Dallas Morning News Feature Article #3

Dallas may sail off and leave Howard astern

by Al Brumley

Can Dallas survive without Howard Stern?

Apparently, we'll find out in three months or so.

Strange as it seems, unless Nationwide Communications is yanking everybody's chain, once Mr. Stern's contract with "The Eagle" KEGL-FM (97.1) expires in early September, he'll be gone.

When I first wrote about that rumor two weeks ago, it didn't seem like a big deal. I figured there were any number of stations in town that would jump at the chance to grab the Stern morning show.

But a week of vacation gave me time to think about it. Sorry, Stern fans, but if the Eagle dumps him, it looks like he's history. At least for a while.

In an interview I had with him on Wednesday, Mr. Stern said there's no doubt about it. "We will be going off the air, not maybe," he said. "I know it. It's true."

He also insisted this isn't a negotiating ploy, but that's obvious. You negotiate from a position of strength, not weakness. Mr. Stern's not saying there are five stations in Dallas clamoring for him - he's saying that if KEGL dumps him, he has nowhere to go. If there's a way he can use that to put the squeeze on, I can't figure it out.

About the only way it could work is if it were to start a bidding way among other stations, but there's no evidence of that happening. Either way, it wouldn't be very smart business.

Andy Lockridge, program director at "Q102" KTXQ-FM (102.1), insists the station is dedicated to its new morning team, Lex and Terry.

That leaves "The Edge" KDGE-FM (94.5) and KZPS-FM (92.5), but they're both owned by Bonneville International Corp., based in Salt Lake City and referred to in radio circles as "the Mormons." Word is there's no way they'd take Mr. Stern, although both stations could use him.

"The Zone" KKZN-FM (93.3) just hired Abby Goldstein for morning drive, though Mr. Stern would hardly fit that station's Land's End image anyway. No way KHKS-FM (106.1) is dumping Kidd Kraddick, and KDMX-FM (102.9) is owned by Nationwide.

That's about it for anything approaching a rock station in town, and it's hard to imagine Mr. Stern on a light-jazz, R&B, Hispanic or country station, though there have been rumors about KYNG-FM (105.3).

Mr. Stern also said he doesn't like the idea of landing on the AM dial - not that any AM stations have come calling. On the other hand, any interested stations, AM or FM, could be waiting until his contract expires to approach him.

Which leaves the obvious question: Why would Nationwide want to dump the Stern show?

Here's Mr. Stern's explanation, from Wednesday's interview:

"Because they're Nationwide Insurance, and when you have an insurance company that brings in millions and millions and millions of dollars to the point where you have so much extra cash that you can just go around buying radio stations in a business you really don't know much about, when you have that much money, why would you care about a guy who brings in, you know, just a few measly million? Why do you need the controversy?"

Translation: It's a bland, conservative company that doesn't care about being No. 1 and doesn't want to wrangle with the FCC.

Nationwide officials have dodged questions about all this with the dexterity of a rodeo clown on speed, so there's not much to do now but wait.

And to anyone who accuses me of making too big a deal about this, well, to quote Mr. Stern's father, "Shut up! Sit down!"

First, Nationwide either doesn't understand or doesn't care about the range of Mr. Stern's audience. Sure, a bunch of 18-year-old stoners are listening, but consider this: I've gotten probably 20 calls from Stern fans in the past week, all distraught, and a good 75 percent of them women in their mid-30s or early 40s. This is the exact audience Ron Chapman aims for at adult-contemporary powerhouse KVIL-FM (103.7). One woman told me she and her husband would leave town if Dallas loses the Stern show.

Second, whether you like him or not, Mr. Stern's syndicated show is heard by an estimated 20 million people a week. Meanwhile, Dallas is the fourth-or-fifth largest radio market in advertising dollars, depending on whom you talk to, and seventh-largest in listeners. No way he shouldn't be on the air here. It'd be as if Sam Goody stores in Dallas stopped selling Pantera CDs. Or, God forbid, Hanson.

Some Dallas radio officials insist there's no way a station in town won't pick Mr. Stern up. But nobody can figure who would do it.

Finally, I told Stern fans near the top of this column that it looks as though they are going to be out of luck soon. Well, include me in that group of fans. He has changed the way I listen to radio. And I am not alone.

A well-known personality at KERA-FM (90.1) called Wednesday to say that he was upset about losing Howard. He said he had told his bosses at KERA they should dump National Public Radio's Morning Edition and bring the Stern show on board.

He was kidding, but only a little.

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