Tom from T.O.
10-07-2004, 12:21 PM
See the last 4 paragraphs from this Globe and Mail article
Stern to go to satellite broadcasts
By ROB SHAW
Thursday, October 7, 2004 - Page A19
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Howard Stern, the controversial radio host whose off-colour comments have propelled him to stardom on American radio, signed a $500-million (U.S.), five-year deal with a satellite radio company yesterday that could bring his show back to a Canadian station.
The deal will see Mr. Stern's show jump from Viacom Inc. to Sirius Satellite Radio in January of 2006. The move will give a large boost to a fledgling satellite radio industry, and allow Mr. Stern to circumvent U.S. federal regulators who have frowned upon such segments as Lesbian Dial-A-Date.
"Those religious kooks think they've won," Mr. Stern told Reuters news agency yesterday. "They're wrong. I volunteered to go off into a whole new medium."
He was pulled off the air in six cities by Clear Channel Communications Inc. in February because of indecent content in his show.
Sirius, the second-largest pay-radio service in the United States, will have to boost its base of 600,000 subscribers to more than two million to cover the cost of signing Mr. Stern. The so-called shock jock has 12 million listeners and Sirius is hoping some will migrate with him.
Unlike public airwaves, satellite radio requires special equipment and a monthly subscriber fee. But the breadth of expected channels from across North America, and features such as instantly identifying song titles, is driving growth of the format in the United States. Some car manufacturers are expected to equip new vehicles with the service soon.
In Canada, Sirius Radio has partnered with CBC Radio-Canada and Standard Radio as one of three groups applying for a radio broadcast licence in November from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. Standard Radio is Canada's largest privately owned broadcaster, and runs such stations as 97.3 FM EZRock in Toronto and Z95.3 FM in Vancouver.
If successful, the group plans to have 125 channels of satellite radio in Canada by early 2005, at a cost of $12.95 a month, said joint-venture chief executive officer Kevin Shea.
Sirius has full intentions of bringing Mr. Stern to Canada, he said.
"There's probably a portion of audiences that would have an interest in [Mr. Stern's show]," said Mr. Shea, a former executive with Bell Globemedia, Alliance Atlantis and Global Television.
"Two years from now, Howard Stern could have found God and have a completely different program. Who knows?"
After a run in Canada a few years ago, the country's airwaves are free of Mr. Stern's sexually charged, raucous segments. He was dropped by Toronto's Q-107 FM in late 2001, despite high ratings, and was also dropped by CHOM-FM in Montreal in 1998 after complaints from more than 140 callers.
Stern to go to satellite broadcasts
By ROB SHAW
Thursday, October 7, 2004 - Page A19
E-mail this Article
Howard Stern, the controversial radio host whose off-colour comments have propelled him to stardom on American radio, signed a $500-million (U.S.), five-year deal with a satellite radio company yesterday that could bring his show back to a Canadian station.
The deal will see Mr. Stern's show jump from Viacom Inc. to Sirius Satellite Radio in January of 2006. The move will give a large boost to a fledgling satellite radio industry, and allow Mr. Stern to circumvent U.S. federal regulators who have frowned upon such segments as Lesbian Dial-A-Date.
"Those religious kooks think they've won," Mr. Stern told Reuters news agency yesterday. "They're wrong. I volunteered to go off into a whole new medium."
He was pulled off the air in six cities by Clear Channel Communications Inc. in February because of indecent content in his show.
Sirius, the second-largest pay-radio service in the United States, will have to boost its base of 600,000 subscribers to more than two million to cover the cost of signing Mr. Stern. The so-called shock jock has 12 million listeners and Sirius is hoping some will migrate with him.
Unlike public airwaves, satellite radio requires special equipment and a monthly subscriber fee. But the breadth of expected channels from across North America, and features such as instantly identifying song titles, is driving growth of the format in the United States. Some car manufacturers are expected to equip new vehicles with the service soon.
In Canada, Sirius Radio has partnered with CBC Radio-Canada and Standard Radio as one of three groups applying for a radio broadcast licence in November from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. Standard Radio is Canada's largest privately owned broadcaster, and runs such stations as 97.3 FM EZRock in Toronto and Z95.3 FM in Vancouver.
If successful, the group plans to have 125 channels of satellite radio in Canada by early 2005, at a cost of $12.95 a month, said joint-venture chief executive officer Kevin Shea.
Sirius has full intentions of bringing Mr. Stern to Canada, he said.
"There's probably a portion of audiences that would have an interest in [Mr. Stern's show]," said Mr. Shea, a former executive with Bell Globemedia, Alliance Atlantis and Global Television.
"Two years from now, Howard Stern could have found God and have a completely different program. Who knows?"
After a run in Canada a few years ago, the country's airwaves are free of Mr. Stern's sexually charged, raucous segments. He was dropped by Toronto's Q-107 FM in late 2001, despite high ratings, and was also dropped by CHOM-FM in Montreal in 1998 after complaints from more than 140 callers.