If you're attending this year's NAB 2006 in Las Vegas, we hope you include the RAIN Las Vegas Summit '06 (our fourth annual!) in your plans. Seating is very limited for the summit which takes place Monday, April 24th, 12N-5P (with our customary RAIN Reader Cocktail Party following), just steps from the Las Vegas Convention Center at the Renaissance Las Vegas Hotel.  Our Summit page is full of details, inculding information on how to reserve your seat at the Summit. We hope to see you there! xx

From the Los Angeles Times: "Can millions of listeners just disappear?

"That's a question plaguing Howard Stern and one with vital implications for radio itself in the wake of the shock jock's heralded and hyped switch from free to satellite broadcasting...

"According to industry analysts, the new Stern math scans something like this: At best, he took between 1 million and 2 million listeners with him, and his replacements, spread across many of the country's major radio markets, are drawing numbers in a similar range.

"That leaves 8 million to 10 million nomadic listeners nationwide wandering the terrestrial radio dial in search of a new voice or sound to lead them out of the morning drive-time wilderness. Call them the Howard Stern diaspora, those legions unwilling to fork over satellite subscription fees and unimpressed by pretenders to the throne.

"The timing could scarcely be worse for terrestrial radio, which needs an oversized, rudderless  audience now like it needs another intriguing and easy-to-use competitor — say, aniPod, podcasts, personalized CDs or, Stern notwithstanding, the siren songs of satellite...

"Meanwhile, Stern's numbers at Sirius, which has more than 4 million subscribers, remain a mystery. The satellite company, which charges about $13 per month for the service, won't release audience numbers. But analysts speculate that even if a quarter of the company's subscribers are daily Stern listeners, that would be considered a staggering success...

"As this audience experiments with other stations, analysts expect ratings to vacillate among the morning shows for months, even years, before the new listening patterns become habit. And even though most believe that the bulk  of hard-core fans who couldn't live without their Stern have already signed up for Sirius, it's possible more may pony up Sirius subscription fees if terrestrial has nothing to offer them.

Read the entire article at the Los Angeles Times.

From Jacobs Media: "Awareness of HD Radio is in its embryonic stage, as only one in five Rockers say they know about this digital radio medium. But when asked about their interest in HD Radio, more than one-third of the sample say they’d be very or somewhat likely to purchase an HD Radio for approximately $300 after learning about its basic features.

"Men, Mainstream Rockers, and those who classify themselves as 'Early Adopters' when it comes to new technology purchases are more open to buying  an HD Radio. Those familiar with HD Radio also have a greater inclination tospend money on a receiver, providing more indication that awareness has the strong potential to lead to down-the-road purchase...

"Two of the stations in this national survey – WRIF and WCSX, both in Detroit – got an earlier start than most outlets and have been broadcasting in HD since July, 2005. Each station also has an HD2 channel that is streamed on their respective websites. To get a sense for whether listeners who  have had some longer exposure to HD Radio messages and promos have a greater awareness, respondents of both stations were isolated and analyzed.

"However, of those WRIF and WCSX respondents who say they are aware of HD Radio, their overall knowledge about it is no better than that of the total sample’s. This leads us to conclude that the industry has much work ahead in educating consumers about the specific benefits of HD Radio."

Read the entire report at Jacobs Media.