Does anyone remember that, just one year ago, XM was kicking Sirius all over the playground? I do, and it's been amazing to watch Mel Karmazin carve and hone Sirius into a well-oiled machine which, as of 2006 year end is in the black, with its first positive cash flow ever. Sirius' subscriber base is up 82% from year end 2005 to a whopping 6,024,000. However, it's not all roses for Sirius. Hypebot reports yesterday "Seamless wireless internet service is coming for your car. This year for only $49 a month. It won't matter if you're a Verizon, Cingular or Sprint customer. This one taps into them all via 3G and WiFi."
True high-speed data to the automobile could be a real problem for Sirius. Think of the services that could be offered with enough bandwidth to stream audio and news/traffic/weather data to an intelligent head-unit in your car. Of course, Sirius will still have an advantage outside of larger cities where high-speed capable signal most likely will not be available.













1. I'll believe the in-car wireless broadband when I see it. It may well spawn other devices/applications to cater to car-friendly applications (especially if Apple or MS or others make their players net-radio-friendly), but I don't see current web offerings appealing. Sirius and XM have a familiar product, and a growing listening base. It'll be interesting if in-car WiFi impacts in 2 years...5 years...ever.
On the other hand, I didn't renew my XM service because I hate ads, and their constant channel ID "promotions" are no different than ads on commercial radio - though at least not shouting. I never understood why they felt they had to sell their product to paid subscribers. They lost me for this.
Posted at 4:03PM on Jan 4th 2007 by roymond