RaySat And At&T Make Move Into Car Audio Entertainment
Reading the news one would think that Sirius XM Radio has a monopoly in satellite delivered entertainment to the car. However, there are indeed competitors on the horizon, and some of them have big names. AT&T is teaming up with RaySat to offer CruiseCast in vehicle entertainment. The partnership also extends to Avis Budget Group, who intend to roll out services beginning in mid 2009.
CruiseCast concentrates on video, having deals with networks such as Disney Channel, Disney XD, Discovery Kids, Animal Planet, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network Mobile, USA, COMEDY CENTRAL, MSNBC, CNN Mobile Live and CNBC. In all there are 22 video channels in the service. Also included will be 20 music channels.
Through Avis, CruiseCast will cost about $8.95 per day vs. about $5 for Sirius XM. There is little detail on whether CruiseCast intends on going mainstream via installation deals with OEM’s, or even in the retail channel. CruiseCasts video line-up is impressive, but will the audio side of their entertainment stream measure up? Will it be affordable enough for consumers?
For the time being, there are many hurdles for CruiseCast, but with AT&T backing up the deal, the company can afford to bring to market a competitive choice. The biggest initial customers are ;likely to be the rental business, RV enthusiasts, and America’s truckers.
For those seeking a possible derivative play, Synchronoss Technologies (SNCR) is providing the subscriber account management and front end service activation for the AT&T CruiseCast service.
Position – Long Sirius XM, No Position AT&T, Synchronoss Technologies
You always get news like this in the middle of a recession. A company doing bold things with a large backer in order to break into a new industry. It always made me wonder, “how could a company try to do this at a time when the economy is doing so bad… it’s would seem like it is destine to fail, yet they have a big back (att).”
Well, I’ve come to realize how these things work. This deal was probably in the works for over a year, so the economy was much better then, and all kinds of backers were ready to invest. Now through the laws of inertia, the deal is still on, and people are hoping for a turn for the better by the time this thing actually rolls out. It very rarely happens though, and we can pretty much rest assured that CruiseCast is dead before it even launches… if it even really launches.
Good obsvervation. I agree.
agreed, DOA!