Satellite Radio

Sirius is better, BUT as things go now they do not have enough cash to make it to break even. If they somehow attract subs like xm then you will be ok and stock would also but not as things are right now.
T

 

I have XM and think it's great. I use my receiver in the car and at work. The jazz stations I listen to have VERY few commercials --- almost nonexistant compared to regular FM radio. I wouldn't be without it anymore.

 

I received Sirius as a gift for the holidays. I could only get a satellite signal ONCE, on Christmas day. Last Friday, I cancelled my subscription, due to the difficulties in receiving a signal. The one day it worked, I did enjoy it!

 

I had a 3.5 hour drive from Detroit to Toronto a few weeks ago and rented a car with XM. It was great!!! First time I'd heard either one (Sirius or XM)... pretty cool.

 

I've been thinking about buying some Sirius stock (around $2.50 last I checked), but unless they get some contracts with vehicle manufacturers, I see them falling by the wayside.

 

I've had XM for over a year now... completely love it. I've never been a radio listener, since it's 50% commercials, 20% idiots talking, and the other 30% crappy music that's repeated 10 times a day for 3 years until some new act comes along. XM is great though... Only a few channels actually have commercials, and even then, there's maybe 5 minutes of commercials per hour of music, with no pissant dj's yapping about J-lo's latest adventures in between.

I use Hertz for rental cars, and I always request a car with satellite radio, although they use Sirius. I think the programming on Sirius is pretty good, but don't think it's as good technically (poor reception, takes anywhere from 5-15 seconds to acquire a signal, etc..).

As for stock values... I was going to buy XM stock when I bought the service. I told a few people at work to look into it... it was in the $2.50's at the time (early 2003). It's now floating around $28-30. Been kicking myself ever since, although a few of my old coworkers have been thanking me. Sirius was at .70-.80 at the time as well, and has come up to the mid 2's. Missed out on that one as well....

-R

 

You are right on. They have exclusive "contracts" with ford and daimler/chrysler and bmw, but they have been dragging their feet on factory installs- the key to success! XM is partially owned by GM and gets most of their subs from factory installs. I saw on here a guy post about ford wanting to be in on sat radio but couldn't at the time because of explorer/firestone mess. I see ford watching sirius bleed itself dry and then coming in with a buyout and then installing it in millions of cars every year. Sirius reception should be best as they have 3 sats to xm's 2. I bought sirius at .95 and got out at mid 2's and then it jumped to 4.
T

 

The difference is that XM has rented space on hundreds (thousands?) of ground relays as well, so even if the satellite is blocked by a mountain or whatever, the signal is still delivered by the towers. I don't think Sirius has this, or at least not as extensively as XM. From my experiece, XM has a *much* more stable signal, and much faster response times. When you change stations, it happens instantly, and the display instantly updates with the artist, title, etc. On the other hand, Sirius seems to lag... When I first turn it on, it takes anywhere from 5-15 seconds to pick up a a signal, and when I change stations, there's a 2-3 second lag from when I press the button to when it actually changes, then another 5-10 seconds before it picks up the artist information.

In the end, I think it will come down to a VHS/Beta or Mac/PC thing. They both have their strengths and weaknesses, but one has more backing and better marketing.. in this sense, XM is way ahead of Sirius.

Good move on SIRI by the way. Just another reminder as to why I kick myself every day when I check stock prices and wonder why I didn't just plunk down a few bucks...

-R

 

Just saw this on the XM site:

Starting February 1, 2004, 100% of XM Radio's music channels will be Commercial-Free!

 

I have been watching Sirius stock, they had a nice pop last week but have come back down to the lower three dollar level. Any opinions out there about this stock?

 

You can order either XM or Sirrius in a new Audi.

Sirrius just signed with the NFL as the official radio broadcast link for them. They are installing several NFL related stations to their broadcast selection. Now if they could add some live race coverage.........

 

Not sure about SIRI... Their subscriber levels have been way off the mark since day one, which is the only metric I can think of that really matters in a business like this. I don't know how they'll recover either, since they're getting trounced by XM in every respect. They went through a phase last year where they were actually giving away free receivers if you subscribed for a year.

I'm no expert, but I have a feeling they're going to be the Betamax in this match up... probably stick around a few years, maybe maintain a core group of faithful hippie subscribers who will make anti-XM websites and t-shirts, then eventually flounder and fade away like an orbital Corey Feldman.

-R