DOCUMENT: Crime

Stern's $500 Million Satellite Deal

King of All Media nets Sirius money in five-year pact

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Stern's $500 Million Satellite Deal

OCTOBER 6--Howard Stern's defection from the broadcast dial to satellite radio--announced on air this morning--will net the King of All Media a financial windfall and cost Sirius Satellite Radio a whopping $100 million during each year of the five-year deal. In a new Securities and Exchange Commission filing, a copy of which you'll find below, Sirius reports that annual costs for the Stern venture will be "approximately $100 million per year" when the deal begins on January 1, 2006. That sum includes Stern's salary, stock, and incentive payments, and production and operating costs associated with his program. Sirius estimates that it will recoup the massive Stern payout through the "incremental" addition of one million new subscribers. (3 pages)