greencougar7 said:
It could but radio listeners are dwindling, satellite subscribers have increased, listeners to internet radio have increased. In short terrestrial radio is a leaking ship and the hole is getting bigger each week.
See, from my viewpoint, the hole in satellite and the hole in terrestrial radio are the same size, and either one could sink first. But terrestrial radio has a HUGE advantage. Millions and millions of car radios, boom boxes, stereo systems, etc that have FREE radio already built in, that don't ned to be replaced, retrofitted, or anything else.
Add in that terrestrial radio stations have a business model that, for the most part, is proven and profitable. XM and Sirius, neither has EVER made a quarterly profit. EVER.
That means they're going to have to change their business model. But to what??? At least the radio business model works. And once some of these major corporations get out from under huge debt loads, (and get taken private again most likely) radio can get back to doing what they used to do. Making good money. SiriusXM still need to figure out just how they're going to make money.
Rasie the rate? Good luck with that. Raise rates and you'll lose marginal subscribers.
Sell ads? Good luck with that. Totally destroys your marketing advantage versus terrestrial radio.
And internet radio? Somebody's got to pay those streaming costs. You already have radio companies that don't stream because it's not a revenue stream (yet), it's a cost. Somebody explain to me how those internet radio stations are going to monetize their product to pay even minimal (i.e. streaming) costs. Sell ads? Isn't that the same complaint that people have about terrestrial radio?
It was in the news this week that Pajamas Media, a right-wing blog network put together to sell ads is ceasing operation. Not enough advertising, and not enough payoff to the bloggers. I think that is somewhat analogous to internet radio. How are they going to get advertisers to support them/will they have enough reach where any serious advertiser wants to spend money.
Like I said, somebody has to pay those streaming costs. And if I'm spending hours a day 'programming' my little internet radio station, wont I want to make a little something for my time and trouble? How do they make their money without being what they're revolting against?
When you strip it down, radio is an entertainment medium. But it's also an advertising medium. And look at what the competition for local advertising dollars is going through. Anybody notice that the Dallas Morning News is losing money hand over fist? Laying off staff, sharing coverage with the Star Telegram, cutting bureaus, etc. TV ratings are going down as that audience gets more and more fractured.
And for all of you that think I'm wrong, consider this. KVIL had almost 2 million people listen to them in December. 1 station. 1 market. 2 million people.
Sirius XM had 18 million subscribers for ALL their stations in every market. And nobody knows how many of those people actually listened, and for how long.
Until Sirius XM either start taking ads, or some medium figures out how to beat radio's reach, there is always going to be advertising money out there to support radio stations. Terrestrial radio stations.
