By By Jim Shea

He announced his run for New York governor while dressed in drag. He was fired from his job after running a sketch called “Bestiality Dial-A-Date.” He stopped a man from committing suicide while on the air. These are some of the highlights of Howard Stern’s long and lucrative career on the radio.

Controversy is no stranger to the Howard Stern Radio Show, but that doesn’t seem to bother Stern’s legion of loyal fans. Stern is planning to make his exodus from terrestrial radio to satellite radio by the beginning of next year, and many of his fans will be joining him when he makes his move.

Stern is undoubtedly the most recognized radio personality in broadcast history. He introduced the “shock jock” ideology in radio. A Long Island native, Stern debuted back in 1978 as a humble disc jockey in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y. However, it would be his stint with WXRK in New York where he officially made his impact all across the nation.

Stern, and his crew of Robin Quivers, Fred Norris, Gary Dell’Abate and others, produced one of the hottest shows on radio as the Howard Stern Radio Stern reached No. 1 in many of the major markets, including New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia. Some of the most memorable moments on the show involved members of the “Wack Pack”-a band of misfits that include the likes of Beetlejuice, Wendy the Retard and Jeff the Drunk.

However, despite all the years of outrageous and vulgar comedy on the Howard Stern Radio Show, Stern felt it was time for to go into bigger territory. In October 2004, Stern announced that he signed a five-year, $500 million contract with Sirius Satellite Radio.

One major reason Stern decided to make the jump to satellite radio is because of the Federal Communication Commission’s campaign to curb obscenities from broadcast radio. Stern received backlash from the FCC before, being fined several times by the Commission, and costing him over $1 million. Still, Stern is unfazed by the FCC’s attempts to remove him from the air. He said on his radio show that the FCC won the war, but his move to Sirius will finally get the FCC off his back.

Although Stern will be leaving conventional radio, many stations are prepared for when he takes his leave. Infinity Broadcasting, which owns WXRK, will be replacing Stern with former Van Halen vocalist David Lee Roth. In the west coast markets, people will be hearing comedian Adam Carolla. Not only will Infinity Broadcasting replace Stern with Lee Roth and Carolla, but the company plans to introduce a brand new format known as “Free FM.”

“Free FM” promises a format where talk-show hosts have more independence while hosting their shows. However, some analysts are seeing this as a high-risk move by Infinity Broadcasting. In New York, “Free FM” will be replacing WXRK’s K-Rock format, a station that has been playing rock music for the past two decades. It’s unknown how rock listeners will respond to “Free FM,” but Stern fans aren’t sticking around to see how Lee Roth or Carolla will do while replacing the “King of All Media.”

Sirius already boasts over three million subscribers and that number is rising. Many people in the broadcast industry see Stern’s move to Sirius as a huge breakthrough for satellite radio. It’s not that easy to introduce new technology to the public, but it’s certain that Howard Stern is all Sirius needs to finally put satellite radio on the map.