Satellite Radio - XM

Great Debates
1

The future is NOW, my friends. With the advent of satellite (xm) radio, there will no longer be 18 minute commercial interruptions, no more searching for good stations in unfamiliar territory. No more driving through Nebraska with nothing but NPR to keep you company.

Satellite radio features many channels of relatively commercial and promotion free music or talk catered very specifically to your tastes, much like the digital music available on Direct TV.

Metal, Rap, Alternative, Country, Pop, Oldies, Classical, International, Industrial, House, Techno…blah blah blah.

So why isn’t everyone jumping for joy?

Well, for one, it costs not only $299 to install in your car, but then a monthly subscription like Cable. I suspect this will go down once more and more people subscribe.

It also marks the end of local programming. Local morning shows, local music showcases, local personalities. In essence everything will be syndicated.

For those who work in radio it’s a scary time. Promotions departments (who organize appearances, bar nights, concerts) will be shrunk to nothing, sales will be reduced (except to sell subscriptions), Personalities will either be of national caliber (Stern, Limbaugh, Dr. Laura) or non-existent.

Any other radio people here want to weigh in?

Sat radio has a lot of pros and cons…but for now, I’m pretty solidly against it.

jar

2

Well, every time I hear someone lately beating the drum for satellite radio, all I can think of is the way some of these same people were beating the drum for broadband Internet a year ago, and look what happened.

Nothin’.

Sign me,

NOT HOLDING MY BREATH

3

Might as well get an iPod for that price – no subscription fees, your favorite songs when you want, and you can even listen to it when you’re not in a car.

4

Why be against it? Cable networks (nationally based) didn’t destroy local network TV affiliates. USA Today didn’t destroy local newspapers. I can’t think of a single form of locally dispersed media that was destroyed when that medium went national. People are still going to want local traffic, weather, news reports, and concert information.

Besides, many people won’t want to pay the subscription fees for radio, even after they fall to a more affordable level. If you only sit in your car an hour and a half a day, why pay for sattelite radio when you have a free option in broadcast radio and a low cost option specific to your musical taste in a CD player.

I don’t think you have anything to worry about **jarbaby

-Beeblebrox**

Many worlds have now banned their act altogether, sometimes for artistic reasons, but most commonly because the band’s public address system contravenes local strategic arms limitations treaties.

5

**

I for one would rather listen to radio commercials then pay a monthly fee. And since most cars have a tape player or a CD drive they don’t really have to listen to NPR while they’re driving across country anyway.

**

Local stations already broadcast over the internet. 92.5 KZPS of Dallas does. If it isn’t to expensive I imagine they might eventually broadcast through satellite as well. I’d love to listen to my local station while I was 500 miles away.

**

Well I can certainly understand why someone would be worried about their job. But I think people are going to be enjoying local radio for a long time to come.

Essentially you’re against it because you fear for radio jobs, correct?

Marc

6

I do fear for radio jobs, and I fear this brings to an end my ambition to be a dj, since there will be no such thing except on talk stations. Music will be continuous, no breaks. Plus, all XM stations (I believe) are to be based in NYC, which concentrates all the jobs there.

I also don’t like it simply because I do like the local feel of radio stations. I enjoy going home to Rochester and listening to PXY, or to Bowling Green and listening to 104, there’s a nostalgia there.

XM will be clearer, better quality than FM or AM radio, and it will be a wider variety of music than you can get in your disc changer, which will lure others away.

7

I have had broadband in my house for at least 3 years. It is widely available over most of San Diego. Lots of people that I know have it.

If I were to get satellite radio I would want one for the house as well. Would I need two subscriptions? What if I added the wife’s car? Now I need three. I don’t think I would sign up before it is clear that the satellite radio companies won’t go out of business this would be in about three years.

8

**

These days what does a DJ actually do? As far as I know they don’t actually choose the music being played at the station. They tell me what songs were played, maybe a little news and weather, and once in a while whatever contest the station is running. I can’t honestly say a DJ has ever attracted me or repelled me from a radio station. Well, not counting the morning crew. Some of 'em are funny.

**

I kind of like the local feel of radio stations as well. Of course a lot of that has already been thrown out the window. I moved from Dallas to Little Rock and the radio stations are an awful lot alike. I think a few of them are owned by the same company.

It will cost more money and a lot of people, like me, won’t pay. I’m not convinced that people want a wider variety of music. If that were the case we wouldn’t have so many stations that only play one kind of music. And I don’t see an end to conventional radio. Personally the sound coming through my car speakers are plenty clear and any additonal benefit from XM isn’t going to be great.

Marc

9

I don’t think that over-the-air radio is ever going away–just as there are plenty of people who have never signed up for cable television, there will be plenty of people who stick to radio. Demographics in radio are already fragmented enough; I can’t imagine satellite radio is going to significantly impact listener numbers, to the point where ad revenue suffers, for at least 5-10 years.

I also wouldn’t worry too much about it being the death knell for localism in radio. If anything, the continuing relaxation of ownership rules by the FCC will be much worse for the jobs than satellite radio will. Why seek out and hire a slate of talented, appealing local jocks when you can send out most of your programming to 200 stations that you own from one location and pay some board op minimum wage to insert local spots and weather? That’s what ownership groups like Infinity and Clear Channel are doing now.

I concur with Marc that the radio programming we have is indeed a reflection of what the bulk of the listening audience wants. You don’t make money in radio with niche programming; those guys are at the left of the dial. I don’t know what XM’s business plan or revenue model is, but if they are committed to turning profits quickly, you’ll see the same short playlists, crossover music and bland programming in no time.

10

Another thing that hasn’t been mentioned is that in my experience, no matter how attractive it seems at first, a very specialized playlist is a drawback. Even now on the satellite dishes you get “radio”, but the stations are so specialized that I always feel trapped, and that’s compared to the commercial stations in L.A., which are pretty darn fragmented, as you could broadcast Lithuanian polkas here and have some audience.

I like the idea of having the radio station switch gears, at least somewhat. The “hard rock” station on the dish is mostly the Tool/Korn station, which is pretty much the roaring scream vocalist genre. That gets old after a while (for me), and honestly, pretty much any format that’s so narrow.

I totally agree with the problems mentioned already. I have three letters for the XM people: DCC - Digital Compact Cassette. In case you don’t remember, Phillips had a new cassette in the early '90s that played digital music, but would still play your old analog cassettes. At the time I thought it was brilliant (and come to think of it, it was the first digital home recording medium I can think of), but the fact is that the public wasn’t too concerned by the fact that their home recorded cassettes were analog, and these CD things didn’t need to rewind, or look like they’d melt in the car.

Oh, and VHS users were a lot more proud that they could actually tape the whole football game than ashamed the quality was “good enough”. So Beta lost.

I think cable tv succeeded because it offered things that simply couldn’t be gotten any other place. Plus, people spend more time with their tvs, and the programming is more important to them. It’s not just background to be switched at a moment’s notice.

I give this XM thing about 2 years. If it’s lucky.

11

Satellite radio can never replace local radio because satellite radio can’t give you local weather and traffic reports. Aha! :slight_smile:

12

I think it’s clear that the people want Dj’s anyway. After all, they could have flipped discs decades ago without saying anything.

I don’t think radio has anything to worry about. The big hours for radio are the morning and afternoon drives, and at those times the viewers want local traffic reports, entertainment updates, weather, etc. So they’ll still tune into local stations. Some of the more popular syndicated shows might take a bit of market share, but the core timeslots will still be all local.

13

Folks, I am afraid radio is dead already. Clear Channel, and Infinity delivered the death blows. I HATE Clear Channel. They destroyed my local radio stations. THEY decide what kind of music I like…Not just individual songs, but the entire genre. Apparently because I live in rural Virginia, they think that all I want to hear is country, and oldies. I personally can’t wait until x-mas morning, when I unwrap my satellite reciever, and gladly start paying 10-15 bucks a month for service.

The other plus I see is that I won’t have to listen to DJ’s. I know there is a great nostalgia for the golden days of radio, but things are not the same. I won’t lose sleep from not being told it’s “Eight fifty A.M, ten in front of nine o’clock”.

Just my humble opinion though.

Plato? Aristotle? Socrates? Morons!
~Heal me, hurt me, make me live again… -Better Than Ezra

14

That’s true. Jcmckaig can feel any way about DJs that he (?) wants, but I think the fact is that people connect with real people over the air. If it weren’t true, Howard Stern and Mark & Brian wouldn’t have careers. I was told in mass communications classes in college that the audience builds a “friendship” with a good DJ,and is more loyal. I can only assume that this is true, as those general managers would be soooo happy to fire the biggest other salary at the station if they could get away with it.

15

Actually, I think at least three are/will be based here in Nashville, so maybe there are other station HQs elsewhere.

16

gazpacho:

I read up on this a little, and visited the website. You can get a portable receiver, I believe. That would solve the car into the house deal. You carry the receiver into the house & continue listening at home. Don’t know about the 2nd car, though. I don’t remember reading anything about that, but I’d never claim to be an expert.

I, too, am in San Diego, and thus have XM available to me right now. I really like the idea, because a lot of what I hear on the radio is tripe - too much talk. Ads, but also the talk shows, which locally sometimes leave much to be desired. And the stations they’ve got described sound pretty cool. Some stuff that normally can’t get much airplay.

I am, however, too cheap to go for it. I’m also not a technology early adapter. I’m much more likely to get on board with it once it’s proven itself.

17

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Cardinal *
[BThat’s true. Jcmckaig can feel any way about DJs that he (?) wants, but I think the fact is that people connect with real people over the air. If it weren’t true, Howard Stern and Mark & Brian wouldn’t have careers…
There is a difference between “talk radio” and a DJ. Talk radio is actually my main reason for wanting XM radio, since I drive a lot by myself, and I like to hear another human voice. But a DJ I can do without.

Plato? Aristotle? Socrates? Morons!
~Did you love before? Did they love you for you? -Better Than Ezra

18

By way of a slightly broader perspective, it’s worth mentioning that the technology involved, digital audio broadcasting (DAB), is already in place in most of Europe and the multiplexes are already broadcasting. The cost of the receivers means that the main audience so far is the niche one of audiophiles receiving it via their PCs. However, cheaper versions are on the way. Furthermore, the parallel technology of digital TV, while far from universally popular as a prospect, has political momentum behind it; in the UK the government’s intention is to entirely switch off analogue transmission in the foreseeable future. Once that happens, widespread uptake of digital radio becomes almost inevitable.

Two big differences with the US are that national stations were already commonplace and the transmitters are traditional ground-based attennas. As a consequence of the latter detail, local features become easy: in such an environment, DAB means you don’t listen to your local radio station for an hourly weather or traffic update, you read timely data at any minute of the day.