Released in 1990 1992
Executive Producers - Dan Forman and Robert Woodruff
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.
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."
