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Howard's a sure thing
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March 6, 1997: 10:30 p.m. ET
"King of All Media" Stern branches out to take Hollywood, pop charts too
From Correspondent Allan Dodds Frank
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) -- On his morning radio show, Howard Stern promotes himself relentlessly as "The King of All Media."
And with a new movie, a number one soundtrack and a new corporate parent -- Westinghouse/CBS -- he's becoming the king of cash flow.
"He is a proven ratings magnet," Paul Colford, author of the unauthorized Stern biography, King of All Media, said. "He does have the ability to put bodies in the stores, and in the car dealerships, this sort of thing, which is why you know barring any real unpardonable outrage, I suspect he'll be a pretty comfortable member of the Westinghouse/CBS family."
Stern's radio show is heard in fewer than three dozen markets, yet it pulls in more than $20 million a year. His appeal to young audiences helped build Snapple, so when Quaker Oats bought the brand and dropped Stern, sales suffered.
"As soon as the movie rolls out, he's going to be on in a hundred markets," Walter Sabo, president of Sabo Media, noted. (91K WAV) or (91K AIFF)
Books by the raunchy radio host ride best seller lists for months. His pay-per-view spectacular on cable TV grossed more than $16 million, making it the biggest non-sports event ever.
Stern himself made an estimated $17 million last year, but this year should dwarf that. And he's still best known in big cities, where listeners are accustomed to his raunchy style.
But his movie aims at a far broader audience. If Private Parts is a blockbuster hit, it could make Stern acceptable to dozens of radio stations, most of which would not have dared to carry him a few years ago.
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