When Howard Stern first moved to Sirius to start the 2006 year, he was credited as a major reason for the initial success of the business, believed to have attracted more than 2 million subscriptions to the service. Now with Howard Stern’s contract on the brink of expiration and no certainty surrounding his return, what might be the implications for letting the crudest, rudest radio personality take his talents elsewhere in the world of airwaves?
For starters, Sirius would save a lot of money, and as with any financial surplus they could use that money however they see fit. How much money is at stake here? Sterns original contract spanned 5 years paying out 500 million, so according to the laws of simple division 100 million dollars a year.
These funds could be allocated to acquire new talent, perhaps covering a broader area of expertise than just one man, no matter how popular may provide. As there are only a few familiar voices out there who could command a Stern-esque pay day, it is fair to assume that with Stern’s salary at their disposal, several new DJs could be brought in to fill the void and pretty much any familiar radio celebrity in the world would be well within the price range. Sirius could choose to go another route, instead using the cash influx to improve technology or lower subscription costs.Sure, Stern is popular and has a wide fan base.
Were he to be taken off the Sirius radio ticket, the company would inevitably lose a large amount of subscriptions, but the number of listeners who dropped their service would by no means come close to the total listeners Stern brought to Sirius. They may have come for Stern, but they will stay for the countless other benefits satellite radio provides.
As little as die-hard Stern fans would like to admit it, going back to the limited, commercial interrupted world of regular radio after undergoing 5 years of acclimation to superior sound and selection quality simply isn’t worth making a stand.
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