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Karmazin: Stern Should Stay At Sirius XM

And Howie has said he wouldn't mind a pay cut along with a reduced schedule. He has also stated he would love to start the show at 7am but others insist he keep the start at 6am. I see him staying while doing 2-3 live shows a week and taking more time off.
 
Stern needs Artie back badly. Anyone REALLY listened to his show lately? He sounds so disinterested it's ridiculous.

You can only take Robyn/Gary agreeing with whatever Howard says for so long.

I hope Artie is doing well and gets back on that show because they need him!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Remember folks, what Howard says and what Howard does are two entirely different things. He's CONSTANTLY negotiating his contract on the air.

On You Tube, there's an interview by Channel 9 weatherman Lloyd Lindsay Young with Howard from his WNBC days... is that 20 or 25 years ago? In it Howard says this will be his last radio contract. He has other things he wants to do with his talents.

And so it has gone every five years since then. The only surprise happened once when Howard really did leave CBS/Infinity for Sirius.

I doubt Howard wants to retire. He may not want to wake up at 5am four days a week, 42 weeks a year, but I don't think he wants to miss being a morning drive personality. He certainly doesn't want to have no regular job, especially with a wife 20 years his junior. He wants to vent his real and perceived slights. He still wants the spotlight. And the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Sirius/XM says they can't pay again what they paid originally. But then why does Sirius cough up money for so many other personalities that won't mean a fraction in subscriptions that Stern brings in? I like Sirius Left but if money were really tight, why do they pay three full time hosts and a weekend host to do shows that they could easily get from existing syndicated liberal talk offerings?

Howard & Mel will make a deal. Howard will be paid slightly less and have a few more weeks of vacation. That's my prediction. Meet me here in January and we'll see.


Gregg
[email protected]
 
Wake up at 5 AM? Try 3 AM. Even the lowliest morning man does show prep before going on the air, not to mention getting dressed and commuting in. And take it from someone who knows, those 3 AM wake-ups start to grate on you after a while.
 
He gets up at 4 and walks into the building a little after 5. His commute is just down the street. Only takes him 10 minutes.
 
Still, no morning man who goes on at 6 gets up at 5. Especially not someone with a show as elaborate as Stern's.
 
Pab Sungenis said:
Still, no morning man who goes on at 6 gets up at 5. Especially not someone with a show as elaborate as Stern's.
Click to expand...

I know of a mid day host (11-3) that walks into the studio at 11:05. He's smoking a cigar outside the building until 11:04. Stern's staff is there at 3 am doing prep. Howie rides a limo in at the last second and sits in his seat and does the show. Maybe 1992 Stern did prep. 2010 Stern puts in the least work possible to warrant his massive check.
 
He gets there prior to 6 because he was complaining about Benjy not being there for the 5 or 5:30am pre-show meeting where they go over what is scheduled for the show.
 
He complains about Benjy coming in at 5:58am, or sometimes 6:02am, where he disrupts Howard's opening remarks. There is no pre-show meeting. There is no post-show meeting. There may be a meeting once a week. Howard communicates with his staff through e-mails and through Gary. Gary often complains that he has to coordinate future plans with Howard during commercial breaks but often Howard is eating or not paying attention.

I'm pretty sure Howard only arrives 15 or so minutes before airtime. He scans the papers in his limo and then in his office. He takes notes while watching TV or going on his computer the night before.

I believe Robin gets in earlier because she has to have a newscast ready to go, although you can tell (and Howard will comment on the air sometimes) that she's also doing newscast prep while she's on the air or during breaks. They say that's why she has her own booth, so she can rip articles from the paper without Howard's microphone picking it up.


Gregg
[email protected]
 
I think J-D, Sal and Richard are probably in around 3 to 4am in order to transfer any TV audio to hot pads that Howard has access to, and perform other tasks...

I think they try to have daily meetings if Howard doesnt have something else going on..I think a lot of the projects that he was working on..animated shows, movies, etc, have all fizzled to one degree or another..so the SirusXM gig is pretty much what there is..

If Howard wanted to leave, he could create his own phone app, build some studios and offices, keep his InDemand TV thing going, in which he keeps the revenue, and make a fortune..

If he stays, he likely goes to a three day week, with a Best of Stern on Thursday and a weekly wrap up on Friday...for likely something close to what he first signed for..
 
I was listening to Howard earlier in the week. He made a comment about someone's salary and how he (Howard ) pays him from the show's budget.

The 5 hundred million dollars (for 5 years) is that the budget for the entire show INCLUDING salaries, or is his salary the 5 hundred million dollars???

Thanks,
Stuart
 
I don't think we know. Howard has never confirmed the $500 million figure. We don't know if he has to pay all the staff, some of the staff, pay for the news department, etc.

I've always wondered about that news department that employs four on-air people (Steve Langsford, Lisa G., Shully, Ralph Howard plus the guy who's filling in during Ralph Howard's lung transplant) as well as a news director who doesn't go on the air and some audio people. That's got to be close to half a million dollars a year in salary and benefits.

We do know that some of Howard's income is in stock. And the stock never took off as expected. Stern makes jokes sometimes about the stock price and makes it sound like its poor performance hurts his income.

How about Robin's salary? It's got to be several million a year, right? She's on mike at all times. They've got to pay her something based on Howard's salary, even if that one-tenth or one-twentieth. So she has to get at least a few million no matter how you look at it if Howard is getting a reported $100 million per year.

Does all this come to an abrupt stop in a few weeks?



Gregg
[email protected]
 
$100 million+ in savings, plus two channels. Let's see, rehire all the XM music programmers and Lee Abrams, and put the XM program "IT" on the two open channels from Howard's departure. There'll still be $20 million left, so every sub gets their service for a dollar a month cheaper, or better yet, they restore our 'free' online service that we once had included in our service!
 
Don C said:
I know of a mid day host (11-3) that walks into the studio at 11:05. He's smoking a cigar outside the building until 11:04...
Click to expand...

Don Geronimo?
 
If Stern goes than lots of people are going to go. Sirius realizes this. So they are going to offer him a decent deal to stay.
 
Remember when Stern said he could easily beat out SNL and other TV shows? How did that work out? I admit he's an icon but he has always been overrated. One of his main attractions used to be how naughty he could get on terrestrial radio. Now that he wants to be relevant again, I will be amazed if he connects on the FM dial. Then again, as long as there is a Kardashian somewhere, there will be room for Howard. King of all media? I don't think so. Radio? Yes, but not king of all media.
 
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