As you may be aware, Howard Stern was recently fired from commercial, or
terrestial,
radio. Though it's being speculated by the news media [
http://www.kurthanson.com/
archive/news/030904/index.asp ], it's doubtful he'll transfer his show to
satellite radio,
since he's already expressed his opinion about the space-based form of
communication:

"Satellite radio is where you go after you suck in commercial radio."

I disagree with Howard's opinion, though I admit I don't know much about
satellite radio. I
simply think the King of All Media doesn't understand, or isn't recognizing, the
differences
between satellite radio and terrestial radio. He seems to view satellite radio
as trying to
emulate terrestrial radio, and though it's certain that satellite radio is using
traditional
forms of radio as a model, it's also becoming increasingly clear that sat radio
is morphing
into an entire different ballgame. But let's not go into that now; I want to
talk about
Internet radio.

Now entertain the (remote) possibility that Howard turns to Internet radio. As
noted by a
reader of Kurt Hanson's Radio And Internet Newsletter, should Howard decide to
enter our
beloved field, he would "give the Internet radio industry a much needed shot in
the arm". [
http://www.kurthanson.com/archive/news/031004/index.asp ] I agree, but what are
the
odds of that happening? We're probably still a few years from that. A big name
like
Howard's would certainly put Internet radio on everyone's radar, including some
influential
advertisers.

From a marketing point of view, Internet radio could use a big name like Howard
Stern's.
This would attract advertisers to the medium, and a whole section of mainstream
America.
Folks wanting to continue listening to Howard's provocative entertainment would
flock to
computer stores in droves to make sure they had the equipment to listen to the
King of All
Media's next monologue. Yet from a consumer's (and an independent Internet
radio
broadcaster's) perspective, would Howard's entry into streaming media do more
harm than
benefit our emerging industry? Would the entry of a big-name player like Howard
attract
the kind of attention we don't want, such as more media regulation and higher
licensing
fees? We've been struggling to retain Internet radio's identity as an
unregulated (or less-
regulated) form of media; a behemoth like Howard Stern could topple streaming
media's
ability to retain the favor of our lawmakers.

Don't get me wrong--I'm all for freedom of speech. Although it's been awhile,
there's
been many a day that I've enjoyed listening to Howard's radio show. I'm just
not certain
his entry in Internet radio would help our industry in the long run.