WWW- With the Howard Stern drama about to resume – will he last another 12 months on broadcast radio as he prepares to jump to Sirius satellite radio? – an old rival says Stern just isn’t good enough to make a broadcast show work in the new anti-indecency climate.

Popular Chicago morning host Mancow Muller, with whom Stern has had many exchanges over the years, told Talkers magazine, “Here is a guy who claims to be a great champion of free speech and he threw in the towel for money….He can paint it any way he wants. The fact is, he gave up. He doesn’t have what it takes to work in this world.”

Stern, with a top-rated show on broadcast radio for almost 20 years, could dispute that.

But Mancow – who Stern has tagged “Girlcow,” among other things – told Talkers Stern lacks real creativity: “I think ‘Are you a lesbian?’ or ‘Are those real?’ is an easy way out.

“I think what he does is easy. Anyone can do it.”

While Muller has been criticized over content, he told Talkers he is different from Stern. “I am not a shock jock,” he said. “We do subjects.”

No New York station has ever picked up Mancow’s show. But with Stern’s impending departure leaving a potential morning void, there has been speculation he could get a shot. He recently signed with the Talk Radio Network.

Muller says he’s optimistic a new generation of talk hosts who are edgy without crossing indecency limits can keep broadcast radio as vital as ever.

“It’s time for somebody new,” he said of Stern. “He’s lame.”