Stern

When did Howard Stern jump the shark?

I first became a huge Howard Stern fan when he was on WNBC here in New York. This was back in the early 1980s when he radically advanced the state of the art of humor on the radio. Despite his huge ratings he had endless clashes with the NBC brass, which led to his firing. Clearly, the hostile environment wasn't a radio "bit," it was real. Stern was always keeping it real. It was all such compelling radio Stern based his biopic movie, "Private Parts," mostly on that time period.

After the NBC canning the … Read more

Where our show turns up to 11

EPISODE 84

Today the 404 boys talk about the new art of reverse airbrushing, filling up an imaginary car with gas, and "Osama, Obama?" on a church sign--Hmmm, which one of these stories isn't in the South? We'll tell you. Also, Allen Stern of CenterNetworks joins us for the podcast for some good old fashioned Internet fun.

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Who's going to pay for the Sirius-XM merger? How about Howard Stern?

It seems like the Sirius-XM merger been dragging on for years, and both sides are eager to get it done, but what would I get out of it? I've been a happy Sirius subscriber for years. I love the commercial-free music channels, and the uninhibited talk channels are hugely entertaining. At least maybe Sirius' sound quality will get closer to XM's--it's always sounded a little better.

They still need approval from the Federal Communications Commission before the deal is done. If you ask me, it seems anticompetitive to let the only two satellite-radio companies in the U.… Read more

Where the clap has not subsided

EPISODE 57

While Jeff is still out, we manage to press forward in the most depressing way possible (you'd think Dan Ackerman was on the show). Randall cheers for a recession like its 1999, Xbox 360 kids are kinda crazy (surprise!), and China bans YouTube. All that and more on this episode of the 404!

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Sirius Satellite Radio: Still sounds awful after all these years

Don't get me wrong, I love Sirius' programming, but I hate the sound. It's grungy, harsh, with no actual high frequencies and muddy bass. The music's dynamics are squashed flat as Kansas so it sounds like a low bit MP3. Digital smigital, Sirius sounds awful, way worse than FM radio.

Ah, but the on-air talent, well, it's better than anything on commercial AM or FM, by a long shot. The fire-breathing Liberal political talk channel, "Sirius Left," crushes its ever lamer terrestrial radio counterpart, Air America, and you conservatives can feast on the Sirius … Read more

Sonos adds streaming Sirius to its content roster

Add Sirius Satellite Radio to the roster of content choices available on the Sonos Digital Music System. The version 2.3 firmware, available today as an automatic upgrade, delivers access to more than 80 Sirius stations to Sonos' line of multi-room digital audio products. Because the stations are streamed via the Sonos' broadband Internet connection, there is no need for any additional hardware, such as a satellite receiver add-on. After a free 30-day trial, access to the Sirius channels costs $3 per month (for existing Sirius subscribers) or $13 a month (for new subscribers who just want the service on … Read more