Bubba No Longer Exclusive
While the news that Sirius satellite radio Shock Jock Bubba The Love Sponge was well received by fans, the news may not be quite so welcomed by investors. Bubba The Love Sponge is no longer exclusive to Sirius. As we reported earlier today, Bubba will also be available on terrestrial radio via a seven figure deal with Cox Communications. I had heard scuttlebut about Cox several weeks ago, and heard grumblings that a dual deal was a possibility as recently as last week, but there was still a lot of uncertainty. Today the news was confirmed.
The Cox deal has Bubba doing a morning drive show that will be broadcast in two Florida Markets. From a fan perspective, it is good to know that bubba will remain a staple in the Howard Stern line-up, but there also has to be a tinge of worry. Doing two 4 hour shows each day is demanding, and one has to wonder if some of the freshness and spontaneity that makes the current Bubba show what it is will disappear as the on air hours pile up. You can’t blame Bubba for taking the dollars though.
If the Bubba show on Sirius suffers, the blame will rest solely on the Sirius satellite radio negotiating team for allowing the deal to get to a point where it is no longer exclusive.
As an investor, I am disappointed in this type of deal. I was against it when XM allowed Opie & Anthony to be non exclusive as well. I simply believe that giving up exclusivity bears it’s own cost, and takes away from the value of satellite radio. It is something that I would prefer not to see happen. Musical content is available anywhere. Talk and sports programming need to be as exclusive as possible.
So while I am happy for Bubba and his fans on the new Sirius extension, I am personally taking a “dump on this deal” from an investor perspective. In my opinion Sirius messed this up badly. Let’s hope that Bubba and the crew are not spread too thin in more ways than one.
Position – Long Sirius, Long XM
personally I think bubba sucks but he doesnt have enough listeners who would leave sirius due to a subpar sirius show. Although there are alot of Bubba dedicated rednecks down south who like wrestling and racing so who the hell knows. Redneck shit is too foreign to me.
Everyone has a right to an opinion on the talent. I feel that Bubba puts on a good show, and that the interaction with his fans is a big plus to the show.
The show is less redneck than many may image. His weekly segment with Dr. Mark has been pretty cool, but of late has become more of an advertisements for dr. Marks new product line.
I like the segments with Tucker Carlson with CNBC, and also enjoy the segments with matty Yokum.
Had Sirius not renewed with Bubba, there would have been some disgruntled fans that would leave, but I do not think that it would have been in droves. There is simply so much other content that people can enjoy. That being said, Howard 101 is the second most popular channel on sirius according to Arbitron.
Yes, Sirius should have kept him. No, they should not have allowed the terrestrial deal. Time will tell on how well the show does after all of the long hours.
SIRI has figured out what XM already did — that the exclusivity of this content doesn’t serve anyone well.
SIRI would LOVE to sell Stern back to terrestrial at this point. Of course, Stern has no obligation to go so he isn’t going to — he surely doesn’t need the money after the 3/4 Billion Boondogle. Probably the biggest single problem SIRI has is that they have made this massive expenditure, the cost of which is amortized over a million listeners.
Having Stern locked up where he cannot be heard is a waste of a huge asset. Getting BTLS back on terrestrial is a good thing for SIRI and a good thing for BTLS.
Exclusivity of this content does not serve anyone well?
Siri would love to sell Stern back to terrestrial radio?
Cost is amortized over 1 million listeners?
Stern being locked up is a waste of a huge asset?
These statements are very opinionated, and offer nothing substantial to back them up.
Exclusive content is a REASON for people to subscribe. It is a differentiator from other forms of audio entertainment. Does HBO let other networks play the current Sopranos episode? Does Showtime let other networks cover the live UFC match?
Please demonstrate how the Stern deal is amortized over only 1,000,000 listeners. Do you understand the concept of this at all? By your example, a classical music channels cost would be amortized over only a few thousand listeners! By your example, none of my subscription cost is paying for Shade 45 because I am not a listener of that channel. The assertion you are making is absurd!
We love Bubba and I’m glad he has deal, but I wished Sirius would have manned up and showed him the money!
The new Bubba Show on Sirius 101 is horrible – I’m certain that is great in Florida – however the “Censored Replay” in the afternoon lacks the “punch” that drove me to get subscriptions for myself and my co-workers last Christmas – I got them as presents in 2006 – not because of Howard Stern, but for Bubba and Scott Ferrell – I will not re-new the sibscription runs out in six months. I can understand him choosing COX Communications for the “seven figure deal” – too bad that Sirius didn’t offer a counter offer! His show attracted callers from all over North America – now – the callers are only from Florida.
Rick Needham
Harrisburg, PA