This has nothing to do with sports or baseball, per se, but I just have to say it: Listening to terrestrial radio is as painful an experience as I have had to endure in some time.
My car is getting some minor work done so I am in a rental most of this week. That means I have to make my commute (45 minutes there, an hour home) without the benefit of satellite radio. Call me a snob or whatever you want, but listening to the utter crap on the radio and the endless commercials and static made me want to scream! I can understand not paying for satellite radio if there are financial reasons ($13/mo if you pay month-to-month) or if you don't have much of a commute, but if you have any quasi-serious of a commute, you have to get XM/Sirius. And if you're a baseball nut, get XM as it comes with MLB on XM. If you have Sirius, you have to pay for the Best of XM to get it.
Of course, XM/Sirius could meet the same downfall as the newspapers and then I am up a creek.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
The torture of terrestrial radio
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5 comments:
I go with 1050 or the iPod. It hasn't failed me yet.
That's what I went with, but I'm so sick of M&M after using my car to commute most of the last 7 years...I have tuned them out. Can't handle the schtick any more.
and the commercial breaks.... seemingly longer and longer...
Unfortunately, XM and Sirius misread their market by underestimating or disbelieving in both the appeal and the evolution of streaming radio. When you're in motion there is nothing better than satellite radio. At home - why pay? For baseball fans it's beautiful. And some of their channels - like Bluesville or Bob Edwards - are comprehensive and varied enough to be worth paying for. But half a billion for Howard Stern was idiocy. Now they're contemplating bankruptcy. They should have realized that, unlike the digital television business, the digital radio business has viable low cost methods of operation. They should have concentrated on adding value via quality and originality. Six different oldies stations ain't original.
Chris, we can agree that paying what they did for Stern was idiocy, though it did drive a large number of subs.
I am listening to it at work, included in my subscription
Jason,
Yes, the browser version is a nice feature. I remember reading in early '08 that since '06, the main driver for new XM receiver sales was their installation in new cars, and the main driver for new subscriptions was MLB. Both of those influences have leveled way off I'm sure. I hope the business survives. Like you, I'm a fan.
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