howard stearn, now there's a reference for ya! what a complete waste of breathable air!

Is that the anniversary party?

Anyone want to make a wager that Jeff the Drunk isn't conscious at the end of either of his 5 hour appearances? That guy is disgusting.

Hey wow. Sessa hawking the No idea Tavern AGAIN! Makes one wonder...

Howard Stern, he's still, after all these years, on somewhere and people still listen to him?
A blast from the tabloid past.

just drove by and there was the man, gimpy arm and all, outside smoking. def stopping by tonight to see what's going on.

Millions still listen to Howard on Sirius...ever hear of it?

Howard Stern, I so glad he's still working but living the New York - New Jersey Metropolitan area where he was a presence of fairly high profile, he's basically disappeared.

Up to about four years ago when he still was on local broadcast radio (then his home base, by the way), you would walk into places and hear show in the background, his on air antics made the news, people in conversation would commented about the things he did on shows both radio and cable TV. He would occasionally show up on The Late Show with David Letterman.

Now... nothing at all.

Now, he’s like a band that had a long string of major hits ten years ago, who’s music you can only buy now by going their website. If you're still actively a fan, you know where to find it, if not, you're not likely to happen upon it by chance.

Howard on Sirius*, yeah, I know he’s consigned there, after most of the broadcast radio stations dropped him for pushing his luck that resulted in multiple fines and in his field not being talked about anymore is much like having died professionally.
Being on subscription or pay radio is akin to professionally being on life support because no one I know who regularly listened to his show would pay to get any satellite cast service just to get his show.

Considering where he was in popularity five to ten years ago, I think he blew it… big time.
He went from being a Star to just having a job.

* Sirius at that moment when he signed was the recently arrived other guys to compete with XM. Read still new and hungry for any talent they could get.

jeezy creezy GDA, is there anything you do care for that Sam Sessa posts about? perhaps a poached egg and big game hunting in the late afternoon. that sounds bolly!

in all siriusness, (couldn't resist) Howard Stern probably did the smartest thing to keep his career afloat that he could. let's draw a comparison between his program and "dinosaur rock". while arguably not the proper term, that’s essentially what Howard Stern has turned into.

I don't believe he's any less of a star than he was 5 years ago, it's just his range of it that's been affected. To continue with making a comparison, R.E.O. Speedwagon, or Electronic Light Orchestra aren't burning up the airwaves with the new singles they put out, but they're certainly still selling out the venues they do play at.

It’s all about finding and keeping with your niche these days, especially with such a segmented piece of the market like Howard Stern has. Just because he’s not in a free radio situation, doesn’t make him any less available. If people want to hear him, they will. And a lot of people have. I could also make the argument that while Soulja Boy isn’t exactly what you’d call the pinnacle of musicianship and creativity (based on pure speculation), you can’t not argue that he’s not relevant to his own audience.

Hey GDA, you may not be looking for it, but Howard's profile is still pretty high these days. He's been on Letterman at least 5 times since his move to Sirius, his weekly "best of Howard TV" show airs Friday nights on Mojo, and the show made national headlines just a couple weeks ago when sidekick Artie Lange went beserk and "quit" on air. He's still just as big a national star as he ever was...

GDA - Howard chose to leave terrestrial radio, he wasn't losing the audience and he wasn't "dropped" as you say. In fact, read the Wall Street Journal article from Sat. The radio stations are struggling since he left while Sirius has gained millions of listeners. Every day on Google Trends, you will see keywords from the people on Howard's show. I think you're the one who may be a little off of people's radar.

Ugh. GDA, You are correct in the fact that Howard has gone the way of the dinosaur in regards to where he was, tens of millions of listeners. Now, he's hovering at just over 5 million and that's how many SUBSCRIBERS sirius has. Not how many actually listen to him. There is a difference. What's the difference? Howard in effect took a section 8 voucher. He chose the guaranteed monthly payment. PJ is right in the effect that Howard took the oodles of money and job security, (although his job was never ever in doubt on public radio) and chose private radio. But going from the nightly news (Howard's at it again!) to google trends (seriously, that's you're argument?) is a huge drop in public perception. I personally, was wondering what the heck ever happened to him. Finding his crew taking part in nights at the No idea Tavern are pretty lame. I actually feel even more sorry that those guys have to take gigs like that, but hey their happy, I guess.

Whoa, I wouldn't say that jeff the drunk is part of his "crew".

Artie on the other hand sells out AC and Vegas anytime he puts on a show. That's a bit different than these type of appearances that the wack packers do.

I always liked the junkies more than howard but he does put on an entertaining show.

If your moniker is Jeff the drunk (from Howard Stern fame) And I'm not singling out Sessa, then you're the "crew" du jour.

Anon - Jeff def. does not fall under Howard's "crew" and would know that if you bothered to listen to the show. In radio terms, the "crew" would be those that are in the studio and on the air every show. While I'm certain Jeff wishes he were considered part of the "crew," he ain't.

Google Trends track what every day people are talking about and looking for, not what the news media puts out. Maybe you want someone telling you what the news is? I know I don't.

Artie gets paid over $70,000 for one night of work. I am pretty sure that Jeff gets paid a lot less, probably $1000 for a whole weekend's worth of sitting around. Artie makes more money on the road than he does on the show. Those guys take gigs like that to support themselves not for the fun of it.

Also, remember Sanjaya from last year. That sure brought Howard a lot of attention from the mainstream news. I don't think he had as much to do with it as he likes to say but the media sure bought into it.

PJ Pants and Locust Point Man, just for curiosity I checked out Jeff the Drunk’s MySpace page using the link supplied by Sessa . It contains: “About me: I'm a permanent member of the Wack Pack from the Howard Stern Show on Sirius 100.”

That sounds suspiciously like he’s part of Howard’s crew or he thinks he is.

If you really think google trends 'tracks' what people are talking about or what they search, then this conversation is over. I know this will crush your little world, but they don't. I work in IT.

It's another tool to move traffic to a certain website say containing Howard Stern or Miley Cyrus. It has nothing to do with 'the people'. Sorry to sound Area 51 and what not, but jeez, some of you people are so gullible. No wonder those Nigerian email scams are still floating around. They work. BTW, PJ I've just come into some money, what I need you to do is write me a check...

You're gullible if you believe the bs from the nightly newscast is what everyone is talking about...those stories are decided on by producers trying to come up with what THEY think is news. I'm in PR and a quick search finds that Howard's name was mentioned in nearly 5,500 articles in the last 2 years alone (no that's not using Google), so you must be missing what everyone else is talking about.

pj pants,

where did that 55 hundred count come from?
There has to be a lot of redundancy in that list. Exceedingly few articles are listed just once on any search engine. Gullibility is yours if you think so.
Yes, producers select what appears on the air, usually with the basic premise that this what people want to hear about. Apparently Howard mustn’t be deemed worthy to be a lead story anymore to attract viewers or even second level story. How many of those articles rise above are passing reference or mere filler?
As PR person, maybe should work for Howard so his name will really be in peoples faces several times year, like back in the day.

It's hardly a search engine. It's a paid service for PR professionals so they can track client media coverage. There are NO duplicates and all are legitimate publications. In fact, I even added in some keywords so no "Howard K. Stern" mentions would be included. It's a legit number.

Howard couldn't care less if he's in the papers. It's his fans that try to set the record straight when false things are being said.

pj pants,

I'll accept 5,500 count, but, I cannot believe any public person, including Howard, doesn't care if he is in the news or at least in the print medium. When your no longer before the public in some form, hopefully favorable, you're ability to increase your audience size is limited to word of mouth of your core fans.
As PR person you should have a greater grasp that career opportunities increases when people are still aware you're out there.
Remember we are talking about the self proclaimed "King of All Media".

maybe it's old news...
http://baltimore.craigslist.org/bfs/858050653.html

yes, both bars are for sale, not due to lack of business, but because of parking issues that are going to take place in the city in the next year or two.

If you do not have a permit for your car you will not be able to park in Federal Hill from 6pm-7am any day of the week. I figured I would try to get out while I was ahead.

Jason

Wow. Did anyone else hear about this parking issue? That's pretty heavy stuff... I guess I won't be frequenting any bars in Federal Hill - ever again.

it seems to be true.

good call jason, seeing as how your bars are the only moderately successful ones surrounded by area 30/A/19 the new restrictions are going to make things ...interesting.

Thanks Evan,
I met with Ed Reisinger yesterday and the SBIC (neighborhood association), and nothing came out of it. Federal Hill neighborhood associations are out to crush the bars. (one man's opinion). Within a year, there will be no street parking allowed to anybody in Federal Hill without a permit after 6pm. Then once Federal Hill goes zero tolerance, it will only be a matter of time before Locust Point is the same way. There will be a fire sale for bars in South Baltimore.

Not to mention once Locust Point finishes its transformation into whatever it is that the BDC and developers feel it should be, it'll siphon even more business from the area. Yeehaw.

It's curious we've returned to this posting.
I wish I thought of the following earlier.

Jeff the Drunk at No Idea Tavern is a perfectly named venue for this, ahem, celebrity.

Jason - do you have thoughts on the best way to keep bars AND residents happy? Parking has become increasingly difficult in Federal Hill, but I completely agree with you that an overzealous response would be detrimental to local businesses and by extension, the neighborhood at large.

Hopefully there's a solution out there that would work for everyone.

BA-

I think I have part of the solution. I do believe that the residents need a place to park. I feel that everybody who pays rent or pays taxes and their car is registered and insured in the city should be able to park ANYWHERE in the city plus one visitor's pass.

I think that there should be pay boxes on every block that costs $1 an hour for visitors to park but if they keep feeding the meter, they should be able to park. I will refund any money that is paid by my customers.

I believe that the city should have a paid trolley system. As of right now there is a planned free one, but it's only going to go to West Street Parking Garage. Eventually it needs to go to Wells Street and down Fort Avenue and they need to charge people a $1 to ride it.

The city needs to build more parking lots/ garages, the make money, a lot of money.

The city can charge for advertising on the trolleys, on the busses, and in the garages.

I think that Charles and Light Street need to be one way streets with angled parking.

If you have a driveway, you should not get a visitor's pass.

The city should encourage people to come to the city, the more, the merrier. Plus it's all about $$$.

Thanks,

Mayor Jason Zink

The solution would appear be to build a parking garage, but who give up (sale) the real estate, and would any of the neighbors approve it assuming ordinance allowed or could be changed to allow for such a thing?

The basic reaction would probably along the lines of great, but not next door.

There are a lot of places to put a parking garage, especially near Wells Street or even at the end of Heath Street, next to the train tracks. I am sure you could even fit something off of Fort Avenue. It doesn't even need to be a garage, just a parking lot, ie. Thomas Johnson Elementary school. The city could turn every school parking lot into paid parking lots and then make money off of them.

I am a resident of Federal Hill, and while sometimes the parking can be an issue, it is something you realize when you move into the neighborhood. I would like to see something done, but not at the expense of losing the multitude of Bars and Restaurants as well as shops that are a part of the neighborhood. This parking proposal sounds a bit heavy handed. I remember that corner of Light and Fort before Don't Know, and certainly like it a lot better with a viable business running. I will be emailing Ed Reisinger as well, there needs to be a better solution.

I live in federal hill and one of the biggest problems in my neighborhood is abuse of the guest permit passes. There are many people who have two, three, or more cars who illegally park them using the guest permits. Allegedly there are certain members of the neighborhood association that have multiple permits for multiple vehicles which just stinks because I share a car with my partner and it really peeves me when I can't find a place to park because some schmuck has three cars parked on my street. If you want three cars, either get a garage, or move out to the county....anyway.....I wish the city would do something about abuse of the permit system...

Jason,

Even the parking lot idea would necessarily happen if someone, like a developer for a condominiums or a national retail chain seeking a location out bids for the empty lots.
The national retail chain store would discourage non customer parking on insurance liability induced prohibitions.

That big fat abandoned crack den at the end of Heath could accommodate a parking garage AND a lot outside of it. But I'm guessing luxury condos/townhomes are in that particular spot's future though (at least, they probably wear about a year ago). Call it something like "Heath St. Reserve" or "The Homes at Heath Place"

ellen is pretty exactly right about permit abuses too, 4 cars per house, each with a permit and a house guest permit - which frequently a house will have multiple guest passes = a total lack of spots, period. People complain about not finding a spot when it's more than likely related to the simple fact that even on a given weekday parking can be impossible to find after 7pm and it has absolutely nothing to do with non-resident parkers. The same can be said for pretty much every yuppie neighborhood in the city.

Hell I'd be in total support of a residential parking garage if it were cheap (but then people would b*tch about that too), 20 bucks for a res. permit that allows you to park anywhere in the area, if you want to use the garage for "assured" parking an additional like 20-30 a month. People could park their H3's and Explorers and save everyone a huge amount of pain, would also probably reduce the amount of side view mirrors we all lose on a regular basis.

anyway this is way off topic from the original post, I'll keep my opinions to my beer.

Even the parking lot idea would necessarily happen if someone
Should read
Even the parking lot idea would NOT necessarily happen if someone

I envision and agree with the parking lot structure idea. I also envision Fed. Hill choosing the cheapest way possible to clear out the city. Buying, building, maintaining, insuring, staffing (yes, having all those cars in one spot is a thief's dream) It would cost more then a dollar to ride a trolley, it would take an act of God for the city to implement said trolley system. Jason I think you need to put forth the worst plan imaginable, then when the city scoffs, show them the parking garage plan, then it will happen. But then again, you are following the smartest plan, you're getting out. Canton is next.

Can't say i agree with every suggestion here, but still, someone should send this thread to the city and the neighborhood associations.

One issue that jason touched on a bit are the different parking rules in the different zones. I believe area 9 tightened their restrictions several years ago, which pushed more nonresident parking into area 19.

Ellen, i completely agree about parking pass abuses. I think there's even more to it than what you mentioned. I've seen legal (?) parking passes that looked like they were photocopied on a xerox machine. Ridiculous.

Sam, hope it's ok that this thread went off on a tangent. But this is a pretty interesting discussion.

Sam, what is your take? Also, have you heard anything about the proposed parking permits in Federal Hill?

Gang, I'm probably not going to be able to weigh in on this until tomorrow. I'm working on a big piece today for Tuesday's paper. But I'll get on this ASAP.