Howard Stern Jumps to Satellite Radio

Howard Stern jumps to satellite

Ending months of speculation, shock jock announces he's joining Sirius satellite radio in 2006.

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Howard Stern is taking his morning show to satellite radio -- a move sure to give the fledgling subscription radio business a huge shot in the arm.

Stern announced Wednesday that he'll join Sirius Satellite Radio in January 2006 in what is being billed as a five-year, multimillion dollar contract.

Calling satellite radio "the next big thing," Stern said on his morning show that commercial radio is no longer a safe haven for shock jocks like him.


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"The Super Bowl did us in," said Stern, a reference to this year's half-time show when Janet Jackson exposed her breast during a live performance. Viacom-owned CBS, which broadcast the game, was fined $550,000 last week for the incident.

Stern's jump, rumored for months, is a big win for Sirius and a major setback to Infinity Broadcasting, also owned by Viacom (VIA: Research, Estimates), industry analysts said.


The Super Bowl episode touched off a public outcry about indecency on the airwaves and led Clear Channel Communications, the country's No. 1 radio operator, to pull the "Howard Stern Show" off the six stations that carried it.

In a brief statement, Infinity wished Stern well. "We at Infinity have enjoyed our years with Howard," read the two-sentence release. Stern's contract runs through the end of 2005 and he said he'll stay on Infinity stations until then.

To get satellite radio, consumers can buy the hardware or a product such as a car that comes with it pre-installed. Sirius, with more than 600,000 subscribers, then charges $12.95 a month for access to 120 channels. XM subscribers, now numbering more than 2 million, pay $9.99 a month for about 120 channels and an additional $1.99 for the "Opie and Anthony" show.

Industry analysts said other, lower-profile shock jocks are also in talks with satellite operators, but warned that calls to regulate cable and satellite radio could grow, especially if Congress boosts indecency fines.



Awesome !!! except for the fact that I have XM satellite radio and not Sirius...

If Howard Stern would shut his mouth about politics and get down to the female upper torso and social necessity for handicapped people, count me in!

see that's it...

now he will be shutting his mouth about politics... that's what the whole thing was about.. the FCC, cesorship and President Bush.... etc..

He'll go back to the way things were in the good ole days...


well in Jan 2006 he will..

How many people listened to him on Infinity?

Cause like you said Sirius only has a little over a half mill of suscribers, and its not offered on many new cars, XM is the big one with over 2 mill suscribers. I think Sirius will need more big names like his to stay in the game. Its said that the Satellite radio companies need 2 million people just to break even.

This just may be a contributing factor to me getting satellite radio in my next car.

I just hope they don't start censoring satellite radio by then.

Sirius comes standard with DishNetwork now..
Right now it's just Music, about 70 channels..But there is word of, some talk radio stuff..So maybe listenership won't be so bad...

For the record, I Love the Movie "private Parts"..But was never a fan
of the Stern Radio show..

Oh how wonderful I just happen to be suscribed to Sirius
Indeed they have about 70 music channels but you seem to forget their news stations, sports stations, talk shows, and entertainment stations (disney, discovery channel, lifetime for women, E! and some others) I am very satisfied with all the choices I have to listen to in my car

I have XM, I like it, they have several good talk, news, and rap channels.

I have XM Satellite also... I love it.

especillay the uncensored versions of songs that they play... not to mention the Comedy channel.

Howard is promoting his jump to satelite.... he's been doing personal appearances and giving away SIrius Satelite radios...

now that's cool !!

Howard is the man !!!

as a longtime Stern listener, I found it kind of ironic that he would start this battle with the FCC...at the same time as his ratings are dropping...his show being dropped all over North America...

but now as the 1st Amendment martyr ...ratings are going up again...new markets are coming on board...and now a HUGE new deal with Sirius

now he looks like a genius (again)

makes you wonder how long Sirius has been in the background....

Sirius mortgaged and is making a big gamble on it's future with this deal. I mean, $100M for 5 years? How many different ways can a guy say ca-ca poo-poo?

I predict Sirius will be defunct before this deal has lived it's lifetime.

Well...I'm in the minority here...I can't stand this guy, or at least I should say, I can't stand what I see, hear of this guy, I really don't know him personally....but what he portrays of himself, I see him as a waste of air space.

Did your mom ever teach you, If you dont have anything nice to say, dont say anything?

If you dont like him dont tune in its easy.

Women generally don't like what Stern does. It's a show really geared towards men, not women. We are/can be pigs, but it's funny. A lot of people don't realize it's just an act.

I have been a HS fan for years. I also happen to live in one of the six places he was yanked off the air When Stern joins sirus, They will have at least one new subscriber I will have to buy the whoe sirrus setup though, because my car stereo (Pioneer DPH4600) is XM ready

Originally posted by Kidfinger
I have been a HS fan for years. I also happen to live in one of the six places he was yanked off the air

When Stern joins sirus, They will have at least one new subscriber

I will have to buy the whoe sirrus setup though, because my car stereo (Pioneer DPH4600) is XM ready

my car also has XM... I think I'll buy the portable Sirius radio and just play it in the car and I can also take it to the office with me.

I hate to pay for 2 subscriptions though....