Whether he's doing homework in his Shaw Hall dorm room or driving across the state to visit friends at other schools, Mike Mannino can always listen to his favorite radio channel - without losing reception, without commercials and without ever having to fiddle with his radio's tuner.
The James Madison College freshman is one of more than four million Americans nationwide who have tuned into the idea of satellite radio. Like Mannino, many people are choosing to subscribe to satellite radio as an alternative to flipping through AM/FM channels or rifling through CD cases in order to keep commercial-free music, sports and news ever-flowing at home, at work or in the car.
"I have lots of friends over Michigan, Ohio and Indiana, and it's kind of nice not to have to find a station when driving to see them," Mannino said. "It's a lot easier than trying to shuffle a CD while driving down the highway."
The concept behind satellite radio is fairly simple: Users buy a radio receiver for their car or home and pay a monthly or yearly subscription fee to listen to more than 100 commercial-free stations.
Mannino has been subscribing to XM Satellite Radio, one of two satellite radio providers in the country, for about four months. On top of purchasing the radio hardware for his car and an additional dock for his dorm room, Mannino pays $9.99 each month for access to more than 130 digital channels, including his favorite: XM Comedy, which broadcasts prank phone calls, strange records and, of course, standup segments by today's hottest comedians.
To Mannino, XM's subscription cost is worth the money, considering what he gets in return.
"It's cheap," he said. "I look at it like I am just paying (for) a cell phone."
With more than 3.2 million subscribers, XM is currently the most popular choice for satellite radio. Founded in 1992 as the American Mobile Radio Corporation, the company changed its name to the snappier "XM" moniker in 1998 and since has been gathering subscribers rapidly.
"People draw parallels between the emergence of cable television as a similar path," said Anne-Taylor Griffith, manager of corporate affairs for XM Satellite Radio. "Cable offered something that regular television wasn't providing to consumers, and we do the same thing."
XM officials project to increase their number of subscribers to 5.5 million by this time next year and 20 million by 2010. Griffith said in addition to the lack of commercials, many people enjoy XM's "deeper" play lists and innovative programming.
"You'll hear songs you know and love by artists you know and love, but also maybe songs by your favorite artist that you haven't heard before," she said. "That's the beauty of satellite radio: There's so much to choose from, there really is something there for everyone."
Of course, almost no American enterprise is without competition. Two years ago, Sirius Satellite Radio burst onto the scene, naming itself after the brightest star in Earth's night sky. With 1.1 million subscribers and a monthly fee of $12.95, Sirius is still behind XM in terms of listeners and price - but that's not to say the company lacks pull. In an effort to up its number of subscribers, Sirius recently wooed shock jock Howard Stern over to its airwaves. A reported multimillion dollar, five-year contract ensured that Stern's show will air exclusively on Sirius starting next January.
"We feel there is a great spot for us," said Ron Rodrigues, senior director of public relations for Sirius. "People who have $12 a month are willing to spend it because they want to be in an environment where they don't have to listen to commercials for 15 minutes out of every hour."
But the growing popularity of satellite radio isn't making everyone sing happier tunes. Some local commercial broadcasters are concerned about the future of their own businesses in light of more of their listeners signing up for satellite.
Ken MacDonald, owner and CEO of WHZZ (Z101.7-FM) and WILS (1320-AM) in Lansing, said it's too soon to tell if satellite radio will reduce the number of listeners for stations such as his, but added that he's nervous about the implications just the same. He said it's important for stations to fight for their audiences by delivering great local content.
"What you get from satellite is a national platform that's delivered without any kind of local content," he said. "Our challenge is to continue to provide good, meaningful, local information that our audience wants to know about."
MacDonald said the ability to add local content to broadcasting is what makes neighborhood stations special. He said local stations deliver important services to their listeners, such as listing snow-induced school closings during morning commutes.
"It's absolutely critical that we improve upon those services so we don't give the local radio listener a reason to leave," he said. "If we do a good job with playing the right music and talking about the most important local events or news issues, we think that's how we'll protect our ability to keep 95 percent of the people listening to local radio versus satellite."
