File this under, "Didum's get his feelings hurrrt! Awwww..." Because Howard Stern unleashed his best attack from the world of Satellite radio's isolated bully-pulpit with an attack on Jay Leno today.
Here is my take. I've had my run in with adversaries in my day and one thing I've always known is that the fox coming up the hill is hungrier than the one atop it. While that may be true, I don't think Howard Stern and Jay Leno are foxes fighting over the same hill. Yet Stern is playing his same game he played for years. Making foolish noise.
Take for instance the fool on the football field that is on the losingest team in the league and he gets a sack on the other team's quarterback. What does he do? We've all seen it. He jumps up and starts pounding his chest as if he were the best player in the league and his team just won the Superbowl. Everyone knows he is a jack-ass but himself.
Well, that is what Howard Stern is doing. Again. For years he has called out other media hosts, trying to destroy their programs using the old Microsoft business strategy to assimilate all listeners. Take away other shows and you have no competition. Now he is of all things, focusing his hate on Jay Leno. And why? Not because Jay's and Howard are fighting for the same audience. No, it's all because Jay made an innocuous statement about the diminished reality Stern lives in now; which is that Stern moved to Satellite radio for autonomy and does not have the power and influence he once had.
In Jay's own words, "I kind of watched Howard Stern," Leno reflected in detail. "On radio, Howard to me was a populist. The truck driver, the average guy would listen in the cafe, the truck, the old car that’s 50 years old and still has an AM radio. Then he went to Sirius and obviously it was a lot of money. But I don’t hear him quoted anymore. People don’t say: 'Hey, did you hear what Howard said today?' And I’m sure he's still doing what he always does. But to me that seemed a mistake." Howard can no longer manufacture controversy either. In taking the big money in his move to satellite, he lost his ability to be controversial. No one is listening to Howard Stern now other than to be entertained, and Howard does not entertain. He rides controversy.
Although Stern thinks he has influence, actually he is very isolated and unable to influence any listeners other than the ones he previously influenced to come with him to satellite. Even with the XM-Sirius merger Stern did not benefit as anyone on XM that wanted to listen to Stern would have to pay an additional $4.00 to listen to him.
To combat Stern's hurt feelings by Leno, Howard put forth the argument is that Jay has fewer viewers while he has more. Do you buy this? With the satellite radio crowd Stern has the audacity to assume every subscriber on the network is tuned into his show, while Leno's numbers are actual viewers. Busted pal.
Even Howard's own company heads have sided with Jay Leno on this topic. Mell Karmazin, Chief Executive of Sirius answered when asked if he thought Stern has lost his place in the culture, saying:
“I think the size of the audience is less today."Even more perplexing is Howard's own words:
"I left terrestrial radio and I couldn't be happier. I didn't have any delusions that when I'd go on satellite radio I'd have as many listeners that I had on terrestrial radio." So why the pissing contest with Jay then Howard? The answer seems clear. Howard is struggling. He's not only irrelevant, he knows and feels it.
Hey Howard, I have news for you. You had 12 million listeners on free radio. According to annalists your satellite listenership tops out at 2.5 million while Leno's audience averages 4.5 million (not to mention at 1.3 rating considering his time slot).
Also consider that free radio has over 25 million listeners. Satellite has less than half that number, and they sure as hell don't have their radios turned on at the same time listening to Howard Stern.
To top it all off. Stern is still offering the same old shtick on Satellite he peddled on free radio. He has not evolved or honed his craft. I'm not big fan of Leno, but I've seen all along that Jay has more than just wit, he has wisdom. And the last I heard, NBC is moving him to a coveted 10:00 PM time slot. Jay Leno works with people, where Stern fights with his own staff. This guy is so worn out. With the economy in the tank Stern is doing what it can to retain subscribers on the satellite network. This is just Stern at his usual game, making noise, "Look at me, Look at me! Look at me!"
Hey Howard, you are on the losing team and you got your one sack. Enjoy it. When your contract with Satellite is up in 2010, then you can return to free radio and people will take your fighting words more serious. You can attack Jay Leno and people will listen. Then again, maybe everyone is just plain done with your shtick.
As if switching from The Tonight Show to primetime and back wasn't enough of hassle for Jay Leno, he may also be losing his trusty band leader, Kevin Eubanks. There have been reports claiming that Eubanks may not be staying with Leno for much longer. Some sources say that he will be returning with Leno to the Tonight Show spot after the Olympics, others say he will return but not for long, and still others claim he will not move back to the Tonight Show at all.
