I have XM radio in my car, and it’s fabulous. It’s whatever type of music I want, whenver I want it. They even have an NHL channel with NHL shows. And the growth of paid radio as an industry is an interesting example of how consumers can be convinced to pay for something that was once free, but only if they get better quality and more choice.
I have XM radio in my car, and it’s fabulous. It’s whatever type of music I want, whenver I want it. They even have an NHL channel with NHL shows. And the growth of paid radio as an industry is an interesting example of how consumers can be convinced to pay for something that was once free, but only if they get better quality and more choice.
The model for radio since its invention has always been free. The radio stations offer you – the consumer – great music, but in exchange, they expect you to listen to their ads. But over the past few decades, as big media companies rolled up smaller radio stations, independent stations disappeared, the variety of music faded, and most playlists became a never-ending repetition of bad Top 40s songs. Consumers searching for their favorite music or news — whether reggae, or classical, or latin, or sports — found themselves without any options.The satellite radio companies saw that need and immediately filled it. And because they offered more choice, better programming, higher quality, and more innovation, consumers responded — even though they had to PAY to get it. A similar thing happened during the transition from free TV to paid cable, as consumers opted to pay to get a hundred channels of vibrant programming on cable rather than get just a handful of broadcast channels for free.
Hugh Panero, a good friend of mine and a big Caps fan, grew up in the cable industry, and now he’s applying those same lessons to the satellite radio industry as CEO of XM Radio.
It’s a telling lesson for those of us in the Internet business, as our business is