Outside the Beltway

Report — David Lee Roth to Replace Howard Stern

James Joyner · Friday, July 8, 2005 · 5 comments

Report – David Lee Roth to replace Howard Stern (Reuters)

Infinity Broadcasting isn’t commenting on an online report penned by a former Howard Stern Show regular that suggests David Lee Roth will be one of the personalities that ultimately replaces the ribald DJ on the airwaves. Chaunce Hayden, a gossip and celebrity writer for New York/New Jersey entertainment guide SteppinOutMagazine.com, writes that “an Infinity source has confirmed the signing.”

[…]

What is certain is that Roth is among many entertainers that Infinity has auditioned on-air since Stern’s bombshell announcement last year. Infinity executives have repeatedly made it clear that they are not looking for a singular personality to succeed Stern.

[…]

The Diamond Dave-as-morning-man idea actually sprung from an Infinity station 3,000 miles away. VP of FM talk Jack Silver put Roth on the air for three hours earlier this year at KLSX Los Angeles, which Silver programs. “We were so taken by that performance that we created a stunt here in Boston to give classic rock listeners the opportunity to hear him all week long,” Barnett said in April.

I had two initial reactions to this story. First, that it’s rather amusing to see David Lee Roth come in as a replacement for anybody. He would, in effect, be Stern’s Sammy Hagar. Second, damn Roth is getting old (and that’s a three-year-old file photo, to boot).

My third, somewhat delayed reaction, is a self-referencing corrolary to the second.