Friday, October 8, 2004
Implications of Stern Moving to Satellite Radio
Posted by James Fee in "ARTICLE" @ 12:00 PM
"After protracted tussles with the Federal Communications Commission and media giant Viacom, Stern announced Wednesday he will move his show to striver Sirius Satellite Radio in 2006 after his contract with Viacom expires. Industry analysts hailed the move as a major turning point for Sirius and for satellite radio in general, which has struggled to attract subscribers and stay ahead of mounting debts. "We're going to mark today as a moment of sea change," said Jeff Jarvis, a media executive and author of the BuzzMachine blog. "This is going to be the breakthrough for satellite radio to become large enough to be a viable business...Satellite and the Internet will become the delivery mechanisms for audio programming, and broadcast is just going to become duller and duller."
Good news for all consumers, whether they enjoy Howard or NPR. FM radio is dead and has been over the past 4-5 years. Stations change format and most of the are run by a computer in either LA or NYC. I would expect more and more personalities to move their shows from OTA to satellite as the subscription numbers go up. If OTA radio wants to continue to be an important medium, they should look at what cable did to the OTA networks and start listening to the consumer.
Good news for all consumers, whether they enjoy Howard or NPR. FM radio is dead and has been over the past 4-5 years. Stations change format and most of the are run by a computer in either LA or NYC. I would expect more and more personalities to move their shows from OTA to satellite as the subscription numbers go up. If OTA radio wants to continue to be an important medium, they should look at what cable did to the OTA networks and start listening to the consumer.
