Now that Sirius XM stock is circling the drain at 11 cents a share…many analysts are linking satellite radio’s potential ultimate failure with the poor economic times we’re experiencing.
While the lousy economy is certainly part of the problem…that’s the one easy excuse for why it’s dying. But there are many other reasons why SatRad is likely to crash before too long.
Truth is…when competitors Sirius and XM began staffing their shiny new companies…they hired the same disposable radio executives and programmers who helped speed AM radio to irrelevancy…then diluted FM radio to nothing more than syndicated Morning Zoo programs and consultant driven “hit music” drivel.
Bottom line: when the terrestrial radio “experts” took control and began running the fledgling Sirius and XM services…the new medium was doomed to failure…barely before it had the opportunity to take full flight.
These unimaginative, long time industry guys thought all they had to do to create a hit with consumers was to program music stuff exactly the way they had on terrestrial airwaves…but without the commercials. And then they programmed it over and over again…on almost 75 music channels.
Granted, there were a few program exceptions. But what the majority of their channel lineups resulted in was a mishmash of artists and music rotating and crossing over from channel to channel…so much duplication that in many cases a listener never really had a clue what “distinct” channel was being heard.
Another glaring error: programmers created special channels for big time artists like AC/DC, the Stones, Bruce Springsteen, The Dead…thinking it’d be cool for their fans to be able to tune to a spot where they could listen to nothing but their fave raves 24-7.
But real fans of The Dead, Stones, etc….already own all the music they need from those artists. Why in the world would consumers want to pay for something they’ve probably had in CD collections or on their iPods for years?
Where was the common sense?
Duh.
The real knockout blows were landed to the guts of the struggling entities, however, when management fell victim to “star power”; the mistaken belief that throwing hundreds of millions of dollars at Howard Stern, Martha Stewart, Oprah and Major League Baseball would lure more subscribers.
At that point, satellite radio jumped the shark. The business model had been broken beyond repair. No way could the excessive talent contracts be covered financially by a few hundred thousand new subscribers.
Finally, with the merger…many channel format choices became homogenized…with several popular channels either dumped completely…(Sirius Disorder was one example; an eclectic blend of unrestricted personalities and inspiring new music similar to 1960’s, early 70’s progressive FM stations)…or combined. Those moves alienated a lot of subscribers.
Combine those irreparable management and programming mistakes with the numerous commercials aired in lengthy time clusters on the news, sports and non-music entertainment channels…toss in really terrible customer service…and presto…a real recipe for disaster was baked.
That said, The Blimp Crew has been a Sirius subscriber almost since it’s initial launch date. With all it’s faults…satellite radio is wonderful in many ways. For all it’s programming inconsistencies and ineptitude, there is more diversity than one will ever find on terrestrial stations. Plus, piling up air miles coast-to-coast each year, we love the fact that we can fly from one time zone to the next…and never lose a program.
What’s the real shame in the medium’s potential failure is that it could have been successful. Perhaps not wildly so…but it might have been an attractive alternative to what the old broadcast model used to be.
But instead of developing unique, innovative programming to match up with 21st century technology, Sirius and XM chose to follow the worn paths tread for years by radio industry dinosaurs…rather than launch exciting, relevant airwaves into space, lead by new age pioneers.
Thud.
