Howard Stern Hits Canadian Satellite Airwaves

2/6/2006 8:25 PM PT

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


Controversial U.S. radio host Howard Stern's Sirius satellite radio show made its Canadian debut Monday, with his usual raunchy fare and the claim that the Canadian government is no fan of his brand of entertainment.

Stern informed listeners it was the first day his show was airing on Sirius Canada, nearly a month after his U.S. debut.

"That whole Canadian Sirius thing is weird," he said. "Like on the one hand they want us because they know that we sell radios, but on the other hand they kinda want to keep us low-key because the Canadian government hates us."

The shock jock's on-air sidekick Robin Quivers observed that the Canadian carrier didn't want to have to field expected complaints from listeners.

Stern also put a caller on the air who said he was listening in Canada but via the gray market, meaning an unauthorized receiver picking up the U.S. signal after the customer provides a fake across-the-border address.

The talk show, which airs on the Howard 100 channel, had no shortage ofprofanity and political incorrectness. There were also commercials despiteSirius being a subscription-based service.

The self-proclaimed King of all Media was dropped by CHOM-FM in Montreal in1998 and in 2001 by Q-107 in Toronto after thousands of complaints to theCanadian Broadcast Standards Council -- the industry's voluntary watchdogagency.

Sirius Canada has said it does not expect Stern to run into censorship troublethis time because his satellite show is a pay service and has developed speciallockout technology for customers.

Stern announced last year that he was jumping from conventional radio tosatellite to avoid the jurisdiction of the U.S. Federal CommunicationsCommission. He's also taken potshots in the past at Canadian regulatorybureaucrats he said lacked a sense of humor.

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