Posts Tagged ‘sirius xm’

Stock Nazi

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011


No stock for you!

Howard Stern‘s production company, One Twelve Inc., and agent Don Buchwald are suing Sirius XM for not giving up stock they were promised, via AllThingsDigital

According to the suit, Sirius did give Stern his initial stock award after he signed on in January 2006, but it failed to pay him out on any others even though it “exceeded its own internal estimates by more than 2 million subscribers” each year for the remainder of the original contract.

“Stern enabled Sirius to surpass its internal subscriber targets by more than 2 million subscribers in 2006 and in 2007,” the suit alleges. “Because of this success and the revenue that it brought into the company, [Stern] was entitled to receive the performance-based stock awards Sirius promised [him].”

So Sirius is stiffing Stern. Not a particularly wise move given the latter’s irascibility and reach of his daily radio show. If there’s a PR battle to be fought here, Sirius will likely lose it first thing tomorrow morning when Stern’s back on the air again.

Reached for comment, Sirius claimed to have met its obligations to Stern. “SIRIUS XM just signed a contract through 2015 with Howard Stern, and he is a valued part of our company,” spokesman Patrick Reilly told me. “We were thus surprised and disappointed by the subsequent legal action initiated by his production company and agent. We have met all of our obligations under the terms of our 2004 agreement with Howard, his agent and production company.”

Here’s the suit (opens as PDF), which I think will be worked out.

Goodbye Static!

Thursday, August 3rd, 2006

I drive an old pick-up truck most of the time– a rock-bottom barebones 1996 Mazda B2300 with something like 135,000 miles on it– and when it comes to listening to music I have only three options: AM, FM, or trying once again to dislodge the copy of The Cure’s Disintegration, which has been stuck in the casette player since about 2003.

To put satellite radio or an MP3 player in the poor beleagured truck would be like dressing up a pig in pearls. Why bother?

But for those who drive newer vehicles, an iPod- and satellite-connected vehicle will soon be de rigeur

In the latest boost to its dominance in portable music players, Apple Computer Inc. is teaming with General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Mazda Motor Corp. to integrate the iPod into car audio systems.

GM and Ford are the nation’s No. 1 and No. 2 automakers, and the new alliances mean the iconic audio gadget will now be compatible with more than 70 percent of the new 2007 model vehicles sold in the United States, Apple said Thursday….

Demand for built-in satellite radio features has also prompted Ford to expand its relationship with Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. VanDagens said more than 90 percent of Ford and Lincoln Mercury cars will offer satellite radio by the 2008 model year.

What will be truly interesting is the impact that standardized satellite radio availability will do to the market share of local radio stations. They don’t call the peak listening hours "drive time" without reason. As more drivers tune out the radio and tune in their favorite satellite station or MP3 playlist, the over-the-air radio industry will be forced to undergo transformative change– or face the same decline that cable brought to the Big 3 Networks.