After plugging his new Sirius satellite radio gig to everyone from Ed Bradley on 60 Minutes to Katie Couric on Today and Bill O'Reilly on Fox News, Howard Stern plans to end his earthbound broadcast career Friday with a P.T. Barnum-like parade through Manhattan.
Ever the showman, Stern's finale on Infinity Broadcasting will get full interactive treatment on Yahoo.com before a Sheryl Crow concert at noon at the Times Square Hard Rock Café. Sirius stablemate Martha Stewart will be a host.
Stern, who once routinely refused interviews, has been everywhere of late: Tuesday on Jon Stewart's Daily Show, Wednesday on Fox's Best Damn Sports Show Period and in local media outlets across the USA.
"I got books full of notes, like a mental patient," Stern told Newsday Monday, discussing how eager he is for his new show to start. "I wish I could plug a wire into my head and play it for everyone."
Stern joins no-holds-barred Sirius Jan. 9, where radio's most famous bad boy can say and do whatever he wants without the risk of facing government fines, which he says forced him to leave a 20-year stint at Infinity.
The media blitz is paying off, says Michael Harrison, editor of Talkers magazine. "I think that Howard Stern has been for satellite radio what MiltonBerle was for television: the personality who was creating buzz for a new medium. Ordinary people now ask me at cocktail parties, 'Oh, do you think that Howard is going to succeed on Sirius?' "
Subscriptions to Sirius, where Stewart and Christian programming also are featured but where Stern is by far the biggest star, stood at 660,000 in 2004 when he announced the move. That number hit 2.2 million in September and is expected to top 3 million by January.
Stern is part of an escalating battle with competitor XM Radio, with more than 5 million subscribers, to sign marquee talent. XM announced an agreement earlier this week with Bob Dylan.
But Sirius is going to need more new subscribers (at $12.95 a month) to offset Stern's $500 million, five-year deal, says Tom Street, editor of Inside Radio. "That's a big bet to pay off."
And although Street predicts Stern will succeed, he also says Stern faces the possibility of fading in the media limelight, as radio shock jocks Opie and Anthony did when they moved to XM.
"I think you can look at what happened to Opie and Anthony, who are talented guys, and at the same time you could say they've become far less visible. That's the specter that haunts Howard and haunts Sirius," Street says.
But Harrison says it doesn't matter whether Stern gets mainstream media attention once he rolls out his new show. "What matters is that he gets listeners," Harrison says.
"It's like people have asked me, 'Is Rush Limbaugh finished because I don't hear about him as much?' The answer is no, Rush Limbaugh only needs to get ratings that generate revenue. Howard Stern needs to generate subscriptions, and if they never wrote about him again, the listeners will know about him."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20...4kjtBAF;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--
Ever the showman, Stern's finale on Infinity Broadcasting will get full interactive treatment on Yahoo.com before a Sheryl Crow concert at noon at the Times Square Hard Rock Café. Sirius stablemate Martha Stewart will be a host.
Stern, who once routinely refused interviews, has been everywhere of late: Tuesday on Jon Stewart's Daily Show, Wednesday on Fox's Best Damn Sports Show Period and in local media outlets across the USA.
"I got books full of notes, like a mental patient," Stern told Newsday Monday, discussing how eager he is for his new show to start. "I wish I could plug a wire into my head and play it for everyone."
Stern joins no-holds-barred Sirius Jan. 9, where radio's most famous bad boy can say and do whatever he wants without the risk of facing government fines, which he says forced him to leave a 20-year stint at Infinity.
The media blitz is paying off, says Michael Harrison, editor of Talkers magazine. "I think that Howard Stern has been for satellite radio what MiltonBerle was for television: the personality who was creating buzz for a new medium. Ordinary people now ask me at cocktail parties, 'Oh, do you think that Howard is going to succeed on Sirius?' "
Subscriptions to Sirius, where Stewart and Christian programming also are featured but where Stern is by far the biggest star, stood at 660,000 in 2004 when he announced the move. That number hit 2.2 million in September and is expected to top 3 million by January.
Stern is part of an escalating battle with competitor XM Radio, with more than 5 million subscribers, to sign marquee talent. XM announced an agreement earlier this week with Bob Dylan.
But Sirius is going to need more new subscribers (at $12.95 a month) to offset Stern's $500 million, five-year deal, says Tom Street, editor of Inside Radio. "That's a big bet to pay off."
And although Street predicts Stern will succeed, he also says Stern faces the possibility of fading in the media limelight, as radio shock jocks Opie and Anthony did when they moved to XM.
"I think you can look at what happened to Opie and Anthony, who are talented guys, and at the same time you could say they've become far less visible. That's the specter that haunts Howard and haunts Sirius," Street says.
But Harrison says it doesn't matter whether Stern gets mainstream media attention once he rolls out his new show. "What matters is that he gets listeners," Harrison says.
"It's like people have asked me, 'Is Rush Limbaugh finished because I don't hear about him as much?' The answer is no, Rush Limbaugh only needs to get ratings that generate revenue. Howard Stern needs to generate subscriptions, and if they never wrote about him again, the listeners will know about him."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20...4kjtBAF;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--
