{"id":786,"date":"2006-01-03T22:12:04","date_gmt":"2006-01-04T03:12:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/stern-effect\/"},"modified":"2006-01-03T22:12:04","modified_gmt":"2006-01-04T03:12:04","slug":"stern-effect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/stern-effect","title":{"rendered":"Stern Effect"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve listened to Howard Stern<\/a>‘s radio show since 1983 (I was 12). A lot of my friends refuse to believe this. Others think it makes perfect sense. When Howard first announced his move to satellite radio, many asked me if I’d buy a receiver and pay $12.95 a month to listen to him.<\/p>\n

“Of course I will!” I said.<\/p>\n

At the time, there was a lot of skepticism about Howard’s move. The stereotype was that his listeners were poor schlubs who wouldn’t pay to listen to radio. The analysts contended that Howard would have to draw at least 1 million new subscribers to Sirius<\/a> to warrant his massive contract.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, a friend of Amy bought her a Sirius receiver last year for Christmas. We activated the account a few weeks ago, and I began listening to The Chill<\/a> when I was around the house.<\/p>\n

Last week, I thought I’d buy a newer unit, and get a car kit installed so I could listen on the way to work. Know what I discovered?<\/p>\n

You can’t find a Sirius unit for sale in the NY\/NJ area. The Sportster Replay, which I planned to pick up, is impossible to find. Most of the other units are also sold out. (The Circuit City<\/a> & Best Buy<\/a> stores I stopped in sure had a lot of XM units for sale. Good for them.)<\/p>\n

Now, I knew that Stern would easily pass the 1 million mark, but I have a feeling that next quarter’s financial statement will include a shocking amount of new subscriptions. But that’s what people get for underestimating the appeal of Howard Stern. For 20+ years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve listened to Howard Stern‘s radio show since 1983 (I was 12). A lot of my friends refuse to believe this. Others think it makes perfect sense. When Howard first announced his move to satellite radio, many asked me if I’d buy a receiver and pay $12.95 a month to listen to him. “Of course … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Stern Effect”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-suburbs"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4C7K-cG","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1514,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/best-invasion-of-privacy","url_meta":{"origin":786,"position":0},"title":"Best Invasion of Privacy","author":"Gil","date":"May 20, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week, my Sirius radio went kaput, the result of a frayed wire from the antenna. I was faced with two choices: buy a new antenna ($40) or get a new radio ($139-$149). (The third choice, listening to terrestrial radio, was no option at all.) Given that the existing radio\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Business"","block_context":{"text":"Big Business","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/big-business"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=virtualmemories-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000FMPGIY","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1244,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/a-cult-of-one","url_meta":{"origin":786,"position":1},"title":"A Cult of One","author":"Gil","date":"December 12, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Before I got a Sirius radio, I used to listen to sports-talk a lot during my drive home. It was a choice of that, politics, or pop music that even I find unbearable. I grew tired of the institutional egomania of the Mike & the Mad Dog show, so I\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 1 comment","block_context":{"text":"With 1 comment","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/a-cult-of-one#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":312,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/i-was-seriously-thinking-about-hiding-the-receiver","url_meta":{"origin":786,"position":2},"title":"I was seriously thinking about hiding the receiver . . .","author":"Gil","date":"August 24, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Article in Forbes about the artificial hurdles that satellite radio faces. Seems that the National Association of Broadcasters actually argues, in front of Congress, that competition would be bad for radio. The NAB also has a history of messing with innovation and stifling consumer choice: In 1945 many AM incumbents,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10415,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-225-howard-chaykin","url_meta":{"origin":786,"position":3},"title":"Episode 225 – Howard Chaykin","author":"Gil","date":"July 3, 2017","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 225: Howard Chaykin \"I want to be loved; I just don't work too hard at it.\" Comics legend Howard Chaykin joins the show to talk about his career, the early assignment he'll never live down, getting clean and being boringly sober, how Gil Kane taught him how\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/chaykinstudio.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/chaykinstudio.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/chaykinstudio.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/chaykinstudio.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/chaykinstudio.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8666,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-114-roller-coaster","url_meta":{"origin":786,"position":4},"title":"Episode 114 – Roller Coaster","author":"Gil","date":"April 14, 2015","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show: Brad Gooch - Roller Coaster \"History and culture are the rooms in which a person is living.\" Brad Gooch joins the show to talk about his new memoir,\u00a0Smash Cut: A Memoir of Howard & Art & the '70s & the '80s (Harper). We discuss his long relationship\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/gooch15.jpg?fit=1200%2C1021&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/gooch15.jpg?fit=1200%2C1021&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/gooch15.jpg?fit=1200%2C1021&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/gooch15.jpg?fit=1200%2C1021&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/gooch15.jpg?fit=1200%2C1021&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15332,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-492-howard-chaykin","url_meta":{"origin":786,"position":5},"title":"Episode 492 – Howard Chaykin","author":"Gil","date":"June 28, 2022","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 492: Howard Chaykin \"I've always had an absolute obsession for the demimonde of sleaze, and New York had particular kind of demimonde-itude when I was a kid.\" Legendary comics creator Howard Chaykin rejoins the show for a WIDE-ranging talk to celebrate the conclusion of his Time2 opus,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/chaykin2022comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C517&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/chaykin2022comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C517&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/chaykin2022comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C517&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/chaykin2022comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C517&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/chaykin2022comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C517&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}