Radio may survive this, too

RADIO MAY SURVIVE THIS, TOO
[SOURCE: Baltimore Sun, AUTHOR: nick.madigan@baltsun.com]
With all these new gadgets for listening to music -- from MP3s to state-of-the-art cell phones and laptops, not to mention satellite radio -- it's a wonder anyone is listening to good old-fashioned terrestrial radio. One theory says that so many listeners are spending money on newfangled technology that the ones left tuning in to terrestrial radio are doing so only because they can't afford the new toys. As a result, national advertisers are not turning to the old medium the way they once did, leaving the field to cheaper, and often local, ad buyers. In turn, the stations are obliged to charge less money because their demographic is poorer leaving the stations with less revenue. But other people in the business consider that view heresy, and point to many ways in which the traditional broadcasters are holding their own. While they admit that radio audiences are declining, and that the amount of time people spend listening has fallen, they say that 230 million people, or about 93 percent of the U.S. population, still listen to some radio during any given week -- down from 96 percent a decade ago. In contrast, upstarts XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio have attracted a combined 14 million subscribers since their launches in September 2001 and July 2002, respectively. The two companies, which earlier this year announced their intention to merge, charge about $13 a month for access to hundreds of commercial-free channels, which can be accessed through special receivers and personal computers. While those audience numbers are still comparatively small, millions more people have bought MP3 players and other music-playing gadgets, and sales remain hot in the young demographic that advertisers covet.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/bal-al.eye26aug26,0,7435523.story