Rumors are flying around today that an iPod that receives and records satellite radio broadcasts is forthcoming from Apple as soon as January 11th. Wow, this would begin the wholesale disruption of the conventional radio industry. Already radio is loosing listeners to iPods and other MP3 players. This will be yet another opportunity to reshape the audience and the advertising opportunity.

Conventional radio like other conventional interruption models will slowly die as new alternatives emerge. What will sweep in behind the death of big radio will be a return to local radio programming offering a richness of programming and an opportunity for local advertisers.

What's old will be new again. Long live broadcast radio.

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Update: read more about XM Satellite Marketing

Comments

[Dan Halyburton]

MORE crap from people who think that technology is paramount but dont have a clue about broadcast radio and why its by far the most listened to music medium. Smart radio people have known since the earliest days of the medium that music played an important role but its always been whats between the tunes that counts and that includes the commercials. More competition sure..who dosent have it but during the peak of the internet boom I cant tell you how many folks said broadcast was dead in 5 years...Those clowns are working at Starbucks and radios still rockin. Ipods are great, I own two. What ever ya got bring it on because broadcast radio people are smart, creative, resourceful and adaptable.

Dan Halyburton
Sr VP Susquehanna Radio

[iband]

Dan - You are certainly biased since you are in broadcast radio. Putting the ipod aside, satellite radio is far superior to broadcast radio in many ways. How? For starters:

1. Superior programming -- there is not a city in this country that offers as many music choices as XM or Sirius. Not one. XM and Sirius provide over 60 music channels EACH with programming suited to virtually every genre. I doubt your station can offer that.

2. Commercial-free programming. Dan, please don't tell me about your occasional commercial-free weekend promos. We are talking 24/7 commercial-free MUSIC, and not the standard playlists that FM plays. Gone are the days when you flip your FM dial and here the SAME song on different stations.

3. Crystal clear music, coast-to-coast. It's nice to be able to get in my car, put on an XM channel and NEVER have to change it when I drive outside of the FM area. Yes, Dan, I can drive from Maine to Montana and listen to the same station. Please, Dan, don't through HD radio at me -- that is just the technology that you put down -- it doesn't change the CONTENT. FM just cannot compete with satellite radio when it comes to content.

4. Traffic/Weather. Sure, I can hear traffic and weather on FM, but only when THEY think it's important. What about Saturday afternoon? Does FM report on traffic? Nope. Ah, but XM and Sirius do this. I can turn on my city's station any time of the day, any day of the week and hear about traffic problems before I become part of them. Can't do that on FM, can you?

5. Cost. Yes, I pay $9.99/month for XM, and others pay more for Sirius. FM is free. Well, we all know the old saying, you get what you pay for! For less than the cost of a CD, I get access to 2 million songs covering a multitude of genres. FM, I get the same old playlists.

6. Portability. I just picked up the XM MyFI. I can listen to live XM radio, and I can record 5 hours of programming to take with me. Better than FM? You have to ask.

Dan, you can scramble to expand your playlists, but you will never match what satellite radio has to offer. If I were in your shoes, I would feel the heat and the pressure as well, and I would try to justify my job. If you had XM for a few days, and you were honest, you would agree with everything said above.

[Terry Storch]

Dan, buddy you are living in the past. I am sorry, but I think you are the clueless one. Technology is changing everything, and it will only continue to change our habits. As technology gets easier and easier there will be more and more change coming. Smart, creative, resourceful, and adaptable? I don't doubt that one bit, but I think there is a ton of creative stuff that you guys could be doing that you are not. The Dallas Radio Market is horrible, and you guys could completely dominate if you break out of the "old school ways." Wake up, perfect it now before traditional radio becomes irrelevant!

[SIRIUS INVESTOR]

Dan,
Between the songs we all switch to a different channel, that is just the point why SIRI and XMSR will rule the early 2000's until the next product comes along.... just my .02

SIRIUS INVESTOR

[Frank]

I worked in the radio industry for 28 years, medium and large markets including for Susquehanna properties(Dan's employer) and as sales and general manager. Let me sum it up to Dan Halyburton this way; Relating to my learning to become a better golfer, my dad, who was an accomplished golfer in his own right always told me that as long as you can "move the ball", meaning hitting average to long tee shots and approach shots, "one can always learn the short game".

So if there are shortcomings in SIRI & XMSR programming or better stated, gaps in the their ability to incorporate some level of local content, it's just a matter of time before the technology satisfies that part of the equation.

Terrestrial radio's problem is not analogous to the continued fragmentation of network TV and their affiliates, because they can at least compete with the technology (HGTV).

Just wait and see what happens to those broadcast companies (and their shareholders) who continue to aquire radio stations at 16x multiples. The only long term winner will be the Apel family when they cash out Susquehanna next month! If radio broadcasters think the dot com crash a few years ago was news...