WQHT (97.1 FM, "Hot 97") is an American radio station in New York City under the corporate ownership of Emmis Communications. The station broadcasts on 97.1 MHz FM. WQHT. Despite being billed as a Rhythmic CHR station on Mediabase & Nielsen BDS, WQHT primarily plays urban contemporary hits, although it does not play any other urban adult contemporary song that has not been played by Rhythmic Contemporary stations. The urban adult contemporary playlist, however, belongs to WBLS (107.5 BLS) which is New York's only Urban Adult Contemporary Station.

History [link]

WAPP Becomes WQHT [link]

See WKTU for a full history of the 103.5 frequency. This page is for a history of WQHT only.

In 1986, Emmis Broadcasting bought rock formatted 103.5 WAPP New York from Doubleday Broadcasting. There was speculation in the industry as to what Emmis was going to do with WAPP since their ratings were low. On August 13, 1986 WAPP switched to what appeared to be a classic rock format. The station stunted as "Classic 103."

On August 15, 1986 at 6 pm, The Rolling Stones "It's All Over Now" and a bomb noise rang out WAPP and the classic rock titles. The station debuted as "Hot 103.5" with new call letters WQHT and a new CHR/Dance format. The first song was believed to be 5 Star "R.S.V.P." Nobody in the radio industry expected it, even though Emmis put a similar sounding station KPWR "Power 106" on the air in Los Angeles earlier in the year.

Then, Emmis VP of Programming Rick Cummings said the company was considering four formats for the old WAPP but were leaning towards the classic rock and CHR/Dance formats. "It was an 11th hour decision." Cummings told Billboard magazine on 8/30/1986.

The Program Director ended up to be Joel Salkowitz (who was first named only as Asst Program Director) and Steve Ellis was Music Director (a hold over from WAPP) Don Kelly was the consultant for both WQHT and KPWR in those early months.

Hot 103 [link]

Hot 103.5 played a different variety of music than what was on the New York radio dial at that time. There was no CHR/Dance station in the market since 92KTU WKTU left the air a year earlier. WQHT came on the air with a new improved dance oriented format. Trade magazines of the day called it a hybrid format. The station mixed in CHR hits with Dance and Club music of the day.

Songs that appeared on 103.5 during the first few months were E.G. Daily "Say it Say It," Level 42 "Something About You," Timex Social Club "Rumors," Nice & Wild "Diamond Girl," and Trinere "I'll Be All That You Need."

The station started to play "hotmixes" or extended versions of certain songs. The "hotmixes" were either just the extended versions available commercially on 12" Singles, or mixes that were created by local club DJs, such as "Little" Louie Vega, especially for WQHT. They also aired regular versions of the songs that had longer intros than that of their competitors such as Z100. Noel used the Hot 103 version of his single "Silent Morning" for the music video as evidenced in the video's credits. With the debut of WQHT, some record labels such as Atco and Elektra reportedly started to see a spike in 12 Inch Single Sales in the New York Metropolitan Area as was reported by Billboard Magazine.

Hot 103.5's (the name was later shortened to Hot 103 in the Fall of 1986) imaging sounded similar to that of sister station KWPR "Power 106" as Chuck Riley and Eric Edwards were the voices of the station. Riley mainly voiced the sweepers and Edwards mostly voiced the promos and specialty liners. The two were also the voices for other Emmis stations at the time such as KPWR, WLOL and WAVA.

As September approached Hot 103 started to add more personality to the station. Some of the first DJs or "Hot Jocks" to join WQHT were Deborah Rath from Power 106, Al Bandiero, "Fast" Freddie Colon and Rufus (who was a hold over from WAPP).

"Broadway Bill Lee" joined Hot 103 around Christmas time and Rick Allen joined as Production Director. Allen would go on to fame as the person who created the famous "From the Top of the World Trade Center" Top of the Hour ID voiced by Chuck Riley for Hot 103. Other radio stations to this day try to duplicate that top of hour ID. Many radio production directors were impressed by Allen's work he ended up releasing some of the production elements and music beds used for Hot 103 into syndication under the brand name "Continuous Climax."

Since Hot 103 was playing music heard primarily in night clubs, the station did a lot of appearances at various night clubs in the tri-state area. Therefore, the station even had "HotSpot" reports with reporters such as Kim Howard phoning in the latest club happenings every Friday and Saturday during the night show so listeners knew where the party was at.

By 1987, Hot 103 was making a name for itself by playing Freestyle. Artists such as Noel, Safire, Cover Girls and TKA were made famous because they were played in heavy rotation right next to Mainstream Top 40 artists such as Expose, Debbie Gibson and Taylor Dayne. Freestyle and club music from other cities such as Miami wasn't ignored either. Company B & Tiger Moon, who were famous in the Florida club scene, were played on WQHT as well. In fact, Hot 103 pioneered custom station versions of songs, where the artists would change lyrics and sing about the station. Debbie Gibson & Expose recorded special lyrics for Hot 103.

WHTZ Z100 copied Hot 103's success by adding a few Freestyle titles and Urban Contemporary stations WBLS and WRKS were playing long versions of the records they played as well.

To bolster that they were on the club scene, Hot 103 added a local weekly countdown show called "New York Hottracks" hosted by Bill Lee that counted down the top 10 selling 12" Singles of the week in the tri-state area. The show started on Sunday nights and then moved to Fridays at 6 pm and later at 5 pm. The show featured short interview clips and aired sonovox numbers produced by Rick Allen identifying the chart position. (The show was later hosted by Jeff Thomas and was cancelled in 1993.) NYHT was produced for a time by PD Joel Salkowitz and researched by Angie Martinez, who would go on to dominate PM Drive after the station flipped to Hip-Hop in the 90s.

In July 1987, Hot 103 wanted to devote some airtime to older dance music at the urging of jock Al Bandiero. Management agreed and thus began "The Classics Showcase," which would feature older dance music, which usually had to be at least 7 years old to get played on the show. The show was broadcast for an hour from 8 pm-9 pm on Sunday nights. In 1989, the show was expanded to 2 hours. (Later hosts would be Paco Navarro in 1992 from 92KTU fame and Freddie Colon. The show lasted until 1994.)

During that summer, WQHT celebrated its first anniversary as Hot 103 and released the "Hot 103 Anniversary Album" on cassette, LP or CD on Warlock Records. The album contained four "Hotmixes" of CHR/Dance hits heard on Hot 103 over the past year. Sister station Power 106 also released the same album but under the Power 106 name.

WQHT Jock Line Up Summer 1987:

• 5:30-9AM Rufus
• 9AM-12 pm Deborah
• 12 pm-3PM Big John Monds
• 3PM-6PM Al Bandiero
• 6PM-10 pm Bill Lee
• 10 pm-2AM Fast Freddie Colon
• 2AM-5:30 am Vanessa Scott

WQHT Jock Line Up Fall 1987:

• 5:30-9AM Big John Monds
• 9AM-12 pm Deborah
• 12 pm-4PM Al Bandiero
• 4PM-8PM Bill Lee
• 8PM-12 am Fast Freddie Colon
• 12 am-5:30 am Yo! Sunny Joe

Morning Drive [link]

Since the station signed on the air, it presented a music intensive morning show with only two stopsets of commercials an hour. Mornings were first hosted by Rufus Hunt with news by Judy Hernandez (another hold over from WAPP where she went by the name Judy Herron.) After Rufus left, Big John Monds took over.

By the fall of 1987, Hot 103 was looking for a morning team to round out it's dayparts. It settled on the veteran team of "Walton & Johnson and the Not Ready For Drive Time Players." The show didn't click and was off the air in a couple months.

In 1988, the station brought in the married morning team of Ron Stevens and Joy Grdnic to handle morning drive. Stevens & Grdnic were unique as they were a male/female team rather than the usual male/male morning show. Veteran newsman J. Paul Emmerson joined as the wild newsman with a CKLW tabloid type delivery. The station added traffic updates via Shadow Traffic and contracted with WNYW Fox 5 Meteorologist Nick Gregory to provide live weather updates.

Hot 103's Impact[link]

In February 1987, Billboard magazine created a new "Crossover 30" chart in response to Hot 103 and the rise in popularity of other CHR/Dance stations and the type of music that they played. The chart was based solely on airplay from stations that reported to it. Radio trade magazine "Radio and Records" created a similar chart and started reporting the weekly music adds by Hot 103 and others.

The impact of Hot 103 and other similar stations such as WPOW Power 96 and WHQT Hot 105 in Miami and Power 106 in LA spurred Emmis to join with Westwood One to create a weekly national dance music countdown called "American Dance Traxx." The show debuted the week of March 23, 1987.

The show was groundbreaking as it presented the countdown in long music sweeps rather than just 2-songs in a row and then a commercial break. The 3 hour "American Dance Traxx" was hosted by KPWR PD Jeff Wyatt and produced in NY by WQHT PD Joel Salkowitz. The show used the same music beds that were on WQHT and KPWR and featured short interviews with the artists of the day. American Dance Traxx aired on WQHT Sundays from 9 pm-12 am. WQHT's Deborah Rath would substitute for Wyatt on occasion. (After Jeff Wyatt left Emmis, Deborah Rath was made the permanent host until former MTV VJ "Downtown" Julie Brown took over in 1992.)

Hot Night[link]

In February 1987 the tradition started with the first of several "Hot Night" concerts. Hot Night consisted of the top CHR/Dance artists of the day and the only way in to the concert was by winning on WQHT. Hot Night 1 was held 2/4/1987 at the Palladium and starred Shiela E. and The Cover Girls. Hot Night 2 was held at the same place starring The Jets and Debbie Gibson.

As years went on "Hot Night" got bigger and expanded to more exotic locations such as the Bahamas and Cancun, Mexico. The last known "Hot Night" was in 1993 where it all began at the legendary Palladium and starred SWV.

The Original Saturday Night Dance Party[link]

In June 1987 Hot 103 debuted the "Hot 103 Original Saturday Night Dance Party" live from 4D NightClub in Manhattan from 10 pm-2am with no commercials and limited interruption. Sometimes 20 minutes would go by without a station identification. Everything on the radio was live from the club as WQHT plugged right into the DJ booth mixer. The mixing, the WQHT jock host, and sometimes even the crowd could be heard over the air. Scott Blackwell was the first DJ to spin for the Saturday Night Dance Party, where he would mix with 4 Technics 1200ML Turntables. There was even a cart machine on hand to play the Hot 103 sweepers over the air and inside 4D.

As time went on, WQHT was wired into two dozen different clubs around the tri-state area. “The Original Saturday Night Dance Party” would bring The Palladium, The Copacobana, Foxes, Emerald City, The Tunnel, Chicago, Limelight, 1018, The L.I. Exchange, and The Roxy right into New York, Connecticut and New Jersey living rooms, cars and boom boxes.

Other notable club DJs such as Glenn Friscia, DJ Animal, Roman Ricardo and Mojo were on the turntables for the "Saturday Night Dance Party." Artists such as France Joli, Safire, Cover Girls and others would occasionally perform live on the radio and in the clubs.

Hot 97[link]

In the fall of 1988, Emmis purchased 97.1 WYNY from NBC, as well as the license of the WNBC-AM station that was being closed. On Thursday September 22, 1988 at 5:30 pm the stations swapped frequencies. Country 97 WYNY moved to 103.5FM and became Country 103.5. Meanwhile Hot 103 moved to 97.1FM and became Hot 97. After the transition to Hot 97, Stephanie Miller & Howard Hoffman were brought in to do the morning show (1988–91), J Paul Emerson stayed on as newsman, with Daniel Ivankovich, aka Reverend Doctor D, aka Odie Johnson was brought in as producer.

The last song played on Hot 103 was Debbie Gibson's "Stayin' Together" and the first song played on "The All New Hot 97" was M.A.R.R.S.' "Pump Up the Volume." WQHT even had Vanna White from television's Wheel of Fortune on hand to change huge plastic letters at a big station switch party in Midtown Manhattan. Freddie Colon was the jock in studio before and after the switch but Bill Lee actually took the listeners through the switch itself.

At 5:30 pm listeners also heard for the first time the new Rick Allen produced Top of Hour ID for the new Hot 97. It was similar to the one used on Hot 103 but was more heavily produced and now said "From the Top of the Empire State Building" and the Hot 97 name. The change reflected the use of the antenna for 97.1 being at the Empire State Building rather than the World Trade Center as it was while on the 103.5 frequency.

The station made a contest out of the event by giving listeners 97 dollars in cash if they could name the last song played "over there" and the first song played "over here."

Hot 97's ratings fell slightly in 1989. The station started to lean towards Top 40 as the station added artists such as Milli Vanilli, Bobby Brown, Paula Abdul, Taylor Dayne, MC Hammer, De La Soul, New Kids on the Block, and more. Hot 97 changed their on-air line-up and moved Freddie Colon to middays and brought in Greg Thunder from KDWB for nights. Thunder brought more of a comical Top 40 approach to nights by rhyming and being more listener interactive with heavy phones. With the addition of Thunder, WQHT had two rhyming jocks back to back everyday: Broadway Bill Lee from 4 pm-8pm & Greg Thunder from 8 pm–12 am.

Another sign of a Top 40 lean was that Hot 97, for the only time, aired jingles from JAM Creative Productions, Inc. in the fall of 1989. The jingles weren't jingles per se, but they were at the end of ramp music beds that DJs could talk over. Jonathan Wolfert of JAM created the package for WQHT and KPWR and called it "Power Up". By 1990, the jingles at the end of the ramp music beds were replaced with Chuck Riley voicing "Hot 97".

In the summer of 1990, Hot 97 teamed up with MicMac Records and released The Hot 97 MicMac Concert on cassette, LP or CD. The album featured MicMac artists that got airplay on Hot 97 like Johhny O., Cynthia and Tiana.

On July 22, 1990, Hot 97 teamed up with future sister station WRKS 98.7 Kiss-FM for a Unity Walk to promote racial harmony in New York City.

In 1990–1991, the station started to play more house and R&B music (aka New Jack Swing) while cutting back on some of the freestyle records. Artists such as Black Box, The Goodmen, Doug Lazy and Daisy Dee received more airplay.

Around this time Hot 97 added new shows focusing on house music such as the "All Night House Party," which was similar in format to the "Original Saturday Night Dance Party" but focused on house music. WQHT broadcast live from area night clubs such as The Tunnel from 2 am until 4 am Saturday into Sunday morning.

In 1991, "Anything Goes with Clivilles & Cole" debuted, where legendary record producers Robert Clivilles and David Cole of C&C Music Factory mixed new house and dance music on Saturday nights from 9 pm to 10 pm. The station also added a show spotlighting new house and dance tracks from overseas such as Europe. London jock Dave Kendall was picked to host Planet Traxx, which would air after American Dance Traxx at 12 midnight.

In the Fall of 1992, Hot 97 added a new station voice, the first time ever since the station signed on in 1986. They added Bobby Ocean (famous from working at KFRC) to voice some promos and sweepers for "Hot Night Cancun," the station concert held that December. During this time, WQHT replaced the long-running Rick Allen-produced and Chuck Riley-voiced "Top of the Empire State Building" top of hour ID. It was replaced with one voiced by Bobby Ocean but without the effects that made the previous ID noteworthy.

From Dance to Hip-Hop and R&B[link]

Towards the end of 1992 and early 1993, Hot 97's ratings hit an all-time low. In response, Emmis named Judy Ellis its General Manager (a position in which she served until 2003) and WQHT started to add more R&B and Rap product. Artists such as Positive K, Mad Cobra and Onyx were phased in while some of the traditional freestyle and house music was drastically cut. The station started a gradual two year change towards an Urban Hip-Hop format.

During this time, Hot 97 also made several on-air and imaging changes. Long time station voice Chuck Riley was gone, leaving only Eric Edwards as the station voice. Edwards also changed his delivery style to fit in with the new urban sound of Hot 97. He is still the station voice to this day.

Long-time PD Joel Salkowitx was let go, replaced by Steve Smith. The station axed veteran jocks Al Bandiero, Jeff Thomas and others. Deborah Rath stayed on the longest but shifted over to sister station CD 101.9 in late 1994.

A new generation of radio personalities began appearing on Hot 97. Among the most famous was the addition of a new morning show of Ed Lover and Doctor Dre of Yo! MTV Raps. The ratings rose to number three in one rating period.

In 1993, Funkmaster Flex joined Hot 97 and was host of the "Friday Night Street Jam" and weekly two hour show where he mixed hip-hop live from the studio. Flex eventually rose up through the ranks and became Hot 97's long time night personality.

Other noteworthy personalities included the addition of Wendy Williams to PM Drive, Williams used to be the overnight jock back on Hot 103 in 1988. Angie Martinez, a researcher on "New York Hottracks" in the late 1980s and who previously worked in the promotions department, was promoted to nights. A few years later, the two had a public falling out, resulting in Williams being fired from Hot 97 and Martinez assumig afternoon drive where she remains to this day.

In 1995, Hot 97 again became New York's top station in the Arbitron ratings. Hot 97 was the only radio station in New York for hip-hop until mid-1997 when WBLS reintroduced it on its playlists and moved to urban contemporary, moving WQHT to its current rhythmic contemporary format. In March 2002, Clear Channel Communications launched WWPR-FM (Power 105.1 FM) to challenge Hot 97, and went to number-five in the ratings. In the fall of 2005 Power 105.1 edged slightly ahead of Hot 97 for the first time ever during the same period of time as the Tsunami song parody. Most recently the station resurged back to the top of the ratings, although WLTW (106.7 Lite FM) is still the top-rated radio station in New York City.

Most recently, as of April 2012, Hot 97 overall Arbitron ratings have been once again nearing all time lows, with typical monthly averages in the low 3's. In the month of March 2012, WLTW was #1, followed by WCBS-FM, WHTZ, WKTU and WSKQ rounding out the top 5. Hot 97 was in 13th place with a 3.2 rating. The previous month their overall # was 2.8.

In May 2007, R&R and BDS moved WQHT back to the Rhythmic Airplay panel after a long tenure as an Urban reporter; however the station was always a rhythmic reporter per Mediabase. More recently, Hot 97 has begun to play more late 90's and early 2000s throwbacks. While the majority of the songs played on the station are current Hip-Hop and R & B Hits, classic hits by artists such as the Notorious B.I.G and Tupac have begun to receive more airplay.

In the fall of 2008, WQHT served as the home of the nationally syndicated Big Boy's Neighborhood, produced by ABC Radio and based from WQHT's sister station, KPWR Power 106 in Los Angeles. However by July 2009 WQHT dropped the program and instead expanded their local morning show hosted by Cipha Sounds & Rosenberg.

By 2010, due to rivals WXRK (92-3 Now) & Clear Channel Communications' WKTU moving towards rhythmic top 40 directions, Hot 97 switched to Urban Contemporary, ending the longtime rhythmic top 40 format at the station. Mediabase & Nielsen BDS still report the station as a rhythmic top 40. However, the rhythmic contemporary format has since resurfaced at Hot 97 with WXRK reverting to contemporary hit radio.

In April 2011, WQHT is now New York City's only rhythmic contemporary station with the reverting of rival WKTU back to rhythmic adult contemporary.

HD radio operations[link]

In early 2006, Hot 97 launched an HD2 station called Hot 97 Throwbacks. Hot 97 Throwbacks, located at 97.1-2, uses the format of Classic Hip-Hop. The format is comparable to Sirius XM Radio's BackSpin, but censored and a few R&B songs.

On September 9, 2008, Emmis announced a programming partnership with WorldBand Media and will be using WQHT's HD-3 signal to produce programming for the South Asian communities in 3 major cities including New York City.^[1] In June 2009, WorldBand Meida was removed from WQHT and placed on sister station WRKS's HD2.

In January 2012, Emmis added Rock 101.9, RXP which was formerly on WRXP and streaming online, to the HD2 channel. With this move, the station is no longer streaming online.

Controversies [link]

Word to the Badd![link]

In early November 1991, deejay Freedie Cohen stirred up controversy when he played Michael Jackson's latest single "Black or White" back to back with a early version of Jermaine Jackson's then-single "Word to the Badd!" The single's lyrics involved Jermaine criticizing Michael's selfishness and even insisting Michael was ashamed to be black. Jermaine issued a statement and released a re-written version on his 1991 album You Said.^[2]

2004 Indian tsunami parody[link]

On January 17, 2005, Hot 97 Miss Jones provoked a controversy by airing a song entitled "USA for Indonesia" a month after approximately 187,000 people died in the Asian tsunami caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. The song, a parody sung to the 1985 tune "We Are the World", was criticized for overtly racist mocking of the Asian and East African victims; the song lyrics contain the racially derogatory word "Chinamen," and calls the drowning victims "bitches." Some of the lyrics included the words "Go find your mommy. I just saw her float by, a tree went through her head. And now your children will be sold. Child slavery".^[3]

Miss Info, a fellow on-air colleague of Korean descent, was outraged and spoke against the song on the station. She excluded herself from producing the song and said it was wrong for it to be played.^[4] Miss Info immediately found herself subjected to a four-minute, on-air lambasting from the other DJs. Miss Jones accused Miss Info of always distancing herself from the antics of the others, and of acting superior because she is Asian.^[5] Another jock on the show named Todd Lynn muttered "I'm gonna start shooting Asians."^[6]

Following angry protests from the Asian-American community, bloggers, and networking sites, and other New Yorkers, Miss Jones, DJ Envy , and Tasha Hightower were suspended for two weeks while Todd Lynn and song writer Rick Del Gado were fired.^[7][8] The station issued an apology on its website. Newsday, Sprint, McDonald's, and Toyota all pulled their advertising from the station.^[9] The suspended employees' pay was diverted to charities helping victims of the tsunami.^[4]

Fights and shootings[link]

In February 2001, a shootout erupted between the entourages of rappers Lil' Kim and Foxy Brown in front of the offices of Hot 97 on Hudson Street, which led to one of Lil' Kim's bodyguards being injured.^[10] In February 2005, gunfire erupted in front of the same place between 50 Cent's entourage and The Game's entourage. The Game was quickly met by 50 Cent's crew after being notified he was at the front entrance of the building. A friend of 50 Cent pulled a gun and shot at The Game and his entourage. A bullet hit a member of The Game's entourage in the leg.^[11] Both incidents also led to the nickname "Shot 97" by Wendy Williams.^[12]

Staff[link]

On-air[link]

• Cipha Sounds
• Peter Rosenberg
• K. Foxx
• Big Dennis Rivera
• DJ Camilo
• Angie Martinez
• Funkmaster Flex
• Monse
• Miss Info
• Lisa Evers
• J. Medina

Mixshow DJs[link]

• Big Ben
• DJ Absolut
• DJ Bobby Trends
• DJ C-Lo
• DJ Enuff
• DJ Green Lantern
• DJ Jazzy Joyce
• DJ Kast One
• DJ Kay Slay
• DJ Magic
• DJ Spynfo
• DJ Wallah
• DJ Young Chow
• L. Boogs
• Massive B Sound System (Bobby Konders & Jabba)
• Mister Cee

Former DJs[link]

• Sunny Anderson (now hosts Cooking for Real on Food Network)
• Al "Nouveau" Bandiero (now at 103.5 WKTU in New York, NY)
• Scott Blackwell (Hot 103 Saturday Night Dance Party mixer using 3 turntables)^[13]
• Yo! Sunny Joe (now at Movin' 100.3 / 96.5 FM in Syracuse, NY)
• Fred "Bugsy" Buggs ("The Mic Wrecker")
• Tim Byrd "The Byrd Man" (now at Sunny 104.3, W. Palm Beach, FL)
• DJ Animal
• DJ Clue? (now at WWPR-FM 105.1 in New York, NY)
• DJ Envy (now at WWPR-FM 105.1 in New York, NY)
• DJ Louie Styles ("The Hightstown Heavy Hitter")
• DJ Skribble
• DJ Whoo Kid
• DJ Red Alert (now at 98.7 Kiss FM (WRKS) in New York, NY)
• Doctor Dré (not to be confused with the rap artist Dr. Dre)
• Rufus
• "Fast" Freddie Colon (now at KNTI in Denver, CO)
• Vanessa Scott
• Fatman Scoop
• Glenn Friscia (now at Pulse 87.7 (WNYZ-FM) in New York, NY)
• Howard Hoffman
• Jimmy Howes
• "Broadway" Bill Lee (now at 101.1 WCBS-FM in New York, NY)
• Vic Latino (now at WPTY-FM 105.3 in Long Island, NY)
• The Legendary Paco (Navarro)
• Lisa G.
• Paco Lopez (now at WNUE 98.1FM La Mega in Orlando, Florida) as an Account Executive
• Ed Lover (now at Power 105.1 (WWPR-FM) in New York, NY)
• Raqiyah Mays
• DJ Megatron
• Stephanie Miller
• Miss Jones (now at 98.9 (WUSL-FM) in Philadelphia, PA)
• Mojo
• "Big" John Montell
• Sue O'Neil (now at 101.1 WCBS FM in New York, NY)
• Star & Buc Wild (now at Pulse 87.7 (WNYZ-FM) in New York, NY)
• Deborah Rath (now at WQCD CD 101.9 in New York)
• Roman Ricardo
• Ray Rossi (now at WKXW / WXKW New Jersey 101.5)
• Gary Spears (now at WJMK 104.3 FM K-Hits in Chicago, IL)
• Stevens & Grdnic
• Mary Thomas
• Greg Thunder (now doing mornings on KS95)
• DJ Uncut
• La La Vasquez
• Wendy Williams (now at The Wendy Williams Show on BET)
• Steph Lova
• Lil' Nat (now at 98.7 Kiss FM (WRKS) in New York, NY)
• Ralph McDaniels
• DJ Cocoa Chanelle (now at 98.7 Kiss FM (WRKS) in New York, NY)

References in popular culture[link]

(Listed alphabetically by title)

Films and television[link]

• In the 30 Rock episode called "The Source Awards", Tracy Jordan mentions Hot 97 as a traditional place to get shot.
• The Sklar Brothers riff on Hot 97 in their Comedy Central Presents special.
• In the Family Guy episode called "Mother Tucker", the "Weenie and the Butt" radio stall appear to be airing on WQHT 97.1, many sound effects are played mentioning the radio station during the scene.
• In the Seinfeld episode called "The Pool Guy", Kramer mentions Hot 97 as one of the sponsors to his Moviefone information line.
• In the movie World Trade Center, one of the officers says that his wife heard on Hot 97 that a second plane had hit the towers, to which another officer replies: "Who gets their news from Hot 97?"

Music[link]

• In Puff Daddy's song "All About The Benjamins", he says, "...Ain't nobody's hero, but I wanna be heard on your Hot 9-7 everyday, that's my word..."
• In Jay-Z's song "Death of Auto-tune (D.O.A)" he mentions the radio station, saying "This is for Hot 9-7" and mentions the station's former disc jockey, DJ Clue?
• In Black Star's song "What's Beef", Mos Def says: "Beef ain't the summer Jam on Hot Ninety-Seven".

See also[link]

• Media of New York City

References [link]

• WNBC-FM Abandons Rock For Popular Music Format – The New York Times, December 18, 1974.
• Asian Media Watchdog - One of the high profile groups that organized Tsunami Song protest
• Freestyle Music Information
• Station info on New York Radio Guide
• Former Presidents and the Hot 97 Controversy
• World Music Central - British MPs deplore Hot 97's racist tsunami song
• World Music Central - Demonstrations planned outside Hot 97 New York
• Media Week Headlines
• UK Chinese - Chinese Community ask George Bush and Tony Blair to take action against Hot 97
• UK Chinese - British MPs and the Hot 97 Tsunami Song
• Club LK.US - UK Sri Lankans denounce Hot 97's racist tsunami song
• Sunday Island Sri Lanka - Two tsunami songs mentioned in the British parliament with kudos to Nimal Mendis by Nan
• House of Congress Press Release from House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi: Pelosi Condemns Broadcast of ‘Tsunami Song’

External links [link]

• Hot 97 website
• Hot 97 New Yorker article
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WQHT
• Radio-Locator information on WQHT
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WQHT

v t e Emmis Communications Radio stations KBPA · KFTK · KGSR · KIHT · KLBJ · KLBJ-FM · KLZT · KPNT · KPWR · KROX-FM · KSHE · Rádio Expres · Radio FM Plus · Radio Fresh! · STAR · WFNI · WIBC · WLHK · WQHT · WRKS* · WTHI-FM · WWVR · WYXB Magazines Atlanta · Cincinnati · Orange Coast · County Sampler · Indianapolis Monthly · Los Angeles · Texas Monthly *Operated by ESPN Radio under a local marketing agreement. Annual revenue: 373.26 million USD · Employees: 1,500 · Stock symbol: NASDAQ: EMMS · Website: emmis.com

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2011)

Angela "Angie" Martinez (born January 9, 1971, Brooklyn, New York) is an American radio personality, actress and rapper. Known as “The Voice of New York”, her afternoon radio show has consistently been ranked #1 with more young listeners than any other radio station in the country. Angie is a multi-media personality, having appeared in several movies, videos, television and on her own albums. Angie is best known for her celebrity interviews. Her laid back demeanor and popular style have been instrumental in securing exclusive interviews with the biggest names in music, film, comedy and politics.

Radio career[link]

Angie Martinez got her first break in radio at the age of 16 answering hot lines at the urban radio station WQHT ("Hot 97"). There she met popular DJ Funkmaster Flex, and began working as his protégé. Martinez quickly picked up on the craft of running a successful radio program. Executives at the station decided to give her a chance, even though she lacked on-air experience.

Acting[link]

She caught the attention of television producer Simon Fuller. Fuller thought that Martinez would become an excellent addition to American Idol. Martinez signed a contract to be the fourth judge alongside Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell for seasons 2, 3 and 4 of the Fox network's ratings giant. After only four days on the audition trial, Martinez admitted to being unable to crush the dreams of hopefuls. She said watching the aspiring singers leave in tears and breaking down with their families comforting them was too much for her to take. Martinez asked the Fox Network to remove her from the program. Throughout the remainder of that season, she was replaced with different guest judges such as Clive Davis, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Quentin Tarantino, Brandy, and Mark McGrath of rock band Sugar Ray. When HBO decided to branch from one channel into 8 sub channels that would concentrate on a certain demographic, scheduling conflicts while filming Stretch ensued. With the new taping schedule cutting into her time with her radio show and promotions, Martinez stepped back from the program at that point.

As an actress, Angie received small roles in independent hip hop films such as Blood is Thicker Than Water and Paper Soldiers. She then appeared in Brown Sugar starring Taye Diggs, Queen Latifah and Sanaa Lathan.

Music career[link]

In 1996, Martinez was encouraged to give rapping a shot by friend KRS-One. She appeared on his track "Heartbeat" from his 1997 album I Got Next. After the song gained a strong fan following, another friend, Lil' Kim, offered her a spot on her song "Ladies' Night" for the Nothing to Lose soundtrack. Along with Missy Elliott, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes and Da Brat, the ladies enjoyed one of the most successful singles of 1997. It peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at #2, and reached #1 on the Hip-Hop / R&B charts and the Rap charts respectively. The single sold over 1,000,000 copies and was certified Platinum. The ladies were nominated for two Grammy Awards that year, and were also invited to perform the song live on The MTV Video Music Awards. A major label battle began to sign Martinez to a recording contract. Her appearance on other rapper's material was in high demand. She recorded songs with Mary J. Blige ("Christmas in the City"), Terror Squad ("Freak Out"), N.O.R.E. ("Oh No Remix"), Beenie Man ("Tell Me Remix") and Funkmaster Flex & Big Kap's compilation album The Tunnel ("Wow"). She also recorded interludes for mixtapes by Kid Capri, DJ Clue and DJ Kayslay. In 2001, she appeared in the music video for Jay-Z and R. Kelly's "Guilty Until Proven Innocent".

On April 17, 2001, she finally issued her oft-delayed debut album, Up Close and Personal. The album included production by DJ Clue, Salaam Remi, Knobody and RocWilder among others, and featured guest appearances by Jay-Z, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Wyclef Jean, Busta Rhymes and Kool G. Rap. The first single, "Dem Thangzzz" was produced by The Neptunes, and also featured background vocals by Pharrell Williams and Q-Tip. The track failed to make a strong impression at radio, but the album enjoyed strong first week sales^{[clarification needed]}. It debuted at #32 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart, and #10 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Charts selling 69,000 its first week. The second single, "Coast 2 Coast" (Suavamente) featuring rapper Wyclef Jean re-sparked interest in the album^{[citation needed]}. She promoted the album with magazine posters, in-store signings, club appearances and television appearances with MTV and BET. The record received mixed reviews from critics, but like Martinez herself, was strongly accepted in the hip hop community. The album sold a low 325,000 units.

Following her first album's release, Angie began work on a second record Animal House. In order to build anticipation for the record, she appeared on BET's Rap City and began a nation-wide radio tour. She recorded a verse for the remix to her Artist Sacario record "Live Big". It became the number one record in the tri-state area and coincidentally coincided with the release of Martinez's first single from her second album, "If I Could Go" which also featured Sacario and singer Lil' Mo. "If I Could Go" became a huge crossover hit on pop radio, climbing into the top 10 on The Billboard Hot 100 Chart. It became the #1 played on urban radio in 2002. The album, Animal House (named after Martinez's own production company and recording posse), was released on August 21, 2002. It entered the Billboard Hot 200 Albums Chart at #11, and the Billboard Hot Hip-Hop / R&B Charts selling 92,000 units in its first week. The follow-up single, "Take You Home" featuring R&B singer Kelis didn't receive as much attention, but it did become a minor hit that winter. The album was more strongly received by critics and fans. Following the release of the album, she was featured on a remix for labelmate Lil' Mo's track "Gangster", and Nina Sky's hype single "Time to Go". Following this she announced she was retiring from the recording industry to concentrate on her other projects.

Personal life[link]

She has a son Niko Ruffin (born June 12, 2003)^[1] with Tamir "Nokio" Ruffin^[2][3] of Dru Hill.

Awards and nominations[link]

• BET Awards
  • 2002, Best Female Hip-Hop Artist (Nominated)

• Grammy Awards
  • 1998, Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group "Not Tonight" (Nominated)

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Singles[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Angie Martinez's Official Website
• Angie Martinez on Twitter
• Angie Martinez on YouTube
• Angie Martinez on Myspace
• Angie Martinez's page at Hot97.com
• Hot97.com
• Angie Martinez at the Internet Movie Database

Trey Songz
Background information
Birth name	Tremaine Aldon Neverson
Born	(1984-11-28) November 28, 1984 (age 27) Petersburg, Virginia, United States
Genres	R&B, hip hop
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, record producer, actor
Instruments	Vocals, keyboards, sampler
Years active	2004–present
Labels	Atlantic, Songbook
Associated acts	Drake, Troy Taylor, Twista, Juvenile, Bun B, Rick Ross, Plies
Website	www.treysongz.com

Tremaine "Trey" Aldon Neverson (born November 28, 1984), better known by his stage name Trey Songz, is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer and actor. His debut album, I Gotta Make It, was released in 2005, while his second album, Trey Day, was released in 2007. His third album, Ready, was released in 2009 while his fourth studio album, Passion, Pain & Pleasure, was released on September 14, 2010.

Life and career[link]

1984–2004: Early life and career beginnings[link]

Songz was born Tremaine Aldon Neverson on November 28, 1984, in Petersburg, Virginia.^[1] Raised as a military brat, Songz did not have aspirations to have a musical career as a child due to his shyness, saying "Singing wasn't a reality for me, until other people started noticing I sounded good."^[2] He recognized his vocal abilities at the age of 14.^[2] Reluctant to sing, he began performing with encouragement by friends and family in high school. Record producer Troy Taylor discovered Songz during a talent show in 2000, which led him to signing a recording contract with Atlantic Records in 2002.^[2] After graduating from high school in 2002, Songz moved to New Jersey to begin recording his debut album, though recording didn't actually begin until 2003.^[1]

[edit] 2004–2008I Gotta Make It and Trey Day

While recording his debut album in 2004, Songz released multiple mixtapes under the alias Prince of Virginia.^[1] One of the mixtapes featured an "answer track" to R. Kelly's "Trapped in the Closet", entitled "Open the Closet". The song gave Trey some notoriety.^[3] His debut album, I Gotta Make It was released on July 26, 2005.^[4] It debuted at #20 on the Billboard 200, selling 40,000 copies in its first week of sales.^[5] It has sold 300,000 records in the US, but was never certified by the RIAA. Songz's debut single, Gotta Make It, featuring Twista, was released in March 2005 and reached #87 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #21 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. It garnered success in the R&B/urban community but failed to make a mark in mainstream music. The album's second and final single, Gotta Go, was released in July 2005 and reached #67 on the Hot 100 and #11 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming even more successful than his debut single in the R&B/urban community and in the mainstream community. After promotion for his debut concluded, he was featured on the lead single from Twista's fifth album, The Day After. The single, "Girl Tonite", reached #14 on the Hot 100 and #3 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming a huge hit.

Trey Songz performing in 2007.

In mid-2006, Songz began work on a follow-up album to his debut with longtime collaborator Troy Taylor and also employed hitmakers Bryan-Michael Cox, Danja, Stargate (production team) and R. Kelly to help create the album. Trey aimed for the album to be more mainstream-oriented than his debut album. His second studio album, Trey Day, was released on October 2, 2007. The album reached #11 on the Billboard 200,^[6] selling 73,000 copies in its first week. It has since sold 400,000 records in the US, becoming his second album not to be certified by the RIAA. The album was going to be released on May 8, 2007, but was continually delayed in order for a successful single to precede the album, as the lead single failed to impact charts.

His second album was preceded by the lead single, "Wonder Woman", which was released in February 2007. It reached #54 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, but failed to impact the Hot 100. Because of the single's failure, his second album was delayed from May 2007 to October 2007. The album's second single, "Can't Help but Wait", was released in August 2007 and was released to promote his second album and the film Step Up 2 the Streets soundtrack as a single for it. The single reached #14 on the Hot 100, and #2 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It became Songz's first Top 20 hit on the Hot 100, and helped to boost his second album's sales. The single was also nominated for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the 2008 50th Grammy Awards. The third single from the album, "Last Time", was released in January 2008 and reached #69 on the Hot 100, and #9 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The fourth and final single from the album, "Missin' You", was released in May 2008, but failed to chart completely. In mid-2008, Songz was nominated for a BET Award for Best Male R&B Artist but did not win the award.^[7]

[edit] 2009–2011: Ready and Passion, Pain & Pleasure

In late 2008, Trey began work on his third studio album with Bryan-Michael Cox, Sean Garrett, Stargate and Troy Taylor and aimed for the record to be more mature than his first two. Before releasing his third album, Songz released a mixtape titled Anticipation in June 2009 through his blog, which featured songs from his third album.^[8] Another mixtape from Trey was released in the summer of 2009, called Genesis. Genesis was a collection of Trey Songz's first recordings when he was fifteen years old and was released to show his fans the dedication that he had to making a record when he was young.^[9] Trey released his third studio album, Ready, on August 31, 2009. The album reached #3 on the Billboard 200, selling 131,000 copies in its first week.^[10] These are his best first week sales to date and the album was his first to reach the Top 10 on the Billboard 200. The album has since sold over 800,000 records in the US, earning a Gold certification from the RIAA in February 2010, becoming his first album to be certified by the RIAA.

Trey Songz performing at Summer Jam on June 5, 2010.

The lead single from the album, "I Need a Girl", was released in April 2009 and reached #5 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop songs chart and #59 on the Hot 100, becoming an R&B/urban hit but not a mainstream hit. A promotional single, "Successful", featuring rapper Drake, was released in June 2009 and reached #17 on the Hot 100, becoming Songz's third Top 20 hit. The single also served as the second and final single from Drake's EP, So Far Gone. The second official single from his third album, "LOL Smiley Face", featuring Soulja Boy Tell 'Em and Gucci Mane, was released in August 2009 and reached #51 on the Hot 100 and #12 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The third single from the album, "I Invented Sex", featuring Drake, was released in October 2009 and reached #42 on the Hot 100 but #1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming his first single to top that chart. Like the first two singles from the album, it achieved success in the R&B/urban community but only some mainstream success. charted within the Billboard Hot 100, and topped the R&B chart. The fourth single from the album, "Say Aah", featuring rapper Fabolous, was released in January 2010 and reached #9 on the Hot 100 and #3 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The single has become Trey's highest charting single on the Hot 100 and one of his most successful singles on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

The fifth and final single from the album, "Neighbors Know My Name", was released in February 2010 and reached #43 on the Hot 100 and #4 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. A sixth single, "Yo Side of the Bed", was going to be released in June 2010, but its release was canceled due to unknown reasons. A music video, featuring singer Keri Hilson, was filmed and released, however. Songz was also the opening act for Jay-Z on his Jay-Z Fall Tour in late 2009. The album was nominated for Best Contemporary R&B Album at the 52nd Grammy Awards in 2010, but lost to Beyoncé's I Am... Sasha Fierce. On April 1, 2010, he recorded an episode of MTV Unplugged, which aired on April 26, 2010.^[11] A documentary-series about Trey, Trey Songz: My Moment, began in June 2010 to positive reviews and high ratings. The 10-part series will end in August 2010 and follows Trey during his time as opening act on Jay-Z's Jay-Z Fall Tour in late 2009.

Songz's fourth studio album, Passion, Pain & Pleasure, was released on September 14, 2010.^[12] Trey began work on the album in early 2010 with Sean Garrett, Troy Taylor and Stargate and has stated that the album will be his most personal to date. The album was completed in July 2010. The album's lead single, "Bottoms Up", featuring female rapper Nicki Minaj, was released on July 27, 2010 and has reached number twenty-four on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and was shared enough on Facebook to appear as a trending video on ItsTrending. Its video was filmed on July 31, 2010 and is pending release.^[13] Trey also filmed the video for the album's second single, "Can't Be Friends", on August 1, 2010.^[13] "Can't Be Friends" was released as the album's second single in August 2010.^[13] Songz embarked on the Passion, Pain & Pleasure Tour on August 6, 2010 with singer Monica. The tour is his first headlining tour to date and consists of shows in venues that seat 3,000 to 5,000 people. Songz also contributed the song "Already Taken" to the Step Up 3D soundtrack, which was released on July 27, 2010. He filmed a video for the song, which was released in July 2010. The leading lady in the video is former girlfriend and professional dancer Helen Gedlu. Songz appeared at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010.^[14] Songz performed at BET Awards 2011 which broadcasted on June 26, 2011.^[15]

In July 2011, he was cast in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D as Ryan, the male lead role.^[16]

[edit] 2011–present: Inevitable and Chapter 5

On August 18, 2011, it was announced Songz will be working on his fifth studio titled Chapter 5.^[17] In an interview Trey said the album, which will act as the follow-up to Passion, Pain & Pleasure, is said to be nearing completion. He also carried on to say "It’s my sixth year in the game so I’ve been here for a while now. You can expect the best me you’ve ever heard. I don’t have any release dates in mind right now but I’m just making music and enjoying myself in the studio and having fun. When I get to a place where I feel comfortable saying a date or all of that, people will definitely know. I have a few dream collaborations on that album that I want, but they say if you blow out your candle and make a wish you can’t tell people what you ask for or it won’t come true."^[18]

On November 28, 2011, on his birthday, Songz released his Inevitable EP to prepare for the release of his album. In February 2012, Songz will embark on his Anticipation 2our to promote his mixtape Anticipation 2 and to raise awareness of his new album.

Discography[link]

• I Gotta Make It (2005)
• Trey Day (2007)
• Ready (2009)
• Passion, Pain & Pleasure (2010)
• Chapter V (2012)

Tours[link]

• Passion, Pain & Pleasure Tour (headliner) (2010)
• OMG Tour (opening for Usher) (2010)
• Anticipation 2our (headliner) (2012)

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Trey Songz

• Official website
• Trey Songz at the Internet Movie Database

Howard Stern
Stern at WXRK in New York City, 2000
Born	Howard Allan Stern (1954-01-12) January 12, 1954 (age 58) Jackson Heights, New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Radio personality, television host, author, actor, photographer
Years active	1975–present
Political party	Libertarian during 1994 Governor of New York campaign
Spouse	Alison Berns (1978–2001; div.) Beth Ostrosky Stern (2008–present)
Website
www.howardstern.com

Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American radio personality, television host, author, actor and photographer best known for his radio show which was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2005. He gained wide recognition in the 1990s where he was labeled a "shock jock" for his outspoken and sometimes controversial style. Stern has been exclusive to Sirius XM Radio, a subscription-based satellite radio service, since 2006. The son of a former recording and radio engineer, Stern wished to pursue a career in radio at the age of five. While at Boston University he worked at the campus station WTBU before a brief stint at WNTN in Newton, Massachusetts.

He developed his on-air personality when he landed positions at WRNW in Briarcliff Manor, WCCC in Hartford and WWWW in Detroit. In 1981, he was paired with his current newscaster and co-host Robin Quivers at WWDC in Washington, D.C. Stern then moved to WNBC in New York City in 1982 to host afternoons until his firing in 1985. He re-emerged on WXRK that year, and became one of the most popular radio personalities during his 20-year tenure at the station. Stern's show is the most-fined radio program, after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued fines to station licensees for allegedly indecent material that totaled $2.5 million. Stern has won Billboard's Nationally Syndicated Air Personality of the Year award eight times, and is one of the highest-paid figures in radio.^[1]

Stern describes himself as the King of All Media for his ventures outside radio. Since 1987, he has hosted numerous late night television shows, pay-per-view events and home video releases. He embarked on a five-month political campaign for Governor of New York in 1994. His two books, Private Parts (1993) and Miss America (1995), spent 20 and 16 weeks respectively on The New York Times Best Seller list. The former was adapted into Private Parts (1997), a biographical comedy film that starred Stern and his radio show staff that earned $41.2 million in domestic revenue. Stern performs on its soundtrack which topped the Billboard 200 chart.

Early life and education[link]

Stern graduated from the College of Public Communications at Boston University in 1976.

Stern was born on January 12, 1954 into a Jewish family who lived in Jackson Heights, Queens in New York City.^[2][3] His parents Ben and Ray (née Schiffman) are children of Austro-Hungarian immigrants, and his sister Ellen is four years older than he.^[2] The family moved to the hamlet of Roosevelt on Long Island in 1955,^[4] where Stern developed an interest in radio at five years of age.^[5] While Ray was a homemaker and later an inhalation therapist,^[6][7] Ben was a co-owner of Aura Recording, Inc., a recording studio in Manhattan where cartoons and commercials were produced.^[8] When he made occasional visits with his father, Stern witnessed actors Wally Cox, Don Adams and Larry Storch voice his favorite cartoon characters,^[9][10] which influenced him to later talk on the air rather than play records.^[11] Ben was also an engineer at WHOM, a radio station in Manhattan.^[8] On completion of sixth grade, Stern left Washington-Rose Elementary School for Roosevelt Junior-Senior High School.^[12] In June 1969, the family moved to nearby Rockville Centre and Stern transferred to South Side High School.^[13]

Stern spent the first two of four years at Boston University in the College of Basic Studies.^[14] In 1973, he started to work at WTBU, the campus radio station where he spun records, read the news, and hosted interviews.^[14] He also hosted a comedy program with three fellow students called The King Schmaltz Bagel Hour.^[15] Stern gained admission to the School of Public Communications in 1974^[16] and earned a diploma in July 1975 at the Radio Engineering Institute of Electronics in Fredericksburg, Virginia which allowed him to apply for a first class FCC radio-telephone license.^[17][18] With the license, Stern made his professional debut at WNTN in Newton, Massachusetts, performing airshift, newscasting and production duties between August and December 1975.^[19] He graduated magna cum laude from Boston University in May 1976 with a degree in Communications^[3][14] and now funds a scholarship at the university.^[20]

Career[link]

Early professional radio career (1976–1981)[link]

After his graduation in 1976, Stern declined an offer to work evenings at WRNW, a progressive rock station in Briarcliff Manor, Westchester County, New York.^[21] He was unsure of his talent, and questioned his future in the professional industry. Stern took creative and media planning roles at Benton & Bowles, a New York advertising agency, followed by a job in selling radio time to advertisers.^[22] He realized the mistake of declining on-air work and contacted WRNW a second time where he agreed to work covering shifts over the Christmas holiday period.^[19][23] Stern was hired full time in 1977 and worked a four-hour midday shift, six days per week a $96 weekly salary.^[17] He subsequently worked as the station's production and program director for an increased salary of $250.^[19][24]

In 1979, Stern spotted an advertisement for a "wild, fun morning guy" at rock station WCCC in Hartford, Connecticut.^[25] He submitted a more outrageous audition tape with Robert Klein and Cheech and Chong records mixed with flatulence routines and one-liners.^[26] Stern was hired with no change in salary with a more intense schedule. After four hours on the air he voiced and produced commercials for another four. On Saturdays, following a six-hour show, he did production work for the next three. As the station's public affairs director he also hosted a Sunday morning talk show which he favoured.^[27] In the summer of the 1979 energy crisis, Stern held a two-day boycott of Shell Oil Company which attracted media attention.^[28] Stern left WCCC a year later after he was declined a pay increase.^[29] Fred Norris, the overnight disc jockey, has been Stern's producer and writer since 1981.^[30]

Management at rock outlet WWWW in Detroit, Michigan praised Stern's audition tape in their search for a new morning man.^[31] Stern was hired for the job which he started on April 21, 1980.^[13] He learned to become more open on the air and "decided to cut down the barriers...strip down all the ego...and be totally honest", he later told Newsday.^[32] His efforts earned him a Billboard award for "Album-Oriented Rock Personality of the Year For a Major Market" and the Drake-Chenault "Top Five Talent Search" title.^[33][34] The station however, ran into problems after Stern's quarterly Arbitron ratings had decreased while it struggled to compete with its stronger rock competitors. In January 1981, WWWW switched to a country music format much to Stern's dislike, who left the station soon after.^[35] He received offers to work at WXRT in Chicago and CHUM in Toronto, but did not take them.^[34][36]

Washington and WNBC New York (1981–1985)[link]

Stern moved to Washington, D.C. to host mornings at rock station WWDC on March 2, 1981.^[37][38] He wanted to develop his show further, and looked for a co-worker with a sense of humor to riff with on news and current events.^[39] The station paired Stern with Robin Quivers, a newscaster and consumer affairs reporter from WFBR in Baltimore.^[40] Though he felt restricted and controlled by management who enforced a strict format, Stern had the second highest rated morning radio program in January 1982.^[41][42] Impressed with his ratings success, NBC approached Stern with an offer to work afternoons at WNBC in New York City. After Stern signed a five-year contract worth $1 million in March,^[43] his relationship with WWDC management worsened,^[44] and his contract with the station was terminated on June 25. He had more than tripled the station's morning ratings during his stay.^[45] In its July issue The Washingtonian named Stern the area's best disc jockey.^[46] Stern released 50 Ways to Rank Your Mother, a comedy album of his radio bits. The record was re-released as Unclean Beaver in November 1994.^[47]

On April 2, 1982, a news report by Douglas Kiker on raunch radio featuring Stern aired on NBC Magazine.^[48] The piece stimulated discussion among NBC management to withdraw Stern's contract. When he began his afternoon program in September,^[49] management closely monitored Stern, telling him to avoid talk of a sexual and religious nature.^[50] In his first month, Stern was suspended for several days for "Virgin Mary Kong", a segment featuring a video game where a group of men pursued the Virgin Mary around a singles bar in Jerusalem.^[48] An attorney was hired to man a "dump button", and cut Stern off the microphone should potentially offensive areas be discussed. This became the task of program director Kevin Metheny, who Stern nicknamed "Pig Virus".^[48] On May 21, 1984, Stern made his first appearance on Late Night with David Letterman, launching him into the national spotlight.^[13] A year later he claimed the highest ratings at WNBC in four years with a 5.7% market share.^[51]

On September 30, 1985, Stern and Quivers were fired for what management termed "conceptual differences" regarding the show.^[52] "Over the course of time, we made a very conscious effort to make Stern aware that certain elements of the program should be changed...I don't think it's appropriate to say what those specifics were",^[53] said program director John Hayes, who Stern nicknamed "The Incubus". In 1992, Stern believed Thornton Bradshaw, chairman of WNBC's owner RCA, heard his "Bestiality Dial-a-Date" segment and ordered his firing.^[50] Stern and Quivers kept in touch with their audience throughout October and November where they toured club venues with a stage show.^[52]

K-Rock, early television endeavors and Fartman (1985–1992)[link]

Stern signed a contract with Infinity Broadcasting worth around $500,000^[54] and returned to afternoons on its New York rock station WXRK on November 18, 1985.^[52] The show moved to mornings on February 18, 1986 and entered national syndication on August 18 when WYSP in Philadelphia first simulcast the program.^[52] In October 1992, Stern became the first to have the number one morning radio show in New York and Los Angeles simultaneously.^[55] In the New York market The Howard Stern Show was the highest-rated morning program for seven consecutive years between 1994 and 2001.^[56] In 1994, Billboard magazine added the "Nationally Syndicated Air Personality of the Year" category to its annual radio awards based on entertainment value, creativity and ratings success.^[57] Stern was awarded the title from 1994 to 2002.^[58][59]

In May 1987, Stern recorded five television pilots for Fox when the network planned to replace The Late Show hosted by Joan Rivers.^[60] The series was never picked up; one executive having described the show as "poorly produced", "in poor taste" and "boring".^[61] Stern hosted his first pay-per-view event on February 27, 1988 named Howard Stern's Negligeé and Underpants Party.^[52] Over 60,000 homes purchased the two-hour special that grossed $1.2 million.^[62] On September 7, 1989, over 16,000 fans packed out Nassau Coliseum for Howard Stern's U.S. Open Sores, a live event that featured a tennis match between Stern and his radio show producer, Gary Dell'Abate.^[52] Both events were released for home video. From 1990 to 1992, Stern was the host of The Howard Stern Show, a Saturday night program on WWOR-TV. The series ran for 69 episodes to 65 markets nationwide.^[63] In February 1991, Stern released Crucified by the FCC, a collection of censored radio segments following the first fine issued to Infinity by the FCC over alleged indecency.^[64] He released a third video tape, Butt Bongo Fiesta, in October 1992 that sold 260,000 copies for a gross of over $10 million.^[64][65] He returned to Saturday night television that November with The Howard Stern "Interview", a one-on-one celebrity interview series on E!.^{[citation needed]}

Stern appeared at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards as Fartman, a fictional superhero that first appeared in the National Lampoon humor magazine series. According to the trademark he filed for the character that October, he first used Fartman in July 1981.^[66] Stern rejected multiple scripts for a proposed summer 1993 release of The Adventures of Fartman until a verbal agreement was reached with New Line Cinema.^[67] Screenwriter J. F. Lawton had prepared a script before relations soured over the film's rating, content and merchandising rights and the project was abandoned.^[68][69]

[edit] Private Parts, E! show and run for Governor (1993–1994)

In 1993, Stern signed a $1 million advance contract with Simon & Schuster to publish his first book.^[70] Co-authored with Larry Sloman and edited by Judith Regan, the release of Private Parts on October 7 saw its first printing of 225,000 copies being sold within hours of going on sale. It became the fastest-selling title in the history of Schuster after five days.^[71] In its eighth printing two weeks later, over one million copies had been distributed.^[65][70] Stern embarked on a book signing tour that attracted an estimated 10,000 fans at a Barnes & Noble store on Fifth Avenue in New York.^[70] In its first run, Private Parts spent 20 weeks on The New York Times Best-Seller list.^[72] Stern has written forewords for Steal This Dream (1998), a biography of Abbie Hoffman, Disgustingly Dirty Joke Book (1998) by Jackie Martling, Too Fat to Fish (2008) by Artie Lange, and Dear Mrs. Fitzsimmons: Tales of Redemption from an Irish Mailbox (2010) by Greg Fitzsimmons.

Stern hosted his second pay-per-view event, The Miss Howard Stern New Year's Eve Pageant, on December 31, 1993. It broke the subscriber record for a non-sports event previously held by a New Kids on the Block concert in 1990.^[65] Around 400,000 households purchased the event that grossed an estimated $16 million.^[73] Stern released the program on VHS in early 1994 as Howard Stern's New Year's Rotten Eve 1994. Between his book royalties and pay-per-view profits, Stern's earnings in the latter months of 1993 totalled around $7.5 million.^[74] In its 20th anniversary issue in 1993, Radio & Records named Stern the most influential air personality of the past two decades.^[75]

On March 21, 1994, Stern announced his candidacy for Governor of New York under the Libertarian Party ticket, challenging Mario Cuomo for re-election.^[76] He planned to reinstate the death penalty, stagger highway tolls to improve traffic flow, and limit road work to night hours.^[77] At the party's nomination convention in Albany on April 23, Stern won the required two-thirds majority on the first ballot, receiving 287 of the 381 votes cast (75.33%). James Ostrowski finished second with 34 votes (8.92%).^[78] To place his name on the November ballot, Stern was obliged to state his home address and to complete a financial disclosure form under the Ethics in Government Act of 1987. After declining to disclose his financial information, Stern was denied an injunction on August 2.^[79] He withdrew his candidacy two days later. Cuomo was defeated in the gubernatorial election on November 8 by George Pataki, who Stern backed. Pataki signed "The Howard Stern Bill" that limited construction on state roads to night hours in New York and Long Island, in 1995.^[80]

In June 1994, robotic cameras were installed at WXRK studios to film The Howard Stern Show for a condensed half-hour show on E!.^[81] Howard Stern ran for 11 years until the last taped episode aired on July 8, 2005.^[82] In conjunction with his move to satellite radio, Stern launched Howard Stern on Demand, a subscription video-on-demand service, on November 18.^[83] The service was relaunched as Howard TV on March 16, 2006.^[84]

[edit] Miss America and Private Parts film (1995–1997)

On April 3, 1995, three days after the shooting of singer Selena, Stern's comments regarding her death and Mexican Americans caused an uproar in the Hispanic community. He criticized her music and gunfire sound effects were played over her songs. "This music does absolutely nothing for me. Alvin and the Chipmunks have more soul...Spanish people have the worst taste in music. They have no depth".^[85] On April 6, Stern responded with a statement in Spanish, stressing his comments were made in satire and not intended to hurt those who loved her.^[86] A day later, Justice of the Peace Eloy Cano of Harlingen, Texas issued an arrest warrant on Stern for disorderly conduct.^[87]

In 1995, Stern signed a deal with ReganBooks worth $3 million to write his second book, Miss America.^[88] He wrote about his cybersex experiences on the Prodigy service, a private meeting with Michael Jackson, and his suffering with obsessive-compulsive disorder.^[89] Released on November 7, the book sold 33,000 copies at Barnes & Noble stores on the same day which set a new one-day record.^[90] Publishers Weekly reported over 1.39 million copies were sold by the year's end and ranked it the third best-selling book of 1995.^[91] Miss America spent a total of 16 weeks on The New York Times best-seller list.^[72]

Production for a film adaptation of Private Parts began in May 1996 with all shooting complete in four months.^[92] Its premiere was held at The Theatre at Madison Square Garden on February 27, 1997, where Stern performed "The Great American Nightmare" with Rob Zombie.^[93] Making its general release on March 7, Private Parts topped the box office sales in its opening weekend with a gross of $14.6 million, and went on to earn a total of $41.2 million in domestic gross revenue.^[94] The film holds a "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a website that aggregates film reviews. 79% of critics gave Private Parts a positive review based on a sample of 48 reviews, with an average score of 6.6 out of 10.^[95] For his performance, Stern won a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for "Favorite Male Newcomer" and was nominated for a Golden Satellite Award for "Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture (Comedy)" and a Golden Raspberry Award for "Worst New Star".^{[citation needed]} The soundtrack to Private Parts sold 178,000 copies in its first week of release, topping the Billboard 200 chart.^[96]

Stern filed a $1.5 million lawsuit against Ministry of Film Inc. in October 1997, claiming it recruited him for a film titled Jane starring Melanie Griffith while knowing it had insufficient funds. Stern, who was unpaid when production ceased, accused the studio of breach of contract, fraud and negligent representation.^[97] A settlement was reached in 1999 with Stern receiving $50,000.^[98]

Return to Saturday night television and productions (1998–2004)[link]

In August 1998, Stern returned to Saturday night television with The Howard Stern Radio Show.^[99] Broadcast across the country on CBS affiliates, it featured radio show highlights along with material unseen in his nightly E! show. The show competed for ratings with comedy shows Saturday Night Live on NBC and MADtv on Fox. Concerned with its risqué content, affiliates began to leave the show after two episodes.^[100] Making its launch on 79 stations on August 22, 1998, this number was reduced to 55 by June 1999.^[101] A total of 84 episodes were broadcast.^{[citation needed]} The final re-run aired on November 17, 2001, to around 30 markets.^[102][103]

In 1994, Stern launched the Howard Stern Production Company for original and joint production and development ventures. He intended to make a film adaptation of Brother Sam, the biography of the late comedian Sam Kinison.^[104] In September 1999, UPN announced the production of Doomsday, an animated science-fiction comedy series executively produced by Stern.^[105] Originally set for a 2000 release, Stern starred as Orinthal, a family dog.^[106] The project was eventually abandoned. From 2000 to 2002, Stern was the executive producer of Son of the Beach, a sitcom which ran for three seasons on FX. In late 2001, Howard Stern Productions was reportedly developing a new sitcom titled Kane.^[107] The pilot episode was never filmed. In 2002, Stern acquired the rights to comedy films Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979) and Porky's (1982). He filed a $100 million lawsuit in March 2003 against ABC and the producers of Are You Hot?, claiming the series was based on his radio segment called "The Evaluators". A settlement was reached on August 7.^[108]

Stern announced in early 2004 of talks with ABC to host a prime time interview special, which never materialized. In August 2004, cable channel Spike picked up 13 episodes of Howard Stern: The High School Years, a second animated series Stern was to executive produce.^[109] On November 14, 2005, Stern announced the completion of episode scripts and 30 seconds of test animations.^[110] Stern eventually gave the project up. In 2007, he explained the episodes could have been produced "on the cheap" at $300,000 each, though the quality he demanded would have cost over $1 million.^[111] Actor Michael Cera was cast as the lead voice.^[112]

[edit] Satellite radio and America's Got Talent (2004–present)

Following Stern's move to Sirius, he assembled the Howard 100 News team.

On October 6, 2004, Stern announced the signing of a five-year contract with Sirius Satellite Radio, a medium free from FCC regulations, that started in January 2006.^[113] His decision to leave terrestrial radio occurred in the aftermath of the controversy surrounding the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show in February that caused a crackdown on perceived indecency in broadcasting. The incident prompted tighter control over content by station owners and managers to which Stern felt "dead inside" creatively.^[114] Stern hosted his final broadcast on terrestrial airwaves on December 16, 2005.^[115] During his 20 years at WXRK his show had syndicated in 60 markets^[116][117] across the United States and Canada and gained a peak audience of 20 million listeners.^{[118][119][120]}

With an annual budget of $100 million for all production, staff and programming costs, Stern launched two channels on Sirius in 2005 named Howard 100 and Howard 101. He assembled the Howard 100 News team that covered stories about his show and those associated with it, and a new dedicated studio was constructed at Sirius' headquarters in New York.^[121] On January 9, 2006, the day of his first broadcast, Stern and his agent received 34.3 million shares of stock from the company worth $218 million for exceeding subscriber targets set in 2004.^[122] A second stock incentive was paid in 2007, with Stern receiving 22 million shares worth $82.9 million.^[123]

On February 28, 2006, CBS Radio (formerly Infinity Broadcasting) filed a lawsuit against Stern, his agent and Sirius. The suit claimed Stern had misused CBS broadcast time to promote Sirius for unjust enrichment during the last 14 months of his terrestrial radio contract.^[124][125] In a press conference held hours before the suit was filed, Stern said it was nothing more than a "personal vendetta" against him by CBS president Leslie Moonves.^[126] A settlement was reached on May 25, with Sirius paying $2 million to CBS for control of Stern's 20-year broadcast archives.^[127] In the same month, Time magazine included Stern in its Time 100 list.^[128] He also ranked seventh in Forbes' Celebrity 100 list in June 2006,^[129] and reappeared in 2011 at number 26.^[130]

Stern signed a new contract with Sirius to continue his show for five more years in December 2010.^[131] Following the agreement, Stern and his agent filed a lawsuit against Sirius on March 22, 2011, for allegedly failing to pay stock bonuses promised to them from the past four years while helping the company exceed subscriber growth targets. Sirius said it was "surprised and disappointed" by the suit.^[132] On April 17, 2012, New York Judge Barbara Kapnick "granted a SiriusXM motion for summary judgment, dismissing the lawsuit."^[133]

In May, Stern announced that he would be broadcasting on a reduced schedule, alternating between three-day and four-day working weeks.^[134] On December 15, 2011, Stern announced that he will replace Piers Morgan as a judge for the seventh season of America's Got Talent. Filming will take place in Newark, New Jersey at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and began in February 2012.^[135]

FCC fines[link]

From 1990 to 2004, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has fined owners of radio stations that carried The Howard Stern Show a total of $3.2 million for indecent programming.^[136]

Personal life[link]

Stern and Beth Ostrosky in 2011

Stern married his first wife, Alison (née Berns),^[137] on June 4, 1978 at Temple Ohabei Shalom in Brookline, Massachusetts.^[138] They have three daughters: Emily Beth (b. 1983), Debra Jennifer (b. 1986) and Ashley Jade (b. 1993).^[139] On October 22, 1999, Stern announced their decision to separate.^[140] The marriage ended in 2001 with an amicable divorce and settlement.^[137] In 2000, Stern began to date model Beth Ostrosky Stern, co-host of Casino Cinema from 2004 to 2007.^{[citation needed]} She also frequently appeared in the American edition of FHM.^[141] On February 14, 2007 Stern announced their engagement.^[137] They married on October 3, 2008, at Le Cirque restaurant in New York City.^[142]

While attending Boston University, Stern developed an interest in Transcendental Meditation, which he practices to this day.^[143] He credits it with aiding him in quitting smoking and achieving his goals in radio.^[144] Stern interviewed the late Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of the technique, twice.^{[citation needed]} Stern also plays on the Internet Chess Club, and has taken lessons from chess master Dan Heisman, although he has recently claimed to have quit playing. Howard's latest passion is photography, where he does private shoots for friends and secured his first paid 'gig' shooting a layout for Hamptons magazine in July 2011.^[145][146] Stern has also shot photographs for WHIRL magazine and the North Shore Animal League.^[147][148] Stern is frequently listed among the most influential contemporary Americans. In 2011, he was rated Forbes Magazines' 49th Most Powerful Celebrity.^[149]

Filmography[link]

Films[link]

Home video releases[link]

Television[link]

Discography[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Stern, Howard (1993). Private Parts. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-671-88016-3. 
• Stern, Howard (1995). Miss America. ReganBooks. ISBN 978-0-06-039167-6. 

References[link]

Sources[link]

• Stern, Howard (1993). Private Parts (1st ed.). Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-671-88016-3. 
• Colford, Paul (1997). Howard Stern: King of All Media (2nd ed.). St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-96221-0. 
• Lucaire, Luigi (1997). Howard Stern, A to Z: A Totally Unauthorized Guide. St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 978-0-312-15144-7. 
• Luerssen, John (2009). American Icon: The Howard Stern Reader. Lulu. ISBN 978-0-557-04204-3. 

External links[link]

Find more about Howard Stern on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Images and media from Commons
	News stories from Wikinews
	Quotations from Wikiquote

• Official Website
• The Howard Stern Show on Sirius XM Radio
• Howard Stern at the Internet Movie Database
• Howard Stern at AllRovi