Posted on 01/09/2006 3:05:27 AM PST by Momaw Nadon
The biggest gamble in the short life of satellite radio hits the table at 6 a.m. today, as Howard Stern starts what he calls his creative rebirth at Sirius.
The most prominent morning host on commercial radio for 20 years, Stern joined Sirius because he says the FCC's vague content guidelines made it impossible for him to do his "real show" any more.
Because satellite listeners pay a monthly subscription fee, like cable TV watchers, the FCC does not regulate content - though Stern's arrival has amplified calls for such regulation to be authorized.
Stern's switch to Sirius, with his colorful promise of no-holds-barred radio, has triggered a tidal wave of publicity and raised at least two longer-term questions.
First, how much attention will he receive three, six or 12 months from now? While satellite's reach makes his show available everywhere, his initial Sirius audience will be only l5%-20% of what it has been on terrestrial radio.
Second, will he give satellite radio in general the promotional push for which Sirius and rival XM are hoping? Both Sirius and XM have bled billions of dollars in startup costs and routinely run multimillion-dollar quarterly operating deficits.
Sirius says it has committed half a billion dollars to Stern's show, and just last week announced he was getting a bonus of more than $200 million in Sirius stock.
Sirius clearly is counting on a windfall payback down the line, in subscription and advertising revenue.
Right at the moment, both XM and Sirius say subscriptions are running strong.
XM says it just passed six million and projects nine million by yearend.
Sirius says it ended 2005 with 3.3 million, many of the new ones Stern-driven, and projects six million by yearend.
That puts satellite listenership ahead of many past projections, which envisioned 20 million radios in service by 2010.
Some Wall Street analysts still see Sirius stock as a gamble, while XM seems to be generally regarded as a solid player.
Howard has been horrible and gone down hill, both in content and his ratings. since he got the big head over his movie, canned(because he is a cheap bastard) Jackie Martling, and left his wife.
Opie & Anthony on XM are much better than Stern anyway.
Stern is so 20th Century.
Now this whole thing is a commercial for Sirius.
Hey buddy, I've already subscribed, you don't need to sell me a product I already have.
And then Comcast can buy them both up. Yeah, that's just what we need-less competition in the marketplace.
You can be out in the middle of no-where, where no other service is available and listen to 100's of channels of news, sports and music.....SWEET!
Don't forget that now you can also pay a multi-millionaire to make fun of retarded people.
What a creative genius! Worth every penny.
The FCC is so 1984.
Once people try sat radio, they are hooked.
There's a lot to be said for never having to hear another GEICO commercial again in your life!
I thought his wife left him. I saw his movie on VH-1 this weekeend(it was on at 1 AM) and what a slimy snake he was to his wife.
Bingo!
And that, in a nutshell, is the business model. People are willing to pay for that. I know I am.
He just announced he remarried.
Ka-Ching! Back up the Brinks truck.
I got xm for Christmas. I have wanted Satelite for some time and finally took the plunge. I got xm instead of Sirrius because of WC racing and because Stern was on sirius. I use to listen to Stern, but I don't want to pay for that trash. Took my daughter back to college in SC this weekend-10 hour drive each way-xm actually made the drive tolerable.
Howard is just joking?
Not really married?
That's a pretty dang good basis for a business right there.
I heard Sirius had more football than XM so it was Sirus for my husband for Christmas. He loves it and he'll never listen to Stern.
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