L.A. celebrities, veteran DJs tape shows for satellite radio.

Howard Stern will have plenty of company in the world of satellite radio--and much of it is home grown.

Nearly a dozen satellite hosts originate programs from Los Angeles-area studios, and some of the names make up a motley list of radio personalities, celebrities and pop culture icons.

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. boasts the largest stable of L.A. talent.

"If they happen to be located in Los Angeles, we make it easy for them to broadcast there," said Sirius spokeswoman Elise Brown. "It really depends on the talent we find. If it's a program not available anywhere else, and it sits with our programming strategy, we go with it."

Among the more notable L.A. hosts is Nina Blackwood, one of five original MTV video jockeys who launched their careers with the nascent cable channel in 1981. Blackwood, who hosts two syndicated radio shows for United Stations Radio Network, was recruited to talk on Sirius' "Big '80s" program in May.

Blackwood said she sees satellite radio as a new frontier, much like MTV was in its day. Still, she noted that there is room for traditional radio and satellite stations in the industry.

"One is not going to throw the other one out," she said. "Some people are not going to get satellite radio, and there is always something to be said about localized radio. I think the satellite radio trend is going to be similar to what happened with cable in that the growth is not going to happen all at once. But it's definitely here to stay."

Satellite radio works in much the way traditional radio does. Some shows, like Blackwood's, are prerecorded, while others are live and take callers. The main differences: satellite radio is commercial-free and hosts are unfettered by Federal Communications Commission regulations.

Blackwood, who works out of her home studio, offers commentary and background on artists, songs and pop culture. Though she has brought some MTV fans to Sirius, she said the audience includes a growing number of younger listeners who are discovering music of the era.

Model and actor Fabio (Fabio Lanzoni), who found fame on the cover of millions of romance novels, was tapped in July to provide "love patter" and introduce romantic ballads and soft pop music for Sirius Love/3. Fabio said satellite companies will transform radio in the same way DVDs overtook the video industry, and that the lack of federal oversight will allow satellite radio listeners to access original programming comparable to what viewers currently find on HBO and Showtime.

"I love everything about technology and it's one of my biggest hobbies," Fabio said. "So when the people from Sirius approached, I jumped at it because this is the next wave and everything is going to go satellite."

Joining Blackwood in the music category is former child star Barry Williams, who played Greg Brady on the "Brady Bunch" and who now hosts an all '70s format Sunday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Former KROQ disk jockeys Swedish Egil (Egil Aalvik) and Richard Blade, and B-52s frontman Fred Schneider host "First Wave" for Sirius, which plays classic alternative bands, including the Ramones, the Clash and Depeche Mode.

On the talk circuit, producer and host Doria Biddle broadcasts from a Wilshire Boulevard studio where she dissects entertainment and pop culture happenings on Sirius' gay and lesbian channel. "Out Q," which launched in February, also features New York-based co-host Frank DeCaro, who appears on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" and writes a column for The New York Times.

Biddle said the stigma of satellite radio is fading. "When I first told my friends about the program, they didn't know what satellite radio was," Biddle said. "But a lot have signed up now and are completely addicted."

On Sirius Left, Ben Mankiewicz co-hosts the left-leaning "Young Turks," an irreverent three-hour program oriented toward young adults in their 20s and 30s. From their studio on Wilshire Boulevard, the three hosts, Mankiewicz, Cenk Uygur and Jill Pike, aim to counter conservative talk radio hosts.

At first, the hosts questioned the legitimacy of doing satellite radio because, among other things, they had no idea how many people were listening. As Sirius' subscriber base has grown, Mankiewicz said he and his hosts have become bullish on the industry's future.

"As with cable TV, it's what everyone will have," he said. "I've never been on the ground floor of anything successful before. It's fantastic."

David Buffer, a spokesman for XM Satellite Radio, said the company has no immediate plans to expand in Los Angeles, since most of the shows originate at its Washington, D.C., headquarters. XM's only local offerings include a 24-hour weather and traffic channel and a Playboy Radio show, and a series of concerts debuting this fall, two of which--Snoop Dogg and Tom Petty--will be taped in Los Angeles.