Reply #35: i was a huge fan until 2-3 years ago

[ucmike]

i think he has a genuine sense of whats funny, or at least a knack for identifying his potential audience and serving them what they want. in recent years i found him to be more and more self absorbed which turned me off. i also felt that his troubles with the fcc took a lot of his fire. it became impossible for him to do what he does best with the threat of fines hanging over his every word.

i also got very tired of hearing him take credit for anything entertaining. in just the last few months i heard him take credit for inventing acoustic music on the radio and reality tv, and i don't even listen to him anymore. i also thought he had very little concern for people who helped him get where he is, like billy west and jackie martling (hate jackie if you want, but he was a major influence on howards comedy when howard was skyrocketing).

the final straw for me was his dealings with opie&anthony. they were up and coming, working for viacom. they openly credited howard for his influence on their careers and credited him with pioneering the format. he took their very existence as an attack on him, and set out to destroy them. he went on the air day after day and attacked them as "stern clones" and "wannabees", he came across as insecure and uptight. as O&A got more audience, and clout within the company, they grew tired of the attacks and started talking about stern's behind the scenes persona. howard used his contacts with mel karmazin to silence O&A. they were forbidden to mention him on-air or in the press and risked losing their jobs if they mentioned him. once they were effectively silenced he went on the attack, ripping them at every opportunity, while holding himself up as the poster boy for first amendment rights.

i couldn't stand the hypocrisy of stern's anti-fcc crusade at a time when he was using his power to silence other radio personalities, especially a show that was on the same network as stern.

in the begining his appeal was largely that he came across as another working guy with family issues and bills to pay, he understood the working stiffs and gave them a break from their lives for a few hours everyday. as his audience grew he moved away from that to where he is now: a multi-millionaire, living in a nyc penthouse with a model girlfriend, and a $500 million contract, taking credit for anything that succeeds in the entertainment business, and using his power to silence anyone he sees as a threat.