> 00:00:14.599 a row. 7 00:00:14.679 --> 00:00:18.839 Hey, we got a streak going. Isn't that like the awesome. 8 00:00:18.640 --> 00:00:21.120 Like the Yankees a couple of games. 9 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:25.600 Well, unfortunately that's how streak of their own going, which 10 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:29.800 we won't talk about. Lots going on as usual. 11 00:00:29.920 --> 00:00:30.239 Path. 12 00:00:31.839 --> 00:00:33.520 I want to talk to you about Howard though I 13 00:00:33.560 --> 00:00:36.439 know you spent a bunch of time on Famous the 14 00:00:36.479 --> 00:00:39.759 Bitch telling old stories, but we both. 15 00:00:39.560 --> 00:00:42.200 Have a huge story. It's a huge story. 16 00:00:42.359 --> 00:00:45.320 I think we both have really interesting perspectives on. 17 00:00:46.840 --> 00:00:50.399 You're a big boss in the radio world, so you 18 00:00:50.479 --> 00:00:53.640 know the numbers, you know the analytics of what how 19 00:00:53.719 --> 00:00:57.439 powerful his station was and is it is it correct 20 00:00:57.439 --> 00:01:00.320 to say it was the it was the best most 21 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:03.520 popular radio show of all time ever in the world. 22 00:01:03.880 --> 00:01:06.159 I can't imagine the show being bigger than how it's done. 23 00:01:08.040 --> 00:01:13.359 Well, it was a five hour show, right, so you're right, 24 00:01:13.439 --> 00:01:16.959 Rush would be the thing that I might compared to it, 25 00:01:17.040 --> 00:01:18.519 but very very different things. 26 00:01:19.079 --> 00:01:25.079 But both Look what Howard did so we're. 27 00:01:24.920 --> 00:01:29.159 Both we're in the entertainment business. You were actually a 28 00:01:29.200 --> 00:01:34.319 part of the show. We saw it from sort of 29 00:01:34.319 --> 00:01:38.719 the inside perspective of me as running a business in 30 00:01:38.760 --> 00:01:42.719 that industry, you being a part of the show. But also, 31 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:45.760 I think both of us major fans of the show, 32 00:01:46.760 --> 00:01:51.680 and it's such an incredible story looking at him, because 33 00:01:52.120 --> 00:01:58.319 here is a guy that made his name taking on 34 00:01:58.560 --> 00:02:04.599 the establishment. I mean, the show was counterculture, anti establishment 35 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:05.760 in your face. 36 00:02:06.920 --> 00:02:08.319 Everybody was fair game. 37 00:02:08.840 --> 00:02:13.120 There was no such thing as a tactless joke. I mean, 38 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:15.680 there was nothing that wouldn't be done in the name 39 00:02:15.719 --> 00:02:16.520 of entertainment. 40 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:20.240 No, it was amazing and and with people I've said 41 00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:23.080 this many times, but when you get inside the show 42 00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:24.960 and you're in the guts of the show, and I'm 43 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:28.680 sitting on that little area, Benji Brons to my right, 44 00:02:28.759 --> 00:02:31.159 Fred Norris to my left, I'm in the chair of 45 00:02:31.199 --> 00:02:33.840 the Jackie chair. How it Lobbin's across the room in 46 00:02:33.879 --> 00:02:38.360 the glass booth. And what people don't know is as 47 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:41.439 seventy five percent of the jokes, how it says, come 48 00:02:41.479 --> 00:02:44.879 from Fred or Benji and Jackiey. And what they do 49 00:02:44.919 --> 00:02:47.599 is they there's piece of paper, they quickly he's on 50 00:02:47.599 --> 00:02:50.000 the phone with somebody. They'll write these jokes. They put 51 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:52.439 it in a tray. How It had a computer camera 52 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:54.400 to look at the tray, and on his laptop he 53 00:02:54.439 --> 00:02:58.479 would see the joke and he'd fire out Fred's joke, well, 54 00:02:58.520 --> 00:03:01.520 Benji's joke. These guys was so fast that I didn't 55 00:03:01.520 --> 00:03:03.719 even run right because I couldn't get in there, so 56 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:06.719 I just talked. He kept my mic open. But Howard 57 00:03:07.159 --> 00:03:10.599 doesn't say as much as people think he does from 58 00:03:10.599 --> 00:03:12.960 his own head. And I know he's right. I know 59 00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:16.960 he's very intelligent. But during those days, it was fast, fast, 60 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:19.759 fast joke writing, just blinding speed. 61 00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:25.080 And it was I mean, it was so freaking funny. 62 00:03:25.120 --> 00:03:26.919 And he's like, it was like a little boy. When 63 00:03:26.919 --> 00:03:29.120 you're there, he's like a little boy. Like he'll put 64 00:03:29.159 --> 00:03:30.919 the call on mute and just put his face in 65 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:33.120 his hands and laugh because you know, he can't believe 66 00:03:33.120 --> 00:03:36.560 it's going this great. Or he'd shout out to us 67 00:03:36.879 --> 00:03:39.759 where a guy couldn't hear how great? Like he just 68 00:03:39.800 --> 00:03:42.800 like a little kid. He loved to get those. He 69 00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:45.280 wanted people to squirm all the time. And if you 70 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:47.800 could swirm with him and stay at your feet. Then 71 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:50.280 he loved you, you know, he loved that you can 72 00:03:50.319 --> 00:03:54.280 go punch for punch, pounds it down. Yeah, but you know, 73 00:03:54.560 --> 00:03:56.840 you know, you just look, he's seventy one years old. 74 00:03:56.919 --> 00:04:00.360 I met him thirty one years ago, his fortieth birthday party. 75 00:04:01.080 --> 00:04:03.800 We're all different now at seventy one years old. Even 76 00:04:03.840 --> 00:04:07.599 at sixty five, you can't keep speaking about sex and 77 00:04:07.639 --> 00:04:10.319 the way he used to. His daughters were getting older. 78 00:04:10.360 --> 00:04:12.479 They didn't like what they were hearing from him. I 79 00:04:12.479 --> 00:04:16.160 think one's gay. Actually, not that it matters, but you know, 80 00:04:16.199 --> 00:04:19.480 he made fun of everybody. Everybody was fair game. But 81 00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:24.480 Marcy Turk, that's the woman who came into his life 82 00:04:24.920 --> 00:04:27.439 and changed everything. She gave him a book. I can't 83 00:04:27.439 --> 00:04:29.839 remember the title, but it was a whole thing about 84 00:04:29.839 --> 00:04:33.240 getting rid of the bad mojo of your past. Marci Turk, 85 00:04:33.439 --> 00:04:36.519 I feel like she saw the future. Maybe it was 86 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:39.759 way before me too, but she sensed that how's gonna 87 00:04:39.759 --> 00:04:42.120 get cut down if he continues to talk like that 88 00:04:42.519 --> 00:04:44.519 and have guests that speak like that, and then have 89 00:04:44.680 --> 00:04:47.160 video out there with him in blackface and you know, 90 00:04:47.639 --> 00:04:50.439 talking about Andemima and Mama Lukububu day and all this 91 00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:53.399 black stuff. It was. I mean, it was NonStop. Don't 92 00:04:53.439 --> 00:04:56.120 forget that he had the Channel nine show, then the 93 00:04:56.199 --> 00:05:00.519 E Show. It was like a triple prong attack for years. 94 00:05:00.519 --> 00:05:04.959 Oh and they were just so outrageous. Look, it was 95 00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:11.720 such a phenomenon when it happened first in afternoon radio 96 00:05:11.759 --> 00:05:14.680 and then in morning drive radio in New York. 97 00:05:15.279 --> 00:05:18.360 And you know, I'm in the ad business, and so 98 00:05:18.560 --> 00:05:22.759 I'm going from advertising agency to advertising agency, radio station 99 00:05:22.920 --> 00:05:24.160 to radio station. 100 00:05:24.439 --> 00:05:25.319 All day long. 101 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:30.879 And because he started the show so damn early, and 102 00:05:30.920 --> 00:05:34.800 because you know morning traditional morning driving radio is for 103 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:37.199 a show to go from six am to ten am, 104 00:05:38.160 --> 00:05:42.120 Stern routinely bled all the way to eleven thirty. I 105 00:05:42.199 --> 00:05:44.959 mean he stayed on the air an extra hour hour 106 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:48.759 and a half. Everywhere you went. If you went in 107 00:05:48.759 --> 00:05:55.079 an office building, you could hear multiple radios, multiple radios 108 00:05:55.160 --> 00:05:59.240 blasting Stern in the same office building. If you didn't 109 00:05:59.279 --> 00:06:02.519 know what happened on the show that day or the 110 00:06:02.639 --> 00:06:06.160 day before, you couldn't contribute to the conversation going on 111 00:06:06.199 --> 00:06:08.759 in the office because it came from something he did 112 00:06:09.160 --> 00:06:09.759 on the show. 113 00:06:10.279 --> 00:06:14.519 It was that big of a cultural phenomenon. And then 114 00:06:16.720 --> 00:06:17.360 this was. 115 00:06:19.079 --> 00:06:22.120 Just brilliant the way that it was done. So the 116 00:06:22.199 --> 00:06:26.199 company that owned k Rock in New York at the 117 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:31.519 time was called Infinity Broadcasting and mel Karmezan was the CEO. 118 00:06:31.720 --> 00:06:35.519 And there were so been so many mergers and sales 119 00:06:35.680 --> 00:06:39.240 and everything in the radio industry that that name disappeared 120 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:44.360 a long time ago. But they owned a lot of 121 00:06:44.360 --> 00:06:50.079 stations in the country, across the country, and they began 122 00:06:50.399 --> 00:06:56.199 to take Howard and syndicate him self, syndicate him to 123 00:06:57.439 --> 00:07:03.560 other stations they owned in others cities, and in each city, 124 00:07:03.639 --> 00:07:08.000 he would set his sights on the big morning show 125 00:07:08.199 --> 00:07:13.040 talent in that city and his objective and he would 126 00:07:13.120 --> 00:07:15.639 get the fans involved in this. 127 00:07:16.519 --> 00:07:18.319 His objective was to destroy. 128 00:07:18.600 --> 00:07:22.399 So John Debella was the number was the number one 129 00:07:22.519 --> 00:07:25.360 morning show in Philadelphia on WMMR for years. 130 00:07:26.199 --> 00:07:28.399 They were my client. I used to sell the station. 131 00:07:28.920 --> 00:07:32.480 I used to get huge ad rates for WMMR in 132 00:07:32.839 --> 00:07:38.199 the morning. And you know, everybody thinks they're industry. Philadelphia 133 00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:44.360 is different. Debella's an institution. You can't stearns. What works 134 00:07:44.360 --> 00:07:47.319 in New York isn't gonna work in Philly. Blah blah blah. 135 00:07:47.399 --> 00:07:51.040 It took like six months for Howard to rip de 136 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:56.600 Bella apart, and there were fifteen other jocks of that 137 00:07:56.720 --> 00:08:01.040 stature in other markets, including Mark and Brian in LA, 138 00:08:01.720 --> 00:08:04.879 which another big client of mine, huge show on k 139 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:06.879 Los and Los Angeles. 140 00:08:06.680 --> 00:08:10.199 And everybody thought, now, Mark and Brian's a different show, 141 00:08:10.319 --> 00:08:16.319 it's more cerebral. They it's just it's not. Stearn's too different. 142 00:08:16.399 --> 00:08:18.319 It's not going to work in La blah blah blah. 143 00:08:18.360 --> 00:08:21.000 You know, it took him whatever. Maybe it took three 144 00:08:21.079 --> 00:08:23.319 rating books for him to destroy Mark and Brian. 145 00:08:23.439 --> 00:08:27.040 So he did this systematically, had the top show in 146 00:08:27.240 --> 00:08:32.600 mornings in Philadelphia, in. 147 00:08:31.639 --> 00:08:39.679 Chicago, in Dallas, in LA, in Washington, d C. Everywhere 148 00:08:39.720 --> 00:08:40.279 and everywhere. 149 00:08:40.279 --> 00:08:44.320 He took on the top DJ in that market and 150 00:08:44.440 --> 00:08:45.960 crushed him in six to twelve months. 151 00:08:46.200 --> 00:08:48.600 A lot of those DJs shit, a lot of them 152 00:08:48.600 --> 00:08:50.559 are too big for them riches, and they didn't see 153 00:08:50.559 --> 00:08:54.159 it coming. Like John develop, I think developed started to be. 154 00:08:54.360 --> 00:08:56.240 I think he began it. I like I used to 155 00:08:56.279 --> 00:08:58.919 listen to de Bello when he did w l R. Yeah, 156 00:08:59.039 --> 00:09:03.159 it was the fact that but didn't didn't his wife 157 00:09:03.240 --> 00:09:05.320 die or something or Howard or. 158 00:09:05.360 --> 00:09:09.159 Like Howard put her on Howard set her up on 159 00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:14.159 a date on his TV show Unforgetivable you, No. 160 00:09:14.120 --> 00:09:16.399 It was it was he. He didn't want to just 161 00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:18.120 be that person. 162 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:23.120 He wanted to completely humiliate them and destroy their lives. 163 00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:24.440 Funeral parties in the streets. 164 00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:24.919 Absolutely. 165 00:09:24.960 --> 00:09:27.039 Once he beat the first rating book he got where 166 00:09:27.039 --> 00:09:30.840 he beat that former top show, he would hold a 167 00:09:30.879 --> 00:09:34.720 funeral for so that, for that, had a funeral for 168 00:09:34.799 --> 00:09:36.399 Mark and Bryan at a funeral. 169 00:09:36.039 --> 00:09:39.840 For fun development. I mean, it was. It was a phenomenon. 170 00:09:39.960 --> 00:09:42.720 And you know, I know he didn't well I know 171 00:09:42.759 --> 00:09:45.600 he didn't like them, but Opie and Anthony was huge too. 172 00:09:46.039 --> 00:09:47.759 In the same building as Howard when I used to 173 00:09:47.799 --> 00:09:50.879 work to go on the show, and as great as month, 174 00:09:50.960 --> 00:09:54.000 as wonderful as he is as a guy, he's like Trump. 175 00:09:54.120 --> 00:09:57.879 If he doesn't like you, that's it. It's hatred to 176 00:09:57.919 --> 00:10:00.559 the to the point where he instruct to the people 177 00:10:00.600 --> 00:10:04.080 in that building that Mark, Opie and Anthony cannot walk 178 00:10:04.120 --> 00:10:06.519 down the same hall he walks down in the morning 179 00:10:06.639 --> 00:10:08.480 when he's coming to work or leave you. And if 180 00:10:08.480 --> 00:10:12.200 they did, if they accidentally did, Howard would throw his 181 00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:14.639 ship fit. You had to. You couldn't look at him. 182 00:10:14.799 --> 00:10:17.240 This is opiing Anthony, not not the stand but I mean, 183 00:10:17.240 --> 00:10:21.279 that's such a it's he's such a hard person to 184 00:10:21.320 --> 00:10:24.000 figure out because he loves to laugh and have fun 185 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:26.279 and then he does ship like that, then he goes 186 00:10:26.320 --> 00:10:27.919 off on the rail. And I think Trump is right 187 00:10:28.440 --> 00:10:32.440 when when he said that, when he when Howard ignores 188 00:10:32.519 --> 00:10:35.039 Hillary Clinton, that's when things began to go downhill for him. 189 00:10:35.159 --> 00:10:38.840 I think it came before that because that the show changed. 190 00:10:38.879 --> 00:10:39.480 But that's I. 191 00:10:39.440 --> 00:10:44.320 Think it really came part of for me, part of 192 00:10:44.360 --> 00:10:48.159 what I loved about him was there was all that 193 00:10:48.279 --> 00:10:53.159 irreverence and all that anti establishment, but he was also 194 00:10:54.840 --> 00:10:59.039 in love with Alison and the girls and and and 195 00:10:59.120 --> 00:11:02.399 the movie was was really all about his love affair 196 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:07.720 with Alison and his life right. And so the very 197 00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:11.720 first thing he did to me that turned his back 198 00:11:12.639 --> 00:11:15.360 completely on the audience that had been so loyal to 199 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:21.759 him was leaving Alison, uh for for Beth, And I thought, 200 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:26.720 I mean, yes, there's the cmo at at serious XM 201 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:28.720 then had a big impact on him, But I think 202 00:11:28.720 --> 00:11:32.480 it was Beth that had the huge impact on him. 203 00:11:32.919 --> 00:11:34.519 Look at if you think about. 204 00:11:34.279 --> 00:11:36.360 This, this is like you and I wake it up 205 00:11:36.360 --> 00:11:42.679 tomorrow and finding out that our buddy Kenny Wood was 206 00:11:42.759 --> 00:11:48.679 now uh, the political equivalent of AOC No. 207 00:11:48.879 --> 00:11:49.200 I mean. 208 00:11:50.679 --> 00:11:55.960 It is that radical a transformation in you know, so, 209 00:11:56.679 --> 00:12:00.799 which was the lie then or now? 210 00:12:01.159 --> 00:12:01.759 Or are you? 211 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:09.600 Are you that really that weak? That one person completely 212 00:12:10.799 --> 00:12:15.240 took over your mind? I mean they completely changed who 213 00:12:15.320 --> 00:12:21.240 you are and you left behind these legions of fans 214 00:12:21.320 --> 00:12:25.159 who hung on your everyone. It's the greatest hypocrisy in 215 00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:29.399 history in my mind, It's just that I can't think 216 00:12:29.399 --> 00:12:34.120 of any transformation of It is a complete one eighty. 217 00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:35.559 In what you do in your left. 218 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:40.600 For one day you you stand against everything the establishment 219 00:12:40.639 --> 00:12:45.000 stands for, and the next day you are as big 220 00:12:45.080 --> 00:12:49.399 and deep a part of the establishment as anyone is disgusting. 221 00:12:49.799 --> 00:12:51.440 I fucking I hate the guy, but you. 222 00:12:51.399 --> 00:12:53.559 Know, well, I can't. I can't hate him because I 223 00:12:53.600 --> 00:12:56.200 loved him. I can't hate him. I don't like so 224 00:12:56.200 --> 00:13:00.840 that guy's dead though, Oh the guy you love? I know, 225 00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:03.559 I know. And I used to say, I used to 226 00:13:03.559 --> 00:13:07.639 make the metaphor of the analogy that we all thought 227 00:13:07.639 --> 00:13:11.919 Howard was the guy, uh that wanted to make fun 228 00:13:11.960 --> 00:13:14.519 of people like in like in lunch room in high school. 229 00:13:16.159 --> 00:13:19.399 We didn't really didn't really know it is hot he 230 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:22.320 really wanted to be accepted by Hollywood, accepted by the 231 00:13:22.360 --> 00:13:25.559 cool crowd, because he was a nerd. For his whole life, 232 00:13:25.720 --> 00:13:28.320 he was surrounded by nerds. The whack pack was all losers. 233 00:13:29.399 --> 00:13:32.159 And I think that that's a really good analogy that 234 00:13:32.480 --> 00:13:35.840 he went from that to where he is now. And 235 00:13:36.519 --> 00:13:39.399 I just that the book that Marcy Turk gave was 236 00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:43.120 called Getting Things Done. It's like a dianetics type book. 237 00:13:43.799 --> 00:13:46.559 And uh, look she got to what she got saw 238 00:13:46.639 --> 00:13:50.840 up in his head that he no more Gilbert Godfred 239 00:13:50.879 --> 00:13:53.159 on the show, no more already, no more Craig Gas, 240 00:13:53.240 --> 00:13:56.840 no more me to a lesser degree. Several others too, 241 00:13:57.120 --> 00:14:00.159 banned because Marcy didn't like what we brought and we 242 00:14:00.159 --> 00:14:03.840 got out of Howard so Bes had a partner Marcy did, 243 00:14:04.399 --> 00:14:07.120 and just old age and bitterness. I don't know why 244 00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:12.120 you're bitter, making five hundred million dollars unbelievable, but well, 245 00:14:12.320 --> 00:14:13.080 why do you why. 246 00:14:12.960 --> 00:14:16.200 Do you say bitterness? Where did where did that come from? 247 00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:19.080 Howard's bitter. He's bitter about about a lot of things. 248 00:14:19.399 --> 00:14:22.279 He's better looking, he's still in therapy four days a week. 249 00:14:22.799 --> 00:14:24.759 He should have a he should follow lawsuit against the 250 00:14:24.799 --> 00:14:28.639 doctors they can't fix him in thirty five years. It's unbelievable. 251 00:14:28.799 --> 00:14:30.440 Three times a week he's talking to his drink. 252 00:14:30.919 --> 00:14:33.919 No, wait, so does he Because I don't pay he's 253 00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:34.440 dead to me. 254 00:14:34.559 --> 00:14:36.120 I don't so I don't. I don't pay any attention 255 00:14:36.159 --> 00:14:37.120 to anything he does. 256 00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:42.360 No from the day that he crossed the line. But 257 00:14:42.440 --> 00:14:45.879 does he does he talk bad about old Howard? Does 258 00:14:45.919 --> 00:14:49.759 he express all kinds of regret for, you know, being 259 00:14:49.799 --> 00:14:52.200 the guy who called there Florida to ask when the 260 00:14:52.519 --> 00:14:54.840 next fight led for the fourteenth Street Bridge. I mean 261 00:14:55.080 --> 00:14:57.480 that that was that was freaking Howard. 262 00:14:57.879 --> 00:15:00.679 I remember he didn't write that. You got to remember 263 00:15:00.679 --> 00:15:02.440 these things, like Fred. 264 00:15:02.759 --> 00:15:07.480 Okay, but this is me the listener, Okay, so dedicated 265 00:15:07.519 --> 00:15:09.759 to the show that I. 266 00:15:09.720 --> 00:15:12.639 Drove way out of my way to go to go 267 00:15:12.720 --> 00:15:14.000 to Legend Porsche. 268 00:15:13.720 --> 00:15:18.159 AUTI Sob Sterling to buy a freaking SOB from Fat 269 00:15:18.200 --> 00:15:19.120 Wayne Seagulls. 270 00:15:20.120 --> 00:15:22.559 Oh yeah, I bought my bought sab from Fat Wayne Seagull. 271 00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:23.000 You did. 272 00:15:24.080 --> 00:15:26.039 I didn't know that, And I was at the time. 273 00:15:26.080 --> 00:15:28.320 I was living in an autful center and there was 274 00:15:28.360 --> 00:15:32.039 a there was a SOB dealership in the Five Towns. 275 00:15:31.639 --> 00:15:32.519 Not far away. 276 00:15:32.679 --> 00:15:34.840 But instead I drove all the way to Amityville to 277 00:15:34.919 --> 00:15:38.240 go see Fat Wayne Seagull and buy my SOB from 278 00:15:38.320 --> 00:15:41.399 Legend Porscha OUTI sob Sterling And I don't know when 279 00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:43.320 the last sterling was sold in the United Fates, but 280 00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:45.360 I still the ad was. I mean, he was such 281 00:15:45.399 --> 00:15:47.559 a part of the show, and Howard was the master 282 00:15:48.200 --> 00:15:50.000 of that, and he had to do that because what 283 00:15:50.120 --> 00:15:57.559 happened is the establishment put so much pressure on Infinity and. 284 00:15:57.519 --> 00:15:59.919 On Howard and media matter. 285 00:16:01.320 --> 00:16:06.200 This is really the birth of going after someone and 286 00:16:06.240 --> 00:16:10.159 getting their advertisers to pull support. So no national advertisers, 287 00:16:10.559 --> 00:16:14.039 none of the big fortune five hundred companies that would 288 00:16:14.039 --> 00:16:17.960 buy advertising on music stations over the country or news 289 00:16:17.960 --> 00:16:20.480 station of the country would buy into Howard's show. They 290 00:16:21.120 --> 00:16:25.279 were put into a political corner. And you know, to 291 00:16:25.440 --> 00:16:28.600 buy ads on Howard show is to support all of 292 00:16:28.639 --> 00:16:32.080 the subversive things coming out of his mouth every single day. 293 00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:34.840 And so all these blue chip advertisers stayed away from 294 00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:35.159 the show. 295 00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:36.960 So as a radio station. 296 00:16:37.360 --> 00:16:40.879 Running the Stern Show, he was both your greatest asset 297 00:16:40.919 --> 00:16:43.960 delivering these huge ratings and your greatest liability. Because none 298 00:16:43.960 --> 00:16:46.639 of the big national advertisers would support the show. So 299 00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:51.480 Howard learned that what he needed to do was make 300 00:16:51.960 --> 00:16:56.120 these local and regional advertisers a huge part of not 301 00:16:56.279 --> 00:16:59.039 treat them like, hey, here's you just run a thirty 302 00:16:59.039 --> 00:16:59.879 second ad here and that. 303 00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:02.159 No, no, no, I'm gonna bring you into the show. 304 00:17:02.159 --> 00:17:04.160 I'm gonna make you a star exactly. 305 00:17:04.359 --> 00:17:07.480 I'm gonna bring people through your doorway because they want 306 00:17:07.480 --> 00:17:09.680 to see you, fat Wayne Seagull. And I'm gonna do 307 00:17:09.720 --> 00:17:14.599 it so well that a president of the largest radio 308 00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:16.920 advertising sales company in the country is going to drive 309 00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:19.079 fifteen miles out of his way to get a stupid 310 00:17:19.519 --> 00:17:20.519 SOB from you. 311 00:17:20.799 --> 00:17:23.079 How brilliant he was. It was a pied piper in 312 00:17:23.079 --> 00:17:25.039 a lot of ways. We all listen to him every day. 313 00:17:25.640 --> 00:17:28.119 But here's the thing. You know the business than I 314 00:17:28.160 --> 00:17:30.559 do one hundred million dollars a year for five years, 315 00:17:30.680 --> 00:17:35.000 contracts coming up in all September, October, early fall. They're 316 00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:37.640 not going to do it again. And he's too proud 317 00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:40.960 to take a reduction in salary if that's what they 318 00:17:41.000 --> 00:17:43.319 want to do, if they not get down to fifty mili, 319 00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:46.240 I don't think they'd even do that. I don't think 320 00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:46.799 he's accepted. 321 00:17:47.240 --> 00:17:50.880 Look, look it's first all you got to you got 322 00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:51.759 a public company. 323 00:17:52.640 --> 00:17:57.359 H But the data is pretty opaque. It's hard to 324 00:17:57.759 --> 00:18:01.440 I knew when he went a ridge. I remember where 325 00:18:01.480 --> 00:18:05.039 I was when I heard it was happening. I was 326 00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:09.480 in San Diego at an industry event when the announcement 327 00:18:09.960 --> 00:18:14.039 came out. And and remember, well people probably wouldn't know this, 328 00:18:14.440 --> 00:18:18.920 that that Sirius and XM were separate companies. 329 00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:19.720 Competing against each other. 330 00:18:20.440 --> 00:18:23.799 Serious was in desperate financial straits and going to go 331 00:18:23.920 --> 00:18:28.720 under if the companies didn't merge. Melk Harmizan left and 332 00:18:28.759 --> 00:18:33.200 went to be the CEO of Serious, and so he 333 00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:38.599 made the merger happen. And he brought his Oh but 334 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:41.359 and and think of the sales pitch Howard, all the 335 00:18:41.400 --> 00:18:44.680 stuff you're not allowed to say. No, you can say 336 00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:47.039 this is satellite, these are subscribers. 337 00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:49.799 People are only there because they paid to be there. 338 00:18:50.319 --> 00:18:53.279 You can f bomb it all day, you can sex 339 00:18:53.319 --> 00:19:00.440 in the studio, whatever the hell anything goes, just. 340 00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:03.960 China, remember, And I could when I was doing We'll 341 00:19:03.960 --> 00:19:05.799 come over it at some point during the show. 342 00:19:05.799 --> 00:19:07.279 But Simeon. 343 00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:14.319 Symbian amazing heart imagine and I'm there in person watching 344 00:19:14.359 --> 00:19:17.160 this seven o'clock in the morning. There was I'll make 345 00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:20.519 it Quick. There was a pair of sisters who came 346 00:19:20.559 --> 00:19:23.720 on the show and got nude and made out, and 347 00:19:24.119 --> 00:19:26.160 it was like seven fifteen in the morning. We were 348 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:28.079 looking at each other like, what the fuck is going 349 00:19:28.160 --> 00:19:30.799 on here? But I think that when he be when 350 00:19:30.839 --> 00:19:33.079 he went to Serious, when I emerged and he got 351 00:19:33.079 --> 00:19:37.240 a show, I feel like when they the cursing took 352 00:19:37.319 --> 00:19:39.759 something out of the show because it wasn't just Howard. 353 00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:41.559 You had all these other guys at the Whackpack who 354 00:19:41.559 --> 00:19:44.839 could now curse and get a little more derogatory, and 355 00:19:45.400 --> 00:19:49.079 that began to I began to lose lose it back then, because, 356 00:19:49.359 --> 00:19:52.000 like I said, these guys in the whack pack, I 357 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:54.359 mean Fred the Elephant Boy, but reefrom Brooklyn. There's so 358 00:19:54.359 --> 00:19:58.119 many crazy lunatics out there. They're all losers, and I 359 00:19:58.160 --> 00:20:00.240 don't want to hear losers curse all day and tell 360 00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:04.640 their stupid loser stories. So that was the beginning of 361 00:20:04.680 --> 00:20:06.759 me going on top of that, I got a pay 362 00:20:06.799 --> 00:20:08.720 to listen to it. Now I'm not doing this, and 363 00:20:08.759 --> 00:20:12.599 I walked away. Really yeah, you know, I heard maybe 364 00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:14.839 maybe twenty shows on Serious before I said I'm not 365 00:20:14.880 --> 00:20:17.720 doing this doesn't work for me, doesn't want I hung 366 00:20:17.799 --> 00:20:19.880 for a while, Yeah, yeah, I. 367 00:20:19.920 --> 00:20:21.880 Hung until he changed. 368 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:24.200 Well, you're in the business. I mean, if you want, 369 00:20:24.359 --> 00:20:26.480 you got it. It's nice to you know who's who's 370 00:20:26.519 --> 00:20:28.559 doing a lot, who's saying, well, who's making what? But 371 00:20:28.920 --> 00:20:31.640 if my theory is, and I know it's separate from 372 00:20:31.640 --> 00:20:35.160 the contract issue, but I heard, I reported a few 373 00:20:35.160 --> 00:20:38.519 weeks ago that I heard Robin's cancer is back, and 374 00:20:38.960 --> 00:20:41.039 you know, she almost died the first time she had it. 375 00:20:41.119 --> 00:20:45.119 And he said publicly that if Robin had passed away, 376 00:20:45.160 --> 00:20:47.680 he would never do a radio show again. He wouldn't 377 00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:50.759 do a show without Robin. So part of me thinks 378 00:20:50.759 --> 00:20:54.680 that Palla's really not caring too much about this contract thing. 379 00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:58.119 I think, if this is true, he's knowing that, Look, 380 00:20:58.160 --> 00:21:01.279 if she's sick, the gigs up. I'm not going to 381 00:21:01.359 --> 00:21:03.240 keep doing the show. I've done it in a long time, 382 00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:06.799 you know, fifty years on radio, whatever it is. So 383 00:21:07.480 --> 00:21:09.640 it's in between all those all those idea, it's in 384 00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:13.759 between all those extension. I can't imagine a serious making money. 385 00:21:14.640 --> 00:21:17.480 Is that a profitable show? A hundred? 386 00:21:18.680 --> 00:21:19.720 Not a chance? 387 00:21:19.960 --> 00:21:20.839 And it takes a whole summer. 388 00:21:21.279 --> 00:21:25.240 Not a chance in hell. So look the from a 389 00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:29.440 business standpoint, he's dead. He's dead. 390 00:21:29.880 --> 00:21:33.000 The audience is a fraction of a fraction of a 391 00:21:33.079 --> 00:21:37.759 fraction of what it once was. And and he knows 392 00:21:37.799 --> 00:21:41.880 that and what paid off for them or in the 393 00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:45.880 early years of that agreement, because again you had two 394 00:21:45.920 --> 00:21:49.400 struggling companies coming together and he was the he was 395 00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:54.880 the announcement that fueled the growth and and and you know, 396 00:21:54.960 --> 00:21:59.759 made Serious XM a player, and he was compensated heavily 397 00:21:59.839 --> 00:22:00.759 and stock options. 398 00:22:00.960 --> 00:22:03.759 There's no telling how much money that the guy has 399 00:22:03.880 --> 00:22:04.359 right now. 400 00:22:04.680 --> 00:22:08.480 But what he doesn't have in this life he now 401 00:22:08.720 --> 00:22:10.599