Live Nation Inks Charlie Sheen
Charlie Sheen and his class one-liners are all the rage these days. With his popular television show being pulled from the air after meltdown, Sheen has been on an all out media blitz which recently included a phone call to Sirius XM’s Howard Stern.
Sirius XM made a bold move early on and announced “Tiger Blood Radio“, a channel dedicated to Sheen news. The channel, which ran for 24 hours, was on and off the air before many even realized it existed, and did not include the Charlie Sheen himself. Howard Stern noted that the company did not utilize him in developing the channel, and it appears that Sirius XM may have lost a big opportunity. Stern wanted a full blown show with Charlie Sheen involved.
Sheen has taken the media by storm. He has set records with Twitter, and now has inked a merchandising deal with a familiar face to Sirius XM investors. Sheen and Live Nation have come to terms on a huge deal that includes T-shirts, mugs and other items that will be retailed at stores like Wal Mart, Target, and Hot Topic. Items could hit the shelves as soon as next week. One of Live nation’s largest investors is Liberty’s John Malone.
In the category of opportunity lost, wouldn’t it be nice if all of this was happening with Sheen hosting a show on Sirius XM? Sure it is easy to second guess what the company did after the fact. This site has been critical of Sirius XM for not keeping pace with pop culture, and now, the second the company does something bold, we are questioning them yet again.
I give Sirius XM credit for acting fast…Tiger Blood Radio was the right idea. I give them grief for doing it without Sheen. Had Sirius XM been able to ink Sheen to even a temporary daily one hour show hosted on the Howard 100/101 channels it would have been a major coup. Now Live Nation has the star and will profit handsomely from it, while Tiger Blood Radio is just a memory.
On a positive note, it is not too late to jump on the bandwagon once again, and the possibilities might be endless. Perhaps Sirius XM can parlay their relationship with Liberty into convincing Sheen that having a radio show platform on Sirius XM could. There are even some that speculate that Malone could package up his interest in both Sirius XM and Live Nation together for a new media giant.
Position – Long Sirius XM
why would charlie sheen go on sirius? he woulda have needed a microphone/setup/installation/tech support. he probably woulda had sirius personnel suggesting things to him and trying to restrict or control him. ustream made much more sense. zero barriers to entry aside from a camera and an internet connection, which almost everyone has nowadays. and he had zero gatekeepers (for better or worse).
Duh, because of the money. How much did uStream pay him? He lost the built in audience of Sirius XM and the cash they could/should have paid him.
he obviously wasnt interested in money. DUH!
Does anybody here, especially investors, REALLY think that Sheen’s Flame-out Show really has the endurance to increase the subscriber base? I think not. Lets get some content with substance and not just temporary flash. Saying this, it is HIGHLY entertaining however!
Yea, last week the popcorn was hot and buttery. This week I’ve got a belly ache. I will agree though, this guy definitely needs a reality show. He might actually be able to take the genre to a whole new level. Howard mention today that he was having some meetings today with some ideas for fans and sirius. Fingers crossed.
Sheen would not attract new subscribers but the existing subscribers would have been tuning in..Now that I think about it we need subscribers so Sheen, “Your are fired”