Not with a roar but with a whimper. (from 12/30)

Today was an eventful day of sorts. It was the last Howard Stern show broadcast on K-ROCK. After all the years of entertainment, Stern escaped to the haven of pay radio. The last moments of his show were taken up by a loud shouting match between Hank, the angry, drunken dwarf and BeetleJuice.

I’m not one of those people that will follow Stern to the world of satellite radio, I actually don’t think it’s worth the money.

It’s not that I don’t love radio - I really do. Between some things broadcast on NPR and other shows broadcast on regular radio - I have a great love for the medium. This American Life is a huge favorite of mine, I catch Prarie Home Companion when I remember to, Car Talk, Morning Edition, All Things Considered, The Pet Show with Dr. Warren Eckstein, the Joey Reynolds show, Dr. Joy Brown, Mike and the Mad Dog, Bob Grant, Paul Harvey well, you get the idea. Those shows are just the ones still being broadcast! I can go back into the vaults and pull out a great number of radio shows I miss that are no longer on the air - even some stations that have undergone format changes (WCBS FM being the latest loss).

Radio is great because it can provide you with a background and distraction in a way TV never can - TV being a visual medium demands all of your attention, radio is somewhat less demanding in that regard. You can still work, or just putter around and get things done while radio provides you with a soundtrack to your day.

So, while I’ll miss Stern, I won’t be following him.

Stern was part of what I considered to be one of the best station eras in history. WNBC AM in the 80’s had IMUS on from 6-10 am, then the Soupy Sales show from 10 to 2 followed by Stern. I always thought Stern was a better listen in the afternoon than in the morning, you could catch the whole show and somehow the edginess of his show was better placed in the afternoon.

When NBC fired him unceremoniously during a hurricane of all things, I was very disappointed. The Boy Gary and Fred show that followed for a few weeks after Stern left NBC was a dismal failure (although you rarely hear mention of the ill-fated show today) and was a brief comma in the airwaves until Joey Reynolds took over the timeslot before NBC ultimately went out of business and sold it’s spot on the dial to SportsRadio 1050 WFAN.

Yeah, that was a long, long time ago.

Through the years, I would listen to Stern and then sometimes I would find myself going months without listening to the show having had my fill of all the vitriol and bile which seems part and parcel of his world. Choosing to start my days in a queiter and less angry fashion, I would just wander down the dial for a brief time. I just needed a break from all the rawness Stern brings to the table.

Well, he‘s gone for now - even though there was an incredible media barrage in conjunction with his departure. I’ll miss him but I have to say, as much as I liked listening to him, Howard was never as good as his own press.