Friday, November 03, 2006
Canada Business: Satellite Wars
Satellite wars: Sirius vs. XM
Andy Holloway, Fom the October 23-November 5, 2006 issue of Canadian Business magazine
While satellite radio companies continue to lose money, Canada's two providers are feeling a little chuffed as they approach their second Christmas selling season and, Dec. 1, their first anniversaries. Instead of fighting regulatory appeals from sore losers and Canadian-content proponents — who are still upset that the two satellite services offer only 10% homegrown content as opposed to the 35% traditional radio must have — Sirius Canada Inc. and XM Canada can get down to the business of battling each other for subscribers. It's a clash that is being simultaneously fought on three fronts: signing equipment deals with the automakers, getting retailers onboard and trying to convince consumers that paying up to $15 a month for something they've always received for free is a good deal.
The early winner? Well, it's not XM, even though it has charged $2 less per month, offers the better selection of special receivers needed to pick up satellite signals and signed exclusive deals with the top three automobile sellers in the country — GM, Toyota and Honda. Instead, it's Sirius claiming victory, with more than 65% retail market share. That translates into roughly 200,000 paying listeners, given that XM had 120,000 subscribers as of Aug. 31. While those numbers might sound a little underwhelming, they are well ahead of projections for both companies — and on track for the four million subscribers the industry believes can be signed up by 2010. That leaves plenty of time for XM to catch up...read more:
here11/03/2006 07:24:00 AM
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