Radio Broadcasters Attack Free Satellite Trials
from the silliness-pervades dept
The satellite radio industry's come under some fire from several sides lately, getting hit by the music industry for having devices that let users record programming, and investigated by the FCC for having FM transmitters in them that are too strong. Its longest-running battle, though, is with terrestrial broadcasters, who have been complaining to whoever will listen about XM and Sirius for many years. Their latest complaint is particularly silly, and has them crying to the FCC about all the different ways a non-subscriber can be exposed to satellite radio broadcasts, whether it's in a rental car from a company that subscribes, or on a free trial with satellite equipment delivered in a new car, or from somebody else's overly strong FM transmitter. They make it even sweeter, though, by framing it as an issue of decency, the FCC chairman's pet project. The trade group that filed the complaint isn't concerned about profane broadcasts, it's just the latest idea they've had to try and stall satellite radio. The satellite radio business has its own problems to deal with, and is operating within the constraints imposed on it by regulatory bodies. With that in mind, terrestrial broadcasters' energy would be better spent on figuring out how to compete in the marketplace, rather than continuing their fruitless battle to get more legal restrictions imposed on its younger competitor.
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Boo Hoo
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Re: Boo Hoo
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Re: Boo Hoo
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One Again Business seeks to Stifle Free Market
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Disappointing
What is up with every business doing all it can to protect itself from innovation?
Techdirt must have had at least three or four stories in the last week dedicated to businesses doing everything they can to stop progress from rolling forward.
If they spent as much money on developing new products and finding better ways to serve their customers as on litigation and lobbying Congress we would probably be living the Star Trek life right now.
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petty and childish
so radio is running out of ideas....big deal...as if most people really listen to radios these days when you have satellite radios and mp3 players....
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the big complaint
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new to Sirius
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RIP FM (and RIAA for that matter)
I've been a HUGE fan of XM for over 1.5 years now... and I NEVER, EVER listen to FM anymore.
I love my XM and screw these FM broadcasters if they can't come up w/better content than morning shows for 8yo's (Yeh I know... FCC regulations, blah, blah, blah ... boring).
As for the RIAA, I listen to XM so much I could care less if ever buy another CD .....and everyone benefits when we put another nail in the RIAA's coffin.
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Really sorry, but XM sucks
However, I stared flipping through the "Rock" stations. Guess what, ALL of the stations were filled with bands that I never heard of. Ok, I like hearing new stuff, but these bands SUCKED. Plus I couldn't even find ANYTHING that I had heard of. Then for the station that was supposed to play the classics, they played the classics that NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD OF! The seriously took all of the one-hit wonders and played their other tracks.
If you do happen to like the new mainstream rock/alternative then XM is not your best bet. Very disappointed.
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why bother
1. the sound quality is comperable to 8-bit internet radio.
2. the listener demographic is not one known to support high dollar ad revenue.
3. many spot breaks are filled with PSA's since ad sales are likely poor.
4. most of their ads are the same as we get in email spam and not big dollar ad agencies or brand names.
5. they are reducing the number of channels with no paid ads.
6. apparantly not making a profit and no sign of profit in the forseeable future.
It appears the outlook for XM to continue to operate as-is long term is not good. I would look for it to sell and be turned into something more like Directv is today, where it re-broadcasts those willing to pay to place their audio streams on the satellite. It appears the model where the owner is both program creator and broadcaster does not appear to work. The best barometer is the sale of ad time to big name advertisers and the number of PSA's aired.
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Radio Lives On!
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