Clear Channel Pulls Howard Stern Permanently (April 9, 2004)

Clear Channel Pulls Howard Stern Show Permanently
Company says latest FCC action imposes a risk `we're just not willing to take'

San Antonio, TX (April 8, 2004) - In the wake of a large FCC fine for its broadcast of the Howard Stern show, the company has decided to permanently terminate its relationship with the shock jock.

"Mr. Stern's show has created a great liability for us and other broadcasters who air it," said John Hogan, president and CEO of Clear Channel Radio. "The Congress and the FCC are even beginning to look at revoking station licenses. That's a risk we're just not willing to take," said Hogan.

In Februrary, Clear Channel suspended the show in the six markets that previously aired it. At that time, the company asked for assurances from the show's syndicator that steps would be taken to bring the program into compliance with FCC regulations.

Hogan said that no such assurances were ever given.

"We had hoped to return Mr. Stern's show to the air free from indecent content," Hogan said. "Unfortunately, the FCC's latest action, combined with deafening silence from the Stern show on their future plans to comply with the law, leave us no choice but to abandon the program for good."

Earlier this year, Clear Channel announced its "Responsible Broadcasting Initiative," which instituted a zero tolerance policy for indecent content that includes training of broadcast station employees and strict disciplinary action for anyone that violates federal law or FCC regulations on the air.

In a statement posted on his Web site, Stern said he was not surprised by the fine. He characterized it as furtherance of a "witch hunt" against him by the Bush administration.

"It is pretty shocking that governmental interference into our rights and free speech takes place in the U.S.," he said. "It's hard to reconcile this with the 'land of the free' and the 'home of the brave.'"

Federal law bars radio stations and over-the-air television channels from airing references to sexual and excretory functions between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., when children may be tuning in. The rules do not apply to cable and satellite channels or satellite radio.

The FCC imposed the maximum fine of $27,500 for each of 18 violations on six Clear Channel stations: WBGG in Fort Lauderdale; WTKS-FM in Cocoa Beach, Fla.; WTFX-FM in Louisville, Ky.; KIOZ in San Diego; WNVE in Honeoye Falls, N.Y.; and WSDS-FM in Pittsburgh.

The FCC fined each station for two specific incidents during a single program, the first time the commission has done so. Previously, the FCC levied fines for an entire program, no matter how many different indecent utterances occurred.

Stern has charged on the air that he's being punished for his criticism of President Bush. Clear Channel's political action committee and its employees have given $265,800 to Republicans for the 2004 election, more than any other broadcaster, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research group.

"You've got to vote Bush out to send a message as a Howard Stern fan," Stern said during one recent broadcast. "There's a cultural war going on. The religious right is winning. We're losing."

Related Story: FCC Could Fine Clear Channel For Stern Indecency

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission could fine radio station company Clear Channel Communications as much as $495,000 for indecency by radio personality Howard Stern, the Wall Street Journal said on Thursday.

The fine will be for a Stern radio show that spawned a listener complaint and was aired on Clear Channel stations last year, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Howard Stern the shock jock is known for his raunchy radio and television show and has been fined for indecency on the radio before.

Stern is employed by Viacom Inc.'s Infinity Broadcasting unit which syndicates the Howard Stern radio show, but Clear Channel, as well as any other radio stations owned by Infinity and other broadcasters, would be fined since they all aired the show involved.

Clear Channel dropped Stern's show from six stations after a racist remark from a listener was aired in February.

Mike Glickenhaus Addresses the KIOZ Listeners (April 9, 2004)

Some excerpts transcribed:

"Long time listener, not-so first time caller," he greets the two deejays, Missy and B.C. in the afternoon.

Glickenhaus expains the $495.000 of indecency fines that its parent Clear Channel has amassed in the past few months.

Mike says that "we're Howard Stern fans, I first made the decision nine years ago to bring Howard to San Diego...first had him on 91X...and a couple of years later, moved him to Rock."

B.C. interrupts: "This isn't about freedom of speech and the First Amendment, this is about the FCC and their ability to pull your license at any time." Mike answers that "we are totally against censorship...they are now enforcing certain rules differently than they had in the past...we had never received fines on Rock 105 for Howard Stern broadcasts. Now all of a sudden, Rock 105's portion is over $800,000 (holy shit!) because the FCC has decided to have different enforcement of the rules that have already existed. Nothing has changed about the rules, but they have decided to enforce them differently."

Mike also continues: "the rules that are before Congress right now are talking about $500,000 fine per incident, not to exceed $3,000,000 in any 24 hour period... What's even the most scary for us and for all broadcasters is that they are also proposing the right to revoke our license after three fines! That's probably the scariest of all. We don't know if this counts as the first strike or the first fine or is it going to go only in the future? Basically, we had to decide how to do business under this threat, and we made this decision that we can no longer carry the Howard Stern show, that we have to part company with Howard because we can't be given by his company any assurances that they will be able to get Howard through an editing process to deliver a show that keeps us from losing our license or racking up millions of dollars."

B.C. says "Infinity has got to be looking at this through the same goggles too, are they not?"

Mike says "A couple of weeks ago, the FCC fined a station in Detroit that carries the exact Howard Stern show, but didn't fine anybody else for that same show. Not that I'm waving at us for the FCC to fine us for that show also, but it's very inconsistent and very nebolous rules, and so, but Infinity is the originator of the show, and by contract, we don't have the right to edit his show and any way. The only people that can really do that is for Howard to do the editing himself or the people that eminate the show from out of New York.... We're really helpless, we really can't do anything about the content, yet we're racking up the fines. We're fans also, belive us. We hoped to come to an agreement and to get Stern back on Rock 105.3, the sales, airstaff, programming, myself, everybody wants that to happen, but we couldn't do that without getting some assurances, and we didn't get any, so our committment to going forward is to find...the next best morning show playing rock music and to put on great entertaining radio in the morning. It's been great hearing some of the songs a little bit more... the last five or six weeks, we've been letting the music do the talking...that's our commitment (to San Diego) going forward. We don't know who it's going to be yet. Rock 105.3 was a great radio station before Howard Stern, and it will be a great radio station after Howard Stern."

B.C., "Thank you for sharing your thoughts."

For questions, go to rock1053.com and e-mail Shauna and others on the feedback form. She's answering the e-mail as best as she can.

Mike continues, "Listeners, if you don't like what's going on, the people that is putting us in this position are our elected officials. They're the ones making the decisions and making these calls. The FCC commissioners are appointed by Congress and by the President. If you don't like what is going on, write your Senator and Congressmen, talk to your elected officials and let them know how you feel...that's exactly what we're doing, and that's the way to make some changes in going forward."