Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Satellite Radio: Apparently, It Won't Destroy Free Radio

A dumb New York magazine business piece looks at Sirius satellite radio and makes a few unprofound observations. The writer begins with a stupid comparison, saying Steve Jobs and Howard Stern have about as much in common as Yo-Yo Ma and Neil Diamond. Huh? Ma and Diamond have a LOT in common -- both are world class performers with distinguished careers and best-selling albums. They are musicians and would undoubtedly find much common ground. Then the writer refers to the truism that "content is king" as "a vapid, hoary shibboleth." Yeah, except for the fact that it's true. If he thinks "content is king" is asinine, he at least better be prepared to explain why it isn't in this case. Finally, it asks:
Is Sirius therefore doomed? Fred Wilson thinks not. "Satellite will survive, but it's not going to put the traditional radio guys out of business," he says. "It will be a premium service, like HBO."”
The writer admits that would hardly be disastrous. In fact, it's been the gameplan from the beginning. No one -- except foolish business writers -- ever even hinted that satellite radio would destroy traditional radio.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I get it -- we're supposed to pay for satellite radio the way we pay for cable. That's one bil too many. Besides, the music channels may not have many "ads" but they have so many breaks promoting other channels and shows and the service itself that it amounts to the same annoying thing.

Michael in New York said...

I think Howard Stern is funnier when he's on Letterman or some other traditional outlet where he has to restrain himself than he has been on his own show. I'd never pay $1o a month or whatever to listen to him though.