If you are looking for the funniest, most appealing listening experience in the morning, start with Opie and Anthony.
Since Howard Stern debuted on Sirius Satellite Radio, the debate has raged on and on about the state of “morning radio”. Arguments like, “who’s better – Opie & Anthony or Howard Stern” or “Commercial Radio vs. Satellite Radio” have become the raging debate amongst the millions of fans who now have to make decisions about their morning radio listening after over 20 years of the stability of Stern in their market. After giving it a month to heat up, sink in and find a comfort zone, it’s now time to look at the key players and what they are doing.…
Article comments
126 - Professor Anthony
repeating what you just said four hours earlier isn't going to make your point any more valid- even if you write it a little differently the second time around.
127 - Jim E. Norton
Stern has his moments.......He is a great interviewer and is funny at times
O&A are funny almost all the time, and have a more interavtive show with their fans.
O&A PARTY ROCK! Grrrrrrrrr
128 - Smells like teen spirit
I got sirius. I love Farell... oh wait
129 - Rick
Too bad Stern wasn't still hungry and interested in radio.
130 - nymarty
back in the day i listened to howard in the morning and o&a in the afternoons. they were both doing great radio -- but o&a just had something more. then they were off the air for a couple of years and i kept listening to howard in the mornings. the truth is -- howard's just getting old. i admit -- even opie and anthony admit -- that howard was the man back in the day. the billy west / jackie martling years were amazing.
but NOW, come on? can anyone say that howard's show is even still relevant? opie and anthony do a real show. it's real people, comedians, stories, etc. with a totally whacked out viewpoint. and it's genuinely funny every day. you just can't say that about howard anymore.
131 - Rosco
I used to love Stern...he got me through a very boring commute while i was in college...but somewhere along the line he started bitching and stopped being funny. It seened to be around the same time that Jackie Martling left the show.
Opie and Anthony have never been anything but funny as heel to me. It was a sad day when they were booted off radio for the Sex with Sam bit...it was a wonderful day when my wife gave me XM last year.
Enough of this Palabor!
132 - BigC
Hey Just for anyone reading this thread for the 1st time. XM is also coming out with a Video service so. So go take your sirus and flush it down the tolet. HOO HOO sucks and you all know it
133 - Vomitbag
Great article. Well put.
Stern's show is stale. Opie & Anthony bring the funny every day. Never a bad show. I'm one of those hardcore fans who doesn't miss a minute.
If they did steal anything from Stern, it's this:
Remember the scene in Private Parts, where they were talking about how long people listen to Stern because "I want to see what he's going to say next."?
Well...we all know what he's going to say next:
He'll talk about himself for a few hours, claiming how he invented radio. Robin will add NOTHING, they play a lot of gay porn noises (the same ones over and over and over), interns waxing their assholes, crack whores, boob jobs, more about how great Howard is, more gay stuff, Robin still adding NOTHING and just agreeing with him, bitching about management and the FCC, porn stars with boring stories, strippers with even more boring stories, more talk about how great Howard is, and Artie and Robin agreeing with him. And Fred usually says nothing.
I have just summed up a year's worth of shows in one paragraph.
I couldn't even begin to list all the fun stuff I heard on Opie & Anthony in the past year. There's just too much. Finally, real talk radio. I want to hear what they are going to say next.
I listened to both shows back to back for months until I couldn't take listening to Stern anymore...and I used to be a huge Stern fan.
Now I just see him as a tired old fool who peaked a long time ago.
I am an XM subscriber, and will remain that as long as Opie & Anthony and Ron & Fez are on there. I was thinking of getting a Sirius, but the talent and technology just isn't there. I tried to listen to Howard's 'new' show and to that idiot Bubba the Cum Sponge and decided XM was enough. I don't listen to regular radio anymore (never listen much to it anyway...a lot of crappy hacks where I live)
I hope I convinced at least one person to not risk a hernia and put down that Sirius unit, and get a sleek, small XM unit when they are at the store. In fact, try out XM online and listen to Opie & Anthony for a few hours, you'll catch the Virus.
Then try out Sirius online and listen to Howard...oh wait, you can't hear him online.
134 - MyTitsMyVagina
I think what really ruined Howard is the E show, he is pretty good on TV but he's just too old and slow for Radio. Now he comes off like a grumpy old tool.
135 - 'lil Jimmy
Enough of this drivel , visit my site
136 - Frederica Bimmel
I like the two fellas , O&A, they are quite clever
137 - Baby Evil
Very well put and a very well written article.
I listened to Howard on DC 101 and K-Rock in NYC, and I loved the show. Howard had a fresh show, but around 1995 Howard lost passion, and started to go through the motions. By 1998 I went from being a casual listener to a non-listener.
I purchased my XM at the end of 2001, and listened to Bubba the Love Sponge. A person by his own admission like Opie and Anthony, and hated Howard Stern. When Opie and Anthony announced that they were coming to XM, I immediately ordered the service (when I called in to get the service, since O&A were on the premium channel then, the lady was unsure of what I was talking about until she found it in her computer). Since Opie and Anthony have started on XM 202 they have rendered the rest of my XM subscription worthless since I listen to them all of the time (except when the outstanding Ron and Fez show is on).
Howard says his is the innovator, but how can that be? That is like James Naismith saying that Michael Jordan is ripping him off whenever Michael dunked a basketball. Stern may be the pioneer of the modern "shock jock" format, but Opie and Anthony are the innovators of the provocative talk that we have all come to love. Opie and Anthony do this with original bits, talking like real people do, and the fact that they understand that they do not have to be the focal point of everything.
Opie and Anthony focus on their friends. People like Jim Norton (Permanent third mic), Bill Burr, Patrice Oneal, Rich Vos, Bonnie McFarland, Robert Kelly, Stephen Lynch, Colin Quinn, Dane Cook, Denis Leary, and Adam Ferrara have been on the show on multiple occasions and were given free reign on the program while the hosts faded into the background so that these friends could shine. Howard could never do this because it would be a challenge to his ego, whereas Opie and Anthony are as excited by the successes of their comrades.
Again this is a great article. This is a very honest look at the state of radio, and its only reasonable choice.
138 - YOUR MOM'S BOX
I refuse to listen to a 50 PLUS guy who says dude and thinks he's with it. Your done Stern away with you hoo hoo. FAGGITT.
139 - ex-sternlistener
I have listened to Howard for years. I didn't realize just how lame he had gotten until recently. Howard has been talking a lot about Opie and Anthony on XM. I hadn't heard of them before, but the way Howard was talking about them every day, it really sounded like they got under his skin. They sounded like the old Howard taking on other shows. The way Howard was babbling, just sounded purly foolish.
I checking out their show on-line tonight and I must say that this show is great! I am hooked. I'm dropping my Sirius sub tomorrow and getting XM! Sorry Howard. I am moving on. I suggest that you do the same.
140 - Jeff
Here's the fact: Stern is a phony. He is a liar. This isn't an opinion and it isn't something you can argue. It is a FACT. I used to love the guy until I realized this.
Today, he said that with a flick of his finger, he could have kept O&A off both Sirius AND XM. Sorry, no. WRONG. He says XM ASKED him if they could hire O&A. What a lying sack.
Robin had something really great to add too! "When they went to XM, they didn't even know what to do because you hadn't done it yet." Really? Everyone is just a clone of Stern, eh? Howard once said Bubba was nothing but a clone of his. Then he hired him. Hmmm.
Also today? Stern said "5 people called into Farrell's show last week." Really Howard? Over 50 calls on the first day last week were from O&A fans (which had nothing to do with Stern -- Farrell pretended to be their friend, then talked shit about them to Stern and on his website). 3 of the calls he took were "real". That was just one day. And there were over 13,000 people trying to call in and that's just the people who were on webcams in PalTalk.
Then Robin says the only POSSIBLE way people heard Farrell's show was by subscribing to Sirius. Um, no. Welcome to the year 2006. They all shared an illegal Internet feed.
I just feel sorry for Stern fans. They're so misled. The show is nothing but lies.
141 - Ben's Retarded Hog
You Stern Lemmings all spew the same garbage!! I listened to that old woman up until his show started to tank in the mid-90's!! Do any of you Half-a-Fags remember the Billy West days?? That was when that old hipster wanna be Cub Scout was funny!! Once howie went Hollywood and got himself a new trophy wife, it was only a matter of time before the show started to suffer!
Howard is not a funny guy! It's the people who used to surround him that made his show what it used to be!! How sad is it when you have to resort to remaking old bits!!
So, all you Lemmings keep drinking the Howie Kool Aid and believing everything that old washed up bag of jizz is feeding you! Watch the decline!!
142 - jim jackson
Why won't howard comment on Opie and Anthony making fun of his own daughter..his own flesh and blood? Wow he has fallen so far from the days he had balls. He used to take on everyone. Now its Rachel Hunter and Martha Stewarts daughter. What a bitch he has become. The pests drove him mad this week..making him cry and driving Shake it up fag off the air.. Poor howie I hope he slips in a puddle of aids while driving to the hamptons on one of his fridays off. --he only works 4 days a week!!!! ;-)
143 - clever1
its friday and there was a show 5 days a week 6-11 and why would he comment on them making fun of her when he expected that in the first place
144 - livebackwards
Stern? Yeesh. If I wanted to watch an aging autistic leer at porn stars, I'd start going to my family reuinions.
O&A have more creativity in their tiniest fart than Stern has left in his entire body, and this is from someone who has listened a great deal to both shows. Howard is done. O&A are in.
145 - Dick, no wad
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146 - Booger Couch
Stern is NOT on Sirius Canada. We don't allow washed-up hacks into our country!
147 - Highpowered350
SIRIUS Canada Adds Howard Stern to Satellite Radio Line Up
Canada’s leading satellite radio provider to add The Howard Stern Show on Howard 100 as of February 6th
so much for your country
148 - Highpowered350
SIRIUS Canada today announced that the "King of All Media," Howard Stern, will be included as part of the company’s 100 channel premium line up. As of February 6, 2006, SIRIUS Canada subscribers will be able to hear Stern on the widely publicized Howard 100 channel.
Stern who debuted on SIRIUS Satellite Radio in the U.S. on January 9, 2006, is North America’s most recognized radio personality, and had the top rated morning drive show in the U.S.
“No one in radio commands more attention than Howard Stern,” said Mark Redmond, SIRIUS Canada President and CEO. “He is an industry icon with millions of loyal fans throughout the continent who will follow him anywhere to hear his unique form of entertainment. SIRIUS Canada is committed to providing an unrivaled radio experience for Canadian subscribers with the most variety and choice available in radio, and Howard’s show will make our unique entertainment offering even more exciting
149 - Dave C
I could not decide which to get, XM or Sirius. My main concern is that I'm a Boston Bruins fan living in New York, and I'm on the road in the evenings so watching the games on TV with the NHL package wasn't a viable option.
My other concern was that I wanted to be able to listen while skiing or biking, so I needed mobility.
That's right, fucko's, people but satellite for reasons OTHER than O&A or Stern. I know Howard doesn't think so, he claimed that all 2.5 million subscriptions since his announcement were due to him. It just aint so, so rethink the math. People were buying satellite before O&A OR Howie.
Anyway, back to me. I wanted Sirius because they had NHL. I never liked Howie, and had only heard O&A a few times. I loved Ron and Fez, but at this time they weren't on the air.
I didn't get a subscription to Sirius because I was waiting for the XAct ReGo unit to come out. It was portable, live, and had MP3 capability, but no one carried it. Turns out production was hlated because the main chip was overheating. It was supposed to come out X-mas, then Fathers day, then July, it kept getting pushed back farther and farther. Sirius and it's unit producers just couldn't figure out how to get live, mobile radio, unlike XM, who was heavily promoting the XM.
Then it was announced that XM was getting Hockey. Even though Sirius was given the option of exclusivity, they spent too much money on Howard and couldn't afford that luxury, so XM snapped it up. I don't know how many subscribers Sirius lost to XM for that, but I guarantee that I'm one of them.
I now find myself listening to O&A and R&F regularly. Some things O&A do are too perverted for my taste, things that Howard does regularly. (Strippers and shit are more of a turn off for me, maybe I was bred with respect, but for me any girl who strips like that for strangers is like a girl sucking on a cigarette, it's a turn off) But that's just me. I find a lot of the subtle humor to be great, I love how they sabotage boring guests, how they call out other radio hosts (especially Howard) and their lies by broadcasting Howards own words "I dont want to work in an industry with a Bubba the Love Sponge!".
Satellite radio isn't all about these two shows. You really think my grandparents give a crap abotu either? No, they love the 40's station that they can listen to while they Motorhome around the country enjoying retirement.
Here's the facts:
Yes, Oprah is only on for 30 minutes a week. True that won't make much of a difference. But if she mentions a book on her show, that book becomes a best seller. EVERY TIME. Now she will be advertising how great XM is every day. You really think that won't make an impact?
Sirius cost to aquire each new subscriber in 2006 (calculated by how much they pay out to employees, operating costs, ect, divided by subscribers) is over $110 (Sirius website, press releases, 4thQ/Full Year 2005 press release)
XM's Cost per subscriber is $64. (XM's press releases, financials for EOY 2005)
Yes, I back up my facts with proof.
Sirius does not have enough subscribers to offset the cost of Howie yet. True about 2.5 million subscribers joined since he announced, but a vast majority are joining for other reasons, other personalities that Sirius also has to pay.
It's NOT all about Howard. As much as his fans hate to hear that. But neither is XM all about Opie and Anthony.
XM is the stronger platform. They have better overall talent (even if you take Howie and Opie out of the calculation). They have better radios, Sirius has NOTHING on the table with any realistic release dates. (XM has new partables the size of cell phones, that HAVE MP3 capability, so you CAN listen to it anywhere without an IPOD)
Sirius and XM are both going to be around for a long, long time. Neither is going to fold, and O& are not going to work for Howie.
BUT, if anything is true, it's that Howie fucked up by going to Sirius. He's still restricted, still censored. XM doesn't have sensors. Even Eric Logan, who is responsible for the station lineup and the talent on XM, came on air to say "Nope, there's no censorship here"
I'm not going to say Howard is washed up. But I do hear more negative things about his show than positive ones. And that's not from fans of any shows, I'm talking about real critics in real papers.
I'm happier with XM, and I'm happy with O&A. Sports fans will be happier with Sirius.
Most people listen to music, and both platforms are about the same in that category, so it's whoever has the best radios. XM again.
Uphill battle for you Doggy, but I hope you stick around, because without you, XM could double their rates, and we'd have to pay, because once you go satellite, you don't go back to terrestrial
150 - Askj
Poor Dave C's "facts" look like less like the definition of that word than something the Iraqi Minister of Information would release as XM's PR pointman.
151 - Kyle Cannon
I listen to Howard every day. The show is as good now as it was in 1996. I listened to O&A too for a while on XM and I stopped listening because they seem to have an obsession over Howard and talk about him constantly. The best part of the o&a show is Jim Norton I think he should do his own show and he knows how to show respect...he never trashes Howard.
152 - ramone
zombies i can not even believe you stern zombies wanna hear the staff members and mom and pop stern that sounds really funny you are all hypnotised by that hook nose old man whats he crying about today please Ramone give them the virus
153 - booey
who cares what the fuck you believe stern rules bitches
154 - Java-Log Lumberjack
Actually Kyle Cannon, Jim openly voices his dislike for Howard as well on the show. When did you say you listened to O&A again?
155 - biozombie
The Howard Stern Show would be amazing if they got rid of Robin Quivers...and Howard Stern.
The Artie & Fred's Sound Effect Machine show would kick ass.
Hoo Hoo, Tell 'em Fred!
156 - Frederica
Oh, good comeback "booey", just another example of the intelligent listeners that listen to Howie. "O&A all the way, that's what I say."
"I invented blogs, Hoo Hoo tell'em Fred"
157 - Stan von Kotin
If Rover is the best morning show on commercial radio then commercial radio is dead. I've listened 3 times since Stern went off the air and I ahve to say Rover sucks. Detroit would be better served with 3 hours of dead air in the morning.
158 - johnny
hry rover rocks sat sucks too much fuckin money stern isnt funny any moore sorry stern guys i callem like i here em
159 - Betsy
Get in the coffin Howard.
160 - Vichus Smith
I just came upon this article through a google search. I wonder how you feel now that things have shifted and O&A are sharing their time between being CBS and XM radio hosts. There are listeners who still feel that going from 4 hours of uncensored talk to 4.5 hours split between FCC censored radio and the regular XM.
As for you people who parrot Howard Stern's every word (instead of doing the human thing and thinking for yourself), you're missing out on some good radio. Imitators don't go far in terms of success. If you don't have any originality behind your act, no one's going to support you to an extent O&A have been.
Howard should have Retired at the top of his game and given the reigns over to someone else, but understandably, he wouldn't fade away so easily.
161 - john
i would like bob and tom to join sirius also.fuck o&a.i like sat. radio its like pussy and beer. you cant live with out it
162 - Lance Eluction
I love how XM charges a premium (what, a whole 2 or 3 bucks?) to listen to those O&A assholes, and only 35,000 people signed up! NOBODY WANTS TO HEAR THEIR CRAP!!!!
Howard signs up more subscribers in less than ONE WEEK then O&A have ever done in history, and Howard's deal has paid for itself amost 3 times over already. Published fact! Freaking unlistenable losers. Yeah, they rule. My ass. You can have them, failed moronic ripoff artists, with no intelligence whatsoever. And NO AUDIENCE!!!
And as far as SIRI versus XM, funny how the worm has turned now, and XM is on a downward slide rarely seen since the Titanic- even with their lead-time advantage. The win will be complete when MLB moves over to SIRI.
163 - Steve
XM hasn't charged a premium for O&A since April 2005.
It's all about what you like. I never listened to Stern, I tuned in local morning shows for years because I just didn't like him. I first listened to O&A in 2004 when I got XM and enjoyed their show. I don't care about the XM vs. Sirius service debate either, I chose the service which suited myself (baseball is what put sold me on XM).
Just because you like Stern or O&A doesn't mean you have an obligation to defend or put down the companies. The post was about morning radio shows, not how sirius has NFL/NBA and Martha Stewart and XM has MLB/NHL and Oprah. If you are paying for the service only because of Stern or O&A, I will make an educated guess and say you are in the minority, like I said it is all about personal preference.
I don't know what Stern does, and never really got into him; I like what I am listening to on XM, and if you like something there is no reason to switch to something else.