FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — Howard Stern may be above Federal Communications Commission regulations, with his new show being beamed from satellites high above the earth.

But his spiel has gotten about as earthy as it can get.

Stern’s much-noted move from antennae-based radio to pay radio has drawn a new attention to a new medium that some Catholics have already discovered.

After all, the same service that brings you Stern brings you EWTN.

In spite of Sirius’ contract with Stern, the self-proclaimed “King of All Media,” John Hathaway of Fredericksburg, Va., plans to subscribe — not to listen to Stern but to tune in to EWTN Radio. Sirius carries it in both English and Spanish and is the only satellite company that carries a Catholic channel.

“I subscribe to cable television for EWTN and other programming that interests me even though there may be other programming on other channels that repulses me,” said Hathaway. “If people want to view or listen to quality programming, they need to actually tune in when it’s available. If the only people listening to Sirius are the ones who listen to Howard Stern, and the people who would tune in for EWTN don’t buy it just to protest what they wouldn’t listen to anyway, then Howard Stern wins.”

Hathaway likes Sirius’ small one-time subscription fee for life.

“It’s a good value,” said Hathaway. “The less money one pays for the subscription, the less goes, indirectly, to the pockets of people like Howard Stern.”

Stern’s program airs on two Sirius channels. Stern cited freedom from censorship as one of his primary reasons for signing a contract with satellite radio. Over the years, the FCC had levied more than $2 million in fines against him.

Auditors from FamilyMediaGuide.com, an organization that reviews movies, television shows and other media, counted some 129 expletives during Stern’s first 5 1/2-hour broadcast Jan. 9. The broadcast was also replete with sexual content that would have drawn the attention of the FCC, had the shock jock been broadcasting over the public airwaves. But satellite radio is not subject to federal regulations.

While the show has some subscribers concerned, others say that like cable television, it comes with subscribing, and the solution is simple: Don’t listen.

“I am unaware of any objections that any of our channels have had to Howard Stern’s debut,” said Hillary Schupf, spokeswoman for Sirius. “Howard’s message has been for such a long time, ‘Choose it or don’t choose it.’”

Satellite radio allows subscribers with special radios to receive digital signals containing scores of stations. At present, there are two companies with FCC-issued licenses to broadcast from satellites orbiting the earth — Sirius and XM Satellite Radio.

Sirius has 3.3 million subscribers. XM has almost twice that, with about 6 million.

XM also carries Opie and Anthony, who once held a Samuel Adams Beer-sponsored contest featuring people having sex in public places. An uproar ensued after the pair broadcast a couple attempting to have intercourse in a vestibule at New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral — on the feast of the Assumption — and they were subsequently fired.

Regulating Content?

Observers wonder whether it’s possible to regulate subscription-based programming. Currently, such cable and satellite programming is not regulated.

Speaking at a Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show last year, former FCC Chairman Michael Powell said the commission had no interest in broadening its reach to police satellite radio or cable television.

“I think it’s a dangerous thing to start talking about extending government oversight of content to other media just to level the playing field,” said Powell. “At the end of the day, I think we’re going to move in the direction of the Jeffersonian free-speech tradition.”

Yet, some in Congress feel that there must be some type of regulation over what is aired even on cable or satellite television and radio. Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., suggested that Congress create a “code of conduct” for such operators. Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., and FCC Commissioner Kevin Martin have recommended that cable and satellite companies offer a “family-friendly” tier of programming.

“There have been a variety of efforts at content regulation of satellite and cable television,” said Adam Thierer, senior fellow and director of the Center for Digital Media Freedom with the Washington-based Progress & Freedom Foundation. “Most people, including most policy-makers feel that such regulation would encounter some serious Constitutional challenges.”

For that reason, lawmakers have proposed alternatives such as “family-friendly” tiering and a la carte regulations. Under “family-friendly” tiering, cable operators volunteer to provide a package of family-friendly services. A la carte regulation allows parents to individually choose channels to which they want to subscribe.

“Key members of Congress, as well as FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, were indeed in favor of doing something,” said Thierer. “Cable companies were feeling the heat. The less of three evils in their eyes was family-friendly tiering.”

According to Thierer, the big three cable companies — Comcast, Time-Warner, and Cox — have all agreed to offer voluntary “family-friendly” tiers.

“It’s important to see what channels the family-friendly tier does not contain — MTV, FX, and Comedy Central,” said Thierer. “One man’s ‘family-friendly’ is another man’s filth.”

It’s far too early to say whether similar action might be taken with regard to satellite radio. When subscribers sign up for a service, they receive access to all of a company’s channels.

At present, Sirius offers a parental control system so that parents can block such radio channels as The Howard Stern Show, Maxim Radio, Out Q, Raw Dog and Playboy Radio.

Cosmic Battle

While Catholic Radio Association President Stephen Gajdosik supports free speech, he doesn’t think Stern can hold a candle to Catholic radio.

“In the marketplace of ideas, Catholic radio, while it doesn’t compete for a market-share, has an idea that has so much more draw and depth,” said Gajdosik. “It speaks to us at a level that something as base or carnal as Howard Stern would never approach. His show might be titillating or shocking, but to compare the ability of the two, Stern can’t come close.”

The Charleston, S.C.-based Catholic Radio Association is in the midst of a non-commercial radio campaign whereby they are assisting local groups in getting non-commercial Catholic radio started in their communities. They hope to help start 250 such stations, thereby tripling the number of Catholic radio stations currently on the air in the country.

Gajdosik told the story of a Texas man that was planning to commit suicide by driving his vehicle off an embankment into a quarry.

“The man was scanning the radio dial trying to find a hard-rock music station,” said Gajdosik. “Instead, he found himself listening to a Catholic station where a priest was talking about suicide. The man returned home, confessed to a priest, and is living and practicing his faith.

“Stern’s show can’t do that,” said Gajdosik. “Put them up against each other and Christ will win anytime over the devil.”

Tim Drake is based

in St. Joseph, Minnesota.