Survey Says No to Satellite Radio

Radio Business Report How much interest do Americans really have in buying satellite Radio service? After hearing all of the hoopla about Howard Stern's move to Sirius, American Media Services CEO Ed Seeger hired Roper OmniTel to conduct a nationwide phone survey of 1,008 people. It found that a large majority of Americans (86 percent) are not likely to consider the purchase of satellite Radio in the future because of his move.

Broken down further, 69 percent of those responding said they were "not at all likely" to consider purchasing satellite, and 17 percent said they were "not very likely" to after Stern's move. The respondents' negative reaction to the Stern question was even stronger than another question that asked their likelihood of paying for satellite service. In that question, respondents were first told that satellite Radio usage requires the purchase of equipment and a monthly fee, then were asked if they were likely to purchase satellite Radio over the next year. 82 percent said such a purchase was unlikely, with 64 percent saying they were "not at all likely," and 18 percent responding "not very likely." 88 percent of those surveyed responded that they are not subscribers of satellite Radio.

The survey also asked the 1,008 respondents what they liked best in conventional Radio. 33 percent of them said "local traffic and weather information," while another 25 percent said they liked Radio because "it's always available when you need it." 13 percent said they liked Radio because it helped connect them to events taking place in their community, and 10 percent said they liked Radio because they knew they could get vital information from Radio in case of an emergency. As to what consumers did not like about Radio, 57 percent responded that "the amount of time for commercials" is the highest on their lists.

Most frequently mentioned reasons for liking conventional broadcast Radio included:

• Local traffic and weather information (33 percent)
• Radio is available when needed (25 percent)
• Radio connects the listener to local community (13 percent)
• Radio is there to help in an emergency (10 percent)