Howard Stern Says Podcasting is for Losers

I have been a long time fan of Howard Stern but his age is starting to show. The bitterness that some traditional broadcasters have towards Internet Broadcasting amazes me.

In this clip Howard claims that podcasters are losers and no one is making money. He also claims that its pathetic that we make "Pennies" from Amazon clips.

The reality is that most Podcasters wont make money or have a large audience but there is a tremendous amount of people out there making a decent living.

The reality is that there are plenty of Podcasters / Internet Broadcasters making a very good living.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHdwbN_pKQw&app=desktop

Wow talk about out of touch. Stern has been in a bubble for 25 years. If it wasnt for Karmazin having a man crush on him he ass would have been out on the streets. He was great for many years but now is totally touch. but what else would you expect from a 62 year old man who makes 500 million a year.

The dude is losing it!

He has no idea what a podcast is. He probably saw some youtube video one time and thinks thats a podcast. There are plenty of non celebrity podcasters making a great living. Im sure some of them being on the IAIB.

The best part of the rant was when he said we should go into a small market radio station and get a job there and make some money. OK Howard its not 1978 anymore. things dont work that way.

He has turned into everything he hated.

I am a huge Howard Stern fan myself and as somebody who studied radio broadcasting and earned a degree in the field I completely disagree with his stance. Of course I am extremely biased since I am a podcaster. It doesn't matter if he thinks I am a loser. All that matters is that my audience is loyal and they love downloading my show every week. If podcasting is for losers why are so many radio hosts now offering their content on demand in podcast format?

This is clearly a man that doesn't understand how the technology and the paradigm has shifted. I almost feel sorry for him.

I am shocked that he isn't calming he invented Podcasting.

I did college radio and was hoping to have a future in broadcasting. There is no money in radio. Those days are over if you want to be an on air talent. I Podcast for fun not money. there are plenty of people out there making money podcasting. Tom Merritt, Brian Brushwood, Leo Laporte, Andrew Zarian just to name a few. I guess they are all losers that couldnt make it in radio according to old man stern.

This mentality has existed in broadcasting for a long time. Many guys on top look down at weekenders. Many weekenders look down at the "Pay for Play" guys. It just shows you how out of touch some people are.

This is a guy who left to go to satellite. who has satellite radio anymore?

The podcasting community has allowed itself to be so overrun with consultants and success coaches that it's going to be hard to defend itself. At one level, Howard is right. Terrestrial radio is here to stay for a while. Satellite radio? I do not know ONE person who has a satellite radio and regularly listens to it. There must be quite a few listeners or Sirius XM would not be wasting the kind of money they are on Howard.

And you guys can lay off that "old man" stuff. I hope you have the privilege of living to his ancient age. And beyond. Not everyone gets to do that.

The future is internet brodcasting and podcasting. This is why: personal current experience. I buy time a Orlando's most important Spanish Radio that I have been buying time for the last 10 years and what I have been noticing is how low caller interction has become on a mostly talk format BUT if the station audio stream goes down for what ever reason people just call to the lines to prostest that the audio stream is down. So if you don't have your typical regular caller from the car, house or work calling in and the one that lost audio stream calling someone has a problem PLUS the constant change of Radio Broadcasters at radio stations don't help much either. Internet podcasting is the way to go period.

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Originally Posted by mcphillips

The podcasting community has allowed itself to be so overrun with consultants and success coaches that it's going to be hard to defend itself. At one level, Howard is right. Terrestrial radio is here to stay for a while. Satellite radio? I do not know ONE person who has a satellite radio and regularly listens to it. There must be quite a few listeners or Sirius XM would not be wasting the kind of money they are on Howard.

And you guys can lay off that "old man" stuff. I hope you have the privilege of living to his ancient age. And beyond. Not everyone gets to do that.

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Howards issue is that Podcasts are taking viewers away from his show. Also he no longer can charge the rate he wants for ads.

Howards been doing this for years. He talks crap about anyone who he thinks is taking away his audience. Im willing to put money on him having a podcast by next year. His boys Adam and Dr. Drew are making a killing doing podcasts.

The reality is that there is some truth to what Howard is saying. Most podcasters will never make money and shouldn't expect to make money. Most podcasts are not every good. They lack everything from talent to decent audio quality.

if you are a 35 year vet of broadcasting and hear one of these guys you might be insulted also. With that said Howard has many friends in podcasting and knows how successful someone can be doing it. They dont make Howard Stern money but who does? Howard has a problem with anything thats competition He will crap all over anything he feels might take away from his broadcast.

Look, he’s Howard Stern…at this stage of his life it doesn’t matter how out of touch he is. He got into broadcasting at a time when radio mattered and talent was getting paid. It’s a totally different world now.

I’ve been an independent broadcaster since 1998…I would always say that I was like the Rodney Dangerfield of radio, “no respect.”:) However, radio’s naivety in believing that my program would never last, or was too niche to be anything other than weekend programming was, in reality, a desirable “disadvantage” to have as an entrepreneur (which is what we all are). It offered me the opportunity to grow my brand on my own terms. I was given carte blanche to use the studios, transmitters, call letters and the ratings of guys like Howard to sell a product(my show) that I owned, which, at the time, was incomprehensible to anyone in radio, including Howard Stern who called my program an “infomercial”…But I knew as soon as he said that, that I had arrived.:)

Today, I’m a full time Internet broadcaster, and I know some well known people from traditional broadcasting who still can’t figure out how I do what I do. I’m fine with people like Howard Stern saying the podcasters are losers…Remember, one of the best opportunities you can be given in life is to be underestimated.

..."overrun with consultants" is a bit of a gross overstatement. Like Howard, you also operate in a bubble. Most podcasters will never come into contact with any podcasting how-to show or entrepreneur podcast. We just operate in a niche that sees that stuff a lot. There's nothing to defend, podcasting is great *because* of its lack of barrier to entry. Yes, there is a bunch of garbage but the good stuff does well and it's awesome to see new approaches to media that back in the day and probably right now, Howard would respect. He got everyone in podcasting talking about him. Just doing what he's always done;) He'll have a podcast soon enough.

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Originally Posted by rayortega

Like Howard, you also operate in a bubble.

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That's a pretty rude comment about someone who has given willingly of his time to many people.

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Originally Posted by mcphillips

That's a pretty rude comment about someone who has given willingly of his time to many people.

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Mike, you’re the best! I’ve only met a handful of people in my life who are so willing to take time out of their lives to help others the way that you do. I for one am grateful for your expertise and willingness to freely share it with all of us.

I remember hearing Howard rant on websites back in the 90s. That he wouldn't get one, didn't care about the web, etc. So it doesn't surprise me that he has come out with this stance. That and as has been discussed already... he is partially right and this is what he has always done and continues to get groups of people talking about his show by taking them on directly.

I think we all can agree that Howard is in the business of getting a "rise" out of people, and his remarks in the video show us that he's still one of the best in that department. As a podcaster of 8 years I wince when I hear him use the word "loser" to describe our ranks. But prior to my years as a podcaster I spent more than 35 years as a radio broadcaster. I share with Howard the experience of working the small wattage, fuzzy signal, No-where-ville radio homes that used to be the pre-requisite to moving up to radio jobs that paid you more and made you feel better about looking people in the eye when they asked what you do for a living.


I don't want to pretend to be Howard's brain, but I think he was coming from that old paradigm that said you "pay your dues" before calling yourself a radio broadcaster. He hinted that much when he said there are folks in his own workplace who don't belong on the air. I'm old enough to remember when one had to pass an FCC test before opening a mic. Nobody dared dream of buying a microphone on Friday and declaring himself a broadcaster on Monday. Old-timers get a little touchy because they believed they were standing on the shoulders of those who came before them, and since they don't see that same connection today they feel the system has been compromised.


The podcaster's path is different- no better or worse. I'm as excited right now about podcasting as I was many years ago playing records on my first job in Northeastern Pennsylvania. I salute all of you for the great work you're doing, and will do in the years to come.

I wish us all the best!!

As a forget radio worker who never had to pass the FCC test, but spent around 20 years in the business, I used to feel like people needed to work their way up and pay their dues...

Unfortunately that is backward thinking. There are a lot of people that paid their dues that don't belong on air. There are a lot that haven't and absolutely belong on air. It's the same with every industry. Why not take the best and brightest and move them up the ranks post those that don't belong but are there simply because they outlasted the others?