There is a lot of news today reporting on the latest quarterly financial report from Sirius. Most seem to be negative on Sirius and the money they are paying Howard Stern. I think the Stern deal will go down in history as one of the best business moves ever made.

If Sirius hadn’t signed Howard Stern they would be about 2 million subscribers lighter. At $12.95 a month that is $155.40 per year totaling over $310 million generated by Stern the first year alone. Profits will come over time similar to cable television. Stern has single-handedly made Sirius the hip service everone wants while leaving XM for the older crowd. Howard Stern has clearly changed the competive landscape making XM the satelite radio company most likely not to survive.

The numbers tell the story … Sirius is signing up retail subscribers at a 2-1 pace over XM. One bright spot is that XM still has the most exclusive auto relationships, but they will be expiring over the next few years. However, even with those deals XM is losing money because of heavy discounting.

XM clearly needs its own Howard Stern. Congratulations Sirius!