Howard Stern Learns: Going Behind A Paywall Is A Good Way To Lose Influence
from the the-price-of-influence dept
We've talked for years about the danger any media makes in focusing on setting up a paywall. In an age where openness and the ability to get others to spread and promote the content for you is often a key barometer of success, locking yourself up behind a paywall takes you out of the wider conversation, and by its very nature, decreases your overall ability to influence. The LA Times has an article noticing that this seems to be exactly what's happened with Howard Stern, who famously made the jump from terrestrial radio to satellite radio -- and in doing so, appears to have lost a large percentage of his audience, and with it much of his influence. Of course, he was paid handsomely for doing so, but Sirius almost certainly expected Stern to bring a larger percentage of his audience with him. Yet, as the article notes, Stern's waning influence due to the switch means that even he's having trouble getting the level of celebrity that he used to command to even bother coming on his show. Amusingly, the article also notes that the very reason why Stern claimed he was moving to satellite -- his troubles with the FCC -- may be contributing to his lack of influence with the new show. In the past, every time Stern got in trouble with the FCC, it boosted ratings, giving him plenty of free publicity. Without that foil, he loses much of the free publicity. Such is life behind the paywall, apparently.
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Filed Under: howard stern, influence, paywall
Companies: sirius, xm
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Down but not out...
He needs to go mobile. In radio they call these remote sessions. Stern needs to strap on remote broadcasting equipment and do his show in the street, red carpet, where ever he can to stay in the public eye, (While he cant broadcast on public airwaves-he can be in public places)etc.. If he does not do something quick the celebrities who are using his influence (and using him) are going to stop talking with their good friend Howard. What? Celebrities are phony and use people NO WAY!!
He really did put a stamp on radio broadcasting and took it to new places. The thing I hate about Howard is he gave birth to 1000's of Stern wannabee-clones, Opie & Anthony, etc.. Its funny how so many other people do his show over the public airwaves and the King of all media must be permanently on the bird. (Or satellite)
Stern should talk Ralph Nader into let him be his VP. That why him and Nader run for President (Why not Ralph its not like you have a prayer in getting elected anyway). That way he can seek to destory the FCC!! Stern will not just fade away. If he doesnt do something, all the people that said he was going to fail will be right! And I am sure he doesnt want that...
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Meh
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Re: Meh
They only show I can remember before Howard was Imus. Stern is kind of like Led Zeplin. Almost no one played like that before em. And every one played like that after em.
But thats just how I see it.
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O&A definately are clones. I personally call them clones, Not because Howie says so. They are clones because they actually think Stern did not influence their show. Any, "Shock Jock" is influenced by Stern. To say otherwise is just inacurate.
Rush owes absolutely nothing to Stern.. However, Almost any Shock Jock is there due to Stern. What thanks do they give Stern? Nothing... These guys really should come to the defense of Stern when it comes to the FCC. But they dont. They care for nothing or anyone else other then their own putrid survival. They thumb their nose at Stern as if he is beneath them. In radio jocks compete for ratings and numbers so it can get kind of ugly. Sales people interject by stabbing people in the back based off of how much they think they use someone to sell advertising. Half of this is the fault of the jocks. Instead working with each other they listen to these wormy salespeople. If you are having trouble imagining what these people are like "Pig Vomit" was a perfect on screen projection.
No one defends or helps Stern in radio. Everything he has he has to fight for. The reason Stern is hassled is not so much do to censorship or the FCC. It is because there are many waiting in the wings to take Sterns place. There are many that want Stern to go away. He gets the best ratings and other people have to answer for not getting the same numbers Stern does. I say this not as someone who has just read Howards books. I have also worked in radio. Would one jock call the FCC and complain about Stern. In a second.. Yes, it is that cut-throat...
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But to say that all 'Shock Jocks' are influenced by Stern is just insane. Yes, in some round-about way, all cars are influenced by horses and buggies, but you don't see Horse and Buggy makers claiming that they were the first to put wheels on an axle. Nor can you directly compare a modern day car to a horse and buggy, nor a Model T for that matter.
As your argument that nobody stand up for Stern, the same could be applied to how almost, (O&A, and people associated with the show were probably one of the only exceptions) no-one stood up for Imus, or, to turn it back around, O&A for when they were taken off the air for something that was not even an FCC violation. A situation where Stern specifically said that they should be taken off the air.
Let me also mention that Stern HATED Bubba the Love Sponge, calling him nothing but a Howard Stern imitator. But now, Bubba is his underling.
Don't forget, Stern's ratings had been dropping before he left Terrestrial radio.
Again, this is from someone who was a HUGE Howard Stern fan back in the day. But Billy left, Jackie was more or less fired, and Stern made some terrible radio with Crazy Cabbie and Artie. It also got boring listening to him asking the same questions of his guests over, and over, and over again.
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... by the way, Howard Stern sounds more like he's a guest on his own show. He lets Robin dominate and she says very little that I care to hear.
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Without the FCC setting rules and taboos, i.e., the edge, there are no rules or taboos to be broken. Thus, without an edge to dance around, you're not daring guy, you're just an obnoxious guy safely dancing around nothing.
By stopping his dance with the FCC, Sterns has eliminated his biggest draw: "What will he get away with next?!" Now he's left with, "What obnoxious and stupid thing is he doing now?"
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Re:
The ability to reach 20 million and having the audience of 20 million are two completely different things.
And you're leaving out that XM listeners will have to shell out an extra $4 per month to listen to Sterns. So he's not getting all of XM's listeners, only those willing to pay extra for it.
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If that's your point, I won't disagree. I have no idea what makes Sirius happy and further think it's doubtful that such an assertion can be objectively measured.
However, if your point is that Sterns has not lost his audience and has not lost is influence, I will disagree.
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A large percentage of his actual fans made the switch to sirius for Howard Stern alone, and he still has quite a lot of influence over his fans. The people who weren't very big fans of his were probably not influenced by him when he was on free radio anyway.
Every day a new show airs people who come his show and topics he discusses make there way to the top of Google trends. While it might not be the most scientific way of measuring influence I'm sure plenty of people would like to have enough influence to push things to the top of Google Trends on a daily basis. When Jackie's wife came on the show she was the most searched term for that day within minutes. This is something that happens daily with things discussed on the show. I would say he still holds quite a bit of influence over a very dedicated audience.
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An audience that continually shrinks because he can't attract new listeners very well.
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Re: Sterrn
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Maybe everyone stopped caring!!
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Re: Maybe everyone stopped caring!! (Drew Sucks)
Why don't you listen for a little bit before judging and sounding retarded DREW.
By the way you suck!
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Re: Re: Maybe everyone stopped caring!! (Drew Sucks)
He can't: the paywall of Sirius Satellite Radio does not allow him to do so. If Howie has changed, no one would know because he did so under a veil of exclusivity. So much for bucking stereotypes...
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Re: Maybe everyone stopped caring!!
Keep posting things you've heard from other tools.
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Preston and Steve
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Re: Preston and Steve
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Not a good example Mike
Also, just take Artie for example of influence. He got a book deal and moved to around #10 best seller on Amazon before his book was even released. Ad example, Beecuticles (sp?). Small company making crap out of honey and bees wax. Started advertising almost soley on Stern and quickly grew to have products at whole foods and other retail based on exposure and sales on stern from ads.
One of the biggest leasons they had to learn was the demographics change. They now broadcast to people with jobs and some money who are willing to actually pay for things. An example of the demographics change was when they tried to recruit for a contest, "Hottest female Felon". They had the contest years ago and had tons of entries. They only recieved around 4 total after the move to Satallite. Other contest they recieve thousands of entries for, just not many felons in the audience.
I am happy to pay for sat radio. I enjoy a lot of the programming and get it in a easy to use format. I do not have to "pod cast" or other crap. infact, the cost of three year subscription is cheaper than an Ipod. I get content in my house, in my car and on my computer with out having to worry about dowloading and transfering or batteries on a stupid ipod.
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other proof
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other proof
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Re: other proof
It's a sad day for Howie when threads about patent law receive more comments than threads about Mr. Stern.
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Howard Stern is doing fine, his show is still good, and he gets real celebrities (Chris Rock was just on). If you read the whole article it even notes that CBS is still 10% below their position when they employed Stern. That's a pretty significant fact.
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How much money did he get for making the move? That is what it is all about. Think Celine Dion didn't know that she would have less "influence" when she booked a 10 year (whatever) contract to do Caesars? Think she really cared?
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You realize....
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Meh
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Satellite radio is so much better than terrestrial and Stern is so much better without the FCC restrictions. The sky is the limit and he's nowhere reached it. Listening to re-runs from the terrestrial days clearly shows how restricted the content was compared to what he can do and say on Sirius.
I have no doubt whatsoever that the article is bogus. As a very recent devoted fan, I can say that what he did before pales next to the stuff he's doing now. The article denigrating Stern is not based on the facts as so much content in the media is today. Fact checking was definitely not done in this instance.
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BS
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Who is...
Ok, I *have* heard of the "shock jock", but not lately, and I prefer not hearing about him.
--
www.chl-tx.com Nothing deters violent crime as effectively as the thought that the intended victim might shoot back. Nothing.
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i dont think anyone listens to howard??
this article is a rehash from more than a year ago !
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Re: i dont think anyone listens to howard??
Someone does.
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???
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Just name one radio or TV personality that would be able to bring a huge chunk of their audience to join them at a pay type of service. That just says how influential he is.
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Howard is near death... he's 54 yo
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Who's High Pitch??
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Re: Who's High Pitch??
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Bye for Now
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Re: Bye for Now
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Fair and Balanced Assessment of a Sellout
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I never listened to Stern before Sirius. The NAB spent ten times the amount of money fighting the Sirius-XM merger than Sirius and XM spent lobbying for the merger. The NAB didn't care one lick about satellite radio until Stern went there.
600,000 to 8+ million subscribers from the time the announcement was made until just before the merger (less than 2.5 years...I'd take that growth in my 401K anyday).
And a few corrections:
1) see this thread for clearly A-List people who have been on recently.
2) if you think Stern's show is for T&A (on the radio? really? that's your argument) or just "perverts and whitetrash," then you clearly do not listen or you have the listening skills of a pre-school student.
3) Stern consistently has the most in depth, interesting interviews of anyone in ANY media. Doe he ask about sex? Yes, because it's interesting. Does he also ask about people's troubled and turbulent pasts? Yes, because it is interesting. Try comparing him to any other show and see how much more open and honest his guests are. That, for me, is always much more interesting than the b.s. they peddle on other media outlets.
4) XM subscribers currently have to pay $4 for the "Best of Sirius." Soon the a la carte services will start where you can select 50 Sirius channels and 50 XM channels for around $6.95 a month. When that is available, there is going to be another subscription push. No format wars + low base price=higher rate of adoption.
One listen to satellite radio and you are ruined for terrestrial radio forever.
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Howard Hasn't Lost a thing, neither have his listeners
Howard has never been more relevant or more influencial than he is now, becuase over 8 million were paying to listen to him before the Merger, not the "fraction" of listeners that ignorant idiots claim.
To have 12 million people listen is impressive, to have even 1 million pay to listen to you is impressive, to have taken Sirius subscriptions from less than a million to over 6 million in a year, is nothing short of amazing.
Any guest who is on his show becomes the most googled person the very same day, this is a tangible trend that any credible journalist should know about and give credit to.
The Howard Stern Effect as it's called has never been stronger.
With the merger there are now a least 12 million paying listeners, just as much that listened for free.
They get a better show, a longer shower with fewer commercials, un-censored, and downright entertaining.
On top of that they get hundreds of commercial free music channels and tons of other programming.
Get a clue!
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Stick to what you know...
The article in the LA Times came from paidcontent.org and is a two year old regurgitation of anti-Stern rhetoric originally paid for by the NAB. Since it's clear you know nothing about terrestrial or satellite radio, the NAB is akin to the MPAA and the RIAA.
It is, however, refreshing to see that many TD readers understand and appreciate the reality and importance of satellite radio and the relevance, both current and historical, of Howard Stern.
Commentary from anyone who isn't now or has never been a Sirius subscriber is a bunch of hot air and noise that has no merit (ell, the hot air may just fly Eric the Midget with balloons but the noise is still worthless); it's like the dork that's never been laid telling you pussy ain't all that.
Stick to what you know and stop pretending to have a clue about pop culture or anything else that's not directly related to computer code, mmm-kay?
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Howard Stern
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Old story, nice way to pick it up retard
Stern is better than ever. Sirius/XM is better than ever.
Everyone who still listens to regular radio have no idea what you are missing. Actually, missing 20+ mins of commercials every hour is one thing that I am NOT missing.
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Howard Stern
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Paywall
Please, someone, anyone, give me some ideas of how we can really replace those 6 digits with a free model. And don't say "more eyeballs, more ads," because we have a surplus of ad inventory.
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hehe
This just in: Newspapers are a dying media.
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Ok, anyhow....I'm not a Stern fan but I would fault the way the FCC is working rather than Stern himself. The fines have gotten so outrageous and the company lawyers so paranoid that Both Stern and O&A simply cannot do the shows that made them so great to begin with on over-the-air radio. We've become a nation of over-sensitive pansies with special interest groups that threaten boycotts at the drop of a hat if they feel they've been slandered (ie, remember when Rosie O'Donnell spoke in a mock Asian voice while doing a joke about her landlady or some such? It became national news and she was accused of being a racist and hate-monger for chrissakes). no one is constitutionally protected from being offended but yet they are stifling free speech nonetheless. Meanwhile, the FCC panics and responds to the slightest hint of sexuality (Janet Jackson titty anyone?) lest one special interest group mails out a 1000 form letters from "offended Christians". Under that kind of political atmosphere radio company's simply do not want their precious shareholders getting upset so they go for the safest, blandest pap they can do.
Frankly, I pay for the privilege of hearing O&A's show everyday on XM uncensored as it should be (although that may change too) and its worth it. I doubt satellite will survive even with the current merger after a year so I want to hear adult content (seeing I'm an adult and all) while its there.
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0.0
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stern
Still, I am not sure how much it matters to his fans. I'll be listening as long as the show continues to entertain me!
-mike
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howad sten
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Howard Stern & The FCC
I used to listen to Howard Stern when he was on regular radio. When he went to satellite radio, I didn't go with him because I'm too poor to pay for radio and all the attachments that are needed. I wish I could listen to him so I could get caugt up on the news and happenings in the world. I never found the format of his show offensive.
I think the FCC should fine the media for disclosing the names of people who were victims of sexual abuse. There was one girl who was only chronologically 15 years old who didn't want her name publicized and the media plastered her name all over tv and that she was sexually assaulted. There was another girl who was chronologically in her 20's who had her name and what was done to her plastered all over the news stations. I think the media should have been fined millions of dollars and the money should have been given to victims assistant funds and organizations that deal with victims of violent crimes. As well as the victims who had their names plastered in the media.
I also think that the FCC should fine the media when they announce sports scores and they don't give equal recognition to females who play sports. For instance, a newscaster for a news show will show a video of men's professional and college basketball and go on and on and on about the game and the players. For women's college basketball, they don't show a video, they just report a score.
I find this highly offensive and I think that the FCC should fine these news stations for millions of dollars and the money could be used to give females an opportunity to participate in paid professional sports. I hope before I die that I can watch a SuperBowl with women players. I would have loved to have played paid professional sports. But, unfortunately, I'm probably too old NOW.
SinCyrilly,
Donna Rosenberger
724-776-1213
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Howard Stern & The FCC
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Howard Stern
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