Satellite Radio: What SWFL Small Business Owners Need To Know

In 2003, Cadillac was the first automotive brand to make satellite radio standard in all of its new vehicles. Oldsmobile would follow a year later.

Today, there are 117 million cars on the road with satellite radio installed. 

So, have Southwest Florida drivers ditched their favorite Fort Myers radio stations in favor of music from space?  No!

According to Nielsen,  satellite radio has had no effect on the number of people who tune-in to Fort Myers radio stations each week.  For that matter, Pandora and Spotify (now owned by Sirius/XM) have not affected local radio listening either.

The fact is, AM/FM radio reaches more consumers each week in Southwest Florida than all other advertising media. Satellite, it turns out, has barely been a blip on listeners' radar.

Last week, for example, 93% of Fayetteville adult-consumers tuned-in to a local station vs. the 19% that connected to Sirius/XM, the only remaining provider of satellite radio service.

There is historical significance to the 93% reach number mentioned above.

In 2001, XM radio sent its first satellite into the cosmos. The company was hoping consumers would pay a monthly subscription in exchange for receiving access to hundreds of entertainment channels in their cars wherever they might travel.

The next year, Sirius launched a competing satellite radio service.  By 2007, both companies, according to Goldman Sachs, were on life-support.  So, for their own survival they merged into a single service.

In 2007, the year the company became Sirius/XM, 93% of consumers listened to local radio each week.  Today, as we mentioned above, 93% of consumers still tune-in to their favorite Fort Myers radio stations each week.

As a matter of fact, according to Nielsen, 94.6% of all satellite radio users in Southwest Florida also listen to Fort Myers radio stations during the course of the week.

Bottom line: Neither Sirius/XM nor Spotify and Pandora have diminished the reach of traditional AM/FM radio. 

Advertising on Sirius/XM, which is very expensive and probably does not make sense for an SWFL small business owner. Here's why:

• Overall, satellite radio has a minuslue reach among consumers. 
• Only 26% of the channels provided by Sirius/XM carry commercials.
• Each day, only 4% of adult consumers are reached by a Sirius/XM channel that includes advertising. This compares to a 72% reach for traditional AM/FM radio each day.
• Even in-car, where Sirius/XM should engage the most listeners, its ad-supported channels still only reach 4% of consumers who use audio while driving. Radio, on the other hand, commands 67% of in-car listening.

So to fulfill the title of this article, here's what SWFL small business owners need to know about satellite radio: Despite Siriux/XM's presence in every new vehicle, very few people listen.

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