Howard Stern driving Canadians to grey market Sirius subscriptions

Reports from Canada indicate that as many as 80,000 people who would have subscribed to the Canadian version of Sirius Satellite Radio may be among the new subscribers who have pushed the US subscription figure above the 3 million mark. The reason can be summed up in two words: Howard Stern.

The outrageous shock-jock, whose satellite radio show begins next Monday, has a big following in Canada. But his programme on terrestrial radio was banned from Canadian stations in September 1997 when the Canadian Radio and Television Commission ruled that it breached domestic broadcast standards.

Sirius Canada has made it clear that it does not intend to make his satellite show available to Canadian subscribers, so many are buying grey market subcriptions to the US version via US billing addresses.

Source: Media Network