Stern starts on Sirius

So how did The King of All Media -- now a half billion dollars richer for moving to Sirius -- take advantage of his first day on private-air satellite radio this morning? We didn't listen in ourselves, but apparently Howard's program weighed in 170 some-odd swear words heavy (though few were attributed to Stern himself), a fake-marriange announcement by Stern and the "confession" that he practices transcendental yoga, George Takei now doing voice-overs full time on the program, and a, um, gassy rendition of the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey to lead the intro, among other things. New medium is now the new media, ladies and gentlemen, and according to Stern nearly 2 million new customers lined up service to hear him broadcast from space today.

[Juice @ Jan 9th 2006 12:53PM]

Radio is so yesteryear...

[Sudokuist @ Jan 9th 2006 1:00PM]

Kind of a disappointment that he isn't actually broadcasting from space. Like a radio studio in the Tessier-Ashpool orbital complex...

[Spence @ Jan 9th 2006 1:03PM]

Isn't Rupert Murdoch the king of all media?

I don't think Radio is out of day, I don't mind it actually.. digital radio is you have the signal is a quality service and cheaper to broadcast on the network so you can get more choice.

It's better than owning an iPod shuffle in my opinion, and you can also digitally record on some of them.

I wouldn't feel comfortable paying Sirius a subscription fee though?



PS. the Engadget comments section is screwed up, it's rendering 2 boxes for me.

[papercutninja @ Jan 9th 2006 1:04PM]

Wow. What an original broadcast. Ooh PLEASE bring back Fartman. *snore

[Dustin Earnhardt @ Jan 9th 2006 1:06PM]

Hmm...2 million people signed up just to hear him? The last numbers I saw, Sirius only had 2 million subscribers total. Somehow I highly doubt they all signed up for and/or care for him.



Didn't Hyundai decide to go with XM as the satellite radio option in new cars simply because they didn't want to be affiliated with Stern?

[mingistech @ Jan 9th 2006 1:07PM]

I'd subscribe to Sirius if didn't already have access to an underground Howard Podcast.



I've been listening to Howard on my iPod for over a year now.... must better being able to listen when i want than when the show is on.

[Kard @ Jan 9th 2006 1:19PM]

It would be great if Sirius let its subscribers listen online like we're suposed to be able to do instead of listening from our cars. For some reason, they haven't added that station to the online list.

[helio @ Jan 9th 2006 1:19PM]

Sirius has 3.3 million subscribers.

[josh @ Jan 9th 2006 1:20PM]

They had 600,000, now they have 3.3 million.



I'm glad that Stern is trying to avoid cursing and other items on the show, it could easily devolve into just a swarm of F-bombs, and that's not entertaining.



I listened today, for a bit - the show was quite good. The thing that makes the show good (actually, most talk radio) isn't the comedy bits, it's the interactions between the team members... if you are familiar with them all, their ribbing of each other is highly entertaining. The "revelations" thing they are doing now is a good example : they listed 11 embarassing secret confessions from the team members, and they are going to reveal who they belong to at the end of the week... but in the meantime, they are all debating amongst themselves which one of them is the pervert who used to spy on his family members in the bathroom, or who cheated on his wife, etc...



AND they added George Takei to the cast, and he is using it as a soapbox to talk about gay marriage rights... which is interesting!

[josh @ Jan 9th 2006 1:23PM]

also #6... there are several sirius decks which have that same feature (timeshifting).



but now the show is on 4 times a day (live east coast on 100, 3 hours later for the west coast, then replayed later at a different time for each time slot) i imagine it wont be hard for people to listen in.

[Richard @ Jan 9th 2006 1:31PM]

I listened for about an hour this morning; it was good. Not that much different than his old show, but you could definitely tell that they felt a lot more free than they did under the hammer of the FCC.



Most of the swear words I heard (in fact, the vast majority of them) were by whack-pack members (like Beetlejuice, for example - he dropped the F-bomb 6 times in 15 seconds).



I happily paid for a year in advance, but not only for Stern, but for the other content.



CBC Radio 1 alone is worth the 12 bucks.

The 80's channel is great.

Live traffic is nice to have at the touch of a button.

Live sports scores is a nice touch.



But most of all: NO COMMERCIALS. I don't know how I'll ever be able to go back to regular radio again.



Not to mention I have GREAT coverage; there must be a terrestrial repeater on a tower in NYC, as I can setup my radio *anywhere* in my apartment and get a signal. I've never had it drop even once in 3 weeks of listening.



XM, on the other hand, drops like a greased pig. Terrible.

[Crispoe @ Jan 9th 2006 1:33PM]

I would love to see Apple announce a deal with Sirius... not to add the functionality to the ipod, but to be able to download shows as podcasts from the store. I would love to be able to listen to Howards show on demand on my iPod. Sirius subscribers would get it for free. Non-subscribers would have to pay 2-5.99 per podcast... Tomorrow's Jan 10, wouldn't that be nice?

[vidGuy @ Jan 9th 2006 1:34PM]

Great deal for Sirius; they went from 600,000 to 3.3 millions subscribers, at $13/month, and most of that is attributed to Stern. I listened this morning and I plan to keep it up. I agree that I don't want just hours upon hours of swearing... but bleeps tend to pull me out of the show. By what he said this morning, Howard seemed really pleased that he is getting an opportunity to work with Sirius and not be chained down or have to fuss with the FCC.



Personally, I love Sirius. What really pulled me into it was the sports: NFL, ESPN, NHL, etc. Plus, Sirius has the Maxim channel, and I'd recommend that to any guy age 16-40.



I also wish Sirius would put more of their channels online, but there are home kits for some of the receivers and new ones soon to be released, so Sirius can be where you are. I have a StarMate receiver and I just pull it out of the car and hook up my home antenna when I go inside.

[Scott @ Jan 9th 2006 1:34PM]

Dustin,



Sirius had 600,000 subscribers prior to the day Sirius announced Stern had signed the contract. From that day until right before Thanksgiving, Sirius subscriptions increased from 600,000 to 2.2 million. Sirius reported during the first week of this month that they now have 3.3 million subscribers. Stern is reporting on his show today that 180,000 people activated their subscriptions yesterday (1/8).

[Andy @ Jan 9th 2006 1:57PM]

The only thing that I really don't like about Sirius is that the sound quality really sucks. If you want to get it, make sure you listen first; it's not HORRIBLE, but to me at least, FM sounds superior.



The show this morning was entertaining... I'm glad that the move is over so we don't have to keep hearing about how Stern can't wait to get to Sirius... it got old after a while.

[Godfrey Daniel @ Jan 9th 2006 2:03PM]

Unbelievable, the garbage people will give up their funds for.

[Paddy O'Furniture @ Jan 9th 2006 2:20PM]

I thought the show was good today. The thing I liked most about it is that despite not having censorship they aren't using it as an excuse to use profanity excessively. I would have been troubled by that. I look forward to hearing more. And like an earlier poster, I wish they would have it available online. I can only hear part of the show since I only have Sirius in my car.

[Digger Phelps @ Jan 9th 2006 2:22PM]

George Takei lovvvves William Shatner's Wang.



I love that I can go home and listen to the show after work now, as it is rebroadcast at 6PM PST.



F-Jackie!

[Russ @ Jan 9th 2006 2:26PM]

Sirius let a press release go that Stern had all ready paid for his (and his production company's) $500 million contract by the amount of subscribers he brought over.



As a result, Sirius gave Stern and his manager $225 million worth of Sirius stock ON TOP OF the contract value.



Damn.

[Russ @ Jan 9th 2006 2:31PM]

"The subscriber count for Q4 was a major disappointment for SIRI. With the $ they are paying Stern, they were looking for around 2M and didn't come close"



You are right, they are in at 3.3 million up from 600,000 they had when Stern announced his departure in Oct 2004.



Both stocks are up BTW, and I've got an 108% on my Sirius stock. Both companies still burn through money like crazy and have yet to pull any where close to a profit.

[Ron @ Jan 9th 2006 2:48PM]

Had XM before the Stern announcement and was ready to switch to Sirius before I listened to Opie and Anthony. So much more entertaining the Stern. Now with the new XM2Go devices that are coming out, its a no brainer.

[Chris Ostermueller @ Jan 9th 2006 2:55PM]

wow, #19 is mad huh. some good points, but my sirius stock doubled this year. i'll take it. i am jealous of xm's hardware, but if you were a manufacturer, you'd put your money into xm too as there is a greater potential market with all the subscibers they have. different strokes for different folks. i think xm has nicer hardware and content, but as a hs fan, there was no choice: i'd pay double to listen to howard stern at half the sound quality!

[snowbag @ Jan 9th 2006 2:59PM]

I am one of those who chose Sirius for Stern (though NPR Now is nice, too). The show was hampered by a press conference, but apart from that, quite nice. The lack of commercials has changed the rhythm of the show in an interesting way.



The music channels are pretty good, too, but you'd think that, as it is a pay service, there'd be a channel that plays music before 1940, Indian raga & Bollywood, and a WFMU equivalent. Or a channel schedule that wasn't in the worst-implemented, slowest-multi-screen java ever.

[Yteve from Sellowstone @ Jan 9th 2006 3:00PM]

Steve,



Hi, fanboy. All this Sirius talk must be really hurting your feelings to elicit your response.



:)

[bt @ Jan 9th 2006 3:00PM]

I'm actually enjoying the david lee roth show. Woke to stern for over 10 years... The last couple of years he just bored me to death. What he doesn't realize is that strippers in the studio is only fun for him.



Anyway, dlr has some great stories. Things started shaky but it's settled down alot. No way i'm gonna buy sirius for stern.

[Alister @ Jan 9th 2006 3:01PM]

"2. The majority of people who signed up for SIRI did so for reasons OTHER than Hoo Hoo"



I signed up because of Howard



"6. Stern will never have as many listeners as he did on terrestrial radio"



He has the opportunity to get more listners than he did on terrestrial radio - like me. None of the local radio stations carried his show but now thanks to Sirius I can listen to him. They only counted listeners that were able to get his show but what about the fans like me that were unable to get his show because their local stations did not have the guts or $$ money to carry his show.

[vidGuy @ Jan 9th 2006 3:07PM]

"3. XM has better programming. Period. No arguing."

I'd like to argue. You can't have the better programming without the NFL. Sirius has 17 Rock stations, XM 13. Sirius has Maxim Radio and Stern. For me, everything I want is on Sirius.

"4. XM has better coverage - extensive repeaters and better sats"

Can't argue with this, as I haven't tested XMs coverage, but I live in a rural town of 13,000 in central Illinois and can get a 5 of 7 bar signal with the receiver and antenna in my basement. Needless to say, I'm not complaining.

"6. Stern will never have as many listeners as he did on terrestrial radio"

Duh? How can you expect to go from free to pay radio and keep EVERY SINGLE listener? I'd say the increase in subscribers shows that he'll have more than you think, though.

"8. The subscriber count for Q4 was a major disappointment for SIRI. With the $ they are paying Stern, they were looking for around 2M and didn't come close"

They had an increase of 2.7 million subscribers b/w his announcement and today. That's a $35 million per month increase over the subscription revenue Sirius had been getting.

And maybe it's just that I live in an area where FM is spotty, but the audio quality of Sirius is at least twice that of my FM stations.

[Erik @ Jan 9th 2006 3:12PM]

#19, some more facts for you.



1. O&A couldn't survive on a pay per month basis, rumors they had less then 100,000 subscribers.



2. XM programming sucks compared to sirius, I have both, no fanboy here, and trust me, XM gives crap.



3. All Sirius subscribers pay for their subscription, like AOL, XM has plenty of subs that don't pay, like me. They will never let you cancel, offering free months, to free years of service. I got the XM2go MyFi thing when if first came out for $29.99 (see slickdeals) and it came with 3 months free service...all I had to pay was for another 3 months service.



XM subsriber #'s are inflated, it's only a matter of time before they go Ch 11. They need to hold out and pray sirius will do it first, but they won't, they get $13 a month from 3.3 million people, XM prob. gets less then half of their subs money. Don't believe me, check the boards to see how many XM people pay, I sure don't, and I have 3 XM radios.

[George Takai @ Jan 9th 2006 3:18PM]

To the non Stern fan who wrote:



"9. Stern hasn't been funny for 10 years now"



So the 10 years before this he was hilarious right? I wonder what happened 10 years ago? hmmmm... I think FCC is the answer I was looking for. If every bit you do has to filter thru their general managers w/the FCC in mind, I'm pretty sure you'd be as funny as a dead fish. At least Stern was still able to hold on to 30 million listeners with his sub par performance. Imagine if there is no filter? That's what he's trying to do with Sirius...



In any case, it's better that ignorants like you who are not real fans of the show is "filtered out" by this Sirius move.



I'm in Canada and I'm willing to buy US hardware, and have my friends living in US to pay for my subscription JUST to hear Howard and listening to Heidi Cortez put me to bed with a smile in my face.

[Ben from Boston @ Jan 9th 2006 3:25PM]

Steve from Yellowstone:



What? No Ramone comment?

[josh @ Jan 9th 2006 4:05PM]

"1. XM has twice the subscribers as SIRI. Deal with it SIRI fanboys"



Well first off, anyone who starts off by calling people fanboys... is a fanboy.



Second, 6 months or so ago, XM had TEN times the subscribers. Now that have only two times. That is a pretty good uptick for two quarters!



XM definitely has better hardware- that is for sure. But I think, now that Sirius has a vastly larger subscriber base, the hardware companies will start to develop with both companies in mind. That said, I am very happy with my Starmate Replay - it's pretty cool looking, small, good screen, i can pause and rewind live radio, etc...

[John @ Jan 9th 2006 4:11PM]

"XM subsriber #'s are inflated,"



oh really? Looks like Sirius likes to pad numbers.

http://tinyurl.com/8wons





"So the 10 years before this he was hilarious right? I wonder what happened 10 years ago? hmmmm... I think FCC is the answer I was looking for."



You do realize that Opie and Anthony made a name for themselves during the same time under the same FCC guidelines?

[John @ Jan 9th 2006 4:14PM]

http://tinyurl.com/8wons

[Brian (redban) @ Jan 9th 2006 4:14PM]

XM is more gooder, Stern is a boring old woman.



Happy New Year Jimmy

[camron @ Jan 9th 2006 4:20PM]

Ramooone, Tells these stern lovers to bend over while i hit some golf balls.



XM is better than the lil dog co.

[totalundone @ Jan 9th 2006 4:23PM]

If I do make the move to satellite radio, it won't be to XM. Clear Channel, the company that's killed traditional radio, is a heavy investor in XM.



Ignoring that, doesn't XM have commercials on some of their stations whereas Sirius have none? Yeah, I'm sure Clear Channel won't push for more commercials (like traditional radio) if XM becomes dominant in this pay by the month service...

[Mario @ Jan 9th 2006 4:29PM]

The use of Hoo Hoo = code for an Opie and Anthony fan.

I greatly enjoy The Stern Show - I am paying for it. If you don't enjoy him don't get Sirius, realize that there is much, much more to Sirius than Stern.

[TZK @ Jan 9th 2006 4:33PM]

The show today was good and funny. After a few weeks or no radio - and listening to David Lee Roth (which wasnt that bad, actually) Im glad I get to hear him now. I might set up a personal stream so I can get it on my desktop, since its not offered on the internet sign in. Private only, of course.

[Jason @ Jan 9th 2006 4:35PM]

Aight, enough back and forth on XM vs. Sirius - who has an MP3 copy of it to listen to? Someone here must have ripped it or have a torrent link.

[Erik @ Jan 9th 2006 4:38PM]

John, learn how to use the comments and tiny url, it doesn't work, so I can't see what proof you have of inflated #s. I haven't found 1 person online to admit they don't pay the monthly fee.

[John @ Jan 9th 2006 5:03PM]

Why is Howard play the Obrien sex tapes almost a year after O&A played them? For someone who complained of "clones"...



"39. John, learn how to use the comments and tiny url, it doesn't work, so I can't see what proof you have of inflated #s. I haven't found 1 person online to admit they don't pay the monthly fee."



Happy?

http://tinyurl.com/8wons

[Brian @ Jan 9th 2006 5:05PM]

#28, get your facts straight:

XM put O&A on a premium tier to cover their own asses. So, if someone was offended, they could go "Hey, you're paying for it." The reason they got taken off premium was NOT a matter of profitability, but the numbers WERE there.

[sphere @ Jan 9th 2006 5:16PM]

There's no arguing that XM's hardware is at least a year ahead of Sirius, if not more. With XM I was able to score a roadie xt (their smallest unit, slightly smaller than a cassette tape) for free with 3 months pre-paid. And XM has thousands of terrestrial repeaters, and is generally accepted as having the superior coverage. XM also manages channel compression a little better so the music channels don't sound quite as bad as Sirius. I also get Sirius music through my Dish Network reciever, and will say that XM's claim of having a bigger, deeper playlist seems accurate to me. Bottom line, if you don't care about Stern of NFL - your money is better spent at XM.



I also take exception to the mainstream news media reports on subscription numbers. One paper today had the sub numbers at Stern's announcement as 1.1 million, not 600,000. Plus they are counting any new activations (and with Sirius they'll even count the cancelled subs too....) of people who bought a new car with it, how can you assume they're there for Stern?



Anyway, if I need my shock jock fill on XM I've got OandA, and mininova has stern torrents of todays show. No need to deal with Sirius's junk hardware to enjoy it, I mean have you seen the Pioneer Inno?

[DJM @ Jan 9th 2006 5:28PM]

As a fan of both Howard and O & A, I'd like to see the space companies merge someday soon before I decide which, if either, service to subscribe to. I have to admit, I like O&A better, but didn't want to pony up the regular fees plus the premium charges. Now that I hear those are gone, I might look at it again before any more programs I like to listen to disappear to satellite.

[jg @ Jan 9th 2006 5:34PM]

Opie & Anthony fans are hilarious if you like XM better get XM, I'm sure both of you will be really happy. The bottom line is no one was paying attention to satellite radio, until Howard announced he was making the move. Hate it or love it, the reason their is a O & A and personalities with opinions is because of Howard Stern.



I thought the first show was great, but it was slowed down by the press conference. One interesting note was that Howard was asked if Sirius would stream the show and he says he believes it will happen. I hope so.

[Sirius Fun @ Jan 9th 2006 5:51PM]

It's all very subjective there fanboys

[ChillyWilly @ Jan 9th 2006 6:08PM]

"Deal with it SIRI fanboys" - yellow steve



Here we go.... Fine... XM is 1,000 times better and has 10 billion channels and Opie & Anthony sit next to God.... blah blah blah



Then go listen to XM instead of posting out here. Let us Sirius fans enjoy the moment.



The show this morning was great. Nice to be able to listen locally (well, in the car for me until I get a home kit).

[Erik @ Jan 9th 2006 6:22PM]

#42, then what was the reason they were taken off? Now people can be offended? Don't think so, the numbers were just not there, that's why they were never released, but 100,000 seems to be what most agree on.



#41, that's a far cry from giving free service...just like AOL, XM gives free service, Sirius doesn't. That was my point, XM's are still way over inflated, and they didn't meet the #'s they wanted this 1/4.

[Escalation @ Jan 9th 2006 6:24PM]

It's funny to read the people with the comments criticizing Stern and Sirius confusing fact and OPINION.

[Sam Rayburn @ Jan 9th 2006 7:53PM]

For all the people claiming XM has superior hardware/technology, where is the XM satellite radio/mp3 player? Sirius has been selling one for months. In case no one has noticed the newest generation of XM radios have crept from being available this month to April. I think we will be lucky to see them in a store by May.