The Last Days Of Satellite Radio?

Picture From The New York Times

If you've listened to the last podcast, you heard me say that I believed that Satellite Radio is finished as an entertainment medium...at least in it's current form and business model.
I wanted to get in to that a bit more here, and explain a little further why I see this as the final days of the medium.

I began subscribing to XM Satellite Radio in October 2002. At that time, I found satellite radio to be one of most amazing experiences I have ever had in my car that didn't involve a member of the opposite sex. And quite frankly, it was even better than some of those experiences too.

At a time when there was, in my opinion, NOTHING being offered in terms of decent quality music on the FM dial, Satellite Radio gave us...CHOICES.
I was no longer being forced to accept that Metallica was the most hardcore "metal" that I would ever hear on radio airwaves. I also was no longer being forced to accept that I would only hear "Plush" from Stone Temple Pilots, as if they never created another single tune, OR that I couldn't have an entire station dedicated to Frank Sinatra and his crew. Now, I could hear ALL of their bodies of work, thrown in to a rotation, along with ALL of whatever other bands of each and every genre of music I chose to listen to at the time.

The barriers were gone...FINALLY, we had real music variety at our fingertips.

In October 2004, XM brought Opie And Anthony to their airwaves...the first uncensored "shock radio" program to hit the uncensored Satellite airwaves. Being a big fan of the duo at that time in my life, this was the ultimate coup. I now had all of the music I enjoyed, AND the morning show that I loved.
FM Radio was DEAD as far as I was concerned.

As time went on, I noticed that the playlists were becoming more in keeping to that of FM rotation, than that of the Satellite Radio rotation that I had become accustomed to, AND commercials were being introduced to some of the channels.
There was also something funny going on with my "favorite" morning show.
It started to really...for lack of a better word...suck.

In my experience, the "shock radio" format strangely doesn't work in an uncensored, anything goes environment.
As crazy as it seems, the pushing of boundaries, the seeing "what we can get away with" factor, is a CRUCIAL component of that particular genre, and when it's gone, so is the compelling element of the program.
Anyone of us can say "cock"...but the directions taken to convey that word when you aren't allowed to say it create a more interesting atmosphere. Even when we grow up, we still love listening to someone fighting against authority somehow.

At this point, as a whole, the medium lost it's luster for me, and I canceled my subscription.

But something much more important was happening with Satellite Radio's faltering than this particular moron's waning interest and subesquent cancellation.

In 2001 Steve Jobs introduced something new to the world of tech geekdom...you may have heard of it, it's called "iPod".
No? Doesn't ring a bell?
Maybe you should stop watching "227" reruns and get out and experience things a little more....just a thought.

At first, iPod didn't seem too threatening at all really. Sure, you could put 1,000 songs on it, but who had a 1,000 songs, and more importantly, you still didn't have the variety that Satellite Radio was providing unless you personally had the most diverse taste in music that anyone has ever seen.

Let's jump in the Dolorean and arrive at 2009.

The current iPhone and iPod Touch are AMAZING devices.
With Wi-Fi you are connected to the internet on device that you hold in the palm of your hand with really great speeds.
You not only have access to thousands of songs on your own library, but theatrical films and TV shows are there at your choosing too.
But let's say you want to listen to some talk radio...you can't have that on an iPod, right?
Wrong.
By downloading the "AOL Radio" application, which takes seconds, you are instantly connected to a series of stations and a variety of music that is very reminiscent to the early days of Satellite Radio. You can select from local stations in your area, or listen to stations from around the country. Southern California's 97.1 with Adam Carolla and Tom Leykis, Philadelphia's "Big Talker" WPHT, and many more are available to you, for NO MONTHLY FEE.

Metal, Rock, R&B, Blues, Jazz...you name it, it's there.
And it's FREE.

Now, I know what you're thinking...you're thinking "well, that's great if you have a Wi-Fi connection, but it's not available everywhere."
And that's a valid point.
But what about a 5 years from now?
What about 10?

At some point in the near future, Satellite Radio will be a memory.
It will have amounted to nothing more than an interesting experiment.

These days, I personally find more entertainment value in the guys on the Extra Life Radio podcast, or Uhh Yeah Dude, than anything that Opie And Anthony or Howard Stern could bring to the table.
Niche progamming...that's what podcasting is.
It's the quintessential example of choice. You can find a show about anything that you're in to. Somewhere out there, someone is doing a show that discusses stuff that's right up your alley...and if it's not there...go make it!

I really believe that what we have always thought of as outlets to provide us with our entertainment, are about to head the way of the dinosaur.
We are on the verge of a massive change in how we entertain ourselves, and where we get that entertainment from.
Unfortunately for Satellite Radio and all it's big money contracts, I think the writing is on the wall.