Stern Re-Ups At SiriusXM, With Video Long Tail

Part of the package of being a Howard Stern fan is going along for the ride as he renegotiates contracts. 

Another episode ended today when Stern announced a 12-year deal that includes another five years of the “The Howard Stern Show” and a new venture into video programming.

SiriusXM and Howard Stern Productions will use his audio and video library of performances, specials, and shows. The video plans will be announced later.

At the conclusion of the contract, Stern will be nearing his 73rd birthday.

There were plenty of alternatives for Stern, including a full-time streaming video presence -- he was somewhat of a pioneer in the pay-per-view TV business -- or podcasts, despite his distaste for them. 

Since this spring, Stern had been making veiled threats to leave the satellite service where his presence and his loyal fans are  a major draw. By various estimates, he makes $80 million a year, and brings $200 million of revenue to the company, which has total revenue of about $4 billion.

To some degree, the fates and fortunes of SiriusXM are linked. The service has 27 million subscribers, but it’s hard to know how many of them are there because of Stern, or would leave if he did. Analysts suppose SiriusXM didn’t want to find out .  

Earlier this year, in one of his rants about his contract, Stern said on the air: “It’s not even clear to me who works for who. I’m pretty sure if I left, it would be very bad for the company,” reported Bloomberg.com.

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