Howard Stern signed to Sirius (1 Viewer)

[John Mansor]

Don't underestimate his rabid fans. Besides he only has to bring a fraction of them over to make it profitable. I wonder what impact the addition of Opie and Anthony has had on XM subscriptions.

 

[Brian L]

I would wager its miniscule compared to Stern.

XM would probably need a Don Imus or Rush Limbaugh to equal Howard, and even then, I would not bet one way or another on who would bring more subscribers, although my gut feeling is Stern would, amazingly.

I saw a news clip of Stern on CNN at lunch equating his move to Sirius as marking the death of AM and FM radio. Ya, right. From a music listeners perspective, radio has been dead for a long time.

And I wonder what he thinks about his fans, the ones that made him who he is, that won't buy or can't afford to buy a satellite radio. F*ck them, I guess.

BGL

 

[WillG]

I would imagine that Sirius will eventually overtake XM based on this. But I do wonder if Opie and Anthony will steal listeners from Howard. They do have over a year head start over him on Satellite Radio, which much burn Howard to no end and obviously killed any chance of him going to XM. However, in the last three days O&A have made me laugh more that Howard has all year. I'm sure Howard will Mellow out a bit once he gets to Sirius and be able to go a good show again, but as for me, I like O&A alot and I don't see myself getting both services.

 

[William Laughner]

I have been a XM subscriber for more than year and I have 3 units (2 Car & 1 Home). Come Jan. '06 I will become a Sirius subscriber...XM...I hardly knew ya. :p)

This is a great day for long time fans of The Howard Stern Show! Finally, the show can once again strive to reach the comedic greatness it reached 10 years ago. I am really excited about this move.

 

[Tino]

So...how much is SIRIUS to buy and subscribe to?

 

[Chris]

$12.95 month to month
$9.95/month if you pay for a year at once

There are tons of units, some of the newer ones are very slick (IMHO)

SIRIUS landing several big NCAA programs, the NFL, and now Stern are a series of big lands. And having Stern as an unpaid spokesman for 15 months to tout their network is like mana

In KC, we don't have Stern. But on several radio stations today, people clogged in to announce to the host "not long buddy, before I can get STERN!" which illicited some funny debates on AM radio today.

 

[Greg_R]

XM already has Rush on ch.166 (rightwing political talk station... 165 is the leftwing).

I prefer O&A on radio (I prefer the broadcast version of Stern on E!) but agree that not as many listeners know who O&A are. They have been off the air for over a year so many of their core audience has gone to other programs...

 

[Chris]

I don't think Rush is on XM..

http://www.xmradio.com/pdf/america_right_grid.pdf

At least, he isn't in their schedule. If he was, that would be a major announcement, and many affiliates, who have exclusives through 2007, would go nuts.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

I don't see the risk. I listened to an analyst today on the Jim Cramer show. Sirius says they only need to sell 1 million subs to cover Stern's $100 million contract. They are going to sell way, way more subs than that because of Stern.

The analyst was bullish on Sirius because of this, and Cramer pointed out that the concerns that the FCC will start regulating satellite content are unfounded.

Look at how many people in this thread will get Sirius (or even switch from XM). Think about how many people watch Stern on TV and want to listen to his show but it isn't carried in their market.

I'll be shocked if Sirius doesn't take a marketshare lead in 3 years if XM can't get some major exclusives.

 

[Bryan_O]

Stern's going to have to prove it to me. As a long time (almost 20 year) listener, I think Stern has gotten so lazy in the last several years, and he really hasn't been funny. All you hear out of stern is b*tch and moan, b*tch and moan, b*tch and moan. -Yawn- I'll listen if Stern either puts up, or shuts up. Until then, It's Opie and Anthony for me in the mornings.

 

[Rob T]

I would and I know several others who would as well.

and the two times he went to Vegas, people came from all over the US (and Canada) just to see and be near him and others from the show. When they were doing the show, the Hard rock hotel was filled with people. The street in front of the hotel was also filled.
Soon enough, he will be heard nation-wide. Sirius is working on a deal to broadcast in Canada too, so he'll be heard all over up here, as well. Chances are other countries might be added to that list in due time.

 

[Chris Harrison]

Count me in as someone who will now become a new Sirius customer.

 

[Philip Hamm]

This is probably true for non-Sirrius people also. How's he going to prove it to them if they don't already have Sirius? They'll just be another listener shut out of the possibility of listening to the most popmous self-important jackass on the radio (who also happens to be often quite funny, self depricating, surrounded by funny peopler).

I used to listen in a carpool about 6 years ago. He was just barely still funny then. I still listen but just for a few minutes when I'm getting the dog ready in the morning. Stern is the dog radio in my house when I'm at work because it's on the best reception talk station.

My prediction: While the self-appointed "king of all media" helps make sattelite radio successful for a few years, his actual listenership drops dramatically.

Two problems with this scenario:

(1) About 80% of his show is whining and complaining about the FCC and his employers. What's he going to whine about?

(2) At least 20 minutes of each hour is commercials. Doing a radio show like that is strenuous, you need breaks in order to get "set-up" for the next gag, drink water, go to the bathroom, etc. etc. Are Sirius subscribers who have been trained to be whiners by the example Stern going to put up with the breaks?

 

[TheLongshot]

Well, I am saying it is risky mainly because of the money that they will be putting out, and the amount of control they are giving him. It doesn't mean that it isn't a good risk for Sirius, but there is always the potential that it could backfire.

I also think XM getting O&A was also a good deal for them. It probably didn't cost them as much to get them, and they don't need the huge subscriber jump that Sirius needs at some point. I do know a coworker who is picking up XM just for O&A. The nice thing about them, is that they have room to grow. Stern is probably past his peak (not saying he isn't good, but his audience probably will not get larger, and most likely shrink a bit over time.)

What is also nice is that there is now no place in the states that you can't get these guys. You can even get internet streaming, if you want.

Course, it doesn't matter to me that Sirius got Stern, since I think they fall down on what is really important: the music. Course, there are a lot of satelite users out there who could give a crap about music. They just want good talk radio at their fingertips.

Jason

 

[Chris]

Yep, pretty much people like me. I'll admit it, the majorit of time I'm listening to music on SIRIUS it's Radio Disney, because my kids like it.

That having been said, it's the news feeds and sports which got me into SIRIUS originally and keep me there.

 

[Jean D]

I wouldnt mind picking up Sirius just for the music stations. Im not a sports guy, so those wouldnt affect my desicion but my gf likes Stern, I think its like the icing on the cake. I get music 24/7, a station by Eminem, which should be interesting and Howard without the FCC. It would give him free reign to be as vulgar as his fans want him to be. But I think I'll just wait until after Stern makes his debut on Sirius and goes on a few months, then listen to the reviews I hear. I guess at this point, I dont know if its even worth it for me, annother monthly bill for stuff I get free and probably would only use 10% of the time im awake.

-side note: wouldnt it be great if they had a language channel. so you could learn to speak annother language in your spare time.

 

[WillG]

Can you Stream Opie and Anthony? I know XM is offering a streaming option. I got a email listing what will be available but the "High Voltage" channel was not listed. I would think that most subscribers to that channel will want the option to stream so they can listen at work in a building or something like that.

 

[Scott_lb]

In addition to Stern, I want to get Conway and Steckler on (KLSX, L.A.) SIRIUS! I love those guys and miss that show more than Stern! Nothing beats listening to "What the hell did Jessie Jackson say?" after a hard day at work.

 

[Jose Q]

All SIRIUS needs to do now is make the peace with Ron Epstein and give him his own 70's channel. This way they'll have the market lead locked in.

Of course the channel will be dead air with the occasional "Stern is coming" plugs.

"Damn you Sirius...you done it to me again!!!"

 

[Jeff Adkins]

I used to be the world's biggest Stern fan in the world and probably would've payed much more than $12.95/month to get his show. However, in the last few years the show has grown lame and tired. I'm not sure why Howard thinks we care about the lives of his interns. Numerous times I have tuned in to hear him talking for up to 45 minutes about one of his interns. I was bored to tears.

I was very skeptical about Opie & Anthony. I had only heard them once a few years ago and didn't really remember much about it. For $1.99 per month, I decided to give them a shot. I've been pleasantly surprised at how funny they are. The Stern and Greaseman impressions had me on the floor. I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard.

Still, I'm happy about this announcement as XM was starting to get a little too dominant in terms of subscribers for my liking. For the best overall content and prices, we need two strong providers competing.