Well it was rumored that this would happen, so it's little surprise that it has: Ron & Fez, the "other" dynamic duo from XM Satellite Radio's The Virus (ch 202), have signed an agreement with CBS Radio.

The deal puts Ron & Fezzy on CBS Radio's WFNY New York lineup weekdays from 6pm-9pm ET.

They begin broadcasting on WFNY immediately. Hopefully Fez will be able to get himself a home now.

[via Radio Ink & AllAccess] 

• February 5, 1996 - New York City loses country music when WYNY changes formats (it was resurrected as Y-107 in the surrounding areas, only to be killed off again on May 7, 2002).
• May 11, 2005 - San Francisco loses country music when KZBR changes formats. 
• June 3, 2005 - New York's WCBS-FM, an oldies-based station for over three decades, abruptly switches to the Jack FM format. No more oldies on New York's FM dial.
• On the same day - WJMK in Chicago also switches to Jack FM, leaving no oldies for Chicago either. 
• August 17, 2006 - Los Angeles' KZLA switches formats to Adult Contemporary, leaving L.A. with no country music stations.
  
• December, 2006 - Washington D.C.'s 60-year-old classical music station, WGMS, is set to be acquired and turned into a Redskins based sports-talk format station - marking the end of classical music in the Washington D.C. area.

It's an ongoing theme that we're seeing over and over again. Regular radio continues to kill off music genres one at a time, leaving those areas devoid of any way of discovering new music. Commercial classical music stations have dropped from 40 stations in 1998, to only 27 - nationwide - a number that goes from surprising, to really surprising.

WGMS even was to start multicasting in HD Radio (terrestrial radio's supposed technological savior), adding two more classical music stations to the area. Sorry, not anymore.

"But we have iPods."

Sure, iPods are great. They're the perfect way to carry your entire music collection with you. Simple, easy, convenient. But Apple only sells around 20 iTunes per iPod. Twenty. This means that the music on most people's iPods is their own (old) collection (or it's unpaid "borrowed" music that we can't prove). And what's the most popular way that people discover new music? It's through radio.

XM Satellite Radio has been quick to respond.

When country music left L.A., XM stepped in as the sponsor to L.A.'s Country Bash. Now they're aggressively running an ad in the Washington Post, advertising XM's three classical music channels. (Check out the ad after the jump.) XM specifically highlights the fact that D.C.'s acclaimed hosts Martin Goldsmith, Robert Aubry Davis and Paul Bachmann (all formally from WETA) are part of these channels.

Terrestrial radio will continue to complain to the FCC, demanding that satellite radio be regulated by the same rules. The RIAA will gladly file suit against XM, because they need to "fairly compensate labels, artists, songwriters and publishers." SoundExchange will ridiculously demand a massive increase in royalities from XM and Sirius in order to broadcast the music that their terrestrial counterparts continue to cast aside. These are companies who represent the music industry as a whole.

Does anyone see something drastically wrong with this picture?

In the very near future, and even currently, the only way to discover and hear certain types of music will be on the Internet, and on Satellite Radio. Fact: the satellite radio industry is the single largest contributor of sound recording performance royalties to artists and record labels. So while terrestrial radio is killing music, satellite radio is in essence, keeping it alive.

View XM's ad in The Washington Post after the jump...

Ron and Fez, XM Satellite Radio's mid-day buddies on The Virus (ch 202) are reportedly making the jump to terrestrial radio - though not exclusively.

FMQB has learned that the deal (reportedly in it's final stages) would put Ron and Fez in the 6pm-9pm ET slot on WFNY. Additionally this will be a completely new show, meaning it's not a rebroadcasted version of the earlier XM show.

Back in May, rumors of this deal were abuzz in the board-gossip circles thanks to the sleuthy work of Alan Sniffen. Razzle dazzle!

[via Squeaky's World] 

With Sirius' recent lowered subscriber guidance (and don't forget, XM lowered guidance - twice), and continued evidence that the retail market is continuing to decline; you have to wonder what might be the cause of this "softness" in satellite radio retail sales. One possible cause for this could be Opie & Anthony's move to terrestrial radio.

Before I continue: There's absolutely no doubt that Howard Stern has had a massive influence in moving subscribers to Sirius. He has brought in more subs than most people expected, so this is in no way an attempt to downplay his success. Stern also continues to be bring brand awareness to the entire satellite radio sector, Sirius especially. So let's not go there.

Moving on.

A recent Bridge Ratings study estimates that a total of 1.6 million Stern fans have made the jump to Sirius with him. That's approximately 13% of his total fan base. During the first month following Stern's move to Sirius, David Lee Roth lost 75% of his audience - no doubt many of these listeners decided to subscribe to Sirius after hearing his on-air dribble.

But in April, Opie and Anthony signed with CBS Radio and began broadcasting in many of Stern's prior markets. They now are syndicated in 26 different stations nationwide. Below is a chart that shows the number of Stern influenced subscribers, with the time periods of when O&A began syndicating to terrestrial:

An interesting coincidence to say the least. Now this isn't necessarily translating to XM subscribers either. In the week following Thanksgiving, Bridge estimates that 15% of respondents were Stern motivated subscribers, compared to a mere 3% of Opie and Anthony motivated subscribers.

But the fact that new nationally syndicated "shock jock" talent is now available on terrestrial radio has most likely caused many listeners to reconsider a satellite radio subscription. This could also be why satellite radio has dropped off the map as being a "hot item" of the Holiday season.

The fact is, prior to Stern migrating to Sirius there was absolutely no non-political morning drive talent on the air. When Stern left, the vaccum of poor on-air personalities undoubted drove a portion of the audience to seek an alternative - even if they had to pay for it. But with a free alternative readily available, there's no impending reason to leave anymore.

Food for thought. 

According to Inside Radio, the HD Radio Alliance is going on the offensive and will start promoting new in-car converters that can transform any radio - including both XM and Sirius receivers - into an HD Radio.

A recent press release notes that the new automotive converters were recently showcased at SEMA. These plug-in and dockable units can turn any automotive radio – including satellite radio – into an HD radio.

These HD Radio Converters are now expected to be in stores by Christmas, and are being manufactured by Directed, Dice, Metra, AAMP/Peripheral and Visteon.

The HD Radio Alliance has said they will increase their advertising budget in 2007 to $250 Million. This is sure to add to the costs losses incurred for each HD radio sold (currently at $1,000 for every $300 radio sold).

I only hope that they'll do something similar to the "Radio, you shouldn't have to pay for it" ads... because, you know they were so effective.

Also in 2007, the Alliance promises new devices and lower prices (woohoo!) as well as more HD programming in top markets. They also expect to expand HD Radio installations in vehicles, once the 2008 model year cars roll out - though no new deals to do so have been announced.

Good luck, bro.

[FMQB]