First, Brandon / CRFCEO, ..... your discussion with Charles really needs to go private. Its just not appropriate to be continuing it here.... hope you understand and can work things out...
Relmor, Otone, Inromo24,
good comments and it appears to me that we have two scenarios. One being the present and what is real that consumers can use and enjoy today, while relying on the fact that it will not go by the way of the dinosaur in 6 months. The second is how does Sirius Xm position itself in the future, in a Darwinian way, not to be one of the companies that go extinct.
As far as the present, Relmor and Inromo24 make the point that most discussion by would be SAT Rad killing events are simply not viable today to compete... The 15 or more years that Sirius and Xm have taken to become what they are today with their Birds in the Sky, and their radios in the dashboard of an ever growing percentage of autos manufactured today, and at least for the next 3 years, is a huge Competitive Advantage today... Their listening platform in the car, nationwide, is unsurpassed by any competitor. This secures their present and immediate future's financial success for now -2012.
I think the Internet is available to all who deliver content in the media business through current broadband connections and now cellphone 3g streaming networks. The problem on the go now and in the future is how do you make it reliable wherever you go? How do you make the handheld radio, personal data assistant, texting, and phone devices that we now use, become what we want to use when we listen to Content. All content; talk, sports, music, concerts, news, cultural programming.... traffic, weather, navigation, all in one place. What media company will provide that to us (consumers) at a reasonable cost, conveniently. The future is not going to just be about can you do it, it is going to be about how easy and cheaply can you get me what I want, when I want it..... everywhere. Otone and others have been having a discussion about endearing the consumer, of all age groups, to this product now so that the future beyond 3 years is also secure for this company... The discussion of cobranding products with music talent and live concert sponsorship and feeds are all great ideas to do that. I also don't believe that their will be a better place to get that content in the coming years than Sirius Xm Radio... The only real hurdle they have to jump is a hardware / phone provider one. If the Stilletto 2 could make a phone call, they would be their IMHO... Make it better and connect to the wireless streaming network so we can make a call on it too..... How many jumps do the competition have to make to truely take on Sirius Xm in your car????