New Frontiers in Radio

▪ 2005

      At a promotional event in November 2004, flanked by his usual assemblage of strippers and adoring fans, Howard Stern helped bring the public's attention to satellite radio, an uncensored and still new outlet for radio programming. (Unlike regular, or terrestrial, radio, which is broadcast from Earth-based antennas, the digitally encoded signals for satellite radio are transmitted from Earth-orbiting satellites and have a very wide coverage.) Stopping traffic around Manhattan's Union Square, the preeminent shock jock in the United States gave away satellite-radio receivers and announced that his newly chosen venue “will be the dominant medium in the future because there's no government interference. It's the beginning.” Advocates of satellite radio hoped so. American listeners had been slow to subscribe to either of the two competing satellite-radio services—XM and Sirius—since they debuted in 2001 and 2002, respectively. A spate of high-profile signings in 2004, however, topped by on-air talent Stern and Sirius's new chief executive, Mel Karmazin, the former chief of Viacom (and Stern's former corporate boss), had many analysts labeling 2004 as the pivotal year for the still-unprofitable satellite-radio genre.

       XM Satellite Radio, based in Washington, D.C., had already set up a show for the popular duo Opie and Anthony, who had been fired from commercial radio after they broadcast what they alleged to be a couple having sex in a Roman Catholic cathedral, and one for Bob Edwards, the longtime NPR Morning Edition host who had been relieved of his hosting duties for reasons NPR never fully articulated. In October Sirius Satellite Radio, based in New York City, signed the bawdy Stern, who claimed to be fed up with years of close monitoring by the newly vigilant U.S. Federal Communications Commission and with the fines it imposed. Sirius publicists called the Stern signing “the most important deal in radio history.” That statement might have been hyperbole, but the deal was certainly one of the most expensive in radio history. The announced cost of producing the Stern show, including compensation of the cast and staff, stock, and other considerations, was $100 million annually for five years beginning January 2006, after the expiration of Stern's contract with over-the-air Infinity Broadcasting.

      “Satellite radio became a business today,” said Stern in USA Today. “When radio's biggest star voluntarily takes himself off terrestrial radio and an empire, you know it's the real deal. I'm saying to the medium, I'm saying to the industry, I'm saying to my fellow broadcasters, ‘We do have a choice.'” An article in The Wall Street Journal said, “If he [Stern] makes good on his promise to lure other high-profile personalities to satellite, terrestrial radio eventually could find itself falling behind satellite in ratings and buzz, just as broadcast television is struggling with cable.” The publicity value of Stern, one of American radio's biggest stars, proved instantly beneficial to Sirius. It had been the laggard in satellite radio, with just 600,000 people willing to pay its $12.95 monthly subscription rate. That audience was much smaller than Stern's estimated terrestrial-radio audience of 12 million, and it was some 2 million fewer than had signed up for rival XM, at $9.99 a month. After Stern's announcement and aggressive promoting of his future employer, Sirius subscriptions quickly climbed past the 700,000 mark.

      Fans of satellite radio praised its crisp, clear sound. They also liked its abundance of programming choices, especially in comparison with the increasingly homogenized offerings of terrestrial radio. Local terrestrial radio also found itself under fire from growth in access to the Internet, which made terrestrial stations that broadcast over the Internet available worldwide. Satellite radio, nevertheless, claimed advantages of convenience and variety over Earth-based options. For example, devotees of the alternative-country format, typified by such artists as Lyle Lovett and Robert Earl Keen, would have had a hard time finding such music on regular radio, but the satellite services devoted space on their dozens of channels to almost every genre, from sports to talk to very specific musical interests—most commercial-free. Still, the fledgling satellite-radio business faced significant hurdles to growth. Not only did it have to persuade people to pay for something that they had always received free, but it required them to buy a new, stand-alone piece of equipment—a satellite-radio receiver. Both XM and Sirius worked with automakers to offer such receivers as options in new cars.

      Except for some traffic and weather, satellite-radio channels were transmitted nationally rather than locally and therefore reduced the feelings of regional affinity that terrestrial radio could still inspire. Although most radio analysts were bullish on the Stern hiring, several expressed concern that Stern's devotees might not follow him to a pay service, which would leave the shock jock a marginalized figure and find Sirius losing more money than before.

Steve Johnson

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