from the Hartford Courant
May 6, 2004
Hartford's WCCC-FM has turned Howard Stern's sour relations with the Federal Communications Commission into ratings lemonade.
For the first time in memory, the rock station, which does well primarily with men, came in first among people 18 to 49 years -old in the most recent Arbitron ratings book for the Hartford market. That's up from sixth place in the fall.
Most impressive though, is Stern's performance during morning drive time, radio's equivalent of prime time. WCCC (106.9) blasted its competition with a 32.2 rating among 18- to 34-year-olds, up from 12.4 (second place).
That's partly due to the water-cooler factor - the FCC fined Stern hundreds of thousands of dollars for what it termed indecent material; Clear Channel dropped his show from six of its stations; and some listeners wanted to hear what the fuss was about. (Hartford residents may feel some loyalty to Stern, who spent the early part of his career at WCCC.)
Other stations that broadcast his morning show also saw significant increases in their morning drive-time audience. But the Hartford station appears to be alone in retaining part of the swelled Stern audience throughout the day.
"WCCC has done a really great job at capitalizing on the Howard Stern fervor," said Adam Jacobson, radio editor at Radio & Records, an industry trade publication.
Jacobson points to Los Angeles' KLSX-FM (97.1), which carries Stern in the morning, and saw "stunning" ratings immediately after the shock jock's battle with the FCC. But the morning gains didn't translate into added listeners during other parts of the day.
"Outside of morning drive, a lot of people change stations," Jacobson says.
But Michael Picozzi, WCCC's program director, wouldn't let it drop. He talked about the Stern case "incessantly," calling it censorship and accusing the Bush administration of going after a popular personality who disagrees with administration policy. The station ran promos about the issue throughout the day, and DJs urged listeners to write their political representatives.
Picozzi says he's able to devote resources to the issue, because WCCC is one of the few Hartford-area stations not owned by a conglomerate and he's therefore more autonomous than most program directors. He says listeners notice the difference between his station and others that tend to be more homogenized because of corporate ownership. It was just a matter of getting listeners in the door, he says.
"The station's reputation in the past has been that it's a hard [rock] station," says Picozzi. "But we consistently have fun. We're live and local. It takes a while to catch on. What we needed was some big thing to pull it together. Howard's FCC fight was just that."
He believes in the cause.
"I am angry with a government that wants to mess with the right of free speech," Picozzi says. "Stern follows FCC guidelines. Does he push the guidelines? Of course, but people love it. Was the show indecent? By some people's standards. The point is, let him say what he wants to say and the community will decide."
The issue of FCC guidelines is murky. Obscenity, indecency and profanity are against the law, but their definitions are open to interpretation. For years, Stern and others went mostly undisturbed. But Janet Jackson's breast-exposing performance at the Super Bowl set off a chain reaction within the media to err on the side of caution. Shortly after that incident, the FCC cracked down on Stern and Bubba the Love Sponge, another shock jock.
Critics of the crackdown - including conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh - say it's an infringement of their First Amendment right to free speech.
"Freedom of speech is the foundation upon which all other freedoms are based," says Michael Harrison, editor of Talkers, a radio trade magazine. "It's out of step with the times and the culture of the country. What if we couldn't go into a museum because it has naked pictures? You can't differentiate between political speech and artistic speech. It's a terribly serious issue."
from fmqb.com
April 27, 2004
On Friday and Monday, FMQB reported on dramatic increases for Stern in New York, L.A., Chicago and Boston. Now add Cleveland and Hartford to the list. Howard's usually No. 1 on Cleveland's WNCX in 18-34 and 25-54. But his current lightning rod status has him back at No. 1 12+, tied with WMJI's Lanigan & Malone. Stern tacked on 2.6 shares of 12+, 5.5 shares of 18-34, 2.1 of 25-54, and 9 shares of men 18-34. His men 18-34 audience in Cleveland is knocking on a 30 share.
While we haven't had a look at Hartford morning breakouts just yet, the story's likely to be the same. In fact, it looks like Stern carried WCCC from 9th 12+ in the fall (4.6) to third in the Winter (7.5). And those are total week numbers.
When they dropped his show from six stations at the end of February, Clear Channel expected a morning ratings exodus to follow. In San Diego, they got it. With Stern, KIOZ was No. 1 12+ in February with an 8.9. Without him, the station's morning drive ratings crashed to a 27th place 0.7 in March. The in-demo decline was even more spectacular: 12.7 to 0.7 in Men 18+, 20.6 to 0.8 in 18-34, and 10.1 to 1.0 in 25-54.
from the Daily Freeman
Hudson Valley, NY
February 27, 2004
LOCAL FANS of Howard Stern's radio show still can listen to the so-called "shock jock," albeit through a bit of static. None of the stations within earshot of the Hudson Valley that carry Stern's morning broadcast is owned by Clear Channel Communications, which has pulled the plug on the king of raunchy radio.
The Texas-based media giant on Wednesday dropped Stern's show from the lineup at six Clear Channel stations, citing graphic material on Tuesday's broadcast. The only affected station in New York state is in Rochester.
NEAR THE Hudson Valley, Stern is broadcast on Albany stations WQBK-FM 103.5 and WQBJ-FM 103.5, both of which are owned by Regent Communications, and in Hartford, Conn., on WCCC-FM 106.9, which is owned by the independent Marlin Broadcasting. None of these stations is dropping Stern.
A Hartford TV station reported Thursday that WCCC was pulling Stern's show, but the program manager there said that wasn't the case.
On the radio station's Web site and over the phone, Michael Picozzi said: "WCCC will continue to air the Howard Stern show as long as it is on the air."
"They're grandstanding," Picozzi said of Clear Channel. "Clear Channel had a show called 'Bubba the Love Sponge.' They put him on in Hartford. It got horrible ratings, and they eliminated it. ... He took the worst of Howard Stern and brought it to a level even I was embarrassed by it." (Stern's show is owned by Infinity Broadcasting, a Clear Channel competitor, and is based at WXRK-FM in New York City.)
Clear Channel recently was fined $755,000 by the Federal Communications Commission for sexually explicit content and other indecencies on "Bubba the Love Sponge," and Clear Channel President John Hogan apologized to a House subcommittee during a hearing Thursday on Capitol Hill. (See story, page C1.)
Clear Channel fired the host of "Bubba the Love Sponge" on Tuesday.
BECAUSE Stern's show is not carried on any Hudson Valley-based stations, it's difficult to find either die-hard fans or opponents in the region, but anyone tuned into media affairs is likely to have an opinion.
Bass guitar maker Michael Tobias said his radio comes on the moment he walks in the door of his Woodstock-area shop, usually 10 or 11 a.m., and is on into the night.
Tobias, who said he's been listening to alternative radio for 40 years, generally listens to Connecticut-based WKZE-FM, which doesn't carry Stern. He also tunes to a mix of music, news and old-time radio dramas via XM Satellite radio.
"I'm not a Howard Stern fan. I think he's mostly mean-spirited and not very funny. Nor am I fan of the morning 'shock jock' mentality," Tobias said. "I can't wake up to anything that abrasive.
"But I'm not in favor of censorship for censorship's sake or a knee-jerk reaction," he added.
L. JEFFREY Baltes, superintendent of the Coxsackie-Athens school district, where students can pick up Stern's show out of Albany, said he has general concerns about offensive language and subject matter on the airwaves.
"I think how we've defined 'acceptable' and 'normal' is a bit disturbing," he said. "It concerns me that children may be developing poor attitudes concerning what is acceptable in interpersonal communications and ... relations.
"I'm fairly open to the fact that we have to provide exposure to media," Baltes said. "(But) I'm not sure that some of the things that are now hitting the media is appropriate at any age. ... We are edging toward a time when anything goes.
"I don't want to blame all of the world's ills on the media," he added. "So much material is so readily available to anybody, at the click of a mouse. Because of that, I think we have to be cognizant of our responsibility monitor this and set some parameters. In school, we're required to filter the Internet and provide a reasonable degree of protection. Once the kids leave school ... it's up to the parents."
CHUCK Benfer, general manager for local Clear Channel competitor Cumulus Media, believes Clear Channel is trying send a message to the FCC by dropping Stern's show.
"I think (Hogan, the Clear Channel president) is trying to send a message that he's trying to clear up the content on his stations. I think they're trying to negotiate down the $755,000 fine (for "Bubba the Love Sponge"). ... (They want) to show not only do they have remorse, but they have remedy - that we're responsible for the programming that gets on our airwaves."
Benfer said he wasn't aware of any Cumulus station ever carrying Stern's show. The company does have morning talk in some markets, but "we don't have anything that goes to the level of Howard Stern," he said.
PICOZZI, at Hartford's WCCC, acknowledged it costs his station a lot of money to carry the syndicated Stern show, but noted: "When you have the No. 1 show, you sell a lot of commercials."
"I think Infinity is going to stand by him because he's done nothing wrong," Picozzi said. "We're going to stand behind him because he's done nothing wrong."
STERN used his Thursday morning broadcast to defend his show and criticize his detractors.
"They are so afraid of me and what this show represents," he told listeners.
It was Stern's Tuesday show that prompted the Clear Channel decision. The program featured typical fare: Paris Hilton's ex-boyfriend hawking his sex tape of the hotel heiress. Two women getting naked after losing a contest. But it was apparently a call from a listener who used the "n" word that spurred Hogan to yank the show.
CLEAR Channel's decision comes at a time of heightened public and political pressure on broadcasters to clean up their act. The uproar started after singer Justin Timberlake exposed Janet Jackson's right breast to 90 million viewers during the Super Bowl halftime show on Feb. 1, prompting Congress to convene hearings into indecent programming.
"Janet Jackson is now forgotten, and I'm on the front page of every newspaper," Stern complained Thursday morning.
Stern's nationally syndicated show appears on more than 40 stations across North America.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
from the Hartford Advocate
March 27, 2003
--snips--
Radio Personality
Howard Stern
WCCC 106.9 FM
1039 Asylum Ave., Hartford, (860) 525-1069
The self-proclaimed King of All Media has done it again. With his wild antics, lewd skits and contests, controversial celebrity interviews, and an eccentric cast of regulars, sidekicks, and co-hostess Robin Quivers, Howard Stern takes the cake one more time, with his sixth straight win in this year's Advocate readers' poll. The obscene hilarity of Stern's program reached disturbing new heights in 2002, with the addition of contemptuous competitions such as "It's Just Wrong" and "Lord of the Anal Rings." But while such spectacles might seem offensive to some (and you know who you are), the Advocate's readers -- and most of us here at the Advocate, too -- tend to agree: "Give us more Howard Stern."
Second Place
Gary Craig
WTIC Morning Show
10 Executive Drive, Farmington, (860) 677-6700
Third Place
Colin McEnroe
WTIC Afternoon Show
10 Executive Drive, Farmington, (860) 677-6700
Radio Station
WCCC 106.9 FM
1039 Asylum Ave., Hartford, (860) 525-1069
WCCC is the radio station of the people -- well, the people of Hartford at least. More specifically, the people of Hartford who pick up the Advocate each week. Does that come as any surprise? Since the mid-1990s, WCCC has crushed the opposition in the local ratings game, after all. Why is that Mike Picozzi, you wacky WCCC afternoon DJ, you? "We're live, local, and ass-kickin'," he says, adding that at WCCC, the listener's always right. Explain, please, Picozzi. "Well, we're listener-driven, and we are the audience. We respond to what the listeners are into because we don't want to force-feed them the rock." During the day, the station has committed itself to a no-repeat format; you're not going to hear the same song twice between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., which is refreshing. And each spring, the station brings the bands to the people -- with its Rock Expo event, this time around featuring Cold, Seether, From Zero, Doubledrive, and more, on April 19. "It's about the music, and what the listeners want," says Picozzi
Second Place
WKSS 95.7 FM
10 Columbus Blvd., Hartford, (860) 723-6000
Third Place
WZMX Hot 93.7 FM
10 Executive Drive, Farmington, (860) 677-6700
--snips--
from fmqb.com
January 15, 2003
--snips--
Bubba's First Book in Hartford: Not So Hot
Bubba the Love Sponge replaced Dee Snider at Clear Channel Modern Rock WMRQ/Hartford late last year and so far it hasn't changed the ratings. Actually the numbers are down from last fall's book. Bubba was trounced by Howard Stern, heard on crosstown Active Rocker WCCC, with Stern commanding a 21.4 share (Persons 18-34) compared to Bubba's 3.8. "I'm not happy with it; I think it sucks," Bubba said on his show Tuesday (1/14), according to the Hartford Courant. "But I was syndicated in Jacksonville, and it took a year for me to move the needle. Now I'm No. 1 there." Bubba is also a far way off from Snider's fall 2001 numbers, where the Twisted Sister frontman posted a 7.8 share. "Obviously, [Snider's diehard fans] all left quickly, and it's going to take a while for the new people to come [to WMRQ]," PD Todd Thomas told the paper. In the Men 18-34 cell, Bubba managed a 5.6 in the fall book compared to Stern's 29.9.
--snips--
from the Hartford Courant
January 15, 2003
Last year, Connecticut's modern-rock radio station began broadcasting a morning program hosted by a rotund Florida-based DJ. His show was supposed to interrupt Howard Stern's dominance of the Hartford market, but thus far the man who calls himself Bubba the Love Sponge has failed to soak up any of Stern's huge audience.
According to Arbitron's fall ratings book, Bubba garnered a 3.8 rating with listeners between the ages of 18 and 34 in October, November and December. That means 3.8 percent of the listeners who were listening to the radio in the morning were tuned in to Bubba's show, broadcast locally on WMRQ-FM (104.1).
By contrast, Stern's show, broadcast on WCCC-FM (106.9), drew a 21.4 rating with the same group of listeners.
Despite the wide disparity, Bubba, born Todd Clem, said he was not discouraged.
"I'm not happy with it; I think it sucks," Bubba said Tuesday, "but I was syndicated in Jacksonville, and it took a year for me to move the needle. Now I'm No. 1 there."
WMRQ put Clem's show into the mix in an effort to improve on the mediocre ratings of former Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider's morning program. But rather than eclipse Snider's ratings, Clem's numbers have fallen short of those posted by his predecessor. In the fall of 2001, Snider netted a 7.8 rating with 18- to 34-year-olds in the Hartford market - more than twice the number of listeners who tuned into Bubba last fall.
"Obviously," said WMRQ's program director Todd Thomas, "[Snider's diehard fans] all left quickly, and it's going to take a little while for the new people to come [to 104.1]."
Both Bubba's and Stern's programs are targeted at males 18 to 34. In that demographic, Stern trounced Bubba, with a rating of 29.9 to Bubba's 5.6.
Michael Harrison, editor of the trade publication Talkers, said the history of radio is littered with executives who tried in vain to improve ratings by bringing in a new syndicated program.
"It's not unusual for people in the radio business to try something new, only to wish they were back where they started," Harrison said.
For his part, Michael Picozzi, program director of WCCC, was ecstatic with the ratings. He likened Bubba's ratings to that of "some guy in a hole, screaming."
That said, many seem to agree that it's too soon to tell if Bubba's show will succeed in Hartford.
"The story," Harrison said, "is half told."
from the NY Daily News
November 13, 2002
Ever wondered how many other people in America are actually listening to, say, Howard Stern at the same time you are?
Tony Sanders, who crunches national numbers for the trade publication Inside Radio, says it's around 1,490,000.
Standard radio ratings, designed for advertisers, use a figure called "cume," which is the cumulative number of persons who tune to a given show or station at some time during an average week.
That's obviously a much higher figure. The national weekly "cume" for Stern has been estimated by the trade mag Talkers at "8 million-plus."
By comparison, Rush Limbaugh is rated at 14.5 million-plus per week, Sean Hannity at 10 million-plus and Dr. Joy Browne and Imus at 5 million-plus.
The numbers of people listening to those hosts at any one time presumably are proportionate to Stern's numbers.
Stern's numbers also mean more than 10 times as many people are listening to him at any given time than are, say, watching cable news channels on television.
Sanders has also tracked Stern's ranking in all of his markets for summer 2002 - though this is just based on his share of the total audience. Like most hosts, Stern scores higher among his specific target audiences, which for him includes younger men.
Overall, Stern is No. 1 in New York, Orlando, Phoenix, Syracuse and York, Pa.
In other cities, it goes like this: Philadelphia, second; Washington, D.C., fourth; Los Angeles, seventh; Baltimore, 16th; Cleveland, second; Buffalo, fourth; Chicago, 10th; Dallas, 11th; Detroit, ninth; Hartford, sixth; Las Vegas, second; Boston, second; San Diego, third; Pittsburgh, third; Seattle, fourth; Rochester, seventh; Miami, fourth; San Francisco, fifth.
--snips--
May 2, 2002
Howard read his Hartford ratings this morning: #1: 18-49, #1: 18-34, #1: 18-64 men.
from the Hartford Advocate
March 28, 2002
Radio Personality
Howard Stern
Howard Stern, the bad boy of radio, Advocate readers' favorite every morning on The Howard Stern Show. Whether he questions guests about their bowel movements or interviews a Playboy centerfold, listeners just can't seem to get enough of the shock jock. Stern's brand of twisted, and sometimes cruel, humor keeps his show on top with both national and local audiences. The eccentric cast of sidekicks, regulars and co-hostess Robin Quivers, just add to the demented debauchery, Advocate readers crave.
Second Place
Dee Snider
WMRQ 104.1 FM, 10 Columbus Blvd., Hartford, 666-4444
Third Place
Gary Craig
WTIC Morning Show, 10 Executive Dr., Farmington, 677-6700.
Radio Station
WCCC 106.9 FM
1039 Asylum Ave., Hartford, 525-1069
WCCC prides itself on being a radio station for the people, by the people. When a majority of WCCC's listeners call in demanding a mediocre, mundane song be pulled from the rotation bins, WCCC's DJs listen, and very often, oblige. Mike Karolyi, WCCC's midday guy and music director, explains the process: "We'll get a song from a record company we're not sure about, and we'll go on the air and play it. We'll take some calls, and let the people decide. If they like it, we'll seriously consider playing it," and vice versa. WCCC also brings the bands to the people (i.e.; WCCC's Rock Expo, featuring Hatebreed, Kittie, Dope, and Soil, on March 30). Guess that's why Advocate readers picked WCCC as the area's best radio station again this year, over all those other corporate stations. Says afternoon whacko Mike Picozzi: "They're belligerent wannabes."
Second Place
WMRQ 104.1 FM
10 Columbus Blvd., Hartford, 723-6040
Third Place
WKSS 95.7 FM
10 Columbus Blvd., Hartford, 723-6000
--snips--
from The Hartford Courant
April 14, 2001
When radio's WCCC-FM throws its first big "Rock Expo" Saturday at the Connecticut Expo Center in Hartford, it will have reason to celebrate.
For more than two years, the perennial underdog has been Hartford's undisputed No. 1 rock station, fueled by a mix of slamming hard rock and frantic, Howard Stern-style raunch.
In May 1998, when CCC, 106.9 FM, became the last locally owned major station to be sold to out-of-town buyers, it moved into the three-story Asylum Avenue studio vacated by its closest competitor at the time.
WHCN-FM (105.9) had moved with four fellow corporate-owned sister stations to 10 Columbus Blvd. And almost as easily as it took over HCN's funky house-turned-studio, CCC seized HCN's top spot in rock-station ratings.
(The city's top-rated stations overall remain easy-listening WRCH-FM and news/talk WTIC-AM.)
Some credit the rise of WCCC solely to Stern, the nationally syndicated phenomenon, who actually did his first morning show at the Hartford station in the late 1970s before moving on to achieve fame in New York. (He has often claimed his only reason for quitting CCC was owner Sy Dresner's refusal to give him "a lousy, stinking $25 a week raise.")
Stern's show, which still originates in New York, grabbed strong ratings from its start in Hartford in May 1996. But that's not the only reason for the rise of CCC, officials there say.
"Howard Stern certainly set the table for this radio station," says Mike Karolyi, WCCC music director and mid-day DJ. "But if you look at Stern stations around the country, there are a number of them who can't keep a large audience the rest of the day."
And the rest of the station didn't catch up until Marlin Broadcasting Inc. of Boston purchased the station from Dresner two years later.
That ended 50 years of local ownership, beginning in 1947 with legendary Hartford jeweler Bill Savitt and his brother Max. Because it was started partly with money from a New Deal program, the station was named WCCC after the Civilian Conservation Corps. The Savitts owned the station for 20 years, a reign bested by Dresner's 28 years.
The infusion of money by Marlin, which also owned classical stations in Boston and Miami (the latter since sold), allowed the move to the new studio. "It also meant getting equipment that Howard Stern wasn't using 20 years earlier," says Michael Picozzi, the former WHCN personality who was brought in to become program director and afternoon host.
The battered old studio at 243 S. Whitney St. is fondly remembered, but Picozzi knew it as "horrible."
"I literally didn't want to lean against the wall for all the dust bunnies. It was like doing radio from underneath a bed. Dave Mustaine from Megadeth was in the building one time, and we kept apologizing to him."
Karolyi says a bulked-up promotional budget let the public know about the station's talented staff.
And the station sharpened its focus by concentrating on what it would play - a lot of new metal - and what it would not.
"The first day, we went into the studio and threw out everything that didn't fit the formula," Picozzi says. That meant no Tom Petty and no Pink Floyd. "Nothing wrong with Petty as an artist," says Picozzi. "He just didn't fit the vision."
"We eliminated deadwood that people don't care about," Karolyi says of the play list. "Who cares about Supertramp or the Moody Blues any more? We figured nobody."
The process of elimination can be a difficult one. "We have a lot of discussions over Pink Floyd," Picozzi says. But ultimately, they left the band behind. "We do play some Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix. That fits in fine. But we don't play the Doors."
"We became more current-intensive," Karolyi says.
And they bolstered bands that defined the format. "We were always a Metallica station," Karolyi says. "We played more of it, went deeper in the albums. I think Metallica is to this format what Led Zeppelin was to rock stations in '70s and '80s."
At the same time, the band benefited from an increase in hard-rock bands emerging from New England.
"We got behind bands like Godsmack," Karolyi says. "They were the first big band who came to town to do a free show for us. That was a catalyst for us."
As the CCC focus tightened, competing rock stations changed, too.
Longtime leader and arch rival WHCN nearly took itself out of direct competition by eliminating all new music from the air and concentrating solely on "classic rock" - though that was altered as time passed to old music with a harder edge, or "classic rock that rocks."
A more fierce competitor for CCC these days is WMRQ-FM (104.1), which, like most "modern rock" stations nationally, has shifted attention to bands once found only on "active rock" formats such as CCC.
Picozzi notes that acts such as Staind, Disturbed and Tantric top the bill at MRQ's "Loud and In Your Face" concert May 12 at the ctnow.com Meadows Music Centre. "All of those bands have played for free at our luaus," he says. MRQ, he says "just started playing some of that music."
MRQ program director Todd Thomas disputes that, but agrees that competition with CCC is fierce.
"I was in Detroit when there were seven rock stations," says Thomas, who came to Hartford in August from New Hampshire. "But I've never been in a situation where the competitor across the street has so many ex-employees that have so much hatred for people who run our building."
Clear Channel Communications owns both WMRQ, former home of Kevin the Afternoon Guy - now Picozzi's afternoon air sidekick - and WHCN, which let Picozzi go in 1997 after 11 years on a popular morning show with Gary Lee Horn.
Clear Channel's ownership of the national concert giant SFX Entertainment - which promotes most shows in the area, and owns two major venues, the Meadows and the ctnow.com Oakdale Theatre - has made things difficult for CCC, Picozzi says.
The rivalry gained prominence during a Limp Bizkit concert at the Hartford Civic Center in June when partisans for CCC and MRQ mixed it up in an ugly incident written up in national trade magazines.
"They're like a bully," Thomas says of CCC. "They try to push around MRQ all the time."
CCC relishes its unique role as simultaneous conglomerate-fighter and ratings winner.
Picozzi says the key to CCC's rise is its freedom to program its station without consultants or research, plus the ability to respond to listener requests without disturbing presets on a programming computer.
The fight for listeners is based not just on music but frequently on the crudity of its DJs. And the raunch once confined to morning shock-jocks is now spread out all day on both WCCC and WMRQ.
"Howard changed the rules for everybody," says Picozzi. "Saying something off-color now isn't being Howard Stern, it's just playing by different rules."
"I think basically we're trying to have fun," says Karolyi. "We're not trying to offend anybody in anything we do."
Picozzi notes that his afternoon program includes such stunts as "Dumbass Wednesday" in which DJs do things on the air like snorting pepper, and a Thursday feature in which things are destroyed or dropped out the windows to see what happens. "We just have fun," Picozzi says.
But there's a definite male edge to the approach as well.
So besides the music at Saturday's "WCCC Rock Expo" - Monster Magnet, Buckcherry, Taproot, 6gig, Skrape and Gargantua Soul - there will also be gladiator jousting, "hot girls in hot tubs," an "adults-only area," a beer garden and something borrowed from Comedy Central's "Man Show," girls on trampolines.
"All the things that embody the lifestyle," says Picozzi. That would be the lifestyle of WCCC's target audience - men age 18 to 34.
"It's mostly men, but I'm constantly surprised at the number of women who listen to us," Picozzi says.
"We are what we are. We're a rock station. But girls like that, too. And we don't try to be anything we're not."
from the Hartford Advocate
Best of Hartford 2001
Morning Radio Show
The Howard Stern Show
The Rock, WCCC 106.9 FM
On The Howard Stern Show, nothing's sacred, nothing's shocking, and no one's safe. Willing women are assessed on their porno-worthiness, celebrity guests are queried about such deeply personal topics as bowel movement frequency, and the show's producer, Gary "Baba Booey" Dell'Abate, is razzed, almost mercilessly, about his freakishly-large lips and pearly yellows--and that was only yesterday's show! Howard Stern's brand of twisted, and often cruel, humor keeps his show on top with both national and local audiences. And the eccentric cast of Stern regulars, including sidekick and newswoman Robin Quivers, ubiquitous, hushed writer Eric "Fred" Norris, career intern "Stuttering John" Melendez, crack-recovered K-ROCK DJ Crazy Cabbie, the now-infamous members of "The Whack Pack," and, until just recently, head writer Jackie "The Jokeman" Martling, only add to the demented debauchery you, the Advocate's readers, need, love, and crave each day, as you ready yourselves for work.
Second Place: Dee Snider Radio
Radio 104, WMRQ 104.1 FM
Third Place: Gary Craig Morning Show
WTIC 96 FM
from the Hartford Advocate
Best of Hartford 2000
Radio Personality
Gary Craig
WTIC 96 FM morning show
Whether it's the 6:30 joke, the dirty joke of the week or the phoney-phone, Gary Craig keeps his listeners laughing. The proof is in the fans who call on a regular basis for the latest of laughs, including a woman they endearingly call "the Laugher," whose wheezy laugh is enough to send everyone else into giggles. So what if sometimes listeners are laughing at Craig rather than with him? And, yes, he does get a lot of help from newsman John, who makes a mean Munchkin, and Hollywood newsqueen Christine Leigh, who keeps Craig in check. Craig's Web site <www.garycraig.com> keeps his fans updated when they've been out of town or even when they move. He even provides links to some of his favorite sites and provides a small archive of phoney-phones -- crank calls in which he harasses everyone from techies at Bernie's to customer service representatives at Ban antiperspirant.
Second Place: Howard Stern
The Rock, WCCC 106.9 FM
Third Place: Dee Snider
Radio 104, WMRQ 104.1 FM
from the Hartford Advocate
Best of Hartford 1999
Radio Personality
Howard Stern (WCCC)
Fans of radio's nationally syndicated Howard Stern Show, heard locally on "The Rock" 106.9 WCCC-FM, know that Stern tells it like it is and prides himself on going as far as he can without being censored by the FCC. That makes his morning show better than any other in this area, on the AM or FM dial. Stern's sidekick Robin Quivers is a lovable laughaholic and producer Gary "Baba Booey" Dell'Abate is the hilarious butt of many jokes. Jackie "The Joke Man" Martling, "Stuttering John" Melendez and Eric Fred Norris are among the other hilarious characters that Stern fans -- apparently many of them Advocate readers -- have come to know and love like a family of their own. Even if you hate Stern, you've probably spent some time listening to him, and that's what keeps his show on top.
Second Place: Picozzi & Slave Boy, WCCC-FM, 106.9
Third Place: Ray Dunaway, WTIC-AM, 1080
from the: Hartford Advocate
Best of Hartford 1998
Radio Personality
Howard Stern
WCCC, AM-1290, FM-106.9
243 South Whitney St., Hartford
Since the consolidation of the radio business in Hartford, life's gotten considerably easier for Ron Dresner, program and marketing director at WCCC (1290-AM and 106.9-FM). "Things have really changed and have made it easier in a lot of ways," says Dresner. "We're now the only mainstream rock radio around." And part of station's recent success has to be credited to personality Howard Stern, whose national morning show the station has picked up for a little over a year now. Stern's show has ruled mornings. Dresner, who used to have the unenviable task of trying to book promotions and talent for the morning show, now simply lets Stern do the work. "I can sit back and relax a bit," says Dresner.
Whatever the "shock jock's" on-air antics, says Dresner, Stern commands a lot of respect with listeners and always has interesting guests on his show that, in addition, the sense of spontaneity and relaxation Stern produces spills over to the rest of the show. "We still have fun," says Dresner. And perhaps because of that, "We're able to do more."
Second Place: Sebastian, WZMX, 93.7-FM 10 Executive Drive, Farmington
Third Place: Picozzi, WCCC, 106.9-FM 243 South Whitney St., Hartford
from the The Hartford Courant
January 29, 1998
When it comes to all listeners or just to age groups most prized by advertisers, the WTIC morning shows captured good numbers in the fall Arbitron ratings period.
Ray Dunaway, who is joined by Robin King on WTIC-AM (1080), enjoyed the top spot, No. 1 with all listeners ages 12 or older, while Gary Craig of WTIC-FM (96.5) finished first with listeners 25 to 54 and second with those 18 to 34. Craig has repeatedly been at or near the top of the ratings since his return to WTIC in 1996.
Only Howard Stern, the syndicated jock on WCCC-FM (106.9), stood between the WTICs and a morning sweep. Stern retained the top spot among adults between 18 and 34, a position he first took last spring in the Hartford radio market.
WKSS-FM (95.7), with Ross Brittain and Courtney,finished third in the 18-to-34 category.
In the 25-to-54 group, Allan Camp, Kathy Wyler and Mike Stacy of WRCH-FM (100.5) and Stern trailed Craig in the mornings.
Overall, the fall book, which covered Sept. 18 to Dec. 10, did not show dramatic change from ratings periods over the past year.
During the course of the full broadcast day, WTIC-AM, a general-interest news-and-talk station, was No. 1 among all listeners, trailed by adult-contemporary WRCH and country WWYZ-FM (92.5).
WRCH led the field with listeners ages 25 to 54 over the full day, with WTIC-FM, which plays contemporary hits, and WWYZ finishing second and third. Among 18- to 34-year-olds, modern-rock WMRQ-FM (104.1), WTIC-FM and WKSS held the top three spots, respectively.
These are listenership rankings for the top-rated local radio stations for the fall ratings period (Sept.18-Dec. 10), as measured by Arbitron. The numbers are the percentage of the broadcast audience (people 12 and older) listening to each station.
Overall Broadcast Day (6 a.m.-midnight daily):
1. WTIC-AM (1080) - 11.1
2. WRCH-FM (100.5) - 9.9
3. WWYZ-FM (92.5) - 8.0
4. WTIC-FM (96.5) - 6.8
5. WKSS-FM (95.7) - 6.7
6. WDRC-FM (102.9) - 6.0
7. WDRC-AM (1360) - 5.0
8. WMRQ-FM (104.1) - 4.8
9. WCCC-FM (106.9) - 4.0
9. WZMX-FM (93.7) - 4.0
Morning Drive (6 a.m.-10 a.m., Monday through Friday):
1. WTIC-AM (1080) - 15.3
2. WRCH-FM (100.5) - 9.4
3. WTIC-FM (96.5) - 8.1
4. WWYZ-FM (92.5) - 7.6
5. WCCC-FM (106.9) - 7.0
6. WDRC-AM (1360) - 6.6
7. WDRC-FM (102.9) - 5.6
8. WKSS-FM (95.7) - 5.3
9. WZMX-FM (93.7) - 5.0
10. WMRQ-FM (104.1) - 3.2
Howard fell to a 6th place, 5.6 share, in the 12+ demographic.
The Howard Stern Show gathered a 1st place with men 18-34, and with all adults 18-34, the show ranked 4th overall.
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