Sirius May Censor Howard Stern

[NashVegas]

Don Kaplan of the New York Post writes that "Howard Stern may be coming down with a Sirius case of the bleeps ... High-level executives of the satellite broadcaster are developing an internal standards-and-practices document that will set boundaries for Stern and other shock jocks."

Now how funny is that? It's not the FCC but Sirius itself that may be silencing the ferocity of vulgarity eminating from Stern's mouth.

"It's something that's being taken very seriously," a Sirius source said, according to the Post.

Stern's new program is now reportedly being broadcast on a time-delay, which affords the opportunity to censor the program -- which has already happened.

Stern moved to Sirius largely in part because satellite radio offerings such as Sirius and XM because unlike free radio, satellite broadcasts are not policed by the FCC.

http://www.postchronicle.com/news/entertainment/tittletattle/article_2124169.shtml

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[liberalhistorian]

4. LOL!

Thank you, well said! And I add my hearty fuck you to them myself.

[henslee]

27. Dang! What did I miss? I love me some wicked barbs... pm me?

[Name removed]

31. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[henslee]

34. How many mods does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

I dont know, I'll bring it up with Skinner.

[trogdor]

41. Dropping F-bombs in the subject line is a no-no.

I think its even in the TOU somewhere.

[natrat]

60. thanks i tried to figure out the rules page but it was a tad vague

[natrat]

30. Fooey on you sirius you stinking pos

[Sandpiper]

46. Don't believe this story, it's from an XM business partner

Rupert Murdoch.

[TommyO]

50. Howard was talking about this today

There's nothing to it.

[Born Free]

80. Hot Button!

Howard Stearn uses the censorship issue much in the way the right wing talkers use abortion or the NRA claims "they are going to take your guns" . It works very well for him. It always gets him publicity and stirs up his faithful followers. My guess is you are going to see a lot of this in the upcoming months as they work to move more of his faithful over to satellite radio.

[liberalhistorian]

2. Oh, good God, why

in the hell can't they just leave him and his listeners the hell alone and in peace? NO ONE is forcing people to listen to him, and that's even more the case with satellite radio, since you have to subscribe. Subscribers to his program know exactly what they're getting; they're adults and can make their own damn decisions without the intervention of government mucky-mucks or stuffed suits.

[henslee]

32. This is faker than the WWF. Allll for publicity... for money and for ego.

Howard HAS to be the king of all media and I suspect that as big as he is... he is not as big as he was. He is competing with himself. I love Howard for the humor and comedians that somehow sneak past his raunch and the ads. But even I know Howard jumped the shark when he divorced his wife.

[FormerDittoHead]

87. wow. you hit the nail on the head with the wife...

I was a fan. I'll sell you my copies of "Crucified by the FCC" CD and his "Underpants Party" video if you don't believe me.

I stopped listening years ago because of all of the commercials and repetition of ideas (and lack of ahem, quality).

ALL of his TV work has been... crap.

But there was no way I would ever "respect" him after he divorced his wife. His marriage was the cornerstone of his shtick, it's what created the "tension". It was his license to snipe at Robin Williams, etc etc etc etc etc etc etc.

So when he became just like his targets, he had nothing left but pixelized fake boobies.

[melody]

3. Color me surprised

What a shocker! Private companies -- beyond the hand of the FCC -- censoring.

Maybe Stern will remember this next time he shills for a Republican.

[SidDithers]

5. I suspect that Stern's contract allows him an out if this happens...

probably with significant penalties on Sirius. Freedom from censorship was the entire reason he went to Sirius instead of retiring. If Sirius starts editing or time-delaying his show, I bet he walks with a big fat buyout.

Sid

[bperci108]

13. That may be precisely the reason.

I read the astronomical salary Sirius agreed to and I'm betting they won't be able to make good on it due to the fact that they are losing the satellite radio competition to XM.

This might be Sirius' way of getting out without a major lawsuit.

IOW - pay now to avoid paying more later. :tinfoilhat:

[Marnieworld]

25. nope

When Howard signed with Sirius they had 600,000 subscribers and said that to break even for his deal they would need it up to 1.5 million. At last count when he started the subscribers were 3.3 million and growing. They have already made their money back, even before he started broadcasting. Considering how it is now impossible to get the radios(they underestimated foolishly how many would subscribe at once) they are doing just fine on their investment.

[Child_Of_Isis]

40. Maybe they just wanted him so they could get the subscribers

Now that they have the subscribers, they don't need him.

[rinsd]

54. And when subscribers cancel? Or they're still on the hook for $500M?

That just doesn't make sense.

[oneoftheboys]

61. I don't know about that.

I owned some before Stern made his announcement, but I got out over a year ago after the details of his deal were made public. I think they will be okay, but he and Karmazin own enough shares to do some real damage should they decide to sell.

Moreover, siri has taken a pretty good hit since went on.

http://chart.finance.yahoo.com/c/3m/s/siri

[Born Free]

74. ZD Research:

Sirius now has 3.3 mln subscribers, surpassing company guidance of 3 mln for the end of 2005. Sirius added 2,173,302 subscribers in 2005 alone, landing at 3,316,560 just prior to January 2006.



http://blogs.zdnet.com/ITFacts/?p=9910&part=rss&tag=feed&subj=zdblog



on edit: My personal experience leads me to believe that perhaps Sirius did take in more money towards the end of the year- I say this because even though I contacted them about dropping my 3 receivers when they dropped Air America, I had to wait until near the end of December to finally get my refund they owed me (for being paid in advance). During that time I got the "check is in the mail" and other type excuses. I do thank Howard Stearn for helping Serious get enough revenue to afford to pay me the money they owed me. :)

[confludemocrat]

68. Howard has already censored stuff e.g., in Sal's "revelation" last week

he dumped an explicit reference in Sal's story about, well-just bringing up that story makes me not want to go on, but he did it.

[against all enemies]

69. Get out of a $500,000,000.00 contract? Guess again.

[K-W]

84. Stern gets that kind of money because he is an advertising machine..

If Sirius doesnt want him, someone else will for plenty of money.

[WePurrsevere]

6. Stern is obnoxious, distasteful & obsene but in some ways no more so...

then Rush or Coulter and they're still allowed to spew their hate speech, lies and bile even on major airwaves. :puke:

[noahmijo]

7. Stern tells it like it is whether you like it or not

coulter and rush are lying vile sacks of shit.

That's the difference. Period

[TallahasseeGrannie]

17. Stern tells it like it is in his

skewed, ugly, misogynist world view. He's trite and foolish. (IMHO)

But if you PAY to hear him, you ought to be able to get the whole spew.

I smell a publicity stunt.

[WePurrsevere]

23. I agree.. I'm certainly not saying they should take him off the air.

I may not like him but I'll defend others rights to listen to him especially if they're willing to pay for the privilage.

[WCGreen]

49. Good point....

Telling it like it is is always a way for someone to say what ever comes to mind...

The "it" is usually connected to a very large Ego...

I never got Stern... His humor was way over the top and his shtick was aimed at a demographic that does not include me....

But he has the right to say what he wants....

Especially if it is in his contract....

[geomon666]

39. Stern doesn't tell you how it is.

He tells you how he thinks it is and then calls you a moron when you don't agree. This was the guy who was asking for nuclear strikes against Afghanistan. Hardly "telling it how it is".

[natrat]

8. dude your off by a wide margin

[Swede]

14. Listen to him for a week and get back to us.

You can't judge a book by it's cover.

[WePurrsevere]

24. I have listened to him for a couple of days.. mind you it was a few years

ago but I found him distasteful back then for that time period... HOWEVER I think my point has been missed... If they can allow Rush and Coulter (whom I dislike and find even more offensive then Stern) to spew their crap on major airwaves then they should allow Stern... just because I find all three distasteful doesn't mean I feel they should be off the airwaves for ADULTS to listen too.

[Carni]

18. Stern is no Rush or Anne the man

Please...if you find him distasteful and crude that is fine, but he certainly isn't a Rush or a Coulter and shouldn't be compared to those two disgusting piles of fascist dung.

[WePurrsevere]

35. All I was trying to say is THEY are more offensive and obsene to me and

they're still allowed to spew their crap on public airwaves and it was my understanding that Stern is not just because he uses language the FCC doesn't like.

::sigh:: Apparently I'm not making myself clear today... I'm not against Stern or an adults right to listen to him if they chose to and certainly if they pay to. Quite frankly I could never understand why companies take controversial personalities on, knowing who they are and what they're like and then cry foul when they're "bit". (Analogy taken from an old song about a woman who knowingly takes a snake into her home and to her bosum and then is "surprised" when he bites her)

I'm sorry if I have offended Stern fans. I may not like him but I will defend his right to talk and the rights of those who wish to listen to him.

[Carni]

63. Sorry I took your post the wrong way

I thought you meant he was as obscene as those other two morons!

My apologies! :)

[WePurrsevere]

71. Thanks for understanding... it's been one of those days.

Re-reading it I can see how easy it would be to think I meant that... I probably would have thought much the same if I didn't know me.

[Dolomite]

9. Perhaps he needs to be 'censored' to fufill an aspect of his humor?

.

[shadowknows69]

76. I've wondered about that Dolomite

A show which gained most of its original listener on the premise of "How far is Howard going to take it today". Will he be as funny or effective when there is no envelope to push?

[Todd B]

10. Sirius can do what they want, since it's their company. However,

if they *do* move to operate Stern's show on a time-delay (or even censored), you can expect their stock to plummet drastically since they marketed Stern on Sirius as uncensored radio.

I doubt Sirius would be so stupid as to do this, and the article leads me to believe that this is just rumours rather then fact.

[loitus360]

11. Stern has said this article is BULL****.

All day today on his show he's been saying that Sirius has no intention of censoring him. That it's Sirius' main selling point and is something they'll never change.

Here's a transcript:

http://marksfriggin.com/news.htm#mon (some NSFW language)

"He guys spent a short time talking about this crazy stuff that was mentioned in the article and how there has been no discussion between him and the people at SIRIUS about changing his act. All Howard cares about is that he's on the cover of the NY Post because it's free publicity for him and for SIRIUS."

[ncrainbowgrrl]

12. Welcome to DU, loitus360!

:hi:

[Catchawave]

15. I hope so!

Welcome to DU loitus360 :hi:

I can't understand why Sirius would censor on pay radio, when we can listen to all the censorship we want for free !

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

82. I Thought So! Free Publicity- nice stunt for Sirius! Howard Rocks

I would really doubt pay-radio would be censored.
...and if they DO censor him he'll just move onto then next gold mine.

[Marnieworld]

16. I call Bullshit

I listen to Stern daily and there is no censorship or delay at all. He wouldn't put up with it and I'm sure would end the show first. I think with Mel Karmazin in charge Howard is safe to be Howard. This is all bullshit perpetuated by Clear Channel and other old fashioned broadcasters that do not want Satelite to have an advantage (no censorship) over them that they can't compete with. It's unconstitutional and a very slippery slope. HBO is owned by Time Warner who also has quite a lucrative pay per view porn business. They can't regulate everything that is part of a private contract. This is just more anti-speech tactics but they won't win in this case.

[SidDithers]

19. I agree...

Stern has said time and again, that regulating content that is not illegal, on a for-pay service is the beginning of a very slippery slope, and could eventually be applied to books or political speech.

Good post.

Sid

[sarcasmo]

22. Maybe this is a rumor started by XM.

[Sandpiper]

45. This story was put forth by an XM business partner

Rupert Murdoch's Newscorp.

[Montauk6]

72. Notice that nowhere in the story did any of the reporters get a comment

from either a Sirius spokesman or Stern himself (listen, the guy LIVES for being asked to comment). Murdoch's had it in for Stern a very long time. I notice that Cavuto had on as an "expert" Chaunce Hayden who's no less obnoxious now than he was when he was a host on the (memory lane time) long defunct Eyada.com Internet radio network.

[sarcasmo]

20. Glad I didn't sign up. I new this would happen but not this quickly.

[loitus360]

21. Umm..

It's NOT happening..

[NashVegas]

26. Two Related Articles

from Billboard radio monitor:

http://billboardradiomonitor.com/radiomonitor/news/business/leg_reg/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001883095

But Stern said in his morning broadcast that the story amounts to a whole lot of nothing: “I have not received any directives from Sirius," Stern said. "What a non-story. I don’t think it will happen."

The Post quoted Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television, at Syracuse University, who noted, "I believe this is just an attempt to put things in place if and when the government turns up the heat on satellite radio, much like it has with cable from time to time. In the end, it won’t mean much to the average listener or advertiser."

Wired:

http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,70057-0.html?tw=wn_tophead_3

It's hard to argue with a half billion incentives. But -- aside from cash -- it's hard to see what satellite could do for Stern that podcasting couldn't do better. If his primary motivation for ditching traditional radio wasn't money but escape from the FCC's censors, as I believe it was, the internet would have been a better choice, hands down.

[Snivi Yllom]

28. I knew it

too funny, it was inevitable

[loitus360]

29. What was?

The writing of a non-factual article which has already been said to be BS?

[loitus360]

33. UPDATE: From Howard 100 news at Noon..

Stern commented that his contract allows for no such limits to be placed on his show. They will go into more detail with a short interview w/ Stern and also comments from Sirius in 30 minutes. I'll update this post with the details.

[henslee]

36. This is all being done for publicty. Trust me.

[loitus360]

37. With Rupert Murdoch's NY Post?

He who has business dealing's with XM?

[henslee]

38. I see your point but if Howard catches a cold,its news in NY, Post or not.

[Nye Bevan]

42. Gosh-darn it

Those sons of a gun.

[Sandpiper]

43. Stern said today this is a LIE, Consider the source of this story

The Rupert Murdoch owned New York Post, the same Rupert Murdoch who does business with XM, Sirius's rival.

[pro_blue_guy]

44. I'm sorry, but that is hilarious!

Oh Howard, will you ever win?

[Edgewater_Joe]

47. Connect The Dots: NY POST - FOX - XM

Rupert Murdoch owns both the POST and FOX.

FOX just signed an exclusive contract with Sirius' competitor, XM, for its block of talk shows with Repunk Tenth-Wits O'Liely, Snowjob, and Gibson (along with their pseudoliberal lapdog Colmsie).

The last quarter was the first quarter that Sirius beat XM for subscriptions.

Do the dots connect yet, people?

[Sandpiper]

48. I can't believe people can't see through the BS right away

An XM business partner quotes an "anonymous source" that the rival company is going to start censoring their biggest source of new subscribers.

Yellow journalism at its finest.

[Ian David]

51. Maybe they can create a special channel called "Howard Stern Bleeped"

It would be exactly the same as their regular Howard Stern Channel, except that there would be a 10-second time delay and it would be bleeped.

Regular Howard Stern would broadcast as usual on its own channel.

Coming Soon: When you rent porn, you'll be able to switch between naked and "dry-hump" on your DVD player.

[rinsd]

53. LOL

Considering how many channels he got devoted to him, I think they could make that work.

For those people who want to see things like Pulp Fiction without all the f-bombs and icky blood.

[Ian David]

55. I'm waiting for Howard Stern en Espanol and Howard Stern Sports n/t

[Edgewater_Joe]

57. And You Can Bet That Stern LOVES It!

So do I, truth be told -- I own some stock in SIRIUS.

[rinsd]

52. But Sirius must be hated and fail...

...because XM signed up AAR.

[Rosco T.]

65. check 'em both out at BuyBlue.org before you get too cheeky... n/m

[high density]

66. XM: 75% blue, Sirius 41% blue

XM has given a total of $8,000 in contributions, Sirius has given $11,800. Hardly earth-shattering amounts of money from either one. I recently subscribed to XM because they have Air America Radio and the radio was very low cost.

[rinsd]

67. No problem....

Sirius actually gave more money to Democrats than XM did, percentages aside(based on the poster below me).

But you knew what I was alluding to, this stupid "war" against Sirius because XM made AAR a deal they couldn't refuse and Sirius choose not match it.

Considering who owns XM, I would have thought those days were behind us.

http://www.xmradio.com/newsroom/screen/press_release_1999_06_08.html

Both are decent services with a multitude of offerings. Personally I think we can drop this argument of which station is more pure ideologically.

On Edit: I do realize my comment is what elicted this continuation of "hosilities" and for that I apologize.

[shadowknows69]

78. Sirius has SIrius Left talk

It's not bad. I've never heard much of either AA or SL but their programming is by no means saturated by the right only. Hell they gave Eminem (author of the song "Mosh") his own show. Also they made Fox leave.

[Montauk6]

73. Plus, think about it folks, why WOULD they censor Stern at THIS point?

Have you ever listened to Sirius Raw Dog? The Wiseguy Show??? The f-words are almost Wagnerian! And that's been on for, what, 4 years? Even Lynn Samuels, when she joined, enjoyed full usage of the naughty words. So, regardless of what your Howard sympathies lie, what sense would it make for Sirius to start schoolmarming the biggest name in radio after they've signed him for an ungodly amount of cash?

Nah, it just shows ONCE AGAIN the credibility of the Newscorp gang (zero is way too high at this point).

[Yavin4]

56. Stern Gets More Federal Regulations Than The Entire Coal Mining Industry

That's the world we live in folks.

[JPZenger]

58. They Need Stern to be outrageous ... within limits

Sirius has tens of millions invested in Stern. The last thing they want is for him to be too restrained. If they don't attract millions of new subscribers, they will be in deep financial do-do. However, they need to protect their investment by making sure he doesn't say something that could cause pressure to shut him down. It is perfectly understandable that they have him on a time delay. For example, if he said something that seemed to promote rape, race riots or pedophilia, they could be under pressure to take him off the air. By watching for the extreme excesses, they avoid that kind of problem.

[confludemocrat]

70. True. and as I say above he has used the "dump button" on his own already

he knows perfectly well what is and is not for his own good.

[Imalittleteapot]

59. Sounds like a marketing ploy.

We gotta curb that nasty man. Stern's ratings will jump as a result of Kaplan's piece.

[WinkyDink]

62. For a half-billion dollars, they could censor me, too.

Poor baby.

[MrSlayer]

64. This is bullshit and it hasn't happened before.

I've listened to every second of every show thus far and the only thing that was ever cut was when Sal was doing his revelation and he accidentally said a person's name that should not have been said and it was cut to keep the person anonymous.

Stern will not be censored on Sirius nor should he be.

[shadowknows69]

75. I work for a sirius call center. ask me (almost) anything

Howard certainly brought them in over the holidays but I've cancelled almost as many because of him coming to sirius and Fox leaving. The Fox fanatics are hilarious and I have to bite my tongue a lot.

[benny05]

77. Faux News is only on XM now, ewww

Well, I have XM but we have it because it runs beautifully in a nav system in the car and we like most of the channels, including channel 150 which is pretty raucous.

[shadowknows69]

79. We've lost quite a few customers to Fox leaving

And these former customers almost inevitibly go out of their way to make some political statement, or slam CNN and NPR (As the Loony liberal left of the media. huh?) or say something about not wanting to support a pervert like howard stern. I wish I could make a comment about O'loofa. One guy that was slamming stern mentioned how much he'd miss his elvis channel and I'm thinking. You moron. In his early days the person you would have been back then was calling elvis the devil himself with his electric pelvis smashing the virtue of young people everywhere.

[confludemocrat]

81. What? No mention here of Stern's evisceration of Neil Cavuto yesterday

both prior to and during his on-air exchange with the guy, doing better work at showing with no equivocation just what America is up against with scum like that.
You gotta hear that somehow.

[SkipNewarkDE]

83. Stern on Cavuto

The great thing about Stern on Cavuto is that he basically made it obvious (without saying it explicitly) that Fox News is the great misinformer. The biggest problem with Fox is that they will have ANY blabbermouth with an opinion, and prop that person up to be an "expert."

[Montauk6]

85. To use the Fox brand of evasive language

"It's been said that Fox News SUCKS."

[confludemocrat]

88. Exactly. Stern exposed it better than any MSM source n/t

[depakid]

86. He should have had something in his contract about that

If he didn't, then he's probably out of luck- and should have seen this coming.