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For years, local fans of shock jock Howard Stern have asked if his controversial radio show ever would come to a Tampa Bay area station.
They got their answer Wednesday when Stern announced his morning show will debut July 19 on sports talk station WQYK-AM 1010, one of nine additional Infinity Broadcasting stations picking up the program. Currently, local fans must tune in to Stern's TV show on the E! Entertainment cable channel or catch his radio program on the Internet.
Infinity also filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking $10-million from rival Clear Channel Radio over its February decision to remove Stern from six of its stations, part of a companywide effort to curb controversial content in the wake of increased pressure from the Federal Communications Commission.
Analysts saw both the lawsuit and the Stern expansion as Infinity supporting its biggest star while poking at a major industry nemesis. But Infinity officials would say little about that theory.
"Howard was reaching out to get on some other radio stations . . . and we saw an opportunity to make the station more successful," said Charlie Ochs, senior vice president and Tampa Bay market manager for Infinity.
"All the other (Infinity)...