Yahoo's Buzz Index, a meter to show the percentage of searches made on a day, shows that Howard's impact on web searches is still running strong. Citing spikes in searches for peeps like George Takei, Rachel Hunter, Adrianne Curry, Shawn King, Roy Simmons, Alexis Stewart (Martha's daughter - who had by far the biggest spike in with a buzz increase of 5,739%) and of course Bubba The Love Spong - the "Stern effect" still applies for the web.

Sorta.

One thing that I really should point out is that searches for these people aren't necessarily huge to begin with. So it's easy to throw off the Buzz Meter from that standpoint. Still, trying not to be a cynical ass, it's cool to see this kind of stuff in action.

[The Buzz Log] 

In a scathing article, Rolling Stone writer Rob Sheffield pulls no punches in his review of Howard Stern's new show on Sirius. The title and tagline of the article says it all: Howard's End - Stern's show puts the "um" in "tedium" - OUCH! The thought behind the whole article is that now that Howard has no enemies - no censors, no FCC, no Clear Channel - he also has no substance anymore either.

"He sounds like he no longer has to deal with anybody who doesn't kiss his ass, and as a result he sounds like a bored, gloomy fifty-two-year-old man."

The most painful part to read was this: 

"Howard spends most of the mornings talking about how famous he is, how loyal his listeners are, how many millions of people are running out to buy Sirius radios, while his studio monkey-boys crowd around the mike to say, "Right on, Howard. You still the king." Fans call in to remind him he's still got it. [...] If you thought his sidekicks were useless suck-ups before, get a load of them now. Robin compares him to Martin Luther King Jr. Artie says the main reason he wishes his father were still alive is so he could hear him on The Howard Stern Show. "We're making history," he gushes. And this was the first seven days. By next month, Howard will only be able to keep himself awake ordering the staff to do tag-team ass-to-ass action."

What's your opinion on this? Has Stern lost his edge? Is it a little too early to go judging yet? Were expectations set too high from all the hype?Read the article and sound off here.

[Rolling Stone] 

A few days ago, Wired featured an editorial about Howard Stern and Podcasting (linkage: Real Stern Shocker: No Podcast). The thought was that Podcasting is the new radio revolution and Stern is pretty much an idiot for going to Satellite Radio instead. Big money contract notwithstanding, the author saw no reason why Stern wouldn't gravitate to the Podcast medium instead.

Well, a few Wired readers responded and it pretty much sums up exactly how I felt about it. There's definitely an enhanced experience from listening to something LIVE as opposed to the delayed experience that Podcasting provides. Podcasting is a wonderfully empowering medium - one that gives the people the ability to broadcast with a massive reach - much like blogging. It's citizen media. But questioning why Stern went to satrad as opposed to Podcasting? The point is moot in my opinion.

[Wired News: Rants and Raves]

Yesterday the New York Post frontpage (view) featured Howard Stern with the headline "MOUTH TRAP" in their classic sensationalistic style, followed by an article citing "a source" from Sirius that reported an internal standards-and-practices document that will "censor" the show. Howard retorted on his show, pretty much calling it ridiculous - and it is.

Of course, the media has grabbed this ball and is running as far as they can with it. But is it really such a big deal? Afterall, this IS a public corporation we're talking about here, and while there are no concerns about FCC regulation (which for some reason the media is trying to weave into the picture). Instead, the concern is LIABILITY. In a land where lawsuits abound, why wouldn't SIRIUS have a standards-and-practices guideline?

Afterall XM has its own guidelines in place, as Opie and Anthony know, and they have for a while. As a broadcasting media company, they need to have a set standard for which their on-air personalities should follow - but there is no "Dead Air Dave" sitting in a room somewhere waiting to dump out on the show.

Slander, defamation of character and a whole boatload of other possible liability cases are still a reality that these companies need to deal with. Is this a preemptive strike to prevent the FCC from regulating satellite radio? No. Is it a big old conspiracy created by Clear Channel to go after Howard? C'mon. It's just corporations covering their asses - that's all.

[CURSES FOILED AGAIN FOR STERN: NY Post]
[HOWARD COMES TO HIS CENSORS: NY Post]

Thanks Cranky! 

On January 9th, when Howard returned to radio on SIRIUS - 300,000 people called in to talk to him. Crazyness.

"The number of callers was insane," said Telos Telephony Product Manager Rolf Taylor, who added, "That's like having the entire population of Tampa trying to get through!"

[Radio Ink] 

The New York Sun has a very in-depth article on Howard's new 'defiant fist' symbol. Created by Havas' Euro RSCG (which coincidently is not the same ad agency used by the rest of SIRIUS - Doner handles their business) - the fist symbol is meant to convey a revolutionary attitude.

"It's really simple. It's a symbol of being a revolutionary and being a pioneer in radio," Sirius spokesman, Patrick Reilly, said.

Some people don't necessarily agree with that point though. Such as NY City Council member and former Black Panther member Charles Barron, stating, "he'll do anything to get attention." Adding "using a symbol like that is electoral exploitation in his attempt to appeal to the black community."

...I wouldn't go that far, but I have to agree with the statement made at the end of the article by designer and professor at Pratt Institute, Barry Berger, that the "universality" of the fist removes much of its power and significance. "I think because it is so universal and also so overused, it is not clear what individual message the sender means," he said.

What do you think about it? Thumbs up or thumbs down for the Defiant Fist?

[New York Sun] 

Ad Buyers are reporting that Sirius Satellite Radio is getting about 1/2 the rate they had originally asked for to advertise on Howard Stern's new show. Earlier reports were that Sirius was asking $20,000 for a live read on the show - compare that to the $27,000 for a live read on his old terrestrial radio show.

Still, this is the very beginning and the market can only grow from here. Let's see what kind of rate the show commands in 5 years.

[Media Buyer Planner] 

UPDATE: Mel Karmazin said at a recent Citigroup Media conference that he feels that Sirius is likely to exceed its advertising goal equaling 10% of overall revenue, but stopped short of "officially" forecasting such an outlook. 

Heineken has continued it's 11-year relationship with the Howard Stern Show by signing on as the first beer advertiser on his new show at SIRIUS Satellite Radio. The advertising agreement was reached over the weekend (last minute anyone?) and remain as the same frequency as their previous buys. Heineken Brand Director, Andy Glaser, even went as far as to say, "we are confident Howard will attract an even wider and larger audience on satellite radio in the months ahead." NICE!

[Press Release] 

With Howard's first day on satellite radio comes a whole new bag of crappy criticism from the jaded media. First of note was this article in USA Today (hat tip to Engadget) which gave a play-by-play of the morning's activities. Great publicity right? USA Today is major media and always great exposure for the industry. But, it doesn't take long for the tone of the article to turn negative. They actually had someone, an intern I'd hope, sit down and count every swear word said (172 in case you care). First they were celebrating the "King of All Media" and now they can't stand him.

And throughout the day I read whiny annoying little articles popping up all over the place. (sigh) Hypocrites? The media? naaahhhh..