December 5th, 2005
Why Howard Stern will be good for broadband
Hey, did you happen to catch Howard Stern last night on "60 Minutes?"
As you may know, he is slated for a January jump over to Sirius Satellite Radio. They are paying him something like $500 million to make the leap, stick around for at least five years, and develop programming.
Something you should know about Sirius. Although their service is mainly delivered to specially configured radios and automobiles, Sirius subscribers can get a streaming audio feed on their PCs at no extra charge.
We all know how much better streaming audio sounds at broadband speeds. Stern already has between 10-12 million listeners a week. And although many of them have broadband, not all of them do.
Stern, of course, is a publicity machine. And, that if I am Sirius, and I am seriously paying him $500 million, I want to expand my customer base beyond the two million level I am at now.
So I push the Internet channel for all its promotional value.
And you know what? I’d bet that Sirius also launches a mobile brand for flashy new cellphones that will work on broadband networks. They will do this either as a package deal with, say, a Verizon, or maybe even through a Sirius-branded device that will combine a radio and cell. Stern, whose fans tend to skew toward young, mobile and connected, would be an ideal flag-bearer.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Sirius TV either. And guess who would star?
Russell Shaw is an enterprise computing journalist, analyst and author based in Portland, Oregon. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
