This is a joint effort Satellite Radio (Sirius/XM) Ping List
Freepmail Brian328i or t_skoz to be added to the list.
Posted on 03/02/2005 10:09:43 AM PST by Brian328i
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Sirius Satellite Radio is not ruling out a price increase for its basic subscription service in light of its arch rival's fee hike announced earlier this week, CEO Mel Karmazin told analysts Wednesday.
Karmazin, who spoke at a Bear Stearns media conference in Florida, said XM Satellite Radio's announcement Monday that it would raise in early April its basic monthly subscription fee by 30 percent, to $12.95 a month, "opens up all kinds of options" for Sirius.
Until now, Sirius (Research), while smaller than XM with just more than 1 million subscribers, has been the more expensive of the two dueling services. The move by XM, (Research) with 3.2 million subscribers, brings the cost of a basic plan on par with the $12.95 fee that Sirius already charges.
Karmazin, the former No. 2 at media giant Viacom who took over as Sirius CEO late last year, said XM's fee increase gives Sirius the option of raising its basic price, although he emphasized that no decision has been made.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
This should please "Ronnie The Limo Driver".
Pricing themselves out of the catagory of a fair number of people at that point; even though I own stock. Use the money to purchase music one likes instead.
You know, despite the convenience of no commercials, I still just cannot comprehend why anyone would pay $9.99/$12.99 per month to listen to the radio.
I know that a lot of the customers are truckers who spend lots of time on the road (and thus lots of time with the radio), but I still don't "get it".
Only reasons I can consider it:
1. Like you said, long commuting in the car. If you have to drive a lot for work or play, it makes plenty of sense.
2. Exclusive content. If they had a channel of nothing but say Coast to Coast AM reruns, or Rush, or Oreilly..
They don't have 2, and I don't do 1. So for now, no reason at all to consider it. I'll use that money for my Directv/Tivo :P
Here's your answer. I am huge blues fan and living in a po dunk town with no blues stations around, and my 45 minute drive to work the local stations fade. With sirius I get the same station the whole way home. I get to listen to music that I cant get in my area and I dont get any static! Does that answer your question? Many truckers have the service that drive thousand of miles. How would you like to have to change the station every hour and then have to search for whats availible every time your current station goes staticky?
but I still don't "get it".
I can only reflect on some extended drives through the radio-empty midwest, vainly searching the dial for some station, any station to listen to.
A long day's drive across western Ohio, southern Indiana and Illinois, with nothing to hear but local religious "programs" and dreary music selections of unknown performers. I'd have paid dearly to be able to reach the audio feed from Fox News, not to mention Rush.
I agree. I chose Sirius despite the higher price because, at the time, XM was commercial-laden. (Sirius is not, except on CNN and FOX News where they play Public Service Announcements over the audio feed of the broadcast commercials.)
Is XM still commercial-laden? If it is, then there's a clear sales opportunity for Sirius: "XM, where you pay to hear commercials, or Sirius, where you pay the same amount but don't hear commercials."
BTW, please add me to the ping list. Thanks.
Looks like Howard Stern's contract is going to cost the "little people" more...
I've had XM for over 2 years and I love being able to listen to my favorite music without having to listen to obnoxious car commercials. That for me is reason enough. Of course, it is a service that a person has to pay for and may not be for everybody. But I enjoy listening to it very much. The tremendous variety is also a plus.
I got XM a few months ago, and love it. I actually use it mostly in my home office, where I am by myself all day. There are so many great music channels, that I run it all day, no commercials, and good music selection. When I get tired of one channel, I switch. After months, there are still probably 25 stations I will like but have yet listened to. I also get Big Ten basketball, which I don't get much of in Florida, and MLB games this season.
This is all before I have even set up my car. Once I do that, I'll be driving with FoxNews and such, in addition to the music.
What are you talking about? What commercials? I have XM and they have no commercials, and they do the same thing on Fox News during commercials as Sirius does.
Small price to pay for escaping the Nanny Staters.
Personally, I think the service is (potentially) worth $18 to $20 a month.
Bear in mind, that I time goes on, we will be seeing some interesting enhancements as well e.g. more premium channels, multi channel sound, data services, the "buy" button and who knows what else.
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