Wall Street Week/Fortune

[Damon Cassell]

> Again, can sattelite ever replace Howie Carr's rants about Beacon Hill
> hacks?  Local concerts?  Snowstorms?  Boston Pops concerts? And WBZ's news?

Realistically, no, satellite cannot do these things (yet). But it is
not, in my estimation, a competitive disadvantage. And while you might
mistake me as anti-radio, I'm far from it. I listen to Carr; I listen
to 'BZ for traffic and weather; I listen to Stern on WBCN. But the
problem for radio is that little 'MODE' button on my steering wheel.
The moment 'RKO or 'BCN segues into a 20 minute barrage of
commercials, I'm back on XM, and advertisers never have a chance. I'm
so, so, SO glad to be free from Giant Glass and East-West Mortgage.
Sometimes, I might return to radio before my commute ends, and
sometimes I may stay with XM.

At a higher level, the question becomes: are consumers willing to
sacrafice localism in favor of variety and no commercials? I believe
that the answer to this is yes. Satellite can't yet give you local
weather, news, arts and entertainment, but most consumers have that
information available, on-demand, on their computers.

Damon