Enjoy this week's cover story on the possible status of Philly radio post-Howard Stern.
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Sirius void
What happens to Philly morning radio when Howard gets Sirius in December?

By Ryan Alan and Joe Student
Philly EDGE

Yesterday, Philadelphia radio listeners got an earful of what life will be like after December 16.
Free 94.1 FM (WYSP) on-air personality, and self-proclaimed “King of All Media” Howard Stern was suspended for one day by his broadcasting network after promoting his January move to satellite radio on his current show, according to published reports from the Associated Press and MSNBC.
While Stern’s loyal Philly listeners, some of whom already have plans to follow the jock to Sirius Satellite Radio, were treated to a package of excerpts from past shows, those who are not planning on subscribing to the satellite service may have searched the dial for an alternative for the time after Stern airs his last broadcast on the Infinity network next month.
One voice they didn’t hear was former Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth, who is slated to take Stern’s place on Free FM and in New York, Boston and other eastern markets January 3. Roth seemingly hopes to use his popularity and place in pop culture to lure Stern fans and new listeners to Infinity.
"Most of the morning personalities that are current and popular are comedians and humor-driven. I'm not," Roth said to USA TODAY last week.
TV and radio personality Adam Carolla is scheduled to replace Stern in several major western markets.
Stern and Sirius, both of whom declined comment on this story, do not seem worried by the new competition. The New York Daily News reported last week that Sirius now expects to exceed three million subscribers by the end of 2005.
Philadelphia is a dynamic radio market, which has seen many significant changes in the past 12 months, including a format change at WYSP, which flipped to the Free FM talk radio format last month, another flip when alt-rock Y-100 changed to The Beat (100.3), a morning personality change at WRDW (Wired 96.5 FM) and Stern’s announcement of his Sirius commitment.
What’s happening in Philadelphia radio, in response to Stern’s decision to move to satellite in January, is more like a "sea change," Bill Weston, program director of WMMR says.
“Howard changed morning radio in Philly. He’s about to change it again with his departure," he adds. "A quarter of a million people listen to at least some of Howard’s show each week. Some will continue to listen via satellite…That (may) leave upward of 200,000 Philadelphia listeners looking for a new morning show. It’s a sea change."
He views his station’s Preston & Steve Show as an excellent alternative for displaced Howard fans.
"We will let Howard fans know, via marketing, that we have arms wide open, no judging, no disparaging comments on Howard, and we’ll just give them the message that WMMR’s Preston & Steve Show is live, local and free- and oft-times pretty friggin’ funny," he explains.
The program director says he already is seeing positive impact.
"We are already seeing increased spending on our morning show, due to ratings parity, and that’s with Howard still here on the air," he says.
The radio industry is watching the developments in the market, monitoring which listeners are following to satellite and which aren’t and changing its approach.
"It’s a time where radio reinvents and returns. Reinvents some parts of its business model,” Tom Taylor, editor of the trade magazine, Inside Radio says, “like cutting back on the overgrown amounts of commercial time that also plague TV and some other traditional media. And returns to its mission of being local… NOBODY else can duplicate the capabilities of local radio."
Likewise, Taylor indicates that perhaps satellite is not a true radio revolution.
"XM and Sirius know they've got a relatively short window to work with, before the Internet washes over their business model.…Cities like Philadelphia are charging ahead with cheap universal access to the entire Internet. Why pay $12.95 a month just for 120-130 proprietary audio streams when you can get the vast menu of the Internet?”
And, though he will not be censored as he has been at Infinity, Stern will still have to entertain the audience, one with many more alternatives than just his current Philly competition.
WMMR’s Weston, for one, feels Stern may be missing something when he goes to Sirius.
"There will be no bad guy at his new job. No FCC. No limitations. I think he will miss those elements in positioning his show. He loves railing against authority- his boss, his host radio station management, the FCC commissioners."