Posts filed under ‘satellite radio’
What’s Driving Internet Radio
“In the not-too-distant future, a car with a radio that receives only AM or FM will qualify as an antique.” So says a WSJ article covering a new study released by Deloitte on Generation Y’s automotive buying power and preferences.
The study finds that 59% of 19 to 31 year olds place in-car connectivity as the top interior feature when shopping for a new car. This year one out of every four persons in that age group will buy a new car, almost half of them will purchase new or used in the next two years.
That’s driving heavy interest in tuners and platforms that are app ready and adaptable to safe car use. Pandora, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, NPR and others are working with auto manufacturers to place their apps in the cars, as is SiriusXM. Leading the way, Pandora has deals in place with almost 2 dozen auto manufacturers already.
I think there’s a short term and long term view to all of this and long term my money is on all-in aggregators like TuneIn who provide access to anyone who wants to be listed in their directory. If you are a car manufacturer, isn’t that what you would want to offer? I’m thinking that’s what buyers will want to buy.
Siriusly Streaming
Sirius XM has been streaming its programming and offering it as an add-on of $2.99 for subscribers to the satellite music service. Apparently that has been going well because now Sirius XM will enhance that service by adding programming that is not available via satellite to their streaming platform, including BBC Radio 1, programming that just last week was cancelled by Sirius XM as a satellite channel.
Rather than discontinuing its relationship with BBC Radio 1, Sirius XM is clearly using the channel to build more audience online. It will time shift the live programming to enable US listeners to listen in the same daypart that the programming is intended for. Sirius XM will also expand its coverage of BBC Radio 1′s programming and will also broadcast concerts from the extensive and wide-ranging BBC Radio archive, many of which are not commercially available. by artists such as Led Zeppelin, U2, Lady Gaga, AC/DC, Pink Floyd, Duran Duran, Queen, The Cure and other music legends.
“We are happy to continue our valuable relationship with the BBC and thrilled to now be able to give our listeners access to BBC Radio 1 programming on our expanding internet platform as well as deliver special concert performances to a variety of our satellite radio channels. The additional programming ranges from legendary music icons to today’s rising stars whose exclusive performances for the BBC are featured regularly,” said Scott Greenstein, President and Chief Content Officer, SiriusXM.
In addition to adding BBC Radio 1 to its online offerings, Sirius XM will now offer other channels online only as well, including The Groove, CSpan, Neil Diamond Radio, Simon & Garfunkle Radio, Rosie radio, and more.
While this all kind of leaves me scratching my head, I think it’s safe to draw the conclusion that streaming is going well for the satellite broadcaster. How well is anyone’s guess, but it sure looks to me like they’re interested in keeping more than a toe in the Internet radio game…
40% of Public Radio Listeners Are Streaming Weekly
Jacobs Media has updated their annual survey of lots of public radio listeners about their technology habits. Public Radio Tech Survey 2010 interviewed more than 21000 public radio listeners in the US. The results reveal a continuing trend toward the use of mobile devices. “There’s been a lot written and said about how new technology impacts ‘old media,’ notes Jacobs Media President Fred Jacobs. “ Our findings clearly show how the smartphone continues to be the hot item, led by the Apple iPhone.”
Jacobs is only releasing highlights, so I have not had the chance to parse the info myself and think about it, but here are some highlights from them:
- More than one-third of PRTS3 respondents now own a smartphone, up 29% from last year’s study. IPhone is the top choice.
- One-fourth of public radio survey takers listen to Pandora monthly or more.
- Nearly two-thirds of respondents now have a social media profile. Facebook and LinkedIn are the big gainers.
- Four in ten survey participants listen to streaming audio at least weekly, up 17% from last year’s survey.
- In the past year, six of every ten respondents say they have downloaded and listened to a podcast.
- More than one in ten owns an eReader, such as a Kindle or Nook, while 6% have already purchased an iPad.
- Overall, 6% say they have an HD Radio, up 22% from last year. On the other hand, satellite radio’s 13% is similar to last year’s levels.
Typically, Jacobs will release additional info from the survey over the next few weeks or months.
Taking Streaming Siriusly
Things aren’t looking so bad for Sirius XM these days. They finished 2010 with more than 20 million subscribers, and renewed their contract with Howard Stern, and managed to report profits for most of last year. And while the crisis isn’t over – they still have plenty of debt to worry about – the skies seem to be brightening.
In part, they can thank Pandora for that. Pandora, who filed papers last week as a first step in their move to go public, is raising awareness of and interest in new radio technologies. And while Sirius XM isn’t really an Internet radio company, they have a substantial presence online, and could certainly head in that direction.
Actually, I’ve begun to wonder if they haven’t already – they just announced a new deal that puts them on Sonos Internet radio devices along with Pandora and others. They’re working on a new platform for Android, they’re already on iPhone. They are already in the Internet radio game – and getting an extra $2.99 a month for it from their subscribers.
Pandora’s impressed a bunch of folks with their stats – 80 million registered users is an impressive number. But we know from the filing that less than 10% of them are paying customers – and while Pandora is watching ad dollars flow in, they have a big job in front of them in turning all those listeners into advertising revenue. Pandora’s subscribers listen to ad-free music streams.
Meanwhile, Sirius XM has reported that they have more than 20 million subscribers as of the end of 2010. Who are both paying to listen AND listening to commercials. Auto sales are on the upswing, and Sirius XM gains subs from that as well.
Analysts are liking Sirius XM, and I have to say their business model is starting to look somewhat sound…
Slacker Heads North
Slacker has has announced that its ad supported free Basic Radio service is now available in Canada. This is a move that puts Slacker ahead of Pandora in offering its free streaming radio service north of the border.
A year ago, Slacker began offering free interactive channels and streaming to Canadians, but only for a 30 day trial after which listeners had to agree to pay $3.99 a month to continue.
Now listeners can freely listen to more than 100 expert-programmed genre stations or create and share customized music stations starting with either Slacker’s programmed stations or by artist’s name or song title. Interactive options include the “Fine Tune” feature which enables listeners to adjust the frequency of artists and songs and choose to hear more classic versus newer or popular versus fringe selections.
Competitively this is a nice move for Slacker. XM Canada, a streaming music extension offered by XM Canada and Sirius Canada which gave subscribers access to their favourite satellite radio stations online, was cancelled in November 2010 and replaced with an offering that forced subscribers to pay an additional fee. Pandora, the widely popular online radio platform in the US, has yet to offer access to listeners from Canada.
Bubba’s A Big Deal For Internet Radio
Bubba The Love Sponge has left satellite radio in favor of Internet radio. In case you’re inclined to downplay this news due to Bubba’s renegade reputation, I’ll say that I think this is big news for Internet radio.
Bubba The Love Sponge was a well known and highly fined shock jock of the Howard Stern genre. In 2004 he was fired for indecency, soon after to end up at Sirius XM where he hosted the #2 show after Stern’s for years. In 2008 he reappeared on broadcast radio in several markets, that show also continued to air on Sirius XM. Unhappy with the terms of his contract renewal at Sirius XM, Bubba left the satellite station at the end of 2010 and announced to his listeners that he would begin streaming his show on Radioio on January 3rd. 
Few, if any, radio personalities with a following the size of Bubba’s (reported to be around 3 million) have made such a move. Bubba has earned bragging rights as an Internet radio pioneer. But he says it wasn’t a risky move given the way Internet radio is growing. More people have smartphones than satellite radios, he points out, so more people can listen to Internet radio than Sirius XM, and more potential listeners for his show.
“The way to deliver content changes by the minute” Bubba said during my phone conversation with him. “While this may seem revolutionary today, tomorrow it won’t.”
Content distribution is what Bubba The Love Sponge is really focused on. He’s been producing and distributing his own content – to Sirius XM and a small number of broadcast stations – for several years. Was there a deal that would have kept BTLS with Sirius XM? Not exclusively. “No amount they could have offered would have kept me off of Radioio,” he says.
Bubba has been watching Internet radio and Radioio closely for years. It was in 2004 that he first met with management from the station. At the time, his friend and mentor Randy Michaels advised him to sit back for awhile. BTLS’s agent Tom Bean is also the CEO of Radioio, something that came about as a result of Bubba’s early interest in the station.
The Bubba The Love Sponge show is available now on Radioio for free. In March, Radioio will add an additional second channel of Bubba programming – one will stream a free rebroadcast of the show produced for terrestrial radio and the second will offer an exclusive, unregulated version to subscribers for $9.99 a month.
“We view this launch as the next evolution in Internet Radio,” said Thomas Bean, CEO of IO World Media. Radioio Founder and Consultant Mike Roe calls it a historic event for the medium. I have to say I agree. With this move, Bubba becomes the first major radio personality to move his programming and huge and passionate audience online. While I can’t say I’ll be listening, I’ll definitely be watching…
The Howard Stern App For Internet Radio
Image via Wikipedia
There’s buzz around the Internet that Howard Stern will leave Sirius XM at the end of his $500 million contract at the end of this year. Stern has hinted at ending his run with Sirius and turning to the Internet as his next frontier. He’s not alone. Dr. Laura Schlessinger recently announced she will leave terrestrial radio at the end of the year and has hinted that she may head for an Internet based audio platform where she can “say what’s on her mind”.
Howard Stern is arguably the most popular, most listened to radio personality ever. His move to satellite radio revved up Sirius and enabled them to eventually win the battle against XM and gobble them up.
Rumors that he’ll move his show to Internet radio next are exciting. Internet radio could provide a multi-media platform that would be entirely compatible with his larger than life image. Imagine Howard Stern apps, streams, in-studio videos, side channel audio and video programming, all wrapped into one online platform.
If he’s smart, and I think he is, he’s not just thinking about an audio stream, he’s thinking about how his audio show gets unleashed from corporate control and becomes a mega brand, a huge online destination the likes of which Internet radio has yet to see. Yeah, I think Howard Stern would be good for Internet radio. And Internet radio would be good for Howard…
Radio Listening in UK Reaches All Time High
In the UK radio listening is booming. Radio listening in the UK has reached an all time high of 46.5 million adults, or 90.6% of the UK population (15+), according to new data released by RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research).
AT&T Launches Internet Radio, Download Platform for Subscribers
AT&T has launched a new mobile music platform that delivers “song and album downloads, streaming radio, song match, lyric search and an enhanced music player – into a single, cohesive experience for AT&T mobile phones.” AT&T will charge customers $6.99 a month on top of a data plan fee, with song and album purchases charged a la carte.
The service will extend streaming music capabilities to “quick messaging phones”, also sometimes called feature phones, or non-smartphones. It’s currently available on three popular devices – LG Xenon, Samsung Solstice and Samsung Impression. It will soon be available for downloads on other phones and AT&T will begin pre-loading it on new devices this summer.
Music downloads are provided through partnerships with Napster and eMusic, streaming is through XM Mobile, music ID is through Shazam.
AT&T has clearly identified streaming music as a popular application for mobile devices, and created this platform to offer customers who are not using smartphones those capabilities. I’m sure they’re hoping those customers will see a good reason to purchase unlimited data plans so they can stream.
Meanwhile, Nielsen recently reported that smartphones will overtake other mobile devices by the end of next year as more and more customers choose to upgrade. The use of Wi-Fi increases from 5% for feature phone owners to 50% for smartphone users because smartphones give users more ways to utilize a broadband connection. Now AT&T has created a platform that enables feature phone customers with some of those capabilities.
Meanwhile, it’s all a good thing for the growing Internet radio audience…
Pew Study: Audio Is The New Radio
Radio is well positioned for a transition to a digital future, according to a new study by the Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism. Radio has the ability to maintain and grow its audience through several digital audio platforms and is doing a better job than other traditional media such as television, newspapers and magazines.
Radio is on its way to becoming a new medium called Audio, according to this study. Listeners are tuning in via many channels including Internet radio, podcasts and satellite radio, which are contributing audience growth. Not all newer digital audio technologies are growing audience however — the study notes that HD Radio continues to struggle both with the lack of audience and a static number of stations converting to the HD platform of delivery.
Radio is experiencing an “intriguing fragmentation” across other audio platforms, which are also providing broadcasters with opportunities to grow revenue. Over the next five years, Internet radio and mobile revenues will continue to increase.
Source: Veronis Suhler Stevenson, “Communications Industry Forecast 2008-2012”
The main focus of the study is the impact of new media on news, and the appetite for radio news is dropping on AM/FM stations. But 24% of adults 18+ indicated they had listened to a newscast online – either streamed or downloaded. A stated conclusion is that the slow increase in online listening corresponds to a simultaneous loss of broadcast radio audience.
All of this emphasizes the wisdom of broadcasters who are distributing their audio content across multiple channels. It’s more important than ever to strategically develop a diverse digital audio platform that feeds the digital audio audience’s diverse appetite.
