Howard Stern, Paul Harvey, Boston, Milwaukee

COULD HE CA$H OUT?

Stern Speculation, Harvey Loses Boston, Ratings




Citing language in SIRIUS Satellite Radio's most recent Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing, some radio insiders are wondering out loud if Howard Stern may have a contractual ability to cash out early!

While any mere mortal might have to sit through a long vesting period before exercising share options, Stern's clearly in league of his own. Could he potentially dilute the price with a big share dump? There are slightly differing interpretations of Howard's megadeal, said to be worth $500 million.

On the New York Radio Message Board, primarily restricted to radio and television insiders, the discussion begins here:

Posted by Jim Kingsland on January 11, 2006 at 11:56:01:

Interesting reading in the latest S3 filing by Sirius with the SEC.

“This prospectus relates to 34,375,000 shares of our common stock, par value $0.001 per share, which are held by One Twelve, Inc. and Chipombe LLC (each, a “Selling Stockholder” and collectively, the “Selling Stockholders”).

The shares of common stock may be sold from time to time by and for the account of the Selling Stockholders named in this prospectus. The Selling Stockholders may sell all or a portion of the shares of common stock from time to time in market transactions, in negotiated transactions or otherwise, and at prices and on terms which will be determined by the then prevailing market price for the shares or at negotiated prices directly or through a broker or brokers, who may act as agent or as principal or by a combination of such methods of sale. See “Plan of Distribution” on page 12 for additional information on the methods of sale.”

One Twelve is the company controlled by Stern which holds 31 million shares. Chipombe is an entity controlled by Stern’s agent. While this doesn’t mean they will dump all of the shares tomorrow, it sure does mean the best of times financially for Stern who also has the 5 year, $500 mln pay package. This will surely propel Howard to near the top of the Forbes Top 10 wealthiest celebrities list this year.

UPDATE: a new story from tomorrow's edition of the Hollywood Reporter. Wall Street's nervous about Stern's ability to cash out early, it's hitting the share price already. A late piece from Crain's New York here, as well.


Could changes be on the way at Greater Media's Boston FM talk station WTKK? Today General Manager Matt Mills announced his retirement. Since new regimes tend to bring in their own people, one wonders if this will prove to have a major impact on the station's future programming.


Today's Boston Herald mentions WBZ's stealth Paul Harvey cancellation, with generous amounts of annoying snark sprinkled on top:

WBZ-AM did not renew Paul Harvey’s contract. Bless their hearts. Apparently, the ol’ coot’s dispatches were rather expensive and his son, Paul Jr., was filing more of the daily reports than Dad. And now you know the rest of the story.

With a weekend host actually quitting over alleged infomercials being added to its lineup, there's a big uproar in Milwaukee over a local talk station's credibility. As they increasingly give up long-term viability (by killing off the audience) for quick upfront cash from typically-sleazy brokered programming, this is fast becoming a hot issue.

A hat tip to Perry Simon for this item, by Tim Cuprisin of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

Bob Landaas says he's been planning since November to exit the WTMJ-AM (620) financial show he's hosted for nearly two decades.

But he didn't say anything until he signed off at the end of Saturday morning's "Money Talk."

He says his departure came because of WTMJ's cancellation of Melinda Myers' "Plant Doctor" show and its replacement with "The Mutual Fund Show" out of Kansas City.

"I didn't want to be associated with that," Landaas tells Inside TV & Radio. "I'm the head of a $2 billion investment firm. Trust is what we offer. Once you have ethical issues like that, you have to stand up and draw a line."

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Stern image: NBC News