Stern

I've literally spent 17 years of my life listening to Howard Stern on my crappy clock radio (which may in fact also be 17 years old; it's at least 15, because I think it's the same one I took to college) morning after morning after morning. When tuning in to his last terrestrial radio broadcast this morning, I actually began to feel a little wistful, until I looked at myself in the mirror and thought "What the hell are you doing?"

Eventually I'll probably break down and get satellite radio, and I do believe that Sirius is the way to go. Several years ago, when I worked for a music show, I went to XM and Sirius, before either of them launched, to do a "compare and contrast" story. XM talked all about their corporate partnerships, Sirius talked all about their talent, and right then and there I knew which one I preferred. Plus, I made a little money on Sirius stock last year.

It is in a way discouraging that someone as harmless as Stern, juvenile but hardly a corrupting influence on youth, had to be chased off into a different medium. But he feels he's starting over, and I don't think it'll be long before he has the same audience numbers on satellite. Radio is decent here in Los Angeles thanks to a few independent stations, but the satellite product is unquestionably superior, just judging by the snippets I've heard at friend's houses. Cable was met with skepticism too back in the day ("who would want to pay for TV?").

But I will miss Howard, at least in the interim. Really for the honesty and the way everyone at the station became part of the show.