Howard Stern podcasts. I’m sure that I am not the first person who has thought of this idea, but I want to throw it out there and explain why this makes sense for Howard Stern, Adam Curry, and everyone in between. Here is why I think the king of all media, and the newest of all mediums, should meet in the middle and give each other a boost.
Pod Casting Needs A Hero
I know, Adam Curry is doing just fine. But come on…I think what little mass appeal he had, went out with Boyz II Men in 1995. Are you telling me that you didn’t say “Adam Curry? Adam Curry from MTV? That guy?” when you first heard that he was the man behind the pod casting revolution? Trust me, for now he is best suited to be the unsung hero in the background. Pod casting needs someone who can carry this torch and singlehandedly bring this medium to the masses, transforming it from geek toy into must have. Howard Stern is the self-proclaimed king of all media, and rightfully so. Movies, radio, tv, books, and most recently the web…he has the midas touch when it comes to new media. Offering his uncensored show via pod cast for download on the web, would instantly bring the concept of pod casting to millions of iPods that now sit filled with Dave Mathews albums simply because their owners don’t know any better.
Stern Needs A Boost
Come this winter, when Howard Stern makes his much hyped move to the wild west that is satellite radio, he will be in a position that he has not been in for a long time. He will be losing listeners, and will be facing an uphill battle, the likes of which he has never faced. Uncensored and living it up on FCC free, paid radio, Stern will no doubt lose millions of listeners who decide that hearing his show for 20 minutes each morning on the way to work, just doesn’t justify the equipment costs and subscription fees that come with following Stern to his safe haven. One has to admire his willingness to move and take a chance on satellite, but you can’t help but wonder if he is overestimating the number of people that will choose to go with him. Adding Stern pod casts to the mix will allow potential listeners to still enjoy Stern’s show (for a fee… see below) without committing to the whole Sirius package. Despite what some say, content is still king, and in this new media world, people love getting this content a la carte.
Closing Argument
Most people listen to Stern during their morning commute, which leaves about 4/5 of each show, missed by his core audience simply due to time and place constraints. In my case, I am lucky to catch 8 minutes of the show between my front door and my office. If I get in the car during commercial time, forget it. I get none.
I would however, happily download Stern pod casts and listen to them at work, or at the gym, or anywhere else on my iPod…at my leisure. They already offer free streaming versions of their content if you are a subscriber, why not offer pod cast versions to subscribers as well, and allow non-subscribers to buy content a la carte as well? If Sirius were smart, they would offer the ability to download Stern pod casts (or any of their shows via pod cast for that matter) on a one day delay and charge a nominal fee of $0.50 to $1.00 per download. Under this setup, if the typical user downloaded 2/3 of the Stern shows in a given month, that is $14 per month, or $2 more per month than the standard Sirius subscription. I would be much more likely to do this than I would to purchase a Sirius subscription and applicable hardware.
May 18th, 2005 at 9:27 pm
Some quick thoughts as to why this will never happen:
October 14th, 2005 at 12:15 pm
Ok I just sat here for the past hour writing this really detailed response just to have it all thrown away because I didn’t enter the word Clownfart. What an asshole thing to do. So because of that my response is going to be very short and to the point…
Sirius should care about the “few quick bucks”. Anyone who looks at iTunes Music Store knows that “a few quick bucks” adds up. And anyone who looks at Sirius’s financial situation right now would be concerned if Sirius didn’t care about “a few quick bucks” because they need everthing they can get at this point.
The gentleman above is right about the 20 minute ride to work. 20 minutes a day is just not enough to pay for the Sirius hardware and subscription.
Right now, unfortunately for Howard, Content is King of All Media. Howard is a great content, Sirius is full of great content. It would be a very smart move to podcast thier content for their subscribers. I won’t be paying for the Sirirus hardware and subscription. I’ve already got an iPod, i don’t need any more devices. With that said, I would pay 13/month just for the content only if it were podcasted so I can listen when ever i wanted. I can’t take Howard with me after my 20 minute ride to work but I do have another 20 minute ride home, a 10 minute ride to the gym, 60 minutes at the gym, another 10 minutes home from the gym, 10 minutes to the grocery store, 60 minutes in the grocery store, 10 minutes home from the grocery store, etc. etc. Well you all get the point.
November 16th, 2005 at 3:04 pm
They may as well figure out a way to make some $ off the podcasts because some Stern fans are going to make them podcastable regardless. I’d be happy to pay for them but if I cannot, I will download them for free as my only option.
November 23rd, 2005 at 10:54 pm
Sirius radio already has a podcast selection. It only has two stations now: http://www.sirius.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Sirius/CachedPage&c=FlexContent&cid=1119299223942
and i don’t know if you can select these podcasts a la carte
December 13th, 2005 at 9:58 am
I totally agree. I can not believe that I will not be able to listen to Stern on my Train ride to work. If they make a Pod cast available we can download it to Sirius’s S50. As a matter of fact the can force the audience to purchase the S50 by only allowing to download to this Ipod type of device.
Sirius needs to make something happen. I really don’t want to listen to David Lee Roth on 92.3.
Fa Fa Fluki to all.
December 14th, 2005 at 4:49 pm
Why not sell a Sirius “net” subscription that would allow us to download the daily show as a podcast (MP3 with any DRM protection Sirius would require)?
This would keep the revenue stream whole, allow iPodders to timeshift and listen to the whole show, and still allow Sirius to sell yearly or multi-year subscriptions.
December 16th, 2005 at 12:29 am
How about a Sirius/Tivo merger where video and/or audio podcasts are pushed to your Tivo?
December 17th, 2005 at 5:12 pm
SIRIUS PODCAST PLEASE
January 25th, 2006 at 1:47 pm
what about this: it is already happening. you can download howard so easily each day after the show. it is happening in such a way as to make tracking difficult. i remember when the music industry was freaking out about mp3’s and trying to some how block them from even existing. then comes along steve jobs and his itunes/ipod and make it profitable.
i remember when metallica used to sue fans caught downloading content. then they sort of did a 180 by offering each and everyone on of their concerts for download in uncompressed format for a nominal fee ($15 for over two hours of music). they sort fo fought fire with fire and gace fans an reason to spend money.
so shoudl howard/sirius. why woudl i buy a crappy s50 that cant hold a candle to my ipod mini in terms of it’s player abilities. i can download howard in mp3 format, load to my ipod and play on my own terms,
i would more than gladly pay $13 a month if sirius offered such a service.
October 2nd, 2006 at 2:28 pm
Yes, it’s true you that it would be a good idea to make podcasts available (legally…you can already get it illegally). HOWEVER, if you’re going to spend anywhere near $12 a month to buy podcasts, you may as well get the subscription. There’s a ton of other great channels on Sirius that I’ve become a fan of since getting Sirius, like The Who channel, comedy channels and sports. I don’t know…I really think you have to try it to really see the value. I bought my parents a 1-year subscription and they told me yesterday they haven’t listened to ‘terrestrial’ radio since–and they are NOT Howard Stern fans. I’ve driven by their house late at night and can still see the ‘blue glow’ of their unit–it’s on 24 hours a day and broadcasting through every radio in the house. Very cool and worth the money. I never thought I’d pay for radio, but I’m glad I did (and no, I don’t work for Sirius). It’s also better than XM, if you do a side-by-side comparison.
January 1st, 2008 at 11:12 pm
Joe or anyone,
Could someone email me a link to download the show? I have a subscription but cant listen to it when I work out in my basement. my email is censt62001@hotmail.com