Competitors (Week 3) October 16, 2009

In today's age of technology WPST has many competitors, including other radio stations such as Z100 and Q102.You also have the internet, satellite radio and apple products, with today’s technology its only a matter of time before radio has another competitor alongside all of these.


Along with Z100 and Q102, WPST competes with all radio stations. Today, most stations stream their music online. Just a quick internet search can give you all stations similar to WPST, there are hundreds. This means, that listeners can listen to any station they choose anywhere around the world. Also, sites such as Limewire and Rhapsody make it easier than ever to listen to music on the internet. These sites would allow a listener to customize which artists and genres they prefer to hear, when they want. Not only does this allow listeners to download music it also allows them to put these songs on IPods and portable MP3 players. Both IPods and portable MP3 players compete with the radio as well.


Some of the other direct competitors that WPST has may have nothing to do with radio stations at all. Instead it is technology fueling today’s music market. IPods, Satellite Radio, and even T.V. music stations are direct competitors of radio stations and WPST as a whole. With the rise in popularity of MP3 players and the increasing number of commercials on public radio, people are switching to other means when looking for music. Satellite radio, which offers superior quality and little to no commercials, is also a direct competitor for people who are looking to receive a variety of music at the highest quality with no interruptions.

Satellite radio allows everybody to listen to their favorite radio station while they are driving miles away from the radio source. A satellite radio user can be listening to an American radio station while they are in Canada. Compared to a traditional radio station satellite radio sounds quality is the same as CD-burned sound quality with complete clarity. The two main companies for satellite radios are XM and Sirius who are now a single company; launched their product at the beginning of the 21st century. Nowadays cars manufacturers are installing radio satellites instead of regular terrestrial radios stations, and also they are available on electronics stores around the country. The availability and installation of the satellite radios in brand new cars is turning radio satellite into one of the biggest terrestrial radio competitors.



With all of these competitors, WPST has to try even harder to manage their communication with their fans and listeners. They can be taken away by any of these competitors at any time. WPST uses exposure through the internet and their radio broadcast to promote their radio and try to get listeners to tune in. Can't we just go back to the day, when the radio was exposure for everything and their was no other way?