7 /10 1 Votes
Created by Howard Stern Original language(s) English No. of episodes 69 Program creator Howard Stern Writers Howard Stern, Fred Norris | 7/10 Country of origin United States No. of seasons 2 First episode date July 1990 Original network WWOR-TV | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Opening theme "Midnight Love"
performed by Fifth Angel Presented by Howard Stern, Robin Quivers Similar The Howard Stern Ra, The Magic Hour, The Late Late Show with Tom, The Tonight Show wit, Hello Ross |
The Howard Stern Show is an American late-night television variety show, hosted by radio personality Howard Stern. It aired Saturdays, beginning at 11:00pm, from July 14, 1990 to August 8, 1992.
History
Stern was approached by Bob Woodruff, vice president of program development at WWOR-TV, in early 1990. He agreed to host a weekly late night television show at a production and salary budget of $100,000. Episodes were filmed at WWOR's studio, 9 Broadcast Plaza, in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Howard Stern Show made its launch on July 14, 1990 with four Saturday night pilots. The program entered national syndication in January 1991 by All American Television. Unlike in the pilots he shot for Fox three years earlier, Stern enjoyed greater creative freedom. The WWOR show featured outrageous segments including "Guess Who's the Jew" and "Lesbian Dating Game". A critic of the Los Angeles Times described the show as "at once incredibly funny and incredibly vile." In the New York market, The Howard Stern Show often doubled those of Saturday Night Live on NBC during the half-hour the two programmes overlapped. In Los Angeles on KCOP, the show managed to attract a 34.4% market share at 12:30 am in the males aged 18 to 49 demographic.
In July 1992, The Howard Stern Show came to an end. "We made this business decision, even though the show had high ratings, because the cost exceeded the revenue," a WWOR spokeswoman explained. A total of 69 episodes were broadcast to 65 markets across the country; the last airing on August 8, 1992.
Because the show's flagship station, WWOR, broadcasts on channel 9 in the New York market, Stern and his staff generally refer to it as "The Channel 9 Show."