Overhype

Overhype

by Carlo Longino


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Has The Stern Effect Already Worn Off For Sirius?

from the sticking-to-FM dept

As people wonder where all the Howard Stern listeners that didn't follow him to satellite radio have ended up, a radio research firm has done a little digging into why more haven't followed him. A report says that Sirius' new subscriber growth from Stern's arrival has essentially stalled, with about 8% of his terrestrial audience, or 1.1 million, having subscribed to Sirius. Nearly a third of those that haven't subscribed say they don't miss the show enough to justify paying for it, while almost a quarter say equipment and service costs too much. $500 million to pull in 1.1 million subscribers is pretty steep, but it sounds like the real issue here isn't just that perhaps Stern's pull isn't as strong as he or Sirius thought, but rather that Sirius isn't doing a great job of marketing its service. When people say they don't miss the show enough to subscribe, it almost sounds as if there's a perception that the Stern show is all that's on Sirius, or is the only thing that would interest them, meaning that the company could do a better job of making them aware of all the other content it offers. The idea that Stern alone would be enough to solidify Sirius' business is pretty unrealistic, and unless the company can do a better job of supplanting his influence with more to add new subscribers, that huge contract could end up being little more than an albatross around their neck.

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  1. Not worth it

    by J Perry - May 11th, 2006 @ 9:55am

    Howard Stern was not worth listening when he was on public radio - Why would ANYONE Want to pay for trash like his?

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  2. More angry commentators?

    by dorpus - May 11th, 2006 @ 10:01am

    The internet is already full of angry self-righteous rhetoric, so does anyone want to passively listen to the same thing on the radio anymore?

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  3. Howard Stern...

    by Anonymous Coward - May 11th, 2006 @ 10:04am

    Howard Stern was ok to listen to, and occassionally funny, but honestly I enjoy listening to Adam Carolla more in the morning than I ever did Stern.

    Only thing with Adam I don't like is Damechek, that guy needs to shoot himself in the face.

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  4. Stern is over

    by Lil Chester - May 11th, 2006 @ 10:04am

    He was funny 15 years ago, should have ended it when he was on top. Once you tear down the 4th wall and start cursing, it's no longer funny.

    oh, and O&A Party rock

    Ron and Fez RULE!

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  5. Drop in Sirius stock

    by Spcelemur - May 11th, 2006 @ 10:08am

    Last week Howard claimed that he got a "major offer" to return to terrestrial radio after Opie and Anthony (over on XM) did just that. The next day Sirius stock dropped. Maybe investors think Howard's the only thing on Sirius too.

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  6. Stern Effect

    by WasingMoneyIsEAsy - May 11th, 2006 @ 10:09am

    I believe that the Stern Effect is when water washes over the back of the boat when you stop suddenly. All that money gone. But not unusual, just look at Google. What does Google do? Have you or anyone you know bought anything from an Internet ad? Is it worth more than all the assessed property in Santa Clara County California (Silicon Valley)?
    Corporate doofuses!

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  7. Stern is not over

    by Biff - May 11th, 2006 @ 10:11am

    Stern's 'Jump the Shark' moment may have been going to satellite, I dunno, I still find him entertaining, I went ahead and got a subscription because of him. His career has been filled with non-stop "He's all washed up" comments. After 20 years of being washed up I have to wonder who is actually washed up...

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  8. As bad for Stern as well?

    by Brian - May 11th, 2006 @ 10:22am

    I would add to Biff's comment about 'Jump the Shark' that this has negative impact to Stern's brand as well. Stern has long been viewed as a vocal and strong leader to a gigantic flock. He took credit for assisting to get Christine Todd Whitman elected in NJ -- and many agreed with him. This respect, whether deserved or not, generated enormous interest from advertisers and eventually garnered him the Sirius contract. The inability to convert his terrestrial audience to Sirius subscribers will show that the emperor has no clothes.

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  9. Stern understands this

    by Ed in Seattle - May 11th, 2006 @ 10:23am

    I occassionally listened to Stern on normal radio. Then I got a new car that came with Sirius. I now listen to him ALL THE TIME. He really sounds much more comfortable where he is. Anyway, he understands that it will be a bit slower to get all his previous listeners to come along. But the seed is there. Eventually, when presented with a new car, or new electronic equipment, that has satelite radio, they will remember. I seriously think his best shows have been in the past few months on Sirius. I was going to check out Carolla the other day but all I heard was "we'll be back after a short break..." Ugh.

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  10. Surprising

    by figures - May 11th, 2006 @ 10:24am

    that a guy named Biff listens to the over-rated, sophmoric humor of Howard Stern

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  11. Re: Howard Stern...

    by greg - May 11th, 2006 @ 10:27am

    I agree that Howard was funny and entertaining, but Corolla fills that void just fine for me now. And I agree even more that Damechek is a moron. I'm almost willing to pay a fee NOT to listen to him.

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  12. never going back to regular radio

    by Grumpy Old Man - May 11th, 2006 @ 10:29am

    I had been looking at Sat Radio for a while (the grumpy one travels often on long road trips) when the announcement about Stern coming to Sirius was announced. I had listened to him years ago and let that be the deciding factor for me. The first week with George Takei (sp?) was pretty good, but after that the thrill was gone, he is not the Stern of old.

    Having said that, I can not imagine going back to regular radio. Commercial free music everywhere I travel, great sports channels, and good talk too. I believe once you have tried Sirius you would have trouble going back too.

    I do agree with Carlos though, they have spent way too much energy/resources on Stern. They could have taken what they are paying him and given away radios with paid service and got many more listeners.

    Just the 2 cents of the Grump

    GOM

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  13. Stern sucks

    by Anonymous Coward - May 11th, 2006 @ 10:29am

    O&A Party Rock!

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  14. Not just Stern

    by b-hizzle - May 11th, 2006 @ 10:30am

    I got Satellite radio for Stern, but after having it for 6 months I could never go back to crappy FM radio even if he left. Also that number of 1.1 million stern fans followed him is a little low. Sirius had 600,000 subscribers before stern's announcement, and now has over 4 million. I'd say he had a bigger impact then some would want you to think.

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  15. Howard Stern Numbers

    by Brian - May 11th, 2006 @ 10:31am

    Um, he brought over 4 million subscribers. Have you actually looked at Sirius' numbers?

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  16. by !mp - May 11th, 2006 @ 10:34am

    ron and fez = not even worth it on public radio.
    stern still puts on an entertaining show, despite it being mildly... "over-rated" and "sophmoric" (nice try there, buddy, a grammar-spelling double whammy, I wonder who is really stupider).
    Carolla's not bad. Isn't true Ron and Fez got dumped recently by FreeFM and they rehired O&A? That must suck, since Ron and Fez started as O&A's whack little brothers who sat around and talked about computers for an hour.

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  17. Does it add up?

    by Die Hard - May 11th, 2006 @ 10:35am

    The press is saying Stern brought 1.1 million listeners over to satalite in the 4 months he has been on.

    1.1million x 13.99 = 15 mill +

    After his cut it sounds like they knew what they were doing. 10mill to me in 4 months would be a decent business deal.

    Lets just wait and see what happens a year or two from now.

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  18. Re: Not just Stern

    by Anonymous Coward - May 11th, 2006 @ 10:37am

    I agree. There's much more content besides just Stern. I'm not one of those people who really enjoys listening to the same Matchbox 20 song or Jane's Addiction's "Been Caught Stealing" 300 times a day. If you're one of those people, go ahead and stay with regular radio.

    Don't forget...the networks never thought cable TV would catch on (who would want to pay for TV?) Now, cable is everywhere and people don't even balk at paying $49/mo. for shitty TV content.

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  19. Stern is lame

    by SkiOne - May 11th, 2006 @ 10:41am

    Sirrius had to be out of their minds to pay the kind of money they are paying.

    More than that Sirrius is an inferior service.

    I have XM and love it! O&A are funnier than Stern ever was. Moreover the XM service is great. The music, news, sports and comedy all are better than Sirrius.

    I listened to the online versions of both and XM just blew Sirrius away!

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  20. by nunya_bidness - May 11th, 2006 @ 10:44am

    I got Sirius a year before Howard came on and began listening to all the music and comedy daily. I never turn on regular radio any more, and now I listen to Howard every day, and Jim Breuer every afternoon(plug). I think it is only a matter of time, just like cable tv, bitch and moan we all have it. And Stern will never accept an offer from terrestial radio, that would be going backwards for him and his real fans.

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  21. conflict of interest anyone?

    by Roy Miguens - May 11th, 2006 @ 10:44am

    How can tech dirt, which is so good at pointing out the facts, and the obvious conflicts of interest, be so blind on this Stern propoganda by radio & records? B-hizzle has it right - 600k subscribers before Stern signs with Sirius, over 3 million in early 2006, and now over 4 million after 4 months of him actually being on the air.
    The game is not over - which is what these articles never mention. Let's see how many listeners there are by the end of the year.

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  22. Stern the Loss Leader

    by Brad Eleven - May 11th, 2006 @ 10:45am

    No way to know now whether Sirius knew what was coming, but the effect is obvious. People lured to Sirius by the promise of Stern surely listen to Sirius all day, i.e., not just in the morning.

    I haven't heard Howard on Sirius at all. I first heard him in hotel rooms, didn't think it was that great, but some great moments. Then he showed up in the Houston metro market, and I heard him for about a year during a 31-mile commute that took 93 minutes. Suddenly I got it. Howard *rules* during drive-time--when you're driving. It worked. It was funny, controversial, and suddenly I didn't give a rip about the other idiots on the road, the endless construction ...

    Well, I don't have that commute any more. Now I work in a semi-major metro market that includes Air America. Interesting, but it just doesn't crack me up like Howard used to.

    I think it could be that something is lost in the translation: Howard can't complain about management any more. Not that he needs it, but I could always relate to someone telling my own story. Especially when I was driving to that building where those fools got paid more than me, wouldn't listen to me, and then blamed me for their own mistakes.

    Yeah. Don't work there any more. Too much talking. But I'm a excellent driver. Uh-oh. Two minutes to Stern...

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  23. by donkey - May 11th, 2006 @ 10:55am

    Its obvious that most people can't respond to this subject objectivly because they are either stern fans or stern haters. The fact remains that Stern is the best in the business, and always has been. Even if you don't like his show, you have to respect what he has done.

    I am one of those many people who have purchased satellite and will never return to terrestrial radio. Whenever I switch to it occasionally, I can't get a few minutes in with out going to commercial. At one point, all 6 of my FM presets were at commercial at the same time. Its so bothersome that it really makes you appreciate your satellite radio. Sports coverage is also awesome, and IMO Sirius has XM beat on that aspect, unless you want baseball.

    And if you listen to Stern, his show is better than ever. I mean, who's radio show wouldn't be better uncensored? Not because you can curse non stop and talk about sex, but because you don't have restrictions, you can speek your mind and not be uptight.

    And all you O&A lovers don't forget they got run off of XM.

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  24. Google?

    by Chester's liver - May 11th, 2006 @ 10:57am

    1) I hope Stern drowns in a kiddie pool full of urine and used motor oil. He wasn't worth listening to when he was free. Hoo Hoo Robin look at this strippers thong.. yeah thats what I want to hear at 6am.

    2) O&A Party rock

    3) Google makes a fortune on those first few links that come up where you type in a keyword. Also, all of those results get listed in the order that they are paid for unless one is extremely more relevant than the other. Thats why searching for porn on google only gets you the same site with 500 different addresses :(

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  25. sirus should also broadcast over the web

    by Lex Jonson - May 11th, 2006 @ 10:58am

    or at least a limited service or sample
    so that people that are not sure about getting the service could
    get a taste

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  26. Re: Google?

    by Lex Jonson - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:01am

    haha I can see now that searching for porn on google gets old
    fast!
    maybe google can do something similar to scholar.google.com
    like porn.google.com

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  27. Re: Not worth it

    by Zarun - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:03am

    I cant say I havent heard that a million times, oh and once again from someone who doesnt even listen.


    When i used to go to work at 3am it was the one thing one that was worth listening to. despite a few things that I dont really like about the show, the back and forth between Howard, Artie & Robin would really make me laugh out loud. I have been fortunate enough to get to listen to Howard on Sirius, and his show is far better than it used to be. Howard often does 5+ hour shows with one 5 min comercial break hour or two.

    To me this story sounds like one more attempt to make what Howard has done into a failure. Howad has said it he is happierthan he's ever been, the listeners with come over when they are ready. In the mean time he will give the people who listen the best value for there money that he can.

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  28. Re: the moron 2 comments above me

    by Robin's Taint - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:04am

    qoute: "Its obvious that most people can't respond to this subject objectivly because they are either stern fans or stern haters. The fact remains that Stern is the best in the business, and always has been."

    What kind of nonsensical paragraph is that. "nobody can be objective here.. because Stern is the best ever Hoo Hoo..."

    Stern is NOT the best in the business. He changed radio back in 1984, nobody denies that, but only because he did outrageous stuff that nobody else had the balls to do. O&A took that format and turned it into COMEDY and made it the most hilarious thing ever. Strippers aren't funny because their naked, and only a fat jerkoff like yourself would want to sit in their car getting aroused listening to a 60 year old man talk about a strippers ass.

    Even his attempts to be funny are mediocre at best. Even in the 80's, Jackie was the funniest part of that aweful show. Now, who would even bother listening none the less paying for it.

    Howard, show us the funny. You have none sir.

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  29. Howard's Stern's Hype is Waning

    by SOS - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:05am

    When Howard Stern left to Sirius last December, there was talk of a revolution... His revolution stalled and Now Opie and Anthony or XM Satellite Radio are taking the stations that he used to syndicate to in doing so, taking his former audience.


    O&A Always Win In The END

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  30. 5 comments I took too long typing :)

    by oops - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:05am

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  31. Howard Stern

    by Sirius Listener - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:06am

    I feel that howard has lifted his game and anyone who is a fan and did not get sirius is missing out. Plus the other stations are great. And just to say yes they can curse now but number one they do not just curse just because they can and number two when they cursed on terestrial you still knew what they were saying. All in all Howard's show is better than ever and anyone who disagrees dosent know what they are missing
    Thanks Howard

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  32. by Pope Ratzo - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:07am

    Stern's show has been better than ever. I'm a satisfied subscriber to Sirius and can't wait for the web stream to start next month.

    Please bear in mind that this report is from a "radio research" organization. That means that they have a vested interested in reporting on some sort of failure by Stern.

    Fact is, that the entire radio industry took a huge hit when Stern left the airwaves. The stations he was on have dropped an average of 8 (eight!) places in the rankings in their respective markets after he left. That includes not only mornings, when Stern was on, but THE ENTIRE DAY.

    How many other artists could have gone from giving away his show to listeners to charging 13 bucks a month and still kept 3.5 listeners? It's an amazing success.

    Yes, the hard core of his fans has already moved to Sirius, but now, every time somebody buys a new car and they're faced with putting in satellite radio, they will of course pick Sirius. I'm betting that by the end of this year they have 5+ million listeners, adding as many as a million a year.

    You can bet that anybody who tries to spin this as being some sort of failure or "cooling" for Stern has an agenda. There's no other way this breathtaking success could be perceived as anything else.

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  33. Howard who?

    by U_R_A_Tool - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:08am

    WOW I hope some of the Stern fans that have posted here already read some of the other comments.

    Yes people Howard brought in about 1.1mil people...not 4. Look at the sub growth rate before his announcement as well as XM's. Logic dictated 1.1mil is a fair if not generous number.

    Someone forgot allot of math to add into the numbers they used to gauge Howard's impact on Sirius.

    $15mil-5mil for his pay -83mil for his stock-1mil for the promotion of him (was estimated higher but as I cant recall the exact number lets use 1)= $74mil Loss.

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  34. Re:

    by Stalker Patti - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:09am

    "There's no other way this breathtaking success could be perceived as anything else."

    Did you just call Howard breathtaking? Way to be a 12 year old girl at a Backstreet Boys concert.

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  35. by Name Withheld - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:10am

    The day Howard Stern announced his move to Sirius, they had 600,000 subscribers. Since his move, they have grown to 4.5 million. How can this possibly be reported as only 1.1 million of his fans following him?

    You can bet that somewhere up the chain, this story came from someone in the radio industry. They've really taken it on the chin. A friend of mine who is a media buyer here in Chicago says that radio across the board has been hurting and ad rates have plummeted since Howard left the air.

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  36. XM & Free FM

    by glub glub - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:11am

    The alliance between XM and CBS will ruin Sirius! OpieAndAnthony.com Wackbag.com

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  37. evolution

    by who me? - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:12am

    I will be interested to see what the numbers are after a year. Clearly satellite is better than regular radio, the content is SO much better and I sure don't miss 30 minutes of commercials per hour and the awful playlists.

    The equipment will evolve, I am waiting for a decent portable.

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  38. Is that all there is?

    by Ed - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:12am

    I' have been a Sirius suscriber and stockholder for two years and totally agree with the need for Sirius to market more broadly and agggresively. The news of his move to satellite overshadowed the real value of satellite radio programming. At no time when Stern was promoting his own move to Sirius did he ever mention any Sirius programming other then him. The Today show walked with Stern through the Sirius studio. There is great on-air talent at Sirius but not one of them ever made it on or off camera - it was all about Howard and a great opportunity was missed to expose all the content available on 160 channels. Stern has a narrow, and obviously, nor loyal, listenership. The demographics of his audience are totally out of synch with the segment that will pay $13 a month for commercial free music on a $50 receiver. This was a big $$$$ mistake for Sirius.

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  39. Re:

    by SkiOne - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:12am

    WTF are you talking about?

    O&A did NOT get run off of XM.

    They are still on XM 6 hours live plus 3 of those hours are simulcasted on regular radio.

    So you know nothing

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  40. Re: Donkey's comment

    by RMartin - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:13am

    I disagree that people can only love or hate Stern, as I AM one of the "middle of the road" Stern listeners.

    I bought a Sirius receiver in January for a couple of reasons.

    1. Best Buy was having a "Howard Stern" sale on Sirius radios just before his show premiered. I paid only $19.99 for the "Visor" receiver and thought it was a good buy.

    2. I'm in South Carolina where the FM radio stations basically suck. Sirius offers a SERIOUS alternative with the music and comedy channels.

    I'm not really a Stern fan, but not a "hater" either. I can get past the trash, but my main listener gripe (like he cares) is that now he's heard all over the country, but he still acts like he only has listeners in Manhattan. He should be taking advantage of the wide coverage and doing more things to KEEP me interested in his daily patter. I know his ego is bigger than his paycheck, but if he (and Sirius) were smart, he'd KEEP trying to be as innovative as in the past. I'm obviously not a radio programmer, and I don't know how he would accomplish that, but it's NOT being done. On my morning commute, I usually sample his show, and if it doesn't grab my attention immediately, I turn to CNN Headline News.

    The audio from CNN, FOX, Blue Collar Comedy, and NASCAR (next year) will probably keep me paying my monthly fee even if Stern just goes away. It is nice to travel from Charlotte to Fort Worth and never lose the station...

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  41. Do the Math

    by math expert - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:14am

    Do the math, even assuming Howard get 2 million listeners per year for Sirius at $13 per listerning he will only be earning the company $26 million. He gets PAID $100 million per year. That's $74million in losses.

    Thats not even including the expenses of running the company, promoting him, and logistical costs like bandwith and relay stations

    How long can Sirius who is already millions in the hole afford to hemorage $75million a year?

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  42. by Anonymous Coward - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:22am

    600K to 4 mil... 'nuff said.

    I got Sirius for Stern and after 5 months I'm still having trouble getting around to all the other channels. I find myself listening to Howard 100 and 101 all day long (in the office and in my car).

    O&A went back to terrestrial radio.. what a surprise, they were a failure on XM. If I was an O&A fan I'd be pissed that I couldn't get more of their uncesored show anymore.

    Stern's best shows have happened since he's been on Sirius, and it's *not* largely due to the cursing. Their ability to pursue topics and bit ideas that were not possible on censored radio is what makes it so much better to listen to.

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  43. Who's the moron?

    by nunya_bidness - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:22am

    Either you listen to the show and do not admit it, or you do not listen to the show and make comments on something you never heard. And how do you know so much about that person in the car getting aroused?

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  44. by Anonymous Coward - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:23am

    You guys can't do math. It's $13 per listener *per month* !

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  45. Do the math again.

    by TB - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:24am

    Sirius is $156 a year, not $13, "math expert".

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  46. by Anonymous Coward - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:24am

    The first experience with Stern I had was watching him on MTV's VMA with fartman. I didn't get the humor. I next saw him in his movie "Private Parts". He seemed kinda cool and outrageous and I was interested in catching his show. When he got the deal to broadcast part of his show on E! that was the chance to finally see what his show was about. I wasn't very impressed, but I guess it was ok.

    About a year ago I was looking into satellite radio and went with XM (I liked the hardware and content) over Sirius. I love the fact that on satellite there is little advertising, listening to music you just can not hear on regular radio.

    I checked out Opie & Anthony for a show or two and could not stand them. I found the humor crude it did not seem that interesting. I was content with the other channels (talk + music).

    When Ron & Fez joined the channel about half a year ago, I dug their humor. They have a wry sarcastic feel about them that certainly isn't for everyone.

    After listening to Ron and Fez for a while I began catching bits and pieces of the highlights from the O&A show, and slowly became interested in the bits and characters and running gags they have. Soon I began listening to O&A every day, as I got used to the homor and pacing. Now I love listening to them. Funny as hell, if you can understand where the humor is coming from.

    Stern and O&A put on great shows. There is a great rivalry that makes for some good radio. No matter who you think is better it just shows how much satellite (and alternate form of entertainments) are going to eventually force radio to change.

    Oh, and the live simulcast of part of O&A's show on regular radio expands the show's market and reach, not to mention more advertising to XM, and satellite in general. XM wins by getting their brand and talent to more people. O&A win by expanding the show to more people. XM's listeners win because they get a longer show (with no censoring of the simulcast, even when an FCC violation is broadcast.) It might be argued that the show is being "watered down" by being on regular radio, but to me it seems that the same humor is being broadcast, with the FCC hassle being handled by the radio stations, and not the O&A show. (The "daily dump report" on the xm only part of the show demonstartes this.)

    Anyway, I hope Stern and O&A go for a long, long time. The more rivalry the better.

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  47. Re: Not worth it

    by Not a stuck up self righteous scumbag - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:25am

    Someone's got a bug up their ass.

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  48. Howard old?

    by Anonymous Coward - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:25am

    I love the people who say Howard is "old" and "washed up". Umm...don't let O&A let you think they're *that* much younger than Howard is. I admit that I like both outfits, but the argument that Howard is "old" is getting old itself. O&A are in their 40s, I believe 41 and 43, respectively. I wouldn't say that they are the bastions of youth that many here would want you to believe.

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  49. by Anonymous Coward - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:26am

    Let's simplify by assuming these 4 million people all have 1 year subscription (you get 1 month free with that).

    $13 * 11 months = $143/year

    $143 * 4 mill = $572 mil

    Add to that the profits they make from advertising and selling the equipment and you'll see it's not a bad business proposition.

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  50. You are clueless

    by b-hizzle - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:29am

    If you think Sirius is banking just on the subscribers Howard brings in you are mistaking. Stern still has advertising on his channels. That's 2 channels running all day long bringing in ad revenue.

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  51. rabid fans are funny

    by Former Howard fan - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:30am

    I think that both the Howard and Opie and Anthony fans are nuts.

    I used to be a Howard fan years ago. Anyone that thinks he is as funny now as he was 20 years ago is crazy. He lost me 6 years ago, now I do not even listen to AM radio other than weather and traffic.

    I do think U_R_A_Tools post holds true. He should have mentioned that at this time Howard is having minimal effect on new subs. If Sirius grows to 4.5mil this year it will only be a few 100k "Howard subs".

    I do think Opie and Anthony and XM are getting by far the better end of the deal as compared to Sirius/Howard.

    Think about it.....XM still has a good million+ Opie and Anthony listeners out of the 6mil+ they have. Now you ADD TO THAT whatever they get from the CBS deal (has that been announced?) and add to that the higher profile causing more potential subs.....AND them mentioning they do XM also basically being a free daily advertisement.

    In short Sirius is in alot of financial trouble. I heard a recording of Howard trying to spin the XM and Sirius financial statements. The realities are Sirius doubled revenue in the last year and quadrupled (thats make 4x bigger) losses....talk about going the wrong way.

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  52. Re: Do the Math

    by Real Math Expert - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:35am

    Umm that is 13$ a month dumbass. Here is the real math:
    13*12*2000000= 312,000,000
    $312,000,000 - $100,000,000 = $212,000,000/year

    As for who is better, I personally like Stern although some of O&A's antics are quite humorous.

    Anyone who has listened to Satellite radio can attest, it beats the pants off of Terrestial radio. XM/Sirius (choose your poison) > FM

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  53. Re: Stern is over

    by He's right, Stern is over! - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:35am

    It's great how people can comment when they've never even heard the new shows on Sirius. How can you badmouth Stern and then say that you love that O&A garbage and not laugh in the same sentence? Those morons basically ripped off the whole Stern format and do it badly. Do yourself a favor and listen to some of the new stuff Stern is doing and then you can talk trash and go back to listening to your original and innovative programming.

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  54. Won't do Sirius because of Stern

    by DM/Diddy - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:36am

    When faced with choice of XM or Sirius, I chose XM. I refuse to support a company who gives a half a billion dollars to that dirtbag.

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  55. Re: Not worth it

    by J Urafag - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:37am

    I'd love to hear what your listening to everyday. You sound like a real catch. Probably never heard the show once.

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  56. Re: Howard Stern...

    by Apennismightier - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:38am

    Stern hit his peak long long ago. Every show is him trying to make something funny with a quick comment from Robin to validate it. Opie and Anthony took his fans, and entertained them more than he ever did.

    How can you listen to Adam Corolla? His short lived horribly unfunny show on Comedy Central should have been proof enough that that man should never be given a job in entertainment again. Kimmel carried his ass on the man show, and his dull, morbid way of speaking and personality are nothing to be publicly proud of listening to.

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  57. Think about this

    by Eryck - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:38am

    Right now Stern fans are primarly based in NY very large commuter city and Sirius (or XM) doesn't have the technology to service them yet however it is on the way. In June when they begin brodcasting Stern on Sirius via the internet you will see an explosion of Stern fans buying Sirius service.

    O&A better count there blessings Stern did not take the offer to go back to regular radio because they will find themselves on the unemployent line once again

    The Revolution has just begun my friends!!!

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  58. Re: Re: Stern is over

    by Apennismightier - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:39am

    If you actually eve listened to Opie and Anthony, you would know that Stern ripped off of them and made sure there was a gag order on them so they couldn't voice any of it. If you were the top dog at Infinity, I'm sure you'd make sure your fans thought you were the mastermind of all the jokes around the studio too.

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  59. Re: Won't do Sirius because of Stern

    by FU/Diddy - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:40am

    Get a sense of humor! Plus how can you even make that argument when XM hired those morons O & A who had a contest where they had 2 people have sex in a Church? Your either the biggest hypocrite in the world or an idiot.

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  60. by Anonymous Coward - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:41am

    To those that say Howard peaked years ago...

    He hasn't been doing the shows he wanted to do for the past 10 years. Now that he's on Sirius, he's free to finally bring all his brilliant ideas to fruition.

    Listen to him on satellite and you'll see that he's back with full force.



    Artie rules!

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  61. Sterno

    by SPR - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:41am

    Stern isn't worth $50, much less $500 million as far as I'm concerned, but everyone has their own thing!! If he really did bring 4 million subscribers with him the it was clearly worth it. I just wonder if the 4 million is Stern being a legend in his own mind again!!

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  62. Do the Math??

    by Mr. Undey - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:43am

    You must be a retarded Math Expert...

    $13 per MONTH multiplied by 2 million listeners is $26 million per MONTH.... which is more than $100 million per quarter. (In case you still don't get it... thats more than $400 million per year.

    Holy Christ, what a dumb-ass.

    Anyway, the article stinks... as others have stated, Sirius has gained 3.4 million subscribers since they announced Howard Stern was coming over. He only needed to bring something like 1.5 million subscribers over to pay for his $500 million deal.

    He's paid for himself and Sirius is so happy with the results that they have offered to extend his contract for another 5 years and another $500 million. That's a 10 year 1 billion dollar offer. Howard has declined the offer at this time just has he has declined 3 separate offers from Terrestrial Radio Companies to copy the O & A thing. Unfortunately, O & A had to take the Terrestrial offer because according to the statistics, they were only able to attract 35,000 listeners to XM. We know this because XM charged $1 extra to get their show. So, XM generated a whopping 35K per month where as Howard has generated more like $45 million in MONTHLY revenues at Sirius.

    Nobody has ever done something like this.... so, like him or not... he's a revenue generating powerhouse.... and now he's happy because he doesn't have the FCC breathing down his neck... so, he's probably not going anywhere any time soon.

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  63. Re: Think about this

    by Apennismightier - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:43am

    Are you retarded? They don't have the technology to service NY? They have portable receivers out everywhere. People listen to them all the time. Opie and Anthony are being rebroadcasted on free radio along with XM. Stern is the one who's gonna be out on the street while Robin gets her own boring short lived radio show.

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  64. by Anonymous Coward - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:43am

    LEX AND TERRY RULE

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  65. Re: Surprising

    by Biff - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:44am

    Opinions are like WHAT?

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  66. Re: Re: Re: Stern is over

    by Apennisforfaggots - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:44am

    Sterns been around for about what, 25 years? I'm sure he's been ripping off those geniuses! If O&A were so great, they wouldn't have had to go back to regular radio. They are 2 hacks who couldn''t attract an audience on XM.

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  67. Eryck is an idiot

    by U_R_A_Tool - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:45am

    Howard never had an offer. He is full of it. Who is going to offer him a big deal? Citadel (sp)? Yeah the guy hates him...played OnA when he was on vacation...and has been on the phone with OnA while they were on the air 2x in the last few weeks trying to get a deal done to have them on the air.

    CBS? ummmm no chance says the 500mil lawsuit.

    Clearchannel? Remember when they dumped him and he sued them for breach of contract while he insulted them and cursed the heads and there families?

    After that who is left that could offer a big deal? NO ONE.


    OnA have already won....you just don't know it yet.

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  68. Re: Stern sucks

    by Trvth - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:46am

    O&A rock? HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA... those two are sad, very sad...

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  69. by anonymous coward - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:46am

    it looks like their customer acquisition cost for the Stern listeners was about $500 ($500mill/1.1 mill listeners).

    With an annual subscription price of $140, the Stern listeners will have to stay subscribed for 3.5 YEARS just to break even. I really doubt the Sirius churn rate is low enough for average customer lifespan to exceed three years.

    On the other hand, his conversion rate (8%) is an interesting number to have when looking at the "cost" of piracy. When a free service is moved to a pay model (the Stern customer base), fewer than 1 in 10 will actually purchase the product which means that taking just 10% of the RIAA/MPAA "cost of piracy" numbers might give you a REAL estimate.

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  70. Re: Re: Won't do Sirius because of Stern

    by Apennismightier - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:50am

    How exactly are O&A morons? They had an awesome contest, got in trouble for it, which made the fans love it even more because of how outrageous it is. And then got paid to do nothing for a year and signed a huge contract with XM and has a bigger following than Stern. Real morons...

    O&A didn't tell those people to have sex in the church either, you schmuck. The people decided where they had sex, and O&A obviously took the heat. It was the perfect opening for Howard to try and convert their fans too. But he still couldn't.

    Don't give me the crap about Stern fans not wanting Sirius because there isn't enough on there besides Stern. All the O&A fans jumped on the XM bandwagon regardless of XMs programming. If Stern was as funny and good as you say, they would've followed.

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  71. Re: Re: Think about this

    by What was I thinking? - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:51am

    I apologize for ever disagreeing with you. Your 100% right! Attention: I WAS WRONG! Stern is washed up and O&A are the best. O&A have very original ideas and the fact that they had to go back to regular radio doesn't mean that no one is listening and that XM is losing money and listeners. Instead of banging my head into a wall like I was going to do, I'm going to listen to O&A everyday! The 2 times that I had to listen to O & A in the afternoon because nothing else was on, I didn't hear ripped off bits or anything like that.

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  72. Tell

    by Steve from Jellystone - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:52am

    RAMONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  73. Re: Re: Re: Re: Stern is over

    by Anonymous Coward - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:53am

    Try and use your brain for a second and realize that I am not referring to all 25 years of Howards programming. When Opie and Anthony came on the scene, they had original ideas. Howard would rip off them. Opie and Anthony would then play Howard clips of the same material they did they day before and have both Howard and their fans calling up. The Howard fans would admit Howard became a hack in his old age.

    It got to the point where a gag order was placed on O&A so that they couldn't say his name, or refer to any material supposedly stolen from them. It's idiots like you who were brainwashed by the few years of good radio Howard put out and became his tool and believed everything he said. I began to listen to Howard when the whole "stealing" controversy came out and as a previous Stern fan, he dropped the ball. Stern's time is over, O&A are the future.

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  74. Stern's Late Night Comments Didn't Help

    by freakengine - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:54am

    Stern was on Late Night and started calling his former listener base "cheapskates" for not following him to satellite. I wrote him a nice letter telling him that we didn't abandon him, HE abandoned US, and that he could shove his comments... well, I'll save that for another forum.

    The point is, when you begin to berate your former customers in a vain attempt to retain them, you start to resemble the RIAA. Howard might as well sue me, because that's the only way he'll ever see dollar one from my pocket. Oh, and did I mention that I actually LIKE the guy?!

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  75. O&A Slackers

    by Mr. Undey - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:54am

    Did I mention O & A only brought in 35 thousand XM subscribers?

    Curious what their super fans have to say about that?

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  76. Re: Re: Re: Won't do Sirius because of Stern

    by Apennisabighomo - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:55am

    Again I apologize, your right! They had no control over the bit and no influence over the sheep that listen to them. They didn't encourage the behavior one bit. Schmuck? Good one!

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  77. Re: Re: Re: Think about this

    by Apennismightier - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:57am

    Hey idiot. CBS is using O&A to save their drowning radio stations. They didnt HAVE to go back to regular radio, they were contracted to do so to SAVE those dying stations. They are on both satellite and public radio in 7 cities. Morons...

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  78. Re: Stern's Late Night Comments Didn't Help

    by Notmentallyhandicappedlikethisguy - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:58am

    DO YOU KNOW WHAT A JOKE IS? Read between the lines idiot, it was a joke. I'm sure you actually heard him say it and you didn't read it misquoted in some article somewhere. Everyone knows you can sense the tone in someone's vioce when you read print. In case your retarded, that was SARCASIM!

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  79. by Anonymous Coward - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:58am

    I don't see anyone banging down the door of O&A and offering them huge contracts like Stern.

    Fact: Stern is the highest paid entertainer.. EVER!

    Fact: O&A came to XM and failed!
    Fact: XM anxious to make *some* money off of them joined together with CBS whose ratings were *tanking* since Stern left and decided to salvage whatever miserable scraps were left of both of their businesses.

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  80. Re: Re: Re: Re: Think about this

    by Mr. Undey - May 11th, 2006 @ 11:59am

    Why do you suppose the CBS stations are failing all of a sudden?

    Oh yeah, Howard left. And Oh yeah... 35 thousand subscribers.... LOL. Weak Man... Weak.

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  81. sirius

    by Dennis - May 11th, 2006 @ 12:00pm

    While digital radio, as a concept, is exponentially better than 'commercial' radio, it's still dead in the water.

    'Smart' internet radio, like Pandora, and Last.fm, (c'mon folks, tell me about more) are indubitably the future. In fact, every media will assume this form, hopefully sooner rather than later.

    HEY! GOOGLE! Why don't you guys just do this right like you're doing everything else.

    I said it first. Software Based Radio!!!!!!!!!!

    I'm waiting.......I don't see a product announcement on DIGG yet........

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  82. O&A subscriber numbers

    by timmykidd2104 - May 11th, 2006 @ 12:01pm

    OK people. When Howard signed with Sirius Satellite Radio, they had 600,000 subscribers. Now they have 4 million. That means that Howard brought 3.4 million subscribers, correct?

    Good.

    When O&A signed with XM Satellite radio, they had 2.1 million subscribers. Now they have just shy of 7 million. So O&A brought over 4.9 million listeners. Also correct?

    Of course not. Howard brought just around 1.1 million as this and many other articles have said. Sirius has other programming that people have joined to hear. As much as it may shock you that people got sirius for something other than howard, it's true. Just as much as it shocks me that people with XM listen to anything but channel 202.

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  83. Re: Re: Re: Re: Won't do Sirius because of Stern

    by Apennismightier - May 11th, 2006 @ 12:03pm

    They didn't. I dont ever recall them saying go have sex in a church. They said have sex in public. The people involved in the contest were in all probability idiots, and decided to do something stupid like have sex in a church.

    As for the idiot who said that Howard is saying he got offered trhe same deal as OnA to go on regular radio, you're compeltely wrong. CBS is sueing Howard and Clearchannel kicked him off before he even went to Sirius. Now there's no one left to offer that deal.

    Get your facts straight.

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  84. Re: O&A subscriber numbers

    by Mr. Undey - May 11th, 2006 @ 12:03pm

    UM, XM had 6 million subscribers before Howard ever announced going to Sirius.

    XM charged 1$ for O&A and colleced 35K. They didn't bring over 4.9 listeners.

    Stop making up numbers.

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  85. Re: Eryck is an idiot

    by Anonymous Coward - May 11th, 2006 @ 12:03pm

    The TOOL said:
    > Howard never had an offer. He is full of it. Who is going to offer him a big deal?

    You're a dumbass:
    http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,18995,00.html?fdnews
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/ent ertainment/4760959.stm

    Also- re-broadcasting O&A's XM broadcast on terrestrial radio is a big fuck you to XM's subscribers. Why do you think they did that by the way? Becuase they were so successful on XM alone?

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  86. Re: Re: Think about this

    by nunya_bidness - May 11th, 2006 @ 12:03pm

    I believe the technology Eryck was refering to was an internet subscription scheme that was to Howards liking. He didn't want rampant sharing to lower the value of his show or something like that. When that is available he will be on the web as part of, or in addition to, a sirius subscription. Maybe the post lacked clarity but did not warrant the "retarded" comment, you should chill out...Or someone will verbally abuse your ass all over the net!

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  87. by Techie - May 11th, 2006 @ 12:04pm

    Sirus, XM or radio? Hmmmm I will just stick with my cd collection.....

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