cough (bullshit) cough

From an excellent NYT story on satellite radio:

Though satellite radio is still an unprofitable blip in the radio universe, it is pushing commercial radio to change its sound. Broadcasters are cutting commercials, adding hundreds of songs to once-rigid playlists, introducing new formats and beefing up their Internet offerings. A long-awaited move to digital radio could give existing stations as many as five signals each, with which they could introduce their own subscription services - but with a local flavor that satellite is hard pressed to match.

"At the end of the day, people want to hear what's going on in their local market," said Joel Hollander, chairman and chief executive of Infinity Broadcasting, owned by Viacom and the country's second-largest broadcaster behind Clear Channel. "People are emotionally involved with local radio."

All the local radio that's left in most of the country sucks. It is so worth $10 a month to have access to good radio in your car, no matter where you may be. If I need weather, I look outside. If I need traffic, I switch over to local -- unless I'm in another city that's covered by the Sirius traffic network. Or I look outside.

Local radio began to die years ago.