There was a time that Howard Stern was radio’s biggest, most controversial voice. He created buzz nearly every day. Today, as radio has mostly stayed away from any controversial hosts, and Stern apologizes for his past, that controversial audio voice is now Joe Rogan. However, Rogan’s home is not radio, it’s Spotify.
Rogan’s 3-hour interviews are watched and heard by millions. He interviews who he wants and everyone wants to be interviewed by him. Rogan has also become a target for those who expect him to conform to their way of doing things. They believe he has no business interviewing anyone that has a differing opinion on COVID-19 or the COVID vaccine. Others dig deep into his past to find clips, paste them together, and try to have him canceled.
Rogan rolls on. His fans keep tuning in. And that irks people even more.
This latest news that his original deal with Spotify may have been worth nearly double what was first reported is sure to anger his haters even more.
The New York Times reports that Spotify signed Rogan for $200 million over 3 1/2 years, not the $100 million that was widely reported when the deal was first signed. So while many media outlets continue to take shots at Rogan, and artists like Neil Young take a stand against him, Rogan rolls his brinks truck all the way up to the bank.
If the New York Times article about Rogan’s salary is correct, audio’s biggest star becomes a free agent toward the end of 2023. Will radio become a bidder?
In answer to the question “Will radio be a bidder?” Sure! Why not? Consider that when Rush Limbaugh died, he was reportedly making $85 million a year. That’s more than Rogan. Has iHeart been able to equal Rush’s success with Clay & Buck? I doubt it. So in 2023, iHeart offers Rogan $250 million for 3 years, and they gain a marketable force for their radio stations as well as the #1 podcast for their podcast network. Rogan gets even bigger distribution because the on-air platform gets him even more audience than the podcast.
Rogan will never be on any FCC policed medium. Can you imagine a PD, or one of these old, washed up consultants trying to tell Rogan what to do? “Say the Call letters more”… LOL. Ain’t happening….
My post wasn’t about local radio. It’s about iHeart syndication. I agree Rogan would not do local radio. The language issue could be a problem, since Rogan likes to curse. But that’s why they have a DUMP button. It will be harder and harder to keep quality talk hosts at local stations when there is so much more money and fame in syndication.
Once again, an article about a “hero” who makes lots of money and makes money for ethically challenged media owners. Lies, racism, repeating the lies of others and promulgating hate are not positive for our country no matter how much money that they make for their handlers. COVID is a damn virus. It is not political or at least it shouldn’t be but these guys certainly help kill people by claiming that it is. Liberals and conservatives are generally decent people but these guys push politics as a reason to hate one another. And, no, the “N” word is an indecent way to refer to black people although Mr. Rogan seems to think otherwise. The 13 shows where he used the term have now been scrubbed by Spotify. People like Mr. Rogan and the vast majority of “talk radio” hosts do not deserve praise or admiration!
Jon’s really pissed that Cancel Culture didn’t Cancel. Heads up, Jon… people are done with deleting people’s existence because of words and political stances. We’ll never agree on everything, ever. That’s been proven over history. Look at the comments section… the only thing that gets action are scandals relating to politics, virus and podcasts. This is the new reality in this medium.
They oughta pay me that because no one can Voice Track their whole show in 5 minutes like I do… -Tee
Seems the 25-54 men always crave a macho, racist guy peddling dangerous quack theories. He’s perfect for the job.
A very dumb comment.
The controversy is how the current puppet administration is doing its best to turn us into China. I sure miss President Trump.
Please listen to something other than “talk radio” or FOX. Donald Trump caused great harm to our country through his greed and dishonestly. The only “Big Lie” is the one that Mr. Trump puts forth. China has gulags, spies on its people through their electronic devices and much more. You know where “talk radio” and everything else free speech would be in China? Shut down with most everyone involved sent off to jail for “re-education”. You would definitely be getting a vaccine and wearing a mask in China. There would be little debate on this. You would do whatever Chairman Xi wanted and his rubber stamp “Congress” would vote 100% for whatever that was.
You are a very confused person, Jon.
You start the first couple sentences with your anti-conservative talk radio rant. But then, with your description of the awful Chinese regime, you apparently unwittingly stumble onto the truth about its anti-freedom and anti-liberty excesses…you know, one of the big topics of the day for conservative talk radio. Whether about the Communist Chinese totalitarianism, Putin’s authoritarianism and warmongering, etc., these conservative show hosts strongly advocate against these dictators and their horrid beliefs.
Your intellect is missing; here, anyway.
Sounds like you need to watch something other the CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, and the BBC. Do you own research instead of being spoon fed.
God help this country!
Huh? “Radio has mostly stayed away from controversial hosts?” Do you folks read Radio Ink?
Radio has lots of controversial radio hosts. You guys print stories about them all the time.
They’re all telling people to protest vaccine mandates and support the Canadian truckers. They’re comparing our government to Nazi Germany. They’re telling parents to take over the school boards. They do this every day. One problem is they’re all basically supporting the same ideology. But they’re all controversial.
Maybe you need to spend less time promoting podcasts and more time actually LISTENING to the radio.