Learning from Las Vegas

Nothing summarizes a week in Las Vegas better then two slogans I observe as a Taxi is approaching the glittery lobby of the anachronistic hotel I was staying in, the middle-ages themed Excalibur. The white-glowing neon sign on top of the cab reads in bold black letters a slogan that after the public outcry of concerned citizens was taken off the billboards of more respectful cities like Chicago. It reads: “Let freedom ring. And let it be rung by a stripper.” A black fist adorns the ad on the left giving it an anarchistic flavor, and the name of radio-bad-boy Howard Stern, signs it off on the right.
As I try to make sense of this ad and figure out what it’s trying to put up for sale, a pinkish-looking thirty five year old man exits the cab. He is wearing blue jeans and a black t-shirt and is carrying his heavy black jacket in his hand. His half-bold head is sweating, revealing that like many other east-coasters he came overdressed for the Vegas heat. His t-shirt reads “I Smell Glue” and the Consumer Electronics Show exhibitor ID card that is strung around his neck with a radiant-yellow thread explains this self-proclamation. The invisible ink reads: “I’m a geek, I’m here for the electronics show, just like 2400 other exhibitors and 145,000 visitors, my home is 127.0.0.1 and no, I’m not here for the adult entertainment expo, that’s in the next building. I like internet porn better, anyway, now leave me alone.”
Finally I get it. The notorious Howard Stern is smarter than you might think. Far from promoting moral degradation as the Chicago priest that sued him for that ad suggested, Stern is himself a high-ranking clergyman in two very popular churches: sex and technology. When the two meet --and in Las Vegas this week they met big-time-- few are the incredulous. Stern is redefining radio as we know it. Reportedly, he just signed a $500 million, five-year deal with Sirius radio, and both parties are very happy. Part of the trick is that what is not permissible on public radio --as Stern lively tells Larry King on CNN, he has an uncontrolled penchant for on-air discussions concerning body parts and body functions, preferably his own-- is perfectly acceptable on pay-per-listen, digitally rights managed satellite radio. And the glue-smelling geeks are buying into it. Sirius’s belt is overflowing with bleeding new subscribers’ ears. What’s $12 per month for premium content, commercial free? Let freedom ring.