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Satellite Radio Subscriptions Rising

Posted by timothy on from the radio-free-space dept.

aSiTiC writes "Apparently, satellite radio is finally catching on. I'm an avid internet radio listener on stations such as KEXP, BBC 6Music and SomaFM. I am looking for a more portable alternative and I wonder if eventually my favorite MP3/RM/WMA internet stations will be ever be carried on satellite."

3 of 302 comments (clear)

  1. Look out, more ads and spam in the future! by Saeed+al-Sahaf · · Score: 4, Insightful

    As Satellite Radio becomes more popular, watch for in increase in ads / spam a la The Internet.

    --
    "Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
    1. Re:Look out, more ads and spam in the future! by Technician · · Score: 3, Insightful

      A better example would be commercial free cable TV. Those old enough remember when Cable meant commercial free. Sigh. I expect subscription radio to follow into the same pit.

      I know you can still find some commercial free stuff, but not in the basic level. It used to be all premium at the basic level. The 2 minutes of commercials per hour (XM) will soon fall to the pressure of advertisers just like cable (my prediction). Commercial free stuff will move to a premium service. From what I hear, that's already started with one premium channel now extra charge.

      The demand will be for more channels in a limited bandwidth to include the premium channels while not dropping advertiser driven revenue streams for basic service. Why would subscription radio have any different business model than cable tv or sat tv? They know how to get advertisers to pay for eyeballs and get consumers to pay extra for the package deal.
      It's just a matter of time for the advertisers to notice and offer the big bucks to reach the ears.

      --
      The truth shall set you free!
  2. For those of us by geekoid · · Score: 4, Insightful

    old enough to remember ON tv, we can see whats coming.

    ON tv was on of the first cable TV. it cam with a set top box that had a knob with 2 positions ON and OFF. change to chanel 3 or 4, turn it on, instant commercial free movies, no restrictions.

    Copar it to cable TV now. there is a lot more channels, but most of them have commersials. If you want to see something commercial free, you have to pay more on top of your basic service.

    Satalite radio will go the same way. within 8 years, you'll have commercial, unless you pay for premium content.

    There is a lesson in there, somewhere.

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect