Word: sterne
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...Howard Stern calls himself the King of All Media, but in his three decades of radio broadcasting he has also earned a more dubious crown: the King of All Fines. Stern, who hosted his last FM-radio show on Friday, has cost stations that carry his program nearly $3 million in FCC penalties for indecency. He didn?t help his cause when in 1992 he infamously declared on the air that he hoped the prostate cancer of an FCC commissioner would spread through his body. ?When I get angry and really fired up... I will say vicious things,? he told...
...That, in essence, is the $500 million gamble for investors in Sirius Satellite Radio, Stern?s broadcaster come January. Sirius, as you may know, is one of two satellite radio services (the other is XM) over whose content the FCC has no jurisdiction. Each service charges $13 a month for dozens of channels of commercial-free music, talk, sports and a variety of other content. Sirius has about 2.2 million subscribers, XM boasts 5 million (as of the end of September) and both are elbowing each other to sign high-profile talent. Besides Stern, Sirius is trumpeting a Martha Stewart...
...sense, the Stern math is fairly simple. Assuming he brings in 2 million listeners, who pay $13 a month, he more than pays for his $100 million a year in operating expenses, which also goes toward production costs for his show and two 24-hour channels he plans to program. Throw in ad revenues and he?s raking in profits for his corporate parent. Indeed, Sirius boss Mel Karmazin aims to generate $100 million in ad revenues by 2007, up from less than $10 million now. Stern is essential to that equation. Karmazin, after all, has long had faith...
...Wall Street isn?t entirely convinced by Karmazin?s math. No one can say how many listeners Sirius would bring in without Stern, or precisely how many listeners he's responsible for attracting. XM, after all, expects to add nearly 1 million subscribers in the fourth quarter without a blowout personality in its lineup. Which leaves Wall Street flummoxed as to Stern's true value. ?Howard will be big but [his] actual impact remains unknown,? Bank of America analyst Jonathan Jacoby wrote in a recent research note...
...What concerns Wall Street is that Stern?s act is showing its age. In his home market of New York City, his ratings are down about 26% from the fall of 1999, according to Arbitron, and his ratings declined over this summer in just about every major market. Part of the slide may be a result of Stern?s relentless self-promotion, pitching his move to Sirius so often that he at times sounded liked a satellite radio infomercial. In recent interviews, he also admitted to being in a professional slump...