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Stay Tuned for Even Better Local Radio Stations

Posted on: Friday, 19 August 2005, 00:00 CDT

MATTHEW Thompson wrote a good story, Aug. 3, "Local radio stations face new kind of competition," and did a nice job in outlining satellite radio.

I stand by my comments as quoted by Daily Mail Business Editor George Hohmann in his Aug. 11 column on the impact. Why? Six million subscribers in four years sounds big.

Over-the-air radio (AM/FM) has 228,211,000 listeners per week. That's up nearly 5 million listeners since 2002.

Six million versus 228 million? I like those odds.

Is satellite radio a viable medium? Of course.

Will it impact us locally? Pretty much like USA Today impacts the local Charleston newspapers.

USA Today and the two satellite companies are national mediums. Both do a good job in their content. Both are well produced.

But both have little impact on local communities. Can satellite radio help the local Big Brothers/Big Sisters have its biggest-ever fund raiser? V100 did this summer.

Can satellite radio learn about a local retired man suffering from lack of a refrigerator and food in his home and put out the word to the local community and generate the help he needed? 58 WCHS radio did this summer.

Can satellite radio throw a giant party prior to the Kenny Chesney concert at the Civic Center for several thousand local listeners? 96.1 the Wolf did.

Everyday we offer our listeners local news, traffic reports, weather, entertainment features, high school sports, helping local charities, and the list goes on.

And just like the local papers versus the national paper, it's up to us to continue to have compelling programming that is of interest to our listeners.

Is satellite radio better than local radio? No. In some ways it's different, but much of the programming is very similar to what we do.

Is it worth the cost of the receiver and a $12.95 monthly subscription fee for each receiver? Is USA Today worth 75 cents daily?

The worth is determined by the consumer.

In early 2006 West Virginia Radio Corp. will be debuting HD Radio.

This exciting new technology will give us the opportunity to offer new programming, new information streams and much more. Our company is pioneering this technology in West Virginia.

I hope you will give this the same attention you're giving satellite radio. It is the greatest advancement in radio since the introduction of FM stereo.

Buxser, of Charleston, is vice president and market manager for West Virginia Radio Corp.

Source: Charleston Daily Mail

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