from allaccess.com
April 18, 2000
KXPK/DENVER night show ROVERRADIO has signed with agent ROBERT EATMAN in search of a morning show opportunity. KXPK is planning to switch from Alternative to Spanish around JULY 1 when HISPANIC BROADCASTING takes over as part of the CLEAR CHANNEL/AMFM merger divestitures.
from the Denver Post
April 9, 2000
Excerpt:
"The Peak," as it's nicknamed - 96.5FM on the Denver dial and best known as the radio home of syndicated shock-jock Howard Stern - is about to say adios to its "rock alternative" format and to Stern, and become the focal point of a new battle in town: Spanish-language radio stations.
from fmqb.com
from the Rocky Mountain News
March 9, 2000
Howard Stern and Beethoven in the same reference?
Seldom do you find that. They're hardly compatible.
But they figure prominently in the upcoming Denver radio shakeout brought about Monday when Clear Channel Communications Inc. sold five of the six former AMFM Inc. stations that Clear Channel must divest under federal regulations.
Stern will stay. Beethoven may leave.
One station, "The Peak" KXPK-FM (96.5), home of Stern and an alternative rock format, will be owned by Dallas-based Hispanic Broadcasting Corp. -- a move that set off a round of jokes about Stern saying sleazy things in Spanish.
When all sales are approved and new schedules are in place, look for Stern to be on one of the three stations purchased from Clear Channel by Infinity Broadcasting Corp., CBS' Corp.'s radio arm. The most logical -- KDJM-FM (92.5), the "Jammin Oldies" outlet, which has the weakest signal of the three Infinity buys. The others: "KOOL" KXKL-FM (105.1) and KIMN-FM (100.3).
But Stern won't necessarily be mixed in with rock music. He'll probably be part of a relatively new but popular format -- FM talk.
Infininty, which syndicates Stern's show, features similar formats in major cities across the nation, the most recent on WKRK-FM in Detroit.
FM talk is growing.
In Seattle, KIRO-FM is having success with FM talk -- without Stern. In recent Arbitron ratings, the station (called "The Buzz") was third in audience from 3 p.m. to midnight with men 18-49.
"Denver, a young radio market, certainly is ready for FM talk," says KIRO programmer Kris Olinger, a former Denver Clear Channel executive. "And with Infinity and Stern there, it would seem inevitable."
Olinger notes that KSLK-FM, a talk outlet in Los Angeles, recently had a higher overall Arbitron rating than KABC, a long-time AM talk outlet.
In Seattle, most of the FM talk is "relationship-oriented," according to Olinger. Translation: lots of sex dialogue -- something Stern and other national talkers are familiar with.
So look for Stern on a Denver FM talk outlet.
--snips--
Stern talk: CBS-owned Infinity Radio eventually could provide some broadcasting synergy with KCNC-Channel 4, also owned by CBS. However, Channel 4 Vice President Marv Rockford says he's had "zero conversation" with CBS about the Infinity purchase.
Rockford, of course, is not president of the local Howard Stern Fan Club, following Stern's insensitive radio remarks after the Columbine shooting. Stern's Saturday night TV show, syndicated by CBS, remains off Channel 4's schedule through what Rockford continues to call "benign neglect." Its last airing: April 17, 1999.
--snips--
from the Denver Post
March 8, 2000
A few key points about the selloff:
KVOD is the wild card. The classical station (1280-AM) has yet to be sold; my guess is that Clear Channel didn't want the AM signal to fall into the hands of Infinity Broadcasting, CBS' radio arm, which gets three FM stations in the deal. And it may be the most interesting part of the domino game.
Those in the business predict 1280-AM will not be bought by a major player from outside the market. Perhaps a broadcaster already here - Tribune or Jefferson Pilot - will be a buyer. Or it's possible, one general manager noted, that Infinity isn't finished negotiating for it.
The guessing continues:
It's possible Howard Stern won't go away. As one of Infinity's most lucrative properties nationwide, Stern's show (now on KXPK, "The Peak," which will go to Hispanic Broadcasting for Spanish-language programming) may turn up on one of Infinity's new Denver stations, KDJM, KIMN or KXKL (KOOL-105). KDJM's Jammin' Oldies format may be a viable companion after Stern in the morning hours. Or, as a former local radio executive notes, it's possible that Stern's show will remain on a station not owned by Infinity, as it is in other markets.
Two things for sure: Two stations will change formats. Hispanic Broadcasting bought 96.5 FM but doesn't want The Peak's modern-rock format. And Christian-format Sale Communications bought KALC (105.9 FM) and (for heaven's sake) doesn't want Alice's adult top-40 format.
The best guess of a former industry player: Clear Channel may put KALC on 106.7 FM and get rid of hard-rocking KBPI. Remember, since acquiring AMFM Inc., Clear Channel holds the rights to Alice's name, logo and format. KALC's numbers are strong.
But what about The Peak?
Rock fans agree the biggest potential loss in the domino game - a game with another round expected this week - is the probable disappearance of The Peak. Listeners crave a cutting-edge rock format that would lie somewhere between baby-boomer darling KBCO (97.5 FM) and the more adventurous KTCL (93.3 FM), both of which remain with Clear Channel. Will Infinity deliver?
Don't expect new formats to debut, one manager predicted, since there are already five good products, two of them seeking new homes. In some cases, one insider predicted, the new owners may study elements of existing stations, pick the best and put together an amalgamation.
We're not done with Alice morning host Jamie White, either. Remember, "The Jamie and Danny Show" is an AMFM property, now Clear Channel.
As for the prediction that the entry of Infinity in Denver bodes well for an all-news outlet, here's hoping. Sure, it would be expensive, but with CBS-owned KCNC-Channel 4 here, the kind of synergy the company counts on is ready and waiting.
Infinity has to make the first move, deciding what three formats to use on its new stations.
Analysts outside Clear Channel point out that while the monolith is bulldozing its way to dominance globally (and just made a deal to acquire the nation's largest concert promoter, SFX), the company's performance in Denver is becoming less crucial to the corporate bottom line. Denver (ranked market No. 22 by Arbitron) used to be a big deal on the company's roster. Now, with the $16 billion merger with AMFM, Clear Channel has Top Five markets to worry about.
from the Rocky Mountain News
March 7, 2000
Denver radio got a new corporate look Monday when Clear Channel Communications Inc. sold five of the six local stations the broadcasting organization obtained in last October's $23 billion merger with AMFM Inc.
The sale -- to three different groups -- will set up some format changes, including moving talk-show host Howard Stern, which could create Denver's first major FM talk format.
Clear Channel operates eight Denver stations -- the most allowed under federal regulations. Under law, the six AM-FM properties are being divested.
The major buyer was Infinity Broadcasting Corp., CBS Corp.'s radio arm, which acquired "Jamin' Oldies," KDJM-FM (92.5); "KOOL," KXKL-FM (105.1) and KIMN-FM (100.3).
Infinity's purchase of the three local outlets was part of an 18-station buy from Clear Channel for $1.4 billion. The purchase puts Infinity into five new top 50 markets, giving the company 178 stations overall.
Salem Broadcasting, operator of four Denver stations, purchased "Alice" KLAC-FM (105.9).
Carolyn Bernhardt, local Salem general manager, said "Alice" will retain its current format of personality radio with top 40 and adult contemporary music.
Salem also owns KNUS-AM (710), a news-talk outlet; and three Christian-oriented stations -- KRKS-AM (990), KRKS-FM (94.7) and recently acquired KBJD-AM (1690).
"The Peak," KXPK-FM (96.5), current local home of Stern, was purchased by Hispanic Broadcasting Inc., which operates 45 stations in 13 radio markets.
Sales prices of stations sold to Salem and Hispanic Broadcasting were not announced.
In all, Clear Channel sold 72 of the 110 stations it had on the market.
After the remaining 38 stations are purchased, Clear Channel will still remain the world's No. 1 radio company with 830 outlets.
Still to be sold locally is KVOD-AM (1280), Denver's classical music outlet, which was 92.5 on the FM dial until AMFM moved it last April. Previously, the 1280-AM frequency (Ralph), a low-watt outlet with a poor directional signal, offered news-talk.
The move of Infinity into the Denver market could produce major programming changes, centering on Stern. His show, syndicated by Infinity, will move to one of that company's new stations, perhaps KDJM.
Many Infinity-owned FM stations in major cities highlight Stern as the key personality on FM talk formats, featuring other national and local talk personalities as well.
Reports also are circulating that Infinity might be intrested in buying more Denver stations once the current deal is approved.
Lee Larsen, Denver Clear Channel vice president, noted federal approval of the sales could go quickly, possibly in two months.
"Normally, such approval can take six months," Larsen said.
"But a lot of paperwork already has been done, possibly clearing the way for quicker approval."
Bloomberg News contributed to this report.
from the Denver Post
March 7, 2000
But it's safe to say that Howard Stern won't be on the KXPK schedule once the acquisition is complete.
"The ink is still very wet on this deal, and we don't know the future of Howard Stern in this market," said Dave Burke, general manager for three of the stations being spun off under Monday's announcement.
He said the Stern show, a syndicated program purchased by AMFM to air on The Peak, likely was part of the deal, and Hispanic Broadcasting Inc. would decide what to do with it. Options include the new owners giving up the rights to it and Stern airing on another station in the market, "or it could go away entirely," said Burke.
from NY Business Wire
March 6, 2000
Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation, (NASDAQ: HBCCA) announced today that it has entered into an agreement with subsidiaries of Clear Channel Communications, Inc. and AMFM Inc. to acquire radio stations KXPK(FM) broadcasting at 96.5 MHz serving the Denver, Colorado market; KKFR(FM) broadcasting at 92.3 MHz serving the Phoenix, Arizona market; and KEYI(FM) broadcasting at 103.5 MHz serving the Austin, Texas market.
"Acquiring and reformatting English-language radio stations to Spanish-language formats is an important part of our strategy. The acquisition of KXPK(FM) in Denver (Hispanic market No. 15) and KEYI(FM) in Austin (Hispanic market No. 16) will form a strong foundation to serve our audiences and advertisers in two very important Hispanic markets." The Company plans to commence Spanish-language programming in Denver and Austin in the third quarter of 2000 following the anticipated closing date of the transaction
from: Radio Digest
August 18, 1999
Hawthorne On The Radio
By Jim Hawthorne
Denver Chief Correspondent
--snips--
Bye-Bye, Howard? Question of the week: How long will AMFM allow Howard Stern to continue losing money at Denver's KXPK (96.5 FM, "The Peak")?
AMFM just disposed of Stern in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Obviously, people running the company's stations in the Twin Cities respect their bottom line and did something! They kicked the King of all Malarkey off their air.
Which brings up a point - notice how many times these days that Stern makes an on-air crack to the effect that he's sick of radio and maybe he'll soon quit? With his emphasis on his television and movie efforts, just how close is that day?
It seems the good listeners living in Minnesota didn't care for Howard - much like in Denver - so the management team took him off their FM outlet WRCX.
The very same problem faces Denver's The Peak. It's called lack of revenue. AMFM Denver chief Visotcky brought Stern to Denver after the competition, KKHK (99.5 FM, "The Hawk"), decided at the last minute against buying the morning star. The Tribune's management team at The Hawk, following a careful assessment of the scene after being swamped with complaints from listeners, gave a loud rejection to Stern's syndicators.
Obviously, KKHK's astute management team took a long look and discovered that there was a built-in point of no return if they brought Stern to Denver. Wise thinking. It didn't take Tribune brass long to fathom that The King of All Media's slow yet gradual descent to oblivion was in motion.
Visotcky was unable to comprehend why the Hawk management was so silly to not pay the inflated price requested by the syndicators of Stern. In other words, The Hawk dropped the Sternman from its claws, and Killer V took one look at the deal and said, "Duh, I'll take him."
Dallas is probably still wondering what happened.
All one has to do is monitor The Peak's Stern broadcast one day - any day - and count the commercials to deduce that it's a losing game. How long can a program produce such little revenue and stay alive?
We all know the gimmick of "you buy this spot on one of our other stations and we'll give you a freebie on Stern." Is that what's happening at The Peak? There are some paid and trade-out spots running, such as corner sex stores, but the bread-and-butter day-in-day-out local buyers of radio know the difference.
Those same domestic time buyers are also acutely aware of the insensitive Stern comments during the Columbine High School tragedy and the inanely amateurish excuse Visotcky aired, attempting to soften the blow. It didn't work, and local advertisers know that it's a losing situation. And don't blame the KXPK salespeople; they're working for a loser and they do their best.
It cost AMFM around $300,000 to shuck Howie in the Twin Cities. When the Dallas bosses of the Denver AMFM operation finally see what's going on here, it'll cost them much more than that to cancel Howard Stern.
from: DenverRadio.net
Spring '99 Morning Show (6-10 am) Ratings
12+ KYGO 98.5 FM 7.3 KRFX 103.5 FM 6.9 KOA 850 AM 6.9 KHOW 630 AM 6.6 KBCO 97.3 FM 6.2 KALC 105.9 FM 5.9 KOSI 101.1 FM 5.7 KXPK 96.5 FM 4.6 -- Howard KQKS 107.5 FM 4.6 KXKL 105.1 FM 4.5 18-34 KALC 105.9 FM 11.9 KRFX 103.5 FM 10.7 KXPK 96.5 FM 10.1 -- Howard KYGO 98.5 FM 8.2 KQKS 107.5 FM 7.6 KBCO 97.3 FM 7.6 KBPI 106.7 FM 7.0 KOSI 101.1 FM 4.4 KKHK 99.5 FM 4.3 KTCL 93.3 FM 4.2 25-54 KRFX 103.5 FM 9.0 KYGO 98.5 FM 7.9 KBCO 97.3 FM 7.6 KOA 850 AM 6.3 KOSI 101.1 FM 6.0 KALC 105.9 FM 5.9 KXKL 105.1 FM 5.6 KKHK 99.5 FM 4.9 KHOW 630 AM 4.7 KXPK 96.5 FM 4.7 -- Howard
Thanks to Roger...
from the: Denver Post
8/8/99 edition
August 8 - KBCO-FM's Bret Saunders is fond of saying he's in a "post-ironic phase."
For a morning radio guy, that means a stage in his career - and life - where he no longer has to impress listeners with phony voice inflections, hang up on them, or act smarter than the folks he's talking to every day between 5:30 and 10 a.m.
"I had to learn how not to be ironic," said Saunders, commenting on the persona many radio announcers seem to assume once they go on the air. "I used to slam the phone on people, too."
Given what else captures ratings and headlines on the FM dial at that hour - like the syndicated Howard Stern, or the local team of Rick Lewis and Michael Floorwax, whose on air humor is less crass than Stern's but still often hits below the belt - you might wonder if Saunders' style sells.
The good news, for those who decry the shock-jock, raunchy radio programming that has been in the news lately, is that it does.
In the winter Arbitron ratings, Saunders' show on KBCO (97.3 FM) ranked No. 1 in the 6-10 a.m. time slot among adult listeners ages 25-54, with an 8.3 share (a share is roughly 1 percent of the local population, or about 14,000 listeners). That was one-tenth of a share ahead of Lewis and Floorwax, and nearly one share ahead of third and fourth places, country music KYGO-FM and KOA-AM's morning news show.
In the spring ratings, which encompassed April through June, Saunders lost a few listeners, dropped to third, and KRFX's Lewis and Floorwax went back on top.
(Despite all the hoopla about Stern, his show is just 10th place in the age 25-54 ratings, with a 4.7 share. His target market is more narrowly defined: Males ages 18-34, a demographic category he's been winning recently.)
When you tune in to Saunders - a mild-mannered, 35-year-old guy who is extremely wellread, has a vast knowledge of all kinds of music, and manages to act smart without being smart-alecky - you won't have to cringe or cover your ears.
On a recent show, while Stern was one notch away on the FM dial trying to persuade a woman in his New York studio to bare her breasts, Saunders was interviewing the author of the Oxford English Dictionary. He put out a request for listeners to submit new words for consideration, and a number of thoughtful callers responded.
Thirty minutes later, Stern was still chortling about female body parts. Saunders, meanwhile, had played some music, maybe some classic rock like Rolling Stones or R.E.M., or a newer artist like Lauryn Hill, then moved on to an interview with the director of the hit film "The Blair Witch Project."
But this isn't to say Saunders' show is prudish or dull. It's not dumbed-down for anyone, nor is he particularly concerned about bottom lines or what will attract advertisers. Still, the local bosses at station owner ClearChannel (formerly Jacor) couldn't be happier.
"A few years ago, we didn't talk about ratings at KBCO, certainly not on the morning show," said Dave Benson, the station's program director.
Back then, managers were more concerned about staying true to the KBCO "sound" and "feel" - a format that's been dubbed AAA, for adult album alternative rock - than where the station was ranked.
--snips--
from the Denver Post
June 3 - The national furor and local hurt caused by Howard Stern's thoughtless comments on the radio in the wake of the Columbine shootings have resulted in two things: a discretionary advisory at the start of the broadcast and continued strong ratings.
This is not surprising. To a shock-jock there is no such thing as bad publicity.
What is somewhat surprising is the degree to which Stern has succeeded against his competition.
There's a war going on between Chancellor Broadcasting and Clear Channel (formerly Jacor) in Denver, and it's no secret where the key battle is being fought: It's during radio's "drive time," weekdays from 6-10 a.m.
These two national radio chains are fighting for the attention of Denver males between age 18 and 34. Their weapons are a high-priced, syndicated jokester and a well-paid, if less well-known, local team.
Howard Stern vs. Lewis & Floorwax. The programs in question can be considered an affront to more cultured, sophisticated - or simply older - ears. Young men apparently can't get enough of the juvenile sex talk, anatomical references and mean-spirited hilarity. Both shows thrive on negative publicity. They are quite successful at making money for their owners. In both cases, managers laugh off the objections of unsuspecting listeners who happen to stumble onto these particular radio frequencies.
In the seven months he's been on the air here, Stern has helped KXPK climb from No.- 6 to No.- 2 among its target audience. According to the latest Arbitron figures, Lewis & Floorwax on Clear Channel's KRFX "The Fox," at 103.5 FM, have declined from 19.5 percent of the morning audience in fall '98 to 10.4 percent in winter '99.
Stern, on Chancellor's KXPK at 96.5 FM, has climbed from 7.3 percent of the audience when he began in fall '98, to a 10 share this winter.
Those ratings show the importance of the morning period. Arbitron's top stations for the Denver-Boulder market, for listeners age 12 and up, throughout the day:
- 1. KOA 850 AM, which drew 7.5 percent of the audience (360,200 listeners a week)
- 2. KYGO 98.5 FM, 7.2 percent (298,800 listeners a week)
- 3. KBCO 97.3 FM, 7 percent
- 4. KOSI 101.1 FM, 6.7 percent
- 5. KQKS 107.5 FM, 6.1 percent
- 6. KRFX, 5.3 percent
- 7. KALC 106 FM , 4.8 percent
- 8. KXKL 105.1 FM, 4.5 percent
- 9. KHIH 95.7 FM, 4.2 percent
- 10. KKHK 99.5 FM, 3.8 percent.
And, for those keeping score of radio's 25- to 34-year-old audience, KBCO was the winner in that demographic with 9.6 percent of the audience, followed in descending order by KYGO, KOSI, KRFX and KOA.
Meanwhile, we won't have Stern to kick around on TV this week.
"The Howard Stern Radio Show," the nationally syndicated TV version scheduled to run on KCNC Channel 4, will be preempted Saturday for the sixth consecutive week since Stern's Columbine comment. KCNC General Manager Marv Rockford said the station is working on locally produced replacement programming, probably a sports special, to run in that slot, Saturday at 10:30 p.m. As usual, Rockford said the decision whether to pre-empt Stern's TV show will be made on a week-by-week basis.
from: Chicago Media
May 3, 1999
Those were the comments of Chancellor Vice Chairman and President Jim deCastro about Howard Stern (WCKG-FM) and recent trouble concerning his comments about the Columbine High School tragedy that has sparked so much controversy in Denver and prompted the Colorado State legislature to call for his removal from the airwaves in the state of Colorado.
According to deCastro there are no plans to remove Stern from the Chancellor owned station KPKE-FM in Denver. Stern's show now starts at 6am instead of 4am to give KXPK-FM two hours to edit any comments it deems controversial or inappropriate.
Stern seems to be undaunted by all this and even appears to be enjoying being in the middle of another controversy. Stern has been in Hollywood discussing plans for another movie.
[Ed. - April 29, 1999 - Well, once again Howard's hit a hot button. This Denver business may get him thrown off the air there...but nevertheless the whole controversy is crap.
Once again a couple of comments have been taken out of context - Howard's musings about what might have caused these shootings. Howard's radio enemies are after his ass trying to get him off-the-air, editorials are against him, etc... Remember, NO ONE complained about what Howard said until HIS COMPETITION (probably out of jealously) brought the issue to the surface.
What all this proves to me is that rather than get to real, root causes of problems such as what happened at Columbine High School, which I agree is a great tragedy, the media would rather throw out their version of political correctness in an effort to gain viewers and readers. Could it be because it's easier to blame Howard Stern than to face the real problems these shootings have brought to the surface? I say 'yes.' Maybe life in Littleton, Colorado isn't so wonderful after all.
While I understand the nature of what happened at Columbine, and truly feel sorry for those families directly affected, blaming Howard Stern won't bring those people back, blaming KXPK-FM won't bring those people back, blaming guns won't bring them back, blaming the NRA won't bring them back.
If you really want Howard off-the-air, then don't listen to him. No ratings means no job when you're in radio. What all of this media attention has done is the opposite - it's drawn MORE attention to Howard, and will most likely increase his ratings, in Denver and elsewhere.
What you're going to read in the stories that follow are basically the same kind of political correctness that follows Howard everywhere. They are representative of all the Colorado-based anti-Howard articles out there at this time.]
from the: Rocky Mountain News
April 29, 1999
More advertisers have pulled commercials from The PEAK, KXPK-FM (96.5) in protest of crude comments shock jock Howard Stern made last week about the Columbine shootings.
The Shane Co., Coors Brewing Co. and Bandimere Speedway have suspended their contracts with the station.
Office Liquidators went one step further. The retail store does not advertise on the PEAK, but yanked its spots from sister stations, KVOD-FM, (92.5) and KXKL-FM (105.1).
Office Liquidators owner, Dennis Meyer, canceled the ads the day after he attended Daniel Mauser's funeral. Daniel, 15, used to babysit his two younger children.
Stern, whose syndicated talk show has aired on the PEAK since late November, made sexual remarks that set off a firestorm of criticism.
"Did those kids (the suspects) try to have sex with any of the good-looking girls?" he asked? "They didn't even do that? At least if you're going to kill yourself and kill all the kids, why wouldn't you have some sex?"
An on-air apology by station manager Bob Visotcky did not appease some advertisers.
"Mr. Visotcky's gave a heartfelt and genuine apology that was aired on the radio every hour," said Joseph Jaffoni, spokesman for Dallas-based Chancellor Media Corp. which owns the PEAK.
However, some advertisers argued the station should have pulled Stern's show after the shooting.
"Obviously it's a syndicated program, and they knew what was on that program before it aired," said John Bandimere, general manager of the speedway.
Chancellor would not say how much ad revenue the station has lost over the Stern comments.
from Denver's: Westword
April 29, 1999
By Michael Roberts
How could anyone be surprised that Howard Stern made tactless remarks about the Columbine High School shootings during his April 21 broadcast? After all, his appeal, in large part, is based on his willingness to make tactless remarks about anything and everything, so he was simply running true to form. Likewise, his lascivious take on the tragedy (he noted that many of the young women fleeing for their lives were "good-looking," then wondered why the killers hadn't tried to screw them before blowing them away) was wholly predictable. Stern is capable of squeezing sex into practically any topic -- even the war in Kosovo. A couple of weeks ago, for instance, he salivated over the cover of Time magazine, which pictured a woman with a partially bare breast, before adding that when he sees images of refugee camps, he thinks about the day when such uprooted victims will be working in the States as particularly hot housekeepers.
More intriguing, then, is the manner in which the community at large was informed about what Stern said, as well as the reactions by everyone from the management at KXPK-FM/96.5 (the Peak), which broadcasts Stern in the Denver area, to the Peak's many radio competitors. The story is still developing, but there's the very real possibility that universal (and understandable) grief may be used as an excuse to pummel free speech. While Stern's Columbine statements were stupid and untimely, any supporter of the First Amendment should be defending to the death his right to make them. But right now, they're mighty quiet -- and in the current atmosphere, they're apt to remain that way.
Stern never comes into a radio market quietly, but his entry into Denver was noisier than most. The program was originally slated to begin airing last September on KKHK-FM/99.5 (the Hawk), but following the announcement of its acquisition, the signal was inundated with so many complaints (many genuine, some allegedly staged by competitors at Jacor Broadcasting, a Kentucky conglomerate that owns eight powerful Denver stations) that it backed out at the last minute. A couple of months later, the Peak -- a property of Dallas-based Chancellor Broadcasting, a mammoth concern with multiple Denver radio properties -- stepped up to the plate, having decided that Stern's popularity outweighed his unpredictability. "Whether you love him or hate him, most people know who Howard is, which you can't say about a lot of people that you could put on a brand-new morning show," Scott Strong, the station's program director at the time, boasted in the November 26, 1998, edition of this column. "He gets people talking -- and that's good."
Not always. Initially, the reaction to Stern's Columbine jibes was mostly confined to complaints made to the radio station, but Peak general manager Bob Visotcky was concerned enough about them to phone Stern's handlers. On April 22, Stern -- perhaps prompted by Visotcky, perhaps not -- spoke in less injurious tones about the Columbine shooting during a show featuring one of his daughters, who was present because of national Take Your Daughter to Work day. And on April 23, Stern read over the air an article about teacher Dave Sanders, the sole adult victim of the assault, calling the piece "the saddest goddamn thing I've ever heard about in my life."
Visotcky weighed in with an editorial of his own. In the recording, which was heard on the Peak every two hours from April 23 to 25, he acknowledged that Stern had "crossed the line" but went on to defend the host by claiming that he shouldn't be judged on the basis of "one or two inappropriate comments." He further suggested that instead of issuing such attacks, people impacted by the mass slaying should spend their energy by being more loving and compassionate toward those around them.
In an April 26 conversation with Westword, Visotcky, who said he was "outraged" by Stern's Columbine quips, said he wasn't trying to imply that Stern and the Peak, rather than the individual casualties and the people of Colorado, were the victims of the incident. That's precisely how his mea culpa sounded, though, providing even more ammunition for Dusty Saunders, a veteran media critic for the Denver Rocky Mountain News whose April 24 attack on Stern and the Peak, headlined "Radio's Bottom Line on Columbine: Sensitivity Doesn't Sell," spurred the public's indignation. But the text's portrayal of Stern as "a foul-mouthed, unfeeling slob" and Visotcky as a duplicitous corporate stooge might never have reached print had not an anonymous tipster recorded the contentious Columbine lines and played them into Saunders's voice mail. Saunders, who does a weekly radio show for Jacor's KHOW-AM/630 (an ethically questionable choice on his part), called this person "a reader" during an April 27 appearance on Jacor-owned KOA-AM/850 -- and that may, in fact, be true. But it's just as likely that the informant was employed by Jacor, which is widely believed to employ an array of subterfuge against radio rivals on a regular basis. Over the years, I've received numerous voice mails of the type that came Saunders's way, including one on April 26 -- and on every single occasion, they were aimed directly at Jacor's adversaries.
No one at Jacor has ever fessed up to such trickery, of course, and the Stern case is no exception. On April 26, Mike O'Connor, program director for Jacor's KRFX-FM/103.5 (the Fox) and KTCL-FM/93.3, denied that Jacor was involved in publicizing Stern's gaffe, but he did concede that Jacor regularly monitors (and records) his broadcast. "It took all the restraint we could muster not to blow the whistle on the guy," O'Connor said. "I've been sitting on the tape since last Wednesday. But since we're perceived as a competitor, we thought we'd look like we were grandstanding -- so we waited until the news got out another way."
And get out it did. Saunders's denunciation was followed in the Rocky by an April 26 editorial -- the first of two the paper has published thus far -- demanding that the Peak pull Stern from its lineup. Immediately thereafter, other media outlets began piling on. Both KHOW-AM and KNUS-AM/710 (a station not owned by Jacor) devoted much of their morning airtime on April 26 to anti-Stern harangues, with KHOW's Tom Martino saying that he was embarrassed to be associated with Stern in any way. (Stern's Saturday-night television show is owned by CBS and broadcast locally by Martino's television employer, KCNC-TV/Channel 4. Because of the connection, Channel 4 has also been targeted by anti-Stern protesters.) The Peak's switchboard was subsequently overwhelmed by irate locals. In one of the most unfortunate choices of metaphors imaginable, the station's receptionist told me that she was "under heavy fire."
As this onslaught was at its height, Visotcky got on the phone with Stern, who he said was dumbfounded by the anger being directed at him and would attempt to "clear everything up" on the next day's show. But if Visotcky was hoping for Stern to issue a simple and heartfelt apology during his April 27 broadcast, he didn't get it. After kicking off the first hour of the show with a rap parody called "My Niggaz," which he delivered in a white man's joking approximation of black English, and some banter with a stripper eager to participate in a "lesbian dream date" with a pair of porn stars, Stern launched into a vigorous forty-minute defense of his post-shootings behavior -- one of several he'd offer throughout his shift. "I made a comment, and anybody who heard it knows that it was totally in context," he declared. "And I think I've made some fairly sensitive comments about this. I talked about the teacher, I did a profile of the students." About the disputed remarks, he added, "I was just looking for the motive in all of this, because I understand the criminal mind. If somebody goes out and rapes a woman and kills them for sexual pleasure or something like that, I can understand it. But this was just so senseless that I was trying to understand it."
On only a couple of brief occasions did Stern come close to sounding conciliatory; for instance, he said, "I assure you that I feel pretty bad about this." But he spent much more time protesting his innocence with arguments such as "If my comments were so insensitive, I would have heard about it all the time -- but I'm on in fifty markets, and I haven't heard a single complaint from anybody outside Denver. I put my foot in my mouth all the time, but I didn't on this. Maybe it wasn't the most profound point, but I've got five hours a day to fill."
Even Stern realized that weak rationalizations like these were unlikely to change minds set against him, especially now that the story has gone national (it made the New York Post on April 27 and is on the Associated Press wire). "This show is not going to solve the Denver problem," he said. But as proof that he wasn't all that worried about the situation, he even aimed several barbs at Visotcky, noting, "I've got this general manager there going on the air apologizing, which only makes things worse. And then I'm on the phone with him, and he's going, 'Oh, my God, oh my God,' and saying I should apologize. But why should I apologize? Apologize for what? Maybe I'll be off the air in Denver, but at least I'm going to tell you what's really going on."
Still, Stern's most effective tack was to cast Jacor as bad guys involved in an underhanded attempt to disparage him. "My competitors are freaking out," he announced. "They hate this show. They're scared to death of me, because they can't come up with any decent shows against us. We're getting ratings, and they're scared to death."
There's something to that. The Peak's morning ratings are on the rise: In February, the most recent month for which tallies were available at press time, Stern's show was the fourth-most popular drive-time offering in the Denver area among listeners between the ages of 18 and 34, trailing only KALC-FM/105.9 (Alice), KRFX-FM/103.5 (the Fox) and KQKS-FM/107.5 (KS-107.5). In addition, industry insiders are anticipating that Stern's ratings will go up in the wake of the Columbine flap, just as occurred at Alice a couple of years ago after a DJ ridiculed an epileptic who drowned as a "seizure salad." It's natural, they say, for people to tune in to see what all the fuss is about. But this is generally a temporary phenomenon that doesn't take into account advertising dollars -- a station's lifeblood. The Peak is selling commercials in the Stern morning block to strip clubs and the like, but most mainstream businesses have been steering clear for fear of tarnishing their reputations. And the Columbine matter will likely further fuel a trend that's already hit the Peak in the wallet. A possible corollary can be drawn to the experiences of KEGL-FM (the Eagle) in Dallas. Stern had helped the station climb to the top of the ratings heap in the city, but after the jock made fun of Latin singer Selena's death and music, local outrage scared advertisers away. Eventually the Eagle pulled the plug on Stern, even though he was number one in the market.
All of this puts Visotcky in an extremely vulnerable position that's exacerbated by his role in the airing of Stern's quotes. Why? The Peak could have easily prevented Stern's Columbine jokes from being heard here: Because the program is run on a tape-delay basis, snipping the offending segment would have been a cinch had a Peak staffer been checking the recording for potentially problematic content. But even though Stern has received at least $1.715 million in fines from the Federal Communications Commission -- more than any other person -- no such early warning system was in place. Visotcky has now instituted strict policies regarding Stern's show and has done what he can to make the Peak seem like a responsible member of the broadcasting landscape, launching a blood drive and raising money for Columbine-related charities. But that hasn't prevented Jacor personalities from mercilessly ripping the Peak. Most hysterical thus far has been Steve Kelly, a morally superior boor on KOA who on April 27 got into a shouting match with a caller who dared to say he wasn't offended by Stern's remarks, then quizzed the station's legal expert, Dan Caplis, on the odds of successfully suing Stern over what he said. Caplis admitted that such a suit was doomed to fail before adding his voice to the chorus calling for Stern's head.
As of the 26th, Visotcky didn't know if the Peak would resist the pressure to sack its star attraction: "I'm talking to people at my company and CBS and looking at all the facts, but we haven't decided on anything yet," he said. But listeners who consider Stern a major contributor to the deteriorating quality of Denver radio should think twice about celebrating if the Peak caves. Although scapegoating Stern may make Denverites feel better temporarily, he's no more guilty of complicity at Columbine than the bands whose CDs may have turned up in the killers' homes. Howard Stern may be a symptom of what's wrong in today's society, but he sure ain't the disease.
from the: Denver Post
April 27, 1999
Listeners are not powerless. That's the good news.
In the past I've defended Howard Stern on First Amendment grounds. At times his attempts to blast through limits on free speech were politically astute.
I've suggested listeners simply turn off the shock-jock if they are offended. Occasionally I've even found his radio antics humorous (the TV version on KCNC is much worse).
I've said he's an annoyance who must be tolerated, just as the Nazi Party had to be allowed to march in Skokie, Ill., on First Amendment grounds. But bad taste is another issue.
Listeners do have a say. Nothing says an offensive program has to be picked up from a national syndicator and played in a local market as a continuing slap in the face to the community after an indefensible verbal assault.
If enough listeners agree, the Denver market can say Howard Stern's show is not desired here.
Listeners get to vote in every rating book, and via every sponsor. Stern has the right to say insensitive things, and we have the right to refuse to listen and to refuse to patronize those who underwrite hurtful speech.
If Denver consumers let the advertisers of Stern's show on KXPK (96.5 FM) know they don't want to hear him, they can effect a change.
Stern's sexualized comments about the students fleeing the scene of the massacre at Columbine High were repulsive. This time, Stern wasn't just being the naughty boy pushing the bounds of free speech. He was being a shock-jock with complete disregard for a community in the midst of an overwhelming tragedy.
George Carlin, a clever satirist, used foul language to protest censorship in his famous "seven dirty words" sketch. Howard Stern, a shock jock, was not making any political point. He was being crude and insensitive to get attention; he is simply out of bounds.
Stern offended the community when the community was most raw. The community is within its rights to tune him out.
The local station manager made a particularly odious, self-serving on-air statement following Stern's lapse. Chancellor Media's Bob Visotcky, vice president and general manager of KXPK (96.5 FM) "The Peak," defended Stern, promoted The Peak, and urged listeners to "reflect on the positives of what these radio stations are doing."
While Visotcky allowed that Stern "definitely has crossed the line in certain areas," he discounted the impact of Stern's comments concerning the Columbine tragedy and went on to plug the station's fund-raising.
Spare us. If Stern has an audience elsewhere, so be it. In Denver, he has so deeply offended listeners there is no going back.
How would concerned listeners go about bumping Stern? First, they would stop listening. Second, they would boycott the advertisers who make his program possible.
Capitalism rules, and Stern's show has helped the station draw young male listeners since it joined The Peak's lineup in November. According to the Arbitron numbers for December - February, Stern's audience among males 18-and-older (his target audience), grew to a 4.1 share compared to a 2.0 share a year earlier. That translates to 46,000 people per average quarter hour, each listening for at least five minutes. The average time spent listening to the station's morning show also doubled from the previous year, to an average 4 hours per week.
The next Arbitron report is due this week, summarizing winter trends.
Stern is considered a profitable advertising vehicle for car dealers and strip clubs. But numerous ad agencies have Stern on a list of forbidden shows deemed unacceptable to their advertisers; some have nixed advertising on the station as a whole.
This week, that list should be growing.
from the: Rocky Mountain News
April 26, 1999
Opinion/Editorial
A few weeks ago, a syndicated Washington-area shock jock joked about the Texas dragging death of James Byrd. Doug "The Greaseman" Tracht was summarily fired.
Just last week, in Charlotte, N.C., a radio talk show host lost his job after making a lame wisecrack about the Columbine High School killings.
Meanwhile, Howard Stern remains on the air in Denver.
Why?
As the News' Dusty Saunders reported Saturday, Stern believes that even the mass murder at Columbine are fair game for his vulgar wit.
"There were, like, really good-looking girls running out with their hands over their heads," he told his syndicated audience last week, an audience that includes listeners of KXPK-FM (96.5).
"Did those kids (the killers) try to have sex with any of the good-looking girls? They didn't even do that?
"At least if you're going to kill yourself and kill all the kids, why wouldn't you have some sex?"
Stern had one last quip, too, which didn't appear in Saunders' column: "I mean, if I was going to kill some people, I'd take them out with sex."
Not only did station executives fail to yank Stern's show, the general manager actually delivered an on-air lecture to those who'd called in to complain. Yes, Stern "crossed the line in certain areas," Bob Visotcky acknowledged, but the shock jock mustn't be judged "by one or two inappropriate comments."
Then Visotcky launched into his homily. "Rather than looking for somebody to attack all the time," he suggested, "why don't we start writing letters. If somebody, if your neighbor did something nice for you or for your family, send them a note, call them up on the phone and tell them, 'You did something right,' instead of always looking for negatives to attack with..."
"Put your arms around people, embrace people, tell everybody you love each other instead of what you hate and what you don't like. That's what I think we need to work on. All of us."
Visotcky continued in this pompous vein, praising the various good works of Chancellor Media Corp. (as if they were in doubt) and noting his employees' community ties (as if they weren't self-evident) before serving up his final platitudes.
"We are all trying to help in any way we can," he said. "So let's focus on the positives rather than attacking."
Sorry, but everyone is not trying to help in every possible way. If Visotcky really wanted to help, for example, he'd have canceled Stern's show. It is the one meaningful contribution he might have offered to a stricken community, but one that apparently was too much to expect.
No, we are not blaming Howard Stern for what happened at Columbine, as Visotcky so artlessly accused his station's critics during his radio address. We are simply saying that the crude, pointless exploitation of tragedy for humor is -- or ought to be -- beyond the pale in the commercial media. You should have a very good reason before you decide to laugh at the expense of grieving people. Offhand, we can't think of one.
Visotcky may not be aware of it, but the Columbine massacre has prompted a nationwide debate about the popular culture, and specifically whether TV, films, video games and youth music nurture a nihilistic disregard for life. Is it any wonder that many people believe this is the case, when even the death of children is now grist for a few cheap laughs by a celebrity of Stern's vast reach?
Nor was last week the first time Stern has used murder as a foil for his wit. After the singer Selena was shot and killed, he played her music with the sound of mock gunfire reverberating in the background. His point: "Spanish people have the worst taste in music."
Either we are serious about showing respect for the dead and their families or we aren't. Either we care about the quality of our culture or we don't. Let Howard Stern make his millions in other broadcast markets. He does not belong in Denver.
from the: RockyMountain News
April 27, 1999
Opinion/Editorial
Fair enough. Here is the whole truth, as Bob Visotcky recounts it in a fax to our office.
"Howard made a few inappropriate comments early Wednesday before most of the facts were reported for which I apologized. When 96.5 The Peak contacted the producers of the Howard Stern show and Howard received more facts he did an outstanding job showing compassion.
"Howard Stern discussed this tragedy with his daughter on 'Bring Your Daughter to Work Week' this past Thursday and asked her how this tragedy affected her, her teachers and her friends. On Friday, Howard read the article regarding the heroic teacher, Dave Sanders, live on the air. He told his listeners how this teacher helped save many lives while he himself was already shot.
"After he read the article, Howard paused and told his listeners this was the saddest thing he's ever heard."
Visotcky professes to believe that Stern's contrasting reactions from Wednesday -- when he viciously joked about the mass murder of children -- to Thursday and Friday had to do with his receiving "more facts." Permit us an alternative explanation. Stern recognized that even he had gone too far, and decided to do some quick fence-mending to mute the calls for his head that would inevitably come from his critics.
After all, just what "facts" were not available to Stern on Wednesday? All of America -- or all of that portion of the populace attuned to the broadcast media, which clearly includes Stern -- had followed the unfolding horror as it occurred one week ago today. Stern himself must have watched some of the coverage. How else did he know that "there were, like, really good-looking girls running out (of the school) with their hands over their heads"?
If anything, most of the world last Wednesday morning assumed the death toll was even greater than it turned out to be. This newspaper, for example, reported in its main story Wednesday that "as many as 25 died -- maybe even more, police said."
As we now know, the tally in fact was 13 murdered and two suicides.
So Howard Stern delivered his cruel quips -- another example: "At least if you're going to kill yourself and kill all the kids, why wouldn't you have some sex?" -- at a time when he must have known the full magnitude of the bloodshed. But he nevertheless considered the tragedy suitable material for his vulgar humor.
Visotcky might have a better defense for Stern had his performance last week been unique in the shock jock's career. It was not, of course. As our editorial Monday recounted, Stern also joked in brutally tasteless fashion about the singer Selena's murder -- for which he also later attempted to make amends. It turns out, moreover, that Stern also recently wisecracked about the raping of Albanian women by Serbian troops.
An account in Monday's Wall Street Journal, by Dorothy Rabinowitz, provides the details:
"The talk then turned to reports that the Serbs had raped many Albanian women. Co-host (Robin) Quivers observed that 'the Serbs are just having a good time.'
"'Right,' said Mr. Stern. 'Those Albanian women are hot.'
"The next few minutes brought variations on this theme, along with chatter about the fleeing women's breast sizes and other physical features.
"Stern: 'Hey look at this influx of hot chicks.'
"Sidekick: 'Look at those haunches."'
Rabinowitz reports that on the very same day, Stern took off on "a protracted series of quips about gassing and the gas chambers" in reaction to a ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Funny guy, Howard Stern.
If Visotcky and the folks at Chancellor Media Corp. wish to retain Stern's show on The Peak, so be it. But don't bother warming our hearts with stories about Stern's "compassion" or the fact that he is a dutiful father. He is also an entertainer who regularly exploits tragedy for pointless, sick humor. He's done it before and he will do it again.
And when he does, we look forward to hearing Visotcky tell us once again how Stern didn't really mean it.
[Ed. - ...and now, let's see who the REAL exploiters of this story are!]
from the: XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 1999 22:59:08 ET XXXXX
"As the nation focused on the school shooting tragedy in Littleton, Colorado... NIGHTLY NEWS posted double digit viewer growth in both total viewers and homes," bragged Levin in a press release she issued on AP NEWS EXPRESS.
MSNBC followed the example and issued its own shocking press release claiming viewership records had been set during the bloodbath.
"MSNBC's total day households grew an impressive 88% to a .5/259,000," declared MSNBC in a press release.
"MSNBC's broadcast of the NEWS WITH BRIAN WILLIAMS rocketed 105%" during the slaughter.
The press release continued: "MSNBC shattered its previous peak quarter-hour record, scoring a 4.2/2,018,000 households during John Gibson's interview with a Columbine High School student."
Not to be out done, Atlanta was also busy celebrating its increased viewership with a press release that claimed dramatic gains.
"CNN's key demo more than doubles," noted CNN in a release.
Ted Turner's media relations office announced: "On April 20, 1999, the network's highest-rated day of the year to date, CNN/U.S. posted total-day increases of 425 percent in rating and 409 percent in delivery, averaging a 2.1 rating and delivering 1.6 million homes. The network's delivery among adults 25- 54 also increased by 731 percent..."
from: Radio Digest
April 27, 1999
During the first hour of this morning's (Apr. 27) Howard Stern show, heard in Denver over The Peak, (KXPK 96.5 FM), the King of all Media blamed Denver Rocky Mountain News radio-TV columnist Dusty Saunders and Jacor broadcasting personalities and management for "trying to get him off the air" in The Mile High City.
The controversy stems from on-air statements made by Stern following the Columbine High School shooting that were considered "insensitive," by many Denver listeners.
Stern denied that his comments as expressed on his program the day following the massacre were not what he meant to convey.
"I'm on in fifty markets, or something like that," said Stern on his program, "(and) I haven't heard one complaint about anything I've ever said about the - I think it's Columbine High School Tragedy - I mean, I can't imagine where this is coming from so I had to dig a little deeper."
First, Stern took on Bob Visotcky, KXPK's general manager.
Said Stern: "I had heard in Denver our general manager of the station we're on was running announcements apologizing for stuff I said, and I said, 'that can't be true.' So one of the listeners called and said, 'What are you apologizing for - I don't know what they're talking about.' I think I've made some fairly sensitive comments about what happened. I think everyone knows I was upset about the tragedy. I talked about the teacher that was killed there. I did the profile of some of the students. I had my own daughter in here, and we talked about what they said in her school. That's why I didn't even pay any attention."
Stern then got to the point of his lengthy explanation.
"So then I come to find out that two guys out in Denver are trying to stir people up," said Stern. "Who do they work for? Jacor Communications. Who is Jacor Communications? Our direct competitor in Denver."
Next, Stern got to the core of the origin of his original comments. "Remember when I was talking about this the first day?" asked Stern. "We were talking about the TV coverage, and a kid called in and said, 'By the way, there were a lot of good-looking girls in the high school, because when they were running out of the classroom, the girls were really hot.' And then I said, 'Gee, what is the motive.' That's what I was looking for."
I understand the criminal mind," continued Stern. "I understand if a guy goes out and robs somebody, at least I can say he wanted money. If a guy goes out and he's a sexual pervert, and he goes out and rapes women and kills women afterwards, that I understand. At least I understand there's a motive. This was so senseless. These were a bunch of guys mowing everyone down and then killing themselves."
Stern then explained the accusations that he was insensitive.
He explained: "So I said, 'Gee, if you're going to have sex with women beforehand, or if you were going to rob people beforehand - this was sort of the theme of what I was saying that day - at least I could sort of not deal with it, you know, or know what they were after."
"There are two guys out there who both work for Jacor," continued Stern. "By the way, Jacor owns our San Diego station, so what they're doing is shooting me in the foot over in Denver. They took my comment, and they're playing them over and over again on their station. And I say, if you were really offended by what I said and you think that the community right now is at the most sensitive, why would you play it over and over again if you're offended by it? I'll tell you why - because these are two competitors who don't have ratings, who desperately want to see me off the radio."
As covered in another story today in RadioDigest.com, listeners asked for certain actions against Stern and KXPK, including urging sponsors to cancel advertising schedules. Many listeners also suggested picketing KXPK and its sponsors. During the Tom Martino program on Jacor's KHOW, a list of advertisers who had already canceled was read.
On the same program, Stern said he plans to call all the advertisers involved and explain to them that they should listen to all four days of what he said on the radio - then they could judge whether or not he was insensitive.
Stern's diatribe against Jacor and Denver media personalities continued with naming what Stern called "two douche-bags who have been after me - Dusty (Saunders), who writes for the Denver Rocky Mountain News."
Stern explained that Saunders had a Sunday radio show on a Denver Jacor station. Saunders co-hosts "The Sunday Media Show" on KHOW from 10 a.m. to noon Sundays with Joanne Ostrow, the radio and television columnist from the Denver Post.
"There's another deejay on a Jacor station who has seen fit to play my comments over and over again on 760 KTLK," said Stern. Actually, was referring to Peter Boyles, who is a talk-jockey opposite Stern on KHOW.
Stern continued criticizing Visotcky, saying that The Peak's GM had no reason to apologize for Stern and that his comments carried on KXPK last week were unnecessary.
"Apologize for what?" Stern asked his radio audience. "They will not print my comments, the discussion with my daughter, they will not print my comments about the teacher who died there, or any of my comments for the entire four days. So what does that tell you?"
"Please - and I'm asking the sponsors of my show - I'm asking the people of Denver to use some common sense here and understand what's going on."
Stern also commented that he had received no complaints from any of the millions of listeners to his show. "Not from one city did I get one complaint of what I had to say, and in Denver we didn't get any complaints until these guys started complaining about it," referring to Saunders and Boyles.
courtesy of: Reuters
Wednesday April 28, 1999
The Colorado state legislature demanded an apology from Stern, who asked on his nationwide radio program the day after the Columbine High School horror if the two teen-age gunmen had tried to have sex with female classmates.
The state lawmakers overwhelmingly passed a non-binding resolution asking local radio station KXPK-FM that carries Stern to stop broadcasting his program.
The legislators said Stern must "be censured for his comments" and "send a letter of apology to Columbine High School," in the Denver suburb of Littleton where the shootings occurred.
Stern in Tuesday's program on KXPK-FM denied he had been insensitive and attributed the complaints about his program to competitors.
"We're getting ratings and starting to get attention," Stern said.
He said his comments such as "Did those kids (the suspects) try to have sex with any of the good-looking girls?" referred to motive.
He noted that advertising in Denver had been pulled from the station in response to his remarks and said listeners in the 50 other markets where his show is heard did not complain.
from the: Rocky Mountain News
April 29, 1999
Radio and TV broadcaster Howard Stern, whose remarks on the Columbine High School slayings drew a strong rebuke Tuesday from the Colorado House, got more of the same Wednesday from the Senate.
"If we want to talk about inappropriate comments, then he won first prize," said Rep. Norma Anderson, R-Lakewood, whose district includes the high school.
The resolution, which urges the Chancellor Media Corp. and KCNC-TV to discontinue airing Stern's shows in Colorado, was approved on a 34-1 vote. Only Sen. Bill Thiebaut, D-Pueblo, voted against it. He said he did so for First Amendment reasons, even though he also found the remarks offensive.
During his radio shows, Stern reportedly questioned why the killers didn't have sex with the female students before killing them.
The resolution asks that Stern -- as well as Bob Visotcky, general manager of KXPK-FM -- send a letter of apology to Columbine.
No one spoke against the resolution.
Sen. Pat Pascoe, D-Denver, criticized the remarks as "very inappropriate, very cruel and very difficult for the parents of those girls who were killed."
Sen. Doug Linkhart, D-Denver, said: "It's one more piece of evidence to me of the desensitizing that is going on in the minds of our children and our young people to the value of human life and the dignity of the human person."
from the: Colorado State Government pages
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 99-1056
BY REPRESENTATIVES Lee, Fairbank, Stengel, Alexander, Allen, Bacon, Berry, Clapp, Clarke, Dean, Decker, Gagliardi, George, Gordon, Gotlieb, Hefley, Hoppe, Johnson, Kaufman, Keller, Kester, King, Larson, Lawrence, Mace, McKay, McPherson, Miller, Morrison, Nuqez, Paschall, Pfiffner, Scott, Sinclair, Smith, Spradley, Swenson, Taylor, Tochtrop, Tool, Webster, S. Williams, Windels, Witwer, Young, Zimmerman;
also SENATORS Anderson, Andrews, Arnold, Blickensderfer, Chlouber, Congrove, Dennis, Dyer, Epps, Evans, Hernandez, Hillman, Lacy, Lamborn, Linkhart, Martinez, Musgrave, Nichol, Owen, Pascoe, Powers, Teck, Wattenberg, Weddig.
CONCERNING THE INAPPROPRIATE RADIO COMMENTS OF HOWARD STERN, AND, IN CONNECTION THEREWITH, REQUESTING DISCIPLINARY ACTION BE TAKEN AGAINST HOWARD STERN.
WHEREAS, The General Assembly has been greatly touched by the tragedy that occurred at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999; and
WHEREAS, The state of Colorado and the nation have been shaken by the Columbine High School tragedy and have been grieving the senseless loss of life and talent; and
WHEREAS, The members of the Sixty-second General Assembly recognize the importance of freedom of speech as a tenant to the dialogue that makes the United States great; and
WHEREAS, The General Assembly also asserts that members of the media and broadcasting companies need to be accountable for the tasteless and inappropriate comments made during such a period of grief and devastation; and
WHEREAS, Personal responsibility is fundamental to the success of our state and nation; and
WHEREAS, Editorials from the Rocky Mountain News have reported comments made by Howard Stern to include:
! "There were, like really good-looking girls running out with their hands over their heads."
! "Did those kids [the suspects] try to have sex with any of the good-looking girls? They didn't even do that?"
! "At least if you're going to kill yourself and kill the kids, why wouldn't you have some sex?"
! "I mean, if I was going to kill some people, I'd take them out with sex."
WHEREAS, The general manager of the radio station KXPK-FM (96.5) that aired the radio program in which Howard Stern made these comments, chastised Coloradans who called in to complain and indicated that 'they were looking for someone to attack'; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Sixty-second General Assembly of the State of Colorado, the Senate concurring herein:
(1) That the members of the Sixty-second General Assembly of the state of Colorado request that Howard Stern be censured for his comments;
(2) That Howard Stern and the general manager of KXPK-FM (96.5) send a letter of apology to Columbine High School as a demonstration of their personal responsibility for their offensive and thoughtless comments; and
(3) That Chancellor Media Corporation discontinue airing Howard Stern's radio program within Colorado and that KCNC-TV (Channel 4) discontinue the broadcast of the "Howard Stern Radio Show".
Be It Further Resolved, That copies of this resolution be sent to Howard Stern, KXPK-FM (96.5) radio station, KCNC-TV (Channel 4), and the principal of Columbine High School.
_________________________ _________________________
Russell George Ray Powers
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE PRESIDENT OF THE OF REPRESENTATIVES SENATE
_________________________ _________________________
Judith M. Rodrigue Patricia K. Dicks
CHIEF CLERK OF THE HOUSE SECRETARY OF OF REPRESENTATIVES THE SENATE
[Ed. - ...and now the censoring starts...]
from: RadioDigest.com
April 28, 1999
If you tuned in to Denver's KXPK (96.5 FM) expecting to hear the Howard Stern Show at its regular 4 a.m. start time, you were greeted with an announcement by a station staffer.
"I'm Devin," said the staffer. "Yes, the Howard Stern Show will be on at six o'clock this morning, so stick around and stay tuned for that."
That's it. Nothing else, except the usual "New Rock" right off the playlist and the usual recorded station IDs.
After Stern’s on-air attack yesterday (Apr. 27) of Dusty Saunders, the radio and television columnist for the Denver Rocky Mountain News, and Peter Boyles, heard opposite Stern on Jacor's KHOW, speculation is that the Peak's management was simply protecting itself from another outburst. Stern also suggested on the air that Jacor is orchestrating a plot to have him removed from Denver’s airwaves.
RadioDigest.com has learned that the motivating factor behind the two-hour delay, according to an inside source at the station, is so the station could edit out any objectionable content that Stern might say this morning. According to the source, KXPK is protecting itself "in the event Stern says something actionable or if he attacks Chancellor management again."
On yesterday's show, Stern took KXPK's vice president and general manager Bob Visotcky to task for his on-air apology for Stern's previous "insensitive" comments regarding the Columbine High School bloodbath, considered by many Denverites to be patently offensive.
As he opened Tuesday morning’s show across the nation, Stern condemned the Colorado State Legislature, which he says attempted to pass a law that would ban him from the state’s airwaves. "Why can’t I have a day in court before they condemn me?" Stern asked his audience. "None of this was an issue until two Jacor deejays made it an issue. This is an outrage - that the Colorado legislature would act on something that two deejays are saying."
"It would have been brilliant had the legislature banned the sale of guns," declared Stern. "That would have been mind blowing. But they’re hypocrites. We know what they did to the gays," said Stern in reference to the actions taken by the state legislature a couple of years ago, which denied suspect-class status to homosexuals.
Stern also said that a Jacor station in Cleveland has also tried to drum up some anti-Stern sentiment, but that station was flooded with faxes and calls from listeners who condemned that station’s actions. "Do you think Jacor is using this from market to market to compete with me?" Stern caustically asked.
"I find it hard to believe that there are parents on the planet who don’t know that their kids are spewing out Nazi propaganda and building pipe bombs," said Stern. "I mean, take some interest in your kids. Don’t blame Howard Stern."
"Let’s say I did say something offensive and I’m too stupid to figure it out. Why would you care about what I had to say? I’m just some dopey guy trying to figure something out."
"Take me off the air if I’m so bad," declared Stern. "Who cares? I know what I said, and I know I said nothing wrong."
[Ed. - ...and finally some common sense...]
from: Newsday
April 29, 1999
After every American tragedy involving one or more gunmen and five or more dead - unless the victim is famous, in which case a single dead person will suffice - our nation loves to look deep down into what a famous writer once called the innermost talk show of our heart.
"What is the matter with us?" the nation asked after John F. Kennedy was killed in Dallas in 1963.
"Where are we headed?" it asked after Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were gunned down within weeks of each other in 1968.
"What has become of America?" it wondered in 1984, when an unemployed security guard executed 21 people at a McDonald's restaurant in San Ysidro, Calif.
"Is there something going on here?" it sought to know after a Texas gunman murdered 22 humans and himself at Luby's Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas, in 1991; and again after a spate of mass killings in post offices; and again after Colin Ferguson unzipped his semi-automatic pistol from a bowling bag and fired on commuters.
The innermost talk show of our heart is a rerun.
I think they call this alienation, though I'm not sure I know what alienation is. I think it's where nothing and nobody seems connected to anything or anybody.
Whatever it is, it is in this spirit that during the coming days you and I - and I more than most - will read and watch every report from Littleton, Colo., in search of the meaning of the massacre at Columbine High School last week.
Fine reporters will answer every question the nation asks: about the personal histories of the two young men who laughed while shooting 13 people to death, wounding dozens of others, then killing themselves; about others who might have been involved in the plot; about the pecking order of the social ladder at Columbine High; about the boys' fascination with Hitler; about their Web page; the Internet, and the impact of mass culture on their clearly damaged personalities.
I will read it all. But between you and me, I am not really interested.
We know this much already, and it is enough: There are manufacturing companies in the United States, operating under various names but masked behind an organization to which they provide huge financial support - the National Rifle Association - which produce weapons specifically made for killing people.
The two young men in Littleton carried these weapons, one of them a TEC-9 semiautomatic pistol that fired 32 rounds in under five seconds.
He had to reload, but reloading is easy.
The industry has worked out the reloading kinks.
It is a legal industry, they say, because it's in the Constitution. But really, it is legal because it is a big business, and important to the balance of trade.
A lot of these weapons are sold to the governments of Third World countries. There, they are used to quiet civil unrest, much of which is caused by Americans who pay the local citizenry subhuman wages - or by other Americans who underwrite huge loans to their corrupt governments.
The industry, therefore, is fulfilling a certain national purpose.
The fact that some of these weapons also drench the streets of the country, and become the favored tools of drug dealers, cop killers and mass murderers, is just one of the costs of doing business in the global economy.
I love Dan Rather as much as the next seeker of truth, but when he gazes into the eyes of the district attorney in Littleton and asks, "What's going on here, Dave?" I just have this sense that I'm not going to learn very much.
The district attorney, as it happened, talked about our "culture," and how dangerous it has become, and how parents are just not doing the kind of parenting they used to do, when moms stayed at home and dads could support the family with one job.
Guns aren't killing people, he said, in effect, moms are.
Personally, I learned more listening to Howard Stern, the radio disc jockey who is being criticized for saying crude and inhumane things on his show the day after the massacre.
Stern wondered aloud whether the gunmen tried "to have sex with any of the good-looking girls" who fled the school.
It was a meaningless comment from a man famous as one of the nation's greatest purveyors of meaninglessness.
But in the midst of our phony national search for meaning, it seems about as good as any insight we'll get.
from: The Denver Post
12/13/98
Dec. 13 - He's maddeningly sophomoric about sex, yet flashes of intellect sneak through. He loves to talk about genitalia for juvenile fun but also to underscore our puritan instincts about such things. He's appallingly rude toward minorities and women, yet can be equally forceful in their defense. He virtually pimps for a prostitute on-air, hosts dating games for the mentally ill, revels in bodily-function sound effects. He's disgusting, outrageous, revolting and funny. He's Howard Stern, multimedia phenomenon.
And he's shaking up Denver morning radio.
"Howard Stern will be No.1 among adults 25-54 within a year," predicts Chancellor Media's Bob Visotcky. Stern himself puts it somewhat less delicately: He intends to "wipe out" the ratings of his competition "faster than a village of Jews during the Nazi genocide."
When Chancellor's "The Peak" (96.5 FM) picked up the syndicated Stern morning show two weeks ago, it also stepped up the saber-rattling. Knowing how controversial the raunchy talker is, how offensive to some listeners and how anathema to some advertisers, Visotcky, Chancellor's newly installed VP-Denver market manager, is talking tough. "I'm into branding right now," Visotcky says. "I'm into finding synergies among all six stations. I'm into this group domination."
He hopes to send chills through the ranks of Jacor Broadcasting and anyone else who will listen.
Lee Larsen, Jacor Broadcasting's local vice president, expects Stern to appeal mainly to younger listeners. "Yes, he's in direct competition with Lewis & Floorwax, (the current morning leaders)," Larsen says. "Theoretically, he could hurt a lot of radio stations a little bit." Jacor's Larsen acknowledges Stern is a champion of national radio syndication and will have an impact, but "he does better some places than others. At the end of the day what matters is how many advertisers want to be in that environment. You also have to ask, is that the image you want for your radio station?"
Suffice to say Jacor and Chancellor, two of the country's biggest station group owners, are squaring off in Denver.
Chancellor operates six stations here: "Alice," the top-40 station at 106 FM; "Ralph," the talker at 1280 AM; KVOD, the classical music station, 92.5 FM; KXKL, 105.1 FM, the oldies outlet; KIMN; and "The Peak," KXPK, a rock station that last month added the syndicated Stern morning show.
Jacor Broadcasting has eight stations in the market: KOA, the powerhouse that reaches 32 states at 850 AM; KHOW 630 AM, the newer talk station; KTLK 760 AM, the smaller talker; classic rock KRFX 103.5; album-oriented KBPI 106.7 FM; progressive or alternative KBCO 97.3 FM and KTCL 93.3 FM; and jazz station KHIH 95.7 FM.
Between them, Chancellor and Jacor control almost two-thirds of Denver's annual radio revenues. Chancellor's gross advertising billings will be close to $32 million here in 1998, according to industry sources. Jacor's gross billings for the year will be roughly $66 million, with some $24 million of that from KOA alone.
While Chancellor's stations do well in terms of listeners, they have not kept pace in terms of snagging advertisers' dollars. Visotcky has told the staffs of his stations to expect big changes. "We expect to be aggressive with our ratings, our rates, our cluster deals."
The battle is being waged on numerous fronts, from advertising deals to promotional campaigns, and around the clock. Still, the fiercest local showdown is in morning drive. Variously defined as 5-9 a.m. or 6-10 a.m., the morning block is traditionally radio's most lucrative segment of the day, where a third of most stations' ad revenues are made.
In the Denver market, worth roughly $150 million a year in gross advertising revenues, the morning drive shows are competing for more than $50 million.
"This market is very important to Chancellor," Visotcky says. "Other companies in this town have been winning by default."
If Stern is to steal the bulk of local 25-54-year-old listeners, he'll have to take many of them from Rick Lewis and Michael Floorwax. In the latest Arbitron book, for Spring 1998, "Lewis & Floorwax" on KRFX "The Fox" at 103.5 FM was No.‚1 in that age group with 124,600 listeners per quarter hour.
(No.2 was KYGO's country music format. Tied for No.3 were KOA and KOSI-FM. No.5 was KBCO's rock format; No.6 KHOW's Boyles; No.7 KIMN; No.8 KALC; No.9 "The Hawk" and tied for No.10 KHIH and KXKL "KOOL".)
Media buyers believe Lewis and Floorwax on "The Fox" have the most to lose to Stern. The "Alice" audience is more female, Peter Boyles' listeners are older and less likely to tolerate raunch, the "KOOL" listener is a different, more conservative type. However, at least for an initial sampling period, the New York-based Stern show is likely to upset the patterns of many local listeners.
"He'll take from all of us," KHOW's Peter Boyles has said.
Research prior to Stern's launch indicated there was no standout morning show gaining momentum among the young male listener.
On the talk, news and information front, Jacor's KOA has coasted for years with its "Colorado Morning News," inviting competitors to fashion ways to challenge its supremacy. The show doesn't try to be a news source, instead emphasizing Steve Kelly as a personality. "It has a lot of personality in it on purpose. We constantly tweak that show," Larsen says. "There are very few AM stations in America that have the strength in morning drive that KOA does. It is a much more crowded time of day than it ever was. Nowadays we compete with television and cable, a proliferation of news product. It's a very tough environment." Enormous staff, research and resources go into the recipe, Larsen says. Still, disgruntled listeners say they turn to alternatives like National Public Radio on KCFR (90.1 FM) in search of substance.
KHOW's Peter Boyles has capitalized on his sister-station's weakness, rising in the ratings on the strength of the Ramsey case, the Clinton- Lewinsky scandal and the public's seemingly insatiable appetite for talk about both. While controversial, Boyles' style is talk-radio at its purest: seizing on hot topics and running with them.
"Alice" devotes its mornings to the syndicated "Frosty, Jamie and Frank" from Los Angeles and scores well with an audience that is more female if not more reserved than Stern's core crowd. On KQKS "KS107.5" FM, Rick Stacy and Larry Ullibarri also appeal most directly to the female listener in the 18-34 demographic.
Chancellor's "Ralph" has been a neglected frequency, content to be known within the local radio industry as a "place saver" on the dial until something better could be developed. Managers think the time is now. Dumping the syndicated Don Imus show was an unpopular move, but "Imus in the Morning" did little for ratings or revenue, station managers say. Instead, they believe, splitting the afternoon talk team of Gus Mircos and Tom Jensen and giving Mircos the morning may better serve local interests and save money on syndicated product. Mircos begins his latest stint on Jan. 4.
Chancellor's KXKL "KOOL 105" is refashioning its morning show around longtime Denver voice Paxton Mills, since Kelly and Alpha departed for Atlanta. Jacor's KTLK is also looking for a new morning anchor, with former "Business for Breakfast" host Keith Weinman out of the picture.
"The Peak," meanwhile, hopes to nearly double its morning audience with Stern in place (in the spring book the station averaged only 75,900 listeners per quarter hour). By programming Stern's talk in the morning before shifting to rock music the rest of the day, the station is banking on a formula that has worked elsewhere, including New York. The harder-edged music appeals to Stern's core audience of young males.
Stern has doubled morning ratings before, notably in Hartford, Conn., and Reno, Nev. His packagers note the self-styled "king of all media" has never had to pay a dollar in fines to the Federal Communications Commission despite the numerous complaints that have been filed.
While he's known as a ratings boon, he's also an advertising liability. Many national advertisers have a written policy against being associated with Stern's show, according to David Juris of Tribune Broadcasting, who had initially contracted to carry Stern on "The Hawk," but later declined.
"Howard Stern is compelling radio whether you agree with the content or not," Chancellor's Visotcky says. "Car dealers do extremely well with him. It's not for every advertiser, but we'll find the right ones."
Some of Colorado's biggest advertisers - including Coors, King Soopers, Public Service Co. and The Denver Post ???? WHAT'S THE SOURCE - will not advertise within Stern's show. Cub Foods and Burt Nissan have been sponsors of Stern on "The Peak," along with local strip clubs and T-shirt emporiums.
"The Hooters of the world are ecstatic," concludes Leslie Hancock, media buyer for McLain Finlon ad agency.
Not least important in the introduction of Stern to the market is the collaboration between his radio and TV venues. Chancellor's Peak and CBS' Channel 4 are negotiating a cross-promotional campaign that touts the CBS syndicated Stern TV show as well as the radio show. That kind of "synergy" is a natural to advance the cause for both media outlets. (Last week, Channel 4's Greg Moody was the only reporter from a mainstream Denver media outlet to participate in Stern's broadcast "press conference.")
Stern's show on Channel 4 draws fewer than half as many viewers as does "Saturday Night Live" on Channel 9 - Stern gets 9 percent of the viewing audience, "SNL" gets a 22 share, according to the November Nielsens.
It's too soon to know ratings for Stern on "The Peak," but the market is braced for change.
For a decade, station managers have predicted with trepidation that some station in the Denver market would one day pick up the Stern radio package, sending the morning airwaves into flux. Now they must react.
from: Rocky Mountain News
December 8, 1998
Dusty Saunders Column
--snips--
A Stern refusal: I've received an offer I can refuse.
The promotions department of The Peak, KXPK-FM (96.5), sent a letter thanking me "for help in promoting The Peak in picking up the Howard Stern show."
The letter then noted that I'm invited to talk live with Stern early Wednesday morning when I'll be 'allowed' to ask Stern "one question."
If I agree to take part in the teleconference, "more instructions will be given to me at a later date." (Is this Mission: Impossible?)
First of all, I didn't "promote" Howard Stern or The Peak. I reported the station was picking up his program.
However, the "one question" format on the teleconference definitely smacks of promotion. So I'll ask Stern my one question in print:
Why do you continually degrade women while offering such smutty humor on your Saturday night TV series?
--snips--
from: westword.com
You've heard it before: Howard Stern is coming to Denver. But this time, it may actually happen. Stern's controversial show, which originates in New York City, is set to begin filling the morning slot at KXPK-FM/96.5 (The Peak) at 6 a.m. on Monday, November 30, and the station's interim program director, Scott Strong, swears nothing could happen between now and then to change that. "You know a lot of people are going to complain," he says. "But you also know that a lot of those people will be listening to every word."
These comments are in reference to an aborted attempt by one of the Peak's competitors to bring Stern to Denver this past summer. To recap: In the September 10 edition of this column, David Juris, vice president and general manager of Denver Tribune Radio, the Chicago corporation that owns KKHK-FM/99.5 (The Hawk), announced that the King of All Media would debut on that outlet the week of September 24. This was a shift in strategy for the Hawk, which had previously boasted that it featured more music than gab, but Juris argued that Stern gave Tribune its best opportunity to take a bite out of the ratings earned by the eight area stations held by Jacor, a Kentucky-based conglomerate. Juris changed his mind a few days later, however. On September 15 he revealed that the Hawk had been inundated by negative phone calls, faxes and e-mails concerning the acquisition -- and as a result, he had decided not to put Stern on after all, even though he'd just signed a rumored five-year, $3 million contract promising to do just that.
Since then, Stern rumors have flown fast and furious: For instance, many observers expected the program to wind up on KBPI-FM/106.7 (a Jacor property) after morning man Rick Kerns was given the heave-ho in October. As for the Peak, it was seldom mentioned as a potential Stern suitor. But program director Strong reveals that shortly after shifting the Peak to a more contemporary alterna-rock format (see Feedback, October 22), staffers began looking at Stern with fresh interest. "Our research pointed out to us that there was a hole in the market as far as a rock morning show was concerned," he says. "Listeners weren't satisfied with what's here. So we started looking around the country and locally at what was out there, trying to figure out what would be the best rock morning show to fit with what the Peak is doing now -- and Howard's name kept coming up.
"Whether you love him or hate him, most people know who Howard is, which you can't say about a lot of people that you could put on a brand-new morning show," Strong continues. "And if you look at the ratings he's rung up around the country, they're very impressive. He was put on in St. Louis about six months ago, and he's really taken that city by storm. He gets people talking -- and that's good."
Is Strong worried about the possibility of an anti-Stern backlash of the sort that gave the Hawk cold talons? Not at all, he insists -- and he subsequently speculates that the campaign directed against Tribune was actually an extremely successful dirty trick played by broadcasters with a vested interest in keeping Stern out of Colorado. "I know for a fact that there are certain stations who will have their people call and act as listeners in order to give complaints," he says.
While making this charge, Strong declines to identify Jacor outlets by name, but to anyone capable of reading between the lines, it's clear where his fingers are pointing. Jacor spokespeople counter with denials -- and they also dismiss reports from inside sources that execs were incensed by the Peak's Stern move. Indeed, Mike O'Connor, who oversees both KRFX-FM/103.5 (The Fox) and KTCL-FM/93.3, claims that Jacor turned down an offer from Don Buchwald, Stern's agent, to pick up the show. "We've decided to invest in local talent instead," he says. "And we're ready for this challenge. KTCL will continue to be a music-intensive, lower-commercial-load radio station in the mornings, and on KRFX, Lewis and Floorwax [the Fox's longtime a.m. team] will keep doing what they've always done.
"We expect very little impact from Howard," O'Connor goes on. "According to our research over the past six weeks, KXPK's music shift has been stillborn; we expect the ratings to be anemic to poor by the end of the book. They're in desperate straits, and bringing Howard Stern to the market is a desperation move."
Not surprisingly, Bob Richards, KBPI's program director, echoes this opinion while suggesting that Dallas-based Chancellor Media, which owns the Peak and six other Denver-area stations, will lose listeners from another of its key properties, KALC-FM/105.9 (Alice), because of Stern. In Richards's opinion, Alice's morning team of Jamie White, Frank Kramer and Frosty Stillwell, which is now based in Los Angeles, appeals to the same constituency as does Stern -- "so they're going to be shooting themselves at the same time that they're shooting their competition. They'll lose a lot of the ratings at Alice -- and since Alice has been able to convert ratings into revenue, unlike the Peak, anyone with half a brain would have to question that strategy. And to make matters worse, Alice and the Peak won't be able to create local events around its morning-show personalities, because none of them live here. And that makes a difference to people in Denver. They want to be able to hear what's going on with the Broncos and to know about what the traffic's like on I-25. And they're not going to get that from Howard Stern or Jamie, Frank and Frosty."
"It's simply not going to work," O'Connor adds. "We feel that this is indicative of the incredibly incompetent mismanagement that Chancellor exhibits, not only in this market but across the country, making it one of the most highly leveraged, least attractive investments around. Look at the numbers: Jacor takes about 50 percent of the revenue out of this market, and Chancellor, with only one less station than we have, gets about 19 percent. So we look forward to costing Chancellor stockholders large amounts by providing quality entertainment in a locally produced fashion."
Tribune's Juris, who recently hired former Peak program director Doug Clifton as the Hawk's new mid-day host and assistant program director, isn't nearly as combative as O'Connor: In fact, he's downright thrilled that Stern has landed on a Denver station other than his. "On the 19th, we received a letter releasing us of our contractual obligations to the Howard Stern show, which was the best news I could possibly have received. I wish the Peak the very best -- and I want to tell mature classic-rock listeners who are looking for an adult radio station without the talk and the trash that the Hawk will be there for them." Likewise, he expresses no regrets over having walked away from the Stern situation. "There's no way to prove that the complaints we received were genuine," he concedes. "I answered as many of the calls and so forth that I could, and they seemed very real to me. But we've gotten a tremendous amount of positive feedback after doing what we did. It's been a very good couple of months for us since the announcement, and that makes me think we did the right thing."
It may take years to discover if the Peak's risk was a wise one. But Strong's confident that the gamble will pay off. "We feel that Howard and the 'Rockies' New Rock' format fit together perfectly," he says. "Denver's been waiting a long time for something like this -- and finally, it's coming."
from: The Denver Post
11/22/98
Nov. 22 - Get ready to get gross. Shock-jock Howard Stern is back. And he hasn't even been here yet.
The Peak 96.5 FM announces Monday that it will begin broadcasting the King of All Media on Nov. 30. Stern will add some stiff competition to the Denver's morning radio lineup - and some raunchy humor.
The Hawk 99.5 FM had signed on Stern in September - but GM David Juris said he received hundreds of negative calls, voice mails and e-mail. He dropped the program at the last minute. "The reaction of Denver was immediately, intense and largely negative," he told Post TV/radio critic Joanne Ostrow. "I personally took about 100 calls. They said Denver morning radio already has too much smut and that the Hawk was a safe haven."
Some Stern fans suggested to me that the Hawk be renamed "the Chicken" for its failure to carry Stern. Sorry, KIMN 100.3 FM already has dibs on that Chicken thing.
Now the Peak is stepping up to the plate.
"Yes, there is going to be some heat," says Peak interim program director Scott Strong. "But the majority of the audience wants an engaging, entertaining morning show. I expect it to be a big hit here - as Howard has proved in many different cities."
The Stern show will air 6-10 a.m. for the first week. After that, it will air 4 to 6 a.m. live, then repeat the 4 to 6 a.m. segment from 6 to 8 a.m., followed by a taped delay from 8 to 10 a.m.
If that has you scratching your noggin, wait till you tune in to Stern.
--snips--
from: The Rocky Mountain News/InsideDenver.com
November 21, 1998
Howard Stern's weekday show, canceled before it got on Denver radio in September, joins the morning lineup of The Peak (KXPK-FM 96.5) on Nov. 30.
The show will air 6-10 a.m. on a two-hour delay out of New York, according to Scott Strong, interim program manager at The Peak. He also is a radio consultant for Chancellor Broadcasting, which owns the station.
"Our audience research and focus groups showed us there's a place for Stern's program in Denver morning drive," Strong said, noting the station recently "tweaked" its music format and now features only music of the '90s.
"Our music and Stern are certainly compatible," Strong said.
Stern's show will replace Robo, The Peak's current morning drive personality, whose on-air schedule is uncertain. Strong added The Peak eventually will program Stern live at 4 a.m., followed by the replay of the entire four hours.
Strong said Chancellor's negotiations for Stern began after Tribune Broadcasting decided not to air the series on The Hawk (KKHK-FM 99.5).
David Juris, vice president and general manager of Denver's Tribune radio outlets, announced the acquisition of Stern on Sept. 9 and then canceled the contract Sept. 15 -- 12 hours before the show was scheduled to premiere.
The reason, according to Juris, was overwhelming negative reaction from listeners who did not want Stern's type of radio on the air.
"We received hundreds of phone calls, letters and e-mails requesting that we not put Stern on the station," Juris said.
Strong declined to give further details of Chancellor's contract with Stern's radio organization.
from: Denver Radio On The Web
11/20/98
The Latest News:
Howard Stern Will Debut In Denver On "The Peak"
Denver Radio On The Web has learned that Chancellor owned Alternative Rock KXPK 96.5 FM (96-5 The Peak) will be carrying Howard Stern for mornings starting November 30th at 6 AM.
Howard was to debut in Denver on Tribune owned Classic Hits KKHK 99.5 FM (99-5 The Hawk) back in September, but was pulled 12 hours before the debut (See Denver Radio Watch 9/28/98 for details).
No details have been released about the deal for Howard between Chancellor and Tribune, but unamed sources say that Tribune's Denver rights for Stern was costing KKHK around $3 million for 5 years.
from: Radiodigest.com
Denver News Briefs
By Jim Hawthorne
Denver Chief Correspondent
As reported here a couple of weeks ago, Stern’s morning show was rejected by The Hawk (KKHK 97.5 FM) after a weird "he’s on, he’s off" routine.
Jacor’s FM properties in Denver include KBCO (97.3), KBPI (106.7), KHIH (95.7), and KRFX (103.5). The station owner also holds title to KHOW (630), which claimed the top spot in the morning ratings last summer.
Many local radio pundits predict that Stern will win the morning time slot, if and when he gets the call.
from: insidedenver.com
Howard Stern was canceled Tuesday -- 12 hours before his debut on The Hawk, KKHK-FM (99.5).
David Juris, vice president and general manager of Denver's Tribune radio stations, notified Stern's management and CBS Radio that The Hawk would not air the show during the 4-10:30 a.m. weekday time period. (The first two hours of each show were to be repeated from 6 to 8 p.m.)
The reason, according to Juris: overwhelming negative reaction from listeners who did not want Stern's type of radio on the air.
"We received hundreds of phone calls, letters and e-mails requesting that we not put Stern on the station," Juris said.
"We respect the views of our listeners. This is one of the few times that a media company has listened to such a negative response and then taken immediate action."
Juris declined to give details about how the contract was broken or if a lack of sponsor interest contributed to the decision.
Juris believes the sex scandal surrounding President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky contributed to the furor.
from: DenverRadio.net
Wednesday, September 16, 1998
At a staff meeting that was held at 4pm Tuesday at Tribune owned Classic Hits KKHK 99.5 FM (The Hawk), it was announced that their jocks were to resume their regular on-air shifts and that Howard Stern would not debut on Wednesday morning as publicized. The reason given for not airing Stern was "negative public reaction." Rumor has it, there has been something that has blocked KKHK from airing the Stern show such as a lawsuit or injuction; or even competitor Jacor protecting their Classic Rock outlet KRFX 103.5 FM (The Fox) by some action. KKHK had invested a lot of money to get the equipment in place to carry Stern and even had done a dry run (off air run) Tuesday morning to make sure the show would be ready for Wednesday. More on this as it develops!
Thanks to robk for this one...
copied from: fmqb.com
September 11, 1998
The predictable avalanche of media hoopla that accompanies a new Stern sign-on is well underway in Denver: "He's gross. He's disgusting. He's yucky. And he's about to be ours," The Denver Post warns.
Stern came close to landing a Denver radio partner in the past but Jacor ultimately decided against putting his syndicated show on KBCO, to protect Lewis & Floorwax at Classic Rock sister KRFX. Now they'll compete with Stern, whose show will air live on The Hawk from 4 A.M. until 6 A.M., followed by a two-hour tape-delayed version commencing at 6 A.M.
With just one rocker competing against Jacor's four Rock stations, Tribune Denver Radio VP/GM David Juris figured he needed to drop the big one. Research uncovered "a significant void for an entertaining morning show," he says. Promising "fairly significant movement," Juris claims 20% to 25% dissatisfaction levels among morning show audiences at Denver Rock and Talk stations that Stern would likely siphon listeners from.
Unlike his early syndication years, when he was heard on mostly Classic Rock outlets, Stern has lately focused on Alternative and Active Rock affiliations. How will he fare married to Classic Hits? "The perception is that he [appeals only to] males 18-34 but, in fact, he has extremely strong appeal 35-49," Juris contends. "It's really an adult show."
KKHK is Tribune's first Stern encounter. The station currently has no PD, following Lois Todd's recent resignation over "philosophical differences."
Stern is also adding WPXC/Cape Cod to his radio empire, but things aren't looking as rosy on the TV front. The Howard Stern Radio Show has lost three stations in three weeks. The latest cancellation comes from KUSI-TV, an independent station in San Diego, where Stern's radio program airs on KIOZ. The Fox affiliate in Lubbock and the ABC affiliate in Phoenix were first to dump the CBS-TV show due to its raunchy content.
Stern's ratings continued to decline in his third week on network TV. The September 5 installment of Radio Show posted a 2.9 rating in the 30 metered markets where Nielsen measures overnight ratings, down from a 3.8 in week No. 2 and a 4.9 in its debut week.
The King may soon get his day in court to settle a protracted lawsuit he lodged against Evergreen Media after they dumped his syndicated radio show from WLUP-AM/Chicago in '93, after only 10 months on the air. Evergreen -- a precursor to Chancellor Media -- said then that the show's FCC woes made it too hot for them to handle. Stern sued for breach of contract and fraud. The original $45 million claim has since been reduced to $25 million, and could come to trial in New York in the next few weeks, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
-Paul Heine
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