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01-04-2006, 03:30 PM
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#1 of 12 
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Member
Join Date: Nov 2000
Local Time: 03:32 PM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 778
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Sirius equipment sales soar!
Sirius equipment sales soar
By TARA WEISS
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original Publication: December 31, 2005)
Howard Stern's show on Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. starts Jan. 9, but if you haven't purchased the radio equipment by now you might not get to hear the inaugural episode.
Electronics stores in the Lower Hudson Valley report that several of the models offered by Sirius are out of stock and the home kit, which allows listeners to tune in to the commercial-free service at home, is particularly hard to find. Retailers said that sales of the units were steady until about a month before the Christmas holiday when they surged and became difficult to keep in stock. Retailers attribute the rise in sales to Stern's show.
"Those things went like crazy," says Edgar Ruiz, a salesperson at PC Richard & Son in Yonkers. "They're definitely going out because of Howard Stern."
Ruiz pointed to a truckload of Sirius systems that had just been delivered. He said it will take a few hours to get them onto the shelf and he expects them to be completely sold out within a day.
Despite the buzz surrounding Stern, Sirius' competitor, XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., is still the leader in satellite radio. XM has more than 5 million subscribers; Sirius has more than 3 million.
But Stern's move to Sirius is helping some consumers make their decision about which brand to purchase.
"I like Howard Stern and without him it would have been more of a toss-up between XM and Sirius," says Roy Pilot, of Yonkers, who was purchasing accessories for the system he received for his car for Christmas at Best Buy in Yonkers.
He's not looking for a home kit, he says, since he's rarely at home.
Sirius outsold XM at least 3-to-1 in the Northeast, accoring to Bloomberg News.
A salesperson at Best Buy in Hartsdale says that "pretty much anything that has to do with Sirius is sold out" and has been for about a week.
The newest model, the S50, is sold out as is the model's home kit; the Sportster and its home kit are also sold out.
Circuit City in West Nyack just got two S50 models, a precious commodity in this atmosphere. The only home kit they have is for the Sportster.
At Circuit City in Yonkers a calendar on the Sirius display counts down the days until Stern's show starts. The store has been sold out of the Sportster Replay and Starmate models since before Christmas.
"I don't know when we're getting them back," says Barry Jones, the store's manager.
A spokesperson for Sirius did not return a call seeking comment.
A month-to-month subscription to Sirius is $12.95 and the equipment starts at about $80 and runs to about $280.
Meanwhile, the battle for subscribers continues. XM recently announced that rocker Bob Dylan will do an hour-long weekly radio show starting in March.
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01-09-2006, 02:10 PM
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#2 of 12
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Member
Join Date: Nov 2003
Local Time: 04:32 PM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 399
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Trying to find a new anttena last week was a chore....I think they'd have a lot more subs if they could keep the units in stock. I tried to be a home dock for one unit and they were sold out of that everywhere also....oh well at least I got the antenna
Format Neutral
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01-10-2006, 06:28 PM
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#3 of 12
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Member
Join Date: Nov 2000
Local Time: 03:32 PM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
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Which antenna did you get? I saw a nice monster one in Radio Shack today and I would have gotten it if it wasn't for the ugly logo painted on top.
I agree on the radio and equiptment...you can't find anything, anywhere. They really need to be getting this stuff out to the stores as they are losing potential subscibers on a daily basis.
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01-12-2006, 05:39 PM
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#4 of 12
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John Williamson
Member
Location: On duty and takin' out the fullscreen trash.
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Let me ask this again just to clearify, all I need for Sirius is...
1. The "boombox".
2. The piece that docks to it.
3. Subscription.
Is this correct? I'm very confused with all this talk of antennas (where does that go, outside?) and differences in starting price etc...
Some background for where I intend to use the service, I plan on using it at home and at work, I figured that after I have the service activated, all I need to do is transport my boombox and docking unit to work and back everyday. Is this correct?
"There was that time I wanted to be an astronaut.
I wanted to be the first one to kill somebody on the moon."
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01-12-2006, 09:16 PM
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#5 of 12
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Member
Location: Mass
Join Date: Aug 2002
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Posts: 5,456
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Quote:
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Some background for where I intend to use the service, I plan on using it at home and at work, I figured that after I have the service activated, all I need to do is transport my boombox and docking unit to work and back everyday. Is this correct?
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Actually, along with whatever radio you buy, you'll get an antenna that attaches to the radio via a thin coax cable. The antenna needs an outside view (which way to face it depends on geographic location). You can put it in a window or mount it to the side/roof of the house. If you are not near a window at work, do not expect to get reception unless you are near a strong terrestrial repeater (these are land based sat repeaters positioned around large cities). The signal will not travel through metal or stone/brick/concrete, so getting reception inside a building is tricky at best. If you cannot get reception at work, as an alternative all music channels are streamed through the internet, along with a few talk channels. All you do is log into Sirius with your account name and password (fre trial of this is available at www.sirius.com). No streaming of Howard Stern yet, but they are in negotiations. |
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01-12-2006, 09:47 PM
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#6 of 12
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John Williamson
Member
Location: On duty and takin' out the fullscreen trash.
Join Date: Mar 1999
Local Time: 03:32 PM
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Posts: 10,738
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Oh boy, I don't know if I can do this now from what you've stated, Jeff, I work in a factory and the building is made of stacked cynder blocks. 
My primary reason for getting it is to hear Howard Stern at work and that doesn't sound possible for me.
I also can't get internet streams, either.
"There was that time I wanted to be an astronaut.
I wanted to be the first one to kill somebody on the moon."
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01-12-2006, 09:51 PM
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#7 of 12
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Member
Location: Mass
Join Date: Aug 2002
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Local Date: 11-18-2008
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You can get the S50 and set it to record Stern to it's 1GB internal memory. You can then use the player part out of the dock (like an iPod) and listen to Stern iPod style. It is a new product and original versions had some problems, but they are firmware download upgradable and the latest versions are better. They are $279 after a $50 rebate (expensive, but they do allow you to listen to recorded Sirius). Details of the s50 are at Sirius S50 Demo |
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01-12-2006, 09:58 PM
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#8 of 12
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John Williamson
Member
Location: On duty and takin' out the fullscreen trash.
Join Date: Mar 1999
Local Time: 03:32 PM
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Posts: 10,738
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Eh, thanks, Jeff, but this whole thing seems to be getting much too complex and expensive for me now.
"There was that time I wanted to be an astronaut.
I wanted to be the first one to kill somebody on the moon."
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01-12-2006, 10:11 PM
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#10 of 12
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Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
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Jeff: your schedule is EST, so just keep that in mind for the rest of us. The Howard 101 is the West Coast feed.
Bubba The Love Sponge cracks me up. The bit today with the online chat rooms and getting people to pay to talk to the one girl was hilarious.
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01-12-2006, 10:13 PM
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#11 of 12
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Member
Location: Mass
Join Date: Aug 2002
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You're right, I edited it. Thanks.
I cannot believe they got Sulu to fall for the fake Arnuhld again. I almost felt bad for the guy, if it wasn't so hilarious. Howard, do your best to get George out of bed and on the mic in California at least once a week!! Keep promising him an audience with the Governor if you have to, that should be good for 6 or 7 appearences at least!
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