Soon to be a niche market by Aidan
Satellite Radio will fade away to a niche market for people who live or drive in areas without cellular data services. In a couple of years we'll be using our cellphone accounts to listen to net radio - in our cars, while we're jogging, wherever.
Last time I checked, the EVDO/EDGE networks really only surrounded the top 200 or so population areas. We're talking less than a tenth of the US here. Can you get mobile Internet elsewhere? Sure. DirecPC. But you're going to pay more.
Sat Radio will be owned by terrestrial soon by P Ness
What is finally going to happen is that these radio companies will figure out that instead of having to fight for ad revenue, being a free service to compete with a paid service and all, they are going to go HD radio and start to figure out how to charge for the service.
So then I'll have to pay for a custom HD radio receiver that knows how to bill me for the time or on a monthly basis for the station I listen to? I doubt it. It will operate exactly like HDTV does. I get 3 channels of HD from my local Fox affiliate, none of which I have to pay for, and the FCC won't allow them to charge me. Additionally, how would design a system that wouldallow you to pay for such a thing? I'd subscribe my radio to one stream from one company and another from another company? That's a cumbersome and unworkable business model.
Lastly, to Lisa... It still has definite merit in NYC if you want to listen to top 40. You can listen to top 40 unencumbered by ads. I certainly don't miss ads. Nothing like listening to 38 minutes of music in an hour, the rest of which is filled by ads for local restaurants, megastores, etc. When I want to listen to music, I want to listen to music. And my iPod? Sure it's good quality. And yes, I have a lot of great music on it... But I'm not going to get exposed to new music listening to my iPod.
Are there other services out there that "compete" with satellite radio? Mmmm.... Kinda, but not really.
iTunes/iPod? Well, if you buy every piece of music you are ever going to listen to, then fine.
Launch/Pandora? Great services, but they aren't really available to me in my car... BTW... I love Pandora. I've bought more music recently because of them, than I have in the last two years. My wife wishes I'd never found the service. :)
Internet Radio - Again, can't play it in my car...
Terrestrial radio - Not even close to competition, unless you only listen to talk radio. The music stations on satellite are unencumbered by ads, something that makes the subscription fee more than acceptable to me.
That being said, my house has both systems... I'm a subscriber to Sirius, and the wife subs to XM. I prefer Sirius, as I think that they have a far better selection of music than XM, and the wife tends to agree. But the plain and simple fact that we can listen to a station as we drive from town to town, state to state kicks butt.
Is there competition out there for sat radio? Sure. But once you get it into a mobile environment, and add in the variety of music that you don't have on your iPod... Then that competition melts away to simply terrestrial radio. Add in the no-ads feature on music stations, you're down to no competition.
On the post: Does Mel Karmazin Realize That XM Isn't The Only Competition?
So then I'll have to pay for a custom HD radio receiver that knows how to bill me for the time or on a monthly basis for the station I listen to? I doubt it. It will operate exactly like HDTV does. I get 3 channels of HD from my local Fox affiliate, none of which I have to pay for, and the FCC won't allow them to charge me. Additionally, how would design a system that wouldallow you to pay for such a thing? I'd subscribe my radio to one stream from one company and another from another company? That's a cumbersome and unworkable business model.
Lastly, to Lisa... It still has definite merit in NYC if you want to listen to top 40. You can listen to top 40 unencumbered by ads. I certainly don't miss ads. Nothing like listening to 38 minutes of music in an hour, the rest of which is filled by ads for local restaurants, megastores, etc. When I want to listen to music, I want to listen to music. And my iPod? Sure it's good quality. And yes, I have a lot of great music on it... But I'm not going to get exposed to new music listening to my iPod.
On the post: Does Mel Karmazin Realize That XM Isn't The Only Competition?
I think I have to agree with Mel...
iTunes/iPod? Well, if you buy every piece of music you are ever going to listen to, then fine.
Launch/Pandora? Great services, but they aren't really available to me in my car... BTW... I love Pandora. I've bought more music recently because of them, than I have in the last two years. My wife wishes I'd never found the service. :)
Internet Radio - Again, can't play it in my car...
Terrestrial radio - Not even close to competition, unless you only listen to talk radio. The music stations on satellite are unencumbered by ads, something that makes the subscription fee more than acceptable to me.
That being said, my house has both systems... I'm a subscriber to Sirius, and the wife subs to XM. I prefer Sirius, as I think that they have a far better selection of music than XM, and the wife tends to agree. But the plain and simple fact that we can listen to a station as we drive from town to town, state to state kicks butt.
Is there competition out there for sat radio? Sure. But once you get it into a mobile environment, and add in the variety of music that you don't have on your iPod... Then that competition melts away to simply terrestrial radio. Add in the no-ads feature on music stations, you're down to no competition.
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