As His Sirius Show Begins, Radio Ponders the Stern Effect

[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Eric Taub]
Since October 2004, when Sirius announced a deal to bring Howard Stern to satellite radio, subscribership for the service has grown from 660,000 to 3.3 million. Mr Stern and his manager have been rewarded with more than 34 million shares of common stock, currently worth about $225 million. That is on top of the $500 million that Sirius had already agreed to pay Stern for his salary and production costs. Stern now holds more shares than any other single investor. Sirius has given Stern two channels to program. His four-hour show airs at 6 a.m. on both coasts, live in the East and tape-delayed in the West. In addition to the live show, programming will include Howard 100 News, a news operation "reporting on the world of Howard." "Howard will be doing a show that he hasn't done for 15 years, because he's been held back" by the Federal Communications Commission, said Patrick Reilly, senior vice president of communications for Sirius. "It's not about swearing, it's about being candid, doing creative performance work for radio."
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/09/business/media/09stern.html
(requires registration)

* Stern says he'll avoid ‘foul language'
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/life/20060109/d_topstrip09.art.htm

* XM, Sirius: Threshold of a ‘radio revolution'?
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/life/20060109/d_mediamix09.art.htm

* A daughter's advice eased Stern's decision
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/life/20060109/d_mediamix09_side.art.htm