Howard Stern and SIRIUS

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

The Full Story

well, if they announced that they were gonna start having mlb play-by-play, since they already have nfl and nhl, that would be way bigger news, at least for me.

DAMN, I was hoping he'd go with XM. I'd rather get XM, I think the alternative music choices are better. But, looks like I'm going with Sirius…

As someone who's close to subscribing to one or the other of these, I'm interested in hearing more of the pros and cons for each. Sirius has Stern, XM has Bob Edwards… someone above says better alternative on XM… XM is cheaper by like $3/month. What else?

Originally posted by Bags:
DAMN, I was hoping he'd go with XM. I'd rather get XM, I think the alternative music choices are better. But, looks like I'm going with Sirius…

I feel the same way..I just left there site looking for what to buy. My buddy at work just bought 250 shares of sirius @ 4.50 a share. He hopes the news will skyrocket the shares.

Originally posted by Bags:
DAMN, I was hoping he'd go with XM. I'd rather get XM, I think the alternative music choices are better.

I agree. A friend of mine just got XM and the playlists are great.

i heard him debate the issue just about a week ago on my way to skol…

i wonder what his show will be like uncut….

the music philosophy is very, very different between the two services.

XM is very deep and broad. There are some channels designed to be poppy, but its more the service for people who actually like music.

Sirius is very FM-like in their limited, ultra tight playlists. This philosophy extends not just to the poppier stations, but also to their "indie" station.

Here are some typical threads that discuss/describe the issues with LOC (sirius) and XMU (XM) (note there are LOTS of threads on the sirius fan site complaining about the repetition and shallowness of the playlist):

http://www.siriusbackstage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12549&sid=31f4966de814cecc1c8e29bdd1bc03e9


http://www.siriusbackstage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13414&sid=31f4966de814cecc1c8e29bdd1bc03e9

and from the xm perspective (read the whole thread, particulary page 3)…

http://www.xm411.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=4364&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

So is Stern's show going to be on a Premium station that costs extra?

Originally posted by Bombay Chutney:
So is Stern's show going to be on a Premium station that costs extra?

the main show, no. but he will have another channel that is premium. it is unclear what goes on it.

J'mal, I hear you. I have no doubt the music is much better on XM. Alas, I'm perfectly willing to pay $12 a month to listen just to Stern. What can I say, I've got 15 years of listening in….

Though, I will say, if it's all about getting much more graphic sexual content in *place* of his current ratio of celebrity interviews/discussions with his staff/general interest news, I may not stay. But I think it will largely be the same show, but uncensored.

This is the brilliance of Sirius getting Stern. I don't listen to radio now, except for Stern, so though I'll be a satellite subscriber, my music habits may not change.

well, bags, then that's your loss… the whole idea behind satellite radio is that it ISN'T like the radio that you don't listen to. XM gets that. Sirius, only partially – they understand the need to cut commercials and offer lots of genres, but still think people want to hear only three or five songs a month, over and over again.

Personally, I don't care about Howard Stern, he's only mildly interesting – too much endless inside jokes about himself and his crew. I don't really care if baabaaboey has anal with his wife. I've also got no use for all the sports and talk radio on XM. For me, it's about the music, and the music on XM is done right. :(

bags dont you listen to ron and fez, these guys are so funny.
106.7 7pm-11pm then one hour is repeated the next day at 11-12 after stern.

Originally posted by J'Mal:
well, bags, then that's your loss… the whole idea behind satellite radio is that it ISN'T like the radio that you don't listen to. XM gets that. Sirius, only partially – they understand the need to cut commercials and offer lots of genres, but still think people want to hear only three or five songs a month, over and over again.

Personally, I don't care about Howard Stern, he's only mildly interesting – too much endless inside jokes about himself and his crew. I don't really care if baabaaboey has anal with his wife. I've also got no use for all the sports and talk radio on XM. For me, it's about the music, and the music on XM is done right. :(

How could you not care if baabaaboey is giving it to his wife up the hershey highway???

I don't even care about Rhett and his wife and the hershey highway.

Sirius has Howard.

We have Rhett.

Originally posted by Jaguär:
Sirius has Howard.

We have Rhett.

and we don't have to pay…

i would rather have howard so i can say i know him and maybe get a little action before i leave high school.

Originally posted by Venerable Bede:
well, if they announced that they were gonna start having mlb play-by-play, since they already have nfl and nhl, that would be way bigger news, at least for me.

if they had the nba, i'd be all in. hell, nfl+howard is almost enough. especially if they have the local. i'd sell my soul for some myron cope.

Originally posted by rigsby:
bags dont you listen to ron and fez, these guys are so funny.
106.7 7pm-11pm then one hour is repeated the next day at 11-12 after stern.

Nope, I don't like ANY other goofey talk radio. It's just a Howard thing with me. I started listening to him in New York when I was in college – always at the end of an all-nighter of studying or writing a paper. I started listening to him down here because he was a familiar voice, and after so long I know the whole crew so well. I don't listen for the strippers, I listen for the inter-personal exchanges. And these days, the GW-bashing.

There is no substitute, I will never listen to Imus or Opie and Anthony or the Zoo or Mike and whomever….. I understand not getting it. It's enough to get me to subscribe to Sirius, though.

well. . .xm is gonna get baseball:

Associated Press
Source: XM Radio Signs Deal With Baseball
Tuesday October 19, 7:14 pm ET
By Seth Sutel, AP Business Writer

Source: XM Satellite Radio Signs 11-Year Programming Deal With Major League Baseball

NEW YORK (AP) – XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. is raising the ante in its programming battle with rival Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., signing an 11-year programming deal with Major League Baseball that could be worth even more than the $500 million pact Sirius recently made with shock jock Howard Stern, a person familiar with the matter said late Tuesday.

The deal would put baseball games for every major league team on XM's service beginning next year, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The story was first reported in The Sports Business Daily, a newspaper published by Street & Smith's Sports Group.

Officials from both Major League Baseball and XM declined to comment, but MLB notified reporters late Tuesday that baseball commissioner Bud Selig would have a news conference Wednesday morning with Hugh Panero, the CEO of XM Satellite Radio.

The deal would be worth $470 million in cash over eight years, with Major League Baseball having the option to extend the arrangement by up to three additional years at $60 million per year. That would make the deal potentially worth up to $650 million.

The back-to-back deals highlight the mounting competition between XM and Sirius, both of which are spending heavily on programming in an effort to attract new subscribers.

Washington-based XM is currently leading the way with 2.5 million subscribers to its pay service, while Sirius announced Tuesday that its subscription list has exceeded 700,000. Sirius, based in New York, said it is on track to reach 1 million subscribers by the end of the year.