Can Satellite Radio Survive?
We're driving for a weekend of golf (and Coronas) weekend, listening to my brother's 20GB iPod for a couple hours when we started talking about what will happen to satellite radio when every car comes equiped with an iPod connection as a standard feature. If it's a snap to plug in your iPod when you drive and have total control over content (music, podcasts, audio books, etc.), why would you pay $15 or so a month for satellite radio? That said, satellite radio does offer tremendous variety and there will be niches where it will thrive (rural communities, cottage owners, travelling salesmen) but how big will the market be if the iPod becomes really car-friendly? I could be badly under-estimating the appeal of satellite-radio and/or over-estimating the appeal of the iPod but I can see the iPod becoming a far more popular on the road tool.
September 23rd, 2006 at 11:29 am
Mark, I think you are underestimating the appeal of satellite radio. I have one in my car ever since my wife bought it for me last Christmas. It's been great. For example, in the morning I can listen to the BBC 1 shows instead of one of the lame Toronto radio shows. Why would I want to get up earlier to first download it onto my mp3 player? I can listen to live football (sorry, soccer) through satellite radio.
I love my mp3 player but why would I always want “total control over content”? With total control, I would keep listening to the same old stuff over and over again. I've started to re-discover classic composers by accident through satellite radio. There are some Quebec bands and singers that I would have never heard of otherwise. Why would I want to surf around iTunes or the Web first to take a guess at what I might like? And if I like it, do I really like it enough to pay for the specific song or piece to download it? Sometimes it is okay to listen to it once. And if I really like a song I buy it and put it on my mp3 player.
The car is the perfect place to discover new things without wilfully searching for them. Yes, I too like to hook up the mp3 player and listen to my playlists or a podcast in the car once in a while. But I love the radio because I like to get surprised, and I like the “human factor” of having a DJ. On the Internet, that's why I gave up on Pandora and keep listening to sites like Radio Paradise. In the car, the FM/AM experience is very limited, so the satellite radio is a great option. It is not perfect and there's a lot of room for improvement. But for $15 a month it is pretty good.
It will also be interesting to see if satellite radio will find ways to make portable satellite/mp3 players smaller, better and easier to use. They are getting smaller but it's not there yet. Maybe Apple will add satellite radio to its iPods? That would be a really appealing package.
September 23rd, 2006 at 3:54 pm
I disagree, Martin. With 40G of music, I could listen for months and not hear the same song twice. I shuffle, and am constantly surprised. And if I do want a surprise, I can play FM for the 5 minutes a month I need it.
Besides, $15 is just too darned much to pay for the occasional surprise.
I blogged this a while ago, Mark, and it was just after I'd added an iPod connector to the new car's audio. It has killed the CBC for me (poor man's NPR, which I now get on podcasts), and I would never buy satellite. I think conventional and satellite radio have their hands full frankly, and better get their butts in gear making their content IP network ready.
September 23rd, 2006 at 6:46 pm
Some great comments and dialogue. I often think of the singer who has a song that says about TV a hundred channels but nothing on. As you are still at the mercy of what is streaming at the time, you don't have the control.
I think that the introduction of music you may not own and might like is an amazing benefit of radio (satellite or other) and still has a place. I have a 60 GB ipod and don't have all the music I like to hear and am always being introduced to new music from others.
That aside, for me paying the $15/month plus the hardware cost is a tipping point even for me and I am never shy on buying gadgets.
I wonder if this will be like the cell phone where you will see two devices converge. In cellular you have PDA, email, web and phone. Here you might have all of those plus music or satellite radio - probably not, but how about a satellite attachment to my iPOD. That may be interesting or a TIVO for your Satellite radio.
It will be fun to watch.