Grimis
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| #1 Posted on 6.10.04 1029.13 Reposted on: 6.10.11 1029.43 | This is a surprising, yet not...Originally posted by SF Chronicle/AP Top-ranked shock jock Howard Stern said Wednesday that he will abandon his syndicated morning radio show to join Sirius satellite radio in 15 months, freeing him from government regulators and allowing him to "bring my fans my show my way."
"I've decided what my future is," Stern told his millions of listeners in announcing his five-year, multimillion-dollar contract. "It's not this kind of radio any more."
Stern, who battled for years with the FCC and the religious rights over his salacious show's content, will move to the national distributor of commercial-free music and sport programming when his contract with Infinity Broadcasting expires in 15 months. The deal will allow him to reach every market in the country.
"I'm tired of the censorship," said Stern, whose show was dropped by media conglomerate Clear Channel Communications in April after the Federal Communications Commission proposed a $495,000 fine against it for comments made by Stern.
"The FCC ... has stopped me from doing business," Stern said. "Clear Channel, you (expletives), I will bury you."
Like cable television, satellite radio is not subject to federal indecency scrutiny because it is available only to paid subscribers.
Stern's show, full of sexually explicit remarks and off-color humor, corners the radio market among males 18-49 years of age and ranks No. 1 in many of the 46 major markets where his show is broadcast.
"It has been my dream to have the top-rated show in radio since I was five years old," Stern said in a statement. "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."
Sirius CEO Joseph P. Clayton called Stern "an entertainment force of unprecedented recognition and popularity in the broadcast world." Both Clayton and Stern predicted the shock jock will change the face of satellite radio and boost listenership.
"Sirius said to me, 'You're our Michael Jordan, you're everything, you're our cornerstone,"' Stern said.
Shares of the satellite radio company surged 18 percent on the news.
A call to Infinity for comment was not immediately returned.
Probably a better show for Stern. I never thought Stern was that entertaining, but this will let Howard be Howard.
Of course, doesn't this also mean Stern conceded defeat to the FCC? Promote this thread! | | Roy.
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| #2 Posted on 6.10.04 1041.37 Reposted on: 6.10.11 1042.03 | Originally posted by Grimis Of course, doesn't this also mean Stern conceded defeat to the FCC?
Yes and no, I guess. He's been talking about going to satellite from even before they tossed him off the air in some cities, and he's always been fighting either the stations he's on or the FCC. On the other hand, who's going to beat the FCC? It's been around forever, and its power is only increasing due to Senator Brownback and the parents groups out there. Stern obviously sees the writing on the wall in regards to that.
Personally, I love it, because until his problems started, he said this was the last contract he was going to sign and he was going to be off the air after 2005. And I can listen to him no matter where I live, because I don't get him now. | odessasteps
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| #3 Posted on 6.10.04 1042.27 Reposted on: 6.10.11 1042.50 | I would say it's a combination of:
-- FCC headaches
-- Mel Karmizan leaving Viacom/CBS/Infinity
-- Sirius backing up the Brinks truck
Personally, It sucks, since I have XM. | Von Maestro
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| #4 Posted on 6.10.04 1057.01 Reposted on: 6.10.11 1057.28 | Originally posted by odessasteps
I would say it's a combination of:
-- FCC headaches
-- Mel Karmizan leaving Viacom/CBS/Infinity
-- Sirius backing up the Brinks truck
Personally, It sucks, since I have XM.
There is also a couple of reasons he went specifically to Sirius & not XM. One is the fact that one of XM's investors is Clear Channel, & the other is that XM just signed Opie & Anthony.
This pretty much shows where the future of radio is headed. Terrestrial radio is simply not where the future is & the movement of these huge radio personalities to satellite shows that. | Whitebacon
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| #5 Posted on 6.10.04 1347.26 Reposted on: 6.10.11 1348.07 | O&A are huge radio personalities? They only place I've ever heard of them have been wrestling sites when wrestlers go on the show. Stern is a huge radio personality, but he's been out of the Fresno market for the last 3 years or so due to lack of ratings (good taste?) here. | vsp
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| #6 Posted on 6.10.04 1351.09 Reposted on: 6.10.11 1351.11 | Originally posted by Von Maestro There is also a couple of reasons he went specifically to Sirius & not XM. One is the fact that one of XM's investors is Clear Channel, & the other is that XM just signed Opie & Anthony.
Stern's been talking about satellite for months now, but the timing:
* Monday - O&A return to the airwaves on XM, after two years away. * Two days later - Stern announces he's signed with Sirius.
is certainly enlightening.
O&A are certainly nowhere nearly as popular as Stern, but they have their loyal following, and did quite well as Infinity's drive-time show complementing Stern's morning show until the cathedral stunt got them yanked. Stern is #1, but O&A were #2 in the young-male demographics Infinity wanted.
If anyone's going to leap into the shock-jock water in satellite radio and build a listener base, Stern wants it to be him. After watching two rivals with a similarly raunchy style beat him to the punch, I can't blame Stern for wanting to move quickly in their wake.
This pretty much shows where the future of radio is headed. Terrestrial radio is simply not where the future is & the movement of these huge radio personalities to satellite shows that.
There are three barriers standing in the way of satellite radio: * Affordability. $10/month isn't a significant expense for a lot of people, but the hardware costs make satellite somewhat less than an impulse buy right now. For instance, an XM SkyFi receiver + Home Adaptor Kit + Vehicle Adaptor Kit + Universal Audio Adaptor == not chump change.
* Portability. If I'm paying for premium radio, I want to be able to listen to it wherever I go. If I want a setup that'll work in my office, my car and my living room, I'm either buying multiple receivers (which requires multiple subscriptions) or I'm buying a bunch of expensive adaptors as above. There's still not really any such thing as a satellite walkman yet, though I'm sure it's in the works.
* Content. To attract people to a premium service, you need to give them content that's _far_ over and above what the comparable free services provide. I'm not so sure that either XM or Sirius are there yet.
(edited by vsp on 6.10.04 1201) | fuelinjected
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| #7 Posted on 6.10.04 1357.19 Reposted on: 6.10.11 1357.20 | The price will come crashing down with all the people wanting to listen to Stern.
With the rapid development of technology, 15 months is an eternity in solving any issues with portability.
As far as content goes, Stern said he's reaching out to a lot of people to bring on board, even people he doesn't like. That should be interesting and solve the content issues.
What better way to stick it to the FCC then to further diminish their rapidly shrinking power? If he makes satellite radio into a success and is responsible in creating a wave of broadcasters leaving terrestrial radio then he's beaten the FCC. | Grimis
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| #8 Posted on 6.10.04 1411.34 Reposted on: 6.10.11 1411.52 | Originally posted by vsp Affordability. $10/month isn't a significant expense for a lot of people, but the hardware costs make satellite somewhat less than an impulse buy right now. For instance, an XM SkyFi receiver + Home Adaptor Kit + Vehicle Adaptor Kit + Universal Audio Adaptor == not chump change.
And that is especially important when you consider the demo both shows are going after. They may be trying to reach the demo 1) but can the demo afford to get the product? and 2) is the demo even inclined to pay for it? | Roy.
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| #9 Posted on 6.10.04 1413.14 Reposted on: 6.10.11 1413.24 | Could it be the beginning of the "Howard Stern Radio Network" that he's always joked/talked about? Right now, O&A play all day long on XM. Either their show, a replay of the show, or a "best of" segment. So they only broadcast live for like 4 hours, I believe. Of course, they replay themselves for both the West Coast and because they know that Howard fans won't give up live Howard for them. For an extra few bucks a month, people only get the O&A show.
It would be interesting to see if it becomes an all day block of stuff. I'd pay for Howard alone (I think, we'll see my budget in 2 years), but if there's a whole "shock jock" network, I might be convinced to buy it. | vsp
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| #10 Posted on 6.10.04 1420.14 Reposted on: 6.10.11 1420.16 | Originally posted by Grimis
Originally posted by vsp Affordability. $10/month isn't a significant expense for a lot of people, but the hardware costs make satellite somewhat less than an impulse buy right now. For instance, an XM SkyFi receiver + Home Adaptor Kit + Vehicle Adaptor Kit + Universal Audio Adaptor == not chump change.
And that is especially important when you consider the demo both shows are going after. They may be trying to reach the demo 1) but can the demo afford to get the product? and 2) is the demo even inclined to pay for it?
2a) Especially since they can get the product for free off the Internet, albeit as recorded .MP3s instead of live?
There's your real test of appeal. If I can go home from work and download that day's Stern or O&A in a matter of minutes, how likely am I to spend the bucks on a satellite setup, even if I know that going the Internet route and avoiding hardware & monthly costs isn't financially supporting the program and helping it to continue? | fuelinjected
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| #11 Posted on 6.10.04 1434.54 Reposted on: 6.10.11 1435.33 | You can already download Stern's show on the net, though. I doubt it would really affect his ratings because I would think that the vast majority of his audience listens to him on the way to work in the morning. Its like a ritual.
Hopefully it'll be like the beginning of cable TV. A lot of people thought that it was too expensive and not worth it at the time too. I know that the studies used to show that Stern's demo's were a lot higher income then those of Rush Limbaugh.
If anyone in radio is going to make satellite radio work, it'll be Stern because his fans are frustrated with his frustration of not being able to do the type of show he wants to do. That doesn't mean it'll be filled with cursing either. Just being able to talk like adults without having to jump through hoops to say something as innocent as "I took a crap" without getting fined. | vsp
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| #12 Posted on 6.10.04 1512.32 Reposted on: 6.10.11 1512.55 | Originally posted by fuelinjected You can already download Stern's show on the net, though. I doubt it would really affect his ratings because I would think that the vast majority of his audience listens to him on the way to work in the morning. Its like a ritual.
Yeah, but right now they don't have to pay three figures up front and ten bucks a month to listen to him each morning. That's my point; there are lots of people who enjoy listening to Stern, myself included, but how many like him well enough to _buy new hardware_ just to listen to him, instead of taking the free way out?
Hopefully it'll be like the beginning of cable TV. A lot of people thought that it was too expensive and not worth it at the time too.
The parallels are similar. Cable faced similar barriers (getting coverage in many areas, getting people used to paying for TV, providing content superior to what VHF/UHF offered), and didn't break big overnight.
Stern and O&A will help satellite radio, but there are people already saying "Howard's coming, FM is doomed." That's a vast, vast overstatement. | Von Maestro
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| #13 Posted on 6.10.04 1552.10 Reposted on: 6.10.11 1552.37 | Originally posted by Whitebacon O&A are huge radio personalities? They only place I've ever heard of them have been wrestling sites when wrestlers go on the show. Stern is a huge radio personality, but he's been out of the Fresno market for the last 3 years or so due to lack of ratings (good taste?) here.
Before O&A were taken off the airwaves by Infinity, they were the #1 afternoon drive show in NY, Philly, Cleveland, Boston & did very well in a few other markets as well.
These guys are a big deal & the fact that Infinity chose to pay them the remainder of their contract (almost 2 years) after canceling their show tells you how popular their show is.
Obviously as it stands now Satellite Radio is not going to be the first option for most, but as fuelinjected said, as the technology expands, the price becomes more affordable to the masses & big personalities jump from the AM/FM band, Satellite is the future of radio. | odessasteps
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| #14 Posted on 6.10.04 1623.45 Reposted on: 6.10.11 1624.00 | Also, isn't Sirius HQ in New York? I know XM is in DC. Stern presumably would be able to do his show at Sirius HQ (not that any company wouldn't build a studio for howard probably).
I've had XM for 2+ years (if not longer) and it's so very cheaper now than it was then.
Isn't the XM boombox like $100? | Guru Zim
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| #15 Posted on 6.10.04 1656.37 Reposted on: 6.10.11 1656.47 | Here's the funny thing.
I'm pretty sure the FCC has the option of butting in on Satellite radio if they want to. It's stil a broadcast medium, albeit a subscription one.
I mean, there are reasons that the USA network doesn't show a hardcore porno every night at 3 in the morning. I'm pretty sure (and this is not due to any expertise in the industry, I'm just recalling from some long ago research into censorship for a debate class) that cable TV self-regulates, the same way that the MPAA self-regulates movies. I think that cable falls under the FCC if they decide that they need to do something about it, which is what I assume would happen to XM and Sirius as well.
So, rather than be liberated from the FCC, these guys may actually be the ones that ruin it for everyone else. I'll need to research this later when I get a chance, I am very out of date on FCC stuff. | Jaguar
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| #16 Posted on 6.10.04 1702.56 Reposted on: 6.10.11 1703.40 | I would think the reason that USA doesn't show porn at 3am is because then Time-Warner and other cable companies would drop them out of the basic cable package.
And if the FCC wants to butt in, I would hope that someone want to run for office with a "Restrict the FCC" platform. Hmm. I wonder how popular that would be...
-Jag | Roy.
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| #17 Posted on 6.10.04 1706.26 Reposted on: 6.10.11 1706.44 | Guru, I believe that you are right. That's why O&A have an extra fee to listen to them ($2.00 or something). They are considered "premium" content, and therefore nobody is going to freak out if they "accidently" tune in to them. It's a simple way of XM covering it's butt. There's an additional fee for Playboy Radio on XM, as well. Of course, XM and Siruis could simply make them an optional channel you have to manually "activate", but why not make some money in the first place?
But I also seem to recall talking about the FCC in my one media class. Our professor said that the FCC has no rules, it basically relies on complaints of others. Supposedly (and I don't know if this is true) there are hardcore porno channels on broadcast channels in rural areas out west. Nobody complains, so the FCC doesn't do anything. Now, whether or not this is true anymore, I don't know.
So if nobody complains, the FCC can't do anything, in regards to content, right? Or has that rule changed since Boobiegate? | odessasteps
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| #18 Posted on 6.10.04 1706.30 Reposted on: 6.10.11 1707.30 | Satellite radio could be certainly regulated, but I would think that a subscription-only channel would be treated the same way that HBO and Showtime are on television.
You can't show a porn film on HBO, but you can curse until you're blue in the face. I mean, Deadwood brought back to popular usage the c***s***** word. And the Sorpanos? Sheesh. I mean, do you think Stern will really say anything worse than Larry David does on Curb?
| EddieBurkett
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| #19 Posted on 6.10.04 1757.06 Reposted on: 6.10.11 1758.19 | Originally posted by vsp 2a) Especially since they can get the product for free off the Internet, albeit as recorded .MP3s instead of live?
Aren't the Satellite Radio companies aware of this and doing what they can to make sure its difficult for people to record the programs? I know that XM recently pulled their PC adapter after someone wrote a program to timeshift (record) their programs a la Tivo. Although I have heard that they are going to be rereleasing it.
Granted, nothing can stop anyone from putting a microphone in front of their speakers, but one would have to think the quality wouldn't be the best.
As for it being a morning ritual, what's to say that someone wouldn't go home, download/burn that morning's Stern, and then listen to it the next morning? A perfectly feasible solution, provided you don't mind your content a day late. | fuelinjected
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| #20 Posted on 6.10.04 1829.57 Reposted on: 6.10.11 1830.58 | Originally posted by Guru Zim Here's the funny thing.
I'm pretty sure the FCC has the option of butting in on Satellite radio if they want to. It's stil a broadcast medium, albeit a subscription one.
I mean, there are reasons that the USA network doesn't show a hardcore porno every night at 3 in the morning. I'm pretty sure (and this is not due to any expertise in the industry, I'm just recalling from some long ago research into censorship for a debate class) that cable TV self-regulates, the same way that the MPAA self-regulates movies. I think that cable falls under the FCC if they decide that they need to do something about it, which is what I assume would happen to XM and Sirius as well.
So, rather than be liberated from the FCC, these guys may actually be the ones that ruin it for everyone else. I'll need to research this later when I get a chance, I am very out of date on FCC stuff.
Not from the way I understand it although I'm sure they'll try. The only jurisdication the FCC has is a loose one over terrestrial radio and network TV because they're on the "public airwaves". Satellite radio and cable TV don't fall under those guidelines because they're an opitional pay service.
The FCC has no grounds to fine anything on cable TV. You were correct in stating that cable TV self-regulates but its more of a sponsorship/advertising issue. Take WWE and the PTC for example. They ppressure(d) the advertisor's to get them to pull out. If a show isn't appealing to advertiser's due to constant pressure, the ad revenue plummets, and the show can't generate revenue. So if a station is filled with those shows, they can't make money. That's why HBO is a premium channel because you pay in place of advertiser's, who wouldn't. That's the way I understand it.
The FCC trying to regulate satellite radio would be akin to them trying to regulate the content of books and newspapers. The programming can't be classified as pornography because it's not visual so it won't be treated like porn videos are.
From the way Stern was loosely describing it on his show, there will be sponsors on Sirius and it won't be commercial free but the added premium channels will be. I doubt it will be anywhere near as sponsor heavy as regular radio but if Stern has lots of listeners, companies will want to buy commercial time. In that sense Stern was correct in pointing out that right now, there is no business in satellite radio, and someone has to go back it a viable business option. If anyone in radio can, its him. If he makes it lucrative for sponsors, then more and more broadcasters will follow because they won't have the headaches of the FCC and trying to get their show syndicated.
As for the recording issue, I still think its a very small minority of people that would do that or want to do that. The technology of satellite radio may not completely replace AM/FM but for those of us who don't care about local content and want more variety in talk and music, its the perfect option. |
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