Blindside Weekly
5 structural threats the market isn't pricing — and where each one sits on the scale.
This week on Blindside — 5 structural threats the market isn't pricing yet. The heaviest: Local Radio Stations Start Closing, about $1.1bn/yr at risk. Here's where each one sits:
The slow decline of US radio is becoming a cull. About $1.1bn a year in AM/FM ad revenue is exposed as debt-loaded owners start shutting stations — and all three big owners have already restructured or gone bankrupt.
Blindside index 87 · about $1.1bn/yr at risk →
Keyword filters meant for web ads are wrongly blocking news podcasts — $114 million a year is at risk. The same blunt tools that over-blocked news online now starve audio.
Blindside index 86 · about $114m/yr at risk →
Congress pulled about $1.1bn from public broadcasting, and the fund that cushioned shortfalls is closing. The deeper threat: a listener base averaging 65.5 years old, with just 1% under 25, that is not being replaced.
Blindside index 85 · about $76m/yr at risk →
Machine-made shows are already about 35% of new podcast feeds, at $1 each, with no rule forcing anyone to say so. We see $196 million of yearly ad value at risk across a $3 billion market.
Blindside index 85 · about $196m/yr at risk →
SiriusXM has lost paying subscribers three years running. Older listeners are leaving, younger drivers stream from their phones, and the cheap $8 plan meant to defend volume quietly cuts the average payment. The decline looks built-in, not temporary.
Blindside index 72 · about $252m/yr at risk →
Every entry links to its live model — drag the assumptions and watch the range move. Blindside · FASTMaster Intelligence.
