The African killer bees are coming to America!
Howard Stern is coming to South Florida radio!
Each of these reports has been floating around for what seems to be forever. Yet neither is apparently any more imminent than Santa Claus coming to town.
If you listen to local radio executives, it’s more probable you’ll be zapped by the sting of a killer bee than by a barb from radio’s killer mouth.
One of the more persistent rumors has Stern’s syndicated morning show landing on WZTA-FM.
“That is absolutely not true,” said Zeta’s program director Neal Mirsky. “Howard has never been an option for us.”
Another well-circulated story has Infinity, which owns Stern’s flagship station in New York and syndicates him nationally, buying WSHE-FM and putting him on there.
One more report had WAXY-FM, which is managed by the owners of Y-100 (WHYI- FM), the likely destination for Stern. The hang-up supposedly was that WAXY’s parent company, Ackerley Communications, nixed the deal fearing that Stern’s raucous, bawdy act could put the station’s license in jeopardy.
WSHE program director Gary Lewis said that if there are sales negotiations going on between Infinity and the owners of his station, they have been extremely discreet.
STERN CREATES DUAL AUDIENCES
Stern will not be his morning attraction as long as he is calling the programming shots, Lewis said. “It’s just not in our game plan. The music is very important here and Howard is not about music. When you have him, you have two audiences; Howard’s in the morning and your music audience the rest of the day.”
Y-100 owner David Ross, who runs WAXY, cited the same reason in explaining why the Stern-to-WAXY rumors are off base.
What about the Ackerley veto report?
“No comment,” Ross said. “But I’ll tell you this. I don’t think Howard is a threat to anyone’s license.”
The only threat Stern represents, Ross said, is to his competitors. “I have him on my station in Cleveland. He’s doing spectacularly. He took us from 10th to first.”
This is why Stern is such a hot commodity. New York’s No. 1 personality also has taken stations in Los Angeles and Philadelphia to the top of their markets.
Ross’ success with Stern in Cleveland has spurred speculation that Stern will wind up on Y-100, either live in the morning or on tape at night.
“Would I consider it? Sure,” Ross said. “But it’s not the play for me at this time. I’m happy with what I have in the morning and I’m sold out at night. What is there to gain?”
COST EFFECTIVENESS A FACTOR?
Stern is not an inexpensive acquisition. Infinity is reportedly asking in the range of $500,000 a year for his show. In devising a financial plan, stations have to gauge how much more advertising revenue Stern will generate than their incumbent talent, which costs only a fraction of Stern’s asking price.
There’s also the potential for huge fines from the FCC. Stern’s Los Angeles outlet was socked with almost $1 million in fines for airing racy material.
Stern’s agent, Don Buchwald, has all of Stern’s tact but none of his charm. Contacted for this story, he replied in a brusque manner, “Write it and send it to me. Maybe I’ll comment then.”
An obvious question is, if all the Stern rumors are unfounded, how do they get started?
One of the radio executives said there is a simple answer. “Howard and his people start a lot of them. He’s trying to create a stampede mentality so that stations fear that if they don’t pick him up, their competition will. Howard really wants to be on here. He’s sure this is an ideal market for him.”
Indeed, Stern has been saying for months that it is only a matter of weeks until he is on in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale market.
Sooner or later, a struggling station, desperate for a quick ratings fix, will make Howard a man of his word. He had better hope killer bees haven’t wiped out his potential audience by then.
