Sirius won’t rule out a buyout of Howard Stern’s contract with In...

Infinity officials wouldn’t comment. Sirius CEO Joseph Clayton said a buyout was one of 3 scenarios. Another “possibility” involving Stern is that Infinity could “chase him off the air,” Clayton said in response to an analyst, but he added that was “highly unlikely,” given that Stern’s ratings have soared since the Sirius announcement. A more likely possibility is Infinity’s letting its relationship with Stern “go on as is” until their contract expires at the end of 2005. As for a possible buyout, Clayton said: “If it’s in the benefit of Howard Stern, Infinity and Sirius Satellite Radio that something could be worked out earlier, that’s a possibility as well. But there are a lot of moving parts and it’s too early to comment on any of the above.” Asked whether Sirius anticipates more programming agreements as significant as those with Stern and the NFL, Clayton said other “properties” had aroused the company’s interest but nothing “on the magnitude of what we've seen over the last several weeks.” Clayton hailed Sirius’ 3rd quarter ended Sept. 30 as the most “eventful” in the company’s history. It was also the most successful in subscriber growth, he said. About 182,000 subscribers were added in the quarter, including 69,000 in Sept. alone. The company finished the quarter with 662,000 and broke 700,000 on Oct. 18. Sirius remains on track to reach a million subscribers in 2004, he said. Buoyed by the Stern announcement, Sirius brand awareness has reached 45%, and customer satisfaction 93%, Clayton said, citing industry surveys. Monthly churn reached “a new low” of 1.5% during the quarter, CFO David Frear said, and Sirius expects to finish the year with churn at the low end of the 1.7%-1.8% range predicted earlier. Subscriber acquisition costs (SACs) per gross activation fell to $229 in the quarter from $234 in the 2nd quarter, and were lower than had been forecast, Frear said.