MSNBC columnist Gary Krawkow strikes again, this time with the incredible statement that "Howard Stern might be leaving terrestrial radio at the wrong time." Ugh. The entire article, seemingly a commercial for iBiquity and their technological breakthrough - HD Radio, talks about how every inch of the Boston Acoustics’ Recepter HD Radio is a modern marvel. And, hold on to your hats kids, that "satellite radio may have some real competition to worry about."

Ugh.

This isn't the first time Mr. Krakow has taken a crack (ho ho!) at satrad. I went off on rant earlier this year when Krakow flip-flopped his story about satellite radio sound quality. And here we go again. Only this time, Gary's comparison does not directly pit satellite radio to HD radio on sound quality, but instead on price. The article eludes to satellite vs HD, but doesn't really do anything but to plug the terrestrial tabletop. Oh sure, the Recepter HD is a mere $500, but heck HD Radio is free man! With XM and SIRIUS you need to pay the obscene price of $13/month! And you don't get the commericals!

[MSNBC] 

The NY Times has a nice piece on Bob Dylan joining up with XM Satellite Radio. The graphic to the right make it even more interesting with the NY Times visually pitting Dylan against Stern. Bizarre to someone like myself who's never really been into Dylan, but apparently this is big news - who'da thunk it.

But really, the key compenent noted in the article, is how this shows the similar strategies of both XM and SIRIUS. All the good talent is going to Satellite Radio, and terrestrial radio is just getting the leftovers.

[NY Times] 

Has anyone seen the recent Consumer Reports article on Satellite Radio? Some interesting stuff in there. They did a survey and discovered that 71% of respondants are highly satisfied with their satellite radio service. And 89% said they would definitely, or probably, renew their subscription - even though most would rather not pay a monthly fee (who would?).

The only thing disappointing was the extremely limited "Sirius vs. XM" chart at the bottom of the article.

[Consumer Reports] 

Howard Stern's feature in Newsweek (Dec 12th issue) is available online. The entire article is pretty much a huge advertisement for Sirius, which is awesome. Why not? With the media so anxious to get a sitdown with Stern, plugging Sirius is expected and - best of all - is free. Someone with the celebrity clout like Howard should definitely use this power to bring as much exposure as possible. That's what he did for Private Parts, and that's what he's doing now. Perfect.

Interesting tidbit to mention, Newsweek mentions that Stern "seems to" have brought on 1.6 Million new subscribers already. The Daily News wrote a whole article on this even.

[Newsweek]