October 6, 2004 Archives

Howard Stern announced today that he'd be going to Sirius, the satellite delivered radio service, a year from January. Whether Viacom will find it in their best interest to keep him on the air for that year plus period is certainly being debated now.

I had speculated earlier that Stern would be part of the post-Janet Jackson fallout. Mel Karmazin is no longer at Viacom, and he was Stern's biggest supporter. I was probably wrong in connecting this to Janet Jackson... though maybe not 100%.

The whole Super Bowl, wardrobe malfunction affair has driven radio station operators, like Clear Channel, to reassess. Maybe Howard is feeling reigned in a little.

I see two interesting outcomes from this move. As little as I personally appreciate Howard Stern, he is a powerful force with his audience. He will give credibility to Sirius - get them additional subscribers. Their stock (not particularly pricey to begin with) is up almost 15% as I write this.

The second effect will be felt by people who don't listen to Stern and don't subscribe to satellite radio. Just as more adult or racy content on HBO, Showtime and even MTV, led the broadcast networks to spice up their programming to compete, a good showing by Stern might force the same shift on radio.

It would be ironic if Stern's move off-air ends up moving on-air toward his type of content.

This is a story that isn't completely played out by any means.

A few months ago I started allowing ***** ads on this site. It is an amazing process because they read the content that I've written (computer read that is) and place ads that are apropos... well, often apropos, not always.

So, how valuable a property is geofffox.com? I am currently averaging $.73 per day in commissions from clicks¹. As of yesterday, I passed the $100 mark, meaning at some point soon ***** will be sending me a check.

This $100 actually covers the cost of my web hosting service, so it ends up being pretty much a wash.

Meanwhile, if I'm making $.73 per day, imagine what a site with loads of traffic could produce. Yes, the Internet bubble burst, but those who held on may finally see a payday.

¹ - It is my understanding that I can't talk about this ad program on my website, so I've sanitized the specifics. Meanwhile, there is a tendency for friends to want to click an ad and get me additional pennies. Please don't, unless you would have as a normal course of visiting a website. It is much more interesting for me to watch this in a 'pure' environment.

I still haven't gotten this long distance thing straightened out. I think Sprint is currently my carrier of record. Who knows what I'm paying for long distance?

Tonight is the fourth or fifth time I have tried to reach GTC. I'm on hold again! We're at 35 minutes on the timer.

Here's what I've learned since the last time I posted this. I am not alone! Someone from California (I think) posted a comment saying that had gone through the same thing. It's good to have company, I suppose.

I have also found out, courtesy of Phil our engineering supervisor who has walked by, that the music on hold is by Enya.

Enya - if you're reading this, as nice as you must be, there's only so much of your music I can take. I have passed that point.

Blogger's note: Hung up this time at one hour 13 minutes. Great.