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Time Magazine Article - Monday, May. 23, 2005

Stuck in the Orbit of Satellite Radio

The technology connects you to the world--but not the one outside your window

By WALTER KIRN

Tornadoes were touching down all over Iowa, but I wouldn't have guessed it from listening to satellite radio. Outside, boiling up on both sides of Interstate 80, black prairie thunderheads sizzled with greenish lightning.

Inside my car the only sound was that of an E! Entertainment biography of celebrity rock-widow Courtney Love. I reached for the dial and turned to CNN, then Fox, then NPR. But because all the news was national rather than local, not a single voice I came across could tell me that the town near the next exit--where I'd reserved a motel room for the night--was being shredded at that very moment by winds of over 180 m.p.h.

I switched to a channel devoted to Old Skool Rap, which normally can't be enjoyed in western Iowa, and tapped my left foot as the roofs were blown off houses only a couple of miles away.

When I bought a new car equipped with Sirius satellite radio, I had no idea how the technology would alter my sense of the passing American landscape.

With its clear, unvarying signal, which seems to arrive from a spot beyond the moon, and its vast profusion of music, news and talk shows, the medium places you at the center of everything, even when you're in the middle of nowhere.

The problem is that the center of everything is not an actual, inhabitable place but a floating media mirage, an invisible digital bubble of information located somewhere in the fifth dimension.

Having passed through the canyonlands of Utah while listening to Caribbean pop and having crossed the Black Hills of South Dakota immersed in a disco channel called the Strobe, I feel after a year of nonstop driving (50,000 miles in all) that I haven't, in fact, gone anywhere except deeper and deeper inside my radio.

It used to feel different out there on the road. Until just recently I measured my progress on cross-country driving trips by the rise and fall of radio signals that strengthened as I approached a town and fuzzed away as I entered the countryside.

The airwaves were jumpy, uncertain and alive, a patchwork of distinctive accents and peculiar regional interests. I knew I was getting close to Texas from the twang of steel guitars. I realized I might reach Omaha by suppertime when I started hearing crop reports. Often, when I was traveling through North Dakota, the only voices I could hear spoke in Native American languages, whose singsong tones, though I found them unintelligible, eased the loneliness of the long, straight highways.

The character of those conventional radio signals responded to the weather and time of day in a way that satellite transmissions don't. Late at night, if the skies were clear enough to make out every star in the Big Dipper, the empty spaces on my AM dial would suddenly and mysteriously fill up with broadcasts from a thousand miles away. Minneapolis' WCCO, the powerful station that I grew up listening to and whose chuckling, easygoing announcers shaped my identity as a Minnesotan, reached out to me late one evening in eastern Washington as I sat parked on the shoulder of a state highway waiting for a tow from AAA.

I felt grateful for that little miracle, then desolate when those hometown announcers faded back to static.

Satellite radio never fades, which is why I subscribed to the service in the first place and why I'll maintain my subscription despite the fact that it often makes me feel as though America were a high-tech hologram and I were a futuristic ghost.

This feeling struck me acutely during a yawn-inducing 10-hour drive from Montana to Colorado via Wyoming. Except in feeble, quivering bursts, normal radio signals can't conquer that barrenness, but thanks to some wonderful gizmo in outer space, I was able to stay in touch with the most minute developments in the Michael Jackson trial and the Brad Pitt--Jennifer Aniston breakup. I couldn't have been more clued in to those events if I'd been living on Sunset Boulevard, nor could I have been more detached from central Wyoming, whose raw sagebrush flats were looming in my windshield but were entirely absent from my consciousness.

Until an antelope crossed the road, that is, and I had to swerve hard and hit my brakes. As the antelope dashed off, I briefly awakened to my real environment, but in no time the satellite beamed me up again. I was back in the ether with the Gloved One, orbiting America without touching it--until I got to Rawlins, Wyo., where the antenna on my roof blew off.

When I couldn't fix the suction cup that held it there, I tuned in to local AM radio. A voice--a low, male, unhurried Western voice--was describing a school lunch menu for the week. "Chicken-fried steak," the voice said, "and green beans."

The words were astonishing. Startling.

Contest Rules

The following constitutes Contest Rules, both on and off-air, on 97.3 KGRR-FM.

All KGRR contests are open to any/all listeners, unless otherwise specified by KGRR.

Only one winner or qualifier per family or household will be allowed. The decision of KGRR is final.

For prizes worth more than $500 Winners must sign a release prior to receiving their prize.

All prizes, unless otherwise specified, must be picked up within two weeks of winning. KGRR will not notify winners of the time remaining on their prize. It is the responsibility of the winner to claim the prize within the two weeks provided.

All unclaimed prizes will be forfeited back to KGRR.

KGRR is at liberty to give away any unclaimed prize at the end of the two week grace period.

All major prizes will be given away by KGRR. Odds of winning will depend on the number of qualified entries.

KGRR may substitute another prize of equal value, in the event of non-availability of a prize.

In the case of a dispute over telephone lines, the decision of KGRR is final.

In the event that two telephone lines are tied together during a phone contest, the entire phone call will be disqualified and another phone call will be taken.

KGRR cannot award duplicate prizes to both parties in a "tied together" situation. An example of a "tied together" call may be two telephone calls originating from the same location or residence or a party line.

Employees of KGRR and the other Radio Dubuque stations (KAT-FM, KDTH, WVRE), its advertising agencies, their affiliates, representatives, and their families or households their employees are ineligible to enter/win.

Prizes may be mailed at the discretion of KGRR. KGRR is not responsible for the failure or tardiness of prizes delivered via US Postal Service. Otherwise, prizes must be claimed in person, unless otherwise specified. Proper identification (valid driver's license, passport, state ID, military ID required.)

In certain "unique situations", a designated representative will be allowed to accept prize for the winner. Written authorization from the winner including representative's name, ID, and a photocopy of the winner's drivers license is required. KGRR will qualify what constitutes a "unique situation."

KGRR is not responsible for defective prizes.

Additions or deletions to these rules may be made at the discretion of KGRR, and may be enacted at any time.

All winners must not have won in the past 30 days.

KGRR, its agencies, affiliates, sponsors or representatives absolve themselves of any liability, financial or otherwise, resulting from any on or off-air contests staged by KGRR.

All contests entries become the property of KGRR. Furthermore, KGRR may withhold any contest materials crucial to the completion of the contest.

All contestants acknowledge, as a condition of entry, that KGRR FM has a right to publicize, or broadcast the winner's name, character, likeness, voice or all matters incidental herein.

All prizes are non-transferable and void where prohibited by law. No cash substitution of prizes allowed.

Winners understand and agree that they are responsible for any and all taxes incurred on prizes received.

In the event that a winner chooses not to accept a prize, he or she forfeits all claim to that prize. KGRR then has the right, at its discretion, to award that prize to a contest runner-up.

Sweepstakes/contests are open to U.S. residents only.

Basic contest rules and addenda are available for review during regular business hours at the KGRR offices, 8th and Bluff, Dubuque, Iowa 52001 and on the world wide web at kgrr.com.

Any tie will be broken by random drawing from among the tied, qualified entries. The drawing will be conducted by KGRR, and the results of the drawing shall be final.

THE AGING OF AMERICA

AMERICA is aging, and some people suggest that marketers are going to have to change their ways and start trying to appeal to the older set.

"A lot of companies are afraid that if they admit they are appealing to a 45-plus market, they aren't cool or hip any more," said Lori Bitter, a partner at the Mature Market Group, part of J. Walter Thompson Worldwide, in San Francisco.

But, he said, "the 18- to 34-year-old population is shrinking, not growing.

"The 45-plus market is the new customer majority. This isn't anything we are making up. This is real. It's huge."

By 2010, the Census Bureau estimates, roughly half of the nation's population will be older than 40, up from 43.4 percent as of the most recent census. Right now, about four million people a year are turning 50, a trend that will continue for years, as the Baby Boomers - people born between 1946 and 1964 - age. In addition, more than 40 million Americans are already 65 or older.

This big and growing over-45 segment of the population is also the most affluent. Collectively, those 46 and older control more than half of the nation's discretionary income, according to Mature Marketing and Research, a Boston-based firm, and they own more than three-quarters of the nation's financial wealth.

Carol M. Morgan and Doran J. Levy whose book "Marketing to the Mindset of Boomers and Their Elders," was published last year by Attitudebase, say that households headed by someone 40 or older hold 91 percent of America's net worth.

"The mature market," they say, "is the dominant market in the U.S. economy, making the majority of expenditures in virtually every category."

And so how do older Americans spend their money?

Almost two-thirds of spending by people 45 and older is tied to three basic categories - housing, transportation and food - according to the results of a 2002 survey conducted by Scarborough Consumer Behavior Research published earlier this year by AARP. The remaining third is carved into a variety of slices, including buying financial products
like insurance and investments, health care, entertainment and clothes.

In a survey conducted in July by CNW Marketing/Research of Bandon, Ore., that explored the top 10 spending intentions by Americans 45 and older for the following six months, making a personal investment and taking a long vacation in the United States were the top choices. Those aged 45 to 54 listed investing first. The top pick of those 55 to 64 and those 65 and above was a long vacation in the United States.

In addition, a large percentage in each of the three age groups said they intended to buy various electronic products, including home theaters and home computers. Buying a new car was one of the top five purchase choices in each of the age groups.

Unlike the younger groups, which did not mention traveling abroad, 7.3 percent of those over 65 said they intended to take a long foreign trip, a typical leisure plan for the retired.

Among those interested in buying a car, Ford brands were the most popular in the over-45 age group, according to CNW.
But those prospective purchasers are difficult to pigeonhole about which models they buy.

"They don't have one brand preference per se," said Jan Valentic, vice president for global marketing at the Ford Motor Company. "They are looking for product segments that turn them on."

But with greater significance for the retailing industry, Americans 50 and older are increasingly using the Internet to shop.

According to figures in "A Nation Online," a Commerce Department study released in February 2002, more than 33 million, or 43 percent, of Americans age 50 and older have been online. Of those, eMarketer.com, a New York-based Internet research firm, recently noted that 54 percent of those under the age of 55 had bought online, while 42 percent of those over 55 had done so.

"Clearly, as the Internet has begun to reach saturation in the U.S., more users have learned to trust online purchasing," the report said. Several studies project that as the population ages, online shopping by
older Americans will increase. However, there are no truly reliable estimates on how much money those over 45 spend online.

In total, eMarketer.com estimates that last year business-to-consumer e-commerce sales were $70.3 billion. That number is expected to rise to $86.9 billion this year. By 2005, eMarketer.com projects that consumers will spend more than $133 billion online.

Whether online or in stores, Americans are spending quite liberally on their grandchildren - $26 billion, in fact, last year, according to estimates from the NPD Group, a market information company in Port Washington, N.Y. That was up 1.7 percent from such spending in 2001. That includes spending on presents, toys, video games, books and cash, although it does not include estate-planning gifts to education-oriented savings plans.

"Some of the things they are giving are things they are interested in,'' said Marshal Cohen, chief analyst at the NPD Group. "They are determined not to let their interests die with them, whether it is cooking, sewing or cricket. But it could be anything."

Even as grandparents are spending money on their grandchildren, a growing segment of people over 45 are spending money, or forgoing income, to take care of their parents.

According to Peter Uhlenberg, a gerontologist at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in 1900, only 4 percent of 50-year-old adults could say that both parents were still alive. But by 2000, 27 percent could make the same claim. In 2000, Dr. Uhlenberg said, 44 percent of 60-year-old Americans had at least one parent who was still alive.

In an online survey conducted earlier this year of nearly 1,400 employees at three large industrial companies who personally care for a parent or in-law, MetLife'sMature Market Institute found that almost half the men and women surveyed reported they contributed nearly $3,300 a year to cover expenses for giving such care.

The results of a poll conducted earlier this year by AARP on work patterns provide an indication that the younger members of the so-called elderly population have no intention of slowing down.

In the nationwide survey of just over 2,000 people ages 50 to 70 who are either working full time or part time, nearly 70 percent said they planned to work into their retirement years or never retire. Almost half said they envisioned working into their 70's, or beyond.

"We are all beginning to realize that because we are living longer, old age may not begin until 75 or 80,'' said Ken Dychtwald, founder of AgeWave, a San Francisco-based consulting group that focuses on the baby boom and mature-adult segments of the population.

Top Ten Radio Facts

Some 95 percent of Americans listening to the radio at least once a week, a fact that the National Association of Broadcasters says cements the medium as "arguably, the most influential and resilient medium today." To that end, here's its list of "the Top 10 Radio Facts of 2002":

1. Over 550 new artists first appeared on the radio last year, each having new songs played more than 100 times on the air. (Media Base, 2002)

2. In 2002, an average of 177 new songs were introduced on the radio monthly, each receiving more than 100 plays. (Media Base, 2002)

3. In 2002, over 11,000 pro sporting events were broadcast on radio. (Media Base, 2002)

4. In 2002, the average American spent 20.5 hours per week listening to his/her favorite radio stations. (Arbitron 2002 Radio's Leading Indicator Audience Rations and Their Impact on Revenue)

5. In 2002, the National Association of Broadcasters compiled their sixth annual report measuring radio's community service activities. It found that during a single year, in 2001, radio stations contributed $8 billion worth of service to their communities. Among other community service programs, this dollar figure represents airtime donated for public service announcements as well as radio stations' fundraising efforts for charities, charitable causes, need individuals and disaster relief activities. (A National Report on Local Broadcasters' Community Service, June 2002, National Association of Broadcasters)

6. Eighty percent of women say they listen to radio to relax. (What Women Want, Arbitron Study)

7. In 2002, 73 new radio stations began broadcasting. (NAB)

8. In 2002, more than 600 Spanish-language stations were broadcasting. (NAB)

9. Currently, 8,539 FM radio stations are on the air. (Radio Today: How America Listens to Radio, Arbitron Study)

10. Nearly 3,000 new songs debuted on the radio last year, each receiving at least 50 plays. (Media Base, 2002)