Argument starter...but what is Howard doing?

[HCI]

You guys know he is insane to make these comments.
"Howard Stern told his audience that Letterman "asked me how I felt" about the booking"

http://orbitcast.com/
Opie and Anthony are challenging Howard Stern's assertion that he could have stopped their upcoming appearance on David Letterman this August 31st, but he decided not to.

The duo played a clip of Stern saying that Letterman's "people" called his agent to see if it was okay to book Opie and Anthony, and that he could have said no but didn't. O&A in turn challenged Stern to "do it!"

On his SIRIUS Satellite Radio show, Howard Stern told his audience that Letterman "asked me how I felt" about the booking, and that the booking came after "a lot of pressure from a certain person" at CBS. Stern claimed that Letterman's staff "weren't into it. They were feeling a lot of pressure."

"Howard says a lot of things that can't be confirmed. We are telling Howard, do it ... go ahead, get us off of Letterman, you lying sack... he thinks he has power over CBS and David Letterman," Anthony Cumia said.

Opie added "his listeners need to know that he's full of sh*t... We’re begging him to do it because we know it’s just a bunch of crap.”

 

[alexgmny]

Everybody knows that Howard Stern and David Letterman have a professional relationship since their NBC days. I would not doubt that what Howard is saying is true. Letterman and his people does not want Howard to be upset with them. They dont want their long time relationsip affected by the booking of O&A. Howard would never say no to book them. Some people think he is this bad guy but in reality he is not. O&A now and forever will always be second bananas to Howard. They will challenge Howard in anything. Its funny to see them trying to get away from the shadow of Howard, but they cant.

 

[charper1]

I agree with Alex, and O&A are replying with heir typical BS.

 

[HCI]

You have got to question though why they would think Howard would be upset in the first place. Just him saying he could control who was on the show is completely absurd. I mean the man does not have power over everything.

 

[charper1]

I think the point is that they know that Letterman called to talk to him about it and more than likely said "Hey, the CBS guys are really trying to get at you by forcing this booking on us, but if this really will upset you, we will go to bat and make sure they don't get booked; what do you say?" And Stern says, "go ahead an book them, what do I care what CBS does; they know I am kicking their asses and they are just trying to stir up crap!" Then CBS leaks that info to O&A for their fodder on the air to make Howard look bad.

Its that simple. same thing NBC did to Leno & Letterman during that fiasco.

 

[alexgmny]

Charper1 is correct.

Howard was just letting it be known that Letterman was giving him the decision. If Letterman did not care about Howard and wanted to book O&A without any concern about his relationship with Howard, why call him? They would just do it and thats it. Howard was just letting his fans know that he was given the power and he did not use it. As CHARPER1 said, Howard does not care what O&A do. With all the talks about Sirius and Xm mergin, O&A should be worried. If a merger happens Sirius appears to be more in control......O&A days in satellite could be over. Or just like Bubba the love sponge , O&A could be welcome into HOWARD'S world.

 

[HCI]

Keep dreaming on the XM and Sirius merger, and by the way Opie and Anthony have more listeners than Stern now so they would have the best source of getting the company's name out everyday.

Stern has went on record saying "I believe in censoring anyone who is my enemy" referring to an interview with Sean Hannity when asked about the gag order he had on O&A because he did not want them to talk about him even though they were not competing against one another. This is not the first obscene claim Stern has made, like claiming he was the first ever to have a live band play in studio while they done this in the 50, 60,and early 70's way before Stern was thought of, or him claiming he had 3 differant company's offer him a show back on terrestrial radio after Opie and Anthony went back.

Stern made his name by doing great things and crushing everyone who went up against him. You guys know if he did somehow block Opie and Anthony from the Letterman show it would be the greatest thing he has ever done. I would even go as far as say I would cancel my XM subscription and get Sirius just because he would be the greatest. But he will make up some excuse why he does not want to and they will be on the show just as planed.

 

[HCI]

http://www.nydailynews.com/08-03-2006/entertainment/ent_radio/story/440205p-370859c.html

Firing up a good media feud these days is harder than turning on the TV without running into a Geico commercial.

And a darn shame it is, too, because a media feud can offer the fun TV and radio badly need when things start devolving into another discussion of drug tests at the Tour de France.

It's not that no media folks are trying. MSNBC's Keith Olbermann tosses rubber chickens nightly at Fox News' Bill O'Reilly, and Opie and Anthony of WFNY and XM Satellite Radio would love to square off with seltzer bottles against Sirius' Howard Stern.

The trouble is that media fragmentation has relegated most potential throwdowns, through no fault of the participants, to a small stage.

Most feuds are interesting, for better or worse, in proportion to the number of people who care. If you bring one up with friends and they don't know who you're talking about, you might as well head directly for Mel Gibson.

In the insult world, Star Jones' exchange of icy words with "View" godmother Barbara Walters was mild. This is, after all, a world where a New Yorker in April could have heard morning radio hosts Star and Miss Jones call each other a "gap-toothed bitch" and "an impotent dwarf," respectively.

But the Jones-Walters exchange made headlines simply because a lot more people know who they are.

Maddeningly enough, Walters and Jones now seem inclined to move on, even if they could enliven our lives with a little more time on the low road.

Opie and Anthony would be happy to grab Stern and fill this void. Two problems, though.

First, Stern doesn't want to play. He knows the attack game well, having employed it for years. But while he has quietly worked to keep O&A out of his hair, he sees no percentage in a public discussion. They're chasing him, he figures, even though right now they probably have more listeners.

Second, fewer people are paying attention to Stern these days. He's doing fine and he says he's never been happier, but where 10 million people used to hear him every week, today it's maybe 15% of that. He's less a presence in conversation.

It's the same dilemma faced by Olbermann and O'Reilly. As media subdivides, even well-known people increasingly are playing on side courts.

Happily, calling out the competition will continue. Just as Stern and WFAN's Don Imus have enjoyed insulting each other for years, Opie and Anthony are aiming their squirting flower at WKTU morning host Whoopi Goldberg this week just because she's there.

Some traditions need to live.

 

[Peter Parker]

They are just crying out for free publicity.

 

[alexgmny]

Tate,

As I can see you are a XM subscriber and you see things different from me (sirius subscriber) as to which company is doing better. It appears also that you are an O&A fan as I am a Stern fan. As you know there is no middle point in which is the better show. I personally would be upset if I had to pay to finish hearing my favorite show (O&A's show is half on regular radio and XM). Atleast I am able to hear Stern show exclusively in sirius and not a water down version of it.

Lets see how things develop down the road.

 

[JonUrban]

To me, it seems like O&A are the ones using this "stunt" for publicity.

If Stern is "obscure" on SIRIUS, then again, O&A are bringing him to the forefront of all of the "millions of listeners". Getting thier names in the paper only gets HS's name in the paper, since they are tied together in the "shock jock" world.

Face it, the only way that the #2 guy gets attention is by attacking the #1 guy. It's all just marketing. Pitting fans against fans only creates more of a buzz and more ratings and radio sales.

HS could have stayed at CBS but chose to leave. The fact that O&A now have his slot and have more listeners that HS at SIRIUS is like saying a wide release movie outsells a narrow release movie. You can't compare.

If HS were thrown off CBS so they could put on O&A, and then had to "settle" for satellite - that would be a whole different story.

The better comparison would be O&A's XM numbers (before CBS) and HS's numbers with SIRIUS. I don't think the biggest O&A fan could claim that they sold more XM radios than HS did SIRIUS, or that their move to XM created as much media attention as HS did.

Just remember, it's all publicity. Bubba used to bash HS, and HS used to bash Bubba. Now they're buds. It all comes down to the $$$$$. Just like everything else.

 

[GaryPen]

You're all nucking futs. Letterman's people booked these guys, and Letterman couldn't give a sh*t what Howard thought, or what O&A thinks. other than they will hopefully be funny when they're on.
Also, why do people attach themselves to radio personalities? (especially such moronic ones) Or, to a friggin satellite radio service. Jeez you people are nuts.

 

[Peter Parker]

Apparently Gary we are the only ones who do not see how gravely serious this situation is. It seems to be atitaic struggle between the forces of evil and what Maxwell Smart once called "the forces of nice."

there is no way that two radio personalities would make up a Thing like this to draw attention to themselves. Clearly this is the first sign that the day of Ragnarok is upon us. I am pretty sure that the norse legends mention a guy named Letterman.