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Wednesday, February 11, 2009
2/12: “Hot Topics” Kimberley Kennedy writes a book about being “Left at the Altar”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kimberley Kennedy was the center of the Peach Buzz universe for a time in 1997 when Cumulus Radio CEO Lew Dickey dumped her during the rehearsal dinner the day before the wedding.
Dickey has never publicly talked about the breakup. Kennedy did so with the AJC, “Good Morning America” and the like. Now, 12 years later, she has written a book dubbed “Left in the Altar,” which includes her thoughts about the day she was broken up, why she thought it happened and how she got through it. There are also passages on how she coped and how others who have been rejected can cope.
My colleague Richard Eldredge had lunch with her last week and wrote a story about it.
I’ve read a good portion of the book myself. She is quite open about her own issues and how she missed all the signs that maybe Dickey wasn’t really ready to marry her after all (e.g. changing the wedding dates, having a hard time leaving the car to get the marriage license, et. al). She also brings a lot of her religious faith into play and the internal battles she had with God over her own emotions and actions.
A small excerpt:
Lew was late, but then he was always late, so I wasn’t really concerned until a few moments later when his sister came in. In stark contrast to the happy people who had already arrived, she was pale and obviously shaken. She came up to me and said that Lew needed to see me.. and in that moment I knew. Lew, the priest, and I went into her office. Before Lew said a word, I begged him not to do it, not to say it.
He was clearly distraught, and when he was finally able to speak, he looked directly at me and simply said, “Kimberley, I can’t do it.”
The biggest revelation, known only to a few people, is she actually reconciled with Dickey a few months after the wedding debacle. But it ultimately didn’t work. Years later, she did run into him a restaurant and felt okay about the encounter. She wasn’t devastated. She had moved on.
It’s a good read. The book comes out Tuesday. You can get order it at Amazon.
Kennedy at the time of her marriage was an evening host for WSB-TV. For several years, she has hosted the late-night entertainment news show “Hot Topics.”
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2/11: Whither satellite radio?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Business publications such as Business Week are predicting Sirius/XM will be filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection soon. About $1 billion in debt is due this year. Such a filing may enable the company to get out of some rather expensive contracts and reduce costs. But it also makes the already faltering stock worthless.
And talent such as Howard Stern could walk away.
Soon after I joined the AJC in 2001, I remember XM inviting me to a dog-and-pony show a Buckhead hotel to test out the new technology. They drove me around in a car and it seemed pretty amazing. The depth of selection—you can get world music, old-time hip hop and ’80s new wave! I canoodled with it for an hour.
A few months later, Sirius debuted and we were off to the races. About $1 billion in collective investment over many years had finally come to fruition. Both companies predicted break-even projections if they only got 4 million subscribers each, something that could happen by, say, 2005.
Both companies did reach 4 million subscribers and are now in the 8 million subscriber range each. But break even? Not even close. The companies, already in massive debt from the get go, spent ridiculous amounts of money paying for talent such as Howard Stern ($80 million a year over five years) and Martha Stewart, plus the NBA, Major League Baseball and the NFL, among others. They also paid dearly to get distribution into new vehicles. They spent oodles marketing their products as well. There was a race to get enough subscribers to cover the impending debt obligations.
In the end, getting into cars was helpful and Stern drew listeners, but the costs overwhelmed both companies. It simply was too expensive to get people to pay for radio. This forced the two companies to merge last year. However, the debt is still looming (a big one is due Feb. 17.) On top of that, new car sales are plummeting. Satellite radio is an easy luxury for people to drop when they have to pay for food and the mortgage. (The fact is, you still have your AM/FM.)
Worse yet, satellite in a sense may be living on borrowed time as wireless Internet radio becomes readily available in cars. That could be truly be doomsday for XM/Sirius as it is today.
No wonder Sirius/XM recently offered me a “lifetime” subscription for $399. I turned it down. The offer sounded desperate and if the company goes out of business in, say, two years, I wouldn’t even get my money back.
Mark Kanov, former GM at Star 94, said he thought the two companies, already in massive debt up front, ended up hurting each other by spending so much money marketing against each other. “Their business model is wrong,” he said today. “People right now are worried about every dollar. And there isn’t enough differentiation of product. They don’t stand a chance staying in business.”
I know one of the refrains on this blog over the years is: “AM/FM radio sucks. I love my XM/Sirius.” There are about 20 million subscribers. Satellite fans: do you think your service can survive? Or will it simply be delivered in a different manner?
Here’s a thoughtful take by a smart radio columnist on what would happen if Sirius/XM went away.
