[BC] A bit disappointed.

[Rich Wood]

------ At 12:07 PM 1/14/2006, Craig Bowman wrote: -------

>Maybe, one of the more intelligent people at Chruchfield reads this 
>list and realizes the elementary shortcomings of the system and, 
>concluded persistence is futile.

My guess is that the more intelligent people at Crutchfield have 
moved on to something more realistically marketable. My real guess is 
that the bean counters found so few beans to count that they found 
better uses for the expensive paper and mailing costs. People are 
clamoring for realistically priced satellite radio (just ask 
installers about the weekend before Howard Stern's appearance on 
SIRIUS) and I'm the only person in my market to ever ask about HD Radio.

With secondaries considered our salvation and companies' 
unwillingness to take a hit to program secondaries like they're 
serious contenders I don't see content being appealing enough to 
spend $500+ to receive it. Several companies are appointing secondary 
programming Czars. Not a job with a future. They're probably going to 
people ready to be fired (there are many of those) and can be used to 
run major cost centers for a while, then fired when their heads pop 
up high enough for the Wall Street swords.

I've now asked several times if this $200 million from the HD 
Dominion is real money or inflated inventory. The silence is 
deafening. It was heartwarming to see much of my criticism appear in 
a trade article warning stations NOT to promote IBUZ until the 
promises made could be fulfilled. The author clearly reads this list.

Most of us with any association with sales knows it's probably $200 
million in high priced (1X) inventory and virtually nothing in TV or 
Newspapers to draw new people in. You don't bring new bodies in by 
preaching to the ones already singing in the choir.

Rich