Are Howard Stern’s threats to quit just “empty talk?” Or is it, like the analysts say, “positioning for contract negotiations?” This is the big question posed in an article by AP business reporter Deborah Yao, as Stern’s contract with XM/Sirius comes up for renewal next year.

Will Howard walk on the satellite radio company? He doesn’t need them. He doesn’t need terrestrial radio. It’s going to come down to how much energy, how much entrepreneurial spirit Howard Stern has.

Here’s a quote from The King Of All Media himself:

Tomorrow I could go on the internet and start my own channel with my own subscribers. You’d be able to click and watch us on TV, watch us in the studio live, streaming. You’d be able to listen to us streaming. You’d be able to get us on your iPhone. You’d be able to do everything right at the click of the internet. I wouldn’t even need to work for a company. I’d be my own company… So true it’s ridiculous.

This quote from Stern formed the jumping off point for Jeff Jarvis’ October 23 blog posting, “Howard Stern 3.0: The Future of Entertainment.”

On the internet, Stern would get the complete freedom he has long lusted after. He would share his revenue and value with no one but his staff. Now that we can listen to radio over the internet– on our internet-enabled phones – we can listen to him anywhere (is this why he has refused to allow Sirius to put him on the iPhone? I’m still unhappy about that). He would have direct relationships with his fans. He could charge them… He could sell advertising in new ways. Fans could get him anywhere, anytime. If he’s smart– and he is– he could open up enough tidbits to go viral, letting his audience market him for free.

Read the whole thing. It provides the insight that the AP’s business reporter couldn’t.

She mentions the new technological options in paragraph 24!

Stern could leave to start a new venture, perhaps a subscription service that sends his show to PCs and mobile devices. Sirius already streams Stern’s shows online and through the iPhone. Or he could explore more options in cable TV, where his first pay-per-view special, “Howard Stern’s Negligee and Underpants Party,” was offered in 1988.

Emphasis ours– Yao gets this part wrong… As Jarvis noted (and Jarvis knows about stuff like this), Stern is not streamed via the iPhone. (Google it!)

The only way to get Stern on an iPhone is to crack it open and muck with it, voiding the warranty. Rare is the geek with the guts to do it.

Cable TV? Seriously?

Stern will probably flee XM/Sirius. Some folks say that there aren’t enough people out there with the equipment capable of getting his content. See the first comment on Jarvis’ piece:

My bet is he signs for a 1 or two year extension. I don’t think Internet radio is ready to go portable into cars just yet, and morning drive is his market…

This guy has it backwards. People like Stern drive the technology, they don’t wait for it to develop before they jump in. (Sirius signed him for just that purpose– to induce people to buy the gadgets needed to get him via the bird in the sky and subscribe to the service.) Once Stern goes internet, the number of iPhones and other internet-enabled gizmos purchased will explode yet again– and this time, the hottest-selling app will have Stern’s content. Or maybe strike a deal with Apple. The possibilities are endless.