On March 28, the news was good for Internet Radio, according to an article at boston.com: "A study to be released by Arbitron and Edison Media Research next month shows that online radio continues to grow, with 33 million Americans age 12 and up tuning in each week, up from 29 million a year ago."
The article also pointed out that 56% listen to Internet-only stations opposed to 42% who listen to terrestrial streams duplicated on the Internet and the heaviest online listening happens during the day.
2. The Merger of XM and SIRIUS Satellite
The long awaited merger of the two struggling Satellite Radio services finally won approval by the Federal Communications Commission on Friday, July 25. Even though 16 state Attorneys General opposed it, as did the National Association of Broadcasters, a host of various groups with a range of agendas, as well as a percentage of subscribers, the die was finally cast.
1. Satellite Radio Subscribers React Over Channel Changes
On Wednesday, November 12, the newly merged SIRIUS XM Radio announced new channel lineups on both XM and SIRIUS Satellite Radio. As can be expected, not everyone was happy about the changes.
As a matter of fact, no single news article ever received more comments from readers at radio.about.com than news of these changes.
SIRIUS XM Radio’s reshuffling of programming, channels, offerings and deletions sent a shock wave through the Satellite Radio subscriber communities.
View some of these comments here.
