Well, it's officially over. Howard Stern has left the "terrestrial airwaves" for good. I am deeply saddened by this, as I have been listening to the show most of my life ever since the show came to Philadelphia in 1986, and I got to personally witness the funeral for Philly "zookeeper" John DeBella. Even though I admit the show has been lacking since the departures of Billy West and, later, Jackie Martling, I will miss having the option to tune in to the show for free (I'm sure I'll get around to ordering Sirius one of these days). Just the fact that Howard has more or less been forced off the air illustrates what a bad direction in which this country is heading. During his farewell speech, Howard stuck it good to Clear Channel, saying how much their ratings suffered after canceling his show, how they no longer employ live deejays and how they've essentially killed radio by making it. It was wonderful to hear, but on one hand, I can't help but thinking that Clear Channel has won on some level. Sure, their ratings will never be as spectacular as they were with Stern on their airwaves, but now with Howard gone, they'll have even less competition, and no one left to challenge them. On the other hand, I'm glad that Howard, instead of letting his show become progressively more stifled by FCC fines and corporate censorship, is moving his show to an FCC-free zone where the show can hopefully regain some of the energy it has lost in recent years. Also, my biggest pet peeve with the show has ALWAYS been the torturous amount of commercial time that listeners have had to sit through. I'm very glad to hear that Howard feels the same way. Hopefully this is not merely the end of an era, but a better one beginning. We'll see.
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