# Howard Stern on Sirius!



## Chris Blount (Jun 22, 2001)

Wednesday October 6, 8:37 am ET

Radio Innovator Signs Five-Year Agreement to Broadcast on SIRIUS Beginning in 2006. Landmark Deal for SIRIUS and Satellite Radio Industry, With Significant Potential to Accelerate Growth for SIRIUS

NEW YORK, Oct. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- "King of All Media" Howard Stern and SIRIUS (Nasdaq: SIRI - News) announced today an epic agreement whereby Stern will move to SIRIUS beginning January 1, 2006. SIRIUS is the premium satellite radio provider known for delivering the very best in commercial-free music and sports programming to cars and homes across the country.

The world-renowned Stern is credited with revolutionizing the talk radio format. He is the No. 1 national radio host among males 18-49 years of age and ranks No. 1 in many of the 46 major markets where his show is broadcast, including New York and Los Angeles.

"It has been my dream to have the top-rated show in radio since I was five years old," said Stern. "SIRIUS -- the future of radio -- will take this dream to a whole new level as I bring my fans my show my way. It will be the best radio they will ever hear."

Known for his extremely loyal fan base and for his unequalled ability to migrate fans to other media, Stern has embarked on numerous highly successful ventures over the years while maintaining dominant ratings in his demographic. Stern has written two best-selling books -- Private Parts, which was Simon & Schuster's fastest-selling book ever, and Miss America, the fastest-selling book in publishing history. He later starred in the highly successful motion picture adaptation of Private Parts, orchestrated the fastest-selling soundtrack in motion picture history and starred in the most watched entertainment pay-per-view special of all time. "The Howard Stern Show" is E! Entertainment Television's most successful show.

"Signing Howard Stern is, without a doubt, the most exciting and transformational event in the history of radio," said Joseph P. Clayton, CEO of SIRIUS. "He is an entertainment force of unprecedented recognition and popularity in the broadcast world, who is capable of changing the face of satellite radio and generating huge numbers of subscribers for SIRIUS."

*More*


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## Chris Blount (Jun 22, 2001)

This is really big for Sirius! Getting Howard could push Sirius past XM.


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## stonecold (Feb 20, 2004)

Chris Blount said:


> This is really big for Sirius! Getting Howard could push Sirius past XM.


No doubt that Howard will be a great business purchase. As Howard will cause a mass exitist from Regular radio to satellite radio. But what kind of raunchy bs will he unleash on the world when he can say anything he damn well wants because he on a paid service and get away with it. Howard is sick in the head as is. There are I know of a dj who beats howard stern which out steeping down to howards level of crudeness. He beats all 3 markets that he is in. Howard seems to be getting less support from the Viacom family as he use to because of the fcc crack down.

But this whole Howard deals is:

Good for Sirius
and
Good for Radio as that one less annoying voice that is on my radio dial.


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## Chris Blount (Jun 22, 2001)

stonecold said:


> No doubt that Howard will be a great business purchase. As Howard will cause a mass exitist from Regular radio to satellite radio. But what kind of raunchy bs will he unleash on the world when he can say anything he damn well wants because he on a paid service and get away with it. Howard is sick in the head as is. There are I know of a dj who beats howard stern which out steeping down to howards level of crudeness. He beats all 3 markets that he is in. Howard seems to be getting less support from the Viacom family as he use to because of the fcc crack down.
> 
> But this whole Howard deals is:
> 
> ...


I agree with you. I personally don't listen to Howard, but a lot of people do. Sirius will benefit greatly from this.

I have to wonder though if this is good for Howard's career. He has always liked to "push the envelope". Now that all obstacles are removed, people might get turned off. Sure, he might do well for a while but listeners might get tired of his unleashed humor.


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## UnnDunn (Oct 27, 2002)

This is good news all around, because it represents a wake-up call to broadcast radio that yes, satellite radio is here, and it plans to be competitive. Just like DBS shook up the cable industry, satellite radio is finally beginning to shake up the broadcast radio industry.

I don't necessarily like Howard Stern, but he is a huge draw, and the broadcast radio behemoths can't ignore him.

Love him or hate him, his move can only be good for consumers.


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## Geronimo (Mar 23, 2002)

Wow! I don't like his style but he is aforce to be reckoned with. Only NPR gets higher ratings in morning drive.


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## UnnDunn (Oct 27, 2002)

And speaking of which, is the Sirius website down for anyone else? Seems they didn't prepare to get 'Stern-dotted'...


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## ypsiguy (Jan 28, 2004)

Dish Network would be smart to add ALL of the sirius channels now, including Howard Stern. Sirius+DN+Howard Stern would be an unbeatable combination.


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## Pete K. (Apr 23, 2002)

I agree this is huge for Sirius, huge (in a negative way) for terrestrial broadcasters, and huge for Stern fans but there are millions of us who don't give a hoot about Stern and on whom this move will have zero impact. I have XM and will keep XM.


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

My guess is that Stern will be a "premium" channel at additional cost. As a shareholder, I guess this is good news, but as a radio listener I wouldn't pay a penny to listen to his garbage. The stock certainly did like the news today though. $3.92 per share, up $0.57, nice percentage move, on 270,000,000 shares. Someone attracted a bit of attention today.  XM is down over $1.00.


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## Guest (Oct 6, 2004)

Richard King said:


> My guess is that Stern will be a "premium" channel at additional cost. As a shareholder, I guess this is good news, but as a radio listener I wouldn't pay a penny to listen to his garbage. The stock certainly did like the news today though. $3.92 per share, up $0.57, nice percentage move, on 270,000,000 shares. Someone attracted a bit of attention today.  XM is down over $1.00.


Im so getting this system forget xm


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## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

Is this the same stern guy that makes women undress on his tv show? If it is, then here's my opinion of this "huge" announcement. :barf:

The guy is a stinking pile of pure unadulterated feces. If he were on fire, I wouldn't unzip my trousers to piss on him. Any man that disrespects womanhood and hates women as much as this jerk does isn't worthy of any adulation whatsoever. I seriously question the values, morals and judgment of anyone who thinks Howard Stern is worthy of anything but disdain and scorn. Ask yourself this - would you let your sister or your daughter go on his show? 

I didn't think so.

Now that Sirius has seen fit to get in bed with this piece of crap, I will go with XM if I should ever have a reason to get satellite radio.


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## MarkA (Mar 23, 2002)

Nick, I hate Stern too, but getting Sirius is probably a better long term proposition with NFL, Howard Stern, etc. even though I don't care about any of that.


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## Santinelli (Oct 6, 2002)

Down boys... Down Boys...

Don't forget... XM Has Opie and Antony. Yeah, getting people to have sex in a church, now THAT'S cool, right?! Right?

Sorry... I'm glad Stern's coming ONLY because it will make Sirus get more subscribers, and generally promote satellite radio.


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## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

At first I was a little bummed that Stern didn't go with XM, but now I'm ecstatic. This move can only help to heat up the competition. I was never a fan of Sirius, but Friday after I get out of school I'm heading down to Best Buy and picking up a Sirius plug and play unit. I like Opie and Anthony better then Stern, but I want to support the freedom from the FCC movement and I can't wait unil other shows jump on. Don and Mike, The Greasemen and others. 

Sirius scored big here, O&A were a regional show, still growing, Stern is a radio icon that’s on in the vast majority of markets in the country, he's more well known and has a huge following. I listen to him occasionally on WBUF here, but can’t wait until he can be free from, as Opie put it, ‘the chains of the FCC’. I’ve always wanted to give Sirius a try, but this will give me a real reason, not too crazy of the music streams, but maybe I’ll learn to like them. I can’t believe I’ll be spending $28 on satellite radio.


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## MarkA (Mar 23, 2002)

Hmm, I've tried both. They've got advantages and disadvantages. I bought Sirius for three reasons (that I've mentioned before):

1. Better mountainy area reception (HUGE for me). Of course XM has potentially better city reception in terrestrial cities (more repeaters)

2. Commercial free children's music.

3. Elvis Radio.

XM was a strong temptation because of:

1. NASCAR! Easily worth items 2 and 3 above!

2. Better long-term outlook (which today seems to have totally shifted)

3. Lower price

So yeah, I think you'll like Sirius. But because of NASCAR XM definitely has better programming


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## Geronimo (Mar 23, 2002)

I knew Stern in college. I did not like his show then and dont like it now. But it will clearly bring subs. SIRIUS pulled offa coup. But no matter where he is I wont listen.


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## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

I kind of doubt it Mark, but I'm willing to give it a shot  I've listened to Sirius on Dish at my uncles house and wasn't impressed with Hard Attack, way too weak compared to XM Liquid Metal, I like the style of Squizz better then Octane. Buzzsaw is pretty good, but too shallow, but at least it all classic hard metal, not so much hair metal. And on top of it Sirius removed their alternative country stream. 

I don't listen to kid stations, don't like Elvis and gave up on NASCAR a few years ago but my three bullet points for each are

XM 

1) Excellent musical selection of death metal, commercial metal, classic hard rock, current hard alt rock and current alternative country, wide variety of bands, deeper album cuts, and on the death metal side, Liquid Metal has a much more violent and satanic feel then Hard Attack. 

2) Availability of extreme talk and comedy. O&A, Juli and Tiff on Playboy Radio, Monsters on Extreme XM. Too bad Clear Channel canned Bubba though. I also enjoy XM Comedy from time to time. 

3) Hardware. The SkyFi2 is going to be awesome with pause and rewind capabilities, but I’ll have to wait on that for a while.

Sirius 

1) Wider variety of political talk. The only one I listen to when it comes to this on a regular basis is Savage, but always happy to listen around as long as it’s not Hannity or Rush, I’ll give any other right wing talk show a chance.

2) Buzzsaw. A I said above, more powerful classic rock, maybe they do play some deeper cuts, it’s just in my listening I never heard anything that I never heard before.

3) Howard Stern.


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## John Corn (Mar 21, 2002)

For whatever reason I am a Howard Stern Fan, there are days I enjoy his show and other days I don't......kinda weird, huh?

After the announcement today I 'm an XM sub honestly considering changing to Sirius now, especially since Sirius also seems slightly more sports oriented than XM.


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## MarkA (Mar 23, 2002)

"don't like Elvis"

You don't like THE KING?!?!?!?!?!?!

j/k Seriously though, good points. I think everybody could come up with three pros to each service. That's what makes it so hard. I think that both would have a better bottom line if they'd work together. Design equipment and antennas to work with both services and broadcast both signals from both company's satellites and terrestrial towers (imagine THAT reception - the Molniya signal to shoot between the mountains and tall buildings in underserved cities, the GEO signal to reach under gas station overhangs and N-S overpasses and into tunnels, and both company's repeater signals. Plus new repeater costs for smaller cities (such as Spokane, WA and Missoula, MT) could be much more affordable. Of course the companies would still broadcast their own signal format (though from both sets of transmitters) and all existing radios would work with the service they're currently designed too (though new antennas would increase the signal from the new sats.).


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## Hoobastank (Mar 9, 2004)

I hate censorship, and am glad Stern will finally have a format that is completely uncensored. For his fans (myself included) this is a dream come true, and I definitely will be purchasing a car unit before that time. I just hope the show will repeat throughout the day.


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## jpurkey (May 15, 2003)

Steve Mehs said:


> At first I was a little bummed that Stern didn't go with XM, but now I'm ecstatic. This move can only help to heat up the competition. I was never a fan of Sirius, but Friday after I get out of school I'm heading down to Best Buy and picking up a Sirius plug and play unit.


Keep in mind, he won't be on Sirus until January 1, 2006. No need to rush. I would at least wait for a good sale/rebate deal on a Sirus receiver.

I've only listened to Stern for less than a week a few years ago when I was sampling talk radio. It just wasn't my type of humor. Don and Mike was more my thing, but I grew tired of their show too and talk radio in general after a few months and now only listen to music.

I wonder how many of Stern's fans will make the switch? I can't imagine him having anywhere near the audience he does now.


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## MarkA (Mar 23, 2002)

I'm imagining 1/2 of Stern's true fans (the ones who listen to every show or almost every show) will get Sirius immediately at or before the launch. More will come along later...


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## DS0816 (Mar 29, 2002)

Clear Channel is responsible for this! Howard Stern had been warning for some time that he was being censored by Clear Channel, and has been stating that Clear Channel is right-wing and wanted to shut up Stern's controversial remarks about the Bush administration. That is censorship.

I hope like hell Stern is every bit as successful -- if not, then moreso, actually -- on Sirius radio. Because my work schedule doesn't coincide with Stern's morning program, I'm debating whether to sign up. I'd love for his show to air in its original morning slot, followed later in the day by a rebroadcast. Don't know if this will be the case. But I imagine I'll end up becoming a subscriber just for the access to Stern as well as other radio stations. In fact, I don't need Stern as _the_ reason for signing on -- I'm tired of my Detroit stations repeating the same tune by a specific artist after a mere two hours (that's plenty reason!).


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## MarkA (Mar 23, 2002)

DS0816, you'll love Sirius Radio. Or XM too probably. I have MAJOR issues with my money going to support Howard Stern (and other gems such as Air America and OutQ) but I guess it's really no different from cable TV in that sense.


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## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

Profound Afterthought:

My opinion of Stern hasn't changed, but I view his going to sat radio as beneficial to broadcast radio and the OTA listening public in general. It gets that corrupt piece of sewer sludge off the public airwaves and into a spooge-stained yellow front peep booth where he belongs. No longer will a decent family will have to suffer the shock and angst of inadvertently hearing Stern's effluence after accidentally scanning the radio to one of his syndicated broadcasts.


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## lovswr (Jan 13, 2004)

Ok, Howard is going to get _at least_ 100 million per year for 5 years (at least according to the USA Today article that I read at lunch). My calculator tells me that at $1.95 (I used that as that is what XM is charging) Sirius needs to get 4,273,504.3 people per yer just to break even.

The latest numbers that I saw have XM at 2.5 million paid subscribers & Sirius at 600,000.

Sounds like a major coup for Mr Stern, but at what cost to Sirius?

ps I'm sure Robin & the rest of the gang will get nice raises too. Nor proportionate but it will have to be added to the bottom line.


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## Chris Blount (Jun 22, 2001)

lovswr said:


> Ok, Howard is going to get _at least_ 100 million per year for 5 years (at least according to the USA Today article that I read at lunch). My calculator tells me that at $1.95 (I used that as that is what XM is charging) Sirius needs to get 4,273,504.3 people per yer just to break even.
> 
> The latest numbers that I saw have XM at 2.5 million paid subscribers & Sirius at 600,000.


What I heard was that Sirius will need at least 1 million subscribers to break even. Whatever the number, it's a gamble and I hope it pays off for them. I personally will not be switching from XM to Sirius just for Howard (I don't listen to him anyway) because it would take a lot to rip me away from channels like Cinemagic on XM.


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## Paul Secic (Dec 16, 2003)

Pete K. said:


> I agree this is huge for Sirius, huge (in a negative way) for terrestrial broadcasters, and huge for Stern fans but there are millions of us who don't give a hoot about Stern and on whom this move will have zero impact. I have XM and will keep XM.


I'll keep my CC Brand OTA radio.


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## Paul Secic (Dec 16, 2003)

MarkA said:


> "don't like Elvis"
> 
> You don't like THE KING?!?!?!?!?!?!
> 
> j/k Seriously though, good points. I think everybody could come up with three pros to each service. That's what makes it so hard. I think that both would have a better bottom line if they'd work together. Design equipment and antennas to work with both services and broadcast both signals from both company's satellites and terrestrial towers (imagine THAT reception - the Molniya signal to shoot between the mountains and tall buildings in underserved cities, the GEO signal to reach under gas station overhangs and N-S overpasses and into tunnels, and both company's repeater signals. Plus new repeater costs for smaller cities (such as Spokane, WA and Missoula, MT) could be much more affordable. Of course the companies would still broadcast their own signal format (though from both sets of transmitters) and all existing radios would work with the service they're currently designed too (though new antennas would increase the signal from the new sats.).


They could merge if they don't make dallars.


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## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

With in the next few years there will be receivers on the market able to receive both XM and Sirius. After reading Jpurkeys post, I've decided to wait on Sirius, well at least for the time being. I have a $50 gift card that will cover the cost of the home kit, a plug and play receiver will only cost $100, but I'll wait a little.


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## Guest (Oct 9, 2004)

You can get a killer deal on a PNP for $49.99 and that includes your choice of a car kit or home kit at no additional charge.

Use promo code 161.


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