Wednesday, February 28, 2007

XM = More AM and FM? Siriusly?

This Adweek article provides for terrestrial broadcasts -- those with antennas here on earth -- hope for the future as satellite radio gains more of a foothold in listening share: those who listen to satellite radio actually spend more time listening to AM/FM and Internet radio than non-satellite customers. In fact, the claim is that these people listen to more AM/FM (14 hours) than satellite (10 hours and 45 minutes), with Internet not far behind (8 hours and 15 minutes).

Huh? Really? I happen to have both Sirius and XM in the car (both units were free to me, and I don't mind paying the $25/month), and i gotta tell ya: I rarely switch the unit over to AM or FM. If I had to put a frequency on it, I'd say I listen to satellite radio 100% of my car rides, AM maybe 5% of car rides, and FM less than that. As a listener, I have no interest in terrestrial because it seems that every time I flip it to either band, there's a commercial on. Plus, the sound of music on Sirius is so good, and the connection so stable, that there's no quality advantage to FM at all. (My XM XT Roady unit sucks for music -- I only listen to comedy, baseball games and old-time radio on it.)

Honestly, I would like to meet one of those people with satellite radio who listen more to AM/FM instead. I won't to know what the thought process is there. Seriously -- I can't imagine.

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