Liberty Media to invest in Sirius XM Radio

All Sirius has to do is dump Howard Stern
they are paying him way too much

Jay wrote:

All Sirius has to do is dump Howard Stern
they are paying him way too much

I agree. I love Sirius, but I don't listen to Stern at all. The hundred-some other channels do me just fine, thanks.

I'd honestly hate to see them go under. I've been a subscriber for three years, and I can't listen to broadcast radio anymore; it's not even the commercials (although that's part of it), but broadcast radio is just garbage. The DJs are all trying to be Howard Stern or Mancow, the music is crap and you're limited to whatever garbage is currently popular, or the same cycle of classic songs over and over and over.

Thank goodness.

If they dump Stern, they lose millions of subscribers. He brought in over 5M new subscribers (if not more), and I'm sure most would leave if he goes. If the majority leave - 3M (and i think that is under-estimating), at $13 a month subscription fee, that would be almost $500M a year Sirius wouldn't have in cash revenue. You can't let him go.....

Jay: "All Sirius has to do is dump Howard Stern[;]
they are paying him way too much"

You mean they PAID Howard way too much, and I agree. I can't stand him either. But Howard got all his big money up front,$500 million in 2005 (much of it in stock options he reportedly cashed out long ago when they were still worth something) for 5 years. Now he's just fulfilling the contract. So dumping him now would be stupid, because the people who subscribe mainly for him, and it is a significant part of the satellite radio subscription base, would quit and quit paying subscription fees, and that would just make SXM's financial situation worse. SXM isn't paying Howard now, but they still get money from subscribers through 2010 for having him there, so they should keep him.

Howard suggested last December that he is leaning towards retiring in 2010 when his contract is up. SXM is very unlikey to be able to pay him anything close to $100 million a year then, and he knows it, and how much money does he need? But many broadcast guys like Howard, with huge egos, don't like being off the air, and don't like taking big cuts in pay, either, so who knows what he'll really do then.

how long will they last?i think i'll subscribe month to month.they used to give you a deal if you paid in full up front, but those days are gone i guess,,,

Booyah wrote:

<quoted text>
I agree. I love Sirius, but I don't listen to Stern at all. The hundred-some other channels do me just fine, thanks.
I'd honestly hate to see them go under. I've been a subscriber for three years, and I can't listen to broadcast radio anymore; it's not even the commercials (although that's part of it), but broadcast radio is just garbage. The DJs are all trying to be Howard Stern or Mancow, the music is crap and you're limited to whatever garbage is currently popular, or the same cycle of classic songs over and over and over.

Me too. I only listen to Sirius or CDs that I've burned off of iTunes. I just can't stand regular radio any longer.

Stern's contract was paid almost half in Sirius stock, and it is in the toilet now so he didn't get anywhere near $500 M.

Don't like him? Listen to the other 200 channels!

I like Sirius, but I agree with Boston B - if they dump Stern they lose millions of listeners. They also lose revenue. Stern's channels are probably the only ones generating new subscribers and advertising dollars as well.

I hope they can find a way to re-sign Stern, he is a major draw and for many of us who listen to him for several hours each day - he is a major reason for us to have (and keep) our Sirius subscriptions.

Boston B wrote:

If they dump Stern, they lose millions of subscribers. He brought in over 5M new subscribers (if not more), and I'm sure most would leave if he goes. If the majority leave - 3M (and i think that is under-estimating), at $13 a month subscription fee, that would be almost $500M a year Sirius wouldn't have in cash revenue. You can't let him go.....

I doubt it. First of all, while he might have brought people to Sirius, if they've realized just how much better satellite is than terrestrial radio, they would likely stay around. Secondly, of all the people I know who subscribe to Sirius, most don't listen to Stern (and most got into it because it came with their cars and they liked it, not because of Howard Stern). I don't think you speak for millions of people.

I also doubt that he brought "millions" of people to pay-for radio, as Sirius and XM both had millions of subscribers before Howard Stern (and Stern didn't do anything to give Sirius a marked advantage over XM at the time).

Stern is overrated.

Sirius and XM both will be belly-up within a year.

I tried XM here in my retail store - for about a month until I realized they played the same 300-song playlist all the crappy FM stations use. 60s, 70s, 80s, all the same crap, over and over.

Thanks to MP3's I now have about 300 HOURS of non-repeating music playing. Come into the 21st century and stop letting other people decide to what music you will listen!

Stern? That old fart still doing that tired schtick? Please.

I fail to see how Sirius XM can't provide a business model that makes them profitable. There are a lot of subscriber-based business models that are very profitable. Take for example cable TV mainstay HBO who rakes in billions without the advertising revenue stream. Satellite radio is still very much in its infancy much like the cable companies of the early 80's. With Sirius XM being the only game in town, they are in a prime position to be a future force in the technology of tomorrow. I hope they can overcome their early struggles. Given their stay of execution and their potential should they find an appropriate business model, that .17/share current price could quite possibly make you a billionaire down the line.

Mike wrote:

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Me too. I only listen to Sirius or CDs that I've burned off of iTunes. I just can't stand regular radio any longer.

You want to talk about a sentence to hell? Before I had satellite radio, the CD player in my car burned out the same time the sound card in my computer at work did. I was forced to either sit in silence or listen to terrestrial radio all day.

I realized very quickly that WXRT is literally the *only* good station in Chicago.

Yeahhhhh!!!!!!!! Long live SiriusXM!
If Stern leaves I wouldn't get rid of Sirius but I would probably eliminate my subscription at work. I have 3 subscriptions. I record Stern on my stilleto and listen to the other channels throughout the day. I love Stern but I also listen to Classic Vinyl and RawDog. Martha Stewart has a bunch of pet shows that I listen to as well.

siriusly wrote:

Stern's contract was paid almost half in Sirius stock, and it is in the toilet now so he didn't get anywhere near $500 M.
Don't like him? Listen to the other 200 channels!
I like Sirius, but I agree with Boston B - if they dump Stern they lose millions of listeners. They also lose revenue. Stern's channels are probably the only ones generating new subscribers and advertising dollars as well.
I hope they can find a way to re-sign Stern, he is a major draw and for many of us who listen to him for several hours each day - he is a major reason for us to have (and keep) our Sirius subscriptions.

For us Sports Geeks, we have Chris "the mad dog" Russo, weekdays noon to 5 pm, on Ch. 124 XM (not sure what it is on Sirius) and he's really a joy to listen to. Great sports commentary. Tells it like it is. He's paid like $4 million a year. Imagine that gig.

And satellite radio (Sirius in the car, and XM at home) is the best thing going. When I moved from the Chicago area in 2001 to boo-foo Kentucky (where every freakin radio station is redneck country music) I had to get satellite radio. It's the only way I survive down here.

Stern Rules!
Baba Booey!Baba Booey!Baba Booey!Baba Booey!Baba Booey!Baba Booey!Baba Booey!

I don't know. I guess it wouldn't break my heart to see SXM go under. I listen to my XM less and less since they got rid of the "musiclab" channel. I liked it because it played differnt stuff than regular radio. And now they want me to pay extra to listen on-line. No thanks. I think I'm done.

Okay...anyone know how I can change my town listing? I'm in Evanston, not San Jose!!!

I mainly listen to Sirius Blues 74 and Little Steven's Underground Garage, and wouldn't mind infrequent spoken-word spots, like WXRT used to do in the old days. Once Chicago's best station, 'XRT is virtually unlistenable now with all the commercial blocks they program into each hour. Try WDCB from COD if you have to listen to FM radio.

Bruce wrote:

Sirius and XM both will be belly-up within a year.
I tried XM here in my retail store - for about a month until I realized they played the same 300-song playlist all the crappy FM stations use. 60s, 70s, 80s, all the same crap, over and over.
Thanks to MP3's I now have about 300 HOURS of non-repeating music playing. Come into the 21st century and stop letting other people decide to what music you will listen!
Stern? That old fart still doing that tired schtick? Please.

You do realize that they are the same company now don't you? The reason Malone is doing this is to get the sirius bandwidth/freq's and turn it into a mini-directv. You be able to get 20-30 channels of TV in your car/cottage/house with a tiny non-directional antenna. The XM sats will stay with music. BTW, XM alone licenses over 210,000 songs. Just a few more then 300....Maybe you should do a little more research next time.