There is noting to report here. I've been spending less and less time listeningto Howard, and more time working on my web sites. Here are five of the latest that I've setup.
your-camera-store.com
your-dvd-store.com
your-mp3-store.com
your-magazine-store.com
your-book-store.com
Back from the Jungle, AGAIN!.
Yikes....I'm back from the jungles of Africa. I better start updating this page again.
Ever since this program first aired on CHOM FM in the fall of '97, there has been a persistent attempt to stop, censor, and even disrupt the transmission of this broadcast.
First there was an organized campaign of exaggerated letters of complaint which contained gross misinterpretations, and false accusations regarding this show. The target of this continuous bombardment was the Canadian Radio & Television Commission who regulate broadcasting in Canada and CHOM FM. Supporting this tactic, was also a regular flow of letters to the editor and the promised threat of an extensive boycott towards the advertisers on CHOM FM. Fortunately, the show continued and freedom of choice seemed to win out - or at least we thought.
Today, this news comes as a shock to listeners of a radio program that is unique and truly distinctive. What this type of program offers, is a very different form of adult programing that is comprised of a vast assort of entertainment that is expressive of real life within a comical context. The Howard Stern Radio program offers an assortment of material that can also be found being used by other radio imitators and even on some of today's current television programs. Just because television stations have adopted the logo of TV??, doesn't justify the contents of their programing or make it right. Some television talk shows, soap operas, etc, are more harmful to the human mind than anything Howard Stern has ever done.
We close this appeal with the reminder that the real world is a composition of individuals. Different people with different tastes. If someone doesn't appreciate a particular type of humor or drama, at least allow them that right to enjoy or appreciate what it does for them. The Howard Stern Radio Program is just that - only a radio show. It is designed to make people laugh at the simple things in life, that are all to often taken too seriously.
In conclusion, we sincerely hope that CHUM Broadcasting Ltd, reverses its decision to cancel this innovative, distinctive and truly enjoyable form of entertainment. If this company is truly committed to radio broadcasting, it is committed to provide what the consumer is looking for - enjoyable radio.
* In Montreal - The Howard Stern Radio Program can be heard on 106. 7 WIZN, the Wizard of Rock - Burlington, Vermont.
By Peter Goddard
Toronto Star Entertainment Reporter
Baby Boomer rock gave Howard Stern a stiff kick in the ratings, according to the spring numbers released to radio stations yesterday by the Broadcasting Bureau of Measurement.
After pumping up all of radio's ratings last fall, Stern, the self-proclaimed "King of All Media,'' lost 100,000 listeners, about 20 per cent of his audience, in the first four months of this year. Most of the losses were women listeners.
With 8.9 per cent of the audience for his syndicated show on Q-107, the New York-based shock talker is tied for third place among audiences of all ages with CHUM-FM's Roger, Rick and Marilyn in the morning market.
CHFI-FM's Don Daynard and Erin Davis lead the pack with 11.7 per cent, followed by CRFB's Ted Woloshyn with 11.4 per cent.
But while Q-107 gained "in every male category,'' Stern did lose a portion of his female audience, station manager Pat Cardinal said yesterday.
Stern's ratings tumble was even more pronounced at CHOM-FM in Montreal, his only other Canadian outlet, several sources reported yesterday.
It might have been expected. "The curiosity factor is over and clearly it was over for women first,'' said one rival programmer.
"We're back to where we were before the Howard storm,'' said Mix program director J.J. Johnston. "But it's not over yet.''
With 14.8 per cent of the entire market, CHFI (98.1) continues to rule the "money'' category of adults between 25 and 54 years old.
CHUM-FM (104.5) follows in this demographic with 10.9 per cent of the highest-spending audience, followed by The Mix (99.9 FM) with 9.7 per cent.
CHFI also gets to claim bragging rights as the most listened-to station in town, with a total audience of 1,144,400 people.
Next is The Mix with 1,082,900 listeners, followed by CHUM-FM with 1,041,100.
The genre called adult contemporary music rules radio more than ever. CHFI is up in most categories over last year, ratings are back up for The Mix and are soaring for EZ-Rock (97.3 FM) - perhaps the biggest winner in this rating's book.
The Mix has 7.6 per cent of the market when all ages are included in the survey, up from 6.5 per cent last fall. EZ-Rock has 6 per cent, up from 4.5 per cent last fall.
"We're doing better because we're now playing more hits,'' said The Mix's Johnston. "We're in a music cycle where what was alternative two years ago is now more mainstream.''
Translated, this also means radio's audience is increasingly older than the one for television. TV sales reps continue to pitch a younger demographic.
"And it will be this way for radio for a few more years,'' said one programmer yesterday. "Then the big change will come.''
Stern's arrival on the Toronto' airwaves last Sept. 2 boosted Q-107 into fifth place. But rival stations are recovering. The Humble & Fred Show on CFNY (The Edge, 102.1 FM) has climbed back to a 4.7 per cent share of the market, after being Stern-gunned down to 3.5 per cent last fall.
And all-sports The FAN (AM 590) continues to hold its own with its 2.5 share of the market in the battle for the Stern-dominated all-male ratings, although it's beginning to lose its older audience.
CBL (740 AM), CBC Radio One's local outlet, had a 5.6 share of the market, up from 4.8 per cent last fall, although the addition of the 99.1 FM frequency with parallel programming is not seen to have much of a ratings effect this time around.
Some niche stations, like all-talk 680 News (AM 680) and dance-orientated Energy 108 (107.9 FM) and Hot 103.5 FM, continue to hold their own. ArticleBin.com
Country's CISS-FM (92.5 FM) took a ratings hit down to a 3.8 share after 4.1 per cent last fall, while Classical 96 (96.3 FM) also slipped slightly to a 3.7 per cent share from 3.9 per cent last fall.
The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council -- the industry watchdog -- is apparently satisfied with measures Q-107 and CHOM-FM have taken to monitor Howard Stern. Complaints have slowed to a trickle. Stern's debut ratings in Toronto and Montreal put extra bucks in his pocket. For every ratings point Howard adds to the existing morning listener base, stations pay a performance bonus. Q admits Stern cashed a "substantial" points bonus for his first Toronto numbers. One industry guess pegs it at a cool extra $300,000.
Reports out of Toronto indicate that Q107 cut away from the segment as it started to heat up when Howard wickedly spanked Regina's ass.
While the use of the delay by CBS was prevalent here in NY, almost all of the segment aired with the exception of certain words that are off-limits.
The Toronto station filled the void with a clip from Tuesday's "Best of" and then came back live when Robin started the news.
When asked about this incident, Q107's Program Director, Pat Cardinal, responded via e-mail, "Do you want 99% of a good show or 100% of nothing. If we aired the spanking segment we would of lost our our license and Howard would be gone."
Gone? Over the concept and action of spanking? I wonder what will be next...
It's almost certain that if Q107 didn't have this outside pressure from radio regulatory groups in Canada they would leave the Stern show alone. To me, it seems they edit material out of a desire to survive and not to play judge and jury.
I just had to share that with my readers :-)
But I digress.
The real reason is because as I sit here updating this friggin page, today is the due-date of our first child. I've been too busy with the wife over the past few months to pay much attention to this web page. Sorry. Once the baby comes (tonight perhaps???) updates to this page will be infrequent for a little while.
Well, that's all for now. Please continue to support Howard in Toronto and Montreal, and have a GREAT 1998!
Oh ya, one other thing, "FUCK the CBSC, CRTC, and the FCC!"
I can't believe that the CBSC tried and convicted Howard, without him being able to even defend himself. But I guess that is the type of narrow-minded thinking that goes on at the CBSC.
I guess we'll have to start writing letters to the CBSC again!
The question was "Should Howard Stern be banned?"
The answer, revealed Tuesday night on CTV’s W-5, was No from 70 per cent of those who responded to a question posed during the same show Oct. 21.
American shock jock Stern has been heard mornings on, Q107 in Toronto and on CHOM-FM in Montreal since September.
W-5 said that in addition to responses recorded on its 1-900 number, the CTV switchboard received 8,000 calls, almost all from people want to keep Stern on Canadian airwaves.
The response also shut down W-5's fax machine and filled the voice-mailbox.
The results come just days before the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council is expected to make an announcement on the Stern show, responding to comments received by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.
In October, the CRTC had received about 700 letters on Stern, with just under half supporting his show.
HAMILTON (CP) -- Raunchy disc jockey Howard Stern was literally crowing on air Tuesday after the release of Canadian radio audience ratings covering the first two weeks of his program.
Stern and his on-air staff were cock-a-doodle-dooing over figures showing the New York City-based Stern was scoring big points with listeners on Toronto's Q107-FM and Montreal's CHOM-FM.
Full autumn ratings won't be published by the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement until Dec. 18.
Pat Cardinal, program director for Q107, was excited that ratings showed the station's morning show audience tripled after the station put Stern on the air.
Cardinal said Q107's average August morning show audience was 36,100, which jumped to 91,900 after Stern began airing Sept. 2.
Syndicated morning shock-jock Howard Stern claimed on Q-107 yesterday to be listened to by more than one-quarter of the drive-to-work audience in Metro.
If true, this would represent a staggering increase in ratings for the station in less than three weeks and would make him the No. 1 radio host in the city.
But Stern's claim should be viewed skeptically, say programmers at rival radio stations.
Q-107's new listener monitoring technology, Mobiltrak, has severe limitations, critics say. Mobiltrak has monitoring receivers located in various parts of the city.
"It detects what station is being listened to when a car drives by,'' says one station's program director. "It does not tell you who is in that car, whether it is a man or a woman, or how old or how young they are - all crucial questions for the advertisers.''
Q-107's station manager, Pat Cardinal, says Stern's ratings surge has carried the rest of the station along with him. "We've become No. 2 in the mid-day drive bracket. We're fourth through much of the rest of the day,'' he said yesterday.
But that doesn't impress his rivals.
"In fact, about 59 per cent of morning listeners are at home,'' says J. Johnston, program director of The Mix, 99.9 FM.
"They are not in the cars so we don't know if they are listening to (Stern). And 15 per cent of all listeners in the morning are in the office.
``I am sure Stern is affecting us. But not as much as we are being told.''
Pat Cardinal (Q107's program director) said that on September 2nd, there ratings were 15.5, where traditionally it was between 5.5 and 7.0. As of September 11th, the ratings were 25.9, almost double the previous number one rated morning show on CFHI of 13.9. Pat also mentioned that phone surveys are backing up these statistics.
It appears that Montreal is also enjoying equal success in the ratings. If anyone has the Montreal stats, please e-mail me with them.
Howard Stern won't apologize to French Canadians for calling them "snivelling cowards'' and "scumbags,"' even if it means his controversial talk show on Q-107 is forced from Canadian airwaves by federal regulators.
"I can't imagine anyone would take what I say seriously. I'm a disc jockey," he told a press conference yesterday.
"I'm a dope. There
is something seriously wrong with any country that pulls a guy off the radio
for saying he didn't like the way
France behaved in World War II, and he thinks people should
speak English.
"If you've got that kind of country, then my show could never exist. When you take a comedian's words as the president's words, it shows you have a humorless, lifeless country. And your broadcasting will for ever be dull and boring.''
But the shock jock said The Toronto Star "is smart'' to pull its ads from his four-hour syndicated morning show. ``I will become the primary advertising medium in Canada, in Toronto. You (Star) guys are doing that hoping that I'll be thrown off the air. I've been targeted by newspapers before.''
Then he admitted, ""It's not a good thing for me. I would love you to advertise. I want this radio station to make lots of money.''
Listeners have complained to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) about Stern's frequent penis jokes and shock-jock tactics.
All Canadian broadcasters - Stern is on CHOM-FM in Montreal as well - need CRTC approval to continue broadcasting. Stern has already been fined $2 million by the federal broadcast regulator in the United States.
The Quebec division of the American-owned Stroh's brewery yesterday pulled its ads from CHOM-FM.
The Toronto Star newspaper had a Stern Message in its September 5th editorial.
"There is nothing entertaining about racism. It is not funny or clever or cool to call the French Canadians 'the biggest scumbags on the planet.' It is simply offensive. And the sooner New York radio jock Howard Stern gets that message from Canadians, the better."
..The easiest way to muzzle Stern is simply to tune him out. Anyone who cares about Canada's traditions of tolerance and civility-radio listeners, broadcasters, advertisers and federal regulators-has a responsibility to stop the pollution of our airwaves.
Ailing rock station Q-107 is gambling that Stern's high-profile hour morning show will attract new listeners and big advertising dollars. Consumers can thwart this strategy by letting Q-107 program director Pat Cardinal- and the community at large-know they're boycotting the station until it cleans up its act.
Advertisers on the Howard Stern show can exert even more pressure. They can pull their advertisements.
There are those who will say that Stern is just being outrageous, livening up our dreary mornings, showing some '90s wit. Some of his gags are kind of funny. There's nothing wrong with irreverence or tastelessness.
But he crosses the line when he uses racial epithets. That is not our idea of humor in Canada. It never should be.
Stern’s syndicated radio show currently plays in 40 major North American markets, at market-leading radio stations and to audiences of about 20 million people weekly.
"Three months ago, when we started the search for a new morning show, one name and face kept popping up all around me -- on the movie screen, in book stores, across the media, in listener e-mail and focus test results -- I finally got the message: 'SIGN HOWARD', so I did," said Pat Cardinal, Q107's Program Director. "We have every reason to believe that this incredibly funny, intelligent, irreverent and sometimes brutally honest showman will make Q107 the radio station of choice for thousands in our listening area. That’s what our choice of Howard Stern is all about -- offering listeners more choice in the morning."
While the terms of the deal are confidential, Mr. Cardinal did note that the contract has a three-year term. He also acknowledged that Howard Stern and his morning show have generated some strong reactions -- both positive and negative -- among various segments of the public.
"Our morning show won't be everybody's first choice. In fact, no one morning show can be all things to all people. The benefit of a vibrant radio industry is that people have choices in the range of voices and views they can listen to in the Toronto radio market," he said.
He noted that the 60-second delay the Q107 based morning producer will control, together with the content warnings that will be aired on the show, will ensure Q107 meets its commitment to be a responsible broadcaster and demonstrates the station's sensitivity to the views of some members of the public.
"We'll be telling our listeners, throughout the morning show, 'you're listening to Howard Stern, so if you're easily offended, be prepared to turn your radio off at any time,’ or ‘you are your own Howard Stern control board,’ " said Cardinal. In addition, Q107's sister AM station, Talk 640, will offer listeners an opportunity in the initial weeks of the new show to make their views public on Howard Stern's unique brand of entertainment.
Cardinal concluded by adding that the morning show will continue to give Q107 listeners lots of local news, weather and traffic information during breaks in the Stern show.
WIC is an emerging
leader in television, pay television, radio, satellite and wireless communications
in Canada. The Vancouver-based company owns 9 TV stations and 12 radio stations
as well as a wireless communications division, WIC Connexus. WIC is also the
majority owner of Canadian Satellite Communications (Cancom).
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This site was last updated on October7th, 2003