Question Of The Week

Rob Morris/KQWB: It will be interesting to see if this will get FTC, much less FCC approval.  Long term it has not been proven that people will pay for something they can get for free.   Now, the portability to send content from the sky does have merit and commercial appeal. 

Dave McKay/WPST: I consider any competing medium a threat to radio listenership, but at the end of the day, less than five percent of the population subscribes to satellite radio (whether it is two separate companies or one merged).  In my opinion, whether or not the merger gets approved (and there are big hurdles) satellite radio will continue to serve a niche audience for the foreseeable future.

Mike Kaplan/B97: Ultimately it’s about the content/intellectual property. Sirius had both. Now they should probably name the new company something other than ‘satellite’ since all media properties will eventually be platform agnostic.

Christy Taylor/WFLY: It probably is necessary because the market is smaller than they thought. They are competing with each other in the marketplace on technology that not everyone’s going to want to spend the money on. The market is limited because of the subscription fee. Ultimately it will be good for the subscribers if they get a wider and better channel selection.

Dom Theodore/WKQI: It’s illegal according to the FCC’s Digital Audio Radio Service rules.

Rob Heckman/WIYY: It really doesn’t matter to me if there are one or two satellite companies. I don’t look at satellite as direct competition for radio, it’s just another entertainment outlet like satellite TV, iPods, DVD players etc. It’s just a distraction from us as much as we’re a distraction from them.

Tias Schuster/WKRZ: Saw it coming a mile away!  I wonder if the cost of their service will go up and how the equipment will handle the new channels.
 

Don Kelley/WAQX: I’ll be more concerned about it after the FCC makes their call. Right now, it would be considered a monopoly and if it’s approved, that would set a bad precedent.

Bill Dunn/WRRV: I think it’s the only way they can compete with other forms of media, but I don’t feel entirely threatened. Stations that engage their audience will hang on to their listeners.

Brian Frank/KACV: I hope it will make terrestrial radio more important, because what’s happening locally matters.

Carolyn Stone/WRWK: They’re going to have to do a lot of investigating to make sure it’s legal.

Greg Rampage/KFMA: I think either the FCC will shoot the merger down, or if it goes through, satellite radio costs will go through the roof for listeners.

Mel Flores/KRZQ: I haven’t decided yet…I’m trying to make my station the best it can be, you know? If I start thinking about the competition so intently, it will distract me and make me apathetic.

Leslie Scott/WFXH: We’ll have to wait and see if it actually goes through. It could be a good thing for them in the long run.

Capone/WHRL: Is anybody really listening to either one? And does it really matter? Think about it long and hard.

Stiller/WBYR: It’s not surprising. I thought that was going to happen for a while. I didn’t know how, when or why, but I knew it would happen eventually.

Bob Patrick/WXLK: My initial reaction was, “Hey, look at that, they’re merging.” Then I went back to eating my lunch.

Chris Reed/KSMB: I think it should serve as a wake-up call to the radio industry that we need to think about how we program.

Boomer/WXEG: Everyone flipped when it was introduced, but the consolidation means that maybe it isn’t the future of radio? This could be a sign that terrestrial radio is certainly stronger than any type of satellite.

Karson With A K/WHBQ: It’s great for stockholders and bad for consumers.

Billy The Baby DJ/KHTT: I knew it wouldn’t last.

Maxwell/WNCI: It’s still not free.

Trey Morgan/WKCI: Together or on their own, I don’t think they’ll make it because the business model doesn’t make sense.

Mike Rossi/WSTW: Can I get a discount on some used studio gear?

Skywalker/WSPK: I’ll believe it when it actually happens.

Stan Priest/WKSS: I just wonder, when the FCC chairman said the order of satellite radio was based on a two company platform, how does it work now?

Rich Davis/WRVW: If it puts them out of their misery faster, then I’m all for it.

Brian Taylor/WIHB: It’s a publicity stunt! That’s all it is.

Beaver/WERO: They’ll probably downsize which can’t be good for a lot of people that work at both places. I still don’t think it will hurt terrestrial radio at all competitively speaking. We’re still talking about a niche market