It was no secret that the nation’s top shock-jock and frequent FCC target Howard Stern has been considering leaving traditional broadcast radio for the uncensored realm of satellite radio when his contract ends with Infinity Broadcasting in 15 months. So it was no surprise when Stern announced on his show this morning that he was moving his show to SIRIUS radio, one of two major satellite radio networks in the United States.
The five-year, multi-million dollar deal calls for Stern’s first satellite broadcast to take place on January 1, 2006.
Stern’s radio show, currently distributed by Infinity Broadcasting, is the top rated show in 46 major markets across the country, including New York and Los Angeles. The show often includes discussions about sex and frequently includes porn stars as guests.
Stern’s show will anchor a new channel on SIRIUS that will be programmed by Stern. He is expected to program at least one additional channel, and possibly more.
"It has been my dream to have the top-rated show in radio since I was five years old," said Stern. "SIRIUS – the future of radio – will take this dream to a whole new level as I bring my fans my show my way. It will be the best radio they will ever hear."
SIRIUS offers 65 channels of 100 percent commercial-free music, and features 55 channels of world-class sports, news, talk, entertainment, traffic and weather for a monthly subscription fee of $12.95. Stern’s show will be part of the basic package, rather than a premium channel.
Stern’s show will continue to carry advertisements.
Stern’s on-going battle with the FCC heated up this year after Janet Jackson’s momentary breast exposure during the halftime show of the Super Bowl ignited the conservative movement’s calls for the FCC to strictly enforce their regulations.
Clear Channel was fined $495,000 for broadcasting a Stern show that included a discussion of sexual acts, and for a segment promoting Sphincterine, a spray pitched as an anal hygiene spray.
Infinity Broadcasting was fined $27,500 in March of this year for an episode of Stern’s show that originally aired in 2001.
The fines politicized Stern, who began urging his audience to vote against President George W. Bush, believing that Bush was ultimately responsible for the crackdown that Stern interpreted as a violation of his First Amendment rights.
Stern repeatedly discussed the possibility of moving to satellite radio throughout the year, though in June the talk show host announced he intended to honor his commitment to Infinity and thanked them for their support.
The deal calls for SIRIUS to allocate a production budget of $100 million per year to cover the total production and operating costs for the Stern show. That includes the salaries of the cast and staff, overhead, the costs of constructing a dedicated studio for the show, and a budget for the development of additional programming and marketing concepts.
Stern is also eligible for cash and stock incentive bonuses that are based on his ability to increase subscriptions to SIRIUS.
SIRIUS estimates that Stern only would need to generate approximately one million subscribers in order to cover the costs of the deal, which will expire in 2010.
SIRIUS is one of two major satellite radio providers in the United States, the other being XM Radio, which carries Playboy Radio as a premium channel.
XM Radio recently signed shock jocks Opie and Anthony, whose broadcast of two listeners having sex inside St. Patrick's Cathedral resulted in their show being yanked off the air.
Stock in SIRIUS shot up 18 percent after this morning’s announcement.
Stern’s show will also be available on the DISH network, which carries a number of audio feeds from SIRIUS.
