2 New Studies: 1. 82% of people won't go satellite 2. Listeners like localism

[ajhenderson]

Re: Another study said...

> > ...that XM and Sirius are only getting 50% re-up with
> dealer
> > installed sat-radio. The obvious ploy is to get new
> drivers
> > hooked on the service, but only half are biting.
> >
> If they get 50% to re-up every year, that will be a
> significant increase over time.

The people who don't renew won't come back... why would they? They've already determined it to be a waste. Keep in mind that as the market share increases, XM and Sirius will figure they can screw us with commercials and the other crap cable TV brought after people were hooked. So the best time to be a subscriber is now, if not awhile ago. And if I was really into the "Sounds of Starbucks", I would have bought a world music CD at Borders. 99% of people can get the music/talk/info they want on terrestrial radio. The rest never listened to begin with. They were listening to Sri Lankan drums on their CD player. So the draw of all these (overcompressed) channels is stupid. The slick channel sheet in my glove compartment may look impressive, but I've spent so little time listening to bluegrass or Fine Tuning or what not. And I thought traffic by Metro was bad...

 

[ajhenderson]

Re: I read the whole study

> As far as my little world of radio it is very little. Most
> XM & Sirius subscibers I know are not into radio at all, the
> enjoy the service that both companies offer, whether its
> Stern, NFL, MLB, Nascar, or commercial free music they
> choose to pay for the radio service they don't receive from
> terestrial radio. The survey however is very questionable
> and seems to lean towards the NAB's point of veiw.

Since my father lives 2,000 miles from his favorite teams and can't hear them on OTA radio or basic cable TV like he's used to, I got him an XM receiver this past summer when they were buy one get one free. He never activated it because he can pay something like $10 a year for MLB.com streaming of games, basically the same service as on XM, and although he's tied to his computer to hear games, he figures it's not worth the money and hassle for satradio.

And NASCAR on the radio? Nice window dressing...

 

[k9ez]

Re: I read the whole study

> > As more people become exposed to the new medium, it will
> > grow. Maybe not right now, but in a few years, it will
> start
> > to catch on as people trade in their old vehicles for new
> > ones. These deals are already being cut, so as this
> > technology is rolled out, subscribership will increase.
> > Watch. It will happen. Class dismissed.
>
> What is the cost of "cutting these deals"? Just because
> someone's using a product doesn't mean the company is
> turning a profit. Sat radio could have 100% penetration but
> it wouldn't matter if they were losing money. Which they're
> doing now.
>


Annnnd Business 101 is dismissed for the day......

 

[96rocker]

Re: I read the whole study

> > > As more people become exposed to the new medium, it will
>
> > > grow. Maybe not right now, but in a few years, it will
> > start
> > > to catch on as people trade in their old vehicles for
> new
> > > ones. These deals are already being cut, so as this
> > > technology is rolled out, subscribership will increase.
> > > Watch. It will happen. Class dismissed.
> >
> > What is the cost of "cutting these deals"? Just because
> > someone's using a product doesn't mean the company is
> > turning a profit. Sat radio could have 100% penetration
> but
> > it wouldn't matter if they were losing money. Which
> they're
> > doing now.
> >
>
>

DUH! The satellite companies get their money by charging the auto companies who pass the costs on to the car buyers. The cost is almost invisible to the car buyer when it's built into a 3-6 year loan payment schedule.

The major start-up costs have already been incurred, so as penetration grows, the losses will decrease and eventually thay can become profitable.

Many businesses take losses for a few years before they become profitable.

You flunked Business 101.

> Annnnd Business 101 is dismissed for the day......
>

 

[k9ez]

Re: I read the whole study

> > > > As more people become exposed to the new medium, it
> will
> >
> > > > grow. Maybe not right now, but in a few years, it will
>
> > > start
> > > > to catch on as people trade in their old vehicles for
> > new
> > > > ones. These deals are already being cut, so as this
> > > > technology is rolled out, subscribership will
> increase.
> > > > Watch. It will happen. Class dismissed.
> > >
> > > What is the cost of "cutting these deals"? Just because
> > > someone's using a product doesn't mean the company is
> > > turning a profit. Sat radio could have 100% penetration
> > but
> > > it wouldn't matter if they were losing money. Which
> > they're
> > > doing now.
> > >
> >
> >
>
> DUH! The satellite companies get their money by charging the
> auto companies who pass the costs on to the car buyers. The
> cost is almost invisible to the car buyer when it's built
> into a 3-6 year loan payment schedule.
>
> The major start-up costs have already been incurred, so as
> penetration grows, the losses will decrease and eventually
> thay can become profitable.
>
> Many businesses take losses for a few years before they
> become profitable.
>
> You flunked Business 101.
>

So why would the auto companies want to pay for these sat radios if they can make more profit by selling HD Radios? With how tight the auto industry is right now they are looking to cut costs anywhere they can.

And yes of course business take many years to become profitable.