It's to Indianapolis' credit that raunchy radio personality Howard Stern never attracted a following here.
Stern, whose vulgar act has proven popular elsewhere, was dumped last week by Indianapolis-based Emmis Broadcasting when it changed the format of station WNAP, 93.1.
Stern's morning talk show never delivered enough listeners to boost WNAP above its competitors. In radio, good taste is secondary to high ratings, but Stern could offer neither in the Indianapolis market.
Gone are Stern's vulgar commentaries and sophomoric comedy, which is often demeaning to women and minorities.
Here's a sample of Stern's humor from his April 21, 1999, show, broadcast a day after the shootings at Columbine High School:
"A bunch of good-looking girls go to that school. There were, like, really good-looking girls running out of there with their hands over their heads. Did those kids 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 told his listeners in response to a call from a man who lived near the high school in Littleton, Colo.
Stern's act is based on a premise once confined to carnival sideshows: attract an audience through outrageous words or actions. But the electronic media have made the outrageous so commonplace that our ability to be shocked has been greatly diminished.
That's one reason that Stern arrived in and departed from Indianapolis with such little notice. Although Stern describes himself as the "king of all media," he no longer rules even the raunchier ends of the radio dial.
While Stern's show has been replaced by the sounds of N'Sync and the Backstreet Boys, benign singing groups that appeal primarily to teen-age girls, his departure does not exactly signal a cultural revolution.
Stern's imitators, who are for immature audiences only, remain at other local stations.
Still, for those who value true wit, good taste and creativity that rises above the gutter, Emmis Broadcasting's decision to unplug Howard Stern makes for easier listening in Indianapolis.
from The Indianapolis Star
April 05, 2000
Prissy and easily offended readers should skip today's column.
(Are they gone? Good.)
Now that it's just us moral degenerates -- and I call us that only because the prissy and easily offended might still be reading -- let's talk South Park and Howard Stern.
Comedy Central's South Park returns for its fourth season at 9 p.m. today, and it hasn't lost a step. The episode, titled The Tooth Fairy's Tats 2000, finds those hilariously foul-mouthed kids from Colorado trying to scam money from the tooth fairy to buy a Sega game player.
When Cartman gets $2 for one tooth -- the going rate for his friends is a quarter or a jar of gefilte fish -- he figures the more teeth he can put under his pillow, the richer he'll be.
One hundred and twelve teeth later, his mom has to tell him the truth. "I suppose you're going to tell me there's no Santa Claus, Easter Bunny or Jesus, either," Cartman says.
The resulting dismay leads the kids into the black market for missing teeth, which the head of the American Dental Association tries to explain by hypothesizing that a giant half-chicken, half-squirrel is stealing the teeth for some fiendish reason.
As usual, South Park is funny on multiple levels. There's the overall concept of four naive kids blurting out comments and ideas they clearly don't understand. There also are the outrageous situations -- a black market for baby teeth? -- and the surreal moments, like the one when Kyle tries to figure out whether he exists.
It's great to have the show back. Now if only we could experience the return of Stern.
When his show went off the air in Indianapolis March 24 -- following the format change that turned classic-rock WNAP-FM into pop-hits WNOU-FM (93.1) -- Stern's fans were outraged.
Scott Koch's reaction was typical. In a letter to Emmis Communications, which owns the station (and Stern's contract), he wrote: "It's unfortunate that WNAP did not have the same kind of patience with Howard that WFBQ had with The Bob and Tom Show in the early '80s. It took a lot longer than 26 months for Bob and Tom to knock Gary Todd and WIBC off the top."
True, but the problem with 'NAP wasn't so much Stern as it was the turnover in audience. Stern fans typically shut off the station when his show ended. Then 'NAP had to search for an audience for music.
Another problem: Stern was difficult to sell to advertisers, who were pressured to pull their commercials by people who thought his show was vulgar. It takes guts for an advertiser to stand up to public ressure, and most businesses want to avoid any controversy.
So let's add it up: Stern's ratings weren't great. The station couldn't make enough money selling ads to pay for the show, which costs $750,000 or more a year. The number of people listening to rock radio had been declining.
I hate the result, too, but it's hard to argue with from a business standpoint. And radio is nothing if not a business.
Meanwhile, Stern fans have been calling WEDJ-FM (107.1), hoping the modern-rock station would pick up Stern's show. In his two years on the air here, Stern developed a loyal audience among men ages 18 to 34 -- 'EDJ's general target audience.
But general manager Dwight Barnette said that although he has been getting hundreds of calls a day, Stern isn't in his plans.
"I'll answer that in two ways," Barnette said. "One: Damn, he's expensive. Two: He was in the marketplace for two years. His numbers really never took off. When you're spending that much money to have a personality like that, you need to see a return on that investment....
"For me to add $70,000-$80,000 a month to my budget would be suicide at this point in our growth. We feel if we were going to go to talk in the mornings -- which we have no plans to do -- we would probably look at Mancow, who would fit our format a little bit better."
No! Losing Stern is bad enough. Replacing him with the utterly unfunny Mancow would be cruel and unusual punishment.
from the Indianapolis Star News
March 27, 2000
By the time you read this, Indianapolis classic-rock radio station WNAP-FM (93.1) will have morphed into WNOU -- RadioNow -- playing 'N Sync, Backstreet Boys and Christina Aguilera and trying to tap into the computer-oriented lifestyles of today's 12- to 34-year-olds.
The change to playing pop contemporary hits took place at 6 a.m., with new morning personality Marty McKnight -- known as "Booger" at his last radio station -- on the mike.
"It's going to be something this market has never heard before," Christine Woodward-Duncan, market manager for Emmis' Indianapolis stations, said Monday. "It's kind of a combination of lifestyle/music/everything that's going on right now -- hence the name of the radio station.
"It will be tied into the Web page" -- www.radionow93.com -- "and it's going to be a very hip, young-end, what's-going-on-in-Indy."
The Web site will drive the on-air happenings, with listeners helping dictate the musical selections by voting online or by phone.
Woodward-Duncan described the plan for the station as "like an MTV on the radio," with a particular eye toward Total Request Live, the music network's popular interactive afternoon show. The new air staff will come from all over the country, and they'll be "very hip, very young, really cool people."
From an economic viewpoint, the switch appears to make sense. The number of people listening to rock radio has been dropping, while musical acts that appeal to teens are dominating the charts. Last week, 'N Sync shattered all sales records by selling more copies of its new disc, No Strings Attached, in one day than any group had ever sold in a week.
"The baby boomers' kids are all now in their teens, at least," Woodward-Duncan says. "They have more spending money, they have more effect on new product lines, and if you look at today's teens, they are so technologically driven. They're so hip. Things change in a minute.
"They have more money to spend, they drive record sales, they drive clothing sales, they drive computers, they talk on the computer -- they don't talk on the phone. And this format is going to capture that very what's-going-on-now."
Greg Dunkin, who was WNAP's operations manager and will continue in that role with WNOU, picked up that thought.
"We found in our research that the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync and this pop music that the station's going to be playing not only appeals to teen-agers but also their mothers," he says. "When you go to a Backstreet Boys concert, obviously the teen-agers are there, but so are a lot of the parents. They're accompanying their kids, but they know the words to these songs as well as the kids do."
As for the demise of 'NAP, an Indianapolis icon in the 1970s that was resurrected about six years ago, Woodward-Duncan says letting go of "The Buzzard" was difficult for many reasons. On Friday, she had to fire the on-air staff.
"We had a wonderful staff, people who just did a fabulous job," she says. "On Friday, when we spoke with them, every single one of them was just a class act. I've never seen a group of people be so understanding as to what's going on. They certainly understood that their talents really didn't fit in this new format."
The biggest loss for 'NAP listeners won't be the music -- they can get a similar brand of classic rock on WFBQ-FM (94.7) -- but The Howard Stern Show. Stern had built a solid following among men ages 18 to 34, but that audience switched off the station once his show ended.
Stern's future in Indianapolis is unknown. Woodward-Duncan would say only "we no longer have Howard Stern on this radio station."
What's unknown is whether Stern's syndicated show is now available to other local stations. WNAP had a four-year contract with the New York-based host; the show ran here for slightly more than two years.
Stern's agent and producer were unavailable for comment Monday morning.
from allaccess.com
March 27, 2000
EMMIS Classic Rocker WNAP (93.1)/INDIANAPOLIS is one day away from launching a format flip to Top 40/Mainstream. The airstaff was let go on FRIDAY -- including HOWARD STERN -- following a 10a meeting and the new airstaff is waiting in the wings. ALL ACCESS hears that ALAN BURNS & ASSOC VP DAVE SHAKES is consulting and SCRAP JACKSON is the new PD.
If you have WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER, you can hear a computerized voice countdown over 'NSYNC's brand new full CD "No Strings Attached" at www.wnap.com and according to the countdown clock look for a flip on TUESDAY (3/28) at 6a (ET). New calls are WNOU with the handle "Radio Now."
from the Indianapolis Star News
INDIANAPOLIS (March 25, 2000) -- With rock radio listening declining in general and on WNAP-FM (93.1) in particular, Emmis Broadcasting next week will switch the format of its classic-rock station, most likely to an urban/contemporary-hits format to rival WHHH-FM (96.3) and WZPL-FM (99.5).
Christine Woodward-Duncan, market manager for Emmis' Indianapolis stations, would not comment on the changes, which also will mean the immediate end of The Howard Stern Show in Indianapolis after a little more than two years on WNAP.
But while she wouldn't comment, word had spread quickly Friday among competing stations. Scott Sands, program director at WZPL-FM (99.5), said he'd heard that 'NAP would be switching to a more teen-oriented format, changing its call letters to WNOW and using a syndicated show called Booger and Yvonne from Myrtle Beach, S.C., as its morning program.
The format switch is certain. But there's a WNOW-AM in the Carolinas, but apparently no FM station with those call letters. And Booger and Yvonne are no longer doing a show or living in the same city, according to their previous station, WWXM-FM (97.7), in Myrtle Beach.
The spreading of misinformation is common when a radio station changes formats. In fact, stations typically do what's called "stunting" -- playing a strange mix of music -- to throw off competitors.
"Emmis as a company does rhythmic teen CHR (contemporary-hits radio)/teen Top 40 really well," Sands said, referring to the radio format that currently features artists such as 'N Sync, Christina Aguilera and the Backstreet Boys. "So they may as well do what they do best in their own back yard and appeal to teen-agers."
Six years ago, the station at 93.1 switched from WKLR, which played oldies, to WNAP, which offered 1970s rock 'n' roll. The format has been tweaked several times, and for the past year WNAP has advertised itself as "classic rock that really rocks," meaning lots of Led Zeppelin, AC/DC and Rush.
But 'NAP had to battle Indianapolis' powerhouse classic-rock station, WFBQ-FM (94.7), a fight it could not win. In February, 'NAP slipped out of the Top 10.
"There's not enough listeners in any market for two classic-rock stations," said Marty Bender, national program director for WFBQ's popular syndicated morning program,The Bob & Tom Show.
Bender said a switch from rock to contemporary hits "would be a good formatic complement to WENS (97.1)," an Emmis station that plays soft rock and draws a large female audience.
"They could offer advertisers a lot of options for female advertising between the two," he said. "When you have formatic options in the same building, it helps to work them together. . . . I can see an advertiser saying, 'Yeah, I want to reach women, and this combination works.' "
And Sands said that by going after WHHH, Emmis is hoping to one-up that station's new owners, Radio One.
"Even though WHHH is already a pretty good teen-age radio station, Radio One will obviously be able to come in with additional resources and improve the station," he said. "I'm sure Emmis is trying to beat them to the punch and really go after the teens."
As for Stern, who never did as well in Indianapolis as WNAP had hoped, it's unlikely his syndicated radio show will be picked up soon. His program might be too ribald for other stations, and his ratings -- 10th among all morning shows in Indianapolis in the most recent Arbitron survey -- are not strong enough to draw advertisers to cover the cost of his program.
"It's going to be hard for Stern to ever be successful in this market without a lot of commitment from the company that hires him," Sands said. "Bob and Tom are market icons . . . and if you're going to listen to somebody who's telling dirty jokes, you might as well listen to the people who live in town telling dirty jokes."
from allaccess.com
March 22, 2000:
What's up at Classic Rock WNAP/INDIANAPOLIS? Rumors are circulating in the market that a format flip is in the works. The strong buzz is to look for EMMIS to take on market leader, Country WFMS. More details as we learn them.
and on March 24, 2000:
ALL ACCESS hears that the changes we hinted at yesterday at WNAP/INDIANAPOLIS are about to happen -- standby for action, this weekend. But could Country have been a smokescreen?
...I believe there is still approx. 10 months left on Howard's contract there...
Thanks to robk for sending these items!
from the: Indianapolis Star/News
May 1, 1999
INDIANAPOLIS (May 1, 1999) -- The phonebook-sized folder Greg Dunkin was lugging around Friday told a story that made him esctatic.
Howard Stern's syndicated morning radio show, heard locally on WNAP-FM (93.1), had finally broken through in Indianapolis in a big way, 14 months after the raunchy laughfest debuted here. "This is a great day," enthused Dunkin, operations manager for WNAP and WENS-FM (97.1).
In the winter Arbitron ratings released Friday, Stern's show moved from twelfth in the fall to seventh most-popular for listeners age 12 and over in morning drive; from seventh to fourth for listeners age 18 to 34; from 10th to fifth for listeners age 25 to 54.
In Stern's target audience, men 18 to 34, the station moved from a 5.3 percent share to a 13.3 share and second place in morning drive, behind The Bob and Tom Show on WFBQ-FM (94.7). The Bob and Tom Show, also syndicated nationally, was first in listeners 12 and over, 18 to 34 and 25 to 54.
The ratings were based on 2,786 diaries kept by local radio listeners during December, January, February and March.
WIBC-AM (1070) -- like WNAP and WENS, owned by Emmis Communications Corp. -- also enjoyed a great book. Buoyed no doubt by its Pacers games, WIBC rose from eighth most-popular station in the fall to third for listeners 25 to 54.
Drop in listenership
The other most notable changes occurred with black stations. Their listenership fell off dramatically from the fall despite more black households receiving rating diaries -- 16.8 percent -- compared to the usual 13.5 percent.
WTLC-FM (105.7) fell from fifth to 10th for listeners 12 and older, from fourth to seventh for listeners 18 to 34, and from seventh to 10th for listeners 25 to 54. Likewise, WHHH-FM (96.4) fell from seventh to 10th for listeners 12 and older, from sixth to eighth for listeners 18 to 34, and from 14th to 15th for listeners 25 to 54.
"Arbitron was under pressure to get the (black) sample up, and I think they must have gotten a lot of people who don't listen to the radio," shrugged Amos Brown, research director for Hoosier Radio and TV, which owns WHHH, WBKS-FM (106.7) and WYJZ-FM (100.9). "The listeners who left us did not seem to go anywhere else."
The 10 most popular stations and their shares of listeners age 12 and older were WFBQ, 10.6; WFMS-FM (95.5), 10.5; WIBC, 9.3; WTPI-FM (107.9), 5.9; WENS, 5.8; WGLD-FM (104.5), WRZX-FM (103.3) and WZPL-FM (99.5), 5.2; and WTLC and WHHH, 4.6.
Thanks to: robk for sending this in...
INDIANAPOLIS (April 30, 1998) -- New York shock jock Howard Stern was more like the dark horse than the king of all media in the first Arbitron rating book that pitted him against The Bob and Tom Show.
In the Arbitron winter book released Thursday, Bob Kevoian and Tom Griswold's show on rock station WFBQ-FM (94.7) was still dominant in the morning radio race. For January, February and March, they scored a 19.4 share of overall listeners 12 and older, a 28.9 share of listeners 18 to 34 and a 25.1 share of listeners 25 to 54.
(Each overall share point represents about 1,600 people, while each share point in the specific demographic categories represents about 900 people.)
By contrast, Stern's raunchy show, which debuted on rock station WNAP-FM (93.1) at the end of January, placed seventh in overall morning listeners with a 4.7 share. He scored a 6.9 share of listeners aged 18 to 34 and a 5.8 share of listeners 25 to 54, with the biggest gains in men 18 to 34 and 25 to 54.
WNAP Program Director Peter Smith was very happy with Stern's performance, the station's best in the morning race since the spring of 1996.
"Howard was only on for two months during the book, while Bob and Tom have a 15-year head start," Smith said.
"I think you'll see him slowly nibble away at their listenership during the next 18 months."
Chris Wheat, president and general manager of WFBQ, WRZX-FM (103.3) and WNDE-AM (1260), cautioned that listeners may have sampled Stern's show out of curiosity and might not make him a daily habit. "We'll see," he said.
Otherwise, the book was characterized by a resurgence by Top 40 WZPL-FM (99.5) and urban contemporary WTLC-FM (105.7).
WZPL ranked first in listenership in women 18 to 34, third in women 18 to 49 and fourth in women 25 to 54.
Tim Medland, president and general manager of WZPL, WTPI-FM (107.9) and WYMS-AM (1430), said WZPL has successfully transformed over the past two years from a young, urban, hip-hop music station to an adult Top 40.
"Our music is good enough for soccer moms and their children," he said.
Likewise, WTLC rose from ninth to a tie for sixth with WENS-FM (97.1) in the overall ratings for listeners aged 12 and over with a 5.5 share. WTLC also jumped from seventh to fourth in listeners 18 to 34, with an 8.5 share.
Vince Fruge, WTLC's vice president and general manager, attributed the increased listenership to the station's more adult approach.
In the overall ratings for the winter book, WFBQ and WFMS-FM (95.5) tied for first, with a 10.7 share of listeners 12 and older. The rest of the 10 most popular stations and their share of overall listenership were:
* WIBC-AM (1070), 8.5 share * WTPI, 6.1 * WZPL, 6.0 * WENS and WTLC, 5.5. * WGLD-FM (104.5), 5.2. * WHHH-FM (96.3), 5.1 * WRZX, 5.0The top morning shows overall were WFBQ's Bob and Tom Show, The Morning Show on WFMS and Jeff Pigeon and the Morning Team on WIBC.
INDIANAPOLIS (Wed, Feb 11, 1998) -- Howard Stern introduced himself to the Indianapolis media Wednesday, declaring his radio show as welcome locally "as the Domino's man at Rosie O'Donnell's house" and promising off-color humor.
The news conference aired live on WNAP-FM (93.1), which picked up Stern's nationally syndicated show Jan. 30. He competes weekday mornings against the Indianapolis heavyweight champ of radio, The Bob & Tom Show, which airs on WFBQ-FM (94.7) and WNDE-AM (1260).
"I'm declaring a nuclear war," Stern said. "They're Iraq and I'm America."
Indianapolis reporters, representing publications ranging from The Indianapolis Star and The Indianapolis News to Scandalous Quest magazine and the Showtime Adult Entertainment Guide, spent about 45 minutes talking to Stern by telephone once equipment glitches were fixed.
"I have a feeling we're on a very low-budget station in Indianapolis," Stern joked when the news conference was delayed.
As usual, Stern held back nothing in talking to the press and about his competitors. "Two ugly geeks," he said.
Bob and Tom, he claimed -- and he says this about everyone else in radio -- stole his act. "I'm very popular," he said. "Why wouldn't you try to rip me off?"
"Why shouldn't the people of Indianapolis know who originated this material?" he asked later. "Why don't they admit to their fans where they got all their material?"
(In an interview last week, Tom Griswold, the Tom in Bob & Tom, said he made it a point never to listen to Stern so he wouldn't be influenced.)
The closest Stern came to giving any ground to Bob and Tom was to say that his competitors probably do more song parodies than he does.
"If you want to hear song parodies," Stern said, "you can buy a 'Weird' Al Yankovic record."
Stern said he knew little about Indianapolis, other than the 500-Mile Race. "Why anyone would watch cars go round and round is beyond me," he said.
He also claimed that Indiana Pacers guard Reggie Miller admitted off the air last week that he prefers Stern's show to Bob and Tom. On the air, Miller refused to take sides.
Stern's show is now heard in 42 cities. [Ed. - Indianapolis is the 41st market for the show.] Guests -- in this case, reporters -- usually appear for one of two reasons: titillation (women) or amusement (men).
At Stern's press conference, listeners found out as much about the reporters as they did about Stern. We now know, for example, that Martha Weaver, the WRTV (Channel 6) reporter who covered the event, is 29, single, has a female dog, dates a Channel 6 photographer ("loser," Stern or someone on his staff said in the background) and wears a two-piece bathing suit at the beach.
Emily Hebert of the Indianapolis Business Journal tried to take on Stern, asking about the competition between him and Bob and Tom. By the time she finished, Stern called her "the 22-year-old who thinks she knows everything."
"Ask her if she's on her period," Stern requested of the next questioner.
Stern explained his popularity like this: "A show given to free expression is a novelty." And though Indianapolis is considered a conservative community, "This show works anywhere."
"People like a good laugh and that's what we're about," Stern said, adding later: "As long as there is a newspaper, and a song in our heart, and an intern in the White House, we'll have material."
INDIANAPOLIS (Feb. 3, 1998) -- The Genghis Khan of morning radio has stormed into Indianapolis, and already the war of words has turned ugly.
"Right now Bob and Tom are wriggling around like a snake with diarrhea," shock jock Howard Stern boasted Monday on his national morning show, which began airing on WNAP-FM (93.1) Friday. In a few months, "they will lie down and spread their legs and accept me like the king and master I am."
Stern kept replaying -- and ridiculing -- an audio clip from a TV interview in which Tom Griswold of The Bob and Tom Show of WFBQ-FM (94.7) confidently predicted that Stern's "New York brand of poison" won't work in Indianapolis. Currently, The Bob and Tom Show attracts a fifth of all local morning radio listeners.
Stern, whose New York-based show airs on 41 stations, called Griswold and partner Bob Kevoian "losers" and "douche bags" and a few names unprintable in a family newspaper. "You stole your entire show from me," he ranted.
He also gleefully took a call from "Lyle" in Indianapolis, who said that comparing Bob and Tom and Stern is like "the difference between listening to nothing and listening to talent."
Ouch.
By contrast, Griswold says that in Fresno, Calif., and Louisville, Ky., Bob and Tom beats Stern in head-to-head competition.
In a Saturday story in this newspaper, Griswold also mentioned the duo's numerous charitable contributions locally -- which are more than $1 million at this point -- and said Stern would never do that.
All true. But saintly charity work isn't why people choose a morning radio show.
So now we've got a choice between the same crew we've listened to for years -- Bob, Tom, Kristi, Chick, etc. -- or a guy who took calls Monday from listeners who told sob stories about their lives in hopes of winning a nude body massage by a porn star.
"You're telling me the doctor screwed up your penis?" Howard asked one caller. Another guy said he deserved the massage because he was dying. (Ironically, although he would tell a national radio show host this, he hadn't yet told his wife.)
Other highlights of Monday's show included Stern calling a black neighborhood "Zimbabwe by the sea"; gabbing about sex, sex and sex; and getting into a shouting match with a female listener about a previous Stern contest to give silicon implants to the neediest woman.
How this material will play in Indianapolis is anyone's guess. Stern's racy show tends to be the most popular in conservative cities, and Indianapolis fits that description. On the other hand, Hoosiers also tend to be set in their broadcast habits; look at how WISH TV (Channel 8) continues to be No. 1 in the ratings year after year.
My best guess is that Bob and Tom will remain No. 1, but the big chunk Stern takes out of their audience will make the rest of the local radio competition much more of a horse race.
Why will Stern make inroads here? Because Bob and Tom are probably as vulnerable to a Stern attack as they've ever been:
* As The Bob and Tom Show has gone national -- to 30 stations, with three more expected to be added this week -- its local flavor has dramatically declined. This show could originate anywhere, and often sounds that way.In 1998, with a fifth of Indianapolis tuned in every morning, they're the Establishment, as mainstream as white bread. Now Stern's the new foul-mouthed rebel in town, with a show guaranteed to offend.* The Bob and Tom Show is better at parody commercials and novelty songs than Stern, but he has much better guests, including David Bowie, Billy Joel, Whoopi Goldberg, Alec Baldwin and Sting. Sure beats the C-list comedian bopping into the WFBQ studios to hype his weeklong gig at the Chuckle Hut.
* Rock 'n' roll rebels Bob and Tom came to Indianapolis in the early 1980s and made a name for themselves through controversy over whether their show was indecent.
Bob and Tom could be in for a rude awakening.
[Ed. - Take the Indianapolis Star/News Poll!]
This poll has stopped taking votes. The final results are below. (2/19/98)
Program Percentages Votes
Howard Stern 48 % 397
Bob & Tom 44 % 362
Neither 6 % 54
INDIANAPOLIS (Jan. 30, 1998) -- The seemingly genteel competition in Indianapolis radio ended abruptly Friday when Emmis Broadcasting-owned WNAP-FM (93.1) replaced its morning show with the nationally syndicated Howard Stern Show.
The outrageous, controversial and hugely successful Stern will compete head-to-head weekday mornings with The Bob & Tom Show, for years the most listened-to radio program in Indianapolis. Ratings indicate that one of every five listeners here in the morning is tuned in to Bob & Tom on WFBQ-FM (94.7) and WNDE-AM (1260).
The Bob & Tom Show is syndicated to 30 stations across the country, and three more are expected to be added next week.
Stern, meanwhile, airs on 41 stations. In his home base of New York City, he has the top-rated morning show. He draws a 9.6 percent share of an audience that can choose from nearly 50 stations.
The move to bring Stern to Indianapolis comes less than a month after SFX Broadcasting Inc., which owns WFBQ, WNDE and WRZX-FM (103.3) here, snatched Indianapolis Colts broadcasts from Emmis.
Emmis aired the football games on WIBC-AM (1070) for 11 of the past 14 years.
Jeff Smulyan, president and chief executive officer of Emmis Broadcasting, downplayed the competition.
"I think the idea that there's some sort of war between Emmis and whoever owns FBQ today -- it's changed so many times -- is wrong," Smulyan said.
"Listen -- we love Bob and Tom. We love FBQ. I'm sure people will view it as some sort of battle. We love those guys. If we didn't love them, we wouldn't have them on in St. Louis (at Emmis-owned KSHE-FM). On the other hand, you have to do what makes sense for your property. And we just felt that the most sense for WNAP was Howard Stern."
But Tom Griswold said: "The timing is funny. This is about football, not about Howard Stern."
The Stern and Bob & Tom shows now go head-to-head in six areas -- Fresno, Calif.; Louisville, Ky.; Hartford, Conn.; Toledo and Akron, Ohio; and the Quad Cities of Illinois and Iowa. Griswold said that in Fresno and Louisville, the only cities where the competition has been active for more than a few months, he and partner Bob Kevoian have beaten Stern.
"A lot of people are going to get bored with him very quickly," he predicted, "and they're going to go, 'What's going on? Are we really going to hear nothing but lesbian strippers again today?' He doesn't do anything resembling the kind of music stuff that we do, parody commercials and that sort of thing.
"The other thing Howard can't do is, Howard can't put on a concert and raise a lot of money for a local guy" -- which Bob and Tom did two weeks ago, raising $30,000 for Roadmaster's cancer-stricken singer, Steve McNally -- "and Howard can't build a park in the city. And believe me, he won't."
Bob and Tom donated $140,000 in 1994 and 1995 to build playgrounds in Rhodius Park and Brookside Park.
Stern turned 44 on Friday. [Ed.-Howard's birthday is Jan. 12. The party was held on Jan. 30th this year.] His birthday celebration, which was his first show to air on WNAP, included a live performance by David Bowie, a satellite appearance by members of the rock group Van Halen and two lesbians being encouraged to kiss. (They did.)
One guest on Friday's show described Stern as having "inherited the satiric mantle of Abbie Hoffman and Lenny Bruce." Yet he also has been called "a disease that may spread." Stern, the self-proclaimed King of All Media, has written two best-selling books, Private Parts and Miss America.
"We're delighted to be on in Indianapolis," Stern's agent, Don Buchwald, said. "Historically, he works, and it'll work in every market from Fayetteville, North Carolina, to San Diego, California. We assume that people in Indiana and Indianapolis like to laugh and like good radio. We look forward to success. We think we're working with a terrific group of people there."
Smulyan had said in past interviews that he was uncertain about bringing Stern's show into Indianapolis, which is Smulyan's hometown.
"But Howard's become such an institution nationally," Smulyan said Friday. "Far be it for me to be the one guy to say Howard doesn't fit -- especially the fact that the guy's on cable in Indianapolis every night" on the E! network.
Tom Taylor, news editor for The M Street Corp., which tracks radio trends, predicted that Stern will do well in Indianapolis. He cited a similar situation in Charlotte, N.C., where a tiny station picked up Stern's show to go head-to-head against the regionally syndicated, popular John Boy & Billy Show.
In a little more than a year there, Stern raised his affiliate's share of the listening audience from 0.6 to 4.4 percent. Meanwhile, John Boy & Billy dropped from 13.5 percent of the audience to 9.5 percent. Taylor stopped short of predicting that Stern would knock off Bob & Tom in Indianapolis. But he said the movie Private Parts has helped to soften Stern's image for female listeners, an important demographic.
"A lot of women are able to see past this testosterone front and see that beneath it all, he's really a loving husband and dad," Taylor said. "He just happens to have this crazy job."
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