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This reader says radio people shouldn't dismiss satellite radio lightly.

Having worked exclusively in radio and cable my entire career, I see frighteningly real parallels between what is happening with the satellite radio threat today and the satellite TV industry intrusion on cable subscribers. In the 80's and 90's when I was marketing cable, the industry leaders dismissed the feasibility of large scale success of satellite TV. Every time the dish got smaller, cable executives said reception and customer satisfaction would never succeed. Satellite subscriptions grew even faster and now have a significant share of what was once a cable-only territory. When satellite TV inked the exclusive deal with the NFL, cable said it would fail because of limited distribution and excess debt for fees and new technology. It's still a DirecTV exclusive and the satellite base continues to grow. Now as a radio sales consultant, I see the same kind of "head in the sand" thinking in today's RBR column about the Sirius, XM, and the portable satellite radio unit. Although I remain a stout believer in local radio and the power of it's advertising, in the end, most consumers aren't that loyal about whether their entertainment is delivered locally or by satellite, as long as they get what they want. We need to position ourselves now for long term success through solid programming and community involvement and not dismiss the potential success of satellite radio or we may be watching AQH slowly erode for lack of action.

Jim Reinl
Marketing Consultant
WOZZ-FM Appleton-Oshkosh

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Opportunities in the West for Groups or Owner Operators. Profitable combos. Major market move-ins (FM and LPTV). AM's, both Rated and Unrated. The Exline Team, Andy McClure, Dean LeGras, 415-479-3484, [email protected]

Radio America offers special
election night coverage

Sirius to be offered on all
BMW sedans

Activists mobilizing
to influence FCC
The FCC has been getting an unprecedented earful from the public on both the media consolidation and indecency fronts, a tidal wave of opinion which shows no sign of abating. And the increasingly imminent DTV transition figures to add a third stream of comment. The Public Interest, Public Awirwaves Coalition wants the FCC to make sure that commercial broadcasters up their commitment to serving the public interest when using new digital capabilities, in particular multicasting. 10/26/04 RBR #209

Taxing proposition from
the Bush administration
No less a White House player than Condi Rice is rejecting proposed legislation from John McCain (R-AZ) which would provide up to $1B in subsidies to make sure that owners of unmodified analog TV sets aren't cut off the day analog broadcasts go away. RBR observation: We know what it's like when we threaten to deprive our children of TV. Does the Bush administration really understand what it's advocating here? 10/26/04 RBR #209

More worries about "Less is More"
Credit Suisse First Boston analyst Paul Sweeney is the latest to express concerns that Clear Channel's "Less is More" initiative to reduce commercial clutter on its radio stations could not work out financially as the company hopes. He's removed Clear Channel from CSFB's Focus List.
10/26/04 RBR #209

TVB tracks LPM rollout
The Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) continues to track the impact of Nielsen's Local People Meters (LPM) on local TV ratings. As Nielsen works on deploying LPM in all top 10 markets, the newest market, San Francisco, has now been added to TVB's broadcast vs. cable comparison, joining Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York. For the week ended Oct. 17.
10/26/04 TVBR #209

New York Attorney General Elliot Spitzer launches payola probe
Keeping his political profile high as a crusader against corporate corruption has turned to the record industry and the independent promoters who work to win radio airplay. EMI, the only standalone publicly traded major label, confirmed Friday that it has been hit with a subpoena - - and says it is "cooperating fully" in the probe. RBR observation: Spitzer's timing is strange, since the independent promotion business has been drying up since major radio groups, led by Clear Channel, decided last year to quit doing business with them to avoid any hint of payola-like practices. If your radio station is still accepting payments from the indies, or allows your employees to do so, this should be a wake-up call. Stop it now. 10/25/04 RBR #208

Forrester Research picked
for PPM economic study
elected to conduct a study into how switching to Arbiton's Portable People Meter (PPM) would impact the radio business economically. The research study is being funded by Arbitron, but Forrester's bid was selected by a special committee of the Radio Advertising Bureau's PPM Task Force. RBR observation: If PPM is implemented for US media ratings, it won't be nearly as big an adjustment for TV and cable as for radio, which is still using paper diaries for ratings - - even in the largest markets. Radio guys are worried about how electronic measurement will change their ratings and how much more it's going to cost. 10/25/04 RBR #208

Eisner called Ovitz
"psychopath" in memo
Lots of embarrassing material is coming out in a trial in Delaware where some disgruntled Disney shareholders are seeking compensation for what they claim was management's squandering of company assets to pay Michael Ovitz 140 million dollars to get rid of him after 14 months of employment back in 1996. The company's position is that it had no grounds to fire Ovitz for cause, so it had to buy out his entire contract. Witnesses that the plaintiffs put on the stand last week contended that there was plenty of cause to fire Ovitz.
10/25/04 TVBR #208

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