Despite its increasing uptake in the US, satellite radio has not yet penetrated in the UK, with Stephen Carter, chief executive for Ofcom, saying that the medium is interesting, but “not really being looked into” by the media regulator.
Speaking at the Edinburgh Radio Festival, Carter claimed that a subscriber radio model would not have the same advantages or uptake that satellite television has enjoyed compared to terrestrial broadcast.
“Satellite television and broadcast television are different products. The nature of the radio and television businesses are very different,” he explained.
However, Carter did reveal that research by the regulator showed that in the future “there could well be an appetite for some sort of subscription radio,” but declined to go into further depth on the subject.
In the US, satellite radio is predicted to reach more than 20.1 million households by 2010, up from 4.5 million subscribers at the end of 2004, according to Forrester Research (see Satellite Radio To Reach Over 20.1 Million US Households By 2010).
Satellite subscriptions were shown to enjoy a 150% increase between 2003 and 2004, with Forrester’s report, The Future of Digital Audio, forecasting nearly half of all US households with broadband and 30% of all US households, will be tuned into online radio by the end of the decade.
This research confirms earlier findings from market research firm In-Stat, who predicts satellite radio to enjoy massive growth in the US over the next few years, with an estimated 9 million new subscribers by 2008 (see Digital Radio Forging Ahead).
However, a recent survey from The Media Audit claims that satellite radio is actually failing to attract the expected audiences in the US, with the medium performing poorly in terms of penetration rates (see Satellite Radio In US Fails To Penetrate Markets).
From a total sample of 117,737 respondents, only 571 adults aged 18+ said they listened to satellite radio at least once in the past seven days. Bob Jordan, president of the firm that produces The Media Audit, International Demographics Inc, said: “We were surprised at how little market penetration has been achieved by satellite radio.”
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