SHOCK JOCK? SHITE JOCK MORE LIKE

Thanks to BitTorrent I've been dipping into Howard Stern's radio show on Sirius.

Am I missing something?

It's difficult to imagine a radio programme that could be more self-indulgent, unfunny and lacking in ideas and decent material.

Yet, unbelievably, Stern's endless jibbering is given its own dedicated channel on Sirius Satellite Radio.

First there's five straight hours of his stream-of-conscious musings live every morning.

Then there's a "wrap-up show" which picks over the dead bones of his carcass of a radio show.

Then the Stern "news team" spin the morning's ramblings into an hour-long lunchtime "bulletin."

Then the whole lot is replayed for 17 hours so listeners can tune in any time day or night and hear interviews with strippers, lame sound effects and the latest on Stern's boring personal vendettas. And for this he'll earn $500m over five years.

Stern has taken an entertaining format, stretched it way beyond breaking point -- and then stretched it even further. Whatever happened to leaving the audience wanting more?

Before long, if Stern takes a shit it'll have its own radio channel.

The FCC should look at fining Howard Stern again -- not because his show is indecent but because it's deeply, deeply unfunny.