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Stern Makes Sirius Debut, Denies Marriage Rumors
January 9, 2006 at 4:34 AM (PT)
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Kicking off with a musically farted version of "The Theme From 2001" (which was right on key, we might add), HOWARD STERN made his SIRIUS RADIO DEBUT this morning (1/9) at 6a ET, and immediately began complaining about the equipment, as his headphones were feeding back. STERN played a snippet of TOM PETTY's "The Last DJ" while the crew tweaked the equipment.
The new STERN show now has an official announcer, STAR TREK star GEORGE TAKEI, who billboards upcoming elements on the show. One of TAKEI's promos mentioned that an upcoming segment would address rumors that STERN had married girlfriend BETH OSTROSKY. STERN denied the marriage rumors, but initially said that he WAS married to gauge the reaction of his staff. In addition to TAKEI, the show consists of the same staff previously heard on terrestrial radio.
We've brought in conservatively at least two million people so far
STERN claimed that his show had already paid for itself. "We have enough subscribers to take the pressure off our shoulders," said STERN. "We've brought in conservatively at least two million people so far." He added that there were more activations on the day before his debut (1/8) than there were on CHRISTMAS morning.
"This is the future of radio, not just our show, but what's going on here at SIRIUS," said STERN. "Every time I walk around here and I see the energy that's going into this place, and the amount of money they're putting into programming, and music... it's just way cool, and I'm proud to be a part of it. Isn't this a great friggin' environment? Just become a new subscriber and start tuning around the dial even when we suck, and you're saying to yourself, 'This is f&*king great.'"
The debut STERN show aired commercial free. STERN commented, "The first show you can't have any commercials. After that, I think they're gonna play six an hour, and that's no big deal... we can probably use them, 'cause we need time to go get stuff to eat."

