Audio/ Video/ Navigation / Electronics DiscussionDiscuss the Nitro A/V and navigation system here, along with other items such as custom installations, alarms, radar detectors, etc.
Sirius XM Family Plan Subscriptions Are Well Worth Chasing
August 25, 2008
Over the years, Sirius and XM both have had special pricing for Family Plan (second) subscriptions. For $6.99 per month, the second subscription allows users to get satellite radio in another car, or in their home. XM had gotten the Family plan to a point where it represented between 20% and 25% of their subscriber base. Sirius had been hovering around the 13% threshold.
In the past, XM had been very aggressive in pursuing the Family Plan subscribers, and it made great sense. While the ARPU was lower, it was an easy sell, because the subscriber obviously already was in love with the concept of satellite radio. XM’s earlier push made sense because they were getting a lot of in dash OEM subscriptions, where Sirius was behind the curve in the OEM channel, and thus many Sirius subscribers had retail units which could easily be transported from car to home.
Now the Sirius brand has enough OEM channel subscribers to make marketing the Family Plan more viable, and it would appear that this is exactly what they are doing. Lately I have heard a concerted push of Family Plan subscriptions on various Sirius channels. The company is offering special pricing to existing subscribers, and structuring the deal so as to lock in both the original and second subscription for a specified length of time. At this point I would estimate that Sirius XM Radio (SIRI) is at 18% for the Family Plan.
Getting the blended company (Sirius XM Radio) to the 25% Family Plan threshold is important. The more often a subscriber can listen to your product, the more loyal they will become. Simply stated, 2 subscriptions at an ARPU of $10 is better than 1 at $12.95 with a revenue share attached. If Sirius XM radio were already at a 25% threshold, they would effectively have over 1,300,000 more subscribers than they currently do. That would represent over $9,000,000 more in revenue to the company that is not hindered by revenue share agreements. Yes, there will be a SAC impact, and the cheaper plan is not friendly to the ARPU metric, but it would be a benefit to churn, and the metric that matters most…the bottom line.
While everyone is anxious to see some synergies play out, and everyone wants to see wonderful promotions that put satellite radio in the news, there are still existing opportunities within the company to improve the revenue and cash flow without a huge investment. Given Mel Karmazin’s statements on getting to $400 in synergies, and getting to Positive cash flow, efforts in areas such as the Family Plan are where we will see the biggest impact. The Family Plan is not as sexy as a new wearable, or A-La-Carte programming, but it could well be these types of activities that deliver the most reward for the smallest capital investment.
I would suggest watching this line item in the future. With XM, the magic number appeared to be 25% of the base, and I would imagine that is the initial goal of the company. At over $9,000,000 per month, the Family Plan subscription is something well worth chasing.
Sirius Satellite Radio carry emergency weather channels
August 29, 2008
Finding critical storm information at the right time can be difficult when your days and nights are
spent in the cab and sleeper of your rolling office.
As of Friday afternoon, Aug. 29, Hurricane Gustav was approaching Gulf Coast states. To help truckers prepare, Land Line put together these tips for truckers to keep handy in case they get caught in the storm’s path.
Stay tuned
The best way to be prepared is to know about a storm system in advance of your travels through an affected region. National, regional and local broadcasts can keep you up to date. XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio both carry emergency weather channels.
The XM emergency alert channel is XM Channel 247. The Weather Channel is available on XM Channel 125. Traffic and weather in major cities are available on XM Channels 210 through 230.
The Sirius Weather and Emergency Channel 184 is also a source, and Sirius offers traffic and weather information for major cities on Channels 148 through 158. The Canadian Weather Network is available on Sirius Channel 138.
Evac routes
State departments of transportation post storm evacuation routes and traffic updates. Click on the following states to find pertinent information, including maps of evacuation routes.
Louisiana – Call 877-4LA-DOTD (877-452-3683) for road conditions
Texas – Call 800-452-9292 for road conditions
Mississippi – Call 866-521-MDOT (866-521-6368) for road conditions
Florida – Dial 5-1-1 for road conditions, tune into CB Channel 19, scan the Florida Public Radio Network for news updates, and check the Florida Department of Transportation contraflow maps.
Alabama – Call 888-588-2848 For the latest news from the state DOT, click here.
It’s a good idea to set up weather alerts on your computer or cell phone for when you travel to particular regions affected by hurricanes, tropical storms or tornadoes.
Always carry a first aid kit, a flashlight with fresh batteries, and bottled water. It’s also a good idea to keep your fuel tanks topped off.
SIRIUS' Grateful Dead Channel to Celebrate its One Year Anniversary
Tue, 02 Sep 2008
The Grateful Dead Channel to give SIRIUS listeners an exclusive preview of The Dead's upcoming release 'Rocking the Cradle: Egypt1978' NEW YORK, Sept. 2
NEW YORK, Sept. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SIRIUS XM Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI)
today announced that the Grateful Dead channel SIRIUS channel 32 will
celebrate its first anniversary beginning Sunday, September 7 at 7:00 am ET
and running through Tuesday, September 30.
The month-long celebration will include an exclusive premiere of The
Dead's upcoming release Rocking the Cradle: Egypt 1978, highlights from the
past year's programming, including appearances from the members of the band,
live in-studio performances, memorable moments from the live talk show, Tales
from the Golden Road, and visits from celebrity Deadheads like Jimmy Buffett,
Jesse Ventura, Tommy Chong and many others.
The anniversary month coincides with the Grateful Dead's release of a
historic, never-before heard concert performed at The Great Pyramids of Giza,
Rocking the Cradle: Egypt1978. This special collection includes more than
three hours of rare and previously unreleased music and will be in stores on
September 30. This release also marks the 30th anniversary of the band's
legendary performances in Egypt.
David Lemieux, Grateful Dead archivist and the daily host of Today in
Grateful Dead History on SIRIUS' Grateful Dead channel, will host an hour-long
premiere preview special highlighting the Egypt1978 release. The one-hour show
will debut on Sunday, September 7 at 12:00 pm ET with an encore presentation
at 12:00 am ET. The show will also rebroadcast at various times throughout
"Anniversary Month" on the channel.
The Grateful Dead Channel launched exclusively on SIRIUS Satellite Radio
last year. The channel features music spanning the band's career with
unreleased concert recordings and original shows hosted by band members Bob
Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann. The channel also features rare archival
interviews with Jerry Garcia and contributions from Grateful Dead expert David
Gans and Dead archivist David Lemieux.
“Breakfast with the Beatles,” the long-running L.A. radio staple devoted to the music of the Fab Four, makes the jump to satellite radio Sunday, when it premieres on Sirius XM Radio as part of Little Steven’s "Underground Garage" lineup.
The show, broadcast in Los Angeles on KLOS-FM (95.5) and hosted by Chris Carter, will go out Sundays at 6 a.m. Pacific time on Sirius XM Channel 25 (with a repeat at 9 p.m.). Each show will be completely different, Carter said Monday. For local Beatlemaniacs, the Sirius show will be followed by Carter's regular Sunday program on KLOS at 9 a.m.
“It’s an honor to have Chris on our channel,” "Underground Garage" host “Little Steven” Van Zandt said today in a statement. "We already play more Beatles music than any other radio channel so it fits in perfectly."
Carter added: “The Beatles saved rock ’n’ roll and Little Steven saved rock ’n’ roll radio. I’m honored to bring the world’s greatest band to the world’s greatest station.”
One reason the show had never been streamed or picked up by satellite radio previously is that Internet radio stations are restricted from playing more than a few tracks from the same album or by the same artist within a three-hour period. A special waiver was required to allow “Breakfast With the Beatles” on satellite radio.
LINK:'Breakfast With the Beatles' debuting on satellite radio | Soundboard | Los Angeles Times
Legendary Australian hard rock band, AC/DC, whose popular Back in Black album sold over 42 million copies worldwide, will host their own limited run satellite radio channel Sirius Satellite Radio beginning next Monday.
AC/DC Radio will be broadcast on Sirius channel 29 and will debut on Monday, September 15, 2008 at 6 pm ET and run through to January 15th of next year.
The channel will play all the classic AC/DC rock recordings such as "For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)," "You Shook Me All Night Long," and "Back in Black" as well as new songs from their Brendan O'Brien produced album, Black Ice , the band's first studio album in eight years.
The channel will also feature AC/DC band members Angus Young, Malcolm Young, Cliff Williams, Brian Johnson and Phil Rudd describing their rock & roll career spanning more than 30 years and sharing their personal insights into their music.
AC/DC has sold more than 200 million albums worldwide including Back in Black which is the fifth highest-selling album of all time. AC/DC was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in March 2003.
Sirius XM said it continues to tweak its programming model, providing a list of channels on Tuesday that customers with either service can obtain from the recently combined satellite radio company.
Sirius XM took the wraps off what it called the "Best of Both" programming options. As part of the offerings, most XM customers will continue to receive their existing XM service and select Sirius programming. Likewise, most Sirius customers will continue to receive their existing service and be able to obtain certain XM channels.
Subscribers also will have the ability to purchase channels from the other service. For XM customers, they can obtain Howard 100 and Howard 101 featuring Howard Stern, Martha Stewart Living Radio, Sirius NFL Radio, Sirius NASCAR Radio and Playboy Radio. For Sirius customers, they can buy NBA, NHL Home Ice, Oprah and Friends, The Virus, Public Radio with Bob Edwards, college sports and the PGA Tour.
"We have made great strides over the last six weeks and continue to make progress integrating the company and delivering on our promises to customers and stockholders," said Mel Karmazin, CEO of Sirius XM Radio, speaking before the Merrill Lynch Media Fall Preview Conference.
Sirius XM set to launch "Best of Both" programming on October 6th
Thursday, 11 September 2008
Sirius XM Radio, the company formed when Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Radio merged in July, this week provided details of the company's new "Best of Both" programming options.
"Best of Both" programming will be available to satellite radio consumers beginning October 6, 2008 on most existing satellite radios at a monthly cost of $16.99.
With the XM and Sirius merger in full swing, the first casualties of the partnership are starting to appear. First on the chopping block are the two punk rock satellite stations, Fungus 53 and Sirius Punk which are both being replaced with an 24 hour a day station dedicated to Australian hard rock act AC/DC.
Both stations provided a mixture of vintage and recent punk rock, with Sirius promising acts like "Sex Pistols, Ramones, Misfits, Black Flag, The Clash, Circle Jerks, Dead Kennedys, Suicidal Tendencies, Pennywise, Fugazi and many more" while Fungus 53 hosted shows DJ-ed by Rancid, Joe Sib's Complete Control Radio and others.
NOFX's Fat Mike even weighed in on the station, noting: "I hate the radio but I like Fungus/The only punk rock station, it's humongous." in their song, "Fungus" which appeared on the April 2005 7-inch in their monthly series.
The fate of Sirius XM up for debate, will satellite radio survive?
The struggling Sirius XM has a rather bleak forecast for its future, and with good reason. Sirius XM and the satellite radio industry in general hasn’t been growing as fast as some might have hoped, which begs the question; will satellite radio survive? As an avid listener and fan, I sure hope so.
Merrill Lynch sponsored an event on September 9th for investors, in which Sirius XM CEO Mel Karmazin had some choice words for competing radio companies; “the reason why radio sucks, and the reason that most of you don’t want to invest in it, is principally because the growth stopped.” The discouraged CEO lashed out at investors during the same time he announced his company’s subscriber growth forecast and profit projections were nowhere near what had been projected earlier, according to BusinessWeek.
The good news is that Sirius XM is seeing better growth then its AM/FM counterparts, but the radio industry as a whole is slowing down faster than many had originally thought. “Terrestrial radio is going through its challenges, but I’d be hard-pressed to say the future of satellite radio is much brighter,” says Tuna Amobi, an industry analyst. Why has it slowed so greatly in the recent months? The source is still unknown, but much of the blame is put on internet radio.
Online radio is likely to account for a growing percentage of business in the coming years, analysts say. CBS Radio, the second-largest provider of radio service, recently began managing all of AOL’s radio channels, becoming the largest Web radio provider in the world. While this can be seen as competition to satellite radio, it could also be the solution. Traditional radio off-air revenue, a category that includes Internet radio, rose 12%, to $889 million in the first half of the year, according to RAB. That’s roughly half the amount the industry receives from national advertisers. Sirius XM already streams 80 radio channels online and provides unique Web content for $12.95 a month, but in my opinion, they need to greatly expand on this to become competitive once again.
I’ve been an active user of Sirius since the beginning, and I’ve always seen the nominal charge of $12.95 per month well worth it when compared to the benefits satellite radio provides. Given, I travel more than most people, but I still see it as a much better alternative to regular FM radio. The fact that they’re no commercials will always seal the deal for me, but maybe others see it differently.
Hall of Famer John Riggins Returns to SIRIUS NFL Radio
NEW YORK, Sept. 25
-- SIRIUS XM Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI), the Official Satellite Radio Partner of the NFL, announced today that Hall of Fame NFL running back John Riggins, who hosted a daily show on SIRIUS NFL Radio from 2004 to 2006, will return to the channel as a regular host this Friday, September 26.
Riggins will host The SIRIUS Blitz Tuesdays through Fridays (10:00 am - 1:00 pm ET) every week exclusively on SIRIUS NFL Radio channel 124. Riggins' co-host on The SIRIUS Blitz will be longtime SIRIUS NFL Radio personality Adam Schein.
"If you're an NFL fan, you're not going to find a better place to talk football than SIRIUS NFL Radio," said Riggins. "I'm excited to be back and am looking forward to being part of a show that I hope will be as fun and engaging for the listeners as I know it'll be for me."
"John has always been a fan favorite and he's as entertaining on the air as he was when he was running the football," said Steve Cohen, SVP of Sports Programming for SIRIUS XM Radio. "We're thrilled to have him back on SIRIUS NFL Radio, where listeners around the country will be able to call in and talk to one of the NFL's all-time greats."
Drafted out of the University of Kansas by the New York Jets with the sixth overall pick of the 1971 NFL Draft, Riggins went on to play 14 seasons with the Jets and the Washington Redskins. Known for his bruising, workhorse style, he finished his career with 2,916 carries for 11,352 yards and 104 touchdowns. He recorded five 1000-yard seasons and played in two Super Bowls and may be best remembered for his MVP performance in Super Bowl XVII in 1983, when he rushed for 166 yards, including a 43-yard touchdown run that gave Washington its first lead of the game and lifted the 'Skins to a 27-17 victory over the Miami Dolphins. He played in the 1976 Pro Bowl and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992.
On SIRIUS NFL Radio Riggins joins an unrivaled lineup of former NFL players, coaches and executives that includes Carl Banks, Gil Brandt, Randy Cross, Dean Dalton, Pat Kirwan, Jim Miller, Dan Reeves, Tim Ryan, Marty Schottenheimer, Shannon Sharpe, Ross Tucker and Solomon Wilcots.
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