Well, yeah .... the question is whether one can cover the very large costs of operating satellites through income derived from a subscriber-based clientele. It's essentially the same problem that Iridium and Globalstar faced.
The basic question is whether you can compete with terrestrial applications that are intrinsically cheaper to run and easier to maintain.
In the case of radio, you have the added disadvantage that the competitors offer their services for free to the listener, and the equipment is cheap.
There may well be a break-even for these folks -- but those are some pretty substantial losses for both major players.
>>In the case of radio, you have the added disadvantage that the competitors offer their services for free to the listener,
They know what their product is worth. I can't listen to broadcast music radio. Love my XM.