Stern shocks for free for final time today

He launched his shock jock act at a Hartford radio station in the 1970s. Today, after two decades in national syndication, more than $1 million in fines and countless bits involving strippers and passing gas, the free ride ends for Howard Stern.

The self-proclaimed "King of All Media" will do his last show from WXRK-FM (K-Rock, 92.3 FM) in New York City today from 6 to 10 a.m. The finale will get full interactive treatment on The band Staind will perform on 56th Street in Manhattan, outside the K-Rock studios. Later,
Sheryl Crow will give a concert at noon at the Times Square Hard Rock Café.

On Jan. 9, Stern, 51, moves to Sirius satellite radio. Fans in the Danbury area and elsewhere will have to pay $13 a month to hear him.

Those who like Stern and those who loathe him are equally curious about the move. Will Stern fade into oblivion if fans are unwilling to pay for something they have been getting for free? Or will he revolutionize broadcasting and put satellite radio firmly in the national consciousness?

Sirius is betting on the latter. It's paying Stern $500 million for five years not only to produce his show, but to do others. Among the programs already in the works: "Tissue Time with Heidi Cortez ," a nighttime phone-sex show, and "Crack Whore View," in which drug-addicted prostitutes will tackle the same topics discussed that day on the daytime talk show "The View."

Last month, Stern also launched a video-on-demand cable TV channel where viewers are able to watch uncensored highlights from his old E! Entertainment Television program. In March, Stern's new satellite programs will also be available there.

This month, Rene Rodriguez of Knight-Ridder Newspapers talked to Stern about his past and future:

Q: Your radio show has always been synonymous with fart jokes and sex, but I've always thought that's an unfair reduction of what you do.

A: I agree with you. I don't think my career would have lasted this long if it was just about the risqué stuff. What the secret to this show is, in my humble opinion, is that we're flashing to the audience all the time. By that I mean that we open ourselves up about everything. That's been the problem for the last - I don't know, since 1987. The FCC started censoring us and the radio stations all got scared. Instead of fighting the FCC, they started fighting with me. They started hitting the edit button, telling me great topics I can't hit.

Q: Considering the way our culture has coarsened over the past 20 years, you would think that it would be easier, not harder, to get that stuff on the radio today.

A: You would think that. But it went the opposite way. I was so successful at opening up the airwaves - our show was the first reality show. I'd talk about my sex life. I'd talk about what was bothering me. I'd wish death on people. People were so shocked by that. You ever wish death on someone? We all have! We've all wished death on Osama bin Laden ! We've all gone through those emotions. I'm just willing to go on the air and show the ugly parts.

Q: "60 Minutes" promoted their segment on you last week as a big revelation that you have an emotional side. But there wasn't anything in that interview that you hadn't already discussed before.

A: The people at "60 Minutes" don't listen to my show. Ed Bradley - he didn't really know me. They had read that I'm some kind of animal that has nothing on his mind but sex, so of course they're shocked that I have a life and that I talk about things in an intelligent way. But my audience knows the human side of me. They know all sides of me. And that's why they like the show and that's why the show has lasted so long.

Q: The big question now is whether they are willing to pay money to keep listening.

A: Here's my argument about all of that: It's amazing to me that someone will go to the store and buy a CD for $20, or a DVD that they will view once, and then people question whether they would pay for radio. What if the radio had no commercials on the music side? Every kind of music you could imagine. You've got Howard Stern channels, Martha Stewart channels, sports up the yin-yang, right wing, left wing - all of this content, for 12 bucks a month? It is the best entertainment value out there.

Q: Yeah, but ...

A: Would people pay for bottled water? Would people pay for television? We all said no. I'm telling you, there isn't a person in my audience that will be sorry if they buy this service. And what a unique position for me. I've got resources now I've never had before. I can't imagine what I'm going to do with all of it. I mean, I've got some ideas. (laughs)

Q: Do you know what you're going to be doing on your last show on regular radio Friday? That has to be bittersweet for you. You're not leaving on the greatest of terms.

A: It's not that it's great terms. It's just a divorce that's been going on for a year, and everyone's kinda sad. But the last show is going to be a tribute to the fans. I have to move, so I'm going to carry all my stuff out on the street - the Robo Spanker, the Tickle Chair - and when I come outside, we're going to present everyone who's been great for this show, make speeches and invite all the fans to come down. It's going to be like New Year's Eve at Times Square! And hopefully we'll be able to walk over to Sirius and maybe throw a big party, a big lunch or some kind of concert or something. I'd like to be able to pull that off.