Howard Stern booted off air
Clear Channel Radio suspends host to protect listeners from indecency
Howard Stern, the self-proclaimed "King of All Media," won't be heard by much of his audience now that Clear Channel Communications has deemed his show too indecent for broadcast.
The company made its decision after assessing the content of yesterday's Howard Stern Show.
"It was vulgar, offensive, and insulting, not just to women and African-Americans but to anyone with a sense of common decency," said John Hogan, president and CEO of Clear Channel Radio. "We will not air Howard Stern on Clear Channel stations until we are assured that his show will conform to acceptable standards of responsible broadcasting."
Clear Channel has some 1,200 radio stations in the U.S., though it's unclear how many of those broadcast Stern's program.
The show itself is syndicated by a unit of Viacom, which also owns CBS Television. Both CBS and Viacom recently have come under fire after singer Janet Jackson bared her breast during the halftime show of this year's Super Bowl broadcast.
Earlier today, Clear Channel announced what it calls a "Responsible Broadcasting Initiative" to make sure the material aired by its radio stations conforms to the standards and sensibilities of the local communities they serve.
The company is instituting a zero-tolerance policy for indecent content which will include companywide training and automatic suspensions for anyone that the FCC alleges has violated indecency rules on the air.
"We will suspend the DJ in question, and perform a swift investigation," said Mark Mays, president and COO of Clear Channel Communications. "If we or the government ultimately determine the offending broadcast is indecent, the DJ will be terminated without delay."
"If a DJ is found to be in violation of FCC rules, there will be no appeals and no intermediate steps," added Hogan. "If they break the law by broadcasting indecent material, they will not work for Clear Channel."
The San Antonio-based company also says all of its contracts with on-air performers are being modified to ensure that DJs share financial responsibility if they utter indecent material on the air.
Just yesterday, Clear Channel ousted another shock jock from its airwaves.
Bubba the Love Sponge was squeezed from his position at a Tampa, Fla., station for allowing indecent material on the air.
Bubba, whose real name is Todd Clem, was the source of a proposed $755,000 fine against Clear Channel for more than two dozen claims of breaches of indecency laws over the last three years.
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