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Howard Stern Coming To the Net
theodp writes, "To promote an Internet radio service Sirius is launching this week, Howard Stern's 4+ hour program will be made available live online for free on October 25 and 26. The new Sirius service will offer 75+ channels of CD-quality programming for $12.95/month with no need to buy a Sirius satellite receiver."
Let me give that reaction a little more thought...
Nope. Yawn sums it up.
But not CD quality audio. I think the net stream is 32kbps.
... to listen to Howard Stern's talk about midget lesbians. That's so awesome because like there isn't any other access to midget lesbians and other assorted pervsions anywhere else on the Internet.
What, are they streaming WAV files?
For a glorified podcast? This is a bit expensive considering their regular real sat service is about the same price, and has the glorious side benefit of being able to be listened to in the car, where most people listen to music. Maybe if the cost was half this, but at 13 bucks I dont see this moving anywhere.
Now??
... and then they built the supercollider.
While I could honestly care less about Howard Stern, I am interested in this Internet streaming service of theirs. Does it have support for mobile clients, like PalmOS 5 and Windows Mobile 5?
Plausible conjecture should not be misrepresented as proof positive.
CD-quality should imply a real and quantifiable level of quality . . . not "it sounds like a CD to the casual listener (that doesn't know that analog FM radio music is typically compressed in dynamic range and frequency and that radio broadcasts are already equalized for cheap car stereos and boomboxes)."
I'll happily pay more if they have a service without Howard. I'm getting ready to pick up a system and Howard Stern being on Sirius was the deciding factor not to go with them. It's personal tastes but I graduated high school a lot of years ago and hearing him takes me back to high school in all the bad ways. I can listen to obnoxious jerks for free, why would I pay for the priveledge. Yes I know I don't have to listen but I don't care to patronize a service that promotes that kind of programming. I was thrilled when he left the airwaves why would I want to chase the guy to satelite? Too many people these days are thrilled to tell you what to think. I grew up back at a time when the general belief was we should think for ourselves. Now we are all but taught that's dangerous. I guess it's easier for a lot of people to let the government, religous leaders or Howard Stern tell them what to think. If I want an opinion I'd rather go to one of the great minds of our time and Howard just isn't one of them. I don't need him to tell me who's cool or "in". I really don't care. It's childish and pointless.
I have Sirius in my car as well as a home kit for use with my home stereo. I travel fairly often all over Western Canada so having satellite radio is sort of a must as I don't like to take scads of CDs with me. Sirus fits the bill perfectly and I have access to programs that I wouldn't normally on terrestrial radio, like Fox and CNN radio as well as the World Radio Network.
Now, satellite radio in the car is one thing, but PAYING for the same content strictly for use in the home makes no sense. If you have the Internet you already have access to free, high quality radio stations playing a wide variety of music, never mind that all the cable and satellite companies include commercial free music stations as part of their basic digital service.
I understand the need for Sirius to broaden their income base as they have yet to make money, but even the most novice Internet user is aware of free alternatives that offer essentially the same or better content.
Maybe if I was still in my adolescence (or stuck in it) I'd really dig Howard Stern.
How is this pertinent to the geek community at all? It looks like an advertisement to me...
Hoo-hoo Robin, I invented streaming my show on the internet, it was all me. Sirius, they're rippin me off.
I never listened to Howard when he was on terrestrial radio but now I do on Sirius. He's funny and there are some interesting interviews. Not all the time mind you but a fair amount of time.
To the prudes out there that can't stand to hear what he has to say, don't listen. Turn the dial.
$13 bucks a month is worth having something to listen to on the way to work. There are more then just Howards 2 stations to listen to.
XM has been offering this for years now for $7.95.
Bought Sirius for Stern and the music channels just to find out that Stern takes off every Friday and the regular music channels is flooded with DJ's who talk to just hear themselves talk. I fixed this problem by buying XMradio
How can a no-talent hack like me get a paycheck like that? Do you seriously believe that what Stern does shows a talent? If you want to do what Stern did, just get a radio show, and be an asshole. It worked for Stern, it worked for Limbaugh, and it could work for you, too. -jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Again, look at how many people are angry. If you don't want to listen, just dont! It's not like you HAVE to listen to satellite radio. I enjoy the program, so please dont go bitching to the FCC now just because you happened to: log on, click the link, and enjoy it until it got to something that offended you.
Thanks,
the 5+ million Sirius subscribers
stuff |
I listen to Howard Stern all the time, commuting on route 128. All I do is tune my FM radio to 87.9.
Apparently many Sirius satellite radio receivers must be add-on units that work through FM modulators with the car's FM radio. And 87.9 is apparently the default FM conversion setting.
Based on my unscientific poll, during drive time something like 2/3 of Boston-area Sirius subscribers are tuned to Stern.
OK, to tell the truth, no, I don't get continuous, uninterrupted Stern that way, but, yes, I do keep one of my presets at 87.9 and I do check from time to time to see if anything is on there... and I get enough Stern to feel like I'm still "in touch" with him and his gang.
So, the question I have is, which is it? are jackbooted Sirius thugs going to sue me for theft of services? Or are jackbooted FCC thugs going to toss the converter operators in jail for operating pirate radio stations?
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
Leave it to a bunch of douchebags to trash talk Howard Stern in a geek forum. No talent hack? glorified podcast? I suppose the industry just hands half a billion dollars over to people who fit that profile.
More relevant to the topic, I hope they don't take away net access to the people who already have subscriptions, or make them pay extra for it.
I agree. After thinking about it for several months, I picked up a Sirius receiver on sale at Target. I have not listened to terrestrial radio since that day. There were three stations that I used to listen to here in memphis and over the years, they all seemed to converge on the exact same playlist. I could switch from one station to the other and within 15 minutes hear the same song the previos station played. Also, I got really tired of listenting to the local DJs as well as the 15 minute commercial blocks every half hour (as it seemed).
I chose Sirius over XM because Sirius has a better overall selection of programming. Also, I did not want to support XM's choice of political talk programming offerings. It seems now that Sirius is the better choice. Since Howard Stern started with them their list of subscribers had increased dramatically. Their growth rate was neary 2x XMs rate last quarter. I do like Howard Stern, and have for years, but he was not my primary reason for switching.
Some people may think it's insane to "Pay" for radio, but I think it's insane to stick with terrestrial radio and having to listen to Kelly Clarkson every hour followed by that horrendous remake/cover/whatever of "Tainted Love" by whats-her-name. I'll gladly pay $13 a month for satellite radio, it's worth every penny. Just like pay television, satellite radio provides an alternative to people who do not want to put up with the limitations of "mass market" programming and the constant foolishness of the FCC.
Howard is WAY past his prime, anyway. He's an interesting guy, and is even capable of the occasional intelligent insight. But the daily grind of listening to him go on...and on...and on...and on...and on about strippers/lesbians/his dick/porn stars/etc. tends to get VERY old, very fast.
When he was in his heyday, I listened to him. He had some interesting stuff to say and his interviews were truly unique (who else could have gotten away with asking Julia Roberts how big Liam Neeson's dick was?). But it was, at best, one good segment for every 15 lame ones. And that was in his HEYDAY (10-15 years ago).
Besides, without the FCC or his wife to mock anymore, what's really left for him to do? He's like an aging knight in a world where all the dragons have already been slain.
-Eric
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
I think it's a mistake to equate the Howard Stern Show with Howard Stern. The show is dreck and appeals to the lowest common denominator in our society. If you lisen/watch for a bit, however, you'll realize that Howard Stern the person is a pretty smart guy who just happens to realize that appealing to the lowest common common denominator of society is pretty good for your paycheck. He doesn't respect his listeners and he knows that the second they have an opportunity to giggle and point at his misfortunes and kick him to the curb, they will do so. Meanwhile, he's getting a hell of a ride. He's a modern day P.T. Barnum barking for the freakshow. I never thought I'd use this term, but in this case it's true "Don't hate the player. Hate the game."
"Don't you know you're going to shock the monkey?"- Peter Gabriel
Yes, but he's EXTREME . Being EXTREME is cool. You want to be cool, don't you? Then listen to Howard Stern. Because he's EXTREME , and EXTREME is cool. By listening to Howard Stern, you then become EXTREME -- and therefore cool -- by extension.
Modern copyright is theft of culture from everyone and it retards the progress of the useful arts and sciences.
You mean I can get 4+ hours of infantile poopy jokes and lesbian fetish fantasies for free?
I already get that with Slashdot and Fark!
I might know what I'm talkin' about, but then again, this is Slashdot...
It always has...just getting worse lately.
Ask yourself the same question the next time a Nintendo (proprietary gaming platform) or Google (proprietary search engine) blurb shows up. Many, if not most of Slashdot's stories are cheap, positive PR pieces for corporations open-source Slashdotters normally wouldn't support.
Unfortunately, too many broadcasters focused on reproducing the crass jokes rather than what really made Stern special. It doesn't appear you were able to get past that either.
You should do the math yourself, if he added 5 million subs at 12.95 a month thats $51 million a month attributable to him. 10 months and sterns paid for in full. The other 4 years and 2 months is profit. And that doesn't include the $49+ a radio every one of those subs bought to listen.
Sirius knew what they were doing, and they made a good deal.
Gadget News at Gizmo.com
Love him or hate him, it is impossible to claim he is not relevant in 2006. In his domain (entertainment), he was one of the top grossing performers last year, nudged out by only the likes of Steven Spielberg for total income. He's also considered one of the most powerful men in showbusiness, as evindenced by this article in Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/53/5S85.html ...which places him in position "7" out of 100 of the most powerful Celebrities in the entertainment business.
The news story about having a couple of free days on Sirius may be ho-hum, and there may be many of you that have an extreme dislike for his programming...but irrelevant he is not.
Sure, but in 5 years, once I have paid in $780, how much extra have they paid to keep me signed up?
The answer is nothing. And it doesn't cost them ANYTHING extra to transmit to me. Their signal goes out just the same, either way.
So in five years, I will have generated them $650. Possibly more as I imagine I will have bought a second reciever by then.
Multiple that $650 by a few million other people and you have a business model that is similar to Cable Tv, which also probably generated tremendous losses in the beginning.
Speaking of that, how much of that $130 figure you keep quoating is defrayed by the $100 i spent on my reciever + accessories. Not the full $100, of course, but some of that must have made it back to Sirius.
Howard is WAY past his prime, anyway. He's an interesting guy, and is even capable of the occasional intelligent insight. But the daily grind of listening to him go on...and on...and on...and on...and on about strippers/lesbians/his dick/porn stars/etc. tends to get VERY old, very fast.
Keep in mind that for the past 5 years or so on terrestrial radio he was really holding back because of more draconian FCC regulations as well as his own bosses being afraid of lawsuits, loss of their FCC licenses, etc. Since he's been freed on Sirius of all that he's back to his old self again.
Another thing that many people don't seem to realize is that Stern also has the rights to all the tapes of all his old shows. That's 20+ years worth of some of the most entertaining radio content out there, and all uncensored. They've already started playing some of it, and apparently they may even set up an entire channel devoted to all this old material. If you liked him in the old days then you can listen to it all over again, and this time without the bleeps and the cuts from the dreaded "dump button".