Howard Stern On American Idol Makes Sense For Stern. How About Sirius XM?
The media is once again abuzz about Howard Stern. This time it is not about whether or not he will renew his contract with Sirius XM Radio, but rather whether or not he become part of the pop music phenomenon known as American Idol.
Satellite radio investors seem to like the idea of Stern becoming a judge on American Idol. His fans seem to like the idea as well. After all, this will bring more exposure to Stern, and by extension, to satellite radio. It would seem to make all of the sense in the world that this is potentially great news, right?
Well, the exposure would help satellite radio gain some “free” publicity, but in my mind this deal would have been better a year or two ago. As many already know, Howard is in the last year of his contract with Sirius XM. As any business man will tell you, you want to increase your market value as much as possible prior to negotiating a contract. Thus, the American Idol speculation brings added value to the Stern brand, as well as his negotiating power.
If Howard is a success on American Idol, it would be a gig that would pay him handsomely. Perhaps it would even pay him enough to make that his main form of employment. Being a judge on American Idol would increase the amount of leverage he has at the negotiating table with Sirius XM. Even the speculation serves that same purpose. Yes, it would bring exposure to Sirius XM. Perhaps the added exposure will even be enough to make it in Sirius XM’s best interest to try their hardest to keep The King of All Media on board. The risk however is all with Sirius XM. If Howard were to cut a deal with Idol, he is in the drivers seat when it comes to a potential contract with Sirius XM.
Stern is in a win/win situation:
1. If he wants to slow down, the Idol job will allow him to do just that while at the same time keeping his bank account healthy.
2. If he has no intention of signing with Idol, the mere speculation will increase his value at the table as he negotiates with Sirius XM.
3. If he really wants to cash in, he can do both Idol and Sirius XM.
Over the years, there have been many who question the relevance of Howard Stern. He has passionate fans, and people who passionately hate him. Those that say he is not relevant really need to wake up and look at what is happening. He is indeed relevant. He is relevant because his name gets attached to rumor after rumor. He is relevant because even those that hate him make him relevant by expressing their opinion about him.
Whether or not Howard Stern re-signs with Sirius XM will be some of the key speculation this year. Losing their flagship personality to Idol would not be the end of the world for Sirius XM. Losing hin to Idol and having him still conduct a radio show or podcast elsewhere could be bad news. Stern’s very relevance makes keeping him important. It is just a question of the cost to get the deal done, and the value Sirius XM can get out of the deal. Any other year than a contract year, this American Idol news would be a coup for satellite radio. This year, it is a mixed bag, and a wild card.
Renewing Howard’s contract has always been a priority for Sirius XM and he was always going to command top dollar. The idol news simply solidifies his position. I would watch for Howard to shoot for fewer radio broadcast days, and perhaps even work towards a three day show schedule with other Howard 100/101 programming and perhaps new morning shows filling in on the off days. As with anything that Howard Stern does…he is in the drivers seat.
Position: Long Sirius XM Radio
LOL!! Anybody who actually believes Howard would do American Idol is nuts. Talk about Jumping the Shark!
Wake up people! I will spell it out – Negotiation.
Howard is NOT going to do Idol. THINK about it people. Howard on Idol? First of all, if Howard hated terrestrial radio, how the F@#k do you think he’s gonna fit in with one of prime time tv’s most beloved shows watched by soccer Mom’s and teenage girls? LOL.
Yes, the idea of Howard on Idol is “titillating”. BUT come on. First of all, the restrictions would drive Howard NUTS. And he’d push the envelope. He’d make lewd comments about female contestants. He’d have half naked women sitting on his lap. It’d become AMERICAN HOWARD. Not what the execs would want.
Sure, it sounds GREAT on paper. But remember how GREAT MTV thought Howard would be on the MTV music awards show, and he shows up in a bare assed Fart Man costume and they banned him for life? LOL.
Now think of what would happen if Howard was on IDOL. The execs would be pulling the hair out of their heads. Not ALL controversy is good, and American Idol is considered a “wholesome” show despite the parade of freaks that audition.
Howard would alienate their target demographic, and for advertisers, THAT is BAD.
Trust me, IF Howard did it, it would go down as the biggest miscalculation by a tv studio since NBC moved Jay Leno to 10pm. It’d be a disaster for the network of EPIC proportions.
Howard would make a great “GUEST” judge. But he’d never survive as a full time judge. He’d be fired for sure.
And if Howard did take the job, his entire radio staff would lose their jobs. Do you think Howard would do that to Robyn? I don’t think so.
Howard is doing what Howard does best….creating controversy. And this Idol talk is great for his bargaining power with Sirius. Just like the talk of him going back to terrestrial.
Maybe Sirius knows that he is bluffing, but it’s effective non the less….especially in the media, and on the stock price!
But in the end, I am almost 100% sure it’s all just talk.
For all the reasons I outlined above, and so much more….Howard is NOT going to leave Sat Radio for American Idol.
The network can find any number of “safe” celebrities to take Simon’s place. Howard is good for a headline, but WAY too risky to actually use. He just doesn’t fit their image, and I am sure they know that already. This is good for bringing attention to the show, and they will milk it for all it’s worth. Just like Howard will milk it for his contract negotiations.
The Targzissians are obviously reptilian.
Howard on Idol, hahahaha that would be amazing and too entertaining. The network would explode and Howard would be hillarious!
Welcome back, Spencer. You’ve been missed.
Spencer, I was about to paraphrase Spike Jones’ “Chloe” and go calling for you “through the dismal swamps lands searching for you.”
With the interviewing skills Howard has,the logical position for him would be to replace Larry King. I don’t know if he could clean his act up enough not to get thrown off television.
Even though he does not get much credit for it, he is probably the best interviewer in all broadcasting and has been for a number of years.
imho
vaporgold
LOL. Yeah, thats brilliant. I hope you’re just being funny, because Howard replacing Larry King is even MORE absurd than Howard being a judge on Idol. Yes, Howard is a GREAT interviewer….BUT he is a lewd, crude and rude mutha fuckah, and if you think he will ever find a home ANYWHERE on mainstream television you’re friggin retarded(Sorry Sarah Palin).
The only way Howard ever hosts a tv show is if it’s on HBO like Bill Maher’s Real Time.
Again, Howard is milking this media circus for all it’s worth. Look how people are eating it up. It only helps his cause in getting more money from Sirius when he finally resigns.
For the last time, Howard is NOT going anywhere. Period. If you think so, it’s going to be a looooong sloooow 10 months for you. 🙂
Frankly, at this point, I really don’t care what Stern does anymore; i’m tired of all the “bullshit speculation”. I had my Sirius subscription two years before Stern ever contimplated his “big move”. It was great then, and it’s even better now, with the inclusion of Xm. Stern was a small (but very expensive) part of it all and by no means the key component. I find it very hard to believe plans haven’t already been made in the event Stern does quit over money.
I agree, I am sick of the speculation as well. You may not have cared but the only reason I signed up was for Howard and something tells me that I am not the only one.
It’s an intriguing thought to see Howard on Idol. While he may, from a personality point of view, fill an interesting douchebag void that may exist with Simon Cowell’s departure; I doubt that his ability to differentiate between a sharp and a flat will fill the necessary void needed to be a good judge of real vocal talent. Someone above stated that he might be a good guest judge. I would agree that this would be a better role for him on that show. I suspect that fans of the show would grow tired of his inability to really define what is good (or not so good) with respect to vocal talent. That being said, it sure would be fun to watch……..for a while.
I no doubt think he’s bluffing, not that I blame him. I could see Fox offering it to him, I just don’t see it working for them and he would end up going postal or shooting either himself of his mouth off to a point of alienating to many Idol fans. He said if he would do Idol he would not also do his Sirius radio show. Now if that were the case he would not hurt Sirius Xm as much because of course he would not be in competition w/ Sirius and in turn Sirius would not lose as many subs(compared to going back to traditional radio, for example) because the fans on the fence would not leave Sirius out of spite due to the fact he moved on to try something different. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Fox offering him big money to do Idol and a late night talk show to compete w/ Leno & Letterman.
The main reason why Stern will not go to Idol is because he is paranoid about doing public appearances. He loves the power of being the voice behind the microphone, but it is not his style to do a show like Idol. It would be nice if he did it as a side gig to Sirius with some type of cross-marketing deal between Idol/Sirius.
Howard is TOO BIG a personality. Too much of an individual. Simon Cowell was abrasive, but he could play the game and hold back too. Howard CANNOT hold back. Howard CANNOT play the game. His comments would go beyond anything Simon would say. Howard is a different animal. I can actually imagine the audience BOOING his comments. Not out of disagreement, but out of REVOLT. LOL. Seriously. And all across America, Howard would alienate and piss off millions of loyal Idol fans. Middle America. Soccer Moms. Teenage girls. The entire friggin target demo of Idol. And that is NOT a good thing. Yes, for people like us, it’d be terrific television. Like watching a train wreck. But to the network, it would be a COMPLETE disaster. Idol is dying as a franchise, but Howard wouldn’t save it. If anything, he’d put the nail in the coffin.
Again, I can’t see this happening. Not from Howard’s side OR the networks side. Neither one is going to ultimately agree to do this.
I’m not psychic. And nobody knows what will happen in the future, but I can’t see this working at all.
This is my third comment about this so far, so I guess I feel pretty strongly about it. Lol.
Anyway, I guess we’ll find out soon enough. At least within the next 10 months.
My money is on Howard renewing his contract with Sirius. 🙂
Besides all the above, Stern would be required to work five-days-a-week and work more than five-hours-a-day.
Yeah, like THAT’s going to Happen!
However, I could see the following:
Stern as a Judge, with Karmazin on his knee like a monkey.
Why doesn’t Sirius send an e-mail survey to it’s subscribers with the following simple question:
HOW OFTEN DO YOU LISTEN TO HOWARD STERN?
1) EVERY DAY
2) SEVERAL TIMES A WEEK
3) ONCE OR TWICE A WEEK
4) ONCE IN A BLUE MOON
5) NEVER
Once the results are in, then we will know for sure how valuable he is to Sirius and its subscribers. We all submitted our e-mails when we subscribed, so why not use a service like Constantcontact.com to conduct the survey? Sounds like an essential bit of information as we approach contract time.
They don’t need to…they already have the technology for ratings based on hits, bandwidth and time spent on any particular channel. lol
F idol………………..it suks, and if Howard goes there, F him too !!
Who would pay Howard Stern 100 million dollars or so, to NOT do what he is famous for doing? He can’t curse, he cant say anything to disrespecful for family tv. He has to work with Brian Seacrest and Ellen? Then he would have to compete with Simon on Simon’s new show? This is the dumbest rumor ever….Almost as dumb as a rumor saying Howard Stern would be the new host of the Oprah Winfrey show….lol….it is not a match!
this is a joke…
Sirius is at $1.04!!!! And they said it couldn’t be done. 🙂
the site died ??
Regardless of whether Stern stays or goes, I think SIRI will be just fine. They are making steady improvements each quarter and I don’t believe the new subscibership has anything to do with Howard. He was a part of this in the beginning but not so much now. If he’s greedy, let him go. Just glad to see the stock above the dollar mark and still progressing. 🙂
I really hope that Howard takes the job. It would be such a great move for him into the “MAINSTREAM”. Unfortunately, most people have created an opinion as to what Howard is like based solely on reputation, rumor and hearsay. My wife had a false opinion of him until she actually listened to him. She now agrees with me that he is extremely entertaining, insightful and a brilliant interviewer. This move would finally introduce him to many new fans and enable him to give the masses an opportunity to actually form an informed opinion of him. What I’d really love is to see him take over late night television. He would be to this generation what David Letterman was to mine. A creative, edgy innovator who is not afraid to push the envelope! Good luck Howard, my fingers are crossed!