No one can deny the enormous impact Howard Stern had on radio and the entire broadcast media industry. Before Howard, radio was populated by plastic announcers. He blew up the medium. The management of the stations where he worked literally didn't know what to do about him, but Howard drew listeners and they listened intently. If you ever saw the movie Private Parts, you understand the contrast between radio before and after Howard Stern.
In 1981 when he arrived in New York, the largest media market in the country, WNBC station management was completely beside itself. The premise of broadcast radio was to draw an audience and Howard drew audiences larger than they had ever seen before. He talked about subjects like lesbians and his penis. He passed gas and belched on air. He had naked women in studio all the time and he had a general disrespect for what was then traditional radio. The management at WNBC who had a very strict format, which included saying the station name in a characteristic manner, were appalled by his on air behavior, but Howard drew audiences like no one before him.
He made outrageous fun of the other on air personalities such as Don Imus and Soupy Sales, which was unheard of at the time. Howard made a mockery of the news, which NBC held sacrosanct. The management at WNBC tried everything they could to bring him under control, but what they saw as a lack of control, was exactly why he was so popular and Howard knew it.
Before Howard Stern, radio was tightly formatted with program directors who held on-air talent to strict parameters of behavior and style. It was phony and everyone knew it. Howard mocked everything and everyone in what was considered a tasteless manner but he had millions of listeners. Sound familiar?
Today over 30 years after he came to New York, his impact can be seen and heard everywhere from Sirrius XM radio to TV network sitcoms. Interestingly, today, as one of the panel on America's Got Talent, he presents himself as much more mellow personality.
Today Donald Trump is doing to the Republican party and national politics, as a whole, virtually the same thing. Politics in America at the presidential level has always been a patrician game. Statements like "The gentleman from (fill in the blank)...." were used to politely disagree with one's opponent, and everyone knew it was phony.
Sure over the last decade the general discourse has gotten more harsh with the advent of the Tea Party and the "over the top" disrespect which many in political life have shown Barack Obama, but nothing compares to The Donald. People love him because he says things they are already thinking, but no one in politics is willing to say. No mincing of words, no pseudo politeness, just bare knuckled comments. He has used words like "bitch" and even referenced the deadly "c" word from his podium. And his supporters love it.
Finally someone was saying what they were thinking. And just like Howard Stern 3 decades ago, the managers who want to control politics, like the station mangers who controlled radio, are at a loss. Donald Trump has brought more new voters to the booth than anyone since Barack Obama, but instead of a non-committal message like Hope and Change, The Donald unapologetically says things like, "We will kill their families." He even said that Megyn Kelly was probably on her menstrual cycle when she gave him a hard time in an early debate.
Do you know how many times in my business life I have heard other men suggest that a women who did or didn't do something must have been on her period. The Donald is tapping into the same zeitgeist that Howard tapped into on radio over 30 years ago.
The question is: Will Donald Trump mellow upon reaching his goal as Howard did when he finally made it to the pinnacle of television entertainment.
