Rock 105.3 Letter To Listeners (Feb 29, 2004)

Yes, this is a mass response to all of the emails that I have received in regards to the suspension of his show from Rock 105.3. Hopefully I will be able to address all your questions and shed some light on the situation. If you have ANY questions after you read this response, please feel free to write me back and I promise to respond to all e-mails that I receive.

As many of you know, since the incident that occurred during half time at the Super Bowl, the FCC has become vigilant in cracking down on what they view as indecency on the airwaves and has recently begun interpreting various rules related to "indecency" in a new manner. Howard has addressed this several times since he returned from vacation on Monday. Additionally, you have heard him talk about Infinity, his company's policy, on zero tolerance for what they determine to be indecent content as well. This week, Clear Channel Communications issued a company wide "Responsible Broadcasting Initiative". These initiatives were put in place to save our stations from receiving FCC fines and from the possibility of having our licenses revoked. It would not do you or Howard any good if we no longer had the license to broadcast on Rock 105.3...What we are trying to see is if the company that Howard works for is taking the steps to protect our license for all of our sakes... When it comes to our business we have to answer to a Government Agency who believes that it is their mission is to protect the public...all the public... Whether you and I agree with that, at this time these are the rules that our business has to live with. We are not like other businesses, in that we don't own the airwaves, we just have the right to use this frequency. Yesterday afternoon our General Manager, Mike Glickenhaus, spoke to Don Buchwald who has been Howard's agent for many years and they talked about this specifically. He understands our decision and we all hope it is a very temporary issue. We know Howard will not be happy about this but unfortunately every radio air talent in America is operating under some different conditions at this time. We are definitely trying to deal with this issue in a positive manner and see if we can come to a resolution.

Additionally, as a Howard Stern fan I encourage you to write the appropriate parties, and let them know how you feel about the guidelines that have been laid out and their new interpretations on indecency.

I appreciate you taking the time to write me and I appreciate you taking the time to read this. Trust me when I say everyone here at Rock 105.3 is a Howard Stern fan, and want this issue resolved as soon as possible.

Shauna Moran
Program Director
ROCK 105.3