Carolla steps into void left by Stern

Friday, Jan. 13, 2006 | 7:49 a.m.

Howard Stern has left the planet, broadcasting his outrageous brand of humor from outer space via Sirius satellite radio.

At Las Vegas' KXTE 107.5-FM (Xtreme Radio), filling the void in the mornings left by galactic traveler Stern is the terrestrial Adam Carolla.

Of the two radio jocks, Carolla is the funnier, but Stern is the more outrageous.

"The God's honest truth is that I'm probably funnier, but he's smarter," Carolla said during a recent telephone interview from Los Angeles, where his show originates. "Here's the thing about Stern -- he's really a smart guy. He's nutty. He's outrageous. He's all those things, but he's also a very smart guy."

Carolla, who counts himself among Stern's friends, says Stern's genius lies in his ability to put together bits.

"He has a great sense of humor -- but it's in his assembly," Carolla said. "It's really his craftsmanship that people overlook. It's not being fair to him just calling him outrageous."

In December Stern left Infinity Broadcasting (now CBS Radio) to launch a new career with satellite radio after years of fighting with the FCC over censorship issues. At the time of his departure he was syndicated to 27 radio stations around the nation.

Some 2 million fans have purchased Sirius satellite radios and are paying almost $13 a month to subscribe to the service.

The deal reportedly was worth at least $500 million to Stern, and he is largely uncensored.

When Stern pulled the plug on his earthbound show, his former employer chose to not replace him in all of its markets, but to take a piecemeal approach.

Different stations offer different announcers and different program formats.

The biggest names to come aboard are Carolla and former Van Halen lead singer David Lee Roth.

Roth airs in New York, Dallas, Philadelphia, Boston, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and West Palm Beach, Fla.

Six stations in the West carry Carolla -- in addition to Las Vegas and Los Angeles he is heard in San Francisco, San Diego, Phoenix and Portland, Ore.

Stern spent 25 years building a fan base, creating some large shoes to fill for anyone who replaces him.

"Maybe it's weird, but I don't feel in any way, shape or form that I'm taking over his show," Carolla said.

He says he isn't affected by the pressure of the new show.

"I feel comfortable," he said. "I enjoy it. I wouldn't do it if they didn't pay me, but I do enjoy it.

"I'm in a kind of situation, in an environment where it can take months to hit your stride, but by day three I was there."

Carolla's show began airing Jan. 3. It is heard from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays. Joining him are Rachel Perry as the designated news person and Dave Dameshek as the sports commentator.

Carolla is a veteran talk show host on both radio and television, so he is not intimidated.

"I've been on radio 10 years," he said. "I'm perfectly capable of doing this in the morning. It's not like I'm some comedian who's fresh off the 'Kings of Comedy' tour who is going to now start doing morning radio.

Carolla's radio career began in 1994 at L.A. radio station KROQ on the "Kevin and Bean Morning Show."

His close friend, and later business partner, Jimmy Kimmel got him the first gig. Kimmel was a regular on the program.

Kimmel, now host of ABC's late-night talk show "The Jimmy Kimmel Show," is creative consultant to Carolla's new show.

Carolla's resume also includes co-hosting the syndicated radio show "Loveline," and the TV shows "The Man Show" and "Crank Yankers."

Even though Carolla's drive-time show goes head-to-head with Stern, he doesn't think about the competition.

"I just would like to not do a (expletive) show," he said. "I would like to do a decent show."

In light of Stern's FCC conflicts, Carolla said he had a meeting with a company lawyer about what could and couldn't be said, the definition of profanity and "some dos and don'ts."

"We had a conversation that lasted a half hour over the phone," he said. "That was the last discussion we've had."

Carolla said there have been no discussions about creative issues.

"It's kind of nice," he said. "It's like they're saying, 'Well, we trust you, we trust Jimmy. We know you're not stupid.' "

Carolla says he really hasn't given a lot of thought to the FCC, the competition or other issues that people have been asking him about.

"Part of me says maybe I should be thinking about these things," he said.

But he is confident that his years of experience will guide him through the censorship mine field.

"I'm not going to be getting up there and throwing the 'F' bomb around," Carolla said. "I understand when it's appropriate to say something and where you can say it.

"But that doesn't mean I can't slip past it once in a while."

Jerry Fink can be reached at 259-4058 or at jerry@lasvegassun.com.