The Death of Satellite Radio.....really?
It was my birthday the other day, and I can usually expect to open my mailbox and find a birthday card from my grandparents. The card is usually a "To our beloved grandson on his birthday...." and a crisp bill usually falls out as I open it. However, this time around, to my surprise I received a box from them. I opened it up and it was a Sirius satellite player for my car. I was stunned. I figured maybe they were trying to be hip, or up-to date with current technology. I can just hear my grandma telling me every holiday, "I never know what to get you all anymore." Anyways, I was pretty excited about it. To be honest, I've always wanted one since I travel a lot, but never bit the bullet for some reason.
When Satellite radio first hit the market, I thought it would be a smash hit. It created a big fuss, that's for sure. I, like many people thought in the next few years it would be a staple in every one's vehicles. I've heard many people talking about satellite radio, or that the new car they bought already had it. But I never had any friends who bought it. I guess I didn't think about why? I thought for sure traditional radio would soon be completely irrelevant, especially after they tried to compete with satellite radio by announcing the "New, crystal clear, HD radio". Today, while getting my radio installed at Best Buy, an employee said, "No use installing this, there will be no Sirius soon."
I arrived home and went online to check out what was going on, and it appears the employee at Best Buy might be right. Even after the recent merger with XM, Sirius is having a hard time making a profit. Apparently $3.2 billion in debt. All along I thought satellite radio was popular. As I said earlier, I have heard many people talk about it. But I guess I never took notice as my friends would talk about it, but not one of us has actually purchased it. Was satellite radio all hype? Are people just listening to local talk radio or their iPods? My friend pointed out that if satellite radio is just commercial free material, then what makes that different than just listening to a CD or iPod in your vehicle? Whatever the reason, apparently satellite radio is on life support. Somewhere radio execs are smiling! Is this a good thing for the labels? Well, I suppose I should check out subscription prices....(maybe I can stomach Howard Stern.....nah).
2 Comments
February 19, 2009 at 1:19 PM
That is interesting. In my class Future of Music Business we discussed the end of radio and rise of satellite radio. That was a year ago, however. Times change fast. It may be that, like you and me, many people aren't biting the bullet to have one installed.
The internet took a while for everyone to get on board. But, I wonder if the same holds true for satellite. I like radio and wonder if others feel if satellite radio disconnects you from real time entertainmet (commercials, live DJ's etc.)
TommyT
February 20, 2009 at 2:33 AM
Interesting article....
4 years ago when I was a Senior in High school I have a presentation on Sirius and I thought it was the next big thing... For Xmas 3 years ago I got a Sirius satellite subscibtion... I loved it listened to it everyday..... ALT NATION rocked..... my radio broke at a Jack Johnson concert and i never got it fixed and I cancelled the subsription..... Been out of the loop lately....
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