HOWARDGATE SPILLS OVER
On a day in which Ad Age reports that Stern’s price tag for commercials on his Sirius Satellite Radio show has fallen to between $5-6,000 from a terrestrial high of $30k, the groundbreaking shock jock’s in-house news department has helped hasten the downfall of N.Y. Post radio reporter John Mainelli.
Stern had disputed Mainelli’s widely reported story that Citadel’s Farid Suleman and Sirius chief Mel Karmazin were cooking up a scheme to return Howard to terrestrial radio on several of the Disney/ABC properties acquired by Citadel (see hitsdailydouble.com, 9/19). Mainelli cited Inside Radio as the source of the rumors, and the fact it’s owned by Clear Channel, which has an interest in Sirius competitor XM, infuriated Stern, as did the revelation that the reporter was also a consultant for several terrestrial radio stations.
Stern’s in-house news department reporter Steve Langford then asked N.Y. Post PR whiz Howard Rubinstein about the alleged conflict, which led the paper’s editors to give Mainelli a choice between his Post gig and the consultancy. Which turned out to be a no-brainer.
Sirius stock has fallen from 4.10 to 3.90 in the week since the reports surfaced. Even Stern's father Ben speculated on-air that someone was leaking the stories in order to downgrade shares of the satellite broadcaster, maybe even to short-sell at a profit.
“I consider myself fired,” Mainelli told Radar magazine’s website last Friday. “I can’t live on what I earn from the Post.”
Mainelli is now blaming Stern for his firing, and insists the Inside Radio report will eventually have credence. He also insists his editors have always been aware of his sideline, and that he was careful not to write about anything with which he had direct involvement.
“He may not be the pop cultural force he once was in radio,” JL Media advertising exec Rich Russo told Ad Age. “But he’s still up there with Guglielmo Marconi and Alan Freed as the three most important men in the history of radio… and one of them invented it.”
