HEINEKEN, VERMONT TEDDY BEAR SIGN STERN AD DEALS Katy Bachman – MediaWeek Howard Stern’s first day on Sirius Satellite Radio was commercial-free. But tomorrow, the shock jock announced the show would be airing six minutes of advertising per hour from advertisers such as the Vermont Teddy Bear Company, Heineken and some online gambling Web sites.
Advertisers won’t be paying the same rates they paid for Stern when he was on traditional radio, especially since there is still no way to verify how many of Sirius’ 3.3 million subscribers tuned-in to Stern. Advertisers certainly aren’t paying the $20,000 rate floated last year by Sirius execs, nor the $27,000 Stern got for a live read while he was on traditional radio. Buyers report that Sirius’ is getting less than half what it originally asked, but even that’s too rich without ratings.
Stern is being paid $100 million a year at Sirius, not including the $220 million in stock he was awarded last week. He represented about $100 million in advertising revenue for CBS Radio.
While Stern is unlikely to hit $100 million for Sirius any time soon, former Howard Stern stations are also facing revenue challenges. In a recent Bear Stearns analyst report, Victor Miller predicts that former Howard Stern stations could see declines in the 25 to 30 percent range. |