The five music channels that Clear Channel has been programming for XM are reportedly more profitable than expected, and now two channels have been swapped out with new CC programmed, indicating they won't be going away anytime soon.
XM would be more than happy to get rid of the Clear Channel channels, because they accept advertising. But they continue to carry them thanks to an agreement made with Clear Channel back when XM was getting started. These channels prevent XM from being able to make the claim that they offer 100% commercial-free music.
But according to Inside Radio, Clear Channel's channels take in "seven-figure revenue" as of last year. Not too shabby considering that XM does its best to relegate them from the other music channels whenever possible.
And as of Monday, Clear Channel has deep-sixed WSIX and Sunny in favor of the new Rock @ Random (ch 161) channel and the female-targeted The Pink Channel (ch 24).
The Pink Channel is actually a good idea, if it wasn't for those commercials. Clear Channel-owned Premiere Radio has partnered with City of Hope, a leading cancer research, treatment and education center. The Pink Channel airs pop hits from the 70s, 80s and 90s with segments on health and wellness sprinkled throughout. Premiere is sharing the radio/online ad revenue with City of Hope, plus its encouraging donations to the organization through the channel's own website.
Rock @ Random is far less intriguing, though slightly more appealing to Orbitcast readers (we're 90% male here) if it wasn't for those darn commercials. The channel plays the regular terrestrial radio formula mix of classic and album rock from the 60's through the 80's with artists like Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, Billy Joel, Heart, Boston, Fleetwood Mac, John Mellencamp and Led Zeppelin making the rounds.
The takeaway here is that Clear Channel seems to be doing better at selling ads on these music channels than Sirius and XM are at selling ads on their own talk channels. Mel Karmazin has made no secret of his disappointment over ad sales, so what's missing in the formula?
Rock @ Random is far less intriguing, though slightly more appealing to Orbitcast readers (we're 90% male here) if it wasn't for those darn commercials. The channel plays the regular terrestrial radio formula mix of classic and album rock from the 60's through the 80's with artists like Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, Billy Joel, Heart, Boston, Fleetwood Mac, John Mellencamp and Led Zeppelin making the rounds.
The takeaway here is that Clear Channel seems to be doing better at selling ads on these music channels than Sirius and XM are at selling ads on their own talk channels. Mel Karmazin has made no secret of his disappointment over ad sales, so what's missing in the formula?
WSIX can go-Not crazy about the Pink Channel, but I admit I like Channel 22 The Mix. That's the only one I really listen to or care about..But I am willing to give Rock @ Random a chance. I listen till I hear a commercial then I move on
I have a feeling limited ads will appear on XM and Sirius music channels soon.
Not to the extent that it is on Terrestrial Radio, but I expect some of the more popular and mainstream channels might have ads. You might never see ads on AudioVisions, for instance, but I could put up with ads on The Blend, 80s and 90s, and the hits channels.
If they're going to reduce prices via A La Carte and other issues, I have a feeling this will be necessary to reducing the company's debt.
Aside from Howard Stern, who has a huge, loyal audience, I would think selling advertising for talk radio is more difficult than selling for music which is basically non-controversial, and easily targeted.
And who's actually listening to those Clear Channel stations??? I just don't get it... Commercials. Yecch. Either their fudging the numbers or there's alot of really stupid people out there.
Yeah, but are they selling enough ads for Clear Channel's talk radio? Fox Sports Radio is littered with Ad Council ads, which I would say make up probably 50% of its ad time. Now of course the only time the Ad Council gets air time is when they pay big bucks to get into the Superbowl, or when they get the ads dirt cheap to fill up ad space. See new TV channels, or radio channels that aren't selling enough ads to fill up the 3 or 4 minute commercial breaks.
I personally hope these channels don't go away. It's nice to have a huge variety of Top 40 and pop channels and I just change it when a commercial comes on.
I think there's a lot of people like me that have one or more of them in my 10 presets, and if I'm flipping channels and a song I like is on one of them, I'll listen. If enough people listen to those channels, even in 10, 20, 30 minute chunks, and even if they flip the channel the minute an ad starts, then they're still reporting that they're listening to those channels when they do diaries or listening surveys. Even small intervals of listening count.
Hmm, I may check them out. But I will need to unblock the respective channels since I've blocked the CC music channels a couple of years back
And who's actually listening to those Clear Channel stations??? I just don't get it... Commercials. Yecch. Either their fudging the numbers or there's alot of really stupid people out there.
I listen to MIX 22 on occasion. Although I switch to an XM channel when they goto commercial. I'd be willing to bet this is something that happens more with XM subs than with FM radio listeners.
Ah, so that's what Rock @ Random is...I'd seen a plug for it on that HDRadio.com site. Even though I have no interest in buying, I occasionally check it out to see what kind of crap they're offering here in Seattle. And, because I still visit Phoenix often and am curious to see what the radio market there is doing, I check to see what HD offerings Phoenix has to see if they're any better, and noticed Rock @ Random is the HD2 channel for KMXP 96.9. Though, who knows how reliable that is; as of two days ago, the station guide at hdradio.com still listed KZON 101.5's rimary signal as a talk station, even though it's been top-40/R&B/Hip-hop since at least sometime last year, and still was when I was down there in May, but I digress.
Interesting to see the CC channels bring in so much revenue. I can't remember from past articles, do we know how the revenue is split between XM and CC, and do we know if the contract will remain the same with the new company, or do we think Mel will try to do some renegotiating for a bigger piece of the pie, or to get CC out entirely?
From the description, Rock @ Random sounds like your typical classic rock station; Top Tracks or Big Tracks with commercials, but I may flip it on. Kind of a bummer to see WSIX go though; off the CC stations, other than the Opry on Nashville, they were the one I'd flip on occasionally to see what they were up to.
What's missing here? Commercials on music channels, but being a subscription service, Sirius XM doesn't need to go in that direction. None of the subscription money flows in Clear Channel's direction.
If you listen to the commercials on CC's music channels as opposed to their talk, they're a lot more lucrative and more mainstream. On their talkers you'll hear ads for debt relief, pills, better sex, tax issues, money scams, and all sorts of crap you'd see infomercials for on late night TV. On their music side, you hear ads for Subway, the Showtime network, Radio Shack, Office Depot, Ace Hardware, and many other familiar brands. And yet, there's only 3-4 minutes an hour on their music channels, and right now on Rock@Random overnights are commercial free.
It wouldn't be beneath CC to make up sales figures to mask their true agenda - throwing commercials onto an otherwise commercial-free music service. Don't be fooled into believing that the per-inquiry junk commercials turn any cash at all.
Hey pal, I dont know if you know this or not but sirius bought xm, this is basically a non-issue now. Its like talking about the NFL and AFL championship teams before they merged to form the NFL, and now we have Super Bowl Champions.
Who cares ? Just bring on the 'al-carte' programming.
I too listen to some of the CC channels and I switch as soon as I hear a commercial, so quickly in fact that I don't even know who's advertising on their stations.
I actually listened to Rock @ Random a bit, and like many, switched as soon as commercials hit. Actually, as much as I wanted to hate it because of who programs it, the playlist wasn't too bad...Your typical classic rock station, with less repetition. I don't mind it so much...Sort of as I figured; Top Tracks meets Big Tracks with commercials, and not quite as deep...But certainly listenable.
Speaking of Ads; Lately I have been running BBB and Google checks on every ad that XM has been running on news channels and 202 ect. 90% of them are freakin' scams. From Internet Speedway to Roni Deutch, they are all have complaints a mile long. Nice that XM brings the rip-offs right to us, and we pay for the opportunity to listen to them.... Real nice.
I doubt that Clear Channel is doing better selling ads on their formatted channels. They are probably offering these ads on satellite as a "bonus" for ad clients of their traditional radio similarly-formatted stations. This is the way they increase the apparent value to an advertiser.