Survey: 86% won't be following Stern to satellite radio
Monday , February 06, 2006 10:03 ET
By Tim Barker
Feb 06, 2006 (The Orlando Sentinel - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News via COMTEX) -- Howard Stern's move last month to satellite radio was supposed to signal the beginning of a new era for the fledgling industry. In exchange for his $500 million five-year contract, Stern was expected to drive droves of listeners to subscriber-based Sirius Satellite Radio, currently No. 2 behind market leader XM Satellite Radio. So far, so good for Sirius, which watched its subscriber base leap to 3.3 million from 2.17 million during the months leading up to Stern's switch. Still, it may be a little too soon to proclaim conventional radio dead, according to a recent survey by American Media Services, a radio brokerage and consulting firm based in Charleston, S.C. In the random telephone survey of 1,008 adults, the vast majority -- 86 percent -- said they would not be switching to satellite radio because of Stern. "We have long suspected that all the national media interest in Stern and satellite radio did not reflect what was going on with the American consumer," said Ed Seeger, president of American Media. Conventional radio stations got high marks from respondents for providing local traffic and weather information, as well as local news coverage. Super Bowl on the satellite It's hard to argue, however, about some of the inherent advantages of satellite. For this year's Super Bowl in Detroit, Sirius demonstrated one of its selling points by offering a variety of play-by-play broadcasts. Pittsburgh Steelers' fans could choose a Steelers' team broadcast channel. Ditto for fans of the Seattle Seahawks. And for those non-English speaking fans, there were offerings in Spanish, French, Japanese, Russian, and even Mandarin Chinese. Briefly Kenton Smith Advertising & Public Relations has become the agency of record for Healthcare Support Staffing. The firm will manage the health-care company's marketing, planning, advertising and public relations efforts. Fry Hammond Barr recently signed on to handle advertising and public relations for a pair of condominium conversions. The firm will work with the Residences at Sabal Point in Longwood and the Residences at Millenia in Orlando. Both properties are owned by M Properties, an investor group. The Orlando Advertising Federation will have its 2006 ADDY Awards presentation on Feb. 25 at Hard Rock Live. Organizers said they received more than 1,300 entries for the broadcast and print competitions. For more information, e-mail addys@oaf.com. Tim Barker can be reached at 407-420-5022 or tbarker@orlandosentinel.com.
