Bubba The Love Sponge on SIRIUS

Fans of my show are most likely familiar with Todd “Bubba the Love Sponge” Clem, and our strange history. Today I have some news about my old adversary and fellow broadcaster. Howard Stern announced on Friday (9/9) that Bubba the Love Sponge will be the first big-name hire for his SIRIUS SASTELLITE RADIO channels. “When somebody gets so screwed over by the government,” Stern Said, obviously referring to Bubba’s firing by Clear Channel, “it sickens me.”

You may remember that Bubba was fired from 98Rock and the rest of the Clear Channel family, as well as, all of his syndication deals after the FCC slapped him with a fine so massive that his head spun around and he hasn’t worked in radio since. POW.

Truth be told, I’m not a fan of Bubba the Love Sponge, however I do admire the creative talents that previously worked alongside of him. Specifically, I’m talking about Manson, who also performed the popular character voice of “Ned” on the show. Will Bubba be able to bring these talents with him to SIRIUS? They have all moved on to have their own radio careers now, will they want to give that all up to work with Bubba? Maybe? Who knows?

The big question is how successful will Howard Stern be on SIRIUS? And how successful will his “channels” be?

In my opinion it’s crucial that Bubba be able to hire Manson back on to the team. Without Manson, I’m afraid Bubba’s show will seem week, and given the limited audience of Satellite Radio, a week show will not last long, no matter who is backing it.

My thoughts on Satellite radio are that it might be a technology that will become obsolete even before it reaches enough popularity to be profitable. 5 million portable iPod type MP3 players will ship this year, and Podcasting is only gaining momentum. Take into consideration that 650 Million cell phones will ship this year. What will happen when the common cell phone can store enough audio to say “Download your favorite Podcast” for the day?

My cell phone can already download and store over 1 gig worth of audio, however it is in the minority. Verizon and Sprint are already advertising their latest phone releases that incorporate the ability to store audio.

I still believe that “On Demand” audio is the future of what was called broadcasting, and that the personalities that can adapt to this technology will ride the wave to financial reward and notoriety.

So, what of Bubba? Who Cares? He’s lucky to get a Satellite gig, and while I would never wish the FCC to crack down on any DJ in the way that they did to him, I truly believe it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. Karma’s a bitch. I honestly wish him the best of success. Maybe Satellite will offer him the venue he needs to talk more about Hulk Hogan while sucking snot through his nose and gasping for air over the microphone.