Howard just announced that he has signed w/ Sirius for 2006 once his contract with Viacom is up. That just confirms that I'll eventually pick up Sirius.
This is a five year contract with negotiated terms giving him music influence over 3 streams at SIRIUS.
Contract will start effective of January 1, 2006; however, Stern & Viacom have options to waive the remainder of his contract (ie, Viacom can decide at any point in the year to advance the date to move him off their radio waves).
Stern may exert force over streams given to him before his radio show moves to SIRIUS on January 1, 2006, while his radio show continues on Viacom.
Ha ha. I thought I might be 2nd or even 1st to post. Damn rush hour traffic. lol
Anyway, My car has XM not Sirius. Looks Like I'm trading up sooner than expected.
ANy thoughts on the implications of Howie going to Sirius vs XM? Opie and Anthony start on XM this month. One school of thought would have said that Howard and XM are at the top of their games, and thus would have gotten together.
I think, now, that Sirius, lacking a real cornerstone to their programming, and losing share/penetration to XM needed a killer app. In Howard they can have it. What's more, because O&A will have been on XM for a year before Howard could even plan to...they'd assume the top spot of favor and publicity they will have earned by then.
In a way, it's a shame (for me) because I wanted him on XM. But (for him) it sounds like a better deal all around. 3 Channels. Obviously a cut of the ordinary and premium channel revenue stream, AND...without a doubt...generous stock options.
SIRIUS has managed to put together several very good months; mostly due to the NFL, which has really driven their sales since August.
Announcements of other sports networks (like NCAA contracts) helped as well, and have kept the ball rolling for them as far as growing thier base demographic.
SIRIUS's deal in August to put them in Walmart stores nationwide, as well to openly market the NFL, have been good signs for their overall growth of customer base.
While I'm not in any way a fan of Howard Stern, the signing puts them back into the news, and allows them to add more that they can market as "Exclusive" with high demographic content.. ie, "Exclusive NFL" "Exclusive Stern" "Exclusive Eminem' "Excluse NCAA Football from x Schools" and so on.
The better news for SIRIUS is that this news put them on the front page at MSNBC, WashingtonPost.Com, Drudgereport, and elsewhere, increasing their name recognition free. Which doesn't hurt at all.
While I can not for the life of me even begin to fathom the attraction of O&A and Stern (and I like foul language, women with large breasts, and lesbians as much as the next guy), it seems to me that with all the noise XM generated when they snagged O&A, Sirius had no other choice but to open the check book, right?
And really, who else could they have signed to trump XM on shock jocks other then Stern?
It's called a negotiating tactic. Everybody wants to 'call it quits' after they finish their current contract. Just ask the cast of Friends, Ray Romano, etc. Show me the money.
Course, as a Sirius shareholder, I wonder about all the cash they are laying out for first the NFL, and now Stern. It certainly feels risky and desperate on their part, and I worry a bit about them making their goals. How many people who currently listen to Howard for free will be willing to pay to listen to him?
So, what streams are they going to give him? Are these going to be new ones, or already existing ones? It doesn't surprise me that he'd get a music stream, since he's always talking about bands on his show.