Now that the stock holders of Sirius and XM Radio have voted to merge....?

Question

Howard Stern will indeed be the King of All Media once and for all.The fact that he outwitted the FCC and CBS is the Genius move of ALL TIME in Radio .What say you?Whether you like him or not,you have to admit!

Answer 1

Admit what? Howard has an act. Some like it - some don't.

I disagree with you, however about "the Genius move of ALL TIME" (and I think Howard wishes he could have the decision back). He made a huge mistake. The number of people who listened to him on a weekly basis dropped dramatically when he went to Sirius and he gets much less attention now than he did as a NY fixture and was nationally syndicated on some of the biggest stations in the country. Even with the addition of those XM subscribers who will choose to listen, he's behind the terrestrial curve and will be for some time.

And who did he outwit. The FCC? They're thrilled - he took care of a big problem for them by moving to satellite where he can do what he wants without the watchful eye of the commission always at odds with him.

CBS? Let's just say they both blew it. CBS lost huge amounts of revenue. Howard lost huge amounts of listeners. All he had to do was stay within the boundaries... as close to the edge as possible - but within. I think the encouragement of Mel Karmazin (his mentor and newly minted boss of Sirius) and frustration with the new CBS management, combined with the constant FCC battle, pushed him into a hasty, bad decision.

Yes I know he says it's the best thing he's ever done - what would you say - I really goofed up? Of course not. He's got to spin it.

As to the $500,000,000? Keep in mind he has to run two 24/7 radio stations with that money (including the payroll - not just his - the entire cast and crew). So, though substantial, it's not as much as it appears on the surface.

OK, enough on Howard, we'll agree to disagree ;<)

-a guy named duh

Answer 2

im not sure about the king of all media, but he does have 2 or 3 channels on direcTV, 2 full-time channels on sirius, and a daily newsletter, so hes got all the bases covered.

but rush limbaugh is still listened to much more than howard ever was and he has oprah-power (i.e.: he can crush an industry with just one statement)

i dont consider him the king, but hes got my vote for court jester, all day long!

Answer 3

How did he outwit them?

Basically CBS wanted someone who would shock but at the same time didn't want to loose their licenses to their radio stations. It's a very fine line that is hard to walk and Stern couldn't do it.

The FCC has become more family friendly under the Bush administration ,and this could change if a moderate/liberal was elected to the Presidency again  (such as how the Clinton days were)

All Stern did, was have a place that needed a superstar and were willing to bring out the money to appease him and have no restraints.

Word on the street is however XM has throttled some of their shock jocks already..Will it come to the mouth Stern himself? Unless it's in his contract, they have a chance of throttling him too so don't think he's pulled one over yet. (word is language isn't barred but some possible content maybe from what I've heard)

But technically, a king of all media would be him back on TV, radio,Satellite, and print/internet media ..... Technically he's only on two since E! gave up his show... His nemesis, Opie and Anthony has a bigger lead with being on XM, being in the print media as much as Stern is anymore, and being on radio in his old markets.

He's said he won't go back to terrestrial radio, however major companies other than CBS have been pressuring him and I think it's just a matter of time before he's back on there also in edited format ala Opie and Anthony....

I just want to see all the background accusations between Stern and O and A once the merger is accepted by the FCC (meaning he still hasn't won yet as you claim as many at the FCC are on the fence for the merger.) in the combined studios.