Will You Follow Stern in 2011?

Howard Stern still poised to make big bucks when Sirius XM contract expires
By David Hinckley
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Wednesday, August 26th 2009, 4:00 AM


Okay, so what's Howard Stern going to do 15 months from now, when his five-year megadeal with Sirius (now Sirius XM) Radio expires?

Stern may know. He may not. If he does, he's not sharing yet.

"Howard likes cliffhangers," shrugs Tom Taylor, editor of the trade sheet Radio-Info.com.

What Stern doesn't have to worry about, says Michael Harrison, editor of the trade magazine Talkers, is that he won't be in demand.

He may have millions fewer listeners than he had when he was syndicated from WXRK (92.3 FM). He may not be the presence he was in the water cooler or Twitter loop.

But besides declaring himself far happier without the stress of FCC-regulated radio, he also remains a premium brand.

"Stern has left the 'relevance' question behind," says Harrison. "He's a broadcast legend and a cultural icon. Even his absence is a story. He has nothing to prove. He has total freedom. The only question is what he does with it."

In fact, says Harrison, he could do something almost no one else could do: He could become his own medium.

"He could start his own radio station - on the Internet, with multiple platforms," says Harrison. "He could have total control, total freedom and keep all the money."

Harrison acknowledges few Internet broadcasters make any money, never mind Stern-level money. He says Stern could change that.

"The problem with 'monetizing' the Internet," says Harrison, "is that almost everything there is available somewhere free. Stern would be selling something not available anywhere else - himself.

"And as more and more people get their radio through the Internet, he would become more and more valuable."

Kurt Hanson, editor of the Radio And Internet Newsletter, says a Stern Internet show could work and would have a big audience upside.

"He could do a podcast [show] that people could buy or subscribe to," says Hanson. "Then they could listen any time they wanted. With the new phone technology, it's ridiculously easy.

"Right now about 10% of the country has some device that makes receiving podcasts simple. A year from now, that number will double. If a Stern got into it, that would speed acceptance further."

Then, too, Stern could get a pile of money from satellite or free radio without taking on any management headaches.

Or none of the above.

"It's also possible he could just leave," says Taylor. "Whatever he decides, he won't be worried about the rent."



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