A more subtle issue also surfaced yesterday when Opie and Anthony said they would not work for the new satellite entity if they were going to play "second fiddle" to Stern. (http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/story/500967p-422470c.html)


Well...seeing how they've been second fiddle their entire careers I don't see why they should feel any differently now! :)~

Though a decision on the proposed XM/Sirius satellite radio merger is months away, Opie and Anthony warned yesterday that they could be among its casualties.
Opie and Anthony are heard 6-9 a.m. daily on two dozen CBS Radio stations, including WFNY (92.3 FM); then they move to XM for two more hours, 9-11 a.m.

But Mel Karmazin, who would be CEO of the yet-unnamed merged company, told Howard Stern yesterday he has little interest in sharing satellite hosts with terrestrial radio.

"I have not seen that in any way, shape or form as being an advantage," said Karmazin, who didn't specifically cite Opie and Anthony. "The more different our talent is, the better."

Anthony Cumia later commented, "Mel's answer didn't make me feel welcome."

Opie (Gregg Hughes) said yesterday that "something's gonna give," and added that if satellite doesn't want O&A, they wouldn't mind doing terrestrial radio full-time.

Opie and Anthony, CBS and XM have all said the current deal benefits everyone. O&A are reportedly under joint contract into 2008, and Karmazin said yesterday all contracts will be honored.

A more subtle issue also surfaced yesterday when Opie and Anthony said they would not work for the new satellite entity if they were going to play "second fiddle" to Stern.

Stern and O&A have had a tense relationship going back to the days when Stern was the morning powerhouse on WXRK and Opie and Anthony were successful afternoon hosts on CBS sister station WNEW.

Stern asked Karmazin, then the head of CBS Radio, to forbid Opie and Anthony from talking about him on the air. Stern's opposition also reportedly played a role in CBS declining to put Opie and Anthony on WXRK, which many radio people felt would have created a stronger station.

Since Stern went to Sirius in January 2006, the sniping has continued. Opie and Anthony say Stern has faded, losing more than 80% of his free-radio audience, while Stern notes that O&A haven't come close to matching his terrestrial ratings.

Before Karmazin came into the studio yesterday, Stern also said the merged satellite company should not share talent with free radio.

"The thing with Opie and Anthony tanked," he said. "But what were they thinking in the first place? If I'm an Opie and Anthony fan, why subscribe if I can get them free? Keep it exclusive."

this is the problem i thought would come about.... and poof..... here it is.

this is the problem i thought would come about.... and poof..... here it is.
Way to go out on a limb. ;)

A more subtle issue also surfaced yesterday when Opie and Anthony said they would not work for the new satellite entity if they were going to play "second fiddle" to Stern. (http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/story/500967p-422470c.html)


Their point about "second fiddle" was that they have no intention of being part of Stern's channels and refuse to be issued another gag order from Karmazin, while Stern is allowed to continue to make comments about them, just like what happened when they all worked for Infinity.

This is just more baseless hype. I don't think O&A would be dumped (or vice versa) if a merger occurred.

-Paul

This is just more baseless hype. I don't think O&A would be dumped (or vice versa) if a merger occurred.

-Paul

And wasn't this rumor started by some other hack radio show at XM?

-Paul

This is just more baseless hype. I don't think O&A would be dumped (or vice versa) if a merger occurred.


It's not a matter of being dumped or not. It's a matter of being treated like a crap, like they were the last time that they worked for Karmazin.

O&A have a valid point when they point out that Karmazin has avoided mentioning them in every possible situation since the merger announcement. People have tried to argue that he can't talk about any XM programming until the merger goes through. But that hasn't stopped him from talking about how good it would be to have Major League Baseball and Oprah Winfrey's channel available to Sirius subscribers.

Even when Karmazin and Stern had the conversation that was specifically about Opie & Anthony (they are the only show in XM where a portion of the show is simulcast on broadcast radio), they still didn't mention them by name.

That was when O&A commented that it looked like they were about to get crapped upon, once again by the hypocrite and his rabbi.

you know that their egos will clash and then its the survival of the fittest... no need to worry guys, the merger still didnt happen and who knows if it will..

Let's face facts. The main reason these announcements don't talk about O&A is because their names are not recognizable. You do not mix Howard Stern, Martha Stewart, Oprah, and O&A in the same sentence. The first three are recognized by the vast majority of people in this country. Most people have never heard of O&A.

O&A like to pretend they are as relevant as Stern but they never have been and never will be. They are the ones who built this wall between themselves and Stern and Mel, and now they may pay the price as they are forced to abandon satellite and move to terrestrial radio full time.

Most likely they will face that choice anyway, and it has nothing to do with ego. Mel has clearly stated that he wants his talent to be exclusive to satellite. So if O&A want to stay they would have to abandon their CBS contract (if that is even possible). That's A LOT of money they'd be leaving on the table, and I guarantee you, they won't do it. They will welcome the opportunity to go back to terrestrial radio full time, despite the fact that they will have to do a censored show full time.

Well...seeing how they've been second fiddle their entire careers I don't see why they should feel any differently now! :)~

1st fiddle, 2nd fiddle, whatever. so many of you guys seem more concerned with who is more popular than with who actually puts on a better show, or more specifically, a show that YOU enjoy more.

stern certainly has more name recognition. O&A certainly have a larger audience. nether fact makes a damn bit of difference when i'm trudging to work every day. the only thing that matters is who does the better show, not how many people you can get to validate your personal preferences on an internet message board. :rolleyes:

1st fiddle, 2nd fiddle, whatever. so many of you guys seem more concerned with who is more popular than with who actually puts on a better show, or more specifically, a show that YOU enjoy more.

stern certainly has more name recognition. O&A certainly have a larger audience. nether fact makes a damn bit of difference when i'm trudging to work every day. the only thing that matters is who does the better show, not how many people you can get to validate your personal preferences on an internet message board. :rolleyes:


Of course....for you and many it's O&A for me and many it's HS.

And wasn't this rumor started by some other hack radio show at XM?

-Paul
I thought it was by another Hack on Sirius, Bubba the brown nose.

lol..... gosh we sound like children... it doesnt really matter.... let me be honest... i find HS extremely funny and the reason i left..... i heard O&A and i didnt find them as funny but it was ok.....

i have to say though on this issue, if you listened to HS.... they dont talk about O&A... but when you listen to o&a, they always bad mouth..... so now, when the merger started to become clear, who in their right minds thought that they would be able to work together....

its very rare it happens but with their egos clashing and with Howard being the big name, you cant say that it wasnt clear that they probably wont survive this merger(key word probably because of what Mel said)

My dream would be for artie to leave and lil jimmy norton to take his seat on stern. We would have the best of both worlds then. :)

Bottom line is that MK and HS have had a 25 year history together of success. It's obvious that HS is the backbone of Sirius and the entire satellite radio industry. Nobody talks about satellite radio without mentioning Stern's name.

O&A made a decision to make their radio show not exclusive to satellite which is wonderful for them and their pockets but not good for people who actually have to pay for the service. In the end, the fans got screwed because they were forced to listen to a watered down (censored) version of the show for the first 3 hours.

And for the record, those who have seen O&A's ratings, i doubt that they have more listeners than anybody. Even Anthony himself has said they are pitiful.

First post? So who are you really?
BTW, there are millions of people who talk about sat radio without mentioning Howie, they're called XM subscribers.

Trashing Stern is absurd, because it's a FACT that if Stern had signed with XM, SIRIUS would be a forgotten entity, and XM would be a powerhouse. There would be no merger talk.

O&A failed as a "premium" service at XM, they then failed as a subscription source, first at standard XM, then as a combo "Free FM/XM Afterwards" program. They just do not have the subscription base or potential that Stern has.

They also spend much of their airtime talking about Stern, whereas Stern could care less about them and rarely mentions them at all.

Look at the "Free FM" ratings book. It's embarrasing. Before they can trash Stern, they need to at least approach half of the ratings that he had at K-Rock. Good luck.

Even when they went on Letterman, a "gift appearance" from Les Moonves, they ended up talking about Stern. Great job!

Who trashed Stern? Seems like most of this thread and other recent threads are Howie's fans trashing O&A. If they are so insignificant, why are Stern fans so obsessed with them?

There's not one "fact" in your entire post. Ba-ba-booey anyone?

I agree with one of your opinions- Stern couldn't care less about O&A; his fans on the other hand seem to not be able to get enough of the O&A "feud."

Right, O&A brought in tons of bucks to XM when they were a premium channel.... :cool:

I take it back.. Their NY and Chicago ratings suck. Everything else- conjecture.

Trashing Stern is absurd, because it's a FACT that if Stern had signed with XM, SIRIUS would be a forgotten entity, and XM would be a powerhouse. There would be no merger talk.


A "fact" is a provable statement. Go ahead and prove that statement.


O&A failed as a "premium" service at XM, they then failed as a subscription source, first at standard XM, then as a combo "Free FM/XM Afterwards" program. They just do not have the subscription base or potential that Stern has.


Incorrect statement #2. O&A were initially put on premium because XM was concerned that, even two years later, there would still be a backlash from the Sex For Sam 3 incident. By putting them on a premium channel, there was a built in answer to people who would object to their subscription dollars being used to pay for O&A. With a premium channel, the answer to anyone who complained could be "It isn't". All along, O&A complained that their channel shouldn't be a premium channel. They wanted their show to be made available to everyone.

According to XM VP Eric Logan, they didn't get the complaints that they feared. So, at the same time XM announced a price increase, they moved O&A to the standard tier and included the XM Online feature (which previously cost $3 per month for people who subscribed to the satellite service) at no additional charge.


They also spend much of their airtime talking about Stern, whereas Stern could care less about them and rarely mentions them at all.


It was Howie & Robin who brought up Opie & Anthony's show when talking to Mel (although he didn't mention them by name, their show is the only one where a portion is played on both XM & FM)


Look at the "Free FM" ratings book. It's embarrasing. Before they can trash Stern, they need to at least approach half of the ratings that he had at K-Rock. Good luck.


While they are also on XM, they never will. Instead of listening via FreeFM, those people are listening on XM, so they hear the uncensored version of the show. They also don't hear the FreeFM commercials. They hear best of bits during the FreeFM commercial breaks. Because of that, these people don't count toward the FreeFM ratings.


Even when they went on Letterman, a "gift appearance" from Les Moonves, they ended up talking about Stern. Great job!

Only because Letterman asked. Neither one of them brought Stern up.

O&A are crap. In this case, they would be fourth fiddle behind the KOAM, Bubba, Ferrel. When they went to sat radio, no one cared. When Howard went, it changed the industry. Sirius was a dead dog until Howard signed, now it is a merger of equals and if it does not go through, Sirius will continue to dominate the industry with superior programming and higher quality sound.

It was funny to see the ratings for Howard's old spot drop BELOW even David Lee Roth levels when O&A took over. Way to go!

Hey, oblio98 - O&A brought in 35k subscribers. Not exactly TONS, as you stated. Try 6 million in 12 months. $932 million a year vs. $35k a year.

Hey, oblio98 - O&A brought in 35k subscribers. Not exactly TONS, as you stated. Try 6 million in 12 months. $932 million a year vs. $35k a year.

I was being sarcastic! :D

Only because Letterman asked. Neither one of them brought Stern up.

They sure took the bait, though. Right into their favorite "act"..... :rolleyes:

Hey, oblio98 - O&A brought in 35k subscribers. Not exactly TONS, as you stated. Try 6 million in 12 months. $932 million a year vs. $35k a year.
Please let us know the source for your numbers.

Please let us know the source for your numbers.


I believe his source is Opie....when they were a pay service on XM opie let slip out the 30 thousand number-

I believe his source is Opie....when they were a pay service on XM opie let slip out the 30 thousand number-
Wow, he must be a very faithful listener, I subscribed from day one and I missed that tidbit of info.

Like O&A actually make a difference. Lets face it Howard sells radios. Look at the numbers. O& A are a bunch of cry babies. Can anybody be so nieve to think that they are remotely important to the success of XM? Come on, any time a company has a valuable commodity, would that actually let them go work for the competition. I would love for the merger to happen and watch O&A play 10th fiddle and cry some more. Of all the years I listen to Howard, I can remember maybe a handful of times he even mentioned their name. It's almost pathetic how everytime I talk to an O&A fan, they all say the same thing, "Howard put a gag order on them." Ya Howard is so scared of other talents that he went out and hired Bubba, and Farell. O&A fans are dedicated though. So much they belive every stupid thing that come out of their mouth.

How about this one. If Howard retires tomorrow, guarantee there is no merger. If O&A retired tomorrow, it wouldn't even be an issue.

Like O&A actually make a difference. Lets face it Howard sells radios. Look at the numbers. O& A are a bunch of cry babies. Can anybody be so nieve to think that they are remotely important to the success of XM? Come on, any time a company has a valuable commodity, would that actually let them go work for the competition. I would love for the merger to happen and watch O&A play 10th fiddle and cry some more. Of all the years I listen to Howard, I can remember maybe a handful of times he even mentioned their name. It's almost pathetic how everytime I talk to an O&A fan, they all say the same thing, "Howard put a gag order on them." Ya Howard is so scared of other talents that he went out and hired Bubba, and Farell. O&A fans are dedicated though. So much they belive every stupid thing that come out of their mouth.

How about this one. If Howard retires tomorrow, guarantee there is no merger. If O&A retired tomorrow, it wouldn't even be an issue.


true.... its the truth... howard sells radios and if o&a left, people wouldnt care... thats the truth...

oh and can someone please bring the statistics book for Pat6366.... he wants the turth but cant handle the truth

It's almost pathetic how everytime I talk to an O&A fan, they all say the same thing, "Howard put a gag order on them." Ya Howard is so scared of other talents that he went out and hired Bubba, and Farell. O&A fans are dedicated though. So much they belive every stupid thing that come out of their mouth.

Do you believe everything that comes out of Howard's mouth?
http://www.fmqb.com/Article.asp?id=186874

For the record, I'm not a schill for either. As a matter of fact, I'm greatly looking forward to the return of Billy West on Howard.

At any rate, the guy is a shrewd businessman and an entertainer, not a saint. He felt threatened by what he percieved was a copycat show, and Mr. Champion-of-free-speech put a gag order on O&A. That's pretty lame if you ask me.

true.... its the truth... howard sells radios and if o&a left, people wouldnt care... thats the truth...

oh and can someone please bring the statistics book for Pat6366.... he wants the turth but cant handle the truth
What truth? You should be saying "the opinion is the opinion".
If O&A are so insignificant, why are so many Howie fans so vocal against them. Go enjoy the show that you like best whether it is Howie or O&A.

Do you believe everything that comes out of Howard's mouth?
http://www.fmqb.com/Article.asp?id=186874

For the record, I'm not a schill for either. As a matter of fact, I'm greatly looking forward to the return of Billy West on Howard.

At any rate, the guy is a shrewd businessman and an entertainer, not a saint. He felt threatened by what he percieved was a copycat show, and Mr. Champion-of-free-speech put a gag order on O&A. That's pretty lame if you ask me.
Do you believe everything you read?

There's more to the story than you know. O&A were gagged only when they chose to get personal about Howard's family.

Why did they feel compelled to make "Howard talk" a big part of their show? Besides being stupid (how long do you think you would last at your job if you started bashing a popular co-worker) it illustrates that they didn't feel their show could generate buzz based on its own merits. They could have shut up about Howard and done their show and let it find an audience. They instead chose to raise their own profile by making controversial statements about Howard.

O&A would have you believe that Howard is a hypocrite and lacks moral values. Boo hoo. They are entertainers, not politicians. Is the show funny? Do people listen? That's all that matters.

Too bad O&A dug this grave for themselves; it's going to get them pushed out of the very medium that they "pioneered". Woo hoo...

Do you believe everything you read? There's more to the story than you know.

Do you know Howard? Does he call you at home? I listened to both shows everyday from ~99-2001 when I was living in NJ. So unless you’re a high-ranking Infinity employee, I’d say I have as much info available to make an educated opinion as you do.

Why did they feel compelled to make "Howard talk" a big part of their show?

Do you ever actually listen to O&A? "Howard talk" was never a big part of their show until the gag order was placed. Before that, they made fun of him now and then, sure. That's the breaks when you're a celebrity at the top of your field. Good thing Howard never pokes fun at celebrities or he’d be a hypocrite.

...it illustrates that they didn't feel their show could generate buzz based on its own merits. They could have shut up about Howard and done their show and let it find an audience. They instead chose to raise their own profile by making controversial statements about Howard.

Pure spin by a Stern-biased fan. I could say that if Stern had a problem with O&A, he should’ve addressed it on the air the way he did with Debella or Mark & Brian. The fact that he went behind the scenes shows vulnerability and desperation on Stern’s part. See how spin works?

Is the show funny? Do people listen? That's all that matters.

AGREED!

I could say that if Stern had a problem with O&A, he should’ve addressed it on the air the way he did with Debella or Mark & Brian. The fact that he went behind the scenes shows vulnerability and desperation on Stern’s part. See how spin works?
They worked for the same company. They were in different time slots. They had a tiny audience. Stern had nothing to gain by talking about O&A, especially if he felt vulnerable to them. O&A had everything to gain, because talking about Stern gets them the publicity they crave.

I listened to Stern since the WNBC days so sure, I'm biased. I was an early XM subscriber and listened to O&A regularly for awhile. I tried to like them, but they never did it for me. Always felt they were a more juvenile, disorganized, less intelligent version of the Stern show. But that's just my opinion.

Everybody spins. Nobody knows what really happened surrounding the "gag" order. Nothing Stern says in public should ever be taken seriously. He's always in character.

I never understood the "us vs. them" mentality that O&A perpetuates. They make it impossible to be a fan of both. It's a short sighted strategy, and one that just might come back to bite them if this merger goes through.

They worked for the same company. They were in different time slots. They had a tiny audience. Stern had nothing to gain by talking about O&A, especially if he felt vulnerable to them. O&A had everything to gain, because talking about Stern gets them the publicity they crave.

I listened to Stern since the WNBC days so sure, I'm biased. I was an early XM subscriber and listened to O&A regularly for awhile. I tried to like them, but they never did it for me. Always felt they were a more juvenile, disorganized, less intelligent version of the Stern show. But that's just my opinion.

Everybody spins. Nobody knows what really happened surrounding the "gag" order. Nothing Stern says in public should ever be taken seriously. He's always in character.

I never understood the "us vs. them" mentality that O&A perpetuates. They make it impossible to be a fan of both. It's a short sighted strategy, and one that just might come back to bite them if this merger goes through.

I’m with you on all of this. It may not seem like it, but I am a fan of both shows (impossible!). I grew up listening to Stern with my Dad and watching the crazy channel 9 show in Philly. I did feel as though Howard started to decline when he lost Jackie and Billy West. O&A spoke to my interests when I was in college and have stuck with me. To me, the KROQ / WNEW combo days were awesome, which is why I’m hoping this merger goes through. But you’re right, their self-destructive nature might bite them in the ass. I don’t have any kind of deep loyalty to either, but O&A seem to get dumped on the most, I guess because they are the underdog.

First:

The title of this thread should be changed as it implies that O&A are going to "ground/make them go away" if the merger happens.

People, RELAX.

O&A are not going anywhere.

They will be available either:

1. On the merged companies service. Not likely, unless it is an exclusive deal to where they are available on there and nowhere else. O&A don't want this because they KNOW they will be playing second fiddle to Howard. Most likely moved to the afternoons and maybe dumping Bubba(this is a strong possiblilty because they are more popular than Bubba, and would be a better draw of fans) from the service

2. On FREE FM radio. This is the most likely scenario. I doubt they will still be able to be allowed to do both IF the meger is completed. And Mel Karmizan has made that pretty clear. Most likely, they will be released from their contract(or a big buyout) and allowed to sign a new one with FREE FM immediately(unlikely they will be placed on the shelf again until the contract runs out unless Mel Karmizan truly does "HATE THEM". If that does happen, then he truly does not like them, and they would be hurt by this. Badly.

But most likely they will go to FREE FM radio, and try to build from there in the mornings.

So they will be around, no matter what the hell happens. Just depends on whether or not you get a WATERED DOWN FM radio show, or a uncensored satellite radio show, most likely in the afternoons(that is just specualation on my part. Of course they could just be on in the mornings, and repeated throughout the day just like Howard's show is. I KNOW their show is repeated now on XM).

But they are not going to be just GONE. Unless they really screw up, or the powers that be really do have it in for them.

The second part I strongly doubt.

There is no reason that O&A can't just stay where they are if there is a merger, at least until their contract runs out. Since most HS fans are not O&A fans, and vica versa, they could both be on at the same time, each servicing their own respective audience.

I don't see what the big deal is. As per the "perceived second fiddle", well, that's all in their mind. Who cares? Do the show..................

I find it funny that Mel Karmazy says there is no place in SAT Radio for them to share shows with Terestrial radio.
Last time I checked... Alot of content is on normal radio. Baseball, Football, Basketball, Hockey.... Oh and NEWS Stations. amd I missing anything??? There is a ton more.

O&A also suffer in the rating because of the 9-10am hour. Since morning radio ratings are form 6-10am. Considering they are not on for the last hour the rating dips. This has been pointed out numerous times.

As for the comment about not being abel to be fans of both.... I used to be a FAN of both. Back in the old WNEW for O&A I listened to Stern in the morning and O&A on the drive home. I found as time went by.... I found Sterns show lest interesting. But O&A blew up the show... and were put on the shelf for 2 years. Well Stern has been declining since than.
He is a clown and you have no idea what to believe. The best one is when he made comments about Bubba saying he would never work with someone like Bubba.... and look who he is hires...

I hope when all is said and done that O&A still are on Sat radio. I would love the choice of picking who I want to listen to in the mornings and maybe a rerun on the way home!!!

Cheers
Whit
P.S. Who Who... I invited everything....

I find it funny that Mel Karmazy says there is no place in SAT Radio for them to share shows with Terestrial radio.
Last time I checked... Alot of content is on normal radio. Baseball, Football, Basketball, Hockey.... Oh and NEWS Stations. amd I missing anything??? There is a ton more.
That's not what he said. He is talking about content that they OWN.

O&A also suffer in the rating because of the 9-10am hour. Since morning radio ratings are form 6-10am. Considering they are not on for the last hour the rating dips. This has been pointed out numerous times.

Multiply their rating by 1.25 and it is still pretty lousy ;)

Well Stern has been declining since than.
He is a clown and you have no idea what to believe. The best one is when he made comments about Bubba saying he would never work with someone like Bubba.... and look who he is hires...

You listen to these shows for what reason? To hear socially responsible commentary from men with high moral values that don't tell lies?

As for his decline, if you haven't heard his Sirius show then your opinion is not based on recent data.

I hope when all is said and done that O&A still are on Sat radio.
I hope so too ... but then will you call O&A clowns for going against their declarations and playing second fiddle to Stern? ;)

I don't think its an issue of playing second fiddle to Stern.... Yes they might be over shadowed by Stern.... But if they get to do the show with out limits... I think it will make for some great radio on both shows!

Cheers
Whit

Oh by the way looks like the Ratings went up.... may not be a big jump but going up for the Boys is in the right direction!

Oh by the way looks like the Ratings went up.... may not be a big jump but going up for the Boys is in the right direction!

Detroit

Opie & Anthony, who shifted from WXYT to WKRK with hopes of winning back the Howard Stern audience, was down to a 0.9 from a 2.5 for the same period in 2005-06. On the other hand, country WDTW-FM's Rick Miller -- hardly a morning household name -- scored a 0.5 surge to a 2.3 and 15th place, just 0.4 behind rival veteran morning voice Dr. Don on country WYCD in 13th place.

And Boston is even worst!

Oh by the way looks like the Ratings went up.... may not be a big jump but going up for the Boys is in the right direction!

I wish all the luck for O&A but they're drowing in a puddle. They just don't appeal to a larger audience. They failed on XM. They failed on FM. Where else can they go?

They failed on XM. They failed on FM.

Why would XM have re-upped their contract if they were "failing?" Don't confuse FUD for fact.

And Boston is even worst!.

Why didn't you post the markets where they're up? In NY, O&A (6am-10am) WFNY are now in third place, with an increase from 2.9 to 5.9 in 18-34. Only Z100 and Power are ahead. They are also up in 12+ from 1.5 to 2.1. Men over 18 are up from 2.3 to 3.6.

Why would XM have re-upped their contract if they were "failing?" Don't confuse FUD for fact.

Why didn't you post the markets where they're up? In NY, O&A (6am-10am) WFNY are now in third place, with an increase from 2.9 to 5.9 in 18-34. Only Z100 and Power are ahead. They are also up in 12+ from 1.5 to 2.1. Men over 18 are up from 2.3 to 3.6.

They were not able to boost subs at any meaningful level. And XM needs to somewhat compete with Sirius.


Your right. But who are they competing with? Z100? Big deal. They couldn't compete at all on sat radio. Why not?

They were not able to boost subs at any meaningful level.

They couldn't compete at all on sat radio. Why not?

Do you have anything to back this up?

And Boston is even worst!
but they're drowing in a puddle.
At least Stern fans can always fall back on their good grammar and spelling......

Detroit

Opie & Anthony, who shifted from WXYT to WKRK with hopes of winning back the Howard Stern audience, was down to a 0.9 from a 2.5 for the same period in 2005-06. On the other hand, country WDTW-FM's Rick Miller -- hardly a morning household name -- scored a 0.5 surge to a 2.3 and 15th place, just 0.4 behind rival veteran morning voice Dr. Don on country WYCD in 13th place.

And Boston is even worst!
How can you even argue against the ratings which are available as fact. These guys have someone listening to them and half of them post here.

It took time for Stern to build his audience in markets other than NY. O&A should get the same chance.

That said, NY is their home market, where they already had a following (albeit many years ago) and I would have expected their ratings to be higher.

I really think the CBS/XM deal is short sighted. O&A's die-hard fans were already XM subscribers. The deal has not had any measurable impact on XM subscriptions, nor has it resulted in huge ratings on FM.

The world has changed. People are just not listening to FM in the same numbers as before. It's hard for O&A or anybody to attract new listeners when the overall number of listeners to FM radio is declining. No wonder the NAB is so hell bent on destroying anything that threatens their existence.

It took time for Stern to build his audience in markets other than NY. O&A should get the same chance.


O&A are not going to have the kind of ratings that Stern had in his heyday for a few reasons. First, the people who are listening to them on XM, during the hours that they are on Free-FM, don't count towards the Free-FM ratings. This group of people are O&A's core audience and have a significant impact on their FM ratings.

Second, when O&A were on in the afternoons, there was a huge cross-over percentage of people who listened to Stern in the morning and then O&A in the afternoon. Most, if not all of those people, still preferred one show over the other, even though they liked them both. As someone who had been a huge Stern fan since 1982, when he was on WNBC, I started out preferring Stern. However, after about 2 or 3 months, I had to admit that, if I had to choose one or the other, I would choose to listen to O&A (which is what I did when they joined XM). At the same time, there's a large number of people who went the other way. When Stern went to Sirius, they followed him. These are also people who will not going to be listening to O&A.

Just the fact that O&A and Stern are on at the same time, means that there will be fewer people listening to each of the two show. When Stern had his big NYC ratings, there was no competition. Just the fact that there is competition between two similar shows automatically means that each of those shows will have lower ratings than they would if the competition didn't exist.

[QUOTE].....stern certainly has more name recognition. O&A certainly have a larger audience."


From where do you gather this data? Certainly the 35000 added subs O&A drew is quite a bit fewer than the 4 million that Howard attracted.

Just curious.

mt

From where do you gather this data? Certainly the 35000 added subs O&A drew is quite a bit fewer than the 4 million that Howard attracted.



If you believe either of those numbers then you're either insane or believe everything that comes out of Stern's mouth. You know, the guy who said that "I don't want to be in the same business as a 'Bubba the Love Sponge'", "if you care about your audience you have to work a 5 day week", "It's all about Allison" and "I will never get married again".

[QUOTE].....stern certainly has more name recognition. O&A certainly have a larger audience."


From where do you gather this data? Certainly the 35000 added subs O&A drew is quite a bit fewer than the 4 million that Howard attracted.

Just curious.

mt
Reasonable question, and where did your numbers come from?

[QUOTE=MartyTeboe]
Reasonable question, and where did your numbers come from?



Indeed a fair question....

As for the Sirius numbers, I became a subscriber in November of 2004, when subscription levels were, am told, at about 420k. I became an investor for the first time, albeit on a very small scale (just shy of 1500 shares) in February of 2005, a few months after Howard's announcement that he'd be coming to Sirius. I've since made 2 more purchases, and I now own a bit more.

In my last yearly Investor's Report, Sirius reported 6,024,555 total subs. Surely not all can be attributed to Howard Stern, but one can not deny that his move to Sirius has had an impact on subscriber numbers. A very positive impact. Last fiscal quarter was Sirius' first with a Positive Cash Flow.

As an investor, I've so far lost money on this investment, however I'm pretty confident I'll come out ahead.

As to my statement that a certain number of new subs that could be a direct result of Howard comiing to Sirius, and to the 35k XM subs that came for Opie and Andy....to be honest I heard those numbers from Howard himself. So what?

We all know there are lots of folks who just don't like Howard Stern. Good for them. It's a goddamn good thing to have choices, isn't it? The fact that everyone in this forum knows who Howard is, and the fact that the mention of his name stirs up emotion is a very positive thing, especially for those of us with a monetary interest in the success of Sirius and satellite radio in general.

So please, whatever you do, keep talking about him in forums like this one. Even if you hate him more than your mother-in-law, just please keep posting those comments - in fact, the more you hate him, the more you should scream it from the rooftops!

I just think the guy is smart and funny. It's simple for me.

mt

If you believe either of those numbers then you're either insane or believe everything that comes out of Stern's mouth. You know, the guy who said that "I don't want to be in the same business as a 'Bubba the Love Sponge'", "if you care about your audience you have to work a 5 day week", "It's all about Allison" and "I will never get married again".




Insanity is underrated, Bill.

We've all, every one of us, said things at one point in life that when viewed in retrospect might seem hypocritical, don't you think? I think it's all part of evolving as a human.

Personally, I don't believe everything any one human has said. There are some people who never say much of anything worth believing. Yet, being open to hearing viewpoints that challenge one's own is one very good way of learning. Rejecting all that one has to say ad hominem is a very good way to stay stagnant.


mt

The 35k sub mention came out of Opies mouth when they were a pay service.

to be honest I heard those numbers from Howard himself. So what?
That says it all. At least you are honest enough to state where you heard the numbers. I do find it kinda funny that you are questioning someone else's source and in the same breath spewing out data that is from an obviously biased source.
Glad you enjoy his show, good luck with your investments.

I love how O&A have been pushing for weeks for the pests to call up AI and vote for Sanjaya as a goof.
no one picked up on the story.

Stern mentions it one day this week and every news organization runs with it.

I guess someones still listens;)

[QUOTE].....stern certainly has more name recognition. O&A certainly have a larger audience."


From where do you gather this data? Certainly the 35000 added subs O&A drew is quite a bit fewer than the 4 million that Howard attracted.

Just curious.

mt

O&A are on 20+ terrestrial radio stations, including huger markets like NYC, philly, dallas, boston, chicago, in addition to a nationwide audience on XM. so even with less than spectacular ratings in many markets, you'd be a fool to believe tha howard has anywhwere close to the amount of listeners they have.

[QUOTE=MartyTeboe]

O&A are on 20+ terrestrial radio stations, including huger markets like NYC, philly, dallas, boston, chicago, in addition to a nationwide audience on XM. so even with less than spectacular ratings in many markets, you'd be a fool to believe tha howard has anywhwere close to the amount of listeners they have.


Id gureentee Sirius vs XM Stern has more people tuning in!

[QUOTE=G-star]


Id gureentee Sirius vs XM Stern has more people tuning in!
Merc,
I agree with you, as I am sure most people would.

[QUOTE=G-star]


Id gureentee Sirius vs XM Stern has more people tuning in!

well then i guess he's winning the battle, but losing the war. ;)

Suppose Howie has 4 milliion subscribers listening and he is costing Sirius $100M per year, that's $25/listener. Now lets suppose O&A have 1 million subscribers listening and lets take a guess that the show costs XM $5M per year, that's $5/listener, which company is getting the better deal?

Disclaimer: I have no source for these numbers, other than the well documented salary of Howie.

Suppose Howie has 4 milliion subscribers listening and he is costing Sirius $100M per year, that's $25/listener. Now lets suppose O&A have 1 million subscribers listening and lets take a guess that the show costs XM $5M per year, that's $5/listener, which company is getting the better deal?

Disclaimer: I have no source for these numbers, other than the well documented salary of Howie.


well lets see-

4 million x 155.00 year = 620,000,000

1 million x 155.00 year = 155,000,000

you tell me!

howard has more name value...

people in smaller markets hav no idea who o&a are....


lets just wait and see what happens with the merger.... it might not even happen anyway

4 million x 155.00 year = 620,000,000

You do realize that for all of last year Sirius's revenue was 637 mil. So according to your figure almost every single dime Sirius brought in last year was because of Stern!!

You do realize that for all of last year Sirius's revenue was 637 mil. So according to your figure almost every single dime Sirius brought in last year was because of Stern!!

Currently, there are 6.3 or so million subs. The 4 mill is when Stern came aboard. So it's actually 6.3 mill subs x 155yr.

Currently, there are 6.3 or so million subs. The 4 mill is when Stern came aboard. So it's actually 6.3 mill subs x 155yr.

So now you have Stern's bringing in more revenue then Sirius made last year... ;)

But anyway we've been down this road too many times here, so ignore my sarcasm..

But for future reference. Neither company makes $13 a month on it's subs. The actual figure is about $11 per sub per month... So use $132yr..

We all know there are lots of folks who just don't like Howard Stern. Good for them. It's a goddamn good thing to have choices, isn't it? The fact that everyone in this forum knows who Howard is, and the fact that the mention of his name stirs up emotion is a very positive thing, especially for those of us with a monetary interest in the success of Sirius and satellite radio in general.

So please, whatever you do, keep talking about him in forums like this one. Even if you hate him more than your mother-in-law, just please keep posting those comments - in fact, the more you hate him, the more you should scream it from the rooftops!

I just think the guy is smart and funny. It's simple for me.

No problem with you being a Stern fan. However, your commentary is posted in a thread titled "Sirius/XM merger could ground Opie & Anthony". What prompted you to read the thread Marty?

No problem with you being a Stern fan. However, your commentary is posted in a thread titled "Sirius/XM merger could ground Opie & Anthony". What prompted you to read the thread Marty?


Well, Zig, I suppose that a part of me wants to see Opie and Anthony grounded. Not that I have anything personal against them, mind you. I've not even heard them, ever.

I just like it when Howard wins.


marty

I appreciate the honesty. If O&A are grounded, I think Stern will likely have nothing to do with it. I just wanted to point out that O&A seem to bring out the same type of emotional, defensive response from Stern fans.

I appreciate the honesty. If O&A are grounded, I think Stern will likely have nothing to do with it. I just wanted to point out that O&A seem to bring out the same type of emotional, defensive response from Stern fans.

Ever wonder why this emotional defensive response that O&A get from Stern fans are never applied to any other radio personality.

Ever wonder why this emotional defensive response that O&A get from Stern fans are never applied to any other radio personality.





No.


mt

Ever wonder why this emotional defensive response that O&A get from Stern fans are never applied to any other radio personality.
Don't keep us in suspense, tell us your theory.

The 35k sub mention came out of Opies mouth when they were a pay service.


He said it as a sarcastically during the first month or two that they were on XM, while they were complaining about (A) being a premium channel and (B) the lack of mention of them in XM advertising at the time.

At the time, very few people even knew that they were on XM. A significant reason behind this was XM's fear that there would still be backlash from the Sex for Sam incident from a few years earlier. Therefore, XM didn't tout them and put them on a pay channel so that they had a built in answer to people who complained.

When they didn't get the complaints that they feared, they made the channel available to the entire platform at the same time that they raised rates and made the XM Online service free for people who subscribed to the satellite service.

O&A's original contract(s) at XM were 3 consecutive one year contracts. If they did lousy or XM got complaints, XM could have dumped them in October 2005 or October 2006 and it wouldn't have cost them anything. Instead, XM re-did O&A's contract and signed them on for an additional two years.

If they had anywhere near 35,000 listeners, they would have been gone from XM in October 2005.

I love how O&A have been pushing for weeks for the pests to call up AI and vote for Sanjaya as a goof.
no one picked up on the story.

Stern mentions it one day this week and every news organization runs with it.

I guess someones still listens;)

O&A haven't asked anyone to vote for Sanjaya. The discussion about Sanjaya has revolved around, comedian Patrice Oneal's comments that Sanjaya is so "pretty" that dating him wouldn't be considered gay.

Since then, they've commented on his hair style changes every week and the fact hat he's a terrible singer but that there would be no way that American Idol would allow him to be kicked off the show before he made the final ten because that's the group that goes on the American Idol concert tour.

If you don't believe this, go over to Wackbag and do a search in Sanjaya. If O&A had asked people to vote either for or against him, there would be a thread on it over there. Most of the posts that mention Sanjaya are in the "Post the Best Stern Fan Site Dumb Quotes Here PART X!!!" thread ragging on Stern fans for patting Howies back over the fact that, with the help from Stern's audience Sanjaya rocketed all the way up to second from last place in the votes.

Is there somewhere online that shows the Voting results?
How is it you know that he went from second last to second in voting???
I don't see STERN having anything to do with that.... Plus I don't believe he was second this week... He was AWFUL!

But will say this... Patrice is right... LOL
It's cold out here!

Cheers
Whit

O&A haven't asked anyone to vote for Sanjaya. The discussion about Sanjaya has revolved around, comedian Patrice Oneal's comments that Sanjaya is so "pretty" that dating him wouldn't be considered gay.

Since then, they've commented on his hair style changes every week and the fact hat he's a terrible singer but that there would be no way that American Idol would allow him to be kicked off the show before he made the final ten because that's the group that goes on the American Idol concert tour.

If you don't believe this, go over to Wackbag and do a search in Sanjaya. If O&A had asked people to vote either for or against him, there would be a thread on it over there. Most of the posts that mention Sanjaya are in the "Post the Best Stern Fan Site Dumb Quotes Here PART X!!!" thread ragging on Stern fans for patting Howies back over the fact that, with the help from Stern's audience Sanjaya rocketed all the way up to second from last place in the votes.







I'm glad that that's cleared up now.....



?




mt

O&A haven't asked anyone to vote for Sanjaya. The discussion about Sanjaya has revolved around, comedian Patrice Oneal's comments that Sanjaya is so "pretty" that dating him wouldn't be considered gay.

Since then, they've commented on his hair style changes every week and the fact hat he's a terrible singer but that there would be no way that American Idol would allow him to be kicked off the show before he made the final ten because that's the group that goes on the American Idol concert tour.

If you don't believe this, go over to Wackbag and do a search in Sanjaya. If O&A had asked people to vote either for or against him, there would be a thread on it over there. Most of the posts that mention Sanjaya are in the "Post the Best Stern Fan Site Dumb Quotes Here PART X!!!" thread ragging on Stern fans for patting Howies back over the fact that, with the help from Stern's audience Sanjaya rocketed all the way up to second from last place in the votes.


So thats why Opie called out Stern on The Air for stealing their Idea.

So thats why Opie called out Stern on The Air for stealing their Idea.
I didn't hear this, but there's a lot of their show I miss (apparently more than you). Anyhow, could he have been referring back to when they were having fans call to keep Jerry Springer on dancing with the stars? Again, who cares, for a radio show that is supposed to be so insignificant compared to Howie, the Howie fans spend a lot of time and energy trying to bash them.

So thats why Opie called out Stern on The Air for stealing their Idea.

I didn't hear that. However, I'm 100% positive that they never asked the "pests" to vote for or against Sanjaya.

In the past, O&A have done this with other people on other shows. They asked the pests to vote for Jerry Springer on Dancing with the Stars, when he was obviously the worst dancer and had told O&A on the air that he wanted to be voted off because she competition made his knees hurt.

They also asked people to vote for someone on that show where people were competing to be the lead singer for a band that included Tommy Lee. IIRC, it was a show where the audience was voting to reinstate someone who had already been voted off of the show.

If Opie did say that Stern "stole their idea", it's likely that he was talking about the concept of getting listeners to "stuff the ballot box", not that he was specifically doing it with Sanjaya.

Whenever Stern does something that someone else has already done, O&A will goof on Stern for "ripping that person off" because Stern has always complained that "everybody rips me off". They just like pointing out that hypocricy when Stern does something that others have already done.

I didn't hear that. However, I'm 100% positive that they never asked the "pests" to vote for or against Sanjaya.

In the past, O&A have done this with other people on other shows. They asked the pests to vote for Jerry Springer on Dancing with the Stars, when he was obviously the worst dancer and had told O&A on the air that he wanted to be voted off because she competition made his knees hurt.

They also asked people to vote for someone on that show where people were competing to be the lead singer for a band that included Tommy Lee. IIRC, it was a show where the audience was voting to reinstate someone who had already been voted off of the show.

If Opie did say that Stern "stole their idea", it's likely that he was talking about the concept of getting listeners to "stuff the ballot box", not that he was specifically doing it with Sanjaya.

Whenever Stern does something that someone else has already done, O&A will goof on Stern for "ripping that person off" because Stern has always complained that "everybody rips me off". They just like pointing out that hypocricy when Stern does something that others have already done.










You see?! They even rip off the concept of complaining about being ripped off! Howard obviously invented that bit, and O&A lifted it from Howard! Howard first started complaining about getting his bits pilferred over 20 years ago. Along come O&A with the same "idea" ten years later! Shameful!

Unbelievable...


mt

You see?! They even rip off the concept of complaining about being ripped off! Howard obviously invented that bit, and O&A lifted it from Howard! Howard first started complaining about getting his bits pilferred over 20 years ago. Along come O&A with the same "idea" ten years later! Shameful!

Unbelievable...


No. Stern seriously complaining about someone "ripping me off" and O&A parodying Stern's complaining when Stern does the same thing that someone else does (it doesn't necessarily need to be something at O&A did, they will rag on Stern if he copies a third party without giving them credit) are two very different things.

However, I wouldn't expect most Stern fans to understand the difference.

That parody always includes Anthony doing his impression of Stern doing the "they're ripping me off" bit. If they were honestly complaining about being "ripped off", they wouldn't be doing a Stern impression while doing so.

I think Marty was joking. I thought it was funny Marty :)

I think Marty was joking. I thought it was funny Marty :)

I initially thought that he might be. So I went back earlier in the thread to read his prior posts and concluded that he wasn't. If I concluded incorrectly, I apologize.

I initially thought that he might be. So I went back earlier in the thread to read his prior posts and concluded that he wasn't. If I concluded incorrectly, I apologize.








Of course I was joking... I honestly don't see how anyone could take this whole thing seriously, really. It's just radio, after all.

Your apology is accepted, Bill, but you really need to lighten up just a little, man.


mt

Your apology is accepted, Bill, but you really need to lighten up just a little, man.


You may be right. But after reading (or hearing) so many moronic claims from Stern fans (not only at AVS but at other forums or personally), it's hard to tell when a Stern fan is writing something sarcastically.

The post, from you, that I was replying to was no more absurd than thousands of other posts written about O&A by Stern fans.

O&A = wannabee's. Their demise would be rejoiced by all fans of Howard, myself included. :p

O&A = wannabee's. Their demise would be rejoiced by all fans of Howard, myself included. :p





Would we? I just don't know about that... I think there's plenty of room for everyone on the air.

Lots of people say that our hero needs an opponent. However, it's apparently not Opie and Andy at the moment, as there's really no competition there. Howard so far eclipses those two that they are barely a blip on the radar anymore.

Since the move to Sirius, Howard is doing better radio without the vitriol towards his colleagues that he was so full of during the terrestrial years.

At this point, I think that competition benefits everyone...it's just that there's no one operating at Howard's level. No one even comes close.

mt

it's apparently not Opie and Andy at the moment,

Maybe Opie and Anthony will give Stern a better run for his money... ;)

Maybe Opie and Anthony will give Stern a better run for his money... ;)









A joke (no matter how bad or small it may be) is just not as funny when it must be explained...




mt

A joke (no matter how bad or small it may be) is just not as funny when it must be explained...




mt

Very true... But if you read the names in your post CAREFULLY, and my reply CAREFULLY the joke shouldn't have to be explained... ;)

Very true... But if you read the names in your post CAREFULLY, and my reply CAREFULLY the joke shouldn't have to be explained... ;)




Jeez....

Ok, I'm very aware that the radio personalities in question are named OPIE and ANTHONY. I will now attempt to explain why this is so funny... You see, there was this TV show in the 1960's called "The Andy Griffith Show". On this show, the title character ANDY had a kid. The kid's name was, oddly enough, OPIE. Now, that in itself is not the whole of the joke intended by my reference, hilarious though it may be.

The real joke intended by my malapropian use of the name ANDY in place of the actual radio show host's name ANTHONY was to point out how insignificant and unpopular the OPIE & ANTHONY SHOW truly is as compared to The Howard Stern Show. In other words, OPIE & ANTHONY are so meaningless to me that I confuse them with a similarly named pair of characters from a TV show that went off the air almost forty years ago! Funny, huh!?

An additional, yet somewhat underlying benefit of said joke is that this reference to "The Andy Griffith Show" implies that OPIE & ANTHONY's humor appeals to a "backwater"or "hillbilly" intellect because that TV show was set in the rural American South of the 1960's.

Surely now you can see the rich, yet subtle humor in my post.

I'm glad we had this talk.



mt

Not being an O&A fan, nor a Stern fan that 'little' joke of yours went 'whoosh" right over my head..

And yes I remember Opie Taylor well. Or as he was referred to on SNL, Opie Cunningham.. :)..

Yes, this talk was fun...Thx

Lots of people say that our hero needs an opponent. However, it's apparently not Opie and Andy at the moment, as there's really no competition there. Howard so far eclipses those two that they are barely a blip on the radar anymore.Come on Marty, you post some halfway intelligent and honest posts and then something like this. Your opinion / foolish statement is based on what? Quality of show? Number of listeners? Size of paycheck? or Just what Howie said on his show?

Come on Marty, you post some halfway intelligent and honest posts and then something like this. Your opinion / foolish statement is based on what? Quality of show? Number of listeners? Size of paycheck? or Just what Howie said on his show?





It's based on my "half-intelligence".


mt

I will now attempt to explain why this is so funny...

No. It really isn't funny. It wasn't funny the first 500,000 times that Stern fans have used it before. It won't be funny the next 500,000 times that it's used by them in the future.

You can try Opie & Dopey, Opie & Aintfunny or any of the other "hilarious" twists on their names that Stern fans have used over the years and it still won't be funny.

The fact that you think that "Opie & Andy" was a clever play on words goes a long way toward explaining why you actually think that Stern is still funny. It appears that you just don't know what "funny" is.

Come on Marty, you post some halfway intelligent and honest posts and then something like this. Your opinion / foolish statement is based on what? Quality of show? Number of listeners? Size of paycheck? or Just what Howie said on his show?


I believe it's based on accomplishment.

and so far as of March 24 2007,

O&A have accomplishment nothing,zero and nada!

...It appears that you just don't know what "funny" is.



You might be right, I have to admit. Your posts are not funny, but I'm sure laughing at you.


mt

I believe it's based on accomplishment.

and so far as of March 24 2007,

O&A have accomplishment nothing,zero and nada!
Once again another inaccurate, Howie fan post, at least your consistent.

I just wanted to point out that O&A seem to bring out the same type of emotional, defensive response from Stern fans.

Ever wonder why this emotional defensive response that O&A get from Stern fans are never applied to any other radio personality.

O&A have accomplishment nothing,zero and nada!

See anything hypocritical here? Welcome to my ignore list.

Once again another inaccurate, Howie fan post, at least your consistent.


Ok Pat...

Name some real accomplishments that these two chaps have had!

Ok Pat...

Name some real accomplishments that these two chaps have had!

-well, they only work simultaneously for the biggest satellite radio company and one of the largest terrestrial radio companies, in most of the biggest radio markets in the country, doing morning drive.

-one of the highest rated channels on XM

-a top-rated show in several major markets when they were doing afternoon drive.

obviously, this drives the howie kool-aid drinkers nuts b/c they can't stand the fact that O&A do a better, fresher, more popular, and funnier show than he does. and deep down they would love it if howie went after them, but he won't, b/c they aren't a soft target, like the john debella, or mark & brian, or imus. :rolleyes:

-well, they only work simultaneously for the biggest satellite radio company and one of the largest terrestrial radio companies, in most of the biggest radio markets in the country, doing morning drive.

-one of the highest rated channels on XM

-a top-rated show in several major markets when they were doing afternoon drive.

obviously, this drives the howie kool-aid drinkers nuts b/c they can't stand the fact that O&A do a better, fresher, more popular, and funnier show than he does. and deep down they would love it if howie went after them, but he won't, b/c they aren't a soft target, like the john debella, or mark & brian, or imus. :rolleyes:

opinions are great arent they....

they had some accomplishments but will never be Howard Stern

they had some accomplishments but will never be Howard Stern

Other than collecting a paycheck the size of his, they don't want to be Howard Stern.

you cant seriously think they collect the same paycheck....

Seriously guys, Stern has revolutionized the way radio is done. The amount that Sirius was willing to pay to get Stern should speak volumes to his talent and worth to a company. There's a reason why fans have listened to him for 20 years. There's just no comparison.





FRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRANKUS!

they had some accomplishments but will never be Howard Stern

i hope not. i used to like howard back in the 90's, until he turned into exactly the type of guy he used to rally against (self-absorbed hollywood douchebags)...until he got too full of himself and started whining and bitching all the time....until billy west and jackie left and all the sudden he wasn't that funny anymore...untill he decided to take 12 weeks vacation and every friday off.

so you're right...i hope O&A will never be Howard Stern.

guess you havent heard him on sirius........isnt the same show anymore..... oh well...

guess you havent heard him on sirius........isnt the same show anymore..... oh well...

Just recently, Stern blew his stack with Gary and the rest of the staff ala "old school"! But, he apologized. THAT"S not old school. Overall, the show has slowed down but still entertaining.

Other than collecting a paycheck the size of his, they don't want to be Howard Stern.
... and having the same number of listeners as Howie at the apex of his success ... and having the same amount of press coverage.

At this point they still have quite a large hill to climb in both areas.

I think it's funny when O&A joke about how Howie has only 1 million listeners now. Even now when they're not competing with him, they still cannot let go of the envy. It kills them that Howie is getting credit for the 'vote for Sanjaya' movement, despite the fact that he is supposedly 'irrelevant' now.

The Stern show is better now than it has been in years. And soon Howard will add 8 million more potential listeners. Woo hoo...

And soon Howard will add 8 million more potential listeners

Poses an interesting side note. Will Stern's show cost extra? This ala carte pricing is getting a lot of mention. A couple of bucks for MLB, NFL, etc. If the merger happens, the XM's subs that don't take Sirius full package....Will Stern cost extra?

... and having the same number of listeners as Howie at the apex of his success ... and having the same amount of press coverage.

At this point they still have quite a large hill to climb in both areas.

I think it's funny when O&A joke about how Howie has only 1 million listeners now. Even now when they're not competing with him, they still cannot let go of the envy. It kills them that Howie is getting credit for the 'vote for Sanjaya' movement, despite the fact that he is supposedly 'irrelevant' now.

The Stern show is better now than it has been in years. And soon Howard will add 8 million more potential listeners. Woo hoo...

What a joke... First point in a direction where I can see exactly how many listeners Stern actually has? YOU HAVE NO CLUE... Because Doggy Company has never stated it publicly have they.

Are the ratings good for O&A on normal radio? Some markets its good.. Others not so great... The biggest issue is there is no way of seeing who many are listening across both platforms Sat and Normal. The Boys are doing good across the board. XM is happy with the show and so is Free FM currently. If they weren't the plug would have been pulled just as quick as it was on DLR. Everyone knows the potential they have and it’s a building process.. and getting better.

As for whomever put up the post about explain what O&A have accomplished... How about what has Stern done? Was he the Pioneer of Sat Radio for The Shock Jock??? NOPE! Did he drain the pockets of the Doggy Company? Are they a profitable company since he went there? NOPE! Not even close!

How many of the SUBS that Sirus has are Life time Sub's? How the hell do you make a profit on that?? Smart move... I think not...

WHOO WHOO I invented Sat Radio.... Whatever... Just like you invented Unplugged Music, Flashing Woman and oh ya... a HOLE in a Dunking Booth!

Cheers
Whit

What a joke... First point in a direction where I can see exactly how many listeners Stern actually has? YOU HAVE NO CLUE... Because Doggy Company has never stated it publicly have they.
How can they? There are no ratings for satellite. It is anybody's guess.

The fact is that Sirius grew from 600,000 to over 6,000,000 in the year that Howard joined. Are all those people listening? Of course not. But even conservatively speaking you must give him at least 2 million listeners.

You can also see his success in Internet search statistics. Guests on his show regularly see their Internet searches skyrocket after their appearances. Even in the obscurity of satellite, plugs on his show are still highly sucessful.

As for whomever put up the post about explain what O&A have accomplished... How about what has Stern done?
Even if you hate him you cannot deny his dominance of the radio industry. As for satellite, eveyone blames Stern for Sirius' losses. That could not be further from the truth. He should be credited with the survival of Sirius. His 100 million dollars per year requires only 800,000 subscriptions to pay for itself. He has likely brought in 4 times that number. Both Sirius and XM are losing money, for sure, but it's not because they overpaid for Stern.

According to this article I'm not so sure O&A have more people listening.

O&A FreeFM and XM

Stern Sirius

http://www.talkers.com/main/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17&Itemid=34

How can they? There are no ratings for satellite. It is anybody's guess.

The fact is that Sirius grew from 600,000 to over 6,000,000 in the year that Howard joined. Are all those people listening? Of course not. But even conservatively speaking you must give him at least 2 million listeners.

You can also see his success in Internet search statistics. Guests on his show regularly see their Internet searches skyrocket after their appearances. Even in the obscurity of satellite, plugs on his show are still highly sucessful.


Even if you hate him you cannot deny his dominance of the radio industry. As for satellite, eveyone blames Stern for Sirius' losses. That could not be further from the truth. He should be credited with the survival of Sirius. His 100 million dollars per year requires only 800,000 subscriptions to pay for itself. He has likely brought in 4 times that number. Both Sirius and XM are losing money, for sure, but it's not because they overpaid for Stern.

The problem is that Sirius hasn't 'survived' yet. Until they get in the black the jury is still out.

Ok here is a school of thought for you.... Didn't Sirius sign Martha Stewart also ??? How many subs is she responsible for??? Exactly no idea right?? So spot saying STERN is responsible for everything that has happened to the Doggy Company in last little bit.....

XM has seen a steady raise in SUBS over the last 3 years. Due to O&A? MLB, OPRAH, NHL, GOLF, and many more.... I am betting all of them.... XM Radio has made some very good choices and smart contracts... Unlike the other company that was just throwing money around trying to sign big names.

Cheers
Whit

Ok here is a school of thought for you.... Didn't Sirius sign Martha Stewart also ??? How many subs is she responsible for??? Exactly no idea right?? So spot saying STERN is responsible for everything that has happened to the Doggy Company in last little bit.....

XM has seen a steady raise in SUBS over the last 3 years. Due to O&A? MLB, OPRAH, NHL, GOLF, and many more.... I am betting all of them.... XM Radio has made some very good choices and smart contracts... Unlike the other company that was just throwing money around trying to sign big names.

Cheers
Whit

Your joking right?

Let me ask you, How many subs do you think Stern is responsible for?
while were at it,
How many subs do you think O&A are responsible for?

also XM has been declining in numbers since The Stern signing.

You Stern and O&A fans just don't get it. Neither saved sat radio. If they did these 2 companies wouldn't need to merge. And even if they merge there's still no guarantee sat radio has a future.

All this talk is like saying if the Titanic hit a mine and sunk instead of a iceberg it would have been better. Sunk is sunk. Bankrupt with or without Stern and O&A is still bankrupt.

also XM has been declining in numbers since The Stern signing.


When Stern signed, XM had approx 1.8 million subscribers and Sirius had approx 600,000 subscribers (approximately a difference of 1.2 million).

At the end of 2006, XM had 7.625 million (http://xmradio.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=press_releases&item=1409) and Sirius had 6.024 million (http://investor.sirius.com/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=224031&cat=&newsroom=) (a difference of 1.6 million).

That means that, since Stern signed, XM has increases their subscribers by 5.825 million and Sirius has increased their subscribers by 5.434 million.

This is a perfect example of "Howie math" and how his listeners believe everything the he tells them, with absolutely no regard for the truth.

So, explain to me how XM has been declining in numbers since the Stern signing.

you cant seriously think they collect the same paycheck....

That's not what I wrote. I meant that the only way that they want to be just like Stern is that they would want to collect the same paycheck as he does.

... and having the same number of listeners as Howie at the apex of his success ... and having the same amount of press coverage.

At this point they still have quite a large hill to climb in both areas.



That will never happen. Aside from additional radio competition that exists now, but didn't exist during Stern's good years, there are just too many other listening options available to the current consumer. Mel Karmazin is correct when he told Congress that technologies such as iPods are competitors for radio stations.

I have lots of friends who used to listen to radio, but don't anymore because they only listen to their iPods.

To tell you the truth, I've always questioned the accuracy of Stern's numbers back int the 90's. At the time "Private "Parts" came out, he supposedly had around 18 million listeners. However, the movie only made $40 million at the box office. Even if we're conservative about ticket prices and say that tickets were only $5 each, that means that only 8 million people saw the movie. That doesn't take the people who saw the movie multiple times into account (which would include me seeing it twice, really I saw it 3 times, but the premiere didn't count toward ticket sales)

I find it hard to believe that 18 million people were listening to him daily, but less than half of that went to see the movie.

i hope not. i used to like howard back in the 90's, until he turned into exactly the type of guy he used to rally against (self-absorbed hollywood douchebags)...until he got too full of himself and started whining and bitching all the time....until billy west and jackie left and all the sudden he wasn't that funny anymore...untill he decided to take 12 weeks vacation and every friday off.

so you're right...i hope O&A will never be Howard Stern.Billy West…. Oh those were the good old days. Too bad we can’t go back to that time.

That was definitely the pinnacle of the Stern era. Sure, there have been peeks now and then but nothing like the pure comedy of when Stern, West, Norris, Martling played off of each other. That was comedy magic.

When Stern signed, XM had approx 1.8 million subscribers and Sirius had approx 600,000 subscribers (approximately a difference of 1.2 million).

At the end of 2006, XM had 7.625 million (http://xmradio.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=press_releases&item=1409) and Sirius had 6.024 million (http://investor.sirius.com/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=224031&cat=&newsroom=) (a difference of 1.6 million).

That means that, since Stern signed, XM has increases their subscribers by 5.825 million and Sirius has increased their subscribers by 5.434 million.

This is a perfect example of "Howie math" and how his listeners believe everything the he tells them, with absolutely no regard for the truth.

So, explain to me how XM has been declining in numbers since the Stern signing.


Is that Opie math or Bill math-

Most Stern fans including myself waited till Q4 05 christmas to be exact when Sirius had the biggest one Quarter of either company to Purchase Sirius .

since then-

Sirius = 3.504 million
XM = 2.331 million
(not included is Q 1 2007)


XM added 1.696 million new net subscribers in 2006,
Sirius added 2.7 million in 2006.

Is that Opie math or Bill math-

Most Stern fans including myself waited till Q4 05 christmas to be exact when Sirius had the biggest one Quarter of either company to Purchase Sirius .

since then-

Sirius = 3.504 million
XM = 2.331 million
(not included is Q 1 2007)


XM added 1.696 million new net subscribers in 2006,
Sirius added 2.7 million in 2006.

Numbers can be "twisted" either way. Bottom line is without Stern, SIRIUS would be a footnote by now,especially if he went to XM when he left CBS.

When Stern signed, XM had approx 1.8 million subscribers and Sirius had approx 600,000 subscribers (approximately a difference of 1.2 million).

I don't think your numbers are accurate. XM had far more subscribers than 1.8million at the end of 2005.

The growth rate of Sirius dwarfed that of XM in 2006. Of course you can't attribute it all to Stern, but anyone who thinks he didn't play a major part is kidding themselves.

Is that Opie math or Bill math-

Most Stern fans including myself waited till Q4 05 christmas to be exact when Sirius had the biggest one Quarter of either company to Purchase Sirius .

since then-

Sirius = 3.504 million
XM = 2.331 million
(not included is Q 1 2007)


XM added 1.696 million new net subscribers in 2006,
Sirius added 2.7 million in 2006.

Your original statement was "also XM has been declining in numbers since The Stern signing" (emphasis added by me). Was it not? My reply is based on that quote. In October 2004, when Stern signed, Sirius had approx 600,000 listeners and XM had 1.8 million.

It's not my fault that you chose the time frame that you did.

Even if using your redefined time frame, I fail to see how increasing their subscribers by 2.3 million is "declining". Declining would mean that they lost subscribers, not increased them by 2.3 million.

If you want to argue that Sirius is growing faster than XM is, fine. But to argue that XM "has been declining in numbers" is just silly.

[QUOTE=.....So spot saying STERN is responsible for everything that has happened to the Doggy Company in last little bit.....QUOTE]




How funny is it that a grown man refers to a corporate entity with such disdain simply because he likes someone who works at it's competitor? What a silly little man.

This whole discussion has grown tiresome, and I'm bored with it.

We're all aware that Howard rules the airwaves, Satellite or otherwise, and he always will. However, when it's all said and done, WHO F.U.C.K.ING CARES!!!!!!!!!!!!


I'm outie.


mt

I don't think your numbers are accurate. XM had far more subscribers than 1.8million at the end of 2005.

The growth rate of Sirius dwarfed that of XM in 2006. Of course you can't attribute it all to Stern, but anyone who thinks he didn't play a major part is kidding themselves.

Of course they aren't right, its the only way he can get away with siding with O and A, notice how quick he is to point to figures that back his side of it, yet zero proof of the first part of it that proves his facts are wrong. Theres been such a big shift in market to sirius XM is lucky merger talk started. It wasn't anytime soon but it was coming.

A and O 0.0 ratings in Las Vegas and Chicago make it clear, merger isn't going to ground them , their lack of talent will.

A and O 0.0 ratings in Las Vegas and Chicago make it clear, merger isn't going to ground them , their lack of talent will.

If by 0.0, you meant 2.3 in all persons 12+, with a 3.7 in Adults 18-24, then I guess you're right, they are complete failures. Stern's highest-ever ratings in 18-24 when he was the #1 show in Vegas and on the #1 station in Vegas was a 3.4. So he must REALLY be a failure.

And also interesting how WCKG Chicago's overall station rating (for all 168 hours of the week) went up 0.2 to 1.1 starting when O&A joined the lineup after a solid year of 0.9 overall.

If by 0.0, you meant 2.3 in all persons 12+, with a 3.7 in Adults 18-24, then I guess you're right, they are complete failures. Stern's highest-ever ratings in 18-24 when he was the #1 show in Vegas and on the #1 station in Vegas was a 3.4. So he must REALLY be a failure.

And also interesting how WCKG Chicago's overall station rating (for all 168 hours of the week) went up 0.2 to 1.1 starting when O&A joined the lineup after a solid year of 0.9 overall.

In 2000 on KXTE stern had an 11.2 for 18-34 year olds.

In 2000 on KXTE stern had an 11.2 for 18-34 year olds.

My bad, I see now that the number I quoted was from 2004, the last ratings book before he announced his move to Sirius, and NOT the highest-ever in that market.

My bad, I see now that the number I quoted was from 2004, the last ratings book before he announced his move to Sirius, and NOT the highest-ever in that market.


Maybe that's because Sterns contract was up Nov 7th.
the station decided with his move to satellite coming not to keep him on the air.


so your ratings from the last book 2004 was Stern-less;)

And also interesting how WCKG Chicago's overall station rating (for all 168 hours of the week) went up 0.2 to 1.1 starting when O&A joined the lineup after a solid year of 0.9 overall.


Your joking right;)

Maybe that's because Sterns contract was up Nov 7th.
the station decided with his move to satellite coming not to keep him on the air.


so your ratings from the last book 2004 was Stern-less;)

I didn't say the last book of 2004. I said Stern's last book BEFORE he announced he was moving to satellite. That would be the 3Q2004 book, released in October.

Either way, the overall point stands. 0.0 does not equal 2.3, nor does it equal 3.7. That's what most of us refer to as a LIE.

Your joking right;)

Actually I'm not. WCKG's ratings are still in the toilet, but they've moved up 8 spots since January 1. They made a 0.9 share for every book of 2006, but a 1.1 for 1Q2007. Maybe they'll improve further, maybe they won't, but it's still a significant improvement.

I didn't say the last book of 2004. I said Stern's last book BEFORE he announced he was moving to satellite. That would be the 3Q2004 book, released in October.

Either way, the overall point stands. 0.0 does not equal 2.3, nor does it equal 3.7. That's what most of us refer to as a LIE.



Actually I'm not. WCKG's ratings are still in the toilet, but they've moved up 8 spots since January 1. They made a 0.9 share for every book of 2006, but a 1.1 for 1Q2007. Maybe they'll improve further, maybe they won't, but it's still a significant improvement.





calling a 0.9 to 1.1 a significant improvement is a joke...

I didn't say the last book of 2004. I said Stern's last book BEFORE he announced he was moving to satellite. That would be the 3Q2004 book, released in October.

Either way, the overall point stands. 0.0 does not equal 2.3, nor does it equal 3.7. That's what most of us refer to as a LIE.



Actually I'm not. WCKG's ratings are still in the toilet, but they've moved up 8 spots since January 1. They made a 0.9 share for every book of 2006, but a 1.1 for 1Q2007. Maybe they'll improve further, maybe they won't, but it's still a significant improvement.



No you said this-

Stern's highest-ever ratings in 18-24 when he was the #1 show in Vegas and on the #1 station in Vegas was a 3.4.


I showed you an 11.2!

No you said this-

Stern's highest-ever ratings in 18-24 when he was the #1 show in Vegas and on the #1 station in Vegas was a 3.4.

I showed you an 11.2!

Nice moving target there. I make a correction, you criticize my correction, I point out that you misread it, rather than admit YOUR mistake of reading comprehension, you jump back to my initial statement that I already admitted (and apologized for) was incorrect. I'll spell it out for you:

I see now that the number I quoted was from 2004, the last ratings book before he announced his move to Sirius
so your ratings from the last book 2004 was Stern-less
I didn't say the last book of 2004. I said Stern's last book BEFORE he announced he was moving to satellite. That would be the 3Q2004 book, released in October.
No you said this- and proceed to ignore both of my previous posts because it contradicts your 2nd "aha"

Still doesn't change the fact that the 3.4 WAS in fact one of his ratings (even though you claim it was not), nor does it change the fact that 0.0 does not equal 3.7 (or even 2.3).

Nice moving target there. I make a correction, you criticize my correction, I point out that you misread it, rather than admit YOUR mistake of reading comprehension, you jump back to my initial statement that I already admitted (and apologized for) was incorrect. I'll spell it out for you:




and proceed to ignore both of my previous posts because it contradicts your 2nd "aha"

Still doesn't change the fact that the 3.4 WAS in fact one of his ratings (even though you claim it was not), nor does it change the fact that 0.0 does not equal 3.7 (or even 2.3).



All of a sudden I feel like I'm listening to the Opie and Anthony show!

So we'll agree that there are no 0.0 ratings and agree to disagree on everything else? I can live with that.

So we'll agree that there are no 0.0 ratings and agree to disagree on everything else? I can live with that.


Unless my name is "Howard Stern" I never said O&A got a 0.0;)

We all know he can't be joking, he clearly doesn't know what jokes are he listens to O and A. And of course it sounds like the O and A show I mean didn't you know the virus is spreading....at apperently a .2 clip.

On a serious note it just cracks me up just popping in once in awhile and watch the fanboys go at it, it brings a smile to my face. When in the end we ALL know who the king of all media is......

We all know he can't be joking, he clearly doesn't know what jokes are he listens to O and A. And of course it sounds like the O and A show I mean didn't you know the virus is spreading....at apperently a .2 clip.

On a serious note it just cracks me up just popping in once in awhile and watch the fanboys go at it, it brings a smile to my face. When in the end we ALL know who the king of all media is......

You ofcourse meant "was", right? No one is taking away Howard's past here... let's be reasonable at least ;)

the new kings of all media is Mike and Mad Dog......

I don't think your numbers are accurate. XM had far more subscribers than 1.8million at the end of 2005.


Actually, my XM number was wrong. According to the press release reporting on the XM's 3rd quarter of '04 (http://xmradio.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=press_releases&item=1213), which was approximately the date that O&A started on XM and Stern signed with Sirius, XM had 2.5 million subscribers (I don't know why I thought that it was 1.8).

As of the same date (http://investor.sirius.com/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=150206&cat=&newsroom=), Sirius had 662,000 subscribers.

That puts the number of subscriptions since Stern signed at 5.125 million for XM and 5.362 million for Sirius.

Regardless, I still maintain that to claim that XM has been "declining in numbers" since Stern signed is a silly argument.

We all know he can't be joking, he clearly doesn't know what jokes are he listens to O and A. And of course it sounds like the O and A show I mean didn't you know the virus is spreading....at apperently a .2 clip.


A growth of .2 per month is something that any radio station would take. The question is how long can they continue that growth.

OnA are gone if the merger goes through. They don't want to play ball then let them rebel all the way back to terrestrial radio. If they'd just play the game for once in their careers they'd realize how much better things could be.

As far as the who's better goes, I doubt anyone would pay $500 Million for OnA so.... Plus I don't see an OnA On Demand channel.

OnA are gone if the merger goes through. They don't want to play ball then let them rebel all the way back to terrestrial radio. If they'd just play the game for once in their careers they'd realize how much better things could be.

As far as the who's better goes, I doubt anyone would pay $500 Million for OnA so.... Plus I don't see an OnA On Demand channel.
If you judge the quality of entertainers by the money they make, I'd hate to see your music collection.

If you judge the quality of entertainers by the money they make, I'd hate to see your music collection.
Yeah its all Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys Albums. :rolleyes:

I'm just pointing out corporate America's view point of worth.

Yeah its all Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys Albums. :rolleyes:

I'm just pointing out corporate America's view point of worth.
You said:
As far as the who's better goes
to me that was your opinion as to who was better. You then justified that by referring to the $ he makes, now you refer to the view of corporate America. If you have an opinion of who's better based on listening to both and deciding, I respect that. But if you justify based on amount of $ paid, then enjoy your Britney and the Backstreet Boys. :)

On a serious note it just cracks me up just popping in once in awhile and watch the fanboys go at it, it brings a smile to my face. When in the end we ALL know who the king of all media is......

you seem to be quite a fanboy yourself. ;)

i've listened to howard since the 80's, and maybe 10 years ago he was the king of all media. nowadays, he is more like the paige-boy of a a tiny niche-market of the media (pay radio/pay television).

his influence and visibility are at their lowest points in 20 years, though he did this to himself by going for the easy big pay day. every friday off, 12 weeks vacation, endless unfunny richard christy/sal the stockbroker bits...he's doing the very thing he railed against for years....lazy radio. and the utter lack of interest in him now by mainstream america reflects that.

you seem to be quite a fanboy yourself. ;)

i've listened to howard since the 80's, and maybe 10 years ago he was the king of all media. nowadays, he is more like the paige-boy of a a tiny niche-market of the media (pay radio/pay television).

his influence and visibility are at their lowest points in 20 years, though he did this to himself by going for the easy big pay day. every friday off, 12 weeks vacation, endless unfunny richard christy/sal the stockbroker bits...he's doing the very thing he railed against for years....lazy radio. and the utter lack of interest in him now by mainstream america reflects that.


your opinion is good and fair... i just hope you dont subcribe to sirius.....

i on the other hand love the show even more and i heard the show for over 20 years..... best radio.....

i on the other hand love the show even more and i heard the show for over 20 years..... best radio.....
I have heard many people say Stern is no good anymore. Then I discover they have really never heard the Sirius show on a consistent basis.

I think most Stern fans from his "hay day" would agree that the Sirius show is great radio. No, it is not the same as the mid-90's with Jackie and Billy West. It is a completely different show now. I personally like the fact that the show continues to evolve.

Admittedly they took a downturn after the SuperNippleBowl incident forced them into a shell. For the last few years on terrestrial radio, they were clearly not having very much fun. The show has been reborn on Sirius.

As for the generous vacation time, the show is on the air for more hours per week now in 4 days than he was for 5 days on free radio, due to the fact that they only break for about 7 minutes per hour. Personally I could care less how much vacation Stern takes. He's a 53 year old gazillionaire and has earned it. I listen to be entertained, not to judge him.

Personally I could care less how much vacation Stern takes.

That statement is inconsistent with someone who claims to enjoy Stern's show. If you don't care that you don't get to hear a live show for nearly 1/4 of the year and 1/5 of every week that he actually does work, then how much can you actually enjoy the show when it is live?

Opie & Anthony (as well as Ron & Fez) started their vacations today and I'm already going through withdrawal symptoms. Although I agree that they deserve vacation, it stinks I don't get to listen to live shows this week. The day that I can say that I couldn't care less about them being on vacation is the same day that I stop paying XM in order to listen to them.

That statement is inconsistent with someone who claims to enjoy Stern's show. If you don't care that you don't get to hear a live show for nearly 1/4 of the year and 1/5 of every week that he actually does work, then how much can you actually enjoy the show when it is live?

Opie & Anthony (as well as Ron & Fez) started their vacations today and I'm already going through withdrawal symptoms. Although I agree that they deserve vacation, it stinks I don't get to listen to live shows this week. The day that I can say that I couldn't care less about them being on vacation is the same day that I stop paying XM in order to listen to them.


maybe because were getting more radio and better radio without the commercials and the censorship then the K-Rock days. sometimes he goes 1 1/2 hours without a break! and most days he goes way past 11.
maybe because with sirius we have so much more to listen to!
maybe because his show since coming to sirius is 100 times better then the watered down version he used to do and what your now forced to listen to with O&A.
maybe because after 25 years he deserves whatever deal he signed.

you would have signed the same deal and you no damn well O&A would have signed it also.

as of now you get to listen to 10Hrs or less of unedited kick ass O&A radio a week.
as of now you get to listen to 10HRs of watered down edited radio a week.
as of now you get either old bits(not live as you say) or 5Hrs of commercials a week....

So Bill before you Mock Sterns deal, maybe you should remember How O&A screwed you and the rest of the die-hards by going back to terrestrial radio after they said over and over how they never could!!

((Today JV and Elvis were Suspended))

have fun with that in two weeks!

That statement is inconsistent with someone who claims to enjoy Stern's show. If you don't care that you don't get to hear a live show for nearly 1/4 of the year and 1/5 of every week that he actually does work, then how much can you actually enjoy the show when it is live?

OK, maybe "I don't care" are the wrong words. Of course, I would love to hear live material as much as possible. But I accept that Stern has reached a point in his career where he can take more time off. I would love to reach the point in my own life where I can be wealthy yet enjoy 10 weeks of vacation plus 3-day weekends every week.

However, the fact that Stern takes vacation does not affect my enjoyment of the show when it is live. I don't understand why it should.

O&A try to convince their listeners that they should hate Stern because he takes too much vacation, or because he lies, or because he's a hypocrite, or (insert 500 other reasons here). I really don't care about any of that. I enjoy the show. If I ever stop enjoying it, I won't listen anymore. But it won't be because I find Stern lacking moral fiber or because I'm pissed off that he takes too much vacation. It will be because it's not funny anymore.

So Bill before you Mock Sterns deal, maybe you should remember How O&A screwed you and the rest of the die-hards by going back to terrestrial radio after they said over and over how they never could!!


I don't think that I ever heard O&A say that they wouldn't go back to broadcast radio. Within a couple of months of going on XM, they were doing something with Citadel where an edited version of their XM show ran on FM instead of Stern replays while he was on Christmas vacation. They did, however, say that they didn't think that any broadcast companies would be willing to air them live. That's the difference between "wouldn't" and "couldn't". They always said that they would if they could. It was the "could" part that was in doubt.

People seem to assume that the entire XM show that O&A did, prior to the Free-FM deal, was not FCC compliant. That's just not the case. Other than language used, the majority of the content that they did was FCC compliant. Now they just hit those topics during the first half of the show. Even if something gets dumped from the Free-FM broadcast, those of us listening on XM hear it because we get the "pre-dump" feed.

At the same time that they went to Free-FM, they added an additional hour to their show, which more than offsets the amount of commercial time during the Free-FM hours. When they air the afternoon replays (which is when I hear much of the first two hours of the show), which have the additional commercial time removed (and possibly a segment if they go long when they are live), the show is running 4.5 hours.

Also, because of the increased listenership that the Free-FM deal has caused, they are getting better guests than they did when they were only on XM. So, in that regard, the Free-FM deal has made the show better.

Are there people who are angry about the fact that they are on Free-FM? Yes. However, from what I've seen on the message boards, most of the people who are now whining about Free-FM were whining about other things before the show went to Free-FM. If the show wasn't on Free-FM, the same people would be whining about something else.

For me, the Free-FM thing really isn't a big deal. At the very least, it has added an additional half hour of content (taking additional break time into account) to each day's show.

It will be because it's not funny anymore.

Which is the reason that most of us left Stern and decided to go with O&A in the first place.

I don't think that I ever heard O&A say that they wouldn't go back to broadcast radio. Within a couple of months of going on XM, they were doing something with Citadel where an edited version of their XM show ran on FM instead of Stern replays while he was on Christmas vacation. They did, however, say that they didn't think that any broadcast companies would be willing to air them live. That's the difference between "wouldn't" and "couldn't". They always said that they would if they could. It was the "could" part that was in doubt.

People seem to assume that the entire XM show that O&A did, prior to the Free-FM deal, was not FCC compliant. That's just not the case. Other than language used, the majority of the content that they did was FCC compliant. Now they just hit those topics during the first half of the show. Even if something gets dumped from the Free-FM broadcast, those of us listening on XM hear it because we get the "pre-dump" feed.

At the same time that they went to Free-FM, they added an additional hour to their show, which more than offsets the amount of commercial time during the Free-FM hours. When they air the afternoon replays (which is when I hear much of the first two hours of the show), which have the additional commercial time removed (and possibly a segment if they go long when they are live), the show is running 4.5 hours.

Also, because of the increased listenership that the Free-FM deal has caused, they are getting better guests than they did when they were only on XM. So, in that regard, the Free-FM deal has made the show better.

Are there people who are angry about the fact that they are on Free-FM? Yes. However, from what I've seen on the message boards, most of the people who are now whining about Free-FM were whining about other things before the show went to Free-FM. If the show wasn't on Free-FM, the same people would be whining about something else.

For me, the Free-FM thing really isn't a big deal. At the very least, it has added an additional half hour of content (taking additional break time into account) to each day's show.


WOW Bill you've become the master at spinning it.....

BRAVO !!!!!

WOW Bill you've become the master at spinning it.....

If you say so. Just because Howard surrendered in the post Janet Jackson radio world, doesn't mean that others can't be entertaining on broadcast radio. Howard either couldn't or wouldn't adapt to the changing environment. Luckily for him, satellite radio was an option. People who are willing and capable of adapting can still thrive on broadcast radio.

Would it upset me if O&A went to Free-FM full time without XM airing the same show before any dumps took place? Sure. What would most upset me wouldbe the loss of the replays. It's nice to be able to listen to one portion of the show in the morning and the rest of the show in the evening. Would that move cause me to stop listening to O&A and go back to listening to Stern (which I did for about 22 years)? Nope.

When it comes to the FCC these days I do not think it comes down to adapting to a changing environment. Stern was always a master at coming as close to the line as possible, despite drawing a record number of fines. The FCC was intent on making an example of him, and he was no longer able to discuss subjects and use language that he had been doing for over 20 years. These days probably half of his shows prior to 2001 would not be allowed on regular radio anymore.

It is also Stern's popularity that helped put him in this position. Enforcement of FCC guidelines is based solely on customer complaints. There was never a shortage of people insistent on making complaints to the FCC for the sole purpose of sabotaging Stern.

Maybe you are happy with O&A's watered down, sanitized free FM show. Kudos to them for adapting. Stern was unwilling, and perhaps unable, to sacrifice the integrity of his show. He refused to bow to the religious right and fascist FCC and give in to censorship. He was tired of fighting a battle he could never win, without the support of his employers. He was ready to retire, and thankfully, Sirius swept in and made him an offer he couldn't refuse, and now he's back to doing great radio.

It's a sad state of affairs in this country, that our first amendment rights can be ignored under the guise of restoring "decency" to our society. I thought we had the right to decide for ourselves what to listen to. How sad that thousands of people are dying fighting for "freedom" yet the hypocrites who are sending them to die are sanctioning the suppression of our constitutional rights.

Stern was unwilling, and perhaps unable, to sacrifice the integrity of his show. He refused to bow to the religious right and fascist FCC and give in to censorship. He was tired of fighting a battle he could never win, without the support of his employers. He was ready to retire, and thankfully, Sirius swept in and made him an offer he couldn't refuse, and now he's back to doing great radio.
do you really believe this? you make it sound so epic. i think he was offered a ridiculous sum of money and he took it, as most anybody would. if CBS has offered him that much, you can be sure he'd still be on K-rock and you'd be here regurgitating whatever spin he put on it.

i think he was offered a ridiculous sum of money and he took it, as most anybody would. if CBS has offered him that much, you can be sure he'd still be on K-rock and you'd be here regurgitating whatever spin he put on it.I agree, if CBS gave him a half a billion he’d be there with bells on and I wish they did but they would have to support him and fight the fight.

You can’t have a grouch in a spider hole write a letter to the FCC and have the power to cause fines, suspensions or firings, just because he/she didn’t like what they heard.

This is a fight that has to go down. This political correctness, selective sensitivity, thin skinned crap has to come to a head.

I do firmly believe, however, that there has to be some basic rules that should be ironed out. A nipple is not going to blind anyone. A slur is not going to set back a race.

There are lunatics on the left and the right side of the aisles. It’s not fair to cast aspersions on religious folks and it’s also not right to spew vulgarities on the airwaves but we have to come to terms and define what’s really bad and what’s really entertainment.

Personally, I wish Stern was on broadcast radio in the morning and O&A were on in the afternoon. The way it was. Satellite is great when I’m in my car driving, especially on long trips where it’s really appreciated but for my daily routine, I can’t get into it. I listen to about seven different radios in a day. I have only one Sirius subscription in my car.

I wish that Stern and CBS would have fought the fight.

I listen to about seven different radios in a day. I have only one Sirius subscription in my car.


I have XM installed in my car and have a Myfi in my office. I have XMOnline running on a home PC 24/7 and have a good FM transmitter (http://www.ccrane.com/radios/fm-transmitters/fm-transmitter.aspx) attached to to that PC. With the transmitter, I am able to listen to XM on any radio in my house. The standard XMOnline program automatically disconnects after the computer is idle for an hour. Initially, I used a piece of freeware called mousemove which moved the mouse around the screen and clicked every "X" number of seconds. This would usually prevent the computer from going idle. Subsequently, two programs for listening to XMOnline were released by listeners. One is called XaMp (http://xamp.imomo.net/) and the other is called XStreamXM (http://www.xstreamxm.com/). Both of these programs run XMOnline for an extended period of time before it disconnects.

This allows me to have my standard clock radio turn on every morning to the XM broadcast of O&A and then continue to listen on the radio in the bathroom. In the evening, I can listen using the radio next to the other PC in my office at home.

I don't know how good Sirius' online offering is or if Stern is on it. But if it's any good and his show is on, you might want to try using it along with an FM transmitter.

I have XM installed in my car and have a Myfi in my office. I have XMOnline running on a home PC 24/7 and have a good FM transmitter (http://www.ccrane.com/radios/fm-transmitters/fm-transmitter.aspx) attached to to that PC. With the transmitter, I am able to listen to XM on any radio in my house....This allows me to have my standard clock radio turn on every morning to the XM broadcast of O&A and then continue to listen on the radio in the bathroom. In the evening, I can listen using the radio next to the other PC in my office at home..I guess I’m technically lazy when it comes to setting something up like that but it sounds simple and easy. :cool:

I’m not familiar with XM but I love Sirius in my car. It was included with the purchase free for a year. I’m most likely going to keep it so I guess I should investigate further to see if your fix will work with my situation.

I use to enjoy O&A in the afternoons but rarely listen to their FreeFM broadcast. I abandoned that station after their impetuous Stern clean house freak out David Lee fiasco. It would be more convenient if O&A were on past 9AM since I got use to those hours with Stern for all of those years.

I use to enjoy O&A in the afternoons but rarely listen to their FreeFM broadcast... It would be more convenient if O&A were on past 9AM since I got use to those hours with Stern for all of those years.

When O&A first started on XM, there were a lot of fans of the old show who tried to get them on in the afternoon. They felt that the afternoon show was more interactive as far as listeners coming down to the studio to participate in bits, such as the "Mommy, what would you do for Brittney Spears Tickets?" (which aired today on XM during "worst of") or the "55 gallon drum challenge".

But, XM didn't want this because they don't want a replay of the previous day's show running in the morning.

I can understand (and agree with) both sides of that argument.

Zero point Zero

do you really believe this? you make it sound so epic. i think he was offered a ridiculous sum of money and he took it, as most anybody would. if CBS has offered him that much, you can be sure he'd still be on K-rock and you'd be here regurgitating whatever spin he put on it.
I really think Stern was done with terrestrial radio. He was able to put up the fight as long as CBS backed him, but the tide had turned and they were no longer backing him and he was forced to completely change his show. He had to be ridiculously careful about the language and subject matter of the show, and even then, he was often censored. He clearly was not having fun.

Stern was a multi-millionaire before the Sirius deal. Of course, the money was a big part of why he went there. Who can blame him. But I really believe he prefers the freedom of satellite. If CBS simply matched Sirius' offer, I still think he would have gone to satellite. I think any regular listener of his show during 2004-2005 would agree. He was tired, frustrated, and ready to say goodbye to radio.

I think any regular listener of his show during 2004-2005 would agree. He was tired, frustrated, and ready to say goodbye to radio. Yes I think you’re correct but along with the huge new paycheck there were two other things he was also looking forward to that would have swayed him towards satellite over CBS (assuming they had matched the offer).

First and foremost was the freedom to be unleashed.

The second thing he was banking on was maintaining the tremendous fan base. I think if he knew how inconsequential he would become he might have taken the same money and stayed on CBS.

Even though he’s picked up listeners in new places he lost a tremendous amount of his regulars and that is a major dent to his ego. I’m sure he’s not sweating it as he cashes his checks but the facts are there-- he doesn’t have the power or influence of his terrestrial days and Howard is all about money and ego. A day wouldn’t go by where you could find someone everywhere say, "Did you hear what Howard said today?" Now, if you don’t listen, or read the MarkFriggin site, you wouldn’t have any idea.

Zero point Zero

Another one of Stern's lies. The day after Stern made that claim, someone from the Las Vegas station (either the GM or PD) was on O&A ,to discuss the show that they were doing at the Hard Rock Hotel that weekend, and refuted that claim.

The claim that Tim Sabien made about them having a 0.0 in Chicago was wrong too.

I figure that if stern lied about the 0.0 , the O&A people would be in court trying to get howards 500 million.

Another one of Stern's lies. The day after Stern made that claim, someone from the Las Vegas station (either the GM or PD) was on O&A ,to discuss the show that they were doing at the Hard Rock Hotel that weekend, and refuted that claim.

The claim that Tim Sabien made about them having a 0.0 in Chicago was wrong too.


Well your right about Chicago...

I believe it was a 0.6.....

Children, step away from your computers and let this one die, it's all been said before about a dozen times.

ROFL! Couldn't have said it better Pat!

I knew that by posting this thread I would start a huge flame war.....but it's so damn funny to watch these two groups fight!

BTW......F@#K YOU ARTIE........Hi Fred! LOL!

A more subtle issue also surfaced yesterday when Opie and Anthony said they would not work for the new satellite entity if they were going to play "second fiddle" to Stern. (http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/story/500967p-422470c.html)


Well...seeing how they've been second fiddle their entire careers I don't see why they should feel any differently now! :)~

"second fiddle" is being way too kind to those no talent losers

one more thing


zero...........point..............zero

one more thing


zero...........point..............zero
Other thread gets closed.
Howie fan is bored because he has been on vacation yet again
Howie fan passes time by drudging up old thread to start more crap.
Irony of it all is that they spend more time obsessed with O&A yet claim they are nobodies. Can't have it both ways

Other thread gets closed.
Howie fan is bored because he has been on vacation yet again
Howie fan passes time by drudging up old thread to start more crap.
Irony of it all is that they spend more time obsessed with O&A yet claim they are nobodies. Can't have it both ways


ah, so then you know what zero.........point............zero means

cool

ah, so then you know what zero.........point............zero means

cool
I know what you think it means, do some research, I think you'll find that it is not true.

I know what you think it means, do some research, I think you'll find that it is not true.



ROFL!!!

Dean Vernon Wormer: Zero point two... Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son. Mr. Hoover, president of Delta house? One point six; four C's and an F. A fine example you set! Daniel Simpson Day... HAS no grade point average. All courses incomplete. Mr. Blu - MR. BLUTARSKY... ZERO POINT ZERO.

http://sidesalad.net/archives/JohnVernon.jpg

guys.... you are all wrong.... O&A are number 1 in all the markets...they broke the record of 200000.1... destroying the competition....

i remember in 2004 when howard announced his move to sirius, there was a thread at wack-fag "howard needs 1 million subs to break even, will he get them?

LOL

sirius had 600,000 subs when howard signed in 2004 and was about to go out of business

3 million people signed up before howard even opened his mic at sirius

they are about to hit 7 million and are forcing xm to merge where back in 2004 xm would have told sirius to go **** off about a merger

xm tried to charge their subscribers an extra $1 to get o&a and nobody was paying so they had to drop it, LOL

O&A had to have xm drop Shannon Burke because he had the best radio show on xm, and he is just a local show out of florida. They tried to charge to have O&A and when no one thought it was worth $1 a month to hear them they just raised the price and gave it to them. that was crap and i ended my relationship with xm and now love sirius.

Wow, is he still on vacation.
OTK did you do the research?
Other stuff, such as O&A as premium service has been discussed to death, Ted, do a search if you want to know the rebuttal.
Enjoy your replays

Wow, is he still on vacation.
OTK did you do the research?
Other stuff, such as O&A as premium service has been discussed to death, Ted, do a search if you want to know the rebuttal.
Enjoy your replays


Pat Honestly, you cant possibly be happy with the radio they have been doing at K-Rock. I listened last week and heard nothing but news media clips and youtube video clips. it was some of the worst radio iv ever heard. I listened on and off for three days. it was awful!

I also heard they had Wood-Yi from Howard Stern on, that seems pretty desperate to me....

Wow, is he still on vacation.
OTK did you do the research?
Other stuff, such as O&A as premium service has been discussed to death, Ted, do a search if you want to know the rebuttal.
Enjoy your replays


just a question, if the research shows that O&A are like in the bottom of the ratings, will you finally say ok they are a good show, but a failure in the ratings

xm was so desperate, they had to take that **** show that nobody paid $1 to listen to and simulcast it on "free fm"

hahahahahahahha, loooooooooooooooooooooooooooosers !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Am I the only one that enjoys both shows?

I am from the Boston area so I have been a fan of O&A for a long time. I am also a HUGE Stern fan. My perfect world existed when we had Howard all Morning and the Boys all afternoon. God that was great.

Now I just listen to one and record the other.

I do have to admit I hated the ba ba ba boyyz move back to terrestrial. They can not say anything anymore!

"the boys"

that sounds so gay

It was a nickname that and old PD or Station Manager would call them.

Ibtl

just a question, if the research shows that O&A are like in the bottom of the ratings, will you finally say ok they are a good show, but a failure in the ratings
I never said they are doing great in the ratings, just that the 0.0 is a lie. I enjoy the show, I listen on XM and enjoy the latter part of the show more that the FM portion, however, the FM portion has had it's strengths, in obtaining better guests.

Merc, Since the suspension I have not been able to catch much of the show, I live midway between Philly and NYC and can barely pull in either station on my trip to work, but, what I have heard, I would have to agree has not been their best stuff, my guess is they got spooked because of the suspension and really don't want to lose their gig this time.

So that is where I stand, now to the Howie fans answer the question, if they are such losers and no threat to Howie, then why do you continue to waste your time on these threads trashing them?

xm was so desperate, they had to take that **** show that nobody paid $1 to listen to and simulcast it on "free fm"

hahahahahahahha, loooooooooooooooooooooooooooosers !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Too much time on your hands now that school is out? :)

Am I the only one that enjoys both shows?

Nope. Looking forward to reviewing the a la carte pricing structure if the merger goes through. The best talk radio ever was 98-2000 when Howard was on KROQ mornings and O&A were on WNEW afternoons. I suspect that was both of their best ratings periods as well.

The best talk radio ever was 98-2000 when Howard was on KROQ mornings and O&A were on WNEW afternoons. I suspect that was both of their best ratings periods as well.
agreed, that was a great time in talk radio. if the merger goes through and the ala-carte thing becomes a reality, i would consider getting Howard's show again. i don't hate him, but if i have to pay for one or the other, i choose O&A.

agreed, that was a great time in talk radio. if the merger goes through and the ala-carte thing becomes a reality, i would consider getting Howard's show again. i don't hate him, but if i have to pay for one or the other, i choose O&A.


imho Sterns show is 10x better now then it was in 2000...

and from what Iv been reading O&A`s show is not as good as it was in 2000.

imho Sterns show is 10x better now then it was in 2000....
if you say so. i haven't listened to him since he left K-rock. IMO, he was at his best from about 1988 - 1996.

and from what Iv been reading O&A`s show is not as good as it was in 2000
the show is somewhat different (particularly the Free-FM part) , but i still find it funny and enjoyable. the XM-only stuff is/was probably some of the best material they've ever done, IMO.

imho Sterns show is 10x better now then it was in 2000...

and from what Iv been reading O&A`s show is not as good as it was in 2000.


There you go, make you decision by READING.

Good idea.

There you go, make you decision by READING.

Good idea.


So how do you feel the FreeFm portion of the show has been?

So how do you feel the FreeFm portion of the show has been?

you forgot to add "the free portion he's paying for"

:jj:

Who knows if EITHER show is going to survive. Especially in each shows current state.

It has been 70 DAYS since Sirius and XM "ASKED" to be allowed to merge, and still no news, which is BAD news.

Howard this morning pointed out that alot of the big mergers over the past 20 years NEVER took this long just to begin the process.

ATT and Bell South. It took like 20 days.

AOL and Time Warner took like 43 days.

He mentioned a bunch of others, and I can't remember them all, but none were CLOSE to where this merger is in total time taken to make a decision. 70 F'ing! days aleready, and still nothing.

This does not look good, and therefore, while I will still re-up for Sirius in July, I will NEVER purchase new equipment again.

Not unless I hear something positive. No point in pissing money away IMHO.

Looks like my Audiovox PNP 2 unit(which is working just fine) will be my unit for now and the forseeable future.

I am not going to spend one dime on Hardware until the merger is decided.

I was going to get a Stilleto 100 a couple of weeks ago from Best Buy(They were offering a Car Dock for FREE with the Purchase of the Stilleto 100), and then get a Home dock, but not now.

No new Hardware for me.

Looks like this merger is not going to go through, and it is going to ground BOTH shows at this point.

O and A will continue on FreeFM, which will make the show pointless and boring.

While Howard will go into the sunset(retirement. He is currently 53 yrs old), and walk away for good(with a HUGE nestegg, and a model girlfriend who will take half of it after she pops out his kid, which will happen, and then she leaves him).

No chance in hell he would go back to terrestrial radio.

what about exxon/mobile?

i remember in 2004 when howard announced his move to sirius, there was a thread at wack-fag "howard needs 1 million subs to break even, will he get them?

LOL

sirius had 600,000 subs when howard signed in 2004 and was about to go out of business

3 million people signed up before howard even opened his mic at sirius

they are about to hit 7 million and are forcing xm to merge where back in 2004 xm would have told sirius to go **** off about a merger

xm tried to charge their subscribers an extra $1 to get o&a and nobody was paying so they had to drop it, LOL

Forcing XM to merge...

You really need to look at Sirius's financial's before you make a statement like that...

BTW Sirius just borrowed another 250 mil...Not good news....

Sirius Obtains $250 Million Loan from Morgan Stanley

Sirius Satellite Radio today announced that it has obtained a $250 million senior secured term loan commitment from Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc.

The proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes. Morgan Stanley is acting as the sole lead arranger and has committed to provide the entire principal amount of the facility, subject to customary closing conditions.

"This transaction takes advantage of favorable market conditions and significantly strengthens our balance sheet," said David Frear, EVP and CFO of Sirius.

Forcing XM to merge...

You really need to look at Sirius's financial's before you make a statement like that...

BTW Sirius just borrowed another 250 mil...Not good news....

Sirius Obtains $250 Million Loan from Morgan Stanley

Sirius Satellite Radio today announced that it has obtained a $250 million senior secured term loan commitment from Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc.

The proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes. Morgan Stanley is acting as the sole lead arranger and has committed to provide the entire principal amount of the facility, subject to customary closing conditions.

"This transaction takes advantage of favorable market conditions and significantly strengthens our balance sheet," said David Frear, EVP and CFO of Sirius.

yes, forcing xm to merge

xm would never have merged before stern came, why is xm willing to merge now? tell me

and as far as the 250 million, you can read about that here:

http://www.fool.com/investing/high-growth/2007/06/07/sirius-isnt-stupid.aspx

I stopped reading the 'Fools' article after I read this:

Sirius doesn't need the money. Losses are narrowing. The cash burn is slowing


Like I said, look at Sirius's financials. And when you look at them take off your rose colored glasses...

I stopped reading the 'Fools' article after I read this:




Like I said, look at Sirius's financials. And when you look at them take off your rose colored glasses...

sirius has 1 billion in debt, xm has 600 million in debt

you didn't answer my question by the way

xm didn't need to merge with anyone before stern got there, now they want to for some reason

both companies need this merger but my point is, xm didn't need it before stern got to sirius, now they do

sirius has 1 billion in debt, xm has 600 million in debt

you didn't answer my question by the way

xm didn't need to merge with anyone before stern got there, now they want to for some reason

both companies need this merger but my point is, xm didn't need it before stern got to sirius, now they do


Yes XM now needs this merger because XM was just as stupid as Sirius... They too vastly overpaid for their content...

And I don't understand this comment by you:

"sirius has 1 billion in debt, xm has 600 million in debt"

Right now their debt isn't a big problem... Their cash on hand and their cash burn are the biggest problems... This 250 mil will help Sirius, because without it they would have probably run out of cash by early next year..

Yes XM now needs this merger because XM was just as stupid as Sirius... They too vastly overpaid for their content...

And I don't understand this comment by you:

"sirius has 1 billion in debt, xm has 600 million in debt"

Right now their debt isn't a big problem... Their cash on hand and their cash burn are the biggest problems... This 250 mil will help Sirius, because without it they would have probably run out of cash by early next year..

all i'm talking about is the power of howard, you just don't seem to get it

if howard would have gone with XM, there would be no sirius today

xm was in no possition to merge with sirius in the pre howard days because sirius only had 600,000 subscribers and xm was the dominate force

that is no longer the case, sirius is closing the gap fast and it's because of howard stern

got it now?

all i'm talking about is the power of howard, you just don't seem to get it

if howard would have gone with XM, there would be no sirius today

xm was in no possition to merge with sirius in the pre howard days because sirius only had 600,000 subscribers and xm was the dominate force

that is no longer the case, sirius is closing the gap fast and it's because of howard stern

got it now?


Yes, Stern has added subs, lots of them. No not every sub Sirius has signed from 600,000 has signed up because of Stern..

Yes XM was the dominate force, but because of the Ipod, internet radio, etc. and spending money like it was free on extremely stupid signings XM would still be in the mess they are in now, with or without Stern signing with Sirius..

Under no circumstance would Stern have signed with XM. With Mel going to Sirius, which happened 2 weeks after Stern signed so Stern had to know of Mel coming to Sirius, Stern would have never signed with XM..Which means Sirius VASTLY overpaid for Stern..

If Stern, and all of XM stupid signings/content are so good and doing such wonders, why are both companies on the verge of bankruptcy?

It's simple. Both companies spent money they didn't have and in the meantime got blindsided by all the other competition out there. Add it all up and it's piss poor management so now a merger is their only way out... We'll see what happens..

Got it?

Yes, Stern has added subs, lots of them. No not every sub Sirius has signed from 600,000 has signed up because of Stern..

Yes XM was the dominate force, but because of the Ipod, internet radio, etc. and spending money like it was free on extremely stupid signings XM would still be in the mess they are in now, with or without Stern signing with Sirius..

Under no circumstance would Stern have signed with XM. With Mel going to Sirius, which happened 2 weeks after Stern signed so Stern had to know of Mel coming to Sirius, Stern would have never signed with XM..Which means Sirius VASTLY overpaid for Stern..

If Stern, and all of XM stupid signings/content are so good and doing such wonders, why are both companies on the verge of bankruptcy?

It's simple. Both companies spent money they didn't have and in the meantime got blindsided by all the other competition out there. Add it all up and it's piss poor management so now a merger is their only way out... We'll see what happens..

Got it?

howard was talking with both companies, sirius came up with more money and there are other reasons howard went with sirius but i wont list them because it's howard talking and you'll just say he's full of **** so i wont bother listing them

if howard went with xm, it would have been game over for sirius, no merger, no nothing, out of business

same thing if howard just stayed where he was, do you really think sirius went from being a nothing satellite company to now almost hitting 7 million subs and closing in on xm because it had better music?


wake up

get a clue

mel is a business man, sirius is a business, do you think they just gave howard 500 mill because they liked him?

nigga please !!!!!!!!!!

..Which means Sirius VASTLY overpaid for Stern..
This is said over and over again and it is totally unfounded.

Yes, they gave him a ton of money. Yes, it is a ridiculous amount. But it was necessary to save the entire company from certain demise.

Sirius needed less than one million subscribers to pay for Stern's entire contract. Even the most conservative estimates put that number at over 3 million. His contract has already paid for itself and then some.

I think Sirius overpaid for Stern because XM's offer was reported at 30 million per year, he had no where else to go and had no other offers.

that said, Sterns contract has already paid for itself and with-out stern sirius would have gone belly up by now.

Thanks Merc., the 30 million a year from XM figure is correct.. And with Mel going to Sirius there's no way in hell he would have ever signed with XM, even if XM matched the 100 mil a year offer..

As for Sirius going belly up without Stern I disagree.. It was stated MANY times when Sirius was in it's infancy that it needed 2 million subs to make a profit. They would easily be passed that mark by now even without Stern. And maybe making a profit.

Don't get me wrong, I don't just blame Stern for Sirius's woes. Sirius pissed money away on many other big money contacts. I just feel they took the wrong road.

Thanks Merc., the 30 million a year from XM figure is correct.. And with Mel going to Sirius there's no way in hell he would have ever signed with XM, even if XM matched the 100 mil a year offer..

As for Sirius going belly up without Stern I disagree.. It was stated MANY times when Sirius was in it's infancy that it needed 2 million subs to make a profit. They would easily be passed that mark by now even without Stern. And maybe making a profit.

Don't get me wrong, I don't just blame Stern for Sirius's woes. Sirius pissed money away on many other big money contacts. I just feel they took the wrong road.

broken record :rolleyes:

broken record :rolleyes:

Yep, thanks for adding nothing to the discussion, as usual...

Move along now, nothing to see here...

Thanks Merc., the 30 million a year from XM figure is correct.. And with Mel going to Sirius there's no way in hell he would have ever signed with XM, even if XM matched the 100 mil a year offer..

As for Sirius going belly up without Stern I disagree.. It was stated MANY times when Sirius was in it's infancy that it needed 2 million subs to make a profit. They would easily be passed that mark by now even without Stern. And maybe making a profit.

Don't get me wrong, I don't just blame Stern for Sirius's woes. Sirius pissed money away on many other big money contacts. I just feel they took the wrong road.

Barb it was a road Sirius needed to take. like him or hate him Stern is the face of SatRadio. he "helped" put Sirius on the map. the only way Sirius would have gone under is if Stern signed with XM...otherwise they probably would be chugging along...

According to XM's web sight "the Opie and Andy show" will return Friday.

Yes thats Opie and Andy....

http://xmradio.com/onxm/channelpage.xmc?ch=the_virus


http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/1452/opandypo8.png

Am I the only one who finds what XM is doing disasteful?

Will be interesting to see how "Opie and Andy" will address the topic when they return. Are they under orders not to talk about it? Will they downplay it? Or will they do the right thing and come out against XM for not supporting them?

I'm not a fan but I have to admit, I'll listen tomorrow...

Am I the only one who finds what XM is doing disasteful?

Will be interesting to see how "Opie and Andy" will address the topic when they return. Are they under orders not to talk about it? Will they downplay it? Or will they do the right thing and come out against XM for not supporting them?

I'm not a fan but I have to admit, I'll listen tomorrow...

they won't talk about it probably....what's left to talk about?

i believe they would like to keep their jobs

they won't talk about it probably....what's left to talk about?

i believe they would like to keep their jobs

didn't they talk about it on "free fm" yet?

didn't they talk about it on "free fm" yet?


they were gagged, again!!!

and tomorrow is Friday so all you Howie fans that have nothing to listen to, find a friend with XM and tune in.

and tomorrow is Friday so all you Howie fans that have nothing to listen to, find a friend with XM and tune in.

i can listen on free fm but i haven't listen to old fashioned radio since 2004

i'll be listening to master tape theatre tomorrow on howard 100

i can listen on free fm but i haven't listen to old fashioned radio since 2004

i'll be listening to master tape theatre tomorrow on howard 100
Of course I was refering ot the XM portion of the show, but you knew that. I thought Howie plays best of clips from his golden era, that's pretty close to listening to "old fashion radio"

well i was wrong...they are talking about the suspension.

good to have the boys back.

well i was wrong...they are talking about the suspension.

good to have the boys back.

I missed something. What suspension? What happened?

O&A invited "Homeless Charlie" to the studio on May 9th. He riffed on a bunch of topics, from the war, to Al Sharpton, freedom and censorship (oh the irony), and others, with his inimitable and deplorable style. :) He also talked up some rough sex fantasies with the likes of the Queen, Laura Bush, and Condoleeza Rice. The last one brought up quite a bit of outcry, and they issued an apology before the May 11th show. And that was that. Until the following week.

On the May 14th show, they talked about censorship and unreasonably high standards on radio (above and beyond FCC rules). This led XM to "doubt whether they understand the responsibility their on-air freedom entails" and issue a 30-day suspension. For the next month, the first 3 hours were still broadcast on CBS, but not on XM. 202 was Ron & Fez 24/7. Fans assumed the show would be canned, cancelled XM subscriptions in droves. This past monday, XM began airing "worst of CBS compilations", leading up to today's first live XM brodcast since May 15th.

So did anyone listen today? When I cancelled on May 16, I wasn't sure if I'd sign back up, and in the meantime my car stereo blew up..:) I will most likely sign back up, but not for at least a couple of weeks until I find the intermittent short in the amp power line.

Was it the same old same old, and I'm guessing they didn't talk about the suspension...much?

So did anyone listen today? When I cancelled on May 16, I wasn't sure if I'd sign back up, and in the meantime my car stereo blew up..:) I will most likely sign back up, but not for at least a couple of weeks until I find the intermittent short in the amp power line.

Was it the same old same old, and I'm guessing they didn't talk about the suspension...much?
From the portion that I heard, it did not seem as though there were any restrictions on discussing the suspension. They had Patrice and Bob Kelly in studio and were having some laughs discussing the media coverage, such as Patrice on Fox News. I recorded the show and hope to listen to more today.

I'm so glad I have Sirius and not worry about suspensions. I feel bad for XM users still having to deal with the BS.

I'm so glad I have Sirius and not worry about suspensions. I feel bad for XM users still having to deal with the BS.
Thanks, we appreciate your sincere concern.

Was it the same old same old, and I'm guessing they didn't talk about the suspension...much?

They talked about it for a little over an hour, including about 10 minutes on the walkover. Basically said that they were almost fired, had a lot of meetings, and the outcome was that there are no content restrictions and the company has learned the hard way that they need to back their talent, so they will do so in the future. Whether all that is true remains to be seen, but Friday's XM show was a LOT better than I expected. I honestly figured it'd be <2 hours of ignoring the elephant in the room, when in fact it was 2:40 of both addressing the situation and covering more "normal" topics. I was impressed enough that I reactivated both of my units today, which I wasn't planning to do for another few weeks at least.

Ok, there is one content restriction. People off the street who get invited up to the studio are now required to show proof of residence. :D

Thanks, we appreciate your sincere concern.


and that is your daily pat6366 sarcastic remark for the day.. :p

and that is your daily pat6366 sarcastic remark for the day.. :p


Yeah but it was a good remark though.... :)

O&A are irrelevant when compared with Howard Stern.

O&A are irrelevant when compared with Howard Stern.

I have XM thru my Directv Box and a Sirius in my car. Hope the merger goes thru, I think it will make both companies stronger as one. And on the O&A / Howard Stern show. Listening to O&A, it's like listening to Howard Stern material from 10 years ago. I am sure if there is a merger, O&A would be Dead Wood to the new company.

I think this merger is doomed, mostly due to the NAB & Clear Channel lobbiests, but if it does happen, I too think that O&A may find themselves back on CBS only, back to censored commercial radio, which might not be that bad for them. They would certainly have the chance to get a large audience. Of course, so far they have not done so......

And on the O&A / Howard Stern show. Listening to O&A, it's like listening to Howard Stern material from 10 years ago. .


same bits 10 years later-

thanks-

Yeah but it was a good remark though.... :)
Thanks Barbie, I thought so too. :)