Davis: Satellite radio needs more than Howard Stern to succeed
Continued from page 5
of satellite radio technology.
People have proved that they're
willing to pay for media program
ming without commercials. The sub
scription-only television channel
HBO is seen in one-third of Ameri
can homes. Viewers are willing to
purchase costly cable packages to
watch channels such as HBO. How
ever, most already have the
hardware — a TV and cable box —
to tune in.
With satellite radio, subscribers
must purchase special hardware.
XM offers radios that cost anywhere
from $49.99 to $299.95 with a $12.95
monthly subscription, and Sirius of
fers radios from $29.99 to $269.99
with the same monthly charge.
Both XM and Sirius lack local
programming, with the exception of
weather and traffic stations for large
metropolitan areas. But a big part of
connecting to listeners is getting lo
cal. Most listeners want local infor
mation and take comfort in the fact
they could run into the local DJ at
the mall.
If satellite radio stations want to
convince AM/FM listeners to make
the switch, there has to be more
bang if the buck is so high. Again,
satellite and cable television compa
nies have taken this to heart by of
fering original programming
and movies.
Sirius, too, is taking note.
"King of All Media" Howard Stern
decided to switch over to Sirius
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satellite radio after being fined by
the Federal Communications Com
mission, which keeps watch over
the public airwaves. Clear Channel,
the largest owner of radio stations in
America, has also refused to play
some of Stern's shows.
Stern, who signed a 5-year con
tract worth $500 million, is likely to
take his act further because he'll be
able to say whatever he wants.
"I'm not saying the whole show's
gonna be one big X-rated show. But I
am gonna be using the F-word. You
know, sparingly. And I'm gonna be
using the C-word, for women's pri
vates," he told listeners on the air.
Stern says he hates Clear Chan
nel. "I just wantto bury Clear Chan
nel," Stern said on the air. "I wantto
make every one of their radio sta
tions worth 3 cents. You sons of
bitches, I will bury you." (Clear
Channel owns shares of XM.)
Former Van Halen frontman David
Lee Roth, who will take over Stern's
East Coast market in January, told
Stern, "You've done an extraordi
nary job, and I hope I can honor it."
With admiration like this, Stern's
12 million listeners just mightfollow
come January.
To hype the switch, Sirius recently
launched an off-shoot program
called "Howard 100 News" that re
ports all news related Stern, such as
who isn't airing Stern and which TV
shows he'll be featured on.
But making the switch requires
listeners to pay for something
they're used to getting for free.
Being a student on a budget, satel
lite radio has yet to persuade me.
Still, subscription rates and stocks
are going up for both companies, but
thanks to startup costs, neither has
seen a profit.
Satellite radio has the potential to
become an alternative to AM/FM ra
dio, but lacking more features, lower
hardware costs and local program
ming, it will go on the shelf right next
to the eight-track player.
tdavis@dailyemeratd.com
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