King of All Media Howard Stern doesn’t judge contestants on American Idol anymore, but that doesn’t mean Stern has retired his gavel. Gregg “Opie” Hughes could be in Stern’s court for invading Stern’s studio space during his broadcast out of the NYC SiriusXM offices — and Opie is letting everybody know that his future is in Stern’s hands. Media are fond of characterizing Opie and Stern as rivals, but that’s a quaint description since Stern is to Opie as Leonardo DiCaprio is to Gary Busey.
Stern’s dominance and power are facts Opie acknowledges: after sneaking into Stern’s space he told his audience “We’ll see if the old man has a sense of humor, cause I think it comes down to him.” The “old man” — also known traditionally as just the man — is the one who wields the power. That’s Stern, of course, who is synonymous with satellite radio and SiriusXM. (He can write his own contracts, apparently.) Meanwhile in acknowledging Stern’s power Opie gets a little dig in at Stern’s age — Stern has ten years on the 53-year-old Opie. Stern was mostly a kind and encouraging judge on American Idol. It’s also relevant to remember that Stern’s business interests are linked to SiriusXM’s success, so a good Opie show is good for Stern. (And he presumably let SiriusXM hire Opie.) But Stern doesn’t need the money or the aggravation. He’s hella rich already and likes control…
Uh oh 🙁 https://t.co/4uJQWAlCeV
— opie radio (@OpieRadio) February 21, 2017
