This was definitely an exciting week for those of us in the wireless space.
The most interesting headlines came from the World Mobile Congress. The mobile space is unquestionably the hottest space in technology right now...in no small part because of Apple's iPhone.
Everyone who is anyone in technology was in Barcelona making announcements.
Microsoft, Nokia, Google, Yahoo...all present.
Terrestrial radio should take note.
Untethered Internet Radio is the future and is approaching even faster than we at RadioSherpa could have predicted.
Had this kind of excitement (and ecosystem) for HD Radio existed back in 2006 (when RadioSherpa entered the space), the medium would have had a chance, but we fear that this window is rapidly closing.
The folks at iBiquity will only succeed if they position their medium as a stepping stone to the eventual reality of ubiquitous Internet Radio.
This is still better than satellite radio.
The announcement that Sirius was rescued from bankruptcy really does not matter. Satellite radio is irrelevant..and everyone knows it.
The Wall Street Journal is even suggesting that the only reason some investors see value in Sirius XM is the $6 billion in tax losses that the company has accumulated over the years.
Pathetic.
Finally, this week saw the NAB strike a deal with SoundExchange/RIAA on Internet Radio streaming fees.
Its actually quite logical that SoundExchange struck a deal first with the NAB. Let's face it, terrestrial radio, for all its faults, remains the only ones capable of paying the higher royalty rates.
Pandora, despite all its listeners, simply does not have the sales force required to sell the necessary advertising required to cover the increased royalty rates. And satellite radio may be on its last legs.
If terrestrial radio has helped the RIAA and the big labels make billions over the last 50 years, these increased rates may just be terrestrial radio's reward.
May seem hard to believe that higher rates could be a reward, but these new rates will effectively kill most of the online radio startups who had hoped to kill Clear Channel and its brethren.
1 comments:
"The announcement that Sirius was rescued from bankruptcy really does not matter. Satellite radio is irrelevant..and everyone knows it."
The same holds true for HD Radio - wireless Internet has killed both Satrad and HD Radio. You also forgot to mention that the RIAA is going after over-the-air broadcast radio with the newly introduced Performance Rights Act. The new agreement with the RIAA for broadcasters streaming over the Internet starts at a low rate but increases dramatically over the next few years. Seems the uptake of HD Radio with consumers is even more "pathetic" than Satrad, being about zero.
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