Following its January 2006 debut, a plurality of critics savaged the show, chiding its "amateurishness," while a minority praised Roth's willingness to bring something so obviously "non-corporate" (and ultimately "anti-corporate") to American mainstream radio.
The Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy spawned a government crackdown on indecency in television and radio by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), prompting Stern to leave for Sirius, a platform exempt from its regulations.
The David Lee Roth Show launched on January 3, 2006, and was simulcast to six other CBS-owned stations: WBCN-FM in Boston, WNCX-FM in Cleveland, KLLI-FM in Dallas, WYSP-FM in Philadelphia, WRKZ-FM in Pittsburgh and WPBZ-FM in West Palm Beach.
According to Roth, the pair asked him to stop playing "foreign" and "ethnic" soundbeds and appeal to "a 35-year-old white male who likes Lynyrd Skynyrd".
[7] Roth spent most of the following live broadcast criticising Chiusano and Chernoff and their suggestions, claiming they wanted him to "copy Stern" which he refused to do, and stressed that he was hired to deliver something "unique".
Roth said the show was dropped for not following directives and avoiding news and traffic, and for "black fun humour" with his security guard Animal.
[10] On his last show, Roth said: "I was booted, tossed, and it's going to cost somebody", hinting legal action towards CBS for full compensation of his reported $4 million contract.
[12] This marked the show's return to terrestrial radio since August 2002, when Infinity suspended it indefinitely for a segment which allegedly involved a couple having sex in St. Patrick's Cathedral.
In 2009, following the introduction of the people meter ratings system and a declining FM radio audience, CBS dropped Opie and Anthony and switched WFNY to a contemporary hits and Top 40 format.
"[7] Howard Stern stated that the original incarnation of Van Halen is his favorite rock and roll band of all-time, and also that he "like[s] David Lee Roth" on a personal level.
"[13] In the April 28 edition of the Boston Herald,[14] reporters Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa wrote that some observers speculated that Roth was never intended to successfully replace Howard Stern.
An insider at CBS Radio was quoted as saying to the Boston Herald reporters that "(he) looked good to Wall Street, and they gave him a real shot.