"Regular Radio Sucks!"

[genlock]

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Mel Karmazin, trying to shore up Wall Street support for Sirius XM Radio, told analysts that regular radio "sucks" as an investment while the company he heads deserves more respect because of its growth prospects.
The CEO's message, delivered at a Merrill Lynch conference, seemed to fall on deaf ears Tuesday, though, and Sirius XM stock sank to a price not seen in more than five years.

[Ace Purple]

Mel is right about the problems with stock investments in terrestrial radio companies (I lost close to $100 on an ill-advised investment in Citadel a couple of years ago). However, that doesn't mean that SiriusXM will necessarily be a strong investment, though it very well could be...

[AmpedNow]

Advertisers are opting more and more for hyper-targetted internet advertising, where the results are more accurately measurable. Traditional media will continue to feel the pinch for some time.

A station's website should be considered prime real estate, not a glob of hard to read garbage made in a generic HTML generator... I'm amazed by how many station sites still look like they haven't been touched in 5 years.

Even worse are the stations who still don't have any web presence. In 2008.

Sirius/XM may fare better than terrestrial because of national reach, but even then, the results are no better measurable.

I see a time coming when next-gen aftermarket radios will have the ability to "call home", to report usage results via Wi-Fi. Presumably, HD could eventually have this ability, too.

[Ace Purple]

Considering how cheap it is to set up a website, it is quite surprising that there are radio stations that, right now, have no internet presence.

[Bob Campbell]

Yo K-rock, I'm not necessarily disagreeing with your internet comment, but please show me some documentation. Are you talking about internet broadcasters or mega corps like Google?
Last I saw, no single broadcast entity has made a dime of profit from the internet.

[AmpedNow]

I'm not necessarily referring to what is, but what will likely be.

Just because nobody has made a dime in profits using the internet (which I find hard to believe) doesn't mean that it's not going to become more and more integrated into broadcasting.

The trick for radio is to figure out how to better utilize the internet, and not just through streaming. Although I don't see how giving listeners the option to listen on their computers and iPhones is a bad thing...

CBS and CC would not have invested so much into streaming players if there was no potential there.

[Ace Purple]

Last I saw, no single broadcast entity has made a dime of profit from the internet.

There are some TV outlets that I suspect are cash-flow positive with their websites. The same I suspect is the case for radio, though I don't have any data to support my theory.

It's not necessarily a matter of direct profit, but it allows any given station an opportunity for greater listener interaction, branding opportunities, and ability to provide extra value for advertisers.

[AmpedNow]

It's not necessarily a matter of direct profit, but it allows any given station an opportunity for greater listener interaction, branding opportunities, and ability to provide extra value for advertisers.

Exactly.

But who's to say that it won't become a direct profit maker as the internet becomes more and more streamlined into everyday life?

Might as well start now...