Sirius Thought Major Corporations Would Advertise on Howard's Show.

[ZeroZed]

Howard got his payday the first contract; this second contract he obviously took a massive pay cut. This is evident for a number of reasons, including his decision to sue them for more money AFTER he re-signed, as well as his ongoing badmouthing of the company. I have long argued that Sirius understands that Stern's show is of marginal value to the company; what matters most to them at this point is being able to use his name in marketing and also having him signed exclusively nearly ensures that whenever he makes news or is on TV, Sirius also gets a mention. Basically, Stern is trading on his name and reputation...the issue of producing a good radio show barely enters into the equation.

As to advertisers...what is left of Stern's audience is not very attractive to them. Older white men are generally speaking not your primo demographic. But that demo does lend itself to bullshit advertisers who want to cheat on their wives, pay for sex/dates with women ("name your price"), need identity guard, etc. Back when he had the E! Show his male audience was younger, hence the Girls Gone Wild ads which were popular with guys in their 20s.

With barely any audience left, no major company is going to risk hooking their cart to his wagon as it might cause a lot of controversy. Back when he had millions tuning in, folks like Heineken and Budweiser could take a calculated risk because they were guaranteed shit-tons of ears listening to the ads; now....not so much.

Contrast the current version of THSS with a popular podcast like This Week in Tech (TWiT). TWiT receives millions of downloads each week and routinely has thousands of people in their chat rooms while the host is on air. TWiT fairly consistently has Ford Motors as a sponsor as well as Amazon (Audible). When Ford Motors buys a live-read for TWiT, they know almost exactly how many people will hear their ad (downloads are tracked), and they know the audience demographic pretty damn closely (men who love tech) so they do ads about how Ford cars contain Ford Sync and other neat tech. Now would Ford Motors buy ads on THSS? Fuck no. Ratings aren't given out and they probably only have Wiggy's claims. And think about what would happen if somebody started shouting NIGGER during a live read? It's a boycott just waiting to happen. Who needs that fucking headache?

[Former Glory]

Contrast the current version of THSS with a popular podcast like This Week in Tech (TWiT). TWiT receives millions of downloads each week and routinely has thousands of people in their chat rooms while the host is on air. TWiT fairly consistently has Ford Motors as a sponsor as well as Amazon (Audible). When Ford Motors buys a live-read for TWiT, they know almost exactly how many people will hear their ad (downloads are tracked), and they know the audience demographic pretty damn closely (men who love tech) so they do ads about how Ford cars contain Ford Sync and other neat tech. Now would Ford Motors buy ads on THSS? Fuck no. Ratings aren't given out and they probably only have Wiggy's claims. And think about what would happen if somebody started shouting NIGGER during a live read? It's a boycott just waiting to happen. Who needs that fucking headache?

I'd hazard a guess that Ford et. al. pays about 1/50 they would pay for a podcast ad than they pay to Sirius/XM for their ads.

You're right about them dialing in on their demographic. But it's a REAL limited market.

[ZeroZed]

I'd hazard a guess that Ford et. al. pays about 1/50 they would pay for a podcast ad than they pay to Sirius/XM for their ads.

You're right about them dialing in on their demographic. But it's a REAL limited market.

Not sure exactly what you're stating (maybe we agree even)....my point is that Ford can buy live reads on shows like TWiT that are effectively targeted at a specific audience (mostly young males) whereas Stern's ratings are either unknown or a closely guarded secret (because they're so low). Plus, Stern's aging 2012 demographic really isn't a desirable one...for Ford or many big companies. Then there's the risk of a boycott which could easily be triggered by a Stern rant, porn stars in the studio, etc.

Which is probably a good point to bring up...the fact that Stern pushes porn actresses on the show merely to help boost HowardTV profitability says volumes. Those radio porn bits could arguably be considered as infomercials for HTV...ads he doesn't actually have to pay for, hence the barrage of that shit on his show. If it were possible for him to compete for "real" advertisers, he sure wouldn't have porn stars in so much. The fact that he's willing to broadcast what amounts to soft-core porn pretty much validates he can't get revenue from legitimate endeavors.

[Former Glory]

Not sure exactly what you're stating (maybe we agree even)....my point is that Ford can buy live reads on shows like TWiT that are effectively targeted at a specific audience (mostly young males) whereas Stern's ratings are either unknown or a closely guarded secret (because they're so low). Plus, Stern's aging 2012 demographic really isn't a desirable one...for Ford or many big companies. Then there's the risk of a boycott which could easily be triggered by a Stern rant, porn stars in the studio, etc.

I think you may have brought me around to your way of thinking. I'm old school...But that shouldn't limit my way of thinking about marketing today...Perhaps a more targeted approach in radio is better. When I think of "newer methods" of marketing, I tend to think of dopey internet scamming-type ads that rely on stupid people to click on them to generate sales for some back alley jerk-off who knows where...But by targeting your specific market for a fraction of the normal radio cost makes a lot of sense.

Perhaps I was too quick to dismiss podcast ads.....it's giving me food for thought.

Thanks.