Howard Stern is moving to Sirius Satellite Radio at the end of the month. He will now be free of the pressure from censors and the wrath of the FCC. Jeff Jarvis of Buzz Machine has an op-ed piece in the Star Ledger where he talks about Stern and what it means to the marketplace of radio and media in general. His main point is that the government should stay out of regulation. The market itself will decide what it wants and regulates itself. This is especially important as media becomes dispersed and the vessel with which people get entertained is not so clear cut. Jarvis says that

though young people today don’t know the difference between broadcast and cable channels and soon won’t know the difference between any channel and an iTunes download

But the government is getting involved and surprisingly we have attacks to Stern-type radio from all sides. The left does not want to offend anyone and they fly the flag of political correctness, while the right wants to protect the children and fight under the flag of indecency. Each side forgets that they can change the channel and enjoy whatever entertainment they like.

So the culture is chilled. Today we live in an age of offense, when our worst sin is to offend anyone. From the left, this is political correctness; from the right, it is the fight against indecency. They each think they’re making culture safe. Instead they’re making it dull.

I will be glad that Stern is on Sirius Satellite since January will mark one year since Stern has been off the air in Syracuse, NY. Last December 95x station owner Galaxy Communications played a different card altogether. They protested against Stern’s advertisements for Sirius radio. They abruptly pulled the plug during the Christmas holiday time saying it was only temporary. Then by January they pulled the plug permanantely. Since then 95x has languished in the ratings due to a poor replacements and viewer anger over the sudden pull. Not that many need to listen to the radio in the days of iPods and Satellite Radio. Galaxy Communications simple took away their only reason to listen in the first place.

Filed under Uncategorized.
. Subscribe to this feed.