• by David Kaplan , February 10, 2005

So far, he's gotten shock jock Howard Stern to say "yes" to satellite radio, but Mel Karmazin, CEO of Sirius Satellite Radio, couldn't get the same enthusiasm from Steve Jobs, Apple Computer's chief executive.

Karmazin, the former chief operating officer of Viacom who officially took over at Sirius last month, said he's had discussions with Jobs about adding satellite radio to Apple's ubiquitous iPod music player.

"I've spoken to Steve Jobs, and current thinking is that they don't need to put a satellite radio in their box," said Karmazin, offering the keynote address at Wednesday morning's opening of the McGraw-Hill 2005 Media Summit. The summit was being held at the company's New York headquarters.

An Apple spokesman did not have a comment on Karmazin and Jobs discussing a deal.

The anecdote was intended to note that the future success of satellite radio depends on content and the ability to distribute it across multiple devices.

For the past year, Sirius and its larger rival XM Radio have cut deals with carmakers to install satellite radios in future car models. Sirius has recently signed agreements with Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler to offer its radio device exclusively to new buyers. Meanwhile, XM, which has 3.2 million subscribers to Sirius' 1.5 million, has exclusive deals with General Motors Corp. and Honda Motor Co.

Under terms of these deals, the satellite companies give the carmakers a share of the monthly subscription fees generated by the factory-installed devices. Karmazin said Sirius also helps pay for the initial installation.

Aside from cars and portable devices, Sirius has also been looking to strike deals with advertisers and content providers, such as in the case of Stern, who will sign on with Sirius next January after his contract ends with his current employer Infinity Radio. Stern, who is very close to Karmazin, inked a five-year, $500 million deal with Sirius last fall.

Karmazin also discussed the advantages satellite radio has over traditional AM-FM radio, including dual revenue streams from subscriptions and advertising. Last week, J.P. Morgan released a survey which found that satellite radio's main appeal is the promise of commercial-free content.

So far, only music channels remain ad-free, while talk shows and sports channels are ad-supported. About 55 of Sirius' 120 channels currently run commercials. Karmazin promised that music programming would remain ad-free.

"We are very sensitive to the fact that one of the main reasons people sign on with us is due to the promise of lower commercial loads," he said. Still, he pledged that when Howard Stern's new show airs on Sirius, "I can assure you there will be less advertising than what it currently is on terrestrial radio."