Hoorah! XM Satellite Radio Tops Five Million Subscribers (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

Press Release Source: XM Satellite Radio

XM Satellite Radio Tops Five Million Subscribers
Tuesday September 27, 7:00 am ET

WASHINGTON, Sept. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- XM Satellite Radio today announced that it recently surpassed 5 million subscribers, increasing its lead as the nation's number-one satellite radio company.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000724/XMSATLOGO )

"With more than five million subscribers today, XM continues to expand its position as the leader in the satellite radio industry," said Hugh Panero, XM Satellite Radio President and CEO. "We are on track to have more than six million subscribers by the end of this year. Consumers are choosing XM because we offer the most choices, including the most commercial-free music and live sporting events, and the most advanced technology. With the winning combination of outstanding new channels and breakthrough products in advance of the holiday season, XM is poised for record growth during the fourth quarter."

Upcoming XM programming highlights include comprehensive coverage of Major League Baseball playoffs and the World Series, the debut of National Hockey League games on XM, and the launch of Take Five, a new 24-hour talk radio channel aimed at women, featuring satellite radio broadcasts of high-profile programs such as "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."

Sirius stands at under 3 million subscribers

 

[RomanSohor]

Add to this one all the DirecTV subscribers... I'm not sure what channels are going (I assume probably their in-house produced channels, like the on line stream) Eric Logan has said that High Voltage (Opie & Anthony and Ron & Fez) will be one of two talk channels going to DirecTV (I'm assuming XMPR will be the other one?)

 

[Michael St. Clair]

How many of those subs are free subscriptions for car owners?

What percent of the market does XM hold now, compared to two years ago?

There's a lot of ways to analyze numbers.

Both systems rock depending on your taste. The neverending bashing is silly.

 

[Blu]

Indeed, subscribers of both services should hope that both services stay solvent and around for many many years to come.

If there is no competetion between the two then everyone who has satellite radio will wind up suffering in the end.

Bashing is unnecessary and pointless. There is more than enough market for both to go around.

 

[Brian Elwood]

OK - I have to ask - Ronald Epstein - why are you so HOT on XM. Do you have stock in them or something? I mean - honestly - there is not THAT big of difference in the two to be such an XM cheerleader (not a cut - just an expression).

Michael St. Clair - agree 100%!!! What ever happened to fair and balanced reporting.

 

[TheLongshot]

It has been pretty well established that he's had both, and at the end of the day, he prefers XM. He used to be negative in the Sirius threads, but he's chilled out since then.

As one who has also owned both, I tend to agree with Ron's assessment. At the same time, tho, I don't think either of us would like to see Sirius go away. Sirius does serve a certain crowd, and is certainly territory that I wouldn't want XM to persue.

Jason

 

[Brent T]

Both companies seem to be doing rather well. With Stern and the NFL Sirius will grow at a much faster pace then XM. However they have alot of catching up to do. I cant post links (yet) but there is a good article over on forbes.com to check out.

I hope both of them stick around, competition is where its at. Coke vs. Pepsi, Nike vs Reebok, Nicole vs. Paris, only helps the consumer.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Brian,

I'll be happy to give you an explanation.

As co-owner of this forum, I often interject my
honest personal views and experiences when it comes
to the quality of products and services I use. Most
members in this forum know that if I recommend a
product or give a "thumbs down" to another, there is
a trusted reason behind that decision.

I have given XM and Sirius a very fair shot. I was
very down on Sirius' music programming from day one
and made no secret about it on this forum and others.
In fact, I was part of a rather growing group of
individuals that were trying to encourage Sirius to
open up their playlists instead of broadcasting the
same songs on a daily basis.

Sirius took notice of this website and the negative
press I was giving them. They invited me to their
studios. They let me do a guest radio show. Without
going into further details, the entire visit turned
into a disaster. It was apparent that Sirius was
looking for positive press from this forum instead
of looking out for their guest's best interest.

That experience, coupled with other things that I
was hearing about management practices when it came
to handling their Press (many of it leaked from Opie
and Anthony), made me realize that XM was the service
to support.

I wish Sirius the best, I really do. However, I
had the opportunity to judge the company first-hand,
and I wasn't very pleased with the outcome. It would
be very uneasy for me to be a cheerleader for them.

On the other hand, I have never disallowed anyone
from touting the benefits of Sirius on this forum
nor posting press releases related to that company.

 

[TheLongshot]

I do want to say that sometimes, XM runs into the same problems. There are some people there who don't seem to want to listen to what their listeners want. Granted, sometimes what they want is contradictatory, but there are some channels on XM which are in pretty bad shape, and XM doesn't really seem to want to address those issues.

It is still far better than what Sirius is doing, but it does leave me frustrated that Satellite Radio isn't quite living up to its promise.

Jason

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Jason,

Can you give me an example?

All the channels I listen to ('60s-'90s, Mix,
Blend, Top Tracks, Cinemagic, Broadway) all
play a very diverse blend of music with very
little repetition.

I am just curious as to what channels you
find are in bad shape? They may be ones I
don't listen to.

By the way, XM is re-running "IT" which started
on the '50s channel and is making its way towards
the '90s (currently playing on the '70s as of today).
For those who don't know, "IT" plays every single
charted music recording throughout four decades.
"IT" gives you an idea of the extensive library
of music XM has compared to Sirius.

 

[Brent T]

I only listened to XM for about an hour (one of my friends had it last year) and I have had Sirius for about 4 months so my opinion will be jaded a bit so forgive me.

I listen to about 10 music channels on Sirius and the only one I notice song rep on a daily basis is the current "hits" channel. I have 10 of my favorite songs saved so that when they come on again I am notified and they rarely come on. They arent obscure songs (IMO) and I may hear one or two of them once a week if I am lucky.

I believe you guys when you say XM's music library dwarf's Sirius but I just dont see how important for me it is. Every day I listen to my sat radio I am pleased to hear a song that I havent heard in years/decades and even more pleased to hear of bands that I have never even heard before.

I hope both companies do well, however I do think one will come out on top and dominate the market in the next few years.