That is what they said when Howard Stern went to satellite and it never happened.
Stern had 8m terrestrial and took Sirius from 600k to +6m. The majority of his 12-17 demographic - about 30% of his total audience - don't own cars (and would rather buy Xbox than an XM/Sirius box).
OOTH, Rush crushes the most affluent 35-64 segment. The only question is whether a satellite deal could satisfy everybody in this environment.
Sirius pays Howard Stern $83 million stock bonus
Tue Jan 9, 2007 / By Michele GershbergNEW YORK (Reuters) - Sirius Satellite Radio paid shock jock Howard Stern a bonus worth nearly $83 million on Tuesday for surpassing subscriber goals set in a 2004 contract that had already turned heads with its $500 million compensation package..."The decision to bring Howard Stern to Sirius required a very significant commitment and we are very pleased that our investment has dramatically paid off," Sirius Chief Executive Mel Karmazin said in a statement.
Sirius had roughly 600,000 subscribers when it signed Stern in 2004 for a contract valued at $500 million over five years.
At the time, analysts had forecast the company would grow to about 3.5 million subscribers by the end of 2006. Sirius and Stern agreed to an added bonus in the event that the number of subscribers exceeded that forecast by more than 2 million...Last week, the company reported that it ended 2006 with more than 6 million subscribers, at the middle of a forecast range made in December, triggering the bonus payment of about 22.1 million shares.