Is Infinity Ready To Jack Howard Stern Off

[BERIGAN]

Honest, the way the headline reads!

Is Infinity Ready To Jack Howard Stern Off More Stations?

October 24, 2005

Another round of Jack-FM stations could be installed by Infinity Broadcasting tomorrow morning at 8 a.m., according to a statement made by Howard Stern on his syndicated morning program today.

"Tomorrow morning at 8 a.m., during our show, there will be a few small markets that we are presently on that will switch to the Jack-FM format and take us off the air," said Stern, who was not pleased with the prospect. "I guess it's the F.U. to Howard," he added. Later in the program, WXRK/New York GM Tom Chiusano was discussing the rumor with Stern and insinuated that the flips might be a Stern/Jack-FM combo.

Where might The King Of All Media feel Jack-FM's boot? Looking down the list of his remaining Infinity affiliates, there are a few markets that lack a Jack-FM style station and are potential targets, but don't necessarily fit the "small market" criteria that Stern suggested. Among the stations are WMFS/Memphis, WNCX/Cleveland, WRKZ/Pittsburgh, WPBZ/West Palm Beach, and WOCL/Orlando.

WJFK/Washington, D.C. is another option, but it is one of the rumored "Free FM" stations and The Washington Post is reporting that The Junkies -- John "Cakes" Auville, Eric Bickel, Jason Bishop and J.P. Flaim -- will be taking over for Stern after his departure. The Junkies currently occupy the timeslot on WJFK that follows Stern.

If Infinity decides to flip a Stern station in a market where a Jack-style station already exists, other targets could be WZNE/Rochester (where Entercom's WFKL "Fickle" is filling the Jack-FM space) and KUFO/Portland (where Entercom's KYCH "Charlie" is filling the Jack-FM space).

A reflective and sentimental tone has been creeping into Stern's program recently and the prospects of being Jack-ed off a few more radio stations prompted a mini-farewell speech. "For those of you who listen to us and won't be hearing us tomorrow, I want to say farewell," said Stern. "I want to tell you it has been a spectacular 20 years here with the company. I'm not leaving radio, I'm going to a whole new form of radio. I do not want you to think ever that I don't appreciate your support and your sticking with me through all the FCC stuff and everything the religious right is doing to us. My intention in all of this has always been to entertain you."

http://www.fmqb.com/Article.asp?id=137056