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Trouble for Sirius or How Howard is not as hot as he thinks he is...

B

bigmouth1234

Guest
A study recently conducted by Roper OmniTel for American Media Services finds that 86% of more than 1,000 people randomly surveyed said they’re not likely to begin subscribing to Sirius now that Howard Stern has moved there, compared to 12% who said they’re “very” or “somewhat” likely to follow the jock to satellite radio. Drilling down, 69% responded that they’re “not at all likely” to follow Stern to Sirius, vs. 17% who said they are “not very likely.” The survey also found that after being informed that the service requires the purchase of a receiver and a monthly fee, 82% said they are “not very” or “not at all likely” to purchase satellite radio.
 
> A study recently conducted by Roper OmniTel for American
> Media Services finds that 86% of more than 1,000 people
> randomly surveyed said they’re not likely to begin
> subscribing to Sirius now that Howard Stern has moved there,
> compared to 12% who said they’re “very” or “somewhat” likely
> to follow the jock to satellite radio. Drilling down, 69%
> responded that they’re “not at all likely” to follow Stern
> to Sirius, vs. 17% who said they are “not very likely.” The
> survey also found that after being informed that the service
> requires the purchase of a receiver and a monthly fee, 82%
> said they are “not very” or “not at all likely” to purchase
> satellite radio.

I would not call it trouble. As I listen to him, Howard had indicated that he needed one million subscribers just to make it profitable for Sirius to hire him. In one year, they increased listenership by 2.5 million (that came from other sources, not Howard.) Tom Leykis made the comment that comparing satellite to terrestrial radio is like comparing The Sopranos to American Idol. Both formats can be very successful, but satellite will not attract the total listenership of terrestrial radio, just as The Sopranos (5 million viewers) will not reach American Idol (31 million viewers) as an audience. The jury is out on how successful Howard can be. When I listen to the personalities on Howard 100 and 101, it seems to me that he is trying to attract the same audience that would purchase HBO, with Bubba the Love Sponge and Danny Bonaduce (he's on this week.) To me, Leykis' analogy is even more valid than it seemed when I heard him first express it.

What I think will be Howard's "ace in the hole" is his On Demand channel. When the word gets out that he has uncensored episodes of his new radio show to be viewed at a later date, he will make a dent in HBO's, Showtimes, and other pay cable channel's viewership. The adult content on those channels is why many people buy, and many will realize they will get a better product from Howard. His Sirius episodes will begin on-demand in mid-March; Comcast is supposed to begin airing them beginning in April.
 
> A study recently conducted by Roper OmniTel for American
> Media Services finds that 86% of more than 1,000 people
> randomly surveyed said they’re not likely to begin
> subscribing to Sirius now that Howard Stern has moved there,
> compared to 12% who said they’re “very” or “somewhat” likely
> to follow the jock to satellite radio. Drilling down, 69%
> responded that they’re “not at all likely” to follow Stern
> to Sirius, vs. 17% who said they are “not very likely.” The
> survey also found that after being informed that the service
> requires the purchase of a receiver and a monthly fee, 82%
> said they are “not very” or “not at all likely” to purchase
> satellite radio.
>
They said the same thing about cable television. Time will tell. I'm obviously not into censorship in any way shape or form, so after listening to Howard's show for the last 3 weeks, this is (as far as I'm concerned) the future of radio. You have to hear it to be able to fully grasp the concept and have an opinion. But opinions are like.......everybody has one. These polls will mean nothing when more people have the opportunity to hear what satellite is all about. When I was a lil guy, I remember when some of my friends and neighbors were getting cable tv...my parents said "there's no way we are going to pay $$ to watch television" then one day, my dad saw those hot babes doing "Aerobics" on Showtime at a friends house - we had cable installed a couple of weeks later...for the great selection of movies of course. At least that's how I'd like to remember it...
 
>
> I would not call it trouble. As I listen to him, Howard had
> indicated that he needed one million subscribers just to
> make it profitable for Sirius to hire him. In one year,
> they increased listenership by 2.5 million (that came from
> other sources, not Howard.) Tom Leykis made the comment
> that comparing satellite to terrestrial radio is like
> comparing The Sopranos to American Idol. Both formats can
> be very successful, but satellite will not attract the total
> listenership of terrestrial radio, just as The Sopranos (5
> million viewers) will not reach American Idol (31 million
> viewers) as an audience. The jury is out on how successful
> Howard can be. When I listen to the personalities on Howard
> 100 and 101, it seems to me that he is trying to attract the
> same audience that would purchase HBO, with Bubba the Love
> Sponge and Danny Bonaduce (he's on this week.) To me,
> Leykis' analogy is even more valid than it seemed when I
> heard him first express it.
>
> What I think will be Howard's "ace in the hole" is his On
> Demand channel. When the word gets out that he has
> uncensored episodes of his new radio show to be viewed at a
> later date, he will make a dent in HBO's, Showtimes, and
> other pay cable channel's viewership. The adult content on
> those channels is why many people buy, and many will realize
> they will get a better product from Howard. His Sirius
> episodes will begin on-demand in mid-March; Comcast is
> supposed to begin airing them beginning in April.
>
Lets keep in mind that these "new subscription" counts also include everyone who buys a sirius or xm equipped car that the dealership has paid for a promotional subscription for...those shouldn't be counted until the owner decides to start paying for it on their own...a majoirty of whom DON'T start paying for it becuase they just don't have a use for it.
 
Well I'm one listener who didn't follow him over to Sirius and I probably never will. I enjoyed listening to him on KISW, but he's not worth the money and hassles of buying and setting up the Sirius equipment. I get the Sirius music channels on my Dish Network so no need to sign up for just the commercial free music. Hopefully his huge contract won't be the demise of Sirius.
 
> Lets keep in mind that these "new subscription" counts also
> include everyone who buys a sirius or xm equipped car that
> the dealership has paid for a promotional subscription
> for...those shouldn't be counted until the owner decides to
> start paying for it on their own...a majoirty of whom DON'T
> start paying for it becuase they just don't have a use for
> it.

DING! DING! DING! We have a winner in today's reality check award show.
 
> I would not call it trouble. As I listen to him, Howard had
> indicated that he needed one million subscribers just to
> make it profitable for Sirius to hire him. In one year,
> they increased listenership by 2.5 million (that came from
> other sources, not Howard.) Tom Leykis made the comment
> that comparing satellite to terrestrial radio is like
> comparing The Sopranos to American Idol.

A rare glimpse of intelligence from Leykis.


> What I think will be Howard's "ace in the hole" is his On
> Demand channel. When the word gets out that he has
> uncensored episodes of his new radio show to be viewed at a
> later date, he will make a dent in HBO's, Showtimes, and
> other pay cable channel's viewership. The adult content on
> those channels is why many people buy, and many will realize
> they will get a better product from Howard. His Sirius
> episodes will begin on-demand in mid-March; Comcast is
> supposed to begin airing them beginning in April.

I beg to differ. An episode of Sopranos versus Howard having women strip? I would actually rather watch the Sopranos (or any other HBO or Showtime programming).

Again, Stern's schtick has always been the man holding him down -- him being unable to have strippers on E! (uncensored, at least) and unable to talk about tossing a salad on the radio. He's already organzing a mock pity party for Sirius now censoring him. But what would Howard Stern have done on camera that someone couldn't get on the internet?
 
When I was a lil guy, I remember when some of
> my friends and neighbors were getting cable tv...my parents
> said "there's no way we are going to pay $$ to watch
> television" then one day, my dad saw those hot babes doing
> "Aerobics" on Showtime at a friends house - we had cable
> installed a couple of weeks later...

There is also no way people would pay $1.70 for a cup of coffee - but they do. I don't. I'm sticking to commercial radio. For those of you lamenting the loss of Stern on KISW, give BJ a listen. I just can't figure out why it took 20 years in the business for him to become a local star. Thoughts?
 
> > I would not call it trouble. As I listen to him, Howard
> had
> > indicated that he needed one million subscribers just to
> > make it profitable for Sirius to hire him. In one year,
> > they increased listenership by 2.5 million (that came from
>
> > other sources, not Howard.) Tom Leykis made the comment
> > that comparing satellite to terrestrial radio is like
> > comparing The Sopranos to American Idol.
>
> A rare glimpse of intelligence from Leykis.
>
>
> > What I think will be Howard's "ace in the hole" is his On
> > Demand channel. When the word gets out that he has
> > uncensored episodes of his new radio show to be viewed at
> a
> > later date, he will make a dent in HBO's, Showtimes, and
> > other pay cable channel's viewership. The adult content
> on
> > those channels is why many people buy, and many will
> realize
> > they will get a better product from Howard. His Sirius
> > episodes will begin on-demand in mid-March; Comcast is
> > supposed to begin airing them beginning in April.
>
> I beg to differ. An episode of Sopranos versus Howard
> having women strip? I would actually rather watch the
> Sopranos (or any other HBO or Showtime programming).
>
> Again, Stern's schtick has always been the man holding him
> down -- him being unable to have strippers on E!
> (uncensored, at least) and unable to talk about tossing a
> salad on the radio. He's already organzing a mock pity
> party for Sirius now censoring him. But what would Howard
> Stern have done on camera that someone couldn't get on the
> internet?

Howard Stern does command a lot of attention and his show does bring money and strippers in. That's important...the strippers I mean.....
>
<P ID="signature">______________
"If I were in this business only for the business, I wouldn't be in this business." Samuel Goldwyn

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</P>
 
I see the problem being in this survey ... when their sample is 1,000 randomly selected people, that has nothing to do with the target market, listeners, etc.

I would think it'd be difficult to find 14% out of any randomly selected group to say they'd be likely or very likely to do anything that requires an investment. Seriously ... what percentage of randomly selected America really even listened to Howard Stern with any regularity. Saying that 14% of this 'random' group is mildly interested or more seems like quite a huge number to me.

> A study recently conducted by Roper OmniTel for American
> Media Services finds that 86% of more than 1,000 people
> randomly surveyed said they’re not likely to begin
> subscribing to Sirius now that Howard Stern has moved there,
> compared to 12% who said they’re “very” or “somewhat” likely
> to follow the jock to satellite radio. Drilling down, 69%
> responded that they’re “not at all likely” to follow Stern
> to Sirius, vs. 17% who said they are “not very likely.” The
> survey also found that after being informed that the service
> requires the purchase of a receiver and a monthly fee, 82%
> said they are “not very” or “not at all likely” to purchase
> satellite radio.
>
 
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