Sirius could shut down by mid-decade

This is an excerpt of an article on Matthew Keys' media/journalism/technology blog The Desk. (Los Angeles DJ & Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In announcer Gary Owens once defined an "excerpt" as a former cerpt.) The complete article is linked below.

SiriusXM could sunset Sirius platform by mid-decade, CEO says

SiriusXM could shut down one of its two satellite radio platform by the middle of the decade, the company’s chief executive remarked this week. Speaking at an investor’s conference on Monday, SiriusXM Chief Executive Officer Jennifer Witz said the company was moving forward with the rollout of its next-generation, Internet-connected satellite radio hardware, while at the same time considering plans to shut off one of its older satellite radio platforms.

Prior to 2008, SiriusXM existed as two separate companies, Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Radio. After the merger, SiriusXM began to lessen its reliance on the Sirius platform, choosing to use the XM platform for new plug-and-play radios and so-called “SiriusXM Radio” aftermarket radios. Witz said car radio subscriptions “will continue to remain the foundation of our business” but added that newer technology allowed the in-car experience to evolve into one where “sometime in the coming years we’ll only really need one of our two broadcast systems to deliver the current business.”

One of those technological advancements is SiriusXM’s next-generation broadcast platform 360L, which marries its traditional satellite radio delivery through the XM Radio platform with an expanded lineup of channels, Pandora-like stations and on-demand content offered through its streaming service. SiriusXM expects 25% of new cars that are capable of receiving satellite radio will have their units powered by SiriusXM 360L. The company projects that number could grow to 80% of new cars with satellite-capable radios by 2025.

Witz didn’t specify which of the platforms SiriusXM was considering for shutdown but the company continues to rely on the older XM platform and its fleet of satellites for the newer-model 360L radios and all SiriusXM aftermarket radios sold post-merger, strongly suggesting the Sirius platform would eventually be closed. Shutting down the Sirius platform would have significant advantages for SiriusXM. The company would be able to concentrate its attention on just one fleet of satellites. It would also free up spectrum used by Sirius, which could allow SiriusXM to increase the bit rate for channels on its traditional radio service or expand the number of channels offered on the satellite platform, or a combination of both.

https://thedesk.net/2021/09/siriusxm...jennifer-witz/

Clickbait.

One can't help but wonder if satellite radio will even be around by mid-century.

I certainly hope it will be around (I hope I'm still around lol). There is no other service that works everywhere without the need for WIFI or cellular service. I do a lot of camping in the Colorado mountains and traveling out of state where I have no service and Satellite radio is a godsend.