WASHINGTON - Howard Stern, the American disc jockey who has pushed back the boundaries of bad taste with jokes about blacks and lesbians, is about to become the highest-paid performer in radio history.
The "shock jock" is negotiating a five-year contract worth US$100- million with CBS/Infinity taking his annual earnings past US$25- million.
Stern has made a career out of political incorrectness, delivering a mixture of obscenity and humiliation on his daily live show.
The 46-year-old broadcaster, once described as "a sex-obsessed suburban nihilist," bounces risque humour off sidekicks in his New York studio and embarrasses and humiliates callers.
After the Columbine High School massacre, in which 12 died as other pupils fled: "There were some really good-looking girls running out with their hands over their heads.
"Did those kids -- the suspects -- try to have sex with any of the good-looking girls? They didn't even do that? At least if you're going to kill yourself and kill all the kids, why wouldn't you have some sex?"
His remarks led to a suspension of his show in Denver, the city closest to Columbine.
When the Mexican singer Selena was murdered by her ousted fan club president he played one of her songs, overlaid the sound of gunfire, and was heard to remark: "Spanish people have the worst taste in music, they really do." Stern is able to make light even of serial killers, once asking: "How can Jeffrey Dahmer get a fair trial unless there are more guys who want to have sex with dead men on the jury?"
The New York-born DJ, whose show has run since 1985, has been fined record sums by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission for obscenity.
On one occasion he and CBS were fined US$500,000 for discussing on air the relative merits of shaving and waxing pubic hair. His targets on air include blacks, Hispanics and Wasps. One of his most popular regular slots is the Lesbian Dial-a-Date in which he encourages women to ring up to make assignations with each other.
Asked to define his appeal, Robin Quivers, a black woman who acts as a foil on the show, said: "All of us remember a time when we were children and we had the freedom to say whatever we wanted, and then it got beaten out of us by society.
"So when we're driving along and we're having a thought and Howard voices it, it just reminds us of what it was like to be free."
Stern said earlier this year: "I have no idea half the time what is coming out of my head. As soon as I start to feel like I shouldn't say something, I say it and that's the secret of my success."