Does this mean that we’ll see a unification between the two competitors, will one just fail, or will they both give it up if the losses continue?
Losses at both satellite radio companies widened during second quarter, though Sirius, reporting results today, said its advertising revenues were up. The satellite radio company, led by former CBS Radio chief Mel Karmazin, lost $237.8 million for the period compared with a loss of $177.6 million during second quarter of 2005.
XM Satellite Radio on July 27 reported a second-quarter loss of $231.7 million, up from losses of $148.8 million a year ago.
A big factor keeping the companies in the red: subscriber acquisition cost, or the money each company spends to get a single subscriber to sign up for the service. Sirius’s acquisition costs dropped to $131 in second quarter from $160 in the year-ago period. XM’s, meanwhile, rose to $64 in second quarter, compared with $50 in the year-ago period.
With HD radio, MP3 players, and phones that steam music, does the world really need satellite radio? If it provides value to the user, why is it so hard to get people to pay for premium content?
I’m not going to listen to satellite radio until Rush tells me it’s OK.
Just as long as you do what Rush says and not what he does. *cough* drugs *cough*
Noam Sane, boy are you wrong. Have you ever listened to Stern? I doubt it, otherwise you would know he hates terestral radio and would never go back. He has stated numerous times on his show that if he had to go back, he would retire, as the FCC was making it impossible to do his show the way he wanted. As a listener, Howard has never been funnier. Howard has done more to bring more subscribers to Sirius then any other factor. Get your fact right before you make stupid statements on topics you know nothing about.
For some nitch customers, satellite radio is worth it. As those who love it can attest to. But for the average person, it is hard to justify the expense.
First: how many minutes, or hours, a day do you have available to listen to an audio program? For me, it is only 2, 30-minute intervals.
Second: Of that time, how much of it is spent in a place where you can receive a signal? As pointed out earlier, people who live in dense cities with subways, that reduces the listening window.
Third: How often does your listening window mesh up with the broadcast schedule to give you the program you want to listen to?
The problem with satellite radio is that is is half a solution. The missing half is the ability for the end user to time shift content. People use VCR’s or Tivo to time-shift television content. But they can’t do that for satellite radio.
Sirrus (or is it XM?) is trying to introduce a Tivo like device to do exactly this. But the RIAA is fighting them tooth and nail. The ability for people to record radio for later listening terrorfies the RIAA. If we can record TV, why can’t we record radio?
And if I record radio, can I plop it on to my iPod to listen to in my car, gym, walk, commute?
There is a whole slew of new satellite handhelds that will store music on the device, but you can’t transfer them to another media.
I have the older XM portable that allows me to record five hours of content, and play back whenever I want. I can even schedule it to record certain shows, on a FIFO basis.
XM is also the one doing the Tivo thing. Honestly, why the RIAA thinks we should pay for this (relatively) low-quality reproduction is a mystery.
Do you want to hear intelligent football talk ? Good luck with your radio and those clowns on ESPN or your local station. Those folks follow one stupid inane formula – make up a controversy, make stupid statements about that made up controversy, take angry calls from people arguing with the loudmouthed hosts. Do that for three minutes, do five minutes of commercials and get used to those commercials, you’ll hear them over and over and over again. On Sirius you have NFL radio – Gil Brandt, Shannon Sharpe, Randy Cross – people actually talking about football, talking more about your local NFL team than your local sports station does. Intelligent callers, intelligent talk, not arguing for the sake of being loud. – Oh and every football game.
Do you like music? Good luck finding it on your regular radio. Sometimes I like listening to bluegrass music, I’ve never heard it on the radio. I like jazz too, rarely hear that on the radio, I’ve got five or six different jazz stations to pick from depending on the kind of jazz I like. You like pop music? Unless it’s the kind which plays only the top five songs those payola zombies are trying to get you to buy good luck with that. If, god forbid, you’re driving down the highway with only radio you’ll hear the same short clear channel station playlists as you go down the road. – It will drive you nuts. If you like country music, something other than what’s being sold right today – like any Cash, Haggard and so on you’ll never hear them on the country clear channel stations unless you’re driving through Nashville. A large number of different country stations to chose from on Sirius.
NPR? Good luck with those weak stations, I always have had trouble keeping them and when I do you know, most of the times the NPR stations have not a lot of NPR shows, the Prairie Home Companion is always on that weak college station a hundred miles away. On Sirius there are two NPR stations and you’ll find talking, not yelling about the issues. If you like yelling potato heads there are talk stations both right and left to listen to. No Rush I think but you can tune your toothbrush into his show since he’s always on the strongest station around.
If you want to listen to a wide variety of music, it’s sirius radio. If you don’t want to listen to a half hour of commercials not including the commercials telling you how much music they actually play, then it’s sirius radio for 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s , 90’s, hard rock, soft rock, guitar rock, headbanger rock etc… And may I never hear for another second those early morning laughing babboons, laughing over fart jokes, or whatever insipid yuk yuk inspiring comments they make while I frantically change the channel.
Dear XM Radio,
I like my XM radio. I even subscribed to your “internet service” so I can enjoy the cool jazz in my office.
But I must admit, I find myself listening to iTunes podcasts more than my XM radio these days. I’m still disappointed that you lost C|Net radio a few years ago. I’m even considering leaving your company; and I am one of your early customers!
So if you can’t beat them, why not join them?
I’d love to hear the “Buzz Out Loud”, “Cranky Geeks”, etc. on XM Radio — HINT HINT!!!!!
In about an hour, I’m going to get in my car and hop on the freeway. Tell me, where is that content? I want to listen to it for free on my way home.
Radio and iPod.
Thanks for playing.
@33 & 34: Wow, a Rush joke. Way to contribute. Idiots.
What am I paying for? I don’t want to relive the 60’s I just want to listening to 60’s music. They have managed, literally, to dig up every out of work, or dead, DJ that has ever been on broadcast radio along with their bad habits of talking over the beginning and end of every song they play. Also, I don’t care to recreate some AM radio station that has long sense gone by the wayside or join some old geezer’s fan club.
They’re supposed to be commercial free! However, I continually hear commercials from the 60’s. Not to mention, their relentless advertisement of XM Radio. THEY HAVE A CAPTIVE AUDIENCE, WE’RE PAYING FOR THIS, THERE IS NO NEED TO SELL US ON THE IDEA. I have listened to local commercial radio and gotten more uninterrupted music from them, AND COMMERCIAL RADIO IS FREE! Not to mention, when they give a traffic report it’s for my area.
CHICKEN MAN! That belongs on the comedy channels! I’m paying for music…PLAY MUSIC! I don’t want to hear old news reports about events that have long past. If they’re determined to broadcast such things, create a nostalgia channel.
They should consider making “satellite radio” the future and not the past!