Stern said he has signed a five-year, multimillion-dollar contract with Sirius, a national distributor of commercial-free music and sports programming.

Locally, Stern's show is carried on Infinity Broadcasting Corp.'s WAQZ-FM 97.3 weekday mornings from 6 a.m. until 11 a.m.

Nationally, the show corners the radio market among males 18-49 years of age and ranks No. 1 in many of the 46 major markets where his show is broadcast.

In the spring Arbitron ratings for morning drive time in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, Stern's talk show was ranked No. 3 among adult men 18-34, behind WEBN-FM 102.7 and market leader WOFX-FM 92.5, both owned by Clear Channel.

"I'm tired of the censorship," Stern said in announcing the move to his listeners.

Stern has been involved in the two biggest radio fines ever imposed by the Federal Communications Commission - including a record $1.75 million settlement reached four months ago. "The FCC ... has stopped me from doing business," he said.

"It has been my dream to have the top-rated show in radio," Stern said in a statement. "Sirius - the future of radio - will take this dream to a whole new level." The FCC does not regulate it.

It's a new era for local radio jocks, predicted Robert Riggsbee, founder and president of Newtown-based Inside Media, a media planning and buying agency.

"Stern has been one of the most entertaining show hosts in radio history. For him to jump to satellite and leave the empire he's created sends a message to the talk radio industry," Riggsbee said. "That message is if he's leaving radio then anybody is vulnerable to the FCC. People will continue to be on pins and needles about how they conduct themselves on the air."

WLW-AM 700 broadcaster Willie Cunningham blamed the FCC for creating a climate of fear among on-air personalities.

"I don't care much for Stern's act, his shtick," Cunningham said Wednesday. "But I'll say this: when you have a major radio personality chased off the public airways by the henchmen at the FCC, it doesn't bode well for the First Amendment. And it doesn't bode well for the American listener."

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The Associated Press contributed. E-mail jeckberg@enquirer.com