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Playing it by ear: Howard Stern's Sirius debut
After weeks of test sounds and months of anticipation, a synthetic heartbeat pounded. "Join the revolution" scrolled across the screen followed by 1-888-9-A**HOLE. Farting sounds to the theme from 2001: Space Odyssey played for more than a minute.
Howard Stern's Sirius radio show had hit the satellite airwaves.
After dealing with about 20 minutes of technical glitches that forced him to play music for the first time in years, Stern hit his stride touching on topics from his purported marriage to the war in Iraq.
Though technically uncensored, Stern used little profanity. However, he didn't shy away from X-rated material peppered with bad language, and his staffers frequently cursed. From 6-10 a.m., approximately 172 swear words were counted.
Here's a look at the top news from Monday's opening show:
•After much build-up in the press and on the show, Stern first announced that he had married longtime girlfriend Beth Ostrosky over the holidays. Just five minutes later, he recanted: "No I am not married ... I wanted to see the reaction around the room." He continued: "Beth and I are on a roll. I am in love. She appears to be in love. It's a nice feeling that we get along great. We don't feel that if we got married it would enhance the experience anymore. We don't want to f—- it up."
• Stern paid off the bit he wanted to do before leave Infinity Broadcasting last month (but was denied from doing by management) by introducing the segment called "Revelations," where the staff anonymously reveals deep secrets and listeners and staff try to pair revelations with their confessor. The payoffs come in shows ahead.
•Star Trek star George Takei, a long-time frequent guest for Stern, was announced as the new show announcer.
• Stern attempted to contact David Lee Roth, his replacement on CBS Radio (formerly Infinity), to offer advice...but couldn't get through.
• Stern hosted a 90-minute-plus press conference featuring national and local press.
full USA Today recap story
posted by Unknown @ Monday, January 09, 2006,
