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King of All Media Renounces Own Throne

Outrageous, content, off the wall rants, guests pushing the weird envelope... The 'secrets' behind the "King of All Media", Howard Stern's regency, are multitudinous. Above all else though, the unstructured and unpredictable format kept ratings sky high. Total fans towered above the competition, reaching towards the far side of six-figures. What kept them tuning in? Simple curiosity: What's Howie going to do next? He's always fighting the people who'd hound him off the air. Who's he going to rant off on today? Who will he offend? We wanted to see Stern push envelope and push he did. He fought the good fight and for once the public saw the good guy holding his own. For awhile, it even appeared as if he'd win. Fans loved it. The show earned skyscraper ratings. Advertisers flocked to stations across the nation.

All of a sudden, however, he gave up the whole game. He lost. On purpose. Even gave up on his fans.

Now the King of all Media, ousted from his throne, sits in voluntary exile somewhere off in the satellite spectrum. The show was popular because it transgressed norms, pushed the limits of decency, offended many. Many listeners just wanted to keep up on the FCC battles. What transgression can he get away with next? Who'll try to hound him off the air this time? These questions will remain forever unanswered.

Because Howie has gone home, to a new one, albeit, but home nevertheless, and with his tail between his legs. There are no rules to break here, no limits to push. He can do anything he wants. Nothing to fight the good fight for. No norms to transgress. How many free form exercises in colorful cursing will it take to bore his new fans? How many midgets, lesbians, sexual transgressors can he feature, before they too become old hat?

I predict a slow, steady, increasingly boring decline into obscurity for the once glorious "King of All Media".

Learn more about this author, Dexie Runns Long.
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