Byline: Cynthia L. Webb

Shock jock Howard Stern 's decision to jump ship from traditional radio gives a boost to the emerging technology of blasting tunes, news and other staples of AM and FM radio via satellite.

The New York Times gets the clairvoyance award, for running a piece on the growing reach of satellite radio on Monday, two days before the announcement on Stern's departure in 2006 from Viacom 's Infinity Broadcasting to Sirius Satellite Radio . The Times piece, which focused on National Public Radio veteran Bob Edwards 's new show at XM Satellite Radio and other developments in a satellite radio business kick-started by new, personality-driven shows.

"They are being broadcast only on satellite radio, a new medium that became broadly available in the United States just three years ago. The hope among [XM] executives ... is that the radio personalities will motivate some of their devoted fans to pay XM's subscription rate of $9.99 a month. ' Morning Edition ,' for example, grew to about 13 million listeners a week over the 24 years that Mr. Edwards was the host. Sirius Satellite Radio, XM's competitor, charges $12.95 a month. The shows highlight a change in the landscape of radio. XM, started in Washington in 2001, and Sirius, started in New York in 2002, have sought to grab more of the audience of conventional radio, but XM's recruitment of well-known personalities at both ends of the programming spectrum has been the most aggressive effort to date to win listeners," the newspaper wrote. * The New York Times: The Broad Reach of Satellite Radio (Registration required)