Web posted on: Monday, August 31, 1998 5:39:40 PM EDT

A NewsStand: CNN & Entertainment Weekly report
From Correspondent James Hattori

NEW YORK (CNN) -- After months of hype, radio shock jock Howard Stern has rolled out his new CBS television show, called "The Howard Stern Radio Show," which airs on Saturday nights. The show, which has already featured a topless female body-builder and bisexual naked dancers, is causing quite a stir, and threatens to success of the long-running "Saturday Night Live."

Stern says his goal is to destroy SNL.

"'Saturday Night Live" should now be called Saturday Night Dead," Stern says. "It is the show that ceased being funny when John Belushi's fat, speedball-filled corpse hit the deck."

SNL's challenge

SNL has been on the air for 23 years, offering groundbreaking comedy while spawning the careers of comedians like Belushi, Chevy Chase, Dan Akroyd, Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, and Gilda Radner -- to name just a few. The show is ingrained in American pop culture, king of the airwaves on Saturday night, but it's rarely faced a serious challenge until now.

"The Howard Stern Radio Show" captures comedy bits from Sterns daily radio program -- complete with gross stunts, racial and sexist jokes and obnoxiousness, Stern's stock and trade.

The formula has made him wildly popular, especially among 18 to 49-year-old males. His morning radio ratings top the heap in many cities, despite nearly $2 million in fines by the FCC for indecency. He's also written two best-selling books and starred in a successful movie about his life. But he's yet to conquer television.

'The horror and outrage'

Critics say Stern might be taking television to places we don't want to visit.

"I think he's trying to shock people and get their attention and get people like me to write, 'Oh, the horror and outrage,' which you hate too do, because you're playing into his hands," says Steve Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. "But you have to do it, because there is horror and outrage, you know?"

Critics are one thing -- activists are another. Bill Johnson of the media watchdog group The American Family Association is taking action against Stern.

"We're calling upon corporate America to say, 'We are not going to tie ourselves, we're not going to put dollars and cents into Howard Stern,'" says Bill Johnson.

"Our radio stations are scared," says Stern. "I mean, it's hard for them, they're in it alone. I'm telling you, and if you enjoy the show, you must go out and support our sponsors."

Still, Stern strong

But in TV, you live and die by ratings, and preliminary numbers indicate Stern is alive and well for now. In 19 cities where he went head-to-head with "Saturday Night Live" Stern did a 5.7 rating, versus 6.1 for SNL. And in seven cities, including New York, San Francisco, and Miami, Stern beat SNL.

Stern has proven he can attract a TV audience. He already does a similar nightly show, which is the top-rated program on cable's "E! Entertainment Channel." And recently, when he was a guest on the now-defunct "Magic Hour," the show doubled its ratings.

One other rating: After sharp criticism of the debut, CBS this week gave Stern's show a TV MA content rating, for mature audiences, only the third broadcast program ever to get that advisory.

Stern's appeal is strong, too: His appearance on the "The Magic Hour" doubled that program's ratings

'He's a really intelligent guy'

But will he knock off "Saturday Night Live," the show a lot of people both love and hate, but still watch?

Ken Tucker, TV critic for "Entertainment Weekly" magazine, says there's more to Howard Stern than titillation.

"I think what underpins Howard Stern's outrageousness is that fact that he's a really intelligent guy," says Tucker. "When you go on the 'Howard Stern Show' as a celebrity guest, you know you're not just there to plug your movie. You know you're there because Howard is really interested in you and wants to pry something out of you. He wants to get to your essence."

But will a network audience get the essence of Stern?

"Let's see, he's got tastelessness," says critic Johnson. "It will be a big hit."