a posting found in the alt.fan.howard-stern newsgroup on Feb. 15, 2000:
It happened yesterday. New management of The Planet 93.5FM has taken Howard off air waves. Please check out my site at http://members.home.net/r.goudy/howard.htm to help and get him back on QC airwaves
-lonely without Howard
"Maxi"
from the Quad-City Times
February 16, 2000
He's rude, he's crude, and he's gone, at least from Quad-City radio.
He is Howard Stern, the self-proclaimed "King of All Media," whose talk show began airing on The Planet -- KORB-FM, 93.5 -- in late 1997.
But the reason he is no longer on the local airways is probably not what most people are thinking.
"We want to hang our hat on local content here," said Mark Hanson, market manager who represents Cumulus Broadcasting Co., which is in the process of buying Connoisseur Communications of Greenwich, Conn., the parent company of KORB-FM and several other Quad-City radio stations.
"We feel that the station and the program content should have strong local ties to what's going on in the community," he said. "We want to have a relationship with this community."
Stern's show does not contribute to the company's vision of a strong local format, he said. "The Howard Stern Show" originates from WXRK-FM in New York and is broadcast to almost 50 markets in the United States and Canada.
"We had people call and complain," Hanson said. "We've also had people call in and say they're glad we took him off."
In addition to his radio program, the shock-jock has authored two books, "Private Parts," which became a feature film, and "Miss America." His radio show also is simulcast on the E! cable network and shown nightly.
Connoisseur's sale of its Quad-City stations -- KBOB, The Planet, 97 X, the Light FM and KJOC -- to Cumulus was announced Nov. 29. Approval of the $242 million deal, that includes 30 stations in eight other Midwestern markets that Cumulus is acquiring, still is pending with the Federal Communications Commission, or FCC.
Out of 276 radio markets, the Quad-Cities ranks 133.
On Dec. 8, Cumulus, headquartered in Milwaukee, announced that it had signed agreements with two sellers to acquire nine radio stations in three media markets in California and Oregon for $51 million in cash. That transaction also awaits FCC approval.
With the recent purchases, Cumulus' holdings will include 310 stations in 61 media markets, making it the second largest radio station operator in the country, based on the number of stations owned. Clear Channel Communications Inc. is the industry leader with 800 stations.
Howard finished #10, in an 18-station market. Even Bob and Tom, the remote controlled comedy team the local CHR station pipes in every morning from Indianapolis, finished above Howard.
Updated: 16-February-2000
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