Attracting new subscribers is important, but not nearly as important as making the ones you already have happy, so they will extend their subs and/or get additional ones, recommend the service to their friends, etc etc.
Is Sat Radio going to die soon?
- Thread starter dougm0
- Start date
That is why you must have a decent balance as I stated in my previous post. But again you must have something to draw them in and that isn't niche programming, but IS programming they are familiar with. It is my opinion that even with the changes likely coming there will still be some programming you can't get elsewhere in AM/FM markets.
syphix said:
There's no doubt that hits-oriented playlists will attract more subs. But there are already plenty of hits channels! The decades channels play all the hits of their respective decades, with an occasional "forgotten" or "lost" hit that digs a little deeper... Then you have the popular country channe or two, the "mix" (90s/today hits) channel, the current top 40 channel or two, the adult pop channel (more like the "mix" channel, but reaching back an additional decade or two)... the alternative hits channels of the 80s, 90s, and now, your everyday smooth jazz channel, your everyday adult urban and hip-hop/rap channels... there are already plenty of hits-oriented channels on both services!
I don't think 75/25 is a good mix. I'd like to see it more like 60/40. The hits channels suck you in... the occasional "deep" track they play makes you think "Wow, I haven't heard that one in ages! I wonder what else is around here!", which makes you explore the similar channels that play the deeper tracks, and you finally realize that THIS is what radio should be! Niche formats may not be where it's at... but variety and depth among the popular formats should never be lost. Having a few niche channels certainly can't hurt, though, as big time music enthusiasts love to hear the niche stuff that is hard to find anywhere else.
Content isn't the problem. Tweaking it won't fix the problem. You have to think of satellite radio as a nonsubscriber. Not as a fan that knows it's inner workings. Sirius radio has no rival for content diversity and quantity. Although internet radio is gaining fast.
Exisiting customers won't save satellite radio. It's been losing money since it's inception. Subscription revenues do not cover costs. They need a large uptake in subscriptions. They've consistently over-projected new subscriptions and the stock market has punished them.
Two main problems:
1. Cost
2. Hardware
$6.99 A la carte is their best bet. I pay $23.00 for two subs. People don't want to leave their car, walk in their house and know they have to pay $7.00 more to listen to the same song 30 seconds later. Internet radio is free or premium accounts about $7.00.
Internet radio will work on any computer and many mobile devices. It's set up for immediate distribution. Sat rad uses proprietary hardware. You can't walk into a Walmart and buy a satellite radio. You have to buy a sub, a home kit, and speaker set up.
People just don't listen to radio like they used to. It's mostly while driving. Lower car sales will hurt. As long as there are free alternatives like FM and internet it will be a hard sell. A la carte will help, but don't charge for extra subs. Making most of the current hardware obsolete for a la carte isn't going to help. :churn:
Exisiting customers won't save satellite radio. It's been losing money since it's inception. Subscription revenues do not cover costs. They need a large uptake in subscriptions. They've consistently over-projected new subscriptions and the stock market has punished them.
Two main problems:
1. Cost
2. Hardware
$6.99 A la carte is their best bet. I pay $23.00 for two subs. People don't want to leave their car, walk in their house and know they have to pay $7.00 more to listen to the same song 30 seconds later. Internet radio is free or premium accounts about $7.00.
Internet radio will work on any computer and many mobile devices. It's set up for immediate distribution. Sat rad uses proprietary hardware. You can't walk into a Walmart and buy a satellite radio. You have to buy a sub, a home kit, and speaker set up.
People just don't listen to radio like they used to. It's mostly while driving. Lower car sales will hurt. As long as there are free alternatives like FM and internet it will be a hard sell. A la carte will help, but don't charge for extra subs. Making most of the current hardware obsolete for a la carte isn't going to help. :churn:
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Satellite radio buzz has slowed down since it is a maturing technology, and business. In the beginning when the radios were the size of bricks and the possibilities of content changes were always around the corner, there was lots to talk about. Now those days of change and innovation are gone, and we look forward to a future of smaller incremental changes. The merger actually opens up a new kind of buzz, like what's going to change as they consolodate and try to become a profitable company? Eventually those questions will be answered and we will be back to a mature service.
For me, it's like being in the 5th year of a good marriage, the initial excitement is over, but you still love your spouse.
For me, it's like being in the 5th year of a good marriage, the initial excitement is over, but you still love your spouse.
Not so good news for sir today
Labor rights watchdog challenges Howard Stern -- who lampooned Kathie Lee Gifford over the exploitation of child workers in Honduras who sewed her clothing for Wal-Mart -- to confront Sirius Satellite Radio for the abusive sweatshop conditions faced by women workers at the Kiryung Electronics factory in Korea, where they assembled Sirius Satellite Radios.
The Dark Side of Sirius Satellite Radio - MarketWatch
Sirius XM radio said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday that it it seeking shareholders' approval to declare a reverse stock split, with a ratio of between 1-for-10 and 1-for-50 (to prevent delisting.)
Radio Ink - The Voice of Radio Revolution
Labor rights watchdog challenges Howard Stern -- who lampooned Kathie Lee Gifford over the exploitation of child workers in Honduras who sewed her clothing for Wal-Mart -- to confront Sirius Satellite Radio for the abusive sweatshop conditions faced by women workers at the Kiryung Electronics factory in Korea, where they assembled Sirius Satellite Radios.
The Dark Side of Sirius Satellite Radio - MarketWatch
Sirius XM radio said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday that it it seeking shareholders' approval to declare a reverse stock split, with a ratio of between 1-for-10 and 1-for-50 (to prevent delisting.)
Radio Ink - The Voice of Radio Revolution
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Or even more bad news unfortunately:
WorldSpace files for bankruptcy
170k subscribers across 10 countries? Wow, I thought it'd be more than that.
Isnt UPop on XM run by Worldspace?
WorldSpace files for bankruptcy
170k subscribers across 10 countries? Wow, I thought it'd be more than that.
Isnt UPop on XM run by Worldspace?
IdRatherBeSkiing
Sherbet is NOT and NEVER WILL BE ice cream.
This is hardly unexpected. Its also no different than any other electronics. There is a reason they are so cheap. You don't pay someone union scale and get cheap product.
We will have XM or whatever it becomes, as long as it doesn't mean all new radios and everything to keep listening, for as long as we can. I think most all the channels I listen to sound great! I love the choices, the coast to coast listening. After years of 8 track, then cassette tapes, fuzzy radio stations with millions of commercials, even my MP3 player can't have the variety that XM or Sirius can provide. Sat radio is still the BEST. Yes I hope it doesn't get butchered like I keep reading it could, but we'll still have it! XM since 2003!
Obviously if we are reading/posting on this forum, we all want sat radio to survive. Many of us have been with XM and/or Sirius since the beginning, and we have seen many changes. Some we have enjoyed, others we have not...yet we are still here and not going anywhere. In the next two weeks, we will likely see many changes to the music line up. Most of us are hoping that our favorite channels make the cut. We will all likely lose a channel we enjoy, to be replaced by a similar channel from the "other" service. That will be a hard transition. Many XM subs praise the deeper playlists (except on the channels that cater to repetition), like me, while others prefer to playlists less deep. Which is better? Depends on your tastes. Even if my favorite channels are lost, I will not abandon sat radio ... at least not right away. Like most here, I will give them a chance and, over time, decide if I want to stay. Given how lousy FM is, I don't think I'm going anywhere....rather, I'll roll with the changes.
Those of us on this forum are a bit obsessed about sat radio, so we tend to be more passionate about our views of it. I think the majority of the listeners will treat the channel line-up changes as a bump in the road, but not a big enough bump to knock them off course.
The economy will hurt everything, including sat radio....as car sales drop, new sub numbers do as well. We all are making sacrifices during this hard time....some have to, some are being cautious. Hopefully, few will drop sat radio....it gets us through the good and bad times (and every day at work).
Those of us on this forum are a bit obsessed about sat radio, so we tend to be more passionate about our views of it. I think the majority of the listeners will treat the channel line-up changes as a bump in the road, but not a big enough bump to knock them off course.
The economy will hurt everything, including sat radio....as car sales drop, new sub numbers do as well. We all are making sacrifices during this hard time....some have to, some are being cautious. Hopefully, few will drop sat radio....it gets us through the good and bad times (and every day at work).