Auto Spies World Exclusive: The inside scoop on the Howard Stern deal

Dear 001,

A lot of noise has been made about the Howard Stern jumping ship to Sirius (even today, rumors are he's leaving early)but was it his first choice?

I just happened to be cruising by the boardroom at XM when I overheard a call on the speakerphone from one of Stern's gophers...

He said Howard wanted to go to XM, becuase they were the big guys and Stern has a HUGE ego.

He did not want to do a deal with the underdog, Sirius.

The wheels started rolling and the deal was virtually done with XM.

Then a fly in the ointment was found.

After the news broke that HS signed with Sirius, I found out that the XM deal fell apart when the head of GM (on their board of directors) said they would only allow the deal, if Howard would only be allowed on a 'Premium' XM station, so ten year old girls wouldn't accidentally be tuning in.

When Howard heard that he told them to (In the words of Teresa Heinz-Kerry) to 'shove it'.

Rumor is that Sirius also wanted to go the same route as well, but they are not set up for a premium channel system.

Thought your readers would be interested in these little tidbits.

Don Star

yrralis1 - 11/11/2004 11:37:43 PM

+1 Boost

Whether one likes or dislikes Howard's show --he does have an audience base and my guess is they will probably tune in to whatever station he selects . In my opinion --the bigger issue is not where this "shock jock" takes his show --but rather that there is a "moral " majority who blieve that it's their obligation to take right of choice out of the hands of those with the radio channel selector by censorship.
As for the mention of inappropriate listeners tuning in to his show . In my opinion -- it's up to those kids parents to teach them what's acceptable and what is not . The FCC , Sirius,XM and any other media center -- all share one thing in common --they are businesses -- they are not parents.

Steve - 11/13/2004 10:34:18 AM

+1 Boost

Don Star's statements conflict with those of Stern himself who repeatedly stated in his radio program that he has a contract with Sirius includes three (3) channels, and one of those would be "premium" (paid subscription for the channel in addition to the fee for the setellite service).

Star's allegation that "[Sirius] are not set up for a premium channel system" are contrary to Stern's on-radio statements.

Interestingly, Star alleges that General Motors played a part in keeping Stern off XM for fear that an inappropriate audience could access a specific channel of a "by subscription only" satellite radio service, and yet there is no proof that that GM is playing a roll in getting Stern off of _public_ ("free") radio. Something fishy here -- GM sitting idle for decades, allowing teenage girls to be morally corrupted by Stern in their FM-radio-equipped automobiles, and then raising a stink when Stern moves to satellite?

Star's article sounds like an urban legend to me.

Steve - 11/13/2004 10:34:18 AM

+1 Boost

Don Star's statements conflict with those of Stern himself who repeatedly stated in his radio program that he has a contract with Sirius includes three (3) channels, and one of those would be "premium" (paid subscription for the channel in addition to the fee for the setellite service).

Star's allegation that "[Sirius] are not set up for a premium channel system" are contrary to Stern's on-radio statements.

Interestingly, Star alleges that General Motors played a part in keeping Stern off XM for fear that an inappropriate audience could access a specific channel of a "by subscription only" satellite radio service, and yet there is no proof that that GM is playing a roll in getting Stern off of _public_ ("free") radio. Something fishy here -- GM sitting idle for decades, allowing teenage girls to be morally corrupted by Stern in their FM-radio-equipped automobiles, and then raising a stink when Stern moves to satellite?

Star's article sounds like an urban legend to me.