By Demian Russian
Howard Stern first broke the news on his show this morning that he had indeed signed a new five-year contract with Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ:SIRI), true to CEO Mel Karmazin and CFO David Frear’s previous advice to listen to Stern’s show for the news.
Sirius XM followed Stern’s announcement on his show this morning with a press release highlighting that the new five-year deal “includes rights for Sirius XM to transmit Howard Stern’s programming to mobile devices.” While Stern’s show has been available on Sirius XM’s internet platform for quite sometime, under the new agreement Sirius XM subscribers will now be able to access his show through Sirius XM’s official mobile apps for the Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone, Blackberry (Research in Motion, NASDAQ:RIMM), and Android smartphones. Up until now, accessing Howard Stern’s Sirius XM show on a mobile device had only been possible utilizing a third party app.
Statements from both CEO Mel Karmazin and Howard Stern were also included in a company press release this morning:
“Howard is a great talent and we are thrilled that he will continue to provoke, engage and entertain on Sirius XM. Our agreement is good news on all fronts — it is good for Sirius XM subscribers and good for Sirius XM stockholders. Howard forever changed radio and was instrumental in putting Sirius on the map when he first launched on satellite radio. He is one of the few ‘one-name’ entertainers in the country and our 20 million subscribers are lucky to have him.”
– Mel Karmazin, Chief Executive Officer, Sirius XM
“On my first day in satellite radio Sirius had approximately 600,000 subscribers. Today, the two companies have 20 million; and, in my view, we have just scratched the surface of how many people will get on board. I am especially excited that my show will now be heard through Sirius XM on mobile devices. Access to my show on mobile devices will open up additional opportunities for my fans to hear me wherever they are.”
– Howard Stern
How much did the Satellite Radio service provider pay Stern? Sirius XM and Stern aren’t talking about that. The company’s press release this morning simply stated: “Additional terms of the contract will not be disclosed.” Sirius XM’s new five-year contract with Howard Stern will run through December 31st, 2015.
Disclosure: Long SIRI
Contact the author: DemianRussian@SatelliteRadioPlayground.com
