• by David Kaplan , December 9, 2004

Before you know it, Sirius Satellite Radio will be offering more than the foul-mouthed funniness of Howard Stern - the company plans a series of new technology offerings that executives argue will make its service as common as cable TV.

Someday soon, Sirius will be providing subscribers customized stock quotes, sports scores, and recording capabilities - plus, it'll even lock and unlock your car doors, said Joe Clayton, chairman of the satellite radio company's board of directors. Clayton spoke before investors at the UBS Warburg Media Week Conference at the Grand Hyatt New York on Thursday morning.

"We're 'tech-agnostic' - we provide service over the Internet and we want to look into iPod technology," Clayton said, commenting on the growth path the company has charted. "As an entertainment company, we want to be able to provide our service over as many platforms as possible. And we want to provide as many different services as possible, such as rear-seat video and even security for your car."

While noting that the announcement of having infamous radio talker Howard Stern sign on to produces shows for Sirius starting in January 2006 has boosted brand awareness, the company's future growth will largely be filled by deals with automakers to include Sirius as most cars now include AM and FM radio, Clayton said. Sirius presently has a deal with Toyota to offer the satellite radio to carbuyers through dealerships and import centers.

"Currently, our business comes from 25 percent automotive, 75 percent retail, and within the near future, those figures will be inverted," Clayton said. "Among the other services we plan to offer is navigational ability for the car. One day soon, this will be standard equipment in every vehicle. And it is not inconceivable that by 2015, we'll have 100 million subscribers via automakers."

Sirius' big markets are currently in Denver, Phoenix, and Houston, Clayton said. He did credit Stern with giving the company a huge lift on the coasts. Clayton further dismissed fears that Infinity, the Viacom radio producer that runs Stern's show, will try to sabotage the show's ratings before Stern's departure at the end of next year. And he isn't worried about potential struggles with the Federal Communications Commission over Stern's show either.

"Satellite is clearly treated differently than over the air broadcast," Clayton noted. "For example, we have a gay and lesbian station. We also have a Catholic station. Somebody somewhere could find that indecent. Who's to say? Sure, there will be limits to what is acceptable. But Howard [Stern] has been pushing those limits for more than two decades and he will continue to do so on Sirius. But there's a lot of misunderstanding about his show. If it were just being foul-mouthed, it wouldn't work. He talks about real things and makes them funny. That's the key to his success. And he'll enjoy more freedom to continue that."

Stern will host a show from 6 to 10 a.m. Mondays through Thursdays, with a "best of" running on Fridays. Also, Stern will produce two channels for Sirius, one of which will be an all-music format.

Aside from the addition of Stern, his former Viacom patron, Mel Karmazin is the new CEO, a position Clayton recently relinquished. It's uncertain at this point whether advertising will play much of a role in Sirius' revenues, Clayton said.

"I've been told that Mel knows a little something about advertising," Clayton said with a deadpan humor. "And I believe it. But advertising won't be a factor for us until we get 2 or 3 million subscribers. We're not interested in advertising say local dealerships. But by the time Howard comes on board, we should have at least 2 million and I'm sure he'll continue to be as big a draw for them as he is now."