"By Stern, of course, we mean broadcasting giant Howard Stern, the self-coronated king of all media. His impending January switch to subscription satellite service Sirius Satellite Radio leaves traditional, or terrestrial, radio executives on edge as they wait to see how many of his 12 million listeners make the switch.

"Stern isn't the only problem for radio operators. Internet radio is gathering steam, offering free music without the commercials. Listeners who like what they hear can immediately download stuff and store it on their iPods...

"'A year ago, most any radio CEO would have told you [these things were] having almost no impact,' says Frederick Moran, an analyst with Stanford Group, a full-service brokerage in Houston. 'This is the first time radio is seeing competition other than themselves and other established media,'...

"Sirius is expected to nearly double its subscriber growth in 2006. In contrast, radio-station ratings were flat for the spring quarter according to ratings tracker Arbitron, which recorded nearly 1% national growth for the same period last year. And because of the ratings troubles, stations are beginning to lose their pricing power for ads...

"Meantime, breakups and spinoffs will shake up industry leaders Clear Channel Communications and Infinity Broadcasting — most likely before the end of the year...

"Infinity is trying to beat back the satellite onslaught. It has registered a dozen Internet domain names in major markets, all of which include a station's frequency numbers, followed by 'freefm.com,' the radio industry news web site FMBQ reported Tuesday. The message is clear: Satellite is a pay service; Infinity's terrestrial radio is free...

"At San Antonio-based Clear Channel...(t)he company's new ad-pricing strategy, dubbed 'less is more,' seeks to improve prices by reducing ad inventory. Clear Channel's ad count dropped an estimated 27% during the quarter.

"The less-is-more strategy might pay off in the future if it woos back listeners put off by long commercial blocks...

"But while less may be more in the long run, Clear Channel's short-term profit outlook could be summed up as less is less. Wall Street analysts expect quarterly earnings of 38 cents a share, a 13% decline from the same period a year ago. They expect full-year earnings of $1.23 a share, an 11% drop."



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