The launch of XM Satellite Radio last week may have been the first step into a brave new world of broadcasting, but it has a few obstacles to overcome before it threatens local broadcasters.

“A place like Los Angeles is a great market for us,” said Hugh Panero, XM’s president and chief executive of the Washington, D.C.-based operation. “It’s a marketplace that loves music… (and) there are people who spend an enormous amount of time in their cars.”

But few cars today are equipped to pick up satellite radio and adding it to a car stereo runs $300. XM’s service also carries a monthly fee of $10.

“There is only a certain amount of appeal that it’s going to have,” said Mary Beth Garber, president of the Southern California Broadcasters Association.

XM’s service has 71 music channels, 30 of which are commercial free, and 29 talk, sports and news channels. (Clear Channel Communications Inc., which owns eight radio stations in L.A., has a 19-percent interest in the business.)

Weekly Cutbacks

The LA Weekly is cutting back because of a decline in ad revenues that only worsened in the weeks following the Sept. 11 attacks.

The paper recently let go two part-time employees and has cut back on marketing, event spending and other expenses, said Michael Sigman, president of the LA and OC weeklies.

In an internal memo to employees earlier this month, Sigman said revenues since the attacks have been “dramatically lower than last year’s.” The paper’s annual “Best of L.A.” issue (the release of which was delayed until Oct. 12 due to the attacks) had over 40 fewer pages than last year’s edition.

Sigman said no major layoffs were planned at the Weekly, which has a full-time staff of some 120. The paper is beefing up its classified advertising department because it is an area in which the Weekly can grow dramatically, he added.

Plummer Leaves KCAL

Davita Plummer was preparing to leave her post as assistant news director at KCAL-TV Channel 9 last week, according to general manager Don Corsini. Plummer was interim news director until the hiring of Nancy Bauer Gonzales, formerly the news director at KNBC-TV Channel 4, to fill the post.

Univision Moves

Univision Communications Inc. and its local station, KMEX-TV Channel 34, are moving its offices from one building within the Howard Hughes Center to a larger, custom-built facility within the same complex. The new building is a 159,000-square-foot facility with five stories, providing Univision with more than twice the room it had before.

Claudia Peschiutta can be reached at 323-549-5225 ext. 229 or cpeshiutta @labusinessjournal.com.