Howard Stern
began his new satellite radio show on Monday by putting to
rest rumors that he gotten married to his longtime
girlfriend, model Beth Ostrosky--in a comment
complete with a federally banned expletive. "I am not
married. It's a nice feeling that we get along great. We're
very happy, and I don't want to fuck it up," said
Stern, who is finally free of government decency laws
on Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.
Stern also introduced George Takei as his new
on-air personality. Takei, who played Sulu on Star
Trek and who last year publicly came out as gay,
will serve as announcer. After the first week he will
record segments for the show but will not be in the studio.
"The revolution has begun" in radio, Takei said Monday.
Stern has promised such features as stripper
poles and live sex on his new show. At the time his
October 2004 deal with Sirius was announced, the
company said it could be worth up to $500 million over five
years to headline two Sirius channels. Even before his
first day on the job, the shock jock recruited
listeners for the $13-per-month service: Its audience
expanded from 600,000 to 2.2 million subscribers after Stern
announced his switch last year.
That's hardly a surprise. Stern's wildly popular
syndicated show proved a cash cow for Infinity
Broadcasting, now the CBS Radio unit of CBS Corp.,
raking in about $100 million in annual advertising revenues
and capturing 12 million listeners with raunchy,
boundary-pushing programming.
Stern had frequently tested and sparred with the
regulatory Federal Communications Commission during
his 25-year run on the public airwaves, often having
his morning show interrupted by censors. (AP)
