Stein on Stern

[Editor's note: You might find it funny that someone named Howard Stein ran Yahoo!'s production team for our recent "Howard Stern Walks" event (I know I do), but it's true. I asked Mr. Stein to do a brief writeup for the ymusicblog.com about his experience pulling this thing off at the last minute and he was kind enough to do so. Enjoy. -ian]

I’m not sure exactly the details of how the Howard Nation webcast came to Yahoo! but when it did, it came fast and came hard. I was told two things: one, Howard knows your name; and two, get ready to be busy. All I had to start with was a basic idea — Howard was planning a rally outside the KROC building the morning of his final day on terrestrial radio, and Sirius was throwing a welcome/indoctrination party for him at the Hard Rock Café in Times Square. That’s it! The challenge was how do I work with Howard, Sirius, the Hard Rock Café, and the city—AND how do I fill over 5 hours of programming. I landed in New York the morning of Monday December 5th (5am to be exact) and it was non stop from the moment I woke three hours later at 8am. My first words to Howard were, “We want to break the Internet.” His response, “Go ahead I’m listening.” Needless to say it was an experience of a lifetime. In short, it went something like this…

Day 1: Plane delay, three hours sleep, King Kong, talent booker, bus wrap, webcast booth, Howard’s agent, eating, drinking, Starbucks, faxing, emailing, walking, taxis, dinner, sleep.

Day 2: Starbucks, snow, Bababooey, lying, cheating, subway, Howard, Stern show creative meeting, pitching Howard, Ronnie the Limo Driver, Benjy, the Green Room, Tom Chiusano, walking, eating, club soda, Starbucks, sleep.

Day 3: Host short list, Colin Quinn, Tom Green, John Stamos, Johnny Knoxville, Joe Rogan, Ben Affleck, offers, mayors office, film commission, permitting, transit strike, Sirius team, getting ambushed, FanGirl, Flickr, camera phones, printing, email, helicopters, cable cam, budgeting, eating, walking, cold weather, Starbucks, Jack Daniels, room service, sleep.

Day 4: Post production, testimonials, John Stamos, Colin Quinn, Howard’s agent, Beattlejuice, High Pitch Eric, Sheryl Crow, The Eagles, Ronnie the Limo Driver, Train, Joe Walsh, Velvet Revolver, Eddie Van Halen, Starbucks, eating, walking, weather, Jack Daniels, sushi, sleep.

Day 5: Location scout, tech scout, budget, map, hotel laundry, new gloves, Hummer, Robin, Fred, Artie, Yahoo! 360, Yahoo! Maps, permitting, Chief Smoker, transit strike, bad weather, walking, Tom Green, 56th and 6th, 57th and 5th, 7th, Broadway, Hard Rock Café, steak dinner, beer, sleep.

Day 6: Lloyd Braun, walking, cold weather, conventions, elevators, Buzz marketing, Bubba Gump’s, insurance, purchase requests, post production, podcasts, graphics, credentials, crew, lighting, cameras, transportation, transit strike, weather, permitting, budgets, check requests, eating, cold pizza, walking, cabs, elevators, Rob Schneider, Mayor Koch, Debbie Gibson, Drea DeMatteo, Dennis Rodman OnDemand, eating, sleep.

Day 7: Hard Rock, security, Infinity, permitting, weather, transit strike, plan b, plan c, plan d, no host, Howard100 News, JJ Ramberg, CNN, transit strike, bad weather, taxi’s, skirt steak sandwich, police, NASDAQ, Reuters, camera positions, helicopter, Ring Dings, walking, eating sleep.

Day 8: Research, printing, location scout, permitting, police, transit strike, Sheryl Crow, Hard Rock Café, Bababooey, Howard, FanGirl, maps, Yahoo! 360, hotel laundry, run of show, Whackpack, Bababooey, audibles, video ID’s, celebrity call in number, podcasts, sound design, mic flags, opening graphics, Pam Anderson, standards and practices, Dido, playlists, lobster and chicken pot pie, sleep.

Day 9: PR, celebrity guest list, meeting room, the W, the Westin, the Double Tree, permitting, Infinity, obscene gestures, the seven dirty words, rain, staging, mult box, simultaneous streams, cold open, legal, Bababooey, Howard’s agent, SAT feed, walking, below zero, taxies, room service, sleep.

Day 10: Howard, camera phones, credentials, Sirius, run of show, test run, profiles, Stern staff, Ronnie the Limo Driver, backline, Train, Martha Stewart, monitors, licensing, legal, contracts, Starbucks, Dido, music videos, post production, lower thirds, graphics, Chyron, no socks, monitors, crew, printing, email, credentials, permitting secured, transit strike, run of show, plan a, plan b, plan c, approvals, petty cash, transit strike, pretzels, sleep.

Day 11: Transit strike, Bababooey, Howard, Robin, Fred, Artie, press, credentials, transit strike, run of show, final production meeting, load in, camera, crew, transit strike, rain, walking, limo, dead cell, dead Treo, 12 voicemails, Dido, assets, sleep—TV on, transit strike looms. Day 12 (Showtime): 4am call time, NO TRANSIT STRIKE, rain, 56th and 6th, press credentials, com system, KROCK event, Hair, Make-Up, in-ears, security, 7000 fans, credentials, press riser, double decker bus, Howard’s agent, Mel Karmizin, Crackhead Bob, Gary the Retard, Access Hollywood, bus ride, audio drop, towncar, balloon drop, sound check, Yahoo! Music banner, Little Steven, Steven Baldwin, Randy from the Village People, Omarosa, Ralph, Scores girls, 10 minute bus ride, two and half hours of fill, press, wet Treo, Dido, Whackpack cam, VIP’s, red carpet, bugers, sun, Howard, Bababooey, Robin, Artie, Fred, Martha Stewart, Wendy the Retard, John the Stutterer, LAV mic, Sheryl Crow, Stephanie Cabral, photo opp., autographs, BIG SMILE, drink, drank, drunk, SLEEP.

What a wild ride! Never in my professional career have I experienced such a team effort– not only within Yahoo! side, but with Sirius and the Howard camp as well. For all three entities to play in the sandbox so well, all with one common goal was an amazing feat. I was truly lucky to have had this opportunity– and as Lloyd Braun said to me over a soda the day before, “This is a once in a lifetime experience, you’ll tell your grandkids about this one!” He was right!

Howard Stein
Yahoo! Music