Will Stern give a BIG boost to XM? (Satellite Radio in general)

[toddjb]

Has anyone been paying attention to the ramping FCC pressure on Howard Stern and other radio personalities as fallout from the Janet Jackson boob incident?

In a nutshell, Stern feels there is a good chance that his show will be taken off the air because his company will not go to court and risk the political ramifications of challenging the FCC.

Anyway, if he does leave, there is a large chance he will move over to Satellite radio and you would see a big increase in subscribers. It would be very significant to the industry IMO. Stern has a nationwide fan base and a lot of people are just on the edge of considering paying $10 a month for radio and this would be enough to push them that direction.

Like him or not, he had a funny quote this morning. Something about...if he is taken off the air he predicts he will rise from the ashes like a phoenix and destroy the industry he helped create... basically, saying he could crush traditional FM if he moves to Satellite.

I have not been watching the stock, but I would predict that if Stern gets booted off of FM, you'll see an immediate jump in satellite radio stocks. He is likely in preliminary talks now just in case.

FWIW

[Steve Mehs]

The local jocks I listen to in the morning were on vactaion, so I listened to Stern yesterday. Stern mentioned satellite radio, but he still has two years left in his contract with Viacom and if he looks into XM, how would Clear Channel react. While CC doesn't own '50%' of XMSR like Stern said yesterday, it may be a hurtle. I support of whole shock jock movement (see thread in Potpourri) but Stern has a large head I and don't think FM radio and major broadcasters like Viacom and Clear Channel will fall because of him.

[SamC]

Stern, and his ilk, have a one joke act. "I can't believe he said THAT on the radio."

Once you accept that apparently some people will say anything on the radio, he has no second joke. He has no talent, no ideas, no views, nothing, but the willingness to do his single joke, over and over, for a lifetime.

XM, and SSR, would do well to avoid this dying genre.

[Richard King]

Gee, I wonder if he goes to Sirius if I can lock out his channel for all my customers (and myself). What a waste of bandwidth it would be to have him and others like him taking up space. :) Actually, I don't have the specifics on his contractual arrangements, but I doubt that a single satellite radio service could come even close to touching it on a financial basis. If he moved to satellite I suspect he would have to make a LARGE change to his way of life. I just don't see that either (or both) are in a financial condition at the moment where they could hire him.

[BobMurdoch]

Heck, if he comes to XM intent on punishing those who punished him, my XM and Sirius stock will appreciate his efforts by pulling millions of new viewers in.....

[toddjb]

Once you accept that apparently some people will say anything on the radio, he has no second joke. He has no talent, no ideas, no views, nothing, but the willingness to do his single joke, over and over, for a lifetime.


....you probably don't listen to him much, but once you get past the "one joke" there is a lot there. He really is a good interviewer and gets people to discuss things (in addition to their sex lives) that they don't get asked or disclose to the Lenos, Lettermans, and Walters. Heck, on his E show, I ignore all the whack pack shows but always watch the celeb. interview. Enough about that though, this isn't a Stern fan site. :)


On his contract with XM if he did go there, I suspect he could work something out that was agreeable for him. Perhaps XM wouldn't have the cash to offer him, but if it was believed that he really could bring in much more business, he would likely get a cut of the market growth that he is responsble for. Trust me, some MBA type could easily figure something out that works good for everybody.

[BearsFan]

Thing is, Stern's proclamation that he'll..."...crush FM radio" is complete B.S.

Stern's Arbitron ratings across the board have been sliding for years. He's still popular, but not quite as he once was.

[BobMurdoch]

Yeah, but he WILL get Joe Sixpacks around the country to start buying the things like crazy. And once someone sees these toys in action they convert THEM as well. WHO would want to listen to 25 minutes of commercials an hour interspersed with the SAME 20 songs over and over again when there are no commercials the jukebox from heaven that ALWAYS seems to dig up another buried treasure you forgot?

[toenail]

I have been seriously considering getting XM. However, if I learn that dear Howard has been signed up, I'm not going anywhere near XM. He's a lower life form than an amoeba.

[djlong]

Do you own a radio? Or a TV? Why do you have them since Stern is there as well?

I can't stand Stern, but I wouldn't let that get in the way of my enjoying NASCAR, Cinemagic, Top Tracks, Deep Tracks, the 60s, 70s, 80, XM Live, Laugh USA, XM Comedy, Discovery, Fox News, BBC World News, Fine Tuning, Music Lab, Sonic Theater or Radio Classics!

[BobMurdoch]

I have been seriously considering getting XM. However, if I learn that dear Howard has been signed up, I'm not going anywhere near XM. He's a lower life form than an amoeba.

That's just silly.

That's like saying you aren't going to get Satellite TV or Cable because Stern is on E! which is a channel that the multichannel providers "sell".

He would be ONE personality on ONE channel for a few hours a day. What about the other 99 channels?

Besides, Opie and Anthony are rumored to be heading for Sirius in June. Are you gonna "blackball" Sirius now?

Oh wait, Tom Leykis is still syndicated in a bunch of markets... can't listen to ANY Clear Channel stations then? Which wipes out 2/3's of the OTA stations.....

Taking your logic to it's conclusion would force you swear off radio just about entirely as EVERY company has personalities tasteless or offensive to SOMEONE. You might as well just head for CDs only. Oh, wait... Have you HEARD some of the explicit CDs that these companies put out? There goes THAT as well.....

IF we take your argument to its logical end...........

[Richard King]

Taking your logic to it's conclusion would force you swear off radio just about entirelyNot really. It would just force him to swear off the services that he would be paying for out of his own pocket. It appears to simply being a case of good old American voting with the pocketbook syndrome. Being that Clear Channel has a large stake in XM and that Clear Channel raised the biggest fuss about Stern, I would expect him to show up on Sirius first. If Howard was REALLY put off by what CC did (drop him from their stations) I don't see why he would want to go to XM and support them. I am sure though that if Howard went anywhere else, that XM could find another crude, crass jerk, er, jock to take his place. :D

[BobMurdoch]

That being said, Stern would ATTRACT many more paying subscribers than he would repel.....

[Chris Blount]

Here's an article that was just posted on SkyReport this morning:

Stern a 'Savior' for Sat Radio?

The speculation surrounding Howard Stern, his raunchy radio show and whether both could land on subscription-based satellite radio recently got heated.

A column in trade Web site Audio/Video News said the self-proclaimed "King of All Media" could be the "savior" of satellite radio if he should land a job with one of the two companies.

"Despite Stern's power, it is not inconceivable to see him cut loose by (Viacom head Mel) Karmazin assuming Viacom started losing stations," Audio/Video News said. "If Stern ended up on satellite radio he could change that media forever, much like he defined the male demographic on terrestrial radio."

Given that satellite radio has about 1.3 million subscribers, "even a tiny fraction of Stern's 18 million listeners could take a second place player like Sirius and turn them into the leader in satellite radio literally overnight," Audio/Video News said.

When Clear Channel pulled Stern's show from six of its radio stations rumors surfaced about the shock jock's next career move. Stern's current radio contract is up in less than two years.

As they say in the radio business, stay tuned.

[mjrusso45]

The day he switches to Satellite radio is the day I buy one. I can't hardly comprehend listening to Howard without the 25 minute commercial breaks. I may have to pull over occasionally to take breaths.

[John Walsh III]

I currently have XM. If Stern were to go to Sirius, I'd definitely switch to hear him again. Charlotte station took him off a few years ago.

[djlong]

Ok, once again, Clear Channel does NOT have a 'large stake' in XM. They SOLD that stake - *almost* all of it quite some time ago.

[RichW]

While I don't care for his program or style, subscription radio is the perfect place for him.

[longshot]

You either love Stern or you hate him i for one love him cause of all the funny antic's
that happen on the show. I would jump to XM in a minute.

[Strong]

The day he switches to Satellite radio is the day I buy one. I can't hardly comprehend listening to Howard without the 25 minute commercial breaks. I may have to pull over occasionally to take breaths.
Remember that only the music stations are commercial free. I thought the X rated comedy channel on XM was also commercial free, but I'm starting to hear some cheesy commercials on that station also.

On the network stations (Fox, ESPN, etc) they have commercials and the pre-canned history, technology, science, etc commercials.

If I hear "Listen up men..." one more time, I'll puke!