Satellite Radio

Everywhere you go, you see WiFi.  WiFi hot spots have been a computer staple for years, but only recently have consumers begun to see a need for it in other devices.  Yes, even satellite radio has incorporated WiFi into devices for quite some time.  However,  WiFi carries the most importance in gadgets with crossover potential.  Such devices include iPods and smart phones.

Free Wifi is no longer limited to a few small coffee shops.  Bars, restaurants, hotels, and even airports have begun jumping on the free WiFi band wagon.  Here in Orlando, the local McDonalds even offers free WiFi!  For consumers this means more access and portability.  For satellite radio fans, this means consumers can now have even more access to great music and talk shows in more places.  This is especially the case now that the iPnone and iPod Touch application is out.

As a staunch satellite radio fan, I will be the first to admit that my WiFi equipped Stiletto tends to stay in my car.  Simply stated, I do not use it much in portable mode, and carrying it around is means that I have another gadget to worry about.  Frankly, it can be a pain to carry around.  Thus, even if I were to find a WiFi  hot spot, I would most likely not have my Stiletto with me.  You will however see that my iPod touch and Blackberry are never too far out of reach.  The reason is that these devices are multi-functional.

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Love it or hate it, Twitter is the best online resource for putting your finger on the pulse of just about anything in real time. It was just a few months ago while searching Google for information about Circuit City store closings that it became clear to me that traditional search results weren’t going to cut it this time around.

The problem with Google was, every article I read on the day the bankruptcy was announced, said that Circuit City was going out of business and that you better hurry up because there are deals left and right that won’t last long. The reality was, the guys who wrote those articles couldn’t have had any idea what was really going on in the actual stores. So, I headed over to search Twitter and what did I see? Twenty to thirty posts per minute coming in from people who were actually in the store telling me that there were hardly any deals as of yet (thanks for saving me a trip).

That day it became clear to me that the power of real time search results, from millions of reporters on the street, was going to be a huge asset to those who knew how to harness its power. Sure, I thought it was neat when the first accounts of the Hudson River plane crash (including pictures) came across Twitter before any major news organization could even get on scene but, what happened at Circuit City showed us all just how easy it could be to track any major brand.

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In a recent interview with senior writer Jon Birger at Fortune, Martine Rothblatt, the entrepreneur who founded Sirius back in 1990 had a lot to say about the current state of the satellite radio industry, most importantly, that the entire business model has become dated.

Martine is concerned about the “huge growth in terrestrial alternatives” and thinks that “As we move from third-generation to fourth-generation cellular, there’s going to be ever more bandwidth available to distribute content totally via terrestrial cellular infrastructure. And that will leave fewer and fewer unique market attributes to satellite radio.”

Although she doesn’t cite specifics she certainly seems to be talking about the some of the big competition from the likes of Slacker, Pandora, and iTunes which are now becoming common alternatives. Rothblatt seems to cast serous doubts that satellite can compete with not only free services but free services that offer more stations and a greater ability to personalize content.

Like it or not, its seems as thought you might want to pay attention to the kind of person who had the brains and vision to develop this kind of technology over 19 years ago when she says “Technologies have their ideal times and places, and in my opinion the better time for satellite radio was 10 years ago.”

This doesn’t mean that the end is near for Sirius XM but, I think it paints a clear picture that it’s time to evolve. No longer can Sirius XM limit themselves by their method of content delivery but instead, they will have to define themselves by the actual content they produce.

[ via Fortune ]

For those of you who may have heard the news about the “potential” Sirius XM rate increase this afternoon, I can unequivocally confirm that this is in fact true. Customer support representatives are now confirming to the general public that the rates will go into effect on March 11th and they are encouraging current subscribers to lock in at their current and soon to be grandfathered rates for 3 years, before it is too late.

As suspected there will be a $2 increase for additional subscriptions and a $2.99 fee for the online internet radio service. The silver lining in all of this is that all internet subscriptions will now feature the 128k “premium” feed.

Whether or not there will be more channel lineup changes or new content offerings surrounding this rate increase is yet to be seen as even the representatives who I spoke with personally were a little fuzzy on this information.

What is certain is that these new price increases could be just what the company needs to get them out of their looming debt issues. Whether it’s subscribers looking to spend more money to lock in at long term lower rates or new subscribers willing to pay the slightly higher fee, either way Sirius XM wins.

As far as the FCC and those pesky merger concessions go, I think it is safe to say with the Base, Best of, and A la Carte packages remaining unchanged, the legal hurdles have been cleared.

In a day and age where the Internet and technology are evolving at a blazing pace, Sirius XM continues to sit on their hands watching the times pass them by. Now more then ever, people of this world are plugged-in looking for alternative ways of getting their news and entertainment yet all they get from Sirius XM is the same old websites and stale web based media players that don’t even work in modern browsers.

If Sirius XM truly wants to survive and build their brand, the current marketing and web team have to go. It’s time to get some fresh faces in place that understand the value of social media, shiny widgets, online marketing, and just how important things like iPhone applications are to this companys survival.

It’s time to wake up Sirius XM, we are all waiting and watching but day after day you deliver nothing. Where is your blog? How about a twitter stream? Where is my widget? Better yet, why not get creative and leverage the power of monster online communities such as Myspace and Facebook?

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Over the years, I have seen many ideas brought to the table regarding satellite radio. Some are business friendly, others are consumer friendly. One idea that has been bandied about a few times over is the idea of having national sponsors for channels.

The concept seems sound, but there are many variables to consider. Would a channel named Pepsi infringe on the consumer perception that satellite radio is commercial free? Technically, station bumpers (the voice-over that tells you that you are listening to Sirius XM) and DJ chatter involving information about the BEST OF service, the family plan, etc. are not considered commercials, but do too much of this, and consumers may feel that the promise of commercial free is not being met.

For many, and in particular the investors, the idea of channel sponsorship is not terribly infringing. Some say that the “ad” can simply be displayed on the screen, rather than spoken. There has to be some value in this concept right?

While I have not seen the music channels employ some of the philosophies, I have seen an entire hour of a Stern replay with an ad on my Stiletto. But there are 69 channels of music that could have a sponsor. Why not do it?

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The new channel line-ups are in and people are already commenting on new additions, channels that have been removed, playlists, DJ’s, and just about anything you can imagine. Of substantial note is just how alike the two services are now. In terms of commercial free music there are only a handful of unique channels between the two service, most of which are Canadian geared. This means that if you are choosing satellite radio for the music, that the hardware you use will likely be more of a determining factor than the service itself.

Sirius

• Sirius Hits 1
• Iceberg
• CBC Radio 3
• Bande Parte
• Rock Velours
• Energie 2

XM

• 20 on 20
• The Village
• The Groove
• The Verge
• Air Musique
• Sur La Route

With XM you would receive 5 additional commercial loaded channels, and with Sirius you can get 3 additional holiday channels.

What this means is that the biggest difference between the Sirius brand and the XM brand is in the sports, talk and entertainment section of each respective lineup. Even in these sections there are many common channels and shows. The differentiating factors boil down to to only a handful of channels, and if you become a BEST OF subscriber, you erase virtually every difference between the two services.

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I write about satellite radio. I have Sirius, and have had XM. It sort of comes with the territory when you cover this sector, so when the availability of the BEST OF programming was announced, I found myself compelled to at give it a try.

This morning I put my investigative cap on and called customer service to not only add the new programming, but to ask a few additional questions as a “curious consumer” so that I could write about my experience.

Tyler – How is the response to BEST OF? Are you getting a lot of calls?

Customer Rep – Actually yes, we are getting a great response so far. I’m surprised by the number of calls adding the service. Did you want to add it month to month or pay for a full year?

Tyler – Well, how much will the service be if I do a full year?

Customer Rep – Your annual plan just lapsed a couple of weeks ago, so you are on a monthly plan right now. It would come to $186.89 if you renewed for one year with the BEST OF. This gives you 1 month free.

Tyler – I see, if I pay month to month it would come out to $203.88 for a year. Do a lot of people take advantage of the annual plan?

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