Has satellite radio peaked?
I’m beginning to wonder after XM cut its growth projections and rival Sirius has seen shares drop by 45% this year.
I’m beginning to wonder after XM cut its growth projections and rival Sirius has seen shares drop by 45% this year.
May 25th, 2006 at 8:42 pm
Yes and no.
XM has probably peaked. They have wasted lots of money on Oprah (who only does an hour a week), Opie and Anthony (who are being aired on terrestrial radio because they don’t bring in many new subscribers, despite their premium billing), and Major League Baseball.
Further, XM sells their radios well below cost and loses more per radio than Sirius. What’s worse, XM is losing NASCAR to Sirius in the not-too-distant future. While I could care less about cars that go in circles, you can’t deny it’s popularity.
Sirius was in a bigger hole than XM prior to 2006, though their subscriber base has skyrocketed since they added Howard Stern.
I was a longtime XM subscriber but got tired of their bland computer generated playlists. Too often I would hear two songs back-to-back that just didn’t fit together… and this happens on multiple stations.
I found that XM’s so-called “variety” was more akin to quantity, rather than quality.
Having been a longtime XM subscriber, I decided to give Sirius a try earlier this year and am glad I did.
I dumped XM, even after they gave me 3 months free. Almost all of the Sirius music stations are staffed by real DJ’s who actually care about quality content. They don’t interrupt any more than is absolutely necessary and have sets of similar music. It’s nice to hear a few Pink Floyd or Zepplin songs in a row… and the sets are almost always cohesive, making for a pleasant listening experience.
With XM, I would have to switch stations frequently because the songs just didn’t fit together. This isn’t a problem on Sirius.
While I don’t see either turning a profit any time soon, I see Sirius pulling ahead of XM in the next 18 months. Their stock is a bargain IMO.
May 28th, 2006 at 9:19 am
I’ve been a subscriber to Sirius for about 18 months or so, and have enjoyed the quality of the music, the ease of the hardware, and the lack of commercials. And I’ve enjoyed the variety of most of their channels.
What I dislike about Sirius is their apparent disregard for their listeners with specialized tastes in music. Two channels were major selling points for me in signing up with their service: “Folktown” (acoustic traditional and contemporary folk music) and “The Globe” (world music). About a year ago, Sirius dropped “Folktown” and replaced it with “The Coffeehouse” - which has only a fraction of the acoustic music formerly available (and inexplicably added Harry Connick Jr. - whose music is more appropriate for a “lounge lizard” channel).
Worse, Sirius decided that “The Globe” apparently wasn’t drawing enough listeners to satisfy the Men In Suits- and turned over the channel to a band who apparently need better exposure: “Rolling Stones Radio - 24/7″. (Actually, I like the Stones, but why couldn’t Sirius find them another home? C’mon… does Howard Stern really need TWO channels of his own?)
Were it not for the hardware investment I made with Sirius (player, dock, and an attenna up our chimney), I would consider switching to XM. If I want boneheaded programming decisions, we already HAVE broadcast radio.
May 29th, 2006 at 2:21 pm
I agree with Mike about XM radio. The playlists are really bad, and I never was able to articulate why. Mike is probably right that it is a computer-generated list.
Sirius has better music stations, and they also have NPR which is a big plus. But, XM has home broadcasts of MLB.
I am stuck with XM in my car, but at home and on my boat it is Sirius!
Either one beats terrestrial radio which is nothing but loud, obnoxiouss commercials.
June 3rd, 2006 at 5:15 am
How can I geta copy of the playlist for Sirius Channel 30 (Coffee House) from Sunday night May 28th; approx 10 pm EST? I was in a bar and heard a song for the first time. I have no clue as to the artist or title but I’m desperately trying to track it down as witnessed by my 4 am CST web search. Any ideas?
June 22nd, 2006 at 7:59 pm
I has XM for about two years. Bought two Sirius units recently, and will NEVER go back to XM.
October 11th, 2006 at 12:07 am
I have had XM now for a year and a half and I have to admit, I am not impressed.
With the exception of Top Tracks, the rest of it is computer generated nonsense. Most glaring is the VERY poor R&B channels. Of the three they have on XM, not one of them plays classic R&B and when I inquired as to why, I was yelled at by the program director for their “The Groove” channel.
So long XM, nice knowing ya.