"We're not against competition, but…"

As satellite radio begins to localize its programming, the competition-fearing National Association of Broadcasters cries foul.

Comments

[Kevin Carson]

I didn't know Clear Channel did weather, traffic reports and school closings.

I'll be interested in seeing the potential, now that we're in the age of broadband, for internet radio to provide more competing local outlets. Imagine the old FCC-licensed dinosaur in town being swamped by the competition of dozens of alternative and community access-type stations that don't even have to pay for a transmitter.

[James Merritt]

It really doesn't cost that much, anymore, to put out a high-quality, strong local signal, especially on FM. The emergence of satellite radio is not needed to spur terrestrial broadcasters into local programming innovation. Practically overnight, we could have tens of thousands of very local radio stations across this country giving the Clear Channels and other aspiring broadcast monopolists of the world a very hard time, if the FCC didn't erect the tall barriers to entry that it does.

Instead, the FCC fills up the airwaves with translator and repeater signals based on existing stations, refuses to authorize more than a relative handful of independent "Low Power FM" stations, and actively chases pirates off the air. The FCC couldn't be more effective as security guards for the vested commercial radio interests (NAB, etc.) if they were direct employees. As a former broadcaster who loves the medium, I have to say that this sorry situation stinks all the way to satellite orbit.

[dhex]

didn't they already wipe out internet radio with the licensing fee thing. even for non-ASCAP artists?

[Franklin Harris]

"I didn't know Clear Channel did weather, traffic reports and school closings."

I know Clear Channel's foes may not believe it, but by far the best weather coverage in my area comes from one of the local Clear Channel stations. Basically, Clear Channel eliminates local DJs, but not local, community content.

[ed]

I don't (yet) have a satellite radio, but I'm not optimistic about the programming. Won't they use the same focus groups who insist "Layla" be played every two hours every day of the week? Followed, inevitably, by "Free Bird"?

No commercials certainly is a selling point for me, if only to silence the most obnoxious ads ever invented: car commercials.

[Russ D]

I'm not sure the "commercial-free" aspect is going to be permanent. There may come a day when the satellite service won't cost you anything but you'll have to endure commercials; a competing service may be commercial-free but you won't likely have 2 different services in your car.

And the other aspect is "socialized" service model used. You get (and therefore pay) for channels you don't want. Is there any technological reason why satellite tv/radio can't offer ala carte service?

[Steven Crane]

How many Illinoisans/Chicagoans ARE there here? Russ D, drf... or is drf just Russ D anagrammized? hmm....

[R. C. Dean]

ed, the great thing about satellite radio is that there are over 100 channels. Of those, one or two are likely to play "Free Bird" and "Layla", but there will be dozens where tired old boomer tunes are never heard.

[ed]

Russ,

My cable company (Adelphia) says it's too "expensive" to offer a la carte service. I looked at my 85-channel lineup the other day and counted about 15-20 channels I watch on a regular basis. I have no less than four QVC-type entities to flip past as well as five religious hucksters and about ten WB-UPN clones, all seemingly showing the same sitcoms.

I think the technological issue boils down to splitting the signals into thousands of possible variables. For people like me without a box, it becomes even more difficult. Or so they say...

[Late for the boom]

I havent read the rest of the comments, but wanted to point out to Russ and anyone else that might not know this but Clear Channel is one of the largest financial backers of XM

http://www.xmradio.com/newsroom/screen/press_release_1999_06_08.html

http://www.fool.com/News/mft/2003/mft03110507.htm

http://contracts.onecle.com/alpha/7108.shtml

just a few links with source on the Clear Channel XM connection.

[Russ D]

Late: Thanks for the info! I just used Clear Channel as a default because they are the largest radio operator. I don't have any reason to single them out over Infinity, et al. In fact, I can now understand WHY the NAB may have a legit point, not from the local angle they're expressing, but from the fact that the FCC only allowed TWO satellite radio operators to exist.

[Jesse Walker]

I'm an idiot for forgetting the XM/Clear Channel connection. Now that you bring it up, I remember that it's one of the reasons some of my microradio contacts are convinced satellite broadcasting will never be a real alternative to the radio mainstream. Thanks for the reminder, Late.

[ed]

Thanks for bursting our bubble.

[late for the boom]

I think you guys still have valid points... something that I have been saying for a long time is, consicering Clear Channels stake in XM, there is a pretty good argument that Clear Channel is 'dumbing down radio' for the express purpose of pushing XM pay for radio business model. Infact, that is XMs selling point, better music, more selections, higher quality over your FM radio dial.

That being said, for some strange reason, XM seems to be in financial trouble, even though they claim 500,000 subscribers paying 10 bucks a month. I see this as Clear Channels ploy to put XM on the market so that they can pick it up for pennies on the dollar, while XM did all the groud work.

Sirius, the other meat, boasts less then half of XMs subscribers, (about 200,000) paying 13 bucks a month and have posted another profitable quarter... so I have been asking, what gives here. XM has commercial revenue (they play about 7 min an hour of commericals) while Sirius does not (the only commericals you hear on Sirius are piped from a syndicated feed on talk and news channels, not music).

I would watch the XM issue closely.. Clear Channel is up to something.

[Rick Henderson]

Clear Channel hasn't eliminated local jocks in every market. The DJs on the Las Vegas-based stations blather on endlessly about locally focused stuff. But they're still odious, intrusive morons. So in this case, localism offers no advantage.

After having XM in my car for one month (BECAUSE the stations in Vegas are so awful), I give it a thumbs-up. The programming is hardly free-form, but the playlists are substantially larger than those of any urban commercial stations I've heard, and within a few weeks, all the music stations will air commercial-free. If you like singer-songwriter, folk rock, or Americana, the programming options are pretty good.

As for Clear Channel orchestrating some grand conspiracy to ruin satellite radio ... get out of your black helicopters. Maybe Clear Channel thinks a few bucks can be made on niche programming (though not as many, of course, as you can make homogenizing the radio dial).

[late for the boom]

Rick, I think you misread my statements...

I have been a satallite radio subscriber for quite a while, early adopter, hatred of the every 5 min the same song on every channel radio plauge.

What I AM saying is, it looks like Clear Channel is getting in position to buy XM out right, you know, kinda something they already do in FM radio markets.

Its amazing, I extrapolate an existing stratagy that a company has used over the past 10 years in a market they already dominate, point to a market where they obviously have interest (being one of the largest financial backer for XM clearly shows interest) and Im a tin foil hatter....

Amazing......

[Kirsten Tynan]

Well, maybe XM radio won't be an alternative forever, but I would have to say that it is at least a real alternative to mainstream radio right now. I have been listening to it 2+ hours a day for the last week and I have heard only one song twice. (Ironically, that was on the Unsigned channel.) I'm not at all a fan of XM's talk channels, but it's awesome that I can listen to African Rock, several flavors of alternative, sappy love songs, old style country, Celtic, Native American, reggae, big bands, and the list goes on and on. We have a community station here in Tucson and even that does not really help supplement our mainstream radio very much.

P.S. I believe I recently read that XM has more than double the number of subscribers you are reporting, late for the bloom.

[late for the boom]

Kirsten,

A quick google search says you are correct... 1.3 million to be exact....

The last time I had read figures on XM subscribers they were reporting breaking the half million mark.

To be fair, XM counts any reciever device as a subscriber, so if I buy 3 recievers one for my house, one for my car and one for my office, I count as 3 subscribers.....

But thanks for the correction.

[Rick Henderson]

Yes, late, but if Clear Channel buys XM and makes its programming just as sucky as the stuff CC airs for free, how many subscribers will it keep? Long before then, I'll be MP3-ing full-time.

Making substantial financial commitments to dominate a worthless market makes little sense to me.

[late for the boom]

Rick, I never said clear channel will dumb down XM after it acquires it, on the contrary, I said that it seems to fit that Clear Channel dumbs down FM dial radio to promote XM satallite radio.

Its sickening to turn on the radio in the morning and hear Bob and Tom on 7 of 10 channels... or later in the evening hear a promotion of a Phoenix local bar because the local button pusher was in the John and didnt que the local commercials.

You ever tried to call a clear channel station and request a song.... nobody answers the phone, because nobody is there, its just a syndicate feed from some Phoenix station.

[ed]

Question: Are the songs identified periodically, or is it one after another with no break, like digital cable music?

[Radley Balko]

Ed -- The songs are ID'd digitally on your receiver box.

I got XM for Christmas, and I'm a believer. On the way home last night, I heard a great Merle Haggard tune, a bluegrass cover of Cream's "White Room," the Shins, Victoria Williams, the Darkness, and --made my day -- "Deeper Shade of Soul" from Urban Dance Squad.

There are five shades of country, four shades of jazz, and lots of world, African and dance stations. Only one blues station, though. Could probably use a couple more.

And if you still want your heavy dose of Outkast, there are about four Top Forty channels to play with.

Now, imagine what XM could do with local programming. Unsigned bands, local talk show hosts focusing on regional issues, city or county council meetings -- all kinds of stuff they could do.

My hope is that either XM or NAB will force the FCC to make a definitive ruling on the repeater issue before Powell steps down.

[Phil]

It's funny that they cite "weather and traffic alerts" as important local-broadcasting concerns, as they are the two most pointless - and most repeated - features of the daily cycle.

Actually, savvy programmers know that you almost can't do traffic and weather enough during morning and afternoon drive. Seriously.

[Russ D]

You'd think a company like Clear Channel that could afford to own 1200 radio stations would be able to start its own satellite radio service (or even buy Sirius or XM outright). But maybe they have so much debt from buying all those government-controlled signals that they can't afford it.

[ed]

It's funny that they cite "weather and traffic alerts" as important local-broadcasting concerns, as they are the two most pointless - and most repeated - features of the daily cycle.
They exist only as vehicles to be "sponsored by", methods by which programmers squeeze in more commercials disguised as public services.

The NAB is simply and transparently afraid of competition. Same ole story.

[ed]

Russ,
It will indeed be poetic justice if Clear Channel is stuck with thousands of outdated "Classic Rock" clones, but I have a feeling if they can't beat 'em (with the government's club) they'll try to join 'em.

[Jesse Walker]

Russ: When the government started handing out satellite radio licenses, it made the decision to limit the field to two companies. So Clear Channel et al were excluded from the start -- though you're right, they still have the option of buying XM or Sirius if they really want to.

Ed: The NAB does have a legitimate reason to be worried. With satellite radio offering far more variety than AM or FM, those weather and traffic alerts are the one unique selling point a lot of terrestrial stations have. If XM starts offering them as well, that's one less reason to switch the dial back to your "local" station ... which is mostly relaying another sort of satellite programming anyway.

[erf]

Anyway, I always like how when you drive long distances, you need to look for new stations, and you don't know what you are going to get.

[dhex]

traffic updates are pretty helpful sometimes though. like when you're driving and stuff.

[Lush Rimbaud]

I actively dislike what companies such as Clear Channel have done to radio. I find broadcast radio to be a vast wasteland of homogeneous nonsense. Maybe competition from satellite radio will force big radio companies to offer something besides bland programming and faux local content. Maybe competition will force the Clear Channels of the world out of business, allowing local stations to be owned by local companies once again.

This reminds me of what happened to the AM band. FM radio killed music on AM. The AM band seemed doomed -- until the arrival of talk radio. I'm no fan of talk radio, but the "death" of AM actually opened the door to a new business model for those stations and new content for listeners. Perhaps satellite will do the same for broadcast.

I'd love to see more interesting broadcast content, because frankly, I'd rather not pay for radio if I can help it. I prefer the privacy (and cheapness) of over-the-air broadcasts that don't require a subscription and a device that can track your listening habits. But judging from the growing popularity of satellite radio, a great number of people don't mind.

[Russ D]

omigod Jesse! I didn't know those satellite radio companies were licensed! I should have known better, it's "spectrum"... I did wonder about the repeaters, I figured those would be in FCC control somehow.

Regarding ed's point about traffic and weather... isn't weather-band radio a competitor then? And here in Chicago, IDOT has 2 frequencies on AM (low power and very static-y) that are 24-hour computerized updates of the traffic conditions on the area expressways. And they're totally useless. Taxpayer funded, too!

[Russ D]

Jesse, the two satellite licenses do bring up an interesting conundrum though. If the govt. decides to allow more satellite radio companies, XM and Sirius will probably bitch that the govt. is reducing the "value" of their services. By only allowing two, they do give some credence to the NAB's complaints.

Either way, they're wrong.

[ed]

dhex:

Where I live (Southeast Florida) there's only one viable choice for getting to work and back again: I 95. The traffic "update" goes something like this:

"Traffic building on the Palmetto as onlookers merge into bumper-to-bumper delays westbound on Ives Dairy Road backed up to Sterling take the Turnpike this report brought to you by Bud Light Tastes Great Less Filling as Traumahawk is on the scene use caution just a reminder construction delays will continue through June this report underwritten by Taco Bell..."

Useless? Yes.

[Russ]

So, let's say, hypothetically, that the Canadian Government decides to license another satellite broadcaster or two.

Meaning that any American resourceful enough to cross the border into Canada to buy a decryption receiver, could listen to endless hours of Celine Dion, Alanis Morissette, Barenaked Ladies and Avril Lavigne, along with weather and traffic for the Yukon ("still cold and windy, and the snowmobiles and dogsleds are backed up on the highway for kilometers").

Would this scenario finally convince the FCC that they are not the masters of the electromagnetic spectrum universe?

[dhex]

ahh, fair enough.

new york city is a bit more complicated. thankfully, i don't drive but my wife to be does so 1010 wins gives us all the jersey/LI/NYC clusterfuck updates we need to find out precisely where we'll be sitting on the BQE.

[Highway]

I'm not so sure about the usefulness of weather and traffic reports either. The weather is the same thing you heard that morning, or last night, or whenever, if you cared, since they contract it out to accu-weather, or some other group. And the traffic is pretty much the same report every day. If you drive in an area, you KNOW where the backups are. I've never had a traffic report actually mention the backup I'm in (my 10 minute, no-major-road commute doesn't get me into traffic much). And the syndicated hosts of morning 'zoo' shows are what drove me to AM radio in the first place, where the awful hosts then pushed me to NPR. Local stations are probably something I could do without.

[Rick Henderson]

I feel like I'm communicating with fourth graders. Traffic reports can be useful, depending on where you live. (Duh.) In Los Angeles, where surface streets and multiple freeways run parallel, it's nice to know of accidents that can slow a freeway to literal gridlock for hours. (This is an issue for the tens of thousands of people who don't live near work.) In Las Vegas, where the roads to the suburbs are busy for roughly two hours each in the morning and the evening, and the surface streets tend to be constantly-under-construction nightmares, again, it's helpful to know if an accident has effectively shut down a freeway, converting a normal 25-minute commute into an hour-long crawl. Granted, I've also lived in places where the traffic reports were nothing but advertising vehicles. But if you live in a real city, being informed about traffic is a boon to your sanity. The timeliness and accuracy of such reports is, again, another matter.

[Erasmus]

"The timeliness and accuracy of such reports is, again, another matter."

!!!

[ed]

"...can't do traffic and weather enough..."

Still rarely useful, in my view. I get weather forecasts from the internet or simply by looking out my window, and nobody needs to remind me I'm stuck in traffic when I'm stuck in traffic.

The reports are always accompanied by commercials. That's why programmers love them, no?