EETimes Article Hints at Trouble for Satellite Radio
In a previous post, I discussed the potential effect that GM and Ford’s new iPod-friendly deals would have on satellite radio. Ultimately, my conclusion was that the effect would be similar to that of CD players and tape decks on terrestrial radio–i.e., not a very damaging one. People listen to radio to hear new music and this demand will never go away.
A recent article in the EETimes, however, suggests that this move could spell doom for satellite providers. The only way I could see this development as heavily damaging satellite radio is if people decide that one factory audio option is “enough” and select devices like Ford’s “TripTunes” iPod interface at the exclusion of satellite radio. But other than that, I still think that satellite’s only major competitor is, and always will be, terrestrial radio, not pre-recorded music. And more strikingly, as the above article points out, major car companies are certainly not giving up on the satellite model.
Cameron Reily over at Cameron’s Brain, however, tends to disagree on the grounds that podcasts available for playback through iPods will ultimately trump satellite radio. I find this hard to believe since podcasts, just like pre-recorded music, need to be downloaded onto your iPod before you can take them into the car. To think that people will do this on a wide enough scale to trump radio is ridiculous.
If MP3s, CDs, cassette tapes, 8-tracks, vinyl albums, and the like didn’t kill radio per se, than neither will podcasts. The conflict is, and always will be, between terrestrial radio and satellite radio. Recorded music is a different medium, to which (when in your car) podcasts belong.
