After the Stern Era
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Thrive?
When has it ever 'thrived'? SXM came within hours of filing for bankruptcy in February..
The Ipods, internet and streaming cell phones killed satellite radio before it even had a chance. No one person has saved or will save satellite radio.
Thrive?
When has it ever 'thrived'? SXM came within hours of filing for bankruptcy in February..
The Ipods, internet and streaming cell phones killed satellite radio before it even had a chance. No one person has saved or will save satellite radio.
I drive a truck and had sat radio before Stern and will continue to subscribe after Stern. If all you pay for is Stern then I guess canceling is what you need to do,that is if you don't listen to anything else? I'm not a Stern hater,I listen to him when he is live,but there are other interesting things on the satellite to listen to.
Weather sat. radio survives is another thing,I think it will stick around in some form,most Big rigs that I see that do long haul driving have a Sat. antenna on them.
Weather sat. radio survives is another thing,I think it will stick around in some form,most Big rigs that I see that do long haul driving have a Sat. antenna on them.
Without the $500 mil cash infusion from Liberty Media in Feb. SXM would have had to file for bankruptcy. Add in the piss poor economy, the terrible cars sales, which SXM needs desperately, I don't see any chance it can survive in it's current form..
Maybe a stripped down version, something like 30 music channels for free with ads, or for $3.99 a month, maybe then it can survive.. But it's current form is a bloated money hog that owes about $3 billion in 2010. Short of another bailout or buyout I can't see SXM around in 2011..
Without the $500 mil cash infusion from Liberty Media in Feb. SXM would have had to file for bankruptcy. Add in the piss poor economy, the terrible cars sales, which SXM needs desperately, I don't see any chance it can survive in it's current form..
Maybe a stripped down version, something like 30 music channels for free with ads, or for $3.99 a month, maybe then it can survive.. But it's current form is a bloated money hog that owes about $3 billion in 2010. Short of another bailout or buyout I can't see SXM around in 2011..
I Agree for the most part. with sats. in the air and Millions of subscribers,someone will pick it up in bankruptcy and continue it for those customers, like me who travel a lot. Bankruptcy does not necessarily mean they will go away completely, why leave money on the table?
I Agree for the most part. with sats. in the air and Millions of subscribers,someone will pick it up in bankruptcy and continue it for those customers, like me who travel a lot. Bankruptcy does not necessarily mean they will go away completely, why leave money on the table?
You are correct, bankruptcy doesn't mean they will close their doors, but it doesn't mean salvation either.
Quite honestly with all the competition out there now IMO if someone bought SXM I think it would be more for the satellites and equipment then the subs. They've had LOST about 1/2 mil subs in the last 2 quarters, they are showing no growth, and the 18 million sub count is a lot of freebies, unsold cars, and some overall fudging of the sub number. I have no idea what the 'real' sub number is, but I would be SHOCKED if it's really anywhere near 18 mil.
Again IMO except for maybe a stripped down. ad driven service, I don't think anyone can make a go of a satellite radio service now adays.. There's too much competition out there now, with more coming every year.
You are correct, bankruptcy doesn't mean they will close their doors, but it doesn't mean salvation either.
Quite honestly with all the competition out there now IMO if someone bought SXM I think it would be more for the satellites and equipment then the subs. They've had LOST about 1/2 mil subs in the last 2 quarters, they are showing no growth, and the 18 million sub count is a lot of freebies, unsold cars, and some overall fudging of the sub number. I have no idea what the 'real' sub number is, but I would be SHOCKED if it's really anywhere near 18 mil.
Again IMO except for maybe a stripped down. ad driven service, I don't think anyone can make a go of a satellite radio service now adays.. There's too much competition out there now, with more coming every year.
As a part of that cash infusion, Liberty Media has put themselves in position to own 51% of S/XM if they want. I have a strong suspicion that those guys can figure out how to make the satellites turn a profit in the long run.
Maybe people who live in the few cities that still have decent terrestrial radio, or people with the time to invest in tracking down every song they might want to hear in every genre and putting it on an iPod, or people who are never in a car and can take advantage of internet radio won't need Sirius without Stern.
But move to my city, right in the middle of this country, live my car-heavy life with poor radio options, and you'll agree that S/XM provides a tremendous return on the entertainment dollar.
Until global wi/fi magically appears across the country, there's a potentially huge market for what S/XM provides. It's all a question of turning that potential into dollars....and maybe Mel K isn't the right man for that job post-Stern.
Maybe people who live in the few cities that still have decent terrestrial radio, or people with the time to invest in tracking down every song they might want to hear in every genre and putting it on an iPod, or people who are never in a car and can take advantage of internet radio won't need Sirius without Stern.
But move to my city, right in the middle of this country, live my car-heavy life with poor radio options, and you'll agree that S/XM provides a tremendous return on the entertainment dollar.
Until global wi/fi magically appears across the country, there's a potentially huge market for what S/XM provides. It's all a question of turning that potential into dollars....and maybe Mel K isn't the right man for that job post-Stern.
Barbie845, I think you have it nailed pretty close to how it will end up(stripped down ad driven service). It stinks though as I'm quite spoiled the 13+ hrs a day I listen to Quality radio...
escapecar,IS there any decent terrestrial radio left? from what I hear its pretty much being ruined by the lawyers and "suits"
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Your right though, get out there "in the middle of nowhere" and radio options stink!
escapecar,IS there any decent terrestrial radio left? from what I hear its pretty much being ruined by the lawyers and "suits"
Your right though, get out there "in the middle of nowhere" and radio options stink!
I say probably not , they are barely alive now. I canceled over a year ago ( Still listen to Stern every now and again for free, same with O & A on pirate Streams ) . The price hikes , no stern on the iphone app , the taking away channels and shallow playlists are slowly killing SatRad . They barely escaped bankruptcy a few months ago and this december there is another big dept payment due . also have to figure if this next quarterly report shows mass sub cancelations like the last report it will be hard for them to get anyone to bail them out again .
Yeah, but will LM keep using those satellites and equipment for audio, or if/when they get full control use them for mobile video, or something else.
I've had XM for 7+ years, so obviously I enjoyed it. But recently I have to admit I don't like the bait and switch tactics, the price hikes, etc. I would love to see them be sucessful, but the more I see how they are running the company, and the economy, and the poor car sales, it all adds up to a VERY tough road for them stay in business and be profitable.
Yeah, but will LM keep using those satellites and equipment for audio, or if/when they get full control use them for mobile video, or something else.
I've had XM for 7+ years, so obviously I enjoyed it. But recently I have to admit I don't like the bait and switch tactics, the price hikes, etc. I would love to see them be sucessful, but the more I see how they are running the company, and the economy, and the poor car sales, it all adds up to a VERY tough road for them stay in business and be profitable.
If/when Sterno disappears from sat-radio, I'll probably keep subscription as long as they keep the no-commercial music channels.
Maybe there's a chance they will keep a Howie channel, and continue to pay Howie to program it and show up on the air sometimes, or maybe call/ISDN in with annoyingly out-of-date info after he wakes up each day, like "Ralph".
Maybe there's a chance they will keep a Howie channel, and continue to pay Howie to program it and show up on the air sometimes, or maybe call/ISDN in with annoyingly out-of-date info after he wakes up each day, like "Ralph".
Assuming Howard does not re-sign, and it is likely he will in some form, the library of Stern shows is some 25 years deep. There is enough content in the can to carry both 100 and 101 until the end of time. IOW, I think the "Stern Era" will never end.
Will it be as good without fresh shows? Certainly not, but even a mediocre steak dinner is still a steak dinner, even if it's not a porterhouse. I also think the channels will suffer without Howard's sage guidance. I think they will start to do "wrap up" shows of the old shows, sort of an archaeological history rather than a daily wrap up, however, which would be a good move.
This means a lot of either live or taped Stern personalities to wrap around the old content. Stern devotees will love it. Folks probably will never get so tired of old Stern shows that the channels disappear (maybe one will) but when you create something as profound and as seminal as Howard has over the last 3 decades, it can live forever, just like Frank Lloyd Wright lives on in virtually every building designed even today and probably always will, and all contemporary jazz has roots in Miles Davis and probably always will.
"Era" is probably a misnomer, as that denotes a beginning and ending. "Milestone" is more appropriate, as that denotes a point in time when something begins but does not imply an ending.
And, BTW, there is a widely-held school of thought that SR would be gone already without Howard's influence. The things that handcuff SR are its poor audio quality for music, its being split in two at the outset then joined back together in the merger as some sort of two-headed beast that is technologically incompatible with itself, and in particular the fact that SR has to pay royalties that terrestrial radio does not. Even that playing field and bring out a dual radio, and SR will begin to thrive, with or without Howard.
And it is not going away, for the simple reason that it has lots of paying subscribers, and more of them than HBO or Showtime or DirecTV or anyone else other than ComCast cable. No one could ever find a justification to end the flow of cash, which is $3.6 BILLION with a B, annually, just counting subscriber fees and not even counting ad sales, which is also significant. The 5 major networks don't make that kind of scratch combined (and they have NO subscribers). They will soon raise rates 12%, and far less than 12% of subs will abandon ship because of it, meaning they will gross even more revenue in 2010.
Will it be as good without fresh shows? Certainly not, but even a mediocre steak dinner is still a steak dinner, even if it's not a porterhouse. I also think the channels will suffer without Howard's sage guidance. I think they will start to do "wrap up" shows of the old shows, sort of an archaeological history rather than a daily wrap up, however, which would be a good move.
This means a lot of either live or taped Stern personalities to wrap around the old content. Stern devotees will love it. Folks probably will never get so tired of old Stern shows that the channels disappear (maybe one will) but when you create something as profound and as seminal as Howard has over the last 3 decades, it can live forever, just like Frank Lloyd Wright lives on in virtually every building designed even today and probably always will, and all contemporary jazz has roots in Miles Davis and probably always will.
"Era" is probably a misnomer, as that denotes a beginning and ending. "Milestone" is more appropriate, as that denotes a point in time when something begins but does not imply an ending.
And, BTW, there is a widely-held school of thought that SR would be gone already without Howard's influence. The things that handcuff SR are its poor audio quality for music, its being split in two at the outset then joined back together in the merger as some sort of two-headed beast that is technologically incompatible with itself, and in particular the fact that SR has to pay royalties that terrestrial radio does not. Even that playing field and bring out a dual radio, and SR will begin to thrive, with or without Howard.
And it is not going away, for the simple reason that it has lots of paying subscribers, and more of them than HBO or Showtime or DirecTV or anyone else other than ComCast cable. No one could ever find a justification to end the flow of cash, which is $3.6 BILLION with a B, annually, just counting subscriber fees and not even counting ad sales, which is also significant. The 5 major networks don't make that kind of scratch combined (and they have NO subscribers). They will soon raise rates 12%, and far less than 12% of subs will abandon ship because of it, meaning they will gross even more revenue in 2010.
Howard himself said: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBAxy...eature=related I posted that link mostly to show his missing work ethic but also his comment on peoples listening habits.
I think that most of his listeners will not listen to rehashes of old content because it won't have any relevance to today: It's Howards opinion of whats going on NOW that keeps me listening.A lot of his old shows are dated or are hack comedy since so many others have done it also.
Of course there is a old time radio channel on Sirius/xm with listeners,so I guess that there would be a market for "classic Howard" but nowhere near the base of fans for live Howard.
It will be interesting to see weather this "retirement Howard" is for real or a contract negotiating ploy he does every time a contract nears an end.
I think that most of his listeners will not listen to rehashes of old content because it won't have any relevance to today: It's Howards opinion of whats going on NOW that keeps me listening.A lot of his old shows are dated or are hack comedy since so many others have done it also.
Of course there is a old time radio channel on Sirius/xm with listeners,so I guess that there would be a market for "classic Howard" but nowhere near the base of fans for live Howard.
It will be interesting to see weather this "retirement Howard" is for real or a contract negotiating ploy he does every time a contract nears an end.
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