Satellite to grow 5mil per year

Satellite radio picked up about five million new subscriber in 2005, growing from 4.3mil to 9.3mil. eMarketer projects growth to slow in percentage terms, but continue at roughly five million per year for the next several years.

The problem for traditional radio is that these are not only significant numbers of listeners who are deserting their stations, but they are (presumably) among the heaviest listeners. To have lost almost ten million of them already hurts, and another twenty million in the next four years will devastate many stations and chains.

It will also be really tough on marketers, who are losing (again) an effective medium.