Voiceover Blog

The scene is 1997. The FCC approves the creation of two national satellite radio services.  In their approval, the FCC specifically prohibits the two systems from ever merging. Nothing has changed in the past ten years: there is no competitor in the satellite radio market, and local radio stations do not have a nationwide reach. Moreover, the FCC also made a condition of the original approval that XM and Sirius were required to deliver designs for radios which would pick up both services.  Nothing like that has ever been made commercially available.

There are two different technologies, two different company philosophies. A merger would not allow the consumer to have access to more channels of programming without buying another radio.  The channel frequencies cannot be expanded without losing audio quality. So there is absolutely no benefit to the consumer for a merger between XM and Sirius.

Both companies went into debt to launch their satellites. They’ve paid talent up to $100 million per year.  So who is left holding the bag if XM and Sirius merge, and there is no
competition? All you have to do is look in the mirror.

–Thanks for reading

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eBAY is partnering with BID4SPOTS to launch a radio advertising auction service, the eBAY MEDIA MARKETPLACE FOR RADIO. The plan, similar to eBAY’s existing cable TV ad auction service includes ad time on 2,300 stations, including stations from all major radio station groups. The move puts eBAY in competition with GOOGLE’s radio ad sales efforts.

I don’t know if I like this or not.  Is there any content restriction? Will there be a dearth of work from home or male enhancement ads? Which dayparts are being sold?

I guess it’s just another way that the media landscape is changing.  Broadcast account executives have always felt they were immune to “automation”  Is this their version of “voicetracking”?  Are they going to take PayPal??

Let me know when they find a way to eliminate the equity group ownerships.  THAT will be news!

–Thanks for reading.

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I regularly get a list of the top ten national radio spots.  This week, I was surprised to see the HD Radio Alliance right there at the top.  That means that HD Radio spots and promos ran with more frequency than the golden arches, or even that gecko with the British accent. It’s a step in the right direction, but as Ricky Ricardo once said, “You have some ’splainin to do.”

Eighty percent of the population still does not know what HD radio IS, let alone its advantages. The industry is stuck in a chicken and egg syndrome: they want to sell new HD radios, but they have not yet come up with any compelling content to program.  I’ll give Clear Channel an A for effort, as they are developing some niche formats, but it has yet to drive sales.

The HD Radio spots usually use “new stations between the stations” as a selling point.  However the variety has yet to emerge. As has any local-oriented programming.  Radio execs, stuck in a too familiar business model, have not embraced any innovation with regards to new content.  Only then will those new HD Radios fly off the shelves.  The HD channels that are on the air are treated like stepchildren - with little quality control.

It is going to take a concerted effort to put those new receivers in the hands of a passionate audience.  It is going to take targeted promotion to physically place someone within listening distance of an HD radio, and say, “See what you’ve been missing?” But there also has to be something there first to listen to.

–Thanks for reading