Sirius Loss Doubles on Stern Compensation

AP on Yahoo ^ | 5/2/06 | Seth Sutel - ap

[ExtremeUnction]

I don't need to pay for radio. it is free.

My office pals all chipped in and bought a satellite radio. It didn't work. The walls in our office buildings are built with metal studs. They act as a giant antenna, scrambling the satellite radio's signals. The only way around it is to fish the satellite radios own antenna over ceiling tiles and get it next to a window. But it was a long run, and still worked poorly. We took it back.

[NYCRebublican]

This reminds me of the nineties and the dot-coms. Do whatever it takes to get market share - damn the costs. Once you have the market you can focus on profitability.

The problem is just when you have established the market and are ready to squeeze your customers to make your profit the competition squeezes you.

If you have to buy your market at such a high price, is it really worth having. Capital always has to be spent, don't get me wrong, but maintaining profitability should always come first. The best businesses focus on providing a good service or product for profit. If your product or service is good the market will follow.

In my opinion these companies are overpaying for content.

[roverman2K6]

Until, like cable, there are commercials in the satellite feeds. It will happen

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

I'm not a Stern fan but did think his movie had some funny parts.

That one scene with Janine Lindemulder as camp counselor and the women almost made me spontaneously combust.

[Aquinasfan]

Hughes and Anthony Cumia, who now work for XM. CBS Radio had fired them in 2002 after they aired a live account of people having sex in St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Since they haven't changed their act, why are they being welcomed back? < /rhetorical question>

[NJ_gent]

"Until, like cable, there are commercials in the satellite feeds. It will happen"

That depends entirely on competition from other satellite radio providers and commercial radio. So long as there are viable alternatives to keep XM honest, I don't forsee them risking their base to pack extra cash into their socks.

[NJ_gent]

"Since they haven't changed their act, why are they being welcomed back?"

While they have apologized and expressed regret for what got them fired on a number of occassions quite publicly, I think the biggest reason is that CBS is seeing the ratings from Stern's show in a freefall in his absence. As such, they needed a replacement act that would get his type of fans back to listening.

I think it's going to be too little, too late for CBS to salvage much of Stern's audience, but I also think Opie and Anthony will regather a great deal of their former commercial radio audience with time. Between their show on XM and their show on commercial radio, they have the potential to end up the far bigger act.