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One pundit's view on the state of local radio and why sats are merging

P

petertrip

Inactive
Inactive User
Do Howard Kurtz's thoughts ring true in Houston?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/02/21/BL2007022100354_pf.html

The reason these two companies have 13 million subscribers willing to cough up $12.95 a month for something we all grew up thinking should be free is that commercial radio has self-destructed.

All these folks (including me) are paying for satellite because they're tired of cookie-cutter radio formats stuffed to the gills with commercials. They're also fed up with focus-grouped music stations that play the same 60 songs until you start hearing the chords in your sleep.

And local radio stations covering news? There are a few across the country. For the rest, forget about it.

Really, can you think of an industry (okay, maybe American automakers) that has frittered away such huge advantages and sent its customers scrambling for alternatives? I know 13 million isn't huge, but buying a radio and getting it installed is a hassle; if you could pre-order it in cars, which is the wave of the future with GM and other manufacturers, a lot more people would take the plunge.
 
petertrip said:
The reason these two companies have 13 million subscribers willing to cough up $12.95 a month for something we all grew up thinking should be free is that commercial radio has self-destructed.

All these folks (including me) are paying for satellite because they're tired of cookie-cutter radio formats stuffed to the gills with commercials. They're also fed up with focus-grouped music stations that play the same 60 songs until you start hearing the chords in your sleep.

And local radio stations covering news? There are a few across the country. For the rest, forget about it.
Click to expand...

First of all 13 million is a drop in the bucket compared to the number of listeners terrestrial radio has. And when you take into account the number of people who have multiple subscriptions the true number is even less. And it's growth has slowed to a crawl. Look at it another way...285 million (+/-) DON'T think it's worth $13/mo.

What's a "cookie cutter" format, and why is it bad? I look at the houses they're building in my neighborhood. Ugly colonial boxes that all look alike, 3 or 4 colors (all pastels) to choose from is all that diffrentiates them. Yet there are people willing to pay $350k + to buy them. Or cars...a Camry looks just like an Accord which looks just like a Malibu which looks just like an Altima which looks just like a 500 and so on. But they sell. Yet for some reason every radio station in America has to be a unique creation with huge playlists, a full news department and live jocks taking requests & dedications 24/7???? Spare me.

Terrestrial radio will be with us for a long time. Unless the satellite services can start generating black ink, they may not be.
 
Actually is over 14 million units and they figure 2.5 listeners per... so its over 35 million audience, not bad for anywhere..bigger than NYC or LA audiences. If you want to overlook 35 million people , go ahead. DISH and DirecTV have 13 and 14 million subscribers each, does anyone think that insignificant? The satisfaction rate of terrestrial radio has never been lower, and its high with XM & Sirius subs.
 
Old Bones, Ive got XM and Sirius, I wouldnt get into a car with out it! In the Bay Area Theres NO Station worth listening to, And as far as the 12.95 a month fee ,its nothing, its 44cents a day, and Sirius Gold is worth every nickel !!! Could you imagine going on a trip to LA with no Satelite Radio? What a pleasure to hear music in lieu of 9 commercials then 3 songs on Terrestrial!! Kenny in Concord
 
A big reason for Satellite radio's appeal to a few is that it's a new toy, not that terrestrial radio has killed itself. A lot of people simply want the latest and greatest technology. Actually, quite a few people I know who bought the service early on have grown somewhat tired of it and still listen to local radio a great deal. Terrestrial radio won't be dying anytime soon. If you think it will, you probably thought cable was going to kill local TV too.

The REAL reason the Sats are merging is because they're not making money individually.
 
RadioMahn, Its all about entertainment and XM and Sirius do exactly what they say no commercials! no traffic reports ,weather, or contests! The Music you hear on XM and Sirius is music Terrestrial wouldnt touch! And living in the Bay Area its amazing that you couldnt hear any Elvis Presley, or CCR! No wonder people have moved on! CBS/Infinity have to feel a little the pinch in the Advertising Biz, they brought it on themselves , Lots of commercials and a little music, same old worn out songs over and over!! I counted 9 commercials straight on KFRC last year , then two overplayed songs, then the news, and a couple more commercials, some silly chatter, a contest, then 2 more songs, Ill pass , XM and Sirius are hardly a fad or something new, its real!! Ive yet to hear any Terrestrial radio station worth my time!! Kenny in Concord 2 X M s and 4 Sirius accts
 
AZJoe said:
Actually is over 14 million units and they figure 2.5 listeners per... so its over 35 million audience, not bad for anywhere..bigger than NYC or LA audiences. If you want to overlook 35 million people , go ahead. DISH and DirecTV have 13 and 14 million subscribers each, does anyone think that insignificant? The satisfaction rate of terrestrial radio has never been lower, and its high with XM & Sirius subs.
Click to expand...

This logic makes no sense. Who are "they" and how did "they" determine that each receiver has 2.5 listeners? Sounds like a number someone pulled out of the air to me. Keep in mind that if you subscribe to both services, you count as 2 subscribers, even though you're only person. Likewise for those who have multiple receivers. The "subscriber" count=# of activated receivers, not actual listeners. Of course the services tout those figures since it makes them look bigger than they really are. Is there any data on actual number of subscribers, not activated receivers?

As radiomahn said, it's a new toy and a niche product. Most people don't really care about obscure 50s oldies or Americana music. I'm not even sure that being commercial free is all that much of an attraction to most listeners. I'm glad you like your satellite radio, but don't assume you're representative of the public at large.
 
I live in the philadelphia area, and have had sirius for a year and a half, and can honestly say that I have not listened to a philly station in that time and have no desire to do so. The big radio companies have killed terestrial radio(Just look what they did to WYSP, and many other CBS stations, just because ONE man went to satelite). Is regular old radio going away? No it never will. Is satelite a drop in the pan, and be gone in ten years? No way, as a matter of fact, it could become as big as cable tv is today, which by the way many people said cable tv would never last. just my rant
 
I got satellite radio because I cannot find the music that I like on terrestrial radio anymore. There are plenty of local FM stations, but only four formats: rock (2 stations), nauseating soccer mom music (Billy Joel, Phil Collins, etc.; 4 stations), country (2 stations), and a lily-white version of CHR that's heavy on whiny ballads and light on music with a beat (2 stations). I thoroughly detest all of those formats and wouldn't spend five minutes listening to any of those stations. How about AM? There, one can hear AC interspersed with infomercials and a block of Spanish-language programming (1 station simulcasting on three frequencies), the syndicated right wing hate clubs of the air (1 station simulcasting on three frequencies), religion (1 station simulcasting on two frequencies), or syndicated sports talk (2 stations simulcasting on five frequencies). There is also a decent oldies station, but I live in a pattern null, so the reception is very poor during the day and nonexistent at night.

While terrestrial FM radio is busy chasing the soccer moms and mall rats and AM has become a dumping ground for generally rotten programming, satellite offers something to those of us who are not members of those sacred demographic cells. Although I am not happy with Sirius replacing the standards channel with an all-Sinatra channel, I still enjoy Jazz Café (smooth jazz), Pure Jazz, Heart and Soul (smooth R&B), Soul Town, and Sirius Gold. The standards channel (Standard Time) was my main reason for subscribing to Sirius, but the other channels are still a lot better than what I can hear on the local terrestrial stations.

Does anybody here think I enjoy having to pay to hear decent music? Out here, the only alternative is silence. CDs are grossly overpriced and the Internet service sucks.

If satellite goes away, it will be due to unwise spending practices by management. XM overpaid for sports rights while Sirius overpaid for Howard Stern, spending the money before they had enough of a subscriber base to support this programming.
 
Satellite Radio is not going anywhere. More & more people like myself (who cannot take commercial radio anymore ), will make the switch. There is so much more variety of music, talk, entertainment on Sirius & XM.
It is so refreshing to hear songs from 1970s, 1980s & 1990s you don't hear anymore on commerical radio. Not just classic rock, I am talking alternative, country, R&B, pop.
I signed up for Sirius in Aug 2006. I fell in love with it. I cannot go back to commercial radio.
 
I hope this week a message has been sent to Terrestrial radio and that message is that the big conglomerates need to break themselves up or everyone will go bankrupt. In the effort to make tons of money and increasing market share you have made the terrestrial radio product very poor and that is pretty much running it straight into the ground. Once that process is complete you big boys at CC, Cox, etc will head see profit go down the crapper also. You've got a juggernaut in at radio ready to strike for the kill. It's time to step things up and compete. Sell off, localize, give people a reason to listen to you instead of bailing for Sat radio. The more localized terrestrial radio is, the better product you are going to have. If Terrestrial radio can do that then everyone will win out with money. If not you can just kiss it all goodbye. It's compete or die. The Feds can do nothing to save you. Even if they deny the merger more competition will evolve and come breathing down your necks. It's put up or shut up. My guess is that Terrestrial radio will shut up and fizzle away and die. The suits are dimwits and have their heads so far up their blankety-blanks as they are too ignorant to see what's up.
 
I completely agree. Commercial radio refuses to play many of the bands I love. They have
become more and more homogonized. Which is reason enough to switch to satellite. I've
been an XM subscriber since 02' and would never ever go back to terrestrial radio.
 
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