A New Take On XM, Podcasting

Okay, you know what? I give up.

I've seen the glassy stares, I've heard the derisive snorts. Many people I talk to about Podcasting, XM, Sirius, and MP3 players dismiss these threats to radio's health. Never mind that over 11% of the 18+ population owns an iPod (that doesn't even count the non-iPod MP3 players!)... never mind that satellite radio now has  4.1 million subscribers. Never mind that consumers are increasingly dissatisfied with radios spot loads and lack of original programming.

I think what bothers me the most about all this is the fact that the smug, self-satisfied response usually comes from the radio people wearing the most expensive suits. If you know what I mean.

So - I give up.

I'm through trying to covert people who prefer to keep their heads firmly buried neck-deep in the sand.

For those who "get it" - I will work even harder to help you understand how we can make the most of this brave new world.

There are ideas to be hatched... battles to be won (and lost)... new things to try... new ways to grow our audience.

Remember this, Constant Reader: we are in the storytelling business. That's all. There's nothing else. Think about that. And stay tuned - I'm about to unleash a torrent of material that will help you make this all work in your favor.

Comments

[Mark Ramsey]

The powerful suits in the corner office are too busy trying to knock $1,000 off a perceptual study price-tag to take time out for your silly message, Ray. If you know what I mean. Thanks for keeping up the fight.

[Anonymous]

There is actually an archive of smug self-satisfied responses at airwaves.com, the archive site for a lot of the discussion that took place on Usenet's rec.radio.broadcasting in the late 90s.

A trip back through time reading the archive reveals some great pontifications by big-time broadcast executives who countered heretics who pointed out that radio listenership among teenage males was evaporating before our very eyes.

"Not a bug, but a feature," crowed the pricey-suit-set. Radio doesn't want these listeners anyway, and when they get older they'll put away their childish things; their mp3 players, their videogames, and adopt radio just like all us mature adults.

Its sad but amusing to see their failures forced down their throats on the covers of Barons, Wired, and in the pages of the Wall Street Journal.

They deserve their failure. They took a train and removed the engine because it cost too much to run, and have lived on intertia. But now its grinding to a stop. And wait... if these are public airwaves, isn't it our train?

[Ray Randall]

You go Ray! Great points. A lot of people don't get it. I get the same reaction from a lot of folks I talk to these days. Some are very interested and others just don't get it. For those that do it's a whole new world. I commute listening to the Daily Source Code and GrapeRadio. Each evening I grab the iPod and listen to Distorted View or see if Michael W has a new movie review. There's some excellent content which is much more compelling that what a lot of "broadcast professionals" are offering. Not to say radio isn't any good but this new entertainment medium is coming, and coming on fast.

Keep up the tilting at windmills Brother Ray, I'm with you!

[George]

Everyone is in the storytelling business. Not just radio. I watched Ron Howard on Leno last week, and that's what drives his movies. So are Opie's movies a threat to radio? I doubt it.

The only reason XM and Sirius aren't in the storytelling business is because they haven't realized it yet. Give them time. Then what do you do?

To Mark, the "powerful suits" aren't the people you have to convince. It's the ones who work for them that make the decisions. Quit turning a handful of owners into the enemy. Because if they were to pack up go, who'd be left to pay everyone's salaries? I had a dream that the big companies all got into subscription radio business, taking all the big talent and events with them. Leaving nothing for terrestrial radio but ethnic and non-commercial broadcasting. It's not that outrageous.