As recently as last April, the talk of the town was about a potential merger of iHeart — owner of eight radio stations locally, including KFI (640 AM) and KIIS (102.7 FM) — and SiriusXM, the satellite service with roughly 300 channels via satellite (depending on which generation receiver you have) and more than 400 including online.
As of late May, talks stalled as agreements could not be made over the terms of the merger.
Now the satellite company is working with iHeart competitor Audacy — owner of six stations locally, including KNX (1070 AM) and KRTH (101.1 FM). The two have announced an agreement in which SiriusXM will carry 42 of Audacy’s sports, news and talk stations, either via satellite or online streaming, with 23 of the simulcasts starting September 1st.
SiriusXM once carried a handful of iHeart (then Clear Channel) stations, including KIIS-FM (102.7). But never before have so many broadcast stations been available on the satellite service. Why now?
According to Jerry Del Colliano on InsideMusicMedia.com, “by licensing flagship brands … they secure a guaranteed, much-needed cash licensing fee and tap into a national paywall audience they could never monetize locally.” For SiriusXM, he explains that the deal is designed to help maintain subscriptions, as “they desperately need fresh, sticky programming — especially live local sports talk heading into football season — to justify subscription costs and prevent churn.”
The bottom line, he says, is that “desperate radio dinosaurs” are going to “rent each other lifeboats.”
I’m not so sure that the deal is a lifeboat at all for SiriusXM. At the very least, that boat has holes: those 23 satellite channels take bandwidth, which presumably means either removing other channels from the system or lowering the sound quality … or both. That’s all to add channels that aren’t that popular over the traditional airwaves in the first place. Sports radio is one of those odd formats, similar to political talk radio, that everyone thinks is successful, but in reality, outside of a handful of markets is most certainly not.
Available via satellite at the launch are WFAN/New York, “The Score” Chicago, “The Fan” Dallas, “The Game” San Francisco, WIP/Philadelphia, WEEI/Boston, “The Ticket” Detroit, “The Fan” Pittsburgh, and “The Fan” Cleveland.
Via the app and in cars using the very latest receiver system called “360L” will be “The Fan” Los Angeles, KILT/Houston, “The Fan” Washington DC, “The Team” also from Washington, “The Game” Atlanta, WQAM/Miami, “The Fan” San Diego, “The Fan” Baltimore, “The Fan” Portland, KIFM/Sacramento, “The Fan” Kansas City, “The Fan” Milwaukee, WMFS AM-FM/Memphis, and WGR/Buffalo.
Every one of the above is an all-sports channel; the news and talk programming will be added at a later date and will include our own KNX (1070 AM), WCCO/Minneapolis, and KCBS/San Francisco, among the 16 others. They, too, will be available only via the app and the newest “360L” receivers.
I have to agree with RadioDiscussions.com member “Channel Flipper,” who commented on the deal: “This seems like an incredible waste of SiriusXM’s bandwidth.” As a longtime subscriber to SiriusXM, it definitely gives me pause regarding the decision to continue subscribing. Indeed, it is programming like the primary 23 channels launching September 1st — all of which are already available via other streaming services — that caused people to leave radio in the first place. I certainly don’t want to pay for it.
Nothing Big
After many weeks playing “Back in the Saddle Again” in anticipation of an oldies country channel called “Big Country” as part of Saul Levine’s digital streams tied to KKGO — specifically 105.1 HD3 — the format was pulled mere hours after a soft launch earlier this month.
Instead, the “new” HD3 channel features pop and light rock oldies running the gamut from Natalie and Nat King Cole to Donna Summer, Elvis, The Beatles, and The Beach Boys. Right now, I am listening to The Drifters. Levine told me that he didn’t want to pull listeners away from Go Country 105 and will instead expand Go Country’s music library to include some songs that would have been heard on “Big Country.”
Classical continues on HD2 (a simulcast of KMZT 1260 AM), with Smooth Jazz on HD4. You need a special HD Radio or apps to hear them, or online — though mislabeled — at kmozart.com.
Richard Wagoner is a San Pedro freelance columnist covering radio in Southern California. Email rwagoner@socalradiowaves.com