After disastrous ratings, CBS radio has dismissed Howard Stern's replacement, former Van Halen frontman, David Lee Roth. When Stern left for Sirius satellite radio earlier this year, Roth went on the air in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Dallas and other cities as his replacement. Other Stern affiliates were turned over to TV and radio veteran Adam Carolla, formerly of The Man Show and Loveline. It seemed odd that CBS radio would hire Roth, a man with no radio experience, to host a show which would air in the biggest markets in the nation. Their move has backfired, and it looks like he will be replaced by XM's Opie and Anthony. O&A were fired by CBS radio 4 years ago and currently air on XM's High Voltage channel 202 along with fellow New York radio hosts Ron and Fez. Greg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia will be on XM 5 hours per day, and 3 hours of that will be on broadcast stations. Upon hearing the news, Howard Stern appeared bitter, stating that this shows that O&A have failed on satellite radio. I think that this move will only help O&A and XM, convincing people to pay for the service to hear the whole program. Only 10% of Stern's audience has followed him to satellite radio. XM shares are around $25 per share, while Sirius is around $5. Some thought that Sirius stock would soar after Stern's arrival in January, but just the opposite has happened. Sirius has put all their eggs in one basket with Stern, which was a mistake. XM concentrates on improving many aspects of their programming, from sports, talk, comedy, and music. XM is a multi faceted service, which will come out the winner in the long run. On a personal note, I like a lot of O&A's material, but some of it crosses the line, and is too mean spirited. Their sidekick Jim Norton, is an aquired taste, whom not all listeners will appreciate. About 70% of the time I like O&A, but the other 30% I just turn off. I prefer Ron and Fez, since they are funny and edgy, but yet they do not feature the cringe humor which is rampant on O&A. I'd like to see more shows added to XM 202, perhaps the Indianapolis team of Bob and Tom.
